Remember the Sabbath Day...

I know you're expecting a post on Psalm 92:4 but you're just gonna have to wait...

During our Wednesday prayer service we had a discussion about how Christians are to honor the Sabbath Day. Following that discussion I'm interested in your opinion.

What activities are fitting for the Christian on the Lord's Day?

Drop a comment and let me know what you think. For those of you that are shy about public commenting please send an e-mail to my yahoo account.

Some scriptures to consider before you answer...

Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Mark 2:23-28
Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: “how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

And here's what comes from Section VIII of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message from the Southern Baptist Convention:

VIII. The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, work of necessity and mercy only being excepted.

Ex. 20:8-11; Matt. 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Col. 2:16; 3:16; Rev. 1:10.

Finally here's what comes from section VIII of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message from the Southern Baptist Convention:

VIII. The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.

I'll pull all of our thoughts together and follow up with a post on the whole topic soon. I'm looking forward to your input.

Grace and Peace to you all...

Psalm 92:3

Psalm 92:1-3 1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, 3 On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound.

I wanted to give us all three verses today to look at to make sure that we keep everything in context. We have discussed the “good things” about praising God, we have discussed the frequency of our praise and today we will discuss the nature of our praise.

I do not think the meat behind today’s verse is about using instruments in a worship service. I think it has to do more with the totality of our praise. The image brought to mind is of an orchestra of sorts playing together in unison with praise for God.

Have you ever had the opportunity to play in a band? If you have, then you learn right away that each instrument has a part to play. Trumpets, saxophones, oboes, flutes, trombones, drums, etc. all have different notes and rhythms to play. They each sound beautiful separately but how much more beautiful do they sound when they are played together? The melody line that the trumpets carry is so much deeper and richer when the tenors and French horns supply the underlying sound. The staccato piping of the flutes is augmented by the rapping of a snare drum. All of these instruments together produce a beautiful sound when they are played harmoniously.

The same thing applies with our worship. We each have a beautiful song of praise to sing to the Lord! How much more beautiful and deep is it when we lift up our voices in unison with our brothers and sisters! Unless you misunderstand me don’t think that I’m talking about musical talent.

Think of the wonderful blending of praise that we have in the body of Christ:
The blast of the trumpets singing God’s praise for a newborn.
The melodic dancing of the flutes in God’s praise for youthful vigor.
The steady beating of the drum of God’s praise for a steadfast marriage.
The somber bass of God’s praise as we sing of someone’s going home to the Lord.

All of these praises are beautiful and fitting when sung separately – but how much more when they are sung harmoniously? Each church is preparing a wonderful symphony of God's praise. Each praise is important and each praise is beautiful and when they are sung harmoniously a beautiful offering is made unto the Lord.

Our verse today closes with “with harmonious sound”. The harmony that we sing is God’s praise. Let us all lift His name together – we have so much to praise Him for!

Grace and peace to you all…

Sunday Sermon - Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22 15Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. 17“Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19“Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. 20And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

Show of hands…. How many of you like to pay taxes? Anyone? What if I was to tell you that the state has a divine right to assess taxes and that you have a divine obligation to pay them?

Show of hands again? Inauguration Day is this Tuesday, how many of you are happy with our next President? What if I told you that you have a divine obligation to give this man respect? What if I told you that you had a divine obligation to pray for him?

Before we talk more about “divine obligations”, let’s talk about the situation described in Matthew. The Pharisees have had it with Jesus. They have lost every debate with Him, they have lost credibility with the crowd and most importantly their position with God has been questioned. They have no other desire now but to see this carpenter from Nazareth dead.

Verse 15 says that they plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk, they devised a question that they already knew the answer to and they plotted with their own enemies, the Herodians, to get Jesus to answer they wanted to hear. Not much is know about the Herodians but we can derive much from their name. They must have been tied to Herod. Why is that important? Herod was pro-Roman. Why is that important? The Jewish-Herodians from today’s verse would run back to Rome with any statement against the government.

