Tag: Providence Reformed Church

Restoring the Fallen Booth of David

pastortravislv

It would be nice if we knew our bibles better. It would be nice if we knew the minor prophets better. God’s word is so good. God has said things to us that we need to see, things that seem unable to be fulfilled, things that only are fulfilled in Jesus.

Take the book of Amos as an example. This book promises some strong judgment from God on Israel, particularly the northern kingdom. Israel was in rebellion against God ever since their breaking away from Judah around 930 BC. They worshipped idols. They took up with foreign gods of other nations. And they participated in all sorts of evil practices. Israel was a nightmare where justice was concerned. The rich abused the poor and the weak. No judges would give the weak a fair hearing, they would only bow to the powerful. Immorality and injustice were rampant. And God let Israel know that he would be bringing justice to this nation soon.

Amos 5:2

“Fallen, no more to rise,
is the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”

Look at the strength and absolute nature of those words. Israel is falling, never to rise again. They have been so wicked that their power is broken. And, in truth, soon after the days of Amos, the northern kingdom went into exile under the Assyrian Empire, and they never rose to power again.

What then? Has God simply cut off that people? Is that the end of the story? If it were, it would have been just. But God has something bigger and more interesting in mind.

Amos ends with a tone of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel. But that light looks almost contrary to what he had said earlier. How could it happen?

Amos 9:11-15

11 “In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.

Here is the promise, and it is magnificent. God says, just as things look hopeless for all Israel, that he will restore the fallen booth of David. He will restore the household, the kingship, the dynasty of David. How? How can God do that? How can God restore David’s dynasty while the northern kingdom is exiled and not rising to her former glory according to 5:2?

Readers for centuries would have wondered as well about when in the world this promise was to be fulfilled. After all, though the northern kingdom was exiled around 722 BC, the southern went into exile in Babylon, returned to the land, but never found herself out from under the thumb of some empire or another. The people of Judah were ruled by Babylon, Persia, and Greece. They were oppressed in the conflict between Egypt and Syria. And then, to make matters worse, the nation was clearly under the rule of the Roman Empire.

So, what about this restoration? How would it come? Verse 12 tells us that the restoration will include gentile nations. Verses 13-15 talk of a prosperity to come that will be supernatural. How?

New Testament readers who have paid attention to Amos know. The answer is Jesus. Jesus came, arriving in the line of David. Jesus is the Messiah, the promised king from God. Jesus is the one to establish the restoration of the fallen booth of David. But, as is so often the case, he does so in ways that others might have a hard time grasping.

Jesus came and established his kingdom in a way that none expected. He did not come to set up a physical throne or to overthrow the nasty Romans. Instead, Jesus established the kingdom of God based on promised eternal salvation. Jesus saves all who come to him by God’s grace through faith alone. Jesus welcomes Jews and gentiles into the family of god, into the true Israel of God, without distinction of ethnicity, class, background, or anything else.

Is that a proper interpretation of Amos? In Acts 15, we see that the church indeed saw it this way, and it was recorded for us under the inspiration of God.

Acts 15:13-20 – 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “ ‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

Note that, at the Jerusalem counsel, when the question arose as to whether or not gentiles could be welcomed into the church without first submitting to Jewish ceremonial law, James cited Amos 9:11-ff. God used James to teach us that the restoring of the fallen house of David was done as Jesus, the Son of David, conquered death and built the kingdom of God by saving a people from every nation. Yes, the gentiles are part of this kingdom. IN fact, Paul later reminds us that in Christ, there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is only in Christ or not in Christ.

And once we see that Jesus is the fulfillment of what Amos said, all the rest falls into place. How is there no recovery for the sinful northern kingdom as we saw in 5:2? How will there, at the same time, be this restoration of a kingdom as promised in 9:11? How will we see those who are planting the next crop chasing those who are still harvesting the abundance from the last crop around the fields? How will we see the promised supernatural and physical blessing of God? It is all in Christ. Jesus builds God’s kingdom. Jesus saves Jews and gentiles. Jesus saves people descended even from the exiled northern kingdom, even if we do not know who they are. And Jesus will return. And Jesus will reign. And Jesus will undo the curse of sin over the earth. And when Jesus does this all, we will see all fulfilled.

Christians, there is great hope in the prophecy of Amos. We need to know it. We need to love it. We need to let it make us tell people about Jesus. And we need to find our hope in the present kingdom of Christ along with the promise of his coming.

