The Consequences of Self-Deception
July 31, 2008
(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)
Consider this phrase from Isaiah 44:20: “A deluded heart has led him astray.”
Note that it does not say, “He was deluded about the truth.” Unquestionably that is the case. But the phrase says more: After being deluded about one matter, that very delusion leads us yet further astray from the truth.
In Isaiah 44, this is the case with idol worship. The prophet here mocks the man who takes a block of wood, cuts it up, then uses some pieces to cook food and calls the rest a god. Verse 20 concludes: “He cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Having turned away from the One Who is the First and the Last, the one true God (verse 6), the idol worshiper eventually becomes unable to escape the delusion he willingly chose. He acts foolishly, but can’t recognize it. His chosen delusion leads him further and further from the truth. He is trapped.
This is a great danger that Scripture warns against again and again. Indeed, all fallen humanity is caught in this trap. We see this elsewhere in the Old Testament, describing ancient times. For example, Zechariah 7:11-12 says that God sent His revelation through the prophets, yet:
They refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. (Zechariah 7:11-12)
We see the same behavior in New Testament times. Paul says that men also close their minds to God’s general revelation in nature, as well as His special revelation in His Word:
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. (Romans 1:20-22)
Paul states that many aspects of God’s character are apparent in creation. Yet men willingly choose to believe a delusion - that God doesn’t exist, or that He is not in authority. Having chosen this delusion, their hearts become more and more darkened, and their thinking becomes more and more futile. They claim that they are thinking clearly - and they believe they are wise. But having taken that first foolish step - the step of rejecting God - they become fools, no matter how intelligent they may be. Their deluded hearts lead them astray.
Paul says something similar in 2 Timothy 4:4, which we looked at briefly last month (audio, summary). Speaking of those who gather teachers who will say what the listeners want to hear, Paul says they “will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Or as I rendered this phrase in that sermon, “they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to myths.” Once again, there is an active turning away from truth. But that is only the beginning. When we actively close our minds to one aspect of God’s truth, we end up passively moving further and further away from the truth. We have no anchor. Our reason is unable to serve as an anchor. And so we drift and drift in a sea of falsehood.
Paul brings out the ultimate consequence of this closing of our minds in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11:
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.
Note the chronological order of events: First these folks “refuse to love the truth.” This is active on their part. They see the truth of God in the natural world. They may well hear the Gospel, and see it lived out in the lives of God’s people. Yet they close their ears to that truth and, thus, are not saved. In that state, separated from truth, without an anchor, Satan comes in his role of deceiver, putting forth “the lawless one”. And they gladly, willingly believe Satan’s lie. They harden their hearts. And God hardens their hearts. Why? The next verse tells us: “In order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Thus, the consequences of self-deception are severe: Eternal condemnation.
The exhortations to us are clear:
First, personally: Am I closing my ears to any aspect of God’s truth? Are there things I simply don’t want to believe? Am I setting myself up in authority over God’s Word, saying, “OK, that part looks ok, but that other part - no, I won’t accept that.” That is self-deception; that is ultimately self-exaltation.
Second, with others: Do I see my unbelieving friends and family members as self-deceived? Do I thus pray for God to open their eyes to the truth? Do I try to help them to see the nature of their self-deception?
May God be pleased to search our hearts and to expose to us our areas of self-deception; and may He use us for His glory to open the eyes of the blind, that they may see Jesus for Who He is.
Are You a Runner? Discipline and Consistency in the Race of Faith
July 31, 2008
(This sermon on 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 was preached 7/27/2008. For a version that is easier to print, click here. The audio is available here.)
What is your favorite biblical image of the Christian life?
- We are soldiers in the army of God?
- We are the bride of Christ?
- We are God’s ambassadors, proclaiming His Truth, speaking His Word to the world?
- Or perhaps the image from John 15: Christ is the vine, we are the branches, connected to Him, getting sustenance from Him.
I love all these images - but my favorite biblical image is that of running the race of faith.
As I wrote in this week’s email, I love this image in part because of when I grew up. As a 16 year old just beginning my second cross country season, I watched the 1972 Munich Olympic games. There were numerous thrilling moments, especially Dave Wottle’s come from behind victory in the 800.
But what most impressed me - the event I can still see most clearly in my head - was Frank Shorter’s win in the marathon, destroying an excellent field. Shorter’s victory inspired hordes of new runners in the US, all wanting to complete a marathon; for me, the previous, vague idea that one day I might run a marathon became the certainty that I would.
My interest in running carried over to Bible reading. I scoured my Good News New Testament for running images. I well remember underlining 1 Timothy 6:12, which reads in that translation, “Run you best in the race of faith. ”
I also encountered the other biblical running images, including the 1 Corinthians 9 passage we will consider this morning. I began to see, dimly, that as wonderful as competing in races was, it’s major benefit, even it’s major purpose, was to display spiritual truth.
Over the next five weeks, I will share with you these biblical truths that I began to glimpse as a teen. Running in and of itself, like God’s other good gifts in this life, can be both a blessing and a curse. If we put running right at the center of our lives, if we allow it to dominate our lives, it will become an idol that drinks up our lifeblood, as it diverts us from the only source of true life, Jesus Himself. But if we see this gift, this challenge, as a picture, an analogy pointing us to God, displaying spiritual truths in human form, then running can be the gateway to a closer walk with God. May God be pleased to use this series to that effect.
These 5 sermons break down into two parts: The first two consider analogies between training and the Christian life, while the last three consider racing.
Today: “Are you a runner? Consistency and discipline in the race of faith.”
Imagine that you are a High School freshman. You go out for the track team, thinking you would like to run the mile or half mile, although you have never run more than two miles in your life. The first day of practice you join six or seven other new middle distance runners. The coach send you out with an experienced runner, a junior. He takes you through a two-mile warm up off the track, then tells you to go to the starting line. You now run reasonably fast, following him once around, a quarter mile. It feels fine. But after only 90 seconds rest you do it again. And again. And again. Then he takes you to the infield, where you run several 100 yard sprints. Then you go into the stands, and run up the stadium steps twelve times. Afterwards, he takes you through a two mile warm down. You finish tired, but you seemed to do better than most, and the experience, in a way, was fun.
