The Valley Church of Christ

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Brent Phillips

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

It’s sometime around 400 BC. Israel and Judah have gone into exile, but leftover remnants returned home to rebuild the Jerusalem and the temple. God had promised he would (1) come fill the temple with glory and (2) send a king like David to rule from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. But they became concerned about their own properties more than the temple, the full tithe was not brought in, the priests and Levites began to leave Jerusalem, the temple began to show wear, corruption seeped into the leadership, and foreigners who cared little for God’s city began moving in. Leaders and prophets encouraged the people to continue rebuilding and restoring Jerusalem and the temple, but even large efforts to restore Jerusalem were unsuccessful because the congregation failed to come together as one.

In these days the book of Chronicles was compiled and written. It focuses specifically on the history of the temple and Jerusalem’s kings from David until Jerusalem was destroyed and Judah led into exile. And when the remnant read Chronicles they would find that Jerusalem, the kings, and the temple were frequently in need of restoration. But they would find stories of people — even of wicked people — who made efforts both large and small to seek the Lord and restore the temple. The history plainly showed that all the way down to this very day, their decisions to serve the Lord and honor him in his temple would not go unnoticed by God.

We need these stories as much as they did. Our story as a church is being written right now as we speak — the story of the church globally, locally, and in our very homes. And the decisions we make do not go unnoticed by God.

This morning we will consider one chapter from King Asa’s story in 2 Chronicles 15. Asa reigned in Jerusalem 41 years from roughly 910 to 869 BC. His father Abijah and grandfather Rehoboam had their moments, but they were not good kings. But when Asa took the throne, he sharply turned from his father’s ways and instructed Judah to seek the Lord and keep his commands. They struck down places of idolatry and built up the cities of Judah. When an Ethiopian army of one million came against Judah, Asa cried to the Lord for help, and they defeated this massive foe. We’ll pick up in chapter 15 when the prophet Azariah meets Asa and encourages him to continue this work of restoration and of seeking the Lord. Pay attention throughout the text to how they live out this commitment to seek the Lord with their whole heart. Read 2 Chronicles 15.

First, they courageously removed all idols (14:3-5; 15:8, 16-17). This strikes me because Asa had already removed some forms of idolatry in the previous chapter. Yet, when Azariah encourages him, he takes courage and puts away more idolatry. And he goes so far as to crush and burn his own mother’s idol. Asa was not an idolater, yet he needed the prophesying of Azariah to keep going and to remove idolatry wherever it was found. He didn’t lead with a soft hand and ask Judah to vote on whether to remove idolatry. As king it was his responsibility to demand the people’s exclusive loyalty and worship to Yahweh.

In the West we don’t typically ascribe divine power or offer formal worship to images, so idolatry often flies under the radar. And though there are other signs of idolatry than this, the Scriptures teach that idolatry or something like it is happening when we have excess — too much of something — and when something distracts us from whole-hearted loyalty to God. And our hearts are idol factories — we can make anything into an idol.

No one can serve two masters, so if we our lives are not characterized by enthusiastic service towards the Lord, we can know that right here, right now idols have divided our interests. Let’s diagnose ourselves. What are we ready to give ourselves for at the drop of a hat? What are we ready to leave behind any other commitment for? What do we freely and eagerly give our time, money, effort, and very selves to with little thought for the cost, effort, and time it takes to do so? Listen to our guts here. What’s our impulsive first answer? Anything can take that place — money, sex, power, reputation, fun, beauty, retirement aspirations, travel, clothes, home renovations, family, friends, work, school, sports, movies, shows, and video games. But the answer must be the Lord — his kingdom, his word, his church, his mission to the ends of the earth.

To remove idolatry in all its forms takes courage. A number of kings partially removed idolatry, few destroyed all of it. That’s because it’s not socially acceptable to be rid of it. Just imagine if we decided our smartphone, computer, or TV was in some way idolatrous — what would it look like to remove that from our lives? Idols are widely accepted. Our friends serve the idol with us. And they worship Yahweh alongside the idol, like our parents did before us. In fact, our family and friends would likely be upset if we made changes. They’d ask questions, make jokes, and criticize. We’d look “holier than thou.” But if we are going to seek the Lord with all our heart, idols must be removed.

