Archive for July, 2009

For the 9th Sunday after Pentecost we have a choice of three readings: Exodus 16:2-15; Ephesians 4:1-16 and John 6:22-35. The text chosen to preach is John 6:26, “Jesus answered and said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Those whom Jesus are addressing just witnessed the feeding of the 5,000 with a few scraps of bread and fish. And Jesus said that they did not see the sign, which is also translated as “miracle.” Just what does He mean? You may remember when the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus whether He was truly the promised Messiah that Jesus pointed to these signs–the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk, the mute speak and the dead are raised!

These are signs not in and of themselves but in pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of the promised Messiah Who has come to take away the curse of the Law by dying on the accursed tree. Yes, the people saw the miraulous feeding of 5,000 men plus women and children. What they did not realize and see through eyes of faith that this was further evidence that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah, or as He put it, the Bread of Life.

Those who look for signs to validate their faith are actually theologians of self-glory interpreting how God thinks of them by what they experience. If they experience a good day, then, God loves them. If their day is lousy, God’s love is not so evident. But the theologian of the cross interprets his relationship with God by means of the promises as found in the Bible. He believes that there is nothing he can do to increase God’s love and there is nothing he can do to miniimize God’s love for him. “For God so loved the world…..”

Another radical notion from Jesus is found when in verse 28 the people ask what they should do to work the works of God. Jesus answer takes us back when He points not to any thought, word or deed from us but rather “that you believe in Him whom He sent.” These people ran after Jesus not because they believed Him to be the Messiah but because they wanted full stomachs. They saw the miracle but missed the event as a sign that He indeed is the promised Messiah.

Today we Christians struggle between our experience which tends to point in one direction and the faith which often says something quite different about God. Regardless of whether we see or experience miracles, the Christian is always to trust in the promises of God connected to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ even though that which we are experiencing appears to contradict the notion of a loving and almighty God. We may not have the answer from God as to why we go through one suffering after another. But we do know what the answer is not; namely, that God no longer loves us. Do you want to be assured of His love? Then keep looking at the cross to see how far God went in adopting you into His holy family.

On this upcoming 8th Sunday after Pentecost, the three assigned readings are Genesis 9:8-17; Ephesians 3:14-21 and Mark 6:45-56. The selected sermon text is Genesis 9:12, “And God said, ‘This is the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.”

Who does not know of the rainbow covenant made by God? Most people will remember that a flood will no longer destroy the world. God did not promise that floods would not kill human beings and animals. What He did promise was that a flood would not be the means by which He will end the world. So while we may worry about other catastrophes that will end the world, what we need not be afraid of any longer is a flood. So what?

How does the promise God made to Noah have any bearing on the cross of Jesus Christ? For is not everything in the Bible about Jesus and the cross? Well, one point that could be made is that had not Noah and his family been saved by the waters keeping the ark afloat, then God’s promises to Adam and Eve about a Savior to come from the seed of Eve would have been of no effect. But is there not more one can say about God’s agreement with Noah?

The first thing that needs to be pointed out is that there was NO agreement with Noah. But did not God make a promise? Yes, but Noah did not! You see, there are two kinds of covenant or testaments that God makes in the Bible. The one can be likened to a treaty or agreement between two people; the other can be said to be an agreement made by one and only one. For example, if I promise my father that were he to die, I would take care of his wife, my mother, would that not be a one-sided agreement composed of a promise from me alone? Of course.

Now we know that there are two agreements or covenants or testaments spoken of by God in the Bible. For shorthand purposes, one is the Old Covenant or Testament and the other is the New Covenant or Testament. (As an aside, the Bible never uses “old” or “new testaments” to refer to the actual books of the Bible.) The Old Covenant as seen in Exodus 24 was an agreement between God and man. God would graciously accept human beings into His presence and the human beings promised to obey and do all that He said.

That lasted a short time culminating in the huge rebellion of the golden calf. As the book of Hebrews points out, that Exodus 24 covenant was a lousy covenant because as it was on lousy promises; that is, the promises of human beings. And we all realize that no human being is able to keep a promise to obey all the commandments of God perfectly.

