Mission to Babylon

In this sermon, the preacher expounds on James 1:9-12, addressing trials faced by both the lowly and the rich within the church, emphasizing a counterintuitive, gospel-centered perspective. The lowly, often socially and economically disadvantaged, are exhorted to “boast in their exaltation,” recognizing their heavenly status and union with Christ despite earthly humility. Conversely, the rich are cautioned to “boast in their humiliation,” remembering the transient nature of wealth and earthly life, avoiding the temptation to idolize riches as sources of identity or security. The sermon highlights that trials come uniquely to each station, requiring paradoxical wisdom that counters worldly values. Riches are affirmed as blessings from God but carry the danger of fostering pride and detachment from dependence on God. The preacher stresses rejecting cultural egalitarianism and envy, encouraging gratitude regardless of social standing. Further, the digital age’s role in manufacturing discontent through consumerism is addressed with a biblical call to contentment. Practical applications include urging the affluent to humbly relate to the lowly, fostering unity and mutual service rather than division. Ultimately, the sermon points to the “crown of life” promised by God to those who steadfastly endure trials, framing suffering as a path to spiritual maturity and eternal reward. This message roots Christian identity not in earthly status but in faithful perseverance under trials, anchored in the hope secured by Christ’s victory over death.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Our sermon text today comes from the, not the gospel, the epistle of James. We’re still in the first
chapter, verses 9 through 12. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s holy and inspired word.
James 1, beginning in verse 9. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his
humiliation.
Because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers
the grass. Its flower falls and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his
pursuits.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive the
crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, our Lord and our God. We thank you for your word. And I pray
that whatever station, whether lowly or exalted, you have placed us in, in your wisdom and in your
providence, that we would inhabit that station well with gratitude and avoiding the snares that are
incumbent to each one. We pray it through Christ our Lord and in his name we pray. Amen.
Amen. Well, a prayer book that I’m sure some of you are familiar with and that I’ve used to great
advantage over the last decade is one called the Valley of Vision. It’s a collection of Puritan prayers and
thoughts. And the first prayer in that book, the one by the name Valley of Vision, which is taken from the
prophet Isaiah, that phrase, it says this in the prayer, Lord, high and holy.
Meek and lowly, thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths, yet see thee in
the heights. Hemmed in by mountains of sin, I behold your glory. Let me learn by paradox.
that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart will be the healed
heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to
bear the cross is to wear a crown, that to give is to receive, and that the valley really is the place of
vision.
Much of living with wisdom within the economy of the kingdom is learning by paradox, as it says
wonderfully in that prayer. Let me learn by paradox that the path to greatness and to joy, to living with
the applause of heaven upon you, is counterintuitive. It is precisely the opposite.
of what’s natural in the flesh. As our Lord says, to be great in the kingdom is to become the servant of all.
Counterintuitive, learning by paradox. Well, as we continue on in our study of James today, James is
going to instruct us
by paradox. He’s going to teach us to remain steadfast during specific trials, whether it’s the trial that
comes with lowliness, of having a humble estate by the world’s standards, or the trial of riches, of
having a high estate by the world’s standards.
But we must always remember that James isn’t writing vague proverbs, fortune cookie style to anyone
who happens upon them. He’s writing a pastoral letter to a specific people with a specific purpose, a
specific logic and flow of thought, each section building upon, filling out more of what just came behind.
So today, that’s why we know that
That while he addresses the lowly and the rich, the frame around what he’s saying is the context of
trials. That they are intended to bring about maturity. We know this for at least two reasons. One, that is
the heels of what we just came on, was remaining steadfast in trials. But the second is he backends this
specific word today to the lowly and the rich within the church with a call, again, to remain steadfast
during trials.
So there are unique trials that are inherent to each station, which requires paradoxical wisdom. If you
would remain steadfast and take hold of the maturity and ultimately the life that Christ intends.
And while we may think only one of these comes with a trial, namely the lowly, that they’re the ones
who are really in it, James would say, if you think that only the lowly have trials, then you have a very
shallow understanding of human nature.
You are very naive to where real temptation comes from. Having riches, having influence and affluence
also has great potential moral pitfalls. As our Lord reminds us by paradox, it is quite possible, perhaps
quite easy, to gain the whole world, but to lose your soul.
to wake up and realize you are morally devastated after having achieved all that you set out to achieve.
That’s Matthew 16.
So, an overview of our text today. Verse 9, James first speaks to the lowly in the church. The lowly, the
undistinguished, the anti-influencer, the one with no political sway, no social capital, certainly
financially impoverished. And in context, this would have made up a significant majority of Christians.
The dispersed church. Remember, he’s writing to the dysphoria, the dispersed church. We talk about
how we are in a uniquely challenging economy, which no doubt some of us feel the pinch from with
rising inflation and gas prices and all the rest. Well, the lowly in James’ context…
had a very uniquely challenging economy. Remember, they had to hightail it out of Jerusalem just to
save their skin after Stephen’s martyrdom, which meant not only did they have to leave their homes,
they also had to leave the place where they would have had some social capital within the community.
Many had to leave most of their possessions, which were likely very humble to begin with.
And so you can imagine how hard this present trial would be for them, especially for the men in the
community, the providers who have been forced to abandon their land, abandon their labors, abandon
their network. This is a hard providence.
And this lowliness would have come with a whole host of temptations. It doesn’t take much imagination
to envision what that would be. The temptation towards anger, towards frustration and a festering
bitterness towards their persecutors. Or on the other side, the temptation towards envying the rich,
especially those who had recently joined the church and
and who have been shielded from the painful sacrifices that manifested when they had to flee. There is
some real social economic gunpowder that is laid out all across the sanctuary, which could blow up very
easily if the sparks of anger and envy start to spray out. And so, Pastor James knows this, and so he
speaks to them, and he gives them the key.
to passing the lowliness test well. They are lowly, all in God’s providence, and there is a way to endure
that trial well, and it’s this. He says that they should boast in their exaltation. They should boast at how
exalted their office and their standing is.
See, if they are upset by their lowliness, worldly speaking, then the test was well brought because it
shows that they are measuring their worth by a worldly metric and not in light of the gospel. But James
reminds them of the paradoxical wisdom that they might appear lowly on paper, but that lowliness is a
mirage. In reality, through their union with Christ,
They hold an exalted office. They’ve been seated with Christ in the heavenly places. They have become,
to use language we introduced last week, nobility within the new creation. Paul makes this point to the
Corinthians. He says in 1 Corinthians 3, 21-23, “…let no one boast in men.”
For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death, the present or
the future, all are yours and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s. And see, the Corinthians were big on
gauging status by a worldly metric within the church and
They found their identity, their cool points, by claiming they had the basest pastor. They listened to the
basest podcasters. Therefore, they were very spiritual Christians indeed. And this was causing divisions
in the church. I follow Paul. Well, I follow Apollos. Well, I follow John MacArthur. Well, I follow John
Piper. Well, I follow Doug Wilson, right? We still see this in the church. But Paul says, though your boast
has a Christian veneer, it is carnal reasoning.
This is the way the worldlings measure glory, by who they’re connected to, by what social status they
have, but not the Christian. Our boast and our glory is that we are united together to Jesus Christ. And
the position he has given us is vice regents in his kingdom.
And in the same way, James calls the lowly not to fixate on their temporal, earthly status, but to boast in
their exalted status in Christ through the gospel. Then in verse 10, he now turns and he speaks to the
other side.
to the rich, which I take to mean not the rich outside of the church that is persecuting and oppressing
them, though some commentators take it that way. I believe he’s talking to the rich within the church
who are brothers but of significant means and substantial influence. I take it that way for several
reasons, not least because in the next chapter,
We’re told that, at the very least, they’re having rich visitors come to the church who some were
tempted to fawn over and show favoritism towards. But it’s not just the lowly that have a unique
temptation. What’s true is being rich…
Being applauded, having affluence, having office comes preloaded with very real trials as well. They are
not the same trials as the lowly, but they are just as real of trials. In fact, the rich are one of the most
worn groups in all of Scripture. Riches are rife with pitfalls.
Now it must be said, and it must be said clearly, this is not because riches in themselves are bad
There’s also a massive Gnostic ditch that the church can swerve into, thinking inherently that wealth or
resources in general ought to be looked at skeptically, as if they are to be generally avoided, but if
enjoyed at all, they are to be seen as guilty pleasures, not good blessings. And that impulse is
sub-Christian. That impulse is sub-Christian. Riches and wealth are often put forth as a great blessing
from God.
And this makes sense when you think about it. We’re physical beings put in a physical earth called to
take real dominion, be really fruitful in this earth. And since the Bible says you generally reap what you
sow, then a diligent sower will generally have a good and increasing harvest over time. Generally. And
scripture celebrates this, calls it a blessing. Proverbs 10, 22. The blessing of the Lord.
makes rich. And he adds, no sorrow with it. Proverbs 13, 22, a good man leaves an inheritance to his
children’s children. So riches or wealth or resources are not bad in and of themselves. They’re often
called a blessing in scripture. So why then are the rich so often warned if they’re meant to be a blessing?
Why are they so often warned? Why would James say there is a trial baked into that station that you
need to overcome? Well, one way to answer this is to go all the way back to the beginning, back to Eden.
When Satan first brought a temptation to mankind, how did he bait the hook? What was the tantalizing
morsel that he put on it?
It was the promise of being like God. Don’t you see? You could be like God if you did this. And that bent
Edenic impulse still remains deeply in us. The desire to be like God, of being the sovereign over our little
sphere.
And riches can give the illusion of godness. If they are not sanctified, they can give the illusion of
godness. You have enough money, you can make pretty much anything appear seemingly ex nihilo. You
just tap a button and poof, anything you want, you got enough money.
You got enough money? You can make people serve you. You can have people do whatever you want.
You got enough money? You can buy your way into power. Nuff money? You can be like a god, in fact.
Proverbs 18, 16, a man’s gift opens doors for him and brings him before great men.
Riches can make you think you pull the levers of reality almost like a god. And that is how riches go from
humbly received as a blessing
to a burden, when you believe the lies they try and tell, that you were like God, so that they become
wrapped around the axle of your soul and become central to your identity and the source of your hope,
a false gospel, so that if your situation abruptly changed financially or socially, so that you were no
longer rich according to the world, you’d be devastated.
You’d lose your godness. This is what Paul warns the rich of in 1 Timothy 1, chapter 6. As for the rich in
this present age, charge them not to be haughty. Notice he doesn’t say charge them not to be rich.
He says, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God
who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
So whatever the Lord has given to us, it is to be enjoyed as a blessing, including the blessing of being
able to be generous, but it is not to be idolized. One, because they could be fleeting. Proverbs 23, 5,
when your eyes light upon riches, it is gone. Suddenly it sprouts wings and it flies like an eagle toward
heaven. But even more, even if the riches themselves aren’t fleeting, your life most certainly is fleeting.
Even if the riches themselves are not fleeting, your life most certainly is. And that is the angle James
exhorts the rich from. If the poor should paradoxically boast in their exaltation, he says the rich would
do well to boast in their humiliation. The reminder of the fact that you are not God. In fact, your days are
numbered.
Warren Buffett has had one of the most impressive business streaks by human standards. But just this
past week, at the age of 96, he stepped down as the chairman of his company because, as he put it,
father time always wins. Father time always wins. Now, though Buffett is no believer, he’s exactly right.
Father time always wins. His $145 billion will give him exactly zero leverage before the throne of the
king.
No leverage, $145 billion back down on earth. This is the humiliation that James puts before the
Christian rich. If they’re to avoid the snare that riches can bring. He fills it out with a vignette from
nature. He says, picture a meadow full of bright, beautiful flowers, arrayed in garments, more luxuriant
than Solomon, as our Lord put it.
and then blink twice, and these flowers will have faded as quickly as they sprang up. That’s every one of
us. This mortal body will inevitably fade out. Our days were numbered before we were born, and the
clock is ticking. As the great Puritan Thomas Watson said, today we may lie upon a pillow of down,
tomorrow we may be laid upon a pillow of dust. And this is good for all of us to remember.
that we may know the preciousness of every hour and endeavor to turn each minute for good. As the
psalmist said in 90, 12, he says, teach us to number our days that we might gain a heart of wisdom.
That’s good for all of us, but especially good for the rich because of the liar that riches can be and the
illusion of immortality they can bring. So that’s verse 11. Now, some would say, well, this is all
something of a downer.
All of this fading flower imminent death talk is something of a dowry. It goes with the weather outside
today, Pastor. Some would say that, but I know that you would not say that because you’re most likely a
Christian and you know that
That death is no longer a cloaked specter to be feared, but death is the defeated foe that is to be
mocked as Paul did. Jesus rose from the dead so we can stare down our mortality with hope and a grin
and growing joy because it is now the gateway to glory. And this is precisely how James rounds out his
exhortation in verse 12. He addresses all the saints again, whatever their tailor-made trial.
And then he casts them all in the light of eternity and the promise of the gospel. He says, for those who
love God, not only are you being matured through your trials right now, but there’s a great blessing
coming.
There’s a great reward coming that the Lord himself is hands ready to bestow upon you at the finish
line. It’s what James calls the crown of life. Now, the imagery here is not so much of a king’s crowned,
But the laurel wreath that a victor in a race would have received in the Greco-Roman world, that’s the
imagery here of struggling through a trial, bearing down, digging in, fighting the side cramps, eyes fixed
on the finish line, and then finally breaking the tape and looking up to check the standings.
And realize you won. And Jesus invites you into the victor’s circle with him. That’s the picture. Paul drew
upon this as well. 1 Corinthians 9.25. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to
receive a perishable wreath. But we do it to receive an imperishable one. So that’s the picture James
wants to hold out.
An eternal reward awaits for faithfulness today that will make all earthly riches seem tiny, insignificant
in comparison to. So that’s the text. Now in the final stretch here, I want to draw out several practical
takeaways for maintaining a godly contentment with our present estate, whether that’s lowly or rich.
Few things in the end here. First,
If this text teaches us anything, it’s that we all must reject egalitarianism. If you would be content, you
must reject egalitarianism. Egalitarianism dominates our current culture, and it’s the idea that there
should be a great flattening of the playing field on every front. That inequality of any sort, be it income,
be it opportunity, be it ability, is unfair and a problem that needs to be solved.
This breeds discontentment and envy, and our world is awash in it. And it’s simply a false philosophy. It
is a false gospel. God is no egalitarian.
He dispenses blessings upon folks in different ways, in different amounts, all for his good pleasure as he
sees fits, including skills, smarts, earning potential, family of origin, and everything else. The parable of
the talents torpedoes the idea that flattening everyone’s standing should be the goal.
And then our Lord says that God has given to some one talent or five talents or ten talents. And much to
our commie overlord’s dismay, he doesn’t even apologize for doing that. He’s God, and he dispenses
according to his good pleasure. And the call for each of us
regardless of the one or the 10, is gratitude and fruitfulness and a return on that investment. That’s the
call. And this is why envy is so corrosive, especially in the church. It is a refusal to enjoy the blessings you
have because of the blessings of another. A refusal to enjoy the blessings you do have because in God’s
good wisdom, he has given blessings to another.
Our culture is awash with envy, constantly comparing, defaulting to grievance rather than to gratitude.
But in the church, this ought not be. You must put to death any egalitarian impulse and the sidelong
glances they produce. Instead,
You should be too caught up in getting the Lord a good return on the talents he has given you that you
don’t have time to cast sight on long glances at your neighbor. Comparison really is the thief of joy and
is something that needs to be repented of often. Also, as an aside, it is healthy for us to remember that
though in James’ context, the rich were a very small minority, if James’ congregation could see all of us
today, it
They would assume we’re all in the rich category, by their standard, because even the lowliest in the
church is still unimaginably wealthy, humanly speaking, in comparison to them. If you need proof, did
you know that daily hot showers weren’t an assumed part of the American life until the 1960s?
Right? Do you know that? Daily hot showers didn’t exist as, of course, this is what people do, until the
1960s. Common commodities that we take for granted would have been spectacular luxuries, most of
human history, including for your great-great-grandpa.
He couldn’t even comprehend it. A hot shower every day and a magic cold box that keeps ice cream
sandwiches frozen. Astonishing wealth in world history. So if you’re going to compare, compare in that
direction that we might consider the lowly, most of human history would have considered us luxuriant.
Next takeaway for maintaining contentment in the church, regardless of economic status is,
Know that the internet runs on manufacturing discontentment. Understand, have the wisdom to know,
the internet runs on manufacturing discontentment. This is what much marketing is by design.
Manufacturing a need. Showing you a new thing that you just found out existed but can no longer live
without.
This has always been the case, but that discontentment flame has been doused in diesel in the iPhone
age. This is another way we can place our hope in riches by thinking, if I just had that, just one more
thing in my Amazon cart, just, I know I’ve said this before, but this one really is a thing. If I could get that.
Finally, I would have arrived. This is truly one of the trials we face in the digital age. Endless scrolling,
endless ads, which brings you endless things you need to be happy. We must be weary of this. Being
convinced that we’re lowly by all the things we need. Listen to this graphic picture we get in the
Proverbs. This is Proverbs 23, one and two. When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
Observe carefully what is set before you, and then put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.
That’s a cool picture. That is, when you sense a craving being manufactured in you that is drawing you,
you need this thing, especially that it seems the rich have it.
It means you’re becoming a slave to stuff and you need to strike the axe at the root of that
discontentment and that craving. So let us recognize this play that’s being run. Stop scrolling. Start
praising God for the incredible blessings that every single one of us has.
And one final word here in conclusion. And here I’m thinking of those who God really has given
significant riches or affluence or influence to. One way to stay grounded and humble is this. Look for
opportunities to relate with the lowly.
Look for opportunities to relate with the lowly, with the commoner around you, especially fellow
Christians. Understand that the Lord has given you your station, that you might have greater potential
to serve, not greater reason to swagger. And do so on purpose. Break through the barriers on purpose
and let that help protect your soul, lest you start becoming impressed with your own introductions.
One of the things I appreciate about Stonewall Jackson is, though he was the general, he regularly slept
on the ground with his own men. There’s a story of some men, after waking up in the snow after a hard
march, they were cursing Stonewall under their breath for subjecting them to it. That is, until a blanket
stirred a few spots down. And it was the general getting up from his sleep as well, which quickly silenced
their complaints.
Now, of course, honor should be given where honor is due. This is good and right. I’m not saying don’t
let people honor you. Yes, honor ought to be given for office. And if you are one to whom honor is due,
receive it graciously and then go out of your way to associate with the humble.
Recognizing that while hierarchy is real and necessary and good in society, as Proverbs 22 says, the rich
and the poor meet together because the Lord is the maker of them all. And how much more for the
Christian? How much more for the Christian who knows so keenly that the ground is level at the foot of
the cross?
It is hard to swagger. It is hard to remain self-impressed by your social standing in the shadow of the
cross. But you realize the reason that that man is bleeding out, the Son of God becomes Son of Man, is
because you exist. It’s because your sins required that.
It is hard to swagger at the foot of the cross. So let us live there. Dwell often, all of us, on what the
Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God, he didn’t count equality with God a thing to be held on to, to be
grasped.
but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found
in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death and even death on a
cross. Therefore,
God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. So may also we
follow in our captain’s steps and associate freely with those below us and not in a patronizing way, but
because we’ve been humbled through the gospel. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Our Lord and our God, we do thank you.
for all that you’ve given us. And we do confess that we are prone towards comparison and envy, but I
pray not so at Christ Church, that we would mature in the ways that James is calling us to.
If things are thin right now, we would rejoice in our exaltation. If we have been blessed with great
abundance, that we would glory in our humiliation and be eager to be generous. And all these things
would Christ be glorified in this congregation. And now we would pray the way our Lord taught us to
pray.

