Easter 2009

The Ten Commandments

"I will be your God, and you shall be my people."

The Ten Commandments are the summary of God's moral law, a solid foundation upon which to build a Christian life, and a great blessing to every believer!  Join us as we see how God's covenant relationship with His people, in all its privileges and obligations, is so beautifully portrayed for us in the Ten Commandments.  There is more than meets the eye!

How to Apply the 10 Commandments in Difficult Cases - Part 2 (03-14-2010)

The Fourth Commandment - Its Issue and Text (03-01-2009)

The Third Commandment - Its Application (02-22-2009)

The Third Commandment - The Biblical Commentary - In the History of Redemption (02-15-2009)

The Third Commandment - The Issue (02-01-2009)

The Third Commandment - Its Meaning - Taking the Lord's Name (01-25-2009)

The Third Commandment - Its Meaning - The Lord's Name (01-18-2009)

The Second Commandment - Its Application (01-11-2009)

Second Commandment: The Biblical Commentary: In the History of Redemption (01-04-2009)

2nd Commandment - The Biblical Commentary - Deuteronomy (12-28-2008)

Second Commandment: The Text: The Reason (11-30-2008)

Second Commandment: The Text: The Issue (11-23-2008)

Second Commandment: The Text: The Command (11-16-2008)

First Commandment: Appendix on the Death Penalties (11-02-2008)

Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew presents to you Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  In Him the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout His ministry, He gave His life to save you His people from their sins, and committed the Keys of the Kingdom--the Gospel--to you before He ascended to His throne.

Join us during this Christmas season for our sermon series on "The Birth of the King" as in the first chapters of Matthew we see how Jesus is the long-expected King of kings and Lord of lords, who will save His people from their sins.

Take Up Your Cross (03-14-2010)

The Winds and Waves Obey Him (03-01-2009)

1. Introduction

   1. What do you do when you are afraid? Cry out for help? Blame other people? Move to protect yourself? In The Sound of Music, Fraulein Maria gives the heartwarming advice,

      1. When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad
         I simply remember my favorite things
         and then I don't feel so bad.

   2. There is some value in "the power of positive thinking," and God even tells us to think on "whatever is lovely," but "raindrops on roses" will not actually protect you from real and present danger! Ultimately the one who protects you is Jesus, who is rightly called the Lord, and your Savior. You can know this is true because even the winds and waves obey Him.

   3. Outline. God reminds us of our peril and fear in vv. 23-25, and points us to depend on Christ's power and grace in our time of need in vv. 26-27.

      1. Our Peril and Fear vv. 23-25

      2. Christ's Power and Grace in Our Time of Need vv. 26-27

2. Body

   1. Our Peril and Fear vv. 23-25. God reminds us of our peril and fear in vv. 23-25.

      1. Text

         1. 23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

         2. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

         3. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing."

      2. Peril

         1. Got into the boat

            • In v. 28 we learn that Christ's purpose in traveling to the region of the Gadarenes or Gerasenes, which was in the tribe of Gad east of the Jordan, was to heal two demon-possessed men. The fact there were pigs and pigherders means this region had a significant population of unbelieving Gentiles, because Jews did not eat pigs. And on the way to this region known for evil, probably a mile from the shore, a fearfully violent storm rises up and comes upon them!

         2. A great storm

            • Their worst fears became a reality. This storm is a beginning of the difficulties Christ promised His disciples would undergo. Storms and the ocean are frightening because they can place us at great peril. During some storms at night here in Caney I have lain awake truly afraid that I wouldn't hear the tornado warning when the tornado comes. The power of the wind, of lightning, of waves, is greater than any man. We understand the danger of deep water at an early age—which end of the pool was the scary end when you were 4 years old? The deep end!

            • The depths of the ocean and the power of its waves inspired a special fear in the people of the Ancient Near East. Storms and the sea represented to them the cosmic forces of evil and their root in Satan and his demons. The Canaanites believed Yam was the god of the sea, and that there was a serpent-like sea monster named Rahab who was a picture of the power of Yam. But Yahweh has shown throughout history that He is the true God of the sea, and He demonstrated this when Jesus calmed the winds and the waves.

              • Psalm 89:9-10 teaches this truth:

                • You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

              • And Job confessed in Job 26:12, 13,

                • By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab. By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

            • Against the background of pagan fear of the sea as an evil power, Genesis tells us that at creation "The earth was formless and void," tohu and bohu, chaos and emptiness, but "the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep." (Gen. 1:2) God created all things out of nothing, giving them form and filling the void, and God looked on everything He had made, and behold, it was very good.

            • After men sinned and fell Satan is able to use the power of the sea to do great evil, but God remains the Lord of the sea. God created the great sea creatures pictured by Leviathan, whom man cannot master, but whose master is God. God saved Noah from the flood. God parted the waters of the Red Sea under Moses. David cried out that the waters were over his head. Jonah sank down to the bottom of the sea, where the bars of Sheol nearly closed around him. Peter began to sink but Christ walked on the water. Because Christ has conquered death and Hell one day these perils will be no more. According to Rev. 21:1, in the new heavens and new earth there will be no more sea.

            • But we still face these perils today. The OT saints called the bottom of the ocean the depths of Sheol, the place of the dead. Today we still call it "Davy Jones' Locker." Submariners fear the deepest depths where the intense pressure can destroy a ship, and divers say "Down at the depth of 100 feet, lives an old man named Oxygen Pete."

            • Mariners from every age know these fears, from the prophet Jonah to Paul shipwrecked on Malta to Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, to the movie The Perfect Storm. Man cannot defeat the power of the sea.

         3. But He was asleep. But the God-man lay asleep amidst the storm with nothing to fear.

            • Psalm 4:8 says,

              • In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

            • Christ has this peace to give, but his disciples did not have it. Christ went to sleep to test His disciples' faith.

      3. Fear

         1. Lord, save us!

            • But His disciples have more fear than faith. They called Him "Lord," believed He could save them, and begged He would. But they believed they would die. They say, "We are perishing!" Quite naturally, their peril led to fear.

   2. Christ's Power & Grace in Our Time of Need vv. 26-27. Their fear was natural, but it was not right. It was not right because God Himself was with them in the boat, and in the storm. This is the God who is greater than the sea, greater than the power of sin, and death, and Hell. The disciples had yet to learn what Christ taught in Matt. 12:40-41, "Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth....Behold, something greater than Jonah is here."

      1. Text. And so Jesus said to them,

         1. 26 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

         2. 27 And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"

      2. Christ's Rebuke. We should learn from this Christ's power and grace in our time of need. Jesus responded to His disciples' request by rebuking them as their gracious Redeemer, then rebuking the storm as its powerful Creator.

