Our Esteem of Preaching

"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. [18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
1 Cor. 1:17-19 (ESV)

With the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth being this year, there has been a lot of literature that has been produced about Calvin. If you have seen the advertisements for books and conferences you might have seen a number of pictures of Calvin, be it on a book cover that has just been released or on a banner announcing an upcoming conference. One of the pictures that you might have seen is of Calvin looking down upon his congregation from his pulpit and with one arm stretched out over their heads, as if making a dramatic point.

What is interesting about that picture is that Calvin seems to be hovering over the people. Many of the pulpits at that time were not just fixed at the front of the church, but they were raised a good distance above the heads of the congregation. Some of you might have heard the phrase, that a minister is “mounting the pulpit” when he gets up to preach or begin a service. This is where that phrase originates. In those days preachers would have to climb up a set of stairs, he were a cowboy getting ready to mount a horse that is locked in the gates.

In that picture though you kind of sympathize with the poor souls who had to sit or stand in the front row of the church! The poor fellows must have had a horridly stiff neck by the end of the service. That’s because for the duration of the sermon, if he wanted to look at the minister who was speaking, he would have to cock his head straight back.

I remember when we used to go to the mainline Presbyterian church here in town. Our youth group would sit towards the front of the building. But I remember having quite a crick in my neck by the end of the service. That the pulpit was raised just a couple of feet off of the floor. It was nothing compared to the one from which Calvin was to have preached.

One wonders though, what motivated them to put their congregations through such torture? And when you consider the emphasis of the Reformers, you will recognize that these sky-scraper-esc pulpits were designed for a specific purpose. Someone might first assume that it was to help the guy way in the back to see and hear. No doubt that was achieved, and certainly it would have been a factor.

But the main reason was for the visual effect of it all. With this gigantic looming pulpit, everyone would have understood that the emphasis was no longer on the mass. The emphasis was now placed where salvation was truly to be found. The emphasis was upon the authority of God’s Word. In essence, the people came to understand that when a minister spoke they were receiving a word that was coming directly from heaven itself.

While the logistics of it might have been a little painful to bear, the symbolism was certainly accurate. The parishioners in those churches came to understand the importance of the Bible in general, and sound exposition of Scripture in particular. Or you might say that the raising of these pulpits helped to raise their regard for what went on in the pulpit.

Though I am not about to bring a step ladder to church, it is my hope that you all come to have just such an experience. For when we look into the Bible we see that it calls us to place a high esteem on this thing we call preaching. And certainly that is the lesson we glean from these two verses.

This passage contrasts for us two standard views regarding the preaching of God’s word. We have the typical, worldly minded view and the, of course, the Biblical view. We have portrayed for us what the people normally think about the preaching of the Bible and then two reasons on why we should hold the preaching of God’s word in high regard.

And I want to start by addressing the view of the majority of people. We can ask, “What do people typically think about preaching?”

I. What is the typical view of preaching?
And Paul sums it up in a single word. He says in verse 18 that “The word of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing.” In other words, they think it is the most absurd act and that it is a complete waste of time! Perhaps Paul’s language is even a bit stronger than our English Bibles will permit. The word that we translate “foolishness” is the Greek word, moria. It comes from the Greek moros.

Most likely you can already figure out what English word we get from moros. If you want an example of it you can come and watch me play basketball each Tuesday and Thursday morning. Because 9 times out of 10 I will at some point fumble the ball or bounce it off my foot so that it goes out of bounds. And though they are kind enough not to say it, I know what everyone is thinking! “Way to go, you moron!”

That’s what the majority of the world thinks of preaching! They think it is utterly moronic. And you can understand why they think that way. If you are going to invent your God and style your religion after the whims of your own heart, certainly you won’t put a high emphasis on preaching. And there are a few different reasons for this.

First of all, you can think about in terms of is method. Preaching is not all that attractive, is it? What is the biggest complaint about preaching? Young people, I could probably have you all say this in unison: It is it is so incredibly boring!

Look what Paul says in verse 17. He says that when he preaches the gospel it is not with words of eloquent wisdom. In other words, it is not all that flashy. It is just a guy getting up and, in plain and simple terms, speaking the truth of God.

The Corinthians didn’t care much for that. They liked the flashy stuff. They liked things that were intriguing and stimulating to the funny bone. I tell you, the same thing is true today. How many channels do you have on your television that are devoted strictly to preaching (and I am not talking about the guys who are always asking for your money)? How many radio stations do you know of that are dedicated to having men expound the Scriptures, and all they play are sermons? Compare that to the number of comedy channels there are. Compare that to how many rock channels there are.

Stand up comedians will keep you coming back for more. The guy with the guitar can keep you spellbound. And you won’t want to miss the pretty little lady who reads the news to you at 6:00. But when it comes to preaching, if your heart is deadened to God, it isn’t all that much to behold.

But the method is not the half of the problem. The content of preaching is the real stickler.
Why do people think that preaching is moronic? It is because its essence is, as Paul says in verse 18, the word of the cross. This has to be the most moronic thing in the world. Jews seek signs, Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.

A crucified Jew. That is what is the main attraction when we open our mouths. No wonder people look at us like we are some freak show at the circus. Because to talk about Christ on the cross is to talk about atonement. And to talk about atonement means to talk about sin, death, hell and repentance. And you know how appealing those topics are.

But they don’t want any of that. They want something grand! They want something provocative. But all we have is a condemned Jew, who underwent one of the most crude forms of execution to bring sinners into heaven. In our world where self help gurus abound and the philosophy of individual existence and the freedom to define yourself (existentialism) permeates culture, this Jew on the cross sounds quite moronic.

It is no wonder why we see so many churches downplaying preaching; if not remove it altogether. There are many other things that can help to get people into the church and keep them there. This is why we’ve seen things like dramas and video clips introduced into church services. This is what accounts for the vast multiplication of praise bands and choruses. It is not so much because they are growing out of a high level of spirituality, which was characteristic of most of the hymns that are in our hymnbooks. It is mainly because these things are much more attractive, much more stimulating to the carnal mind.

Having a man get up in front of a congregation and talk about how we are all under sin and need to repent is a real turn off. And such a thing doesn’t always pay the bills. But if you can get a cute little girl with a nice voice to stand up in front of the congregation and sing, then you are probably on to something.

Really, we are seeing in the church exactly the same thing that happened to the weather channel a number of years ago. I don’t know if it is possible, but if you could go back a number of years and watch some of the earlier episodes (do they have episodes?) you will immediately notice that things have changed quite dramatically. Perhaps the most significant change you will notice is that back then they were concerned with reporting the weather, and they didn’t care exactly who did it. But after a while they became more concerned with their viewership. And everybody knew that watching the Weather Channel was not all that stimulating because the weather is not all that grabbing.

So what did they do? Things began to get revamped. The old weather anchors began to be replaced with young, more attractive ladies. While it might not have been directly stated, their hopes were that you would be looking at more than just the high pressure system that was coming into your area. And in looking at what you were looking at, you would be more prone to stay.

And the exact same thing has happened to the church. Preaching the Bible doesn’t stand up to the other in your average a taste test. People will typically choose the other leading brand because it is more attractive. It is foolish to say that something is wrong with us and it can only be fixed through God who became incarnate man.

But while the world turns its head in disgust from it, you and I are called to give a special regard to the preaching of God’s word. That’s the Biblical view of preaching. Our hearts are to leap for joy when a minister stands in a pulpit and speaks the truth. The preaching of God’s word is to be regarded with the utmost affection. And we should be convinced to do so when we think about the prominence and the potency of preaching.


II. Why must we regard it with such high esteem?
Now a person walking in here this morning and hearing all that I have said so far might wonder why we are to have such a high esteem of the preaching. And one reason is because of its prominence as an ordinance of God.

A. Its prominence as an ordinance of God
If you were a member of the Roman Catholic Church and you came in here today, verse 17 would shock you. It says, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”

In the Catholic tradition baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation. If you don’t get baptized, according to the RC tradition, then you cannot be saved. But Paul here says that his main job wasn’t baptizing people. Now if baptism is necessary to your salvation and Paul wasn’t baptizing people, something is wrong, isn’t it? A good Catholic will look at this verse and say, “Paul, what are you doing? You are not getting people into the kingdom.”

So it is obvious, from this passage, that Paul doesn’t believe that baptism is absolutely necessary for salvation. But don’t think though that he is minimizing baptism. Certainly not. Surely he had a high view of baptism. He would emphasize that even though baptism might not save you, it still is to be one of the first things that you do when you are saved. But his point here is clear. Baptizing people was not what he was called to do. His primary duty was to preach the word. So he acknowledges that the preaching of God’s word ranks at the top of the ordinances that God has instituted.

We could then extend that to other aspects of worship. In most Protestant churches we typically think that the music is the most important part of the service. We say things like, “Well we finished worship and now we are ready for the sermon” as if the sermon didn’t have anything to do with worship.

I once worked with a guy and we got to talking about church things. And I asked him why he went to the church he did. He said he went there because he liked the music. He used to be a drummer and he liked the style of music the church had.

His emphasis is quite typical of today’s church. People believe the singing and the music are the most important features of a worship service. But that’s not true. The sermon is the most prominent part of the service. You could have a stellar choir or an internationally known praise band. But it doesn’t matter how good it is. It still ranks behind the preaching of God’s word. And our focus in a church shouldn’t primarily be what comes out of the piano or the drum. It should be upon what comes out of the pulpit.

We are to give highest reverence to the preaching of God’s word. But we should esteem it not only because of its prominence as an ordinance of God, but because of its potency as a means of salvation.

B. Its potency as means of salvation
You may have noticed that the word “power” is used twice in these two verses. Both have reference to the cross and the preaching of the gospel. But verse 18 brings it out the clearest. It says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

It is interesting to analyze the language here. Of course the thing that has the real power is the cross, isn’t it? That’s what verse 17 emphasizes. Paul is concerned that the cross of Christ not be emptied of its power.

But the cross and the message of the cross are basically synonymous. Paul uses them almost interchangeably. It is as if you cannot separate the gospel from the proclamation of the gospel. You might even look at this and wonder, “Well, which is he talking about, the cross or preaching the cross?” It just shows how interconnected they are.

So you might ask, “How do we get people saved?” The answer is that you bring them to the cross. And the way you do that is not by showing them the Jesus film. It is by speaking to them about the cross and its significance.

We must understand that what is going on here and now is God’s appointed means for drawing people unto Christ. The preaching of the cross is the power of God. It has the power to bring sinners to their knees in humility. It drives them out of themselves. When God’s word is spoken, people become conformed to the image of Christ, they are comforted with the salvation that comes through him, their wills are subdued to his.

You should recognize that at this very moment, God is using the words that are coming from my mouth. He is making you to be strengthened against temptation. He is building you up in grace and establishing your hearts in holiness.

From time to time I will be talking with people and they will talk about some video they saw on youtube or some painting they saw at a show. And they will say of that video or that painting, “It was really powerful!” But hardly ever do I hear someone say that about what is spoken from a pulpit. But this, my friends, is the most powerful tool in the Christian’s arsenal.

