The Comfort of God

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Intro: I was reading the Old Testament prophet Zechariah. I love reading and studying the prophets. Almost always they endured lives of great trials and suffering, but God used them uniquely to speak truth. They loved truth more than they loved comfort.

In Zechariah 1, we have this passage:

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the Lord of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us.’” (Zech 1:1-6)

Context, Context, Context: Zechariah prophesied during the 500s B.C. This was during the time Cyrus the Great allowed the diaspora to return to Jerusalem from Babylon (present-day Iraq), where Nebuchadnezzar had exiled many Jews. So, now was the time (in Zechariah’s day) of return. The time was one of excitement and enthusiasm because people were allowed to return to their homeland. It was also a time for them to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed and desecrated. But here’s the crucial part: the temple was a picture, a symbol of the gospel, not an end in itself. It was to point the people to God. But then, just as now, so many people miss this point. Real estate is not the gospel. Buildings are not the gospel. God is the gospel. But then, just as now, many people worship a place, a thing, an idol, and miss the whole point.

Then Zechariah, the prophet of God, speaks forth God’s truth to all who will hear:

Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.’” (Zech 1:17)

What is the prophet doing? Trying to get the people to understand that it’s the Lord–not a building–that’s crucial. It’s God who will again comfort Zion.

And how will He do that? Through the gospel.

The temple would again be rebuilt but it would also again be destroyed. Buildings come and go. But God abides forever.

Encouragement: Where will restless and suffering people find the comfort about which Zechariah prophesied? In Jesus. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Mt 5:4). That’s straight from the lips of Christ in His Sermon on the Mount.

When Paul addressed the Areopagus in Acts 17, he said, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

See what the focus is? It’s not on Jerusalem; it’s not on a temple; it’s not on geography. It’s on Christ. Comfort comes by way of the gospel–and the gospel is Christ.

Spiritual Harmony

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BLUF: Spiritual Harmony

Text: “Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife” (Pr 17:1).

Context, Context, Context: This is how Proverbs 17 opens. The Book of Proverbs was mostly penned by Solomon and is part of the Wisdom Literature in Scripture. The idea in this section of Proverbs deals with shalom, or spiritual peace that is found in God, through God, and because of God. It’s not just the absence of conflict; it is more than that. It’s an active, systemic well-being and soundness of mind and affections. It’s not something superficial; it’s not manufactured pleasantness. It goes to the core of a person.

Illustration: Recently I was with some of the other men from our church for some fellowship and a meal at one of our local BBQ places. The food was again excellent. But as impressed as I was by the proprietor’s Brunswick stew and ribs, what was tastier was the spiritual harmony among us. No jockeying for position; none of that immaturity. I listened to the other men tell of their backgrounds, what they do and/or did for careers. Some spoke of construction and architecture; others spoke of finance and insurance; others spoke of information technology and finance. And sports came up, as they invariably do when you have men gathered. On and on it went. But there was throughout a spiritual harmony in the tenor of conversation. That is increasingly rare in our day, when the default position seems to be one of dismissiveness. This is one more way in which Christians are salt and light in a world largely characterized by acrimony and dismissiveness.

Encouragement: Solomon uses the analogy of a simple household at peace. Though the family might not have much in terms of money, they have a peace that surpasses human understanding. Why? Because it is founded in God.

Commitment & Patient Endurance

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Text: “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act” (Ps 37:5).

Context, Context, Context: This is a psalm of David, part of what is called the Wisdom Literature in Scripture. The issue in Psalm 37 is a sensitive one: why do the wicked so often prosper in this life? Why do the godly often suffer profoundly?

What David pens should encourage all who have grappled with these existential questions. Why? Because one of the most obvious realities is that we find ourselves in a broken world. People are messy. Marriages suffer; friendships are tested; lies fill each day’s headlines; murderers go free; children are trafficked, and on and on it goes. If you want news of spiritual darkness, you do not have to look long or very far. Just turn on your favorite podcast, radio, news channel, etc. It’s all there—a litany of sad stories of cruel things done by people to other people. We are indeed a fallen creation, just as Scripture teaches.

But what about those who are trying to be good, those who are trying to live as salt and light in a morally rotten and darkening world? What does God have to say about that type of person’s character and about his affections/inclinations of his heart? That’s where Psalm 37 is so helpful.

A similar address is Proverbs 16:3. There we read, “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”

Encouragement: What we discover in Psalm 37:5 and Proverbs 16:3 is the matter of patient endurance in a godly direction. In the psalm, David writes that the godly person must first commit his way to God. Commitment is covenantal language. It is like marriage language where we commit to our wife or husband, promising to be faithful. Second, we see an emphasis on enduring faith in the goodness of God. The reality is, from our perspective, God seems to delay. We might say, God “drags his feet.” We are often prone to impetuousness and impatience. But God is not like that. God will act, according to Psalm 37. David reminds us, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him . . .” (Ps 37:7a). To summarize, then, two things: commit and patiently endure in the faith (and that faith is in the complete goodness of God).