The New Covenant as seen in Genesis 3:15 with Adam and Eve, continued in Genesis 12 and 15 with Abraham and later with Judah and David and Mary culminating in the words of the New Testament at the Lord’s Supper is quite a different kind of agreement. It is an agreement by One and only One Who makes all the promises with the other party in the covenant receiving all the benefits. As Hebrews again points out, the better promises of the New Testament are based only on God’s promises without any cooperation or contribution from man.

It is a covenant of pure grace in which not only does God get all the credit for adopting you into His family but also for sustaining you in the one, true faith. This is the kind of covenant that God made with Noah. It was not an agreement in which God promises not to destroy the world with water and Noah promises to place a rainbow in the sky. No, God promises and accomplishes all parts of the covenant/testament.

The Noahic covenant is a mirror for the New Testament in which God promises salvation and then does all the work of fulfilling and keeping the promises. The Father sends the Son into the flesh to take upon Himself the punishment of the curse of the Law which is our responsibility. Human beings then receive the benefits of the cross and resurrection which is the forgiveness of sins whereby we are no longer held accountable for our sin and the robe of righteousness which we receive through the glorious exchange in baptism of our sin for His righteousness.

For the 7th Sunday after Pentecost the Series B readings are Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:11-22 and Mark 6:30-44. The text to be examined for a Sunday sermon is Ephesians 2:14, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us.”

For some the cross is an example to follow; for others it is a mistake by the Father and for others it is a terrible event during which a father kills his son. Coming to understand the essence of the cross goes a long way in knowing how to witness and what to say. The essential meaning of the cross is equivalent to the way in which God thinkis. That is the purpose of every sermon to get people to think like God and to have a standing ovation of the heart. This is accomplished by the Holy Spirit as He works through the Word properly preached with elements of new information through exegesis and comforting help through the distinctions of Law and Gospel.

The new information gleaned from this text goes contrary to the common understanding of the cross that Jesus died to take away our sins. That can be understood in a narrow sense but it certainly cannot mean that our sins are gone. Just look in a mirror. It is clear that prior to the cross there was a wall of division not only between Jew and Gentile but also between man and God. What did the cross do to eliminate that wall of division?

Verse 15 reveals that the enmity between man and God was abolished. That enmity is spoken of in Genesis 3:15 when God tells Satan in the form of a serpent that there will be enmity between his seed (plural) and the Seed (singular) of Eve. That is the first promise of the Gospel that a Savior Messiah would be coming as a human being to break down the obvious wall of enmity between God and man. But what exactly was the essence of that wall of enmity?

Verse 15 continues that it was the law of commandments contained in ordinances that needed to be put to death (verse 16). What does that mean? It is not that the commandments are not salutary and helpful. It’s just that whenever anyone uses the commandments to get right with God, he makes matters worse. For in giving God our good works, we are displacing the works of the cross and adding to them which means we subtract from the cross.

What Jesus did was to take that “law of commandments” which said that in the day we sin, death is the result, and put it to death! He took upon Himself that curse of the Law so that sin no longer is the obstacle for getting to heaven. There is a new paradigm in town, so to speak, and it is not obedience vs. disobedience but faith vs. unbelief. Those who trust the promises of the Gospel in regard to the forgiveness of sins and the robe of righteousness have received the gift of those benefits by God’s mercy which does not give us what we deserve and by God’s grace which gives us what we do not deserve.

The essence of the cross is that God no longer holds us accountable for our sins since our Savior was held accountable for them. The words He said, “Why have You forsaken Me?” will never be a true question from the lips of a believer. The text goes on to reveal that additional benefits of the cross include access by one Spirit to the Father, fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, and being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. And all this not by meriting salvation but by inheriting the free gift by grace through faith on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For the 6th Sunday after Pentecost in Series B, the readings are Amos 7:7-15; Ephesians 1:3-14 and Mark 6:14-29. Chosen to preach on is Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins…”

As I travel around the country on weekends during L&G seminars (see www.lawgospel.com under Seminars for more info), I have found it interesting how few Christians are able to explain the word “forgiveness.” Part of the reason is that secular dictionary interpretations of the word is not in keeing with how God thinks which is one purpose in preaching and teachings Bible classes. As a teacher in training you need to understand how best to explain what forgiveness means.

