This is a partial repost.
God's vision for us from eternity past is for us is to be like His Son, the first born of many brethren. So as pastors/preachers should that not be our vision as well; and are we casting a compelling vision of Christ before our people so that they will aspire to be like Him? Do we present an all encompassing picture of Christ to our people as our ultimate example of what God expects us to be? Do we model Christ in our own lives? Is He our example to the extent that we are an example of Him to our people? Do they understand that this is where God is taking them through the sanctification process, and the ultimate answer to their question, "Why?"
This vision of Christ that we present to our people is to be all encompassing, affecting every area of our lives; so that, in becoming complete in Christ, what is true about Him becomes true about us.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Grace Defined, Explained, and Applied
Just as Paul has given us the most concise presentation of the gospel in I Corinthians 15:1-8, he gives us the most concise definiton of grace in Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (italics mine) Paul then spends the rest of the first three chapters of Ephesians explaining what this means, and tells us how God wants us to apply it in chapters four through six.
Monday, June 27, 2011
What is Grace
What is grace? In the New Testament, grace means God's love in action toward people who merited the opposite of love. Grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves. Grace means God sending his only Son to the cross to descend into hell so that we guilty ones might be reconciled to God and received into heaven. "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21).
J. I. Packer
Knowing God
Page 249
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Preaching to True Needs
This is a repost that I thought would be timely.
There has been much discussion, both pro and con, concerning preaching to felt needs. As real as the felt needs are, both in the mind of the hearer and in the mind of the preacher, I believe that they are but the symptom(s) of a greater, deeper, ultimate true need; and that is a right relationship with the Living God. If this is the case, and I believe it is, then man's truest need is that of salvation; and what all men need, both saved and unsaved, is to hear the gospel preached. And what needs to be preached is a robust and full orbed gospel, telling everyone all that is contained in the gospel, all that God has provided to meet man's greatest, deepest, ultimate need, which is Himself; and it is in the meeting of that ultimate need that all other needs are met.
Man needs salvation and all that salvation brings in all of its aspects. Underneath the umbrella of salvation there are many needs that are met that tie directly into salvation and what it provides. Let's look at the different aspects of salvation to see what all is provided by God to meet man's true needs.
Man needs the guilt of his sin removed from him. God has provided that through expiation.
Man needs the the wrath of God towards his sin to be satisfied. God has provided that through propiation.
Man needs the enmity between him and God, that has caused his alienation from God, to be done away with. God has provided that through reconciliation.
Man needs to be free from his bondage to sin and be out from under the dominion of Satan. God has provided that through redemption.
Man needs acceptance and a family to which to belong. God has provided that through adoption.
Man needs to be cleansed and have a fresh start. God has provided that through regeneration.
Man needs to be righteous as God is righteous. God has provided that through imputation.
Man needs to be innocent before God. God has provided that in justification.
Man needs a new heart towards God. God has provided that through circumcision.
Man needs to be able to live a life pleasing to God by overcoming sin. God has provided that in sanctification.
Man needs an advocate before God. God has provided that through Christ's intercession.
Man needs a hope for the future. God has provided that through glorification.
The felt needs of man really relate back to his greatest needs, his truest needs, which are spiritual. Man, at his core, is a spiritual being. If we as preachers would preach to his greatest needs, which are spiritual, then we would see his felt needs being taken care of and resolved. Preaching a robust and full orbed gospel does just this, because the gospel includes all of the above. The gospel speaks both to the unsaved and the saved. To the unsaved it reveals his greatest and truest need, and to the saved it reveals all that God has done to meet that need. Understanding all that is provided in salvation is important and it is revealed in the proper preaching of the gospel.
Friends, our ultimate need is God Himself, a real and right relationship with Him. He has provided in His Son for that need. Look to Christ today as the only true satisfaction, the ultimate satisfaction for your greatest need, for all that you need is found in Him. Study and learn the gospel for it truly is good news.
There has been much discussion, both pro and con, concerning preaching to felt needs. As real as the felt needs are, both in the mind of the hearer and in the mind of the preacher, I believe that they are but the symptom(s) of a greater, deeper, ultimate true need; and that is a right relationship with the Living God. If this is the case, and I believe it is, then man's truest need is that of salvation; and what all men need, both saved and unsaved, is to hear the gospel preached. And what needs to be preached is a robust and full orbed gospel, telling everyone all that is contained in the gospel, all that God has provided to meet man's greatest, deepest, ultimate need, which is Himself; and it is in the meeting of that ultimate need that all other needs are met.
Man needs salvation and all that salvation brings in all of its aspects. Underneath the umbrella of salvation there are many needs that are met that tie directly into salvation and what it provides. Let's look at the different aspects of salvation to see what all is provided by God to meet man's true needs.
Man needs the guilt of his sin removed from him. God has provided that through expiation.
