Tom Pennington
The Mission of the Church
What is our primary mission?
We have multiple categories of responsibility.
To God
To the church
To the world
What is the primary task that Christ assigned the church when it comes to the world?
This question has become more clouded over the past century or two.
Liberalism removed a belief in the need for salvation.
Liberal Protestantism believed the church’s mission is the salvation of society, not of individuals.
Fundamentalism knew this was not our goal.
Stott said that mission is the whole Christian lifestyle, including evangelism and social responsibility.
Emergent church tried to combine the social and individual spheres.
Social gospel became social justice, a rebranding of the ethics of liberalism.
Chan, Keller, and N. T. Wright also promote social justice.
As believers, we cannot be indifferent to the needs of those around us.
We ought to do what we can to alleviate the suffering of those whom God brings across our paths.
Is this redefinition of mission a biblical definition?
Is social justice part of, or all of, the primary mission of the church?
Matthew 28:16-20
Familiar text.
What it actually says may be different than what many think it says.
This is our primary mission.
4 crucial truths about our mission in these verses
Truth 1: Its singular importance.
Why do we consider this command to be so important?
Because of Matthew’s placement of it in his gospel
Matthew did not record the ascension or other teachings of that month.
Jesus made this Jesus’ last words he recorded.
Because of Jesus’ emphasis on this particular meeting.
The NT records multiple meetings between the resurrected Jesus and his disciples.
Multiple meetings on Resurrection Sunday.
One meeting 8 days later.
But Matthew focuses on this meeting.
About 9 days after the resurrection, the 11 left for Galilee.
Jesus gave them this command to go to Galilee several times.
The trip would have taken at least 3 days.
7 of them went fishing after they arrived.
After that, Jesus met them on the mountain in Galilee.
Jesus clearly considered this meeting strategic.
Because of the disciples to whom he gave it
Jesus directed this command to the 11.
But he gave it to others as well.
In verse 10 of Mat 28, Jesus’ brethren were told to go to Galilee.
That refers to more than the 11.
Jesus plans to speak to a larger group in Galilee.
In 1 Cor 15, Jesus appeared to more than 500 at once.
Many think this would have been the crowd when the Commission was given.
Most of Jesus’ disciples were in Galilee.
Verse 17 says that some doubted while others worshipped.
The 11 had already come to confidence that Jesus was raised.
It is others, Galilean disciples, who struggled to believe.
Jesus gave the commission to all who had come to believe in him.
Thus, this is for us too.
Because of the deliberate comprehensiveness of this command.
Jesus uses the word all 4 times.
All authority
All nations
All things I have commanded you
I am with you all the days.
Because of the repetition of the commission
This same basic command is repeated 3 other times.
Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1
Mark 16 in the long ending shows us that the early church knew this was important.
It is impossible to overstate the singular importance of this commission and command outlined here.
Truth 2: Its supreme authority
Jesus makes a great claim.
Verse 18
All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
Jesus had always possessed supreme authority.
Jesus had authority on earth even before his death.
Matthew 7:29; 9:6; 10:8; 11:25-ff.
In Matthew 11:25-ff, all things have been handed over to me by my Father.
Everything necessary for Jesus to accomplish his ministry is under his authority.
After the resurrection, the sphere of his authority is absolute.
All authority is his.
Eph 1:20
The Father seated Jesus in the supreme place of authority.
Philippians 2, Jesus is exalted to the highest place.
Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth.
He rules everything in the universe.
That was prophesied of the messiah.
Daniel 7:13-ff
Jesus had already claimed that passage to himself.
His dominion is everlasting, over all, never destroyed.
Why point this out?
Jesus is about to give his church an audacious mission.
Jesus has supreme authority.
He has the authority to establish the mission of your church.
He has the right to define the mission and the power to carry it out.
Christ will build his church.
Truth 3: Its specific orders
Verse 19
Therefore, because Jesus has the right to rule the church, he gives us our marching orders.
These orders have not changed over 2,000 years.
Go
This is a contrast to the command of chapter 10:5.
Do not go in the way of gentiles in chapter 10.
Now Jesus says to go to the nations.
Go is a participle
Having gone, make disciples.
Is this a command to go?
Yes it is.
This participle is an attendant circumstance.
It ties to the main verb.
It is right for translations to translate the participle as an imperative.
You could not make disciples of the nations if you stayed in Israel.
Of course Jesus intended that some of his disciples were to relocate to carry out the mission.
Peter went to Italy.
Thomas when to India.
The stoning of Stephen sent others out.
Jesus wanted some of those who heard him to leave home and go.
He still expects some of our church members to go too.
We should pray that God will raise up people in our churches and families to go.
We need to challenge our people to go.
We need to consider going ourselves.
But Jesus did not intend that all 500 would relocate.
Many, think James, remained in Israel for the rest of their lives.
All nations included their nation.
We are called to carry out the Great Commission.
We may do so in our neighborhood or around the world.
But we do not get a pass from this Commission.
Every disciple and every church must own the world-wide mission of the church.
Jesus says go.
Make disciples
This is the main verb of the sentence.
It is not optional.
What does it mean?
Carson – disciples are those who hear, understand, and obey Jesus’ teaching.
Acts 11:26 – the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch
To be a Christian is to be a disciple.
The mission is making disciples.
We do not call people to ourselves or to a cause.
We call people to follow a person, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The goal is not decisions, but disciples.
What is the nature of a spiritual relationship with Jesus?
Call Jesus teacher and Lord, John 13.
He is our teacher, we are the students.
We are the slaves, he is the master.
This is not about a simple prayer or momentary faith.
It is not about a simple acceptance of facts.
It is a call to follow Jesus as Master and Teacher.
