Matthew 6:33-34 (ESV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
As I read this passage this morning, I am reminded by God to set aside worry about things in the future. I cannot control it. I cannot shape it. God knows my needs, and he will not leave me.
It is interesting to think about the truth of the command above. It leaves us in a bit of a quandary. We do not wish to become irresponsible. We dare not be lazy. We must not become so blasé about the future that we fail to do that which God commands. Yet, do we overdo our planning, our preparation, our scheming, and our strategy?
Let me set aside a thought quickly. I am not in this consideration, assuming that we need not plan, strategize or work. I understand quite well that we need to be people who think wisely, set goals, and put plans into motion. I will not assume this is not the case.
Yet, how often do we, even in ministry, cross the line into worry about the future. Rather than knowing that God knows our needs, how often do we assume that it is completely our job to meet those needs. We assume that we have to be the ones who come up with the strategies that will reach our people, reach the community, or reach the nations with the gospel. Yet, God is the one who must do the work. Only he can bring a dead heart to life. Only he can cause the increase. Only he can bring people to himself. Only he can change a church, a town, a state, a nation, or the world.
So, what do I do with this? I think there is a delicate balance that must be kept in check. We work. We plan. We do not ignore the future or become lazy. Yet, we also trust. We rest. We know that God is the one who will accomplish his will for his glory. We dare not think that we are the ones who will get this done. We dare not think that the world will be won through our efforts. But we also do not stop putting forth effort for God’s glory.
In fact, perhaps it is the issue of God’s glory that is most helpful here. Perhaps the motivation for our mission needs to be reevaluated. Perhaps we need to remember that it is our purpose in life to bring honor to the name of the one who made us. Perhaps our mission needs to be to bring God honor in every way that we can. Then we will not be filled with stress and worry. Then we will not assume the accomplishment of the work is on our shoulders. At the same time, we will also not stop working and striving. But the purpose of our striving will be to magnify our Lord. We will share the gospel because that honors Christ. We will plant churches to bring him praise. We will help people because that shows the world God’s character. We will learn the word of God out of a desire to see more of God’s glory. We will love one another in order to display that self-sacrificial love of Christ.
Our Tim Hawkins Experience
Last night FBC Columbia hosted a Tim Hawkins showe. As far as I can tell, the evening was a lot of fun for everyone who was there. While things are fresh in my mind, I want to put down a few thoughts about our experience of hosting the event.
Easy Preparation
It was surprisingly easy to put this event together from the very beginning. When I got the call from Tim’s team offering us the opportunity to host the event, I immediately shared the opportunity with our senior pastor. My thought process was a simple one. Our church family had been very busily working through the building process. Our people had worked hard, and it seemed like a fun idea to offer them an opportunity for an evening of laughter and fun.. Our pastor agreed, and we happily put things in motion.
The team at Rock Show Comedy made the process so simple. We had, of course, to put down a deposit. But that deposit would be returned to us so long as we sold a minimum number of tickets—a very easy task. The team at Rock Show took care of all the ticketing and ticket sales. All we had to do was to put the link on our web site and use the promotional materials that they provided us as needed. Each week, I received a report of how many tickets sold. Tickets sold like hot cakes, and we had a sold out show on our hands before we knew it.
A few weeks before the event, I talked with Chris, Tim’s road manager, to finalize details of the evening of the performance. Chris sent me a very clear email laying out the physical and technical requirements of the show. He was great to work with, flexible, and friendly. The guys did not ask for anything difficult, and it took very little to be prepared for the day.
Then all we had to come up with was setting up for the event. I’m very grateful to our church people for making this part so easy. I had volunteers to help in a variety of ways, and everybody did their part. We had a lot of chairs to set up, sound and lights to run, display tables to man, tickets to check, etc. Everything came off without a hitch.
A Great Event
Once the show started, Tim Hawkins and Daren Streblow kept our people in stitches for two full hours. The comedy was a solid combination of classic and very fresh material. People loved the new things they heard. I also noticed others singing along with silly songs that they knew from the past
Tim brought out Daren Streblow in the middle of his performance. Daren’s part of the show allowed for Tim to have a break while the audience got to enjoy a comedian that most had not heard before. Daren brought in a solid mix of impressions, silly stories, and clean comedy that would be worth seeing at any time. I very much liked his sweet story of how he met his wife.