         1. Rebuked disciples as their gracious Redeemer

            • Why are you afraid?

              • Christ rebuked His disciples not for disturbing Him with their prayers, but for disturbing themselves with their fears. He didn't ask them, "Why do you ask me for help?" He asked, "Why are you afraid?"

            • Little faith

              • He tells them the true cause of their fear by calling them "O you of little faith." There is a godly fear of calamity which keeps us from being what the Bible calls a "fool," but there is also an ungodly fear of storms, natural disasters, and other threats and difficulties. An ungodly fear does not trust God's sovereign lordship and providential care as a foundation for our life that cannot be shaken. An ungodly fear believes there is an evil more powerful than God. An ungodly fear does not believe Christ has fully paid for your sin and so earthly travails are no longer the punishment of God's wrath but the discipline of your loving Father. John teaches us "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." (4:18) Do you fear the wrath of God when you run from the lightning? When you lie awake when the wind roars around your house? Then ask God to forgive you for your sins, and believe His promise that He is faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Then even if the storm takes your life the Lord will preserve your soul.

              • Do you believe He will? That is the faith of a Christian. The one who knows Jesus Christ says "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me!" (Psalm 23:4) "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." (Psalm 46:1-3) Our God holds the tempest in His hand (Prov. 30:4); He hurls the tempest to the earth (Is. 28:2; Jonah 1:4) and you will fear it, but He is our shelter from the storm (Is. 4:6; 25:4; 32:2). "When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever." (Proverbs 10:25)

         2. Rebuked storm as its powerful Creator. Though Christ rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith, He did grant their request! He did so by rebuking the storm as its powerful Creator.

            • Notice "How easily this was done, with a word's speaking."¹ Notice also "How effectually it was done. There was a great calm, all of a sudden. Ordinarily, after a storm, there is such a fret of the waters, that it is a good while ere they can settle."²

            • God calms our fears. The same power that calms the sea calms the tumult of the peoples. God can calm our fears through faith in Jesus Christ because He is our Creator. Psalm 65:7 says He is the one who by His almighty power both "stills the roaring of the seas" and "the tumult of the peoples." Jesus saves us from both the perils we face and the fears they bring.

            • The application of this passage should be coming into clearer view. God calms our fears through faith in Jesus Christ. And when we are in fear that faith should drive us to seek God's protection through prayer. Christ's willingness to grant His disciple's request should give us good reason to "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) Those who have asked for the eternal salvation Christ gives may freely ask for temporal deliverances. Turn with me for a minute to Jonah 2, which teaches us to pray this kind of prayer of faith. The account in Matthew bears many similarities to Jonah's experience in Jonah 1 and Paul's in Acts 27, and I recommend you read those two chapters this afternoon. But give attention to Jonah 2; if the disciples had not yet learned what Jonah learned, we must not go home today without learning it.

              • 1 Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, "I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.' 5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!" 10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

            • Pray! "Salvation belongs to the LORD!" Even from the blackest terror at the bottom of the sea your prayer will reach God in His holy temple. If God heard the prayer of the pagan Ninevites, He will hear the prayer of His beloved children in distress. Call out to Him in prayer, and He will help.

            • Pray in faith! And pray in faith. Jonah believed He would see God's temple again. When you fear the tornado outside your door, the waves swamping your boat, the terror of the noonday or the pestilence that stalks by night, do you believe that whether you die now or live to see the next day, no matter what may come, after this peril, you will see the Lord? The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear Him. Trust Him even when you call out to Him out of fear for your life.

      3. Response.

         1. The disciple's problem was both their peril and their fear, so Christ rebuked both their fear and their peril. But He did not only speak the words of the rebuke; He also worked the response He sought. He calmed the storm, and He calmed His disciples. The "great storm" became a "great calm," and "you of little faith" became great believers. They marveled because it was a miracle. They admired Christ, their faith greatly strengthened, asking "What sort of man is this?" They admired Him because "Even winds and sea obey Him!"

         2. Christ's Power. Do you admire Jesus Christ for this same reason? Your Savior is the Lord of heaven and earth. Say with the Psalmist, "I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses." (Psalm 135:5-7) Remember that He was Lord of the waves at creation. "At your rebuke they fled. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth." (Psalm 104:7, 9) He was Lord of the sea in the Exodus. "At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea." (Exodus 15:8)

         3. Faith. And for this reason He gives true peace to those who trust by faith in Him, even a peace that passes human understanding. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock." (Isaiah 26:4)

         4. Prayer. So we must come to Him in prayer, as His disciples did. "Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him." (Psalm 32:6)

3. Conclusion

   1. When the dog bites, when the bee stings, what will you do? We have revised one Rogers & Hammerstein song to make a Christian prayer before our fellowship meals; we should change another one into a Christian prayer when we fear for our lives.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad,
I pray to my Savior who created all things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

The Cost of Discipleship (02-22-2009)

1. Introduction

   1. The German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer has become well-known for his book titled "The Cost of Discipleship" in which he gives Christian reasons we should be willing to die for our faith. Bonhoeffer wrote, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." His book was published in 1937. Bonhoeffer resisted the anti-Christian national socialism of the Nazis during WWII, was imprisoned in Buchenwald and hung by the Gestapo in 1945. When Bonhoeffer followed Jesus, it cost him his life.

   2. When great crowds accompanied Jesus in Luke 14, He said to them,

      1. 26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

   3. Consider the cost of following Jesus Christ. It will cost you your life, but following Jesus is worth the cost, because He gives you eternal life.

   4. Outline. In this passage Jesus tells you what it will cost you to be His disciple. In vv. 18-20 He tells you the cost to your home, and in vv. 21-22, the cost to your family.

      1. The Cost to Your Home vv. 18-20

      2. The Cost to Your Family vv. 21-22
         

         ---

2. Body

   1. The Cost to Your Home vv. 18-20

      1. Text. First Jesus presents the cost to your home.

         1. 18 Now when Jesus saw a great crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.

         2. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

         3. 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

      2. Call to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus creates the setting for His teaching by first ordering His disciples to prepare the boats to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It is surprising that He plans to leave precisely at the moment when a great crowd was following Him, and even apparently because the crowd was following Him. Wasn't His purpose—even in this passage—to call men to follow Him? Yes, but not everyone in this crowd was following Jesus as they ought. Jesus is no local deity, but the God of the whole earth. He intended to teach others also, on the other side of the lake, and He intended to test the faith of those in the crowd. Think of what this crowd had learned in recent days, and what you have learned from the beginning of Matthew 8. Do you really believe Jesus can save the untouchables, the lepers, the Gentiles? Do you really believe He can make you a son of God by faith? Do you really believe He can heal your diseases, and save you from your sin? ‘Then," Jesus says, "I'll see if you still follow me when I'm not in this town anymore."