In this sermon, the preacher explores the opening verses of James chapter one, focusing on the call to joyfully endure trials because such testing strengthens faith and produces spiritual maturity. Using the example of a pilot’s miraculous rescue and steadfast faith amidst life-threatening danger, the message highlights how believers are invited to “flinch forward” in faith despite adversity. James addresses the early dispersed church facing persecution, urging them to see their trials as refining fires that develop steadfastness and completeness in Christlikeness. The sermon emphasizes the crucial role of prayer for wisdom amid struggles—asking God in faith without doubting—and clarifies that faithfulness in the trial process, not flawless prayer, is what receives God’s wisdom. The dignity of godly discipline is presented as training for the believer’s royal role as co-heirs with Christ, a process requiring endurance and perspective. The ultimate example is Jesus, who endured suffering joyfully, modeling obedience and fellowship in trials. Listeners are encouraged to fix their eyes on Christ, recognizing that no trial is foreign to Him, and to respond with grateful perseverance, trusting God’s providential work to mature them into joyful, steadfast disciples.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Our sermon text is the first eight verses of chapter one of James. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s word. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect

that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. For the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man.

unstable in all of his ways. The word of the Lord. Lord and our God, we do thank you for your word and Holy Spirit. We pray that you would apply it precisely where it is most needed to bring about the maturity that you intend through it, through Christ our Lord. And it is in his name that we pray. And amen.

About six months ago, over Easter weekend, we, the public, got news of the remarkable and the harrowing rescue of a pilot that went down over Iran after his plane was struck by enemy fire. And last week, he shared more of this remarkable story publicly for the first time since the incident. And what stood out, to me at least, among the dramatic details was…

how clearly God scripted this story was and how much Bravo, even in the pain and the intensity of it all, was cognizant of that. That even here, the Lord is with me.

It was amazing to hear him recall how he flinched forward in faith even as his life hung literally by a thread. In the interview, he mentioned how his parachute was damaged in the initial explosion and so that he was essentially free-falling to earth. And as he realized his predicament and his hands frantically moved to try to get some fabric out of the chute to catch his fall, he told the reporter that he prayed this.

Lord, your will be done, but if I’m getting through this, I need your help. And the Lord did help. He ended up hitting the ground at an estimated 80 miles per hour, give or take, with several broken bones, but still he survived. But the drama was just beginning. He…

by a whole lot of grit and a whole lot of grace, then proceeded to ascend 7,000 feet of a climb to find some coverage. And once there, he was able to send off his first communication. And it had these three essential elements. I’m hurt, I’m moving, and God is good.

His was a faith that flinched forward while in the teeth of a trial. And as we begin the letter of James today, in earnest, this is the very thing James will be calling the church to. A steady faith that joyfully flinches forward when trials, which must come, do come. This is the main thrust of his message, which he wants this young church to catch a vision of.

Last time we did an introduction to the letter written by the Apostle James, we considered the author and the audience and the atmosphere surrounding the writing of this letter. We noted that while church history generally assumes it was written by James, the brother of Jesus, that there is compelling reason to believe perhaps it could have been written by James, the son of Alphaeus and one of Jesus’ closest three, not least because he was martyred in Acts 12 and

In the very events the letter addresses are front burner issues in the church, Acts 8 through 11, namely the dispersion of the church out of Jerusalem in the wake of Stephen’s martyrdom and the intense persecution, the intense persecution by the Jews that the church, including many of the new Jewish converts, were now facing. With that, let’s overview our text today.

So it begins, James self-consciously is writing this letter, and he’s doing so in Christ’s name and for Christ’s service. He’s writing it to the 12 tribes of the dispersion, and his aim in using that language is not to saddle them with an exile mentality, an escapist mentality, but rather is to identify them as the new Israel.

That is the church. And remember, we noted last week that James in the original Greek is actually Jacobus. It’s Jacob. It’s literally Jacob to the 12 tribes, which makes the connection even clearer. That’s verse 1. And he’s writing because…

They are now in a persecution pressure cooker. They’re in an intense trial. And this pressure, like pressure always does, started revealing some cracks within the church. Pressure always reveals cracks. Here it was the cracks of fear or frustration or favoritism or even violent quarreling or vitriolic speech.

This pressure was revealing those cracks. And so as a wise father, James lifts their proverbial chin and calls them to consider their immediate circumstance in light of the eternal story.

Consider your immediate circumstance, the immediate pressure in light of the bigger eternal story. That just as molten fire burns away the dross and filler in gold, so that the hotter the fire, the more precious, the more refined the metal becomes. So the fires of their trials are removing the fluff and the filler of their faith that they thought was so strong. It is a grace.

because it’s forging in them a steadfastness, a greater poise, a greater resilience in the good fight of faith.

Our Lord uses the same word in the parable of the soils for steadfastness. It’s Luke 8, 15. He says, As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. That’s the word. Bear fruit with steadfastness over time.

It’s a patient endurance that is fruitful. It brings something about this steadfastness. And James tells us one thing for certain, patiently enduring a trial will bring about, namely, it will bring about Christian maturity.

It’ll cause toddler Christians to grow up into maturity. That’s really the word that’s translated perfect in our text. That’s what it’s getting at. It’s not perfection in the sense of complete moral purity on this side of glory. That won’t happen until we see our Lord and anyone who says otherwise has wonky theology. One only need to go to 1 John 1.8. If you say you have no sin, then you make God a liar.

But that kind of settles that. No, it’s not perfect in that sense. The actual root word is telos, right? That’s the purpose or the ends or the realization of the reason the thing exists. It’s telos, the full mature expression of a thing, which for the Christian is to look more and more like Christ. That is the glorious thing.

that the fires of trial ultimately produce in us in the same way that Michelangelo’s chisel strikes brought David out of the marble. That’s verses three through four. But in the midst of a trial, in the fog of a spiritual war, we get disoriented.

So we must lean heavily on the Lord when that comes. We must ask him for wisdom to endure it well. James says, if anyone lacks wisdom, remember, that’s not just a general disconnected statement. It’s in context. If you lack wisdom amidst the trial, which is all of us, no one has a saturation point on wisdom, then call upon the Lord as the first and continuous action point amidst trials. Prayer.

Say, Lord, help me. Lord, steady me. Bring your word to my mind. Give me wisdom for this moment right now. This is Bravo, calling out to the Lord while pulling out pieces of parachute during a free fall. Lord, I’m hands ready to act. I would like to act, but I need you to do what only you can do. Stabilize, steady, give me wisdom to endure this well. Side note,

This is a good reminder that we can go straight to the source in prayer to God himself. We don’t need to go through Mary or through icons or through saints. You go to the Lord, ask him in all of his fatherly embrace and compassion to help. And God hears with alacrity, with a readiness to respond as if Jesus himself were making the request because he is.

That’s verse 5. But though God doesn’t play favorites, he hears all of our prayers readily when we come to him, James does give one condition on our prayers. Namely, we should ask in faith. We should ask with a believing heart, not fingers crossed, not hedging our bets.

Not while being tossed on the stormy seas like a boat with a sail up that catches every wind of emotion or every wind of the stock market or the winds of scorn or the applause of man that blows us to and fro. He says, don’t do that. Don’t be more dominated by a dopamine hit than by trust in the divine.

who is constantly with you. He says, if you do, if you’re constantly staring past Jesus to the waves, like Peter did momentarily that one time, you ought not expect to gain any wisdom at all through the trial. That’s verses six through eight. But, and this is really important, we must understand what James means by asking in faith without wavering when you’re in it. Here’s not what James is saying.

Here’s not what James is saying, because that could feel like a lot of pressure. Like, don’t you screw it up at all while you pray, or it’s done. That’s not what he’s saying. He’s not saying you must have perfect poise in every syllable in your prayer, as if the Lord’s staring at your spiritual EKG. And if it quivers at all, if your faith and prayer falters in the slightest, then forget it. No wisdom. You must walk the faith tightrope with zero wobble. That’s not what he’s saying.

Now, if you read the text woodenly, you could let it land on you that way, but not only is that impossible, that’s not the picture he’s painting. One way verse 6 could be translated is ask in faithfulness.

It’s not so much keeping a perfect spiritual poise in every second of prayer, but it’s rather continually flinching forward in faith, responding in faith, prayerfully embracing, repenting, and rejoicing as we walk through the trials and even stumble through the trials. Pastor Jeffrey Meyer says it really well. He says, “‘A person who asks for wisdom and maturity,’

without the faithfulness to endure the hard process, will not receive anything from God, not because of God’s stinginess, but because of their unwillingness to participate in the reception of the gift. You get that?

They won’t receive something from God, not because God is stingy and won’t give it, but because the wisdom comes through the trial and they won’t participate with open hands to receive what the Lord says. See, the wisdom God gives in trials is not some secret knowledge that he just beams into your brain disconnected from the trial.

And it certainly doesn’t come usually by quickly removing the trial. Rather, the wisdom he gives comes by walking the path in faith through the trial with a steady confidence that even here, God is at work. Even here, God is good. Even here, there is a precision to his providence that is working something good to mature me.

Thinking again of Bravo after the miracle, where his life was spared after denting the earth, there was still a mountain on the other side of the miracle. He still had to climb the mountain. His faith was not just in the moment of prayer as he fell, but in every step up the mountain after his life was spared. Genuine faith in God plays out one step at a time through the season.

including the faithfulness of repenting when we sin or we do fall into unbelief. Job is the picture of this, which, interestingly, James will reference near the end of the book. James 5.11, he says, you’ve heard of the steadfastness of Job, so that’s the same word in our text, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord really is compassionate and merciful.

But Job was not perfect. Job, he had his groans, he had his growing pains. He was deeply perplexed at times by God’s hard providence, but he also tethered himself to the mast. He tethered himself to the mast, refused to jump ship, even when his wife told him to curse God and die. He refused to doubt the essential goodness of the Lord, even when he couldn’t understand it.

He said, the Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That was the banner over his life. And that is the gospel grit James is wanting us to mature up into. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And when the dust settles, it’ll all be made clear. So that’s the text.

Now, there are two areas I want to drill down some in more on how we flinch forward in faith, even in joy when the rough patch comes. First, we can do this more and more by understanding the dignity of godly discipline. I’ll draw this out in a minute.

We can do this by understanding the dignity of godly discipline when it comes. It’s a dignified thing to be disciplined by the Lord. I get this from Hebrews 12. He says in verse 7, it is for discipline that you have to endure because God is treating you as sons, as heirs.

For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? And verse 10, for earthly fathers disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. He disciplines us so that as heirs, we become to resemble him more and more in all of his holiness. Let that sink in. God desires that we share.

In his holiness. Make it personal. God desires that you, even you, genuinely reflect his holiness in the world in a way that is true. In the way that creation could say that and say, now I understand something better about the holiness of God. God wants that for you. The unbearable weight of glory. And that’s a diamond that takes pressure to produce.

That’s a diamond that takes pressure to produce. That’s a dignity that comes through his discipline. And something that’s an extension of this that I’m not sure we consider enough, but we ought to. For the Christian, character formation and personal holiness is not an end in and of itself. It’s not an end in and of itself as if the Lord has a trophy case that he’s really eager to put us in so that we just look pretty disconnected from what he’s doing.

But we must understand that we are the nobility of the new creation in training. We are the nobility of the new creation in training. When Paul says that we’ve been seated with Christ in the heavenly realm, that is royal language. That is care paravel language.

You have been allowed to sit on thrones in Narnia, as it were, of being ruling vice regents of the king as his kingdom spreads throughout all the land. That’s what that’s getting at. And that takes testing and trials and forging to be able to execute the dignity of that role. Well, what’s true is we often don’t see ourselves with the same royal dignity that Jesus does and has pronounced upon us.

We have small thoughts about the high office of being co-heirs of the king. This is something Paul labored to get the hot mess that was the Corinthian church to grasp. They gave him many reasons to bang his head against the wall. Shocking, embarrassing sexual immorality, getting drunk at communion, that’s bad. But there’s an interesting one in 1 Corinthians 6.

And it’s that they would debase themselves by bringing lawsuits against one another in front of pagan courts. They would ask pagans to sort out their toddler tantrums with one another. And Paul just looks at them, as it were, with the expression, only a bewildered parent can conjure. And he says, don’t you realize that you will judge angels one day?

Don’t you understand who you are? That’s the characters you are becoming in the story. Nobility of the new creation, wise, mature, discerning. And yet you’re so immature that you can’t even sort out your tangles and have to go to pagans to ask them to judge you? Those who will one day judge angels? That’s what he’s trying to get them to see, to wake up and understand who you are in Christ.

the dignified role that you’ve been given as a co-heir in the kingdom. And even though we’re not facing the same issues Corinth was here, Paul’s rebuke is instructive in that it does help us better understand the great dignity that we are invested with as co-heirs with Christ. Kings and queens called to rule well in the story that is playing out through the gospel.

to grow up and to mature. Well, this takes training. This takes trials. This takes discipline, which is a dignity that one grasp should take our breath away. So let us embrace them joyfully.

Quick aside before moving on, this should also be a warning to us who are parents at the dangers of bubble-wrapping our children so that they would never scrape their knees or never face any adversity or never experience natural consequences for foolish behavior or never struggle through something that’s hard. It might feel loving to always run cover, to try to shield every burden, every consequence, but it’s not. Children must feel age-appropriate struggles.

This is how they grow up. This is how their soul thickens. This is how they grow in the grace of gaining some grit. Now, of course, we’re with them in the struggle, but we aren’t always lifting every ounce of weight all the time. It is possible to be kind and compassionate without coddling. Indeed, this is precisely how the Lord deals with us.

Parental kindness is not measured by how the child feels about something in the moment. It’s measured in the trajectory you’re helping set them on over the long haul. So we should seek to protect our children, but not to bubble wrap them, just like the Lord does with us.

Okay, so one way we cultivate the virtue of flinching forward, as I’ve called it, is by understanding the dignity of godly discipline, understanding the ends of where we’re headed. This is why this is happening. He is training us. Another is this. We do so by fixing our eyes moment by moment on purpose on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12, one and two. Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith. Who? For the joy.

set before him, endured the cross, despised its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. And notice, as we look to Jesus, we’ll find Jesus modeling the very thing we just spoke of. How could he endure the cross?

It’s because he saw the joy on the other side of it, that the cross was the path to the crown. His being lifted up on Calvary was the path to his ascension to the throne. And we see that there is nothing the Lord will call us to do that our Lord Jesus has not already done. The Lord Jesus blazed the trail to glory by enduring great trials for us.

And he was not guarded from the jagged edges. Jesus did not hover over the earth two feet above it during the incarnation. Now listen to Hebrews 5.8 and really listen to this. The writer of Hebrews says, this is actually beginning in 7. In the days of Jesus’ flesh, he offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death.