And I can tell you this: If you want things to change in the political arena of our nation, the way to change it is not though elections. Your best option is not through the political realm. You can try to get certain personalities elected to the Senate or the House of Representatives, but that really won’t change much. If you want our nation to remain a free country, you are not going to get it by pushing for certain legislation. The only way we can save our nation is if God gives us men who can preach the Word and tell people about Jesus Christ! If that doesn’t happen, it doesn’t matter who gets elected. The nation will continue to slide down into oblivion.

The only way to preserve liberty is that we come to embrace a spirit of repentance. And that will never happen until men’s hearts are wounded and they are driven to the cross for the forgiveness of their sins. And that will only happen when the power of the cross is unleashed through the mouths of holy men across the nation.

Conclusion:
Some will most certainly say to me, “That is ridiculous!” I know that will happen. People are going to mock me, and tell me that that is foolish. I know. They think it is impotent. They will compare it to the children’s ditty, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

But those of us here must give reverence to this God ordained method. For we know that it is of good linage. When God created the world, he did it by means of his spoken word. When Lazarus was brought up from the tomb, the voice of Christ was instrumental. And it is that same power that is manifested in the preaching of Jesus Christ. When a minister opens his mouth and declares the wonder of the gospel, it is as if God rumbles from heaven. The demonic world and all the principalities of darkness tremble and quake when even the weakest of voices dares utter the glories of Christ. God’s word is a hammer. Even the hardest of hearts can be shattered by its force.

Dear people, let us ever remember that salvation is of the Lord. But the Lord extends his saving hand through lips he has anointed to preach. It is this hour that God demonstrates his mighty strength, though it be a power unseen and unfelt.

May we then give the word its place and pay it our highest respects; not as the Pharisees do, in word only. But in action. Let our esteem of it be displayed openly and to all as we take heed to every word that is spoken; not letting one fall to the ground. When the Lord ’s Day is at hand, let us be properly rested so that our hearing is not impaired or our minds given to sleep. And may we pay our respects by locking as much of it as we can in our hearts. Not simply hearing it, but listening to it that we might meditate upon it in the rest of the week.

Above all, may those of you who now feel the power of God working upon your hearts respond to it appropriately. If your heart is heavy with conviction, go to the Lord. If your sins do weigh upon you like a load of bricks, find relief in the only place where it can be found: in the cross of Jesus Christ. It, and it alone, is sufficient to deal with your need.

The Evil of Schism

1 Corinthians 1:10-16

“The church of Corinth was now lying bleeding of her wounds, given her not by open and avowed enemies, but by her own children.”

Those were the words the great puritan pastor, Thomas Boston, used to open his famous sermon on this passage entitled, “The Evil and Danger of Schism.” With these terms he depicts quite vividly the awful state of the church at Corinth. He pictures the church in a state of shock. He pictures them as having a severe hemorrhage that was not brought on by false teachers infiltrating their ranks. Rather it was self inflicted. Their own kin were responsible. And if it was not brought under control, would lead to the church’s demise.

The Apostle Paul was called to be the surgeon that tended the wound. And as any surgeon does when one is lying on the operating table, he addresses the most critical need first. And what was the issue that was the most urgent? Well, it was what we call the sin of schism. Schism comes from the Greek word schisma. It is the same word from whence we get the word ‘scissors.” It means to cut or to tear in two. It is found in verse 10, and is most likely translated division in your Bible.

It is funny how not much has changed in the history of the church. This vice has plagued the church since her conception. We can go all the way back to Cain and Able to see it. It has followed up to our present day. Even our church has not even been immune to it. It is as one pastor said, “Hatred and division are woven into our DNA.”

The sin is so common that a story is told about a man who was found on a deserted island. He had lived there some time all by himself, and was finally rescued by a passing ship. As they previewed the island the captain of the ship had noticed that there were three buildings that had been erected. Later, when he was speaking with the fellow who had been rescued he asked him what were they were. The man responded, “The one by the water was where I lived, and the one on the hillside was my church.” “But what of the other?” asked the captain. “That was the church I first attended but ended up leaving.”

That does seem to be how things go in the church. Today this problem is pandemic. People can walk out one church and into another like as easily as they walk from their living room to their dining room. And certainly we need it to be addressed just as much, if not more, than the Corinthians.

But how do we address the sin of schism? The best way to address it is to use the tactic of the Apostle Paul. Paul’s strategy was to make us see how monstrously evil the sin of schism really is. I think that is a good tactic too. For when you see how incredibly grotesque something really is, then you are less likely to be associated with it.

When I was in college I was introduced to apple butter. I was instantly addicted to it. I don’t think I ever ate a bagel without it from that point on. But sometime later I heard someone talk about the federal regulations regarding apple butter. They happened to mention that they only allow so many bug parts per so many gallons. I never touched the stuff again. It is just way too sickening to think about. Now, every time I see a jar of apple butter, I can’t help but think of all the bug appendages that are swimming around in there.

Really that is what we need to do with the sin of schism. We don’t see it for what it is. That’s why we break up and divide on any given whim. I think John Wesley put it well when he said,

It is certain all the members of Christian communities should be carefully guarded against it. For how little a thing soever it may seem, and how innocent soever it may be accounted, schism… is both evil in itself, and productive of evil consequences.

Wesley is exactly right. If we are going to prevent the sin of schism, we must understand how monstrous the sin actually is by nature and how incredibly wicked is its fruit.

When we look directly at the nature of schism I think we will have the same reaction that I did to that apple butter.

I. The evil of schism is seen in its nature
We should be repulsed by it because schism is inherently evil. At its core it defies our tie to each other and to Christ.

A. It defies our tie to each other
This probably sounds too obvious. After all, that is what division is, a break up of the church. But the evil of it becomes all the more pronounced when you consider what kind of tie we have to each other. In this passage Paul uses the language of family. He calls us brothers. Paul begins his exhortation with the words, “I appeal to you, brothers.” Then, at the end of the very next verse, he uses it again. Twice he emphasizes our familial tie to one another, the bond of brotherhood!

A lot of commentators say that Paul uses this word because he wants to endear himself to his listeners. He wants to soften, as it were, the sternness of his words by reminding him that he is one of them. While that may be the case, I believe that there is another purpose for it. It is here to remind us that we are intimately bound to one another.

What we often need is a reminder that we are not each other’s enemy. We are family. We are brothers by virtue of our union with Christ. And as such we are to act like a family and demonstrate a spirit of the utmost love and respect towards one another.

Now I recognize that in our day this appeal might not have a lot of strength. That’s because a family is not typically thought of as a place of love. The family today is so much fragmented and disintegrated that love is probably the last thing associated with it. So a lot of people will say, “Well this is how I treat my family.” Or “this is how my family treats me.” Each child goes off to his or her own room to listen to their ipod while mom and dad argue and tear at each other’s throats. And that is among the few moms and dads who actually are married.

But happily, even in the midst of our culture where the family unit has disintegrated such to the point where we not only have parents divorcing each other, but we have kids divorcing their parents, we still understand what it means to be brothers. We are not to the point where we have brothers divorcing each other!

I heard the other day a guy talking and he said that when he was young he liked to cause a ruckus. So he would frequently get into fights. But when he was outmatched, he wouldn’t get out of the fight. Instead he would call his brother and say, “Hey come on. I need you!” And even though he and his brother were not that close, his brother would still come to the fight and help his brother!

That inseparable bond is what Paul is talking about. That’s the kind of love that is to characterize the church. But when we are divided, that bond is severed. The brotherly spirit is soiled in a schism.

I think that John Wesley put it well when he preached his sermon “On Schism.” He said,

To separate ourselves from a body of Christians, with whom we were before united, is a grievous breach of the law of love. It is the nature of love to unite us together; and the greater the love, the stricter the union. And while this continues in its strength, nothing can divide those whom love has united. It is only when our love grows cold, that we can think of separating from our brethren.

The nature schism is a g.rievous thing only occurs when our love for one another has grown cold. But its evil is not just because it defies the tie we have in Christ. Its evil lies in the fact that defies the tie we have to Christ.

B. It defies our tie to Christ
What I’m talking about here is our relationship to Jesus Christ. Christ is over us as our sovereign head. He is the king and ruler of his people. And when we break fellowship with each other, we break the bond that He has established among us. Ultimately then, we break our bond with him.
Paul’s makes this apparent when he attaches the words “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” to his appeal. Now I want you to recognize something here. This is the 6th time He has used the phrase Lord Jesus Christ, and we are only at the 10th verse! Paul is stressing something here. He is stressing that Jesus is the one to whom we must submit!

But notice also that he makes this appeal by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever you come in someone else’s name, you come with their authority. If my wife goes to the grocery store and pulls out a credit card with my name on it, she comes in my name. She is purchasing those goods by my authority and with the power which I have invested in her.


So we have to notice that Paul is speaking on behalf of the King here. He is coming as an ambassador, in his office, as one who speaks not on his own behalf, but one who is speaking with the authority of the king and head of the church. And Christ is saying to us that of all the people we defy with our factions we defy Him!

Jesus came to gather for himself a people. We studied that earlier, didn’t we? Back in verse 2 we said that we are the church of God. We are a people that belong to God. Since we belong to him, we are a unit.

Moreover, before Jesus left this planet, he prayed for us, that we would be unified. His desire was that we be one, even as He and the Father are one. So if we allow ourselves to become pitted against one another, we are doing something terrible. We are ignoring his wishes. We defy the one of the most central petitions he offered in his priestly prayer.

Ultimately that is the reason why we break apart from one another though. Our tie with one another is broken because our tie to Christ is severed. When we take our eyes off of Christ and when we forget his authority over us, we are bound to distance ourselves from his people.

That’s really what the Corinthians were doing, isn’t it? They had forgotten the Lord Jesus Christ. They were not concerned about keeping his kingdom in tact. That’s why they were making their own little kingdoms (the I am of Paul kingdom, the Appolos kingdom, etc.).

A woman once drew on a blank leaf of a Bible a circle with several radii that converged in the center. It looked much like a bicycle wheel with its spokes. At the center of the wheel she had written “Christ.” On each of the spokes she had written the names of several denominations. Then, at the bottom of the picture, she inscribed, “The closer we are to Christ, the closer we are to each other.”

That is exactly right. And that is why we should realize how terrible a thing it is to become factitious. Even if we still externally/formally bear the name CRF, we shouldn’t kid ourselves. If we are in any ways a segregated congregation we are a congregation that has broken faith with Christ. And the distance we put between each other is only an indicator of the distance we have gone to thumb from Jesus.

I hope that you are starting to see now, just how vile a thing it is to have divisions in the church. Splitting up is a direct attack on every relationship we have within the church. It would be bad enough if it were merely a severing of the brotherly bond we have in Christ. But that evil is infinitely compounded because it breaks the bond we have to Christ.

I would hope too that this would be enough to deter you from the sin. I would hope that it would be like a horror movie where you are so grossed out that you have to turn your head and close your eyes because it is just too much to take.

