Which Gathering?

 “Examine me, O LORD, and try me;
Test my mind and my heart.
For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Your truth.
I do not sit with deceitful men,
Nor will I go with pretenders.
I hate the assembly [ἐκκλησίαν] of evildoers,
And I will not sit with the wicked.
I shall wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Your altar, O LORD,
That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving
And declare all Your wonders.
O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house
And the place where Your glory dwells.
Do not take my soul away along with sinners,
Nor my life with men of bloodshed,
In whose hands is a wicked scheme,
And whose right hand is full of bribes.
But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
Redeem me, and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on a level place;
In the congregations [ἐκκλησίαις] I shall bless the LORD” (Psalm 26:2-12). 

I’ve been spending a lot of time in 2021 during my daily devotions reading the Psalms from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (trying to keep once-learned things fresh). While the original Hebrew for “assembly” or “congregation,” קָהֵל, means the same thing as the Greek ἐκκλησία, the Greek caught my attention today.

When used in the New Testament, ἐκκλησία is the word usually translated “church.”

In Psalm 26 David describes two assemblies (only two): the gathering where the LORD is blessed, and a gathering where He is not. 

Two groups of humanity: those who desire to be submitted to and conformed to God’s character and truth, and those who do not have a longing for the things of God.

Two “churches”: one that desires God’s glory and presence now and forever, and one that rejects God and His truth.

With which do you identify most? Do people around you know it? Do people reading your social media output know it? Of which “church” do your daily habits, priorities, words, relationships, and passions mark you to be a member?

Balance in the Offices of the Church

“Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:1,2).

In this post, I’m not out to defend the plurality of overseers/elders/pastors in the local church (these different New Testament titles describing a singular office). I’m writing assuming you’re with me on the need for an office of men who lead, model, and meet the spiritual needs of the membership of the local congregation (overseers/elders/pastors); similarly, if you keep with this post past this sentence, I assume you’re with me on the biblical mandate for an office of men who lead, model, and meet the physical needs of the membership of the local congregation (deacons, a title that means “servant”). Presupposing these principles, I want to make an appeal for balance in the relationship between these offices and how that balance is a witness to the biblical calling on all believers.

First, there is no exclusivity to the actions carried out by the offices. “Overseers” can (and should) serve others. Why? Because service is a call for all believers, and holding an office exempts you from no requirements given to all believers (Matthew 25:41-46; James 2:15-17; 1 John 3:16,17). Yes, the focus of the office should be on “prayer and to the ministry [τῇ διακονίᾳ] of the Word” (Acts 6:4), and working “hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17) – I would add that mentoring other teachers is a primary activity, as well (2 Timothy 2:2). This emphasis, however, doesn’t mean that an elder can’t mow a widow’s lawn or help wash dishes after the potluck. “Deacons” can (and should) be involved in the ministry of the Word when appropriate. Of the “seven” in Acts 6, two go on to dominate the next chapters with their preaching (Stephen in chapter 7 and Philip in chapter 8). Further, all believers have a responsibility to devotion “to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42), that is, the New Testament and its interpretive authority over the Old Testament. “Deacons” are no exception. All believers are filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit speaks Jesus through all believers. Read Acts 2:16-18. On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter proclaims that the promise of Joel 2:28,29 (and the desire of Moses in Numbers 11:29) has been fulfilled in the Church. All of God’s people in Christ have His Spirit, and are called upon to speak a Christ-centered Scripture to all situations (a fulfillment of Deuteronomy 6:6-9). Office, to repeat, is not an exemption from normal Christian experience and calling.

Second, the offices display the two key elements to Christian life. True faith bears the fruit of good works (Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12,13; Hebrews 13:20,21; James 2:14-26). In the offices we see these elements represented. “Overseers” lead and serve as examples to a dedication to the truth of the faith, as revealed in the Scriptures and witnessed to by the Church through history. “Deacons” lead and serve as examples to the living out of that truth in loving service to those who have needs (especially and primarily within the local congregation). Faith and works cannot exist apart from each other. Faith without works is dead. Works without faith is legalism that cannot save; or, to put it another way, works without faith in Jesus Christ alone is the model of every non-biblical religion/philosophy in the world. It is an effort to achieve a goal (be it spiritual or physical, temporal or eternal) apart from faith in Jesus’ all-sufficient saving work. The offices of the Church display both faith in Jesus Christ alone (and the body of truth that is part of that faith) and Spirit-wrought works as the fruit of that faith, and both are indispensable.

Third, in the single body of the local congregation, the offices serve as a model of balance that is to be lived out by the individual members. While Paul doesn’t single out the “overseers and deacons” in the rest of the letter, Philippians does have unity and mutual submission within the local congregation as a significant theme (1:27; 2:1-18; 4:2). The offices, since they witness to required elements of a true Christian life, must complement and balance each other. In a congregationalist (democratic) polity, individual office holders have one vote – just as the non-officer holder (as a Southern Baptist, I confess that “each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes,” Baptist Faith & Message [2000], VI). They do not wield any greater decision-making power. “Overseers” lead by modeling a life dedicated to the truth of Scripture, teaching, equipping, correcting, and encouraging themselves and the congregation to greater understanding, knowledge, and faithfulness to the Bible. “Deacons” lead by modeling a life living that truth out in loving service to the congregation and by organizing efforts in the whole faith community to serve members in need. Neither office has greater power; the idea of power, in fact, is antithetical to the offices as Jesus embodied them. It is together that they display a biblically-balanced Christian life. If they are not displaying that balance in their harmony and mutual submission, they are giving witness to a twisted and imbalanced Christianity – which is no Christianity at all.

