What Do You Need to Have Peace?

[This Sunday, I plan to preach on Psalms 129, 130 and 131. In 2009 I preached on Psalm 131 as part of a series entitled “The Gospel for Two-Year-Olds – Like You!” This devotion is a shortened form of the second sermon in that series, preached August 30, 2009. You can listen to that sermon via this link – Coty]

What do you need in order to have peace?

That is, what do you need in order to rest completely?

  • A well-paying job, in your preferred field, with a good boss?
  • Good grades, a respected degree?
  • A sense of accomplishment, of usefulness, of being needed?
  • A loving spouse, with a satisfying sex life?
  • Happy and obedient children?
  • A certain level of income – and a house, a good car, nice clothes?
  • Respect from others? Love?

Or to put it another way: How would you complete this sentence: “I would be content if I just had _____”

In Psalm 131, David gives a beautiful picture of the peace we can have with God:

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

David Powlison says this psalm is “show-and-tell for how to become peaceful inside,” while Charles Spurgeon notes, “It is one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.” So let’s begin to learn how to relax and rest in God like a well-fed two-year-old with her mother.

 

The Psalmist at Peace

David describes his peaceful condition through three negative statements:

  • His heart is not lifted up
  • His eyes are not raised too high
  • He does not focus on what is beyond him.

In Hebrew, the word “heart” refers to the entire inner being: Emotions, intellect, and will. So the first statement refers to what David is thinking of himself. He does not exalt himself.

The second statement refers to where I think I am going: My plans, goals, ambitions, desires, worries, pressures, and fears. In effect, he is saying: “I have no plans to exalt myself in the future, for I have no need to prove myself.”

These first two statements together describe a man who is humble, not self-centered.

What do these have to do with peace?

When you are not at peace, you are not humble. You are saying, “My status is more important than anything else. No matter who God is, no matter what promises He may have made, I cannot have peace unless I have X.”

Two-year-olds are like this, aren’t they? He sees cookies just out of the oven cooling on the counter, and asks for one. When told no, they are for later, he becomes upset and declares, “I need a cookie!” Regardless of how loving and giving his parents might be, he has no peace because he doesn’t have a cookie.

In effect, he is saying to his parents, “You say you provide, but you’re not giving me this cookie. I can’t be happy without it! So you must not be loving parents! If you really loved me you would give me what I want!”

Contrast that with David’s attitude. He is saying, “I’m not magnifying my perception of needs, my plans, my schemes. I am not worried about my present state or my future. I am not driven by what other people think of me now, or what they will think of me in future. I am at peace, resting on God.”

In David’s third negative statement, he declares that he does not occupy himself or walk around in “things too great and too marvelous for me.” This too is a statement of humility. He admits there is much that is beyond his ability to understand – that God knows, and he does not. The point is not, “Don’t think about such things!” David was king! He certainly was concerned about perplexing events in his country. But he did not say, “I cannot have peace unless I know the answer to these questions!” We can be concerned, we can weep with those who weep, and still have peace, still be at rest, trusting in the One Who knows all things, Who controls all things. We can be like a two-year-old who experiences a deep sorrow – yet rests in his loving parent’s arms. He can’t understand – and doesn’t have to.

How do we – as two-year-olds before God – come to that state?

 

How to Become Peaceful

After the three negative statements in verse 1, David makes a positive statement in verse 2:

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Note that David is active, not passive. As the NAS renders the verse, ”Surely I have composed and quieted my soul.” He has worked to bring about this state.

What has he done? The first verb literally means “made level,” while the second connotes being still, being at rest. Then note that “soul” in Hebrew refers not to the immortal or immaterial part of you, but more to the part of your being that has desires and passions.

So David says here: “I have taken initiative. I have made level my passions and desires. These things I want do not control me. I am tempted to let my passions and desires run my life, not to have peace unless they are fulfilled. But I have resisted those temptations.”

Note that he is not saying, “I have stifled all desire. I am hardened to whatever happens. I have no more passions.” Scripture never commends that attitude. We are to rejoice, to love, to mourn, to weep.

Rather, what David has done is to level out those desires, to knock them down to size, to quiet their cries and to put them in their proper place.

David then compares this state to the two-year-old on his mother’s lap. While the word translated “weaned” can mean a child who no longer nurses, it can also mean a child who has just finished nursing. I think that’s the image here. The child has nursed. She has all she needs. She has satisfied her hunger. She feels safe and secure and loved on her mother’s breast. She is completely at peace.

This is the picture of all who are in Jesus before God – loved, provisioned, protected, peaceful. For He promises us His love (1 John 3:1). He promises us protection (2 Timothy 4:18). He promises us the food and clothing we need to fulfill His purposes (Matthew 6:31-33). And He promises us His constant presence (Hebrews 13:5).

So we can rest peacefully on Him. Yes, we will be perplexed at times; we will weep at times; we will often have deep concerns. But we don’t live lives dominated by those concerns. We still and quiet our souls; we make level our passions; we rest in His love, in His provision.

Therefore we won’t say, “I can only have peace if I have _____!” We have Him. We have all that we need.

 

The Source of Peace

In the first two verses, David does not make explicit the source of his contentment. He does that in the final verse:

O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

Here David calls on all God’s people to do what he has done. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus, everyone who is part of God’s holy nation (1 Peter 2:9) must hope in the Lord!

This exhortation is both what we must do and why we can rest.

That little child hopes in his mother and father. He doesn’t understand much about what is going on, but he trusts them. He isn’t able to provide for himself, but he believes they will provide. He sees, perhaps, dangers in the world, but he trusts their protection.

Just so with us before God.

And note that this is to go on forevermore! We never outgrow sitting on that restful lap!

How do we put this into practice? What is the spiritual dynamic at play here?

When we are tempted to fret, to worry, to lack peace, we are to calm and quiet our souls by reminding ourselves of God’s character, of His plan of redemption, and of His promises: He promises to work all things together for our good and His glory; He promises to redeem all of creation, creating a new heavens and new earth; He promises to right every wrong, to wipe away every tear; He promises to make us like Jesus – forever and ever.

Consider in particular the overarching promise of Luke 12:32. Jesus says,

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

This is what God wants to do! If you are in Christ, He wants to give you His kingdom!  He wants to bring you into His presence. He wants to shower you with His love.  He wants you to be His precious child, His heir. He wants to grant you a new body in the new heavens and new earth. He wants to use you for His glory, so that you play a role in the greatest accomplishment of all time.

And remember: Whatever God pleases, He does (Psalm 135:6). Nothing can stop Him.

 

So how can you rest? What do you need in order to have peace?

We can make long lists of things we think we need. We can allow ourselves to get all worked up and upset and fretful because of what we lack.

But really there is only one thing we need.

What we need is Jesus – and nothing else.

Every other good in this life – everything we lack, everything we think we need – fundamentally Is not valuable in and of itself. Rather: if received, it is most valuable because it is a token of love from the One who loves us more than we can imagine. And if God withholds it from us – then He has something better. Even that withholding – painful as it may be – is for our good.

So away with all thoughts of, “I would be happy if …” or “I need answers to life’s questions before I can be at peace.”

The only question that matters is: Do you have Jesus?

Apart from Him – you cannot trust any of His promises. You cannot rest on God’s lap. You cannot know His love. For we all deserve punishment (Psalm 130:3). We need someone to pay the penalty for us. We need someone to stand in our place.

Those who are in Jesus have peace with God because He took on that penalty at the Cross (Romans 5:1, 8).

So believe in Him. Trust Him.