Man needs the the wrath of God towards his sin to be satisfied. God has provided that through propiation.
Man needs the enmity between him and God, that has caused his alienation from God, to be done away with. God has provided that through reconciliation.
Man needs to be free from his bondage to sin and be out from under the dominion of Satan. God has provided that through redemption.
Man needs acceptance and a family to which to belong. God has provided that through adoption.
Man needs to be cleansed and have a fresh start. God has provided that through regeneration.
Man needs to be righteous as God is righteous. God has provided that through imputation.
Man needs to be innocent before God. God has provided that in justification.
Man needs a new heart towards God. God has provided that through circumcision.
Man needs to be able to live a life pleasing to God by overcoming sin. God has provided that in sanctification.
Man needs an advocate before God. God has provided that through Christ's intercession.
Man needs a hope for the future. God has provided that through glorification.
The felt needs of man really relate back to his greatest needs, his truest needs, which are spiritual. Man, at his core, is a spiritual being. If we as preachers would preach to his greatest needs, which are spiritual, then we would see his felt needs being taken care of and resolved. Preaching a robust and full orbed gospel does just this, because the gospel includes all of the above. The gospel speaks both to the unsaved and the saved. To the unsaved it reveals his greatest and truest need, and to the saved it reveals all that God has done to meet that need. Understanding all that is provided in salvation is important and it is revealed in the proper preaching of the gospel.
Friends, our ultimate need is God Himself, a real and right relationship with Him. He has provided in His Son for that need. Look to Christ today as the only true satisfaction, the ultimate satisfaction for your greatest need, for all that you need is found in Him. Study and learn the gospel for it truly is good news.
Being Grasped by the Truth
If the truth of the passage that he is preaching
has not grasped the preacher, he has nothing
of substance to convey to his people. In fact,
he can little expect it to grasp them.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Milestone IV
Well, the water of another year has passed under the bridge as we have finished year number four in the life of Grace Covenant Church. I don't know how church years compare to dog years, or such, but this has been a pretty quick year; but time does that, as it has its own ebbs and flows like the tide. Of course, the main reason it has passed so quickly is that we have been pretty busy.
One of the good things to happen was our move to a better facility last August. We are now meeting at Midland Classical Academy, a private Christian school that has already housed two other churches. When the last church moved we jumped on the chance to meet there, and now have consistent heating and cooling and a nicer all around facility to meet in, and room for growth. We were able to also get the lease at a rate that was affordable, and are appreciative of MCA working with us as we are paying less than our predecessors.
One of the highlights again this year was the baptism of two men last fall. One was saved during our Easter service and the other had come to the conviction that his salvation had occured only a few years ago. It was a joy to baptize these men and hear their testimonies of God's faithful work in their hearts. Both are active and committed, which is a double blessing.
Our other elder, Bill Lawless, and I led a leadership development group on Saturday mornings. Our desire is for this to be the foundation of training men in our church. We limited it to the leadership team, but will open it up this next year to more of the men in our church. It is my belief that the church will go no farther than the strength of its men will carry it, and we want to train up the men in our church to be strong in the faith. In that vein, we once again took seven men to the Shepherd's conference; and each year it leaves its mark on us.
That is not to rule out the role of women in the church, nor is it to say that the women should not be strong spiritually, as well. We sent seven of our women to the True Woman conference in Dallas, and will send a group to the True Woman conference in San Antonio this year as well. It was a spiritually rich conference that has born fruit in the lives of those who went. We also had a women's mid-week bible study this year and hope that it will grow.
Additionally, we had a church wide bible study on Tuesday nights. We used the Precept curriculum and studied Covenant last fall and Exodus in the spring.
Our music/worship has been blessed of the Lord this last year. He indeed inhabits the praises of His people, and His presence during our worship time has been a joy and blessing. We have two sax playing brothers who provide the music on most Sundays as our keyboard player has had job assignments that have taken him away many Sundays. But, it is required of a steward to be faithful, and that is what our worship team has been, and God has honored that and shown us His goodness.
I am still preaching through John's gospel, and will finish up chapter fourteen this week. Not just because we are in John, but out of personal conviction, we have really focused on being more gospel centered and gospel proclaiming. We want our people to go deeper and deeper into Christ, to more fully understand and more deeply appreciate grace. But to do this you must have a grasp on the gospel, in all its fullness, in all its aspects, in all of its application; in other words, the better you grasp the gospel the richer will God's grace be to you. As such, we believe the gospel is important for the believer as well as for the unbeliever.
