The Mercies of God

Below is an excerpt from a sermon I preached at Cedar Valley Bible Church on July 13, 2014, from Romans 12:1-2 entitled, "The Elements of Commitment." You can listen to the whole sermon here.

"The foundation of commitment are the mercies of God: 'Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God…' When Paul speaks of the mercies of God, he is referring to the proceeding 11 chapters of Romans where God’s mercies are displayed. Like a beautiful painting on a black canvas, God’s mercies are presented in those chapters against the blackness of our sin, and as such they stand out, they catch our eye. We marvel at them because we see them illuminated against such a black background. As Paul works his way through, he is finally brought to the point of outburst at the end of ch.11: 'For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.' Our salvation and new life are the very expressions of the mercies of God, but the role of these mercies is not complete. We never grow beyond the need for His mercies, because here Paul turns to them and declares that these same mercies, spelled out in terms like justification, sanctification, redemption, and election, are the very basis by which we can and must live as committed Christians."

Seven Benefits of Justification in Romans 5:1-11

In the first half of Romans 5, the apostle Paul gives us seven benefits of justification. These benefits come to us, he says, when we are declared righteous by God through faith in His Son (Rom.3:21-30). These are the experiential effects of justification, and they are true for every believer. In Paul's overall argument in Romans, this section moves our justification from the abstract to the concrete. Here we come face to face with what God has done on our behalf, and how it impacts our life today, as well as our eternity.

1. Peace with God (5:1): this is the result of the doctrine of reconciliation, which Paul will return to at the end of the section, and so peace with God forms something of a set of bookends within which the other benefits exist. Without this peace, we could not have these benefits, and this peace comes through Christ.
2. Standing in grace (5:2a): Grace is the atmosphere that we breathe, and it is the ground upon which peace is accomplished. It is a word that encapsulates God's action toward us.
3. Exulting in hope (5:2b): Hope is confident expectation. It is a certainty that God will do what He says He will do that is based on His character. Our hope is that we will behold the glory of God, and we are confident that it will happen because of our justification.
4. Joy in suffering (5:3-4): This future-oriented hope equips us to endure the sufferings of the present-day with joy. Furthermore, hope-oriented suffering changes us for the better. Therefore, we do not rejoice in the actual suffering, but rather in the certainty that it is transforming us as it develops perseverance, proven character, and hope. Suffering strengthens us when it is met with the truth that God is accomplishing His purposes in us (see James 1:2-7; Rom.8:28-29; 12:1-2).
5. The indwelling Holy Spirit (5:5): As an act of God's love, every believers has been given the Holy Spirit, who is the instrument by which God's love has been poured out in our hearts. His present-day ministry to every believer is to develop these character qualities listed above, and He is the demonstration of God's love toward us.
6. Deliverance from future condemnation (5:6-10): Four terms describe our condition when Christ died for us: helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies. The pinnacle of human love is to sacrifice yourself for someone close to you, but Christ did it for His enemies! Left in that condition, there could be no peace, but only the promise of God's wrath. But through Christ, the justified are delivered from any future condemnation.
7. Present reconciliation to God (5:11): The other bookend to these benefits of justification. The chasm between us and God has been bridged by Jesus and we can now fellowship with Him, and most importantly, glorify Him for all He has done in justifying us.

These, then, are seven benefits of our justification. Each deserves thorough study and contemplation as we think of who we were, where we are going, and how God has provided what we ourselves could never provide. As we study them, may the Holy Spirit use these great truths to accomplish God's purposes in our lives!

An Outline of Revelation

I'm currently studying through Revelation with a few recent high school graduates, and I'm pretty excited that these guys want to dig into the Word! However, Revelation is a tough place to start! Part of what makes it tough, as this picture aptly demonstrates, is trying to understand the basic structure of the book. Toward that, I present here an outline that I think may be helpful to them, and perhaps to you as well if you have found John's masterpiece a wee bit daunting to untangle.