      3. Two potential followers. Before Jesus and His disciples depart for the other shore, two potential new disciples approach Jesus. Both are on the verge of following Him, but neither is fully committed to Him. The first is bright, quick, and ready. The second is dull, slow, and delaying.

         1. The scribe

            • The first is a scribe; a Jewish scholar whose job it was to copy and know the OT scriptures. We could compare him with a seminary student or Bible teacher today. He's smart, knows his Bible, and should be committed to serving God.

         2. The scribe's proposal

            • The scribe makes a proposal to Jesus. "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." The Greek actually reads, "I will follow you wherever you may go," which is exactly the same as the line in the song by Ricky Nelson! Wow! What excellent priorities this scribe appears to have! And he expresses his commitment absolutely, certainly. The NT generally condemns the scribes, but this one appears sincere. He wants Jesus to accept him as one of His closest followers.

         3. Jesus' challenge.

            • However, like the rich young ruler, there is one thing this scribe lacks. Jesus replies to him simply by describing the difficulties of His own experience, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." If you want to be my follower, are you willing to be homeless? To not even have a pillow at night? The birds have nests of sticks and mud, and they line their finest nests with their own feathers. If you follow me you may sleep on the ground in your own clothes. No more books, no more buildings. In a few minutes I will sleep through a violent rainstorm in an open boat. Will you follow me? You will have no predictable resting place. What will your wife say? Young man, have you considered the cost of following me? But I tell you, my message and mission are more important than having a home; more important than having roots in this world.

            • During His ministry Jesus lived like a soldier, but unlike the Boy Scouts with their motto "Be Prepared," this scribe was not prepared to sacrifice his comfort for the sake of Christ's saving mission. Discipleship cost too much.

         4. Jesus' blessings.

            • But what does discipleship cost you? Do you remember Jesus words in Matt. 10:39?

              • Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

            • With Christ as your Savior, you lose your life. And you also find it. You lose your life where you are lord, and where your sin reigns supreme. You gain your life where Jesus is Lord, and His blessings outweigh the cost of following Him. Consider then Jesus' blessings. Let me ask you, what is your home?

            • A home with God today on earth. Jesus gives you a home with God today on earth.

              • John 14:23

                • Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

            • A home with God in heaven. Jesus gives you a home with God in heaven, where your true treasures lie already.

              • Matthew 6:19-21

                • 19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

              • People say "Home is where your heart is." Is your heart set on the treasures laid up for you in heaven? Christ said "I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." (John 14:3) Paul tells you in 2 Corinthians,

                • 2 Corinthians 4:14, 16-5:9

                  • 14 he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

                  • 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

                  • 5:1 For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

                  • 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

         5. Application. If you have saving faith in Jesus Christ, you know pleasing Him is worth the loss of all things in this earth, for the surpassing value of knowing Christ, and even of sharing in His sufferings. Christ in you today is the hope of glory tomorrow. It is in Christ's presence in glory alone that you will be finally and fully at home. And Christ's presence with you today is what makes any place of service to Him a home.

            • The use of your home. You have a home in glory-land that outshines the sun. Consider then the use of your home.

              • The more you follow Christ in it, the more it will be a home. The more you and your children will belong in it, and the more your relatives and friends will be welcome. It is in a home that exalts the God who is both just and merciful through Jesus Christ that true fairness and kindness will reign. It is in homes where the gospel spreads that your formerly unbelieving friends will be saved, and one day welcome you into your heavenly dwelling. Use your house, and your activities in it, to honor Christ. You can make this kind of home anywhere. You can pick up and move this spiritual core of a Christian home from here to the other side of the sea at the drop of a hat. By His divine power the Son of man needs no place to lay His head.

            • The loss of your home. Consider the loss of your home. Sometimes houses burn down. The one down the street was torn down this week because it burned. If Christ calls you to suffer that painful providence, do you still have a home? With Christ your Savior, you do. "We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:18)

            • Being willing to move. Consider being willing to move in order to better serve the Lord.

              • I wanted to serve the Lord as a pastor. If I was not willing to move I would not have gone to seminary. I would not have come here. If Christian missionaries were not willing to move their Christian homes overseas, there would be no Christian homes overseas. I saw an elder in our OPC in Glenside, PA move in order to be closer to the church where he served.

              • We have seen one of our members move in just the past month from the Guest Homes Estates to Owasso because it was the best way for her to continue receiving God's care. If God calls you to submit to that kind of move one day, will you still have a home?

            • Choosing a college or job. Consider your choice of a college, or a job. If using your gifts for the Lord and His people requires a move, will you move? Or in the case of my father, if your job moves out of town but your church and your best means of serving the Lord stays where your home is, will you stay? You follow Jesus Christ. Don't follow the money, the friends, or your house. Follow Jesus. If you consider a college or a job out of town, do not take it until you find a faithful Bible-believing church of Jesus Christ and plan to attend it, or you're not following Jesus.

   2. The Cost to Your Family vv. 21-22

      1. Text. "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1) The same is true of your family. The cost of discipleship includes a cost to your family.

         1. 21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

         2. 22 And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

      2. The disciple. This man was not a scribe; rather, Matthew calls this man a "disciple." To one extent or another, this man was already following Jesus.

      3. The disciple's request. But before he is willing for Jesus to leave, and by implication, before this man is willing to follow Jesus physically, and to follow Jesus' teaching spiritually, this man asks permission to attend to obligations to his family. The obligation would appear to be innocent—it was the strongest of social customs and morally upright for Jews and Gentiles to honor their parents by giving them a proper burial. It is hard to see how it would be right for this man not to bury his father! But let me ask you this—why does this disciple believe there is a conflict between following Jesus and burying his father? Did Jesus travel too fast for this man to catch him? No, because one time a crowd followed Jesus' boat from one side of the Sea of Galilee to the other. Was it that he couldn't find Jesus after a week's time? No, Jesus would be easy to find. Why could not this man's extended family bury his father? That job could be done by someone else. But Christ called him to "Follow me," so his calling and task before God was to follow Jesus. In reality this man used his real obligation to honor his father as an excuse for not following Jesus. Not following Jesus now is tantamount to not following Jesus ever. But we can have more hope for this disciple than for the scribe. Christ discouraged the hasty scribe, but encouraged the hesitating disciple.

