EBG Preken

I will build my Church
Pentecost Sunday 2016

As I was considering what to preach on for Pentecost a passage came to mind that Wim quoted to me a few weeks ago. In this passageChrist asks His disciples an all-important question. For everyone here, it is the most important question ever asked: Who do you say that I am? Peter, being the always-first-to-speak disciple utters a confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus praises Peter for this confession and adds that only the Father could have revealed that to Him.

This is the backdrop to a magnificent statement by Christ in verse 18, which is where we will begin our study of God’s Word. My aim this morning, is to trace this promise to its fulfillment and to encourage us in this plan.

Matthew 16:18 - Looking forward
Jesus mentions the Church - ekklesia, which means “called out ones” - for the first time in this text. The tense is future, meaning that building the Church has not yet begun. Jesus clearly expresses that this will be His work with the “I” and the “my”. He will lay the foundation and He will retain ownership of the building.
The final part of His statement is that “the gates of hell will not prevail against it”. I love this picture, because gates are a defensive structure that you hide behind. Hell is pictured as being on the defensive, while Christ’s buildingproject will advance against it. Throughout history this has proven to be true - the Church has conquered kingly decrees, survived large-scale persecution and penetrated every culture. Christ is building His Church as He promised He would.

John 20:19-23 - Promise
In Matthew 16:21 Matthew tells us that Jesus’ message changed from “repent for the kingdom is at hand” (Matthew 4:27) to “I must go to Jerusalem to suffer many things”. In John 20 that is passed. Jesus has been crucified, He was laid in a tomb, and He rose again three days later and is now appearing to His disciples. He first appeared to Mary, which is such a sweet testimony to Christ’s love. Then he appears to the disciples gathered in a room and wishes them “peace” twice. They investigate the evidence and then Christ gives them a promise. As the Father sent Christ, He is sending them. But He isn’t going to send them alone and gives them assurance of Holy Spirit. Literally the text just says that Christ “breathes” here - the “on them” is supplied by the translator. The plainest explanation is that Christ gives an audible example of how they will receive the Holy Spirit. He either blows out (on Pentecost Day the coming of the Holy Spirit is accompanied with a rushing wind) or breathes in (to signify how the Holy Spirit will fill them). Either way, there isn’t a reference to some mystical pre-pentecost giving of the Holy Spirit. More significantly is the change that Jesus promises in their ministry: they will be given the authority to speak of forgiven and unforgiven sins. Again this isn’t mystical, but a change in the situation before Christ death and resurrection. The Jews didn’t speak of forgiven and unforgiven sins, but of covered sins. Now, the disciples - and we - are permitted to speak of sins that are forgiven - if you believe on Christ, your sins are forgiven. And sins that are not forgiven - if you do not believe on Christ, you remain in your sins.
Jesus gives His disciples assurance of the Holy Spirit that they will receive, but have not yet.

Acts 1:4-8 - Expectation
Jesus tells His disciples to wait in Jerusalem and expect the Holy Spirit in not many days. The coming of the Holy Spirit is still future here and the disciples still need to obediently wait. Christ has not yet ascended to send the Comforter.

Acts 2:1-4 - Fulfillment
In Acts 2 Pentecost has come and the disciples are gathered together. The sound of a rushing wind - perhaps they thought back to John 20 - and it fills the room. The Holy Spirit...

Not all superheroes wear capes
1 Samuel 1

I want to first draw your attention to 1 Peter 3:1-6. Peter - the fisherman - gives us a portrait of true, Godly womanhood. The beauty of outward adornment takes a back seat to the inner beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit. Heather and I attended a wedding last night and the outward beauty of women was on display - pretty dresses, hair done up, make-up, and the clicketting sound of high heels on the concrete Church floor. There is nothing wrong with outward beauty. Peter, however draws our attention to the inward beauty. A woman who has learned to quiet her spirit and be gentle is precious in the Lord’s sight.
The first descriptive noun captures genuine friendliness or meekness. It is not that of an unassuming wallflower, but a quality of character that is gentle with others. The second noun is virtually unknown to the world we live in: a peaceful heart. Being satisfied, free of turmoil, and steadily trusting her Lord.
Then Peter segues to “holy women” and cites Sarah as a good example. It’s one of those holy women that I would like to visit this morning.