Speaking of the unbeliever, we pray corporately each Sunday for the lost that God has placed in our individual paths. We also have identified one thousand households in north Midland that we will target with the gospel every three to four months. We are going to start out by sending them Grace for You, an evanglestic booklet written by John MacArthur, that is the telling of the story of the prodigal son. We are going to send them something each mailing that is gospel centered and gospel proclaiming. What will God do with this? We are not sure, but we are sure that He stands over His word to perform it, that the gospel is the power of salvation, and beautiful are the feet that bring the gospel. In addtion to these, as a church we are also praying for the Hispanics in our area, as they make up close to 40% of the population.
Speaking of the gospel. My wife, Angie, has made it a focus in her teaching the children to present the gospel in as many lessons as possible. I am grateful that our children are hearing the gospel, hearing of their need for a Savior, hearing of God's great salvation in Christ. Planting gospel seeds is an important, really the most important function, of a children's ministry. We all are to receive the word implanted which is able to save our souls, so why not plant it early and often?
I gave the covenant charge in two weddings this year. It was a blessing to me to be involved in them, and to see the seriousness with which the couples took their vows. May God's protection and blessing be upon them.
Yes, we have had some numeric growth this last year, and the number of our visitors has increased; but the real story is the continued growth of the people. God's word does not return to Him void, and it is Him that is building His church. I am so blessed to be the pastor of this group of people that have committed themselves to the Lord through Grace Covenant Church; and blessed to be able to serve the Lord in this way. My prayer for myself is for my own faithfulness and obedience to Him who has given Me this sacred responsibility and trust. May He be glorified in and through this gracious work of His called Grace Covenant church.
One of the good things to happen was our move to a better facility last August. We are now meeting at Midland Classical Academy, a private Christian school that has already housed two other churches. When the last church moved we jumped on the chance to meet there, and now have consistent heating and cooling and a nicer all around facility to meet in, and room for growth. We were able to also get the lease at a rate that was affordable, and are appreciative of MCA working with us as we are paying less than our predecessors.
One of the highlights again this year was the baptism of two men last fall. One was saved during our Easter service and the other had come to the conviction that his salvation had occured only a few years ago. It was a joy to baptize these men and hear their testimonies of God's faithful work in their hearts. Both are active and committed, which is a double blessing.
Our other elder, Bill Lawless, and I led a leadership development group on Saturday mornings. Our desire is for this to be the foundation of training men in our church. We limited it to the leadership team, but will open it up this next year to more of the men in our church. It is my belief that the church will go no farther than the strength of its men will carry it, and we want to train up the men in our church to be strong in the faith. In that vein, we once again took seven men to the Shepherd's conference; and each year it leaves its mark on us.
That is not to rule out the role of women in the church, nor is it to say that the women should not be strong spiritually, as well. We sent seven of our women to the True Woman conference in Dallas, and will send a group to the True Woman conference in San Antonio this year as well. It was a spiritually rich conference that has born fruit in the lives of those who went. We also had a women's mid-week bible study this year and hope that it will grow.
Additionally, we had a church wide bible study on Tuesday nights. We used the Precept curriculum and studied Covenant last fall and Exodus in the spring.
Our music/worship has been blessed of the Lord this last year. He indeed inhabits the praises of His people, and His presence during our worship time has been a joy and blessing. We have two sax playing brothers who provide the music on most Sundays as our keyboard player has had job assignments that have taken him away many Sundays. But, it is required of a steward to be faithful, and that is what our worship team has been, and God has honored that and shown us His goodness.
I am still preaching through John's gospel, and will finish up chapter fourteen this week. Not just because we are in John, but out of personal conviction, we have really focused on being more gospel centered and gospel proclaiming. We want our people to go deeper and deeper into Christ, to more fully understand and more deeply appreciate grace. But to do this you must have a grasp on the gospel, in all its fullness, in all its aspects, in all of its application; in other words, the better you grasp the gospel the richer will God's grace be to you. As such, we believe the gospel is important for the believer as well as for the unbeliever.
Speaking of the unbeliever, we pray corporately each Sunday for the lost that God has placed in our individual paths. We also have identified one thousand households in north Midland that we will target with the gospel every three to four months. We are going to start out by sending them Grace for You, an evanglestic booklet written by John MacArthur, that is the telling of the story of the prodigal son. We are going to send them something each mailing that is gospel centered and gospel proclaiming. What will God do with this? We are not sure, but we are sure that He stands over His word to perform it, that the gospel is the power of salvation, and beautiful are the feet that bring the gospel. In addtion to these, as a church we are also praying for the Hispanics in our area, as they make up close to 40% of the population.
Speaking of the gospel. My wife, Angie, has made it a focus in her teaching the children to present the gospel in as many lessons as possible. I am grateful that our children are hearing the gospel, hearing of their need for a Savior, hearing of God's great salvation in Christ. Planting gospel seeds is an important, really the most important function, of a children's ministry. We all are to receive the word implanted which is able to save our souls, so why not plant it early and often?