And he was heard because of his reference. Although he was a son, Jesus learned obedience through what he suffered. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.

Now, to be clear and to state the obvious, this does not mean that he was disobedient and learned how to become obedient. Obviously not what it’s saying, made like us in every way, but without sin. Rather, it’s saying he grew in greater obedience as greater tests came.

He grew in greater obedience. He grew in wisdom and stature before God and man. With the final exam being willingly nailed to a Roman cross because of the snarling envy of men that he had created. But he did it that we might be saved. And all suffering that a Christian faces is done in union with the Lord Jesus Christ who knows experientially just how real the suffering is

and who walks the path with us. So Christian in the fray, Christian in the good fight, Christian whose trials are not something you’re waiting for, but are very thick today, take great comfort. Your captain has not only gone before you, but he has a knowing sympathy for you. And he is with you in them, both to strengthen your heart and to strengthen your hands. So where is the battle forefront right now?

Where does this hit the ground for you today, this text? What trial are you in right now, or you might face this week, where you need to get a jovial fighter’s stance right now to receive something hard with great gratitude? Are you slandered for righteousness’ sake, be it at work or walking to church or even within your own family after reading a propaganda piece? Jesus endured that too.

Even his family called him a madman, with the elites deriding him. Perhaps it’s a belt-tightening season because of the economy or because in God’s providence, you’re underemployed. Jesus knows that trial. He knows the trial of belt-tightening. Do you know why his mom and dad offered birds at the temple? It’s because that was the provision made for poor people.

if you couldn’t actually afford the real sacrifice. That was the family in God’s providence Jesus was born into. He gets economic hardship experientially. Or maybe your trial is one of grief over the loss of a family member or just feeling the mortality keenly as parents age and seasons change. Jesus knows this as he almost certainly lost his father during his life.

which is why he made provision for his dear mother while on the cross to John, behold your mother, man, behold your mom. There is no category of trial that Jesus does not know and does not sympathize with. There is no pain you’ll face on the path to glory that he has not endured as he bore the cross before the crown.

So look to him, beloved, both as your kingly example and as your sympathetic high priest. Look to him and be strengthened. But not all trials are existential. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the very hard to the seemingly silly but real. Moms, you’re at the bank with three kids when the baby has a blowout, and you have that sinking feeling as you unzip the diaper bag and realize you are fresh out. Ha, ha, ha.

Even the Lord sees and knows that and is working something through it. Probably a combination of patience and creative puddling of sorts. So add the sanctified laugh track, swallow your pride, roll up your sleeves, and count it all joy. The Lord says he’s numbered every one of our hairs, which means he is not with us just in crisis mode, but every second of every day, and he cares.

There’s never a moment or never a trial too big or too small that he’s not with you in working through with the skill of a sculptor to bring you to full maturity. So hold fast in the trial, beloved, with your eyes fixed on Christ. Let us be like Bravo, hunkered down, burrowed up in the cleft of the rock, bruised but moving with praise on our lips while waiting for deliverance. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our Lord and our God, we pray.

that you would do it, that you would mature us in Christ, not into a spiritual stoicism, but that we really would be happy warriors because we are seeing the crown on the other side of the cross as we look to the Lord Jesus. And now we would pray the way our Lord taught us to pray.

In this sermon, the speaker unpacks Psalm 4, highlighting David’s example of finding peace and rest amid severe personal and political turmoil—specifically during Absalom’s revolt. David calls out to God as his refuge, emphasizing God’s righteousness and mercy as the foundation for comfort. Despite enemies who twist his glory into shame and companions who complain about their hardships, David encourages trust in God’s favor over fleeting human assistance. He ultimately addresses his own soul, choosing to lie down and sleep in peace, not because problems disappeared, but because God’s protective presence assures safety even in loneliness. The sermon contrasts the restless, guilt-ridden state of sinful humanity—marked by lies, accusations, and despair—with the peace that comes from resting in Christ’s sanctification and God’s unmerited grace. The message challenges believers to reject hypocrisy and complaints and instead trust fully in God, enabling them to “sleep in heavenly peace” regardless of external circumstances or inner turmoil.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Well, first of all, greetings from the saints of Moscow. It’s Moscow, Idaho. It’s always a pleasure to be with you all. It’s wonderful to hear and continue to see the growth and the fruit that God is granting to this body of believers. And I want you to know that all of us back in Moscow, Idaho are praying for you and grateful for your testimony and witness, even through all the difficulties.

twists and turns that you’ve had to endure, the insults and all that sort of thing that you’ve had to endure as you come to church and go from church each Lord’s Day. We’re very grateful to see your testimony, your witness, and we’re just enthused to see God’s kindness and grace in this body. So with that, I want to begin with a few stats.

Now, that’s a dangerous thing to do. We live in times that we just went through the whole COVID nonsense, right? And so you have to be careful whenever somebody says studies show or experts show, you should reach for your wallet because they’re probably about to rob you, right? They’re about to take your stuff. So I want to be careful in giving some stats, but I think it’s helpful in framing the psalm that’s before us this morning.

A CDC study found that 15.4%, that .4 is very, very important, of course, of adults had trouble falling asleep most days or every day. Just under 1 in 5, 18% of adults had trouble staying asleep most days or every day.

Another survey found that nearly 4 in 10 adults here in the United States have trouble falling asleep three or more nights per week. And almost half of adults have trouble staying asleep three or more nights per week.

Taking that all together, we are a sleepless nation. We are a nation that has trouble sleeping. And in many respects, we’re told that foregoing sleep is somehow virtuous and courageous and that sort of thing. We even name cities after it. Sleepless, the city that never sleeps. Sleepless Seattle, that sort of thing.

This hymn, this psalm before us is a nighttime psalm. It’s a hymn for going to bed. It’s a hymn for going to sleep. It’s a hymn for the evening. But all too often, our experience is that at nighttime, when the din and the clamor of the day dies down, we’re left in the stillness with our own thoughts.

And that can be a frightening thing. That can be a dangerous thing. That can be a haunting thing. And you twist and turn all night long and sleep eludes you.

All throughout history, depriving prisoners of sleep is a well-proven torture method, right? Keep people from falling asleep and you can manipulate them and get information out of them. Sleep deprivation is a well-worn tactic for torture.

Some of you new moms have felt the pang of that as your newborn infant awakes for the fifth time that night and your mind is clouded and you go, I can identify with the fact that sleepless nights are a sort of torture. Certainly, when the lights turn off, all too often, the clamoring voice of our own fears, guilt,

Regrets and worries all come shouting. And sleep eludes us. These voices of fear, regret, shame, worry, all come crowding in and they torture and they deprive us of rest. They give no quarter. They give no rest.

But I want to show that in this Psalm, David exemplifies for us in this Psalm, how to sleep in heavenly peace.

So I wanna work through this Psalm and then make a couple applications from it. In this Psalm, we have David addressing four different people. He addresses God, he addresses his enemies, he addresses his companions, and then he talks to himself. And that’s not crazy. That’s a good thing to do. Martin Lloyd-Jones talked about grabbing yourself in hand and preaching to yourself. And we see here at the end of this Psalm, David talks to himself, he preaches to himself. So David addresses God, he addresses his enemies, he addresses his companions, and then he addresses his own soul.

So first, let’s look at David addressing God. In verse 1, it’s a prayer. He’s calling out to God. Hear me when I call, O God. Now, some context for this psalm. I take this psalm to be when David was on the run from his son Absalom. So his son, the guy with flowing locks of hair and very impressive hair, apparently, wants to overthrow his father’s kingdom, wants to…

overthrow David’s, uh, uh, David’s throne and he, he, he revolts. He, he has this, um, uh, this coup that’s taking place. David is on the run from his own son. Talk about an awkward Thanksgiving dinner, right? There’s, there’s tension here in the Davidic family and much of it was, it was due to David’s own apathy and, and his own sins had brought about Absalom’s revolt.

So this Psalm took place in that moment when David’s own family and nation, he had rescued from the Philistines. He had delivered from the Philistines. He had brought the Ark of Covenant back into Jerusalem and he had fed all of Jerusalem with one of my favorite descriptions is when they bring the Ark of Covenant in, David feeds all of Jerusalem with raisin cakes.

whatever those are. I just imagine like a cake full of raisins. And that’s like the worst thing when you eat a chocolate chip cookie, thinking it’s chocolate chip cookie and ends up having raisins in it. So I think it was well-received by Jerusalem, but he feeds them with meat and raisin cakes. And it’s a feast that David spreads for all of Jerusalem. He’s the great psalmist. He’s given them songs to sing. The

The tent of David is established there in Zion. David has defended Israel and established Israel. And then things change, things shift. David falls into some apathy, falls into the whole thing with Bathsheba. He’s…

absent from the situation with Amnon, his son, and Absalom rises up to overthrow his father. This is a tense moment in David’s reign. Turmoil was abundant. Everything was unsettled. Everyone was pointing fingers. And we see that in the story in 2 Samuel. Everybody’s pointing fingers at everybody else. But instead of listening to the accusations, the speculations, the discontent, and the lies, what does David do?

David calls out to God. David calls out to God in the midst of one of the worst moments of his life. He calls out to God, asking God to hear him. He asks God to hear him and he gives God two reasons why God should listen to him. David calls out to God and he gives two reasons for why God should hear him. First, he says, hear me, O God, because you are my righteousness. Hear me, O God, the God of my righteousness.

The only reason I can come to you is because you reckon me as righteous in you and by the sacrifices that I offer unto you. I’m reckoned as righteous in your sight. First, God is his righteousness. Secondly, God is merciful. He says, have mercy upon me and hear my prayer.

And of course, when God revealed himself to Moses, that was the language that God used in revealing his name, his character to Moses, the Lord, merciful and gracious, righteous, abundant and steadfast love. David is appealing to God’s own nature and character as the basis whereby he can come and make all these requests to the Lord.

Now David is painted into a corner. He’s on the run. He has no resources. All of Israel has turned against him except for a motley band of about 600 bodyguards, friends, family, and loyal followers. He has about 600 people and the rest of Israel is going with Absalom. David is painted into a corner.

The sort of corner that perhaps you’ve been in where life is tough, bills are due, work projects are breathing down your throat, and medical issues are frightening you. You’re painted into a corner and David says, oh God, you have enlarged me when I was painted into that corner.

David is painted into a corner, but he knows God has gotten him out of such scrapes before. And he asks God for this enlargement, this deliverance once again, because, and he addresses God and says, because you are righteous and because you are merciful, deliver me.

He cries out to God first and then he turns and addresses his enemies. And you sort of wonder like, what would that have been like when they went to church that Sunday? And he’s written this Psalm and he’s singing and it’s like aimed at the enemies. Could be fun. In verses two through five, he addresses his enemies. With prophetic bite, David rebukes the wicked for two things. First, they turned his glory into shame.

They turn the Davidic glory of the kingdom, everything he accomplished, they twist it and they pervert it and they turn it into this thing that’s a source of ridicule. All of the deliverance that David had brought about for them, they’ve turned into a shame. And secondly, his enemies, these wicked men, love vanity and lies. They’ve given themselves to vanity and lies, spinning tall tales, living by lies.

He rebukes them for turning glory into shame and for loving lying. His enemies have imagined up all sorts of tall tales about David. But David reminds them of the peace that the saints have in divine election. He says that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. There in verse 3.

His enemies are saying all sorts of things about him. And yet he takes comfort in the fact that God has set apart the godly for himself. And he then challenges his enemies to search their hearts in the stillness of the night. When their head hits the pillow, he says, search your hearts and see what’s in there. What’s in your heart here?

Search their hearts in the stillness of the night and see if they have the same peace that David has from knowing that God has set apart his people, the godly, for himself.

And he challenges them to see if they have that same peace. They’re given to all sorts of tall tales. They’re given to turning glory into shame. They’re given to lies. And he says, when you are alone with yourself, with your own thoughts, can you have the same peace that I have in the fact that God has set apart his people for himself?

And his last word to his enemies there in verse five is very much an evangelistic invitation to his enemies. What we New Testament saints would call the altar call, right? He calls out to his enemies and he summons them, put off your hypocrisy, offer true sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. Stop trusting in your lies and your schemes and your conspiracies and start trusting in God alone.

He summons them to put off their hypocrisy and offer righteous sacrifices by putting their trust in the Lord. So he’s addressed the Lord, he’s addressed his enemies, and now he turns to his companions. Verses 6 and 7.

So having defied his enemies, David now must rebuke his companions. And when you read the account of this in 2 Samuel, it’s quite striking. They really are alone. This band of David’s followers, as they’re on the run from Absalom and his henchmen and from all Israel, you can kind of understand where David’s companions would be a little bit jittery.

Think about it. The whole nation is against you and hunting you down, and you don’t know where to turn. You don’t know if this city up ahead that we’re going to, are they going to be friendlies or are they going to try to kill us? Are they going to turn us in? Is the Absalomian Gestapo going to turn us in? So David has to rebuke his companions for their flakiness, for their jitteriness, for their failure of nerve. He has to rebuke them.

Though they showed loyalty in fleeing with David into exile, you hear echoes of the complaining Israelites in the wilderness from the days of Moses and the hard times that they had that they were facing. Notice there in verse six, David says, there’ll be many that say, talking about his companions, there’ll be many that say, when will anyone think about me? When will anybody think about my needs?

Who will show us any good? You can hear the complaints. Boy, we have it hard, don’t we guys? We’re being hunted down. We’re being despised. They’re telling all sorts of lies about us. When is anybody going to do us any good? And David rebukes them. David says, there’ll be many that say, when is anybody going to be nice to us? When are any of these Israelites, our fellow Israelites, when are they going to finally turn and help us?

And David rebukes them for this flakiness. They’re asking, when will anybody think about us? And David sets himself in contrast to these bellyacres. And he says, for him, there’ll be many that say, who will show us any good? And David says, Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us.

They’re looking for human help. And David says, guys, remember, consider that God’s smile is more delightful than a harvest time feast. Yes, our supplies are running low. Yes, all of Israel might turn us in and kill us if they discover us. Yes, things are hard, but God’s favor and smile is upon us. And that’s better, as it says, than their corn and their wine.

Then they’re feasting. For we have God’s favor upon us. God smiles upon us. And therefore, we need not fear. Therefore, we have all in that. We have everything we need in God’s smile. In God’s favor resting upon us. There are verses 6 and 7. Lastly, David talks to himself. He says to himself, time for bed.

The Hebrew is quite lovely here. There in verse 8, it says, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. And in the Hebrew, the indication is that the laying down and the falling asleep are simultaneous. Doesn’t that sound nice? Doesn’t that sort of peace of conscience sound glorious?

I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. Are his enemies all gone? Are the supplies filled back up? Have his problems gone away? No. But he lays down in peace to sleep. Why? Well, by the mercy of God, David can go right to sleep.

His enemies can keep spreading their lies about him. His companions can keep complaining. In a few regards, David is quite alone. But though isolated and alone, David curls up in the safety of God’s favor.

of God’s smile, for thou Lord alone makes me dwell in safety. There’s an indication here that word only or alone there could also be translated as loneliness. For thou Lord in my loneliness, and of course it’s true that God alone is our dwelling place of safety. But the indication here is that David says, though I’m quite alone,

Lord, you make me, because your favor is upon me, you make me dwell in safety. So I wanna make a few applications from this psalm. This psalm presents us with two radically different images of man. It gives us a picture of man in his sin and man in God’s mercy. Man in his sin and man in God’s mercy.

After all, we see lying enemies and bellyaching companions. First, consider that when you love lies, you must tell more lies. Lies never stay put. Lies must be told and covered and tracked. And you end up like that meme, the conspiracy guy meme, trying to make sure you’ve kept them all straight and you’re not contradicting yourself.

When you love lies, you must tell more lies. But sin, the nature of sin is such that it always weighs down on your conscience. We are a nation weighed down with guilty consciences for sexual sin, for all the lies we’ve told, for the bitter outbursts of anger. We are a nation weighed down with sin, with guilty consciences.

We’ve told lies and we have to keep telling more lies. It’s like that board game Risk, which I don’t know if anybody has ever actually completed, right? That’s one of those games that is ever really, has that game ever really been played to its completion? Think about the board game Risk. You’ve got this certain, you know, YOLO strategy where it’s like, I’m going to just,

I’m going to camp out in Australia. And when I get enough troops here, I’m just going to YOLO it. And I’m going to try to kill everybody all at once in the board game. But if you shrewd strategic game players know that if you overextend your troops and you have like one little guy in each troop in each country, you’re just a sitting duck for your friend across the table. They’re going to wipe you out on the very next turn.

That’s what telling lies is like. You overextend yourself. You thin out the troops. You make yourself and your entire army vulnerable to destruction. Each sin is a lie.

Sin is a lie to yourself. You say, God doesn’t see, and I deserve this. This is something that I need to do. Everybody else shouldn’t do it, but in this case, in this instance, it’s justified for me to do this thing, and God’s going to be okay with it. Every sin you’ve ever committed is a lie in that way. You’ve told a lie to yourself that somehow you deserve it, you need it, you must do it, and everybody else shouldn’t do it, but it’s okay for you to do it. With each lie, you expose yourself further.