But being that hatred is bred into us and the tendency to divide is so much a part of our DNA, we should also consider the evils that result from schism.

A number of years ago there was a commercial put out about the effects of drugs. It has become almost a cliché it was played so much. Those of you who are old enough probably will remember it quite vividly. The TV was filled with a shot of an egg in a frying pan. And the announcer said, “This is your brain.” Then the egg began to sizzle and crackle because of the heat, and the announcer said, “This is your brain on drugs.”

The picture was almost too much to take: an extreme close up of the yoke of an egg. But that was the purpose. They were trying to gross you out. They wanted you to be so disgusted by what you saw that you wouldn’t use drugs.

That is exactly what Paul does in this passage. Paul not only talks about how loathsome division is by nature. He shows us the evils that spring from schism. And he hopes by it to prevent us from becoming factitious.

II. The evil of schism is seen in its fruit
So let’s take a look at some of the fruits of schism. The list that we have here might not be exhaustive. But certainly what is said should be enough to caution us against schism. The first thing we see is that schism produces unworthy emotions and actions.

A. It produces unworthy emotions and actions
Let me ask you, what does the passage say the Corinthians were doing? (I hope this bothers you to no end!) It says that they were quarreling with one another. Now it is one thing to discuss your differences and have a good natured debate about your personal preferences or your doctrinal specifics. But that’s not what these people were doing. The word for quarrel means to “wrangle.” And you know that is more than just having a little tiff. These guys were at each other’s throats!

The spirit of division is the spirit of strife and hatred. It starts out with just an annoyance. Then it irks you a little more. It’s just to the point where your blood pressure rises at the thought of that person or group. Then it intensifies. If it is allowed to fester it can become like a volcano that erupts. Whenever you get around the person you can help but start arguing with them. That’s where the Corinthians were.

You know how it is too when you are in this kind of state. The tones are harsh, and the words are even more cutting. After you’ve spent all your best arguments, you turn and attack the person rather than their logic.

We don’t know for sure in this group (it is not mentioned), but there could also be some back-biting going on too. That’s something that typically is associated with divisions and quarrels. When you are pitted against someone, your natural instinct is to get as many people on your side. And what is the best way to do that? Well it is to go out and start spreading rumors and talking about your opponent. It is like what Proverbs 16:28 says, “A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.” That’s just how it is. Hate and strife go hand in hand with schism, and slander is its closest cousin.

I hope you see that when the seed of division is planted, nothing of a sanctified quality can grow out of it. The words and actions that characterize your relationship will not be of any worth.
But not only does schism produce unworthy emotions and actions, it prevents mutual edification

B. It prevents mutual edification
When we become factitious, we shrink back from those of the opposing side, don’t we? You know we have that saying, “I don’t get mad, I get even.” But it can also go like this, “When I get mad, I get lost.”

You can just see that happening in the Corinthian church, can’t you? You can imagine the Appolos crowd hunkering in their own Sunday School room after the service, just to get away from the Paul crowd. They just want to put some distance between them and the high and sanctified Jesus crowd.

The fact of the matter is, division prevents fellowship. And when there is no communion among the brothers and sisters in Christ, there is no ministry that occurs between them either. Distance means denying each other the gifts and graces we have for each other’s edification.
You have to think of schism in terms of pinching the cord on an IV. When you are in the hospital, they hook you up to an IV. That way you can have your meds. fed to you or you can keep hydrated. In other words, it is there to help foster your physical well being. But if that cord becomes kinked those nutrients cannot get into your body.

When you sever your relationship with the rest of the body of Christ, it is a lot like that. You are cutting off valuable ingredients that God has provided for your spiritual livelihood. Now how terrible is that? It is as if murder is taking place, right in your midst. It is like committing spiritual suicide.

A while back we were all aghast at what happened to Terry Schivo. She was the lady that had become somewhat incapacitated, but was still very much a living person. Then her husband chose to cut her feeding tube. So she gradually wasted away through starvation.

Yet this is exactly what many Christians do to each other. We decide to part ways and we end up cutting off the rich supply of nourishment that God has provided for our spiritual welfare.
I want you to recognize that divided churches are spiritually gaunt churches. When we part ways we are doing a wicked thing because we are depriving our brethren of their spiritual nourishment.

There is one other evil that comes springing from the tree of schism. It not only produces unholy emotions and actions. It not only prevents mutual edification. It also wearies good ministers.

C. It wearies good ministers of the gospel
Think of how much pain this had to have caused the Apostle Paul. When these people from Chloe’s house came in and told him what was going on, just think how his heart had to have been overwhelmed with grief. Then he had to take pen and paper in hand and address the issue. How painful that had to be. I think you can sense how tormented Paul’s spirit is by his sarcasm. “Was Paul crucified for you? Was anyone baptized into the name of Paul?” It sounds to me as if he is frustrated beyond all comprehension.

We just talked about how we lose mutual edification in the sin of division. That was basically talking about the hurt each person in the church feels. It regarded the pain each lay person experiences. And each of you knows what it is like when you have a brother or sister separate from you. You’ve had it happen to you a thousand times.

I guarantee you though, it is nothing compared to the pain that a minister experiences when division occurs in the church. When the flock splits, so does the heart of the shepherd. To tell you the truth, I really don’t think that I can describe it accurately. I can only say that the times I’ve witnessed it, ministers have only had an abundance of heartache, tears, and broken prayers.
I want you to be aware that it is a terrible thing to burden a minister in this way. It is just what Solomon says in Proverbs 10:1, “A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.” Ministers are just like mothers in a church. And just like a mother, a ministers carries the weight of caring for the church everyday. And when an extra burden like this is added, it can have the potential to cripple a minister’s spirit.

I hope you see now that schism gives birth to many other dreadful vices. As I said before, it is a small list, but it is a sobering list. And I hope that it is enough to awaken you to the seriousness of schism. We might not have realized before how deep a wound schism makes, but by now I think you should see that it is deep enough to leave serious scars.

Conclusion:
I’m sorry that today’s message was analogous to sitting through a horror film. We have just entered into the city of Corinth and we have already been confronted by its filth.

This message reminds me of when I used to drive to Seminary. Every day on my way to class I had to pass by a garbage dump. And every day my nasal cavity would be assaulted with the putrid aromas that wafted down the hill.

I believe that is the sense that Paul wants us to have though. I believe it was his hope that we would see just how foul the sin of schism is. And in witnessing it, may we vow in our hearts to avoid it to the best of your ability. May we now embrace with new vigor the gentle spirits that make for unity and make every effort to rejoice in the communion we have with one another.

My friends, never let your love for one another grow cold. Don’t even let the thought of breaking these ranks enter your mind. For we have a great bond in Jesus Christ, and we have a great bond with Jesus Christ too. And we should never let it be soiled. Satan would love to this holy union broken. But we must see to it that the cords of Christ that now knit us together are never shattered.

Most of all, when division does unravel the threads that bind us, we must go to the Lord and seek his grace. We must make every effort to mend the tear. I know that it is unheard of in today’s society, and, as with a paper that has been shredded to pieces, seems like church divisions can never be made whole again. But we must remember that the gospel’s nature is to resurrect the dead. Its nature is to heal the wounded and bring peace to warring factions.
Paul would not have written this if there were no hope for the poor Corinthians. So we too may have hope in our day that Christ can be victorious among us. And when we return our gaze to him, our unity with one another will follow.

Our Exalted Position

1 Corinthians 1:2

I would like to begin today by having you imagine a royal family. Now do not spare any details. This royal family is attending a picnic held in their honor. This is not just a back yard barbeque. The picnic is an official function. It is being put on by a neighboring nation, and the king is representing his nation in an official capacity. So you should think about all the pomp and circumstance of that should attend it.

He and his family must be garbed in all their royal attire, so as to manifest the dignity of their land. The king must be wearing have his flowing red robe, and you notice that the gems in his golden crown sparkle in the sun. The magnificence of the queen also catches your eye. Her stately gown matches the king’s imperial splendor, but yet it captures well the gentleness of her femininity. Even the children, they obviously have clothes which can allow them to move a bit more freely so that they can play, but they still look regal.

After the introductions have been made with the accompanying trumpet procession, the king and his court begin to mingle with the other nobles of this country. Some of the ladies go off to play croquette on the lawn. The men take their seats on the patio to discuss politics. And the children go running off to who knows where. Later on, the queen rejoins her husband and the crowd begins moving toward some large tents that have been set up for the dinner that is about to be served. As they walk they are engrossed in conversation with the others around them, and they don’t realize that they come upon the oldest son.

But they suddenly realize that everyone else is starring at something. They turn and their faces go white. They are aghast to see the prince playing in a puddle of mud. And he is just dripping with the boggy sludge. He is covered head to toe, it is obvious that his royal clothes are completely ruined. The prince had been so happily playing in the mud that he hadn’t noticed the crowd.

Now let me ask you. What do you think the king will do? It isn’t all that unusual for a child to be drawn to a mud puddle like a magnet. But you obviously know that it is not becoming of a prince, especially when he is visiting a foreign land and dressed as he is. What do you think the king will do? Most likely the king, in complete shock and embarrassment, is going to bellow something like, “What are you doing? What are you doing in that mire? Don’t you know who you are? How can you defile yourself like this?”

I want you to realize now that that story is not something that happened long ago and far away. You might think that is a fictitious story, but it is not. It is OUR story. And it is the story of the Corinthian Christians.

If we say that the Corinthian church was far from a perfect church that would be an understatement. I think Calvin says it well when he says that they had so many faults that it seemed that Satan held more powerful sway in their lives than God. And throughout this letter Paul addresses some of the scandalous sins that had become entrenched in the church. But before he begins this letter—before he begins his stern admonitions, he takes some time to remind them of their regal status. He basically says, “How can you defiled yourself like this? Don’t you know who you are?”

Now by no means does our church even begin to compare with the Corinthian church. But I think you will agree that we are no way close to perfection either. Hopefully you will admit that your heart greatly resembles that dirty little prince. And hopefully you will confess that our church is still greatly soiled with sin.

But that is why this passage is for us. God does not want us to linger in the filth of our sins. So he reminds us God has given us an exalted status. And if we are going to begin to rise up out of the mire of sin, we must first recognize who we are.

And the first thing God tells us about ourselves is that we are a claimed people.

I. We are a claimed people
Paul begins verse 2 by addressing the Corinthian Christians as, “The church of God at Corinth.” He doesn’t just say, “To the church at Corinth.” But he adds “of God” to give impress upon us that we are not just any ordinary people. We are a special people. We are God’s people. God had taken possession of us.

There is a phrase frequently used in the OT regarding the Israelites. Oftentimes the people of Israel are called, “the congregation of the Lord.” It was a special way of talking about God’s people, saying that this assembly belonged to none other than Jehovah. They were distinct from all the other people’s of the earth because they were God’s people. He had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and he claimed them as his own.

Here in 1 Corinthians, we see a similar expression. I believe Paul wants us all to hearken back to this OT phrase and be reminded that we have that same special standing and privileged position.