He is the one thing you need for peace. Not a house. Not a job. Not fulfillment. Not recognition. Not status. Not a spouse or sex or children.

Having Jesus: Fight the fight to believe. Remind yourself of Who God is. Meditate on His promises. And know: If you have Jesus, peace is yours. Rest in Him.

“O Israel: Hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.”

Who is #Blessed?

Who is blessed?

If you search social media for #blessed, what will you find?

Or consider a similar question: What leads to a happy, satisfied, fulfilling life?

If you were to ask that question of random people in Charlotte, what might they say? You would likely find people who would answer:

  • Career success/accomplishment
  • Working to change the world, to make it a better place, perhaps through local service, perhaps through politics
  • Working to help those around you who are less well off
  • Others might focus on possessions: Having a nice house, or a second house at the beach, in the mountains, on a lake; having the latest gadgets, or car, or clothes
  • Yet others would say: Having good health and a great body
  • That’s then related to: being attractive sexually, having great sex – and, some would say, with multiple partners
  • Others might focus on aesthetics and intellectual engagement: Great music, great books, great art, great conversation
  • Others might focus on friends or family
  • Others might say: There’s no way in this crazy world to be happy and satisfied; the only way to some joy is to escape through drugs, fantasies, virtual reality, or the metaverse
  • Others might say – believe in Jesus, and you will be blessed.

What does Psalm 119 say?

Psalm 119:1-3: Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

How does the psalmist’s answer compare to the others?

This answer differs from all of them, including the last. The psalmist’s answer is more complex than any of the others. He tells us to walk in the Law, to walk in His ways, on His paths, and to seek God with all that we are. This answer clearly is not speaking of a one-time decision that moves you from “unblessed” to “blessed.” Indeed, the psalmist is not speaking of something you obtain or an activity you do.

Instead, the psalm describes a relationship with God. Indeed, a specific type of relationship with God – the type of relationship Jesus had with the Father during His time on earth. For Jesus walked in the Law of the Lord. Jesus kept God’s testimonies. Jesus sought the Father with all His heart. Jesus did no wrong but walked on the Father’s ways and paths.

Before He began His public ministry, Jesus referred to this idea. Do you remember what He said when He had fasted for forty days and was hungry, in response to Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread? Quoting Deuteronomy 8, He says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

That’s the attitude of the author of Psalm 119: “Your Word is my life! I live by listening to You, following You, trusting You!”

So Psalm 119 describes a right relationship with God, which Jesus then lived out.

The psalm promises that we too can have such a relationship with God: life-giving, fulfilling, satisfying – blessed. Furthermore, we know from 2 Corinthians 1:20 that “Every one of God ‘s promises is ‘Yes’ in [Jesus].” So the promise of Psalm 119 of a blessed life, true life – deep joy in Him in the midst of a crazy, fallen, dangerous world – that promise is yes in Jesus, as we come to the Father through the crucified and risen Son.

That’s the central message of this psalm: We find true life only in God, and He communicates Himself in His Word. And today we know: Jesus is the living Word who displayed and fulfilled the written Word, enabling rebels like us to have that blessed relationship with the Father.

Consider the structure of this psalm. There are 22 sections containing eight verses each, and thus 176 verses in total. Most Bibles label each eight-verse section with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, for all eight verses in every section begin with the same letter.

Almost every verse refers to God’s Word in some way, using words such as: Law, Word, ordinances, testimonies, commandments, statutes, precepts, sayings, and promise.

But the Word in this psalm is not at all a set of rules we obey in order to gain access to God. Nor is this Word a set of laws we obey outwardly to satisfy the Lawgiver, while deep in our hearts we long to violate them.

No. This Word is the path to true life, true joy, true happiness, true blessedness. For this Word is the path of a relationship with our loving Creator – the path that Jesus walked before us.

So I encourage you: Read this psalm expectantly. Learn how you can know and love God through His Word.

And then – walk in His ways, to His glory and to your joy.

[This devotion is edited from the introduction to the July 24 sermon, “Know and Love God Through His Word.” You can listen to that sermon via this link.]

The Advent of the Kingdom

How should you prepare for the coming of the King?

We are entering the season of Advent – the weeks leading up to Christmas when we celebrate the incarnation and birth of King Jesus. Prior to that first coming of David’s promised descendant, many devout Jews, like Simeon, were “waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). They lived “righteous and devout” lives, feeding on God’s Word, serving His people, proclaiming His promises, eagerly anticipating the fulfillment of every promise by the “God of Amen,” the “God of Truth” (Isaiah 65:16).

Today we can profitably use this season prior to Christmas to prompt ourselves to live similarly as we wait for the final consolation, eagerly anticipating the fulfillment of all the remaining promises by the same God of Amen.

But note: God grants a partial fulfillment of those promises today! As we long for the final consummation, “all the promises of God find their Yes” in Christ Jesus. And that “Yes” means that today He establishes us, He anoints us, He seals us, He puts His Spirit in us (2 Corinthians 1:20-22) so that “as He is, so also are we in this world;” indeed, “love [is] perfected with us” (1 John 4:17).

This is how we rightly celebrate Advent today: Not as a preparation for gift-giving or carol-singing, but in living our lives today in light of God’s promises and their present and future fulfillment.

Consider Psalm 81 in this regard. Like us, the Israelites of the psalmist’s day had been redeemed by God (out of Egypt) and had received God’s promise that through their offspring all the nations of the world would be blessed. But, like us, they suffered over the years from both external enemies and their own internal tendency to stray. In words that echo the opening lines of the Ten Commandments, God says:

“Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!  There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.  I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.  Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81:8-16)

There are at least five explicit or implied commands here – five imperatives that tell us how to live in anticipation of God’s fulfilling His every promise:

  • “Listen to me and to no other!” God says, “Hear! Consider what happens when you listen to my words of life! Don’t listen to other claims of authority, to other claims of what leads to joy!”
  • “Worship me and no other! Others will seem to display power, will seem to exhibit wisdom, will seem to offer salvation – don’t bow down to them!”
  • “Remember my redemption! You once were slaves, and groaned in your slavery. I redeemed you, and no other. So don’t put yourselves back under the yoke of a master who only desires to use you!”
  • “Do not harden your heart! You naturally have a stubborn heart; left to your own desires and preferences, you will not listen to me, you will not submit to me; your own counsels will lead you far from me. Since you naturally will fall away from me, you must fight to open yourself up to me.”
  • “So open your mouth wide, and I will fill it! I will fill it with the finest of wheat, with honey from the rock, with what is better than you could ever imagine! Yield to me – and I will give you the deepest joy man can experience.”

How do we open our mouths wide? What does that mean?

Surely it means in part obeying the first four commands: Feed on His Word, worship Him with joy, preach the Gospel to yourself daily, and guard your heart. The fight for joy in God consists in part in this internal fight to believe God’s promises and to trust Him with our thoughts, affections, and emotions.

But “open your mouth wide” also implies our stepping out in action. Step out to serve – and God promises to fill you and use you in ways beyond your imagining. Open your mouth wide to speak the Gospel – and God promises to give His power to that proclamation, to work miracles of salvation and encouragement. Show love to the hurting – and God promises to infuse that love with His own, so that the comfort received is the comfort of God Himself.

Do you see? When we rightly prepare for the (second) coming of the King, we not only prepare ourselves; we not only prepare those around us; we actually display the coming Kingdom now! God so works through His forward-looking people that His Kingdom is manifest today in acts of mercy and words of grace.

So how will you celebrate Advent? Who can you encourage? What mercy can you show? With whom can you share the Good News of God’s grace? How will God’s Kingdom come – today! – through you?