Acts 14:21
They preached the gospel and made many disciples.
Acts 13:48 – The ones appointed to eternal life believed.
Preach the gospel, proclaim the word, and that is how you make disciples.
Let us not get so excited in our goals to help people and fix the city that we lose track of what makes Christian mission Christian.
All the nations
Jesus means all nations, including Israel.
Luke 24:47, repentance is proclaimed to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.
Ephesians 3:11, the eternal plan.
Jesus says he came to seek and save the lost.
The theme of the Bible: God is redeeming a people by his Son, for his Son, to his own glory.
What does the command to make disciples of all nations mean?
Some leave and go to other nations.
For others, this command may be a call to take vacation, travel overseas, and help missionaries.
Even if you do not go to the nations, you are responsible for the nations.
Pray, give, care for missionaries.
Do the people in our churches understand that every believer must actively support Christ’s international mission.
What always accompanies true disciple-making?
Baptizing
We baptize into the name (singular) of the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus puts himself in the middle of the trinity.
Jesus claims deity right here.
Baptize means to dip or plunge under water.
It was often accompanied by the verbal affirmation that Jesus is Lord.
True disciples profess submission to Jesus’ authority.
Baptism is important.
Do not downplay it if Jesus put it right here in the commission.
1 Corinthians 12:13
All believers are baptized into the body of Christ.
Acts 2:41, water baptism serves as a picture of that spiritual reality and as initiation to the church.
Teach
Every disciple is to be taught all Jesus has commanded.
There is a demand that preachers have a biblically-centered teaching ministry.
We do not teach our own ideas, we teach all Jesus has commanded.
If you do not teach all Jesus has commanded, you do not fulfill the Great Commission.
Teach them to obey.
Our goal is not information but transformation.
We help saved sinners move toward being sanctified saints.
True disciples practice what they have heard.
John 8:31
The Bible knows nothing of a believer who glories in justification and ignores sanctification.
That Jesus includes baptism and instruction should transform our understanding of the Commission.
This happens in the local church.
The mission is only accomplished when we have made true disciples and when they are baptized and when they are taught the Scriptures and when they are taught to obey.
We send people to make disciples.
Truth 4: Its sustaining promise
Verse 20
I am with you always.
Surely, for certain, I am with you.
The pronoun is included interestingly in the original.
Certainly, I myself am with you.
Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
He is still God with us.
Always, in all days, all the time, in the whole of every day
He is with us through the end of every age.
The end of our mission is when He determines human history will end.
The promise is for us.
The Commission is for us.
How inadequate do you feel?
We are never alone.
This is our hope.
Acts 18:9-11 – Jesus told Paul he was with him.
Paul settled there for a year and a half.
Settle down in the ministry and be faithful.
He is with you.
3 implications
First, commit yourself and your church to this mission.
Pray for global missions and our own missionaries.
Pray for God to raise up missionaries from our own church.
Support generously our missionaries.
Second, don’t let yourself or your church be distracted from the mission that Jesus assigned the church.
Do not give a higher priority to social issues or culture.
Third, Don’t forget or let your church forget that this mission is the main reason that Christ has left us here.
Go and report what great things the Lord has done for you.
We want to be with Jesus, but we are still here.
Shepherds Conference 2018 Session 7 Notes
Ligon Duncan
The Power of the Church – The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Galatians 4:19; 5:1; 5:13-ff
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the answer to antinomianism and legalism.
The Spirit sets you free from bondage to sin and the yoke of the Mosaic ceremonial code.
he sets you free to be what God created you to be.
We want Christ formed in the members of the church (4:19)
How does that happen?
By what power are believers remade in the image of God?
The ministry of the Holy Spirit
How often is the power of the HS emphasized?
Ezekiel 36:26-27
New heart, new Spirit, causing you to walk in my statutes.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Law of God written on our hearts
The prophets see this as uniquely the work of the Spirit.
Their ministries are ministries of the Spirit.
Micah 3:8
I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord…
Zechariah
Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.
Joel 2:28-ff
I will pour out my Spirit…
The later prophets see their ministries in terms of the operative power of the HS.
They look forward to a time to come when the Spirit works in a unique way in the people of God.
Luke 1
The angel comes to tell about John the Baptist.
The angel says, “He is going to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Zechariah asks the same question as Abraham asked in Genesis 15.
How can I know this is true?
How will you know? I am Gabriel.
Last time we saw Gabriel was Daniel 9.
Gabriel came to tell Daniel what was to come.
Gabriel tells Zechariah that his son will be the forerunner.
Then Gabriel goes to Mary.
How can a virgin have a child?
Luke 1:35-ff
The HS will come upon you…
Luke 4:1
Jesus was full of the Spirit.
He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.
Adam fell in one temptation in a garden of perfection, Jesus in a howling wilderness three times refutes the evil one.
Three times, “It is written…”
Luke 4:14
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.
Acts 1:8
You will receive power when the HS has come upon you…
Acts 10:38
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the HS and power…
Romans 1:4
Christ Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection…
Romans 15:13
By the power of the Spirit, you may abound in hope…
Romans 15:18-19
By the power of the Spirit, I have fulfilled the ministry…
1 Corinthians 2:4
My ministry was in demonstration of the Spirit and of Power
Ephesians 3:16
1 Thessalonians 1:5
Not only in word… power and the HS with full conviction
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is indeed depicted as the power of the church.
All through the canon, this is true.
Why and in what way?
Two things to see:
The pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant is depicted as a fulfillment of a promise that is older than Jeremiah 31.
Acts 2
If Jesus had not rebuked Peter when Peter tried to get in his way to go to the cross, he could never have preached the sermon of Acts 2.
Peter cites Joel 2.
Acts 2:22-ff
God planned this.