Second, they repaired the temple and renewed their worship (15:8, 18). Notice in verse 8 that apparently the altar of the Lord was damaged and Asa repaired it. This commonly happened in Judah’s history. Asa, Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah all made repairs to the temple. At other times, worship was not happening in the way or at the times David had commanded, so Hezekiah even did a whole worship restoration process. One time the passover was reinstituted. Another time they urged Judah to give the full tithe so the temple and priests could be what they should be.

In the New Covenant we as the church of God are the temple of the Lord. And our worship, our giving, and our lives together are our burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord. And so it is appropriate for us to examine our worship assemblies, giving, classes, and our very lives together and ask if there are places that need “repair” or “restoration.” Are the sacrifices we are offering in our assemblies, giving, classes, and our homes acceptable to the Lord?

When people offered sacrifices on the altar, they were to bring unblemished animals. Their sacrifice was costly and it was from among the best they had. Is our sacrifice of worship, of prayer, teaching, preaching, singing, giving, and encouragement of one another acceptable, unblemished, undistracted, whole-hearted and true? We can only know if we compare ourselves to the standard in God’s word. Unfortunately, good change is often resisted in churches. Understandably, stubbornness can prevent us from making bad changes. But if we find that changes need to be made, will we have humility and boldness as a church — as leadership — to make those changes? To pursue the Lord with all our hearts, this temple-body and this sacrifice of worship must be renewed.

Third, they listened to the law of God with a proper teaching priest (13:9ff; 15:3-4). Now, it is not explicitly stated that Asa did this — hopefully he did — but you’ll notice in verses 3-4 that Azariah implies that this is part of Israel turning back to the Lord. Apparently for some time they did not have the Law or a teaching priest, but this was a significant change that was made at some point. This is something that Asa’s father, King Abijah of Judah, lectured King Jeroboam of Israel for in chapter 13. Notice 13:8-10. Now, Abijah was not a righteous king, but his criticism of Israel is right. Israel drove away priests acceptable to God and instead accepted  anyone who wanted to come.

It is noteworthy to me that in the same breath that Azariah says Israel was without God, he also says they were without law and without a teaching priest. This shows the foundational importance of having both God’s law and proper teachers. If we are determined to seek God with our whole heart, we need both the Scriptures and solid teachers and preachers of it.

I think we could all agree that sometimes we could flip burgers or operate traffic lights better than whoever does that. But none of us would dare march into the operating room and attempt to operate on someone unless we had some serious training. And none of us would dare allow someone to operate on our child just because they were our friend.

And yet from the beginning of Israel on through to the New Testament, when it comes to worship (Lev. 10), leading the congregation, and to delivering the word of God, there are repeated efforts to democratize the jobs of teaching, preaching, shepherding, and leading in worship. It is not uncommon to give these roles to any person who wants it. And Israel liked these priests, they were just like them! Always agreed with however they wanted to worship God! And the same can happen with us — but are our leaders and teachers pleasing to God?

In the days of the New Covenant, every single one of God’s people has God’s Spirit and gifts by which we can all build up the church. Leadership roles are only one small part of that. Not everyone needs to be up here, just like I would make a mess of many of the roles you all serve in.

However, I will say that the church is in a global short supply of well-trained teachers, preachers, and shepherds. When it comes to preachers, it’s like with Levite in the past: men are quitting left and right. So, if we are doing what we should be doing, the encouragement you give the shepherds, the teachers here, the deacons here, and Brent and I, really does mean a lot, it does help us do our jobs well. And please gently offer your thoughts if we aren’t pleasing the Lord. But let me add this — we need more young men and women who are starting to prepare now in their integrity, personal devotion, and knowledge to teach the church in various appropriate roles in the coming decades.  It is a vital part of seeking the Lord with our whole heart.

Fourth, they covenanted as a community. Notice this in verses 9-15 again. We can tend to be pretty individualistic in the West. And someone might think, “If you want to recommit to the Lord — great, you go do that. But what I do is between me and God alone.” However, this assumes that God’s goal is to have a group of isolated individuals. But God called a nation out of Egypt and now he has called an assembly, a body out of the world for his name. And thus, Asa led the people to recommit to the Lord as a whole community. And notice, Israelites saw this and left the north to live in Judah because they were excited to be part of true-hearted and whole-hearted devotion to God.