      4. Jesus' challenge. So Jesus challenged him to bring him to his senses. "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." Jesus' words would be shocking if He meant this man should not honor his father and mother, but Jesus did not mean that. He means we must not follow the spiritually dead when they lead us away from following Christ. Jesus called those who are physically alive "dead" because they were spiritually dead. Would Jesus' disciple follow their lead, or Christ's? Matthew Henry writes, "Piety to God must be preferred before piety to parents, though that is a great and needful part of our religion. The Nazarites, under the law, were not to mourn for their own parents, because they were holy to the Lord (Numb. vi. 6-8); nor was the high priest to defile himself for the dead, no, not for his own father, Lev. xxi. 11, 12."¹ Jesus said in Matt. 10:32-38,

         1. 32 Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. 34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

         2. Jesus Christ can bring a division in your family. But the only right kind of division He brings is fundamentally a division between being for or against Christ. Christ takes a family whose every member is anti-Christ, and turns some of its members to follow Him. Those who do not love Christ will oppose those who do, and Christ's call for unbelievers to repent will offend the unbelievers. You will no longer approve of their sin or your own. Whether overtly or subtly, unbelievers will try to turn you away from acknowledging Christ as your Lord. That is the nature of the conflict Jesus described. This is what following Jesus costs your family.

         3. This is true of any family, but there are many stories of Muslims and Hindus who have been completely disowned by their families for becoming a Christian. Our missionaries in Japan tell the story of a man whose aged mother is committed to a shelf of false gods. He says "I want to be a Christian, but I can't leave my mother." His statement is nearly the same as the man's in our passage. I don't think he would have to leave or neglect his mother in order to be a Christian. But he would have to leave his mother's gods, and perhaps she would disown him. This is part of the cost of discipleship.

      5. Jesus' blessings

         1. Can anything good come from this situation? Much in every way. Consider not only the cost, but also the blessings, of discipleship.

         2. The Family of God. The first blessing is the family of God. In Matthew 19:29, Jesus said,

            • Matthew 19:29

              • And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

            • You will suffer a loss within your family relationships as a Christian, but you gain communion with Christ, and with the saints; you receive even a hundredfold more houses and brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and children and lands, and what is more, you inherit eternal life. I experienced a small taste of how great these blessings are when the Covenant College Chorale sang at PCA churches from Chattanooga to Miami one year, and Chattanooga to Denver the next. People we had never met before provided the most generous hospitality to us because of their joy that together we were fellow members of the family of God. I have a thousand contacts in my address book and more than 200 friends on FaceBook because the bonds of Christian love in our common Savior Jesus Christ are deep, and lasting. We have received a hundredfold, and have hardly seen the tip of the iceberg of the blessing of the family of God.

         3. Salvation in your family. A further blessing of discipleship is salvation in your family. Your family comes that much closer to salvation. God saves unbelievers through the witness of a believing family member. "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word." (1 Pet. 3:1) Paul even says an unbelieving spouse and children are made holy by the believing spouse's presence in the family. The children of a believer are part of the covenant community, and thereby often are brought to faith in Christ.

         4. Reconciliation in your family. Another great blessing God gives is reconciliation in your family. The only means of true reconciliation in our families is for you, a sinner, to forgive as God has forgiven you. Jesus does not only tear apart unbelieving families. He puts together believing families. "God sets the lonely in families...but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." (Psalm 68:5) You say "I lost my family when I gained Christ." Pray that your family will gain Christ, that you may also regain your family. When that happens, you regain them as brothers not only for this life, but also for the life to come.

3. Conclusion

   1. Consider the cost of discipleship. You may lose your home, and your family. But the Christian home and the Christian family you gain are of eternal value. Following Jesus can bring much suffering upon you. But your suffering will never amount to what Christ suffered for you. It was fitting for the captain of our salvation to suffer for us, because we suffer from our sin and the misery it brings. But because He chose to take on our flesh and blood, to bear our sin, and our misery, He is not ashamed now to call us His brothers. He bled and died so "that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death...and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." (Heb. 2:14-15) He made you His disciple at the cost of His life. He now calls you to be His disciple at the cost of yours. But He gives you this assurance, "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." As you now receive the Lord's Supper, consider the cost, and the surpassing blessings, of discipleship.

He Took Our Illnesses and Bore Our Diseases (02-15-2009)

Salvation for the Untouchables (02-01-2009)

Making Disciples (01-25-2009)

Christ Conquers Temptation (01-18-2009)

1. Introduction

   1. Recently a team of Palestinian and Israeli stand-up comedians failed miserably at entertaining people with jokes about the Middle East. One joke hit the funny bone, though: Lots of western franchises have done well in the Middle East—Starbucks, McDonalds, and so on—but can you guess which chain of stores didn't? Target! No one wants a store with a big red bull's eye on the front!

   2. The Devil loves a shining mark. Who are the biggest targets he's taken aim at throughout history? No doubt the biggest ones were Adam and Christ. And because our passage is set in the wilderness, we should remember Israel and the Church as well. Adam began life with God in the Garden, and Satan took him down. Israel began life with God in the Wilderness, and Satan took Israel down. Now the Messiah begins His public ministry. Who will win? Who will be the Ruler of the world? The Truth or the Deceiver? And which spirit is stronger? The Spirit who is Holy or the spirit who is evil?

   3. In today's passage we have the assurance that Satan's attempt to sabotage our redemption truly failed. You can be sure that Jesus Christ has defeated Satan's attacks on Himself, and He will be victorious over Satan's attacks on you. Christ conquers temptation. The world, the flesh, and the Devil are no match for Jesus Christ.

   4. Outline: Satan sought to lead Christ to sin against God by presenting Christ with three temptations. Each follows the same pattern: first, Jesus' situation, second, Satan's temptation, and third, Jesus' answer.

   5. In each temptation Satan's goal was for Jesus to sin against God and so fail forever to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He aimed for Christ "1. To despair of his Father's goodness" in the first temptation, "2. To presume upon his Father's power" in the second, and in the third, "3. To alienate his Father's honour, by giving it to Satan."¹ The first two temptations seem innocent, the last one desirable. Just like the forbidden fruit, the temptations seemed "good for food, and desirable to make one wise." To be faithful in the first two, Christ needed wisdom and careful discernment; in the last one, He needed power.

2. Body

   1. First Temptation: vv. 1-4

      1. Text. In the first temptation Satan sought to bring Christ to despair of His Father's goodness. Scripture tells us in vv. 1-4,

         1. 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

         2. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

         3. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

         4. 4 But he answered, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

      2. Introduction

         1. "Then" Matthew introduces the account by showing its connection with Christ's inauguration by using the word "then"—Christ was tempted immediately after His inauguration. Why didn't He preach first, or heal first? Because Christ came to battle and defeat Satan, otherwise His preaching and healing would save no one from their sins.