But the next morning you wake up and can hardly get out of bed. No part of your body fails to hurt. Doubts creep in: “Can I really do this? Maybe I should try some other sport.” All day, you hobble around school. In the hallways, you notice that the other new distance runners are hobbling also.
Right at the beginning of practice, the coach calls all the new runners together. He says: “I don’t have to ask how you’re feeling today. I know you’re sore and stiff. And I know that every one of you is asking: Should I keep it up? Should I stay on the team? That’s not the right question. Here is the right question: Are you a runner? Will you commit yourself to being a runner? You can walk away today, saying it hurts too much - If you do that, then I’ll be glad you’re gone. For that will show that you’re not runner. But if you make the commitment to stay, I will train you to excel at running. You will become someone to be proud of. You’ll be a runner.”
That High School freshman faced a choice: Who am I? What is my identity? Am I just testing out this sport? Am I just playing with it - Or is this who I am? And if this is who I am, the question about what I should do is easy. I’ve got to stay on the team.
We face similar question in the Christian life: Who are you fundamentally? Are you a rebel against your Creator, justly condemned to death, but saved through faith in the Son of God who suffered and died for you? Are you alive in Him because He took on Himself the penalty you deserved? Are you now, by His grace, a child of the King of the universe, purchased by the blood of His Son? Thus, do you owe all you are and all you have to Him? If that’s who you are - it only makes sense that you would live to His glory.
Paul applies these ideas to himself in today’s text from 1 Corinthians 9. We’ll consider this passage under two headings:
- Are you a runner? (verses 19-24)
- Discipline yourself to become what you are (verses 25-27)
Are You a Runner
Earlier in this chapter, Paul has said that ministers of the Gospel, like himself, have a right to financial support. But he explains that he has made no use of this right among the Corinthians. He thinks that receiving financial support from them could obscure his motives, and thus undermine the impact of his preaching. Thus, he says in verse 12 that he does not want to “put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.”
Turn now to verse 19:
Though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, (that is, “I have enslaved myself to all”) that I might win more of them.
He now defines in what sense he has enslaved himself to others:
20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.
He now summarizes his position:
I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel
Who is Paul? What defines him?
- Being a Jew? Elsewhere he’s willing to call himself a “Hebrew of Hebrews.” That is his ethnicity - but it doesn’t define him
- Or is he defined by the Law? He was, prior to his conversion, “as to the law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5). Now he is no longer under the law, he says - but even that does not define him. He’s willing to live as one under the law.
- The apostle Paul is anything but weak, yet he even becomes weak.
So, in any way he can, he changes Himself - so that he might fulfill who he really is.
Who is he, really?
He says: “I do it all for the sake of the gospel.” That is, “I change all these matters about myself, I subjugate my personal preferences, I don’t take financial support from the Corinthians, I do whatever is necessary for the sake of the Gospel” - for the sake of what he calls elsewhere “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11). Or we could put it like this: “I exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. THAT defines me! And I am perfectly willing to change anything else about me, so that I can fulfill THAT purpose, so that I can bring glory to Him.”
The High School freshman faced the question: Are you a runner? Answering that question made his decision about whether or not to continue running difficult workouts easy.
We all face the question: Who are you? Are you first and foremost an ambassador of Christ? Answering that question makes many other decisions in life easy.
Know who you are! One aspect of knowing who you are is knowing your goal. Look at again at the text, beginning in verse 23. Paul now begins his running image.
23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. 24 ¶ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
The runner has a goal in mind: It may be a race. It may be a time over a certain distance. It may be fitness. You’ve got to know your goal before you can design a training regimen to achieve the goal.
Just so, Paul has a goal in mind. He says if you’re in a race, your goal is to win. Thus, in the race of faith, run in such a way that you will win the prize. Keep the goal in mind! Structure your life around achieving that goal.
And what is the goal? He tells us at the end of verse 23, which we can paraphrase: “So that forever and ever I may share in the blessings of the Gospel with all these who come to faith through my witness.” Or, “So that redeemed and perfected people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation might praise God together in billion part harmony, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne and unto the Lamb!’”
THAT is Paul’s goal. Is that your goal? Are you a runner? Are you running for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14)?
If so, then consider Paul’s next exhortation:
Discipline Yourself to Become What You Are
25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
Here Paul says that all Christians are like athletes in two senses. First, they all have a goal that defines them - that’s what we’ve already seen. Second, they discipline themselves to achieve that goal.
Paul here elaborates on the goal for the athlete and the goal for the Christian.
- For the athlete, the goal is the Olympic champion’s olive wreath and the glory that accompanies it. But eventually that wreath will dry up and disintegrate. Even today’s gold medals will eventually perish.
- For the Christian, the goal is the wreath that never perishes, that never dries up: the joy of being in Christ’s presence for all eternity with the redeemed.
This greater goal therefore should lead to an even greater level of discipline in our lives than in the athlete’s lives.
How do athletes discipline their lives? They exercise “self-control in all things.” I’ll break down “all things” into three areas, and consider the parallels in the Christian life:
1) Discipline in the Type of Training
Paul says, “I do not run aimlessly.” The word translated “aimlessly” means “as one who has no fixed goal.” So Paul is saying that he runs with his goal in mind.
This is true for every runner. A good coach considers how every step in training works toward achieving the goal. The athlete does not run haphazardly. He does not go to the track and do whatever he may feel like that day. Every workout is carefully planned.
- Overall distance run increases gradually, so the runner doesn’t get injured.
- Each week contains the appropriate blend of endurance training and speed training, with the ratio of speed to endurance increasing as the big race approaches.
The athlete in training never makes the mistake of so many recreational runners: Go out, run hard, get sore, take three days off, then run hard for a week, then skip 10 days. Such running never gets you anywhere. That is running aimlessly.