I gave the covenant charge in two weddings this year. It was a blessing to me to be involved in them, and to see the seriousness with which the couples took their vows. May God's protection and blessing be upon them.
Yes, we have had some numeric growth this last year, and the number of our visitors has increased; but the real story is the continued growth of the people. God's word does not return to Him void, and it is Him that is building His church. I am so blessed to be the pastor of this group of people that have committed themselves to the Lord through Grace Covenant Church; and blessed to be able to serve the Lord in this way. My prayer for myself is for my own faithfulness and obedience to Him who has given Me this sacred responsibility and trust. May He be glorified in and through this gracious work of His called Grace Covenant church.
Friday, June 17, 2011
For the Love of the Father
but, so that the world may know that I love the Father,
I do exactly as the Father has commanded Me.
John 14:31a
Christ's holiness was not a legal holiness,
but a loving holiness---as ours is to be.
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 14:15
Thursday, June 16, 2011
A Christian's Desire
As Christians, we are to be overcome
by the desire to please our Father,
rather than be overcome by the desire
to please ourselves.
(Isaiah 58:13-14a, John 8:29, Colossians 1:9-10,
Ephesians 5:8b-10, Romans 12:1-2)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Real Righteousness
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:
"Two men went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector. the Pharisee took his stand and
was praying like this: 'God, I thank You that I'm not like other
people--greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get.'
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise
his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest saying, 'God, turn
Your wrath from me--a sinner!' I tell you, this one went down
to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles
himself will be exalted.
Luke 18:9-14
The startling contrast between the prayers of the Pharisee and the publican furnishes an indication of Christ's standards of value, as applied to the most important realm of men's lives--their approach to God. For some men God can do nothing. Their attitude of heart toward Him, their self-sufficiency and self-complacency, ward off the beneficent intentions of His grace. Their bodies may posture in His house, but their spirits
are an immeasurable distance from Him; and the only result of their miscalled worship is in the continued hardening and deadening of their moral sense. As in nature the action of some streams tends to turn living objects into stone, so does the stream of unfelt and mechanical and self-seeking praying petrify the soul of its offerer.
How simple as to form and direct as to request is the prayer of the publican. Standing "afar off" in the conciousness of the sin which separated him from God, he realized that the was yet alone with Him. "God...mercy...me" are the notes of his heart's cry. But he has already come to know that the span of mercy bridges the sin-gulf, and is confident that even such a one as he is may safely venture across. On its further side the Father awaits him with a welcome which is unmixed with any reproach. Over that scene a veil is drawn, and the sacred intimacy is unrecorded. But from its strengthening assurance the man goes down to his house to declare what God has done for him. He has learned by an experience which nothing can modify, that sin confessed is sin covered, and that life humbled is life exalted, and this is sufficient inspiration for the long moral conflict that is yet before him. Such prayer is the one gateway to the life victorious and beautiful, alike for him and for us. It demands our stooping, but it ensures our salvation.
J. Stuart Holden
The Holy Gospels Opened
Pgs 103-104
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Keeping the Sabbath--Part II
From Christ, in Mark, we learn that the sabbath was made for man's benefit; and in Colossians we learn that the sabbath was an OT shadow, the reality of which was found in Christ. So how is the sabbath for man's benefit and what was it pointing to that was fulfilled in Christ? These two realities, these truths about the sabbath are linked together. The OT give us insight into these truths. So let's go there.
The first mention of the sabbath is in Exodus sixteen and is in connection with the gathering of the manna. And in this first mention it is called a holy sabbath. In many other of the references to the sabbath in the OT you will find the phrase, a holy day, or holy to the Lord in connection with the sabbath. In the giving of the Law in Exodus 20:8 the Israelites are commanded not only to remember (observe and keep) the sabbath but to keep it holy. In Exodus 20:11 we are told that God blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. So it was to be regarded as a holy day.
The concept of holiness always begins with the idea of separation, of being set apart, of existing in a state of separation. In this idea of separation was the concept of purity, consecration, being set aside for sacred use as compared to a common or profane use. So we see this day was a day that was consecrated, it was to be set aside for sacred use as opposed to common use. We see this concept developed also in the giving of feasts as many of them contained a sabbath day, a day to be set aside for a sacred purpose, and for the Israelites to humble their souls. So, for the Israelites, keeping the sabbath meant keeping it holy, to set it apart from the other days of the week, to consecrate it for sacred use and not for common or profane use. This is why the Lord gave them the admonition in Exodus 20:9-10 to not do any work on the sabbath day, as it was to be a day where they were set apart from common pursuits or daily endeavors, and instead be set apart unto God.
We see this explained further in Exodus 31:12-17...You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you....for six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord....
Notice what the Lord says about the sabbath in these verses as He gives us further enlightment concerning it.