This humility, mutual submission, and balance has to be purposefully pursued. In our sin and pride we will tend toward exerting our will and elevating our status within and between the offices. Office-holders must continually remind each other of the true nature of the offices. They must pray for each other, and pray together (1 Timothy 2:8). They must speak well of each other, publicly and privately giving thanks for the wisdom of Christ and work of the Spirit in and through these offices. They must seek out ways of helping one another. “Overseers” must participate in the service of “deacons,” submitting to them and following their lead in service projects or individual acts of mercy. “Deacons” must participate in the teaching opportunities offered within the congregational schedule, especially when they are led by “overseers.” “Deacons,” pursue growth in the truth under the leadership of the “overseers.” “Overseers,” live out that truth under the servant-leadership of the “deacons.”

In the mutual submission and balance of the offices, these two groups offer even more to the congregation than they ever could apart from each other or – God forbid – in competition with each other. Officers living in biblical balance show a rich and whole Christian community and life to the congregation as a whole and as individuals. This is the will and plan of Christ, the only Lord of His Church.

Married Couples, Show the Gospel in Worship

“Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:2-16, E.S.V.).

Before I comment on the text above, let me explain why I used the English Standard Version for this post. As far as translations go, I’m a New American Standard guy (I’ll be using it in the rest of this post). It was the translation given to me when I was baptized in 1984, and I’ve stayed with it (and its update in 1995). Occasionally I’ll try another translation; I’ve used the English Standard Version and Holman Christian Standard for sermon series through books of the Bible. I like the New King James Version and New Living Translation a lot (the N.K.J.V. is my favorite alternate translation). I recently quoted the New International Version in my sermon notes; that was the only time in 10 years, to my recollection.

I’ve been preaching through 1 Corinthians in our evening Lord’s Day service for a year now. Recently I taught on chapter 11, which begins an extended discussion of Christian worship (chapters 11-14). I believe the interpretive challenges in 11:2-16 (and 14:34,35) could be eased if we consistently translated γυνή as “wife” instead of “woman” (and ἀνήρ as “husband” instead of “man”). The E.S.V., in the passage above, does this, but not consistently. Still, the use of “husband” (11:3; 14:35) and “wife” (11:3,5,6,10,13) in the E.S.V. is a step in the right direction.

Well, the other night, when I was teaching through 11:2-16, I did a verse-by-verse explanation of the passage for about twenty minutes. There are several challenging aspects to this section, and I suspect it’s easy to get bogged down in them. The reason I’m writing this post, though, is not to rehash those interpretive hurtles with you. Instead, I want to sum up the passage for you with one sentence: husbands and wives are to display the Gospel in their relationship when the Church is gathered for worship.

Paul’s all about the Gospel. As far as his preaching when he was with the Corinthians, he wrote, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). When I was teaching a preaching class several years ago, I told the men that the first step was to imagine a big cross on the empty sheet of paper that would become their sermon notes. Remember Spurgeon’s famous wisdom: “The motto of all true servants of God must be, ‘We preach Christ; and him crucified.’ A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching” (07/09/1876; sermon #2899).

The Lord’s Supper is given by the Lord of the Church so that the membership can proclaim the cross of Christ together: “…as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

The Gospel is primary: “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared” (1 Corinthians 15:1-5). We need the Gospel often. I have told our congregation for years that they need to preach the Gospel to themselves every day. And it certainly needs to be proclaimed every Lord’s Day. As Martin Luther wrote at the beginning of his commentary on Galatians, “I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do (for that is the proper office of the law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me: to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.”

In the same way, husbands and wives are to display the Gospel in their relationship in the gathering of the Church. When you read 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 (and 14:34,35), read “husband” and “wife” for “man” and “woman.” Don’t get distracted by hair/head coverings and the public prayer/prophesying of women (those are legitimate issues to discover, but it’s issue to miss the big picture while wrestling with them). Read this passage in light of Ephesians 5:22-33.

While there are definitely unique cultural elements to this, don’t buy the argument that the whole passage should be jettisoned from application because of those issues found in A.D. 1st century Corinth. Paul doesn’t base his reasoning on cultural conditions which are irrelevant today. He bases his argument on Genesis 2 in 1 Corinthians 11:8,9. He does the same thing in 1 Timothy 2:13-15. Jesus does the same thing in Matthew 19:3-9 and its parallels in Mark and Luke. The historicity of Genesis 2-3 matters because of the Gospel.

How does the marriage relationship display the Gospel in worship? I can’t answer that question comprehensively, but here are a few thoughts:

Show you actually love each other. Don’t complain about each other in the times around gathered worship. I’m not saying be hypocritical if there are problems, but we don’t gather for the primary purpose of displaying ourselves. We gather to display and remind ourselves of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Need help? Please seek it out. In worship, however, practice displaying love by respecting each other, smiling at each other, sitting close, singing together, and receiving the Word together (I know our roles in service sometimes make this impractical, but make time away from those roles to worship together with the gathered congregation). Do you remember the 40-day Love Dare devotional? Purposefully showing the relationship of Christ and Church in the worship gathering on the Lord’s Day should be a regular part of that disciplined pursuit of each other. This isn’t hypocrisy; this is disciplining yourselves to show the ideal of the Gospel. Again, if there are problems, get help. Modeling the goal of Christian marriage (the Gospel relationship between Christ and the Church) in the gathering of the Church is appropriate and a good reminder to you and the rest of the congregation.

It can be funny to put each other down teasingly and to make little jokes at each other’s expense, but think about saving that for other times. Husbands, have eyes for your bride. Wives, be thankful he’s at gathering with you. Smile at each other. Husbands, put your arm around her shoulders. Do you have little ones with you in worship? Shepherd them as a team, serving one another by engaging in worship-parenting together. Display the Gospel in your relating to one another in worship. I think you know to keep the affection appropriate; hear the heart of what I’m saying.

There is an increased sensitivity and consideration of single people in the life of the Church; that’s a good thing. We want to be inclusive and edifying to all believers. This doesn’t mean we minimize the biblically-mandated witness the married contribute to the worship gathering.