Now, this room, news alert, this room is full of sinners. It’s full of sinners who by necessity hide their sin. That’s what we as people do. We hide our sin. Some of you think that the passage of time will absolve you of your sin. Some of you think you can inch closer to sin than other immature Christians.

Some of you think that your sin isn’t as bad as others’ sin. Some of you sinned this week in a way you promised yourself you never would again. Some of you keep telling yourself that you couldn’t possibly confess that sin. Some of you keep insisting that you should keep taking those pills or that booze or that joint in order to just keep functioning. Some of you keep cherishing some ancient grudge.

And you tell yourself lie after lie as to why your sin is a special sin, needs special treatment. But when the night hushes and the noise of all the distractions diminishes, your guilt, shame, and fears are a megaphone that won’t let your troubled conscience sleep.

And this leads to two equally wrong approaches to how the wicked man views the godly man. So someone that’s all twisted up in lies and is covering their sin and is lying about their sin is given, as the text says here, is given to vanity, loves vanity and seeks after lies. When they’re telling themselves lies and others lies,

the wicked man gets all tangled up and he begins to view the godly man a certain way. First, he has to make up stories, all sorts of twisted tales about the righteous man. They blow the faults of the righteous man out of proportion. They insinuate. They turn the glory of the righteous into shame. You’ve likely experienced such things with the protesters outside over these last several months.

They go, those Christians can’t be as happy as that. They must be hiding something. They can’t just be worshiping God in there. There’s something twisted about what they’re doing. And the wicked man, all tangled up in lies, has to say of the righteous that there’s something twisted there in the righteous man, in the people of God. There has to be something twisted. Marriage is between one man and one woman till death do them part. That’s got to be some twisted, oppressive thing, right?

And they spin up all sorts of lies about why the righteous are actually the twisted ones. They blow faults out of proportion. They insinuate. They turn the glory of the righteous into shame. Those Christians can’t be as happy as all that. They must be hiding something sinister in there, like bread and wine. Or, like David said, that’s the enemies that are all twisted up in lies.

Or David’s companions, who are all self-focused. They’re giving way to their mere appetite. Like David’s companions, they try to drag the godly man into a pity party. When is anybody going to think about us? We’re getting the short end of the stick. And I think this is much like the excuse-making and the sulking within modern evangelical circles, both amongst the woke and the based bros.

So you see it kind of on both sides of the spectrum within evangelical circles. On one side, they are perpetually fearful that they’re not diverse enough. They’re not meeting some diversity, equity, inclusion quota. They want to make the church a certain shape. They’re worried about what people think. And so they’ve twisted themselves into knots of lies, hoping that they can assuage guilty consciences.

Or on the other side, there’s this sort of black pill doomer mentality. You see it in things like the perpetually concerned bloggers who are worried about our witness if we aren’t diverse enough, gay enough, or feminist enough. On the other hand, the Theo bros also play the victim card and bemoan how the deck is stacked against us wasps. They try to use the jargon of the perpetually online. They’re black pilled over everything.

Both sides of evangelical complainers want you to join them at a Denethor-style bonfire. They’ve despaired.

They think we can’t go on. What about our witness? Or the deck is stacked against us. On either side, you have this complaining, bellyaching, when will anybody think about us trying to pull the righteous away from the comfort that is found in God’s favor and in God’s righteousness and mercy as seen through Christ and shown to us through Christ and given to us in Christ and to pull the righteous down into this pity party of when will anybody think about us? They want you to blackpill.

But both making up stories about the righteous or trying to drag the righteous down into your pity party are inadequate to deal with your shame. That’s not how you deal with your shame. And this is why David tells them a couple times in the Psalm, this is why David tells them to offer righteous sacrifices. Stop the hypocrisy. Stop fondling all your lies. Stop your belly aching and complaining.

Stop trying to pull the righteous down into your misery. Stop trying to discourage others from walking in the life-giving peace of God’s righteousness. None of that will soothe your conscience. So that’s man and his sin. That’s what he does. He either twists and tells lies about the righteous, or he tries to pull the righteous down into his misery. And neither of those approaches work.

will soothe your conscience, will give you rest, will bring you peace, which raises the question, what will bring peace to your conscience? And David shows us man in God’s favor. And David, of course, stands here as a shadow pointing us to his anointed heir, the Prince of Peace. Consider the portrait of David here.

First, his glory is mocked as a shameful thing. All the good that he had done for Israel is mocked and derided. If this psalm is, as I think it is, during Absalom’s revolt, think of the mockery which was hurled on David. And we get a picture of it when Shimei, this wicked man, shouts all sorts of things at David as he’s fleeing from Jerusalem.

When King David, 2 Samuel 16, when King David came to Baharim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gerah. He came forth to win friends and influence people. No, he came forth and cursed as he came and he cast stones at David and all the servants of King David and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

And thus said Shimei when he cursed, come out, come out thou bloody man, thou man of Belial. David, one who killed Goliath, the one who wrote Psalm 23, the Lord is our shepherd, I shall not want. Good King David, come on out. What are you running from, David? David?

Yeah, you’re getting what you deserve. I saw it coming from a mile away. You’re actually in league with the devil, David. I knew it. I just knew it. Earl’s curse is upon him.

And he says, the Lord has returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned. And the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. And behold, thou art taken in thy mischief. All your schemes, David, everything you did, all it’s coming back to bite you. What goes around comes around, David. I knew this was coming. You are a bloody man.

The same David of whom the pop songs of Israel were Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands, is now all sorts of these sorts of insults and taunts and twisted tales about David are swirling. His glory is mocked as a shameful thing. Insults and mockery and curses are hurled upon him.

The glory, peace, and prosperity of David’s kingdom is twisted by his enemies into something grotesque. And evil men do the same with Christ, both in his own time and Christ’s time and down to the present. The Jerusalem crowds pass by hurling all sorts of falsehoods upon the very one who was sent for their deliverance. I mean, when you think about Christ on the cross and the taunts and insults that were hurled upon him, bring yourself down from there.

The very thing that they, if they were reading the scriptures clearly, they knew he had come for their deliverance. He had come for the salvation of the world. He had come to be the mediator between God and man. And they mock and deride and hurl insults upon the Lord Jesus upon the cross. And ungodly men, if you listen carefully, do the same down to the present moment.

They hurl all sorts of insults and falsehoods upon the very one who is sent for their deliverance. In the present day, folks will say that Jesus is a crutch for the feeble-minded. But turning glory to shame is what all of us do whenever we, made in the image of God, of the glorious and triune God, turn that glory that He’s given to us, the glory being made in His image, into shame by our sin.

And so David stands here as a picture of the son of David who would one day have all the insults of all mankind placed upon him, bearing our griefs and our sins away. Secondly, David insists that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself, and this is the source of David’s peace.

He knew that he had been anointed as king by God’s purpose and nothing his enemies said and did and no amount of complaining by his companions could thwart God’s purpose. So if it be that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself and this is the source of David’s peace, it only takes a moment of introspection then for us to go, but who amongst us is godly?

And here is where Christ shines brightly in this song. The Father set apart His Son for Himself. Your only hope is to, by faith, share in that setting apart, that sanctification of the Son. The only hope for peace of conscience is if you rest in the sanctification of the Son of God, that He has been set apart for the purpose of delivering you.

Delivering you from all your lies. Delivering you from all your complaints and worries. Delivering you from all your enemies. Your only hope is to by faith share in that sanctification of the Son. God sets apart the godly for himself because the godly are only those who have hidden themselves in the Son of God. And when you know that…

When that wonderful Calvinist doctrine that not by good that you have done, but simply by the blood of Christ, by the electing love of God towards you, when you get that down into your bones and you know that in Christ and in Christ alone, you are loved and favored and that God has cast his mercy upon you, you can walk in the comfort that you are the apple of his eye. The church is his beloved.

He will not forget His covenant. He will not forget you. If you are in Christ, by trusting in Him, the Father will not drop you through the cracks of His everlasting hands. And third, what David gives to us, what he shows to us here, is that he has a deep gladness. And it flows from that doctrine of

of unmerited grace, undeserved grace, undeserved love from God. David has a deep gladness. Why? Because he knows what God thinks about him. The enemies can say all they want. His companions can complain all they want. He knows what God says about him. This is why he can sleep peacefully. This is why he doesn’t tremble with fright upon his bed.

turning over the accusations in his mind, keeping him awake. And this too draws our mind to consider Christ, who is the mercy and righteousness of God on our behalf. God looks upon Jesus, upon his Son, with pleasure. The Father beams with joy upon his Son. David asks God to hear his pleas because of God’s mercy and God’s righteousness.

And David invites his enemies to turn from their fretful lies and to trust in God. David rebukes the fickleness of his companions for being far too easily satisfied with the corn and wine of harvest time when the only source of their peace and joy is that God looks upon them in Christ, in God’s righteousness, God looks upon them with favor.

And this is all because and only because God is merciful and righteous. And so this is how the saint sleeps. The shame of your sin, the fear of your lies being exposed, the worries about what other people think, those will torture you with sleeplessness.

But if you get this truth, this simple truth of the gospel deep in your bones, you can truly rest. You can go to sleep because Christ went down into death and he rose again for your salvation and he lives forevermore.

If you get this simple truth deep in your bones, you can truly rest. You can go to sleep, even in profound loneliness, even in a tempest of ridicule or the downpour of sulking excuses around you. And all of this is because you rest in the safety of the merciful arms of Christ. Let’s pray.

Our good and gracious Father, our guilt cannot be purged except by the blood of your Son, Jesus. As Augustine said, our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee. Where we have cherished sin and tried to hide it, bring it fully into the light that we might confess it, be cleansed from it, and so enjoy your smile that only rests upon those hidden in the righteousness of Christ. And so now we pray back to you the words that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, saying…

In this sermon, the preacher introduces the Epistle of James, focusing on its practical wisdom for believers facing trials and persecution, especially the early dispersed church after Stephen’s martyrdom. James calls Christians to embrace joy amidst suffering because trials refine faith and produce spiritual maturity. The sermon highlights James’s emphasis that true faith is active and evidential, not merely intellectual, and addresses common misunderstandings about faith and works. It explores the likely authorship by James, the brother of Jesus, and situates the letter historically in a period of intense cultural and religious hostility. Addressing internal church conflicts and the danger of hypocritical zeal, the sermon challenges believers to grow in patience, holiness, and genuine Christian love. It encourages contemporary Christians to resist frustration over delayed victory, to avoid reactive zealotry, and trust in God’s providential work as His kingdom expands gradually but irresistibly. Ultimately, the letter’s timeless call is to mature, faithful living that visibly reflects Christ’s lordship amid adversity.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Our sermon text this morning comes from the letter of James, chapter 1, the first four verses. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s word. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, and she may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing. Then Acts 8, verse 1 says,

And Saul approved of Stephen’s execution. And there rose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered, dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. The word of the Lord. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your word, especially as we push out into a new book. We are grateful for the letter of James, and we will pray, Holy Spirit,

that as the apostle inspired by the Spirit would have wanted us, that as we give ourselves to the boot camp of this book, that we would come out on the other side more mature in the faith and more glad in the gospel and more confident in the providence of God over every second of our journey. Through Christ our Lord, and it is in his name that the people of God said, Amen and Amen.

Well, today we do begin a new sermon series through the letter, the epistle of James.

Real quick flyover over the next few weeks in our sermon time. Today, I’ll do more of an introduction generally on the book of James. It’ll feel a bit more like a sermon flavored lecture that rather than a full throttled sermon as intros are want to be. Then next week, I’ll be here leading the service, but Pastor Ben Zorns will be in town from Moscow. And so he’s going to minister the word to us. And then after that, we’ll get into the meat of the letter itself and begin our exposition of it

in earnest. But now in this sermon, I would like to introduce you to the book of James. James is somewhat unique within the canon of the New Testament in that it really reads more as the wisdom literature that we find in the Old Testament, the Proverbs and the Ecclesiastes. James is brimful of on-the-ground, earthy, practical, dirt-under-the-fingernails exhortations.

For James, of course, faith is essential. It is important. But he also makes it crystal clear that true faith, the kind that saves, saving faith, is not something that just happens between your ears.

Genuine faith lives. Genuine faith flows out of your fingertips. James insists on this so much that he even has that notable verse in 2.24 where he says,

This has even famously compelled Martin Luther when he was writing his preface to the New Testament to say, in comparison to Paul and John, he is an epistle of straw. Well, he went on to say, James has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.

Luther didn’t get everything right, just so you know. Got a lot of things right. And that’s because, of course, he thought that James ran roughshod over the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which one can understand if you just abstract that verse out of context. That was so precious to him for good reason. It was the rallying cry of the Reformation. We are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.

He didn’t like James. He cast sidelong glances at this rogue letter and far preferred the seemingly more gospel-soaked letters of Romans and Galatians. Now, of course, there would be a problem, of course, if James and Paul were in contradiction. But in fact, they are not when understood contextually and understood given the semantic range of the word justification. What all can that mean when we say that?

To use the fancy words, justification can have a forensic thrust. Namely, it can mean a legal declaration in a moment, or it can have an evidentiary thrust. It can mean evidence, fruit that reveals that moment actually happened.

As our Lord said, with merciful simplicity, you will know what kind of tree it is by what kind of fruit it bears. This is the angle James is emphasizing in his letter, and we’ll get more to that when we get to that text itself. But what’s true is the gospel and the implications of the gospel, what it looks like when it goes to work in a people,

is all throughout the epistle of James. That’s what it’s all about. Of course, we’re saved by faith alone, but what does that look like when it actually hits the ground to quote Francis Schaeffer’s iconic line, how then shall we live if we have trusted in Christ? Does the Spirit have any power that shows up on a Tuesday afternoon? James would say, well, of course. And so would Paul, of course.

James wants to make it clear that lip service about Jesus’ lordship means nothing if you are not living under Jesus’ lordship. It doesn’t matter if you say, Christ as king, I don’t care how big the font is or how bold it is. The question is, are you actually living like it? Or James would say, do you love the royal law that flows down from your king? This is what he’s getting at. Side note,

Luther did personally edit out that slander against James in the later editions of that work, though he never actually retracted it, though. I don’t think he had it in him. James doesn’t sound exactly like Paul, of course, not because he has a different theology, but because he’s writing to a different audience.

in a different context who needs a unique exhortation to address their specific challenges and their specific temptations. See, when God chose to communicate to us through a book,

The story of his redemptive dealings in the world, that’s what scripture is. He did not send it to us as a shrink-wrapped set of systematic theology. Neatly formatted, properly indented, cold, blunt facts. He did not do that, thanks be to God. It came to us as a grand, true story. Different genres, different authors, different contexts, different audiences. And this is important. The good Bible student always remembers that when he’s reading scripture,

What he was reading wasn’t written to him, but it was written for him. What I’m reading, okay, wasn’t written to me, but it was written for me. And to rightly understand how it applies to you, you have to understand the author’s original audience and the atmosphere he was writing into. And we’ll look at that in just a moment. But first, let’s consider the author himself. So what we know is it was written by James.

Verse 1, James, a servant of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notably, James is actually, in the original, the name Jacob. It’s Jacobus in Greek. James actually is Jacobus.

The late Latin got us all confused because it softened the B to an M, and then when we took it on, we just said James is easier to say. But it really is Jacob. So that’s where we got that. So in this letter written by Jacobus or James, we know that much, but which James is it? Which James could have had the apostolic authority, the pastoral gravitas to write this letter in this context?

We have three James in the New Testament that in theory could fit that bill. There’s James, the son of Zebedee. He was one of the 12, the brother of John, one that the Lord called one of the sons of thunder. There’s James, the son of Alphaeus, also known as James, the lesser one of the 12. He only ever shows up in the listing of the disciples, nothing else notable. And there’s James, the brother of our Lord.

who before the Lord’s resurrection was actually himself something of a skeptic. John 7, 5 tells us that even his brothers did not believe in him during his life.

But that changed. After the resurrection, Brother James became not only a believer, but a stalwart leader in the church, the first bishop of sorts, actually oversaw the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, and would ultimately give his life for the faith. He would die for his faith in his brother, who he knew was the Messiah.

Well, the overwhelming consensus has been that this letter was written by James, the brother of our Lord. There were some outliers. Calvin, for instance, was open to it being James the Lesser. Now, I’m going to throw a little wrench into things. Bear with me. I’m not prepared to go against the majority of church history yet, but I will simply say there’s a minority view that has compelling reasons for seeing James, the son of Zebedee,

and the brother of John as a likely potential author. I just want to offer it to you. I don’t want to spend too much time here. It doesn’t change the authority of the letter, of course, but a little detective work is warranted because considering it helps situate us more closely to the actual atmosphere that this letter was written within. Here’s how.

The main reason that it is assumed that James, the son of Zebedee, could not have possibly written this letter, he’s just dismissed from the get-go. It’s not even considered. The reason is because he died in AD 44, in Acts 12. He died really early. And people say, well, he couldn’t have written it yet. He just died too early. That’s how the argument goes. He lost his head. He can’t write the letter because obviously it could not have been written before 44.

And James, the brother of Jesus, became the leader. It must be him. But there’s one issue with that argument. There’s really no strong reason to believe the letter was written after his death in Acts 12. In fact, there’s quite compelling reason to believe it was written very early on in the 30s before his death.

