Blog

Differences that Matter

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It is a common, modern mistake to make the assumption that all religions are essentially the same. But one is foolish to call a set of things the same that clearly contain a dramatic and significant set of differences. And one clear difference between biblical Christianity and all other world religions is the understanding that the Bible has of the identity of Jesus. Every world religion out there assumes that Jesus is one among many religious leaders. Perhaps, they will suggest, Jesus is a prophet like Moses or another religious leader.

But the Bible is utterly clear that Christians cannot see Jesus as the same as other religious leaders.

Hebrews 3:3-6 – 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Look at the illustration used by the author of the letter to the Hebrews. He compares Jesus to Moses. And in that comparison, he shows that there is a significant, qualitative difference between the two. Jesus is worthy of an entirely greater and different glory than is Moses. The difference is similar to the difference in glory owed to the builder of a house and the house itself.

Tie that illustration to the world, and you see a significant difference. Moses, like a house, is worthy of honor. Moses is a solid example of the craft of the builder, demonstrating the builder’s wisdom and skill. And If Jesus is on the same level as Moses, a man and not God himself, then Jesus would be like a house too. Perhaps he could be argued to be a better house, but still another house.

But what do we see the book of Hebrews tell us? Jesus is greater than Moses in the same way that the builder of a house is greater than the house itself. Jesus is not an expression of the craftsmanship of the Lord. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus is the builder, not the house.

If I were illustrating differently, I might take a painting as an example. In a painting, we do not marvel at the canvas and the paints. We marvel at the finished work of art as a demonstration of the skill of the artist. But no person would ever suggest that the blue paint in a portrait is anything like the same as the artist who made the painting. They are significantly different, even if one is used by the other to express the skill of the artist. Even the finished painting is not in itself anything like the artist who produced it. That painting is merely an expression of the talent of the artist.

If Moses is to Jesus as a house is to the builder, then Moses is a tool in the hand of God while Jesus is God himself. And if that is understood, no thoughtful person can suggest that Christianity is the same as other world religions. The Bible claims that Jesus is unlike Moses and thus unlike all other prophets. The Bible often shows that Moses was among the greatest of Old Testament figures. But the Bible also tells us that Jesus is not only superior to Moses, but of a different kind than is Moses. It is the difference between Creator and creation that is at stake here.

Shepherds’ Conference Session 4 Notes

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Session 4

Mark Dever

Colossians 1:24-ff

Paul points to the mystery which is Christ.

Real Christian faith is centered in the mystery, the open secret, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Verse 24, Paul talks about his suffering or afflictions.

We share in Christ’s sufferings.

No, not his sacrificial, substitutionary sufferings.

True Christians have true Christian faith which centers on Christ.

Verse 29, we see labor mentioned.

Paul worked hard at preaching.

Paul shared that what he had been doing was for others.

You and your is repeated in the passage.

Pauls’ ministry: proclaim and present.

We proclaim the gospel to our hearers.

We long to present them to our Lord.

Christ’s afflictions were for the body.

Paul’s afflictions were for us too.

Why did he do this?

He did it for others.

Verse 25, Paul says that he is united to the Colossians in heart, spiritually, because they are united with him in Christ.

We are to encourage others.

Encourage or comfort each other.

Put heart in someone.

Encourage, put courage in someone.

Paul wanted the Colossians to be united in the truth.

Paul’s whole life was cruciform, he suffered in obedience to God on behalf of others.

Again, his suffering was not substitutionary. But he suffered for others’ good.

Pastoring includes proclaiming and working to present the people of god mature before the Lord.

Paul admonished and taught, not just a group, but individuals.

Had Paul closed his mouth, he may have seen his prison doors open.

He wanted to help others, even if that costed him.

Dever chose 1:28-29 as a life verse.

There is no reason for pride in success in ministry.

What we do we do for God’s glory and the good of the people.

It is God’s work.

We give ourselves for others.

Do you care more about how your sermon goes than how the people who heard your sermon are?

Acts 15:36, Let’s see how they are doing.

No metrics here.

No mission board can raise money based on this.

God cares about growth.