1. It is holy to the Israelites (remember what we learned about being holy).
2. It is holy to the Lord.
3. It is a perpetual covenant between them and the Lord.
4. It is a perpetual sign between the Israelites and the Lord.
5. It is a sign of His sanctifying them.
Now, let's break down the Hebrew a little bit. In Hebrew the word sanctify is qadash, and the word for holy is qodesh. Both essentially have the same meaning (as explained above) except that qodesh is the state of, and qadash is to be made. In other words one is to be made holy/separate and the other is the state of being holy/separate. So not only is this to be a day that is to be holy (qodesh) to the Lord, in essence set apart to the Lord, but it is also a perpetual sign for the Israelites; and the sign is for them to know and remember that it is the Lord who sanctifies/makes them holy (qadash), not themselves. This concept of sanctification is carried over to the NT. Listen to I Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption (italics mine).
So we see that running throughout the sabbath is the concept of holiness, separateness, purity, and sacredness. The concept of being set apart from wordly pursuits and being set apart to the Lord. It was to be the one day of the week that they laid aside worldly pursuits, the daily cares of the world and set themselves apart to the Lord. Instead of seeking the things of this world they were to seek the Lord on this day. In the keeping of the sabbath we have a picture of sanctification, both positionally and practically. The Sabbath was the Old Testament picture/shadow of sanctification. We see another fulfillment of this shadow of sanctification in Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed....work out your salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Sanctification is an important concept, in both the OT and NT. How important? Listen to Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
In Isaiah we see the Lord giving further enlightment on what the sabbath was to be about. Listen to Isaiah 58:13-14 "If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word. Then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." So the way they were to honor the sabbath and keep it holy was to desist from living, seeking, and speaking what satisified them and gave them pleasure; in other words, on the sabbath they were to cease living for themselves and live for the Lord, and instead of seeking their own pleasure they were to seek what pleased Him. On this day they were to delight themselves in the Lord and find their pleasure in Him.
So with this in mind, how did Christ go about keeping and fulfilling the sabbath. We see this throughout the gospel of John in verses 4:34, 5:19, 6:38, 10:18, 12:49, 14:31; and perhaps most clearly in John 8:28b-29...and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him (italics mine). Christ kept the sabbath every day. Every minute of every day He was set apart from the world and set apart unto God the Father. He was totally sanctified, both positionally and practically, and not just on one day of the week, but on every day.
Next,we see from Exodus 20 that the sabbath was part of the Ten Commandments, and therefore considered part of the Law of Moses. So the rub here is that the Ten Commandments as God's moral law are still effective, still being lived out in the lives of those who belong to Him, and we see these fleshed out throughout the New Testament. So for those of us under the New Covenant economy how do we keep the sabbath as part of God's moral law?
To answer this question let's look at what takes place in the New Covenant. Remember Christ initiated the New Covenant at the last supper, the night before His crucifixion. First let's look at Jeremiah 31:33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God and they will be My people." Next let's look at Ezekiel 36:26-27 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
According to these promises, what has God done in the New Covenant for those whom have entered into covenant with Him through Jesus Christ?
1. He has taken out their heart of stone (a hard impenetrable heart).
2. He has given them a heart of flesh (a soft imprintable heart).
3. He has put His law within them by writing it/imprinting it on their heart.
4. He has given them His Holy Spirit.
5. By His Holy Spirit He will cause them to walk in His statutes, and be
careful to observe His ordinances (statutes and ordinances
being synonyms for His law).
6. He has written His law (statutes and ordinances) on their heart and by
His Holy Spirit He will cause them to keep it.
So what has happened to the sabbath in the New Covenant? Remember, the sabbath is part of the law, an intrical part of the law. We are still keeping it because the Lord has put the law in our heart and has given us the Holy Spirit to cause us to keep the law. So when do we keep the sabbath? Every day, just like Christ did. Every day we live for the Lord. In everything we live for the Lord. Whether we live or we die, we are the Lord's. We live each day to please Him and not ourselves. So what the Israelites were not able to do on one day a week, we do each day of the week.
We are sanctified positionally (declared holy), and are being sanctified practically (made holy) as we walk in our faith further and further away from the sin we were saved out of; and walk further and further into Christ, whose image we are being conformed into, knowing that one day our sancitification will be complete as the Lord completes the work He started in us (Philippians 1:6).
So, has the sabbath gone away? No, it is still a requirement, an every day requirement; but a requirement that God Himself is causing us to keep by the power of His indwelling Spirit. So if you are truly born again, and have been given a new heart through the circumcision made without hands, then you will be living for the Lord consistently and daily. In other words, you will be keeping the sabbath every day by the power that God supplies. Think about how good this news is, another provision that the Lord has made for us to keep His requirements. Another gift of His marvelous grace.