In March of 1983, near my 27th birthday, while we were living in Kenya, I read in the newspaper that the first mass marathon in the country was scheduled for October 20. I was out of shape. I had been running aimlessly. But that evening I sat down and planned my workouts for every day for the next seven months.
The next day I four miles slowly. It was hard. I was sore the next day. Like that high school freshman, I asked, “Can I really do this?” But within a couple of weeks, I saw noticeable improvement. I stuck to the schedule. And by October I was in the best marathon of my life to that point.
The parallels with living the Christian life are powerful. Once we conclude that our goal is sharing in the glory of God around His throne with those we have influenced, we discipline ourselves, we train with purpose:
- We discipline ourselves to get to know Him better, through personal reading, through prayer.
- We discipline ourselves to sit under solid preaching.
- We discipline ourselves to put ourselves under a coach/elder who can help us.
- We discipline ourselves to speak the Gospel when opportunities arise, and to seek out such opportunities.
We train ourselves with the goal in mind.
2) Discipline in the Consistency of Training
A second aspect of the discipline of training is consistency. This is implied in the first point, but it is so vital that consistency deserves its own heading
After the 72 Olympic Games, we high school runners started reading all we could about Frank Shorter, who he was, how he trained. We discovered lots of interesting tidbits, but what struck me most was his consistency. If I recall correctly, in the seven years leading up to the Munich marathon, he ran every day. He never missed even one day.
Consistency in running is central. One coach puts it this way:
[A runner may say,] “Surely to miss training just this once will not matter? After all, there is a long season of it lying ahead.” But to miss training once is to open a breach in the wall of routine. And a single breach will almost certainly be followed by others, to the point where there is no routine left. And then, bang! — there goes your ambition to be a runner.
The runner’s statement actually is true; to miss one day in and of itself is not going to destroy your training. But missing days develops a bad habit; it changes one’s perception of what one is about. Running becomes not something you do because of who you are - running becomes something you do when it is convenient.
Alternately, if you stick to your plan every day, rain or shine, cold or hot, windy or calm, tired or fresh, with every step of consistency, you define more clearly who you are.
Another coach writes, “Run until the question of not running just never arises.”
Just so in the Christian life. I can dabble in Bible reading and church attendance and prayer and evangelism. But if this is WHO I AM, then these are central to my life. If I realize that I am a sinner at my very core, that without daily apprehending the cross my mind WILL wander, making me ineffective and unproductive, then I will be sure to get up in the morning, get into the Word, seek God’s face, seek His grace; then I will speak the Gospel even if it makes me uncomfortable.
Then, just as with the runner, as you overcome daily the common hindrances, you define who you are that muc more clearly. And every day of consistency makes the next day’s obedience that much easier.
3) Discipline in Other Areas of Life
But I discipline my body and keep it under control (1 Corinthians 9:27)
The NIV renders this, “I beat my body and make it my slave.” The idea is to beat down personal desires that would distract you from your goal. Thus Paul “enslaves” his body in the sense of forcing it to do HIS will, rather than being enslaved by the desires of his natural self.
What desires might enslave us and keep us from achieving our goal?
I believe Paul here is referring primarily to desires outside of running/training.
Consider the athlete again. For training to reap its maximum benefit, an athlete must discipline his entire life, not just his time on the track. A well-trained athlete must avoid distractions, must eat well, must get sufficient rest, and must avoid engaging in activities that could result in injury. A coach may put together a perfect training program, and an athlete may follow that training program to the letter - but if he is not eating well, he will never fulfill his potential.
In the ancient Olympic Games, all competing athletes had to agree to fulfill a ten-month period of preparation. This commitment was not just to training, but also to diet and social interactions. Then at the opening of the Games, all the athletes had to solemnly attest that they had kept that vow - or they were not allowed to compete.
One of my college teammates - let’s call him Tom - regularly displayed the negative impact of a lack of discipline in other areas of life. Tom probably had more natural talent than anyone on the team. And when he showed up at practice, he ran hard. But Tom was completely lost when trying to manage his time. He wasn’t a partier, but he did let other activities interfere with his studying. Then, the night before a test or before a paper was due, he would stay up all night trying to catch up. He didn’t discipline his life.
The most notorious example of this was when ten of us were running a 24 hour relay. In this crazy event, a each of ten athletes runs a mile, handing a baton off to the next runner. The tenth then hands off to the first, and the cycle continues for 24 hours. This is easy initially, but of course it is impossible to sleep, and legs get stiff and tired by the middle of the night. A good night’s sleep the previous evening is mandatory.
The night before the relay, unbeknownst to the rest of the team, Tom stayed up all night writing a paper. After eight or ten hours he could no longer run. He dropped off the team, cutting into the rest for all the rest of us, and shortening our distance considerably.
Every runner must exercise discipline in all of life, or he will never run his best.
Once again, there are strong parallels with living the Christian life. Running the race of faith has to do with much more than Bible study, church attendance, witnessing, and giving. Running the race of faith affects all aspects of our lives.
So, like Paul, we must beat down our bodies and ensure that they serve our goals. We must beat down:
- The desire to be lazy - to waste time, frittering hours away at mindless activity, at sleep, even at good but less important activities.
- The desire to indulge - both in explicitly sinful desires, such as illicit sex, drunkenness, and drugs, but also “acceptable” indulgences, such as eating too much, and spending more than necessary on purchases.
- The desire for acceptance - so we don’t speak the Gospel to our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues.
- The desire for entertainment - so we choose a church on the basis of excitement rather than faithfulness to the Word.
- The desire for privacy - so we don’t take time to share the Gospel with the salesman who shows up at our doorstep, or the checkout clerk in the store.
- The desire for comfort - so we don’t even consider going to a hard place, leaving a good job, learning a difficult language.
If we know who we are, we will discipline these natural desires, we will subjugate them, so that our entire life is arranged to achieve our goal.
What is at stake in all three forms of discipline? Look at verse 27:
I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Disqualified means “tested and found wanting.” Here, Paul has the athlete’s vow in view. To be disqualified would be to have violated his vow, and thus to be kicked out of the Games before the competition even begins. Thus he receives no wreath, no victor’s crown.