Study Guide on God’s Providence

The study guide on God’s Providence is now complete. You can access it here (Word doc, pdf) and use it for personal or group study. Introducing the study several months ago, I wrote:

The scriptures paint a picture of a sovereign God ruling all events, moving all creation forward to His appointed end.

This raises a multitude of questions: What is God’s goal in all this? How is this sovereignty related to our responsibility for our actions? How is that sovereignty related to His commands to us – and our obeying or disobeying those commands? Does God’s control extend even to evil acts of evil men and all natural events? Does He providentially control all things?

These are not questions that we should leave for theologians to ponder. For we all face death, disease, and tragedy; we sin and others sin against us; and the world often looks to be spiraling out of control. We need to take to heart the assurances of Scripture that God is working all things together for His good and wise purposes. But if those assurances are to play their intended role, we need to understand what the Scriptures promise, and what they do not. We need to understand how and why God acts as He does.

While the study guide follows the outline of John Piper’s excellent new book, Providence, and after asking questions about a passage of Scripture assigns a portion to read each lesson (adding up to about sixty percent of the book), this is a Bible study on the theme, not a book study.

If this study proves useful to you, let me know.

 

Aging with Grace

Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life. (Proverbs 16:31)

With both of my parents in their nineties and my father hospitalized for the last month, I have been drawn to Scriptures that speak particularly to those who are aged. Here is a selection to help those of us who have gray hairs today or who eventually will have them.

Examples of the elderly in Scripture:

Many of God’s servants are faithful to the end of their lives – and for some, their key role in biblical history takes place after they are advanced in years. These are great examples for us. Consider the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Samuel, Barzillai (2 Samuel 19), Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna.

Others start well but are unfaithful in old age, serving as negative examples: consider especially Solomon (1 Kings 11) and Asa (2 Chronicles 16).

How can we be like the positive examples and unlike the negative? First, we must remember God’s promises. Here are six that are especially important to hold on to as we age:

First promise: “I will always carry you!”

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. (Isaiah 46:3-4)

Second promise: “I will always lead you and guide you!”

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.  (Isaiah 42:16)

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)

Third promise: “My goodness and love will pursue you always!”

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:6)

But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children (Psalm 103:17)

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Fourth promise: “In Me, you will always bear fruit!”

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92:12-15)

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:3)

He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8)

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

Fifth promise: “By My power, you can resist temptations – including those that are particular to old age”

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Sixth promise: “In eternity, you will have pleasures forevermore at My right hand”

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:10-11)

After remembering God’s promises, cry out to Him in dependence every day:

First: Cry out to see Him:

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

[We must] run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1b-2a NET)

Second: Pray: “Teach us to number our days and to be satisfied with your love”

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:10-14)

O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! (Psalm 39:4)

Third: Cry out asking Him to fulfill His promise to keep you and to use you to the end:

In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! …Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent…. For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you…. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (Psalm 71:1, 5-6, 9, 17-18)

Fourth: “Sustain me as you sustained the Apostle Paul to the end”

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

May we all fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith, to God’s glory through the strength He supplies by His Spirit because of Jesus.

(Scriptures are ESV except where noted)

 

 

By Faith, Joseph

Picture a nativity scene. Whether the scene consists of figurines in your home or of live persons and animals – what characters are in it?

  • Mary
  • The baby Jesus.
  • Shepherds
  • Wise men (though they didn’t arrive until several days after Jesus was born)
  • Animals (though Scripture doesn’t tell us there were any animals present)

Whom did I leave out?

Joseph.

But leaving out Joseph is not unusual.

In Scripture, Joseph’s actions are only recorded in Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 2. He is referred to five other places:

  • In Jesus’s genealogies in Matthew 1 and Luke 3
  • Two times in John’s Gospel Jesus is referred to as the “son of Joseph”
  • Finally, in Matthew 13:55 Jesus is called “the carpenter’s son” – that’s the only verse that refers to Joseph’s profession. He’s a builder – probably working with both wood and stone.

So Scripture tells us little about Joseph.

Furthermore, Joseph tells us nothing about himself. Indeed, Joseph never speaks in Scripture.

  • Mary speaks.
  • Elizabeth speaks.
  • Zechariah speaks (when he’s not muted by the angel Gabriel).
  • The shepherds speak,
  • The wise men speak,
  • Even Balaam’s donkey speaks!

But Scripture records not one word from Joseph.

Furthermore, he disappears early in the story of Jesus. He’s present at Jesus’s birth; then when Jesus is 12, Joseph and Mary search for Him in Jerusalem after Passover. But as the narrative resumes when Jesus is about 30, Joseph is not there. Presumably he dies in the interim – but we don’t know when or how.

Thus, we know very little about Joseph.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that of the 461 songs we have sung at this church in the last almost 18 years, not one mentions Joseph.

Today we examine the Christmas story through the eyes of this man whom God chose as the earthly father of our Lord and Savior. As with Zechariah, we’ll look at Joseph’s faith – and how he fits together with those listed in the Hebrews 11 hall of fame for faith: Men and women who held firmly to God’s promises, and by His grace advanced His great plan, whether they had substantial earthly success or lost everything in this life.

Matthew gives the most detailed account of Joseph, so we’ll focus on the Christmas story told in Matthew 1:18-25 under these headings:

  • A Deep Disappointment
  • A Dramatic Dream
  • A Costly Obedience
  • Following Joseph’s Faith

A Deep Disappointment

Mary and Joseph are engaged to be married. In this culture, betrothal is binding, requiring a legal divorce to end. But there is no consummation of the marriage until the wedding day, when the groom takes his bride from her parents’ house.

Joseph knows Mary’s parents – the two families surely met to arrange the marriage. But most likely Joseph doesn’t know Mary well. They will have had little together, and most likely no time at all alone together.

Nevertheless, Joseph undoubtedly is excited, greatly looking forward to the marriage, confident that Mary is the wife God intends him to love and to serve, hopeful that they will have children together.

But then someone tells him the horrible news: Mary – his Mary, his lovely young fiancé, is pregnant. How could that happen?

He hasn’t even been permitted to be alone with her – how could someone else? This is completely contrary to all he knows about her. But then, he must admit he really doesn’t know that much.

Deeply disappointed, deeply saddened for her and her family, as well as for himself, he must act.

Marrying her is not even an option. What kind of wife will she be if she is unfaithful even during the engagement?

He only has two choices:

  • He can stand her before the entire town, display her obvious pregnancy, swear that he has not touched her, and then say that he divorces her. This will publicly shame her and her family.
  • Alternately, he can meet with her family with only two witnesses present and divorce her quietly.

Despite all his hurt, despite the temptation to lash out at the one whom he thinks has hurt him, Joseph decides on the second choice.  This will be just – the right response to apparent sexual sin – and merciful – not putting Mary and her family to public shame.

A Dramatic Dream

Before he has acted, however, Joseph dreams. He sees an angel, a messenger from God.

What does the angel say?

The angel definitely speaks the words from the middle of verse 20 to the end of verse 21. A minority of scholars – including D.A. Carson – think the angel’s words continue through “Immanuel” in verse 23. Since there are no quotation marks in ancient Greek manuscripts, we can’t know with certainty.

Here then are the angel’s words, assuming the minority is right:

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for this very one will save his people from their sins. All this has come about in order that the word spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.”  (Matthew 1:20b-23a ESV; verses 21-22, own translation).

