Category: Sermon Supplements

We orbit the illuminated moons of Hebrews 11:4-40 (for five weeks we have orbited!) only to be thrust toward The Eternal-Supernova Son.

We are the lab rats.  You know the cruel little experiment where if a rat fails to behave a specific way, say pushing a blue button instead of a red one he gets his food, but he gets shocked as well?  He keeps choosing option B over A, why?  “Why won’t he conform?”  “We will give you everything you desire if you just behave as we wish,” says the diabolical scientist that lives in his mother’s garage.  We are those rats.  To the world we are fools, we refuse their offers and are shocked, but if they had but tasted Jesus they would know our behavior the most logical of actions.  Our risk glorifies the Bread of Life, He is worth it.

I’m afraid of reading Hebrews 11:23-40 lightly, the same way that Philippians 4:13 is glibly quoted with no concern for the context.  Consider two scenarios:

Christian # 1 He lives in the States.  He has a great job and makes a sizeable income.  He attends church regularly and tithes.  He has never really suffered.  He has accomplished much.  He is easily deemed “successful” by all his friends.  They talk about how he is so blessed.  Is he?  He is materialistic and consumed with his image.  Always the best – the best clothes, the best car, the best TV.  He isn’t super extravagant, nor living above his means; he is just wanting to invest in good quality he will tell you – you know, being a good steward and all.   And yes, of course, he gives all the glory to God!

Christian # 2 Lives in a hostile Muslim country.  He is despised, hated, persecuted.  He has reaped hardly any fruit.  He barely exists day to day.  It is a task just to buy or find food.  Even though he receives funds from oversees they don’t always make it to him.  And having cash is no guarantee that it will be accepted.  He has little in this world.  Ultimately his wife and child are taken.  Is he cursed?

Who is victorious?  Consider their purposes.  If the ultimate goal is to glorify God as the supreme glory and joy of the universe, who is successful?  Who has treasured Christ above all things and who has “treasured” Christ as a means to things.  As Lewis said, He will not be used as a road.  Certainly Jesus is the road, the only road, but where is He taking us?  Not to rusty things, but to a glorious Father.  He is both the means and the end.  Who has glorified Him as such?

Suffering does not equal defeat.  Often, very often it is the means to victory.

Make like a lab rat, it’s the logical thing to do.  There is risk, the electricity is real, but the Bread of Life is all satisfying.

By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.   – Hebrews 11:29

When John Paton went to the New Hebrides Islands they had already killed and eaten two missionaries.  On the Island of Tanna where Paton would first minister they had driven previous missionaries off in fear.  His wife and son would die of fever in a year.  He would remain on this Island for 4 more years despite numerous and consistent death threats.  They would come to him saying “Missi [short for missionary], our fathers loved and worshipped whom you call the Devil, the Evil Spirit; and we are determined to do the same… Now, our people are determined to kill you, if you do not leave this island; for you are changing our customs and destroying our worship, and we hate the Jehovah Worship.”

He would argue with them, and tell them that if they did Jehovah would be angry with them.  He would warn them that if they killed him a British Man of War would come by and attack them, and that the traders would no longer visit them.  After such an encounter they would ease of a little for a short time.  Finally the situation grew so threatening that he had to leave.

By faith he experienced deliverance many times, and by faith he suffered the loss of wife and child.  Our faith does not mean deliverance from every pain, but the ordering of all our pains for our good and His glory.  Paton saw little fruit on Tanna, but other missionaries would harvest that ground that by sweat, prayers, and deep suffering he had tilled.  Also many would dedicate their lives to spreading the message of Jesus to the hardest parts of the earth as a result of reading Paton’s autobiography.  Ultimately John was not delivered from much suffering and pain, but he was delivered from one island to go to another.  He would next go to the Island of Aniwa and see virtually the whole Island turn to Christ.

