Kevin DeYoung Sermons

Glory Lost, Glory (Re)Gained

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:17:30 GMT

Father, we do rejoice, for through Jesus the Son you have done great things, and you are continuing to do great things in our midst, in our land, in our church, in our lives. And we pray that you would do so this morning, to show us your glory in the Word, to teach us what we do not know, have not learned, may have forgotten, to convict us of sin, to transform us from one degree of glory to the next, and to be already preparing us for that great revealing of glory that will be ours one day together with Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Our text this morning is Romans 3:23. Romans 3:23. I will pick up our reading at the end of verse 22. We read from God’s Word:

“For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

You may be thinking, I like the slow pace, but come on. Seeing where this is going. A verse this week, a verse next week, and for the next several weeks. Well, there’s a lot to talk about as we come to these major, most important themes, not only in the book of Romans, but in our lives – words like justification, redemption, grace, gift, righteousness, propitiation, faith, and here this morning, glory. You may be thinking, though, “Alright, I love that verse. This is one of the most well-known verses in the Bible, and I understand, pastor, some of the nuances we’ve been dealing with, and what we’re coming to – justification – these are complicated doctrines, but this verse is not only one of the best-known verses, but it doesn’t seem that difficult to understand. Doesn’t it basically mean we’ve all messed up? Nobody lives up to God’s standard. And we all know this. If we were somehow to rank the top five verses that the most people have memorized – now, it helps that this is a short one. Those are the ones to memorize. My kids are always telling me, when you have to pick the Covenant Day School verse of the year, just one of these years (because we have to memorize it) could you do “Jesus wept,” Dad? It’s a lot to focus on for one year. So, you know this verse. Some of you have grown up with this verse, known it as long as you can remember knowing anything. Or you learned the Romans Road, and this is the first stop on the Romans Road.

So why do we need a whole sermon on this verse? Well, it’s true. It is well known, and in a general sense, it is well understood, but I don’t believe that it is carefully understood. Notice there are these three statements: end of verse 22, “there is no distinction.” We’ve seen that throughout the book of Romans already. God shows no partiality in how people receive salvation, because everyone has the same need for salvation. The remedy is the same, because the diagnosis is the same. We’ve seen this so many times, that no one is righteous by works of the law. So, there’s no partiality with God. Being Jew, Gentile, male, female, rich, poor – doesn’t get you closer, it doesn’t mean you’re farther away, because you have the same problem, and there is one solution. Then the second statement, verse 23, “for all have sinned.” There are several related words in the Bible. Sin, transgression, iniquity, evil, wickedness. They’re sometimes used interchangeably, though they may have slightly different nuances. Sin means missing the mark. The clearest definition is 1 John 3:4, “Sin is lawlessness.” So, there’s lots of things you can say about sin, but that at its most basic level, sin is lawlessness. You and I sin when we fail to keep the law. When God gives us his commandments and we do not keep the commandments, we are sinners. We sin. We miss the mark. And then this third statement, “and all fall short of the glory of God.” Now, here’s what I think most of us do. Most of us read that statement as saying pretty much the exact same thing as the previous statement, just in slightly elevated poetic language. So, if you memorize this verse – most of us have at some point, though we probably haven’t really thought carefully about what these two halves mean, and as they rest upon us, they tend to get conflated. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They’re more or less saying the same thing, we think. We’ve all broken God’s law, and we have all fallen short of God’s holiness and perfection.

But what I want you to see this morning is that these two phrases – though obviously related, we’ll see how – they are not redundant. Paul is not saying the exact same thing. In fact, he’s saying something quite striking with this second phrase in verse 23, which will be our focus this morning. Now, look at your Bible, because when you stop to think about it, it’s surprising what Paul says. Now, we know this verse, so it rolls off our tongue, but if you were just going through Paul’s train of argument, you would think that his statement in verse 23 would read this way: all have sinned and fall short of the righteousness of God. Verse 21, “Now the righteousness of God has been manifest.” Verse 22, “The righteousness that comes through faith.” And then you go to verse 24 – the verb “justified” is the same Greek root – that dikaioo root in noun form, righteousness. So, there is the same Greek root again. And then in verse 25, “this was to show God’s righteousness.” Verse 26, “It was to show his righteousness.” So, if you understand that the word justified in verse 24 is the same Greek verbal root translated righteousness as a noun, verse 23 is the only verse in the paragraph not to talk about the righteousness of God. So, you would think that Paul would say there’s no partiality. Why? We’ve all sinned – and I’ve just been talking about the righteousness of God manifested and revealed, that you received by faith – and all of us fall short of that righteousness on our own. Why does Paul not say that? Could have said that. That’s all true. Why does he want to say something slightly different than what he’s saying in the other verses in the paragraph? Why this turn of attention to glory? That’s what we’re going to think about for the rest of this message.

Glory: the Greek word doxa. We sang a gloria patri, a glory to the Father. We sing a doxology. You all know that word. A doxology is a praise to God. That’s the Greek word. The Hebrew word kabod or kavod, which denotes weight or heaviness. So, figuratively, glory is what is weighty, what is awe-inspiring. It is used for splendor, honor, wealth, abundance. And when talking about God or spiritual things, that word doxa or kavodis usually translated “glory.” Now, at this point in my sermon preparation, I thought we could do a whole study across the Bible. We could trace out those two words, kavod in the Old Testament, doxa in the New, and develop a theology of God’s radiant, wonderful, terrifying, otherworldly, joyous, heavy-felt glory, and there would be some merit in doing so. But as you think about how can we best interpret this verse? And this helps you as you think about interpreting your Bible. We could go and do a big, massive study of glory in the whole Bible, and that would get us in the conceptual ballpark, but better to understand verse 23 is to trace out the intricate argument that Paul has been making already in the book of Romans, because glory – doxa – is absolutely one of the key themes in this book. And intentionally I have not dwelt too much on the word so far, having in my mind we’re going to do one verse, 3:23, and I’ll trace some of these dots again. And if you know Romans 8, that is the Mount Everest of the Bible. It’s also the Mount Everest of glory, so we’re going to come back to this theme again in chapter 5 and chapter 8, several other times, but just thinking about this first unit in the book of Romans, really chapters 1-4 – we haven’t gotten to 4 yet – but 1-4, there are seven uses of this word group, the doxa group, translated as glory in six of those. I’ll show you the one where it’s not, but same word. I want us to trace through with an eye – and some of them we’ll spend time on, some of them we’ll move quickly – but with an eye to understand what does Paul mean that you and I fall short? And notice the verb tense, that “have sinned” is described in the past. Of course, we continue to sin, but it’s referring to something that took place. We’ll come back to that. And falling short is something that we continue to do. You and I continue to fall short of the glory of God. Now, we can be, 2 Corinthians 3:18, transformed from one degree of glory to the next. That’s the good news. But we fall short. What is meant by falling short of the glory of God?

Let’s look at what Paul means by doxa, by glory. So, turn back to chapter 1:21, “For although they knew God” – talking about what can be known by the things that are made – “although they knew God, they did not” – and here’s the doxa word – “they did not honor him.” Same word. Could translate it, “They did not glorify him.” Honor is a fine translation, too, but that’s the same Greek word. So, this is the first one. “Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks.” They did not glorify him as God. So, the proper response to God’s self-revelation – because that’s what the previous verses are about, you’ll recall – that the things of God’s eternal power and his divine nature can be clearly perceived in the things that have been made, that God has revealed himself through his created world, and as God reveals himself, what is the proper response when God reveals his glory? Here we have the two most fundamental responses that we ought to have as human beings. Honor and thanksgiving. Or you can say gratitude and glory. When God reveals to us his glory, we ought to respond by giving him glory and giving thanks.

I was trying to think about where we experience the unveiling – the revealing – of glory. I think one place that we do is when you’re at a wedding, when the doors – which are barred shut for the bride, her dad to walk her down the aisle – suddenly are opened. Sometimes they take pictures beforehand, but often traditionally the bride and groom have not seen each other yet. He’s not seen her in her full revelation of her bridal glory: white dress and the beaming smile and the hair that has been worked on for three weeks. All of those things. And as the groom sees his radiant bride for the first time, what’s a proper response, fellas? Not to roll your eyes. Never seen that happen. Not to look the other way. Certainly not to check out other girls. That would be called idolatry. The proper response to the revelation of your bride’s glory is to honor her and give thanks. You look amazing! You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. That’s glory. That’s honoring her. And then thanksgiving: what an amazing thing. I get to be with you. Let’s quick do this before you change your mind. And you want to be with me. I am the luckiest guy – Calvinistically lucky – luckiest guy in the world. That’s a proper response to the revelation of glory. Honor. Thanksgiving. So, though they knew through creation of God’s eternal power and divine nature – he showed this to them; he shows this to every one of us; he makes it plain to them; it was clearly perceived – the proper response was glory, in view of God’s glory. And they didn’t do it. It was meant to entail the totality of a person’s life. Some year later, we’ll get to Romans 12:1, “In view of God’s mercies, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is your spiritual act of worship.” Your whole self is now, as a redeemed Christian, to give honor to God and thank him. We were made to live a life that testifies to the reality that God is eternal. Your life is supposed to reflect that to everyone around you, that people look at your life and know there’s a God, he’s eternal, he’s powerful, he’s mighty, he’s lovely, and his transcendent glory rests heavy upon us. So, this is the first instance of this word glory translated here honor.

And look just a few verses later, verse 23. What did human beings do? What do they do with the sight of this glory? Well, they don’t honor him. They don’t give thanks. They exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. This is a further explanation of man’s failure. They exchanged the glory – that is, the radiance, the beauty, the power, the transcendent excellence of the immortal God, all of that that should have rested heavy upon them – they exchanged that for images resembling man, birds, animals, creeping things. Now, what is meant by this exchange? Clearly, at one level, this has to do with an exchange in the object of our worship. That’s the most obvious meaning – an exchange in the object of our worship – that the foolish exchange is they should have made God the truly glorious one, the object of their worship, and instead they made animals and beasts and creeping things. They exchanged the object. But I want to argue it’s not only that. Verse 23 also has to do with the loss of our glory – that is, the glory we were meant to reflect from God as the only creatures made in his image. So, the exchange, I’m arguing, is twofold. The foolish exchange is that you swapped out the right object for the wrong object, but also a foolish exchange that you and I have lost the glory we were meant to reflect. Once they lost sight of the glory they were meant to reflect – look what happens in verse 24 – God gave them up for the dishonoring of their bodies. That that word dishonor is really the opposite of glory. You and I were meant to glorify God with our bodies. We were meant to be a reflection of the glory of God, but we made a foolish exchange so that now God gives sinners over to the dishonoring of their bodies. We become what we worship. Psalm 115:8, “Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”

And look at this language of image. You see verse 23: images, eikon in the Greek. Whenever Paul uses eikon, he relates it somehow to being made in the image of God, which makes me think that verse 23 is not just about replacing the object of our worship. That’s true, but it’s about losing the glory that we were to have as those made in his image. And this makes sense of the continuing exchange in the verses ahead. Think about Genesis. God made them. He made man in his image, male and female. There, man is given as the head of the human race and then clarified, he made man in his image, male and female. It was God’s design. It was God’s idea, in order to show the full extent of his image in some ways that maybe we’re still trying to figure out. He said, I can show my image. I can only totally show this in the human race with a male and a female. No, it’s not that a man is half the image, and a woman is half the image. Otherwise, Jesus Christ would not fully have been in the image of God. But there was something in his creation. He wanted male and female together to image his glory, which is why this foolish exchange – what happens as we go through Romans 1? You know that men exchange natural relations with women for relations with other men. Women exchange natural relations that they ought to have with men to have relationships with other women. It’s a confusing and a retreating and a loss of the glory that they ought to have as God’s image bearers, because he made them male and female. That sexual binary was God’s idea, and when that binary is obliterated or confused or jumbled or, we think, open to our own self-interpretation, we further exchange the glory of God that he meant for us to reflect. And – do you remember the argument? You become like what you worship – and they become like those who are driven by their passions. They end up not more free, not more human, not more alive. That’s the lie of our age and the lie of the devil. They become more like animals, following just their sensual appetites and instincts.

And then look back up at verse 20. I didn’t make this point, I don’t believe, when I preached through this several months ago, but I think there’s something here. Notice, “His invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.” Whenever we think about that verse – “God has shown his glory in the things that have been made” – what do you think about? You think about mountains, oceans, rivers, sun, moon, stars, his glory in the created world. And that’s certainly some of what he’s talking about. However, might he also be talking about you and me? The only other time Paul uses this noun – translated here “things that have been made” or “creation,” you could translate it, poiema – the only other time he uses it is in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his poiema, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” There, we are his workmanship. So Ephesians 2:10 is clearly about us. Might it be that, in addition to the beauty of the rivers and the mountains and the streams and the eagles in flight and all the other beauties of creation, that Paul means to say how was God’s character meant to be clearly perceived in the things that have been made? Chiefly in the ones he made in his image. God made human beings to be the visible manifestation of his invisible nature. Can you see the connection then? And I promise we won’t spend as much time on the other occurrences. Can you see the connection between 1:23 and 3:23? It’s nice that they’re both 23’s. 1:23 and 3:23. God made you, human being, to be glorious because you reflect God. You’re supposed to. Sin results in the loss of glory – not only glory to God, exchanging the object of worship, but also the glory that is meant to be reflected in us. You’re meant to see in the people around you – and don’t you, with all the evil in the world, still you marvel at stories of creativity and genius and power and artistry and beauty and might and nobility and self-sacrifice? Still some vestiges of God’s image in us, but this glory lost. Adam and Eve sinned. Glory has been lost, and then Israel, which comes as another son of God, and we see the same thing with the sin of the golden calf. In other words, when we fail to give God glory, you are not only suppressing what can be seen about God in the beauty of creation, you are suppressing the truth about yourself, about who you are, about the sort of person that God made you to be. That’s why sin is so foolish, so dumb, so idiotic. You are transferring the glory that ought to be yours, as reflecting God’s glory, and giving it to worthless things.

Now look quickly – third and fourth instance – in chapter 2, verse 7 and 10. Now this was an intricate argument in this paragraph, and I argued that Paul is not talking about the life that a redeemed Christian might live to seek after God, though many commentators make that point, and that’s true in a theological sense. I argued with other commentators that Paul is talking about the sort of life seeking God that none of us can do. If we could, we would be rewarded with glory and honor, but none of us do. Now, that controversy notwithstanding, the point here is still the same. Look at verse 7 and 10, these other two instances of glory: “to those who by patience in welldoing seek for glory and honor and immortality.” So, there’s a glory that has been lost, and this is the hope of glory regained. So, what ought we to do? We ought to seek for glory, for honor, for immortality. Now you’re hardwired to want glory. You want it on the playing field. You want it in the classroom. You want it with your house. You want it with your appearance. We’re hardwired that way, for something bigger than ourselves. We want to be transcendent. We don’t want to be forgotten. We want to grasp immortality, but here it says what we should do is we should seek from God that glory, that honor, that immortality. And what do you receive? Eternal life, glory, honor, and peace. Again, the exchange is that instead of seeking the glory of the immortal God, we have transferred it to mortal things. And so, we lost our likeness to God, and when we lose our likeness to God, or at least it becomes marred and effaced, we do not share in the immortality that God alone has. Again, we have become like the things that we worship. If you want to be eternal and transcendent and glorious and honorable, make the object of your worship eternal and glorious and incorruptible and honorable. But when we worship created things, what do you become? You become like those things. Things that die, things that decay, things that don’t last, things that are dumb, things that are spiritually insensitive, things that are destined to corruption. That’s why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “The believer will be raised incorruptible.” Why incorruptible? Well, he’s got a new resurrection body. But it’s a way of saying he will be like God again. Who’s the only one who’s incorruptible, the only one who doesn’t die, the only one who doesn’t decay? It’s God. You’ll be raised incorruptible.

There’s a fifth instance of this word glory. You see in chapter 3, verse 7 – less related to the argument that I’m tracing out. Paul says, “When God’s truth is demonstrated, even through our lie, it still manifests his own glory.”

And then the sixth occasion brings us back here to Romans 3:23. So think again, the first half of 3:23, “all sinned,” or translated in ESV, “all have sinned.” The exact same two Greek words, pantes, meaning all; emarton, sinned. The same two Greek words appear again in Romans 5:12. Romans 5:12, Paul says, “Sin came into the world through one man, death through sin. Death spread to all men because all sinned.” Now, clearly in 5:12, he’s talking about how all of us sinned in Adam. We’ll come back to that in the months ahead. All of us sinned in Adam. Now, it’s possible that this occasion in 3:23, “all have sinned,” is just a collective summary of the human race, what all of us have done – we’ve all sinned, committed sins. But I think it’s more than that. I think it’s a way of leading us to Romans 5:12, that this is speaking about the sin that each one of us committed in Adam. In Adam’s fall, we sinned all. So, the predicament that we’re in is not just that we’re sinners or we sin, but that we have this sin nature and that in Adam – he’s our corporate head; we need a second Adam, who will be our corporate head and will succeed where that Adam failed – in that first Adam, when he sinned, he was our representative. He sinned just like your father might be out in the world, and the good that he does redounds to your benefit, and the bad things that he does puts a bad name upon you and your family. So, in the same way, Paul is saying, in Adam all sinned, the consequence of which (second half of verse 23) is that glory has been lost, the glory that we as creatures were made to have in the image of the immortal God. The glory is God’s essence, his character. We were meant to know that glory, to give thanks for that glory, and to reflect that glory. One commentator says this about the second half of verse 23: “People fail to exhibit that being like God for which they were created.” That’s in a nutshell why Paul doesn’t say you have fallen short of the righteousness of God. That’s true. You miss the law. You don’t live up to the standard. But he’s saying something related, but slightly different. He’s saying that being like God that you were made for, we’re falling short of that. We can’t reach it. We’ve lost the glory that we were supposed to have, no matter how much you may feel like you can shine on your own.

Imagine if you took three people somewhere out in western North Carolina where the mountains run through that part of the state. It’s beautiful. Imagine you had one person who is on some level ground, and you put someone else down into a valley, and then you put someone else on one of the high peaks in the Appalachians up there. Middle, low, high. Now that person who’s standing on the top of Grandfather Mountain or the highest point out there east of the Mississippi that’s out there in western North Carolina – you stand up there, and you could genuinely say I am a little bit higher than this person on the middle, certainly this person in the valley. That’s how we tend to evaluate ourselves spiritually. We tend to think that I am up at a mountain, and I see you silly people, sinners, down in the valley. Well, even if that is true that some people by their own life – it is objectively true, some people live worse lives than other people – somebody’s in the middle, someone’s in the valley, someone’s on the mountain. But then what if I were to say, I want everyone in those three places to raise your hands in the air, and I want you to touch the nearest star. You’re not any closer. You are not closer to touching any star. No one on the mountain, on the plain, in the valley – though our relative proportion may seem very important, when it comes to reaching and touching the glory, all of us are woefully, monumentally, falling short.

So, is there any hope for us? Well, I said there were seven occurrences of doxa in the first four chapters, and we haven’t gotten to chapter 4 yet, but turn over there. I give you permission to look at it real quickly. Won’t ruin your appetite. But Paul is going to turn his attention in chapter 4 to Abraham. And this whole chapter will be about Abraham, who’s the example, the quintessential example of faith, of being justified by faith. Look at verse 13. We see that Abraham, though he’s not the second Adam like Christ will be, he is reclaiming for God’s people the promises that Adam forfeited. Look at verse 13, “For the promise is to Abraham and his offspring, that he would be heir of the world.” Well, that’s a New Testament gloss on those promises that you’ll inherit the land, just like Jesus says the meek shall inherit the earth. Those promises, which were in the Old Testament about a little sliver of land we call Israel, now are interpreted to mean the whole earth. So, the promise here is that Abraham and his offspring – all of us who are children of Abraham – will be heirs not just of a little piece of land but of the world.

Now, that’s not the occasion for the glory text. Look at verse 20. “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise” – the promise of a Son, also the promise to be heir of the world – “concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” Notice this is a foil to what we saw earlier in chapter 1. What is the response when God manifests his glory? Well, the wrong response is you do not honor God; you do not give thanks. What does Abraham do? He trusts in God’s promises, and he gives him glory. This is a very tangible way. You say, “This is so big. I know we’re supposed to glorify God and enjoy him forever. What do I really do to glorify God?” Abraham gives you one very tangible step: you can trust God. You can believe in him. You glorify your parents, children, when you take them at their word. And our parents are all imperfect. Sometimes they don’t keep their word. But God always keeps his word, and you give him glory, like Abraham, when you rest confidently in his promises that he will do exactly as he said he would do. The first step to a life of glory, to being transformed from one degree of glory to the next, is this faith which gives God glory, because it testifies, “I trust you. I believe in you.”

So, let me pull this all together with three points of application. Number one, as we think about what it means to fall short of the glory of God, consider the people around you and the path they are on. Consider the people around you and the path they are on. We saw in Romans 2, we are all headed in one of two directions: for glory and honor and immortality and eternal life, or we are all headed for wrath, fury, tribulation, and distress. Look at the people around you. Could you help them get on the right path? We think too little of God. We think too little of our sin. But in another way – listen carefully – you could say we think too little of ourselves. Now if you say you can’t think too little of yourself – I need to, you know, achieve low esteem so that I can truly – that’s true in a way when we think about our sin before God. But as we think about what it means to be made in the image of God, it is possible to think too little of ourselves and too little of the people around us, who were made for glory. Glory. Sorry, I can’t help but sound like John Piper this morning. Glory! You may know this quotation from C.S. Lewis in his book The Weight of Glory: “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses” – he’s talking about human beings; he’s using provocative language – “to remember that the dullest, most uninteresting person you can talk to” – don’t nudge anyone right now – “may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in your nightmare. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” He says there are people now who seem plain and dull and ordinary and uninspiring and uninteresting, but if they belong to Christ, one day they will possess such a glory that if you could see the full revelation of it now, you would be tempted to bow down and worship them. No ordinary people in this room.

Two, consider then who you were made to be. You were made for God. You were made for glory. In fact, you can argue that your normal state is a state of glory. That’s how humans were made. That’s how we’ll be regained in Christ. And the life we now live, falling short of that glory, is what’s abnormal about us as human beings. Now, because of sin, it’s something that we lack. You and I were meant to reflect this glory. You come back from the beach, and people say, “Oh, were you at the beach?” You get bronzed with tan. Or to be honest, you come back like a cherry-red tomato. They know where you’ve been. I know I hit on this so many times, but maybe I do so because I know that I need this in my own life and in my family’s life. You are what you pay attention to. And one of the most nefarious effects of our digital age – I know there’s lots of blessings that come from it, for sure, all the things that we can find, all the things that it can do for us – but the doomscrolling and the constant attention to screens and how it grabs you and grabs you. Even if you never watched a bad movie, never saw a questionable TikTok, it was all just fun and games, it is so hard to go from that, to fix your gaze on that, and then to be a person who feels the weight of God’s glory. It’s just impossible to do. You will reflect what you gaze upon. Think of Moses coming down from the mountain, when he came and people said, “What’s happened to you, Moses? Your face is dazzling.” He had to put a veil over it. It was so bright, because he had been with God. His face shining reflected the presence of God. Maybe that’s why the New Testament says you will shine like stars, or maybe why Jesus says you’re the light of the world. How do you chiefly show that light to the world? By basking in the eternal light that is God and then reflecting that. David Wells in God In the Wasteland writes, “The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon the church. His truth is too distant. His grace is too ordinary. His judgment is too benign. His gospel is too easy. And his Christ is too common.” And I might add to say that our sense of our own glory is too small – the glory that you are meant to have as you reflect the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Christ.

And then finally, consider what awaits you? What awaits you if you belong to Christ by faith? You think too little of God’s glory – we know that. You also think too little of your glory, the glory that will be yours together with Christ. The future glory of believers, we will see in this book, is a common hope. Romans 8:17, that we would be glorified with Christ, or Romans 8:18, that our present suffering is what? Not worth comparing with the glory, with how glorious you will be. No matter how much your body feels like it’s broken-down – you go by the mirror and you think, “Can I get a new mirror?” And your spiritual life doesn’t feel what it’s like, and your family life doesn’t seem – this is not the picture you had. These are momentary compared – you won’t even compare them – to the glory that awaits you. Or Romans 8:21, that creation is longing to obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Now, that’s going to be a good sermon, I hope, someday. Creation. Don’t think, “God’s going to renew all creation. I’m a part of creation. So, I’m going to follow in the train of creation. God’s going to give a new creation. I’m part of that.” Paul’s logic is just the opposite. It says all of creation is looking on, the mountains and the rivers and the oceans and the eagles and the bears and the lions and tigers and everything – oh my – all of that splendor and glory, they look at Christians and say, “If only I could have the glory that awaits them.” Creation wants to obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. You and I will have the glory that all of creation – it’s not us in the train of creation’s glory, it’s creation following up in the train of our glory – what God does as his children foreknown, predestined, called, justified, glorified. That’s where we are heading, and we get a small glimpse now, transformed just one degree after another. You very rarely can skip those degrees. You’d like to go from one degree to 115 degrees – doesn’t work like that. Be patient with each other. The full reality is coming at the end of the age. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but if we trust in Christ, there will be a day when our sinning will be no more, and our glory will be restored. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, give us grace to wait until that day, so to seek after glory and immortality and eternal life. Fix our gaze upon you and your Word, that we might become not as decaying things, not as trivial things, not as corruptible things, but immortal as you are. We ask for your help and your supernatural grace in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith in Jesus Christ

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Pray with me one more time as we come to God’s Word.

Gracious heavenly Father, we ask that our hearts might be good soil. We would not be like those for whom the seed of the Word is snatched away by the work of the evil one. It would not be swallowed up by suffering. It would not be stolen away by the cares of this world and choked away by the deceitfulness of riches, but it might be good soil, each one of our hearts. Help me to be a faithful sower, now, of the seed of your Word, and may it land in our hearts and bear fruit 30, 60, 100-fold. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you look all around the world, it’s not hard to see that the wrath of God is now being revealed against all unrighteousness and wickedness of men. And when I say the wrath of God, don’t understand that God’s anger is like your anger or my anger, which is so often uncontrolled, capricious, flares up, petty. God’s wrath is not some unbridled passion that takes over God’s personality. God’s wrath is his righteous, implacable opposition to everything that is unholy. It is his hatred for everything that is evil in the world. And how is the wrath of God being revealed? It’s revealed when the Word of God is faithfully proclaimed, hopefully in sermons from this pulpit, and you hear about the wrath of God warning sinners against the judgment to come. The wrath of God is revealed in the proximate judgments of the world. Civil magistrate bears the sword, and the elders of a church wield the keys of the kingdom, and God’s wrath is revealed day by day in death itself. The wages of sin is death.

But even more, the wrath of God is being poured out, not so much upon sinful people, but in allowing sinful people to keep doing what sinful people want to do. One of the worst things that can happen to you or to someone you love is that God gives you over to yourself. And that’s what’s happening in the world. God is giving people up. You ever look around, and you say, “How did we get into this mess?” Because God, in a just display of his wrath, will lift the restraining grace and give people over to the lusts of their impurity, giving them up to dishonorable passions, women defiling themselves with women, men with men, giving people up to a debased mind so they do what ought not to be done. So, you look around, and you can see that people are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, everywhere you look. You can see it on your phones. You can see it in the news. You can probably see it in your own life. There’s envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. People are gossips and slanderers. They hate God. They disobey their parents. They are foolish and faithless. And when they run out of the usual evil things to do, they invent new ways to do evil. That’s what the world is like. That’s what people are like apart from God.

And we cannot let them off the hook as if God has not spoken to them. It’s not as if the people who act this way know nothing about God. Actually, they know a lot, and they suppress that knowledge in unrighteousness. They can see God, if they had eyes to see, in what has been made. They know from their own judgments upon people. Every single one of us has been critical of someone else this week, and we have laser focus upon the sins of others, testifying that we do know right from wrong. We have that nagging voice of the conscience. And yet, men and women in the world, they know the truth and they bury it in distractions and doomscrolling. They hide in the dark. They swallow it up with their own intellectual defenses. And really, they just want to live the way that they want to live, like animals consumed by whatever desire is in front of them. They want to eat. They want to breed. They want to satisfy their desires. And God is set against all of this. He is implacably hostile to all that is evil.

And we ought not pat ourselves on the back to think, well, that’s right, pastor. That is what the pagan people of the world are like – the liberals, the secular humanists. They are storing up wrath for themselves for the day of judgment. It’s religious insiders, too. It’s conservatives and Republicans and churchgoers and everyone who sits in judgment upon what the world does, and they do the very same things. There are people trusting in their religious heritage; people who think that as long as they have the right spiritual label, it doesn’t matter what’s in their hearts; people who think it’s more important to tell other people the truth than to actually live out the truth themselves. There are people, probably thousands of them in our city, who think that because they go to church or have a Bible or got baptized or know the right doctrine that they are better off than other people or at least good enough to leave God just a little bit impressed. Of course, there are advantages to being in church. This is a great place. This is where you ought to be, just like there were advantages for the Jews. Being around the Bible is the biggest advantage, just like the oracles of God were the chief advantage for the Jews. If you think of what Jesus tells us, to be close to the kingdom of God is not the same as being in the kingdom of God. And when you have to stand before God someday, it will be of no advantage to you that you were a male or a female, that you were American or Canadian or Mexican or anything else, that you were rich or that you were poor, that you were a Jew or not a Jew, that you were an irreligious person who failed to live up to God’s standards, or that you were a religious person who failed to live up to God’s standards.

The Old Testament tells us the grave predicament we are in. It says no one is righteous. No one understands. No one seeks for God. No one does what is good. Anyone? No. Not one. We have all turned aside. We have all become spiritually worthless. There is no fear of God before their eyes. That’s the indictment on the world. That’s God’s verdict on the fallen human condition: helpless, hopeless, heartless, under the power and the guilt and the dominion of sin, so that if we could see God right now in the fullness of his glory, every mouth would be stopped. Every man and woman on their own would be found guilty before God, because God is holier than you and I imagine. And your sin and my sin is worse than we have conceived. The wrath of God has been revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, and justly so, for by our works, no one will be justified in in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and prophets bear witness to it: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

You will scarcely find two better words in all the Bible or in your life than those two words: but now. It’s the turn. It’s riding your bicycle uphill with the wind in your face, and then you turn around, and you come with the wind at your back down the hill. It’s canoeing upstream, going around, and coming back the other way. It’s having a long journey and finally the plane touching down on the tarmac back where you live. It’s like being in the hospital for weeks and months, but finally, amazingly, you’ve gotten better, and your car pulls into the driveway, and you get to be home again. But now.

The thesis statement for the book of Romans is way back in chapter 1, verse 16 and 17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” So, there we had it: the good news of the gospel, the solution for which Romans 1:18–3:20 is the problem. And you can see it right there in verse 17 of chapter 1, “the righteousness of God is revealed,” and then 3:21, “now the righteousness of God has been manifested.” So, we’re picking back up with the theme from chapter 1, verse 17. And what did we have in between? Chapter 1, verse 18: the wrath of God revealed. You can see that. The righteousness of God, the wrath of God, and now we have finally come back to pick up this great theme, the righteousness of God, which is revealed from faith for faith.

It is hard to overstate the importance of this paragraph – you see it in your Bible, verses 21–26. Martin Luther said, “The chief point and the very central place of the epistle is found in these verses and of the whole Bible.” Commentator Tom Shriner says, “This paragraph is probably the most important paragraph in the letter.” Another commentator, Charles Cranfield: “This is the center and the heart of Romans.” Leon Morris: “This is possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.” Sinclair Ferguson calls it “the heart of the gospel and a Bible within a Bible.” James Montgomery Boice said, “We are dealing with themes that are the very heart not only of Paul’s letter but of the entire Bible and therefore of reality itself. In all of life and history, there is nothing more important than these teachings.” Aren’t you blessed to be in church this morning for this? The most important paragraph. Maybe there’s some tied paragraphs, but nothing in all the world. I wonder if you really believe that. Do I really believe that? You got a lot of other things. You’re waiting on a diagnosis. You’re starting school. You’re going to check your email. You’re watching the news every day. You’re looking to November and really dialed into the elections. You have all sorts of things you care about. We should care about lots of things. Do you realize that this paragraph is the most important reality in the universe? Nothing you can know is more important than knowing what’s in this paragraph, verses 21–26. So yes, we are going to move slowly through this paragraph, probably more slowly than any other section of the book. Some of you were doing the math and saying, “Hey, I mean, I like Romans, pastor, but if we’re going to one sermon a verse, it’s like 433 verses or something. This is going to be a long – no, this is probably the slowest we’re going to go, because if you look – just glance your eye at this paragraph, verses 21–26 – the most important words in the Bible are here. Law, righteousness, faith, God, glory, grace, redemption, propitiation, blood, just, justified, justifier, Jesus. There are a lot of important words here, so we’re going to move slowly.

It starts, as you can see in verse 21, with that wonderful phrase. This is better than hakuna matata. “But now.” This was Paul’s own story. This was Paul’s story. He was a persecutor of the church. He was there collecting the cloaks when they picked up stones, and they murdered Stephen. He was giving approval to it. He went around to persecute God’s people, and then the blinding light on the road to Damascus – “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” – and there redirect his life, convert him. This was Paul’s story. But now. I’m an apostle and a teacher and a preacher, and though the chief of sinners, I have been saved. Or the man born blind. Can you give us a theological discourse, man born blind? No I can’t, but this I know: I was blind very recently, for my whole life, and now I see. But now. Maybe that’s your story. Maybe in some ways as dramatic as the man born blind, Paul on the road to Damascus, or maybe it took many, many years, or maybe you grew up in the church, and it was rather seamless, but you can look back now and realize the sort of person you were and by God’s grace and forgiveness, the sort of person that you have become. For all of us, at some level, that’s our story. But now. And if that’s not your story, it can be your story. This is who I was. This is what I did. This is how I squandered God’s gifts in my life. This is how I chased after all of these things. You don’t need to summarize Romans 1, 2, and 3 again, pastor. I know what I’m like. But now. The righteousness of God has been revealed.

It’s a logical turn that Paul is doing – certainly, that’s part of it – but it’s more than just a stylistic choice for Paul to say, “I’ve been talking about this, but now let me introduce you and remind you of the theme that we left off in chapter 1, verse 17.” It’s more than just a logical term. This is a temporal indicator – that is, the phrase “but now” indicates that God has done something new in Jesus Christ, in the incarnation, in his suffering and death and resurrection and ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit, then the promise of his return. In all of this, God has inaugurated a new era. The contrast that Paul means to make with the phrase “but now” is with the life of condemnation under the law (look up at verse 19, “We know whatever the law says, it speaks of those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped.”) The implied argument there is the Jews had the law, and they failed; therefore, all of you without the law will also fail. So, the contrast is the condemnation that rests upon those under the law with the possibility of standing righteous before God apart from the law. Look at verse 21.

Now, in English, we need to do a lot with – in order to make sense of things, word order matters a lot. Can’t just throw words around wherever you please. The word order tells you how things fit together. Many of you know other languages aren’t like that. They have endings for their nouns, which tell you how the nouns relate to other nouns and how they relate to the verbs, which allow other languages like Greek to place emphasis upon certain things by putting them earlier in a sentence or at the end of a sentence. And so, here in the Greek, if you’re looking at it, you would see that it says, “But now, apart from the law” – that goes in the middle of verse 21, but in the Greek it’s right at the front after the “but now,” because this is the point of emphasis. This is the demarcation Paul does not want us to miss. He said everything about the judgment that comes to the Gentiles and even is there for the Jews, because they have failed to keep the law, “but now apart from the law” – that’s his emphasis. Now, this is perhaps something of a repetition of verse 20. Look at verse 20, “For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight.” And Paul is going to pick up this theme again, verse 28, “For we hold that no one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Verse 28, verse 20, making that important statement about our works before God. But notice the language in verse 20 and verse 28: “works of the law.” Here in verse 21, it is simply the word “the law.” Now, they’re hitting upon the same kind of idea, but it’s not identical. We’ll come back in the weeks ahead to verse 28, and we’ll hit that point once again, that this is a justification apart from the works of the law, but here in verse 21, he’s saying something slightly different. Think about what is he saying? What is the “but now”? What’s new? Because if you say, “Well, what’s new is we’re justified by faith.” Careful, that’s not new. When Paul gets to chapter 4, he’s going to anchor this teaching about justification by faith alone in the person of Abraham, that he was justified by faith alone. So, it’s not new. This is not God saying, “Well, in the Old Testament, you had to work, work, work, work, work, but now Jesus has come justified by faith.” No, justified by faith is the way and the only way that God’s people have ever been made right with God. So, the “but now” cannot mean now you get justified by faith.

What does it mean? What’s new is that the Mosaic law as a system, as an administration in God’s unfolding plan of redemption, has been rendered obsolete, that the Mosaic law was temporary. You see that in 2 Corinthians 3. You see it several times in Hebrews. You see it in Galatians. It was a tutor. It was a teacher to teach us something. And like a tutor, you’re not meant to have a tutor for your whole life. It’s good to have one. It’s good to have someone helping you learn, but the point is then that you learn, and then you graduate. So, the law was a tutor to hold God’s people by the hand, to teach them all sorts of things, but then at some point you have your commencement ceremony, and you leave the tutor behind. The law as a system has become obsolete. Now immediately in your head you have all sorts of questions. Well, then does obedience not matter? It does matter. Paul will come back to that. What about the Ten Commandments? We’re going to study those on Sunday evening. Yes, we still believe in the Ten Commandments, and Paul will talk about those later in Romans. Does this mean that the law was bad? No. Romans 7, the law was holy and righteous and good. So, there’s lots of questions that Paul knows as he begins to make this argument that he’s going to have to circle back to, lest you misunderstand and you think laws are bad, obedience doesn’t matter. That’s not the case. But here he wants to make plain that the Mosaic law as a system, as a covenant – we are not under the Mosaic covenant. That’s the old covenant. We are now under the new covenant. As an administration in God’s unfolding plan of redemption, it has passed away. So, we now have a different way to live. We inhabit a different realm. We have been given a new, a complimentary, but a superior revelation. So that’s what he’s saying. He’s saying more than you can be justified apart from your works. That’s true. He’s saying, “but now this whole way of God establishing a covenant with his people has become obsolete, has been abrogated.” This one covenant thread of grace continues. It’s like a puppy growing up into a dog. Puppies are nice. That’s not a good analogy, because you like puppies better than dogs. But you know, you have a moped into a Bentley. Is that better? They’re both modes of transportation, and when you get the second, you don’t need to hold on to the first. That was inferior. This is superior.

So, a righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Now what does he mean about the righteousness of God? We saw this phrase 15 sermons ago – that’s how many sermons we had about sin – in chapter 1:17. I want you to notice he’s talking about God’s righteousness. God has done something. In the very first verse of Romans: “set apart for the gospel of God.” This is God’s gospel, God’s plan, God’s righteousness. I was reading through Martin Lloyd Jones sermons from 75 years ago, and even then he worried that there was a tendency to leave God out of the gospel. Very happy to talk about Jesus, but this is God’s gospel, and we certainly don’t ever want to conceive of or describe the gospel in such a way that makes it sound like you got God, he’s really mad at people, but you got Jesus, so let’s talk about Jesus. There is no fissure among the persons of the Trinity. This plan of redemption – this gospel is God’s gospel. He planned it, he initiated it, and he appointed it to be carried out through his Son. So, what is meant by this all-important phrase “the righteousness of God”? The two most disputed phrases in Romans are probably “works of the law” righteousness of God.” Dikaiosune (the word for righteousness) theou. It’s a genitive, usually translated with an “of God.” The righteousness of God. It appears nine times in Paul’s letters – eight times in Romans and then once in 2 Corinthians 5:21. As I said months ago, we can think of three main options when we talk about the righteousness of God. And this is why we slow down, because it’s very easy, especially in a book like Romans – there’s lots of dense arguments, there’s lots of Christian-y words that you just fly over. You got righteousness and redemption and grace and propitiation and justification, and it all just sort of lumps together, and you don’t understand the nuance of what Paul is saying.

What does it mean when he says “the righteousness of God has been manifested”? You can think of three main options. One, we could think of this as an attribute: God’s righteousness is his unswerving commitment to do what is right. We could think of it as an activity: God’s righteous action in the world. Or we could think of it as an acquisition: that is, God’s gift of righteousness. And it’s that last that is most clearly in view. Now, we don’t have to totally reject the first two. We could say the gospel reveals that God has been true to himself in how he carries out his plan of salvation, that righteous plan of salvation. But the main point in verse 17 and here in chapter 3:21 is to introduce the righteousness of God as that gift that is ours through faith. Dikaiosune theou refers to the righteous status which is the result of God’s righteous action, in keeping with his righteous character. That sort of brings them together: attribute, activity, acquisition. But that acquisition is what is front and center.

You see what Paul is doing here? For paragraph after paragraph, page after page, he has made the argument, God is storing up wrath, wrath, wrath. He has wrath for you. He has wrath for you. But now let me tell you how he has righteousness for you, that you can be the receiver not of the wrath of God, which you deserve, but of the righteousness of God, which you do not deserve. And one of the central problems in this configuration, which Paul will come back to, is how then can God be just? How can he give us a righteousness we don’t deserve, and yet God be righteous in himself? That seems like God, who is always just, is administering injustice. Well, there’s a little teaser just to stick around for the next month or so. Now, Paul – this is where you read carefully, you understand Paul, you start to understand Paul’s mindset. You start to think some of Paul’s thoughts after him. So, you can almost see the wheels turning in Paul’s mind as he does this thunderous acclamation (like the thunder you heard the other night) “apart from the law.” You can almost see the wheels turning: wait a minute, Paul. So, we just get rid of the law? That’s why he quickly says, “although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.” Paul doesn’t want anyone to be mistaken that you hear all this talk about righteousness apart from the law and you say, “Well, that’s good because the Old Testament’s four-fifths of my Bible, and I can get through the Bible every year a lot easier if I don’t have that part, and it’s kind of strange, and there’s a lot of weird things, so goodbye to the law.” Paul says, “No, no, no. The law and the prophets, the Hebrew Scriptures, what we would call the Old Testament – they bear witness to Jesus Christ. They bear witness to the work of Christ in the gospel. Genesis 3:15, the seed of the woman in conflict with the seed of the serpent, and that offspring of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Genesis 12, we see the promise to Abraham and then the promise of Isaac and then the almost-sacrifice of Isaac. So much so is this a foretelling of the gospel that Jesus can say in John 8, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day.” Abraham saw Jesus’ day when he received these promises. In Genesis 49, the Messiah will be a descendant of Judah. We have the whole sacrificial system of Exodus and Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy teaching us about how our sins can be forgiven and how an unholy people can dwell in the midst of a holy God. In Numbers 24, we’re told he will be a star from Jacob, a scepter from Israel. In Deuteronomy 18, he will be a prophet like Moses. In Psalm 2, he will be a royal Son. In Psalm 22, we have the description of his cruel death and that cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” We’re told in Psalm 132 he will be a descendant of David and that David will never fail to have one of his sons on the throne. Isaiah 7 tells us he will be born of a virgin. In Isaiah 9, a light to the Gentiles. Isaiah 11, a stump of Jesse, anointed with the sevenfold Spirit of God. Isaiah 40, he will be the comforter, a revelation of the glory of God, and that great passage, Isaiah 53, the suffering servant, stricken, smitten, and afflicted, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Micah tells us he will be born in Bethlehem. Zechariah 9 that the king will come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Zechariah 11 he will be a good shepherd betrayed by 30 pieces of silver. Zechariah 12 they will look on him whom they have pierced. Malachi, that the God of justice and the Lord will come to his temple. It’s no wonder that in Luke 24, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus told the disciples and explained from the Scriptures that all of them had to do with him. Witnessed to in the law and the prophets. If you love Jesus Christ, you’ll love the Old Testament.

This righteousness of God, how do we come to possession of it? There will be much more about this in the verses ahead, but we see in verse 22, the same as we saw in chapter 1:17, that the righteousness of God comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Some translators in recent years have tried to argue that this is a reference not to our faith in Jesus but to the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, and you could translate it that way from the Greek. But the fact that Paul in chapter 4 is going to give Abraham as an example of what he’s talking about here in chapter 3 tells us that, no, this is talking about not Jesus’ faithfulness to God, though that’s certainly true, but our faith in Christ, of which Abraham is going to be the singular example from the Old Testament. Through faith – and notice it’s through faith with an object, faith in a person, not merely understanding and ascent to the right doctrines. We love all the right doctrines. We want to love all the right doctrines. We’re always learning, so we love that. But it is possible that someone could have an affirmation of the right doctrines without putting a personal faith in Jesus Christ. And I would hold out hope that it’s even possible that some people, as Whitefield said, “Some people have better hearts than heads.” Praise God. Some people may have a formal theology that is not as good as the deep, heart-level trust that they have in Jesus Christ. This is not a generic faith. We talk about, “Oh, he’s a person of faith. My faith has really carried me through. Such strong faith. This is my faith community.” None of that matters anything. People believe in horoscopes. People believe in a lot of stuff. The faith that justifies must have Jesus Christ for its object. And we will have much more to say about this faith in future sermons. Only to note here that it is not a generic faith in faith, just to believe in something, as if God would be impressed to say, “Look at all these religious people in the world. They believe in stuff. Way to go. They really, really believe in stuff.” It’s faith in Jesus Christ. That’s why the technical language is that faith is the instrumental cause of our justification – that is, the means by which the blessings of Christ become ours. Don’t think of faith as that tremendous work. So, our works aren’t anything. They’re bad. They’re not good enough. But faith is the big boulder that you place on the scale that then tips it in your favor, and God says, “Well, I don’t have any works, but I sure love that faith.” Faith is not the meritorious ground of our righteous standing. It is only the instrument. It is the straw through which you sip your sweet tea. It comes to you. It’s the instrument.

And you notice “for all who believe.” Now, some people say, “Why that redundancy, Paul? Through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” You just said the same thing twice. Well, not exactly. He’s emphasizing that this righteousness that comes by faith is open to everyone, because that last phrase is indicating, “No this is not just, well, maybe the Jews can have this sort of faith, or maybe certain special people can have this option.” Well, wouldn’t that be nice? A lot of people have to do the works thing, and that never works, but some people get the faith option. He says no, righteousness of God comes to us through faith, and who can do this? Who can have this righteousness? Everyone. Everyone who believes. God shows no partiality in judging sin, and he shows no partiality in offering pardon for sin. He will not look upon you and give you a special shortcut because of who you are, and he does not make you do a long end-run around because you haven’t been a religious person or because you have really, really bad sins, it seems to you. This is for everyone who believes. It is to stress not only that righteousness comes through faith, but that it comes to everyone who has faith. Faith is the necessary, and the necessarily exclusive, instrument by which we receive righteousness. Or to put it more simply, faith is the only way, and it is, without fail, for everyone, an effective way.

Can you understand, then, why we have had such a long section on sin? As I mentioned, 15 sermons on sin, as it turns out. Why so much? Because 1:17 can go really seamlessly to 3:21. “In it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. The righteous shall live by faith. The righteousness of God has been manifested.” Just do that, Paul. Or maybe a verse. But you’re going to say in verse 23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Isn’t that your whole argument? Why not just do that? Why such a meaty section on sin? Well, because there’s a lot of arguments he has to make. There’s lots of twists and turns. He wants the Gentiles to be convinced. He wants the Jews to be convinced. He wants the religious outsiders to know they don’t have any excuses. He wants the religious insiders to know that they don’t have a leg up. And he wants all of us to understand this is our problem. If you were to ask most people, one of those man-on-the-street interviews, what’s the big problem out there? You’re not going to get from most people anything like Romans 1, 2, and 3. You’re going to get it’s the lack of good leaders, it’s the lack of education, it’s the lack of affordable housing, it’s what our parents have done, it’s our screens, it’s that political party, the other political party. And well, all of that has a bearing. We don’t live up in the clouds. And yet, Romans is telling us this is your problem and my problem and the human problem in the world. You think you have a lot of other problems. You think you know what’s really wrong. Remember the famous line from G.K. Chesterton when they had, in London, some essay contest to write in what is wrong with the world, and he wrote in the shortest response in response to your question, “what is wrong with the world?” – I am. Sincerely, G.K. Chesterton.

Romans teaches us this is the problem – the wrath of God revealed against sin – so that we might, in the face of God’s holiness, feel something of the weight of his glory. That’s what the word glory means – kavod in the Hebrew means something like a heaviness or a weight – that we might feel the weight of glory. And 15 sermons so that we might feel the weight of sin so that now, and praise God for a lot of weeks to come, you might feel the weight of the gospel. You know that phrase, “What a time to be alive”? We usually say it sort of tongue in cheek, ironically. You get into a self-driving car, “Wow, what a time to be alive.” I go to the gas station, and I get my energy drinks – not too many of them, don’t worry. I put it right at that little square there, and that little box just counts up everything. I don’t have to talk to anyone. Just right there, and you take out a card. What a time to be alive. You can get Chick-fil-a sauce in the grocery store. What a time to be alive. That’s how we use the phrase. But now. What a time to be alive. Yes, they were saved by faith in the Old Testament, but something dramatic, world-altering, irrevocable has taken place through the work of Jesus Christ. As one commentator puts it, “The old era of sin’s domination has given away to this new era of salvation in Christ Jesus. If the wrath of God dominated that old era, the righteousness of God for sinners through faith in Christ by grace alone dominates this new era.” What a time to be alive, that you have a Bible, that you get to hear the gospel, that you have hundreds of churches that you could choose from, that you can punch a button on your phone and have the best stuff that ever been written on your doorstep by tomorrow morning about the good news.

If you have never heard this news before, you can give your life to Christ today. You can say, “I want to be a Christian. Jesus, I’m this sinner. By faith alone, would you save me?” And if you have heard this news before, as most of you have, how can we not give thanks? How can we be – some of us, including your pastor – too often complaining, crusty, curmudgeonly people? What a time to be alive. My hope is built on nothing less – and nothing else – than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, would you work in us in the weeks ahead, Lord willing, that we might see and savor these many precious truths. Truly, there is nothing more important than this reality that is trumpeted to us in these verses. May our hearts sing, may our voices sing, and may we be satisfied in our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Nothing to Say

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:21:46 GMT

Let’s pray as we come to the preaching of God’s Word.

Oh Lord, we confess we are hard of hearing. Give us ears. We struggle to see your glory and see our sin, so give us eyes. We do not feel what we should feel. Give us a clean heart. We are easily distracted. We wander from your ways. Give us renewed wills. Help us now to receive your Word in humility and with faith. In the strong name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. You may be familiar with the book in the Bible named after him. Some scholars think it’s one of the very first books written, though it’s there in the middle of the Old Testament. You may be familiar with the story. He was blameless and upright. He feared God. He turned away from evil. Job, we might say, was faithful and pious. He was also, by the standards of the day, in comparison to everyone else, fabulously wealthy, prosperous, happy, and blessed. One day Satan came before the Lord, and the Lord said, “Have you seen my servant Job? He is blameless and upright.” Satan said, “Well, of course he is. That’s what people are like when they have everything they could ever want and more. But if he loses those things, he will curse you to your face.” So, the Lord gave Satan permission to test Job. First, Satan took away Job’s property. Then, he harmed his children. Then, he attacked Job’s health. There was no one anywhere who had been as rich as Job, and now there was no one anywhere who was experiencing more suffering than Job. And yet, Job did not curse God. He accepted that the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. The Lord had given a test of prosperity, and he was giving a test of adversity. Those are just the first two chapters of the book. of Job. There’s 42 chapters.

For the next 35 chapters, Job and his friends – and we ought to put that in scare quotes, because they turn out to be not very good counselors or friends – they try to understand why Job is suffering. And they can really only come up with one explanation. It’s the same thing that his wife said. Their only explanation is bad things happen to bad people. You’ve done something bad, Job. But Job hadn’t. He maintained his integrity through it all. He said this is not the Lord’s punishment for my sin. He kept his trust in God. But though he kept his trust in God, it was not without some faltering. We saw that already in the passage I read from Job 42 at the very end, that Job has to repent – not repent because he was being punished for his sins, but repent that in some of his questions, he crossed the line and made demands of God. He had to confess that. He had to repent of that. And so, when Job finished all of his speeches, and all of the so-called friends their speeches, God launched into a speech of his own. You see, Job wanted God to explain himself. God’s answer to Job was to show Job that he was God, and Job was Job. That is – though unsatisfying to some of us – that was God’s answer to the perennial problem of evil, at least one of the answers to Job. He didn’t answer all the questions he had. He demonstrated to Job, “I’m God and you’re not. There’s some things you don’t understand, and you couldn’t understand, because you’re not God.” And so, after all of the questions that Job was asking, God comes at Job with questions – no fewer than 41 questions, depending on how you count them. Questions like, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” “Have you walked in the recesses of the deep? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Can you send forth lightnings? Can you, Job, number the clouds?” At the end of this first speech, the Lord said to Job, “Shall a faultfinder” – because that’s what Job was in danger of becoming – “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” Then Job answered the Lord and said, “Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer twice, but I will proceed no further.” To be a Christian, a real Spirit-indwelt, born-again Christian, in this life is to be someone who has learned to put a hand over your mouth. A true Christian knows that before the judgment seat of Christ – and all of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ – you and I, me as much as you, will have absolutely nothing to say in defense of ourselves. The only appropriate response in the presence of the judge of all peoples living and dead is silence. That’s what we see in our text: Romans chapter 3, just two verses, 19 and 20.

“Now, we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

Paul has been making the case, as the prosecuting attorney, against the whole human race – first dealing with the Gentiles, or sometimes they’re called the Greeks, and then dealing with the Jews. Or you might say first dealing with the religious outsiders and then people like most of us, the religious insiders. And time and time again, he has proven the total spiritual inability of the whole human race. You see in verse 9, both Jews and Greeks, he has concluded, are under sin. Under sin. That means controlled by the power of sin, marred by the guilt of sin, and it’s a sin and a sin nature that is completely comprehensive – that is, the breadth of sin. Every people, every person, there is no nation, there is no skin color, there’s no sex, there’s no age limit. Every person, every people – the breadth of sin. And Paul has been laying a case for the depth of sin: in your words, in your sight, in your actions, in your understanding, in your character, we are utterly besotted by sin. And he mounts up this litany of passages from the Old Testament to testify to us that our understanding apart from Christ is darkened. Our aspirations, the things you most want out of life, apart from Christ are misplaced. Our sense of direction is confused and aimless. Our actions are not truly good. Our words are so often ugly and deceptive. Our speech is vile and bitter. Our actions cut others down. Our pursuits lead to destruction. Our lives do not know lasting peace, and our eyes cannot see God as he really is.

And so we come – this is very much a courtroom scene – we come to his closing arguments, to bring to a head this damning indictment that has run from chapter 1:18 – remember, what Paul does in verses 16 and 17 of chapter 1 is he tells us first about the solution, about the gospel, about the righteousness of God revealed from faith for faith, and then he tells us about the wrath of God that is revealed. Here is the problem for which we need the gospel as our only solution. From chapter 1:18 through the verses I just read, chapter 3:20, he has been making this mounting case, and so now he comes to the final concluding argument and it is so – in God’s eye, which is really the only judge that counts – before the bar of God’s judgment, it is an utterly damning indictment, such that that the defendant has nothing to say for himself or herself. I want you to notice, it’s a very simple structure in these two verses and for this sermon. There’s two verses, and each one has two clauses. So, there are four arguments that Paul makes, and they do form a kind of A, B, B prime, A prime, reverse – that is, you can see at the beginning of verse 19, he’s talking about the law. At the end of verse 20, he is again talking about the law. And then in the middle, verse 19 second half, he talks about the world. And then verse 20, the first half, he talks about works. So, you can think of the argument as law, world, works, law. Or to put it a little more technically, that first part of the argument is the premise, and then the second half of verse 19 is really the conclusion, and then verse 20 gives two further reasons to support that conclusion. Hopefully that will make sense as we walk through, line by line, these four arguments in his concluding judgment.

So, notice, first argument in 19a, the first half: the law that speaks. He says, “Now we know.” So, that’s important language. Now we know. This is concluding language. And the fact that he says “we know” indicates he’s about to say something that he thinks is not controversial. “Now we know” – I am stating something. This is the premise that everyone ought to agree on. We all know this to be the case. And what is that? That whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law. The word “law” can be narrow. It can be broad. Throughout Paul’s letters and throughout the New Testament, it can mean everything from the Ten Commandments or the Mosaic covenant or the Pentateuch or the whole Old Testament canon. Here, the first use of “law” in verse 19 – “what the law says” – undoubtedly refers to Old Testament Scripture or Hebrew Scripture. Now, why do we know that? Because recall what came in the verses just preceding it, verses 10-18. There were six or seven, depending on how you count them, passages from the Old Testament, namely from the book of Psalms and from Isaiah. So, he is saying now we know that whatever the law – that is, whatever our Bible says, whatever the Jewish Scriptures say – that law, it says to those who are under the law. That’s probably a broader use of the word law to refer to the Jewish people. He’s saying we know that these Scriptures – which have presented this absolutely irrefutable case from their own Bible that the Jews were not righteous, they did not seek after God, they had wandered from his path, their lips were full of poison, their feet were quick to shed blood – he says, whatever the law says, it says to those under the law, that is to the Jews, those to whom the Word of God came. Remember that in chapter 3:2, what advantage has the Jew? Paul says, I got a bunch of them, and then he only mentions one, and then he kind of goes on to his next thing. He says, here’s the one thing, the biggest advantage the Jews had: they had the Word of God. So, the law speaks, and it says to those under the law. This is for the Jewish people. We know that it’s also true now for Gentiles, but he’s making the point in his context. These Old Testament Scriptures we know were for the Jews. Okay?

Second argument (19b, second half): “so that every mouth may be stopped.” So, you got to think. This is the tricky part in the argument. First half, pretty simple. Whatever the law says – the Bible – it says to the Jews, who received this Word. “So that” – now, you might think (that’s a purpose clause), you might think that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law so that we conclude that the Jews are under judgment. That would make sense, because he’s just talking about the Jews and the Word that they’ve received. But he doesn’t make a comment now about the Jews. Curiously, he makes a comment now about every mouth and the whole world. So why does Paul think that stating something in the first half of verse 19 about the Jews, that premise leads to the conclusion in the second half of verse 19 about the damning condition of the entire planet? Well, here’s the argument in Paul’s mind. It is a simple argument from the lesser to the greater. What he has in his mind and would not have been lost, I think, on the church receiving it – Jews and Gentiles, perhaps mostly Jews – lesser to greater. He’s saying if the Jewish people of all people – the ones who received the Word of God, the ones who had the sacrifices and the priests, the ones who had all the miracles – if the Jewish people, if the Old Testament nation of Israel for all of those centuries (remember, they got to see 10 plagues; they got Ten Commandments by the finger of God; they had the Red Sea part, they had miracle after miracle; they had prophets come and speak to them in my name; they had a temple; they had sacrifices), if the Jews had all of that, and they have failed, well then, what do you think are the chances for the whole world?

Some of you may have seen a few weeks ago – I know you’re into running – but you should have seen Josh Kerr break the world record in the mile. It was pretty amazing, in the 3:40s. I think we could have a two-lap head start, and I think he would come and pass most of us. That’s an amazing record. It wasn’t that long ago that to go a mile under four minutes was amazing. Now I’m going to go out on a limb and say we’re not going to see the mile go under three minutes. Just going to go out on a limb. If we do, I’ll be dead by then. But I don’t think three minutes. Three minutes. He can train. He can get the super shoes. He can get the super suit. He can sleep 12 hours a day. He can eat all the things. He’s not eating my diet. I’m sure of that. And not going to do it. And you could say all of the best, most gifted VO2 max Olympic athletes with all the special training, and they will not come close to running a mile under three minutes. Therefore, the whole world is not going to run a mile under three minutes. I think we would understand the argument. If they can’t do it, we were just hoping to get around one lap in 3 minutes and 42 seconds. Some of us were looking for a bicycle to try to do it. So, we are not going to – that’s the lesser to the greater. If the Jews failed to be righteous in God’s sight, what was the story of Israel? You know your Old Testament. Yes, there’s some heroes of the faith. Yes, there’s some great “one shining moment,” but it’s punctuated by more failures than successes and ultimately that they’re led into captivity and then they’re brought back, but the word has been prophesied that Jerusalem and the temple is going to be overthrown. They’ve rejected their Messiah. They have not been successful, even with all of their advantages. How will it fare for the rest of us? It is concerning in our day that we have seen and are seeing a rise of anti-Semitism. And people will sometimes from the Bible say, “Well, look at all of these negative statements about the Jewish people. Look at this spiritual judgment.” And indeed, there are many passages like that, but here’s the conclusion we ought to reach: not “look at the Jewish people, how bad they were,” but imagine if they couldn’t do it, what a mess all of us are in, because this – here’s Paul’s point – this is not a Jewish problem, this is a human problem. And so, he concludes from all of these Scripture passages – to those who were under the law, no one righteous – if they couldn’t do it, then surely we know that every mouth, not just Jewish mouths, Gentile mouths will be stopped.

Isn’t that what we see so often in the Bible? When someone encounters the glory of God in a new, unveiled way, they don’t know what to do. You think of the hapless disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. There they end up talking a little bit too much. But John of Patmos in Revelation, he falls down as though dead at the sight of the risen Christ. Or Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up, just the train of his robe filling the temple. It’s not like he’s seeing the unvarnished face of God. There’s just angels who are covering their eyes, and you just see the train of his robe to fill the temple, and you remember immediately, what does the angel have to do? Put a coal to his lips, as if to suggest you cannot speak in the presence of God Almighty until you’re forgiven, until you’re purified, because you live among a people of unclean lips, and your lips, even Isaiah, are unclean. This cross-examination from the Apostle Paul leaves the defendant, which is each one of us, utterly speechless. No answers. The case has been made. You have been found out, as if every thought and every errant eyeball and every nurtured grudge and every lustful thought and every vindictive attitude and every petty recrimination were somehow put on the screen for the witness stand, and you’d see it. And even as you thought about, “Yes, but I got my kids birthday presents, and I went to church.” You would say, “I can’t defend myself.” Every mouth: the rich, the powerful, the beautiful, the admired. Doesn’t matter how rich you are, doesn’t matter how poor you are. Every mouth: Jeff Bezos, all his billions will not help him on that day. Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, AOC stand before God, and apart from Christ, they will have nothing they can say. Taylor Swift, even Nick Saban, you Crimson Tide, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Tom Holland, Zendaya, your favorite influencer, your favorite home decorator, your favorite author, even your favorite pastor – nothing. Every mouth.

Now, don’t think that it’s a moment of profound repentance. It’s just a moment of profound realization. In fact, the sad reality is for those who go in having ignored God, hating God, in that moment of realization, there may be some regret, and it will lead to just further hatred toward God, because in that moment for you, for me, all of us, it will be clear in a nanosecond God was bigger than you thought. He was better than you thought. He was more patient with you than you thought. He gave you more chances than you thought. And it will also be clear that the sum total of your deeds, my deeds, your feelings, your thoughts, your actions were worse than you thought. It will be, for some, too late. It will be regret. It will be a realization. And it will be a realization in that moment that God is exactly what you cried out at some moment that he would be. “I want you to be fair!” And you find out he is fair. Everyone will be silenced in the presence of God, so the question is, will you be silent before God – put a hand over your mouth now – while there’s still chance or later, when all hope is gone? Paul says every mouth will be stopped. Whatever you’ve rehearsed in your head: “Well, I got a few things to say to God. I got a few questions that he’s going to have to answer before me. Oh, no, no. I got some note cards. I got some things to present before him, some things that weren’t exactly fair on his part, some things that I’ve done that he’s overlooked.” You won’t say any of it. Everyone will be silenced. The whole world may be accountable to God – that is, the case will have been proven. We will be answerable to God, and we will be found, apart from Christ, guilty before God. And if you think, well, I will stand before God and say, “You didn’t give me any chances.” Oh, really? Have you been following Paul’s argument throughout these chapters? He’s been proving that God has been revealing himself over and over to the human race. God revealed himself in nature. That’s chapter 1:20-21. You had an awareness of divinity. You could see his glory and his majesty in the things that have been made. God even gave you proof in your judgment of others (chapter 1:32). You know when somebody cheats you that it’s wrong. You know when someone speaks ill of you that it’s wrong. You know if somebody were to have an affair with your spouse, it would be wrong. You know what’s wrong in other people. Chapter 2:15, God gave you a conscience. God revealed himself in the Scriptures, to which you are accountable now. And we could say from verse 19, God even gave the real-life example of Israel, having failed at least for a time, to receive that which should have been theirs. Over and over, God says, “No, don’t tell me that I didn’t show you anything. I gave you creation. I gave you natural law. You suppressed it. I gave you a conscience. I gave you Scriptures. I gave you examples in providence and in history.” The whole world is accountable before God, and they will have nothing to say for themselves. That’s the big point in these two verses.

Now in verse 20, he supports that with two further arguments, reasons. So, one: works. He says those works will not suffice. He uses this phrase here “by works of the law.” This phrase has produced, especially in the last 30 years or so, mounds and mounds of scholarly articles and monographs and books. What did Paul mean by “works of the law”? Well, most immediately he is talking about obedience to the law of Moses. He is saying that the Jews could not earn their way to God. They could not because – no failure in the law of Moses; he’s going to say later in Romans 7, it’s good and holy and right – but the failure was in their human heart and their total inability to keep that law. So, it is in an immediate context about obedience to the law of Moses, but most of interpretive history and especially since the Reformation, it’s been understood that this is even broader than that. It’s talking about the human impulse in our hearts to want to present before God on the day of judgment our works of any kind. You only need to know about 90 seconds about this here, so bear with me, but everyone here who’s a seminary student is going to learn something called the new perspective on Paul. I mentioned it before. There’s an old perspective on Paul from Luther and Calvin. Go with that one. But there was something called the new perspective on Paul. It was a big deal when I was in seminary 25 years ago. Its star has sort of waned. Almost everyone who gets ordained in the PCA, somebody is going to ask at their ordination exams, what do you think about the new perspective on Paul? Just a little tip, start with “I don’t like it.” Okay? And then, you know, make sure that’s true, but just say that, and then give your reasons. So, this school of thought said, well, no, Paul is just talking about these ethnic boundary markers, specialized food laws, holy days, circumcision. He’s just saying that, hey, Jews, you shouldn’t make Gentiles become Jews, and it’s just a narrow thing, and Luther and Calvin made too much of this, and they read in medieval Catholicism into the first century. Well, it’s true. We want to keep always in mind the first century context. We don’t want to import Luther’s own context.

And yet, that narrow understanding of works of the law will not work. For one thing, if you go back to chapter 2:15, they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, and there it’s talking about Gentiles. So, you can also talk about not just circumcision and food laws, but just the sense of right and wrong that God puts on the human heart. This phrase in the plural, “works of the law,” also appears later in verse 28. And then it appears several times in Galatians 2:16 (there three times), and then in Galatians 3, verse 2, verse 5, and verse 10. And what’s important about Galatians is the contrast there in Paul’s argument is with Abraham who is justified by faith, and he’s going to come to that here in Romans 4 as well, and not by works of the law when, remember, Abraham lived before the Mosaic law. So, Paul cannot be talking simply about these ethnic boundary markers for the Jewish people that came in the Mosaic law. He’s talking about law even broader than that – that principle of works. And though it’s true that the Old Testament is a gracious expression of the one covenant of grace – we don’t want to think otherwise – it’s also true that the Jewish people did not always live as well and as graciously as their theology on paper would have them. And this is part of the human predicament. We can have one thing on the church website about salvation by grace and faith in Christ and alone, alone, alone, and then we can have in the human heart this continual instinct to stand before God with something we have done and to boast before others about some kind of works. No, the force in this concluding argument would make no sense if Paul is now retreating to some small point just about the Jews. He’s making a big point about Jews and Gentiles and about the whole world, and you see there in verse 20 about no human being or human flesh. So, the works of the law here are representative of every effort to make our obedience the ground of our acceptance before God. Paul has in mind works of any kind. We are dealing not just with a Jewish problem but with a human problem. The indictment is not just against Jewish self-confidence. It is against every attempt at self-salvation. I’ve given this line before – one of my favorites from George Whitefield – to paraphrase one of his sermons. He said, “Works, works! You’d sooner climb to the moon on a rope of sand than stand before God in your works.” It doesn’t work. All efforts at self-justification will fail, and they have failed already.

What is the internet but so often everyone’s very public, often vile, petty attempt at self-justification, at self-salvation, to prove to the world, to themselves, to someone out there that they’re righteous and everyone else is not? This was the instinct from the very first sin in the garden. You remember what Adam and Eve did? What did they do? They realize they’re naked, which is an expression of their now impurity. They realize it’s a sense of shame. Now they realize because of sin, I’m embarrassed to stand before God. And their first instinct, which is the instinct in every human heart, is I got to cover myself. And they get fig leaves, and they sew these fig leaves together. But you remember what God does by the end of Genesis chapter 3? He has to give them clothes, and you remember where he gets the clothes? He said he made them from animal skins to tell them, if they could receive it, “No, no, no. Your efforts at self-salvation will not work. Your meager efforts to grab the first thing you can, whatever fig leaves you can, to put in front of your shame before me will not work. Only by the shedding of blood can you be covered. Not a leaf. An animal’s going to have to die. You’re going to need a skin. Blood will have to be shed for your sin to be covered, and you can’t get it by grasping at the first thing you see to try to cover yourself and present yourself.” Only God can give you the clothes to cover your nakedness. And this final argument you see at the end of verse 20 is that through the law comes knowledge of sin, and we’ll come back to this throughout Romans.

The law reveals sin in at least three ways. Number one, it informs. That’s the most obvious. You can read through the Ten Commandments, and it tells you don’t steal. It tells you don’t commit adultery. So, it puts it in black and white. It informs, but it also convicts so that you read the law, and you understand how you fall short. You can’t read through the Sermon on the Mount. You can’t read through the fruit of the Spirit, let alone the Ten Commandments, without immediately feeling and knowing, “I’m not doing this perfectly.” So, it reveals, it informs, it convicts. It’s like the officer said, did you know how fast you were going? I didn’t. Did you know that this was 35 miles per hour, and you were going 80? I know now. So, the law informs; the law convicts. But here’s what Paul is later going to make the argument in Romans 7: more than that, even, the law excites you to sin. He’ll say when the law said do not covet, it’s not just that it convicted me and it informed me, it also made me want to covet. You ever have that experience? Someone tells you what not to do, and you think immediately that’s what I’m going to do. This is not a true story from the DeYoung household, but if you were to drop off your 13-year-old daughter and her 13-year-old friends at the movie theater and they said, “Oh, yeah. We’re really excited. I think we’re going to see Toy Story 5.” And you drop them off, and then you pull away, and you get home. You text her, and you say, “Absolutely no PG-13 movies. Definitely don’t sneak into rated-R movies. Just PG. Toy Story 5 is good. Maybe the Minions movie, or I think the new Paw Patrol looks really cute.” Now, what is that 13-year-old, especially if her friends see the text come in – you may have even thought that you wanted to see Toy Story 5; now, when you get those rules, you say, “Where’s The Odyssey? Do I look 17? Can I get in here?” Here’s the point. When the law of God meets the sinful human heart, the law, which is good and holy and righteous, does not awaken faith. It awakens resistance. When God’s holy law meets the fallen human heart, it doesn’t awaken faith. It awakens resistance. So, you got Paul’s argument here, working from the outside in: the Jews couldn’t keep the law (that’s the beginning of verse 19). The end of verse 20, you can’t keep the law. It reveals your sin. It informs. It convicts. It excites. So that’s the end. Work your way in. That’s why works are not going to get you anywhere. You cannot stand before God based on your works. That will be utterly fruitless and a failure, which is why the whole world is guilty before God. The whole world.

One of the implications here is don’t be overawed with anyone. Don’t be that kind of people pleaser. Be friendly, gentle, kind. Don’t be overawed by anyone, no matter how much money they have, no matter how fancy their life, no matter how beautiful and attractive they look online. Don’t be over-awed by anyone. Their mouth will be stopped. Another implication though is don’t be too harsh with others either, because your mouth, apart from Christ, will be stopped, too. And don’t get nervous if someone says to you at some point, “Hey, convince me to become a Christian. Why don’t you convince me why I should become a Christian?” Now, there’s a lot of good things you could say, and you may want to talk about the reliability of the Bible or the empty tomb. And you got lots of good apologetics things that you could say, but here’s one of the things you absolutely ought to say. Hmm, convince me to become a Christian. Well, friend, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit, and I really can’t convince you. I can give you some good arguments. Only the Holy Spirit can convince you. But here’s what I can tell you from God’s Word. What it says about your heart, what it says about my heart, and what it says it will be like for you and me to stand before the judgment seat of God one day. That’s not what the person’s expecting. But you don’t have to give them what they want to hear. You tell them what the Bible knows they need to hear. This book, we’ve been saying all along, knows you better than you know yourself. Knows me better than I know myself. It is a mirror, and it is a scary mirror because it doesn’t flatter. I like mirrors that flatter. Somebody can make those mirrors. Sell a bunch of them. But this book will not do it. Sometimes giving up is terrible. And you hear that at graduation speeches, don’t give up. Usually giving up is the wrong thing to do. Spiritually, sometimes, if you’re fighting to prove yourself to God, giving up is the only way to victory. Will you accept the Bible’s verdict about your fallen human heart? Will you stop trying to justify yourself? Will you put away all the rehearsed speeches, all of the things you’d like to say before God, all of the aces you supposedly have up your sleeve? Put them all away.

We’re going to sing in just a moment this hymn. Now, we think of it, especially if you’re of a certain age, you think of it as a Billy Graham revival hymn. The buses will wait, and you got to sing an endless number of verses. We’re not having an altar call. There are no buses. 15-passenger vans, no buses. But this is the right response. And remember, Paul is writing this book of Romans to a church, to Christians. Yes, this is certainly for non-Christians. But don’t just think, “Well, pastor, that was really good. That was a great evangelistic message.” He’s writing to Christians, because you and I need to sing this hymn from the bottom of our hearts: “Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bid’st me come to thee. O Lamb of God, I come.” No pleas, no defense. Silence before the judgment seat of Christ. To be a Christian is to know when to stop talking and when to start listening. Because isn’t this a good word? Now, verse 19, now we know that the whole world may be stopped. The whole world may be held accountable. This judgment day is coming. It’s coming. But Lord willing, we’re going to get to verse 21 next week. That’s then, but now. Now. That day hasn’t been fully revealed yet. That’s later. But now. Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. That judgment seat, verses 19 and 20 – verse 21 is the opportunity now. God’s grace has not run dry, and your time has not run out. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy Word, and we come. We come without any plea, but that your blood was shed for each one of us who believe. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

How to Think About Good Works

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:40:46 GMT

Father in heaven, help us as we reflect upon the truths of your Word, that we might not only understand, but we might be doers, we might live such good lives among the pagans, that though they want to accuse us of doing wrong, yet something in our lives would cause them to ask for a reason for the hope that we have, or would so adorn the gospel that it might be the beginning of the means of grace to speak the words of truth, and that they may glorify you on the day of your return. We pray that we might be the people in Christ that you have called us to be. In his name we pray. Amen.

Being a good theologian means knowing your terms and looking carefully at the words in sentences. Part of learning theology is learning vocabulary, and it’s also learning to be a careful thinker and pay very careful attention to words. Let me ask you a question. I wonder how you would answer this. True or false: are good works necessary to salvation? Are good works necessary to salvation? Now notice, if you’re a careful reader of words or listener at this point, the word there I gave you is salvation, not justification. We may use them interchangeably, but really, theologically, salvation is a broader category, encompassing everything on our way to heaven. So, the question was not about justification in particular, but are good works necessary to salvation? If you say, in order to defend in your mind sola fide (justification by faith alone), and you want to say no, good works are not necessary to salvation, what do you do with great swaths of the New Testament or the whole Bible and moral imperatives and the demands for obedience and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount if somehow now good works are not necessary unto salvation? So, you want to answer yes, and I’ll just tell you, “yes” or “true” is the right answer. Good works are necessary to salvation. But at that point, okay, I’m going to need some help there, because that makes me a little nervous. There’s some obviously wrong ways that we might say good works are necessary to salvation. The crassest way would be, well, obviously good people go to heaven. All dogs go to heaven. That was a movie. I’m sure it’s based on truth. And good people go to heaven. You live your life. Somehow you’re weighed in the balance, or you’re graded on the curve – you do enough good things, you go to heaven. Or slightly more nuanced than that, someone may say, “Well, God enables us to so participate with him in being inwardly righteous, such that something in that righteousness is some small part of the ground by which we are accepted.” Those would both be bad ways to understand the “yes” to the question “Are good works necessary to salvation?”

This has often perplexed Christians, and especially Reformed Christians, because it has been one of the most consistent criticisms of Reformed or just Reformation theology. You can see this developing – and we’ll come to the catechism in just a moment – but back before the section on the sacraments, which went on for many weeks, the Heidelberg Catechism asked how are you right with God? Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Why do you say it is by faith alone? Because it is not because of any value my faith has. Only I receive this righteousness. And why can’t the good we do make us right with God? Because the righteousness does not pass God’s scrutiny. How can you say the good we do doesn’t earn us anything? Because the reward is not earned; it is a gift. So, the catechism has been stressing faith alone. Your works do nothing to merit justification. And then, having the section on the means of grace and the sacraments and last week on discipline, now coming back around to this question: okay, if that’s the case, then why must we still do good?

You may have noticed that this transitions us into the third major section of the Heidelberg Catechism: guilt, grace, and gratitude. If we were to say, on the one hand, good works are not necessary, then it seems as if our entire lives are indifferent. Rather, how we live them doesn’t matter. That’s what, perhaps, libertines might say or a kind of easy-believism. You heard me give the term this morning antinomianism. Nomos is the word for law, like Deuteronomy. Deuteronomos is the second giving of the Law before they entered the Promised Land, so an antinomian is someone who’s anti-law. There are very few people among Christian churches who just stand up and say it doesn’t matter at all what you do. But there is a certain kind of attitude that says to insist upon following the commands of Scripture is to demand the impossible or it’s to load people down with guilt or it is to undermine the gospel itself. That is the spirit of antinomianism that sometimes leads to answering, “No, good works are not necessary to salvation.” On the other side, if you answer, “Yes, they are necessary,” how do we avoid becoming a legalist or a Pharisee or a Pelagian or a semi-Pelagian or the mistakes of Roman Catholic theology? We want to affirm, as the catechism leads us and the Scriptures teach: sola fide. Opposed to sola fide, which the Roman Catholic Church has been for 500 years, will say, “What must you do to be saved? You must repent, believe, and live in charity.” This was one of the most critical objections raised by Catholics and continue to be raised by opponents of Reformation theology: why must we still do good? If this is faith alone, then tell me – you are setting yourselves up, your churches – you are going to be the most wicked, despicable people. You will do evil that grace may abound, as we read from Romans chapter 6.

Francis Turretin, the 17th century theologian, describes two extremes. The one extreme of libertine, anything goes, and the other extreme of a legalism, a pharisaical attitude. And he says, trying to hold to the middle ground between these two extremes, which he calls “the opinion of the orthodox,” he said good works are necessary, but not according to the necessity of merit. Here’s where being a good theologian means paying very careful attention to words. Listen to what Turretin says. The question before us: are good works necessary to salvation? “The question is not whether good works are necessary to effect salvation or to acquire it of right” – so that’s not the question. You say, God, here’s my good works. I have now effected salvation. I have now acquired. You are holding it there. You have a purchase price. I pay the purchase price of my good works. Therefore, you give me salvation. Turretin says that is not the question we are asking – “but whether good works are required as the means and the way for possessing of salvation.” And in this last sense, he affirms the necessity of good works: “Although we acknowledge the necessity of good works,” he observes, “we do not on this account confound the law and the gospel and interfere with gratuitous justification by faith alone. Good works are required” – listen carefully – “not for living according to the law, but because we live by the gospel; not as the causes on account of which life is given to us, but as effects, which testify that life has been given to us.” Not as causes on account of which we receive life, but as effects, which testify that life has been given to us. And this is the uniform teaching of Scripture: the necessity of good works. It is necessary to live as transformed people.

Eric read the first 11 verses from Romans chapter 6. Let me just read to you verses 1 and 2 and then 12-14. And listen here in Paul’s argument – I want you to listen for two analogies that he uses: “What then shall we say? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” He’s anticipating that’s what some people are going to say about this gospel, especially in

Romans 3 – we’re coming to it. Romans 4, Romans 5. Some people are going to say, “Me and God, we get along great. I love to sin. He loves to forgive. It’s a partnership made in heaven. This is wonderful. I just sin, and he says, ‘Grace, grace, grace.’ I’m happy. He’s happy.” Paul of course says, “By no means.” How can we who died to sin still live in it? So, there’s the first analogy. That old person in you died. You died. That’s what he continues with “buried with Christ in baptism,” that we have been raised to newness of life. When you think of that indwelling sin in you that still wants to go to that website, that wants to feel sorry for yourself, that wants to wallow in self-pity, that wants to hold a grudge, that wants to be surly towards your family, that wants to stoke the fires of bitterness, that’s tempted to cheat at work or to lie to get ahead or to be vain and proud – that old part of you, Paul says, you hung on the cross, that old you. See, we think of how Christ died as a substitute in our place. Romans also teaches we died in union with Christ there, so that that person that is clamoring for your attention, that old you, is dead. Don’t be a zombie Christian. Don’t bring back the dead you. You’re alive in Christ. So that’s the first analogy: death.

The second one in verse 12, “Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members” – which often in Paul’s language can mean sexual organs, but can just be the members of your body, yourself – “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life” – there’s the death metaphor – “and your members to God as instruments for righteousness, for sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” So, he weaves in there that first analogy, death, but do you see the second one? Bondage, slavery, dominion. You think if you were fighting one of the wars in the Middle East over the last decade or two against al-Qaeda or ISIS or the Taliban, and if you were made a prisoner, and you were a POW, and through great effort some Navy Seal team came in and set you free, and you were delivered, and you were now back on the side of the United States Armed Forces and flying you back to the United States to your home where you belong, to your people. And if you snuck on a plane, and you wandered off into one of those mountains, and you found one of the caves where the terrorists were hanging out, and you came, and they said, “What are you doing here?” And you said, “Bind me. Put the shackles on me again.” We would all say, “What a grotesque tragedy to return to your captives, to say, “Enslave me again. Put me in bonds. Put me in fetters. Let me be in bondage. Have your dominion over me once more.” For freedom you have been set free – that’s the analogy that Paul gives. You died in Christ on the cross. That old you died, and you’ve been set free. Don’t present your members to come back to sin and say, “I’m ready, sin, to be your slave again. Have mastery over me.” Every one of us would say, “What an utter blasphemous tragedy, and what a dishonor to the one who set you free.” That’s what Paul says. So yes, good works are necessary for the Christian. You live in freedom, not in bondage.

Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” It’s not a holiness scale. You need so many holiness points. It is simply saying a good tree bears good fruit. You show yourself to be changed. As you probably remember me saying before, just think very simply about a math problem. I won’t make you think about it for very long. F equals faith in this equation. W equals works. J equals justification. If you say F on the board plus W equals justification: anti-gospel, anti-Christian. So, people say, “Okay, that’s right. That’s right. The works do not contribute to our justification.” And what critics of Reformed theology say, “See, you just erased the W. There’s no W in your equation.” No, there is. It goes on the other side of the equal sign. F equals J yielding W. Faith alone receives justification, and once justified, we are sanctified and ultimately glorified. So, we are not erasing the W. We are not saying that good works are indifferent in the life of the Christian. They are, in fact, necessary. And you say, well, does that really make a practical difference, because either way you’re saying they’re necessary. If you put the W on the one side of justification or the other side, does it really make a difference? Well, let me ask you the question. Does it make a difference if you say to a child, “If you love me well, and if you show yourself to be obedient, I will welcome you into my home as my very own child”? Or if you say to a child, “I love you. You are my child. I adopted you. You are mine. Come live with me as my family member in my home,” and then you start to live as a part of the family that you already are. I think that would make a tremendous difference to a child. What message, though you may have in your mind that the end is a similar kind of behavior, it makes a massive difference to say to that child, “Love me, listen to me, obey me, then come into my home,” or “You are mine. I love you. I’ve adopted you. Come into my home, and live as a family member would live in this home.” People sometimes naively think, well, religious people disagree on their doctrine, but they basically all agree on how to live a life and be a good person. Now, that is demonstrably not true, but even if it were true that religious people all agree you should be a good person – now, that’s not true; we don’t agree on what the good in that good person means – even if we did, we would still be left with the all-important question, why? Why must we do good works? Why must we be transformed people? And that is the question that Lord’s Day 32, question 86, answers for us. You can see it printed in your bulletin.

Q: Since we have been delivered from our misery by grace through Christ without any merit of our own (see, it’s bringing all of this good theology to bear, and then it’s raising the question that might naturally follow), why, then, should we do good works?

A: Because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, is also renewing us by his Spirit into his image, so that with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits and that he may be praised through us, and further, so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and by our godly living, our neighbors may be won over to Christ.

I want you to notice the catechism helpfully gives us five reasons. Sometimes as Christians we get locked in, and maybe it’s something that we heard or something that’s helpful to us, and we forget that the Bible has many medicines for our motivation. Sometimes we think, you know, good counselors know that there are lots of different levers to pull, lots of buttons that can be pushed. And so it is if you’re a good physician of the soul for yourself or for others, you realize you don’t just go – it wouldn’t be a good doctor, “Alright, what do you need?” Amoxicillin. Get that. Maybe penicillin. Something with an “illin,” because you’re illin’. I just thought of that. So, there you go. That’s why they’re there. That’s why they help you. That would not be a good doctor that gives you the same prescription. There are many motivations, and here, helpfully, the catechism gives us five reasons why we do good. First, good works are the fruit of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. That’s what Ursinus – he’s the principal author of the catechism – says in his commentary. The way the catechism puts it is Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, is also renewing us by his Spirit into his image. So, this is the first reason, that Christ is still at work in you. The problem with antinomians is that they champion a grace without repentance. They celebrate acceptance without correction. Look at 87: “Can those be saved who do not turn to God from their ungrateful and unrepentant ways? By no means.” Scripture tells us – and you could cite Galatians 5, as it does, or 1 Corinthians 6 or Revelation 21 – that no person, no idolater, adulterer, thief, no covetous person, no drunkard, slanderer, robber or the like will inherit the kingdom of God. Now, it’s not talking about anyone who ever commits one of these sins, but someone who has given themselves over habitually, unrepentantly, to this way of living. Scripture says in numerous places, such a person will not inherit the kingdom, because they have not shown that Christ has been at work in them to renew. They have heard a gospel of grace, but without the grace that also leads us home, the grace that saves a wretch like us, but doesn’t leave us as wretches. Sinclair Ferguson’s well-known book The Whole Christ communicates this. We need not just half a Christ, but the whole Christ. Theologians often refer to – and you can sound real smart if you can put it into a different language – the duplex gratia. That just means the double grace or the double gift of our union with Christ, that through our union with Christ, there is justification, and he also gives us the gift. Now, it operates differently but gives us the gift of sanctification. That is the whole Christ, the Christ to both justify you and, having been justified, to then sanctify you. The catechism tells us Christ by his Spirit is renewing you. So, if you are tempted to say, “But Jesus loves me just the way I am,” it would be truer to say, “Jesus loves you enough not to leave you the way that you are.” A good coach doesn’t just tell his players as they let touchdown after touchdown go or a goalie who’s afraid of touching a ball or basketball players who airball all their free throws – a good coach doesn’t just say fist bump. Love you guys. Love you, man. You’re mine, and you’re so special to me. Come on. Bring it in. Hug it in guys. That coach should not be a coach. He doesn’t train anyone. He doesn’t discipline anyone. He doesn’t make them better. So, if you say, “Well, this is who I am.” Maybe who you are right now, and praise God, the gospel is not “clean up your life and then you can be saved.” Just like the Ten Commandments did not come to Israel when they were in Egypt: I got 10 rules for you. I’ll check back in a year. If you seem to be getting at least 65% of this, good. I got some plagues. Okay. So, let’s start with the Ten Commandments. You get those bang up, 10 plagues come and you’re out of here. Let’s come back in a year. Doesn’t do that. Saves them, but then gives them the law. You may say, “This is who I am. Look, I’m just stuck.” Well, it may be who you are right now, but who is Christ forming you to be? The person who is not interested in good works does not believe that Christ can do anything in your life. That’s the first reason.

Second reason: we do good works as a display of gratitude, so that with our whole lives, we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits. That’s the great turn in Romans chapter 12, “Therefore, in view of God’s mercies” – all of the great mercies evident, pouring over you, pounding you with a glorious waterfall of grace in Romans 1-11 – “therefore, in view of these mercies, present yourselves as a living sacrifice.” Here’s how you live a life that’s pleasing to God. It’s a response to God’s unmerited favor in our life. This is not a debtor’s ethic. We don’t talk about gratitude because it’s sort of a quid pro quo. Wow, God. Oh, man. You did so many things for me, and I guess I better try to prove to you that I really love you. That’s not at all how gratitude ought to work in our lives or how it’s meant to work in the New Testament. Nor is it a manipulation for future gain. You may do that to someone who gives you a nice gift, and you’re very acquiescent in accepting it, “Oh, thank you, thank you,” and you’re really just manipulating, hoping for more. That’s not gratitude. Ursinus, the author of the catechism, called calls gratitude “the impulsive cause of good works.” It’s the impulse. It’s the energy. It’s the chemical reaction propelling you to good works. Most of our sin – I certainly think this is true in my life – most of our sin is downstream from not seeing all that we’ve been given. You get impatient as I do, complain as I do. You got messes in your house. That’s because you got people in your house. You got stuff. Some people don’t have people. Some people don’t have stuff. You don’t have eyes to see the clothes you’re wearing because they’re not the clothes you want. The home that you’ve been given, the body that you have, though it may be failing, though it may be allergic to too many things. You have been given this body. You have relationships. You have a Bible. You have forgiveness. You have a church. You have the Holy Spirit. Our sin is downstream from not having the eyes to see everything that God has done for us.

Often think about the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. You know, where the first one comes out and the landowner says, “I’ll give you a denarius.” And then all throughout the day, he gets more and more people to work until the one who comes at the 11th hour. And then after 12 hours, the work day, out in the hot sun, when it comes to pay, and he gives to the one who had been there an hour, a denarius all the way down the line to the man who showed up and has been out there in the heat of the day for 12 hours. And what does he get? A denarius. And you know what he says? You’re not fair. Of course, the master was fair, because he gave exactly what he promised. But in his eyes, you gave to someone else more than they deserve. Therefore, you did not give me what I deserve. And I’ve often thought about that parable, and it’s a rebuke in my own life at times, to think about you can live your life with – so I have glasses. These are new glasses by the way. Wow. They look very much like the old ones, but very trendy. And I need glasses. It’s not a fashion statement. I have very, very bad eyes. You put on glasses each day. You can live your life. There are people that live their life with fairness goggles. Everything they see is just always calculating, always measuring, always sizing up, always looking over at that person. They think, “Oh, that person got a lot more than they deserve, and why didn’t you do that to me?” And of course, they don’t really know that God is more than fair to them, but they are constantly calculating, and they put on each day. It’s a miserable way to live. The laborers in the vineyard says, “Take off those fairness goggles. Wake up every morning, and put on the glasses of grace.” That’s a way to walk around the world. Look at I’m doing so much better than I deserve. Look at all the things that I have that I didn’t even work for. Look at all the advantages. Look at all the kindnesses the Lord has given to me.

Think about one of two reactions that your kids – not my kids, but your kids – might have on Christmas. Some kids open those presents and quite genuinely are happy the rest of the day, the rest of the week maybe. And it’s not manipulative. It really is a spirit of overwhelming gratitude. Wow, I didn’t expect this. Wow, I didn’t know that you would get me all this. There’s a joy. There’s an eagerness to help the whole rest of the day or at least a good 45 minutes. They’re saying thank you. Gratitude is an impulsive force to good works. Others, you didn’t get me what I wanted. I think you got that sibling, that grandchild, more than you got me. The difference is really only one thing. Thankfulness. It’s gratitude. Let me tell you a secret I need to tell to my own heart. Do you want to be a happier person? Do you want to be a more obedient Christian? Do you want to be a more useful Christian? Do you want to be more like Jesus Christ? There is one very simple step that you can take. Cultivate a heart of gratitude.

Thankfulness. We have Thanksgiving and think of turkeys and stuffing up that turkey. Thanksgiving is the stuffing that not only fills up your life, it crowds out lots of other things. That’s one of the good things that gratitude does. If you got a life filled with gratitude, it’s hard to have other kind of nastiness and darkness and vice. The happiest people are grateful people. One of my kids had the opportunity this past week at Bonclarken to volunteer for the Joni and Friends camp that they do there. And you heard this morning Dave is going to be their speaker there this week. What an amazing ministry. We got Chris Hillesheim here, and others have worked with that ministry over the years, and maybe know Joni personally. Nothing is easy in her life, and everything that it takes to see her publicly and sing a hymn from her wheelchair – there’s a whole lot of suffering that still takes place. And yet I told one of my kids this week, I said, I think she’s the maybe the holiest, happiest person I’ve ever met. And it’s not fake. It is a genuine gratitude. That’s what is so powerful about her ministry and what God has done through her. See, there’s someone, without minimizing at all the suffering – you’ve probably heard Joni say the first thing she’s gonna do when she gets to heaven is, you know, toss the wheelchair into the abyss; she doesn’t want that thing, and then bow before Christ – but a grateful heart. “Once you had not received mercy, now you have received mercy. Once you were not a people, now you are a people.” Of course, then, you would be called from darkness, and why would you not walk in light? You weren’t a people; you’re a people. You didn’t have mercy. Now you have mercy.

Third – we’ll move quickly through these remaining three – we do good works that God may be praised through us. The catechism says that he may be praised through us. 1 Corinthians 6, “You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Glorify God in your body.” Think of your kids, if they go out and they’re not – of course you want them to do well in school, and you want them to do well in sports or music or theater or the arts – but really what makes you proud is when you see they’re respectful, when you see them walking with Christ, when you see them obedient, when you see them honoring others, kindness, gentleness, the fruit of the Spirit. That makes you proud, and it brings honor to you. The way you conduct yourselves, if you’re somewhere outside of this country, can make your country look good or bad. I’m very pleased to say that when our guys here take their presbytery exams, they make our church look good, because they’ve worked so hard, and they know their stuff. When we live a life of joyful obedience, it shows that Christ is praiseworthy. It demonstrates the weight and the worth of who he is, that he can be trusted, that his ways are right and good, that he’s deserving of our worship and battle. Just like troops on the battlefield, the way they march, the discipline, the way they won’t retreat, they’ll hold their lines, it brings honor and glory to their commanding officer. So it is when we live lives of joyful obedience to Christ.

The catechism says, fourth, so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruit. 2 Peter 1, “Make your calling and election sure.” Sometimes we get nervous about this language, and we think I don’t know. If I look at my life, that never brings me assurance, but our Reformed theology is very consistent in saying there are three chief means by which we have assurance – not by which we are justified, but by which we have confidence. For example, the Canons of Dort says, “Assurance does not derive from a private revelation but from” – note these three – “faith in the promises of God revealed in his Word, the testimony of the Holy Spirit to our spirit, and from a serious and holy pursuit of a clear conscience.” Likewise, Westminster Confession chapter 18 says that “assurance is founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation. The inward testimony of these graces, evidence of these graces, and then the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing to our spirit.” Both confessions say the same thing, that the chief means of our assurance, the first and principal one, is that we rely upon the promises of God. But then second, we know the Holy Spirit through mystical union with Christ, testifying to our spirit, saying in your heart, yes, you are a child of God, and then our holy pursuit of a clear conscience or evidences of grace. Assurance is a community project. It’s very difficult in your own life. It usually happens the closer you get to Christ, the more you see your own sin, so you often don’t feel holier even as you are getting holier. That’s why you need a body of Christ. You need a good, healthy, functioning elder board that believes in church membership. You need people in a small group or in your life. You need people who will honestly say, not from Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday, but from months and years, to say when I pull down this fruit from your life, there’s a little more kindness than there was five years ago. There’s a little more gentleness. There’s some more self-control, some more patience. There’s some more joy. To look at those – do you know you have permission to see evidences of grace? Heidelberg, Canons of Dort, Westminster, they don’t tell you that. Well, if you’re really Reformed, you only look at yourself as being absolutely terrible all the time. Now, it’s true. Nothing we ever do is completely free from the taint of sin. Nothing could stand on its own before Christ. And yet, we’re told here, over and over in the Scriptures and in our own confessions, you have permission to see evidences of grace in your life, and it ought to give you assurance that a good tree bears good fruit.

And then finally, don’t you love what the catechism says? Sometimes the Reformed confessions get dinged a little bit. Somewhat – there’s a little truth to it that they don’t talk a lot about mission or evangelism. Now, once you start looking for it, you see it in more places than you might realize, but it’s true that that wasn’t uppermost in their mind, or at least they thought about the spread of the gospel in Christendom in a different way than we might think of it, but here very clearly is a statement about winning the lost to Christ. We do good works, that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ. Now this isn’t, you know, the old canard, you know, lifestyle evangelism means I never share the gospel with people, but it is true that the way you live your life is one, it’s supposed to make people curious so that they ask you for a reason for the hope that you have; and two, it arouses in them a kind of holy confusion, that is they think one thing about Christians – they have one sort of stereotype about Christians, and they don’t like Christians, they don’t like Christianity – and then they meet a Christian who’s the best one at work and the most faithful student and the kindest person on the team and the neighbor that they would love to have on every side of their house. They think, well, I can’t deny that that’s a great neighbor to have. This is all over Scripture. Matthew 5, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people put a lamp under a basket, but on a stand. It gives light to all. Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Titus 2, slaves are to be obedient to their masters in everything. They are to be well pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, showing all good faith so that in everything they may adorn – that’s what we’re trying to do – adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior. 1 Peter 2, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of his visitation.” We don’t want to spend so much time trying not to stick out when sticking out might be the very thing that is the instrument of leading someone to Christ. Now, we don’t want to stick out in the easy ways, and we all just wear a certain kind of uniform, or we all talk in certain bizarre sort of speech, but people ought to notice something is different about the things that you watch, about the words that you say, about the way you spend your time, your attitude, the way you spend your money, the way you address your kids, the way you think about marriage and family. You adorn the gospel, not as a substitute for speaking the good news of Christ, but as one of the reasons that the gospel then looks attractive and that some people will have as their story. You won’t know it. God will hide most of this from us, not to puff us up, but there will be people who will have their story in heaven that they saw something in the way you lived, and it made them rethink Christianity. Made them wonder if maybe they could have some of what you have, and so they went to church, or they picked up their Bible again, or they gave Jesus a second chance. That our godly living may win others over to Christ.

There are many motivations, many medicines for our good works. Here the catechism helpfully gives us five. Notice we don’t have to be content with simply, “I told you so.” God could do that. Why should I do good works? Because God said do it, and I ought to do it. Yes sir. But there are five, and there are more that we could enumerate, but five here to get us, as a medicine to drink this down, and I want you to realize that these good works are necessary, and that this is not “saved by Christ, then do good works,” but everything in every one of these five reasons is centered on Christ. Think about each of these five reasons. Do you know that Christ is working in you? That was reason one. Can you see what Christ has done for you? That’s reason two. Does it matter to you that you help Christ to look good to others? That’s reason three. Do you want to be confident in your life of all that Christ has accomplished for your sake? That’s reason four. And do you long to see others come to know Christ? I hope each and every one of those is answered with a yes, and God will give us the grace to live the life he has called us to live. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you that you have called us, you will keep us, and you are changing us. Help us to walk in the ways that you have appointed for us, to do the good that you have for us at the close of this day and into the next week. And teach us, oh Lord, as the hymn tells us, your holy way, and give us your grace by your Spirit, that we may walk in it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Kept for Jesus Christ

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:28:41 GMT

As we come to the book of Jude this morning, let’s ask for the Lord’s help.

We come, oh Lord, to ask for your help because we are needy people. It is very easy for a sermon to go out of a mouth into an ear and do nothing else. That’s our fault, not yours. So, we ask that you would speak loudly, clearly, spiritually to our spirits, you would plant this Word deep into our hearts for those who need to be encouraged, reminded to keep going, and some perhaps who are in absolute grave danger. So, give us ears to hear. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Next week, Lord willing, back in Romans. This Sunday, finishing this five-week series over the summer on these books of the Bible that are only one chapter long. Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. Jude is the longest of these five. My wife had a great idea. She said, “You’ve been gone for five weeks. Maybe you should put five sermons into one for this book.” I said, “No, no, no.” But there is a lot in this little book of Jude. Not only is it the longest of these one-chapter books, but I think it’s safe to say it’s the most intricate, it’s the most complicated, and it’s true – normally, I would probably do five or six sermons on this, but it’s good to sometimes move through books and get the big picture in one fell swoop, which we hope to do this morning.

There is a lot that’s going on in this book, some of it strange and confusing. What I want you to notice before I read through the 25 verses – I want you to be on the lookout for one word. One word that occurs several times in the book of Jude, and I think it is the organizing principle for this book: I want you to be on the lookout for the word “keep.” Look at verse 1, “To those who are called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.” Look at verse 21, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” Look at the doxology in verse 24, “To him who is able to keep you.” Kept. Keep yourself. God is able to keep you. You could summarize the book with that word “keep.” You are. You must. By God’s grace, you will be kept. The word “keep” in verse 21, just to be fair, is a different Greek word – or rather the one in verse 24 – but it’s rightly translated as “keep,” and there’s actually two other keeps in verse 6. The angels who did not stay – that’s the same word from verse 1 and 21 – you could translate, “who did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling, he has kept.” There’s that word again. So, the word I want you to be on the lookout, especially verse 1, we’re kept; verse 21, keep yourselves; and then verse 24, God will keep us. He is able to.

I want you to be on the lookout for those three words, that organizing principle, because that one word “keep” tells us that the Christian life is a dangerous journey. Some of you have that big book. It’s the kids’ version of Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s a wonderful book to read to your kids. If we don’t have them now, we’ve had them before in the Book Nook, and it describes so well the Christian life. It is tempting to think – and the devil wants you to think – that your experience, because you live in Charlotte, North Carolina, that your experience as a Christian is a very safe one. Cruise control. Just coast. Keep going. I get the dangerous journey, maybe, if you’re a missionary, maybe if you live in some violent neighborhood, not in the Bible Belt. That’s what the devil would like you to think. The devil can fool us anyplace, and he would love for you to think that being a Christian in a place like this is smooth sailing, easy going, and to forget the lines of the hymn that most of us know, “through many dangers, toils, and snares.” On this journey to our heavenly home, there are spiritual cyclopses, witches, sirens, monsters. It’s why Jude is saying you are kept. God is able to keep you. But the bulk of the book there in the middle, reaching its crescendo in verse 21 with that command, is you’re kept; he’ll keep you; you need to keep yourself in the love of God. You say, “How does that work? I thought once saved, always saved. I thought we believed in the perseverance of the saints.” Of course, we do. Once you’re justified, you will be glorified. You are in present possession of eternal life. But here’s one of the ways that it works is God causes his true children – his elect, the truly born again – causes you to persevere by commandments like we find in the book of Jude, that when you really do believe in Christ, you will hear a sermon like this. Instead of saying, “Once saved, always saved. I prayed a prayer. I joined a church. I’m good to go. See you in heaven,” you will instead receive it and say, “Oh God, let me not make shipwreck of my faith.” Because there’s plenty of examples of that in the Scripture. We’re going to see them here in Jude in a moment. But you say, “Oh God, keep me. Keep me.” That’s what the Christian is going to hear in this sermon and pray and then trust that God will hear it and will keep you from wandering from the path. Let me read this book.

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, for certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe and the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Yet, in like manner, these people, also relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them, for they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loudmouth boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time, there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

I told you there could be five sermons in here. There is a lot going on. Some of it is strange and confusing. It’s enough to make you want to scream out, “Hey, Jude!” Okay, there’s the obligatory – got that out of the way. No more Jude Bellingham. St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Jude Law. Jude the Obscure. No more Jude. Scholars recognize that Jude is an excellent writer. There’s lots of allusions. You saw them. Some of them you probably knew. Others you weren’t sure what was going on. There’s lots of examples piled up on top of each other. And there’s lots of items. It’s full of examples – three of this, four of that, five descriptive phrases, three different groups, four different attributes. The best way to explain the whole book is to simply try to explain it paragraph by paragraph and summarize at the end with this big-picture idea: keep. So, you are kept. That’s the very beginning. God is able to keep you. That’s the end. And most of the letter there in the middle is to say, here’s what you need to do to keep yourselves in the love of God. And I think that love of God, it could be both the love we have for God or God’s love for us. Keep yourselves as Christians. Keep yourselves in God. Here’s what to be on the lookout for, and here’s what you need to do. So, let’s try to move through this quickly.

Jude is the author, short for Judas, shortened from Judas to Jude for obvious reasons. After Judas Iscariot, if you got the name Judas, you go by Jude. It’s likely why it’s here called Jude. A brother of James – important leader in the early church – and the half-brother of Jesus. So, this Jude is the half-brother of Jesus. He doesn’t introduce himself like that. That’s sort of pulling rank, but that’s who he is. We don’t know anything about the original audience, but they seem to be Jewish Christians because of all the Old Testament and other Jewish literature that’s referenced. We don’t know the time it was written, except if 2 Peter chapter 2, which is very similar to the book of Jude – if 2 Peter has some dependence on Jude, and Peter’s going to die in the mid-60s, then maybe this letter was written sometime in the mid-60s, or it might have been earlier than that. There’s lots of things we don’t know. We see in verse 3, he wanted – he sat down to these Christians, wherever exactly they are, and he wanted to write one kind of letter. This is instructive for us. He’s eager to talk about the things they have in common. He had in his mind, “This is going to be good. I’m going to write to these Christians here, and I’m going to exalt in our common salvation. This is going to be a great letter about Jesus and the gospel and our salvation. It’s going to be just one big doxology.” He said that’s what I wanted to write to you about, but I now find it necessary to write – verse 3 – appealing to you to contend for the faith. So, this is instructive just in general, I hope your first instinct is not, “You know what I love to do? I love to get into fights. I love to argue with people. I love to mix it up with other Christians. I just love to debate things.” No, you have to do that, and Jude is willing to do it, but he says, you know what I love to do? Know what I wanted to do, first of all? I wanted to exalt in all that we have in common. That’s what I wanted to do, but now I need to write a different kind of letter to contend for the faith.

And notice how it’s described. This is not the faith subjectively – the belief, the resting in Christ that we have – but rather, this is the faith objectively that is passed down and received. And it’s very important how it’s described: “Contend for the faith (verse 3) that was once for all delivered to the saints.” Now, what does that mean? It means that this gospel message was not something that needed further evolution. Now, there’s traditions, and there’s other doctrines that will have to be clarified, but it means that this gospel deposit was something firm, fixed, passed down. Here it is. What I received, I now give to you. It’s a deposit. You’re to protect it. You’re to guard it. That’s what the truth is. We believe in a foundation that is not to be torn down, is not to be repeated. This is a truth that is fixed, firm, handed down, not evolving. Faith. Certain people, he says – here’s the problem (verse 4) – they’ve crept in. So, these were not people that came originally from their midst but stealthily like, and he says they’ve crept in. So that says something about how they’re getting an ear, and I’m afraid, Jude says, that you’re going to listen to them, and some of you are being led astray by these false teachers. Now you say, how exactly did they creep in? Did they just, you know, they sort of sat in the back? Now all of you back dwellers are feeling self-conscious. They sort of crept in the back, and then afterward, you know, people leave, they’re just passing out tracts or something.

How did they creep in to the church? Well, likely we have the answer to that in the two books that you just saw the last two weeks, 2 John and 3 John. So, go over one page to 3 John. Here is likely how false teachers would creep into a church. So, you look at 3 John, which is a great letter about hospitality among other things. Look at verse 5, “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers – strangers as they are – testify to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. They have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” So, you have this Christian community, which is spread around the Mediterranean world, and you have a number of itinerant teachers, preachers. Sometimes in the literature they’re called prophets, and they would come by. Well, you can’t do a Google search on them. You don’t know who they are. That’s why Paul in some of his letters writes about letters of commendation. You could come and they say, “We’ve never seen you before in our life. How do we know?” Well, here the Apostle Paul has sent me. So, these people are coming, and 3 John says, “You will do the gospel a great favor if, when these good gospel teachers come, these noble ones, these truthful ones, you welcome them into your home. You take care of them. You let them teach in your fellowship. You have a little mini-conference here with these itinerant teachers. These are the good guys.” And so, they come, and you need to discern, are these good guys, or are they bad guys? So, 3 John says, good for you. You welcome the good guys.

But go back to 2 John because he says, “Be careful not to let in the bad guys.” Look at 2 John, verse 7, “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.” So, there’s one test. Their Christology is bad. They don’t have the same Jesus. Such a one is the deceiver, the antichrist. “Watch yourselves so that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.” You see? The exact opposite in 2 John. These traveling teachers throughout the world come and they say, “Here, we’re in town. We’re here to bless your church with some good gospel teaching.” John says, “You need to ask some questions. What do they believe about Jesus? Who are they? Why are they doing it? Are they trying to line their pockets?” You need to be discerning because if you welcome in the ones who are really the good guys, then bless you. That’s what you ought to do. Hospitality is critical. It’s one of the qualifications of being an elder. But you got to do the hard thing. If these are not guys on our team, and they’re not teaching what is true, don’t say, “Well, you know what? It’d be nice. Let’s just let’s just welcome them in.” Nope. Say, “Sorry, can’t stay with us.” Well, shouldn’t we just hear them? Shouldn’t we just dialogue? Nope. They don’t get a hearing at the church.

So, likely – go back to Jude – this is the cultural context, how it works. These traveling teachers come through, and Jude is saying, “There are some who have crept in, and now they have a hearing in your fellowship.” Now, in our context that’s likely not to happen. Somebody just knocks on your door and says, “I’m from out of town looking for a place to stay.” Okay. Honey, 911 now! We don’t do that. But people creep into churches all the time. Websites, books, conferences, podcasts, reels, Tik Tok, X, influencers. You need to be discerning. Not that you can’t ever listen to somebody that you disagree with, but a lot of you go to church 90 minutes out of the week. If you’d like to make that two and a half hours, come back this evening. But if you go to church 90 minutes a week, let’s say you read your Bible five minutes a day, half hour a week, you got two hours. And it’s not at all an exaggeration to say that for many of us, scrolling, podcasts, TV, influencers are coming at us 40, 50, 60 hours a week. You don’t think that’s going to have an impact on what you think and how you feel and what seems normal? So, there’s lots of ways for bad teaching to creep in to the church. These teachers that Jude has in mind, these are not good Christians with whom you have an honest disagreement. They’re not coming to say, “Well, I’m not sure we agree on baptism, or I’m not sure we agree on the millennium.” No, these are ungodly reprobates. You see that language? It’s very strong. Long ago, verse 4, designated for condemnation. They were predestined to this condemnation. They’re ungodly. And then, notice two chief errors. Part of what Jude is going to do, and I’ll summarize it when we get to the very end, is he’s telling us who we are, he’s going to tell us who God is, and he’s going to give us a lot of indications of what false teachers are like. You say, “Well, how do I know?” Here are two chief errors of these false teachers. And you know what? These may be the two chief errors still today.

So, what do false teachers do? Not just “good Christians and we disagree on some things,” false teachers. They’re ungodly people. Number one: they pervert the grace of our God into sensuality. So these are people – this is why you have to be discerning – they talk about grace. They may talk only about grace. You say, well we can’t talk about grace too much, can we? No, we can’t, but we can talk about it in the wrong way. These people will approve things that have never in the history of the church until five minutes ago been approved: adultery, sex before marriage, homosexuality, pornography, masturbation. These are teachers coming in, and they’re talking about how gracious God is, how much God loves us or what an indulgent Father he is, and what they’re doing – notice the word – they pervert it. They’re twisting it. They’re taking something that’s true and wonderful and glorious, that God is gracious, and then they’re corrupting it and turning it into sensuality. There are so many teachers – there are whole denominations that have this perversion. Jude calls it out – he did 2,000 years ago – to say this is what will happen with false teachers. They’ll talk about God is great, and he loves you, and he’s gracious, and they’ll pervert that and say therefore you can do whatever you want. The other thing they do – so that’s an antinomian danger. Come back tonight, we’ll talk more about that. They’re antinomian – that means anti-law. So, people that say commands, obedience – if you’re a Christian and you talk about obedience, you’re a legalist. Now, there is such a thing as legalists and legalism, but often the definition of legalism is simply someone who takes holiness more seriously than I do. That’s a legalist. So, they will say, “What are you talking about obedience? That’s performative.” Wait a minute. This is where you know your Bibles. You’ve been in church, a lot of you, a long time. You know the great commission: “And teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” Okay, that’s not a bad word. Obey. So, they pervert that, and right along with that, they deny our master and Lord Jesus Christ. Now those words are deliberate. They may not deny Jesus as a savior. They deny him as Lord and master. They may even talk about Jesus the friend of sinners, Jesus who lifts up the downcast, Jesus who helps the poor, Jesus who comes alongside the weak – all of which are true and wonderful scriptural truths. But they will not talk about Jesus as a master to be obeyed or a Lord before whom we must bow. And you need to ask yourself that question: do you have a Jesus who can ever tell you that you’re wrong? If not, he’s not a master and he’s not a Lord. He says, “I need to remind you, although you once fully knew it” – verse 5. This is what we often have to do in the church. This is what you often have to do in your families. You remind people of things. You say, “Well, they already know this.” Yes, remind. Because we have we have leaky spiritual tanks, and we forget a lot of things, and we need to be reminded. People who say, “Well yeah, I’m a Christian. Stop being so judgmental. Don’t tell me how to live my life. Don’t put God in a box. Being a Christian is about freedom, right?”

Well Jude’s going to give, in rapid succession, three examples from in the Old Testament of how God judged the people. So, lest someone says, “Well, why do you have such a judgy God?” Well, we have a God in the Old Testament who judges sinners. Egypt – and notice the language here. It’s striking. Jesus saved the people out of the land of Egypt. Afterward, Jesus destroyed those who did not believe. It says that Jesus Christ was the agent effecting the Exodus and then judging the people. The second example are angels in heaven. This is a little bit more confusing. Seems to be a reference to the “sons of God” – that strange passage in Genesis chapter 6 that some of the sons of God came and had relations with the daughters of men. So, these are angels who left their place of privilege. Come down. These are mysterious things for us. Left their proper dwelling, and therefore God has kept them. He judged these angels for their deliberate rebellion. And then the third example – more familiar, verse 7 – Sodom and Gomorrah. Notice the sin of Sodom is not simply that they were inhospitable. That’s one of the sins. Ezekiel tells us that. But some liberal scholars will say that’s the only sin, when clearly Jude doesn’t agree. Their sin was to indulge in sexual immorality and to pursue – it’s translated in the ESV – “unnatural desire.” You can see the footnote, literally in the Greek: “other flesh, different flesh.” Men pursued flesh sexually that they should not have pursued. They are the classic example of judgment. Jude continues with his argument. What else do we see about these false teachers? Verse 8, “In like manner” – he rattles off four things. So, you can see there’s lots of this. He’s got three Old Testament examples. Now he says four things – “They rely on their dreams.” Again, you probably don’t meet many people who rely on their dreams for their authority, though certain branches of the church have that more common. That’s sort of self- selecting, not in the Presbyterian branch as much, and yet – let’s not kid ourselves, this is true everywhere – this is a way of saying their authority was based upon their own subjective experience. They relied on their dreams. Do you see the contrast? A faith in objective truth, once for all delivered for the saints, that doesn’t change, doesn’t evolve, it’s there, objective. Their authority is something subjective: “I had a word from the Lord. Let me tell you about my dream, or let me tell you how the God I worship. Let me tell you what I feel. Let me tell you about my experience.” All of that is rooted in the self. It’s a subjective authority. You see how relevant this is? They defile the flesh. Again, they reject authority – Christ’s authority over them, ultimately – but it may even be the church’s derivative authority. They’re not accountable to anyone. That’s what you have to look at with the people that you listen to, the spiritual gurus. You really have to ask yourself, does this person – do they have anyone who can hold them accountable? Is there really a board? Do they really have functioning elders? Do they belong to a presbytery or whatever may be the same kind of thing in a different denomination? You don’t want to listen to people who just fire up their own ministries, their own hot takes, their own intemperate rants, and they have no real accountability.

Then – here’s the strange one – he says they blaspheme the glorious ones. Now, the main point is here, but it’s very easy to get lost in this argument about Michael the angel disputing over Moses’ body. Blaspheming the glorious ones. So, let’s start with the big picture here. What does this mean? Apparently, these false teachers, part of what they did to kind of put on a spiritual show or to seem impressive is they rebuked spiritual beings, who were in fact demons. Maybe these itinerant prophets came in and impressed people and said, “You got a demon of anxiety. You got a demon of drunkenness,” and they went in, and they started rebuking demons. That’s what he says – “blaspheming glorious ones.” These are not the good guys, but they’re still glorious – that is, they’re spiritually impressive beings. So that’s the problem. They come in, and they put on a good show like they’re spiritual demon slayers. And Jude is going to make the point, now, wait a minute. Michael didn’t even rebuke the devil in his dispute over Moses’ body. You say, “Where was this? I don’t remember this in Sunday school.” Most scholars think that this allusion comes from a book – first century Jewish book – called The Assumption of Moses. And it represents a Jewish tradition about what happened to Moses’ body. He dies outside the Promised Land. In Jewish tradition, Michael and the devil argued over who had the right to his body. Now, it’s not in the Bible. It’s not in the Jewish scriptures. That book, The Assumption of Moses, no one thought it was part of the Jewish scriptures. You say, “Well, why does Jude cite it here?” Well, don’t be too troubled. Remember Paul in Acts 17 at the Areopagus, he will quote some of the Greek poets. Luke cites unnamed sources. So, there’s nothing that says an inspired biblical author can’t cite someone else’s work. Now, Jude seems to think that the story is true, that it is relaying some reliable tradition, but it’s also possible that he’s citing it as a literary reference, saying, “Well, we all know about this story,” whether Jude himself believes there’s historical veracity or not. Just to remind you, there are two named angels in the Bible. Michael is called an archangel. We usually refer to Gabriel as the other archangel. They have very distinctive functions. Gabriel is the messenger angel. So, he’s there in the nativity scene. He’s the one who gives messages to God’s people. And Michael is the one who fights for God’s people. Gabriel gives messages to God’s people. Michael is the one in the heavenly realm who’s the champion to fight on behalf of God’s people. In Daniel 10 and 12, he’s called the great prince. In Revelation 12, it’s said that Michael battles dragon, so there’s another Michael versus Satan. The line here – this is important – “The Lord rebuke you,” that comes from Zechariah chapter 3, a story that many of you will recall, where Joshua the high priest is there in filthy robes and Satan stands to accuse him, and then the Lord says to Satan, “I rebuke you. The Lord rebukes you,” because he’s going to take off those dirty clothes. He’s going to give him clean linen. It’s a beautiful picture of our justification by an alien righteousness from another. The point that Jude is trying to make is to say these false teachers come in showboating. They don’t understand spiritual warfare. They start talking about demons, rebuking demons. And his point is to say, look in Zechariah or this story that we’re familiar with Michael, even in those examples, they don’t go in and “I rebuke you.” They will only dare to say, “The Lord rebuke you.” He quickly gives more Old Testament examples. He says in verse 10, “These people, they blaspheme what they don’t understand, and they’re going to be destroyed by it. They’re like animals, understanding instinctively. They’re just chasing after animal impulses – sexually, fame, money. Woe to them.” He says, “They walked in the way of Cain, who went the wrong way; Balaam, who was motivated by money; and then Korah, who rejected authority. So, three quick word pictures from the Old Testament (allusions).

Now he’s going to give five quick word pictures from nature. Told you there’s lots of lists here. So, notice what he does. Next time you read Jude, you’ll remember some of this and say, “Ah, this seemed confusing, but I see Jude is doing something very deliberate.” He gives five nature metaphors. He says these false teachers are like hidden reefs – that is, hard, stony coral that you can’t see. That’s why you say, you know, don’t dive off of the end of the pier. You don’t know what’s there. You don’t know how deep this goes. You don’t know what sort of stones and boulders may be below the surface. He says that’s what these false teachers are like. You see the surface of the ocean, and it looks safe, and you go dive in headlong, and you’re hitting your head on these hidden reefs. They’re like shepherds who feed themselves instead of the sheep. There’s another warning of false teachers. Are they very intent on how they themselves can be fed, rather than the sheep? So, they’re hidden reefs. They’re waterless clouds. Now these are written – some of us, you know, say, “No more rain. Are you happy, Brad Panovich? We’ve had enough.” But these are desert people, so it’s almost always good news when there’s rain. They’re saying, “These false teachers look like, ‘Hey, hey, get your neighbors. Get your family. Rain’s coming. This is going to be good,’” and then it never rains. They look big and impressive. They bring nothing. Fruitless trees: again, spreading branches, but you come to the time where you are going to get the fruit from the tree, and there’s nothing there. They’re just uprooted. They’re dead. Nothing makes me feel more manly than when there’s a completely dead tree in my yard. It’s all rotten out, and, “Kids, watch this!” and you just throw a shoulder, and it just shatters. It falls down. Just He-Man-like. Minus the outfit. But it’s dead. There’s no fruit. Wild waves of the sea – that is, unpredictable, out of control, foaming. Think of when the big waves come in, and you see the white caps, Jude says that’s like their shame. They should be embarrassed. Everyone can see it. Wandering stars. These are people who’ve lost the plot. They’re off the path. They’re destined for destruction.

We have to hurry on. I told you there was a lot here, but there’s at least one more very strange thing. He quotes from Enoch, verse 14: “It was about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam” – so there’s a genealogy in the book of Genesis, and we know that the seventh from Adam is Enoch. And it’s said that Enoch lived, and then he was translated. It’s the old language. He went up to heaven. He didn’t die. Enoch didn’t die. So given that he’s this mysterious person who was brought up into heaven without death – the only other one there is Elijah – a lot of traditions were built up, and lots of thoughts about, well, who is this Enoch, and what word might he have? During the intertestamental period, a few hundred years before this, there was a book written called First Enoch. It’s not considered part of the Bible by Jews or Protestants or Catholics. Nobody thinks this is a part of the Bible. It contains information about why angels fell, about the Nephilim, about words of judgment. So, it’s clear that some of the concepts in this book are in Jude’s mind as he writes. Now notice, even though he is going to quote – just like Paul can quote from Greek poets, he can quote from this Jewish work – he never uses the formula “as Scripture says” or “as it is written.” So, he’s not confused, and we shouldn’t be confused. This is not a part of our Bible that we’ve been missing. He references Enoch, seventh from Adam. May not mean that Jude thought the book was written by Enoch. Nobody really thought the book was written by Enoch. It may be that Jude is simply referencing the book as it was known, because in the book it refers to “Enoch, seventh from Adam,” this may just be a way, you know, “As it is written in the book Enoch Seventh from Adam,” or it’s possible that Jude did understand that there were some things in this book that did capture true sentiments from the historical Enoch. I think, most likely, he’s citing the book simply as a piece of literature and good spiritual information with which they’re all familiar. And he quotes again this line, “The Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment.” The point is about judgment. He says more about these false teachers and their ungodliness, and they’re harsh things, they’re grumblers. Look at verse 16: malcontents, follow their own desires, they’re boasters. They cozy up to the rich to just try to line their own pockets. One of the abiding characteristics of false teachers is it is all about them. They are the point. More attention to them. Jude here is contending. He’s correcting. He’s rebuking. You notice, however, he does cite these false teachers. All they have are harsh things to say. They’re malcontents. They’re grumblers. And here’s a warning for us, too. Though we have to contend for the faith, as Jude does, you should really be on your guard before you start following someone whose entire “ministry,” and I put that in scare quotes intentionally, entire ministry is built on critiquing other people, that if they didn’t have somebody else to tear down, they wouldn’t have anything else to say. Those are not people that you should be listening to. He says they’re scoffers. They follow their own passions. They cause divisions. You see the next paragraph: worldly people devoid of the Spirit. And then he finishes verse 24 and 25 with this glorious doxology.

So where does that leave us, besides four more sermons we could do? Well, just think of that word we started with: keep. We’re kept. We’re kept. So, part of what Jude is doing is he’s reminding us who we are. These things are true of us. If you’re a Christian, you’re called, you’re beloved, you’re kept. So, he wants to remind you who you are. Then most of the book is about the “keep.” So, if the “kept” is to remind you who you are, the “keep yourselves” section is mainly to help you see who they are. That is what are these false teachers like? Put it all together, and it’s quite a composite. They rely on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, blaspheme the glorious ones. They speak boldly about things they don’t understand. They’re hidden reefs, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, wild waves, wandering stars. They’re grumblers, malcontents. They follow their own sinful desires. They’re loudmouth boasters, scoffers. They follow their own passions. They cause divisions. They’re worldly. They’re devoid of the Spirit. That’s why he says, “Keep yourself. Don’t listen to these teachers. They’ve crept in. Some of you have welcomed them into your home. Some of you have downloaded them. Some of you are regularly streaming them. Don’t. Keep yourself in the love of God.” You see that command there in verse 21, and did you notice right around there there’s three stages of how you lose your grip on the truth? And you have to deal with each one differently.

So, he says, “Have mercy on those who doubt.” So that’s stage one. There are doubters. He says, I want you to be patient with them. I want you to deal gently, that’s verse 22. I want you to bring them along. So, you need to have discernment to know with your kids, with people in the church, with your friends. Okay? This is someone who’s doubting. They got questions, but I need to be gentle. I need to have mercy on them. Bring them along. Second, he says, “Snatch those who are about to be burned.” So, there are some, they’re past the point of doubting, verse 23, they are about to make shipwreck. They’re about to set themselves on fire. They need to be warned. They need to be rescued. They need not just a gentle “come walk with me,” they need an alarm clock ringing in their ears. And then there are those – you see the end of verse 23 – now, they’ve already fallen, but these ones seem to be coming back. That’s why it says show mercy with fear. So, this third group, I think, are those who have fallen, they’ve committed some egregious sins. Don’t you ever wonder this? Okay, what do you do? Someone commits a real, real, horrible sin. And we know we’re supposed to be forgiving people. We know we’re supposed to be merciful. It doesn’t always remove the consequences, but we don’t want to just say, “Hey, I love you. Give me a hug. No big deal.” How do we do this? How do we be forgiving people, but we don’t say “no big deal”? Jude tells us, “Show mercy with fear.” They ought to be afraid. You ought to be afraid. Oh God, there but by the grace of God go I. May I not do it. May you not do it again. So, have mercy with fear. There ought to be a holy fear in that person who’s come back after almost making shipwreck of their faith. And then this part is key, you hate – not them – but you hate even the garment stained by the flesh. If you’re going to make true repentance after falling away, like Jude envisions, it better come back with a real hatred – “I have stained the name of Christ.” Now, by his grace, it can be blotted out by the blood of the Lamb. But I hate what I have done. And that’s part of the mercy. God tells us to have mercy on you, brother. Praise God, you’ve come back, but I’m afraid. Are you a little afraid? Do you hate the sin you’ve committed? Because I hate sin. Give you a hug, and I hate what you’ve done.

What can we do then to keep ourselves in the love of God? He gives us another one of these threes. You see verse 20: build yourselves up in the most holy faith, number one. Praying in the Holy Spirit. And then keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that’s what you can do. You can build yourself up, keep reading your Bible, keep attending the means of grace, keep having fellowship. Keep coming. Keep learning. Be an ever-impressive spiritual structure so that these wicked people can’t sneak into your spiritual house. Build yourselves up. Pray in the Spirit. Keep praying. And then keep the end in view. You’re waiting for the mercy of Christ. Know who you are. Know who those false teachers are, and then know who God is, who is able to keep you from falling. You notice the trinitarian shape. Pray in the Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God the Father, and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, know God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Know him as the only God, as Lord and master. Know him, as we read in the doxology, as glorious and majestic, as the one who has all dominion and authority.

So, here’s the question I leave you with. If you were one of these people, somewhere on this dangerous journey, and you’ve taken maybe a half step off the path or maybe you have run headlong in the wrong direction, how would God correct you? And would you have ears to hear it? Because this is what’s really dangerous, and I hope this isn’t you, but it might be, and it might be some people that you know and that you love. People get to a point, they are beyond correction. Husband says something – “I know what he’s really like.” Wife says something – “No, she has no ground to stand on. I know what she’s really like.” Kids try to say things – “How dare you? You’re my kids.” Parents try to say something – “You don’t know anything. You’re my parents.” A coach says something – “Wrong.” Teacher says something – “They’re out of date.” Church says something – “You know what the problem is? The church is the problem. Church is so full of hypocrites. Church is so abusive.” A book tries to say something – “Well, I don’t need to listen to this book.” Everyone who says something to you – you can hardly be in a more dangerous spot if in your spiritual life the only people you ever listen to are the people who tell you that everything you’re doing right now is good. Really, Lord, save me, save all of us from that, because none of us are going to live a straight line from here to eternity and not need correction. Do you have ears to hear? Does a sermon ever say, “Lord, help me. I’ve been off track.” Does a parent with the Bible or a kid with the Bible or a friend with the Bible or a book or – does anything ever get through to you? If not, then Jesus is not your Lord and Master. You are. You only listen to you. You say, “I listen to all sorts of people.” Yeah. You listen to people who say what you want them to say, and you alienate people in your life who don’t say what you want them to say, and you’re left with just the people who have learned that I can stay in your good graces by saying what you always want to hear. You’ve become your own Lord, your own master.

There’s a God who can and will, because he loves you, speak into your life life through this book, through a sermon, through a good Christian book, through good Christian friends, through this gathering of corporate worship, most importantly, to keep you from stumbling, to present you blameless, and – don’t miss that last part of good news – to bring you there with great joy. Did I just sound like John Piper for a minute? Joy! It’s right here in the Bible. God wants you to be happy. He wants you to get to the end. He’s not hiding good things from you. He’s not trying to make your life miserable. He’s trying to keep you from falling so you can have joy in this life and forever. It is a dangerous journey. You got to keep an eye on your surroundings. Isn’t that what they say if you’re in a new city or a dangerous part – just, you know, kind of have your eyes about you. It’s a dangerous journey, and you and I need help. We need to fight. We need to contend. We need to work. We need to build. We need to pray, and God is more than able to help us. And it will be worth it. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we give thanks for your holy and inspired Word. For many of us, it is a good reminder. For some, this is exactly what we need to hear. May we not just listen for someone else, but would you save us, snatch us, bring us back. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

How Do People Change?

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 15:15:46 GMT

This sermon from Genesis 44 was given by Kevin DeYoung at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, on Sunday, July 12, 2026.

No, Not One

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:31:54 GMT

Father in heaven, we pray because we are easily distracted. We’re thinking of the week before. We’re thinking of lunch. We’re thinking of the week to come. And even more concerning, we’re often hard-hearted. We’re hearers. We’re not really listeners. And so, we pray that your Word would sink deep into our hearts, we would have a soft heart and good heads to receive this Word. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Romans chapter 3, verse 9 through verse 18. Romans chapter 3, beginning at verse 9. Continuing with Paul’s long argument about the universality of sin, both Jews and Gentiles. Coming now to the climax to his closing – almost closing – argument.

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’

I had a birthday this past week. I turned 49. My kids said, “Don’t worry, you’re not old. You’re not 50.” So, I got that. It’s amazing, when you’re 35, 49 seems old. Now, 79 seems pretty young to me. 49. And this may not be true for anyone else but me, but I don’t always like looking at photos of myself. You’re all – yep, all the rest of you are really good-looking, so it’s all fine for you. But, you know, sometimes as you get older, you swipe those photos as I do, and I say, “I don’t like that photo. I don’t like that photo. I don’t like that photo.” And you continue – not you, I – because you’re all good-looking, but I tell myself, “Wow, what a bad angle. What a bad filter. The sunlight wasn’t right. Honey, why can’t you take a better picture?” And at some point you have to come to the realization if 10 out of 10 photos don’t look good, I may not look good. It may not be a user error. We may be beyond the remedy of natural photography. AI, I’m sure, can make it all fit. But it can be discouraging when you look at that and it’s one out of 10 that you find, and you say, “There it is.” Because what you realize, especially – we go around, and we mercifully don’t see ourselves most of the time, and you look, and you say, “This is a terrible picture,” and then someone trying to encourage you says, “No, that’s what you look like.” Oh, I wanted you to say you’ve never looked worse. The real you – the real me – in the photo can surprise us.

And what is true with visual pictures is even more true spiritually. If you get a real photo, a real mirror image of what you look like spiritually, it can be very discouraging. That’s what Romans has been doing. Second half of chapter 1, chapter 2, now into chapter 3, it is the Word of God held up like a mirror. I said at the very beginning of this series, one of the things to keep in mind if you are to receive this Word humbly is to receive it with the conviction that this book knows you better than you know yourself. God knows what I’m like better than I know what I’m like. Chapter after chapter, we’ve had this Word held up to us as a mirror, that we might look and see what we’re really like, because we have a spiritual photo in our head, which can be quite lovely. Now, we all know we don’t always get good spiritual photos, but that’s like a one out of 10. Nine out of 10 of those photos we think are really good. Romans is helping us to see that if we’re honest with ourselves, especially if you are outside of Christ this morning, it is not a pretty picture. The first line of John Calvin’s Institutes says famously, “Nearly all wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves.” Now, that knowledge of ourselves is sometimes misunderstood as if Calvin is saying, “You just need to get in touch with your true self.” What he’s saying is first you need to know about the majesty and the glory and the supremacy of God, and then once you see God in his majesty, you will be prepared to see you in your lowly state. If you and I are to have wisdom, it starts with those two things. Do you know who God is? And relative to God, do you know what you and I look like? That’s what the Word is doing, and this passage, perhaps as much or more than any other set of verses in the Bible, presents a mirror to us which shows a picture of the human race apart from Christ, and there’s no other word for it. It is an ugly picture.

Paul has been making the case as a kind of prosecuting attorney against the whole human race – first dealing with the Gentiles in chapter 1, then turning his attention to his fellow Jews in chapter 2 – and now, if you think about this, as a prosecuting attorney, he is very deliberately coming to his closing arguments. Verse 9, what then? So, here’s another question. Are Jews any better off? And he says, “No, not at all.” Now, that may seem like a contradiction to what he said. Look up above, verse 1, “What advantage has the Jew?” There he says, “Well, they have many advantages. Chiefly, they have been entrusted with the oracles of God.” So, which is it, Paul? Are the Jews better off or not better off? One of the great principles for interpreting the Bible is to remember the biblical writers are not stupid. So, Paul is not contradicting himself in the span of a few sentences. You can think of it like this: was there a privilege that the Jews enjoyed? Yes. Did they have partiality before God? No. Or to put it another way, their advantage was that at that moment in salvation history, uniquely among the peoples of the earth, they had been given the oracles of God. God had given them laws and promises and commandments and the Scriptures, but those advantages were responsibilities, and the fact that they had those advantages would mean no preferential treatment before the judgment seat of God. That’s why Paul can say it in both directions. If you mean an advantage, well, do you have privileges? Yes. Were they given preferential treatment before the judgment seat of Christ? No.

Which leads Paul in verse 9 to his thesis statement. Notice he uses the language as if he were an attorney. This whole scene, I’ve been arguing, in chapter 2 especially is a courtroom scene. One of the questions is whether God is the judge over us or whether we think that we get to be the judge over God. And all of these defenses have been marshaled for the people, especially the Jewish people, and time and time again, Paul has counteracted those defenses. And now, as a good attorney, he comes to his closing arguments, and he says, “Here’s the charge. Here’s the accusation. We have already charged that all – both Jews and Greeks – are under sin.” I want you to notice that key word there. “Under.” Now, why is that important? Because Paul is saying something more than just “all people are sinners.” It’s true, but he’s saying something even further than that. He says, “The argument I’m making, the accusation, the charge that I have laid at the feet of everyone, Jew and Gentile, is that we are all under sin.” What does it mean to be under sin? Two things. It means to be under the dominion of sin and to be under the guilt of sin.

Think about the first of those categories: to be under the dominion of sin. If you were traveling out of the country, and you got in some trouble, and you needed to find your embassy, the first question might be, “Where are you from? Do you have a passport? Or what country do you belong to?” Or maybe if you’re following the World Cup and who do you root for, you might say, “What flag are you flying? Who’s your team?” So, this language of “under sin” is saying the flag that flies over the life of every person apart from Christ is the sin flag. That’s your nation. That’s your team. That’s your commanding officer. You can think of it – because this language is often used of a military commander or perhaps a king or someone under whom we are authority (their authority over us). So, you are under. Your commanding officer, Paul says I’ve already charged for all of you, is sin. You are on team Adam or team Christ. You are in the darkness, or you are in the light. You are under sin, or you are under grace. And he says, “We have charged everyone – religious insider, religious outsider – apart from Christ, the flag waving over your life is sin.” Many people don’t think of it that way. Think I’m a pretty decent person. Sure, we all make mistakes. This is why you need the Word of God to tell you what you’re really like, that God knows you better than you know yourself. To be under sin is to be under the dominion of sin, and – I think this is chiefly what Paul means – it is to be under the guilt of sin. You see in verses 19 and 20, it speaks of those who are accountable to God. Verse 20, “By works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight.” So, these terms have to do with guilt. Are you justified before God? Are you innocent before God? And Paul says, “No, everyone – Jew and Greek – is under not only the dominion of sin, that is the operative power in your life apart from Christ; not only that, but you are under the guilt of sin.”

You see what Paul does? He doesn’t start by simply saying, “Well, you’re all sinners.” Theology gets off on the wrong track, and there are some strands of the Christian church, broadly conceived, that think of sin much more lightly than we tend to do in the Reformed tradition. And I would simply say if you’re from one of those or you know friends and other sorts of traditions, the most important thing is not that you, you know, twist their arms until they say, “Yes, I’ll be a Presbyterian.” Bring them to the Bible. What do you do with Romans chapter 3? Because over and over, as we’re going to see, Paul’s argument is not just that you do bad things. Everyone understands that no one’s perfect. We all make mistakes. We do some things we shouldn’t. We’re broken. But Paul says more than that – not just that you do bad things, but fundamentally your identity, your state, your nature, is one that is under sin. In fact, as we’re thinking about the 250th anniversary of our country, one of the things that I think many of the founders understood with wisdom – and I would even make the case that they received these from various strands of Christian teaching and sometimes explicitly Reformed teaching – they had an understanding that when human beings come together, they tend to do things that are corrupt. And when they come together with great power, they tend to do things that oppress other people. They had a sense of the human condition, which was fallen. You’ve maybe heard me say before in different contexts, there’s sort of two different ways you can think about the purpose of human government. You can say, “What might human government be able to do if everybody was working together, and we all had the best ideas and the best motives, and we all came together? What great thing could we do? And let’s devise a government that harnesses all of that energy together to accomplish that great thing.” Or you could think of human government as that institution which frustrates all of the evil, wicked things that human beings tend to want to do together. So, rather than saying, “You know, how could we have the grandness and the greatness of the human experiment,” you think, “Well, what do humans do when they tend to get power, and how might we devise a system of government to frustrate that ambition and that sin?” I think by and large that’s what animated the founders of this country – was a realistic appraisal of human nature. Paul certainly has no rosy picture of what men and women and children are like apart from grace. So, that’s the big overarching charge: under sin.

Now before we look at the trees, I want you to notice some things in the forest. We’re going to go quickly through these verses in a few moments, but let me first make three general observations about this passage. First, these nine verses, verse 10-18, these nine verses are all drawn from Scripture. You can see that probably in your Bible with the way it’s laid out as kind of verses or poetry. You can see maybe you have a study Bible, or you have little, teeny squint print, which I can’t read anymore, to try to find where the cross references are. Paul – think of what Paul’s doing. Again, a law court. Paul has been citing a number of other sources, you might say. He’s talked about who we are in our nature and how we can observe certain things about God. He’s made arguments according to logic. He’s made arguments about conscience and what you know to be right and wrong. He’s talked about shared assumptions like that God will judge the world. He’s had a very intricate line of reasoning to make his points. And now he comes – so lots of different kinds of arguments – now, when it comes to his closing arguments, he turns to the most authoritative, and truly the only authoritative source: the Scriptures. And this, incidentally, shows us something about how you might make moral and religious arguments with other people. We see on the one hand we can do more than just cite Bible passages. Paul does a lot more than just cite Bible passages. He talks about what you know in your conscience and what you can observe and what you might see in nature, and he makes syllogistic arguments. And on the other hand, the final authority and the one that supersedes all others are the Scriptures. It makes sense, because he just mentioned in verse 2, they had been given the oracles of God, and now he’s going to quote from the oracles of God. And this would be especially effective if he’s thinking about his Jewish audience: how to seal this deal, how to make this argument most persuasive is to quote from their own Scriptures. And that’s what he does. He’s quoting from the Greek translation – the Septuagint, it’s called. And he quotes from seven or eight or nine different passages. It’s hard to know exactly, because these are some familiar phrases that appear in different places, but roughly seven or eight different passages, depending on how you count them. Verses 10-12 come from Ecclesiastes 7:20, from Psalm 14, from the parallel passage in Psalm 53. Verse 13 from Psalm 5:9, Psalm 140:3. Verse 14 from Psalm 10:7. Verses 15 and 16 from Isaiah 59:7-8, and verse 18 from Psalm 36:1. So, Paul has amassed together – likely from some previous study, but he may be reciting them from memory – we know at the very end of the book that he has a scribe who’s writing this down. I’d sure like to think that Paul had some notes, but he’s Paul, so maybe he just was doing this all, but this is likely the sort of thing that he taught in different contexts. Remember, he had been a teacher for many years. He had given these kinds of instructions, and this is likely the list of Scriptures that he used in other settings to convince the Jews about the universality of sin. So that’s the first thing. These nine verses are drawn from Scripture.

Here’s the second observation. There is nothing as comprehensive as this list in the rest of the New Testament. This is really striking. Here’s what I mean. 17 times in Paul’s letters, he uses the phrase, “It is written.” That’s what he does when he’s going to quote from the Old Testament, from his Bible. “It is written.” And in all of those times, there is nothing nearly so long as this. He never quotes as many passages as this. He nowhere offers such a comprehensive list of different passages, and it’s put together with great skill. You could follow the first stanza of his argument. It has two sets of three lines, and then there’s a second and a third stanza. They have two sets of two lines. But besides that orderliness, it says something about the importance of this doctrine that Paul, of all the doctrines that in all of his letters he wants to prove, this is the one where he, as it were – “beep beep beep” – he backs up the dump truck of Bible passages on this doctrine, which we sometimes call “total depravity.” The first T in TULIP, if you learned that. Total depravity. Now, that doctrine is often misunderstood. People often say I can’t believe in total depravity. I don’t believe that everyone is bad as they can be. That’s not what it teaches. Or that no one ever expresses any kind of interest in God. That’s not what it teaches. Or it’s misunderstood to suggest that human beings are robots, and we don’t make real choices, or that that Reformed Christians believe the image of God has been completely obliterated. Those are all misunderstandings. What we ought to believe about total depravity is what is taught in Romans chapter 3. And that’s the important part, when you may have friends from other traditions. I bet if you were to enter into Google or AI and just started asking the questions, does this group believe in total depravity? Catholics, Orthodox, Methodists, Pentecostals, even go farther out, go outside the Christian tradition, do Mormons? You could – most of those answers are going to be some variation of no. Once again, the point is not to wave the flag for our team, but to come back to the Scriptures and say, what do we do then with these Scripture passages? Why was it so utterly important for the Apostle Paul? I was reading one author who disagrees with total depravity who said that Paul is obviously using “hyperbolic language.” Or when he says no one, not one, no one, not one, over and over again, he does so because he means no one. No one. It’s not hyperbole. It’s Paul saying, if anything else – if the rest of Romans is going to make sense to you, if what he’s going to talk about justification and sanctification and election and reprobation and the necessity to live a holy Christian life, if all the rest of Romans is going to make sense, you have to get this right. And not only for just understanding a book of the Bible, but if you want to have true wisdom, if you want to know what salvation is about, if you want to know what you and I are like apart from Christ, Paul seems absolutely burdened with all of these Scripture passages. Everything about your theology is going to be veering off track if you don’t understand the total, comprehensive, complete spiritual inability of men, women, and children apart from Christ.

And then here’s what I want you to notice. This is just – we’re still in the general observations. I promise we’ll go quickly through the trees after noting the forest. Here’s the third thing I want you to note. Notice how Paul turns so deliberately to the personal. He’s been talking very generally about Jews and Gentiles. And one might have reached the wrong conclusion from, say, verses 6-10 that while the Jewish people in general were fallen and sinful, maybe somebody among them could actually live a life pleasing to God. Or in verses 14-16, he talks about the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires. Maybe somebody would misunderstand that and say, “See, Paul is saying there are some holy pagans out there, and they follow the conscience, and they end up being fundamentally good people.” Or in verses 26 and 27, he talks about a man who is uncircumcised who keeps the precepts of the law. Maybe there’s some people who actually do that. And there are some people. So, it’s really important that Paul says, not only am I talking broadly about Jews and Gentiles – yeah, yeah, you know, I get it. But what about me as an individual? He wants to make absolutely clear sin is universal, not just with peoples, but with persons. You can’t say, “Well, yeah, I get it. I get it. Yeah. Humanity is a real mess, but I’m not such a mess.” Now, that famous quip from Winston Churchill who said, “Yes, it may be that human beings are simply worms, but I do believe, madam, that I’m a glowworm.” That’s what some of you think. There’s a few glowworms out among us. Paul will have none of that. Notice how emphatic he is that every people, Jew and Gentile, and every person is under sin. He could not have been more emphatic. None is righteous. And maybe somebody’s thinking, “Yeah, I get it. You know, Jews and Gentiles.” “No, not one! I’m not talking about just a general condemnation of peoples. No one seeks after God. No one understands. No one does good.” “But Paul?” “No, not one. Put your hand down.” “Paul, there’s no such thing as a dumb question.” “There is in this classroom. Hand down. No one does what is good. Not even one.” All of the nots and the nones and the no ones are to emphasize the universality of sin is not just a general principle, it is a personal principle of your life and my life apart from Christ under sin.

So, let’s go through these verses quickly. Look at four things that no one does when they’re under the dominion of sin. Four things that are impossibilities when you are under the dominion of sin. That’s what total depravity means. Not that every person is as absolute as bad as they could be. Better phrase might be total inability, that we are completely unable. The depravity reaches to all of our faculties, and it renders us unable to do anything that is truly spiritually good. So, he says, here’s the first thing you can’t do when you’re under sin. You’re not righteous. That’s the fundamental conclusion that holds all the other ones together, there in verse 10. No one is righteous. That is to say, the argument that he’s coming to in the end of chapter 3, no one will be justified in his sight by law keeping.

Number two, no one understands. Now, we’ve already seen a sense in which – Romans chapter 1 – that everyone has some knowledge. They know that there’s a God. They may suppress that truth in unrighteousness. They have a conscience, which accuses them or defends them. So, Paul’s not contradicting the kinds of knowing that every human being has, but now he’s talking about when it comes to real, genuine understanding, the kind that can see clearly about God and his ways and his salvation, no one understands. Ephesians 4:18, our minds have been darkened. This means we can be very smart in one area and very dumb in another area. You can be an expert in your field and totally ignorant about God. Experts get a bad rap sometimes. I’m thankful for – when it comes to people who have to – doctors or somebody has to do a surgery or even somebody who’s got to change the oil in my car. That takes an expertise beyond my level. I’m thankful for experts, but just because you’re an expert in something doesn’t mean you’re an expert in anything else. My kids get very tired of the joke when somebody is sick or somebody gets hurt in the house and what should we do? And I say, “I am a doctor. I do have a doctorate in history. It will probably be very helpful right now.” That doesn’t make me knowledgeable in anything except “have Witherspoon, will travel.” That’s it. So, even in the field of history I’m ignorant about 99% of things, let alone medical field or computers or how to hang a picture in the house, all sorts of things. So, when you see really smart people, and they go on the TV show, and they say really dumb spiritual things, say, “Yeah, the Bible said that.” No one understands. If you don’t have your mind enlightened by the Spirit and the truth of God’s Word, you won’t really understand who God is. You won’t understand your state under sin. You won’t understand how to be saved. You won’t know what you need to do to be saved, and you won’t know the great danger that you’re in. That’s a lot of things not to know. No one understands. No one seeks for God. Again, someone may say, “Well, what about when Paul preaches in Acts 17, and he even says that there are some of the pagans, and he quotes from some of their poets that they’re seeking after God?” Well, Paul is talking about different kinds of seeking. It’s true there are people in the world who are curious about spiritual things. Maybe that’s part of your story. Or maybe you’re here this morning, and you would categorize yourself as a seeker. You have lots of questions. You’re open. So, there are those kinds of seekers – that is, someone who has questions, someone who’s honestly trying to learn. What Paul means here by seek is more what the prophets talked about or the psalmist, or think about Jesus. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. That language of seeking is the seeking that puts God first. It’s the seeking that has worship of the true and living God as our ultimate priority. That’s what he means. There is no natural person who seeks after God in that way.

And there’s no one who does good. Again, you may think even in the Bible – well, Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, he gets converted, but he was a God-fearer, and he seemed to be a decent man. You may think about your next-door neighbor – very friendly, they don’t know Christ. All of that is true. By God’s common grace, we can have moral decency on a surface level. What Paul is talking about here is that absolute good, the truest, deepest, ultimate good, that what you’re doing comes from the right heart, it’s the right thing, and you have the right aim. The sort of deed that God would say, “That is praiseworthy before me.” Paul says absolutely, there’s no one out there, your nicest neighbor, as friendly as you might be this morning as a non-Christian, and all the charities that you give to. It’s better than punching your neighbor in the face. But here’s the mirror that God holds up. He says, “You’re not good. Not in this ultimate sense. You’re not seeking after God. You don’t understand. You’re not righteous.” You see the summary there in verse 12. All have turned aside. So, none, none, none, no one, no one, no one. So, those are the things no one does, and then in the middle he says, well here are a couple of things that everyone does. Everyone has turned aside, and together they have become worthless. This isn’t my words. It’s God’s Word.

Notice, then, the effects of being under sin. So, there were four things you can’t do when you are under the dominion of sin. You can’t be righteous. You won’t understand. You won’t seek for God. And you won’t do something that is truly good before God. Then Paul, starting in verse 13, talks about the effects. Well, then what does it look like? And notice he goes through a series of six body parts – throat, tongues, lips, mouth, feet, and eyes. It’s very deliberately pulling, you know, and I just wonder – this is speculation – if when Paul is teaching this in the synagogues that maybe this was a helpful pneumonic device. How am I going to remember these Scriptures? I’m going to go through these different parts of the body. That’s how he pulled them together. It’s very deliberate. He’s attaching a spiritual malady to these different parts of the body. The throat is an open grave. It’s a disturbing picture. An open grave. You come, and you revisit a grave, and it’s been torn open. It would be putrid. It would be disinterred. It would be ugly. It would stink. Your throat – this is what it’s like in your speech. Your tongues, they’re deceptive. That means – sometimes it’s very obvious. Somebody the words that they use, you think everything you’re saying is ugly and putrid, and I don’t want to be around it. And if that were the case, well, it would be easy. But he says, “No, no, no. Sometimes they’re deceptive. The words may seem kind, but actually they’re devious.” And your lips – notice the venom of these snakes is under their lips. So, the words you say is like a poison in the veins of others. It ruins their day. It tears them down. It destroys their sense of right and wrong. It ruins their joy. And then their mouth, verse 14, is full of curses, bitterness. This is a mouth that’s full of resentment, malice, grudges. And notice here, four of the six items have to do with our speech. There’s more about this in Ephesians. There’s a lot more about this in the book of James, but I have to admit I tend to think of – and I use words for a living – but isn’t it easy for us to think about speech as yeah, use good words, don’t use potty language, don’t use swear words, but we can sort of excuse ourselves. The really bad people out there, well, they’re the two verses to come. Shedding blood, ruin and misery, destruction, violent people, murderers, adulterers. Four of the six body parts that Paul outlines here have to do with the words we speak, which is to testify to us. One of the worst ways that you and I sin is with our words. The control of sin – here’s another way to put it – the control of sin in your life is nowhere more evident than in the words that come out of your mouth. There’s lots of other things that you could hide. You might be able to hide what you’re looking at. You may be able to hide all the thoughts deep down and your feelings, your grudges, and even your hatred. But out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Don’t ever think that those errant words, those sharp words, those tearing down words are somehow small little sins. Paul says, “You show the mastery over your life by the words that come out of your mouth.”

Then he mentions feet swift to shed blood. In their paths are ruin and misery. You can look at the whole history of humanity and see men and women do the vilest things to each other. I was traveling last – well, two weeks ago – with two of my daughters. Did a couple of ministry things in London, and then we did a lot of sightseeing. I spent some money on other people and had some coffees and did a lot of fun things. It was an amazing time, and we did go to some museums. And someone that we were staying with reflected and said, “Well, enjoy the museums. The museums will remind you again and again of the depravity of mankind.” It’s true. Even the ones that are about the heroes. We didn’t go this time, but we’ve been before – the Churchill War Museums. Oh, Winston Churchill. Not only did he have his faults, and he was a hero, but why did he have to be a hero? Because millions of people were being slaughtered. The Imperial War Museum – if you’re in London, I recommend it. It’s very immersive, and it’s mainly about the role of the British Empire in World War I, World War II, and then there’s a whole floor to the Holocaust. You think, does anyone need to be convinced that their feet are swift to shed blood? And those wars were in supposedly Christian Europe. That’s the human heart under sin, violence, bloodshed.

And then he finishes: the way of peace they have not known, and one more, there’s no fear of God before their eyes. The eyes are small, but it’s very significant and deliberate that he uses this as his final image, because what do you do? I have very bad eyes, so I have very thick glasses. Your eyes are the way in which you take in the rest of the world. We have some here who have very serious eye problems. We have people who have blindness. The way in which God means for us, when our body is working as it should, to take in the world is through the eyes. This is how you assess everything else. Everything else that you see, it all comes through – you talk about your heart, your head – but everything, the words on a page, what you see, the image here is of your consciousness. How you assess, how you make sense of the world comes in through your eyes, which is why he says there is no fear of God before their eyes. He says you’re under sin. Your whole way of making sense of the world is wrong. You’re not looking at anything correctly. You may have some real knowledge that helps people. You may be a tech bro. You may be a finance whiz. But the things that matter most, you have no fear of God before your eyes, and you’re not able to see God as he really is, the world as it really is, and your heart as it really is until you have the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. This is a comprehensive diatribe against the fallen human race. Again and again proving our total and utter spiritual inability.

Think about the breadth of sin. Every people, every person. Think about the depth of sin in our world, that it affects your words, your sight, your actions, your understanding, your character. Jonathan Edwards, in his great book on original sin, said, “If the words which the apostle uses here do not most fully and determinatively signify a universality, no words ever used in the Bible are sufficient to do it. I might challenge anyone to produce any one paragraph in scripture from the beginning to the end where there is such a repetition, an accumulation of terms so strongly and emphatically and carefully to express the most perfect and absolute universality of sin.” He said nowhere else in the Bible is there even a paragraph like this, so emphatic, so repetitious, heaping up verses and terms to drive us to this irrefutable conclusion: apart from Christ, your understanding is darkened. Your aspirations are misplaced. Your sense of direction is confused and aimless. Your actions are not truly good. Your words are ugly and deceptive. Your speech is vile and bitter. Your actions cut others down. Your pursuits lead to the destruction of other people. Our lives know no lasting peace, and our eyes cannot see God as he really is. That’s the utter and complete and extreme predicament we find ourselves in. That’s the mirror, an uglier picture than the worst photo on your phone. And it’s true. This book knows you better than you know yourself. We will have wisdom, knowledge of God, and knowledge of ourselves. And if you really get this and you really believe it and God really preaches this to your heart, you can’t help but say Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am, wretched woman that I am, wretched old person that I am, wretched teenager that I am, who will set me free from the body of death?” This body with mouth and tongues and throat and lips and feet and eyes that are in defiance of the living God.

The only hope is that instead of being under sin, we could somehow be under grace. And the only way to be under grace is to be in Christ. It’s the only way to be under grace is in Christ, and the only way to be in Christ is through faith. And just as sin is a universal master over the human race, so this proclamation of the gospel is meant to be universal to every people and to every person, to everyone under the dominion of sin. The gospel says you can be under the dominion of grace, found only in Christ, only by faith. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that will pardon and cleanse within, grace that is greater than all our sin. What good news. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for the Word, a true, faithful mirror. Turn us from the ugly picture of ourselves to the beautiful sight of Christ, and may we be found in him. And would you move us from being under sin to under grace? If we’ve never made that move before, would you do it now in our hearts? Help us to cry out to you. And if we have made that move before, would you remind us of who we are in Jesus and what sort of people we ought to be and with thanksgiving what we have been saved from by this marvelous grace? We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Fairness of God and the Sinfulness of Sin

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:00:24 GMT

Our text this morning is Romans chapter 3. Please turn there in your Bibles. Romans chapter 3. Our text is verses 3-8, though I’ll pick up the reading (so we can get the whole paragraph) beginning at verse 1. One commentator says about this paragraph, “It is one of the most difficult, perhaps, in the entire epistle.” It may seem strange – not in the throes of justification, or later in election and reprobation, or chapter 11 what do we make of Israel – that here in chapter 3, almost in a transition before we come to the answer of justification, that we have this very difficult paragraph. It’s difficult, in particular, because we’re left to follow the inner logic of the apostle Paul and read a little bit between the lines and understand the argument that he’s making and the sort of objections he’s responding to. So, follow along as I read, and let’s ask for God’s help upon the reading and preaching of his Word.

Gracious heavenly Father, we do not take for granted that you have entrusted to us the oracles of God and that we are so privileged and so blessed of all peoples that we have so many resources, that we have such access to your Word, that we have – we hope and trust – such faithful proclamation of the gospel, that we would know the way of salvation. And so, may we not neglect such a great salvation and your Word now proclaimed by your Spirit. Help us, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Verse 1:

“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means. Let God be true, though everyone were a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say, that God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? I speak in a human way. By no means. For then, how could God judge the world? But if through my lie, God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come, as some people slanderously charge us with saying? Their condemnation is just.”

I want you to notice the phrase at the beginning of verse 4 and verse 6 translated in the ESV “by no means.” By no means. It is the Greek phrase me genoito, and it occurs 10 times in the book of Romans. These are the first two of 10 occurrences. Me genoito – translated “by no means.” The phrase always comes after a question, and these questions present arguments that Paul anticipates and, likely, arguments that he’s already heard. Remember he has years of evangelism among the Jews. He would often start in the synagogue to the Jew first and then to the Greeks. So, these are not only thoughts that he has anticipating what someone might say, but are likely the very things that people have said to him many, many times. These are emails he’s gotten. These are letters. These are after the conference, someone waits to shake his hand and says, “I got a question.” These are the sorts of questions that he’s responding to, and at times – 10 times in the book of Romans – he gives this answer: me genoito. The King James translates it “God forbid,” which is not the best translation, because it doesn’t have the word God anywhere in the Greek, but it’s the sense of it. You could translate it “of course not,” “not at all,” “may it never be,” or if we wanted to put it a little more colloquially, “absurd,” “you’re kidding me,” “that’s ridiculous,” “unthinkable,” “a thousand times no,” “not in a million years.” So, Dad, if I clean my room, maybe I could get a little money? Yeah, maybe a little bit. And then if I worked really hard, did the dishes, clean the whole house, did it all week, maybe I could get a little bit of money? How much money? I don’t know. Maybe you could get $5, $10, $20. Maybe you get something a day. So then, if I did it for like a month, you’d buy me a car? Me genoito. Absurd. Unthinkable. By no means.

He uses this phrase two times in these verses, and although he uses it two times, I want you to notice three interlocking criticisms leveled against Paul’s gospel. So, he gives this response twice, and in one sense they’re all kind of the same, but I want you to notice three interlocking criticisms of all that Paul has been saying – in particular what Paul has been saying about the universal sinfulness not only of Gentiles but of Jews, that to stand before God in the day of judgment, that though there are advantages to being a Jew (he gave one, just one: you have been entrusted with the oracles of God. That’s a privilege. It’s an advantage, and with that privilege comes responsibility.) But by itself, you cannot stand before God and say, “But I’ve been a religious insider. But I’m a Jew. I’ve been circumcised.” Or, “But I went to Christ Covenant, and I was baptized, and I had a very huge Bible, and I had a study Bible. And I every day got the verse on my app. I did it, and I even did the Versle, and I look it up.” You see if you – I’m on like a 350-day streak with the Versle app. It’s like Wordle but with Bible verses. That will not get you in.

So, three criticisms to this message. Number one, you’re tarnishing God’s name, Paul. Number two, you’re impugning God’s righteousness. And number three, you’re encouraging evil behavior. These are three interlocking criticisms. They follow each on the other as Paul develops his argument. So, let’s understand what these questions are about and why Paul responds so vigorously. Me genoito. Here’s the first criticism, then. They say to Paul, in essence, in verses 3 and 4, this message you’ve been telling us, you’re tarnishing God’s name. He comes back to the broader point he was making in chapter 2. If you look at chapter 2, verse 5, he says there about at least some of the Jews, “Your hard, impenitent heart – you’re storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” So, they’re thinking, “How can this be? We’re Jews, and you’ve been laying out for verse after unrelenting verse about how we will stand condemned before God. So how can this be? Remember, we’re the chosen ones. We have the covenants. We have the promise. Are we going to be on the wrong side of God’s wrath?” Now, this may sound like the very sorts of arguments Paul’s dealt with already, but there’s a little twist to it, because they’re saying to Paul, if God were to judge us, then he would not be faithful to his own promises. He gave us the promises to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. We’re the people of the promise. We’re the people of the covenant. They are the original Messiah-covenant congregation. We have promises from God. So, Paul, you have been laying out that many of us Jews are unfaithful and will face judgment. Well, if we are unfaithful and will face judgment, doesn’t that make God faithless to us? You see that there in verse 3. What if some were unfaithful – does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? That’s the question that they’re asking. Because we were not true to the covenant – alright, Paul, if that’s what you’re trying to establish – then it means God is not going to be true to his covenant to us? So, you’re saying, Paul, God, in your estimation, must be liar. He made promises, and he didn’t make good on the promises, because you’re saying that we as his chosen people are going to be judged. Am I right? Paul’s response, “Absurd. Not in a million years.” If the whole world – look there at verse 4 – if the whole world were full of lies, everywhere you turn, lies, lies, lies, everyone were a liar, God would still be true. He’s saying God is never a liar. This is, incidentally, one of the simplest syllogisms to reach the conclusion that the Scriptures are infallible and inerrant (without error) in all that they affirm. You have been entrusted with the oracles of God.

So, the Scriptures are God opening his own most-hallowed lips to us. These are the very words of God in Scripture. And we see here that God is never a liar. So, if this, the Scriptures, are God’s words, and if God is never a liar, therefore it stands to reason that every one of these words can be trusted. There is nothing affirmed, nothing taught in this book that will fail to be proved to be true. It is infallible. It is inerrant. So how can this be, coming back to their argument? He promised these great things to Israel, and now the Apostle Paul is saying that they will stand judged even though they belong ethnically to Israel. One way to get at Paul’s argument is to follow that word we saw last week – the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. Yes, they were entrusted with the oracles of God, but they did not prove trustworthy with those oracles. So, the question then is, does their lack of trustworthiness make God untrustworthy? He has somehow failed to keep his promises. Now, here’s what they were forgetting. They were forgetting all that is said in the oracles of God. They were forgetting all that was promised in the covenants, because if they remembered correctly the oracles of God, if they knew better what was there in all of those covenants, they would know that the covenant promises always promise blessing for those covenant keepers and curses for those covenant breakers. In punishing Israel, therefore, here’s Paul’s argument: God was not forgetting his covenant promises. He was, in fact, fulfilling them. They had only one set of promises in his mind.

Again, it’s hard not to think of parents and children. Children, if you promise them ice cream – you don’t even have to promise. You just say, “You know what? Maybe we’ll get ice cream on Tuesday.” Your child hears, “Upon pain of death, sworn in my parents’ own precious blood, there shall be ice cream before the heavens roll away and the stars fall.” That’s what they hear. They register those promises, but any sorts of threats – if you do not come home on time, if you do not clean your room, if you do not follow through, if you do not bring your grades up, then this consequence will happen – well, those are mere possibilities. Nobody says, “I’m so thankful that you were true to your promises. I honor you, dear parent, for now I face the consequences of my failure to keep my end of the agreement. And so now I’m grounded, or I have received a painful consequence on my backside. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Well, that’s not the instinct of our children, nor was it the instinct of God’s people here. They wanted God to be faithful to his word. We all want God to be faithful to his word. They had overlooked what he had promised in all his words – not only blessing, but also judgment. It’s like in Amos’s day – and this happened often with the prophets – the people were clamoring for the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, because they were tired of the nations around them oppressing them. And so, they’d say, “Oh, come with the day of the Lord,” because they knew that the day of the Lord was the day that God himself would visit, and he would visit his people for judgment. And so, they said, “Come, bring the day of the Lord. That’s going to be the day when you get our enemies off our backs.” And the prophets like Amos often said, “Careful, careful when you call for the day of the Lord. You’re right. It is the day where God comes to judge the wicked, but are you so sure you’re not among the wicked? Don’t presume.”

As we’ll come to many times later in the book of Romans, we will see absolutely the Bible teaches the perseverance or the preservation of the saints. One of the five points of Calvinism, the P – perseverance, preservation of the saints. Those who are justified cannot be unjustified. Those regenerated cannot be unregenerated. Those who are chosen will in no way fail to make it to the end. I believe absolutely in the preservation of the saints. We should not, however, believe in the presumption of so-called Christians. Big difference. These religious insiders had, as likely many religious people have in this country, a false assurance. They had a false assurance of salvation because they had circumcision, and they were Jews. Is it possible you have a false assurance because you grew up in church? You went to camp, and you prayed a prayer. You threw the pinecone in the fire – at least that’s what we did when I went in camp. If you want Jesus into your heart, go ahead and just – right now, just – while every head bowed. It’s just sort of a variation of the altar call for camp. You did that. You joined a church, and now you think that whatever you do, God owes you something. You have God in your back pocket. You had some kind of religious ritual or symbol or some kind of basic religious observance, and it’s like in Monopoly – you have the get out of jail free card, that you have it, and you can just, at any time, just say, “Excuse me. Child of God coming through right here.” Well, that’s a wonderful truth if, in fact, it is the truth. That’s why Paul has just belabored the point for the Jews. You want to know what it means to be a true Jew? It’s a matter of the heart. You want to know what it means to be a true Christian? It’s not a matter of a perfunctory formula or mere church attendance or church membership or how many Bible studies you’ve been to. It’s a matter of the heart. So, when God comes to judge, he will judge those knowing their heart. A life lived in blatant and habitual disregard for God’s commands, a life that is totally devoid of the fruit of the Spirit is not a life of faith and should expect God’s judgment. The point Paul is making – what’s implied here in this argument – is God is faithful to judge those with hard and impenitent hearts. Yes, you think God is somehow breaking his promises. You have forgotten all of his promises.

And then look at the argument he gives in verse 4, because we’re likely sometimes for these “it is written” statements, we just sort of pass them by and think, “Alright, that’s interesting that you may be justified in your words, prevail when you judge – let’s get back with the argument.” But this is absolutely critical to Paul’s argument. Why? Because this comes from Psalm 51, and you need to know what Psalm 51 is about. Some of you may remember. It says at the beginning, the ascription, in Psalm 51, “A psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.” This is David’s great sin, the sin of adultery, the sin of lying, the sin of treachery, the sin of murder. There was hardly any commandments that he hadn’t broken in this matter with Bathsheba. And so, Nathan the prophet comes. Nathan told David in 2 Samuel, “The Lord will raise up trouble for you from your own house.” When David recognizes, “I am the man,” Nathan promises, “Trouble will come to your house. Your wives will be taken away. The child you bore with Bathsheba will die.” Remember, that’s what Nathan said. You’re guilty, and here’s what you have. You have some covenant curses coming to you, David. Now, David will announce the blessed mercy of God: “Create in me a clean heart. Wash me with white as snow, and cleanse me with hyssop.” But Nathan has said to him, “This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to have trouble come to your house as a form of discipline. Your wives (in this time, these kings had multiple wives) will be taken from you, and then worst of all, the child that has been conceived with Bathsheba, this child will die.” Now, it isn’t the case that anytime these sorts of things happen, there’s difficulties, that it’s a sign of the Lord’s judgment. But here from on high, Nathan tells him, “This is the judgment of the Lord.”

Now, this is significant because it’s to that message, that announcement of judgment, that David gives these words here in Psalm 51, “that you may be justified in your words and prevail in your judgment,” or as it says back in the Psalm, “Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” This is why, for all of his sins, David can still be called a man after God’s own heart – because though he sinned greatly, he always repented just as great. Do you see what David is saying in this psalm? It’s as if he is saying as he receives this word of judgment, what would most of us do? You say, well, God, we all make mistakes. Or, don’t you think you’re being a little unreasonable? Or do you think the punishment really fits the crime? Or, I said I’m sorry. I thought you were a God of mercy. I thought you forgave and you forgot. It’s not what David says. He says, in essence in Psalm 51, after Nathan announces this word of judgment, “You are not at fault, oh God. You have not broken any of your promises. I am the promise breaker. I have been unfaithful to your Word. You (this is what Paul quotes) are blameless in your judgment of me.” That’s why it’s a tremendous – it’s just brilliant what Paul does by anchoring this truth in this text, to say the Jews are saying, well how could God judge us? If he is, he’s unfaithful to his word. And he says, “No, remember what David said. It’s precisely because he was faithful to his word that he judged wicked David in this instance.” Nehemiah – there’s a prayer in Nehemiah 9 to the same effect: “Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who keeps covenant (notice that word, he’s a covenant-keeping God) and steadfast love.” And then it says this, “yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly.” It’s exactly what Paul is reminding them of. Yes, he is a covenant-keeping God. This takes a profound work of the Spirit.

Again, think of our kids. It’s not very likely they would say, “Mom, dad, I said I would be home by 11 p.m., and I wasn’t home until after midnight. I have proved faithless. You promised me discipline if I violated your rules. I want to announce that you are justified in your words of rebuke, and you are blameless in your judgment.” Sounds unlikely, and it’s also very rare in any of our hearts, because that’s not what the typical child says to a parent when they’ve broken the parents’ rules, and it’s not what many of us say when we have broken God’s rules. Usually what we do is we turn to self-pity. We have a self-referential way of looking at the world, or maybe we say, “But God, how can you be angry with church people?” And God’s response is, “Because I am just, and sometimes even the church, and sometimes even church people deserve my judgment.” That’s Paul’s response to the first criticism. They say, “You’re tarnishing God’s name. You’re making him to be a liar.” Paul says, “Oh, quite the contrary. I am absolutely holding him up to be the one who always tells the truth, always faithful to his word.

Here’s criticism number two. They say, “You are impugning God’s righteousness.” We can trace this argument verses 5 and 6. Let’s follow the logic. Our faithlessness proves the faithfulness of God. That’s what Paul has just said. Even when we’re faithless, when we don’t keep the oracles of God, God keeps his oracles, and therefore we prove that he is faithful. And when, therefore, he is faithful, he shows himself to be a truth-teller in all the world. Verse 5, our unrighteousness, does it not serve to show the righteousness of God? Okay, Paul, I’m tracking with you. If that’s the case – that when we are unrighteous, God comes in judgment, and it shows his righteousness, his execution of justice, and from that display of his righteousness, God is true to his character – we see God express his holiness, his glory. They’re thinking, “Well, then surely our unrighteousness makes God’s righteousness shine all the greater. So, what’s the problem? You’re impugning God’s righteousness by saying that there’s a problem with us when our actions, collectively, are in the end making God look righteous.” And Paul says once again, “by no means.” See, you have to understand the implicit argument they’re making. The implicit argument is, “Are we really going to be judged? Are we really going to be judged, because if we’re judged and that’s God’s righteousness, then our unrighteousness just serves God’s righteousness, and how is that really fair? Because God isn’t going to judge us, right?” Well, he says, “By no means.” And look at the response, “For then how could God judge the world?” They’re still arguing that God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us. You see that at the end of verse 6, and Paul here has to catch himself. He can hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth. He says, “I speak in a human way.” They’re saying, “God cannot inflict his justice on us, because we’re in the end just helping him to show his righteousness, so what’s really to blame on our part?” Paul says, I can hardly even believe I’m making this sort of argument. But then he says, “How could God judge the world? You’ve got to trace why he’s using this as his argument, and it’s always interesting when you read through the Bible to notice what points need to be argued for – in this case, the judgment of the Jews needs to be argued for – and what points are assumed. It tells you a lot about some of the differences between how we see things and how they saw things.

What can be assumed? For example, 1 Corinthians 15, Paul’s talking about the resurrection. The question that they have in 1 Corinthians 15 is, “Is there a bodily resurrection for all of us yet to come?” And Paul says, well, of course there is, or Christ himself has not been raised. Do you see? The thing that he assumes everyone agrees on is that Jesus Christ has been raised, and he can assume that because he’s appeared to Cephas and the Twelve and then to more than 500 witnesses – some of them, even, at one time. So, no one was doubting that Jesus had been raised. Now, it’s just the opposite for many modern people. They might think, well, of course, we’ll all be raised, but do we really know that Jesus has been raised? There Paul assumes the thing that we would argue, and he argues for the thing that we might assume. And it’s sort of like that here. And when we look carefully at the way the Bible makes arguments, it can help us spot things that were plain to them but aren’t plain to us. So, the assumption here, if you look at verse 6 – the assumption is that everyone knows God will judge the world. That’s the argument he makes to prove the argument that they disagree on. God will judge the world. No one in Paul’s audience doubted that God would judge the world. After all, what kind of God doesn’t judge wickedness and evil? And because they all knew that God would judge the world – again, you have to follow somewhat implicitly Paul’s argument, because they’re saying God would not be righteous, he would not be fair, to judge us because we would just be making him look good, and then how can he really blame us? And Paul’s argument here as well, by that same logic – if God can’t judge people just because by judging them he gets glory, then he can’t judge the Gentiles either, because when he judges the sinful Gentiles, he also gets glory. So, by your logic, God could not judge anyone, and we all know that God will judge the world. That’s the assumption that Paul makes to prove his point. They all knew, of course God will judge the world. Now, we might think, “Well, yes, they were primitive people, ancient people, fearful, vengeful, violent, superstitious.” Well, maybe some differences between them and us, but perhaps they might say about us, “Well, they were an excessively therapeutic people – that is, they only believed in illness and dysfunction, not in evil and wickedness.” Or maybe many of us in the West are so shielded – those of us who live in great prosperity – so shielded from the brutalities of the world that we don’t think judgment is necessary. It’s quite an easier proposition when you live a relatively comfortable life to think, “I mean, yeah, nobody’s perfect, but why do we need a god to judge the world?” Maybe if you were living in the midst of great injustice – some of you have – great brutality, then you would say, “We absolutely need a god to judge the world.” It’s like if people who lived in a safe, wealthy, gated community wanted to abolish the police when the people who lived in the midst of violent streets and danger said, “That’s the last thing we want to do. We want justice.”

Paul argues from this starting point. Look, God can judge Israel, even though Israel’s unfaithfulness proves God’s faithfulness. We may be bringing God glory in a way, but he is still right to judge us for disobedience, because after all, if God could not judge the disobedient just because in that judgment he received glory, then how could he judge the world? And everyone knows God is going to judge the world. That’s the intricate argument he’s making here with this imaginary Jewish questioner.