The parallel for us: No celebration around throne. No being in the presence of Christ.
Understand what is at stake. Paul says that if he is not disciplined, he will not be with Christ for all eternity.
Now, note that he is not saying a person can lose his salvation. But he is saying: Who are you? Are you a runner in the race of faith? If so - you WILL discipline yourself - this is your identity, this is who you are. If you are not doing that, if you’re not running in such a way that you will receive the prize - well, that’s pretty good evidence you’re not really a runner.
Conclusion
So are you a runner?
About ten years after my high school coach asked me that question, a very accomplished, older athlete asked it again: “Coty, when you start slowing down, so that you know you’ll never set another personal record, will you still run? Are you a runner at heart?
In the quarter century since he asked me that question, I’ve slowed down a lot. And today my knees limit the distance I can run. Being a runner at age 52 looks a lot different than it did at age 22.
But I still know who I am. I’ve only missed two days of running in the last four weeks. I will run this afternoon. I am a runner - and will be, as long as I can put one foot in front of the other.
But running the physical race is not central. For all who believe in Jesus and are saved by His blood will run and never grow weary in the new heavens and the new earth.
The central question is: Am I a runner in the race of faith? Are you a runner in the race of faith
Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ MUST BE such a runner. That MUST BE our identity. That MUST BE what defines us.
Are you one who has had his heart of stone ripped out and replaced by a heart of flesh?
Are you one who was dead in trespasses and sins, lost, by nature an object of God’s wrath, who now by His grace has been made alive with Christ, and raised with Him, and seated with Him?
If this is who you are,
- then you WILL discipline yourself.
- You will commit yourself to time in the Word, to a local body of believers.
- You WILL express joy in Christ, and deepen joy in Christ, and spread joy in Christ.
- You will, day after day after day, look to the cross, and pray over God’s Word.
- You will control the rest of your life, so that you can be what God intends.
You will do all this for the sake of the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, so that you together with all other believers will indeed gather around that throne, and proclaim the greatness of our God and King.
Do you know who you are?
Are you a follower of Jesus Christ?
Are you a runner - in the race of faith?
What are Elders and Why Do We Have Them?
July 25, 2008
(This is a summary of the second sermon in the six-part series, “God Gave Pastors and Teachers,” preached on June 15. The audio is available here.)
Why do we exist as a church?
The glory of God is our goal. This is the reason we exist.
We as a church are not able to glorify God in some ways:
- We won’t create galaxies or planets
- We won’t raise up kingdoms and bring them down
But what can we do, by His grace, through His power?
Basically there are three ways we glorify God:
1) We worship God corporately: proclaiming and singing and delighting in the glory of God
This gives God glory DIRECTLY
2) We proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who don’t know Him
- Through Missions: Reaching ALL NATIONS with the Gospel of the glory of God
- Through Evangelism: Reaching our neighbors with the Gospel of the glory of God
3) We build up the body of Christ
- In knowledge
- In love
- In faith
- In Christlikeness
- In perseverance
We can summarize these three ways in short phrases: We glorify God through:
- Expressing joy in Christ
- Spreading joy in Christ
- Deepening joy in Christ
Thus, elders exist to help the church fulfill the reason for its existence.
- Through worship
- Through outreach
- Through edification
God gives pastors and teachers as gifts to the church, so that the church might become what He intends it to be. The growing, strengthening, thriving, worshiping bride of Christ.
What are Elders
Elders play a role in leading the nation of Israel from ancient times - as early as the exodus (around 1400BC), but at least at times had a very negative impact on the nation, as they used their position for their own benefit rather than the benefit of the people (Ezekiel 34, for example).
Again, during the time of Jesus, the elders of the Jews opposed Jesus.
Nevertheless, there were elders in the early Jerusalem church (Acts 15).
Furthermore, Paul appoints elders in his Gentile churches even on his first missionary journey (Acts 14:23).
Three main ideas about elders from the epistles
1) The words elder, pastor, and overseers (bishop) all refer to the same office
We see this from Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:1-2.
2) The Holy Spirit makes men overseers (Acts 20:28)
Our job is to recognize what the Holy Spirit has done.
3) Biblically, it is normal to have more than one elder in a local church.
James 5:14, Titus 1:5, and Acts 20:17 suggest this.
Why do We Have Elders?
In the rest of this sermon and in the next, we will look at the biblical commands that concern elders and describe their impact. Today: 9 points:
1) Elders are to pray for the congregation. James 5:14. Acts 6:4
2) Elders are to keep watch over the souls of the congregation Hebrews 13:17
3) Elders are to benefit the church Hebrews 13:17
4) Elders are to be on guard for the flock Acts 20:28
5) Elders are to care for or shepherd the church Acts 20:28
6) Elders are to teach and preach the Word Ephesians 4:11, 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5, Acts 6:4
7) Elders are to equip the saints so that the saints might do the work of the ministry, thereby building up the body of Christ Ephesians 4:12
8 ) Elders protect the church from prevalent false winds of doctrine by means of the previous two commands Ephesians 4:14
9) Elders thereby help the church to grow to maturity, to Christlikeness, to a well-functioning body giving glory to God as each member does his or her part. Ephesians 4:13-16
Consider, then, seven of these commands:
- Profit/benefit
- Keep watch
- Pay careful attention to, guard,
- Protect
- Equip
- Help to grow
- Shepherd
Aren’t all of the first six summarized in the last, to shepherd? Doesn’t a literal shepherd perform all these tasks for his flock of sheep? And, indeed, the other two commands - pray for the flock, teach them the Word - are clearly ways that elders benefit, protect, equip, and help the flock to mature.
Shepherding is thus a comprehensive picture of all the duties of elders. That’s why the word “pastor” (which means “shepherd”) is used as an alternative title for elder or overseer.
In next week’s sermon, we’ll look at the shepherding image throughout Scripture, to get a deeper understanding of the meaning of this wonderful image.
Conclusion
Consider again the threefold purpose of the church outlined in the introduction.