Outline of Revelation

I.                   Introduction: “The Things Which You Have Seen” (ch.1)

A.    Prologue (vs.1-3)

B.     Greeting (vs.4-8)

C.     The Patmos vision of the glorified Christ (vs.9-18)

D.    The commission of the prophet (vs.19-20)

II.                Letters to the Seven Churches; “The Things Which Are” (ch.2-3)

A.    The letter to the church in Ephesus (2:1-7)

B.     The letter to the church in Smyrna (2:8-11)

C.     The letter to the church in Pergamum (2:12-17)

D.    The letter to the church in Thyatira (2:18-29)

E.     The letter to the church in Sardis (3:1-6)

F.      The letter to the church in Philadelphia (3:7-13)

G.    The letter to the church in Laodicea (3:14-22)

III.             The Revelation of the Future: “The Things Which Are to Come (ch.4-22)

A.    The seven seal judgments (ch.4-8:1)

1.      The vision of the throne (4:1-11)

2.      The book with seven seals (5:1-14)

3.      Six seal judgments executed (ch.6)

4.      Interlude between the sixth and seventh seal—salvation during the Tribulation (ch.7)

5.      The opening of the seventh seal (8:1)

B.     The seven trumpet judgments (ch.8:2-11:19)

1.      The angel and the golden censer (8:2-6)

2.      Six trumpet judgments executed (8:7-9:21)

3.      Interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets (ch.10-11:14)

4.      The seventh trumpet (11:15-19)

C.     Interlude—seven principle characters of the end-times (ch.12-13)

1.      The woman clothed with the sun (12:1-2)

2.      The red dragon with seven heads and ten horns (12:3-4)

3.      The male child (12:5-6)

4.      The angel, Michael (12:7-16)

5.      The offspring of the woman (12:17)

6.      The beast from the sea (13:1-10)

7.      The beast from the earth (13:11-18)

D.    Interlude—preparations for the final judgments of the Tribulation (ch.14)

1.      The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mt. Zion (14:1-5)

2.      The first group of angels (14:6-13)

3.      The blessing of the faithful saints (14:13)

4.      The second group of angels (14:14-20)

E.     The seven bowl judgments (ch.15-18)

1.      The third group of angels with seven bowls of judgment (15:1-8)

2.      The seven bowl judgment executed (ch.16)

3.   The fall of Babylon the Great (ch.17-18)

F.      The Seven Last Things (ch.19-22)

1.      The songs of hallelujah in heaven (19:1-10)

3.      The first last thing: the Second Advent of Christ (19:11-16)

4.      The second last thing: the battle of Armageddon (19:17-21)

5.      The third last thing: the binding of Satan (20:1-3)

6.      The fourth last thing: the Millennial reign of Christ (20:4-6)

7.      The fifth last thing: the release of Satan and the final rebellion of man (20:7-10)

8.      The sixth last thing: the Great White Throne Judgment and the end of the world (20:11-15)

9.      The seventh last thing: the new heavens and new earth (21:1-22:5)

10.  Epilogue (22:6-21)

Creation's Song

Here is a video that was created by some incredibly talented folks at our church, celebrating our great Creator God! Please consider sharing it with others.

A Dog Is a Dog Not a Duck: The Law of Identity

Seems obvious, right? Well, for most of history it was. The Law of Identity, which holds that a thing can be identified by its characteristics, has long been considered foundational to how we think and reason. These days, however, we can no longer assume people accept this to be a true and necessary presupposition for validating truth-claims, let alone for living life.

A well-known Christian pastor and blogger recently tweeted that before we can do preevangelism, we may need to convince people of the law of non-contradiction. While I certainly agree, I would suggest that before we can even do that, we may need to first convince them that a dog is a dog and not a duck.

The Backdrop to Justification in Romans, or, "Before We Talk About the Good News..."

In Romans 1:18-3:20, Paul makes his case for the just condemnation of all humanity. The gospel reveals the righteousness of God (1:16-17) and Rom.1:18-3:20 Paul goes to great lengths to demonstrate that man does not possess that righteousness. The result is that every person, non-religious and religious alike, Jew and Gentile, stands justly condemned and deserving of the wrath of God.

Then, beginning in 3:21, Paul turns to the gracious provision of the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, which Barnhouse calls, "the heart of the epistle." But we might ask why didn't Paul start there? Why the spilling of so much ink over such things as sin and wrath and judgement? The reason is that Paul first must demonstrate our need and inability before he turns to how our need is met. The need is great and requires a great provision, but in order to see our great need, and better, in order to see the greatness of the One who meets our need, we must recognize just how dire our situation is. The sinfulness of humanity stands in contrast to the righteousness of God manifested in Jesus Christ. That is the purpose of 1:19-3:20 in Paul's overall argument in Romans.

Imagine a room with windows in it. It is daytime and quite a bit of ambient light is flooding the room. You turn on a lamp, and while some additional light is observable as a result, the brightness of the bulb is not really noticeable because there is so much ambient light already in the room. One may not even see any need for a lamp at all.

But imagine it is late at night and the room is dark. Now the need for the lamp is obvious, and when it is switched on, noticeable light floods the room. The same amount of illumination is being put out, so why the difference?

Obviously, the answer is found in how dark the room was prior to the light being switched on. The darker the room, the stronger the contrast and the more bright the bulb seems, even though it is putting out the exact same amount of illumination. In the bright room, the light was washed out by the existing light. In the dark room, it's importance and brilliance are evident.

That is something like what Paul is doing in these early chapters of Romans. It is why he spends so much time talking about the depravity of man and the reality that all are under condemnation. He is darkening the room so that, when he comes to 3:21 and the topic of justification, the brilliance of the light of this good news can shine with exceeding brightness. The contrast of the depravity of humanity and the reality of wrath, judgement and condemnation serve as the darkest of backdrops for the good news of God's provision of the righteousness we so desperately need but can't accomplish for ourselves. And when that gracious provision is finally introduced in 3:21, it stands in brilliant contrast as it shines against the backdrop of all that darkness, just like a light in a dark room.