But notice the cost — all who refused to seek the Lord wholeheartedly would die. And Asa’s own mother — the queen mother — was removed from her position because she refused to change.

In our New Covenant with the Lord, the Scriptures use the same language to say those who live in rebellion must be not killed but removed from the assembly. And note that here the example is not merely that people who were vile and wicked were removed, it was any who would not agree to seek the Lord with their whole hearts.

This may feel uncomfortable to us. But may we not forget that when Jesus sensed half-hearted devotion, he didn’t say, “Hey, please, stick around! Maybe you’ll change your mind?” He said, “Unless you hate father and mother…” you cannot follow me. And while the Lord wants people to choose to serve God, sometimes we all need someone to push us. And we need the whole community to go with us. We are a hospital for sinners who want to get better, not a social club for those who are content with disease. And if we refuse to aspire towards whole-hearted devotion… this is not the place for us. All are not welcome.

May this be a reminder: what I do in my home and what you do in yours — whether idols are present, whether we are fully devoted with our whole hearts —  is not isolated. It spreads. It affects the local body. It affects the global church. Paul said that in the end, there is one church. But we are so individualistic, does that even resonate?

The Result?

We might think people left because this was too hardcore, but the opposite happened.

vs. 9: And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

vs. 15: They sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

If we seek the Lord a little, it will be very challenging to find him. And we will have trouble in all things. But those who seek and knock and don’t stop, they find. And when we find him, the community flourishes like never before. And while this sort of whole-hearted devotion will repel those who just want a social club, we’ll also find that people who have the same desire for the Lord will come from all around when they hear the Lord is with us.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Adam Lunceford

Series: Hebrews (Cling to Jesus in the Wilderness)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

If this sermon is hard to hear, know please know that it is hard to deliver. I am not craving to deliver a spiritual spanking, but if that is what this text delivers to us, I ask that we humbly receive it.

We have all been there: you excitedly share a story with your friends and family, but as you get into the details, you can see the signs — a fidget, a look to the side, the clear focus gone from their eyes: they’re bored.

The preacher-writer of Hebrews had one of those experiences. The church he’s writing to was once vibrant and fruitful, but now they are weak, sluggish, and tempted to walk away. His antidote? Help them see how good Jesus is in a fresh light so they’ll wake up and draw near to God’s throne for the help they need. So, to help them see Jesus, he needs to explain how Jesus is like the priest and king Melchizedek.

But as he is about to tell them this somewhat detailed story from Genesis 15 and Psalm 110, he can just feel the lack of interest from his audience. He can already hear the groans about how complicated the sermon was on the chariot ride home. And so he pauses in the middle of this sermon-in-a-letter to correct them for this shallow and childish way of listening that they have adopted.

Let’s face it: we live in a culture that often scrolls past reading or listening that’s not bitesized, colorful, and funny. So, it’s easy to feel in our bones that God should speak to us in the same way. But Jesus is not bitesized or funny, so if we make this mistake, it is Jesus we will miss out on. Consider the preacher’s rebuke in Hebrews 5:11-14.

A. You Are Dull of Hearing (5:11-14) (indictment)

The preacher wants to tell them about Jesus, but they need to understand the priest-king Melchizedek first. And, he says, it is hard to explain. It’s not hard because it requires a theology degree or understanding of Greek. It’s difficult because they have become dull of hearing. They are unwilling and unable to patiently listen and work through the details.

Now, we might reply, no big deal, right? But the preacher is deeply concerned. They should be teachers, yet, they are like babies who need milk. He’s not saying everyone should have the gift of teaching but that we all should mature to the point of being able to explain the truth to others. But this church? He can’t even give them solid food to eat for themselves.

The basics of the word of God are important just like mom’s milk is really important for babies. But eventually, babies start demanding the solid food on the table. How awkward would it be if a teen or adult pushed away their plate, and started tugging at their mom’s shirt? It’s just as awkward and confusing for God, preachers, and teachers when we should be mature, but zone out on the difficult things because we need the abcs again. And let’s be clear here: by meat of the word, he’s not talking about knowing Greek or having a massive vocabulary. And fellow teachers, please understand, that’s not meat. Here, he’s just talking about knowing the difference between right and wrong, and knowing Old Testament stories and Psalms — even the ones that seem strange — so that we can know Jesus better.