Husbands and wives, remember: you should be showing the Gospel story by your relationship in the gathering of the Church.

Providence Permits Many Heretics

“Divine Providence permits many heretics with their differing errors so that at least, when they insult us and ask us what we do not know, we may shake off our sluggishness and long to know the divine Scriptures. This is why the Apostle says [in 1 Corinthians 11:19], ‘It is necessary that there be heresies in order that those who are approved among you might become manifest.’ For those are approved before God who can teach well, but they can only become manifest to men when they teach. They are, however, willing to teach only those who seek to be taught. Yet many are slow to seek if they are not aroused as if from sleep by the troublesomeness and insults of the heretics. Then, embarrassed over their ignorance, they perceive that they are in danger because of that ignorance. If these are men of solid faith, they do not give in to the heretics, but carefully seek what response they should make to them. God does not abandon them. When they ask, they receive, and when they seek, they find, and when they knock, the door will be opened for them” (Augustine, On Genesis, Against the Manichees, I.1.2).[1]

God allows false teaching to motivate true believers to seek the truth and to manifest teachers whom Christ has given His Church.

There is plenty of false teaching, and it is extremely popular. Our small groups shouldn’t be so small, our Sunday Schools should be bursting with students desirous for God’s truth, our Bible studies ought to be crowded, our Bibles should be wearing out faster than our phones, our prayer meetings’ requests should be for knowledge of God above all, our services filled with humble hunger for a Word from the Lord, and the local church should be the vital seed-bed (the meaning of the word “seminary”) for teachers manifested by God to confront the staggering amount of falseness being marketed to Christians. Teachers should be showing their legitimacy as manifestations of God’s provision to His Church by ever honing their craft, their art, their passion, their accuracy, their communication, and their Spirit-wrought authoritative power.

“Should be.” “Ought.”

The heresies are plentiful, Lord. Please, please, please manifest those approved in the teaching and learning ministry of Your precious Church.

“I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

---

[1] Augustine is meditating on 1 Corinthians 11:19, “there must also be factions [αἱρέσεις] among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.” Αἵρεσις is translated “heresy” (its English cognate) by Wycliffe, and in the Geneva Bible and King James Version.

Love Songs of Nature and Architecture

I’ve been teaching through Revelation 21-22 on Wednesday evenings for several months. The “holy city, new Jerusalem,” is compared to “a bride adorned for her husband” (21:2). An angel tells the apostle, “Come here, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (21:9). It is the Church that alone is “the wife of the Lamb” in the New Testament (Matthew 9:15//Mark 2:19,20//Luke 5:34,35; John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-33), but we are immediately shown “the holy city, Jerusalem” (21:10), along with an elaborate and incredible architectural description (21:11-22:5). It seems odd when you think about it; how many of you men wooed your sweetheart by comparing her to a well-designed structure with exalted aesthetics? Probably not many. Yet the New Testament often uses the language of temple to describe God’s people in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:16,17; 6:19,20; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5). Christian men, we probably shouldn’t start a trend of using architectural language to describe our beloved, but hear me out – when, at the close of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, a description of His Bride is given using this sort of language, she is more majestic, beautiful, and other-worldly than anything in this world (either Herod’s grand Temple in Jerusalem or the many incredible structures of other religions, whose grand remains are still tourist visiting points)! It may not be Shakespeare, but God the Son is saying to His Bride, “I’m preparing you by My Spirit like a master builder; no one in this world can construct anything close to you, My Beloved.”

Now, with this elaborate love-speech in mind, let’s read something that came earlier in the Bible:

“How beautiful you are, my darling,
How beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves behind your veil;
Your hair is like a flock of goats
That have descended from Mount Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes
Which have come up from their washing,
All of which bear twins,
And not one among them has lost her young.
Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
And your mouth is lovely.
Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate
Behind your veil.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
Built with rows of stones
On which are hung a thousand shields,
All the round shields of the mighty men.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle
Which feed among the lilies…

…how beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your hips are like jewels,
The work of the hands of an artist.
Your navel is like a round goblet
Which never lacks mixed wine;
Your belly is like a heap of wheat
Fenced about with lilies.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
By the gate of Bath-rabbim;
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
Which faces toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Carmel,
And the flowing locks of your head are like purple threads;
The king is captivated by your tresses.
How beautiful and how delightful you are,
My love, with all your charms!
Your stature is like a palm tree,
And your breasts are like its clusters” (Song of songs, 4:1-5; 7:1-7).

We wouldn’t use this language (well, much of it) to describe our wives, would we, men? Do you notice the similarity in principle, though, between the Song of songs’ description of the King’s Beloved and the Revelation’s description of the Bride? One says, “you are more beautiful than the most breath-taking natural wonders and wealth of our land.” The other says, “all the man-made wonders of the world are poorly-made sand castles compared to you.”

Both of these extended metaphors, odd as they are to our cultural expressions, say one thing: the King loves His Bride, and thinks her more beautiful than anything in this world.

Remember that today, Church.

And if you’re not part of His Church, hear me: all of us, as descendants of that first man Adam, share in both his rebellious nature against God and the penalty for that rebellion. We are born in this world fighting the purpose for which we were created, which is to give God glory in our worshipful obedience and reflection of His image. This is the only true love, peace, and joy for the human being. We spend our brief lives here trying to fulfill that purpose with counterfeits in vain, and leave this world to spend an eternity separated from the only One Who can satisfy. But He, in His infinite love and mercy, came to earth as one of us to do what we could not: live a human life of perfect obedience to God (the condition for spending an eternity with God in bliss) and to take the just punishment for our disobedience upon Himself in death. He lived and died in His Bride’s place, and rose again on the third day. He ascended into heaven, where He reigns over all heaven and earth until the time comes for the defeat of all rebels to come to an end. The Bible tells us to confess Jesus as Lord, and that in Him we find forgiveness for our sin, adoption into the family of God, and we are granted access to our Creator (the Source of all we’ve ever needed and desired) forever and ever. The Bible uses the bridegroom and bride metaphor to describe Jesus’ relationship to His people, the Church. He loves His Church, and treasures Her above all else in Creation. Repent of your sins, trust Jesus alone for your right standing before God now and forever, and be added by Jesus to those whom He considers His Beloved.

