Preparing for Resurrection Sunday

As you contemplate the death and resurrection of our Savior this weekend, I encourage you to read the passion and resurrection accounts in the four gospels. Justin Taylor has posted part of a chart from the ESV Study Bible that helpfully lays out the parallel passages on the events during the last few days of Jesus’ life, and Resurrection Sunday.

Also, I encourage you to read or listen to an excellent sermon on the cross or the resurrection. I’ve compiled a list from various preachers at this link.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, see this link.)

Why did Jesus have to die?

Tomorrow we remember the death of Jesus on the cross. There are many possible perspectives on this event: It was a tragedy, as an innocent man suffered horribly at the hand of His enemies; it is an example to us, as Jesus focused not on Himself but on others; it is a major event in world history, as Christianity was born at the cross.

But there have been millions and millions of innocent people put to death. There are other ways for God to give us good examples, and other important events in history. These perspectives don’t answer the question: Why did Jesus have to die?

The third chapter of Romans provides us with the threefold answer:

  • Jesus had to die because man is thoroughly sinful;
  • Jesus had to die because God desires to display His perfect justice;
  • Jesus had to die because God desires to display His perfect love and mercy. (more…)

True, Joyful Community in Diversity

Beth writes today on her blog about the true, joyful community she witnessed after church this Sunday, looking around at the people from nine different language groups and various ages and ethnicities loving each other.  Here is a sample of what she observes and gives thanks for:

  • Twenty-something young men who love, encourage, tease, laugh with, play soccer with, teach Sunday School to, and just generally enjoy the teen guys at church.
  • Our precious Congolese teen girls, three sisters, here on a visit from Raleigh and the happy news that they are moving back.
  • A Chinese man sitting at a table with an American man poring over Bible and sermon notes.
  • An elderly African American couple, bulwarks of this little church, who have been away traveling and were back and receiving lots of hugs and warm “welcome home’s”.

Read the whole thing – and rejoice in our Savior whose death and resurrection free us from the sins that separate us, and unite us in one Body for His glory.

Videos on Death, Resurrection, and Life

An Anglican church in central London has produced two excellent 3-4 minutes videos aimed at skeptics. The first, “That’s Easter: Life to Death” highlights the pervasive nature of sin and guilt, and the solution offered in Christ. The second, “That’s Easter: Death to Life” presents evidence for the historical reliability of the passion and resurrection accounts. Highly recommended.


THAT’S EASTER Life to Death from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

THAT’S EASTER Death to Life from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

HT: Justin Taylor

Making Decisions to the Glory of God

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)

Many people today want guidance. They want a word from God to know:

  • Whom to marry,
  • what job to take,
  • whether or not to buy a house,
  • whether to take money out of the stock market or leave it in.

There are also many decisions considered more “spiritual” in which we want God to lead us:

  • To attend one church or another;
  • to go into long-term missionary work or not;
  • to go into full time ministry or not;
  • to focus on one unreached people group or another;
  • to go on one short term mission trip or another.

Can you count on God’s guidance in making such decisions?

The Bible clearly teaches that God sovereignly calls and guides His people to carry out His plans. We saw a wonderful example of this last Sunday in Acts 15:36-16:15. Paul makes decision after decision about his second missionary journey, fulfilling God’s missionary mandate as best as he can determine; most of his decisions – to take Silas with him, to travel by land to Galatia, to circumcise Timothy, to stop in Philippi, to seek those worshiping God by the river, to stay with Lydia – are made without any noted supernatural direction. But then at times the Holy Spirit supernaturally guides Paul, redirecting him away from Asia and Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7) and towards Macedonia (Acts 16:9).

God does call and guide His people to carry out His plans.

Will He guide you? (more…)

Can You Know God?

Do you know all about God?

Even the question sounds presumptuous, doesn’t it? How can any man fully comprehend the God of the universe?

David makes this point in Psalm 139. He first contemplates God’s comprehensive knowledge of all the intimate details of his life:

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. . . . Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. (Psalm 139:2, 4)

He then responds:

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139:6)

Charles Spurgeon elaborates on what David says here:

I cannot grasp it. I can hardly endure to think of it. The theme overwhelms me. I am amazed and astounded at it. Such knowledge not only surpasses my comprehension, but even my imagination. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. Mount as I may, this truth is too lofty for my mind. It seems to be always above me, even when I soar into the loftiest regions of spiritual thought. Is it not so with every attribute of God? Can we attain to any idea of his power, his wisdom, his holiness? Our mind has no line with which to measure the Infinite (The Treasury of David).

He is infinite; we are finite. We cannot even begin to figure God out. We have nothing in our experience to compare Him to – indeed, He is incomparable. We can never know all about God.

Some, rightly seeing that we can have no hope of fully understanding such a being, wrongly conclude that we cannot know Him at all. While that may initially sound humble and God-honoring, actually the statement is arrogant and demeaning to God. For an infinitely wise, all-knowing God must be able to communicate aspects of Who He is to those of His creatures who have the capacity to reflect on His character.