Jesus was not a victim of your designs.
Jesus decides when he is going to die.
And you nailed him to the cross by the hands of sinful men.
Sovereignty and responsibility are together with no questions.
Peter shows that Jesus is the Messiah.
Peter shows what Jesus was doing in the world.
Then, verse 36, Jesus is Lord and Christ.
The people are convicted.
They killed the Messiah.
What do we do?
Repent!
He died in order that your sins would be forgiven.
The one you killed is your only hope, and his killing is the basis of your hope as you put your trust in him.
Repent, be baptized, you will receive the Spirit.
For the promise is for you
What promise?
Context is crucial.
Has Luke mentioned the promise before?
Luke 24
Jesus explains things to the disciples.
Luke 24:45-ff
It is written that the Christ should suffer…
Jesus had already said all of acts 2 in Luke 24:47.
Now I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.
What is that promise?
Acts 1:4
Wait for what the Father had promised.
You heard of this from me.
John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.
Galatians 3:13-15
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law…
In Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the gentiles so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The ministry of the Spirit is the fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham.
It is not for super-believers.
It is for all who repent and believe.
The ministry of the Spirit is the proof and the substance that the Abrahamic promises are yours in Christ Jesus.
That is the promise of the Father.
The pouring out of the Spirit is the promise of God to Abraham so that the inheritance of Abraham comes to all who believe, Jew and gentile.
What empowers our ministry is a promise 4,000 years old, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
What does it do?
The role of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant ministry is to seal and confirm the promises to the believer and to secure them in the sanctification that those promises entail.
Ephesians 1:13
You were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
This is a pledge of our inheritance.
The HS assures us of our inheritance in Christ, the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promises.
I will be your God and you will be my people.
Ephesians 1:18
… His inheritance in the saints…
In the covenant, you get an inheritance.
But did you know that in the covenant, God gets an inheritance?
What does God get as an inheritance?
You.
The thing that God wants is his blood bought people.
He will be our God, we will be his people.
He will be our inheritance. WE will be his inheritance.
The Spirit seals, marks, confirms, assures us of that.
The Spirit shows us that we are co-heirs with Christ.
We need this for the church.
If we do not know this, we are crippled.
The Holy Spirit empowers our sanctification so that our enjoyment of the Abrahamic blessings is realized.
Ephesians 3:14-19
Comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth
Be filled up to the fullness of God
Four clauses in the passage.
There is a compounding prayer, 4 parts leading in the same direction 16-ff
Be strengthened with power.
Christ would dwell in your hearts through faith.
Know the love of Christ that surpassed knowledge
Be filled up to the fullness of God.
The power of the HS in your life.
You need strength.
You need that strength, because the Christian life is lived at the level of the heart and desires.
We need strength put inside us that comes from outside of us.
That strength comes from the promised HS.
The HS strengthens us so that Christ will take over our desires.
He helps us love what Jesus loves and hate what Jesus hates.
We need this so we are not controlled by the desires of the world, flesh, and devil.
You need the HS so you will know that love that surpasses knowledge.
You should know a love that you cannot actually understand.
Like peace that passes understanding
This fills you up to the fullness of God.
You become what God created and redeemed you to be.
The serpent told Eve that she would become like God.
What should Eve and Adam have said?
What do you mean will become like him?
Look at 1:27
We already are like him.
We are made in his image.
Nothing in the world is more like God than we are; we are his image.
But they took the bait.
And they became less like God.
The image was not erased but it was effaced.
It was not lost, but it was marred.
In salvation we are not only forgiven, but God, by the Spirit, goes about the work of restoring us so that we are finally, again, like our Heavenly Father.
Galatians 5
All Paul is doing in 13-26 is working out what we just saw in the prayer or Ephesians 3:14-19.
What does it look like when this works out?
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
Crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the power of the church.
Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
Do you want Christ to be formed in the church?
Preach the Spirit’s word and watch him do the work.
Shepherds Conference 2018 Session 6 Notes
Session 6
Art Azurdia
“The Influence of The Church”
John 17:17-18
In Luke and Acts, the direction of movement changes.
In Luke, the direction of movement is toward Jerusalem.
In Acts, the movement is out from Jerusalem.
The movement will reach to the ends of the earth.
John 17-15 – Jesus prays for himself.
6-19 – Jesus prays for his disciples minus Judas
20-26 – Jesus prays for the church to come.
Jesus prays for his disciples:
Unity – that they may be one
Protection – protect them from the evil one.
An authentic Christianity assumes a meaningful worldliness.
Verse 18
As you sent me, I am sending them.
Jesus said that the Father sanctified him and sent him into the world.
Sanctification is for mission.
Jesus is doing with his disciples what his Father did with him.
Jesus is sending them with authority.
If we intend our people to take these commands seriously, we must see that they must be in the world.
There are a pair of vulnerabilities to watch out for:
Cultural gluttony
Cultural anorexia
Do not gorge on the world.
This is often cloaked in the guise of wanting to win the world.
We become just like the world.
The world’s values, objectives, and attitudes become ours.
Those who seek to become like the world end up like the world, but they are not liked by the world because the world recognizes their hypocrisy.
We are called to be the salt of the earth, not its sugar.
Cultural anorexia is a radical withdrawal from the world.
This is isolating and then insulating.
The church becomes a ghetto.
It is pure, but irrelevant.
When is the last time you shared a meal with an unbeliever in your home?
Parents should be preparing their children to enter the world, not hide from the world.
The people of the world are not the enemy but the victims of the enemy.
We need meaningful engagement with the world for the sake of the gospel.
A meaningful worldliness presupposes a consistent sanctification.
Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.
Sanctify is a holiness word.