Do this, and the love song’s for you.

The Gathering and Garages

“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile” (Billy Sunday, 1862-1935).

I’ve heard a dozen variations on this quote. So have you. It’s popular for preachers, youth ministers, evangelists, and unbelieving scoffers to diminish the importance of attending regular gatherings of the Church. I understand why the last group I mentioned does it (I was part of that group); it baffles me why the first three groups do it. I’ve hoped that they don’t intend to do that. The person on the stage says this, gets some souls to walk the aisle (a sign, I suppose, of a “successful” gathering). I’ve never heard them take the time to then explain that those who are truly Christian gather with the Church; it is, in fact, one of the biblical assurances that you are a Christian. Christians gather. It’s what they do. It’s what it means to “be the Church.” If a person doesn't gather with the Church, it's a biblical reason to question the genuine nature of their confession to be Christian (Hebrews 10:25; 1 John 2:19). It would seem Billy Sunday's got it backwards. But the speaker who diminishes the gathering gets his aisle-walker from out of the gathering. Work done. The Great Commission isn’t happening, though (the teaching of disciples to obey all that Christ commanded).

“…if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you” (1 Corinthians 14:24,25). Yes, there hopefully are unbelievers in the gathering of the Church. Prophecy, or Spirit-empowered, Christ-centered proclamation of the Bible, must occur in the gathering of the Church. The garage is built to house an automobile. The Church gathers for Christians – and those who might become Christians through the proclamation of the Word of God.

Please stop comparing gathering as the Church with a garage, or Pizza Hut, or anything else. The gathering is of exceeding importance and should not be diminished. If you want regular gatherers to examine the genuine nature of their salvation, don’t question something that is a biblical sign that you are actually a Christian (gathering with the Church). Just use the language of Paul to the Achaian Baptist Association: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test” (2 Corinthians 13:5,6). In fact, a weekly observation of the Lord's Supper gives a biblical and liturgical opportunity for such regular examination of the legitimacy of one's salvation (1 Corinthians 11:27-32). Or just be diligent in preaching the Gospel every time you're on stage. It's "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16), not this diminishing of the Church as a manipulative rhetorical tool.

What does it profit a preacher to get “decisions” if they communicate a deprioritizing of the God-given instrument of discipleship – the gathering of the Church?

Gather. Proclaim the Gospel. Keep on proclaiming that Gospel in the gathering. And when you've done it, do it again. The lost will be saved. The saved will grow in Christ. This is the power of God.

The Law, Prophets, and a Lesson About Gathering

“And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law [תורה] which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth”’” (Jeremiah 26:4-6).

Ask most people what prophets do, and they will tell you that prophets foretell the future. I have been convinced for a long time that such an understanding of the prophets and biblical prophecy misses a crucial message of the biblical Prophets (and those who echo them in the New Testament). I contend that the Prophets applied the Law of Moses to their audiences in the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They communicated using language meant to move hard hearts – powerful language with dramatic imagery and edgy language. Their “future telling,” when it is present at all (not nearly as often as we’ve grown accustomed to think), is merely an application of the curses for covenant violation in the Law (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). The Law promised invasion by a foreign army and deportation. The Prophets, in seeing covenant violation among the people, promised this would come. And it did.

Learning one thing revolutionized my reading of the Bible, and that one thing is seeing parallelism.[1] The Hebrew language is not highly technical (like Greek) – the Old Testament writers say one thing several different ways to further illuminate their meaning.

Consider this parallelism:

• “...listen to Me, to walk in My law [תורה] which I have set before you...”
• “...to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again...”

Both of these phrases are introduced with the verb “listen” (שמע), setting up the parallelism as clear as possible for us. Both “law” and “the words of My servants the prophets” are the words of the LORD to His covenant people.

From the standpoint of the doctrine of the Bible, the Law is foundational. The New Testament shows us the Lord Jesus and His apostles continually citing the Law as authoritative teaching. The Prophets of the Old Testament rely on the Law in the same way. There is no fullness to your understanding of later passages of Scripture if you aren’t familiar with what came before. Sadly, most people’s reading of the Prophets leans forward rather than backward. I find the same to be true in most attempts to interpret Revelation.

The LORD, speaking through Jeremiah, places His Law and Prophets in parallelism.

False prophets do not speak the words of the LORD (applying His Law), but speak their own words. “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the LORD” (23:16). “‘Behold, I am against the prophets,’ declares the LORD, ‘who use their tongues and declare, “The Lord declares”’” (23:31).

Prophecy is the Spirit-empowered application of the Law to the lives of God’s people with the goal of moving them to repentance from their sin before the Lord. I would use this definition for most of New Testament “prophecy,” as well (especially as described in Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12,14; Ephesians 4:11). We would put it under the category “preaching” these days, though the Bible seems to have parsed the categories of prophetic preaching of the Law for conviction, evangelistic preaching of the Gospel for the giving of grace (to believers and non-believers), and the teaching/explanation of the Bible. We need all of these in our spiritual diet continually.

The “Prophets” of the Old Testament are inerrant and inspired, and serve as models/examples for preachers in the Church. We are, as part of our calling, preach the commands of God, leaning on the Holy Spirit’s help, to move the people of God to repentance and obedience...and we are to do this without abandoning the giving of the grace of the Gospel or the explanation of the meaning and theology of the text.