         2. He was "Led up by the Spirit." We pray, "Lead us not into temptation." Some people believe God doesn't lead us into temptation, but in doing so they deny God's sovereignty. Notice that here Jesus was "led up by the Spirit...to be tempted." Undeniably, God the Spirit led Jesus into temptation.

         3. "Tempted by the devil." But it was not the Spirit, it was not God, who tempted Jesus. He was "tempted by the devil," who is clearly described in v. 3 as "the tempter." God does not tempt us, and God cannot be tempted. A trial is a temptation; they are the same word in the Greek. God's goal in them is for you to prove faithful and obedient to Him, but Satan's goal is for you to sin against God. So God is not guilty for our temptations. God is sovereign, and we are responsible.

      3. Situation: Hunger

         1. "Wilderness" Matthew tells us the situation in which the first temptation came. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where He fasted for 40 days. This is intended to remind you that Jesus represents all of God's people—He represents you before God the Father. Do you remember that the wilderness was where God tested His people for 40 years after the Exodus? Israel was God's son, and God humbled, tested, and disciplined His son in the desert.

         2. Jesus "Fasted."

            • Jesus went into the wilderness to commune more closely with God, but also so the Devil would have a full opportunity to tempt Jesus. Christ gave the Devil the advantage of the desert's solitude, sun and wind, and his own body's hunger. "Satan, bring your worst, and if I beat you here, I'll beat you anywhere."

            • Jesus fasted "40 days." You say "That's impossible! Five days without food and He'd be dead!" But don't you remember that when God fed Elijah he journeyed 40 days on that one meal? You say "That's impossible!" But don't you remember that God fed His people for 40 years in the desert? Jesus' 40 days of fasting were a miracle; He was sustained by God's power, but His hunger afterward was natural human hunger. Man fell by eating the forbidden fruit, so it was appropriate that Jesus would be tempted with hunger.

      4. Temptation. In v. 3 we learn of the temptation.

         1. Satan is the "tempter." Temptations are his specialty. Satan's words "If you are the Son of God" are like his words in the Garden, "Did God really say?" Jesus relived our father Adam's temptation. Jesus was the last Adam.

            • Now if Jesus stood in Adam's place, and in Israel's place, and in our place as our Covenant Head, He defeated Satan in a definitive way which we fallen sinners can never do. That is a key difference between Christ's temptations and ours. But I've heard sermons on this passage which said Christ's obedience here does not teach us how to resist temptation. To that idea, I say "Hogwash!" Scripture teaches in Heb. 2:18 that "because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Will Jesus' help be of a different nature than was His obedience under God's law in your place? No, His help is to help you do what He did. He is our forerunner, and we follow Him. Heb. 4:15 tells us, "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." "One who in every respect has been tempted as we are" means that though there are differences between Christ's temptation and ours where His went beyond ours, nevertheless His temptations were like ours "in every respect" that is common to man. Therefore the "help" Christ gives must be like His obedience as a man "in every respect," or it is no "help" at all! In this vein, Calvin says "as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from Him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us."² But now the Spirit applies Christ's obedience by making us obedient, and He uses this passage to show us the way.

         2. Nature of the temptation. "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Satan recognizes that Jesus is God's Son, but challenges Him to prove it in a sinful way.

            • Food – natural desires. Notice that Satan is subtle. He joins the first temptation to the situation Christ is already in. Christ is hungry, so he needs food. What could be wrong with eating bread? And I ask you, are you hungry? Is there something you want? Ask yourself this—do I want it for God's glory, or do I want it at the expense of God's glory? Am I willing to get it through an unlawful means, or am I committed to get it only through the means God approves?

            • Unlawful means. Satan is tempting Jesus to make food for Himself, when God has already provided for Jesus for 40 days. How did God provide for those 40 days? We don't know. Does that matter? Agur says in Prov. 30:8-9, "give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God." Poverty is a great source of temptation. We can think that necessity has no law. That we can provide for ourselves in whatever way we see fit, even by stealing. But stealing is a means God forbids. God didn't give Christ permission to do miracles to feed Himself. To do so would have been to break God's law. To get something good by unlawful means.

            • Satan aims for Jesus to despair of God's Fatherly care, God's providence, God's means of providing food and all that Jesus needs, and to believe He owes Satan an answer, as if Satan has authority and is worthy of respect.

      5. Answer

         1. Jesus does give Satan an answer, not to please Satan, but to defeat him. "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8, which we read earlier in the service. This was the same temptation God's people faced when God fed them manna in the desert. He gave it to them when they said "it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." (Ex. 14:11-12) "Oh that we had meat to eat!" (Num. 11:4-6)

         2. Psalm 78:18-20

            • 18 They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.

            • 19 They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

            • 20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?"

         3. He can! Even when you don't know by what means He will provide, "the Lord will provide." (Gen. 22:14) God said "Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness." (Ex. 5:1) Will He not bring it to pass? You know how to answer this temptation if you are willing to say with Job, "Though he slay me, I will hope in him." (Job 13:15) Though God starve me, though He appear to be my enemy, I will serve Him as my Friend.

         4. When you are tempted to sin, believe God's word, and trust His providence.

   2. Second Temptation: vv. 5- 7

      1. Text. Defeated on his first try, Satan tries again.

         1. 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

         2. 6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,' and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

         3. 7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

      2. Situation: Pinnacle of Temple

         1. Pinnacle. Note again that Jesus let Satan take Him to the top of the temple. He let Satan try his best, and do his worst. This was a place in Jerusalem where Jesus could perform a miracle to be seen by all, and thereby declare His power and Sonship to all men.

         2. This was the "Holy city." Jerusalem. You cannot escape Satan's temptations in the wilderness, nor can you escape them in the holiest of earthly cities. But there is a Jerusalem above into which no unclean thing will enter, and even now you have access into the Holy of Holies, God's presence, which is the source of all power over temptation.

      3. Temptation

         1. "Throw yourself down."

            • The temptation itself would have been a challenge of God the Father. It's plain in the first temptation that Christ trusts God's provision, so why not presume upon God now to keep Christ safe? The Devil first tempts to despair, then to presumption. "You trust God to feed you when there's no food? Then trust God to catch you when you don't see any angels! Prove to the world that God protects you!"

            • Now what is wrong with doing this? Satan is not encouraging trust in God's ordinary protection as we go about our ordinary ways, but rather Satan urges a special test of God's protection to prove it is there.

         2. "For it is written." Notice that Satan knows scripture, maybe even better than you do. But he doesn't believe it. He doesn't love it. He doesn't obey it.