In the scripture for today Jesus gives us an unexpected answer to a loaded question. The loaded question is in verse 17, Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?. The answer that Jesus is expected to give is “Yes”. They could then bring Jesus to Rome with charges of insurrection which would then result in his death. Their problem becomes Rome’s problem and they would be more than pleased with Rome’s solution.

Look at how Jesus is approached in verse 16, talk about laying it on thick. They approach Jesus and call him “Teacher”, they then talk about how He “does not regard the person of man” but only is concerned with “teaching the way of God in truth”. These statements are all true but what if Jesus is just a normal man? Wouldn’t it be easy to fall into a trap with this kind of setup? After all, these men only want to know what He thinks about a question. Why wouldn’t Jesus answer them in the way that they want to hear?

From the Greek word used for “taxes” in our scripture we learn that Jesus was not asked about taxation in general but is asked about a very specific tax, the “Poll Tax” or “Head Tax”. This was an “uncomfortable” tax for the people of Israel to pay. It was not uncomfortable because of the amount (a denarius was one day’s worth of pay for a laborer) but because it was a tax that said “You belong to Rome”. The Israelites believed that they belonged to God. It was also uncomfortable because of the coin that had to be used to pay it. A “denarius” was a silver coin with the emperor’s head on one side and an inscription on the other that either referred to the deity of the emperor or the emperor’s position as high priest. This coin itself was an offense to God from the Israelites point of view because it was a graven image. For both of these reasons most Jews felt this tax offensive. Jesus was supposed to answer, “No it is not righteous because this man has taken the place of God and has claimed God’s people for his own”. It is the answer that the common man would give around the dinner table and it is the answer that any truth speaking rabbi would give to friendly ears. He speaks out against Rome, the Herodians rat him out to the government and Jesus is put to death for insurrection. Easy-peasie-chuckie-cheesie, or so they thought.

Look at how Jesus responds in verse 18 - Hypocrites. He isn’t falling for the flattery one bit, after all He is God and knows the hearts of men. He knows that they are not honestly seeking an answer, they simply are looking for an opportunity to trap Him.

Look at his answer in verse 19. He asks for a denarius and asks “Who’s image and inscription is this” to which the crowd replies “Caesar’s” to which He replies “Render therefore to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” God Himself declares that we are to pay our taxes.

Let’s think for a second what it was like to live under Roman rule. They brought peace to an area of the world that was use to being overrun and conquered by whoever wanted to pass through. They brought roads and made it safe to travel from place to place. They brought aqueducts which made it easier for populations to have access to life sustaining water. All of these programs cost money and the money had to come from somewhere.

Government and the support of it is ordained by God. Let’s look at some scripture. First from Romans 13

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

How about a section from 1 Timothy 2:

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

And finally from 1 Peter 2:

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—

Think of the world that Jesus, Paul, and Peter lived in. Slavery was legal, rights were reserved for Roman-born citizens and not necessarily Roman-conquered, and the government was corrupt and pagan. Yet the command was still to support and honor the government. When Jesus says “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s” He is saying “Everything belongs to Me and I have decreed that a portion of My bounty is to go to the government because they are my ministers for good.”

Fast forward some 2000 years – if these things are true in a pagan society how much more today in a representative form of government? We have been given the privilege in America to voice our opinions, we have been given the privilege of electing officials who are supposed to support our wishes. We have been given stewardship of a wonderful gift in this great land – let us not waste it.

“and to God the things that are God’s” Jesus closes the answer with. Jesus is not telling us to separate the secular from the religious here. Under God’s plan government has a role in social and economic situations. It is the government’s divine duty to provide a safe environment for its citizens. Our founding fathers felt that we also have the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. But when government crosses the line and expects to be worshipped they have entered into God’s territory. Worship is reserved for God and God alone – Jesus is saying “You pay Caesar with the coin that he has made because that is good but do not believe for one moment that He is a priest or a God. He is neither – worship Me and Me alone”.

