Feasting on Eschatological Glory
This simple meal of bread and wine which we eat and drink is a death knell to Death. It is a war trumpet declaring a decisive victory over Satan. It is a flag being raised to assert the dominion of King Jesus. He bled and died for this world & so it is His.
You are feasting on eschatological glory. This is no empty tradition. This is majesty. This is triumph. This is our victory, even our faith. All this being the case, it would be utter folly to simply partake in ignorance or unbelief. This is why Paul attaches warnings to his instructions about partaking of this meal unworthily.
To feast here in unbelief is to transform this blessing into a grievous curse. As we eat this we collectively proclaim the glad tidings of Christ’s total and sovereign reign over all things. Cherishing beloved sins, hiding your unbelief, scorning the Word of conviction which preaching reveals, are all ways in which you can go through the motions of this feast & yet eat unworthily.
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Making Use of Time
If we are struggling with time management, we can ask the Lord to give us wisdom to recognize where we are lacking, and he will, but we may not like what it reveals. Making good use of our time will often hurt because it interferes with the god-like world we have sometimes created and live in. We often think the world, people, and even God should revolve around us.
In Jonathan Edwards’s seventy resolutions, resolution number 5 states, “Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.” As a bi-vocational pastor, this is a foundational truth I desire to adhere to as well.
Time is something we will never have more or less of. I am in year nine of my third pastorate. The first two were not effective in regard to time management. In fact, in my second pastorate, “burn out” flared up, and this led to my resignation. I was working 50 hours a week, preaching two sermons on Sundays and one on Wednesday evenings, and the church was 35 minutes away. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I simply resorted to just “winging it” on Wednesdays, heading there in a rush when I would get off work, and a second Sunday sermon was just a half-baked presentation. Now I am older, and maybe wiser I suppose, and I have established a few principals both in my personal life and in the life of the church that have helped me pastor more effectively.
Ephesians 5:15-16a commands, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time.” I must always consider how I walk, “to live, to conduct one’s life.” It is very easy to become distracted and not use my time wisely, and as a bivocational pastor, I must have a disciplined time to study for the sermon.
The preaching of God’s Word is the highest honor and responsibility a man can have, and I should not step foot in the pulpit unprepared. I deeply understand that I am responsible for feeding the flock of God. First Peter 5:2 tells me to “shepherd the flock of God among you.” I should not feed them crumbs.
For this reason, I make sure to dedicate a certain amount of time solely to the preparation of the sermon without distraction. If it is in the morning, evening, or breaks during the day, we must be wise about using this time for preparation and not be foolish and waste time on fruitless things.
I learned many years ago that sermon preparation is time consuming. The philosophy of waiting until the last minute to get a message from God because you think it is more spiritual, well, is just foolish. Honestly, we all have preparation time at some point in our day, but often we just do not want to make use of it.
Making the most use of your time, “to redeem,” is to be wise with the time you have been given.
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The Rainbow of Grace
God is graciously patient. He keeps the earth spinning. God gives us the seasons. God gives us grace every single day. May we not presume upon His grace. May we not be lulled into complacency. His bow in the sky brings amazing comfort to the Christian heart. His bow in the sky must not lull us into presuming upon His grace. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
“It is a bow, but it is directed upwards, not towards the earth; for the seals of the covenant were intended to comfort, not to terrify.” – Matthew Henry
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. – 1 Corinthians 6:11
The Sign of God’s Gracious Patience
In a sermon at presbytery we were reminded of Henry’s words above. God could have pointed the bow toward heaven as a continual threat. The Lord of the heavens could have given us terror every time the clouds formed. Our lives could have been lived in constant terror that God would again destroy. But, he didn’t. God gave creation a sign of his gracious patience.
The Danger of Presuming Upon Grace
Here’s the rub though. We by human nature like to presume upon grace. We live as if our daily bread is guaranteed. We go to the store assuming there will be produce. We presume the world will continue to wobble on its axis giving us seasons. We presume the cosmic order will remain the same. We presume the seed time and harvest time will come in their intervals. The modern mind makes the presumption that what we experience historically will continue to be historically true. Nothing new here. Just carry on with business as usual. We presume.
From Presumption to Complacency
Presumption naturally leads to complacency. I presume my wife will always be loyal and committed to our marriage so I can take her for granted. I presume my children will grow up well so I can become complacent in my parenting. I presume the church will remain healthy so I can become complacent in shepherding. I presume God saved me so I can become complacent in piety.
This presumption and complacency can dull us to both amazing beauty and signs of danger.
The Beauty of God’s Promises: A Lesson from Hawaii
When my wife and I were courting she lived in Hawaii. When I went to visit her one week I was awe struck. Not by her – she was and is beautiful –
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WCF 19: Of the Law of God
We desperately want to believe the best about ourselves. And with effort we can shrug off inner conviction. But it is harder to ignore God’s written word. Young King Josiah is an example for us. When he heard the words of the law “he tore his clothes” in humility; his “heart was penitent” (2 Kings 22:11, 19). Josiah knew that Judah was offending a holy God: “For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us” (2 Kings 22:13). Duly convicted he fought against idolatry with a holy hatred. And he believed God’s promise to pass-over the sin of the penitent. Josiah reinstituted the Passover which pointed to Christ and his perfect righteousness as the only protection against the angel of death. Use God’s law to come, as a needy sinner, to a perfect Savior.
Unlike every other religion Christianity is fundamentally a message of grace. True believers are “not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified or condemned” (cf. Rom. 6:14) Believers are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
But a misunderstanding of grace leads to a confused relationship with the law. Some think that any loyalty to law indicates legalism. Others ridicule God’s law, calling it inconsistent. After all, they reason, Old Testament prohibitions against homosexuality run alongside rules against mixing seeds in a field and materials in a garment (Lev. 18:22; 19:19; 20:13). Even Christians who are conscientious about God’s law can be unclear about which obligations are enduring and which have been fulfilled. We need a better understanding of God’s law so that we can use it in a way that honors him.
How Should I Understand God’s Law?
The principle of God’s law is very simple. The Creator imposes his values on his creatures. That truth never changes. In fact, in the New Testament Christ doubles-down on the necessity of rigorous obedience. In the Sermon on the Mount sincere submission to God’s law distinguishes citizens of God’s kingdom from citizens of the world. The law contrasts for us good works and works of the flesh. And we need that distinction. We must do good works which are only those “God hath commanded in his holy word” (16.1).
A right attitude toward God’s law requires understanding its history. The creation account reveals God’s right to order his creature’s activities. In the beginning God established boundaries for all of creation (Job 38:8–11). To his people he outlined definite expectations. You shall “fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). “You shall not eat” of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). He didn’t simply tell people to “be good,” whatever that means; he told us how to live.
Even after Adam and Eve violated the covenant of works God continued to require “personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience.”. In time God revealed himself more personally to a single tribe of people. When he rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt he made them into a holy nation by way of covenant, a binding agreement, summarized by the Ten Commandments (Ex. 19:6). And these laws are still “a perfect rule of righteousness.” If the two great commandments are to love God and our neighbor, these ten laws define that love (Matt 22:37–40). We love God by putting him first, worshiping him properly, respecting his name, and honoring his schedule for work and rest. We love our neighbor by respecting human authority, promoting life, practicing sexual integrity, stewarding our resources, telling the truth, and being content.
So far so good. All serious Christians recognize ten commandments as a summary of God’s will. But what about the hundreds of other Old Testament laws? In addition to the abiding moral law God also gave Israel two categories of laws which do not apply to us today in the same way.
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