Paul and Sennacherib

Jesus commands us to pray for those who persecute you. I'm not very good at that. Jesus also tells us to pray for those in prison as if you were in prison yourself. I'm trying to get better at that.

For the last several weeks, i've been praying for the Christian minorities in northern iraq, who have been subjected to a brutal program of ethnic cleansing by the terrorist group IS. But, recently, i've also been praying for the men on the other side, and i think there are two different people we need to remember when we're praying for them.

We need to remember Saul on the road to Damascus. This Hebrew of Hebrews, this leader of the Christian killers was on assignment to round up the members of the Nazarene sect. Convert them, arrest them, kill them, whatever you need to do to bring them back to orthodoxy. Sound familiar? Saul was happy to take on this task, serving the God of his fathers. And then? Knocked off His horse by the glory of the Happy God. Blinded by a light brighter than the sun. And what happened? All the brothers who he'd been trying to kill heard he was now preaching the faith that he was trying to destroy and praised God for him.

Wouldn't it be an extraordinary thing if members of the IS, those rounding up Christians were so moved by their faith, so convicted by their calmness in the storm that they see the glory of God, and are saved? We should pray for that.

But i think we need to remember Sennacherib at the walls of Jerusalem as well. 'Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Serphavain, Henna and Ivvah?' he cried. Well where indeed? This king and his army had swept through the wilderness, wiped out idol worshippers and their false gods, and now had Jerusalem in his sights. No other provincial god had stood in his way, why should this one? But Jerusalem is The City, and their God is The God. And despite the best efforts of man, the plan of this God will not abort. Sennacherib was miraculously defeated, returned home, and was betrayed and killed by his sons.

So pray for the defeat of the IS. Whatever means this takes, whether by US airstrikes, the Kurdish army, internal strife,  or mass conversion to Christ, we know it will come from the hand of the Lord.

Pray their purposes would be defeated, their hubris punished. Pray their feet will slide in time. Pray the time is soon.

My Dear Galatians...Pow!

Letter writers are affectionate people aren't they? I'd never really thought of it before, but how often in the course of normal conversation do we greet people with 'my dear?' But when we write letters, we do it all the time. It's just convention of course, the letters we write to the bank, or the health insurance company, or the taxman might not end up very affectionate!

Letter writer's in Paul's time had conventions too. Introductions, greetings, and a wish for beneficence. Paul normally followed this tradition, but not when he wrote to the Galatians. His letter to them opens with more of a punch in the face than a kiss on the cheek.

Why? Because important matters were at hand, and time couldn't be wasted. The Galatians, by their actions if not their words, were denying the Gospel. They were turning away from the Gospel to 'another' Gospel, really no Gospel at all, and were risking anathema because of it. This was no time for convention, this was a time to confront his readers with the reality, the very God-ness of God.

How does he do that? He starts by reminding his readers who he is. He's an apostle, sent by Jesus, for Jesus, to them. Sent by God, not by another man, with God's message, not the message of another man. It was a message that had cost him a lot, a message that would eventually cost him his life. He didn't care to be made much of, like his opponents. The Galatians were challenged about who they were listening to, and why they were listening. We live in a culture of a million voices don't we. Voices on tv, on the internet, in the workplace, in the culture. Who are we listening to? God's messengers, or the world. The divinely commissioned Apostle or the Judaizers? God, or man?

Paul then reminds his readers why these things matter so much. He reminds them that God the Father has raised Jesus from the dead. They didn't gather to worship a dead icon. Jesus isn't a new Moses, helpful and holy, but dead. He's alive. And because He's alive, prayer works, and repentance is free, but sin is deadly and abandoning the Gospel suicidal. Paul reminds the Galatians, and us, that church is not a game. Jesus is alive, so don't turn away from Him. Jesus is alive, and has proved Himself by walking out of the tomb, it's astonishing that you leave him as soon as you see something shiny. The Galatians, and us. Paul doesn't leave us with the option of a Gospel-lite, of adding a Jesus layer to our American dream. Jesus is alive, so desecrate the altars of your idols. Who is our Gospel about? God, or man?

And Paul reminds is in verse 2 that we're all in this together. He doesn't need the authority of 'all the brothers who are with me,' but he has it. The Gospel wasn't Paul idea, the brothers are with him, the brothers that God has saved and added. Are you with the brothers? Galatians, are you with the brothers in Jerusalem, in Antioch, or Corinth and in Thessaloniki? Or have you abandoned us? Are we with the brothers in Greenville, Reading, Provo and Seoul or have we abandoned them?  If we've abandoned the brothers with our bodies, maybe it's because we've abandoned the Father with our heart.