The first mention of the sabbath is in Exodus sixteen and is in connection with the gathering of the manna. And in this first mention it is called a holy sabbath. In many other of the references to the sabbath in the OT you will find the phrase, a holy day, or holy to the Lord in connection with the sabbath. In the giving of the Law in Exodus 20:8 the Israelites are commanded not only to remember (observe and keep) the sabbath but to keep it holy. In Exodus 20:11 we are told that God blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. So it was to be regarded as a holy day.
The concept of holiness always begins with the idea of separation, of being set apart, of existing in a state of separation. In this idea of separation was the concept of purity, consecration, being set aside for sacred use as compared to a common or profane use. So we see this day was a day that was consecrated, it was to be set aside for sacred use as opposed to common use. We see this concept developed also in the giving of feasts as many of them contained a sabbath day, a day to be set aside for a sacred purpose, and for the Israelites to humble their souls. So, for the Israelites, keeping the sabbath meant keeping it holy, to set it apart from the other days of the week, to consecrate it for sacred use and not for common or profane use. This is why the Lord gave them the admonition in Exodus 20:9-10 to not do any work on the sabbath day, as it was to be a day where they were set apart from common pursuits or daily endeavors, and instead be set apart unto God.
We see this explained further in Exodus 31:12-17...You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you....for six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord....
Notice what the Lord says about the sabbath in these verses as He gives us further enlightment concerning it.
1. It is holy to the Israelites (remember what we learned about being holy).
2. It is holy to the Lord.
3. It is a perpetual covenant between them and the Lord.
4. It is a perpetual sign between the Israelites and the Lord.
5. It is a sign of His sanctifying them.
Now, let's break down the Hebrew a little bit. In Hebrew the word sanctify is qadash, and the word for holy is qodesh. Both essentially have the same meaning (as explained above) except that qodesh is the state of, and qadash is to be made. In other words one is to be made holy/separate and the other is the state of being holy/separate. So not only is this to be a day that is to be holy (qodesh) to the Lord, in essence set apart to the Lord, but it is also a perpetual sign for the Israelites; and the sign is for them to know and remember that it is the Lord who sanctifies/makes them holy (qadash), not themselves. This concept of sanctification is carried over to the NT. Listen to I Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption (italics mine).
So we see that running throughout the sabbath is the concept of holiness, separateness, purity, and sacredness. The concept of being set apart from wordly pursuits and being set apart to the Lord. It was to be the one day of the week that they laid aside worldly pursuits, the daily cares of the world and set themselves apart to the Lord. Instead of seeking the things of this world they were to seek the Lord on this day. In the keeping of the sabbath we have a picture of sanctification, both positionally and practically. The Sabbath was the Old Testament picture/shadow of sanctification. We see another fulfillment of this shadow of sanctification in Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed....work out your salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Sanctification is an important concept, in both the OT and NT. How important? Listen to Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
In Isaiah we see the Lord giving further enlightment on what the sabbath was to be about. Listen to Isaiah 58:13-14 "If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word. Then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." So the way they were to honor the sabbath and keep it holy was to desist from living, seeking, and speaking what satisified them and gave them pleasure; in other words, on the sabbath they were to cease living for themselves and live for the Lord, and instead of seeking their own pleasure they were to seek what pleased Him. On this day they were to delight themselves in the Lord and find their pleasure in Him.
So with this in mind, how did Christ go about keeping and fulfilling the sabbath. We see this throughout the gospel of John in verses 4:34, 5:19, 6:38, 10:18, 12:49, 14:31; and perhaps most clearly in John 8:28b-29...and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him (italics mine). Christ kept the sabbath every day. Every minute of every day He was set apart from the world and set apart unto God the Father. He was totally sanctified, both positionally and practically, and not just on one day of the week, but on every day.
Next,we see from Exodus 20 that the sabbath was part of the Ten Commandments, and therefore considered part of the Law of Moses. So the rub here is that the Ten Commandments as God's moral law are still effective, still being lived out in the lives of those who belong to Him, and we see these fleshed out throughout the New Testament. So for those of us under the New Covenant economy how do we keep the sabbath as part of God's moral law?
To answer this question let's look at what takes place in the New Covenant. Remember Christ initiated the New Covenant at the last supper, the night before His crucifixion. First let's look at Jeremiah 31:33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God and they will be My people." Next let's look at Ezekiel 36:26-27 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
According to these promises, what has God done in the New Covenant for those whom have entered into covenant with Him through Jesus Christ?
1. He has taken out their heart of stone (a hard impenetrable heart).
2. He has given them a heart of flesh (a soft imprintable heart).
3. He has put His law within them by writing it/imprinting it on their heart.
4. He has given them His Holy Spirit.
5. By His Holy Spirit He will cause them to walk in His statutes, and be
careful to observe His ordinances (statutes and ordinances
being synonyms for His law).