Tim was exactly what any person who has seen him before either in person or on the Internet would expect. He’s goofy, there’s just no other way to put it, but it works for him. He has a great grasp on the way that our lives lend themselves to humor. He’s not uptight, and that rubs off on us all. Tim had us laughing at our relationships, our silly uses of the English language, our tendency to be uptight in church, and our own odd cultures.
Tim also surprised me with is musical skill. Over the years, he has become a very solid guitarist. He played both electric and acoustic, rock and country, and just about everything in between. He played impressive chord patterns and did some pretty tough solo work too. As a guy who has played for years, I have to say that I was very impressed, especially considering that this was not a show that I thought would feature that kind of talent.
Finally, I want to mention that Tim shared a very sweet and simple understanding of how the gospel of Christ has impacted his own life. At the end of the show, he shared, without being preachy, that his only hope is in the finished work of Christ. This is where we find joy and comfort and the ability to laugh. I was very glad to hear him share this, and he did it in such a way that I found compelling, not sappy or forced as is often the case at Christian performances.
Final Thoughts
I was very pleased with the show. I found everybody I dealt with on Tim’s team to be very kind and very easy to work with. I believe that our people laughed and had a sweet evening to just be together. And so, I’m grateful.
I would also recommend this group to any organization or church who might find it worthwhile. Of course, you should watch Tim’s videos on his web site or YouTube to be sure that his style of humor is something you and your people would enjoy. But, I will certainly say that, for me, the small amount of work we had to do to make this happen was totally worth it.
Righteous or Wicked (Psalm 11:5-7; Romans 3:20-27)
Psalm 11:5-7 (ESV)
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.
In the psalm above, we see a very clear contrast. God looks upon the righteous in one way, and he looks upon the wicked in an entirely different way. We see that the righteous shall stand before him, beholding his face. Thus, the picture is simple: The righteous will live and be rewarded while the wicked will be judged.
On the surface, that kind of view of God and man is by no means strange. Almost every world religion in existence argues that, if you are good enough, you make it in with the deity of the religion. If you are bad, those religions go onto argue, you are in deep trouble.
The difference in the view that I just mentioned and of Christianity, however, is vast. Yes, God welcomes the righteous into his presence. Yes, God curses and judges the wicked. But the problem is, we are all guilty before him. We are all the wicked. When our lives are measured against God’s holiness, we cannot stand. We are hopeless if left alone.
What makes biblical Christianity different is that the righteousness that we have that will make us stand before God is a righteousness given to us. It comes to us from outside.
Romans 3:20-27 (ESV)
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans ,we learn something about ourselves. None of us can be right with God by obeying any set of laws or rules. No, we are all sinners. But God has chosen to grant favor to those whom he has brought to himself through faith in Christ. It is Jesus who was put forward as a propitiation, a sacrifice that turns God’s wrath against us to favor on us. But, as we see in verse 27 above, we have no grounds for boasting. Our boasting is excluded because our salvation is not because of our righteousness, but because of God’s righteousness given to us in Jesus.
So, the above Psalm is truly accurate. There is no person who can stand before God as a wicked person. It is also true that we are all wicked. But God accepts the righteous. None of us is righteous on our own. But God will grant us righteousness if we will simply come to Jesus in faith. We are given credit for the perfection of Jesus, not because we are good, but because we have placed our trust completely in the One who is actually righteous.
It is good, then, to let passages like the psalm above remind us of the gospel. God welcomes the righteous, but we are not righteous on our own. Jesus paid for our wickedness and grants us his righteousness. The psalm reminds us that Jesus has paid our debt and granted to us a record of goodness that we could never have lived out. Thus, the gospel shows us the love of God and the mercy and grace of Christ. These concepts should lead us to joy-filled worship as we express gratitude and amazement to God for his kindness given to unworthy sinners.
A passage like the psalm above should also remind us with great clarity of what God thinks of us now. He does not see us as the wicked any longer. Though we can never fully live out the righteousness we have been granted, we are not in danger of having God crush us for our failures. He has already punished our failures when he poured out his wrath on Jesus, our propitiation. Now we experience only God’s favor because of Christ’s perfection. We do not need to grovel and fear his anger, because that anger has already been satisfied. This should never embolden us to sin, but it should help us to live in joy, knowing that our God accepts us as his children because of –and only because of—the work that he accomplished through his Son.
A Look at Sovereignty and Responsibility (Genesis 25:19-23)
Genesis 25:19-23 (ESV)
19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”
God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility is on display in Genesis 25. Isaac married Rebekah, and God blessed them with sons. But, as many children know from Sunday School, the younger twin would have the blessing.