Paul never got over being knocked off his horse on the way to Damascus. He was overflowing with His Savior till his dying breath. He knew what was of God, and what was of man, and he was prepared to pack a punch with that truth...even when he was saying hello.

The Preacher Says 'come with us...'

Warren Wiersbe said that ministry is the overflow of our relationship with God. Simply, that if 'ministers' in particular, and Christians on the whole, are in the business of offering Christ to others, they can not offer what they do not have. Someone else, i forget who, said that the problem with so much preaching is that preachers are like starving chefs who barely lick their own fingers. No heart warming ministry will flow out of a heart that has not been warmed.

On Thursday morning i read Numbers 9 and 10, Psalm 45 and Acts 17, and i saw some of this in action. The opening verse of Psalm 45 is 'my heart overflows with a pleasing theme...' What is that pleasing theme? The Handsome, God-blessed victorious King, who reigns forever and whose bride enters his presence with joy and gladness. This instructional love song was written and sung for the new son of David sitting on the throne of Judah, and is fulfilled the final Son of David, sitting on the throne of the universe.

This is a 'pleasing theme.' It's good to think about Jesus! It's good to stop and look at the sunrise on a cold, clear winter morning, good to stop and watch a cardinal pick about in your garden, good to slowly wallow in the truth of the Gospel. And this theme overflows. The Psalmist can't keep it in any more, praise is cascading from his lips for the king, and for The King. He invites others to sing with him, as they consider the beauty of this great King.

Moses does much the same in Numbers 10. It's nearly time for the camp to set out, and he wants his brother-in-law to go with them. Partly because he knows the lay of the land, he's a wilderness expert, and can help them on the way. But Moses is far more concerned about Hobab, at least at first. He says 'come with us, and we will do good for you...' Come to Israel, come to the LORD, come to Canaan. Abandon your false gods. Yes, for objective reasons of truth and helpful reasons of guidance, but more, come with us because we will do good to you. It will be good for you to be in relationship with the LORD and His people. It will be good for you to enjoy the promised blessings of Canaan, it will be good for you to rejoice in the atoning blood of the lamb as we celebrate Passover.

The LORD's goodness is a pleasing theme that overflows from Moses lips. He's tasted and seen, and now he says come and see. Is our preaching, our evangelism, the same? Do we offer a 'get out of Hell free' card, or do we offer a love stronger than death? Do we offer a new set of rules, or a king that will ruin our hearts for other lovers? Do you offer the Gospel to law-breakers, or to adulterers?

Paul's Mars Hill address in Acts 17 is the cornerstone for people who think that unless we offer a Gospel wearing a nose stud and laden with expletives we're doing it wrong. Look, Paul goes to Athens and meets them on their own terms. He doesn't really though does he? Hey, Athenians! God doesn't live in these temples you've built, God doesn't need your service, God is not unknown. If he was trying to be culturally sensitive at the cost of Biblical faithfulness he didn't do a very good job!

What does Paul actually say? Consider the God who loves you enough to give you the rain in it's season, who loves you enough to reveal Himself to you, who loves you enough to go to the grave and defeat death on your behalf. Not like the Greek gods, who were just bigger and more powerful people, with their jealousies and sins writ large, but a God who is fundamentally not like us. Paul says 'come to Jesus, and He will do you good.'

The Psalmist's heart, and Moses's heart and Paul's Gospel warmed heart overflowed with a pleasing theme, do our hearts do the same? As our hearts overflow, do our voices say, 'come with me, taste what i've tasted, see what i've seen, and it will do you good.'

Grace Appeared...and Appears

Paul's account of the Christmas story, in Titus 2:11-14 is, as you would expect, all business.

No angels, no shepherds, no wise men. Paul shares the nativity with Titus in just two words; 'grace appeared.' What happened at Christmas? The grace of God appeared. Jesus came, and He brought salvation for all people.

I was thinking over these verses on Wednesday morning as i got ready to share them in junior chapel. Here's the Christmas story that you need, grace appeared. Here is the greatest gift that there is, Jesus. Grace isn't something seperate from Jesus, some object or feeling He puts into us, Jesus is grace. More grace in our hearts equals a greater and deeper knowledge of Him, and great appreciation of His love, and deeper response from us. This grace teaches us how to live. We're are to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. We're not to worship our work and play at our worship, but labour to be brought close to God, worship and pray so that the centre of the universe would be the centre of the universe would be the centre of our lives. We are to be self controlled, Godly and upright. We're supposed to behave differently because of what we believe.