Hannah
One author I read describes the setting as follows:
“As the book opens, it is the period of the Judges. There is no king in Israel as yet. It is a time of turmoil; it is a time of confusion. It is a time when Israel is vulnerable to the Philistines. It is a time when they are debauched morally. It is a time when their religion has grown cold. And it is a time for a great man to rise and take the leadership of the nation, a period of religious degeneracy, of political distress. With the death of Samson the country was divided and leaderless. (...) The priesthood was corrupt. Moral scandals were rampant among the family of the priests. The nation was weak. The nation was impotent. And the worst of all, chapter 3, verse 1 says, “word from the Lord was rare in those days, and visions were infrequent.” God even had nothing to say.”

In the middle of this worldly nation we read about Hannah, who is going to be the mom of one of the Godliest men in Scripture. Not in the family line of Messiah, but a man of simple obedience and faith. You’ll see in just a moment that he got that from his mom.

Happily married, and yet...

We are introduced to a man named Elkanah and the details of his marriage are spelled out. He got married twice. It was never God’s pattern for marriage and never condoned in Scripture, but Scripture never hides the faults of its heroes. The narrative makes it plain that Elkanah loved Hannah, though. Since Peninnah had the children (verse 2) and Hannah received the double portion (verse 5), it is safe to assume that Elkanah married Hannah first. When they discovered that God had closed her womb (verse 5), Elkanah married Peninnah to ensure offspring. This is a clear indictment of Elkanah, who chooses to follow a social construct instead of God’s pattern for marriage.
The text plainly states that Elkanah loved Hannah. He even intimates in verse 8 that he goes to great measure to be good to her. He’s a good husband, all things considered. So she’s happily married, but Peninnah makes her life difficult. I can imagine that.

Pouring out her heart to...

Hannah’s name means “grace” and she displays this in the text. Nowhere do we read of a backlash at Peninnah. We don’t read that she treats Peninnah badly. Hannah has inner turmoil and great sadness, but she is gentle in her treatment of wife number two.
And then we read that she directs her inner turmoil to the only One, who can do anything about it. If God closed her womb, only He could open it. She goes and prays… actually the text says “she was speaking in her heart” - what a beautiful description of prayer.
When Eli - what a great guy - sees her praying and assumes she is drunk, she responds vehemently to an accusation of being a “worthless woman”....

Genesis 18

God asks questions. Not for His benefit, as if He were lacking some kind of knowledge or needed to understand something, but for our benefit. God’s questions to Adam, Where are you? and Who told you that?, were designed to get to the heart of epistemology: we are all accountable to God and there are voices that are not true. God’s question of Cain, Why are you angry?, was designed to get to the heart of temptation and sin. These are questions we ought to ask ourselves today.

This morning’s question jumps through the pages of Genesis to Abraham’s life and tackles the very human emotion of doubt. René Descartes once said that in order to truly examine life one must come to doubt everything. Buddhism teaches a similar belief that embracing doubt as an essential part of life. Doubt is described in Scripture, however, as the antithesis of faith.

The Setting
In Genesis 12 God calls Abram and promises to make him a great nation. He is 75 when he is called. Sarai had been unable to give her husband children in their long marriage, so you can imagine what this news did for this couple. In chapter 15 God repeats this promise and enters into covenant with Abram. Abram believes God and it is credited to him as righteousness (15:6).
In chapter 16 Sarai has lost her patience. From the end of the chapter we learn that when Ishmael is born Abraham is 86. So her patience has run out on the tenth anniversary of God’s promise. She decides that her Egyptian servant could provide an heir for Abraham and sets things in motion. She regrets this plan, treats Hagar badly, and she flees.
In chapter 17 God repeats His promise again. Abraham laughs to himself and expresses his doubt in verses 17-18, suggesting Ishmael would be his heir. God rejects Ishmael and reiterates that Sara will conceive.
In chapter 18 travelers visit the couple and they prophesy that when they return the following year, Sara will be with child. Sara overhears the conversation and laughs to herself. Her laughing prompts the question: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

What a question. What an indictment. What a slap across the back of the head. It implies to us that we have failed to consider God’s supernatural ability to do as He pleases.

