Gospel Realities in the Barnyard

I love how in just a few short words, Christ can teach us of mercy and judgment. On one hand, if we come to Christ, we receive mercy. On the other hand, if we reject Him via rejecting His messengers, we are damned.

Matthew 23:37-38 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate.

In this passage, Christ uses a tender metaphor to teach Jerusalem, the Scribes and the Pharisees what He intends to accomplish for repentant sinners. Christ explains that the gospel work He came to accomplish is like that of a hen tucking her chicks under her wings. A hen will do this to provide protection for her little precious ones. Protection from what? From foxes, from hawks or from whatever dangerous predators may lurk out there. In the event that an animal comes to attack the chicks, the hens wings will be the first line of defense. Whatever wounds are meant to come upon the chicks will indeed be inflicted upon the hen. In may even be that the hen gives her life for her chicks in order for them to live.

Thus it is with Christ, as He says. "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" Sinners need protection under the wings of Christ. Protection from what? From foxes? From hawks? From what? From God. God and sinners are opposed to each other. As a just God, God will punish and inflict judgment and eternal death upon sinners. Violating God's holy nature is that serious, that offensive, that ugly. Yet our God is a merciful God. The Father, Son and Spirit had an eternally existing plan that was meant to provide protection for sinners. This plan entailed our coming under the wings of Christ so that when God comes to strike us down for our sin, our Christ edures the pain, the stripes, the punishment, the death blow.

We are safe from eternal danger because Christ is to us what a mother hen is to her chicks. Those outside the wings are Christ will be stricken, smitten and afflicted by God. They will be left desolate just as Jerusalem was.

Isaiah 53:4-12 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Mustard & Bread - Pictures Of Gospel Growth

03/22/2009 Matthew 13:31-35 - Mustard And Bread - Pictures Of Gospel Growth

(click link to download or press play below)

Why Does Christ Speak In Parables?

03/08/2009 Matthew 13:10-17 - Why Does Jesus Speak In Parables?

Matthew 12:46-50

Hey Joey,
Here's a copy of my sermon from this morning. I finally recorded one for you.

Title: Who's Your Daddy?
Text: Matthew 12:46-50

1. We See The Fruit of Regeneration & Mark of the True Child of God

2. We See Our Unity To One Another & Devotion To The Church

3. We See Our Position In Christ & Our Heavenly Reward

Objections To The Works Of Christ

OBJECTIONS TO THE WORKS OF CHRISTS
Matthew 9:1-17

Objections are quite common in life. Students object to the amount of homework teachers give them. Wives object to the absurd things their husbands can do and say. Children object to the amount of chores they get from their parents. Lawyers object in court.

Objection are generally given when one person thinks that another person is doing something or saying something wrong. In Matthew 9 we see that there were some who objected to things that Jesus said and did. The sinless Son of God did and said things that people felt were wrong. Was Christ wrong? Were the objections valid? Why did they object? Is there something we're missing here?

In order to understand why God has given us this passage of scripture we must first determine what it is that is wrong with mankind in this passage: how has the fall affected us. Once we understand that we can better determine what God has done to rescue us from our pitiful condition.


1. Who Is Christ To Forgive Sins?
Matthew 9:1-8, John 10:30-33, John 8:58-59, Leviticus 24:16

Sin can only be forgiven by the person against whom the offense is committed. I can not forgive you of sins committed against another person. When Jesus pronounces forgiveness to the paralytic man He is making the claim that this man's sins were against Him. In other words, Jesus is making the claim that He is God. And that is why there was an objection to what Christ was doing. To those watching Jesus was just a man. Jesus validates His deity by performing a miracle. His point was that if He could raise this paralyzed man and had power to do so, then He surely had the power to forgive sins. His miracle was there to validate that He was God. But those watching gave praise to God because God had given this man (Jesus) great power. In their minds Jesus was simply a man through whom God worked. They failed to see He is God incarnate--God in the flesh.

And this is the condition in which the fall has left us. We do not recognize God--even if He were right before. God must reveal Himself to us. And we must believe what God says about Him and what He says about His Son. It is not enough to simply believe that Jesus was a nice guy and a great leader. We must believe the He is God in the flesh and that He alone is able to forgive us our sin. He does this by His death, burial and resurrection. In God's graciousness He grants us faith to believe in Him and who He really is.