This is something I want you to remember: CRF is not the church of Matt. We talk that way sometimes. I know that I try not to say it, but sometimes it slips. When I’m at presbytery or at a ministerial meeting, sometimes I’ll accidently say, “over at my church.” Or I’ll talk about “my people.” But you are not my people. CRF is not “Matt’s church.” I have no claim on you.

You are God’s people. And you need to remember that. You are no ordinary people. God has claimed you as his own. He has put his seal on you in baptism. He put his name upon you and has marked you out as his distinct possession. And you must remember that you belong to God.
Suppose a guy and a girl are madly in love with each other and they decide to get married. The guy proposes to her and she is as delighted as can be. When they get married he gives her a little sign of his love for her. He puts a wedding band on her hand to show the world that this is his wife.

Well this couple decides to take a road trip. They decide to go out together. And they stop in at a gas station to pick up a few snacks for the road. But while they are there the guy behind the counter starts talking funny to the guy’s wife. What do you think he is going to do? Well if he has any spine, he’ll say, “Hey, don’t you talk that way to her. That’s my wife!”

What’s he doing? He’s affirming that this girl is special to him. This girl is no ordinary girl. This is his girl. People have to respect that. And she has to respect that too, doesn’t she? She has to realize that she is the wife of this guy. She belongs to him, and she can’t be acting funny herself.
Do you realize who you are? You are the church of God. You belong to God. You can’t be acting funny, especially when you consider how very special a thing it is to be God’s possession!

You know, God didn’t have to claim you. Just like those Israelites in the OT, God wasn’t bound by anything to take you to be his. Did you hear what we read today in Deuteronomy 7? It wasn’t because Israel was the biggest or best people that he chose them. It wasn’t because they were the prettiest or the or the strongest that he decided to lay claim to them.

The same is true for us. It wasn’t like God was at the store and went down the aisle comparing labels, then he chose us because we were the best buy. There wasn’t anything about us that was desirable. Imagine picking up a piece of rotten fruit and saying, “Yep, that’s just the one I wanted.” That’s absurd.

But that’s what God did. He looked at you, as vile as you were, and said, “I’ll take that one.” That’s an amazing thing. And when you consider how amazing it is, how can we wish to have anything to do with our sins?

But notice what else this passage says about us. We are not just a claimed people, we are a concerted people.

II. We are a consecrated people
You’ll notice that Paul doubles his address to these Corinthian Christians. And the only purpose for this is to help them understand who they are. But he adds this interesting phrase, “to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.” Another way to translated it would be, “to those who have been consecrated as holy, called to be holy.”

Now some would say that is the most surprising line in the whole NT. Of all the people in the Bible to call holy, why in the world would you choose the Corinthians? There is perhaps no church that Paul addresses that is more corrupt than the Corinthian church. They are anything but holy! How can Paul, in good conscience call these people “sanctified?”

Think back again to the OT. In the OT there were certain things associated with the temple that were regarded as holy. There were certain things, such as the utensils and the furniture, which had been consecrated to God. They had been set apart for a specific purpose. And they were only to be used for that purpose.

Here Paul is saying that all of us who are in Christ have the same status as those utensils. When God first came to us and we received the grace of God, something radical happened to us. God took us out of the devil’s hand and distinguished us from the rest of the world. Just like those utensils of the temple were set apart from everything else in Israel, we have been set us apart from the rest of the world. We have been given a new status in the world. We have been consecrated to God. As a result, we are now obligated to start being holy. We are to be giving ourselves over to his service, just like a fork in the temple was to be devoted to the service of God.

To put it another way, we are called to “be what we are.” We are holy (we have this status of being holy because God has sanctified us), so we are under the obligation to be holy. We have been made into saints, so we need to start acting in a saintly way.

A while back I heard a story about a man who lived under a bridge. The man had lived there for quite a bit of his adult life and he ended up dying there. This, of course, is not an uncommon thing to happen to poor people. But the police had to try and identify who the man was and figure out if he had any relatives who needed to be notified. But in the midst of their research they came to find out that this man who had been living under this bridge was not poor at all. He was actually a very wealthy man.

You have to wonder, what was going on with this guy? Something wasn’t right. Wealthy people don’t live under bridges. The problem with the man was that he wasn’t being who he was! If you are wealthy, you need to act like a wealthy person.

And that’s what Paul wants to impress upon us. If we go on living in our sins and ignoring what God has made us to be, then we are not living properly. God has given us the greatest riches that we could ever ask for. He has made us holy through the blood of Jesus Christ. And we are called to start acting like it.

But God impresses one other item upon us. Paul says that just as we are claimed and consecrated, we are also connected.

III. We are a connected people
In this introduction Paul points out that this letter has broader appeal. He addresses it not just to the Corinthians, but to “All those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.”

But why does he do this? Perhaps Paul recognizes that this letter will be passed around. Maybe he knows that its teaching will eventually become part of the canon of Scripture. But I would suppose that there is another reason. I think that he is speaking directly to the Corinthians in an indirect manner. I think he wants to remind these Corinthian Christians that they are linked to a wider body of people.

You know, whenever you see yourself in your wider context, you tend to act a bit differently. I know some guys in college who joined fraternities or certain housing groups. When they joined that brotherhood, they understood that this new affiliation was to define they way lived their lives. They had come to be connected with this particular group, and so they were expected to maintain a certain lifestyle. They understood that they had to give the best impression to the world because they were part of this distinguished group.

Paul reminds us that we are part of the most distinguished group of all! We are not part of just any people. We are connected to a people who, as Paul says, “call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

To “call upon the name of Jesus” is to invoke him in prayer and acknowledge that he is worthy of worship. In essence, it is to acknowledging the fact that Christ is divine.

You may remember the challenge that Elijah put to the Baal Prophets on Mt. Carmel. He challenged them to take two bulls and cut them up and offer them as a sacrifice. The Baal prophets were to take one and he was to take one. And Elijah said, “You call upon the name of your god and I will call upon the name of the LORD. And the God who answers by fire, he is God.”

So Paul reminds these Corinthians, and he reminds us too, that we are united to this distinguished group of people. We are part of that group of people who are under the headship of the Son of God. We must distinguish ourselves by the way we live because we are a part of this distinguished group.

There is another side to this too. We are not just connected to the people of God, we are connected to God himself.

To call upon the name of Jesus is, as I said, to invoke him in prayer. God grants us this sweet privilege of coming before him and putting our requests at his feet. But if you go to him in prayer, his will ought to influence your life.

Suppose we came in here today for our time of prayer and we “called upon the name of the Lord.” After we gathered all our requests we bowed our heads to present them to God. We spent a good deal of time in prayer, fervently asking God to bless us and work on our behalf. But as soon as we were done, we left without giving a hoot about how he wants us to live. We just went about our business as normal without a second thought about God. Now what would that say about our hearts? Better yet, if that is the way we act, how do you think Christ will respond to our prayers?

Think about this: We don’t even act that way towards Santa Claus. When Christmas time comes around a lot of kids start making out their wish lists. But what is it that is always in the back of their minds? Have I been naughty or nice? In other words, they are asking whether or not they have been living the way Santa wants me too!

They recognize that if they are going to call upon Santa to give them certain things, they need to respect Santa’s wishes. If that is the way we revere Santa, how much more do we need to respect the will of God! If we are going to be connected to God through prayer, it behooves us to revere his commands.

Conclusion:
Covenant Reformed Fellowship, I want you to remember who you are. Not long from now we are going to be celebrating Independence Day. We are going to be thinking about how great it is to be an American, and there is going to be a lot of talk about what it means to be an American. And all that talk is to help you act like an American.

But don’t ever forget what it means to be a Christian. You are God’s people, a people who have been brought together and distinguished from the rest of the world. And it is our responsibility to be who we are.

Gushing with Praise

Romans 16:20-27

I don’t know if we have any English teachers in our midst, but if we do, I bet you are horrified at how Paul concludes this letter.

In one sense this is a great way to end a letter that dwells on how we come to be justified before God by God’s free grace alone. This is a doxology. Paul concludes his thesis by unloading a grand crescendo of praise. But even if you were a flunky when it came to your 7th grade English class, you probably realize that if Paul turned this in to a teacher it would not come back with a passing grade.

While in seminary I would occasionally have the opportunity to preach at the church Elizabeth and I were members of during that time. As is the custom of many churches, the speaker will go to the back of the church after the sermon and greet the people as they made their exit. Each time I preached though there would be one certain lady who would wait to be one of the last to come out of the sanctuary. She was a very nice lady, and she was always cordial. But she was a retired English teacher. And after each sermon I would get a grammar lesson. She would gently admonish me on my use of direct objects. She would lecture me on the proper use of lay and lie. Mainly she would correct me on my use of prepositions. She would tell me that those are not things I should end sentences with. (or those are not things with which I should end a sentence!).

I recognize the importance of proper grammar. I recognize also that the wrong usage can really irritate people. But it’s good for guys like me to know that the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, could break virtually every rule in the book in just one sentence!
I’m not giving us license to drop our grammar classes. I’m just pointing out that the structure of this sentence is extremely difficult. And it is not difficult because it is fluid and high language that Paul is using. It is difficult because it is a grammatical nightmare.

But you know what. Sometimes one’s excitement trumps proper sentence structure. I do not believe that Paul set out to break the rules of proper syntax on purpose. I believe it was just an accident. I believe that Paul is so excited that he can’t help but burst into praise. I think that this is so convoluted because his heart is overwhelmed and he just gushes with praise like a overflowing river.

Earlier, in verse 22, you see that a guy by the name of Tertius was the one writing the letter for the Apostle. Tertius was taking dictation, and it almost seems that he can’t keep up with Paul. Paul just gets so wound up that explodes in the worship of God.

And as we look at this passage I want to think about how we should be praising God too. This doxology teaches us something about praising God. It reminds us that dead orthodoxy is no orthodoxy at all. Our hearts should gush with streams of praises too, especially when we consider what our praise is based upon (yes, that's ending a sentence with another preposition!)

I. What is the basis for our praise?
Within this grammatical vortex, Paul gives two causes for exaltation. Paul at least begins this doxology with some measure of structure. And he says that our praise is based on…

A. Our eternal security
He says, “Now to him who is able to strengthen (or establish) you.” With these words Paul assures us that the salvation that is imparted to us through the gospel will never leave us. The word “strengthen” is a word that means “to support” or “to make fast.” In Paul’s day it was used with regard to plants that could not stand up on their own.

I know that some of you are gardeners, so you will know exactly what this means. When you go out to your garden, you have some plants that droop, don’t you? They are either too weak or too top heavy, so they need some support. So you take a stick and you put it in the ground beside the plant. Then you adjust it in such a way that the vine is held up by the stake.

That is exactly the meaning of this verse. God is able “to stake you up.” In other words, you are like that pathetic plant. You are the one who is so weak that you cannot stand up on your own before God. Even after we have been justified by God’s gracious declaration, your heart is still far to fraught with sin to hold yourselves upright and endure in that state.