He told the animals to be fruitful and multiply.

He gave the same command to Adam and Eve.

The growth we see talked about in the NT and urged is not merely numerical.

It is a maturing and deepening faith.

Grow up into him who is the head.

In 2 Thessalonians 1:3, Paul thanks God for their growth.

God grows us and gets that credit.

Concern for that kind of growth is right and godly.

A lack of concern for that kind of growth is conversely ungodly.

Your job as a pastor is to be faithful in discipling and to create a culture of discipling in your church.

People naturally follow something and someone.

We are all disciples. The question is, “Of whom?”

Great Commission calls us to teach them to obey.

Discipling is more than preaching.

We live out the Christian life before others as basic discipleship.

In Jesus’ life we see the importance of both words and deeds.

What Dever does as a pastor to try to help others grow:

  1. Preaching – in your preaching, teach people the Bible.
  2. Prayer – He prays through the membership directory. He prays formally in the service, and even teaches people to pray through the regular, pastoral prayers.
  3. Membership – Hold people to faithfulness to the statement of faith and church covenant.
  4. Books – Give them away.
  5. Presence – Be around. Meet with people over lunch. Get people to go with you places.
  6. Conversation – Encourage people to have spiritual conversation.

7. Define – Discipling is trying to help other people to follow Christ. If you are not regularly trying to help people follow Jesus, I’m not sure what you mean when you say that you follow Jesus.

8. Include – Include people as you do ministry. Have others preach. Get feedback

9. Public services – Be thoughtful as you do things in the service. Let people know what you are doing and why you are doing what you are doing.

Shepherds Conference 2019 Session 3 Notes

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Session 3

Austin Duncan

Faithful to Love

1 Corinthians 13

This passage is famous, often pulled out of context.

Corinth was a mess.

They could not have their services of worship in order without having love in order.

MacArthur: Every problem that our church has ever faced can be traced back to a lack of love.

Four parts

Verses 1-3

Love’s essential nature

Paul is going to show them a more excellent way—end of 12.

Note Paul made this personal.

“If I speak…” not “If we speak…”

This applies to the apostle.

Thus, it applies to all of us.

Paul is imagining a scenario where his words are totally perfect in any language.

If I speak perfectly, but without love, I’m a gong or a cymbal.

Perhaps the gongs and cymbals were a reference to the temple of Aphrodite in Corinth.

Lovelessness is an offensive thing, an offensive sound, regardless of the quality of your words.

Is lovelessness as annoying to you as all the other things that annoy you in life?

Paul next talks about prophetic powers.

Giftedness to fathom all mysteries

In a similar hyperbole, the picture is a person who understands absolutely every theological mystery.

Faith to move mountains is acting in power, faith that performs.

Verse 3, giving everything away and dying is worth nothing.

Moving mountains and preaching perfectly is nothing.

Paul is not saying our giftedness and the usefulness of our gifts is diminished if we do not love.

Paul is saying that there is no gain at all, our gifts are worthless, without love.

You should not be willing to undertake anything without love.

The true heart of a pastor is a heart that loves people, cares about people, and longs to take part in God’s transformation of people.

Love’s essential nature tells us that we must be men who are ready to lead with love.

Verse 4-ff

15 words that describe what love is like and what love does.

Two positives, eight negatives, then couplets

Verse 4 – Love’s leading qualities.

First qualities, patience and kindness.

Patience, makrothumia, is a word often used for God.

Love waits patiently.

We cannot suffer long if we think we deserve much.

Kindness seems simple.

It is more than refraining from cruelty.

Romans, Titus 3, both couple kindness with patience.

These are seen as motivating the heart of God to bring us to salvation.

We deserve the wrath and curse of God.

HE was patient with us not to destroy us immediately.

He was kind to us to give us his Son to forgive us and bring us into his family.

Pastors who lead with love should be patient and kind like the God who drew them to himself.

Verses 4-6 – Love’s greatest restraints

This is the opposite of our world which assumes that love is never restrained.

We see what love refuses to do.

Envy or boast

Love is restrained in the face of success, that of others or yourself.