What we do not often consider is just how strange this is. Every natural pattern would tell us that the older son would be the blessed one. It should be through the line of the older that God carries the promise that he has made to Abraham and Isaac. But in this instance, God is showing us that he is in charge. God declares to us that it shall be this way, that the younger one will carry the promise.
In that concept, we see that God’s sovereignty is on display. Look at how Paul describes God’s sovereign hand at work in this very situation in Romans 9.
Romans 9:10-13
10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Paul has a very clear point he is making in this passage. God did not choose Jacob over Esau because of Jacob’s character. He did not choose Jacob over Esau because of future decisions Esau would make. Instead, Paul is clear that this was about God’s purpose standing.
So, then, if this is all about election, clearly Jacob and Esau have no choices. There is no such thing as human responsibility, right? Not at all.
Reading the remainder of the chapter, we see a clear example of Esau and Jacob living out by their own free will the decree that God had made. Esau makes a ridiculous decision when hungry after a hunt. He chooses to renounce his birthright for a bowl of beans. In that decision, Esau, by his own free choice and lack of character, shows that he is exactly what God had already declared he would be. He is the servant of his younger brother.
Over the coming years, there will be many other decisions that will elevate Jacob to a place above Esau. They all seem to fall naturally into place. Without question, Esau and Jacob bear the proper human responsibility for their decisions. Yet, we cannot escape the fact that God elected Jacob as the bearer of his promise before the two were born, and that election, according to Paul in Romans 9:11, was “in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls.”
So, then, was the election all about God and his will? Yes. Were Jacob and Esau fully responsible, then, for the decisions they made and the actions they took? Yes. Was this choice all of God, by God’s will and for God’s glory? Yes. Does Esau have a complaint against God that he could not do what was right? No.
Sovereignty and responsibility is a touchy issue for many, and I do not expect to solve that issue on a blog. However, I am personally encouraged here. God is in control. His purposes will stand. I cannot thwart them. Yet, I am also responsible to obey him. All the glory will be his. He will accomplish his will. And I joyfully get to play a part in his plan.
Repentance in anOdd Place (Genesis 24:67)
Genesis 24:67
Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Sometimes we can learn something important about what a word means by seeing how it is translated in other settings. I’m not a scholar here, so understand that I do not consider myself to be an expert. Yet, I do think there is something that we can learn here that will help us in our understanding of a biblical concept.
In the verse above, the word “comforted” is a Hebrew word that is used multiple times in the Old Testament. In fact, that word is often translated “repent” in other settings
In context, this verse tells us of how Isaac and Rebekah met and were married. The overall passage shows us how God, by his sovereign power, preserved his promise to Abraham and his family. But, most immediately, the verse shows how marrying Rebekah comforted the heart of Isaac after his mother’s death.
Why then would a word that means “repent” be used here? It is because part of what it means to repent is to have a genuine change of heart. Your heart feels one way about what you are doing. When you repent, that changes and your heart feels completely different. If one were to “repent” of grief, one would be comforted. This is at the heart of what it means to repent.
Why cover all this here so inexpertly? I want us to see a key to the word “repent” that we do not often grasp. Repentance is more than a change of direction. Repentance includes a change of thinking and feeling that leads to a change of direction. Genuine, biblical repentance includes a heart change. When you repent, you do not merely stop doing something, your heart changes toward that thing.
Consider, as you look at your own sin, what it would take for your heart to genuinely change. Consider what it means to actually feel differently toward the evil that your heart used to love. Repentance requires the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart to make you feel genuinely differently than before. And this must be a major part of our pursuit of sanctification for the glory of Christ.
An Evidence for the Claims of Jesus (Acts 4:10-12)
Acts 4:10-12 (ESV)
10 “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The truth about Jesus in these brief words of Peter is wonderful to behold. In context, we find that Peter is being questioned as to how he healed a beggar. According to verses 5 and 6, this interview was conducted by the most important Jewish leadership: “Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.”
The audience who heard Peter’s claim is the first thing that got my attention with this passage. Consider that this group, all enemies of Jesus, all heard Peter claim that Jesus was raised from the dead. This was a serious claim, and it was made very briefly after the resurrection, only a few months if my reckoning is correct.