      4. Answer

         1. Jesus replies by quoting Deuteronomy again. Satan says, "Test God." But God says, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Pay close attention to the difference between the passage Satan quoted and the passage Jesus quoted. Satan quoted God's promise, but Christ quotes God's command. Which one tells you what to do? God's command. You may make inferences from God's promises, but never in a way that contradicts God's commands. Christ shows that Satan misuses, that Satan misapplies, God's promise, by urging that Christ disobey God's command. Don't presume God's promises apply to you when you're not obeying God's commands.

         2. Our sins of presumption. It's fairly obvious how we can be tempted in a way like Jesus' first temptation—we can be greedy for food, be tempted to steal, despair that we don't have enough and God won't provide. But how are we tempted like this second temptation? It was a temptation to the sin of presumption. I think our most common sins of presumption are along these lines: "God will forgive me for this sin." "I know it's wrong, but it's not that bad." We excuse our sin, thinking God's goodness excuses us from obeying God's commands. But Paul warns you, "Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Rom. 5:1-2)

   3. Third Temptation: vv. 8-11

      1. Text. In the last temptation, Satan throws off all subtlety.

         1. 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

         2. 9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

         3. 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"

         4. 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

      2. Situation: Mountaintop

         1. The imagery of the situation is from Deuteronomy. Mountaintops are the "high places" of idolatry, so were the trademarks of worldly kingdoms.

      3. Temptation: Riches & Idolatry

         1. And so Satan tempts Jesus to trade the world's false worship for the world's wealth and power.

         2. Satan advocates blatant idolatry; Satanism. Satan saves the worst temptation for last.

         3. Now why would Jesus find this temptation attractive? Because He is the King; He is the King of kings; all the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him, and yet when "He came to His own, His own received Him not." "He was despised and rejected by men." "We esteemed Him not." (Is. 53:3) But Satan, who for a time has been given power and even worship in this world, offers a shortcut, the fast lane, for Christ to rule the world. "Isn't that why you came here, Jesus?" "All these I will give you." "Everyone will bow their knee to you." Do you not see that it took a greater strength of will than you have to resist this temptation?

         4. But it was not a fair trade. 1 John 2:16 tells us "For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world." Christ would have received evil worship, and evil kingdoms, as His own. But Christ's kingdom conquers evil!

         5. Condition.

            • And the condition Satan would have Jesus meet is truly evil. Satan says, "Fall down and worship me." Here is Satan's real intent. When you greedily desire that food, that pleasure, that possession, which does not rightfully belong to you, which would serve sin and self rather than God, the real result is that you worship Satan. When you say "God will forgive this sin, so I'll keep doing it," you worship Satan.

            • But remember that this truly was a temptation for Jesus. He was tempted, even in this third temptation. The best of saints will be tempted to the worst of sins. This is their affliction. Yet if they do not foster the desire of, approve of, or consent to the sin, then they do not actually sin, for remember, "Christ was tempted to worship Satan."³ "He was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sin."

      4. Answer

         1. You have served Satan, but there is one, and only one, who can rescue you from the power of sin, the flesh, and the Devil. The one Savior is Jesus Christ. Paul says, "I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 8:23-25)

         2. Christ rejected Satan's temptation "with abhorrence and detestation."⁴ He said "Be gone, Satan!" Jesus didn't give in, and the battle is over! Jesus again quotes Deuteronomy, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." "If...your friend...entices you secretly, saying ‘Let us go and serve other gods,'" you must not listen to him. (Deut. 13:6-8) Instead, say with Jesus, "God alone deserves all worship and glory and I will not give it to any other!"

         3. The great evil of some temptations is easy to recognize, but in that evil Satan can also place a great temptation. You know which temptations are greater than you. The ones you fall into time and again. Jesus still calls you to repent of those sins, too. And it's there that you need this Jesus who took Satan's worst, and beat him! He conquered Satan, and He lives in you. We have no excuse for our sin. But we also have every encouragement to repent of those we can't defeat. Because Jesus defeated them in Himself, He will defeat them in you.

3. Conclusion

   1. Do you see the outcome in our passage? The Devil's attempt was vanquished, and so he gives up the battle and runs away! The victory of Christ over Satan's kingdom is ours through Christ and through faith in Him. James says "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) Resist him with God's word. Why else did Jesus say "It is written" when He quoted Deuteronomy to the Devil? Christ honored the scripture, and gave us an example. The word of God is the "sword of the Spirit" (Eph. 6:17), the only offensive weapon in our armor. We must use it when we are tempted! "Has God really said...?" Yes, He has!

   2. Remember that the Devil is your enemy, but he is your conquered enemy. Christ "has defeated and disarmed him; we have nothing to do but pursue the victory."⁵ Jesus said "the ruler of this world...has no claim on me" (John 14:30); "the ruler of this world is judged." (John 16:11)

      1. 1 Cor. 10:13

         1. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

      2. And so "we are more than conquerors" through Jesus Christ. (Rom. 8:37)

   3. After Jesus was tempted, the angels came and ministered to Him.

      1. Christ defeated the Devil in His own strength. His armies of angels are not necessary for Him to defeat Satan.

      2. Yet Christ was tempted, and as a man was worn from that temptation. Here you have a reassurance that when you are worn from temptation, God will take care of you. He will renew your strength, He will refresh your soul. Remember with Psalm 23,

         1. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The Inauguration of Jesus Christ (01-11-2009)

1. Introduction

   1. On January 20^th our country will witness the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44^th president of the United States, and some of you will listen to his inauguration address. What will he say? Likely he will thank those who have helped him, and encourage us to pursue what he believes is a good plan for the future of America and for the world. At the center of the inauguration ceremony he will take the oath of office, in which he will commit himself publicly to serve as our president. For our new president and our nation it will be a high day, full of pomp and circumstance. And if President Obama says the words "So help me God" after his oath, we must pray that God will help him do what is right, and restrain him from doing what is evil.

   2. Our passage today presents the inauguration of Jesus Christ. Its form is so different from our nation's presidential inaugurations that you could easily miss its purpose. This is the inauguration of Jesus Christ. Here Christ begins His public ministry as God's Son and our Redeemer. Though He humbly spent the first 30 years of His life in obscurity, out of the public eye, now "the Sun of Righteousness shall rise" (Mal. 4:2), and "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it." (Is. 40:5)

   3. Outline. What happened at the inauguration of Jesus Christ? There is both a great humiliation, and a great exaltation. In vv. 13-15, Jesus submits to God the Father. In vv. 16-17, God the Father approves of His Son.

      1. Jesus Submits to God the Father vv. 13-15

      2. God the Father Approves of His Son vv. 16-17

2. Body

   1. Jesus Submits to God the Father vv. 13-15

      1. First, Jesus submits to God the Father. In vv. 13-15 we read,

         1. 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.

         2. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

         3. 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.