Ecclesiastes: A Life Well-lived

I recently finished teaching through the book of Ecclesiastes for the third time this spring. I worked through the book with the 11th graders earlier this spring, then the 12th graders while simultaneously teaching it to a group of adults at my church. After all that time spent in Solomon's masterpiece, all I can say is, "What a book!"

What I would like to do in this post is offer a summation of the book as I have come to understand it over these past months. In doing so, I do not suggest that I have mastered it. Far from it! This is a book that demands a lifetime. I have only scratched its surface.

In many ways, Ecclesiastes is unlike any other book in the Bible. Written by Solomon probably toward the end of his life, it is a mix of autobiographical narrative combined with proverbial statements that present the reader with a worldview proposal. The book is then an invitation to accept and integrate this worldview into one's life, and in doing so, offer the hope of meaning and purpose in an otherwise meaningless and purposeless existence.

The main idea of the book, which I will come to in a moment, flows out of a question posed in 1:3: "What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?" (NASB). In posing this question, Solomon is asking the question that most people at one time or another ask as well: what is the point of this existence? We are born, we live, we die, but what is the point? Is there any profit for a man for all his labor? Is there anything that carries over once we have lived our life? Is there any surplus? As I said, at some point in time, we all ask this question, or at the very least, we come right up to the point of asking this question (whether we actually do or not depends on whether we want to actually discover the answer).

For Solomon, as for us, what is painfully obvious about life is that it is always changing. The only certainty is that there is little that we can be certain of. Everything changes; nothing is permanent. In fact, some interpreters have argued that is precisely what Solomon is saying when he ascribes life to "vanity," a Hebrew word which means "vapor" or "breath." In this view, Solomon's employment of this word, repeated twenty-two times throughout the book, forces us to recognize the temporary nature of life. Like the vapor exhaled on a cold winter's day dissipates and drifts away, so too does life. It is as though Solomon looks at life, with all it's changes and insecurities and declares it for what it is: transient and temporary. This is its nature. And because it is temporary in nature , it is a poor source for meaning and purpose, the very thing man so desperately seeks.

And in this transient world where there is little solid ground upon which to settle ourselves and begin to answer the opening question of the book, the very hope of finding an answer begins to diminish, to dissolve away like the very vapor Solomon compares it to. Ecclesiastes reaches into the chest of its reader and begins to squeeze his heart with this terrible revelation: he can't find what he so desperately seeks. Meaning, purpose, satisfaction, these are all beyond his reach. The desire is there, for God Himself has implanted that desire within the heart of man (3:11b), yet the ability to find it lies beyond reach (3:11c). For all the incredible things man can accomplish, he cannot find the answer to this most basic of questions. And why is this so? God has so designed it so that man will only find meaning, satisfaction, and purpose when he comes to understand that such things are only found in God. It is God who has given life as a gift to be enjoyed (2:24), who purposes every event under the sun (3:1), and who ultimately is the source of joy (6:20). In short, Ecclesiastes is a call to live life by faith in the God who alone can answer man's most pressing question: what is the point?

And this brings me to the big idea of the book. If we will apply this wisdom--to live a life of faith in the sovereign God who is Lord over time and the events that occur in it, who gives life as a gift, and especially if we begin to do so in our youth (12:1), at the end of life we will be able to look back and say, "There was meaning and purpose to my life, and even though there were some hard times, all in all it was a satisfying life. And the future has meaning as well, because there is everlasting profit to be enjoyed once this life is complete." Meaning and purpose in the day-to-day, and the promise of surplus for tomorrow, are available to the Christian who walks in faith with the Lord of meaning and purpose. That is the main idea of Ecclesiastes.

The Apostle Paul lived his life this way. In Acts 20:24, when he was addressing the Ephesian elders before he went to Jerusalem, he said this: "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." This was his worldview, his philosophy of life. It was meaningful, satisfying and joy-filled. It wasn't always pleasant, and at times to someone looking in from the outside it may have seemed as though some of the terrible experiences of his life argued against his worldview and the worldview of Ecclesiastes.

But Paul never let the anomalies and apparent contradictions deconstruct what he knew to be true: God had a plan and a purpose for Paul, and that plan and purpose extended from this life into the next. For Paul, his responsibility was simple: "Fear God and keep His commandments" (Eccl.12:13). And the result of living this worldview? Paul himself summarizes it in his second letter Timothy: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Tim.4:7-8; Eccl.12:14).

These are the words of a man who had grasped the message of Ecclesiastes. In a world that is ever-changing and seems to provide little in the way of solid ground upon which to find our footing, there is hope. Hope that, when the curtain of this life begins to close, we too can look back over however many years the Lord has given us and conclude with Solomon, Paul and the countless others who have faithfully walked with Jesus on the mountaintops as well as in the valleys: "It was a meaningful life. I am satisfied. And now comes the profit and surplus of eternity in the presence of the Savior Himself. Joy beyond anything I can imagine!"

Compared to this, everything else is just vanity and grasping after wind.