Sanctified is to be set apart for God, set apart for a sacred duty.
How is this sanctification accomplished?
Sanctification comes with the word of God.
Jesus does not say God’s word is true (using an adjective), but truth (a noun).
He said the Bible was true, we could ask, “What is the standard of measure by which you test the truthfulness of the Scripture?
But if the Bible is truth, we must understand that all other claims of truth are measured against the Scriptures, not the other way round.
Earlier, Jesus said he is the truth (14:6).
The Bible is Christocentric.
WE must recognize that.
The Bible is not a book of virtues.
Don’t preach it that way.
It is not a textbook of systematic theology.
Don’t preach it that way.
It is a book that tells one overarching story centered on one person.
We as a church tend toward a profound biblical illiteracy.
And we wonder why we are not sanctified.
And we wonder why we cannot engage the world.
There is also an implicit means of sanctification.
The Bible is the explicit one in verse 17.
Jesus is talking to the Father.
While sanctification is brought about by the instrumentality of the word, it is still a work that only the Father can produce.
Pastors, if praying is not in your job description, you should see to it that it gets in there, because this is your work.
Samuel told the people,
Far be it from me to sin by not praying for you.
Dozens of times in Psalm 119, David asks God to do in him what only God can do.
The sanctifying work of the Father is accomplished by the work of the Son.
A consistent sanctification requires the self-consecration of the Son.
On the basis of Jesus’ act of self-consecration, he will purchase the grace that he asks the Father to give his followers.
For them I sanctify myself.
Jesus is talking about the disciples.
This is called Jesus’ high priestly prayer.
The high priest would pray for the people and make atonement for the people.
Those for whom he prayed are those for whom he made atonement.
Jesus said he was not praying for the world.
He was praying for his own.
He also made atonement for his own.
For them I sanctify myself.
Sanctification for mission is the achievement of the crucifixion.
Shepherd’s Conference 2018 Session 5 Notes
Session 5
Phil Johnson
“The Mark of a Healthy Church”
Revelation 2:1-7
What are the marks of a true church?
That question did not make sense to many before the Reformation.
Medieval Christianity had become a religion full of precepts such as do not taste, do not handle, do not touch.
They had lost the simplicity of the gospel.
The gospel was buried under a landfill of ecclesiastical traditions.
By a purely biblical standard, the whole priestly system was at odds with the teaching of Christ.
Augsburg Confession
2 things:
The gospel is rightly taught and the sacrament’s are administered.
Scottish confession added church discipline to the Augsburg two.
Belgic Confession lists the same 3 marks.
Anglican 39 articles has the 2 of Augsburg.
Calvin agreed on preaching and sacraments in the Institutes .
He also later added discipline and perhaps the formal ordination of church officers.
Reformers see 3 marks almost uniformly: gospel, sacraments, and discipline.
And since discipline can be tied to the Lord’s Supper, those who saw only 2 marks are not saying anything different.
What is the one infallible mark of a true and healthy church?
Love for Christ.
If you have a church that is distinguished by genuine love for the true Christ, you have a great church, regardless of the size.
You can have all the other standard marks of a true church, but if you lack love for Christ, you are in trouble.
Love for Christ is the starting point for all true religion.
Love of God is mandated by the greatest commandments.
Love for God is part of salvation.
Love for Christ separates true believers from unbelievers.
Love for Christ is the very essence of saving faith.
That takes away any lordship controversy.
Revelation 2 and 3 contain 7 short letters from Christ to churches in Asia minor.
Ephesus is one.
This church is very well known in the New Testament.
Paul was a missionary there.
Timothy, Apollos, and John all served there.
Spent a time discussing Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.
He covered missionary journeys of Paul in Acts.
Paul spent 2 years’ time in Ephesus in Acts 19.
By the time that Paul moves on from Ephesus, the church is established and has elders.
Paul sent Timothy to pastor in Ephesus (cf. 1 Timothy 1).
In Acts 20, Paul bids farewell to the Ephesian elders, believing that he would never return there.
Acts 20:29, fierce wolves are going to come in.
Men from among even the elders will speak twisted things.
Paul constantly told Timothy to watch out, because difficult times were coming.
Timothy may have been martyred in Ephesus around AD 80.
After Timothy, John the apostle may have pastored in Ephesus.
Ephesus has a tomb claiming to be the tomb of the virgin Mary.
Polycarp was in Ephesus.
Irenaeus recorded Polycarp stories.
Ephesians church was founded around AD 54.
Within 40 years, they receive a stinging rebuke from Jesus.
Even though they had been served by Paul, Apollos, Timothy, and John.
Revelation 2:1-7
Letter to the messenger, the preaching pastor of the church.
The whole church is to hear this message.
It is uniquely suited to the needs of the church to which it is addressed.
And there is clearly truth for us too, as God kept it in the canon.
There was much for which to commend the Ephesian church.
They had good doctrine.
They did not grow weary in doing good.
They hated the practices of a wicked and licentious cult.
They knew what to do when false teachers of false doctrines show up.
The Ephesians had zero tolerance for false teaching.
They were the kind of church that discernment-minded people want to go.
Ephesus was a true church inn accord with the 3 marks.
They preached the word.
They celebrated the sacraments.
They practiced discipline.
In verse 5, Jesus threatens to remove the church lampstand.
The failure of the church in verse 4 is terribly sad.
They have no real heart for Christ.
They looked like the Pharisees in some way.
They looked clean on the outside.
Their hearts were rotten.
Removing the lampstand is to excommunicate the local congregation.
This is not unheard of.
We have seen many churches, less than 75 years old, that have left behind the word of God and the gospel.
Apostacy is not hard to find.
Love for Christ is what the Ephesians lacked.