I’m not saying that we are to blindly follow our leaders however, look with me at Acts 5. The apostles had been commanded to stop teaching in Christ’s name. Look at their response:

…“Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

We have a divine obligation to tell people about sin. When our government is heading in an ungodly direction we are to stand in the breach and say “Stop”. We are not to be insurrectionists but we are supposed to stand for truth.

I’m sure more can be said but I’m quickly moving into areas that could take this post in several directions. Suffice it to say that we are commanded by God to support and pray for our government.

Grace and Peace to you all…

Psalm 92:2

Psalm 92:2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night,
Today we’re continuing on in the list of “good things” that we started in 92:1. The first was giving thanks, which we outlined in the last post, and today we’ll be discussing singing His praises.

It is that time of year where most of us decide to “do things right”. We’re watching our diets, exercising our bodies and starting our reading plans again. But what about time with God, have we added “singing His praises” to our list of resolutions?

Look at our “good thing” for today as described in Psalm 92:2. It is a good thing “to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning”. Look at what Vines says about how the word “Lovingkindness” is translated:

In general, one may identify three basic meanings of the word, which always interact: “strength,” “steadfastness,” and “love.” Any understanding of the word that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. “Love” by itself easily becomes sentimentalized or universalized apart from the covenant. Yet “strength” or “steadfastness” suggests only the fulfillment of a legal or other obligation.

I like the thought of combining the three: strength, steadfastness, and love. There is no better way to start our day than contemplating the hedge that these three puts around us. How much different would our day be if it began with singing God’s praises for this triple threat? He has the strength to lend to allow us to overcome whatever may befall us through the day, He has the ware withal to stand with us as the storm buffets against us and we have His love to comfort us in all matter of ills. Why wouldn’t we sing His praises early in the morning?

There is another good reason to go to God first in the morning. It’s sort of like offering Him our “firstfruits” of the day because our minds and bodies are sharper first thing out of the chute. As the day wears against us it is easier for us to become distracted by family, job, the weather, etc. First thing in the morning it is easier to give Him our undivided.

We also have a biblical example for spending the first of the morning with the Father. Mark 1:35 tells us that Jesus rose early in the morning before daylight and went by Himself to pray. What better example to follow than that of our Savior?

Look at the other part of our “good thing”, it is a good thing to declare “Your faithfulness every night”. If the day is to begin with praising God for the way that He is going to be with us throughout the day then it is only fitting that the day end with us singing His praises for the way that He provided for us.

Let’s not just limit our time of praising God to the morning and the night however. Our lives are to be ones of continual praise! How’s the hymn go that we sing so often on Sunday?

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

Find time to praise Him today!

Grace and Peace to you all…

Sunday Sermon - Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14 1And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3“and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4“Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ 5“But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6“And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7“But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9‘Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10“So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12“So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

”The Kingdom of Heaven” – God’s kingdom. It is a very exclusive place, admittance to and retention in the kingdom are both on God’s terms. We will be discussing the parable of the wedding feast today and let us not forget that this was given days before the cross. In these last discourses He is going to challenge us exactly where we live. He is not interested in the debate anymore, He is only going to pronounce judgment upon them for their lack of service to God.

This parable is the third in a series of judgment parables that Jesus is giving the priests and Pharisees:

Matthew 21:28-32 Judgment because of disobedience.
Matthew 21:33-44 Judgment because of rebellion
Matthew 22:1-14 Judgment because of rejection

It is also unique in the three because it starts of with “The kingdom of heaven is like…”, there is no question as to what Jesus is talking about. He is about to tell us what kind of people make up His kingdom. It is also unique in the fact that it ends without a “what do you think?” statement. The point of the parable is clear, God’s kingdom is full of people who recognize His lordship and those who reject His lordship will be judged.

The parable starts off with a description of a wedding feast for the king’s son. In this time a normal wedding feast would last a week. How much grander would the party for the king’s son be do you think? What kind of food where there be? The best you can imagine… What kind of entertainment would there be? The best you can imagine… Who would be there? The elite of the elite; foreign dignitaries, heads of state, any matter of celebrity you can imagine. This is a once in a lifetime event that would take pages to describe in its opulence and grandeur.