What is the angel saying? Let me expand on these words with an interpretive paraphrase:

“Joseph, you fear that Mary has been unfaithful, that she has had sexual relations with another man. But that’s not the case. This pregnancy is not to her shame; rather, it is to her honor and glory. Indeed, this pregnancy is the greatest privilege imaginable. Remember the prophecy in Isaiah – ‘a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and that son will be Immanuel, God with us.’ That son – a descendant of David – will be the Messiah, the eternal king. Furthermore, that son will be not only a king, but also a Savior from sin. For Isaiah also prophesies, ‘The Lord will lay on Him the iniquity of you all.’ Those prophecies are now fulfilled. Mary is pregnant by the Holy Spirit – not by any man. Thus, this child is Immanuel. And you too, Joseph, have a great privilege. A thousand years ago, David was your ancestor. You are the heir of David – though there has been no king among your ancestors for over 500 years. But now your adopted son – this child in Mary’s womb – will be the suffering servant and eternal king. You will be his earthly father. You and Mary have central roles in God’s great plan. Take Mary as your wife.”

How does Joseph respond?

A Costly Obedience

In Zechariah’s case, the angel appears right next to him while he is serving in the temple. There can be no denying the reality of the angel.

In Joseph’s case, the angel appears in a dream. But Joseph doesn’t suggest, “Maybe I imagined that angel. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part.”

Instead:

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1:24-25)

Immediately, as soon as he woke up, Joseph goes to the house of Mary’s family. He has to bring witnesses – but not for divorce. Instead, they witness a private marriage ceremony. Joseph then takes Mary to his home, but does not have sexual relations with her until after she gives birth.

Then according to the angel’s command, he names the child Jesus – not Joseph. He is obedient.

This obedience is costly. What is the cost?

In the eyes of everyone around him, Joseph is a fool, a complete fool. There’s only one way for a young girl to get pregnant. So, everyone naturally assumes that’s the case. They think: Either Joseph lacks self-control; deceiving Mary’s parents, he arranged to have sexual relations with Mary before the wedding day. Alternately, Joseph marries a woman who has been sexually promiscuous while engaged. In either case: He’s a fool.

Realize: God asks Joseph to believe in a miracle when there is an obvious, natural explanation for the event. It’s one thing to believe a miracle has occurred when an elderly woman, long past the age of childbearing – like Elizabeth – gets pregnant. It’s quite another when a young teen gets pregnant – that’s not unusual! No miracle is necessary.

The stigma of this supposed shame follows Mary, Joseph, and Jesus for decades. For example, in John 8:41, some Jewish leaders arguing with Jesus say, “We were not born of sexual immorality” – implying, “Like you!”

To fulfill God’s plan, Joseph obeys the angel – and by faith takes on himself this disgrace.

So how might we add Joseph to Hebrews 11? What statement could we make about him?

Here’s my suggestion:

By faith, Joseph took on himself the public shame of marrying a pregnant girl. Believing in God’s promise of a Messiah and Savior, he looked not at his humble origins or his perceived social standing, but gladly and immediately accepted his role as the earthly father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Following Joseph’s Faith

Joseph’s example leads to five exhortations for us:

1) Believe God’s promises

The angel does not have to convince Joseph that the Messiah is coming. Joseph knew the Scriptures. He knew what God had promised. He trusted those promises. He did not know that God would send the Messiah during his lifetime, and he had no hint about the important role he would play. But because he believed in God’s promises, when the angel spoke, reminding him of Isaiah’s prophecy, he was ready to obey.

Just so with us.

  • Believe Jesus is returning as promised
  • Believe that God will fulfill His plan, bringing all those who are His to Himself
  • Believe that those will include some from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.

These are God’s promises. These are certain to come about. Trust those promises.

2) Believe that God is using you to fulfill His promises.

Believe not only that God will use you in the future; believe that He is using you now.

Note: Joseph was already engaged to Mary before the angel spoke. He thought he was simply picking an attractive and godly wife from a good family. But all the while he was fulfilling God’s plan.

Similarly, God is using you right now. Your family, your choices, your obedience – your failures, your hurts and even your sins – God weaves all this together to bring about the fulfillment of His every promise.

My role and your role are unlikely to be as prominent as Joseph’s. But God nevertheless is using you now even while He prepares you for the purpose you will fulfill in the future.

So trust Him. Step out. As with all those listed in Hebrews 11, you can’t know ahead of time how He will use you – but He will.

3) Speaking may not be important for fulfilling your role

We preachers are called to speak – and praise God for the way He uses preaching. Praise God also for the way He uses witnessing, and words of comfort and encouragement.

But none of Joseph’s words are recorded in Scripture – only his actions.

Perhaps your actions are much more important than your words in fulfilling your role in God’s great plan.

Ask: How can I act to show the preciousness and authority of Jesus? How can I act to display the Gospel?

4) Trust and obey today

Like Joseph, when you know what following God implies, act right away.

This doesn’t mean that we should act rashly (though undoubtedly our obedient actions – like Joseph’s – may appear to be rash to others.) Scripture elsewhere exhorts us to count the cost and to seek counsel.

But when you know what actions faith in God’s promises requires, step out. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t dawdle. Joseph upon waking took Mary as his wife. Act similarly.

5) Gladly accept the cost of following Jesus

Jesus the baby appeared to be the result of sexual immorality. Joseph appeared to be an absolute fool for marrying a girl he did not impregnate. Those rumors, that innuendo, followed Jesus and presumably Joseph their entire lives. The social cost was high.

And Jesus took on even more shame: Hanging naked on a cross, executed as a common criminal, taking on Himself the punishment deserved by all His people of every century. But Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame, for the joy of playing His role in glorifying God through the redemption of all His beloved people. Now He is exalted to the highest place, seated at the right hand of God. He promises to return to right all wrongs, to establish justice, to usher in His eternal Kingdom, to perfect all His people – and to say to you face to face: “Enter into the joy of your master.”

He will say that to you if you are among His people.

Are you?

If you’re not sure: Look to Him! He is gracious, merciful, and slow to anger. He is love and mercy. Repent. Confess. And God will lay your every sin, your every disobedience, your every rebellion on Jesus. He will then justly accept you as His own.

If you are sure: Know: Whatever the cost, whatever the loss, whatever the shame of playing your role in following Jesus, He is worth it.

By faith, be like Joseph. Trust the promises. Fulfill your part in God’s plan. And enter the joy of your Master.

[This devotion is based on the December 20 sermon. You can watch or listen to that service here.]

Be Faithful, For the Faithful One Controls the Future

The year is 1810. You are one of the parents of four daughters; your youngest, Ann, nicknamed Nancy, is 21. One day you receive a letter from a young man you met only one month previously, asking to begin a courtship of Ann.

That’s not surprising – she is attractive, outgoing, and highly intelligent. But no parent has ever received a request for courtship quite like this one. Let me quote:

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next Spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left His heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory with a crown of righteousness, brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from the heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair? (emphasis added)

The request came from Adoniram Judson. Ann’s parents were John and Rebecca Hasseltine.

If you were John or Rebecca: How would you respond? Would you say no? Why? Would you say yes? Why?

How does faith in God – the God of the promises – influence your answer?

Every day we make decisions – on big, important matters, like marriage, and on small, seemingly trivial matters, like what to say to the checkout clerk at the grocery store.

Scripture tells us:

  • Make every decision, even trivial ones, to the glory of God.
  • Make every decision, even trivial ones, on the basis of faith in the promise-keeping God.
  • Make every decision, even trivial ones, by faith and not by sight.

So following Scripture – by faith, not by sight, to the glory of God – what answer would you give Adoniram?