John 8:42, if God is your Father, you love the Lord.
Matthew 10:37
When Peter denied Christ, Jesus asked about Peter’s love.
True believers cannot lose their love for Christ completely.
But the warmth of our love can diminish.
In Ephesus, it may be that a passion for orthodoxy got in the way.
You can end up with a dead orthodoxy.
How do you solve the problem?
Remember, repent, and return.
Remember your early love and zeal for Christ.
Remember your gratitude for salvation.
Remember your love of serving the Savior.
Fill your heart with the truths of the gospel.
Repent
It is a sin not to love the Lord Jesus.
This is a sin we need to ponder and repent of.
We may need to repent here daily.
Return
Serve God.
Obey what you know is right.
This is no call not to love doctrine and go deep.
But a love for Christ should not be eclipsed by your study.
Foster and fortify your love for Christ.
The more you love Jesus, the more other doctrines and truths will fall into place.
Churches that love Christ preach Christ, not Hollywood.
They worship Christ, not raw emotionalism.
Pastors, if you think this is hard for you, realize how much harder it is for the flock who are living and working in a difficult world.
Preach Christ.
Preach the gospel.
Keep Jesus at the center.
Get rid of gimmickry and topical nonsense.
Preach Jesus and put him first in all things.
Shepherds Conference 2018 Session 2 Notes
H. B. Charles
The Life of the Church
John 13
The church should be a community of foot-washers.
Passover was the setting and background for the washing of the disciples’ feet.
Jesus sets an example for his disciples to follow.
Servanthood is essential to Christianity.
Those who would follow Christ must follow his example of servanthood.
Point 1: The motivation for service is love.
Verse 1
Jesus’ hour had come.
Even at death, Jesus has everything under control.
He loved his disciples to the end.
He is driven by love for his own.
God has common grace on all, but special love for his own.
He loved them to the end.
This is not timing of love but extent of his love.
1 Peter 1:22-25
Love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
We are called to love one another.
But this is not natural to us.
As sinners, we love self instead of God.
But, since we are born again, we are to love one another.
Love is the birthmark of Christian discipleship, and it moves us to serve one another.
Point 2: The model of service is Jesus.
Verses 2-11
Luke 22:24, there is a dispute among the disciples.
The disciples are arguing about who will be in charge.
They will not give up leverage by lowering themselves to wash feet.
Conflict in the church is rooted here: when we have an attitude of lording over others.
When our authority is more important than serving like Christ, division arises, Christ is dishonored, and the gospel is muted.
These events are happening after the devil had already given Judas the heart to betray Jesus.
Judas is unregenerate.
The devil had free reign in his heart.
Jesus already knew.
Judas was in the room when Jesus began to wash feet.
Would you have washed Judas’ feet?
We are called to be servants.
Pastors are to be servant-leaders.
We do not have the right to determine who deserves our service if we follow Jesus’ example.
Jesus is fully aware of who he is and what he is doing.
It is with that perfect knowledge that Jesus moves to serve.
The worth of your service is not determined by the prominence of your role.
The first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Philippians’ 2:6-7
Peter speaks up.
Do you wash my feet?
Peter is distressed.
Jesus tells Peter that he will understand later.
How true is that of life and ministry?
We have to trust and obey the Lord, even when he is up to something we do not understand.
Peter is not satisfied with Jesus’ answer to him.
You shall never wash my feet.
This is both pride and humility.
He is too humble to let Jesus wash his feet.
But he is not so humble that he will not tell Jesus what he is not allowed to do.
If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.
We are now not just talking about feet.
1 John 1:7 has washing, cleansing language for salvation.
Salvation is not about what we do for the Lord, it is about what he does for us.
Ephesians 2:8-9, when we are saved, we have nothing we can boast about.
Peter questioned Jesus’ service, he rejected Jesus’ service, then he tried to correct Jesus’ service.
Jesus told Peter that the one who has bathed need only wash his feet.
All of the 12 are clean, except for one.
And Jesus knew who that was.
This is about saving faith.
When he cleanses you, you are cleansed forever.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Christ makes us clean through is cross and resurrection.
Point 3: The mandate of service is inescapable.
Verses 12-ff
Jesus is both teacher and Lord.
If I washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet.
This is not the institution of a new ordinance.
This is a metaphor for Christian service.
Be willing to do whatever it takes to serve one another.
Do not battle to get the best spots.
This is totally distinct from how the world thinks.
The world thinks that greatness is to have others serve you.
Jesus shows that we descend to greatness.
Is there anything I can do for you?
That is a dangerous question.
This should mark the lives of those who are marked by being washed by Jesus.
Jesus calls on us to let his life be our example of service.
If Jesus can wash feet…
We can serve even when we do not feel like it.
we can serve even when it costs us.
we can serve even when it is not appreciated.
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Knowing you should serve is not where the blessing comes from.
Serving is where the blessing begins.
We are not home yet.
We are called to serve, suffer, and sacrifice.
In the Lord, your labor is not in vain.
Shepherds Conference 2018 – Session 1 Notes
Session 1
John MacArthur
“The Purity of the Church: Sanctification”
Galatians 4:19-ff
Paul was passionate about the holiness of the people.
Galatians is likely Paul’s first letter.
Galatians is a defense of salvation by faith alone.
Some Jewish teachers had come from Jerusalem, claiming to be Christians, and demanding that Paul and the Galatians affirm that no one could be saved apart from circumcision and adherence to Jewish ceremonies.
If you add anything to faith, you have a different gospel.
Paul pronounces damnation on anyone who preaches a different gospel.
Salvation is not by faith plus works.
Paul affirms that the Galatians are true believers.
They are children of promise.
Who has bewitched you?
How can you be so foolish?