The description of the feast is followed by an unbelievable statement in vs. 3 – “they were not willing to come”. You’re kidding right? Who would not be willing to go to a party thrown by a king? Let’s look at the rejection from two points of view. From a plainly carnal perspective, who would turn down this kind of invite? A week long party with the best that the kingdom has to offer at no cost and people were “unwilling to come”. The mind reels. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sample royalty and no-one in their right mind would turn this down. From a practical perspective, who would turn down an invitation from the king? The concept of royalty is lost to us today but typically a king is not used to being told “no” from his subjects. To do so is an act of contempt for the king, especially in light of him wanting to include you in such an event as the marriage of his son. This rejection by his servants is an act that should bring judgment.

The king in our parable is a very patient and gracious man however. He sends his servants out again in vs. 4 with another invite. He is in essence saying, “Everything is ready, the only thing missing is you. The food has been prepared. The banquet hall is decorated and the band is tuned up. All I’m missing is my subjects that I love and want to include in this celebration”. How patient is the Father in His dealings with us? Let’s look at 2 Peter 3:

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God is extremely patient with His creation. His will is that we all come to repentance. I don’t know if this is good theology or not but I’m convinced that God is heartbroken over every sinner that goes to Hell. It is a place of torment created for Satan and his angels and never a place intended for man. We cannot be with God because of our sin and Hell is where we go because of our rebellion against God. How far did man fall in the garden? He fell to his death and it is only by Christ’s work on the cross that man can have life again. God is patient with His creation because He wants to redeem man to Himself.

But the patience of the king will only go so far. In our parable there is yet another unbelievable response from two different sets of people. It tells us of the first set that they “made light of it and went their ways”. They simply had better things to do than to go to a party the king has thrown. Is that still true today? Are we too busy with our own interests to be bothered with God? I’m only 40 years old and I remember a day when you couldn’t do anything on Sunday except go to church. If you wanted a soda, you had better have some in your icebox. If you wanted a meal you had better have food to prepare. I’m not talking about simply “honoring the Sabbath”, I’m just using this as a point to demonstrate that we as a society have become too busy for God, too wrapped up in our own desires to recognize His call on our lives. Look with me at Luke 17 for a second:

For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

These verses deal with Christ coming back in judgment. We could look at both the examples of Sodom and the world before the Flood and rightfully discuss about how they deserved judgment for their sins. I feel the bigger point of these verses is the actions of the people as described by Christ. They were living their lives, going about their every day business without honoring God. Both of these people were surprised when things started falling from the sky. They had been judged by God and found wanting.

If the first group’s response is unbelievable because of its selfishness then the second group’s response is unbelievable because it is deplorable, “treated them spitefully, and killed them”. This second group is so upset that the king expects them to attend the banquet that they kill the servants. Does that truth still apply today? I may be biased in my view but it seems as if the only religion you can’t be is Christianity. We are constantly attacked and abused. We have it pretty good in America as far as persecution goes but as I type this there are brothers dying for the gospel in other places in the world. (If you don’t believe me check out “The Voice of the Martyrs” website at www.persecution.com). Jesus is addressing His own people in this parable but the truth applies to all inhabitants of the world. I think you can lump people into one of these two categories; those that are too busy for God and those who hate Him.