How do you respond when someone else gets what you want?

Are you confident in God’s goodness and sovereignty as he apportions gifts?

Boasting addresses how you feel when you feel blessed.

Do you seek after compliments?

Must you have attention?

Remember that Jesus said that the religious leaders of his day loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Arrogant, not inflating its own importance

1 Corinthians 8:1 says that knowledge puffs up.

The arrogant man inflates his own importance.

Rude, ill-mannered impropriety

IT demeans others.

Shameful behavior is rude.

Selfish

Edwards: The spirit of Christian love is the opposite of a selfish spirit.

Not easily angered or easily provokes

Anger can be lovely or loveless in the Bible.

God is angry in the Bible, and that is beautiful.

The angry pastor falls hard.

Resentfulness, keeping a record of wrongs

Ministers who lead with love refuse to keep these.

Nice illustration of Abraham Lincoln and Stanton used here.

Resentful is an accounting term.

Do you mark down the wrongs of others?

Love has the ability to erase debts and even overlook offenses.

In marriage, if you were to try to parse every possibly offensive or questionable word or glance, you would never be able to show up at church.

Love is not joyful at wrongdoing.

Love can never be an excuse for sinful indulgence.

Verses 6-8 – Love’s Tenacious Power.

Look at the always statements here.

It always protects.

Love always trusts and does not lose faith.

Jesus believed what his Father could do with the disciples.

Love trusts God is not done.

Love always hopes and never runs out of hope.

WE know God can always accomplish something.

Love can have an optimistic posture toward the future knowing what God is able to accomplish.

God will prevail.

Chapter 13 and chapter 15 see together that God will prevail.

Without the gospel, this definition of love and its requirement in our life would be crushing.

WE can love because of what Jesus has already done at the cross.

Jesus is patient, kind.

Jesus never envies, boasts, etc.

WE only love at all because he first loved us.

Braggarts build themselves up.

The envious tear others down.

Loving people build others up.

1 Peter 1:5

Peter roots his loving letter to persecuted Christians in the fact that they have a love for the unseen Christ.

A Quick Response to an Accusation of Contradiction in the Gospels

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In my preparation for a message on Matthew 26:17-30, the text that includes the Lord’s Supper, I was reminded that there are those who would suggest that there is a discrepancy between John’s gospel and the synoptics—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—regarding exactly when Jesus ate the Last Supper and on what day Jesus died. The synoptics are clear that Jesus celebrated the Passover on Thursday and then died on Friday. John seems to indicate that the death of Jesus took place on the Passover, perhaps even at the very moment when the Passover lambs were being killed. And some would use this seeming discrepancy to suggest that the Bible contains an error, a contradiction. How, after all, could Jesus both eat the Passover meal one day and then die on the next day when the Passover lambs are being slaughtered?

All we need, however, to deal with this is a single, plausible, explanation for what we see in Matthew and John. I have read a few that would work. John tells us that the chief priests did not go into Pilate’s house because they wanted to be ceremonially clean so they could eat the Passover. Perhaps they were delayed in eating that meal on Thursday evening, but still planned to do so before sunset of Friday. Or, more likely in my opinion, they were not referencing the formal Passover meal only but the entirety of the sacred events of the combined Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. They wanted to be ceremonially clean for the week to follow with all its celebrations. Thus, when John calls the day of the crucifixion “the day of preparation of the Passover,” he could be telling us that, while Thursday evening was the Passover meal, Friday was the day of preparation for the special Sabbath observance that fell in the week that included Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Another explanation is that there was a bit of variation in how different Jews understood their yearly calendar. We are aware that the sect at Qumran used a calendar that was a day off from that used by the priests. So, if Matthew and John were speaking from different calendars, there would be no discrepancy.

A third explanation comes not from the calendar but from the reckoning of when a day began and ended. John MacArthur explains it this way:

***

The answer lies in a difference among the Jews in the way they reckoned the beginning and ending of days. From Josephus, the Mishna, and other ancient Jewish sources we learn that the Jews in northern Palestine calculated days from sunrise to sunrise. That area included the region of Galilee, where Jesus and all the disciples except Judas had grown up. Apparently most, if not all, of the Pharisees used that system of reckoning. But Jews in the southern part, which centered in Jerusalem, calculated days from sunset to sunset. Because all the priests necessarily lived in or near Jerusalem, as did most of the Sadducees, those groups followed the southern scheme.