      2. Jesus' purpose to be baptized by John v. 13

         1. Notice here Jesus' purpose to be baptized by John, John's objection to baptizing Jesus, and Jesus' reason for being baptized.

         2. Jesus' purpose to be baptized by John is clear. He travels from Galilee to the Jordan, no short distance, specifically to come to John the Baptist, and to be baptized by him. Jesus' purpose is deeper than merely to undergo the outward washing of baptism, however, and His true intent can only be recognized in the significance of John's baptism.

         3. John's baptism was an ordinance which God had appointed for all His true followers in Israel to undergo at that time. God sent John the Baptist to call His people to repentance, and to baptize them to symbolize God's washing their sins away. Jesus submitted Himself to God's ordinance. In this you see Jesus' holy submission to God the Father. Here we see the beginning of Christ's public obedience as a man to all the law of God.

         4. But there is more. John's baptism was a baptism for sinners, and Jesus was not a sinner. Why did He need to be baptized? This should amaze you. He "who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21) submitted to a baptism of repentance. He came "to be baptized by a sinner, as a sinner, and among sinners."¹ Here Christ not only submits to God, but places Himself in the most humiliating position. By becoming a man, Jesus began His state of humiliation. He has already "emptied himself, and made himself of no reputation. He is not only found in fashion as a man, but is made in the likeness of sinful flesh," and therefore allows Himself to be baptized "as if He needed to be washed, though perfectly pure; and thus he was made sin for us, though he knew no sin."²

      3. John's objection to baptizing Jesus

         1. John the Baptist immediately objects! He tries to put a stop to this madness. "Jesus, how can you ask me to baptize you as if you are a sinner, when I am the sinner?! You are greater than me; I'm not even worthy to untie your sandals, and you want me to call you a wicked sinner? May it never be!"

      4. Jesus' reason for being baptized

         1. But Jesus says, "Let it be so now." "John, there's a reason why I must be treated as a sinner. I must be treated as a sinner because you are a sinner. I am taking the form of a servant in order to be the servant of all."

         2. Jesus says "thus it is fitting." John thought it was not fitting for John to humiliate Jesus Christ, because Jesus was the greater of the two. But Jesus calls John to forget the comparison between the two men for the moment, and remember why Christ came into the world. "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." (1 Tim. 1:15) And to save them, He must be made like them "in every way," be identified with them, and represent them, even bearing the reproach of their sins.

         3. It was also fitting that John should baptize Jesus because it was an appropriate means to transfer God's work of saving His people from the ministry of John to the ministry of Jesus. John's ministry was public, widely known, and even highly respected at this point. But Jesus' ministry had not yet been revealed to the general public. Though for a little while this baptism furthered Jesus' humiliation and John's exaltation, in God's time it would bring about John's own declaration that "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) "It was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Heb. 2:10)

         4. It was fitting, Jesus says, "to fulfill all righteousness." Christ was "born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons." (Gal. 4:4) It was necessary for Christ to obey all of God's requirements, all of God's law, throughout His whole life, in order for Him to serve as our representative before God the Father, in order for God's justice to be satisfied in the Covenant of Works. In the Covenant of Works, the first Adam disobeyed God, but Christ the last Adam obeyed God even unto death on a cross.

         5. Now understanding that in this way the Seed of the Woman's heel would be bruised as He crushed the Serpent's head, that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and then enter into His glory (Luke 24:26), John the Baptist consented and baptized Jesus.

   2. God the Father Approves of His Son vv. 16-17

      1. In my place condemned He stood—even here in Christ's humiliation is the glory of God's grace. But as God says to you much more He brought about for your Savior--"Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." (1 Pet. 5:5-7) "20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." (1 Pet. 2:20-22) "Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." (1 Pet. 4:19) Humbly Jesus entrusted Himself to His Father in heaven, and for that reason God highly exalted Him.

      2. Text. We read how God gave His highest approval of Jesus in vv. 16-17, where God the Father approves of His Son.

         1. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

         2. 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

      3. "Went up"

         1. First, Jesus "went up from the water." "Others that were baptized staid to confess their sins (v. 6); but Christ, having no sins to confess, went up immediately [from] the water."³

         2. Notice that this passage does not teach baptism by immersion. The Greek does not say Jesus went up "out" of the water, but rather that He went up "from" the water. As such the passage does not teach that He came up from under the surface of the water, but that He came up from the bank of the river. In v. 13 He had come to the edge of the Jordan to be baptized (indicated by the preposition epi), and now having been baptized he comes from the edge of the Jordan (indicated by the preposition apo). Even the word "went up" (anabaino) indicates travel by foot with a horizontal component, rather than rising vertically, which is more commonly indicated by anistemi, "to rise," epairo, "to raise" in one's arms, or anatello, "to move upward" like the motion of the sun or stars.

      4. "The heavens were opened to Him"

         1. Notice how good God's timing is—it was when those present still had their eyes on Him that "the heavens were opened to Him." The heavens were opened to make plain to all men that Jesus had full communion and open communication with God the Father and God the Spirit. He can talk to the Father any time He wants, with no fear of judgment. Even the boundaries of creation bow to the truth Jesus proclaimed, that "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)

         2. This great mystery of the Trinity, that there is one God in three Persons, and that those Persons are eternally united to one another in love, is not only worthy of all creation's worship. It is also the source of your salvation. The heavens were opened "to him," to Christ, but they were not opened for only Christ to see. John the Baptist also saw heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus (John 1:32), and so probably the crowds around saw these events as well. These things happened for your sake, so you would know that through Jesus Christ's perfect communion with God the Father a way has been opened for you to be reconciled to God.

         3. "Your sin has separated you from God" (Is. 59:2), but through Christ the heavens are now open to you also, so that like the angels on Jacob's ladder you now enter into the Holy of Holies and have access to the throne of grace.

      5. "The Spirit of God descending like a dove"

         1. To further demonstrate the infinite and exhaustive unity between Jesus Christ and the other Persons of the Godhead, God the Spirit and God the Father both indicate their full approval of God the Son.

         2. Jesus and John, and the others present, "saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him." This should call us to remember the Spirit hovering—like a bird—over the waters at creation. At His inauguration Christ began the work of bringing the new creation to life.

         3. Christ who in His divine nature is of one substance with the Holy Spirit, received this endowment of the Spirit in His human nature to set Him apart as a prophet, for all the prophets spoke by the Holy Spirit. He also received the Spirit as the Head of the church, so that the Spirit whom He received, like the oil poured out on Aaron's head ran down to the edges of his robe, Christ would later pour out on the church at Pentecost. He "received gifts for men" (Ps. 68:18) now in order to give "gifts to men" (Eph. 4:8) later.