We finally come to something that makes sense in this parable in vs 7. The king’s patience is at end and he sends his armies out and destroys those who were invited to the party for their rejection of him. Jesus warns His people that they can no longer rely on their status as God’s chosen people. Judgment is coming to them because of their rejection of Jesus. For a season Israel has been set aside as God’s chosen people and when Jerusalem fell in AD70 it fell hard. Look at Flavious Josephus said of the destruction of the temple in Jewish War:

That building, however, God long ago had sentenced to the flames; but now in the revolution of the time periods the fateful day had arrived, the tenth of the month Lous, the very day on which previously it had been burned by the king of Babylon…One of the soldiers, neither awaiting orders nor filled with horror of so dread an undertaking, but moved by some supernatural impulse, snatched a brand from the blazing timber and, hoisted up by one of his fellow soldiers, flung the fiery missile through a golden window…When the flame arose, a scream, as poignant as the tragedy, went up from the Jews…now that the object before they had guarded so closely was going to ruin…While the sanctuary was burning,…neither pity for age nor respect for rank was shown; on the contrary, children and old people, laity and priests alike were massacred…The emperor ordered the entire city and sanctuary to be razed to the ground, except only the highest towers, Phasael, Hippicus, and Mariamne, and that part of the wall that enclosed the city on the west.

Let us take no pleasure in the fall of Israel. I wonder sometimes if the church today hasn’t become too much like them in our service to God. Complacent in our service too Him and expecting the world to treat us special because we are God’s children. Have we too lost our first love? Have we forgotten Jesus and His call to us to spread the gospel message? I digress however and that topic will have to be a post for another day.

Let’s look again at the king and his gracious call in vs. 8-10. It was the king’s will that a feast in honor of his son happen and his will has not changed. He sends his servants out with a command of “as many as you find, invite to the wedding” because the previous guest list was “not worthy”.

Some time should probably be spent about that “not worthy” statement. Was there anything special about the people on the guest list? Not that the parable alludes to. Was there anything special about Israel and God’s choice of them? Not according to Scripture. Look at Ezekiel 16:

As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ “I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful…

When God chose Israel they were akin to a just born baby left in a field to die, unloved and unwanted. It was God Himself who grew them into a mighty nation and made them beautiful. There was nothing special about them except for the fact that God chose them. They were found to be “not worthy” because of their rejection of Him and nothing more.

The guest that replaced the original list also have nothing to brag about. The servants were sent out with a command to grab anybody, in our parable they brought in both the “bad and good”. None were excluded from the invite. There is a lesson to be learned for us today there as well. We are not to discriminate in our sharing God’s message of peace. We are all sinners saved by grace and we should not forget that. Look at 1 Corinthians 6:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Paul reminds us that none of us were perfect before we came to Jesus. The focal point however is “And such were some of you”. The only thing common about the background of Christians is the fact that we have all repented of our sins and turned toward Christ. We walk with Him living in His strength and power.

We see one final demonstration of the king’s patience and compassion in vs. 12. To be quite honest, I’ve never really understood this portion of the parable until I read John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew. He contends that the king must have provided wedding garments for all who attended. That thought seems to track in my book. Follow with me for a second…

The servants were given a command to grab anyone they could find and invite to the wedding. What would the chances be that these people would have garments fit to attend a royal gala? Slim to none. The king himself must have made provision for those he invited to also be covered with clothes that he himself would have found acceptable.

That also tracks with the Father, doesn’t it? He is too holy to look upon us because of our sin which makes the cross even that much more beautiful. When God looks upon us now He sees us clothed in Christ’s righteousness and not our own filthy rags of sin. He sins His own perfection reflected back at Himself. What a wonderful thing the cross is! It hides all of our imperfections and makes us beautiful before the Father! No wonder this man in the parable stuck out like a sore thumb. He decided to come to the party on his own terms and in his own way. He presumed too much upon the king.

Look at the king’s response in vs. 13. He has him bound and tossed into the “outer darkness”. God will not be mocked. We serve Him on His terms and never our own. Let us not presume to come to the Father with our own righteousness, let us instead rest upon Christ’s work on the cross and God’s amazing grace. One of the scariest passages for me as a young Christian was Matthew 7. Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” enters the kingdom, only those that Jesus actually knows on a personal level. It is not enough to simply be “in church” doing “good things”. The church is made up of redeemed people who fully rely upon Christ for everything.