Let Your Words Be Few

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Here is an interesting bit of counsel from Solomon on our attitude when we approach the Lord to worship.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 – 1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.

Solomon cautions people to guard themselves as they approach the place of worship. He reminds them that God is in heaven, indicating that God is high and holy. In comparison, we are, well, not. And this distinction should cause us to be careful in what we say and what we do, especially as worship is involved.

Of course,

Solomon is writing here under an Old
Testament economy. Worship in this context has much to do with presenting right sacrifice before the Lord. And it would be utter folly for a sinful man to go to the temple and confidently assert what God must accept from him as an offering. There is no room for us to be brash in our dealings with God.

So, in a direct line of application, the king is warning people not to think they can tell God what must happen for God to accept them. This is still true today. There are many people who believe that they can determine exactly what God ought to do with them and their lives. They believe that they can sit in judgment over the ways of god. But man will never set the parameters by which God deals with him. This is God’s work and God’s alone. God has said that there is only one way to salvation, by his grace through faith in Christ alone. God has made it clear that trusting in Jesus in such a way that brings us to repentance is our only path to being accepted. We do not work to earn salvation, it is faith alone. But that faith is a life-changing faith.

I would suggest, however, that this also applies to worship in our modern context. We must first understand that, in Christ, we may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12). We must grasp that God grants to us the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21). And so we do not approach the Lord in worship fearing that we will not be welcomed. We have, after all, been given the right to be called children of god because of Jesus (John 1:12-13).

But I think this passage can remind us that, even in Christ, we ought to approach the worship of God with genuine reverence and humility. God is still God in heaven. He is still greater than us to an infinite degree. And we should be far quicker to listen to his word than we are to go into worship telling God what we will give him. We should follow
Scripture. We should, when it comes to new ideas, let our words be few. We should reverently and joyfully, with solemnity and with celebration, bring honor to the name of our God in the ways that God has clearly said honor him.

So, consider these thoughts when you next go to worship. Approach God in God’s way. Come to him first in faith and repentance, believing in Jesus and yielding your life to him. And come to him in humility with joy, knowing that God has shown us how he is to be worshipped. Come to sing, pray, and listen to the word. Come to participate in Lord’s Supper and take part in genuine, Christian fellowship. Come to honor God.

Where Is Your Support?

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You need other people. This is counter-intuitive to our modern culture, but it is true. We have become a society of people who do not live together, do not work together, and do not support one another. Our friendships often are little posts of social media about what perfect meal we just ate, what beautiful vista we just saw, or what frustrating politician we want to disparage. But such pseudo friendships have little to do with helping us when we really hurt.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, in the middle of his despair about the worth of life, Solomon points out how much human beings obviously need one another. One man alone cannot make it. One woman alone is not enough. We need support. We need to live in community. We need someone to pick us up when we fall. We need people to encourage us when we struggle. We need people to help us see when we are wrong.

In ancient Israel, community was a lot easier. You did not move away from your family land. Generations would live together on the same piece of property. Little compounds grew up where four generations would live up close to one another and share the load of the family farm. In the community, men gathered at the city gate to discuss the needs of the community and set right wrongs.

But in our culture today, people believe that we can live as total individuals, totally alone. And, for a time, you can. But in the end, most of us will realize that God has not designed us to live in this world alone. In Israel there was the gathering at the city gate and the family. In post-exilic Judah there was the Synagogue. In the New Testament era, there is the local church. And God has never designed people to live outside of those kinds of communities.

Think about your life. Where is your system of support? Who will help you when you hurt? Who will come and tell you when you are wrong, but still love you enough to help you grow? Who will care when you are sick? Who will hurt with you when someone hurts you, but also keep you in check so that you do not foolishly seek to hurt others back?

One person alone has a hard time. Pairs do better. Cords of three are strong. God made us for communities. And this is the beauty of a solid local church. A good church is a family. A good church will bring us together. A good church helps us have the support we need to survive this life. A good church puts people from different backgrounds and different personalities together, and we learn to function together as a unit because we have a common standard in the word of God.

You might say to yourself that this is not your experience in the local church. I’m sorry to hear that. But there are a couple of possibilities as to why this is. It is possible that you, in your experience in the church, have not been open to genuine community, genuine fellowship. If you are not willing to open your life to others in the church, you will not have the community you need. This is a problem you must work to rectify. You must show others that you are willing to be friends. You cannot expect that it is the job of others to seek you out and test your interest in community.