That variation doubtlessly caused confusion at times, but it also had some practical benefits. During Passover time, for instance, it allowed for the feast to be celebrated legitimately on two adjoining days, thereby permitting the Temple sacrifices to be made over a total period of four hours rather than two. That separation of days may also have had the effect of reducing both regional and religious clashes between the two groups.

On that basis the seeming contradictions in the gospel accounts are easily explained. Being Galileans, Jesus and the disciples considered Passover day to have started at sunrise on Thursday and to end at sunrise on Friday. The Jewish leaders who arrested and tried Jesus, being mostly priests and Sadducees, considered Passover day to begin at sunset on Thursday and end at sunset on Friday. By that variation, predetermined by God’s sovereign provision, Jesus could thereby legitimately celebrate the last Passover meal with His disciples and yet still be sacrificed on Passover day (MacArthur, Matthew 26:17-19).

***

There are, of course, other potential explanations out there for how Matthew and John could both be speaking the truth and not actually contradicting each other. And a thorough argument regarding those points is well beyond the purpose of this post. I simply want to make you aware that, if you hear someone suggest that this is a contradiction in the Bible, you know that people have done the work and the thinking to show us how it is not. And I would guess that the right answer is either the first or last ones mentioned above.

Shepherds Conference 2019 Session 2 Notes

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Session 2

Sinclair Ferguson

Faithfulness and Holiness in the Life of the Minister

Hebrews 12

There is a stress on holiness in this book.

It seems that holiness has lost its position in the vocabulary of the life of gospel ministers.

Success and satisfaction are more often used.

Hebrews emphasizes faithfulness.

Hebrews emphasizes holding fast and being faithful.

Those to whom God is faithful become faithful.

Jesus is the revelation of the radiant glory of

God.

HE is the Creator and the heir of the cosmos

HE is also the one who made purification for sins.

Holiness is written all over Jesus’ ministry.

Moses wished all of the people could have God’s Spirit. HE saw that the Old Covenant could not accomplish all that he wanted.

Christ’s priestly ministry effects holiness.

Christ brings us an imputed holiness.

Imputed holiness is inseparable from an imparted holiness.

Paul says we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And yet we are being sanctified.

Sanctification is an accomplished reality in our lives.

We do not aspire to be saints or holy ones; this is what we are.

But there is also an ongoing sanctifying of believers.

There is a progressive sanctification.

Eventually, all who have looked to Jesus for salvation will come to look like Jesus in sanctification and ultimate glorification.

The therefore in Hebrews 12:1 is great.

It is true in you and your ministry.

You should desire to be holy.

You should desire to be as holy as it is possible for a saved sinner to be.

It is a rare thing to hear a gospel minister described as holy.

  1. The absolute necessity of holiness in gospel ministers

Hebrews 12:10, Disciplines are for our good that we may share in holiness.

12:14, holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Lack of holiness indicates that one has not received the grace of God.

We live in strange times when we see unusually gifted people falling horribly.

They have confused natural gifts with saving grace.

What do we substitute for real sanctification?

Do we substitute effectiveness in our gifts for actual sanctification?

If it is true that, without holiness, no one will see the Lord, then it is true that no minister of the gospel, without holiness, will ever see the Lord.

  1. Six Areas of Battle that are Vital in Gospel Ministers

Where do we stand strong under pressure?

Where do we battle?

  • Practices that may not be sinful, but which will not advance gospel in our lives

What might distract us?

Be careful with approving activities that you only say of them, “Well, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Watch out for things that do you no gospel good.

Is there something that enslaves you?

Things that may be legitimate can actually become things that ensnare us in gospel ministry.

  • Sin that clings to us
  • Compromises to which the stresses of ministry may tempt us

The devil loves to exhaust our resources to resist.

He will tell you 99 things that re true to set you up for the 100th.