Their sanctification was being interrupted because they were being charmed in a deceitful way to lead them toward evil.
The pastor is to be the agent of the people’s sanctification.
Election is entirely a work of God.
Justification is entirely a work of God.
Glorification is entirely a work of God.
Sanctification is a process, and we as shepherds are engaged as instruments of God for the accomplishment of that process.
Paul was distressed, fearing that someone or something had led the Galatians away from the simplicity of the word of God and the gospel of Christ.
Paul wanted to build the church into Christ’s likeness.
We see this in all his letters.
Cited examples from 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians.
Cited 1 Peter 5:1-4.
Cited the example of Jesus.
The doctrine of sanctification defines our ministry.
We are for the sanctification of God’s people.
This is a progressive, life-long work.
You cannot be content that they are there.
You cannot be content that they like your preaching.
You must long for them to be manifestly sanctified.
The means and motivation matter.
Means: prayer, word of God, fellowship, worship, etc.
What do we do?
Do we need to be more demanding?
We need to show them Christ so that they will love him more.
This whole subject of sanctification is absent from the contemporary church.
Maturity is in rare supply.
Preachers used to give calls to holiness.
Sanctification used to have a more central place in the church.
Popular preachers do not seem to call people to sanctification.
We may like the doctrine of election.
We may like faith alone.
We may like glorification, though we do not talk about it much. But how little is said about sanctification?
We legitimize the longings of the selfish human heart.
We use that to attract people to the church.
This new version of Christianity appeals to people’s consuming self-interest.
WE avoid what condemns or convicts.
Even in reformed churches, there seems to be indifference to sanctification.
How did we get to this point?
For centuries, churches were theological and transcendent.
Churches used to be worried about virtue and holiness.
Churches opposed worldliness.
They thought deeply about the glory of God.
Now we are psychological, we redefine worship as musical stimulation, and people think about their own wants rather than the glory of God.
People are more interested in personal satisfaction than sanctification.
How did we get here?
Freud?
Freud said that everyone should be free from restraint and constraint.
He called for authenticity.
He called for people to accept the legitimacy of their own desires.
Be who you are.
This is your true self.
Youthful, irresponsible desire is elevated to a good place.
This has dominated our culture.
See that advertising is focused on the 18-30 year-olds who have no money.
They define authenticity in our culture.
Because the church preached against such sinful authenticity, the world has rejected the church.
They say we are hypocrites.
The selfish hedonist is the hero.
The church is full of phonies.
Decades ago, the church began to fear they would lose their young people.
They decided to work to keep them by dumbing down the worship and teaching.
We have bowed to a cheap, immature, adolescent culture.
Modern people do not want thoughtful, serious, sober focus on the word of God and sanctification.
Our job is not to make unbelievers happy with the church, our job is to make the saints more like Christ.
Antinomianism results from what has happened.
This is who I am.
This is how I’m wired.
Christ paid for my sins and lived a perfect life credited to my account.
That is true.
Now I need to just accept that perfect life and stop worrying about my growth.
That is false.
This is an old heresy.
We think this is a cure for legalism.
The antinomian thinks he is free from the law, and he celebrates that.
The legalist defines his relationship to God by keeping the law.
The Antinomian defines his relationship with God by not keeping the law.
None of us should define our relationship to God by the law.
Do not attach yourself to the law as the defining reality of your relationship to God.
Both legalism and antinomianism fail here.
Modern antinomians say if you obey the word of God out of a sense of duty or respect, that is sin, a trap.
Titus 2:11-ff
The same grace that saved us is the grace that instructs us to holiness.
Romans 5:1
Sin reigned, but now grace reigns.
The grace of God instructs us to deny ungodliness.
Grace corrects. Grace disciplines.
Sanctification is the process of fighting for full joy and not selling out for a cheap substitute along the pathway.
Now to Galatians.
All the preceding was introduction.
Paul is like a mother who birthed these people into new life.
He wonders why he is suffering through that process again.
Verse 20
I am perplexed about you.
I wish I could change my tone.
Pastors, we want to bring people to conformity to Christ.
It is not about redeeming the culture.
It is about the sanctification of the saints whose transformed lives will impact the culture.
Listening to expository preaching is a skill.
It is an acquired taste.
The Necessity of Church Attendance
A believer cannot obey God without being a part of a local church. Stop, read that again. It is impossible for you or me to obey God without being an active, regular, present part of a local church. [As a disclaimer, I’m not aiming here at a person who has no local church near him to attend.]
Hebrews 10:24-25 – 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews has spent ten chapters pointing to the glory of Jesus. Jesus is our great high priest, much greater than Moses or the Levitical priesthood. Jesus is kind and understanding. He made a single sacrifice for sins, just one, and the sacrificial system is at an end. He opened the way for the people of God to freely enter the presence of God.
It is in the light of such glorious things that the author of the letter then tells the church that they are to do certain things. Look at the passage in context.
Hebrews 10:19-25 – 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
See all the “since” statements. Since Jesus has done all he has done and since Jesus is who he is, we are to respond in certain ways. We are to draw near to God (v 23). Would anybody rightly argue that a Christian can be what he is supposed to be without drawing near to God? We are to hold fast to the confession of our faith (v 24). Would anyone argue that someone can be a faithful Christian who does not hold fast his confession? And we are to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (v 24). And again, I point out that no Christian can be what we are supposed to be without obeying this command.
But how are we to obey the command to spur one another toward love and good deeds? The author makes it plain. WE do this, not by giving up meeting together. Instead, we spur one another on by continuing to meet together and encouraging one another (v 25).
So, let me say it again in case you think I’m not clear enough. If you have the physical capacity to attend a local church, you must do so in order to be obedient to the word of God. For a believer to be obedient, he or she must encourage other believers as we meet together. This is part of faithful, biblical Christianity.