As we consider this story, it is easy to relate to Sarai’s impatience and doubt. Ten years is a long time to wait for something you’ve wanted your entire life. When the travelers comes Abraham is 99. Another 15 years will have passed before Isaac is born. Sarah’s doubt may be understandable, but it is also inexcusable. She lost sight of God’s omnipotent hand.
God didn’t just want to begin this chosen through natural means… he wanted to use a supernatural beginning. It is said of Sarah that the way of women had passed. In other words, she had passed through menopause. God wanted to do something amazing and He had promised that He would. Sarah’s short-sightedness was that it had to happen in a time-table suitable for her. Her doubt even led her husband into sin.

Why do we doubt?
We doubt because we don’t believe or trust.

Experience can teach us to doubt: I have learned that I can’t… you have proven yourself untrustworthy...
Memories can keep us in doubt: I’ve tried that before and it didn’t work.
Lies can trap us in doubt: I’ve been told that…
My upbringing can lead me to doubt: my family has always believed or done…

There are a host of reasons that can lead us into doubt, but at the root of it all is distrust. When we doubt, we are saying something about the character of the one we doubt. And that is why doubting God - He who has perfect character - is sinful.

Mackintosh points out the following: “Believing a promise and its fulfillment and waiting patiently are two very different things.” Believing God’s promises requires faith. Holding on patiently requires endurance and hope.

Genesis 4

God asks questions. Not for His benefit, as if He were lacking some kind of knowledge or needed to understand something, but for our benefit. God’s questions to Adam, Where are you? and Who told you that?, were designed to get to the heart of the matter. And they became questions that we ought still ask ourselves today.

This morning’s question is asked of a young man, who is visibly struggling with himself. Emotions are running high and it can be read on his face.

The Setting
In Genesis four Adam and Eve become parents. Sinners have children. It is quickly evident that sin is passed from the father to his children and the truth of Genesis three is frighteningly real: death is spreading. In following the example set by their father, these two sinners offer sacrifices for their sins. God set the standard when he rejected Adam’s covering and slaughtered animals for their skins. Sin can only be covered by the shedding of blood.
God evaluates the offerings and more specifically the offerers. Throughout the Old Testament it is evident that God is more concerned with the heart of the person bringing the sacrifice than the sacrifice itself (see Hosea 6:6).
Two outcomes: Able is accepted; Cain is angry.
And then comes the question: Why are you angry?

Knowing my own heart, I can easily imagine the anger of Cain. The question God asks might even push me over the edge… Why am I angry? I gave you an offering, but you like my brother’s offering more than mine. I tried and you brushed me aside. It always has to be done your way; exactly like you say. I’m embarrassed… you made me look like a fool in front of my brother. Now he thinks he’s better than me. I’ll show him.
The internal dialogue is all too familiar isn’t it?
God’s questions wasn’t for information, though… He has a much higher aim.

Why do we get angry?
This is a good question… because when I ask this question of an angry person, the answer generally starts with: “He did…” This question is normally interpreted by the angry person as a request for information. We answer with circumstances: I have a bad boss. My wife is irrational. My kids are annoying. I worked really hard on that. I’m so very tired. I’m sick. My life is a mess. My bank account is overdrawn. We even tie a bunch of these together into a bouquet of circumstances that create a perfect storm and anger wells up within us as a result.

But that is not what God is after with His penetrating question. He doesn’t wonder about the circumstances that led to Cain’s anger, He is trying to get Cain to look deeper than that. He’s explicit about it too and continues the questioning: why is your face fallen? Do you realize this is having a visible result in your life? All you need is a right sacrifice… if you don’t do that, sin is lying in wait to pounce and take you. You can hear the voice of a father: “be careful son.” God asks this same question of Jonah in chapter four… “Jonah, do you really do well to be angry?”

God’s aim with his question is threefold:
- Take a look into your heart
- Search yourself (not your circumstances)
- Understand what is happening.

You see… there is more at stake here than mere anger. Sin is luring. Sin is coming. Sin is setting a trap. Anger will lead to murder. This bitterness of heart will result in bloodshed. God wants Cain to consider the processes that are at work here and the strategy that is unfolding. But Cain isn’t in a listening mood.

