What does it mean to preach “the glory of God in face of Jesus Christ?”

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By definition, preaching is “a public declaration.” So, to “preach” the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is to publicly declare the beauty and worth of God by expounding the person of Jesus Christ (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3). In other words, the beauty and worth of God is revealed most clearly and with saving efficacy in Jesus’ life of ministry and teaching, sacrificial death, and resurrection. This message of such details is rightly called the Gospel. This revelation is in contrast to the revelation of the Mosaic Law, which Paul labels as a “ministry of death and condemnation that has been brought to an end” (2 Cor. 3:7-9). Under the New Covenant, Jesus Christ perpetually and forever exists as the supreme revelation of God. As such, the person and work of Jesus Christ should serve as the authoritative hermeneutical guide to understanding how previous revelations of God’s glory are to be understood in light of the New Covenant.

Therefore, when we “preach the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” we are preaching the past and present realities of Jesus’ life of ministry and teaching, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection as the supreme revelation of God’s nature, which transforms lives both now and forever.

CBH

Even So, Come LORD Jesus!

Hayden Basketball

Today marks one year since my nephew Hayden passed away. He was fifteen years old. During worship this morning, I thought of him often, especially during the offering in music when two young adults played “How Great Is Our God” on the piano and violin. I was moved and provoked in the best of ways.

I could not help but think about how the splendor of which I was thinking was at that very moment being beheld by my nephew, not by faith, but by sight. The angel songs of which I long to hear, my nephew is participating in. The sin with which I continue to struggle, my nephew will never know again. He has faced the stingless death. He has realized what it means for “death to be gain.”

Yet, hearts are still heavy. The pain of loss is still real. The nagging feeling of “something missing” has not subsided. At a glance, I see him in the face of a stranger or in the smiles of his little brothers. I regret not going golfing with him more often. I miss my nephew, and my family misses a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a friend, a hunting buddy, a golfing partner, a drummer, a jokester, a servant, and a whole great list of other things that Hayden was to us.

There is something about the death of a close loved one that brings the reality of eternity to bear upon one’s life with sobering power. Things that use to seem like “big deals” are viewed as petty. In the best of moments, I tend to overlook the “little things” that use to irritate me with my sons because there just isn’t the time for such triviality. In another and more deeper way, though, the death of a loved one presses us to evaluate the truthfulness of our, often fair-weather held, beliefs in the Word of God. When unexpected crisis interrupts a Saturday evening with horrifying news, it is in that moment that the unthinkably good, wise, and sovereign LORD of all beckons us to take Him at His Word and believe from the depths of our hearts that “all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” In this moment, faith is truly the “assurance of things hoped for and the confidence of things not yet seen.”

The good that God intends to bring out of the death of my nephew is certain and eternal, though in it is fullness, not completely revealed in this life. I doubt that we will know on this side of eternity why the LORD took Hayden or what the LORD intended and continues to intend to do through his death and the testimony of his family. While the details of God’s intentions are not fully available to us, God’s merciful nature is clearly revealed to all in His Son, Jesus Christ. What is certain is that all, like Hayden, must put off the perishable in order to put on the imperishable. Jesus Christ, who is the first-fruits of this defining act of full redemption, will return and all who trust in Him will be raised from the dead. Then we will sing, “O death, where is your victory, O death, where is your sting.” Till then, may our song ever be, “Even so, come LORD Jesus!”

CBH

The Presence of God and Church Health

This past week, I have been preparing to preach from Zechariah 8:1-23, which is part of a sermon series on “The Hope for Restoration and Revival” at Waller Baptist Church. Admittedly, I was struck by the impact of God’s presence on the corporate witness of His covenant people. I realize that this may seem obvious, but for me, it was enlightening, particularly as it relates to church health.

According to Zechariah 8, as the people of God (in this case, the Judahite exiles that had recently returned from Babylon) repent of their sins and pursue obedience to God’s express will for them, God promises to bless them with His presence (i.e. – His dwelling). The result of the blessing of God’s presence is the numeric growth of worshippers in that covenant community (Zechariah 8:23). Isaiah speaks in a similar manner regarding how foreign nations will affirm the presence of God in the midst of His people as they see His salvation (Isaiah 45:14). In other words, where God is manifestly present in the life and work of His people, there will be recognition and response from those outside of the covenant community.

For me, I have always been a little apprehensive to speak of a relationship between what churches do and the numeric growth they experience. This is probably due to the fact that large numbers prove nothing in and of themselves about the health of a church. However, this is not to say that “small” or “growthless” churches are more healthy or Biblically preferable. It is exceedingly clear that God is the One who gives growth (1 Corinthians 3:5). Yet, this presses the question, “Where there is no growth, is God even manifestly present or at work at all?” In other words, can God be working in the context of a church and yet no impact be made on those who are outside of that community? Scripture would seem to suggest that the answer to that question is simply, No. Clearly, God’s timing is not our timing and He is free to bless and withhold as He pleases, yet such a perspective is never meant to engender apathy toward growth. Furthermore, if there are passages of scriptures, which clearly reveal a relationship between a people’s response to God’s Word and a subsequent blessing of God’s presence that necessarily results in growth, then we must take seriously the nature of this relationship and pursue it for the sake of the glory of God in His church.