When you think about the Apostles’ Creed, or let’s say the Nicene Creed, which we recite often in this church, and you think about what was difficult in the fourth century when the Nicene Creed was hammered out. The issue at the council of Nicea was Arianism. It was Arias saying there was a time when the Son of God was not. He was the first of the Father’s created beings. Sure, he was God. He was God the second. That’s what Mormons call Jesus. God the second. They had a functionally similar theology. And so, the council at Nicea, the bishops there, and then through the course of the fourth century and beyond have to hammer out this great truth that the Son is of the very same essence with the Father. And in other centuries, perhaps the most difficult line in the Nicene Creed might be “born of the Virgin Mary.” Especially think of that in the 19th and 20th century, the rise of theological liberalism – people said how can we believe in a virgin birth? Or maybe it’s the confession, “on the third day he rose again from the dead.” Can we really believe in a bodily resurrection? Today, I believe, many of our theological problems in the world start with a weak adherence to or a quiet doubting of the line, “He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.” That may be the line precisely that people have the hardest time believing. Not many people today get so caught up in all of the intricacies of Arianism and what homoousiosmeans. They may even say, “Well, okay, so miracles, there’s mysterious things, and yeah, Christ did miracles, and maybe he was raised from the dead” – but it’s that point, especially for some church people, that point – “he will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.” Almost everyone in this room, you’ve said that before. You’ve said it in this very room. Words on the screen. Do you believe that? Is that true? God sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come with glory, and he will judge the living and the dead. And then, you have to ask, if that is true, who will he judge with wrath? You say, “Well, that’s obvious. The bad guys, the wicked people, the evil ones, the disobedient.” Alright, but then there’s a third question. Are you sure you are not numbered among those people? Or to put the question another way, what will you do when everything or so much in your life would put you in that class of people? Are you confident? Do you really think you’ll stand before him and say, “I’m looking forward to you judge all the bad guys, all the people who didn’t get stuff right, all the people who didn’t honor you as God. Thunderbolts. Let’s go.” Are you so sure that you and I wouldn’t be deserving of that wrath? And if we are deserving – see what Paul is doing – how will you be secure on that day? He’s coming again to judge the living and the dead.

Well, there’s a third interlocking criticism, and it’s very similar to the second one. They say to Paul, well, basically you’re telling us, then, it’s fine to be wicked. You are encouraging evil behavior. That’s the argument in verses 7 and 8. Okay, you’ve established God is true to his promises. That’s why he judges us. And you’ve said he judges us, and he’s still righteous to do so, because if he can’t judge people when they bring him glory by that judgment, then he couldn’t judge everyone. Okay. So, he judges us. So, final point, if through my lie, God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come? Ah, here we come to it, and this same argument will come up in chapter 6 in a different context. But this is the continuation of the previous logic. Let’s do evil so that good may come. Let’s sin so God can prove his righteousness in judging us. Do you see what this basic argument is, and you may think, well nobody makes this kind of argument. No, actually people make these kinds of arguments all the time, because the argument is, in essence, the end justifies the means. God gets glory. He judges sinners. So, I want to give God glory, right? And when I sin and he judges me, he gets glory, right? So, let’s sin. You see Paul’s response there: to even say such a thing is so obviously warped that their condemnation is just.

But notice what Paul indicates in verse 8. Some people slanderously charge us with saying this. Some people were out there. They’re saying, “Get a load of this Apostle Paul guy. You know what he teaches? He teaches, ‘Sin so that God gets more glory.’ That’s what he’s teaching.” God will judge the people, and when he does so (he’s righteous to do so), the teaching of the Apostle Paul is sin, do evil, so that glory may abound. Do evil, that good may come. They said that’s what Paul teaches right there. Somebody was hammering it out online. You can follow it. The Apostle Paul says, “Do evil, that good may come.” Paul says that is nothing but absolute slander. It’s not the truth. Now, maybe his opponents made up the charge. Maybe they misheard something. Maybe they assumed an inference from Paul’s teaching, and then they said, “Ah, well, that must be what Paul is saying.” In any case, it was slander. If you claim someone has stated what they have not stated or that they believe what they do not believe, you have slandered them.

Now, this was not a good-faith disagreement with these people. This is not sort of, you know, you do a book review, and somebody says, “Wait a minute. I don’t think you understood my argument.” “Oh, okay. Alright, I see.” This was not a good-faith disagreement. Paul’s opponents were not interested in knowing the truth. They were not interested in being corrected. I don’t know if you’ve ever encountered any people like that in your life. They’re not really looking for correction. They’re not really looking to have a give-and-take with you. They’re looking to have a punch, punch, punch at you. They had a line about Paul. This guy teaches that we ought to do evil so that good will come. That was the banner over Paul’s teaching. And Paul says it’s absolute slander. Now, let me just say here, I think this – I hope this is an appropriate application at this point. As you talk about people, whether you do it online or whether you do it in conversation with others, do not do this to other people. And unfortunately, you ought not to be surprised if this happens to you. “So, you will not accept my lesbian girlfriend. I get it. You hate me.” It’s not what I said. It’s not what I believe. “So, you believe in taking incremental steps to get rid of abortion. Just incremental steps. Okay, so you’re in favor of murdering babies.” Slander. “You believe men should be the head of the household, and men should be officers of the church, right?” Yes. “So, you want a handmaid’s tale of patriarchal oppression. Is that right?” Slander. “You have concerns with many expressions of Christian nationalism.” I do. “Well, I guess you want pagans to run this country and trans our kids.” Slander. Don’t argue like that. Don’t be surprised when people give you those arguments.

Beware – here’s one of the lessons here from this passage – beware of conclusions based on human logic instead of Bible logic. That is taking a couple rules and thinking you know how it all turns out without taking into account all of the rules. Here’s what I mean. Somebody says about baseball – apologize if you’re not from America, but it is our pastime. Baseball. Someone says, “Foul balls are strikes.” That’s true. “Three strikes and you’re out.” That’s true. “So, three foul balls, and you’re out.” No, no, it doesn’t work like that. Those first two rules were true, but there’s another rule that you can’t get out on a foul ball. You mean, you can’t get out in any way on a foul ball? Okay, well, you actually can. It could be a foul tip, or somebody could – you can’t get called a third strike on a foul. It’s complicated. You see, if someone just had those first two rules and they went all around the world and they just declared three foul balls and you’re out – well, you don’t know the rest of the rules and how the whole thing fits together. Don’t come to conclusions based on human logic that negates Bible logic. Now, it’s not against logic, but it’s not taking into account all of the Bible logic. So, someone says, “God has chosen from eternity those who will be saved and those he will pass over in judgment.” It’s true. “And this decree is unalterable.” That’s true. “Therefore, we don’t have to engage in evangelism.” That is not true. That is often the first thing you will hear. Oh, you’re a Calvinist. I know what Calvinists believe. They don’t believe in evangelism. George Whitefield, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, the list goes on and on. We believe in evangelism. You have not used Bible logic. “Oh, I’m justified by grace alone through faith alone, according to the imputation of the righteousness of Christ alone, and not by one iota of my works. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how I live.” No, that is not the Bible’s logic. Do not reach conclusions based on mere human logic that contradicts Bible logic. That’s part of what Paul is saying. You have not read my argument correctly or fairly.

I want you to notice just a couple of other things about what Paul does. Number one, again, we see the principle that the end does not justify the means. And it’s amazing how many people, Christians even, still make that basic argument. “Well, look, if we don’t do things the way that they do it, we’re never going to get control. We’re never going to have the power. We’re never going to be able to accomplish these things. Yeah. The way they lie, the way they cheat, the way they wield authority, the way they’re unfair, the way they don’t play by the rules. You get it? We’re not going to get there if we don’t do it like that.” Do not go about accomplishing God’s ends with the world’s ways. God never tells us to accomplish his end by using the devil’s means. The end does not justify the means.

And then notice the other thing that Paul does. This is instructive just in your own life and sometimes how you talk to people. Some people do not deserve a long, detailed argument. Some views do not merit a long, detailed response. You say, “Well, pastor, that doesn’t sound very caring or very loving to people.” Well, how about Jesus? “Do not throw your pearls before swine.” Swine. See, part of being a mature Christian is you got to know sheep, you got to know wolves, you got to know snakes, you got to know dogs, you got to know pigs. You got to be able to discern your animals. You don’t throw pearls before swine. That’s what Jesus said. Or what about “do not answer a fool according to his folly” or “have nothing to do with a divisive person.” You see what Paul does here? There are people out there slanderously saying, “Apostle Paul teaches you do evil so that good may come.” Paul doesn’t – “alright, clear the schedule for today, I got to hammer out 7,000 words.” He says that’s a lie, and anyone who would make that argument and really believe it, their condemnation is just. That’s all he has to say. Sometimes the best argument is to appeal to a near universal sense of right and wrong. That’s what Paul does. Everyone knows that’s a lie and a terrible argument, and if you really believe that you do evil so good may come, then your condemnation is just. I have nothing left to say.

So, what’s the bottom line? You could summarize the whole paragraph in one sentence. God is always fair, and sin is always wrong. Very simple. God is always fair. Sin is always wrong. We know that intellectually, but if we’re honest, in our hearts, we often get those two things mixed up. And in our hearts, we kind of feel like God is sometimes unfair, and sin is sometimes okay. Paul will have none of that. There’s a question. This whole paragraph comes down to this question. Are you the judge of God, or is God the judge of you? That one question is going to serve you well through all of Romans. And part of what Romans is going to be relentless – and we’ll find this especially when we get to Romans 9, but all throughout the book – are you the judge of God, or is God the judge of you? A whole lot of people deep in their hearts, they live their life with, really, God’s in the dock. That’s the British way of saying God’s the one who’s on the stand. Where are you? This is the courtroom scene, and everything about whether you’re a Christian or not depends on where you think you sit in the courtroom. Do you sit at the judge’s bench, and there’s God sitting there on the stand? Is that what it is? You got a lot of ‘splaining to do, God. You got a lot of things that you’re not doing right, a lot of unfairness, a lot of injustice, and I’m here to get my questions answered. Or is it, as every Christian realizes, just the opposite? God’s ultimate concern is for his glory. His righteousness is beautifully displayed in both salvation and judgment, because in both acts – salvation and judgment – God is true to his character, his holiness, his unfailing righteousness, and his commitment to see his name hallowed in all the earth. Genesis 18:25, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is right?” He always does what is right, and he gets the glory.

God is always fair. Sin is always wrong. And so, if you know where you sit in this courtroom, and you and I sit on the stand – we sit there, and God is on the bench to judge us – then we know that we need a righteousness not our own, because he will in the end. This is what Paul’s coming to. He’s a just judge. He will be fair. And so, there’s got to be a way. How can this work, that he’s just and he will justify the ungodly? How’s that going to work? And Paul’s going to get there. And if you can just wait with bated breath until we get through the summer, you’re going to get there, too, because he’s going to tell us there’s a way. There’s a way that those who trust in Christ alone, that he might be their faithfulness, that he might be their righteousness, that then God can also be righteous in declaring the unrighteous to be righteous for the sake of Christ. Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we give thanks for your holy Word. We pray now that you would work it deep into our hearts in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Look Up and Live

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:24:35 GMT

This sermon from Numbers 21 was given by Kevin at the PCA’s 53rd General Assembly in Louisville, KY on June 23, 2026. Preached at PCA General Assembly.

The Most Important Advantage

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 19:28:49 GMT

As we come to Paul’s letter to the Romans, let’s pray for God’s help.

Give thou the hearing ear. Fix thou the wandering thought, that those we teach may hear the great things that thou hast wrought. Speak thou for us, O Lord, in all we say of thee. According to thy Word let all our teaching be, that so thy lambs may know their own true shepherd’s voice, where e’er he leads them go, and in his love rejoice. Give us those ears to hear. I pray that by your Spirit you would give me the voice not of my own, but speaking through me the voice of our good shepherd and that we his dear lambs would hear his voice and be led into green pastures, to lie down beside still waters, to know his comfort – yea, even though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, to know that you are with us. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

We come this morning to Romans chapter 3. Some of you have been reminding me of the math as we go along. This is our 16th sermon, so we’ve been averaging right at eight sermons at chapter. So, that’s 108 sermons. But, yeah, chapter 8’s a big one. Chapter 9’s got a lot of things. Maybe we’ll make up some ground in 15 and 16. But, I’ve been encouraged – at least the people, those of you who think we’re going way too slow have been nice not to tell me that, and the ones who are happy for the pace have told me. So, trust that you’re being fed as I’m being fed each week. This morning, just two verses. Chapter 3, verses 1 and 2.

“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.”

We know that there’s lots of difficult terrain in the book of Romans, and chapter 2 has already had its share of difficult passages and different interpretations. And you might think that then there would be something of a reprieve before we get to the end of chapter 3, and we have all of that dense, glorious theology of justification and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and justification by faith alone, and that’s coming up at the end of chapter 3 into chapter 4. So, you might think that we have some easy going here in chapter 3, but we do not. In fact, these first eight verses many commentators think are the most difficult of Paul’s logic to follow anywhere in the whole book of Romans. Now, thankfully, for this week at least, these first two verses of the eight are relatively easy to understand. But the whole sequence of argument from 1 to 8 is Paul dealing with a number of counterarguments to everything that he’s been saying. Paul’s been making the case that not just the Gentiles, but the Jews also, will be judged by God, and they will fall under the condemnation of God unless they have the righteousness of God that comes by faith, and it will not come by obedience of the law. It will not come by any ethnic or special religious privilege. Paul has made absolutely clear to these religious insiders that their Jewish heritage will not save them on the day of judgment. They cannot claim that they are better than other people. And so it is with us. We cannot stand before God and claim that we are his favorite people or that we have a special relationship to the law or we have a special mission to the nations or that we’ve heard sermons on the great commission or even that we gave of ourselves to be missionaries. You cannot depend on any religious ritual or symbol to save you. Circumcision by itself will do you no good. Now Paul did say earlier that yes, if you have circumcision and you keep the law, that’s something. So, it’s not that the Christian faith is devoid of symbols or rituals or traditions. The Lord Jesus gave us two signs and seals, two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s supper, and they’re essential to the wellbeing of the church. But Paul is talking about what can you depend upon when you have to stand before God?

And you can imagine how this unrelenting series of arguments might produce from his Jewish listeners a series of counterarguments. In fact, you imagine – remember, this is Paul writing in maybe the late 50s AD – he’s had many years of evangelism in the synagogues, the gospel to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And in many places, he would go, and he would start there among the Jews until they kicked him out, or he would do evangelism in the synagogue. So, you imagine after many years Paul has had lots of people form a line after the service and say, “what about?” or he’s had recent converts who have asked him these questions, or he’s maybe had people who have tried to kill him who have brought up these very questions. If you add up the question marks in verses 1-8, there are nine of them, at least in ESV. We deal with a series of questions that Paul has in his mind, probably real questions that he’s heard from Jews over the years. And in these first two verses, we have the first two questions. And these two questions are really asking one question. They are saying, “Well, Paul, if Israel is under judgment like everyone else, was there any point at all in being a Jew?” You see that there? What advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? And to that question, you see Paul’s answer, somewhat surprising, in verse 2. You might think, given everything in Paul’s logic so far, that the answer to that question might be, “You’re right! There’s no advantage. You stand before God. It doesn’t matter, Jew or Gentile.” It’s all about faith, which is true in the sense of judgment, and yet he says, as far as their religious heritage, has there been any advantage? Absolutely! Much in every way.

Paul’s saying, “Good question. Actually, there’s a ton of privileges that the Jews have had, a ton of advantages.” And then he does what no English teacher would want you to do in your essay. He says, “First of all” – that’s how you could translate “to begin with” – and first of all, I got a long list. Here’s number one, and he never gets on to number two or three or four. He never goes beyond number one. He just gets lost in his train of thought and all the other questions that are pouring in. Now, he will come back in chapter 9, verses 4 and 5, and he will mention about the adoption and the covenants, and he’ll mention some other of the privileges. But here he says, “Oh yeah, I got a long list of advantages that the Jew has had.” And let me give you first of all, and he never gets past the first one. It’s as if someone said, “Okay, Paul, you only can give one answer. I want you to tell me what’s the single most important privilege that the Jewish people have enjoyed.” Now, don’t give me a semicolon. I want one thing, not part A, part B. I want one answer. Okay? Just one. And Paul says, that’s easy. There is one privilege that has outshone all the others. They have been entrusted with the oracles of God. And what does Paul mean by this somewhat unusual phrase, the oracles of God? Well, you’re familiar with what an oracle might be, and they certainly were in the ancient world. You might go in a temple, and you want to hear from an oracle that’s a mouthpiece of heaven to earth. It’s a mouthpiece of divine knowledge. And they had many so-called oracles that were false oracles. But they’re very familiar with this idea. Where do we go to hear the voice of God? There are only four times in the New Testament that we have this phrase or something like it. Acts 7:38 in Stephen’s sermon. Remember last week, I connected the dots with Stephen’s sermon, and here again is one of the connections, probably, in Paul’s mind, because this is one of three other instances. Stephen said that Moses and our fathers received “the living oracles” on Mount Sinai. So, certainly that means the law, but means more than that. It means the revelation of God’s spoken, and then in stone written down, word. Hebrews 5:12. You need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. And then the third instance besides Romans is in 1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever speaks, let him do so as one who speaks the oracles of God.”

So, these four passages, and at least in three of them, it’s likely that they referend to the written down Scriptures. There’s a famous scholarly article over a hundred years ago written by the great theologian B.B. Warfield. You can get it in the book Inspiration and Authority – it includes it there. He has a famous article called “The Oracles of God” where he talks about this very phrase, and he traces it in Greco-Roman literature and Jewish literature, and he concludes that this phrase refers to the Old Testament Scriptures. He says in Romans 3:2 it certainly refers to that. In Hebrews 5:12 it probably refers to that. In Acts 7:38 it likely refers to that. And in 1 Peter it may not refer to that. But three of the four, and he says certainly in Romans 3:2. Think about how this phrase operates here in Romans, because you might say, well, why the Scriptures? Might it just be the prophetic utterances of God? Well, we know that he’s not talking about just the law, because so often in chapter 2 there’s been a reference to the law. If he wanted to just say, “You know what, your privilege is you got the law,” he would have used the word law again. But he doesn’t. He’s using something inclusive of that Mosaic covenant, that law they received, but broader than the law. And then think about this word we’ll come back to at the very end, the Jews were “entrusted.” How are you entrusted with something? Something was handed to them. A deposit was given to them that was theirs to then steward and maintain and teach to others and pass on. That kind of trust can only be found in something that is written down, not merely in a verbal tradition or a series of stories that they might know, but written down, entrusted. Paul, in other words, equates the Scriptures with God himself opening his most hallowed lips. It’s amazing.

If any of you heard from God today, wouldn’t it be amazing? I mean, you’d say, “Mother, father, husband, wife, pastor, I heard a voice.” Now, we might say, “I don’t know. Are you a Presbyterian? I’m not sure you–,” but here’s the point. You already heard from God today. You got up, and you read your Bible, or if you didn’t have time to do that, you at least got two verses of it this morning and some others in the service. You’ve heard the oracles of God. Where do you go? You don’t have to go to the Delphic oracle. Where do you go to have a portal from heaven to earth, to know what God thinks, what God has to say? Paul equates the written-down Scriptures with the very oracles of God. And think about – so just think for a moment – of all the things, Paul is answering the question, what advantage has the Jew? What good has it been all of these years? All of the privileges, but all of the heartache, all of the hardships. What advantage has it been? And Paul says, “Much in every way,” and think of all the things he might have listed, and he only gets to one. He might have said, “Oh, you know what your privilege is? Remember the call of Abram. He was a pagan. He was an idolator. He’s of the Chaldeans. And remember that advantage. Father Abraham, God called him, and he sent him, and he went by faith to a land and promised it to him. Or what about Isaac? Sarah’s womb was as good as dead, and when they were both old and well past the age of children, God gave them a son. And then remember Abraham was going to sacrifice that son? And in a kind of resurrection, there was a ram in the thicket. And then the growth of the 12 tribes – seemed like there would be nothing. Seemed like every patriarch had some difficulty having progeny, and yet they end up with 12 tribes, and then they grow. Or what about the providential care of Joseph in Egypt, that he just happened to be taken into Potiphar’s house, and he just happened to be thrown into prison. Then he just happened to ascend all the way to second in charge of Egypt. He just happened to receive these dreams. Despite what Broadway tells you – “any dream will do” – that’s a good, that’s a fun song, Donnie Osmond. And that’s the exact opposite of what the story is about. It’s about God’s providential care. He might have said that, or he might have said, “What advantage has the Jew?” Oh, remember the story of Moses, the basket in the bulrushes and Pharaoh’s daughter, and then the burning bush. The plagues – surely the plagues – the angel of death passed them over. You want to talk about what privilege the Jews had? Their firstborn were spared in Egypt, and then he led them out on dry land and parted the Red Sea, swallowed up his enemies. And then he led them by fire and cloud. He fed them. Oh, what advantages we had. We had manna and quail. We had water from the rock. Who else gets water from a rock? We had provision for 40 years of wandering. And not only that, but we had the tabernacle in the midst of the camp, and later we had the temple when the ark of the covenant and the glory cloud filled it to represent the very presence of God on earth. God was in the midst of us. And remember, we crossed the Jordan River, and that water parted, and we went through, and we marched around the city, and the walls of Jericho came a tumbling down, and God gave us the nations of Canaan into our hands? Or what about the great stories of Gideon and his 300 men and their torches? Or what about Samson and all of his victories? What about the establishment of the kingdom under David and the lavish wealth and expansion of the kingdom under Solomon? Or do you remember all the miracles that took place with Elijah and Elisha? The miracles of provision and an axe head floating and oil that never ran out and taken up in a whirlwind and a chariot of fire. You remember that? And we were brought back from exile, and we had a second temple, and God has preserved us for 2,000 years.

There’s a lot of things that could have been in the list. Paul mentions one. None of that. He mentions none of that here in chapter 3. He may have had all of that in mind when he says, “Are you kidding me? You don’t think there’s been any privileges given to the Jews? No advantages? You don’t think we have any great stories? You don’t think that God has favored us?” He may have all of that in his mind, but he only mentions one advantage – the supreme privilege, the great privilege of all religious privileges one might have. They had the Scriptures. Why were the oracles of God such a privilege that he would mention first and only this as their advantage? Well, just think about some of the reasons. Number one, it meant that God spoke to them. Now, we saw in chapter 1, theologians call that general revelation. Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” We saw in chapter 1 that in creation, we can see his invisible qualities, his divine nature. We can see that there’s a God and that he’s powerful. And often in Romans 1, there’s the language of knowing. There’s things that even the Gentiles know, things that non-Christians know, that pagans know, and yet they suppress that truth in unrighteousness. There’s a seed of divinity is what Calvin called it. So, there’s a sense that they have a foggy sort of notion. There’s a conscience to tell something about right and wrong. They can see from creation that there must be a god. There are some things that can be revealed, but not like this. General revelation – but they did not have what the Jews had, this special revelation. They did not have in a written-down book – through the prophets and then written down – that God himself opened his mouth and spoke to them.

Think about if you know some famous person, and you get a selfie. Why do people get – people used to have you sign things, and now it’s selfies, because you can go and show everyone, “Look who I know! Look who I met!” Now, I don’t know a lot of famous people. To clarify, I know church-famous people, which is not famous people. I know a couple of athletes. I know a lot of people who know some more famous people. Like six degrees of Kevin Bacon, two degrees of Kevin DeYoung. I know some. I was recently at a meeting in DC, and there were a number of people there who know the vice president. I don’t. I don’t know JD Vance. Whatever you think of JD Vance, that’s a remarkable thing that you might – I mean, if you got a… Now, I actually do get those – I get texts all the time. It just seems like all the politicians that text me, it’s an urgent appeal that they need money right today. You ever got those? So special. If you got a direct text from the president or the vice president, first you might think, “Hey, is this a secure line? I don’t know.” But if you were in some chat group, you’d probably tell some people. You wouldn’t believe who was on this messaging with me. During the golf tournament in May here at Quail Hollow, we reconnected with a family friend twice removed. I can tell you about the story later, but he was one of the caddies for one of the very famous golfers. You would know the golfer, not Scottie Scheffler, but a different one. And super nice guy, Christian. And he came over for dinner. And my boys thought it was so cool – okay, I did too, a little bit – but so cool to have dinner with the caddy of a famous golfer who was just down the road golfing that weekend. And if you meet someone famous – hey, can I get your picture? Sometimes can you record a short video for my kid? Why? Because you want to put it online. You want to show your friends. You want to say look who I met, and you’re going to just – that story, anytime it comes up, might be five years from now, and someone says want to go miniature golfing – hey, speaking of golf, did I ever tell you about the time? Because you met somebody important or someone who knows someone who’s famous. How cool. You can get direct messages from God anytime. You have the oracles. The Jews, of all the peoples, they had the oracles of God. God himself had opened his mouth to speak to them. So, the first privilege is that God had spoken to them.

The second reason this is such a privilege is he had spoken only to them. They were the only nation on earth. Deuteronomy 4:8, “What other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I’m setting before you today?” Or Psalm 147, “He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation. They do not know his laws.” The Jews were meant to say, look at how privileged we are that we, this little sliver of a people here along the Mediterranean Sea, a slight regional superpower for about a generation, but mostly a thoroughfare that other kingdoms would come and go and try to trample us over. And yet, they alone, for all of those years, of all the peoples on the earth, had the voice of God among them.

And here’s the third reason why it was such an advantage. It wasn’t just that God spoke to them. He didn’t just speak and tell them a joke. They had, from the oracles of God, they alone were told the way of salvation. Did you notice back in Romans 1, with all that can be known about God in verse 19 because he has shown it to them, his invisible attributes – namely, what can be known? We can know his eternal power and divine nature. Elsewhere we read about the conscience, and there’s something that can be known about the law of God. We have some sense of right and wrong. So, the Gentiles could know there’s a God. He’s powerful. He’s eternal. Maybe even that he judges right from wrong. They could know that. But you notice there was nothing in Romans 1 about a revelation of the mercy of God or the love of God. Nothing about the new birth from God. Only the Jews for those years were told plainly about their sin, about their need for a sacrifice, about their need for atonement, about the way of repentance, about the new birth, about faith, about forgiveness. Yes, they had been given such an advantage.

And a final reason for this privilege – number four – in the oracles of God, they were told about the Messiah. That means they had been given these great and precious promises. It meant that they of all people could have a sure hope, an anchor for the soul. They knew that the world was just not spinning out of control or somehow out of God’s reach or that it was just going to go in some sort of cycle of new birth like some Eastern Enlightenment religion, but it was moving somewhere. And God himself would send his Son, a son of David, a son of Abraham, born of a virgin, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and this Meshech, this Christ, would come, and he would save his people. And not only his people, but Isaiah said it would be too small a thing that he should be a savior for the lost tribes of Israel. He would be a light to the nations. He would be an open door for the Gentiles. They alone had this hope, had this word of the Messiah. So, just when Paul imagines the Jew, and surely he had someone wait in the line after he did one of those synagogue conferences, and a long line queued up, and some people probably said, “Oh, thank you. That was – I really appreciate that, Paul.” And other people maybe wanted to sock him in the gut, and then some people had some angry questions. And surely one of those questions was, “Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute. What you’re saying about us Jews, that we also will face condemnation apart from the righteousness of Christ, that we’re in the same position as the Gentiles – Paul, I don’t know about this. You’re saying there’s no point to being a Jew?” You can imagine Paul there, so fierce and strong, maybe he put his arm around that friend and said, “Oh, friend, let me tell you, we have had many, many privileges.” “Name one.” “I’ll give you one. We alone received the oracles of God. We only had God speak to us, and he told us the way of salvation. He told us about the Messiah. Nowhere else in the world – we alone.

And now, church, to think about this greatest of all religious privileges, which was bound up in one people in one corner of the world, in one nation for all these years, now exploded all around the world. Have you ever stopped to think about the profound privilege you have to hear from God in the Scriptures? Now, that may seem very old hack, and if anything is true about a Protestant church or Reformed church, it’s that it’s anchored in the Bible, but don’t take any of this for granted. There is a reason we put the Bible at the center of this sanctuary. There’s even a reason, and I know there’s many churches that, you know, they don’t have a pulpit, or they have a plexiglass, or they got a little music stand, and people get saved in all sorts of churches. So, that’s not the only way to ever do things, but I’m just telling you there’s a reason why we got this big pulpit. We had another one. I had this one designed. It is for people 6’3”. It’s a Dutch pulpit. It’s very large. It’s not as big as the one at Sovereign Grace. That’s the largest pulpit in the whole city. But there’s a reason what is center, what is literally center, in this church is the place from which the oracles of God go forth. This word, this Bible. It always just irks me when even some beautiful buildings – Presbyterian church – and they got the pulpit off on the side. Just put it right here where it belongs. The Word. For all of the problems that can exist in Protestant churches, Presbyterian churches – we have our issues – but this is still true. There is no other branch of the church than in Protestant, evangelical churches that will put as much emphasis on knowing, studying, and being immersed in the oracles of God. Many of you may retire somewhere else. You may graduate from school and go live somewhere else. If you move somewhere else, or you go to some other church, or heaven forbid something just doesn’t fit here, and you move on to another church – that happens all the time. Would you at least be certain to do this – to find a church that will put the oracles of God at the theological and literal center of everything they do? Not an altar. Not an undefined mystery, not a ritual, not a symbol, not beards or suits or robes or candles or the music or a spiritual experience generally understood, but the oracles of God. It’s amazing.

It’s amazing how much instruction in the Bible many of you have had. Now maybe it’s the first time you’ve ever been in church. We’re glad you’re here. Maybe you’re not a Christian. Maybe you’re a new baby Christian. Glad you’re here. Hope you’ll keep learning with us. There are a whole lot of you – might be a thousand of you in this room – who have had more Bible in your life than 99.9% of people who have ever lived on this earth. May it put a smile on your face – not a sort of “I’m so tired of Bible, Bible, Bible, living in a bubble.” There are people around the world who would give everything to live in the Bible bubble you live in, to put the center of everything. It’s amazing the access to the Bible we have. Look at – I got this big Bible there. There’s another one down here. There’s a third one. I don’t know how long I’m going to preach. There’s all these Bibles. How many Bibles? Really, if you don’t have a Bible, take the one in front of you home. There’s Bibles in front of you. There’s a Bible in every hotel room. You probably have dozens of Bibles in your home. If you don’t have a Bible, you can go on your phone. You can go to any online retailer. It’s probably – they’re probably knocking at your door right now, waiting. Three-hour delivery. Just relax. I’ll be fine. Don’t need Cheerios instantly. You can get a Bible. Do not take for granted this amazing access you have to the oracles of God.

William Tyndale was killed in 1536. He was the translator responsible for the first New Testament printed in English. The King James Version was largely derived from Tyndale. The ESV stands in the tradition of the RSV and the King James Version, and so we still have a whole lot of Tyndale’s words that are coming through to us. When attacked by a priest for his belief in translating the Scriptures into the common language, because the Catholic Church at the time said, “No, the people cannot be trusted with the Word” – well, the Jews were entrusted, but no, you cannot be trusted – you need it in Latin. You can’t get it in a language that you know. He replied, “If God spare my life, before many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of Scripture than thou dost.” And the Lord made good on that word. It cost him his life. Died by strangulation. His corpse was burned in the city square. His last recorded words, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” What a time to be alive. What a land that we live in, with all of our problems here in the United States of America, that you have access to such an embarrassment of riches. You can read the Bible in your heart language. You can have it on your phone. You can listen to it in your car. You have almost certainly more than one in your house. You and I are such a privileged people. You want to talk about privilege? You want to talk about the privilege in life? It’s not money. It’s not looks. It’s not color. The greatest privilege is that you have been given access to the oracles of God. What an advantage.

Young people, many of you will have the same story that I had. Christian parents, Sunday school, youth group, morning church, evening church, Bible, Bible, Bible. Never knew a time when I didn’t know Jesus. Never knew a time when the Bible wasn’t a part of my life. You don’t have to think, “Oh man, I wish I had a cool testimony. Maybe I should do drugs for a while. That’d be great.” Well, praise God. He saves people from every sort of walk of life, but there’s a reason that people who are saved that way want their kids to be raised your way. You don’t have to do the hard way if you can have this blessed way. So, I hope, young people here listening and put down your crayons for a moment, whether you’re five or 15 or 21 years old. You grew up here. Maybe you go to a Christian school. You’ve been homeschooled by your Christian parents. And you’ve had all of this knowledge, and there’s a danger. The danger is that you might have just enough of the Christian religion to inoculate you against the real thing. That’s how an inoculation works, or at least my primitive medical mind thinks that’s how it works.

Friends, never lose sight of the advantage that you have. Do not be like too many who grow up in the church and become some of the hardest critics of God, the ones most critical of the church, most bitter, most self-assured that God has given them a raw deal in life when they have somehow forgotten that they have the greatest privilege any child on this planet could ever have, to be introduced from earliest age to God himself speaking. We are so favored, and I can just come to the Spiderman theology at the very end: with great privilege comes great responsibility.

So, I said I would come back to this word that you see there in verse 2. Doesn’t just say the Jews had the oracles of God. They did. They were entrusted. Friends at Christ Covenant Church who have been given so much. What a place. What a wonderful body of believers by God’s grace. And I trust for 45 years now, 30 in this space, but 45 years since the establishment of this church, the Word of God has been faithfully taught from this pulpit or where it existed down the road or when they met in the gym. What a privilege. And with it comes a stewardship. Paul will say elsewhere that he was a steward of the mystery of God. That’s what ministers are. Ministers are given the gospel mysteries. And that means, in large part, it’s why they study. It’s why they go to a place like RTS. It’s why they take years, hopefully do it in person, get a degree, learn the languages, so they can for a lifetime be a steward of this book entrusted to the ministers of the gospel. Best job I know anywhere. But notice it doesn’t just say that the priests, the Levites – it says the Jews as a whole were entrusted with the oracles of God. That means it’s not just the teaching elders, the pastors, the ministers. It’s the whole community of the redeemed were entrusted with God’s words, that we might protect them. Got people here who do apologetics, people here who defend the authenticity of the gospel and the Scriptures, that we might preserve them. Now, for many, many centuries that meant by hand, literally, people copying out the Scriptures. Now, some of you have been or are engaged in the work of Scripture translation or dissemination or creative ways through the internet and computers and apps to get the Word of God to people who don’t have immediate access to it.

Protect, preserve, and promote. We promote the oracles of God through preaching, through sharing, through social media posts, through witnessing, through reading and memorization and your study and your learning and your singing and your passing on to the next generation. Let us always be a Bible people. One of the best definitions, not my own, if you want to say what do we do in a worship service? What are we aiming at? What should you look at if you move from here, you go to college, you go to find a church, what should you look for in a church? We want a worship service that prays the Bible, sings the Bible, believes the Bible, preaches the Bible, sees the Bible in the two sacraments. That’s what you want. A Bible worship, a Bible people, a Bible focus. Because only in the oracles of God can we know the way of salvation. Only through this special, inscripturated revelation can we know the gospel, the good news that Paul introduced in chapter 1, the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first – do you see that? See how Paul’s coming back? – and also the Greek. You don’t think you had a privilege, Jews? This good news came to you first, for like 2,000 years before everybody else had it. And some of you have had it your whole life. If you’re at this church, I trust you will always have it here and from this ministry and this pulpit, and through it you will know the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6:68, when Jesus asked Simon Peter if he also was going to leave him when some took offense, Peter gave this response: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God.” Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for the immense privilege that is ours in a church like this. Forgive us. It becomes very commonplace. Especially forgive us when we become complainers. We think somehow that the Word and the Scriptures are dull or lame. Spare us from such blasphemous thoughts. Give us such tender hearts that we may always see and savor the blessing that is ours, to be given access to the gospel, to know Jesus, to hear from you, to have the oracles of God. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Matter of the Heart

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:21:21 GMT

Let’s pray one more time.

Our Father in heaven, we come again in prayer. I suppose it can feel like we have a lot of prayers in a service, but that’s because there are a lot of things to pray about. And so, now we need your help. We call this the prayer of illumination – not that there’s any darkness in you, but there is a lot of darkness in us, darkness in our world. We are hard of hearing. We can be hard of heart. So, we would be remiss if we did not ask and, in fact, plead with you that you would speak to us. Make me a humble instrument and vessel for your Word to go forth. May there be an unction from your Holy Spirit. May there be an anointing of the Word upon your people, that we might be not only hearers but we, with faith, would receive it. We would be changed. We would be transformed, and some people would be saved. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Continue our series in the book of Romans, coming this morning to the end of Romans chapter 2, the last paragraph, verses 25 through 29. Romans chapter 2. Follow along in your Bible. You want to have your Bible open as we work our way through the text this morning. I’ll read, beginning at verse 25:

“For circumcision is indeed of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man, but from God.”

We are blessed in this congregation. We have a lot of very nice policemen and women in our church. Nice is maybe not the strong enough word. Professional, cordial, kind, dutiful. We are grateful for the law enforcement officers that are part of this congregation and those that watch over the campus during the week and here on Sunday. And yet, no matter how friendly a policeman may be, it is still a terrible feeling when you see the blue and red lights behind you. This is not a story – nothing happened to me this week. I’m okay, here in one piece, but we’ve probably all had that experience. And whether you think you’ve done anything wrong – and I know when you get pulled over, we all immediately think, “I did nothing wrong!” – turns out you usually did. But your heart starts pumping, and when the officer comes up, you suddenly – you can’t remember what state you were born in, where your license and registration. You think, I’ve been meaning to put that in here for years. You start thinking about how fast you were going, if you – did I drive past a school bus or not? Did I – I must have made a mistake on my taxes, and they found out. They’re coming to get me. I used water on the wrong day. Something is happening. It’s a terrible feeling, and we respond differently, but nobody likes it.

In our first years of marriage – this was 20 years ago – I remember Trisha calling me. It was on a Sunday. Maybe we were driving separately to church, and she was just – she called me, and she was in tears. I said, “Oh no, what’s wrong? What happened? Is everything okay?” She said, “I got pulled over.” I asked her if I could share this story, and it was still pretty raw when she said I could, 20 years later. She recounted all the things that happened, and she had merged wrong or hadn’t pulled to the side. And to make matters worse or more pronounced, she was pregnant. Now, that was kind of like for 20 years, it was a pretty good bet she was, but she was pregnant, and it was her birthday. Yeah. Yeah. There’s a reason they’re called law enforcement officers, not gospel enforcement officers, because it didn’t matter. This man did not – I don’t know if she told him it was her birthday. She said, “I didn’t cry in front of him.” You can tell me if that helps or not, but she just felt absolutely embarrassed. And many of us have had an experience of being suddenly pulled before some authority figure. I even find it just a little bit – sometimes if one of you has to come, you have a meeting and it’s for nothing bad, but you come to the pastor’s office, and suddenly you feel like you’re in middle school again, and you’re going to the middle school principal’s office. If you’ve ever had to suddenly be put before someone in authority – I remember I was a junior or senior year in high school, and I was a pretty good kid, I think, but I got pulled out of the classroom. I had said something sarcastic and snippy to the teacher. I was wrong, and it was really rude, and he had it right, and he just said, “Kevin, out in the hallway.” Everyone was like, “What? Kevin gets out in the hallway?” And he chewed me out, appropriately – loud enough so everyone still in the classroom could hear – for shooting off my mouth and not being very respectful. And then I had to go down to the principal’s office. It was a new experience. I just thought you just went there when you got awards or something. And they said, “What are you doing here?” And I told them, and I had to sit there for a time and felt very embarrassed and was going through my head of all of – even when he was talking to me – of all the explanations, but I knew deep down I had really messed up.

You’ve had the experience, perhaps, of being caught. Maybe it’s with a spouse, parents, a coach, a boss. Maybe you’ve had to go before a literal judge, and we have some judges in our congregation. It’s a frightening thought, even the most confident among us, to have to suddenly be pulled up and brought before someone who stands or sits in authority over us, especially when we know that we have indeed broken the law. There will come a day for every one of us, and it may come as a great surprise – we don’t know when the Lord Jesus will return. You don’t know how many more breaths you have except that, each one of us, fewer breaths to the end than when we started this morning. And we will have to stand not before a police officer or an angry teacher or a principal or an earthly magistrate but before the supreme judge of the earth. And I can say this without a shadow of a doubt – it’s true of you, and it’s true of me – whatever you think of God this morning, whatever you think about God, you do not think of him highly enough. You and I do not grasp his holiness enough, his majesty enough. Here’s our own Westminster Confession. This is about as good as you can get in a paragraph: “There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit; invisible; without body, parts, or passions; immutable; immense; eternal; incomprehensible; almighty; most wise; most holy; most free; most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering; abundant in goodness and truth; forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and with all, most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.” Those are human words in one long sentence to describe him who is transcendent and ineffable. We will have to stand before this God.

Paul has been dealing in chapter 1 and chapter 2 with this sober and awful reality that all of us will stand before God. And he has been dealing in chapter 2, in particular, with the Jew, with the religious insider. Though most of us are not Jews, this is very relevant for us, because in his category he’s really thinking about the person who took their faith seriously, who took religion seriously. The person who had been surrounded by religious things his whole life. We might think of a conservative, Bible-believing, evangelical Christian – that sort of person – standing before God Almighty. And in chapter 2, Paul examines several arguments one might make as you have to stand before God, how you might defend yourself, and one by one, he has proven that all of them fail. “I’m better than others” – that’s verses 1-3. You judge other people. Well, as soon as you judge them, you judge yourself, because you do the same things that they do. That’s not going to work. You can’t do it by comparison. Verses 4 and 5: “Well, maybe God won’t judge. I haven’t seen his wrath poured out in the world. It doesn’t look like Sodom and Gomorrah. It doesn’t look like the flood.” Well, he’s patient, and you’re storing up wrath for yourself. What about verses 6 through 11? “Well, I’m one of God’s favorites.” Doesn’t matter. He has no partiality. When it comes before the judgment scene of Christ, there are no favorites. “Yeah, but I’m a pretty good person,” verses 12-16. Now, you may think you’re a pretty good person, but it doesn’t matter that you hear about good things. Are you a perfect, faithful doer of all those things? “Well, but I have a special relationship to the law.” That was last week, verses 17 through 18. “I boast in God. I know his will. I’ve been instructed in the Word of God.” And then verses 19 and 20, not only that, but “I have a special mission to teach others. I have a close relationship to the law, and I make it my mission to instruct those in the Word of God who live in darkness.” And Paul says, “Well then, let me by cross-examination ask you a few questions. You who fancy yourself a great teacher of everyone else, why don’t you teach yourself? Before you’re ready to point out the darkness of everyone else in the world, what about the darkness in your own heart? One by one – I count six; you could enumerate them differently – at least six defenses that the Jew is likely to put before God, and one by one, Paul says, “It won’t work. You’re guilty.”

This last paragraph comes with one final appeal, one last piece of evidence that Paul – remember he’s Jewish, so he’s not anti-Semitic here as he talks about the Jews – Paul imagines one last piece of evidence. After all of this has failed, the Jewish person, he imagines, has one final pieces of evidence he might slide in front of the judge, one last thing he can make as a case for himself. After all else has failed, he stands before the judge, stands up tall, puts his shoulders back, his head up, and he clears his throat: “Your honor, but have you forgotten that I’m a Jew, and I’ve been circumcised?” So, one final appeal. That may seem strange to us. It’s not the thing that we would think to bring before the judge, but you have to recall the central role that circumcision played for the Jews. The removing of the foreskin of the male member – circumcision was that marker which separated Jews from Gentiles. And remember that Paul’s imaginary conversation partner, this Jew, has often brought up the law, but when did circumcision come? Circumcision was not established with Moses, but with Abraham. So, he’s going 400 years back, way older than in this country is. 400 years earlier than Moses, all the way back to Abraham and the establishment of the covenant of circumcision. This was the sign of the covenant established with Abram in Genesis 17. As a sign, circumcision pointed to spiritual realities. This is really important to understand the Old Testament connection to the New Testament. Paul is not inventing new significance for circumcision. It always had these spiritual realities and was meant to carry this spiritual dimension. The Old Testament and the New Testament witness to the spiritual significance of circumcision. So, it’s not that Paul is just saying I’m kind of – I’m just rambling on about something new about circumcision. No, this spiritual dimension, as it points to the work of the Spirit cutting away the flesh of the heart – this was already there in the Old Testament. Remember? That’s why Jesus can say to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, “You who are a teacher of the law, this thing I’m talking to you about – the new birth, you must be born again – you should have known this. This is in your Bible. This is not just something talked about in the new covenant. You should have understood this.”

Leviticus 26, “If, then, their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.” Notice the language of an uncircumcised heart. Deuteronomy 30:6, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him with all your heart, with all your soul, and live.” Jeremiah 4, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord” – now, these were Jews, already circumcised physically, but Jeremiah says, “Circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done, burn with no one to quench it.” The prophets, and indeed Moses before in the Torah, made this connection. The cutting away of the skin, physically, was a pointer to the corresponding cutting away of the flesh of the heart that was supposed to take place in the Jew. We see this here in Romans 2. We’re going to see it again in Romans 4. This was not merely a figurative use of the word that then developed later in the history of Israel. This was true to its original meaning and significance. I’m trying to disabuse us of the notion that says, “Well, circumcision – it was just an ethnic boundary marker. It was just something that said nationally, physically, you’re a Jew.” We have all these texts, and there’s another dozen like it, which point to the circumcision of the heart. In other words, it was never meant to be a mere outward sign. It was always meant to signify spiritual blessing that would be realized in the heart.

Circumcision was never meant to be a mere sign, just like baptism is not meant to be a mere sign. It is a sign. It’s applied with water, and it points to spiritual realities, which are meant to be received by faith and then effected in the heart. Circumcision pointed to blessing for the covenant keeper and cursing for the covenant breaker. Think about this dual – there’s sort of a major theme with the happy music, and then there’s a minor theme with minor chords, scary music. Circumcision, cutting away of the foreskin of the flesh – the blessing it pointed to was the cutting away of the flesh of the heart, that one might be blameless before God, one would be righteous before God, that you would have the Lord as your God. It pointed to nothing less than union and communion with Yahweh. But – here’s the minor theme in the minor key – if you did not keep the covenant, you did not circumcise your heart, then circumcision pointed to the absence of that union and communion with God, so that there’s a play on words here. Genesis 17:14, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off.” So, if your foreskin is not cut off, you will be cut off from [your] people. Whoever has been cut off, he has broken my covenant. So, it pointed also to a warning of judgment. If you are not cut in the heart, if you are not given to a new spiritual principle in your life, that cutting off of the foreskin pointed to blessing if you were pure of heart and had union with God or a curse and being cut off from God. You know, the cutting goes both ways. So, here’s how Sinclair Ferguson puts it: “The covenant established by circumcision” – I want you to listen carefully, it’s a little theology here, to these important words. He says it was established unilaterally. That means it was God’s idea. God didn’t get together with humans and say, “Let’s establish a covenant.” God established it unilaterally and unconditional in its creation. He goes on, “but bilateral” – that means two parties – “and conditional in its application.” So, in its creation, he says unilateral. Unconditional in its application – that is, you had to be a covenant keeper. There were conditions. Now, those conditions did not mean that in the Old Testament you merited God’s favor, and you somehow earned your salvation. There were conditions. Condition is not the same as meriting salvation, but there were conditions to be met. Or to put it this way, God’s signs, either in the Old Testament or the New Testament, always call for a response of faith and repentance on the part of the recipients if they are to receive the promised blessings. Otherwise, if they are not received with faith and repentance, those signs then become symbols of curse and judgment.

Baptism functions the same way. It’s in Peter’s epistle that he also has this major theme – you know, the waters of baptism point to forgiveness and cleansing and union with Christ and righteous, all of that. And then there’s a minor theme. He connects it to the flood. They’re also the waters of judgment, if you prove to be a covenant breaker. So just like Paul says here, there are some of you Jews, you’ve been physically circumcised, but I’m here to tell you, you are not spiritually really circumcised. You might say to us, there’s some of you been physically baptized. Spiritually, you don’t have the reality. I don’t see it. This is the warning that he’s given. Lest the Jew stand before God and say, “I have the sign of signs to show that I’m a good, religious person. I’m not like the pagans. I’m circumcised.”

So, look at verse 24, or 25 rather, and following. He says in verse 25, circumcision is important. Notice he doesn’t devalue it. He says it’s of value. And we’re going to come next week to chapter 3, because the question, you can understand, that Paul anticipates with all of this he said about the Jews standing before judgment – someone’s likely to say, “So, was it pointless to be a Jew? All we got was extra suffering and heartache.” He’s going to say, “No, no, no. There’s been a lot of privileges, a lot of advantages. So, he says circumcision is of some value, but if you don’t keep the law, it’s pointless. If you fail at one point of the law, you are considered a breaker of the whole law. You get pulled over, and those sirens come before you, and you are going 70 in a 35 – please don’t do that. Doesn’t help the officer to say, “But I paid my taxes. Huh? And I got a permit for that shed in my yard. Can I go now? I kept the law in other areas.” I didn’t pull you over for that. You’re a lawbreaker, because you failed in this area. Paul says that’s circumcision. That’s pointless. If you didn’t keep the law – verse 26 – if a man keeps the law, that would count as circumcision for him. He’s dealing with a hypothetical category. He doesn’t say explicitly that anyone can keep the law in such a way that it’s tantamount to circumcision, but he’s saying if one could, that would be more important, and that would be equal to circumcision. All throughout the Old Testament – I hope you know your Bible – all throughout the Old Testament, God is saying, “I desire mercy more than sacrifice. I desire love more than that you follow every jot and tittle with a bad heart from the law.” Now, Jesus says, “I didn’t come to overturn the law.” He’s not against those jots and tittles of the law. But he says if you get all the little, teeny things, you get all the little building codes, and you’re a horrible person, that doesn’t count for anything. Verse 27: this person, if he kept the law and was not circumcised, he would judge you when you think you have a right to judge him. And then he comes in verse 28 and 29, the conclusion of the matter. Keeping an external ritual does not make you a true Jew. Paul will come later in Romans 11 – that’s a very difficult, controversial passage. What does Paul say there about the future of ethnic Israel? So, he still has a category for ethnic Israel. But this Jewish person who is to inherit the promises of the new covenant is one who is a Jew truly and spiritually, which means the renovation of the heart. You cannot get into heaven by just having the right country flag or having the right parents or grandparents or the right tradition. Verse 29, to be a true Jew, God must be at work within you from the inside out. So, it’s not a matter – you’re not going to get it by just keeping the Mosaic covenant, the letter. In fact, no one’s done that. It’s a matter of the Spirit giving you a new heart.

You notice in verse 28 and 29, verse 28 has two denial statements. One, no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly. Second, circumcision is not outward and physical. And those two denial statements are matched in verse 29 by two affirmations. Okay, so if that’s what a Jew is not and what circumcision is not, what is it? Well, a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart. As we did last week, let’s step back for a moment and try to put this in some contemporary analogy. Not a political statement – I’m just thinking of an analogy to try to convey why this would feel so shocking, because many of us are familiar with this verse. It sounds kind of good. Yeah, it’s a matter of the heart. I like that. And circumcision, that’s not something we’re arguing about a lot. Or who’s a true Jew? But the scandal might feel something like this. It’s like coming before the magistrate or before some tribunal, and you’re trying to prove your citizenship, your American citizenship. You say, “I got my social security number right here. I got the card. My mom saved the birth certificate. Here it is.” Or, “I have a card that says that I have now become a citizen.” And you’re presenting all the documents. It’s as if the magistrate says, “I want to know what you really think about America. I want to know what you feel about this country. I want to know what you believe about this country. As if he had said – it’s just an analogy, not a political statement, just trying to how it would land on you – as if he had said law-abiding, patriotic, illegal immigrants are more real Americans than you are. Oh, pastor, what? I was trying to give you – that’s what it would sound like. That’s what it sounds like. Not advocating that citizenship just works by saying, “I’ve asked America into my heart. Now I can vote.” We need to have some better methods than that. But you can see how this would land on a Jewish person. What? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. My whole life I’m a Jew. I keep the law. I have evidence. I have circumcision, at least the men would. I’m a Jew.” And Paul says, “No. That, apart from the corresponding heart – in fact, if you have someone who’s a Gentile, and they kept the law when you didn’t, I’m saying that’s a true Jew and not you. I’m saying that person’s the real American and not you. Yes, that’s going to land and cut a little bit to the quick.

And then to add to it, he says the praise comes from God, not from man. Now that may seem strange – why that saying at the end? Because you can imagine the Jewish person is suggesting, but I look the part. I fit in. My community recognizes me as a solid, religious person. You can ask anyone. They’ll all tell you. They even remember when the rabbi came when I was 8 days old, and I was circumcised. They’ll tell you. I’m a good Jew. Ask anybody. And Paul says, “I don’t need to ask everybody. I just want to ask one person. I just want to ask God.” I just want to ask God what he says about you, because the praise that comes from everybody else – all your other religious friends – is not worth anything if you are not pleasing to God. Now, I hope you can see that Paul’s argument here, though it gets into some of the robust theology about circumcision, and you follow the logical arguments of these verses, at the core it’s really quite simple. And it has massive implications, not just for the Jews in Paul’s day, but for our understanding of true religion more generally.

I would say there are in human history across the whole world, there are two predominant forms of false religion, and I don’t mean false religion like they’re worshiping Satan, and it looks real scary. I just mean it’s not true religion. Two kinds, and they usually go hand in hand. One is a works righteousness. All of the religions in the world that tell you, what does it mean to be a part of this religious tradition? Well, there’s certain things you do, and you’re a good person, and you get into the afterlife, or you achieve nirvana with some effort, and you get into heaven. Some kind of works righteousness. This is based – finally, the grounding – on what you do. This religion is about becoming a better person, a better version of you. What if the better version of you doesn’t exist? Because more of you is more of the wrong you, and you actually need a new you. That’s what the gospel is. But that’s the first, and together with it, here’s the second form of false religion. Not only a works righteousness, but a mere formalism. Formality is not bad. Look, we got a formal pulpit, and we’ve got communion trays, and the elders are going to go – it’s all, you know, for churches these days, it’s pretty formal here. A mere formalism, however, is deadly. Romans 2 has mostly been about the first danger, the danger of thinking that you can keep the law. But here at the end of chapter 2, it’s about this second danger, that Paul’s audience and all of you would know religious ritual does not save you. Religious ritual does not save you. You’re without excuse. You cannot stand before God someday – you’re in this church; maybe you’re sleeping, that’s your problem; maybe you’re not paying attention, your problem – and stand before God and say, “My pastor, I just thought because I was a member of Christ Covenant, and I was a baptized member, that I was good to go.” I’m telling you. Oh, it doesn’t matter what I tell you. God’s Word tells you without a work in the heart, you’re not good to go. Religious ritual will not save you. There are invisible things that must be going on inside of you that God can see.

Again, verse 25, circumcision is of value. The sacraments are of value. Baptism is essential for every Christian. Circumcision was God’s idea. Baptism is God’s idea. Jesus said at the great commission, you’re going to baptize. Circumcision was a sign and seal, just like baptism is a sign and seal. The Lord’s supper is a sign and seal. Christianity, like the Jewish faith it sprang out of, believes in the importance of ritual, of signs, of symbols, of traditions, of habits. Don’t hear the message that Christianity is against all those things. It’s not. But your confidence, my confidence, must not be in these things as mere signs. Divinely given privilege does not guarantee divine acceptance. All of you have many divinely given privileges. How do I know? Because you’re here, and you’re in a church that preaches the Bible, and the air conditioning turned on, and you can probably understand English and read a Bible in a language you can understand. Privileges. To be given those divine privileges, however, is not a guarantee of divine acceptance. You only have to know a little bit about how most religions work, and sometimes, indeed, how Christian traditions work, that it is – the sort of entropy of religious impulse is always to devolve into a works righteousness and into a mere formalism. There are people in the mountains in Tibet or Bhutan in the east – old women spinning prayer wheels, putting prayers in there and just spinning, every revolution supposed to be another prayer, just a ritual, a spin of the wheel. People all over the world think I will light this candle, this votive, or I will sprinkle this incense in this holy place. I will offer a sacrifice. Hindus – if I can just dip myself in this dirty Ganges River, all can be atoned for. If I can just keep a meticulous record of my ancestors – you realize many of the ancestry websites come from Mormon groups trying to find their ancestors so they can baptize those ancestors for the dead. If I could just apply this ritual, this baptism for the dead, or maybe if I could purchase an indulgence. We have Catholic friends. I have Catholic friends. The Catholic Church still sells indulgences. Not gone in the Reformation. I could purchase an indulgence, perhaps, that would lessen the time, or make some kind of pilgrimage – something, some kind of ritual that would–. Maybe if I attend mass multiple times a week, or maybe if I go to a certain number of Bible studies, if I can just show to God enough rituals. That’s how religion always devolves into mere formalism, mere ritualism. I did some things for you, God. Look it. I have the sign. I haven’t seen this movie for a long time, so it probably needs to have all sorts of caveats to not go see it, but you remember the line from Jerry Maguire – not the “you complete me” line, but “show me the money” line? You stand before God, and you say, I’m baptized. I took the Lord’s supper. I have a church membership certificate. I have a diploma from a Christian school. I got an extra certificate in counseling and theology. I wasn’t even sure if this was okay, but I got a tattoo on my arm in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, just to be safe. I’m one of your chosen people. And God’s going to say, show me the heart. Show me the heart.

A Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart. What’s going on inside of you? Stephen, in Acts chapter 7, preached that long sermon. They hated him for it. They killed him for it. You remember what he says at the very end of that sermon? Here was the conclusion when they reached the climax of their fury: “You stiff necked people,” he concluded, “uncircumcised in hearts.” You see what he’s saying right there? You’re not real Jews. That is, you’re not what Jews ought to be on the inside. Uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute, and they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. That’s quite a sermon. Now when they heard these things, they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. And then they picked up stones. They threw them until he died. And who was there, approving the murder? They put their cloaks at his feet. This young man who might have said, “Hey, Simeon, that’s a good rock right there. You can really – you can get that in your hand. Now you can really get some velocity on that. Go ahead. You’re going to want to wind up. Let me take your cloak. Anyone else? I’ll hold onto that for you. Let me take your garment. Let me take your outer tunic. You’re going to want to really, really throw some shoulder into this one.” That young man who was there: same man who wrote the book of Romans. Saul. Paul. You think Paul, who was there nodding his yes and amen to the stoning of Stephen, as he watched over their cloaks? You think Paul persecuting the church? You think he was going to forget that circumcision does not save you? Because that was Paul. They heard the message, “you uncircumcised hearts and ears,” and they killed him for it. And Paul was right there saying, “Atta boy! How dare this man say that we crucified the righteous one? How dare he tell us that we’re not Jews, and we have circumcised our hearts yet to be done?” You think Paul was going to forget this? You think he was going to forget the essential importance of having a new heart? You don’t think that everything with him every day of his life reminded him – chief of sinners. Being a Jew was not going to save Paul. It wasn’t going to save me. It wasn’t enough, because I was the religious insider par excellence. I had all the credentials, and I had a hard heart. And so, I applauded them as they killed God’s prophet.

Friends, being a Christian is not, first of all, a matter of being baptized, though that’s important. Or going to church – you should. Or owning a Bible – you should. Or wearing a cross necklace. That doesn’t matter. What matters more and matters first is what’s going on in your heart. Is there faith in your heart? Is there repentance in your heart? Is there mourning for sin in your heart? Is there joy in Christ in your heart? Nothing will suffice when you stand before the judge, the Lord God Almighty, except that you have a heart of faith that joins you to Christ. Let’s pray.

Our heavenly Father, we give thanks for this, your holy Word. And would you, by your Spirit, so work in that very organ of faith – our hearts – to repent, to believe. Cut us, wound us, and then heal us, we pray, that we might be joined to Christ and with him know forgiveness of sins, that you might reach down to this heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. We pray that you would do it for Jesus’ sake by your Spirit in each one here. Amen.

A Cross-Examination

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:16:56 GMT

Let’s pray one more time.

Gracious heavenly Father, we come to this text and to this message, and we pray, we trust not simply out of habit or custom, but I come because I’m needy, I need your help. May I decrease. May Christ increase. Would you give me the words to say: the strength, the feeling, the passion, the truth, and would you give to your dear people ears to hear, especially to those who may be wandering far from the truth, who may be deceived? Who may be dead in their sins and trespasses, would you, by your Holy Spirit working through your Word, convict and rebuke and arrest and then encourage and point us and lead us by the hand to Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

Believe it or not, we have a whole paragraph this morning from the book of Romans, chapter 2. Please turn there in your Bibles. Romans chapter 2. If you don’t have a Bible, there’s one in front of you. If you don’t have a Bible in your home, you can feel free to take that one. If you’re new to this church, you’ll want to know that we go through verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and we’re at the start of what seems to be a long series in the book of Romans. And this morning, we come to this paragraph as Paul continues this argument about the universality of sin, both to Gentiles and for Jews.

Romans 2, verse 17 through 24.

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Now, before we get into the specifics of these verses, I want to, you to notice how Paul is addressing his audience, because this is going to help us not only as we make our way through this long section, chapter 1:18 through chapter 3 verse 20, which is verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph, about the same theme of sin. But I think this might also be helpful, just how do you listen to sermons? Probably ought to do more teaching on how to listen to sermons because you listen to a lot of them. Hopefully, you’re getting at minimum one a week. Come back in the evening, you get two a week. Maybe you have an app that you listen to and you get more than that, but you listen to a lot of sermons.

So, how should we listen to sermons? In particular, sermons like this, which are week after week about sin. Well, to simplify it a bit, there’s probably two different dangers in two opposite directions. So, one danger through sermons like this is you might think to yourself – Well, this is nice. I’m learning something about the way the world works and what people are like, but nothing here is directly about me because, after all, I’m a Christian. And Paul’s talking about the wrath of God poured out on those who are not Christians, first the Gentiles and then these Jews. So, you might think that there’s nothing here. I mean, this paragraph at the end of chapter 1 seems so extreme. And you might think to yourself, well, that’s someone who’s dead in their sins and trespasses. This is not about me. And there’s certainly some truth in all of that. But, if that’s your overriding way of listening to a sermon, sort of, I listen in for someone else. We ruin a lot of sermons by listening for someone else. Now, that’s okay. You can later in the week go and, you know, text the link and say, oh, by the way, I was helped by this, and you needn’t listen to it three times. We don’t want to listen with a kind of presumption that this is just for other people. That’s one danger.

There’s another danger in the opposite direction, and that’s to think that you ought to find yourself guilty of every single thing in every single sermon. And I hope you’ve heard me say before, you have permission to be obedient, to find yourself not perfectly, but truly following Christ. There is a way to preach so that every person is meant to feel just absolute failure in every area of the Christian life. You don’t pray enough. You don’t give enough. You don’t evangelize enough. You just make everyone feel maximally guilty for everything. Now, the danger in that, well, you got probably about half of you are like, yeah, I like to get out of church and feel like I got beat up a little bit. And then there’s the other half that you didn’t particularly like those coaches, and you come out, and you feel despondent. Well, the text ought to make you feel what the text wants you to feel. But there’s a danger that a preacher can do that, and one of the dangers is everyone feels like they fail in everything, and when you get to the kind of sermon where someone really needs to have the alarm bells go off, like I may not be a Christian, they’ve just been taught that, well, we all fail in everything. So, there’s two dangers in opposite directions, just sort of listening in like, well, I’m a Christian, this isn’t me, or thinking I must find myself absolutely despicable in every area. The first leads to presumption; the second leads to despair. So how should we listen to sermons?

Well, notice flip the page back to chapter 1. Remember to whom Paul is writing. It’s easy to lose sight with all of these sermons about sin that Paul says in chapter 1 verse 7, “To all those in Rome who are loved by God, called to be saints.” He’s writing to Christians. It’s not an evangelistic rally. And in fact, he’s writing to Christians that he thinks, at least in general, are pretty exemplary Christians. Verse 8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” He’s writing all of these hard things about the wrath of God poured out and the futility of the Gentile way of life and the futility of depending upon their Jewishness. Remember, he’s writing to Christians.

So, you say, well, then how were they supposed to listen to this long discourse on sin and wrath? Part of it is he’s teaching them who God is and what the world is like and the way the world is the way that it is, and he’s helping to understand their own salvation. But more than that, I think we would do well to have a few questions in mind. That’s probably what Paul wanted his listeners to have in mind.

So, here’s one question as you listen to these sermons. You’re Christians, most of you. Have I fully grasped the holiness of God and the sinfulness of sin? One of the reasons why we can’t just skip over all of this and do this all in one sermon, if you want to feel how amazing it is that you are justified by faith alone, you need to grasp this sin. If you want to come to the second half of chapter three, appreciating the problem that’s in Paul’s mind, how can this God be just and the justifier of the ungodly? Because almost no one in America is walking around feeling that as an internal moral dilemma. Oh, there’s God, and he’s so holy, and yet people are saved. How can that work? Nobody feels that. Paul felt it because he understood the holiness of God, and he understood the sinfulness of human beings. That’s why we need to live in this text.

Here’s a second question. Have I misunderstood, as a saved Christian, how exactly I was saved and what makes me a Christian? That’s sometimes what these things do. You do have a faith in Christ. You do trust in Christ. For some of you, Lord willing, when we get to Chapter 9, we hear about election. It may be for some of you, I didn’t know that that’s when my salvation began in eternity. Part of what Paul is doing is he’s helping you to understand how you became a Christian and all that it took for you to become a Christian, teaching you things you maybe have sort of intuited but you didn’t have categories for.

The third question, are there sins here that I still struggle with as a justified Christian? So that’s why Paul can write this to Christian people to understand the way the world works, to get a sense for God’s holiness and sin. And also, as we go through here, certainly you have felt as I have felt week after week, I get convicted, you think, well, by God’s grace, I am a Christian, but boy, that’s still a struggle in my life. And I resonate a little bit too much with several of the items in that paragraph.

And then a final question, and this is the most important question for you to be asking this morning. Is it possible I have deceived myself, and I have not really repented of my sin and cast myself upon the mercy of Christ? Is it possible? That’s part of what Paul is doing. He’s addressing a church. He hasn’t been there, would have been read. And he says, you’re loved by God, and in general, I hear about your faith in all the world, but there may be some there who are deceived. And so, this morning, there may be some of you, I don’t know who you are, the Lord knows. You may be so deceived that you don’t even know that you’re deceived, and you have not truly repented. And this sermon, this paragraph, is meant to take the mask off so you can see yourself clearly.

Look at the text, verse 17. Paul makes clear what had been strongly implied up to this point, namely that he is addressing the Jews. Keep in mind, he’s not speaking to a particular Jewish person. All right, this is my friend Levi or Samuel. No, he’s not thinking of a specific Jewish person. This is a rhetorical strategy. And it’s important to notice he’s not claiming that everything he says is true of every single Jew. Paul was certainly not anti-Semitic, he was himself a Jew. He’s not saying that the Jewish people are so much worse than everybody else. And he’s not even saying that every single thing in these rhetorical questions at the end of the paragraph must be necessarily true of every single Jew. Commentators and many preachers get themselves tied up in knots because they get to the end of this paragraph, and they say, well, really? Was every Jew committing adultery? Was every Jew stealing? Was every Jew robbing temples? Well, surely, most of the Jews were not doing all of those things in a literal sense. So, Paul can talk about this as a rhetorical strategy, not to say every single Jew you meet is doing all of these sins, but to expose the hypocrisy. What he’s wanting to do is drive home this point once again, even if this severe indictment is not true of every individual Jewish person that Paul has in mind, he’s continuing the same point, namely that being a Jew will not save you. Being familiar with the law will not save you. Being around religious things will not save you. Being merely a religious person will not save you. That’s the point. Jewish sinners are in the same predicament as Gentile sinners. Why are they in the same predicament? Because they are sinners.

Or to put it in terms that resonate with us, he’s talking about religious outsiders, those would be the Gentiles, and religious insiders, those would be the Jews. Most of us in this room probably are more in that conceptual category of the religious insider, so we have to take seriously what he’s saying here, and it’s likely to be convicting for us. Here’s what he says. He starts out, “but if you call yourself a Jew.” Now, notice right away the language he uses. He says, “if you call yourself a Jew.” Why does he say that? Because the paragraph that we’ll come to next week, he talks about what does it truly mean in an ultimate sense at the level of a heart, what does it mean to really be a Jew? Certainly, an ethnic category, now there’s a national category of a Jew. But he’s going to talk about what it means theologically to be Jewish. What it means spiritually to be a Jew. And so, he begins by saying, now if you call yourself a Jew, now he’s leaving open the door he’ll come back to to explain what does it mean fully, spiritually to be a Jew. And he’s saying, you call yourself, meaning here is a religious label that you take great pride in. And you notice what Paul is doing here: this whole scene in chapter 2 has been a courtroom scene. And now, Paul is going to bring to bear the very sort of arguments he’s likely heard from his Jewish friends and family and neighbors, and likely the same sort of arguments he would have made himself when he was a persecutor of the church and when he boasted that he was a Pharisee. So, it’s very much a courtroom scene. And if you picture this, this is now the rhetorical Jewish person who’s there in the stand, and Paul is going to recount, sort of put in his mouth, the defense, because we’ve had many verses and paragraphs of saying how the Jews are not doers of the law, and so they come under the condemnation of the law. But now he imagines that someone may stand up, and the judge says, all right, Jewish person, what do you have to say in defense of yourself? The person actually stands up straight and says, thank you, your honor. I actually have quite a lot to say in defense of myself. For starters, I’m a Jew. So that’s an ethnic label, that’s a religious label, that’s a family label, that’s a historic label. Maybe we would think to ourselves, yes, your honor, I’m a born-again Christian. I’m a member of a church. I’m an evangelical. I’m a conservative. Okay, so that’s the first thing I want to say, your honor. I’m a Bible-believing, born-again, conservative Christian.

And then Paul goes on in this courtroom imagery to give two sets of four characteristics. He has four characteristics that’s coming out of the mouth of this Jewish person to defend himself. Four characteristics related to the law, and then four characteristics related to other, and then each one has a summary statement. So just quickly, you can follow the logic. It’s very simple. If you call yourself a Jew, and then what we have now are four characteristics that the Jewish person might say in his defense. They’re all related to the law.

So, number one, he says, your honor, I rely on the law. I was taught by my parents when I went to bed and when I woke up and when I walked along the way, just like Deuteronomy instructed us. I’ve been instructed in God’s written revelation. You might say since I was a wee little youngster, I remember my parents praying with me, and they read Bible storybooks to me, brought me to vacation Bible school, so they could have a little vacation themselves during that week. I rely on the law. And I boast in God.

Number two, I don’t boast in myself. I’m a good religious person. Maybe this Jew is thinking of the Shema, hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one God. He knows this is my hope. It’s God. I don’t boast in myself.

Number three, I know his will. That is, I know what obedience looks like. This doesn’t mean, you know, the will of direction and what I should do with my life. It’s just this, I know what it means to be obedient. Why? Because I’ve been given the law. I have God’s supernatural revelation. Those Gentiles out there, remember, they had to sort of intuit. They had a sense of the divine within them, but it was murky, and it was suppressed. The Jew is saying, well, not me, your honor. I rely on the law from the hand of God himself, mediated by angels. I have the law. I boast in God. I know his will, for I approve what is excellent. I know right from wrong. I can tell the difference between pagan corruption and degradation. I know, and I love the good, the true, and the beautiful. I’m against evil. I’m for righteousness. And here’s the bottom line. I am instructed from the law. You see that at the end of verse 18, because you are instructed from the law. This is the person who’s saying before the judge, I’m well-taught. I’ve been to Bible studies. I know my doctrine. I’ve been to Christian school. I’ve been to Sunday School. I’ve been to youth group my whole life. I do personal Bible reading every morning. I am a well-taught Christian.

Four characteristics related to the law, and then Paul gives four characteristics related to others, followed by a summary statement. So, these, sort of the banner is, I’m a Jew. I’m a religious, I’m a good religious person. Here are the four things about me related to the law, and now here are four things about me related to others.

One, I’m a guide to the blind. Think of Psalm 115, “their idols have mouths but do not speak, ears but do not hear, noses but do not smell, hands but do not feel, feet but do not walk, eyes but do not see. And those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.” That’s what the psalmist says about the gods of the nations. People make idols of wood and stone and gold and silver, and they’re inert. They can’t do anything. They don’t see anything. And when you make an idol, you become like an idol. You become what you worship. And so, these people, just like the idols they worship, they don’t have any spiritual eyes. And so, this Jewish person, in Paul’s words, is saying, look, people out there are lost. They need the truth. I’m going out on O-Nights every other week. I’m showing them the way. I am a guide to the blind.

Number two, I’m a light to those who are in darkness. I learned as a kid, “thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” This Jewish person knows the prophecies about the Messiah, and to some degree embodied in the nation of Israel that they would be a light to the nations. They were supposed to be that light that beacon shining amidst a dark world that people might stream to it and say, tell us about your God. You have the truth. They say, I’m a light. I’m an instructor to the foolish. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. I’m no fool. I’m not an atheist. I’m not an agnostic. I know there’s a God. Didn’t we learn in Proverbs, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” I fear the Lord. And I want to help the fools out there to know the true God. I’m a teacher of children.

Number four, probably thinking literal and figurative, I teach my children. I’m praying for them when they were in the womb, and they came out. And I was putting, you know, on the belly, I was having them listen to Mozart and listen to Shakespeare. I was having them listen to R.C. Sproul sermons just to be safe, just coming out. I’m a teacher. I’m making sure my kids are okay. I’m giving them the absolute best. They’re in the Word. We are just nailing it with family worship. And then figuratively, I teach people who don’t know. I’m giving them good Bible doctrine. I’m giving them good theology. This is the testimony that this person is bringing. I have, you see the end of verse 20, “in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.” There again is this summary statement.

So, you have four characteristics related to the law, because he knows the law, and he’s got four characteristics related to others. Again, because the law has truth and because he knows the law, he’s able to teach others the law. I mean, this is quite the testimony that this witness that Paul imagines, he’s brought before the judge, not feeling ashamed by all of the things that have come before in chapter 2. Then he finally says, well, what do you have to say for yourself? And he says, I have quite a lot to say for myself. I have the law, I’m instructed, and I boast in God only, and I help to teach other people. And he goes on and on. He’s got some eight or ten or twelve things, depending on how you count it. And that might seem like quite an impressive defense that he’s made, except the prosecution has not rested.

There is a cross-examination, pun intended, a cross-examination. And notice, this is exactly what Paul is doing. You see it laid out very clearly. Here is the Jewish person at the witness stand. Here is the religious insider, like most of us, at the witness stand, testifying to his own knowledge and accomplishments. And then the prosecution says, well, before we release you, I have a few questions to ask. Four questions. Number one, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? See that in verse 21? He’s saying, you have such a keen eye for the problem of others. You can spot the immorality in the world. You never miss the way the world has gotten twisted and perverted. You always, you are just dialed in to the darkness of the world. You see it. You’re not falling for it. You know how empty it is. You have eyes to see it, but can you see your own heart, Paul says? Would that you were as judgmental about your own sin as you are about your husband’s sin or about your wife’s sin. The first person you must preach to is yourself. The first person I must preach to is myself. Now, that doesn’t mean that you have to conclude that you’re the only sinner. No. You don’t even have to conclude that you’re necessarily the worst sinner. It’s not that every time there’s some sort of disagreement, it’s always 50-50 or every marriage is just evenly split. Sometimes there are vastly greater problems on the other side. That happens in life. But here’s what I mean, preach first to yourself. Are you most eager to see your sin or someone else’s sin? What disappoints you more, their sin or your sin? Paul says, you’re a teacher. Got it. Do you teach yourself?

Second question, while you preach against stealing, do you steal? You see the greed of the world. You’re laser-focused. I know other people run their business. You hate the rich. You despise the elites. How do you make your money?

You who say one must not commit adultery, here’s the third question, do you commit adultery? Perhaps you’re sitting there. Maybe I’m standing here thinking to ourselves, wow, what a messed-up world, especially on sex and gender, and you’re thinking to yourself, man, how are people so blind on this trans issue? We’ve got boys in girls’ locker rooms. Men who are winning medals in high school sports against other women standing on the podium. It’s so wrong. As Christians, we’ve got to stand against this kind of sexual and gender confusion and perversion. Paul might say to you and to me, well, that’s true. Let me see your browsing history on your phone. Let me see the wardrobe that you’re hoping to strut around in this summer. Let me see what you’re doing with your boyfriend or your girlfriend. You mind if I see what movies you’re watching, the jokes you’re laughing at, the banter you make about the hot guys or the hot girls? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? Now, people, this seems to be the most difficult one because you think, really? Were Jews really robbing temples? And so, some people understand this as, well, he’s just talking about the failure to bring in the tithe, like Malachi said, or irreverent worship. But notice, it doesn’t say the temple like the Jewish temple. It says temples, plural. He’s obviously talking about pagan temples. And this was actually a frequently mentioned vice among moralists in the Roman world. And it makes sense. Temples were everywhere, and temples had sacred and valuable artifacts. And it would be easy enough to come in to do your oblation or have the ritual performed, and you just pinch one of those gold plates. You just take one of those silver incense boxes. In fact, in Acts 19:37, when there’s this riot that’s broken out in Ephesus because Paul is doing such damage to the idol-making trade, in Acts 19:37, the man who stands up and tries to give some sort of defense of Paul says, Paul was neither, now in the ESV it says sacrilegious. It’s the word that is literally translated here as a temple robber. That’s what the man said. Paul is not a temple robber or a blasphemer. Those are the same things that are mentioned here. We’re going to get to blasphemy at the end of this paragraph. Temple robber. So, it was inevitably, it seems, a common enough sin that the man said about Paul, well, he’s not a temple robber. So that may seem strange to us. Were people really robbing temples? But it seems it was a fairly common occurrence. And you might not be the ones who have stolen it, but perhaps you benefit from it. He’s thinking of the Jew who might say, we cannot be tainted by this pagan idolatry, not in the slightest. We’re Jews after all. And come over, and you’ll never believe this amazing silver fork collection I found in the marketplace. Somebody stole that and sold it, and you’re happy to enjoy it then. Deuteronomy 7: 25 and 26 explicitly prohibited bringing the silver or the gold from shrines and temples into your home as a Jew. And the rabbis had developed elaborate arguments to find exceptions to this commandment. So, Paul is talking about something that was a real sin.

And the effect of these four questions was to lead to a stinging conclusion. A conclusion that was meant to hurt on both fronts. Remember, the first set of characteristics related to the law, and then the second set of characteristics related to other people as they teach them the law. Here’s what Paul’s driving at. You boast of your relationship to the law, but you dishonor God by breaking the law. You see that at the end of verse 23? The prosecuting attorneys, here are his closing arguments. You’ve made your case, the prosecution stands up, he asks four questions, and now he makes his concluding remarks. He says, well, you who have fancied yourself to be giving God such honor, you actually are dishonoring him because you’re not really doing the law. And then the coup de grâce of this argument in verse 24, as if he hadn’t hit them right between the eyes already. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” You have boasted in your role, in your high calling to be a light to the Gentiles. And that’s right, you were to be a light to the Gentiles. You just think of him, you might say, you have heard so many mission sermons on the Great Commission that you were gonna go teach the nations, and you were gonna evangelize and witness and do missions and save people, and you have gloried in that high calling. And now he says, but the way you act and who you are when no one is looking, people hold the Christian God in disrepute because of you. He’s quoting from Isaiah 52 verse 5. You thought of yourself as a light to the Gentiles, but you are living in such darkness. It’s not causing people to come and stream to the living God. They’re saying, well, if that’s what the Christians are like, then I can obviously ignore everything they say.

Here’s what one commentator says about this passage. He says, “we have described here an angel arrayed in human form.” He’s talking about the many defenses he gives for himself. An angel arrayed in human form, a star detached from the firmament and brought near to enlighten the earth. But observe what is concealed under the mask. He says, this man to himself look like a very angel from heaven, boasting in God, glorying in the law, teaching other people, instructing children. And then the mask is taken off. That’s what hypocrisy is. To be a hypocrite is to wear a mask. Sometimes people get confused, and they think, well, hypocrisy is when I do something that I don’t feel like doing. No, that’s called maturity. That’s called being an adult. Pastor, I don’t feel like worshiping a lot of times. I don’t want to be a hypocrite, so I can’t come to church. I don’t think my heart’s in giving, so I can’t give. God loves a cheerful giver. Well, keep giving until you’re happy then. No, that’s not…don’t think hypocrisy is I’m doing something, and I don’t quite feel it. You’re never going to be a mature Christian if you’re just so…you can’t do the right thing when you don’t feel it. No, hypocrisy, the hypocrite is someone who pretends to be one thing in public when they are something entirely different in private. That’s hypocrisy. I know how to be one thing in public, and I’m something else in private. Or I seem to myself to be one sort of person when the truth is I’m very much a different sort of person. That’s what Paul is doing. He’s not necessarily saying that every single Jewish person was like this and this bad, but he’s exposing the hypocrisy, the dependence upon Judaism as such. And the rituals, and in particular the law, that someone might have confidence before the judge because they are acquainted with the law, and they know the law, and they teach the law, but here’s what’s missing. They do not do the law. That’s the problem.

This is quite an indictment against the Jews, and we can see the argument at work. You’ve probably felt a little convicted already. Let’s try to feel the force of it even more, shall we? For your sake and mine, because, yeah, we feel it, but it’s a little bit safe, it’s a little bit distant. Okay, the Jews, most of us aren’t Jews. The law, that’s not what most of us are going through in life, and just the Mosaic law. Temples, well, this all puts us in the first century, far enough away to feel safe. What might Paul say today to a self-assured, self-deceived religious insider? Maybe it sounds like this. But if you call yourself a conservative Christian and read your Bible and praise Jesus and know the difference between right and wrong, and you stand against wokeness because you’re well-taught in the Scriptures. And if you are sure that you can point out the errors of the liberals and are a light to those living in the darkness of sexual sin, and you hold seminars to defend a biblical worldview, and you teach the truth about God on your website and in your home and in your school, you then who teach others about the Word of God, do you not teach yourself?

While you preach against tolerance in the culture, do you tolerate your own sins? When you lambast the other political party for being godless and depraved, do you turn a blind eye to the debauchery and vanity and moral compromise in your own party? When you speak against the sexual immorality of Pride Month, do you stream garbage on your TV, look at porn on your phone, flirt with your coworkers? Look forward to showing as much skin as possible in the summer months? You who abhor progressivism, snowflakes, sissies, do you excuse your own failings because supposedly society is against you? You who fancy yourself a tough man, do you run out of every relationship when someone dares to challenge you? You who boast about your devotion to the Word of God, do you dishonor God by disobeying that Word? As it is written, the name of God is tarnished among the secular people of the world because they see through conservative hypocrisy. Now that stings a little.

And I said what I said at the front about listening to a sermon so that you can be discerning to know some of that, a little of that, or all of that applies to you. The Jews were right about their blessings. We’re going to come to chapter 3 later because you can see the question building up. Well, was it pointless to be a Jew? Did the Jews get everything wrong? Are you saying that they were wrong to care about the law? Paul’s going to say, no, no, no, the Jews had many advantages. Just like he might say to us, oh, there’s a lot of good things about being a conservative Christian. You’ve had lots of advantages. And he’s going to say, number one, you have the Word of God. So, they were right about many of their blessings. The Jews were right about their calling. They were also right about the importance of the law. They were, however, wrong about one very important thing: themselves. They didn’t know themselves.

I can think of three responses to this sermon. There’s the person listening about whom some things here are somewhat true. And you have the Spirit at work in your life, and you feel convicted for some of the things and you say, oh, I’m a Christian and by God’s grace, I don’t think that’s all true of me. I don’t think I’m a hypocrite, but boy, there’s some things here that I need to deal with. And Jesus, thank you for your mercy. I throw myself on your mercy. Jesus, help me to grow in godliness. That’s one response. That would be a good response, a healthy response for a Christian.

Here’s another way someone might respond, and that’s no response at all. I’m thinking about the person for whom this indictment from Paul, from the Spirit, this indictment is largely true. You’re wearing a mask, and you feel nothing. There’s nothing that I can do. There’s nothing your parents can do. There’s nothing anyone can do except pray and trust the Word to take off that mask because it has to finally be a work of the Spirit. Because if someone is self-deceived, if someone is hardened, they will always, always have an excuse for sin. You cannot argue your way to conviction. It will always be someone else’s fault. It will always be your fault, or the church’s fault, or their parents’ fault, or the preacher’s fault. What do you expect when someone can’t see? The hypocrite is always confident, always pleased with himself or herself, always content with merely an intellectual faith or a ritual faith, not a living faith. That’s another kind of response, no response.

And then third. That’s what I said at the beginning, in particular the question I want us to be asking. Lord, is it possible that I might be wearing this mask, that I might be this sort of person who comes with my tenfold statement of defense, thinking that I’m someone who can stand before God, and when the prosecution comes, right now you’re feeling, woe is me. If that’s you, there’s two very simple steps you ought to take in your heart. The first one is to acknowledge before God, this is true. That’s where it starts. This is true about me. I fancy myself a Bible Christian, a conservative Christian, and I’m seeing this morning I’m a fake, and I have seen everyone’s sin so clearly except my own, and I have taught everyone the truth except I’ve not taught myself. And so, you say to God, you’re right. I have not kept the law that I’ve instructed others in. That’s the first step, and here’s the second step. If you take that first step, the second is very simple. After you say, that’s true of me, and I have not kept the law, then you need to find for yourself someone who has. You need to find a law-keeper. You need to find that rock on which you can stand. You need to find that anchor that is steadfast for the soul. You need to find the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone through faith in him, God can therefore be just and the justifier. He can acquit you. He can declare you innocent. He can count you as righteous as his son for the sake of his son’s life and death and sacrifice and resurrection and coming again. I hope as you listen to sermons, you’ve heard me say this before, this is the most privileged and one of the most dangerous places you can ever be is in a Bible-believing church where the preacher, I hope this preacher, is preaching the Word of God. It’s an immense privilege. I think the greatest, almost the greatest privilege that you can have to have the Words of God, and here’s the danger, that you become inoculated against them. That you have to stand before God, not just for your sins, but for all of the light in all of the sermons you heard that never penetrated your heart. So if you need a quiet place later, if you need to find a time after your family meal this afternoon and go on a walk and do business with God to say this is true of me, I don’t want to be a hypocrite, I don’t want to be a fake, and I need Jesus. And you’ll find him because if you pray that, you’ve already been found. Let’s pray.

Our gracious heavenly Father, thank you for your Word. We pray that by your spirit you would instruct us, not that we would be these hypocrites boasting in our knowledge of the Bible, our studies and our theology. We praise you for all of it, but not if it makes us mere religious hypocrites. So, do a work that only you can do. No preacher by himself can do it. No parent can do it. No Christian book can do it. Only you can do it. And so, we ask that you would now by your Word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Case of Conscience

Wed, 20 May 2026 15:04:15 GMT

Let’s pray.

Now he’s standing in the place of honor, crowned with glory on the highest throne, interceding for his own beloved till his Father calls to bring them home. Then the skies will part as the trumpet sounds – hope of heaven or the fear of hell. But the bride will run to her lover’s arms, giving glory to Emmanuel. We pray in the name of the Lord Jesus by the power of the Spirit, O heavenly Father, that you would so direct our hearts now in this moment that when we stand before you on that moment – and we all will stand before you – that it will not be for us the fear of hell, but it will be the assured hope of heaven. So, cause us now to run to the arms of our loving savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, that we might find help and grace and glory, now and in the life to come. We pray in his name. Amen.

Our text this morning comes from Romans chapter 2. You’re looking at three verses: 14, 15, and 16. We’ll have a guest preacher, Lord willing, here next week who will be in town for the RTS commencement. I will be here and happy to assist, but I won’t be preaching from Romans. And then when we pick up though, I do think – don’t hold me to it – but I think we might get a paragraph coming up. I know, big deal. Don’t miss it. But this morning, just three more verses, and there’s a lot here. Follow along as I read beginning at verse 14. For – so this is connecting to the argument that Paul has been laying out in these verses. Say more about that in a moment.

“For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”

According to this text, there are three things that are true of every one of you in this room. Three things. And not only are these three things true for every single person on this side of the pulpit and on that side of the pulpit, but these three things are true for every person you will meet this week, every person you encountered this last week, every person you see at work, every person you see at school, every person in your family. These three things are true. They may not know that they’re true. They may have a different explanation for why they are true, but these three things are true of everyone everywhere. And it is really important, as Christians, to understand the things that are true of all people at all times and in all places. And this text gives us three really important facts. Number one, everyone has the work of the law written on their hearts. Number two, everyone has a conscience inside of them. And number three, everyone will stand before Christ on the day of judgment. Those three things are true of you and me. They’re true of everyone that you know, everyone in your family, everyone older, younger. Everyone.

Here’s the first. Everyone has the work of the law written on their hearts. You see this in verse 14 and the first half of verse 15. Now, immediately look at verse 14, and we’re presented with a question, which has various interpretations, as many parts of Romans do. We read, “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires.” So, before we go any further, we have to answer this question. Who are these Gentiles? These Gentiles. Paul has been going back and forth in 1 and 2, Jews and Gentiles. He’s making the case about the universality of sin and the righteousness of God’s wrath poured out on the world for both Jews and Gentiles. But now we have these Gentiles, and it is said that they do not do the law – or rather, they do not have the law – but in some sense they do the law. So, who are they? Some have argued that this is showing how Gentiles have been doers of the law. That’s what verse 13 just talked about. It’s not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. And so, some have said, “For – okay, here’s an example. Here are some who have proved to be doers of the law.” These Gentiles – some people think of them as virtuous pagans from the ancient world, maybe a Socrates or an Aristotle. I hope we can quickly set aside this interpretation, because it doesn’t fit with anything that Paul is saying before or after these verses. Everything has been rolling about judgment and wrath, and it’s coming to chapter three, how no one is righteous, how everyone’s mouth ought to be shut, and so, it would make no sense that Paul just drops in a, “Oh, by the way, but there’s some virtuous pagans somewhere, and they’ve been saved by being doers of the law.” And it doesn’t fit, this interpretation, with verse 14 when it says “when” – so “when Gentiles.” Paul is not at all making the claim that there’s some Gentiles out there who are really just getting an A+ on doing what the law requires. What he says is there are occasions, in a certain manner of speaking, when they do what is right. So, this is not that they are doing this as a matter of their whole life, but when – and if you look at verse 15, you see the word “even” at the end of verse 15; that’s important – their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them (we’ll come back to that later, but that little – it’s called a concessive particle there) – even, which is to say, mainly what the conscience does is accuse us. There’s a lot more to accuse us than to excuse us. So, this is not painting a picture of some Gentiles who are really just kind of cruising above 90% in being doers of the law. It’s saying when – okay, this happens – and even, at times, it excuses them. So, that’s not a good interpretation.

What about a second one? And yes, it’s going to be the third that’s going to be correct one, but one of these times I’m going to put it first or second, so just keep paying attention. Others have argued – and this is a much more plausible argument, and some good interpreters think this, though I’m going to argue against it – others have argued that this refers to Gentile Christians. And there are some good reasons it might refer to Gentile Christians. Someone would say, well, only a Christian would be able to do what the law requires. Paul is talking about how we’re dead in our sins and trespasses, so if somebody is even on occasion doing what the law requires, then this must be a Christian, right? And more importantly, some people have pointed out, doesn’t this language about the law written on their hearts – is that the promise of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31? We read that earlier in the service. So, is this talking about some new-covenant Gentile Christians who now have the law written on their hearts? They’re born again. They’re believers. That’s why they’re able, in some sense, to do the law. Well, there are several arguments against this interpretation. First of all, the language “who do not have the law” – “there are Gentiles who do not have the law” – would be a very strange way to refer to Christians, because Paul’s going to come back to this later in 12 and 13 and talk about the sense in which we do have the law. We do believe in keeping the law, so we don’t refer to Christians as “those who have no law.” They have the law of Christ. They have the law of love. That’d be a strange way to refer to Christians. Also, that phrase there, “they are a law to themselves” – say more about that in a moment. (You’re saying, you’re giving us a lot of “more of that in a moment.” How long is this sermon going to be? Well, we’ll go through it quickly.) That’s a strange way to talk about Christians, a law to themselves. That doesn’t sound like the description of a born-again Christian. And you say, “Well, what about that language of Jeremiah 31? Because I hadn’t thought of that, but that’s kind of a good argument, isn’t it?” Well, it’s not the exact language of Jeremiah 31, and I think the difference in language is important. Notice that here we read, verse 15, “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts,” when the prophecy from Jeremiah 31 about the new covenant is about the law written on their hearts. You say, “Well, what’s the difference?” Well, the word “work” is significant. Paul is talking about the work that the law requires, rather than the new covenant promise of a delight in the law and a desire to obey it. Do you see the difference? He’s saying that all people have the work of the law – they have some sense of what God’s moral standards require. They have the work of the law – what does the law require me to do? – they have that written on their hearts. But it’s not the regenerating power of God that gives us a desire to do it, to rejoice in it, to say, “Yes, I love this law, and I want to obey it, and I have the power to fulfill it.”

So, a third interpretation, which I think is the correct one, is to understand that these Gentiles are non-Christian Gentiles, or in a manner of speaking, everyone everywhere. This would be true in a heart level of the Jews, though the contrast he’s making here about the Jews who have the Mosaic law and the Gentiles who don’t. But he’s talking about the human condition. Remember, the argument in Romans thus far is about the universal sinfulness of both Jews and Gentiles – we might say of religious insiders and religious outsiders. You can’t say, “Well, I’ve been at church my whole life, and I was baptized. Wasn’t that a good thing? And so therefore, whatever I do with the rest of my life, whatever I say, whatever I profess is fine, right? I’m a religious insider.” Paul says, “No, that – just being an insider doesn’t get you saved.” And you say, “Well, but God looks favorably upon the poor, and he knows what all the trouble I’ve gone through, and I’ve not had all these experiences. I’ve not been exposed to the truth that the rest of you had. Therefore, he’s going to sort of grade me on a curve.” Well, Romans tells us that’s not how it works either. Follow, real quickly, the argument here, starting at verse 10. So, this judgment – this tribulation and distress for the wicked, glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, which I argued is a category of zero people, but this is talking about the end – judgment is said to be to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. So, just as salvation is the Jew first, also to the Greek, so judgment to the Jew first, then the Greek. Greek is another word for Gentile here. And then verse 11, God shows no partiality. So, being a Jew, being a Gentile before God on the day of judgment – that is going to be of no consequence. Verse 12, both will perish. If you sin without the law – that is, you’re a Gentile, and you were not given the Mosaic covenant – you’ll perish without it. And those who have sinned under the law – the Jews who received the Mosaic covenant – they’re going to be judged by the law. Verse 13, the Jews won’t be safe just because they have the law. Why? Because it doesn’t help you to just say, “I have the law” when you didn’t do the law. I said last week, you can’t, when you get pulled over for going 70 in a 35 – don’t do that; that’s really unsafe – and you said, “Well, officer, of course, of course, I know it’s 35. I wrote a dissertation on this street being a 35 mile – yes, I know. I teach people my whole life this is 35, so I think I’ll be going now.” You’re a hearer of the law. Doesn’t help you. Kind of makes it worse if you’re not a doer of the law.

So, verse 13 is about the Jew most particularly, and now verse 14. So, why will the Gentile perish, and why will the Jew perish? Well, the Jews will perish because though they have the law, they did not do it. And now he comes in verse 14 to the argument about the Gentiles. Someone might say in their mind, “Well, okay, the Jews were given a chance. They had the Mosaic covenant, and they absolutely blew it. They were not keepers of the law. So, I can see why they would be judged, but what about the Gentiles? They were not recipients of this written revelation. They did not have mainly the prophets to them. God did not write the law on tablets of stone with his own finger like he did for the Jews.” Ah, Paul says, but he did write the law with his own finger, not on tablets of stone, but he wrote the requirements of the law upon the human heart. That’s what he’s saying. I think, surely, there’s an allusion to the tablets that Moses came down the mountain. Well, God wrote those with his own finger. What about the Gentiles? You know, God wrote a law with his own finger upon every human heart. So, when it says “they’re a law to themselves,” that might sound to us like, “Well, he’s a law to himself. He just does whatever he wants.” The phrase here means pretty much exactly the opposite. It means that in themselves, yet, they have some awareness of the law of God. They have an awareness of what the law of God requires even though they were not formerly given the law of Moses. That’s why the Old Testament is full of warnings for foreign kings and promises of judgment upon the nations of the earth. We don’t have time to go through this, but it makes a good study through the Old Testament – why God judges Israel and why God judges the nations, because they’re not identical. But all peoples – I mean, God has every right to judge this country. His standards for Israel were the standards of the Mosaic covenant. These nations of the earth – could they just do whatever they want? Well, no, but their standards – he doesn’t come and the prophets say, “I’m going to judge Egypt because they didn’t build a tabernacle.” He says, “I’m going to judge Egypt or Damascus or Babylon or any number of nations, because they failed to keep the law that they should have known.” And so, the prophets often fault them for pride, a kind of vanity, a self-assurance, violence is a key one, oppression, especially of God’s people. Those are the three things that come up over and over again. The nations of the earth – so, not his redemptive people, we might say, not the church – but the nations on earth, they, too, can be judged. Not because they weren’t Israel here in the Old Testament. Not because America doesn’t look from top to bottom like a church. The church is the church. But there are standards that they could have known and should know. Those standards of basic humility and posture before God and a sense of loving one another and honoring contracts. These are the sort of things that Paul says here. The Old Testament, God judged the Gentile nations for failing to obey the law that was revealed in nature and in the conscience. They were not judged per se for failing to keep the law of Moses as it was specifically revealed to the Jews, but they were still subject to God’s judgment as they failed to obey this law.

So, go back up to that word I highlighted already in verse 14. When. When they do the law. Don’t think Paul’s argument is that there’s a lot of non-Christian Gentiles, unconverted people, and they’re just cruising through life, and they’re just obeying the law all the time. And in fact, we know that this is a, we might say, a surface-level obedience. True obedience that pleases God must be done with a heart of faith, from the right heart and for the right end, for God’s glory, and according to the right standard. So, these are not people who are doing things that in any way are meritorious or fully can stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but we all know this in fact. I hope you all know your neighbors aren’t all the worst possible neighbors you could have. There’s lots of people that you work with or in a school or who live on your street, and they’re pretty nice people. Sometimes they might even seem a little nicer than some of the Christians you know. They get you a gift when you graduate, and they might bring a meal if you have a baby, and they don’t fight with you over the fence between your two yards. Some of you have the neighbors who do fight, but you know, some of them they don’t, and they’re good employees, and they can be a good boss. So, it’s possible – this is what Paul is saying – when they do the law by an external morality. See how Paul is giving us a way to think about why are non-Christians even sometimes morally halfway-decent or better people? They are. They can tell the truth. They can keep their word. There are non-Christians who live their whole lives, and they keep their marriage vows. They’re not adulterers in the totally outward sense. They honor their parents. Now, none of this is in a totally virtuous way from the heart and to the glory of God, but in an approximate way. That’s what Paul is saying. We can look around the world. This why you need all of Romans, because if you just stopped after one section of Romans, you’d just say, “Well, I guess the pagan world, the non-Christian world, it’s just root and branch everywhere you go. It’s just – people are absolutely as rotten, as despicable, as possible.” That’s not what Paul says here. He says, “We can obviously look around and see when there are non-Christian Gentiles who keep the law, in a manner of speaking.” We can call this, as theologians have for a long time, the natural law. This doesn’t save people, of course, and it is still subject to all sorts of distortions because of human sin, but even in the Reformed tradition there’s an awareness that there is a natural law that people can observe.

Here’s what Calvin says: “There is, therefore, a certain understanding of natural law, which dictates one action to be virtuous and to deserve the pursuit of all while it holds up another to our utmost detestation.” Calvin says there’s an awareness that even a non-Christian can have of certain good, decent, moral behavior. I’ll give you another quote from a Reformed luminary. This is from John Murray in his commentary, the esteemed professor from Westminster in the 20th century. He says, commenting on this language here, you see “by nature” – by nature, verse 14, they do what the law requires – what does that mean? By nature. I thought we had fallen human natures. Isn’t that the point that Paul is making? And he is. So, he doesn’t mean here “by nature” as if you’re born into the world with a good heart. Here’s how Murray explains: “By nature is contrasted with what is derived from external sources and refers to that which is engraven on our natural constitution.” What is done by nature is done by native instinct. By native instinct, by nature. Calvin called it there “the natural law.” So, if someone steals from you, if someone lies to you, someone signs their name on a contract, and they completely void the contract. If someone sleeps with your husband or wife, if someone is watching a baseball game, and your kid is there, and he’s doing his best, and he strikes out, and this bad example of a parent decides to cuss out your kid for striking out. If someone slanders your reputation, no one thinks in any of these situations, “I’m not really sure if that’s right or wrong.” You just lied to me. You just went into my garage, and you stole something from me. You got road rage, and you just rammed into me, and now my car is destroyed, and my neck is injured. Nobody thinks in that moment, “I think we need to have a long, drawn-out disquisition, and we need to determine if this is right or wrong.” We know by a natural instinct some basics of morality. Now, that’s not to say that we can’t get all twisted up, and there’s all sorts of things that people call evil good and good evil. Paul’s argument is in a general sense there is the possibility, at least on a surface level, of a shared morality on some things. It is possible to appeal to a law that we know comes from God. Other people may think it’s just western tradition or custom or just their own sense of things, but we know it’s the law that comes from God. So natural law – don’t think, well, that’s a law that’s apart from God. No, it’s still the same law of God, but it is revealed, and it is implanted, within us – that is, by nature. Think of some examples in the book of Genesis 12, 20, 26. Abraham and Isaac. There are these three stories where Abraham or Isaac lie about their sister, wife, technically half-sister, but they lie, and then the leader, either Pharaoh or Abimelech, is almost going to have the men or himself sleep with the woman. These are pagan rulers, and this is hundreds of years before the formal revelation of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. And yet, in each instance, Pharaoh or Abimelech understands, “You almost had us do something really bad, like sleep with your wife.” These pagan rulers know by nature that that’s a wrong thing. They had all sorts of other sexual ethics that were likely very messed up, but they had that basic awareness to sleep with another man’s wife would have brought judgment upon us. They’re not Yahweh-ists. They’re not born-again people, but they have this basic instinct. They are these sorts of Gentiles that, in that moment, apart from any written revelation from God, they have a law within their hearts to know, “Well, that would have been a really bad thing.” This is important. It means that even the person who has no awareness of Jesus or the Bible or access to the church – you say, “Well, how could that person be judged?” Well, they won’t be judged for the things that they don’t know, but they will be judged for many things that they do know. That’s part of what Paul is doing over and over in Romans 1 and 2 is he’s helping people to see you know more things than you think you know. Now, you suppress that in unrighteousness. You twist it. You get it all mangled up. But there are things that you know and that you can know.

And here’s another one of them. They do not have the law, but (verse 15) they show that the work of the law – that is, what the law requires in a basic sense: tell people the truth, honor your parents – especially that second table of the law, but even in an approximate sense, the first table of the law, an awareness, maybe, that there’s a God, and he is to be honored, and he’s not to be defamed. There is a law, Paul says, and you will be judged not by the law you didn’t have, but by the law you do have, and that’s the law that is written – the work of the law written on your hearts. Everyone in this room and everyone you know has the work of the law written on their hearts.

Here’s the second thing related to the first. Everyone has a conscience. A conscience inside of them. The conscience is a human faculty that judges human behavior. Put it another way: the conscience is the innate moral sense that accuses us of wrong but can also acquit us for doing what was right. So, it comes before reasoning. It comes before someone has to sit down. If you have two young children, and one grabs a toy out of the other child’s hand, you need no logical syllogism. You need no deduction about what is fair and unfair and the law handed down Sinai about stealing. That child knows instantly, “You did me dirty. You took my toy.” Now, it takes developing some kind of conscience within one, but it is this innate moral sense that accuses us. Every one of you – even if you think it’s been a long time since you’ve paid attention to your conscience – every one of you, you’ve had that experience. While you’re doing it, while you’re getting ready to do it, or thinking after you did it – I wish I wouldn’t have done that. That was – I feel so rotten about that. The way I just lost my temper with my kids. The way I went to that site when I said I was never going to go to that site again. The way I just completely got passive aggressive with my mother. Some of you are just aggressive-aggressive. I just – I shouldn’t have done that. You feel remorse. Now, it’s important to realize here, we don’t have time for a whole lesson on the conscience, but it’s one of those doctrines that – years ago, especially the Puritans, did a lot about the conscience, and we don’t talk about it nearly as much as we should. Paul, more than a dozen times in Acts and in his letters, talks about the conscience. It appears several times in Hebrews and in 1 Peter. It’s a neglected doctrine. The conscience is not the voice of God, though God can use the conscience, and the conscience is not infallible. In fact, the Bible highlights many ways the conscience can misfire. Some categories: it can be weak, which means it’s overly scrupulous. Now, a weak conscience – when Paul is talking about certain foods, for example, and he now says, you know what, all the foods are clean. You can really eat all the foods. But maybe there’s Jews who their whole life they just knew there were certain foods you couldn’t eat, and they sort of get it intellectually, but when they would eat those foods, they would feel like they were sinning. You know, maybe you grew up your whole life, you can’t play cards. Hope I’m not stepping on a limb here that I think you can play cards, but maybe you grew up in a way for whatever – it’s a game of chance, or it’s too much like the world, and then somebody convinces you, “I think it’s okay. You could probably play Go Fish with your grandkids and be all right,” but if you still feel like, “I just always,” that’s a weak conscience. You may know intellectually this is okay, but it still feels wrong to you, and here’s what the Bible says: you shouldn’t do it. You should not do things that feel wrong to you, because you put yourself in great danger if you’re in the habit of violating your conscience. That’s what the Bible means by the weaker brother. We use that language incorrectly. People say the weaker brother is just the person who doesn’t like what we do. No, the weaker brother is, in particular, somebody who doesn’t have the conscience to, say, drink a glass of alcohol when they’re past 21, because they grew up thinking it’s all wrong, and it just feels very nasty. And then you tell them, “Just do it. Just come on. Yeah. It’ll be okay. Bible says it’s okay.” And then they do it. You have led someone with a weaker conscience to violate their conscience. That’s a stumbling block. You don’t press people to do something when they feel like it’s wrong. So, your conscience could be overly scrupulous. It accuses you of things and says that’s wrong when it’s not wrong.

On the other hand, and probably more common in our day, is a conscience that doesn’t accuse us of things. It’s too accommodating. So, the Bible talks about a defiled conscience or an evil conscience. This is a conscience that does something and feels that it’s wrong, and then they do it anyways. Or a further stage, a seared conscience – that is, cauterized. It’s been so scarred. You ever have a scar, and you scratch, because you had a nasty flesh wound, and then it scars up, and you can scratch, and you can’t feel anything. It’s like frostbite if you’re playing out in Michigan in April, and your hands are freezing cold. You can’t feel it. Just when you can’t feel your fingers, and you think, “Ah, it doesn’t hurt anymore,” that’s when you’re in really big trouble. Same with the conscience. Sometimes people get to the point, “You know what? I used to feel real bad about these kinds of movies. I used to feel bad about the things that I was doing with those other – and I don’t feel so bad anymore. I must be doing well.” Or your conscience is completely scarred and seared. The Bible warns about that. So, there are many ways that the conscience can go wrong. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:4, I’m not aware of anything against myself, which is a really amazing statement. Like Paul, you perfect? You just going through life? What he means is when I sin, I come before the Lord, and I repent, and I receive forgiveness. You are not meant to walk around with a low to medium level of just constant guilt. That’s not – “Well, I thought that was Calvinism.” That’s not Calvinism. Calvinism is to know that you are guilty, and then there’s Christ, who forgives you. So, Paul says, I am not aware of anything – meaning I’m walking with the Lord, and when I sin, I quickly go, and I say I’m sorry, and I get forgiveness from the Lord. But then Paul says, “That doesn’t mean I’m acquitted.” Even the great Apostle Paul says, “It’s possible my conscience has missed something.” So, the conscience is not infallible. It must be instructed. You can think of it like a muscle. Your muscles need to be trained if they’re going to be healthy, if they’re going to be strong, if they’re going to be reliable. So, the conscience needs to be instructed and trained.

The Puritans said the conscience is God’s spy and man’s overseer. It was often suggested this is one of the reasons why belief in God is rational. The reformers didn’t say, “Well, there’s a deduction, and then you’ll come out, and you’ll have to believe in God.” But they said, “You want to know one of the reasons why it makes sense to believe in God? Look at – everyone around the world has a conscience. Everyone around the world has had that experience of ‘I’m doing something that I shouldn’t have done.’ Everyone around the world has had the experience of criticizing someone else.” You think we live moral relativism? Have you not been on X before? We don’t live in moral relativism. We are hyper-morality. It’s just that people’s morality is all twisted up. The online world is all about sin and judgment, righteousness, but no grace, no forgiveness, no mechanism to deal with it. But of course people know that there’s a right and wrong. The conscience is that faculty within us that God can use, but even apart from the Holy Spirit, the conscience can work. People often ask the question, “So is the conscience and the Holy Spirit the same thing?” Well, no, not identical, though a Christian conscience informed by the Word, the Spirit uses the Word, then, to apply to the conscience. But Paul’s argument here is you don’t have to be a Christian to have a conscience. In fact, all of the Gentiles, they, too, had a conscience. And notice this language. It’s a little hard to translate from the Greek, but it comes out in the ESV with the word “also.” Others say “together with.” So, the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness, or together. So, the “also” should invite the question, “Well if that’s the ‘also,’ what was the first?” So, also bears witness.

So, it seems that Paul is saying there are two witnesses. Remember this is a courtroom scene. You’re going to stand before God. We’re coming to that in verse 16. You’re going to stand before Christ in that courtroom. And for the Jew, one of the witnesses against the Jew is, “Here’s the Mosaic covenant. You had it. You didn’t do it.” But now he says for the Gentile world, lest you think you’re off the hook, here’s two witnesses that when you have to stand there before Christ, and you’re apt to feel sort of confident that, you know, I wasn’t such a bad person. I did the best with what I had. Two witnesses will be there to testify. One is the work of the law written on your heart. That’s verse 14 and half of 15. And then, Paul is saying the second witness also is your conscience. Didn’t you have many times, many times where you were convicted to think this is not right? I should not be going down this path. I should not be having this level of conversation with a man or a woman who is not my wife. I should not be using this language. I should not be watching. I don’t care if it doesn’t have a bad rating. I should not be watching this. That’s your conscience – often to accuse, verse 15, and sometimes to excuse you. That is, sometimes the conscience – somebody may say to you, “Well, you did me dirty. You didn’t do it. You hurt me, and you need to repent.” And you may say, “As far as I know my own conscience, I am not aware that I have done something wrong. I’m sorry that you feel that way, and I want to listen.” But you don’t have to apologize for things that you don’t think you really did. Your conscience may be excusing you, saying, “I don’t think I did anything wrong here.” The conscience – the conscience is on our side. That is, when you think about sharing your faith with other people – yes, people’s consciences get all messed up, but they still have a conscience, and it’s our ally. It’s God’s instrument. That’s why I hope you feel like the preaching from this pulpit – I very deliberately try to preach to the conscience to tell you to look in your heart, see if you have any wicked way in you. What do you feel as you stand before God? Well, evangelize to the conscience. One of the worst things that can happen is when your conscience is so deadened that you sin against it. You’ve heard me say before, I think the metaphor there in Pinocchio – you know, your nose grows when you lie, because a lie eventually becomes as plain as the nose on your face, and then as little Pinocchio lies and lies, and all of a sudden he starts making “hee haw” – he starts making donkey sounds. He starts becoming an animal. Why? Because the more you violate your conscience, the more you become like a beast, not like the human being that you were created to be. You become like one of the animals. You don’t become stronger and nobler. You become less. The conscience. And it may not happen by deliberate disobedience. It happens often in our age by simple distraction. Perpetual distraction can be positively diabolical. It may not be that anything on your TV or on your phone is even by itself bad, but if you never have a quiet moment, if you never have a few hours of boredom, if you never have a quiet space in the car, mowing your lawn, exercising, something’s always coming in, you’re liable to deaden the conscience, to bury the conscience in streaming and sports and scrolling, never to hear what the conscience has been trying to scream in your ear.

And then finally, everyone has the work of the law written on their hearts. Everyone has a conscience, and everyone will stand before Christ on the day of judgment. Verse 16, he says, “According to my gospel” – now, we’re used to gospel being good news, and it is good news, but there’s also a broader sense in which the gospel refers to the whole message about Jesus Christ. Think about the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John –the whole story from Jesus and about Jesus. That’s what Paul means here: my gospel, everything revealed about the person and work of Jesus Christ, what I’m teaching you, the story I’m telling you, the truth about Jesus. On that day – so, the language here is pulling us into the future. He’s saying, “On that day, God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Now, do you notice what Paul is doing? Do you see the connection between verse 15 and 16? On the one hand, the conscience is continually operative. It can be deadened, but it’s there. We’re all born with a conscience. So, he’s speaking about presently what happens in life. But then he goes to verse 16, and he says, you know where the conscience is really, really going to shout at you? It’ll be on the day of judgment when all of the secrets are revealed. The thing that you can’t stop thinking about that you thought nobody else knew about. Where you wandered off with your eyes this week. The thoughts in your heart, those daydreams of revenge, those thoughts of, you know, your enemy or your former friend, you have these sort of daydreams about the things that might just happen to them, or the lustful thoughts, or the bitterness you nurture, the things you do in secret, the things you think in secret. Verse 16 says it’s all out there. And you think if you have to watch all of that, your conscience isn’t going to be screaming at you? Why? Oh, I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have looked at that. I shouldn’t have been – nobody knew I was that sort of person. Nobody knew I had that going on in my heart. Your conscience will be there – not much to excuse you, but a lot to accuse you. The church father Chrysostom said, “How then shall we feel when, before the whole world, all things are brought into the midst in a theater so bright and open, with both those known and those unknown to us seeing into everything?” He says you’re going to have people you know, people you don’t know in a bright, open, massive theater to see the secrets of your life. I need help. I need more than help. I need a covering. I need a savior. God will judge those things, those thoughts, those intentions, those motives, all the time that I got up to preach and I had some other motive than to glorify God. All those times, even when you were doing the right things, and they said, “What a wonderful parent you are. What a lovely child,” and they didn’t see what was going on in your heart, all the vain fantasies or the ways you’re trying to stick it to someone – all of that exposed. In other words, Christ will deal with us according to our real character. And notice here, you can’t pit – well, God the Father bad cop, I’m going to go with Jesus, good cop. You know what the Apostles’ Creed says: coming again to judge the living and the dead. John 5:22, “The Father has committed judgment into the hands of the Son.” It is a judgment by the Lord Jesus Christ. He has infinite knowledge. He’s divine. And one of the things that it means, that you and I will stand before the God-man, Jesus Christ, for judgment. I think one of the reasons – why would God the Father judge by Christ? Well, because he’s accomplished the work, and all authority has been given to him. He’s qualified as the high priest. He’s the king. He’s given the seat of honor. But it’s also to remove any thought that you and I might have to stand before him and say, “It’s not fair. No man could keep this law.” Jesus says, “No man could?” “Well, but God, you don’t know – you don’t know what it’s like to face temptation.” The Lord Jesus says, “Really? I didn’t know what it was to face temptation?” “But God, you don’t know. You don’t know how much I’ve suffered. You don’t know all the things that people have done to me and all the struggle that I’ve had. I couldn’t possibly be expected to worship you and obey you,” and Jesus will say, “You want to talk about suffering?” That argument, friends, will not work with our crucified Messiah as he judges the living and the dead. What will you do on this day in light of that day?

Let me finish with this. 250 years ago to the exact day – May 17, 1776 – John Witherspoon preached a sermon. You say, “Really pastor, is the John Witherspoon thing really going to fit here at the end?” It does. Listen. He preached one of the most famous sermons in American history two and a half months before he became the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. The sermon was called “The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men,” and it was based on Psalm 76:10, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee.” It was a public fast day in the colonies, and he preached this sermon. There might have been not even a hundred people – preached at a little church there in Princeton. It was some students, barely had any faculty, some townspeople. He preached this sermon, and now today many consider it one of the most important sermons in the history of this country. So, what did he do? Well, he talked about independence. That’s why it became famous. Unless you think, well, he was doing that all the time, he says in the sermon, “You are all my witnesses that this is the first time of my intruding any political subject into the pulpit.” Say, okay, the rule is we’re not bringing politics into the pulpit. Well, what about Witherspoon? If you’re forming a new country, you can do it once. Now, historians pay attention to the second half, because – typical sermon of that day – he does the text, he does the doctrine, then he does the use, the application. And the second application is to say that the providence of God has so arranged the thing that now is the time to defend our rights, and he makes the case for independence. But everyone skips the first part of the sermon, because it’s not interesting to most historians. But here’s what he says. His first point: “In the first place, I would take the opportunity on this occasion and from this subject to press every hearer to a sincere concern for his own salvation.” He says, “I do not blame your ardor for the resolute defense of your temporal rights, but consider, I beseech you, the truly infinite importance of the salvation of your souls.” He might say to some of us, “I don’t begrudge you that you care about politics, and you follow it, and you’re concerned about what’s happening in America.” He says, “You have every right to do so, but are you concerned about something of much more infinite importance?” He says, “Have you assembled together willingly to hear what I shall say on public affairs and to join in imploring the blessing of God on the councils and arms of the united colonies? And yet you are unconcerned what shall become of you forever, when all the monuments of human greatness shall be laid in waste?” He even says, “Some of you, your time is short. Some of you will die. You will be the first to die in the battles that are coming.” And he said to his audience, and I say to you, do not rest content with a form of godliness that denies its power. “There can be no true religion till there be a discovery of your lost state by nature and practice and then an unfeigned acceptance of Christ Jesus as he is offered in the gospel.”

If he would preach that in a time of coming war and independence, surely it’s the same message that must be proclaimed to you today. Of whatever important thing you think is happening in your life and in the world, none is more important than that – that you would understand your lost state by nature and then move toward an unfeigned acceptance of Jesus Christ. Or to put it in Romans 2 terms, you know the work of the law. Your conscience tells you, you haven’t obeyed that law, and you don’t have a clean conscience. Come to Christ. Keep coming to Christ over and over again, and find rest and assurance, so that when you stand before Jesus on that day, you will not have the fear of hell, but the assured hope of heaven. Let’s pray.

Father, give us grace that we might attend to these things, that you might so instruct us, convict us, apply to our hearts the work of the conscience, and lead us to Christ, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

No Partiality

Thu, 14 May 2026 12:37:29 GMT

Let’s ask for the Lord’s help.

Gracious heavenly Father, we have already heard in this book that your wrath is now being revealed – at present being revealed – against ungodliness and unrighteousness. We have already heard several times that we, your fallen creatures, are without excuse, perhaps even storing up wrath for the day of judgment by hard and impenitent hearts. But we have also heard that there is a righteousness not our own. And we have heard the good news that the gospel is the power, your power, unto salvation for everyone who believes. And so, our simple, heartfelt prayer this morning is that we might be among those who believe. We would not be impenitent and hard-hearted, storing up wrath, but we would believe and so know the gospel power for our salvation. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text is Romans 2:11-13. I’ll start the reading at verse 6.

“He will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality, for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”

I don’t want to brag, but when I fly American Airlines, I board in group two. Pretty special. Some of you fly even more, and you go in group one or first class. Or, I don’t even know if I’ve ever met you – your picture should be hanging somewhere – if you are ConciergeKey, and you’re one of the billion-mile frequent flyer travelers. It’s always a little bittersweet if you get that next status level, because it gives you amazing perks like sitting on the plane longer. You do get to have luggage, though you never want to fly with luggage, but when I get to the end of that cycle – little embarrassed to admit that sometimes I – okay, all the time – I look, and I see how close I am to the next status, to the Platinum Pro. So, this past year, I was a few loyalty points short. Well, you don’t want to just go on the plane just for that. So, but now you can go through the airline online store. So, I went there, and you get points that way. I says, “Is there anything remotely that I need?” So, I bought a bunch of cat food to just put me over the top, so I can board in group two instead of group three. It’s very special. Now, when I have the blessing of flying with my wife, you won’t be surprised if you know Trisha and you know me that she is always eager to let other people go in front of her on the plane. I am not. I am ready, pacing, ready to go when they start calling group one. I’m ready to get right in the line, because I’m not group two for no reason. And we agree on most things, but my wife and I do not agree on airport etiquette – how fast one should walk through the airport. I’m a very, very fast walker. And how early to get in line so that you can be ready to get your seat, because you never want to have to make your – with all the riffraff, all the hoi polloi in the back of the groups seven, eight, and nine. It’s just unseemly to have to board with those people. So, you get on, because you have the status. That’s the whole point. Somebody – and once in a while if I get a bump to first class, I just come home, and I say, “I feel like I belong there. I just feel like really belong there” – someone treats you special. It’s not that special, but it’s a little bit special. And you get TSA PreCheck, and now they have Pre-check Touchless, probably invented by a Dutch person. No, no, nobody. You just go right through. You don’t have to show anything, and you just get on, and you get to move through quickly, and there you are when they call group two, and you get to stand up, and when my wife travels with me, she gets to ride in on my coattails though she doesn’t deserve it. She gets to be group two, because we’re supposed to get special perks. The whole idea is, “Finally someone treats me with partiality.”

Now that’s fine for airlines to have their loyalty points. We understand in the military it’s going to be a very deliberate system of discipline and rank, and it’s fine in life. Lots of times you make your way in life by connections. We all find that to be true. It is who you know who gets your resume to be looked at or gets you in the door or gets you in the club. That’s the way life works. But before the law, there is supposed to be no partiality. Now, we understand that we live among fallen people, and that’s not the way things always work, but that is the goal. That’s the ideal. That’s why if you ever see the statue of Lady Justice, she usually is holding scales to balance right and wrong and give a fair measure and holding a sword, because justice executes and administers what is right and punishes the wrongdoer. And then, usually, Lady Justice has a blindfold, because justice is supposed to be blind to the person who you are, where you came from, where you went to school, who your mommy or your daddy is or you don’t even know them, and how much money you make, and whether you’re my friend or not. Justice is supposed to be blind. That’s the ideal, and that’s God’s standard. If it’s true as an ideal before the bar of human justice, it is absolutely always true before the bar of God’s perfect justice.

We’ve been dealing with a courtroom scene here in Romans chapter 2. Paul is explaining how God, the judge, judges human beings. And we’ve seen three principles. I haven’t enumerated them as such, but we’ve already seen two, and this morning we come to the third principle. So, you see in verse 2, here’s the first principle by which God judges. Verse 2, “We know that the judgment of God rightly”– Rightly. “According to truth” is how you could translate it literally from the Greek, that God judges according to truth. So, that’s the first principle. God always judges according to truth. He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t have to guess. He doesn’t have to rely on circumstantial evidence. He sees all. He knows all. And yet, amazingly, verse 4, he’s patient. He waits. Your heart may be hard, and then it renders his justice even more justified that he has waited so long, and yet there is impenitence – human beings storing up wrath for themselves. So, he judges rightly.

The second principle we saw last week in verse 6, “He will render to each one according to his works.” And I made the argument, though there are good arguments on both sides, that that paragraph (7-10) is not about the judgment according to works to see if we have the evidence of having been justified, though that is taught in the Bible. But rather, I argued that 7-10 is the same point that we’ll see here in verse 13, that only those who are doers of the law will be justified – namely, none of us. God judges according to works. He will repay to each person what he deserves. No one can say after God administers his justice that I’m somehow being treated unfairly, or I am not getting what I deserve. God judges rightly, number one. He judges according to works, number two.

And here’s the third principle: verse 11, “He judges without partiality.” That is, he is no respecter of persons. Now, this Greek word translated “partiality” occurs in Greek literature, as far as we can tell, for the very first time in the New Testament. In fact, there’s almost no other use of this word outside of the New Testament. It seems that Christians coined this word from a phrase made up of two words in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, that this was such an important idea for Christians in the early church that they made up this new Greek word. And it comes from two words, as far as we can tell, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament meaning “to receive the face” or “to regard the face.” And you can understand how that is translated here as “partiality.” If you are partial to someone, you are making a judgment by receiving their faith, by regarding their faith, by external appearances, by who they are, perhaps someone special. Sometimes if I speak at a conference, and I’m not paying attention, and you’re supposed to wear the wristband, and they’ll have people walking into the conference hall, and there’s guards or volunteers there and everyone checking for the wristbands, and then I don’t have one. And then it’s always the next moment, am I going to feel rather proud when they say, “Oh, wait a minute. Oh, you’re one of the speakers. I’m so, so sorry” – or, just as often, no idea who I am and then that’s good for my humility, and they might say, “You still need a bracelet,” and I got to go in and find one. Usually there’s somebody there who says, “Well, I think he is about to go on, so you should let him in.” And I get to go in. And that’s partiality, a respecter of persons. You didn’t have the requirement. Oh, I see. You can go in, and you’ve all had similar experience. But when it comes to the judgment seat of Christ, you cannot talk your way out of it. Some of you are talkers, good talkers. You probably sell things. It’s good. And you know how to be friendly and affable, and maybe you’ve talked your way out of some real jams. Well, you’re not going to do it here. Maybe you got a nice smile or nice hair. Not going to help you on the day of judgment. Or maybe you don’t care about those things, but you have connections. You have a pedigree. You have somebody famous in your family or somebody who gave money to the school, or you’re a part of some club, and many times in life you mention that connection, oh by the way, and you name drop, and it gets you in some special place. None of that will help you or help me when we stand before God, who judges rightly, according to what we’ve done and without partiality. He does not regard the face. He does not look upon us and all of our special attachments or supposedly special connections. Impartial, absolutely.

Many of you, if you follow golf, you know this famous illustration. In 1956, President Eisenhower, who was a member of Augusta National and golfed there often and had a habit of hitting a wicked slice that would slam into a 60-foot pine tree on the left side of the 17th hole, was tired of hitting that 60-foot pine tree, and he made a motion at a meeting and demanded that the pine tree be cut down. He’s a member of Augusta National. He golfs there all the time. He is the sitting president of the United States. He did sort of save the world as commander, supreme commander, of the Allied forces that won World War II only 10 years ago. You know the story. “No! I don’t –. No. You saved the world. You’re the president of the United States. The tree stands.” I think it did have to come down, or it fell down, several years ago, but it was called “Ike’s tree.” Do you think the law of God is less demanding than the law of Augusta National? You think there’s more respect of partiality? Eisenhower gets no favors for a tree to be chopped down. You think that we’ll stand before God, and he owes us a favor?

I want you to notice about God’s impartiality – I want you to notice that this is a judgment that falls upon the individual. This is very important. We have lots about the importance of community life as Christians. That’s true. We just welcomed new members. We believe about the importance of the body and fellowship, all of that. There’s lots of good theology. But when you stand before God, Romans is making it absolutely clear you don’t get to stand there with your friends. You don’t get to come and stand before him with your family. You don’t get to say, “I’d like Nana to come. She always went to church. She prayed. She was a great Christian.” Notice verse 6, “He will render to each one” – each singular individual person – “according to his works.” Look at verse 9: “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being.” Verse 10, “but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good.” Paul is underscoring that this judgment scene is not a group project. Some of you loved the group projects in school, because you got to sort of have somebody else do all the work, and you get their grade. I hated group projects at school. Felt like I was doing all the work. You can see why – I see why you’re trying to get status on the American. We’re getting insight into how our pastor’s mind works here. This isn’t a group project, when you stand before the judgment seat. This is not a fantasy sports league where you can just sign up for someone else, and if they do something right, you get points. This is not a team sport. Yes, we ought to be into the communal, the corporate life of the body of Christ, the significance of fellowship, maybe even in a right sense that it takes a village or it takes a church – it takes the body of Christ to come around, alongside the family. But when it comes to that moment of judgment, it’s you. It’s me. By yourself. By myself before the judge.

You could almost think of this as a sixth sola: Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, and judgment alone. You stand before God in judgment, and he will render according to your works. Not whether someone paid something. Don’t believe in indulgences. Don’t believe in purgatory. There’s one judgment. Here it is, once for all, and you are rendered according to your works – what you have done, alone. There are so many times in the Bible where God’s people presumed upon some special privilege or thought they had some special status. And this, though we know it’s the wrong answer, this lives in every one of our hearts. It lives in my heart, lives in your heart. Sometimes it’s the presumption that you have a family connection. Think about Nadab and Abihu. They were sons of Aaron, the first high priest. They were struck dead in Leviticus chapter 10 for offering strange fire that God did not authorize. And Aaron wasn’t even allowed to weep for his sons, as if to reinforce the lesson there, that your sadness is not as significant as God’s glory being blasphemed. Or think about another priestly sons, Hophni and Phinehas, sons of Eli the priest. They were killed for eating meat that they weren’t supposed to eat, for being greedy with the people who brought in their sacrifices. And it says they slept with women who were dedicated to the service of the tabernacle. Maybe they thought to themselves, “We’re the priest’s sons. There go Hophni and Phinehas.” Just like years earlier, Nadab and Abihu, “Surely we are something special.” And the family connection did not save them from their disobedience and from judgment. Or you think about a religious artifact. If you have something that you cling to, a special memento. Some other traditions have the veneration of relics or icons or something that you hold onto that you think is some conduit of spiritual power, and in 1 Samuel 4, that was the ark. Now, they were commanded to build the ark. The ark was God’s idea. And the ark was a symbolic representation, so it’s not that we can’t ever have a memento or something special, but they thought, “As long as we have the ark, we can’t be defeated.” They thought they were special before God’s eyes, because they held on to this religious artifact, and they were wiped out, or at least for a time defeated by the Philistines.

Or perhaps its appearance. We already read this text about when Samuel was looking for David. Earlier, the first king, Saul, it said that he was more handsome in appearance than any other man in Israel, and he was a head taller than everyone. When Saul was made king, everybody said, “Obviously that’s the – I mean, that is our looks-maxing king.” Did I use the right phrase? I don’t know. That guy is all about it. He’s a head taller than everyone. He’s the best-looking guy in the kingdom. And it didn’t help him. All the people may have still looked at him and said, “Oh, but he looks like a king. Look at how handsome, and the jawline and the hair.” Think about later – David’s son, Absalom. Half of the kingdom went after Absalom, because he had the beautiful, flowing locks and was so drop-dead handsome in the kingdom. What good did that hair do? It got him tangled up in a tree before he was killed. Appearance is not going to help you. If you think you have pretty privilege, enjoy it for a time. It’s not going to help you before the judgement seat.

Or maybe it’s a religious building. Again, we love – I love religious buildings. I love religious architecture. I think churches are places set apart for some of the most important things in all of life. Baptism, weddings, funerals, to hear the Word of God. So, these are special buildings. And yet, we should not think because we have a building that that makes us right with God. Jeremiah 7:4 – Jeremiah says, “Do not trust in these deceptive words. This is the temple of the Lord.” The temple of the Lord. The temple of the Lord. Because Jeremiah said, “God is coming for judgment.” And you know what? The people said, “Uh-uh, not us. Have you seen our temple?” There are people all across this city. They may have the most beautiful church building. They may have an endowment that can keep them running forever and ever. They may think, “Well, I go to that church. It’s a beautiful church, this historic church.” The temple, the temple, the temple, Jeremiah says. That’s not going to help you when judgment comes.

Or God’s people often thought that because they were the chosen people, the treasured possession, they were Israel, not the nations, that God would surely not judge them. How many times did the prophets have to tell Israel, “You keep asking for the day of the Lord like it’s going to be a good day for you, and it’s not.” The day of the Lord is the day when God comes to judge the wicked. And all throughout the Old Testament, God’s people are saying, “Yes, bring it on. We want the day of the Lord. This is when God’s going to come, and he’s going to judge the wicked.” And the prophets had to say, “You’re right, and are you so sure you’re not one of the wicked?” Judgment begins with the household of God. Or think about in the New Testament, how often this is a theme in Jesus’ ministry and teaching. You think of the parables of the laborers in the vineyard. Remember those chaps that got pulled in from the street corner to work in the field, and they were going to get a denarius, a day’s wage, and they were there for 12 hours. And then people came all along at different time, and then some came in at the 11th hour. They worked 12 times as much as these yahoos, and they each got a denarius, and they grumbled. And you know what the lesson is? Jesus was teaching them, first of all, about the Gentiles coming into the kingdom, because the Jews thought, “With all that we’ve been through, all the persecution we’ve been through, being slaves in Egypt, being captives in Babylon, being oppressed by so many people, now these Gentiles-come-lately get the same denarius that we get?” Jesus was teaching the lesson, “no, this doesn’t work by longevity.” Or the Pharisee and the tax collector, as if God grades on a curve: “I thank God that I’m not like other men.” Now, he didn’t say, “I thank God that I’m perfect, but I’m not like other men. And I fast and I pray and I give.” God grades on a on a curve. And I’m not perfect, but if you compare me to most people – isn’t that deep in our hearts? Or not even deep, it’s right there on the surface of our hearts. Most of us go through life, and we know better than to say it, but we think, “Yeah, yesterday was not a great day, and that raising my voice was not so good, and I had that one wild season, and I’m not proud of that.” But we think in our heads, “I know what a lot of people are like, and so by comparison, I’m still doing okay.” Jesus said that man did not go home justified. Or remember the rich man in Mark chapter 12, and he says to Jesus – he’s very impressed with Jesus. Jesus gives him an answer about the commandments, and this man says that he’s kept these commandments. And this man, he understands that Jesus is someone special. He understands something about God. He understands something about the moral universe. He understands something about the law. He’s got a lot of things going, and you remember what Jesus says to him? “I tell you the truth. You’re not far from the kingdom.” So good news, you’re close. Bad news, you’re not in. Close counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, though most of us don’t use either of those anymore.

Close. That’s what a lot of us think. As long as I’m close on the day of judgment. As long as I got a lot of things right. And Jesus says, “You’re not in the kingdom by being close.” Or what about Simon Magus in Acts chapter 8? Simon the magician. Simon the sorcerer. Later in church history, the buying and selling of church offices would be called simony after this man, Simon, because he was rich, and he had money, and he thought he could buy the power of the Holy Spirit. Some people think that they can get their way in, that money makes things happen. It just does. It always has, and it always will, except on the day of judgment. Okay, God, I know I’ve – but let me make you a deal. Let me take out my checkbook. Let me tell you about how I can benefit you. God is no respecter of persons. Your money will not work there. You’ve all, you know, you’ve heard the little joke about the man who stands at the pearly gates before St. Peter, and he’s tried to lug up, all the way to heaven, all of the gold that he’s accumulated. And St. Peter says, “You brought pavement?” You know, you don’t need it there. Doesn’t help you.

You notice verse 12 lays out the human race in two categories: those without the law and those with the law. And here we are thinking about the Mosaic law. So, this is another way of saying Jews and Gentiles, Jews and Greeks, just like we’ve seen several times in this book. Paul uses a similar expression in 1 Corinthians 9 to talk about how he tries to win those under the law and those without the law. There’s two categories, and he gives us two important lessons. Here’s the first one: God will not acquit you on the day of judgment because you are a religious outsider. Now, this is important. You knew the insider one is coming next, but this one’s important, too, because some people think, “Surely God won’t judge me, because I haven’t had the advantages that so many other people have had. Kevin, you’re talking about all the people who got the airline status or got the grades or the looks or the money or the house. I don’t have any of those things.” Well, notice what it says here: “They will not be judged by the law” – that expression comes at the end of verse 12, and it’s conspicuously absent in the first half – “but they still will perish without the law.” So, these Gentiles are not punished – listen carefully – they’re not punished for failing to keep the Mosaic law, about which they knew nothing. So, you say, “Well, then they’re saved.” No. Think of the whole argument Paul has been making. These Gentiles did not receive the special revelation of the Mosaic law, and so they are not judged by that law, but they are judged by all the other things they did know. That’s what Paul has been saying. Chapter 1, verse 19, “What can be known about God is plain to them.” Verse 21, “For although they knew God.” Verse 20, “His invisible attributes have been clearly perceived.” Or at the end of the chapter, verse 32, “Though they know God’s righteous decree.” And next week’s sermon, verses 14 and 15, “They have the law written on their hearts” – accusing them or defending them, showing that, in their conscience, they still have some awareness of God’s requirements. They may not have received all of the 600 laws or the Mosaic Covenant, but they have written on their hearts – you might say written in the stars, written upon their own constitution, as made in the image of God – some knowledge. So yes, religious outsiders, and they too are shown no partiality. Because people think sometimes, well, I didn’t grow up in a Christian family. No one brought me to church. I wasn’t taught to be religious. I didn’t have many good examples. You don’t know what it was like. I grew up in a terrible family. I didn’t have any privileges. I was dirt poor. I was overlooked. I was discriminated against. I never heard about right and wrong. Well, it’s true. Some of us have very different courses to navigate in life, and it’s not to make light of those differences. But notice here, you still had the law written on your hearts. There’s no partiality for the Gentiles. God does not judge based on what you felt or how hard you tried or how you compare to others from your situation. His judgment is according to what you do. That’s the point of verse 13. You see the “for” at the beginning of verse 13 is connecting it to verse 12. Did you do it? Now, as God cares about us and loves us, and as we counsel people, of course, it matters where we’re from and what sort of family we’ve been to and how people maybe have mistreated us, but when you stand before this judgment seat of God, there’s no partiality. There’s no God saying, “Well, I know you’ve had a really hard go of it. I know you’ve been through a lot. I know you didn’t have an opportunity, like some people did, to hear about Jesus. Well, you’re going to hear about him this morning. God will not acquit you because you are a religious outsider.

And then second, he will not acquit you because you are a religious insider. And this is often the greater temptation. People like us, we know the right theological answer in the head. We know God doesn’t play favorites. We know all that. And yet, we can’t help but feel in our hearts that we do come to the courtroom, the divine courtroom, with some advantages – your history, your tradition, the good books that you’ve read, the family you’re a part of, maybe leaders in the church or the denomination or the community or the business world or politics. Or maybe you have an advanced degree, or you’ve given generously to the church or to good causes, or you’ve simply been around a long time. I bet it’s the case for many people in a church like this that there is some place that you go to where you are given preferential treatment. It might not even be wrong. You know someone. But there’s some place that you go to, and it’s because of the college you went to or the money that your parents gave or because you look good or you’re taller or you’re stronger or because you know someone who’s in the know – there’s some place that many of us go, not everywhere, but someplace where you and I are given preferential treatment. Again, you wouldn’t verbalize it, but you sort of think to yourself, “I’m kind of a big deal.” Because of the job you have, where you live in town, who your parents are, the people you know, the sort of vacations that you take, the places you’ve been to, the travel you can afford, the clubs you belong to. And all of those may be common grace blessings from the Lord. No need to be ashamed of them, but don’t think that they give you any advantage before the judgment seat of Christ. And our biggest temptation is that we think, I’ve been around spiritual things. Surely being around spiritual things – I live in Charlotte, after all – I’m around spiritual things. Surely that counts. That’s why verse 13 is so important. You cannot stand before Christ on the day of judgment and talk about what you have heard. It says you will be judged not by what you heard but by what you did. This is the first time, verse 13, in Romans we have the verb – the all-important verb – “to justify,” and we see what the word means in the context of verse 13. It refers to the judicial verdict of God to regard a person as righteous before him. A judicial verdict of God to regard a person as righteous in his sight. And the mere fact that you and I know some truth will not help if you have not obeyed the truth. How does that work if you get pulled over going 70 miles an hour in a 45? “Yes, officer. I have heard many times that the speed limit is 45. I am a very glad hearer of the law. In fact, I don’t want to brag, but I helped pass the legislation right here on this street to make this 45. In fact, I have given many important lectures on the significance of traffic laws and how they reduce fatalities. Oh, officer, I am quite familiar with the laws of our local ordinances and our state. So, I’ll be on my way.” Does that help very much to be a hearer, to stand before the judge and say, “Your honor, I know I’m accused of many heinous crimes, but I want you to know I have a law degree, and I practiced law for 15 years, and I can explain the statute in great detail, and I have read many scholarly articles on this particular aspect of the law.” Now, in those ridiculous circumstances, you would never think to say that, because you understand in making that argument you are making things not better, but worse. Oh, so you have heard? It’s not enough to be around spiritual things. Some of the Jews thought, “We’ve been around it. We have the law. We’ve been around all the sacrifices. We’ve been around this whole thing, and we have the food, and we have the holy days.” Paul is saying, “No, no, no. Hearing doesn’t count. You won’t get in by your nation, by your family, by your profession, by your connections, by your abilities, by your looks, by your reputation, or by being very familiar with the church and sermons and Bible studies and Christian books.”

As you and I stand before the judgment seat of God, he will not be looking by way of comparison. He does not judge you according to how hard you tried or how close you got or by tracing your family history or by whether the world considered you an important person or a community leader or whether you went through life with many friends and many accomplishments. The standard for all of us, without partiality, will be his perfect and holy law, written in creation, written on your hearts, and written most clearly in the Word of God. The law must be fulfilled. Only doers will be justified. That’s what God will be looking for – that one thing. Is this man or woman who stands before me – can I say that he or she was a doer of the law? He kept it continually. She obeyed it down to the letter of the law, from the heart, in every circumstance, day after day, year after year. Yes, this one is a doer. You may enter my heaven. I’m not feeling very confident to stand before God, hoping to be a doer. Maybe some of you grew up in the Mormon faith, maybe a Muslim, or maybe a Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, maybe a legalistic fundamentalist background – whatever species of religion that reinforced to you, you stand before God and he acquits good people. Well, you know what verse 13 says? You’re absolutely right. And you know what everything in Romans up to this point says? No chance. That’s what verse 12 and 13 – if you grew up without the law, you’re going to perish. If you grew up with the law, well, that means you’re only going to be judged by that law, because being a hearer doesn’t save. You have to be a doer, which means it is the cry of the penitent, faith-filled, born-again child of God, in thinking about that judgment seat, to cry out from our hearts, “Don’t look at me! Don’t look at me. Look away. Because if you expect to see a doer, you will not see a doer.” That’s the heart. That’s everything that Paul is driving for, that you and I would have our mouths shut. Say, if he’s looking for doers, who can stand? How can this judge, who must be just, the law must be fulfilled, and I’m not a doer? That’s the good news that’s coming, and it will come and come again and again. Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith” – faith, by faith, not doing, by faith – “we have peace.” All those other religious impulses, you won’t have peace. You won’t have peace. There’s a lot of religions that will claim that they’ll help you to live well. They won’t help you die well. This is what you want when you have to come to the end. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” To stand before God, and on that day everything in the heart of the Christian will want to cry out, “Look at him! Look at him. Look away, because you judge with complete fairness and partiality, so don’t look at me. Look at Christ.” And by clinging to Christ, there is hope, there is salvation, there is eternal life. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy Word. Would you convict us, lead us to Christ? We’re not doers. Not the doers that can be justified. We want to live a life of grateful obedience, but when it comes to the bar of your perfect justice, we know we cannot measure up. We thank you for the gift of your grace. We thank you for all of the advantages you’ve given us. And yet, help us not to rely on those – only to rely on Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Where is Christ Now?

Thu, 07 May 2026 11:52:52 GMT

Let me pray for us one more time.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for this day set aside for rest, worship, deeds of mercy and charity. And we thank you for your Word, and your Word has summarized in faithful documents from ages past. And now tune our hearts to sing your praise, and tune our minds to think carefully, that we may understand what it means that you are ascended, glorified, coming again, reigning king. Jesus, we pray. Amen.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed as we’ve been going through the Heidelberg Catechism – hopefully you recognize that we’re moving through, as the catechism does, line by line from the Apostles’ Creed – but perhaps you haven’t noticed, I’m going to point out about tonight, how many questions are given to each line in the creed. It’s almost always just one or two. So, for example, he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. There’s two questions there. Suffered, one; under Pontius Pilate, one; crucified, one question. Died, one; buried, one; and then there’s two wrap-up questions about what his death and sacrifice mean. Descended into hell, one. The resurrection last week, one. And when we move to Lord’s Day 19, his session, sits at the right hand of God, one; his exaltation, his glory, one; his coming again, one. Almost always one – each phrase of the creed, which is why it is so striking that Lord’s Day 18 – on that line, “he ascended into heaven,” we have four questions and answers, which tells us something from the beginning. Hmm. There must have been something going on that the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism felt it necessary to explain in some greater detail, because surely they don’t mean to communicate that the ascension is four times as important as the resurrection. But one question on the resurrection to talk about how it comforts us and helps us, and now four questions on the ascension, so already alerting us that there is something happening behind the scenes here, and that’s what we’re going to explain.

But I start with a simple question. I wonder how you would answer this question. It’s a question that you’ve maybe had a child or grandchild ask you before, and if they haven’t asked you, you’ve probably thought it. And one of the things that kids are good at is they don’t know better, and they don’t have the embarrassment that we have in asking a question that we think, well, doesn’t everybody already know this? And here’s the question: where is Jesus? How would you answer that? Someone says, “Where is Jesus?” Seems like it should be a pretty easy question to answer, until you stop and think about it. I did a little survey of my family. Didn’t really mean for it to be a sermon illustration, but here it is. And some of them said, “He is seated” (they said it correctly) – “He is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. He’s in heaven.” Someone else said, “He is everywhere.” And then one smart child, maybe slightly rolling his or her eyes, said, “I bet you’re going to tell us tonight that both of those answers are correct.” Yes, but there’s quite a long ways to go before we can land there.

Where is Jesus? Two texts from the Scriptures to begin with. Matthew chapter 28, the Great Commission. The 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them, and when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” And then here’s the important part for tonight, “And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.” There’s the answer. Jesus gives us the answer to the question, where is Jesus? He’s with us. He is with us always. However, our second text, Acts chapter 1, verse 6, “When they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’” So, he went from one place (earth) to another place (heaven), and the announcement is given that as you saw him visibly ascend there you will see him at the end come down from there, which means he’s there and not here.

So, where’s Jesus? He’s with you always. He’s in heaven, and he’s not on earth. How do we answer that question? It appears to be a simple question, and the simplest questions are often the most difficult to answer. Kids aren’t afraid to ask them, because they think in very concrete terms, and it’s hard to explain to kids new terms. They don’t usually want Latin terms. They should. They actually probably could learn Latin better than many of us. And they’re not afraid to ask the questions that we feel like we should know already. Perhaps this is one of those. And what we’ll find is the more we look into this apparently-simple question, the more complicated it’s going to get. If you ever have gone to untangle a knot, say in your extension cord or your garden hose – I like to get all the cords wrapped up and wrap it up on your arm and put it there (that’s a little dad secret trick, how to wrap up the ext[ension cord]) – and you go, and there’s a knot in it. And you go, and you think this is just one unloop, and then you realize that that knot somehow has an infinite number of knots it seems wrapped up within. And what you hoped was a 10-minute exercise turns into a frustrating 15-minute event. Well, some doctrinal points are like that, and as we work through these four questions from Lord’s Day 18, they’re going to take us from Theology 101 to 201 to 301, and then we’re going to come back down to earth – pun intended – come back down to earth and the last question and answer and have some application. That’s where the catechism is taking us.

So, let’s start and just get our brains warmed up, and we’ll look at question 46. What do you mean by saying he ascended to heaven? Here’s the answer: that Christ, while his disciples watched, was taken up from earth into heaven and remains there on our behalf until he comes again to judge the living and the dead. So, there it answers, very plainly, his ascension means that he has gone up – notice the phrase “while his disciples watched,” which is also emphasized in Acts chapter 1, because it’s telling us that the ascension was visible and local. This was not a spiritual metaphor of Christ being lifted up in your hearts. This was from one location to another location. They saw it with their own eyes. He went from here on earth to there in heaven. Now, where exactly is “there in heaven”? You can’t get a rocket ship and go there. We understand that. But in some mysterious spatial terms, this is Earth; looking up is heaven. We often don’t pay attention to the ascension. We focus on the incarnation, of course, death, resurrection, but not often much about the ascension. If anything, we think of the ascension as simply a mode of transportation. Jesus had to get from earth to heaven, and the way that he got from earth to heaven we call the ascension. The ascension is not the element of Christ’s work that we tend to meditate on when we’re having a difficult moment, or we’re there holding someone’s hand in the hospital room. We don’t tend to gravitate to the ascension for comfort, and yet, by the end, I hope you’ll see why this is such a rich doctrine. It’s more than just the mechanism by which Jesus went from earth to heaven.

Hughes Oliphant Old, who has written a number of great works on Reformed worship, explains in his book that Martin Bucer and John Calvin, though they greatly stripped down the church calendar from the medieval Catholic Church, which become populated with just almost endless saints’ days – they retain five evangelical feasts. He calls them Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, and Pentecost, and we do something similar. Five evangelical feasts. Not that they are prescribed according to Scripture, but I think it is wise and prudent that one would think about these things each year, and Ascension Day was one of them. Now, there are lots of things that we can say about the ascension, but these next two questions will focus on what the ascension teaches us about the person of Christ, and they will start to answer that question, where is Jesus? So, look at 47. Okay, so 46, these follow naturally on each other. It’s a logical progression. What do we mean by the ascension? We mean he’s not on earth. He’s in heaven. He stays in heaven until he comes back, which leads to 47: but isn’t Christ with us until the end of the world as he has promised us? It’s like question 46 is Acts 1; question 47 is Matthew 28. Here’s the answer: Christ is true man and true God. In his human nature, Christ is not now on earth, but in his divinity, majesty, grace, and spirit, he is never absent from us. So, he’s not now with us. This is surprisingly important in Jesus’ teaching. “Do not cling to me. I’ve yet to ascend to the Father” (John 20:17). “You will not always have me with you” (Matthew 26:11). John 16, several places he explains he was going to the Father. He often told his disciples that I am going away. I’m going to a different place. So how, then, is he with us until the end of the world? Question 47 gives us that answer. But you need to know, in order to understand what the catechism is teaching, to know what’s behind this question and why there’s so much about the ascension. And this is where if you have your bulletin and you’re looking at the catechism, I gave you some nice terms. Somebody said, “Am I going to have to look these up in my phone?” No, I’m going to explain them to you. Put your phone away.

So, here’s the first one. There’s a debate behind this about the ubiquity of Christ’s body. It’s a good word. It’s a theological word, but even more than that, you can use it. If something is ubiquitous, it’s everywhere. Like Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart during the Olympics. Ubiquitous. Just everywhere. The ubiquity of Christ body is the issue. We’re used to – most of these Reformed confessions are trying to draw some distinctions with Roman Catholics. Here’s one point where the argument on the other side is with the Lutherans. To remind you of some of the history of the catechism, there were a number of different groups and the elector in this region of the Holy Roman Empire is trying to bring them together, so it’s an irenic, it’s a peaceful catechism. It’s not trying to throw a lot of punches, but there were some Lutherans, and they are called by historians now Gnesio Lutherans. G N E S I O. It’s a confusing term. It just means genuine Lutherans, because there were some Lutherans who were followers of Philip Melanchthon, who was the theologian – Luther’s, one of his right-hand men. Philip Melanchthon and Calvin were friends, and they were much closer on some things. So, there were those kinds of Lutherans, and then there were these others – the genuine, the more Lutheran of the Lutherans – and they insisted on something called the ubiquity of Christ’s body. That means that even after his ascension, Christ in his humanity, his human nature and therefore his body, is omnipresent and immense – that the human nature of Christ possesses these attributes of omnipresence (so, the body of Christ is everywhere) and immensity (that is, that the human nature fills everything in every way). Lutherans believe that the true body and blood of Christ are present in the table. You say, “Well, why is this issue about the ubiquity of Christ’s body? Why did anybody ever think to argue about this?” Well, it comes from a debate about the Lord’s Supper. You may know that Catholics teach transubstantiation, which is not an ancient doctrine. It’s only codified in the Middle Ages. But transubstantiation, that the bread and the wine are transubstantiated – they become something different in their substance. Now, in their substance, the physical body and blood of Christ. Well, that’s not exactly what Luther taught. Lutheran theology does not believe that the substance of the bread and wine is being transformed, but neither do they like the Reformed view of remembrance, or as I explained this morning, the real presence of Christ, a real spiritual presence, as we are joined together with the Holy Spirit, lifted into the heavenly places. Lutheran theology says no, Christ is in with and under the sacraments. By the fact that the body of Christ is everywhere, the body of Christ is especially present in the sacrament. That’s Lutheran theology. So, they don’t rely on transubstantiation, so there is a difference between the Catholic view, but it’s different than the Reformed view. The ubiquity of Christ’s body allows Lutheran theology to say Christ’s body is there in the sacrament, because Christ’s body is ubiquitous. He is present with his body and blood in the bread and the wine. So, from a Lutheran perspective, they would see Catholics as teaching, well, what’s there? The body and blood alone. And the Reformed teaching, well, it’s just bread and wine alone. Or they would say, we teach that they’re both there. There is bread and wine, and the body of Christ is ubiquitous. I would say I don’t think that’s a fair representation of the Reformed position, because we believe in a real presence by the Spirit, but it’s true – not a real bodily presence. So, the Lutherans have this idea that the body of Christ can be everywhere and is ubiquitous. Therefore, the body of Christ – you feast upon him. And if you were to ask, well how exactly does that work? They would be very happy to say, “We don’t know exactly how it works, and Reformed theologians are too concerned with reason and rationality and explaining things.” And I’ll come to that at the end, because this finer point of doctrine does actually set some traditions in some different directions.

So, before we try to explain why the catechism thinks the ubiquity of Christ’s body is not the right position, let’s remember what an orthodox doctrine of the two natures teaches, to put this in very simple terms. You say, “Too late” to try to put it into simple terms. You can think about four different errors, and roughly each of the first four ecumenical councils are dealing with these Christological errors. So, you have Arianism, which denies the full deity of Christ, and then you have, we’ll call it, Docetism, although there’s no one named Docet. It means “to appear.” It’s associated with someone named Apollinaris, and this view says that Christ only appeared to be human. So the first, Arianism, is a denial of his total divinity. The second, a denial of his full humanity. You say, well, what other errors could there be? Well, a third one, and here you can see the term on your sheet: Nestorianism. There was a man named Nestorius, and now scholars aren’t so sure if he actually taught this, but this is the teaching attributed to him and then condemned at the third ecumenical council. Nestorius was concerned that some people were calling Mary the theotokos – that is, the bearer of God. And you can imagine right away, you might be concerned, as Nestorius was, that he thought it’s a pretty short step to say Mary, the bearer of God, to say Mary, the mother of God, to say Mary, somehow another mediator or somehow in the same pantheon with God. Mary, the divine mother of God. He was concerned about that, and yet in his concern he overshot his critique. He objected to this title that Mary was the bearer of God. The way he reasoned it was, well, she can’t give birth to God, because God can’t be born, so Mary must have given birth to Jesus, and along with Jesus in his humanity was the divine nature. So, his solution was to argue for something like a dividing wall between the two natures, so that Jesus is born a man. She brought forth a man who is accompanied by the logos, by the divine Word. The two natures of Christ are there – so he doesn’t deny the deity or the humanity of Christ, but in Nestorius’s view, there’s not a union of the two natures. It’s more like a partnership, an alignment. Well, the problem is once you have a mere alignment, you no longer have truly a God-man. You have Jesus Christ, a man, who has God with him. So, God is in Christ, and if God is merely in Christ, then he might be in Christ in the same way that he’s in us, only a matter of degree. So, Nestorianism ends up making too little of Christ and too much of us. His problem was not with the two natures – divine, human – but with the one person. So, as the church wrestles with these things, they condemn Nestorianism at the third ecumenical council and they say, “No, there is one person – two natures, one person, fully divine, fully human, no dividing wall. It’s not simply a moral union. It’s not simply a partnership or a sympathy, but it is a real union of two natures and one person.”

Well, as so often happens, once you have that error sort of cleaned up, another error emerges. This is the next term, Eutychianism. So, Arianism, not fully God. Docetism, not fully human. Nestorianism, there’s a dividing wall. You say, “What’s left?” Eutychianism blurs and confuses those two natures. This is what often happens with heresy. This man named Eutyches, not the one who fell out of the window in the Bible, thinks to himself, “Nestorian bad. We don’t want that. We don’t want some kind of separation or dividing wall between his humanity and divinity.” So, instead of a division, which was the problem of Nestorianism, Eutychianism ends up teaching a confusion, a mixture. So now there’s only one nature in Christ. The union is such that his divinity and his humanity are mixed up, sort of like you have blue and yellow make green. You have colors coming together, and you end up with a tertium quid. That’s Latin for “a third thing.” You end up with something else. Christ’s humanity so united to his divinity that his humanity is no longer the same as our humanity. That was the problem with Eutychianism. You have the absorption of the human into the divine. So, you can think of Nestorianism removes the unity – this bridge. If you think of, you know, you’re familiar with the bridge diagram with salvation – well, you can think of a bridge diagram with the two natures, divinity and humanity. You have Arianism that the bridge doesn’t go all the way over to the God side. Docetism, it doesn’t go all the way over to the humanity side. Nestorianism is sort of a gap in the middle. They don’t quite meet. And Eutychianism is like they don’t quite touch either side.

The four errors are dealt with in four ecumenical councils, culminating in the Chalcedonian definition in 451. So just listen to this. I know it’s dense to listen to it. It’s dense enough to read it, but just listen to it, because this is the conclusion after all of this important theological wrangling. It describes Christ as one substance with the Father, as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us, as regards his manhood. There’s that term you may have heard before, homoousia – in both directions – one substance with the Father and one substance with us. Two natures. Like us in all respects, apart from sin, as regards his Godhead. Begotten of the Father before the ages, but as yet regards his manhood, begotten for us men and for our salvation. Of Mary, the virgin, the God-bearer. So, Chalcedon comes and affirms the theotokos. One and same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, recognized in two natures, and then listen to these four terms. This is critical: two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation. The distinction of the natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same, Son and only begotten, God, the Word, Lord Jesus Christ. That was the hard-fought conclusion in the early church. And none of these Reformers want to deny any of that. They’re working within those parameters, but they understand some things in some different ways and see different dangers on each side. So, the Lutherans would see that the Calvinist view, they think, is too much Nestorian. I don’t think it is. It’s not a surprise. And the Reformed view would see some dangers of Eutychianism in the Lutheran view.

So, let’s try to understand where this is going. We’ve had question 47. Behind this question is about the ubiquity of Christ’s body, which is why the answer says Christ is true man and true God in his human nature. So, this is saying we disagree with the Lutheran doctrine of ubiquity. In his human nature, he is not now on earth, but his divinity, majesty, grace, and spirit, he is never absent from us. Now, if you’re just reading through that, you think, okay, yeah, that’s good. Human nature not here. Divine nature is here. But then, with all that we just heard from Chalcedon, you might think, now wait a minute, how is that not the error of Nestorianism? How is that not separating the two natures? Did the Heidelberg Catechism answer the problem of the Lutheran ubiquity by saying, well, of course he’s not here in his human nature, but in his divine nature. Is that the way to answer the question? Matthew 28, “I’m with you to the end of the age”; Acts 1, “I’m not here; I’m going up to heaven.” We just say, well, divine nature here, human nature not here. Sounds like that’s what the catechism is saying, and how can they say that without pulling apart the two natures? Glad you asked.

Question 48. If his humanity is not present wherever his divinity is, then aren’t the two natures of Christ separated from each other? That was the objection that the Lutherans were making. Your theology is Nestorian. The two natures – aren’t they separated if your answer to the question is to say his human nature is in heaven, and his divine nature is everywhere? So, in order to answer this question and understand what’s behind this, to give you another term – you can see we only have two terms left – the communication of properties. What is a property? A property is what is proper to a nature. The Latin is “communication of idioms,” but that sounds like they’re going to be puns or jokes or something. So, properties or attributes. What is proper to the human nature and to the divine nature? Because what is proper to the nature is proper to the person, but not necessarily proper across the natures, which is why we can sing a song that says, “God died for us,” which is not the same as saying the divine nature died. God, because the logos is the Son of God, divine Word, and so we’re right to call Jesus Christ God, and therefore we can say God died for us. So, that is what is proper to the divine nature being predicated of the one person. God died for us. But that doesn’t mean that the divine nature died, just like you can say Jesus took a nap in the boat. You would not say that the divine nature got sleepy or took a nap. One is a property of the human nature. Another is the property of the divine nature. But Lutherans and Reformed have a different way of understanding this communication of properties – what is proper to the divine nature and to the human nature – because right away you should be thinking, well ubiquity. Ubiquity is not proper to a human nature. You are not ubiquitous. Not even your mom is ubiquitous. You cannot be in more than one place, physically, at one time. Omnipresence and immensity is a property of divinity, not humanity. So, how do the Lutherans explain that then the human nature and the body of Christ can be ubiquitous? Well, they teach something called the magestic genus. Sounds like the best Trivial Pursuit edition. I don’t know what genus they’re on – “genus” here meaning “class” or type or category. So, they argue for this majesty of genus. What that means is they argue that when the human nature is joined to the divine nature, the human nature is made so majestic that some of the properties essential to the divine nature now become properties of the human nature. I’ll quote one leading Lutheran theologian from the 19th century. He said, “Though the human nature in the person of Christ remains truly human, yet all the divine properties and perfections and the honor and the glory thereto pertaining are truly communicated to his human nature, so that perfections which the divine nature has as essential, the human nature has as communicated attributes” – and here’s the key – “such as omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence.” So, this Lutheran theologian argues that when joined together, now the human nature possesses these attributes of omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence. Therefore, it has been given a majestic classification unlike any other human body. Now Christ’s body can be ubiquitous. Reformed theologians argued, by contrast, that the communication of properties cannot work like that – that for one thing to be proper to one means it is proper to that nature and cannot automatically be made proper of the other nature, that there are no essential properties of divinity that can be communicated to the divine [edit: human] nature. So, for example, the divine nature is uncreated. That is an essential part of being divine. The divine nature is uncreated. You can’t make the human nature uncreated. And if they share them, then they’re no longer a property, and you cannot communicate some and not the others. And they argued, Reformed theologians, that if the communication goes in one direction, why does it not go in the other direction, so that then the divine nature is taking upon itself the properties of flesh? And we end up with the errors of Eutychianism, where neither nature really retains its whole and distinct properties. Is it truly a human nature if it is immense and can be everywhere? Instead, all the properties of each nature remain distinct. Think about after Jesus’ resurrection – they go to the tomb, and the angel says what? He is not here. He’s physically not in this location. So, according to his human nature, Christ did not know everything, because the human nature does not possess omniscience. Christ suffered in his human nature, because the human nature is passible – is able to suffer – where God as God cannot suffer. So, we can say, then, that Christ is in heaven according to his divine nature, which fills all in all, and according to his human nature, he is here on earth. And you say, “Well, that helps ever so slightly.”

But notice what question 48 says: divinity is not limited and is present everywhere. It is evident that Christ’s divinity – here’s the key language – is surely beyond the bounds of the humanity that he has taken on, but at the same time his divinity is in and remains personally united to his humanity. So, question 48 is trying to answer that Nestorian objection. If his humanity is not present where his divinity is, then aren’t the two natures separated from each other? And the catechism says no, because they’re not separated, but the divinity is not limited to the human nature. Now this is a category that you perhaps have not thought of before, but it is the teaching throughout the history of the church. This language there in the middle of 48 – his divinity is surely beyond the bounds – in the Latin version of the catechism, it’s the word extra. Extra meaning “outside” or beyond the bounds of his humanity. This is what Calvin taught. Listen to this: “In this way, he was also the Son of Man in heaven, for the very same Christ, who according to the flesh dwelt as Son of Man on earth, was God in heaven. In this manner, he is said to have descended to that place according to his divinity, not because divinity left heaven to hide itself in the prison house of the body, but because even though it filled all things, still, in Christ’s very humanity, it dwelt bodily.” That it is, by nature, and in a certain way ineffable. Yeah, it is a little bit ineffable.

Here’s the point. You may remember a couple of years ago I referenced this when it comes to Christmas. Should we sing that hymn about “thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown when thou camest to earth for me”? And I had little palpitations, but I looked in the Trinity Hymnal, and they changed it. Whew. They knew something about their theology. Yes, Christ came down. That is language common throughout the New Testament, but we ought not to say he left. If you say that, then you’re saying, well, how is the whole universe being held together? How can the divine logos leave one place and come to another? So, the answer that the catechism gives is that the divinity exists beyond – it is not fully circumscribed within the humanity. So, this is a way of saying yes, the union is real. There is not a dividing wall. They are not existing in separate orbits, and yet the divinity has a life, you might say, that is outside or extra or beyond. Lutherans gave this a name, because they didn’t like it. They called it the Extra Calvinisticum. They say this is just that doctrine that John Calvin taught. Well, other theologians recently have argued that it ought to be called the extracatholicum – that is, a Catholic doctrine. That is, the universal church has taught this, and scholars have shown that this doctrine was taught by Origen, Augustine, Cyril, Athanasius, Thomas Aquinas, John of Damascus, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter Lombard. For most of church history, it was an essential part of explaining how these two natures come together, how the logos takes on a human nature, and yet the divinity does not – God is not divested of divine attributes. To put it like this, in the incarnation, the Son of God did not cease to be what he had always been. He became what he was not, a man, without ceasing to be what he was. He continued to sustain the universe, to exercise his divine attributes with the Father and the Spirit. When Mary conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit, the divine nature did not undergo any essential change. And in fact, it’s better to say the Son became incarnate than to say the divine nature took on human flesh, because it wasn’t as if there was a divine nature in some heavenly closet that God took out, and then he got a human nature and put them together. It was the Son of God took on a human nature in coming to earth.

So, the Son of God came down – we can use that language – but he did not leave heaven. This debate here with the Lutheran, as I alluded to, has led to some different conceptions of faith and reason, where Lutheran theology is more apt to say there’s a mystery there, and yep, a human body that is ubiquitous seems like a contradiction, but there are contradictions. Reformed theologians have said we ought to see the alignment of faith and reason. There are certainly mysteries. This is one of those mysteries we cannot fully explain, but there’s a difference between something that’s suprarational and something that’s irrational. And the Bible doesn’t ask us to believe things that are contradictions – things beyond our full explanation, for sure, but not in themselves contradictions, and a human body that can be everywhere is not any longer a human body. It is a contradiction in terms. So, the answer to the question “where is Jesus?” – he is in heaven, and he is with you, because in his human nature he has ascended, and that body is in one place in heaven, and by his divinity, which exists beyond the bounds of his humanity, he can be with us always, to the end of the age.

Let us finish, then – whew, glad there’s not a 401 – with answer 49, which brings this to a point of comfort. How does this benefit us? In three ways. First, Christ’s ascension benefits us because we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus in his sacrifice was once for all. The work of his sacrifice is complete, but don’t think that his priestly work is complete, because as a priest – and we sang this in our hymns already – he continues to intercede for us. He continues to plead for us. He continues to bear his wounds for our sakes. So, his priestly work continues, that we have an advocate with the Father. Where is Jesus Christ, the righteous? He is at the Father’s right hand, and he pleads for us. That’s a great comfort.

Second, the ascension benefits us, because it means that we now have our own flesh in heaven. The incarnation is perpetual. Jesus, at the right hand of God, is still a man – glorified body, but a body, a real human body like you and I have. And this is a guarantee that we will be there, too – that our heavenly bodies will one day be resurrected, that eternal life is not as disembodied souls, but as resurrected, material human bodies in God’s presence forever. Christ’s body is the first one there, but not the last.

And third, Christ’s ascension benefits us, because it means we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus explained to his disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” This is not like getting the understudy. I think I had that years ago when I was visiting Trisha in England. We went to see Les Mis, and they announced that it was, I think, it was the understudy for Fantine, and you went wa wa wa. Turns out that the understudy in London is still pretty good. So, the Holy Spirit is not “I wish we had Jesus, but we get the Spirit, the understudy of Christ.” No, we have Christ himself. The Spirit is another helper, another paraclete, as Christ is a paraclete. And so, the Spirit is told to be the Spirit of Christ. And it means that when we are joined to Christ, we, too, are seated in the heavenly places. This is one of the benefits of understanding that Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father. When we are joined by the Spirit to Christ, we are genuinely not citizens, ultimately, of this world. You have an address which is somewhere else with Jesus, and that will be in the next age when heaven comes to earth, but already now, joined to Christ, we dwell with him in glory above. So, if you ask Jesus into your heart, to use a non-biblical phrase that we can interpret in a biblical way, you are not just asking a good comforter, a good therapist, a good friend into your heart. You are desiring to be one with the very king of the universe, who sits on the throne in heaven. Christ in you – here’s the seeming paradox – Christ in you is such good news, because Christ is not here, and everything that I just said. He’s in heaven. So, “Christ in you” means you are lifted into the heavenly places with Christ. When we gaze into heaven, we know that there is a man there who is Lord of all. It’s a wonder of the ascension, the perpetuity of the two natures in the one person. Sometimes we can just sort of – we don’t really contemplate it and just think, well, yeah, he needed to be man so he could save us and do all of that, and now he sort of takes off that, and he’s back to being God as he always was. The incarnation continues. There is a literal man on the throne. God has granted all rule and power and authority and dominion to one who has the same nature as you and I have. That’s staggering. You’ve heard me make this point, perhaps, before. I’ve wondered if there’s some resonance here with Tolkien in Lord of the Rings, emphasizing that there would be a man to sit on Gondor’s throne, when Elrond says, “The race of men is weak; there’s no hope in men once more.” Well, Jesus Christ, the God-man, is exercising dominion. That king to sit on Gondor’s throne, to have dominion and exercise, which was his from the very beginning, and being qualified through suffering, then all authority and in heaven on earth granted unto him. So, because of Christ’s ascension, we know that the incarnation continues. Christ’s humanity lives on in heaven. The Spirit lives in our hearts, and a fleshy, divine human being rules the universe. That’s good news. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for the many who have come before to help us think with carefulness and precision and categories. And may it be an exercise not in inflating us, let alone confusing us, but to expand us and give us new thoughts and new categories and new ways of marveling at all that you have done for us in Jesus, our once and coming king. We give thanks in his name. Amen.

To Each One According to His Works

Thu, 07 May 2026 09:22:51 GMT

Let’s pray once more.

Gracious heavenly Father, help us now as we come to your Word. Most of us have heard sermons before. Some of us have heard a lot of sermons before, but we pray that by your Spirit, you would come and preach this message, whether familiar theme or new insights, would come and preach it to us with fresh vigor and energy and conviction. May I decrease, may Christ increase, and may you work so mightily in our midst, in our hearts, that, seeing our sin, we would come to Jesus, that great friend of sinners. We ask in his name. Amen.

Our text this morning is from Romans as we work our way slowly but steadily through this greatest letter ever written, and this morning, look at verses 6 through 10 of Romans chapter 2. We’ll save little verse 11 for next week. Romans chapter 2, beginning at verse 6.

“He will render to each one according to his works. To those who, by patience in welldoing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil – the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good – the Jew first and also the Greek.”

The imagery here in this paragraph, and it began in chapter 2, is obviously the imagery of the courtroom. We actually have a fairly good picture of what a typical Roman judicial proceeding might look like, because there are lots of them with both the Jews and before the Romans in the New Testament. One of the things that we can fail to realize is though they had Roman soldiers, they didn’t have a police force, per se. They didn’t have the police come and knock on your door or be able to stop you in your chariot and then arrest you and bring you before the judge. It was the responsibility – and I’m glad it’s not this way any longer – it was the responsibility of the plaintiff, the one who wanted to press charges, to apprehend the defendant and bring him before the tribunal. This makes sense of why they had to come to Jesus, and there was a sign from Judas, and at night or early in the morning when he was betrayed, he came with a band of soldiers, and they arrested him, and they brought him before the Sanhedrin. Or you think of in Acts 6 and 7, Stephen is seized and brought before the council. Or in Acts 21, Paul is in the temple, and he’s arrested, and he’s brought before the council. Then he goes up the ladder of various Roman officials.

It was a rather simple procedure. You would come before whatever the magistrate was. For the Jews, there was the Sanhedrin, the council, and for the Romans, it might start with a local official or a governor, and you could appeal, if you were a citizen like Paul, all the way up to Caesar himself. So, there wasn’t a judge per se, someone with a black robe and sitting behind a bench, but there was the governor, and he was there to give a verdict. And as the defendant was brought in – very simple proceedings – there would be those who would lay their case against the man or the woman, the people. So, in Acts chapter 24, for example, while Paul is giving his case before Felix, the governor, and he’s there at one of the royal palaces in Caesaria, there are these men who have come all the way from Jerusalem to press their case against Paul, and there’s one, a spokesman – we can think of him as the lawyer; Tertullus is his name given in Acts – who is laying the case against Paul, and then Paul is able to give his defense. That was likely the only way you had. The Romans tried to have a fair trial, but you were there to give your defense, which is why it was so striking when Jesus is brought before his accusers and his trial, and he dares not open his mouth. He was a dead man.

So, this is a scene that would have been familiar to Paul’s readers, whether they had been in a courtroom or not. So, we have the imagery of a courtroom. Now this is important because it’s so dominant for much of Romans, and because sometimes you have Christians of other kinds of traditions who say, “Well you’re doing too much to have this courtroom imagery,” or “Your idea of salvation is too forensic (that is, legal) in nature, and this is just something that the reformers imposed upon it.” Or maybe this is the result of being too western or too influenced by Roman laws. No, this is Paul’s fault. This is why it’s here. Paul describes, as he brings forward his case against Jews and Gentiles, he depicts a scene that is legal in nature, a courtroom. And beginning in chapter 2, we see the first problem is that this man who is there in the courtroom thinks he’s the judge. That’s the first problem. When he has accusations against him, but he thinks he’s the judge. The second problem is that he condemns other people for doing the very same things that he does. So, there’s no excuse for him, this imaginary conversation partner, this individual Jew that Paul has in mind as he is presenting his case, his indictment against all humanity.

So, God, we see, is the judge. This man who fancied himself the judge is going to face God’s judgment. Why? Paul is marshalling this case against him. One, because he knows what is wrong. Two, he does what is wrong. Three, he refuses to repent. And four, his heart is hardened. So, the scene that Paul is laying out before us, and it will be the dominant image here, heading through this chapter and into the next chapters, is of a judge and a guilty defendant and a judgment to come. So, having laid out this scene now, in this paragraph, Paul wants to zero in on the nature of this judgment, and he gives a one-sentence summary. Look at it there in verse 6: “God will render to each one according to his works.” We find the exact same language in Psalm 62:12. You could translate the verb here, which the ESV has as “render” – it’s a good translation – you could also translate it as “repay.” How does God, the righteous judge, as each one – notice this is an individual judgment. We’ll say more about that next week. You do not get to come in with your whole church. You do not get to come in with your family and your grandma to make a case for you. Each one will stand before God’s judgment. And how does God, the righteous judge, make his judgment? Verse 6 tells us he repays everyone according to his works. Now, immediately you ought to have a lot of questions in your mind. Well, didn’t we already see in chapter 1:17, this righteousness of God is Christ’s righteousness that will be credited to us? And aren’t we coming, in chapter 3 and 4, to all of this glorious justification celebration? Yes, we are.

So, what does Paul mean here? Surely Paul is not contradicting what he’s going to say in the rest of the book. You don’t need to go to seminary to have this very foundational, interpretive principle. The authors of the Bible were not dumb. Just start there. They weren’t dumb. They didn’t say one thing here, and then a few paragraphs later, they say the opposite. So, what does Paul mean when he says God will repay each one according to his works? This puts us at a major interpretive fork in the road. Yogi Berra said, “When you see a fork in the road, take it.” Well, which way do we go? There are two very different ways to understand this paragraph, verses 6-10. Now, here’s the good news. The difference in these interpretations – there’s two good interpretations I’m going to lay out – the difference will not alter your overall theology. So, this is not where you end up for the rest of your life in all of your theology. This is not that kind of watershed moment for your whole systematic theology, but it is a very key difference in how to understand this particular paragraph, and it does have, to a lesser extent, some bearing on how we make sense of the rest of what Paul is doing in chapter 1, verse 18 through chapter 3, verse 20. So, this is the first time – we are 11 sermons into Romans, and certainly there’s lots of disagreements all along the way – but this is the first time where the commentaries (and I mean the good commentaries – I don’t have time to read a bunch of bad commentaries. I check those once in a while to just see if I need an illustration of something to say) – but normally when I preach through a series, you know, I find that the commentaries all start saying a lot of the same things, and you find the four to five that are the best ones, and those are your conversation partners each week. But here, with Romans, trying to be more comprehensive and since going somewhat slowly, I’ve been looking at about 15 to 20 commentaries each week, and the interpretive division is just about 50/50. And these are good, evangelical, mostly Reformed commentaries. And the position that I’m going to argue for – just spoiler alert, it’s going to be the second one; that usually happens when the pastor lays out the arguments, although once in a while, you got to pay attention, I might put it first or in the middle, but it’s going to be number two – is the slight minority opinion. However, it’s more represented among the older commentaries, which does count for something in my book.