And this brings us to the atmosphere. So it’s written to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. James says that at the very beginning. James, servant of God, to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. That’s the audience. Look at that more in a minute as well. But for now, I simply want to connect that

So who he’s writing it to, to the other verse I read at the beginning, namely Acts 8. So that was the moment that the dispersion, the scattering happened. So it’s right after the stoning of Stephen, what Saul slash Paul over Saul approved of, great persecution breaks out against the church. So they run, they disperse, they flee deeper into Judea and Samaria.

Later in Acts 11, we get another report about this dispersed church. This is before James’ death, son of Zebedee. We hear that the ministry is growing. Even the Gentiles are getting converted through their work, through their witness, and the church starts to take greater roots and sees more structure form. Well, that is precisely the context James is writing to.

He’s writing to the 12 tribes, that is the new Israel, the church who have been dispersed, who are facing fierce, violent resistance to them. He’s writing to call them to remain steadfast during that trial, to understand God is forging and purifying and maturing their faith through the persecution, through the displacements.

So this is clearly one of the front burner issues in the church that the letter speaks directly to before his death. So the timeline of Acts 8 to 12 spans 10 to 14 years. It fits surprisingly neatly in the narrative. And to make a compelling argument for his authorship at a later date just isn’t assumed.

There’s no conclusive reason a later date must be assumed. A few other quick drive-by pieces that might add a little weight to this argument in his direction. Not only was he martyred in Acts 12, the text says that Herod saw that the people approved. They loved that James got martyred, which means he was a snare in their side. Could it be?

Even writing this letter was partly evidence that he had become a big deal and was encouraging the church that was being persecuted. Two, he was one of Jesus’ three closest apostles. Remember, there’s Peter, and then there’s James, and then his brother John, the one who wrote the gospel and the epistles. Obviously, Peter wrote an epistle as well. It is not a stretch at all to imagine James would have as well.

Three, it’s likely that Matthew’s gospel was the first New Testament book and written very early as well. I don’t have space to argue that here. But if entertained, which I think it should be, the overlaps between James and Matthew are absolutely striking, specifically with the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew alone records.

James makes no less than 16 clear references to Jesus’ most famous sermon in that gospel. He speaks of joy amidst persecution. He speaks of a generous Father bestowing good gifts, of being doers, not just hearers. He speaks of mourning that will lead to rejoicing. He speaks of not serving two masters because friendship with the world is enmity towards God.

He says, be slow to judge your brother. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t store up treasure that will rot. And on and on and on. And so if the writing of the New Testament goes Matthew, then James, both quite early, we’d expect James to draw heavily from it, which he clearly does. So which James was it?

God alone knows. But I believe a good case can be made for James, the son of Zebedee, with this letter written during the post-Steven scattering, 8 through 11, when that situation was so hot before his death in Acts 12. But we’ll leave the topic there for now. This is obviously not a test of orthodoxy, but hey, I have Rich Lusk on my side, which is always really fun. Okay, now let’s move on. So we already saw that this was written to the 12 tribes in the dispersion.

Now, this is James’ way of addressing the church, the true Israel of God, in opposition to the Jewish Sanhedrin who, in their unbelief, obviously maintained that they were the true Israel of God when, in fact, their age was sunsetting and would come to an end in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple. And this beginning lands with a greater thud when we recall James is actually Jacob in the original. And so this is Jacob saying,

giving a word to the 12 tribes of Israel. Draw any connections there? How about Jacob in Genesis 49, giving a word to his 12 sons before they established the 12 tribes. This is another Jacob instructing 12 new tribes, the Christian church, as the Lord establishes them in these early hard years.

And he’s writing not primarily to the church generally, though the entire church obviously could benefit from what he’s saying, but it seems he’s writing specifically to the leaders within the dispersed church. There’s a very important detail in Acts 8 that we could skip right over, but is actually important for the context. It says, Acts 8.1, they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, everyone except the apostles.

Everyone except the apostles. Now, of course, the apostles still had a pulse on the happenings in the dispersion. Acts 8.14 says that when they got wind that Samaria had received the word, they sent Peter and John to encourage. However, this providential scattering, this shakeup, would have caused significant leadership challenges. They would have needed more leaders, and these leaders would have needed more wisdom, more

more encouragement, not only to know how they should be responding personally to what they’re encountering, but also how should they pastor this church with these specific temptations as they do ministry in a pressure cooker. To appreciate what this letter addresses, we must labor to get in the skin of these folks. Remember,

The Sanhedrin, driven by rage and envy, had murdered Jesus. Obviously, that was not successful. He didn’t stay dead. He rose. He ascended on high. However, this did not dampen their resolve to try to destroy Jesus. It only intensified it. And since they could no longer get at Jesus himself at the right seat of the Father, they

The Sanhedrin unleash their special forces, as it were, to go after Jesus by trying to destroy his body, the church. Going back to Acts 8, in verse 2, we get the burial of Stephen. He’s martyred. Then verse 3, it says this, but Saul, also the apostle Paul, Saul was ravaging the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Now, just imagine how disruptive this would be to a new Jewish convert to Christianity. Not only are they entirely displaced from their home, they had to flee from Jerusalem. But just months before, these same men who are literally hunting them down Gestapo style were their Sunday school teachers at the synagogue.

They’ve murdered Steven. They’re coming for me now. This is the context.

This is what James is talking about when he says, counting it all joy when you face trials. This is not waiting five minutes for a latte when you have a meeting. This is hard to fathom persecution that’s very close to home. Leave your home. Sunday school teachers killed Stephen. Coming for you. You’re the enemy. Another disorienting factor arises, and it’s the question,

Now, again, think new convert. This would have been true for the apostles, no doubt as well. But if the Messiah has come, the one who is to lay low our oppressors and to establish his kingdom of peace, why aren’t we winning? Like what in the world is happening now?

Not only does it seem like we’re losing, things have gotten so much more worse since his ascension. We see even at the beginning of Acts, this is the question. This is on the front burner of the disciples’ mind. Before the Lord ascends, this is the last thing they say to him. It’s a question. The question is, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Are we going to see this in the next 10 minutes?

This is what their expectation was. That’s Acts 1.6. And the Lord tells them they’re not going to get a detailed timeline. Rather, they are to wait for the Holy Spirit, whom He will send, He will empower, and then they are to get to work with where the Spirit leads them.

Now Jesus has ascended, but their enemies only seem more empowered and they only seem to be more oppressed. And this tempts some, not only towards discouragement, but towards taking matters into their own hands, towards taking the zealot’s path and starting to actually look and act like they’re oppressors, even within the church. Through their vitriolic speech, James hammers on this. They bless God and

And they turn around and curse men, just like those who are coming after them. James likens their words to setting forest fires, vitriol going viral within the church. So these things ought not be. What are you doing? You’re Christians.

They quarrel amongst themselves. So much so, it appears violent clashes are happening within the church. Chapter 4, what causes quarrels and fights among you? Is it not this? Your passions are at war within you. You desire and you can’t get, so you murder.

We often think that’s hyperbole. I’m not so sure it is. Far from modeling a striking contrast to those who are hunting them down, seeking to destroy them, the church is starting and being tempted to look like them, to employ the same tactics, to allow their persecution to inflame their own sinful passions.

So that they start to resemble the enemies of Christ and not Christ himself. And so Pastor James grabs them by the shoulders, throws water in their face to wake them up. How inconsistent this is. How unbecoming of Christians their actions are. And how, to be frank, they need to grow up. They need to mature. They need to be adult followers of Jesus. And so, beloved,

In 2026 in Washington, D.C., James is a very timely word for us as well. It wasn’t written to us. Oh, it was written for us.

Because we face the same temptation in our day, especially given the trajectory of our country over the last century and the active hostility that we face as Christians. There’s a temptation towards frustration, towards discouragement, towards being perplexed as to why Jesus isn’t winning quicker.

Why isn’t he moving with greater power? Why would he allow this good land, a land that was founded in his name, to be overrun by those who hate him and hate the faith and hate virtue that it was built upon? This can tempt the church not merely towards discouragement.

but towards impatience, towards an unhinged zealotry, a Boromir impulse that wants to grab the ring to fight under Gondor’s banner, which becomes looking like Gollum in the process. This is James’ concern that a good and holy zeal for Jesus can turn into a hypocritical zealotry in Jesus’ name.

He says, how unbecoming, how unbecoming to pour out the fresh water of blessing during service on Sunday and then gush the brackish water of bitterness and cursing the other days. Chapter 3 says, brothers, these things ought not be. A true well, a life-giving well, a Christian well cannot flow fresh living water and salt water at the same time. Instead, James is going to give them wisdom.

earthy, aged Christian wisdom on walking well amidst the disorienting dispersion. And the first thing they must gain is patience. Patience amidst trials. Because what Jesus is up to in redeeming the world is

is going to be a far longer, far more dramatic, far more unlikely and better story than they first realized. The kingdom isn’t Amazon-primed with two-day delivery after the ascension. Rather, it is like a mustard seed. So small, but grows slowly and unstoppably through many twists and turns.

They need the wisdom that understands the affliction that they’re facing does not mean Jesus isn’t winning. Rather, the affliction they’re facing is actually an essential part of the expansion of the kingdom. The gospel does not take root in the world or in a city by quickly overthrowing Rome or stopping the Sanhedrin. Of course, Jesus could have done that.

if you wanted to, but it also comes through sanctifying the church, making real sinners grow into real holiness after they’ve been saved, which it turns out takes immense pressure. So even in this current hardship, what’s true is all the sinful reactions that are oozing out of them amidst the persecution, it was not caused by the persecution.

All that gunk was already in them. This was just the mechanism that exposed it. And he wants them to realize this so they can become grown-up Christians whose faith has been refined and purified by fire and now produces the fruits of maturity, even in the trenches, which does not look like being a keyboard warrior who starts firestorms through rage baiting.

It looks like earthy, practical piety. Having a patient passion for the advancement of the kingdom. Having a tame tongue that knows how to cast the light of truth, but not in the way a flamethrower does. And having generous hands that look to bless the needy.

not to use the rich or influential in the church like rungs on an ambition ladder. It looks like mercy towards widows and orphans. It looks like having a holy zeal that does not devolve into a hypocritical zealotry. And under it all, it looks like an unwavering faith in the providence of God, even and especially through the twists and swerves and sorrows and trials that are sure to come, trusting that for the Christian,

He is working all things for good, turning us into grown-up, mature Christians who will, by faith, leave a massive dent in D.C.’s darkness. In Jesus’ name and over the long haul.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our Lord and our God, we are thankful that you are more committed to our holiness than we ever would be, which means you’re more committed to our happiness. Help us to believe that through this study. And now we would pray the way our Lord taught us to pray.

This final sermon in the Cultural Trusses series exhorts Christians, especially those in the DC area, to embody an “all of Christ for all of life” mindset, faithfully representing Jesus in every sphere—including government and military roles—without compartmentalizing their faith. Drawing from Daniel’s example, who resisted cultural assimilation in Babylon by refusing to defile himself and clinging to his true identity despite pressures to conform, believers are urged to daily remember their baptismal identity and resist being “re-baptized” into worldly loyalties, whether political or cultural. The preacher highlights the church’s need to recover public Christian witness, countering decades of cultural silence that allowed secularism and competing ideologies to dominate. Christians are called to courageously engage civil society with hope and expectation, trusting in Christ’s authority over all life. Moreover, the sermon stresses honoring Christ through excellence in work and witness, recognizing that wisdom and skills are gifts from God to be leveraged for His glory and kingdom impact. This enduring faithfulness and integrity will cultivate respect, influence, and divine favor, equipping the church to serve boldly in a hostile and secularizing culture.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Well, this is going to be our final sermon in the Cultural Trusts series. As I’ve sought to begin my pulpit ministry here by hitting on a few distinctives, a few values, a few structural components of our church life, as it were. First, we looked at the gospel itself, the good news, the astonishingly good news that Jesus Christ saves sinners, which is the foundation for everything. We then considered the importance of thinking covenantally.

Then, on why we have such a cheerful, optimistic eschatology, we ponder the potency and the preeminence of Lord’s Day worship. That was last week, and today we’ll land the plane on this series. That’s not to say, obviously, that we could not add on many more. There are many more we could say, but these are load-bearing ones, and frankly, I’m really eager to get into a book of the Bible, and we’ll do that next week as we push out into the book of James.

But our final cultural trust is this, and it’s the very first thing you’ll see if you go to our website. And so it seems like that’s one we should probably unpack. Namely, that we have an all of Christ for all of life, for all of DC mindset.

We are a people that have an all of Christ for all of life for all of DC mindset. That is, we believe Christ has placed us here, has placed you here to have an impact for him as a Christian at whatever specific post that he’s placed you in. And with us being in DC, for many of you,

That’s even going to be in a government or military post. The stat I was given is that roughly 70% of our congregation is connected or works for the government or the military. And we want all of you, every one of you in all the church, to labor wherever Christ has placed you, including positions of civil influence, with great hope.

and great expectation, and great courage in the name of Christ. Or to say it another way, your Christianity is not like a lapel pin that you put on and take off depending on what day it is or what room you’re in. Rather, Jesus is the king of every room, and we are his ambassadors in every room that we show up in.

And this is an especially important conviction for the church to recover because for the past several decades, the church has allowed a play to be run on us where we were told that we were never to get religious in the public sphere.

Don’t mind the fact that if you turn over your $20 bill, it says, in God we trust, over the White House, right? You’re never to get religious. You can do what you want in private, in church, but Christians must never be Christians out loud in civil society, especially not in the political realm. The gospel is a private affair. Meanwhile, the public square never got any less religious. Nature abhors a vacuum. Something will be worshiped.

If the worship of the living God wanes, then a thousand idols will scurry in to set up shop in his place. And that’s what’s happened in our nation. The idols of secularism.

The idols of the LGBTQ cult, the idols of Hinduism and Islam have rushed in to fill the void while the Christians compliantly walked off the field into the high parts of the bleachers. But by God’s grace, he has not abandoned us. And there’s been a fresh groundswell.

Just like there was at our founding, there’s been a groundswell of Christian witness and Christian courage in recent days. And we intend to get in on that. We intend to get in on what Christ is up to in all the world and specifically in the greater DC area, because that’s where we live.

And with the first chapter of our church plant being tagged Mission to Babylon, if you go to our podcasts, that’s what it says, it seemed fitting to go to the book of Daniel today to tighten down the bolts of this trust biblically. Because at the beginning of this book, we find Daniel and his friends showing up in an idolatrous city, but they show up as the Lord’s men.

They show up not dissuaded, not discouraged. They show up as the Lord’s men under his providential decree on purpose. They aren’t hostile, but they certainly aren’t compromising either. And because of that…

Against impossible odds on paper, Daniel ends up having an astounding influence for the living God on the leaders and by extension on the entire trajectory of that kingdom. One quick word on the overall flow of the sermon. By beginning with my foundational text in the book of Daniel, I

I’m making an argument throughout the sermon. I’m making an argument from the lesser to the greater. That is to say, if you remember your logic chops, if we see this type of godly influence in Babylon before Christ, before his ascension in a pagan land, how much more should we as Christians expect the Lord to use us in this era of history, in this city with the gospel?

30,000 foot view. So to the text now. We’ll do an overview and then draw out some applications. The book of Daniel begins after Babylon’s initial attack on Jerusalem circa 600-ish BC. King Nebuchadnezzar

He starts bringing over the spoil of victory from Jerusalem into Babylon. He does so in the form of the temple treasures, in the form of human captives. He starts bringing them over to build up his kingdom. He’ll do this in successive waves over several decades, culminating, ultimately, in the destruction, finally, of the temple.

But in the first wave, which is what we get at the beginning of Daniel, he tells his chief unit to bring in a whole company of the top-tier Israelites from the royal family. Nebuchadnezzar wants the brightest, he wants the best, the most skilled, the most clever, the most competent. And for a full three years, they were to be instructed, they were to be catechized, they were to be enculturated in all things Babylon.

You will be catechized by something. Nebuchadnezzar knew this. Christians all forget it. So that’s where he begins, catechize them. They were to learn Babylon’s wisdom, learn her ways, learn her language. They were to be fed by the choicest meats and the finest wines that Babylon has to offer so that even their palates would crave the delicacies of Babylon.

And at the end of the three years, after the thorough immersion was complete, they were to be presented to their new king for an oral examination on how they had fared. Are they Babylonian yet? That’s verses three through five. However, there quickly emerged four young men who are standouts, namely Daniel and his three notable friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. You might say,

Those names aren’t all that familiar to me. Well, that’s because Babylon tried to scrub their true names by giving them the Babylonian names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which even in the church we know better than their original names. And that renaming is, of course, very significant. We’ll circle back around on that in a little bit.

Then as the text unfolds, we see Daniel on behalf of he and his friends. He asks his eunuch handler if they can just opt out of the king’s delicacies. They don’t want his menu. They don’t want the king’s food. And verse 8 gives the reason why. They didn’t want to be defiled by Babylonian delicacies. They did not want to be defiled by the king’s food. How would it defile them?