But God graciously comes to our aid. He doesn’t leave us so that we have to try and make it on our own. He knows that if we were left to ourselves we would fall over die. If it were up to us and left in our hands, we would all too easily loose our grip on our salvation and fall from the state of grace. So God stakes us up with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is what the majority of this passage is. This is where Paul starts going crazy with all his verbiage. He glories in that gospel (his gospel, the preaching of Jesus, the mystery of the gospel that is now being revealed). It is no wonder that his mouth just looses control because it is this gospel that is the stake by which we are held up.

A lot of people struggle with the assurance of their salvation. It’s not so much that they struggle with their current salvation. It’s just that they don’t know what may happen down the road. What will happen? Right now I’m fine. But who knows what tomorrow will bring? They can think that they may end up backsliding and, for whatever reason—be it some form of persecution or mishap in life—they end up falling away.

But God says no to all that. If you are currently founded upon the gospel, you will never fall away. If you have truly come to Jesus and received him by faith, then the cross is that stake that will hold you secure to the very end.

This is something that is repeated in Scripture, for our benefit. For instance, in Philip. 1:6 Paul says, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” In 2 Tim. 1:12 he says, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” Jesus affirms this too when he says, John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

And once you get a hold of how Christ has gotten a hold of you, you will be lead to deeper praise.
Someone will say, “Well if you say that people are once saved always saved, that’s never going to lead to a life of praise. They are going feel free to live however they want. That’s going to lead to a life of sin.

But I’ve never seen a plant that is held up by a stick reject the stick it is held up by. Rather I see it gladly relying on the stick all its days.

We can even take a “worst case scenario.” Some people don’t like using canes. I know one woman who had multiple sclerosis. Her body became quite feeble and she had to use a cane. She didn’t much care for the thing. It was always falling over and crashing on the floor when she set it down. She might not have cared for it when she was sitting. But when she was standing, she was most thankful for it. It would be the only thing keeping her up.

That’s the way Paul feels about the gospel. He adores God because God is the only thing that can keep him held firmly in a right standing with God. We should feel the same way. The way the gospel holds us steady in grace should fill our lips with praise too.

But there is another reason why Paul is filled with praise. He praises God not only for what he has done (in assuring him of his eternal security), but he praises God for the way God has established that security. That is, he praises God for his eternal plan.

B. Our praise is based on God’s eternal plan
At the end of this doxology Paul adds, “to the only wise God be glory forever.” Paul recognizes that his eternal security is based upon the gospel. And the gospel came to pass because of God’s all wise plan.

When you think about this it should really lead you to praise God. From the beginning of time each moment of history was planned out. God had scripted every event. He ordered every single moment of every person’s life so that Jesus would be crucified and resurrected.

The gospel was something that determined before the world in the recesses of the divine counsel. Then it was sovereignly worked out in history. It wasn’t fairy tale or something that was off in the world of make believe. It occurred in history. Paul recognizes that this never could have happened if God had not ordered it that way. You can almost hear how his mind is baffled over this. And it leads him to praise God.

But wait. There is more. The gospel has to come to you some how, didn’t it? Somehow you have to hear the gospel. You have to hear about what happened to Christ back 2000 years ago in the land of Judea. Paul says earlier that the gospel is the preaching of Jesus. This too is part of God’s all wise plan. He chose to use this foolish means as the way to bring that salvation to you. But in order to bring it to you, think about all that is entailed. You have to have someone who himself has heard the gospel himself. Then he had to tells someone else. Then he had to tell someone else, all through history. Then that person who had heard the gospel had to come into contact with you. Your lives had to intersect and it had to occur at just the right moment when that man was preaching.

God had to orchestrate all these different events so that we could embrace this gospel and have this eternal security. This wasn’t any coincidence. It all a part of God’s all wise plan!
That is amazing. And when you think about it, you most certainly will be lead to deeper praise. Your heart will gush, just like Paul’s.

But what does Paul say about the extent of his praise? Did you notice how long he said this praise would endure?

II. How long will our praise endure?
He said that the glory was to be to God “forevermore.”

It is fitting that this book of the Bible end on this note. Praise forevermore. It is almost as if thinking about this great gospel makes Paul’s heart palpitate. He can’t help it any longer. It is like a soda pop that has been shaken. He has to praise God. The overflow of his heart pops the cork of his mouth and praise comes streaming out.

And if it makes him so full of praise in this life, even while his hearts is still so engulfed in a slough of sin, how much more are is he going to praise God in heaven?

I bet Paul is thinking about how he can’t wait to get to heaven. I bet he can’t wait to be purged of sin so that he can really start worshiping God. Paul knows that when the curtain of death is finally pulled back and he enters into the presence of God, he will be able to bask in the radiance of God for the rest of his life. His heart will finally be at the point where he can really give God the praise he deserves.

You know, we don’t think that way though. We think of heaven as retirement. That’s the way we are tuned. I think that we tend to think of it as one long vacation. We get to go to exotic places that we’ve never been to but always wanted to go. It will be like a little museum where we get to see all the Bible characters we always wondered about. Kind of like walking through Beverly Hills and seeing some movie stars.

But that’s not what heaven will be like. I do not think that we can comprehend completely what heaven will be like. The Bible doesn’t give us a clear picture. But it does give us some idea what is going to be happening there, especially when you read the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation might be a hard book to interpret. But when you read it, it is quite clear that in heaven there we will be caught up in never ceasing praise.

The book of Revelation it is almost as if we get to peek behind the curtain to see what is going on in heaven. When we peer through the knotholes in the boards what do we see? All we see is praise! We see angels singing. We see martyrs chanting their hallelujah’s. We see beasts that we cannot even begin to imagine what they really look like bowing in honor and giving glory and to God. What we see is a world that is gushing with praise because the Lamb who was slain has brought his great plan of Redemption to completion! And it never stops!

When you read the book of Revelation it just seems like there is one continual chorus of praise. One song after another is sung. Why is that? It is because people are so astounded at God. They can’t think about doing anything else. Their hearts are so stung with happiness that they just can’t stop gushing with praise.

I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are thinking, “That sounds boring!” But there is nothing boring about God. There is nothing boring about the worship of God. If you find worship boring, then there is something wrong with you. Either your focus isn’t right or your heart is dead!

If you know the gospel then your heart will throb! And you cannot do anything else but worship. And if you’ve really been impacted by the gospel of the All Wise God, then you can’t wait to get to heaven, so you can praise him face to face.

Conclusion:
In the 15th century Spain controlled the Strait of Gibraltar. At that narrowing of the two land masses (Africa and Europe), there was a huge marker called the “Pillar of Hercules,” and prior to Columbus’ voyage in 1492, it carried a three word Latin saying chiseled into stone: NE PLUS ULTRA, which, translated, said, “No More Beyond.” The belief of the time was that there was nothing worth seeing beyond that point. All that existed was a vast expanse of sea. No one would dare question the prevailing conviction that the western horizon contained nothing new.
After Columbus’s discovery of a new world beyond Spain, recognition of the revised outlook was pressed into its coins. Coins were struck with a simple Latin slogan, two words: PLUS ULTRA: which meant “More Beyond.”

That is the way the gospel should make us feel: Plus Ultra, Praise should burn within our hearts right now because our Lord Jesus has secured our eternal life. And though there is a vast gulf between us and heaven now, we there is more praise for us to give beyond this life.

Countering Eccesiastical Terrorism

Romans 16:17-20

It is often said that we are the church militant. The saints who have died have ascended on high to be with the Lord. They are the church triumphant. They now live victoriously with Christ, awaiting the consummation of their salvation. But we who have not tasted death still walk amid the world and are susceptible to its evils. So we are to remain militant in the fight of faith, striving for purity and standing against the monstrous regiment of evil that is aligned against us.

John Bunyan highlights this fact in his classic work Pilgrim’s Progress. The main character is a man named Christian. The work details his journey along the road to the Celestial City. But Christian is not dressed not in the normal garb of a traveler. Rather his attire is that of a soldier. He is decked out with helmet, shield, sword and armor, and all along the way he must defend himself from threats of violence which seek to overthrow him.

One such meeting was against the hideous monster, Apollyon. Apollyon seemed to be an amalgamation of several different beasts of terror. His body had the form of a dragon, and was coated with scales like a fish. He had wings that jetted out like that of a Teridactal. He had massive feet like that of a bear, which could crush and claw you. From his belly came fire and smoke and his mouth was like that of a lion, ready to devour.

Apollyon came upon Christian and straddled the road before him, making it so that he could not pass without a confrontation. Apollyon then began to converse with Chrsitian, and he did so he recognized Christian as one of his former subjects. Upon this realization Apollyon said, “How is it that you run away from your king and your country? You know that there is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects. Neither will I lose thee.”

In those words we hear how greatly disturbed Satan really is with those of us who come to faith in Christ. He sees us as lost subjects, and he has nothing but contempt for us. So with all his might he seeks to afflict us. He does all within his might to turn us back from our way and bring us back under his dominion. He is to the church a terrorist, and he involves himself in guerilla warfare.

And so I want to talk this morning about how we counter ecclesiastical terrorism. Calvin is right when he says Paul gives this exhortation, “for the purpose of stirring up every Church, since the ministers of Satan constantly watch every opportunity for disturbing the kingdom of Christ.” In this passage Paul lays out two things we must do in order to ensure that we do not fall prey to Satan’s attacks.

The first thing we do to counter this ecclesiastical terrorism is initiate radar defenses.

I. To counter ecclesiastical terrorism we must initiate radar defenses
You guys know what a radar is. I’m not sure about all the technical details of how it works. But you have a screen on a computer of some sorts that helps you to mark where the enemy is. With that information you can then stay safe by navigating around the enemy.

That’s exactly what you are called to do in this passage. Verse 17 says that you are to “watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” And you are to “avoid them.”

In other words, you are to be on red alert! You know that we have a new code that was initiated a few years ago, right after 9/11. There are a couple of different color codes to indicate the threat level from a terrorist attack. And from time to time you might hear that the Homeland Security Department is raising the threat level to orange. That means that they have heard some chatter that there might be some plans being made to attack the United States.

Well, Paul is saying that the threat level for the church is always the highest it can go. Satan is always seeking to subvert the church, and we need to be watching out for an attack.

The good thing is Paul tells us exactly who we should be watching for on our radar screens. He identifies our enemies for us in great detail. And when you consider all that he has to say, you get the idea that these people are no wise friendly to the church. They are completely wicked and are out for the complete destruction of the church.

Look at how Paul describes these people. First he says that they are schismatics. That is to say they are people who cause division. They are people who attack one of the most fundamental attributes of the church: our unity! These people know that the best tactic to destroy the church is the old strategy of “divide and conquer.”

But how do they attack the unity of the church? It is through the purity of the church. That’s why they are described as heretics. Paul says it’s those who create obstacles that are contrary to the things we have learned. That’s just a long way of talking about doctrinal deviation. We more commonly know it as heresy.