This is our fourth sermon on this great eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. This chapter highlights how God has worked through the centuries to fulfill His promises, how He has raised up men and women of faith to trust in Him, to trust in those promises; how He has used them to advance His great plan of redemption, all culminating in Jesus – who Himself is the supreme man of faith. If we have faith in Him, we will join all these mentioned in Hebrews 11 at the culmination of God’s plans when Jesus reigns over His eternal kingdom.

Last week, we began discussing Abraham and Sarah. God calls Abraham to leave comfort, security, and family, to go he knows not where. God promises Him that in his offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed. Later God elaborates: Abraham’s descendants will be as many as the stars in the heavens. God had earlier promised the first woman, Eve, that her descendant would crush the head of the serpent, Satan. Abraham’s descendant will fulfill both promises.

So, by faith in God, trusting in God’s promises, Abraham goes out – and never has a permanent dwelling again.

But He has promises of God – and he makes sure those around him know: the world not his home. God will bring him to a homeland, an eternal city – with foundations!

As time goes on, Abraham and Sarah must believe the seemingly impossible promise that a 90 year old woman way past the possibility of getting pregnant will give birth to a son.

God does give them their son Isaac in their old age. And God does fulfill the promise to Abraham and the promise to Eve through Isaac. For Jesus is Isaac’s physical descendant. Satan’s power is broken at the cross and the empty tomb, and Jesus will crush that serpent’s head on the last day. God is bringing those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation to His family by faith in Jesus. All those in Christ are Abraham’s children through that faith. Isaac is the child of the promise.

Today we consider an event that takes place when Isaac is about 13. God tells Abraham once again to leave his home and go where He will show him – but the problem this time is not in what he must leave; it is in what he must do. “Offer as a burnt offering your son, your only son, whom you love.” John and Rebecca Hasseltine were asked to say goodbye to their precious daughter, knowing they likely would never see her again. But Abraham had to raise the knife to kill his beloved son: “By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac” (Hebrews 11:17).

We’ll consider our text – Hebrews 11:17-22 – under three headings:

Faith in God’s Promised Future (verses 20-22)

Radical Obedience that Comes from Faith (verses 17-19)

Five Exhortations

Faith in God’s Promised Future

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. (Hebrews 11:20-22)

Isaac blesses his twin sons Jacob and Esau in weird circumstances, as recorded in Genesis 27; Jacob in turn blesses his grandsons through Joseph after worshiping God, as recorded in Genesis 47 and 48; the dying Joseph speaks of the exodus from Egypt, asking that the Israelites take his bones with them when they leave.

We see clearly that Abraham can only offer Isaac as a sacrifice by faith. But in what sense are these acts by faith?

We all wish our children to be blessed. We all pray for our children to be blessed. Some of us make requests for what becomes of our bodies, or our ashes, after we die.

So what’s unusual or different about what Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph do? Why does the author of Hebrews mention them here, in this way?

Because they are not just stating wishes. They are not just making requests. They are not simply praying. They are trusting in the God who has promised!

Remember, God reiterated his promise to Abraham to both Isaac and Jacob: God promises Isaac: “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 26:4). So by faith Isaac entrusted that promise to Jacob. God promises Jacob: “Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 28:14). By faith, Jacob entrusted part of that promise to Joseph’s sons.

And what about Joseph? Remember, the entire family want to Egypt during Joseph’s day. Joseph says to his brothers:

“I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” (Genesis 50:24-25)

How did Joseph know that the Israelites will leave Egypt?

Back in Genesis 15, God had said to Abraham: “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out” (Genesis 15:13-14)

Abraham undoubtedly had passed that promise down from generation to generation. So Joseph knows that though he is the second most powerful ruler in Egypt, his descendants will be oppressed. And one day, hundreds of years in the future, God will bring them out. So he – the one who brought the family to Egypt – wants his remains to leave Egypt. God has promised. The exodus will come about.

Recall Hebrews 11:1 and 6:

“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” (CSB). “Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Furthermore, “It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).

So: Isaac could bless Jacob, Jacob could bless Joseph’s sons, and Joseph could speak of the exodus and his bones because God had promised. They had faith in the God Who promises, Who fulfills every promise.

What is equivalent for us? What does this type of faith look like for us?

We can hold just so surely to the promises God gives us. Indeed, we can bless children and grandchildren in a similar way. Sure, we can pray for health, for marriage, for happiness, for career success for them. But we don’t trust in those by faith, for God does not promise anyone healthy, successful lives.

But what does God promise?

  • He promises that In Christ, He will provide everything needed for them to fulfil His purposes and to become like Jesus.
  • He promises that in Christ, He will be our shepherd –we need fear no evil, for He will be with us
  • He promises that In Christ, He is our strength and our shield –men who will die can do nothing against Him
  • He promises that In Christ – He will work all things together to glorify Himself through us, to conform us to His image, and to bring us safely to His eternal Kingdom

As the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:20, by faith, we know that all the promises of God are yes in Christ Jesus. So we can pray for these and other promises to be fulfilled in our children, by faith confident that God will fulfill them all if those children are in Christ.

God controls the future. His promises reveal how He will act in the future. Nothing can divert Him from fulfilling those promises. So we can speak to others of these promises with confidence.

Let’s now see how these ideas inform our understanding of Abraham’s offering of Isaac as a sacrifice.

Radical Obedience that Comes from Faith

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered (or “reckoned” or “reasoned”) that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. (Hebrews 11:17-19)

Abraham not only received the promises (verse 17), he “embraced” them (NIV). He loved them. He reminded himself of them. They were most precious to Him.

Like Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in verses 20-22, Abraham knows that God controls the future and that He has spoken of the future. Abraham trusts in the promise of the promiser.

Furthermore, God has proven Himself faithful to Abraham. God has already done the impossible, granting new life in a dead womb, just as He had promised. And God had told Abraham in Genesis 17:19, “I will establish my covenant with [Isaac] as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.” So when God says: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2), Abraham “considered,” “reckoned,” or “reasoned” thus: God brought Isaac into being when there was no human hope for a child; He can bring Isaac back to life when he is dead. We see this confidence in Genesis 22:5, when Abraham says to his servants, “I and the boy will … come again to you” (emphasis added).

You see? There is no way that the God who controls the future, the God who is faithful to His every promise, will let Isaac remain dead. He has promised Abraham as many descendants as the stars through Isaac; He has promised to bless all the families of the nations through Isaac. So Isaac must have descendants. Isaac must live.

God’s promise to Abraham was that certain. So Abraham displays this radical obedience

What about you and me? How do we display similar radical obedience by faith?

Five Exhortations

The first provides the foundation for the other four:

1) Know God’s promises

Know what God has promised. Know what He has not promised.

Many in the worldwide church think God has promised what He has not. When He then does not fulfill what He has not promised, many lose their faith in what He has promised.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph knew what God had truly promised; by faith, they acted on those promises. We must do the same: Know the promises from Scripture; memorize the promises; hold fast to the promises; act, trusting in those promises.

2) Trust God’s promises

We can know God’s promises and yet not trust them. We can say, “Yes, God works all things together for the good of those who love Him,” and the next minute get angry and upset because someone cuts us off in traffic.

So trust – that God is my shepherd; I shall not lack anything pertaining to life and godliness. I need fear no evil, for He is with me. Goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life. I will dwell in house of Lord forever. God will supply all my needs in accordance with His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

3) Help one another to trust God’s promises

This is one key purpose of the church, one key way we spur one another on to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24-25). Remind one another of the promises; encourage one another with the promises; tell one another of God’s faithfulness to His promises.

4) Like Abraham: Follow God even when it makes no earthly sense– because you can trust in His promises

That’s the radical obedience that comes from faith.