This is a layered meaning, of course, several ways. One, the king’s menu obviously would have zero regard for the Levitical system and the rules of cleanliness and uncleanliness. They did not want to become ceremonially unclean, even if they were in Babylon, men of integrity. Second, it was one way that Daniel and company could resist. They could resist the Babylonian enculturation.

He did not want his palate to be put on a leash, to have a craving for pagan wine, to have a craving for meat offered to idols, no matter how delicious it was.

And when you remember the circumstances actually get inside of their flesh a little bit, of what they have just been through, to forego that shows a remarkable resolve. They’ve been led in bonds from their homeland, uncomfortable in a foreign place, now offered better food and wine than they have ever known in their life, and how we crave creature comforts, especially when we’re far from home in uncomfortable places.

But Daniel and his guys value their spiritual purity, their cleanliness of heart before their God, than their physical cravings. Well, the eunuch’s main concern is pragmatics. If they opt out of the meet…

they’ll end up scrawny compared to the rest, which will get him in trouble. The whole point is to prepare them to stand before the king with gravitas. But Daniel allays that fear. And after a 10-day test run to see how they fare, the eunuch allows them to opt out. And the text is explicit. We didn’t read it, but in verse 9 it says, the Lord had compassion and he softened the eunuch’s heart to let them opt out. So his sovereign care is attending to all of this, of course.

Then in verses 17 through 20, we get the report about them. After the three years are up, they are called to stand before King Nebuchadnezzar. And far from them being the runts of the litter, these four men stand out easily as the cream of all of the crop and the land.

They had a certain presence. They had a gravitas that no one else could touch. And when they stand before the king for their confirmation hearing, as it were, to see how they would do on their feet, they possess a composure, but not just a composure, a wisdom, a wisdom that stuns the king and stuns all of his courts. Verse 20, And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired them,

He found them 10 times better than all the magicians, than all the enchanters that were in his kingdom. And we know why. We don’t have to guess. We’re Christians. We know why. It wasn’t because of their IQs or their study habits. I’m sure they were great. These are men, high functioning, great integrity. But it was because the Lord’s favor was upon them.

We see that back in verse 17. As for those four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. And then we see that Daniel has even an extra measure. He stands out even above the cream. He had understanding in all visions and in all the dreams. The reason is by faith, they rejected Babylon’s fare.

And they received the Lord’s favor. Their faith was in the Lord, not in Babylon’s fair. And the Lord blessed them with wisdom and gravitas and godly influence throughout that pagan land. Indeed, so much so, and this is truly astonishing,

The Lord would use Daniel’s prophetic influence in the court, in the council, to bring King Nebuchadnezzar himself to his knees and to confess the power of the living God. Daniel 2, the next chapter, 46 and 47. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel. And the king answered and said, truly, your God is the God of gods.

And Daniel’s godly influence only increased during the decades that followed. His steady integrity, his faithful Christian witness and Christian courage, as it were, was used by God in ways that he could have never imagined and certainly not planned for when he first arrived. Another example, when he had that slumber party with hungry lions because he kept praying after Congress told him that he had to stop. When the king saw Daniel

that the Lord had shut the mouths of lions, he came to check on them. Listen to how he responded. This is King Darius now. 6, 25 through 26. Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, languages. He wrote that all of those that dwell on earth, peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in all my royal dominion, people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God.

That’s amazing. He’s like, Christian nationalism? No, Christian globalism. He just hops right over it. It’s amazing. The Lord used Daniel to bring incredible godly influence, even at the highest levels, because of his courage and his uncompromising faith.

And when he was told by the politicians that he needed to check his Christianity at the palace door, he refused. He opened the blinds and kept praying. Wherever he went, there he was as God’s man on purpose. And he was a lever in God’s hand that moved even the heart of Babylon. So, okay, that’s overview. So remember, I’m making an argument in this sermon from the lesser to the greater.

Namely, if God used Daniel and Babylon to such remarkable effect in an all of Christ for all of life type of way, how much more should we labor with great expectation, great hope, great joy in the greater DC area in 2026? How much more on at least two accounts? One, as we’ve already noted, and as the sermon two weeks ago focused on, unlike Daniel and

We live on the other side of the resurrection, on the other side of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Lord, not just behind the clouds in some ethereal way. But remember what he said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. With that authority, go and disciple the nation. Christ holds the deed to this world. He has crown rights over every square inch of it.

including inside the beltway. So that’s one. Second, because unlike Babylon, America was birthed in the cradle of Christianity.

America was birthed in the cradle of Christianity. Do not buy the leftist propaganda that seeks to scrub and rewrite our history. It’s a simple, undeniable fact of history. Indeed, the Treaty of Paris, the document that officially, formally, legally ended the war with England, established us as a sovereign nation, it began with this sentence, in the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.

Some will say, well, that was just common parlance back then, to which we say, that’s our point. That’s the point. Let’s say, well, they didn’t mean it. Well, they should have. That’s the point. This is how the document started. John Witherspoon, a founder and signer of the Declaration, charged our nation to this end, saying, he is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion.

Because there is no true liberty apart from the favor of the living God.

That’s just true. That’s just as true as gravity. So we should expect far greater influence for Christ that even Daniel had, which was remarkable in its own right. And at Christ Church, we want to be here as faithful Christians and faithful citizens and faithful workers to bring all of Christ to all of life, wherever he’s placed us in the greater DC area.

But beloved, this is something you must do on purpose. You will not drift in this direction, especially with the hostility these days and the secularization of our nation in recent times. And to that end, I want to give you two broad charges based on the example of Daniel and his friends from our text. Two broad charges, if you would help bring all of Christ to all of life and all of DC. First,

You must begin every morning by remembering your true name. You must begin every morning, start every morning by remembering your true name. Or to say it negatively, you must doggedly refuse to let Babylon re-baptize you.

You must doggedly refuse to let Babylon re-baptize you. And this goes back to the strategic renaming of Daniel and his friends. This was an attempt to alter their primary loyalties. This was an attempt to alter their primary loyalties from Yahweh, the living God, to the cult idols of Babylon.

That’s what’s going on here. It’s not because it was hard for Nebuchadnezzar to pronounce their names. He’s trying to alter their primary loyalties at the identity level. For instance, Daniel means God is my judge. El God din judge. Renamed Belteshazzar, which means Marduk is my protector. Think that’s significant?

called that constantly? Hananiah means Yahweh is gracious, from Yah, Yahweh, and Hannah, gracious. That’s what his name means. Renamed Shadrach, which means I’m commanded by Aku, the moon god of Babylon.

And it’s the exact same for the other two as well. All their names reference the living God changed to a cult idol of Babylon. Well, the same thing still happens, especially in a place like DC. Babylon will try to re-baptize you. It will try to make something other than Christ the chief thing you identify with.

So try to make something other than Christ the chief thing you identify with, your supreme loyalty to which all lesser things, including your convictions to Christ, must submit to. Whether that’s a politician, an agenda, a think tank, a news outlet, or the conservative cause, generally speaking.

Conservatism without Christ can still become and often is a worthless idol because conservatism without Christ still always leads to chaos. It’s just an hour behind the radical left. And that’s because conservatism, generally speaking, without Christ doesn’t actually end up conserving anything worth conserving.

This is how you can end up having transgender folks being billed as conservative commentators, which of course is a contradiction in terms. And it shows how bankrupt that philosophy is apart from a transcendent truth, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that’s why we must remember our true name each morning, the name that we received when we were baptized. In your baptism, the triune name was placed on you, declared over you by the living God, and you were subsequently commissioned to go forth and bear that name everywhere you go.

We see the weightiness of this even in the third commandment. In the third commandment, we’re told we must not take, we must not literally carry God’s name in vain. Now, we typically think that means don’t use God’s name as a swear, which that’s good. Don’t do that either. But it’s far more profound than that. It means do not see bearing the name of God upon you as a light thing.

as you go out in the world. Don’t carry the name of God upon you as if it were a light, trivial thing when it is, in fact, a weighty, glorious thing.

We must not think we are Christians on the Lord’s Day and then mere conservatives or anything else, primarily the other six days of the week. No, we are Christians at worship on the Lord’s Day, then we are Christians in our labors the rest of the week. Jesus is Lord over all seven days of the week. One clarification before I move on here.

Obviously, of course, there is nothing wrong with being fiercely loyal to your cause, to your boss, to your mission, your think tank, your branch. Whatever you do, nothing wrong with being fiercely loyal. In fact, you should be loyal. Loyalty is a virtue. But it’s not if you compromise your loyalty to Christ in service of that other loyalty. No. No.

That’s letting Babylon re-baptize you into another name, and you must reject that. Your baptism into Christ must be a weighty thing, more weighty than a lapel pin. And like Daniel, you must refuse to compromise, even in the seemingly smallest, trivial ways that are common in this cutthroat, politically charged land.

You must stand like the great church father, Polycarp, a disciple of the apostle John himself. Polycarp, who at 86 was martyred by the Roman procouncil at the demands of the crowds because he refused to offer a pinch of incense to a false god. A pinch!

What’s a pinch? It’s nothing. This is how Rome works. This is what everybody does. Jesus does not really care. Every conservative does it. It’s nothing. It’s how the game is played in Rome, polycarp. But this aged saint knew a tiny pinch of incense to an idol was no triviality. It was high treason against his king. It was the difference of having the favor of God upon him

or not. As simple as that. And he responded famously, for 86 years, I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I then blaspheme my king and my savior? And they executed him.

But it was their legacy that crumbled, not his. His still lives on. So, beloved, remember your name. Do not offer even a pinch of incense to an idol. A pinch of incense through flirting with your assistant or your boss to move up the ladder.

A pinch of incense through publishing what you know is rank slander. A pinch of incense through laughing at those crude jokes at cocktail hour so that you seem cool and fit in and grease the social skids. A pinch of incense through refusing to back a righteous cause because of the fierce backlash you know that will come to you.

No, far better to be fiercely resisted by men for righteousness and still have the favor of God upon you. Okay, one more exhortation by way of conclusion from their example here, and it’s this. Seek to honor Christ through your excellence.

Seek to honor Christ through your excellence, or you could say, seek to honor Christ both through your words and through the quality of your work. Listen again to what verse 20 says. Because they chose faithfulness to God rather than to eat Babylon’s fare, the text says, “…in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found these men ten times better.”

than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all of his kingdom. And then verse 17 explicitly says that it was the Lord, as we saw, who gave them their wisdom, who gave them their excellence, who gave them their understanding. And so it is wonderfully humbling, beloved, to remember whatever skill you have,

whatever wisdom you have, whatever is your superpower, as it were, that is from God. He gave it to you. He wrote it into your story and he expects you to use it to good purpose. So one of the ways we honor Christ in the greater DC area is

is by being known for our excellence and our understanding in whatever we put our hand to. Or people can say, I hate their politics or whatever I think they believe, but man, those Christchurch people are always the best at what they’re doing.

They’re always the most gritty, the most eager. I can trust them if I put anything into their hands. Whether you’re a woodworker or a lawyer or a realtor or a policy writer or an appointee or a student or anything else,

Recognize you are representing Christ there, both in the quality of your words and the quality of your work. The reason Daniel became trusted by the king and influential in the kingdom is because he was a man of excellence. He stood out in the crowd, but not, and this is huge, not in a self-promotional, vainglorious way.

rather through a gravitas that came from his godliness and his excellence. Proverbs 22, 29. Do you see a man skillful in his work? That man will stand before kings. He will not stand before obscure men.

So continuing education in your field is not outside of your sanctification or your spiritual life. You want to take the raw material the Lord has entrusted to you, make the edge of that tool as sharp as you can, and get after it for the glory of the Lord.

Ambition is not a bad word, not in itself. The question is, what’s the telos of your ambition? Is it self-glory, your name in headlines? Then yes, that’s idolatry. But if your ambition is the glory of Christ in everything you do, through leveraging your skills and your learning and your providential opportunities, well, that’s not only allowed, that is what Christ requires of us.

That’s the entire purpose of the parable of the talents. Gave to someone, some to five, some to 10, and then said, go forth, whatever you have, get a return on that investment.

So, beloved, whatever you do in the greater D.C. area, strive for excellence. Understand that this is a Christian virtue. And through that, we gain trust and influence that honors the Lord and impacts the greater D.C. area for the kingdom in ways we cannot even begin to comprehend. Psalm 16.3, As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

May that be said of Christ’s church as we bear witness to all of Christ in all of our life, all throughout DC, wherever we may providentially have been placed. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for Christ, who is our life.

We thank you for your compassion towards us. And Father, I do pray as a people, you would fill us with a holy favor and gravitas wherever we go. Guard us from selfish ambition. That is always right there. That ditch is so close. Put a guardrail there, Lord. May all of our ambition be Christward, driven by love for our neighbor. And now we would pray the way our Lord taught us to pray.

In the sermon, the preacher explores the profound significance of robust, faith-filled worship on the Lord’s Day, emphasizing its transformative power not only in believers but in the world around them. Using biblical examples like Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16) and King Jehoshaphat’s unconventional battle plan (2 Chronicles 20), the sermon illustrates how worship serves as spiritual warfare that provokes God’s powerful intervention. Far from merely individualistic or emotional moments, authentic corporate worship calls God’s presence from heaven, renewing covenant with Him, strengthening the church, and frustrating evil forces. The sermon explains that worship is both a heavenly encounter and a catalyst for earthly change, inviting believers to participate expectantly and joyfully. It highlights five key elements of the liturgy—call, confession, consecration, communion, and commissioning—showing how the Lord meets His people to equip them for kingdom work throughout the week. Ultimately, worship is presented as the foundation of the church’s mission and spiritual strength.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

The true life of all We blossom and flourish As leaves on the tree And wither and perish But naught changeth

Amen. And you may be seated. We have two texts this morning for our sermon time. The first comes from Acts chapter 16, verses 25 through 26. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. And then from 2 Chronicles 20, verse 22. And when they began to sing in praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. The word of the Lord.

Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your holy word. And Holy Spirit, we pray that you would push it into the corners of our body here, that we would understand in a more profound way, in a more gladdening way, both the privilege and the power of worship on the Lord’s day, through Christ our Lord. And in his name we pray, and the people of God said, Amen.

Well, today I will continue on in my inaugural Christ Church sermon series, one that I’ve entitled Cultural Trusses, where we are tightening the bolts on some structural elements, some foundational values that we hold together as a church. We began by staring in fresh wonder some weeks back.

at how astonishing the good news of the gospel actually is for sinners like us. We considered then how the lies of radical individualism has hollowed out the soul both of the church and our society and culture and the need then to recover a robust covenantal vision of life.

Last week, we considered why we have an optimistic eschatology, a surprisingly cheerful outlook on where the whole story of Earth is headed. And today, we’re going to look at the trust of what we are doing right now, namely the importance

of robust, reverent, faith-fueled worship on the Lord’s Day, and how this heavenly worship actually shapes the world around us. How heavenly worship shapes the world around us.

See, another way that radical individualism has hollowed us out as a people, both in the church and as a nation, is how it has flattened our view of worship on the Lord’s Day.

The Christian who has been shaped by individualism will have an anemic view of Lord’s Day worship and the glory therein. Because, being individualistic, they will default to placing themselves at the center of the service. Even when singing songs about Jesus, the running question will be, how do I feel right now about what’s happening?

And the picture they’ll likely hold in their mind is of them individually with Jesus having a moment together. Now, of course, this is not entirely wrong.

Just as Jesus compassionately, patiently met with the woman at the well, so our Lord does minister to us with great compassion, great tenderness, patiently, patiently and personally on the Lord’s Day. But what I’m saying is, Lord’s Day worship is so much more than that as well. For it is when the people of God are called up to heaven to meet with their God to renew covenant.

where the people of God worship their God and are transformed from one degree of glory to another in His presence. And even more, what happens in heaven when we worship does not stay contained in heaven, but it powerfully shapes the earth around us, judging and frustrating the workers of evil and bringing salvation and gospel refreshment to our corner of the kingdom.

For the God of heaven really does respond to our worship in ways that shape the world. I know many of you believe this. I want you to believe it even more. I want that trust to be firmly and biblically welded at Christ Church. So that’s the goal for our day. Now to the word we go. To begin, I want us to join Paul and Silas again in prison in our Acts 16 text.

So for context, since we’re parachuting right in to the middle of the story, Paul and Silas were ministering in Philippi. They converted Lydia. Encouraging ministry is starting to happen around them. Then a slave girl attaches herself to them. This was a girl who practiced divination. And she will not stop crying out that these men are God’s servants and gospel ministers.

Now, her message is not wrong. It’s gloriously true. But she gets stuck on repeat for days. And finally, the apostle can take it no more.

So he commands that spirit to leave her, which it does. And now Paul can finally have some peace of mind, which lasts for all of about five minutes, because when she lost that spirit, her owner lost a lucrative part of his business. He lost profits. He wants recompense.

And so he gets the local crowds and the magistrates to come together to turn on Paul and Silas, who are then summarily beaten without a trial, tossed into a grimy prison, hands in iron, all their ministry plans put on ice. So it seems.

But as we reflected on in our exhortation, they respond to all of this physical pain and blatant injustice so very differently than we would often respond. Verse 25 again, about midnight, Paul and Silas, they were praying and they were singing hymns to God. Their response was to worship God.