Now, were Jesus not alive, what would these leaders have done? They would have laughed, sent out a few solid men, and brought out Jesus’ body. It’s just that simple. In a period of a few months, the Jewish leadership would not have lost track as to the whereabouts of a body that they themselves demanded be guarded by Pilate. The only way that Peter could make this claim in the faces of Annas and Caiaphas and not be humiliated by those two powerful men would be for Peter’s claim to be incontrovertible. Peter spoke the truth, and Annas and Caiaphas and all the other important leaders knew it. This is why they could do nothing to silence Peter.
And let me simply add that, if Peter’s words in verse 10 are true, then his words in verses 11 and 12 must also be true. If Jesus is really alive—a claim which the most ardent opponents of Christianity could not disprove—then it is also true that he is the prophesied cornerstone and the one in whose name salvation is to be exclusively found. Jesus is the prophesied Messiah, the promised rescuer sent to earth by God. He is also the only way that any human being is ever made right with God. These follow from the miracle of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The Goodness of an Alien Righteousness (Psalm 5:4-7)
Psalm 5:4-7 (ESV)
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
How do you feel about the fact that God hates evil? Does this comfort you? It sounds right. We should like it, shouldn’t we? But, does it make us a bit uncomfortable too?
Why would I suggest that words like the ones above might make me uncomfortable? It is not that I believe that there is anything wrong with God hating evil. There is not anything wrong with God hating evil-doers as the Bible states in verse 5. His judgment does not offend me. He is holy. He should judge.
No, what makes me uncomfortable is the fact that I realize that I deserve to be on his hit list. I’m not good. Two of the character qualities of those abhorred by God in the above verses are liars and the boastful. I am quite certain that I have been both. God’s righteous hatred of evil, if left only to itself, would equal God’s righteous hatred of me.
Psalms like the portion above make me uncomfortable, because I am still not used to owning alien righteousness. What do I mean? In 2 Corinthians 5:21, God tells me that Christ places upon me a righteousness that is not my own. Because of his death and resurrection, I possess, no, according to the verse, I become the righteousness of God. That is an alien righteousness, a perfection foreign to me. It is brought to me from outside of me, not from my own character.
This is indeed a strange thing to think. I know the ugliness of my heart, at least as much as I can know it, yet God calls me righteous. I have earned the hatred of God as the psalm declares, yet God has chosen to give me love. I deserve hell. He gives me heaven. I’m not good. He calls me perfect. This is all because of the kindness of God and the powerful work of Jesus. I bring nothing to the table. Yes, I believed and, to the best of my ability, surrendered control of my life to Christ. Yet, even in that, it was the work of Christ that first moved me.
Verse 7 points out that the psalmist, through the abundance of God’s steadfast love, will enter God’s house. This is likely pointing to the fact that David will enter a place of worship like the tent of meeting. But the truth is, for all who are in Christ, though we should be considered part of the wicked, God will bring us into his eternal house, his forever dwelling place.
What does this do to my heart this morning? It humbles me. I remember my failings. I see what I deserve. I confess my sin again. And I at least try to remember that I do not deserve the goodness that I have been given. I’m certainly not better than others. I’m not good if that goodness is not the gift of God.
I also find myself very grateful. God has given me a new label: perfect. I cannot imagine that being true of me. Yet, God will work as long as I live and to the point of my death in order to make it true of me. Eventually, when I die or Christ returns, I will be finally and irreversibly transformed to match the label of righteousness that God has placed upon me. I have hope, joy, comfort, and gratitude because of this fabulous truth.
Herod’s Attack and God’s Story (Matthew 2:16)
Matthew 2:16
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
They have said that history repeats itself. But then, they’ve said that before. It’s an old joke, but a very true statement. And I see it this morning as I look at Matthew’s telling of the gospel.
After Jesus was born and had been worshipped by the wise men, Joseph fled with him and their small family to Egypt. They remained there for a time in order to be safe from the murderous intentions of King Herod. Herod, for his part, took out his wrath on the children of Bethlehem, ordering the deaths of children who fit the age profile of the king the wise men had sought.
What hit me this morning is that this is a repetition of God’s story of his people all through the Scriptures. Time and time and time again, we read stories of an attack being made on the people of God. Time and time and time again, we see that the attack fails. Sometimes, we even see that the failure of the attack results in the attacker raging against others because he cannot destroy God’s plan.
From the beginning, Satan has wanted to interrupt and derail God’s plan. He entered the garden, deceived Eve, and tried to put an end to God’s plan before Adam and Eve had ever had children. But he failed. God had a plan to show mercy and to judge sin that Satan could not have imagined.