5) Follow God, trusting in His promises today

If we look ahead to next week and next year and future decades, trusting God can seem overwhelming. We can imagine all sorts of problems, dangers, and disappointments that might occur.

But God doesn’t give us the grace today to trust Him tomorrow. He gives us grace today to trust Him today. Indeed, we can’t trust Him for tomorrow today; we can only trust Him for today today.

So Jesus tells us – don’t worry. Ask God for what you need for that day. His mercies are new every morning. Seek first His Kingdom, and know that all you need for that Kingdom will be added to you. Don’t be anxious for tomorrow; trust God today for today’s troubles (see Matthew 6:24-34, Lamentations 3:22-24).

Conclusion

We left John and Rebecca Hasseltine with the decision: Do they allow Adoniram Judson to court their youngest daughter Ann?

They gave their consent. Adoniram and Ann were married about 18 months later, and almost immediately sailed for India, eventually ending up in Burma.

Ann never returned. She never saw her family again. Indeed, during the next 13 years, Ann and Adoniram suffered horrible hardships. They were blessed with children, but all of them died in infancy. Ann and Adoniram were separated almost as much as they were together, frequently not knowing if the other was still alive. Adoniram suffered a lengthy imprisonment in terrible conditions; he would have died had Ann not come and ministered to him in the prison.

Then, during one of their lengthy separations, Ann became ill and died. She had not seen her husband for 3 1/2 months. Four weeks passed before news of her death reached Adoniram.

Was God faithful to His promises?

Adoniram and Ann knew that He was.

Go back to Adoniram’s letter asking for permission to court her. He didn’t downplay the dangers and hardships – rather he enumerated them. He asked for John and Rebecca’s consent for the sake of Jesus, who sacrificed Himself, for the sake of immortal souls, who would come to faith in Jesus, for the glory of God, in the hope of their meeting Ann again in that promised Kingdom, after she had been used by God to bring others to faith.

God fulfilled those promises.

Ann Judson’s life was hard – exceptionally hard. And God glorified His Name through her. He remained her ever present help in trouble. He fulfilled His purposes in her. He brought her safely to His heavenly Kingdom.

God works the same way today – for all those in Christ Jesus.

So believe in Jesus. Believe in the God who promises. Believe – and, trusting, step out in radical obedience.

For He controls the future.

[This sermon was preached November 8, 2020. The audio of the sermon and video of the entire service are available at this link. The recorded service is available via Youtube at this link. For more on Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, listen to these two sermons from 2004 on Genesis 22: first, second.]

 

 

 

The Greatness and Weakness of Old Testament Worship

We need food. We need shelter. We need love. We need respect.

But what is our greatest need?

Scripture is clear: Our greatest need is to see Jesus for Who He is, and to respond accordingly. Only in this way can we fulfill the purpose of our creation. Only in this way can we draw near the One in whose presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). If we are His people, and He is our God, we can lose everything else – and yet still gain (Mark 8:34-37, 10:29-30).

So the book of Hebrews exalts the Lord Jesus and commands to consider Him, to keep our eyes fixed on Him. In particular, the author shows that Jesus is superior to any Old Testament priest and that the New Covenant in Him is superior to the Old Covenant.

Seeing these contrasts, we today are tempted to denigrate Old Testament worship – either to ignore the long sections of Scripture that describe it, or to go further and think of such worship as false and misleading.

But the New Testament never treats Old Testament worship that way, neither in Hebrews nor anywhere else.

Remember: All Old Testament worship forms were commanded by God! They are all part of God’s torah, His instruction about Who He is, who we are, how we can be reconciled to Him, and how we can fulfill the purpose of our creation in a fallen world.

Thus, there is a greatness to Old Testament worship.

At the same time, as Hebrews make abundantly clear, there is a weakness in that worship.

So let’s ask: How was Old Testament worship great? And how was it weak?

Hebrews 8:5 tells us of its greatness: The Old Testament priests “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.”

Think of the glory! These priests were serving a copy of heavenly things!

So their worship forms were not something that they thought up, that they decided would be appropriate ways to worship God.

Neither was their worship patterned after forms that peoples around them were using.

No! God showed Moses the true, heavenly reality! And then God helped Moses to see how to best reflect that heavenly reality on earth, through the tabernacle, through the sacrifices, through the annual feasts and other forms.

Thus, all these forms of worship pointed as effectively as possible to the heavenly reality on which they were patterned. And today, you and I have the privilege of being able to read God’s instructions to Moses, and thereby to learn about the heavenly realities – indeed, to learn about Jesus through them. As He Himself says, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me” (John 5:46; see also Luke 24:44).

So Old Testament worship is great because the Israelite priests serve a copy of heavenly things! It is precious! It was a wonderful gift of God to the people of Israel – and the description of it is a wonderful gift to us today.

But if that’s the case, how is it weak?

Old Testament worship is weak because those priests served a copy of heavenly things. Only a copy.

No one was ever redeemed by their sacrifices – that redemption had to take place in the true tent (Hebrews 8:2).

Furthermore, many Old Testament worshipers – even many of the priests – were simply going thru the motions. There was no inner delight in God, no broken and contrite heart before Him (Psalm 51:16-17).

So Jesus has obtained a much more excellent ministry (Hebrews 8:6). He ministers in the heavenly reality! Not in a shadowy copy. And He mediates a better covenant, with better promises – the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8-12, Jeremiah 31:31-34). The very phrase “New Covenant” – written 600 years before Christ – implies that the first covenant one day will be obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Now that Jesus has come, has died, and has risen to the right of hand of God, that time has come. Jeremiah’s prophecy is fulfilled. As great as Old Testament worship was, as wonderful as it was for the priests to picture heavenly realities, now that the perfect has come, the partial can pass away.

So the author of Hebrews emphasizes once again: Look to your great High Priest! Keep your eyes fixed on Him!

That is our greatest need today. It will remain our greatest need forever.

So exalt Jesus in your heart – and read about God-ordained, Old Testament worship forms so that you might exalt Jesus all the more.

Then praise God for the Old Covenant – and praise Him all the more for fulfilling that covenant in the New.

[This devotion is taken from part of the July 5, 2020 sermon. You can watch that service here; the sermon begins at 37:35; this section of the sermon begins at 1:03:35.]

Strive to Enter God’s Rest

“Let us therefore strive to enter [God’s] rest” – Hebrews 4:11.

What does the author mean by this command?

There is an eternal rest God promises His people in which:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4).

And God calls all people everywhere to repentance and faith in Jesus so that they might enter that eternal rest (Acts 17:30).

But there is an important sense in which we enter God’s rest today, getting a taste today of that eternal rest.

How do we strive to enter today’s rest?

Striving to enter God’s rest today is working hard to look away from ourselves, to look to Jesus, to trust in God’s promises, every minute of every day.

Or think of it this way: Striving to enter God’s rest is working hard to live out Psalm 23 every minute of every day:

God is your shepherd; you lack nothing in Christ. He leads you in His paths – and they are good and restful, even if they pass through frightening and dangerous valleys. He delights in you and honors you as His own – and those who try to harm you, those who hate you and abuse you, will have to acknowledge that. His goodness and love will pursue you your entire life – and He will in the end bring you into His eternal rest as part of His beloved family.

We initially come to faith in Jesus in this way, trusting in the promise of the Gospel: that God created us for His glory; that we all reject that purpose and rebel against Him; that He sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of all who would believe in Him hereafter; that the benefits of that sacrifice, including becoming part of the intimate family of God, accrue to everyone who will repent and believe this Good News.