So, what are these two views, this fork in the road in how to understand this paragraph? Here’s view number one. Judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace. So, one way to understand verses 6-10 is to see that Paul is talking about a judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace. Now, what does that mean? What it means, by the many good people who adhere to this interpretation, is that our works, on the day of judgment, will be a confirmation – listen carefully to these words – a confirmation of God’s grace. They will be spiritual fruit, not the gospel root, but the spiritual fruit, that our works on the day of judgment will be the public evidence of a private faith. Justified by faith alone, but this is a public acquittal, and so, what evidence will there be for the private faith, for the belief that you have in your heart? There must be something publicly to display, that grace has flown in you, because we can see grace flowing out of you. It is a judgment according to works. Now, look at that language there in verse 6, because this is very important. This interpretation, which I’m saying is – there’s good reasons for this interpretation; many fine exegetes who conclude it – but I want you to pay attention to the language “according to his works,” because there are some – and I’m saying this is a bad interpretation, sort of a variation on view one. That’s bad. So, if you want to say view three or something, but just so you understand, “according to” language is important. Let me just say, as an aside, I hope that we, of all people – I don’t care if the rest of the world doesn’t care about prepositions, we care about prepositions. We care about words. You can’t be a good theologian. You can’t be a well-taught Christian if you don’t care about some precision, some categories, some prepositions, and some words. So, there’s a difference between saying there is a final judgment according to works, and there is a final judgment based on works. “According to” means in line with, in conformity with, attested by. There’s a judgment according to works, where your works attest the faith that you profess. That’s different language than to say there is a judgment on the basis of works. “On the basis” would mean founded upon, established by, rooted in, some way determined by your works.

There is a well-known New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright (his initials aren’t New Testament, but that’s convenient) – N.T. Wright, who is well known, at least as you go to seminary or perhaps read some of these things, for being part of the forefront of something that came to be called the new perspective on Paul. It was really at its high point about 20 years ago when I was in seminary, so now it’s the not quite as new perspective on Paul, and I would say it’s still not as good as the old perspective on Paul. But N.T. Wright uses that language interchangeably at times – “in accordance with” and “on the basis of” – and it’s a problem. For example, N.T. Wright says in one book, “Paul has spoken in Romans 2 about the final justification of God’s people on the basis” – hear the language? – “on the basis of their whole life.” He says in another book that there is a present justification and a future justification, and he says about Romans 2:1-16 that this is about the future justification, which “will be on the basis of the entire life a person has led in the power of the Spirit” – that is, it occurs on the basis of works in Paul’s redefined sense. Now, this is a very smart man – you say, “How can he say that it’s on the basis of works, because Paul’s going to say that works don’t save?” Well, that’s why he says “in a redefined sense,” because N.T. Wright and that school of thought say, “Well, it’s not the Jewish kind of works. It’s a different kind of works.” But notice the language he says there – on the basis of the whole life lived. So, when our seminary students go before the presbytery to get examined – they take this very seriously; they study long – they usually get some sort of question about what do you think about the new perspective on Paul? There’s a related theology that came through called “federal vision,” and we train them really well. The first thing you say is, “I don’t like it.” Once you say that, then you can explain why (presuming you don’t – you got to be honest, of course). But whether you’ve heard of any of this or not is quite immaterial. Simply to say that there is a different way of viewing this judgment according to works, which is a judgment on the basis of works, that you would stand before – it would be your whole life. Now, it’s not quite, you know, meriting and earning, so they want to put some finer points on it, but that’s not what I mean by this first view.

This first view is a judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace – that Paul, in this view, is talking about what the repentant life looks like. He talks about repentance in verse 4. He’s not saying that your works are going to be the basis of some future justification, but rather evidence making clear to the world that you were, in fact, given new life in Christ. So, important words to have in your head with this view are things like evidence, corroboration, confirmation, and the best reason to think Paul might be saying this here is because this is a doctrine taught several places in the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” It’s the principle from Galatians 6: we will reap what we sow. Romans 14, in this very same letter, he will say, “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God so that each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Our works will be exposed. There will be a day when we will see whether we have built on a firm foundation or, if saved only by the fire, our works appear to be hay, wood and stubble. Jesus often talks about two trees or two ways or two houses, that on the final day your fruit, your path, your foundation will be revealed. Revelation 20: “I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And the books were opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” So that passage there is a helpful way to think of it. There’s a book of life, chosen by God from the foundation of the world. Your name is written in that book of life, and you who are chosen profess faith in life in a moment in time and embrace Christ. So, there’s a book of life. You can’t be erased from that. And then on the day of judgment, Revelation 20 says there’s books. Okay, your name is in the book of life. Now what evidence do we have to corroborate that this wasn’t a mistake? Let’s get down the books.

So, this idea of some judgment according to works, that our deeds will be open for all to see as a confirming piece of evidence, is taught in the Bible, and it’s taught in our confessions. Westminster Confession of Faith 33:1 says, “God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world,” and it says, “all persons will appear before Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds and to receive according” – hear that word, according – “to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.” You can think of it like this. If somebody said, “Are good works necessary for salvation?” This is where you need to have careful language. Good works are necessary, but they are not necessary unto justification. They are necessary as a consequence of justification. Not unto justification – “show me your works, that you’ll be justified” – but rather, show me your works that you are justified. Or to give you just some more categories, you can think of a justification that is declarative and then a judgment according to works that is demonstrative. It demonstrates this declaration has taken place. So, to summarize this first view, which many fine preachers and scholars hold, Paul, then, would be teaching in this paragraph what he teaches in other places, that if you, transformed by the gospel, seek for glory and honor and immortality, you will be given eternal life, but if you show on the day of judgment that you have not really been transformed by the gospel, you do not obey the truth, you do not live a life marked by righteousness, you will then receive from God wrath and fury. This judgment according to works, as I’ve tried to carefully circumscribe it, is a biblical idea. The question is whether it is taught in this paragraph, and I want to argue that it is not taught in this paragraph. So, view number one, judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace.

Here’s view number two: that this paragraph, verses 6-10, is about a judgment according to works that no one can pass. You can helpfully think of this as the Gandalf interpretation. You shall not pass. There is a standard that Paul lays out, and he means to lay it out to bring his readers to the conclusion that this test none can pass (later, chapter 5, we’ll talk about a man who did, a God-man, in his obedience). But insofar as he’s thinking of the totality of the human race, fallen and under sin, none can pass. So, what Paul means to do in this paragraph is articulate the standard by which God judges every human being, so that he might convict his hearers that they will not meet the standards. In other words, on this second view – and I’ll give you my reasons for it in just a moment – on this view, this paragraph is an indictment, not an exhortation. It is about judgment, not salvation. It is a paragraph about law, not gospel. So, what are the reasons for it? Let me quickly give you three reasons.

First, look at what comes right before this paragraph. I’ve already summarized it for you. It’s this man who has no excuse, who is presuming upon the patience and forbearance of God, and verse 5, he has a hard and impenitent heart. He is storing up wrath for himself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. So, what comes right before this is a picture of someone who is hard and impenitent and has wrath coming. And so, it stands to reason that Paul is continuing with that argument to say, “And you want to know why wrath is coming upon this person? It’s because God, his standard of judgment is to repay everyone according to their deeds.” So that’s the first reason. What comes right before it? Here’s the second reason. What comes right after it? Look at verse 13: “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” Now, that we know there’s a sense in James that uses similar language – they’re being doers of the word, not hearers only. But I don’t think verse 13 is about the life of the regenerate Christian who’s now obeying God. This is the first time in the epistle that we have the language of justification. Now, we’ve had the related terms translated “righteous” or “righteousness,” but 2:13 is the first time we have this all-important term “justified.” So it would be strange and confusing for Paul, here in verse 13, to be making the argument knowing what’s to come that doers of the law are justified and then having to qualify that in some sense of what he means, about “well, this kind of works and this kind of law and this kind of justification” as merely the demonstration of the declaration at the end. It would be a complete change of course for Paul to suddenly argue here in verse 13 that anyone can be justified by anything that they do. That’s coming in verse 13, the first use of “justified.” I think he means there the same thing he means in this paragraph, that 6-10 (especially 7-10) is explaining verse 13. What does it mean to be a doer of the law? It looks like 7-10. And now you tell me how you are going to succeed in being a doer of the law.

And then the third reason for this interpretation, to see this as an indictment, is because of the larger context. So, what comes right before it, what comes right after it and then the larger context. If you turn back to chapter 1, verses 16-17 are the big theme for the entire book. The gospel, the power of God, the righteousness of God, righteous shall live by faith. There is the answer. And now in verses 18 all the way through chapter 3:20, Paul is laying out the problem for which verses 16 and 17 are the solution. So, the context here – think about where we’ve been and where we’re going. What have we been talking about? We’ve been talking about the revelation of God’s wrath. There’s been a repetition of the phrase “without excuse.” He convicted the Gentiles in chapter 1. Now he turns to convict the Jews in chapter 2, leading to the conclusion in chapter 3:10 that no one is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks after God, to bring us to verse 20, that the whole world – or verse 19 – that the whole world will be held accountable, and their mouths will be shut for (3:21) by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. That’s the mighty conclusion of this section 1:18 through 3:20. So, in my mind it makes the most sense to think that this paragraph is another plank here in this foundational case he’s making about the total sinfulness of the entire human race.

Here’s how one commentator puts it. This is from Robert Haldane. May not have heard of him before. He’s a Scottish theologian. He preached in Geneva 1816 to 1819, and he saw many conversions there as he simply lectured through the book of Romans, and then later it was published as a commentary. He says this, “Four: In whatever way these expressions” – he’s talking about this paragraph – “in whatever way these expressions may, with certain explanations and qualifications, be interpreted in an evangelical sense” (that is, the first view I laid out, which is an appropriate way of understanding in theology we affirm). He says, “In whatever way you can put the qualifications and caveats to interpret it in an evangelical sense, yet unquestionably, as taken by themselves, and especially in the connection in which they stand in this place, they present the same meaning as is announced in the 13th verse, where the apostle declares that the doers of the law will be justified.” I think verses 7-10 is another way of saying the doers of the law will be justified. God will repay you according to your deeds. Now, here’s what you’re supposed to think to yourself, as they were supposed to think: “Oh, how is that going to work out?” This is an indictment, because the inclination of the uninstructed human heart is to think about the day of judgment and conclude, “I’m not perfect, but I’ll probably be okay.” That’s the inclination of the uninstructed, fallen human heart. There’s a day of judgment, especially in our modern world, which treats God as such a light and trivial being.

In his recent autobiography, the Catholic writer – maybe some of you have read him; he’s a very prolific Catholic writer – Peter Kreeft acknowledges that when he asked Catholic students at Boston College, where he taught for decades, he would ask them why God should admit them into heaven. He said over 90% began with statements like “I did my best” or “I am a kind person.” Now to be fair, he’s saying that those are not good answers. He says that fewer than 10% in his informal survey even mentioned Jesus Christ. Now lest you think, well that’s a Catholic problem, it is a human problem. I was talking to a pastor friend of mine this week who was mentioning how he was sharing the gospel with someone. He was using the basic Evangelism Explosion questions, which many of you have used. If you died tonight, why would God let you into his heaven? Or would you – are you confident you – would be in heaven? And what would you say when God says, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” My friend was relaying that the person he was talking to said, “Because I go to church on most Sundays, and I’m basically a good person.” We are kidding ourselves if we think that that is not a very common response in people’s hearts, and let’s not pat ourselves on the back and break our arm. That’s likely what’s in some of your hearts. Now, you may be here and know well enough that that’s not the answer I should give, but in your hearts when you think about death, and you think about standing before God, and you think about the day of judgment, you think to yourself, “Well, I went to church. I mean, ish. I mean, it got a little worse, but it was okay. Better than a lot of people. And I streamed it when I wasn’t here. I went to church, and I was a pretty good person. Not perfect, of course, not claiming that, but I know a lot of bad people, and I’ve been pretty good.” Is that what you think? I’m afraid that’s how millions of people think. I hope it breaks your heart that that’s what our president thinks. I don’t even think he thinks the going to church part. Pray for him. Millions of people think, “I’m basically a good person.” These verses are meant to detonate that self-deception, to see yourself in verses 7-10. Notice there is a division. God divides the whole human race, and notice in verse 6, he will render to each one – no group photos. Can’t get somebody else, and there are the really super on-fire Christians, and you just photobombed it. Woo! See, I got in. Like when you’re on the roller coaster, and the person behind you is doing something crazy, and you got it in the picture. There’s no group photos. Each one, each person.

There’s a pattern here: verse 7, the righteous; verse 8, the unrighteous. And then the reverse pattern: verse 9, the unrighteous; and verse 10, the righteous. So, A, B, B-prime, A-prime – that basic order to describe these two outcomes. And notice: two. A whole lot of people who are counting on three or more. There’s no talk here of post-mortem second chances, some opportunity to be further purified, or to get the gospel preached to you again, and maybe you can repent then. No, two outcomes. No third way, no other options. No sort of, well I don’t know that I can be in that category, but you know, there’s probably a dozen different places, and, you know, on a scale I can fit somewhere in there. Two outcomes, and notice how these two outcomes are described. On the one side we have the righteous, and we have a very quick outline of what they do, what they seek, and what they get. What they do: they’re patient and welldoing, verse 7, and they do good, verse 10. What they seek: verse 7, they seek glory and honor and immortality, probably meaning they seek the things that are eternal. And then what they get: verse 10, they get glory and honor and peace, and verse 7, they get eternal life. What they do, what they seek, what they get.

And then we have, on the other side, the wicked. And we also see what they do, what they seek, and what they get. What they do: they do not obey the truth, verse 8; they obey unrighteousness, verse 8; and they do what is evil, verse 9. What they seek (see the pattern?): they seek self. They’re self-seekers. That is, instead of seeking the glory that is above, seeking the things of God, they seek their own glory. They are vain. They are selfish. They are self-centered. They live their life, and instead of having God as the center of that story, they are always the leading actor or actress, the very center of their own story, and God can play a supporting role. They’re self-seeking, and what did they get? Verse 8, wrath and fury; tribulation and distress, verse 9. And Paul says, then, salvation began with the Jews and then to the Greeks, the Gentiles, and now he says judgment also will begin with the Jews and then to the Gentiles. It is the same standard. This is the argument I think Paul is making. He wants us to despair. He wants you to reach the conclusion, “I do not want to face a judgment according to my works” (perhaps better said “on the basis of my works”). You’re going to have someone even more fastidious than Tertullus, who accused Paul in Acts chapter 24. And as you are brought before God and his holy judgment seat, and you stand there by yourself, and there is someone, perhaps the devil himself, and many people from your life, perhaps, to add to his account, and runs through the checklist. Let’s see. Patient. Patient and welldoing. Have you sought, above all else, day after day, to live a life of glory and honor and immortality? And the accuser will say, “This one has surely – she has not done what is good. I have a long record of the many, many days – in fact, every day – where she did not do what is good. Now I don’t think she’s measuring up here to the righteous side.” What about the unrighteous? Well, has he been selfish? Has he ever sought, has he lived his life thinking with the thoughts that most naturally come into his brain? Have they been about him? About his needs, his wants, his hurts, his desires, how everything relates to him? Has he pursued in a hundred different ways, week after week, his own glory? “Oh yes, this person, this man, has disobeyed the truth. He has obeyed unrighteousness. Your honor, he has not treated you as you deserve. And your honor, you know what the multitude cannot see. You know even what’s in his heart. You know where his browser has been. You know what sort of machinations and desires have been in his heart ever since he was young and have continued, even into old age. You know that this one has done evil.”

Doug Moo, in his commentary – one of the best – says about this standard of judgment, “It is a continual seeking after eternal rewards accompanied by a persistent doing of what is good that is the condition for a positive verdict at the judgment.” That’s the standard. This is beyond a statement of merely confirming works, to reap what you sow. This is a deliberate, detailed explanation of what God will be looking for on the day of judgment. And Paul means for it to be an indictment. This is not yet about sanctification, because he’s not yet gotten to justification, because he’s still laying his case against the whole human race. He’s describing those who are doers of the law, because verse 13 says, “You want to be justified? Be a doer of the law.” And how’s that going for you? Is that it? Is that our only hope? That’s what you’re meant to be saying at this point in Paul’s argument, that I must be a doer of the law? Because I look at verse 7 and 10, and I don’t feel like I’m doing very well. We are meant to conclude from this paragraph and from verse 13 that the number of persons in this first category who meet the positive condition for a positive verdict – the number of persons in this category is exactly zero. None of us. The whole theme is wrath and judgment. It’s not yet about salvation.

Now, notice we’re just at the beginning of chapter 2. Paul’s got the rest of chapter 2. He’s got the dramatic rhetorical flourish into chapter 3, and already we ought to be feeling – I hope you’re feeling – oh Lord, if I have to be a doer of the law, there is coming for me such wrath and fury and tribulation and distress. You ought to be thinking, “How? How could I stand before this judge by myself? How can I do it?” Until you think that – and I can’t make you think that. I can make you understand this. The Spirit has to make you really think it and feel it and embrace it, because until you embrace that reality, Christianity won’t make any sense to you. It won’t. You’ll leave here Sunday after Sunday, you’ll learn it, and maybe you’ll deconstruct later, because you never really got it. This is what you need to get. Here’s the starting point: that there’s a holy God, and you cannot stand before him. As long as you think in just some little, tiny bit in your soul that well, I’m not Hitler, not Stalin, better than a lot of people. That’s not the measurement. That’s not what this paragraph says. “And he will render to each one according to his deeds, for those who are better than the worst people who have ever lived, eternal life.” It’s not the standard. Patient, welldoing, seeking honor, glory, immortality, obeying the truth, obeying righteousness. The Bible will not make sense to you until you understand that the number of persons who will be justified by doing the law is zero.

Now, the answer you need – it’s coming in August, but it’s also, thankfully, appeared already in verses 16 and 17. I’m not ashamed of the gospel. See, you need good news, because this is, for sinners, a lot of bad news. You need good news, and you need God’s power, because left to your own power, it’s only bad news. You need a gospel that is the power of God for salvation to what? Not to everyone who does the law, but to everyone who believes. And just as the judgment will be to the Jew first and then to the Greek, so the salvation is to the Jew first and then to the Greek. God has to be a righteous judge. That’s his very nature and character. And that is what he is looking for, a complete righteousness, and yours and mine shall not pass. You need an alien righteousness. Ask yourself really, do I believe that this God, the God revealed to us in a chapter and a half of Romans – and there’s a lot more to come – do I believe this God exists? Do I believe this scene in chapter 2 will take place? A judgment scene. And if you answer yes to the first question – this God exists, and yes to the second question – this scene exists, then the third question for you – do I believe in my ability to pass the test? You need a standing that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Here’s what we need. You and I need a friend. Yes, we’re going to have a lot of other language – a mediator and a justifier and a propitiation and a sacrifice. You need, as you stand there alone, you need a friend, and not just any friend – you need a friend of sinners. You need someone who’s not ashamed, because if all of my thoughts and deeds were exposed, you wouldn’t want me for your pastor. I wouldn’t want you in this church probably. We’d all have plenty to be ashamed of. You need one who is a friend of sinners and not ashamed to be called your brother, your savior. We read in the hymn, “Jesus, what a friend for sinners. Jesus, lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail me. He, my savior, makes me whole.” And then we come to this second verse. If we can put it on the screen, let’s sing this:

“Jesus, what a strength in weakness. Let me hide myself in him. Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing, he my strength, my victory, wins. Hallelujah, what a savior; hallelujah, what a friend. Saving, helping, keeping, loving. He is with me to the end.”

Brothers and sisters, that’s what we need. We need a friend of sinners who will keep us and help us and save us to the very end, because your church attendance won’t do it. Your nice church clothes won’t make a difference. Your supposed obedience will never, ever be enough. You will not pass. But Jesus, and only Jesus. He’s enough. Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for your holy Word and for the feast that you’re about to give us for poor sick sinners. We ask that you would feed us, as we are empty; you would clothe us, as we are naked; and you would equip us, as we are so often tempted, tried, and failing. And forgive us for Jesus’ sake, in whose name we pray. Amen.

The Kindness and Patience of God

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:06:59 GMT

Let’s pray as we come to God’s Word.

O God, it is terribly true what we have just sung. Our sins are so many. There is not one of us here who would be happy to have all that we have said, all that we have thought, everywhere our eyes have gone, every way we have spoken to a spouse, a parent, a child – not one of us would be happy to have all of that broadcast on these screens. Not for a day, not for an hour, let alone a lifetime. And these are only the sins of which we are aware. Our sins are so many. And so, we rejoice that though our sins are many, your mercy is more. Give us the eyes of faith, a mind to understand, that we might hear your Word and receive it as good news and be led to faith and repentance. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning comes from Romans chapter 2, verses 4 and 5. Paul has been laying out this indictment against the whole human race – first, the sins focus particularly upon the Gentiles, the outsiders, in chapter 1. But lest the Jews or any religious insiders get comfortable, he has made the case that they do the very same things – that the only difference, as Paul laid it out from chapter 1 to chapter 2, between the Gentile and the Jew is that the Gentiles know what is right and wrong, and they do what is wrong, and they affirm those who do what is wrong, where the Jews know what is right and wrong, they do what is wrong, and they condemn the person who does what is wrong. And having laid out his case to you, O man, without excuse, that they will not escape the judgment of God, he continues in verses 4 and 5:

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

We have a long way to go in Romans. We’re just in chapter 2. There’s 16 chapters, and there are so many things to learn, so many ways to be challenged. This may be what is most important about the book of Romans – that the book of Romans teaches you about God. If you were to ask the question, what is wrong with our world today? You ever step back and follow the news on your phone, even the frightening events from last night? What’s wrong with the world? Here’s what’s wrong with the world: people do not know God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. People in other countries don’t know God. People in this country, which is awash in Christian history and books and churches – so many do not know God. People in our churches do not know God. Even Christians have moments of temptation and forgetfulness, where they don’t recall and know who God is. That’s what’s wrong with the world. And Romans is going to tell us chapter by chapter. And the most challenging and, if you have ears to hear, the richest parts of this book will be when your mind is expanded to know God better. We’ll get to that chapter 8, chapter 9. But it’s all throughout this book that God is bigger than you think. He’s more glorious than you think. He’s more loving than you think. He’s more sovereign than you think. He’s more just. He’s more avenging. He’s more sanctifying. He’s all these things. You think of God too lightly, and we are going to meditate this morning about God – that’s mainly what this sermon is about – and one of his attributes in particular, one of his most overlooked perfections.

This text, you can see pretty simply, is about three things. Let’s work backwards from verse 5 up to verse 4. One, this text is about the danger of storing up wrath for the day of judgment. You see the second half of verse 5, “You are storing up wrath for yourself.” There are people in the world, maybe you, you may think you can get away with the sort of life described in chapter 1 – a life of idolatry, a life of suppressing the truth of God, a life of sexual immorality, or this blistering paragraph 28-32, envy, murder, life, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slanderers, haters of God, haughty, boastful, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless, the whole thing. You may think you can live a life and get away with that, because it often seems as if the wicked prosper. It may seem as if you and I will never encounter a revelation of God’s wrath, and Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is here to tell us, you do not realize you are storing up wrath, and when that wrath is revealed, yes, God will be active in it. You cannot blame God, because you will be the one who had put away in a storehouse wrath as if you were foolish enough to stack, day after day, sticks of dynamite in your basement. Someone says, “What are you doing?” “Just storing those up.” That’s a bad idea. Sticks of dynamite in your basement. Or as if you were in a battle, and day by day you laid out a series of hand grenades, and you pulled the pin, and you stacked them until there were dozens and scores and hundreds there in your bunker, absolutely littered and overflowing with hand grenades. The pin has been pulled, and nothing has happened, and you have convinced yourself you’re safe. Why not lay another grenade and another and another and another, not knowing that grenades, when pins are pulled, eventually explode. You are storing up for yourself wrath to be revealed on the day of wrath. And it will be clear to all you put that there. You put that tidy box of sin and unrighteousness, and you stored it up, thinking that no one would ever see it. It would never be opened, and it will be on the last day. That’s the first thing these two verses are about here.

Here’s the second: this text, working up, is about the necessity of repentance. There is no Christian life apart from faith in repentance – that is, turning from sin (it’s the simplest way to think of repentance) and turning to Christ. That’s faith. When you see the gospel proclaimed in the New Testament, you may notice the response that’s initiated is sometimes “believe,” sometimes “repent,” and sometimes “repent and believe,” because one always implies the other. Two sides of the same coin. You can’t have real faith without repentance. You don’t have real gospel repentance unless it leads to faith. Some people, our text tells us, have hard hearts. You see in verse 5, “because of your hard and impenitent heart” – that means the opposite of repentance. A hard heart, like trying to do surgery on a turtle. They got that hard shell. You know, their ribs are actually connected. It’s not like a snail that leaves its shell or a crab. It’s part of it. If you wanted to go and get into the flesh of a turtle, you got to have that hard shell which says to everyone, “Don’t touch me.” Some of you have a hard shell around your life. Or it’s like sowing seed on this hard, dry ground. So good to get a little rain last night. Because my oldest son works in turf grass, we have 20 bags of grass seed just unopened in our yard. They’ve been there for months. Might even be happy for you to come take one of them. One of them has spilled open, because our chickens – lo, the chickens – have eaten apart the bag, and so they can nibble on the seed when they’re walking around. So, there’s just turf grass, just seed, just spilled out, and nothing has happened, because the ground is hard, and no one has broken up the soil. No one has planted the seed. We haven’t had rain. It’s just there on the hardness of the ground. Might as well be upon the pavement. A hard, impenitent heart. The sort of heart that never says I’m sorry, never turns. You ought to think, when is the last time you’ve said I’m sorry? If you haven’t said sorry for a long time, then – the only people that shouldn’t be saying it are the ones who are already in heaven or Jesus, because you have things, I have things, to be sorry for, to say to God, “I’m sorry,” to say to one another, “I’m sorry.” Do you have a hard, impenitent heart?

And then the third thing this text is about, and this is where we’ll focus. It is about presuming upon the benevolence of God to think, because life seems often pretty good, that God is not overly concerned about sin, that there is nothing to be concerned about. Sure, he’d prefer that we’re good people. He’d like us to try and do our best, but as long as we give it our best shot, and we don’t have major, major sins, as we see them, then we’re fine. That is presuming upon God’s kindness. So, if you follow the logic and work backwards from 5 to 4, you are storing up wrath for yourself. Why? Because you will not repent. Why? Because you have taken God’s mercy for granted. That’s the argument Paul is making.

So, I want you to look at verse 4, and I wonder how you would answer this question: do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? You don’t have to think too long, because I’ll give you the answer. You do. I do. We all do. The word translated in the ESV “presume” is translated in the King James as “despise.” That’s an acceptable translation, too. The same Greek word is translated in 1 Corinthians 11:22, “Or do you despise the church of God?” So, you could say you despise, or you presume upon. Here’s the question Paul is asking: have you shown contempt for God’s kindness? Have you thought too little about his forbearance? Have you esteemed too lightly God’s patience? And the answer, I have to think, for every one of us on this side of the pulpit and that side of the pulpit, to all of those questions is yes. In fact, more than that, I bet there is not one Christian in a thousand, or maybe even not one Christian in a thousand, who has ever really stopped to think about and to marvel at the abundance of God’s patience towards sinners.

When the Lord showed himself to Moses – remember Exodus 34, Moses says, “I want to see your glory,” and God says, “I’ll show you my glory, but you see my glory with your ears. I will show you my glory by speaking my character to you,” and he says his name – the Lord, the Lord – and then he gives a description of his character: a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. That’s how God says, “You want to know? You want to see my glory? There’s part of it. I’m slow to anger.” Literally, the Hebrew expression – you’ll like this – is “long of nose.” Some of you have just a cute, little button nose. Others of us have a good size nose. I do. The idea is that fury comes out of the nostrils. You can even think about how cartoons might show someone who’s really angry, or an animal, sort of snorting out fumes. A horse neighing in battle. Smoke and fire come out of God’s nostrils (2 Samuel 22). So, the idea is if your nose is short, you poor little-nosed people, you break forth in rage quickly, because you have nowhere to vent your anger. It just comes out. If, however, your nose is long, you’re slow to anger. It’s exactly the same idea – we would say you have a long fuse. So, a long nose, a long fuse, translated here “slow.” God is not like a petulant horse, ready to burst forth from his nostrils with fury, but rather full of longsuffering and forbearance and patience. That phrase “slow to anger” – it’s a familiar phrase to all of us who’ve been around the Bible. You may not realize how many times that phrase is there in the Old Testament. Numbers 14:18, Psalm 86:16, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:13, Nahum 1:3 – there are probably others. Slow to anger.

What I want us to do for, say, the next 25 minutes is simply to meditate on the patience of God. I was greatly helped in my study this week by the 70 pages on this topic from the Puritan Stephen Charnock, 17th century. Crossway republished in two nice volumes a couple of years ago The Existence and Attributes of God. I don’t know anyone who has written more comprehensively and insightfully and devotionally on the existence and attributes of God. There’s lots of good books since then, but Stephen Charnock is a master. I was helped by his 70 pages.

I want you to think with me for these moments and consider five things about the patience of God. Number one, consider the nature of God’s patience. Patience as an attribute of God, or a perfection of God, is related to his mercy – you can think of it as a subset of his mercy – but it’s not identical to his mercy. God’s mercy makes him ready to embrace sinners when they return to him. Patience makes him willing to bear with sinners and to wait for them. That’s what patience is. Mercy is his willingness. Patience is his waiting. The exercise of patience for God depends upon the offer of mercy. Here’s one of the insights that Charnock pulls out, almost in passing. Have you ever thought, why are the fallen angels consigned to eternal punishment so immediately? God has no patience with fallen angels. There’s no hope of faith and repentance for fallen angels. When they had that rebellion, and we’re just given hints of that angelic rebellion – Satan or Lucifer, an angel of light, leads this rebellion, and they’re set aside. They’re cast in gloomy chains of darkness for their ultimate and final destruction. There was no offer of mercy for the angels. Have you considered it? God was not patient with the angels as he is with us. And we’ll come back to why that is in just a moment. But I just want you to think here about the nature of God’s patience, that God treats you better than he treats the angels. He waits. And his patience is not born from an inability to detect sin. No, he’s omniscient, and his omniscience precludes any ignorance. He’s not ignorant of any sin. So, you think about us – you may appear to be patient. I may appear to be patient, simply because you’re unaware. You don’t know all the facts. You can’t see into every human heart. You don’t know what happens, thankfully, in every room or every boardroom or every conversation, but God knows all of it. He knows every sin we commit, every errant thought, every evil desire. So, it’s not that he’s incapable of anger or that he’s unable to discern what deserves punishment. Rather, the Bible says he’s slow to anger. Have you considered what good news this is? He does not jump upon us at every provocation, though we deserve it. He overlooks so many of your offenses and mine. He is not hasty to take the arrows out of his quiver and fire the arrows of his judgment. Even as his eyes look upon and cannot help but see, as an omniscient being, the sins of all of his creatures – at the same time, as his eyes see that, his arms are extended wide open, waiting for sinners to return in penitence. His patience is not like ours. It’s not the product of ignorance, and it’s not the product of incompetence. Again, you and I may seem patient, and you may just be a lazy parent. I’ve resembled that remark sometimes. You may have a belligerent employee, and he or she needs to be fired and say, “My, you’re so patient.” No, you just don’t want to deal with a difficult situation. Or you have an enemy that you don’t want to confront. You simply are tired, or maybe you’re afraid, or you lack the strength to act. We can appear patient, but it’s really just inability. God, however, is never feeble, never faint-hearted, which makes his patience all the more remarkable. Unlike our so-called patience, which is often a reflection of our weakness, God’s patience is one of the mightiest displays of his power. Think about power. We think of power when some enemy is met with swift and terrible retribution. We say, “What power! There’s force and strength and vengeance. We don’t often think of the great power that is necessary for self-restraint – often a far greater power. I remember reading, one time, this very simple definition of manhood – maybe this will stick with you, men – strength under control. God’s power. Yes, it’s displayed in his wrath, and that’s a just outpouring of his wrath. It’s never an out-of-control wrath. Consider this, however. There is just as much power displayed, and perhaps even more displayed, in his patience – the restraint upon his righteous anger. Now, why is this patience made possible? It is made possible by the death of Christ, which comes back to the point about the angels. Why did God not extend mercy to the angels? Why are there no second chances for the angels? Why were they set aside immediately, cast down for judgment, without any hope of repentance or forgiveness? Because the mediator did not come as an angel. He came as a man. The Son of God came to earth and took on human flesh. The divine joined to a human nature, and so, it is because of the person and the work of Jesus Christ that we can even have the hope of pardon. It’s why God can be patient with the sins of the world, why he can look upon each of his human creatures, made in his image, and know that though Son of God died as a propitiation only for the elect, yet that death of the Son of God does have some benefits for all, in that God is now patient. He has a reason to be patient. There is mercy. God will show his power for all eternity. He will show his mercy for all eternity – Charnock makes the point – but it’s upon earth alone that we have opportunity to see God’s patience. Heaven will show us mercy, hell will show us justice, and this life on earth is the occasion for the operation of God’s patience, his waiting. Consider the nature of God’s patience.

Second, consider the many examples of God’s patience. He did not completely wipe out Adam and Eve – “On the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die” – and they did experience immediately a separation and a spiritual death. And yet, God treated them so much better than they deserved because of the promise of the mediator to come. Acts 17:30, Paul says that God overlooked the times of ignorance for a long time with the Gentiles. He bore with them in great patience, and to consider in the Bible with the judgments upon his people, every significant act of judgment was foretold by the prophets or by the Messiah himself. The flood – as they had opportunity for year after year after decade to watch Noah pound out the ark as a warning of the flood of judgment that was to come. God warned his people with the famine in Egypt, with the earthquake in Amos’ day, with captivity into Babylon, with the removal of the 10 tribes in the north, with the destruction of the temple. He gave warnings, that he might spare his wrath. He delayed his wrath even when there were no signs of softening. It’s one thing if you said, “Look at that. Those people, they’re really close to getting it,” but they were not close to getting it, and yet he delayed. We’re told he waited until the cry of the sins of Sodom grew strong before he destroyed the city. Such a wicked city, and he waited. And even then – remember as he talks with Abraham – he was willing to delay his judgment further if he could find but the small remnant of godly persons in the city. We’re told in Genesis 15, he waited 400 years for the sins of the Amorites to accumulate – that means the Canaanites in the land – before he gave to Joshua and the people the land of the Canaanites. That was an act of justice, and he waited. A pagan, idolatrous people. He waited 400 years. We’re just 250 years as an independent country. Who’s to say what the allotted time is for this country or any country on the earth? He waited 40 years after the crucifixion of the Son of God before he destroyed with the Romans the temple and Jerusalem. Surely he would have been just at that very moment, as Jesus was crucified with the hands of the Romans and the cries of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem – he would have been justified in that very instant for an army of angels or a lightning bolt to obliterate the temple. 40 years he waited.

Consider, third, that when God executes judgment, we are often told that he does so unwillingly and with restraint. Now, this gets into some of the mystery of understanding, how God in his will of decree can decree one thing that is fixed and immovable from all eternity, and yet we have a reflection – theologians might call his will – of desire, so that God is not schizophrenic. He’s not of two minds, and yet as his actions are carried out, Scripture will sometimes describe the actions of judgment as those that God carries out unwillingly. You think about the prodigal son, the joy in heaven. We’re not given the same language of rejoicing in heaven when a sinner meets his destruction. Lamentations 3:33 says, “God does not afflict from his heart,” meaning he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The church father Chrysostom remarked – and this is perhaps not quite exegetically right on the money, but it’s a good theological truth – he reflected that God created the world in six days, and he took seven days to overthrow the one city of Jericho as they marched around the city. Six days to create everything. Seven days to tear down Jericho. And he makes the observation it is because God is so much quicker to build up than he is to tear down. Even after bearing with the sins of the people for centuries, he says in Hosea, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?” Some of you with wayward children, you know this very feeling. You know there’s a deserving of discipline. You know that there must be consequences, and yet the passion wells up within you. How can I hand you over, my beloved child? So it is with God and his people. He stands more ready to forgive than his people are to repent. Charnock mentions this saying among the Jews. He says that the angel Michael, as a minister of justice, flies with one wing, but Gabriel, the minister of mercy, always flies with two. Not really a verse to prove that, but it’s a good idea. Minister of justice with one, the minister of mercy with two. God shows his patience in that when he sends forth his judgment, he does so in waves, not with one giant avalanche. In Joel’s day, he sent out the worm and then another insect and then the locust before there was famine. In Ezekiel’s day, he destroyed one part of the city and then another part of the city. In Revelation, if you notice, a series of judgments, and seven seals and seven trumpets and seven bowls were just a portion, a portion, a portion. Every one of those acts of judgment is another opportunity for God’s people to repent. His patience is seen in how often he lessens his judgment. He punishes us less than our sins deserve (Ezra 9). He does not reward us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103). And he shows mercy to his people even after the greatest ingratitude and provocation. Think of his people at the banks of the Red Sea, all that God had done for them. Not a long time ago, just recently, protecting them by cloud and fire, giving them Moses. They’d seen the signs, the miracles, 10 mighty plagues to deliver them, just spared with the blood of the lamb at Passover, their firstborn son. All of these things he did for the people, and even there, before they cross through the Red Sea, you know that they’re complaining, they’re grumbling, they’re doubting. You’ve let us out of Egypt that we might have watery graves here in the sea. And God was patient, and he opened the sea, and they walked through on dry ground, and even when they came over, and they continued to complain, he gave them manna from heaven. He gave them quail. He gave them water from the rock. He miraculously sustained their clothes and their sandals that they did not wear out.

Consider, fourth, how patient God is compared to the patience of his creatures. We would not bear with the sins of the world for a single day, if any one of us were God. There would be no hope for anyone. Do not fancy yourself somehow kinder, with more forbearance, or more patience than God. Not if you could see all and know all, and you had, with your own creatures made in your own image, such unrelenting acts of rebellion and sin, the world would not last an hour. We had some water accidentally left on in our upstairs yesterday. Poured its way through the drywall and through some of the lights and down into the kitchen, and I promise that God is more patient with our sins than I was with that water damage. Even the glorified saints in heaven cry out under the throne, “How long? (Revelation 6) How long till you avenge our blood?” Now, it may be a cry for justice. They’re ready for vengeance now. The disciples, you remember, were ready to call down fire upon Samaria when they would not accept the Son of God. God could send the most tenderhearted angel, and still we would be a lost people. When you think about how great our offenses are against God and how long and how many, surely Genesis 6:5 is true of the fallen human heart now as it was then. Every intention of their hearts was only evil all the time, continually. That’s the fallen world, and we’re still here. You think of all the sins of omission, which you should have done, and you didn’t do. Commission, which you shouldn’t have done, and you did. Of all the thoughts and words and deeds of blasphemies and idolatries, of all the false religions in the world, and then all of the false professers of religion within the Christian church, of every act of ingratitude, of every breach of the Ten Commandments. And if you were to consider that in your own heart, in my own heart, and then multiply to your family, and even this church – this good, wonderful church – yet we wouldn’t want to be given what we deserve. And you think of our city, our country, our world. How many are, as chapter 1 tells us, haters of God? And yet, sunrise, sunset. People all over the world, 7 billion of them, are still given – even though there’s much suffering in the world – they’re given the opportunity to have relationships and food, clothing, and can experience the beauty of art or nature or the exhilaration of sports or success or working with your hands. And most people will have some blessing of family and friends. All of it because God is patient when these sins from all of his creatures have accumulated for thousands of years. If you defiled your neighbor’s bed, you slept with your neighbor’s husband or wife, and then if you tarnished and slandered his reputation, and then you stole from his garage, and then you violently assaulted his children, we would not think that that neighbor would hold his vengeance long, not if he had power to carry it out. He would certainly bring to bear the full extent of the law against you, and rightfully, he could. And yet, God waits. You think of the length of his forbearance. We would consider a man or woman to have heroic patience – you’d say, “Oh, you have the patience of Job” – if they waited but days or weeks to exact vengeance. If a nation is attacked, and it does not immediately retaliate, we think, “Well, that is unheard of.” And yet the God of the universe waits.

Consider, finally, how we ought to admire and stand astonished at the patience of God when we remember this is not just you offending another human being. When we consider what puny creatures we are, and that we have provoked him, our creator, our sustainer, the thrice holy God of the universe who knows all and sees all, and though he knows every bit of our sin, and we are his tiny creatures, and he is the supreme creator, yet judgment has not come. We ought to marvel at his patience. He knows every nook and cranny of human existence. One author says, “The hatred of human sinfulness is infinite, and the knowledge of human malice is exact.” Exact. God knows all of it. There is no iniquity in your heart or mind that has escaped the knowledge of God. We have so often abused the patience of God. We have misinterpreted. That’s what Romans is about, verse 4. We have misinterpreted his patience as an indifference to sin. We have, then, continued in our sin. We have sometimes gotten harder or dared to commit even greater sins. We have taken his patience and kindness as an incentive to more sin. And think about the mercy that many have had shorter lifespans than you. We all know loved ones who have already gone on to their eternal reward, and yet you are here. You still have time. We ought to admire God’s patience.

Why? Why is God so patient with sinners? Well, we can say for his glory. He delays his punishment that he might be glorified through the display of patience. If he punished in an instant, as we deserved, we would see his holiness and his justice – that would be amplified – but we could not see the power of restraint. So, he is given even more glory because he waits. Also, he’s patient with sinners for the display of his justice. He exercises patience now so that when the final judgment comes, the fairness of that final judgment will be obvious. As the saying goes, the slower the judgment of God, the more just it is. When God finally breaks forth in judgment, and all is revealed, your heart may still be hard toward God, but it will be obvious to everyone else. No one will be able to rightly say, “Well, God didn’t treat him fairly. God didn’t treat her rightly. He did poorly by them.” When every thought and every intention and every inkling of your heart and mind is, in some mysterious moment, revealed before God and the angels, we’ll marvel that God waited so long. So, so long.

So, he does it for his glory. He waits for the display of his justice. But here’s the point in verse 4 that I want to impress upon you. His patience is for our repentance. Think of 2 Peter 3. The last days scoffers will come and say, “Where’s the promise of his coming?” You Christians, you talk about the day of judgement, you’ve been reciting this Apostles’ Creed about “he comes again to judge the living and the dead.” You’ve been doing this for thousands of years. It ain’t never going to happen. And Peter says he is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness. Rather, he is patient, not wishing that any should perish. Now, in the inscrutable reaches of his will, of course, he knows and has decreed through that means and proclamation of the gospel, he’ll be saved. But as we look upon God, we are meant to conclude that he’s waiting and waiting so that more can come to repentance. The fact that judgment has been delayed tells us that our God is appeasable. It means that there is the possibility of pardon. It means that the cure for our spiritual cancer has not yet been exhausted. It’s available. It means that God, in his disposition, his leaning in to you, is amiable, is affable. His disposition is not implacable. He is willing, in fact he is eager, to relent. He is, as it were, leaning in, cupping his hand to his ears. Would another sinner repent? I’m ready. I’m so ready to rejoice. Like the father, you know the story with the prodigal, when he was yet had a long way off, the father, losing all sense of decorum, ran because the son had returned home. Presume not upon his patience. Do not think too lightly upon the forbearance of God. He is placable. He can be placated, but if you are not walking with him in faith and repentance, you ought not have confidence that he is appeased. He is waiting, waiting, waiting that we might turn toward him. When we think of all the kindness and the forbearance that God has shown us, when we consider the mildness of the present wrath displayed in the world – it’s mild, the wrath that we now see. When we contemplate how long he has preserved us and waited for his creatures, it should lead us by the hand to repentance. When we think how he has borne with our iniquities, and yet he has showered us with undeserved blessings, how could you – how could I – not turn and run to such a sweet, kind, patient savior? Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your Word, for your great, undeserved, merciful forbearance of our sins. If you should mark iniquity, who could stand? And yet, with you there is plenteous of grace. Lead us with cords of loving kindness. Take us by the hand with your kind patience, that we may turn from our sin, from our folly, and run to your open arms and know your love. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

No Excuse

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:17:16 GMT

Let’s pray.

Lord, we’ve just offered this song as our prayer. Speak, O God. May it truly be from the deepest part of our hearts. We think of the heartache that would be ours if to be estranged from a child or a parent or a spouse, and they would not speak to us – how much we would long to hear from them. And think of what far greater pain and punishment it would be if you would not speak to us, if you would be silent. So, we plead with you that you would show mercy upon us and open your mouth and give us ears to hear and you would speak. What greater privilege can we have as we make our way through this earthly travail, than that our great God and heavenly Father and king would open his mouth and give us ears that we may hear what you have to say to us, sometimes very comforting, sometimes first convicting, sometimes hard to hear, but give us ears, and speak, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

In 1940, at the beginning of World War II for Britain, C.S. Lewis wrote an article for The Guardian, a newspaper there, entitled “Dangers of National Repentance.” I think it’s one of the most insightful short pieces that C.S. Lewis ever wrote. “Dangers of National Repentance.” The word “dangers” is important there. He wasn’t saying there’s never a place for corporate repentance for your nation. You’ve heard, I’m sure, from time to time, one of us pastors pray corporately, asking God to forgive the sins of our nation, but there is a danger. Lewis argued that the danger is this: national repentance can easily turn into the sin of pride, where what we actually do, in an effort to seem rather humble and repenting, is we’re really confessing all the bad things that we think other people do that we don’t do, without paying attention to any of the bad things that we do. He writes this: “The first and fatal charm of national repentance is therefore the encouragement it gives us to turn from the bitter task of repenting of our own sins to the congenial one of bewailing – but, first, of denouncing – the conduct of others.” It would be, perhaps, if only we ever confessed the sin of abortion or gay marriage, and never turned to the sins that we might be more prone to and more guilty of. It is a universal human temptation, is it not, that a man would exalt in a sense of moral superiority or religious superiority while on the level of practice he or she is doing the same sorts of sinful things as everyone else? In Lewis’s day, this meant he found young men were confessing the sins of their fathers and not really paying attention to their own sins. He said it was cheap, empty, smug repentance. “The communal sins, which they should be told to repent of, are those of their own age and class – their contempt for the uneducated, its readiness to suspect evil, its self-righteous provocations of public obloquy, its breaches of the fifth commandment. Of these sins, I have heard nothing among them. Till I do, I must think their candor towards the national enemy a rather inexpensive virtue.” His point was there was a certain type of Briton who had been raised on a great, intense patriotism, and if they were to confess something of repentance, it cost them something. But, he said, for these young men, they were not aware of any of the sins of their own class or age, but were in a cheap, empty way confessing the sins of others.

Now, this sermon is not about national repentance. It’s not about the do’s and don’ts of corporate repentance. There’s a way to do it, and there’s a danger in it. It is a sermon, rather, about the heart danger that Lewis identified in that short article. It is the predilection we all have to condemn the sins of others while excusing our own. Or, to put it more specifically, this sermon and this text, which I’m about to read, is directed at a certain type of person. I want you to – this is important as you listen to sermons. Almost every sermon is going to have some application for everyone, and this sermon, I think, has some application for everyone. So, you all ought to listen. But you don’t have to find yourself guilty of every single thing in every single sermon. Otherwise, you’ll conclude that every week you’re not a Christian. But maybe you ought to conclude you’re not a Christian. That takes the Spirit. So, this text and this sermon is directed first of all – there’s a broad application – but first of all at a certain type of person, a religious person. And I don’t use religion as a bad word. A religious person who sees very clearly what is wrong with the world. I’m thinking of the person, and maybe this is you – very easy to look out and see what’s wrong, the moral bankruptcy of our time, to look out at non-religious people, whoever the “other” is – Hollywood, the Academy, elites – very easy to look out and see everything that is wrong. And here’s where it gets difficult: you may be right about all the things that you see as wrong. One of the things we’ll find in this text – this is not a sermon about why it’s wrong to make moral judgments. This whole chapter 1, 2, and 3 in Romans is Paul making moral judgments. You could say he’s pretty judgy in these chapters. So, the sin he is going to identify is not judgment itself, but rather the tendency in the human heart and the specific person he has in mind – the person who easily sees all the ways that others are disobedient and never seeing the way that he or she carries out the same disobedience, the same moral compromise, the same spiritual bankruptcy.

Here’s our text. If you haven’t turned there, turn there now, to Romans chapter 2, just three verses. Romans chapter 2.

“Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

I want you to notice, for starters, in verse 1, those first two words – they’re very important. “Therefore.” So here’s Paul carrying forward the argument of chapter 1, verses 18-32 – this whole argument about God’s wrath poured out on the unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, that through general revelation, they have a seed of divinity. They have an awareness, and they know these things, but they suppress that truth in unrighteousness. They make a series of exchanges, three exchanges, and three times we read, God hands them over. He hands them over. He hands them over. It is an indictment upon the vast iniquity of the world and in particular the Gentile world, the pagan world. And, verses 28-32, “God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done, and they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” That’s quite a list. Paul is carrying forward this argument. So, put yourself in the first hearers of this letter. What do you think might come next? The whole talk, so far, has been about them, what they do – what the Gentiles, the pagan world, they’re awash in idolatry and sexual immorality of the worst kind that is contrary to nature. It’s sort of as if they’re all looking out here, understanding why is the world so dark? Why is the world the way that it is? And then Paul comes to “therefore.” Now, you just think, what would Paul say after outlining the Gentile suppression of the truth? This fearful and fatal exchange that’s being handed over to sin. Therefore. You might think Paul would say, “Therefore, my brothers, we ought to pray for them.” Or, “Therefore, my friends, would you share the gospel with them?” Or maybe – why not, Paul? – it would be very nice if you could go from there, and go right to chapter 3:21. So, all of the bad things out there – how broken and evil and dark the world is – go right to 21, chapter 3, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, the righteousness of God through faith in Christ.” Give us the gospel, Paul. Therefore. They think, alright, what do you got for us, Paul? We see it. We see it. Boy, that’s an ugly picture, isn’t it? It sure is, Paul. Therefore, what do you have for us?

Second word, “you.” Wait a minute. I sort of picture it: Paul hadn’t been there. He wasn’t there, but you sort of picture it as if Paul’s kind of he’s got an arm around the Romans there, the Jewish Christians. He sort of – would you look at that? Yeah, Paul, that is true. That’s really bad, isn’t it? That’s what the world is like, and they’re sort of all huddled up, just in it together, just down on one knee, just looking at – wow, what a dark world. Man, they’re broken. Man, they’re so lost. Isn’t that right? “Therefore, you…” Wait, wait, wait, wait. No, wait. Wait a second, Paul. No, no, we’re not – we were looking out there. We were talking about them. You got some hard things to say, but truth be told, I kind of liked it, because it was about them. And now Paul pops this surprise, and he says, “Therefore you.”

Now, who’s the “you”? There is a sense where this is applicable to anyone with a hypocritical sense of moral or religious superiority. So, it is applicable in all sorts of ways, but no doubt, in Paul’s mind, he is thinking – first of all, his referent is the Jew. He’s been talking about the world of the Gentiles. Now he is talking about the Jew. How do we know that? Well, there’s several clues. Verse 4, which, Lord willing, we’ll come to next week, is really about the history of the Jewish people and God showing his kindness to them. Or, look at verse 12 and following. He’s going to talk about life with the law and without the law. Look at chapter 3, verse 1: “Then what advantage has the Jew?” That’s the question that Paul anticipates because all of chapter 2 is about his indictment of the Jews, which naturally leads to the question he knows he has in their mind. Wait a minute. Time out, Paul. You’ve said a lot of hard things about us Jews, so has there been any advantage in being a Jew? And most perceptively, look at verse 17, “But if you (there’s the “you”) call yourself a Jew (ah, that’s who he’s talking about) and rely on the law and boast in God.” So the “you,” as he turns his attention, he’s thinking about the Jews among the Christians. These are Jewish Christians in Rome. In verses 1-5 in this first paragraph, we have “you” 10 times, “yourself” three times, and “your” one time. So, verses 18-32 in chapter 1, they/them. It’s looking out there. That’s what they’re like. That’s what the world is like. That’s the indictment on our fallen humanity. And now he turns the attention, very specifically, to you.

And so, the next thing he says must have been even more shocking, “Therefore, you.” Alright, what? What? What, Paul? “You have no excuse.” Wait a minute, Paul. The last time you said this was in chapter 1, verse 20: “His invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made, so they are without excuse.” That’s right, Paul. They are without excuse, those people out there. A lot of bad people in the world. They got no excuse. Paul gives the very same judgment, turning from the Gentiles, now, to the Jews. “Therefore, you.” Wait a minute, Paul. We were talking about Gentiles. That was good. And we were going to now move, and we’re going to talk about ministry, and we’re going to have outreach to them, or you’re going to give the gospel. But now you turn the finger around, and you say, “That’s why – here’s another conclusion from everything I’ve said. You are without excuse.” Why? Well, look at the “because” – for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because – here’s the reason. This is the reason that they are also without excuse: “because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” Now, the Jews might have been able to set themselves apart from some of the worst crimes and say, “Well, we don’t worship creeping things, and we don’t have statues. That’s the pagan world.” Fair enough. You know, we don’t have the kind of homosexuality among us like they do in the Roman world. Yeah, perhaps. But by the time you get to that paragraph in 28-32 – murder, strife, deceit, malicious, gossip, slander, boastful, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless – well, now it’s hard to think that you aren’t doing some of the very same things.

I want you to notice – this is very important – I said this at the beginning. Paul’s point here is not to judge them for judging. Now, there are other passages – “judge not lest you be judged” – which means don’t have a censorious attitude toward other people. Don’t be hypercritical. But even there, in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is not saying never make a moral judgment, because Jesus is going to go on and say don’t throw your pearls before swine. Well, how do you know who the swine are, who the pigs are, unless you’re making some kind of moral judgments? So, the Bible does not say, “Hey, you got to be moral relativists. You can’t see evil. You can’t ever call out evil.” No, they’re not condemned here for judging. Paul is taking the better part of three chapters to make a moral indictment against them. This isn’t moral relativism. He’s not saying, “Well, I’m judging you because you hate sin, or I’m judging you because God will judge you if you think other people are more sinful or for realizing that some people are actually morally better or spiritually in a better place.” No, that’s all right. There are other passages about having a censorious spirit. This is about something very particular. This is about judging when you do the very same kinds of things that you judge other people for. That’s what he is accusing the Jews. That’s why can say, “You therefore have no excuse,” because he knows that as they’re listening and following along in chapter one, they all recognize this is a bad list. Shame on you. Bad dog. These are bad things. Those people deserve punishment. And Paul turns and says, “Well, that’s why you also have no excuse.” Look at verse 2: “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.” The Greek kata aletheian – “according to truth.” God always judges according to truth. So, this man here in verse 1 is judged not for judging, but for doing the same things that he has judged others for doing. That’s the “because” at the end of verse 1. The judgment was not simply because he thought he was better than everyone else. That’s a kind of annoying spirit to have. But it’s because he thought he was better than everyone else, and he was no better than everyone else. That second part is key. He’s charging them with a willful blindness. They’re guilty, because they don’t see things.

Let me give you four things. Four ways this man (“O man” in verse 1) is blind. And to consider four ways you and I could be deceived, deluded. Here’s deception number one. They could not see that they were doing the same sort of things that they condemned in others. That’s most obvious from verses 1, 2, and 3. Or to put it more pointedly, is it possible that you cannot see that you are doing the same sorts of things you condemn in others? Again, maybe not everything. Paul doesn’t mean to say that every Jew is guilty of every single thing he’s just talked about. Hardly anyone is that bad. But by that final paragraph, he understands that they have quite an indictment against them. It is easy to think of the other. There’s a phrase I came across in a book a couple of years ago, “the repugnant cultural other.” Repugnant cultural other. RCO. Different than ROUS, rodents of unusual size. Those are different. The repugnant cultural other means we live in a time where tribalism – we almost all have an instinctive those people, and it might not even be that the things you think about those people are wrong. Again, this is not moral relativism. This is not saying everybody’s the same. Every political party is the same. Every non-Christian and Christian is the same. No, no, no.

But here’s the danger. Just think of who Paul is talking to. It’s hard for us to get the explosiveness of this, because we don’t live, most of us, with any kind of Jew-Gentile conflict, insider-outsider conflict. It’d be like – can I just dare to put this in some arresting terms? It would be like if Paul were writing a letter to a typical Bible-believing conservative Christian church that was probably conservative theologically, and probably conservative politically as well, and took the better part of several paragraphs to own the libs. He’s talked about – you know what they’re like out there. You know what the progressives are like. You know how bad the woke can be. And everyone nodded along. They said, “That’s right. They’re angry all the time. They’re cheats. They just care about power. They’re liars. Their personal lives are a disaster. They’re totally biased to their side. All they want to do is crush their enemies.” Just as you’re nodding along, Paul says, “Careful. Careful denouncing the sins of others, that you don’t come to practice the very same things.” I think there’s a danger, there’s certainly a danger of non-Christians who say, “Yay, we like conservative, and progressive bad.” We look out there and say that’s really bad. They do a lot of bad stuff, and we can go ahead and don’t need to take an eye to any of our own stuff. They’re all bad. We’re not. Paul says, “Careful. Before you judge all the things that they’re doing, are you doing any of the other?”

Or you could flip it. You could have the person who just looks at the world and says, “You know what those people are like? They’re racist. They’re fascists. They’re insurrectionists. They’re such mean people.” Well, how are you doing in being kind and gentle to others? Or, much more prosaically, maybe you’re in a place in your relationship – don’t nudge anyone right now – you think of your in-laws like this, or you think of your spouse like this, and you got a list of things. Again, let me give the caveat: I’m not saying every marital conflict is 50/50. Sometimes it’s 99/1. But usually there’s something a little bit closer. And before you look and you say, “You know what? You know what she’s like? You know what he’s like? I’ll tell you. Never listens, never helps, never says I’m sorry, never changes, never budges.” And you’re right to say all of those things are bad. You want to consider if you’re practicing any of those very same things? Again, this is not about a false moral equivalence to say everyone’s in the same boat, and no one’s better than anyone else, and every conflict is always 50/50, and every political issue there’s just a third way. It’s not saying any of that. It is to say it’s hard for us to be honest about our own faults, and it’s a lot easier to see what everyone else gets wrong. The righteous person, by contrast, is eager to find the good in others and quick to confess the faults in himself, while the ungodly person is quick to find faults in others and slow to see anything wrong in himself. That’s what Paul’s saying. You are looking out at the world. He doesn’t say you’re wrong with your judgments. He says you’re looking out, and you’re saying, you know what those people are like out there? They’re heartless. They’re disobedient to their parents. They’re ruthless. They’re liars. They’re cheats. You can’t trust them. And Paul says, “Yeah, they are like that, and that’s wrong, and why are you doing the same thing? You think you’re in a privileged position because you’re a religious insider, that God is going to show partiality to you?

And here’s the added indictment. Because they are judging – when you look out, and you judge those things in other people, and you know it, and they just drive you crazy. You all got a list of people that drive you crazy. I hope you don’t have your pastors on the list, but you got a list of people, certain people, and you can tell how people – what they write about, what they think about, what they podcast about – because they got a certain slice of people that just bother them. Won’t do you any good to try to compare your list with others and write it down. D.A. Carson said his dad didn’t put people down except on his prayer list. So, that’s a good idea. You put them down on your prayer list. That’s how you put them down. But we got those people, and the things that annoy us, and you know what? They may actually be bothersome things, but Paul’s argument is when you judge them for that, you show that you’re not ignorant of right and wrong. You know good from bad. Here’s the thing. Everyone, every non-Christian, knows some measure of right from wrong. Why? Because you judge people. You don’t think there’s judgment out there? Look at Twitter. You got people that you think are so far wrong, and you judge them. It means that you have a sense of good from evil. We’re so much, so much more attuned. I mean, we know how to find the sins of others like, you know, Perry Mason – was he a prosecuting or a defense attorney? I don’t know. But a lawyer who just, with lawyerly precision, can parse out every word – you said, no you didn’t do that – and we can just, when it comes to us, we fall back on big bro minds: “I’m not perfect, never said I was perfect.”

How are you and I doing with the faults we see in others? How are we doing with the commandments? Think about if you ever study the Westminster Larger Catechism – it’s the neglected part of the Westminster Standards. It goes through the Ten Commandments, and it gives a long list for some of these commandments – what you’re supposed to do and what you’re prohibited from doing. Just think about a commandment. Which one do you want to think we’re doing? Well, let’s not do any of the first four, because that’s worship of God, and let’s just stay away from those. Fifth commandment, parents – unless they’re in heaven, let’s not do that one. Murder. Well, I don’t murder, but I know Jesus says about anger and hate. Okay, don’t do that one. Sexual immorality – definitely don’t do that one. Lying. I’m not a liar. I don’t go around lying about people. I don’t bear false witness about people.

What are the sins forbidden in the ninth commandment? You can’t even see here. It’s like a whole page. These Puritans, they didn’t mess around. Here are the sins forbidden. How are you doing? Ninth commandment, lying. That’s not a hard one. The sins forbidden are all prejudicing the truth and the good name of our neighbors. You ever prejudice the good name of your neighbor? As well as our own, especially in public, judicature, giving false evidence, suborning false witnesses, appearing and pleading for an evil cause, outfacing, overbearing the truth, passing unjust sentences, calling evil good / good evil, rewarding the wicked according to the work of the righteous / the righteous according to the work of the wicked, forgery. Okay, maybe we’re feeling like I don’t forge anything. Oh, it’s tax time, but I don’t think so. Concealing the truth. How about this? Undue silence in an unjust cause? Holding our peace when iniquity calleth for either reproof from ourselves or complaint to others. Speaking the truth unseasonably. You could be speaking the truth. There’s lots of people out there valiant for truth. They’re great truth tellers. Says you can be actually breaking the ninth commandment when you speak the truth unseasonably or maliciously. You’re saying something that’s true for a wrong end or perverting it to a wrong meaning or in doubtful or equivocal expressions. You know how to tell a story where you’re not exactly lying, but you’re shading it in such a way that you know the person’s not totally seeing everything you did. Or to the prejudice of truth or justice, speaking untruth, lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, tale bearing, whispering, scoffing, reviling, rash, harsh, partial censuring, misconstruing intentions. No, we never would misconstrue anyone’s intentions. Words, actions, flattering, vainglorious boasting. It says you’re not telling the truth if you boast in things that aren’t true. Thinking – this is interesting – thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. Even the Puritan says, if you just put yourself down, that’s not telling the truth. You can be breaking the ninth commandment when you lie about yourself too good or too bad. When you deny the gifts and graces of God in other people, aggravate smaller faults, hiding, excusing, extenuating of sins, unnecessary discovering of infirmities. You didn’t need to go find that. That was not a big deal. Raising false rumors, receiving evil reports, stopping our ears against defense. No, I’m not going to hear it. There’s no way you could ever prove to me that you’re innocent. Evil suspicion, envying, grieving all the deserved credit of any, desiring to impair it, rejoicing in the disgrace and infamy of others, scornful contempt, fond admiration, breach of lawful promises, neglecting things that build toward a good report, not avoiding ourselves, not hindering all the things that procure an ill name in others.

I thought that was a commandment we might get like a B- on. And don’t you hate those things in other people? You can see them in other people. The vainglorious, the hedging around the truth, the making too big a deal of things, digging out infirmities, gossiping. You all hate it when it’s about you. I hate it when it’s about me. You judge. And Paul says, you do the same things.

Here’s the second deception. He says, you’re deceived because you don’t know what seat you’re in. This is a courtroom scene. Says several times, judge. This is a courtroom scene. Here’s the problem. You and I live our life. We imagine this courtroom scene, and you know what seat you’re in? It’s very convenient. The judge. I think of that. I am sitting in the judge’s, and I have my robe, and I’m casting out decrees and sentences upon others. Of course, I’m fair and impartial. You and I think we’re in the judge’s chair when you are in the defendant’s box. We think we’re the judge in the courtroom when we are being called upon to defend ourself, and there is no defense. You think of some of the most famous stories in the Bible. We already heard from the one in 2 Samuel 12, where Nathan the prophet comes to David after he killed Uriah the Hittite and committed adultery with Bathsheba, and he tells the story about the rich man who stole the other man’s ewe lamb. See what he’s doing? David has a moral compass. He’s a man after God’s own heart, and he hears the story, and he judges correctly. That’s a wicked man. He stole the poor man’s one little lamb. And then Nathan says, just like Romans 2:1, “You are the man.” You have no excuse. You see it clearly in someone else. That’s you, David. Or the story in John 8. I know it’s not in the earliest manuscripts – I think it probably carries a true story of Jesus’ interaction with the woman caught in adultery. The point of the story is not “hey, sin’s no big deal,” but you know, as they are picking up their stones, it’s his way of saying to everyone, “Careful, now. You see that adulterer? That’s a sin, yeah. Are you sure this is how you want to play the game?” Are you sure this is how you want to play life’s game? There’s some people, they think, “If only I had everything exactly fair, and you want mom and dad to be like that. You want everything 100% fair in life. That’s not what you want. You don’t want a life like that. Jesus says, “Okay, take up your stones.” There’s the adulterous woman. Now, on the count of three – 3 2 1, I’m going to count down – and we’re all going to throw stones at everyone who has ever committed the sin of adultery in their heart. Oh, I don’t like the game anymore, because he exposes you’re ready to be a judge. You’re in the wrong seat. There is a judge. That’s not your seat. Turns the tables. And that’s what he does here. You, O Jew – you’re thinking, as you look out on the Gentiles – you’re in the side of this equation with God. Yep. Me and God, looking out. That’s right. And the Bible does say the final judgment to come will be together with the holy ones and the angels. But right here, Paul needs to convict them of sin. You’re in the wrong seat.

Here’s the third deception. Not only do you not know what seat you’re in, you don’t know who you are in this picture. You don’t know who you are. Notice the emphatic in verse 1 and verse 3, “O man.” On the one hand, it’s just a direct form of speech. But I think there’s more to that – more to this than that going on here. Three times in Romans, we have “O man” – chapter 2:1, chapter 2:3, and chapter 9. What’s Romans 9? Ah, that’s where he’s talking about sovereignty and talking about predestination and reprobation. Chapter 9, verse 20: “Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” You see the three times we have “O man” in the book of Romans, it’s always a little bit of a finger point. Now who are you? Do you know who you are? And I think it says “O man” for a reason. Not just a kind of evocative address, but to remind you – who are you? You’re a man. You know who the judge is? God. Verse 2: “We know the judgment of God.” So right in between verse 1, “O man,” verse 3, “O man,” verse 2, it’s the judgment – not from you, from God. Some of you would be happier if you would take off your shoulders that you need to be the judge of all the earth. You don’t. Praise God. We’re not. We assume we are always with God, looking out on the bad guys of the earth. It’s like that perennial danger in the Old Testament where the people said, “The day of the Lord! Bring the day of the Lord!” because they knew the day of the Lord was the day when he visits with judgment upon the wicked, and the prophets were always saying, “Careful, careful, because judgment starts at the house of God, and you’re going to call down the day of the Lord, ready for him to go after the Canaanites and the Jebusites and the mosquito bites and all the rest, and he’s coming for you.” That’s C.S. Lewis’s argument. You’re always in judgment on others, never thinking there is a God who might judge you. So, they don’t know what seat they’re in. They don’t know who they are. They think they’re God, but they’re man.

Here’s the final deception. He says, “You think you will escape judgment in a special way, different than other people.” Connect this with the previous paragraph, because there is a very deliberate and damning comparison. He means to indict everyone. Now, to make the case against the Gentiles is one thing. That’s not a stretch. But then, to suggest the Jews are in the very same boat, that’s shocking. That’s why we’re going to get the question in chapter 3:1. Well, has there been any advantage? If we’re not any better off than the Gentiles, has there been anything good about being a Jew? Any value in circumcision? But look at this comparison that he makes from the end of chapter 1 to the beginning of chapter 2. Look at the sequence of events. Verse 32. Here’s the Gentiles: “They know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die. They not only do them, but they give approval to those who practice them.” So, here’s the three things that the Gentiles do. They know God’s righteous decree. They do the opposite. And they give approval to those who do the same. And do you see what he says the Jews are doing? They also know, verse 2 – we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. So Gentile and Jews, they both know that these are evil things, and they deserve judgment. But the Gentile is “we know it’s evil, we do the opposite, and we approve of those who do them.” The Jew, “we know these things are evil. We do – or, we know what’s righteous, and we do the opposite, and we condemn those who do the same things that we do.” See, in a way, Paul’s saying, you’re even worse. Now, it’s bad to approve it. I suppose hypocrisy is the, you know, giving honor to virtue even though you practice vice. But he’s saying, in a way, on a personal level, it’s worse. At least the Gentiles have the honest audacity to say, “Yep, that’s right. We’re going to do what’s wrong, and we approve everyone who does what’s wrong.” He says, “You, O man, you’re a judge. You know what’s right. You do what’s wrong, and you condemn those who do what’s wrong. You just won’t condemn yourself.” In other words, here’s the difference between you and the Gentiles, Paul says. They approve of those who do what you do, while you condemn those who do what you do. That’s the difference. They were ready to sit back and say, “There’s a big, huge difference between us.” He says, “Well, here’s the difference. They approve; you condemn.”

Notice the word “escape” at the end. Do you think you will escape the judgment of God? Verse 3, escape. It’s a good word. Think of people that hurt you in life, people that sin against you in life, people that cut you off on the road in life. Do they escape your notice? Oh no. Oh no. No. No. No. No. Do they escape your evaluation? Do they escape your judgment? They do not. And yet, you and I think we will escape God’s sight? God’s going to see less than you and I see? Here’s a great quote from Luther. “Here is a mistake which most people make,” Luther says, “when they see how other sinners are punished, they are glad and say, ‘Well and good. The punishment is just. The evildoer deserved it.’ In reality, however, they should become afraid and confess that person was punished yesterday, and tomorrow it may be my turn.” We know – verse 2 – we know. Paul says everyone knows. This is not hard. We all can see it. Everyone knows Voldemort – bad guy. Sauron – bad guy. You know that the Nazis are supposed to lose World War II. Whoever killed Inigo Montoya’s father – bad guy. You know it. You know it. Nobody has to teach. You just know. Scar is the wrong lion in charge. The whole soap opera genre, which has now sort of morphed into reality/dating/housewives genre – it’s all sex, backstabbing, lying, jealousy, cheating, conniving, gossip. I don’t watch them. Trust me. You say this is two sermons you’ve given this illustration. But I just imagine – nobody watches that and thinks that’s the way to live, right there. It’s just sort of a pleasure and look at how messed up that all is. Nobody thinks – in fact, everyone knows that’s wrong. We know, we judge, but somehow we think, “I’m in a different category.” Church people, different category, clean cut, conservative, different category. Religious people. We’ve been religious for generations.

Robert Haldane, Scottish preacher who preached through Romans in Geneva, Switzerland in 1817, said this: “The object of the apostle was to undeceive the Jews in their vain hope of escape, while they knew themselves to be transgressors. And it equally applies to nominal Christians. It is the most prevalent ground of hope among false professors of Christianity that God will not be so strict with them as his general threatening declares because of their relation to him as his professed people.” That’s right. Do not think you will escape when you commit the same sins that you know render the pagans deserving of judgment. Church building does not give you coverage. Your Christian parents does not give you coverage. Your general conservative disposition is not enough to save you. You, the judge, who practice the very same things, how will you escape judgment? They were deceived. They thought, “We’re in a special category all by ourselves.” Doesn’t work that way. There’s no partiality with God.

Now, these sermons are hard to preach. Not only because there’s sin and judgment and conviction, but it doesn’t let up. We’re a long way from chapter 3:21. Won’t that be a glorious day? It’ll be after the summer, I think, but it’ll be a glorious day when we turn that corner. So, we’re not there. But I can’t leave you after every week, “So, can we just peek ahead?” You see verse 4? You just have to peek. The riches of his kindness leading you to repentance. That means, friend, there’s still time. God’s patience has not run out. The sands of the hourglass have not all trickled down to the bottom. If you would but step out of the judge’s chair, where you don’t belong, and put yourself in the defendant’s seat, and cry out to the judge, “Mercy, mercy,” his kindness, his forbearance, his patience has not yet been exhausted. You know that old spiritual? “Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not the preacher, not the deacon, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my father, not my mother, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not the stranger, not my neighbor, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” That’s a very simple, very salutary, spiritual place to be in, to put down the stones and say, “I’m the adulterer who needs mercy.” To say with David in 2 Samuel 12:13, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Because there is a great God. He is an all-seeing God, an all-knowing God, an impartial God, and this God has sent his Son. This God, in love, sent his Son to the earth to die for sinners. But you need to know that you are a man, a woman, not God. That you are in the defendant’s chair. You are not the judge. And that you are in need of mercy. And indeed, God’s mercy will meet you there. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for this, your holy Word. Encourage us, rebuke us, comfort us, convict us. It’s not my brother, not my sister, not the people, not the preacher, not the elder, not the deacon, not our parents. It’s me, O Lord. It’s us. We are in the need of prayer and the need of your mercy, so give it to us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Looking to Jesus

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:54:53 GMT

Heavenly Father, we have just sung these wonderful words: “We are raised with him. Death is dead. Love has won. Christ has conquered, and we shall reign with him, for he lives. Christ is risen from the dead.” So now, in that strong name of Jesus, the risen and coming king, we plead with you that you might, by the Word and the Spirit, so speak into our hearts to give us just the word that we need to hear – a word of rebuke, of comfort, of encouragement, of sustaining grace that we might run the race that is set before us and that none in this room would fail to finish and win the prize. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is from the book of Hebrews. Toward the back of your Bible, before you get to the Peters, the Johns, the Jude and Revelation, the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, just two verses. And these are two great verses. These are two of my favorite verses in the Bible. I trust that they’re a favorite for some of you. Hopefully, many of you have them memorized. If not, be a great exercise for this Easter afternoon or this Easter week to put these two verses to memory.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

What a great morning. It’s Easter Sunday. We have these two verses. You all look just so good, so lovely. We have these two verses and, not most important but a little important, is these two verses give your pastor a long-awaited opportunity to share many, many running illustrations – many running stories. Because unlike most American boys, I did not grow up dreaming of hitting a home run in the World Series in the bottom of the ninth or a touchdown in the Super Bowl, but that I might run the fastest. Now, that dream was also unfulfilled, but I continue to run and realize that the DeYoungs, or at least this DeYoung, was given a body that was not as good running into people. I played one year of football and had many, many bruises, but was better running away from people. It’s one of the reasons, not the main reason, but one reason I love this passage.

It is a very straightforward two verses. It’s a glorious paragraph, and the outline is very simple. You all can follow it. There is one main exhortation surrounded by three supporting participles. That’s just the type of speech it is. We have them in English just like we have them in Greek. And in English, participles are often -ing words. Two of the three participles are translated that way here. But the main exhortation is this – it’s at the end of verse 1 – “Let us run.” That’s the command. That’s the exhortation. That’s the big idea in this sermon, because that’s the big idea in this paragraph. The author of Hebrews wants his listeners, and God wants you this morning, to run the race to completion. And supporting that exhortation are these three participle phrases: being surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, laying aside every weight, and looking to Jesus. You could call it the exhortation surrounded by the encouragement, the instruction, and the inspiration. Let’s move through each of those points.

We’ll start with the exhortation. It’s simple. Let us run. And it’s nice that the author here – we don’t know who the author is in this letter – but he includes himself. This is not just a command from the preacher to the people, but he says, “Let you and I – let us run this race and run it to completion.” That’s the big idea. They’re facing many challenges. There are many obstacles as we’ll see, many reasons by which they may not finish the race. They may drop out of the race. And so, the singular command is let us run. And notice it says “with endurance.” That’s a bit of a warning and some good news. This is not a sprint. It’s not a 100-meter dash. This is a long race. Endurance. As I realized in my not-so-illustrious running career that what I lacked with fast-twitch muscles, I could try to make up for with hard work and just sheer determination and some long legs to just keep enduring and finish the race.

The longest race that I’ve done was five or six years ago. You know, a few people in our church have done the same race. I did the half Iron Man in Wilmington. It’s a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike, and then a half marathon. And I had my goals and things that I wanted to accomplish. By the time I got to the running part, I had one new goal: finish. The swimming part – now that’s what really scares people – but that was the easy part, other than some brackish water, but you’re there in the intracoastal waterway, and there’s a current bringing you in. No problem. Swimming – excuse to put on a wetsuit. You get there, and you get on the bike. Not a great cyclist. It’s 56 miles. Turns out that’s a long time. You know how many miles I had trained? In advance of those 56, the longest ride I’d been on was 30 miles. So, I was, I just – I didn’t want to be overtrained. I was not overtrained. And I was on that bike, it felt like, a long time. And I just kept thinking to myself, I just have to get out of this saddle. I just have to get my feet on firm ground. I’m a runner. I’ve done lots of half marathons. I’ll just get that, and even if I have to jog. So, I got off, and the first three miles was hitting my target pace. And then, when you when you hit the wall and you have maybe 20 minutes to go, that’s one thing. When you hit the wall and you have 10 miles, it’s very discouraging. I had people stopping and giving me salt to take in. I was cramping up. And it was 10 miles of “I’m going to run to that tree,” then “I’m going to walk for a little bit,” and then “I’m going to run to the next spot,” and I’m going to be discouraged as people who look much less fit than me pass me and say, “You’re almost there.” And I think many sinful thoughts. But I finished. I was finished, and a few people who knew that I did that race however many years ago – I had to walk up from the very – I think they put that railing in just for me when I had to walk up that one time. It was – I was so sore. It was a long, long race.

And so, run with endurance, because this race as a Christian is going to take your life. That’s the completion of it: your life. And there were lots of reasons for the Hebrews, lots of temptations, to not finish the race. Here’s a few examples. Hebrews 2:1, “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” I dare say, there are more people who fail to finish the Christian race for that reason – not that they wake up and say, “You know what, I’m done being a Christian.” They just drift. Now, Hebrews definitely teaches the doctrine of “once saved, always saved.” It’s sometimes called “you cannot lose your salvation.” But one of the things that Hebrews is doing is giving us all these warnings, because there are genuinely people – and we, sadly, we all know of these people in our lives – they taste of some heavenly things, they maybe even joined a church, they were part of a Christian fellowship for awhile, and then it didn’t stick. They didn’t stick. They proved not to really be with Christ. And so, Hebrews understands that reality. And these many warnings are the means by which God’s true people will hear it and say, “Oh Lord, may I not be a drifter.” Hebrews 2:12, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away.” So, some people drift. Some people fall away from the living God. Hebrews 4:1, “While the promise of entering his rest stands, let us fear, lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.” They just didn’t make it. They quit somewhere before the finish line. Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not neglect to meet together as is the habit of some.” That’s one of the ways that we fail to finish the race. Hebrews 10:39, as the writer understands that they’re facing persecution – some of them were put in prison, some of them are facing shame and mockery for the name of Christ – he says, “We are not of those who shrink back and are not destroyed.” We don’t flinch. Somebody comes at you with a fist and does one of these things and “aha, made you flinch.” Well, yeah. I don’t like to be punched. Shrink back. They’re shrinking back in the face of persecution, just like you might be tempted to shrink back. “No one else in my family is a Christian.” In some parts of the world, you’ll be disowned. There are Christians this morning facing threats on their lives. They’ve had churches burned down. They’ve had loved ones slaughtered. Most of us will face far less than that, but it hurts. It hurts to be ostracized. It hurts to be passed over. Hurts to think that everyone may be looking at us as something strange or backwards or bigoted. And so, we shrink back. I don’t want to be it. It’s not worth the cost. Here’s the summary of what they’re facing, these Hebrews. They have a temptation to avoid pain, just like we do. They’re struggling with lack of repentance, lack of obedience, the potential lack of faith. And so, they’re in danger of giving up, of turning from Christ, of just going through the motions, of shrinking back, of playing it safe, of stopping to meet together with other Christians. All of that – same sorts of things, different contexts, different pressures – but fundamentally the same. And so, the author says to them, and God says to us, “Let us run,” because there are many ways you can drift, you can quit, you can lose track – “Run the race with endurance.”

And you notice that phrase there, at the end of verse 1, “that is set before us.” That’s important. You don’t get to pick the race. You don’t know how long the race will be. You may have, from this moment, eight days, eight months, eight years, eight decades. The goal is to finish that race to get to the end of your life loving Jesus, following Jesus, spending time with Jesus, trusting in Jesus, gathering every Sunday with God’s people to worship Jesus. I’ve prayed on many occasions, Lord, would you take me from this life rather than that I stumble and not complete the race or throw shame and contempt upon the name of Christ? Better to run a short race and run it hard through the finish line than to lose my way and have other people be lost along with me. The race is as long as your life, and it’s set before you. You don’t know the obstacles. You may look at someone else’s life and say, “How come they got an easier race to run as a Christian?” Well, first, of all, you don’t really know. You don’t know whether they sleep through every night or they toss and turn. You don’t know – just because they smile on Sunday and their family seems to be put together and they have nice clothes and their Instagram page looks pretty – you don’t know what really goes on. And even if it is the case – it’s true, some people suffer more in this life than other people. That’s a cold hard fact of reality. But it’s not for you to set the race for somebody else. You don’t know what sort of obstacles each one is given. Setbacks. Detours. It is for God to determine the duration and the intensity of the race. Our responsibility by faith is to run the race. The one set before you, that you run it to completion all the way to the finish line. That’s the command. Don’t give up. Run the race.

Here’s the encouragement. The encouragement. Look back up at verse 1. Don’t you love this verse? It starts with “therefore.” It’s actually three Greek words, conjunctions, crammed together, translated “therefore.” It’s emphatic. It’s putting these three words together so that nobody misses “therefore.” Why is the “therefore” there for? It’s there for the connection to chapter 11. The author wants us to see that chapter 11 – bring all of that down now as we talk about running the race in chapter 12. And what is chapter 11? It’s that famous hall of fame of faith chapter. Remember these men and women. Abel, with his sacrifice. Enoch, who walked with God. Noah, who built an ark in reverent fear. Abraham, who left his home, offered up his only son. Sarah, who conceived in old age. Isaac, who blessed Esau and Jacob. Jacob, who blessed the sons of Joseph. Joseph, who made mention of the Exodus. Moses, who grew up in Pharaoh’s household, turned his back on the riches of this life, sent the plagues, parted the Red Sea. Joshua, who marched around Jericho. Rahab, who hid the spies. And then the author, sensing he’s running out of time, just mentions Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. And then he references many others who conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises. Stopped the mouths of lions, like Daniel. Quenched the power of the fire, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Escaped the edge of the sword. Were made strong in weakness. Became mighty in war. Put foreign armies to flight. Received back their dead. Suffered mocking and flogging, chains and imprisonment. Were stoned, cut in two, killed with the sword, clothed in ragged garments, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. And yet, they did not give up. And you know that list, if you know some of the Old Testament, it’s a pretty sketchy group of heroes. It’s hardly anyone in there – and some of them, not quite sure why they are heroes. But for this reason, the focus there is not to simply celebrate what they did. Now, we do need heroes, and the Bible sets for us heroes. It’s a sad thing, and it’s a bad sign of a culture, that only can make movies and only tells stories with anti-heroes. Only the cynical person who doesn’t really care and is sort of a half villain and always sarcastic and – no, you need heroes, because even if one generation topples somebody’s statues, they’re going to have another set of statues. Everyone needs some heroes, some heroines, in life. Well, the heroes here, it’s not so much to focus on what they did, but what they accomplished by faith. That’s the recurring theme: all that they did by faith, believing in things that they could not see, having promises that were not yet fulfilled in their lifetime. That’s why they’re an example of all that they did by faith.

“Since we are surrounded by these witnesses” – now the word “witness” in the Bible is from Greek word from which we get our word “martyr.” Usually in the New Testament, it has an active sense – that is, someone who bears witness, someone who gives testimony, often in a court of law. And that may be part of the sense here, that these Old Testament saints, they can bear testimony to God’s goodness and God’s faithfulness and how he took care of them. But given the context with this metaphor of a race and weights and tangled up, surely we are right to see that witness here also has a passive sense. That is, the scene is not so much witnesses in a courtroom, but witnesses in a stadium. You and I on the track surrounded by spectators rooting for us, cheering for us. And not just any spectators, but these great heroes. I had some bad races back in the day. Hard to believe. I had some bad races – I wanted to tell people, because I was so far behind, I wanted to say, “I was injured.” You just wear a little something, “I’m getting over an injury.” And I got a lot of sympathy claps, and I know people meant well, but I just wanted to – I don’t even want you to know that I’m here. And sometimes I’d be far behind, and we were the Jenison Wildcats. We had green and white, and so, I’d get a well-intentioned person, “Go green.” Yeah, I know you have no idea who I am, but I know you’re trying. Doesn’t mean a lot to just – you’re a color, I’m for your color. You know what does help? Your spouse is there. Your kids are there. Your parents are there. Friends are there. Some of you young people, you do this church league basketball down at the Methodist church. I’ve seen some bigger crowds there than some church services, and you get all your friends there for pickup basketball. Isn’t that exciting, cheering you on? It makes a difference if somebody’s lining the way. You think of an Olympic race where the runner guts it out because he’s on home soil, and the crowd is lifting him up, putting flights to his feet as he goes around the track, cheering him on. He knows all of that yelling and screaming is for him.

This is one of those rare passages in the Bible where we get a little glimpse of what life is like for people in heaven. We have lots of questions about heaven. We wish there was a whole book that just told us what is it like in heaven, and there’s just a lot of things we don’t know. What we’re told is it’s joyful, and it’s glorious, and it’s wonderful, and we’re given more about the new heavens and new earth. But here’s one of the little implications. Notice we’re not told to pray to the saints. We’re not told to venerate the saints. We’re not told to ask the saints to pray for us. We’re not expecting them to haunt our houses. We’re not conjuring up mediums that try to talk to the dead. But notice the implication here. Those who have gone on to their reward, they can see you somehow. They see what’s going on here. And we’re to live our life. This is why it’s by faith, because we don’t get our glimpse into heaven except through the Word. We don’t hear their voice except “though dead, they speak” – through this Word. But by faith, we’re to hear the voices of the saints lining the track to cheer us on. And I presume it’s not just these Old Testament saints, but this is just an example of the great cloud of witnesses throughout history. Polycarp, Perpetua, Felicity, Augustine watching. St. Patrick looking on. Boniface, Hus, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Owen, the Countess of Huntington, Whitefield, Wesley, Watts, Edwards, Mary Slessor, Lottie Moon, Amy Carmichael, and your faithful childhood pastor who preached to you the gospel, that Sunday school teacher who first introduced you to Jesus, your believing parents, if you were so blessed with believing parents, your saintly grandparents, your spouse who has preceded you on in glory, your covenant child who died before you. They’re there. They’re watching. They’re waiting. They’re cheering.

And don’t miss this word, “surrounded by so great a cloud.” Maybe it’s the Lord’s providence that after two weeks of sunny days, you say, “Well, Easter, we got a cloudy, dreary day.” We need some of the rain, and maybe he knew that you needed to know what a cloud was like. Here’s Aristotle’s definition of a cloud from the ancient world: a thick conglomeration of humid vapors. Yep, that’s what it feels like. You and I are surrounded – not with a smattering of well-wishers somewhere far up into the bleachers when nobody could make it, like, you know, the also-ran bowl game that nobody cares to show up to – but surrounded by a great, thick conglomeration of saints. You’re put right in the cloud. You know, when you take off in the plane, and you got to go through the clouds before you get to the clear sky, and you come back down, and you go through a cloud. You look out there, and you can’t see anything. That’s the nature of being in a cloud. It’s thick. You’re enveloped. You’re all around. That’s the point. Swallowed up. God places us here. As you run your race, you are not alone. He places you, and you’re meant to have it here in the body of Christ and in the glorified body of Christ. One of, I’ve mentioned before, one of our favorite things to do in the summer is to watch the Tour de France in the morning. It goes three weeks. It’s crazy. Three weeks. What? 2,000 miles. Four or five miles on a bike every day. The shortest one, basically, is, you know, longer than 56 miles. I did that. I thought, “I hope to never do that again.” Not “I’d like to do that for three weeks.” If you ever watched it, and when they do one of the mountains, because it goes for three weeks, and the whole thing is won or lost in the mountains. And they’ll be doing the switchback like on Alpe d’Huez, and they’re there, and people have been camped out overnight. It’s really quite unsafe, but it makes a great spectacle, and there’s just crowds, and the best athletes in the world are barely hitting 7 miles an hour because it’s such a steep grade back and forth, and every one of the switchbacks has a name as they make it to the top of the summit. And you see there people just having to part like the Red Sea – people from all over the world, and don’t look too carefully, some of them are kind of crazy, just there enveloping them, cheering them on, some of them waiting their whole life, that they might just have a glimpse of their favorite cyclist going through the crowd. We are surrounded by a thick conglomeration of saints. They bear witness to God’s goodness and faithfulness. And they are, as it were, lining the track, coming down even out of the stands as you’re there on the inner lane. And you picture them, the saints of old, the heroes, the G.O.A.T.s, your loved ones, hunched down, hands on their knees, pumped fist, ringing the bell when you enter your final lap, cheering you on. Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses – doesn’t that make you want to keep going, to throw off the sin and the weight and finish the race?

Well, that gives way to our instruction. The encouragement – surrounded by these witnesses. And then the instruction – two things. Lay aside every weight and sin. This might be the same thing, the weight that is sin, but I think they’re slightly different allusions. Lay aside every weight, because when you’re running, you want anything to weigh you down, especially if you’re running a long race. Now, I did not plan for this illustration, but I went out running yesterday with some of my kids and some of their cousins, and we drove, and we went to a track nearby. And so, we had to jog maybe a half mile warm up to the track. With my daughter Mary, she said, “Dad, can you hold my water bottle for me as we jog?” So, I said, “Sure.” But it wasn’t just any water bottle. It was that weapon known as a Stanley water bottle. Those things are barely legal under the Second Amendment. They’re just like cast iron, like a medieval mace or something, heavy with water. And I said, “Did you just – Mary, you just gave me a sermon illustration.” That’s what I was trying to do. I thought, “I’ll jog with this for four minutes. I’m not running a marathon with this thing. You get rid of your waste. Now, I know some of you spend $50 so you can walk around with weighted vests. The idea is that later, if you really had to, you can be even lighter. I remember reading a book when I was doing more triathlons, because while I’m not great at the racing, I’m a really good reader, and so I read a lot of books about the things. And I read a book on triathlons called Speed, and it was all about the science of what makes you faster, especially on the bike and the aerodynamic and the helmet. And it tested all these things, because people spend hundreds, thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars with the special carbon bike and the helmet and the bars and the ball bearings, and the pedals, everything. Because if you can shave off a few grams, and they add up, and then you are a few pounds lighter, and the conclusion – the realistic, somewhat discouraging conclusion – of the book was, you know what, you could do all of that. And if you are trying to qualify for the Olympics, and you’re at the peak of your physical possibility, then that’s probably worth it. For the rest of you, you could probably just lose five pounds for free. That is true. $5,000 on all tricking out your bike, or lose five pounds for free. The idea is you don’t want any extra weight as you have to go and run the race. The weight here – I think it’s not quite the same as sin. We’ll come to that. I think the weight is those things in your life, they may not be sinful, but it’s anything that makes your ability to run the race as a Christian more difficult. It weighs you down. Things that may not be bad. Your smartphone. I have one, too. Not a sin to have a smartphone. A lot of good things you can do with that. Lots of ways the world is now fixed around having those gadgets. But I tell you, it can be for me and for a whole lot of us one of these weights that is one of the distractions, one of the things that feeds discontentment or pops images into your head that you ought not to see. Your weight may be as simple as you need to get more sleep, or you need better friends and influences in your life, or you need to set some posteriorities of things you’re not going to do because it’s crowding out. I think it’s basically what Jesus says in the sower and the soils about the person whose life was choked out by the cares of life, the worries of life. It’s not always the stuff. It’s all the time it takes to care for all of our stuff. The weight.

It says you need to cast off that weight and the sin that clings closely to you, or could translate that “entangles us.” This is surely a reference in the ancient world to a very long tunic or to a robe. And if you’re going to run a race, you got to get that thing up from the bottom, and you got to cinch it here. That’s where we get the biblical expression to gird up your loins. I know sounds like kind of a funny phrase for us, but girding up your loins is getting your legs ready, because you don’t want to try to run 26 miles in a bathrobe or run with a flowing tunic. You want to have maximal efficiency. So, you want nothing that can entangle you. I would say this is the verse I would use if my family says, “Dad, your running shorts are too short.” I say, “They’re just Hebrews 12:1 running shorts, is what they are. I just don’t want to be entangled.” But the idea – we can understand it – this sin that clings. The older language is of a besetting sin. A besetting sin is that sin that seems to always be right there. And your besetting sin may be different from someone else. It’s very easy to look at someone else and say, why do they spend so much money on everything, and they’re so greedy, and they’re so prone to worldliness. And you realize it’s because you don’t care about any of those things. You’re just not wired that way. And your besetting sin is anger or self-pity. Here’s what John Owen says about besetting sins: “This sin is that which hath an easy access unto our minds.” What are the sort of sins? You know, there’s some that it’s an unusual temptation, or if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. But then there are other things that have an easy access to our minds. He says, “It stands in no need of help or furtherance from any outward advantages. It is always ready to clog, to hinder, and disturb us.” I bet you could think now, if you were really bold, you would ask a friend or a family member. You better be sure you really love each other before you do this – what do you think are my besetting sins? Maybe start with the Lord, because he’ll tell you. What’s that sin that has an easy access into your mind, that tends to clog, hinder and disturb you on your race? And it’s often the opposite of some strength, and it’s your weakness. You say, you know, somebody else is judgmental, but you’re a people pleaser. Or someone else is filled with anger, and you’re filled with apathy. Someone else it’s discontentment; for you it’s self-pity. For one person, it’s the sins of the mouth, another person it’s the sins of the eyes. What are those sort of things? If you were to fall in this race, what sort of sin would it be that you would trip over? That’s likely to be your besetting sin. Notice that the author here does not tell us, “Run the race, and here are my instructions. Run harder, run faster.” Doesn’t say that. He says if you’re going to run the race, you need to take off the weights, those things that are making the Christian life harder than it needs to be. And you need to get the right sort of kit on so that you’re not tangled up in these sins. By faith, you need to take out these sins, take off these weights, so that you can run the race. Some of us are just – I just need more willpower, and if I just work harder, I’m going to run this race, and you haven’t taken off the weights. You haven’t dealt with those besetting sins. You just gut it out. That’s not what the author says.

And then he gives us, finally, an inspiration: looking to Jesus. Now “looking” implies faith and trust. This is different than simply remembering the good example of the Old Testament saints. We remember them, but now in a saving way we look unto Jesus, and we’re given his name. It’s the first time since chapter 10 that the name is given – Jesus, meaning savior. He will save his people from their sins. So, you look to him as a savior. And then he’s given two titles. He is a founder, that is he’s the one who calls us, redeems us, enables us to be born again. And then the second title, he is the perfector, that is the sanctifier, the one who causes us to persevere. Let’s put this in the context of the metaphor. Jesus is the one who sets you at the start line and gets you to the finish line. That’s the inspiration. And I’m using the word inspiration there in two different ways. There’s inspiration as “wow, what a good example, because Jesus already ran the race, and he finished” – that inspiration. And then I’m using it literally as inspirated – that is, the Spirit of Christ given to you. So it’s not just that Jesus is an example, and we look back and say, “Wow, Jesus did it. I’m going to be like Jesus,” but also that by his Spirit, he authors in us and perfects in us this faith.

Notice what’s perfected. It’s not actually us, verse 2, but he’s the perfector of our faith. There’s a deliberate contrast with the end of chapter 11. Look at verse 39: “All these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” You hear perfect, and we think sinless perfection. That’s not what it means in Hebrews. It means qualified, fulfilled. They had faith, but they did not have all that had been promised to them. They did not have the fulfillment of their faith. It wouldn’t be until the life and death and resurrection and ascension of Christ that, together with us, trusting in Christ, they, too, could have the realization of what was promised. So, our faith is made perfect. That is, God enables us to get from the starting line to the finish line. He is the author and the actualizer, the beginner and the ender. He’s the one who gets us enduring to the end. And notice what it says about Jesus. He endured the cross. You see the connection? Let us run the race with what? Endurance. It’s a long race. It takes endurance. So, here’s the author and perfector of our faith – Jesus – what did he do? No one was given a more difficult race to run than Jesus. No one had to endure more suffering in his race than Jesus. Whatever race has been set out for you, however difficult, and not to minimize that difficulty, but it is not the race that Jesus had to run. He endured the cross. How? Despising the shame. That’s a strong word. Despising the shame. He counted it as nothing, not worthy of notice or remembrance. We can think about the cross and mainly want to focus on the pain of the cross. And it certainly was excruciating. There was almost no worse way devised by man that someone could die than the cross. The nails in your feet and your hand. You wouldn’t die mercifully, rather quickly, by say, hanging from a noose, but you would die, and you would just wait for asphyxiation, and birds might gather about you. That’s why they would go, and they would break your bones. That was – to break your legs was an act of mercy, because otherwise, involuntarily, you would prop up yourself to try to gasp another breath of air in your lungs, and you would prolong your miserable existence. To break your legs was to help you die more quickly. But the gospels don’t focus on that. In fact, do you remember, the surprising thing was they went to break his legs, and he was already dead. Pilate was surprised that he died so quickly. There were two other men hanging on the cross that day. They also faced excruciating physical pain. What the gospels focus on, rather than that pain, is the shame. One after another: the purple mocking cloak, the crown of thorns, the faux scepter, those one after another who come and say, “If you’re the king of the Jews, why don’t you take yourself down from the cross?” Even one who is a passerby, it said, scoffed and jeered at him. That was what the gospel tells us. There was such shame. No one deserved mockery less than Jesus. He deserved every honor that we could heap upon him. He deserved immediately to be translated to endless bliss and glory. He deserved every kind of award and ribbon and medal around his neck, and instead he gets mockery and ridicule and derision and humiliation and scorn and shame. And Hebrews says he counted it as nothing. He disregarded it. He did not succumb to it. He did not flinch because of it. He did not faint under it. He despised that shame.

How did he do it? The same way you and I will do it. For the joy that was set before him. He knew. He knew what was coming. Three times in the gospels, he predicted that he would die, and he would be raised to life. He knew the joy, the joy that would be his in securing the salvation of the elect and the joy that would be his in his future ascension and exaltation and seated at the right hand of the throne on high. For that joy, he understood. What is the shame? It’s like if you’re a groom, and you’ve waited your whole life to be married, and at your rehearsal dinner when you get up to give a speech and pass out gifts to your friends and family, you trip. You stumble. You spill the day’s lasagna all over your head, and juice falls over, and you’re a sticky, embarrassing mess. Everyone laughs. Everyone points. Now, do you like that? Do you wish it had happened? No. Is it enjoyable? No. That ruin your day? No. Why? Because you’re getting married tomorrow. And no, that didn’t happen to me. It’s just a made-up story. You have joy. Joy. Somebody says, “I’m so sorry. You must be so embarrassed. That was really humiliating.” Well, wasn’t the best part of my day, but you know what’s happening tomorrow? I’m getting married. You despise the shame. You count it as nothing. You set it aside. You pay it no heed. You shake it off. What’s a little embarrassment when you have such joy before you? That’s Christ enduring the cross. And he knew it. Hebrews tells us for that joy – as they looked up and mocked and spat, and he saw soldiers ready to tear his clothes and cast lots that they might divide up his garments. And as they hurled insults at him; said, “You who are going to save the nation, you can’t even save yourself.” This text tells us Jesus thought to himself, “You are mistaken. This is not the end. I will live. I will reign. I will be exalted. On the other side of this shame is endless, unending joy.” Three days later, he came to life.

We sang the song, “See what a morning, gloriously bright, with the dawning of hope in Jerusalem. Folded the grave clothes. Tomb filled with light, as the angels announced Christ is risen.” One of the other hymns, too, mentioned the folded grave clothes. Why, of all the things to sing about on Easter, why does that make its way into our songs? Why are we singing about laundry preferences? Well, John’s gospel tells us that for a reason. It tells us that to compare the resurrection of Christ in chapter 20 with the resurrection of Lazarus in chapter 11 – same exact word used for those grave clothes – to make this comparison that although Lazarus was raised to the resumption of life, Jesus was raised triumphant over death. Lazarus, you recall, came forth from the tomb, and we’re told very explicitly, bound with linen strips, wrapped in a cloth, he comes waddling out of there like a mummy who just woke up. And when they get over the shock of “Lazarus lives,” and they plug their nose because he stinketh, they have to take off the bandages. Come, Lazarus. Not so with Jesus. Nothing to unwrap, nothing to unwind, no one to unbind. Jesus did not struggle to get free. He did not stumble out of the tomb like some mummy. He got up on resurrection morning and took off those nasty death pajamas. He folded them up and put them in the corner. I won’t be needing those ever again. Jesus was not simply living again. He was done dying forever. Because Lazarus, however long he lived out his days, maybe to an old man, he would have to die again. He would be in the grave clothes again. But not Jesus. His next step and his next stop after a time on earth would be heaven and exaltation and seated on a throne at his Father’s right hand. Death is dead. Love has won. Christ has conquered. Folded up the grave clothes.

Where are you in the race? You may sense that you’re nearing the last straightaway late in life. Keep going. You may be midway point, as far as you can tell. Maybe you realize this morning you thought you were in the race, and you haven’t really started. Jesus can get you started. Maybe you realize you’ve been on a really long detour, and it’s about time to get back on track and running this race, because you don’t want to drift away. You don’t want to fall. You know you have the saints cheering you on, and you want to keep going. The race is long. It’s as long as your life. There are many difficulties, dangers, toils, and snares. But we can finish it by faith, by grace, looking to Jesus. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this Word, this perfect, inspired Word. So now, by the grace of Jesus, the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit, would you help us to run the race, cast aside every weight and the sin which so easily clings to us? We like to think about other people’s sins and the weights that they need to cast off, but help us think about ourselves, and keep us going all the way to the finish. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

They Know God’s Righteous Decree

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 10:30:04 GMT

We’re continuing with our series in the book of Romans. We come now to the end of Romans chapter 1. Next week for Easter, we’ll take one week off. I’ll be in Hebrews. This morning, the end of Romans chapter 1 – the last paragraph, verses 28 through 32:

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind, to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them.”

This whole section, from chapter 1 verse 18 until chapter 3 verse 20, is about the universality of sin. No person, no people, no place is exempt from the problem of sin. That’s the argument that Paul is making with an unrelenting intensity. And chapter 1 in particular, verses 18 through 32, have been focused on the Gentile world. This church in Rome had both Jews and Gentiles, and what he’s going to do is shift in chapter 2. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2: “Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.” See, it’s a very tricky thing that Paul is doing. Lest anyone, the sort of insiders, the people that have known God for a long time – we might think of it in our context, lest the lifelong churchgoers would get too comfortable. and say, “Give it to them, Paul. That’s what the world is like out there, all of those bad people” – in chapter 2, he says, “Now hold on a minute. Before you judge them, you better think if you do any of the same things.” And he’s going to make the point, if you look in verse 12, “For all who have sinned without the law will perish without the law, and all who sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” So there is judgment both for those who sinned apart from the law of Moses and those who sinned under the law of Moses.

But here in chapter 1, this last paragraph, we’re coming to the conclusion, the climax of this focus on the world out there. This is, from their point of view as a Jew, the world of the pagans, the world outside of Israel, the world that did not know God. We might think, as church people, this is what the world is like out there, separated from Christ. This is what people are like – people who don’t know God. Now, careful, because here in chapter 1, we’ve already seen that Paul talks about knowing God and not knowing God – two different ways. There’s a way to know God, and everyone knows God. And then there’s a way that only some people really know God. He uses the word “knowledge” in those two different senses. So, he said back in verse 21, if you look, “for although they knew God” – that’s the point he was making. Because of creation, through general revelation, God has given to us all a seed of divinity – that’s what John Calvin called it – an awareness of God. Now, they did not know him savingly or covenantally or believingly, but he says absolutely, you can be sure of this fact: everyone you meet, they know God. They may say they don’t even believe God exists – the psalmist says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” – because they have so suppressed that truth in unrighteousness. They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man. You see that in verse 23, the first exchange. And then they exchanged the truth for a lie – verse 25, the second exchange. And they exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, verse 26. So, Paul sees the expression of homosexuality as a final stage in God handing people over to their desires. This unnatural exchange.

The conclusion, then – look now at our text for this morning. Verse 28 is stated once again: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God.” So, they knew God, but they did not acknowledge God. They did not – you could translate this “they did not approve of God.” They did not take him seriously. They refused to know what they knew. They knew something, and they refused to know it. That is the paradox of the human condition in sin. You know something. Paul’s going to talk later in chapter 2 about the conscience. You know something, and yet you, with every fiber of your being, you don’t want to know it. And then this exchange, this fatal exchange. With each one, God gave them over. So, three exchanges and three times Paul says, “God gave them over.” So, look at verse 24: “God gave them up to the lusts of their heart.” Verse 26, “God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” And now here in verse 28, “God gave them up to a debased mind.”

Now, think about this. Now, we don’t want to be over-precise, because these are overlapping categories, and the Bible can speak about heart, soul, mind, strength and mean roughly the same thing, the innermost part of a person. And yet, these are not identical terms. Think about the sequence, because it’s not insignificant, from verse 24 to 26 to 28. Paul says God has given them over first to the desires of the heart, then the passions of the body, and finally to the reasoning of the mind. From the heart to the body to the mind. Or you could put it like this: part of God’s judgment in the world is that he gives sinners over to what they want, what they feel, and what they think. We just got to reflect on this one more time, because this is really remarkable, because the world will tell you over and over again in commercials, in movies, in banners, in bumper stickers – they will tell you that the height of your human evolution and true freedom is you get to do what you want to do.

Paul is saying something really, really countercultural. If you’re here this morning, and you have believed this lie, and you say to yourself, “Finally, I can do what I want to do.” Paul says, “Careful, that may be God’s judgment.” You say, “No, I get to do what I feel.” May be God’s judgment. “I finally get to do whatever I think.” Careful, that may be God’s judgment. If you say to yourself, “I am finally doing what makes me happy” – people say that sometimes. “I don’t want this – you’re giving me these rules, this law, this religion. Look, I am finally doing what makes me happy.” And it may make you happy now, short term. Or you may say to yourself, “I have finally found the form and the kind of sexuality that works for me.” Or you may say, “I am living according to my truth.” I don’t deny that you may be living according to “my truth” or what makes me happy or the sexuality that works for me, but we have to deal fairly with what Paul says here. The devil likes to convince people that God’s judgment is really self-actualization. I’m doing what I want, what feels good, and what I think is right. The devil says that’s what it means to really be human. And God’s Word says that’s what it looks like, also, when God’s judgment is poured out, and he gives you over to what your heart wants to do, what your body thinks feels good, and what your mind tells you is right. Three times: he gave them up, he gave them up, he gave them up. And notice in this progression throughout chapter 1, the last step is the mind. You might think that the first step is the mind, and it’s true – it says earlier that they knew God, and they suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. So, we don’t want to be overexact about the sequence. But it is significant that the last step here is he gives them over to a debased mind. Now, there is an obvious word play in the Greek. They did not think knowledge of God, you might translate “worthwhile” – the word edokimasan. So, God gave them up to a mind that was adokimos. Now you can just hear that those have the same sound, and it’s very intentional. To put it in English, it might sound like this: since they didn’t think knowledge of God was worthwhile, God gave them a mind that was worthless. That’s the play on words. You didn’t think God was worthwhile, so God gave you a mind that is worthless. That’s what these two Greek words do.

There’s a reason when we sometime, Lord willing, get to Romans 12, that the “therefore in view of God’s mercy” – how does the transformation of your life happen, but the renewal of your mind? The last step in this judgment is to turn the mind over. You don’t even think right. You think you are supremely logical. As you’ve heard me say many times, we think we are very rational beings, when in fact we are very rationalizing beings. We know the fallen mind is absolutely brilliant at finding arguments and reasons for the things that we know we already want to do. We’re rationalizing creatures. God gives people over as a form of judgment to a mind that can’t even think. Do you ever have that experience? Think why can’t you see these things? Because blind people can’t see these things. They need their eyes opened. They need their mind enlightened. Their mind doesn’t work right. Now you say – perhaps you’re not a Christian, or you know people who are not Christians – and you say, “Well, but you Christians, you don’t – you all start somewhere. Everybody starts with some place.” And that’s true. The goal is to simply be honest about where we are starting. Some people start, and their first place with their sort of knowledge of the world is their own experience or the supposedly assured results of science, which when you get into science, you really realize science disagrees about all sorts of things. And we say as Christians, we start with God. We start with the revelation of God in his Son, the Word made flesh, and the revelation of God in the Bible, the inspired words of God. And we don’t do it perfectly. We see through a glass dimly. We’ll all get to heaven, and we’ll have some of those seminars where we’ll find out we really were all Presbyterians all along. We just didn’t know it. Probably the Presbyterians, we even got some things wrong. And we’ll see it. So, we don’t all see it, but we’re trying to be honest. We start somewhere. We start with God.

And the non-Christian starts somewhere. It’s not simply a clean, logical syllogism. As I think about how people deconstruct – maybe quietly this is what’s going on in your heart, or sadly, someone you know, child, grandchild, someone you love, friend in school, deconstructing – I think the objections to Christianity in our day, and probably this is relatively constant through time and history, and it’s more sophisticated than this, but I think there are three basic objections to Christianity. You can put them very simply like this: Christianity is dumb, Christianity is mean, Christianity doesn’t work for me. Those are the three basic arguments. I’m not trying to make light of them. They come in simple forms; they come in sophisticated forms. Christianity is dumb. This was really the edge of apologetics maybe a generation or two ago. Defending the miracles, creation, does that really fit with Darwin and evolution, science, history, can we trust the gospels, the Bible’s full of errors – those sort of objections. Christianity is intellectually bankrupt. Today, I think it’s more the argument Christianity is mean. Didn’t Christians support slavery? Isn’t Christianity anti-women? Is it homophobic? This doctrine of hell is cruel. Christians everywhere are too political. I don’t like Christianity – it’s mean. And then the other basic argument is some version of Christianity doesn’t work for me, or it didn’t work for me. And this can be sincerely held. We don’t want to make light of genuinely bad experiences people have had, but sometimes it’s perception more than reality. I had bad parents. I had bad friends. I had a bad church. I had a bad experience. Christianity doesn’t work for me. Christianity is dumb. Christianity is mean. Christianity doesn’t work for me.

Now, these objections – and trust me, this is coming back to Romans 1 – these objections, I think, also fall into three kinds of people that ask these questions or raise these points. Three different trajectories, you might say. One would be the person who has faith with doubts. This may be you, a Christian. Jude, the book of Jude, says, “Have mercy on those who doubt,” so the Bible understands that Christians sometimes have doubts. This may be you. Faith seeking understanding. So, you raise these questions about science or about is the Bible really good, and how do these miracles, and how do I make sense of this really bad church experience that I had? And there’s a certain way to ask that. And you’re really saying, “Help me hold on to Jesus. Help me. I want to believe. I do believe, but help my unbelief. I have doubts.”

There’s a second trajectory, which is the person who seems to be an honest seeker. Now we’ll come to chapter 3, and in one sense, no one seeks after God from a pure heart. But we’ve met people – you may be like this here – you’re saying, “I don’t have anything for or against Christianity. Jesus seems to be a good person. I’m open to – just tell me the facts. Give me the information, wherever the truth is. So, I have some questions. And there are people who genuinely have these intellectual obstacles, and they say I like the idea of becoming a Christian but can you help me with the story of creation, or can you help me with a biblical view of sexuality?

But then there’s a third category. This is what Romans 1 is thinking of, in particular. And the third trajectory are those people who already know where they’re going. They already know the destination. They’re simply looking for any route that will get them there. What I mean is the person who has, if they’re honest, has already decided in their heart, biblical sexuality, biblical morality, I don’t like it. It can’t be true. I can’t stay with it. Now, my mind is in overdrive, looking for a route that will allow me to get to the destination that I already know I want to reach. I’ve already reached – here’s what happens, your heart goes there first, and then your head starts looking for avenues to get there. Romans 1 would have you consider if your objections to the Bible, to Jesus, to Christianity, to traditional sexual ethics are truly the result of deep exploration, intellectual wrestling, reading the smartest, best minds on the topic, or if they are a representation of conclusions you already know you want in search of reasons that will allow you to sustain those conclusions.

I’ll give you an example. Aldous Huxley, one of the most famous intellectuals of the last century, famously died on November 22, 1963. Two other famous people died on that day. JFK was assassinated, and C.S. Lewis died, so there’s been books written about Aldous Huxley, JFK, C.S. Lewis all died on the same day. His most famous work is the dystopian novel you probably had to read in school, Brave New World. Here’s a different book from Huxley, Ends and Means. It’s a very candid paragraph. Here’s what Huxley wrote: “I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning and consequently assumed that it had none and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality, because it interfered with our sexual freedom.” This is remarkable candor. “The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning, the Christian meaning, they insisted of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt. We would deny that the world had meaning whatever.” Huxley says, in other words, to be very honest, me and my friends wanted to do what we wanted to do. We had a certain way that we wanted to live. And in order to get to that conclusion, we thought the best way to deal with that argument is simply a philosophy of meaninglessness. None of it matters. He eventually tried to combine faith and science with various strands of Eastern religion, meditation, strands of Hinduism, Buddhism. Why those? Because they’re less doctrinally – they’re not western, they’re not Christian. He experimented at the very end, was a firm believer in LSD and psychedelic drugs. A brilliant man, about as famous as a literary man can be, and one of the most tragic descriptions and accurate descriptions of Romans 1 I’ve ever encountered. Essentially admitting there was a way I wanted to live, and my mind found the right philosophy to justify the kind of life I wanted. That’s what he said. That’s what the fallen mind does. I have a conclusion. I have a destination. Now my mind will find the shortest route that gets me from here to there.

And Paul says that’s what God does in his judgment. He gives people up to a debased mind. They don’t even think correctly. And from this debased mind – they didn’t think God was worthwhile, so they had a worthless mind to do what ought not to be done, and now Paul gives this tremendous vice list, a list of sins. There are several vice lists in the New Testament – Mark 7, Romans 1 here, Romans 13, 1 Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, Colossians 3, 1 Timothy 1, Revelation 21. Almost every vice list in the New Testament has sexual immorality in it, and usually at the very beginning. Now, you notice here, sexual immorality is not listed here in this vice list, but that makes sense. Why? Because Paul just got done talking about sexual immorality. And in fact, the two sins – think about what are the two big sins that Paul has already talked about in Romans 1? Because these are the two quintessential sins in the Old Testament. Part of what Paul is doing is saying, I’m talking about Gentiles, but I’m pulling two quintessential sins – categories – from your own history, Jewish people. It’s the sin of idolatry and the sin of adultery or sexual immorality. Throughout the Bible, God wants to depict what is sin like. You usually get one of those two pictures. It’s like idolatry. It’s like adultery. So, at the head of almost every vice list in the New Testament is sexual immorality. And one of the concerns among others – last week’s sermon was about homosexuality, this week’s sermon is continuing – but one of the difficulties is I have yet to find anyone, in writing or in person, who adopts a revisionist view of LGBTQ (that is, saying that what Christians for 1950 years thought the Bible says, it actually says something else) – I’ve yet to find someone who has that revisionist view who doesn’t at the same time end up with a different view of the character of God, about the existence of hell, about his displeasure over sexual sin. In other words, it’s never so simple as I believe everything I’ve always done – exactly the same, exactly the same theology – I just have taken one thing that I used to think counted as a sin. I’ve just taken that out. I don’t think that’s a sin anymore. It never works that way. Suddenly the evil of fornication becomes something less concerning. Monogamy becomes something less mandatory. The view of God and his edges and his wrath – you have to start reading the Bible in a very different way.

All of the vice lists contain sexual immorality. Here we’ve already dealt with that, and Paul is going to give a list of 21 sins. It is a daunting list. The very first word – and we’re not going to talk about all of them – unrighteousness. That’s likely the banner category. Remember back in verse 18, we saw the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness? So, unrighteousness is the big category. We’ve already seen that. The wrath of God against unrighteousness. We’ve seen the example of idolatry and sexual immorality. Now he gives this category again, unrighteousness, and what follows are 20 different sins. So, if you add unrighteousness, it’s 21. If that’s the headline, then there’s 20 more. You can look at them roughly in three groups. There are four nouns qualified with the word “all.” So, they were filled with “all…” And then after that, there are five nouns. They are “full of.” We have five nouns there. And then 12 characteristics, beginning before verse 30, “they are” – we have 12 items there. The last four begin with the negation. In Greek, when you want to negate something you put an alpha at the beginning of it, so an atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in God. Agnosticism – gnosis is knowledge – agnosticism means someone who isn’t sure or doesn’t have knowledge. And helpfully, the ESV here in English gives a sense of that by translating verse 31 with those four words that have the same kind of resonance to them. Foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. And that carries over nicely the kind of rhythm that the words have. The grouping here is more rhetorical than it is theological. One translation says about those last four words, “they are without brains, honor, love or pity.”

Let me make a few points about this list. One, Paul is not saying that everyone in the Gentile world, nor should we think that everyone apart from Christ, is like everything in this list. We know there are the category of God-fearers in the book of Acts. Paul is going to say in the next chapter that people have a conscience within them. So, Paul is not saying that every Gentile out there just hit all 21 of these sins. Just like he doesn’t think that every Gentile in the ancient world was guilty of homosexuality. He’s talking about a big picture. This is the way that the world is like apart from God. The second thing to note about this list: mostly this is about the second table of the law. We talk about the Ten Commandments, the first table, have to do with – vertically – our relationship to God, and the second table, our relationship to our neighbors. With the exception of that phrase in verse 30, “haters of God,” everything else in this list focuses on social ills. Did you notice that? This is all human-to-human mistreatment. This is all neighbor to neighbor, family to family. The third thing to note about the list is how rather prosaic much of it is. Now, why is this important? Because we may focus on the really graphic sins here, and we may sort of excuse ourselves and think, well, boy, that’s – I don’t know, murder, evil, haters of God. But most of the list is pretty prosaic. Covetousness, envy, gossip, haughty, boastful, disobedient to parents. You know anybody like that? You have any of those temptations in your own life? This is really key, because we might think, as Paul was making this argument, that the crescendo would be “and after you mistreat people, then finally you dishonor God.” But it doesn’t say – that’s not the top of the mountain. Or if you say that’s the top of the mountain, everything else slides down, I guess you could say from that. No. He started with – where did this all go wrong? It’s not that it all went wrong because you didn’t love your neighbor as yourself, and then eventually you didn’t love God. It all went wrong earlier in chapter 1, because you did not honor God as God, and you did not give thanks. You didn’t worship him, and you didn’t say thank you. And now, because of this, it relates. So, the person who says, “Well you know, I don’t believe in God. I don’t have time for this Christianity thing. I’m still a very decent person.” Well, by God’s common restraining grace, there are decent people in the world. And we all have neighbors and friends – they don’t go to church, they’re not Christians, they can be kind, nice, decent people. But you get to the heart, you get to any human heart, and you get to a society that is completely devoid of the true knowledge of God, and you’re going to find these things in greater and greater abundance. The first step is dishonoring God. Everything in your life is downstream from whether you honor God and give thanks to God.

So, here’s just the fourth comment about this list. This list may seem over the top – I mean, by the time you get through it – haters of God, inventors of evil, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. It’s like, really, Paul? Is it really that bad? Well, how many of you are addicted to true crime podcasts? Not shaming you for your true crime podcast. I’m telling you, you know there’s a lot of bad things in the world. Murdaugh murders. Yep. Truth is stranger and more evil than fiction sometimes. If you’ve ever watched any documentary about a rock star, something like this. I have – you’ll be glad to know your pastor has not watched one second of any of these shows, but from what I can tell, they would be a good depiction of Romans 1: Love Island, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, The Bachelorette, and there’s some big controversy with those two things there. I don’t know. I haven’t watched them. I don’t think you should. Now listen, it’s true. There’s a way to watch entertainment. We watch movies. We have TV. We got stuff. We got devices. Yep. There’s a way. There’s a way. Even the Bible. You say the Bible’s full of sin. It is true. There’s stories that have sin, but there’s great art, and it’s redemptive. Okay. It’s going to take a lot of convincing that Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has a powerful redemptive arc and that it’s great, lasting art. Here’s just what I want each of us to consider. I mean me too, and my own family, all of us. It’s one thing if the Bible tells us in words what Romans 1 looks like, to make it look ugly as it is and turn us away from it and hate it and turn to God in repentance and show us what God is doing in the world. It’s another thing when we spend our time to be entertained by Romans 1. Here’s a simple question – especially young people, with what you watch, but look, it’s all of us – just ask yourself this question. When I finish watching this show, can I say, “Thank you, Jesus”? Can you do that? That’s a simple question. Can I thank Jesus for how this has led me to what is pure and excellent and beautiful and true and has taught me things about myself and about God? I dare say a whole lot, most of what’s out there, is not going to pass this test. It’s saying Romans 1– I can go to church on Sunday, and that’s a bad paragraph, and then the rest of the week it’s a very entertaining paragraph.

Here’s the surprise in this passage. Verse 32. There are two remarkable surprises after that list. Here’s the first surprise in verse 32: “Though they know God’s righteous decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die” – a pause there. That’s a surprise. He’s saying they know. They know that the people that do these things deserve to die. Now, note what Paul is not saying. He’s not saying every single sin here is liable to the death penalty, or we should have a penal system where everyone – you gossip, you’re put to death. No, that that doesn’t pan out. What he is saying is everyone in the world knows that the totality of these things, the sort of person described in this final paragraph, is the sort of person who deserves to die. Paul says everyone knows that. The legal system, civil laws around the world, are going to punish murder. Many places don’t have capital punishment, but they have some sense that this person ought to be locked away. Think of all of the popular stories and how they work. I mean, the movies, the books, the stories that everybody likes, and they stick with you. They got some bad guy, and that bad guy or girl fits these characteristics, which is why you’re drawn along to say, “I can’t wait till they get what’s coming to them.” And you want to see – of course you want to see – the Emperor be thrown into the pit of things at the end of Return of the Jedi. You want to see something happen to Thanos or Voldemort or Sauron or Sarumon. You think about The Lion King. Scar. You know, he’s evil because he’s got a British accent in the cartoon. He’s just – Jeremy Irons – he’s just chills up your spine. What is he? He’s jealous. He’s covetous of his older brother, Mufasa, because he knows he’s weak. And he spreads slander about how he really died and puts that in Simba’s ears. And he’s an inventor of evil, and he makes plans, and he rules by deceit, and when he rules over the land, everything becomes dark and barren, because he’s foolish and faithless and heartless and ruthless. All of that, until you get to the end, like yes, get rid of Scar. He deserves to die. You have every great story – Aladdin, Jafar, he’s a bad guy – and when you watch that – Aladdin, just tell Jasmine the truth. Stop, stop, just don’t – stop lying. Even there, you know.

I read this recently: Russell Crowe, Gladiator movie, I didn’t see the second one. He got into conflict with the writers during – what was that, 25 years ago – with the character Maximus, because he said – I don’t think Russell Crowe is some great paragon of Christian virtue – but he said the writers wanted to make Maximus to have sexual escapades. And Russell Crowe was adamant that he not engage in immoral behavior, because he said it would gut the story of its moral core. Here’s somebody just with the law of God saying the audience wants – this is a story, you get past all the flashing swords and the blood and guts and the gladiators in the arena, it’s about a bad guy, Commodus, and the Maximus character, and he had enough understanding to say no, no, no. You want the audience to find the reason they they’re rooting for him and against Commodus, who’s weak and jealous and envious, an inventor of evil, and all these things in Romans 1, because they want this person. This is the hero, and this person deserves to die. Paul’s right. The Bible’s right. And the world knows it by a thousand different movies and books and stories. You know these things are deserving of death. And if you don’t know them from the stories that our world tells, just think about if any of these things happen to you. If someone gossips about you, spreads lies about you, devises ways to hurt you, is always jealous of you, scheming to take what you don’t have. Or you meet someone who is always bragging about themselves, full of herself. He’s unsympathetic toward other people. He never shows mercy. He’s always seeking vigilance and vengeance. How would you feel if your child flipped you the bird? You don’t need an advanced degree in moral psychology. When those things happen to you, you know they’re bad. When you see these in other people, you know they’re wrong. We hate them when they happen to us. We hate these things when we see them in other people. Paul is right. The Bible’s right. They knew, and they know, people know the things in this list, these 21 sins, they know are wrong.

And here’s the second surprise. Yet, they not only do them – okay, we’ve been talking about that, but here’s the surprise. The surprise, the very climax of this whole chapter, lands here, “but they give approval to those who practice it.” This seems backwards. You would think approval, bad; doing it, worse. But Paul says, in the crescendo of his argument, not only do they do them, but here’s how bad it is. The very worst part, the very tippy top of this mountain of iniquity, is that they approve those who do them. That’s surprising. Why does Paul end there? Why is the applauder of evil even one step worse than the doer of evil? Part of it may be that the applauder is not under the same pressure or temptation. You know, it’s one thing if somebody in the flow of passion commits some evil. That’s wrong. It’s another thing for the person standing by to say, “Atta boy, atta girl.” They call evil good. Here’s why it’s the crescendo. Because they know it is wrong – that’s the point Paul made, you know this is wrong. When it happens to you, you hate it. When you see it in other people, you hate it – but you go ahead and cheer it on anyways, knowing that these things deserve death, knowing that these things are liable to judgment. So, what kind of person are you when you cheer on others on the path toward judgment? If you did them, that’s bad. But it’s possible that you did them, and everyone knows you’re ruining your life, and you’re on your way to death and judgment as you deserve, as you did them. One step worse is that you also clap and cheer on and celebrate and applaud all those who are doing the very same things. It’s twisting the prayer that Jesus gives us in the Lord’s prayer. Instead of saying, “Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil,” when we approve of these things, it’s saying, “Father of lies, lead them into temptation, and deliver them not from the evil one.” What could be worse? Damning not just ourselves, but others. Encouraging public opinion to approve of such things, cheering on the increase of evil. Here’s how John Murray puts it: “We are not only bent on damning ourselves, but we congratulate others in the doing of those things that we know have their issue in damnation.” We are not only bent on damning ourselves, but we congratulate others. Way to go. So happy for you. I’m so proud of you. I celebrate as you march on the same path toward condemnation.

It’s for good reason Martyn Lloyd Jones, in his sermon on this text, comes to the end, and he says, “Oh, praise God for verses 16 and 17, where we start.” Praise God for – where would we be without verses 16 and 17? Now, he’s working. We’re not even halfway through. We have all of chapter 2, we have half of chapter 3, before he comes back to the righteousness of God in 3:21. But Lloyd Jones says rightfully, where would we be at the end of a list like this and a bleak picture of humanity like this if we didn’t have the power of God in the gospel unto salvation and the righteousness of God that is revealed from faith to faith for those who grab hold of it with the faith of an empty hand? “Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling.” You see what Romans 1 is doing? It starts by showing us the world in its beauty shows us the existence and glory of God. And then by the time we get to the end of chapter 1, it showed us that the world under wrath also shows us the existence and the glory of God. The beauty of it and the outpouring of wrath shows that there’s a God, and he’s a great God, a mighty God. And when you look out in the world, why is the world the way that it is? Well, part of the answer is God and his judgment handing people over to the sin that they so crave and desire. And part of what Paul is doing is to show the reasonableness of God’s wrath. This is not flying off the handle, God had a bad God day, and he just lightning bolts like Zeus. The reasonableness of God’s wrath, which, later in chapter 12, “present your lives as a reasonable act of service to God” – here he’s showing this is reasonable, what God is doing. Their high-handed defiance.

This is Holy Week, and this is a week – like every week, but especially this week – would you take time to look at Jesus? Whether you’ve celebrated Holy Week your whole life or you’ve just wandered into church this morning, follow him from Palm Sunday with the Galilean pilgrims, worship him, to his conflict with religious leaders in the temple, to Maundy Thursday, washing his disciples’ feet, giving them a new commandment, teaching them about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to the betrayal, his arrest, his sham trial, his flogging, his scourging, his crucifixion, silence Saturday, and finally, one week from now, the empty tomb. Get to know Jesus. Spend time with Jesus. Look at what you see in Jesus. This is Palm Sunday, and we read – Luke read from the passage in Luke 19, but it goes on in the next paragraph. We call it the triumphal entry, but it’s really the triumphal approach, because Luke 19 ends. Jesus looks out. He’s just approached Jerusalem. He hasn’t gotten there yet. And he looks out over Jerusalem. And you know how Palm Sunday ends? He’s weeping. He weeps, because he says, “If only you had known. If only you had known the one who came to offer peace. But you’re not going to know it. Most of you are not going to get it. And you’re going to – the crowds will cry out, ‘Crucify!’ And you’ll put me to death. If only you had known.” You know what’s sadder than your own tears? Jesus weeping over you for not getting, grabbing, believing what he has to offer. May the Spirit of Christ so work in our hearts that we could say with the crowds on Palm Sunday, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for your Word. All of your promises are yes and amen in Christ. Thank you for the passages which show us our sin, that we might see in greater relief and brilliant colors the glory of our savior. And we give all praise and glory and honor to the powerful name of Jesus, who can save us from our sins. In his name we pray. Amen.

Contrary to Nature

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:49:55 GMT

Gracious heavenly Father, as we come to your Word, our earnest prayer is that we would not be hearers only, but also doers. So, help us to receive with humility, repentance, and faith the word that you have for us. We ask for your help in Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you’re visiting here this morning, I want you to know what we do, week after week, is we go through books of the Bible verse by verse. This is the seventh sermon in Paul’s letter to the Romans. So, we’re probably going to have a lot of these. This is sermon number seven, and Lord willing, next week we’ll be in the next verses. And one of the good things about a church that goes through the Bible like that is the Bible gets to set the agenda for us. God gets to tell us in his Word what he wants us to think about, what he wants me as the preacher to talk about, what he wants us to consider. And that means that this morning’s sermon is about homosexuality and the sinfulness of homosexuality.

Let me make two preliminary comments before reading our text. First, I want you to know what this sermon is and what this sermon is not. This is not a systematic theology lecture. I like those. I do those. Those are good. So, I’m not touching on marriage, gender, sexuality, anthropology, Christology, salvation, and covering the waterfront. This is not a one-on-one counseling session. Those are really good, too. And in a counseling session, the counselor would ask a lot of questions, try to understand what you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, your fears, your hopes, your struggles, offer personal correction and encouragement. Obviously, that’s not this setting. This is not a cultural and political commentary. This is not an opportunity for the pastor to give his hot take on what’s going on in the world or what legislation or court decisions need to come about. This is also not an ethics seminar where we have time to explore lots of important questions. What should you do if you’re invited to a gay wedding? How should you handle if your lesbian daughter and her partner returns home and wants to stay in the same room? What do you do with these many difficult questions? These are all important, legitimate questions.

But I want you to know what you should be listening for. This is a sermon on these four verses in Romans chapter 1. And my task is to communicate the meaning and the mood of these verses. You may think there’s lots of other things I wish you would talk about, and what about this? But my task is to communicate the meaning and the mood of these four verses. And there’s no way around it. The mood is one of serious warning, which leads to a second preliminary comment. If you are already prepared to dislike this sermon or maybe some months or days or weeks or years from now, you’re finding this sermon online and listening to it, and you’re already prepared to dislike this sermon, can I urge you to have in your mind three questions, and start with the first one? What do these verses teach? If you could somehow remove yourself from the equation – now, you don’t want to do that ultimately, but at the beginning – and you could think to yourself, if I was just encountering another piece of ancient literature – of course, the Bible’s so much more than that – but if you were just encountering another piece of ancient literature, and you came to these couple of paragraphs, what would you think they were meaning to communicate? So, try as best as we can to have the intellectual honesty to start with that question – before we think about your experience, your friends, your family – ask if I didn’t have a dog in this fight, what would I think these verses were teaching?

Second question to have in your head is, “Am I a Christian?” Now if you just are prepared to say I’m not a Christian – I think that’s a tragic decision – but you could have intellectual honesty and say I’m simply not a Christian. This has some curiosity to me, but I’m not a Christian. I don’t believe it. The third question, if you are a Christian, is to say will I submit myself entirely – that is, my head, my heart, my will, my desires – to the word of God? I’m going to give you some quotations later in the sermon from non-Christian – in fact, LGB – scholars who see very plainly what Paul is saying. Now they say, “I don’t like it, and I don’t agree with it, and I don’t live under it,” but they can see, often more clearly, what this text is saying as opposed to professing Christians who want very much for these verses to say something else. Now if you simply say, “I am not a Christian. Here the verses. I don’t like them. I don’t live my life by him,” that’s tragic, but there’s at least some consistency. If, however, you profess to be a Christian, certainly to be a Christian is to be someone who says, “The Lord Jesus Christ is my savior and my God, and I listen to him, and I submit to him, and he knows what is best for me.” And if you are a Christian, my urging at the beginning of this message – if you say, “Yes, I’m a Christian. Yes, I want to live my life by the Bible,” and you identify as LGBTQ or you’re an ally, a supporter, of LGBTQ – would you keep an open mind that the Bible might teach something that your heart is not yet, but hopefully might be later, prepared to receive? And if you do not like what the Bible says, my exhortation is that you bring that to God. Do not blame the church or your pastor or your parents, however imperfect they all might have been, but you can take it up with God with a humble heart. God’s a big God. You say, “God, I don’t think I like what this says here. Would you help me to understand it and to know it? And if you have something for me, even if I don’t like it, would you help me to live according to your perfect word?”

Here are the verses for this morning. Romans chapter 1:24-27.

“Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions, for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men, likewise, gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

Let me remind you of the flow of this passage. You look at verse 22, “claiming to be wise, they became fools” – Paul, from Romans 1:18 through chapter 3:20, is pouring upon his readers this argument about the universality of sin. And here in particular in chapter 1, it’s about sins in the Gentile world. Now, not the Gentile world alone. There’s a reason that the Mosaic covenant had rules about homosexuality, because it was known even in that part of the world, but chiefly about the Gentile world – that they have known God, that they have this divinely implanted awareness, communicated through general revelation, they know something about God, and they suppress that. And so, some of the smartest people, most learned people, most philosophically sophisticated people, claiming to be wise, they become fools. And then following that, in verse 22, there are three sets of exchanges. Verse 23, “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.” And then in verse 25, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie.” And then the third exchange, in verse 26, “For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.” So, the result of this moral folly is a series of three exchanges.

Now interspersed, interlocking, with those three exchanges, we have three times this language that God gave them over. So, look at verse 24. After each exchange, there is a giving over. Verse 24, “God gave them up in the lusts of their heart.” And then in verse 26, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” And then in verse 28, “God gave them up to a debased mind.” It’s not strictly a chronological sequence. There’s a lot of overlap, but there’s a definite pattern. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. Three exchanges and three times God gave them up. That’s the flow of Paul’s argument.

So, go back to verse 24: “Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.” That word, to be “given up,” is used often in the Old Testament for God giving the Israelites over to their enemies or giving the nation over to the sword. It is a handing over as a punitive act of judgment. I said a few weeks ago the analogy of you’re holding a barking, yelping, foaming dog on the leash, and finally you let go. You give him up to his desires, and he runs out into the traffic. And that that fits in a way. It gets the aspect that God is giving people over to the desires of their heart, however destructive they may be. But there’s another element to it. It’s not just a passive “there you go.” It is a judicial act of handing someone over. So, to use another analogy, you think of it as a captain who has a soldier in his ranks who very much wants to go to the other side. He is a rebellious soldier. He is in rebellion against the orders of his commanding officer, and he has given himself over. In all of his lust and his passions, he wants to fight for the other side. And so, as an act of discipline and justice and judgment upon this rebellious soldier, the captain walks him over to the enemy, and he hands him over to the other side. Now, someone may be thinking, well, yes, and so what? He goes over to the other side. That’s where he wanted to go, and he is made a commanding officer in the other army, but that’s not what Paul says happens. He doesn’t get handed over to his lusts and his impurities, to his enemy, and then become with celebration some high-ranking commanding officer with fanfare and celebration. No, he is handed over that he may immediately be placed as a POW, where he will be mistreated, oppressed, abused, and that’s what he wanted. You see the result in the second half of verse 24, “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.” He says, as an act of earthly judgment, “You want to do these things. You want to be awash in these impure thoughts and desires and actions. So be it.” And the result is that they dishonor their bodies among themselves.

One of the principles in Romans 1, and it’s throughout the New Testament, is that we become what we worship. That’s why the most important thing about you, A.W. Tozer said, is what you think about when you think about God. Is he pure and good and lovely and holy and righteous and just? You become the God that you worship. And what’s happening here in the folly of this exchange – they exchange the truth about God for a lie, and they worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, and so they become something far less than they ought to have been. Everything in your life is connected to God. What you think about God, whether you fear God, whether you worship God, whether you serve God, he is the blessed one. Paul can hardly contain himself by adding this doxology. The implication is if you want to have a blessed life, fix your gaze upon the blessed one. But if you exchange the truth for a lie, you will become like the false worship you engage in. You become less like the God in whose image you were made. That’s who you are. That’s who you were made to be, to reflect in your moral character and your dominion on the earth, in your relationship to God, to reflect his image. And when we worship falsely, we become less like that God and more like the things we worship. And for these Gentiles, Paul says, it’s animals. It’s creeping things. They become like the animals they worship. That’s the argument he’s making. I give you over to these lusts, devoid of reason, lacking self-control. How can I put this delicately? They become like animals in heat. Not going to paint a picture of what that is like, but you ever – you have an animal, all it can think about is satisfying a desire. Almost anything that moves, satisfying a sexual urge, satisfying that desire. If you could get into the psyche of that animal and were able to communicate with human language, it would talk very eloquently about all these things it was feeling, all these desires, all these things that the animal felt were very important to its self-expression. All it can do, devoid of reason, lacking self-control, is satisfy animal passions. You live your life to satisfy sexual desires. The world calls that freedom. The Bible says that’s animal servitude. You’re bound over. You’re handed over to these desires. You do not become more human. You become less human.

And we come, then, continuing this argument to verse 26 and 27, which will give an explanation of these impure desires and activities. These are the two most controversial verses, at least in Romans 1 – there are going to be a lot of controversial verses in Romans – certainly in Romans chapter 1. And I say controversial, but you need to realize that for most of church history, these two verses were not controversial. Just want to spend three minutes here so we understand that we live in a very unique cultural moment. I’m reading about 15-20 Romans commentaries as we go through my study. And what’s striking is most of them hardly talk about verses 26 and 27. Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Hodge – they have hardly anything to say about it. One, I suspect, because no one disagreed, and two, because it was considered unseemly to even speak of these things – uncouth. Interestingly, the one commentary I’m reading that does say a lot about this is Chrysostom, who’s a famous preacher – early church father – from the 4th century, and that makes sense because he’s living at the time of transition between the Roman Empire when it be is going to become a Christian civilization, and so these sins are still very prevalent and widespread. And so, he talks quite a bit about verses 26 and 27. You’ve heard me mention Martyn Lloyd Jones, who preached these sermons in the 1950s and 1960s in London. You can get the multi-volume set of the sermons. On verses 1 through 20, Martyn Lloyd Jones preached 28 sermons. I’m zipping, zipping along. 28 sermons. More than one sermon per verse. You want to know how many sermons he preached on verses 21-32? One. And you look in the bound volume, and it says 21-24, verse 32. He hardly even touches on verse 26 and 27, except to just quote it in the scope of his sermon. It wasn’t a point of contention, and it was considered uncouth to even talk about it.

Just want you, especially young people (and the older I get means there’s more young people all the time), I want you to realize – if you feel like, well everyone I follow, and you don’t know, you’re 48, you’re ancient, you don’t know what it’s like to be 18 or 15 or 28. That’s right. I don’t anymore. But just want you to get some perspective for the cultural moment we live in and what a blip it is in human history. Some of you, my age and older, will remember this. Those of you who are much younger, you may not even be aware of this. In 2008, lo 18 years ago, there was a Proposition 8 – added an amendment to a state constitution reading, “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized.” That passed the legislature in that state, and it passed a statewide referendum in 2008. That was added to the constitution in the super red state of California. That was California. That was 18 years ago. In the same year, there was a presidential candidate who said, “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I’m not in favor of gay marriage.” Who was that in 2008? Maybe it was – who was it? Was it Mitt Romney? Was it Mike Huckabee? It was Barack Obama. Now, later I think it became clear that he didn’t quite mean what he was saying, but the fact that he felt cultural pressure, only 18 years ago, to say that he did not agree with gay marriage just tells you that we live in a unique moment that has come upon us quickly. And who’s to say it doesn’t disappear quickly?

Here’s my point before we dive into these two verses, to young people in particular: do not throw away your faith because we live in a moment of time that is barely a blip on the radar screen of history. Barely a blip. From 2014 to 2022, the percentage of 18 to 24-year-olds identifying as LGB increased from 7% to 20%. 20%. Now, you just have to say “I identify” to some pollster or some online survey. 20% – an almost 300% increase in 8 years of young people identifying as LGB. Did you know, however, that since 2022 that figure is starting to crater? It has dropped by 21%. It peaked in 2022. History, except for God – he’s written it for the rest of us. We’re living it out. Don’t think, “I don’t want to get on the wrong side of history.” You don’t know where history is going, except you know what God says and where he’s going. It’s dropping, and almost all of the increase in that number and almost all of the decrease – the rise and fall – is almost entirely from young women identifying as bisexual. There’s still something of a stigma for young men if they were to say they were gay. Less so among women, who tend to be much more affirming and accommodating to your face. And so, there’s more widespread acceptance. And all the studies suggest that the experience of lesbianism is very different from the experience of being gay for men. For men, there’s a visceral, visual, there’s attraction. It’s very sexual. For women, it’s a combination of all sorts of other things – what psychologists may call codependency, or maybe a relational intimacy that then becomes something else. And so almost all of this rise and all of this fall are young women who are saying – a kind of social contagion – “Yes, I think I’ll be bisexual for a time, but it need not be forever.”

My point here is to get some sense of perspective. We’re like the proverbial fish in the water. You don’t even know that it’s wet. You don’t even know what we’re living in. I want you to look at these two verses. Three questions to ask. Number one, what is the sin Paul is condemning? What is the sin Paul is condemning in verses 26 and 27? The sin he is condemning is being inflamed with passion for someone of the same sex and engaging in sexual activity with someone of the same sex. Both the passion and the action he considers to be an affront to God’s created order. Now, the most common way to try to say that these verses say something other than what they seem to be saying very plainly is to suggest that Paul is only talking about pederasty. That’s the fancy word – and sorry to talk about unseemly things – that’s the fancy word for man-boy homosexuality. In the Roman Empire, there was a massive double standard for men and for women. Women were supposed to be virgins before marriage. Women were supposed to be chaste within marriage. Massive double standard. It’s actually one of the attractions of Christianity, that it just eliminated that double standard. But for men, it was believed that no man – man had so much pent up sexual energy, you could not expect a man – certainly you couldn’t expect him to be a virgin when he gets married, and then within marriage, you couldn’t expect that just with one woman that would satisfy all of his sexual desires.

So, it was considered, for many Romans, hardly worth mentioning that a man might expel some of his sexual energy with a young boy or with a female slave. For many, it was considered just a natural outlet. So, it’s true. That sort of sexuality was rampant in the Roman world. However, it was far from the only kind of homosexual activity. I have a 558-page book in my library. I don’t recommend you read it. It does not make for very enlightening, or rather very edifying, reading, but it’s by a non-Christian classics professor, Thomas K. Hubbard. 558 pages. It’s called Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Source Book of Ancient Documents. So, any of you could, I don’t recommend you do, but any of you could, right there in English, in black and white, you could look at 558 pages of source documents of what homosexuality was like in the ancient world. And what you’ll find is that there was every kind of activity. Grown men with grown men, grown women with grown women. Some were even lifelong companions. You’ll also find that this was contentious in the Roman world. Yes, many people thought nothing of acting out homosexual desires. And yet, other philosophers, often the Stoics, were opposed to it. It was a divisive issue in the Roman world. So, there’s nothing in the Roman world itself to suggest that Paul only has in mind one kind of bad homosexuality. And more importantly, there’s nothing in verses 26 and 27 to suggest, well, Paul’s only thinking about pederasty. The sin he wants to talk about is not abuse or exploitation. Of course, those are horrible sins. But notice he explicitly references men committing acts with men, men with men, and saying that they are consumed with passion for one another. So, this is not one person abusing and exploiting another, but these are men, grown men with men, inflamed with passion. That’s what Paul is talking about. He condemns all homosexual desires and every kind of homosexual activity. That’s the first question. What is the sin Paul is condemning? We cannot “rescue Paul” by saying he’s only talking about a certain kind. He’s talking about the passions and the action.

Second question: how does Paul describe this sin? We can deal with this very quickly. He gives three words. The sin is dishonorable. It is unnatural. And it is shameless. Dishonorable. Unnatural. Shameless. He has hard words to say about this sin. He wants to depict it with dark, ugly colors, because he believes that it is an ugly offense. That’s the reality of these verses.

Here’s the third question for these two verses. Why? Why is homosexuality a sin? So, we don’t want to just say, “We got the conclusion.” There’s a moral logic, because one of my fears is that people can grow up in good, conservative environments. They can go to a Christian school or be homeschooled. They can be in a good church, a good Sunday school, a good youth group. And they got the conclusion, and they never get the middle premise. They never see the moral logic of it. And so, they think that sometime later to simply untether themselves from that conclusion is no big deal. Not much really has to change in their faith. I want you to see the why.

The moral force of Paul’s argument is found in the second half of verse 26 and the first half of verse 27: “Their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and men likewise gave up natural relations with women.” So, the key term here – this is the moral logic – is that homosexuality is contrary to nature, para physin in the Greek. He does not say contrary to my nature. That’s the way some revisionist scholars try to read this: “Well, Paul’s just saying if you have a heterosexual orientation and you act in homosexual ways, then you’re out of accord with your nature. But if you have a homosexual orientation, you need to act in accord with your nature.” To read that into the text is completely anachronistic. Paul does not have these categories of orientation. He is not thinking “what is natural to me,” but using a very common philosophical phrase. He is referring to the natural order of things. In fact, this phrase para physin, contrary to nature, is used as a reference to homosexual practice in writers as diverse as Plato, Plutarch, Philo, Josephus. A popular philosopher around the time of Paul, Musonius Rufus, condemned sexual activity “of men with men, because it is a monstrous thing and contrary to nature.” He is using the lingua franca of his day. This was a very common expression to refer to that sexual union which is in contradistinction to the order of things.

Let me give you a quotation. This is from a scholar. He’s died since this book in 2003. His name is Louis Crompton. He was a gay man, a pioneer in queer studies. His 2003 book – Homosexuality and Civilization – it’s a massive book, major contribution to this field. Here’s what he writes: “Some interpreters, seeking to mitigate Paul’s harshness, have read the passage in Romans 1 as condemning not homosexuals generally, but only heterosexual men and women who experimented with homosexuality. According to this interpretation, Paul’s words were not directed at bonafide homosexuals in committed relationships. But such a reading, however well-intentioned, seems strained and unhistorical. Nowhere” – keep in mind, pioneer of queer studies, gay man. This is what I said about intellectual consistency. He’s just going to say, here’s what the Bible says. He doesn’t believe it, but here’s what he says it says – “nowhere does Paul, or any other Jewish writer of this period, imply the least acceptance of same-sex relationships under any circumstances. The idea that homosexuals might be redeemed by mutual devotion would have been wholly foreign to Paul or any Jew or any early Christian.” That’s what he says.

The argument that Paul’s making is an argument based on creation design. Think about it, if you’ve been here for these sermons over the past month. All of the creational clues in these verses. Verse 20, he references the creation of the world. Verse 25, the Creator. Verse 23, the language of animals, birds, and creeping things. That mirrors the language in Genesis 1, that God made birds and animals and creeping things. The Greek in verse 23 – “image” and “likeness” – the same two Greek words used in the Greek version of the Old Testament for the creation story, that God made us in his image and his likeness. And then, notice in these verses the language of “a lie” in verse 25, “shame” in verse 27, and next week “a sentence of death” in verse 32. What does that sound like? A lie that leads to shame that leads to a sentence of death: Genesis 3, the fall. All of that to say, Paul is clearly writing in the conceptual orbit – he is thinking entirely about creation. He is saying that the sin, writ large in the world, is a kind of redux of the same fall that happened in the garden. So, he has in his mind para physin, contrary to nature. He is thinking about God’s creational design. How did God make us? That language, “natural relations,” is about the fittedness of the male body for the female body. Only a man and a woman can fulfill the creation design. You think, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” That’s not really about he was just lonely. He needed companions. You’ve heard me say before, God could have made him a gaggle of golden retrievers, man’s best friend. He could have made a whole bunch of bros to live in their literal man cave and just watch March Madness. He could have done that. That’s not what it means, “it’s not good for the man to be alone.” What he means is the man, by himself, apart from a woman, cannot fulfill the creational design. The natural relations. Why is man and wife one flesh? I’ve said this before. If you give somebody a wet willie, thankfully you’re not married. Aren’t you one flesh? Didn’t you stick one thing in another thing? No. The one flesh is because together the man and the woman fulfill one organic purpose in their union – the biological relationship that, apart from the effects of the fall (we all know that, sadly, the fall affects the ability to do this), but should we not be affected by the fall – that union of husband and wife produces children. That’s why Paul can say “the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves” in verse 24. That’s the result. They dishonored God, and the result is that they dishonored their body. It’s hard to describe this in 1500 people, time running out, that doesn’t sound unseemly. But here’s the lie the world tells us. It’s my body, and I can do what I want with my body. And God says, “No, you can dishonor God with your body, and you can dishonor your body with what you do with your body.”

You use the analogy – this is what Chrysostom says again, thinking of the enemy – if you were to be overrun by an enemy, as happens in war sometimes, and the enemy does the most heinous things to a conquered people, and they ravish the women and make the women engage in random sexual unions, or the enemy violates and humiliates men by sodomizing them. We would all say, “What a vile, what a shameful thing. Oh, how they dishonored those men and women.” And here’s the argument Paul’s making. As much as we may not like to see it, it’s the argument he’s making. You are doing this – the Gentile world is doing this to themselves. When you sleep with partner after partner after partner, or when you give yourself over to, how shall I put it, self-pleasuring. When men have sex with men, and to put it delicately, join the organ that is meant to implant life with the part of the body that expels waste, it is a dishonoring of the body. Verse 24 says, “among themselves.” You say, well, as long as they’re consenting adults who can say what’s right and wrong? God. The sin is not just the failure to honor God, but that in this exchange of natural relations for unnatural relations, they have not honored themselves as being made in the image of God. Chrysostom says the very treatment the enemies would have shown them, this they do to themselves.

Your body has a maker and has a telos. That means an end, a purpose, a design. For most of human history, here’s how the moral logic went: I have a body, and my body tells me my sex, and it tells me something about how to engage rightly in sex. Now, in recent years, instead of saying the body informs my feelings, we have said our feelings are so sacred that the body is now malleable. Feeling sacred, body malleable. The logic of Paul is exactly the opposite. You have a body made, fashioned, by a Creator, with a telos, with an end. The purpose, that the union of a man and a woman in marriage is for the propagation of children. Your body tells you something about who you are and about how sex is meant to be enjoyed.

One more quote. This is from a woman, Bernadette Brooten, who has written the most important work on lesbianism in antiquity, published by the University of Chicago Press. These are highly respected books. She is herself a lesbian. Here’s what she concludes: “I believe that Paul used the word ‘exchanged’ to indicate that people knew the natural sexual order of the universe and left it behind. I see Paul as condemning all forms of homoeroticism as the unnatural acts of people who turned away from God.” Now, her conclusion, then, is Paul’s a misogynist. She can see what Paul says. In Paul’s logic, men and women who engage in same-sex sexual behavior have suppressed the truth of God in unrighteousness. They have exchanged the fittedness of male-female intimacy for that which is contrary to nature. And you say, “But pastor, love is love.” You don’t believe that. You don’t really believe that. I hope you don’t believe love between a 40-year-old and a nine-year-old, love is love. You don’t believe that. You believe there are some forms of sexual intimacy that are inappropriate. God is love, and he tells us what relations and what activities are a proper expression of love and will promote and uphold love. That’s the truth. The bumper sticker is a lie.

And the language, notice, is even more emphatic for men in verse 27 than for women in verse 26. Not only did they exchange natural for unnatural, as the women did, but they were consumed. I think Paul understands something of the male psyche, different from the female. They were consumed with passion. They abandoned. You see that? They gave up natural relations. It would be one thing if there were no women around. Well, that would still be a sin, a sin of desperation. But he says they knowingly – “they gave up natural relations with women for those that were contrary to nature, committing shameful acts.” And so, verse 27, “they have received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Now listen, this is not a reference to AIDS or sexually transmitted diseases. That would be to read into the text modern concerns. Rather, think of the context – the three times God gave them over. Those statements – we are right to understand that the shameful practice is their penalty. Sin is the punishment for sin.

One more quote from Chrysostom: he says, “Yet you may say they found pleasure in it.” See how contemporary this is? Writing in the 4th century, preaching. He says, “Well, how could it be a penalty?” You say, “But they enjoy it. They don’t experience it as a penalty.” He continues, “They found pleasure in it? You tell me what adds to the vengeance. For suppose I were to see a person running naked, with his body besmeared with muck and mire, and yet not covering himself, but exalting in it, I should not rejoice with him, but should rather bewail that he did not even perceive that he was doing so shamefully.” The presence of men and women given over to LGBTQ desires ought to arouse our pity much more than our anger. Just as the knowledge of God was plainly communicated in the things that have been made, so Paul’s argument here is that the right order of sexual intimacy has been plainly communicated in the way God made male and female. To live with such a foolish exchange is, in itself, an expression of God’s wrath. What the world calls freedom, God calls punishment – that just about the worst thing that could happen to a man or woman on earth is that you would live your life to fulfill the lusts of an unregenerate heart.

Talk to an addict who just hates what he or she does and yet cannot be free from it. And you say then, is there no hope? Am I confined to this prison? Is this handing over? Is this “giving over” a final judgment? Am I bound to this with no hope of release? The same verb Paul uses three times, “hand over, hand over, gave up, gave up,” he uses again in Romans 8:32. “He who did not spare his own Son” – here it comes – “but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Do you see what that means? It means that the act of giving up – God gave up his Son – a judicial activity, gave him up, reckoned as a sinner, gave him up to punishment and death. And yet it was not the end of the story for Jesus. And that giving up does not have to be the end of the story for you or anyone you love. There’s forgiveness. There’s power that raised Christ from the dead. You think these desires, you think this lifestyle, you think the lies of this world are a match for the God we’ve already encountered, for the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation? No, friends, there is another exchange available for you. The exchange of 2 Corinthians 5:21, that “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” that exchange is available now for all of you. Prayer, then, is that we might learn to hate the futility of the lie, the refusal to glorify God, to live in the fear of God. Do not live in the fear of your friends, in the fear of your boss, of your Fortune 500 company. Do not live in the fear of our culture’s disapproval. No one was confused about these verses for 1,900 years. They are not hard to understand. They have become hard to accept. There’s a reason the Bible says it is the fear of the Lord that’s the beginning of wisdom. You will never be wise, as the Bible understands wisdom, unless you start with God. There’s a good God, a holy God, a just God, a righteous God, and I stand in fear of him, and he has offered unto me in this great exchange that I need not believe the lie anymore. Remember where it started in verse 21: “They did not honor him as God or give thanks.”

Here’s where some of you and the ones you love – this is what some of you, where you need to start. Can you give thanks for the body God has given you? I know our bodies are affected by the fall, and we have things that don’t work right. I hate these Coke bottle glasses. I’ve had them since I was in third grade. And you have worse ailments, I know. Yeah, our bodies are affected by the fall. But can you thank God that he made you a male, or he made you a female, and he gave you a body? And that body tells you something, and it has a purpose, and it has a design. May our story be that story of 1 Thessalonians 1:9 where Paul writes, “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. It doesn’t have to go in just one way. You can turn from idols and serve the living and true God. Turn, turn, turn, and Christ will be there with open arms. Let’s pray.

Our Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy Word, inspired and inherent. Shape our lives by it. Give us ears to receive it and hearts to believe, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

All Things

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 15:04:54 GMT

Psalm 139. I invite you to turn there as we begin. We will turn to the catechism shortly, and you can find it printed in your bulletin, Lord’s Day 10. We start with this familiar Psalm 139, a Psalm of David. It is a Psalm that exalts in God’s omniscience, in his immensity, and in his sovereignty. We read in the first six verses,

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

This is David’s way of saying – oh Lord, where I am, what I think, and what I say, you know all of it. Even before I’m there, even before I think it, even before the word is formed on my tongue, such is your omniscience, your all-knowing. We continue verse seven:

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

This is David’s way of saying – not only do you know me, but you are with me. No matter how high, no matter how low, no matter how far away, no matter how dark and mysterious my situation may seem to me, Lord, you are there. See, his omniscience is that attribute of God with reference to his knowledge. Immensity is the attribute of God that means he fills all in all. It’s everywhere. Then verse 13:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

David is saying – Lord, you have formed me, and not only have you formed me, you formed all of my days. He’s saying, before I was conceived, before I emerged from the womb, before I lived out my days, including the days that are yet to come, all of them were written down according to your sovereign will.

It’s a remarkable psalm. It’s familiar to many of us, but don’t lose the wonder, perhaps even the scandal of it. But it’s good news for each of us with this psalm to say, Lord, you know me. Lord, you are with me. Lord, you have formed me and all of my days. And here’s what’s even harder, you have formed all of the days of those that I love, those that I know. It’s a psalm to exalt in the Lord’s omniscience, in his immensity, and in his sovereignty. And with that, it’s no wonder that we have the response in verses 17 and 18.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

In other words, after exalting in the Lord and his sovereign disposition of all things, it is a striking metaphor that God has a book, and he’s the author, and he’s written out your days and the days of everyone that you know. And some of those days go longer than you ever thought possible. Their nineties or past the century mark, and some of those days end far too short, but all of those days written in His book before one of them comes to pass.

Now, we don’t neglect that God means to sustain us by the use of secondary means. That’s why we wear seat belts, why we have cancer treatments, and yet it is true that all of us are invincible. You’re invincible. Until the days marked out for you come to an end. And ultimately no matter what we do what extraordinary measures are taken when we come to the end of our days that God has already written in his book such will be the end. And so, it’s no surprise that David in response to this knowledge about God’s own knowledge he says these thoughts you notice the several things he says because it’s complicated. They’re precious and they’re vast.

They’re precious. This is a great comfort and yet they’re vast. The thoughts of God are more than the sand of the seashore. You can’t collect all the thoughts of God. You can’t put into a bottle all the things that God knows. They are infinite. But notice what he says, “I awake.” Here’s the bottom line, “I’m still with you.”

The story of the Bible is the story of divine providence. On every page, in every promise, behind every prophecy is the sure hand of God. He sustains all things, he directs all things, he plans all things, he ordains all things, he superintends all things. As Paul says in Ephesians 1, “he works all things after the counsel of his will.” Don’t miss that middle phrase, “after the counsel.” Why wouldn’t God just work? He works things according to his will. We know that to be true, but that middle phrase, “after the counsel of his will,” would suggest there’s wisdom. He works all things according to what is best and wise in keeping with his own will. That’s the God of the Bible.

You may have seen the news, it was very sad news from a couple of months ago. So, this was public, I’m not saying anything that wasn’t in many places online, but it was revealed that Philip Yancey disqualified from any future ministry, revealed that he had covered up an eight-year affair. Many of you maybe have read some of his books. I had read his books years ago, and there were things that were helpful. He’s a good writer, a vulnerable writer. But I have to say, you know, no theological tradition is immune from scandal. I have to say, however, I always found his theology to be rather unpredictable and often unhelpful. Here’s an example from a book, Reaching for the Invisible God, some decades ago. Yancey wrote, “I find myself stumbling over my friend’s phrase, ‘the way God arranges things.’ Does God indeed position a nail in the road so that I will run over it on the way to the hospital? Does he wind hairs around the sink trap so that it will clog just before the company arrives? I too instinctively blame God when bad things happen.” I just want to pause there. Okay, we can appreciate his honesty, but you ought not to instinctively blame God when bad things happen. “Calling into question my relationship of trust should I? Does God arrange flat tires, computer crashes, viral germs in my life as custom tests of faith similar to the tests of faith that Abraham and Job endured. I doubt it. When Princess Diana died in an automobile crash I got a phone call from a television producer. Can you appear on our show? He asked. We want you to explain how God could possibly have allowed such a terrible accident. Without thinking I replied. Could it have something to do with the drunk driver going over 90 miles an hour in a narrow tunnel. How exactly was God involved?”

Now here’s what’s tricky about what Yancey lays out there. The Bible does not describe God as maliciously placing nails in the road, malevolently winding hairs around the sink trap that it might clog. Yancey’s description there of sovereignty is a clumsy one, whether he realized it or not. Because his description does not allow for any secondary causes. He has confused a belief in God’s providence with the notion that God is the actor of everything that takes place. He has confused a belief in God’s providence with the notion that God is the one acting and doing all of the things.

So, he says, if a reckless driver killed Princess Diana, then how was God involved? As if those are the only two options. Either the person who was responsible for the crash bears no responsibility, and if he does bear some responsibility, as we all would say, then how was God involved? But those, of course, are not the two options presented in the Bible, and it is, I submit to you, a world away from Psalm 139.

The God who hems us in before and behind, the God who sees our unformed parts, the God who has written all of our days in his book before one of them comes to pass. Divine providence is not a small theme in the Bible. It is not merely a deduction of other truths or something that we distill from a handful of obscure passages. I liken it to this, the doctrine of divine providence is the soundtrack of Scripture. Sometimes you don’t even realize that it’s there, but it is the soundtrack to everything that is happening in the Bible.

Everywhere present, even if at times it’s like you’re watching a movie and you don’t even know that the music is making you feel comforted or fearful or sure that something bad is going to happen or feeling rapturous. So, providence is the soundtrack of Scripture. Even when you forget and cannot hear it, it’s there. Like the book of Esther, where God’s name is never mentioned, but in everything from a beauty contest to the king’s insomnia, we see that story is about God advancing his purposes.

The God of the Bible is a God who leaves nothing to chance, and he does not simply react, he predestines. He does not merely turn hard situations for our good; he ordains hard situations for our good. Our God is never confused, never caught off guard. To quote Augustine, “His will is the necessity of all things.”

Here’s what we mean by providence. Said this morning, this is tied with Lord’s Day 1 for my favorite Lord’s Day question and answer 27.

Providence is the almighty and ever-present power of God by which God upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.

Do not miss all that the catechism is saying. God’s power is almighty and ever-present. Not just almighty and somehow distant, or ever-present but somehow constrained, but both, almighty and ever-present. That means his power is limitless and boundless. In God, all things live and move and have their being. He rules heaven and earth and all creatures in such a way that whatever befalls them, success or failure, blessing or adversity, life or death, no matter what comes, no matter the situation, nothing around us or to us or about us is the product of random happenstance. We can be confident that all things come to us from the wise hand of our loving heavenly Father. So don’t miss that because there are certain philosophies that believe in determinism. Believe that there is a kind of natural or mechanistic determinism, or in a blind fate. This is not the doctrine of blind fate. Providence is not simply the belief that even everything happens for a reason, or simply the understanding that everything was foreordained. Other philosophies can believe those things. But specifically, that all that comes to pass, especially for us as people, comes from a loving, heavenly Father.

Providence is a doctrine for the Christian. Yes, sovereignty is true for all people, but this is specifically a doctrine. This is the catechism saying, what do we believe by God the Father Almighty? What does it mean to call God our heavenly Father? Sovereignty is God’s rule and sway over everything. Providence is that sovereign sway for you, for me, for his people, for his children. I’m sure I’ve used this illustration before, but I would in my previous denomination, and we had, these were our doctrinal standards, so it was fair game. In fact, it was expected as people would come forward for their ordination exams, they would be examined on the Canons of Dorth, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession. And I would often ask this question. I didn’t mean to be snarky, but I did meant to be a little tricky. I would say, suppose that you are visiting someone in the hospital. And they ask you, why is this happening? What did God have to do with this? And there’s some very difficult situation, some tragic circumstances. And usually people would say, well, I would say, you know, right now we don’t know, and we’re just here to, just want to pray for you. And we can face those questions later. Okay, maybe some pastoral instinct. And then I would press further and say, well, they really, really want to know. And they say, pastor, I want, I’m asking you, can you tell me? So, I would say, would you feel comfortable saying to that person in the hospital room in their moment of crisis that all things come to us not by chance but from God’s Fatherly hand, that health and sickness and prosperity and power, and then I would just very cheekily quote the whole thing, which unfortunately many of them didn’t know I was quoting the whole thing, because almost always when I would ask the question, simply reframing question and answer 21, would you be comfortable in the hospital holding that crying mother, daughter, grandparent’s hand to say, we know that God is a good heavenly Father and in his mercy even this has come from his hand. He almost always would say, I would certainly not say that. I would not feel comfortable saying that. And I would say later, I’m not comfortable ordaining them. But the exams were sadly almost impossible to fail.

This is meant to be not a theological trick or trap, but the very essence of God’s Fatherly care for his people. We see in the Bible again and again that nothing is outside God’s control or his foreordination. The heavens and the earth were created because God said let there be light and the light that did not exist had no choice but to come into existence. The floods came because God sent them. Sarah had a baby because God promised. Joseph was sold into slavery because God had a plan. The Israelites escaped Egypt because God delivered them. They inherited the Promised Land because God fought for them. They were shipped off to Babylon because God punished them. And the exiles returned because God stirred up the heart of King Cyrus to let them go.

Or consider the book of Job. In the first chapter, Satan is given permission to what amounts to ruining Job’s life, or so it feels that way. And in one day, Job gets four dreadful messages. Do you remember? Number one, the Sabaeans destroy the oxen and the donkeys and their servants. Number two, a fire burns up the sheep and their servants. Number three, the Chaldeans make a raid on the camels and kill them. And then worst of all, number four, a windstorm rips through the oldest son’s house, and all of Job’s children are killed. Now, who is behind all of this? Certainly, Satan is to blame. He was given permission to test the Lord’s servant Job, so Satan bears blame. Certainly, the Sabeans and the Chaldeans must be held responsible. There are two natural disasters. There’s a fire, and there’s a windstorm. But somehow sending and superintending all of it as the planner, not the actor of any evil, but the planner of all these things is God himself, which is why Job’s response. These four reports come to him, Sabians, Chaldeans, fire and a windstorm, and what does Job say but, “The Lord gave. And the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

If ever there were an opportunity to say that was Satan, to say it was simply a drunk driver in a tunnel, to say what in the world does God have to do with a fire or with a windstorm. Job does none of it. In fact, you don’t need the 42 chapters of Job if God is not a sovereign God. All Job has to say after that at the end of chapter one is God’s not in control. Life is terrible. There’s pain. It’s horrible. God’s not in control, and he’s not sovereign. That’s the one answer that never seems to enter Job’s mind.

Later, he cries out in the midst of unthinkable pain and unbelievable faith, “Though he slay, me I will hope in him.” To be sure, people are often in the Bible asking that question, “Why?” A cry of lament. There are all sorts of bewildered cries for help and many cries of despair. The Psalms are filled with them. God’s people then and now, including in this room, you struggle to understand what is God doing? I never knew something could hurt this much. Why has he done this? As you go to God’s people in the Bible, however, you will never find them concluding that God is not the sovereign hand appointing these difficulties. No matter how debilitating the pain or how shocking the circumstances, the assumption is always operative, this somehow is from God.

They struggle to make sense of the suffering, but they never make sense of it by minimizing the superintending sovereign power of God. When famine strikes the land of Judah and Naomi loses her husband and her two sons, she says in her anguish, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” She has business to do with God, and there’s going to be some wrestling in prayer. It seems to never have occurred to her. Well, obviously God had nothing to do with this. She sees the struggle and is wrestling to find God’s purpose, but she does not doubt that – I have to run to God with this. The God of the Bible is the God with power and sovereign sway over all things.

Psalm 33:10, “the Lord foils the plans of the nations. He thwarts the purposes of the people.” Psalm 135:7, “he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.” 2 Kings 17:25, “he shuts the mouths of lions to preserve the righteous.” That’s Daniel 6. And then 2 Samuel 17, he unleashes lions to judge the wicked. We know from Exodus and elsewhere, he hardens hearts. Now, let’s be very clear here: God cannot sin. It’s blasphemous to suggest that God would sin. So, he is not the author of the evil that takes place. He is not the one to act out the evil, and yet we mustn’t say simply that he allows. There’s, this is not a theology lecture, so, we won’t go to the Westminster Confession, but it’s very interesting in the Westminster Confession, there’s a distinction in a couple of chapters between God’s permission and his bare permission, B-A-R-E. His bare permission would be God just kind of covering his eyes, just the world spins off, and it just happens. And the confession says, that’s not God. There’s nothing that happens by his bare permission. But it does say in other places, his will to permit. See, theologians want to make this important distinction, that God is not the actor of evil, as He is the actor, the one who carries out the action of the good. He superintends both, but there is not a…the ultimacy is the same, and yet the carrying out of the action is distinct. God uses secondary causes. So that Edwards, Jonathan Edwards, dares to say that if we mean that God is the one who has so written all of our days that everything comes to pass, in that sense he is the author. And yet Edwards says the very phrase, the author of evil, carries with it the assignment of some blame for evil that we are best not to use that phrase. Yes, everything that transpires in the world is according to God’s sovereign plan, and yet the willing of that plan takes place in different ways. There are things that God wills to permit to take place, not by a bare permission, but willing to permit as evil people carry out evil activities.

We mustn’t lessen the many passages that speak of God carrying out his work in the world in these sovereign terms. Judges 9:23, “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem.” Now that was to frustrate their plans and a judgment. 1 Samuel 16:14, “Wow the spirit of the Lord has departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” Isaiah 45:6 and 7, “I am the Lord and there is no other. I form light, create disaster. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.” Amos 3:6, “When a disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Even death is in the Lord’s hands. The Lord brings death and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and he raises up.” 1 Samuel 2:6, “There is no other God besides me. I put to death, and I bring to life. I have wounded, and I will heal. No one can deliver out of my hand.” Deuteronomy 32:39, not just the big picture but the tiniest details. People say, well God’s not a micromanager. Praise God, he is. Some people liken God’s sovereignty as if it’s an ocean liner crossing from the United Kingdom to America, and God is sort of steering the ocean liner, and he makes sure that it’s all getting to its final destination, and yet aboard the ocean liner people are free and they’re doing all sorts of things. Sort of the big picture he’s getting us there. Well, that sounds sort of nice, kind of theodicy, maybe to let God off the hook. But of course, if he’s really in charge of the ship that needs to cross the Atlantic, and he’s really let everyone aboard the ship have complete freedom of will to do whatever they want, who’s to say that one of them doesn’t sabotage the decks, or fire the torpedoes, or run aground into an iceberg? Now to safely superintend the big picture, God has to foreordain the smallest details. And this is the testimony of Scripture, Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”

You ever wonder why the old, you know, the Puritans and old ethics manuals were always against card games or games of dice or chance? It was because of that verse, “the lot is cast into the lap, every decision is from the Lord.” They considered that games of chance was calling upon the Lord. It was sort of casting lots to ask God to make the dice do something, and that therefore it was a violation of the third commandment, it was taking the Lord’s name in vain. I don’t know that that’s persuasive, and yet I appreciate their sense of wanting to take seriously that even in the smallest things, a game of chance, all of it comes from the hand of God.

“A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How can anyone understand his own way?” Proverbs 20:24. Jeremiah 10:23, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own. It is not for man to direct his steps.” And what we read earlier from Psalm 139, “all the days ordained for me were written in your book.” Daniel 4:35, he says, “God does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.” God so rules over all things with sovereign power and authority so that he immutably appoints whatsoever comes to pass.

Now, at this point, you may say, okay, I believe it, I understand, this is a Reformed church, this is Presbyterian, we believe in God’s sovereignty. And if that’s all we did, and we said, I see it in the Bible, it yet might not be a comfort to us. Because it might seem like, well, there’s God, and he’s God, and by a raw exercise of power, I suppose he can do whatever he wants. But the doctrine of providence goes farther than that. And it asserts that all of this power, all of this authority, all of this sovereign predetermination is for you if you belong to Christ. It comes not from a tyrant, but from a Father.

If you were blessed to have a good father, and they’re all imperfect, our earthly fathers, but if you had a good earthly father, don’t you want him to be strong? Don’t you want him to be powerful? If he was abusive or he was dictatorial, then you want him to be stripped of his power. But the degree to which he is good is the degree to which you want him to have as much power as possible. It’s like that line from Chariots of Fire where Eric Little’s father remarks to a skeptic that God may be a dictator, but I, a benign loving dictator. The power of providence has a benevolent purpose.

You remember after 9-11, the story of Todd Beamer came out, and there was a book, Let’s Roll. His widow, Lisa Beamer, Todd Beamer was on flight 93 and with some other passengers stormed the cockpit, crashed the plane, but avoided further damage into the Pentagon. They were heroes. Lost their lives. They were Christians. Lisa Beamer reflected on how after that, well-meaning people would sometimes do more harm than good by refusing to acknowledge that God had a plan in what had taken place in the death of her husband. She writes, “On Monday, as I listened to the well-intentioned speakers who were doing their best to comfort but with little, if any, direct reference to the power of God to sustain us, I felt I was sliding helplessly down a mountain into a deep crevasse. As much as I appreciated the kindness of the wonderful people who tried to encourage us, that afternoon was actually one of the lowest points in my grieving. It wasn’t the people, or event, or the place. Instead, it struck me how hopeless the world is when God is factored out of the equation.” He said, you weren’t helping me when you took God out of the equation. You’re trying to rescue God, a kind of theodicy, and you weren’t helping me.

How does the knowledge of providence help us? The catechism gives a wonderful threefold answer. We can be patient when things go against us, that’s how I learned the catechism here, it says, in adversity. We can be thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love.

Let’s make those our three points of application. Number one, what good is this doctrine of providence? It means that we can be patient when things go against us. Providence is not only believing that God is the one writing the world’s history. It is the belief and the trust that God is writing your story, and it’s a good story. When Joseph was in prison, when baby Moses was floating down the Nile, when Haman was plotting to kill the Jews, who except God could have known the good that was in store? We love those stories because it’s like seeing the end of the game when your team wins, and you’re happy to see the very pit of despair because you know how it ends, but they didn’t at the time.