He will let you win the first set in order to wear you out in the match.

2 Cor. 4, Paul twice points out that we do not lose heart.

HE knows that is tempting.

The evil one is out to destroy our pursuit of faithfulness and holiness.

  • We find ourselves struggling with or even against divine providences

Might gospel ministers experience more painful providences than the generality of Christians?

Why do we experience these?

We are sore.

These humble us.

Laziness and pride are two great sins in the ministry.

If God is going to deal with men through you, he wants to deal with you so he can get through you to them.

You are the one who is most under your ministry of the word.

The congregation has no idea this is going on.

They do not understand how unclean you feel as you study the word and try to communicate it.

Often, we fight against this.

We forget that God has given us all that we need.

  • The danger of a root of bitterness

One of the most alarming danger signs in a minister of the gospel is, especially when he speaks of a person in a bigger ministry, the first thing to emerge is always negative.

I must come to the sweetness of Jesus Christ to dilute and cleanse my bitterness.

  • Sexual immorality

We need the expulsive power of a new affection.

Be careful compromising for short term gratification.

  1. The encouragements to holiness in gospel ministers

We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.

Not the point that they are watching you.

But their story of their faithfulness should encourage you toward holiness.

What God did in them he can do in you.

Keep on running and enduring as they did.

The Old Testament is for this.

It is there to say keep going.

OT saints say that you got what they never saw.

I have a heavenly Father who is training me as a son so that I may share his holiness.

He is remaking us in his image.

God wants to enable us to say Abba, Father.

What a risk.

People often think that God is somehow like the person through whom his word comes.

Therefore, we must pursue holiness.

There needs to be real integrity between the word that we preach and the atmosphere and spirit and love and devotion with which we communicate.

We now enjoy what the saints of old did not have access to.

We have the Spirit.

We have come to a heavenly city.

We have New Covenant access to Christ.

Paul believed, in 1 Cor 11, that angels were present at that church and Jesus was leading the people in worship and speaking through the preacher.

How amazing that we can go into the presence of God with his people and worship him.

We want Jesus to preach his word to his people through our lips.

That must make you want to be as holy as you could possibly be for sake of the people of God.

We want the people to see pastors who are more and more like the Lord Jesus.

IF what we do is really important, then let’s give ourselves entirely to holiness.

Shepherds Conference 2019 Session 1 Notes

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Session 1

John MacArthur

Theme: Faithful

1 Corinthians 4

The Greek word for faithful, pistos, can mean having saving faith or a person’s faithfulness.

God is faithful.

Jesus is a faithful high priest.

God who promised is faithful.

God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

In Rev. 19, Jesus is called faithful and true.

Rev. 21:5 and 22:6, the word is faithful.

We are called to this same faithfulness.

Jesus often talked about faithful slaves or good and faithful servants.

Faithfulness in this passage is linked to humility.

Humility is the virtue that produces faithfulness.

Psalm 31, the Lord preserves the faithful and recompenses the proud.

Pride is an opposite of faithfulness.

Spurgeon says that we have a choice between being humble and being humbled.

Our world system does not desire or embrace humility.

The true man of God fights for humility.

He will sacrifice for his Lord before seeking the admiration of the crowd.

John the Baptist’s greatness was in the attitude that would make him say, “He must increase, and I must decrease.”

Paul said, “I am the least of the apostles…”

God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh to help him remain humble.

MacArthur suggests that the thorn in the flesh was demonically inspired people in Corinth who opposed the gospel.

Five elements that manifest the humility of Paul.

  1. He was content to be a lowly servant.

Verses 1-2

The word for servant here is the lowest servant form in the NT.

IT is a word used for slaves in the under-decks on a slave ship.

Paul presents himself as a third level galley slave.

Luke 1:1-ff

Luke also uses that term for apostles.

John 18:36, Jesus calls his disciples the same term—3rd level galley slaves.

In Acts, Jesus calls Paul this type of servant.

This type of slave is to do his master’s will without any interest in his own personal worth or dignity.

1 Cor. 3:5, Paul and Apollos are servants, not anything.

Always be content to be a lowly servant.