This, indeed, is the claim of Scripture: That God reveals Himself to us to some extent in creation itself (Romans 1:19-20; Psalm 19:1-4); He reveals Himself yet more fully through His working with the people of Israel, through prophets, through laws, through ceremonies, and through acts in history (Hebrews 1:1); and He reveals Himself most fully in the person of His Son, God Himself (John 1:1), the “exact imprint of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). As John Calvin writes (echoing the second century church father Irenaeus),

The Father, who is infinite in himself, becomes finite in the Son because he has accommodated himself to our capacity, that he may not overwhelm our minds with the infinity of his glory (Institutes 2.6.4).

Or as Charles Wesley writes, “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate Deity!”

In trying to understand God, we are similar to a two-year-old trying to understand his parents. The two-year-old cannot possibly comprehend their character and abilities through his reasoning and investigations. Indeed, there is much about his parents that he is completely incapable of grasping. But through the parents’ loving and caring acts, and through their simple, carefully chosen words, they can communicate to him much about themselves – all, in fact, that he needs to know at this point in his life.

Just so with God and us. We surely cannot know all about God; throughout eternity we will rejoice to learn more and more of His infinite goodness. But He acted in history to teach us about Himself (1 Corinthians 10:11); He breathed out the Scriptures so that we might know Him and love Him (2 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 22:36-40); He became incarnate in Jesus, fully God and fully man, so that we might see God’s attributes in the flesh; He died on the cross so that we might be reconciled to Him by grace through faith.

Remember this image: You are the two-year-old. God is above you. You can’t comprehend Him. But you can trust what He tells you. You can see Jesus, revealed in Scripture. You can love Him.

So humble yourself. Adore Him. Bow before Him. Submit to His perfect Word. And rejoice that He has invited you to come into His presence as His adopted two-year-old.

Which Culture is Most Christian?

Which culture is the most Christian?

There is a definite Islamic culture; there are elements of life on the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century that continue to serve as ideals for many Muslims today. There is also a definite Hindu culture. Is there a Christian culture?

Biblically, the answer is no. There is no Christian culture; no culture is the most Christian. Christianity is inherently cross-cultural.

In Acts 15 – the text for our sermons the next two Sunday mornings – the young church must deal with this very question. Paul and Barnabas have been teaching that Gentiles, non-Jews, can come to faith and be united to Christ; they need not be circumcised or follow all the requirements of the Mosaic Law, such as the dietary code. Some had come from the predominantly Jewish church in Jerusalem to Antioch – Paul and Barnabas’ sending church! – and declared their teaching wrong; Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, they argued, and in order to be united to Christ, Gentiles must become Jewish.

Though, as we shall see, more than culture underlies this dispute, culture is one important element. If Christ is the fulfillment of all that Judaism points to – isn’t Christian culture Jewish culture?

Guided by the Holy Spirit, the apostles and elders – and, indeed, the entire church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:22) – declare that this is not the case. We will examine their arguments and explanations in the weeks ahead. But for now, consider some of the implications of this outcome:

1) No one must give up his culture to become a follower of Jesus. Every culture has sinful, clearly unbiblical elements, and these, of course, the new believer must avoid. For example, in the Roman Empire, abortion and infanticide (through abandonment) were common. The early Christians practiced neither and rescued many abandoned infants. Nor would they bow down to worship Caesar or any other so-called god; many were martyred in consequence. In that sense, Christians must be counter cultural. But from these early days, there were many different cultures in the church. In Antioch there were Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, slave and free, African and Asian. They came together united in Christ, not united in culture. As they preached the Gospel, they called all to come to Christ, not to come to Christ and to take on one specific culture.

2) Genuine Christian worship will look, sound, and feel very different across cultures. There are key biblical guidelines for corporate worship. Such worship includes the preaching of the Word (2 Timothy 4:2), the public reading of the Scriptures (1 Timothy 4:13), singing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19), praying together (1 Timothy 2:1, Colossians 4:2), practicing baptism (Matthew 28:19) and the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:26). But within these guidelines, churches in different cultures will be profoundly different.

3) These cultural differences are for the glory of God. Revelation 7 pictures those from every tribe and tongue and people and language praising God around His throne. These are the saints made perfect, worshiping God eternally – and they are culturally distinct! They retain their cultural differences. They are made one in Christ; they praise God in song; but that song is a glorious, thousand-part harmony, rather than one melody sung in unison. So God works all things together to create for His glory for all eternity one people with thousands of remaining cultural distinctions.

4) The true church welcomes and delights in this diversity of cultures. Our natural tendency is to look down on those who differ from us. We tend to question the motives or sincerity of people who praise God in ways that seem strange to us. But if our chief end is to glorify God, and if God rejoices in the diversity of cultures praising Him, we too will rejoice to see the Gospel lived out and proclaimed in different cultural forms.

5) The church that unites various cultures in one local body glorifies God. Such an assembly shows today, in microcosm, the Revelation 7 unity that we will experience in eternity.