But there's something else in these verses that i hadn't ever really let hit home yet. Verse 13 tells us we're to do these things 'waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and saviour Jesus Christ.' As we look back on Christmas, we are to look forward to the second coming. As we remember that Jesus has come, we need to remember that Jesus will come again. We need grace to live godly lives, and we need grace to remember that Jesus will come again. We need to think and love and live differently because Jesus has come, and think and love and live differently because Jesus will come again.

In many ways, you and I live at the end of Isaiah. Isaiah is talking to the Jews in exile. He promises them that God has not forgotten them, that someone better than Cyrus will come with a better deliverance. But in the mean time, people sin, God's people mess up, and sometimes this hope seems a long way away, hard to believe even. But the exile did end, and then when Jesus came, the exile really ended. This is where we are isn't it? Fighting to keep our eyes fixed on the return of the King. Trying to live upright and Godly lives as a response to the amazing grace given at Christmas.

Well what a great reminder Christmas is. As the world celebrates Christmas, and as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, let's pray that we would look forward to a real celebration, one that makes the wildest super bowl parties look like tea with grandma. One with something real and eternal to celebrate. Just as sure as Jesus came, Jesus will come, just like grace appeared, grace will appear again.

Holiness and Friendship

Richard Sibbes says this:

as the woman poured oil on the head of Christ, so we will do well to pour some oil on the feet of Christ. Let us do to His members what we would do to Him if He were here, that we may further our communion with Christ.

What do you think about holiness? What do you think about holy people? Is there, in your mind a group of people so close to God, so 'holy' that you'd never actually want to spend time with them? In fact, time seems to stand still when you're with them. They might be handy when needing to know about the finer points of supralapsarianism, but you don't want to get trapped next to them at the church fellowship.

Is this the Biblical view of what holiness does to a person? Removing them from the norms of social interaction? No! As Sibbes points out above, from the conclusion of his sermon on Song of Songs 1:2, and as Paul shows us in 2 Timothy 4:9-12, real holiness, Biblical holiness, issues in a deeper love for friends. Sibbes tells us that the woman who poured perfume on Christ's head is to be our example. In the body of Christ we have the opportunity to serve Jesus by serving His people. That might be taking someone out to lunch after their first visit. It might mean giving someone a lift to church who doesn't like to drive after dark. It will almost certainly mean leaving our comfort zone for the sake of someone else.

What did it mean for Paul near the end of his life? Stuck far away from sunlight and fresh air, knowing the end was coming, almost deserted except for Luke? It meant he wanted to see Timothy, his son in the faith, one last time. Demas has deserted Paul, and he has sent Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia and Tychicus to Ephesus, presumably holding this letter in his hand. Even towards the end Paul was burdened for his churches. But he wants Timothy. Yes he wants books, and parchments and a cloak to keep him warm  but he wants Timothy. One more time of prayer together, one more word of mutual encouragement, one more opportunity to help this young man out. One more chance just to be with his best friend, his son, his brother.

Pick up Mark on the way, he tells Timothy, for he is very useful to me. Mark had left Paul, Paul didn't want to take him back, but now ten years later, he wants to see him again. And this won't be a 'drop the books and run,' this will be a sweet fellowship, this is what Paul wants as he ends his life. Other people.

I guess we'll never know if Timothy and Mark made it in time. It's impossible not to be moved by the thought of Timothy setting off from Ephesus, racing to Troas, willing the boat onward across the ocean. Maybe there was a reunion, or maybe Paul had received his reward by the time Tychicus arrived.

Regardless, as Sibbes points out, and as Paul demonstrates, holiness doesn't mean being cloistered away. Holiness issues in close, loving, fellowship. Holiness wants to share, and spread. And of course it does. Who is our triune God but a spreading holiness? Of course, when people are shaped back into his image, they want to be together, they want to share. This is the very nature of God, and it should be ours too, that as we grow in holiness, we grow in love and we grow in fellowship. Our hearts not hidden away and suffocated, but reaching out, as the Father reached out to us.

The Pendulum of Christian Liberty

Is there a right way to 'do' church? One of the most interesting, and at times, frustrating elements of the New Testament is that Paul nowhere outlines what Sunday mornings looked like in his churches. Is this because his people already knew? Or simply because it wasn't important?

I think Acts 21:17-26 is really helpful in thinking through this question. Paul had been among the Gentile churches for a few years now, and he returns to Jerusalem. James hears about God's work among the Gentiles and rejoices, Paul hears about God's work among the Jews in Jerusalem and rejoices. As an aside, 'many thousands' in Jerusalem at that time must have been a significant minority, if not a majority.