There is nothing glamorous about this kind of service.

Also, in verse 1, we are stewards, house managers.

A steward distributes goods and food to people in the household.

We feed the flock of God.

We are stewards of God.

Col. 1:25

We serve humbly, dispensing what is not even ours.

We dispense NT truth.

We are primarily NT preachers.

1 Tim. 6:20, guard what has been entrusted to you.

What is that?

The truth, the word of God

Guard that as a treasure that you distribute.

2 Tim. 1:13, guard the treasure.

  1. He was content to be judged by God.

Verse 3-ff

Preachers do something that no other people do.

We bring to people the good news.

A bond forms as you continue to feed people the word of God.

People will love the one who delivers the truth to them.

Paul says that it is a small thing, the smallest thing, that he be judged by humans.

Eph. 3:8 uses this word for less than the least.

Someone else judging me has absolutely no significance.

It could not mean less.

The Galatians called Paul a man-pleaser.

Then Paul told them that the one who preaches another gospel is to be damned.

Does that sound like a man-pleaser?

Human praise is the least significant verdict on any of our ministries.

Paul cannot even examine himself.

His acquittal of himself does not mean anything.

Prov. 21:2, the Lord weighs the heart.

My conscience may be clear, and that is a defense, but it is not a perfect defense. I am biased in my own favor.

The final verdict comes from heaven. The Lord is the one who examines me, verse 4.

Verse 5 stop the comparisons.

Stop trying to elevate one teacher above another.

When Christ comes, he will make the right judgment, the true judgment, the one that matters.

Praise for us will only come based on what matters and our heart.

  1. He was content to be equal with other servants.

Verse 6

Paul talked about himself and Apollos as an illustration.

Do not go too far into pride.

James reminds us that God opposes the proud.

1 Peter 5:5 tells us the same thing.

Scripture always exalts humility and debases pride.

Paul wants us to learn not to be proud when the Scripture forbids it.

In Philippians, Paul talked about people wanting to get ahead by stepping on him while he was in prison.

Paul says that he rejoices when Christ is preached, even when the motives of other preachers is false.

Verse 7

You are nothing.

You are a slave and steward.

There is no place for boasting or self-elevation.

Verse 8

Paul gets sarcastic.

You are filled and rich and kings.

You have it all.

You’ve arrived spiritually.

You did it without us.

Give yourself all the credit.

I wish you had made it to be kings.

I’d be happy to be brought along in your success.

But they are being brought back to reality.

How you react to the praises of others speaks of your pride or humility.

  1. He was content to suffer.

Verse 9

God has made a spectacle of Paul and the apostles.

Verse 10

More sarcasm

You are smart and we are dumb.

We are weak and without honor.

Our lives have all sorts of hardships’.

Verse 11

Lots of hardships.

Verse 12

Common laborers

We are content to be rejected.

We are content in being common.

We are content to have no honor.

  1. He was content to sacrifice his reputation.

Verse 12-ff

Paul met slander regularly.

We are scum of the earth.

We are the dregs.

We are the crud on the bottom.

Our message is foolish to the perishing.

We are not going to be popular in the world.

We cannot be popular with the non-Christian world.

We are not popular with unfaithful people who claim Christ.

And if we are not humble enough, God will humble us more.

1 Pet. 5:5, be clothed with humility.

James 4:10, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you.

You Need a 100% Savior

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The good news of the gospel is only the good news of the gospel because we know the bad news of our situation outside of the gospel. One problem in our society today is that many people do not have a clear understanding of the depth of our sin or the state in which we stand before our Lord. Many have a mistaken understanding of what is required to make it to heaven and how far short of that standard we all fall.

So, take a peek at this text in Psalm 24. (As a side note, I find it neat that this came up in my daily reading only a day or so after I had this very conversation with a friend.)

Psalm 24:3-5

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

The poetry here asks a simple question: Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? More simply put, who can make it into God’s presence, or who can go to heaven? That is a good question, a reasonable question, and important question.