We’ll close today with vs 14, “For many are called but few are chosen”. We talked earlier about God’s patience and the idea that God is patient with His creation so that He can redeem mankind to Himself. We also talked about the idea of being part of the kingdom of God. All have a call upon their lives to repent from their sins and enter into God’s glory but the sad truth is that only a few actually make that decision. Look at the questions and answers below and then I’ll close.

What is the way into the kingdom of heaven?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Why has this way been made available?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

How do we come to the kingdom?
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

The banquet has been prepared and you have been invited to attend. God Himself has done all the work. He has made a call upon your life. He has provided a way for you to be in His presence through the work of His Son, Jesus. He has provided you grace and mercy when you did not deserve it. He asks you to respond to Him in faith and if you are willing He also gives you the very faith you need to respond.

Everything is ready and waiting in the kingdom of heaven. The only thing missing is you…

Grace and Peace to you all.

Psalm 92:1

Psalm 92:1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

I don’t know if it’s my own pride that needs feeding or if I’m simply seeking my own reward but I really like to hear the words “Thank You”. Upon further reflection it’s not that I want to hear gratitude for my own actions, I just want to hear the expression of gratitude in general. I miss the days when people didn’t feel like they deserved everything they received.

Gratitude is the thought behind today’s post. Not gratitude toward each other but gratitude towards God which our scripture for today tells us is “good”. Here’s an outline by George Rogers from Charles Spurgeon’s The Treasury of David on which I’d like to base today’s post:

1) It is a good thing to have cause for gratitude. Every one has this.
2) It is a good thing to have the principle of gratitude.
3) It is a good thing to give expression of gratitude. This may excite gratitude in others.

First let us look at the cause that we have for gratitude. Let me list just a few basic things that we as humans share on which we should be thankful; air, water, food. These things are free and are provided to us at no charge (yes you can grow your own food and collect your own water – it ain’t easy but it can be done). We can be thankful that we live in a country that allows us to pursue “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. We can be thankful for our jobs, our family, etc. My generation picked up the notion that all of the things in life are guaranteed to us. That is so far from the truth it isn’t even funny.

If I may talk spiritually for a second, we need to recognize our complete dependence on Christ. Look at what Paul says of Jesus in Colossians 1:

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Did you catch that? Jesus made everything. From the largest star to the smallest cell, Jesus made it all. Did you catch the back part of those verses ”in Him all things consist”. Other translations render this verse as “in Him all things are held together”, Jesus is the glue that is holding this existence together. That’s a cause to be thankful for.

How about another reason to be thankful to God from Colossians 1?

that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Let’s walk through this list backwards, shall we?

We have forgiveness of sins.
We have been redeemed through Christ’s blood.
We have been delivered from the kingdom of sin into Jesus’ kingdom.
We have been given the strength to endure.
We have been given the ability to know joy.

That’s a pretty cool list, isn’t it? Talk about a cause to be thankful. All of creation should be thankful because Jesus is holding everything together. The Christian should be especially thankful because Christ has delivered us from sin. It is a good thing to recognize our cause for gratitude…

Let’s move on to point 2 – the principle of gratitude. This goes back to the thought that I started the post with. The principle of gratitude is lost to us today. We have come to expect that everything that we receive is earned when in fact the only thing that we have earned is death. Why would I be so bold to say that? A couple of scriptures:

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do we all know what a wage is? If you get a paycheck on Friday’s you know exactly what it is. A wage is something that is paid to you for a service performed. You deserve your wage because you have performed a service. Based on the above scripture what is the common truth about man? He has sinned. What wage does man deserve for the service that he has rendered unto God? Death. Because of man’s sin we can truly say that the only thing that man deserves in this life is death. If we can start living our lives with that truth at the back of our minds won’t that make us thankful for everything that we receive? We deserve nothing! How much different would the world be if man truly lived his life with a principle of gratitude. It would be a very good thing…

Finally let us talk about the expression of our gratitude. You want to know why we have trouble saying “Thank You”. It’s because it requires an amount of humility that most of us are unwilling to display. I just did a simple search in my Bible software for the phrase “Give thanks to…” It returned in the neighborhood of 50 verses that reference giving thanks to the Father. I’m sure if I did a more exhaustive search this number would increase dramatically. It is proper and fitting for us to render thanks to God. He does not have to do anything for us. We do not deserve His attention, much less His love.