Then, at the end of verse 20 and into 21 comes the showdown. James tells Paul, 'listen, in Jerusalem our Christians are zealous for the law, and they've got a bad idea about your approach to the law. What are we going to do?' Basically James is telling Paul that nothing has changed since Acts 15. What would you expect Luke to tell us next? That Paul opposed James to his face, like Peter in Galatia. But instead, he takes a vow, purifies himself, and goes to the temple. What ever is going on here? Surely Paul is not selling out?

First of all, we have to see that as long as the Gospel was believed, observance of the Old Testament law was not an issue. This wasn't akin either to idol worship, or the ice cold legalism in Galatia. It didn't swing either into licence or legalism. The culture of law keeping had submitted to the Gospel. James rejoiced that Gentiles were being saved, he knew they weren't keeping the law which shows us that these Christians did not believe that their law keeping saved them.

Secondly, and what struck me the most, was the example that Paul gives us about Christians and culture. We can keep any part, of any culture, as long as it doesn't counter the letter to the Gentiles in Acts 15. That is, any part, of any culture that isn't idolatrous, immoral or inhuman. Any loveless part of culture, or any part that might cause us to stumble is out. The problem in Galatia was that the law had become and idol, the problem in Corinth was that the cults had prostitutes. Neither of these things are an issue in Acts 21.

This is why i should, shouldn't and do, wear a coat and tie to church. There is no one culture that Jesus would show up in tomorrow and say 'yeh, this is it,' not even here in the Bible belt. God is no respecter of persons. At the loving, warm, mission minded, conservative Baptist church that i serve at at the moment, it's broadly expected that the men, particularly the leaders, wear a coat and tie on Sunday morning. Not everyone does, not everyone has to, but because of Acts 21, i do. I used to go to church in shorts and flip flops. was that wrong? A thousand times no. Does Jesus love me more now i dress like a lawyer on a Sunday morning? A million times no.

What we see in Acts 21 is the pendulum of Christian liberty swinging both ways. Christian liberty means, as long as you have Gospel central, and right, everything else is negotiable. Turn the lights down and the amps up if you want, or put on a tie and open up your hymnal. As long as the Gospel is central and preached, love Jesus and do what you want.

The centrality of the Gospel is important above all things. James rejoices of the salvation of law breaking Gentiles. Paul observes the law in Jerusalem. In all things they are bound only by the Gospel. In all things we must, must, be bound, only by the Gospel...

Pass The Baton

The Gospel, and thus the local church, is only ever one generation away from disappearing from the face of the Earth. If no Christian alive today taught his children, or reached his friends with the Gospel, then there would be no church for our grandchildren to attend. It is one of the most remarkable, and overlooked, miracles that the church today still possesses and proclaims the apostolic Gospel.

How does that happen? We pass it on, we tell people about Jesus. We reach out to those who don't know Him, and we reach over, to help those who do know Him to know Him better. Paul shared this concern with Timothy in his final letter to him. If 2 Timothy 1 is about the protection of the Gospel, then 2 Timothy is about the propagation of the Gospel.  Paul tells Timothy to remember the Gospel he preached. Paul's not talking about a private conversation here, a ministry insight he shared with Timothy over coffee one day, but something that happened 'in the presence of many witnesses,' maybe at Timothy's ordination, or maybe just on a normal Sunday. Timothy's apostolic authority remained as long as he was faithful to the apostolic message. Paul didn't tell Timothy to reinvent the wheel. He didn't tell him to remember what the people in Ephesus liked, he simply told Timothy to remember the Gospel he had heard.

Then Timothy was the 'entrust' that message to others. He was to pass it on to 'faithful men.' This could've happened then and can happen now in a variety of ways. Firstly, it had to happen from the pulpit. As Timothy looked out on a Sunday morning at his people, he knew part of his job was to preach the Gospel to them, to help them remember what they had heard from Paul. But it had to happen elsewhere as well. When Timothy met with a troubled family, he had to remember the Gospel, when he married people, he had to remember the Gospel, when he went to buy bread, he had to remember the Gospel. And he had to pass the Gospel on. He had to find the faithful men in his church who he could train and disciple, the men to whom he could entrust the message. He had to meet with them, spend time with them, and love them, just as Paul had with him.

One thing i love about being a Youth Pastor is when i see someone's eyes opening to the joys of the Bible for the first time. The Bible stops being something their parents read, and becomes their's. It stops being something for Sundays and starts being food for the day. It stops being a chore and becomes a delight. I love seeing that and hearing that. I love passing it on.