The answer to the question is a tough one to swallow. To make it into the presence of the Lord, one must have clean hands and a pure heart. One must be free from acting out our sinful desires—clean hands. And one must be free even from those corrupting desires—a pure heart.

Stop and measure yourself. Are your hands clean? Have you always done and said all that is right? Have you always physically avoided all that God calls sin? Have you lived out an absolute outward perfection? An honest answer here is no.

What about your heart? Even if you have been a pretty nice person, has your heart been perfect? Have you not only refused to act on evil desires, but have you also never had such desires? If your heart has ever shown a sign of corruption, you lack total purity of heart. And we see ourselves as twice guilty.

If we are measured by the standards of verses 3-4, we have no hope. None of us are clean and pure enough on our own. We have all failed. We have all had evil desires. Not one of us is pure enough to walk into heaven. WE must have something outside of us to give us the righteousness, the perfection, the goodness we lack.

Then notice verse 5, “He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” Who can go to heaven? That perfect person with clean hands and a pure heart can go, but not me. But then the psalmist tells us that the one who can go to heaven receives blessing and righteousness from God. Receiving righteousness indicates to us that God gives us righteousness as a gift. So the person who can go, the one with the clean hands and the pure heart, that person has those things because he has received those things from the Lord as a gift.

So, here is the truth. We are totally incapable of making it to heaven based on our own goodness. WE have nothing to bring to the table. Our hands are not clean. Our hearts are not pure. WE must receive cleanness and purity, righteousness, as a gift from the Lord. We need a Savior. We do not need a Savior who does a little work to make us a little better so that we can pull ourselves up to the throne of God. No, we need a 100% Savior who does 100% of the work to grant us 100% of the forgiveness and 100% of the righteousness we need. If we only have a 50% savior, we are damned. If we have a 99% savior, we are lost forever. Only a 100% Savior, one who gives us full forgiveness and perfect, God-level righteousness credited to our accounts can save us.

This is, of course the beauty of biblical Christianity. Jesus lived perfect righteousness as God the Son in human flesh. And Jesus will credit us with his purity, not because we have lived it out, but because he gives it to us as a gift. This is salvation by grace through faith in Christ and his finished work. And this is our only way to heaven. Jesus is the 100% Savior we must have to enter the presence of the Lord.

A Truth That Changes Everything

pastortravislv

There are some statements that, if they are true, change everything. Some sentences, if we understand them as true, should have such an impact on our being that we are never ever the same. I read one such sentence about Jesus recently in Hebrews 1.

Hebrews 1:3a — He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Here is what grabs me. If Jesus is who this verse says he is, then we can only have one wise response to him. If this is true, all other social and ethical arguments, all other apologetic arguments, all other political arguments fade away. The gravity of this statement being true is incalculable.

Interestingly, what caught me was not the first clause. Yes, Jesus is God. Yes, Jesus is the exact imprint of the glory of God made flesh for humanity to see. And that is more important than anything you have seen on the news in your entire life.

But what really got me is the phrase, “and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Stop and think what it means if this is true. Jesus, by the word of his power, his own personal power, his God power, holds the universe together. Jesus keeps the stars in the sky. Jesus keeps the earth spinning. Jesus makes gravity work. Jesus holds your atoms together so they do not fly apart.

How does that truth change everything? We live in a world of people who believe that they have the right to assess the fitness of Jesus for their worship or faith. People consider Jesus as one among many options. They may like Jesus; they may like another world religion. They may decide that scientific naturalism or pagan nature worship better fits what they want. But if it is really true that Jesus is the one who holds the universe together, then there is nothing left to argue.

Consider the concept of standing before God. Imagine that you are suddenly in the presence of Jesus. And realize that he has been holding the universe together since creation. What excuse would you offer him for not obeying his commands? How could you say to him that you preferred another option? What thing would you tell him is more important than him to you? How could you expect to be evaluated by a standard other than that of the one who created and who sustains the entirety of reality? How could you be foolish enough to tell him that you think he has been doing it wrong the whole time?