Test the Spirits

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Introduction: What does it mean to test the spirits to see whether they are from God? The passage comes from the apostle John’s first epistle:

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 Jn 4:1-6)

Discussion: The issue revolves around the locus of rightful authority. Who is the true God? Are we to worship a Caesar? Should we worship a fickle mythical god like Zeus or Poseidon? Are we to offer a pinch of incense to Domitian, Nero, or any political tyrant or charismatic leader? Who’s the legitimate authority? The answer should be obvious: God. Not an idol, but God alone. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). The issue is the locus of rightful authority. Those who oppose Christ’s lordship are by definition anti-christs, i.e., opposed to God’s revelation. They are, to use the apostle John’s words, “from the world” and “speak from the world” and “the world listens to them.” What John means by that is the world system. There’s always a god of the system. If there’s no transcendent God above the system, then the system is the idol-god.

Encouragement: There is a high calling for followers of Christ. It involves testing the spirits to see whether they are from God. That means we are called to be a wise, discerning people, people who discern the reality from the appearances, the heart of the matter and not the facades.

CDT #494: Micah to Christ

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I was reading in Micah. Specifically, I was in chapter 5. Micah prophesied to Israel and Judah from the time just before the fall of Samaria through the time of Hezekiah of Judah (c. 740s B.C.). He was a contemporary of Isaih and Hosea. Michah’s themes were judgment and forgiveness. The Lord was and is the Judge, but is also believers’ Shepherd-King. And what does He do? Gathers, protects, and forgives His flock. Why? Because He is faithful to His covenantal nature. 

    Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;
    siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the judge of Israel
    on the cheek.
      But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
    from ancient days.
  Therefore he shall give them up until the time
    when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
    to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth.
  And he shall be their peace. (Micah 5:1-5a, ESV)

The progression of the recurring plot is all here: 1) Judgment is to fall upon the flock because the sheep have strayed; 2) but out of a seemingly insignificant tribe (Bethlehem), a ruler is promised “whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2b); and 3) He will “shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD” (Micah 5:4). 

Just as David was a type of this in the 900s B.C., a shepherd-boy who became king and ruler, so the covenantal promise is fulfilled ultimately in Christ, the Good Shepherd, who leads His people “in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Ps 23:3). And He bore the judgment the flock deserves.

All of the Bible points to Jesus. All of it. One coherent story. And God is the Hero.  

Grace & Mercy

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Question: What does it say that we desire law for others but mercy and grace for ourselves?

Text:

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,[a] and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant[b] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[c] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Context, Context, Context: The reluctant, self-absorbed, narcissistic Jonah did not want grace and mercy for others. In this case, the “others” were the people of Nineveh. Yet Jonah had proclaimed an 8-word message to them, and many were saved: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4). And do you know what God did through that message? He saved people.

And we might think that Jonah would have rejoiced. But no. Jonah pouted. Why? Because it wasn’t about Jonah. It was about the message of redemption. It was about repentance and faith. And that infuriated Jonah. Jonah loved nothing quite so much as Jonah.

Encouragement: What does it say that we desire law for others but mercy and grace for ourselves? One of the beautiful works of the gospel is that it humbles us. It redirects our focus from being on ourselves, our own comforts. It makes us others-focused. Jonah very often failed to live out that transformation. He wanted mercy and grace for himself but he desired law for others. The pattern continues, sadly. How might we be of much more beautiful use if we desired others to experience mercy and grace as much as we long for those things for ourselves?

Appearance vs. Reality

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After returning from coffee with a friend this morning, I sat down to study and write out my homily for tomorrow. It is based upon my favorite book of the Bible: Ecclesiastes. And tomorrow we are in chapter seven, perhaps my favorite of Ecclesiastes’ twelve chapters.

And the overarching theme I long to impart to the hearers is one of the Bible’s–and one of history and literature’s–greatest and most enduring themes: appearance vs. reality, and the need for wisdom to discern the differences.

If you’re in the area, please check us out in-person or online @ Christ Covenant Church in Canton or @ 3cs-canton.org

We’ll post the recording on YouTube tomorrow afternoon, too.

Where Is Salvation Found?

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Question: Where is salvation found?

Text: When my life was fainting away,
    I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
    into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
    forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
    will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
    Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (Jonah 2:7-9)

Context, Context, Context: Once again, here was Jonah, this stubborn, recalcitrant, self-centered prophet. And he was praying from inside the “belly of the fish” (Jonah 2:1). And God, through sheer sovereign grace, yet again spared Jonah, saved him, and delivered him onto dry land: “And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10).

Encouragement: Does the Bible anywhere teach here that Jonah was saved by Jonah? Hardly. Jonah was the problem! Does the Bible anywhere teach here that Jonah merited favor with God? Again, no. Does the Bible anywhere teach here that salvation came by human works, human effort, human goodness, or human credentials? Again, no. Salvation belongs, according to the text, “to the LORD!” (Jonah 2:9b).