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By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. – Hebrews 11:30

Luther was devastated.  The Reformation had caught wind and enthusiasts with more zeal than knowledge began to try to assert their position by violence.  Luther did not wish to advance his cause by human might or wisdom.  He knew it could not be.  His was a victory by faith in the heralded word of the gospel. He wrote:

Give men time.  I took three years of constant study, reflection, and discussion to arrive where I now am, and can the common man, untutored in such matters, be expected to move the same distance in three months?  Do not suppose that the abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused.  Men can go wrong with wine and women.  Shall we then prohibit wine and abolish women?  The sun, moon, and stars have been worshipped.  Shall we then pluck them out of the sky?  See how much he [God] has been able to accomplish through me, though I did no more than pray and preach.  The Word did it all.  Had I wished I might have started a conflagration at Worms.  But while I sat still and drank beer with Philip and Amsdorf, God dealt the papacy a mighty blow.  – From Here I Stand by Roland H. Bainton

Or as he said in his famous hymn:

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:

Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

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By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.  – Hebrews 11:31

Tom Papania was a grandson to one of the original mobsters who brought the Mafia to the United States.  He was hard, even criminals were intimidated to look into his eyes.  He lied, he stole, he killed.  He was ready to kill himself one evening when the phone rang.  It was a friend inviting him to church.  The pastor could see into his soul and commented to Tom that he was a hurt little boy who needed love.  Tom felt exposed and went back that evening planning on killing the pastor.  Instead he found Jesus and went on to be a prison evangelist.  (Stolen from Richard D. Phillips’ Jesus the Evangelist)

Ultimate deliverance, victory, and salvation are never found outside of faith in Jesus.  By faith in Jesus these are already ultimately ours.

I watch reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond occasionally, I laugh, but recently in the midst of the laughter I am disturbed, and I am glad that I am disturbed.  Ray makes me laugh, but he also makes me angry.  He is typical of most TV sitcom husbands, and unfortunately I think reality is not far from fiction.  Ray is spineless, he never leads, he always reacts; never do you see him courageously take the reins.  He is not led by principle nor love, but selfishness; he wants everyone to like him.  He never confronts because people’s perception of him is more important to him than truth and real love.  He never spends anytime with his children and acts like he is being tortured when he has to do so.  On the opposite side of the spectrum is rude Frank who could care less about what you think about him.  Here is the crazy thing though; they are both driven by selfishness.  Ray wants everyone to like him; Frank wants things done his way.

Men of faith look very different.  Moses was both a courageous leader and meek.  He would confront the people and also mediate for them.  The men of this chapter (and a couple of ladies) are heroes and the unifying characteristic is faith.  Ray may make me laugh, but he is no hero.  Here is my advice to any men who may be reading this post:

1)      Turn off the TV

2)      Pick up your Bible and get to know its characters better than you do Jack Bauer, Steve Nash, or Peyton Manning.

3)      Read Christian biography.

4)      Point other men (especially your sons) towards these men who shine as stars in a vast sea of darkness.

Too many men today have no clue what it looks like to be a man of faith.  And their sons won’t either if they won’t be one for them and point them too others.  Point out awesome displays of faith more than awesome tackles.  Get a man-crush on Moses and George Whitefield.   Get to know men of faith both Biblical and historical and imitate their faith.

Here are a few suggestions as to where to get started:

• John Piper’s biographical sermons.   Read or listen to them online for free.
• John Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides
• Here I Stand by Roland Bainton
• Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore

Ever find yourself in the midst of a group with interest totally alien to your own?  They talk different, the lingo and terminology is odd.  Perhaps you are a jock thrown into the midst of a bunch of Dungeons and Dragons geeks.  Or perhaps you are the nerd thrown into talk concerning the latest playoff.  Sometimes the subject matter is so foreign to your little world that you think them bizarre, odd, weird.

As Christians we are that odd little group in the cafeteria that no one wants to sit next too.  We are an alien culture, going against the grain of this world.  This world is indeed heading to hell, and we are on an opposite trajectory towards heaven.   We are pilgrims, homeward bound.  We are not a sub-culture, doing the same things just in our own “clean” way.  We are light and salt in a world full of darkness and rot.  Don’t buy the sub-culture myth that is really the same darkness and rot underneath a linen garment; unlike Lazarus it is indeed dead and stinketh.

We live as strangers and exiles (v.13), we talk different (v. 14), we pass on the Twinkies and Ho-Hos of sin for the promises of homemade apple pie and ice-cream.  We can smell it, we can hear it, by faith; and thus we behave so wildly for He who has called us His beloved.  We do not settle for lovers less wild and the artificial flavors of their enticements.  We pass on lies for promises of substance.  We long for unfading glory, we wish to draw near to God, to please Him, to know He is not ashamed to be called our God (v. 16).