Friends, if that little sentence is wrong, then none of our lives and none of our faith matters. But if that little sentence is true—and it is—then we are created by Jesus, sustained by Jesus, and obligated to Jesus. We owe him our lives and our worship. And he has every right to tell us exactly what he wants of us. He has the right to save us or to leave us alone to our own folly. He has the right to treat us gently or to refine us with the fires of trials. He has the right to tell us what life is, what gender is, what marriage is, what worship is, what truth is, what our purpose is, what church is. If it is indeed true that he upholds the universe by the word of his power, then our role as part of creation is to respond to him exactly as he commands.

Golden Silence

pastortravislv

Some things have been clearly seen as true for a very long time. You may have heard the old quote, “Silence is golden.” Or, perhaps you have heard the more clever, “It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” These thoughts actually have a biblical backing from the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 17:28

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

While this verse will make us grin, it also should bring us some wise conviction. It is foolish to open your mouth and weigh in on topics you know nothing about. That should be obvious. Yet, it is a strong temptation for some of us to do just that.

A dear friend of mine often used to label himself as “often wrong, but never in doubt.” He was recognizing his own weakness in a propensity to have a strong opinion on everything, even things about which he was not really informed. And my friend was not alone there. I think that it is common for people to be tempted to feel we should weigh in and have something to say about everything.

The key here is to recognize what is our motivation for speaking. In many cases, I believe that my own failure here is to want to speak so that people will see me speaking on a topic. I want people to think I’m as smart as everybody else. If I keep my mouth shut, what if they think I don’t know as much as them? Thus, speaking into a situation where I have no knowledge is often an evidence of ungodly pride. I want the approval of men, and I’m willing to pretend to know what I do not know in order to be seen as having something to say.

Friends, let’s guard against the temptation of this pride. Let’s be honest enough to ask questions about things we do not understand rather than weighing in with opinions we cannot support. Let’s be willing to be silent and learn when there is something to learn. No, we need not be afraid to have strong opinions, even unpopular opinions in society. Nor should we fear asking hard questions. Nor do we want to allow someone to silence us just because they consider themselves an expert and they think we lack credentials—that is not at all my point. But let’s not allow ourselves to fall prey to the temptation to talk just so others will think we know something. In truth, if we speak without knowledge, we will often prove ourselves foolish.

Perverting Justice Is Not Complicated

pastortravislv

Sometimes the simplicity of the book of Proverbs is what we need to straighten us out. Life feels so hard and so complicated. But the wisdom of the word of God speaks quite plainly.

Consider this thought on justice, especially in the light of the social confusion about justice today.

Proverbs 17:15

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

Here we see two things put together about genuine, biblical justice. We see two things that are deeply wrong, an abomination before the Lord. One is to justify the wicked. The other is to condemn the righteous. God hates both of these things.

Now, consider where we have gone in our society. Justifying the wicked is a popular thing. How can I say that?” First, our society has rejected God’s word and his ways. Thus, as a people, our nation has willfully rejected God’s definition of what is wicked. Therefore, when wicked people do wicked things, as a society, it is celebrated. Hollywood and politicians see things happen that God has called absolutely abominable, and these folks applaud it and demand that all others join them in that applause.

Of course, the primary focus in the proverb is one of legal justice. If a person commits a crime, it is an abomination to the Lord to pretend it did not happen. Sadly, in our society, we are hearing a regular call to allow criminals to be justified. If a person commits a crime, but they have been somehow socially oppressed, we want to ignore their wrong in order to continue to push forward a political narrative.

How about the idea of condemning the righteous? Do we do that too? You bet. A person might be doing things that are absolutely right in accord with the word of God or even the law of the land. But we are seeing them condemned in society today. Perhaps we see them condemned because they are of the wrong class, the descendants of privileged oppressors. Perhaps we see them oppressed because they refuse to applaud the actions that God has declared to be wicked.

Again, allow biblical justice to speak to us. It is evil to look at a person who has done evil—evil as defined by the word of God—and say to them that they are OK. It is also evil to look at a person who has not done evil—evil as defined by the word of God—and declare them guilty because of their ethnicity, their wealth, or their refusal to applaud that which God condemns. May God save us from our twisting of justice to call good evil and evil good.