Subsequent to salvation, Hebrews 4:11 calls us to continue to trust daily in the Gospel and in all of God’s promises. Because in this life we are always tempted to lean on our own resources, to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). We must acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves, nor can we make ourselves into the type of person we desire to be, nor can we accomplish anything for God through our natural resources.

We can never merit salvation through good deeds, nor can we ever merit God’s commendation through acts we do in our power.

So when we strive to enter God’s rest, we confess to God every day:

“I am a sinner; You are the Savior. In my natural self there is no good thing, only darkness – You are all goodness and light. I can only become what I really want, I can only become what You desire, through Christ in me: changing me, working out His purposes in me. So may my work apart from Your power cease. May your power take over.”

As Ray Stedman says:

We do not have what it takes, and we never did. The only one who can live the Christian life is Jesus Christ. He proposes to reproduce his life in us. Our part is to expose every situation to his life in us, and, by that means, depending upon him and not upon us, we are to meet every situation, enter into every circumstance, and perform every activity. We cease from our own labors.

But this is not easy. That’s why the author of Hebrews tells us we must strive to enter God’s rest, we must make every effort to depend continually on God.

Jesus doesn’t want your self-powered effort. He doesn’t need your toiling. He, after all, has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18)! He wants your trust.

What happens when we ignore this command and step out in our own power?

When those who don’t have faith in Christ strive to live up to some standard and fail, they respond in one of three ways:

  1. They fool themselves into thinking they actually did live up to the standard, or will beginning tomorrow.
  2. They justify their failures, saying something like: “I’m only human – no one could really live that The real standard is to do better than most others, and surely I’m accomplishing that!”
  3. Or they feel like failures, overwhelmed, condemned – they can never become what they wanted, even by their own standards.

What about Christians? What happens when we strive apart from God’s power?

We too become burdened. We are so busy, we are working so hard, we are toiling and striving – and all the joy of the Christian life has left us. We get caught in a fog of unbelief, through which we can’t see God – so we go through the motions, saying all the right things, doing all the right things, but we’re not really trusting God. We are not striving with His power; we are flailing away with our own energy. And so we are weary, burdened, feeling like we can’t continue, but wondering how in the world God’s work can go on without our hard efforts.

To such people, Christians and non-Christians, Jesus calls out:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

So – when faced with a task that must be accomplished, we are not to grit our teeth, saying, “Yes, I can! I can do it.”

We must admit: “I cannot do this! I am unable! In my natural self, I will fail!”

And turn to Him. He is our yokemate. It is His yoke. We are paired with Him. And He pulls. So when we pull – it’s really by his power.

What does it look like when we live out such active dependence on God?

Consider the difference between the Apostle Paul and the rich young ruler.

There is no doubt that Paul works hard. He details in his letters many of the obstacles he had to overcome: Beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, death threats, rejection, betrayals, exposure to the elements – and eventually execution.

So Paul works his tail off.

What about the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-22)? He too has been working hard; he tells Jesus he has kept all of God’s commandments from his youth! We might be tempted to laugh at that – but he is sincere and, undoubtedly, those looking at his life would conclude that he was an upright, honorable man.

But he has a nagging feeling that all that obedience isn’t good enough. He feels that he needs to do something more.

So he asks Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” You see: He wants to toil for God! He says, “Give me some task to do, even a great one – I’ll do it! I’m able!”

How does Jesus reply? Jesus does not tell him to go do some great feat requiring perseverance, danger, or hardship. Instead, He tells him to do the easiest thing in world. Indeed, all he has to do is to give one command to a servant, and it’s done.

And yet this easiest task in the world is exceptionally hard. To do it, he has to trust in the promises of God.

Jesus says, “Get rid of everything that you think shows that you are important. Give it away.” And Jesus does not say next, “Then you’ll have earned status as My disciple.” Instead He simply says, “Then follow Me.”

This man could strive in His own power to prove his capabilities, but he did not trust God. He saw Jesus face to face – and Jesus looked at him with love! – yet he turned away. His confidence was in himself and in his riches – not in God. So he holds on to his riches, and walks away from Jesus sorrowful.

In contrast, in all his difficult labors, the Apostle Paul strives “with all [God’s] energy that He powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29). He served “by the strength that God supplies– in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11).

That’s how we too must serve, how we too must live. Not by that fruitless striving of the rich young ruler, always trying to prove ourselves, striving to show to God and to others and to ourselves that we’re good enough, we’re strong enough, we’re faithful enough to deserve honor and friendship and commendation. But leaning on Him and on His Word, praying without ceasing, turning to Him in active dependence, trusting in His promises, we live and love and worship and serve, confident in our status because of Christ’s work, delighting in the gifts God gives, thankful for the tokens of His love strewn across our paths.

This is His rest. May we strive to enter it – in complete dependence on Him.

[This devotion follows up on the April 19, 2020 sermon, “Brothers and Sisters, Strive to Enter God’s Rest!” (video). This content draws from a 2008 sermon, “Work Hard Yet Relax During the Race of Faith” (audio, text).]

 

Fight the Good Fight of Faith: The Key Battle During the Pandemic

“Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).

Paul tells Timothy: Fight the good fight to believe that what God says is true. Fight to believe that God is Who He says He is, that Jesus became man, that Jesus died for your sin, that He reigns now, that He will return and bring in the new heavens and the new earth.

This is a fight, isn’t it? And not only for Timothy. For you and me also.

The Greek word translated “fight” is an athletic term, particularly used of wrestlers. Wrestling a powerful opponent is difficult; he uses every ounce of energy to defeat you. You have to exert a supreme effort to win the contest.

In these days of the coronavirus, we must fight this fight of faith. We look around and see fear, even panic; we see starkly different forecasts for what lies ahead; we see political leaders guessing about the best way forward; we see many around us lose their job, lose all their income; we see or hear of others who are horribly sick, isolated, connected to a ventilator, with friends and family forbidden to visit.

How do we believe in God, how do we trust Jesus, when around the world we see pain, chaos, and hardship?

David shows us how to fight that fight of faith in Psalm 27.

In the first half of this psalm, David’s life is going well:

  • His known sins are under control;
  • His enemies are present, but not exerting any influence;
  • He’s very confident in God.

When our life is going well, we can be tempted to relax in our pursuit of God. It’s easy to begin to coast.

But David doesn’t do that. On the contrary, he continues to seek to know God better, to worship Him more fully – and in these ways he prepares for the inevitable future battle.

That battle comes in the second half of the psalm. Enemies attack – but David is prepared. He fights the good fight of faith.

You and I need these lessons in the midst of this pandemic – but we also need these lessons in the good times that will come again. We will need to use those coming times of peace, when we’re on the mountain tops of our life with God, so that when the battle comes again, we’re equipped. We’re ready. We’re strong in the Lord.

Gathering Strength for the Fight of Faith

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. (Psalm 27:1-3)

Note David’s strong focus on Who God is. He uses three metaphors in verse 1 to remind Himself of God’s character:

First: God is Light.

Imagine you are walking in a strange place on a moonless night. There are no electric lights anywhere. You have no flashlight, and your cell phone battery is dead. You can see nothing around you. You don’t know what danger might lie ahead.

But in that darkness, God shines! He is light! He shines into the darkness of our ignorance; He shines into the darkness of evil.

Second: God is our Salvation.

He not only lets us see the danger we were blind to; He delivers us from evil. And that deliverance includes not only the attacks by evil forces from outside us, but also the evil inside us.

Third: God is our Stronghold.

He is our strong tower. In Him, we are protected from every evil attack. His walls are unassailable.

So we need not fear.