Now be clear. Paul is not talking about the disagreements that good Christian people can have. He’s talking about people are distorting the gospel of our Lord and the teaching that are in agreement with orthodox faith. These are people who are out to destroy the church and so attack that which is the lifeblood of the church. These are wicked people!

Throughout the history of the church we’ve had to deal with this. But typically we who hold to the orthodox faith are the ones who are called the schismatics. For instance, when the Reformation occurred, the reformers had to break with the Roman Catholic Church. And the Romans accused them of dividing the church. But it wasn’t the Reformers who were dividing the church. It was Rome. It was Rome that was in error. The Reformers called Rome to renounce its deviant teachings. But they wouldn’t. So in all reality, it was the Pope and the rest of the Roman church that was dividing the church.

The same is true all down through history. Even in our own denomination. When the PCA began to break from the mainline southern church, they began plans for forming “a continuing church.” In other words, they recognized that they were the true church and the heretics who denied the authority of Scripture and other essential doctrines of the gospel were the schismatics.

But look again at our passage. Because these people are so vehemently opposed to all that is good, Paul rightfully describes them as anti-Christ. Paul says in verse 18 that “they do not serve our Lord Jesus.” And he goes on to say that "They are full of their own appetites." In other words they are greedy and power hungry, wanting only to serve themselves. And that is exactly what the anti-Christ is. The anti Christ is one who doesn’t want to serve Christ. He wants to be served. He wants to replace Christ as the head of the church so that everyone serves to placate his hunger for fame, fortune, and influence.

But the thing that is most important for you to note is that these people are disguised. It would be nice if a heretic or a schismatic came dressed in red suits and carried pitchforks. It would be nice if those who were anti-Christ had warts and mangled teeth and looked and talked like ogres. But they don’t. They look like ordinary people and they sound so nice. Paul says that they use smooth speech and they butter you up with all kinds of flattery. They make you feel so good. But beneath it all, they have no good intentions for you. They are out for your destruction.

In every way they follow in the footsteps of their father the devil. Remember that Satan was a liar from the beginning and is the Father of Lies. He masquerades as an angel of light to make people think that his ways are innocent and pure. But it is all destructive.

So too are the people who do his work. And these are the people that we need to be on our radar screens.

And when we do detect them, we are not to associate with them at all. Paul makes it clear that we are not to be-friend these kinds of people. He says that they are to be AVOIDED. Once you pinpoint who they are on your radar, the tactic you are to use is to get as far away from them as fast as possible. We are not to evangelize them. We are not to hob-knob with them. We are not to fellowship with them. We are to avoid them.

From time to time I talk with people who know that their church is lead by people who fall into the category that we just described. But they will not separate themselves from it. They will use a number of excuses. One is the traditional excuse. You know how it goes. They will say, “Well this is the church I’ve always attended.” Or “This is the church that I grew up in and the one to which I have grown accustomed.” Or maybe they will break out a really pious excuse like, “I am working to see this church turned around.” But the Lord doesn’t call us to do that. God calls us to avoid them! Those are the excuses of the naïve, an they will be deceived.

About a year ago I was talking to a fellow PCA minister at one of our presbytery meetings. At one point in the conversation we were talking about a common friend of ours who is a minister in a mainline denomination. The other pastor turned to me and said, “You know, it’s getting worse.” I knew exactly what he meant by this cryptic statement. He meant that our mutual friend is becoming more and more influenced by the corruptions of denomination. Rather than being influenced by the pure teaching of the gospel his faith is being shaped by heresy. He is conforming to his denominations ailments and being deceived rather than being re-formed and transformed more into Christ.

He didn’t separate. He isn’t using his radar properly. As a result, he is suffering the consequences of his actions. The Bible says, “Come out from among them and be ye separate, lest you take part in their sins and share in their plagues.” If you do not pinpoint them and avoid them, you will fall in with them and end up suffering along side them.

Combating ecclesiastical terrorism requires us to use discernment. We must defend ourselves by using the radar God has put in our heads. But that is not the only things we must do. If we it were, we would probably be given over to despair. For what do we see all around us? We are attacked at virtually every front. We are like a city under siege. Satan doesn’t pop out every once in a while. He has devised a full frontal attack. This is why our commander in chief also tells us to trust the gospel promises.

II. Trust the gospel promises
If we are going to counter Satan, we must remember the two promises that are given in verse 20. Both of these promises are given to stir us on in the battle.

Weariness is oftentimes a soldiers’ greatest enemy. Every commander knows that when moral dips, the soldiers lose confidence in the fight. One of the factors is the duration of the fight. When the battle has been raging for some time and the fighting looks endless, the question that immediately comes to mind is, “Is it worth it?” And here you see that it is worth it because the battle is not endless.

A. We are given the promise of ultimate victory.
Paul says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”

There will be an end to our fighting because Satan will be finished once and for all. This phrase hearkens back all the way to the beginning of the fight. You remember that Genesis 3:19 contains what is called the protoevangelim (i.e. the very first gospel). God said that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. That was a prophecy that Christ would come into this world. He would be born of a woman and he would deliver the crushing blow to Satan’s head in his death and resurrection. Here we find that Satan will suffer another fatal blow. It will be a final blow that will end his attacks for good. Christ will one day come again and finish what he started.

It is fun to think about the fact that the war was over before it even began! This language, as I said, throws us back to the beginning. And it reminds us that the end was written from the beginning. I also like too the imagery that Matthew Henry congers up in his commentary. Henry says,

When Joshua had conquered the kings of Canaan, he called the captains of Israel to set their feet upon the necks of those kings (Jos. 10:24), so will Christ, our Joshua, enable all his faithful servants and soldiers to set their feet upon Satan’s neck, to trample upon, and triumph over, their spiritual enemies. Christ hath overcome for us; disarmed the strong man armed, broken his power, and we have nothing to do but to pursue the victory and divide the spoil.

You know you find this reminder all through Scripture. Matthew Henry points out that one from the book of Joshua. But we could also think about David and Goliath. Where did that stone that David sling hit that big ogre? It hit him right between the eyes and it crushed his skull! There are others at which we could look, but it is enough to say for now that God is always reminding his people that Satan is going to be defeated.

That is the encouragement we need to keep on fighting against the devil now. Despite the torrents of his temptations and the siege that Satan now advances against us, we need not despair. He is not going to win. Even though the church is filled with all sorts of corruptions, we need not worry. We should keep pressing for righteousness because his time will one day run out. God will be the ultimate victor in the war.

But that’s not the only promise we have. Paul also adds the promise of present strength.

B. We are given the promise of present strength
Paul concludes verse 20 with the words, “The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

I need you to notice something about this sentence though. Those of you who have the King James Version or the New King James Version, you will notice that the word “be” is italicized. That means that the word “be” isn’t in the original Greek text. The editors have supplied it for us. They put it in there to try to smooth out the sound of it. It sounds a little cryptic. But if we would translate it literally it would say this, “The grace of our Lord Jesus with you.”

What you have to understand is that this is not so much a prayer (that it may be with you), but it is a promise. Grace is with you. It is with you right now. Christ is present in your life right now and his grace is there to give you the power you need to keep on fighting the fight.
I know that it is hard too. If you have ever said anything against unrighteousness, you have probably gotten a real lashing for it. People like to talk about tolerance and being nice to one another, but once you stand up and say that what they are doing is wrong—boy oh boy—they will lash out at you something fierce.

But the grace of our Lord Jesus with you. It is with you. It is with you right now and forever more, and you do not have to be afraid to stand for righteousness’ sake.

But even if you do fail (and you will!), you still have this promise. The grace of our Lord Jesus is with us. Christ is there to deliver us out of our sin and restore us in the fight. Christ expects that his soldiers are going to be shot down and be wounded. Satan is too strong for us. But Christ has given us his grace. He wants us to remember that when we do fail, all is forgiven. And we can should remember that we are called to get up and get back in the fight.

Conclusion:
If you go to Wartburg in Germany they will show you a dark spot on the wall which they say was caused by the breaking of the ink-bottle that Martin Luther threw at the devil. Now, I’m not sure if it is the ink spot or if it is just something people do to peek tourism. But it is true the Luther would frequently have bouts where he was physically battling the devil. And some people think that the reason he threw the ink bottle was because there were rats in the wall and he was simply hallucinating.

Charles Goodell has an interesting comment though. He says, “Now, I know that people say it was not the devil, but rats in the wall that Luther heard. But this thing I know: Luther thought it was the devil! And I wish there were more men today who would fling their ink bottles at the devil.”

What he meant is that he wished that there were more men who had the attitude of Luther. He wished there were men who were ready to contest the flow of evil in his day and counter the work of the schismatics, heretics and anti-Christ's.

Ecclesiastical terrorism is just as lively in our day too. I hope that those of you in this congregation are ready to stand with ink bottles in hand. God has given us the promises of the gospel. He has shown us our enemy. May we keep our radars up and see to it that the church prospers under our watch.

Characteristics of Christians

Scripture Intro:
If you would, please turn with me to the book of Romans. We will be looking at the first half of chapter 16 this morning. Some of you might have looked ahead over the last couple of weeks and wondered, “Is he going to preach on that section with all the greetings?” Well, the answer is yes. This too is God’s word. It is not a tack on. This too was written by the inspiration of the Spirit. As a result, it contains things that are profitable for teaching, rebuking and correcting so that the man of God might be complete.

You always have to remember that God doesn’t just throw any old thing in the Bible. let’s read together the first 16 verses of Romans 16.

Introduction:
There is a certain amount of tedium trying to get through this passage. It is one we could easily skip over. It is so repetitious and there are so many people—many of them whose names are hard to pronounce. But again, this section of Scripture can teach us some very important lessons.

When you look at this passage what you find are people. And not just any people. These are Christian people. They are part of the covenant community there in Rome. And so, from this list of greetings we can glean a number of lessons regarding Christians.

That is to say, when we look into this passage we can say certain things will be true of you if you go by the name Christian. The first thing we can say about a Christian is that he will be associated with a particular church.

I. A Christian will be manifestly associated with a particular church
Verse 1 starts off with Paul commending this lady named Phoebe. Phoebe is a Christian, and she has been living in this place called Cenchreae. But now she’s coming to Rome for some reason. We don’t know the reason why. Maybe it’s because she’s going there on business or maybe she just wants to relocate. We don’t know why she’s there. But evidently she’s going to be there for some time because Paul is commending her. He tells the church there to welcome her into their fellowship as a sister in the Lord. He wants her to be officially associated with one of those particular churches there in the city of Rome. Ligon Duncan remarks,

The background of verse one is the fact that in the Mediterranean world. As you traveled from place to place, and especially when you were sent on an errand of some importance, you often brought with you a letter of commendation from the people who were sending you. And that letter was addressed to the people to whom you were sent. The people to whom you were sent wouldn’t know what you looked like, and they didn’t know who you were, and they didn’t know why you had been sent, and they didn’t know what your credentials were. And so letters of commendation were sent in order to attest to the standing and to the legitimacy of people who were doing significant errands.