While passages like Zechariah 8 occur in a particular covenantal context and speak to a specific people, the reality of the blessing of God’s manifest presence in the communities of His people remains true in the New Covenant. In 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, Paul writes, “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.” Without getting into the debate of the nature and continuation of the gift of prophecy, all should at least recognize that it is a gift that comes from the Holy Spirit, who mediates the presence of God both in the life of the believer and in the life of the church. According to Paul, then, as the Spirit of God is at work in the people of God, those who are on the outside will “be convicted and worship God, declaring that God is really among His people.”

If one will take the reality of Zechariah 8 with the admonitions of 1 Corinthians 14, then one must start thinking about the implications that this has on defining church health. In other words, if the manifest presence of God in Zechariah 8 and 1 Corinthians 14 necessarily results in salvation of “outsiders” (in both covenantal context), then it is fair to conclude that church health can and should be measured at least in part by the number of conversions seen in the context of that community. This should drive churches and leaders to start asking the question, “What are we doing/not doing that is quenching the manifest presence of God in our lives and churches, which hinders others from coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior?”

Many suggestions could be given at this point regarding the need to be more “missional” or committed to “contextualization.” While many of these suggestions would probably be warranted in light of Christ’s incarnation and Paul’s example of becoming “all things to all people for the sake of the Gospel,” I believe that the hinderances are more fundamental. In Zechariah 8, the returned exiles were instructed by the post-exilic prophets to the repent of the sins that they had learned and practiced while in Babylon and return to being faithful to the covenant. Part of their obedience to the obligations of the covenant was to rebuild the temple of God, which principally pointed to the re-prioritization of worship in the community of God’s people. As can be seen in Haggai 1, the returned exiles were more concerned with living in their own panelled houses than rebuild the temple in which the presence of God dwelt. They preferred their own houses over the presence of God. This was due in small part to the fact that it had been so long (over 70 years) since they had actually experienced the presence of God in their community. For them, it was easy to forget and neglect something that they so rarely experienced or enjoyed. According to the prophets, the recipe for the return of God’s presence was repentance and faith-filled obedience to God’s word.

Given the fact that the Spirit of God can be “quenched” (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and that “lamp stands” can be removed from churches on account of their respective “lovelessness” (Revelation 2:1-7), it would seem that corporate and personal expressions of continual repentance and obedience to God’s Word continue to be vital to the sustained, manifest presence of God.

If churches are going to see true, God-wrought and God-blessed numeric growth, there must be a re-focusing on the priorities of loving God and loving others in both word and deed. This includes, but is not limited to, laboring faithfully in the advancement of the kingdom through the proclamation and adornment of the gospel, living peacefully with each other and those outside the covenant community in light of the Spirit of peace, repenting openly and frequently of any and all known sin, and speaking truthfully about matters like sin, repentance, obedience and grace. According to the example of Zechariah 8, which ultimately finds its consumate fulfillment in the New Covenant community, and the express teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians 14, such lives and churches will provoke those who are on the outside to worship God and proclaim, “God is with You! May we come too?”

In humility, I propose that churches and their leaders honestly ask and answer the question: What are we doing/not doing that is quenching the manifest presence of God in our lives and churches, which hinders others from coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? May the LORD give us wisdom to answer accordingly for the sake of His glory in the salvation of the lost!

CBH

Is the Sabbath a Creation Ordinance?

Is the Sabbath rooted in creation and therefore perpetually applicable to all people at all times in history? Dr. Thomas Schreiner provides a clear answer to this question, among many others, in his book, 40 Questions About Christians and/ Law (40 Questions & Answers Series).

Here is an excerpt from that book regarding the question of whether the Sabbath is a creation ordinance:

Some argue against what is defended here by appealing to the creation order. As noted above, the Sabbath for Israel is patterned after God’s creation of the world in seven days. What is instructive, however, is that the New Testament never appeals to Creation to defend the Sabbath. Jesus appealed to the creation order to support his view that marriage is between one man and one woman for life (Mark 10:2–12). Paul grounded his opposition to women teaching or exercising authority over men in the creation order (1 Tim. 2:12–13), and homosexuality is prohibited because it is contrary to nature (Rom. 1:26–27), in essence, to God’s intention when he created men and women. Similarly, those who ban believers from eating certain foods and from marriage are wrong because both food and marriage are rooted in God’s good creation (1 Tim. 4:3–5). We see nothing similar with the Sabbath. Never does the New Testament ground it in the created order. Instead, we have very clear verses that say it is a “shadow” and that it does not matter whether believers observe it. So, how do we explain the appeal to creation with reference to the Sabbath? It is probably best to see creation as an analogy instead of as a ground. The Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant, and since the covenant has passed away, so has the covenant sign.

CBH

Be a Servant of the Book

In the midst of the ever-changing strategies and methods of church growth “experts” and spiritual gurus, I often find myself captivated with thoughts regarding what I could do better or what new thing we need to try to reach people for Christ. I believe, or at least I hope, that my motives in doing so are in the right place, but I cannot help but wonder how much more beneficial it would be for me to put down the latest book, grab my favorite book, place my elbows on either side of its leather binding, and prayerfully read it without interruption. Now, please do not hear me to be suggesting that there is no place for other books in the life of the pastor. I have a study and an office full of wonderful books that help me. My point is that I just cannot shake the reality that as a pastor I am called to be mastered by a particular book that is totally sufficient to fit me and the members of Christ’s church for the work of ministry. In other words, though other books are Continue reading →