2. Why Does Christ Eat With Sinners?
Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 19:10, Mark 10:45

The self-righteous Pharisees were indignant that Jesus was eating with sinners. Because the Pharisees thought that they were "perfect" they refused to associate with sinners, perhaps fearing they'd be contaminated. Christ's eating with sinners was deplorable to them. They did not understand that God can not be affected by sin. They did not understand that God came to earth to save sinners, not the righteous. Jesus' words to the Pharisees must have stung: I didn't come to save the righteous, but sinners. Being that there is none righteous, Jesus' words seem to carry a bit of sarcastic tone as if to say, "You Pharisees are so righteous, you don't need a Savior." The truth was that they, too, needed a Savior. Scripture elsewhere affirms that Christ came to seek and save the lost. He came to give His as a ransom for many. Christ did not come to heal those who do not recognize that they are perishing and dying in sin under the wrath of God. Only when people realize this will they seek out the good doctor--Jesus!

We do well to show people how they have sinned against God by pointing them to the Law of God. That is what God's commands do. They show people how short they fall from God's glory. They show us our awful condition. They show us the wretched disease of sin and our future without intervention. It is only when we see ourselves as God sees us that will call out to Christ for help. And that is why these sinners and tax collectors came seeking Jesus...because He came seeking them in order to show them their miserable condition so that they'd receive spiritual healing and life from the hands of our good God.

The reason the Pharisees objected is because they thought that obedience to the Law of God merited them righteousness. They didn't understand that the Law condemns. And so when they see the sinners with whom Jesus ate, they have a self-righteous attitude as if they (the Pharisees) were better than the tax collectors and sinners. In truth the Pharisees should have seen themselves as people with whom Jesus needed to eat. But they didn't...and therefore were far from salvation.

3. Why Don't Christ's Disciples Fast?
Matthew 9:14-17, Matthew 6:16-18

Fasting is done for various reasons, one of which is during time of mourning. Jesus explicitly states that now is not the time for the disciples to fast--the Groom is here. In other words, when the Groom arrives to the wedding, it's time to celebrate. You are sad when He leaves. Jesus is saying that since He is among His people there is no reason for them to fast. The time will come when He departs and they will again fast. But for now, there is to be no fasting among His disciples.

Jesus then launches into some metaphoric language to explain further. He uses the illustration of unshrunk cloth and wineskins. Both may seem disconnected to fasting but they are connected if you understand the mind of the Jewish person in Jesus' day. If you take a piece of shrunken cloth with no elasticity and sow a piece of unshrunken cloth to it what will happen? Well, when the new cloth begins to shrink it will pull away from the shrunken cloth which has no more elasticity. This will cause the old fabric to tear and the garment will be useless. Something similar is to be said of wineskins. When you put unfermented wine in a wine skin it will begin to ferment and it will cause the wineskin to expand. Once the wineskin expands it will not shrink back. It will stay in it's expanded state. If you empy out the fermented wine and put in unfermented wine in the stretched out wineskin what happens? Well, the stretched-out wineskin holds more unfermented wine but has no room to stretch when fermentation takes place. The resuls will be a broken wineskin and spilled wine.

The point of all this is to teach the Jewish people (and us) that the Old Covenant/Testament of sacfrices and ceremonies cannot mix with the New Covenant/Testament. It simply will not work. In simplest terms, you can not cling to Mosaic Law and Christ at the same time. You can not practice circumcision + Christ. You can not practice animal sacrifice + Christ. You can not practice the Old with the New. The Old served it's purpose. It pointed the way to Christ. The Holy Days, ceremonies, sacrifices, temple worship, Priests, etc, all were shadows or pictures of Christ. Now that Christ was here, the Old had to go. Consequently that is why we have two "halves" to the Bible: The Old and New Testaments or Covenants. Clinging to both Old Testament rituals while trying to cling to Christ was part of the heresies and false teachings that the Apostles fought against in their letters to the church. The early Jewish Christians had to make a clean break from their Old Testament ways. Now what does this have to do with fasting?

Fasting was done along with the Day of Atonement. In brief that was the day in which sacrifices were made to atone (or cover up) the sins of Israel. It was part of Mosaic Law. Jesus in essence is telling those listening...that's Old Testament. But the New Testament (Jesus) is here. There's no reason to fast...the Savior is before you. Celebrate! "I'm here!"