Of course, it is also possible that you have been in a bad local church; they exist. Find out if your church loves the word of God highly. If it really loves the word and not simply the concept of being a big church, it will be open to stronger fellowship and greater community. Talk to your pastor or elders. Ask how you can help establish greater community.

The point that Solomon made 3,000 years ago is still true. We need community if we are going to survive in this hard world. How will you find it?

Glad I’m Not Like Them

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In a fascinating way, believers of all sorts have certain beliefs they value highly. The passionately theological value something. The Charismatic value something. The traditional value something. And all believe that the others around them should value what they value.

In truth, I believe that there is a definite right and wrong as to what ought to be important to believers. I believe that my understanding is from the word of God and not from my own preferences or personality. I believe that, in general, we would be better off if people valued what I value.

But there is a danger. Even if I am right, and I think I am right, there is a danger.

Luke 18:9-14 – 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In this parable, Jesus describes two men. One is very proud of his righteousness. The other is very ashamed of his sin and cries out to God for grace. And we all know that the tax collector who is begging for mercy is the one who ends up justified.

How does that apply to what I said earlier? I actually would suggest that there are two dangers we face, and we can avoid them with a little prayerful thought.

First is the obvious one. Be careful not to think that you are somehow better than others in the faith because of the thing you think is most important. If you value enthusiastic worship, do not look down at the one who is more stoic. If you value evangelism, do not look down on the one who is more timid. If you value doctrine, don’t look down on the one who is poorly taught. We must begin from the understanding that we brought nothing good to the table to bring about our justification. We are sinners worthy of judgment. God brought the love and the grace to us. And we all, like the tax collector, need to cry to God to have mercy on us, sinners.

The other edge that people can fall off of here is to assume that, because we are all under mercy, nothing matters. That would be a bad move. We begin with humility and grace. But we also look into the word of
God to see what God says matters. When we see in the word of God that the Scripture is how we hear God’s voice instead of a subjective personal vision, we learn that matters. When we see that God has revealed a standard for worship that is theologically rich, word-centered, joyful, and reverent, that matters. When we see that Christians are called to share our faith, that matters. When we see that only God changes human hearts, that matters. When we see that God has made men and women with total equality in value and beautifully different roles, that matters.

In order to avoid falling off the road on either side, let’s try this. Let’s begin with absolute humility. We are sinners. Not one of us is better than any other. We dare not grow the attitude that says that I’m glad God did not make me like that guy over there. And then let’s bottle up that humility, keep it on us at all times, and study the word of God diligently so that we can learn what God values along with our humility so that we can love him, love others, and obey him rightly in all things for his glory.

No Negotiation with God

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In so much of our lives, we are called to negotiate our position. We tell people what we will give in order to receive something. We are careful to define what we will do and what we expect. After all, to not do so is to put yourself at risk in a fallen world.

But when it comes to salvation, we need to remember that negotiation has nothing to do with the process, and this is very good news. Coming to Jesus is total surrender to God and his authority.

I thought of this principle while reading through the parable of the lost son (some call him the prodigal son). The story is that of a man’s son who leaves home, blows his inheritance on evil living, and finds himself broke and alone. The son realizes that his dad treats his hired hands better than the son is living at present, so he determines to go home to his dad and negotiate a settlement, asking the dad to just give him a job on the farm.

Luke 15:17-19 – 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’

What is interesting here is what happens next. The young man goes home, ready with his speech. He is rightly humbled and repentant. He knows himself to be unworthy and is asking for grace alone. He is willing to be a mere servant in his father’s household.

But when the young man gets home, his dad runs to meet him. The young man starts to give his speech. But his dad cuts him off before he can finish. Once the young man returns in repentance seeking mercy, the dad will not at all allow him to negotiate his position. Instead, the father restores his son to the family. He throws a party. He tells everyone that his lost son has now come home.

Jesus intends this as a parable of the gospel. We do not, when we come to God, have any right to negotiate our position. We do not tell God we will give this if he will allow that. Instead, we come like the son. WE come repentant. We come knowing that we are guilty and unworthy. We come ready to fully submit to whatever our Father demands.