So praise God for the guidance the Holy Spirit gave to the Jerusalem church in Acts 15. Praise God that we are not limited to worshiping Him in Jewish cultural forms. Praise God that He has made us one from many cultures. And praise Him that even at DGCC, we can reflect His glory through uniting people from different cultures in one body. Join us these next two Sundays as we rejoice together in these great truths.

Thrusting Aside the Word of God

(This sermon on Acts 13:13-52 was preached February 22, 2009. The audio is available here.)

What is the Bible? What do you think of it? How do you approach it?

Many want nothing to do with it. They might respond to such questions by saying, “The Bible – that’s old and out of date. It’s not relevant for today. If I’m going to read something hundreds of pages long, I want it to be fresh, new, written for this time period, and informed by all the recent advances in knowledge. Why should I spend time looking at that old book?”

Others might see historical or sociological value in the Bible: “Oh, yes, the Bible is an interesting record of a number of the spiritual encounters of great men and (a very few) great women. Perhaps some of those encounters have a basis in a supernatural being intervening in this world. In addition, the Bible has been esteemed by millions of people over the years; it has had a major influence on this country’s history and literature. Indeed, we can’t understand the US today without understanding the Bible. So, yes, I read it, I have studied it – as history, as an important core document of several religious traditions.”

Yet others might say more: They value the Bible for personal spiritual benefits: “Yes, the Bible has had a profound influence on me. Jesus is an amazing figure, as are Moses, Elijah, Daniel, David, and others. Jesus surely was a great teacher who was closely in touch with God. He is my example; I try to live like him. There is much we must learn from the Bible. But today, we can’t even know what the Bible originally said. The church may well have massaged the text to make it say what it wanted. And, in any event, the Bible is a pre-scientific account of origins and human psychology. We’ve learned so many things that make the Bible’s worldview archaic and obsolete. So, yes, it’s very interesting, impressive, and helpful – but today we must pick and choose what topics, what passages still make sense.”

Do those attitudes sound familiar to you? Do you yourself agree with one of them?

Consider the difference between those three attitudes toward the Bible and the psalmist’s attitude, expressed in Psalm 119:169-174: (more…)

Don’t Be Cowards; Fear!

Should Christians fear? Or should they not fear?

In our passage for last Sunday’s sermon, Paul and Barnabas show great boldness in the face of fearful circumstances. Paul tells the young believers “It is necessary for us to enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations” (Acts 14:22). That is, don’t fear such tribulations; they are the passageway to an eternity with our loving God. Similarly, Jesus says that we will always have such tribulations in the world. “But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Because He is sovereign over all that happens, we can have peace in Him even now, even when we face frightening circumstances. For we know that God is working all things together for good for those who love Him, for those whom He has called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). When nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God, then we need not fear even those who are putting us to death (Romans 8:35-39).

Consider the story of the storm on the Sea of Galilee, told in Mark 4:35-41. While out on the lake, a great windstorm arises – so great that the waves are breaking over the sides of the boat. Though the disciples bail and bail, the water in the boat rises higher and higher. It looks certain to sink in a few minutes. And the wind continues to howl; the waves continue to pound. (more…)

Through Many Tribulations We Must Enter the Kingdom of God

(This sermon on Acts 14 was preached on March 1, 2009. The audio will be posted at this link.)

There is more suffering in the true Christian life than you ever thought you could handle.

There is more joy in the true Christian life than you ever thought possible.

Those are the two main points of Acts 14. We’ll come back to them. But now: Suppose you knew you were about to die. What would you say to those remaining behind?

When the Apostle Paul wrote 2 Timothy, he knew he was about to die by execution. Recall that Timothy grew up in Lystra (Acts 16); Paul met him there for the first time in the visit recorded in today’s passage (Acts 14). Near the end of his life, he wrote:

You . . . know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,  11 persecutions, sufferings– what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.  12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,  13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,  15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Paul says “Timothy: Follow me as I follow Christ – and following Christ means suffering. Everyone who lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And you know very well what happened to me in your hometown.”

As described in today’s text, Paul suffered horribly in Lystra – and he had the scars to prove it. Timothy too will suffer if he continues in the faith.

But Timothy is not to respond to this prediction of future suffering with fear! Instead, Timothy is to take encouragement from Paul’s own suffering. Paul says: ‘You will suffer – like I have suffered. So you must be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus! – like I was strong in His grace. You must continue – because you know me and my faith (and the faith of your Mom and grandmother), and you know the Word – this Word that makes you wise to salvation, and thoroughly equips you to suffer and endure.”

As we saw last week:   We must continue in the WORD – we must learn it, lean on it, love it. THIS is God’s revelation to us – and we will never get through times of suffering without it

But 2 Timothy is a letter neither of sorrow in suffering, nor of simply endurance through suffering. Paul shows himself to be full of joy in suffering. He goes on to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day.”

Suffering – yet joy.

Just so in Acts 14: Tremendous suffering. And tremendous joy. (more…)