Their reflex was to lift their voices to heaven in praise and in petition. The joy of the Lord really was their strength, not the joy of perfectly executed plans, not the joy of physical comfort, not the joy of civil justice. If their joy was contingent on any of those things, they would not have been singing because all of those in this moment are completely gone.

No, it was the joy of the Lord, which rests content in his perfect providence. And the text goes on to say, the prisoners were watching them. This is a fascinating scene. The prisoners were watching them, and I’m sure they were. This is a new sight. This is a strange thing to see. Sacred music at midnight from strange men in bonds.

Well, if the prisoners thought that this was a strange sight, it was about to get a lot weirder. Because as Paul and Silas lifted their voices to heaven, the God of heaven responded. The God of heaven responded in power. And in this case, it came as a physical earthquake.

an earthquake which crumbled prison concrete, tossed open iron doors so that they and all of the prisoners could go free now. But if you remember the account, something even more incredible, we might argue, than a psalm roar-induced earthquake happened right after that. Namely, they didn’t flee.

They didn’t seek the freedom that the Lord just provided for them, right? Who could have blamed them? They were there unjustly, pray to God, doors open, go. They don’t. Rather, their focus was on where is Christ at work right now here? Where?

They weren’t thinking about their immediate comfort. Where is Christ at work here that we can enter into? And here right in front of them, it turns out there was an opportunity. Because there was a despondent jailer on the brink of suicide.

at the apparent loss of all the prisoners, right? Because if they’re gone, he’s as good as dead. That’s what the text says. He’s about to kill himself because the prisoners are gone. This is somebody who really could use some good news right about now. Well, it turns out that is the very thing Paul and Silas had. That is the very thing they were eager to offer to this man. And so they share Christ with the jailer. They explain to him

The basis of their song. What prompted their song? It was Christ. And so they evangelized him, evangelized his whole family. And the text says that very night they were all baptized. What’s this, 2 a.m. at this point? Probably. They’re released in the morning, go on to visit Lydia, bring her in on the happenings before heading out to expand the work.

And here’s what’s truly remarkable. I hinted at this in the exhortation. This would become the core group for the Philippian church to whom the book of Philippians was written to. And even more…

Why this is significant for us, as we review the church history game film from our vantage point, we know historically that this was the moment in God’s providence when the gospel was first planted in Europe. It’s questing west at this point. It was the doorway into the evangelization and the Christianization of the West as we know it, of whom our very country was fruit of some 1800 years later.

But remember the flashpoint. What lit the fuse? What caused heaven to shake the earth? It was the faith-filled worship of Paul and Silas. Persecuted, bruised, still full of joy, Paul and Silas. Worship which the God of heaven both received and then responded to in great power.

And not just in thundering force, but in redemptive power. Chains broke off. Family was converted. Saints encouraged. The kingdom expanding. The gospel taking root now further and further into western soil. So how’s that for a church planting strategy?

Have a mob unjustly beat and imprison a few pastors, then do a two-person psalm roar in the cell at midnight and sit back and watch heaven come to earth upon the five square miles in your city over the next few decades. That’s amazing. You won’t find that in most manuals for effective church planting. And what’s true is the spread of the kingdom is

It’s not a tidy business. It’s not a copy and paste affair. It’s unexpected. It’s gritty. It’s altogether glorious. But we do know one of the pistons that drives it. And it is the faith-filled, robust, reverent, expectant, joyful worship of the saints. True worship really does change the world around us. Or, as David said in Psalm 22, verse 3, God is enthroned.

in the praises of his people. God is enthroned in the praises of his people, and wherever his throne is established, you better believe his kingdom will advance in powerful and potent and patient ways.

We see the potency of worship all throughout the scriptures, not just in Acts 16. Famously also at Jericho, as conquest is made, as the enemy’s walls are brought to dust, not by catapults, not by battering rams, but through the obedient shouts of the people and the soaring of the trumpets at the word of the Lord.

We see this also in 2 Chronicles 20. This is an amazing text. 2 Chronicles 20, Judah is heading out to face the Ammonites and the Moabites who have come out against them. King Jehoshaphat, with great faith, great prayer, draws up a decidedly unconventional battle plan. He decides to put not the archers or not the fiercest fighting men in the front, but he sends out the trained singers.

He puts the choir in the vanguard, and what a foolish, ineffective thing to do, so says the materialist unbeliever. But not us. And listen to how things played out on the field of battle that day.

2 Chronicles 20, 20-22. King Jehoshaphat said,

and to say, give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 22, and when they began to sing in praise, the Lord, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who would come out against Judah, so that they were routed. In this case, they literally did not need to raise a physical finger against their enemies.

Rather, the singers lifted up their song before anyone lifted up a bow. And the Lord of hosts, whenever you see that read, Lord of angel armies, the Lord of hosts, he heard, he responded, he subdued the enemies, he established Judah. That day worship really was their warfare and it reshaped the physical world around them.

We see this reality all over the Psalms as well, including Psalm 20. Verse 6 begins with, I know the Lord saves his anointed. Continues on in verse 6. Because he knows that the Lord saves his anointed, what will he do? He knows the Lord will answer him from his holy hill.

Because of this, he does not place his ultimate trust in horses or in chariots or in elections or in polls or in politicians or presidents or stock markets or anything else. He trusts in the name of the Lord, the Lord who acts, the Lord who responds, the Lord who saves, who reshapes the physical world through the praises of his people.

So all of these examples we’ve considered, many more could be highlighted. They call us to enter Lord’s Day worship with great faith, great vigor, great joy, great expectation, because it is here, beloved. It is here at the start of a freshly created week where our worship of God is most potent and where the Lord hears and responds with the greatest power. And there’s a reason for this.

At least two. One, it’s here we show up together as the body of Christ. A battering ram is far more effective with many hands. A well-ordered battalion is far more powerful than a single soldier. This is what draws Paul’s commendation to the Colossians. This is Colossians 2.5. Listen to what the apostle says. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order,

and the firmness of your faith in Christ. And the operative word there is good order. The Greek is taxon, which literally has militaristic associations to it. The picture is the church militant standing in rank and file and unified. That’s one reason our worship is potent here. But there’s another reason.

One being the reality that, though we are located right now physically on Capitol Hill in D.C., also we ascend to heaven during this time. We are caught up into the heavenly Jerusalem with the church universal. We rub shoulders with the holy host of angels. And it’s the potency of that reality that pours down in power when we join in on purpose.

We’ve already mentioned this, of course, but I want you to see it from the scriptures. Several places we could go again, but it’s Hebrews 12, 22 through 24, where we really get the clearest picture of this reality. There, the writer to the Hebrews says, but you have come to Mount Zion. You have come to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable angels in festal gathering.

This is the unseen but very real realm. This is the unseen but very real realm that we are caught up in at this very moment. To which someone would say, well, that sounds a bit far-fetched. That sounds a bit fairytale, perhaps, to which I’d say, and that’s why worship has become so impotent in the church in our days.

Because the engine of our worship is faith. Faith in what God says is actually happening. Faith in God and faith in the way God says he will respond to the praises of his people so that he gets the glory for it. And we don’t think it’s because of us.

That’s why he does it this way. The church is so often like Elisha’s servant, shaking in his boots because of how outnumbered he thinks they are. And that is until Elisha prayed. And he prayed that God would open his eyes to let him see for just a moment behind the veil. And then 2 Kings 6.17 says this. So the Lord opened the eyes of that young man and he saw.

And behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire were all around Elisha. Oh, how we need to repent of the unbelief that is similar to Elisha’s servants and hear the word of the Lord.

The church must repent of worshiping like materialists or as individualists. No, Lord’s Day worship is not just a time to get a spiritual latte. It’s not just a time to fellowship. It’s not just a time to sing or to pray or to confess our sins or to learn from the Bible. It’s not less than any of those things. All of those things are included. They’re glorious, but it’s so much more when they’re put together. It’s here that we renew covenant with the God of heaven.

And it’s here that he responds in ways that reshape this earth and expand his kingdom. So how does this actually happen? How does God subdue his enemies and expand his kingdom here? We’ve hit on some of this, but I want to focus for a moment so that that idea doesn’t just float in the air. How does that actually happen in reality? What does he do? First, as we’ve already said,

He acts directly sometimes. He goes hard judging and subduing rulers that have set themselves up against Christ. Both earthly rulers by thwarting their wicked plans, by removing them from their posts, or by turning their hearts to repentance. This is what Psalm 2 is all about. This is what Psalm 2 is all about.

And he acts also in the spiritual realm by frustrating the plans of demonic forces. He dispatches angels to protect the church, to upend demonic agendas, agendas to destroy and obscure the image of God in the world.

We must understand, beloved, that beneath all the overt evil in our land, of abortion and sexual perversion, rampant divorce or political corruption, there is a spiritual battle there as well. Yes, of course, it’s the result of human sin, but the scriptures are clear that there is a hot battle waging beneath it as well. Ephesians 6.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. As we said last year, Satan has been abased, so they have no claim on the earth anymore.

But the battle is still real. We live on the other side of D-Day. Victory secure, still have to fight to get to the finish line. And the weapons of our war are not earthly. They are spiritual, with worship being at the center. But there’s another way the Lord moves powerfully in ways that shape the world around us during worship. And it’s by further sanctifying and strengthening us, his church,

strengthening us in the gospel so that we are a more potent gospel impact in the coming six days of the week. Of course, the Lord is always sanctifying his people, but this happens most powerfully during Lord’s Day worship, where we meet with our God and the church is transformed from one degree of glory to another. And so in conclusion,

I want to sprint through our liturgy to show how the Lord meets us in each act of this holy drama of our covenant renewal liturgy. I want to do this so that we can mature in our worship and enter into it on purpose. We follow the patterns of the five C’s. These are the pillars of our liturgy, as it were. First, we are called to worship.

This is when we hear our Lord call us out of the world into the splendor of his sanctuary for this sacred hour. Here we are reoriented on fundamental gospel’s reality that we are the people of God who by sheer grace have been pursued by God, called out of the world, brought near to him by the blood of the Lamb.

The call quiets our ears to all the other noises in the world so that we can hear the voice of our Father again and hear the name that He has declared over us through Christ. Next, we have the confession of sin. And this…

is absolutely essential. We cannot bring the life of heaven to earth with power if we ourselves are bogged down in sin, if we’re slumped over by shame and guilt, if we are out of fellowship with each other in our church and in our families. This is a primary way

Make no mistake, this is a primary way the enemy keeps saints sidelined and ineffective through getting them bogged down with unconfessed sin. And so in our time of confession, we just deal with it straight away. We humble ourselves. We confess our sins as a church. We get down on our knees, confess any glaring individual sins so that we can leave our sin at the foot of the cross where it’s already been dealt with.

And then we arise, we resurrect, freshly cleansed, guilt burden gone to hear the proclamation of absolution. Then we move forward into the time of consecration. During this time, we offer ourselves wholly to the Lord in worship.

We sing praises to our God. We confess our faith as a people. We are strengthened and taught by the Spirit through His Word. Through the Word in the lectionary readings. And then most potently, through the Word in the sermon time. Hebrews 4 speaks of the Word of God being living and active. A sword that cuts and rearranges us. And that visual, that picture, doesn’t refer primarily to pangs of conscience.

That is sacrificial altar language. This is what would happen to the Ascension offering before it was placed on the altar. It would be cleansed and then cut and rearranged so that it might be a pleasing aroma up to the Lord. This is what happens to us through the Word.

The Lord rearranges us, reforms our affections, so that we might be a living sacrifice in the coming six days. And from there, we come to the table of communion. So call, confession, consecration, communion. This is where the Lord brings us even closer in. He brings us in as his beloved people.

as his holy people, to share a covenant meal with us. Communion is the most important meal we eat all week. Here we are fed with heavenly food from the risen Christ for our refreshment in the present and so that we are strengthened for the good works that he has prepared in the week ahead. As our Lord said, apart from me, you can do nothing.

This is why we need communion. And this is why live streaming simply will not cut it. There is grace in communion that cannot be virtually got. It is important. And remember, the table is not a time for an introspective deep dive to make sure Jesus still likes you.

We already confessed our sins. We wiped our feet at the door. We’re welcome at the table now, and we come joyfully. In fact, we don’t even really look at ourselves at all in communion. We look at Christ.

as he offers himself in the elements. We look at Christ as he is represented in his body, the body of Christ of the church. And then comes the fifth C of commissioning. One last word from heaven to now go, descend back to earth, well fed and ready to do battle against the darkness and to build the kingdom.

To build the kingdom through our work, through our words, through our killing of our own sin, through loving our spouses, through evangelizing our coworkers, through instructing our magistrates, through integrity in our offices, through disciplining and discipling our children, through making delicious meals and changing diapers in gratitude, through repenting and forgiving and singing and laughing all the way through. Because we know Jesus is Lord.

And we get to put bricks of gold in a kingdom that will have no end to the horror of the demons and to the glory of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for the beauty of the gospel. And we thank you for Christ, who is not just our propitiation, not just the one who forgave us,

but the one who has poured out his spirit upon us, that we might be empowered to go forth and to expand his kingdom. And now we would pray the way our Lord taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

In the sermon, the speaker presents an optimistic eschatology grounded in Scripture, emphasizing that Jesus was sent not to condemn but to save the world, highlighting His victory over Satan and death through the cross and ascension. He explains that Christ, as the “last Adam,” has reclaimed authority stolen by Satan, defeating all rulers and powers, and will ultimately establish His kingdom over all nations through the faithful expansion of the gospel. Despite present cultural challenges and spiritual warfare, believers are urged to maintain hope and vigor, relying on Scripture rather than worldly pessimism. The preacher encourages embracing a joyful, expectant faith—being “happy warriors” proclaiming the kingdom’s advance empowered by the Holy Spirit—with full confidence that Jesus’ mission to redeem the world will be successfully completed, culminating in the renewal of all creation where death is finally destroyed and God reigns forever.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Our first scripture text today comes from John 3, verse 17. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. And then 1 Corinthians 15, 24-26. Then comes the end, when Jesus delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. The word of the Lord and thanks be to God. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your word, Holy Spirit of the living God. We pray that through this proclamation as a people, we will be strengthened, we would be matured and transformed into another degree of glory for the glory of Christ. And it is in his name that we pray.

Amen. Well, today we continue on in our cultural trusses series as I begin my time here as pastor, setting up some structural components that will shape and define and be integral to our life together as Christ’s church. And today we’re going to consider from the scriptures why we, as a church community, have a very optimistic, a surprisingly cheerful eschatology.

And eschatology, if that’s a new word for you, it’s the fancy word…

for the doctrine of end times or end things? Where’s the story headed? What’s the culmination of this story of earth going to look like? And as Christ Church, we have gone all in on hope for the ultimate trajectory for this world, the actual world that we actually live in right now. Or to put it, put a G.K. Chesterton frame around it. He once wrote,

There are two equal and eternal ways of looking at this twilight world of ours. We may see it as the twilight of evening or the twilight of morning.

That is, if you were placed in a moment when the sun’s only half on the horizon and it’s just muted light all around, you’d have to ask, is it dusk, meaning it’s only going to get darker from here, or is it dawn, meaning the story’s trending to a bright horizon?

Well, as a church, we believe it’s the twilight of the morning. More than that, indeed, I’d argue it is a chief ingredient in our happy warrior ethos. That oomph in our song, that hopeful glint in our eye as we labor.

as we labor even amidst a hostile culture, as we labor even amidst the griefs and struggles that the world and our life invariably will bring our way, we remain hopeful with a vigor and an expectation amidst it all. And we do so because Jesus said, God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world.

but in order that the world might be saved through him.

We do believe this world will be saved. Now, to be clear, this does not mean we believe everyone will be saved in the world. We are not universalists. We are not all roads lead to God, adamantly so. We are not, it will all work out in the end for everyone. No, judgment is real. Hell is real. It is eternal. People will really be there. However,

Jesus says the world will be saved. Anyone who goes to hell is excluded from this great cosmic salvation that Jesus Christ is inaugurating in the world. Because if the Father sent him into the world to save the world and to not condemn the world, that’s precisely what he will do and is going to do.

or to hit that diamond with light from another angle. Since Jesus told us to pray that the kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven, when you pray, ask God that the kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven, we believe that’s going to happen. Why would he tell us to pray it? Except that he intended to answer that prayer, to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. Now, you might say,

Well, yeah, but that’s a stretch to think that Jesus meant his kingdom would cover a vast majority of earth ultimately. Maybe some pockets around the world, but certainly he didn’t mean it would quest out through the entire world. Well, that’s not a stretch because that is exactly what he said. Matthew 13, 33. He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven.

is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. He also calls the kingdom like a tiny mustard seed, the most tiniest of seeds that ends up questing out through the whole garden until it becomes a tree in the center that joyfully dominates the landscape. So yes,

Jesus did speak this way. He did so explicitly. He did so repeatedly. So I have two goals in this sermon. We can spend an entire series on this. I’m not just this one sermon. Two goals, and it depends on where you are in your eschatological understanding. I know many of you have an optimistic vision of the gospel’s success in the world, what we typically would call post-millennial success.

Though I’m not overly concerned about the label, you can call it post-millennial, you can call it optimistic, amillennial, you can call it inconsistent, premillennial. Call it what you want.