It is foolish to believe we can accomplish this in a 15-minute talk filled with anecdotes and stories. It is woefully naive to believe attending the gathering of the Church for one hour a week can adequately fill the God-intended purpose of teachers/preachers in the Church. Does your Church have an evening service, a mid-week Bible study, other small groups that study the Word? Are you a part? These are the means by which God speaks His Word to His people through the power of His Holy Spirit.

We need to be convicted unto repentance and obedience, fed grace unto communion with God in Christ, and trained in the nature, character, ways, and thoughts of God through the explanation of His Word. This cannot happen without giving time to the corporate times in the Word. Commit and get involved. It’s not a matter of not having enough time...you’re reading this, aren’t you? If you’re reading this, you’re probably reading a lot of other stuff online. How many hours of online time are you spending a week compared to gathering with Spirit-filled believers to get into God’s Word together? We fool ourselves by complaining there’s not enough time.

He has given the Law and Prophets, the Gospel and Apostles. We need this more than anything else, and He has purposed that we receive and grow in His Word together.

Let’s get to it.

---

[1] This book was helpful when I was first learning this principle.

The Line in the Sand

Glenn Beck (a Mormon) and George Barna (a pollster) giving a twelve-point list on what the Church wants to hear from the pulpit? And none of the twelve points are the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

There is usually a great gulf fixed between what we think we need to hear, what we want to hear, what we feel would meet our needs, and what the Bible itself tells us we need to preach and to hear.

My theology concerning preaching and what motivates it largely comes from three passages in the Bible:

• “For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, ‘You are not to say, “It is a conspiracy!” In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. It is the LORD of hosts Whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. Then He shall become a sanctuary...bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD Who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, Who dwells on Mount Zion. To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn” (Isaiah 8:11-14,16-1820).
• “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
• “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes...if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believe in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him Whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’ ...so faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:1-4,9-15,17).

It concerns me enough that fellow confessors of the biblical Jesus Christ are willing to hear, watch, read, and re-post the political musings of a Mormon, but are we really going to listen to a single word the man says about what folks in our congregations want to hear (regardless of what the pollster and historian who were his guests say)? Am I the only one for whom this is quite a red flag? The only way this seems to work is if politics is your idol; at that point there’s no great line to cross to partner with someone who denies the Trinity, the nature of salvation, and the sufficiency of the Bible alone.

I am blessed to preach behind two sacred desks. One is built in the shape of a cross. The other has the words, “Sir, we would see Jesus” (John 12:21) on its surface (where only the preacher can see it). This is enough for me, no matter what the congregation thinks they want to hear and no matter what I feel like preaching. For twenty-two years I have trusted the Word to give us what we need when we need it. When people have had questions on particular topics, we have gone to the Word in search of those things in private counsel or small-group discussion. But, in the gathering of the saints at the Table and in the Word, we do not steer the ship, and the reality given us in the Word does not change no matter what is happening in the world around us. We need to bend to the Word, not the other way around. We need to follow it to a heavenward focus rather than shaping an earth-bound message. Christ is the center, not any current events. This is what the all-sufficient Word does for the congregation that receives it by faith.

I do not preach expositionally because Jesus or Paul taught that way; I do not believe I have been commanded to preach as they did (or that I am able). But their words are recorded in “the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42), that is, in the inspired and inerrant New Testament, and rather than using felt needs or current affairs to lead me to various passages in the Book, I am convinced that the Spirit Who gave us this Book will shape us into Christ and fit us for heaven if we follow Him through every passage, without missing a one and without picking and choosing what I think we need. My trust in the Book is not complete and not nearly as deep as it should be, but a liturgical practice that guides me (and the congregation) into a greater faith will, Lord willing, take us further in and further up far more than any other approach.

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:1-4).

The whole idea that we know what we need to hear is bizarre to me (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25; 28:26). I did not know what I needed before I heard the Gospel by faith for the first time; there have been plenty of times daily since that moment that I have thought I knew what I needed and was (and will be) completely wrong.

I need Christ preached from the Word. And so does the Church. And so does the world. Whether any of us know it, feel it, or want to hear it, or not.

“Then he showed me a river of the water of life [John 7:37-39], clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations [Matthew 28:18-20]” (Revelation 22:1,2). The Spirit, coming from the Father and Son (see the Trinity?), flowing through the Church's preaching of the Gospel to the nations, is the only thing that will heal them. The only thing.

Christ's Suffering, Our Growth, and the Ordinances

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship [κοινωνιαν] of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11).

I love the ordinances commanded to the Church by its only Lord and High Priest, Jesus Christ. I am passionate about them, and am convinced that by minimizing them for more flashy and entertaining pursuits, we have robbed ourselves of a blessing the Head of the Church Himself has given us for our spiritual benefit.

Today’s Southern Baptists identify the ordinances as one of the marks of a true Church:

• “A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers...observing the two ordinances of Christ” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, VI).
• “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour [sic], the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming” (BF&M 2000, VII).

While we typically read passages like Philippians 3:10 (“the fellowship of His sufferings”) as a reference to persecution (see also Matthew 20:23; Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians 1:5; Colossians 1:24; 2 Timothy 2:11; 1 Peter 4:13), I believe the ordinances to be a regular and consistent liturgical means by which the Lord brings His Church into conformity with His own “sufferings.” I don’t deny that for the apostle Paul (and countless believers in the past and today) these passages speak of a literal experience of Christian suffering, but given what else Paul says on the subject, I would suggest that we shouldn’t limit his language to these persecutions. Instead, there is a way in which biblical Christian liturgy makes these realities a regular experience of the gathered Church for our spiritual growth and sanctification. Let’s consider the language the apostle Paul uses in other places concerning the ordinances.