I would like to consider an Autopsy of Sin. James teaches us regarding the development of sin… the path it follows… the strategy that our enemy uses. See James 1:14-15.

=> There is a desire that lures us
=> I impregnate that desire
=> Desire conceived births sin
=> Sin grows up
=> Full-grown sin births death

It’s like any other disease… it starts small, but...

God asks a question.
Last year we visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky, USA. It was a thrilling afternoon with the boys, walking through a museum that was dedicated to scientific exploration with a biblical worldview. At the end of the walk-through you have the option to go to the gift-shop/bookstore. I have a weak spot for Bookstores. One of the books I picked up is titled Questions God asks by Israel Wayne. I wasn’t as interested in the topic of the book as I was in the concept of the book. God asks questions.

When I ask a question, it is because I don’t understand or don’t know something. Why then would God ask anyone a question? And yet throughout the pages of Scripture we encounter God asking people questions. His reasons for asking are different than our’s… He doesn’t need answers. His questions to mankind reveal that we need answers - even when we don’t know it.

We will deal with two questions this morning… both are found in Genesis chapter 3.

Question 1: Where are you?
God has created everything, formed man and instructed man. Chapter three opens with Satan seducing Eve and Adam sins. The next thing they do is peculiar: they hide.
Why do we hide? Fear, shame, and regret drive our hiding, but I think it is wrong thinking that really makes us hide: wrong thinking about the one looking for us. Honestly… when you’re in trouble with mom, does hiding make it better or worse?
Their hiding prompts God’s first question of man: Where are you?
Now God is fully aware of what has transpired. He saw it happen. Satan had to ask permission to approach Eve and it had been granted. God is surely aware of the sin that has entered into his gloriously good creation. So why the question? The question is meant to drive Adam to think correctly about two things:
- God knows what we have done
- We are accountable to Him

Hiding from God, sewing fig leaves together, covering and cowering don’t change the fact that God already knows what has happened. Later Revelation teaches us how far-reaching His omniscience is: Psalm 139 leaves no bounds to His knowing. And the fact is that at the end of it all, everyone will give an account to Him. We may think we can hide, but all will be revealed and He is the One that we will have to talk to about it.
Just like with mom and dad. Hiding doesn’t change a thing… it postpones the inevitable: they already know what I did and I have to talk to them. Where are you?
God’s second question follows quickly

Question 2: Who told you?
In explaining why they hid themselves, Adam references his nakedness and God interrupts with His second question: Who told you, you were naked?
Again, Satan had to ask permission to set these things in motion, so God is fully aware of Satan’s wicked scheme. Surely God knows the very words spoken. Yet the question remains.

Perhaps Adam and Eve weren’t aware, but there are voices that are not God’s telling us what to do. Jeremiah even speaks of a voice inside of us that is desperately wicked: our own heart.

The realization then becomes that Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be instructed by someone or something that was not God’s voice. We aren’t surprised by this, since we live in a world which deafens us with its lies. But do you comprehend that this was never meant to be?

Adam had allowed himself to be influenced by a lie. A voice that was not from God. This remains a struggle for us today.
God has revealed His truth
We must learn to recognize lies
Peter tells us God has given us everything we need (2 Pet. 1:3) Paul tells us to test everything (1 Thes. 5:21). We must continually be looking for God’s truth and correcting the lies we hear. Who told you that? Is an important question to ask over and over again.

When God aks a question… we really ought to listen. Do you?

Life lessons from Paul
Philippians 4:14-19

This second sermon on life lessons from Paul concludes his closing remarks. In other letters he closes by taking the quill from his amanuensis, not only to show personal interest, but also to authenticate his letters. (see 2 Thess. 3:17) Perhaps that is what he has done in these last verses: personally thanking them for their gift for his need.

An important lesson from Paul is learned in these final verses that I want to expound this morning and I would like to begin where I ended last week: Paul’s life lessons are lessons learned in the School of walking with the Master and we will learn these lessons also as God gives us opportunity. What will you make of the opportunity?

Experience has taught Paul a thing or two about money and in discussing the Philippians’ gift to him, that lesson is clearly evident.