We seek an inheritance incorruptible.  Right now I am reading perhaps the most massive work ever written on spiritual warefare, Puritan William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour (1189 pages in the Banner of Truth addition, double column, approximately 10pt. font!).  It is an exposition of Ephesians 5:10-20.  It was originally released in three volumes, the second being dedicated to Thomas Darcy, Esq. and Sisilia Darcy, who were apparently well off.  To them he advises, “Value yourselves by your inheritance in the other world, and not by your honour and riches in this.”

This is weird, this is opposite, it is worth it.

Opposite Way by Leeland

Living in the same town

For all these years

Doing the same old things

Hanging with the same crowd

And it’s starting to get crippling

You’ve never felt in place

And you tell yourself it’s all okay

But something’s different today

You want to run the opposite way

And it seems like you’re locked in a cage

And you need to find a way of escape

When everyone is setting the pace

It’s okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down

The light of men

The cross He bore was crippling

Rejected in His own town

They couldn’t see the sun shining

He knelt in the garden and prayed

Father, let this cup pass from me

It’s not Your will for me to stay

Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage

And He couldn’t find away of escape

But through the cross He conquered the grave

My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave

Oh, He ran the opposite way

Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave

So you could run the opposite way

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday.  He is a hero.

I want to rebuke any mothers who were upset that Michael Phelps was smoking hash because he was a role model for their children (I don’t know any such moms, I doubt any such moms read my blog, but nonetheless…).  I too watched the greatness that is Phelps sweep up multiple medals with ease.  I admired him in a way.  But as far as a moral role model – why would I ever want to encourage my children to pattern their behavior after him?  If my child’s lighting up a doobie is contingent upon Michael Phelps I have parenting issues.  Point them to a real hero.  Be one yourself and point them towards someone like Lincoln.

President Lincoln is a hero, but his greatness is mixed with sin.  His glory was the cause he pushed, his shame that he didn’t push it far enough.  As John Piper wrote in a post which inspired this bit, his feet are clay.  Perhaps my favorite Latin phrase of Luther’s is “simil justus et peccator.”

simil = (think simultaneous) at the same time

justus = just

et = and

peccator = sinner

All of my heroes are “simil justus et peccator.”  This is encouraging, not disheartening.  And it is God glorifying.  The greatest of my heroes only stands just before God because of the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ.  The things that are truly admirable about my heroes are reflections of Christ, and all their grave sins serve to point me beyond them to the greatness of Christ as well. 

Jesus is the curve breaker; all other heroes are graded in relation to Him.

I want one, yea I even hope for one, my next computer will surely be a MacBook, but at this point it is only a hope.  After all, Tim Challies, the author of The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment is now a Mac user; it must be the spiritual thing to do.  At this point I am ok, that is, I’m not obsessing.  I’m content with my Vaio, I don’t resent it, haven’t cursed it, and am not thinking of ways to “accidently” break it.  I know however that my hope could easily go haywire in two separate but related ways.

First I could constantly meditate on all the little quirks, faults, and errors my Vaio commits.  Sometimes my function keys will control the volume and display as they should, and at sometimes they want me to assign that key a function first.  Not to worry, if you don’t like the way your PC works, put it to sleep and wake it up again, it will never perform exactly the same way twice.  PC’s are more like humans in this way.  For instance it is always an adventure to discover which icons will show their face in the lower-right notification area.  The most irritating and frequently absent member of this icon family is the volume control.  My Logos Bible Software plays an annoying little ditty (other than this ditty, I really love Logos) when I start it up every morning.  So prior to Logos initiation I mouse over to the little volume icon, but alas it has taken the day off.  So I go to press the function key with the mute symbol emblazoned on it; instead of muting it acts confused, telling me that I need to tell it what it is supposed to do.  As a result I then have to listen to the hated Logos ditty; it is not going to be a very spiritual day.

Or I could simply meditate on the bliss that a MacBook Pro would bring.  I could research it, finding out that it was made out of a single piece of aluminum, how the keyboard perfectly cut for the keys and illuminated, and that the mouse pad has no buttons, instinctively discerning the way you use your fingers as certain commands.  But I wouldn’t do such research now, it is best not to awaken love until it pleases (Song of Songs 2:7; 3:5; 8:4), right?

If I were assured of a MacBook it would heighten my anticipation and excitement.  Inversely I am sure I would grow more dissatisfied with my Vaio.  The weeks preceding the expected arrival would be intense.  I would be… yes, giddy!  Intolerable giddy.  It would rob my thoughts and affections.