Lest I drift too much from my original thought, the expression of our gratitude to God should bring others along for the ride. When we are the first to display a public lack of humility it makes it easier for those around us to do so as well. If we as a church could get hold of the idea that we are all bankrupt before the Father and be unashamed to share that with those around us how would it change our relationships with each other? How would it change our relationship with the Father if thanks to Him were close to our lips at all times?

Be quick to thank God for everything in your life. Be quick to sing His praises.

Grace and peace to you all…

Psalm 92 - An Introduction

I originally wanted to start this series in December but my lackadaisical posting and the “Peace On Earth” series put me behind. Let’s start fresh again today with a series of posts on Psalm 92. I thought I’d share an excerpt from C. H. Spurgeon’s commentary, The Treasury of David, as a matter of introducing us to the Psalm.

May God guide our path as we travel through His Word – Jeff
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TITLE —A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day. This admirable composition is both a Psalm and a Song, full of equal measures of solemnity and joy; and it was intended to be sung upon the day of rest. The subject is the praise of God; praise is Sabbatic work, the joyful occupation of resting hearts. Since a true Sabbath can only be found in God, it is wise to meditate upon him on the Sabbath day. The style is worthy of the theme and of the day, its inspiration is from the "fount of every blessing"; David spake as the Spirit gave him utterance. In the church of Christ, at this hour, no Psalm is more frequently sung upon the Lord's day than the present. The delightful version of Dr. Watts is familiar to us all—

"Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing;
To shew thy love by morning light,
And talk of all thy truth at night."

The Sabbath was set apart for adoring the Lord in his finished work of creation, hence the suitableness of this Psalm; Christians may take even a higher flight, for they celebrate complete redemption. No one acquainted with David's style will hesitate to ascribe to him the authorship of this divine hymn; the ravings of the Rabbis who speak of its being composed by Adam, only need to be mentioned to be dismissed. Adam in Paradise had neither harps to play upon, nor wicked men to contend with.

Sunday Sermon - Matthew 21:33-46

This is probably way too long for a blog post but here it is anyway. I think this is going to become a Monday staple unless there is a revolt. Let me know what you think….

Jeff…
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33“Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 34“Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35“And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36“Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37“Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38“But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39“So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” 41They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” 42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44“And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” 45Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. 46But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

We will look today at another confrontation between Jesus and the religious elite of Jerusalem during the Passion Week. As we look at these verses let us not forget that these are the final days before the cross, you can sense the urgency and grit in the words of the Savior as He makes one last appeal to those that were called to do the work of the Father.

Jesus describes a simple scene that would be very common to the hearers because vineyards were common on the hillsides of Palestine in that time. A landowner buys a piece of property and prepares in it a vineyard. The vineyard would be self sufficient having it’s own “wine press”, the crops simply needed to be harvested and converted within the vineyard. The landowner also took great care to insure the safety of the vineyard; the “hedge” would consist of stone or briars to keep wild animals and thieves out and the “tower” would be used as a lookout post, shelter and a place for storage. In today’s vernacular – this is a “turnkey” operation. It simply needed workers to care for it which the landowner himself found having “leased it to vinedressers”. These men would reap the benefits of the vineyard provided by the landowner and would simply pay him a certain percentage of the harvest as rent. To be sure the work was hard and required constant diligence by the vinedressers to insure a healthy crop but the vinedressers were dependant upon the landowner for their livelihood.

An unbelievable scene is described next. The landowner sends a string of representatives to the vineyard to collect his due. Instead of recognizing the landowner’s authority these representatives are beaten, stoned and murdered. Do not miss the patience of the landowner here - he continues to show the vinedressers grace and mercy in spite of their actions. Finally the landowner sends his son saying “They will respect my son”. In the culture of the day, sending your son was the same as you coming yourself. There would be no confusion as to what the wishes of the landowner were.