You will not find a story anywhere in the Bible of someone in their great trouble who trusted in the Lord and found that their trust was in vain. Think of all the famous stories of Abraham, Joseph, Rahab, Ruth, David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Daniel. The list goes on and on. Godly men and women, every one of them trusted God in the midst of trial and discovered that providence was on their side. Spurgeon said in the midst of his sufferings, suffered from gout and physical ailments and melancholy and depression, he said, “It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand, that my trials were never measured out by Him nor sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity.” You think about the drinking some bitter, horrible potion, and you hate it, and there’s an aftertaste, and it’s gross beyond words, and that the taste doesn’t leave you. But what helps you? Someone says, where did that bitter potion come from? I don’t know. It came from the devil. What truly helps you? It tastes just as bitter, but it came from my heavenly Father. And there’s a reason behind this potion. I don’t see it now. You, some of you, are in the midst of difficult situations. Pain has gone on for weeks, months, maybe years. I wish I could say exactly what God is doing, so do your friends and those who love you, but we don’t know all the particulars, but we know from the Bible that God, for his people, every one of his people is writing a good story. Do you trust him in that? You may be in the middle of a terrible chapter, the worst chapter in the whole book, and it may have been a rotten plot twist in your life. The Bible is full of people lamenting those plot twists. They’re awful. But providence gives us hope not to lose heart. The story is not over. It is not the final chapter. God is a skilled author, and we can be sure that for each one of his children he has penned already a happy ending.

We can be patient when things go against us. We can be thankful when things go well. We saw that this morning, the importance of honoring God as God, is giving thanks. Calvinists should be the happiest people on the planet because we have more reasons to be grateful than anyone else. We know that all things come to us from his Fatherly hand. No gift is by accident. No good thing has come to us by chance. Every blessing in your life, it is not just the inexorable chain of some list of events or the product of your libertarian free will. It’s from God. If you have a job, it’s from God. If you have a family, it’s from God. If you have good memories, it’s from God. If you have a good church, it’s from God. If your life is made better in some small way by your dog, even by your cat, by pizza, or popcorn, or ice cream, or a birthday, or clothes, or friends, or a baby, then you thank God for that. The God of providence is way better than Amazon because he delivers packages of new mercy every morning, and the shipping’s always free.

And then third, for the future, we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father. Some of us know the Bible so well, we’ve lost wonder at what God really does for his people. We read Genesis 3.15 and we just love it. We say, yes. The seed of the woman’s going to crush the seed of the serpent. And we think, yes, that’s Jesus. And it took a long time for all of that promise to come true. And we’re still waiting for the final consummation of all that was inaugurated in the coming of Christ. God’s people in the Bible lived a long time with promises that seemed to have been forgotten, but every one of them came true. How did Joseph feel those years when it seemed his life was utterly ruined? We think about the promise to Abraham, he would be a great nation. And we get excited for the Sunday school lesson about trusting God, and we forget that Abraham and Sarah waited decades for that child to come. And they almost then had to kill him. And then Isaac’s twins go nuts on each other, and Jacob can’t get things figured out with his wives, and his sons are acting so stupid. And his family almost dies of famine. And then they all come into slavery in Egypt and exile in Babylon. And along the way, David’s whole line seems to be snuffed out by Queen Adalia. And then the prophets go silent for 400 years. And then the one prophet who comes, John the Baptist, is killed by Herod. And then the Messiah gets crucified. That doesn’t look like a happy ending.

But we can be confident with the future. That promise to Abraham was an absolute surefire, can’t fail promise. And so here we are, children of Abraham, children of promise, children of providence, now looking back to see that God has been at work all along. He’s been guiding us, prompting us, leading us, steering us, carrying out his purposes. And he does the same even today. Not just are these stories from the past. He’s the same God. You are his son or his daughter and he loves you. And he wants you to grow in whatever days he gives you. And like any good father, he wants what is best for you. And like a wise parent, he knows what is best.

We love Psalm 139, that’s why I started there. One of the things we forget about the Psalms is they’re also meant to be read as the songs of Jesus. Jesus would have grown up singing the Psalms. And in every way, all of them are in some way to be found on the lips of Jesus. And so, you think of Jesus saying, the Son to his Father, you know me. I can go into the grave, and there you will be with me. No matter how far away I seem, even if it feels to me as if I have been forsaken by You, my heavenly Father, yet you are with me. Even if there is the very darkness of night, you will be as light to me. For you formed me, the Son being joined to human nature in the womb of the virgin, fearfully and wonderfully made. And the Lord Jesus of all people knew what it was three times he predicted his death and his resurrection. He knew that his days were written. And he said in the garden, if it be, O Lord, if there’s another way with this cup, because he knew it was a bitter cup he had to drink. And yet he said, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Acts 4:27 through 28, for truly in this city, here’s the apostles preaching, “in Jerusalem they were gathered together against your holy servant whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” See what it says there? These were wicked people who put Jesus to death. There’s no question about that from the sermon in Acts 4. And yet they were only doing what God had predestined to take place. There is no greater evil that has ever been perpetrated in the history of the world, no greater suffering ever experienced than the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And right there in black and white, God says, they only did what I had already determined would happen.

It’s a good story that he was writing for his Son, and a good story that he’s writing for all of his adopted sons and daughters. We do not have to be afraid of the future. We do not have to be anxious about trials. We also don’t have to be nervous about blessings as if you said thanks to God too many times, he would suddenly get wise to the fact that you’ve actually had a few too many blessings. You’ve had too much spiritual Mountain Dew, and it’s time for the spiritual broccoli to come. He’s going to balance out all the things. Wait a second, Gabriel, they’ve gotten too many good things. It doesn’t work like that. There’s no balancing of the scales with God because he is always for you. Doesn’t make you pay for the fun stuff in your life with more pain. He’s only interested in your good, always interested in your good. He does not vacillate between loving you and loathing you. His affections are set upon you. His providence is fixed upon you for your spiritual well-being in Christ. That’s the story of the Bible. And that’s your story if you belong to Jesus. No matter what chapter you’re in right now, no matter how much you would have loved to have a different chapter written for you, God is all-seeing, all-knowing, all-planning, and here’s the good news of his providence. He is always on your side for the sake of Jesus.

Let’s pray. Loving heavenly Father, what a gift and a kindness that we can call you our heavenly Father. And know that you so rule over all things, leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty, not just some things or most things, but all things, in fact, come from your Fatherly hand. Help us to trust. Help us to love you. And help us to know how much you love us in Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Honor and Thanks

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:45:58 GMT

Let’s pray one more time.

Gracious heavenly Father, we do ask for your help, not merely out of habit or custom, but because we do need your help. I need your help if I am to preach faithfully and humbly with an eye to the truth and the glory of Christ. And we certainly need your help if we are to hear not only understanding words and sentences but having them sink deep into our hearts. So we pray for the work of the Spirit to be among us through your Word, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Romans chapter 1, verses 21 through 23. Romans chapter 1, verses 21 through 23. Follow along as I read.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

At the end of last week’s message, we came to the sobering conclusion. See it there in your Bibles in verse 20. “So, they are without excuse.” The “they” refers most particularly to the Gentiles. This section 18 through 32 in chapter 1 is thinking about the non-Jewish world, though there are a lot of echoes, as we’ll see, to the Old Testament. So, the Jews could also be guilty of these things, but mainly, he’s thinking about the Gentile world apart from Christ. And then chapter 2, he’s going to turn his attention to the Jews. They, that is the nations of the world, all peoples, know something about God. That was his argument. The light of nature shows that there is a God. He is invisible. He is eternal. He is powerful. He possesses a nature unlike ours by means of this general revelation. They’re not saving. Not the special revelation in Christ and in his Word, but the general revelation, which is communicated to us through the things that have been made, and God taking that implants within us a seed of divinity. That’s the language that the theologian John Calvin uses. That is, we have something innate and acquired through the observation of the world, a feeling of transcendence. An awareness that there is a mighty God and that this God is to be feared and to be worshipped because of this universal reality, everyone, everywhere.

Ecclesiastes says, eternity written on our hearts, and the God of eternity written in the heavens. Because of all of that, all people are without excuse. They have an awareness. The analogy we used last week is an infant and its mother. That child may not be able to understand all of the words that you speak to him or her, would not be able to articulate and give an explanation or a description of its mother, and yet it can tell in the arms who is the mother. And if I try to say, look at the baby, it knows I’m not, and you’re not. And so, we have this innate awareness of God.

That was the argument from last week. And the conclusion there without excuse assumed a premise, and that premise is going to be explained in greater detail here in verses 21, 22, and 23. Namely, this missing premise. Everyone has, by general revelation an awareness of God, they are without excuse. What’s the missing argument in the middle? It’s that they do not worship God with this knowledge as they ought.

Now we saw a hint of that at the end of verse 18 that says, “by their unrighteousness, they suppress the truth.” We saw that last week. This awareness of God. Sinful men and women take, and they try to drown out and press down that awareness of God. Drowning with distractions, with disobedience, by their unrighteousness. Now in 21, 22, and 23, Paul is going to give us more of a description. What does that suppression look like? What is this middle argument? They have a knowledge, they’re without excuse. The missing argument in the middle is they do not do with that knowledge what ought to be done. And that’s what these verses are about.

The outline is simple. One thing every human being knows. Two things that unregenerate human beings do not do. And then three things that happen as a result. Very nice that it’s right there in the text. One, two, three.

So first, one thing that every human being knows, and this is quite surprising and we need to explain what it means and what it doesn’t mean. Because look at verse 21, “For although they knew God.” That’s the one thing that is true of every human being. They know God. Now, if you have some Bible verses in your head, you may immediately struggle a bit. Now, okay, now how does that square? Because aren’t there a lot of verses in the New Testament that say that people don’t know God? And indeed, there are. Paul’s going to argue in Romans 3, 10 through 18, “there’s no one who seeks after God.” “There’s no one who understands.” Galatians 4:8, the very same apostle Paul says, “formerly, when you did not know God.” 1 John 4:7, “whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” The implication is if you don’t love and you are not born from above, then you do not know God. So yes, there are passages in the New Testament that clearly say that apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, men and women do not know God.

So, what are we left to do? The Bible does not contradict itself. The Apostle Paul is not forgetting in Galatians and Romans what he wrote in one place or the other. But we understand human language has flexibility in its meaning, and so Paul must have in mind that there is some kind of knowledge that every human being has of God. And then there is a kind of knowledge that one only acquires by the gift of the Holy Spirit. So. this knowledge in verse 21, “they knew God.” Let’s say what it is not.

It is not a redemptive knowledge. It is not knowing as intimacy with God or fellowship with God. It is not communion knowing. It is not covenant knowing. So absolutely on one level, in one sense of that word, the unbeliever does not know God. And yet, says plainly in verse 21, there must be another sense in which everyone does know God. So, this knowing in verse 21 is not knowing as the full reception of truth or the faithful believing, embracing, and cherishing of the truth, but knowing as an awareness, an impression, a perception. An awareness, an impression, a perception. They know God. There is something deep down in every human psyche. That means that there is some point of contact with the non-believer.

Perhaps this is a description even of you this morning, if you didn’t even realize it, that you know God. Think of your conscience. Paul will have much more to say about that in the chapters ahead about the conscience accuses us or defends us. You have that innate sense. Some call it a faculty within you that approves what is right and disapproves what is wrong. All of us, every one of us, has had the experience of feeling bad about having done something wrong. Where does that come from?

Or can speak about the peoples throughout history, all around the world, who are incurably religious. We said this last week. In every culture, at every time, and in every place, people are almost always religious, and often they have some kinds of sacrifices. There’s some sort of sense that they must prove something or pay something to this God. Even in places that are officially atheistic, what do you find? You often find the worship of ancestors. You find animism or spiritism or the worship of the state or a political party. People are incurably religious. The law is written on our hearts. We can see in the world around us the appearance of design.

I remember reading one of these new atheists, and they’ve been on their own sort of intellectual journey. Some of them now say, well, Christianity as a cultural construct is still a good. I don’t want to do away with that entirely, but I remember reading some of them, and they would say that the creation, of course, they don’t use that, they would say the world has the appearance of design. To which one might say, it appears that way for a reason. It might, in fact, have a design.

Perhaps some of you know the story of Whitaker Chambers, one-time Communist Party member, spy for the Soviets during the Cold War, famously became conservative, was led to reject atheism. In this famous passage in his autobiography, he says he was led to reject atheism by studying the miracle of his infant daughter’s ear. He said he watched his daughter eating in her highchair and quote, “and involuntary, and unwanted,” those are his words, thought, entered his mind. Quote, “Those intricate, perfect ears could have been,” quote, “created only by immense design.” A perfect example, really, of what John Calvin said about this sense of divinity, an “involuntary, unwanted thought,” Whitaker-Chambers said. He didn’t want this thought. It was not the result of syllogistic reasoning. Perhaps some people can come to see the truth and be prepared for the truth. They still need to be born again by the Spirit of God. But for him, it was this unwanted thought. He didn’t want to see it. And yet there with his infant daughter, just looking upon her ear, he knew in that moment there must be a God. And he had suppressed it, something that he knew to be true, but he wanted to forget. That’s what Paul says about the human mind and heart bound to sin. There are things we know that we so steal ourselves to forget until he finally acknowledged it to be true. So, I said last week, are you willing to concede that this book might know you better than you know yourself. Tells you things about yourself, about the inner working of your head and heart. This book understands what’s going on in our world and in your neighbors and in this country and around the world better than any newscast, better than any pundit, better than any other commentary. This book understands. We, apart from the Spirit of God, suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So, we know something. So fundamentally, the human problem in the world is not ultimately a knowledge problem. Yes, they need to know of Jesus Christ because general revelation, they have suppressed it. So, there is something they must hear and know. Paul’s already said that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. That is necessary because the knowledge they already have has been suppressed. That is to say, it is not, first of all, a knowledge problem. It’s a knowledge problem because it is, first of all, a moral problem. It is a spiritual problem. They have some awareness, some knowledge, and yet they want to forget it. They don’t want to acknowledge it.

When we have birthdays in our house, which happens a lot. We’re in a little bit of a reprieve here until my wife has her birthday, which is the one that, you know, moms often gets the least attention, sadly. And then we come into the summer months, and it’s just birthday, birthday, birthday. And my dear wife tries to make all of those feel special. There’s a banner that goes across the windows that says, “Happy Birthday.” And so that usually goes up when the child is sleeping at night, and then the presents are there in the morning, a few of them at least. It’s hard to…the factor of nine makes it very costly, but there’s some presents there, and there’s going to be maybe a special breakfast that’s in the oven or purchased at the store. No shame in that. The child probably comes to expect this. And it really should be no confusion about where these things have come from. There is a sign that says, “Happy Birthday.” There are wrapped presents neatly on the table. There is a card, and everyone can see that the card is written in the penmanship, not of the father, I love them, but of the mother. So, if they see this, it’s right before their eyes. They all know. We would say, surely, it is a serious failing if they were to wander around the house all day, say, where did the presents come from? Who put up by some chance, some cosmic accident, the happy birthday sign is there. The one who put it there would feel very put out.

And so, the suppression of this knowledge, people say, why doesn’t God show himself? If only God would make it clearer. Have you considered that perhaps the problem is not with what God has revealed, but with our eyes to behold it? If our kids walked around the house all day, if only I knew where these gifts came from. Why is this such a mystery to me? We’d say, you ought to know. You have chosen to forget. The one thing every human being knows, although they knew God.

Here’s two things, however, that they do not do. Number one, just following along with verse 21, “they did not honor him as God.” This is the fatal flaw. This is where everything goes wrong. They did not glorify him. We glorify God, not by adding to God something that he lacks, but by ascribing to God who he is, and giving him the worship that he deserves. We are not adding anything to him. He is not in any deficiency if we do not honor him as God. And yet, if you were in some medieval kingdom and the king would deign to leave his castle and would come riding on his horse through your village, it would be the duty of every loyal, kindred heart to come and to see him parade through your village. What an honor that he would be there and that you ought to bend and bow and give homage to this king, and to do anything less would be to fail to recognize who he is. If he rode through your town and you did not bother to come out or to bend or to bow or to sing his praises, either you did not really know who he was, or you knew who he was and you did not care to honor him because you did not think he was worth your time and effort. We would say surely that is a great failing. And everything else about your citizenship would flow from that first mistake that you did not honor the king as your king. And so, the world apart from God, though they knew God, they did not honor him as God. They didn’t give him the glory that he deserved. We’ll see more of what that looks like in the results to come.

But notice the second thing because this is perhaps surprising. We get that first one. Yes, they did not honor him as God, number two, or “give thanks.” Isn’t that striking? We might think Paul would say, what’s at the heart, what’s the very core of human failure to God? You might think that Paul would say, you know what they did in their unrighteousness? They cursed him. They hated him. They reviled him. No. He says, you want to know at the very heart and the core of their unrighteousness, they did not thank him. Isn’t that one of the reasons why Satan, we don’t know a lot about Satan’s rebellion, we know he was one of the angels. And we know that in a prideful rebellion, he took with him some of the angels and their fallen angels, and they rebelled. He did not accept the station that he had been given. He was not grateful to God as a created being. And so, he rebelled. Adam and Eve, at least part of their sin in the garden was their ingratitude. In eating that fruit, it was to believe the lie of the serpent and question the goodness of God, that God was hiding something from them. That all of the trees that he had given them to eat was not enough if he didn’t give them this particular tree. It was the sin of an ungrateful heart.

Now, this is not to make light of the many struggles that many of you have. We have sadnesses in our church all the time. We have members who die, loved ones who die, elders and deacons who die, parents, sometimes even children. There are great sadnesses in life, and yet you’re here this morning, and there’s a sun in the sky. You did nothing to hang the sun there, nothing to hang the stars. You will, if I’m not mistaken, all of you have food to eat. You will have occasion sometime in this week, I think most of you, to laugh. You will have friends around you, perhaps children, or the gifts of marriage or grandchildren. You will enjoy to play sports or to watch a sporting event on TV. You will, despite the caking of green pollen, enjoy the beauty of spring, see the trees blooming. You did nothing. All of the nice people that collected the leaves in your yard, they didn’t save them somewhere, and now they have to bring them out and staple them back to the trees. Praise God. The trees blossom, and they bloom.

We’ve enjoyed already this morning the gifts of music. Some of you have eyes to enjoy the gifts of art or human accomplishment or we think of what God has done with science and medicine. All of that surrounds you every day. To whom do you give thanks? To whom does the unbeliever give thanks for all of these things? To what do you attribute these blessings? It’s written in the stars. Well, who hung the stars? You say, what good luck we have had. It’s our good genes. It’s a mechanistic determinism, blind chance, or this is what we often feel in our hearts, my wisdom, my goodness, my hard work, but it is not so.

Imagine, to think again of your mother, for all that she’s done for you. I just want you to remember, because I don’t know what sermon we’re doing on Mother’s Day, but it’s probably not going to be about mothers. It’s probably about sin and unrighteousness or whatever Paul is talking about. So, here’s your Mother’s Day part. Just enjoy it. Listen to it again. If your mom clothes that she cleaned, and the tables that she set, and the vacuum that she did, and the homework that she helped you with, and all the forms that she filled out, let alone the birth that she gave, and taking care of you, and feeding you, and loving you, and hugging you, and putting the Band-Aid on there. If all of that in your whole life, you never said thank you, say, what a rotten child. It’s true.

And then you think about our Creator. He does a lot more than your mom. And he made us, and he sustains us, and he enriches us. That’s why Paul says, you want to know where they went wrong? Even before they cursed God. No, no, no. Go before that. They had life and breath and the sun and the moon and the stars and the trees and the grass and human relationship, beauty and all of that and they did not give thanks to God.

You want to know seven words that can transform your life? I know it sounds like a BuzzFeed article or something, but you want to know seven words that can transform your life, your life with God, and your life with each other? I’ll give you seven words. If you would just put these seven words into regular rotation in your relationship with God and your relationship with other people, they really could totally transform your life. Here they are. I’m sorry. I love you. Thank you. You just put those seven words – I’m sorry. I love you. Thank you – into your regular vocabulary with God and with the people in your life, and you are well on your way to knowing what it is by the power of the Spirit to act like a Christian.

See, the root sin here is this idolatry. This is the medicine, this is the depraved soil from which all other sins grow. The failure to honor God as God and the failure of an ungrateful heart. The particular infractions of God’s law blossom from this root failure. Before Paul talks about all the laws that they’ve broken, you didn’t do this rule, you didn’t keep this commandment, he says, here’s where it starts. Yes, keep the commandments, but here’s where it starts. You don’t know God as God. You have not recognized who he is. You have not treated him as God, and you have not, in humble, heartfelt affection, said to him, for all of your gifts, thank you.

Now what happens? Although they knew God, that’s what everyone knows, two things the unregenerate heart does not do. They do not honor God as God, and they do not give thanks to Him. Three things that happen as a result, these three things are overlapping categories. There’s some distinction, but Paul is more or less saying the same thing in different language. The first thing that happens is they became futile in their thinking, their thinking. So, the intellect is not exempt from the effects of the fall. Here’s news for you, and it’s for me too. You are not as logical and as objective as you think. You’ve heard me say before, we are not so much rational as we are rationalizing. We find reasons to defend the things that we already feel, and we already want to believe. It’s very hard to change our minds. You’re not as logical, you’re not as objective as you think.

We do not think rightly. Their thinking became futile. This word for futile here is used only this place, this verb, in the New Testament. But the root word appears in the Greek translation, the Septuagint, in several places in the Old Testament. Here’s a couple of them, Jeremiah 2 verse 5, “Your fathers went after worthlessness.” He’s talking about the Jews and their idolatry. “Your fathers went after worthlessness and became worthless.” 2 Kings 17:15, “They went after false idols and they became false.” Do you see what’s happening there? They went after futility, and they became futile. It’s the principle. We become what we worship. They worshiped futile things, vain things, empty things, and so their thinking became vain and empty and futile. What do we worship? Whatever or whomever we bow before, we worship. Their thinking became futile.

Second, their foolish hearts were darkened. Now, thoughts and hearts are often speaking in the Bible of the innermost parts, so it’s not always a fine distinction, but it’s telling here that the mind, and now the heart, not just futile, but you see this step, now it’s darkened. Luther says, ingratitude leads to vanity, which leads to blindness. The most brilliant esoteric Greek philosophers were often quite at home with rank, superstition, and immorality. Jesus tells us why this is so, John 3, “Everyone who does wicked things hates the light.” You have all sorts of reasons why you hate the light, and we ought to do apologetics, and sometimes people really do have mental hurdles that need to be cleared and need to have a reason for the hope that we have, as 1 Peter tells us. But this is also what takes place. There’s light, and it often happens before you come mentally to why you don’t like the light, why the light must not be really light. Your hearts are darkened because people love to do wicked things. And when they love to do wicked things, they don’t want the light. And because of that, they find ways in their futile thinking and their darkened hearts to walk away from the light. And you see the result of all of this, the third step.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools. Claiming to be wise, that’s the sort of language that the impressive philosophers would use. Appeal to wisdom, appeal to human reason. Well, they claim that, Paul says, but they become fools. Jesus says very hard things about it. Don’t say raka to your brother. Don’t call someone a fool. What is a fool? A fool says in his heart there is no God. A fool is a moral category. This is not an intellectual category. There are very smart people, PhDs, straight A students, ace the SAT. There are very smart people who are spiritually dumb. And there are simple, uneducated people who are very spiritually wise. This folly is a spiritual folly.

Notice in verse 23, this is the first of three exchanges. We have one in verse 25, we have the next one in verse 26. Here’s the first of three foolish exchanges that Paul talks about. “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God.” So that’s what they knew. That’s what they had an awareness of through general revelation was a glorious, immortal, eternal God. And they claiming to be wise, but really being fools, exchanged all of that. And instead of worshiping that God, they took images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. This was the sin not just of the Gentiles but of the Jews in the Old Testament. Psalm 106, they made a calf in Horeb. This is the golden calf. They worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior who had done great things. Jeremiah 2:11, “has a nation changed its gods even though they are no gods. But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.” This was the perennial temptation, not just of the Gentile, but of every human heart. And it makes sense because this was the first sin in the garden.

I don’t think Paul is talking only about the first sin in the garden, but we are meant, obviously, to see that as an analogy. You see there in verse 23, the language of “birds and animals and creeping things,” this threefold formula appears in Genesis 1 verse 20 and 24. Or even more noticeable, now you can see in English the word “image,” “icon,” in the Greek. Think of Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our own image and in our likeness.” Now this is a perfectly fine translation, but if you could see the Greek, that word translated “resembling,” is the exact same Greek word that’s used in the Greek translation of Genesis 1:26 for “likeness.” Now why doesn’t it translate as “likeness,” because we don’t have a word that works that way. The glory of the immortal God for image is “likeness” is seeing mortal man. That’s what it is, but we use “resembling,” but it’s the same word right there. He has the word “image” and “likeness.” So, we are put in the conceptual universe of Genesis chapter 1 because the ongoing sin and exchange in the world is the same foolish exchange that Adam and Eve made in the garden.

And here, it’s described in verse 23 as “making the invisible God visible.” It’s one of the reasons why wisely in the Reformed tradition has always warned against religious iconography, statues, painting, not that we can’t appreciate art of certain kinds, but anything that depicts God, that is used as an avenue or a channel of worship. Some traditions try to distinguish, well, it’s not worship, but it’s veneration. The reformers always said, well, don’t look at the words, look at what they do. We have in our heart a desire to make the invisible God visible before us. Now, it’s visible in creation, the heavens are telling, made visible in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, made visible in a way with the sacraments. Those are the pictures he gives to us. You say, well, praise God that we’re not like this. We don’t chase after these sorts of animals and mortal man, creeping things. Well, are there some people who would give anything their whole life to hold a statue of a man? We call it the Oscars. You say, yeah, go after those Hollywood people. Or the Heisman. Anything that we are willing to bow before and we say to, in our hearts, to a pop star or a politician – I ascribe to you glory. I adore you. I want to be like you. I want to tell everyone about you, and in my heart, the height of all excellence would be if I could only get a glimpse of you. – Sounds like worship.

What distinguished God from his creatures? It was his majesty, his glory, his eternity, his immateriality, his invisibility, his infinity, his spirituality. That’s what distinguished God as God. And so, in this folly, they worship God as material, finite, physical, visible, and temporal. And do you notice what’s happening? They have literally gone from the highest of heavens, the God who dwells in unapproachable light, the worship that lifts us into the heavens, and do you see the progression, really the degression in verse 23, man, who God created a little lower than the angels, and then birds who fly in the sky, and then animals, and then finally creeping things. This is literally what false worship does. It takes us from the highest of heavens to creeping, crawling things on the ground. False worship, idolatry, is a falling away, a damnable exchange. Some scholars would try to argue, well, in the history of religions, people started as this kind of heathenism or paganism, and then they evolved into monotheism. No, no, no, that’s not what Paul tells us. Everyone knows that there is a God, but in their exchange, there is a denigration from truth to lie, from integrity to unrighteousness.

You see what’s happening to us? We are made in the image of God. And when you sin, you are being degraded. People like to think to themselves, “well, okay, maybe God isn’t happy, but there’s really, you know, it’s harmless.” There are no harmless sins. You may think, well, so what? God’s a big God, he can deal with it. True, he can deal with it, and he will deal with it. But you are not so big, and turning your back on God makes you smaller. All false worship degrades the image of God.”

Now, this is the argument coming, I think we’ll be there in two weeks. You become what you worship. If you worship animals, you become like animals. That’s the argument. That’s what Paul’s going to say, God gives them over, because next it’s going to be he gives you over to the lusts and to the passions and you’re inflamed sexually so that you feel like your whole life is to satisfy sexual urges. Well, that’s being deprived of your reason, deprived of self-control, living life like an animal in heat that has to simply satisfy bodily urges. Here’s the lie our world tells us, unfettered self-expression is what makes you human. That’s the lie. Here’s the truth. Being ruled by your lusts and passions makes you like an animal. It’s not freedom. It’s bondage. It’s not finding yourself, it’s losing yourself.

Salvation in the book of Romans is about a lot of things. We’re going to see it’s about forgiveness. We’ve already seen it’s about righteousness. It’s about atonement. It’s about propitiation. It’s about justification. But it’s also about this, it is about the image of God being restored. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. And only in worshipping Christ can you have the divine image restored in you. Only through the God-man can you be fully human once again. Now, that’s not all there is to say, but that’s part of what this salvation is, is you becoming truly human as you were meant to be. Not degrading yourself, losing the image, and the image of creeping things and animals until you’re little better than an animal. It is to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and then to be transformed by the beauty, and the kindness, and the mercy, and the loveliness of that glory. So that as we are transformed one degree of glory to the next, we will honor him as God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we will say to him, thank you.

Let’s pray. Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. We pray that you would instruct us in it. Correct us. May it be the instrument of salvation and our sanctification. In Christ we pray, Amen.

Without Excuse

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 12:15:33 GMT

Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we are so glad to call you our Father and to know that you have sent your Son to be our king, our refuge, our rock, our shield, our redeemer, and that to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our life belongs. Help us now as we come to your Word. Help me to preach with humility and yet with boldness and conviction, and give to all of your dear people ears to hear. And if there are any who do not yet truly know you, would this be the means of illuminating saving grace through the preaching of the Word? We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

We come this morning to Romans chapter 1, verses 18-20. Romans chapter 1, 18-20. As we continue with this series in Romans, having heard in verses 16 and 17, really, the great theme of this greatest letter ever written, about the gospel and the revelation of the righteousness of God, we now, on the heels of that theme, introduce a new but related subject, which will be our companion, I expect, for many weeks. Verse 18:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

This is one of those passages in Romans, and there will be many more like it, where you need to ask yourself this question: does this book know me better than I know myself? Romans is going to teach some things that are hard to understand. It’s going to insist upon some truths that may be unfamiliar and at first you may not like. And it is going to show some things about the human heart and the human mind and the human psyche that men and women do not even know about themselves. One of the most important things, and this has to do with all of your reading of the Bible, but in particular as we go through this book together, is to keep coming back to this fundamental reality. God sees some things that you don’t see. “Some” is a bit of an understatement. He sees an infinite number of things that you don’t see. He has insight that you don’t have. This book is going to explain why things are the way they are in the world, if you and I have ears to hear it.

There’s certainly some value in being caught up on the news. There’s lots of news going on in our world, and it prompts us to pray. We ought to. We should. I trust we are praying. It’s good to get some commentary, listen to some trusted voices, articles, podcasts, feeds to give a perspective and information, insofar as we realize that it’s the Word of God and texts like this – though there’s nothing in here that, on the face of it, is giving punditry on the events of today – has everything to do with what is really happening in the world, and you and I must keep coming back to that fundamental question: does this book and the God who authored this book, does he know me better than I know me? Does he know our world and what’s going on better than any of us?

Here’s the context as we come to this new section. You can see the heading in the ESV, “God’s wrath on unrighteousness.” This section – hope you have your Bible open – that goes from chapter 1, verse 18, all the way through chapter 3, verse 20, is one long, unrelenting argument about the universality of sin. So there are going to be a lot of sermons about sin. Make sure we also hear at the end of each of those about the remedy for sin. But each of these are about this continuing theme. Look at verse 17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed.” In the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. That’s 1:17. Now, turn the page, and look at what Paul picks up with in chapter 3:21. The very same theme: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.” 1:17, 3:21 introduce this theme of the righteousness of God. He’s going to come back to it in 3:21 to tell us, “But now” – and after we have many weeks about the universality of sin, it is going to be a sweet, sweet Sunday to come to verse 21, “But now…” That’s what Paul is doing. Everything in between 1:17 to 3:21 is about the desperation of the human condition. You can look at chapter 2, verse 9, for example: “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being.” Look at 3:9, “Are Jews any better off? Not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.” And then chapter 3:19, “We know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world.” And then the final indictment in chapter 3:20, “For by works of the law, no human being will be justified.” Did you notice there the “every,” the “all,” the “no”? Paul is making this argument with hammer blow after hammer blow that every human being falls under this universal indictment of sin.

You can think about it – in chapter 1:18-32, he’s primarily focused on the world of the Gentiles. And then in chapter 2:1 through 3:8, he’s primarily going to talk about the Jews, that they, too, fall under the condemnation of sin. So, the Gentile world, the Jews, and then in chapter 3:9-20 is where he brings it together with “no not one” – every single person. So, the context here is a series of arguments, first about the Gentiles, then about the Jews, to insist with hammer blow after hammer blow, there is no one righteous, no, not one. Now look at verse 18. You see that word, which is such an important word in Romans, the word “for.” So, this connects us to what has gone before. Yes, this is starting a new section, but it’s also connected to what came before. Notice these three phrases in verses 16, 17, and 18. “The power of God,” verse 16; “the righteousness of God,” verse 17; “the wrath of God,” verse 18. Verse 18 is the problem for which verse 17 is the solution. Now, we usually think “give us the problem, then the solution,” but Paul’s introduced in 16 and 17 the power of God in the gospel and the solution, and now he’s going to turn and explain for many verses the problem, the predicament. Why is the gospel necessary? Why must the righteousness of God be revealed from faith to faith? So that’s the connection from the power of God, the righteousness of God, the wrath of God.

Verse 18 is the problem that we’ve already seen introduced the solution to in verses 16 and 17. Notice another connection between 17 and 18. You see in verse 17, “in it,” the gospel, “the righteousness of God is revealed.” We saw a couple of weeks ago the word – we get our English word apocalypse – apocalypto, the revealing, the unveiling, that Paul is taking the blanket, he’s pulling it back, and he’s revealing the righteousness of God. And it’s the righteousness of God that is counted to us when we believe. It’s God’s own righteousness that becomes ours through faith. He said, “I want to reveal that and show it to you in the preaching of the gospel.” Now, you see the same verb in verse 18, “The wrath of God is revealed.” So, pulled away that blanket, that tablecloth: here’s the righteousness of God revealed. Now, he’s going to talk about pulling away and saying, “Here is the wrath of God, revealed.” What do we mean by the wrath of God? We do not mean that God is wrathful in the way that you and I would usually experience wrath: uncontrolled, capricious, a passion that takes over us, an anger. We lost control. Think about some of the euphemisms we use for anger or human wrath. He blew a fuse. Something just happened to him and tripped his trigger. Or, he’s just letting off steam. That image is of you just so pressurized with anger, you have to open a vent to let the steam out. Or boy, he just exploded. So, that’s something that’s emerging with great pressure and can hardly help itself. That’s often how human anger works. It’s why Paul says, “In your anger, do not sin.” Because usually in our anger, we do sin. This wrath of God is not like that. God is not capricious. God does not have things just happen to him or sweep over him. The wrath of God is his righteous, implacable opposition to everything that is unholy. His righteous, implacable opposition to everything that is unholy. It is his hostility, unfailing hostility, toward evil.

This is a theme all throughout the Bible. Can’t escape it. And before you think to yourself, well, boy, really, I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this idea about the wrath of God – think about the alternative. Do you want a God who is indifferent toward evil? Certainly not when the evil is against you. And we feel this strongly for even minor inconveniences. You have to go through the rigamarole of a Byzantine phone tree. How many times do I need to enter the last four digits? And now I need to enter this passcode, which I set 12 years ago, and I’m holding a phone like – it doesn’t exist like this anymore. I know. But you’re using the rotary, and you have to go through all of this, and then you can’t actually get to a human being. Would you like to use our virtual assistant? “I hate you” is what you feel like. And that’s just an inconvenience, and you’re all ready to say, “Where are the imprecatory psalms to go for here?” So, we know that feeling, and when you have real, justified indignation, real sin against you, injustice in the world, cruel evil, certainly you say, “I want a God who is not indifferent to the great crimes and evils and unfairnesses in the world.” That’s the wrath of God, his hostility toward evil. Notice what it says here, just continuing in verse 18. You’re wondering when is he giving us the outline? The outline is verse 18, verse 19, verse 20.

The wrath of God is revealed from heaven. Now, that’s important, because it tells us this is not simply just the way things are, and some bad experiences, or – this is from heaven. This is God. We’ll come back to the word “reveal” in just a moment. But from heaven, this is God exercising justice against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Now, first, don’t miss the word “all.” All. You ever say to somebody, “Well, yeah, of course I’m not perfect, but” – and then you want to defend why God shouldn’t judge sinners. No, as soon as you said, “I’m not perfect,” there’s no place for the “but.” All – not just the things that, you know, dictators do. All ungodliness and all unrighteousness. You can think about it as ungodliness is that impiety toward God, and unrighteousness is that lawless behavior directed toward man. It’s perhaps not to put too much of an artificial construct on it to think that these two words roughly correspond to the first table of the law, our duties to God, and the second table of the law, our duties toward our neighbor. Everything that is contrary to God and his character – God is opposed to that. Everything that is hurtful to men and women made in his image – I mean, genuinely, you hurt them, not just that they’re sensitive and got hurt – all of that. All of that. If you want an example of the sort of ungodliness and unrighteousness that Paul has in mind, you can just go down to the end of the chapter. Look at verse 29. Does anything in verse 29, 30, and 31 describe anything you’ve done or felt in the past week? “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.” Were you envious of anyone? “Murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents” – just in case the kids were tuning out –“foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Okay, you just – and that’s not even the sermon on that paragraph. You want to say, “Okay, okay, okay.” If we’re honest, every one of us has something in that list – not just in our lifetime, in our week, our morning. That’s what Paul is talking about. All unrighteousness and ungodliness. God is opposed to it.

Now go back, I said, to that verb “is revealed.” I want you to notice this is in the present tense. We might expect Paul to say the wrath of God will be revealed, that is, the wrath of God as a future reality on the day of judgment. And that is certainly true. Look at chapter 2:5, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” So clearly, 2:5, he says the wrath of God is something that will be revealed. You’re storing up in hard hearts for the judgment of God to come upon the world. And we’re used to thinking of the wrath of God as that day that is coming. Beware. But notice the verb is present. Not just that it will, but the wrath of God even now is being revealed. How is the wrath of God now being revealed? Some people suggest Paul has in mind here the preaching of the gospel – the preaching of the gospel that warns people of the wrath of God. And that’s true in a general sense. And you can see that possible connection. Verse 16 is “not ashamed of the gospel, it’s the power of God,” and what does the gospel announce? It announces, first of all, the righteousness of God is revealed, but that’s the solution. It also is going to talk about the problem, which is the wrath of God. So there’s truth to that in a general sense, though that’s not usually how the word “gospel” is used with connection to God’s wrath upon sinners. So that’s true in a general sense. The preaching of the Word does announce the wrath of God. But Paul is saying something more than just an announcement. He’s saying now, in the present world, God’s wrath is revealed.

How is God’s wrath now revealed in the world? Well, there’s a couple of reasons or examples to come later in the book of Romans. We can think about Romans 13:4, which is about the power of the governing authorities, and they don’t bear the sword for nothing. And that when the civil magistrate wields the sword and truly rewards what is good and punishes what is evil – it says you ought to be afraid. He bears the sword and acts with God’s authority. He does so. So when a police officer arrests someone who has violated the laws and committed a crime, when a judge sentences someone who is guilty to jail, when the state administers that justice, Romans 13 says that is an authority derived from God, and that is part of God’s execution of his wrath, even now, in the world. It’s not his final wrath, and there’s opportunities to repent, but it is one way that the wrath of God is revealed, to show in a temporal way what God thinks about sin and lawlessness.

There’s another example, even more obvious, and that’s Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is” – what? – “death.” Sin has a wage. What’s the payment for sin? It’s death. Now, this doesn’t mean that when someone dies, that’s God’s, yep, I just punished that person, and that’s why they died. It is to say, however, that every death is a reminder of the wages of sin. Every death – young person, middle age, at the very end of their full life of 90-plus years – every death is a way of saying God is angry with sin, and death has not finally been destroyed. It has been, and yet we haven’t wiped up everything that death remains.

So those are examples to come, but that’s not what Paul is talking about in this immediate context. Those are ways that the wrath is being revealed. Rather, I want you to notice the structure in this section, which we’ll have opportunity to come back to in the weeks ahead. The immediate context tells us that the wrath of God is being revealed now, in the present, in that God gives people up to the sins they want to commit. Look at this pattern. Once you see it, it’ll become very obvious in the rest of chapter 1. There are three exchanges. Look at verse 23: “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images,” so that’s the first exchange. Look at verse 25: “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie.” And then verse 26, “For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.” Three exchanges that Paul’s going to say, what does sin looks like? It looks like an exchange, a truth for a lie. Interwoven with those three exchanges are three times that Paul says God has handed over, or he has given you up, to your sins. Look at verse 24: “Therefore, God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity.” Look at verse 26: “For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” And then the third time in verse 28: “Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind.” You see how these work in interlocking pieces? And this will be where we’re heading in the next three, I think, probably four sermons. We’ll have much more to say about this, but just let this sink in for a moment. We are used to thinking that when you commit worse sin and worse sin that you’re deserving of more and more judgment. And there’s rationale for saying that. But Paul’s saying something different. He is telling us that the more people give themselves over, headlong, into sin, it is evidence that God is already exercising judgment. The point of Romans 1, the wrath of God here is poured out in the present – not so much in what God does to you, though we’ve talked about the civil magistrate, we’ve talked about death – but here the point is what he allows you to keep doing. One of the worst things that can ever happen to a fallen human heart is that God says, “Go, do whatever you want to do.” Gives you over to the desires of your heart. You see, that’s the pattern. The wrath of God is being revealed in these three steps, that God lifts his restraining hand. It’s easy to look out and see how many things are broken in our world, how much evil there is. And then you realize if God were to lift his restraining hand upon sinners, how much worse it would be. And in fact, where he has rightly judged, he loosens, and he lets go of that leash to say, “I give you over to your sin.” That’s judgment.

You think about, you know, you dog owners. Sorry, this will be a little sad of an illustration, but it didn’t really happen. But you know, some of you, you’re walking your dog, and sometimes you can tell the dog is walking you, and the leash is taut, and he’s barking, and I run by on the other side, and oh, he’s a nice dog. Really? He’s foaming, but they’re always nice dogs when you hold the leash. But if you were there, and the dog is yelping and barking and scratching and trying to run away with everything that he’s had, to say, “Sit, boy. Sit.” And you’re walking by a busy road. A judgment upon that animal would be to let go of the leash. Fine. Have it your way. You don’t want me to hold you here? You don’t think I know what I’m doing? Yelping, barking, scratching, biting, fighting me with everything. And then that dog runs off into the street. A judgment. The wrath of God is now revealed from heaven in that God says at times in his righteous judgment to sinners, “Have it your way.” So be it, if that’s what you want to do. He hands them over. It is a judgment to allow sinners to continue headlong into their sin. Now, you go back to verse 18, “who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” See, the unrighteousness of mankind is worse than we think. It’s not just that people are irreligious, or they break the Ten Commandments, or they’re dismissive of God. Paul says it’s worse than that, because at some level, they know better. They know better. Now, we’re going to come back to that word “suppress” at the end, but I just want you to know here, “suppress the truth.” So, verses 19 and 20 are going to explain what is that truth that they know, and how did they come to know it? But the point here in verse 18 is they are running off into unrighteousness and ungodliness, and they know better. They know something. They have something of the truth, and they just don’t want to look at it. They push it down.

I want to step back here, as we do verses 19 and 20, to understand this argument about the knowledge that everyone has by virtue of being made in God’s image. Just a step back, get some theological terminology. Some people distinguish between natural theology and supernatural theology. That is, supernatural theology is that which comes through the person of Christ and through the word of Christ. Supernatural theology. And then natural theology is that theological understanding that we have through the natural world. Psalm 19, “The heavens are declaring the glory of God.” And that’s not a wrong way of distinguishing, because it is true that there’s a knowledge that comes through the supernatural Scriptures, and there is an awareness of God that comes through the world of nature. So, natural theology, supernatural theology. However, there might be a better term. Herman Bavinck makes this point – great Dutch theologian from the last century – says, “Okay, that’s true, but a better term is general revelation and special revelation.” So, general revelation is that revelation of God and his character which is known to all, and we see here in Romans 1 that the means by which is the natural world perceived in creation. So, it’s a general revelation, and then there’s a special revelation. So, this is a revelation that is known to some, and it’s in the Scriptures, and it’s in the gospel, and it’s those who especially receive it in faith and with a new heart – a general revelation and a special revelation. Now why did Bavinck say that’s maybe a better terminology? Because of that term revelation. It’s important to realize both kinds are a revelation. The fact that a human being would know something about God is dependent upon God sharing something about himself. Both are a revelation. Now Paul’s whole argument here is this general revelation is insufficient to save. It’s inadequate. It’s sufficient to condemn. It’s in insufficient to save. But it is nevertheless a revelation. Some theologians and philosophers will sometimes talk about reason and revelation, and it’s not necessarily wrong to think about there are things that we learn by reason, but this particular point in Romans 1 is really the track of revelation. This is what God has revealed about himself through what has been made.

In the Westminster confession – here, this is a Presbyterian church, and we have doctrinal statements that we think are fair, good, accurate summaries of the Bible – the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism. Eight times in those two documents, we find the phrase “the light of nature.” So, there are things that can be known about God by the light of nature. Just look here in verses 19 and 20. What are the things that Paul thinks we can know? Now, just hold that there. We know, and yet we don’t know. But there’s things, on one level, we can know. He thinks we can know there’s a God. He’s invisible. He’s eternal. He’s powerful. He possesses a nature unlike ours. Here’s what the Westminster Confession of Faith says, “The light of nature shows that there is a God who has lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and does good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart and with all the soul and with all the might.” That’s something. That’s a fairly significant list. There are things that the light of nature can tell us. You might put it in just one sentence. The light of nature reveals there is a powerful God who ought to be feared and worshiped. There’s a powerful God who ought to be feared and worshiped.

Did you know there are about 200 billion, give or take a few billion, stars in the Milky Way. The Milky Way – just our galaxy. There are billions of others, and God knows every one of those stars by name. As I’ve said before, there’s a reason you can pay $65 and name a star after your loved one, because they’re never running out of stars. Never. You name it after your cat, your dog, everyone. Chickens, everything. You can get all – there’s billions and billions. If you were to fly to the sun – don’t recommend it – but if you were, and you got in a plane traveling 500 miles an hour. Now this is a beautiful day outside, and you can see the sun. I mean, you can feel the warmth. It’s very bright. I mean, you know it’s a long ways away, but really, it’s right there. How far can it be? You get in a plane, 500 miles an hour. You have some anti-Icarus wings, so you don’t melt as you get there. What do you think? I mean, that’s going to take, I mean, obviously a few days, few weeks, probably. Maybe it’s going to take a couple of months. If you’re in that plane, you better plan for over 20 years, just to make it to that big sun that we all can see. How many Earths can fit into the sun? I mean, there’s got to be, what, hundreds of them? 1.3 million of them. The deepest part of the Mariana Trench is almost 7 miles deep. We could go on and on and on. You stand at the foot of the Grand Canyon, and nobody feels big. You feel small. There’s a God. He’s powerful. He’s mighty.

Now, notice what else – because this is important – how we understand how general revelation works and what it means to have an awareness of these divine things. God has shown it to them. So, 18, what can be known? So there are things that can be known. God has made it plain. He’s shown it. And then verse 20, “having been clearly perceived.” So, notice this knowledge is something plain, something given to us by God, and this is important, something that Paul thinks is perceived by all. There’s a play on words in the Greek here. You can’t see it in the English, but he says, “Those things that cannot be seen,” aorata, “have been clearly perceived,” kathoratai – same root word. He said there are things you can’t see, and God’s helping you see them. The flow of Paul’s argument makes clear that this perception of God is universal. This is important, because it means Paul is not saying that this awareness of God is acquired by just a genius or some long proof. No, there are so-called proofs of God’s existence, which can be helpful for bolstering the faith of Christians, or maybe helping non-Christians say, “Okay, this is not an irrational thing to believe in God.” But those are not the foundations. Those are not the starting point. Paul is not arguing that, by a long syllogism of deductive reasoning, the smartest people in the world can say, “Ah, Eureka, there’s a God.” Calvin calls this “a sense of divinity.” He writes, “There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we take to be beyond controversy.” Well, I’m glad you didn’t think it was controversial. But he says everyone knows this. One of the arguments that has been made, and it’s helpful to a degree, is to say there is a universal religious impulse everywhere around the world throughout human history. Maybe this tells us something about an innate sense that there’s a God. And you say, well, some people are atheists. Some people don’t believe in any god at all. Even in places where religion per se is absent or religion is waning, what do you find in its place? You find that the state becomes the supreme, ultimate good, or politics, or pagan ritual, or the worship of the environment. Something else will come into its place, because people are yearning for meaning, trying to prove themselves to someone or something. They’re in fear, in worship of someone. People have been throughout human history, and they always will be, incurably religious. Let me give one more quote from Calvin. He goes on to say that even when people try to reject God, “yet, the sense of divinity” – that awareness – “which they greatly wished to be extinguished, thrives and presently burgeons. From this we conclude that it is not a doctrine that must first be learned in school but one of which each of us is a master from his mother’s womb and which nature itself permits no one to forget, although many strive with every nerve to this end.” Did you hear what John Calvin is saying? Just the same point I was making. This is not the product of genius and learning and taught to see this, but rather, he says, even from very infancy we have within us, from God himself, a sense that there’s a god, and he’s a mighty God, and he’s to be feared and worshiped. That’s why I said at the beginning this book knows you better than you know you. This book knows the non-Christian better than the non-Christian knows himself. Everyone in this room, everyone you meet, has from God through nature an implanted feeling of the transcendent, a sense of God, whether they have any conscious or cognitive awareness of that sense, even if they couldn’t explain it or even know what’s happening.

Here’s a good analogy. I was listening to Gray Sutanto – he teaches at RTS in D.C. He was giving a lecture recently on this, and he used this analogy. He says you think of a newborn baby with its mother. You ask that newborn baby, tell me who your mother is. Nothing. Can you explain to me? Can you prove to me that this is your mother? Can you – how could I find her? Well, of course, the baby’s not hearing, not understanding what you’re saying, the baby cannot articulate, and all of us, yet, have had the experience – that baby knows its mother. Believe me, because I’ve marched into a lot of rooms and said, “Oh, I love this baby, I’m good with babies,” and then, you know, crying, pleading, you’re not my mother – sometimes with my own children. I am your father, but what’s going on in that newborn’s intellect – don’t know. Certainly can’t articulate any sort of cognitive – it’s not a long, discursive process, the baby is reasoning from X to Y to Z that this is – but knows, with every fiber of its being, that’s my mother. I have a mother; she’s my mom.

We have this sense, this awareness, of divinity within us, which leads us back to verse 18, that word “suppress.” Now think about the fact that something is suppressed means we have something to suppress. Namely, there is truth that everyone knows. So, this is a point of contact: what you know about what everyone knows, even if they don’t want to know it. Now, you have to hold in tension these two senses of they know, in a way, and yet, because of the suppression, well, they don’t know. They don’t know in a way that can save them. But if you suppress something, it means you have something, and we stifle it. We muffle it. We repress it. We hold it down, like trying to – some of you may be like this with God – you’re trying to hold down this uncomfortable reality underwater. You’re trying to drown out your conscience, drown out this awareness that there’s a God, and you owe him your life and your love. Now, many people will not be aware of this suppression. That’s how suppression works. It happens by ignoring your conscience. Maybe you find religious substitutes in politics or the arts or in sports, or you convince yourself that science can explain everything, or you drown yourself in distractions. I imagine the most common reason people suppress the truth is simply that they want to live the way they want to live. I just want to do my own thing. I don’t want to have to deal with a God who might have wrath and might have holiness. I don’t want to deal with that. And so, you suppress it, and you think about – to use again the parent child analogy. You suppose a child was born of two loving parents, and those parents cared for him, and they loved him. They raised him, and they fed him and provided for him, and he grew up, and he forgot all about those parents. People would say, “How are your parents?” He’d say, “I don’t know anything. I don’t have parents. I don’t have any parents.” And Mother’s Day would roll around and you say, “Did you call your mother?” I didn’t have a mother. A Father’s Day would roll around. Nope. No father either. That’s fine. Some people believe in fathers and mothers, and some people have those holidays, but he was convinced to himself that he had no parents. He had arrived on the scene some other way. Meteor, stork, by chance. Now, what would we say? I know it’s a far-fetched example, but we would say that this child, this grown child, though perhaps with an awareness of what he was doing, had yet committed a great sin by suppressing the reality of his parents, saying, “Nope, I don’t.” We would not think that that was a light or small mistake. Well, to each his own. We would say, “What ingratitude!” which is why, we’ll see next week, the very heart of this sin is described, surprisingly, as ingratitude. Is no one to thank for his life, no one to thank for his existence? But rather pretends, suppresses, muffles, stifles. I don’t have any parents. We would say that child has committed a great sin.

And so it is with every human being who has, implanted through general revelation by God’s own hand, this awareness of divinity, which brings Paul to this conclusion at the end of verse 20, which he’ll come to again in chapter 1 and 2, “So, they are without excuse.” You ever ask the question, or have someone to ask you, yes, well what about the innocent tribesmen somewhere who’s never heard about the gospel? Will the innocent tribesman be judged? And the answer should be, well, of course, he won’t. However, there is no innocent tribesman. There is no innocent person somewhere. Of course, if you say he’s innocent, he won’t be judged. But Paul’s point here in these three dense, brilliant verses is to say we are all without excuse. There’s no one who is innocent. All of us, every human being everywhere, has this divinely given awareness that there is a God. He’s eternal. He’s mighty. He’s powerful. And yet, the hardness of the human heart is to push that down. It’s a knowing, yet an unknowing. The rejection is concurrent with knowledge.

I can’t leave you there. can’t leave you here every sermon for five weeks. I think this is – I think this is a fair observation, and we even heard it in that language from the Westminster Confession, of all the things that the light of nature reveals to us. There’s a God. He’s eternal. He’s powerful. He’s to be served. He’s to be feared. He’s to be worshiped. There’s not, by the light of nature, a revelation of redemption. There’s not, by the light of nature, a revelation of “how can I be forgiven?” It’s probably one of the reasons that, for most of human history, every religion has some form of appeasement in it – some form of “you need to achieve some enlightenment.” You need to do some good work. You need to appease the gods. There is something necessary to reach the blessed reality in the next world, because that’s people understanding instinctively there’s a god, and there’s something that must be done in order to get on his good side and get to the next place. And the light of nature does not reveal the cross of Jesus Christ. But this revelation, the gospel, the power of the gospel, reveals to us that this wrath, which is now being revealed on earth – that wrath – God’s just, implacable hostility to all that is unholy was poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ, not because he had done anything unholy, but because he who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. That God’s wrath, just wrath poured out on Christ, so that through the gospel, through this word, you have the privilege not just of a general revelation, which is enough to condemn, but this special revelation, which is more than enough to save. There is no excuse, but hallelujah, there is a Savior. Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, as we come now to the table, would you feed us? As you have with your Word, now feed us with the bread of heaven, that we might be nourished in our most holy faith and strengthened in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

The Righteousness of God

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:03:42 GMT

Gracious heavenly Father, we ask once again for your help. Surely the lines have fallen for us in pleasant places, that we can be in this place of relative comfort and ease and can hear in the language we can understand these great tidings of good news and study with the saints who have gone before – anticipation of the glory that awaits. And so, we ask that you would give us more grace, that we might hear and receive this good word, that you might give grace in our hearts to be changed, that we might, from faith to faith, live the life that is pleasing to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Romans chapter 1, verse 17. I promise we will not normally take only one verse. You’re panicking just a bit. There are 433 verses in Romans. So, one sermon for one verse would be a little extreme. I think, Lord willing, the next sermon will have two or three verses. We will move ahead. But there are certain verses which do need a sermon by themselves, and I can’t promise, but some verses later in the book may need more than one sermon themselves. And this is such a magnificent verse. Let me begin reading at verse 16.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it (that is, in the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

We saw last week that word “for,” gar in the Greek – and you will become acquainted with that word throughout this series, translated “for” at the beginning of verse 16 – connects these two verses with the previous verse, 15, where Paul said he was eager to preach the gospel to you, also, who are in Rome. And so, verses 16 and 17 provide reasons – why is Paul set apart for the gospel of God? Why is he so eager to preach this gospel? He gives reasons. We saw last week in verse 16 several reasons. What’s so good about the gospel? Number one, it’s the power of God. Number two, it is the power of God onto salvation. Number three, this salvation is for everyone who believes. Number four, this salvation is first for the Jews, but it doesn’t stop there. It is also for the Greeks, for the Gentiles. That was last week’s sermon.

Now, this week, verse 17: in one sense, we could look at this as a continuation of those reasons. We could say here that this is the fifth and ultimate reason why Paul was eager to preach the gospel – not only those other four reasons, but also because in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith – and that would be absolutely true. He is stating a reason why the gospel is so good. But I want to look at verse 17 not so much as answering the why question, which it does, but rather the how question. I hope you had ears to hear, and I hope this poor preacher made it explicit enough last week, to understand why the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And yet here in verse 17, we have that truth made explicit, because just verse 16 by itself might leave you asking the question, well that sounds very good, but how does it work? How does the gospel save us? And so, you put verse 16 together with verse 17. Not only are they connected to verse 15, but they provide – and you see there, this is given its own section. Those headings are not inspired, but it’s wise here, because these two verses give us the theme for the rest of this book. We’re going to come back to these same sorts of ideas with different angles and different nuance and more detail, but it’s introducing to us the great theme of the book of Romans: the gospel. And here in verse 17, we have what may be, without exaggeration, the most important verse for your life. Now, if I say with some other verses that they’re also the most important verse, you understand that there are a lot of most important verses. What did the comedian Brian Regan say about growing up, and he wanted the snow cone? Grape was favorite, but cherry was also favorite. Well, there are also many other favorites here.

This sermon is about how the gospel saves people, and let’s make it even more direct – how the gospel can save you, because some of you, likely, are not saved. You may know that. You may be here – perhaps no one sitting next to you knows that, but you know that deep in your heart. Or even more likely, you have some background in church, and you’re here, but you really haven’t understood the gospel before. And if someone were to give you that famous Evangelism Explosion question – “If you appeared before God tonight in heaven, and he asked you, ‘Why should I let you in my heaven?’” – some of you might begin by talking about things you have done. I’m a good person. My parents brought me to church. I went to a Christian school. I memorize the Bible. And you might offer to God something of your own righteousness. So, some people in this room likely are not yet saved by the gospel. And the many of you that are, it always does us well to understand what it is that has happened to us. That’s one of the things that a book like Romans does and why theology is not a waste, because even if something happened to you, and you’re saved, part of what God does with good teaching and preaching, I hope, is to make sense of what you didn’t even know had happened to you and how it all worked.

Here’s how the gospel saves you. Verse 17: “In it” – that is the gospel – “the righteousness of God” – now, parenthesis, that phrase – that’s what most of the sermon is going to be about, and we’ll come back to that in just a moment. But I want you to go to the other word, “the righteousness of God is revealed.” So, in the gospel, this thing we’ll come back to, the righteousness of God, is revealed. The Greek word is apokalypto. You can hear our English word “apocalypse.” It’s the same root word used for the title of the last book of the Bible: the apocalypse, the revelation. In the proclamation of the gospel, something is revealed. Something is made manifest. Something is uncovered. Something is brought to light. If your kids or grandkids ever come in with breathless excitement, “Mom, dad, grandma, papa, come, I have to show you something. I have to show you something.” They got something behind their back. Or they have a blanket over some Lego creation they’ve made or some Play-Doh disaster in the carpet. And there it is. Don’t eat it. Smells good. It’s not gluten-free. I didn’t have to eat it to learn that, but it’s not. And they have the blanket and they say, “Look.” And they pull that away. Something is uncovered. It’s an apocalypse from your children. It’s a revelation. We are inundated with breaking news. Used to be that was a big deal. Now there’s always breaking news, and they have to just indicate with greater and more pizzazz and flashes and scrolls. Everything is urgent breaking news. Well, this actually is a big reveal at the end of those makeover shows, and now you get to see as you walk into your house, and it has shiplap as far as the eye can see. It’s an open concept, and all the rest, and it’s probably vintage farm, even though none of us want to live on a farm, we just want to pretend like we do. There’s the reveal. You can see it. That’s what the gospel is for us: turning on the light switch, not that these things were not already present. We’ve already seen in verse 2, “which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.”

So, the gospel of God has been promised. There are going to be quotations upon quotations from the Old Testament, so this gospel is absolutely in the Old Testament. But now, with the coming of the son of God and the proclamation of this apostolic gospel, the light switch has fully come on. Remember that line – so good – from B.B. Warfield, “The Old Testament is a room richly furnished but dimly lit.” Richly furnished. It has all of the best appliances. It has all the nicest upholstery. It has it all there. It’s the same stuff. It’s richly furnished. It’s there in the Old Testament, but the room is dimly lit. You had to feel your way around, and you weren’t quite sure, always, what you were seeing and looking at, and now, with the death and resurrection of Christ, that dimly lit, well-furnished room has had the light flipped on so that in the gospel of Jesus Christ, now there is a grand unveiling, and what has been revealed? In it, the righteousness of God has been revealed. That’s what we see under the blanket. There it is. Pull the doors away. The great reveal: the righteousness of God.

This is probably the most contested, disputed phrase in all of Romans. The first word of verse 17 – now, in English it has “for,” because Greek word order and English word order can be different. The first word in Greek is actually the word “righteousness.” Dikaiosyne – that’s righteousness – theou – you can hear our word theology. That’s the word for God. It’s another one of those “of” words, a genitive is the Greek case: the righteousness of God. There are whole books written about what this one phrase, these two words together, mean. This may be the most important phrase in Romans, and the group of words represent one of the most important concepts in the entire New Testament. This word grouping, which in Greek has the word – the front of it is dikai, so the word dikaiosin Greek is “righteous.” That occurs 79 times in the New Testament. Dikaio– that’s the verb “to justify,” which will become very important in the chapters ahead. That occurs 39 times. Now, right there you can hear our word “justify” – it’s the same Greek root as the English word “righteousness.” To justify is to “righteousify” someone: how they become righteous. The word dikaioma – “righteous requirement” – occurs 10 times. Dikaiokrisia, “a righteous judgment,” one time. Dikaios, “upright,” five times. Dikaiosis, “justification,” occurs two times. And then most of all is this word – 92 times in the New Testament we have this word, dikaiosyne – more than 30 of them in Romans. And this phrase together, dikaiosyne theou, occurs eight times in the book of Romans. Chapter 1, verse 17, 3:5, 3:21, 3:22, 3:25, 3:26, and then twice in chapter 10, verse 3. There’s no exam. You don’t have to write them down. We’ll look at them real quickly in just a moment. And then the other occasion in the New Testament is 2 Corinthians 5:21.

So, what do you do when you come to a phrase like this? We may all think we know “righteousness of God,” but once you stop to noodle on it, you go, okay, well, what is this? Is this the righteousness of God, namely that God has? Is it the righteousness that describes what God does? Is it the righteousness of God, meaning that God is the source of it and he gives it to us? There are three main ways that this phrase has been understood. We can think of righteousness of God – here’s the three main ways: as an attribute, an activity, or an acquisition. I had to stretch a little bit for the third. As something acquired. To put the question another way, okay, here’s what we’re asking: is the righteousness of God in verse 17 mainly – and I underline mainly, because I’m going to argue there’s a way in which it can capture all three of these – but mainly a statement about who God is, what God does, or what God gives? Is verse 17 mainly a statement, “the righteousness of God,” about who he is, what he does, or what he gives? So, let’s look at each of those. And if you’re guessing that the third one is going to be the right answer, that is what I’m going to argue.

Number one: attribute. So, God is righteous. That’s one of his attributes. That’s a characteristic. That’s certainly true. And some have argued that that’s the meaning of the phrase here in verse 17. It’s a reference, then, to God’s unswerving commitment to do what is right. Some in the last few decades have argued, in particular, that the phrase refers to God’s faithfulness, especially to his covenant, that the gospel reveals that God is a covenant-keeping God, and he blesses the righteous, and he curses the unrighteous. That the phrase, then, points mainly to God’s personal integrity, his uprightness, how he is true to his own character and true to his own promises. So, in this understanding, the phrase “righteousness of God” would indicate possession, so that “of” there means it’s God’s own righteousness. So, what is revealed in the gospel, on this understanding, is that God is true to himself. He keeps his promises. He is a righteous God. Now, the best argument for this understanding comes from chapter 3, verse 5. Just turn the page. This is the next instance of this phrase, dikaiosyne theou. Chapter 3, verse 5: “But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?” So, there in 3:5, it does seem, in that occasion, to be speaking mainly about God’s righteous character, showing his veracity, his integrity, that he is a God who always does what is right. So that’s one way: “righteousness of God” is mainly, the gospel reveals – he’s a God who does what is right.

A second way of understanding: not attribute, but activity, meaning it’s a reference to God’s righteous activity in the world. So, on this understanding they would say, “Well, that first one is a little too abstract, that God has this abstract quality called righteousness. No, this is really about his dynamic intervention into the world whereby God does what is righteous.” Luther initially took this phrase to refer to God’s active righteousness, whereby God punishes unrighteous sinners. Now, we’ll see at the very end, Luther came to reject this understanding, and a more plausible reading would see that the righteousness of God, if it’s an activity, is not to condemn, but rather a reference to his saving activity. So, it could be the gospel unveils God’s saving activity, what he does in the world to save sinners. The best argument for this interpretation comes by connecting it with verse 18. Did you notice – verse 16, we have the power of God; verse 17, the righteousness of God; and verse 18, the wrath of God. And 17 and 18 both have this word “revealed.” So, 18, the wrath of God is revealed, and that revelation is the outpouring of God’s wrath in the world. So, there in verse 18, it does seem to be a reference to what God is doing. So might it be, then, that verse 17, the revelation of his righteousness refers to his righteous activity to save his people in the world?

Now there’s a third way, and that is to see dikaiosyne theou as an acquisition – that is, something acquired – not mainly about who God is, though that’s all true, nor mainly God doing something, though we know that the gospel is accomplished and was accomplished through Christ’s death on the cross, but rather the righteousness of God refers to the gift of God’s righteousness. So, God here – not possession of his own righteousness revealed, but rather God as the source of a righteousness that is then given to us. Now, I don’t think we have to fully reject the first two views. We can certainly say the gospel does show that God is true to himself, and it shows us how he carries out his plan of salvation. But I want to argue the main meaning of this phrase in verse 17 is the righteousness that God gives to us through faith.

Now why do I say that? Because of how it’s used in the rest of the book. So turn again to chapter 3. So, I said the next instance is in verse 5 of chapter 3, and then it’s used several times in the rest of chapter 3. Verse 21 – and notice how all these occasions are connected to faith. 3:21, “The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. 22 The righteousness of God through faith.” So there’s a connection here. The righteousness of God either is something from the law or something through faith. Verse 25: “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness.” And again, verse 26, “it was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” In each of those instances, there’s a connection. The righteousness of God, the dikaiosyne theou, is something that is given to us through the instrumentality of faith. You can turn over and look at chapter 4. It doesn’t use the exact same phrase, but you can look at verse 3: “Abraham believed God. It was counted to him as righteousness.” Verse 5: “The one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” We see the same thing in verse 6, verse 9, verse 11 – that faith is the means by which this righteousness is counted or credited to our account. And then the clearest argument, if you turn over to chapter 10, verse 3. Remember I said this phrase occurs eight times 1:17 3:5,21,22,25,26, and then it occurs twice here in Romans 10:3. Look at the context, because this is the clearest parallel to 1:17. “For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” So, two times in this verse we have dikaiosyne theou, and notice the contrast. “They were ignorant of the righteousness of God, and they sought to establish their own.” So, contrast: there is a righteousness we tried to establish on our own, and then there is the righteousness of God. You see how this doesn’t work as well to think we’re merely talking about God’s faithfulness to himself or even God’s activity. But we’re comparing a righteousness that comes from God and a righteousness that comes from man, or supposedly does. And there’s confirmation that this is the right way to understand the phrase from the last instance of this phrase in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 5:21. “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become” – so notice the language of something that we have become, the dikaiosyne theou – we have become “the righteousness of God.” So this, clearly, in 2 Corinthians uses that phrase as something acquired, something given to us. Similarly, in Philippians 3:9, Paul says, “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the dikaiosyne theou, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” There’s another confirmation that we see there – it’s not the exact phrase, but it’s translated similarly – the righteousness from God. You have a righteousness from the law. You have a righteousness from God. The righteousness from the law will never save you. The righteousness from God through faith is the only way for sinners to be saved.

Now, go back to 1:17 and try to bring this together. As I said, it’s not that all three elements aren’t present in some sense. The phrase may include the other aspects, but what it means is the righteousness that comes from God. So, there’s an order of the meaning. There may be other significance that’s implied. So, you can rightly say certainly God is righteous. He is true to himself. And you can say that the gospel is accomplished through his saving activity in the world. And so, to say that those ideas might be included is one thing. To argue that that’s what the definition is is another. So, the explicit meaning in 1:17 of “righteousness of God” is God’s righteous character given to us by faith. Think again of verse 17. We cannot be talking first of all about God’s judgment upon sinners in verse 17, because it says this comes to us by faith. Well, the judgment of God on sinners is not manifested by faith. That doesn’t make sense. Nor can we say we are strictly talking about the righteous character of God. Because we wouldn’t want to say that God’s attribute of righteousness is somehow made manifest only when we believe, as if God’s not righteous when we don’t believe. So the connection to faith means that can’t be mainly what we are talking about, nor strictly that we are talking, first of all, about his activity. We would not want to say that God’s action in the world is dependent upon our faith and that he only saved and only acted in the world upon our belief. No, what we are talking strictly about in verse 17, as first importance, is what God gives to sinners according to faith. And notice – we’ll have much more to say about this, Lord willing, when we get to chapter 3 – but we are not talking about God making us morally righteous by an inward transformation, but rather God conferring upon us the status of righteousness. Not that God, in the gospel, then makes us to be righteous people, so then God says, “Well, look at them. They’re such good, obedient people. I ought to save them.” No, the righteousness of God that is revealed is not ours by works, but is ours by faith. The righteousness of God is that gift that is acquired, God’s own righteous character that is then given to us as our status when we believe.

Now, to finish out the rest of the verse, what is meant by the next phrase, “from faith for faith”? There’s two different prepositions. See, this is why you go to school. This is why you pay attention in your English class, so you can understand your Bible. Ek – that’s the preposition translated here “out” or “out of” – pisteos (“faith”) eis pistin. So, out of faith for faith. The ESV translation is perfectly legitimate, “from faith for faith.” Now, it’s not entirely clear what that means, and it’s one of the principles of the ESV translation to try to carry over some of the ambiguities in the Greek. So, if you’re ever reading, and you say, “Well, some of the other translations – I have a more dynamic translation, and it’s not – it’s a little easier to understand.” Well, that’s intentional, because ESV says, “Well, if there’s ambiguity in the Greek, we ought to pass it on into the English, so that hopefully you have a good pastor and preacher who can try to explain it, and you can read the commentaries and understand it.” So this is one of those occasions. It’s not entirely clear by the Greek itself what is meant. I mean it sounds nice. It sounds very poetic. It sort of rolls off your tongue, but when you think about it, what does it mean to say “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith”? Faith, faith, faith. What is it about faith? Well, there are at least two different ways to understand this. One is to think that faith to faith – ek faith, eis faith – the ESV has “from faith for faith,” or you could say “from faith to faith.” One understanding is to think that this indicates a movement, like if you said “from sea to shining sea.” We mean from one body of water to another. From shore to shore. You mean from point A, that shore, to point B, that other shore. So it could be that faith to faith is indicating some kind of movement from one kind of faith to another kind of faith. Well, what might that mean? People have offered many suggestions: from beginning faith to stronger faith, from faith in the law to faith in the gospel, from faith in the preacher as he preaches to faith in the hearer as he hears, from the faith of the Jews to the faith of the Gentiles. There’s many different suggestions as what this movement might be. The lack of agreement on what this movement, what kind of faith to another kind of faith, entails ought to make us cautious against loading too much on this interpretation. Here’s another rule of thumb in how to interpret the Bible: it’s usually better to choose the interpretation that adds less to the text rather than more. Now, that may sound counterintuitive, because we all love our Bible studies, and we love getting in there and want to see as many important differences as not, but that’s not how human language often works. If I said to my wife on Valentine’s Day, “I will love you forever. Our love will endure from age to age.” I didn’t say that, but I’m saying it now, honey, wherever you are. And someone were to exegete that – so, he says first your love will endure forever and then from age to age, so clearly these are two different things. And he’s thinking age – he’s thinking about the age at which they were married and then the age at which they are now. Or he may mean from one decade to another decade. Or he means this age of this present earthly life to that heavenly age to come. Or he’s thinking about a love that transcends all time and space and has existed in God’s chosen past, predestined and all. Don’t give me too much credit. Forever, age to age, you’re saying the same thing. So, not always, but often, if you come to this and you have an interpretation that adds less, it’s often the better way to go. Or at least give the benefit of the doubt to the simplest explanation.

Another interpretation is don’t land a lot of theological weight upon something that involves a fair amount of speculation. So, what is “the faith to the faith”? Well, once you read there’s 12 different things it might mean, you’re left saying maybe we shouldn’t put too much stock in that. So, another way of interpreting this phrase, which I think is better, is that it is used simply for emphasis. Like 2 Corinthians 2:16 talks about “the aroma of the gospel from life to life,” and others from death to death – I think it’s a poetic way of expressing emphasis. So, the NIV translates this from first to last. Now that’s less literal to what the Greek says, so I like the ESV, but it does give, I think, the proper sense in this case that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, and how is it revealed? From start to finish, it is revealed in one way: faith. This righteousness that comes from God is yours in only one way. There’s not a different way in the Old Testament and then a separate way in the New Testament. Or there’s going to be some other way once AI takes over, years ahead. No, it will be just one way that the righteousness of God is yours, and that is by faith. I want you to look one more time at chapter 3, verse 22, because there’s something of a parallel here. It says, 3:22, “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” John Murray, helpfully, in his commentary says, “Now why is that? That’s strange. It seems redundant. The righteousness of God through faith for all who believe. Why both of those? You already said the righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ. It should be end of sentence. Why say through faith for all who believe? Why do you have to say faith essentially two times there?” And he says, well, that’s sort of like 1:17 “from faith to faith.” So you look at verse 22, why does it have “faith” repeated, because that’s what the word – “all who believe” is just the same word. And he makes the argument, which I think is right, that in verse 22 it is to stress not only the righteousness that comes through faith but that it comes to everyone who has faith. In other words, the righteousness of God not only comes through faith, but when there is faith, it always comes. Do you see the slight difference in meaning? Because it could be that Paul simply says righteousness comes through faith. That’s how it works. And whether that works for you, that’s the main way – that’s how it works. But then he says “for all who believe” to let us know, not only – that’s not only the way righteousness comes, but it always comes when you have faith. You could put it like this: faith is the only way for righteousness, and it is, without fail, an effective way. The only way and always an effective way. Romans 1:17 is telling us there is a righteous status held out to all people, and it is only grabbed ahold of by one means, and that one means is only and always effective. That’s how you acquire righteousness. Don’t think that faith is any less concerned with righteousness than the law was. The law was also concerned with righteousness. But the argument of Romans will be, over and over again, that law could not produce the righteousness. How do you acquire the righteousness you need? It comes only in this way, and it always comes effectively in this way: by faith.

So it’s fitting that Paul concludes his argument in verse 17 by quoting from Habakkuk 2:4. We’ve already read it in the service. It’s the Lord’s answer to Habakkuk’s complaint. The Lord says the good news in the midst of all the bad news of the Babylonians is that yet there is a way to live. Habakkuk has said, “We shall not die.” And then God says, “You’re right. Here’s how you can live. You cannot keep the Babylonians from coming. You cannot keep the nation of Israel from being judged, but you can keep yourself and anyone who will listen to you from being guilty of the same things.” How does that happen? Habakkuk receives the word from the Lord. It happens by faith. Do you see how God was calling Habakkuk, and through him the people of God, to not some abstract faith? This was not just here’s a statement of faith on the website, and I can sign off and say, “Yep, that’s what I believe. I’m a Christian. I understand what Luther believed, and I agree with it.” Habakkuk and the people of God were being asked to trust God in the midst of a world crumbling around them. Just like faith for you may mean you can’t keep the Babylonians from coming. You may not be able to keep the cancer diagnosis away. You may not be able to keep from crumbling around you the lives of the people that you love. But there’s a way to not be guilty of those things. There’s a way, yet, to live in the life that really matters – God’s life, eternal life – and that way is by faith. It’s why it’s quoted by Paul here in Romans 1, again in Galatians 3, and again in Hebrews 10. It is not just a word for Israelites, that they would live according to the covenant, but it’s a way for all peoples to be righteous through faith. As you’re waiting for God’s answer, and it seems like it is not coming, because that was Habakkuk’s complaint, God answers to him and to us, and he says, “Here’s how you can live a life and be certain that you will not be guilty before me. It is to live a life confident in my promises.”

Romans 1:17 cuts in both directions. It can be a word to rebuke us and a word to comfort us. Start with the rebuke. That’s the minor key, but it’s important to think about. Verse 17 stops us if we are self-assured. If you are here this morning, and though you would probably not write this down on a theological test, in your heart of hearts you are confident in yourself. And you would all say you’re not perfect. Never met anybody – the most, you know, vain – “you’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you” – that person right there still would say, “I’m not a perfect person.” Everyone always says that. But you know what usually comes after that? You know what they’re usually thinking? The person who says, “Well, I know I’m not perfect” – what’s going on in their head usually is, “But I’m a little closer than most people I know.” Or, “I trust that God grades on a curve.” I know I’m not perfect, but what’s in their heart is God doesn’t really expect perfect. He expects trying. He expects just doing my best, or he expects just not making a royal mess of my life, or as long as I can stand before him, and I can point to some people who did life worse, then I’ll get in. The whole book of Romans is meant to disabuse you of that notion. There is no righteousness of your own that can get you past God’s holy, righteous gaze. If you are confident in yourself, if you assume he grades on a curve, if you are counting on God taking people into heaven because they try or because they were nice people or good neighbors, if you are coasting through life, feeling like God owes you favors and that you really have nothing to be ashamed of before God and that God actually has a lot of questions to answer before you. Now, if that’s you, I hope you’ll stick around for the next weeks and months, because there’s going to be a lot of sermons for you, for people who think that they are not unrighteous.

But I would be remiss if we ended the sermon that way, because this is the power of God unto salvation. This sermon is about how the gospel saves you. And while some of you may be wired to coast through life and think that God grades on a curve, there are certainly others of you wired just the opposite, and you wonder, deep down, could anyone really love you? And you especially wonder if God could love you. And you are burnt out from the trying and the posturing. You feel beat up, cast down, laid low. You know all too well the devil’s many accusations, and here comes, with great lightning and thunder, the power of God in the gospel. It wants to bring you, with all of the devil’s accusations against your disobedience and your unrighteousness, and say, “I have something to show you.” I have something to show you and pulls back the curtain, and the revelation of the gospel there is not your righteousness. Did not pull back that blanket and say, “Here’s what I have to show you: you’re better than you thought.” It’s not the revelation to say, “Here, I have something to show you.” You’re going to have a hard time believing it, but I’m telling you, if you just believe it, it’s yours. It’s the righteousness of God. It’s that which comes to you with the faith of an empty hand. All you have to do is hold out an empty hand and receive it and rest in it. The church father Chrysostom says, about righteousness, “You do not achieve it by toiling in labors, but you receive it by a gift from above, contributing only one thing from your own store: believing.” I might say I don’t love the word “contribute,” but I get your meaning, Chrysostom. You don’t bring anything. You don’t toil after this. You have the faith of an empty hand to believe and receive the righteousness of God.

In 1545, Martin Luther wrote a preface to a new edition of his Latin works, and in this preface, he recounted his famous tower experience, where he wrestled with the book of Romans in the black cloister tower in Wittenberg. This is 1518, 1519. In writing at the end of his life about this event, Luther considered this ordeal to be his theological and his existential breakthrough. So, let me end with Luther’s famous account, and perhaps this is the experience of some of you in this room: “I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the epistle of the Romans. But up ‘til then it was not the cold blood about the heart, but a single word in chapter 1 – “in it the righteousness of God is revealed” – that had stood in my way.” You see how Luther read that phrase as an obstacle to salvation. He said, “I hated that word “righteousness of God,” which, according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous.” That’s why I went into all that explanation of how to understand this, because there’s been a long history of thought, and the Reformation is this breakthrough of what this phrase means. “Though I lived as a monk, without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience.” That may be you in this room. “I could not believe God was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love. Yes, I hated the righteousness of God, who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously – certainly murmuring greatly – I was angry with God. I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted.” You ever that before? God, what do you want from me? You’re righteous. I’m not. What am I supposed to do? “At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words “in the righteousness” – in it, the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, he who through faith is righteous shall live. I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives, by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith. Here I felt I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There, a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me.” Maybe that’s the work God is doing in your heart right now – a totally different view of God in the Scriptures. Luther says this, “And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated that word, the righteousness of God. Thus, that place in Paul was, for me, truly the gate to paradise.” May it be so for all of us. Let’s pray.

Our heavenly Father, we give thanks for your word and for the righteousness that is ours by faith, from first to last, for all time, for all people, Jew, Gentile, male, female, old, young, one way: by faith. The only way and always a way. And so, may we stand in that word against all accusations and have confidence that by faith we are counted as righteous in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Unashamed of the Gospel

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 14:39:19 GMT

Let’s pray as we ask for the Lord’s help.

The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the many coastlands be glad. Clouds and thick darkness are all around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world. The earth seizes and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. So, our prayer, O Lord, is that we might see your glory as your word is proclaimed. Give grace to this poor, lisping, stammering tongue as I announce these glad tidings, and give grace to all who listen, that we might know in our lives – personally, affectionately, experientially, life-changingly – your power. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Romans chapter 1. When I said we were going to slow down a bit, I wasn’t joking. This morning, we will look at one verse. We could spend several weeks, but we will do this verse this week. Verse 17, I anticipate, Lord willing, next week. Just one verse – it happens to be one of the most important verses, not only in this book, but in the whole Bible. Romans chapter 1, verse 16:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Now, we could point out, in one sense, that this verse is simply a continuation of the argument that has come before, in verses 8-15. You see that it begins in English with the word “for,” translating the Greek word gar. We’ll have occasion to learn a few Greek words in the study of Romans. That’s one that will be important, as it often indicates a connection or gives a reason. And so, verse 16, “for” is connecting with verse 15, namely where Paul explains that he is eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. So, now he is explaining why he is so eager to preach the gospel. So, this is a continuation of that argument, but it’s more than that. Verse 16 and 17 are not simply an explanation of why Paul is eager to preach the gospel and come and visit the Romans, but it lays out the thesis statement. These two sentences in English give the thesis statement for the entire book of Romans. You just look at the words here, and these will be some of the most important words in this whole book. The great theme of the book of Romans – gospel, power, God, salvation, belief, Jew, Gentile (here it’s called Greek), righteousness, faith – these will be the themes over these months, Lord willing, likely some years, even, together in the book of Romans. There are hardly two more important sentences in this whole letter than the sentences in verse 16 and 17, and I can say without exaggeration, there are hardly two more important sentences in the whole world. So, you ought to pay attention. And what a great job I have, to announce and explain verse 16 this morning.

It begins – and we’ve already heard the choir sing this wonderful anthem with these words – it begins with a bold declaration. I am not ashamed of the gospel. Now, this is not simply a figure of speech. Sometimes in the book of Acts, Luke will write “and they stayed with him not a little while,” and you say with the negative what you mean in the positive. So, certainly Paul does mean to communicate with this language, “I have confidence in the gospel. I rejoice in the gospel.” But he gives the negative here for a reason. Now I just mentioned to you in English, you can see verse 16 begins with “for,” but in the Greek that’s not the first word. The first word in Greek is ou – not like “ew” but ou. Ou or ouk is the negation word in Greek. It means “not,” or it means “no,” so this begins Paul writing “not,” and then you have the verb “ashamed.” That’s what he announces with his thesis statement: not ashamed. And the negative here is important, because we’re all familiar with feelings of shame. Even shame, if we’re honest, over the gospel sometimes. We’ve all experienced shame if we live long enough, maybe shame over actual sins. We tend to think of shame as something that’s just bad, but Paul, in his letter, sometimes sees it as a very good thing, that if you have actually committed transgressions that are shameful, you ought to feel ashamed and then go to God, receive forgiveness, so that you need not be ashamed any longer.

But we also know there is misplaced shame. You may feel shame for things that have been done to you that made you feel dirty, but are not, in fact, anything guilty on your part. Or, very commonly, we all have moments of profound embarrassment, and you can look back and remember those moments poignantly, because they felt so shameful. Often they go back to middle school. We love you, middle schoolers. If you’re doing alright in middle school, the Lord’s been good to you, because I remember in a youth ministry class one time, we all had to say when was the time growing up when we felt the most – seemed to be the most painful. Everyone said middle school, middle school, middle school. God bless the middle school teachers. It is a time to shape and to form. I remember when I took up the courage to sign up for a summer basketball camp when I was in middle school. Now, you may think that I was a great basketball player, but I was not. Partly, I didn’t get tall until I was about a junior in high school is when I started growing, so there’s maybe hope for those of you who wish you could be taller. I was one of the shortest in my class growing up and then had the growth spurt at the end of high school, so I didn’t have that going for me. Also, just lacked a little thing called coordination, and a shot, and a lot of other things, but I loved basketball. I loved to play in my driveway. I loved whenever I could get my friends together, and we could find a park or go to the school and play basketball. So, I loved it, but I knew I wasn’t very good. I went to a big public school, and it was hard to make the team. I didn’t make the A team. I didn’t make the B team. I didn’t make the C team. I did intramurals, and I wasn’t really great there either. But I loved basketball. So, I didn’t grow up doing all the camps. So, I signed up one summer, and I was so nervous, and I was so excited, and I think it started at 9 in the morning, one June morning, for this summer basketball camp. And so, I rode my bike to the middle school, because I was in junior high, and I got there at 8:45. I was going to be on time. I was going to be early, and the place was just crickets. There was no one around. Just someone pushing a broom. Maybe the principal happened to be there, and I waited and saw the clock go to 9 and 9:05 and 9:10 and wondered, I must have got the time wrong, and you’re feeling awkward already. I’m the only person in school except for the janitor and the principal, just walking around with a basketball. Finally ask someone, and they said, “Well, I think the camp might be at the high school.” Now, it was a big, sort of, campus, but it was just a ride my bike to the other side of the campus. And so, I went to the high school. Now I’m about 45 minutes late. This is sort of worst nightmare middle schooler, already feeling unsure of myself. So, I go in; there’s about 100 boys. They’re all in their lineups for drills and going back and forth, and so, I went into the locker room. I had a very attractive pair of sweatpants on, no doubt, and put on some shorts and just got into a line and hoped not to be noticed.

But I was noticed, because the lines had all equal number of young boys, and so the coach – now this was the late 80s, early 90s. Coaches back then were not gifted with great gifts of encouragement, sensitivity. They did not see it as their work to try to just bring people along, and so the coach just barked out to me, “Why were you in?” Why were you in? I’m thinking, “Why were you in the locker room? Why were you late? Why were you in the locker room?” So, I just said, probably a screeching, cracking voice, I said, “I had to put my shorts on.” He said it again. This is in front of a hundred people – your laughter is bringing back a lot of the memories, actually. “Why were you in?” I said, “I had to put my shorts on.” Well, all of the boys are laughing, because that’s not what he said. He said, I later learned, “What line are you in?” So, as he kept asking “What line are you in?” I kept shouting, louder and louder, to change my shorts. Finally, he just said, “Well, that’s fine. Just stay in that line.” And I did the drills. I tell you, and it’s a funny story, and I’ve shared it different places before, and I can look back and say that was funny. But if any of you had moments like that, and most of us have, I did all – it was all I could do the rest of that morning not to cry. Not to cry, because that would have been just escalating. That would have been the worst of the worst. You’re already late, already not very good, already embarrassed. You don’t want to be the middle school boy who cries. If you did, middle school boy, maybe you were more secure than I was. So, no shame. But I felt absolute embarrassment and shame. Hardly wanted to talk to my parents about it. I had to get a nice pep talk to go back for the rest of the week. There’s no great story that then that was what, you know, inspired Michael Jordan, then I became – no, I never made the basketball team, but I look back, and we’ve all had moments like that, and some from middle school, and some of you would have much more serious and significant moments where you just felt like you wanted to crawl under the largest rock in the world and never be seen again. And sometimes those moments still deeply affect us. And one of the reasons why middle school can be hard is we’re growing and we’re learning who we are and it can be an awkward time, and you’re trying to figure out who you are. And as you get older and you become an adult, you get a little more comfortable, but if we’re honest, it’s not like we ever completely outgrow all of those sensitivities, the possibility of embarrassment or shame.

And if we’re really honest, no matter how long we have been a Christian, we can experience the temptation to be ashamed of the gospel. Now, maybe if you’re young, and you’ve been surrounded by Christian friends and a Christian family, and you have a good church, and you have a good Christian school – those are all really good things. That’s what we want for people, that you would have this Christian atmosphere surrounding you so that to believe the gospel would feel like a very ordinary, normal thing. That’s good. But we can count on it: as you get older, and as you meet different kinds of people, as we all travel in different places, have to work with different sorts of people, go to school with other kinds of people, we will all have the opportunity and feel that temptation to be ashamed of the gospel. I think that Paul was reminding himself of what he knew to be true, that Paul himself understood how easily we can feel ashamed of the gospel. Did not Paul face, wherever he preached, opposition from both Jews and Gentiles? And he met with rods and beatings and scourgings. He had people try to kill him. He knew what it was to proclaim this message and have some fear of the consequences. And the New Testament talks about this a lot: the possible consequences of holding fast to the gospel. It’s not for no reason that Jesus said to the disciples, “Take up your cross.” If you want to follow me, you carry a cross. Mark 8, “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” That Jesus said that tells us he understood his disciples would have that battle within themselves, that they might be ashamed. Paul knew this. Some relationships that you have will be tested by your commitment to the gospel. Some jobs you may not get because of your commitment to the gospel. There may be schools or programs or initiatives that do not come your way because you are committed to the gospel, and you may may feel, in that moment, some embarrassment. Think about the negative associations that sometimes come to Christians, to the church, to the Christian religion. We see this, too, in the New Testament. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1, he was so grateful that this man named Onesiphorus refreshed him, and he says, “He was not ashamed of my chains.” Paul was in prison, and the world didn’t know. They didn’t care to realize why Paul was in prison. They just said, “Here’s a man who must have done some shameful thing. Look at what everybody’s saying about him.” The controversial Apostle Paul. Shame associated with Christians, with the church, legal shame, internet shame, false accusations. You’re associated with the wrong kinds of people. You can feel like “I just got to keep my distance.” And then you think of all the unpopular truths that are here in this book, and from age to age, different truths will be unpopular, and others will be more overlooked. It’s tempting, isn’t it, to say, “If only I could have been born in another century where they weren’t dealing with sexuality or marriage or gender or – those seem to be clear matters to people.” Well, you realize in another century it would have been something else. It would have been the two natures of Christ, or it would have been the trinity, or it would have been the sacraments or justification.

There are always certain truths that will be difficult, unpopular. That’s why Paul says to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, “I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” Now, he doesn’t say, “Every time I ever share my faith with someone, and every time I open my mouth, I have to tell everyone everything I know about everything in the Bible.” No, that’s not how you preach. You can be circumspect. You can be wise. You can lead people to an end. But he says, “The totality of my ministry is one where I did not shrink.” That impulse that we have with unpopular truths in the Bible to say, well I won’t deny it. I’m not going to sign something that says I don’t believe it, but I can maybe just shrink. Let me hide behind something else. Maybe just pull the punch on this one. Paul says, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” As he was teaching through the Scriptures, if it was in the Scriptures, and it was there, he taught it to them. Think, too, about the willful misunderstandings that people have about Christian beliefs and sometimes about you, as Christians. They may be honest misconceptions, and sometimes they’re willful misunderstandings. 1 Peter 2:12 tells us, “Some people will speak against you as evildoers.” That’s right there in the first century. That’s not new. If you’re my age or older, you can remember when the apologetics edge about Christianity was really that Christians believed silly things. They believed dumb things. They believed unscientific things. How can you believe in miracles? How can you believe in a flood? How can you believe in the resurrection? And those are still apologetic issues. And yet increasingly, for everyone younger than me, and even Gen Z and whatever the next gen will be, it’s not simply that that message seems unscientific. It’s that Christians are bad, evil people, full of hate. Bigoted. The things that you believe. And you can try, sometimes till you’re blue in the face, to try to explain and give the caveats, and we should be as winsome and wise as we can, and yet sometimes people will simply speak against you as evildoers. That’s why Peter said, “Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they will glorify God on the day that he visits us.” Do you see the logic there? That there will be some people – they don’t like you. They don’t like what you believe. They think you are an evildoer, and yet they will see in your life something – there will be a disconnect, even as they have these conclusions about what Christians are like. They will see your life, see how you work, see how you conduct yourselves, and they will see your good behavior, your godliness, and the connection, Peter says, is some of them, actually, that will be the instrument to leading them to Christ. They’ll say, “Maybe I’ve not given these Christians their due,” and they’ll glorify God. And it won’t be that they’re saved by your lifestyle evangelism per se, but something in your life put that little pebble in their shoe that they said, “Maybe I can’t write off this Christianity quite yet, because I can’t write off all the Christians that I know quite yet.”

And maybe you’re here, and you’re ready to write off Christianity. Maybe you grew up in the church. Maybe you’ve never been to church, but you’re ready to write it off. And you may even have examples of rotten Christians. There’s always been a lot of those. Many of them prove not to really be Christians, but there’s lots of rotten people who have darkened the door of a church. But I bet if you’re honest, you also know some Christians who are some of the best people you’ve ever met. You think about what has taken place in their life. You know, in the first century, Christians were misunderstood. People thought they were atheists, because they didn’t have any statues of gods. There were all sorts of rumors and wild innuendo about these love feasts. One pagan philosopher said that during what we would call communion, their love feast, people would have incestuous relationships with one another, even that they would eat the flesh of a baby child and wrap that baby in flour – all sorts of wild stories. They said that they were cannibals. They called each other brothers and sisters. They had incestuous relationships. There have always been willful misunderstandings. And when you hear those going around, there’s a part of you that says, “Well, maybe I don’t want to be identified with these people. Maybe I’m not going to call myself a Christian.” You say, “I’m a Jesus follower.” Well, you can – it’s good to be a Jesus follower. Christians in the Bible, that’s a word. At some point, you’re going to have to own that these are your people.

And then there is the scandal of the message itself. 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The gospel is folly to those who are perishing.” This message that we have in verse 16, and really it’s the theme of the whole book of Romans, it is folly to those who are perishing. We ought not to expect that unbelievers would hear this and say, “Wow, I’m very impressed with this Christian gospel. You know, I don’t believe it, but it really is smart, really is such a good message.” No, it will be folly to those who are perishing, and they’ll either ignore it and just dismiss it because it’s all silly foolishness, or they will hate it or maybe even hate those who espouse it. 1 Corinthians 1:22, Jews demand signs, Paul says. Greeks seek wisdom, and we just have the gospel. He said the Jews wanted signs. Can you show us something? Is there a miracle? Can you give us some sign from heaven? They were used to, right? Moses threw down the staff, and it became a serpent. Or we have the cloud or the fire or the plagues. Can you give us some kind of sign? Then we’ll believe. If you would just do some miracles. Have you ever thought that to yourself? Well, I’ll believe in Jesus if I could see some miracles. Careful. There’s a lot of miracles in the gospel. How many people really believed in Jesus? Not many. The Jews will demand signs. Greeks will demand wisdom, meaning a philosophy. Want something that seems sophisticated, smart, has the good opinion of important, learned, smart people in the world. And then Paul says that’s not what the gospel is. It doesn’t come with pyrotechnics. It’s not a philosophy as the world understands philosophy. It’s a statement of facts. It was a shameful message for many in the first century, and it’s shameful today: a condemned criminal who died in the most humiliating way possible. There have always been these reasons why one might be ashamed of the gospel – what it says, who believes it, who’s associated with it, what it might cost you in your family, in your job, in your school.

So, it’s for good reason that Paul begins here, not ashamed. And if you attend to your own heart, you will likely find some of those reasons. In fact, you might be concerned if you’ve never, ever struggled with any of those reasons. Maybe you really haven’t thought about all that the gospel entails. And notice the word is, I am not ashamed of the gospel. It would be easier, wouldn’t it, to say, well, I believe in God. There’s still what, 80% of Americans say yes to that question – not as high as it used to be, but that’s fairly simple. Do you believe in God? Yes. It’s not hard to say, “I’m a spiritual person,” or “Religion is important to me,” or even, especially in a place like Charlotte, to say “I go to church” or to sing a song, Jesus Take the Wheel. There’s a lot of Jesus songs. But then we have this word “gospel.” We can’t simply say, “I’m not ashamed to be spiritual.” There’s almost never been, unless maybe you’re in a communist country, there’s never hardly been in any place a shame with being spiritual or believing in God or a spirit world or an afterlife. Almost everyone everywhere has always held to these things. But Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” Paul likely knows, as well, that some in Rome may view his gospel with suspicion. He’s going to get into some hard things that not everyone is going to understand or like, as he talks about the place of the law, about election, reprobation, the depravity of the world, the wrath of God. So, Paul understands even for this message to Christians in Rome that some of them may be taken aback by some of the things that he says. So, he begins by saying, “I’m not ashamed.” And he doesn’t leave us there. It’s not a bare assertion to just give you a positive pep talk, just self-talk – it’s good, it’s good, I’m not ashamed, not ashamed. He gives you reasons, and you ought to ask yourself, “Why would I not be ashamed of the gospel?” It’s possible you’re not and that you have reasons that are either lesser reasons or at least not as good as these reasons. You may think, well my family believes it, and that’s a good thing if your family does. That helps. You may say, “Well, I’m not ashamed of the gospel. It’s really helped me.” Well, there are other things in life that help other people. You may say, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel. Listen to this beautiful music.” Or, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel. Have you seen what it’s done for Western civilization, the cathedrals of Europe, the literature that it spawned, the artwork?” And you may look at all of that and say, “Oh, how could I be ashamed of the gospel?” Well, I want my kids to behave, and I want them to go to church, or I want to find purpose in life. Or maybe, even, you have this false idea that if I simply believe in the gospel, then I’ll have my best life now, and I’ll be healthy and wealthy, and I’ll have the prosperity that’s coming to me. It’s possible that you may not be embarrassed by the gospel, but you’re not embarrassed for the wrong reasons, or at least not the best reasons. Look at the reasons that Paul gives: four reasons.

I’m not ashamed of the gospel, number one, for it is the power of God. Now, notice very carefully what it doesn’t say. You might expect him to say, and even if you’re not reading carefully, hear him saying that the gospel is about the power of God. Well, that’s true. It does tell us things about the power of God to raise Jesus from the dead, create the world, come again. But notice, he doesn’t say that. It’s not simply that the gospel is about the power of God, but the gospel is the power of God. Not just the content of it, but the very declaration of this message comes with divine power. The Greek word is dunamis. Now, it doesn’t mean dynamite. There was no dynamite when Paul was writing, but if it helps you remember, it is where our English word comes from. It is the power of God. Now, when I say the words themselves have power, I don’t mean magic or a spell or an incantation – abracadabra, hocus pocus, wingardium, leviosa. I don’t mean you just say the words, and something happens. But on the other hand, let’s not be too reticent to ascribe to words a supernatural power. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. And then you realize, well, actually, words sometimes hurt a lot worse, even, than sticks and stones. Think about how powerful a few simple words can be. Someone says three words, “I hate you.” Or, all I have to do is change that middle word, another four-letter word, “I love you.” Someone, at some point, women, if you’re married, a man got down on one knee and said, “Will you marry me?” Just four words and absolutely changed your life. Words move armies. So let us not discount the power in words.

And these words come with supernatural, divine power. The gospel is the power of God, meaning it is not merely a power, and it’s not a power that comes from man, but it is a divine power. Think of it. Some of you can remember the very moment the gospel became real to you. Many of us will have a story of having grown up in a Christian home, and we won’t have a particular moment, and Jesus was always a part of our life. But even those stories, you may remember. I remember hearing a traveling evangelist when I was in third or fourth grade. No idea what his name was. Probably if I would, I would think of all the things that were wrong about his theology, but he preached the gospel, and I’d been around it my whole life. Yet there was something in that moment, even as an eight-year-old, that gripped me in a new way, and I went home and talked to my parents about that. Maybe that’s happening in your life, eight-year-old. Or maybe you can remember when you were in high school or a college student. Maybe the things that you had heard your whole life, you had read, you went to a Christian school, and you went to Bible study, and then one sermon, one time, in the text, and it became real. Or maybe you have a very dramatic conversion. When I was in seminary, we had to introduce ourselves in one of our classes by filling in the sentence, “I became a Christian when ____,” and most of us said, “I became a Christian when, you know, I prayed the prayer with my parents,” “I grew up in a Christian home,” and one man, I’ll never forget, said, “I became a Christian when someone I had never met shared the gospel with me in 7-Eleven.” That works! Sometimes God uses that! Those words came with great power, and you can think of it, that suddenly, though it was human language, and you had maybe even heard it before, with a new force you knew that God himself was speaking to you. This is what preaching is meant to be – a heralding, a declaring, not a mere explaining, though there’s explanation. It’s not a secret revelation. But this message comes with power when it is spoken and anointed by the Holy Spirit, because it’s a divine message, and it comes with a power that we don’t have. This is why – remember, Paul is saying why he’s not ashamed. How could you be ashamed of the gospel when it has the very power of God himself? You may underestimate the message. It may seem like a very simple, foolish, silly message without signs and without pyrotechnics and some lesser philosophy. And Paul says, “No, no, no. You don’t understand what kind of message it is. It comes with such great power. Don’t underestimate it.” If I were to tell you that my cat had superpowers, now, you would not believe me, nor should you. But some of you have been to our house, and you’ve seen our orange cat – lovely and as fat a cat as you could ever see. That’s the first thing – I hope he’s got good self-esteem, because it’s the first thing everyone says when they see him: “My, what a fat cat you have.” What if I were to tell you that yes, he’s very fat, but he’s a talking cat. Or what if you were showing your little dog, and you said, “Well, it’s a flying dog.” Or you had a hen that did calculus. This was my dad joke one time: what do you call a hen that does calculus? A mathemachicken. There you go. If you had one of those, you say, “Don’t underestimate this little chicken, this big, fat cat, this little dog. There’s a power here that you know nothing of. It’s an extraordinary power.” This message, which comes with simple words from frail human instrument, or even black marks on a white page, yet it is God’s message, attended with God’s power, and it has literally changed hundreds of millions, billions of people throughout history, and the entire planet by this message.

It’s the power of God unto salvation. That’s the next thing Paul says. Well, what is salvation? Well, the whole book will be about salvation. It’s salvation from our guilt, from our pollution. It’s to have a new life, so that we are no longer unable to do what is pleasing to God but can live a life unto holiness. There is a vertical dimension to this salvation. For the wages of sin is death. There’s no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And it is, first and foremost, in Paul’s mind, when he means salvation, he’s thinking about salvation and deliverance from the wrath to come. Verse 18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Or chapter 2, verse 5: “But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath.” Romans 5, verse 9: “Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved from the wrath of God.” So, most prominently, and most simply in this book, salvation is – right there – it is deliverance from the coming wrath of God. The implication is that this message – this gospel, which we’ve already seen in the first opening verses, and we’ll see in the remainder of this book, this gospel of the son of God, descendant of David, raised up, coming again, this savior on the cross for our sins – this message by itself is sufficient to save you. Now, we believe in the sacraments. Celebrate the Lord’s Supper this morning. Christ gave to his church two ordinances. We call them sacraments. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. There’s nothing that says that this – this is not what saves you. It is this good news, this word that comes with power. It’s not some genuflection. It’s not some anointing of chrism on your forehead. It’s not some sign of the cross. It’s nothing like that. And it’s not your parents. It is this message that by itself is sufficient to save. It also reminds us, what is the problem that Jesus came to save? Well, told everywhere. Told right at the beginning of the Christmas story. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. What is the message the church has that no one else in the world has? I think it would be an entailment of Christian discipleship that we might be engaged in the political process. We ought to be. That you would be engaged in arts and education and government and industry and all sorts of spheres of human activity. And you do those things as a Christian, and you bring your Christian discipleship as salt and light. What Paul reminds us, however, the business of the church here – this gospel message – is salvation from sins. And people say, “Well, your church is too focused on the salvation of sins. It’s too focused on deliverance from the wrath to come. You’re not focused on the real things that are plaguing our world.” I would say with the authority of God’s word, you’re mistaken as to the real things that are plaguing our world. This gospel is the power of God unto salvation. You think about it. We’re so familiar with it that we lose the scandal of it. What is God’s plan for saving sinful people? It’s a message, and the world may find it utter folly, and we would find it folly, too, except if you’re a Christian, you have received this message, and it has come to you with divine, supernatural power. It’s the message of salvation for everyone who believes. That’s the third reason he’s not ashamed.

For everyone who believes. So, notice this gospel does not work its effect in everyone. Now there is a potentiality for everyone, but it is not efficacious in all. Paul doesn’t say, “Well, this gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone” period, as if now everyone will be saved. No, it is to everyone who believes. So, it is a proclamation that is made and announced to all. It is a salvation available for all. But the efficacy of this salvation will be experienced only in those who believe. But I don’t want you to focus there on that distinction. I want you to focus on what Paul means to tell us, that this is an amazing message. Think about it. To be saved, to live forever, to escape the wrath of God, to have a clean conscience, to be made into a new person, to live forever. There are no prior qualifications, no necessary educational attainments, no language requirements, no GPA, no mysterious admissions board to review your application and defer and defer and defer. No test scores you have to submit, no athletic abilities necessary, no financial considerations, no historical lineage. It is not a matter of geography or cultural literacy or family connections. It is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. If Jelly Roll believes, he can be saved by Jesus. I don’t think that there would be any reason that President Trump would hear this sermon. He has many Christians around him, I’m quite confident, who can explain to him more clearly the way of salvation. “I really think I should probably make it,” he said this week. “I mean, I’m not a perfect candidate for heaven, but I did a heck of a lot of good for perfect people.” And I would just say, if the President ever happened to listen to this, Mr. President, there are no perfect people, except for one. But here’s the good news: if you, in humility, would turn from your sin, would repent and believe and trust in him alone as your only comfort in life and in death, you don’t have to be perfect. You will not be perfect. If you, or any of us, come to heaven thinking that we have something to offer for our own sakes, even what we think we have done for other people, the only thing that makes us a good candidate for heaven is that we realize our candidacy is doomed to fail unless we have Jesus. And you too, Mr. President, could find that eternal life and not have to wonder what will happen and if you’ll make it into heaven, but find the assurance that only comes from absolute trust and dependence upon Christ. This is a message for everyone who believes. If you were born in this country, if you were born in another country, if you speak English as your first language or you speak another language. If your family heritage has been in this country for centuries, or you just came here. If you work for ICE, or you wish to protest ICE, salvation comes the same way. It is for everyone who believes. The same way, and it’s the only way – everyone who is saved is saved in exactly the same way, because this gospel is the power of God unto salvation, not just for some, or for certain kinds of people, or for people like us, with our background or look like us, but it is – praise God – the power of God for every single person who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Here’s the final point in why Paul is not ashamed. There’ll be much more of this later in the book. To the Jew first: why is the Jew first? First, in terms of history, because the gospel first came, and God’s dealings were first with the Jews, most narrowly, though it was always a message and others could come and attach themselves to Israel. So, the Jews were first in history. They were also first in Paul’s strategy. Wherever he went, it was to first preach in the synagogues, often kicked out there, and preached to the Gentiles. And first in terms of redemptive privilege, for to the Jews belong the covenants, the law, the promises, the exodus, the deliverance from captivity, and most notably, the Messiah is a Jew. This is not a statement about American foreign policy or a blanket assertion about what the nation of Israel does or does not do, but it is a personal statement. If anyone hates the Jews, they hate the people God chose. They hate the people from whom the Christ came and the people who will always have something of a priority in God’s plan of redemption. To the Jew first. Jesus said salvation is from the Jews, or there in that discourse with the woman at the well, the promises are first of all made to the Jews. And so it is for the Jew first, but here’s good news for most of the rest of us who are not Jewish – also to the Greek. Here it’s just a synonym for Gentile, the non-Jewish world, because apart from Christ, Jews and Gentiles are equally lost. You’re not more lost because you’re a Gentile. You’re not more lost because you’re a Jew, and the Jews in Jerusalem rejected Jesus, but all are equally lost. That’s what the rest of Romans 1 and Romans 2 and Romans 3 will be about. That’s the predicament, but it’s also the glory. Lloyd Jones says, “Herein is the glory of the gospel: there is as much hope for the most desperate, the most violent, the blackest sinner as there is for the nicest and most respectable person.” It is a message to the Jew first and also to the Greek, not a message to be ashamed of. There is no other news like it in all the world. No other news so powerful, so eternally important, so gracious, so universal, not for one ethnic group, not for one people group, not for one color, not for one language, not for one sex, but for all. Ours is the most wonderful, magnificent, extraordinary good news in all the world. Let us own it, share it, rest in it, and rejoice in it. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your manifold grace to us. May your word go forth, this word of the gospel, with great power, even today, that it might be the day of salvation for everyone who believes, even some in in this room, perhaps for the first time putting their faith in you. We ask for this grace in Christ’s name. Amen.

From the Pastor’s Heart

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 11:56:36 GMT

Let’s pray.

Oh love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong. It shall forevermore endure, the saints’ and angels’ song. We are grateful to gather because of your great love for us and to sing the song of the angels in praise to your holy name. We ask now, as we are debtors to mercy alone, that you might give to us, once again, what we stand in need of and what we do not deserve – your face, your favor, listening ears that we may hear. Give me the Holy Spirit and a strong unction, that your word might go forth with great power. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Romans chapter 1, verses 8-15. For better or worse – I don’t know if this is good news or bad news; don’t tell me if it’s bad news – but after two weeks of sermon prep in Romans, and since one week was iced away anyways, I have determined that the rest of the sermon calendar printed in the bookmark is going to be a general guide, rather than a fixed schedule. I have found, in these first two weeks of sermon prep, wishing that I had another week to dive in a little deeper on that verse or that phrase. Now, I do not think we are going anywhere close to Piper’s 229 sermons or Boyce’s 239 sermons or Lloyd Jones’s 366 sermons, but maybe slowing down just a tad from what is printed in the schedule. I want to make sure that we get out of this text what is here. All that to say, I will do my best to study as hard and pray as hard as I can each week, and you’ll do your best to listen each week, and the one that it’s going to be hardest on is Nathan, because I’m just going to have to tell him from week to week how many verses or lines I think I’m going to make it through. We will do all verses 8-15 this morning, but moving ahead, we may find ourselves off the schedule just a bit. Follow along now as I read.

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing, I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you; that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you, but thus far have been prevented, in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation, both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, so I am eager to preach the gospel to you, also, who are in Rome.”

Remember as we begin in this world’s most famous and important letter that this is in fact a letter. Now it’s an unusual letter in its depth, in its length, and yet it’s a letter written by Paul to Tertius, the scribe writing it down, Paul probably editing afterward, and then delivered, likely, by Phoebe to the church in Rome – from Paul to the Romans about the gospel. And we saw that last week in the greeting in the first seven verses. Letters in the ancient world usually started with a greeting, just like if you still have the opportunity to write a formal letter. Or even not, you often say, “Dear so and so,” or at least a hello – there’s a greeting, and that’s what Paul does. And like everything in this letter, Paul does it higher, deeper, and longer than any normal letter in the ancient world. And so that was true in the opening greeting, and it’s true in this second section, which we might call an affirmation or an appreciation. This was often common in letters in the ancient world. You say hello, a brief word of greeting, and then something of an explanation of your affection. And you might still do this in a letter. Dear mom, I hope that all is going well back home, and you and dad are in good health. Paul does the same thing, but he does it even longer. In fact, if you were to study all of his letters to churches in the New Testament, he always has some kind of thanksgiving or blessing, except one church. If this was a classroom, I’d ask for a show of hands, but you can think to yourself, do you know which church it was where he does not give any thanksgiving or opening blessing? It’s the letter to the Galatians, because he moves from the greeting there immediately to say how astonished he is, how alarmed, that they were turning away from the gospel.

So, he writes that letter to the Galatians, and he’s already sensing a five-alarm fire of absolutely epic proportions. Nothing like that here in Rome. In fact, just the opposite. He goes to great pains to tell the Romans how many good things he has heard about them. Remember, as well, that he has not visited this church. Chapter 16, he has many personal greetings to some of the people there, and from some of the people with him, so it’s not that he’s a stranger to everyone in the church, but he’s not been to Rome. This is not one of the churches that he planted. He hasn’t visited on one of his missionary journeys, and so, this is unusual among his letters. He has less relational capital with the Romans than with any other church he writes to, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about them. In fact, he is overflowing with expressions of his heart and his care for the Roman Christians. I want you to see in these verses five expressions of his pastor’s heart. Five expressions.

Now, how should you listen to this sermon? Well, you can listen to learn about these verses, and okay, that was Paul’s heart. But we want more than just an exercise in understanding this letter. So, listen on two other levels. Not just an exposition of the text, but I want you to then think, how ought this to inform, if this is from Paul’s heart, your own relationship with your pastor, your pastors, and this pastor, and our pastoral staff with you. So, there’s one way to listen: how this speaks to you, to me. And then the second way I encourage you to listen is in any relationship you have with Christians, because though this is Paul as an apostle and really expressing his pastoral heart, and that might be the most immediate application, most of what Paul reveals about his heart are good lessons for you as you think about how do I relate to my children, a brother to a brother, sister to a sister, friend to friend, a teacher to a student, a mentor to a disciple. Most of what Paul has to say is transferable to Christian relationships broadly.

So, here’s the first way Paul expresses his pastor’s heart. You can see it right there in verse 8: thanksgiving. Notice there is immediately a vertical dimension. As Christians, we praise men by praising God. You don’t have to be a Christian to be grateful for things that you see in other people. And it’s not that that you can’t ever say thank you, and you always have to say, “well I thank God for you,” but in your heart, there ought to be this awareness that what makes Christian gratitude unique is not only recognizing good things and appreciation in other people – everybody does that – but we look at it vertically, and we know that whatever good you may have through another human being, especially a Christian, it is from the grace of God. He says, “I thank my God.” He doesn’t say, “I’m really impressed with you, Romans.” He doesn’t even say, “I’m thankful for you.” He says, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you.” Also, notice the pronoun: “I thank my God.” Just that little possessive pronoun. I wonder if you and I ever think of God in that way. My God. Now, there’s a demeaning way, like “this is my dog, this is my cat” – something lower than you. That’s of course not what Paul means. You can also mean it as someone much greater than you, if you said, “I thank my king. I thank my master.” He’s thinking of someone who is far greater than him, and yet he can say, “This is my God, and I serve him.” There is a level of intimacy. You ought to ask yourself, are you only comfortable talking about church, talking about faith very broadly, even maybe talking about God? Do you know God at such a level of closeness and knowledge and affection that you would ever refer to him as my God? Paul does: “I thank my God.” And notice what he is thankful for. He’s not thankful, at least he doesn’t express, for all of the earthly things that – these are the Christians in Rome, and surely that is part of the significance we’re coming to, that their faith is known in all the world – but Paul doesn’t give thanks to God for any of the impressive things about them and the positions of influence or power that they might have. So many of us need better Christian eyes so that you are looking for the right things in other people, you are impressed by the right things, and you praise each other for the best things. So, Paul had these eyes to see what is it that is so especially impressive to me about the Romans, and in a word – it’s right there – faith.

Remember back up in verse 5, Paul describes his mission on earth as an apostle to bring about the obedience of faith. It’s one of those genitive expressions, translated from the Greek into the English with the word “of.” And so, it can mean the obedience that comes from faith or the obedience that is faith, or it may be intentionally vague and ambiguous in what Paul has in mind: both things. And so here, when he says “because of your faith,” he may mean the very tangible expressions of your faith as you bear fruit, but I think he means, even one step before that, simply that there is a church in Rome. All of us have probably read a Tim Keller sermon, or a book, or listened to something, and he’s gone on to glory now. One of the significant things about Tim Keller’s ministry, not just the books that he wrote, and he had a big church, but that it was in New York City. That gave a certain street cred. Just like you might have – it’s not that a city is more important. Paul’s going to come to the end of this and say, “Well, I’m preaching this gospel for all people, not just the elites.” But there is something really significant, just like we might feel it if you said, “Let me tell you about this dynamic church right in the heart of London, right in the heart of DC or LA or Tokyo.” And so, he says right in Rome, your faith has become famous. “The whole world.” Now, he’s using a common expression. He doesn’t mean that every single person in the world at that time knew of their faith. Of course not. He doesn’t even mean that every people group in the Roman world knew of it, because in chapter 15, he’s going to say, “I need to go on to Spain to preach the gospel,” so nobody in Spain knew of them. But what he means, as a general expression, is that among the Christians, this news is traveling far and wide.

I hope that we are the sort of people through whom good news travels more quickly than bad news. It’s a lot easier to pass on the bad: “Did you hear about–? Did you hear what she did? Did you hear – I’m just – it’s a prayer request. I just want you to know. Please pray about this.” It’s easier for bad news to travel. I hope we would be people – “Did you hear about that church plant? Did you hear about that profession of faith? Did you hear about that marriage restored?” The whole world knows about their faith, their belief. You can just hear, throughout Paul’s missionary journeys, he probably can’t stop talking about it himself. Whether he’s in Macedonia or Philippi or Thyatira, wherever he goes, “Did you hear? The word is getting around. There’s a strong church right there in the heart of the empire, in the eternal city itself.” The largest, most impressive city in the world in the first century – Rome – there’s a church. The whole world was hearing about their faith, and Paul tells them, “I am so thankful.”

Now, I wish that our whole church was here this morning, but trust that the rest of them are watching this online to hear this from your pastor. I was, in studying this, convicted that I don’t tell you enough how thankful I am to be your pastor, how thankful I am for your faith at Christ Covenant. You have a good reputation, by God’s grace, among other Christians, among other places. When I’m with – I was leading a meeting with PCA leaders a week ago – or travel around, people have good things to say, by God’s grace, to his glory, about Christ Covenant. And it is not hard for me to boast about this church and the many good things that God does through you, and through you toward me and the other pastors. I give thanks for you. When Harry Reeder was alive, he would always say, “Those are good people at Christ Covenant.” Now, a lot of – most of them are new, but some of them are still here when Harry was here. I certainly heard that, when I came here, from Mike Ross: “This is a good group of people.” And then the time that I had the privilege to overlap with Bernie – I always liked to remind Bernie Lawrence, “Bernie, you were at this church before I was born. Just reminding you, Bernie.” We say these are good people here, and it’s true. I give thanks to God that you want to do the right thing. I give thanks to God for the way that you give, for the way that you love each other, the way you are eager to follow your leaders, to trust them, the hunger you have for the Bible. What a wonderful thing it is for a pastor to hear so many people say, “I can’t wait for this series in Romans,” and even in the other ones, during Ezra or the lesser-known books, you say, “I’m really learning a lot here.” What an encouragement for your pastor. I love the way you sing, your worship, your commitment to missions. So, I give thanks to God for the saints at Christ Covenant.

You should also think, and here’s the application for all of life: do you have any hard relationships? Now, don’t raise your hand, and don’t look right now. Just look straight ahead. No elbow. Do you have any hard relationships? When is the last time you said to that person what you were thankful for in their life? Now, if you do it around the dinner table today, maybe a little obvious that this was the hard person in your life, so you just sprinkle it in some other time. Or maybe dads, you can lead this around the table, okay? So, we’re not going to make this – we’re going to go around, and we’re all going to say, “How are we thankful for one another?” And if that feels awkward – you may say, “Pastor, you don’t understand this relationship with my mom, or with my husband, or with my granddaughter, it’s so awkward and tense, and if I just came in with “I want you to know how thankful,” it would backfire. Well, here’s what you can do: do you give thanks in your prayers? And in fact, maybe if that relationship is hard, and you’re saying honestly “I could make – I’ll try to do it, pastor, as an act of obedience, but I don’t feel a lot of gratitude” – try it in your prayers and the privacy of your own prayer life. Because here’s what can happen: when you get your prayers right, your heart can follow. We often think, I’m just going to pray what’s an expression of my heart. Well, sometimes you pray what is the right thing, and you give thanks for whatever small evidences of grace you can see in the life of that difficult person, and see if your heart doesn’t follow as you learn to focus there on the gratitude rather than the grumbling and the groaning. Paul expresses his pastor’s heart with thanksgiving.

Second, he expresses his pastor’s heart in prayer. We see that in verses 9 and 10. Notice he begins with an oath formula: “God is my witness.” So, when Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says, “Let your yes be yes, your no be no, and do not swear by anything,” he’s not giving an absolute prohibition. There are several times in the Old Testament, and again in the New Testament, where we see this kind of oath. Rather, what Jesus is arguing against in the Sermon on the Mount is a flippancy, is a taking of the Lord’s name in vain, or the practice among some of the Jews was that unless they heaped up oaths then their word wasn’t really their bond. Jesus says no, no, no, whatever you say, whether you got an oath or not, it ought to be your word. But there are these times in the Scripture, and here’s one of them: Paul says, and it’s important, “for God is my witness.” Why does he say that? Because he’s talking about his prayers. Now, they may be able to see a number of things in his life, but especially since he’s not there with them in person, he is telling them part of his affection for them is that he is praying for them all the time. And they might just quickly think, “Yeah, right. Yeah, he prays for us. Maybe he did that once.” And Paul says very solemnly, “as God is my witness.” I call God to witness against me if this is not true. I know you can’t see it, but I am telling you the truth, and God himself can see it, that I pray for you constantly. God is my witness. Verse 9, “whom I serve with my spirit” – that is, with every fiber of my being, “for the sake of the gospel.” You can’t see the heart of prayer, but you can pray. Isn’t it far too easy? And I have fallen afoul of this before in my life – we all have. It’s far too easy to casually tell people, “I’m praying for you.” Please do not say that if you’re not really praying for someone. Better to say, “I’ll offer up a prayer right now. Thank you for that. I will pray for it.” We can easily say, “You’re in my prayers. I’m praying for you,” when really what it amounts to is a glancing thought every great once in a while. Well, that’s not what Paul is doing. He is thinking about the Romans all the time.

You remember that meme from a couple of years ago? How often do you think about the Roman Empire? And that was the funny thing that wives were amazed to learn that their husbands were thinking about the Roman Empire – like, yeah, five or six times a week – what?! You’re thinking about –? Well yeah, there’s a lot to think about! And it was a funny illustration of some of the differences in the sexes. Well Paul is thinking about the Roman Empire even more than that, because he is thinking in particular about these Christians in Rome. We read, “in my spirit the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing, I mention you always in my prayers.” Now don’t over-interpret that “without ceasing,” just like we ought not over-interpret “in all the world.” This is simply a figure of speech. Some people want to take this exactly literally, that without ceasing, as if Paul is breathing in, breathing out, every single waking moment, or even maybe when he’s in slumber, he’s constantly in a spirit of prayerfulness. Well, he may have a spirit of awareness of God and his presence, but surely what he means is something like us saying, “I am praying for you 24/7. You are in my prayers night and day.” It’s a way for Paul to say with constancy, frequency, reliability, earnestly, daily, I’m interceding for you. It’s likely that Paul – in his daily time of prayer, or maybe he had certain set times in morning and evening when he would pray, he prays for many things – that maybe he tacks on at the end of his prayers, “and Lord, help me to see the Romans,” because that’s what he’s going to say he’s praying for, in particular – that he might find a way to them. Whenever it’s there, he adds on – just, “and Lord, one more time, would you help me see the Romans?”

I wonder if you or I have anyone or anything on our prayer lists quite like this. Now, it’s true. We have finite time, finite memory and resources. You can’t pray for every person and every need without ceasing. But maybe you commit for a month or two weeks to pray for a particular need of a friend in your life. Or maybe you have a prayer – many of us would likely pray for our spouse or for our kids every day, maybe for our parents, maybe for our church, for your pastors, for some missionaries, for some friends. Do you have even a few people and a few prayers that you could say, like Paul, “without ceasing”? Meaning, this one is in my head, and in my heart, almost without fail. Paul hasn’t met them, remember? But this is perhaps the greatest expression that we can ever give of our love for someone else. Do you really believe – this isn’t a pious platitude – do you really believe there is nothing more helpful you can do for someone you love than to pray for them? It often feels like, well all I can do is pray. All you get to do is pray. And surely there are some of those relationships – often painful ones – you don’t know what else to do. And you’ve reached the end of your human ingenuity and conversations to have, but brothers and sisters, that’s not the end of what you can do for them, because you can pray. There may be no greater measure of your love for someone than how often you bring them before God in your prayers. That says how much you love someone. Paul is praying for them without ceasing.

Here’s the third way he expresses his pastor’s heart, and this gets to the content of his prayer: not only thanking God for them, but specifically, number three, he longs to be with them. He mentions this desire three times in three different ways. Verse 10: “I ask God in my prayers that I may succeed at last in coming to you.” Verse 11, he says, “I long to see you.” Verse 13: “I have often intended to come to you.” To you! Now, Rome is probably top three on my list of cities I haven’t been to that I want to go to. Some of you have been there, and I would love to go to Rome – hope I will someday – and see the beautiful architecture and the history and find some gluten-free pasta and pizza and enjoy the sights. Some of you have been there. And it was even more in its grandeur here in Paul’s day – the most impressive city in the world. And it’s not that it would have been wrong if Paul wanted to eat the food in Rome or see the architecture in Rome or revel in the history or be in the seat of power. Those would not have been, necessarily, bad desires. But notice what Paul wants most of all: he wants to see people. People. Is that how your heart – whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert – is that your heart? Even as you think about travel – places you can go, things you can see, things you can do – he says, “You know what I’m so excited about is to see some of the Christians there.” Maybe even if you have opportunity to travel there – go worship there with other believers. Paul says, “Here’s what I long to” – not that I can go and walk the streets and say, “What an amazing trip I had to Rome.” He wants to see the church. He wants to be there in person. Now, it’s true Paul did not have phones. He didn’t have texting. He didn’t have FaceTime. But he is using the means of communication for his era. He’s writing a letter. And no doubt he was grateful that he could write them a letter and communicate with them that way, just like we’re grateful when we can talk to a loved one on the phone, or what a gift it is that you can do FaceTime and see grandkids and children who are far away. But you know in your heart that that’s not all you want. A text thread can be helpful. FaceTime is nice. Email, WhatsApp – useful. I use them all the time. But when you really love someone, you want to be with them in person, in the same room, face to face. As you have those opportunities, don’t miss them with the people in your life.

And on this Sunday, as most of our congregation, understandably, is at home because of a record 11 inches of snow – even more in the outlying areas – we’re grateful for this technology that allows us to worship here and for people to sing and pray and hear a sermon when they’re providentially hindered from being here. But I hope – I hope that these few occasions where we really are difficult for most of us to come here in person, I hope they don’t make anyone start to feel like “this is the way church ought to be,” because it’s not the way church ought to be. This is pretty nice. I could get used to this. Cinnamon rolls and salvation. This is a nice way to spend my Sunday morning. I don’t have to get dressed. I can sit here and watch this, sip a cup of coffee. No shame if you’re drinking coffee right now at home. But I hope that these two weather weeks give you a renewed sense of longing. Oh, may there be sunny skies and 50° next Sunday! Because if you love God’s people, you’ll want to be with God’s people. Podcasts, online sermon, livestream: they are not sufficient. They are not anywhere near a replacement. When there’s bad weather, we’re grateful for it. If you’re homebound, it’s a gift. If your kids are sick, if you’re ill, if you’re in the hospital, we know we have workers on the mission field – all of that, we’re grateful for what technology can do. And yet, surely Paul’s heart is the right heart. I can write you a letter, but oh, how I’m praying to be with you in person. I’ve said before, and it bears repeating again: I hope you know that when I have opportunities to speak at a conference or guest preach at a church, this is always, always the place that brings me the most joy. This is the best place to preach, here with my church family, the saints at Christ Covenant.

I want you to notice before we move on from this third point: look at that little phrase in verse 10, “always in my prayers asking that somehow by God’s will…” By God’s will. See, Paul explains he had tried before – “I have often intended to come to you, but thus far I have been prevented.” The last third of the book of Acts is about Paul’s desire to get to Rome, and there it’s even manipulated in a different way, because he wants to get there that he can present his case before Caesar. So, some things happened between the writing of this letter and then the rest of Acts and getting to Rome, but we see time and time again where Paul has plans. They don’t always happen the way that he wanted them to happen. This phrase, probably familiar to most of you – James says the same thing – that when we make plans, we ought to say “if God wills.” We understand you don’t have to literally say it at the end of every sentence. Maybe you’ve seen in some people’s letters, or particular older letters or calendars, you sometimes will see the initial initials D.V., deo volente, which means “God willing.” It’s just a small way of saying “here’s our plan, D.V.” – if God wills. Whether you say that often or not, surely it ought to be in your head and in your heart. This is not just a silly bit of Christianese. This is not a weak way to pray. This is the Christian way to look at all of life. We have plans. We have hopes. We have dreams. We have things we want for ourselves. You have, perhaps, things you wanted for your children, decisions you wanted them to make. And you may look and see those plans don’t seem to be happening. And they may even be good things you wanted for yourself, and you were hoping for your career, your plans for your children, good plans, good desires, and they may not be the good plans that God has for us. I hope you take some encouragement: Paul did not get all of his prayers answered. And we know that from 2 Corinthians, the thorn in the flesh – he prayed three times, and it didn’t get removed. But even here, he had been praying without ceasing. Daily prayers. Let me get to Rome. Let me get to Rome. At this point in his life, God had not seen fit to give him a “yes” to that response. And yet, he submits himself to the Lord’s will and makes all of his plans with that D.V., God willing, in his heart. And if Paul does that – if Paul did not get all of his plans, all of his prayers – and what better plan? He wants to go to Rome to preach the gospel. For God’s reasons, it hadn’t happened. And so, in your life and mine, it’s a measure of our Christian humility to submit ourselves to God’s will. And it may be much bigger things than your travel plans. It’s your kids and their faith or their lack of faith or the difficult relationship in your life. And you say, “God, I don’t understand this good thing. I don’t understand why you would take this person’s life in the prime of his life. Why would you only give him 40 years or 50, or why would you take this young man at 26?” And you say, “God, your will is best and perfect and right.”

Here’s the fourth way Paul expresses his pastor’s heart: he has a desire for mutual encouragement. You see that in verses 11 and 12. He says in verse 11, “I want to impart to you some spiritual gift.” This is an ambiguous phrase. It does not mean he wants to endow them with a spiritual gift. He’s not a dispenser of “now I gift you with helps, or gift you with healing.” And I don’t think Paul means “I want to go there and perform a miracle among you.” It’s in a broader, more general sense. He says “I want to strengthen you.” He’s almost certainly referring to his preaching and his teaching. He says later, “I mean to reap a harvest.” That is a harvest of growth and equipping and maturity and perhaps conversion among the rest of the Gentiles in Rome. I want to impart to you some spiritual gift. This ought to be the goal of every good pastor. My goal, ministering among you, teaching you, is to impart some spiritual gift that you may be formed, that you may be made mature, that you may be established. But notice what Paul says almost as soon as he says that, it’s almost as if there’s little check in his spirit that says, “Okay, hold on. That’s not all I have to say.” So verse 12, almost clearing his throat, “I mean, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged.” Now part of this, remember, these are not his people. He doesn’t want to build on someone else’s foundation. So, there’s a certain tact he has here in asserting his authority. He does not want to come across as if he is full of himself, telling the Romans, whom he has not met, “I can’t wait to see you, because when Apostle Paul gets there, what a blessing. Blessing train is coming on through to Rome, and you are going to be so helped by my presence when I get there.” That’s not what Paul is saying, but he’s a little nervous that they might hear it that way. And so, he quickly says, “Hold on a second. This encouragement that I mean to give you is an encouragement that goes both ways. I also stand to receive from you.” And you need to know this from your pastor. Your pastors need encouragement. And I don’t mean encouragement that you need to tell us all “good job,” though nice if you think something is going well. But that’s not really what Paul means here. He means that both sides – the Apostle Paul, the great, mighty Apostle Paul who writes a third of the New Testament, this great apostle to the Gentiles – he says to these believers in Rome, “When I get there, it’s not just that you’re going to be getting something from me. I’m going to be getting something from you. Both sides will be strengthened by one another’s faith.”

And so it ought to be in any pastor/church relationship. Yes, I stand here, and you listen, and hopefully God speaks and ministers grace to you, but you need to know that I see things in you that you do better than I do. I look up to many of you. I learn from you. I see examples of faith that exceed my own graces and prayer and perseverance and suffering and generosity. That’s what I say, and that’s what the spirit of Paul is here. This is not a one-way street. It also means, just thinking about your relationships in general, do you know that you need others to contribute to your spiritual growth? Parents, you have something to learn from your children. If Paul had something to learn from the Romans, if he had a way to be edified by the Romans, then surely there is no Christian too small in your life that from him or her, you cannot receive a blessing and encouragement. Paul says the way we do church life, the way we are Christians together, is not all downstream, and there’s a teacher, and he teaches, and we receive. Or there’s a parent, or there’s a mentor, and it just flows downhill, and you give out the blessings, we receive the blessings. Paul says, “I don’t want you to think that for a moment. I’m going to be encouraged, because I’m going to see your faith. I’m going to see the things that you do, the confidence you have in Christ, the way you’re talking about Jesus, the way you’re obeying in the midst of suffering and difficulty.” He expresses his pastor’s heart in this desire to encourage one another.

And then finally, he expresses his pastor’s heart with his passion to preach the gospel. That’s most obvious. He’s already stated it as part of his identity in the greeting. And now he reinforces it there in verses 14 and 15. He said in verse 1, “called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel.” He said in verse 5, he’s an apostle to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations. That’s his purpose. That’s his life. And now he says once again, I want to come to you, and what I’m so eager to do is to preach the gospel. Now, he doesn’t mean that these Romans need to be converted – not the ones he’s writing to – they’re Christians. But in the wider purview of Rome, there are many Gentiles he wants to preach to, hoping that some of them will be converted. And you notice Paul sees the gospel as not the ABCs, but the A to Z. I want to teach you these things about the Lord Jesus Christ that you might be strengthened. That is his heart. He says in verse 14, “I am under obligation.” You could translate it, “I am a debtor.” Why would Paul say that? Well, because think of who he was. The Lord saved him, as a persecutor of the church, in the most dramatic way. And not only that, but God saved him, God gave him gifts, and God gave him this calling. You, too, are a debtor to mercy – not to live out your life with some groveling debtor’s ethic, but a debtor to mercy.

If God saved you, if God’s given you spiritual gifts, and he has if you’re a believer, and he’s given you purpose in life – your calling is not to be an apostle. Most of you, your calling is not to be a preacher, but you are a debtor to your salvation, to your gifts that God gave, not for your sake, not for the sake of self-expression, but for the sake of building others up. Paul says, “I feel this obligation.” And when I think about my sense of calling as a pastor, and that language of calling in the New Testament is almost always about the call of salvation, but there’s a right way to think about how God gives a desire to a man to preach. Maybe there’s some young men here who are wondering if that might be God’s call in your life. You ought to think and pray about that. Here’s one of the ways it manifests itself in my heart: whenever there have been seasons of discouragement – and they’ve not been long, not deep, but they’ve been there – whenever there have been seasons of discouragement, or even a thought that may whisper in my head, “I wonder what another job feels like” – don’t worry, I’m not feeling that today, haven’t felt that for a while. But if ever there has been that thought, I come back to this awareness: Lord, I don’t think I’m the best preacher by any means, but I do think you have called me to this task. And I think that I would be unfaithful to the Lord Jesus if I were to set aside this calling and bury these talents in the ground and not make good on the open door to preach the gospel that you have given to me. A debtor to mercy under obligation. That’s what Paul feels. And in particular, he says he’s an apostle to the Gentiles. It seems that the church at Rome is largely Gentile, not exclusively. And he gives two pairs – do you see there in verse 14? “I’m under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians.” He’s thinking of the Gentiles. He divides the Gentile world, as they would have used the expression, Greeks and then the non-Greeks – barbarians. The word in Greek, barbaros. Any Barbs or Barbaras in our congregation – special name, means “barbarian.” And just to make this word even more special, that dative plural, barbaros, captures the names of my wife’s parents, Barbara and Roy, together. You try to find your in-laws’ name in one Greek word. It’s hard to do. Paul isn’t using it as a slur. He’s simply incorporating this sort of language. This is an onomatopoeia. You know that from your English class – words that sound like how you say them? And so, a barbarian was a word that was coined because to the Greeks it sounded like they were babbling. He says to the Greeks and to the non-Greeks, to the wise and to the foolish. You might translate it to the educated and to the uneducated. Paul is not trying to take sides. He’s putting these two pairs together to say this gospel message is for everyone. If you’re an Ivy Leaguer, you need the gospel. If you never got a chance to finish high school, you need the gospel. If the world considers you to be elite, sophisticated, important, a one percenter, you need the gospel. If the world will look upon you and say that you are in a working class or a blue collar or something else, you need the gospel. Paul says, “I am preaching this gospel for everyone.”

Let it be a reminder as we spend these weeks and months, and perhaps years, in the book of Romans: God willing, no matter who you are, you are not so high and mighty that you don’t need Paul’s gospel. You are not so low in the world’s estimation that this gospel isn’t also for you. No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, what language you speak, how you grew up, how much money you make, this book is good news for you. The Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ in Paul’s gospel, is for you if you would have the obedience of faith to repent of your sins, trust in Christ, and follow him. Let’s pray.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word, this good and inspired word. We pray that you would work it deep into our hearts with thanksgiving. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How Can I Be Clean?

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:38:22 GMT

Psalm 124:8, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” This is an unusual time here in the southeast, in Charlotte, with this winter storm barreling on upon us. So, we are recording this on Saturday afternoon and are praying for the Lord’s safety and warmth and provision and protection for millions of people in the path of this storm. So, welcome to those here who are live and the many more who will likely be watching this on Sunday.

Our text for this morning, afternoon – whenever you may be watching – sermon is Mark. So, you have a Bible. Would you turn to Mark chapter 1? I just started a series on Romans, and I didn’t want to go to the next Romans chapter, so we’ll be a little bit off on the schedule, but I thought, what to preach on? Well, I just did Mark 1:35-39 a few weeks ago as a beginning of the year reminder about prayer and the importance of the word of God and prayer. So, without knowing what to pick from the entire Bible, I thought, well, let’s just go to the next paragraph, which is a wonderful paragraph and also one of my favorites. I think if people kept track over the years how many times I say this is one of my favorites, it’d be a long list, but this really is a great, great text. Follow along as I read from Mark chapter 1, beginning at verse 40:

“And a leper came to him (that is Jesus), imploring him, and, kneeling, said to him, ‘If you will, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will! Be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once and said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof to them.’ But he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.”

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we ask for your help now, not only in coming to the hearing and the preaching of your word, but we do pray for our community here in Matthews, the Charlotte area, and the millions of people here in the Southeast and up the east coast facing this winter storm. We pray for your protection. We can often take for granted how relatively easy our lives are most of the time, how smoothly things go, getting where we want, what we need, in relative comfort. We pray that you would provide for us, especially those who may be older or ill or in difficult circumstances. We pray that you would spread your wings and you would give us all that we stand in need of. And help us now, that we may, in whatever situation we find ourselves, we may now attend to the hearing of your word, that you would have just what we need to hear by your Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I’m sure that many of you have read Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Maybe not of your own choosing, but at some point in high school, you had to read Macbeth. Education is often wasted on the young, and you go back, and then you think, “Wow, that was – there’s a reason that they made us read that. That is really, really good.” To remind you of the story, the play starts out at a battle where King Duncan of Scotland hears that his generals have defeated two different invading armies, and one of those generals is Macbeth. And on his way home from the battle, Macbeth meets some witches who tell him that he will be made a thane – a thane is a rank of Scottish nobility – and that one day he will be the king of Scotland. Macbeth isn’t sure he believes the prophecy. He’s not even sure if he wants it to come true until some of the king’s men come, and they meet him on the road after this prophecy from the witches, and they do make him a thane. They make him part of the Scottish nobility. And when this happens, Macbeth starts to wonder about the other half of the prophecy. Will he really become king? King Duncan visits Macbeth at his castle, and while the king is there, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband now is the time to become king. And even though Macbeth has reservations, his wife persuades him to kill the king in his sleep. He murders the king, and Macbeth, as you remember the story – this is really the famous moral heartbeat of the story – immediately feels profound guilt. He asks, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean clean from my hand?” But his wife reassures him, “A little water clears us of this deed. How easy it is then.”

But of course, if you remember the story, it is not at all easy to be cleansed from this guilt. Macbeth is plagued by guilt, and he becomes a violent, wicked king because of this guilt, while Lady Macbeth slowly descends into madness. It is a story about guilt and what guilt not dealt with does to the human soul. She starts sleepwalking through the castle, being haunted by the dead king. She imagines constantly she has blood on her hands, which, figuratively, of course, she does. And in one of the most famous parts in the play, Lady Macbeth says to herself, as she tries and tries, in vain, to scrub away her guilt, she says, “Out, damned spot!” Now, parenthesis, it’s not a swear word right there, because it really means what she says – this accursed, damnable, hellish spot. “I say! One. Two. Why then, ’tis time to do it. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?” She cannot get out the spot on her hands. Macbeth is a story about guilt and remorse. It’s part of what makes Shakespeare worth reading 500 years later is he hits at human nature. It’s a story about two people who get stained with the guilt of sin, and they don’t know how to get clean.

This passage in Mark is also a story about getting clean. We see from this interaction with Jesus three things. First, you need to know that you are not clean. Two, you need to believe you can be clean. And three, you need to come to the one who can make you clean. So those are the three points.

How can you be clean? If anyone has ever felt that Lady Macbeth sort of moment – you can’t get the spot of sin off your hands. You can’t get the sense of remorse out of your heart. You feel dirty. Maybe something long ago in your past that you’ve never really dealt with. Maybe something this very week. How do you get clean? This text tells us. Number one, you need to know you are not clean. So here, look at this story with Jesus and the leper. The first word that should jump out at us is there in verse 40: “and a leper.” Now, you can see the footnote there in the ESV, leprosy was a term for several skin diseases, references to Leviticus. The Greek translation, the word here, is lepra, and so it’s translated as “leprosy,” but almost everyone agrees now this is not the disease, strictly speaking, Hansen’s disease, but could be any number of skin ailments. But it was a problem, and it was a big problem. Everyone knew you had leprosy. Leviticus 13 gives the instructions: “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes, let the hair of his head hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has a disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” So everyone knew you had leprosy. Now, lest we think that the Old Testament is just cruel and unusual punishment – to take another famous story from literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, that this is just a big A around your chest – this was not about public ridicule and shame, though it likely felt like that, but this was about health and safety. Especially in the ancient world, what do you do with diseases you don’t understand? You quarantine, and you live outside the camp. You let everyone know, as you come up to them, that they should keep their distance. We have something similar today – people all the time, especially in the winter, you maybe go to shake their hands, “Um, I better not shake your hand. I’m getting over something,” and they’ll do a fist bump or they’ll do an elbow or something. We have the same sort of precautions.

Everyone knew if you had leprosy, and even if the intention of the Old Testament was not to give a stigma, certainly there was a stigma attached to it. Leprosy, in whatever form it took, whatever kind of exact skin disease this was, was something despised, something feared. I was trying to think, maybe the closest analogy, if you were alive in the 1980s into the early 1990s, sort of how AIDS loomed large in the public imagination. People, you know, at first, you know, there was different theories about all the ways it might be transmitted. Can you get it from a drinking fountain? Maybe you can’t even come into contact with people. There was certainly a stigma attached. It wasn’t just an illness. It was a death sentence. So maybe something similar with leprosy, like you would have heard in the late ‘ 80s, someone has AIDS. So he knows he is unclean. There’s no way he cannot know that he’s unclean.

Now, we need to say something about sin and uncleanness, because when we come to the New Testament, these categories overlap, but they’re not identical. Not everyone who had an uncleanness in the Old Testament was sinful. You were ritually unclean for all sorts of things – normal sorts of bodily emissions, or after having childbirth. These things were not sins. They were not moral failures. So there’s a category of ritual or moral impurity and then a category of sin. So, this man isn’t necessarily knowing his own sinful heart. But when we come to the New Testament, we see that these categories, they merge together, or at least the imagery of being clean is transmuted over to a moral category. Ritual purity, with Jesus, is going to fall by the wayside, and the category of cleanness becomes a metaphor for spiritual purity. So, later in the New Testament, Hebrews 10, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” So, there the Old Testament imagery of purity and cleanliness is now explained with a moral valance. So even though, to be clear, this leprosy is not sinful per se, we are right in understanding this to be a story about this whole business of how you get clean. And for this man it was leprosy, and for the human condition, it’s even worse than that. It’s sin. It’s the spiritual uncleanness, which brings us back to the point.

You and I will never get clean if we don’t admit that we are unclean. And we have developed lots of ways of hiding this. Pastors know, parishioners know, men, women. It is no respecter of race or ethnicity or age. We know how to find ways to make ourselves feel less unclean. Comparison – that’s a really good way. Sure, I do some bad things. I’m not perfect, but have you seen them? There are always worse people. Now, we don’t usually think, well, there are always better people, too. There are certain husbands I know who do all the grocery shopping and all the cooking. That’s sort of a mythical category, but there are a few of those out there, and that’s just a rule in our household. There’s no comparison to those husbands when we talk about – so, we don’t usually think about those who might do something better, we find those who are worse, and then we don’t have to feel so bad. We’re all versed in positive self-talk. I’m beautiful. I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. I’m a good person. Or, we trust in the opinion that others have of us, especially our friends, people who are culturally conditioned to tell us how great we are. Or we find ways to excuse our sin. It’s just part of my history or it’s part of my biology. And if that doesn’t work, we can always blame others. It’s the fault of my parents, or my upbringing, or my church, or my wife, or my husband, or my kids. We find ways to try to hide the fact that we are unclean.

This man, the first step, the thing that he knows, even though he doesn’t quite know exactly who Jesus is, he knows that he’s not clean. He can see his skin. You know how, if you’re eating French fries, and you have ketchup, and you get some ketchup there on your chin, and the person you’re eating with has that uncomfortable “how long do I let that ketchup just stay there? What do I do? Do I –” because your friend is talking to you cannot see it, just going on and on. You can’t hear anything he or she is saying. All you think is you have so much ketchup on your face. There’s no fry. It was just like you ate ketchup. That’s all – and it gets bigger and bigger, and all you can see. You can see it. Your friend can’t see it. Well, that’s us. That’s the human condition with sin. A big spot of ketchup. Other people see. You ask people around you, are you a sinner – you probably don’t want to ask them, but they know. They know you’re a sinner. My family knows I’m a sinner. Are you willing to admit that you’re not clean? If you take a look – that’s why the word of God is called a mirror. Hold up to see what do I really look like? Now, as you get older – I’m middle-aged now. My wife and I will sometimes – now, my wife is very, very cute, of course – but we’ll sometimes go by the mirror, because you don’t usually see yourself, and then you stop, and you say, “Is that what I look like?” Or you see a picture, and you’re going through the pictures, and you always say, “Well, I got to find a good picture.” What? And then somebody has to tell you, but all those other pictures, that’s what you look like. You don’t sometimes know what your life is really like. Can you admit that you’re unclean? That’s the first step to getting clean.

Here’s the second. You need to know not only that you are unclean, but that you can be clean. This leper demonstrates a remarkable faith. This is why I said I love this passage. Isn’t this one of the great lines in the Bible? In verse 40, he kneels, implores him – “and kneeling.” This man is in a state of desperation. He doesn’t saunter up. He doesn’t have a sense of pride. He comes with abject humility, desperation, on his knees, begging Jesus. And you see what he says, “If you will, you can make me clean.” It’s the willing part he’s unsure of. Sometimes we think God is willing, but we’re not sure that he’s able. Here, this man knows that Jesus is able. Maybe he was in the crowd this previous day when Jesus was healing in Capernaum, and people were bringing the sick and the demon-possessed, and he saw with his own eyes, or maybe the word had gotten to him – whatever. He demonstrates remarkable faith. He has no doubt. He’s on his knees, knowing Jesus – you can cure me of this. I don’t know if you will, but I know you can. It’s the fight of faith to believe what the Bible says about God, about Jesus, about the Spirit, about his promise. Sometimes it’s a fight of faith to believe you can be forgiven, to believe that your life is not reduced to simply being a recovering alcoholic, an ex-adulterer, a former whatever, as if that’s going to be your identity for your whole life. Just a – maybe you can make some progress – but you’re just a former whatever who messed things up. As if this man – maybe I can get – but I’m going to be just an ex-leper. That’s all I am. You can be a new creation in Christ, but you must believe that Jesus is able. Healing leprosy was a big deal. This is not like when you see so-called faith healers on TV. You notice that they’re not doing leprosy. They’re not doing things that you can see and just – gone. It’s backaches, sort of hard to gauge with. It’s invisible maladies. No, this is the big stuff. It’s not joint pains. It’s the worst sort of disease you could have in the ancient world. 2 Kings 5, the king of Israel was supposed to heal Naaman. He reads the letter, and he tears his clothes, and he says, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?” That’s how they thought of it in the ancient world. No, nobody cures leprosy. Later rabbis claimed that healing leprosy was as hard as raising the dead. Only two instances of lepers being healed in the Old Testament: Miriam, Moses’ sister, and then Naaman, the Syrian general. And there’s only two instances in the New Testament: this one, and then the healing of the 10 lepers. So, this is not an everyday occurrence. This is not a headache, and take some ibuprofen. This is leprosy, and yet, he has faith enough to say to Jesus, you can do this thing. This is not hard for you.

We don’t know what he understood about Jesus’ messianic identity. Likely he didn’t have a well-developed faith, but he believed in Jesus’ power. And underneath it, he may have had a faith in Jesus’ purity. Not only his power, but his request of Jesus may be a tacit acknowledgment that Jesus not only has power, but he has a unique purity. Here’s what I mean. Some commentators will make a really big deal, and it’s just a big problem for the exegetes, that Jesus touched this man, because people say, “Now, wait a minute. The Old Testament says that leprosy is unclean. So, did Jesus disobey the Torah? He didn’t keep the law, because he touched a man with leprosy.” The leprosy left him after he touched him in verse 41. Did Jesus break the law? But think carefully. The law merely stated that contact with a leper would make you unclean. This was not a “thou shalt not” Ten Commandments, and Jesus broke it. This was – the law said if you touch a leper, you will be become unclean. But what if it doesn’t work that way with Jesus? See, the other miracle going on here, besides the obvious miracle of the leprosy disappearing, is the identification of this miracle worker who is more than just a miracle worker. When Jesus touched the leper – here’s the point. Jesus was not in danger of becoming ritually unclean like this man. The leprosy was in danger of being swallowed up in Jesus. Or, here’s how we can put it in one pregnant sentence. We find in this text, Jesus’ holiness was more contagious than this man’s uncleanness. Jesus touched him, and his holiness was now – that purity was upon the leper, whereas Jesus was not made unclean by this man’s uncleanness. Now, we’ll see something in just a moment – the effect that it has on Jesus, because there is a kind of trading places. But I want you to see that Jesus not only has a unique power, he has a unique purity. And it takes faith to believe that God has more forgiveness to give you than you even have sins to get rid of. Do you believe that? God has more forgiveness to give you, to offer, than you have sins that need to be forgiven. You never come to God in the name of Jesus for sins to be forgiven, and he says, “If you only would have come yesterday.” There’s no winter storm that can get rid of the forgiveness that Jesus has. Sorry, we’re out of milk, out of eggs, out of water. He always has more forgiveness to offer than you have sins to be forgiven. Or to put it like this, we are not stains on the character of God. He, rather, is the white-out for all the mistakes in our lives. Jesus does not receive the man’s leprosy. The leper receives Jesus’ purity.

Here’s the third point. So, if you’re going to be clean, you need to know you’re not clean. You need to believe you can be clean, and you need to come to the one who can make you clean. This is where the world gets tripped up, because the world might say, in some sense, yeah, you need to admit your mistakes, and that’s one of the 12 steps. You need to admit it. Good. Own up to it. Maybe even acknowledge that there’s some kind of higher power, or acknowledge that there’s a way, and you can put your past behind us. There’s all sorts of books in the self-help section about that. But here’s what we see in the gospel. You need to come to the one, to the only one, who can make you clean. This man was not supposed to come to Jesus. Lepers weren’t supposed to come to anyone. They were unclean. They were to keep away. But this man comes, gets on his knees. He begs. He implores him. He may be ashamed as a leper, but he has no shame in pleading for his life. It’s a lesson there, too. Some of us may want help. We may want forgiveness. We may want victory over our sin, but we want it on our terms. We don’t want to lose control. We want to keep our decorum. We want to say, “God, I want your help.” We want to come and still be self-respecting, not groveling sort of sinners, but there’s no way around it. You can’t get help from Jesus, the help you really need, and still save face. This man – you can’t come with all the dignity of your titles and your position and your wealth and your status. You have to come to Jesus without any pretense. This man was not too proud to beg. What can this man do for me? That’s a good question. Wasn’t that an old tagline for was it UPS? “What can brown do for you?” What can Jesus do for you? Sometimes people – they want a little Jesus. They just don’t want too much. They don’t want to be one of the weird religious people always talking about their relationship with Jesus. Many people in many parts of this country, a little bit of Jesus, a little Christianity, a little religion is a good thing, but just don’t be crazy about it. Just enough to sort of have some social lubricant in relationships, maybe keep your kids in line, a little more disciplined. You’re happy for second chances. But that’s not this man. He comes to Jesus, falls on his face.

Have you ever done that? Have you ever – maybe in front of others, but certainly in the privacy of your own closet, said, “Oh Jesus, you can make me clean, and I need all the cleanness you can give. Are you willing to lose face? Are you willing for that kind of humility? I mentioned there’s only two lepers in the Old Testament who are healed – Miriam, and then the more famous story, you may remember, is Naaman, the Syrian general. And do you remember, he wants to get healed of this leprosy, and he hears from a servant girl that there’s a wonder-working man in Israel. So, he goes, and he meets Elisha, and Elisha tells him, “Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and you’ll be clean.” Now, you might think that he’s living with this terrible disease. Just go in the river seven times, and you’ll be clean – simple as that – except Naaman thinks, “Well, that’s a dumb idea.” You know, he thinks, well, you know, you wave your hand, or you call on the name of your god, or something, but this Jordan business – this Jordan River business, this is ridiculous. And he says, “We have far mightier rivers than this.” It’s like, you live on the banks of the Mississippi, and then someone says, “You see here the Sugar Creek Greenway?” No offense, Charlotte, but that you know that little drainage ditch, and you’re the – you know – the president from some other country, and you come, and they take you there, and thinking this – so this is a river trick. I have real rivers. This is a stream. This is a puddle that takes rainwater. The Jordan River, in many parts at many times of the year, was not impressive at all. Said, “I didn’t come down all the way here for this,” and so he marches off in a big huff, and his servant urges him to just try it. And famously he does, and it says his flesh was restored like a little child, and he was clean. And you ever think there, that line “like a little child”? I think that’s intentional, because he needed to have faith like a little child. If he wanted to have skin like a little child, if he wanted to have a conscience like a little child, you have to have the kind of reckless abandon that children sometimes have. Go in that river. Woo! A river. You need to have that kind of faith. Tell me to do it, I’ll do it. But he had to set aside the pride, the pretention, the awareness that he carried with himself that he was a big deal, and we need to set that aside too.

Will you come to Jesus, really come to Jesus? Some of us are too proud. We think, “I need a little Jesus, but I don’t need to do this meager Jordan River thing. I don’t need to get on my knees and implore him.” This is beneath me. We’d like to come to God – sure, we want to be healed – who doesn’t want healing? But we want to come like Naaman did. Naaman came with his horses, his chariots. We want to come with our pride and our honor. And God always says the same thing when we try to come like that. Are you willing to come to me on my terms? And that means that – forget the horses, forget the chariots, forget your titles. I want you to dip yourself in this muddy little Jordan River seven times. Are you really sick enough to finally be healed? Do you see your leprosy clear enough to finally be cleansed? Jesus is able. And here’s the second part of the good news: he’s also willing. Don’t you love how verse 40 to 41 works? The man is on his knees – “if you will” – you can just hear the plaintive cry. You can see it in his eyes. I don’t know if you will. You’re busy, and I – you never met me. I may be too far – but you can do it. And then Jesus, moved with pity, stretched out his hand, touched him, and you notice the very first thing he says: “I will.” He says, “If you will.” Jesus says, “I will.” And that’s what Jesus always says to every sinner looking for forgiveness.

Now, this is not a passage that promises us that every one of us gets a prayer answered, and all of our earthly illnesses disappear. We know that’s not the record of the Bible. That’s not the record of life. This is about the spiritual uncleanness. There is a way to get the spot out. After Macbeth kills the king, he’s filled with remorse, and he desperately wants to undo what he just did. But Macbeth didn’t know how to get clean. He had regret but not repentance – remorse, but not truly, before God, to receive the absolution he needed. One scholar – Shakespeare scholar – put it like this: “Despite his profound remorse, Macbeth does nothing to right the wrong. He becomes a worse and worse person.” That happens. We see that all the time. People regret the things that they’ve done, but they don’t turn their life around. They don’t get real forgiveness. They don’t get real healing. They become a worse version of themselves. By the end of the play, the scholar says, “Macbeth is a bloody tyrant, disappointed in all aspects of his life – his reign, his marriage, a family for a potential dynasty – and damned for eternity in his death.” Because he didn’t know how to get the spot out.

You know how to get clean. This text tells us. You will never get clean unless you know you’re not clean, you believe you can be clean, and then you run to the only one who can make you clean. And how does that work? How does Jesus make us clean from our sin, from our guilt, and from our shame? How does that work? He takes it upon himself. Now I’ve already said, in a manner, he doesn’t become unclean. He doesn’t become a sinner by our sins. But notice Jesus is treated – very carefully, he doesn’t become unclean. He hasn’t broken a law. But he, now, is treated as one who is unclean, just like Jesus, in taking our sins upon himself, he does not become a sinner, but he is counted as one. “He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21. That’s the doctrine of imputation – a reckoning, a counting. Well, that’s what this text is about. Have you ever noticed before – Jesus and the leper trade places? Look at what transpires after the man is cleansed. Verse 43, Jesus sternly charged him, sent him away at once. “See that you say nothing to anyone.” And why? This is famous in Mark’s gospel in particular, this messianic secret, because it’s not his time. Jesus doesn’t want his friends misunderstanding. He doesn’t want his enemies to kill him before it’s time. So he says, “Don’t tell anybody about this. Show yourself to the priest” (because that’s part of the law – Jesus is for keeping the law). “Offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded.” That’s what he’s supposed to do. But notice what he does instead. He went out, and he began to talk freely – freely – about it, to spread the news. So, he doesn’t keep quiet. The man goes, and he tells everybody about it. Look at that word “freely.” What is the man? This man, who up to this point in his life, as long as he’s had leprosy, he can’t do much of anything freely. He has to live by himself. When he encounters people, he has to tell them, “Unclean, unclean.” He is a bondage in servitude to his uncleanness. And now he goes freely. If he’s telling everybody about this, it means he’s able to have human interaction. He’s able to have communication. So, this man has a freedom that he’s not experienced before, and look what happens to Jesus: “so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places.” Same word earlier in chapter 1. Of his own accord, he wants to go out into the wilderness to pray – desolate places. Now he’s forced into desolate places, because people were coming to him from every corner.

The leper and Jesus have traded places. The leper has a freedom he’s not enjoyed before. Jesus has lost a freedom up to this moment that was his. So that the leper is now in society, where now Jesus has to live his life as something of an outcast. It’s very deliberate. He goes about freely. Jesus no longer is free to go about and openly enter a town. And from this point, he will be, in the arc of the gospel story, increasingly rejected, despised, hated. He will be a kind of spiritual leper. And Jesus will march all the way to the cross. So even here in this moment of miraculous triumph, he is taking one more step down the path to be stricken, smitten, and afflicted. And what did he do? It’s more than just a wonderful story of a miracle. It’s more than just a story of look how caring Jesus was. Now, it is that. It’s about his compassion. It’s about his power. But it’s about something more. It’s about Jesus, in this one episode at the beginning of his ministry, gave up his life for the sake of a man who was wretched, pitiable, and poor. Come ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus, ready, stands to save you, full of pity, love and power. Come, ye thirsty. Come and welcome. God’s free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh. Come ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all. I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in his arms. In the arms of my dear Savior, oh there are 10,000 charms. And the leper came to him, imploring him, kneeling, and said to Jesus, “If you will, you can make me clean.” And if you come to Jesus with that same prayer, with that same abject humility and awareness of your spiritual poverty, then this will be the same response from Jesus to you. Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said, “I will. Be clean.” Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. Would you do a mighty work by your Spirit to bring cleansing to all who are stained by sin. Give us an honest assessment of our hearts, and lead us to the only one who can give us true forgiveness, lasting peace, eternal joy, and never-ending cleanness. We pray in his name, Jesus. Amen.

The Very Purest Gospel

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:52:20 GMT

Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we ask – knowing that we are needy people, and this is a needy preacher – that you would give us your Holy Spirit in fuller measure, both for the preaching of your word, that it might be clear, true, faithful, forceful, and to the hearing of your word, that you might give us open hearts, good minds, wills ready to obey. We ask all of these things for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Romans chapter 1, verses 1-7. We read from God’s word, beginning at chapter 1, verse 1:

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest gospel and is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day as the day daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes”: those words from Martin Luther at the beginning of his preface to Romans. May that be your prayer and mine during this series on Romans, that it would be daily bread of the soul, knowing that it cannot be read or pondered too much. I hope that by the end of this series, you agree it cannot be pondered too much and that the more it is dealt with, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.

This book has been called the greatest letter ever written. And so it is. It is the longest of Paul’s letters as well as the most theological, the most difficult, the most comprehensive, and also the most consequential. Beforehand praying, Nathan said in his prayer that this letter has changed the world, and that’s not an exaggeration. You can just think, perhaps off the top of your head, of how consequential the book of Romans has been in the life of the church. It was that instrument that God used to convert Augustine as he heard children playing and saying to each other tolle lege, tolle lege – pick up and read, pick up and read. And he picked up a Bible, and he turned to the book of Romans – it was Romans 13 – and that convicted him to the heart and was the instrument of his conversion in the fourth century. Or, just as famously in the 16th century, Martin Luther – his famous tower experience, as he recounted it later, and we’ll have much more to say about that in the weeks ahead. It was his wrestling with the book of Romans, and in particular that phrase “the righteousness of God,” whereby he came to see and to taste the sweetness of the gospel, that it is that good news whereby we who are sinners can have a righteousness not our own. And then, in the 18th century, John Wesley was converted famously hearing – overhearing – someone read from Luther’s preface to the book of Romans, and John Wesley wrote later in his journal that he felt his heart strangely warmed and trusted in Christ alone for salvation. From Augustine to Luther to Wesley, this book has been the instrument of great work in the world.

You can think of it as the Mount Everest of preaching – at least that’s what it feels like to me. It’s not the longest book in the Bible, but it is perhaps the deepest and maybe takes us up the highest, in particular for reformed preachers. James Montgomery Boice preached four volumes’ worth of messages on Romans, totaling 239 sermons. John Piper did an eight-year series on Romans, preached 225 sermons. Before both of them, not to be outdone by almost anyone, Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached on Romans – he did so on Friday nights in London for over 12 years, a total of 366 sermons, and he retired before he finished the book, in chapter 14. Now, I do not anticipate 366 or 225 or 239 sermons. I think we will go at a faster clip than that, but we will try not to be rushed either. As I’ve mentioned in these weeks leading up to the start of this series, I have not preached through the book of Romans. I’ve preached a number of times from different texts in Romans and studied it, of course, but I always had in my head that it just seemed like I ought to put in 20 years of ministry before I try to climb Mount Romans. I don’t think I feel ready for it. I’m in my 24th year of ministry, but let’s start it together.

At the start of this series, we would do well to orient ourselves just a little bit to the book as a whole. I don’t think we need to spend a lot of time with all of the themes, because the themes will come out through the preaching of the book, but a little bit by way of introduction will at least help orient you, lest you think that this just floated down from the sky, this letter. So, quickly, five questions: who, to whom, when, where, and why?

So, who wrote this? It’s the easiest one to answer. It’s right there in verse 1: Paul. This is Paul, also called Saul, and it’s very likely that Paul was not a new name. That’s not his converted name. Maybe he used it more as an apostle to the Gentiles, but likely, just as Simon Peter had the name Cephas, he had two names – Saul, now known to most as Paul. He was a persecutor of the church. He famously met the Lord Jesus in a vision on the road to Damascus, was converted, called to be an apostle. Everyone agrees, even the most liberal scholars, that this letter was written by Paul. So that’s the who.

To whom? Well, that’s also a simple question. We see in verse 7: to all those in Rome. Rome was the largest city in the world at the time, around 1 million inhabitants. It was the first city in the world to reach 1 million inhabitants, and, by some estimates, it was the largest city in the world for over 500 years. So, this really was not only the heart and the capital of the Roman Empire, but it was the largest, most impressive city in the world, and Paul is writing to the church at Rome. Paul did not start this church. In fact, one of the unique things about Romans is that Paul had never been to this church. If you let your eye drop down there to verse 13 – “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I’ve often intended to come to you, but thus far have been prevented” – so, he has never been to this church. He did not plant this church. The only letter to a church not planted by Paul or by his associates. We don’t know exactly how the church was established in Rome. We know, fairly certain, that it was not founded by Peter. There’s no biblical evidence that Peter went to Rome, and as Paul says in Romans 15, his desire was not to build on someone else’s foundation. It’s really unthinkable that if Peter had planted the church, and Peter was now the bishop in Rome, that Paul would have written a letter of this length and depth to try to strengthen the church there. He would not have built upon someone else’s foundation if Peter was the bishop of Rome. So, how did the gospel come to Rome? Well, our best guess is that it came by those who were there at Pentecost. In Acts 2:10, we read that on that day of Pentecost, there were some Jews who were in town for the festival, and when the Holy Spirit came and Peter’s sermon there, some were from Rome. So, likely these Jews came to Christ, returned to Rome, and perhaps that dates the founding of the church maybe around AD 30. As we’ll see, there are both Jews and Gentiles in this church. We have both Jewish names and Gentile names in chapter 16. He often seems to be addressing Gentiles in particular, helping them not to take a position of pride relative to the Jews, but other times he turns and he’s talking to the Jews. So, there seemed to be a mixed congregation of both Jews and Gentiles.

When? When did Paul write this letter? Well, we can piece together with a fair amount of certainty the historical situation surrounding this letter. There are a number of clues. If you keep your finger in Romans 1, and you turn for a moment to the end of the book, Romans 15, the second to last chapter, Paul gives us an indication of where he is and what he is planning to do. He says in Romans 15:22, “This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, since I’ve longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” So he says – what is he thinking? He wants to go and first deliver aid to the church in Jerusalem. Then he’s going to travel – head back west on his way to Spain, where he wants to minister the gospel where there is no foundation yet, and he is first going to stop in Rome. Now we know fairly well when this took place, because there are details of this kind in the book of Acts. We read in Acts 19:21, “Now after these events, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’” Well, that sounds just like Romans 15. Same plan. And in Acts chapter 20, we read that he departed for Macedonia, and “when he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.” And then after he meets with the Ephesian elders, he is on his way to Jerusalem. So right there in chapter 20, those three months – a layover in Greece, not a bad place for a layover – is when, very likely, he wrote this letter. So at the end of Paul’s third missionary journey, estimate about AD 57. So he has received a collection from Macedonia and Achaia, and he’s in Greece, and he’s there for three months, and he writes this letter when he wants to go back to Jerusalem, deliver the offering, then he’s going to go to Rome on his way to Spain, around 55-58, but best guess is 57 AD.

Now, where? So, he wrote it from Greece – very likely from Corinth. There are a number of clues that tell us this. In Acts 18, we know that Paul had a fruitful ministry in Corinth. And if you flip to the end of the book once again, Romans 16, there are a number of names here. At the end of the book, he gives personal greetings. So, he hadn’t been to Rome. He hadn’t visited this church. He didn’t plant the church, and yet, he knew, personally, many people who were connected with the church. And he mentioned several names here that have some connection to Corinth. Erastus is likely one of them. Gaius – if you look at chapter 16, verse 23 – Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church. So this is probably the same Gaius that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians, that he baptized Gaius, so it seems that Gaius is a man of some provisions, and he hosts the church in his home at Corinth, and he’s hosting Paul, who’s staying with Gaius in Corinth. Right above that, verse 22, “I, Tertius, wrote this letter” – very common in the ancient world, you have a scribe to dictate, so you have a secretary. So Paul – I don’t – I’d like to think this took a little bit of editing. This just didn’t flow out in the first chance, but Paul is dictating this letter. Poor Tertius has a lot to get down here. So, he writes it, Tertius, as Paul dictates it, as he’s staying with Gaius. And then here’s another clue. Look at verse 1 of chapter 16: “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae.” That’s a sea-port relatively close to Corinth, so it’s almost certainly the case that he’s staying with Gaius in Corinth, in Greece – 57 AD – he’s dictating the message to Tertius, and this Phoebe is carrying the letter – a servant. That’s why he says, “I commend her to you, that you may welcome her in the Lord.” She’s the one who’s going to be carrying this letter from Corinth, the sea-port of Cenchreae, over to the Roman church, and find these greetings from Paul.

Why? Why this letter? There’s not just one reason. We’ll find many. He wanted to address typical Jew-Gentile controversies. He wanted to establish unity in the church. He wanted to stir up and encourage support for his own mission on his way to Spain. There were specific controversies and confusions. The fact that he has all of these personal notes in chapter 16 lets us know he knows a lot of people, so they’re no doubt telling him what some of the issues are. And then most fundamentally, he wants to strengthen the church in Rome. Chapter 1:11, the beginning, and chapter 16:25 at the end – both use that verb, that he is writing this letter to strengthen the church. There are many specific issues he may want to address, but his overarching concern is “I want you to be strengthened with the truth of the gospel and the depth of this theology and the height of this doxology.” And if it isn’t too self-serving to just make a little apologetic for your pastor here, lest at any point in other sermons I’ve preached or in these in Romans you say, “I don’t know. You’re giving us a lot of meat to chew on” – well, blame Paul. Paul wrote this in a letter. Somebody, the leader in the church, read it all in one sitting. Now, take some comfort that later in 2 Peter, it says some of the things our brother Paul writes are hard to understand. So we’re not the first. Almost everyone would have been illiterate. And Paul thought, you know what that church needs? They need the best theology. They need the highest heights of the glory of God and they need the deepest depths of the truth of God’s word. That’s what Paul wanted to give to the Romans, and that’s what God wants to give to the saints in Matthews, North Carolina.

Go back, then, to Romans chapter 1. It’s a letter. Letters were common in the ancient world, as they are today, and they had familiar patterns, just as our letters do. But this is obviously no ordinary letter. Many – very few letters had any kind of length like this letter. They were closer to your texts than they were to the book of Romans. This is longer than any typical letter in the ancient world. There are, in Greek, 7,114 words. It’s the longest letter. It’s the longest opening to any of Paul’s letters. He gives, in these opening seven verses, a description of himself, a description of the gospel, and a description of the Romans. Those will be our three headings, and we will spend almost all of our time on the middle one, so just don’t panic. The last one will be very, very short. Three descriptions: Paul, the gospel, and the Romans.

Paul. Now, unlike our letters, which sign at the bottom – “Sincerely, Kevin,” warmly, best, you put your name at the bottom. Why? Because they already can see what phone it’s coming in on, or the envelope in the mail has the return address. You have some idea who this is from, or there’s letterhead, or there’s an email address. But of course, if Paul had signed his name at the end of these letters, people would be waiting with bated breath. Well, who is this? Why should we listen to this? Is this somebody important? So, the convention in the ancient world is to put your name first. And usually it’s just your name, greetings. But here, this is maybe the most theologically dense greeting in the history of all letter-writing. You imagine how excited this church must have been to receive a letter from Paul. Do you get excited to get the mail? I’ve told you before, that is – I almost said the highlight of my day, but family, I love seeing you. That’s the best part of coming home. But I do love to go to the mail. I don’t know why, because you get to be an adult and you get boring things in the mail to either throw away, and the number of times people want your money versus people giving you money, it’s no comparison. But I have always liked to get the mail. And you can imagine as the man stood up and read this letter and the very first word was Paul. We’re getting to hear from the great Apostle Paul. And he tells us three things about himself. First, a servant of Christ Jesus. The Greek word doulos could be translated a bondservant or even a slave. It is someone in subjection to a master. Now, this is an aspect of Paul’s humility, that he would describe himself not first as an apostle, but first of all as a servant or as a slave. But not only is it a statement of humility, it does also command attention. If you said, “I am the personal assistant” – there’s not a lot of excitement – but then you said “to Steph Curry” – oh! “I am the Uber driver” – good – “for Taylor Swift” – some of you might be excited. “I am on the kitchen staff, and I wash dishes for President Trump.” I mean, it’s the connection to the person. So, he is a servant, a slave, of Christ Jesus. There’s a humility to it, and it also commands your attention.

Second, he is called to be an apostle. This is a unique calling. The prerequisite for being an apostle was someone who had been with Christ from the beginning, was a witness to the resurrection. That’s why Paul is in a very special case. He calls himself “one as untimely born.” He is the least of all the apostles, in his mind, because he received a special commission. He was a persecutor of the church, but then he saw the resurrected Christ in a vision. When you hear the word apostle, you may think of many things. Here’s one of the words you ought to think of. You ought to think of the word missionary. The Greek word apostéllein means “to be sent.” Our English word missionary is just derived from the Latin missio – to be sent. So, people say, well, the word mission or missionary is not anywhere in the Bible. That’s true. The English word is not in most translations, but it’s just a Latin derivative that’s equivalent to this Greek word, “one who is sent.” So, he is a missionary. An apostle. There is unique authority behind what he writes. 2 Peter 3:16, Peter says, “Some people twist the writings of Paul as they do the other Scriptures.” You ever notice that verse before? That’s an amazing thing to say at the end of your letter as a kind of throwaway comment, which tells us it must not have been controversial. Peter doesn’t make a grand argument to therefore conclude that Paul’s letters were Scripture. Think of how holy the sacred Scriptures were, and yet, from the very beginning, it was understood intuitively. The four gospels, the letters of Paul, there were some other books, but that’s the bulk of the New Testament, as they do the other Scriptures. They intuitively understood. Nobody had to take a vote at a council. Yes, it would be an organic process before the church would formally adopt the canon, but from the very beginning, it wasn’t as if people were sort of debating – “you like that? You want that in the Bible? You want that in the Bible? – alright, come up, and let’s hear your best case. They got a letter from Paul, and they knew this is not just a nice church leader or another letter to read, this is Scripture. This is a word from God. A servant, an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. That third characteristic really explains the first two. What is his work as a servant? What is his work as an apostle? It is to attend to the preaching of the gospel of God.

Second heading, then: he describes himself. Remember, the last one’s going to be very, very short. Here’s the big one. He describes the gospel. Now, this is a book all about the gospel, and here at the beginning, we have a beautiful, tightly packed summary of the gospel, interrupting Paul introducing himself and the formal greeting. Before he even gets there, he puts in this amazingly intricate, theologically robust description of the gospel. Now, Martyn Lloyd-Jones would probably deal with these verses in ten sermons, and I’m going to try to do it in ten-ish minutes. We can see in this description of the gospel five things: the origin of the gospel, the authority of the gospel, the subject of the gospel, the aim and the scope of the gospel.