During the time of Esther, Satan used Haman to attempt to destroy the people of God. But God used Esther and her uncle to thwart Haman’s plan of genocide.
How about one more? If we look to the book of Revelation, chapter 12, we see the curtain pulled back on the drama of the ages. Satan, depicted as a dragon, prepares himself to devour the child to be born, the child who would rule, the Christ. But Satan cannot devour the child. Instead, the child is snatched up, and the dragon can only turn his rage against the people of God.
If we looked through history, we could see this story replayed over and over again on a grand scale as well as in minor confrontations that never made the history books. But the outcome will always be the same. Satan will fight against the people of God so long as he is around. But God will provide for his people, preserve his church, and ultimately be victorious. Satan cannot win. He is a defeated foe. Yes, he makes our lives miserable from time to time, but he will not win. God’s kingdom will come. God’s will is to be done. Nothing can stop it. Our god is sovereign and supreme.
What do I do with all this? I remember two keys. Life will not be easy. There is a real enemy of my soul who would love to destroy me and to who would love to destroy the church of God. I should not be surprised about this fact.
However, I also have great cause for hope and joy. Satan could not defeat Christ. Jesus accomplished the will of his Father through is death and resurrection. Jesus also will return and finally bring the Kingdom of God to this earth. Satan cannot win. God will win. This gives me the hope I need to press on, to trust God, and to live for his glory.
The Implications of A Gospel Miracle (Acts 2:4-13)
Acts 2:4-13
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”
The events of the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the early church are fascinating, and I fear, often misunderstood. The verses above show us the miraculous work of God. Sadly, if we are not careful, we will miss the glory of God in a desire to dig deeper into the issues surrounding the charismatic movement.
Let’s look at the basic facts. First, we see that the followers of Jesus were filled with God’s Holy Spirit. This, in itself, was a new thing. While we have seen in the Old Testament that God’s Spirit had, from time-to-time, filled individual servants of God, it is unusual to see a whole people filled with the Spirit in this way. Later in the New Testament, we will discover that all believers in Christ are indwelt by God’s Spirit, a glorious and comforting truth.
When these first believers had the Spirit of God come upon them, they began to speak “in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Remember that the word behind the word “tongues” is the word for languages. These people spoke in real languages that were foreign to the speakers. God was empowering them to speak real languages that others could understand but which they did not know.
What did they do with this gift? Why was it given? At the end of verse 11, the people from other nations who heard the disciples said, “we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” Thus, it does not appear that this gift was given for ecstasy or for general novelty, but it was for the purpose of the spread of the gospel. God was empowering the Jewish followers of Jesus to speak in such a way as to communicate the truth of God to others who would not have understood it otherwise. God was empowering his fledgling church to take the gospel to the nations. God was showing people who might not have known about Jesus both the truth of the gospel as well as offering an evidence of the gospel’s truthfulness in the miracle of the gift of languages.
Yes, some people were skeptical. Some people made fun and accused the disciples of being drunk. This is no surprise. The world has always been opposed to the things of God. The world has always been skeptical of claims of the miraculous, even when the miraculous is right in front of them. Truthfully, people do not come to Jesus because they are impressed by miracles. People only come to Christ when God changes their hearts and enables them to believe. So we ought not be surprised by verse 13.
What, then, do we do with all this? God is mighty and kind. He loves his people and has blessed us all with his presence. The same holy Spirit who came upon the disciples that day lives within all of God’s children in Christ. This is glorious. We should be overjoyed at this fact.
Second, the Spirit of God has come upon us and enables us to accomplish God’s will for God’s glory. Could he gift a missionary to speak a foreign language so as to communicate the gospel to someone who might not otherwise hear it? Why not? Though we need not expect that this gifting would look the same as it looked on that very special day in early church history. But we should learn from what we have seen that the gifts of God given to the people of God are about the glory of God. They are not for us to exult in a personal experience of the amazing. The gifts of God empower us to do his will. And every believer has been gifted by God to serve him. Paul will later tell us that spiritual gifts are about the building up of the church. They are certainly not for show. They are certainly not chaotic. And, I would argue that they are not what many would claim as the gift of tongues in the modern sense. I mean no disrespect here to those who disagree with me, but I believe that this passage shows us that this gift in Acts 2 is a special outpouring of God’s Spirit which enabled the church to begin her mission of honoring God by taking the clear truth of the gospel to others in such a way that this truth could be understood by them.