Has Christ so arrested your heart and mind?  Do you anticipate His return all the more growing dissatisfied with Satan’s poor substitutes?  Do you fuel your faith by meditating on Him?  Do you live as a giddy fool, expecting your great reward?  This world does not function.  Renewed, perfectly designed bliss is awaiting me.  I will not invest in software or peripherals to maximize my Vaio when a MacBook is expected.

What warnings and threats scare us can tell us what we really value.  Having the TV taken away from you might not scare you a bit, but the threat of only being allowed a few outfits and restricted from buying any new clothes is deadly serious.  The threat of having computer privileges revoked will not curb any sinful tendencies, but to be banned from the Playstation is your functional hell.  What is your functional hell?  The thing that when threatened causes panic?  Is it weight gain, being unfashionable, your reputation, your physique, your intelligence, cash flow, car, losing your job?  All these hells pale in comparison to the true hell.  And if hell is hell to you, why is it hell to you?  If the fires of hell do not terrify you it is because you have what you treasure.  One day you will lose it all, all the heavens of this earth, but that will not be the cause of your deepest agony.  Hell will be hell not because of the absence of earthly treasures, but because the greatest being in the universe is eternally wrathful in His disposition towards you.  The day when you finally see something all glorious and worth giving your all towards will be the day when eternally you are separated from Him, never to enjoy any of the pleasures that are found explicitly and infinitely in Him.  Far better your hell to be temporal and heaven eternal, than your heaven to be temporal and your hell eternal.  May the true hell terrify you, not the petty hells of this earth.  And in the midst of the hells of this earth, if you are Christ’s, rejoice, heaven is yours, great is your reward.  

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?  – John Piper

I grew up in Eakly, so I can legitimately and authoritatively speak concerning the subject of jerry-rigging.  Contrary to popular folklore, anything cannot be fixed with duct tape, bailing wire, and a pair of pliers.  It is true that much can be temporarily “patched” or maintained with the aforementioned items, but “fixed” is an exaggeration.   Jerry-rigging seems great, until it kills you.  Everything is cool until the bull decides to alleviate his huge, raging , travel-nervous bladder and urine flies in your face instantly causing a swerve instinct; and swerving with a ton of top heavy bull flesh…

Likewise spiritual jerry-rigging seems great too, until it kills you. 

Too many get excited about the “therefore” in scripture for the wrong reason.  After 4 chapters of assiduous focus on the High Priesthood of Christ we can now mercifully move on to some practical stuff, some stuff that really effects how I live right?  Like approaching one of those long drawn out Texas towns we pray there will be a loop to let us bypass the scenic tour of downtown.  We want to bypass the slow tedious theology and get on with the fast pace of our lives.  Just tell me what to do in order to arrive at my destination of blessedness in the fastest possible manner.  No one takes the scenic routes anymore.  We jerry-rig our spirituality to spit out results.  Our machine is operated on the philosophy of pragmatism, not principle.

The deal is that everything that precedes the therefore is there for a reason.  If you strip away the theology you subtract the impetus towards what follows it.  You end up with a non-Spirit spirituality.  Theology is the study of God.  When you want to take God and His ways out to be left with a set of seven  practical spiritual steps you are left with law.  “Just tell me what to say to get you in bed, I want the benefits without the commitment,” that is the language of spiritual jerry-rigging.

Theology produces the vegetable garden of “let-us” in Hebrews 10:22-24.  Jerry-rig the theology out of the system and you will only grow a pseudo-let-us that has the bitter taste of law.

Bethany liked high school, me, not so much.  If at the end of my life I were to compile a list of things I am glad I only have to do once in my life, I’m sure high school would be in the top ten.  What relief from worry and anxiety might we have in our lives if we knew some things need never be repeated?  What if it were guaranteed you would never have to:

Have another painful surgery.

Battle cancer.

Loose a child.

Loose a spouse.

Send a loved one off to war.

We are not guaranteed any of these things.  But we are told that the atoning sacrifice of Christ was a once for all, never to be repeated act that secures our salvation and puts us in perfect standing with God.  I never have to make a perfect sacrifice for my sins, and that’s good news because I never could, and the reason is that He already has.  What relief and comfort should we derive from those precious word of our Lord as he hung on the cross, “It is finished!”