6. He has written His law (statutes and ordinances) on their heart and by
His Holy Spirit He will cause them to keep it.
So what has happened to the sabbath in the New Covenant? Remember, the sabbath is part of the law, an intrical part of the law. We are still keeping it because the Lord has put the law in our heart and has given us the Holy Spirit to cause us to keep the law. So when do we keep the sabbath? Every day, just like Christ did. Every day we live for the Lord. In everything we live for the Lord. Whether we live or we die, we are the Lord's. We live each day to please Him and not ourselves. So what the Israelites were not able to do on one day a week, we do each day of the week.
We are sanctified positionally (declared holy), and are being sanctified practically (made holy) as we walk in our faith further and further away from the sin we were saved out of; and walk further and further into Christ, whose image we are being conformed into, knowing that one day our sancitification will be complete as the Lord completes the work He started in us (Philippians 1:6).
So, has the sabbath gone away? No, it is still a requirement, an every day requirement; but a requirement that God Himself is causing us to keep by the power of His indwelling Spirit. So if you are truly born again, and have been given a new heart through the circumcision made without hands, then you will be living for the Lord consistently and daily. In other words, you will be keeping the sabbath every day by the power that God supplies. Think about how good this news is, another provision that the Lord has made for us to keep His requirements. Another gift of His marvelous grace.
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Keeping the Sabbath--Part I
Keeping the Sabbath, it is a subject that keeps cropping up. One that never seems to get completely settled in people's minds. Do we or don't we? Is it a requirement or not? If we do keep it, how do we keep it? Is it merely a day of rest or is there something else to it? Is there even a Sabbath to keep for those of us in the New Covenant, post-cross, under grace and not under law era? Is the Lord's Day (Sunday) the New Covenant Sabbath? How do we go about answering all of these questions? Obviously, the best place to go is the Scripture, and the best place to start is Jesus Himself.
As you follow the life and ministry of Christ through the gospels, one of the things you notice is His continual confrontation with the "Jews." This group was comprised of Pharisees, Saducees, and the chief priests, who were the supposed spiritual/religious leaders of Israel. He was always doing things that not only confounded them, but also contradicted their teachings and interpretations of the Law. He called them blind guides of the blind. Many times Christ is quoted as saying, "You have heard, but I say to you." when He was challenging the teaching of the day. This is important to note, as we see that one of the main things He did that infuriated the "Jews" was healing on the Sabbath. In His healing on the Sabbath it was as if He was saying, "You have heard, but I am showing you." In response to their accusation of his followers not doing what was lawful on the Sabbath, Jesus had this to say in Mark 2:27-28 "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So even the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath."
We know that Jesus perfectly kept the Law, and every jot and tittle was kept and fulfilled by Him. So we see His understanding of the Sabbath was that the Sabbath was given to man for his welfare, not to lord it over him. It is for man's well being, for his benefit, that God has given him the Sabbath; and Jesus, Himself, rules over it so that it does not rule over man, but Jesus does. This then, is the basic understanding that we need to start with.
Also, in both Colossians and Romans we see Paul's insight into the place of the Sabbath. In Colossians 2:15-16a he tells us this "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." So we see here that the Sabbath is a shadow of the substance (reality) to come, which is found in Christ. In other words, the shadow (Sabbath) finds its fruition, its fulfillment in Christ. This is consistent with the typology, the representation of Christ, found through out the OT, especially in the sacrificial system and the feasts. So if the shadow has found its fulfillment it should no longer be necessary.
Additionally, in Colossians we see that no one is to act as our judge in relation to the keeping of the Sabbath. Paul gives us insight into this in Romans 14. Here Paul teaches us about liberty and responsibility in the practice of our Christianity. Let's look at chapter 14:5-6a "One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord." Notice, here, he does not call the day observed the Sabbath, but it is obvious that this particular day is a day that would have significance to Christians, and the Christians Paul is writing to in Romans are both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Some may want to observe the Sabbath, some may want to observe the Lord's day, and some may not have any particual day as special. None are condemned. Since Paul was a Pharisee, and called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews, you would think that if keeping the Sabbath day was important or necessary he would have said so, but in fact he said just the opposite. Paul ends the chapter saying this, "The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. "Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.....and whatever is not from faith is sin." So we have freedom in our faith in honoring a certain day or considering a certain day more important than another. Don't we see this in the celebration of Christmas and Easter as well, as we are not commanded to celebrate either one?
One other insight we can glean from the New Testament regarding the keeping of the Sabbath is found in Acts 15. The setting in Acts 15 is the mother church in Jerusalem when Paul and Barnabas go there to talk to the apostles and elders concerning the matter of circumcision, whether it should be required of the Gentile converts. A group of Pharisees who had come to faith stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcize them and to direct them to observe the law of Moses." (italics mine). After much debate, a speech from Peter, words from Barnabas and Paul, the whole church decided to send leaders to the church at Antioch with a letter regarding these matters. The end of the letter states this, "For we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials; that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell." Notice that not only did they not require the Gentile Christians to be circumcized, but they also did not require them to keep the Law of Moses, which would include keeping the Sabbath.