First, the origin. It is called the gospel of God. Now, bear with me just a moment. This is going to serve you well throughout this series to know a little bit about Greek grammar. You had that on your Romans bingo card. You can cross that off. Are we getting Greek grammar? Yes, you are. This is why it’s so good that many of you study Latin, have studied Latin or Greek or some other language. Of course, the New Testament is written in Greek, and you know in English we conjugate verbs, but our nouns – how nouns relate in the part of the sentence all has to do with the word order. But in many other languages the nouns have declension. So, the nouns have different endings to tell you how those nouns relate to other words in the sentence, and that’s what Greek is like. Greek has four cases. They’re called – Latin has these and then another one – four cases, basically: the nominative, the genitive, the dative, and the accusative. And then on rare occasions there’s the vocative, which is like, “oh!” – you know, when you really want to say something to someone. So this, here, is the genitive. It might be helpful to think of sort of the genetic, the connection. The genitive case has to do with how it’s connected, and you can think of it broadly as a possessive. A genitive often turns a noun into an adjective. So, like here, the gospel of God – God there, in the genitive, it turns it into an adjective. You could say God’s gospel. A genitive is most simply translated with the word “of,” like it is here. Now, why do I tell you that? Because there are lots of these – there’s some others in this passage coming up and then others that often are translated ambiguously, and the ESV does a good job of carrying over the ambiguity from the Greek into the English, so, you have to make sense of it. So, what does it mean? The gospel of God. That’s a genitive. That’s how those two nouns – gospel and God – are related, and it’s translated with this simple preposition “of.” Because a genitive can mean a source – that’s how I’m taking it here, as an origin – but it can also be the subject, and sometimes a genitive may want to capture a number of different relationships. So, is this the gospel about God? Well, it is a gospel about God. Is it the gospel that comes from God? I think it’s that too, and that’s probably the primary meaning. I say that because the next verse talks about “promised beforehand,” so there seems to be a sequence in Paul’s mind. You know where the gospel started? It didn’t start in the New Testament. It didn’t start with Abraham or the Exodus. The gospel started in eternity in the mind of God. This is God’s idea, God’s plan, God’s good news. The origin of the gospel: it is about God, and it is from God. Do not lose sight in all of the difficult theology that will come in this book. If someone were to ask you, “Well, you’re studying Romans. What’s that about?” You can say it’s about God, and you’d be right. In fact, if you look at a count of the most common words in Romans, other than “and,” “the” – those sorts of words – God is the most common word. You want the top 10 list? I thought you did. God, law, Christ, sin, Lord, faith, Jesus, righteousness, Spirit, Gentile. That’s a pretty good summary of what this book is going to be about. God, law, Christ, sin, Lord, faith, Jesus, righteousness, Spirit, Gentile. When you take all of the words for deity – God or Father or Lord or Spirit or Christ or Jesus – three out of every four of the verses, 75% of the verses in Romans, contain an explicit reference to either God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. This is a book about God. And it’s the gospel that originated with God.

Authority. We see the authority of the gospel from the prophets, verse 2, and the holy Scriptures. Paul will call this, on occasion, like at the end of the book, “my gospel.” Now, think about that. Paul says, “my gospel,” but lest anyone think, “Oh, yeah, Paul, that’s your story. You made it up. This is your invention,” Paul is saying, “My gospel that I’m telling to you, that you’ve received, that I’m explaining to you, is nothing less than the fulfillment of the gospel that had been predicted and promised in the Old Testament.” So the God of the Old Testament and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ are the same. There’s no place for, you know, a later church teacher, some heretical inclinations – Marcion, who had a kind of anti-Jewish view of the Old Testament. Well, that won’t work. Paul says those Old Testament Scriptures are holy, and that God is our God. My gospel, Paul says, is this gospel that has all the authority of the prophets and the Scriptures of old.

And then we come to the subject, the grand subject of the gospel. The origin is God; the authority, the prophets and Scripture. The subject is right there in verse 3: “concerning his Son, who was descended from David,” or it could be more broadly translated “who came from David according to the flesh.” Now that little line there, “descended from David”: so, the Son, who then is manifested to us according to the flesh as a son of David – the fact that this Son is and then descends, or comes to us as a son of David, speaks to the pre-existence of the Son. The Son did not come into existence on Christmas. The Son took to himself a human body, a human nature, but that’s not when the Son came into existence. There never was when the Son was not. So, the fact that the Son descended – came – from David tells us of his pre-existence. Look also at that word, the beginning of verse 3, the preposition “his.” Why is that important? “Concerning his Son” – whose Son? God’s son. God the Father’s Son. Later, there will be a heresy that’s often called modalism, which says that God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are just different modes of existence. Sometimes it’s called Sabellianism because that was the chief proponent of this heresy. And you even see this, sometimes, in Jehovah’s Witnesses or Oneness Pentecostals that the Son is just another name for God. There’s no distinction of persons. God can appear, and he can be Father, he can be Son, he can be Spirit. That’s why the infamous trinitarian analogy – water, ice, vapor – just strike it from your mind and from your kids’ minds, and bury it in the sea of oblivion. Don’t use it, because that is different modes of being, that the same chemical formula can appear as water, ice, or vapor. Well, that’s not the Trinity. It’s not that God sort of comes out, and now I’m Father, and I got to go back, and now I’m the Son. That preposition tells us it’s not just God the Father now is showing himself as the Son – it’s his son. So, there’s a distinction to be made between these divine persons, the Father and the Son. Did you notice in verse 3 and 4 this parallel sentence structure: “concerning his Son, descended from David, according to the flesh.” So, in one column here you have the Son descended from David according to the flesh. Son, David, flesh. Verse 4 now is saying “Son of God in power, according to the Spirit, by his resurrection from the dead.” There is a deliberate parallel in Paul’s mind. Now, it’s not so much that verse 3 speaks to his humanity and verse 4 to his divinity, though that’s not a wrong conclusion to reach, but you might think of it, rather, about the two states of Christ, that verse 3 is about his humiliation. He was born as a human according to the flesh. He looked just like a human being, because he was a human being descended from David. So he’s an eternal Son. But now verse 4, speaking of his exaltation, says he was also declared to be. Now, which is it? You were a son, but now you need to be declared a son? “Declared” is an okay translation, but it really is the idea of “appointed” or “determined” or “fixed,” or you might say “constituted” according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. So what’s going on here? He is an eternal Son – never was when the Son was not – there’s no Adoptionist Christology. That’s another heresy, which says that he was just adopted – he became the Son. He was a Jewish boy, and later he was adopted, and he became the Son of God. No, he always was – he’s the Son. But he is, by his resurrection, constituted – notice the different language – the Son of God in power. Now, it’s not that he was devoid of power, but in taking on human flesh, for a time, his full glory was hidden. And though he did not divest himself of any attributes, they could not be seen for a time. So, at his resurrection – and you see the Trinity at work here? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit – in his resurrection, he is declared, or constituted, or you could even think he is enthroned (this is speaking of his exaltation), he is declared now – he was the eternal Son, now related to the world, he is demonstrated to be – the Son of God in great power that you were meant to see in his resurrection and his ascension. Who is this man? He’s no ordinary man. He is the son of God. Remember at the crucifixion, the centurion said, “Surely this man was the son of God.” The resurrection not only revealed Jesus was the son of God in power, it established this rule as Lord over all. Constituted him, just as a prince might return victorious from the field of battle and be invested with new power and an honored position, even though you say, “Well, he’s always been the son of the king.” Yes, but on returning from his great triumph in victory in the battlefield, he is now declared or made or appointed to this princely realm. That’s why Paul can hardly contain himself at the end of verse 4. Jesus Christ, what is he? He is our Lord. The subject of the gospel is the Son.

The aim is the obedience of faith. Verse 5: “we have received (and I think it’s the royal we; Paul is thinking of himself) grace (to forgive him, to save him, to change him, to appear to him) and apostleship” (a gracious commission). And what was Paul’s ministry about? It was to bring about the obedience of faith. Here’s another one of these tricky genitives. How do we understand the obedience of faith? Does it mean the obedience that flows out of faith, that when you believe then you show and demonstrate that faith in obedience? Well, that’s a true statement. Or is this, as most commentators think and I agree, that it is chiefly saying “the obedience that is faith,” that is to say we obey the gospel. Now, those categories can be confusing. Well, how do you – the gospel is news; how do you obey it? Well, here’s how you obey it. You believe it. Charles Hodge says, “The obedience of faith is that obedience which consists in faith.” John Calvin describes faith as “that by which the gospel is obeyed.” Faith always involves obedience. Obedience always involves faith. Therefore, the chief act of disobedience is unbelief. Now, we don’t think of that. We think of – if you talk, if you were to talk about all the great sins and all the things that might make God angry, you’d probably think of unbelief as just sort of a mental category, just a mental mistake. But not so in the mind of the Apostle Paul. Obedience is faith, and disobedience is unbelief. Imagine a parent telling a child, “I love you.” And the child says – you ever had a child say this to you? – “no, you don’t.” Parent says to the child, “I will help you.” The child says, “No, you won’t.” The parent says, “I want what is best for you. My ways are good for you. I am the one who cares for you most and can care for you best.” And if the child were to say, “All of it – lies,” we would recognize that attitude from the child to be profound disobedience. Scarcely could conceive of a worse disobedience than a parent to say, “I love you. I’m for you. I will help you. You can trust me. I love you more than anyone. My ways are good. If you will but listen to me, things will go well for you.” And the child says, “You don’t love me. Your ways are not good. You cannot help me.” Now, has the child done anything? They may be just – you may say, well, that’s just words, but that is a reflection of a heart darkened by sin. And so, when we say that to God, it is the great sin of unbelief. The aim of Paul’s gospel is the faith that is obedient – to hear that gospel and say “yes and amen” with every part of your heart. That’s, you might say, the proximate aim. But notice there’s an ultimate aim. He continues: “for the sake of his name.” See, it doesn’t stop with you or with me. It doesn’t stop there, that you would obey the gospel. That is good news, and he loves us, but it goes even beyond that. It’s for the sake of his name. Proximate aim: you and your faith. Ultimate aim: the glory of God’s name.

And then notice, finally, the scope of this gospel: “among all the nations.” All the languages, all the cultures, all the peoples. That’s the aim. Sinclair Ferguson says, “The goal of the gospel is to lead to the international honoring and glorifying of Christ.” You could do much worse than making that the mission statement of this church or any church. What is the mission of the church? There’s a lot of things. You say, “We got to we got to save this civilization, we got to save this country” – there’s all sorts of things you might want to do. Here’s the mission, however, as given by Paul to the church: to lead to the international honoring and glorifying of Christ. John Stott summarizes the truth here of the gospel in one brilliant sentence, as only he can do. He says, “The good news is the gospel of God about Christ according to Scripture for the nations unto the obedience of faith for the sake of the name.” You think about how Paul – he’s not even said hello yet. He has heaped up titles upon titles. The son of God, the seed of David, the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord overall. Never lose sight of what Romans is about. It is about God’s gospel about God’s Son. You ought to think, what is the message coming from this pulpit? What do we sing about in Christ Covenant? What do we pray about? What are we most passionate about? We can’t control how others see us, but if they were seeing us accurately, what would people know and think? Christ Covenant Church. What’s that church about? Because there’s a lot of big churches here. Some of them are known for this, and some of them are known for other things. I hope that it would be that church – yep, they’re Presbyterians, and I like that or I don’t, and they certainly don’t do everything right, and they’re not perfect – but that’s a church, in their message, in their mission, in their preaching, in their singing, they are about God’s gospel, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That’s what this book is about. I hope that’s what our church is about.

And then finally, I told you it would be brief. The Romans. He gives a typical greeting. The Greek word usually is chairein – just means greetings. Paul tweaks it to the word charis, which means grace. If there’s any Carissas here, that’s the origin of your name. And then he adds “peace.” Grace and peace. Here’s what I want you to notice in closing. That beautiful description in verse 7: “To all those in Rome (to all those in Matthews, North Carolina) who are loved by God and called to be saints.” Now, Paul could have said “to all those who love God and are striving for holiness.” Those are good things, but he doesn’t say that. He doesn’t reflect on what you do. He reflects on your status according to God. Those who are loved by God, called. I want you to remember that throughout this series, however many weeks and months it is, whatever hard things are here that you may not like at first, however sins are exposed, whatever difficult doctrines we have to get our mind and hearts around, know this: the whole point is that you and I might know of God’s love for us, and we might make progress in our lives as his holy ones. Don’t lose sight of that. This is a book about the gospel of God concerning his Son and the power of the Spirit in the work of God’s people, whom he loves. So, when something in this book lands on you, you’re not sure you like it, you’re not sure you understand, remember this is coming from a God who says, “I love you. You’re my beloved, and I’ve called you to be holy. Would you trust me? Would you believe me?” And if you do, he will open up to us an unimaginable treasure. John Calvin says, “If we have gained a true understanding of this epistle, we have an open door to all the most profound treasures of Scripture.” Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for your word, the gospel of your Son. Open to us in these days and months ahead these deep, glorious treasures. May they satisfy our souls. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

Our Only Comfort

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 16:32:38 GMT

Since its publication in 1563, the Heidelberg Catechism has been published in scores, if not hundreds, of languages and has been widely praised as the most devotional, perhaps most-loved catechism to come out of the Reformation. It has been estimated that after the Bible, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and Thomas a Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ– after those three bestsellers, the Heidelberg Catechism is the most widely circulated book in the world. A few of you grew up with the Heidelberg Catechism, as I did. I had to memorize large parts of it as a child in Sunday school. I’m glad now that I had to. I had to read through the Heidelberg Catechism with my pastor before I joined the church when I was in fourth grade. Went through the whole thing and sat down in his office, very intimidated, and answered questions as best I could. And if that weren’t enough claim to fame, this is probably the most important, likely: my wife and I are the only people in the church who named a child after the Heidelberg Catechism. Now, you say, “Really? I don’t remember any children named Heidelberg.” Our eighth child – child ocho – Andrew has the middle name Trost. And trost is the German word for comfort, found here in question and answer number one and found many times throughout the catechism. Andrew very much wanted to come up on stage and make that known to you himself, but perhaps another time. Andrew Trost. In hindsight, it’s very hard to say those – Drew Trost – we call him Toast instead.

The Heidelberg Catechism became part of the three forms of unity, as they’re called: the Belgic Confession 1561, the Cannons of Dort 1619. Those two, together with the Heidelberg Catechism, were adopted by the Dutch Reformed Church, among others. So, in North America at least, and there is a strong contingent of this in Canada as well, the Heidelberg Catechism is most familiar to those who grew up as a part of the Dutch tradition – as I did, as Tom Groelsema did – even though the catechism originated, as we’ll learn, in what we would now call Germany, not in the Netherlands. I understand that many of you may be approaching the catechism for the first time. There are a number of resources out there if they’re still available. If not, we’ll make sure to get more. We’ll be using the translation that’s found in this very handsome volume, Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition, edited by Chad Van Dixhoorn. So, this has Lutheran, Baptist, Reformed, Presbyterian. This is a nice book to have on your shelf, regardless. And the ESV makes several editions. I have one here with the ESV Bible Crossway puts out, and in the back – they have all of those confessions in the back of your Bible if you wanted them to travel with you. We will also be printing them each week in the bulletin. So, you might not have them with you to bring back and forth. They’ll be in the bulletin, and often we will read through the question and answer, as we’ll do a little bit later, although sometimes they don’t always lend themselves to great recitation.

Tonight, as we begin a year-long series in the Heidelberg Catechism, in good catechetical fashion, let me begin before we actually get to the catechism with three preliminary questions. Number one, what is a catechism? You may have in your mind creed, confession, catechism – and they may all blend together, but they’re different, though overlapping, categories. A creed is usually something that is ancient, from the first centuries of the church. Creeds are usually focused on God, the Trinity, the person of Christ. Those creeds distinguish heresy from orthodoxy – the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene creed. Confessions – and our confessions come from this Reformation period in the 16th and 17th century – confessions tend to be much longer than creeds, more comprehensive in scope, and they have come to distinguish among various traditions, and today we would call them denominations. To use C.S. Lewis’s analogy in Mere Christianity, the creeds are perhaps the hallway of the great manor, while the confessions get you into the different rooms. And as Lewis says, you’re not meant to live in the hallway – you need to get in the hallway, that’s what the creeds do – but the fellowship, the food, the warmth are found in those traditions, in those rooms. And so, in a Presbyterian church like Christ Covenant, we have the Westminster Standards.

A catechism – creed, confession – a catechism teaches the faith by questions and answers. Katechesis is a Greek word meaning “oral instruction.” So, it’s designed not so much to distinguish, though there is some of that, as it is to pass on. Catechisms were written to help pass on the faith, to teach it to new believers, to pass on the faith to the children of believers. So that’s the first question.

Second, why would we preach through a catechism? That may seem strange and out of sorts, and perhaps, you maybe even say, “Well, I’ll put up with it for a year, I guess, but it’d be nice to have some Bible.” Well, there’s a long history. During the Reformation, many churches devoted the second service on Sunday to catechetical preaching. Why? Because people needed to be instructed in the Reformed faith. It was new to most people coming out of Roman Catholicism, and they needed that second service to help cement, in a systematic way, what the faith was. This has been carried on, largely in the Dutch tradition and more conservative churches to the present day. Tom was probably brought up in it more strongly in the Christian Reformed Church than I was in the Reformed Church in America, but we’ve both had our share of catechism lessons and sermons over the years. Now, it is true that it is likely less necessary to do catechetical preaching than it was 450 years ago. You think about all the advantages we have that they did not have 450 years ago. We’re literate. People can read. We have an unimaginable sea of good resources and books, not to mention websites. We have Bible studies, small groups, Sunday school. We are much more educated. And so, we, perhaps, don’t have the same need for it, and yet, it is an effective way to focus God’s people on the most important truths and to pass them on to others. Hopefully, it will be clear as we move through this series that preaching through a catechism – we really want to stress preaching, that it is not the same as giving a theological lecture. And I love giving theological lectures, and there’ll be elements, I suppose, of that. We do hope to use the Bible. Some will be directly from a text, summarizing biblical text. Others might land on a particular text or use the catechism to give explanation and application. But we hope that these messages over these 52 weeks will be personal, passionate sermons, not a dry, academic discourse.

Well, the third question: why aren’t we using the Westminster Shorter or Larger Catechism? What is it with you Dutch Reform people? You have to smuggle all of this in. You’re Presbyterian now, and happily so. Well, there’s a reason for this. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, which is wonderful, and we subscribe to it, as we do the Larger Catechism, simply was not designed to be a tool for preaching. Doesn’t make it a lesser catechism, it’s just different. In fact, the Shorter Catechism, and in particular the Westminster Larger Catechism, they do some things that the Heidelberg doesn’t. They are more technical. They’re more comprehensive. They do better to split important hairs. If you know your history, we’re talking the 1640s with Westminster, and this is from 1563. So, you have 80 years of doctrinal development and writing and thinking and new controversies, so the Westminster Standards tend to be more comprehensive, more precise, a bit deeper, and all of those are good things. The Heidelberg, however, was designed to be preached. You can see it’s divided into 52 Lord’s Days. And not only that, with its divisions, but the very nature of it – you’re going to find throughout the catechism words, often, like comfort, benefit. The catechism has lots of “my,” “you,” “us.” It was designed to be a personal devotional instrument in the way that the Westminster Shorter Catechism was not. You can compare some interesting differences between the two. The Heidelberg Catechism – some, wanting to just play rivalry between Westminster and Heidelberg, might say, “Well, the Heidelberg Catechism starts with us – what’s your comfort? – when the Westminster Confession starts with God and his glory.” True. And then you might say, conversely, the Westminster Catechism starts with what you have to do – glorify God and enjoy him forever. And the Heidelberg Catechism starts with what God has done for us. But of course, those are false dichotomies. Both are appropriate ways to start a catechism, either thinking about our chief end, to glorify God and enjoy him forever, or to think first about God and what he has done for us in Christ. The simple fact is that the Heidelberg Catechism, by its divisions, its relative simplicity, and its personal nature, is very well suited for preaching.

So what I want to do tonight is give some history and a little bit of the structure and then an exposition on the very familiar question and answer one and two. But we need to take some time in this first lesson – it won’t be like this every sermon – to give some history, so we know where did this catechism come from? Well, it’s called the Heidelberg Catechism, as you can imagine, because it was written in the city of Heidelberg, in large part by the faculty at the University of Heidelberg. That university was founded in 1386, Germany’s oldest university. And although he wasn’t the author, the catechism owes its creation to a man named Elector Frederick III of the Palatinate. Now, just to get your Reformation history very confused, this man, Elector Frederick III of the Palatinate, is not to be confused with Elector Frederick III of Saxony. Well, come on guys, just come up with a different name. Enough with the Freds. That elector of Saxony figures very prominent in Luther’s story – is often called Frederick the Wise. This elector of the Palatinate, a certain region in the Holy Roman Empire, what we would see today on the map as Germany – this man was known as Frederick the Pious. And he was a very pious, sincere Christian. This region of the Holy Roman Empire, the Palatinate, was ruled prior to Frederick by a man named Otto Henry from 1556 to 1559.

If you know a little bit of your church history, or even Western civilization, you may remember the date 1555 – The Peace of Augsburg – which handed down this dictum: “whose region, his religion.” See all these little principalities, all these little areas in the Holy Roman Empire – which was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire, as the saying goes, but that’s what it was called – all of these little areas, you almost could think of them like counties. If you had Mecklenburg County wanted to be, well, let’s make them Reformed, and Union County wanted to be, well, probably Baptist or something, and all of the counties wanted – of course, there weren’t Baptists quite yet in 1563. If all of these counties wanted to be their own thing, 1555, the Peace of Augsburg says, “Okay, whoever is the prince or the leader or the elector in that region, he can choose his religion.” And Otto Henry was a Protestant. As the leader in that region, a prince, he had the responsibility to fill church vacancies and political vacancies and academic vacancies. It was a kind of patronage system, and the prince appointed that person for the university and for the town magistrate and for the churches, and for whatever reason – we aren’t quite sure why – but Otto Henry put all different kinds of Protestants into these positions. Maybe he had a dream of bringing Protestants together. Maybe he was a political animal and liked to keep everyone happy. Maybe he just didn’t know the difference. But he put in various groups. One you can think of as the genuine Lutherans. The genuine Lutherans – that’s not what they called themselves – but they have been called that since, because they were the Lutherans that, in particular, held to Luther’s view of the real presence – that is, with the Lord’s supper, Luther believed in the real, bodily presence – not quite transubstantiation, as Rome taught, but it’s come to be called consubstantiation – but he believed in a real, bodily presence of Christ in the Lord’s supper. Well, those were some of the Lutherans. Then there was another shade of Lutherans, called, now, Philipists after Philip Melanchthon, who was one of Luther’s right-hand men, one of his successors, the great systematizer of Lutheran theology. And though Calvin and Luther didn’t have a relationship – maybe a letter or two passed between them – Philip Melanchthon and Calvin were close friends.

So, if you’re sort of moving from the Lutheran to Reformed, you have those Lutherans, you have the Philip Melanchthon kind of Lutherans, and then you had the followers of Zwingli, or his successor in the Swiss lands, Heinrich Bullinger. So you have these Lutherans, Philip Melanchthon, then Zwinglians, and then Calvinists – full-on Calvinists, the followers of John Calvin, from France and from Geneva. So, these are the four different groups. Henry Otto died in 1559, bringing Frederick III to the throne, and he inherited this Protestant region with this diverse set of Protestant influences and stakeholders. So, it was a bit of a challenge to know how to keep all of these groups together. And one of the first things Frederick had to deal with was a fight in the church. You think, well, surely in the sunny days of the Reformation, nobody was fighting. Well, they were. In the most important church in the region, the Church of the Holy Spirit in Heidelberg, on the one side was the man Tilemann Heshusius. He was a Lutheran professor, the head of the theological faculty, the superintendent of the churches. He believed the Lord’s supper was eating the physical body and blood of Christ. And then there was a man there who was more Zwinglian, a university student and a deacon, named Wilhelm Klebitz. And he thought this other man’s view was too much like Roman Catholicism. So, you have this university student and a deacon, and this faculty – the leading professor – who are having an argument over the Lord’s supper. Frederick tries to keep the peace. When that doesn’t quite work, he does what sometimes politicians deem necessary – he kicked both men out of the church. No soup for either of you. They both were gone.

Melanchthon wrote a treatise defending Frederick’s actions, and he urged everyone to just settle down. He said, “Let’s not try too hard to penetrate into the mystery of the sacrament.” And he argued that all the Protestants should find common ground in believing that the supper was a participation, a koinonia in the body and blood of Christ. And of course, that’s from 1 Corinthians 10:16. Melanchthon said, “Maybe we shouldn’t try to go farther into the mystery than all agreeing it’s a participation in the body and blood of Christ.” Melanchthon died in 1560, and after that, Frederick moved from the sort of Lutheran/Philip Melanchthon influence over to look at Switzerland and Geneva and more Calvinist influence. It may or may not be the case that Frederick became a full-blown convert to Calvinism, but he at least was moving in that direction. So, all of this is to say why Elector Frederick thought something needed to be done and a new catechism needed to be written. He ordered for the drafting of this catechism to serve three purposes. One, a tool for teaching children. Two, a guide for preachers. And three, as a form for confessional unity among Protestant factions.

Some catechisms or confessions have an aim at distinguishing, and that’s important – not this, but that. And the Heidelberg Catechism is going to do that in several key areas, but for the most part, it’s a catechism in a broadly Reformed area trying to say, “Let’s find what we can agree on.” And he commissioned a team of professors and ministers to draft a new catechism. He selected three groups of men. Theological faculty members (three of those), superintendents of the churches (there were nine of those), and then a few other “distinguished servants” (trained laymen, a physician). So, there were around 15 men, including Frederick himself, who took an active part in the process. The drafting of the catechism and the final adoption was a team effort. There was a man named Caspar Olevianus who used to be thought of as a co-author of the catechism, but now he’s seen as simply one valuable member. There is little doubt now among scholars that the chief author was Zacharias Ursinus. Ursinus. Think about if you know any constellations – isn’t Ursinus like a bear? Well, that’s the Latin word for bear. His name in German was Baer. B A E R. Ursinus is the Latin word for bear, so, Zacharias Ursinus is his Latin name. I think his German name, Zach Bear – that’s like a middle linebacker, that’s pretty good. So, Zach Bear, and actually our firstborn son has a middle name Zachariah, so two kids named after the Heidelberg Catechism.

Ursinus was a professor at the university in Heidelberg, born July 18, 1534 in what is today a part of Poland, but at that time was a part of Bohemia, in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the chief architect of the Heidelberg Catechism. We know this, because we can compare – we won’t do it here – but he wrote his own shorter catechism and his own larger catechism, and there are many one-to-one correspondents between that catechism he wrote and then this Heidelberg Catechism. And in fact, the ones he wrote, and then this Heidelberg, which he was the initial drafter, they show Ursinus’s spirit, which is firmly Protestant, Calvinist leanings, and a warm, irinic pastoral spirit. He wrote the catechism – ready for it? – when he was 28, having just received his doctorate in theology. He went to the University of Wittenberg. He was taught by Philip Melanchthon – as I said, Luther’s successor. So that was a major influence. Later, he met Calvin, and he was also influenced by Zwingli’s successor, Heinrich Bullinger. He was also influenced by an Italian Calvinist, Peter Martyr Vermigli. So, he had major influences from various streams of Protestant theology on the continent.

If you think about the three forms of unity and why we have the Westminster Standards, it’s really the difference between the Reformed faith that came through the continent of Europe (that’s what we’re talking about here – Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Italy, Poland – that’s all the continent of Europe). Those Protestant, Reformed Christians often have the three forms of unity – Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Cannons of Dort – where the expression of Reformed theology that came through the British Isles (namely Ireland, England, Scotland) – they have the Westminster Standards. They’re very complimentary in the theology. You would be hard-pressed to find too many differences, though there are a few important differences here or there, but really the reason for the three forms of unity and for the Westminster Standards are different cultural/linguistic traditions. And so, being a Presbyterian church, which come, originally, from – most of them – from Scotland, and before that the Westminster Assembly that met in London.

This new catechism, drafted by Ursinus, then refined by this committee of 15 men, and finally given the sign-off by Frederick himself, was first published on January 19, 1563. It went through a couple of revisions in the next two months to account for the new promulgations coming from the Council of Trent, which is the Catholic Counterreformation. And months from now, when we come to question and answer 80, which is about the Roman Catholic mass – that one was added in the third edition of the Heidelberg Catechism. But don’t say, well, maybe it shouldn’t be there. No, it happened within the first two months, and that third edition has become the received edition of the Heidelberg Catechism. It was quickly translated into Latin and Dutch – so, written originally in German, translated into Latin and Dutch – and then into French and English, and over the next decades, it wasn’t long before Hungarian, Greek, Romansh, Czech, Spanish, and today, it is in many, many languages. Like most catechisms, the Heidelberg Catechism is largely a commentary on three things: the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. All of that, then, let’s turn to your bulletin, and I will read the question for question and answer number one, and you will respond.

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has delivered me from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ by his Holy Spirit also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

How many things must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?

Three. First, how great my sin and misery are. Second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery. Third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.

In many ways, the remaining 51 weeks help to explain the riches of question and answer number one. But let’s reflect on it just these last 10 minutes or so. I think I’ve said these words at every funeral I’ve ever attended or ever conducted, and they are precious words, and I’m sure they’re precious to many of you. That word “only” is key. If you were to say, “What is your comfort?” We have lots of comforts. We have comfort foods. You have comfort music. You have comfort pajamas or a fireplace or a comfy couch. There’s lots of things that bring us comfort. And the word “only” here isn’t meant to eliminate anything else that brings you joy. It is to say, however, what is the ultimate source, what is the highest, what, finally, when we come to the end of life will be our only true comfort? And it is this: that we are not our own, but we belong to Jesus. The church is not doing its job if it is not teaching people how to die well. That may sound morbid. It’s much easier to draw a crowd just by promising people their best life now, but the church is not serving you in its songs, in its prayers, in its sermons, if it is not giving you the truth to enable you to die well. I think many of us – I know I feel this – both within our own community and within my own extended family and group of friends, doesn’t it just seem like in the last weeks, or month or two, hearing of deaths of those who are far too young? Cancer in those who are barely in their 20s. And maybe it’s just being middle aged, or maybe it’s having a wide network of church and school and friends, but I’m sure many of you sense the same thing. You only have to have your ears and your heart open a little bit to sense and be reminded that this is a sad world we live in. Think about how common death was, how much more common, in some ways, in the 16th century. Of course, they all died. We all die. But infant mortality rates were so much higher. Childbirth was extremely dangerous. The plague came through Heidelberg later in 1563, and Ursinus, the author of this catechism that we are studying 450 years later, he died at my age – 48. Olevianus died at 50. In 1564, Calvin would be dead – 54. In the centuries ahead, Jonathan Edwards died at 54. Whitefield at 55. Machen at 55. We do not know the number of our days. And this first Lord’s Day gives us the overarching theme for the whole catechism. You will find over and over again that question. How does this give us trost, comfort, in the Latin, consolatio – consolation, solace, hope. It’s asking the question, what is your only real security? What is your one true protection? What is your one lasting solace in life? You think of what Jesus said in John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them from my hand.” That’s comfort. When Jesus grabs ahold of you, nobody can take you out of his hand.

We find our comfort in what Christ does. The catechism rattles through six things that will be unpacked in the weeks ahead. He has fully paid for my sins. He has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He watches over me with his sovereign care. He works all things for my salvation. He assures me by the Spirit of eternal life. And he makes me willing and ready to live for him. That is comfort. And what must we know to live and die in the joy of this comfort? The catechism tells us: to have communion with this Christ, we must know three things – often given to us as guilt, grace, gratitude. The catechism famously follows the same pattern as the Romans road. And the catechism will deal first with man’s misery in 3-11, then man’s deliverance in questions 12-85, and then our response in 86-129. Guilt, grace, gratitude.

The first thing we must know is how great our sin and misery are. R. Scott Clark, in his massive new commentary on the catechism, points out that the answer here is not simply that you need to know your finitude. We talked about that this morning, and that’s important, but it’s not enough that you would just know – it’s not just a problem of your being, that you’re the wrong sort of being, that you’re human instead of divine. If that’s the case, if that’s ultimately the problem, then the solution is to be swallowed up in the life of the divine. But the problem is not just one of ontology, it’s one of our positive wickedness. And if that’s the problem, then the solution must be redemption, forgiveness, and an undeserved alien righteousness. Guilt, grace, and the only proper response is gratitude.

And remarkably, as we’ll see, the catechism puts the Ten Commandments in the gratitude section. Be a much more Lutheran way to put it in the guilt section – and that’s one of the uses of the Ten Commandments, of the law, to show you your sin. But very deliberately puts the Ten Commandments – here’s not only how you become aware of your guilt, but this is how you live a life of gratitude to God. If you opened any Christmas presents, and I imagine that most of us did, and you found yourself disappointed with what you received, as can happen to the best of us at the worst of times. When that feeling creeps up in your heart, it is a sign that you wanted something else, you thought you deserved something else, you had your heart set on something else. When we know that we don’t deserve God’s grace, and that what we need more than anything is God’s grace, then how can we not respond with gratitude? Because when we know Christ, we are getting what we wanted better than we hoped for and eternally more than we deserve.

And let me finish by noting the radical, countercultural statement that the catechism makes here at the very outset. It’s easy to think of this as a great balm for sufferers – and it is that – as a beautiful paragraph to be read at funerals, to go hand in hand with Psalm 23, as we read earlier. Put your only comfort in life and in death in Heidelberg Catechism question and answer one, and we’re right to do so, but we would miss something if we only thought of this as a warm blanket when we face the chilly winds of sin and death, because this first question and answer is more than funeral balm. It is a radical, profound, culture-shaping, counterculture-denying statement of human identity. Some of you may have come across this before. I think I’ve read it once or twice. It’s from a woman named Virginia Satir, and it’s called “I Am Me.” It’s decades old now, but see if this doesn’t sound like a lot of the air we breathe. And I want you to think of these few paragraphs, and then think of the Heidelberg Catechism. Here’s what she writes:

“I am me. In all the world, there was no one exactly like me. There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me. Therefore, everything that comes out of me is authentically mine, because I, alone, choose it. I own everything about me. My body, including everything it does; my mind including all its thoughts and ideas; my eyes, including the images of all they behold; my feelings, whatever they may be – anger, joy, frustration, love, disappointment, excitement; my mouth, and all the words that come out of it – polite, sweet or rough, correct or incorrect; my voice, loud or soft; and all my actions, whatever they be or others, to myself. I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears. I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By doing so, I can love me and be friendly with me in all parts. I can then make it possible for all of me to work in my best interests. I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me and other aspects that I do not know. But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me. However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is me. This is authentic and represents where I am in that moment in time. When I review later how I looked and sounded, what I said and did, how I thought and felt, some parts may turn out to be unfitting. I can discard that which is fitting and keep that which proved fitting and invent something new for that which I discarded.” And then here’s the final peroration: “I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, to make sense and order out of the world, of people and things outside of me. I own me, and therefore I can engineer me. I am me, and I am okay.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find in six paragraphs a better summation of the way in which many, many westerners think today. I am me. I own all of me. Perhaps some of you are dealing with that. If you think about what you do with your body – some of you have kids, nieces, nephews, friends, grandchildren who have imbibed that spirit of the age. I am my own. I am me, and I am okay. Or we could listen to the Bible. First Corinthians chapter 6: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” So I said, this is more than comforting funeral balm. It is also a countercultural statement of human identity. You will set your life, your marriage, your child rearing, everything about you on two different trajectories. Do you say, first of all, about yourself, “I am all that I own. Me, my, myself. I am me. I can engineer me. I am okay. Whatever comes from me is my authentic self.” Or do you first confess, as the Heidelberg Catechism states, you want to know who I am? I don’t belong to me. And remember the question – this is not rubbing your nose in it. This is the answer to the question, what is your only comfort? The world is giving you false comfort, a false gospel, telling you “if only you claim your authentic self, you will be happy.” And those are usually the most unhappy people of all. What is the song that you are singing? Heidelberg Catechism, echoing 1 Corinthians 6, gives the song of God’s people. And here’s the song we are going to sing: “Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song, the joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue. Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last, has won my affection and bound my soul fast.”

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, which is truth. Sanctify us by your truth. Give us the song to sing that will truly give us comfort in life and in death. In Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Priorities and Posteriorities for the New Year

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 15:52:38 GMT

Let’s pray one more time.

Gracious heavenly Father, we ask sincerely that you would give us ears to hear or else we will waste our time. Prone to wander, Lord, we feel it – easily distracted, easily thinking about the week that was past, the week to come. So, help us now to focus upon your word, and speak to us, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1. I’ll be out of town next weekend, and then back, Lord willing, to start a series on Romans, which I’ve never done before. I decided I need at least 20 years of ministry before I tackle Romans, and hopefully we won’t be in it for 20 years. But that will be in two weeks, Lord willing. I wanted to preach from this text this morning. It’s one of my favorites in the Bible, because the Lord has often used it to reorient me and help me think very practically about my life and prayer and how I spend my time. And I pray that it will be a means of grace to you. It’s just a short passage, beginning at verse 35:

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place. And there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him. And they found him and said to him, ‘Everyone is looking for you.’ And he said to them, ‘Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.’ And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.”

I think you know that I like to read books. I like to read mostly theology and history, but believe it or not, one of my little subgenres that I have read a lot of books over the years is I have read a lot of business/time management sort of books. Now it’s not where I go to get my theological bread and butter. They’re sort of, like, I think of them sort of like Skittles. They’re good. You wouldn’t want to make your whole diet out of it. I’ve tried, but you wouldn’t want to. But I read one or two of them a year. After a while, they tend to say a lot of the same things, but I almost always find some helpful reminder or some little tidbit of practical advice that I can implement in my life. And the most – the best of them is really the godfather of this whole genre, and some of you will have read him before – Peter Drucker. He lived into his 90s. He died in 2005. Some have called him the J.R.R. Tolkien of management literature. High praise indeed. Many of today’s life hacks are the same advice that Peter Drucker gave decades ago. Interesting guy – influenced by Soren Kierkegaard. Not many business management gurus are, I would reckon. He described himself as a Christian conservative, was a practicing Episcopalian. Probably 15 years ago, I read what may be his most famous book – some of you may have read it; it came out in 1966. It has a terrible title, The Effective Executive, but it had a lot of helpful parts, and one concept that has always stuck with me found its way into this morning’s sermon title.

Now, it’s not often will you have a sermon title that has some language from a business management consulting sort of book, but this one does, and I think you’ll agree that it actually fits the text. Two words in the title to note: priorities, which you’re all familiar with, and then a word less familiar, posteriorities. Now, we all realize we need priorities – the word “prior” meaning “first” or “head.” There are certain things that we want to do, are more important than other things. The person who never sets priorities in life does not believe in his own finitude. Jesus, as we’ll see here, taking upon himself a human nature, living as a human being, was constrained and could not do everything in that human existence. And so, if you want to acknowledge that you are a finite creature, you are not infinite, then you must have priorities. You must have certain things that you realize are more important than others, because we have limited time.

Now, we all realize we have limited money, but we can forget that time, also, is a scarce resource. In fact, time is much more limited than money. Wealth can be created. There’s more wealth in the world than there was 50 years ago, certainly 200 years ago. You can actually print money. Don’t recommend it. We’ve tried it. Has some bad effects, but you can do it. You cannot print more time for your day. Peter Drucker says the supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it, no marginal utility curve for it. Moreover, time is totally perishable. Think about that. It cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever. It will never come back. Time is, therefore, always in exceedingly short supply. The study of economics is really about the scarcity of resources. And there may be no more precious and scarce resource than time. Perhaps there are things that we can do to extend our days, but really, all of them are written in God’s book before one of them comes to pass. But there is certainly nothing you can do each day. You cannot save any hour from this day and say, okay, I’m going to just do 23 hours this day, because I want to bank one more hour for next day.

And as time is our scarcest resource, it is also the resource that is allotted most equitably. Now, again, we all may live different years, but day by day, week by week, we all have 24 hours in a day. The richest person – Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk – cannot buy more minutes for this day. The poorest has the same amount of time on January 4 as the richest. We call it time management sometimes, but you can’t really manage time. No one can say, “Alright now, today, to manage this time, we’re going to make the clock stand still.” Now, that happened in the Bible one time. God doesn’t give us the usual ability to do that. You cannot finesse the time to make it do something else. Those seconds and those minutes keep ticking. So, the whole genre of time management, if any of it is useful, is really self-management. We have to manage ourselves because time is finite. And so, we have to discern good, better, best – which means we need priorities, because we cannot do everything. That’s part of being finite creatures.

So, you’re all familiar with the concept of priorities. But here’s the word that Peter Drucker – I’m not sure if he invented it; it’s the first time I saw it, from him – this word “posteriorities.” This is the word for the things – if priorities are the things that should be at the top, at the head, “prior” – then these are the things should be at the end, or posterior. Priorities – the top of your to-do list; posteriorities at the bottom. Or, to put it even more dramatically, these are the things we decide not to do for the sake of the things we ought to do. That’s posteriorities – the things we decide not to do for the sake of doing the things we ought to do. This is why it is not enough at the start of the new year that you simply make goals. I do every year. I think it can be useful – goals, resolutions. They say January 1, or if that’s closed, the gym, January 2 is the fullest day in the gym. We must establish more than just goals. Every one of you could write down three nice goals for 2026, and you could leave here, and they would probably be pretty good goals. But you will not accomplish any of those goals merely by adding something to your list. You must also have things that you will not do. That’s the problem. Many of us just keep on – what are your goals? I’m going to – here are three great things, and I’m going to exercise more, and I’m going to walk every morning, and I’m going to spend – you have all of these methods that say, “If you just spend 15 minutes a day stretching” – who has 15 minutes a day stretching? If you just would spend 20 minutes a day memorizing a new language – and you add that up, and it takes seven days in one to do all of the things. You can’t just add. You have to decide what you will not do. That’s the point of posteriorities. Making priorities is easy. That’s fun. Goals, ambitions. But if you have no posteriorities, they are only aspirations, wishes that will not be fulfilled.

Again, Peter Drucker says, “Setting a posteriority is unpleasant.” Every posteriority – that means everything you decide you won’t do – is somebody else’s top priority. It is much easier to draw up a nice list of top priorities and then to hedge by trying to do just a little bit of everything else as well. This makes everybody happy. The only drawback is, of course, that nothing whatever gets done. So, as you have this fresh calendar of 2026 in front of you, here is the question I want you to ask this morning, and I need to ask it myself: what things will you not do in 2026 in order to accomplish the one or two things you really must do? What things will you not do in order to accomplish the one or two things you absolutely must do?

And with that in mind, let’s look at Mark 1. I want you to notice three things about Jesus in this text. First, Jesus was extreme extremely busy. He spent the previous day in ministry. Mark explodes onto the scene with Jesus’ ministry. Unlike the other gospels, Matthew and Luke, there’s no nativity, there’s no birth scene. Unlike John, there’s not a rich, theological prologue. We just start, straight away, with John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, the temptation of Jesus, and then he begins his ministry. And on this first day in Capernaum, he has the quintessential day in the life of Jesus. And he does three things that we will find him doing all throughout the gospels on this first day: he casts out a demon, he heals the sick, and he preaches the gospel. Those are the three things that we find him doing throughout the gospels. Now, they are not equal priorities, as we’ll see in just a bit, but those are the three things that he’s had on this first day of public ministry in Capernaum. He has been extreme busy. The sense we get for Jesus in Mark’s gospel, in particular, is of someone who is constantly on the move. Everyone – a seminary student in a gospel class – will learn that Mark likes to use this word “immediately.” It’s always “immediately.” He’s just moving, moving, moving. Things are happening. In fact, Jesus is doing so much, and there’s so much attention to him, at one point his family thinks he’s gone crazy.

Mark 3:20, “Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind.’” His own earthly family did not really understand what was happening. Now, they maybe knew something was special about him, and Mary had treasured these things in her heart, but she didn’t fully understand. His brothers and sisters did not understand. And so, when he keeps teaching, and he’s healing, and all of these crowds are gathering about him, they try to grab him by force and say, “You are out of your mind! You’re from Nazareth, Jesus. Come on. You’re not that big a deal.” He was constantly busy – preaching, healing, casting out demons. I stress that, lest we think Jesus is some kind of Zen master doing yoga on a mat, pondering the sound of one hand clapping. If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound? He’s just pondering the imponderables of the universe. No, his life is one of hectic, frenetic energy. Let that be some comfort, perhaps, to you, lest you think, “Oh my, I’m so busy all the time.” We tend to say that. That’s almost the first thing out of your mouth. How are you doing? How is life? How was, even, your vacation? It was all – it was very busy. That’s just – especially in America. It’s a very common phrase. Well, Jesus was busy. And if you have creativity, if you have ambition, or if you simply love people, you’re going to be busy. You’re going to be drawn to needs and have ideas. We’re supposed to subdue the earth. That was the creation mandate. We are supposed to work with our hands. We are supposed to love God with our minds. We’re supposed to get married, Lord willing, and have babies and raise them and take care of them and change diapers. So, it is not a sin to be busy. It is not wrong to be active. One of the things you find in the history of the church, with so many great men throughout history – famous preachers, pastors, theologians – is that they were initially drawn to a life solely of contemplation. Either they wanted to be monks, or they wanted to be scholars.

Certainly the scholarly life is admirable and used by the Lord. But God had a way of saying no, it’s not enough that you be a contemplative, you also need to be active, and he would throw men in to the hurly-burly of church ministry and throws us in to the frenetic activity of real life. If Jesus were on earth today, he would – I don’t know if he’d be a zero inbox guy or not, or maybe like your email or text, it would say 1,032 and just seem absolutely overwhelming. He’d get more emails than anyone. He’d get more texts. He’d get more DMs. He’d have requests for interviews. He’d have requests to be on television, to do podcasts, to do conferences. That’s what we see – they are constantly coming around Jesus. He was not sitting around listening to – I was going to say heart music, but we had wonderful heart music. There’s nothing wrong with heart music. It’d be a blessing if he had some heart music, but he didn’t do that all day and, you know, just wait for the angels to peel bananas for him or something. He was very busy. Look at verse 28: “And at once his fame spread everywhere, throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.” He was famous. Fame by itself is not a bad thing. It can be used for good. It just simply means a lot of people are drawn to you, and they were certainly drawn to Jesus. His fame spread everywhere.

So, I want you to note that Jesus was extremely busy. People wanted his time constantly. Now, yes, you’re thinking to yourself, he didn’t have any kids. True. He wasn’t married. True. He didn’t have to figure out insurance. He didn’t have to try to get through the Byzantine labyrinth of some customer service. So, that’s true. He lived, in some ways, in a simpler time, but he also couldn’t just go to the grocery store and buy whatever he wanted with just a card or a tap, or just travel anywhere around the world by car or by plane. So yes, he didn’t have all of the kinds of busyness that you and I may have, but he had other kinds that we don’t have. He was constantly bombarded by requests, by attention seekers, by those who wanted a piece of his time, his energy. He was busy.

Second thing to note about Jesus: he had clear priorities. Now what we see in this text – clearly, prayer was a priority. You say, “Well, where does it say in the Bible, ‘Hear ye, hear ye, the 11th commandment, you must have a quiet time. You must have a time of prayer every day.’” Well, you’re right. There’s no verse that says that. And we don’t want quiet time to be the last bastion of legalism. And yet, what we see are patterns in the Old Testament and in the New Testament of the great importance of prayer, regular prayer. And if Jesus teaches his disciples to say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus assumes that prayer is a daily part of your life. And prayer was a priority. You and I need unhurried times of prayer. It may be that to get 10 unhurried minutes is about what you can do at this season of life. And it may be that you have to plan once or twice a year to have two hours. And maybe once in a while you get half a day or a whole day. But you and I need rhythms of unhurried times of prayer. Notice it says, “Jesus departed and went out to a desolate place.” It’s the same word used earlier in chapter 1 with his temptation, where he was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness – same word here, driven into the wilderness. There he’s driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, because theologically the wilderness is the place where God meets his people to test them, to speak to them, to refine them. And so, there he’s driven by the Spirit.

Here he, of his own accord, goes out to find the wilderness, a desolate place, which means for us, you need a quiet room, a walk – that’s my preferred method. It’s harder to fall asleep when you’re walking. A park bench, a table at a coffee shop. It is possible you can have noise around. It’s the lack of bother, not necessarily the lack of noise. Some people – I’m not like this – but some of you find that very peaceful, and you like all the hubbub around you, but you can still have undistracted time. It isn’t so much the noise level that matters as it is the lack of bother and distraction. You need non-multitasking prayer in your life. Yes, cast all your cares upon the Lord. Short prayers throughout the day are wonderful. When you are in the midst of everything, I can’t find my keys, throw up that quick prayer – Lord, help me find my keys. And your car doesn’t start – Lord, would you help the car to start? Give me patience. Throw out those short prayers in the midst of life all the time – brief pauses to stop and pray. Yes, do that. But this example from Jesus is about more than that kind of constant prayer. It’s about finding and making space for wilderness. When Jesus is baptizing in chapter 1, or rather John is baptizing and Jesus is driven out there, the Spirit leads him into the wilderness, and now he finds it by himself. It doesn’t mean you have to get up early in the morning, although that’s the pattern here, and for many of us it will be that if you don’t do it in the morning, the rest of life is going to collapse in upon you. But you may find another time. Morning may not work. That may be the rush of getting kids out. It may be later in the evening that works better for you. Mark gives us three glimpses into Jesus’ prayer life – here, in the morning; another one at night after feeding the 5,000; and another one at night, he goes into the garden of Gethsemane to pray. So, you could say in Mark, it’s 2:1 for the night owls, not for the early morning. There’s freedom to figure out what works best for you.

What you have to do – what we want to do – is to find those desolate places to be alone with God in the wilderness. Jesus was extremely busy, and he made time to be with God. He is God. As the son of God on earth, he, also, was hungry for this intimacy of fellowship with his Father. And if Jesus knew he needed that, how much more do we need that? I hope that the point of this sermon is not so much that you leave here saying, “I have to pray,” but you would say, “I want to pray. I get to pray. Now, how can I make that happen?” Imagine if you’re a young man, you’re dating a young lady, and you want to get to know her. That’s what you want to do. How do you get to know her if you only just send quick texts once in a while? Just a quick little conversation, a few sentences, likely with no punctuation. What a shame. Now, depending on your age, you may not want to have lots of time alone – and listen to what your parents tell you – but at a certain age, as you move more seriously in that relationship, you’re going to need some alone time. You’re going to need to slow down. You’re going to need time to talk to that young woman without interruptions, without an agenda. Why? Because that’s how you get to know each other. And you may say, “Well, but pastor, it’s impossible for me to have any time alone at this stage in my life. I get that Jesus could sneak away in the morning, and you have to make the kids breakfast. You have to be at work by 7 a.m. He didn’t have deadlines and emails and business meetings and clients to keep happy, and that’s true. He also didn’t have an office to go to and close the door. He didn’t have lunch breaks by himself. He didn’t even have a house of his own or an apartment or a room. He lived in other people’s homes as a guest of their generosity. He had disciples following him around all the time. He had crowds pressing in on him. He had so many people after him – such a tension upon him that at times he had to jump into boats into the water just so he could have a breather.

Jesus made time to pray. He knew he needed time with his Father, as you and I need time with God. He had just as many demands – different, but just as many, and likely more, demands. You have bills that need to be paid. Jesus had lepers who wanted to be healed. You have kids screaming for your attention. Jesus had demons calling him by name. Don’t make the comparison. You have pressure and stress in your life. Jesus had crowds all over Judea and Galilee – people trying to touch him, to trick him, and eventually to kill him, and he knew in the midst of all of that, it was an absolute priority – I need to pray.

The third thing to note about Jesus: not only did he have priorities, but here’s where it gets difficult. He had posteriorities. This is why I said this has always been – I don’t know if it’s a favorite text. It’s always been a convicting and arresting and reorienting text to me. Jesus had to say no to good things. Really good things. He wasn’t just turning down an opportunity to join the master’s swim team. He had to say no to people who had diseases. Imagine – this must be really hard. We have so many good doctors here, and a lot of them will take time throughout the year – they go on trips, and they go where communities are underserved with medical needs, and I know they work themselves really hard to serve, and it must be hard to leave and to come back knowing that there’s so many needs that they just humanly cannot meet. You can’t do everything. Jesus knew he could not do everything. Look at the previous paragraph, verse 32: “That evening (so this is – he had his first full day of ministry) that evening at sundown (so Sabbath is gone, and now they can come and give him work to do), they brought to him (think about the fact that they’re bringing these people to him – these are probably people so sick, so infirmed, they cannot even bring themselves. They’re being carried on mats, they’re being wheeled around, they’re being held in their arms, they’re being led – they were brought to him) all who were sick, oppressed by demons. (These are real needs.) And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him.” That’s what he had done into the wee hours of the night, and then he rose early in the morning, and he prayed, Now, we’re not told what the psychology of Jesus was, but think about what your psychology would be if you had just come face to face with these very real needs – sick, demon-possessed, and not only that, but you can 100% heal them, infallibly solve their physical problems. You don’t think you’d feel like “I gotta stay. There’s a line of people already. I couldn’t get through everyone last night. I had to sleep. And now they’re all ready. There’s more people.” And Jesus cared for people more than you and I will ever care for anyone. Surely his heart was moved with compassion to see people out there who had real needs, and he could meet them, and he didn’t do it.

Now you can see how this can start to feel dangerous. What do you mean posteriorities? We’re not going to have anyone volunteer to do the nursery anymore after this sermon. We’re not going to have any deacons left. We’re not going to have any women making blankets or bringing meals. Well, I’m going to trust that the Spirit of God can handle this text in your life, and actually, Jesus got more accomplished because he prayed, not less because he prayed. But think of the posteriorities in Jesus’ life. It wasn’t enough that he said, “My priority is to spend time with my heavenly Father.” In order to do that, he had to not do something. And this something was really, really good. Here’s sort of the bad news/good news for us: most of us could reclaim time for the Lord by just cutting out the garbage time in our life. We probably don’t even have to get to the good things, though some of us may have to. Jesus only had good things. He had people he could heal, people he could touch. You can hear the disciples, almost a note of reproach. Verse 37: “Everyone is looking for you.” Yesterday was amazing, Jesus. Blew my mind. That was – we could not have had a day one of Jesus’ ministry. I’m getting the nonprofit set up. I got a board. I got articles of incorporation. I got a website. I got a big donate button right there on the website. We are ready to go. We’re going to start Jesus and Disciples. Let’s make sure the disciples – maybe same font size as Jesus – Jesus and Disciples Healing Ministry. He didn’t do it. He knew not only that he needed to pray, but he understood his mission. Do you see that with his posteriorities? He says, “Let us go on to the next town.” He’s leaving them. Why? Because he understood his mission.

Now, this is not your identical mission, but do you have a sense for what your mission is? Jesus knew he could not do everything. His mission – the reason he came out in public ministry – was to preach. Note this very well: there is not one time in the gospels that Jesus goes into a town to heal or cast out demons. It is never Jesus’ healing ministry. It is never Jesus’ exorcism ministry. Now, he does a lot of that. He does that almost everywhere he goes, because he cares for people and as a sign of his unique, God-given authority as the Son of Man. He does that. But here’s what he says his mission is – and surely this tells us something about the mission of Jesus and the mission of the church. Yes, he attended to human needs, because he cared for people. But he says, “This is why I’m here: to preach, to announce this message of good news.” And so, he’s leaving behind very real, tangible need that he could infallibly solve, because he knows that’s not the most important need. And he came, and he went to the next town, understanding his mission.

We see this reflected later with the apostles in Acts 6 – the word of God and prayer. Or you see it with Paul, who said his driving ambition was to preach where the gospel had not been proclaimed. He understood what his mission was. Now, this is a little more ambiguous, I know, than the prayer point, but this is important too, to think about what your mission is. Now, in one sense the Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us every Christian’s mission: “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” 1 Corinthians 10:31, “In whatever you do, glorify God.” So that is your mission, but do you have a sense of maybe a more specific mission? And it may be relative to your season of life – when you have young kids in the home, you have a certain mission – that means there’s other things you can’t do. And when you’re a retiree, and maybe your body starts breaking down a little bit, there’s some things you can’t do, but there’s other things you can do. So that mission, under the glorify God and enjoy him forever, may be somewhat dependent upon your season. I wrote down on a piece of paper, a 3×5 card – it was my first or second year in ministry. I kept it in a cupboard for years and years. I think I still have it in a drawer somewhere. And I wrote down what I thought were my threefold mission in life. And I wrote down number one to faithfully preach the word of God, number two to love and lead my family, and number three to be happy and holy in Jesus. It’s not that I looked at that every single day, but I can tell you those first years in ministry I did think about that a lot. What is my life about? Now most of you – almost none of the rest of you are pastors – that’s not going to be your specific goal, but can you think about something like that? What God wants you to do, knowing that you cannot do everything? Surely it has something to do with your character, your walk with the Lord, your knowledge of God, the discipleship of your children and grandchildren. Or maybe at this point, your schoolwork is very high, maybe you have a business that is accomplishing much, even though it’s not Christian per se, yet it does much that is good for people, for your employees, for the community, and it honors God. What do you hope will be your legacy? That’s one question.

Here’s the more difficult question. What are you willing not to do in order to leave that legacy? The start of a year is good time to think about what sort of mark you might want to leave on the world, no matter what age you are, but it’s not enough to say here’s what I want my legacy to be. Say “what will I not do?” I had a friend tell me one time when I was facing a just general sort of life decision – said, “Why don’t you fast forward and think if God gave you to, you know, 85, and you were looking back on your life – what would you want to see? What would you feel like?” and he was saying, “You know, would you want to see that you had trained up a number of PhD students?” I said, “Well, that – no, no, you’re right. That’s not my calling. That’s a good calling. That’s not my calling. I’d want to see a church and a family that knows Jesus, has been instructed in the word of God.” So, you think about looking backward, and some of you are already there, and some of you can hardly imagine what it would be like to be in your 80s, and you look back and you say, “What sort of legacy?” And then work forward – not only what you have to do, but what you will not do in order to leave that legacy.

So, here’s the question I started with, and here’s the question I’ll leave you with. What good thing will you not do this year so you can do the one or two things that matter most? Certainly, prayer is one of those things that matters most. Have you ever noticed the logic in Luke 10? Luke 10 – at first we have Jesus send out the 72 disciples, they are preaching, they’re healing, they’re casting out demons. It’s a great day of energetic ministry activity. Then, famously, you have the parable of the good Samaritan – will you cross the road? Will you take care of those, even, who are not like you, like the good Samaritan? And then the last part of Luke chapter 10 is Mary and Martha. And Mary chose the good portion – as if to say you can be the disciples active in ministry, you can be the good Samaritan caring for the needs of the least of these, and if you do not take time to sit at the feet of Jesus, you are not doing what is best. Jesus prayed at his baptism. He prayed at the start of his ministry. He prayed before he chose the disciples. He prayed after he fed the 5,000. He prayed after he cleansed the leper and healed the paralytic. He prayed before the transfiguration. He prayed in the garden before his crucifixion. And he repeatedly taught his disciples to pray, told them to pray, commanded them to pray, told stories about praying, gave them an example of how to pray. One of the surest and best signs of spiritual life in the Christian is prayer, because so much of what we do as a Christian is plain to see. People can see if you’re at church. They can see if you pray at the dinner table. They can see if you give a nice speech or you write something. They cannot see, except the fruit of it, whether you are finding desolate places to pray. As the famous saying goes, “Character is who you are when no one is looking.”

I don’t know if you feel like this coming off the holidays – I do. A lot of sitting around, a lot of eating. My son said, “I think I sat on the couch 80 hours last week.” I’m not sure if it was quite that much. And I often feel like, okay I need to – now I’m really going to lose a few of those holiday pounds. I’m going to start the new exercise routine. You want to feel healthy, strong. You ever feel spiritually flabby, like you’ve just let yourself go, spiritually, a little bit? You’ve lost some of those – some of the joy, some of the regiment, some of the routine you used to have, some of the earnestness, some of the pursuit, some of the stick-to-it-iveness? I feel like that sometimes, just a little spiritually flabby. What will you not do in order to pray? There’s a lot of bad things. Staying up too late, watching things you shouldn’t, gambling, scrolling your phone to death – that famous line John Piper said years ago, “God invented Facebook to remind us all that we really do have time to pray.” And that was Facebook. Now it’s Instagram or Tik Tok or YouTube to remind you, oh yeah, I do have time to be in the word and prayer. It may be just neutral things. It’s not bad, but you may have to cut back on some legitimate form of entertainment or sports or a hobby that’s taken over your life. Or it may actually be something good. And yes, this makes me nervous as a pastor who depends upon servants and volunteers and committee members and lay members, but we have to deal honestly with a text like this. And the good news is we get more done when we pray, not when we avoid praying. Do you think Jesus accomplished more spiritual good because he said no to some things in order to say yes to what really mattered? Of course he did. And so it is with you. There may even be something good that you have to say no to in 2026 in order to have time to do not just what is good but what is better or what is best.

The son of God, of course, did not come to earth merely to set us an example, and it would be a mistake to think Mark chapter 1 is mainly a time management exercise or even an example of prayer, though it is that. And I think we see the importance of priorities and posteriorities in the life of our Lord. But let us not miss why he had those priorities and why he had those posteriorities. For Mark’s gospel is absolutely clear what Jesus’ mission was about. He announced it in verse 14: “Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.’” That was his mission, to give you and I that message: repent and believe. Mark 10:45, “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.” The reason Jesus had priorities and posteriorities was so he could accomplish that mission for you. Three times he predicts his death and resurrection. He said no to the healing, to the exorcisms, and went to the next town so he could announce to sinners the way that they could be saved. And so it is for us. Because of the good news of Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, there is forgiveness available when we fail, and we will, and there is also power within us, so we don’t have to always fail. There’s strength within us by Christ’s Spirit to enable you to do the things you ought to do and to say no to some of the good things you have been doing, that in 2026 we might draw closer to God, and as we do, he promises to draw closer to us. Amen.

The Magnificat

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 09:15:08 GMT

Let’s pray as we come to Luke chapter 1.

Our gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for the message that you give to us through your word. And now we ask that you would help this poor, frail minister to be a steward of your mysteries – that we all, as we have the privilege to listen, may be ready, that we may turn our hearts to the wisdom of the just, and that we may be ready at your second coming, and we may be found as a people acceptable in your sight. And so, we ask that you would give us yours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning comes from Luke’s gospel chapter 1, verses 39-56. Follow along as I read Luke chapter 1, beginning at verse 39. Whether you’ve heard these stories a hundred times or for the first time, what a delight to hear this story:

“In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah. And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.’

And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant, Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his offspring forever.’ And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.”

If there are any students out here this morning – and I know there are some of you who fit this category – you are taking Latin. And you have, perhaps, in a moment of weakness dared to say to others, “When am I ever going to use Latin? Well, only about every day of your life, if you’re paying attention. But besides that, this morning. This morning, I want you to think about your Latin, because I have some Latin for you. Et Maria. You got that? Maria. Magnificat anima mea Dominum. Alright, there’s too many of you to ask for a show hands for a translation, but that’s Luke 1:46 from the fourth century Latin Vulgate, translated by Jerome, which has been one of the most influential Bibles in the history of the church. “And Mary said, ‘My spirit magnifies the Lord.’” It’s called the Magnificat, because that’s the word in Latin.

In fact, there are, by tradition, four songs – or sometimes called canticles – four little songs in Luke’s gospel, and they each have a Latin name. So, you can just think, Latin students, if you can come up with the translation here. Mary’s song is the Magnificat. Zechariah’s song is the Benedictus: “Blessed be the Lord God.” Each of these is because of the first word, or words, in the song. The angel’s song in chapter 2 – you know this one – Gloria In Excelsis Deo: “Glory in the highest to God.” And then Simeon’s song in Luke chapter 2, called the Nunc Dimittis. Nunc Dimittis, which means, “Now (nunc) let your servant depart.” These four songs, given by those Latin names as they’re found in the Vulgate, have had a privileged place in the history of the church’s worship, liturgy, art. There are famous paintings and statues of all of these scenes in sacred music. In the daily office that developed out of the monastic tradition, they often use the language from these four songs. And the most famous of them is the one that we just read, the Magnificat. I want us to look not only at the Magnificat, but what comes before it, and that is Elizabeth and Mary and their interchange – Mary, we just hear, gives a greeting, and then Elizabeth crying out with a loud voice. So, if you want an outline, it’s a very simple outline. We’ll look at these two women, Elizabeth and Mary. Or you could think about it as Elizabeth talking about the person of Christ and Mary extolling the work of Christ, or to give it two different words: theology and then doxology.

So, we’ll start with Elizabeth, verses 39-45, as she gives us some of the most important theology. It is striking – it’s one of the reasons we know that the gospels are true – if you were wanting to make up a story that would be most convincing, you would not, in the first century, have given to women such a prominent place in the story. To think that the very first human being to give voice and recognition to who this Messiah is comes from the lips of a woman, Elizabeth, and those who will declare the empty tomb and run to tell the disciples – those first emissaries are women, bookending this story from the womb to the tomb. We read in verse 39, “In those days, Mary arose and went with haste.” One of the things that I think we love about the Christmas story is this mingling together of scenes and expressions that are very ordinary, that we can all relate to and familiar. And then there’s the miraculous and the supernatural. Here is something that many, many women in this congregation could relate to. It’s not at all an abnormal thing for two women to want to get together and talk about their pregnancies, especially when it’s each of their firsts and it’s come to each of them in a very surprising way. So, Mary probably had in her mind more than just the pregnancy and what this pregnancy represented, but that was part of it too. In haste, she wants to go to her much-older relative, and she wants to share this utterly amazing, good news. You can just picture these two women, one likely a teenager, one however old is old for that culture, beyond the years of childbearing, coming together, talking to each other about these two astounding occurrences. Wait, you? You? You too? Tell me about it. It’s amazing. And there’s – Elizabeth’s husband cannot get a word in edgewise. Don’t have to worry about him. He cannot interrupt, cannot talk about – he’s going to have to sit and listen.

So, Mary makes this trip – it says in the hill country in Judea, a town in Judah. We don’t know exactly where it is. By tradition, a small village, five or six miles west of Jerusalem. It would have been a three or four day trip – 75 to 100 miles. She makes it there. And what a time it must have been for these two miraculous mothers. And we see in verse 41, upon her entrance and her greeting, there is one giant leap for mankind, and it comes from this little baby. Don’t you see everywhere? Again, parenthesis: everywhere in this Christmas story, these children in the womb are not potential children. They’re not something that later will be given a soul and become full-born persons. They are acting agents, the Holy Spirit upon them and through them, and they’re moving – these babies in the womb. All we read is that Mary entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Now, it’s possible that this involved a longer explanation. Maybe greeting is just kind of a big summary word and that she came in and said, “Liz, it’s me, Mary. You won’t believe it. Well, maybe you will. I’m pregnant, and I’m still a virgin, and I’m going to have the Messiah.” Maybe she said all of that, but there’s no record. All we hear is that she gave a greeting, and it suggests something much simpler and shorter: “Hello, it’s me, Mary. I’m here to see you.” Because of course, you couldn’t have sent a text and said, “I’m coming,” or a phone call, or even a Morse code. You just would have found the way. They’ve been together before. They’re relatives. Maybe she had someone who made the journey with her – almost certainly, you would not have sent off a pregnant teenage girl all by herself on a 4-day journey. And they know the way, and she shows up, and what a pleasant surprise it must have been.

And Mary gives a greeting. And when Elizabeth hears the greeting, the baby inside her starts kicking for joy. Every mother who has had a baby inside her has known that – there’s a hand, there’s a foot. She reflects on it in verse 44: “When the sound of your greeting came to my ears,” Elizabeth interprets what happened – this was the baby in my womb leaping for joy. I didn’t have much room to go, but that kick, that little foot that pressed through, that was a leap for joy, because this child knew who it was that had come to visit. Remember, this is John the Baptist. This is the one who will be the forerunner, and what we’re meant to see here is already in the womb, several months ahead of Jesus in the womb, he is the forerunner of the Messiah. He is already preparing the way, because his job will be, in a manner of speaking, to jump up and down and say, “Have I got good news for you. This is the Messiah.” He’s already doing his job, as a little baby, kicking in the womb with joy. Let me just say, as you think about evangelism and how to share your faith, on one level, it’s as simple as what John does here. It is the joyful announcement that the son of God has come into the world. Now, it’s hard to find a way to share that conversation sometimes, and people know that it’s coming, or they don’t like it, or they have objections. All of that may come, and that’s why we think and pray and are strategic and have apologetics. But at its simplest level, here it is – and this is something all of us can do – it’s to jump with proverbial joy, like this little baby in the womb, to say the son of God, the Messiah, has come into the world. Can you believe it? I believe it. Do you believe it? He’s come into the world. And what Elizabeth says next sure seems to be a supernatural revelation to her. We don’t have any record of Mary saying more than a simple greeting. That’s why we read that she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to her, but the Spirit of her Father who is in heaven, and she, too, explodes with loud rejoicing. You see, verse 42, she exclaimed with a loud cry. She is excited.

She announces a threefold blessing. Blessed are you among women. That’s true. Mary has the singular privilege. Mary is full of grace. She is literally full of grace. She has the divine son of God taking upon a human body within her. She is full of grace. Blessed is the fruit of your womb, this chosen one who will come from you. And then the third blessing: blessed is she who took the Lord at his word. You believed God, and you took him at his word. Notice Mary is not the dispenser of blessing. She is the recipient of blessing. She is an example of the grace that comes through faith. And then look at what Elizabeth says in verse 43 – this may be most remarkable of all. At least I find it most poignant, touching, inspiring, challenging. She says, “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” There are centuries of the most glorious, profound theology that can be pulled out of that one simple sentence. Elizabeth the theologian – as she says, “Why should it be granted to me that the mother of my Lord” – just think about those simple words, that she recognizes in Mary “the mother of my Lord.” Now, we don’t know that Elizabeth had all of the connotations of Lord in mind, but later these would be developed. Luke will record, later in Acts 10:36, that the Christ, he is Lord of all. But she certainly means to say that Mary is going to give birth to the Messiah, the son of David.

We know from this passage, and from the angel’s announcement in the previous passage, that he is holy, he is the son of God. Whether Elizabeth understood all of that, she is giving this great description, that that one – she can’t even see him, he’s but multiplying cells at this point – that one is my Lord, the one that she will give birth to, the Messiah, the son of David, the promised offspring of Abraham, the divine son of God. And she recognizes that Mary – this is mind-blowing – Mary is his mother. The child will come from her belly. It will be a normal birth, a normal gestation. Mary will nurse him as a normal nursing mother would. There will be a normal umbilical cord to be cut. All of the normal blood and guts and water that rushes out at a birth – all of that, normal. The conception, supernatural. A normal birth, a normal gestation, a normal trip through the birth canal. What is supernatural, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, is the virginal conception. So, the greatest minds in the history of the world for 2,000 years have been singing and celebrating and writing poems and pieces of art and whole musical cantatas and the deepest, longest tomes of theology to explain and to celebrate how the son of God, who has no beginning, will now have a mother. Son of God, who has no beginning, will now have a mother. The key expression from the Nicene Creed – and we sing it in “O Come, All Ye Faithful” – is “begotten, not created.” Begotten from the Father, not created. But he is assuming, he is taking to himself, a human nature, so that the second person of the Trinity, the divine Logos – that’s the word that John will use – you know the word “word,” the word made flesh – the word became flesh and dwelt among us, that in taking to himself a human nature, he became what he was not without ceasing to be what he was. He became what he was not – a real human being, a body, a mother, he could suffer, he would get hungry, he would get tired, he would die – without ceasing to be all that he was, the divine son of God. And so, when we speak about the one person of the incarnate son of God, sometimes we ascribe to that one person the things according to his human nature, and sometimes the things according to his divine nature. But there’s one agent who is doing them, and that is the incarnate, enfleshed son of God.

Elizabeth may not have understood all of that, and she certainly didn’t know about the Council of Nicea or the Council of Chalcedon. And yet she makes a tremendous statement as she talks about the person of Christ, that he will be Lord, and he will have a mother. It’s going to lead into the one person and the two natures. And she’s also a trinitarian theologian. She understands that Mary has believed what was spoken from the Lord – now, that received the message from Gabriel, but remember, Gabriel the angel had come from the presence of God. So, Elizabeth extols Mary for believing what was spoken by the Lord, the Father. Elizabeth speaks by the Lord, the Holy Spirit, and she celebrates the coming birth of the Lord, the Son. You don’t have to make this up to see the Trinity at work – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – to save the people of God. And if that weren’t amazing enough, what she says in that simple phrase, “the mother of my Lord,” don’t miss what she says right before that, because this is just as amazing, if not in theological depth, then in heart and mind and spirit: “Why is this granted to me?” Do you feel any of that at Christmas? Why? Why should you and I be privileged to know this word, to be in this beautiful place, and it’s all decorated so nice, and the candles, and the flowers, and the song, and the musicians, and the organ, and the familiar hymns. Why should we know the Lord Jesus Christ? Why should we have been – by God’s free, unmerited grace – been given the privilege of hearing and receiving this word? Do you think that at Christmas? Is that the attitude of your heart and my heart? I shudder to think, some of us, if we were Elizabeth, what our hearts might have done. Rather than saying, “Why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me,” some of us might say, “Why did I have to wait so long to have a baby?” or “Why does this little teenage girl, my whatever cousin, why does she get to have the Messiah? Man, I thought this was going pretty special for me. I get the forerunner, and then I find out this little girl gets the Messiah. What gives?” That’s the way some of us are. You want to make a child happy, give him a toy. You want to instantly make him unhappy, give his sibling a bigger toy. It doesn’t matter what that is. But that’s not Elizabeth. Her attitude is one of heartfelt worship, adoration, humility. Why? Why? Why should we get to sing these songs? Why should we be reminded of these truths? Why should we know the way of salvation?

Do you live your life prepared to be disappointed with people? Do you live your life prepared to be upset that someone else has something better than you, that you think you deserve? Or do you prepare, in your life, to be amazed, to be grateful? I’m not making light of all sorts of pain and real disappointment, but there is a way, and here’s Elizabeth’s way of – this is why it said Elizabeth and Zechariah were blameless before the Lord. This is a godly couple, and she has the kindling in her heart that’s ready to receive this, not as a “Well, what about me?” but “Why should I be so blessed that you would come to my house?” We have been privileged with such good news.

Elizabeth gives us the theology. Mary gives us the doxology: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Soul there, and then you see verse 47 – spirit – this is typical of – you find it in the Psalms, you find it in Proverbs – it’s often called Hebrew parallelism. It just means that when you have a song or a kind of poem like this, you often have line A, line B, and they say almost the same thing, with just a little different language. So, my soul and then my spirit. We should not think too much about, well, soul and spirit mean two different things there. She’s simply extoling and celebrating, everything within me, the deepest part of me – we would probably say my very heart magnifies and rejoices. I remember hearing John Piper say this, and it always stuck with me, that when we magnify God, we magnify God like a telescope, not like a microscope. A microscope magnifies incredibly small things by making them look bigger. That’s not what we do with God. Or you can magnify by a telescope that makes unimaginably grand things, at a far distance, now able to be seen by human eyes. We magnify with a telescope, not with a microscope. My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my savior.

This whole passage – in fact, the whole Christmas story – is just shot through with joy, joy, joy, joy. That’s why we sing about it. You want to know what you love, what makes you happy. And it might be a bit of a good exercise, if maybe a little convicting, to ask a friend, a roommate, a spouse, your kids, if you’re bold, sometime this afternoon – what makes me happy? What would they say? Some of you, there’s some sports things that can make us real happy and real sad, real quickly. Why? Why, honey, are you basing your mental/emotional state on 19-year-old young men? Why? Well, when you put it that way, it is a bit ridiculous. What makes you happy? And it’s not that other things can’t make us happy. Don’t feel ashamed that you’re happy with family and that food makes you happy or even that sports or art or music or a sunset or the mountains or the ocean. God gives us all good gifts to enjoy. What makes you happy? Joy reveals the heart. This is one of the big sirens, warning bells – if you never rejoice in your spouse, you probably have a bad marriage. When’s the last time that I was happy when she came into the room, when he sat down beside me? And if you never rejoice in God, you may not be a Christian. There’s lots of things that make us happy. That’s good. Does God ever make you happy? Would your kids, your roommates, your parents, would they say – when you ask them, “What makes me happy?” – would they say, “Oh, boy, going to church makes you happy.” Okay, don’t answer that right now. Oh, singing songs, reading the Bible makes you happy. Thinking about God, reveling in the story of Christmas makes you happy. My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my savior.

And what follows is a powerful, beautiful exploration from Mary of God’s strength and our weakness. Now, you might think to yourself, alright, if Mary is, as we guess, a teenage girl, how could Mary have burst into such a song? I mean, this is pretty good. She’s just ready to do the Magnificat at a moment’s notice? Well, some people have suggested that it doesn’t say exactly that she said it in the next moment. Verse 46 just says, “And Mary said.” So, could it have been that during the three months with Elizabeth, she took time to compose this, and this was a song of celebration? You could certainly say that. It wouldn’t take away anything from the scene or from the inspiration of Scripture. Others say, “Well, she was borrowing from an existing Jewish hymn that must have been out. Others, and I think this is really the explanation that we need, point out that everything she says come from scriptural words, scriptural phrases, scriptural lines, and scriptural imagery. There are parallels here to Hannah’s words of praise. Remember, Hannah was another mother who thought she couldn’t have a child and then did. First Samuel chapter 2, particularly the Psalms – we could look at Psalm 34:3, Psalm 35:9, and many other psalms. In other words, it’s quite possible, even apart from a supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit, that Mary might be able to burst into something like this, because as a first century Jew, she would have memorized much of the scripture. She would have heard it in the prayers of a faithful household. She would have heard it sung and recited and prayed in the synagogue worship. It is a reminder and a challenge – what is in your head and your heart? It’s not wrong that you listen to “secular songs.” Yeah, we do too. We listen to the Sirius XM different holiday Christmas stations that play the same, you know, 15 diva Christmas songs all the time. I like Christmas. We even like some of those songs. Are you putting into your head and your heart enough Bible that something like this – okay, you don’t have to be Mary – but might come out when you need it? And you don’t know when you’ll need it – when you’re weeping tears, when you’re at the hospital bed, when you’re experiencing a joy you never thought you would or a sorrow you never thought you would have. Do you have those things hidden in your hearts? It’s why we take care, why we have the liturgy that we do. And some of you may say, “Well, this is a little – it feels traditional, or it feels kind of dull.” Well, I hope it doesn’t. Part of it is we’re trying to give you good words, good songs, good theology, good Bible. Here’s a good goal for the new year: even if you’ve tried before and failed, try again. And if you fail, you you’ll at least get something. You think about how could I memorize Scripture in the new year? You can go find the Navigator verses or the old Fighter verses, or I’m sure there’s a whole bunch of Bible apps, or knowing that we’re going into Romans, you could pick a section of Romans and try to memorize some of those verses – I’m going to try to do that – to have this in your heart, like Mary evidently had the word in her heart.

And listen to what she sings about God, what she describes God as doing and having done. Now, you notice most of what she describes is in the past tense or the past perfect. It’s an aorist in Greek – you don’t have to worry about that. But these are likely to be taken as not only things that God has done, but as we describe what God has done, we’re also reminded of what he is doing, and there’s also a prophetic element of what he will do in Christ. He has looked out for the humble. He has done great things for me. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud. He has brought down the mighty. He has exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant, Israel. He spoke to our fathers. Mary sings of all of that. And look at the names and the attributes in the first half of the Magnificat in particular. Verse 47, he is called savior. Verse 49, mighty. Verse 50, merciful. Verse 49, holy is his name. If you wanted to think and meditate on just four characteristics, four attributes of God, you could do a lot worse than to pick these four that Mary focuses on: Savior, mighty, merciful, holy. Is that what you think about when you think about God? What’s that famous line from A.W. Tozer? He begins his book The Knowledge of the Holy, “The most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about God.” Savior, merciful, mighty, holy.

But of course, the point of the song is not to give just a bullet point of things God has done or an abstract list of qualities. It’s a song, really, about two ways to live, about the way of the lowly, which will be lifted up, and the way of the lofty, which will be cast down. You see how it’s reversed? It’s one of the central themes in Luke’s gospel, and we see it here, that God has and will work a great reversal. And that’s meant to be a warning to some and an encouragement to others, to think what would it mean? What would it mean for me if everything about my life as it is now were completely turned upside down? That doesn’t mean that, well, if you’re blessed and you have a home and you have food and you have family that all of that has to be taken from you. But it’s really talking about a poverty of the heart or a pride of the heart.

Think about the story in Esther. You know Haman. There’s Mordecai, and Haman is the king’s kind of right-hand man. And Haman hates Mordecai, the Jew. And the king asks Haman, “Hmm, Haman, come here. I got a question for you. What should be done whom the king delights to honor?” And you know what Haman’s thinking? Well, oh, that’s a good question, king. What should you do for those the king delights to honor? Because Haman is thinking to himself, “Surely that’s me.” He thinks there’s no one the king honors more than me. So he says, “King, I got it. Here’s what you should do. You should give to that man royal robes. You should get him a royal horse. You should parade him through the city, and you should announce to everyone that guy is amazing.” Haman’s there probably in his London suit. He’s feeling good. And the king says, “That’s a great idea, Haman. Everybody do exactly what Haman said, and let’s get ready to have a parade for Mordecai.” And it gets even worse, if you remember the story, for Haman, because he prepares the gallows that he thinks are going to be for Mordecai, and it ended up being the means of his own death. The celebration he thought he deserved went to the man he hated, and the ignominious defeat he thought was awaiting his enemy went to him. That’s the great reversal. What do you think you are owed? What do you think you deserve? Mary sings of this kind of reversal when she talks about these two ways. She says there is the way of the humble – verse 48, verse 52. She describes herself as one of low estate, low status. Certainly, to be a woman, to be a pregnant unwed mother, to be a teenager – all of these things did not accrue great status in her culture. She doesn’t focus on herself. She focuses on what God has done. She doesn’t call herself the queen of heaven or a redeemer or a mediator. She considers herself a poor, lowly maiden, uniquely favored by God. And in fact, the one name that she does give to herself is the name “blessed”: “For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed” or blessed. So, if you call her the blessed virgin Mary, there’s a Bible verse for that. Just remember that the Bible also says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the pure in heart.” This is a kind of beatitude. And we can be as blessed as Mary if we walk in the same path of humility – low estate, humble (verse 50), fearful.

He has mercy on those who fear him. All healthy fear starts with the fear of the Lord. There’s all sorts of books about this anxiety pandemic that has fallen upon young people, and it comes from phones and screens and all sorts of other things. Everyone is afraid of something. It’s true. You’re afraid of your parents, you’re afraid of, you know, fear of missing out. You’re afraid of what your life will be or not be. You’re afraid of what people think of you. The Bible understands you better than you understand yourself. It knows that everyone is motivated, at some visceral level, by fear. That’s why it says you want to be wise? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now, it’s not a servile fear. It’s to say to God, “You’re big. I’m not. You call the shots, I don’t. You know what is better than I do.” Verse 53, she describes herself as hungry. Now, physical hunger is not the only kind of hunger. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” You know, when food tastes the best? When you’re hungry. Some of you might say, “It tastes the best when my kids are in bed.” That’s when dessert tastes the best. But when you’re hungry. We did this fourteener this summer when we were out in the mountains and climbed – and praise God, we, I, made it up with the kids and made it down with all the kids, and no one was worse for the wear – and we did bring some snacks, but you do that and you’re hungry, and we went to this little kind of dive cafe that was there in Buena Vista, and I had some amazing scrambled eggs. Wow. Because I was hungry. And a lukewarm glass of orange juice right from the carton. Food tastes good when you’re hungry. It’s to the hungry that God fills. It’s only when you know what you don’t have that you can enjoy what God alone can give you.

And she sings, in contrast to the lowly, about the way of the lofty. Verse 51, the proud – the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. Can I just say something here to the women, maybe young women in particular? You got lots of movies, lots of songs out there. Girl power, what it means to be a strong woman. Supposedly, if we’re to believe the movies, you can weigh about 85 pounds and still beat the snot out of the biggest, strongest guy imaginable. That’s the only way. That’s the only way they know how to show women as strong. Make them more like men. Here’s some good girl power. Would you be like Mary in her strength? Mary’s not a weak character. No, Mary is strong, highly favored by God, and understands that she is the recipient of God’s grace. Not to revel in some sort of pride, but to revel in the strength that God can give her. The mighty, in verse 52, those of high esteem, those who sit on thrones. Well, God has got another thing coming for the mighty, unless you and I say, “Well, that’s us. We don’t sit on thrones. We’re not that high and mighty.” Might comes in a lot of different ways. It can come to you through money. It can come to you because you’re blessed with good looks or a good family or good clothes or smarts or sports or any number of gifts, anything that would make you the envy of other can be a source of wrongly placed might. And then verse 53, the rich – not that the materially prosperous by themselves are to be condemned, but it’s talking about those who are not only full but full of themselves, trust in their own strengths. Those are the two ways. And this song about the lowly and about the lofty and about how we relate to God and who God is in relation to us.

Think about those four words I gave earlier: Savior, mighty, holy, merciful, or strong. Well, if God is a savior, that means we need a deliverer. If he’s mighty, it must be because we’re weak. If he’s holy, it must be because we’re sinners. If he’s merciful, it must be because we’ve done something wrong. And notice what he does for the lowly. Verse 48, he looks upon us. Verse 49, he works for us. Verse 50, he’s merciful toward us. Verse 52, he exalts us. 53, he fills us. 54, he helps us. That’s what he does if you’re lowly. And what does he do to the lofty? Verse 51, he scatters. 52, he brings down. Verse 53, he sends away empty. So, what side of the equation do you want to be on? Matthew Henry puts it like this: “God takes pleasure in disappointing their expectations who promise themselves great things in the world and in outdoing the expectations of those who promise themselves but a little.” If you think yourself deserving of but little, God will blow away those expectations.

Let’s close here with a word that all of you talk about and think about a lot. It’s one of the words of our age: identity. Identity in our culture is defined by your sex, gender – those are supposed to be two different things, according to some. Or maybe your race or your politics or your language or your nationality or your sexual desires or experiences or the way your body is formed, your income, maybe your sports team, your shows, your looks, your brains, your degree, your neighborhood, your car, your house, your stuff, your vacation – all identity. Here’s where biblical identity starts. It’s what Mary said way back up in verse 38: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.” A servant. If you get that right with your identity, you’ve set yourself up for everything else to fall into place. And if you get that wrong, whatever else you say you believe about God and believe about the Bible and believe about the church, it’s going to get all mixed up if you don’t start there. If you think to yourself, I am, first of all, a servant of my body. I’m a servant of my desires, or I’m a servant of my ethnic tribe, or of my political party, or a servant of my nation, rather than I’m a servant of the Lord. Don’t trust me. You can trust Mary. You can trust Luke. Better than that, trust the Holy Spirit, who inspired this book. This is the way of joy, of satisfaction, of unexpected blessing, to make your identity as a servant and as a worshipper. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior.” Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give you thanks for this holy word. Shape us by it. Form us. Convict us. Conform us, that we might be your people. In Jesus, we pray. Amen.

The Annunciation

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:35:59 GMT

Let’s pray one more time.

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit – one God forever and ever. Amen.

We continue with our Advent series through the Gospel of Luke. Please turn to Luke chapter 1. I’ll be reading verses 26 through 38. Luke chapter 1, beginning at verse 26:

“In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one. The Lord is with you.’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”

I went to Food Lion late Friday night, because our family goes to the grocery store about 15 times a week. I am not joking. And I was hustling to get a few essential things, probably chips and cheese – my daily bread – when I was interrupted in my thoughts by a voice from the loudspeaker: “Attention Food Lion shoppers.” I thought, what did I win? Hark! What glad tidings are these? But alas, the voice continued, “The store will be closing in 10 minutes. Please make your way to the checkout immediately. Thank you.” So, I should have guessed that. It was 10:50. Not the thrilling announcement I was hoping for. You’ve probably had the same experience. Or sometimes you get that announcement – it’s good news. Sometimes it’s bad news. If you see breaking news, and almost everything counts for breaking news, it seems, these days – if you get that on your TV, it’s rarely something good. Breaking news: married couple stays together. They just don’t – they don’t broadcast that. It’s usually something bad, or you have the words scroll across the bottom of the screen. It means somebody has gone missing, or there’s bad weather coming. But maybe you have good news if your son and his girlfriend, or your daughter and her boyfriend of some time, gather around and say, “Well, we want to share something with you. We’ve gotten engaged.” Or you put it out on social media that you’re married and having a child. There’s lots of news. There is no better news that has been broadcast in the history of the world than this news here in Luke chapter 1.

I suppose the angel at the empty tomb saying, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” would be equal. That’s why I said no better news – perhaps equal. This is called, in the history of the church, the annunciation. The holy announcement. In some traditions, it’s considered a holy day. Some of the most famous paintings in the world depict this scene. There is no more important announcement, and when I say broadcast, I simply mean “make it known,” because this was not broadcast at this moment in all the world. In fact, it’s striking the juxtaposition between the most significant announcement ever to be uttered on planet Earth and the setting in this little almost no-name village in northern Israel to a young woman. We don’t know how old she was. We often think of her as a teenager. That’s probably what Mary was, receiving this angelic visitation. My outline is simple. I want us to look at who makes the announcement, then to whom the announcement is given, and then what the announcement is about. Or if you want to think of it in simpler terms, you can think of this sermon as moving through the three characters in this narrative: Gabriel, Mary, and Jesus.

So, let’s start with Gabriel, the one who makes the announcement. Gabriel we saw last week making the announcement to Zechariah in the temple. And here we have the angel Gabriel again. By one count, there are 273 references to angels in the Bible. So, not on every single page, in every single chapter, but not bit players in this drama either. 273 references and we know that they play an important role in the Christmas story. What are angels in the Bible? Well, angels are sometimes guardians. You think of the angel in the Garden of Eden or the cherubim on the lid of the ark of the covenant. The angels guard the presence of God. They guard what is holy. Think of angels are a bridge between two different worlds. You think about the visions of angels ascending and descending. Angels are intermediaries. Angels are servants. We can say most fundamentally angels are messengers. That’s what the word in Hebrew and the word in Greek means. The word in Greek, you already know it – angelos – so this is the transliteration. “Angels” simply means “a messenger.” There are two named angels in the Bible. Other books not in the canonical scriptures will name a couple of other angels, but there are just two angels who are given names in the Bible. One is Michael. He’s called, in Jude 9, an archangel, which suggests that he has authority, under God, over other angels. And in fact, we read in Revelation 12:7 about Michael fighting the devil – Michael and his angels – so, it seems that he has some company of heavenly hosts at his charge. Gabriel is, by tradition, considered the other archangel, though he’s not named as such, but he is the other named angel. If Michael is the warrior angel – and that’s what we have the picture in Revelation or in Daniel, as he is fighting in the heavenly spiritual realm the kind of battle that we are fighting here against Satan in the earthly realm. If he’s the warrior angel, then Gabriel is the communicating angel.

We have Gabriel mentioned – you may not have realized, or you may have forgotten – two times in the book of Daniel, chapter 8 and Daniel chapter 9, where there he explains the meaning of a vision to Daniel. And here in Luke 1, he is the messenger to Zechariah and now to Mary. Just think about that for a moment, that Gabriel is named in the book of Daniel. So about 500 years apart, which tells us that angelic beings are spiritual beings who live and don’t die. So, we have 500 years – you think of all that Gabriel had seen and heard in those 500 years, or Michael with him. And then you think about that word that Peter gives us: “these things into which angels long to look.” Of all the privileges that the angels had, all of the things that they had seen for centuries and for millennia, and yet the one thing that they longed to see. Not that they didn’t know the gospel. He’s announcing the gospel, but they could not know what it was to be a human being filled with sin, forgiven by God, saved by his Son. Things into which angels long to look.

This Gabriel we met 500 years ago in Daniel and now shows up and gives a message to Zachariah and to Mary. Notice what it says – where he comes from and where he goes. In the sixth month, verse 26, Gabriel was sent. Now this is quite a trip. Some of you may go on a trip over Christmas. Many of us will travel somewhere by planes, trains, or automobiles, and you will make it there, Lord willing, and make it back, and some will be a great journey, but none as great as this. He starts from God. However we understand that, and we don’t quite know what the heavenly realm is – it doesn’t have a mailing address that gets you there, except by prayer – but this spiritual realm before the presence of God. He was sent. He’s there from God, and he goes to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. You and I have a hard time remembering that this physical world that we inhabit, of material things, of sequence, of time, of history, that there is, at this same moment, a heavenly realm of unseen things. And in God’s economy, those things are just as real or in some ways even more real than the hard, physical things we can see and touch. Gabriel comes from this unseen realm, from God to a real place. Remember what Luke says in the very first paragraph of his gospel: “Many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished.” And he talks about eyewitnesses and an orderly account that he has followed all things closely. So, remember, this is not in the realm of make-believe. This is not legend. This is not myth. Luke, at the very beginning, says, I’m a historian, and I’m gathering my sources. I’m talking to people. I’m getting authoritative eyewitnesses. I’m compiling the accounts. I’m laying it all out. I have notes, and I’m writing an orderly account for this Theophilus, who is likely some kind of high-ranking official in the Roman apparatus – maybe a young Christian, maybe an almost-Christian. So Luke is very deliberately telling us fact and history. And he says, “Here’s a fact: an angel came from the presence of God down to earth to this little town called Nazareth.” And Gabriel, who had just spoken in the previous narrative to Zechariah in the temple, now speaks to Mary in Nazareth. Two very different settings: from the grandeur of Jerusalem and the temple and the priest carrying out the most significant priestly act of his entire life, that he was chosen by lot to offer at the altar of incense. Gabriel met him there, and now he meets the virgin in Nazareth. Gabriel is, as it were, straddling the two worlds – connected, but different epochs of the Old and the New Testaments.

And perhaps it’s significant that the message to Zechariah happens in the temple, the heart of Israel’s worship in the Old Testament. And just as Zechariah departed the temple, we are having a foreshadowing that the religion of God’s people will not be focused on an earthly place in the same way. What is the temple? The temple is the symbolic place where the dwelling of God resides. It was there in the tabernacle as they moved through the wilderness. Then when they had a permanent home, it was there in the holy of holies in the temple. The temple is the place. It’s the incubator for the presence of God. We have moved from a structural temple to a virgin temple. The presence of God from this man-made temple now finding residence in the womb of this young woman. The divine presence, and not just the divine presence in a cloud or in a symbolic box, but actually in human form, flesh and blood, fully divine, fully human. That’s what Gabriel is announcing. What a privilege. I wonder if Gabriel put up his hand or his many wings and, “I’ll take that one. Let me go and do that one.” As Michael was fighting, Gabriel said, “Let me go and give the message here.” And he did. What a message it was.

Second, to whom was this announcement made? It was made to Mary. The first announcement was that an older woman would have a baby – Elizabeth, who was thought to be barren, was well past the age of childbearing. And that was a surprising word, but not unheard of. There are instances, a handful of them, throughout the Old Testament, where someone who seemed to be barren had a child – someone like Sarah, who was well past the ability, in an earthly sense, to have a baby had a baby. So that first announcement about Elizabeth – surprising, not unheard of. This second announcement, we’ve gone from an old woman, Elizabeth, to a young virgin woman, Mary. And this, though Isaiah predicted it in Isaiah 7:14, this has never happened before. It says that she was betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. Betrothal in the ancient world among the Jews was different than engagement in our day. Engagement is a special occasion, and you have a ring, and the man gets down on one knee. It’s not a legally binding contract – an engagement – but it was then. That’s why it will say that Joseph, being a righteous man, was going to divorce her quietly. You say, “Why did you have to divorce her quietly? You’re not married.” Well, to be engaged, to be betrothed, was a legally binding contract. It meant that a bride price had been paid. Typically, you would be engaged for about a year, and the wedding would happen a year later. The youngest a woman could be betrothed was at age 12. That’s why – it doesn’t say how old Mary is, but we piece together the customs of the time and think that she was likely a teenage young woman. The engagement took place in front of witnesses. Deuteronomy 22 tells us that sexual relations with an engaged woman meant death for both the man and the woman. So, this was as good as being married without yet having the ceremony and consummating the wedding.

And Mary understands – sometimes we think that, well people in the first century were really gullible, weren’t they? Oh, Mary knows enough biology to know where babies come from. And she knows that there’s no earthly way – she knows herself – that she can be having a baby. Don’t think that people in the ancient world just believed whatever you told them. Even within Judaism, they had an anti-supernatural element. You think of the Sadducees. They didn’t believe in angels. They didn’t believe in the resurrection. So, people in the first century had a hard time believing miracles, believing supernatural occurrences. Not everyone believed them. This was a hard thing that the angel was saying to Mary. You can understand why she was confused. The angel gives a greeting to her. It’s translated here in Luke 28, “Greetings!” That’s a good translation – chaire. It’s the same word used in Matthew and Mark and John. It’s a simple greeting. Some translate it as “rejoice,” and it has that as its root, but it is just a simple “greetings.” It’s what we would say, “hello.” Now, the King James has the word “hail Mary.” And that word used to simply be another way of saying “hello” or “greetings.” Now I don’t think we usually say that: “Hail! Mother is home from the grocery store.” No, we say, “Hail to the chief.” Hail has a certain laudatory, formal, official aspect to it. So it’s not that that’s a wrong translation, but it’s apt to miscommunicate what the angel is saying. He’s not saluting. He’s simply saying, “Greetings, Mary.”

And then as the ESV puts it, and almost all contemporary English translations, the next rendering is, “O, favored one.” That’s a good translation. She’s favored because the Lord is with her. Some of you, if you grew up in the Catholic church, are perhaps used to the familiar saying, “Hail Mary, full of grace.” Well, she is full of grace. She is going to be literally full of grace incarnate within her. So, it’s certainly not wrong to consider Mary full of grace, so long as we understand that it is Mary as the recipient of God’s grace. There is nothing in this passage to say that Mary is the dispenser or the conduit of that grace. If you’ve prayed a rosary at some point in your life, you go around – there are some 80 or more beads, and you say several different prayers or acclamations – and more than 50 times in that Catholic tradition you pray the Hail Mary. Now if you don’t have a Catholic background, you just think, what? I thought this was only about football. This is all making – so when you – that’s where it gets its name, when the quarterback heaves it from the 50-yard line, because he’s throwing up a prayer. So, it was first a Catholic prayer, “Hail Mary,” which is said more than 50 times in the rosary. Now, some of it is just using this biblical language, which is fine, but it also calls upon Mary to pray for us. At the end of the rosary is this prayer: “Hail holy queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this veil of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, allow us to the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us, O holy mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” There is nothing remotely like that in the gospels or anywhere in the Bible or in Mary’s attitude. It would have been shocking to Mary that followers of Jesus, centuries following, would pray to her or call upon her as a holy queen or ask that Mary would make them worthy of the promises of Christ. That’s not what we see about Mary in this passage or in the Bible.

What we do see about Mary is beautiful and exemplary. We don’t need that to focus on what the Bible does say, which presents to us Mary as a beautiful example of faith. Almost every mention of Mary in the Bible comes in the Christmas stories of Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 1 and 2. There is almost nothing about Mary outside of those four chapters. But there are two other mentions that are important. In John 19, she is there at the cross, and Jesus famously says to John, “Behold your mother” and to Mary, “Behold your son,” communicating that – as he is going to die, and he knows he’ll be resurrected, and he will ascend – that John, the beloved disciple, will care for Jesus’ mother. And then we read in Acts 1:14, perhaps you’ve missed this before. It’s talking about the disciples gathered in Jerusalem choosing a replacement for Judas, and they’re going to wait for the Holy Spirit, and it says, “All these, with one accord, were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” So why is that significant? It reminds us Mary was not only Jesus’ mother, she would become his disciple. She was a believer in Christ. She is there, gathered with the hundred or so group of disciples, mentioned by name, that Mary understands as well as anyone who Jesus is and has put faith in Christ, just as here she puts astonishing faith in the message that Gabriel gives us. Mary, from the very beginning, is an exemplar of faith. She says there in verse 38, “Let it be to me according to your word.” Now you may be tempted to think that the Beatles song, “Let It Be,” Mother Mary comes to me – it was about Paul’s mom named Mary. Not the Apostle Paul, but Paul McCartney. So, it’s not a Catholic hymn, “Let It Be.” If you’ve ever sung the words in your car and thought that Paul was giving an homage to Mary, he’s not. But there it is. Mary says, “So be it.”

Now, you may have the question in your head, and it’s a good question. It’s the question that I asked myself as I read through this again on Monday morning and thought, “Now wait a minute. How come Zechariah gets rebuked – he gets dinged – for saying, “What’s going on?” and Mary doesn’t?” Zechariah – look back up at verse 18: “How shall I know this, for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years?” And the angel says, “Okay, you say I’m old. Let me tell you who I am. I’m Gabriel.” And then he has to be silent. How come Zechariah gets a rebuke for asking the question, and Mary doesn’t? What’s different in their two attitudes? Well, it seems that there is surely something different in their attitudes. Maybe we can’t see it all, but there’s a couple of hints. What’s different between Zechariah and Mary? Two hints. One, consider the differences in their station in life. Who is Zechariah? He’s an old man, and he’s a priest. He is carrying out the highest privilege of his life in the temple. Priests were trained. Priests, among their ritual duties, were also to be teachers. He was instructed in the scriptures. So, it’s safe to say there was a higher bar for Zechariah as an old man, as a teacher, as a priest, as a leader in Israel. Surely, Zechariah, you should have known – you did know – the stories of Abraham and Sarah, where Mary is a young teenage girl from a nowhere village in northern Galilee. So, they’re very different stations in life in what one might expect them to know. So, that’s one clue.

Here’s probably a more important clue. Zechariah, though the word sign is not used, seems to be asking for a sign. Verse 18: “How shall I know? Zechariah asked for a sign. Mary asked for an explanation. How shall I know? Okay, give me something, like Gideon with the fleece. Give me something to prove that this is really true, Zechariah says. Mary says, “How will this be? I’m confused.” Young teenager – she knew where babies come from, and she knew that this was not possible with her by any human way. She understands. There’s no way to set aside this passage, as some liberal scholars would do, and say, “Well, this Greek word, parthenos, translated virgin, simply means a young, single woman.” Well, it’s true, the word can mean that. And you know what every Jew assumed about a young single woman? That she was a virgin. And Mary, by her question, makes absolutely clear she understands what’s being said to her. How can this be, since I have not been with a man? How can this be, since I am a virgin? And she understands that this word from the angel is to be fulfilled immediately. You think she might have just thought, “Oh, so I’m going to have a baby, I guess, when Joseph and I get married.” But she understands what the angel is saying, that this is going to happen now. She understands it’s going to be fulfilled immediately and that there is no human explanation. So, she doesn’t ask for a sign. She asks how. Apparently, no skepticism. No unbelief. This is faith seeking understanding. That will become a common phrase throughout the history of the church, to understand what we do when we approach the scriptures, when we come in prayer, when we do theology – faith seeking understanding. Her posture is one of believing. Help me understand.

So, we’ve seen Gabriel, we’ve seen Mary. Most important – what the announcement is about. That’s the third figure – the third person here – Jesus. What can we say about this child? Look at verse 31-33. In the span of three verses, we are told no fewer than eight things about this child. One, he will be Mary’s son. Verse 31: “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son.” So, this child will be formed in her womb. The son of God is the son of Mary. Years later in the history of the church, there will be a lot of debate about whether Mary can receive the title theotokos, which means God (theos)-bearer. Sometimes it’s translated “mother of God.” A better translation is “God-bearer,” but “mother of God” is apt to be confused. But can we say that Mary is the one who bore God? You might even think I’m not sure we should say that. Well, careful – that that proved to be the side of the heretics, who said that Mary could not have that title. Now, “Mary, the bearer of God,” does not mean “Mary, equal with God” or “Mary, the mediator between man and God,” but it’s to defend the union – a single person, human nature and divine in her womb – that she bore out God. God in the flesh. God as he had never appeared before, assuming to himself a human nature. This child – everything that we’re about to see about him in these other seven things, remember, is also the son of Mary.

Number two, his name will be Jesus. Matthew points out that he’ll be called Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. That’s what the word Jesus means: “Yahweh saves.” Three, he will be great. Four, he will be called son of the Most High. Five, he will be the son of David. Six, he will be given David’s throne. Seven, he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And eight, his kingdom will never end. That’s what will come from this child.

We call it the virgin birth. Technically, it’s the virginal conception. Because of the virginal conception, we read later in verse 35 that the child to be born will be called holy, the son of God. Now, it’s not because, well, sex somehow makes you dirty, and they needed to get sex out of the equation, otherwise the child would be a sinner. No, it’s not so much that Mary is a virgin, though that’s essential, but it’s that she will be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The Most High will overshadow you. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. So it’s not the virgin part that makes Jesus holy, so much as it is the Spirit part. And this is nothing like any of the pagan myths of the Roman Empire. There is nothing here to describe some sort of sexual encounter between God and Mary – a blasphemous thought. Rather, we have the language of Genesis. Think about it. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God, and the word was God. All things were created through the word, John 1 tells us. And we see there in the opening chapters of Genesis, which John is echoing, that the creation of the heavens and the earth take place by word and spirit. Church father Irenaeus said it was like the two hands of God in creation. Where’s the word at creation? Well, he spoke, “let there be light,” and there was light. Well, where’s the spirit? Well, it tells us right there in the opening verses, “and the spirit of God was hovering over the deep” – brooding over the deep, overshadowing the creation, coming into being through word and spirit. This is Genesis language to tell us that this child is going to be a new Adam, a new creation by divine fiat. Like the spirit hovering over creation, new life will be formed in Mary. This is not a biological explanation. It is a spiritual explanation. Let there be light, there was light. Let there be a child, there’s a child. A new humanity has begun.

Unless you ask yourself, well, could Jesus be fully human without a human mother and a human father? Well, we’ve had people in the Bible before who had no human mother or human father. You know their names – Adam and Eve – and they were fully human. This is a normal human gestation on one level. Zygote and cells splitting and multiplying and body parts being formed. And at the same time, the God-man, the conception, is wholly a work of the Spirit. It’s important to realize when we talk about the incarnation that Jesus is not a man who was divinized. That is to say, it’s not that God picked a Jewish man and said, “Okay, let’s superpower him up, and let’s make this man divine.” No, that’s not it. Nor should we think of the union of the two natures, human and divine, as if God, you know, opened the nature closet and said, “I’m going to get a divine nature, and ooh, I’m going to get a generic human nature, and let’s stitch these things together, and now we have Jesus.” No, though there are two natures in union, we must remember this is the enfleshment of the son of God. It is the logos, the word, made flesh, such that one person now consists of two natures, fully divine and fully human. And you think of what this miracle is and compare the greatness of the titles and what is being created and joined together in Mary – the un-created God with now a human body. You think of all of that and then the humility of this setting. We’re not in Jerusalem. We’re not in Rome. We’re not in the temple. We’re not at the Parthenon. We’re not at the Acropolis. We’re in Nazareth. I mean, Nazareth. I mean, this is lower than Mint Hill. Nazareth. That’s where I live. It used to be the Mint Hillbillies out there, but now it’s a pretty posh place, you know. Nazareth. And in the belly of a young woman, a young virgin.

It is an amazing announcement. An orderly account Luke is giving us of this history, having followed all things closely, spoken to eyewitnesses, and if you think about the departure point of Gabriel – Gabriel left the presence of God – his destination, Nazareth. When you think about that, and then you realize where the son of God has made a home now, in the womb of this young woman. What a wonderful, amazing, saving, divine condescension. The angel says to Mary, “Favored one.” And she was uniquely favored of all women in the history of the world to bear the Christ child. But do you realize you also are highly favored? You have received an even clearer announcement of glad tidings than the one that Mary received. All of you this morning, and many of you throughout your life, have had the amazing privilege of hearing the greatest news, these glad tidings. You are a favored one that you would know this message when so many millions and billions have yet to hear of it, and you have heard of it, and you have a Bible in a language you can understand, and you have Christmas carols proclaiming this news in the mall, though they know not what they do. You are favored that you would receive these glad tidings. And what glad tidings they are. The whole story. What is the gospel? It is the amazing true story about an empty womb, supernaturally filled, and a filled tomb, supernaturally emptied. That’s the story. A womb that was vacant, filled by the Spirit of God, and a tomb that was occupied, risen by the power of God, because death could not hold him.

And Mary is, for us, one of the greatest examples, not of dispensing grace to us, but of receiving grace through faith. Mary shows each one of us the proper response as favored ones who have the blessing of hearing these glad tidings. The angel told Mary something that was – seemed too good to be true – a virgin birth, the Messiah, God in the flesh through me, and the good news of the gospel proclaims to each one of you tidings that may seem too good to be true. Your sins can be forgiven. God knows you. God sees you. God sent his son to die for sinners like you, and you can have eternal life. So when the angel says, to Mary, verse 37, it’s the same word to us: “Nothing will be impossible with God.” No matter what you’ve done, no matter where you’ve come from, nothing will be impossible with God. What do you say to that good news? What do you say to those glad tidings? What do you say to the supernatural events in the Bible that seem to us impossibilities? Mary gives us the response. You and I say, “Behold, I am your servant. I receive your word. I believe your word. Do with me as you wish. May it be so.” She is an example of how one receives the grace of God. It starts with God’s initiative. It is announced by God’s word, and then through faith, humbly received by God’s children. Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for this, your holy word, this good news. Give to each of us the supernatural gift of faith. Just as you called light out of darkness, so speak into our hearts. If there are any in this room who do not have faith, speak into that life, that there is faith to believe and to receive the good news of Jesus Christ, the word made flesh, our Savior, our coming King. We thank you for the word that we hear and now for the word that we can receive with trembling hands and trembling lips. Feed us, we pray. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Blessed Be The Lord

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:12:16 GMT

Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. We’ll be reading verses 57-80, the end of the chapter. Luke chapter 1. Let’s ask for the Lord’s help as we come to his word.

Gracious heavenly Father, we pray not merely out of habit or custom, thinking that sermons ought to begin with prayers, but because we need your help. We do not want to waste our time. There’s no points in heaven for enduring another sermon. So, help us to listen, and I need your help to preach your word faithfully, with an unction from on high. So, give us, both the preacher and the hearers, grace from your Spirit, that this word would do its work among us. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Luke chapter 1, beginning at verse 57:

“Now, the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child. They would have called him Zechariah, after his father, but his mother answered, ‘No, he shall be called John.’ And they said to her, ‘None of your relatives is called by this name.’ They made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God, and fear came on all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, ‘What then will this child be?’ For the hand of the Lord was with him.

And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”

As I noted last week, and many of you will remember, there are four songs, by tradition, in these opening chapters of Luke: the Magnificat, “My Soul Magnifies the Lord”; this one here, the Benedictus, which is the Latin for that word in verse 68, “Blessed”; and then the Gloria In Excelsis Deo, which we have been singing about, the angels’ song; and then the Nunc Dimittis, “Now May Your Servant Depart in Peace.” Each one follows the same pattern: there is a narrative, and then there is a song. We saw that last week with Mary’s Magnificat. Verse 39, Mary visits Elizabeth. We have the interaction and Elizabeth’s own praise, and then following that, we have Mary’s song.

Well, we see the same thing here. First, we have a narrative. It is the birth of John the Baptist and all that associates it, and then we have Zechariah’s song. You can think of it in two headings: a baby and a blessing. So, first the baby. Not the baby. We’ll celebrate that baby, and we’re remembering everything in this Advent season, but first we have the forerunner baby, who will point the way to the Christ child. Look at verse 57 and 58. This is such a wonderfully realistic scene of what a thick community can be like. One of the great things about – one of the reasons I think we love the Christmas story – it’s this mix of very realistic, down to earth… You can imagine two women, Mary and Elizabeth, one a young virgin, one an older woman, both miraculous births. We can imagine them talking, wanting to discuss their pregnancies, and we can imagine this scene: neighbors and relatives recognize God’s kindness, and they come, verse 58, and rejoice with her. We never thought it was going to happen. I bet many of them said, “Liz, we’ve been praying for you for so many years.” They rejoice with her.

Is there any area – just as an aside here – is there any area in the life of a church that is more dependent upon that verse, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep,” than when it comes to births and pregnancies? There’s almost nothing in a community more filled with great exuberant joy, and also great heartache. Especially in a room this size, it could be every single week, there would be those who have known joys and sorrows and those who are sitting on unbelievably good news and sitting on very difficult news. And it becomes challenging in the life of any family or any community, and yet Scripture tells us what we ought to do. Here’s one of the blessings and also one of the challenges when you enter into any community. If you just want to be a rock, an island like Paul Simon said, and you feel no pain – but if you’re going to be a part of a community, it means you open yourself up to everyone else’s joys, and you open yourself up to everyone else’s burdens. And that’s what the church of Jesus Christ is meant to be, that on any given day, you’re hearing news, you’re seeing it on social media, you’re getting a text, you’re getting a praise report or a prayer request, and you’re saying, “What wonderful good news,” and you’re also weeping with those who weep, and especially when it comes to children and birth and pregnancy. It’s that difficulty. So, let me just encourage you not to run away from each other in those moments. Yes, be sensitive, but sometimes you just retreat to your corners. Come in with great rejoicing when there’s joy, and come in with sorrow and weeping when there is sadness.

This family and these friends, these neighbors, they gather around Elizabeth, and they rejoice with her. On the eighth day, as was commanded – this is a law-abiding couple; we saw that at the very beginning, Zechariah and Elizabeth, they were blameless. It doesn’t mean they never committed sin. It meant these were exemplary Jews. And of course, then they obeyed the law. And on the eighth day, ever since Abraham, they were commanded to come and bring the child, the son, for circumcision. And it was customary that you would name your son, especially your firstborn son, after your father, maybe after your grandfather. But we see here in verse 59, everyone is just assuming Zechariah. Remember Zechariah hasn’t – his lips have been sealed. At least his tongue has been tied for nine months. And so, they’re assuming when this child is born that his name will be Zechariah. And Elizabeth says, “Whoa, no, no, no. Time out. Nope. His name shall be John.” Now, I said a moment ago that this is such a realistic picture of what a thick community is like. So, you have friends and neighbors coming around, throwing a big baby shower for Elizabeth, “We’re so happy for you.” And then this is also what community is like. You would think their response should be, “Oh, John. It’s your baby. That’s a good name. That’s a strong name. Yeah, John, sounds good.” But that’s not what they do: “Is there – can we ask the dad a second? ’Cause I don’t – you don’t – there’s no Johns in your family. We’re happy for you, Elizabeth. You made a mistake on naming your child.” That’s what communities are like, too. Friends and neighbors – we got some advice. I don’t like the name that you picked for your child. And so, they turn their attention to Zechariah. It is also, just incidentally, just a reminder, that though man-made traditions and customs can be good – I like traditions, Christmas is full of traditions and nostalgia – and they help provide order, they connect us to the past, they simplify our lives, because we say, “Well, this is the way we do things.” And yet, we must always keep those man-made traditions and customs in their place. They’re not sacred. Circumcise the son on the eighth day. That’s commanded. Name the firstborn son after your father. That’s custom and tradition. And it can be circumvented, especially when an angel tells you to do something else. So, keep our customs, keep our traditions in place.

So, they ask Zechariah what he thinks. Now, obviously he’s been able to communicate this – he was the one who was told this by the angel, and Elizabeth knows it, and the fact that he’s given a writing tablet – the first iPad in the Bible. Well, it wasn’t that, of course. It wasn’t even a legal pad. It wasn’t a clipboard. It was probably some kind of board that was overlaid with wax. And that’s probably how you would have, you think about it, maybe with your finger or a stick or something, you could write something, and then you could heat that up, and you could scrub out, and it’s a nice bit of technology. It’s a big mess, but it’s nice, and if you drop it, the glass doesn’t shatter. So, he writes here on this writing tablet, “His name is John.” You can point out that Elizabeth says, “Well, his name shall be John.” We were told to name him John. Now, Zechariah writes out, “No, there’s no future tense about this. This has already happened. We’ve named him John.” Not up for discussion. The name was given to him by the angel, and suddenly his tongue is loosened. He begins to speak for the first time in nine months, and what would you say if you had not said anything for nine months? Well, all he wants to do is bless the Lord. We have, in this little vignette, a whole series of reactions, and this multitude of reactions is a kind of precursor to the responses that will come to the gospel itself.

What do we see in this passage? There’s joy now with this happening. It says there’s fear. We’ve seen lots of talk. This was all the – you could just hear the buzz, the chatter in the hill country of Judea, just everyone, “Did you hear what happened with Elizabeth and Zechariah? Did you hear that they named their son John? Something is going on. Something crazy.” So you have joy, you have fear, you have lots of talk, you have curiosity, and you have some confusion. This is what we would find in the rest of the gospel, in John’s ministry, in Jesus’ ministry. You could add to it there also some unbelief and later some anger and hatred toward the Lord Jesus. But here we see this is often what happens when God’s word is proclaimed, and maybe some of you are in one of these emotional states with the Lord this morning: joy, fear, what is this?, confusion, curiosity, tell me more. It’s all the talk of the town. Well, it’s already starting. Almost everything about this precursor is going to be a precursor. He is the forerunner for the Messiah. And so, it makes sense that even with his birth, these responses are showing us the kind of responses that people will have to Jesus himself. This is the way it was and is and always will be on this earth, that when there is talk of Jesus, we’d like to think everyone just says, “Yay, Jesus.” And people may like a kind of sanitized version of Christmas and all the trappings, but if you really give them Jesus, with every hard thing Jesus says, with Jesus who came not to tell everybody that you’re great just the way you are, but that we’re so messed up and sinful that God himself had to die on a cross for us – that Jesus – there’s bound to be many reactions: joy, fear, unbelief, anger, curiosity.

And so it was already here with the birth of John. We see first, then, the baby, and then we see the blessing. We see in Zechariah – look first at the statement in verse 67, because this is important before we get to the blessing itself: “And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.” Then we get to the Benedictus. I want you to notice here in verse 67, because this is a very important theme in the Christmas story, but also in the Gospel of Luke and in Acts. Remember, Luke wrote the gospel according to Luke and Acts. And it tells us something important that we need to have with our doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Wonder if you notice something. John 1:15, it says – or rather Luke 1:15, it says about John, “He will be great before the Lord, must not take drink, wine, or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.” John would be filled with the Holy Spirit in utero. What evidence do we have of John being filled with the Holy Spirit? Well, it’s when he starts kicking and elbowing and jumping for joy in the womb when Mary enters the room. For John to be, as an unborn child, filled with the Holy Spirit – it gives him this grace to communicate this excitement for Christ. Look at chapter 1, verse 41. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 42, she exclaimed with a loud voice.

So Elizabeth, too, is filled with the Holy Spirit. We’re seeing the fulfillment of the prophecy from Joel that the Holy Spirit will come upon sons and daughters. They will be filled with the Holy Spirit. We see here that Zechariah, verse 67, filled with the Holy Spirit, he prophesies, and then he utters this song, this word. Well, we could trace it out into Acts – Acts chapter 2. The disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit. They begin to speak in utterances, and there it’s the miracle of tongues. In Acts 4:8, it says, “Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, and then he spoke the word of God.” Acts 4:31, we read, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” In Acts 9, it says Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, and then he preaches the word. Acts 13:9, again, Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, and in this case he looks intently at this false teacher, this magician named Elymas, and he rebukes him for his deceit. Do you detect a pattern? All of those examples in Luke and Acts, what happens when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit? They then speak boldly the truth about Jesus Christ. If you want evidence of someone being filled with the Spirit – we sometimes use that language very casually, so-and-so was really filled with the Spirit, that was really Spirit-filled worship – well, I hope so. What would spirit-filled worship look like? Well, it may show itself in different physical manifestations. It may show itself in different exuberance or not. People have different emotional registers. Different cultures shape us in different ways. Certainly, we have a Presbyterian culture that shapes us in certain ways, no doubt, and others might be given to be more expressive. But what is really the surefire indication of Spirit-filled worship? Is it something you feel? Well, feelings are good. Is it an impression you get? Does it mean that it’s particularly spontaneous? We see in Luke and Acts the evidence of being filled with the Spirit of God is that the word of God is truthfully and boldly spoken. Spirit-filled worship is when the prayers and the hymns and the songs and the sermons and the liturgy are all infused with the word of God, and we express them from our hearts. That’s the Spirit. If you want to say, “Pastor, that was Spirit-filled preaching” – I hope you pray for that about every single Sunday. You know, we do gather there every single Sunday in that little prayer room and pray. Several of the elders or pastors, whoever come. I will pray maybe every single Sunday something like this, “Lord, would you anoint the preaching of your word? Would you give an unction from the Holy Spirit for this word, so that your people would hear not just a man with a message, but they would hear the Lord Jesus speaking to them?” That’s the work of the Holy Spirit.

We see it in this Christmas story and throughout the gospel and Acts – the evidence of the filling of the Holy Spirit. This bold declaration of God’s word, because the Spirit – what does the Spirit, what does he love to do? The Spirit is that spotlight, to throw a spotlight upon Christ, to say, “Look upon Christ. Think of Christ.” And everything in these Spirit-filled praises are ultimately directing our attention to the Messiah.

There are two parts to this song, turning to the blessing itself. The first part focuses on the promise, verses 68-75, and the second part on the prophet. So, baby and blessing; now under the blessing, two parts: the promise and the prophet. Mary’s song started narrow and then went broad. Mary’s song started personal – my soul magnifies the Lord – and by the end, it’s national and universal. Zechariah’s song moves in the opposite direction. It starts with God’s wide mercy to his people and then narrows at the end, attention to the special child who has just been born and the work that he will do to prepare the way. Notice the promise here in the first part of this Benedictus. In verses 68- 70, Zechariah recounts three things: the Lord has visited and redeemed his people, he has raised up a horn of salvation for us, and he has spoken by the prophets of old. And then after those three things promised, he outlines quickly four results of those promises in verses 71-74. One, that we should be saved from our enemies. Two, that we would be shown mercy. Three, that God would remember his covenant with Abraham. And four, that we might serve him. I don’t think there’s a secret code here, but it falls very nicely into that 3 + 4 = 7. Three promises, four responses, as Zechariah outlines what all of these blessings have done for us. All of this set in motion, now finding its fulfillment because the forerunner has been born. The promise long ago, verse 73. The oath he swore to our father Abraham – now that is coming to fruition. Now we know our Bibles, many of us, and we think about Abraham. Of course, he’s a very important person in the whole Bible. Yeah, might take us a year to read through the whole thing, and we know Abraham’s way back at Genesis at the beginning of the book, but we really can lose track of just how long this was: 2,000 years, these promises to Abraham. 2,000 years. That’s older than America by a bit. 2,000 years. That’s how long it’s been since this happened. Think about that. All of that time, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled, and now you understand why these scenes are exploding with joy. 2,000 years. You think of everything that has happened in 2,000 years, everything you have to learn in your Western Civ class. I still hope you have one of those. And that’s just Western civilization. You got the whole world in 2,000 years since the Roman Empire. That’s how long they waited. And now the long-awaited deliverance is upon them. The waiting is over.

Advent is a season of waiting. We’re looking forward to the first coming. We’re waiting for the second coming. And perhaps it’s fitting that in God’s providence, Advent has also become a time where you do lots of waiting. There’s extra cars on the road. You’re waiting in traffic. You’re waiting an extra day or two for your packages to be delivered. I mean, oh, the hardships. Sometimes they come in three days. It’s terrible. All of the waiting and all of the lines, and many of us still have presents to do and wrapping paper to get. I made the mistake on Friday afternoon – I went to the post office. Oh, rookie mistake, pastor.

It was a beautiful day. I walked from my office up there, down to the Matthews post office. I knew it would be busy, but all I needed was stamps. And I know there’s a little kiosk there just to get stamps. I wasn’t going to wait in the whole line with all the people. The queue was almost out the door, and I waited in just that one line and even saw, you know, saw people from church there. As it happens, it helps the pastor, you know, try to be on his best behavior waiting in line. But it took maybe 10 minutes for my turn, watching people weigh out their packages on there, and all I need is stamps. I’ve done this before. I’m going to – like a boss, I’m going to get these stamps. I have my credit card out. I see all these people. There’s a guy right behind me who has a dolly full of packages. People are looking like just life itself is draining from their faces. But I have my credit card. All I need is stamps, and I’m ready to go, because I’ve done this. And I think, you all are going to bless the woman that bore me when I get through with this, how fast I go. So, I hit stamps, and it says, you know, four to 100. I think I don’t want to wait in this line again. Dial up a hundred stamps, because you know they just zip out in those pages of 10 or 20 that just come right down there in the kiosk, and I give my credit card, and it says something that I ignore – something like, you know, we only have 4-inch stamps available. Four inch – that’s a big – I don’t know what that is, so continue. Have you done this? So, I just ordered the maximum number of stamps. Everybody waiting. 100 stamps. And that 4-inch deal was like this, and it does – I won’t do the whole thing – but it’s like an old dot matrix printer or something. It just – you just saw the scan, and it makes a lot of noise and drops out one stamp. They’re coming out one at a time. That’s what it meant. They don’t have the sheets. They just have the big – four – I am feeling really low. I wait what seems like forever until I finally just nonchalantly just grab a pile of them, hoping that we’re about there. I count out 12. I wait a few more minutes and grab, and it’s just eight more. It just seemed – I can see everyone, and I was – pride comes before a fall. I was ready. So, I start thinking of options. The best option I have is to turn – well, I already turned around. I said, “I’m sorry, they’re only printing one at a time.” And my next step was going to be to just leave and explain to everyone, “I’m sorry. This is going to be about 15 minutes. The good news is just take the stamps. Just as they come out, just take the stamps when they come.” But then I think, well, then it’s going to – the credit card is still in there, and it’s going to say continue or are you done? And I do think how much postage could somebody really buy in one day on my credit card? It might just be worth it to walk out here. But I don’t, and I come up with my second plan, which is to hit every possible button that’s there until finally something says, “Do you wish to cancel?” Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So I shrunk out of there with 38 stamps. Took about nine minutes to get my 38 stamps and felt so ashamed – all the people that I kept waiting. And what would it have been for 100 stamps? Oh, I don’t want to know. It felt so long. It would have been 15 very, very long minutes at 10 seconds a stamp. I would not have been making friends and influencing people. I would have said, “No, about Christ Covenant? No, I’m pastor at First Baptist” or something or other.

But you can relate, because you don’t like to wait. I don’t like to wait. It’s not one of my strong suits. Patience in lines, waiting, waiting, waiting. And we’re so spoiled, because our waiting is you miss the cycle at the light – two minutes. Worst case scenario at the post office – 20 minutes. DMV – a day. But you just, you’re waiting, you’re waiting, you’re waiting. We can’t fathom this kind of waiting. This must have seemed to them like wishful thinking – for centuries, through thousands of years, millions of prayers, and not to make light at all of the tears, the heartache, the wondering, the wandering. They must have thought, as some of you may really deep down think about your pain and your sorrow and whether Christ is coming, and you think he will not really come, because for 2,000 years many of them must have thought that, until one day he did. And here is the prophet to announce the coming of this child, to say after all of those journeys, the exodus and slavery and bondage and captivity and ups and lots of downs. Now, finally, the prophet will come.

So, first the promise, then Zechariah turns his attention to the prophet, the one who will announce that the days of waiting are over. Verse 76, “You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High.” He is a special child. He’s a prophet. He will give knowledge of salvation. He will announce the good news of forgiveness, because the hope is not ultimately in this child from Elizabeth and Zechariah, but in the one that their child will announce. The whole prophetic tradition is brought into the present moment, finding its fulfillment in John and then ultimately in Jesus, the completion. So we do not believe in more prophets to come, or quorum of prophets, or further prophet in Muhammad. Here is the fullness and the finality of the prophetic tradition: John, to announce the prophet, Christ. The son of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings (Malachi 4:2). There’s an allusion there in verse 78: the sunrise shall visit us from on high. This kind visitation is according to the Lord’s mercy, his tender mercy. That translates there splagchna, sometimes translated elsewhere in the New Testament as the bowels of Christ – in your innermost being. That feeling-affecting part, his tender mercies, the bowels of his mercy. For the people sitting in darkness, he has sent them light.

God loves to send light. Are you willing to see it? What happens if somebody wakes you up early in the morning? And at this time in the winter months, it’s still dark if you get up at almost 7. Somebody flips on all of the lights. What do you want to do? You want to bury your head under the covers. It’s too bright. Some of you may be doing that with the light of God’s glory, or with his convicting grace in your life, or even at this Christmas season. You’re almost close to taking Christ really, really seriously, more seriously than you ever have. And the light is making you a little uncomfortable. Walk into the light. Enjoy the light. You know, yesterday was one of those beautiful southern winter days. Was it a high in the mid-50s? You’re not sure, if I go out, do I need jeans and boots? Do I need a sweatshirt if I’m going to go on a run? Do I have shorts and a t-shirt? But it’s one of those days, if you were there in the early afternoon, where it’s just cold enough – if you’re in the shade, you’re a little chilly. And yet to stand in the sun – it’s not one of those hot blistering days, humidity, you need the shade. It’s one of those crisp, wintry kind of days, 50°. You want every bit of warmth of the sun. Just I’ll take all of it. You know, lay down on your driveway and just take all of the sun’s rays you can get. Why? Because it’s just a little cold outside. When it’s cold, it’s when you need all the sun you can get, to soak it up, to take in the light. We see in this family – Elizabeth, Zechariah, John – some of the first and best theologians for the Christ. We saw Elizabeth, in some ways the first trinitarian theologian – she’s filled with the Spirit, she recognizes Mary is carrying the Lord, the Messiah, the son of God, that Mary is blessed because she believes the word that was spoken to her from God the Father. Then we have John leaping for joy in the presence of the Lord, like dancing – like David dancing before the ark. Why did David dance? Because the presence of God was in his midst. And so, he couldn’t help but rejoice, and so John dances in the womb as God’s presence is there. And here Zechariah professes that this child will be the servant of the Most High, of God the Father, and he will prepare the way for the Lord – kyriou – Jesus is called Lord in verse 43. The prophecy from Malachi was that the Lord would come to his temple. From Isaiah 40, “Prepare the way for the Lord, a highway for our God.” The Lord who would come is none other than God himself. Elizabeth sees it. John will announce it. Zechariah here sings of it.

Zechariah not only offers us this song, but I want you to think about this in closing. He is a parable for Israel and for us. We saw a few weeks ago this rich theological imagery. Why would Zechariah’s punishment be the absence of a voice? It is to mirror that 400 years of prophetic silence from God. Just as the prophetic word had been silent, so now Zechariah will be silent. When does he finally speak again? When the voice, John, has been born. When that voice comes into the world, Zechariah’s voice returns. And what – the silence, to the voice, and what does the voice do? He prepares the way for the word. Zechariah knows that this one who has come – “Among those born of women, there will be no one greater,” Jesus himself says, because he will not only point to one to come, but he will physically be able to say, “Right there, look at him, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” And so, God opens his mouth again, just as by the voice of John, he will warn the people again, calling them to repentance. Another chance for Zechariah and another chance for Israel, and here’s the lesson – another chance for you. Zechariah models what real repentance looks like. He made a mistake – a moment of incredulity, of doubt – and he learned from it. And on the other side, they’re obedient. They circumcise their child. He doesn’t come away from the Lord’s discipline with a sullen spirit. He’s not bitter. I think many of us, maybe even my own cranky heart, my first words might have been, after nine months of God-imposed silence, might have been a little complaining, a little groaning, maybe defending myself. Let me explain what happened. Instead, with Zechariah, as soon as he can speak, the only thing on his mind is to bless God.

This, in miniature, is the story of Israel. They had another opportunity to return. That’s what John’s message would be about: to prepare the way. How are you prepared? Repent. Most of them, sadly, would fail to recognize the one that he was preparing the way for. “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into to the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” I hope that’s not you. Now, that’s talking about his own Jewish people. But you think of all of the privileges we have in a place like Charlotte, in a place like Christ Covenant, a good Bible denomination like the PCA, a part of the country that still has lots of Christians and churches. To his own people – will you receive him? What have you done with the Lord’s second chance, third chance, 400th chance? Zechariah blew it in his moment. Some of you can look back on this week, or you feel like your whole life has been an episode of failing the moment God gives you. Well, he gives you now another moment. He’s opening his mouth through this word, speaking to you. Do you have ears to listen? Because Zechariah announces this amazing, good news to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because the oath he swore to our father Abraham, he will not forget. Here’s the gospel: God always remembers his covenant. And in Christ, he will forget your sins. That’s the good news of Christmas: knowing what God remembers and knowing what God forgets. Forgiveness is enjoying the light that God has provided for you in Christ. Only in Christ. You don’t want to go out on a winter day and put yourself in the bitter wind. Some of you are. You don’t go out on a winter’s day and go hide in the shade. You say, “Give me some sun, some light, some warmth.” That’s what it’s like to know Jesus. That’s what it’s like to be forgiven. That’s what it’s like to know that he came, and he is coming again. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, may you do this work of light and life for us. We pray that we would not be hard of hearing, that we would be like Zechariah, full of faith and obedience and contrition and do this work in our midst, by your word and your Spirit, that we may lift up our heads and be ready to welcome the Savior in. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

A People Prepared

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 14:42:38 GMT

Let’s come to the Lord in prayer once more.

Gracious heavenly Father, what good news we have just sung. Remind us, now and throughout these next weeks, when we think about these sweet, often familiar scenes – perhaps see around town, or in our own homes, a nativity set. We think of the precious baby Jesus, and precious he is. May we also remember that the one born to the Virgin Mary was and is the son of God, the second person of the Trinity, very and eternal God, equal with the Father, of the same essence of the Father, who came down to take on man’s nature in the fullness of time. So, help us that we may be a remembering people, a worshiping people, and a believing people. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 1. We’ll be reading verses 5-25. So, we spend these several weeks leading up to Christmas in the beginning of Luke’s gospel. Some of these familiar scenes of the Christmas story are actually leading up to the Christmas story itself. Remember last week in the opening paragraph where Luke explains that he has endeavored to give an orderly account. Yes, he’s superintended by the Holy Spirit so that what he writes down is from God, inspired, without error. But at the same time, he’s using his intellect, his personality, his skill as a historian, as a thinker, and he’s pulling together all of these bits of information. You can almost imagine him with scraps of notes or ideas in his head, as he has listened and contacted eyewitnesses, and he has all of this material together, and you think, “What does he start the story with?” There are four gospels, and they all start in a different way. John starts with that magnificent prologue – “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God” – and then moves right into the ministry. Mark’s gospel does a little introduction of John the Baptist and then Jesus’ baptism. Matthew tells the Christmas story, but he starts with the genealogy for his own purposes. So, it’s striking that Luke begins this story not with Jesus (we know that’s coming), not even with Mary and Joseph (we’ll get to that), not even with John the Baptist (though he’s going to show up here in a few verses). But rather, unique to Luke’s gospel, he starts not with Jesus or his parents or John who will prepare for Jesus, but with John’s mother and father. There’s good reason that he does so, introducing to us not only the Christmas story, but really the purpose of this whole gospel. Beginning at verse 5, we read:

“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.’ And Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.’ And the angel answered him, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.’ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them. And they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days, his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. And for five months, she kept herself hidden, saying, ‘Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.’”

We can look at this story on two levels. The personal level – we have many familiar elements for many of us and familiar names as the Christmas story unfolds. I like to think of it as just find the DeYoung children somewhere in the Christmas story. We thought about Joseph for one of our later boys, but we already had a Mary and an Elizabeth, and Ian is just Scottish for John, and his middle name is Zechariah. So, it seemed a little presumptuous to throw in a Gabriel or any more children into the Christmas story. Many of you know this story, and one way to understand it is on a personal level. It’s a personally moving story for this couple and their new child.

But we can also look at it on the epochal level. That’s the word epoch – epic, epoch – epochal. So, we can look at this on a personal level, dealing with the people in the story, and then at the level of one epoch to another – a new day dawning in Israel, a page turning in the history of the world. So, I want us to look at this story on those two levels, and then at the end, we’ll see how they intersect.

So first, then, the personal level. We can look at this through four different scenes. First paragraph: we find a masterful introduction. Luke is really good at what he’s doing. He’s very smart. He’s a very good, careful, precise writer, and he has crammed a lot into this opening paragraph. He reminds us again that he is giving us an orderly account. He notes out these historical geographic markers – “in the days of Herod, king of Judea.” So we are in a real place that everyone would have recognized – Judea – it’s there on the map, they know where it is. Herod – everyone knew who Herod was. They call him king of the Jews. He wasn’t really a king. He was sort of a vassal servant of the Roman Empire. Different Herods ruled throughout this time in Israel’s history. So, we’re here, not in myth, not in legend, but in fact, in history, and he introduces to us the two main characters at the beginning of this story. First, there was a priest named Zechariah. His name, Zechariah, means Yahweh. That’s the ending part – Yah – when you see that at the end of Jewish names, that’s short for Yahweh. Yahweh has remembered again. And we’re not drawing attention to the meaning of his name, but surely there’s some significance, because this whole story is about God once again remembering his people. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Forget not all his benefits. We are a forgetting people. You could summarize the Christian life in remembering what we ought to remember and knowing what God has forgotten. He forgets, as it were, our sins – removes them as far as the east is from the west. He remembers his covenant promises.

Here’s Zechariah, a priest. He’s from the ancient priestly clan of Abijah. And he’s married to a woman who also comes from a priestly line – Elizabeth, one of the daughters of Aaron. Recall that Aaron’s wife, Exodus 6:23, was named Elisheba, just another version of Elizabeth, Aaron, Moses’ brother, the first high priest – his wife was Elizabeth, a common name in the first century, and a common name among the Jews. So, we have these two people, Zechariah and Elizabeth. They both come from a noble, priestly lineage, and they’re godly. Look at verse 6: “They were righteous before God.” Now, this is not a reference to the righteousness that comes by God counting to us the righteousness of Christ. This is not justification. This is simply saying, “This was an obedient couple.” In fact, look at the next description: “walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” Some of us get tripped up with language like this. But this is common enough throughout the Bible. Blameless here does not mean flawless, sinless, perfection – we’re going to see that Zechariah has unbelief in his heart – but rather blameless as marking out their character. Think about the requirement for an elder or deacon, that he must be above reproach. Doesn’t mean that there’s no sin in his life, but it means that you could look and see that here is an example of godly obedience, and when there is sin, there is quickly turning to the Lord and repentance and knowing forgiveness – blameless in walking in the statutes of the Lord.

Just a little parentheses here: sometimes we describe the Christian life in such a way that all we can look forward to is unrelenting failure. Day after day, all you ever do is fail God. Now, praise God, he still sort of covers his eyes and looks at Jesus, and then you get to heaven, but he looks at you and he doesn’t much care for you. That’s not the story that we’re told. This couple, there’s nothing here to suggest that they’ve merited the Lord’s favor, but God can look upon them. Remember Job? “Have you considered my servant Job? He’s blameless in all his ways” – it’s a way of describing, just as most of you would know, perhaps your spouse or a parent or a grandparent or some friend in the church, you would say, “Now, there’s an example of what it means to be a Christian. There’s someone who follows the Lord. There’s someone who is sincere in their obedience.” Let’s not be more “spiritual” than the Bible is and act as if it is impossible to live a life – under God’s grace, saved by his grace – that is then pleasing to him. The great commission: “Go into all the world, make disciples, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded them.” Some of us hear the great commission as if there were a little footnote that says, at the very bottom and squint print, “But of course, you can’t obey anything.” No, Paul says in Romans that their obedience is known throughout the whole world, so here we have an exemplary, godly couple. You could hardly, in the span of two verses, present a more positive description of husband and wife than we have here with Zechariah, the priest from this priestly clan, who married Elizabeth, one of the daughters of Aaron, given the name of Aaron’s wife, that ancient high priest, and they are righteous before God, and they walk in all of his ways. This is a godly, exemplary couple with a noble lineage and an exemplary faith.

However, “but,” verse 7. Sometimes we encounter that adversative – that “but” – which then leads us to God’s grace. Here, it leads us to a problem: “But they had no child.” In fact, you notice in quick succession three things that seemed to be wrong with this godly, great couple. They had no child. Elizabeth was barren, and to make matters worse, they were both advanced in years. We’ll see at the very end that to be without children was considered a reproach, especially in that culture. Now, careful here. It doesn’t mean that they had done anything wrong. In fact, Luke is making it abundantly clear: this is a godly, blameless couple. So, you can’t say, “Well, they didn’t have kids. I guess they’re being punished for something.” Obviously, they’re not. They are exemplary in every way, and yet – as some of you have known this pain – they could not conceive. They could not have a child. And it is true in our day, and it would have been especially true in that day – for a godly couple like Zechariah and Elizabeth to go throughout life with countless prayers, and yet, after all of these years, now into old age, without a child must have been for them a sense of great grief and pain. And so, we’re meeting, by Jewish standards, what should be this absolute success story of a family – priest, married to a descendant of a priest, righteous and blameless, but here’s the problem. It didn’t seem that they could have any kids.

Now, as painful as that is, if you know your Bible, and the people who were first reading the Gospel of Luke, if they would have known their Hebrew scriptures, even with that pain, they would have had their interest piqued. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Something big may be about to happen, because it seems that whenever we encounter a couple like this, and she can’t have a child, there is something big on the horizon. Sarah couldn’t have a child. Leah had kids. Rachel, at first unable to have a child. Hannah, who gave birth to Samuel. Samson’s mother. So many times in the Old Testament, we read, “and the woman was unable to conceive and have a child,” and yet, it’s preparing us for something extraordinary. Luke is masterfully setting the stage with this introduction.

Next paragraph: second scene is a surprising visitation. He’s a priest, and he serves – twice a year would have the opportunity to serve around the temple. We can piece things together pretty well from the Old Testament, from the Jewish first-century historian Josephus, and then from the Mishnah, which is a later Jewish source – a couple of centuries after the New Testament, but it often reflects practices during the New Testament. We can use all of that and piece together pretty well what this is talking about. 1 Corinthians – or rather, 1 Chronicles 24 – David organized the priesthood into 24 divisions. Aaron had four sons: Nadab and Abihu, and they were killed for offering unauthorized fire, and that left two sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar. And during David’s day, they divided the priesthood into 16 clans from Eleazar, eight from the sons of Ithamar – so 24 divisions total. And you can read in 1 Chronicles 24, they cast lots to get the order, and sure enough, there’s Abijah. He’s eighth in the order. Well, each of these divisions would come to Jerusalem, or some families of the division would come to Jerusalem twice a year. You would be on duty for one week at two different periods – for 48 weeks out of the year, as they would have, with the lunar calendar, put things together. So twice a year, your division has to attend to the priestly duties. Wherever you are in Israel, you have to come. But everyone doesn’t have to come. Those ancient sources tell us that there were about 750 priests in each of those 24 divisions. So 18,000 priests scattered throughout Israel. And your division comes up, and you have your week, and each of those divisions would consist of various priestly families that would serve a daily rotation. So you got your two weeks, and then your group has got a day, and you would go up and you would attend to the work of the temple. There are morning and evening sacrifices, and at those sacrifices in the temple – so, a lot of the work takes place outside in the courtyard where you offer the sacrifice, but you go in and inside the temple that holy place would be the table with the showbread, and then the lampstand, the seven lipped menorah, and then an altar of incense. And the offering of sacrifice inside the temple was to mirror the offering of the sacrifice outside the temple. So, to go in and be the priest – the morning sacrifice or the evening sacrifice – to go in and sprinkle the incense. Incense represents the prayers of the people. We see that in Revelation. We see that in the Old Testament. That’s why we have the people, the multitude gathering here. We can guess that this is probably the early evening slash late afternoon, rather than the morning, because people throughout the history of the world like to sleep in in the morning. So, the bigger crowd was probably here, this one in the evening sacrifice.

So your division is on the hook twice a year, and then your particular family or group of families would be there, and then you would get a lot to see who would have the inestimable privilege of going into the temple, sprinkling the sacrifice, the incense, on the altar. This was literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You could only receive this once, and it was chosen by lots because this was the Lord’s way of saying, “I will determine.” This was not a beauty contest. This was not a righteousness contest. This was not based on seniority or money, but by lots. And sure enough, it’s his division, his family, his day. And there’s the lot: Zachchariah, it’s your turn. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enter into the holy place at the hour of incense and sprinkle there, as the people were praying outside, and offer a prayer for the nation. And there, on this greatest day of his life, it’s about to get even better, but more fearful. There, on the right side of the altar of incense, we read, there’s an angel. Now, we don’t know for sure, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that Zechariah had never seen an angel before. Never even watched It’s a Wonderful Life. He didn’t – he hadn’t seen an angel, at least not one he was aware of. Most of you, I think, have never seen an angel that you knew of. Hebrews says we might visit with angels unawares, but an angel revealed in its full glory. Standing right there is an angel. And just as people do throughout the Bible, when they encounter God or hear a messenger of God, he trembles. He’s afraid. And the angel responds. He says, “Do not be afraid.”

And notice what he says in verse 13: “Zechariah, your prayer has been heard and your wife will bear you a son.” Now, we don’t know exactly what prayer he has in mind. We know that Zechariah offered a prayer on behalf of the people. Later Jewish sources tell us that the people outside prayed this prayer: “May the merciful God enter the holy place and accept with favor the offering of his people.” So perhaps Zechariah prayed something like that. It was only a short prayer, maybe something from Psalm 4 or 5. It was just a couple of sentences, and as a righteous, devout, blameless priest, surely he stayed on script, and he prayed what he meant – what he was supposed to pray for the people. So when it says, “this prayer has been heard and your wife will bear a son,” almost certainly the angel means the prayers that you have been praying for years. All of those times, just as any couple would pray, “God, could you give us a child?” And all of those years, the answer was no. And sometimes the answer is no. And sometimes after no, no, no, there is a surprising yes. The angel says, “Your prayers have been heard, and you will have a son, and you shall call his name John. Now that’s surprising, because it’s not a family name. We’ll come to that in the weeks ahead. But it also is striking, because it was normally the responsibility of the parents, just as it is today – or in particular, in that culture, the father – to name the child. And when God interrupts that normal process, it’s usually because that child has some special purpose. Adam, in the garden, was given the right to name the animals. It was representative of his authority. And so, when God says, “Alright, you’re going to have a child, but time out – you don’t have to get the baby book – I’m telling you his name.” It’s because I have this one chosen for a special purpose, and you shall call his name John.

And truly, this was no ordinary child. Look at what the angel announces, heaping up all of these special events and occupations and occurrences for this baby. Many will rejoice at his coming. He will be great before the Lord. He will be set apart as an ascetic. That’s what it means when it says no wine or strong drink. Those are not the same things, but strong drink means some fermented alcoholic beverage that doesn’t come from the vine – so wine was the lesser strong alcohol, and this would be barley beer or something. No wine or beer for this child. Now, it’s not exactly a Nazirite vow, but it’s a way of saying he’s going to be an ascetic, he’s going to be a prophet, he is going to come from the wilderness. “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit” – do you see that, verse 15? – “even from his mother’s womb.” It may be that you were given that seed of regeneration even before you were born. Who’s to say that’s not what happened to you? Who’s to say that God is not at work? Many of us will grow up, and this is what I say when there’s a baptism, and we want to never know a day when we didn’t know Jesus. And many of us cannot pinpoint and say, you know, that’s the day I think I was born again. It may have even happened that the Holy Spirit began working in your life before you ever saw the light of this world and you were there in your mother’s womb. And doesn’t this tell us something, also, about the preciousness of life in the womb? That this child is already the object of the Holy Spirit’s work, lest any would be tempted to snuff out the life of an unborn child or allow and provide legislation that would give the right to snuff out the life of one who may be the object of the Holy Spirit’s work. This is a full human person from the womb. John was gifted with the Holy Spirit. The angel says he will come in the spirit and the power of Elijah. Jesus will later say, of those born of women in the normal way, no one has been greater than John the Baptist. That’s how significant the birth of this child is.

The next paragraph, we come to scene three: an incredulous priest. Now, you look at verse 18, you can sympathize with Zechariah. I’m sympathetic to this question. How shall I know this? Think about it. This is a pretty big day for Zechariah. I can understand the question uppermost in his mind. First of all, it’s our day, my family’s day, to attend to the service of the temple, and then my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go and offer the incense in the holy place. Man, this is a day. And then, when I get in there, I see an angel. And then the angel talks to me, and he tells me that my wife is going to have a child. And then that’s not all, but this child is blowing my mind, is coming in the power and the spirit of Elijah. Yeah, you would have some questions, too. So he says, just like so many throughout the Bible, how? I mean, Abraham asked for a sign. Gideon asked for a sign. Hezekiah, Ahaz, they all asked for a sign. How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and – how can I put this delicately? – my wife, she’s advanced. Advanced in years is my wife. I’m old. She’s gifted in the number of years that she’s been given. I don’t know how many years, but she’s advanced in years. And look at what the angel says: “I am Gabriel.” You notice how Zechariah introduced himself: “I am old.” The angel says, “So? I’m Gabriel.” In fact, he says three things: I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you this good news. You know what we do with God’s word? We don’t, most of us, immediately say, “Well, I, no, I don’t like God’s word.” You take it, but so many of us take God’s word, and we put it in the balance, on the scale, and we say, “Okay, that’s – I get it. That’s weighty to me. I’m a Christian. I believe God’s word. I’m going to look at that, but you know what? I got some other things to put in the scale. I’ve not seen miracles. I’ve not seen angels before.”

So here, Zechariah, for all of his godliness, he gets the word, and then he has, in this side of the scale, I’m old, and my wife is advanced in years. Gabriel says, “So? I’m not even just an angel. I’m an archangel.” One of two named angels in the Bible. Michael is the angel who’s depicted in Daniel and in Revelation as the one who fights for God’s people. He sort of does the heavenly fight, mirroring the earthly fight. And then Gabriel is the announcing angel. I was sent to bring you this good news, but you did not have ears to hear it, so no one shall hear from you until it’s fulfilled. See, the punishment fits the crime. There’s a grace to it. He doesn’t strike him dead like God did with Nadab and Abihu in the Old Testament. He just says, “You didn’t have ears to hear it, so no one will have ears to hear from you until this thing is fulfilled.” Meanwhile, outside, verse 21, there’s a delay. People were waiting, and you can understand there’s probably hundreds of people gathered here, wondering what’s happened. Later Jewish sources, again, suggest, and this may have been the practice, that four priests would attend that priest to make sure that he made it out of the holy place alive. Tells us that he was to offer a short prayer, lest the people begin to worry, because as he goes into the holy place and this lasts more than 30 seconds, a minute, two minutes, people are – well, they don’t have watches, but they would look at the tan line and say, “What?” And look at this. So, what’s going on? Where is he? You can get the sense the crowd is starting to talk, starting to murmur. Where is he? What’s happened? Where did Zechariah go? And he comes out, and he tries to say something. Speak up! He’s trying to do something.

Do you see again how the Bible is – this is a public event? I’m reading this biography of Joseph Smith, who, according to the Mormon faith, found the golden plates and never, ever showed them to anyone, and they have revelations of how to interpret them. No, this is not some just private revelation that happens somewhere. This is a public event. Luke has compiled these things. There were, no doubt, hundreds of people who could have said, “Oh, yeah. I remember that day. Craziest day of my life. See, we were in the temple. We went to the evening sacrifice. We thought it’d be fun. You know, get the kids, let’s go to the evening sacrifice. And, you know, Zechariah goes in, and then all of a sudden, we’re waiting, we’re waiting, and he comes out, and he’s a mime. And he can’t speak. Oh, I’ll never forget that day. This was a public event, this dramatic delay.

A surprising encounter, an incredulous priest, and then a grateful wife. Fourth scene in this last paragraph: “After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived.” Surely Zechariah found some way to communicate and wrote something down or acted it out, and she understood what was happening. They conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden. We don’t know for sure why she kept herself hidden, except it’s connected there to what she says in verse 25: “The Lord has looked upon me to take away my reproach among people.” I think she’s waiting until she has some visible proof. Can you imagine that this priestly couple, this priest and his wife, this godly couple – they had no doubt asked their friends many times, their family members. Zechariah, Elizabeth, how’s it going? Could you pray for us? We really want to have a baby. Could you pray for us? Who knows that there might have been close calls. Maybe there was a miscarriage – I’m just speculating. Maybe there was a time where she told her friends, you know, I’m delayed this month. I think something might be happening. And it never did. And all of those months and all of those years and all of those prayers, that unique and exquisite pain, which some of you know too well, to celebrate with those who were with child and yet bear a sense of grief herself. No, no, no. She’s going to keep this hidden until she can finally emerge. She doesn’t have to explain. Well, she will have to explain, but there’s proof. Are you sure? No, I’m sure now. So, she keeps herself hidden for five months until what was impossible has become possible.

You can understand, at one level, this is a poignant personal story. I picture that first paragraph like an opening musical montage in a movie. You know, the movie Up does this so well. It’s so poignant, and it’s makes you smile, then it makes you cry, where they tell the whole story of the couple falling in love and getting married and their ups and downs, and a child that didn’t come, and then the wife died. It’s beautifully done. That’s this first paragraph. Luke’s pulling all the strands. Let me introduce you to Zechariah and Elizabeth, of noble lineage and a godly couple, but they can’t have a child. And then to the big day with Zechariah, the clan of Abijah, his family, the casting of lots, the dramatic encounter. He meets the angel. He gets this word. It’s too good to be true. And so he doesn’t quite believe it. He’s chastised. And then maybe there’s a scene of Zechariah returning home and he and Elizabeth holding hands, and they look into each other’s eyes, and there’s a believing smile and anticipation, and then a tiny baby bump and some tears of joy. This unexpected child would be a gift to his father and mother. It is a poignant personal story. But of course, it doesn’t begin to explain the world-changing significance of this story.

I said I had two points. Rest assured, the first point was 80% – 85. The personal level, but now finally the epochal – the level of epoch or epic or era or age. Because this is more than just an answered prayer. It’s the answered prayer of a husband and a wife. And it’s the answered prayer, though they didn’t know it at the time, of an entire nation. The scene that Luke tells us very deliberately: “the whole multitude,” verse 10, “of the people were praying.” The nation is praying at the hour of incense. What are they praying for? They’re praying for the Lord’s blessing upon the nation. Would God’s presence come into the temple? Would he bestow upon us all of the blessed promises of the Mosaic covenant? Yes and amen to those promises. A new period of blessing is beginning with this surprising act of grace for a couple whose fertility options seemed as good as dead. Yes, we’re meant to think a new kind of Abraham and Sarah. And the prayers have been heard, not only from Zechariah and Elizabeth, but the prayers of the nation for centuries and centuries. Think of Malachi chapter 3, the last prophet in the Old Testament: “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.” The very end of Malachi chapter 4: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” This is the fulfillment of that expectation, and it will be met with joy by many.

It’s also a parable enacted. Think of where this announcement comes – when he’s in the temple, he’s in the holy place among God’s holy people. And yet, what do we know from Jesus’ ministry about the religion of Israel in the first century? Remember, he curses the fig tree, and that’s a symbol of clearing out the temple, because Israelite religion had become, to so many of them, dead legalism. It had become just perfunctory ritual. It was like a fig tree that bore no figs. And so, here is a picture of the barrenness of Israel’s religion to match the barrenness of Zechariah’s wife. And maybe even verse 23 is hinting at something: “When the time of service was ended, he went home.” Because we know from the rest of the New Testament that time of the priestly service is coming to an end. There will only be one priest, and that is the high priest, Jesus Christ, after the order of Melchizedek. And his priestly intercession will continue. But this whole priestly system is coming to an end, just like Zechariah’s day came to an end, and he returned home. And surely you can see the connection between the silence of Zechariah and the silence that had befallen the nation of Israel for 400 years. Not since Malachi in the 400s BC had a prophet come, an inspired prophet to give the will of God to the people. 400 years. Think about – a lot has happened in the world since 1625. That’s even before the Westminster Confession, on the cusp of the English Civil War. 400 years – all of that history, they had not heard. It had been a time of silence. And so the angel says, as it were, to Zechariah, “You shall be silent until the voice is born.” Because in Luke chapter 3, when John announces his ministry, he quotes from Isaiah chapter 40 and declares that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way for the Lord.”

Silence in Israel. Silence in Zechariah until the voice is born. And the voice speaks of what? The word. From the silence to the voice who will announce and point to the word made flesh. He is going to be a unique prophet. Other prophets, for sure, announced good news, and they foretold the coming of the Messiah, but to John it would be given the privilege of saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Not just looking to the future, but declaring in the present, “It is he.” You notice in verses 16 and 17 what John’s ministry is? Going, turning, preparing. He goes before the Lord. He turns. He turns – you think of John’s message when he bursts on the scene is “repent.” He turns many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. We read, “He turns the hearts of the father to the children,” which is a summary from Malachi, which also says, “He turns the hearts of the children to the fathers, and he will turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.” So he goes before, and then he turns, and he prepares. He makes ready. He announces. He preaches the good news and points to the one whose life, death, and resurrection will mean the forgiveness of our sins.

So, we ought to end with this question, connecting the two: what does it mean that you and I would be a people prepared? That’s the point, verse 17, “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” How can we be prepared to receive the Christmas story in this Advent season? How can we be prepared for his second advent? Well, surely part of it is this turning – to turn to the true God, to turn from your sins. Notice there to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Malachi says, “And the children to the fathers.” You know what one of the signs – people talk about, are we having revival? Well, let’s pray for it. Here’s one of the signs from Spirit-wrought revivals. Families are reconciled. Fathers and children, husbands and wives. It’s more than an emotive worship service. It’s more than a vague spirituality. Children and fathers, parents and children, husbands and wives who were at each other’s throats turn to each other. And it says the disobedient turn to the wisdom of the just. The foolish are turning aside from their foolishness, saying, “We’ve been believing the wrong things. We’ve been turning from the people who have wisdom, from God’s messengers, from the aged, from the wise,” and they turn to them. That’s what it looks like to be ready.

And it means, as Luke’s gospel will tell us, blessed are the poor. Matthew’s gospel: blessed are the poor in spirit. Luke chapter 4: Jesus’ first day of ministry, he preached good news to the poor, which is not so much an economic designation as it is a spiritual designation, that you are brokenhearted enough to believe it. You can be brokenhearted and yet not believe. Zechariah and Elizabeth, no doubt they were brokenhearted. This was probably the singular pain in their life. And when the angel announced the good news, it was still too good to be true, and he could not immediately believe it. To be prepared, in this Christmas season, for this Advent and for the Advent to come, is to have the humility to receive the good news with joy and gladness. Gabriel was not very impressed with Zechariah’s reasons, just like God is not impressed with your reasons for not believing in the good news. Yeah, but you don’t understand what’s happened to me. You don’t understand the hurt in my life. But I’m old. But – no, no, no, no, no. “I’m Gabriel.” And Jesus can say, “I’m the son of God.” Don’t you want to believe the good news? The good news that there is a way for your sins to be forgiven. The good news that the end of this life is not the end of your life. The good news that everything in history has changed. Whatever pain you encounter, whether God will answer the prayer in this life or in the next, there is a light shining in the midst of the darkness. This is glad tidings, found only in Christ. May we have hearts to receive it humbly and gladly. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, help us to be a prepared people, that we may welcome this Emmanuel, this God with us, this one announced by the prophet John, a voice breaking the silence to announce to us the word made flesh. Make us ready. In his name we pray. Amen.

That You May Have Certainty

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:31:09 GMT

Our Father in heaven, we ask for your help – not simply because sermons begin with a prayer – more importantly, because we really need your help. I need your help to preach your word faithfully, boldly, humbly, clearly. We need your help if we are to hear and to receive and be changed. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

From now through the end of the year, we’ll be moving through the very beginning of Luke’s gospel, which takes us through the anticipation of the incarnation and these familiar passages leading up to Christmas. And so, this morning we come to the first paragraph, Luke chapter 1, the first four verses. Here’s what we read.

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

There was a conference this week in Boston – the Evangelical Theological Society. I don’t know how many hundreds, maybe numbering in the thousands, of academics gather to hear papers, give some papers, meet, network, and several people from RTS who went – I was there, Chad, Blair, Will, Pastor Eric went. So, Christ Covenant was well represented, and you may remember that Trisha and I met when we were at school in Boston’s North Shore. So, I do like New England, and it was – there were three beautiful fall New England days. It was cold – kind of like fall should be – cold enough that the allergens seem to have died, which was a nice reprieve for me. And got up in the morning and went on a run down Commonwealth and into the Boston Commons and to Park Street and back around, and it was beautiful.

So, the little gift shop in the hotel – I thought, you know, my kids always want something, but to get gifts ninefold is very difficult and expensive, so I’ve ceased to do that for most trips. I got one small memento, very small – a little snow globe. I’m sure you all have a snow globe. I know there are some people here who collect snow globes, and you looked in, and it said Boston, and it had Faneuil Hall and South Church and had a little statue of Paul Revere. It was all very quaint and picturesque, and you know, you turn it upside down and you shake it around and some glitter and some snow falls. I know down here in Charlotte, we say that’s where you can keep the snow – just right in there in that little globe. Maybe once a year. Once a year it’d be nice to have a snow. We did – did you survive the blizzard from a week and a half ago? It was pretty there for a few moments with the snow flurrying in the air. And you look at a snow globe like that, and it’s based on true things. Those buildings, that statue, exist, but they don’t all exist nestled right next to each other like that. And they don’t exist quite in such an idealized picturesque form. That’s the whole point of – you get a snow globe. It’s some scene from some city or nation, and it’s meant to be extremely picturesque, idealized, evocative of warm, fuzzy feelings, even as you tip that upside down and you see the snow. It’s not real life, but it’s beautiful, and it makes you feel good.

I wonder if a lot of Christians – non-Christians too, but even some Christians – approach this Christmas season thinking that the Christmas story is a snow globe. There are lots of Christmas snow globes. In fact, you can get whole nativity scenes. You can get nativity scenes that have Santa Claus decked out in red bowing before the manger, which has some theological truth to it – historically, perhaps inaccurate. You think about the Christmas story. We love this season of Advent and leading into Christmas – we have Thanksgiving this week, and then it’s fully upon us. Like me, you’ve probably been listening to Christmas music, some of you cheaters, already. And the Christmas season has that kind of warm, good, comfortable feelings about it. And even, we can come to the familiar stories in the Gospel of Luke, and we love to get the stories, and there’s angels, and there’s dreams, and there’s a heavenly host, and there’s Mary giving birth and Joseph leading her and all of the things that are familiar to us. And if we’re not careful, we look in at that Christmas story, and it’s a snow globe. It’s not quite real. It’s picturesque. It’s idealized. It’s sort of based on some things that are true, just like you get the cityscape of Boston, picks four buildings, idealized. There it is. I wonder if some Christians come into the Christian season, and they love the good feelings of Christmas, but when you think about the reality of what took place, you’re not quite so concerned that it really, truly happened. And if that’s true for some Christians – and maybe you’re not a Christian here; we’re glad that you’re with us. Many non-Christians certainly come to this season, and they’re looking forward to all of the cookies and the presents and the stockings and It’s A Wonderful Life and whatever your favorite traditions are, and it has the warm, comforting glow of a snow globe. But it doesn’t quite matter whether or not it’s based on anything that truly, actually, in time and space and history happened.

This opening paragraph of Luke’s gospel – it’s probably the least well-known of the opening to the four gospels. It’s very easy to overlook this paragraph. Let’s get to all the good stuff, to the Christmas story, to the angels, to the announcement, to Elizabeth and to Mary. Let’s get on to that. This opening paragraph is blah blah blah. You almost think he was at a meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. I studied this. I got a degree. I did all my homework. I have some footnotes. I’m writing to some person with a big, fancy name. Alright, Luke, just get on with it. But you and I will not understand the Christmas story correctly without this paragraph. Do not skip over this paragraph, lest you experience these next five or six weeks as if you were in a stylized but not realistic scene inside a snow globe. Luke will not allow us to look at the Christmas story in that way.

I want you to notice three things that he gives us that were important for his audience, and to this man Theophilus we’ll come back to at the end, and are also important for us if we are to reach the conclusion – there in verse 4 – “that you may have certainty.” At the end of John’s gospel, he helpfully tells us that these things have been written that you may believe and by believing in Jesus you can have life in his name. Well, here Luke establishes at the very front end – now, there’s lots of themes, but here’s the big driving ambition in Luke’s gospel – that you may be certain. I want you to notice three things.

First, he talks about his sources. Notice some of the key words here. We don’t want to skip over them: “inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative” – many, thinking, perhaps, of the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John gospel writers. There may also be other sources that in God’s providence have not been handed down to us. Or he may be talking about oral sources – those don’t undermine the authority of the Scriptures in any way. The point is there are a lot of people who have been going to great pains to make sure this story is correct. Many have undertaken this. So this is not in the realm of someone just got a private revelation that told them where the golden plates were or how to translate them. This is given publicly such that many people – Luke can say, you know, many people have tried to compile an accurate account of these amazing things that happened. And now look at this word – some of you kids will like this word: among us. Among us. If you know, you know. Among us. Where did this happen? This did not happen – you know the scroll that happens at the beginning of Star Wars – far away, a galaxy. This is not some galaxy far, far away. This is not in some mythical recesses of prehistory. This is not in some other dimensional universe. This happened among us. He’s writing, and he could say that there were some alive who would have been witnesses to these things. Maybe not eyewitnesses – we’ll come to that word in a moment – of all of the particular things, but this happened.

This was not on the planet Venus. This is saying “and this happened” – you remember? This happened in America, or this happened in the Carolinas. This happened among us. Notice the word eyewitnesses – “just as those from the beginning were eyewitnesses.” How do we know something from history is true? We’re going to have lots of historical remembrances, if you’re into these things, over the next eight months leading up to July 4, 2026. The Ken Burns – I haven’t gotten a chance to watch it all yet on PBS – he did six-part series on the American Revolution, and I hope he doesn’t mess it up. You look – how do we know what happened in the past? It’s basically two records – especially before you have video recording and photographs – two things: you have written documents, and you have eyewitness testimony. And those are still two things that will show up in a court of law. Those are still two things that you’re going to cite if you have to write a paper for something. And that’s what Luke is talking about. Many have undertaken this account and he’s studied things, looked at the sources, and here he references the eyewitnesses. So he’s not referring to something that happened four centuries ago, and he’s relying on some very suspicious retelling of the story that got passed down like spiritual telephone, and we didn’t hear about it for 400 years. No, there were people who saw these things from the beginning. And you say, “Well, but maybe the eyewitnesses lied. Maybe they made up stories. We can’t always trust eyewitnesses. Or maybe they meant to tell the truth, but they got it wrong.” Well, notice this other word he says after that: eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. This is a formal designation for those who would have given authoritative reports – certainly the apostles, those under the apostolic umbrella, ministers of the word have delivered them to us. Do you see what Luke is doing very carefully? He’s saying we didn’t just go around and take some sort of survey, and what do you think happened? We looked at, talked to, eyewitnesses and those in particular who were ministers of the word – you know, had skin in the game, had something riding on this. They saw it, and these were authoritative sources to tell us what had taken place. So first we see he talks about his sources.

Second, notice he talks about his approach. He says his work was the fruit of investigation. “It seemed good to me also having followed all things closely for some time past.” Luke, we know from Acts, is a physician. He was a learned man. He’s a smart man. He also wrote the book of Acts. And in Acts, he is a very careful historian. He’s noting time and place. He’s noting geography. He’s noting formal names and terms for various officials within the Roman Empire. He’s naming people who were with Peter or Paul and on the missionary journeys. And so here with his gospel, he says, “I have looked at this very carefully. This is the product of careful investigation. You know, almost any local news channel – people still watch that – will have, you know, “channel 5 on your side.” I don’t even know if we have a channel 5, but on your side. And then here’s our team of investigative reporters. And they’re there, that they’ve gotten to the bottom of it. And some – usually it’s some sort of scandal, you know, the dollar store was charging $1.50 or something. You know, something really – everyone, we’re here. We’re here to let you know what’s going on. People hire a private detective. My wife and I have watched umpteen British period shows that have DCI – detective, chief, inspector – have some kind of inspector, some kind of investigator. We all know what they are. And that’s what Luke is saying he did. This is not something that Luke woke up one Saturday morning and adjusted, you know – got the microphone set up and adjusted the camera and said, “I think I’m going to do a gospel podcast today. I got some things on my mind, and I just want to share them with you. I thought about it for minutes before this, and now I’m ready to go.” He says, “I have looked at these closely.”

So, not only investigate them, that’s his approach, but how he studied them – closely, for some time past – and what’s his aim here? To write an orderly account. He says, in other words, “I have looked at the various sources. I have talked to eyewitnesses.” Sometimes we have this idea when the biblical authors wrote the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit just overcame them, and they didn’t know. And maybe – you know in the old TV shows when they would sort of have the wigglies on the screen, and this, you know, some kind of flashback or some sort of dream that the person just entered a trance, and they didn’t even know what they were doing, and it was as if God just took the pen in their hand. Well, the effect of God’s inspiration is to such a degree that we can have the confidence as if it had taken place in that way. So some theologians talk about the results of inspiration along those lines. But they do not talk about the means of inspiration along those lines. Not – here’s the terminology that been around for a while – not a mechanical dictation. Not God like a puppeteer controlling the quill and the pen to write down on the page. Not God invasion of the body snatchers just removing their brain, putting in God’s brain, so that now they’re automatons taking over. No, we see that Luke continued to operate as a thinking, functioning human being. The technical language is that God wrote the Bible by a concursive (cone = with, together = operation) – he wrote it together with – now, in such a way that the result is entirely infallible and trustworthy. But we notice here Luke does not say that “I went into a cave, and I starved myself, and then I entered into some sort of visionary trance,” but rather I studied these things – and you picture him, you know, he’s got, maybe, some rudimentary books or scrolls open. Maybe he has his handwritten notes. Maybe he’s jotted down an outline of what he wants to do, just like anyone would do in writing a paper and in writing a book, and he’s organizing. Maybe we’ll put this here and here, in order that he might outline an orderly account, to get his chronology, his geography, to get it all in an order that’s true, understandable, based on what really happened. This is why it’s absolutely unthinkable that Luke would write these stories just as a kind of sop to pagan mythology.

I think I mentioned before, years ago I was having a conversation with a liberal pastor in my previous denomination – thankfully not in the PCA, my previous denomination – this pastor was saying how he didn’t believe in the virgin birth. And I said, “Do you tell your congregation that at Christmas?” And of course, he said, “Well, no, no, no. That would be too upsetting to them.” Well, you really, if that’s what you believe and you think they’re believing a lie, you ought not to lead them astray. He said, “Well, I choose to focus on that part of the promise that ‘nothing is impossible with God’ rather than ‘and the virgin shall conceive.’” I made the point if nothing is impossible with God, maybe we could believe this. But he said this was a bit to just make an appeal to popular pagan mythologies. That is the last thing that would have engendered support from a good Jew. Jews were not looking for – you know what we need more in our stories? We need more pagan mythology – nor does Luke give any impression he’s doing anything like this. In fact, he could hardly make it clearer that is not what he is doing. He’s not just writing a dramatic epic story with poetic license that kind of has a poetic truth about it. No, he says eyewitness accounts, sources, many people. I’ve laid it out. I’m giving you an orderly account. He could not be any clearer to communicate that what he is writing down is not legend. So think about the familiar words, which no doubt we will hear more than once in the coming weeks, from Luke chapter 2. And if you study other religions, if you read about, say, the birth of Hercules, or how the gods and goddesses in Hinduism came forth, or the gods of Shintoism, or various other stories about how their gods were born, and you ever think to yourself, well, I guess Christianity, we just have a story of gods being born, too. Could not be any clearer that Luke is putting this into an entirely different category, in a category that those other stories never even pretended to amount to.

So, think about this from Luke 2: “In those days” (okay, so when did this happen? A certain time in history) “a decree” (a decree was something known that the Romans issued from time to time) “went out from Caesar Augustus” (a worldwide known figure, even to our day – you could hardly have named somebody who is more known in all the world, so, it’s anchoring this) “that all the world should be registered.” This was the first registration when – and here’s the word just to make the, you know, second grader lose sleep at night – Quirinius was governor of Syria. Now, that’s an extra bit of history that Luke throws in, and scholars today aren’t quite sure where to place this Qurinius chronologically, but the point is Luke is adding extra material to position what happened here as someone who has done his research. “And all went to be registered, each to his own town, and Joseph” (a real name of a real historical person) “went up from Galilee” (that’s a specific region – it’s like saying “went up from Mecklenburg County) “from the town of Nazareth” (that’s a specific town – everyone could have known it) “to Judea” (another specific location) “to the city of David” (so that’s another historical reference) “which is called Bethlehem” (there’s another name for the city and another prophetic referent) “because he was of the house and the lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes” (just as you would any child – not wrapped him in moon beams and unicorn dust) “and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” There is absolutely nothing in that paragraph that sounds like a fairy tale, and everything in that paragraph to show that Luke means to tell us a story that is accurate, precise, verifiable and historic.

So the third: he talks about his sources, talks about his approach, and then third and finally, he talks about his purpose. We see in verse 4 he is writing to a man called Theophilus. Now we don’t know exactly who this man is. You can break apart his name. Theos = God, philus like Philadelphia, city of brotherly love – so this name means “God lover” or “friend of God.” It seems he was an important man, because he’s given the title “the most excellent Theophilus.” This is not something you just give to your friends. In the book of Acts, which Luke also wrote, Felix and Festus, who are two Roman magistrates, are both called excellent. So, it’s likely here in Luke’s gospel that he is writing to someone else who has some position of power and influence in the Roman world. Theophilus was a Roman official, a Gentile perhaps, probably well off. Just as an aside, there’s one of the reasons that Luke and Acts have so many lessons directed toward the rich, that Luke has the most to say about the warnings of wealth. Not because Luke and Acts were written to the poor, but precisely because they were directed toward the rich, toward Theophilus, to say to somebody “you’re important, you’re a magistrate, maybe you’re a judge. You’re an official in the Roman Empire. You’re most excellent. You have a name. You have a degree. You have a title. You probably have money. You have privilege.” He’s writing to show, can someone like that be a Christian? They can. He says to Theophilus, “I want you to be certain concerning the things you have been taught.” So, it seems that Theophilus is either on the cusp of becoming a Christian – maybe some of you are – or I think, likely, that he is a Christian. He’s been instructed in the gospel. He’s received these things. He’s perhaps a baby Christian. He’s incorporated them. And now Luke says, “I want to give you a full accounting of what happened. Glad that you’re interested in Jesus. I’m glad that maybe, even, you have made some sort of profession of faith in Jesus. But now I want you to have certainty.”

So Luke says, right at the very beginning, I want you to know I’ve researched this thing. I’ve talked to eyewitnesses. I’ve read the other reports. I’ve studied the story from top to bottom. All of these things before his birth, his birth, his childhood, his teaching, his miracles, his parables, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, all of it. And I’ve written it down in an orderly manner so you can be sure. That’s what Luke wanted Theophilus to understand 2,000 years ago, and that’s the point of this passage for you: to know and be confident that this is a real story, real history. Now, history doesn’t mean just the bare recitation of facts. That’s never good history, to just lay out a chronology, and this happened and this happened and this happened.

People say, “Well, but Luke has an angle.” Of course he has an angle. What history doesn’t have an angle? You watch any good documentary, it’s making a point. It’s telling a story. It’s trying to convince you of something. It’s ordering the facts in a way to present a conclusion. So, of course, that’s what Luke is trying to do. But he makes absolutely clear, here at the beginning, that they are still facts. There’s an order. There’s a design. There’s a purpose, just like a filmmaker tries to tell a story to persuade, and that’s Luke’s gospel. History, facts, with a theological point. This is what God wants you to remember as we come into the Christmas season. Because if you know this story, you know what’s about to happen here in Luke. Angels, dreams, a man who’s miraculously made mute for a time, a singing company of the heavenly hosts, and yes, a virgin birth. And before we come into all of that, Luke wants you to know, the Holy Spirit wants you to know, this is not a snow globe. This is not a picturesque, idealized, a few realities but made up, beautiful picture to help people feel nice things at the holidays.

I want you to think about four groups and which one you may be in this morning. Maybe you’re not a Christian. Maybe you think you are, but you’ve recently thought, “I don’t really know if I believe this stuff.” Or maybe you’re here, you’re visiting – we’re glad you’re here – and you’ve never really committed to these things. Maybe you grew up around the church, but you don’t really believe them. I encourage you, friends, to deal seriously – as you come into Christmas, if you’re going to enjoy Christmas, I hope you do – but deal seriously with this paragraph. Luke does not mean to give us legend or myth. And if he gives us history, if he gives us fact, then nothing in the world is the same. It means that a virgin miraculously conceived under the power of the Holy Spirit and pushed out of her womb, like every other woman had done before her, this painful experience of a baby in all of the glory and mess of childbirth. But this baby was God in the flesh. That’s what Luke says happened.