The Holy Spirit raises up pastors/elders/overseers in each local assembly, empowering them to shepherd the church
- Through preaching and teaching
- Through guarding, watching over
- Through edifying and building up
So that our joy in Christ deepens, and overflows in worship and in outreach.
For the elder, for every member of the flock, this is key:
- We do not exist in order to go through religious rituals
- We do not exist in order to appease an angry God
- We do not exist in order to please the society around us
- We do not even exist in order to help the poor or heal the sick
We exist as a church to give glory to God, and we CANNOT do that unless we have joy in Christ, unless we see Him as the most important, the most loving, the most powerful, the most beautiful One in all the universe, and thus have joy in Him.
So: Do you have this joy? Isn’t the Gospel message one that creates joy?
Is your joy deepened through hearing the Gospel?
Are you ready to spread that joy of the Gospel?
Can you now express that joy in worship, as you contemplate the Gospel?
This is why we exist. This is why I am your pastor. This is more important than anything else in life.
So delight in Him. Rejoice in Him. Believe in Him - to your everlasting joy.
What is Preaching and Why is it Important?
July 25, 2008
(This is a summary of the first sermon in the six-part series, “God Gave Pastors and Teachers,” preached on June 1. The audio is available here.)
The title of this sermon series comes from Ephesians 4:11-14, which says, in part:
He gave the . . . pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Note that God gives pastors and teachers to the church.
- They are His gifts, His presents, tokens of His love for the church.
- They play a key role in equipping God’s people to minister as God intends.
- They play a key role in guarding the church from waves of false teaching.
- Thus they play a key role in enabling the church to become the interdependent, smoothly functioning body of Christ Paul describes in Ephesians 4:16.
Five main points:
1) The Word is Central!
2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
We exist to know God and to display what He is like.
We can know Him ONLY BECAUSE He reveals Himself to us.
Today He reveals Himself through His Word.
2) Preaching is Central!
2 Timothy 4:1-2a: In the sight of God and Christ Jesus who will certainly judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly charge you: Preach the Word!
The most solemn exhortation in all of Scripture precedes the command to preach the Word.
This is my paraphrase:
“Timothy, as I am about to die, I am giving you a command. This is your responsibility. And God sees whether or not you will fulfill it. Christ Jesus Himself sees. I am laying this responsibility on you, and if you shirk it, if you turn away from it, if you pretend to fulfill it but instead replace it with something else, He will know. And remember who Christ Jesus is – not some namby-pamby guy with long hair who wouldn’t hurt a flea. He is the judge. And judgment is certain. He is the one coming back to renew all things. He is establishing His kingdom – THROUGH ME AND YOU by His grace. He is King. His has all authority in heaven and on earth. So In His sight, for His glory, to advance His kingdom, I solemnly charge you: Preach the Word.”
Why? What makes preaching central? Let’s look at its nature.
3) The Nature of Preaching
2 Timothy 4:2: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and earnestly exhort, with great steadfastness teaching all doctrine.
God chooses preaching as His central means of proclaiming His Word.
Many ways are important; this is vital
Preaching must include teaching, but must do more: Preaching must display God as glorious. The preacher not only proclaims the truths of the Word, but rejoices in the Word.
That is the nature of true preaching: expository exultation.
4) The Need for Preaching: Why is an expository preaching ministry so vital?
2 Timothy 4:3-4: Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and earnestly exhort, with great steadfastness teaching all doctrine. For the time will come when they will not put up with sound doctrine, but will surround themselves with teachers to satisfy their own desires, to scratch their itching ears. They will turn their ears away from the truth, and to myths they will be turned aside.
Calvin on 4:3: “As there is an unsatiable longing for those things which are unprofitable and destructive, so the world seeks, on all sides and without end, all the methods that it can contrive and imagine for destroying itself; and the devil has always at hand a sufficiently large number of such teachers as the world desires to have.”
When others don’t want to hear the Word faithfully preached:
Don’t get angry. Don’t get frustrated. Don’t quit.
Just keep doing expository exultation. Just keep proclaiming the cross.
Bit by bit, week by week, book by book, teach ALL DOCTRINE. Teach the WHOLE counsel of God. As long as you are not forced to leave your position, preach the Word. Delight in the Word. Proclaim it all.
BECAUSE PEOPLE DON”T WANT TO HEAR THE WORD, YOU, preacher, must be faithful to it.
Preaching is vital because the time is coming, and now is, when many do not want to hear the Word.
5) Preaching the Gospel is Central
2 Timothy 4:5: But you, be clear-headed in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of a preacher of the Gospel; fully accomplish your ministry.
Paul is restating the command of v2, “Preach the Word”, with a slightly different nuance.
In v2 he says: Preach the Word! Herald the Message from God! Proclaim and delight in God’s Revelation!
Then in v5 he zeroes in on the one theme that permeates all of God’s Word: The Gospel, the Good News.
As he says in v2, Timothy – and all preachers – are with great steadfastness to teach ALL doctrine. They are to teach the WHOLE COUNSEL of God.
But the whole counsel of God concerns the GOSPEL!
The cross is at the center of the whole counsel of God!
Conclusion
God gave pastors and teachers for the glory of His Name and for the good of His people. Preaching of the Word is a key part of their ministry.
In every local assembly, preachers must proclaim:
- The glories of the Gospel;
- The glories of God’s working in History, His eternal plan of redemption;
- The glories of God’s character;
- The dangers of false teaching, of the winds of doctrine that sweep through this world.
So, to those of us gathered this morning, hear the commands of God:
- You, Coty Pinckney, Andrew Shanks, Fred Balbuena: preach the Word.
- You, DGCC members, see to it that the Word is preached in this church.
- You, attenders, connect only to a local church where the Word, all the Word, is faithfully preached.
This is number 1! This is the most profound exhortation in all of Scripture.
This is key. Make this happen.