But what I want you to see is that she was associated with one particular church. She was under the authority of the leadership in one place. Then, when she moved, her church membership moved. When she arrived in Rome one of the first things that she did was establish her membership in the new region.

Why do I point this out? Why is this significant? It is because we live in a day where people think they don’t have to become members of any particular church. We don’t have a high view of church membership (or we don’t have the right view of church membership). A lot of churches are even going the route of not even having formal membership roles. But what I want you to see here is that Paul placed a very high emphasis on it. The early church thought membership in a local church was very important.

But this is what people say today. They say, “I don’t need to become a member of a church. I’m a member of Christ’s Church (the universal church) and that’s enough.” But the Bible is clear that everyone who is a member of the universal/invisible church will become a member of a local/visible church. They will seek to make visible that invisible connection to Christ. So, in essence, it is through church membership that you demonstrate your allegiance to Christ. In church membership you visibly align yourself with Christ by aligning yourself with Christ’s people, and submitting yourself to those Christ has put in authority over his church.

And notice what beautiful pastoral care this is. This passage is the basis for our practice of transferring membership. This is something that we still do today as a part of our pastoral care. Paul here is acting as the shepherd of Christ’s sheep. He is watching over one of God’s children and seeing to it that she is properly transferred and receives the proper care and attention she deserves as a member of Christ’s Church.

This is why we still do this. It is our desire to see that all of you are adequately nurtured in the faith. It is our desire that you are being cared for by the authorities instituted by Christ.
There is an old saying that goes like this, “If you desire to have God as your Father, you must have the church as your mother.” We see that this is true on the basis of this passage.

Young people I want you to remember that. If there ever comes a time when you move away—if you ever find yourself off at college or if you get married and go to live in another part of the country, make sure that you find a church and settle down in it. It’s our duty to do that. This passage shows us that it is our duty to be associated with a particular church.

But there is another thing we can say about Christians on the basis of this passage. This passage makes it pretty clear that a Christian will be actively involved in the work of the church.

II. A Christian will be actively involved in the work of the church
There are a number of places I can point to regarding this. If we look again at the first verse we see that Phoebe was “a servant of the church at Cenchreae.” The word there for servant is actually the word “deaconess.” That doesn’t mean she held the office of deacon, we know from other places in Scripture that leadership positions were specifically to be filled by men. But even though she wasn’t an officer in the church, she certainly played a significant role within the life of the church doing deaconal work. She was serving the church by being actively involved in the regular ministry of the church. You get the idea that she was doing whatever she could to assist the elders and the deacons in their work.

Maybe she was helping when it came to tending to the poor. Maybe she was helping to coordinate a ministry for the orphans and widows, or maybe visiting the elderly. We don’t know what kind of service she was performing, but we do know that her gifts were not being neglected—they were being put to good use.

We can look at many others in this passage too. A lot of people are commended for the work on Christ’s behalf. In verse 3 Paul mentions Prisca and Aquilla. He calls them his “fellow workers in Christ Jesus.” Urbanus in verse 9 is also called a fellow worker. That’s a pretty high commendation. Paul, the apostle, called them fellow workers! They might not have been holding the high office of apostleship, but they were equals when it came to putting their gifts to use.

Then we have Mary in verse 6 who is said to have “worked hard” for the Christians in Rome. And at the end of verse 12 it says that Persis “worked hard for the Lord.”

Now, who were these people? You have to understand that they were ordinary people, just like you. They weren’t ordained officers. They weren’t seminary trained. They are just regular people. But they are commended for their zeal and for their involvement in the ministry.
It is actually amazing to think about how “non-professional” the church in Rome was. You have all these lay people, even women, diligently working to promote the cause of Christ.

That’s one thing about our day. It seems that more and more we are becoming a professionalized ministry. We have the director of this; and the director of that. And it seems like you have to have some sort of degree to do anything in the church. But that’s not necessarily the way it is to be.

That is the way we should think of our church too. We shouldn’t see the church work as “Matt’s job.” Yes, I do have duties to fulfill and an obligation to administer the Word and sacraments. But I’m not the only guy “on staff” at CRF. We are all on staff to some degree. We are all to be actively involved in the work of the church.

You know that I like to remind you from time to time of the vows you take in becoming a member of this church. Our forefathers knew the importance of everyone having a hand in the ministry of the church. And they captured it well in our membership vows. When you become a member here one of the promises you make is to “support the worship and work of the church.” You pledge that you will not only be here on Sunday and that you will give money to support the church. But you pledge your whole self to the prosperity of the gospel and the kingdom of Christ (your talents and time are included).

I am actually quite happy with how everyone does pitch in to some degree. And I would encourage you to continue to do that. You might say, “Well, what can I do? I want to help, but I don’t know what I can do.” I would answer by saying that depends on what you want to do. It depends on where your heart is. If you have a heart for young people to know the Lord, we could see about doing some ministry at one of the schools here in town or in your own back yard. Or maybe that is not your thing. Maybe you would just like to pass out some information about our church or put some brochures in people’s doors. That can be done.

I don’t want you to think that the church has to be your life. The last thing I want is for us to enshrine committees or make you to think that church work is more important than your daily vocation. But the church should play a vital role in your life. We are all “fellow laborers” and we should all be involved in its work from time to time, just like the Roman Christians.

But let me point you to one other item in this passage. I’ve said that a Christian will be associated with a particular church and that he will be involved in its work. But I also want you to see that he will be daringly devoted to its people.

III. A Christian will be daringly devoted to the people of the church
I’m not even sure that daringly is a word. I think it sounds better than riskily though. But I want you to notice that God’s people take risks for each other. They are willing to put their lives on the line for one another. That’s exactly what you see in this passage. Look at verse 3. Paul says, “Greet Prisca and Aquilla, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.” Then note what it says in verse 4. He says they, “risked their necks for my life.”

You know that Paul was often in danger. He was beaten, stoned, and almost ripped apart in several riots. But during one of those perilous times, these two people stuck their necks out on the line. They were willing to let their own lives be put in danger in order to help their friend Paul. We don’t know exactly what they did. The Scripture is silent on the specifics. All we know is that they acted in a heroic manner.

I want you all to remember this: We are called to courage, and courage is a divine virtue. It is a characteristic that is distinctive to Christ’s people. As the Proverb says, “The wicked flees when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” I once heard a preacher give a talk that was entitled “Holy Recklessness.” The passage was 1 Samuel 14. It is the story about how Jonathan and his armor bearer went up and attacked a Philistine garrison. These two guys, all by themselves, killed and put all of these Philistines to flight. They were zealous for the Lord and the passage says that the “Philistines fell before them.”

Now that takes courage! It defies all rationality, doesn’t it? It was reckless. But it was holy recklessness. They were more concerned with doing God’s will and claiming the land God had given to them than with their own lives.

And that is how we all should be. I don’t know if we will ever have to put our lives on the line like Prisca and Aquilla or Jonathan and his armor bearer. But if it ever did come to that, if God called us to, we should be ready to take the risk. We should be bold and daring; daringly devoted to one another.

Remember what Jesus said. In Jon 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this, than that he lay down his life for a friend.” That is to say, the greatest form of love is a love that courageous. The greatest form of love is a love that takes a risk. No greater love can a man have than to risk his own life for his brother or sister in Christ.

You will remember that is exactly what Christ did for you and I. He fulfilled his own words. If there ever was one who was daringly devoted to the people of the church, it was Jesus. He risked his life (and lost it) for you and me so that we could live forever, and he calls us to do the same. He wants us to be daringly devoted to one another.

Of course, two things need to happen before you can even begin to think about putting your life on the line for one of the brethren. The first is that you have to have a big view of God and a big love for him. If you don’t have that, you will never risk anything for righteousness’ sake, let alone your life. It wasn’t so much Prisca and Aquilla’s love for Paul that enabled them to risk their lives. It was their love for God that motivated them.

That’s the way it must be for all of us too. You have to love God more than your own life. God has to be the marrow of your soul. You have to long for him. He has to be your chief joy and treasure. You have to love him more than your own life.

You might say, “I don’t know if I have that love.” Well then, you need to seek him for it. Something in your life is an idol (be it your own life or pleasure or fear of dying or being hurt) and you need to repent of that. And you need to ask that he would instill in you a love for him that surpasses that idol. You have to ask him to give you a big heart that loves his glory and his law over all things.

That’s the first step in being daringly devoted to one another. The second is this: that we have to be devoted to each other in the little things of life. If you are not willing to do the little things for each other, then you will never be willing to jump in front of a bullet for them.

I don’t care what Hollywood says. I know that Hollywood makes it look easy. In the movies, people risk their lives all the time for people they hardly know. But that’s not real. Real life is different. Real life is found in the nitty gritty, little things.

The fulfillment of daring devotion begins with small things. If you are not willing to help fold the laundry for your wife or help her out with the dishes, then when it comes time for you to lay down your life for her you are probably not going to be able to do it. The everyday details of life are the training ground for the extraordinary events in life. It’s when your love for God is manifested in the minutia of life that your ready to demonstrate your love in big ways.

Conclusion:
It is amazing what we can learn from from the people in Rome. You see, we can glean from the greetings some valuable lessons. They can teach us some valuable lessons regarding what it means to be a Christian. God’s Word, indeed, every word, is profitable for our instruction.

How God's Providence Relates to Our Lives

Romans 15:22-32

A couple of months ago I had opportunity to visit with the Osborn’s in their home. I always find it to be a joy to visit with my parishioners in their own context. This was a particularly enjoyable time as their daughter Sherry was there too. As we were talking, I don’t remember exactly what the topic was, Sherry happened to say, “Isn’t that providential!” Then she said something to the effect of, “There’s that word again. Now I’m saying it.” Then she looked at me and said, “My parents have been using that word ever since they started attending your church. Now I’m saying it.”

I thought that was great. It was fun to hear the “trickle down” effect of language; coming from the pulpit to the parishioner and then to their children. But that also made me realize something that had never occurred to me before. I didn’t particularly realize that I used that word so much!

I know that I talk about it more than most other pastors and I know that you get quite a bit more than you would at another church here in town. But I didn’t know that it was so much a part of my everyday vocabulary.

But I guess I do talk about God’s providence a lot. And I suppose it is because of what I so frequently see in the Bible. The more you get to know the Scriptures the more you see a God that is intimately involved in the everyday affairs of creation. He is not a God who wound up the world and now lets it spin on its own. The God of the Bible is one who is actively governing and preserving this world and all its creatures.

Certainly that is true regarding our text for this morning. When I look into this passage of Scripture, I can’t help but see the providence of God. As Paul talks about his itinerary, I can’t help but see that he believes in a God that is actively involved in the daily affairs of life.
The first thing that pops out at us regarding God’s providence is that it overrules our plans.

I. God’s providence overrules our plans [22-23]
There is a saying that goes like this, “Man poses, but God disposes.” That’s exactly right. God’s got a plan, and his plan always supersedes our plans. And the Apostle Paul was certainly one who knew that well. Look at what he says in verse 22. He says, “This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.”