But the Father, for his part, welcomes us. God treats us, not as slaves but as sons and daughters. God will not make divisions in his family for the worthy, the less worthy, and the barely included. Instead, God forgives repentant sinners in Christ and elevates us all to the level of his very own children.

We want to remember two things here. First, we want to remember that we cannot negotiate with God regarding what we will hold back from him. If we come to him, we come to him completely, yielding our entire lives to him. But we also do not negotiate our position in the family. God adopts into his family all who trust in Jesus and turn from sin to surrender in faith.

Joy in Heaven

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In Luke 15, Jesus preached three parables intended to illustrate the fact that there is great joy in heaven when a sinner repents.

Luke 15:7 – Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

These parables tell us of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son (sometimes called the prodigal son). In the first two, we see people going to great lengths to regain something that had been lost and then rejoicing over the find.

Though it is simple, this is a place we need to be sure not to gloss over. After all, often the simplest things are the things we forget. God is showing us that there is great joy in heaven when the Lord brings a lost person to repentance. There is great joy in heaven, I would add, when the Lord brings a straying believer to repentance. There is great joy in heaven when God is glorified and someone who is away from the Lord is brought into right relationship.

Think about how this might impact you if you take it seriously. God loves us sinners coming to him in repentance and faith. We need to never forget that. We need to take action to see it happen. We need to pray that the Lord will make us a part of the process. We need to love there being great rejoicing in heaven.

One angle on this is that you and I, Christians, need to love taking the gospel to the lost. We do not compromise it. We do not reshape the gospel to make it something that the world will tolerate but which lacks the truth of saving grace. We just graciously and lovingly and honestly take the truth of Jesus to all we can. We want to call all people everywhere to repent and believe.

I would add that this also applies to how we deal with straying believers. When a child of God wanders from the faith, we need to be loving enough not to write them off. We need to honestly and clearly and lovingly call for repentance. Yes, we may work through the process of church discipline. But we never work through that process with a desire to just slam the door and get rid of somebody. We are always working for, praying for, striving for that person’s repentance, return to faithfulness, and reconciliation with the church.

We love the glory of God. We love doctrine. We love the truth of God’s word. And if we really do love these things, we will love what God says he loves. And God says he loves it when sinners repent. May we be a part of seeing that kind of joy in heaven to the glory of God.

In Fellowship, Fancy Is not Always Important

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Martha and Mary were sisters who followed Jesus. But Like many sisters, though they had things in common, they seem to have had quite different personalities.

Luke 10:38-42 – 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Martha was busy. She wanted to serve and make sure all the details were covered. Mary, on the other hand, wanted simply to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from him.

I do not want to over-interpret this narrative. And, yes, I am going to make a point that is not the sole point of this passage, though I think we can glean it from what happens. We do not know what the busyness is that Martha faced. Was it merely the details of making sure the evening was nice? Was she simply making sure everybody had what they needed? Or was Martha a bit on the fussy side? Was she trying to make everything fancy, special, perfect?

I would guess that Martha was going beyond the level of need. I do not think that Martha was simply making sure the lamps stayed lit and that Jesus’ cup was full. My guess is that Martha was fussing to make things special. I wonder if she wasn’t stressing out that the house be immaculate and not merely clean. I wonder if she was trying to get the nice dishes out instead of the paper plates.

Hospitality is a great thing. In fact, it is a discipline and a requirement for members of the local church. But what is required? There is a balance that we need to walk between nice and cluttered, between clean and sterile, between fancy and homey. If we are not careful, we will, like Martha, pull people away from focusing on Jesus because of our busyness.

When hosting another Christian or family in your home, what do you need to do? You should try to clean house a bit. You do not want somebody to be uncomfortable in the home they are visiting. But you should not make cleaning house such a stress that you would not invite somebody over because of the massive project you put your family through to make things perfect. You should try to take care of your guests, but there is nothing wrong with pulling out the paper plates and disposable cups if that will help you to focus on your friends and not on washing a bunch of dishes. Soup and bread is a fine alternative to a three-course meal if that gives you more time to host more people.

Jesus knew that the best thing for the evening was for the people to be together with him. Martha was distracted with details to the point that she was not with her guests. What we want to do is be loving to our guests. Yes, that means that we try to take care of them and take care of the house they are visiting. But we also need to be honest and real enough that we do not hinder ourselves from being with our guests because we are so focused on cleaning and serving that we cannot relax and have fellowship.