Running the Race of Faith
July 25, 2008
(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)
The Bible is full of images that help us to understand the Christian life: we are part of the army of God, engaged in battle; we are part of the body of Christ; we are Christ’s ambassadors, his envoys, representing him in this world; we are a building, being built up into Christlikeness; we are branches, Christ is the vine; we are the bride of Christ; we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. All of these analogies are rich and useful.
My favorite analogy, however, compares the Christian life to running a race. This analogy is not common throughout the Bible, but Paul loves it, as he uses the running and racing image at least nine times in his epistles. In addition, the author of Hebrews uses the analogy once.
The analogy is particularly rich for me because I am a product of the running boom. I grew up during a period when mile world records would be the lead headline of the sports section; when an American set two of those world records; when 100,000 fans filled a stadium to witness a track meet between the US and the Soviet Union. Then came the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. That summer, as a 16 year old who had been running competitively for less than two years, I watched Jim Ryun, the mile world record holder and my boyhood hero, fall in his 1500 meters heat and thus fail to make the final; I watched Steve Prefontaine, an American runner only five years my senior, make a game effort to win Olympic gold in the 5k; and, most importantly, I watched Frank Shorter demolish the field to win the Olympic marathon. After those Olympics, millions of Americans began running, many hoping to complete a marathon. Every teenage boy in the country who was already running competitively began to dream of mile world records and marathon victories. I was no exception.
I remember at that time searching the Bible for references to running, and especially recall encountering 1 Timothy 6:12, which I underlined in my Good News New Testament: “Run your best in the race of faith.”
I competed seriously as a runner for the next 22 years, at distances from the half mile to the marathon. Over the decades I learned more and more of the intricacies of this deceptively simple sport. We run from the time we are toddlers, but I was still learning about running in my last years as a competitor. I trained smarter, raced smarter, and ran with better form as a 38 year old than at any time in my past.
At that point, knee problems developed that have ever since limited me to running only a few miles a week. But the lessons I learned about running have carried over into my spiritual life.
After God opened my eyes at the age of 26 to the depth of my sinfulness and my need for Him, there have been strong parallels in my life between periods of disciplined running and periods of strong spiritual growth. As I studied again as an adult those same biblical running analogies that had impressed me as a teen, I saw them in a new and deeper light.
For many years I have wanted to preach a series of sermons on these analogies, bringing out the biblical truths, using the insights I have as a (former) serious runner. Other than one sermon preached in 1995, the time has never seemed right.
But with the Beijing Olympic Games approaching, at long last we will turn our attention to these images. The next two weeks, July 27 and August 3, we will consider biblical truths that arise from training for competition: “Are You a Runner? Consistency and Discipline in the Race of Faith,” and “Train Through Pain Yet with Joy for the Race of Faith.” The final three sermons consider biblical truths related to running races. These will be preached between August 10 and August 24, during the Beijing Olympics: “Stay Focused and Alert During the Race of Faith,” “Work Hard Yet Relax During the Race of Faith,” and – the last sermon, preached on the day of the Olympic Men’s Marathon – “Maintain Your Form and Finish Well in the Race of Faith.”
The Christian life is a race. The Lord Jesus Christ is both the Head Official and the finish line itself. We are not out for a leisurely afternoon jog; we are running a brutally difficult marathon. If we are to complete the race, if we are to finish well, we must fight the demons of doubt and weakness and sin inside us; we must fight the demons of distractions and hindrances and opponents around us; we must remind ourselves constantly who we are and what our goal is; we must both rest and work hard; we must be continually alert.
Join us for the series. And may God be pleased to use His Word to enable each one of us to say with Paul:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day– and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
Your fellow runner and coach, preparing you for the race of faith,
Coty
Submission and Disagreement
July 19, 2008
(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)
In Sunday’s sermon, we looked at Hebrews 13:17, which reads in the NIV:
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
In discussing this verse, I said, “Submission only comes into play when there is a disagreement.”
Several of you have asked (respectfully and submissively!) if this is correct, particularly considering that God the Son submits to God the Father. Surely there is no disagreement between them!
This is an excellent point, and many thanks for the input. I’ll correct my statement briefly next Sunday; here let me elaborate on the idea more fully than will be possible in the sermon. Consider first the nature of God the Son’s submission to God the Father:
The Son is indeed in submission to the Father, from all eternity, to all eternity. 1 Corinthians 11:3 tells us that “the head of Christ is God,” and that this headship/submission relationship is similar in some ways to the relationship of husband to wife. Note that this statement is not limited to a particular point in time, such as during the period of Jesus’ life on earth. Paul makes a general, timeless statement.
We see this underlined later in the same letter. In 1 Corinthians 15:28, Paul says that at the last day, when all things are subjected to the Son, “then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.” (Note that the verb translated “be subject to” is the same word translated “submit” elsewhere.)
What does this submission mean, if the Father and Son don’t disagree about how to proceed?
Two Old Testament Scriptures are especially helpful here. First, Psalm 40:8 (which the author of the book of Hebrews applies to Jesus in Hebrews 10:5-10):“I delight to do your will.” Second, Deuteronomy 8:3, which Jesus quotes to counter Satan’s temptation: “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” God the Son exists continually in an attitude of joyful submission to God the Father. Equal in essence, equal in power, equal in might, He takes great delight in doing whatever God the Father wills. He has a role as God the Son which differs from the role of God the Father (and from the role of God the Holy Spirit); this role, this ordering, requires that He follow the Father’s lead; and this following is His great joy. It can even be called His sustenance.
So God the Son submits to God the Father in that He continually has an attitude of joyful submission to the leadership of God the Father.
What then are the implications for submission among us?
Just as in the Godhead, in human relationships we can and should have an attitude of joyful submission to those in authority over us – children to parents, wives to husbands, employees to employers, those in the church to elders, all of us to the government. We should delight to do their will – as long as that will does not involve sin.
How, then, should my statement about submission and disagreements be revised? In this way: “You are not submissive unless you obey joyfully and willingly when you disagree with an instruction from your head.” In this life, then, disagreements provide the critical test of submission.