So we see from Acts, Romans, and Colossians that for Christians in the New Covenant economy, keeping the Sabbath and all its requirements, is not mandatory. And we also see from Acts and Romans that those who did keep it were not condemned. In Mark we see that God's intention for the Sabbath was for man's benefit, not his bondage, so our understanding of the Sabbath must start from that point, God's intention. Also, in Colossians we see that the Sabbath was one of the OT shadows that pointed to Christ, or was fulfilled in Christ, and as such we must also understand how the Sabbath represented the reality found in Christ. That is what we will take up in our next post as we seek to understand our keeping of the Sabbath.
As you follow the life and ministry of Christ through the gospels, one of the things you notice is His continual confrontation with the "Jews." This group was comprised of Pharisees, Saducees, and the chief priests, who were the supposed spiritual/religious leaders of Israel. He was always doing things that not only confounded them, but also contradicted their teachings and interpretations of the Law. He called them blind guides of the blind. Many times Christ is quoted as saying, "You have heard, but I say to you." when He was challenging the teaching of the day. This is important to note, as we see that one of the main things He did that infuriated the "Jews" was healing on the Sabbath. In His healing on the Sabbath it was as if He was saying, "You have heard, but I am showing you." In response to their accusation of his followers not doing what was lawful on the Sabbath, Jesus had this to say in Mark 2:27-28 "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So even the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath."
We know that Jesus perfectly kept the Law, and every jot and tittle was kept and fulfilled by Him. So we see His understanding of the Sabbath was that the Sabbath was given to man for his welfare, not to lord it over him. It is for man's well being, for his benefit, that God has given him the Sabbath; and Jesus, Himself, rules over it so that it does not rule over man, but Jesus does. This then, is the basic understanding that we need to start with.
Also, in both Colossians and Romans we see Paul's insight into the place of the Sabbath. In Colossians 2:15-16a he tells us this "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." So we see here that the Sabbath is a shadow of the substance (reality) to come, which is found in Christ. In other words, the shadow (Sabbath) finds its fruition, its fulfillment in Christ. This is consistent with the typology, the representation of Christ, found through out the OT, especially in the sacrificial system and the feasts. So if the shadow has found its fulfillment it should no longer be necessary.
Additionally, in Colossians we see that no one is to act as our judge in relation to the keeping of the Sabbath. Paul gives us insight into this in Romans 14. Here Paul teaches us about liberty and responsibility in the practice of our Christianity. Let's look at chapter 14:5-6a "One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord." Notice, here, he does not call the day observed the Sabbath, but it is obvious that this particular day is a day that would have significance to Christians, and the Christians Paul is writing to in Romans are both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Some may want to observe the Sabbath, some may want to observe the Lord's day, and some may not have any particual day as special. None are condemned. Since Paul was a Pharisee, and called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews, you would think that if keeping the Sabbath day was important or necessary he would have said so, but in fact he said just the opposite. Paul ends the chapter saying this, "The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. "Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.....and whatever is not from faith is sin." So we have freedom in our faith in honoring a certain day or considering a certain day more important than another. Don't we see this in the celebration of Christmas and Easter as well, as we are not commanded to celebrate either one?
One other insight we can glean from the New Testament regarding the keeping of the Sabbath is found in Acts 15. The setting in Acts 15 is the mother church in Jerusalem when Paul and Barnabas go there to talk to the apostles and elders concerning the matter of circumcision, whether it should be required of the Gentile converts. A group of Pharisees who had come to faith stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcize them and to direct them to observe the law of Moses." (italics mine). After much debate, a speech from Peter, words from Barnabas and Paul, the whole church decided to send leaders to the church at Antioch with a letter regarding these matters. The end of the letter states this, "For we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials; that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell." Notice that not only did they not require the Gentile Christians to be circumcized, but they also did not require them to keep the Law of Moses, which would include keeping the Sabbath.
So we see from Acts, Romans, and Colossians that for Christians in the New Covenant economy, keeping the Sabbath and all its requirements, is not mandatory. And we also see from Acts and Romans that those who did keep it were not condemned. In Mark we see that God's intention for the Sabbath was for man's benefit, not his bondage, so our understanding of the Sabbath must start from that point, God's intention. Also, in Colossians we see that the Sabbath was one of the OT shadows that pointed to Christ, or was fulfilled in Christ, and as such we must also understand how the Sabbath represented the reality found in Christ. That is what we will take up in our next post as we seek to understand our keeping of the Sabbath.
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