The response of the vinedressers however shows that there was no misunderstanding on their end, “This is the heir, come let us kill him and seize his inheritance”. They knew exactly what they were doing, in a very short time they had forgotten the provision of the landowner and wanted the vineyard for themselves. They cast the son from the vineyard and kill him in an act that shows their complete hatred for the landowner.

The question that Jesus asks in verse 40 has only one answer which the priests and Pharisees correctly give. Put yourself in the scene for a second. They are listening intently to the parable looking for anything to which they can accuse Jesus for or for any point that they can debate. They must have been very proud of their answer because there was nothing for Jesus to accuse them of – or so they thought.

Jesus, the perfect teacher, now gets to the point of the parable in vs 42. “Have you never read in the Scriptures…” he asks and then quotes from Psalm 118, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone”. A cornerstone was the most basic part of the building and if it was not perfect and then placed properly than the entire building would be off. Psalm 118 in context talks about God’s provision for the nation of Israel and in a greater sense tells of the coming Messiah. Israel had been the “stone” that the builders rejected. Their history was full of times when they were exploited and then discarded yet God always preserved a remnant for Himself. Israel was always preserved by God.

By tying Psalm 118, a Messianic psalm, to the parable Jesus makes a direct claim to His deity. By rejecting Him they were rejecting God. Christ is the cornerstone upon which God has built everything. Look at what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:

Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

And Paul in Ephesians 2:

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

Jesus is the foundation, scripture is clear. It is upon Him that everything is built and it is upon Him that everything stands.

Sin is a powerful enemy. It blinds us to our own involvement in it. The religious elite did not recognize themselves in the parable much like David did not recognize his sin with Bathsheba until Nathan pointed it out in a parable (See 2 Sam.12:5-7). Jesus is telling the priests and elders the same thing “You are the vinedressers! You have killed God’s prophets and now you stand ready to kill His Son. By your own words you have condemned yourselves guilty.”

Next come some of the saddest words in scripture in verse 43, “Therefore the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it”. For a season Israel has been set aside as the witness of the kingdom and by God’s grace He will restore them at some point in the future. Look at what Paul says in Romans 11:

2God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew… 25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

Until that time the witness of the kingdom has fallen to the Gentiles as Paul states in Romans 9:

As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.” “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

We probably should spend some time here talking about “bearing the fruits” of the kingdom. What are these “fruits”? Let’s look at what John the Baptist told the Pharisees back in Matthew 3:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, “and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The “fruit” is repentance, a life that is lived in front of the Father constantly turning from sin. The religious elite in Jesus day would not turn from their sin and therefore were not fit to steward the kingdom.

Look at what Jesus says in verse 44,“And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”. He is in essence saying that there is nothing that anyone can do to stop Him. You can try to attack Him but you will be broken into pieces and wherever He decides to land that place will be ground to powder. You cannot stand against God. If you will not have Jesus as deliverer than He will be the destroyer.

Look at how the elite responded in verses 45-46. They wanted to kill Him but were afraid because of the crowd. They were not interested in standing for God, they were only interested in their influence and their position.

What should we take away from all of this?

We must remember that God graciously provides everything that we need. We have provided nothing for ourselves. Everything that we have is from Him and we are simply stewards of His creation.

We must remember that we are sinful and that God has given us His word through the prophets to guide and direct us toward the Son. None of us can save ourselves

We must remember that He will hold us accountable for our actions and He will send His Son in judgment over all of creation and it is only by appealing to His mercy that anyone can be saved.

Lastly we must remember that we are never to become comfortable in our position with Him. We should never take advantage of the wonderful privilege that God has given us to be the vessels of His message. Let us never become like the religious elite of Jesus’ day serving only for power and prestige. We constantly need to be vigilant in our effort to produce “fruit for the kingdom”

Grace and peace to you all…