In that light, let me rework the illustration I used in the sermon:
Suppose I tell my thirteen-year-old son Joel, “You must drink this Sonic strawberry limeade I bought for you!” Is that a test of his submission? No. He will indeed drink it joyfully and willingly – and such an attitude is consistent with his submission to me – but he would have drunk the limeade that way regardless of my command.
But suppose I say, “Joel, would you please clean out the kitty litter?” Joel does not have a particular fondness for cleaning the kitty litter. He does not naturally choose to take on that task himself. His preference would be for someone else to do it. But if he picks up the trash bag and the scoop and joyfully and willingly cleans out the litter, that proves that he is submissive to me.
Furthermore, when he does that, he is imitating the relationship of God the Son to God the Father. And that brings glory to God.
James 4:6-7 says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God.” We naturally want to exalt our power, our opinions, our status, our positions. God instead tells us in His Word and shows us in the very nature of the Trinity that we are to submit joyfully to those who rightly are heads over us. Yes, each of us is important, each of us has a valuable role, each of us is loved before the foundation of the world, each of us will be perfected, each of us will be the object of God’s great delight; and, each of us humbly accepts the role God gives us, now and in eternity, as we, like our Savior, delight to do His will.
So do you have that attitude of submission, accepting and delighting in your God-given role? Do you recognize God’s pattern of order, of headship and submission? That is, do you live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God?
[For an excellent discussion of the submission of God the Son to God the Father, and the implications for human relationships, see Bruce Ware, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance (Crossway, 2005), p. 72-85 and 137-151. For a wonderful example of joyful submission, see this post by Pam Bloom on today's Desiring God blog.]
Tony Snow, Death and Life
July 12, 2008
Tony Snow died of colon cancer this morning at the age of 53. He is best known as President Bush’s former Press Secretary.
But Tony and I first met 35 years ago, when were freshmen at Davidson College. We both loved philosophy, and had several courses together. Tony was a voracious reader, a quick thinker, and a prolific writer. Full of energy, full of ideas, adventurous in spirit, he clearly had an interesting life ahead of him. I took a year off between our junior and senior years, going to Kenya to teach secondary school. That year changed my life, as I focused for the next two decades on issues of economic development, spending several years overseas. Tony corresponded with me while I was in Kenya, and, intrigued, decided to go himself the next year. He taught at the same school.
But he didn’t remain long. Development was not his issue. He returned to begin a PhD program in philosophy, but decided that that was not the right fit for him either. Two years after graduation he found his niche in journalism, and rose rapidly, eventually serving in the White House of the first President Bush, writing a syndicated op-ed piece, and anchoring Fox News Sunday prior to joining the White House a second time.
Tony’s faith in Christ deepened through marriage, children, and, ultimately, cancer. As he wrote last year in Christianity Today,
Picture yourself in a hospital bed. The fog of anesthesia has begun to wear away. A doctor stands at your feet; a loved one holds your hand at the side. “It’s cancer,” the healer announces.
The natural reaction is to turn to God and ask him to serve as a cosmic Santa. “Dear God, make it all go away. Make everything simpler.” But another voice whispers: “You have been called.” Your quandary has drawn you closer to God, closer to those you love, closer to the issues that matter—and has dragged into insignificance the banal concerns that occupy our “normal time.”
I last corresponded with Tony in April last year, after the news came out that his cancer had returned. Linda Longbrook had just died of ovarian cancer. I sent him my sermon from her funeral, and prayed that God “might sustain you and your family emotionally and spiritually; that He might enable you to hope in Him throughout the coming battles; that He might use even this disease, even this enemy, for His glory and ultimately for your good.”
I don’t know if Tony read those words - as a well-known public figure, he must have received thousands of notes and letters. But as the Christianity Today article shows, God answered that prayer. May His glory continue to shine through this man’s life and death, as we too embrace God’s call upon us, and focus on the issues that matter.
Why Read the Prophets?
July 11, 2008
“Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.” Isaiah 1:4
Those are some of the opening words of the book of Isaiah. I read them this morning, along with the rest of Isaiah chapters 1, 7, and 8, following the chronological ordering of the Bible Unity Reading Plan. Because Israel’s prophets wrote about 30 percent of the Old Testament and almost all of them lived and wrote between the years of 750BC and 515BC, those of us following this plan will be reading mainly from the prophets for the next three months.
There are passages in the prophets that most Christians know and love: Those we read every Christmas, such as Isaiah 9 and 11; the song of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53; the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31. These are pearls in the midst of . . .
Of what? We’re tempted to say, “in the midst of the less interesting parts of these books.” Or even to say, “in the midst of the less important parts of these books.” For the prophets devote a great deal of time to condemnation of Israel and Judah (such as Isaiah 1:4 above) and then also a great deal of time condemning the nations surrounding them. This can be . . . dare we say, tiresome?
I must confess, I felt somewhat that way upon reading Isaiah 1:4 this morning. I glanced ahead at the Reading Plan, and, seeing that chapters 9 and 10 were scheduled for the next day, decided to do two days worth of Old Testament reading, in order to include a passage I love.
But God graciously convicted me of this unbiblical attitude, reminding me of 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed, and profitable . . . .” I prayed, “Lord, forgive me for my laziness in not seeking for the riches of Your Word. Open this passage up to me, I pray.”
I then asked: What is profitable for us today in the numerous denunciations of Israel and Judah in the prophets? Here are seven profitable ideas, taken from these three chapters in Isaiah:
1) We, like the Israelites, need a constant reminder that we are repugnant to God apart from His work in us.
Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. Isaiah 1:5-6
This is our condition too, apart from God’s work: Sick. Faint. Unhealthy, bruised, and bleeding with no ability to tend to our wounds. We need to know that unless God works in us every day, we will rebel and make ourselves sick. (Revelation 3:17, written to a church, echoes this idea.)
2) Specifically, we need a constant reminder that we cannot worship God in a way that pleases Him apart from His work in us, apart from worshiping in spirit and in truth by faith.