Willing to Die for Jesus and Willing to Live for Jesus

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In Luke, just after the disciples of Jesus understand him to be the Christ, the Savior talks with them about what it will take to follow him. Jesus knew, and told his followers, that he was going to Jerusalem to be killed. And he told his disciples that the one who truly wishes to follow him must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow.

What does it mean to deny yourself and take up your cross daily? Often, when considering taking up one’s cross, we can talk about big hardships and persecution. After all, a cross was an instrument of execution. Are you willing to die for your faith?

But notice where Jesus takes the concept of following him, taking up your cross, if you will.

Luke 9:23-26 – 23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Jesus starts with the concept of taking up your cross. But he quite quickly turns to the idea of shame. Some think that Jesus is telling us, “If somebody puts a gun to your head, be willing to lay down your life rather than deny me.” Of course, this is true. Christians should be willing to die for the honor of the Lord. But Jesus is going for something more day to day.

Jesus says that if we are ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of us. That is not merely martyrdom. This has to do with living for Jesus; living for him in a world that hates him and his ways.

The particular bent of our world is to use language, entertainment, and basic human sinfulness to attempt to mock and discredit the faith at every turn. Christians are not merely opposed to homosexuality as a sinful activity, but are homophobes, people irrationally afraid of a person’s sexuality. Christians are not merely pro-life, opposing the murder of babies, but are now defined as being against a woman’s reproductive rights, healthcare for women. Besides, science tells us that Christian beliefs are irrational, foolish, untenable.

How do you live in this world? How do you live in a world that would just as soon laugh at you as throw something at you? After all, you want to be a well-thought-of person in the community. You want to be respectable. You do not want to be a crazy, a backward person, a religious fanatic. You want the folks at CNN to think of you as cultured, as thoughtful, as different from those other loony religious folks.

Here is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus is not telling you just to be willing to die if necessary. He wants you to live for him. That means that you willingly accept the world’s attempt to shame you, not only for being saved by Jesus, but for thinking like Jesus. Jesus is God, the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus is the God who tells us how to think about life, morality, marriage, sexuality, murder, creation, and all the rest. Jesus tells us to believe in things that the world hates. Jesus tells us to reject things the world embraces. Jesus tells us to trust in him, even when the world around us thinks we are nuts.

Being a Christian means that you take up your cross and follow Jesus, even through the world’s ridicule. Yes, it may get to a point that the world tries to shut down your business if you are a Christian—actually, that is already happening. It may get to a place where the world tries to get you fired from any position of influence if you take the Bible seriously—OK, that is happening too. It may get to a place where the world tries to jail you for speaking out against the things that God’s word calls sin—OK, that too. It may get to the place where the world tries to imprison you if you will not deny the faith and to remove you from all semblance of influence in society if you are a Christian. But, dear friends, we must be willing to bear that shame with pride as we follow in the footsteps of our Savior. Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and accomplished the glorious plan of God to save a people for himself. Let’s be willing to die for him. But let’s also be willing to live for him no matter how crazy the world says we are.

Worthy or Not Worthy

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When you think of yourself, what do you assume you deserve? What do you believe you have earned? How do you think God, if measuring your life, ought to consider you?

One of the strange errors that human beings make is that of assuming that we can measure our goodness or badness against that of other people. Sometimes we think we can measure our goodness or badness against our own former goodness or badness.

What is interesting is the fact that, the more godly a person you meet, the less likely she is to think herself to be good or worthy. Or read the old Puritans. There you will find men with godly habits that would shame our modern generation, yet who also considered themselves the most lowly of men.

In Luke 7, we read the story of a centurion who had a sick servant. A group of the Jews came to Jesus to ask him to help by healing the sick man. The question of worthiness is prominent in the discussion.

Luke 7:4-7 – 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed.

Notice that the Jews were quick to say that this man was worthy, deserving of a miracle. But the man himself, he quickly and clearly declared himself unworthy, not only of the miracle, but of the Savior’s attention at all. What gives?

As we get to know the Lord more and more, as we know his word and ways, we begin to understand that we are in no way worthy of any favor from God. You see, God’s standard for measuring goodness is himself and his perfections. No mere man, stained by sin from birth, is able to come close to matching God’s perfection. WE all know that nobody is perfect. We all know that we slip up and fail from time-to-time. And even the slightest single slip is enough to score us as infinitely below the standard of perfection that God would call worthy.

