Christmas Meditations

I have a collection of favorite writings – prose and poetry – on the subject of Christ’s birth.  I thought that between now and Christmas Day I would share some of these with you.  I pray they will touch you and move you as they have me.  The first is from the “Holy Sonnets” of John Donne.  I love Donne’s articulation of the mystery of the incarnation in this, the second of the Holy Sonnets.

“Annunciation”

Salvation to all that will is nigh,
That all, which always is all everywhere,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo, faithful Virgin, yields himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb; and though he there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet he ‘will wear
Taken from thence, flesh, which death’s force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created, thou
Wast in his mind, who is thy son, and brother,
Whom thou conceiv’st, conceived; yea thou art now
Thy maker’s maker, and they father’s mother,
Thou’ hast light in dark; and shutt’st in little room,
Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb.

One of the best sermons I’ve ever heard.

Check out this video of excepts from John Piper’s message at the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference:

John Piper – Recap from T4G 2008 from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

I remember sitting in that convention center with thousands of other men as Pastor John unpacked these passages from the book of Hebrews on radical sacrifice.  Everyone else in that huge room faded away, at times even Piper, and I knew God was speaking to me – building my faith, granting me repentance, quickening my spirit, pouring out his grace, rekindling my love, calling me to obedience, and enlightening my eyes to see more and more of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I can hardly wait to go back in April of 2010.

You can hear Piper’s whole 2008 T4G message here.  I highly recommend it.

Reformation Day 2009

Not only is October 31 a great day to gather candy, but it is also a great day to remember an important event in church history.  October 31 isn’t just Halloween.  More importantly, it is Reformation Day.

The doors of All Saints Church in Wittenberg

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famed 95 Theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg.  This was the tiny match which, when struck, ignited the fire that had been coming for some time:  the Protestant Reformation.

This coming Sunday, a day after Reformation Day, we will be observing the day for the second year in a row.  Last year Pastor Rusty used the life of Martin Luther to talk to us about our Christian heritage.  This year I will be speaking on the life of John Calvin and his love for God’s Word to do the same.  I am very excited about this.

I’ll close with a quote for Luther’s Theses, number 62, which expresses the ultimate purpose behind our observation of Reformation Day:

The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

Sermon Lagniappe: Melchizedek

This past Sunday in my sermon on Genesis 14, we came across that mysterious character, Melchizedek.  A few people who knew this passage was coming up had already told me how they were looking forward to hearing my understanding of just what is going on in these verses.  I hope their disappointment wasn’t too great when I didn’t make a major point out of the issue during the sermon.

Melchizedek is, well, mysterious.  The Bible talks about him here in Genesis 14, in Psalm 110, and Hebrews 5-7.  Some claim that Melchizedek was actually the pre-incarnate Christ.  I think this is reading too much into the text.  A better understanding is to believe that Melchizedek was a real man, a Canaanite king, who is a type of Christ.

The author of Hebrews deals with Melchizedek more than any other biblical writer.  The whole book of Hebrews is making comparisons between elements of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ, showing how all of these Old Testament practices, places, and people are types that have their fulfillment in the person of Jesus.  Just as we should not believe that the sacrifices were actually Jesus, so we should not believe that Melchizedek was actually Jesus.  But this mysterious king did point to Christ in several ways.

First, Melchizedek’s priesthood was based on office, not heredity.  Unlike the Levites, his role as a priest was connected to his function as a king.  Jesus, too, is a priest and king – not because He was a Levite, but because He is the Messiah.  (Hebrews 6:20)

Second, the priesthood of Melchizedek is eternal.  The Bible very intentionally gives no genealogy for Melchizedek, no mention of his successors.  In contrast, the Levitical priests were highly concerned with proper succession.  In this sense, as far as the Bible is concerned, the order of Melchizedek’s priesthood was fulfilled in that one man.  Jesus, too, fulfills the ultimate office of priest forever as the One raised from the dead and interceding for God’s people.  (Hebrews 7:3)

The writer of Hebrews goes on to draw another parallel.  Melchizedek’s priesthood was superior to the Levitical priesthood.  Abram had functioned as a priest, building altars and worshiping the Lord.  But in giving a tithe to Melchizedek, Abram declares him superior.  Because the Levites descended from Abram and counted him as their father, this means they also submitted to Melchizedek through Abram.  With this argument, the writer of Hebrews is making the point that Jesus is superior to the Levitical priesthood.  (Hebrews 7:4)

Finally, the book of Hebrews makes the point that a new priesthood was necessary because the former could not fully deal with sin.  (Hebrews 7:23-28; cf. Micah 6:6-7)

There you go… A little something extra from last Sunday’s sermon prep.