Maybe you’re a new Christian. Think about these things, just like Luke wrote to Theophilus, to know that to be a Christian is not to just believe things because you think belief is a good way to live your life. I guess there’s mysteries in the world, and I got to believe something. We believe based on evidence. Now, ultimately, you need God’s Spirit to testify to your spirit that these things are so. There’s no logical deduction in itself that can lead you to become a Christian. You must be born again, Jesus said. And yet, this is written here so that you who are a young Christian – maybe an adult who just became a Christian, or maybe you’re eight years old and you’ve been around this stuff your whole life – and God wants you to know and to be certain that you can believe this story.

Or perhaps you’re a wandering Christian in some way, maybe doubting, maybe you even took the first step or two towards deconstructing in your faith, or maybe you’re, to put it nicely, a sort of so-so Christian – you might even say that about yourself. Yeah, I’m a Christian. I don’t got a problem with Christians. I go to church once in a while. Does Luke really leave that option open to us? Does God’s word really mean to tell us here’s the most amazing event that ever happened in human history, that all the prophets were predicting, that changes everything, that God was born, died, raised again, ascended into heaven, coming again, and you think, “Eh, I guess I can sign up for that but not have it make much difference in my life.” That doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Or maybe a fourth category, you’re an anxious, fearful Christian. If we’re honest, most of us are anxious and fearful Christians at some point. Maybe you’re coming to the end of your life, and you think, “Well, what if I don’t really – what if I really haven’t believed these things enough? I mean, I think I believe,” but you’re prone to that introspection, and you, “But I don’t know if I really do believe.” Or maybe you have a moment where you think, with everything I’m going through, can I trust that God is really there? Or maybe, have you ever thought this? You think, I think, you know, I’ve grown up a Christian my whole life and I like it. I got no problems with the Bible, but is it possible that maybe I just grew up with this, and what if I just chose the wrong religion? There’s a lot of other options out there. And I guess I’m doing the best I can with this one, but how do I know that this is really it? You need the Holy Spirit to speak to your spirit. But he will speak to your spirit through different means, and one of the means is what Luke has laid out to us here: to give you confidence. Yes, on those nights when you wonder, is God really there? Is this listening? What if this – is this Christianity thing really true? What about my suffering? What about my belief? Do I believe enough? This story is not ultimately about your belief. It’s about what took place.

Luke – yes, he wants Theophilus to be certain of these things and to believe, so that is far from immaterial, that’s absolutely essential. But don’t start there. Start here. Luke, with great precision and care, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has written out these things. In this absolutely unique, totally normal, and, at the same time, totally supernatural event. This child, predicted for millennia, prophecies made about him for centuries. A virgin had never given birth before nor since, because God had never come to his people like this: Emmanuel, God with us. It’s not a myth. It’s not a legend. It’s not a fairy tale. A real boy, born to a real woman, in a real town on a real 24-hour day, so that you can know that there is a real Christ to save his people from their real sins. God came down to earth on Christmas to live, to die, to be raised, to ascend, and to come again. It’s all gloriously true, and it is no snow globe. So, you and I can be certain. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your word. All the reasons you give us to be confident in this story – a real story that took place in history as all the great stories have, and yet totally unlike those stories, in that you were doing something that had never been done before and that changed, for all time, the world in which we live. May it also, then, change our lives and our eternities. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Fruit in Keeping with Repentance

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 11:30:46 GMT

Father, we’ve already sung these words. We offer them to you again as our prayer. Show us Christ. So simple, and yet from our hearts, we ask that through this word, you would show us Christ, you would reveal your glory through the preaching of your word, that every heart in this room within the sound of my voice would confess that Christ is Lord. We pray in his name. Amen.

We come this morning to the end of our series on the book of Ezra. I’ll be gone next week, and then we’ll have the Faithful Conference. Then we’ll have a series in Advent, and Lord willing, the plan is to start Romans in the beginning of 2026. I’ve never preached through the book of Romans, and so buckle up. We’ll be in together. But this morning, we come to Ezra chapter 10. Follow along as I read.

“While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: ‘We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land. But even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. Therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children according to the counsel of my Lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. And let it be done according to the Law. Arise, for it is your task and we are with you. Be strong and do it.’ Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, and that if anyone did not come within three days by order of the officials and the elders, all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the 20th day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, ‘You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increase the guilt of Israel. Now then, make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.’

Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so. We must do as you have said. But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain. We cannot stand in the open, nor is this a task for one day or for two. For we have greatly transgressed in this matter. Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them. Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month, they sat down to examine the matter. And by the first day of the first month, they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women. Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezar, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, and his brothers. They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt.”

Then you see verse 20: the sons of Immer, the sons of Harim. Verse 23: a list of the Levites. Verse 25: then a list of all of Israel. And look at the very last verse, the end of the book, 44:

“And all these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children.”

Two days ago was Reformation Day. We remember that on October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther with those famous 95 theses on the church door at Wittenburg. I did like the one meme that I saw that has a very decked-out Luther standing at the door with the writing on it, holding a mallet, and it just says “nailed it.” Here’s how the document began: “Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, master of arts and sacred theology and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenburg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore, he asks that those who cannot be present in dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” It’s a very common practice to initiate an academic dispute. And he posts these 95 statements – propositions, theses. Here is number one: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “repent,” he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. He was, without realizing it, nailing the first nail in the coffin of an entire system of sacramental piety. Not that he was against the sacraments – far from it. But this system whereby you do certain things, and grace is conferred upon you, and you start, and then you continue by the sacraments as they minister to you – this justifying grace and baptism and then continuing with penance and on. And we still celebrate the sacraments. We will this morning, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. We believe that God ministers to us in it. But Luther was saying something that would in time prove to be profound – that repentance was not something you did merely at the beginning of your life or on certain occasions marked by the sacrament of penance, but that the whole life of the Christian was one of repentance before the face of God. Remember John the Baptist, as he called the Pharisees and the Sadducees a brood of vipers, then exhorted them to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. We see in Mark 1 the summary statement when Jesus bursts onto the scene – his preaching message was summarized “repent and believe in the gospel.”

Repent and believe. We turn to Christ, but we also turn from sin. You cannot do one without the other. Last week, as Tom preached, was confession. The people – Ezra, their representative – expressed, “We’re ashamed. We’re guilty. We’ve forsaken your law. We have not stood fast before you.” And that was good, to confess their sins. But they needed more than words. They needed to make it right. They needed to take steps of repentance. They weren’t just bewailing their wrongs. You’ve perhaps had this experience or if you’ve seen it in other people – it’s one thing to get caught in sin. Somebody sees what you did on your phone. Someone knows what you’ve been looking at. Your email – you hit reply all when you meant reply, and everybody sees, and you feel embarrassed, ashamed, you regret. And you pour out, maybe you even shed some tears. You say you’re sorry, you have a good cry, and now you want to move on. But the question remains: what is different in your life because of this confession of sin? What fruit? Now, on the one hand, we don’t want to be such picky fruit pickers that someone can repent and we say, “Well, I guess I’ll check back in 50 years and I’ll see if it’s really good enough fruit.” And yet, on the other hand, the Bible tells us it isn’t enough that somebody simply weeps and wails and says they’re sorry. We have to see, has anything changed in your life? This becomes very difficult sometimes in counseling situations or with a conflict in husband or wife, and maybe one is continually saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” It’s never enough, but you have to ask what looks different? That’s what this passage is about.

Confession in chapter 9, repentance in chapter 10. Now, before we can look at what this repentance entails, you may be thinking – you should be thinking – well, isn’t there a ginormous, to use the technical word, problem in this passage, namely that the book ends with a mass divorce ceremony? The foreign wives, remember, was not a racial thing or an ethnic thing. It was a religious thing. We saw earlier in the book that those people of the land who came in repentance and they wanted to be worshippers of Yahweh and they separated themselves from the corruptions of the world, they were welcomed into the camp. So foreign, here, is not someone outside of your nationality or looks different than you. We see instances – Moses married Tzipporah, Kushite woman. Now, foreign here means these are women of the land who have the corrupting influences of the surrounding pagan culture. These are non-Yahweh followers. So they get married. And now the thing to do to make it right is divorce. And you say, “How can that be the right thing to do?” Matthew 5: Jesus says, “I say to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery.” Paul in 1 Corinthians 7: “If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. So Paul says clearly, if you’re in a mixed marriage, don’t divorce. Now, there he is thinking, likely, of those who one of them became a Christian. But nevertheless, there’s the principle. Don’t go around adding sin to sin. Okay? Maybe this isn’t the best situation, but you’re married. Don’t go and divorce.

So what should we do with this, which seems to be in sharp distinction to what we hear from Jesus and Paul? Well, there’s a number of things to consider. One, we could point out that Deuteronomy 24 allowed for divorce. Jesus even said Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed for divorce. And there in Deuteronomy 24, it says if the woman has some indecency in her, and the rabbis disagreed about what that meant, but we see already in the Mosaic covenant there was a provision that, as an exception to the rule, sometimes divorce was allowed. We could also recognize that Jesus in that particular debate – there was a rabbinical school from Shammai that was the more conservative interpretation, and the more liberal interpretation from a rabbi Hillel – that Jesus very clearly comes down on the more conservative side. Some of the Jews, you know, a famous instance in one of their documents says for even burning the toast, that could be something indecent and you could send your wife away. And Jesus comes down on the more conservative side. We could also note that this is a passage giving us a description, not necessarily a prescription. So it doesn’t mean to lay out “here, now, is Jesus’ teaching on what to do and the proper liturgy for a mass divorce ceremony.” But even more importantly than that, there are some contextual clues that are really important if we’re to understand exactly what is and is not happening in this passage. And a big part of realizing what’s happening here is to understand the timing.

So you have your Bible open. I want you to pay attention because the writer here is very careful and giving us some timestamps. So look at Ezra chapter 7, verse 8. Remember Ezra, the second half of this book, he’s leading a second wave of returning exiles. Ezra 7:8 – “And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month, he began to go up from Babylonia. On the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem.” So, we have the basic markers there. Month one, he comes up, and he starts making plans to leave. And he gets to Jerusalem at the beginning of month five. Look, then, at the next chapter 8, verse 31: “Then we departed from the river Ahava on the 12th day of the first month. Easy for me to say. This makes sense, doesn’t it? We just read he started to make these plans, and he gets the instructions on day one. So here we read he leaves on the 12th day – took about two weeks to get ready. And they go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us. Verse 32: “we came to Jerusalem.” Now we know from chapter 7, they come at the beginning of the fifth month, and there we remained for three days. So, we are here at the beginning of month five. Chapter 9, verse 1 says, “After these things had been done” – and this is where Ezra first realizes the corruption that has come upon the people by marrying these foreign women. So the question is, how long are we talking about after these things? Well, if you notice in the text, we have an answer to it. Look at chapter 10, verse 9. So, this is part of the scene of confession and repentance. 10:9 – “All the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled within three days” – it was, notice the time, the ninth month on the 20th day. So they arrived day one, month five. They are now gathered here. Day 20, month nine. So you can back up. It took days to gather. It took some time for Ezra to weep and to wail. So sometime in the ninth month, Ezra becomes aware of this sin. So do the math. We are talking about four months.

So this puts this whole thing in a very different light. These were not relationships that they had been married together for years and years and decades. They had quickly gotten married when they came into the land, and they had been married to these women for weeks or for months. These are not long-standing families. Now, there’s a couple notes about children. Look at the very last verse: 44 says, “Some of the women had borne children.” Now, notice there’s a footnote or you could translate it, “And they put them away with their children.” And whether that’s the translation or not – you could go either way – I think that is certainly the sense of it, because you cannot have children in four months. So they did not have children themselves, but some of these women – so, seems like most of them didn’t – but some of these women came into this marriage with children. That’s what it means. Some of them had already borne children, not with their new husbands, but coming into this marriage. So these are families that have just come together. You almost – it’s almost an annulment. They quick rushed into this marriage. They’ve been married for weeks or months, and now Ezra is saying you need to separate. And there’s one other factor that likely comes into play. If you can keep your finger there in Ezra, go to the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi, or you can just listen. Ezra is in the 400s BC. Malachi, the last prophet, is in the 400s. And what he talks about here may be the very specific issue in Ezra’s day, or if not, at least it’s the same kind of issue that was taking place. If not to this specific moment, then this is likely the sort of thing that happened when the exiles returned. So Malachi chapter 2, verse 11: “Judah has been faithless. An abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.” So there’s the issue. It’s not that the women are of a different nationality, but they are connected to a different god:

“May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the Lord. And this is the second thing: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, ‘Why does he not?’ Because the Lord has witnessed between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant, did he not make them one with a portion of spirit in their union and what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you” – here’s the key – “be faithless to the wife of your youth.”

Now this is about divorce. Presumably – you put the pieces together – what had happened, not only had these Israelite men married foreign women, but a number of them had divorced their Israelite wives to do so. Maybe their wives were back in Babylon, and they were going to come in another caravan some months later. Or maybe they came here, and as tragically happens sometimes, men were having a mid-life sinful crisis or something, and said, “Well, let’s get a newer model here, and we’re going to do away with this one. And this is kind of extravagant and intriguing, and look at these foreign women here.” And many of them were putting away their wives. So this puts it all in a different context. These are not households that have been happily living together for years and years and decades. This is a situation that unfolded within a matter of weeks and months. The men come, some of them divorcing their own wives to do so, others giving their sons to marry these women. And now Ezra says, “This has to be undone. This has only happened in the last weeks or months, and we cannot move forward.” Think about the tenuous nature of this small exile community, surrounded by the nations – how easily they had become compromised. And remember, at the very center of it was the leadership. It’s like – the priests and the Levites. It’s like finding out that the leading culprits were your pastors and your elders. Of course Ezra says, “You have to make this right. If we don’t, do you remember why we got shipped off to Babylon in the first place? It was this sort of worldliness.” This isn’t merely we’re teetering at the top of some slippery slope. They are going 100 miles per hour, at breakneck speed, down this slope. And so the only answer in this setting, the lesser of two evils truly, was to set aside these wives. What would happen to them? Likely they would go back to their families. They had not been separated from their families but weeks or months, and they would return, and these men would have to – would welcome back their own wives, or if they were single, they would remain single.

Now, having understood more properly what is happening here, we need to try to discern what are the lessons, and we’ll move through these quickly. Three things about repentance from their example for our pattern. Number one: Notice their repentance was born out of a serious conviction. Remember in chapter 9, Ezra goes off, and he pulls at his hair, and he tears his clothes – the symbols of great weeping and contrition over sin. And as he continues to pray and make confession, in chapter 10 verse 1, the house of God – a very great assembly, men, women, children – they gather around him. And notice what it says in verse 1: they, too, wept bitterly. And the same language we had in chapter 9, we have again in chapter 10, verse 3. It references those who tremble at the commandment of our God. And you notice the atmospheric setting is very much in keeping with the psychological and spiritual setting. I mean, if this were a movie, you couldn’t have made it more picturesque, for the weather to fit the spiritual weather. There’s a heavy rain. This is the winter months. They’re outside in the open. They’re trembling at the word of God. They’re physically shivering in the cold. It’s dark. It’s dreary. It’s wet. They’re shivering. They’re trembling. This whole scene is to depict that they have fallen under the displeasure of God. They agree with the plan that is hatched. In verse 12, the whole assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so. We must do it.” Their response to the sin comes out of a place of serious conviction. They have been swept over by the convicting power of God’s spirit. I think of it like a dam. Some of you may have in your life a little trickle coming through the dam. That trickle is the convicting work of God in your life. And you don’t want it. It keeps coming and you plug some fingers in there. You put your fingers in your ears. You have your phone – that can distract you. You bury yourself in work. You’ve convinced yourself. You’ve given yourself excuses that there was a reason for it, that it was a long time ago, that nobody knows about it, and you are trying to plug the holes in the dam. It won’t work. These people finally let the dam burst forth, and the water of God’s convicting grace to sweep them away, wash over them. Friends, don’t keep patching up the facade of your righteousness. You won’t get clean that way. You won’t have freedom that way. You have to let the waters of conviction burst through and overwhelm you. I know you have different personalities, different emotional registers. Has there ever been a time you’ve wept over your sins? I mean, really wept? I have. If you live long enough, you will have times where the most appropriate – in fact, the only appropriate – response to your sin is to break down and weep bitterly. The whole community says, “I can’t. We did it. We’re guilty.” And they wept. Their repentance was born out of a serious conviction. Don’t hold it back if God is doing that in your heart.

Here’s the second thing: their repentance was marked by a deep commitment. This plan was not entered into lightly. They were all in with their repentance. Look at the markers. Verse 3: “Let us make a covenant with our God to put away these wives.” Verse 4: “Arise, it is our task. We are with you. Be strong and do it.” And then in verse 5, Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites take an oath. I mean, they are serious. This is not just we had an emotional moment. We’re so sorry. Promise it won’t happen again. They say, “What’s the plan? What are you doing to make this right? Who do you have to talk to? Who do you have to call? Do you need to pay somebody back? Do you need to get on your knees and ask for forgiveness? What are you going to do, that this doesn’t happen again?” And so, they make a covenant. They make a vow. They swear an oath. And there is a proclamation in verse 7. The returned exiles have three days. And there are serious consequences – if you don’t amass in Jerusalem within three days, your property will be forfeited. You will be cast out. And they assemble, verse 9. And now the people, in verses 13 and 14, decide they need more time to properly address the crisis. They realize this is too entrenched. We can’t do this. This isn’t a day or two days. And so they come up with a further plan. All right, we agree we must do it. But we need some time to look into the matter. So what if we have the leading elders and judges of each of these towns, they come before the proper court with the situations where men are accused of having foreign wives, and let’s take some time to sort this out. There are too many cases to decide at once. It’s raining. We have no open shelter. They wisely realize that this cannot be taken care of with just a motion, a second, a vote, and we’re done. In fact, you go to verse 17, first day of the first month, they had come to the end of all the men who had married the foreign women, and it started on the first day of the tenth month.

So, this is a process. Month 10, 11, 12. It takes three months. And you can do the math. There’s about 110 of them that are listed. So they’re not rushing through. They are going through case by case, one or two cases a day over three months. There’s this curious verse 15. Jonathan and Jahzeiah opposed this. And then two other Levites supported them. We don’t know what the “this” is. At first reading, you may think they opposed the plan to make it right, but likely what they opposed was the slowed-down process, that there were at least four men who said I don’t want to take time, I think we can get this done right away, but they went ahead with it. And it does show you even in doing the right thing you may not always have unanimous approval. This was not a witch hunt. Discipline like this takes time. For all intents and purposes, they appointed a committee. They took time to do it the right way. They brought in the local leaders who would know them, know the situation. They didn’t want to rush to judgment. It’s not like the internet where you’re just guilty until proven innocent. And if you’re ever proven innocent, by that time, everybody’s moved on, and they just remember you as being guilty. No, there was due process. They didn’t just round up everybody who had an allegation against them. But they made it right with a very deliberate, concrete plan. And it took three months to set it right.

Some of us – we don’t have that hard a time feeling bad for our sins. We may even have good intentions to do something about it. But oftentimes, our repentance, so-called, is very quick. It’s easy. Not like these men. They made a covenant. They made a plan. They took an oath. This was serious, deliberate business. I wonder, as you think about repentance in your life, is it a casual thing or a commitment thing? Or to put it another way, there’s a difference between repentance as catharsis and repentance as character. Repentance as catharsis is, “Oh, that felt so good.” And we have to be careful. You can do this in church small groups, accountability groups – just, “Oh, that felt really good. I got that off my chest, and, wow, I’m messed up. You’re messed up. We’re all messed up. What a great accountability group.” A catharsis – because it does, it feels, you know, there’s something healing, and ah, I don’t have to bear the secret, people know, I’ve explained it. But that’s not repentance. Any person without the spirit of God, without the gospel, can have a catharsis. No, this is about true, godly character, which leads to the final point.

Their repentance bore a personal cost. Rarely do we see in the Bible an entire community coming to such a strong and swift conviction of sin. There was a cost to it. Now, there’s the cost here. They’ve gathered out in the winter rain. There’s a cost with a deliberate plan and a process and a committee to investigate the matter. There’s a cost, certainly, for the men, 110 of them, who have to send away these wives. There’s a cost for those women. They, perhaps, had very little choice in the matter and were sinned against, and now they’re sent back. It’s costly for Israel’s leaders. The priests and the Levites are mentioned prominently throughout this whole debacle, because they were the leading sinners. This was no occasion where the leaders could just nicely stand up and say, “Well, a few people out there have sinned.” No, it went right from the top to the bottom. It was a costly repentance to say goodbye, even the weeks or months – not only to say goodbye, to be absolutely outed. Oh, so where’s your wife? Well, I was one of those who sinned and almost brought judgment upon our community. Many of us are quite happy to confess, maybe privately, but we want a repentance that costs no time, no money. We will repent, so-called, as long as there’s minimal discomfort, no long-term ramifications. Our family will not be adversely affected in any way. The Apostle Paul calls this worldly grief. It’s easy to have worldly grief. You regret. You made a mistake. You’re embarrassed. You wish it wouldn’t have happened.

But repentance is something different. And worldly grief just – it doesn’t lead to change. It just leads to the same kind of character, and even continuing feelings of shame and embarrassment. But true, godly repentance leads to freedom, healing, forgiveness. When you say, “I don’t care what it costs me. God’s reputation is worth more to me than my reputation.” You can sniff it out anytime some famous person in the public eye commits some sin, especially a Christian, and then they come back, they make a statement. Sadly, too often, it just seems like a lawyer wrote it. No offense – we thank you for the lawyers out here who help with those things. But it keeps them from really speaking to their heart, and it seems like somebody just made them do it to kind of move through this PR crisis, instead of a real moment where they acknowledge, “I have been living a lie, and displeasing God is worse to me than any earthly hardships I should bear because of it.”

You see, the glorious chapter on confession in Ezra 9 does not count for much if it isn’t followed with chapter 10 – a chapter of deep repentance. God is not so much interested in you just having a feeling of being wrong. Some of us are convinced “I must be a good Christian because, you know what, I do feel bad all the time.” Actually, that’s not what God wants. Now, if you sin, you feel bad, and he wants you to be forgiven and repent and turn and be cleansed. And some of us think, I’ll just live with a low to medium level feeling of guilt and just kind of feel like a bad person. It never gets so high that I actually make the costly step of repentance, but I never really put my head in my pillow and know that God is pleased with me. That’s the life that too many Christians live. It may seem as if this is a strange way to end the book: “And some of the women had even borne children. The end.” Well, part of what we have to remember is this is really a two-parter. You go to Nehemiah – ah, okay, so Nehemiah. But that doesn’t help too much, because you know how Nehemiah ends? Putting away foreign wives. Same thing.

But it makes sense when you consider that Ezra was a teacher of the law. And what was his chief responsibility? It was to help people live by the book – to live in such a way that they would preserve their freedom in Judah instead of returning to bondage. The whole reason they had been exiles is because they had disobeyed the covenant that God made through Moses. And so Ezra is doing just the job he should do. And this is, in other words, quite the appropriate ending to Ezra. It’s not one of these “and now we’re on the mountaintop, and we made it, and now the glory of God fills the temple.” It’s very realistic, saying, “We messed up. We sinned. We went to Babylon. Now we’re back. And we got this close to messing it all up one more time. But we didn’t.” It’s showing the way to continue as God’s covenant people, to walk in faith and repentance. The end of Ezra shows the way to stay out of Babylon: brokenhearted repentance and faith. So, this was not a flawless re-entry. It doesn’t end on a strong note of obedience. Didn’t take long for God’s people to start acting like their old selves again. But here’s the lesson they learned, at least initially: repent. And when you sin again, you know what you should do? Repent. And when you sin another time, you know what you should do? Repent. And how many times will God forgive you? Jesus said 70 times 7. In other words, ongoing, never ending. When God’s people are truly sorry and mean to change their ways, God never, never runs out of chances.

I want you to notice, just as we bring this to a close, verse 2: one of these little minor characters – be good to meet him someday – Shecaniah. He stands up and addresses Israel. “We have broken faith.” Notice how he does here. He expresses, without any excuse – he doesn’t say it was my parents, or times were tough, or I’m sorry if you were offended – he says, “We have broken faith.” We did it, with our God. It’s very specific. How? We have married foreign women from the peoples of the land. Don’t you love this last line? But, even now there is hope. There’s hope for Israel in spite of this. It’s one of the most important lessons you can ever learn in life. There is always hope, but you must first learn to be hopeless. Hopeless in themselves – they didn’t come with their own righteousness. They came, and they said, “Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. We’ve broken faith. We did it. We messed up. You’re right. We’re sorry. But there’s hope.” Here’s the hope: not because of us, but in spite of us, God will be merciful. A broken heart and a contrite spirit he will not deny. And so we know that Jesus comes as a light – a light, Galilee of the Gentiles – to bring the foreigners close at hand, to bring the gospel to those who are far away. And the Spirit of God, as Peter preaches that sermon at Pentecost, is to call those from the nations who are far off that they, too, might be brought in as followers of the true God. In Colossians, Paul teaches us that Jesus himself was cut off – circumcised, as it were. He was cut off. He was banished. He was put into exile for our sakes as covenant breakers, that he, as our covenant-keeping Messiah, might lead us all the way back home.

The choice you have to make is not whether to be sinful or sinless. You will not be sinless on this side of heaven. You’re going to be sinful. So, the choice is what you will do when you see your sin. Will you resist or will you repent? And if you will confess and repent and turn, God will be faithful and just – how could he be otherwise? – to cleanse you from all unrighteousness for Jesus’ sake. Let’s pray.

Our heavenly Father, as we consider our great sin before you, we acknowledge that we have done wrong. We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done. And we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us. But thou, oh Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, oh God, who confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent, according to thy promises, declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, oh most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life to the glory of thy holy name. Amen.

Why Christians Must Marry Only In The Lord

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 14:49:50 GMT

Father, we come now to the reading and the preaching of your word, asking sincerely that you would help us to listen. It’s a narrow word, but it’s a word for all of us. May our hearts not be hard to it. Pray that you would, especially for those who are on the cusp of dating or marriage or looking ahead sometime in the future and hoping to be married, that this word in particular might steer them on the right path. For any who providentially are in a place less than ideal, use this word to also correct and to form us into Christ. And for those who by your grace have good things in place, may we rejoice and yet grow ever more together and strongly in our union with you. We pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is from Ezra chapter 9. These two chapters, 9 and 10 – can see the headings in your Bible – deal with a major problem that Ezra encounters on his arrival. And one way to approach them is to deal with the two chapters together, present the problem, confess the problem, repent of the problem, or perhaps to do, as we’ve been mostly doing, just one chapter at a time. But I want to deal with just the first five verses, and Pastor Tom will be preaching next week on the confession that Ezra prays, and then Lord willing in two weeks we’ll finish up the book with their repentance. But I want to spend this morning on one single, simple point that can be drawn from these first five verses. Ezra chapter 9:

“After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land, with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness, the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost. As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my fasting with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God.”

I’m going to give you the conclusion up front, because this sermon is, in some ways, all application. There is one simple, perhaps life-altering, point to this sermon, and it’s right there in the title printed in the bulletin, and the point is this: Christians should marry only Christians. Or to put it negatively, the word of God does not allow Christians to marry non-Christians. Now, if this lands on you uncomfortably, you find yourself bristling, I urge you to keep yourself open to God’s word in this message. Do not think, well what ultimately does my pastor have to say, but what does the Bible say, and what is God saying through him? Perhaps you have frustrations in your own life – be wanting to be married and not, maybe thinking that this is simply good, ideal counsel, but impossible in the long run, or you think, perhaps, it’s not really worth it, and God has another way. And if I just pretend and close my ears to this message and continue along the path that I’m on, a path of disobedience, yet he’ll rescue me in the end. Now, before I explain the reasons for this biblical injunction that Christians marry only in the Lord, let me try to think of some different groups of people who may be hearing this message.

First, there are those here who are already married to non-Christians. You may be in this situation for a number of reasons. Perhaps you knew this already, but you chose a path against God’s word and married a non-Christian, and now you are married. Or perhaps you were both non-Christians, and one of you became a Christian. Or as often happens, maybe both of you went through the motions of saying you were a Christian, and you really weren’t, but now you’re really excited and on fire, and you want to go to church, and your spouse does not. This sermon is not meant to make you feel like a second-class citizen. Paul’s instructions tells you to remain as you are. Now, I’ll warn you, we have to explain how that fits from Paul in 1 Corinthians with what we will see in two weeks in chapter 10, which is mass divorce. So, I understand that is a problem that we need to explain in two weeks. But this is not a sermon that’s trying to do everything. This is not a sermon trying to help you to live in a mixed marriage – mixed marriage meaning a Christian and a non-Christian. That’s an important topic. That’s what this sermon is not about. 1 Corinthians 7:12-13 says, “If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. Now Paul is dealing with the case where people – one of them becomes a Christian and the other remains not a Christian, and he says if they don’t abandon you, if they stay with you, you should stay married. So that’s one group that may be listening to this.

Second, you may be here and you say, “Whoa, I am married, and we’re both Christians. Let me see what I can do for the next 35-40 minutes.” Listen. This sermon will still have import and influence for you, so don’t tune out.

Third, there may be those here – you are single – and yet, and you hope to be married, but that’s a long way’s off. You’re 12. Your parents really hope marriage is a long way off. Or maybe you’re 18, and it’s hopefully a little closer, but still not immediately there. I urge you to still listen to this. You may not remember the three points that I’m coming to. You may not remember much, other than one time when I was growing up at Christ Covenant, I remember the pastor preached a sermon that said I should marry a Christian. And if you remember that one thing, that would be of the Lord to remember that.

A final group that may feel most awkward right now: those who are dating or pursuing a non-Christian. Perhaps you are flirting with the idea, literally flirting with the idea. Perhaps you’re thinking now – why did I invite them to come to this Sunday? Been trying to say here is my church, and now they come to this Sunday of all Sundays. Well, that’s in the Lord’s providence, and I urge you to listen. What better thing for both of you to hear. You may be wondering, also, at the very outset – as this sermon is about marriage – you may say, “Well, yeah, but what does the Bible say about dating a non-Christian?” You said don’t marry a non-Christian. What about dating? Well, the Bible does not know dating as we know dating. If by dating you mean that your parents – and parents, you can decide this for yourselves – if your parents allow you to go to a one-off homecoming dance with a friend, I would say that that does not constitute dating on the way to marriage. If, however, as most people use dating in our culture, you could say courtship, you could say something else, but moving, in a relationship exclusively committed to each other, heading somewhere. If it’s not heading somewhere, it’s heading nowhere, and you’re wasting your time. Dating, as we usually mean it, is an exclusive relationship that is heading somewhere, and it would be unwise and inappropriate for that somewhere to end in disobedience. And so, if dating is to end in marriage, and you know that this is a marriage that the Bible would not allow, then you ought not to be in a dating relationship moving towards something which the scriptures tell you you ought not to do. And lest you think to yourself, well, he’s not a Christian now, and I wouldn’t marry him unless he becomes a Christian – do not think that the human head is quite so rational. We are not, as you’ve often heard me say, rational, as much as we are rationalizing. And when two people fall in love, the head will find all sorts of reasons to do what the heart wants to do. So do not think, well, we’re just exploring this for a while. Trust me, we’re going to do this for a couple years, and if he doesn’t or she doesn’t become a Christian, we won’t get married. By that time, your lives are intertwined, and you love each other. Better to save yourself the heartache at the end of that road and not set out on it in the first place.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me make the case from this text and a couple of other texts – so it’ll be a little bit topical – why Christians must marry only in the Lord. Three reasons from three texts. We’ll start with, and spend most of our time in, this text from Ezra 9. So, here’s the first reason, because this is not just a bit of archaic tradition, but what the Bible says. Mixed marriages – and you understand I’m not talking about mixed ethnicity or mixed race – we’re going to talk about that. That’s very good if they’re married in the Lord. But mixed religiously – mixed marriages lead to religious compromise. Religious compromise. That’s the point here in Ezra chapter 9. Look at verse 1. Soon after Ezra arrives – remember, they get things counted, they have all the money and the animals and the goods, and they’ve arrived. He gets word almost immediately of a crisis and a controversy. The people of Israel have not separated themselves from the people of the land. Gives a familiar list of the nations – six of the seven nations Moses commanded the people to drive out of the Promised Land. He also mentions the Moabites and the Ammonites, who were familiar foes of Israel. He also mentions Egypt, another pagan nation nearby. Verse 2: they’re not separating. In fact, they’re intermarrying. And to make matters worse, this sin is the people, but not just from the people, but the priests and the Levites. And look at the end of verse 2: the faithlessness in this, the hand of the officials and chief men, has been foremost. This is not a few people. This is a great multitude of people, and the worst offenders are the people who should know best. It’s their leaders, the priests, the Levites, the elders of clans and tribes. They’ve intermarried with them. This is a shocking disappointment to Ezra.

Ezra – remember, he’s a scribe, he’s an expert in the law. And so, he knows what the law requires. He knows what a tremendous, terrible mistake the people have made. Remember, they just have come back from Babylon – now the Persian Empire. And why were they sent in exile in the first place? Because they had proven to be covenant breakers. They had proved to be idolatrous compromisers with the nations around them. This is the sort of thing that led them to Babylon in the first place, so you can understand this great expression of consternation from Ezra – tears his hair, his beard, his cloak, his garment. These are traditional signs of mourning. He sits down, and he weeps. He fasts and prays, and some of the other people join him. They’re trembling under conviction. Now, the question for us is whether the issue here is simply the Jews had married non-Jews. Some people think this is just about a kind of ethnic superiority or a racial prejudice or xenophobia. But just a moment’s reflection shows us that this is not about race. This is about religion. In Ezra’s day, remember they were not unwilling to mix with other peoples provided they followed the ways of God. Remember that, back in chapter 6 verse 21, when they celebrate the Passover finally, and it says it was eaten by the people of Israel, who had returned from exile, and also by everyone who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the God of Israel. So we already saw in chapter 6, it wasn’t as if this was an ethnic thing and only pure Jews. Some people distanced themselves from the compromise of the land, from that idolatry, those whorings, that abomination, and they were welcomed in. That’s why I say this is not about race or ethnicity. It’s about religion.

It was not unlawful, in itself, to marry a non-Israelite. Think about some famous examples. Miriam and Aaron objected to Moses marrying a Cushite woman. So this was a North African woman, and they were punished, not Moses. Tzipporah – that’s her name – was a worshiper of Yahweh. She even did better than her husband, Moses – circumcised their son when Moses had neglected that. So he married a Cushite, and Aaron and Miriam say, “Tsk, tsk tsk! You shouldn’t be marrying a Cushite.” But that wasn’t the issue, that he married somebody who wasn’t an ethnic Jew, because she was a worshiper of Yahweh.

Or Ruth, she was a Moabitess. Now here, we read, they married some Moabites and Amorites, but we’re to understand it’s not so much that they are ethnically a Moabite, but what that normally would represent: different gods, different religion. Ruth, however – remember she swore allegiance to Naomi, her mother-in-law: “where you go, I will go. Your God will be my God.” And then she marries Boaz, and she’s in the line of David and ultimately in the line of Jesus, the Messiah. So, you could marry a Moabite, if it was one who would be a follower of Yahweh. The issue is the religion. Mixed religious marriages were sinful because they inevitably involved religious compromise. Let me read – here’s from the law – Exodus 34:

“Observe what I command you this day. (Verse 11, Exodus 34) Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their asherim, for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous god, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. And when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.”

Ezra is an expert in the law, and he knew what was required of God’s people. Notice the language “covenant.” They were not to make a covenant with the people of the land, a formal binding agreement. And if they were not to do that corporately, they were not to do that individually. What does Malachi tell us, but that marriage is a covenant relationship. They could not covenant as a people with those who worshiped other gods. And they were not to covenant individually with those who worshiped other gods. And you see the reasons spelled out very clearly in Exodus, because inevitably, though you may have the purest of intentions, the noblest of heart, and you say, “Well, I am a worshiper of Yahweh, and I know you’re a worshipper of the asherim. You’re a worshipper of Baal. I’m a worshiper the God of Israel. Yet we love each other deeply.” They know that inevitably it will involve compromise. You will do things that you did not set out to do. It is impossible to maintain total integrity when you choose to make your closest relationship with someone who does not share what is most important to you.

Now, here’s another little jab for us: the reality is when Christians marry non-Christians is often an indicator that Christ may not actually be the most important thing to us. You say that it is, but it actually proves not to be. It inevitably involves compromise. You do the things you didn’t want to do. You obey the precepts you said you wouldn’t obey. Those of you who are married, all of you know the longer you’re married, the more you get shaped, one another, by your spouse. How often have you said, look, they even dress alike. You find some equilibrium. Now, you may be even opposites attract, but you find a restaurant that you both like. My wife has learned a little bit to watch sports. There are 11 people – football. Football – she grew up with it. Her dad watched football. Football her whole her life, and football – there’s just a lot of rules. You got to really be locked in. She has learned to like it some. She prefers watching basketball. I have learned to watch many British period dramas, and I like them – many of them. It is absolutely true. People will ask me sometimes, what’s the most important book in your life or give me some of your influences. And if I’m honest – this isn’t usually what they mean, but it’s absolutely true. No one has influenced Kevin DeYoung more in the last 25 years than Trisha Bebee. Trisha DeYoung.

Same with your spouse. When you marry outside the faith, you will inevitably add to or subtract from your faith until both sides can reach some sort of equilibrium. Even in a bad marriage, there is some desire even simply to get along, to please your husband or wife. You will face all sorts of questions. What will you do on Sunday? How will you raise your kids? How will you celebrate Christian holidays? Will you celebrate them at all? What will you do with your money? Will you give to the church or not? What will you tell your kids about God, about sin, about heaven and hell, about the Bible? Inevitably, you will give a little to get a little, and you will compromise. There are really three options that happen when you’re married to a non-Christian. One: constant fighting, stress, tension, negotiation. Two: your faith becomes marginalized. You’re not as invested in the church as you otherwise would be, you don’t give as much money, you’re not as involved. You don’t think about inviting hospitality, having people over to your house, because you know your husband or wife won’t like it. You wouldn’t have a small group. Your faith becomes marginalized. Or the third option: your spouse becomes marginalized, because the most important thing in your life does not involve the most important person in your life. You see? You marginalize the most important thing in your life or the most important person in your life. If your goal in marriage is – as it ought to be, Christian – to reflect Christ in the church, to raise a family that will be saturated in the Word, will function like a little church that worships God in all that they do – if that’s your goal, you think that’s my dream for marriage, because that is God’s dream for marriage, to reflect Christ in the church, to do everything to the glory of God, to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, to be a little church in our home. If that’s your goal, there is not a married person on the planet who can honestly tell you that the best way to reach that goal is to marry a non-Christian. Listen, because some of you are married to non-Christians. It’s not that they cannot be very nice people. We all know some non-Christians who are nicer than some of the Christians that we know. At best, your non-Christian spouse may even agree to let you do your thing. That often happens. Sort of the best case in a bad case situation. I see this is important to you. It’s not my thing, but I support you in it. I see it’s meaningful, and I love you, and you do it. But even in that best case of a worst case, it is not what God designed the Christian family to be. And that is not aiding your growth in godliness but is merely not restricting it as much as one might. Women in particular, because it can be harder for women, it seems, to find Christian men, though if the studies are to be believed that we see now, young men are becoming more conservative and more Christian, and young women are moving in an opposite direction, so this may not be the case so much. But women – if you want to have non-Christian children, if you would like to have a higher likelihood of non-Christian grandchildren, convince yourself it is okay to lower your standards and marry a non-Christian husband. Now, by God’s grace, it doesn’t always work that way. But if you think, I want non-Christian children, non-Christian grandchildren – no one really wants that. And yet, you are setting yourself up for that very likelihood.

Saw some statistic years ago, something like predicting whether a child will go on to make Christian faith his or her own. And if it was the mother who was a Christian and taking them to church, the mother alone, it was something like 45-50%. If it was the father who was a Christian, it was something like 80-85%. It’s very hard when the example in the home is of a father who does not take Christ nearly as seriously as his wife or does not love Christ at all. Mixed marriages lead to religious compromise.

Here’s the second point: mixed marriages lead to relational opposition. Now, here we’re going to turn to two other passages. Go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 6, because we want to see not just what Ezra, tells us which is mainly about the compromise piece, but I want you to see two other reasons. So first, in 2 Corinthians chapter 6, we read in verse 14 these famous words:

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? What fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?”

The issue here is not directly about marriage. It’s about participating in meals where sacrifice to the gods would take place. This was very common – much as you might enter a home, and we’re going to have a meal, and somebody says grace, so in the ancient world, before a meal, they would conduct a sacrifice to the gods. Or if you were part of a guild – think a trade union or an organization, a society, a conference – they would often have their own pagan deity, and there would be very perfunctory rituals that would take place. It was hard to avoid association with pagan idolatry. And that’s why this text says so radically, you must not be yoked with unbelievers. Now, it doesn’t mean you can’t have non-Christian friends. He’s talking about life in the church, idolatry. And Christians have always understood this passage, also, to be applicable to marriage, because if it is true in the life in the body of Christ, so it must be just as true, if not more so, dealing with Christ and the church in the covenant of marriage.

We must be diligent not to join together what God has put asunder. You understand the metaphor there in verse 14: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” Animals plowing the field – get two oxen. There’s more strength when they work together, and so you’d put a wooden or an iron yoke on them, that they might plow and move in the same direction. Now, you wouldn’t yoke a bull and a chicken. You wouldn’t try to, you know, harness a mule and a squirrel, a fiery stallion and a lame pony. It doesn’t work. You need two animals of similar stature, strength, moving in the same direction. This is the point: that mixed marriages lead to relational opposition, because marriage is to put upon a yoke on both of your necks.

And it is true, a Christian and a non-Christian may truly love each other. And they may genuinely love many of the same things and get along and have many of the same interests, but by definition, a Christian and a non-Christian do not love the same ultimate things. The end goal of their lives cannot be the same. Again, the challenge may be there’s a whole lot of people who say they’re Christians, and the end goal of their life is not really any different than non-Christians. It’s to have a nice career. It’s to have the American dream. It’s to have all of those nice things. It’s really not to live and die in the joy of the comfort of the Lord and glorify God in all that you do. A non-Christian and a Christian, by definition, the purpose in their life is not the same. They do not understand the purpose of the whole universe the same. And I think we can fairly extend this metaphor of being unequally yoked – if you think about it’s not the same breed of animal. So think about a Christian and a nominal Christian. You’ve convinced yourself. They’ve convinced your parents. He said, “Yeah, I’m a Christian. Yeah, I was baptized one time. I belong to this church.” But if you’re honest, you know, he is 1/100th as serious about being a Christian as you are. That’s unequally yoked. Protestants and Catholics can be friends, can have many things in common, but you have immediately all sorts of decisions where you cannot both agree. Or a Bible-believing Christian and a liberal Christian who does not really believe the Bible. The closer theological agreement you can have, the better.

Now, there are things that people will work out, and you know a Baptist and a Presbyterian get married, and you have to work through the issue of baptism. So it isn’t that you only can marry someone from the PCA. Oh, there’s worse ideas, I suppose. But no, there are other – praise God, this isn’t the only part of the kingdom of God. But think about – if the yoke imagery doesn’t work for you – think about a boat. You ever get two of you in a rowboat? It seems so easy. Just grab an oar, grab an oar. And it takes some work to be together, and you end up just going in circles. This person’s paddling this way. This one’s going this way. You need to find someone who is really, truly, honestly rowing in the same direction with you. And not just telling you what you want to hear, but actually rowing in the same direction. You are setting yourself up, when you marry unequally, for a lifetime of conflict and difficulty and pain and loneliness. There was a very powerful essay in 2012 written by Kathy Keller, Tim’s wife. It’s in The Gospel Coalition. You can find it. It’s called “Don’t Take It From Me: Reasons You Should Not Marry an Unbeliever.” And the Kellers weren’t, you know, they were very winsome. And so, to say some of these things as strong as she does is worth noting. I’ll just read a few paragraphs from Kathy Keller:

“Over the course of our ministry, the most common pastoral issue that Tim and I have confronted is probably marriages, either actual or proposed, between Christians and non-Christians. I have often thought about how much simpler it would be if I could remove myself from the conversation and invite those already married to unbelievers to do the talking to singles who are desperately trying to find a loophole that would allow them to marry someone who does not share their faith. (And she then mentioned some of these passages we’re talking about.) You can find those passages in abundance. But when someone has already allowed his or her heart to become engaged with a person outside the faith, I find that the Bible has already been devalued as the non-negotiable rule of faith and practice. Instead, variants of the serpent’s question to Eve, “did God really say?” are floated, as if somehow this case, my situation, might be eligible for an exemption, considering how much they love each other, how much the unbeliever supports and understands the Christian faith, how much they are soulmates, despite the absence of a shared soul faith. Having grown weary and impatient, I want to snap and say it won’t work. Marriage is hard enough when you have two believers who are completely in harmony spiritually. Spare yourself the heartache, and get over it. Yet such harshness is neither in line with the gentleness of Christ nor convincing. (Just a few more sentences.) If only I could pair those sadder and wiser women and men who have found themselves in unequal marriages, either by their foolishness or due to one person finding Christ after the marriage had already occurred, with the blithely optimistic singles who are convinced that their passion and commitment will overcome all obstacles – even the obstacle of bald disobedience need not apply to them – only 10 minutes of conversation, one minute if the person is really succinct, would be necessary. In the words of one woman who was married to a perfectly nice man who did not share her faith: ‘If you think you are lonely before you get married, it’s nothing compared to how lonely you can be after you are married.’”

When you marry a non-Christian, you set yourself up for religious compromise, for relational opposition, and ultimately – point three – spiritual contradiction. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 – it’s about marriage, singleness, widows – and in the midst of Paul’s instructions for widows remarrying, he says in verse 39 of 1 Corinthians 7, the wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. Only in the Lord. Now, he’s speaking to widows. But don’t think he means, well, widows have to marry in the Lord. Other Christians, you can marry whoever you want. It works the opposite way. He’s assuming every Christian must be married in the Lord. And what he has in his mind is, well, but what if you’re a widow? Might that be an exception? Maybe you’re older. Maybe you don’t have very many options. You know, you’re already mature in your faith, and your husband dies, or you’re a widower and your wife dies, and you get remarried. Surely now, maybe you’ve already raised your kids. They’re not in the equation. If ever there was an exception to the rule, it would be with widows. And that’s why Paul underlines, nope, not even for widows. You, too, must marry in the Lord. And that phrase “in the Lord” doesn’t mean you just have a Christian wedding. It’s not throwaway jargon. It is the richest, deepest theology. It speaks to our union with Christ. One of the reasons in 1 Corinthians 6 that sexual sin is so serious – Paul said you wouldn’t join Christ to a prostitute, would you? It’s blasphemous. It’s unthinkable to consider Jesus Christ with a prostitute. You’re meant to experience revulsion. He says, well, you are in Christ. Christ is in you. And so you, Christian, if you join yourself with a prostitute, if you join yourself in sexual sin, if you engage in pornographic material, you are bringing Christ there, because Christ is in you. It’s meant to bring to bear the best news of all, that by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to you, and you are in him, and he is in you. You are in Christ. And so to marry in the Lord means that two people who are both in Christ marry each other.

Marriage is, of course, a creation ordinance. Non-Christians can get married. They do get married. We want people to be married. But to be married in the Lord is to join together two people who are both in their most fundamental, foundational identity in Christ. The Bible teaches over and over, especially in Genesis 2, sex is when the two become one. Heard me say this before. Why “one”? Not just that you’re close. You know, if you hug someone doesn’t make you married, thankfully. You’re saying, that’s why you Dutch people don’t hug. I get it. If you hold someone’s hand, you’re not married. Why “one”? It’s oneness, not just closeness, not just a physical closeness, but a oneness of biological function. To be one, male and female, is – if no effects of the fall are present, or old age, or infirmity – that relationship is the relationship from which children can be born. By definition, a man and a man coming together, or a woman and a woman coming together, cannot enter into a one-flesh union. They can have a sexual experience, but one flesh is not just people take off their clothes and they do something. It is one flesh in that there is one singular, unitive, generative biological function, namely procreation, that comes out of marriage between a man and a woman, which is why so-called same-sex marriage is not actual marriage. Not simply by a religious definition, but by a physical definition.

Mixed marriages – now you can be really married to a non-Christian, but you cannot be one spiritually. And the disconnect, the contradiction, is that you would be one physically, biologically, organically one with someone with whom you are not one spiritually. Joining in Christ to someone who is in Adam in the most intimate, vulnerable physical experience possible. To marry a non-Christian is to be engaged in a spiritual contradiction. It is to bring Christ back in to Adam. Why then ought we to marry only Christians? I’ve given you three reasons, and I want to finish now, briefly, with three simple points of application.

One: single people, whatever age, do not start out on a journey that you should not finish. Don’t toy around. Don’t lead on. Don’t entertain temptation. Don’t think that you are somehow stronger than the whole human race that has gone before you. Emotions and hormones are powerful things. And once you are enticed, and once you feel in love, you will be able to convince yourself of almost anything. Yes, he seems like a terrible, terribly abusive relationship, but I love him. Yes, I know she’s not a Christian, but I love her. Those who are single, hoping to be married, there are many, many things you may have on your list that don’t actually need to be on the list, but the one unbending standard, which you must not compromise on, is that you marry only in the Lord. Do not set out on path that you cannot bring to completion. Do not stoop down. You remember in Willy Wonka, Augustus Gloop, who bends down to drink from the chocolate river, and he falls in? Don’t be Augustus Gloop. Don’t think that, well, I alone – I know I can bend down to drink this delicious chocolate. I’ll never fall into the river. I will get up before I fall into the river. It will not be so. Now has it happened before that a Christian and a non-Christian date and one becomes converted? Yes. Are there stories by God’s grace? I’ve heard many of them. We had no business being together, but God saved her, saved him. Yes, it happens. The Lord is better to us than we deserve. And we all know stories like that. But the goal is not flirt and convert. No missionary dating. Just because God is kind and he does it, doesn’t mean he lays it out as a model. Yes, Joseph being sold into slavery ended up with the salvation of God’s people, but that doesn’t mean you help starving nations by chucking colorful boys into wells. Doesn’t work that way. God is gracious. It’s not a model. Do not start on a journey that you should not finish.

Second: if you are in a relationship right now – call it hanging out, dating, maybe even so far as engaged – you ought to take an honest look at the yoke that you are wearing or presuming to wear and get others to help you in the evaluation. You will not see things clearly. Ask those most be-knighted, ignorant people in your lives, your parents, what they think. Now, there are complicating factors. Sometimes people are not married, and they’ve already had children together. That is a complicating factor. If you’re older, you’re Christians, you made a mistake, you repented, you get married, it’s good. You want the children to be raised by a biological mother and father, if at all possible. That’s one scenario. Relatively simple. More complicated is if the man and the woman are very very young and they shouldn’t be married yet, very immature, or if one is a Christian and one is not a Christian, but there’s a child involved. In that case, it is best to work hard to not alienate one another and pray and hope that one might be converted, and yet do not add to one sin another sin. And if you are in a relationship and one person is not a Christian, the other person is, and the person who’s not a Christian says, well I’m really serious about becoming a Christian. You say, well that’s really exciting. You should say, you need to go about that even apart from me. You need to – you can come to church with me, but we’re not heading down this road together. I’d like to see you read the Bible on your own, get in a small group on your own, seek out mentors on your own. You want to see, is this person really being led to the Lord by your good example, or are they thinking of a box to check? Because in their mind they think, “Well, I love this person. How hard can it be? I don’t mind. I’ll say I’m a Christian, and then we’ll get married, and maybe we got to go to church Christmas and Easter and a few times. I can live with it.” You want to see if this person is really serious about making the Lord the absolute treasure in their life. Trust God that he only wants what is good for you. He gives us these rules not to punish us, but because he wants what is good for you and the flourishing of your life and your marriage.

And then here’s a final word: in whatever state you are in, seek that deep communion that comes only through our union with Christ. And here’s where you have to first ask yourself, is that really me? Okay, I’m in church this morning. That’s good. A lot of people aren’t. Am I really a Christian? Am I really joined to Christ? Can I really say this is the most important thing in my life? If so, what are you doing, based on that union with Christ, to foster a rich communion with Christ in your private life, in your public life, in your single life, in your married life, in all of life? And if you find yourself this morning in a troubled marriage, you ought to ask yourself first, before you start thinking where your mind wants to go – all of the problems that she has, all of the ways that he is an absolute pain – first, think to yourself, am I in Christ? Am I in Christ? If yes, then I have the Holy Spirit in me, to help me. If I am truly in Christ, then what might it look like for me to do my part to plow in the same direction as my spouse? Maybe, husbands, it means that you have not been taking leadership as the lead ox in the relationship. Maybe, wives, you’ve not been willing to follow your husband’s lead. Maybe every time you metaphorically try to wear the ox together, you just want to bite and gnaw at each other. You’re not actually moving anywhere. I’m stretching the analogy a bit, but if two cows just stare at each other all the time, the goal is to be moving. Mooving. Wow, that even sounded good. Ask yourself, in whatever relationship, single or married, is my first goal truly, truly to show how precious Christ is? Is that what you want? You set out on your dating relationship. You think about marriage. You’re in a marriage that’s good, troubled, broken, almost gone. Don’t think about the other. Think about yourself. Can I honestly say my first goal is to show how precious Christ is? Because if you are in Christ, you bear his name, you have his strength, you live according to his word, and your ultimate goal is to do everything for his glory. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, would you help apply this word in just the way? Let it be an encouragement to many married couples who are walking, plowing in the same direction. And let it be a word of warning and remembrance, and perhaps healing and hope, for those who are struggling. Lord, all of your commands are good. They are a light unto our path. You never lead us into darkness. You only mean to lead us in life and light and blessing. And we trust you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

More Trusting or More Trying

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:48:44 GMT

Oh, Father, we have just sung these words, and we trust that we mean them. You have led us. Some of us are here this morning, and we look around and say, “Surely the lines have fallen for us in pleasant places.” Others may feel as if they’re being dragged through the valley of the shadow of death. And in both cases, you lead us. So as you lead us, you will also keep us and take us by the hand. So now lead us, preeminently so by your word. Speak to us, help us, convict us, encourage us, lead us to Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.

We come this morning to Ezra chapter 8. We’ve been working our way through the book of Ezra. Ezra and Nehemiah really go together. So we have these building projects for an altar, temple, for the wall. We’re in Ezra chapter 8. I don’t think that we will go on to Nehemiah after we finish with Ezra, but we will look at Nehemiah and compare it to Ezra in just a moment. Here in chapter 8 – just to remind you where we are, in the first two chapters of the book, we had the first wave of exiles returning under Cyrus’s decree. And then there was a big stall out, as there was opposition before they finally got the temple built. And then another gap. So we’re fully 80 years from the beginning of Ezra to now here where another group of exiles is returning with Ezra. We saw chapter 7, he got the decree from Artaxerxes. We’re onto that king. And now in chapter 8, we have the genealogy of those who return.

The list starts with two priestly families. And then the family of David is mentioned in verse 2. That must have been some good news to know that even though they don’t have their own king that the promises to David had not fallen. And then there are 12 families. There’s a stylistic number, surely – the number 12 to symbolize representative of the people of God. And if you went and compared the 12 families listed here in chapter 8 with the families mentioned at the first return of the exile in chapter 2, you notice they’re almost identical. So they’re good families. They send people the first return and now the second return. But more importantly, it’s to demonstrate continuity. We can’t say, “Well, we’re the real people. We came first. You’re the Johnny come lately.” These are the same families, same people, one nation.

Then you see verses 15-20. They need Levites. Who are the Levites? The Levites attend to the priests. They built the temple, and they need priests and Levites to attend to the daily functions for the sacrificial system. And they don’t have enough Levites. You can understand the Levites probably thought we have a better life in Babylon than to go back and have to do the tedious, menial tasks, to work and be servants to the priests. And so Ezra has to round up some Levites because they’re essential to the rebuilding and the reforming effort. So he’s got the priests and the Levites. He’s got the clans – men, women, children. He has to pull together holy vessels. He has lots of money and supplies from the king. He has a letter of support from Artaxerxes. Now all they have to do is make the 900-mile trip back to Jerusalem. So let’s pick up with verse 21:

“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. Then I set apart 12 of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and 10 of their kinsmen with them. And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel their present had offered. I weighed out into their hands 650 talents of silver and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold.

And I said to them, ‘You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel and Jerusalem within the chambers of the house of the Lord.’ So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God. Then we departed from the river Ahava on the 12th day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. On the fourth day within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah. And with him was Eleazar, the son of Phinehas, and with him were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui. The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded.

At that time, those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, and as a sin offering, 12 male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people in the house of God.”

I wonder what advice you would give in the following situations, all of which are made up, but all of which have had some resemblance to encounters I’ve had with people over 20 plus years of pastoral ministry. Suppose you have a 20-something friend of yours who just had another girlfriend break up with him. If that’s you, I don’t know that it’s you. It’s not a word from the Lord, just a story. And this is the second time you’ve been dumped in six months. You’re discouraged. You’re frustrated. And your friend vows he’s not doing the dating thing. He’s off the dating apps. He’s going to stop looking for a wife. He’s going to trust that God all on his own will bring the right girl to him, manage everything for him. He doesn’t have to do anything. After all, Adam got his wife when he was asleep.

Or consider this scenario: a middle-aged couple feels convicted. They had been depending on their money in secular ways, and they’ve not been depending on God. So, they liquidate their savings. They give it all away. They drop their health insurance. They drop whatever insurance they’re legally allowed to get rid of. They sell off life insurance, all the rest. And they say, “We are so happy to finally be rid of these idols, and now we feel like for the first time we’re entirely trusting the Lord.

Or what about this? A young couple is eager to get to the mission field, but the organization requires that they get at least 90% support raised. Well, they’ve sort of stalled out at about 40%. But they’re so eager and they’re absolutely certain the Lord has called them to the mission field. They leave that organization, and they find a way to go on their own. They have some friends there, and they just get a tourist visa, and they go. They are confident the Lord is going to take care of them. This is the calling on their life. And if they just go and are obedient, God will surely provide.

Or what about this? A veteran missionary couple has an open door to go to a different part into the interior of the country, but there the area is torn by war. The local government is hostile to foreigners. There’s an opportunity, however, to go to the villages to share the gospel. But the couple’s friends and family, the other missionaries in the area, don’t want them to go. They say it’s too dangerous. They should wait. And if they go, they could get in trouble and put themselves and the whole missionary endeavor at risk. The couple goes, believing that we are called to suffer for the gospel, that it’s right to do risky things for God, even if it means that they should suffer, even if they should die.

Or what about this? A church finds itself constantly falling behind its budget. Every year, they’re barely able to make ends meet. They get to those low spots during the summer, and they have some weeks that they’re literally waiting for checks to come in, wondering if they’re going to have to shut off the utilities. That’s how grim it gets. Well, at the elders meeting, one of the elders says, “We just can’t live like this anymore, hand to mouth, especially during these lean months. We need to set up something in savings. We ought to have at least six months of salary, benefits, missionary support. Let’s build up a savings. And another elder says, “Well, we should go farther than that. We have this piece of land. We don’t use it anymore. We could sell that for a lot of money. We could put it into an endowment, and we would be able off of that investment income to be much more secure in the years ahead.” Meanwhile, another contingent of the elders say, “Shame on all of us for not trusting in the Lord. It’s good that we get to these spots every year because it forces us to really get on our knees and trust that the Lord will provide.

Or one more – suppose it’s 2020. You don’t want to, I know, but the government is offering payments to churches if they retain their employees during COVID. The elders of the church can’t decide what to do. Half of the men like the idea, and the others say, “Well, I don’t want to get entangled with the government, and besides I think we should rely on the Lord, and our people will come through.” And the others counter with, “Well, the Lord is providing for us by means of this government program, and we’ve checked into it, and there’s no strings attached, and what would we say to our employees if we didn’t take this and then we had to let them go?” What do you do?

Well, by now you’re saying, I would like to know your response in each of those questions. I don’t think it is wrong on the last one that organizations did take COVID relief money. We didn’t as a church. Others did. Don’t think it was wrong, but we didn’t. And I won’t go through the other five examples. They don’t all have right or wrong answers. But each of them I present to you because they all have to do with the question of faith. When does faith look like stepping out and doing something that doesn’t make a lot of sense and has a lot of warning sirens? And when is stepping out and calling that “faith” actually poor planning and not listening to good advice? Does God want you to ignore your circumstances when you have a hard decision and just venture out, depending on him? Is that a faith-filled risk, or is that an excuse for poor planning and unwillingness to accept counsel and help from others?

The questions are difficult, and they often don’t have absolute right or wrong answers. When the Bible wants to give us absolute rights and wrongs, it will do something like the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt, thou shalt not, or maybe even Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount, or we know what the fruit of the spirit look like. And then there are all sorts of areas in your life called wisdom. Now, don’t hear wisdom meaning none of that matters, or I guess it’s all a free-for-all. Wisdom is how God means to normally lead us, equip us, teach us. It’s why we need to make decisions with others. It’s why we need to listen to those who are wise and mature and have experience. So many decisions in life, you can’t just turn to a verse and say right or wrong. And we don’t shake up, you know, our prayer life like a Magic 8 ball and expect God to give us the right answer. We have to grow in wisdom. And that means we have to learn what it looks like to trust and to try. I put here as the title for this sermon – More Trusting or More Trying.

And you say yes to both. Well, sometimes it looks like one or the other. How do we know in different circumstances in life when God is saying you need to trust when you don’t see the picture? And when is he saying, “All right, I’ve given you some answers and some wisdom, and you need to try a little harder.” Now, what does this have to do with Ezra chapter 8? Everything. I want you to look at that paragraph, verses 21-23. So, we’re going to focus our attention. Remember Ezra is setting out on a long journey. Verse 21: “We humble ourselves before God, to seek from him a safe journey” – for what? – “ourselves, our children, all our goods.” They got a lot riding on this trip. This isn’t just Ezra and a few of his buddies going on a road trip. That’s one thing. 900 arduous miles. It’s not Interstate 80. It’s a dangerous path. You see later – talks about they were safe, verse 31, from ambushes along the way. Now it’s many centuries later, but you think about Jesus telling the story about the good Samaritan who was going down, and somebody came out and robbers on the way. This is what it was like to travel in the ancient world. You go, and you are at mercy of weather, enemies, warring tribes and nations, maybe just bandits. If you’ve ever watched a movie about the west – the wild, wild west – and the stage coach, especially as they have to deliver from the banks. They got the Pinkertons. That’s – they were real people. They got their start as security, as people who traveled around to protect the money, because you’re out in the middle of nowhere, and it just takes some well-planned bandits to come.

So, they are running a risk. They have women, children, thousands of them, and goods. Remember, they are loaded up with gold and silver. They got bank vaults. They have a lot going on. So, Ezra prays. Now, notice, verse 22 – notice what he doesn’t do. He does not ask for an armed escort: “I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way.” Said, I would have been embarrassed. We said the hand of God is upon us, and he is against our enemies. And he was embarrassed to then go to the king and say, “Could you send us some protection? We don’t need no stinking badges. We don’t need them. God would take care of them. He had already told the king, “The hand of our God is upon us.” And so you say to yourself, obviously the lesson is don’t rely on man’s help. Don’t rely on man’s protection. Trust in God to take care of you. That’s obviously what God wants us to learn from this passage. Or is it?

Keep your finger there, and go a few more pages over to Nehemiah chapter 2. Nehemiah is going to come. He’s the cup bearer to the king, and he’s going to come help rebuild this wall, provide leadership along with Ezra. Look at Nehemiah 2. It’s a very similar story where Nehemiah is trying to get his paperwork in order to come back to Judah. Let’s pick up Nehemiah 2, verse,4:

“The king said, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, if your servant has found favor in your sight, then you send me to Judah, the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.’ The king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, ‘How long will you be gone? When will you return?’ So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, let letters be given to the governors of the province Beyond the River’ (same thing happened with Ezra) ‘that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy.’ And the king granted (just like with Ezra, granted) to Nehemiah what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.”

There you see the same refrain. Now, I want you to look at verse 9:

“Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now, the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.”

Okay, Nehemiah. He travels with an armed escort. So obviously the moral of the story is you should always take every precaution that is available to you. Famously in Nehemiah 4:9, one of my favorite verses, “And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” They had opposition. You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to pray. Well, Nehemiah, you’re praying. Don’t you trust the Lord? I am. And we’re putting a guard, because one of the ways he can answer our prayer is by posting a guard. So Nehemiah came, and we read in Nehemiah 2:9, he had the king’s army, horsemen. He had an armed escort to make the journey with him. So which is it? Nehemiah trying or Ezra trusting?

Well, there’s nothing in the text that suggests that somebody did something wrong. Well, Nehemiah, you weren’t quite as spiritual as Ezra. He was a priest and a scribe, and you weren’t very spiritual there. Or Ezra, you’re a bit pie in the sky and woo, I’m glad you sort of lucked out there. You rolled the dice, but you shouldn’t have done that. There no indication that either man did something wrong. And yet we see Ezra, full of good wisdom, wanting to honor the Lord – no escort, no army, no horsemen. Nehemiah, also full of good wisdom, good leadership, says, “Yes, I’ll take the army. I’ll take the horsemen.” So, which is it? Do you get life insurance? Do you save money for retirement? You say, “Nope. God will take care of us.” Well, let’s go back to Ezra, because he did the right thing in this circumstance. He trusted God to take care of him apart from the ordinary means of protection. Sometimes we face decisions, or we are attempting something for God, or you feel called to do something for the cause of Christ, and it will not check every one of the normal common sense boxes. I’m saying this as a parent – that will be hard if my children bring this up, this sermon, to me sometime. The older you get, the more common sense boxes you have on your list. And sometimes it doesn’t hit all of the items for precaution, and yet it’s still not folly. I want you to look at four things about Ezra’s risky move. We’ll go through these quickly, and then we’ll finish with two applications for us.

So I want you to notice four things about what Ezra does here. Number one, very simply, I want you to notice it was a risk. Now, in one sense, you risk every day. You know what risk is? Not knowing the future. You got safe school, you got safety precautions, you got safety insurance. Whatever you do, every single one of you takes risks. The only person who doesn’t take risk is the one person who knows the end from the beginning. That’s God. God cannot take risks, because he knows everything and he’s sovereign over everything. For all of us, you take risks. You don’t think you took a risk every time you get out, and if you don’t get out from your house, you’re taking a risk, because you do not know what the future holds. You do not know all the details about the rest of today, let alone the rest of your life. But here he takes a special risk. Look at verse 23. We fasted and implored God for this. He had said the hand of our God is for our good. But there’s an element of risk here. Then we’re saying, “God, would you do this?” He does not know absolutely. It’s not because he’s wavering in confidence. They get back, and they weren’t ambushed. They made it all the way there, and he praises God. Why? Because it was a risk. He didn’t have a crystal ball to tell him the future. So, I want you to notice it was a risk.

Two, Ezra had a track record of hardworking and strategic thinking. Now remember last week we saw chapter 7, verse 6: he’s a skillful scribe. Chapter 7, verse 10: he has a heart to study God’s word. He had asked the king for the decree, and he got everything he asked for. Chapter 7, verse 6: in fact, an employee of the Persian government, it’s quite possible Ezra wrote the whole decree himself, exactly what he wanted, and that he got Artaxerxes to sign on the dotted line. Why do I bring that up? Because when Ezra takes a risk, this is not someone who has a track record of being foolish. This is not an excuse of someone who never quite organizes things, always flies by the seat of his pants. He has a record of being very skilled, working hard, being thoughtful. In other words, he has earned the right to be followed. There’s a difference between a 16-year-old – love risks – and a 56-y old saying, “I know what this is about. I’ve earned the right to be followed, even when it means a risk.”

Third thing I want you to notice: they fasted and prayed. That’s clear. Verse 23: “We fasted and implored our God for this.” Verse 21: “I proclaimed a fast. We humbled ourselves before God.” That means they trusted God, but they did not presume upon God. They implored him. Elijah, James tells us, was a man with like nature as ours, and he prayed – notice the word – fervently that it might not rain. He didn’t go out and just say, “I’m close with God. God, no rain.” Just wait. Not going to rain. He prayed fervently. Here’s the point. If you are going to pursue a course of action which does not employ the usual ordinary means, then you should be prepared to petition God with extraordinary prayer. When you are not going to use the ordinary means, you ought to be ready to petition God with extraordinary prayer. This was not out of laziness. Eh, I don’t have time to get this – we’re ready to go. I can’t be waiting on this, Artaxerxes. I can’t get your whole army together. We’ll just go. It’ll be fine. They fasted. They prayed. They committed themselves before the Lord as they took this risk.

Fourth thing to notice: taking a risk in one area does not preclude being responsible and taking necessary precautions in other areas. Did you notice this – in this paragraph, 21-23, he tells Artaxerxes, “Nope, I’m not going to ask for the armed escort. I’d be embarrassed to do it.” So, you might think Ezra’s principle was we’ll be fine no matter what. But then you see the heading before verse 24: Priests to Guard the Offering. So, the issue here was not that he didn’t believe in guards or he didn’t believe in people to watch over for the safe journey, but as we’ll come to, he was embarrassed, rightfully so in this case, because he thought it would reflect poorly on God if he had to get, from the pagan king, his help to make it safely back to Jerusalem. But this whole section from 24 onward is about Ezra’s careful attention to detail. He consecrates the Levites. He says, “You’re holy, and you’re going to keep the holy vessels.” Now, your eyes probably glazed over a little bit as I was reading it. You got all these talents of gold and silver, and what is this about? Well, it’s very important what this is about. This is about good fiscal responsibility, transparency in accounting. Why? Weigh out everything. And then he makes a point to say – you know what the first thing they did when they got to Jerusalem is they weighed out all the gold. Because Ezra doesn’t say, hey, we got a bunch of money. Let’s just trust. We’re God’s people. It’ll be fine. You know what? The Levites, you’re in charge, but I’m not even sure I completely trust all the Levites. So, we’re going to weigh out every bag. We’re going to have a counting. We’re going to write it down. We’re going to have an Excel spreadsheet. We’re going to have a ledger. We’re going to go. We know exactly what we’re traveling with, because we don’t want anybody on this long four-month journey to be pocketing some of it. So when they come, they weigh it all out and the books balance. Ah, God brought us safely here. The Levites didn’t take any of the money.

The point is that Ezra is not afraid to use good, careful thought. He rejected the ordinary means of God’s protection through the Persian king, but he made every effort for the ordinary sorts of protection from his own Levites. He did not view “faith” as the opposite of wise planning, caution, or the use of means. It is fitting we introduce Tim to be our director of church administration, and we talk here – a passage about church administration. Didn’t plan that. Church administration – it’s kind of like your skeleton. You don’t think a lot about it. If you didn’t have it, you’d miss it. When it’s all going well and everything’s in order, it allows the ministry to move forward. Maximum levels of trust. And by God’s grace and lots of good people, we’ve been blessed with that. And when it goes poorly, you can hardly do anything else of consequence for the Lord. So, this is really important, that Ezra is using careful, necessary precautions. So to take a risk in one area doesn’t mean he was going to be a ne’er do well in every other area.

So those are four things, and I want to bring this home with two points of application for us. Number one: remember that risk, and I mean deliberate risk, because I said we all take risks every day. You can’t help that. Deliberate risk – that is the choice to take a risk – is sometimes right. This will be harder for us, the older we get. That’s natural. You have more people that depend upon you. You have bills to pay. You got mortgage. You owe things to people. You have family. We have a life, most of us, in this country and in this community – let’s be honest – most of us, most of the time, trust in God as a sort of abstract concept. Somebody gets a diagnosis, there’s a hard medical intervention, there’s some scary thing, and then we really got to do it. But a lot of the times, it’s sort of an abstract concept. You’re not concerned, most of you, about whether you’ll have food. A downturn in the economy might affect people on the margins. And certainly we have folks who are forced to trust him in very real ways. But for many, many people here in South Charlotte, it is a fairly simple thing, it feels like, to trust. But then Ezra and this story tells us, might there be some times where you deliberately forego those ordinary means and in an experience and expression of gutsy faith, you would say, “Yeah, I know that that’s not checking all of the precautionary boxes, but we’re doing it anyways.”

So, when do we do that? Well, here’s at least one answer from this text. We should reject the normal means of God’s provision when accepting them would be an obstacle for the gospel. This is what Paul does. He had a right to get paid. Said, “I’m not going to get paid.” He had a right to eat all the food like the Gentiles. He said with certain people, I’m not going to take those rights. So here Ezra had every right to do this, but because he had boasted, it seems, rightfully, before the king, God will take care of us. God is so good to us. God will do everything. He’s going to provide for us. They said, “Ah, now I can’t turn around and say, but you give me a guard.” He thought it would be an embarrassment, an obstacle for the king and for the people to truly trust in the Lord. He didn’t do it to test God. He wasn’t presuming upon a promise. But sometimes you take an extraordinary risk and you do the thing that doesn’t quite make sense because otherwise it would reflect poorly on God. The filter, then, is God’s reputation. As you think about decisions in your life, use the filter God’s reputation. So on the one hand, if you excuse and call it faith and it’s laziness, that makes it look like, well, the Christian God approves of laziness and poor planning, or the Christian God doesn’t care about how resources are spent, or the Christian God must be a mighty fortress and a strong tower. The Christian God must be so supremely precious and valuable that they would take this risk.

You know, Jesus told a couple of stories like this, almost back to back, in Luke 12 and in Luke 14. Luke 14, Jesus says, “When you’re going to be a disciple, you need to count the cost.” That is, you need to see if you can finish what you start. Like a soldier going out to battle or like a workman who builds a building, they count the cost, so they don’t get to the front lines and they realize they don’t have enough men. Or they start the building and it only gets halfway there. Jesus says you should plan – you should think through, before you follow me – have you really counted the cost? And just a couple chapters before that, in Luke 12, he tells a story about a rich man who built bigger and bigger barns to store all of his wealth, and Jesus says he was a fool. So what’s the difference? In chapter 12, Luke – Jesus’ story here – in Luke 12, the man takes no risks so he can serve himself. In chapter 14, we are told to think and plan carefully so we can maximally serve Christ. That’s the difference. The one man took no risks in order to simply say, “Soul, I am well provided for. I need nothing. No risks. So you say, well always take risks. Well, Luke 14 – plan, think – there the motivation is how can I be maximally helpful and useful as a disciple of Christ. So risk is sometimes right, and the filter is God’s reputation.

Here’s the second last bit of application. In whatever way God provides and protects, whether through normal or extraordinary means, we ought to see his hand at work and give him glory. Notice there are three problems in this story. They need Levites. They need a safe trip. And they need to guard the treasure. Those are the three problems. We don’t have Levites. We don’t have a safe trip. And we need the treasure. In two of those problems, Ezra used means. He organized, and he went out, drummed up support, got some more Levites. He got those Levites, then, to guard the treasure. So two of them, he used means. The one in the middle – the safe trip – said we’re not going to use the king’s escort. This one we’re going to do by prayer and fasting. In all three, the two with means and the one with extraordinary means, we have the same refrain. So look again. Notice this, verse 18: “And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi.” So we got the Levites. You know what that is? The good hand of God is upon us. Verse 22: it was a shame to ask the king for a protection since we had told the king the hand of our God is for us to do good. Same refrain. And then finally in verse 31: we departed from the river to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. Each of these three obstacles – we need Levites, we need a safe journey, we need the treasure to be guarded – each one, the refrain comes “and God was with us.”

How do you view your life? I mean, you know the right answer is providence and sovereignty, but do you really, honestly, see your life moreso as a random collection of events and circumstances, or maybe one that God intervenes at super special times and somebody’s got cancer or you need a miracle, or do you see your life as one in which God is directing your affairs, guiding your steps, and has his good hand upon you every step of the way? Now, we would like for God to tell us at every fork in the road which way to take. Was it Yogi Berra who said, “When you see a fork in the road, take it.” We would like to know, but that’s not the way God does. God lays out – he shows us the path looking backward, not usually looking forward. Takes risk going forward. But you look back, you say, well, I didn’t know. I was deciding what seminary to go to, and I was looking at Trinity Seminary in Chicago. I was born there. I was – sorry I didn’t go to RTS, but I didn’t know – the South was different. You know, I didn’t know what to expect down here. I was looking at Trinity. I was looking at Gordon Conwell out in Boston. I went to Gordon Conwell for a very, very spiritual reason. They gave me more money. Now, I didn’t know. I didn’t say, Lord, which way? Where’s my wife here? Oh, where’s my wife? Because Trinity Seminary had a college. Gordon Conwell had Gordon College there. Oh, which way? I didn’t know that. I can look back. I said, that’s part of what God was doing, leading me to meet Trisha Bebee, sitting there at the same OPC church together. You can see what God is doing looking back. He doesn’t usually show you the steps the way we would like going forward.

Even some people have said, you know, the psalm and the lamp is a light unto my path. This is maybe a little over-interpreting, but I think there’s something to it. You know, a lamp – it’s not a giant floodlight. What does a little lamp show you? Again, everything comes back to our six chickens. When we have to go and put those chickens to bed at night, and it’s dark, they get in bed by themselves. Smart chickens, they are. You have to go out with a little lantern and make sure they’re all in there and there’s no fox in the hen-house, and it doesn’t light up the whole neighborhood. It just shows you the next, just, that far. It’s kind of like that with the Lord. Doesn’t usually open up the whole vista. Gives you enough light to know where maybe the next step is. It’s only in looking back that you can see what God was doing. Do you see your life like that? I can’t believe I got that appointment. I can’t believe the surgeon was so skillful. I can’t believe the medicine helped. I can’t believe physical therapy got me back on my feet. Yes, God used all of those means. But do you say the Lord’s hand was upon me in all of those situations? Give thanks in all circumstances, because in every circumstance, God is doing something good for his people. So, of course, it is trusting and trying.

So, let me just say this in closing, and you know what your own personality is like. Try not to think of the other person, the opposite of your personality. Some of you love to trust in Jesus. You love to talk about trusting in Jesus, but you want him to do the things for you apart from your hard work and your planning and your discipline and your organization. You love faith. You love relying on God, but yeah, obedience – let’s not, I don’t want to get into the weeds. I don’t want to get into too many details. You just kind of go about life. Well, this passage tells us that’s a phony, fake spirituality. That’s pretending to be faith. It’s not the right answer. Like I heard John Piper say years ago, when you’re wrestling with theological questions, some of them do end with mystery. Don’t start with mystery. All right, we’re going to study the Trinity. Here’s the answer: mystery. No, that’s laziness. Why don’t you think about it for ten years and read the best things you can read, and then you can land. So God will guide you, but he does it through your hard work, through your planning, through listening to others, through counsel.

But let’s talk about someone with a different personality. And this may be more of us here, given our age and circumstances. You love to talk about trusting God. You love to talk about “he leadeth me, he leadeth me,” but it’s been a long time since you took any risks, really. A risk to share your faith. A risk to give away your resources in a way that might even hurt a little. A risk to do a scary ministry opportunity. Or maybe a risk to just rest, because all you know how to do is try and try and try and prove and prove and earn and earn and work. There is no true Christianity apart from trusting in Christ. And there is no true Christianity if all you do is try, try, try. That’s leaning on your own works. The most important trusting you can ever do is to turn from your works and rest alone in Christ. Turn from your sins, turn in faith to Jesus. Trust him, then obey him. Or as Ezra said, “The hand of God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, help us as a people, as a church, to be full of trusting and full of trying. You give us lots of means to do so – education and hard work, planning, savings. You give us opportunities, too. Help us to know when you would have us, like Nehemiah, take the armed guard, and when, like Ezra, for the sake of the fame of your name, we might bypass the normal ways of doing things. In all of this, Lord, our desire is to please you. Our desire is to see men, women, and children won to faith in you. Our desire is to see your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We pray for it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Scribe to the Lord

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 10:02:19 GMT

Gracious Heavenly Father, we are so glad that you invite us, command us, to knock, seek, ask, and to call on you as our father. And so as your children, we beseech you that you might speak clearly. We’re hard of hearing. You would speak to our hearts, for we are easily wayward, and you will give to us just the encouragement or the rebuke that we need and you would present before us clearly the Lord Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

Been working our way through the book of Ezra, and we come this morning to Ezra chapter 7. Encourage you to turn in your Bibles – there’s pew Bibles in front of you if you don’t have your own – to Ezra chapter 7. Before you get to – if you open your Bible halfway and you’re in the Psalms – go back a few books, and you’ll find Ezra, Nehemiah. We are in Ezra chapter 7. There are 10 chapters in the book, and this is the second half. Not evenly divided, but this is clearly part two. Part one dealt with the restoration of worship for the returning exiles. Part two deals with the reformation of community. Restoration of worship; now the reformation of the exiled and now returning community. You’ll see there in verse 1, “Now after this” – which jumps us ahead almost 60 years. So we have gone from Cyrus to Darius to Ahasuerus to Artaxerxes, and we’ll find that we are in the seventh year of his reign, around 538 BC. Ezra, the book, starts around 539 BC, moves ahead, and there’s a gap then – you can do the math of some 57 years between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7. It’s about 60 years from where we started. And now we finally meet Ezra, as he leads another group of exiles on this 900-mile trip – 500 miles as the crow flies, 900 miles by land, would take about four months – back to Judah. And once in Judah, Ezra is going to lead the people in these remaining four chapters in the renewal and the reform of God’s community. So follow along – Ezra chapter 7.

“Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest – this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel: Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of God of heaven. Peace. And now I make a decree that any one of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom who freely offers to go to Jerusalem may go with you. For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand, and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia and with the freewill offerings that the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. With this money, then, you shall, with all diligence, buy bulls, rams, and lambs with their grain offerings, and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.

Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem, and whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury. And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River. Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any one of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God. And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River. All such as know the laws of your God, and those who do not know them, you shall teach. Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods, or for imprisonments. Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.”

When you come upon a famous story, whether you read it in a book, you see it in a movie, there is often a scene where you know you are meeting the hero or the heroine. He or she may arrive with great fanfare, maybe a very triumphant entry, and there is a great parade and a majestic horse and a military uniform and it’s very obvious. Or it may be subtle, may be understated, it may be filled with foreshadowing, and yet the way the story is told or the music or the lighting lets you know that this one is going to do something special. And when you see that man or woman enter the scene, you know the hero is here. Could be a king, a prince, a president, a lawyer, a soldier, a warrior, a lion, a coach, a superhero, a wizard, a Jedi. I want you to notice the hero in this book is a scribe. Now, we – if you know the New Testament, you are used to thinking when you hear “scribe,” you have, you know, Darth Vader music in your head – da, da, da, dun da da, dun da da. Because scribes, you think of Jesus, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. So often in the New Testament, the scribes, the Pharisees, the experts, the religious professionals are bad guys. Now, if you pay attention, many of them aren’t, but so often they were. But I want you to put that out of your mind, because the scribe in this story is the hero.

Scribes in the ancient world and in the Persian Empire were extremely important. And this is one of the good guys, come to reform God’s people. Let me just say by way of parenthesis, and maybe I’m thinking especially to men and young men, we live in a day where there’s been a somewhat helpful, but not entirely helpful, course correction to say “it’s good to be a man.” That’s true. It is. You don’t have to be ashamed to be a man. Not all masculinity is toxic masculinity. That’s all a very good course correction. But I just want you to notice, there is more than one way to be manly. There is more than one way to be brave. It is not one size fits all. It is not all strapping, William Wallace, slay the British sorts of heroes. Sometimes it’s a scribe. Now you’re saying, Kevin, you like that because that fits you. Yes. I picture Ezra with very thick glasses, graying hair, and he liked to read. There’s more than one way to be brave, more than one way to be manly, more than one kind of hero in life. Probably Ezra had some kind of administrative position in the Persian Empire. They kept written records, the scribes did. Remember, very few people knew how to read and write. If you were one of the few who knew how to read and write, you had your own superpower that we now take for granted. They were scholars. And by virtue of their abilities and these privileges, they wielded a lot of political power, a lot of clout.

So here comes Ezra. I want you to notice four things about Ezra that make him the most important person in the remaining chapters in this book. His name is given to the book, and he is an important example. for us. I want you to notice four things. Number one, pay attention to Ezra’s history. You see the lineage at the beginning of the chapter, which goes by us with a lot of names – our eyes glaze over – and yet, these would have been for many of the Israelites familiar names. Maybe they got familiar to you toward the end. Phineas, Eleazar, Aaron the chief priest. So, Ezra is not only a scribe, he’s a priest. And verse 6 is rather dramatic. After this trumpet volley of names establishing his priestly lineage, we read, “Yes, indeed, this very same Ezra,” – this one who has this great history – “he came from Babylonia back to Judah.” It’s an impressive list. It’s not a complete list. There’s gaps in it, but it’s establishing his priestly bonafides. It’s saying this man has the right pedigree. More than that, it’s not just saying, “Well, look at who his daddy and his granddaddy were.” It’s saying he comes to us with authority. He has authority by virtue of his office as a priest in the line descended from Aaron, the first high priest. He has that authority, and he comes to us also with the authority of an expert in the law. So that’s his history. That’s the first point. We deal with it most quickly.

Second, Ezra was impressive not only because of his history, but because of his head. Look at verse 6: “He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given.” So he’s skilled. Look at verse 11: “The scribe, Ezra the priest, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel.” You don’t always have to be the smartest person in the room. Most of us don’t know what that’s like. I don’t know what that’s like. But isn’t it good if you’re ever in one of those situations and the smartest guy in the room is one of the good guys? Well, that’s Ezra. He’s learned in the book. He’s skillful in the commandments of God. He was very good at what he did. He worked hard. He had all the best education he could get, and he was an expert. Go back up to verse 6. Now, we’ll come in the third point to talk more about his expertise in the word of God. But I want you to notice verse 6: “And the king granted him all that he asked.” Ezra was smart, skilled, shrewd – not only with the word of God, which we’ll come to, but at being a scribe in the Persian Empire. We don’t know exactly what he asked, except that we read “the king gave him everything he asked.” In fact, some scholars speculate that this decree – and the official decree is written in Aramaic and then it goes over to Hebrew – but this decree may have been written by Ezra himself. Makes sense. President doesn’t write the legislation. Probably doesn’t sit and write the executive orders. And so maybe Ezra the priest, the scribe, writes this up and says, “Would you sign this?” Well, wherever it came from, he got everything that he asked for. And he gets to go back. People get to go with him freely. You get to bring provisions, offerings, animals, foodstuffs, gold, and silver vessels in the house of God. And he has this letter with the royal insignia. And he can show it around to the various imperial treasuries, and he says “here, a message from King Artaxerxes – you’re to give me gold or silver or wheat.” This document in his hand was worth everything. Notice also verse 25. “And you Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River.” So that’s this province here of Judah. All such as know the laws of your God.

Let me just make a little important side note here. When we talk about what sort of political theology should we have? What sort of view of the civil magistrate should we have? There’s lots of conversations about that. I’ve weighed in to it here or there. And this sermon is not about that in particular, but there can be a tendency to go back to the Old Testament and assume there is our blueprint for every nation around the world at all times and in all places. And there are certainly principles that can be drawn from every part of the Bible. It’s all instructive for us. And yet, we have to remember that it was given to a particular people, the nation of Israel, in a promised land where they had kings and priests and direct revelation. And to be fair, many of our reformed forefathers in the faith often looked explicitly to Old Testament Israel for their examples of what a godly society should look like. And there are good principles. And yet, I’m just pointing out to you, verse 25 is one that I never hear people talk about. No one ever says, “And you know what God’s word says? The pastor gets to pick the magistrates. The pastor gets to pick the judges.” Well, you know, that was a rather popular opinion during much of medieval Christendom, and there was constantly a back and forth between the pope and the king and who had authority, and the pope and the Roman Curia should have the authority to appoint kings and kingdoms and tear them down. And the reformers rightly said, well, that’s not the best way to understand these passages.

All of that is to say, let us be cautious, lest we make an immediate jump from the Old Testament in how God was arranging things for his people, whether in the land or here returning to the land. I doubt very much we think that it is the seminary professors who get to appoint the magistrates and judges. Now, I know about five or six people in this room who like that idea, but it’s probably not what God has in mind with verse 25. It is what he had in mind for Ezra. Also, look at verse 24: “We notify you: it is not lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any one of the priests or any of the people who work in the house of God.” Interesting that all the way back in the Persian Empire, we have tax exemption for pastors. Now, you say, “Now, pastor, careful. You just said you can’t go one to one from the Old Testament.” That’s true. Simply point out that there is a long practice of this, and it doesn’t come, first of all, from God’s people. It was a practice in ancient Egypt, in Samaria, in Babylon, in Persia. Why? Well, because there was often a tug of war between the political authorities and the religious authorities. And often they were one and the same, but sometimes they weren’t. And so, it was often a practice in the ancient world that the priests and the people who attended to the religious affairs should not be taxed. It was a way of giving them some measure of authority and sometimes something even of a bone. Okay, there you go. Let us rule the place, but we won’t impose tribute on you.

When Henry VIII broke ties with the Roman church in the 16th century, founded the Anglican Church, he levied vast taxes on the church’s land holdings. Oliver Cromwell did the same thing in the following century. Part of the reason for the separation of church and state in America – let me say, separation of church and state is not the same as separation of Christianity and the public square, or Christians in government. But one of the reasons for the separation of church and state in the American experiment – one was to avoid the volatility of the next government picking the religious winners and losers that you would always be one election or, for most of history they didn’t have elections, you would be one birth away or one coup away from someone else picking a new religious winner or losers. Protestants, Catholics, you go back and forth. The other reason was to help negotiate this constant tug of war for power between these two institutions that had existed in Europe in a perpetual tug of war for 1500 years – the church and the state. One of the reasons that in American history they’ve had tax exemption on religious institutions and housing allowance for pastors – one of the justifications for it was not to give special privileges to religious institutions, but it was to say that the government ought not to have a mechanism to crush the church or religious institutions, lest a new government come into power, and they say, “Well, our means of persecuting this religion we don’t like or this denomination we don’t like or this church we don’t like is to crush them with taxes.” That’s one of the reasons that ever since there was an income tax, the religious institutions have been exempt. We see something of the same instinct here in the Persian Empire. Ezra asked for these things, and the king Artaxerxes gave all of these to him, as he was a smart, shrewd, skillful scribe.

Third point, so we’re moving from all of them are important, but we’re moving to subsequently more important. So his history, his head, and I want you to notice now his heart. Look at verse 10: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” Notice his heart was set to do three things. To study it, but not simply to study it, that he would just be a scholar and some sort of antiquarian – that was the problem with many of the scribes by Jesus’ days – they were experts in all of the “rabbi so and so said this” versus “rabbi so and so.” But not just that they would study it, but that they would do it. They were obedient, not just hearers, but doers of the word. And then that they would teach it.

If you keep your finger there in Ezra, would you flip over to the next book, Nehemiah 8. We have in Nehemiah 8 the example where Ezra comes with scribes and priests and there’s a whole list of them, and he gathers the people at the water gate, as Nehemiah 8:1 he brings the book of the law of Moses. And I want you to see at the end of this opening section, Nehemiah 8:8, maybe you’ve heard it before – this is, I think if there’s a one-sentence definition of preaching, this is it. Now, this isn’t everything that should be said about preaching. This is the floor, not the ceiling. You see what Nehemiah 8:8 says? They, meaning Ezra and these various priests and scribes, “they read from the book, from the law of God.” Clearly, ESV footnote says it may mean paragraph by paragraph, just like we do here – verse by verse, line by line. “And they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading.” As I said last week, some of you will be at this church for a few years. You’ll move away, or you’ll graduate, and you’ll go somewhere else. Maybe some of you are new to town, and you’re looking for a church – we’re not the only Bible-believing church in town. Praise God. Look for a church that will do Nehemiah 8:8, where the minister gets up each week, he reads from the book, clearly, line by line, and he gives the sense of it. He explains it so people can understand what’s in the book. Obviously, there’s a way to do that that’s boring as dirt. That’s not what we want. You want it applied. You want it to preach Christ. Get to the heart. So, this is not the ceiling, but this is the floor. This is the bare minimum. This is what preaching is. Line by line, reading the book, explaining it to you, so you can understand what’s in it. Nehemiah had a heart to do just that. Not a bare intellectualism, but a passion to know the word, to obey the word, and to pass on the word.

We know that priests in the Old Testament – you think of them as butchers. They’re constantly doing sacrifices. But you may overlook all the times they are told to be teachers. Deuteronomy 17, Ezekiel 44, Malachi 2 says, “the lips of the priest should give knowledge; people seek instruction from his mouth.” 2 Chronicles 15:3 says the plight of the people is that they were without a teaching priest. So the priest was also to be a teacher. And it’s clear, going back to Ezra 7, that his skill, his primary influence, came from his ability to handle the word of God. Remember they didn’t have small group Bible studies. Most of them could not read. They didn’t have plenty of Bibles sitting on their shelf. They couldn’t pull out a phone and have access to more information than even existed in the world. They needed people to teach them. And here was a man who came to teach to others. This was the consuming work of his life. Just like Paul told Timothy, “Study to show yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” That’s what the pastor is to do. That’s what the preacher is to be.

A century ago, J. Gresham Machen said, “The purpose of the seminary is to produce specialists in the word of God.” It’s worth quoting a few sentences here. He writes, “Please do not forget it. Please do not call on us for a product that we are not endeavoring to provide. If you want specialists in social science, or in hygiene, or even in religion in a vague modern sense, you must go elsewhere for what you want. But if you want men who know the Bible and know it in something more than a layman’s sort of way, then call on us. If we can give you such men, we have succeeded. If we cannot give them to you, we have failed. It is a large contract indeed, a contract far too great for human strength. At least by God’s grace, we shall do our best.” So grateful to have Reformed Theological Seminary right in our backyard and so many connections, with Blair now as the president, and professors here, and students and interns, and many of you give. Let’s be praying for Reformed Theological Seminary, right here in Charlotte, to produce this sort of man, this kind of Ezra – skilled, with a heart to study the word, to do it, to teach it to others.

Of course, pastoral ministry is not reserved for the smartest people. God has used preachers of all temperaments, all kinds of intellectual abilities. But to truly shepherd God’s people week in and week out, to renew a church, to reform God’s people, there must be teachers who are skilled and discerning and careful with the word of God. You do not, first of all, really want your pastor to be an expert in all things political. You can’t help but saying some things that will be construed as political. If you quarantine everything that’s called political, you won’t talk about the issues of our day. And yet, I hope you realize, if that’s what you think you want, it’s not what you really need. We need men pastoring our churches who have a heart like Ezra, to be specialists in the word of God, to come to you week after week and read line upon line, to give you this book, and through this book, to proclaim to you the riches of Christ. The Jews considered Ezra a second Moses. He did so much to shape this second temple community, the Jewish nation, and to reinforce that they were to be a people of the book.

Now, most of you are used to this. It is not a surprise that you would be at a church like this and get a sermon about the Bible and studying the Bible and that preaching is important and giving you the verse by verse from the Bible is important. But think about it for a moment. It is unique that we have such a bookish religion. Not unique that there’s a holy book. Almost every religion has some kind of sacred text or texts. But not many of them are focused on that book, and so prize that the leaders of their religious community would be experts in the words and sentences of that book. And so many religious communities, in fact in many strains of Christianity, merely want someone to perform a ritual or to be a non-offensive presence or to be with people in life’s significant moments, which is good and important. But it tells us here that we are to be a bookish people. Now whether you say I love to read or not, you love the Bible, and you love to hear what God says to you in the Bible. Many churches – though they would put on their website all the right things about the Bible – what they’re primarily into is something else. Maybe it’s ritual, maybe it’s an ecstatic experience, maybe it’s a shared ethnic background or political flavor. Or maybe it’s a worship service that is geared, first of all, for its emotional effect, or a grand production that is meant to entertain and bring all of the best clips and skits and entertainment that the world has to offer. Ezra gave to the people of Israel something far different. You are going to be a community, and the people who lead you will be experts in a book. And our worship will be gathered around the reading and the teaching of this book. Why? Because we want something dry and overly intellectual? No. Because we know that God speaks to us in this book. And this is the word of God. And from the word of God, God will guide, save, reform, shape, preserve his people. We are unapologetically people of the book. It’s why we care about truth. It’s why we care about doctrine. It’s why we want men to preach to us.

And finally, we’ve looked at his history, his head, his heart. And finally, I want you to consider the hand – history, head, heart, and the hand that was upon him. Look at all the examples. Did you notice them? Verse 6: “The king granted Ezra all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord was on him.” Verse 9: “For the good hand of his God was on him.” Verse 25: “according to the wisdom of God that is in your hand.” In verse 28, “the hand of the Lord was on me.” We’ll see the same thing in chapter 8, verses 19, 22, 31. It is obviously the big idea of these two chapters. One big idea is this expert in the word, and the other big idea – see that’s not enough, that he would just be a smart guy and really good at handling things and teaching things, unless at the same time the hand of the Lord was upon him and upon the community of God’s people. The most important thing about Ezra was not his history or his head or even his heart. It was the fact that the Lord’s hand was upon him. And what do we do with these several occurrences of that language? The Lord’s hand was upon him.

And in fact, it’s the very first thing that Ezra says. Look down at the last paragraph. You may not have noticed verse 27 and 28. This is Ezra. We’ve had this big introduction of Ezra. We’ve had the decree from Artaxerxes that he carries. The first time we hear from him, here’s what he wants to say: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me.” You notice it’s his trust in the providence of God that enables him to be courageous. “I took courage.” Why? For the hand of the Lord was upon me. And you think of what Ezra says, and there’s – I thought this week how to end this sermon, because there’s several ways you could apply this. I could talk now about providence, how God orchestrates things. And we’ve hit that theme in previous chapters. That would be appropriate. I could talk about prayer, that we look to God in the future, what we need from him. Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. We need the blessing of God. We need to look to him. That would be appropriate. But I want you to notice something else.

I want you to notice how Ezra is interpreting his life theologically. He says two things in this speech at the end of the chapter. One, blessed be the Lord God who’s put this into the heart of the king. So he thinks, why did the king look favorably upon my request? He doesn’t say lucky break. He doesn’t say we gamed the system. He doesn’t even say what a great king. He says I know why this happened. Praise be to God. God made this happen. Proverbs 21:1, “The Lord directs the heart of the king as he moves the water courses.” It’s not a hard thing for God to direct the political affairs of a nation. So, he interprets this not as a stroke of good luck, but as the Lord’s hand. And then second, he understands that God, verse 28, has extended to me his steadfast love. Who am I, this great man with this great pedigree with this great skill, and yet he’s humble of heart to say who am I, that I should be given such a noble task? Who am I, that I should be an instrument of God’s grace? And so he took courage. God’s goodness increases our valor. So I want you to see – part of understanding the providence of God is not just confidence in the present or looking with hope to the future. It’s how to interpret everything that’s happened to you in the past. The hard things God was directing. The good things was from the Lord’s good providence. This church, this building, which a few of you gave. Most of us didn’t give a penny to be sitting here in this building. All of the people that played a role in your life, maybe parents or pastors or books, all of the things that got you, the job that you have or the relationships that you’re in or the opportunities that you enjoy, the food that will be on your table this afternoon. Do you see all of this? The good hand of the Lord was upon me.

Surely Christ Covenant has thousands of reasons to say, and you individually have just as many to say, the good hand of the Lord our God is upon us. Any gift to the church from the hand of men, whether it be a pastor preaching a sermon or benefactors giving generously or the government looking favorably or volunteers, all of those are ultimately a gift from the hand of God. Every gift in the offering plate, every good sermon, every volunteer, every staff member, every officer, every good thing in the church is a gift from God. Ezra – his name is short for Azariah, which means “the Lord had helped.” It’s very easy for us to see the ways we need help. Good. God wants you to call out to him. Do you also have eyes, brothers and sisters, to recognize all the many, many ways God has helped you? Azariah – the Lord helps. He helps.

I want you to think about another name. It means more than “the Lord helps.” It means “the Lord saves.” That’s Jesus. Another name for Jehoshua or Joshua – the Lord saves. He’s a helper. But he does what Ezra doesn’t do. He’s not a savior. Jesus comes not only with authority. You remember what they say after he preaches the Sermon on the Mount: “he spoke to us not like the scribes.” For they had become intellectual elite, antiquarians, quoting rabbis versus rabbis, but they had lost sight of a word from the Lord. Jesus came preaching to them as one who had authority. Consider Christ’s history – the seed of the woman, the child of Abraham, the son of David. Consider his head. Scripture tells us he grew in wisdom and stature among men. They marveled at his authority. They said, “Never spoke a man like this before.” Consider the heart of Christ, who knew the word, who perfectly obeyed the word, who taught the word to others. And consider the hand of his heavenly father upon him, the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing him. So, as we remember that we are a people of the book, a people of the word – yes, it is wonderfully all of these jots and tittles and paragraphs and sentences of this inscripturated word – and we are people of the word made flesh, the one who came down from heaven that he might dwell among us, that he might not only teach us the truth but be the way, the truth, and the life, and can say that you, in obeying this word, ought now also to obey me and the word that comes from my lips. Ezra came to help. We need helpers. We need good pastors, servants, teachers. Jesus came to save. And all of the helpers and all of the teachers are merely to point the way to Christ, who will save us to the uttermost. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy word. And as we come now to this table, we pray that Christ might feed us here by his death, resurrection, ascension, his session, his exaltation, his coming again. We look upon the one who was crucified, risen for our sakes, that we might know the words of everlasting life, and through him live forever. Feed us now, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Frustrations to Joy

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 10:09:33 GMT

Oh Lord, we have just sung these words: “How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior’s love for me?” May we be impressed once again of your great love for us. May this word now to be preached be the instrument of renewing in us trust and obedience, bringing to faith, perhaps for the first time, those who are far from the Savior – yes, from Ezra 6 of all places – that this would be a day of deliverance. We ask for the powerful working of your word in our midst in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ezra chapter 6. Turn in your Bibles to Ezra 6. I’m going to say Dar-ee-us. You can say Dar-eye-us. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, but we’re going with Darius today. Follow along as I read Ezra chapter 6:

“Then Darius the king made a decree. Search was made in Babylonia in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found to which this was written: A record. In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree:

“Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be 60 cubits and its breadth 60 cubits. With three layers of great stones and one layer of timber, let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.” Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and your associates, the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. Let the work on this house of God alone Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever is needed – bulls, rams, or sheep, or burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests of Jerusalem require – let that be given to them day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. Also, I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. Though they finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. On the 14th day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and also by everyone who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

We left off two weeks ago at the end of chapter 4 with the good guys losing, the bad guys winning, at least for a time. Then in chapter 5, the building of the temple began anew, but there was a legal dispute. Some of the people, the Persian officials, weren’t sure they should be doing this. And so the elders said, well, go look. Go look in the archives. Go ask Darius, your king. And they continued to work as they waited for the courts to hand down their verdict. And here in chapter 6, we have the results. And at the end of chapter 6, therefore, we have moved from frustration to joy. And we encounter a scene of great celebration. How many times in these last verses do we have the word joy? Just there at the end in verse 20. They kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy for the Lord had made them joyful. This is a great scene of celebration. And notice in moving from the seeming defeat of chapter 4 – they built the foundation, and then the work stopped – to the completion in chapter 6, we did not have any temples falling from the sky. This is not the Wizard of Oz and a house just dropped down from the sky. That’s not how the Lord usually works. The Lord works through means. Now, he can work contrary to means or without means. We call those miracles. But he usually works according to means, which means that God uses the normal, ordinary – though he works in extraordinary ways – efforts and activities and rulings and brains and personalities to get his work done.

Now, there was a time in Israel’s history, a remarkable time, he fed them with manna from heaven. They got up every morning and there they had their food to eat. It just appeared on the ground. Or quail fell from the sky, and they had meat to eat, more than they could possibly eat. And it’s possible God could feed us that way. And he very, very rarely, not for a long time, in fact, has chosen to feed his people with manna from heaven. I bet none of you had manna for breakfast this morning. Think about what you had for breakfast. It came to you by means of some farmers, some packaging company, some, you know, my food maybe synthetic conveyor belt somewhere. Hopefully, you had some fruits. If you had vegetables, I don’t know why you did that so early, but if you had someone grew those fruits and brought them for you. If you had some cereal, maybe it was some cereal that was manufactured in good ol’ Battle Creek, Michigan, where many of the cereal companies are. Kellogg’s first invented the cornflake because they were Seventh Day Adventists, and they wanted something that would meet their dietary restrictions. And there’s a Seventh Day Adventist community, that part of Michigan. There you go, a little history. Maybe you had a glass of milk. Some farmer had to milk that cow. Milk those almonds, perhaps, to get you that milk. Bacon and eggs maybe – if you’ve already had bacon, your day is already blessed. Or eggs. We have, you’ve heard this before, for some reason, we have six chickens. They do give us eggs. We are practically off the grid, there in Mint Hill. We get six eggs, maybe, a day. So, we see the means. God uses means. Animals and farmers and packaging – you ate something, you drank something, and God provided it through means.

And so we have here this great scene of completion – celebration with the temple rebuilt, the second temple, and it didn’t drop out of the sky. God used means to move his people from frustration to joy. So I want us to look at three things the Lord used. We’ll deal with the first two most quickly, more time on the third, and then we’ll end by looking at the occasion of joy itself. So three things. First, and this is what we talked about last week, he uses prophets, teachers. Look at chapter 5, verse 1 – the prophets of Haggai, “The prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel.” Verse 2, “Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.” We saw that last week and looked in depth in particular at what Haggai was prophesying, both a message of comfort – the Lord is with you – and a message of rebuke – you need to repent, you need to turn, you need to get back to work. Look later, chapter 6 verse 14, we see the same theme: “And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo.” Good teachers were critical to the rebuilding of the temple.

Now that’s what we talked about last week. So only going to dwell here for a couple of minutes. I just want to make this point – as you think about the importance of good teachers, of people to speak to you the word of the Lord, you notice here they prospered under the teaching of Haggai and Zechariah. Some of you will be here for a few years, maybe a few months. Maybe you’re a college student, maybe you’re a teenager, and you’ll grow up and you’ll go off somewhere, and you’ll move somewhere else. Or maybe you’re passing through. Or maybe you’re new to this area, and you’re looking for a church. Praise God, we are not at all the only good church in town. There are lots of them. But whether you’re looking for a church, or someday you leave here and you have to go find a church, would you put uppermost in your mind finding a place where the people can prosper with the faithful, robust, heartfelt, Christ-exalting preaching of the Bible? Would that young people and people of all ages would make their job decisions, their retirement decisions, their housing decisions based on whether they can be near a church that is going to teach the Bible. Go somewhere where God speaks on Sunday morning with clarity, authority, grace – Lord willing, also on Sunday night through the preaching of God’s word. Preachers are not the most important people. That would be a self-serving message. God can do and uses many other people in the church, and he can do a lot of other things, and must, in the church. But it is to say that there is very little of lasting significance and spiritual prosperity that God will do without the faithful teaching and preaching of his word. If you’re tempted to say, “Well, you just need the Holy Spirit, or just read the Bible for yourself” – of course, you should read the Bible for yourself – but the record of church history and the record of the Bible demonstrate that God almost always accomplishes his great work in the world through faithful gospel preaching – not the only thing, but one of the indispensable things. Make that a priority for you in your life, and where you have it and find it, thank God for it. Pray for your pastors here, for the word that comes from this pulpit. Maybe you subtly pass along this message to some of your kids and grandkids and just say, “Preacher was given a good word to make sure you find a good church.”

And what did we find from the prophets last week? Haggai was doing exactly what 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us the word of God does. It’s profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. That is, God’s people prosper when they have people to tell them sound doctrine – yes, to confront you in your sin. You don’t want to just find a place that somebody says every week, everything’s okay with all of us. That’s not realistic. But then points you towards grace, equips you for a life of faith and obedience. That’s what you need. The people prospered under that ministry. And be careful – because there’s lots of teachers out there – be careful what you regularly put into your head and your heart. You’re discerning people – isn’t to say you only listen to Christian music, you only listen to Christian books or Christian speakers or Christian podcasts – but it is to say that you will be, we are all shaped by what we pay attention to. If this is the only occasion where you pay attention to God’s word, and then you have every other voice pouring into your life the rest of the week, well, that’s hardly going to yield good fruit. Pray for your pastors. Give thanks for good teaching where you can find it, and fill up your head and your heart with the word of God. That’s point number one. He uses prophets, or we would say teachers, the Bible.

Second, he uses persistence. Look back at chapter 5:8. I mentioned this briefly last week. Verse 8: “Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones.” That means rolling stones, so big you had to roll them, you couldn’t carry them. “And timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.” There would be no temple at the end of chapter 6 without a lot of people working really hard in chapter 5. This is part of what the prophets called them to do. Remember, Haggai was saying, “Look, you’ve got your nice houses. You’ve got your paneling.” My parents listen to the sermons every week – hi, mom – and she texted and said, “Well, you talked about paneling. Do you think – we were thinking of replacing our paneling in the house.” I said, “Well, that’s been around about as long as I have, so I think it’s okay by now.” But the point that Haggai was making was you are so focused on your own life, your own house, you have no time to commit to the Lord. And he stirred them up, and they got busy, and they got to work. And you know this in life. It’s especially true in your spiritual life. Can you get rich without hard work? Well, yes, you could inherit it. You could just be in the right place at the right time, invest in the right thing, comes back. Can you be famous without hard work? Well, you certainly can. You can be famous for being famous. Can you be popular without hard work? Yep. But no Christian has made real progress in holiness, or been truly fruitful in ministry, or learned to love their spouse or their friends without a lot of hard work. If God is to rescue you from whatever plight you feel you’re in right now – financial, emotional, marital, spiritual – it is almost certain, not the only thing, but one of the things, he will use is diligence. That’s not all. This is not just pull yourselves up, but it’s one of the things. You say, can you give me the Christianity that doesn’t require hard work? Nope, it’s not there. Even, remember in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul just got done celebrating the gospel, and it’s about Jesus and the resurrection and dying for our sins, and then he says, “I praise God, I work harder than all of you. Yet, not I, but the grace of God that is within me.”

Remember what Zechariah was preaching to them. I think I mentioned this briefly last week. Zechariah 4:10. You don’t have to turn there. You’ve probably heard this before. Absolutely one of my favorite verses in the Bible, and I learned it in the NIV, a little different than the ESV renders it. Zechariah 4:10. And it’s absolutely foundational. It’s one of my life verses. It’s one of my foundational planks in my philosophy of ministry. There you have, in Zechariah 4, the temple’s completed. And the workmen, they’re bringing the plum line, like the level. They’re squaring off the last corner. We’ve done it. The temple is completed. They’re looking forward to that day, and they say – when they square off the last corner, when they measure it out, they put the last finishing touches, and you stand back and you see the completion of that glorious temple – Zechariah 4:10 says, you will learn, do not neglect the days of small things. That temple wasn’t built in a day. Small things. Maybe some of you are feeling, in particular with the volatility in our country and upheaval that we sense and certain cultural dynamics, maybe you’re sensing in a really powerful way, how can I make a difference with my life? How can I serve Christ most effectively? Maybe you’re saying, I will do whatever it takes, I just want my life to count. And if you’re asking that question, first of all, good that the Lord is stirring in you to ask that question. Selfish ambition is bad. But Jesus said, “Zeal for thine house hath eaten me up.” There’s a good thing, to be zealous for the Lord. Paul says in Romans 12, “Never be lacking in zeal.” So if you have that zeal – you say, I want my life to count – well, here’s one of the first and last things you need to know: do not neglect the days and weeks and months and years of small things. We might like to think that the answer is how do I make – today I go, and the next week and the next month, and my life makes a massive difference for Jesus. That’s not usually how it works. The temple didn’t drop out of the sky. So when that’s done, you’re going to look back and say I’m glad we didn’t despise the days of small things. If you want to make a better marriage, if you want to make a difference for Christ, if you want to – even just simple, worldly goals of financial security – all of them require little by little, small things after small things. That’s how you make a difference in life. It’s how you make a difference for Jesus. You read your Bible. You go to the meeting. You pray. You say you’re sorry. You learn what you can. You serve wherever God has you. You ask some big dreams and some of them God delivers, and others he doesn’t, and you keep going.

Richard Baxter, the Puritan who knew what it was to face many sufferings in life, once wrote, “Oh, what a life might men live if they were but willing and diligent. I dare say that God would have our joys be far more than our sorrows. Yea, he would have to us all of our sorrows turned to joy.” Willing and diligent – don’t underestimate what you can do. Whether you think you have one talent or two or five, whether you have great experience or very little, great gifts or very meager, to simply say, “I’m humble, I’m willing, and I will work hard.” The Lord used their diligence. He uses prophets. He uses persistence.

And here’s the third point, which we’ll spend a little more time before we land on the joy. He uses providence. Ultimately, have you noticed in chapter 5 and 6, God is the hero of this story? He’s the hero of every story. He stands behind all these events as the one moving, acting, stirring, putting down, raising up for the deliverance of his people. Notice again, look at chapter 5:1. “The prophets prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them.” Go to verse 5: “But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews.” Look at chapter 6:12 – “May the God who caused his name to dwell there” and then at the end, verse 22, “They kept the feast, seven days with joy, for the Lord” – he did two things here – “He made them joyful,” and two, “he had turned the heart of the king of Assyria” (they’re using the old name, this would sometimes happen as one nation or one empire conquered another empire, they might go by the old empire’s name, so this is the king of Babylon, the kings of the Persians and the Medes, the king of Assyria) – “He turned his heart to them so that he aided them in the work.” God almost always uses good teaching, good leaders, hard work. But here in this third point, we see something a little different, because God can work in the midst of governmental oppression, persecution. In fact, it’s the assumption in many parts of the New Testament that the powers that be will be hostile to the Christian faith. So, we shouldn’t think that a good government is a necessary means in order for God’s work to go forward. We see in history, it often isn’t.

And yet, and yet, it does not negate the fact that good government is very often one of the means God employs to vindicate his people and further the cause of justice. And what I mean by good in this passage, it’s not like the Persian king here became a Yahwehist. It’s not like he said, you know what, I’m going to become a Jew. He wasn’t converted. He simply was fair, just, a man of his word, patient, informed. So the elders of the Jews, when they’re opposed in chapter 5 say, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. We’re not going to stop building, because when we were sent back here by Cyrus, go check it out. If you can find the meeting minutes – praise God someone kept the minutes, and praise God for archivists, somebody kept it in the archive – go look for it and find it, and you’ll say – you’ll find out – we have a legal right to do this. In fact, Cyrus sent us here to rebuild this temple.” And sure enough, the Persian government looks into the matter. They had good records. Now, this won’t mean much to us, but chapter 6, verse 2, in Ecbatana – this is 280 miles away. This was another royal residence where they kept the archive. So, they had to – that took a while. Dale Ralph Davis says this is the first example of interlibrary loan to go and go check that out. Can we go find the records there? And then they judged justly. We read in verse 4, in fact, “Let those costs be paid from the royal treasury.” They look at it, and they say, “Sure enough, you’re right. There was a decree from Cyrus. You do have permission to do this.” And then, even above and beyond that, Persia gives their full support. And quite the irony here, it was Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River that is on the other side of the Euphrates, and Shethar-bozenai and his associates back in chapter 5:6 – they were the ones who kind of first folded their arms and sort of “tut-tut what are you doing,” and now Darius says um, yeah Tattenai, you go ahead, give these Jews the good news that they can build the temple, and oh by the way, go pay for it out of your royal revenue. Tattenai must not have felt very good about that. And above that, Darius says, “And if you don’t let this work continue, if anybody gets in the way, let them be impaled.” There are records of this sort of cruel punishment happening in that part of the world – be impaled upon a beam of your house. Do you see the eye for an eye mentality? If anyone disturbs the house of the God of the Jews, let his house be disturbed, and let him be killed by a plank in his own house.

God likes to do more than we could ask or imagine. They were saying, “Can we just get a legal ruling that lets the work continue?” Lo and behold, they come back and they say, “Yes, you can continue, and we’re going to pay for all of it, and we’re going to pay – we’re going to bring back the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar took away, and you got to worship to your God, right? So, we’re going to provide some goat, sheep. We’re going to do the sacrifices, whatever you need.” Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. The decree of Darius called for everything to be provided – payment, vessels of gold and silver, animals for sacrifice. Now, keep in mind this was the empire-wide policy. There are probably two reasons why the Medo-Persian Empire did this. Reason number one, happy subjects are less likely to rebel, and happy subjects get to worship the god that they want to worship. So that’s number one. That was their empire-wide policy. Let people worship the god that they want to worship, because if we – a persecuting regime usually makes ruling even worse. So we’re going to give some – now, it wasn’t quite the first amendment, let’s not get carried away – but they said, “You go back, worship your God.” Happy subjects are good subjects.

Reason number two, and this is where you see their polytheistic way of looking at the world: we want you to seek the blessing of your God. They likely believe that all of these regions that they had conquered, they had their own gods and goddesses. They had their own deities. They didn’t need to be in competition with one another. So, sure, the Jews have a god. Jerusalem has a god. That god needs a temple. And you pray to that god that he might bless the king, might be able to exercise some influence. So, it wasn’t that they were incredibly enlightened and had some modern idea of freedom or liberty or conscience. They just thought, well, this is good policy. This is a long way away. How are we going to keep these people in tow? Let them worship the god that they want. And sure, we’ll pay for it. Small pittance for everything that the empire can do. We’ll pay for you to have your temple. We’ll pay for you to have your sacrifices. You know what? Sacrifice to your God. Say a prayer for me. It’ll make things better. It was absolutely a self-serving policy, but it was a smart policy, and it was a better policy than many other superpowers in the region had fostered before: we’re going to mandate what everyone does. That is simply hard to keep under wraps. The same thing would happen with the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire became so far-flung, as they were relatively tolerant as long as you would say prayers to the emperor – that became a sticking point. The Jews were grandfathered into that. They didn’t quite know what to do with the Christians.

Now, Ezra 6 is not meaning to give us a full-fledged political philosophy. At the same time, this is a good model for what a quote unquote “good king,” a good magistrate, might look like when God’s people don’t have their own earthly king. The Jews were back in Jerusalem. So, the exile was over, but kind of the exile continued. They didn’t have a son of David to sit on the throne. They were under the thumb of another empire, like they would for most of the rest of their history into the New Testament. But yet, this gives an example of the sort of ruler over them that God might be pleased with. Now, still were idolators. And yet this god allowed God’s people to worship as they wanted to worship. They were able to pursue life and obedience to their God. We read Romans 13 earlier. The basic function of a civil magistrate is a servant for the good, to protect those who are doing good, and an avenger of God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. That’s sort of the bare minimum. Do you punish evil, and do you protect the innocent? Think about 1 Timothy 2:2. Here is a very important plank, I think, in anyone’s political philosophy. 1 Timothy 2:2, “Pray for kings and all those in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Now, it’s true, they’re in first century Roman Empire. It’s different than being in 21st century America, which has a long Christian tradition and history, and has more Christians than any other religion. So, it’s not a one-to-one comparison. And yet, it’s instructive in what Paul tells them to pray. What are they praying for? Well, they’re praying as, baseline, here’s what we want. We want a king and all those in high positions to let us live a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Now, is it best if we can have Christians close to people of influence or Christians in high positions? Well, yes. Is it wonderful when Christianity has a kind of public truth about it? Is it wonderful when people give voice to Christian truth? Of course, all of those things can be very good. And yet we see from Paul’s prayer here in 1 Timothy 2 that it wasn’t necessarily that he was saying pray that the Roman Empire become Christendom. The prayer was, “Can we have freedom to worship as we know we ought to worship and live godly, dignified lives.”

And we see that here, as the Lord turned Darius to the people of Israel. What did Darius do? He was just, fair. A good government sticks to its own sphere, protects the rights of its citizens, and punishes those who do evil. And so the Jewish leaders, their hard work was rewarded in God’s providence. They sent this up the chain of command, and it came back down, and the decision was rendered, and it was to their benefit. Now notice, before I make this next statement, let me just put all the necessary caveats here. I’m not arguing that God’s people should ever be passive. We’ve already seen that about diligence, nor quietistic – just, we can’t do anything, we don’t get involved in politics – no, surely we do. And it’s good that Christians do so. And yet, there is a point to be made here that ultimately most of life’s hardest problems and society’s most intractable problems cannot actually be fixed just by hard work. If they could, and it just took some human ingenuity and the right plan and a little bit of money, they would have been fixed. What we see here is God needs to be at work. God needs to be doing something. Again, this is not an excuse for quietism and dismissal or withdrawal from any sort of public square. It is to remind you – what you may need to be reminded of, and I need to be reminded of – when I see problems, my first instinct is “how can I fix it?” My first instinct is often not “I can’t wait to see what God will do,” because ultimately God is the one who has to act. God is the only truly indispensable person in this project. And so it is not doing nothing to trust, to look, to turn, and to pray.

Only God could have orchestrated every part of Ezra 5 and 6. There was no master plan that put it all together to get the temple. The prophets were being faithful with their part. The elders and the leaders were faithful with their part. They kept working hard. They applied the legal system of the day, and God stirred in the heart of the king. Look at verse 14 again. Did you notice this? Second sentence: “They finished their building by decree of the god of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes.” Artaxerxes is looking to the next king who will be there when they rebuild the walls of the city. Did you see there – two decrees? How did the temple get built? Well, we know it was by the decree of Darius – Cyrus and then Darius – without that, but verse 14, here is the sovereign hand, writing all of our stories. Two decrees. First, it was built by the decree of the God of Israel. You know, when you’re flying, and you land, and you have turbulence. Now it’s not turbulence, it’s rough air. It’s gonna have some rough air. And you go through, and you can be flying up there all sunny, clear, beautiful, smooth. You don’t even know what it’s – then you move through all the clouds – and the rough air. That’s where we live life. But there is an above the clouds. It’s always sunny, always clear, always smooth. That’s God’s decree. God is writing the story. The most important part of any plan you can ever make is the part where you turn your eye to look upon the Lord, what he will do. This section, chapter 1 through chapter 6 – because next week, Lord willing, chapter 7, we fast forward another generation and Ezra comes and we’re in a different time period. So, chapter 1 through 6 is its own unit. Did you notice how this unit begins and ends? Go back, chapter 1:1, “In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus.” And this section ends – exact bookends – verse 22: “He had turned the heart of the king of Assyria.”

The Lord could not have made it more plain – of all the lessons that we’ve learned in these six chapters, right there – here is the lesson God wants you to learn. He wanted the returning exiles to hear, he wants us to hear – beginning and the end – this was God. He stirred in the heart of Cyrus. He moved King Darius toward his people. It was as if to say to them and to us, “Don’t you ever, ever think for one second that I’ve forgotten you, that there isn’t sunshine above the clouds. Don’t you ever think that I’m not in control. Don’t you ever imagine that I don’t have a decree that stands behind all of this. Your story and the story of the world, God says, is the story that I am writing. He uses providence.

I want you to notice as we close – we would be remiss if we didn’t see what all of this results in. The prophets and the persistence and the providence, the joy of this final celebration. This 20-year ordeal comes to an end – there’s actually two celebrations. First, the temple is finished and dedicated. It’s not as grand as Solomon’s dedication, but there are many sacrifices, and verse 18 tells us it is all done according to the book of Moses. And then, short time later, they celebrate Passover – a sin offering, now a purification. The Passover would remind them of God’s deliverance and the Exodus, that just as he had delivered God’s people out of Egypt, now he has brought them back, and they celebrated the Passover once again, reconstituting the nation of Israel back in Judah. I want you to see, however, one other spot of joy. So, we got those two celebrations. One other spot that’s easy to miss. This is one of these great verses that’s just hidden there that has a whole deep ocean of truth. Look at verse 21: “The Passover was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and also by everyone who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel.”

Remember the policy from 2 Kings 17 that went back a long time is they left some people, and they resettled this population. The people that were there when they came back were engaged in a syncretistic religion. There were people there, and then the ruling king of the empire said, “Well, they need the God of Israel, so bring a priest there and tell them to do the sacrifices. Otherwise, we’re going to get eaten by lions.” And they mixed the whole thing up with their own pagan religions and with the religion of Israel. They were syncretistic. That’s why, recall in chapter 4, when they come – the people of the land, they’re called – and they say, “Hey, golly, we’d like to help you build the temple.” Now, they weren’t being mean. These were people who maybe had bad motives, but certainly they were compromised. They were not on the same team. And so, they said, “No, you cannot build the temple with us.” In Ezra 4:4, then the people of the land discouraged them, made them afraid, bribed counselors against them, frustrated their purpose all the days of Cyrus. Those are the people of the land. So, isn’t this a spot of good news, a joyful surprise? Also, everyone who had joined them separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land. It wasn’t just the exiles who returned who joined in this joyous celebration. There were some prodigals who had been saved. God’s grace is never, was never, limited to just one nation. Even in the Old Testament, it was never circumscribed within just one ethnic people. These would have been lapsed Jews, and these would have been outright gentile pagans. And some of them say, “Hey, wait a minute. I’d like to get in on that.” And maybe you’re thinking that maybe you feel like you’re that lapsed Christian. You haven’t been taking this very seriously. Or you’ve been stirred up by recent events, and you find yourself back in church. Or maybe you think, I’m a gentile-come-lately, and I don’t know anything about – I don’t know any of these songs that you’re doing, and let alone what Presbyterians are all about – I don’t know any of this stuff, but I’m here. This community is open to you. If – this isn’t my if, this is the Lord’s if – if you turn. You notice they separated themselves. Separated themselves from the impurity of the people of the land. It’s a reminder for us, too, that true worship was never just about a nice building or doing the sacrifices. Jeremiah preached against that with all of his heart. He said, “Stop going around saying, ‘The temple, the temple.’ Don’t be going around town and saying, ‘Have you seen Christ Covenant? We got a great building.’ He said, ‘No, no, what’s the building if you don’t have a heart of faith? What are these sacrifices if you – if you haven’t turned from your sin?” So, this was a word for them as well.

But we see here the great joyous occasion to welcome people in. God’s grace never shuts the door on those who genuinely repent. If you say this morning, “But I’m late.” You’re not too late. “But I’m unclean.” You can turn from your uncleanness. “But I’m not familiar with all of this that you do.” We’ll teach you. Because now we know that there is a new Jerusalem coming, a heavenly Jerusalem. And the picture that Revelation gives us is the gates never shut. They’re always open, happily welcoming all nations who will confess the name of Jesus – every individual, man, woman or child, whatever age, 3 to 103, you would turn from your uncleanness, you would turn to the God of the Bible, and you would join with rejoicing to this heavenly Savior. Jesus Christ said, “And I will tear down the temple, and in three days I will build it up again.” He didn’t mean that temple. He meant himself. He said, I’m the new temple. Your worship now centers around me. And Jesus said, I won’t cast you away. Anyone you want to come to the temple that is Jesus, you don’t have to move to Israel. You don’t have to ever visit Jerusalem. You can come to Jesus by faith through the Spirit. And he welcomes you in. All those who had returned from exile and everyone who had separated himself from the uncleanness of the people of the land, they came to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. with great joy. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for your word, your many precious providences in our lives, for bringing us here. Cause us to repent and believe and to worship. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pressing on in the Work

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 09:28:37 GMT

Father in heaven, we come once again in prayer. We trust not out of mere habit, but asking, believing that you will help us as we come to your word. Teach us what we need to hear. Correct us where we are wayward. Encourage us where we are weak. Lift up Jesus in our midst. We pray in his name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Ezra chapter 5. Ezra chapter 5 has – I’ll explain in a moment. Ezra chapter 5 and 6 really go together and could be treated as one section. But we’ll look this morning at Ezra 5, and really just at the first part of Ezra 5, and then at Ezra 6 together with the second half of Ezra 5 next week. But we’ll read, this morning, all 17 verses:

“Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who are in Judah in Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them. At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ They also asked them this, ‘What are the names of the men who are building this building?’ But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius, and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: ‘To Darius the king, all peace. Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.’ Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ We also asked them their names for your information that we might write down the names of their leaders.

And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. However, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Babylon, Cyrus the king, made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt, and the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought into the temple of Babylon. These Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. And he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple, that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem. And from that time until now it has been in building and it is not yet finished. Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.’”

At the end of chapter 6, we will learn that there’s good news, that this legal back and forth – and that’s what we have here: certain representatives come and ask a question. We can’t be sure if they’re asking a genuine question or they mean to oppose the work again, but they want to know by what right are you building this? And these men ask again – give us their names. And so they have this official correspondence, and it is sort of like a legal precedent, it now has to work its way up. And here the ultimate authority is not a Supreme Court of nine justices, but the king. Bring it back, and let’s wait for his answer. And by the time we get to the end of chapter 6, you can just see the heading before verse 13, and you know the outcome: the temple finished and dedicated.

We left off last week with the good guys losing. The people of the land bribed the Persian officials. They lied. They flattered the king until he became convinced, quite against all evidence, that this rag tag group of returning exiles was going to be a serious threat to the Persian Empire. They used to be a big deal, and so we cannot let the temple continue. The foundation of the temple was laid, but now the work has ground to a halt for some 15-16 years. But here the rebuilding begins anew – you see that heading in chapter 5. And there’s a happy ending. Look at the end of chapter 6. Verse 15: “The house was finished.” Verse 16: “And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the returned exiles celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.” They even go on to celebrate the Passover again. And Verse 22: “Keep the feast of unleavened bread.” So as grim as things were at the end of last week – the work had stopped, the foundation was laid. There was great opposition to their plans. Two chapters later, by the end of chapter 6, a great victory and celebration. So here’s the question I want us to focus on this morning. Not to look at all of the legal back and forth and all of the secondary means that God has used, and we’ll do some of that next week, but what was the turning point? How did we go from the end of chapter 4? Look at 4:24. “Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped.” How do we go from that – it’s stopped, nothing is happening – to chapter 6, verse 16: “And the people celebrated at the dedication of the house of God with joy.” How do we go from no temple, opposition, to finished temple? How did they move from doom and gloom and enemies and opposition and a low point in the life of the returned exiles to one of the great high points rejoicing at the completion of the temple? How did they move from opposition to joy, to victory?

And that’s a question for us now. It’s not that – we’re not the nation of Israel in the promised land, not instructed to build a temple for sacrifices. Jesus Christ himself is that temple and has rendered the sacrificial system obsolete. And he builds us as his people into a temple. And yet surely all of us can relate at some level and are interested in knowing how do we go from discouraged, frustrated, opposed, stopped, good guys losing, to victory, winning, celebration. How did this happen? Chapters 5 and 6 give us a number of right answers to that question, and we’ll look at some of them next week. You could look at chapter 6 verse 1, the decree that King Darius made. We can be thankful for good secretaries and archivists, because they went and dusted off the decree and said, “Sure enough, they’re right, there was a decree from Cyrus,” and then Darius issues a decree of his own. So that’s part of the Lord’s work. We could look at chapter 5 verse 8 – did you notice the language there? The end of verse 8: “This work” – this is the report of the officials about the Jews – “this work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands.” So they were hard workers – that’s something. We could also look at verse 5 – this negative providence, that is the providence of something that didn’t happen. We can sometimes have eyes to notice the providences that do happen. Wow, that was a great work that the Lord did, and what a stroke of good luck, that we know not to be luck, but from the Lord’s hand. But it’s harder to have eyes for the negative providences – that is, the things that the Lord didn’t, or that he made sure did not happen. Look at one of those in verse 5: “But the eye of their god was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius, and then an answer be returned.” You see what’s happening there. This is like when there’s an appeal going through the courts, and here there’s no injunction to stay the work that’s going on. They say, “Okay, as we are working this through the legal system, you can continue.” Because it could have been that the officials said, “We’re not quite sure what the answer is, if you have a right to do this, but while we’re checking, you better stop.” But the Lord’s negative providence is superintending what didn’t happen – namely, that the officials did not force the work to stop. We could look at all of those things, but I want you to focus at the very beginning of the chapter, because what is the first thing that the author, perhaps the chronicler, tells us? What is the turning point here, from doom and gloom to joy and celebration and victory? And it’s right there in verse 1: “Now the prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied to the Jews in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.”

Now if we hadn’t already read that and you had to guess, what would you have thought? What would be the great hinge that would turn this from opposition and defeat to victory – on its way to victory – and celebration? Well, maybe you would think that there would be a new king put in place? Or maybe you would think that an army would come and would force the people to disperse and allow the work to continue. Or maybe you think that there might be some great, bold insurrection. Or maybe it would be a miracle from heaven. We’ve seen lots of miracles from God before in the scriptures. Maybe he would unleash some of those plagues. Man, they must have thought, we could use – we don’t even need 10 of them, just a few of the plagues. Could you just get these people out of here? A few frogs, some darkness, whatever it takes. But that’s not what we have. What the Lord used was the teaching of his word. And surely that is one of the lessons for us here.

What do you need from God? We do face opposition. That’s always been true of God’s people. We don’t want to exaggerate it. We talked last week, and we can – it’s easy to look around, especially if you like to pay attention to the news. That’s a good way to get discouraged almost any week. You can look, and you can always find reasons to see opposition, enemies, discouragement. You think, “What do I need? What does the church of God really need?” Now, it’s not in absence of other things. We’ll see here, he used Darius, not even a Christian, to issue a fair decree. So, that was good. Pray for those sorts of things. But what do God’s people centrally need? They need what we see here in verse 1. They need to hear from the Lord. And just as so many of us, myself included, can fall into that habit – especially the younger you are, the more this is your habit. When you don’t know what to do with yourself and you’re sitting there, or before you go to bed or first thing when you wake up, and you do the infinite scroll. Give me something. Give me some news. Help me laugh. Give me some information. Help me know what’s going on. And we look to that to give us some sense. And when we live in days where it seems like the news is happening so quickly, we can so easily feel discouraged. We’re apt to think that one more swipe of the screen, if we just scroll down a little bit farther, we’re going to get an answer. We’re going to get something that makes sense of it all. And this chapter reminds us – what you and I need most, especially when we think we face opposition – is to hear the word of God. That’s what you need. You need to hear from the Lord.

Now, what did the prophets say? This is very helpful because here’s one time we don’t have to guess what the message was. We are told two prophets – Haggai (not Hagg-ee-ai – don’t put an extra syllable in there. Like to do that in the Carolinas – sometimes drop some you don’t like, add some others you do) – just Haggai, Zechariah – they prophesy. Now, it’s helpful, these are also two books in the Bible. So, this sermon is going to be a little different, because I want you to see exactly what the prophets prophesied that empowered and enabled God’s people to start rebuilding the temple. So turn to the back of the Old Testament to the book of Haggai. We don’t have time to look at both of them. Zechariah is quite a bit longer, more apocalyptic, more confusing, many of the same themes. But let’s just turn to the little book of Haggai, because Haggai and Zechariah were the turning point. Zechariah, Malachi, then you come to the New Testament, the four gospels. Right before Zechariah is Haggai. So get there and look at verse 1, because you’ll see very clearly we are in the exact time frame. When did this building of the temple renew again? It was in the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. We read that at the end of chapter 4 of Ezra.

Here, Haggai 1: “In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai.” Now turn the page just to see Zechariah. Verse 1: “In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius” – second year, eighth month. So just a couple months later, he gets his first prophetic word. But we’re going to look at Haggai. So, we are here in the second year of Darius, and we’re starting off in the sixth month on the first day. Now, there are all sorts of dates in the Bible that we can’t be really sure of, but this is one that we have a good deal of confidence, because there are archaeological evidence, there’s textual evidence from other sources, there’s the Jewish calendar which gets us to zero in on the date. And we are quite sure that this first sermon happened at the end of August, by our months, in 520 BC. There are four sermons in Haggai introduced with the phrase “the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai,” or something like that. So our four points here are to just briefly move through this sermon from Haggai to show what he said to the people that motivated them to get back to work and finish building the temple.

So look again, verse 1: “First day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai, the prophet.” Notice this first sermon is to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak. It was given as Jeshua sometimes in Ezra – same person, the high priest. If you know something about Zechariah, you may remember that chapter 3 is that famous story of Joshua the high priest who has his dirty clothes and he needs a new turban and a new change of garments to symbolize his forgiveness and an alien righteousness and justification. Well, this first sermon given to these two men, these are the key leaders in Israel. We have Joshua, who’s the high priest, and then Zerubbabel, the governor. You’ve heard me give this little adage before, to remember who he is: “Zerubbabel, get here on the dubbable. The temple is in rubbable. We’re all in big troubbable.” That’s how you can remember Zerubbabel. So he’s the governor, and this first sermon is a prophecy to the leaders. Now look at the problem, verse 2: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: these people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Ah, well, there’s an insight we didn’t have just from Ezra. We might have thought, well, the reason that the building stopped is armed guards were just hovering over them all the time, telling them, “Nope, not today. Not today. Not today.” But now we read, Haggai says, “The people are saying, nah, not yet. I don’t think so. There’s other things to do. Too much of a risk.” Well, look at what Haggai continues to say in verse 3: “The word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ‘Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruin? Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much, harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. He who earns wages does so, but puts them into a bag with holes” – that’s likely a reference to some inflation. You got a bag with holes. Your money is just not worth anything. “Thus says the Lord of Hosts, ‘Consider your ways. Go up to the hills, bring wood, build the house that I may take pleasure in it, that I may be glorified,’ says the Lord. ‘You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away.’ Why?”

See what the sermon is about: why are things going bad for you? Why is everything that you’re doing just turning to dust, and your money’s worth nothing, and your harvests are failing? He says, “’I’ll tell you,’ declares the Lord, ‘because of my house that lies in ruins while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore, the heavens above you have withheld the dew. The earth has withheld its produce. I’ve called for a drought on the land, the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.’” Do you understand what this first sermon is about? Saying you have decided – yes, this ground to a halt because you had enemies, you had opposition – but now do you know why this work isn’t continuing? You’re busying yourselves with all of your own concerns. Now, before we sit in judgment upon these people, let’s sympathize with them just a little bit. It must not have been an easy decision to return to Jerusalem. The people had gotten fairly comfortable in Babylon. Remember Jeremiah’s advice? Build houses, settle down, plant gardens, marry, have sons and daughters. Jeremiah said, this is – you’re here for a couple generations, so don’t think you’re about ready to go back home. You’re in exile. You might as well make the best of it. And they did. And they were somewhat prosperous and comfortable in Babylon. It’s easy to get comfortable in Babylon. This is a long time before Cyrus’s decree. An entire generation had died off. Most of the Jews in Babylon had never known Jerusalem as their home. A few had. We saw them weeping at the foundation laid of the temple. But many had never been here before. So this is not like your house is destroyed, and you’re out of it for 6 months, and what a joy to come back. Many of these Jews, the only home they had ever known was Babylon. They had heard stories, but they never lived in this place. And then they traveled 900 miles to resettle in a rundown city in a backwater part of the world. I imagine many of the exiles returned out of a sense of duty more than a real sense of conviction and delight. And they had problems. The land had lay fallow, and homes were destroyed or in disrepair. We saw last week the Assyrian effort to repopulate the area with a syncretistic religion, and now they have external opposition.

So we can sympathize just a little bit with these exiles. They’re saying, “Look, we’ve come a long way, God. We uprooted our whole families. We made 900 miles. We came home. Many of us have never even lived here. And now we have these opponents, these enemies, breathing down our neck. Yeah, we haven’t done anything for more than 15 years, but we’ve got our own houses to take care of. We got our own soccer games to attend to. We got our own vines and figs and vineyards. So, they had a hard life. It was hard for them to think about a time-consuming, expensive project like a second temple. But now many years had passed. The first exiles probably came around 538. And this is now 520. So 18 years, and 16 years after they had laid the foundation, and there’s still no home, and you see verse 4 – their fancy houses, paneling like your grandma’s basement somewhere – up in the Midwest, at least, it all has that same wood paneling. Saw that tweet: “If you grew up with this, you probably were disciplined by your parents.” There’s a certain – well this was a fancy, this was the shiplap of the day. You’re doing it with your houses, and you’re too busy, too concerned, to do anything with the house of the Lord. Now, I want to be careful here. You can say, “Oh boy, you should have saved this one for a capital campaign, because this is – now it’s not an exact correspondence, because no church is instructed to build a temple in the same way they had to build a temple for their sacrificial system that was given directly in scripture, what it was to look like, how they were to build it – so we don’t want to equate every church building with the temple in Jerusalem. It’s not exactly the same. And yet, there’s certainly some application we can make, namely God was upset with his people because they had all sorts of other priorities. And God was well down the list of their priorities. And so, God gives to them as they’ve done to God. Okay, you are frustrated with the plans I have for you – I’m going to frustrate your plans. So, the more time they spent on themselves in absence of God, the less profitable they became. They sowed a lot of seed, but they harvested little. They drank, but they were thirsty. They collected wages, but the money fell through holes in their pockets. In other words, he’s giving to them covenant curses. He’s saying, “You’re not listening to me. You’re not obeying me.”

Now, why was the temple so important? Well, it was an act of obedience to build it. It was a sign of the covenant between God and his people. It symbolized God’s presence among them. It was there to install the sacrificial system. And most of all, it was that God would be glorified. You see that in Haggai 1:8, “Build the house that I may be glorified.” Now, why did it glorify God? Well, it was a beautiful structure. It was set on the holy hill of Mount Zion. So, it was a structure of beauty and impressive power and strength. But more than that, what did it symbolize? It showed to the nations that these people have put their God first. I wonder what we think about the cathedrals and the massive buildings. We have some beautiful ones here in this country, and certainly you go to Europe and it’s easy to think, boy, they took a hundred years to do this. And people were in grinding poverty, and people died in the construction of these buildings. And is this really what was most important? And certainly there are dangers, and some of those cathedrals were probably built as monuments to human beings or to specific cities. And yet, and yet, try to understand that it was a way of saying, “Our God reigns.” It was a way of saying, “With all that we do not have, look at what our God is.” Now, you can put your God into the building, the structure itself, and you can lose sight of what true spiritual worship looks like. But I’ve passed on this little test before: you can often tell, someone told me, the gods of a city by seeing what the tallest buildings are. There’s a reason that churches had steeples and spires in almost any major city in this country. At some time, the tallest building in that city was a church steeple. It was a way of saying, “Look out among this city and you see it’s a city of churches and steeples reaching to heaven.” You could look at Charlotte, what are the the tallest buildings? Banks. You can look at when I lived in East Lansing, the tallest building was Spartan Stadium. You can look at some building, and it might be a monument, or it might be the state capital or some other kind of skyscraper. Perhaps in Las Vegas it’s a hotel or a casino. It is a helpful rubric to say, “What is most important to these people?” The point is not that churches ought to set out to build the most expensive, tallest, grandiose buildings they can. There’s many other things to consider. And yet certainly, it is right to say what are the priorities for these people?

It is amazing when you study history and you study people who are just clearing off ground, they’re barely surviving, settlers who came to this country, and one of the first things they do is they build a church. And they build churches, some of them, that have lasted as monuments of strength and beauty. I heard someone say recently – I don’t know enough about architecture to know if this is true or an exaggeration – but somebody asked a leading architect, “Why don’t we build these cathedrals?” and his answer was “because we don’t know how.” Now that may be a slight exaggeration, but it is an amazing feat that with all of the technology we have, and that they didn’t have, they built these buildings.

Well here in Ezra’s day, this temple was, first of all, a sign that they put God first of all. Now, I said this is not going to be a sermon about a capital campaign or church buildings, but just a little point here. Sometimes people can be very opposed to churches spending any money on buildings, and rarely are those people living in tents themselves. Rarely is that the case. These people here, a change for God’s people, they actually repent. Look at verse 12: Zerubbabel, and Joshua the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of God. So they listened. Here’s the motivation to repent. Now this is really important, and we won’t spend as much time on these other three little sermons here, because I want you to see this first point. It’s easy to think when we have enemies, when we have opponents, that all of the problems are really those people out there – all the things, all that they’re doing, to put us down, all that they’re doing to keep us from flourishing. If only those people didn’t exist, only if we didn’t have those enemies. And we lose sight of what is usually the case, that the greatest dangers come from within the hearts of God’s own people. Mark Dever writes about this from the people’s standpoint: “The rebuilt temple would be a clear and public statement that they still wanted and valued God. It would indicate that he was a higher priority than anything else clamoring for attention in their lives. It would be a mark of their faith in God, their recognition of his priority in their own national identity. From the nation’s standpoint, it would be a sign that the God of Israel had not gone out of business when Jerusalem fell. It would publicly vindicate God before the world.” See, we might have thought that when the work stopped for 16 years, it was all because of opposition. And now we learn, what Haggai has to say to them is you have prioritized other things. Probably happened slowly, imperceptibly, at first, they said, “Well, we can’t do it. These men are with swords are forcing us to stop the work.” And then maybe the immediate threat dissipated, and they spread, and then they just got on to other things, and it seemed like a distraction and like they had more important things to do. This first sermon is asking who’s on first, who’s first place in your life? And they needed to repent.

The second sermon – I said we’ll do these quickly – chapter 2: “In the seventh month, on the 21st day of the month” – now we’re into October in the year 520. If the first sermon said, who’s on first? The second sermon said, you are not alone. This first sermon comes a few weeks later, after they start building, and now the people are discouraged. They’re looking around. Look at verse 3: “Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? It is as nothing in your eyes.” You see what some people were saying? Oh, look. Look at this. Some of us still remember the old temple. This is nothing. They’re immediately discouraged. Haggai says, “Oh, you’re right. It doesn’t look like much compared to the first temple.” But he tells them that God will be with them. Verse 4: “’Yet now, be strong, O Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord.” Here’s one of the great theological truths in scripture. Here it’s about the building. It’s the same truth for sanctification in our life: “Work, for I am with you.” It doesn’t say relax, and I’ll do it. It doesn’t say work, and prove yourself. It says work. They’re his saved people. This is not about earning their justification. “Work, for I am with you.” This message here in verse 5 – verse 4 – is the same message that Zechariah will give a few months later. Zechariah 4, that famous verse: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.” It’s the same thing. People are building the temple, and they’re discouraged. It looks small. Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not neglect the days of small things.” Their lives seem very ordinary, just like our lives. Almost all of our days are very ordinary lives, and you will not grow in godliness, you will not make a difference for Christ if you don’t know how to live in the 95% of your life that is very ordinary. That’s what it took. If you want to get to the celebration of the temple and have the big party that the temple is done, you better buckle up for a lot of hard work, ordinary days, one stone upon another. God says through Haggai, you’re not alone. I will be with you.

We come to sermon number three, verse 10: “On the 24th day of the ninth month in the second year of Darius, the word came to the Lord,” and now he’s speaking to the priests. The people are busy at work on the temple, but there’s a deeper issue to deal with. It’s a technical argument. They’re wondering – the temple is a holy place, so, if we’re working on building the temple, are we then made holy just by working on the temple? Does ritual holiness work like ritual uncleanness? Because ritual uncleanness in the Old Testament means if you’re unclean, you have an emission, you have a bleed, you have a skin disease, something that makes you ritually unclean. Uncleanness is not identical to sin in the Old Testament. Uncleanness could be caught like a contagion. If you’re around someone who’s ritually unclean, you become unclean. Now they’re asking the question, if we are in around ritual holiness, do we become holy? And the answer is no. Other things can make you unclean. Only God can make you clean. That’s the point. He says in verse 14, “Haggai answered, ‘So it is with this people, with this nation, before me,’ declares the Lord. ‘So with every work of their hands, what they offer there is unclean.’” He’s saying these are a people who have been sinful. They have been unclean. And just by working on the temple, that will not make them holy in God’s sight. The temple was not some magic talisman. They often thought of it that way. It’s not like if they just put their hand on the temple, they were sanctified. It’s not how sanctification works. It doesn’t work by osmosis. Doesn’t work by just touching holy things. They had yet to see covenant blessings poured out, because the works of their hands were unclean. And so God says in this third sermon through Haggai, I need your hearts, not just the stones. They were hauling up big stones to build the temple. But he said, just that by itself does not make you a holy people. I need your hearts.

And then the final sermon, verse 20, Haggai 2: “The word came a second time on the 24th day of the month. Ah, so this is something unique. He gets a second prophetic word on the same day. The first sermon was to Zerubbabel and Joshua. The second sermon was to Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant. The third sermon was to the priests. And maybe Zerubbabel and Joshua were hanging out there among them. But now this, uniquely, verse 21, is for one man: “Speak to Zerubbabel.” I wonder how he felt when he said, “Here comes the prophet.” He’s got a second sermon for today, and it’s for one person. It’s for you. But this last sermon is not really about Zerubbabel. It’s about his descendant. Several parts of Haggai’s sermons look forward to someone who will be much greater than this high priest, much greater than this governor, and much greater than this temple. We have the language of the wealth of nations like the gifts of the Magi, the new temple made of living stones, Jews and Gentiles, as the New Testament puts it. Or chapter 2, verse 7 in Haggai says in the King James, the desire of nations. You see that? The treasures of all nations. The King James says the desire of all nations. And that’s why we have that Christmas hymn. The desire of nations, come. God’s people understood this to be ultimately about the final coming of the Messiah. Verse 6, chapter 2: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, once more I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.”

You may hear that from Handel’s Messiah. He’s putting forward Zerubbabel as a type of the Christ to come. You see the heading above verse 20: Zerubbabel Chosen As a Signet. He says again in verse 21 what he said earlier: “I’m about to shake the heavens and the earth. I’m going to overthrow the kingdoms. I’m going to destroy the strength of the nations, overthrow chariots and riders, the horse and the riders will go down, and on that day I will take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, son of Shealtiel, make you like a signet ring.” This is one of those things he must have been thinking, “Me?” Because prophecies have a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment, so he’s talking about the good work that Zerubbabel will do, but he’s looking forward to a much greater work. You are the chosen one. A signet ring means you have the sign of the king on your hand. You are my man. You go out with my confidence, my authority. You are my chosen one. And ironically, it was Zerubbabel’s grandfather, Jehoiachin, to whom the Lord said in Jeremiah, “Even if you were a signet ring on my hand, I would pull you off.” So, there’s a bit of family redemption here. When God was punishing them, he said, if King Jehoiachin, even if you were a ring on my hand, I pull you off right now. I’m so angry at your sin. Now he says to his descendant, Zerubbabel, you will be like that promised ring. This word to Zerubbabel is the restating of the Davidic covenant. Think about it. There is no earthly king here in Judah. What is he talking about? They don’t even have the temple rebuilt, and he’s giving this extravagant promise to the governor. It looked to them like the promises to David had failed. Didn’t God say to David and to Solomon, “You will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne.” And here they were without any king in Jerusalem. So God says through Haggai, Zerubbabel, you – but really your descendant – is coming. He will be the chosen servant for the task of rebuilding the temple. And that temple – see when Jesus says, “In three days, I will, I’m going to tear this down and I’m going to rebuild this temple” – he was, kind of like the song we just sang, the true and better Zerubbabel. Now, that’s hard to make a verse with Zerubbabel in there. That’s what he is. He’s the one who comes, just like Zerubbabel was the signet ring to rebuild the temple. Jesus is that chosen one, with the signet ring from his heavenly father to rebuild the temple. Not an earthly temple made with human hands, because God doesn’t ultimately dwell in any earthly building, but to rebuild his people. So you say, I thought we were in Ezra, and we are.

And here we close. Do you see what God used to build this temple? It’s a great sermon. Four points. Look at yourself. Look for my help. Look for my blessing. Look for my chosen one. They might have thought what we really need is we need all of our enemies to go away. What we really need is a king to sit on the throne in Jerusalem once more. That’s what God’s going to do. But he didn’t do that. He gave them his word. People of Christ Covenant, we must be shaped by the Bible. And that means that we do more than just interpret the world around us and the news with the Bible’s conclusions – that’s good, that’s bad, good guys, bad guys. It means that we think more deeply. We look at ourselves and the world and the story we’re inhabiting. And we look at our enemies, our opponents, we look at our past and our future as God understands these things. And this message to reinvigorate them to build the temple was maybe not what they thought they needed to hear, but it was exactly what they needed to hear, to come to grips with their own sin, their own failure, to turn in repentance and to look to the future. People say, “Well, you’re so focused on – you’re so heavenly minded, you’re no earthly good.” And CS Lewis turned that and said, “Well, it’s much easier, actually, to be so little heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.” He said, I want – if you’re going to make a difference here, you need to look for the one to come. Look for him, listen to him, hear his voice, and get to work.

Hebrews 12: we’ll leave the New Testament to give us the inspired last word, as the writer pulls this prophetic word from Haggai and interprets it for us in terms of Christ and his kingdom. “Yet once more, he has promised, I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. This phrase ‘yet once more’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken, that is things that have been made, in order that the things cannot be shaken may remain.” Brothers and sisters, live your life for the things that cannot be shaken. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your word. Strengthen us. Give us just what we need to hear in whatever moments of prosperity, adversity we face. We ask that you would revive your work among us for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

When the Bad Guys Win (For Now)

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 14:48:17 GMT

Our Father in heaven, we come before you again asking now directly that you might give us grace to be not only hearers of your word but doers that by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit, though the words will be through very human lips and very imperfect messenger, that yet you might give to us just the word we need to hear, speaking directly to each heart, giving us correction, reproof, comfort, training in righteousness. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.

Think of Jesus in the Upper Room with his disciples. It’s Thursday evening of Holy Week. Jesus knows that he will soon be betrayed, put to death. He gathers his disciples together for a last supper, and for one last sermon; you can read it in John 14, 15 and 16. And in that Upper Room discourse, he talks about the Holy Spirit. He talks about going ahead to prepare a place. He talks about the sorrow that is coming upon the church, and yet that this sorrow will turn to joy. He talks about love – love for God, love for his commandments, love for others. He also, you may have forgotten, talks about hate. We read these words from Jesus in John chapter 15, verses 18-25. He says,

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without cause.’”

I chose the title for this sermon – you can see it in your bulletin – When The Bad Guys Win, in parentheses, For Now. I chose that Tuesday morning. You know this text was set out weeks ago – Ezra 4. And this was the title before the events of this week made it an especially poignant title as you’ll see when I read the chapter in just a moment, Ezra 4 ends with the bad guys winning. Now that will change. Lord willing, we’ll come next week to Ezra 5. But at the end of Ezra 4, we see the adversaries of God’s people have gotten their way. The rebuilding of the temple has stopped, and it did for many years. Sometimes the bad guys win, at least in the short term. I did not line up this passage for the events of this past week. I didn’t even choose the title with the death of Iryna Zarutska in mind. Who was to think on Tuesday as I was – we were talking about that, and I was at a cross-country meet – what a horrible story. The video is horrible. How tragic. How wicked. Who knew that it was only the beginning of the evil that we would see and hear about this week? This sermon is not going to be commentary on the news. Though we’re all thinking of the news, I imagine some of you knew nothing about Charlie Kirk before this week. Maybe you had heard of him. Maybe didn’t agree with everything he ever said. Some of you here – teenagers, maybe students, Gen Z-ers, young millennials, others – though, followed him closely, appreciated his respectful, unflinching defense of many unpopular truths. If you’d never heard of him before, might shock you to learn that his videos were viewed over one billion times in 2024. A lot of people were listening to him, and for good reason. He told college students to get married and have children. Imagine that. He told people to go to church. He told people to get off their phones sometimes, which might be a good idea for me, for many of us. He told people to take a Sabbath. He talked about the biological reality of male and female, that marriage is between a man and a woman, that unborn life ought to be protected. And in recent years, he became even more outspoken, not just as a conservative, but as a Christian. One of his last tweets, I’m sure you’ve seen it, passed around, simply said, “Jesus defeated death so you can live.”

But you don’t come to church on Sunday, I hope, to get more commentary on the news. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s good to be informed. We don’t pretend that we’re living at a different time or moment or place in history. Yet, most of us have probably spent hours online or scrolling our phones or in front of the TV, and what we need this morning is a word from God. And providentially, that word for us, at least the bulk of it, that word comes from Ezra chapter 4, which reminds us that there will always be opposition to God’s word and to God’s work. There will always be opposition to God’s word and to God’s work. Follow along as I read from Ezra chapter 4.

“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, ‘You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God, but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.’ Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia.”

Now, I’ll go back and explain this in just a moment. What I want you to notice here is we are fast forwarding the chronology from verse 5 to verse 6. That doesn’t seem obvious to us because most of us aren’t real familiar with the chronology of the kings of the Medes and the Persians, but they would have known instantly, ah, we are talking now generations later breaking off this story about the temple and now we’re going to look at other opposition that God’s people faced. Verse 6,

“And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes, king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the river. This is a copy of the letter that they sent.”

All of that very elaborate introduction. We have one of the evil people with an interesting name in verse 10. Osnappar, there he is. He’s a bad guy. Here’s what the letter says:

“To Artaxerxes the king: ‘Your servants, the men of the province beyond the river, send greetings. And now be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. Now, because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers, you will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province beyond the river.’ The king sent an answer: ‘To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the river, greeting. And now the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me and I made a decree and search has been made and has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it and mighty kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled over the whole province beyond the river to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid, therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease and that this city be not rebuilt until a decree is made by me, and take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?’ Then when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.”

As I mentioned, in order to make sense of this chapter, we need to understand some chronology. Keep this in your head, or if you’d like to keep notes, you can even write down these, these four kings of Persia mentioned in this chapter. First, we have Cyrus. There’s no test. His reign was 539 to 530 BC. Then we have Darius, Darius, 522 to 486. Then we have Ahasuerus, who is sometimes in other literature called Xerxes. He reigned from 485 to 464. And then we have Artaxerxes, just to make it confusing, he reigned from 463 to 423. So Cyrus, Darius, Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes. As I mentioned, the story breaks off at verse 5. You see verse 5 – all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. So remember, we are dealing with they laid the foundation of the temple. The exiles have returned. They have orders from Cyrus. They’re to rebuild the temple and they rejoiced. The foundation was laid. And now they have some adversaries who don’t want them to continue. And we break off in verse 5 that because these opponents came to them and they bribed counselors against them, they frustrated their purpose, they had to stop for many years, all the days of Cyrus through his reign until the reign of Darius. Now look at verse 24. Verse 24 picks up right where verse 5 left off. The work of the house of God, so the temple, stopped, ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. Verses 1-5 and verse 24 are about the opposition God’s people faced, which put a temporary halt to rebuilding the temple. Verses 6-23 jump into the future. Now, it’s very confusing to us, but they didn’t have subheadings. They didn’t have brackets. They – it’s not a movie, that they could obviously do a flashback or a flash forward. So, you have to know some of your Persian kings, which we don’t, but they would have. It’s like if somebody were talking about American history, I hope it would be obvious to you, if they talked about, well, the frustration we face in the days of George Washington until the days of Andrew Jackson. And then, let me tell you about that time when Abraham Lincoln was president and then when Teddy Roosevelt was president. I hope you know enough American history to know that all ain’t at the same time. Well, that’s what’s happening here.

And so, though it seems confusing to us, the chronicler here is really making it plain. He gives these markers. Verse 6, we’re in the reign of Ahasuerus. And then verse 7, now we’re fast forwarding to Artaxerxes. So, what we have in verses 7 through 23 is this episode. Now, we’re not talking about the temple, but we’re talking about rebuilding the walls and the city. We see that in verses 12 through 13. What the author has done is group together these stories because they fit a theme. It’s not like we – there’s not a mistake. Nobody was led to believe that these things all happened at the same time. He’s grouping them together with a theme. He’s saying the people were pushed around when they tried to rebuild the temple, and oh by the way, remember that later they were pushed around when they rebuilt the walls, so let’s now go back to the story about the temple. It’s putting these two stories together. The point of the chapter is to recall the opposition they faced in rebuilding life in Jerusalem – first with the temple and then generations later with the walls. The good guys at the end of chapter 4 are frustrated. The work stopped. The bad guys got their way. As Christians, we know the war has been decided. The outcome is secure. You want to be on the winning team – team Jesus. But in this life, it doesn’t always look that way. And it doesn’t at the end of every day, every week, every year, or every decade, it doesn’t always go that way. Unequivocally, Jesus and the side of justice and righteousness and grace and truth wins out. But this story in Ezra 4 shows us a moment in time that we can resonate with where you go, wait a minute, wait a minute, but they really stopped the work at least temporarily. And how grievous it must have been to these returning exiles. I mean, they want to build a temple which is for their worship and what Cyrus gave them permission and commanded them to do. Then they want to build a wall because they want to be secure. They’re not building a nuclear reactor. They’re doing what Cyrus gave them permission to do.

But there’s opposition. We read the opposition comes from the people in the land. More on that in a moment. And from these leaders, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, the kings Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes. It must have been infuriating, appalling to see their noble plans, doing the right thing, going about it in the right way, and it gets undone by lying, by conniving. Look at what we have here. Verse 4 – the opponents of the work resort to intimidation. They’re discouraged. Made them afraid. Then bribery, some financial gain. Verse 6, false accusations. They wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah in Jerusalem. We go to verse 15. There’s exaggeration. Oh, these hurtful kings. Well, isn’t this how it often works? There’s a grain of truth here. It’s true that Solomon sat over a kingdom that included some of the realm over which these kings are now dwelling. But that was like 500 years ago. This is a bit of a hyperbole to think that these people in Jerusalem were just about ready to take over the region again. You see that the opponents work by flattery. Verse 10 – the rest of the nations, whom the great and noble Osnappar, or verse 14, now because we eat the salt of the palace. It’s a strange idiom, but we’re close in. We’re insiders here, and it’s not fitting. We do not want to see the king’s dishonor. Then they resort to out-and-out lying in verse 13, verse 16. There’s nothing to suggest that the returning exiles had plans to try to avoid the tribute and the custom that they knew they had to pay. Even if they had any designs to it, they had absolutely no wherewithal to be the superpower in the region. So verse 13 and verse 16 not only are building on exaggeration and hyperbole and a glorious past from 500 years ago, but they’re just lying about what the Jews intend to do. And here’s the frustrating part. It works. Sometimes it works. Crime doesn’t pay. Except sometimes it does. Sometimes people lie, cheat, flatter, bully, or worse, and they get their way. They hit their target. There will always be people who will oppose the work of God.

Now, let me give you two dangers here for us, Christ Covenant. There is a danger on a day like this and a sermon like this to walk out of here and think everyone everywhere is against us all the time. And so, you’ll get to November and someone in Starbucks will say, “Happy holidays.” And you’ll feel like now I know what it’s like to carry my cross. Now I understand the hatred of the world. No, let’s not exaggerate. Let’s not be sniffing our nose for all of it. Let’s not walk around with a defeatist, woe is me, everyone is out to get me. Let’s not be the Eeyores of the world. There’s a danger. And then there is a danger of thinking that no one is against the church and that there are not principalities and powers. Perhaps we don’t talk enough about the warfare that is truly at work as we – Revelation pulls back the curtain and says, “You want to know what’s really going on in the world? You want to know what’s really happening? What you won’t get in your news feed, at least not most of them, to tell you that there is a great spiritual battle, and there’s a dragon, and he has a beast, and he has a false prophet. There’s a bride, and there’s a groom. There’s a woman and a son. There’s Christ and the church. And the dragon hates Christ and the church. I don’t know what the devil thinks about the United States of America. I bet there’s some things he hates. And I bet there’s some things he says, “Don’t you?” He’s at work. Bet there’s some things he’s pretty happy about. I do know this from God’s word. We know that the devil hates the faithful church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So let us understand in this text who the adversaries are. You see chapter 4, verse 1, the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. If you go back to chapter 3, verse 3, it talks about those who were the fear of them because of the peoples of the land. So who are the peoples of the land? Well, you see there in verse 2, we have this king of Assyria, Esarhaddon. He’s the son of the great Sennacherib. Read about Sennacherib, when Assyria approached Jerusalem during the days of Hezekiah, but they get wiped out by the angel of the Lord. This is his son. He was king of Assyria in the 600s. And in keeping with Assyrian policy, they repopulated the conquered land. So Assyria wipes out Israel, and then 150 years later, Babylon wipes out Judah and Benjamin in the south. The Assyrian policy was to repopulate the conquered land with people from other lands. Now, if you just turn for a moment, keep a finger there and go back to 2 Kings 17, because 2 Kings 17 explains this. Now, this isn’t maybe immediately, but this explains the Assyrian policy and what the returning exiles were facing now in the land. Look at 2 Kings 17. You see, verse 24, you see Assyria resettles Samaria. This is what they did. The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, Sepharvaim, placed them in the cities of Samaria. Instead of the people of Israel, they took possession of Samaria and they lived in their cities. So this is what Assyria does. We’re going to repopulate this land, but we’re taking people from all these other places. Now, what happens is lions come in and devour these people because they’re not sacrificing to Yahweh. They are not worshiping the God of Israel. And so the king of Assyria, go to verse 27, commanded, “Send one of the priests whom you carried away. Let him go and dwell there.” So they say, “This isn’t going well. Lions are devouring the people. They’re not doing the right religion. So send a priest. Teach them what they’re supposed to do.” Verse 29: Every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. And so go down to verse 33, here’s the result: they feared the Lord, Yahweh, but also serve their own gods after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. So you see what happens? Assyria resettles people in the land. They don’t worship Yahweh. Says, “This isn’t going to work. Get a priest.” The priest teaches them, “This is how we do things here in Israel. This is what it looks like to worship the Lord.” They say, “Cool. Let’s worship the Lord. They do some of that, and they just bring it all together in a great big grab bag of religious options. These are the people in the land.

And this explains the hostility when the people of the land say to the leaders – now go back to Ezra 4:2, they approached the Zerubbabel and they said, “Let us build with you. We worship God as you do.” Now, if you don’t know the background of how Assyria does that, you think, “Wow, these Jewish leaders are being a bit intemperate.” The people there in the land say, “Can we come? Can we help build? We’re doing the same thing. We love Yahweh, too.” Probably not sincere; even if sincere, definitely mistaken. So, they know this, which is why they’re met with such an immediate, hard no. You are not worshiping the same God. You may call upon him with the name of Yahweh, but we are not really on the same team. They did not worship him in the right way and they did not worship him alone. That’s why they say, “Nope, this is not all. We just have a great conference of world religions. And isn’t this wonderful? You call upon Yahweh, so do we. We must be worshiping the same God.” No. Because of this, they turn to bitter opposition against God’s people. And for a time, they win. That’s what we see in this chapter. Often, we see it here, the opposition to God’s people comes through the rulers, the government. They accept bribes to pervert justice. They’re willingly manipulated. Sometimes the opposition to God’s people comes from false teachers, schismatics, divisive people, institutional cowardice, compromise. Been reading through the space trilogy and about halfway through That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis, and if you know the book it’s very prescient – came out in 1945 at the end of World War II – and what Lewis does so well is show that the new face of evil may look more different, less sinister in a technocratic, bureaucratic age, and yet it’s often through that cowardice, through that vanity, through that desire to have to be in the inner ring, to be someone special, to be important, to have a little group of people that you want to love you, to give you the kudos you think you deserve. Lewis saw what was coming and how often it is an overbearing state or a crushing bureaucracy or a syncretistic religion or the amalgamation of education, entertainment, even religion itself, which opposes the work of God.

And so the building of the temple stops. That’s how the chapter ends. And I thought about, even before the events of this week, do I end at chapter 4 or do I go on to chapter 5, because you don’t want to think that the bad guys do win. And yet, providentially, I already had it planned to end with chapter 4, verse 24. We’ll get to the rebuilding of the temple and what God does to reinitiate the work. They don’t just lie down forever. They don’t just take it. They keep going, and they accomplish what God gave them. But it is important before we turn a literal page on injustice in chapter 4 to come to the end and see that there is real opposition, and sometimes they seem to get the best of God’s people. Sometimes there is a Bishlam, a Mithredath, a Tabeel, and they come in and they kiss up to the king and they get their way and God’s people are frustrated. And the work doesn’t go their way, and there doesn’t seem to be a happy ending after all, at least not in this moment. And that’s what it must have felt like. It’s easy for us to go chapter 4, chapter 5, but if you’re living at the end of chapter 4 for many more years, you have to say, “God, but why? What? You brought us here. You sent us back into this land. You promised us this land. We’re doing a good work. We’re rebuilding a temple. And now it’s going to stop for some 15 years.” They would be harassed in Cyrus’s reign, and they were still harassed a hundred years later. We read about that in the book of Nehemiah. And so we must be realistic.

Jesus said in John 16:2, “Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” This is a grim reality. And Jesus told his disciples about it. Be one thing if people do what is evil and they know it’s evil. They know it’s bad and there’s a wrestling. It’s another thing when people do evil and they believe from the bottom of their heart they were on the right team. The side of truth and the side of justice, the side of love. Now Jesus disciples must have been thinking some of what you might be thinking this morning. What a grim message. Can you give us something more, Jesus? Of course, that’s not the last thing he says to them in John 16. But we need to meditate on what Jesus says there. Not to go out looking for trouble and stirring it up, not to feel sorry for ourselves, not to play the victim at slight offenses, but really, truly, to understand that as they hated Jesus, people will hate those who love him. Ezra 4. Here’s one way to think about Ezra 4. Not many people are preaching on Ezra 4 this morning, but it’s right here for us because Ezra 4 is an illustration of what Jesus taught in John 15 and John 16. There it is. Do you see how the people of God and the work of God are sometimes temporarily thwarted by the opponents of God? And you and I need to know this. Why did Jesus tell this message to his disciples? Why am I underscoring this message to you? Here’s one thing. You get up and preach on a Sunday like this. And there are – the Bible’s a big book and there are hundreds of appropriate messages that one could give. Could be a sermon about the promises of God. It could be a sermon about providence. It could be a sermon about justice and the magistrate. It could be a sermon about weeping with those who weep. There are a hundred different wonderful biblical truths.

What I want you to notice is just one thing that Jesus says. Why does Jesus tell his disciples in John 15 – those two paragraphs that I read at the beginning of this sermon – that the world will hate you? Why did he tell them that? Why must you and I know? Here’s the answer: John 16:1. “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.” That’s why Jesus told them that. Do you know what a danger is in the world? You think the world’s a dangerous place? It is. Has been. You know another danger? The dangers we face out there can be scary. The worst dangers are eternal dangers. Don’t lose your faith. Don’t leave the faith. That’s what Jesus says. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. To know – I’m telling you, I’m telling you, that some people will hate this. Do not leave the faith. Do not make shipwreck. Do not leave what Christ has done for you.

And maybe you’re listening this morning, and you’re blurry, you’re fuzzy on what all of this Christ business is and what all this Christianity is about. Well, the word of God tells us. It has good news, bad news, good news, better news. That our God, apart from any other agent, created this world. It was good, perfect, and Adam and Eve sin, plunging this world into sin and rebellion. And each one of us, how do you explain the darkness in our world? It’s the darkness in the human heart. The prophet Jeremiah said, “Can a leopard change his spots?” You can’t. You cannot do it. You cannot make yourself new. In the fullness of time, God sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And one of the things his son taught on earth is that you must be born again, that the spirit of God must so work in your heart. And you say, “How can I make myself be born again?” Well, you can’t. But you can listen and you can have ears and the sheep will hear the voice of the good shepherd and God’s people will know. Maybe even right now, you know that God is telling you something. He’s been trying to tell you something. CS Lewis once said that God whispers to us in joy, and he shouts at us in pain. That God sent his son that whosoever believes in him might have eternal life and will not perish for his sins, but his life for yours, his punishment for you. And so he calls us to repent and believe. You can do that this morning. To repent and believe. Surely the word that must go out across this land and across the world in light of all that is facing our nation and all the events of this week and this month is the message that Jesus proclaimed so clearly: turn. It’s not too late to repent of those sins, to turn from the darkness that cuts through. Not right, left, but through every human heart, and then believe. There’s nothing you can do. You can’t earn it. God doesn’t say, “Come and prove yourself.” He asks for the faith of an empty hand, the faith to receive, to say, “I have nothing. Would you fill me?” Then you follow him as Savior, as Lord, to obey, to love, to be filled with his spirit, to follow his word, to do whatever he says and say, “Lord Jesus, you now are savior for my sins and lord of my life, and what you tell me is good and right and true and beautiful, and I love it, and I will share it with anyone who will listen and even with those who won’t.”

People have always hated some part of this message. It changes from time to time, culture to culture, and some people will hate it now. And the temptation will be to hold on to the attractive parts and lose the unpopular parts and to fudge and to get blurry and to get fuzzy at that moment. And God’s grace hopefully it will not be called upon for us to die as martyrs, but in whatever way we must count the cost. You think in that moment as simple as a friend or a classmate laughing at a joke or asking you to believe what you know is not true or your boss telling you to go along with what you know is a lie. And you are apt to think in those moments, oh God, it’s all falling apart. And Jesus would have us think, no, this is going just as he said it would. God’s timetable for delivering his people from earthly afflictions is quite variable. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – immediately, angel in the fiery furnace, you’re saved. Daniel, a night in the lion’s den. Peter, imprisoned for several days. Joseph, in a prison for several years. Hebrews 11 says, “Many waited a lifetime, and some only received the deliverance in death.” Israel waited 400 years before they were set free from slavery in Egypt. So, we don’t know how long we will wait. The good guys don’t always win, but they never ultimately lose. So, at the end of the discourse in John 16, Jesus reveals one more reason for his sermon, and you’ll want to remember this one, too. I have said these things to you that in me – in Jesus. You hear that? In Jesus. Not in anyone else. Not in anything else. Not in any job. Not in any vague spirituality. Not in any particular political movement or moment. Though we don’t have to be naive to what is going on around us. He says, “No, in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world. Let’s pray.

Our Father in heaven, we give thanks for this your holy, inspired, inherent word. Guard us, keep us, equip us, comfort us, forgive us, convict us, strengthen us. We know the prince of darkness is grim, but we tremble not for him. For we know that one little word shall fell him. Keep us close to your word. May we always be people of your word, trusting in your word, that your word is more than sufficient to accomplish all the work that you wish to do in our broken world, so loved by God. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

When God Gives You a Do-Over

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:45:05 GMT

Let’s pray. Gracious heavenly Father, we come each Sunday knowing, hopefully remembering, that we stand in need of your grace. And so, we ask that you would feed us. Feed us now with the Word we will hear and receive through our ears. Then after that, feed us with the Word that we will see, taste, touch, handle. May we experience the living Christ, know his power, his truth, his grace in our lives. In his name we pray. Amen.

Our text this morning, continuing with our series in the book of Ezra. Ezra chapter 3. Follow along as I read, Ezra chapter 3, beginning at verse 1.

When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God

so we fast forward from the seventh month, now we’re in the second year.

in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

I’m not very good at many sports. Some may say any sports, but I like to watch almost any sport. If I have someone to root for, I can watch almost anything. Found myself watching US Open tennis this week to see how the Americans did. Do you know how many matches of tennis I’ve played in my life? Exactly zero. Never. Sorry. I know some of you like tennis, but I’m watching it. And in recent years, I don’t know what sort of middle-aged man I have become. I find myself watching more and more golf. It helps. Uh my kids like golf. My oldest son went to NC State, got a turf grass, uh not disease, but degree. He cannot fix your lawn. He works at Quail Hollow. He cannot get you around a golf there either, but he likes golf and golf courses, and we have some beautiful ones around here. And so, I find myself watching golf even though I can count on one hand the number of rounds of golf I have played in my life. And I am extremely, unusually bad at golf. It’s not false humility. The thing that I can’t seem to do is make contact with the club and the ball. And I stand there, and people are waiting, and this has happened many times, honestly. I just, I don’t hit anything and then I just make, like that was a practice shot. I wasn’t trying to and when I hit it, it just hits the top of the ball and it’s a worm burner and it skirts off into the weeds somewhere. I really just need one club. Just a putter would probably just be my best bet because I’m gonna get a 15 or something. I am really bad. I am so bad that on the few occasions when someone cajoles me to golf and I told them I’m bad and they all say, “Oh, well, none of us

are very good.” And then they get out there and they have this look like, “He wasn’t joking. He really was very bad, and this is really slowing us up.” So, here’s the only good thing about being so dramatically terrible at golf is everyone I’ve ever played with, they are happy to give me infinity number of mulligans. A mulligan in golf is a do-over. You get to just, usually if you’re playing competitively, you don’t like a mulligan, but people figure this is going to be a lot faster than you trapesing down into the bog to try to find another golf ball. Just bring boxes of them you can get. You’re not competitive. You get as many mulligans as you want.