Do you hear that language? He was hindered from coming to them. You have to ask, what hindered him? Well, in one sense you could say that it was his work. He got bogged down with all sorts of churches that needed planting (I hate it when that happens!). Sure that was the basic summary; he did have a lot of work. But what was really hindering him was not so much the work, but the God who gave him the work to do.

It was God, by his sovereign hand, which was keeping him from going off to Rome. This is even backed up with what Paul said earlier in the book of Romans. Back in 1:13 Paul says to the Romans that he had often intended to come to Rome. But he says he was “prevented” from doing so. What prevented him? Did he not have enough money? Could he not catch a boat? Of course not. He had all those things at his disposal. What was preventing him from going was God. God didn’t want him to go. God had work for him to do in another part of the empire. God was overruling Paul’s plans. He set up a road block and kept him from going that direction.

Really, it was a divine road block. The word “hindered” comes from a Greek word that had to do with ditch digging. When an army needed to hold up an advancing enemy they would make slits in the street to block the way.

And that’s what God sometimes does. He puts things in our way to keep us from going in a certain direction. God overrules our plans by either cutting them completely off or slowing down.

There is a story of a Korean man who found himself overruled by God once. He was imprisoned during a time of persecution that broke out in his homeland. He had been in Tokyo, studying at university, and had been home for but a month. It was his desire to preach the gospel to people in his home country who did not know the Lord. But that desire landed him in jail. To make matters worse, he was isolated from his fellow prisoners. So he couldn’t even minister to them.

Not long after that the governing officials who had imprisoned him ended up banishing him to one of the neighboring islands. At first his heart was deeply grieved because he would not be able to carry out the ministry he had planned on conducting. But later he realized that this “hindrance” to his life’s aims actually worked out for the better. In the end he said, “Just think, I had been mourning because I could not speak of Christ in jail or my country. Then God sent me off to an unevangelized island where there was plenty of work to do for Him; and the government paid my trip!”

That’s what God often does. God has a plan for our lives. Perhaps a better way to say it is that we have a part in God’s plan. And sometimes God puts his hand down (he puts up a little hindrance) and says, “No, I need you to go this way.”

This is why James says that we need to be careful about the plans we make. James (4:13-15) talks about God’s providence and how it sometimes overrules our plans. He says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.’” James says, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring…Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills we will do this or that.’”

James is pointing out that you have to be flexible. Sometimes our plans don’t match God’s plan. You have to be willing to submit to the Lord’s overarching plan. Sometimes God has got something a lot better for us in mind. Or God might want you to take a detour in life. He very well may have something else that he wants to accomplish for us or through us. So he ends up taking us in a completely different direction than we had intended to go.

Think about that next time you need to get across town in a hurry. You might have made plans to meet someone at a restaurant, but you are running a little late. You might have had a number of things pop up at the last moment. Then, to top it off, you hit every single red light along the way to make you even more late. That is an instance of God intervening in your life. He is putting hindrances in your way. Now you could see it as an extreme bother. You could work yourself into a frenzy and frazzle yourself. Or you could use the time idling at the stoplight to remember that God is orchestrating life according to his good plan.

You can say, “God, I recognize that my plans are being hindered here. But I’m glad that your plan will never be hindered.” That’s exactly the attitude we need. God’s will will always unfold, precisely the way it is intended: for our good and for his glory. Yes, our life’s aims and desires may have to be tweaked a little bit. But that’s why we keep on “seeking first the kingdom” and praying, “Thy will be done.”

God, in his providence, overrules our plans. But as you consider the fact that he sometimes hinders us, remember also that he also includes us. God also incorporates our pains.

II. God’s providence incorporates our pains [24-29]
That is to say, he doesn’t just keep us from doing things; he engages us and includes us in the unfolding of his plan.

When you look at this passage you see that Paul was laboring to bring some gifts to the churches in Jerusalem. The churches in Macedonia and Achaia had “been pleased to make some contributions for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.” And he was to be the one who delivered those gifts.

Now if you think about God’s being all sovereign and ruling and governing his creation with absolute power, you might think, “Well, why didn’t God just eliminate the middle man?” Why didn’t God just provide miraculously for the people in Jerusalem what they needed? Also you could think, why didn’t he just relieve their oppression? (The reason they needed this gift most likely was because the church in Jerusalem was being oppressed by the Jewish persecutors there.)

Those are good questions. The only answer I can give is that God has chosen to use means in accomplishing his purposes.

Let’s first consider the fact that the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering. You have to under stand that these Christians were suffering because God wanted them to suffer. Some will hear that and think, “He wants them to suffer? Well, you see. That’s evidence that God is a monster!”

But the Bible is clear that God uses evil and the suffering particularly for the benefit of his people. For Christians these trails are used to improve us. They are God’s means of instructing us and developing our character. God has ordained suffering to be a great teacher. By it we are reminded how temporary this life is. It can also help to impress upon us that we are Christ’s children (Jesus did say that we are blessed when we are persecuted, for so they treated the prophets before us!). So the more we are persecuted, the more we are confirmed in the faith! And again James (1:2) says that we are to count it all joy when we face various kinds of trials because these trials are the means God uses to ripen us as Christians.

God uses our physical pains. Suffering is part of his providential working. But on the other side, think about the money that was given for relief. God not only uses our physical pains, but our painstaking efforts. The efforts of the Christians in Macedonia and Achaia were also part of God’s providence. These people were the means God was using to relieve the Christians in Jerusalem. God was working out his plan through these Macedonian Christians.

It is interesting too when we compare this passage of Scripture with other passages in the Bible. A parallel can be found in 2 Corinthians 8:1f. In that passage Paul urged the Corinthians to follow the example of the Christians in Macedonia, and he says that the Macedonian Christians were not well off. They were some of the less fortunate of all the brethren. But that didn’t stop them from seeking to contribute to the need.

They had to rely on God’s providence too, didn’t they? In their giving they were probably relying on passages of Scripture like Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” In other words, they most likely gave with the expectancy that God would bless them for their giving. Whether that was true or not, it was certainly the way Paul encouraged the Corinthians to give. To the Corinthians Paul said, “Whoever sows sparingly, will reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously, will reap generously.”

Paul pointed them to the all powerful providence of God. God works through people to help others. And through his mysterious way, the gifts that we give are always returned with greater blessing.

I hope that has meaning for you all right now. Certainly we can look around this congregation and see how it applies. Some of us are suffering. For some it is financial difficulties. For others it is the pressures of life that seem like they are never relieved. Whatever your situation, you must remember that God is in control. The pains that you are experiencing are part of his sovereign plan to mold you. And you should take time in the midst of your trial to think about what God is trying to teach you. And, as you bear your grief’s to God, you need to make sure that you thank the Lord for what he is doing in your life.

And all of us need to remember that God’s providence incorporates our efforts. We are the agents God uses to bring relief to those who are suffering. When we are dealing with someone who is suffering we cannot simply say to someone, “Well, don’t worry. God will take care of you.” If we do that and neglect to give aid when it is within our power to do so, we have just emptied providence of its meaning. We must always remember that we are never extracted from God’s providence. Providence is God’s working thorough his people and the events of history to accomplish his ends. And if there is one thing we learn from the saints in Macedonia and Achaia, it is that we who are God’s people are the primary agents of God’s sovereign aid.
God might at times overrule our plans, but don’t think for a moment that we are ever excluded from his work. He incorporates our pains into his unfolding plan.

There is one other thing that I want you to recognize about God’s providence from this passage. That is that God’s providence drives our prayers.

III. God’s providence drives our prayers [30-32]
In verses 30-32 Paul urges the Christians in Rome to begin to pray. He wants them to pray that he would “be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea” and that it would be God’s will for Paul to come to them.

For Paul the fact that God was in control didn’t quench his prayers. Paul did not say, “Well we can’t do anything about it anyway. God’s going to do whatever he wants.” No. That God was in control actually gave him more reason to pray. The fact that God’s plan superseded his didn’t keep him from asking for the things he wanted. It drove him to pray more fervently. That God was moving and directing the course of life’s events drove him to be all the more bold in prayer and more inclined to ask for even more incredible things.

And that is what it should do for us. We often hear people object to this. Their reasoning goes something like this: If God is sovereign and history is already unfolding the way he wants it, what use is there in praying. We can’t change God’s mind. Or if God already has things unfolding the way he wants, and we can do nothing to change it, then why bother praying?
But that logic doesn’t fit with the Scriptures. The Scriptures encourage us to be all the more bold in our prayers on the basis of these reasons. The reasoning of the Scriptures goes like this: God is in charge of all things, therefore pray.

God’s providence should not hinder us from praying, not in the slightest bit. It should drive us to prayer—especially since it is in His providence that we witness God to be the most benevolent being that exists.

Don’t forget that his providence is his “providing” work. It is the means by which he brings us good. So when we perceive God’s providence in our own lives (or the lives of others) or read about it in the Scriptures we witness his goodness in action. And when we see all the good that He accomplishes, our hearts should be driven to him all the more.

Let me explain it this way. If you know someone who is kind and willing to do anything for you, don’t you naturally gravitate towards that person? Who is it that you are more willing to ask a favor of: someone who loves you and has demonstrated their care for you in the past or someone who could care less about you and has never done anything for you?

I can’t tell you how many times I have become discouraged in prayer. Sometimes it seems like I will never see the fruit of my prayers. But I remember two things. The first thing I remember is that Christ commands me to pray for the things that are agreeable to his will. But that usually makes me more depressed! I’m commanded to do something that I don’t want to do.

But the other thing I remember is that His hand is always stretched out to do good. Maybe I’ll remember some of the events in my own life that can only be attributed to his invisible arm. Or maybe I will recall passages of Scripture that remind me of God’s provision and his care. Those thoughts will always bring me back to God and renew my interest in my supplications.

The same should happen for you. His providence should drive you to pray. His abounding goodness should provoke your heart and lead you to ask more of him.

But there is one other thing that you should notice about God’s providence as it relates to our prayers. So far we have considered the fact that God’s providence is his expressed benevolence and that should encourage us to pray. But don’t forget that it is his providence that brings about the answer to our prayers.

Even here we see this. I want you to notice that the prayer that Paul requested was answered in full. It might not have been the way Paul may have expected (he ended up being imprisoned). But his life was protected, and he did end up making it to Rome. The ironic thing was that his trip to Rome was paid in full by the Roman Empire! After he was imprisoned, he couldn’t get a fair hearing. So he appealed to Caesar and had to be taken to Rome.

God does answer prayer. We might not be able to explain fully how our prayers fit into the grand scheme of things. But somehow they do, and God answers those prayers. And the fact that his omnipotent hand is answering those prayers should encourage us to pray all the more.

Conclusion:
I hope that you are encouraged by this. I hope that you are amazed by this. If there is one thing that I hope this message does, I hope that it broadens your perspective of God. If there is one objective I have it is to help you see the “grandness” of God. He is a big God and he loves us dearly. Though he does what he pleases, he is pleased to use us and watch out for us.