At the moment, it's my responsibility to pass on what has been given to me. And soon it will be theirs. What a responsibility all of us, whether in paid ministry or not, have to find faithful men and women and teach them, the Gospel, so that they can pass it on in years to come.

Holiness is a Group Effort

What do we think when we think of holiness? I guess depending on how deep or shallow our relationship with God feels at the moment we're asked, our answer will fall somewhere on a line between boring and beautiful. If we're drinking from the cracked cistern of sin, we'll see holiness as dull, as something that ruins our fun, if we're bathing in the living water that comes from Christ you'll see holiness as life itself.

But how often, when we're asked about holiness, do we think about the local church? The local church is holy in itself in two ways. First, that it is set apart from the world, as the visible body of Christ in it's town or city. It is holy in that it is different. Second, it is holy in that the men and women who make up the church are, or should be anyway, men and women who love Jesus and who see Him as their first priority, who love Him and seek to honour Him.

But the church should make us think of holiness in this way too. We need the local church, the gathering of Christians in a certain place, at a certain time, to be holy. I'd even go so far as to say that you're love for Jesus, and therefore your commitment to holiness is directly reflected by your commitment to the local church.

Paul is saying his goodbyes to Timothy in 2 Timothy. He knows the end is near, and he'll probably never see his son in the faith again. In chapter 2:22 he exhorts his young protege to holiness. He calls on him to 'flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. along with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart.' Sometimes we overlook the small but important parts of the Bible. Timothy's holiness was a group project. He wasn't called to do it by himself, but to do it 'along with those,' who were also running after righteousness, faith, love and peace. There is no way Paul expected him to do that in any arena other than the local church. You could argue that Paul just described the local church!

We need to be along with those. We need to be along with those, as in people who are like-minded and like hearted, people who will do us good. And we need to be along with those. We need to be together with these people. Sharing our lives, our time and our homes with them. Sharing our Sunday mornings with them. This is where you might think, 'well i'm ok with just Jesus and me, i don't need the church.' Well, yes you do, for at least three reasons.

• Jesus will return for a bride, not a harem. 
• You're not ok. Your mind is an idol factory, and apart from good teaching and correction in the local church your mind will happily call any feel good idol 'Jesus.'
• The local church needs you, your gifts, your abilities. And you need the gifts and abilities of the local church. This was Jesus' plan from the beginning. He instituted the church and  organised a religion. So stop going out into the woods with your candles!

Your commitment to the local church shows your commitment to Jesus. Your commitment to the local church shows your commitment to holiness. Holiness is a group project...get involved!

Apart from the Law

Sometimes when you're reading the Bible, an old truth, a known truth, will jump up from the page and hit you in the eye. I guess it's another reason why we need to read every morning. Today just that happened, Romans 3:21 was a bolt of lightening.

but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

So much gold here, but a few things stood out. Paul has been painting the human condition in dark terms. Sinful, lawbreakers, approvers of sin, guilty and without excuse. Just one verse earlier Paul tells us that knowing the law will save no one, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Romans 3:21 finds us in dire straights. Proverbs 25:25 tells us like cold water to a thirsty soul is good news from a far country. And this is the best of news, from the furthest of countries, the Gospel is the most refreshing if waters to our sin parched souls. 

Why is it such good news that the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law? What sort of manifestation was the law? Ultimately Paul argues, a condemning one. Not because of any fault of the law. The law, like it's Giver is good and right and true and holy. But the law stands against us. We can not keep the law. We break it from the moment we're born to the moment we die. The law creates a chasm between us and God. God has graciously revealed Himself to us, but in a way that provokes sin within us. 

Which is why Paul starts with 'but now,' but now there is a manifestation of God's righteousness apart from the law. A manifestation that saves rather than condemns. What is this manifestation? How is this righteousness counted to us? Faith in Christ. Christ keeps the law, 'earns' it's righteousness and then gives it to us. The righteousness of God was manifested fully on the cross, as the wrath of the Father crushed the Son, the only Israelite upon whose heart the law had truly been written. Now, by faith, we are connected to Christ and the righteousness of God is ours.

This is not a new thing, Paul assures the Romans Jews, you can read about it in Moses, but it is a uniting thing. The righteousness of God humbles us, kills our pride, and unites us as a church. 

Good news from a far country on a Thursday morning. The righteousness of God through faith in Christ for all who believes. Let this Gospel water flood the plains burnt by sin, and bring you to Jesus!