Life, unfortunately, is not exactly like that. You don’t get an infinite supply of do-overs with everything in your life. Wouldn’t it be nice? Haven’t you ever wanted sometimes, it might be even something just as simple as you banged your knee on the side of a door and now you’re living with that pain for a week and you said, “Can I just have like a rewind button? Not even to change the world. Just can I just rewind 15 minutes? So that didn’t happen.” All of us wish we could just have with a minute, an hour, a day, a week, some do-overs.

Well, we do not have time travel, and we have to live with the decisions that we make. But here’s the good news. You can, at any moment, right now, have a spiritual do-over in your life. You cannot go back and time travel and undo what has been done. But God offers to you an infinite number of mulligans if you come before him with faith and repentance. He offers to every one of you a spiritual do-over. Now, it may be for some of you, you really need a complete life reset. Maybe you’ve been wandering from the Lord. Or maybe you’re not even really a Christian and you’re at that point. And it’s this morning where the Lord wants to convince you, I’m offering you a chance to put that all behind you and have a spiritual doer. For others, it may not be that catastrophic, but you’ve developed some bad habits. You’ve had some barnacles, maybe like that famous scene from Chronicles of Narnia, and you need the dragon scales to be stripped off of your body. You need a spiritual do-over.

Among other things, this book of Ezra is about a giant national mulligan, a do-over. They blew it. They absolutely shanked the ball and took them 70 years to get that thing out of the lake and now they get to come back. What does it look like when God’s people are graciously given a spiritual do-over? Because that’s what the return from exile means. You’ve been off because God warned them the consequence for their sin. He put this in black and white for years. This wasn’t just you messed up one day, tomorrow you’re gone. This was for centuries the Lord was patient, and they continue to rebel and finally he made good on that promise. Sent them away to Babylon and now they have come back. What does it look like when you finally get a spiritual do-over?

Some of you need to take one. Four things.

Number one, it looks like forgiveness. You say, “Where is forgiveness? I don’t see a specific verse here that’s like the Psalms.” Oh Lord, have mercy and forgive me. I don’t see it here. Well, it’s here everywhere so that you don’t see it anywhere. What is the very first thing they build? You can see the headings in the ESV. “Rebuild the Altar.” What do you do on an altar? You make sacrifices. You’ve heard me say before, there’s a reason we’re going to celebrate communion. And we do not call this an altar. Maybe you, maybe from a Catholic background or other backgrounds are used to think of it as an altar. Well, there’s a reason it’s a table. A table is where you gather as a family for a meal to be fed, to eat, to drink. An altar is where sacrifices take place. And the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is once for all. Doesn’t need to be repeated. Doesn’t need to be represented. But here, they need an altar. They need a sacrifice. And notice in verse three, they’re very particular. “They set the altar in its place.” There was a specific place where the altar needed to be placed according to God’s Word. There are three building projects in Ezra and Nehemiah. Altar, temple, wall. It’s for good reason. The very first thing is this altar. We read in verse three also, “They do it for fear of the peoples of the land.” Maybe these are Canaanite peoples in the land. Maybe these are Samaritans. Maybe these are some of the Jewish people who did not go off into the exile. Whoever they are now, there’s hostility between those who are there and those who have returned. Perhaps the fear is that maybe if it was some Jews who remained, they made a kind of makeshift altar and now they come and say, “No, no, no. We need to do this, right? There’s a specific place where this goes.” And don’t we have a history as God’s people as God gets very and rightfully angry with us when we try to do worship however we want to do it.

2 Chronicles 3:1, “Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Mariah where the Lord had appeared to David his father at the place that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Orin the Jebusite.”

There was a specific place for the altar and for the temple. And we read here in chapter 3, “they kept the appointed festivals, the morning and evening offerings, the various types of offerings.” Few years ago, we went through Leviticus. Some of you were here. Some of you now you’re thinking you’re glad you weren’t. It really was pretty good, I think. But we learned about all of those sacrifices. There were several different burnt offering, guilt offering, peace offering, sin offering, special holy days, extra days on new moon, on Sabbath. And then the priest, if ever a worshipper was not coming with an offering, was to keep the fire lit on the altar continually because that altar signified first in the tabernacle and then in the temple. Even though you might live a distance from it and couldn’t see it, you knew in faith it was there and was constantly lit. What was that communicating to the people of God? There is never a day and never a moment where you are not in need of an atoning sacrifice. You are a sinful people living in the midst of a holy God. And so, this altar, of course, the first thing they’re going to build is an altar.

And, they’re repeating the steps of their ancestors. When Abraham came into the promised land in Genesis 12, first thing he did, built an altar. Joshua when he comes crosses the Jordan into the promised land, chapter 8, they build an altar. It is not a Christian do-over if it does not start with repentance and forgiveness.

See, there is nothing uniquely Christian about wanting a fresh start. You can go to the bookstore and look on Amazon. There’s a huge self-help section. Sometimes you can learn some common grace insight from those books. I read the book maybe many of you did a few years ago, Atomic Habits, that thing still continue. You read a book like that there’s some good common sense insights here. I can have better habits in my life. Lots of people. You don’t need the Spirit of God to want to have some better habits and to exercise and to better yourself.

But we’re not talking about just re-calibrating your life and trying to get your to-do list done and lose a few pounds and feel better about yourself. A Christian do-over starts with repentance and forgiveness, not merely wanting life improvement. If you’re here and that’s what you want, unfortunately, there are some churches that will just keep you there, and they’ll just keep telling they just tailor their message to people who just want life do-overs. But you don’t need the Spirit of God to want to be a better version of you. You do need the Spirit of God for your do-over to start with faith and repentance.

“Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.” Hebrews 9:22.

And think about it. There was no authorized way to deal with their sins for those seven decades in Babylon. No sacrificial system, no appointed temple, no appointed altar. And now finally when they return, yes, out of obedience, we’ll come to that in our second point. But do you think they also had a sense after all those years? Won’t it be good to smell the flesh and see the smoke rise and the fire lit and know that our sins are forgiven?

Some of you may be like those exiles, never really having dealt with your sin and you’re trying. Everyone has sin, of course, and everyone deep down knows that you have sin. You know, there are things about you that aren’t right. You maybe try self-esteem, just positive thinking, maybe therapy, maybe hard work, maybe blame someone else, maybe find meaning and purpose in some transcendent cause, maybe this is very common, you can simply drown out your conscience with life’s many, many distractions. Devil doesn’t have to get you to do one of the quote, “big sins.” They can just give you enough time scrolling to make you forget that you even have a soul, or a conscience. But you have sins and deep down you know that they must be dealt with. Maybe even you’ve been to church a long time, confessed Christ a long time, but it’s been a long time if ever that you have really experienced this forgiveness. You have been living like an exile in Babylon. In fact, here’s the reality. Sometimes you claim to live in Jerusalem, but your heart has an address in Babylon.

You’re not going to experience the freedom, the good news of a do-over. And here’s the even better news. You don’t have to build an altar. The sacrifice has already been made. You don’t need a temple. The Holy Spirit indwells you as a temple of the living God, dwells in our midst. You don’t have to bring a sacrifice without blemish because it’s already been made, the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you want a spiritual do-over in your life, for the first time or you’re saying just for the thousandth time, if it’s a real Christian do-over, it starts by saying, “God, I need a sacrifice and I can’t do it. I need the Lord Jesus. I need your forgiveness. I’ve messed some things up. I’ve been in some patterns I don’t like. I’ve been looking at some things I wish I didn’t. I’ve been feeling sorry for myself. Would you forgive me?” And he will for Jesus’ sake. He forgave these exiles. That’s what it looks like. Forgiveness.

Here’s the second thing it looks like. It looks like obedience. Now, it’s not obedience to be forgiven. It’s obedience as a forgiven people. Did you notice how many times we read in this chapter that they wanted to do things according to the book? We read in verse two, “to offer burnt offerings as it is written in the law of Moses.” You go down to verse four, “they kept the feast of booths as it is written, number of days according to the rule as each day required.” In verse 10, “the builders laid the foundation of the temple..the priests came forward, the Levites with symbols to praise the Lord according to the directions of David, king of Israel.” So again, our world says, “Yeah, have a have a do-over. Find the best version of you. Look deeper and find that true self that’s in there.”

A true Christian do-over starts with repentance and forgiveness and then says, “Okay, God, here’s what I want to do. Um, I’m not so interested in finding the real me. I’d like to find the real you. And I’d like to do things not so much according to my fallen human heart, but according to your revealed will.” So over and over we see they want to do it by the book. They’re not trying to earn something. They belong to God. They’re given this opportunity. And with this second chance, they want to put the altar where it belongs. They want the burnt offerings morning and evening as prescribed. They want to keep the feast of booths as written in the seventh month as stipulated. They were people of the book. So, if you’re saying, “Okay, I need a I need a fresh start. I need I need a big or medium-sized mulligan in my life. So, Lord, forgive me.” He will. Okay. “Now, I want to do this. What does your Word say?”

There are hard things in life. There are gray areas. Sometimes there are difficult questions. But most of you already know what to do the vast majority of the time. Most of you know the Ten Commandments. If you don’t, stick around. We’ll teach them to you. You know not to commit adultery, not to murder. You know what Jesus said about committing adultery in your heart, about anger. Many of you know the Sermon on the Mount and what Jesus says there. Or you know the fruit of the Spirit that the Spirit’s work in your life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Or you’ve heard 1 Corinthians 13. You know that love is patient and kind and does not envy, is not irritable, does not boast. You know these things. So, let’s not kid ourselves that it’s just so complicated. True, there are maybe 10% of those times that are so complicated, I just don’t know what to do. And most of life, most of you, already know what God’s Word said. It’s a matter of whether we will be faithful to do it. When you take that spiritual do-over, you say, “Lord, I want to be a man, a woman, a teenager, a retiree after your heart and follow your book.” And notice what else they do. You may not have made this connection, but now you’ll see it. They are absolutely intentionally following the patterns that had already been established in their history.

I don’t have time to take you back and forth to all the passages, but I’ll just mention them to you. 2 Chronicles 2: 8 and 9. This is with Solomon’s temple. Solomon sent for wood from Lebanon. We see the same thing in chapter 3:7. 2 Chronicles 3 was to start in the second year. This project here in Ezra, it starts in the second year. 2 Chronicles 31 mentions the instructions given to Levites 20 years old and older. Same thing here in verse 8. 2 Chronicles 5 talks about the singers. Verse 10, the singers. 2 Chronicles 7 repeats this refrain about the steadfast love of the Lord. We have it here again. Time after time, very deliberately, they know their history. They know the pattern. They’re saying we are going to build this second temple in the same way, the same time, with the same people, the same situation, for a different time, and a different people, to do so here in our return. They’re following the pattern set from Solomon in his temple.

And I hope this is a fair application. You have probably in your own history and certainly in the history of the church, you have good patterns to follow. Some of you have been given the great blessing of Christian parents, grandparents. Maybe there was a mentor in your life. If not, you can read books. You can read the Bible. The Apostle Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” So don’t think that to be a person of the book means just you and Jesus in the Bible. Just, I don’t, I don’t need anything else. Just I got me and Jesus in the Bible and I’m going to do it. That’s not what they did. They looked – what did Solomon do? What did the, what happened with the first temple? We’re going to follow that same pattern. You need good examples in your life. You need good patterns. You need mentors. You need heroes if you’re going to be obedient.

Here’s the third thing. So, it looks like forgiveness, obedience, and this is interesting. It comes in the second half of the chapter. When you get a spiritual do-over, it looks like a mix of emotions. This is not the most famous chapter in the Bible, but I find this to be one of the most emotionally palpable sections in all the Old Testament, this dramatic scene. They’re laying the foundation of the temple. Now, the work is going to be put on hold, and it won’t be for many years later before they get the temple off the ground and finally squared off and built. But here they are in the second year they’re starting it. And it’s instructive for us to see the mix of emotions when they lay the temple. God will give you all of the second, third, millionth chances that you genuinely ask him for. At the same time, those new starts do not erase every decision you’ve made, and they cannot remove every grief or pain from your past. Would that it were so, but we live on this side of heaven. There are consequences. There are griefs and pains. Sometimes mistakes we know we made. Sometimes things that happened to us that we had no control over. Notice here this mingling of joy and sadness. So on the one hand, verse 11, “great shouts.” Of course, finally, our temple that was destroyed. We’re getting it started. We got the shovels and the hard hats, and we dug it and we’re laying down the cinder blocks and the foundation. It’s going to be a long time, but we are getting started on our new life back in Israel and in Jerusalem.

But then we have this very arresting verse 12. “But many of the priests, the Levites, the heads of the father’s houses, old men who had seen the first house,” they can’t help but remember what it was like. It’s one of the joys and sorrows of getting older. You look back with that nostalgia and that can bring a sense of joy and then sometimes without even realizing it, you’re in a place of weeping. You can understand these men. They had lived through the exile. They had heard stories and some of them had seen it with their own eyes, the first house. And so, while the young folks are, “What a day, Grandpa. Why are you crying?” “I saw the first one. I remembered how grand it was, how glorious it was, and we ruined it. Our sin brought this judgment upon ourselves.” It would be a lie to tell you that you don’t live with any regret. Now, we’re getting to the forgetting what is behind. But it’s just reality. Someone says, “I would not have done anything in my life over.” Really? You didn’t ever sin? You wouldn’t have not done that sin. So, they are weeping to think of the glory and the grander and they looked up and they saw that temple sitting high on the holy mount of the holy city back when they were somebody. Back when they could boast of something and some national pride and they remembered it and now it’s a hole in the ground and some bricks and stone and they remember what was lost. They remember what had happened and they weep small beginnings in front of them. They loved that temple. They loved what it represented, and they remembered what they had lost. That’s some of you. You can’t help but think there are griefs in life. We walk with a limp as Jacob, Israel learned to walk with a limp. There are some sadnesses that the Lord heals and he uses time to heal, and they don’t finally get their resolution until heaven.

But notice there’s also joy. The old men right to remember what was gone just as those next to them were right to celebrate what was coming. See, a spiritual do-over is a reordering of your affections as much as anything. Or you might say adding a new layer of affection and putting that old layer in its place. They were not wrong to miss the temple. They were not wrong to want to recount stories of the glory days gone by. But they would have been wrong if that’s all they wanted to do. Ff they just wanted to weep for the past that was gone and they could not return to because God was doing something else in their midst. Not that, but this, this was their life. This was what God was doing. And what he was doing in this day was good. They didn’t have to remove all that sense of sadness of what had come before, but they needed to have eyes to see that God was yet faithful to them in this day. And so, there was much rejoicing, and the sound was heard far away we read at the end of the chapter, which leads to one final thing.

So, this do-over, forgiveness, obedience, there’s a mix of emotions and then ultimately a spiritual do-over is about worship. Worship was a priority. It was an absolute investment, a financial investment. They give of their gifts, an investment of time, and energy, of resources. They have free will offerings. They gave, just like they gave, money for the temple in days gone by for the tabernacle before that. Now they give for the second temple. There was a sacrifice of people involved the priests, the Levites, the servants, the musicians. We see how many people were necessary for the ordering of God’s worship. There was a sacrifice of time and effort, building, training, recruiting, artisans, craftsmen, carpenters. They had come back not just to come home, but to worship. Remember that with the story of the Exodus, it wasn’t just Moses standing before Pharaoh and saying, “Let my people go.” It was that. But don’t forget the rest of it. Let my people go into the wilderness that they might worship me. It was never merely a horizontal liberation. It was that. Praise God. It was to send them into the wilderness for the thing that their life was most missing to worship God to receive from his hand the Ten Commandments and the laws and then to build the tabernacle and later the temple. It was to come now for the second time to return from exile. Not just to say, “Wow, celebration. You’re going to get to go home, and you’re going to have a party and build some houses. It’s going to be the good old days.” They were coming first of all to worship.

Where is worship in your list of priorities? I know that it’s definitely a New Testament sense that worship is all of life. He presents your bodies as a living sacrifice. But we also see the importance of the weekly gathering of God’s people for worship. Doesn’t mean that the pastor preaching is the most important person to say that this gathering ought to be the most important part of your week. What can you do to build a better foundation to make worship a priority? Maybe preparing the night before. Maybe spending some extra time in the morning or in the afternoon. Maybe making it a point though it hasn’t been yet to worship the Lord Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Maybe simply trying to get more sleep that you come prepared, eager, attentive. Or those are practical suggestions. They’re important. They have spiritual components. But the issues may go deeper. It may be that worship is not a priority because you are content to live in Babylon, and you want to do what people do and going to church is what people do. But to really enter and worship, you have to set aside the disobedience. You have to make God the object of your worship and not yourself. And above all, you have to come ready to look and love Jesus because Jesus obeyed. Jesus was the sacrifice. Jesus now is the object of our worship. And Jesus as the author and perfector of our faith offers to you a spiritual do-over. And more than that, he promises if you will take him up on the offer and really do it. I mean, forgiveness, obedience, joy, sorrow, worship. You say, “Yes, my affections are reordered. This is what I want.” He promises to be with you to the end. He promises that it will be worth it.

Look at verse 11. That’s the most familiar verse and it’s the most important verse. Notice it says they sang responsively. We see this even more obviously in Psalm 136. You say, “Why do, why do you Presbyterians, you got to do responsive readings and things. It’s kind of old school.” It is old school. Like this old school. They did it. They sang responsively. And it’s not hard to imagine how they might have had choirs or people and choir or leader and people go back and forth. Let’s just try it. I’ll say the first line. You say the second line. “For he is good.” You. “For his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” Not all the Psalms say toward Israel. It makes it longer to say, but let’s say it one more time. “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

That’s right. They would have done it, and they would have sang it. And what you may not have realized is this was the very song the Lord told them. It was not an accident. 1 Chronicles 16:34, David brings the ark into Jerusalem. No temple yet, but he brings the ark into Jerusalem. And we read, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 5:13. Now Solomon, his son, brings the ark not just into Jerusalem, but into the temple, and it says, “A song was raised and filled the house of the Lord. For he is good, his steadfast love endures forever.”

David saying it, Solomon saying it, and then this is best of all, Jeremiah 33, the prophet, the weeping prophet, the lamentation prophet, “thus says the Lord, in the place of which you say, it is a waste”, talking about their land, the promised land, some promise, God, “a waste without man or beast in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast.” There’s no people there. There not even a squirrel there. There’s nothing. “There shall be heard again the voice of mirth, the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” Jeremiah said, “There’s nobody there now. It looks desolate. I’m telling you on God’s Word, there’s going to be singing in these streets again.” And here’s what we read in Jeremiah 33. Here’s what they sing. He predicted it. “Give thanks to the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good. For his steadfast love endures forever. For when he restores the fortunes of the land at first they will sing, says the Lord.”

David, Solomon, Jeremiah says there’s coming a day. This is not the end of the story. This is an end. And you need to believe that if you’re willing to take up Jesus on the offer he extends to you, another mulligan. Forget about where that ball went. You got another shot. Who cares if everybody’s looking? Jesus says, “Just look at me. This is what matters. You get another shot. You get another shot. Sins forgiven. Another shot to walk out in obedience. And when you fail again, there’ll be more forgiveness. Another shot with all those emotions to worship the living God. And here’s the song you’re going to sing. He is good. His steadfast love endures forever.” Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for your many blessings, it is true that your steadfast love endures forever and is good to us. And you extend to us once again your grace, and we come with empty hands that you might fill it. You have fed us with your Word. Feed us now with the Word at the table that we may be nurtured and nourished and strengthened in Jesus name. Amen.

The Lord of Lists

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 09:34:09 GMT

Father in heaven, as we come to your Word we ask once again that you would help us to hear, we need ears that we might understand, that we might be open and we might not be distracted and that we would with the eyes of faith hear just what you mean to speak to us. Even surprisingly to minister to our hearts we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Ezra. I think I can make this statement confidently, Ezra 2 is no one’s favorite chapter in the Bible. No one here thinks, you know what, I love Psalm 23, John 3, Romans 8 and Ezra 2. That’s not on anyone’s list. In fact, if you’re there all you have to do, some of you have already done this during the week, good for you because you’ve already let me know, hey good luck. All you have to do is scan your eyes, names, numbers, and you will be tempted to conclude that this is your least favorite chapter in the Bible. Here’s the assessment I found in one of my commentaries, “Chapters like Ezra 2 are among the most uninviting portions of the Bible to the modern reader because of their tedious nature and because of their overtones of racial exclusivism and pride, however, fascinating the chapter may be to the antiquarian, it is unlikely that his enthusiasm will ever be shared by more than a few and that is written by someone who probably took years of his life to write a commentary on Ezra, that’s rather grim.”

Let me give you a more helpful commentary on the chapter. All Scripture is breathed down by God and profitable for teaching for proof, for correction, for training and righteousness and the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work, so I’m gonna go with the apostle Paul’s inspired commentary and though it’s true some passages of Scripture are going to be high mountain peaks and this is not one of them, yet God has something for us to inspire us and to teach us. I’m going to read through the passage, stopping along the way to explain what we have here and then we will zero in on a few points. So, follow along beginning at verse 1.

“Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mizpar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.” So, what we have here are the people returning from Judah, that is the southern kingdom Judah and Benjamin, the northern tribes had been carried off to Assyria 150 years earlier and they’re going back to the capital of Jerusalem. You see some names in verse 2 may be familiar to you, Zerubbabel, and then Jeshua, who is likely the same person here at Joshua the high priest. There’s a story about him in the Book of Zachariah chapter 3, and Nehemiah, this is very likely a different Nehemiah than the Book of Nehemiah, very common for people to have the same name across decades and centuries. The Nehemiah in the Bible does not come until 445 B.C. This is a different Mordecai than the one we find in Esther, but here are some of the people. And now the author is going to give us the lists of those returning. It’s a list of the exiles that came back in this first wave roughly 549 B.C. to 520 B.C., over these two decades and it’s divided into seven lists. There’s quite a bit more order to these passages and it looks adverse.

So we have the first list, verse 2 to verse 20, which are the lay people returning, counted by their families. Yes, we’ll read them. “The number of the men of the people of Israel, the sons of Parosh, 2,172. The sons of Shephatiah, 372. The sons of Arah, 775. The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. The sons of Elam, 1,254. The sons of Zattu, 945. The sons of Zaccai, 760. The sons of Bani, 642. The sons of Bebai, 623. The sons of Azgad, 1,222. The sons of Adonikam, 666. The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. The sons of Adin, 454. The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. The sons of Bezai, 323. The sons of Jorah, 112. The sons of Hashum, 223. The sons of Gibbar, 95.” So those are the lay people returning, counted by their families.

Now verses 21 through 35, second list, we have the lay people that are counted by city. So first counted by family, you notice a change in verse 21, now it’s counted by their city. “The sons of Bethlehem, 123. The men of Netophah, 56. The men of Anathoth, 128. The sons of Azmaveth, 42. The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. The men of Michmas, 122. The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. The sons of Nebo, 52. The sons of Magbish, 156. The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. The sons of Harim, 320. The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. The sons of Jericho, 345. The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

Now we come, list number three. So, these were lay people by families, lay people by city, now we come to the priests, verse 36. “The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. The sons of Immer, 1,052. The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. The sons of Harim, 1,017.” There were 24 divisions of the priests, we know that from 1 Chronicles 24, and what we have here are four, only four of these divisions are noted as returning.

So, the priests now here verse 40, the fourth list. “The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128. The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.” These are the Levites, singers, gatekeepers, these were people who may have been connected to the Levites. The gatekeepers locked and unlocked the doors of the temple, watched over the treasury. When you think about the people who do that here, we’re grateful for them, they were also like security guards. Not the first time in history God’s people have needed guards. The singers were temple vocalists and choirs, just to remember the priests were all Levites, but the Levites were not all priests, only those descended from Aaron. So, the Levites performed an auxiliary ministry for the priests carrying out some of the manual labor for the temple and before that for the tabernacle.

So first the priests, then the Levites, then verse 43, here’s the fifth list. “The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.”

So, we’ve had priests, Levites, these are temple servants. You can think of it as the Levites helped the priests and the temple servants helped the Levites and then going down the chain of command it seems that this next group, the sixth list might have been those who helped the temple servants. Here they are called in verse 55, “The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.” All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.

Now we have one final list, verses 59 through 63. The list is of those who don’t have proper identification. So people didn’t have their papers in order. 59. “The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult the Urim and the Thummim. “

So, we’ve gone through the seven lists, we’re almost there. Now we have some wrapping up and some adding up. Verse 64. “The whole assembly together was 42,360, besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers. Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, their camels were 435, and their donkeys, they’ve got a lot of those, were 6,720. Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests’ garments. Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns.”

Okay so, we made. Now why is this here? Well, some people might wish we would just skip from chapter 2:1, now these are the people who came up, to chapter 3, when the seventh month came and they were in their towns. Why not just do that, 2:1 to 3:1. The people came, chapter 3, now they’re in their towns. Why do we have these other 69 verses? Scholars have speculated it’s to establish who had the right to rebuild the temple or maybe it was a tax list or maybe it was to restore land rights, maybe there was a clerk obsession who really liked to take good notes. Now all of those, except for the last, could be possible reasons, but even if it’s a tax list or a land list, that doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter. What can we learn from Ezra 2 to train us in righteousness and make us competent for every good work. I want to zero in on just three words of these 70 verses, and I think you’ll find that these words, when we explain what they’re about, we’ll have some surprising relevance for your life. I just want you to notice three words. The first word I want you to notice is in verse 23. Go back there. This is the accounting of the people by their towns, and we read in verse 23, “The men of Anathoth, 128.” Anatoth or Anathoth.

What’s so important about this town? You may recognize others in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, you’ve heard of this town. What about this. Well to get the significance of Anathoth we need to think about Jeremiah chapter 32. Let me just read you. This is Jeremiah the prophet. He has the unfortunate task of giving a lot of bad news. Some of the false prophets say this is going to be two years, this is a quick thing, and he says, no this is gonna be 70 years and Jerusalem is under siege. The Babylonians are there, they’re starving the people out, they’re attacking, they’re carrying them off, they are utterly going to be destroyed and in the midst of this siege hear what Jeremiah says.

I’m reading from chapter 32 in Jeremiah, but you can just listen. Jeremiah said, “The Word of the Lord came to me, behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, buy my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours. Then Hanameel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard and the court is the Word of the Lord and said to me, buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin for the right of possession, the redemption is yours, buy it for yourself then I knew that this was the Word of the Lord.” Very strange verse. I would just figure maybe you’ve got a cousin like this. We are under siege. I’ve got some land here in Jerusalem for you. Your cousin, my uncle, I want you to buy this land. Now why, you’re being destroyed, your people are being carted off. Later in chapter 32 there’s a heading, “Jeremiah prays for understanding,” because this is a very strange request for him to understand, for the people to understand, of all the things to do when the conquering superpower is in your town taking you over, wiping you out, now is not the time for land investment. But God said to Jeremiah, he said, “I know this is from the Lord.” Why, why do you buy a land in the midst of a siege. It’s to say we’re coming back here; this is not the last time. And even though the people, what are you doing, you’re nuts, you’re crazy, we’re being wiped out, we’re being carted off, our future is over, everything’s done. Do not buy a field in Anathoth, and that’s precisely what Jeremiah does. So, I wonder, when you go to Ezra 2, reading the list, if these 128 men of Anathoth, if there well appearing a bit of a pause when this was recounted. It was a reminder that the God who led them off was now making good on even the most outlandish promise. What could be more ridiculous then to buy land in Jerusalem and in Judah in the midst of a siege and a hostile takeover, when the people said yeah, go for it Jeremiah, fat chance we’re ever gonna live in that land again and now they do. It was a testimony, if they had ears to hear and eyes to see, to remember that the God who had harmed them justly was also the God who would heal them. Jeremiah bought that field, now he claims it. Houses and fields and vineyards would once again be planted and bought and sold in Anathoth.

I wonder if there are extravagant promises in your life that you barely can believe are true like this one. As you’re being led in chains away on a month’s long journey to Babylon and there’s the little plaque and the little sign in the field, “Property of Jeremiah the prophet.” Really. Maybe it’s the promises from Romans 8. That may be your favorite chapter in the Bible. Maybe you’re struggling to really believe that there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Really absolutely true for you. Or maybe Romans 8:28 that “All things really really do work together for the good of those who love them and who have been called according to his purpose or maybe it’s the end of chapter 8 that we cannot begin to fathom what God will do for us and that nothing, famine, sword, nakedness, peril, nothing in heaven or earth, principalities or powers can separate you from the love of God that He has in Christ Jesus for you. Those are outlandish promises. Even more outlandish than a field that they would come back 70 years later and inhabit.

Here’s the second word I want you to notice. I want you to go to verse 62 or go to 61 rather. I want to remind you of a story, perhaps it’s tucked away somewhere in your brain and some of you have probably never heard it, the word in 61 is this fellas name, Barzillai. You can read about Barzillai in 2 Samuel 17, 2 Samuel 19 and 1 Kings chapter 2. I won’t go back and read the story, but Barzillai is one of those great unsung heroes in the Bible. His name, it’s a great name, it means man of iron. Men let’s go home and say, honey call me Barzillai. He was a Gileadite which means he was the tribe of Manasseh. That’s important because the priests don’t come from the tribe of Manasseh of course, they come from the tribe of Levi. So, hold that. Now who was Barzillai, he was loyal to David when David’s son, Absalom had rebelled against him. Now these were dark days for David, he was the king, but his son Absalom, who was so handsome and had all the beautiful flowing hair which would be his undoing, this Absalom had a palace coup and things were so bad that Absalom was holding court, the people were cheering for Absalom and David and his men had to flee. Now when you are the subject of a military coup, and your son is in place, and you have to run out of town things do not look good for your reign. So, if you were a betting man in Israel in those days, you would say, well I want to cozy up to Absalom, he just displaced his father David who is on the run. And that’s where this man Barzillai, he was a wealthy man, and we read that he supported David and his men and he gave them food when they were on the run from Absalom. This was a bold act of generosity because if Absalom ends up being king, and it sure looks like he is going to be, then who’s going to be off with their head, probably Barzillai. You’re a traitorous rebel who is aiding and abetting the enemy, the deposed king, but Barzillai, this wealthy man goes out of his way and he feeds David and his men and so in 1 Kings before David dies, when he gathers his son Solomon around him to give him some final instructions he says, “I want you always to deal kindly with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, for he took care of me and all of your days son let his sons sit at the king’s table. So, he was a good guy, and he was one of David’s favorites.

Now what is going on here in Ezra 2 to mention Barzillai. Well, it’s a cautionary tale. Look at the parenthetical statement in verse 61. “The sons of Barzillai who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name, these sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogy, but they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.” And so the governor has to say, “Well I’m not sure what to do with this, we have to wait until the high priest comes”, and the high priest had these little stones in his pocket called the Urim and the Thummim, it was one way that God had in this time to give His will, maybe a yes and a no, so the Urim and the Thummim is going to give the answer to this question. But do you see what’s happened, these sons who they claim were of the priestly tribe, at some point in their lives they married the daughters of Barzillai, and they thought to themselves, “Man of iron, well the descendants of Barzillai they get to sit at the king’s table.” So, against convention the parenthetical statement says, cozy up and say, I think from now on we’re gonna be of the tribe of Barzillai the Gileadite. So, they say this is going to be good for us. We claim this great man’s name. Now we’ve married into it, and we’re sort of going to set aside that other claim we have, and we want to be known as the family of Barzillai the Gileadite. Well now when these men return, and they’re registering and saying, um right here, priests. Say now wait a second, it says here you are from Barzillai the Gileadite of Manasseh. He’s not a Levite, he’s not a priest and they say, well, alright time out a little complicated.

We really are priests but at one point because he was such a good dude we went by his name but trust us we’re priests. And they say, um, this is not checking out, we’re gonna have to check with our superiors before we can make this decision. Now why do I say this is a cautionary tale? It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Take on the name of Barzillai. We will be treated kindly because of him. Maybe we will inherit his wealth. Maybe we too can sit at the king’s table, but now, I hope this is not making too much of a spiritual point, I think it’s an implication from the text, now they are trying to get what they had already passed over. When they claimed to be the descendants of Barzillai they were going after a blessing in their way instead of God’s way, and they must have thought that they could have the best of both worlds. That when it was convenient they could say, yep, Barzillai the Gileadite, that’s our dad huh, huh, huh. Remember that, inherit his wealth, have his good name, and now when they came to be priests, they could go back, and they could do both things. But you can’t, you can’t have it both ways. So perhaps this is a fair application and I’m thinking in particular of those many, many young people here who have had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home, maybe even in this church, maybe at Covenant Day School, maybe your whole life you’ve had, what shall we say, a kind of priestly inheritance. And now as you’re growing up, it’s nice to have that in reserve somewhere on the shelf. But if another identity comes along it seems to get you the things you want now, whatever that might be. Identity has the smartest, the most beautiful, the partier, the progressive, whatever it might be, I like that. And you know what, when it comes time to it if I need this old identity, I can have that too. I can have it both ways. I can be this new person, I can leave this other priestly inheritance behind and when it comes to it, I can always say, oh yeah, well wait a minute that’s really me. I grew up in the church and my parents were Christians and my grandparents were Christians. See here it is. Might it be that man at the registration says something is not adding up here. I thought you didn’t want that inheritance. I thought you wanted this new identity because you can’t have them both, you can’t be a son of Barzillai from Manasseh and a priest from the tribe of Levi and you may think, well of course, I will just be one person for this crowd and I’ll be another person when my parents are around, when I’m in church, when I come home for the weekend, and I can have both and no one will be the wiser. Well at some point someone will. We cannot embrace another identity and then just come back and claim the old one whenever you want, holding the two together. There is a cautionary tale for these men who thought it was a good idea to squander their priestly inheritance even for someone as noble as Barzillai the Gileadite.

Now here’s the final word I want you to notice. It’s a number. It’s in verse 64. The whole is simply together was 42,360. That’s a pretty precise number. Now you can add up all the numbers and they don’t equal the numbers given here, exactly 42,360 so it may be including women and children, even though it makes sense that these would be mostly men who are the people that are going to make the thousand-mile four-month trip back. It’s probably mostly single men. But 42,360. Why is that significant, because you need to know you are a particular people, a known people, in Christ you are a loved people, and accounted people. Abraham Lincoln famously said, “God must love the common man because he made so many of them.” Well God must love lists because there’s so many of them in the Bible. There’s lists of nations, there are genealogies, there’s a census, multiple times there’s a list of returning exiles, there is for crying out loud a whole book called, math teachers, Numbers. God keeps track of us. He knows our family, He likes to keep lists. It’s not just, well God loves people, you’re a people, He loves you, 42,360. That’s at least one of the things you ought to think whenever you come to those many passages, land allotments, genealogy, so and so begets so and so.

I remember years ago, let me just add a caveat, I have not watched the Simpsons in 25 years, I’m not telling you to go out and watch the Simpsons, but back before I was more sanctified and in college, I watched a lot there, there was one I remember, one of the first episodes, Homer has a bad piece of fish at a sushi restaurant or something and he thinks that he is going to die and so he makes amends with his father and he tucks in his children and tries to have a man talk with Bart and then he thinks he is going to die and say what you will, the Simpsons are pretty irreverent, but it does have, they’re a church going family, and because he thinks he is going to die in the night, he puts on headphones and he listens to the bible on tape, tapes back there in season 2. And it’s Larry King reading the Bible. That’s how long ago it was. And the joke is that they show Homer falling asleep and every time he listens to more and more of the, every part is simply a begats, is a genealogy, as if the whole Bible, everything he listened to all night was only names and lists and numbers until finally the batteries ran out and his wife comes down, he was asleep, not dead, show goes on for infinity. It can seem like there’s a lot of names and there are. Have you ever thought the God who inspired this book must like lists.

You know when you go to a graduation, especially if it’s a big school, you say really, are we gonna do all of these names. Except you’re there because there’s one name, you would be happy if they just said, all the graduates stand up and now my daughter, granddaughter, come on, let’s give her a round of applause, and they always start by saying hold your applause until the end and then the poor people who go first get no applause and by the end everyone’s breaking the rules and woo, and whooping and hollering before the end. You go to a graduation and it’s a lot of names and it’s a little tedious except that you’re there and you really want to hear that one name, your child, your name, your grandchild. The lists matter when you are numbered in that list. One of the reasons Ezra 2 is here, to show us that God knows us intimately, not just an unidentifiable mass of humanity. He knew there were 945 sons of Zattu and 112 sons of Jorah. He keeps detailed records. It’s one of the reasons we take church memberships seriously. God makes lists and so do we.

Of all the lists that might be important to you, the Dean’s list, award lists, income bracket, sports standing, there’s only one list that truly matters. Because there is another story of exiles returning to Jerusalem. You remember it, it’s at the very end of the Bible. When the holy city, the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven having the glory of God radiate like a most rare jewel, clear as crystal, 12 gates protected by 12 angels, there’s no temple there because the Lord God Almighty is the temple and the glory of God gives it light and we read there not simply the redeemed of Israel, but nations and kings will stream to this city, they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations, this heavenly city. This is the list that matters most. A record of those, what should be call them, exiles, strangers and aliens in the world who know that this is not your home. Revelation 21:27, “But nothing unclean will ever enter it nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the lambs book of life.” It’s a list of the exiles who finally come home. Is your name in that book because God will not let you in just because your grandma’s name is there. Here’s the good news, you have a personal invitation. The lamb himself has made a way, the lamb himself says I will give you the garments to wear, I will give you the forgiveness you need, I will be your way, your truth, your life, your entrance, I am the gate that you might enter into this holy city.

Did you notice at the beginning of Ezra 2, “The people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles.” Of those exiles. We read in chapter 1 that the Lord stirred in some to go which means many, many did not return. We ought to look on these exiles as being worthy of particular commendation. Matthew Henry the Puritan commentator said, “An account was kept in writing of the families that came out of captivity and the number of each family.” This was done for their honor as part of their recompence, for their faith and courage and their affections in their own land and to stir up others to follow their good example. It is a picture of the Christian life. God calls you to a new land, He offers you deliverance, He promises you an inheritance, He promises to make you a new people, He will set you free. Sounds wonderful, who wouldn’t want that? Well, you have to get up and you have to leave this earthly citizenship, set out on a journey to the celestial city and that takes courage. It took courage for these returning exiles. They had to leave the land that they knew. By that point the land that they loved, they have to leave an old world behind, they had to set out on a hard and dangerous journey. It was a promised land after all, not a land that came with brochures they could see or drone footage they could look at. They had to say goodbye to some family and friends, they had to let goods and kindred go and it may be the call in your life that you have to leave behind an old way of living, even leave behind some friends and family who will not understand, will say what are you doing, why are you leaving Babylon, why did you get up and go. The question is whether you believe that God has a better possession for you and an abiding one. Don’t delay. If He is stirring in your heart ala Ezra 1 to go talk to someone, talk to a pastor, talk to an elder, talk to a friend. Maybe there’s a stirring to go into full time ministry men or maybe a stirring men and women to go to far off places with the Gospel. Maybe a stirring to be more generous with your wealth. Maybe a stirring to commit your business to the glory of God or maybe a stirring to really come honestly to Jesus Christ for the first time. Will you have the courage to get up and go? The sheep will know His voice, they will have ears to hear and note that though it takes courage and though it may mean leaving goods and kindred behind, even family and friends perhaps who will not understand why you are doing this, why you are so serious now, why you’re on fire for Jesus. Isn’t it enough to just go through some of the motions. They may not understand but look this is not simply a call to suffer, it is above all the Lord’s summons and invitation to come home. Isn’t that what He was calling the exiles, yes there’s a cost, yes there’s a cross, but I’m inviting you to come back home to the place where you really belong, to that city whose foundations are eternal and whose light will never go out, and whose days are filled with unending joy. If you will but heed the Lord Jesus when He calls. Let’s pray.

Our Father in heaven, you have prepared an anecdote for us, an unbelievable promise that can be ours if we will but go and leave, travel, make the journey home. Perhaps even in this crowd people, many of whom have been in church hundreds, maybe thousands of times, yet now you want to call them, now you are speaking to them and they cannot deny that it is your voice so may they not harden their hearts, may today be the day of salvation and the day for leaving exile and making their way to the holy city. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Preservation, Promises and Divine Providence

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 13:30:24 GMT

Father in heaven, we ask once again that you would give us grace, that we might have ears to hear and that this poor lisping, stammering tongue would have grace to speak your Word, that we might find challenge and comfort, that you would make sense of what can seem so senseless in our lives and in our world. Thank you for your perfect, infallible, inerrant, inspired Word. Give us ears to hear it, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In 586 BC King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the holiest city and the holiest place among God’s holy people and Israel. He sacked Jerusalem and he razed the temple to the ground. Those Jews who had some special skills, at least as Babylon considered them, the artisans, the craftsman, they were carted off to Babylon in the east. The poorest of the Jews were left behind with nothing but utter devastation. Babylon then appointed a governor, Gedaliah, to rule over Judah and the conquered people. Jeremiah was prophesying at this time, sometimes called the weeping prophet. It’s for good reason that there’s a book there, Lamentation, or that we have our word, Jeremiah. It is someone who gives a weeping lamentation, a sermon of great distress, that was Jeremiah. He was given the unenviable task of prophesying in the time of destruction. He was the realist who was also right when many of the false prophets were saying, don’t worry, God is for you, this is gonna be short, two years at the most. Jeremiah said, well yes, God is for us, He will remember His covenant if we turn and repent, but this is not going to be a short ordeal, this will be seventy years. Jeremiah told that to the exiles who were going, and he told the people who had to stay that they were to accept Babylonian rule. Many of them were still finding some way out, they were looking to the south, to Egypt for help, and so they rebelled against the governor Gedaliah. They murdered him. Some of the Jews fled for Egypt. Things could hardly seem any worse. The promised land looked more and more like a land of broken promises. What happened to all of the good things that God had promised to give us in this place. Meanwhile hundreds of miles away in Babylon, things quickly went downhill there as well. After Nebuchadnezzar died there was infighting among rivals for power and it was not long before Babylon, who had supplanted Assyria as the previous super power that Babylon would be supplanted by someone else. Northeast of Babylon in the mountains of what today is the country of Iran, there was a young Persian King, and he had succeeded in gaining control over the Medes. In 539 Babylon, which was still home to many of the Jewish exiles fell to the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. This new king calling the shots for this Medo Persian empire was a young man named Cyrus which brings us to Ezra chapter 1.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.”

We begin this morning in a series on the Book of Ezra, so it’s worth getting oriented. What is this book about? There are two related yet distinct sections in the Book of Ezra. Ezra 1-6 which deals with this time that I just established in the introduction, so roughly 539 BC to 520 BC, so a generation there, this first wave of exiles who returned and were rebuilding Jerusalem. And then in chapter 7, we skip ahead a couple of generations to around 458, so from 520 to 458, another 60 years or so and now we are in the reign of Artaxerxes. He assumed power in 465 and then Ezra comes from Babylonia to Jerusalem in the seventh year or around 458. Remember the BC you’re counting the years down. So, Ezra 1-6 is the first wave of exiles and then there’s a gap of a couple generations and then actually Ezra comes on the scene in chapters 7-10.

Ezra and Nehemiah go together, they stand next to each other in our Bibles, they were often in earlier years regarded as one book and they are certainly closely related. Nehemiah came 13 years after Ezra, around 445. He was appointed by Artaxerxes to be the governor of Judah. These two books together tell the story of return and rebuilding. You can think of three building projects. Sometimes think about, well why should God’s people be engaged in building? Well, there’s good reason, God’s people engaged in building here in the Old Testament. First the altar, then the temple, then the wall. These two books together, which cover those three building projects, Ezra and Nehemiah were probably finished after the end of Nehemiah’s activity sometime around 430 BC. We are told in the books themselves who wrote these books. Some people think Ezra the scribe wrote Ezra and Nehemiah and Ezra wrote First and Second Chronicles. Others think Ezra wrote Ezra and Nehemiah wrote Nehemiah, that would be convenient, though neither book claims to be Ezra from Ezra and Nehemiah from Nehemiah. Most scholars today think that there was a chronicler, perhaps the same chronicler that put Chronicles together, whomever he was that was responsible for Ezra and Nehemiah that he used their memoirs we might call them, that’s why there is sometimes I language in these books. The chronicler is getting some of the information that was written down firsthand in a kind of memoir and then he put the books together in their final form. You can see if you have your Bible open to Ezra 1 and you look over on the other page, that Second Chronicles ends in pretty much the exact same way that Ezra begins. You look at 2 Chronicles 36:22, “Now in the first year of Cyris king of Persia, in the Word the Lord might be fulfilled. He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus and he made a proclamation.” Verse 23, thus says Cyrus that is pretty much identical with the first three verses of Ezra.

So, we are putting these stories together, the history of God’s people through the united monarchy, then the divided monarchy Isreal and Judea and then Judah and then off into exile and hear in Ezra finally with the return. Three building projects throughout these two books alter temple wall and three lessons here in chapter 1.

Lesson number one. God preserves His people. And you can see actually in the title of the sermon in the bulletin, Preservation, Promises, Divine Providence. Those are the three lessons.

Number one. God preserves His people. You can see there is a deliberate effort in this first chapter to establish continuity with these exiles returning with the Israel that was. Look at verse 5, “Then rose up the heads of the fathers houses, of Judah and Benjamin.” These are the heads of the father’s houses. The same Judah and Benjamin that were there in the southern part of the land. Look at chapter 2:1. “Now these were the people of the province who came up out of captivity, the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.” So very deliberately the author wants us to see that this is the preserving of God’s people. These are yes, some people have died, new people have been born, but it’s the heads of the father’s household and there returning to their own towns God has provided for the remnant. And did you notice, somewhat surprisingly, how lavishly he provided for them. You see in verse 4, let each survivor in whatever place he sojourns to be assistive, he gets silver, gold, goods, and then later down in verse 6 we have another accounting of silver, gold, goods, beasts, costly wares.

So, two things are happening here. One, we’re seeing how God is deliberately and directly providing for His people so the preservation, the provision, but also if you think of the Old Testament, what does this sound like? What does this sound like when God’s people leave a foreign land where they had been held against their will and then they’re going to go to the promised land. It’s a lot like leaving Egypt. This is again a kind of plundering of the Egyptians. This is a second kind of exodus. So just as when Moses led the people, remember the Egyptians, they left with all sorts of gold and that’s why they had things to offer. They made a golden calf, that was a mistake in the wilderness. Well here similarly, as they take this exodus out of captivity back to the promised land, it is a second plundering this time of the Babylonians or here of the Persian empire and notice, not only are they provided for, but look at the detail in verses 7 through 11. Now those verses were probably maybe the most boring verses of this chapter, in a chapter that seems to have some boring verses. Buckle up next week’s hohoho, yeah, you’re gonna see what we’ve got there with a lot of names and people coming back, but verses 7 through 11 would have been some of the most glorious verses for God’s people. Why? Because you see what they’re receiving, verse 9, “Basins of gold, the basins of silver, the censers, the bowls of gold and silver, other vessels.” What are these things for, these are the holy artifacts and holy utensils for the worship of their holy God. That’s why it’s given a third of this chapter, which seems irrelevant to us, just get on with it, but would have been precious to them. Do you see what this means? They can once again worship God as He wanted to be worshiped. They can do their worship in the place where His Old Testament people were told to worship, in the way that His Old Testament people were told to worship. So, they would have heard this with great delight, you mean all those early Nebuchadnezzar the things he took from us. He kept them and then when he was conquered by the Persians they kept them, and now we’re getting them back? As if it said grab your hymnals, roll out the pulpit, tell Pam the organ is back. You would know the church is opening its doors, but it’s even bigger than that because they were not able to worship God fully as He had commanded, and they hadn’t sacrificed. Remember I said three things they’re going to build. Even before they do the wall, before they do the temple, just as was often the case in the Old Testament, when Abraham was traveling someplace, when Isaac or Jacob and they’d get to a new place, the first thing they would build, what, an altar. What do you do on an altar? You make sacrifices to atone for your sins. First thing they are going to rebuild is the altar. This chapter is telling us that God will not let His people be destroyed. That’s the point of the Book of Revelation. The church is always under attack. Maybe you feel it in your workplace, maybe you feel it depending on who holds political power if not here, and let’s be honest compared to almost everywhere in the world we have such an embarrassment of riches and enviable freedoms. The global church is often under attack and yet protected. God will not let the flame of true worship ever to be snuffed out and wonder of wonders Israel outlived Assyria and Babylon. The church will outlast every dynasty. If you want to be, so I know we’re getting into, well there’s always sports going on, that’s what my wife tells me, I’m always saying no, but this is really important we’ve gotta have this on. You say that every day of the year, how is this golf tournament very important? There’s football, you have your teams and depending on your team or what kind of fan you are, always optimistic, always pessimistic, always wondering, and the thing about sports is there’s really only one winner, suppose you now have 60 bowl games, but most of those don’t count, if you want to be on the winning side in what really matters, be a part of the church, because the church will outlast them all. Now we don’t know what God’s promise is for any particular church or particular denomination, but Jesus promised to build no nation, no other institution except the church. Rome came and went, the Ottoman Empire came and went, the Soviet Union came and went. If the Lord tarries, American perhaps will come and go, but the church will remain. Worship is what matters.

You see verse 5, “Rose up heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, and the Levits, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up, rebuild the house.” They were comfortable, you think, well wouldn’t they all want to go. Well, no, some of them, that’s the only home they knew, they were comfortable. Just like you and I get comfortable as exiles, comfortable here. You sometimes wonder God said, He just opened the heavens and said, “Right now who wants to go to heaven.” Now some of you are like, yes, immediately, I’ve been praying for it, I’m ready, you don’t know how hard my life is.” I think others would say, “Well.” One of my fears when I was a younger man, I knew it was bad theology, but that Jesus would come back before I got married, before I had a honeymoon. It seemed like a grim prospect. Some of you may think, “Well yes, I want that, but now?” What might God be stirring in you. I hope you feel it stirring. I can’t promise that every single service you ever go to in your whole life is a world beater. Going to church is a lot like eating meals. How many meals do you remember in your whole life? A few, maybe there’s some that were really bad, hope you forget those. You remember some of the, oh wasn’t that a great feast we had. You may mark a few of them, but you know what happened over all those years and all those meals, you got fed and you grew, and you were strong and Church is a little bit like that. If there’s a stirring within you, a desire amidst all the many good blessings we have here to come and to worship, this is not the collapse after Saturday that this is not just the struggling over into the new week, but in a very real way this is the climax, and day of worship and rest. God preserves His people, and He preserves them for worship.

Lesson number two. God keeps His promises. The Lord had guaranteed a return from Babylon. Isiah 45 predicted that Cyrus would be the Lord’s chosen instrument. Jeremiah for all of the woe that he had to announce also gave people some words of comfort. You know these words I bet from Jeremiah 29, for thus says the Lord when seventy years are completed for Babylon, not two, that was the false prophet, seventy. “I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope that you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you, you will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, I will restore your fortunes, I will gather you from the nation, I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” I know many of you, all of us I hope love Jeremiah 29:11. “The plans I have for you declares the Lord.”

I think I probably went through a season, you’re a young Christian and you go, yes Jeremiah 29, loved that, put it on a pillow, put it on a bumper sticker, put it on a coffee mug, and then somewhere along the way you learn, well this is really a promise for God’s exiles and in Babylon and you’re not in exile in Babylon and you’re not having Cyrus and so woe, woe, woe, just hold off here on Jeremiah 29. Shame on us educated folks who get too smart for our own good. Well of course there’s an immediate context, but you don’t think that you’re in exile here, a stranger in a strange land. You don’t think that God calls the worldly system Babylon for a reason. Yes, you can claim Jeremiah 29:11 for yourself if you’re walking with Christ, if you’ll call upon His name that He has plans for you as His people. They are plans for good. Seventy years he said, you’re going to have to wait, seventy is probably counted from the replacement that Jehoahaz with Jehoiakim in 609 to Cyrus’ decree in 539. There’s other options and it wouldn’t have to be exactly seventy years, it could still be an amazing and true biblical prophecy. Seventy is a round number. The point is they had to wait a long time, trusting in God’s promises is not easy. That’s why the Bible is filled with exclamations, “How long O Lord.” That’s why we read that no eye has seen, nor ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love Him. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you already saw it, if you already knew it, if you already experienced it and you have a taste of it. We haven’t seen all of it. That’s why He has to remind us about the second coming. He is not slow in keeping His promise and many of us want to say, “It sure seems like slowness: but a day is like a thousand years to the Lord. You have to believe, you have to trust that God will bring you home. That’s not just a nice sounding euphemism at a funeral, they’re home going. Think about it, if you’ve ever been deployed in the military, or maybe you had to travel a long ways away for school, maybe you were in the hospital for weeks or months or some kind of long trip, even a good one that went astray, but you feel this powerful longing, I just want to be home. Can you get me home and there’s a reason that as good as life it here, this is something that nostalgia teaches us, when you look back the golden years, you know somebody said, would somebody tell me when I’m living in my golden years before they’re gone. That was the golden age for you. Well, there’s a power and a nostalgia that looks back and things can get a rose-colored view and some of that I think is how we operate away from heaven, we’re meant to have this longing, this sweetness and yet you can’t quite reach it. That’s the sadness that parents know, the great joy of seeing your kids grow up and yet there’s a sadness in every step because selfishly we want the 35-year-old and the 30-year-old and, I want the 5-year-old you to just come back and visit us for a day. You want that home that you can’t quite get in this life. That’s what this promise is about. You’ll go home.

You ever wonder why it’s seventy. It’s a nice seventy, seven times ten, these are biblical numbers, but surely there’s a connection with Psalm 90 where it says that the general span of life, three score years and ten and if by reason of strength even eighty and even today with modern medicine that’s within the ballpark, eighty now is the span of life, but seventy, do you think it dawned on the exiles with that number, seventy, as if God was saying, “All of my promises will come true, you can count on it, and it just may take your lifetime.” That’s hard, I would like two years, I’d like seven weeks maybe, seven days, seven hours, to seventy. May take your whole life but everything, every good thing that I have promised to you in Christ will be yours. The waiting is hard; it will be worth it. His promises will come true.

And here’s the final lesson. Preservation, promises, and then it does happen to be another P, God works by a mysterious providence. All that had happened and had to happen to get to this point in Ezra chapter 1 is amazing. So, Nebuchadnezzar sends off some of the people to exile. He dies and the son Evil-Merodach, just happens to be that the transliteration is evil, he probably was evil too. He becomes king, he’s a bad son, he’s a bad king and he tries to do the opposite of what his father had done. Nebuchadnezzar had moments of sanity and insanity, of pride and penitence. So, his son gets killed by his brother-in-law, a man named Nergal-sharezer. Then once this guy is killed and another guy named Nabonidus takes over and he has a preference for a different set of Gods. He gets rid of the Babylonian God Marduk and he makes all those priests and they hate the king because he gets rid of them and their Gods and so Nabonidus runs away into the Arabian dessert, he leaves the government in the hands of his son, a man you may have heard of, Belshazzar, yes he’s the one in the Book of Daniel with the handwriting on the wall, that was weighed in the balance and found wanting and sure enough his kingdom Belshazzar is taken away and is given over to the Medes and the Persians and that leads us to Cyrus. All of that happening in the palace intrigue of the Babylonian Empire.

You see God’s consistent call to His people in the Bible actually has very little to do with developing world changing strategies, and it has everything to do with obeying His Word and trusting His promises. Who knew that all of this intrigue with these Babylonian Gods and these rulers that this had anything to do with God’s people, that all of that infighting paved the way for Cyrus to take over and he was, as you can see, a more tolerant ruler. He took the opposite course with the conquered people, he did not destroy their homes like the Babylonians did, he believed it was in his best interest to make the people content and so his policy was, ya know what, I probably want you to pay tribute and I’m still the top dog, but why don’t you go back to your homes and we’ll give you some things. I have unfathomable wealth, go rebuild your sanctuaries. He wasn’t a true believer. Yes, you notice here he uses the covenant name, Yahweh. There are other artifacts in the ancient world where He will use the Babylonian God and credit that God with giving Him the kingdoms of the world, so He was very happy to just cast all of His lots before whatever Gods and Goddesses were out there, He didn’t have to be choosey and He figured that these conquered people, sure they can go worship their God of Yahweh. He was perfectly happy to acknowledge anyone’s God if it meant that they were happy subjects and that they might pray to this God and as far as He was concerned their God might just help Him. Who knew in all of this warfare and politicking that God was up to something. It certainly wasn’t plain. No one could have known at this time, no one was tracking it all, somewhere God’s people would whisper to each other, hey this guy Nabonidus is king now and he likes the Mesopotamian Gods instead of the Babylonian Gods, you tracking with me? No, I’m not tracking with you. Well obviously, this means give it a few more years, we’re going home. Nobody saw that. It was a big mess of nothing and behind it all God was at work.

The decree in verses 2 through 4 mentions God five times. Even when Cyrus might have interpreted the events differently, certainly the Persians interpreted it differently, the Lord was doing something even when they didn’t know what He was doing and even more than that, God does things with people who think they’re doing one thing and God is doing with them another thing. Did you notice twice in this passage we have that active phrase, he stirred up. So, the first year of Cyrus the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus and in verse 5 he stirred up the people that they might go and rebuild the house of the Lord. You see who is the active agent in this story, it’s God, He’s the one who stirs up Cyrus to this and He stirs up the people. I want you to look back at verse 1 because this is not just an introduction to this chapter, but to the whole book. It is a book about the Lord keeping His Word. And I want you to see the divine interpretation of what was going on in the world and what is going on in the world today. In the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. That’s what was happening, that’s what was going on in the world. God was going to fulfill the Word of Jeremiah. I know some of you avoid the news because it’s stressful and it makes you upset, can’t understand it. Some of you are news junkies, you watch the news, and you read the news, and you get podcast news, and you get a Christian interpretation of the news and all of that can have a good place in the life of a Christian. Let me just say this, does anyone give you this Christian commentary on the news, sometimes it can all be right here right before our face and it’s good, we need some intelligent commentary on what’s happening and people to put it into a biblical perspective, but let’s not miss the forest for the trees. We can be so narrow focused on what’s happening and this act and this vote and this election and this person and this conflict, and we miss you know what’s really happening in the world, nothing that you’re gonna hear on CNN or Fox. This is what’s happening in the world, God is working all things according to His Word. When they thought it’s about Assyria, it’s about Babylon, it’s about Persia, it’s about Ukraine, it’s about Russia, it’s about America, it’s about Iran, here’s what it’s about, that the Word of the Lord might be fulfilled. This whole book is an example of the Lord keeping His Word. Make sure you and I get our stories straight. God is not scrambling to respond to the problems around us, his providence if a tuning fork for the world and everyone and everything must ultimately reverberate according to that divine pitch. “God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants His footstep in the sea and rides upon the storm.” Don’t ever wonder if God is up to something in the supreme court or in the congress or in Iran, in Russia, in the Matthew city council, in your school, in your family, in your job, in this church, He works through His own people, He works through kings of foreign people, He providentially acts through the good guys, through the bad guys. He uses His people and as we read from the confession, in a special way His providence is for the benefit and the blessing of His people. That’s what He’s up to.

I went to John MacArthur’s funeral yesterday in California. I landed at 5 a.m. so you shouldn’t be falling asleep in my sermon if I’m not. Really glad that I went, it was well worth going to and the whole thing is online, you can find clips of it on YouTube and watch it. It was almost three hours, and you had to get there an hour early, so it was four hours, but it was worth it. Alistair Begg gave a prayer, and John Piper gave a eulogy, and Joni Eareckson Tada gave a eulogy and sang a hymn and Sinclair Ferguson preached, you’ve gotta get the Presbyterian to preach. It was well worth seeing. I found myself in a car ride with Wayne Grudem and John Piper, I think I was in the front because I am, to be fair, a lot taller than the two of them, and this is not probably the conversation I usually have in my car, but it was with them. John said to us, we were heading to the funeral, “Do you think the saints in heaven can see, do they have a window, can they see what we’re doing here on earth, do they see what’s happening, he said give me some verses”, so Wayne Grudem said “Well Hebrews 12, a great cloud of witnesses.” John said, “Yeah maybe though that might just be a metaphorical bearing witness”, he said, “No, no I think it’s looking down witnesses okay.” He said, “How about the martyrs under the throne Revelation, they cry out how long, they must have some awareness.” I said, “What about the passages about the saints reining and I take it that they’re already beginning to rein.” I was actually slipping in there an a-millennial understanding of Revelation 20, but I didn’t let that be known. So John said, “Yeah, I think you’re right”, then he said, “We must get some sanctified senses even though we don’t have bodies yet, we haven’t had the resurrection, we must have some sanctified view of seeing things, some sanctified imagination, some glorified understanding he said because if I look down at the way the world is now, boy I could get discouraged and there’s no discouragement in heaven.” I think that’s right, we must get some new way of seeing things. We must get some new way of seeing things, he said there must be some way that we get some spiritual eyes and not fully divine, but some glorified ways to see something of what’s happening in the world in the way that Christ sees things and if we only had those eyes we could smile.

Now there’s still suffering here on earth, we know that. We could see the providence unfolding and how no way in our intellect could we understand A leading to Q through all of those steps, but it does. We couldn’t help but rejoice and see. They don’t even know, those bad guys over there don’t even know how they’re working to fulfill God’s purposes for the good of His church. Do you have that comfort, I know we can’t get the eyes fully, but you see with the eyes of faith. Do you remember what Jesus says in Matthew 10, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny and yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from the will of your father who is in heaven.” You think about that, at first it sounds a little cruel, almost sadistic as if Jesus is saying, hey look God strikes all the sparrows dead. But we know that’s not the point because over and over in that paragraph Jesus says, “Fear not, do not be afraid.” If you’re the one that can throw the body and soul into hell but not your heavenly father. That’s the point, don’t be afraid. He might say to us, Jesus, don’t you go and buy a cup of worms for fishing at the gas station for $2 bucks near the lake. Nothing happens to those worms that God doesn’t superintend and aren’t you much more valuable than a cup of worms. That’s what Jesus is saying with the sparrows.

You don’t think that your heavenly Father has His eye on you, you don’t think if everyone of those little worms that’s going to be tossed into the lake is bait for a fish that God oversees their lives, that He is overseeing yours, and not as worms and sparrows but as His people for your good. Hebrews 1, “The son of God upholds the universe by the Word of His power.” Everything, these beams they hold their molecular structure, everything in your life because of the Word of Jesus. Hebrews 12, “The author and perfecter of our faith.” That’s good news, He wrote the story, He started the story, He is writing the story, He finishes the story in your life. He superintends all these things; this is what’s happening in the world right now. The Word of the Lord Jesus Christ for His people is being fulfilled. Do you have eyes to see it, you can see it with the heart of faith in three score years and ten we will see it face to face. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your many great and precious promises, for this providence which works all things for our good. We thank you as though we are often fearful saints we can take fresh courage to know that the clouds which we so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on our head for all of those who belong to Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.

God Has Made Him Both Lord and Christ

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 08:54:47 GMT

Our great God and King, we do ask once again for your help that we would have ears to hear that you would work deep within us what you have for us by your Word and by your spirit. For all the things we may have done in the past week, things we’ve seen, ways we were entertained, conversations we had, music we listened to, shows we watched, books we read, news we took in, truly nothing is as important as the Word that we are about to hear so help us, give us powers of listening and concentration, and give to us by the power of your Holy Spirit confidence in this Word and in Christ our king in whose name we pray. Amen.

We have already sung these words, we have already heard them alluded to in other scripture passages, now hear the text itself read. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 110. Follow along as I read from this great chapter of the Bible.

A Psalm of David.

The Lord says to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

If you think about summer vacations. I remember one of the vacations we took when I was growing up, we took several trips out west and went to The Badlands and made that long stretch through South Dakota with all of the Wall Drug signs, if you know you know, if you’ve ever been up there. And we did go see Mount Rushmore and I know it’s become fashionable, maybe it always has been, to sort of make fun of Mount Rushmore as a vacation destination, but I suppose this says something about me, I quite like it. I quite liked seeing the history and the presidents carved into the stone. You know that four presidents there on Mount Rushmore. But I wonder if you had to make a Mount Rushmore of the most important chapters in the Bible, the Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson, what would be the four chapters.

We don’t have time for an audience participation this morning, but you maybe just think to yourselves for a moment, and you can talk about it around the dinner table later, what would you put as the four chapters on your Mount Rushmore of the Bible? We had a little conversation last night around our dinner table and no that’s not what we usually talk about at the pastor’s dinner table, but I said, here’s what I’m gonna open the sermon with and we had some very good suggestions. Genesis 1, Psalm 23, Romans 8. One of the children was just throwing a curveball and said Jeremiah 8, to look what sort of whoa or judgement that may be. Maybe you think Hebrews 11, Exodus 20, The Ten Commandments, Isaiah 53, The Atonement, John 3, you get the new birds, you get John 316. First Corinthians 15, The Resurrection. Maybe the end Revelation 21 and 22. What would you put your four chapters of the most important chapters, they’re all inspired, they’re all good, they’re all important, but the four that would get up there, very few of you, except that I already read the text this morning and so you sort of know where this is going, would before this morning likely have thought to put Psalm 110 on your Mount Rushmore of Bible chapters, but I hope you will agree that if it doesn’t belong there it certainly is in the running for one of the four most important chapters in the Bible. Certainly, the apostles with their Hebrew scriptures thought so. An important piece of Bible trivia, you may have heard before, there is no chapter in the Old Testament quoted or alluded to in the New Testament more often than this one, Psalm 110. Depending on how you count the references and the illusions, there are more than 30 references in the New Testament to this chapter Psalm 110, and we can go further. The first verse of 110 is the single verse referenced most often in the New Testament and then verse 4, the Melchizedek verse, there are basically three chapters in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 5, 6, and 7 which are sort of an explanation of that one verse. In some manner you could argue that the book of Hebrews, it’s about Leviticus, it’s about lots of things, but it zeros in on this chapter. The Psalms are the most quoted book of the Old Testament in the New Testament and 110 is the most quoted chapter of any chapter in the New Testament from the Old. Martin Luther said this beautiful Psalm is the very core and quintessence of the whole scripture, so why are these verses so significant, just seven verses, verse by verse, word by word, pound for pound they are as important as any chapter in the Bible. Why was Psalm 110 for the apostles, and you might even conclude, for Jesus arguably the most important chapter in the Hebrew scriptures? That’s what we want to look at. There are lots of passages we could go to rather than starting with Psalm 110 and ending in the New Testament we’re going to spend almost all of our time in the New Testament looking back and then we will finish by landing back at Psalm 110. As I said, there is perhaps 33 different references and illusions. I want us to look at three of them from the New Testament. We’ll have one from Jesus so right before His death and resurrection, then one in Acts right at Pentecost, and then the section in Hebrews some years later in the first part of the early church. So, three New Testament passages that will help us see why this chapter may just have been the most important chapter in their Bibles.

So first, go to Mark chapter 12. Jesus references this and we have it recorded in the three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so we could go to either of them, but we’ll look at the shortest. Mark chapter 12 verses 35 through 37. We remind you where we are, we had a sermon series in the spring from Matthew parallel accounts on Teaching Tuesday we called it. Many of these controversies and we looked at a series of parables that happen on this Tuesday of holy week in and around the temple. So we are in the same timeframe here in Mark chapter 12. From the end of chapter 11 through Mark 13 we have on this Teaching Tuesday a series of controversies. The teachers come up and they want to ask Jesus a series of questions. They’re trying to trap Him. They first ask about His credentials, and they say by what authority do you do these things, and they ask about his politics, is it lawful to pay taxes to Cesar or not. Then they ask Him a theological question about a woman who had been married many times and they say in the resurrection whose wife will she be, and then finally a scribe comes up with a question about the law which commandment is the most important of all. Four questions, four controversies, Jesus definitely handles all of them.

So, look at verse 34. After that no one dared ask Him anymore questions, smart move. Don’t ask Jesus anymore questions, this is not getting us anywhere. Now their strategy rather than to trip Him up in His Words, they’re just going to make a plan to arrest Him by force and have false witnesses at a shame trial. So, they don’t ask him anymore questions and then as Mark recounts, we come to verse 35, Jesus is still teaching in the temple and now Jesus asks the questions. So, think about this, they’ve been coming to Jesus with all of their controversies and questions and now they don’t dare to ask Him anything else. So, you think what would Jesus now that He can set the agenda, and He wants to ask them a question, what would He ask knowing as Jesus knows that His time on earth is soon coming to an end. He will be betrayed, he knows that. He will die, he will be raised. This is one of the last times for public teaching, soon he will be Olivet Discourse, then he will be with his disciples in the upper room. So, this is critical. What does Jesus want to ask them about? And here’s what He says in verse 35. “How can the scribes say that the Christ”, now that’s the Greek word, it’s just the same, it’s just a translation, a mashiach which Messiah, anointed one, Cristos and the Greek anointed one, that’s what he’s talking about. How can the scribes say that the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah is the son of David? Now at first, you’d step back, and you’d think, “Well this seems like a rather technical question about a specific prophecy and something that the scribes and the pharisees were saying. It seems somewhat academic, where are you going with this Jesus?” Like He says, I have one question for you. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Think about that. You think, okay, my head’s a little dizzy here, what is going on, why does He ask this question? Well, you can see the premise in verse 35. They’re expecting a Messiah, they’re expecting a Christ, they get that. There are all sorts of expectations and all sorts of confusion. Many people think it will be an earthly king, it will be a military Messiah, but there’s one thing that virtually everyone agrees on, and maybe only one thing that all the Jews understand about the Messiah. They know the Messiah will be a son of David.

Second Samuel chapter 7, the prophecy when your days are fulfilled, you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring, He is promising to David, who shall come from you, I will establish His kingdom. Isaiah 11:1, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse”, who is David’s father. In Mark 10, blind Bartimaeus when he sees Jesus cries out, “Son of David have mercy on me.” And remember the crowds on Palm Sunday, what do they say? “Blessed is the coming of our kingdom of our Father David.” That’s Messianic language. The one thing that they all know, the Messiah, will be a son of David. So, Jesus is asking the question, how can it be that the Christ is the son of David, we all get that, where are you going Jesus. He continues. David himself in the Holy Spirit (here’s Jesus giving the highest view of the scriptures). He’s saying that David writing this Psalm did so in the Holy Spirit, divine inspiration, authoritative, infallible, inerrant. David himself declared and now here he quotes from our text. “The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” Now you see there the Lord said to my Lord, it’s the Greek word coreus, like kyrie eleison form the liturgy. Kyrie means Lord, Lord have mercy. You can see, Lord, Lord, same word, but if you recall from looking at Psalm 110 just a moment ago, and if you have a finger there you can turn back because you see in the Hebrew you notice that the two uses of Lord look different and hopefully you’ve seen this before. The Lord, I’m looking at Psalm 110 verse 1 says to my Lord, the first Lord there is in those small capital letters and when you see that in the Old Testament that’s the divine name, what people used to transliterate at Jehovah, now people usually say Yah Wey, that’s the divine name. The second Lord there is the word Adonai. Yah Wey says to Adonai, that’s what it says in Psalm 110:1.

Now notice of all the important superscriptions among the Psalms where it often will give an author, this may be the most important. It’s just there, in two words it says, of David. This is crucial. David is writing Psalm 110. Now why is that important, because it means that it’s not someone in David’s court who is saying, Yah Wey says to my Lord, in which case he’s probably just talking about David. Now that’s why Jesus underscores. David himself in the Holy Spirit, you see what Jesus is doing, he wants to make absolutely crystal clear the Psalm that I’m about to quote from was by none other than the great and mighty King David, and he didn’t do it by accident, he wrote and he sang and he said this in the power of the Holy Spirit. So think about what David says, King David in all of his great splendor as the King over Israel, the Lord, Yah Wey, says to my Lord, now wait a minute David, we understand Yah Wey is the Ling of Israel and he is the Lord over all the nations so that Lord makes sense, but that Lord says to my Lord, “So there’s another Lord?” And this Lord, not Yah Wey, but this Lord that is spoken to from Yah Wey, this Lord is greater than David. How can the Christ be David’s son if David calls Him Lord?

You see verse 37, what Jesus is driving at. David himself calls Him Lord so how is he His son? He’s driving at something. He’s not denying that he will be a son of David, the Messiah, but he’s saying surely He is not merely a son of David, He is no ordinary son. What other human could be superior to the great King David, the greatest king in Israel’s history that He would call Him Lord. What father calls his son Lord? I love all of my boys, I’ve never thought to say to my oldest, my Lord God said to my Lord Ian. Errr, that doesn’t sound right, you don’t say that about your sons. But David here says Yah Wey omnipresent has spoken thus to my Lord. The question is leading to a conclusion that the Christ is both David’s son and David’s Lord. Psalm 110 was so important because it is the most explicitly messianic of all the Psalms. There’s lots of Messianic Psalms. There’s Messianic prophecies, there’s messianic illusions, but here in Psalm 110 because it’s of David from the very beginning David is looking to someone greater than himself. It’s not that, well this is partially fulfilled in David and then something in Solomon. David is looking, the Lord said to my Lord, this could not be about anyone except the coming Christ, that the Messiah will be a son of David and the Messiah will be an exalted figure much greater than David. The Messiah as we see in the rest of the Psalm, is given this worldwide dominion, the enemies are under his feet, he is slaughtering his foes, pouring out his wrath. He is ruling there at the right hand of Yah Weh equalling himself to this divine Lord. This is one of the reasons why the earliest Christian confession, the most central, perhaps the first Jesus is Lord. Not only saying, well Jesus is the boss of me, yeah that’s an element, or Jesus is ruler over everything yes, but to say Jesus is Lord, especially for these Jews is to pull into all of these and pull them forward, these great messianic prophecies and there is none greater than Psalm 110.

Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” First Corinthians 12:3, “No one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit.” Now anyone can just say those words, you can get AI to say those words, but no one can truly, with a heart of faith, say those words except in the Holy Spirit. Paul describes his ministry, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.” Now that language is so familiar to many of us and that’s a blessing in some ways, but it means that also the danger we may not feel the full weight. It just kind of rolls off your tongue, Jesus is Lord. Oh, wait a minute, time out, Jesus, Jesus, this is as I’ve said many times, we forget that Jesus was a man. You could see Him, you could smell Him, you could put your arm around Him. You would not have been able to pick Him out of a crowd in Galilee. Remember when Judas betrays Him, He says, “I will give Him a kiss to let you know who He is.” So it wasn’t that everyone had His face up on some poster or that He so stood out of a crowd, He wasn’t like King Saul, and He was a head taller than everyone. Isaiah says He had no form or countenance, no attractiveness from a human perspective that we should be drawn to Him. There wasn’t anything to distinguish Him in mere appearance, no indication that he was the best looking or the tallest. He certainly wasn’t the richest. He was a Jewish man, given the Jewish men of that time, he most certainly had a beard. Scientists have estimated from various bones and other things scientists do that the average height for a Jewish man at the time may have been just a little over 5 feet tall, so if Jesus is average, that’s how short He is. He grew up with a mom and dad. Of course, we know that the mom, the Virgin Mary and dad Joseph was not his earthly father, raised him, but not a biological father. He had brothers and sisters. He slept, He took naps, He ate the same food you ate. It all seems so mysterious when it’s back in the first century and it’s there in the Mediterranean world, but it would have just seemed normal. Wait, He also goes to cook out, He also eats Bojangles? And His name as I’ve said many times was one of the most common names, like Bob or Bill or Mike or Mark. He wore the same clothes. He didn’t walk around with a halo and just a white pristine robe, so this man Jesus grew up among them, looked like them, spoke the same language, same clothes, same food. They’re now saying He’s Lord, He’s Lord. This normal looking man from, we thought, a normal family, from a small normal town, but what He says and does is absolutely abnormal, supernatural, and He is not just my personal Lord, like I chose to follow Him as a disciple to a rabbi, but he is the Lord, not just the guy in charge, but He is the one we’ve been waiting for. It’s Him, Lord, after all of those years. That’s why you can only say it in the Holy Spirit and really mean it that this Jesus of Nazareth is the son of David and the great king over all the earth. Can you imagine all those years looking, looking. Why all of these texts because it was so controversial to finally determine, yes, really, this is Him. If someone gave a prophecy and it’s not a prophecy, somebody said, well a future president of the United States is in this room this morning. Or let’s just make it more personal for anyone who’s single, your future spouse is in the room this morning. Don’t elbow, don’t look, just straight ahead right now. Now that would be really interesting. Either one of those. A future president, a future spouse, you’d say, okay did the ushers get a role, do we know who was in here this morning, and you would want to be very sure when that word came true, could you give me some proof, this is the one that the word was about. This is the prophetic inspiration, this is what in the power of the Holy Spirit you would want some proof and Psalm 110apparently was one of the go-to if not the go-to text to prove that this Jesus is the Christ, the son of David and the one we’ve been waiting for. Now Jesus is leaving this all a little implicit at this point and it left it to the apostles by the Holy Spirit to connect all the dots. You see in verse 37, the crowd there heard him gladly. They are eating this up, this makes sense to them, they’re wondering. Some of them surely are thinking and let’s answer the question Jesus, is this about you?

So go to the section text. There’s Jesus, Jesus when he has the opportunity to ask one question of the leaders after they’ve bombarded Him with questions, He goes to this text. Now go to Acts chapter 2. Here’s Peter’s sermon at Pentecost. You say why do pastors so often have three-point sermons. It’s an echo of the trinity perhaps, maybe. I will say that Peter’s sermon at Pentecost was a very nice three-point sermon. He had three texts. He went to Joel 2, then he went to Psalm 16, and then he went to Psalm 110. We’ll pick things up in Acts 2 at verse 29. “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” Now why is he saying this? Well he is focusing on David because these Psalms, Psalm 16 and Psalm 110 talk about someone. Look at verse 27. “You will not abandon my soul to hades, you will not let your holy ones see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life.” Peter is saying, now look at this Psalm, this is what David says, but is this about David, can we say that David, his soul did not go to the grave, he did not see corruption, that he was made known the paths of life, so I say look, look we all know David died. His tomb is with us to this day. We don’t know exactly where that is, but it was well known in the first century. The Jewish historian, Josephus mentioned it a number of times, there’s already a reference to the tombs of David in Nehemiah 316. So they’re saying, alright, David’s dead, we all know it, we’ve been there, we did the field trip in fourth grade, we went to the tomb, it’s there. So, who’s he talking about? Well he must be talking about the Christ. Then he goes in verse 30 that being a prophet, knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that He would set one of his descendents on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ. Ah, so that’s what He meant. This prophecy about one from David to sit on the throne was about the Messiah. He’s the one who would not be abandoned to hades, whose flesh would not see corruption. This Jesus God raised up in a vat, we are all witnesses.

Notice verse 32 is the thing that they all agree on. Now we’re not apologetics, we often have to focus on that. How can we trust the witnesses to the empty tomb and the appearances, and the resurrection, but here they are, they saw Jesus crucified. They saw Him raised. He appeared otherwise the disciples many times. He appeared to 500 which may have been there at the mount when either the ascension or the mount, when he gave the great commission, they had seen Him. So Peter says, “Look here’s what we know.” Fact number one, Jesus was raised. Right? Yep, yep, yep, we all know that. Fact number two, David wasn’t, he’s dead. His tomb is here. So who is he talking about, he’s talking about the Messiah who was raised, Jesus was raised, let’s think outside the box, this Jesus must be the Messiah. Then he comes, verse 33, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing, for David did not ascend into the heavens, again he’s in the tomb, but he himself says, and now he quotes, “The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” Same passage that Jesus refers to. Jesus refers to it mainly for the first part, “The Lord said to my Lord”, alright who’s that Lord? Peter here does it mainly for the second part, “Sitting at my right hand.” How do you sit at the right hand of God? Well, you have to go to be with God, you have to ascend, and we just saw Jesus ascend. We know David didn’t ascend. Who gives the Holy Spirit, only the one who sits at God’s right hand, and we just received the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself promised many times that he would baptize with the Holy Spirit. John made that prophecy as well, so they’re all leading to this conclusion that Psalm 110 verse 1 must be about Jesus. He is the Christ; He is the one who is now at God’s right hand. And you understand the imagery. If you were to think of a great passageway in some great cathedral or castle, you’d think about a coronation of a British monarch, and you were to have a throne there. The king sitting on the throne with the crown and the scepter and then if somebody came up and said, “Excuse me, coming through, scooch, scooch, scooch”, another chair. Are you really sure you wanna do that, you’re putting another chair next to the king. You better really know what you’re doing before you set another chair next to the king and you say, alright someone else, someone else is gonna sit here at His right hand and he is going to share joint rule with the one here on the throne. Well, it wouldn’t be hard, it wouldn’t take long to determine this one has the same authority as that one. In fact, this one who is sitting at his right hand in the place of honor and if you saw them conferring and ruling together you would think, well they must be equal in power and authority as they jointly rule as sovereign over this kingdom. And so, this Psalm is giving us this picture, Jesus ascended into heaven, the son of God now sitting at the right hand.

Did you notice, if you did then I give you extra points that mean nothing, but did you notice these three Psalms, the last three we’ve been looking at, 108, 109, and 110. They all say, of David. Now you may have noticed that. So, they’re all joined together, they’re David’s Psalms. But they’re also joined together because each of them make reference to the right hand. Psalm 108:6. “That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer me.” The very end of Psalm 109:31. “For he stands at the right hand of the needy ne to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.” And now here in Psalm 110 we start out, “Sit at my right hand.” These three are going together to form a little unit, reaching their conclusion in Psalm 110 that they might know, go back to Acts 2, that this Jesus is the one they’ve been waiting for.

Look at verse 36. “Let all the house of Israel therefore know”, Peter’s coming to the conclusion of his sermon, for certain, absolutely for sure, same word when Luke writes the most excellent Theophilus, he says, “I want you to be sure, I want you to be certain of all of these things that have happened among us that God has made Him, Jesus, both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified, this language of sitting at the right hand, Jesus mentions it, Peter mentions it, the apostles talk about it, the author of Hebrews talks about, Paul talks about it, we recited it this morning in the apostles creed because it is so significant to prove that the Jesus whom they crucified is both Lord and Christ. Now don’t get hung up on that word, it does seem a little tricky, God made Him, it’s the normal Greek word, poieo, it’s the most basic Greek word for doing something, activity, making, accomplishing, appointing, almost any kind of doing activity can be communicated with poieo. Here it does not mean made in the sense that Jesus now, fashion Jesus or God gave to Jesus a new ontological existence. Peter called Him Christ well before His death and resurrection and Jesus commended him for it. So it’s not something new, but it means God has raised him to this lofty and rightful place, making him Lord and Christ in this sense that he has now revealed Him to be both of these things and raising Him from the dead and later seating Him at his own side God was executing the installation of Jesus as Lord and Christ gave Him the seat at His right hand.

To use an imperfect analogy, if somebody says marriage made him into a man. Well, nothing changed about that man’s DNA or his being, he was a man before that, but if we say marriage made him into a man, we say marriage in someway established him or vindicated him as a man. So, God made him, meaning He established him, He installed him, He vindicated him as Lord and Christ. This is the conclusion of the three-point sermon. Joel 2 pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Psalm 16 with the resurrection, and then Psalm 110 with the ascension, the exaltation and the installation of Christ wrapping up these other two points. The point of Pentecost, in other words, was to lead people to this conclusion in verse 36. It’s a great sermon, comes to the end, now here’s the point, Peter lands the plane, you ought to know for certain from all of these texts that this Jesus, yes, the very one you crucified, the very one who died is Lord and Christ. That’s why verse 37 when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. Said to Peter, “Brothers, what shall we do, can you preach a little longer, can you give us some points of application here, what do we do because what you have said is true.”

And then a final passage. Turn to Hebrews chapter 5. I said earlier Hebrews 5, 6, and 7, some sense these three chapters all deal with this one verse from Psalm 110. So we’ve gone from verse 1 to the other key verse, verse 4. You can see in the ESV the heading, the paragraph before chapter 5 says, “Jesus the great high priest.” That’s what the middle section of Hebrews is all about, in particular 5, 6, and 7. Flip over to chapter 8. Now Hebrews is written as a letter. Some people think maybe it even originated as an early sermon. It does have sermonic qualities to it. Look at chapter 8. “Now the point in what we are saying is this”, ah, that’s really helpful. When a sermon does that, when an author does that, what’s the point author? We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand, there’s the language of the throne to the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. So, 8 verses 1 and 2 gives us the conclusion. What are we talking about?

Well chapters 5, 6, and 7 are building to that point and you can notice just with the text open in front of you, you can see several times in these chapters where Psalm 110 verse 4 is mentioned. So, you see it there in verse 6. As he says in another place, “You are a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek.” Look at the end of chapter 6 verse 20 “Where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek”. Look at chapter 7 verse 17, “For it is witnessed of Him, you are a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek”, and again verse 21, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, you are a priest forever.” So, no fewer than four times, and there may be other illusions, but four explicit references and these three chapters to this prophecy about Christ being after the Order of Melchizedek.

Alright, who is this guy. If you grew up in the church maybe you remember. If you’re new to the church, then you came on the right Sunday. Genesis 14. That’s where He appears and the only other time we have reference to Melchizedek in the Old Testament it’s Melchizedek and Genesis 14, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, Psalm 110 verse 4, and then exploding in the New Testament, especially in Hebrew says this is really, really important. So, in Genesis 14, Abraham has defeated this alliance of eastern kings, and the high point of the story is Abraham’s encounter, this mysterious priest Melchizedek, a king of Salem. It’s prefiguring the name of Jeru Salem; Salem means peace like the word Shalom you’ve probably heard. He’s the king of Salem, he’s the king of peace, and Abraham worships in the presence of the priest of the most high God, and he gives a tent he tithes of all he has to Melchizedek. Very strange you do this to one who is a superior, one who is greater, whose glory outstrips your own. This is Abraham who has received the promise, who just had this wonderful great military victory, and then really out of nowhere this king of Salem, this king of peace, Melchizedek comes. And unlike the King of Sodom, this king deserves his tribute. So this mysterious figure in Genesis 14, leaves with a lot of unanswered questions at that point because he’s not mentioned again until Psalm 110, and if you were reading through the Pentateuch that Moses wrote and you have this story just, BOOP, out of nowhere this guy, you think, where did he come from, where did he go? Even great father Abraham gave him a tenth of all the spoil, gave him a tribute. You’d be at least asking the question, well might there be another man like this Melchizedek who comes as a priest, a king, something of a prophet, who seems to have no beginning, no end, who might be deserving not only of a tenth of our spoils, but perhaps of our very lives, of our worship.

This is the point that Hebrews wants to make. In absolutely nailing down for the Christians that yes, Jesus is a priest, what do priests do, priests make atonement. Once a year the high priest could go in on the day of atonement into the holy of holies, and Hebrew says He had to do that all the time, and He had to make atonement not just for the sins of his people, but for his own people, that’s why it was never enough. He had to go in, He had to make sacrifice and what sort of priest was this. Well, He was a priest after the line of Aaron, Moses’ brother. Moses and Aaron were from what tribe?, they were from the tribe of Levi. It’s right there you should have in your head. Okay, if Jesus is going to be a priest in that He offers a sacrifice for sins, once for all, He cannot be a son of David, and He was a descendent of David, and in Aaronic priest, not ironic, but he’s not that either, but an Aaronic priest. Why? Because that’s the House of Levi. You can’t be from the Tribe of Judah and from the Tribe of Levi so what sort of priest is He? Hebrews goes back to this Psalm 110 verse 4 several times to say here’s what sort of priest he was, not after the line of Aaron. Now that priesthood was good for a time, but it could not finally accomplish all that he needed to accomplish. No, it’s been superseded by one who is greater and who actually came before a priesthood not from Aaron and the Levites, but from Melchizedek. So, there are these differences you’re meant to draw between a priesthood after Melchizedek and a priesthood after Aaron and the Levites. They are different according to their persons, one from Aaron, one from Melchizedek. Different according to their institutions. One was anchored in the mosaic covenant. One in the Abrahamic covenant. We know that the Mosaic covenant is superseded by the new covenant. They were different in their efficacy. One had power in another. That’s the high priest after the Line of Aaron. He didn’t have power, virtue in himself and then you have Melchizedek power and efficacy of his own. There’s also a difference in perfection. That’s what Hebrews is showing that the priesthood from Aaron had a finite value and the priesthood for Melchizedek is infinite and finally there is a difference in duration that once is temporal, that is passing away while the other is eternal.

So, Psalm 110 verse 4 is absolutely key for the author of Hebrews to make this point about Jesus who is our great high priest and yes foreshadowed in all of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, but don’t think that He’s another priest after the Line of Aaron. No, those priests just keep on going the same thing over and over again. They could never finally atone for sin. You always needed another sacrifice. You always needed another day of atonement, you always wondered who the next high priest would be. Well now we have one who has gone into the temple, not made with human hands, and he has offered his very self as a sacrifice once for all.

So, we’ve seen both from Jesus and then from Peter at Pentecost, and now in the early church the author of Hebrews finds that this Psalm is absolutely essentially in explaining what sort of Christ this Jesus is. So go back to Psalm 110 and pull this together. You can see why this was arguably the most important chapter in the Bible for Jesus and the apostles, because there is no other single place in the Hebrew Bible where we get so much information in so short a span about the Messiah. Verse 1. “Messiah is a Lord, and he is greater than David and if he is sitting at the right hand of God, it means that this messiah is ascended into heaven, he is exalted, he is seated.” So, we have here just in verse 1 the ascension of Christ, the session of Christ, the exaltation of Christ and then in verse 2 he is, as Yah Weh continues to speak, “The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter, rule in the midst of your enemies.” So, this messiah is a mighty king and what sort of king you rule yes you rule among your people, but He rules even in the midst of His enemies, and we do not yet see everything underneath His feet, that’s what Hebrews 2 tells us. It’s the already and not yet, but Psalm 110 says, yes this king is so grand and glorious. Yes, there’s a final victory yet to come, but even now he is ruling not just over his people, but over his enemies.

Then verse 3 you see what happens with this great king and this warrior, he rallies the people to himself, an army, your people will offer themselves. People will come to this messiah and say let us join you. They will come in holy garments. This is speaking of a holy church, a forgiven church, a church washed white by the word, disciples, worshipers, soldiers. Then verse 4. “The Lord has sworn he will not change His mind.” Now if you’re God you don’t need to take an oath, you’re God. You only tell the truth, but to underscore just how utterly inviolable this promise is, not only does it come from God, but he swears an oath, and we’re told, “And He will not change His mind. “This one you can absolutely count on for all time, the messiah will be a priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek.

Then verses 5 and 6. We hear of the final judgement as the Lord at His right hand, both persons whom we now further revelation can understand it’s father and son, first and second person of The Trinity, the divine king and the divine Lord are doing battle together as one. Over the wide earth shattering the chiefs. Think about all that we have here in this Psalm. You can understand why Martin Luther said it’s a beautiful Psalm, and the quintessence of the whole Bible. We have, at least in part, in this one Psalm the doctrine of the Trinity, the incarnation, the resurrection, the ascension, the session, the exaltation, the communion of the saints, the last judgement, justification, sanctification, and eternal life, so make room on your Mount Rushmore for Psalm 110.

Now you say, alright, we’re about done, what’s the application. Here’s the application. Jesus is Lord. Sometimes that’s the most important application you need. Yes, some sermons might be, here’s some practical steps how to pray more, how to read your Bible, or how to communicate better or how to forget. Lots of those things, all good, but sometimes the application is right here, look up, see Jesus, He’s Lord and king and prophet and priest, and judge, and He is exalted. Remember who Jesus is and where He is. He is no longer in the manger, He’s no longer on the cross, He is in heaven reigning, ruling, interceding, and winning. Rally to Him, that’s verse 3. Offer yourselves freely to this king. And you say, well you forgot one verse. Look at verse 7 and it is a little difficult to interpret and there’s some different ways, but here’s what I think it means. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head. Now lifting up your head is an image of victory, but can you think of another story in the Old Testament, people drinking by the brook, lifting up their heads. Drinking by the brook, go down to the water, cup the water in your hands and they lifted up their heads. This is when Gideon went to look and the Lord says you have too many men, alright, you’re going to get 300 men and I want you to find the ones that are down by the brook getting a drink of water, cupping it in their hands, and lifting their heads. It might have been a small army, might have been a beleaguered army, but here they were ready to march off into battle. I think there’s something here, an echo of Gideon and his men. Yes, the Christ rules among His enemies. We now await for all of those enemies to be placed under His feet and like a perfect movie ending with a wrap up, but yet moving forward, verse 7, pictures Christ and His people, here we are like Gideon’s men, lifting our heads up, drinking by the brook, aye, aye captain, ready to follow you wherever you lead in whatever battle is next for you are the Lord and you are the Christ. Let us gladly render our service in Christ’s army for He has already secured the victory. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, give us grace this day, this week, this summer that we might follow you to see you high and lifted up, what a glorious text, what a glorious privilege is ours. We give you worship in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Pain of Betrayal

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 12:17:30 GMT

Gracious heavenly Father, what a sweet precious thing we have just sung, “Christ is Mine Forevermore.” Forgive us when this declaration rests on us lightly, we pray that we may so live and feel and move and have our being that this would be our great hope that we belong to Christ and He is joined with us through faith by the Holy Spirit. And now we pray that you might speak the Word, the Word made flesh and that you might give to us the Word from scripture to build us up, to help us, to encourage us. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Psalm 109. It’s four weeks looking at 107, 108, 109, next week Psalm 110. Unlike the previous two Psalms which are Psalms of great exaltation and deliverance, now we do have some of those themes here, but this is a Psalm of cursing. It is one of the so-called imprecatory Psalms, the last of these Psalms in the Psalter where David calls down curses upon his enemy, and so as we get in particular to the middle verses of this Psalm, if you’re paying attention, they may even sound like verses that you’re not sure should be in the Bible. They may grate on you at first and wonder, can we really say these verses, could we really pray these things, could we really sing Psalm 109? I hope by the end you will agree with Martin Luther who says that his is a Psalm of comfort, but it may not feel that way at first.

Psalm 109.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Be not silent, O God of my praise! For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin! May his days be few; may another take his office! May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit! May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil! Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children! May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation! May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out! Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death. He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him! He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones! May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day! May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life!

But you, O GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me! For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me. I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust. My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat. I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads.

Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love! Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it! Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad! May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

It’s one of the best scenes in one of my favorite movies, I probably mentioned before, A Man for All Seasons. It’s based upon a play by the same name. A Man for All Seasons is about Thomas More from the 16th century. He was the Lord Chancellor of England and the movie excellently written and acted is about how Thomas More refuses to support the annulment of Henry VIII from his wife Catherine of Aragon. Remember, I’m Henry the 8th I am, Henry the 8th I am I am. I got married to the widow next door. You remember he has lots of wives and this was the annulment from his Spanish wife. Thomas More, being a high ranking official, everyone wants him to speak on the issue and they want him to support the king in his annulment, but he refuses to speak, and he’s a layer, and he’s shrewd, so he knows that he cannot ultimately be condemned if he simply does not state his opinion, but nevertheless he’s imprisoned, he refuses to sign a letter supporting the annulment, and then the climax of the movie, he’s there on trial and the prosecutor is Thomas Cromwell, not to be confused with Oliver Cromwell from the next century, but Thomas Cromwell finally has a smoking gun, a man who will bear false witness against Thomas More in order that he might be convicted because More has been silent on the matter of the king’s marriage. And so, the prosecutor brings to the stand a young man named Richard Rich. Now earlier in the film we are introduced to Mr. Rich. He’s a younger man and Thomas More was something of a mentor and a friend to him. At one point Richard Rich wanted some advancement and More did not give it to him because he knew that he was too ambitious, he was weak-willed, and he encourages Richard Rich. He wants to be a teacher and Rich responds, “Well if I’m a teacher how will I make my mark, how will I be known in the world?” So, we already have a view of this man and then at this climactic scene, Richard Rich is given a governmental position in order to exchange for false testimony against Thomas More. It is an act of craven despicable betrayal, and it leads to one of the most famous lines in the movie and there’s lots of very famous lines. After he bears false witness against Thomas More, and he says, “Do you deny it”, and he says, “Well of course I deny it. Do you think after having kept silent on this very matter for all of these months that I would have finally stated my convictions to a man such as this”, he’s disgusted with him, he says, “I’m a dead man, I’ve nothing to say.” But then as Richard Rich is walking by Tomas More says, “There is one question I would like to ask the witness. That’s a chain of office you’re wearing, may I see it”, and so Rich comes near and he holds it up, More says, “The red dragon, what is this”, and then a member of the tribunal says, “Sir Richard as appointed attorney general for Wales to which More gives this famous response, “Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world, but for Wales?” No offense to the Welsh among us of course, but it’s so excellently delivered and at that point in the movie everything in you is disgusted with this pitiful little man Richard Rich, and he betrays this man who is presented as so much his superior and intellect and character and conviction. Yes, the movie does sort of present the Protestants as bad guys, Catholics as good guys, so just use that discernment, but it is really, really well done. He was a betrayer to a man who did not deserve to be betrayed.

This is a hard Psalm, 109, and we’re gonna talk about whether to use it, how to use it, but I think we should recognize at the outset that there is almost no emotion that I think human beings feel more deeply and exquisitely than a sense of betrayal. When you’re betrayed, and I don’t just mean someone disappoints you, I mean really deeply betrayed, there’s a sense of injustice combined with anger, combined with disappointment, combined with the raw emotion you see in verse 4. Look at it, “In return for my love they accuse me.” If the Bible tells us do not return evil for evil, which the Bible does on several occasions, someone gives you evil, you are not to give them evil in return. If we are not to give evil even when evil is given to us, how much worse is it when someone returns evil for good? That’s what this Psalm is about. David says, “I loved you, I did good for you, and you have done this to me, surrounded me with hatred, with allegations, with accusations.” Perhaps some of you feel this or feel something like this, you think of a child and a parent, maybe you want to say and you’ve even cried out to the Lord or tried to communicate, your child can scarcely know how much you love them and everything within you says, I have given my life for you, I would lay down my life for you, I love you, I sacrifice for you, and now as you are grown you hurl these accusations at me, you don’t think that I’m someone to be trusted, you don’t think that I love you. Maybe you helped a friend in a moment of crisis and you were there and you came in the middle of the night and you brought meals and you got on the phone, and you did everything you could for months and months and finally you come to a point you can’t be everywhere at all times and in all places and this friend whom you have given hours and months finally says, well you don’t really care for me do you? Maybe it’s a church member you counsel, you visited in the hospital, you showed up at their moment of deepest trial only later to have them turn against you.

Thankfully I’ve not had many occasions like this in pastoral ministry, but I know many pastors who feel this very deeply. They’ll have someone they poured their life into, they were there when they had to be rushed to the hospital, they were there when their marriage fell apart and they were right in their kitchen at their kitchen table to pray for them and they gave hours to counsel them and encourage them and respond to texts, and then at the end the person says, you’ve not done anything and they become the problem and deeply painful. Maybe you think of a young person in your work you mentored and then they climbed to the top, not just past you, but they step on you to get up there, slander your reputation. Maybe there’s a wife here thinking of a husband that you forgave, that you welcomed back into your home, welcomed back into your bed only to have him cheat on you again. Or maybe it’s a husband here in a broken marriage and you have tried your very best to set a new tone in the relationship and you’ve given gifts and flowers and compliments, and you’ve tried to be a leader in the home and every time you do, she responds with sarcasm or disbelief or biting comments. Maybe there’s someone in the position of authority and you helped him or her to reach that position and now they perceive you insufficiently loyal, so they use that power to tear you down, to block everything you care about. We could multiply examples and some of us feel that deeply. This Psalm speaks with strong language, but perhaps it is because we need strong prayers to deal with the deepest injustices and the deadliest betrayal.

Calvin says, “Nothing can be more unnatural than to hate and cruelly persecute those who love us.” One thing you don’t like is your enemies, you persecute those who also you hate them, they hate you, you get it. Calvin says there’s nothing more unnatural than the very one who loves you, you hate them, you persecute them. Look at the opening stanza here, verse 1, David cries out for help, be not silent, and then he explains the dire predicament in verses 2 through 5. He says, “The wicked speak against me, they lie about me, they surround me with nasty words, they attack me for no good reason, they accuse me and worst of all I have loved them. I did good to them, and they have rewarded me with evil and with hatred.” Look at verses 22 through 25, that stanza. You see David is absolutely wrung out. We have to understand, this is not a matter of someone who just was mean to David, said a few nasty things, an anonymous bot on the internet. This isn’t some light matter, they are threatening him. Their lies may undo him. The setting here if not literally in a courtroom is one of a legal process, there are false accusations against him and the schemes against him may undermine his kingship. Some people are believing the lies about King David. He has become to them, you see verse 25, an object of scorn, so he’s not exaggerating, he’s not feeling sorry for himself, it’s not a pity party when he says in verse 22, “I am poor and needy.” I wonder if you’ve ever felt like this, “My heart is stricken within me, I am fading like a shadow, I’m shaking like a bug that you just shake off of your arm. My knees are knocking, my body is emaciated, I’m not eating, I’m not sleeping. These accusations, these schemes, these lies they are gnawing at my very health, people are questioning my integrity, my authority, my identity, my character. Help me O Lord my God. That’s where David is. Even with all of this, however, trying to sympathize with all that David is going through and what some of you may feel deeply this morning. We have to admit that upon a first reading those middle verses, verses 6 through 20, they land on us awkwardly.

David shifts his focus in verse 6 to a man, singular, he’s maybe putting into one person the faults of the group. More likely there’s a particular ringleader, someone who is a chief among them, who’s the chief instigator. Some speculate that this may be the man named Doeg the Edomite who is mentioned in Samuel. Doeg was Saul’s chief shepherd, he’s the one who told Saul about David’s whereabouts when he was hiding with the priests at the city of Nob. He was seeking refuge because King Saul was trying to kill him, and then Saul hears of this report from Doeg the Edomite and Saul orders his guards to go and slaughter the priest and these guards say, I’m not gonna kill the priests, and then Doeg says “Well I’ll go and do it myself”, and he slaughtered 85 priests, he wiped out not just the priests but the entire population of that village of Nob. This Psalm may be about him, maybe David was kind to him as a member of Saul’s administration when David was there with Jonathan or David was playing musical instruments or maybe it’s about someone unnamed, certainly he is not named here, maybe a close friend, someone who betrayed him. We aren’t told who it is, except that this person, look at verse 8, has some kind of office. This is someone in some official capacity who is seeking to undermine, accuse, and undo David’s leadership and I won’t read again verses 6 through 20, but you heard the words, what David prays is striking. There are over 20 different curses that he calls down. He asks that the man’s days would be few and not just that, asking for his death, he asks for suffering to fall upon his children. He asks for calamity to befall his entire household. He says, “May no one deal kindly with this man and everyone associated with him, may he experience cursing and not blessing,” He says, “May the memory of this man and everyone connected to him be blotted out from the earth.”

That’s verse 15. These are hard words. What should we do with these words? Could we sing as a congregation Psalm 109? One answer to the question, what to do with these words, and here’s the most important answer, which I am going to give you here in the middle of the sermon instead of at the end this week, the most important answer to that question is to understand that Psalm 109 has to do with Jesus Christ. We know that because look at verse 8, “May his days be few, may another take his office.” Do you recognize that language. Peter quotes directly and Acts 120 from this Psalm, when they are casting lots to replace Judas, so Judas is the betrayer, that fulfills this man of false accusation. And so Peter sees the fulfillment of another taking his office when Matthias is chosen to replace Judas and when you go back and think about this Psalm and think about Judas as the accuser, Judas as the betrayer, and think about Christ then read through verses 1 through 5, thinking of Christ’s betrayal and hear Christ saying “In return for my love they accuse me, I give myself to prayer in the garden. This may reward me evil for good, I have loved him and now he hates me.” Think of Christ’s betrayal. You can read verses 21 through 25 and think of Christ suffering, hear Christ saying “I am poor and needy, my heart is stricken, I am gone like a shadow, my knees are weak, my body has become gaunt. They see me and they wag their heads.”

You remember at the cross those who even passed by, that they shook their heads at Him and they said this man, this man who said He was going to tear down the temple in three days, look at Him. They derided Him. Think about Christ’s deliverance in verses 26 through 31, as he ultimately is given the place to sit at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, and His enemies are put to shame, and He does route those forces of evil and darkness in His resurrection, His ascension, and His exultation. So surely this is the most important answer, what do we do with Psalm 109 as we think of Christ, we think of His betrayer, and we think of Christ’s final vindication. But what about us, Calvin says everything that is expressed in this Psalm must properly be applied to Christ, the head of the church, and to all the faithful in as much as they are His members. So, Calvin says, “It’s about Jesus, but it’s also about His body of which we are members. Can we really sing this Psalm.” Many good writers have said no. C.S. Lewis, all of us have read C.S. Lewis, appreciate C.S. Lewis, he gets so much right, and he gets some really important things wrong. He has a wonderful book on reflections on the Psalms, but here’s what he says about these imprecatory Psalms, “In some of the Psalms the spirit of hatred which strikes us in the face like the heat from a furnace mouth.” Lewis says this is a spirit of hatred and then he says, “Examples can be found all over the Psalter, but perhaps the worst is in 109.” Lewis says Psalms like 109 express things that are “terrible”, “contemptable”, so Lewis says we can use Psalm 109 to understand these are the sort of temptations to hatred that can well up within the human heart, but Lewis says the cursings found in Psalm 109 are “devilish.” So, Lewis says this is just here really as a bad example, this is a devilish contemptable hatred. We should not say it or sing it; we can learn from it.

Similarly, not quite as severe, is Derek Kidner, also a very fine commentator, but he lands in a similar place. He says these Psalms are “recorded for our learning, not for our imitation.” He says, “We who are under the Gospel simply cannot pray this way.” And other commentators say the same thing. Alright they’re here, they’re inspired, we can learn something from them, but they’re here really to just show the raw emotion of the human heart and this is maybe something that Old Testament saints didn’t know better and were here to see how our hearts can get all twisted and knotted up, but this is not something Christians should ever think or feel or speak. That’s what many commentators say and before I argue to the contrary, let’s deal honestly that there are things here that ought to make us nervous. If you make Psalm 109 verses 6 through 20 the lynchpin of your personality something is going to be off. We can feel there are dangers, there is dissonance. If we take this to be a reason to enjoy and give vent to all of our personal petty vindictive thoughts and feelings, then we will be misappropriating the Psalm. So, there is a danger, don’t you have personal petty thoughts? I do. I try to swim during the summer and there’s a pool that has plenty of lanes for all the children to frolic in, there’s one lane, just one, that’s all that’s given to us lap swimmers, don’t ask for much, just one that’s designated there, says for lap swimmers, there’s only one person in there, me. Only should be one person in there, but there ends up being many, many children, not yours I’m sure, playing and throwing balls, mothers lodged at one end of the lane teaching children to swim as if I didn’t even exist and I find myself as I swim vigorously, and I told my wife, I then pop out of the pool and I see them right there in my lane and I’m giving them many nonverbal cues of disappointment, many sighs. I’m thinking to myself, “Are we not a nation of laws?” I have personal petty vindictive, surely, we would all, no, Psalm 109 is not meant for that Kevin. More importantly, what about all that the New Testament says bless those who curse you, love your enemies. When Jesus’ disciples said, hey Jesus should be call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans. No, no, don’t call down fire from heaven. And the fact that we are liable to miss our own faults, we are all very keen experts on seeing specs in other people’s eyes and not seeing the law in our own eyes. This was the point of last Sunday evening’s sermon from Malachi that the people were complaining to the Lord, “God, you don’t care about justice, God would you do something, God would you judge the wicked”, and then Malachi says, “Okay here’s the word of the Lord, the Lord will come and the day of the Lord will be a day of vengeance and he will come in judgement for you.” They didn’t see that coming, they didn’t think they were the sinners in that equation. So yes, there are many ways in which a Psalm like this can be used dangerously.

But to quote C.S. Lewis and one time where he was thinking very clearly, C.S. Lewis says about the hard sayings of Jesus, “They are salutary for people who find them hard.” That is the hard sayings that you need to hate your father and mother. That saying is not going to do you good if you say, I love it, that’s my verse, hang that up on the wall, I get to hate mom and dad. It’s salutary when you say that cuts against, what does that mean, how does that go with everything that I need to love and honor, what does Jesus mean, he means you put me even above your parents. It’s a valuable saying if you find it hard. So, there ought to be something in us, then read Psalm 109, it says, “Are you sure Lord?” But we cannot simply put this Psalm in the category of useful, but a bad example, useful as a bad example that people may be tempted to. No this is not like the story of Jobe where you have his miserable comforters and we can all tell in that dialogue, those comforters, those so-called friends are not giving very good advice. For this is not a narrative like many stories in scripture where we are presented matter-of-factly with the sins of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Bible and we’re not given to comment on it, but we understand we’re not to make their descriptive acts to be normative for us. No this is not like, there’s no indication, in fact there’s an indication quite the opposite because you see the superscription there before verse 1, To the Choirmaster. That tells us this was a song to be sung by the choir, leading God’s people. By design this was meant to be sung by God’s people so you cannot just quarantine it safely to the side and say, well this was just a bad example in a story somewhere.

So how then do we understand this harsh language, what are we to do with it, could we dare sing it, yes ultimately as the Words of Christ, but what about in a provisional way the song of his own people, I believe we can. Let me give you seven considerations and I understand that the sermon is more than half over now. Seven. Most of these we’ll go through quickly. This is about how to appropriate this Psalm wisely, prudentially, carefully, but ultimately for your comfort. Seven considerations.

One, consider the context. Yes verses 6 through 20 have those many curses, but notice the first paragraph, it starts in praise and thanksgiving, “O God of my praise”, and then the last paragraph end with “My mouth I will give thanks to the Lord.” So often this is the case with a Psalm. You have to see where does David end up, starts in praise, he ends in praise, and when I say context, remember this is one song in the 150 selections of the Psalter hymnal. We don’t think of them as being a whole book, but they are a collection. Just like you would take your Trinity Hymnal, it’s got more than 150, you would understand it’s trying to give you the whole sweep of the Christian life, and so the Psalter gives you expressions of praise, confession, lamentation, thanksgiving, exultation, desperation, and yes, there are some that are imprecation. So, this is not the only chapter in the book. That’s what I mean, consider the context.

Second. Remember that implicitly there is always the possibility of repentance. This is implicit and sometimes it’s stated explicitly. For example, in Jeremiah 18 we are given the principle, Jeremiah says that if ever a nation whom the Lord is threatening with judgement, if they should repent He will relent from that judgement and He will do good to them, and conversely if those to whom he means to do good turn into wickedness he will turn and he will do evil to them. This is stated explicitly in Jeremiah 18. That is the principle, that’s why we have in Jonah, the only recorded message we have from Jonah is all law no gospel, 40 days and then it will be overturned. Well, that sounds like an ironclad promise, but then they repent and God relents from the disaster. Not because he changed His mind and He said, oops, but because there is always the implicit understanding that if you turn, I will turn from the judgement. Proverbs 28:13, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” So even here when David is talking about the curses he calls down upon the family and upon the children, there is an assumption that they continue in the wicked ways of their father. Remember in the Ten Commandments, “He will visit the iniquity to the third and the fourth generation”, don’t forget the last part, “Of those who hate him.” It is not a blanket promise that you have generational hexes, generational curses, we see the principle already in the Pentateuch that the son should not die for the sins of the father. So presumed here is that all of those in his family associated with him continue in this wicked path, so we must always allow that even in this declaration of cursing there is the possibility of repentance. Here’s a wonderful statement from Calvin, “Let believers be on their guard lest they should betray too much haste in their prayers and let them rather leave room for the grace of God to manifest itself in their behalf because it may turn out that the man who today bears toward us a deadly enmity may by tomorrow, through that grace become our friend.” Calvin says, “Don’t be quick to run the bus over your enemies, leave room for God’s grace, who knows but that his man that has done you such harm and such betrayal may by God’s grace at this time tomorrow be your friend. Remember there’s always the possibility of repentance.”

Here’s the third consideration. Note that David does not describe a momentary lapse of judgement, but a habitual way of life. In other words, we are talking about intractable wickedness. This is not an occasion someone messed up, someone had a bad day, a bad month, this is intractable. Look at the language in verse 16. “He did not remember to show kindness; he pursued the poor and needy.” This is an aggressively wicked man. The brokenhearted. He sought to put them to death. He loved to curse. He did not delight in blessing. He clothed himself, the very way of his life he was covered up with curses. That’s what this man was like, not a momentary lapse of judgement. This is not calling down curses upon the car who cut you off on the highway, or waits too long at the left turn lane, or your friend who let you down, or even your spouse who has been so hard to live with for this last year. This is someone who has given themselves to the pursual of intractable wickedness.

Fourth. Consider that God promises justice. See before we can think about the language that David uses, we need to step back and say, well do some people deserve to be treated like this, do some people deserve to be punished, and the answer in all of Scripture is yes. God is a God of justice; love does not rejoice in wrongdoing. God on the cross shows how seriously He takes sin in forgiving our sin. He did not just look the other way and say, you know what, never mind, it’s all fine. His justice was not set aside, it was satisfied. So, God is a God of justice. Does Revelation not show us the rath of the lamb. Yes, Jesus cries out at the cross, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do”, expressing that that crowd in Jerusalem was swept up in their emotional furfur, they were weak, they were fickle, they were easily stirred by the wrong passions and Jesus rightly says, “Forgive them Father, they don’t even understand what’s happening.” Now remember what He says about Judas, “Woe to the man.” That’s the language of cursed be the man by whom this betrayal comes, and He says about Judas, “It would be better if he had never been born.” Jesus has very hard language about the betrayer. To pray for justice is to pray as a covenant Christian. Do you notice the language here of often of curses and blessings, you see it in verse 17, “He loved to curse, let curses come upon Him.” This is the Abraham of covenant, “Whoever curses you I will curse, whoever blesses you I will bless.” So, David is asking according to God’s own Word, God had established the principle. If someone curses you, he deserves to be cursed. If someone blesses you, he deserves to be blessed. It is asking God, do what you said you would do, and it is right to desire that evil in our world would be punished. It is right that we want to see righteousness vindicated. Consider that God promises justice.

Fifth consideration. Notice that David is concerned with the glory of God. Yes, he prays that He is weak, “I’m poor and needy” verse 22, he’s under attack, but he also prays according to God’s steadfast love. You see that in verse 21 and verse 26. Verse 21 he says, “Deal on my behalf for your name’s sake.” This is a cry not about settling scores on some personal vendetta but seeking out the glory of God. I hate to tell you, but Inigo Montoya probably got it wrong. His whole life was one of personal revenge. Now maybe if he had been deputized as a law enforcement officer, but he was a one-man vigilante crew, you killed my father, now prepare to die. And there’s something right that resonates in us, a wickedness deserves to be punished. That’s a right feeling; the feeling of personal vengeance and vindictiveness is not. David’s prayer is not about settling scores for his own sake alone, but for the glory of God. Two more and these perhaps are most critical for us.

Number six. Consider that David does not pray as a private person. Surely it is telling that all of the imprecatory Psalms are of David, they’re all prayed by the king, by one who would become the king. They are prayers of a man in a position of authority, not merely as a private person. Calvin says that in order to appropriate, Psalm 109, we must keep three things in mind, he says one, David was not instigated by any immoderate carnal propensity. That means, I think what he means, is this was not David’s whole way of life, this was not his propensity. Second, David was not moved by zeal without knowledge, that’s important, I think Calvin is saying he was not jumping to conclusions, he was not believing something on hearsay as we often tend to do, we’re eager to hear the worst report about somebody we don’t like, we’re eager to believe the worst thing about someone who hates us, this was not zeal without knowledge. And then in the third point Calvin says David was not influenced by any private personal considerations. There’s hardly a Psalm where David doesn’t mention his enemies. You can just about count on it as a principle of life and leadership. The more people who love you, the more people out there who will hate you. The more people you are able to lead, the more opponents you will have. And so, it was in David’s life, he was very beloved, and by some he was very hated. This Psalm describes to us a public setting, a legal setting, accusations, allegations.

So, this is not David praying simply about his personal feelings. He has in mind the good of the nation, for if his kingship is done away with, the whole nation will suffer. He is thinking about himself not only in his personal thoughts and emotions, but in his public duties and responsibilities. This helps us make sense if you’ve ever looked through the Book of Acts, why sometimes it seems like Paul is just willing to take on the suffering and other times he is absolutely adamant that he insists, no, no, no, no, come on, I’m a Roman citizen don’t you dare do this to me, and he wants to appeal all the way to Rome. Why does Paul do that, why sometimes I’m just gonna take it, and then other times I’m absolutely vigorously defending my rights. But one of the answers is because Paul is thinking about himself insofar as his example will harm or benefit others and so Paul wants to defend his citizenship, he wants his case to go all the way to Cesar, remember Acts is written to most excellent Theophilus just like Luke is, who is likely some high ranking official, a new Christian perhaps in the court of Rome, and one of the things that Luke wants to show by Paul’s example is that these Christians are not violent insurrectionists. They too can be loyal in an appropriate way to Cesar and so Paul is insistent on his rights because he knows his rights will be the rights of other Christians. That’s why it is important in our day when some people will stand up and you have different lawyers and firms and organizations who will defend Christians in the court of law. It’s important, not simply that they may have their day in court, but because these things can provide protection for others. So, David is thinking of himself not merely as a private individual, but publicly as the king. If they are able to lodge these complaints and these false accusations against David, and people start multiplying and believing them, this will have a deleterious effect on the whole nation and then finally and perhaps most importantly, remember what this Psalm is. Here’s what I mean, look at verse 4 again. “In return for my love they accuse me, but”, there’s another one of these great adversatives in the Bible, “They accuse me, I love them, but I give myself to prayer.” You could even see the footnote in the ESV Hebrew, “But I am prayer.” That’s literally, Paul says, “I am prayer, I am so given over in this act of betrayal, my name is prayer.” This is absolutely crucial because you might think that after in return for my love they accuse me, some of use would like it to say, and therefore I hunted them down like dogs, I ruined their land, I sent my whole army to ransack their village, I will not rest until I personally slay each one by my hand, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die! He doesn’t say that. Of course, there is the Romans 13, and the civil magistrate is given the sword. There is a place for the appointed authorities to exercise justice, to execute vengeance on the wrong doer, both a local level and international level. This is David saying no, no, no, I did not take that betrayal and then make it my life’s mission to hunt them down. He gave himself to prayer, he did not turn himself to revenge, he turned himself over to the Lord.

Leave room for God’s wrath, that’s the principle from Proverbs and from Romans and that’s what David does, that’s why this Psalm, I believe, can still be used in a salutary way for the Christian because think of what David did not do. He’s not telling you now to commit your whole life to tearing down your enemy, give yourself over to prayer. David does pray some hard things. You think of 1 Peter 2:23, “When Christ was reviled, He did not revile and return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but He continued entrusting Himself to him who judges justly.” We know that David could be a great sinner with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, but he also was a man after God’s own heart and the totality of his life was one lived in obedience to God. May it be, might it be the case, that it was actually because David communicated these thoughts in prayer to God that in David’s personal life he was so often marked by surprising magnanimity. This is one of the things that you find over and over again if you’ve ever studied David’s life. He did not conduct himself as one who was on a personal vendetta. Twice he spared Saul’s life when he could have killed him even thought Saul was hunting him down. The man Shimei cursed him, and David showed him undeserved mercy. David showed kindness to the House of Jonathan. David was often rebuking Joab for being so quick to shed blood and seek vengeance and put to death all of David’s enemies. No David was a man of great magnanimity toward his enemies, and might it be because he knew where to put those thoughts. Leave room for God’s wrath, this is your business God, this is what my enemies deserve, and I will pray to you, and I will entrust myself to the one who judges justly.

There is a story in the New Testament, not only Jesus, but there’s another story that gives us almost the perfect example of this in Acts 7:56. Stephen, the first martyr in the church as he is being pelted with stones and about to die for simply telling the people the truth about their own history and about Jesus, he says, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Now right there you should think, standing, don’t we confess, and he sits at the right hand of God. Why here is Jesus standing not sitting. He is standing, I think, for two reasons that are really one and the same. He is standing that He might defend Stephen, that He might vindicate Stephen as they kill him and He’s standing to welcome Stephen home. That’s the picture of entrusting ourselves to the one who will judge justly. The Christ who is betrayed by Judas will not betray you. He will not only wipe away every tear from your eye, He will right every wrong, He will expose every lie. One day all the things in secret will be revealed and He will vindicate his people against every false charge, every false charge from a friend, from a family member, from a colleague, from the internet, He will vindicate you. Will not the judge of all the earth do right He will. We are not the vessel of His wrath, we are the objects of His love, and He will listen to us when we pray.

Our Father, in heaven we commit ourselves to you, would you do the important heart work, surely there are some here who receive this Psalm not merely as a theological problem to solve, but feeling a very real sense of betrayal and whether we are in a position in such a sin against us to make these words ours or not, help each one of us to entrust ourselves to you that we may find our final vindication from Christ, that great man of sorrows who suffered for the sake of sinners. In his name we pray. Amen.

With God We Shall Do Valiantly

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 10:22:48 GMT

Lord, we come to you now as we turn to your Word, not merely because of custom and habit thinking that sermons begin with prayers, but because we need you, I need you to preach your Word thankfully, humbly, powerfully with unction from your spirit and we need your help that we might listen, that we might be effective, we might be changed, we might understand and so give us ears to hear we pray for Jesus’ same and in His name. Amen.

Our text this morning is Psalm 108. We’re doing four weeks in the Psalms 107, 108, 109, and 110, the beginning of Book 5 in the Psalter. Psalm 108. You notice the superscription there in small upper case letters, small capital letters, those are inspired. The superscriptions are inspired, in fact, in the Hebrew Bible they are given verse 1 so it’s always complicated when something is referenced from the Hebrew it’s one verse off because they count that as verse 1. The headings in the ESV, “With God We Shall Do Valiantly,” that’s a nice heading, it’s the same title as my sermon, but those are not inspired, helpful not inspired, but just so you realize these superscriptions are a part of the inerrant Word of God and as we’ll see in just a moment they sometimes are very important for interpreting the Psalm.

Psalm 108.

A song. A Psalm of David.

My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer me!

God has promised in his holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

The key to understanding this Psalm is to realize that what makes the Psalm appear forgettable is actually what makes it so amazing and memorable. So, stick with me to the end and I hope and pray that by the end you will be able to say, I am never going to read this Psalm the same way again. They say careful pastor, that’s a lot of hype for this sermon. Well I’m not hyping the sermon, I am hyping this Psalm, God’s Word and the Christ whose Word it is, perhaps we will learn not only how to read this Psalm, but that we might have the eyes to read God’s Word and the Psalter in particular in a way that allows us and encourages us to see Jesus. So, why did I just say that this Psalm at first seems forgettable. Well, it seems forgettable because it seems redundant, and it seems redundant because Psalm 108 repeats almost word for word the halves of two other Psalms. If you were thinking as I read these verses, wow those sound really familiar, these are some of the most familiar lines in the Psalm and in the Bible almost like I heard them before, you’d be right. Wow, they’re so familiar I wonder if they’re in here twice. Well, they are in here twice. Psalm 108 verses 1 through 5, so you have your Bible, look at the verses 1 through 5 are taken almost word for word from Psalm 57:7through 11. Now hold on we’ll go to Psalm 57 in just a moment. And then 108 verses 6 through 13, so the second half of Psalm 108 is taken almost word for word from Psalm 60 verse 5 through 12. Now you notice the superscription says a Psalm of David, it may be that David put these two halves together or that someone later put the two halves together, but those other Psalms are both from David and so it’s given the title of David, but what we’ll see in just a moment is Psalm 108 consists virtually identically with the conclusion of two other Psalms and so we’re left scratching our heads and thinking, why, why have a Psalm that appears to be redundant. We already have all of these words in the conclusion of 57 and the conclusion of 60 and now we mash them together for Psalm 108, as if the editor of the Psalter came to David and said, can you believe we’re at 149, we can’t send this thing out with 149, we need one more and David said, I’ve got a kingdom to run, I’ve got a lot of things going on, I can’t make this deadline, can you give us one more and then he just did a copy and paste and said, fine, you need 150, put these two halves together, somebody come up with some different music, there ya go. That’s not what happened, but why, why is Psalm 108 here, drawing from the two halves. Now you say, well how do you know that those other two didn’t cut in half Psalm 108. Well, Psalm 108 comes later, so that makes us think it probably is pulling from those two, not the other way around, and Book 5 here in the Psalter shows a preference for the divine name Lord or Yahweh or Jehovah, not exclusively, but a preference while Book 2 which is where 57 and 60 come from shows a preference for Elohim, translated God, but here in Psalm 108, mainly, not exclusively, but mainly uses the language of God. So that’s all a complicated way of saying the terms that are used here make us fairly certain that this came from 57 and 60 rather than 57 and 60 cutting in half Psalm 108.

So, turn to Psalm 57 because I want you to see what 57 is about and what 60 is about and then why they come together in 108. Notice the superscription that is the introduction to Psalm 57 there in the small capital letters. You’re there, Psalm 57. To the Choirmaster According to Do Not Destroy. According to, how that’s given by the English translation word according to is supplied thinking that that’s the sense of it, we don’t know for sure, but the idea is do not destroy maybe a tune, maybe a prayer. It’s found in 57, 58, 59, and 75. Maybe a prayer as we’ll see, David is facing difficult circumstances and enemies so this would be a fitting prayer or a tune asking God for deliverance. So do not destroy a Miktam of David, don’t know exactly what a Miktam is, it’s uncertain, but likely a musical or liturgical term, and then we see it’s of David. Now here’s the important part for understanding this Psalm. When he fled from Saul in the cave, David is anointed king, he’s not yet reining as king, Saul likes him for about half a minute and then he is insanely jealous, and he wants to kill David. We see at least two times, one in 1 Samuel 22, David hides out in the cave of Adullam, and then later he flees in the wilderness of Ein Gedi in a cave, so this could refer to either of those, either Adullam or Ein Gedi, or it could be a similar event. But here we have, this is the key, David is in a cave, he is literally in the shadow of death and darkness, shrouded in the earth, wondering if there is any room for escape. Now a cave is a good place to hide in one sense because maybe it’s a bit out of the way and someone has to find you. It’s also a rather dangerous place because you’ve got one way out and you often don’t have any way back out in the other direction. So, he’s hiding out here in a cave. Verses 1 through 3 is his cry for help. You see that, “Be merciful to me, my soul takes refuge in the shadow of your wings I take refuge.” He’s praying that the storm of destruction, Saul’s murderous, vindictive rage will pass by. He cries out to the Most High. So, 1 through 3 a cry for help and in verse 4 here’s the danger that he faces, “My soul is in the midst of lions. I lie down amid fiery beasts”. He’s not literally in a cave with lions, there may be beasts prowling around, but certainly he is facing his enemy, the children of man whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords, so Saul and his men are fierce like lions they have him trapped in this cave.

And then verses 5 and 6, he sings out his deliverance, the exalted O God above the heavens.” Verse 6 they said, “A net for my steps, my soul was bowed down, they dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen in it themselves.” So, we see a cry for deliverance. He describes what he’s facing and now the conclusion of Psalm 57 and this is where we have the exact same language in Psalm 108. You see beginning in verse 7 through verse 11, that’s the same language that starts Psalm 108. So, notice what David does, he sings, “My heart is steadfast O God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make melody.” Now it’s Father’s Day, it’s not a Father’s Day sermon, but here’s my one Father’s Day application. We had a few weeks ago a sermon about true manhood and I just want you to see true manhood looks like courage, prudence, godliness, and that can be overlaid a variety of personalities, interests, vocations, hobbies, think about who David is. Is David a manly man, oh yes, he kills animals, he slays giants, he’s a man of courage, he leads out his armies so this is a man who has given great resolve and God has used to defeat His enemies, and notice this warrior who can kill lions, giants, and lead an army, is also a poet, and a musician, and he sings, and he weeps, and he shouts. He is a morning music warrior. Any of you fathers a morning, music warrior. If you are, your children ought to rise up and put up with you. But that’s what David is. See he doesn’t fit all of the stereotypes that we might say, that’s what a manly man looks like. He’s a manly man because he is godly, he is courageous, and he wants to fight against the Lords enemies and he is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others. So, this morning music warrior says, “I will awake the dawn.” That means, I will begin the day with praise. You can understand the imagery here. He is up so early he has to wake up the instruments, awake O harp, time to get up lyre. Guitar, organ, drums, harmonica, cymbals, time to wake up. It’s still dark, it’s so early, he’s up, he has to wake up his instruments that he might praise, that he might call for even before the break of dawn. David’s up, he calls the instruments up that they might call the sunup and awaken the dawn with praise.

So here is a great Psalm for the morning people among us. Now it’s not everybody. Suppose you could say, well I’m up so late that I’ve outlasted the praise of the sun. Okay good for you, but this is the one for the morning people, as you’re up, it’s a little harder to get up before the sun during the summer, but you think to yourself as you’re there in prayer and you’re having one of those mornings you feel like, does this even really matter, what am I doing, I did the same thing, it feels kind of rote. You have beaten even the sun, to wake up, and to give God the praise that he is due and you can see in part your work in the morning, however feeble and meager and sleepy your prayers and your praise may feel, you are saying, awaken the dawn. Sun, it’s time to get up and give your maker the praise and the glory that He deserves. That’s what David is doing. Now he’s not just up early because he’s a morning person, he is up because he survived the night, remember, he’s in a cave and Saul is hunting him and so he has made it through the night. Remember verse 4, “My soul is in the midst of lions. I lie down among fiery beasts.” And now that he has made it through the night, God has preserved him, he wants to sing so the whole world will hear him.

Verse 9, “I give thanks to you among the peoples, sing your praise among the nations.” In fact, he wants to sign so loud that not only the peoples of the earth can hear him, but his praise will reach the very heavens, “Be exalted O God above the heavens,” That was the refrain in verse 5, he repeats it at the end in verse 11, so trace out what has happened here with David, starting in a cave, facing death, and now ending above the clouds in the heavens with God’s glory over the whole earth. That’s quite a transformation. Psalm 108 takes that exhilarating conclusion; it makes it the first half of its Psalm. 57’s second half becomes the first half of 108. Now what about the other Psalm. Turn just a page to Psalm 60. Notice Psalm 60 has one of the longest introductions in this superscription to the choirmaster, according to Shushan-eduth might be translated something like Lily of Testimony, again probably a musical term or maybe a hymn tune. This is also called a Miktam, also of David for instruction and here’s the setting. When he strove with Aram-Naharaim and with Aram-Zobah, and with Joab on his return struck down 12,000 of Edom in the Valley of Salt. The superscription in Psalm 57 referred to a predicament and here in Psalm 60 we have another predicament and also the provision. So the predicament or the problem is striving there with these two men, but there is also the deliverance that Joab on his return, in this battle with Edom struck down these thousands of men in the Valley of Salt, maybe a valley that’s south of the Dead Sea as you know which has such a high salt concentration, sometimes called the Salt Sea. 1 Chronicles 18 attributes this massive victory against the Edomites to Abishai, this Psalm gives the honor to Joab, and another place gives the honor to David in 2 Samuel 8. So which is it, who had this great victory, was it Abishai, was it Joab, was it David? Well, we’re right, all three of those can cohere because you think about how military chain of command works, it’s likely that Abishai may have been the one right there in the middle with the sword, and the spear, and the javelin, and the shield who was fighting against the Edomites, but his commanding officer is Joab and so you’re right to also give to the general the honor and say that this was Joab’s triumph and you can rightly give the honor to David as the Commander in Chief. So, it’s ascribed to all three men here in Psalm 60 it is said that Joab slew these thousands of Edomites.

We’ll look at verses 1 through 3 again. We start in despair, not just a predicament but despair, “O God you have rejected us, you have broken our defences, you’ve been angry so the Israelites are facing a military defeat”, and they think God is on our side and if we have struggled so mightily it must be that God has left us. You make the land to quake, you have torn it open, repaired its breeches, you have made your people see hard things. Let’s just notice verse 3 right there, have you ever noticed that before and it’s not mainly what this sermon is about, but there’s a verse to give expression to your life. If you don’t need verse 3 right now, live long enough and there will be a time where you need verse 3. “Lord, you have made us to see some hard things.” And so, David is praying very honestly, we suffered defeat, we’re in this mess, seems like you’ve left us, by your providential care you have made us to see hard things. Notice the writers in the Old Testament, when they face difficulty and tragedy and the hardest things in life, they never reach the conclusion that, well God just isn’t sovereign, and I guess this is just what happens because he gives the people free will. That’s not the solution. You remember what Naomi says, “Call me Mara for the Lord has dealt bitterly with me.” Jobe could’ve solved his conundrum, the whole Book of Jobe was about why do these terrible things happen to Jobe when he is the only righteous, the most righteous man on all the earth, and his so-called friends say just curse God and die or they say just admit you’re at fault Jobe, you did something bad that’s why bad things happen to you. Now at no point in there does Jobe say, well you know what, we just live in a random universe and God just sort of lets things happen, he doesn’t micromanage things, he never once reaches that conclusion. In fact, he says at the very beginning, “Though he slay me yet I will trust in Him. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” In other words, David, like Naomi, like Jobe always understand they are dealing with a sovereign God. They say, well that can make the pain more difficult and it can in an existential way, but it’s supposed to mean you run to God, not from Him, that you run to God and you say, God you’re doing something and I don’t know what it is, but you’ve made me to see hard things. You’re in control of this and I don’t understand why I’m seeing such hard things. That’s what David is praying.

Verse 4, “You’ve set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it.” So, he’s anticipating now some deliverance, your beloved ones”, verse 5, “may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand.” He’s going to describe then the victory that comes so the remaining verses 5 through 12, are the conclusion, God’s deliverance, and this is the half that becomes the second half of Psalm 108 and look at how David describes this victory, it is comprehensive, God has spoken in His holiness and then you notice these geographic markers which may not mean much to us, you’d have to hope that your Bible has one of those maps in the back, but He’s going around the circle of geography in Israel. He says with exaltation I will divide Shechem. Notice he lists nine different places and what he is going to say about each one of these is that God is sovereign over, yes, even this place, so he says, “I will divide Shechem”, that’s a prominent city right in the heart of Israel, and the Valley of Succoth that’s also in the heart of Israel over on the east side of the Jordan, both places associated with Jacob so he’s starting right there in the heart and then he says, “Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine”, that’s a reference to the two and a half tribes on the other side of the Jordan. Now you should always think now when you watch Finding Nemo, you have all the birds on the deck, the fish come up, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. Think of this verse, the Lord in holiness, not a bird, looks upon all the peoples of Israel. He’s not intimidated, he’s not afraid, Gilead mine, Manasseh mine, Charlotte mine, New York mine, Israel mine, Iran, Iraq mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. Ephraim is my helmet. There’s a reason he says Ephriam because Ephriam is in the north, he’s thinking of a helmet, a protection from the enemies that would come upon Israel from the north, and then Judah is my scepter. Now this is not just random language, Judah of course, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the promise that David would never fail to have a man to sit on the throne, so of all these places you’ve got helmets, we’re coming to washbasins, but there in Jerusalem, on his holy hill, Mount Zion, Judah is his scepter, that’s where the king reigns from Jerusalem. Moab is my washbasin so now he’s moving around to the south. He says Moab these people you’re so afraid of, this is where I wash my hands before a meal, this is where I wash my dirty dusty feet before I enter someone’s home. Edom, I cast my shoe, I toss my sandal upon Edom, you’re afraid of Edom? Philistia going all the way around now to the west on the coast of the Mediterranean, over Philistia I triumph. Nine places just making a circuit around the people of God every single one of those, Jerusalem, Judah my scepter. All of these other places they’re mine, they’re not scary, they are to you David. I understand that you’ve seen difficult things with your army, but you need to know Gilead’s mine, Manasseh is mine, Moab is just a sink for me, Edom just a foot stool, I just prop up my feet.

And then we see in verses 9 and 10, harkening back to that desperate cry at the beginning of the Psalm, so it’s jubilant, but now it’s echoing some of that language because there’s a struggle, it’s realistic. Who will bring me to the fortified city. The fortified city here in Edom is almost certainly all the scholars I read agree that this is a reference to the ancient city of Petra. If you’ve ever watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, not exactly a true story, but at the very end that’s Petra. Now some of those buildings there date to the first century and wouldn’t have been around here, but Petra is this city that’s built out of the rock, today it’s in modern Jordan, it’s in various movies because it looks this very impressive relief built there and you have to walk through this narrow cavern to get to the City of Petra. That’s why it’s called the fortified city. With only a handful of men you could pull back and push back your enemy because there’s only one way you have to enter through this narrow ravine which just makes you easy pickings. This was a way of saying, this city is virtually unconquerable, how are we going to get to Petra, who will lead me to Edom, but David comes out of his funk, wondering if God has rejected him, and then finally he says at the end, no, no, no God, you can save us, man cannot do it, but with you we can do valiantly. We can triumph over our enemies.

Psalm 108 takes the second half, the exciting conclusion of Psalm 57, and it takes this thrilling conclusion of Psalm 60, and it puts them together. So why, why does Psalm 108, if you turn back there, want to put together these two conclusions, probably a different tune, probably a different feel. Psalm 108 is not redundant. It is taking those familiar words, and I think they would have been familiar to many of the Israelites, some of the most memorable lines in the Psalter, but now putting them together, the same song in a new way because this Psalm is a Psalm of exultation. Last week Psalm 107 is a Psalm that goes in four different cycles of distress, crying out, and deliverance. There are a lot of Psalms that work that way. They start down, there’s despair, there’s distress, and then they go up and there’s rejoicing. There are some Psalms that do a lot of up and down. We saw 107 did that at least four times. There’s distress, there’s a problem, there’s salvation, there’s distress again. There are some Psalms that go down and they mostly stay down because that is what life feels like sometimes. You can remember three of the most wrenching Psalms, 22, 44, and 88. I always remember them because you’re doubling, 22, 44, and then 88. Psalm 88 ends by saying my companions have become darkness or some translate it darkness is my only companion. That’s how Psalm 88 ends. There are some Psalms that you need that sometimes, that’s where you feel, my companions are all darkness, or the only friend I have right now, the only one who is sticking close to me it feels like is darkness itself. So, some Psalms are down and up, up and down, and up and down, some down, this one mostly up and you need Psalms like that too. 57 and 60 was a distress and then deliverance. Putting the two halves together makes Psalm 108 a Psalm of great exhilaration and divine exultation. This Psalm is for those of you, and I don’t wanna say it’s just teenage girls here, but it may be, who like to text with a lot of exclamation points, this is for you. All exclamation points, that’s what this Psalm is, a Psalm that says from start to finish, God your steadfast love is great, be exulted O God above the heavens, you have promised by your holiness you have routed your enemies, you are my salvation, we will march in victory. Sometimes I hope that’s what you feel and even when you don’t feel it, God wants us to sing that way because those are the facts that God has done this, it is a great hymn of worship and a wonderful song of rejoicing.

Alright, at this point you’re saying, that’s interesting pastor, I understand 57, 60, I didn’t know that before, mash it up together, cool, but you hype this up a little bit, you said we were never gonna look at this Psalm the same again, so what’s the big deal here, what’s the twist on this Psalm. Let me back into that with reminding you of some theological categories. You’ve heard me say before that you can look at the life of Christ in two states, the state like North Carolina, South Carolina, but His condition under the law, theologians call them the state of humiliation and the state of exultation. Even if you haven’t learned those terms before almost all of you have repeated the various aspects of the state of humiliation and the state of exultation. You say, how have I done that, because it’s in the Apostles’ Creed that “He was born to the virgin, He was made incarnate, He suffered, died, buried, descended into hell.” All of that is the state of humiliation. The Apostles’ Creed gives his life and ministry as one of humbling and then the creed says, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, sits at God’s right hand, coming again to judge the living and the dead. That’s the state of exultation, whenever you say the Apostles’ Creed and you go through those familiar lines, you’re retracing Christ in His humiliation and Christ in His exultation. If you don’t have the humiliation He can’t accomplish the work for His people, but if we just leave Christ in His humiliation as someone that we say, well isn’t that really special and we feel sorry for him, then that’s not the accomplishment of His work either. The state of exultation. Now why do I remind us of those theological categories, because this Psalm 108 is a song of Christ’s exultation, it is, it’s a song about Christ. Now we tend not to see Christ where earlier commentators saw him more easily. Now it does take some discernment, it’s not secret hidden Bible code, it’s not trying to scratch through and surprise there’s a Jesus code there, but earlier commentators felt much freer, especially with the Psalms to understand that this is giving to us the life and the work of Christ. Calvin, for example, said David was writing in this Psalm to represent Christ. Augustine said that David in the spirit, “Saw too that all his humiliation and their savagery that this Christ rose again.” He claims that the Psalmist was transported with joy as if he were seeing these things in the life of Christ with his very eyes. Now did David write this down, think to himself, I’m gonna get up and I’m gonna write a Messianic Psalm. He may not have thought in those ways, now I write a prophecy, but did David in writing 57 and 60, was there a sense with so many of the Bible writers as they wrote about these great and extravagant things, moved by the Holy Spirit, a sense that surely there is an even greater fulfillment to come, and that the story of our salvation in our day must find its final resolution in the Messiah who has yet to arrive in Israel.

Romans 15:9, Paul there quotes Psalm 18, which says, “Therefore I will praise you among the gentiles and sing to your name.” Now that’s very similar to Psalm 108:3, “Give thanks to you O Lord among the people, sing your praise among the nation.” Different language, exact same idea. Now why is that important? Because Paul in Romans 15:9 quotes that idea from the Psalms as a way of describing the worldwide rein of Christ. The apostle Paul read the Psalms and came to language like that and said, “This is about Jesus.” Jesus sang the Psalms after all, this was His hymn book, so this is not a fanciful interpretation, the pastor pulls a Jesus rabbit out of the hat, this is how the Psalms were meant to be read and sung. So, let’s look at Psalm 108 again and think about Christ. Only Jesus can perfectly declare verse 1, “My heart is steadfast, O God”, only Jesus can say that absolutely and then Jesus is the one who awakens the dawn, striding forth from the tomb, that’s why I went back to Psalm 57, it’s a cave Psalm, it’s one who is buried in the earth. There’s a reason churches throughout history have often sung Psalm 57 on Easter morning to see that just as David strode forth and the Lord preserved him and gave him resurrected life as it were, so Christ awakens the dawn early on the first day and in verses 1 through 3 our resurrection, well now you have eyes to see verses 4 and 5 are Christs’ ascension, exulted in glory, given a position of authority and honor with all of the enemies placed under His feet and then we can see verses 7, 8, and 9 as the worldwide conquest of the gospel. I want you to see this is not a fanciful reading, you just think, what is David telling us, he’s saying here’s what deliverance looks like for the people of God. Deliverance is like being sealed in the earth as good as dead, and it looks like bursting forth with joy in the morning and then it looks like being raised up to the heavens and then deliverance looks like being given all power and dominion and conquering one’s enemies and then gathering your people to lead them to an everlasting victory. God’s people were meant to sing Psalm 108, rejoicing for what God had done in David’s day, but also welling up within them the question, who can do such a thing, who can do all of this? That might be a question you’re asking this very morning. Wars and rumors of wars in the middle east, war in Ukraine for years now, riots in the street of Los Angeles, assassination in Minnesota yesterday, protests around the country, you may be tempted to think no matter your political persuasion, God has left us, what is happening in this world. You may even ask the question, how can I get to the fortified city, the city that is above. No man can get you there, no man can bring you safely through these many dangerous toils and snares, but by God’s power you can ride out victorious. We can trample down sin, death, and the devil. That’s what we’re meant to see and to celebrate, that Christ alone has done these things and Christ now calling from north and south and east and west, just like we saw from Psalm 107 last week, is calling to himself, his people to give us help against our spiritual foes. You may think you have political foes, you may think they’re international foes and God does not discount those things, but the great foes that we have to consider are sin, flesh, and the devil.

So, you see here what God is doing in this Psalm. It is on the one hand aspirational, leading us to praise God early in the morning. It is also very realistic at times we feel like God, I’ve been on a losing streak, you’re not on my side, what has happened, and above all in Psalm 108 it points us to the finished work of Christ, and it points us to the great triumph that we have in Jesus. That’s why I said I hope that by the end of this sermon you would not read this Psalm the same again, and I hope that this short series on the Psalms helps you not only understand how to interpret the Psalms, and how to interpret the Bible, but how to interpret your life. This is true for you, this is very true for me and I’m a pastor and I get to study the Bible and I have a wonderful job, and yet it is certainly true of everyone in this room that you and I think of Christ too little, we consider His works among us too little, we trust in His goodness too little, we have eyes that are too small to see all that He is doing and we ask of Him too little, and we depend upon Him too lightly. You know that the story of the Bible is Emmanuel, God with us, and you may know that famous turn in Ephesians chapter 2, “We were dead, and our sins and trespasses and we were sons of disobedience by nature and then that great turn, but God.”

Well, we have something similar here in verse 13. You think of all your trials, you think of the discouragement, you think of maybe what is fearful in the world around you, you think of illness in your life or someone that you love or you think of a great task ahead of you or some new venture, you feel like I don’t know if God is going out with this army, I don’t now that I have the strength to do what God is asking me to fight this addiction, to press through another day, to deal with another sleepless night. Look at the wonderful words in verse 13, those two words which ought to be absolutely transformative, with God, not by yourself, with God we shall do valiantly. With God we can tread down our foes. With God we can sing praises among the nations. With God, we can say, “you are exulted above the heavens and your glory over all the earth.” Those two little words, with God make all the difference. Let’s pray.

Our heavenly Father, we give thanks for your many mercies in Christ, all of your promises are yes and Amen in Him. Give to our hearts such satisfaction, such confidence that these words would be a great balm to our soul and you would give us such cause to praise you, you have, remind us in the morning to awaken the dawn and lead us we pray as our once and coming king in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 08:27:12 GMT

I was thinking what to do for four weeks here in June before, Lord willing, get to a usual break that church so graciously gives to me and my family in July. We’ll be, Lord willing, going out to Colorado for a week during that time and seeing Trish’s family out there. We haven’t all been out there since 2018 when Trish’s father passed away, so we’ll be doing that for a week and then mostly we’ll be around here, and I’ll be doing some writing and study and other things and watching the Tour de France and lots of fun things. So, these four weeks I thought what to do and I was a little bit jealous over the past months on Sunday evening as the other pastors did the series on the Hallel Psalms. I knew that that was coming and often in the summer there’s been some short series on the Psalms, and I haven’t always been able to do many of them, so I was thinking where to find four Psalms. You may ask, well why did you choose these four? Well, I like them, and it starts Book 5, Psalm 107, 108, 109, 110. I think you’ll find that these are somewhat familiar and yet not the most familiar of the Psalms and this is where we’ll be heading for these next four weeks in the month of June. So, pray with me as we come to Psalm 107 this morning.

Father in heaven, give us ears now to hear that we might receive your Word, not hearers only, but doers. Not simply to understand the text, we start there. To feel what we ought to feel and do what we ought to do and believe what we ought to believe. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Follow along as I read Book 5, Psalm 107.

[1] Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! [2] Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble [3] and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. [4] Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; [5] hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. [6] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [7] He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. [8] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [9] For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. [10] Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, [11] for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. [12] So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. [13] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [14] He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. [15] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [16] For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. [17] Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; [18] they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. [19] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [20] He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. [21] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [22] And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! [23] Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; [24] they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. [25] For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. [26] They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; [27] they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. [28] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [29] He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. [30] Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. [31] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [32] Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. [33] He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, [34] a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants. [35] He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. [36] And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; [37] they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. [38] By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish. [39] When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow, [40] he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes; [41] but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks. [42] The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth. [43] Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

This may be the most important Psalm that you never think about. There are other more famous Psalms, Psalm 23, Psalm 51 that great cry of repentance from David when he’s confronted, Psalm 1 blessed is the man. Psalm 119 the longest chapter in the Bible extolling the Words of God. This psalm you recognize some familiar phrases, but likely is not one of those Psalms that you’ve studied in depth or have heard many, many sermons preached, and yet it is in this very Psalm a microcosm of the entire human experience. Gregory of Nyssa, an early church father, said about this Psalm, “It contains a complete consummation and recapitulation of human salvation”, and that’s not an exaggeration. This Psalm is the story of Israel’s deliverance. It is the story of our salvation, and it is the story of what Christ has done for sinners.

I want to start, I hope you have your Bible’s open, I want you to notice before we go deeper, I want you to notice the overall structure. Sometimes we think about poetry as being that kind of art form that just wells up within the poets and we have a romantic kind of ideal that true art must be something that breaks all the rules and just kind of explodes out of the artist, and yet I think most artists, especially art that lasts, would tell you that it’s often quite the opposite, that the most amazing pieces of music follow certain rules. Poetry follows a great number of rules related to words and economy and structure, and so it is here with this Psalm, lest we think Psalms are poetry, poetry is art, and art is about feeling instead of rules and structure. Well, this is about feeling, this is meant to be a vehicle of great experiential feeling and it does so with certain rules and structure. So, notice, the deliberate outline of this Psalm. The big idea very helpfully is given to you in the first and the last verse. Verse 1, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, his steadfast love endures forever!” There’s the title page, there’s the banner waving over this Psalm and as if the point were not obvious, look at verse 43, “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things and let him consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”

So, the point of this Psalm is right there, no one should miss it, this Psalm is here that you and I might consider and attend to the steadfast love of the Lord. Now notice the setting, verse 2, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble”, and then verse 3 here it’s very important, “Gathered in from the lands, from east, west, north and south.” This is a song to be sung by the exiles upon returning to the land of Israel. Gathered after they had been scattered because of their sin and now returns. So, this is a song of deliverance, to thank God for His steadfast love that He has redeemed His people. You know that word redeemed, its such a familiar Bible language, Christian language, but it originally means to purchase someone like a slave, to purchase their deliverance, to redeem them, like you would redeem a coupon. He has redeemed his people and then, as I pointed out, there are these four main sections. You can see them very clearly and, in the ESV, helpfully there’s an extra space in between these scenes. Verse 4, “Some wandered in desert wastes.” Verse 10, “Some sat in darkness.” Verse 17, “Some were fools through their sinful ways”, and then verse 23 “Some went down to the sea in ships.”

Each of these four scenes follows the exact same pattern, I hope you noticed it when I was reading the text. First there is a description of a predicament, what’s the trouble, and then we are told the turning point, they cried to the Lord in their trouble, then God rescues them and finally there is an exhortation to thank the Lord for His steadfast love. Each of those scenes unfolds in the same way, predicament, they cry to the Lord, God rescues them, thank the Lord for His steadfast love. And then, at the end there are two other sections stressing this main point. Look at verses 33 through 38, and they’re offset by a space and then verses 39 through 42, and each of these final two sections we have the theme of reversal. God casts down the proud and the mighty and he lifts up the humble and needy. It was a very deliberate structure. First and last verse tell us what the Psalm is about, we get the setting, this is the exiles returning, we have four scenes and then we have two reversals. It is, as I said a moment ago, the story of Israel’s deliverance, the story of our salvation, and the story of what Christ has done for sinners. Those are our three points, I want us to look at each of them.

First then, I want you to see how this is the story of Israel’s salvation. So, I already mentioned in verse 3 the reference to the exiles, but I want you to see there’s a connection between Psalm 105, 106, and 107. Go back and look at Psalm 105. It’s another thanksgiving Psalm and you notice in verse 6 for example, “offspring of Abraham, children of Jacob, his servants.” Verse 9, “The covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac.” Psalm 105 is tracing out the history of Israel and it starts with the promise to Abraham, Issac, and to Jacob, they were few in number, they were sojourners and then it takes God’s people to Egypt and we’re introduced to Moses and we have the Exodus and then, look at the very end verse 44, “And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil, that they might keep his statues and observe his laws.” So, Psalm 105 traces Israel’s history, Abraham down to Egypt, and Moses the Exodus and it ends with the conquest of Israel. They were given the land of the people of the nations and there they are in the land that they might follow the Lord’s command. That’s Psalm 105.

Now notice how 106 ends. Look at verse 47. “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.” It’s a different setting. Psalm 105 is their triumphant history entering the promised land. It ends “We’re in the land to obey God’s statute”, but of course they didn’t obey God’s statutes and they were punished and they experienced the covenant curses that God had threatened, and so Psalm 106 ends not in the land, Psalm 105, but outside the land calling upon God, “Gather us, we’ve been scattered to the nations.” They’re in the land at the end of 105, they’re away from the land, scattered in 106 which is why 107 then is the answer to that prayer. Now gathering them in from the lands. This is Israel’s story in 105, 106, 107, the promise to Abraham, slavery in Egypt, Exodus under Moses, conquest of Canaan, disobedience, exile, salvation, and return.

Now these four scenes in 107 they may depict something of the actual trials the exiles faced as they had to return to the land, but even if they’re not literal historical vignettes, they are meant to give a spiritual picture of God’s people and describe the plight from which the nation had been delivered. So, this is first of all the story of Israel. Here’s what happened to Israel. Now the second heading, here’s where we’ll spend most of our time. It is not only the story of Israel’s deliverance. That would be interesting, and we like the Bible and we like to know our history and we could say, “Interesting, I hadn’t seen the connection of those three Psalms before.” But it’s not only that, it’s the story of your salvation. It’s the story of our deliverance. I pointed out the word some that begins these four sections and that’s a fine way for the ESV to render it, and it makes it easy to see these scenes, but we do need to realize that each of these scenes begins in a slightly different way. It doesn’t actually begin with some, and that’s important because we don’t want to think that we’re looking here at four distinct groups of people, that the camera is zooming in, okay we’re gonna look at some, here’s some wanderers, that’s one group of people. Then we’re gonna look at some people who are afraid, that’s another group of people. As if they were all distinct people. The first scene begins with the words, “They wandered”, the second, “Those sitting”, the third scene begins with the word “fools”, and the fourth scene begins “Those going down.” Now here’s why that is important. I agree with the majority of the commentators who says we are not meant to see four different groups of people, but we’re meant to see God’s people from four different angles. It’s not unlike if you were here for the Revelation series a couple of years ago. The key to understanding Revelation is to realize that we’re not seeing this picture and then this picture as if it’s one massive timeline from chapter 5 to the end of the book, but we’re seeing a recapitulation, that is we’re saying, let’s look at what’s happening in the world with this set of pictures and now let’s look at it from this set of pictures, that’s what we have. And if you are honest, you will recognize yourself in one or more of these scenes. You’ll recognize yourself perhaps in the past, and you can say praise God cuz that was me. You may recognize yourself in the present. You may find your heart praying for your kids or your grandkids or someone you know, or a neighbor as you think they’re here in these four scenes.

Scene 1 we can entitle, The Homeless are Given a Home. The predicament, they’re wandering, they’re hungry, thirsty, no city to dwell in and then the deliverance, in each of these sections the deliverance exactly matches the plight that the people are in. So, the predicament in this first scene is that the people are wandering, they’re hungry, they’re thirsty, and they have no place to lay their head. They have no city. And so, verse 7, the deliverance is God leads them, He gives them a city to live in, and verse 9 He satisfies them with good things. The homeless are given a home. Have you ever felt far from home, you don’t have to be literally on the streets homeless, you may even be here this morning and you’re here in a very comfortable place and you may be far from your physical home, from the place of your birth, or this can be even more painful. You look around and you think, no, this is where I’ve been for a long time, and I know lots of people and lots of people know me and yet there’s something in your heart that feels like everyone else has a place to go but me. Or maybe you feel aimless like these wanderers in the desert. Or you have this unquenchable thirst like everything you have done or tried has left you empty and every time you thought, well that next thing, once I get to college then it’s all gonna make sense, no once I get out of there, no once I’m married, no once I have a kid, no once I have grandkids, no once I’m retired and you’re always, (sipping), and you’re still thirsty like when you go on a run and you’re parched and you grab a Coke or a Mountain Dew or something with a lot of sugar, it sounds like a good idea and you realize it makes you more thirsty. That’s the way the world works, gives you this shiny sugary drink, you’re thirsty and they get a nice advertisement, and they see just the beads of sweat coming down, it’s always grabbed out of some mountain stream or polar bears are drinking it, you think surely this is gonna be good. And it is good, and it leaves you even thirstier.

The homeless are given a home. Here’s the second scene. The prisoners are set free. The predicament, look at it there beginning at verse 10, darkness, affliction, chains, hard labor, they fell down and notice, this is important, these are not innocent men and women. This is not a picture of those who have been imprisoned unjustly, but it says very clearly, verse 11, “They rebelled against the Words of God. They spurned the counsel of the most high. “No these men and women have burned bridges in their lives and now they look, who will help me, how did I get into this mess. I told you before that one of the things I had to do in preparation for pass through ministry and it was very scary to me and I felt very unqualified for it, had to work for a season in addictive behavior center. This was not even a Christian environment, and I tried to get in the Gospel wherever I could, working with men and women who were mainly addicted to heroin, drug of choice at that time and that place, and they all had different stories, that were all kinda the exact same story. Tried this, got hooked on this, they burned bridges with people that loved them, with people that tried to help them, with their family. Most of them did not come from positions of destitution and poverty, many of them came from good places or good homes, or middle class upbringings and every single one of them, I would like to say that they were all just ready to receive Christ as their personal Lord and savior, no not quite that, but I can tell you every single one of them realized, “This is not the life I signed up for, this is not where I thought I would be.” Maybe you’ve felt like that, you’ve spent through all of your good capital and all you see around now seemingly is darkness, and to make matters worse, it would be one thing if you felt like, “Well people have just treated me unfairly and I need to get a lucky break in life”, but no, if you’re honest you realize you are in the chains of your own making. You rebelled, you didn’t listen to people who were trying to tell you the truth and now you’re confined, and you’re bound. Commentator Derek Kidner has this great phrase, he says, “In scene one the problem is that the world is too wide and in scene two the problem is that it is too small.” You’re wandering, you’re lost, you’ve got this great big world, you don’t know where you’re going. And now scene two you’re cramped, you’re confined, you’re bound, but deliverance comes, and God brings them out of darkness, he bursts their bonds apart, he shatters doors of bronze, he breaks open the bars of iron. How else can you be delivered from bars of iron unless a strongman comes to set you free.

Scene three. The sinners are healed. Look at the predicament there starting in verse 17, fools, fools suffering for their folly. They have sewed the wind and reaped the whirlwind, and you read in verse 18, “They loathed any kind of food.” Have you ever felt that, say I’m absolutely sick to my stomach, I’m so bound up with grief or anxiety or I see the mess that I’ve made in my life, I don’t even wanna eat. Maybe you have a mom who tries to care for you as moms often do, you need to eat something, you’ll feel better if you just eat more, eat your troubles away. And you get to that place where you think, I don’t even, nothing even sounds good. All I can taste in my life is regret, the future looks bleak. In moments of despair, you’re not even sure what you have to live for. You notice a deliverance, His Word healed, He delivered them from destruction. God can do this in your life, He really can. He can speak a Word; one little Word will fell him. He can give you a Word and suddenly things don’t seem so desperate, the clouds part just a little. Not usually all at once, your life doesn’t usually go from cataclysmic thunderstorms to bright shining rainbows and unicorns, but you can see a cloud just a little bit as God comes, brings His healing mercy, reminds you of His steadfast love. You know who hates your sin more than you do, God does. You know who’s more willing to forgive you than you are, God is, and there’s a final scene.

The fearful are comforted. You see verse 23. Notice now the predicament is not so much our sins are our sighs. Maybe you were listening to these first three scenes, especially number two and number three and you think, “Okay, that’s not me right now.” I don’t think that I’m suffering because of my sins or because of my folly or my rebellion against God, but it may be, not your sin, but your sighs, meaning you look out like these men did and you see great waters, mountains to the heavens, and troubles down to the deeps and it’s such a remarkable description of what we feels like sometimes as our problems seem so much more massive than your ability to handle them. You don’t know where you’re gonna get the hours in the day, you down know if you even have anymore tears to cry, you don’t know how you’re gonna get through next week let alone the next decades and you feel like this. Verse 26, “Your courage has melted, your reeling, you’re staggering like a drunk man. You’re at your wits’ end.” You’re saying, “I don’t know what to do.” What you have in your life this morning is panic and the deliverance to meet that need as God calms the storm, He brings them into a safe haven. That moment when you cry out to God and say, “The world is too big, my problems are too big, the loss of this loved one is too big, this diagnosis is too big, the unknown ahead of me is too big, I’m lost at sea, I can’t do this.” God says, “I can bring you to a safe haven. I can calm that storm.”

And we have then two final stanzas of reversals. Just look quickly at verses 33 through 38. This is deliberately covenant language, Leviticus, Deuteronomy have all these warnings. If you as God’s people follow God’s ways, you’ll have blessing and blessing means prosperity and it means children and it means livestock, and fruitful land, and if you don’t then He will curse your land. And that’s exactly what we see. Do you notice the opposite 33 and 34. What’s God doing. He is cursing the land because of His people’s iniquity. He turns rivers desert, water thirsty, fruitful land salty waste. Why, because the people were evil and then it switches just like that. In verse 35 is just the opposite. Now the desert becomes pools of water, now the parched land is not salty anymore, it becomes springs of water. Now you’re no longer hungry, but He gives you food, you’re no longer homeless, He gives you a city to dwell in, why. Verse 38, “Because you have been blessed.” What we read in that famous passage in Chronicles, “If my people who go by my name will repent and will turn, I will heal their land.” And so, He does and it’s the same pattern in verses 39 through 42. The proud and the wicked are brought low. In verses 39 and 40, diminished, brought low, oppression, evil, sour, pours contempt on princes, makes them wander, that’s casting down the mighty and the arrogant, and then it all switches in verse41 and 42, “But he will raise up the needy, he will make families to be like flocks, he will give you great blessing.”

Notice, the turning point in all four of those scenes is exactly the same. You can’t miss it. The turning point in every one of those scenes of desperation, “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.” In many ways to be a Christian is just that simple and just that hard. It’s very simple. Number one, do you know you are in trouble?. Number two, will you ask for help? Number three, will you cry to the Lord? Whether you feel that sense of trouble right now, we don’t all feel these scenes always at the same time, praise God not all of life is like this, but live long enough and all of you will have these experiences of these four scenes and some of you are experiencing them right now and the turning point, it’s so obvious, what’s the lesson, will you cry to the Lord? Every parent, we have this experience of at times watching our kids and we just so much want them to ask for help. Parents like to come in and offer the help, or do the help, and when they’re young and little and they need your rescue and they can’t do anything about it, then you do it. And they get older, and you need them to say, “I need something from you.” And so the Christian life is God our heavenly Father urging, pleading, calling, waiting that you in the midst of your distress would come to the end of yourself, come to the end of thinking, I know how to figure my way out of this, I’m smart enough, I’m brilliant enough, I’m good looking and doggone it people like me, I can do this. And you realize, no, a Jehoshaphat prayer, when you don’t know what to do, our eyes are on you Lord. We absolutely are surrounded, and we don’t know what to do, but we cry out to you for help because you love to hear us.

Do you remember the story of Jonah. He did almost everything wrong. He disobeyed the Word of the Lord, he went the other way, he almost ruined the vessel he was on because it was cursed. Later he complains about the plant that withered, he’s a whiner, and it’s worse than that, Jonah has a heart that desires mercy for a vine more than he desired mercy for the Ninevites and you say, “Well he preached the Gospel to the Ninevites”, well the only Gospel we have recorded that he preached is he went in there and he said, 40 days and you’re gone! He might have actually liked that message, and then they repented. There’s really only one place we know for sure in that famous story that Jonah gets it right in the belly of the whale, when he’s helpless and he cries out for deliverance, and he actually prays with the language of the Psalms. Have you considered that the Lord may have you in this season of difficulty, of trial, of trouble, of discouragement, of panic, of confusion, He may have you there for the very reason to teach you and to teach me to cry out to Him and say, Lord you’ve got me in this mess, what could you possibly be doing. Well one of the things He is surely doing is to teach you the lesson of Psalm 107, “And then they cried to the Lord in their trouble. God always hears the cry of a humble broken heart in their trouble. He never puts his fingers in his ears and says, too much, no, no, no, you’ve got too many sins, not this time, I’m not falling for this one again. Last time you called out in trouble and you’re in the same mess again, I’m not doing it.” He loves to hear when you pray, you cry out.

And here’s the final story. It’s not the longest, but it’s the most important. This is a story of Israel’s deliverance. This is the story, the human story of our sin, our predicament, our suffering, our need for salvation, and it is the story of what Jesus Christ has done for sinners. I hope by this point you have exploding in your mind all sorts of examples where Christ’s life and ministry is the incarnation of Psalm 107. First think that Jesus Himself was given an exile experience. Jesus was, in a manner of speaking, in a far country. Jesus knew hunger and thirst. Jesus had no place to lay his head. Jesus was bound as a captive. Jesus was led through the valley of the shadow of death into the abyss, into darkness, and he died and suffered and was buried. Jesus experienced this exile. “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” “God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why am I in exile from you, but not only that, you think of all the times in Christ’s life and ministry where the very deliverance spoken of in Psalm 107 is the exact deliverance that Christ gave, “Are you hungry? He says, I am the bread of life. Are you thirsty? Whoever drinks the water that I give him will never thirst again. Are you homeless, I go to prepare a place for you. In my father’s house are many rooms. You afraid of death, I am the resurrection and the life. Are you wandering, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Are you mired surrounded in darkness, those who walked in the shadow of darkness have seen a great light. Do you need to be set free; Jesus came to set the captives free, Peter, Paul, Silas in the Book of Acts, but even more importantly, freedom from sin, self, and the devil. Do you feel sick, by his wounds you are healed. Are you there in the midst of the storm, Jesus said peace be still and the storm was silent. Are you far from home, He can bring you there.”

Luke 13:29 this parable of the kingdom Jesus says, “People will come”, notice the language”, “from east and west, from north and south. He is gathering and has gathered the people from the four corners of the earth just like Psalm 107 said. Luke 153, “He has filled the hungry with good things.” If your experience in life right now is lost, hunger, thirst, exhaustion. If you are like that prodigal, isn’t Psalm 107 the story of the prodigal son, squandered his inheritance, kicked out of the land because of his own folly and sins, who says I’m so hungry, if I could only eat the pods that the pigs will eat. Darkness, death, that’s all the prodigal has, that’s all the predicament of Psalm 107, but there’s deliverance. If you turn around and head for home the Father will run with open arms and meet you and greet you and embrace you and kill the fatted calf, this is the story of what Jesus Christ has done for sinners. So, what is our response? Well, I said it at the very beginning, it’s given in verse 1 and it’s given again in verse 43, our response is to consider the steadfast love of the Lord. If you say, what can I do, my life is a mess, I have darkness, I have fears, what can I do? It’s really very simple, you can cry out, you can consider, and you can give thanks, give thanks.

Ah, I hate that your senior pastor is sometimes a whiny Christian, but he is. I was gonna say ask my family, don’t ask my family. Compliance, yet complaining at times. When I have virtually nothing but good things all around me and if you have eyes to see it, so do you, even in the midst of pain. What marks the Christian? There are many ways to answer that question. Here’s one of the most fundamental marks of a Christian. You say thank you. You ever notice at the end of Romans 1 it’s this graphic chapter of all of these sins and goes through sins of men inflamed in lust for men and women exchanging natural relations with other women and you think, well surely those are not my sins and then you get to Romans 121, “They neither glorified God nor did they give thanks.” You know what’s at the heart of all of that sin, they couldn’t recognize the gift God had given them, they couldn’t give thanks. Do you have eyes to see the world as God would have you see the world. Gilbert Burnet was born in Scotland in 1643, he was a philosopher, a historian, he was appointed the Bishop of Salisbury in England and each year Bishop Burnet visited the parishes under his charge and the story is told that one year he came to a home, if you could even call it a home, because it was so destitute, so ramshackle he immediately felt sorry for whomever had to live in this dwelling and yet as he drew closer to do his parish visit, he could hear in this ramshackle home a voice singing and shouting praises to God and he looked into the window and he saw a pitiful creature to him, a woman as poor as he had ever seen, and behold her was an even more pitiful meal. There on a simple stool was a piece of black bread and a cup of cold water, but as the Bishop leaned in feeling sorry for this woman, maybe even a little repulsed, he saw that her eyes and her hands were lifted to heaven that she might give thanks for her meal and this is what she said, “What, all this and Jesus too?”

Charles Spurgeon said about verse 43, “Those who notice providences shall never belong without providence to notice.” Do you have the eyes to see all that God has given you and consider and rejoice and give thanks. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good. For His steadfast love endures forever, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let’s pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word, for your many blessings, help each one of us man, woman, child of whatever age at the beginning of life, nearing the end of life that we might do just as this Psalm instructs us. To consider, to pay attention, to look for the steadfast love of the Lord. We thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Godly Men and Godly Women: Male and Female He Made Them

Fri, 30 May 2025 13:01:33 GMT

Gracious heavenly Father, we ask once again that you would help us, I need your help that I might speak your Word clearly, humbly, boldly, faithfully. Your people, we need your help that we might listen, that you might teach us and shape us and give us ears to receive your Word, not hearers only, but doers. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Our text comes from the very first chapter in the Bible Genesis chapter 1, bringing to a close this three-week series on living as godly men and godly women. I thought about starting here, but we are going to end here in Genesis chapter 1, verses 26-28. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female, He created them and God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it that have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Everything you need to know about yourself starts in these three verses. Now I did not say everything you need to know about yourself can be found in these three verses, there is a lot that we need to know and the Bible is a big book to tell us a lot of things, but I did say, and believe that everything you need to know about yourself as a human being starts in these three verses. They’re familiar to many of us, but I want you to think about what we have here, of all the things that God could have revealed to us about ourselves, all the questions we might have and wish that He would answer of all of the critical information He could give us at the beginning of time He chose to make known these two things. Number one, you were created in the image of God and number two, you were created in that image as male or female. Those two things are true of every person in this room. Now don’t do this in a real awkward way, just a slightly awkward way, I want you to actually look around the room a bit.The people next to you, okay, see there’s I don’t know, 1300-1400 people here, look around, you see all these people, you like some of them, don’t point to any you don’t like, don’t elbow them, but you see all these people at a lot of different ages, newborn, up to 100 and beyond in this church. You can look around, there are people who were raised right here in Charlotte, people from other countries, you have people of all sorts of economic backgrounds, people with different skin color, people who grew up speaking English, grew up speaking some other language, every single one of you, everyone in this room, you were made in the image of God and every single one of you, God made you, as male or female. Those are the two big things we’re gonna look at and we’ll spend more of our time on the second half.

Think about the image of God. You probably have had teaching on this before. This language of image and likeness for being so critical, foundational to everything in the Bible and really you can say foundational to western civilization, we’re actually a little surprised that it does not have more information. It does not tell us very explicitly what it means to be made in the image, we’ll come back to that in a moment, and it’s only in a few places, in particular in Genesis. So here in chapter 1 we have this language and notice it starts in verse 26, “Let us make man”, the ESV has a little footnote, the Hebrew word for man, adam, is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam. So first of all, it says, “Mankind as a collective was made in the image of God”, and then it will say individually “You are also made in the image of God.” So adam is the word for humankind, for mankind, so what we’ll see is there is a male adam and there is a female adam, and the head of the human race will then be called with that proper name, Adam.

So, we see it here at creation but turn a few pages to Genesis chapter 5. Now this is important because chapter 3 and chapter 4 go together really as the fall, we know chapter 3 is the fall, then we see the outworking with Cain and Able and then chapter 5 begins, This is the book of the generations of Adam when God created man He made him in the likeness of God, male and female He created them and He blessed them and named them man when they were created. Now why is that there, to show us even after the fall this is still operative, you are still made in the image of God and that same creation mandate is present. God blessed them, said be fruitful and multiply and then one other time in these opening chapters go to chapter 9 and this makes sense so you have the image of God language at creation, that’s one inflection point. You have the image of God after the fall and then you have the third time the image of God language after the flood, because after the flood it is like creation 2.0. Look at chapter 9:6, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image”, and here it is repeating once again the command and you be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth, and multiply in it. So, three times at these inflection points to tell us at creation you’re made in the image of God, take dominion, be fruitful. Then after the fall the same thing and then here after the flood once again.

What does it mean to be made in the image and the likeness of God. Over the centuries lots of theologians have tried to unpack what that means and many over the years have identified the image of God with a set of attributes that human beings possess. So it’s often said that to be made in the image of God is to have capacity for reasoning or maybe an appreciation for beauty or the capacity for language, and there may be some truth in all of that, but you’re hard to find anywhere in the Bible that actually spells out those elements of consisting in the image of God and if we sin well that’s what the image of God really means, well that you can reason and you can speak a language. Can AI reason, speak a language? I have seen this terrifying story this week of this AI machine that threatened to blackmail its maker with an affair he had had if he didn’t do something. That, that sounds like maybe the robots are getting too smart. Number one, don’t have an affair, number two don’t put it in an email, number three don’t give all your emails to AI, so there’s one way around it. Don’t animals have language, haven’t people studied that with the dolphins and the whales, and more importantly, if we say the image of God is in rationality and human language, we all know persons, people we love in our own church who don’t have those abilities either because of old age or born with certain disabilities. Do we want to say that they are somehow less in the image of God, certainly not, so is there a better way. Let me give you two-word pairs. These both come from a book by John Kilner who taught at Trinity. Let me give you two-word pairs you can just stick easily in your head, won’t give a lecture, just two-word paris to help you think, what does it mean to bear the image of God.

Here’s the first word pair. Connection and reflection. So connection meaning that human beings have a special calling, we are made to have a covenant relationship with God, so that’s the connection and then reflection. We were made to look like God. God does not propagate other deities, but He places us in the world to propagate His image and His likeness. Tselem and demut, those are the Hebrew words for image and likeness, and they are both used in the Old Testament at times to refer to a physical image of some other kind of deity. In fact, we should think of, you know in a temple in the ancient world, there’s a temple to a God and then the God puts His image in that temple. Now the temple in Jerusalem famously didn’t have an image, it had the arc of the covenant, which was not an image, but it was a box to represent the glory of God. Well, this creation is the temple. Psalm 78, He build His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth he established it forever. So God’s temple on the earth was meant to be a reflection of the greater cosmos and heavens that is His temple. So, if this whole universe in a way is the temple of God, then to place in that temple an image makes sense. In fact, there’s all sorts of connections between creation and the building of the temple. Both are conspicuously by the spirit of God, in both cases there is an inspection of the work, there is an announcement of the completion of the work, and then a blessing, and a consecration of the work that the temple tabernacle before that is the kind of creation and creation is a holy temple and therefore we are put into God’s house, this world, to occupy it and to reflect His image, to say, This is God’s world. We’re meant to reflect who God is. So that’s the first, connection and reflection.

Similarly, here’s the second word pair, and this is the title of Kilner’s book, Dignity and Destiny. Dignity meaning to be made in the image of God is inherently whatever choices you make, they may or may not reflect the image. Come to that in a moment, but whatever your mental or physical capacities, you have dignity, having been made in God’s image. James 3:9, “With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.” And James is saying, “May it not be.” That doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with people, or we can’t criticize what other people do, or we can’t hold other people accountable, of course we can, but it means “Everyday as you interact with one another you think, this is someone who has the dignity of a royal stamp upon their life of the king of the universe. And as C.S. Lewis famously said, it would almost make you shutter if you could really see the full grandeur of the human person, that everyone within an immortal soul will live forever in heaven or hell. We think far too little of who we are as human beings. So, there’s a dignity, a special status set us apart from all else in creation, all other animals and then a destiny. See the Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about what it means to be made in the image, but it does tell us a lot about who is the image. We’ve already read that from Colossians. Christ is the image of the invisible God, so the New Testament helps explain Genesis. What does it mean to be made in the image of God. It means fundamentally that each and every one of you were created that you might be conformed to Jesus Christ. You were made to know Jesus Christ, and conform to his image so that’s destiny, that the image of God, even more than a set of attributes we posses now is something that God created you to be for all eternity. You think about the devil’s temptation in the garden. He says now, God is trying to keep something from you, He didn’t want you either because you’re gonna be like God, that the devil’s lie to us. If you listen to me, the devil says, I can help you be like God. Just follow your desires, do what you want, if it looks good eat it, if it seems pleasurable take it and then, here’s the devil’s eye, you will be like God. Adam should have said, and Eve should have said to that snake, but serpent we already are like God. It’s the lie of the devil to say if you could only find your sense of expressive individualism then you will truly be God-like. When the Bible says, no you will find “your true self when you find yourself in conformity to Christ, that’s who you were made to be, that is your destiny, you already are like God, grow into it.” Dignity and destiny, connection and reflection are the second half, that was the shorter, just a reminder of what it means to be made in the image of God.