First of all, Paul speaks in peculiar terms in regards to the Philippians’ ministry to him: he speak of concern, opportunity, and reviving.

Concern 10a
These Philippians were concerned with Paul. He has already elluded to the fact that they labored together with him for the gospel (1:5) and calls them co-laborers (4:3b). They cared enough about Paul to commission Epaphroditus on a trip to Rome.
But their concern was not just now… ten years ago when Paul was planting Churches in Macedonia, they were concerned as well. (15-16)
This Church cared about this apostle and it moved them to action.

Opportunity 10c
They cared, but weren’t in a position to help… until now. An opportunity to help him arose. A textbook definition of this word is a “profitable moment”. God brought about an opportunity to act upon the care they already had for him.
Paul calls this opportunity “sharing in his trouble.” This was an opportunity that would be costly, that would be troublesome. Yet they were able to engage with him through this trouble.

Revive 10b
The verb attached to their action toward Paul is “revive”. A strange verb that is only used here in Scripture. It calls up images of a flower or plant that shoots out new roots and sprouts. It comes to life.
Their care for Paul through acting on this opportunity is described as flourishing. And Paul calls what they did “good.”

Which brings us to what Paul has learned: It’s not about the gift… it’s about the credit on their account. What account? Their account in heaven. Paul drives their attention heaven-ward: He has received their gift, he is overwhelmed, everything is filled up and their gift… he describes it as an offering given to God. Using all the Old Testament imagery, this gift they have given is well-pleasing to the Lord.
Attached to this gift they have given, then, is the promise: God will supply all you needs according to His riches.

And there you have it… Paul has learned through experience that God takes care of our needs. He uses others to do it… by causing care to grow in their hearts, by bringing an opportunity to act, and then by allowing a sacrifice to flourish in and through us.

Just because you care, though… and just because there is an opportunity… doesn’t mean that you will flourish. We must choose to give the gift, to sacrifice for others. And in no other area of life is this quite as evident as in the area of our finances. How generous are you?

Daniel Boyd
Life lessons - by Paul
Philippians 4:10-13

I almost picture Paul sitting like a grandfather passing on an important lesson to his kids. Paul is in prison, so the picture doesn’t quite fit. But he is passing on wisdom in this passage. He speaks of a lesson he has learned and urges us to prepare to learn the same lesson.

Paul has commanded his readers to confront (4:2-3), to pray (4:5-7), to think (4:8) and to apply truth (4:9). Now he turns to close this letter in a very personal way. We will finish out this book study next week.

JOY IN... (verse 10)
Paul rejoices in the concern of the Church. They had provided for him. He applauds them for seeing the opportunity and acting upon it. Notice the direction of his joy. It is directed to the Lord. Paul’s rejoicing, even when others do for him remains “in the Lord”. I think this informs how we should receive complements and gracious acts from others: we ought to be thankful and rejoice in the Lord for the opportunity God provided.

SATISFIED WITH (verses 11-12)
Paul speaks of a lesson learned. He has learned to accept the circumstances God places him in. That implies that there have been a lot of circumstances, which is the experience he speaks of in verse 12: he has run the gamut of circumstances and learned to be content.

LEANING ON (verse 13)
This verse is a favorite among Christians. Paul speaks of his ability (see Mat. 26:40 and James 5:16)... his ableness to accomplish something and in this context it is related to circumstances… and handling those circumstances. Secondly, he describes the sphere of operation: in Christ. Actually, Christ is not mentioned… it says “Him”, but everyone knows who strengthens Paul. (See 1 Tim. 1:12 and 2 Tim. 2:1 and 4:17 for further usage of “strengthened”).
The original sentence structure places “me” at the end of the sentence… the placement of least importance. It is Christ’s work in and through Paul to strengthen Him for the task at hand.

Paul’s life lessons are lessons learned in the School of walking with the Master and we will learn these lessons also as God gives us opportunity. What will you make of the opportunity?

Daniel Boyd
Praying and Thinking
Philippians 4:5b-9

We have been working through the imperatives of this final section. Paul exhorts his readers to be mimickers in 3:17, to stand firm in 4:1 (repeated from 1:27), and to rejoice in 4:4 (repeated from 2:17-18 and 3:1).