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. Isaiah 1:11
To us, God might say, “What to me is the multitude of your songs? I have had enough of your baptisms and communions; I do not delight in your sermons or your daily devotions.” Paul says, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
3) Furthermore, we cannot go through the motions of prayers of repentance, with no intention of changing our sinful behavior, and no steps taken to see that we change that behavior.
When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Isaiah 1:15
True repentance is a work of God in our hearts, and is pleasing to Him. But the Israelites went through the motions of repentance – and God here condemns them. A statement of sorrow for sin followed by the very same sin – in the case of the Israelites, oppressing the poor and the needy, taking bribes – is not repentance.
4) God promises complete forgiveness for those who come to Him.
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18-19
See God’s grace! The people “laden with iniquity,” the “offspring of evildoers” are now told: “Come to me for cleansing! Don’t be stupid! Don’t be foolish and rebel! Forgiveness is here, and it is free!”
Isaiah does not here tell us how a God whom He describes as holy and just can simply declare the person with scarlet sins to be white as snow. This side of redemptive history, we see the impact of those sins on Jesus, as He takes on our punishment at the cross. Isaiah does not understand all this, but he sees glimpses of it; in this day’s reading, Isaiah 7:14 contains the promise of Immanuel’s birth, partially fulfilled in Isaiah’s day but finally and completely fulfilled in Mary’s giving birth to Jesus while she was still a virgin.
5) This coming to God can only be by faith.
If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all. Isaiah 7:9
This is a clear implication of points 1 and 2, but Isaiah underlines it because we are so apt to forget it.
6) God’s cleansing is free, yet it is radical, and thus painful.
I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. Isaiah 1:25
This is the theme we saw in Malachi 3:3 a few months ago: We all face fire. God’s enemies face a fire of judgment. God’s people face a fire that purifies, a fire that burns off what is displeasing and dishonoring to Him. This is no doubt painful, but God’s painful work is redemptive, not punitive.
7) Finally, we must see God as both loving and just, as both merciful and holy, as both fearful and fatherly.
But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. Isaiah 8:13
This is one of the main benefits of our regularly reading all of the prophetic writings. No one upon reading Isaiah or Jeremiah or Joel or Amos with the slightest attention can think, “Oh, it doesn’t matter what I do or think – God has to forgive me because I said a prayer and was baptized!” On our own, we are utterly sinful and He is utterly pure. We thus are repugnant to God and there is nothing we can do on our own to change that. But He is the gracious and merciful One who sent His Son to take on our punishment. Coming to Him by faith is the only way to God, the only way to joy – indeed, coming to Him by faith is the only reasonable thing to do for guilty rebels.
So may God forgive me and any of the rest of you who approached the prophets with a negative attitude. May we say with Isaiah, “To the teaching and to the testimony!” (8:20) – to all of the teaching, to all of God’s testimony, which is so profitable for us.
Striving with you to live daily in God’s Word by His grace,
Coty
The Opposite of Disobedience
July 4, 2008
(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)
What is the opposite of disobedience?
The obvious answer is “obedience.” But that is not the biblical answer. And understanding why this logical answer is not biblical is key to living the Christian life.
Consider Psalm 1, which begins by describing the righteous man in negative terms:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
The righteous man does not act like or listen to the advice of those opposed to God, nor does he join them in mocking God. That is, he does not disobey God.
The psalmist then contrasts that negative description of the righteous man with a positive description. If the opposite of disobedience were obedience, we might expect a direct contrast with “does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,” perhaps something like: “But he walks in the law of the Lord.” This would create a nice parallel with the first verse; furthermore, it would be a true statement. Indeed, Psalm 119 opens with similar words: “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD.”
But instead of that truth, Psalm 1:2 goes deeper, displaying the root of the matter:
but his delight is in the law of the LORD.
The opposite of disobedience is not obedience. The opposite of disobedience is delight.
Why? There are at least four biblical reasons:
First: God does not desire perfunctory obedience to a set of rules for worship or behavior.
Again and again, God upbraids his people for thinking they can please him by going through the motions of obedience when their hearts do not belong to Him. Though He Himself instituted the sacrificial system, He says through Isaiah, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? . . . I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats” (1:11). And Jesus rebukes the Pharisees of his day, who meticulously obeyed every commandment that others could see.
Second: God’s Law, His Torah, is fundamentally not a set of rules for behavior.
When we see the word “law” we think in legal terms. But in the Bible, God’s Law, God’s Torah (the Hebrew word), is not at heart a set of rules. Instead, the torah is God’s instruction to us. We defined torah this way during our studies of Malachi:
Torah is the revelation of God to man, fundamentally communicating His character, and consequently instructing us how to live in light of who God is. It is thus the foundation of any right view of the world, the foundation of any wisdom, any knowledge, any insight. The true purpose of torah is to lead man into a fruitful, abundant, joyful life of fellowship with God, and thus with each other, and with all creation”
Third: God’s Torah commands us to love Him and to delight in Him!
God’s instruction to us shows that He is “gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.” We see that He has faithful love towards His people, and the power and might to protect them from all enemies. We see that we deserve nothing from Him but judgment, yet He showers grace and mercy on us. The proper response clearly is love, joy, and delight in Him. Se He commands us: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). He commands us “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4). Even if we mistakenly think of the Law as a set of rules, outward obedience is not enough. The Law commands our love, our delight.
Fourth: We live an obedient life through cultivating delight in God, by cultivating love for Him, not by strengthening our willpower.
Sin promises us greater joy if we give in to temptation. We often try to fight that sin by saying, “No, I must not do that; there’s a rule I must follow that says I can’t.” We may be disciplined enough to resist in that way. But the result brings glory to our willpower, not glory to God. And the result is not biblical obedience. For we are not denying the fundamental satanic lie that the greatest joy is found in sin. God tells us that at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. True joy comes in following Him, in loving Him, not in giving in to temptation.
Thus, the opposite of disobedience is delight in God’s Law, delight in God’s character, loving God with all our heart, rejoicing in the access we have to God through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
So the question remains: Is He your delight? May we together cultivate joy in God, so that together we might become like Christ, taking on His character, spreading to all around us our joy in Him, to the glory of His Name.