All I want for us is to have a Bible-sized vision of the hope that Christ has put before us through the advancement and the success of his kingdom. If that’s you, my goal is to add wind to your sails, to stir you up by way of reminder, as the Apostle Peter says. But I’d have to imagine that there are some who are not there, who actually expect things to get darker and darker, with the elect being airlifted to safety as the sulfur starts raining down, and that a very small crew.

If that’s you, first, we are most glad that you are here and you are most welcome and we are in full fellowship together. This is not a primary doctrine. It’s an important one, but it’s not primary. But my goal is not so much to convince you. That’ll probably take more than one sermon. My goal is more modest. I simply want to challenge some assumptions that you might not realize you have held in

It could be because you inherited your eschatology more from the Left Behind series than the full scope of Scripture. And so I hope to perhaps provoke some curiosity in you. I hope that after this sermon, you will say, as some said to the Apostle Paul after the Areopagus, I will hear you again about this. That’s my goal for you. So you can listen in without feeling like this is a hard sell, though I do want you to believe it.

Okay, so why the optimistic thrust in our eschatology? Many ways we could go with this. I want to consider two glorious truths from Scripture that are absolutely foundational to grasping this, to seeing this from the text. There are more. These are the two that I chose. We are abounding in hope for this world, first, because of the abasement of Satan.

Because of the abasement of Satan. Second, because of the ascension of Christ. Because of the ascension of Christ. First, the abasement of Satan. Or we could call this the other thing the cross accomplished.

First, we know that on the cross, Christ became the propitiation for our sins. He absorbed the wrath that our sin had occurred. He drank it to the dregs. He exhausted it so that a just God could grant us full pardon while maintaining his justice.

The glorious phrase that Paul uses, he is both the just and the justifier. It is through the cross that he became that. He is the one who justified us by dying in our place and he maintained his justice.

by punishing and judging sin and evil as it must be if God would maintain his justice. So because of the cross, we have full assurance of our forgiveness because Jesus dealt with our sin problem. But our sin, our sin is not the only thing the cross dealt a blow against.

On the cross, Christ dealt Satan a mortal blow as well. On the cross, Christ dethroned him as the usurping prince over this world. See, there are many in the church, there

They downplay their own sinfulness, very much upplay the power and authority of Satan in the world, and functionally see him still as the ruler over the fallen world. But he’s not. He is not presently. He was, for a time, all under God’s sovereign power, the prince of this world. But on the cross, Christ deposed Satan. He cast him down from the stolen throne that he had usurped from Adam and Eve.

This is a vital and a clear teaching of Scripture that ought not be obscured. So I want to make sure you see this straight from the text. First, multiple times, as Jesus is seeing the shadow of the cross coming closer and closer to this, He made this very point, John 12, 31-32, just a few days before the cross.

Now is the judgment of the world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. He will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all peoples to myself.

Through the cross, the current ruler of this world cast out. I’m lifted up. I will draw all peoples to myself. John 16, 11. He says he won’t be speaking to them much more, but is going to the cross so that the ruler of this world would be judged. So that the ruler of this world would be judged. Matthew 12, 29 says,

Our Lord speaks of the binding of the strong man, namely Satan, that he may go and plunder his goods now, reclaim the world for God. Colossians 2.15, Paul says that on the cross…

Follow this closely. On the cross, God disarmed the rulers and authorities, and he put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Christ. You are not still in control of something if you have been triumphed over and put to open shame as the formal ruler.

Hebrews 2.14, it says, Jesus partook of flesh and blood that through death, obviously the cross, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. I’m not adding that to it. That’s what the writer of Hebrews says. In case you missed it, Jesus died to destroy the power the devil had as he wielded death in

in the world. This was the genius behind the cross. Satan thought the cross would be the destruction of Jesus. That’s why he entered into Judas. That’s why he had him betrayed. But the cross was actually the moment of Christ’s great triumph over the devil. Because through his death, he destroyed the power of death as Satan wielded over humanity.

Like the White Witch in Narnia, she sought to secure her rule over Narnia by killing Asland, when in fact, she was relinquishing her rule over Narnia by killing Asland. As Lewis says through Asland’s voice, though the Witch knew the deep magic, there is a magic deeper still, which she did not know.

Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time, but if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness, the darkness before time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the table would crack, and death itself would start working backwards.

So here Lewis strikes on a great truth that fundamentally altered the reality of the world. Satan’s plotting demise of Jesus was actually the plotting of his own demise. So yes, to be clear, he is still active. He is still a rascal in the world.

Spiritual war is very real. He’s still seeking to destroy and distort and to kill. He still stands opposed to Christ and the church. We get a front row seat to that reality every week, but he’s no longer in charge in any meaningful way at all. He is not the ruling authority. He has no claim on this world like he did, in a sense, before the cross.

So that’s a key to understanding why we are so cheerful about the future. The abasement of Satan. The ruler of this world being cast out because of the work of Jesus Christ. The next truth is this. The ascension of Christ.

the abasement of Satan, and the ascension of Christ. I would argue that the pessimism that pervades many Christians’ expectation about the trajectory of this world is a direct result of

of a lack of emphasis and understanding about the ascension of Christ. What it was, what it is, what it means for us and for the world. See, we talk all the time about the death and the resurrection of Jesus, and right, we should. These are precious, these are central, these are first principles of the gospel. But after Jesus died, he didn’t just rise six feet up, namely to a standing position.

40 days after that, he rose much further up and he ascended back to heaven to take a seat at the right hand of the Father, which is the seat of supreme authority in the cosmos, in the world. Remember what he said to his disciples.

after his resurrection and before his ascension in Matthew 28. And we have to be careful when we read these very familiar texts because we may smuggle in understandings about them because they’re so familiar that actually aren’t what the text says or leads us to understand. So this is one of those. Listen to what he says, Matthew 28, 16 and 18. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. All authority in heaven and now on earth has been given to me. Without authority, go and disciple the nations. So the fact that Jesus says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, and this is significant,

That means, in a sense, there was an authority he didn’t yet have on earth. You can’t be given something if you didn’t have it, if you already had it before. That’s what we dealt with in the last point. Satan had authority on this earth that he stole from Adam in Eden. And that’s why during his wilderness temptations, when Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, if he would bow down and worship him, what Jesus did not say is,

is you have no authority there, so you can’t even offer them to me. He did not say that.

And rather, instead he said, Scripture says you should only worship God alone. Because in a sense, Satan did have authority that he stole from Adam, but Jesus did not take the bait. He did not take the satanic shortcut to avoid the pain and to leave Satan with any semblance of power. He did it the real way, the hard way, through the cross. That’s why it’s after that where he says, all authority now both in heaven and on earth,

is my. This was his authority as the second Adam, the one given dominion over the created world. This was his authority as the greater Joshua to lead his church into the promised land of all the earth. And then he ascended to reign and oversee the success of the Great Commission. Here’s the fundamental question we must ask and answer.

Will King Jesus’ mission to save and redeem the world be successful? Will he accomplish his mission? Will he make his blessings known for as the curse is found, as Isaac Watts would have us declare in the beloved hymn? Or will he save a small minority of humanity before a cataclysmic, fiery end destroys the world?

Well, to ask the question is to answer the question. Of course, Jesus will be successful. Of course, he’ll be successful. Again, there’s many places we could go to add some biblical rebar to reinforce this reality. But I want to focus for a few minutes on Paul’s words to the Corinthian church, which we read at the beginning to do so. So in this section…

Paul’s combating false teachings that’s seeping into the church, a teaching that is rejecting or spiritualizing the physical resurrection of Jesus. There have always been liberal theologians trying to undermine the gospel in the church. And Paul’s explaining to them how the resurrection is the load-bearing doctrine of the gospel.

If you pull the resurrection piece out of the Jenga tower, everything collapses. All of our hope is built on the resurrection of Jesus. This is where he says, if he’s not been raised, we are pitiable folks with a worthless face who might as well party until we die. But of course, he goes on, Jesus has been raised. And so our hope is secure. So that’s the context. That’s what came before. But then from there,

Paul goes on to cast an inspired vision of how the story plays out. And note closely what happens when Christ returns. Again, this is 1 Corinthians 15, 24 through 26. It says, Then comes the end, the eschaton, when Jesus delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

So Jesus is going to deliver. He is going to give. He’s going to present the kingdom, the great host of redeemed humanity, the church living under his lordship to his father. Now put a pin in that for a moment. Let’s go to Psalm 2 briefly to fill this out some. Specifically, verse 8. This is one of the clearest messianic psalms that traces the reign of the Son.

And the Father says this to the Son. Psalm 2, verse 8, So this is what the Son has requested. This is what he was purchasing on the cross. The nations, the ends of the earth.

And so the rest of human history is the father granting him that request in time and space, giving him the nations, the ends of the earth flooding into the church. He’s not going to shortchange his son. Going back to the first Corinthians text, it says when Jesus returns, he will then offer the kingdom, the nations back to the father.

So the father grants him the nations. Jesus turns around back, offers them back to his father. And then in verse 25 of 1 Corinthians, Paul goes on to say, and here he’s drawing from Psalm 110, for Jesus must reign.

until a very important word until he has put all of his enemies under his feet and then the last enemy to be destroyed will be death so don’t miss this this is huge this is huge for having a industrial strength confidence in the success of the gospel the final enemy that jesus will destroy

will be the enemy of death. So that’s it. After that, no more death in the world. At that moment, the fallen chapter will be sunsetted of human history. New heavens, new earth, fully established, consummated. No more sins, no more tears, no more death.

That’s after the last enemy is destroyed. But notice what Paul says Jesus will accomplish before he destroys the enemy of death itself. He says he will put all of his enemies under his feet on this earth. And note this. This will be primarily through conversion. This will be primarily through repentance and faith in Christ. And we know this because

Because it doesn’t say the nations will be annihilated under his reign.

It says they will become his heritage under his reign. They will be worshiping citizens under his reign. Psalm 22, 27, and 8. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.”

And notably, you may recall, this is the psalm that begins with, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Oh, that is glorious. Jesus, in great agony, shouted those words from the cross amidst his passion.

But while the enemy in that moment may have squealed in wicked delight, thinking he thwarted the promise to Abraham, that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed, oh, how wrong he was. He should have went back and kept reading Psalm 22, for if he had, he would have remembered that deeper magic of what Christ’s passion was purchasing.

of how the cross of Christ would be the bridge between hell and the kingdom of God, through which the ends of the earth would travel and flood in into the new Jerusalem to worship the ascended Christ, whose reign will pervade this whole world. And so, yes, beloved, we have great reason for optimism.

We have great reason for hope as we proclaim the gospel in our day, in our city. We have great reason to be a people brimming with hope as we labor for the Lord. Because as the great Puritan pillar John Owen wrote, the kingdoms and nations are at length to be possessed by the Lord Christ, his sheaf standing up, all others bowing unto.

Though the interest still, Owen, though the interest of Christ in the gospel may seem low and dry for a season, yet in the issue, it shall be exalted above them all. And amen. But Owen hits on one objection to the doctrine of optimism that I want to very briefly address in closing. You might say, well, this all sounds good.

I actually think the scriptural case is moderately compelling, but just look around. Our cultural condition can only be described as a rather impressive dumpster fire at this point. The dignity and the virtue and the courage that defined our founders is in woefully short supply. Our arts are not a bastion of beauty, but celebrate vice and glory and the profane.

Some of our highest judges, those that are supposed to be the most discerning in the land, can’t even judge what a woman is. And our churches seem to exult in immaturity. How can you say the kingdom is making unstoppable strides in the world? And that’s a fair question. The first thing to say is, as Christians, we take our cues on how to read the story, not from our Twitter feeds, but from the Word of God.

And God has said so, as we have seen. That’s the first thing. We ought to spend less time doom-scrolling, more time hope-scrolling in the Scriptures. Secondly, our perspective is wonderfully enhanced when we zoom out and trace the trajectory, not over the last hundred years, but over the last 2,000 years. Think about this. Truly, think about this.

After Jesus rose from the dead, he gave the Great Commission to a handful of ragtag, poorly equipped, under-resourced disciples who were presently under the iron hand of Roman authority. He said, now go and evangelize the entire world. I’m not sure if there’s ever been a mission with worse odds of success on paper. And look what Christ has done in just 2,000 years.

It’s so right in our face that we forget it. It’s crazy what Christ has done. From first century Palestine, the gospel has gone all over the world in just 2,000 years. I was struck by this especially. I did some sermon prep in the main reading room in the Library of Congress this week, and I looked up and I saw scriptures bannering around this glorious dome there. My favorite is over the science pillar.

It declared, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament above proclaims his handiwork. That’s amazing. And we forget. So don’t tell me the gospel has not been successful. Don’t tell me Jesus is not a good victorious king whose kingdom is questing out all over the globe. Do not tell me that. No, Christ’s reign is permeating the globe. Imagine that.

If the apostles could get a glimpse, all of them who lost their head, could get a glimpse of the success of the gospel. Paul, sitting in chains in Rome, is so much more optimistic about the success of Christ than we are, living in America. He’s in chains and saying, can you believe how much we’re winning? Like, we’re winning!

And here we are sipping our lattes, despairing as we send people to the moon and all these things and sit in the main reading room, which is decorated in God’s word. And here’s the incredible thing, beloved. We are church history right now. You are church history right now. We are Christ’s empowered plan A for the expansion of the kingdom another inch in this place and in this time.

Something we might need to reconsider is where we are at in the timeline. It could be when it’s all said and done that we’re actually still part of early church history. Maybe, right? He said his righteousness and faithfulness endures into a thousand generations. Well, generations, 40 years, a thousand, 40,000 years then, right? I know that’s not literal, worth considering. So I’ll just put that stone in your shoe and you can go about your week.

But I will say, let us go forth. I’m all over the place. I don’t even know where I’m at. Let us go forth with great optimism. Let us go forth with great expectation. Let us go forth with great faith and great hope. You want to be truly winsome in the world? Be cheerful. Be optimistic. Be abounding with gratitude for the goodness of God. Be full of hope.

at the expansion of Christ’s kingdom, declare the good news of the kingdom of God, the reign of a risen savior to our neighbors and our nation with great vigor, great faith, and with that happy warrior stride. For, as Revelation 11 says, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Our Lord and our God, we are so thankful for Christ and for his ascension, not just life, death, and resurrection. Yes, all amazing, glorious, essential, but also his ascension. And Holy Spirit of the living God, stoke our shared faith and joy in the gospel and in our expectation of what Christ is doing in our time. Now we would pray the way our Lord taught us to pray.

In the sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of a robust, covenantal vision for life, building on the biblical foundations found in Job and Colossians. He discusses the chaos that ensues from Adam’s transgression of God’s covenants, highlighting the redemptive work of Jesus as the last Adam, who restores all aspects of life, including marriage, family, church, and nations. The sermon specifically addresses heads of households, urging them to take responsibility for their families’ spiritual and physical well-being, citing Job’s example of sacrificial leadership. The preacher encourages future heads of homes to embrace their roles with a clean heart, practice collective language when addressing family issues, and eliminate grumbling, framing leadership as bearing burdens. Additionally, he calls on the entire church community to uphold their covenant bonds by practicing forgiveness and reconciliation, likening the church to Roman concrete, which strengthens over time through challenges, rather than succumbing to division. Ultimately, the message is a call for resilient, covenantal relationships rooted in Christ’s love, which can withstand conflicts and demonstrate the gospel’s transformative power to the world.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Our first reading comes from Job chapter 1 verses 4 through 5.

In today’s sermon at Christ Church DC, the focus is on the importance of recovering covenantal thinking as a foundational truth for community life, contrasting it with the pervasive radical individualism that has broken down covenant structures in society. The sermon highlights biblical texts, particularly Psalm 103:17-18 and Romans 12:4-5, to underscore that God’s steadfast love is tied to covenant faithfulness, which is essential for generational flourishing. The speaker argues that the covenant, established by God and distinct from mere contracts, entails solemn obligations with blessings for faithfulness and consequences for unfaithfulness. The breakdown of covenant, as seen from the fall of Adam and subsequent biblical narratives, has led to chaos in family, church, and civil life. The advent of Christ represents a redemptive plan that restores these structures through the gospel, emphasizing that the essence of community is found in covenant relationships, which stand in opposition to the divisive nature of individualism. The sermon concludes with a call to embrace and nourish these covenant obligations, positioning the church as a witness to God’s renewing work in the world.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

In today’s sermon from 1 Timothy 1:15-17, the pastor emphasizes the core message of the gospel: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, highlighting the personal testimony of Paul, who identifies himself as the foremost sinner. The sermon introduces Paul as a key figure and mentor to Timothy, framing the letter as a manual on church leadership and gospel proclamation amidst challenges. The pastor outlines three central questions regarding salvation: how Christ saves through His life, death, and resurrection; why He saves to showcase His grace and patience; and why this message is particularly relevant for Washington, D.C., where self-righteousness and shame are prevalent. The pastor calls on the church to live in the freedom that comes from this gospel, which is vital for being a transformative presence in the city, encouraging believers to fully embrace their identity in Christ despite their pasts.

Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file.

Our scripture today for the sermon time comes from the epistle to Timothy the first one chapter 1 verses 15 through 17. Give careful attention to the reading of God’s holy and inspired word. This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. But I receive mercy for this reason.