Concerning baptism: “...do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:3-13). Baptism is “an act of obedience symbolizing” union with Christ’s suffering, but Paul certainly takes it beyond just symbolic act in his teaching on this ordinance. “...we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death...our old self was crucified with Him...we have died with Christ...” This is strong language connected with the ordinance, and we would do well to take it seriously! So when Paul speaks of “the fellowship of His sufferings” and conformity “to His death” to the Philippian church, it is not necessarily limited to persecution and martyrdom. Paul’s own language to the Romans shows us that the ordinance of baptism brings us into this experience which should produce profound ethical/moral fruit in our lives. Let’s look at the Philippians passage again: Paul counts all things (both his sin and his own personal righteousness) as loss, so that he may have a righteousness “which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (3:9,10). Justification (being proclaimed righteous) by faith in Jesus Christ is followed by a union with Christ which includes “the fellowship of His sufferings” and conformity “to His death” as experienced in the ordinances.

In addition to baptism, Paul speaks of the Lord’s Supper as an ordinance which brings us into this “fellowship” and “conformity.”

“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing [κοινωνια] in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing [κοινωνια] in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16,17). Just as the doctrine of baptism should have spiritual fruit in a believer’s life, so too does the Lord’s Supper have powerful implications for unity in the Church and dedication solely to Christ (read the rest of chapter 10 through the end of chapter 11...and truth be told, probably through the end of chapter 14!).

We need to continually remember Paul’s confession “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). We must remember it so that we “do not nullify the grace of God” (2:21) – a continual temptation for every believer. The ordinances are an instrument of this grace and sanctifying work in our lives.

Early in ministry, a wise deacon (now in Glory) once told me that humans never stay in the middle of a position/opinion/doctrine, but are continually swinging back and forth to extremes. My dear Baptists, I fear that in this day we have gone so far on the ordinances that they are barely there in the life of the Church. May we consider the testimony of the Scriptures and carefully, thoughtfully, and purposefully begin moving the pendulum back to a more faithful view of the ordinances which grants them the central place in Christian liturgy that the Scripture itself gives them. The promised fruit of Scripture concerning the ordinances and what they represent is freedom from sin, service to God’s righteousness, unity, and faithfulness to Christ. Sound like something needed in the Church today? All these things come from union with Christ in His death and resurrection – the very reality the ordinances lead us to walk in together.

For by them we regularly “may know...the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that [we] may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Brought Bible?

Hachita Baptist Church, Hachita, New Mexico, U.S.A.

Brought Bible?

I’ve looked at this old-fashioned board for years now. The only time I really pay attention to it is when I’ve been gone (to get an idea of what went on the week before). A few weeks ago, though, the “BROUGHT BIBLE” caught my attention (though I'm not sure they update that particular number).

“Do they need it?” I asked myself. As I preach or lead them in a Bible study, do they actually need the Book? Do I direct them back to it often enough? Do I inspire them to read further? Do I lift up its vital importance for their daily lives in this world as disciples of Jesus Christ? I was burdened by this. Challenged. How can I encourage them in the Word more than I do? If, by my preaching/teaching, I can get them to look at the Book in their hands, point to the words and really look at it, actively engage the weight of the thing, then the corporate moment in the Bible will cease to be passive. I’ve only got a few brief moments. Got to drive them into the Word more and more.

Then I thought about “stewardship.” It used to just be called “giving,” but somewhere along the way it got replaced by a more spiritual-sounding idea (not that I have a problem with changing words every once in a while...makes us think, which is always good). Anyway, stewardship. If you give to the church, then attending the times of preaching/teaching of the paid preacher is stewardship. You are paying to support the man of God, and are present when he does what you pay him to do. Seems responsible.

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says [in Deuteronomy 25:4], ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,’ and [in Luke 10:7] ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages’” (1 Timothy 5:17,18). We learn at least two things in this passage. First, “honor” means financial support, and not just respect (verse 18). Second, the evaluation of the “rule” of “the elders” is on how well they are determined to have worked “hard at preaching and teaching.” How can this evaluation be made if the evaluators aren’t present at the preaching/teaching of the Word? I’m not sure it can. How can you be sure that your giving to the church is being wisely spent, if you are not present to participate in one of the main reasons the New Testament says we must give to the church (in addition to the support of the poor, help to widows, and assistance to other churches)?

On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter preaches one of the greatest sermons recorded in the Bible. In response, “those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:41,42). “Continually.” Does one hour a week count as “continually”? A lot of preachers regard preaching twice a week (twice on Sunday, and three times if there’s a mid-week service) as a lot. Considering Acts 2:42 (“continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching”), I wonder if I’m doing enough. I mentioned last fall that I was considering adding a small-group Bible study to my schedule in response to a need that had been expressed to me. A church member admonished me that it might be too much. Is it too much? There’s only a little time: “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15,16). We’ll give an account for how we spend this small handful of moments, and if we’ve got something to do that is higher on our priority list than gathering to read the Word together...

Our confession says that Scripture “is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, 1). My greatest prayer request is that God will make this more and more a reality in our lives, beloved Church. More and more into His Word. Together.

The Rock

“The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD Who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, ‘Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it’” (Zechariah 12:1-3).

This “burden of the word of the LORD” is really an echo of a previous vision, seen by Daniel. Daniel, in knowing and interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, first saw a statue representing the four great kingdoms between his day and the coming of Christ (Babylon, Mede-Persian, Greek, Roman). Then he saw this stone: “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king...in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy” (Daniel 2:34-36,44,45). This “stone” is a Kingdom set up in the days of the Roman Empire which “will itself endure forever” and “filled the whole earth.” Compare this with a similar vision (this time of Daniel), in which an eternal kingdom is set up in the days of a fourth beast which also represents the Roman Empire.

To the “Son of Man” is given “dominion, glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed” (7:14). I love this chapter of the Bible. This proclamation of the Kingdom is repeated several times:

• “...the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come” (7:18).
• “...that horn [one of the rulers of the fourth kingdom] was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom” (7:21,22).
• “...the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him” (7:27).