Now, let’s consider what is now the common practice of American Christians. I’ll not try to prove the statistics, but you can look them up easily. American Christians tend to attend church around 2 to 3 Sunday’s per month. There are 4 Sundays in a month. Thus, there are many who claim to follow Christ who make it a regular habit of refusing to worship with other believers at least twice per month. This is disobedience to the word of God, plain and simple.
OK, we do not do each other any good by sitting here and bemoaning the state of American Christianity. We do no good by talking about denominations where 2/3 of church members could not be found on any given Sunday even by the combined efforts of the FBI, CIA, and NSA. Instead, let’s talk about you and me. Instead of worrying what others should or should not do, ask yourself if you are being what God calls you to be?
God says to you, believer in the Lord Jesus, to make sure that you are regularly encouraging other Christians. How do you do that? You do not give up meeting together with them. You keep showing up. You show up when you feel like it. You show up when you do not feel like it. You show up when you could have done something else. You show up when it is raining. You show up when it snows. You show up when it is hot. You show up when it is beautiful at the lake. You show up to take part in the worship of Christ and the encouraging of believers.
Again, I’m not here writing about the person who would have to walk 75 miles through mine fields just to attend a service. Nor am I putting guilt on the shoulders of a mom who has to sit at home with a little one running a fever. Nor is this supposed to hurt the heart of an aged saint who cannot leave the house. But, hear me, if you are an able-bodied believer who has a local church nearby where the gospel is preached, go. It should feel utterly foreign to you to let a Sunday go by without being gathered together with people of God you know and love for the sake of worship and encouragement.
“Ah,” you say, “but none of the churches near me see the doctrines of the Bible as perfectly as I do. So Obviously, I cannot attend any of them.” While it is possible that a believer is in a setting where there are simply no churches nearby of any sort of faithfulness, the more likely truth is that the person making such a claim is thinking far too highly of himself and his discernment. Go and love people. Go and encourage people. Who knows, you may actually become part of the solution to the problems you see. Or you might find out that some of the things you are elevating to 1st level issues are actually not.
Let’s not worry about all the what ifs that could arise here. Instead, let’s strive to be obedient. If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, regular gathering together with the people of God should be normal. Absenting yourself from such a gathering should feel as weird to you as RUNNING OUT OF THE HOUSE WITH your shoes on the wrong feet. Sure, you may have to do so in an emergency, but it will feel wrong and you will correct the problem as soon as you can.
Hebrews 10:24-25 – 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
#END
Carson — The Farewell Discourse of Jesus — A Review
D. A. Carson. The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Evangelical Exposition of John 14-17. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2018. 242 pp. $13.89.
As a pastor, I have taught through the Gospel According to John at least twice, and of course have gone back to the text many times. Whenever I study this book, I eagerly refer back to D. A. Carson’s commentary in the Pillar set. So I am a fan. And thus I am a fan of this shorter work by Carson aimed at helping anyone in the church body to gain a greater understanding of John 14-17.
Carson is a brilliant writer. He can move from faithful exegesis and examination of Greek on the one hand to citing the lyrics of sweet old hymns on the next. He can go from heavy argument on more difficult verses on the one hand to talking us through what it means that Jesus calls us his friends on the next. Carson knows how to be the scholar and he knows how to right as a fellow believer with all the rest of us.
Carson’s work on the farewell discourse feels much like his commentaries, though the heavier lifting is not there. Unlike a scholarly commentary, when Carson runs across a debated point in the text in this work, he will not offer 4 or 5 alternative views before making his argument for his preference. Instead, he simply gives us the argument he believes is correct. This is no weakness to this book. Rather, it is a product of the purpose of the text. Carson is writing here for pastors and laypersons who want to go deeper in their study but who do not want to purchase a $50 commentary on the subject. He wants to be readable and understandable without bogging people down in minutia. And Carson, as always, does an excellent job of finding the balance between heavy scholarship and readability.
If you would like a solid book to help you to do an in-depth Bible study with other believers on the farewell discourse of Jesus, this would be a great tool for you. No, it is not a fluffy work. No, it does not offer you study questions and outlines for the study. This book simply takes you through the text, shows you its meaning, and draws for you helpful application. If you are interested in such things, this book is a good one.
** I received a free copy of this work from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Did Sacrifices Work?
In the book of Leviticus, the Lord set forth for the people a system of sacrifice, offerings for a variety of purposes. When the people sinned against the Lord, he gave them particular things to do in order to be forgiven. And the forgiveness of sin never came about without the death of an animal. A substitute was put to death in the place of the sinful person. And, hopefully, the people saw that sin is an ugly, bloody, deadly business.
And some might wonder why this would work. Why would God allow the blood of an animal to be shed in place of the blood of a sinful person who, according to God’s own law, ought to die for his own sin? How can a bull or a goat or a lamb or a bird be enough to take away my guilt?
Hebrews 10:4 – For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Then we read the book of Hebrews, and we see that it is impossible that the blood of such animals could take away sin. There is no way that a bull’s blood is sufficient payment for the wrongs that I have committed before the Lord. There is no way that a sheep’s life can substitute for my own, not really. There is no way that a finite animal could ever make up for my falling infinitely short of God’s perfection.
So, obviously the offerings didn’t work, right?
Leviticus 4:20 – Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.
Note that last phrase, “they shall be forgiven.” Moses did not tell the priests that the offering would not work. In fact, he makes it clear that the sacrifice, the blood, the transference of guilt, the substitution, all of it would lead to forgiveness. This was not a pretend forgiveness. God said they would be forgiven of their sin if they went through this system.