Duties of Parents VIII

Today we come to duty number 8, “Train them to a habit of faith.”

J.C. Ryle spends these next 3 pages (15-17 if you’re following along in your book) asking parents to train up a child to a habit of faith. He addresses an important issue regarding children and their need for faith in their parents wisdom. He explains that children must trust that their parents are making decisions that are best for them. Perhaps a child may ask, “why can’t I do this?” or “Why can’t I go there?” or “why do I have to do that?” but they should trust their parents and obey even when they don’t understand the reason for a parent’s decision.

This is certainly important, and I agree, children should be trained to trust their parents’ decisions. However, I’m going to challenge our good friend Mr. Ryle on this point because I think that he has missed the central issue. There are two things at play here. 1. Parents should be making their decisions based on the word of God. and 2. Parents should have already trained their children that to obey a parent is to obey God. They should be made to understand that a parent speaks FOR God. (at least they should be)

Here’s an example. Let’s say that when Texas sucedes from the union, that I am elected king of Texas.

I then appoint governors over each county and ask them to communicate my ordinances to the people and make sure that they obey. If these governors go to the people in their county and say, “no one is allowed outside after 10pm” then the people who break this command are not disobeying the governors but in reality are disobeying the command of the King (my command).
This is much like the relationship with parents and children. The children belong to God. He has appointed 2 governors over them (mom and dad) and has asked mom and dad to communicate his word to them and cause them to love his word, and to obey his word.
In other words, children should obey their parents not because they have faith in their parents wisdom, but they should obey because they have been trained to have faith in the word of God.
Many will say that children shouldn’t ask “why?” but instead, they should just trust their parents and obey.
I, on the other hand, think that children should ask “why?” for two reasons.
1. It keeps parents on their toes making sure that their decisions are based on the word of God.
2. If the child isn’t allowed to ask “why?” then how will that child learn the word of God and how to apply it?

Here’s an example.
You’re at the store and the child wants a new toy or ice cream. You say “no.”

The child asks, “why not?” Then you say “because the Lord requires us to be good stewards of our money, I’ll show you what God says about it when we get home.” Then, when you get home, you open up to Proverbs 21:17 which says, “whoever loves pleasure will become poor. Whoever loves wine and oil ( ice cream and cake) will never be rich.” Then explain to them that we should use wisdom when it comes to spending money and teach them that the love of pleasurable things is not Godly. Tell them that it’s okay to have ice cream every once in a while, but we shouldn’t spend money just because we can and sometimes not spending money pleases God. (This also trains them for later in life when they are tempted with credit cards. Thus, you won’t have this problem with your children when they turn 18 because you’ve already addressed it when they were young. and if you’ve trained them in the word of God well, then they won’t want a credit card. Plus, it’s a lot easier to teach a 5 year old than an 18 year old)
In short, I think that children shouldn’t have faith in what their parents say, but they should be trained to have faith in the word of God, and if you’re making decisions based on the word of God then they will come to trust what you say. They shouldn’t trust it just because mommy said it or daddy said it, but they should trust it because they know by experience that mommy and daddy are saying what God has already said. Train them to a faith in God’s word. And teach them God’s word, show them how to apply it to every day life. Then they will learn to trust you. Not because you’re so great and so smart, but because they trust that you are following the Word of God.

Teach them to have faith in the word of God, and show them that your decisions are based upon it. Then they will trust you! So next time when you’re tempted to say, “because I said so” instead say, “because the the Lord says so” and use it as an opportunity to train your child in the Word of God.