The verses we’ll cover this morning are perhaps some of the most familiar passages of Scripture. I think after John 3:16 these were some of the very first verses I committed to memory. This is a precious passage of Scripture, which has encouraged me at many times in my life and it has been refreshing to study these verses again this past week. I hope that you are equally blessed this morning.

Wisdom for Every-day Life

THEOLOGY (verse 5b)
Verse 5b is grammatically unconnected to the previous statement about “your kindness”, which is why I did not include it in the last sermon. However, it is equally unconnected to verse 6. This statement about the nearness of God stands as a grammatical Island between two topics: Disagreement in the Church (2-5a) and Prayer (6-7).
This statement, however, introduces Paul’s discussion on prayer and stands as a heading over this next section of Pauline exhortations. God is near. This theological truth has tremendous practical implications, which he develops in verses 6-9.
Another example of a Pauline theological construct
In chapter one Paul introduces a theological statement about God’s sovereign work in our lives (1:6) and applies that truth to His own situation: being jailed has resulted in a gospel witness throughout the Roman Praetorian Guard (1:12-14).

PRACTICE (verse 6)
Paul places two statements opposite each other. The first is negative: do not do this; the second is positive: do this. The first naturally leads into the second.
Do not be anxious about anything
The word for anxious is the same that he used of Timothy and his genuine concern for the Church (2:19). In that context it was a positive concern for the Church. The context here clearly leads us to a negative concern. It reminds me of Christ’s words in the sermon on the mount to not be concerned about the things of tomorrow - what do I wear; what do I eat?
The “anything” is all encompassing… there should not be anything that takes us so captive that it dominates our concern. My counseling professor has a statement that I think is particularly helpful here: worry is the sinful application of the creativity God built in us.
Connecting this to the theology of verse 5: God’s nearness should have profound implication for our worries: why worry when God is so near to us?
Let your requests be made known to God.
Following the “but” is the positive action. God’s nearness should drive us to relating to Him. The passive voice of this verb is interesting to me. Paul is deliberately describing a situation where we reveal something to God. It is impossible for us to reveal something to an omniscient God… and yet for the sake of relationship this is exactly what Paul describes. And he is very specific in how we should do this: through prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving
- Prayer and supplication. The first term is the general term for prayer, the second is a more urgent pleading. Both describe actions of prayer.
- Thanksgiving is the attitude that oversees the prayer and supplication (never ask without saying thank you).
- The content of the prayer is called “your request”, which simply refers to the content of your communication.
- And God is the direct object: He is who we pray to.

God’s nearness gives us someone to talk to about the things in life that would cause us worry. He asks us to tell Him about it, share our feelings, and then to deposit them as thankful requests.

RESULT (verse 7)
God’s nearness and our acknowledging of His nearness brings God’s peace. A peace that guards our hearts and minds and surpasses understanding. What a wonderful description of what God does for us. The word used for “guard” is the same that Peter uses in his description of God’s power guarding our inheritance in heaven.
Worry takes place in our minds and captures our heart (we can make really bad decisions when we are worried)... these are the areas that God’s peace guards us. Right where we need it. God is near.
Secondly, this peace rises above (literally) our comprehension. Peace in the midst of the storm… a calm in the middle of struggle… God is near and worry isn’t gone, but He calms my heart.

Verses 8-9
We can get really difficult about verse 8 or we can simply realize that Paul is widening the scope concerning our thinking and suggesting that in life we should think about the things God wants us to think about. Since so much of our trouble starts in our thinking, Paul suggests we coach our thinking.
Secondly he enjoins us to apply the things we have learned. Just like he has done here… apply theology to life.

The last statement in verse 9 seems like it could be conditional, as in: if you do these things the God of peace will be with you. That is not what the original language dictates… is it rather a connective statement, as in: and (in case you forgot already) the God of peace will be with you. He reaches back to the theology of verse 5 and brings it all full circle.


Paul gives us great encouragement in the midst of life… wisdom for every-day life… don’t worry: pray. And when you finish praying: think God’s thoughts. Peace will surround you and guard you. God is near.