The awesome thing about this chapter is that it is both the “Son of Man” and the “saints” who receive this eternal Kingdom. With the fullness of biblical revelation in the New Testament, we know that the saints receive because they are “in Christ,” in union with the Son of Man Who alone has been given absolute authority “in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). It is because of this that the Revelation can say we will “reign with Him” (Revelation 20:6; cf. 2 Timothy 2:12).

Now, what about this “stone” of Daniel and Zechariah? It is a people. Daniel describes it as a “Kingdom” in Daniel 2 (which we know to belong to the unified “Son of Man” and “saints”), but Zechariah says it is about “Jerusalem.” How are we to understand this? What “Jerusalem”?

The New Testament picks up on this “stone” language and completes our understanding of this metaphor. The N.T. doesn’t do this in isolation, however. It builds on a song of the O.T.:

“The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief corner stone.

This is the LORD’s doing;

It is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22,23).

Jesus, in the parable of the vineyard (Matthew 21:33-41//Luke 20:9-16), builds upon the story by identifying Himself not just as the “Son” of the story, but also the “Stone” of Psalm 118:22,23. He ends the teaching by saying, “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust” (Matthew 21:42-44//Luke 20:17,18). Does this sound familiar to Zechariah 12:3?

The “rock” identified by Zechariah as “Jerusalem” cannot be national Israel or the ethnic Jews. “...Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written [in Isaiah 28:16], ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed’” (Romans 9:30-33). The “stone” here is Jesus, the One in Whom both Jews and Gentiles are saved if they believe. This is why, with the apostle Paul, our “heart’s desire and...prayer to God for them is for their salvation” (Romans 10:1). Outside of Christ there is no hope, no security, no deliverance, and no salvation, no matter what nation or city or ethnicity you claim.

The “rock” identified by Zechariah as “Jerusalem” cannot be national Israel or the ethnic Jews. “For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, ‘You are not to say, “It is a conspiracy!” in regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. It is the LORD of hosts Whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread. Then He shall become a sanctuary; but to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, and a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many will stumble over them, then they will fall and be broken; they will even be snared and caught’” (Isaiah 8:11-15).

Does this mean that Jesus, the “Son” and “stone,” is the “Jerusalem” of Zechariah’s “burden of the word of the LORD”? Yes, but that’s not all.

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter [Πετρος], and upon this rock [τη πετρα] I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven’” (Matthew 16:13-19).

Upon which “rock” will Jesus build His Church? Not Peter – the question of 16:13 is not “who do people say Peter is.” The “rock” is the heaven-revealed confession of “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” With those who make this confession, there is an authority that spans both heaven and earth (the answer to the petition of Matthew 6:10).

1 Peter 2:4-10, drawing on Isaiah 28:16 and Psalm 118:22,23, speaks of Christ as the “stone,” but also describes those who believe in Him as “living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2:5). Again, by the union with Christ, those who believe in Him are themselves the “stone,” as well. Those who believe in Christ are the “Jerusalem” of Zechariah 12:3 by virtue of union with Christ by faith.

The apostle Paul, in his allegory of Galatians 4:22-31, says of the “present,” literal, and earthly Jerusalem, under the Mosaic covenant made in “Mount Sinai in Arabia,” is “in slavery with her children.” The Church, on the other hand, is the child of “the Jerusalem above,” which is “free.”

The apostle John sees “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). The angel tells him, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He immediately sees “the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (21:9,10). It is only the Church which is described as Jesus’ bride (Matthew 25:1-10; Mark 2:19,20; Ephesians 5:22-33). Those in union with Christ by faith, both Jew and Gentile, are the true Jerusalem – that which hurts those peoples and nations who gather against her (cf. Daniel 7:21; Revelation 11:7; 13:7; 17:6,14; 19:19; 20:7-9), the inheritors of the eternal and unstoppable Kingdom, and the priestly people who are the indwelt Temple of the true God.

This is the encouragement of the saints. Those who hate the Christ and His Church will be broken. Do not be distracted by the noise, numbers, and power of the opposition, but rest in the promise of the Word and the Person of the Son. Pray for the salvation of the peoples of this lost world, be they Jew or Gentile, that they might hear the preaching of the Gospel, be baptized in repentant faith, and be joined with the Christ and His Bride, the true Jerusalem – together, the eternal and unbreakable Rock.

Practical.

ΠΡΑΞΕΙΣ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΩΝ. The Acts of the Apostles.

Graduate work in seminary is now over twelve years behind me, but I still cringe when I think about those moments in a theology, Bible, or history course when someone, usually during a break, would comment, “I wish we just had to learn about practical ministry.” My visceral reaction (that I politely kept choked back) stuck with me far longer than it should. I remember a professor in a missiology class saying that the missionaries went out to do the work of reaching the lost, and that it was the “MDiv student’s job” to make it appear biblical. It’s only recently (in the last year or so) that I can open a popular book on ministry. There are good ones out there, I know, but the taint of those who only wanted the practical side of our training stuck to these “hands on” sort of books in my sinful mind.

Last week I opened a Greek New Testament to look something up. As I was flipping through the pages, I saw the title at the top of the pages to the book of Acts. ΠΡΑΞΕΙΣ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΩΝ. Πραξεις, the first word in that title, is cognate with our English word “praxis.” Part of the same word-family as “practical.” The fifth book in the New Testament, in a sense, is a “practical” book on how to do ministry. I was both chastened for sticking my nose in the air concerning the idea of “practical ministry,” but also curious. According to the Holy Spirit, Who worked through those apostles in the first generation of the new covenant Church, what did “practical ministry” look like?

They prayed (1:14).

They added a leader for “ministry and apostleship” (1:15-26).

They met together (2:1).

They proclaimed “the wonderful works of God” to every ethnicity and language (2:4-40), preaching a sermon about God’s saving work in Christ from numerous Old Testament texts, ending with a command to “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”

They baptized “those who gladly received his word” (2:41).