Yet there is something right about the contrary statements from the Jews and the centurion. The Jews thought the man worthy. They looked at his life, and they saw genuine evidence of a man who feared God. They saw change and right living. They saw a man whose life is marked by goodness. But the man himself knew is own flaws, failings, and shortcomings.

In truth, that conflicting pattern ought to mark our own measure of worth. If you are one who has come to Jesus in faith and repentance, if you have been forgiven by God’s grace through faith in Christ, your measure of yourself as compared to the way others measure you should mirror what we see here. Others should look at your life, see your obedience and the transformation that comes because of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, and they should consider you to be a good and worthy person. But you should know, deep down, that the only good in you is that which has been given to you by Christ.

By the way, how did Jesus feel about this man’s declaration of himself as unworthy but willing to ask Jesus for help?

Luke 7:9 – When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

Faith in Jesus is the key to our being accepted by God. It is a faith that God grants to us as a gift. It is a faith apart from works through which God grants us salvation and the righteous record of Jesus. And that faith helps us to see ourselves as unworthy yet willing to rely fully on the person and work of Jesus for our standing before the Lord.

So, are you worthy? By any human measure, if you know yourself, the answer is no. None of us is worthy of anything other than the judgment and wrath of God. But if you have come to Jesus in faith, God has granted you forgiveness for your failings and the righteous record of Jesus for your record. Thus, in Christ, the Father calls you worthy even as you have never done anything to be worthy a day in your life. With that forgiveness comes new life and transformation. That leads us to live differently than ever before. And that difference should make others around you see you as worthy even if you know that all your goodness is a gift from God and God alone.

Revisiting the Fear of God

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Exodus 1:21 – And because the midwives feared God…

Peeking at a commentary on Exodus 1, I ran across a brief description of the topic of fearing God. The midwives feared God. Since trying to explain that topic has been a part of my preaching of Malachi, I thought to share this helpful tidbit.

But what does it mean to fear God? We have already suggested that fearing God is “to be honest, faithful, trustworthy, upright, and, above all, religious.” In short, “fearing God” is commonly in Scripture a virtual abbreviation for “believing in God, and therefore fearing the consequence of not pleasing him, thus being a person of moral conviction and righteous actions”—although in Hebrew it is surely not per se an abbreviation but an idiom.*

Thinking about this explanation, I find myself adding to how I would define the fear of God. Previously, I have described the fear of God as containing two main elements. Of course fear includes genuinely what we call fear, being frightened, the emotion that makes you want to run from someone or something. Fear also includes reverence and awe, the trembling and bowing rightly associated with God when you are amazed at his glory.

In general, we would say that the first kind of fear is not applicable to the believer, as we are now in a state of peace with God and should not wish to run from or hide from him. For the one in rebellion against God, the one never under his grace, the first fear is wholly reasonable, though to run from God only earns more judgment. The enemy of God should repent, believe, and come to Jesus to be saved.

The second kind of fear, the fear of God that is tied to reverence, respect, and awe, that fear is wholly proper for the Christian. The elders in Revelation 4 falling down before God’s throne in worship express proper and holy fear. Thomas bowing before Jesus and declaring, “My Lord and my God,” properly expresses fear.

But the commentary explanation above adds another simple dimension to my explanation of the idiom to fear God. Fearing God is wrapped up in what it means to genuinely believe in him. Often times we will discuss with people the difference in having a head knowledge of God and having a knowledge of God that goes to the heart, that changes your life, that is transformative. Fear of God is that deeper belief.

See if this illustration helps. Consider the diet of an unhealthy man. He may know, in his head, that what he is eating could lead to heart disease. But that knowledge does not lead him to change. He likes his food too much. But after the first heart attack, after death stares him in the face, all the sudden his aversion to healthy eating may melt away. One might say that this man believed in heart disease before, but only fearing heart disease changes his diet.

While that is admittedly a sloppy illustration, I think it adds to the picture that we need to have when discussing the fear of God. A God-fearer is different than one who claims, in general, to believe in a god.

So, I think I want to add to my explanation of what it means to fear God that genuine fear of God is belief in God that is transformative, that leads to worship, that leads to obedience.

* Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, Vol. 2, The New American Commentary ( Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), Exodus 1:21.