Now step back and think, go to verse 27. Why does it add male and female? Now we can look around and say well because we are males and females, but just think, why did God do it this way? Often in Hebrew poetry and this is set apart as a kind of poetic expression, normally Hebrew poetry is given in parallelism, two lines you can see in chapter 2. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, number one, and the day the Lord made the earth and the heavens, number two. Or verse 23, “This is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman; she was taken out of man.” That’s the typical parallelism, two lines that say relatively the same thing, but here we have three in verse 27. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them, that’s the parallelism, that’s what you would expect, but now there’s a third line, male and female. Of all of the things that God wants you to know about yourself, we’re not surprised that He wants us to know about the image of God. We’ve all heard that before, but here is number two of two that he wants you to know about yourself, that’s how important it is, that God made you a man or a woman. He did not create androgynous human beings. There are other creation stories that maybe there’s an androgynous human being that splits apart, half man and woman, but here at the beginning God makes the male and female and he does not redeem us to become androgynous Christians. Herman Bavinck, the great Dutch theologian says, the human nature given to man and woman is one and the same, so it’s a human nature, but in each of them it exists in a unique way and this distinction functions in all of life and in all kinds of activity. You think of that, we all have a human nature and yet God means for us to live out that human nature in unique ways as male or as female. This doctrine that we hold to in the church and the PCA teaches we sometimes call complementarianism. Don’t wanna blame John Piper or Wayne Grudem for the term, but it’s really hard to text all the time and it’s really hard to say, but complement with an e not with an i, meaning men and women equal in God’s image have complementary roles, they do different things and they relate in a different way and we often summarize that, that the man is to be the leader of the household and qualified men are to serve as officers in the church and those things are certainly true and probably you’ve heard teaching on that many times. But we want to be careful that we don’t reduce what the Bible says about men and women to simply a couple of rules, as if men and women, basically everything’s kind of the same, but kinda here’s the bad news, sorry women the man is going to be the pastor or maybe it’s, hey, here’s the good news you don’t have to go to elder meetings, however you wanna look at it.

One of my fears, and I maybe used this analogy before, is that we end up with a kind of arbitrary way of walking about the differences between men and women. So, here’s the homely analogy. When I was a kid and wanted to play basketball in the driveway, you go to the store and you get a basketball and that’s your outdoor ball and it gets all scuffed up and the little beads get worn down and then you might buy a separate basketball and you mark that for your indoor use, if you ever get to go and you get to play at a gym somewhere and you go to the store and you buy two basketballs, they’re exactly the same, same thing, but you put one, that’s my outdoor ball, so that’s got some special rules, and that’s the indoor ball and that’s got some special rules. Sometimes I think people think about men and women like that, although you’ve just got exactly the same and the Bible just happens to have a couple of rules about ways in which they’re different. Then the rules end up just sounding sort of arbitrary and I guess we submit ourselves to scripture, it doesn’t quite make sense, but alright you’ve got one ball and you’re gonna be the outdoor ball and you’re gonna be the indoor ball. What if a better analogy is to think about the basketball and a football. Both balls, both for sports, but for different sports and they don’t function in the same way. You could try to play basketball with an American football, difficult to dribble. You could try to play football with a basketball, hard to hold onto that, hard to throw it very far, so you could try, it just gets awkward and you think that’s not really the way they were designed to be and so when we talk about male and female we want to understand that it’s not that God’s Word slaps on a couple of arbitrary rules, indoor ball, outdoor ball, but rather that God has shaped us and designed us for certain purposes that ought to be reflected in life.

So why does God make us male and female, what are the implications of this. Everyone talks about the importance of being made in the image of God, rightly so, but why does it matter that verse 27 has a third line that we were made male and female. That’s what I want us to look at and give you four implications or four reasons why this is important. Four expressions of the significance of being made male and female. Here’s number one. First reason, this is important. The sexual binary was God’s idea. Sexual binary. By that just mean male female, that’s it, that’s it. Two, binary. One or the other, not both, not three, not many, two. In an article for the Wall Street Journal not long ago evolutionary biologist Colin Wright explains, just a little science for the morning, “In organisms sex is defined by the type of gamete, sperm or ova, it has the function of producing, males have the function of producing sperm or small gametes, females ova or large ones, asides there is no third gamete type, there are only two sexes, sex is binary, there is at a biological definition. People will rightly ask sometimes what about intersex, what about those who are born with a medical objective physical condition in which sexual organs may be undeveloped or ambiguous. I think there’s actually a verse in the Bible that recognizes something like this, Jesus says in Matthew 19:12, “There are eunuchs who have been born so from birth,” He says there are some eunuchs made for the kingdom of heaven, there are people who say, I am not going to give myself in marriage, sex, for the kingdom of heaven Paul talks about that and here there are some who have been so from birth. Obviously, they do not have the category we call intersex, but thinking they certainly understood in their own day some who may have been born without the capacity or without fully functioning sexual organs, but this does not mean there are no longer only two sexes.

Again, here’s a little science. In their article genetic mechanisms of sex determination, two biologists from Boston College explain “In placental mammals the presence of a Y chromosome determines sex.” Now you remember this from high school biology, two X chromosomes for females and an X and a Y chromosome for males. They say that’s normal. On rare occasions, however, someone can be born with more than two chromosomes or with only one chromosome resulting in hormonal or sexual development that is ambiguous or mixed and yet they say, even in these instances sex is still determined by the presence or absence of a Y chromosome. Binary. Sex is a physical reality given to us; God has given to you a body. See for most of human history people understood, I have a body that tells me something, something that is God’s message to me, something that is a given and at times though my feelings or though my brain may tell me something different, I need to bring those feelings and those thoughts into correspondence with the body that is given me and now people are saying the opposite where perhaps the body you were given was wrong and you ought to bring your body into correspondence with what you feel or what you think. The body has been given to us by God. A female body or a male body and though there are certainly lots of exceptions on the bell curve, in general there are very significant differences. In his book, Taking Sex Differences Seriously Steven Rhoads argues that traditional patterns of male initiative, traditional patterns of female domesticity have been constant throughout history because he says the most fundamental human passions, sex, nurturing, care, compassion, aggression, competitiveness, these most fundamental human passions manifest them differently in men and women. One day old female infants, for example, he says respond more strongly to the sound of a human in distress than one day old male infants. Unlike their male counterparts one week old baby girls can distinguish an infant’s cry from other noises. Ladies when you say to your husband, “Didn’t you hear that?”, he probably didn’t. Our differences. Another doctor, Leonard Sax, a medical doctor, PhD. In his book, Why Gender Matters. I’m pointing these out because they’re not Christian books, these are medical professionals. He writes, girls can see better, hear better, and smell better than boys. Maybe one of the reasons why the boy’s area does smell. Conversely he says, boys are hardwired to be more aggressive, to take more risks, to be drawn to violent stories, he stresses these differences cannot be laid at the feet of environment and social engineering, “The biggest sex difference is in expression of genes in the human brain occur not in adulthood nor in puberty, but in the prenatal period before the baby is born.” Certain things about us as men and women, we are often rightly concerned with the ought but before we get to the ought we have to start with the is. By that I mean we have all sorts of questions, well can a man do this, what does it mean to be a man, what does it mean to be a woman, and we’ve tried to look at those in the last two weeks. But before you go there you need to step back and say, well how are we different? And again, this is a generalization, but one could argue that at a younger age there is often the cultural expectation that if only boys were more like girls, meaning, and don’t I feel this as a parent, I like it when my young kids sit still and play nice. I wish they would sit and read a book and nine kids just waiting for one who wanted to sit and read a book. I would appreciate my children not to want to get dirty. These are things, again generalizations, but we know these are things that are more given for young girls to fulfill those wishes than young boys. And might we say the opposite in our culture that in adulthood the things that are often valued are then the things that men tend to excel in and so the cultural message is what makes you someone important? If you have a position of power, if you have athletic prowess, if you are competitive, if you crush, if you win, if you have lots of sexual energy, well these are things that are and for all time have been more associated with men than with women. At a young age these young boys could be more like young girls and then in adulthood the women that we want to put out there and say, wow, congratulations to them, are the women that have more typical male characteristics. We have to realize that this sexual binary was God’s idea to make us as male or female, not identical, not interchangeable.

Second, and it goes along with the first, God created us as sexual beings. The term, I already said in verse 27 and in verse 26, man, mankind is adam and in male is the term zakar, in female neqebah, not just man and woman, but suggestive of sexual differentiation, that this one adam, mankind, will for all time exist as male and female and because that is God’s design, and God is a God of order, it’s why God opposes the confusion of man as woman and woman as man. This is Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 11. There are lots of ways to try to understand what exactly that’s talking about and how to apply it and there are some cultural contextual glues and yet the bottom line in 1 Corinthians 11 is clear and it is this, “It is disgraceful for a man to take on the appearance of a woman and disgraceful for a woman to take on the appearance of a man. Now why, I just want you to see this logic, because from the very beginning God designed you to be a man or a woman and to want to confuse though, yes culture is going to give us lots of clues. I think I shared this story before, I think I heard Alistair Begg say it one time when he was growing up and some of the older men were really just chiding that these women were wearing pants and then somebody said, but you’re wearing a kilt. So, yes there are cultural clues and some of those things will change and yet because God made you as one or the other, you want to blur that if it you think you can switch that and you can’t. It is among other mistakes saying God you did not do what was right and wise and I do not like the way you design the world or designed me. It’s one of the reasons the Old Testament law forbade cross dressing in Deuteronomy 22. You think, well that’s strange out of nowhere, but it makes sense. God of order and design said I made you as one or the other and sexual differentiation means we are also sexual beings. Now yes, the animals are too, but importantly Genesis doesn’t get to that here. Here in chapter 1 just wants to focus. It’s a different way of describing things. It’s only talked about that the animal kingdom reproduces after its kind, but here we’re told male and female and in chapter 2, we will have the two becoming one flesh. Again, have you ever thought why, why did God want to do it this way, why didn’t He do it like in the movie Gremlins, that little mogwai, you reproduce when you get wet. Now that would be a different life wouldn’t it? Why this, God didn’t have to do it this way, he could have, when he says be fruitful and multiply, why not just a high five or why not people who go in and, ya know, like you make fire and you just rub sticks and stones together and there’s a new life, he decided, I’m going to make a male and I’m going to make a female and they are sexual beings and in order for this great purpose in the world, to populate the earth, to be fruitful and multiply it will require a man and a woman. It still does, we have technology that does not insist that two must come together in that conjugal moment, but it still takes male and a female and this, notice at the end of chapter 1, is a part of the creation that God says, “Behold it was very good.” I stress that because you may yourself or someone you know, you may think about the pain associated with sexuality or the confusion. Maybe you’re very confused yourself or maybe you’ve seen how sex has destroyed someone’s life as an addict or a marriage, infidelity, and it can be tempting to think, I wish God just didn’t make us this way, it’s just confusing and painful. God should have picked a different way. You might even be tempted to think, I wish God made me not as a man but as a woman or not as a woman but as a man or maybe you think I just wish He didn’t give me any of these parts at all. If you hate all of that, you hate God’s very good creation. The creation here in Genesis and His creation of your body, what God declared is very good. He made us as sexual beings. Of course it makes sense that the devil wouldn’t he take the image of God so that lie, you need to be like God by doing your own way, that’s getting at the image of God and then the second thing we see, you were made as male and female, wouldn’t it make sense that the devil would concentrate so much of his energy over the millennia at that one thing because it is such a good gift of God and when He can get that messed up in your life, that confused in your life, when He can get you enslaved to that good desire in your life then He has more than a foothold, He has a stranglehold.

Third, implication follows on the second. God created us to carry out this creation mandate as male and female. Notice the creation mandate is given in two commands, dominion and procreation, for the two things. Dominion, subdue the earth and then to be fruitful and multiply. When He says to be image bearers, that’s at least part of what He has in mind, that we are not all given to fulfill these in exactly the same way. It is given to creation, mankind as a whole, and in so far as we are able these are two ways to reflect God, both as a God who is a ruler over things and notice the creation mandate is given to men and women, it’s really revolutionary that both of them would be given the command to subdue the earth, and both of them together are given this command then to multiply. We have been distinguished as differentiated sexual beings in order that we might be suitable for the propagation of the species. So, what other way to say what is a man and what is a woman? A man, someone whose body is oriented toward the implanting of life and a woman the body is oriented to the receiving and the incubating of life. So, when a man and a woman come together as one flesh it carries out that sexual act for a single organic purpose. It is an amazing thing that a man and a woman by God’s design can create a living soul. You see how that’s Godlike? And God breathed his breath and made a living soul. What greater act of creative power and energy could be given? And to humankind God gives this act.

I’ve maybe talked about this before. Have you ever thought, why, okay one flesh, one flesh union. What is it about that act that is one flesh, that that constitutes, that’s essential to the marital union is a one flesh sexual, why are you not one flesh if you hold hands. Okay, good, good that didn’t mean you were married. But isn’t that one. What if you give somebody a really big hug. You say now I’m understanding you pastor, all you Dutch people you don’t want, well but a hug doesn’t make you one flesh. Aren’t you glad that when you were in grade school, nobody probably still does this before, you lick your finger and you stick it in someone’s ear and you give them a wet willy. I got married today mom. I’m just being a little blunt here but isn’t that one part in another part. That’s not one flesh, why? That’s just combining. A one flesh union is that act that has the latent potential, again our bodies are affected by the fall, but that latent potential to fulfill a unitary organic purpose. That’s why sexual activity between a man and a man and woman and a woman is not a one flesh union. It cannot fulfill that unitive and generative purpose that makes it truly one flesh. You can have body parts come together, but it’s not one flesh for that organic purpose to fulfill the earth, to fill it, and to multiply. And in dominion, within this joint rule the man and the woman are given different tasks, they’re created in different realms, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and keep it. That makes sense because he was made from the ground. The woman was given to be a helper to the man. That makes sense because she was taken from the man. Different tasks, different realms created in different ways. Both fit together that they might subdue the earth, have dominion over it. There is a complementarity of male and female. Another man could have helped Adam till the soil. Another man could have been a friend and helped in loneliness. God could have gifted the man with a plow or a team of oxen or a bunch of golden retrievers to hang out with his buddies in his literal man cave, but none of that would have been a helper suitable for him, that the woman was a helper not mainly to fulfill some emotional loneliness because if you think that, then you think, well anyone who comes together then we call that marriage, if you fulfill emotional needs for each other. She alone was the suitable helper because only the man with the woman could now fulfill the tasks that God had given to them namely to fill the earth. We are sexual beings, and we are meant to carry out the created mandate as these differentiated sexual beings.

And here’s the fourth and finally, God created us male and female so that the whole plan of redemption would make sense. That’s surely a little bit of an exaggeration, it’s not, the story of the Bible does not hold together unless God made us male and female. Think about the complementary nature of creation itself. In the beginning God created what, the heavens and the earth, a pair. And not only that, but within this cosmic pairing we find other couples, the sun and the moon, morning and evening, day and night, the sea and the dry land, plants and animals, all couples and finally at the apex of the creation we have Adam and Eve. In every pairing each part belongs with the other but is not interchangeable with the other. Heaven and earth were created to be together. Why does the Bible end the way it does with heaven coming down to earth and why is that likened in Revelation 19 to a marriage, because that’s the whole picture. The very first couple in the Bible is heaven and earth. The last couple to come together then is heaven come down to earth. None of that coheres without an adam that is both male and female. Two differentiated entities uniquely fitted one for the other. Heaven and earth were created to be together, and so marriage is that symbol of divine design and we see in Revelation in particular all of this transposed to a spiritual key. You said the creation mandate is to have dominion over the earth. Revelation 2, “To him who overcomes I will grant to eat the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” If you’re an overcomer, if you have dominion, now what does dominion look like there, it’s not the size of your house or how many, ya know, bears you can kill in the wild with your hands, it’s to be a spiritual overcomer, to overcome the flesh and the devil and your own sin. When you have that dominion, that spiritual victory, then you are given the right to eat from the tree of life. And what about procreation, well it’s taken to a spiritual key, “And behold I saw what, a great multitude that no one could count.” They filled the earth, they filled the earth, yes with physical human beings, but those physical human beings the point is that then they might be part of this great multitude that gathers around the throne to worship Christ. It makes perfect sense that the coming together of heaven and earth in Revelation 21 is proceeded by the marriage super of the lamb in Revelation 19 because marriage was created as a picture of the fittedness of heaven and earth or as Ephesians 5 puts it, “Of Christ and the church.” Marriage by its very nature requires a complimentary yet differentiated pair. Each part belongs to each other. That’s why marriage is not two men or two women. Government may say what it says, but it’s not, it cannot be, how can that make sense of the whole story, not just of the Bible, but the way God created us. This isn’t just, well you Christians have one definition of marriage, no there is a definition of marriage, and it requires this differentiation, not Christ and Christ or church and church, but Christ and church, male and female.

I want you to think when you are, most of us will be at a wedding sometime this summer probably, they’re great fun, they’re very expensive, they take a lot of your weekend, but they are a great occasion and they should be, they should be a great celebration and a feast and a party and the people should be happy. I want you to think, looking around at all the smiles and all the joy and the bridal party and the groom, the bride, God is giving us a picture of the Gospel. This is the joy that He has for us, now and in the life to come. Revelation 17 is the fall of Babylon. Well of course that makes sense because Babylon is the antichurch. Babylon is the prostitute woman, not the pure woman of the church. If you don’t like stories where, now I’m gonna say this, it’s a little bit over the top, but let me just, I’ll say it, okay, if you don’t like stories where a man rescues a woman, I know you can have them in a bad way, the woman doesn’t have any agency, all those caveats, but if you don’t like those stories, how are you gonna like the end of the Bible. The man rescues the woman. Now here’s the thing to put it in its place, least you’re offended by it, we are collectively the woman in that scene, we’re the church in need of rescue, in need of a deliverer, in need of someone to come and to save us. Jesus Christ, the story of salvation loses its internal coherence without Genesis 1:27. There’s a man, there’s a woman, there’s a wedding, there’s joy forever. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your kindness to us and giving us your Word, pray that you might implant these things deep in our hearts to do them, to think them, to feel them, to delight in them, we pray. Amen.

The Testimony of our Conscience

Thu, 29 May 2025 05:00:00 GMT

2025 Baccalaureate Message for Covenant Day School.

Recorded at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

I want to suggest another voice that you must not ignore. It’s a voice that we don’t think about often.

It’s a voice that earlier generations of Christians talked about quite a lot and there’s actually more in the Bible about this voice than you might realize.

The voice I am talking about is your conscience.

2 Corinthians 1:12. Here’s what Paul says:

“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.”

And so Paul here is writing to defend himself and you notice in this one verse he mentions three things. He says, “simplicity.” (That is my motives were pure.) “Godly sincerity.” (I’m forthright, I’m honest, I’m candid.) And then he says at the beginning, “my boast is my conscience.” Now, that’s strange because if you know something about the rest of Paul’s letters, you know he says that we should boast in nothing except for the Lord or boast in the cross of Christ. So why here does he come out saying, “I am going to boast in the testimony of my conscience?”

Listening to the voice of your conscience is what it means to be made in the image of God. Are you attuned to living with a clean conscience?

You watch Kevin’s message by clicking here.

Godly Men and Godly Women: The Courageous Man

Thu, 22 May 2025 09:07:28 GMT

Oh Lord, we come to you once again and ask for your help. We pray this not simply because sermons usually start with a prayer, but because we need your help, I need your help if I am to preach faithfully and boldly and in your spirit and we need your help if we are to listen and apply these things so we ask that you might give us ears, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

A short text this morning, 1 Corinthians chapter 16:13-14. We are in week two of this brief three-week series I am calling Godly Man and Godly Women. Last week we looked at Godly womanhood, this morning what it means to be a Godly man.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14. “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men. Be strong, let all that you do be done in love.” On March 8, 1554, three Evangelical bishops, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer were ordered to be taken to a prison in Oxford where they would await trial for heresy. Queen Mary whom we know as Protestants as Bloody Mary because she persecuted the Protestant cause, wanted to make an example of these three bishops in particular so that their fate might be a warning to the other reformers and Protestants in England. When next year their trial commenced in 1555, all three men were intransigent. They were unmoved, they refused to be persuaded by the Catholic prosecutor and when it came for their sentences to be read, they each offered in reply a statement of defiance. Cranmer would not be killed until May7 21, 1556. The deaths of the other two bishops would come sooner. By October 15, 1555, the trials of Latimer and Ridley had come to an end and on October 16 the two men were paraded through Oxford, a smaller city back then, past the city gate, led to a stake in front of Balliol College. Cranmer, he was in prison, not yet to die, but his time would come, was brought out of his prison cell and he was made to watch his friends die as they were burnt at the stake. According to a Catholic commentator, Cranmer was traumatized by what he saw, tore off his cap, fell to his knees, began to wail. Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley before they were consumed by the flames, and you can find just a little plaque there in the road for the Oxford Martyrs today, before they were consumed Latimer uttered these famous words, I hope you’ve heard them before, “Be of good comfort Master Ridley and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as I trust shall never be put out.” The candle of course that would be lit was their own flesh and by God’s grace that candle has never been put out and all of us are in some ways in their debt.

Now in that famous line, no one has to explain what it means when one man says to the other, “Play the man.” It means be brave, be strong, show courage, don’t give in, don’t give up, let us die like men. Do people still talk that way, are we allowed to still talk that way? We have at least in my lifetime, I think never been in a time where there’s more confusion around what it means to be a man, if there are even differences that we’re allowed to see between men and women. For many of the last number of years the only time you would hear the word masculinity you know what word comes in front of it, toxic, that’s the only kind of masculinity that our world sometimes knows to talk about and yet there has been a reaction, rightfully so, but sometimes an unhealthy reaction against that sort of mindset and there’s a whole manosphere online you may not be familiar with, you can ask your teenagers or 20-somethings, and that manosphere, if it’s moved away from a toxic masculinity, you might say embraces a transgressive masculinity, a hyper-caricatured, maybe exaggerated anti-female, often looking for ways to prove their transgressiveness as they are men. It’s as if the whole world has said you’re not allowed to be men and then they said, you know what, we are gonna be men and we are going to be, some of us, the worst sort of men we can be. So this is a very relevant question and I don’t think that the Church of Jesus Christ has always ventured forth an answer other than perhaps talking about husbands and wives, that’s very important, talking about men as leaders in the church and in the home, but more broadly, it’s of course related to all that, what does it mean to be a man because I think every man deep down resonates with that exhortation, something in you leaps up no matter your personality type, when Latimer says to Ridley, “Play the man.”

We want to be found as Godly men, to live and to die as faithful men whether we are athletic or artistic, brawny or skinny, macho-looking or unassuming, we want to be men. So, this sermon, yes it’s for women, what you might want to look for in a husband. We saw that last week, the flip side with Proverbs 31 in men. It’s also for those who are married, what you ought to encourage and pray for and verbally praise when you see these things in your husband, and it is in particular for young men, but all of us, what does it look like, what does it mean to grow up into a Godly man. Now I’ve already read those two verses in 1 Corinthian 16 and we’re going to land back at those two verses at the end, but I wanna look at some other parts of 1 Corinthians before we land there because surprisingly so 1 Corinthians, I think, is a book, at least in part helping to teach what it means to be a mature man. Now we don’t see that immediately and I hope you’ll see it and don’t think I’m making this up after this sermon. If you’re thinking, where’s the text on Godly women, Proverbs 31, everyone thinks of that. If you’re thinking, where do I go to find instructions on what it means to be a Godly man you probably don’t think of 1 Corinthians, but they’re here.

So, I want you to turn, first of all to chapter 4 because I want you to understand how Paul is speaking to the Corinthians and how he’s relating to them. Because my argument is that Paul is addressing them as a father to young man and often here in Corinth to immature young men. Now obviously when he says brothers it does include brothers and sisters, the church here would have men and women, but in particular he’s addressing men. Look at what he says 1 Corinthians 4:14, “I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.” So right there we see he’s taking the position of a parent who is writing to spiritual children, “For though you have guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel”, so explicitly he is thinking of himself as a spiritual father writing to his children and as we’ll see these children have some big problems. I urge you then be imitators of me, that’s what a father should be able to say to his sons as ultimately that’s really the first place to start, where do young men learn what it means to be a man, from their fathers. It is such a deficit to overcome and by God’s grace it can be overcome, but it is such a deficit to overcome when men do not grow up with fathers. They’re meant to see, it is caught as much as it is taught. So Paul says, “I’m a father here and I want you to imitate me.” Verse 17, “That is why I sent you Timothy my beloved and faithful child in the Lord to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church. Some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you, but I will come to you soon if the Lord wills and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power for the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power. What do you wish, shall I come to you with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness.”

See here’s the problem. These Corinthians, and as we’ll see the sins that he addresses are sins in particular that the men are committing, these young children in the faith are, as often happens with young men, looking at their father and saying, “Dad you don’t have a clue, you think you’re so tough, you’re a wimp, you’re a weak dad, we want some real strength”. And you see back up in verse 8, already you have all you want, here’s Paul talking, exasperatedly, somewhat sarcastically, “You’ve become rich. Without it you become kings and would that you did reigns we might share rule with you for I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all. Like men sentenced to death we’ve become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ sake.” Now he’s speaking tongue in cheek, he is repeating to them the sort of things, and the sort of attitude they have toward Paul. “We are fools, but you are wise. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.” This is what the Corinthians thought of Paul. They said, “Paul, you’re nothing, you don’t have real power, we like these super apostles, we like these false teachers cuz they come in and they give us all the macho vibes that we like. Not you Paul.” That’s why Paul says at the end of chapter 4, “We’ll see what real power looks like, and I’d like to come gently, but I’ll come with power if that’s what it takes.” So, Paul is addressing the Corinthians as a father speaking to them as boys who need to grow up and be men.

And what follows in chapters 5 and 6, and we don’t have time, but you could just about go through the whole book and see this, but in particular chapter 5 and 6, and I want you to see four examples that Paul is going to highlight where they are acting like boys instead of men. Number one, chapter 5, Sexual Immorality in the Church. Verse 1, “It is actually reported that here is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.” This is not the mother, his own mother, that would have been a different word, but this is deliberately the language of Leviticus and it’s referring to a stepmom. It’s not his biological mom, but yet the wife of his biological father. It says, “You have someone who has committed this sexual sin, sleeping with his father’s wife, this is something that even the pagans know is wrong.” Leviticus 18 says that in sleeping with your father’s wife you uncover the shame and nakedness of your father. So, you have to follow the logic here. It’s not only that it’s a sin, obviously you can see its adultery, you shouldn’t be having sex with this person, but it’s more than that, because the father had slept with this woman, for the son to sleep with the same woman is an assault on his father’s manhood. To expose, I’m just gonna use the nontechnical words here, to expose her private parts is to expose his private parts. It is an act of usurpation, it deprives the father of virility, and authority, it is as one commentator puts it, an act of virtual castration.

Now, if that weren’t bad enough, look at verse 2, “And you are arrogant.” I hope you don’t know young men like this, but young men sometimes are like this. The worse they do the more they boast of the things that they’ve done. “Ought you not rather to mourn. Let him who has done this be removed from you.” So, Paul is speaking to them like wild teenage boys in Corinth who are boastful of this sexual prowess of this offender and Paul says, “You should be ashamed. Real men are not sexual libertines.” That’s his point. And here’s the secondary point, just as important, real men protect other people, real men protect the sanctity of the church. See that’s the scandal here, not just that this man had committed this egregious sin, that’s bad, churches have sinners in them. The real problem is when those sins are not dealt with, when they’re winked at, when they’re overlooked or here in this case, when they’re arrogant and proud of this sin. So, Paul says, “You have been unwilling to deal with the sin in your midst”, that’s why the rest of the chapter is about church discipline, handing over such a man to Satan. Apparently, the woman involved was not even a Christian, that’s why he says, “Who am I to judge outsiders”, he has no words of rebuke for her because the real scandal if what the men have done. Mature manhood means discernment, proper judgement, dealing with sin, serving as guardians of your community. That’s the first example.

Second example, chapter 6. Second example where they’re acting like boys instead of men, they’re going to pagan court. Now it isn’t wrong in every situation to use the courts when the laws of the state are broken then you involve the courts of the state and sometimes you, Paul, will defend his rights and wants to appeal to Cesar so it is not an absolute prohibition against using the secular courts, but here he says, “You have a conflict among yourselves and you apparently are so immature from top to bottom that you have to hand this over to the pagans to settle it for you.”

Look at verse 1, “When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare to go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?” Again, he’s not talking about crimes and statutes of the state that have been broken, but disagreements and they can’t figure it out, or do you not know that the saints will judge the world. If the world is to be judged by you. Are you incompetent to try trivial cases.” Again, he says, “you men in Corinth, you’re arrogant, you’re boasting, but you’re so immature you can’t even muster up the spiritual discernment and courage to settle this disagreement among you.”

Look at verse 1 as translated in the ESV, you see the word dare, “Does he dare to go to law before the unrighteous.” That’s the Greek word tolmao. It normally means, here’s the definition in the leading New Testament lexicon, “To show boldness or resolution in the face of danger, opposition, or a problem.” You see what Paul’s doing? He’s taking this word, tolmao, which is normally used of manly boldness and courage. This is what happens, the world wants to take something that’s good that men are wired because of testosterone and a whole bunch of other things how God made us to often be ready to show boldness and courage and risk and defiance and I don’t care what people think, I’m gonna do it anyways and Paul says, “You dare to bring your case before the secular court. This is not the boldness I’m talking about people, this is not the sort of courage, yeah, you’re showing daring, but you are daring to entrust yourself to pagan courts instead of the saints.” Again, he is faulting the rowdy, arrogant Corinthians from shrinking from their moral leadership. He says no one seems to be mature enough, wise enough, or manly enough to adjudicate disputes within your body. Real manhood means you exercise leadership, and you aren’t afraid to make hard decisions.

Third example, look at verses 9-11. Third example where the Corinthians are acting like boys instead of men, is that some of them are marked by vice instead of virtue. “Or do you not know”, verse 9, “that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived.” And then what follows are 10 vices. Now in the ESV you only see nine of them because two of the Greek words are combined into one and I’ll explain that in just a moment. Ten words in the Greek, nine here in the ESV. So here are the vices that ought not to mark a man. Neither the sexually immoral nor adulators or adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. So, these are sins that can affect everyone, but you can see there, especially with the one about, nor men who practice homosexuality, that Paul is speaking and thinking specifically about men. Now he doesn’t need to prove that these things are bad, there’s no long-protracted argument why these are bad, everyone would have known, yes the list you gave us, these are bad things. They’re interrelated, they show what a decadent gentile, that is idolatrous way of life looks like. And Paul was saying, that’s where some of you came from, that’s not where you should go back. This is what ungodly arrogant men look like.

So let me explain why there’s 10 words in the Greek and there’s 9 vices here in the ESV. The ESV translates two different words into the phrase, men who practice homosexuality. You see that at the end of verse 9, you’re looking in your Bible into verse 9, you see there’s a little footnote and you go down to the bottom, it’s getting harder for me to read that by the week. The two Greek terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts and that is true, this is a fine translation, that’s what in this context these two words put together can refer to malakoi and arsenokoitai are the two Greek words. Let’s talk about that second one, arsenokoitai. It’s a compound word, arson, not like starting a fire, but arsen means man and koitai or koitas, koitai depending on a verb or a noun means bed. So this is literally man bed, it refers to men who sleep with other men and it’s clear that Paul has coined this word, it doesn’t exist elsewhere, that he has coined this word from the Greek translation of Leviticus 18 and 20. We don’t have time to go there, but in the Greek translation the Septuagint of Leviticus 18and 20, you could see it, you don’t have to know any Greek, you could see a transliteration in English of those passages and you would see right there in the same line, in one case right next to each other, those words arsen and koitai, man in bed. So, Paul is taking this prohibition from Leviticus, and he says, this still applies, this is something you ought not to do, this is a vice, arsenokoitai. The other word, let me spend a few more minutes on it, malakoi. I don’t think the ESV is wrong in its translation so long ago as we realize that ESV is giving the sense of the passage, not a strict dictionary definition of the word malikos. You might say that ESV gets the connotation that in this sense malikos and arsenokoitai refer to men, as it says, passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts, but the dictionary definition of malikos is soft. It appears two other times in the New Testament. In Matthew 11:18 and Luke 7:25. Both passages contrast John the Baptist with rich men who wear malikos, soft clothing. Now immediately you’re saying, oh wrong week for silk. It’s not, the concern is not so much with the texture of the fabric, but rather the connection with luxury.

See in Matthew 11 and John 7, the contrast is John the Baptist models a hard life of self-denial, self-mastery opposed to the rich aristocrats with a soft life of luxury and ease. It’s not an alternate prohibition, an absolute prohibition against having nice things or having fancy things, but the word is used pejoratively in many ancient texts to speak of a man who lacks courage, hard work and self-restraint, he’s soft. Sexual submission to another man is one connotation of the word, but it is not by itself the only meaning of the word. Sometimes the word is translated into English as effeminate. That’s a little bit of a problematic word because we don’t want to think that being feminine, femininity for women is a great gift yet ancient writers both pagan and Christian often warned against men who were effeminate and here we get one sense of what it means to be effeminate, to be soft. It has always been a put down for I imagine all of human history and last I checked on the internet this is still the case. If you want to insult a man you call him girly, soft, effeminate, you some way attack his manhood. And think about it, the insult doesn’t usually work in the other direction. The way for men to put down men is to call their manhood into question. The way for women to insult men is to call their manhood into question. It doesn’t usually work women insult women by saying, well you’re kind of manly. I mean maybe that’s not a great thing but that’s not the way you get at your sister. Even young girls who we call tomboys, that’s often considered a good thing, she is not afraid to get muddy, and she likes sports, and she plays around with the boys, so the insult doesn’t work in the same direction. In fact, think of how women tend to insult other women. They attack, one of two things it seems to me, either their looks or their purity. Even women who aren’t Christians and don’t have a Christian standard of purity and sexual chastity know if you call another women, okay I’m gonna say words you don’t normally hear, a whore, a slut, that’s a very, very harsh insult. No woman wants to be called that. Or you say something offensive about the way she looks. Again, men you don’t insult other men by saying, bro you look ugly today, you picked out that outfit by yourself? Yeah. It doesn’t work that way, and men, if they’re not Christian, if you’ve got Christian men, you don’t attack each other by saying, wow you sleep with a lot of women. If you don’t have the spirit of God you take that as a compliment and you shouldn’t, but you do, so these insults, I think tell us something about human nature in a masculine key and human nature in a feminine key and it’s one of the reasons why I’m arguing in these three weeks that men are wired for the pursuit of true strength, courage, and women are wired for the pursuit of true beauty and God’s Word wants to tell us, okay, that, that’s a good pursuit, that’s a good journey that you’re on, but let God tell you what real strength looks like and real beauty looks like. Soft, malikos, yes here in 1 Corinthian 6 it refers to homosexuality, but more than that, Paul is using a very familiar term in the ancient world to speak of a man who does not display mastery over himself, who cannot command the respect of other people, who does not endure struggle or hardship, who insists on a life of ease instead of a life of discipline, achieving victories and overcoming obstacles. Paul is saying, that’s not what manhood looks like, to be soft.

Here’s a fourth example. In the rest of chapter 6 verses 12-20, Paul talks about union with prostitutes. Again, you have to understand something about Roman culture. Look at verse 15 cuz what Paul is saying is very countercultural, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!” “Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one with her for it is written that to become one flesh.” Here’s what you have to understand about the Roman world, prostitution was ubiquitous and not controversial. It was seen as a proper outlet for a man’s sexual energy. If a man had sex with prostitutes before marriage he could still be counted a virgin. If he had sex with prostitutes during marriage it was not considered adultery. One Christian bishop described Roman sexual policy as “Forbidding adultery is building brothels.”

In the 4th century, several centuries later, had no fewer than 45 public brothels. See the way in which it was a complete double standard, the way sexuality worked, there were certain things that women had to do and you needed to keep yourself pure until marriage, but men if you had sex with boys, slaves, or prostitutes it didn’t even count, it was just considered that men had all this sexual energy and of course they needed an outlet so they did believe that adultery was a serious sin, adultery being you had sex with a free Roman woman or with a married Roman woman. Boys, prostitutes, slaves didn’t even count so Paul is saying something very different, least you think that, well prostitution is just a natural outlet for a man’s overflowing sexual energy. He says no, remember what Genesis says, “You become one flesh”, so he’s understanding that they all would have thought, well yeah, we do prostitutes, that’s dirty, but something simply necessary for some men, that was the Roman way. Paul says, “Don’t you understand, men if you have sex with prostitutes, you become one with her.” These sexual escapades, contrary to the Roman way of thinking, which said, as long as they’re not with married women they’re inconsequential. Paul is saying something radically different. If you have sex with a prostitute her body, which you consider dirty and shameful, becomes your body and in fact, here’s the irony, you belong to her, now you have joined with her in one flesh so that this act which you took to be a great expression of your sexual freedom has actually made you a sexual slave. You have abandoned your body for her body, and you have become less of a man, not more of a man. That’s what we see in these four examples in chapter 5 and chapter 6. You might summarize it like this, Paul is saying, to be a man, a Godly man not a boy, is to demonstrate a life of sexual chastity, self-restraint, to protect and guard your community, to show a willingness to make hard decisions, to work hard, that you do not look for a life of ease, but you are willing to take on a life of challenges for the good of others. You notice there is nothing here about your hobbies or your physique, or whether you have facial hair or not, or how many muscles you have, some of you have muscles on your muscles, these are all the muscles I can get.

Now we could trace, once you know what to look for, you could go to chapter 7, well that’s gonna talk about it’s better to marry than to burn. It’s gonna talk to men and women, it’s gonna talk about marriage and divorce. That’s gonna give you stuff on what it means to be a true man. You can go to chapter 11, that’s where Paul says let not nature itself teach you that for man to dress and look like a woman is shameful. That too has to do with manhood. Chapter 12, chapter 13, remember that great love chapter which says we put childish things away, we grew up, we’re not adults. Chapter 14 which has to do with men and women in the public assembly. So much of this book is Paul, the spiritual father instructing the Corinthians and in particular the mean to grow up and be real Godly men.

So go back to the place we started at the end of the book, chapter 16. Paul issues five exhortations, be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, let all that you do be done in love and all of those need to come together men. Let me hasten to add, he’s writing to the whole church so there’s certainly a way in which women are called to be courageous; to play the man and the Bible has many examples of strong, courageous, triumphant women. Here Paul is using a word which was familiar in that day, andrizsista, the word andrizomai translated as be courageous or be brave or here act like men, other translations do manfully, or in the King James, quit you like men which start quit, but it sounds really good, quit you like men. Everyone agrees that Paul is using this word andrizomai, and you can hear our word like andro meaning man. He uses this word to tell the Corinthians to be brave and courageous, but it also tells us something about being a man because he is borrowing on ancient notions of manly courage and bravery so we’re right to see that this is not just courage, but he’s communicating something about manhood. John Calvin says the command is about “manly fortitude.” Matthew Henry understands the exhortation to mean “Christians should be manly and firm in defending their faith.” Jamieson-Fausset-Brown one of Spurgeon’s favorite commentaries, says Paul says, “Watch ye”, because the Corinthians were slumbering, “Stand”, because they were tottering, “And quit you like men” because they were effeminate. Chrysostom, the church father argues that watch was a caution against deceivers, stand was a caution against those who plot against us, and quit you like men was a caution, “against those who make parties and endeavor to distract.” Yeah, he’s thinking of soft, those who pursue nothing but a life of ease and luxury. For Chrysostom this word, andritsomai, was the manly antidote to the cowardice that comes when you are led astray by a femoral thing, that’s what the great Greek preacher Chrysostom is saying, that this is speaking to those men who might be lured and tempted into a life of ease and profligacy and endless parties. He said that’s not a life of a real man.

Now we should not load too much theology onto one ordinary Greek word, and it is a command for both men and women, but it does say something about what we are called to in particular as men. We act like men when we show ourselves to be strong, when that strength is under control, when we do not shrink back from our duty, when we gird up our loins, as it were, and do what is right. We should remember that this is not just manly as opposed to womanly, but even more so it’s manly as opposed to childish. Paul gives this command, least we think masculinity means just a rash bravado, look pastor said be a man, Paul wants us to just show courage. Well courage with wisdom, fortitude with prudence, he did not want them to be childish.

A good word, and here we’ll bring this to a close, a good word to introduce into your vocabulary that I think gets that what Paul is saying is the word magnanimity. It’s hard to say, practice it later. Magnanimity. Twice as the president or Princeton in the 1770s and 1780s, John Witherspoon gave a commencement address on magnanimity and there he was speaking cuz in those days it was only men in college, he was speaking to men. I think of the address as an address on manly magnanimity. Here’s what Witherspoon says in that sermon, he says to be a magnanimous man entails five commitments. One, attempting great and difficult things. Two, aspiring after great invaluable possessions. Three, facing dangers with resolution. Four, struggling against difficulties with perseverance, and five, barring sufferings with fortitude and patience. In short, the magnanimous man is eager to attempt great things and willing to endure great hardships. It compels us and it calls us, you notice there Witherspoon says the acquisition of great possessions, and he goes on the sermon to explain what that means in a heavenly key. What were the greatest possessions, a good name, the health of the church, our family, but he is calling these young men, as I believe God calls all of us as men, to attempt great things and endure great hardships. Even the dictionary points us in the right direction. Magnanimity, it says, is a loftiness of spirit, enabling one to bear trouble calmly, to disdain meanness and pettiness and to display a noble generosity. Let me just say, men, before you latch onto the influencer or the politician or that macho guy in the manosphere or even some Christian leaders who encourage you in meanness and pettiness, ask is this man that I’m so eager to follow, does he help me to pursue a loftiness of spirit and display a noble generosity. Would that this definition of magnanimity would describe more of our political leaders, intellectual leaders, online influencers, and Christian men generally. Well, we all should disdain pettiness, there is something particularly discomforting when a man feels the need to constantly advertise his offenses and swing at everyone who has offended him. Manly magnanimity means you do not bear grudges; you do not wallow in self-pity, you do not demand penance from everyone who upsets you and you do not stoop to settle every score, and surely, we see real manhood most of all in the person of Jesus Christ. Of course Jesus took on a human nature that he might save men and women, wasn’t just a male nature to only save men, but He did come as a man, He didn’t come as an androgenous human being, and it had to be that way, not because men are more important than women or somehow ontologically superior, not at all, but He had to come as a man for the story of the Bible to make sense that God the Father would have His image in a son, that there would be for the bride the church a groom, that the first Adam would give way to a second Adam. We often think about how Jesus had to come as a human being, but he also had to come as a man, and the man Christ Jesus perfectly embodied all that 1 Corinthians 16:13 and 14 calls us to as men. Just think of those verses and put Jesus in them. Jesus was watchful when his friends fell asleep. Jesus stood firm in the faith when Judas betrayed Him. Jesus acted like a man when Peter was a coward and denied Him. Jesus was strong at that very moment on the cross when it seemed that he was weakest and Jesus did all things in love. That is the calling for us as Christians and especially, so it is the calling for us as men. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, give us grace that we may see in Christ not only our example, but we may find in Him forgiveness, we may find from Him power in the Holy Spirit that we might grow into these things, help every young woman here to look for men like this, help every wife here to encourage and recognize in her husband where these things exist, help every man here to pursue and grow into this that we might be like the God man Christ Jesus in whose name we pray. Amen.

Godly Men and Godly Women: The Beautiful Woman

Fri, 16 May 2025 13:05:37 GMT

Oh Lord, our prayer is as Proverbs instructs us that we might be attentive, to gain insight, for you give good precepts; may we not forsake your teaching. We pray that our hearts would hold fast to your Words, that we would keep your commandments and live, that we would get wisdom and get insight, we pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

You see in the bulletin the title, “Godly Men and Godly Women, The Beautiful Woman.” So, three weeks on this theme, next week, Lord willing, the Courageous Man and then week three, Male and Female, He created them. So, we’re starting, as I said last week, a little rearranging for Mother’s Day and we look this morning at the beautiful woman, or the virtuous woman, the excellent wife from Proverbs 31.

Follow along, that last chapter in Proverbs verses 10 through 31. “An excellent wife who can find. She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable, her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hands to the poor, reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself, her clothing is fine linen in purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also and he praises her. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.”

Now I know women, you have a love/hate relationship with Proverbs 31. I was driving yesterday, Trisha was in the car, we heard on the radio that old classic rock song from the Canadian group, The Guess Who, American Woman stay away from me. Some of you feel that way. Proverbs 31woman, stay away from me. Right, this seems like an unattainable standard, so I know when you hear pastor is gonna give us a gift on Mother’s Day, he’s gonna lay Proverbs 31 at our feet. No, this should have been the husband’s get your act together sermon for Mother’s Day. I have a pastor friend who last week was preaching a Revelation 17, The Whore of Babylon. Some of you would say, do that, at least I come out looking good it that’s what you’re preaching on. But Proverbs 31 has this weird dynamic for many Godly women that it’s there and you love it and yet it can feel, even as I’m reading it here, unrealistic. This woman is keeping the candle burning all night, she doesn’t sleep, and then she gets up and it’s still night, she’s not afraid of anything, she can do everything, super wife, super mom, super entrepreneur, super seamstress, super confident. The poem is about an excellent wife. You see that in verse 10, that’s the translation. It’s a fine translation, some translate it a valiant wife or a noble woman, a valorous woman, a virtuous woman, and yet when it asks that question, an excellent wife who can find, some of you women may be saying, yeah no one, no one finds this, this is unattainable. I could doom scroll Instagram all afternoon and feel better than I feel after Proverbs 31. So let me give you, before we look at the text, let me orient you and give you two things to keep in mind as we interpret this text. Two things that will help us know how to read Proverbs 31.

First, yes, it is true this is an idealized picture of a Godly woman. This is not a biography, this is in the Book of Proverbs which gives aphorisms, maxims, proverbial saying, this is the best way that the world works and this in particular is a poem at the very end of the book and at the end of the sermon we’ll come back to why it’s here at the very end, but you may see a footnote here that it is a poem and not just that, it’s an acrostic poem, 10 through 31, that’s 22 verses, there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet from Aleph to Tav. Each one of these verses begins with the consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is the A to Z of what it means to be an excellent woman or an excellent wife. It is an idealized picture; it presumes some things which are not true of all women. In fact, you put it together and it’s not true of most women. One, this woman is married. Two, she has children. There, she is obviously physically healthy and has energy to do lots of things and then she also is of some financial means, she’s probably not the richest of the rich or she wouldn’t be doing all of these things, but she has a household, she takes care of maidens, so she has servants. A lot of you are saying that’s the secret right there. Maidens, maidens to help me, I’ll get up and take care of the maidens if they do the rest of it. She has money to spend and to buy and to sell so this presumes a certain kind of woman and a certain kind of picture, which yes, is meant to be an idealized A to Z, here’s what it could look like. That’s the first thing to keep in mind.

Second, and even more importantly, I want you to notice, and maybe you’ve seen this before, this poem is actually directed toward men. It is, we’re right to say it’s about women, and there’s application there, but it is first of all directed toward men. If you turn to the beginning of Proverbs 31you see the words of King Lemuel an oracle that his mother taught him, and in those first nine verses are about the Queen Mother telling King Lemuel what to do as a king and she says, “You need to keep away from two things, you need to keep away from sexual promiscuity, giving your strength to women, and you need to keep yourself away from the promiscuous drink of wine.” So be careful, women and wine and those would be two great dangers for kings and rulers of any age and in particular as you’re thinking about Solomon, who’s the author of most of these proverbs, he started out very wise and he ended up foolish because he gave himself to all the wives and to the concubines and it could be that verse 10 continues, it’s a different kind of genre, it’s this acrostic poem, but it could be that this continued and this is still the words of King Lemuel, an oracle that was taught by his mother saying, “And here is the sort of woman that you are looking for King Lemuel.” You can read the commentaries; they’re divided about 50/50 on whether this should be ascribed to Lemuel or this is an anonymous proverb put together this poem at the end of it. However, you determine it’s Lemuel, or we don’t know the author of it, and I think you can make a good case that it does come from King Lemuel, the way you read it is still the same because look again at verse 10, “An excellent wife.” So directly in view is instruction for men. This is men, here’s what you are to look for in a wife and here’s what you are to praise most of all in your wife. If you know the Book of Proverbs you know that it is directed towards sons. You can look at chapter 1:8, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1, 6:1, 7:1, on and on, my son, my sons. It is given chiefly as a father sitting down with his sons, passing along instruction. Alright, gather around sons, this is what it looks like to live a life of wisdom. So, the book of Proverbs, of course we’re right to apply it to women as well, but given it’s context at this time in history, it is directed first of all as a book to sons. Here’s what it looks like to grow up and be Godly men and to finish the book then, here’s what you are to look for in an excellent wife. It doesn’t praise her for riches or that they all have the same hobbies, or even that she has a fine figure and a lovely face. No, it isn’t that beauty is bad, women in the Bible are often praised for their beauty, and some men are praised for their handsome appearance as well, so beauty is a good thing. The Song of Songs extols the female body. You can read proverbs 5, in there the father passes onto his son and says, “I hope you delight in the wife of your youth and physical intimacy.” The point is not that beauty is wrong, but rather as you see at the end of verse 30, that it’s vain. Now here vain doesn’t mean so much that it makes you proud, but vain rather as something that is fleeting, it won’t last forever. No matter the makeup, the surgeries, you will not be young forever. Now you’re saying, careful pastor you’re about to say that all the wives aren’t beautiful anymore. No, because here’s the reality, as you learn what is most beautiful according to God’s Word, a husband can say and truly says, and I hope women that you will believe your husband when he says it, that it is not flattery but he really can look you in the eye and tell you the truth and say, you are the most beautiful woman in the world. That when you know what beauty is, that your wife of 53 is more beautiful than she was at 23. The husband can really mean it. So, men, young men in particular here, you are going to crash the marital car, and I’m thinking in particular if you’re not married, you’re going to crash the marital car if you put your hormones in the driver’s seat. Now just to extend the imperfect analogy, the hormones are there in the car, you can’t get them out of the car, they’re there, you can at least buckle them up real tight in the backseat and they will still scream at you and tell you what to do, at least they can be restrained. God gave them to us, you don’t get rid of them, but you don’t put them in the front seat and hand over the wheel and say, hormones go ahead and drive this marital car, and you find what is best. If you marry a woman mainly because of what she looks like at 23, you will be upset when at some point she doesn’t look the same as she did at 23 and then you will put unrealistic expectations upon her or worst of all, you will go and find a new wife that looks like 23. Find rather men, a woman whose best qualities will get better over time, to value what God values. This is why you need God’s Word. Movies are not going to give you this picture, TV will not give you this picture, your streaming, your music will not give you this picture of what you should value and what you should look like, women, and what you should look for, young men.

Proverbs 11:22. “Like a gold ring in a swine’s snout is a beautiful woman which lacks discretion.” Offensive, it’s in the Bible and it’s in there for a reason. A gold ring in a swine’s snout. Okay, you’ve got a pig, it’s our same thing, put lipstick on a pig. It’s a gold ring. It’s a beautiful woman who lacks discretion, who is not Godly, who is not seeking after the Lord, has a comely figure, has beauty as the world understands beauty, and that’s just a gold ring in a pig’s nose, and you go, that, as long as I keep focused on the gold ring I’ve got something, but you can’t marry the gold ring, you marry the whole, okay, well that’s gonna end up bad. That’s what Proverbs is telling you. So, as we dive in now and look at these characteristics of an excellent wife as an excellent woman, remember men, this is first of all for you to know what you should praise in your wife, if you are married, and if you’re looking to be married, what you should look for. I want you to notice seven things about this woman. Her husband, her children, her hands, her eyes, her clothing, her mouth, and her fear.

Seven things. First, notice her husband. Verse 11. The heart of her husband trusts in her. She has good sense, she capable. At the end in verse 28 and 29, he praises her. In fact, we’ll see in just a moment this is something of a chiasm, you’ve heard that word before, think of x marks the spot, think of a funnel that goes down and then a funnel that goes out and then right in the middle that’s a chiasm, it’s a literary device, it’s not a secret formula, but here you have kind of the same thing at the beginning, praise of the husband, you have the same thing at the end, the praise of the husband and then working backwards you get to the middle and we’ll come to the middle in just a moment which is again about the husband’s trust in his wife. He says at the very end, “Many women have done excellently.” Okay, he doesn’t have to throw every other woman under the bus, but honey you surpass them all. He trusts in her. Now think about this, so much of the Old Testament tells you not to trust in anyone or anything but God. This is one of the very few times, other than God, that we’re told to trust in someone. Don’t trust in Egypt, don’t trust in Babylon, don’t trust in princes, don’t trust in horses, don’t trust in chariots, but here we have in a good marriage, husbands trust their wives. So, it starts, and it ends that way and you can trace it working to the middle, in the middle there is verse 23, “Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.” It’s right there in the middle, that this woman enables her husband as he is an extension of his wife and her support to be successful. Now as we’ll see all throughout this, this is not a weak woman, this is not a passive woman, this is not a woman who has no hopes and dreams except to just channel through her husband, but this is Genesis 2:18, “And God made a helper for the man.” This is a woman who has in her heart about her husband, I want you to be successful, I want you to sit among the elders of the land and her husband to be known in the gates.

I kept joking with my wife that he whole sermon was going to be about her and if you know Trisha you know she said, “Absolutely not” and I said I just have to say one thing, one thing, when I travel and speak someplace people will very often say, and they mean it, they will say, “Please thank your wife” not only that I could be there, but with an understanding that my wife is an absolutely vital part of whatever I do in ministry, and husbands you know this as well, whatever by God’s grace He might do through you, it is in no small measure because of a faithful, supportive, dependable, loving, respectful wife. There’s a lot more I would like to say about my wife, but I promised I’d limit it to just that one thing.

Proverbs 2:4 says, “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband.” Men, you want a trophy wife, here’s the good kind of trophy wife. “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband.” Wow, you must be a king, you must be a prince, look at your crown. I wonder men do you speak of your wife in this way, my crown. Wives, would people think to say about your husband out in public, ya know, he is a good guy, he’s got some gifts, a lot of great qualities, impressive fellow in some ways, but I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you what that guy really has going for him, his wife, man did he luck out, providence out so we say.

Look at verse 12, “She does him good and not harm.” Women can this be said of you? Do you cut him down, belittle him, undermine his authority, disrespect even his imperfect efforts to be a spiritual leader. You may have a husband who is so brave and macho when it comes to hunting or fishing or cars or sports or work, and then you want him to be that same valiant leader spiritually in the home and he feels like he is behind you and he may be objectively behind you, but then he needs to sense from you that even his fumbling efforts, when maybe you do know more, maybe you have had a Bible study on that, maybe you are reading more Christian books that you support whatever meager efforts, imperfect efforts he is making to be that spiritual leader.

Verse 10 says, “This excellent wife is far more precious than jewels” and diamonds, man if you have some prize possession, you have some rare baseball card, you have some prize buck on your wall and you’ve got a story, or you’ve got a fish this big or maybe just a story this big, and you could have a drawer full of gold, if you have an excellent wife you have a gift that far surpasses them all. Let me deal with some realities because we don’t all live in the idealized world of Proverbs 31. Maybe you’re a man here and don’t do any, just look straight forward as I’m saying this, and you think to yourself, I don’t feel like this is the woman that I’m married to, now what do I do? Well you are still called to be a Godly man, in fact, you may not have realized it before, but there is a parallel passage if you’re saying, women well how can we get, I ger Proverbs 31, where is this for men? Well, there’s a very similar passage in psalm 112, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments, his offspring will be mighty in the land, the generation of the upright will be blessed, wealth and riches are in his house. He is gracious, merciful, righteous. He is not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” Do you hear all of the similar resonances there. Psalm 112 is a kind of parallel passage so men, even if you think, this is not the woman that I feel like I’m living with right now, you are still called to Godliness. Let me also add this men, surely, surely there is something praiseworthy that you can mention to your wife as the husband does at the very end. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all even in the most struggling of marriages surely men there is something that you can find and highlight and genuinely praise your wife for. Now if you say it this afternoon, and she says, well I knew you were gonna do that and that’s because the pastor told you to do it, and you can say, well, yes, but I mean it. That’s the key. But I do mean it. Do you have eyes to see it or has your marriage become so brittle, so broken, so cantankerous, everything is seen with jaundiced eyes, and you can’t see anything, surely there is something praiseworthy to say, you have and do this excellently and I am grateful, her husband trusts in her.

Second, notice her children. You see in verse 21, All her household are clothed in scarlet”, she takes care of them.” In verse 26, “She opens her mouth, so she teaches them.” We see verse 28, “Her children rise up and call her blessed.” Now that has always sounded a little strange, like the kids rise up and say, “Mom you are really blessed to have us as your kids, aren’t you, #blessed mom, but take the rest of the passage to explain what is meant there, it’s to say, mom, God has given you a fruitful life, His face is shining upon you, He has been gracious to you, His countenance is upon you and you are blessed and through you comes blessing. Her children praise her, kids of any ages, kids, it’s a simple thing, but it really means a lot if you say, I love you, if you say thank you and not like a thank you with every bit but I appreciate you, I love you, I thank you, can you praise your mother from this text and on this day of all days. Now again, let’s deal realistically because you may say this is really nice and this woman has children and you say, I’m married, I don’t have children or I’m single and does Proverbs 31 have anything to say to me? It does, interestingly the one woman in the Old Testament who is given this designation same Hebrew translated as a worthy woman. You can probably think about who it might be, it’s Ruth. Boaz says to Ruth in chapter 3:11, “You are a worthy woman” and at that point she is not married, she doesn’t have children and Boaz says, “You are a worthy woman.” Why, why was she still a Proverbs 31kind of woman, she’s single, she doesn’t have children, but Boaz finds her to be loyal, hardworking, chaste, kind, supportive there of her mother-in-law, you remember the whole story, eager to find a husband if the Lord would provide one and he does through Boaz, so don’t think if you’re not married or if you don’t have children women, that you can’t also be a valorous virtuous woman because the woman in the Bible called by this designation is Ruth, at that time single, without children. Her husband, her children.

Third, notice her hands. This is actually the biggest section of the poem is about her industry. Now it can feel very overwhelming when you read all the things, she is just sewing and she’s like ships and she has food and she goes off and she buys and she sells, I mean she’s the patron saint of Etsy and Facebook Marketplace, which I also have a love/hate relationship with. But, less you get discouraged, now think of it this way, if Proverbs 31and just praised her for a whole bunch of things that you don’t have agency over, just what she’d look like or her upbringing or her riches, but it praises her most of all in this for her industry, her labor, she is the exact opposite of the sluggard which Proverbs has so much to say against, She does not eat the bread of idleness.” You see that at the end of verse 27. “She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” That line in verse 27 summarizes verses 13 through 19, all of the many things that she does.

Titus 2 says women, young women presuming their husband, children, Titus 2 says women are to be busy at home and that is true. But that passage does not mean that being busy at home is the only thing that can occupy a woman’s time and interest. You see this woman here, she is out and about, she’s an entrepreneur, she’s got her hands into a lot of different things. Sometimes people ask that question, well can a woman work outside the home. Now of course you realize that’s an anachronistic question. You know who worked outside the home, almost no one until the industrial revolution. You didn’t go somewhere and work over here in a factory or something. You all were there maintaining and keeping this household in an agrarian society so that’s not the right way to look at it. Yes, a woman who has children has certain responsibilities, but we see here that this woman is praised for her great ingenuity and industry. She buys and sells, she makes things, she produces merchandise, she turns a profit. Now these are not mere hobbies that drain time and resources, though hobbies can be great, but she contributes to the wellbeing of the home. The end is not to say that a woman must do all of these things, she cannot have a job, certainly this would not say so, or that she must have some kind of income to support the family, this does not support that as well, but rather that she works hard in such a way that her husband and her children are able to flourish and that is going to look different from family to family, season of life, cultural conditions, this is one picture of a woman, and here it is a well to do woman, she has servants, apparently she has no infants to nurse or put down for naps, so your industry at your stage and age of life may look different, it may mean volunteering, keeping the house, carting kids around, a farmer’s market, a job outside the home, it may be very many different things. The point is, she works hard in such a way that the whole household benefits, her husband and her children can flourish.

You see verse 22. She makes bedcoverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen in purple. Many commentators make the point that this is likely a euphemism because in Proverbs 7, Proverbs 7 is about the adulteress woman, it says about the adulteress woman who’s trying to seduce a man, she says, I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egypt linen. There in chapter 7 that language of spreading a bed is certainly a euphemism for saying this adulteress woman says I have made my bed ready. So, this here in verse 22 is likely the one illusion in Proverbs 31 to romance in this passage. She prepares the marriage bed for her and her husband, she clothes herself in elegant attire so lest we think that the end beauty is vain means that the Proverbs 31 woman must have a studied homeliness, he or she is dressed in fine linen and in purple. She opens her hands to the poor, so her hands are busy to do work, and her hands reach out to the needy, verse 20, “She has a generous spirit, she is eager to give, she is eager to think of others even above and beyond her own comfort or level of chaos.” Come to the DeYoungs, we major in chaos. And it is because my wife has a generous spirit.

“Her hands forth her mouth, she speaks wisdom and teaches kindness.” Verse 26, “That is she is teaching” and presumably it is teaching children and there a relational element to it. This woman is compassionate, prepared, she is diligent, she is dedicated and when she speaks it is an example to others. It’s probably not that she is saying now for our third lesson on kindness this morning, as much as it is, that the way in which she speaks instructs others in what gracious speech sounds like.

Her mouth, number five, her eyes. You see verse 27, “She looks well to the ways of her household” or you could say she stands at the lookout, she’s like that watchman on the walls attending to the wellbeing of her home. Now if this isn’t too much of an application, I think there’s something instructive here. She is looking out, she’s looking outward. Of course this is not to say that a woman cannot pay attention to her appearance or that women cannot pay attention to their inner world, of course they can and should, but surely there is something in our culture, everything in our culture that encourages women towards self-gazing physically, self-contemplating inwardly so I think it’s instructive that this noble woman has eyes fixed not mainly in the mirror, how do I look, not mainly down into the self, what am I feeling, but she has her eyes fixed up, outward. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to help with all of those inner feelings. There are all sorts of inner feelings that you can’t get help with just by staring at them, you could help by looking up and looking out and looking to others so she is looking out at a watch post, her eyes fixed on her household, her children, her husband, the world around her that she is engaged in, her eyes to more, her clothing. There is a loveliness about her, we’ve seen this in verse 22. Her clothing is fine linen and purple but notice that this passage is not mainly about the physical clothing that she wears, that’s not what makes her an excellent wife. This is very countercultural, not just for our culture, but for really any culture and certainly here in the ancient world where you might expect a detailed description of the latest fashion that she has from head to toe, but instead what God’s Word give us is a description of the virtues that she puts on.

Look at verse 17. “She dresses herself with strength” and then you see in ESV the footnote, “She girds her loins.” This is a military image, usually used for men going off to battle that you have a long tunic and before you get and go off into battle you can be running around with this thing draped around your ankles or you tie it up and you tie it in a knot or you put it down your waist, that’s girding up your loins, it means I’m ready for action. Usually, it’s used of warriors ready to go into battle. Well here this woman is described as a kind of warrior, she dresses herself with strength, her arms are made strong.

Verse 25. “Strength and dignity are her clothing.” You watch movies, almost all of us do. You watch TV. You need to realize Hollywood has no idea how to present strong women. I shouldn’t say no idea, they have one idea, they have one way to portray feminine strength as they see it, cuz they don’t want a damsel in distress, okay we did that, we don’t like that, don’t like damsel in distress. So, they know one way and it is a femme fatale, a sexy, rail thin woman who loves to trade insults like a man, who is always thinking of sex like a man, who can kick tail like a man of men three times her size. In other words, Hollywood gives us a picture, okay, they know we wanna show, we don’t want weak women, we don’t want passive women, we want women with agency, we want heroic women, okay good. The only way they know to show a strong woman is she must look like a very stereotype kind of woman and in every other way she acts like a man, that’s the only way they can do it. The excellent woman here in Proverbs 31 is not a kick you know what, sex crazed, make believe superhero in tights. She is dignified, dependable, appropriately domestic, her husband is honored because of her. Her children are provided for because of her. She is industrious, creative, shrewd, intelligent, accomplished, and praiseworthy in all the things that matter most. Note this very well, she is heroic in the ordinary affairs of her family and her community. You’re almost never going to get that. You’re not going to get that from superhero movies. A strong woman who is heroic in her family and in her community with the feminine virtues of strength and creativity and domesticity that we see here in Proverbs 31. So, pay attention to her clothing, strength, dignity, and finally notice seventh, her fear.

Verse 21. I don’t know, she must not be a southerner, she’s not afraid of snow. They can get snow sometimes in this part of the world, not often, but it’s not impossible so actually, you know, the less you get it, the more monumental it is when it comes. So this is really an allegorical way of saying she’s not afraid of the weather, she’s not afraid of unforeseen things happening, you see it even more clearly in verse 25, she laughs at the time to come. She’s not an anxious woman. She fears not for tomorrow because, verse 30, she fears the Lord.

So here we come full circle. Why does this Book of Proverbs end by talking about the excellent woman? It can seem like a rather odd add-on, okay we’ve had all these proverbs about everything under the sun and here’s a poem at the end, alright, try to be a Godly wife, but you understand that this is a picture of wisdom personified. Remember I said Proverbs is directed, fathers toward sons mainly, sons and so the book is about the choice between two different women. Throughout the book there is one woman, she’s called Folly and then there’s another woman and she’s called Wisdom, and the book is about that choice. Sons, what sort of woman are you going to pursue and is done and so it’s fitting that here it brings it all together. The qualities of the excellent mostly it’s about those women as a representation of the kind of life of folly and the life of Wife, in Proverbs 31, are the qualities of wisdom throughout the book itself. Maybe some of you know this if you studied the book before, wisdom in the Book of Proverbs is called more precious than jewels, wisdom does you good and not harm, wisdom is hardworking and not lazy, wisdom is kind to the poor, wisdom is strong, is prosperous, is resourceful, dependable, wisdom does what is right, wisdom speaks what is true, and wisdom preeminently fears the Lord. All of these qualities of the wise life and wisdom in Proverbs is not so much an intellectual category, as it is a moral category. The Godly life, the pyas life. There’s a reason that it begins Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” You want to live the right kind of life, the good life, not a life that’s gonna be free from suffering, but the life in the way that God designed it where your life is going to go best with the best marriage, home, family, work, and these are proverbs. All else considered, this is the best way to live, and it starts with fearing the Lord. That’s how chapter 1 begins, and so it’s fitting that that’s how chapter 31 ends, “Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

I have to ask this question and it’s for women and men. Let me start with the women, do you really fear the Lord? Do you much more honestly fear missing out on what the world says is valuable? Honestly do you more fear growing old or worse fear looking old? Do you fear other people’s opinions, or can you say the very heart of your moral being is that you fear to do anything that would displease the Lord? It really is this difficult and this simple. You talk about marriage counseling, husband and wife, this is where it starts. Do you fear the Lord really, really, that your greatest fear is that you would do something that would dishonor God. Your heart is open to hear from God not only because you don’t wanna displease God, but you fear doing things in a different way because you know that’s only going to lead to pain in your life when you don’t do things God’s way. So, this is for women who are married, this is for men who are not, it’s for girls to ask ourselves the question, wise daughters do you want to look like Proverbs 31 really. In your heart of hearts many of you are pursuing a far different picture of beauty. Men, is this the wife you want to marry? In your heart of hearts for many of you, you could take or leave most of this stuff as long as you have the two or three other things that the world puts on your list. I entitled this sermon The Beautiful Woman even though it ends by saying beauty is fleeting because one of the arguments, and I’ll make it more in two weeks, is that I believe you see throughout the Scriptures, and I believe you see it written on the human heart that woman are hardwired to pursue beauty. Men are hardwired to be attracted to that beauty and as woman are hardwired to pursue beauty this chapter is here to say, is this what you believe makes you beautiful and men is this what you value in the woman you want to marry and the daughters you want to raise and in the wife that you are married to, this is what beauty looks like. And I’ll just end here if you say in your heart of hearts, you’re not really sure this actually doesn’t land on you as something very good, very excellent, very valorous, very beautiful, then you better be very careful because this is a picture of Christ himself. The Word may flesh, the wisdom of God. We read that in the beginning of the service from 1 Corinthians. “He is our wisdom, He is all of these things, Christ generous, Christ self-giving, Christ is precious, strong, humble, dignified, had no form or countenance that we should be drawn to Him and yet the beauty of holiness was all about Him. Jesus alone gives us reason to be confident about the future. The works of Christ deserve to be praised and honored in the gates so if this is not a picture of beauty to you, you may not have eyes to see what is beautiful about Christ. And so Christ deserves to be praised in the gates, and we therefore praise the virtuous woman, the excellent wife, the valorous woman who shines with all of the same reflected glory. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we ask that you would work these things deep into our hearts, that we might resemble them, that we might long for them, we might plead with you. Would you save marriages in this church, broken marriages that are seemingly at the point of no return. Would you turn away young men and young women setting out down a path that leads to folly and not to wisdom and would you give to each of us hearts to see and to praise what matters to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

All Authority

Thu, 08 May 2025 12:41:17 GMT

Our Father in heaven, we ask that as you have lead us all the way from new birth to this place and you will lead us safely home, we pray that you now lead us in these moments together that we might have receptive hearts of faith to receive your Word, the Word that will first be proclaimed to our ears and the Word that believers here will take and taste and touch and swallow. May we feed upon you oh Christ and may you come dwell among us through your Word we pray. Amen.

Our text this morning is Matthew chapter 28. The last paragraph of Matthew 28, I dare say that if you have been in the church for a long time this may be the text that you have heard more sermons on than anything else, even though psalm 23 is famous and John 3:16, yet because this is the missions text and churches have missions weeks and missionaries, I am sure most of us have heard many, many sermons. In fact, I have preached on this many times. The sermon I am giving you this morning is not one of the sermons I have preached many times and in fact you’ll see though we certainly could take this and make a great missionary sermon that’s not the gist that I want you to see from this text this morning.

We read in verse 16 through the end of the book. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them and when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted and Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I am with you always to the end of the age.”

I was on a plane again this week doing a conference in DC, just a short flight once you get up in the air and I do a fair amount of traveling as some of you do, and it’s a good time to read, it’s a good time to take a nap, and when the nap is done and maybe it’s too bumpy to read or get work done, I will open up my iPad or my phone and watch one of the same movies that I’ve seen a hundred times because they’re the same movies that I have on there. Actually, a set, there’s a whole bunch of Mission Impossibles and then there’s Star Wars, the original, not the, ya know the real ones, and then Lord of the Rings, yes thank you, we’ll come back to Lord of the Rings. The Mission Impossible movies, and I know there’s a new one coming out, often end, you know it’s very intense the whole way through and then they end with a short wrap up scene, it’s often a little cheesy and they’re sitting around having drinks, they have a laugh, share a joke, the last two minutes the calm before the storm and maybe it sets things up that they’re all gonna be ready for another adventure. It’s just a nice few minutes tacked on at the end that sends you on your way knowing the good guys won and they’ll be ready for their next mission should they choose to accept it.

Sometimes the last paragraph in a book or the last scene of a movie is not all that important. You could skip it and you really wouldn’t miss anything about the great significance and excitement in that book or in that movie. And then there are books, movies, stories whose last scene or last paragraph or last words are absolutely essential for understanding what the whole story has been about. The Gospel of Matthew is like that. Here’s what I read from one commentator this week; these last five verses are the key to understanding Matthew’s whole Gospel. That is not an exaggeration. These last five verses are key to understanding the whole Gospel that Matthew is telling. Now we think of this as The Great Commission text and it is, but this sermon is not going to be mainly about The Great Commission or at least not The Great Commission itself. You can’t not talk about it, it’s right there, but I don’t want you to think that The Great Commission is some nice added extra missionary text at the end of the book, that if everything’s kind of all done, all of the big stuff is taken care of and then as a nice little postscript it’s like Jesus says, alright everybody huddle up, huddle up, huddle up, come on, I’m here but I’m going soon, I want you to tell people about it. Alright go team and off they go. Well of course it’s something kind of like that except not really because this paragraph is not just a nice postscript where Jesus says, now start telling people about it, this last paragraph ties up all the big themes in Matthew’s Gospel and tells us what this whole book has been about. We haven’t been in a long series, Mathew, we looked at a series of parables, and then the resurrection and then post resurrection, so it’s been a relatively short series and you don’t have the whole book over years, but you’ll see, I hope this morning, how the major themes that have been woven throughout this story are all coming together in this final paragraph.

Now look at The Great Commission in verses 18, 19, and 20, particular 19 and 20. You may have heard before, and this is true and important and helpful, that there is one main imperative and there are three participles. Participles, think “ING” words, no they can be translated as imperatives, participles can have an imperatival force, but you may have noticed before or had it pointed out to you that the one imperative technically as the Greek constructs it is, not go but make disciples, and then the three supporting participles going, baptizing, and teaching. Now it’s right, they all have a force of a command that the church sends out and people go, and they teach and they baptize, but that central command there is to make disciples. You may have seen that before with those four verbs or verbal constructs. What you may not have seen before, in addition to those four words, there are four alls, A L L S, four alls in The Great Commission. It’s the Greek word pas or depending on its declension pasa, pan, pantos, but it’s the same word and it shows up four times in verses 18 through 20. All authority, there’s the first one, all nations, there’s the second, all that I have commanded you, there’s the third and the fourth one is a little invisible in our translation, but it says pasas tas hemeras, all the days unto the end of the age translated there and it’s an idiom for always, but literally in that word always is the construction all the days. So those four alls, you see them, all authority, all nations, all that I have commanded you, all the days. Those four alls tie up the major themes, symbols and big ideas in the Book of Matthew.

We’re gonna come back to those in just a bit, but in order to see how these four alls function within this paragraph, we need to go up one more verse, verse 17 because this is a very surprising statement and the four alls not only summarize the Book of Matthew, but they give a response to what is surprising to us in verse 17. “When they saw him, they worshiped”, now that could be surprising, they worshiped, they fell at their feet, but this is more than just paying homage to someone that they respect, this is the full force of worship. We know throughout Scripture someone receives worship who is not to receive worship, very bad things are about to happen. If anyone wants to worship you, you’re in big trouble, so you tell them, cut it out, but Jesus receives it because they understand. Now they have much to learn, they have not received the Holy Spirit, but they understand that this man, this Jesus, now remember He’s a man that looks like them, sounds like them, has hair like them, spoke like them, from the same area as them, and now they realize that He’s a man, but He’s more than a man. They fall on their faces, and they worship. So, this story, Matthew’s Gospel is not mainly about teaching you to live the Jesus way or getting you to copy Jesus and follow His instructions, yes we’re gonna see, obey all that He commands, but it is to drive you to a place where you worship. So that’s surprising, but the second half of verse 17 might be even more surprising. “When they saw Him they worshiped, but some doubted.”

All the times I’ve preached on this text or heard this sermon preached I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a sermon on that particular phrase, “But some doubted.” First, we need to establish, well who is the they in the first half of 17, well that’s the eleven disciples. Verse 16, the eleven disciples, why eleven, not twelve, cuz Judas is gone. The eleven disciples wen to Galilee to the mountain Jesus had told them so there they are, they saw Him, they worship, but some, it is unclear from the grammar itself whether the some is some of the eleven or the some might refer to a larger group of people that are there in addition to the eleven and you could make a case for either though I think the some refers to some others, that there is a larger group here besides just the eleven disciples because many times in the Gospel we’ve seen that there’s a larger group, he sends out the seventy, there’s a hundred and twenty, there is a larger group of those who have been in the entourage, have been following Jesus. We see back in 28:10 Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers”, which again could be just the disciples, the eleven or it could be the larger collection of people who have been following me, “Go tell those brothers to come meet me in Galilee.” Most of the eleven had seen Jesus twice already if we take this to be at the very end, shortly before the ascension, Thomas maybe once, Peter probably three times, the eleven most of them twice. It’s hard to imagine that they still would have had doubts about what they were witnessing. Thomas for example, Doubting Thomas, when he saw Jesus and he put his fingers in his hand and in his side, then he says, “My Lord and my God”, his doubts were overcome. So it seems hard to believe that of the eleven some of them would have been doubting, but if there is a larger group, perhaps some of them seeing Jesus for the first time, it makes sense, in fact many commentators think that this may be what Paul alludes to in 1 Corinthians 15 and He appeared to more than five hundred witnesses at one time. Well, when did that happen, well this might be that time. If this is a larger group of several hundred disciples, there with the eleven on the mountain because He’s in His old stomping grounds where He taught the people many time in the countryside of Galilee and large crowds would come to Him and so now a crowd perhaps has gathered again and some are not quite ready.

We must not be too hard on them, you can understand they might be thinking, well is this really Jesus, guys is this really happening. He is the messiah, He looks familiar, but there’s something different about Him. Remember Thomas didn’t get it right away, the men on the road to Emmaus didn’t understand it right away, the disciples in the boat seeing Jesus on the shore, they didn’t get it right away and don’t hear in this word doubt, a kind of arms crossed scoffing cynicism, some are worshiping and some are saying, pft, I don’t know about this Jesus guy. That’s not what doubting here means. Some translate it, but some hesitate, and I think that’s the sense. This word in Greek is only used one other time in the New Testament and if you had time to really think about it, you might come up with the other time when this word is used. It’s used in Matthew 14 when Peter walks out to Jesus on the water and he starts to sink and Jesus asks him, here’s the only other time this word is used in the New Testament, this same word, why did you doubt. That’s not a scoffing cynical Peter; that’s a Peter with great faith. He got out of the boat, but he wasn’t sure, he hesitated, and in that story from Matthew chapter 14:33, he says, “Those in the boat worshiped him”, so we have the same juxtaposition in Matthew 14 worship and doubt just like we have here, worship and doubt. Hesitation.

Like do you ever wait in a long line for a rollercoaster, I used to love rollercoasters, my head and my stomach didn’t put up with it very well and, it’s a young kids game to wait outside for an hour to just have your stomach plummet for 45 seconds, but enjoy Carowinds, the asphalt is lovely in July. But you wait and you see it and the thrills and the excitement and all your friends are there, and whoo, this is gonna be great and look at the drop and aw you’re gonna put your hands up and then you get there and then there’s some in your group that wait in the extra long line because they wanna sit in the first car, they wanna have the best experience, they’re gonna put their hands up, they are ready to worship and some doubted. And sometimes you have to see the two people that have to be lead down the stairs of shame, they really hesitate and just said, I can’t do it, I got this close, but most people, some are in there, woo, some are hesitant but they get in the car. So, these disciples, this is not the end of the road for them. This little line here in verse 17 should be both an encouragement and a challenge to us. It’s an encouragement if you’ve ever had that experience in your faith or maybe even right now, maybe you’ve been learning a lot about Christ, you’ve been learning from this church or from a book or a Bible study and other people seem to be ready to run ahead and you still, you’re not sure yet. Well, you have company here. There’s a kind of doubting that says, prove it to me, eh, the sort of person who asks questions just to delay having to make a decision, the person who’s asking questions as if to say, I’m not interested, and then there’s the person who says, I wanna get there, but I’m still, I’ve got questions. So, there’s a comfort here, but there is a challenge because sooner or later, and you don’t know when the end will come, none of us do. You have to either join with those who are bowing before the Lord Jesus or no matter how many good questions you have, you remain standing, doubting, unwilling to submit yourself to Christ. They worshiped but some doubted. And these four alls that we’re now coming to not only summarize the Book of Matthew, but I think they’re there to help those who were the some, the doubters, the hesitant, the I’m here and I see the rollercoaster is about to take off and I’ve been waiting in line and my friends are getting in the car and I’m not sure I want to do it now. These four alls are to help you get in the car.

Four alls. One, all authority. This has been a theme throughout the book. Again, if we had been going through this series for a long time you would have this in your head. At the end of Matthew chapter 7, The Sermon on the Mound you remember, greatest sermon ever preached, and what do the scribes and the elders and the leaders, what do they, what do they marvel or rather what do the crowds marvel about Jesus, what was it about His preaching. You remember, they didn’t way, and they marvel because He was so funny or even He could tell such a good story, He had powerful illustrations, He was so loving and gentle and unanxious, they marveled because He spoke like one who had authority. It’s always the mark of great preaching, it comes through different personalities, but if you don’t preach with authority then it offends people, interesting talk, he preached unlike anyone they had heard. Such authority they are left wondering, just like later when He calms the storm, who is this, the wind and the waves obey Him. It’s a growing theme, especially in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The people are wondering now who is this, the demons listen to Him, the wind listens to Him, the waves listen to Him, who does that? You know you’re in a parking lot and there’s a car making that terrible sound that it’s alarm is going off and everyone is thinking whose is that and you’re thinking that and then you realize it’s yours and you just have to get your key out and just bleep bleep, stops, but yeah you’ve got the fob and you do it and there it is, oops sorry and it stops. Who does that with the weather, Jesus. Wind, waves, storm, enough, They’re wondering who is this man.

Matthew 9, the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins and they wonder, no only God can forgive sins and Jesus must have been thinking, yeah you’re tracking, and so this authority, it’s not the first time Jesus has exercised authority, it’s not the first time He’s had authority, but it is now explicitly expanded to include heaven and earth and notice the language, all authority has been given to me. Who gave it to Him, it’s a gift from His heavenly Father. This is His royal enthronement about to take place to sit at the right hand of God the Father almighty. God the Father has given to his beloved son all authority and he remembers, so said these four alls are tying up all of these themes from the Book of Matthew. Do you remember someone earlier in the Book of Matthew who tried to offer Jesus all authority, namely the devil, it was one of his temptations. I’ll give you all this, just worship me. Jesus refused. Such a gift is not the devil’s to give. You do realize this with your sin and temptation. The devil is a liar, he is a deceiver, and he promises you what he cannot deliver. He promises you that that picture, that fling, that bitterness, that pride, that vanity, he promises you it’s going to make you happy. I will give you all these things, just worship me. He cannot do it, he cannot deliver on those promises, he’s a liar, but now the triumphant Christ after his resurrection is given this gift, granted unto Him, this authority, all authority which means there is nothing that the Lord Jesus cannot ask of you. There’s nothing that He cannot ask of you. We don’t tend to like the word authority, it’s not a word if you here, I’m here with the authorities. You don’t like authority and yet authority is meant to be God’s gift to us. The answer to bad authority is not no authority, but good authority. To have good pastors or elders, to have good police officers and law enforcement, to have good magistrates, to have a good army, to have good parents, to have a good boss exercising authority and here we have the Lord Jesus who is all goodness given unto him all authority.

Second all, verse 19, all nations. One of the strange things you find in the Gospels, now it’s especially in Mark, but it’s also in Matthew is that during His ministry Jesus is often telling people not to speak of Him. Sometimes called the Messianic Secret. Don’t tell anyone yet because people are getting healed, people are having demons cast out, and naturally they wanna go and start telling everybody about this amazing thing that they saw and that happened to them and yet it’s curious that Jesus would scoff and say, no, no, no don’t say anything yet, because He knows, well one, they’re not ready to make disciples, they don’t have the spirit, and two, He’s not ready to die, His time has not yet come. So, there is a moment in salvation history where this good news is mainly restricted to one people. Remember the story in Matthew and it seems sort of odd that Jesus would say it, almost unfeeling and mean of Him to that Canaanite woman, oh no we don’t give bread to the dogs, you’re not a Jew. Well even the dogs get some crumbs under their master’s table, isn’t that true. She was a woman of great faith, I think Jesus as testing her, but he was saying at this time this is mainly a message for the Jews. Now you could be incorporated and that’s what’s happening here with the inbreaking of the kingdom. It was a come and see message, but now it is a go and tell message. Everything gets reversed whereas Jesus has often been saying not yet, not yet, don’t say, don’t say, just let them come and now He says, go. It makes sense. The first two alls, universal authority implies a universal mission. Where should we go with the Gospel, well everywhere that Jesus has authority. Think about how the Gospel is often portrayed in the Gospels. It’s first of all a message that says come, come unto me all who are heavy laden. Let the little children come unto me. Anyone who comes to me I will in no way cast out or the psalmist says come let us worship and bow down. That’s the first step, but that’s not the last step. Now there is a go, go. Now certainly there is a most explicit obvious go, these disciples who will be sent out, missionaries, the word missionary, mission from the Latin which means to send just like Apostle is the Greed word to send, so to send out ones and we send out people in a formal way to go out and to go to those places that have little to no access to the Gospel, but all of us by implication as the church of Jesus Christ have a going aspect to our ministry, come, come, come and now He says go.

Two, all nations, ta ethne. You can hear our English word ethnicities. Ta ethne which is probably, we hear nation and we may think, well it’s a country that’s got a president and a congress and it’s got a border and it’s got an army, but nation was less developed then, probably the closest you can get in the ancient world to thinking a nation is thinking a language, thinking revelation, every tongue, tribe, language, nation. Overlapping terms, but they’re all kind of getting the same bullseye, a language, a people, a nation, a tribe, go to all of those, all the ethne of the world. Now we’re so familiar with this and many of us have heard umpteen sermons on this. Some of us have given our money generously, given our sons and daughters, given our lives to this great commission, this ta ethne, all nations, but put yourself back there and think, what a crazy site this must have been. These are relatively speaking, these are nobodies, in the middle of nowhere, in hicksville middle east with a rabbi, 30-something year old rabbi on a mountain, they’re not in Rome, they’re not even in Jerusalem here, they’re not in some major city and they’re bowing down before him and maybe there’s the eleven or as I’ve argued, maybe there’s as many as several hundred, but it’s still a relatively small group. They’re out there in the middle of nowhere and they say, okay you’re leaning in Jesus, it’s amazing, we love you, we worship you, you’ve risen. Okay there’s some of us here in Galilee, now what, what are our marching orders, what’s the mission and He says, everywhere. Really, if you had a startup company and you did a leadership retreat and the boss came down and he said, I’m just passing out or you’ll see on the screen just, we had $400,000 of revenue last year, just our long-term strategy is that this would go everywhere and we would be the dominant, you mean just like in our county, no I mean the universe. Say, we’re gonna step back, get my stock option now. But Jesus has the audacity, and to think about the provincial life that Jesus of Nazareth had lived. The distance between the Sea of Galilee in the north and Jerusalem in the south is about 70 miles, roughly the distance between Charlotte and Winston-Salem. His whole life, except for one little excursion into Egypt when he was a baby, so he’s between these two poles and not quite as far east and west, he’s just in this little orbit, Charlotte to Winston-Salem, his whole life and he has the audacity now to say in this little out of the way place in sort of the hinterlands of the Roman Empire, he says, my authority knows no bounds and so my mission knows no bounds.

It’s important that Jesus takes them back to Galilee. Now we think of this as right before the ascension but the ascension, you can read it in Luke and in Acts, the ascension takes place just outside of Jerusalem, Bethany, Mount of Olives. Here they’re up north in Galilee. Now this is the last thing that we read so it’s right to think about ascension, but somehow, they’ve gotta travel back to Jerusalem before the ascension. This is up north in Galilee. Why did Jesus want to give these instructions in Galilee? There’s been in Matthew’s Gospel a movement north to south, and now crucified in Jerusalem, risen in Jerusalem. You remember we’ve had this theme about going up to Galilee but partly it’s because they come back home, they’ve come full circle, they come back to the Shi’ar, but it’s not just that, think about Galilee, why Galilee. In Matthew 4 at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, so this is at the launch of Jesus’ ministry we read quoting Isiah 9:2, “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the Jordon, Galilee of the gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light. Galilee was Galilee of the gentiles, Galilee was associated in that messianic prophecy from Isaiah as that place where the people living in darkness would see a great light so of course Jesus says we’re gonna go back and we’re gonna launch this thing, I’m gonna give this speech here in Galilee. And think too about the very beginning of the Gospel that I did preach on not long ago in Matthew chapter 1. You know it starts with a genealogy, the Book of the Genealogy or the Greek word there, ganesaos, the genesis, the origin, the beginning, the Book of the Genesis of Jesus Christ, you remember that genealogy wants to make two important connections, the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. Now we’re coming to the Son of David connection. This is the Son of Abraham connection. Why was it so important to establish in Matthew chapter 1, he’s the Son of Abraham, because we’re gonna get to Matthew chapter 28 and just as God had promised to Abraham all those years ago, “I will make your name great, I will make you a great nation and through you all the peoples on earth shall be blessed.” That’s what it means to be the messianic fulfillment as the Son of Abraham, that He is going to bring about the fulfilment of that great missionary promise to Abraham. All nations, all that I have commanded you.

So I said, we’ve seen in the chapters previously this language that we probably missed before that Jesus made arrangements ahead of time for his disciples to meet, there was a rendezvous point, we’re not told what it was, but they’re from there, they had been there, they had teaching, there was probably a very familiar place and mountain and you can just say I want you to go and meet me and they would know, or they would go to the general area and he would find them. Matthew 26:32, “After I am raised up I will go before you to Galilee.” And then we see the same thing in chapter 28:7, “Go quickly, tell His disciples He is going before you to Galilee. Verse 10, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee”, so they have been given instructions, that’s the rendezvous point. You’re gonna go back up, take a few days, go back to Galilee and I will meet you there on a mountain.

Verse 16, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. Think about mountains in the Bible. Mountains are places of revelation, usually of God’s will and God’s commands. Most famously you have Mount Sinai, that’s the place that God reveals himself and his glory and gives to the people the commandments, mountains are places of revelation of God’s will, God’s commands. Well think about the story of Matthew because it begins and ends and in the middle there’s a mountain. Public ministry launches in Matthew chapter 4, and then He teaches Matthew chapter 5, where is he, the Sermon on the Mount because what is He, He’s a new law giver, He’s a new Moses and He’s giving to the people on that mountain new commands. He’s explaining to them how the Old Testament now applies. He’s the new Moses who had to be hidden away just like Moses did because of a jealous king who had to pass through the waters, the Jordan like the Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea, who was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days like God’s people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. He’s embodying the life of a new Moses and a new Israel and so He starts in Matthew 5 He gives them commandments from the mountain and here in chapter 28 He ends on a mountain, and you may remember in the middle there’s a mountain, chapter 17. We call it the Mount of Transfiguration.

Three, you can tell the story of Matthew from three mountains, the Sermon on the Mount, Transfiguration where His glory is revealed and the full unveiling so they can get a glimpse of who He really is, and then here on this mountain in Galilee. It is fitting for a God and for a king. He shows Himself once more to be the divine law giver so he gathers them to the mountain to say, “Make disciples, baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you”, not teaching just so that they can pass a test, but teaching unto the end that everything Jesus says would be observed, would be obeyed. This Great Commission and indeed all of Jesus’ commands, this is not the great suggestion, this is not an aspirational vision statement that we know we’re not gonna reach, but we’ll just put it out there, these are commands and Jesus has a right, all authority, the divine law giver on the mountain once again to give these commands. Remember I said that genealogy connects Jesus to Abraham and to David, he’s the son of Abraham, that’s the all nations and he’s the son of David and that I believe is the all authority and also everything I have commanded you because he’s showing himself to be a king, to be the great King David’s greater son. There’s often an awareness, sometimes ironically throughout the Book of Matthew that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant and the king of the Jews. He rides in on a donkey, the palm branches, the cloaks, all of that like Solomon, all of that is befitting a king riding into Jerusalem. He’s a king, hosannah, and then how many times in Matthew chapter 27 did people, not even knowing what they were saying with sarcasm dripping from their lips said, hail King of the Jews, this one read is the King of the Jews. Well, they said more than they knew. This Jesus has universal authority, a universal mission, and now we see a universal kingdom which looks like a mustard seed, the smallest seed and would grow to become the largest tree in the world, all that I have commanded you.

And there’s a last all. All the days until the end of the age. It is fitting that this Gospel does not end with a command, would have been nothing wrong with that, God has every right to give us commands, commands are for our good and we obey them, but very strikingly it does not end with a command, but it ends with a promise, I am with you always. Now always is a fine way to translate it, but I just want you to get in your mind that overly literal translation, all the days, because sometimes you can hear, Jesus with you always, yep to the end, but I want you to hear, not just always, but all the days, today, tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the days. So, this is what we need, one if we’re gonna worship and not hesitate, two if we’re gonna go wherever He sends us. I mean think about it, that if Jesus could see Him, He could touch Him and He grabbed you by the hand and He was right here and He said, come with me, and you said Jesus I don’t know where we’re going, He said, that’s alright, I’ll be with you, you would go because you’re with Jesus. Yes I’d go, I don’t know where I’m going, you’ll be with me, you’ll lead me all the way, my savior leads me, you would go anywhere with that hand in your hand, and it may not be a mission thing, it may be the scan that you have to receive this week or learning to live this year without your husband or your wife of many years or without a child, or moving away from home or a new job. Jesus says, all the days I’ll be with you, right there at your side.

I told you at the beginning about the few movies I have on my phone and thank you for the cheers for Lord of the Rings. I was watching that for 45 minutes on the short flight from DC and I was watching Return of the King and that section’s so good and the scene with the giant spider, right you should have read the book already, Shelob and Mr. Frodo gets the stinger right in the back and gets wrapped up and you remember Samwise Gamgee is at the bottom of the mountain because he’s been deceived by Gollum and then he realizes and you just, I mean Sam is such a good character, “I won’t leave you Mr. Frodo and he comes in there with the light and he comes in there with the sword and he’s there, there’s so many good scenes with Sam and I thought to myself two things, I thought, one, I hope I’m a friend like Samwise Gamgee and then I thought even more importantly, wouldn’t it be amazing to have a friend like Samwise Gamgee. Even when you don’t deserve it, even when Frodo misunderstood him, even when Frodo tried to send him away, still he sticks to him and he says, “I won’t leave you.” Well, you see where I’m going. You have a friend like that. Jesus says, “Behold I am with you in the spiders lair, into the very fires of Mordor, into the boredom of life, I’m with you.” You see this last sentence in Matthew’s Gospel could not be anymore perfect. Matthew in particular has all this fulfillment language in his Gospel and this was to fulfill and these explicit Old Testament promises, the book is about all of these promises coming true and so you’re meant to go through the Book of Matthew and you see one promise after another, fulfilled in Jesus, fulfilled in Jesus, wow, fulfilled in Jesus, everything God promised came true and so then when Jesus makes one last promise to you, you think I can trust this promise, all the other promises have come true, and it ties in what may be the most important theme of all, when Jesus says, “Lo, I will be with you all the days until the end of the age”, is this not the absolute brilliant fulfillment of what we saw in the very first chapter of Matthew, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emanuel which means God with us all our days. Let’s pray.

Our heavenly Father, we give thanks for your Word, for the scriptures which are there for our correction rebuke for training and righteousness. Oh Lord, give us such hope and courage from these four alls and lead us now even if some may have hesitation to bow and to worship and to receive from your hand by faith all that you mean to give to us. In Christ we pray, Amen.

Facts Still Matter

Mon, 05 May 2025 11:50:39 GMT

Father in heaven, what a joy to worship. We pray now as we come to your Word that we might not only be hearers but doers, so give us the heart of faith and ears to hear in Jesus’ name. Amen

Our text this morning comes from Matthew chapter 28 verses 11 through 15. For several weeks we’ve been looking at parables before Easter, looking at those parables Jesus gives in Jerusalem during Holy Week, Teaching Tuesday we called it, and then last week the resurrection, now we’ll finish up with this short series in the book of Matthew by rounding out the rest of Matthew 28. And here we have this paragraph which I don’t believe I’ve ever preached on before. The next paragraph next week, The Great Commission, probably you’ve heard more sermons on that text than any other text and I’ve preached on it a number of times, but never on this curious paragraph. Follow along as I read.

While they were going, I think the they there is the women, behold some of the guard went into the city, so the women are going their way and the guard went into the city, and told the chief priest all that had taken place and when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the solders and said, “Tell people His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

I began last week’s sermon by mentioning the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, wherever Jaunty Rhodes is, trigger warning here, sorry, you let us win I’m sure. But those two battles, the unofficial start of the Revolutionary War took place on April 19, 1775, so there was some noise about that last weekend and that’s a historical fact. Those two battles took place 250 years ago, April 19, 1775. If you’ve ever thought about how do you know that that is a fact. Maybe you just think, well I grew up here and I learned that all throughout my life or I could go to Wikipedia right now and get it, or I could pull a history textbook off the shelf or some other book, there’s all sorts of places I can go to tell me that is a fact. Okay, well let’s go one step back. How do you know that that information is true? As Abraham Lincoln once said, not everything on the internet can be trusted. There’s no video footage of these two battles, there’s no audio recording, there are no still photographs, that hadn’t been invented yet, how do we know what happened, how do we know who was involved, what time it took place, how do we know which side won or who the officers were? Well maybe you read about it in somebody’s memoir, somebody’s biography, autobiography years later, or maybe you can go back and you can find now digitize the newspapers from the day or you can really uncover some letters that were written back home or in official military reports or in someone’s diary or maybe there were personal interviews with those who were there. Here are actually lots of ways we can know what happened, but all of them rely somewhere at the beginning of the food chain on eyewitness testimony. Somebody saw it, somebody was there, and then you can compare this various testimony, does it make sense, how does it relate to other testimony that people have given, does it fit the context, do you suddenly have rocket ships, well that doesn’t seem to fit 1775, is it reliable. That’s how we know facts about history and that’s how we know the story of Easter week. Yes, the Bible is more than that, the Bible is an inspired account. God, however, used human authors and human eyewitnesses. The fancy theological term is concursive operation. Concursive just meaning together, that human authors using their human intellect. We know that Luke says in order to give an orderly account of these things he complied documents and talked to people to give an orderly historical account. So, they used their human personality, their human brain, and at the same time the Holy Spirit superintended the process so everything that they wrote down was true. How that’s important so you remember this revelation was not given to some monk in a cave somewhere on the other side of the world about something that was happening on the planet Mars. It was here and people saw it. We are talking about eyewitness testimony. People were there at His death, Joseph of Arimathea buried Him in the tomb, there was an angelic announcement to see, an empty tomb, and a risen Christ.

When I was putting the preaching schedule together I debated whether to just do these last two sections all at one fell swoop because there’s a lot to talk about in the great commission and I wasn’t sure exactly what I was gonna do with this paragraph, but hopefully you’ve learned by now, when you get to a part that looks like I don’t know what pastor’s gonna get from here, those are the fun ones. What we have in this paragraph more than teaching us about our faith, which it does, it’s obviously about the resurrection, this paragraph says a lot about what kind of faith we have, about our faith as Christians, or if you’re here and you’re not a Christian, what it means to be a Christian. Let me give you four statements this morning. Number one, first the Christian faith is historical. This may seem obvious, most of the Bible is narrative about things that happened in the past, but in saying that Christianity is irreducibly rooted in historical fact you have to realize that Christianity is being set apart from most other religions and certainly the dominant religious impulse in the first century in the Roman Empire. To say that Christianity stands or falls on historical fact means Christianity is not based on myth, it’s not based on fables, have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths, 1 Timothy 4:7. There’s all sorts of Greco Roman myths and maybe you learned about them in school, and people weren’t concerned whether they were true or not, they just were a story that had some deeper meaning or helped to kind of explain why things were the way that they were. It would be like if all of us read or see the movies The Lord of the Rings and you talk about it and you maybe find some inspiration, no one, not even Presbyterian pastors think that the stories are true. New flash, they’re not quite true. It’s a myth. May be truth in it, but it’s not history. Christianity is not mere philosophy. Like stoicism it’s not just a way of thinking right or getting your expectations under control. It’s not mere moralism, just about becoming a better person, a better version of yourself. It’s not rooted, first of all, in ecstatic experience. This was very dominant in the Roman world, sometimes even psychedelic, often sexual experience, that’s what religion was, a dominating ecstatic experience. It’s not a secret club, they also had lots of those, mystery religions they were sometimes called. It isn’t like a club where you have certain initiation rites and once you’re on the inside you can know, and if you’re on the outside you can’t know. I’m always very nervous when there are clubs like that. And this is not about mere civic cohesion though it’s true that any nation is going to struggle without some dominating religious principle and virtue. Christianity is how we get virtue, but in the Roman world it was about emperor worship and about being a good Roman, that you needed to believe certain things, that was really the concern. Romans were not doctrinal, that is they weren’t concerned about a statement of fate. When the Christians come along and we just read and recited the Apostle’s Creed which grew out of early baptismal formulas with the Nicene Creed from the fourth century. This was something unique that Christianity, unique among Roman religions said what you believe really matters and what happened in history matters. Christianity was different from all of this in asserting emphatically that its claims would stand or fall based on history, that to be a Christian is not first of all about what you do or about what you feel or about what your group is or whether it works, but did it happen. All those other things are important, but that’s the beginning, did it happen.

History, second, so we see in this paragraph because this is an apologetic for the resurrection how important it is that this happened in history. Similarly, second statement, the Christian faith is rational. Now you probably got the first one, history, you’ve heard that before, but I want you to think about this lest you misunderstand. This is really important. Christianity, to be a Christian we believe some things that are suprarational, not super, but supra, meaning above or beyond, that is to say there are certainly things we believe that are ultimately beyond total human comprehension. One God and three persons, one person and two natures with Christ, or how complete divine sovereignty, also human responsibility. There are many things that will definitely total complete human comprehension. That’s what we mean, suprarational, you will get to some questions at the end of yourself and you’ll say, I guess God is God and I’m not and so I can’t fully understand all of this, but that is very different from saying that Christianity insists on things are irrational. Suprarational, above our ability to comprehend yes, not irrational. Christianity doesn’t come along and tell you that triangles have four sides or 2+2 is 5, Christianity is not fideistic. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that word, fideistic. Fides, Latin word for faith, yes, we believe ultimately faith is really, really important, there’s almost nothing more important than faith. We believe we are justified by faith alone. But that word, fideistic is variously defined, but I’m using it to mean a kind of Christian faith that pits faith and reason against each other and says, you know what, you just believe things, there’s no good reasons, in fact you have lots of reasons not to believe it, but just by summoning up willpower you just decide, okay I’ll just take a leap of faith and I’ll believe. Some Christians think that their honoring faith to describe it in those terms. Fideistic, it’s just faith with no good reason. Now listen carefully, we don’t move from some supposedly neutral foundation of reason and we start with reason and we bracket everything else and then we climb our way up to faith, reason is not the final arbiter of truth claims, but Christian faith is not contrary to reason. We are intent on showing that our account of history, our account of meaning in life, our account of human nature, our account of reality taught in the Bible makes sense. It’s compelling. At a practical level this means that the Gospel is not a message that requires you to believe things contrary to or apart from any reasonable evidence. Or let me put that positively, when you believe as a Christian, I hope you realize you are believing, it is faith, yet, but you are believing based on reasonable evidence.

Acts 19:9, for two years Paul reasoned daily in the Hall of Tyrannus. Acts 25:25 says Paul reasoned with Felix about righteousness, self-control in the coming judgement. In Acts 26:25 Paul says to Festus, I am not out of my mind, but I am speaking true and rational words. When Paul was sharing his faith and he was called to testify to the resurrection and to what he believed now as this converted Jew and now a Christian Jew, he was at great pains to say I am reasoning, I am telling you things that are rational. I am giving you evidence. This thing, the death of Christ and the resurrection did not happen in a corner. We’re meant to think this through and see that there are good reasons for what we believe as Christians.

Now I read this text from chapter 28 and I want you to go back and look at the paragraph in chapter 27 because it goes with this one, two halves, look at 27 beginning at verse 62. The next day, that is after the day of preparation, the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered before Pilot and said, “Sir, we remember how that imposter said while He was still alive, after three days I will rise, therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day least his disciples go and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilot said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers, go make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. I want you to think about that and I want you to think about the second half of the story in chapter 28. I want you to reason this through. What does this mean? Well one thing that we know from this conversation with the chief priest and with Pilot is that they were expecting a bodily resurrection. Now they weren’t expecting it to happen, but they understood that that’s what Jesus taught. Jesus taught this three times in private, but word must have gotten out or when He said that He would tear down the temple in three days, He would raise it back up again, people understood, He is talking about Himself, His body. Now why is this important? Because lest we come with any nonsense that says, well you know at the resurrection it was really a spiritual resurrection or is it just about His soul was gonna be raised up to some immortal plane. No, that’s not how they understood it, they understood talking about flesh and blood body that Jesus had predicted that He would die and that His body would be raised and therefore we have to seal the tomb, we have to get guards. This is very likely temple guards, not Roman soldiers. That’s why in chapter 28 they come back and they talk to the elders rather than to the governor because these were probably temple guards and Pilot says, okay go ahead take some of those and go station them at the tomb. But think about what else we know from this story. Even if you are coming to the Bible very skeptical and you said, well yeah, you’re just making an argument pastor based on the Bible, you already agreed that the Bible is true, well the Bible is God’s Word, but let’s just for the sake of argument say even if you were cynical about this account of the resurrection you have to acknowledge that the fact that this is in here means that some people were saying the disciples stole the body because there’s no way that the apostles would make up, say you’re very skeptical, I think the resurrection is all made up, the apostles just put that in there. Well, the apostles are not going to put in a story into people’s minds. You know what’s one explanation for the empty tomb, that we stole His body. So, they’re not gonna make that up, so that must have been happening, people must have been saying the disciples stole the body. So that’s a fact.

Second, if people were saying the disciples stole the body, and they must have been saying that because the disciples aren’t gonna suggest that to people if it’s not already out in the air. So, if people were saying the disciples stole the body, then that leads to an even more important fact, namely, that people had to give an account for the empty tomb. Nobody starts that story; the disciples stole the body. If everyone knows you went into the tomb and there was the body. Nobody starts that explanation, if everyone could say, ya know what, I saw Jesus dead, I saw it with my own eyes. No, the body was missing, the tomb was empty, so we have really incontrovertible fact that the tomb was empty and therefore they had to give an account for this empty tomb and their explanation is, I want you to go, we’re gonna give you some money and you’re gonna say you fell asleep and that someone came in, His disciples, and they stole it. The best explanation for them is the stolen body explanation originating in bribery and deception. And Matthew records that this story, verse 15, has been spread among the Jews to this day and we can see evidence of it even in the centuries to come. Here’s an example.

I’m gonna give you two examples this morning, you’re gonna get some early church fathers, here’s the first one, Justin Martyr, that wasn’t his given last name, that’s a bit of a downer, but we call him Justin Martyr. This is in one of his books, this is from around 160 A.D. So, this is say, maybe 100 years after the Gospel of Matthew and he’s one of the early church theologians, apologists. This is in a book called, Dialogue with Trypho, who was a Jew, maybe based on a real person or maybe a composite of various Jewish objections, but here’s Justin Martyr writing to this Jew to the objections that Jews would have to Christianity writing in the middle of the second century. Listen, “And though all the men of your nation knew the incidents in the life of Jonah and though Christ said among you that He would give the sign of Jonah exhorting you to repent of your wicked deeds, at least after He rose again from the dead, and to morn before God as did the Ninevites, in order that your nation and city might not be taken and destroyed as they have been destroyed, yet you not only have not repented after you learned that He rose from the dead, but as I said before you have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a Godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver.” Now note the continuity with that we read in Matthew’s Gospel where they say this imposter, He’s a fraud. So, they were taking the famous, of course they don’t have C.S. Lewis yet, but if they’re looking at the liar, lunatic, or lord, famous C.S. Lewis trilemma, they are definitely latching on liar. His first fraud was that He said He was messiah and then His last fraud as they understand it is that He had been raised from the dead. So, they’re saying very early on their explanation is He’s a liar. Well here a century later same thing, a Galilean deceiver whom we crucified, but His disciples stole Him by night from the tomb. So, this explanation is still going on, where he was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceived men by asserting that He has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. Moreover, you accuse Him of having taught those Godless, lawless, and unholy doctrines which you mentioned to the condemnation of those who confess Him to be Christ and a teacher and the son of God. Besides this, even when your city is captured and your land ravaged yet you do not repent, but dare to utter imprecations on Him and all who believe in Him. I just want you to note this last sentence here from Justin, cuz he’s having a dialogue with a Jew and we have tragically seen the rise of anti-Semitism in our day, often from the left, sometimes though from the right. Now how do we argue for what is absolutely essential, Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved for Jews and Gentiles. So, listen to what Justin is saying and then here’s this last sentence as he is arguing very strenuously with this Jew as conversation partner. He says, “Yet we do not hate you or those who by your means have conceived prejudices against us, but we pray that even now all may repent and obtain mercy from God, the compassionate and longsuffering father of all.

Justin was one of the best examples of the early church fathers who sing the universal claims of Christ for Jew and Gentile. The reason that this is here in verses 11 through 15 is first of all that it happened, but it is stated of all the things have happened that it might give an explanation for this rumor that had been circulating from the very beginning, it was already evident here a century later, why the empty tomb, where did the body go and the account of scripture, and we’ll come to apologetics in a little more detail in just 30 seconds here, but I want you to recognize that they are rooting their confidence in the resurrection on a faith that has reason, a faith that is rational, a faith based on evidence. These soldiers are taking money that they might lie and spread a deception and say, how do we get out of this predicament, I know, we’ll say the disciples stole the body and that line of thinking continued for a long time, but here we have the accounts, the eyewitness accounts to tell a different story.

2 Peter 1:16, that verse with which we began the service says, “We do not follow cleverly devised myths or fables.” And here’s where I want you to note Christian, in your moments of doubt or even in moments of despair or perhaps when you’re facing death, you’re facing a diagnosis or you’re facing an unknown future, we all face an unknown future, but when you come to those moments and you have moments of doubt and almost all of us have moments of doubt, maybe it’s, can I trust the Bible or what if I just pick the wrong religion, if I were born somewhere else I would have picked some other religion, how do it know? Well, here’s one of the reasons why your faith rests on evidence. There was a man named Jesus Christ, everyone acknowledges that, even Bart Ehrman if you know him, the professor from Chapel Hill who has written all sorts of books trying to overturn orthodox Christian faith. Even Bart Ehrman says, look Jesus existed, and people said that He was the Christ and He was crucified everyone could see it. And what the Bible tells us, and we have good evidence to believe, is that he rose again from the dead. You come to those moments of despair; you’re not just hanging onto faith for the sake of faith. You believe in a real person, a real man, a God man who walked among us. You could touch Him and he died a real death and He came back to life with a glorified human body and Thomas put his fingers in it. That really happened, your faith is secure, it’s not based on myth or fable.

Here’s a third point. Christianity is apologetic, not apologetic saying I’m sorry all the time, but in that sense of persuading. Christianity tries and takes seriously serious objections to the faith. Perhaps another word, besides apologetics, is persuasion. Christians want to persuade. I want to persuade you that this story in the Bible is true and you have good reason for believing it and now ultimately you will need the work of the Holy Spirit to trust your whole life in it, but I want you to see that it is reasonable. In Acts 26:28 Agrippa says to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” That’s what Paul was doing with King Agrippa, I’m persuading you, I’m getting you to think about this evidence so I promised you to church fathers, you’re saying I know you promised, you didn’t need to follow through on that promise, but I promised you.

Here’s the second one. Origen, writing in the middle of the third centuries around 240s. Now Origen’s not completely trustworthy or reliable in every theological emphasis, but it was maybe the most brilliant of the early Apologists and he has a book called Contra that is against Celsus. Celsus wrote at the end of the second century, maybe he was even writing in response to the first guy I mentioned, Justin Martyr. Celsus authored the first known full blown religious philosophical critique of Christianity. The first full blown, here’s this guy Celsus, he has gone with guns a blazing, giving it everything he’s got, he’s a very smart guy, to explain why Christianity as he sees it is false and one of Origen’s books is Contra Celsus and he quotes at length, that’s how we know, we don’t have Celsus manuscript, but he quotes at length, and so here’s what Celsus, this early Christian critic says. Now he’s putting himself, he’s arguing a Jewish objection. “Come now let us grant to you”, here’s Celsus, “that the prediction was actually uttered.” The prediction Jesus said I’m going to die and be raised again. Yet, how many others are there who practiced such juggling tricks in order to deceive their simple hearers and who make gain by their deception. That’s his first argument. Lots of people have claimed to die and to come back and he lists some of these people, Zalmoxis, Pythagoras, Rhampsinitus, Proselytaeus, Hercules, Orpheus, and he says a little bit about them, and he says, “The question is whether anyone who was really dead ever rose with a veritable body.” Now Celsus answers, “No, no, you know all those are myths and your story about Jesus Christ is another one of those myths”, that’s what he’s arguing, “Or do you imagine the statements of others not only to be myths, but to have the appearance of such while you have discovered a becoming incredible termination to your drama in the voice from the cross when he breaths his last and in the earthquake in the darkness.”

So Celsus knows the stories of the Bible, that while he was alive Jesus was of no assistance to himself, but that when dead he rose again and showed the marks of his punishment and how his hands were pierced with nails who beheld this. Listen to what Celsus says, this is one of the central arguments, who beheld this, who was the first eyewitness, a half frantic woman as you state and some other one perhaps of those who were engaged in the same system of delusion who had either dreamed so, owing to a peculiar state of mind, or under the influence of a wandering imagination had formed to himself an appearance. So, he says, “Who believed this, who were your eyewitnesses.” It was a stark raving mad woman of all people and, okay, other people that was just wish fulfillment or what is more probable one who desired to impress others with this portent and why by such a falsehood to furnish an occasion to imposters like himself. So that’s written likely at the end of the second century. So, these objections to Christianity, to the empty tomb had been around for a long time. Origen was a brilliant Apologist and he goes through and he responds to each of those objections. Well, there are many other stories of famous people going to the underworld and coming back. Origen says, “Yeah, but none of them suffered a public death.” Those other men, those supposed stories withdrew from public and then they appeared later and they said, ya know what, while I was gone, I was dead and I went to the underworld and I came back with this napkin to show you that I was there. That’s true, that’s true, that’s what Celsus says. Origen says, “Nobody died publicly before the whole nation to see he’s dead like Jesus.” Well, no one has ever been raised with a real body Celsus says. I remember Celsus here is saying, “I’m arguing like a Jew.” And so, Origen says, “Well if that’s a Jewish criticism that’s not a very good one because your own Jewish scriptures tell you that Elijah and Elijah raised people from the dead.” “Well, but he was no assistance to himself”, Celsus said. Now this argument Celsus is saying, “Some kind of God you have. He’s some powerful God, so powerful He can be raised back to life and have a new body and yet He couldn’t even do anything on the cross.” And Origen says, “Remember He went freely, voluntarily. He gave of Himself; He was not overpowered. He was attested by half crazy women”, Celsus said. Origen doesn’t make this point so much, but many other later Apologists will to say this is actually one of the reasons to trust the Gospel accounts because if you are making up a story and you want your story to be most persuasive to people here in the first century, you don’t make women the first witnesses because they were not considered credible witnesses, their testimony could not hold court in a court of law, that’s just the way it was in the first century, so if you just wanna make up a story that’s gonna win the day, you don’t do it this way. The only reason you record this is because this is how it happened.

Now Origen goes on to say, “Well, one, they weren’t the only witnesses and two, you called them half crazy, we didn’t call them half crazy, so I’m not owning that. These women were not the only ones and they were in sound mind and body.” And then to Origen’s response to Celsus’ objection that it’s just wish fulfillment Origen says, “Wish fulfillment, really, what about Thomas, he was doubting, there was no sense that he was just giving to his mind what he really wanted to happen, in fact he was incredulous when he first saw Jesus. And what about Celsus’ final objection that well these are just frauds, like Jesus was a fraud. They’re imposters who want to get rich, who wanted to make a name for themselves and to impress other people.” And Origen says, “But the apostles did not get rich, they were not powerful as the world understands power, in fact they gave their lives for this fact.” Isn’t it amazing, and some of you I know love Apologetics and read and study this stuff, how these are the same objections and many of the same responses that we have and that we need almost 2000 years later and they were there in the second century from Celsus and Origen responded to them, Christianity has always been intent. Now you don’t throw pearls before swine, but if you have serious objections, we take them seriously and we want to persuade you with serious answers. Which leads to a final point.

Perhaps most important for us. The claims of Christianity push people in one of two directions, one of two directions. You have in chapter 28, the text we looked at last week, you have these guards, these temple guards likely, and you have the women. Both of them were witnesses to amazing things and we don’t know exactly when one group might have come or left, but we know enough to know that they both witnessed amazing things there. The guards saw an earthquake, they saw an angel that was so impressive to them they cowered in fear, they saw the stone was rolled back and think about it, if they had the stone rolled back, they at least had enough of a glimpse in there to see there wasn’t any Jesus in there. They knew the tomb was empty, they saw that. And then you have the women, they heard the angelic announcement, they had a personal inspection to go and see where he lay, both groups had the same news. It’s like you have people in your life, kids, your grandkids, maybe some people in this room, you have heard the same news. Some of you have heard it your whole life and this Christian news, there’s really only one of two ways to respond. The women run to go tell the disciples He has risen, go meet Him in Galilee. The guards run into the city to tell the elders and the chief priests all that had taken place. Both of them know something really, really big has happened and I’ve gotta share this with somebody. Both of them could have understood viscerally, instinctively something has changed and my life is not going to be the same. What do I do with what I have heard and seen, what do I do with eyewitness. One announces, rejoices, one takes a bribe, hides the truth. Why the different responses? These soldiers refuse to go against their perceived self-interest. Now they were in a tough spot, what do they do, they, this was the original you had one job meme, you had one job fellas, you’ve got a big huge rock, don’t let anybody pass through the rock. Easy. They didn’t do it. The one guy got out. So, what do they say, well they come up with what they think is the best of the bad options, uhm, we’ll say we slept. Now that’s not what you wanna do when you’re a guard, but better than dealing with the uncomfortable truth that there might be another explanation. So, to save their own skin and make some money in the meantime, they refused to consider anything other than the conclusion they had reached. This has been the same for 2000 years. This may be why you have a hard time becoming a true, I mean sold out follower or Christ. You do not want to accept a conclusion other than the one that you’ve already decided is the right conclusion. They already decided what was true, “He was a deceiver and an imposter”, they already had that. You can hear it in Matthew’s account and you hear that same language in Justin’s dialogue, you can hear it in the criticism from Celsus, that’s what we’re going with, liars. He claimed to be the messiah, not true. He claimed to come back from the dead, that won’t be true either, nananana, no, it cannot be true, and remember what these religious leaders had said on Good Friday, “Hey if you come down from the cross, we’ll believe in you,” Careful, He did, they didn’t mean it. They had already decided, maybe for some of you, you hold out all of these things, well if God would do this, if He would answer this prayer, if He would show Himself in this way…really, you think if God did each one of those things, then you would believe? They say, come down, yeah, we’ll believe in you. Not a chance, they had already decided He was a fraud, an imposter, and they didn’t want anything to do with Him, they wanted Him to disappear. One of the main reasons people do not believe is they do not want to believe; they do not want the Gospel to be true. Are you open to being surprised, are you open to being wrong, are you open to surprising good news?

We’re gonna end here. I know it’s late, but we had a lot of kids join the church. Have you ever seen the thought about the connection here with Daniel in the lion’s den? Most of us know the story of Daniel and the lion’s den, that’s a story of resurrection in a way. Listen to Daniel 6:17, whenever you read this now, you’ll see it if you haven’t before. Daniel 6:17, “And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den.” Who’s in the den, the true prophet, the one who was lied about, the one who was schemed against, the one who had a shame trial and fake laws and was thrown into wild beasts that he might be devoured and destroyed and they rolled the stone and they sealed the tomb as it were at the mouth of the den, the prophet is in there to die. But do you remember what happens the next morning? The king who had unwittingly signed his death warrant comes and he runs, he says, “Daniel, did your God save you?” There’s, I think, a deliberate contrast, the chief priest, the elders, the scribes, the Pharisees are so much worse than this pagan king in Daniel’s day, for when the king went racing to the tomb like the women or the disciples came racing to the tomb, that pagan king came there hoping for good news might it be true, hoping against hope that maybe he was wrong and maybe the good news was true and maybe Daniel was alive. Be like that king in your doubts not like the religious leaders in Jerusalem, they knew, it doesn’t matter what we see, what happens, we will not believe Jesus cannot be alive. Two messages came racing away from the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, which one of those messages will your life be about because it’s gotta be one or the other because we know absolutely there was an empty tomb and people had to give an account for it. Will your life be a celebration and a defense of the message of these soldiers, a message of confusion and failure, what is the good news in the world, the body was stolen or will you give your life and live your life for this message of hope and victory that announces to the disciples and to the world, Jesus is alive. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your many blessings and pray that you would strengthen us to these things. Give us faith, faith that comes by your spirit, but a faith that has reason and we pray that we would live unto this end. In Jesus we pray. Amen.

Do Not Be Afraid

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 13:25:58 GMT

Christ has risen, he has risen indeed, oh sing Hallelujah. Join the chorus, sing with the redeemed. Christ has risen, he has risen in indeed. Oh Lord, as we have already twice spoken these words and now sung this refrain multiple times, we pray these would not be mere words but that they would find good soil in our hearts, that as we reflect now on this good news, this angelic announcement that Christ is risen, he is risen indeed, that we would not only hear and know and understand the truth, but we would feel what we ought to feel in light of such good world changing, life altering news. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Matthew chapter 28 verses 1 through 10, the account of the resurrection from Matthew’s Gospel chapter 28. “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb and behold there was a great earthquake, and an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightening and his clothing white as snow and for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified, He is not here for He has risen as he said, come see the place where He lay then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and behold He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, see I have told you,” So, they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell His disciples and behold Jesus met them and said, “Greetings”, and they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me.”

I wonder if you’ve heard this poem before. Here are the opening lines, “By the rude bridge that arched the flood their flag to April’s breeze unfurled. Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world.” Did you know there was an anniversary yesterday, April 19, 1775? I asked, I think, all of my kids if they knew what the anniversary was, 250th anniversary. One said, “Is that when you and mom got married?” No, not that long ago. Other people were in World War I, World War II, April 18, 1775, the shot heard round the world. Those are the opening lines of a poem from Ralph Waldo Emerson, his poem, Concord Hymn” written in 1837 to commemorate, here it is, the Battles of Lexington and Concord and yesterday was the 250th anniversary of those skirmishes which came to mark the beginning of what we now call the American Revolutionary War. It was originally written as a hymn and it was sung to the tune, Old Hundredth, which is the doxology. Not gonna do that today, Nathan doesn’t have that planned, a little strange to sing the tune of the doxology to the Battles of Lexingon and Concord, especially strange to any of our British friends who are here with us, we’re glad you’re here, we’re all friends now.

In April 1775 the British sensed that they would soon face an uprising in Massachusetts so they made a plan to seize a store of weapons, artillery, gun powder at Concord outside of Boston, but the network of patriot spies got wind of the plan before the British could fully execute their plan and so on the evening of April 18, you may remember the story, Paul Revere and another guy, poor William Dawes who no one sings any songs about, but Paul Revere rode out through Lexington and Concord and he said, or we can hope that he said, “The British are Coming, The British are Coming.” He may not have said those exact words since they were all kind of British at that point, but he probably said “The regulars are coming” the British troops and they arrived at Lexington around 5:00 a.m., surprised by a militia of more than 70 men waiting for them after killing seven militia men the British regulars marched on to Concord several miles away, they arrived there around 8:00 a.m. and the British troops were surprised again to find occupying the high ground several hundreds of militia men who knew that they were coming and as they marched down the hill the British retreated then opened fire. There are debates about who fired first, the Americans, the British, Han Solo, Greedo, who was it who fired. This prompted the Americans to open fire on the British soldiers and that opening volley often remembered as the shot heard round the world. It was the first time that a British province deliberately fired with orders on the British regular army and the British then retreated all the way back to Boston, 12 miles, attacked by minutemen hiding behind bushes and trees and buildings and stones and railings. By the evening of April 19, 1775, it was clear to the British that this had been a disaster, and these shots would mark out now the beginning of America’s 250th anniversary which will go with various commemorations I’m sure until next year July 4, 1776. And it’s fair to say, though I think unless you live in Boston, probably yesterday went on without too much momentous occasion, that those opening skirmishes have had a world shaping significance for at least 250 years.

But then you think about the far greater event reverberating not just 250 years and forgotten by most people even in this country, but 2,000 years ago celebrated on every continent by millions and in fact by billions of people hours before us for hours after us and you think about the contrast on that Sunday morning there were no brave patriots galloping on horseback, just a few tearful frightened women approaching a tomb, hoping that maybe they could catch one last glimpse of their dead friend. In fact, bravery was nowhere to be found on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, all of the disciples had deserted Him, Peter denied Him, Judas betrayed Him. One by one and in groups they scattered and fled and even those who had not given up the faith were cowering in silence, no bravery to be found, not even the Roman soldiers, they don’t cut a very impressive figure in this story, they’re just left for dead, cowering at the site of one angel. And most importantly we celebrate on Easter a hero, a divine hero who conquered not by killing, not by calculating whether He had killed more than had been killed and wounded, but He conquered by being killed and not only that, because of course lots of people in history have died for some great cause, people have died for terrible causes, and people have died for noble causes, the cause of their country, their family, their friends, some ideology, but Jesus didn’t just die. If He were just a martyr, there had been lots of martyrs in history, no we celebrate and we worship this morning because He did not stay dead and not only that He came back from the dead, but never to die again. It wasn’t just that someone that they loved, wonderful, He was dead and now He’s alive, but never to die again and that He had conquered death as John’s Gospel tells us, He folded the grave clothes there in the tomb as if to signify, I won’t be needing these again, all done with those. There has never been anything like this event in history and mark very well that we are talking about history, the Gospel writers want us to be very sure of that, we are not dealing with mere metaphor. You notice back in Matthew chapter 27 you can flip the page back, the passage I read on Good Friday, it says rather curiously 27:36, “They sat down likely the soldiers and kept watch over Him there.” Why are they watching Him, He’s on the cross, He’s not going anywhere, but they had heard some of the rumblings and they knew some of the grandiose claims He had made and perhaps they wanted to make very certain that He would really, really die, that there were no shenanigans at the last minute, that He might fake some death, or His disciples might come and take Him down, but they were there, the soldiers. Roman soldiers know how to kill people, let’s make sure He’s really dead, and then we see at the end of chapter 27, you see the heading above verse 62, “The Guard at the Tomb.” The Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that imposter said while He was still alive, after three days I will rise, therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day lest his disciples go and steal him away.”

See Matthew’s account wants us to know we are dealing not with fiction, not with a feel good story, but with fact. The Pharisees knew Jesus had said at least three times it’s recorded that I will die and on the third day I will rise again. The Pharisees said, now let’s be very careful, let’s get some soldiers at the tomb, let’s make sure nobody comes and takes this body and then they announce to the whole world that He was risen when they just stole Him away. And then in this passage in verse 7 and again in verse 10, the women are told, give the message to the disciples and make sure they know that Jesus is going to appear to them in Galilee and He appears many times and appears on one occasion Paul says to more than 500 brothers at one time. This did not happen in a corner somewhere, this was not some game of spiritual telephone, one person or a handful of women came from that morning and just started passing around the word, hey there was an angel and there’s no body in the tomb. And then they told another and another and another and no one actually saw this Jesus, it just started like some vicious rumor, no he wants to be absolutely clear that Jesus appeared to them on multiple occasions and then did you notice the language in verse 9, “They came up and took hold of His feet”, His feet, real feet, flesh, blood, bone, skin, feet. This was no ghost, no apparition, this was not a hallucination, these women were not having some vision just imaging that a long-lost friend had appeared to them, they knelt down and grabbed his real physical human feet. All four of the Gospel writers want us to know that this happened, He has risen just as He said. So let us not recount the story with any patronizing nonsense about mere metaphors of light and darkness. You hear this every Easter, people say, well I love the Easter story, it tells us that the darkness does not win and that good triumphs over ever and all of that is, yes and Amen, it’s true, but it’s true first of all because of facts, because of history about a heart that stopped beating and then started beating again.

I wonder if you’ve ever read John Updike’s famous poem, you’re getting more poems than you usually get from me, John Updike’s famous poem, Seven Stanzas at Easter. It’s not very long, just read a few of them, it’s well worth reading, written in 1960. He says, “Make no mistake: if He rose at all it was as His body; if the cells’ dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle, the church will fall. It was not as the flowers, each soft Spring recurrent; it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the eleven apostles; it was His flesh: ours. The same hinged thumbs and toes, the same valved heart that pierced-died, withered, paused, and then regathered out of enduring might new strength to enclose. Let us not mock God with metaphor, analogy, sidestepping, transcendence; making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded credulity of earlier ages: let us walk through the door.” Such an arresting phrase, “Let us not mock God with metaphor,” as if to say that this happened in some earlier age when you know people back then in the first century, they just believed anything. You know how often people in the first century saw dead people come back to life? About as often as you and I do, maybe a few more times if they followed Jesus around, and they saw Lazarus, but those were as it were resuscitations, men, women and children who would come back and would die again, this was something different. Let us not think that they were used to miracles just dropping from the sky, day after day, resurrection, no, they had the same incredulity that we would have had.

Next week, Lord willing, come to verses 11 through 15 and we will talk more about the intellectual defense of the resurrection and that’s one way to approach Easter, but rather than talking apologetically about the intellectual defense of the resurrection, this morning I want you to notice in our text the emotional reaction. I want you to think about what it felt like for Mary and Mary to come to the tomb, and I want you to then reflect on your own heart, if it is a heart of faith this morning. Think what do you feel in your heart as you receive again this good news that He has risen just as He said. I want you to notice three visceral gut level reactions from the women on Easter morning. We read in verse 1 just before the break of dawn on the first day of the week or as it says overly literally translating from the Greek day one of the Sabbath, day one of a new week and day one of a new age. The women approached the tomb. Matthew mentions two women. The other Gospel accounts will mention sometimes more than two women perfectly able to have the various eyewitness accounts cohere. If I was at a scene of an accident and told you about two ambulances that rushed in and someone else said three ambulances came in, the two accounts would not be mutually exclusive to tell you about these two and then there was another so Matthew is mentioning simply these two women and in fact it’s some measure of the honesty and the trustworthiness of the Gospel account so there’s no sense that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all came together and said, let’s try to come up with a story, everybody on the same page, okay now what are you going to do, what are you going to do, what are you going to do. These accounts developed by eyewitness testimony either from themselves or from others who shared it with them, and they all agree on what is most important. They agree that the tomb was empty, that there was an announcement to the women that Jesus would meet with the disciples.

Here Matthew mentions two of the women, Mary Magdelene and the other Mary. I have a daughter named Mary, I told her, “Wouldn’t you feel a little bad if you were in the story as just the other Mary”, but there’s a lot of Marys and it’s hard to keep them all straight. John 19:25 says, “Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother and His mother’s sister Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdelene.” Now even that passage it’s difficult to know are they talking about four women or three women, I think it’s three that at the cross you have His mother Mary, you have her sister, which could be her sister, it could be a sister-in-law, her name is also Mary the wife of Clopas and then there’s the friend Mary Magdelene. So, we have Mary and the other Mary, but this other Mary isn’t one of those other two Marys. It’s not Mary the mother of Jesus, doesn’t seem to be Mary the wife of Clopas, but if you go back to chapter 27, look at verse 56, those ministering to Him among whom were Mary Magdelene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Verse 61, Mary Magdelene and the other Mary which seems to be this Mary the mother of James and Joseph. So, it’s this Mary, another one of these friends. There’s lots of Marys, lots of James, lots of Joseph, lots of Jesus, these are all very common names. These two Marys come to the tomb, they had come to anoint His body with spices, Mark’s Gospel tells us. Whether it was necessary or not perhaps they wanted to prevent an odor, perhaps they just wanted to have one last remembrance just like you might go and lay a wreath on the gravestone and even if there are other flowers there you don’t mind putting another bouquet on the grave of your loved ones. So, they come with spices to anoint the body, and we read in Mark’s account and it says they discussed with one another who would roll the stone away. So, it was a plan that was much more well formed in the heart than in the head. We wanna see Jesus one more time. You’ve got the spices, and they’re saying but there’s a stone. They may not know that there’s going to be a guard also, they think, I don’t know, maybe there’s a group of people, maybe there’s some strong men, maybe there’s some way we don’t know, we’ll figure it out when we get there, but when they get there of course they don’t have to worry about the stone, it’s been rolled away.

And this brings us to the first gut level reaction and it’s the one that’s most prominent in this passage, fear. First, we see it with the soldiers. There’s a great earthquake, an angel came down, rolled the stone away, sat on it. You just wonder what this was like, how big was the stone, you don’t, you can’t help but smile, just there’s an angel just “mornin”, just sitting up there, angels can do that, he’s dazzling white with brilliant clothes. Now we are used to big hundred-million-dollar movies on screens, multiple stories tall with CGI and all the special effects and yet I bet this would have frightened even us. Not many of us I think have seen a blinding angel drop down out of the sky and so the guards become like dead men, so much so that we don’t even know exactly where they are in this scene. It could be that by the time you get to verse 5 the angel talking to the women that those things had happened earlier, maybe they’re off the scene, or maybe they’re still there in the corner rolled up in the fetal position on the ground. In any event the angel ignores them, they’re irrelevant at this moment. The angle wants to talk to the women. And we don’t have a record of them saying anything and perhaps it was simply written on their faces, verse 5, the angel said to the women, “I can see, do not be afraid.” It is understandable that they would be afraid. It is the occasion all throughout scripture when human beings encounter some sort of divine theophany or even like this an angelic encounter, they’re fearful, they don’t get chummy, they don’t say, hey how are you, they’re afraid, why because something surprising, something unfamiliar, something strangely powerful is happening. We have this even as adults, we’ll have sometime this summer I bet you’ll be awakened out of sleep one might with a flash of light and some summer thunderstorm. I bet for some of us even though we tell us, that’s fine, these things happen, yet you’ll find a kid come into your room or maybe you’ll worry about a tree blowing in the wind. We’re easily startled even today. Anything that seems strange, unfamiliar, strangely powerful like palmetto bugs, like, I don’t know if any of you have heard coyotes. I read a report in the Charlotte Observer recently from someone in Mint Hill, which is where I live, says it sounds like a hoard of demonic coyotes fighting each night. It’s bad out there. The Mint Hillbillies where we live. My wife is certain that every beach in North Carolina, South Carolina, the entire Atlantic seaboard teeming with sharks. In fact, I think that when you get east of Fayetteville all sharks. The rivers, the tributaries, open the toilet, sharks. Everywhere, everywhere man-eating sharks. We were at the beach last summer and we saw one about yea big, people were out there fishing at night and causing a little shark and it was enough to say, oh really, there really are sharks. You come up to Michigan where I’m from, there are beaches there, you get a nice t-shirt, “Great Lakes, No Salt, No Sharks.” Then it should also say in parentheses, “Freezing Cold.”

We’re easily frightened by anything that seems unfamiliar, a power that we can’t contain. We understand why these women with these events in the sight of this angel would be immediately fearful and his response is necessary to them, don’t be afraid, I know you’re looking for Jesus, He’s not here, He’s risen, just as He said, come see where he lay. Notice this, notice, the stone was not rolled away so that Jesus could get out, the stone was rolled away so that the witnesses could come in. Jesus didn’t need any help getting out of the tomb. It says in the Bible this heading that is just the translators put, The Resurrection, and that’s a fine title, but do you notice technically there’s no account in any of the Gospels of the actual resurrection. What I mean is, there’s no account and then Jesus was lying there then he opened his eyes, He struggled to get free from the grave clothes and stripped them off and folded them and put them there in the tomb, then He moved the stone or perhaps he passed through. We see later with his resurrected body there are certain qualities that our bodies don’t have and maybe he just passed through the wall. We’re not given the blow-by-blow details of how he rose. What we’re told is the stone was rolled away that the visitors might come in and see for themselves that He lives. It wasn’t as if there was a struggle and that He came to life only by fits and starts like Wesley in the Princess Bride, He’s only mostly dead and they had to breath into Him and then He sort of came and someone had to carry Him around for days, nothing like that, He’s raised by the power of God and that was power enough. Death could not hold Him. The grave could not contain Him. Follow the logic, the wages of sin is death so when those wages have been paid and sin has been atoned for, then death no longer has a claim on Him, He literally could not stay dead. He did not just come back from the grave, He conquered it. And again, when they see Jesus there is fear and again, He says to them in verse 10, “Do not be afraid.” They were face to face with a person and with a power that they could not explain. It was either something too terrible or too wonderful for words and when Jesus says to them, “Do not be afraid”, it was His way of testifying it is the latter. Too wonderful for words.

You wonder if the women had any hope against hope, some faint glimmer. The Pharisees knew of Jesus’ prediction that He would rise again three days later. Surely the women knew as well. Do you think any of them as they walk there said Mary you have the spices, yes, I have the spices, how do you think we’ll get in the tomb, I don’t know. Do you think any of them dared to whisper to one another, do you think, remember what he said, do you think, no, no Mary, no I’m not even going to think that, I can’t dare to think that and now in this moment they say that it’s true and surely they realized when He says to them, do not be afraid, He is speaking not just in that moment, but He is giving a word for all time. Hebrews 2 tells us Jesus came to destroy the devil and to deliver those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. That’s the bondage that the devil wants to have in your life. He wants you to sin of course, and he wants you to fear death. He wants you to say but what will this God do for you, but you’ll die, but maybe He’ll hold out, you can exercise right, you can eat right, maybe there’s a way you can live forever, maybe you don’t have to face it. He wants you to be afraid of death and death is an enemy that’s for certain, the last enemy, and as an enemy we are right to hate death, we are right to fight against death, we are right to weep over death, but remember, always remember, it is a defeated enemy and one of the reasons Christ died is so that you and I don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to be afraid for yourself, and this is the harder part, you don’t have to be afraid for your spouse, for your parents, for your child, if they die in Christ it’s not just a general blanket, everything turns out well for everybody, but this is a promise for those who know Christ, that the thing you and I fear most, that unknown, that life might be cut short, or even if we live three score years and 10 or we make it to 80 or 90 or we have a few here to 100, you die, it’s an enemy, it’s a vanquished enemy that the worst thing that can happen to us is also the best thing that can happen to us. You know when Paul says in first Corinthians 15 that famous refrain, you just picture it like a boxer, put em up, put em up, except of course Jesus is no cowardly lion, he’s a lion of the tribe of Judah, “Oh death where is your victory?”, come on death, oh death where is your sting, the sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. No reason to be afraid anymore.

Fear, their second response is joy. Do you see how these two are mingled together. They often are per se, so they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy. On one level of course they’re joyful, their friend is alive, everything went from unbearably sad to majestically happy in a few short moments. Who wouldn’t be happy to go from a funeral to a miracle? There’s more to it than that. They left the tomb with fear and the Greek hear “Caras megalase” mega joy. They too knew what Jesus had said about himself, they knew what He had predicted. They heard the audacious claims that He had made. So, this joy, I think is not only the joy of, well how about that, we get some more time with Jesus. No, even in the midst of their confusion, their fear, it is hitting them for the first time, what if this is bigger than just one man coming back to life. What if they had flooding back at this moment, all of his vast and outrageous promises. He had promised eternal life, in His name he had promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to come, He had promised that He would take away their sins and He would give his life as a ransom for many. They wouldn’t be guilty anymore. Could all of that be true? It’s hitting them that all of the promises are yes and Amen in Christ.

We read in verse 7, “Then go quickly and tell his disciples”, we read in verse 8, “So they departed quickly”, there’s a sense of urgency, abounding excitement like when you hold your Golden Retriever by the collar, and you just threw a ball into the field, and this is the greatest day in his life. There’s a ball and he is just ready once you release to go and fetch that ball and bring it back. There’s a bounding overflow of joy. Christians here in this room, God tells us to bear witness, to share our faith which is hard to do for most of us. The secret to evangelism is not more willpower though it does take an act of the will sometimes to do it whether you feel like it, but no, no the secret is not willpower, the secret is more joy. Good news has to be shared. You think it was hard for the women to go run quickly, tell his disciples, of course they want to share this news, it’s not hard for you to want to talk about your baby when she starts crawling or when he takes his first steps or to show pictures of your grandkids, that’s why you get the 256 gigs on your phone, you need a lot of grandkid pictures on there, it’s why your excited to tell someone when you’re pregnant or you post online when you got engaged or have you noticed if you’re watching a movie or television show and there’s something funny people often instinctively look at each other. There’s just something even in that moment of mirth that you want to share it with one another, you wanna see the expression, the joy, it’s why you come across a funny YouTube video and you rush and you say, “Kids look at this, it’s so funny”, and they say, “Dad, it’s not funny.” And you’re like, I’ve got a wife, she has to laugh, honey this is really funny. That was pretty funny. You wanna share it because it’s mega joy.

I think suddenly in a surprise of this Sunday morning the women are experiencing for the first time a burst of other worldly happiness. I wonder if you’ve ever felt that. You’ve all had the joy of a good meal, you’re gonna have a roast or a ham or something later. Maybe you’ve had a family vacation at the beach or the mountains or a great sports season to cheer about, but have you ever had this paradoxical experience, it’s a joy that tastes so good, a happiness so deep at the same time there’s a sense that it cannot be fully satisfied here. It’s pointing you to something else, it’s unspeakable, it’s beyond words. Do you have something of that joy, the father spared not his son that he might spare you, to think that someone and not just someone but God Himself loves you in Christ with an everlasting love and He looks upon even your imperfect deeds and because of Christ He is pleased, He is pleased with you, He loves you, dare we say he even likes you. In the end because of Christ for those who belong to Christ we can truly say everything is going to be okay. As a parent you have those times you wanna say that to your kids and yet you know you don’t know the future, you can’t always guarantee that everyone gets better, that nothing sad happens, that no tragedy strikes even though everything in you wants to say don’t worry, it will all be okay. But it is true through many valleys and shadows, it is true for the Christian that everything in the end is going to be okay. It’s going to be better than okay. Jesus wept that He might wipe away all of your tears. He carried the burden of the cross that you might live in freedom. He was given a crown of thorns that you and I might rein with Him in glory. Such joy awaits us.

And their final response is worship. You see it there in verse 9. Jesus meets them and he says, “Greetings” in the Greek chairete, greetings is a fine translation, but that sounds a little more formal. I mean who goes around saying greetings and salutations all the time? But it’s an ordinary expression, it’s like turning around. They’ve already had the shock of an empty tomb, they’ve had a shock of an angel, they’re going to tell the disciples and then there on the road is Jesus. Just imagine the astonishment on their faces and I imagine Jesus smiling at them, hello, hi, howdy, y’all, we’ll make him southern. Mary, Mary, nice morning isn’t it? And their instinctive reaction, not a long discursive process, it’s not a syllogistic conclusion at the end of some ornate theologizing, it’s their instinct right there to fall at His feet, grab those human feet and worship him. Is there anything in you this morning that feels that same sense. If Jesus were here flesh and blood, you wouldn’t even have to think about it, you would fall on your face and worship. If there’s nothing, nothing, no spark of that in you, I wonder if you know Him, this Jesus of Nazareth, this teacher, this preacher of unrivaled authority, never spoke a man like this before, to the humble, to the penitent, He was all gentleness, lowliness, tender, patient, a friend of sinners and tax collectors, and to the proud and to the arrogant, to those deceived about their sin, to all who are full of themselves He was fierce, fiery, implacable. The New Testament could hardly contain itself in heaping up names and titles and epithets for Jesus. The word made flesh, Emanuel God with us, the lamb of God, the bread of life, the king of the Jews, comforter, the great I am, the way the truth and the life he is the image of the invisible God, the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of His nature, He is our advocate, our great high priest, the founder and perfector of our faith, Jesus is the faithful witness, the first born of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, He is alpha and omega, the one who is and who was and is to come, the almighty. He is the first and the last, the living one Jesus is king of kings and Lord of Lords.

Now you may say to yourself, look it’s still morning, I’m thinking about dinner, I’m a little tired, I’ve got a busy week ahead of me. Pastor, I’m just not an emotional person really, I don’t have these sort of highs and lows, I can’t reach this fevered pitch. Well, maybe, maybe not. I wonder what you’re like when you’re cheering on your team. I wonder if you get emotional at a nice rom com. Wonder if you can be ecstatic when you watch your kids or grandkids, but be that as it may, okay perhaps it’s not your personality or it’s your cultural background. You have the fortune and the misfortune of being Dutch perhaps. Your emotional register is not expansive. You say it’s just not my personality; I just can’t feel that this morning. Okay, but you can still bow, you can still lay low before Him and in your heart grab hold of His feet with abject poverty over your sins, humility, contrition knowing that He is Lord and you are not, He alone can forgive your sins, He alone is the way to eternal life and you can bow before Him and you can worship. The angel announced on that morning, “He is risen just as He said, quickly now go tell his disciples Jesus Christ is no longer dead.” What amazing, good news, what earth shattering good news, you might even call it the shout heard round the world. Rise oh church and lift your voices, Christ has conquered death and hell, sign as the earth rejoices, resurrection anthem swells, come and worship, worship Christ the risen king. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, would you so work by your spirit through your Word such affection in us that we might humbly instinctively bow right now maybe for the very first time in our hearts for someone here or perhaps recommitting or perhaps we’ve been wayward or we’ve grown up in the church and by your own sovereign mercy this morning we really heard the message, not as a preacher speaking, but your very voice and the sheep know your voice and so we bow before you and we ask that you forgive us our sins and we ask that you would give to us the hope of eternal life which is ours in Christ and that we might be worshipers now and forever in spirit and truth. We pray in His name. Amen.

Faithful Servants, Worthless Servants

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 14:12:19 GMT

Gracious heavenly Father, we cling to your promise that your Word never returns empty, always accomplishes its purposes and so we pray that we might have good hearts to be good soil. We might not be hardened; we might be made soft and pliable. You might till the soil of our hearts to receive your Word, and I pray that you would give me a gracious humble heart, that I might decrease and Christ would increase. I would speak with a lowliness of spirit and yet with a boldness declaring your Word and oh Lord give us yours to hear, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 25. First book of the New Testament, the first Gospel, Matthew, you’re reading verses 14 through 30. We’ve been looking at a series of parables that Jesus tells in and around the temple during Holy Week. We read in chapter 26:1 when Jesus had finished all these sayings he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming.” So, it seems that all these parables he told on Tuesday, we can calI it Teaching Tuesday, these five parables of the two sons, the tenants, the wedding feast, the 10 virgins, and now the Parable of the Talents. Follow along as I read beginning at verse 14.

“For it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more, so also, he who had the two talents made two talents more, but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with him and he who had received the five talents came forward brining five talents more, saying master you delivered to me five talents, here I have made five talents more.” “His master said to him, well done good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” And he also, who had the two talents came forward saying, “Master, you delivered to me two talents, here I’ve made two talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much, enter into the joy of your master.” He also who had received the one talent came forward saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sew and gathering where you scattered no seeds, so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I’d reap where I have now sown and gather where I scattered no seed, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest so take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents for to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The beginning of chapter 24. You see there, Jesus leaves the temple, verses 1 and 2, and he walks away, and Jesus predicts in 24:2, “You see all these, they will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” He’s predicting the coming judgement of the Lord and as prophecies work in the Old Testament and the New Testament, there’s usually a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment, so He is most immediately here in this so-called Olivette Discourse, in Matthew 24, he is talking about the coming judgment upon Jerusalem and the temple that will come in 70 A.D., but also there are elements of this prophecy that are looking forward to the end of the age and that’s why his disciples ask him when will these things happen, what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? The simple answer to the disciples question is given in chapter 24:36, look there, Jesus says “Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the son, but the Father only.” The divine Son of God possess all of the attributes of deity and so He possess the attribute of omniscience, but here according to His human nature He can truly say that according to His human nature He does not know the day or the hour. Jesus will talk of signs and pointers, but he does not know the precise time, only the Father knows. So, you can be sure when anyone comes along and says, “Here are the 88 reasons Jesus is coming back in 1988.” That was an actual book, it sold well in 1988. Then as often happens and someone recalibrates and says, “Well actually I miss calculated one thing” and so they try to reissue it for coming years. As soon as someone comes along and says, “We know when the end will be” you can be quite certain that that’s not when the end will be. Only the Father knows and so look at 24:42, therefore here is the conclusion of the matter, here’s the application of that reality, stay awake. You do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Now when that particular illustration, stay awake, other ways of putting the same message, be prepared, get ready, stay alert which of course is what last week’s parable, Parable of the Ten Virgins was all about. Five wise virgins, think something like bridesmaids to attend the bridal party and there were five foolish and their job in the evening was to come out with their lanterns lit, probably like torches wrapped in rags, dipped in olive oil, and to escort the groom to the wedding feast that would have been at his parent’s house and five were wise because they brought extra oil for their lamps, for their torches, and five were foolish because they did not think that there might be a delay, they presumed that if they got into a pinch they could simply borrow from the five who are wise, but of course you cannot borrow someone else’s faith, you cannot borrow your way into the kingdom of heaven. They were foolish, they were not prepared.

Look at 25:13. The conclusion to that story, “Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour.” So that’s what Jesus has been talking about, stay awake, stay alert, be prepared. Jesus then tells this parable, the Parable of the Talents, that he might explain and give application following on the heels of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. I love this story, the Parable of the Talents. Many of you have probably heard it before, it has very familiar imagery, it has things that even have come down into our common discourse to bury your talent to the ground, to each according to his ability. In fact, as we’ll see the word talent here is a unit of money, it doesn’t mean talent, but because it’s so related to that idea of opportunity we have our English word, talent, which we use to mean skill or ability. This is a very familiar story. One of the reasons that I love it is because it answers that question that you might have in your mind after the Parable of the Ten Virgins, which is to watch. Okay, so what does it mean? Be ready, Jesus is coming. A thief in the night, we don’t know when he will come, he may be delayed, but he will come. What does it mean to be ready? Well, this Parable of the Talents tells us what it means to watch, to be watchful, to be waiting does not mean that you are to embrace a life of passivity, but rather we see here great activity. Think about the illustration I gave at the end of the sermon last week. This very diligent babysitter. So, the babysitter is there, the parents have gone away. What does it look like if the parents way, “We are going to come back maybe around 10 o’clock and I want you to have everything ready for us when we return. I want you to watch, stay awake, stay alert.” Now does that mean that the babysitter is from 7 o’clock onwards sort of creepily just opening the blinds, staring out the window, when are they coming, when are they here, and then the lights will come and they will enter and they will find the place a complete wreck and the children have not been fed and everything is a mess and the babysitter says, “Well I was watching.” That’s now what watching and waiting and staying alert, what would a faithful babysitter do? This is just sort of just casting our pearls, any of you want to babysit the young children. There may be a delay, hours, thousands of years perhaps. Waiting and watching in that context means the children have been fed, they have been cleaned up, they got their pajama on, they’re nestled in bed, you’ve done the dishes, you’ve got things cleaned up, and you say, “We were ready.” That’s what it means to be ready and in a similar way this story about the talents tells to us, okay here’s what Jesus means. He doesn’t mean that you passively just sit there and do nothing.

I remember when I was in college and growing a lot in my faith and then some of us have that experience and it was a great time and as college students are sometimes apt to do, start to think in sort of extremes and I remember talking to a friend of mine who was also growing a lot while we were at college and he had this idea, sort of half serious and I listened to him maybe sort of an eighth serious, but we were talking, ya know, we’re so ready to serve the Lord, maybe we should just drop out of school, maybe we should just read our Bibles full time, just pray, just read our Bibles, just share our faith and there are worse impulses for someone in college to have and to do, and as I said my friend was maybe half serious and I listened to him and was in eighth serious and we eventually came around and said, “Well I think that maybe we can finish school and maybe there’s a whole lifetime of ways that we can serve.” That when you’re excited about Jesus, it doesn’t usually mean that you just quit everything you’re doing, drop everything you’re doing and just read your bible and pray and peer through the blinds until He comes again. We see here in this story of the talents what does it mean to be prepared, to watch, to live a life of preparation and anticipation. For either the Lord to return, to pray that it would come soon, or you know not the day or the hour when you will be called to stand before God and to give an account for your life. Like most parables at a basic level this parable is very easy to understand. Even if you had never read the Bible before you could guess the meaning of the parable is something like, do something with what you’ve been given. We see that in many of these parables. The two sons, commitment without followthrough counts for nothing. The Parable of the Tenants, the stone that builders rejected has become the cornerstone or the wedding feast. Many are called but few are chosen or the ten virgins, the lesson is be prepared. Well, here you have the lesson, do something with what you’ve been given.

Like most of Jesus’ parables, this one employs certain stock metaphors. This is how you can understand these stories. When Jesus tells a parable, fathers, masters, kings, rulers, usually refer to God, sons, servants, slaves usually refer to God’s people or at least those who thought they were God’s people, and then banquets, harvests, financial reckonings, those all refer to divine judgement. And we see all of those basic elements in this story. The master is God, the servants are his people, and the settling of accounts is the day of divine judgement, and the point then is rather obvious, God wants us to be faithful with what he has entrusted to us. If we are faithful and we do well, joy. If we do poorly, misery. Not let me hasten to add (we do not take Jesus’ parables that each one he is now meaning to give us a very precise definition of justification by faith alone.) So Jesus is not suggesting that you need to show that you’ve done enough good things, then you go do heaven, and if you don’t to enough good things, you go to hell, but rather he is saying what sort of evidence would there be in someone’s life that you truly love and believe and serve the master.

Parable of Talents 101, be faithful with what you have been given. But we can go a little deeper because is often the case, in a parables there’s one big idea on the surface, and then often there are sub lessons with each of the characters in the story, and often there are three lessons corresponding with three characters or three groups. Think of how many of Jesus’ parables have threes. There’s a father, there’s an older brother, there’s a younger brother. Workers in the vineyard, there’s an employer, there’s the early workers, there’s the late workers. The parable of the unmerciful servant, there’s the king, there’s the first servant, there’s his fellow servant. The tenants, there’s a landowner, the first tenants, the second tenants. It’s not an exact rule, but there are often threes and often there is a lesson that comes with each of the three characters and that’s what we find here.

First lesson then. Life the master, so we’re gonna look at the master, the faithful servants, the wicked servant. Like the master God entrusts to us a portion of his resources and expects a return on his investment. He entrusts to us a portion of what all belongs to him, and he expects a return on his investment. Now here’s where we have to come back to this word, talent, you see in verse 15. To one he gave five talents. The Greek word is talanton, so you can understand why it’s translated as talent, but this does not mean ability, as we use the word talent. This is not Judea’s got talent; that’s not how the word is used. Talent is a monetary unit; it was a great sum of money. You can see a footnote in the ESV, a monetary unit worth about 20 years wages for a laborer and that seems to be on the evidence that the best guess of the amount. Think about what a working man might make in half of his career. I don’t know if you wanna say that’s 50,000 dollars or you’ve got a really nice job and that’s 100,000 dollars, but a talent then is maybe a million dollars, maybe two million dollars. This is a large sum of money that he is entrusting to these servants. We know that talent does not mean ability because, look at verse 15, to one he gave five, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. So, talent cannot mean ability because the talents are given here according to each man’s ability. So, think then what does talent represent? This sum of money given to each servant is representative not of ability, but of opportunity. I think that’s the simplest way when you read the story, what should you have in your mind, the talent represents an opportunity to serve the master. According to their abilities he gives to them this sum of money which is representative of opportunities they have to serve the master. So, here’s the reality we have to just be honest about from this parable. “We are not all given the same opportunities.” It’s a fact. We don’t all have the same abilities. If a talent is an opportunity, Jesus says “I’m giving to some more opportunities according to their abilities.”

Now listen very carefully. People deserve to be treated with equal dignity as made in God’s image. We all have a right to be treated equally under the law, and we can say even more than that it’s good to have a political and economic system that gives people the freedom to dream and work hard and get ahead and that’s always been the so-called American dream that whoever you are, you can work hard and make something for yourself, and we hope that that would be the case, but we do not all have the same abilities or the same opportunities. That’s a fact. And Jesus acknowledges that fact. It’s true in everyday life and it’s true in our spiritual lives and according to this story that’s simply the master’s sovereign way of doing things. You just look around and you recognize that some people it’s like Joseph in the Old Testament. You read through the Joseph story and over and over again it says, “And the Lord was with him and the Lord was with him, the Lord was with him. “If you know that famous quip when Billy Graham was getting his start and the newspaper magnet said to the reporters who were covering Graham at his crusade gave two words, “Puff Graham.” In other words, I want you to make a big deal of this Billy Graham as he was getting started out and the Lord and his sovereignty used that to give him a voice and a platform. God gives to each of us different abilities, different opportunities. But he gives to each one of us meaningful and important kingdom work to accomplish. And so, here’s one of the applications, if you think of your life as someone who has been given all sorts of opportunities and you think, boy where I am now I never thought I’d be able to do the things that I do or go to the places that I go or talk to the people or do the things, I never thought this was possible. Don’t be haughty, thank God for the five talents that he’s given you and invest them wisely. There’s no reason that this first man should say, “Hey, hey I’ve got five, you’ve got two, you’ve got one. You add them together you’re only barely half of what I have.” It was the master’s decision to give so we ought not to be haughty, and if the Lord seems to have given you, perhaps at this stage of life, it’s not static throughout life, fewer opportunities, perhaps smaller resources, do not be envious, do not be discouraged, but thank God for the two talents and invest them wisely.

I’ve said this before, it bears repeating again. One of the marks of Christian maturity is that we learn to root for each other, we learn to root for each other, we root for other good Gospel preaching churches, Bible believing churches in town, and by God’s grace there are many of them in Charlotte. I remember early in ministry as I was praying earnestly all the time for the Lord to bring revival, ya know, zip the Lord convicted me and brought to my mind, well what if I answer that prayer, but I start at the Baptist church, not your church, probably would start at the Baptist church. Then do you want revival? What if I give the blessing that you’re praying for to someone else. Do you have the ability to look around and when you see other people blessed you say, “Ah, thank you God.” Some of us are the blessing police, we’re always looking around, “No, you don’t deserve that, you don’t deserve that.” Now that’s Matthew 20, that’s the parable of the laborers in the vineyard and the people that showed up and worked through the heat of the day and they got exactly what God promised to them, they got one denarius and then those who came at the 11th hour, they also got one denarius and those who had been there earlier said, “God you’re not fair”, because they thought that God was too gracious with other people. Do you ever think of that? I like God being gracious, but come on, within reason, gracious to me, not so gracious to other, or forgive them, fine, I don’t want people to go to hell, go to heaven. But you see the blessing that they’re giving, you see the opportunities, you’ve seen the abilities to live that life of comparison is no way to live and you know this as a fact. There will always be people who have more and always have less, always be people, if you make your thing how you look, somebody’s more beautiful, somebody’ less. You’re making money, somebody’s got more, a bigger house, somebody has less. There will always be people with fewer opportunities and ability, and there will always be people with more opportunities and ability. If you look at someone in your life, whatever field you’re in, or if you’re very spiritual and you have just spiritual ambition and you look at somebody who seems to have all these spiritual opportunities and you think, well I bet they never struggle with any kind of pride or comparison. Well then you don’t know the human heart.

I remember years ago at my last church and one time Alistair Begg came and did a little conference for us, and he preached there at University Reformed Church, and I had somebody come up to me afterward and with complete seriousness, so excited, heard Alistair Begg preach, and they said, “Pastor, how does it feel to be the second best preacher to ever preach from this pulpit?” I said, “Well it didn’t feel so bad until right now.” Yeah, okay, I was really glad he had been there, and I had to deal with that. I remember speaking at a conference one time, David Platt was the speaker. I remember seeing on someone’s Facebook page from my church, “I would speak at the same conference, I preached also”, and then he preached, and somebody wrote there as if I cannot spy on their Facebook page, “David Platt just gave the greatest sermon I’ve ever heard.” You couldn’t even put in parentheses, “Outside of my local church”, or something to just in case, in case. Doesn’t matter what the Lord has given you, if you live the life of comparison it will be a miserable life. The lesson here from the master is that God gives to us according to his sovereign mercy these opportunities, and you could look at that discouragingly and say, “Well I bet I’m the one and not the two or the five”, or you could look at it and be vein and arrogant and say, “Well I bet I’m the five and not the two, not the one.

You ever see those studies and they ask people to rate themselves on intellect or beauty on a scale of 1 to 10. You know what everybody, almost always, I just saw one of these, they were rating how good looking you think you are, everyone said, “Ah about a, probably 7-1/2 or 8”, because you don’t wanna say 10, that sounds like you’re vein, but you think probably. We all would like to think that we’re the five talent or maybe you’re really hard on yourself and you feel bad because you’re sure you’re the one talent. Jesus says, “I don’t want you to think that way. What I want you to think is I’ve given to all of you some opportunity. You have private ministry; you have public ministry. Every Christian in this room, there are people in your life that need encouragement, counsel, prayer. There are people we all know who do not know Jesus, you can share the Gospel with them. There are ministries you can support out of your wealth and resources. There are people perhaps you can employ and maybe someone you can give a second chance in the workforce, maybe you can write letters or maybe at this season in your life the main ministry responsibility and opportunity you have are your children. Maybe it’s a friend who needs a friend or someone who doesn’t have a friend and needs you to be a friend. Maybe our grandchildren are the opportunity for Gospel influence. God does not expect you to do more than He has given to you, that’s the good news. He does not expect you to do more than He has given to you. I know why at Christian schools we talk about changing the world and there’s a good way to think about that and dream big and have ambition, yet it’s pretty hard to know what you’d do tomorrow morning to change the world, but you can be faithful with whatever job He’s given you, whatever influence He’s given you, whatever people in your life who need you to be a mature faithful Christian and witness. Like the master God entrusts to us a portion of his resources. He gives to every Christian in this room, you have opportunities.

Second lesson. Life the good servants, if we are faithful with what he has been given to us, we will be rewarded with great responsibility and with great joy. If we are faithful, we will be rewarded with great responsibility and with great joy. Don’t you love that word, well done good and faithful servant. God is not concerned with how much; he is concerned with how faithful. Exact same commendation. One servant comes back, alright what do you have to show for yourself? “I have”, let’s say a talent is two million dollars,” I have 10 million dollars.” Next servant comes, “I have four million dollars.” The master says to each one of them the exact same words of encouragement. Why? Because they were faithful with what they had been given. Did not expect the one who had two talents to come back with five, but he came back with two. And you need to realize if with your station in life, you’re a stay-at-home mom, do not judge your kingdom influence by dollars, notoriety, you’ll be discouraged, you’ll be discontent, you’ll envy the life of some influencer out there. Rather look at the opportunities you have with your neighbors, with the circle of influence, with people in your church and you neighborhood, with your kids, and make your focus ministry, not simply moms and dads, that we want these children on loan to us from God, that we want these children to be brilliant, goodlooking, piano playing, athletic, wonderful children. Wouldn’t it be great if they checked all those boxes? But what sort of kingdom investment are you making with your children. Don’t just raise children who have what it takes to be successful, raise children who delight in Jesus more than in success and if you’re retired, yes you can retire from a vocation, we never retire from serving the Lord. If you’re retired, maybe you’re even in declining health, you still have some of the master’s talents. You’ve put in your years with Bank of America, your heavenly Father still wants your service. You have time to write or to pray or to encourage, or maybe to teach or to give, and young people don’t think that this is just a lesson for people when they become adults, whatever that equals someday. Young people you don’t know when Jesus is coming back, you don’t know when you will have to give an account before Jesus, so whatever age you are, you too need to be ready. Don’t think this is, I wait til I’m older and then I start living for Jesus, that’s great, I do what I want now, maybe when I’m 25 I live for Jesus. That may be too late, and besides you have opportunities right now, you have people in your life who need the truth of God’s Word, you have people in your life who need a friend, a witness, that need Jesus, and what’s true spiritually, young people, is usually true in all of life. That is, the surest way to be put in charge of great things someday is to be faithful with small things today. Now I know that’s not the main point of the passage because this is a divine reckoning and some way Jesus may even be saying that you are given great authority in the kingdom to come and heaven seems to be a place where there’s still ambition and work and dreams and opportunity to exercise, gifts, and authority, but there is a lesson here that when you are given a little, that’s usually where you start out in life, in fact the people who take a shortcut and before they’re ready are given the opportunity to have great things, rarely do they do well with that. Maybe it’s because of their daddy or because they had some money and they sort of made a shortcut, doesn’t usually turn out well. The only way, usually, to be entrusted with great things in life, you’ve got that ambition, you wanna make a difference, you wanna change the world, you wanna be entrusted with some great thing, you start by being faithful with small things. And just like this master who says, “Look you did a great job, I gave you five, I gave you two, and you were faithful with what I gave you and now I will entrust to you something even more. Every one of us have been given these opportunities according to our abilities. Think about your life. Do you have money, do you have a platform, you have relationships, are you good with people, do you have neighbors, are you part of an institution, a school, a board, an organization? Do you have influence with people “below you” who work for you? Do you have influence with “people above you?” Have you been given a world class education? Maybe you have time, maybe you have skills to serve others, to fix things, to build things. Maybe you’re good at talking to strangers. Think if you were just to look around this room at Christ Covenant Church, with all humility, I think we could say there are a lot of five talent folks. Now again, talent meaning opportunity, opportunities. To whom much is given, much is required.

If you didn’t grow up at the church, in any church, and you just came to Jesus, wonderful. Maybe you grew up in a terrible home, abusive, dysfunctional. Maybe you had to feed yourself just to scrape by. God is still going to give you opportunities to serve Him. You are not a second class Christian because you’re a first generation Christian. These parables blow up that kind of presumption. At the same time, listen, if you have been in a good church from the day you were born, and have two loving parents and have never known real hunger, and you had all the best opportunities of education, you’ve already seen multiple continents and travel, do not turn your back on the millions of dollars of opportunity that God has entrusted to you. You have not been given all of that privilege so you and I an simply maximize our won comfort. Notice, I love what it says here in verse 16, “He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them.” He’s eager, he’s entrepreneurial. The good servants are eager to use what the master gave them, eager to serve, eager to make a difference rather than stretching back and saying wow, wow, 10 million dollars. I’m gonna get some fun things in first. This servant says, at once what an opportunity I have, I’m gonna try to turn a prophet and make something out of these five talents and what a commendation the master gives to both of the faithful servants. We’ve heard it many times before, it often shows up at funerals, well done good and faithful servants. Intern to the joy of your master. One servant made five talents, the other servant made two talents, and they both received the exact same reward which was to hear from the master, well done, come on in, I will set you over much, whether that’s about much in this life or the next life, or simply a general statement of commendation, I’ll set you over much and notice this is not just a word that God gives to pastors and missionaries. Okay, God’s got a special blessing for pastors and missionaries, no this is true for every true Christian because every true Christian takes seriously that he or she has been given abilities and opportunities by God to be used for God’s glory.

I’m sure you’ve all had someone in your life that you really, really looked up to, a parent, a grandparent, a coach, a teacher, and to have especially when they are very demanding and you have the upmost respect for them, and you know them not to be a flatterer, they’re not just mindlessly buttering you up. To hear from that hard but fair admirable man or woman even a simple word, well done. You keep going, and keep going, it means the world and to think that God himself will say this to everyone of his faithful servants, “You did it, I’m proud of you.” I hope you have parents who say that. Parents, I hope you say that. You know this almost sounds unspiritual, but that’s a measure of how we get this whole thing twisted up. Do you know that God can be proud of you? Not just, well, you’re really disgusting to him, but he looks at Jesus and therefore, eeehh, I’ll let you into heaven and sneak by. I know you got justified, but do you know even though all of our works are yet imperfect, that for the sake of Christ he can and is pleased with his faithful children. Do you even think of God boasting about you to the angels, look at what she did, I know, she didn’t have much, but look what she did with everything that she had, I’m so proud of her. Because if you don’t know that God can feel that way towards to you and sing over you with those kind of praises then you’re going to end up like this third servant.

Here’s the third lesson. Like the wicked servant, if we are lazy stewards we will be spiritually useless and severely punished. One of the things that Jesus does, He’s a master teacher, is in his parables in particular, He gets us to sympathize with the wrong people. Do you ever find this? I do, even though I’ve read these thousands of times, I still, I read the parable of the prodigal son, and I know about it, and I’ve read Keller’s book and all of that, and yet I read it and every time I read it I sort of like, well that older brother sort of has a point, doesn’t he? He was there and you just threw a big party. You ever feel that? Or the parables of the workers in the vineyard. I resonate with the people who’ve been working 12 hours in the hot sun all day and these Johnny come latelys march in there and work for one hour and they get the same thing. When I was growing up there was a park nearby and they were doing a community building day to build this big play structure and my friend and I saw that at the end of the workday that they were going to serve, this was about the best food I could imagine. They were gonna serve Little Ceasars pizza and I think it was $5.00 then and just will be, no probably inflations his that too, but $5.00 and we looked live slightly unspiritual, but shrewd workers, and we showed up at about 4:15 and we put in 45 hours of raking around looking for something and we were there and we got all the Little Ceasars we could eat. Even though some people had been there a long time, and if I had been there a long time I would have looked at us yahoos and said, “Well that’s not fair”, just like I look at those in the parable of the workers in the vineyard and so here a part of me really feels sorry for this last worker. Do you find your heart kinda going out to him saying, well but master he didn’t lose it, he didn’t squander it on prostitutes, he just didn’t want to disappoint you. He knew that you’re a hard man and he didn’t want to mess up his life, and he didn’t want you to be disappointed in him, and he was a little bit afraid and he was timid and he was passive so he buried it, but when you came he said, master I didn’t lose it, here it is, your talent, I buried it in the ground. Don’t you find part of you saying, well yeah, he didn’t get another 10 or four million dollars, but he didn’t lose it, he didn’t bet it on horses and have to say sorry it’s all gone. I find my heart resonating with the wrong person in the story. Jesus, through the master, rebukes him, why, now here’s where this is going to hit many of us. Because this last servant, his main goal was to cover his back. He had a “spirituality” that was about security more than service. He was too scared, too slothful to take a risk for the cause of the master. He was so afraid of doing something wrong that he didn’t do anything at all. He didn’t want to commit. Remember Jesus is telling these parables mainly to the religious leaders, to the scribes, to the pharisees, the chief priests. In some of those other stories it’s easier to see how Jesus is really hitting them between the eyes, but do you see what Jesus is saying to them here, because remember what set off all of these conversations back in Matthew chapter 21, is they don’t like Jesus’ authority and they wanna ask by what authority He does these things and Jesus says, well by what authority, what do you think about John, and they, well they don’t really like John, but the people like John so they say we don’t know and Jesus says, well I can’t tell you either. These people, they don’t like Jesus, but they see that he’s popular and so they’re too afraid to really come down and make a decision. Jesus is saying, do you see you’re like this, lazy third servant who’s looking at Jesus and they’re saying, well hmm, I don’t know if I really like him, but a lot of people do like him and so I guess I’m just not gonna come down one way or another, at least not publically, not yet, I’m gonna hide this in the ground and say, see I didn’t make a mess of it. They figure the safest course with Jesus is to do nothing at all. That is not safe. Again, the issue as it has been in all five parables is presumption. They think we’re good to go so just lay low, just don’t do anything. We need more risk-taking Christians.

There is a great, almost overwhelming danger for people like me and like many of you. Homeowning, probably debt paying, children raising Christians to bury our opportunities because we are averse to taking risks. Now we have all the proverbs coming in about being wise and not being reckless of course. With the wicked lazy servant to warn us, however, we must ask ourselves this uncomfortable question, do we have a religion which consists most fundamentally and trying very hard not to mess things up, that’s not a way to live, that’s not how Jesus wants us to life, a play it safe kind of faith. Does our Christianity boil down to this, I don’t do anything really bad and then I enjoy a nice life. That’s probably a lot of church going people in Charlotte. I don’t do anything really, really bad and I like Jesus, and I live a good life. But there’s no effort to steward all that God has given you and if there is no effort to steward that and make a return on the investment that God has made in your life and you’re burying that talent in the ground, it says something about how little you love and trust this God. See at the heart of it, this wicked servant, why is he so wicked, why does he get cast into outer darkness, because he did not know what God is really like. He said, I know you’re a hard man, that is you’re implacable, you’re strict, you’re harsh, you’re merciless. Now notice when Jesus repeats what the man says he doesn’t own that description of the master, now even though he says he reaps where he does not sew, he may not be affirming that, but he’s just repeating his statement, but he very deliberately does not own this description of the master of himself as implacable, strict, harsh, merciless. Do you think that God is impossible to please? The third servant went wrong from the very beginning. He had a wrong view of what God was like and this seeps in, not in our formal theology, but in our informal heart theology. Some of you have these two planks, wrong ideas in your head. Number one, God cannot be pleased and number two, therefore I cannot do anything for God. I can be justified, I can go to heaven yes, forgiveness yes, but I cannot do anything to please God. Think about the contrast with this parable and the previous one.

The foolish virgins failed because they thought their responsibility was easy. The wicked servant here fails because he thinks his responsibility is too hard. Too easy, I don’t have to be prepared, eh, I can borrow oil from somebody else, so they’re not ready. This servant, it’s too hard. It is those who do not try who are condemned. If following Jesus means for you nothing more than go to church when convenient, try not to have an affair, try not to say any bad words, not to be a bad person, then you have not grasped all that Jesus is talking about this kingdom life, to actively follow and think of ministry above comfort and security. Some of you have tremendous entrepreneurial gifts when it comes to business, or you are not afraid of putting in the absolute hardest most disciplined effort for your instrument or your artistry or your athletic ability. Some of you dabble in a dozen different ventures and you seem to be good at all of it and you know how to invest your money in high-yield investments. Don’t look at those investments right now. And you are risk takers, we need risk takers for God, we need kingdom entrepreneurs, those you aren’t afraid to dream, to strike out at a great vision, to risk your life for cross cultural mission or risk comfort for the sake of justice and righteousness or here’s a really hard one, risk relational ease and comfort to confront sin or even harder to repent of your sin, to die to ourselves, become radical cross-carrying, burden-burying, self-denying followers of Jesus. It takes courage, guts, holy entrepreneurial spirit that we might be maximally useful to the master. For those outside the fold the warning is this, what have you done with your opportunity to make much of Jesus? You were created for worship, have you missed the reason for your existence in staying away from Christ and for those of us who are insiders, if you have a religion that is only keep your nose out of trouble and don’t rock the boat and play it safe and bury your talent in the ground, then you do not have the sort of attitude that Jesus wants. This parable is a warning, it’s a warning to the lazy, to the wicked, but I want you to note on this Palm Sunday that this parable is also an invitation. As Jesus stood outside Jerusalem and he wept because He said if only you had known the things that would make for peace, Jesus knew that when He entered that city, they would crucify Him and thought they had every opportunity to worship Him, they would not do it. This parable is a warning, but it is also an invitation for every Christian in this room to think and to realize that God, your master, your heavenly Father is not impossible to please. Good news, He’s given you abilities. Good news, He’s given to each of you opportunities, one talent, two talents, five talents, good news, and He will give to each one of His faithful servants that great commendation, well done. Enter into the joy of your master. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for your Holy Word would you stir it up, stir in us a holy faith, a holy boldness and whatever small, medium, large opportunities you have for us, the risks are often not of the noticeable world shaking kind, but they are quite often of the very personal relational kind. So, help us Lord to make the most of all that you have given to us, surely the lines have fallen for us in pleasant places and we are richly blessed. So, as we praise you, and you send us out, help us to be faithful in Jesus’ name. Amen.