Are proper synonyms for “forgivenss” the words pardon, clemency, amnesty and exoneration? No. If forgiveness meant “pardon” it simply would excuse your offense without exacting a penalty. If forgiveness meant “clemency”, it would mean a lessening of the penalty without forgiving the crime. If forgiveness meant “amnesty” it would mean that now you are regarded as an innocent peson and, of course, you are not. If forgivness meant “exoneration” that would mean that you have been found to be innocent of the charge.

Well then, how does God think in regard to forgiveness? Our text helps us as verse 7 reveals that “the forgiveness of sins” is defined as “redemption through His blood.” The word “redemption” refers to the buying a slave his freedom. In a recent visit to a state prison, in a sermon I asked over 120 prisoners what it would mean practically if the warden told each of them that he was forgiven. To a man they agreed it would mean that they would be free to walk away from the prison. I then asked if they would still be guilty of the crime and they agreed that they would.

Those prisoners understood that “forgiveness of sins” does not mean that you are no longer guilty or responsible or sinful or whatever. What it does mean is that God no longer holds you accountable for your sins! That is what Christ did on the cross for you. He became your substitute and took upon Himself the punishment you and I deserved with the words, “My God, My God, what have You forsaken Me?”

I am convinced that the majority of Christians who have perfect faith in the heart of what forgiveness is have not had their heads caught up with their hearts. That is where sermons, Bible studies and Christian witnessing comes in through using the Word of God to help them think as does God. And Ephesians 1:7 is a beautiful passage in order to bring hearts up to the head.

The three readings for the 5th Sunday after Pentecosgt in Series B are Ezekiel 2:1-5; 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 and Mark 6:1-13. Selected to preach about is 2 Cor. 12:7, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”

It’s one thing to be buffeted or tormented by Satan; it’s quite another thing to have that torment sent by God Himself! If one were to read only that phrase, we might guess that God might have sent such an evil to King Herod after he killed the innocents or perhaps to Saul before he became Paul or perhaps to Peter for denying the LORD three times. But no, this torment was of the devil sent by God to none other than Paul after his conversion. How could a gracious and loving God permit this to happen to one of His own?

Context for interpretation is everything. The previous verses explain how Paul was permitted to have a vision of Paradise that was not lawful for him to utter. Can you imagine how big a head Paul could get that God permitted him to see that which few others have witnessed. In light of that, Paul continues that lest he should think more highly of himself than he should, God permitted a thorn in the flesh to pester and torment him. Why? Though Paul had a great vision, a tremendous conversion and even raised a young man named Eutychus from the dead, he was unable to get rid of this thorn in the flesh. God’s gift of suffering kept Paul humble.

There are many who speculate what this “thorn” was. Perhaps a disease, or bad eyesight or–what I think–an imperfection in his speech that made it difficult for him to testify of the Christ Whom he loved. At any rate, even three requests to God to remove the thorn proved to be fruitless. And why? Because God wanted to make sure that Paul would not be “exalted above measure.” We saw what happened to King David when he began to think of himself too highly. Her name was Bathsheba. Would that he had had a thorn in the flesh to have reminded him of his weaknesses.

This is a clear L&G distinction as it reminds us of the true theologian of the Bible being a theologian of the cross. That theology is more than the revelation of what happened to Jesus on the cross; it also reveals what happens to believers who remain faithful in this sin fallen world. We also suffer but not as payment for sin since that was paid in full at the Golgotha cross. No, permitting our suffering to occur is God’s way of keeping our eyes focused on the cross of Christ and Jesus as our only hope and salvation.

While the world may question God about the kind of suffering that occurs; the believer may not be aware of the reason but is aware of the kind of God that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is. He is a God Who has compassion (suffering with us) to the point of the cross. In His humiliation you are exalted. And in your exaltation to the body of Christ, the Trinity is glorified. It is not a common sense religion but Christianity is a faith that possesses the true God that indeed surpasses all understanding. That is why we live by faith and not by sight!