This is the overall problem with all three objections we see in this passage. The Jews at large did not understand who Jesus was. Scripture teaches that Jesus came unto His own people and they did not receive Him. And in general they still do not receive Him as Messiah, as Savior, as God. Things are no different with the world at large. They do not receive Jesus as God. They do not believe what God has enabled us to believe about Christ. They are blind and in spiritual darkness. Therefore, we need to take the Word of God to them which will cause them to see Christ for Who He is. God has called us and commissioned us to go into the world and make known Christ. As Christ has been made known to you, have compassion on lost souls and go make Christ known to them.

Asking and Not Receiving

Matthew 7:7-12 [7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [11] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Experientially this verse does not always seem to "play" out the way it is stated. We have all asked the Lord to answer our prayers and have at times have had them denied or go unanswered. Why is this so? A couple of thoughts on why this may be so: (1). God is lying or (2). We have failed to fully understand or have altogether misunderstood what Christ is saying. Since Scripture says that God cannot lie, I opt for #2.

The Apostle Paul gives us a peak into why God sometimes does not answer our prayers even though those prayers may be very godly and from our perspective seem to be in line with God's will. It is always good to allow Scripture to shed light on other passages that may seem to present problems for our faith. In this case 2 Corinthians helps us to understand Matthew 7 a little better.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. [8] Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. [9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God desires for His power to be made known. He desires for His glory to be displayed in ways that maximize the glory of Christ. Although Paul prayed for the "messenger of Satan" to be removed, God deemed that such an answer to prayer would result in God's power not being on display. Our prayers, though they be focused on that, may be prayers that, if answered, would result in less glory for Christ. God, in His wisdom, will do all to exalt His Son to the greatest degree so that our joy may be in seeing His power and might fully displayed.

I, for one, am glad that God is smarter than my desires and wiser that my prayers. Although we are taught how to pray in the word, we must always realize that even our prayers are a fallible, yet a necessary and commanded part of the Christian life. But be sure to always have the glory of Christ in mind when you pray to your heavenly Father.

John 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

A Tragedy

I have just begun preaching through the gospel of Matthew on Sunday mornings. This Sunday's message was taken from Matthew 2 (the visit of the wise men to Jerusalem).

Matthew 2:1-2 [1] Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, [2] saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

There is a tragedy here in this Scripture and it is bound up in the little word "saying." These wise men had somehow been schooled in the Old Testament for they knew when and where Messiah would be born. Therefore, they came lookiing for the Christ. It's very possible that these wise men or magi first came into contact with the Holy Scripture some 540 years earlier when the Hebrew people were under the rule of the Babylonian empire. If you recall, Daniel was able to intepret King Nebchadnezzar's dream and was eventually put in charge of the magi (the wise men who advised the king).

Now when these wise men come looking for Christ they entered Jerusalem "saying." Simply put they kept asking and asking and asking and asking and asking and asking and asking! They kept saying "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." Apparently, the people who had first received the Scripture (the Israelites/Hebrew people) were oblivious to the fact that Christ had been born because nobody was able to give the wise men an answer. The wise men asked around so much that they created a buzz around town and word got back to Herod.

That is tragic. The Lord gives a people His Word. Those people pass it on so that Gentile nations so that people can be aware that the Lord incarnate is coming. Those Gentile people (however many they were) hold fast to the Word because it tells of the coming Living Word. At the same time, the Jewish people had forgot to pay attention to the Word and missed the coming of the Living Word. Sure they knew it, but they transformed in into principles for living rather than a testament of Christ. I'm not saying that there aren't principles for living in Scripture. There are. But the principles are there because they are reflections of the nature of Christ which we are saved to display.

Let us not forget that God gives us His Word (not as a manual for living) but as a light that shines in this dark world until the Morning Star arises in our hearts; meaning that Scriptures points us to Christ (O.T. & N.T.) until Christ comes. The Word written directs us always to the Living Word. That is why preaching must always be Christ-centered. Christ must be at the core (not a add-on) to the message for all Scripture directs us to Him somehow.

And what a tragedy it would be to have the Scriptures and miss out on Christ. I fear that many preachers today are nothing more than modern day Pharisees. They are directing people on how to live with all their "how-to-sermons" and failing to tell people about the One who came to earth, lived a sinless life, died for those who would repent and believe in Him, ascended into heaven, rules over His church and is coming a second time.

That little word "saying" gives us so much insight as to the spiritual condition of the people in those days. Lest we repeat history, pay attention to the Word of God.