I’ve always loved these next verses, which show the daily,“practical” work of the Holy Spirit in their midst: “...they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (2:42-47).

They went to where the people were, healed a man, and preached (3:1-26).

They witnessed to the authorities who had arrested them (4:5-22).

They prayed for boldness to preach even more (4:24-31).

They sold possessions to meet the needs of the poorer members of the Church (4:32-36).

They gathered where people were and healed them (5:12-16).

They were arrested, freed, and told (by “the Lord”) to go preach again (5:17-21).

They were arrested again, and get to preach another message (albeit shorter) to the authorities – not on civil rights, or injustice, but the Gospel (5:29-31).

They were released, “and daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (5:42).

They were meeting the needs of the widows in the congregation (6:1).

They were appointing men “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” to the office of servant (6:2-6). These office-bearing servants were so “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” that two of them, Stephen (6:8-7:) and Philip (8:4-40), become unmatched preachers (Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr) and missionaries.

In addition to the office of servant (to meet the needs of the widows in the congregation and set the world afire with Gospel preaching as the Spirit directs), the original leadership continued to devote themselves “continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (6:4-7:60).

They grieved over their dead (8:2). In case that sounds too tame, they “made great lamentation over him.” Corporate grief is a psychologically and spiritually invaluable gift of God, lost in our culture (read the hymn-book of the Bible, the Psalter, sometime to see the emotions on display in their congregational singing).

They baptized former enemies (9:18).

They preached (9:20).

They made peace for the building of the fellowship and ministry (9:26-28). Beloved, we need more peacemakers like Barnabas! “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

They healed (9:32-34).

They restored the dead to life (9:35-43).

They prayed (10:9).

They traveled to places for the purpose of preaching and baptizing (10:34-48). Yes, there were probably still lots of households in Jerusalem that needed the Gospel. But God sent Peter on a short-term mission trip to this particular house.

They met to sort out disagreement and confusion about the mission work (11:1-18). They ended up glorifying God for reaching a people very different from themselves.

They preached (11:19-21).

They encouraged preachers (11:22-25).

They assembled the Church and taught them (11:26). For a year.

They collected an offering to meet the needs of the Church suffering from what we would call a “natural disaster” (i.e., an act of God, 11:27-30).

They were killed (12:2) and imprisoned (12:3) by the civil leadership.

They prayed (12:12).

The leadership of a local congregation “ministered to the Lord and fasted” (13:1-3).

They sent out missionaries after having “fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them” (13:3).

They traveled and preached (13:5).

They traveled and preached some more – about Jesus from Old Testament texts (13:13-41). Then they did it some more (13:44-49).

And some more (14:1-3).

And some more (14:6,7).

They healed (14:8-10).

They preached (14:14-17).

They preached the Gospel not just in marketplaces or the synagogues, but in local congregations, “strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’ So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in Whom they had believed” (14:22,23).

They reported their mission work to the Church that had commissioned them (14:27,28). Paul and associates were accountable to a local congregation. What had the local congregations been doing while Acts reported on Paul’s mission trip? The practices outlined in 2:42-47.

They met to resolve doctrinal conflict (15:1-31).

They traveled and preached (15:32-35).

They traveled and encouraged the Church (15:36-40).

They kept on traveling and encouraging the Church (16:1-5).

They traveled and preached (16:10).

They preached and baptized (16:13-15).

They cast out a demon (16:16-19).

They “were praying and singing hymns to God” to a new audience – fellow prisoners in the Philippi jail (16:25).

They preached and baptized (16:31-34).

They encouraged fellow believers (16:40).

They traveled and preached Christ from the Old Testament (17:1-4).

They did it again (17:10-12).

They traveled and preached about God the Creator, judgment Day and the need to repent, salvation in Christ the Judge alone, all while quoting pagan poets (17:16-34).

They traveled and preached (18:1-5).

They baptized (18:8).

They taught “the Word of God” for eighteen months (18:11).

They traveled and preached (18:19).

They traveled and took time to encourage congregations (18:23).

They traveled and preached Christ from the Old Testament (18:24-28).

They baptized (19:5).

They preached for two years (19:8-10).

They healed and cast out demons (19:11,12).

They sent out men to preach whom they had personally discipled and mentored (19:22).

They traveled and encouraged believers “with many words” (20:1,2).

They gathered to break bread and hear preaching throughout the night on the first day of the week (20:7).

They taught and prayed for the leadership of local congregations (20:17-36).

They prayed (21:5).

They reported on mission work (21:17-25).

They were arrested and preached to hostile mobs (21:37-22:21).

They remained arrested and preached to hostile groups of leaders (22:30-23:1,6).

They defended themselves before a regional governor – and preached the Gospel (24:10-21).

They did it again (24:24,25). It’s noteworthy that, while preaching “the faith in Christ,” some of Paul’s topics included “righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come.” Does your Gospel preaching and/or witnessing include these topics?

Still in custody, they continued to witness to Christ while on trial (26:1-23).

While shipwrecked, they healed (28:8,9).

They enjoyed fellowship for a week with believers (28:14,15).

They preached (28:17-29).

While under house arrest, they taught Christ for two years (27:30,31).

This is the Bible’s book on “practical ministry.” While modern books on “practical ministry” can be helpful, they can also pull us in dozens of different directions from the basics outlined in Acts. Let’s make sure we’re reading and following the model of the first “practical ministry” book before reading the advice of well-intentioned and successful leaders of today. Foundations matter.

I’ve purposed to read one of these modern “practical ministry” sort of books once a quarter these days (bearing fruit in keeping with repentance, you might say). If they’re good, I pass them on to church members or leaders in other congregations. What qualifies as “good”? They guide back to the original “practical ministry” book and increase faithfulness to the Holy Spirit’s model.

Let’s not outgrow Acts.