         4. Is. 11:2 had prophesied "the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him" to give Him wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. At the beginning of His ministry Jesus quoted Is. 61:1, which said the Messiah would say "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor...to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives...to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

         5. And now the Spirit descended in the form of a dove (cf. Luke 3:22). The Spirit did not appear in the form of a man, for the human form God has reserved for Christ. But a dove is marked by gentleness and innocence. We who are in Christ are to be "innocent as doves" (Matt. 10:16), and the Holy Spirit is Holy. God demonstrated Christ's holiness and innocence by the pure relational harmony, the open communion between Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, between the second and the third Persons of the Trinity. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5) "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17) Just as a dove brought news to Noah that the flood was receding from the face of the earth, so in Jesus Christ there is peace on earth for men on whom God's favor rests. "11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile." (Jer. 29:11-14) Jesus Christ is the end of the Exile, the end of your life of sin, for you who have faith in Him.

      6. "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

         1. Lastly, God the Father spoke in the hearing of all present that "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

         2. God did not leave the events of Jesus' inauguration without the authoritative and clear explanation of His word. Like at Mount Sinai, they saw no form of God the Father, but rather heard His voice. (Deut. 4:12) "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) This gospel is the best news that has come from heaven to earth, for "it speaks plainly and fully God's favour to Christ, and us in him."⁴

         3. God's words read this way in the Greek: "My son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased." You can recognize in these words God's relation, God's affection, and God's satisfaction in Jesus Christ.

         4. God's Relation: Son

            • God declares the relation Jesus has to Him. Jesus is God's Son.

              • He is God's Son from all eternity in His divine nature.

              • He is God's Son in time because He was conceived by the Holy Ghost.

              • And He is God's Son in God's covenant and redemption because He represents us before God as our Redeemer.

         5. God's Affection: Beloved

            • God also declares His affection for His Son. Jesus is God's "beloved." There is no one else whom God loves more than Jesus Christ. And for that reason, when God unites you to "His beloved Son," then you can be sure He will give you "redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Col. 1:13-14) "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32) "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God!" (1 John 3:1)

         6. God's Satisfaction: Well-pleased

            • You can be certain not only that God loves His Son, but also that God is "well-pleased" in His Son, Jesus Christ. God declares not only His affection for, but also His satisfaction in, Jesus Christ. Even in the OT God declared the pleasure He takes in God the Son,

              • Isaiah 42:1

                • Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

            • Notice that God is not only pleased with, but is pleased in His Son. Not just with Christ on the outside, but with Christ on the inside, in His character, and in all those who are found in Him. In that word "in" you should see God's gracious readiness to unite you to His Son in order to also be pleased with you who are found in Christ.

            • And in fact God is pleased not only with Christ, but with you, if you have called out to Him to save you through Christ's death and resurrection. If you have done that, Eph. 1:6 says God has now made you "accepted in the Beloved." He delights in you, because of Christ your Savior. Through Christ who alone is righteous on your behalf, God delights not only your person, but your works, and your worship. Through Christ we now "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5) Outside Christ "God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29), but in Christ He is your reconciled Father.

3. Conclusion

   1. At Christ's inauguration, Jesus submitted to God the Father, and God the Father approved of His Son.

   2. Because Jesus submitted to God the Father, undergoing a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, in order to represent you before God the Father, you too must repent of your sins! If you have not been baptized, you should follow Him in being baptized! You should follow Him in being willing to humbly suffer in this life on His behalf as you await the day when you will follow Him to glory.

   3. Because God the Father approved of His Son, you should also rejoice in His great mercy and grace to you, at His love which He gives to you through Jesus Christ, in calling you now a son of God. If you have any doubt that Jesus is the Son of God, remember why Jesus said, "The Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me." (John 5:37) He said that to remind you, and all people, that God has miraculously, supernaturally, with all authority and power, with all the clarity, necessity, and sufficiency of His own word, declared Jesus Christ to be His Son. There is no good reason to doubt Christ's divinity or Messiahship. There is no good reason to doubt that He is the Savior, the "way, the truth, and the life," without whom no one can come to the Father.

   4. At Christ's inauguration He was revealed as your Savior, and your God. "Listen to Him" (Matt. 17:5), love Him, worship and serve Him with all that you are. No earthly king is as gracious, as just, as righteous, as infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, as Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Lift up your hearts to give glory to His name.

True Repentance (01-04-2009)

Passage: Matthew 3:1-12

Title: True Repentance

Outline:

1. True Repentance vv. 1-6

2. False Repentance vv. 7-12

Out of Egypt I Called My Son (12-28-2008)

The Gift of the Magi (12-21-2008)

The Birth of the King (12-14-2008)

The Genealogy of the King (12-07-2008)

Colossians

Paul's letter to the Colossians could be titled "How to be a Christian," because it gives an introduction to the basics of the Christian faith.

It begins by directing us to believe in Christ, as chapter 1 exalts Jesus Christ as our Creator and Redeemer, and so calls us to cry out, "Jesus Christ is Lord!"  Our hopes and prayers seek Him as our final reward, and it is only through Him that we can be reconciled with God and man.

Chapter 2 presents "A Christian Worldview."  A Christian must understand life and the world in a distinctively Christian way. How should your salvation impact your heart, your mind, and your life? Learn God’s answers as we study Colossians 2:6-3:17!  Paul teaches us not to be taken captive by the life philosophy of this world--which are according to human traditions, and according to the basic principles of this world--and instead to have a heart, mind, and life that are set free by Christ.

Chapter 3 teaches us to put on "Christian Character."  God changes people by enabling them to put off the "old man" and put on the "new man" of Christian character.  Pray that God will change you as we study Colossians 3:1-17.  God also gives essential instruction on how to have truly "Christian Relationships" in our households as wives and husbands, fathers and children, and servants and masters.  Join us in our study of Colossians 3:18-4:1!

Chapter 4 teaches that as the Lord helps you get your house in order, He'll give you opportunities to have an open house to share salvation with others as a Christian community in your "Christian Witness" and by sending "Christian Greetings."  May the Lord bless your witness to the world and mutual edification with the broader church as you learn the blessings God has for you in Col. 4:2-18.

Christian Witness (11-23-2008)

Slaves and Masters (11-16-2008)

Wives and Husbands (11-02-2008)

Put On Christian Virtues (10-19-2008)

Put Away Social Sins (10-12-2008)

A Life Freed by Christ (09-21-2008)

So Walk In Him (08-17-2008)

Reconciliation Accomplished Must Be Applied (07-27-2008)

Pray to Be Filled (07-27-2008)

Grace to You, and Peace (04-20-2008)

Life-Giving Hope (04-20-2008)