David elaborates on these points in verse 2 and 3. Even when enemies try to “eat up [his] flesh,” to completely destroy him, they are the ones who fall. Even if overwhelming numbers attack him, David is confident. In what? Not in himself! Rather, he is confident in His light, His salvation, His stronghold – God Himself.

So in these first three verses, David highlights the benefits God gives him.

But beginning in verse 4, he tells us he worships God not primarily for benefits; rather, he worships God for Who He is:

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

David asks for one thing. Now, David does ask for other things, even in this psalm. But this, says David, is the center. This is the key. This is the foundation. This is the greatest good – better than protection, better than healing, better than long life, better than fame and riches and success.

If we are to successfully fight the good fight of faith, we must seek this one thing also: To desire God. To treasure Jesus above all the world has to offer.

If instead we worship God first and foremost for what he does for us, what will we do when those benefits seem to disappear? What will we do when He seems to hide His face? What will we do in pandemics and tsunamis and wars and disasters? We won’t be like Jesus who “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame” (Hebrews 12:2).

So David seeks God. He seeks to be able to worship God always. He seeks to see His beauty – how? Via His revelation of Himself in the worship He has ordained in His house.

For us, what is the equivalent? Seeking to see God’s beauty in the worship as He has ordained in our era: through the preaching of Word, the Lord’s Supper, baptism, prayer, reading, and singing.

Do you think of worship in those terms? Not as a duty to be performed. Not as an opportunity to be entertained. But as an offered privilege of gazing upon the beauty of the Lord, seeing Him better, deepening your love for Him, your delight in Who He is.

Then David adds: “To inquire in his temple.” The Hebrew verb can be translated in different ways; the NIV renders this word, “seek,” in which case this phrase reinforces the idea of seeking His face. But “inquire” could mean asking: “Am I really right before you, Lord? Am I walking in your truth? That is how I want to live, so please open up to me what is displeasing to You.”

So David’s primary desire is to see God for Who He is by worshiping in the ordained way, and for God to open up to him anything displeasing in himself, so that he can walk in His light.

May that be your primary desire also.

Then, having seen God for Who He is, what is David confident He will do?

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD. (Psalm 27:5-6)

David reiterates that God is his stronghold and salvation, protecting him. But he goes beyond those earlier themes. Now, his head is lifted high above his enemies in their presence – so that they might see that God truly loves him. This leads to David’s great expression of joy.

Thus, in this time of experiencing closeness to God, on this mountain top, David prepares himself for the inevitable valley. He roots out sin, he learns more of God’s character, he cultivates delight in worshiping with God’s people.

Do you live this way in times of victory? When all seems at peace, do you prepare yourself for the fight? Or do you relax – thinking the time of fighting is over?

The Fight of Faith in the Valley

We see a stark change of mood in verse 7. Suddenly David is no longer on a mountain top. He struggles:

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! (Psalm 27:7-9)

Now the battle is engaged. David cries out for an answer from God.

He returns to the idea of seeking God’s face, what he said was his one, primary desire. But now he has to fight to keep that one desire central. Seemingly more pressing matters try to divert his attention. But David commits himself: “I seek Your face. I remember Who You are. I delight in You!”

But the struggle doesn’t end when he makes that commitment. He must plead in verse 9: “Don’t hide your face from me! I want to gaze on your beauty all the days of my life – and I was doing that! But now it appears as if you are hiding, as if you are angry, turning me away. You have been my help in the past – don’t throw me away like trash! You are my light, my salvation – don’t abandon me!”

Does this battle sound familiar? To all appearances, God is not his salvation, does not love him. And so David cries out to God in his pain – as he does in so many psalms.

So I say again what bears repeating: Don’t be reluctant to cry out to God when you are in pain. Even if you don’t have words to say – be confident that the Holy Spirit intercedes with “groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Note how David cries out: He calls on God to do what He has promised; He asks God to act in accord with His revealed character. We see this in verses ten to thirteen, as David lives out four steps in the good fight of faith:

First step: Remember the depth of God’s covenant commitment to His people.

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. (Psalm 27:10)

The idea is even if my own parents could forsake me, God will welcome me. Now, realize: David feels as if God might cast him off. But he fights against that perception by remembering God’s revelation of Himself: He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love forever and ever. He promises never to leave or forsake His people. We today can also hold to promises unavailable to David: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6); nothing “will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Second step: Ask God to teach and lead

Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. (Psalm 27:11)

While on the mountain top, David was learning more of Who God is. Now, in the valley, he needs to apply that knowledge and to continue to learn, to continue to be led in His paths. In tough times, Satan tries to convince us that God’s path is the path not to life but to missing out on life – and so David asks God, “Guide me, direct me on Your road.”

Third step: Pray for protection

Here for the first time we hear of what prompted David’s fear:

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. (Psalm 27:12)

We often start with that prayer for protection, skipping over the first two steps David takes. By all means we should pray that God would protect us from the virus, from His enemies, and all the other dangers we face. But we, like David, must realize that we need to see God more than we need God’s protection. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus – He is the pioneer and finisher of our faith. When we are focused on Him, then we, like Him, can endure the trial, scorning its shame, for the joy set before us (Hebrews 12:2).

Fourth step:  Believe His promises

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! (Psalm 27:13)

On the mountain peak, when God seemed close, David desired to gaze upon His beauty. Now, in the valley, he believes, he has faith, that he will be able once again to look upon His beauty, even though it seems as if God has abandoned him.

This is the ultimate good fight of faith – to believe in the hardest times that you will indeed see God once again, as He has promised. And He always keeps His promises.

Finally, David concludes by drawing lessons from his personal experience for all of God’s people of all time:

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (Psalm 27:14)

“Wait” does not mean sit around and check Facebook while hoping that God might act. Rather, the word translated “wait” connotes an eager expectation, a confidence that God will indeed act. So David says, “Wait with eager expectation for the God who is your light, your salvation, and your stronghold to act. Strongly depend on Him, thoroughly rely on Him; be courageous enough to have persistent confidence in Him. Expect Him to act, especially in every dark valley.”

Conclusion

As we face the valley of the coronavirus, as we encounter other trials at this same time, ask yourself if you are feeling frantic: Did you fail to equip yourself for this battle when times were good? Unlike David, did you coast through those good times?

If so, don’t say, “I blew it! Now I can’t seek God’s face! I can’t fight the good fight of faith!”

Instead, repent. Turn. “A broken and contrite heart He will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). Jesus is the propitiation for our sins – including the sin of failing to prepare for the valley. In Him, you are forgiven. So fight the fight to believe now – and commit yourself in those future times on the mountain top to prepare for the inevitable valleys ahead.

The weeks ahead will be difficult. Day after day the number of confirmed cases will rise. The death toll will expand. Friend and loved ones may well get the virus.

But God’s promises are exactly what we need in such times.

And the most important promise is that through Jesus we can see Him. We can know Him. We can be His beloved child.

So don’t lose focus! Go hard after God: In reading, in worship, in song, in learning who He is, in seeking His face. Cry out to Him on the basis of Jesus’ work, not your own. Wait for Him with eager expectation. Trust His promises.

Remember: He never promises that He will make life easy. When life does seem easy – that’s a mountain peak He has graciously given to help you prepare for the next valley.

His promise is: “I’m worthy of your trust. I’ve proved that again and again, in the history of Israel, in the history of the church, in your own life.”

So in the year of the coronavirus, fight the good fight of faith. Fight to believe.

And thus bring glory and honor to the One who brought you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

[This devotion is an edited and shortened version of a sermon on Psalms 26 and 27 preached April 9, 2017. You can listen to the audio of that original sermon here.]