Sermon Lagniappe: Eden and Abram

Sometimes I have to cut out some really good stuff from my sermons for the sake of time, clarity, and focus.  I’ve decided to start sharing these bonus bits of information on the blog.

Last Sunday we were in Genesis 12:10-20, looking at the story of Abram going down to Egypt during a time of famine.  Several interesting parallels can be made between this account and the earlier chapters in Genesis which tell of the creation and fall of man.

If you remember from the sermon on the call of Abram, I pointed out that this is a story of God “starting over” His plan for humanity.  God created man, blessing him, and telling him to fill the earth and subdue it.  When Adam and his children fell, God started over with Noah and his family.  Again God blessed them and told them to fill the earth and subdue it.  The incident at Babel revealed that, once again, humanity failed to follow God.

So when God called Abram, he was in a sense starting over again.  The Lord promised to bless Abram.  He also said he would become a great nation (words connoting greatness in both number and power, corresponding to “filling ” and “subduing” the earth).  Abram would become Abraham, father of Isaac and Jacob, and forefather of the nation of Israel.  Israel was called to be God’s people, a new people on the earth, set apart.

There is a strong connection between the paradise of Eden and the creation of Israel through Abraham.  Consider what was lost in Eden:  (1) Harmony between God and man – specifically, God and man dwelling together in the same space / land; (2) Harmony between the man and woman – the life-giving blessing of childbearing is now painful and problematic, and men and women wage a gender war against one another; and (3) Harmony between man and the earth – now thorns and thistles work against the efforts of the man as he seeks to rule over the earth.

When God called Abram to Himself, He sought to overturn these consequences of the fall.  (1) He promised to give Abram and his descendants a land, a space in which He would be God and they would be His people.  (2)  He promised to overcome the barren womb of Sarai, a life-giving blessing of many offspring.  (3) God promised to make those offspring into a great nation, the greatest of nations, who would rule over all other nations as a channel of God’s blessing.

But just as our first father, Adam, quickly fell after the account of creation, so Abram quickly falls after the account of his calling.  Moses carefully used vocabulary to reflect this parallel storyline.  The fruit on the trees in Eden and Sarai are both described as being “beautiful” or “pleasant” in appearance (2:9; 12:11).  Just as the forbidden fruit was then “seen” and “taken,” Sarai is “seen” by the Egyptian princes and “taken” into Pharaoh’s household.  After his sin, God seeks out and interrogates Adam.  The Pharaoh, after the onset of plagues, seeks out to interrogate Abram.  Interestingly, the Pharaoh joins God as a voice of morality in the parallel.  Finally, both Adam and Abram are expelled from a land of provision (the former from Eden and the latter from Egypt).

So the cycle starts over again.  Adam.  Noah.  Now Abram.  Time and time again in the Bible we will see God show mercy to humanity by giving a fresh, clean, new start.  And time and time again, humanity falls into sin and finds itself in need of more mercy.  This cycle is finally broken when Christ, the Man who will not fall, is born:

The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”  So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith… If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
- Galatians 3:8-9, 29

Sermon Upload: On Faith and Famines

The second sermon in the series on the life of Abraham has been uploaded.  It is available on our sermon player.

Preaching the Gospel

This weekend, as we left the evangelism class, there were 3 teenage boys sitting in front of the church building waiting for a ride. Seeing as how we just got out of an evangelism class and there were 3 boys right in front of us with nowhere to go, I thought that we should preach the gospel to them.

(I decided to post this because I want to encourage you (yes YOU) to summon the courage to preach the gospel to someone. It’s not hard, but if you think that it is, or you haven ‘t shared the good news with anyone in a while, then I suggest that you come to the class on Friday to learn how to preach the gospel with courage).</p>

So here’s what happened.

After the class dismissed and we walked out, I went to my car, but the Holy Spirit would not let go of me. I was under a deep conviction to go and speak to the boys.

Some of the people that had come to the class were standing by their car and talking, I went over to them and said that I wanted to preach the gospel to the 3 teenagers. Tommy Brents said that he would go with me and so we went. My intro was pretty lame, I introduced myself to the boys, asked them their names, and said, “we just got out of a gospel class. Do you guys know what the gospel is?” Two of the boys shook their heads, indicating a negative, while the third boy, answered, “I go to church down the street.” So I said, “okay, so your friends don’t go to church but you do, so do you know what the gospel is?”