Finally, we should expect that the world is going to think we are nuts. They always have, and they always will. We need not think that we will be able to somehow make the world think that we are wonderful and the claims of Christ are just what they have been waiting for. It does not work like that. The cross is an offense and a stumbling block to the lost. Until God makes someone alive to his truths, they will think that we are crazy. Even if God grants us the ability to be a part of something miraculous, the world will have no trouble scoffing at it and pretending that we have somehow been hitting the sauce. So do not be surprised. Do not be discouraged. Do not try to shape your ministry in such a way as to gain the worlds approval—you won’t get it. Just honor Christ. Share the genuine gospel. Rest in God’s word. Trust that God can and will perform the miracle of bringing dead hearts to life just as he brought yours to life. Love Jesus. Live for his glory. And thank God for his Spirit living within you.
Great Mercy in Genesis 3-4
In my time spent this morning reading through Genesis 3-4, I found myself amazed at the mercy of God. So often people are tempted to think that God is not truly kind and merciful until the New Testament. But, a quick look at the fall of man and the subsequent generations of humanity shows that God has been merciful time and time and time again.
Genesis 3:15
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
Perhaps the most familiar piece of mercy from Genesis 3 occurs right here. God had told Adam that death would be the result of his eating the fruit of the tree. Adam rebelled intentionally. God could have killed him right then and there. God could have wiped humanity from the face of the earth and started over. But God did not do so.
What did God do instead? In the verse we just read, God made a promise. It was a glorious promise. One would come, born of woman, who would crush the deceiving serpent. One would come who would be the one to set things right between God and his people again. Only the seed of the promise is in this verse, but it is there. God promises the coming of the Rescuer in the shadow of the rebellion of his people. This is a merciful God.
Genesis 3:21
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
In another act of mercy, God clothed Adam and Eve. Their sin had brought them shame. They experienced the horror of being fully exposed. They tried to cover their nakedness, but could not effectively do so. But God took the skins of animals and made clothing for the people who had just spurned his rule by their defiance. Perhaps this is the first blood sacrifice, though Scripture does not emphasize it if it is. Either way, God is showing kindness, mercy, and grace to people who certainly had earned his wrath.
Genesis 2:24
He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
God refused to allow Adam and Eve to live in the garden. He was protecting against the likelihood that they would try to eat of the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. This sounds like judgment, and it may be—at least partly. But I also see mercy here. God would not allow Adam and Eve to live forever in their fallen state. Something better exists for sinful humanity beyond this life. We would not want to live forever in a state of perpetual failing, frustration, and fallen-ness. No, God’s refusal to allow the people to eat of the tree of life in their sin-ravaged state is a mercy, because this moves humanity into an existence that includes our death and our resurrection with Christ into a state of perfection.
Genesis 4:1-2a
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel.
Any time we see in the book of Genesis that a woman had a baby, we need to understand that God has been merciful. God allowed Eve, the woman who first ate the forbidden fruit, to be a part of his plan to fill the earth with people created in his image. This is kindness.
Genesis 4:7
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
God warned Cain. He did not allow him simply to stew in his anger. God showed Cain that there was an alternative to acting out in the malice that was building in his heart. Any warning from God against our sin is mercy. He could just kill us and be done with it.
Genesis 4:15
Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
God could have killed Cain for his crimes. God however allowed him to live and even marked him to prevent others from killing him.
Genesis 4:17
Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
Again, a child is born, even to a man who had rebelled. Also, notice that Cain built a city. The concept of a city was not mentioned until now. Progress is happening here, even in the midst of the sadness of human sin.
Genesis 4:20-22
20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Lamech was a bad man. He had multiple wives—the first time this is mentioned in Scripture. He also was a murderous and vengeful man (cf. Gen 4:23-34). Yet, to Lamech three sons are born. These sons show great inventiveness and creativity. They change the world. God’s hand of kindness and mercy is evident, even to the sons of a very sinful person.
Genesis 4:25-26
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Eve has another son. The line of those who might follow the Lord is not extinguished. IN fact. Seth and his sons begin to call on the name of the Lord. God has allowed people, children of Adam and Eve, to call on his name. He has not hidden himself. He has not cut off the human race. His promise of one to crush the serpent will not go unfulfilled.
Yes, there is much mercy in God’s word. He has not treated us like we deserve. He has not given us all the hardship that he could have given us. He has not cut us off and put us to death at the moment of our first sin. He has allowed even rebellious people to make progress that blesses the world. And his gospel will be preached to all the world so that people from all nations might turn to him for mercy and eternal life.
Pastor Travis Peterson 