So, what gives? How do we understand the sacrifice? Hebrews says that the blood of the animal is not enough. Leviticus says they will be forgiven.
Romans 3:23-26 – 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.
Look at Paul’s explanation for a few of the reasons for the death of Jesus on the cross. Paul tells us that Jesus died to accomplish something glorious. Jesus died for propitiation. He died as an offering for sins in order to take away the wrath of God and turn God’s face of favor toward the saved.
We know all that pretty much instinctively if we grew up in a gospel-preaching church. But the next phrase in verse 25 is not one many dwell on: “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” That sentence tells us another reason for the death of Jesus. It says that this, this sacrifice, this propitiation, was for a purpose. It was to prove the righteousness of God. It was to prove that God had never and would never wink at sin and just let it go. The death of Jesus was to prove that God always rightly, justly, and perfectly punishes all sin, all of it. God had, in the time before Jesus, not perfectly punished all sin. He had passed over former sins. How? He had forgiven people who had made the offerings like those in Leviticus, even though the blood of those animals and the lives of those animals were nowhere near enough to be a just and right substitute for the sins of men. Jesus died to show that God is perfectly righteous.
In verse 26, Paul further says, “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.” God is just and must be just. God also desires to demonstrate his grace. The sacrifice of Jesus allows both to happen, as God is proved to be just, rightly dealing with sin with no tolerance for evil, and at the same time the one who justifies, who makes right in his sight, the one who has faith in Jesus. So God is both perfectly and totally just as he is also perfectly and justly merciful, facts proved by the blood of Jesus.
But what about those sacrifices of old? Did they work? Yes and no. The blood of those animals never took away sin. But the blood of those animals pointed to Jesus whose blood would pay the price for sins. It was as if God was reminding himself that all sins would be perfectly punished. Either the sinful man would be justly judged in hell for his sin, or he would be justly forgiven, not because of the blood of the animal, but because of the infinitely perfect sacrifice of the Son of God.
Then, were the saved in the old Testament saved by works? No, at least not by their own works. They were saved by God’s grace through faith. They believed God enough to obey his commands to make the sacrifice that would ultimately point to Jesus. They were saved, not by the action of the offering of the bull, nor by the blood of the bull, but by faith in the God of the promise who commanded the offering of the bull, the offering that points all to Jesus.
Unclean
Some words just stand out. In a read through Leviticus, the word unclean is a big one. It shows up time and time again. In chapter 15, we see all sorts of things that can make you unclean. Honestly, the whole book hammers that point. Touch the wrong kind of animal, unclean. Get the wrong kind of rash, unclean. Touch something dead, unclean. Get a kind of sore, unclean. Get mold in your house, unclean. Eat the wrong kind of food, unclean.
Leviticus 15:31 “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”
And it looks like the whole unclean thing is a big deal. You could die in your uncleanness by defiling the tabernacle. This is a dangerous thing.
Looking at all this, we want to say, “Man, it looks like anything, even little things, make us unclean.” You want to say, “it looks like I am almost always unclean, always in danger of judgment.” And if you see that, you’re seeing the point.
One of the key reasons for the law in the Old Testament is to demonstrate to humanity just how much we need someone to rescue us. In Genesis 3, after the fall of man, God promised that he would send someone special into the world to crush the devil. In Genesis 12, God told Abram that one of his own offspring would be the one to bless the whole world. All of Genesis kept showing us God preserve that promise, keeping it alive though it was threatened. In Exodus, we saw God keep the promise alive by preserving the nation from the attacks of the Egyptians. Later we saw in Exodus that God also preserved the nation by preventing them from destroying themselves, and thus God kept the promise alive.
Here in Leviticus, we see how desperate the situation really is. We are by nature an unclean people. WE do evil things that make us unclean. We live in a fallen world that makes us unclean. We touch things that make us unclean. Our own bodies make us unclean. And we see that we need atonement, or we are without hope.
Why are we so without hope? God is clean. God is pure. God is holy. And We have no chance at all to be clean on our own. Everything around us and everything in us seems to be conspiring to make us unclean. So if God does not make a way to make us clean, we are dead.
Part of the problem with the way that the world around us views religion is that we no longer have any concept of the unclean. We have, as a society, redefined sin to be the things that society disapproves of. We tend to only think of sin as things we can see hurt others in a measurable way: murder, rape, abuse, theft, bullying, racism, etc. But we have forgotten that to fail to live up to God’s standard of purity, of cleanness, that is also sin, deadly sin. And we do not, we cannot, live up to that standard. We are not good enough. WE can never be good enough.
What makes the Old Testament law beautiful? It points us to our need for a Savior. It shows us that God made a way of providing for our being made clean. It showed us that God would open the door for our sin to be atoned for. It, in short, points us to Jesus.
What makes the Bible beautiful? God promised to send someone to rescue people from all our evil, our self-destruction, our uncleanness. Then God sent Jesus, God’s own Son, to earth to do the job. Jesus lived clean—nobody else ever did. Jesus died and suffered the punishment for our sins. Jesus rose from the grave and proved that his work was done. Jesus tells us to let go of controlling our lives, to surrender to him, to turn from sin and to trust in him for life. Jesus brings us salvation by grace through faith in him. And when Jesus gives us new life, salvation, and forgiveness, he also gives to us the cleanness to enter the presence of God, a cleanness that we could never have gained on our own.
2 Corinthians 5:21 – For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As you read Leviticus, as you see, unclean, unclean, unclean, let it lead you to two things. Let the word of God remind you that you are not clean, no matter how good you think you are, if you are left to yourself. WE are unclean by nature and by choice. Then let the word of God remind you that Jesus came to make us clean, forgiven, and acceptable to God.
Pastor Travis Peterson 