He said, “my pastor tells me that when we pray we need to pray only to God and we shouldn’t only ask God to give us stuff.” I said, “ok, that’s really important when it comes to prayer, but that’s not exactly the gospel.” The word gospel means good news. Does anyone know what the good news is?” The all stared at me like I had just asked them to explain the theory of relativaty, so I said, “well listen boys, here’s what the Bible teaches…” then I went on to explain how God created everything and holds supreme authority over everything.

Then I explained God’s goodness in placing Adam and Eve in the garden, I told the boys about Adam’s rebellion against God and how he broke the only command he had been given. I explained that Adam’s punishment was not out of balance, but it was just and right, because to sin against one as great as God is the most horrendous thing anyone can do. Then I showed the boys how they too have broken several of God’s commands. I brought out their sin and explained that if God truly is good, then they cannot avoid his wrath. I explained how God is just and he cannot overlook sin, and therefore they cannot be forgiven. Then I explained how God sent His son into the world and He bore the sin of the world and how God the father crushed Him and foresook Him on that cross because He was bearing the punishment of sin. Then I told them that in response to that good news they are commanded to leave their sin and come to Christ by believing this good news.

One of the boys responded by saying, “well, the Bible says that all you have to do is ask God to forgive you.” I asked Him where the Bible said that but he didn’t know. I explained that one must actually repent and leave their sin otherwise they are just hypocrites. They all said that they knew a lot of hypocrites who attend church. I told them that if they truly believe the message, that they will leave their sin and trust in Christ. However, they kept going back to “all you have to do is ask God to forgive you.” Then Tommy spoke up and told about how he had made a proffession of faith at age 13 and “asked God to forgive him” and was baptized and how even still, he continued in a lifestyle of sin. Then he spoke about hearing the gospel, and seeing his sinfulness in light of God’s law and how he realized at the age of 20 that 7 years earlier, he had only wanted to be free from the consequences of sin, and not the “doing” of the sin, thus proving his false faith.

We spent a few more minutes urging them to repent and place faith in Christ, we spoke to them for a while about how a true faith results in action, and we reminded them that God has commanded them to repent and to believe. By this time their ride had shown up and had been waiting for a while so we thanked them for listening to us and wished them well.

Can you do this? Of course you can! If you don’t think that you can, then come be with us this Friday. We’re going to the Gator-fest in Anauac. You can tag along with a trained professional and see how it’s done up close. (Friday Sept. 11, 6:00pm @ FBCMB)

Sermon Upload: A Song of Sorrow

Last Sunday’s sermon on abandonment and sorrow is now available on iTunes or from the sermon player.

Here’s a wordle of the sermon:

Jim Hamilton’s First Pastorate

Jim Hamilton, the man who took my hand in a Greek class five years ago and led me to cultivate a love for the Bible, recently wrote about his first pastorate at Baptist Church of the Redeemer in Missouri City, Texas.  You should read the whole thing by clicking here.  But this is my favorite part:

Do you want singles in their late 20s and early 30s confessing anxiety about finding a mate, asking you to pray for them to trust the Lord’s providence in their lives? Do you want guys confessing their struggles with pornography as they seek to join the church? Do you want people with real problems (homosexual urges and the fallout from past sexual sin, whether lingering STD’s or guilt from an abortion) joining the church and coming for counsel in their struggle against sin? Do you want guys coming to you because they’re afraid of the way they’ve been rough with their wives and they don’t want it to go any further, so they’re seeking accountability?

You don’t get this from wearing cool clothes, having a trendy name for your church or learning to preach from comedians. If it comes – and if the authenticity about “big” sins is accompanied by authenticity about “acceptable” sins – it will come by the power of the Spirit through the preaching of the Word. The Bible convinces us to quit playing games. The Bible shows us the beauty of holiness. The Bible convicts us of the worth of this treasure, and we sell all we have – or risk exposing our sin – to buy the field in which the treasure lies.