Churches of Christ used to have a reputation for knowing the Scriptures, but not any more. I appreciate looking over the shoulders of other serious-minded churches to see what they do well — but we need to avoid the paper-thin knowledge of the Old Testament that often comes with megachurch culture. In the end, a paper thin knowledge of the Old Testament means a paper thin knowledge of Jesus. So, what can be done? Notice 6:1-2.B. So Leave the Elementary Teaching about Christ (6:1-2) (solution)

He tells us to leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity. But notice what he says is elementary: repentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Consider that. Whenever we are talking, preaching, or teaching about these things, he says, that’s abcs.

When we don’t move on from our abcs, in verse 1 he says it’s like laying a foundation again. That’s a helpful image. A foundation is vital to a house, just like mom’s milk is crucial for babies, and the basics of faith are important for new Christians. If you try to build the framework before the foundation, the house will fall; if you give a ribeye to an infant, they’ll choke; and if we talk about how Jesus is like Melchizedek to a first year Christian, we may unnecessarily confuse them.

But if we keep rehashing the basics over and over, its like laying the foundation of a house over and over again, but never building the framework, hanging the drywall, or furnishing the house. And if we tried to provide that sort of home to our families, they’ll go somewhere else to find shelter and nourishment when the storms come. We transition from milk to solid food because we need complex nutrients to grow up and face big-kid realities.

And ultimately, that’s why the preacher wants to give us solid food. It’s because life is hard. The path to Jesus and the promised land is through the wilderness with a cross on our backs. And Israel was lifting holy-hands crazy excited after their baptism in the Red Sea. “We are going to the promised land!” But how long did that spiritual high last them in the wilderness? They were grumbling after three days. Baptism in the Red Sea and baptism into Christ is important, but it is only the beginning. So he wants to give us something they didn’t have: a relationship with our eternally faithful high priest. But we will not relate to or trust a cartoonish 2-dimensional Jesus — but only one who we are coming to know intimately from both our Old and New Testaments. By the way, this is why we help our kids memorize Scriptures, Psalms, names, and timelines while they are young. There’s no Bible-trivia entrance exam on judgment day, but it is easier to give solid food to hungry adults who have a framework.

But when it comes to leaving the elementary teaching about Christ, we have a unique challenge in our tradition. We are sometimes completely obsessed with getting the basics right. Sometimes, it’s hard to get people to move past asking “How do I get to heaven?” and “What does the church have authority to do?” There’s much that’s admirable about our tradition, but we are not necessarily known in the community for our mature knowledge of Jesus. Starting or choosing a church only for being good on the basics is just like buying a house only because it’s foundation is good. (Obviously, you would never buy a house if its foundation was poor)

Somewhere else, one older woman commented that the teaching and preaching she had been hearing lately was so nourishing and life-changing, but she was so frustrated that she was just now learning these things near the end of her life. She was hungry for more. But another older woman replied, “Oh don’t worry about it, you can go to heaven without knowing any of that stuff.”

What she means is she’s satisfied with a 2-dimensional knowledge of Jesus so long as it keeps her out of hell. That sort of minimalist attitude is why people’s faith dies in the middle of the desert, often in a person’s teens, 20s, or 30s. The foundational stuff will get us saved in the beginning, but we can’t survive at that level for long. That matches his warning in 6:3-8.

C. Otherwise, You May Not Be Restored Again (6:3-8) (warning)

Inaccurate pictures of God and grace are dangerous. Paint God harsher than he is and we will end up discouraged, hopeless, and not accepting the grace that trains us to become righteous. Paint God as softer than he is, the grace he gives will not lead to righteousness but worldliness. Now, sometimes we might say or think, “We can always come back.” I think we are thinking of the prodigal son when we say that, so there’s definitely truth to that. Please, if you have wandered away today, come back. But notice how the preacher plainly levels with us here that we simply can’t always come back: (1) he says we can only mature if God permits us to; (2) he says some come to a point where it is impossible to restore them to repentance.

On on hand, our previous text in Hebrews clearly demonstrates that he is not telling us that when we slip or struggle or become weak and wayward that we are doomed and cannot repent. Paul even tells the Corinthians to hand one sexually immoral man over to Satan and to cast him out of the church “for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved.” On the other hand, this text clearly says it is impossible to restore those who have fallen away. Why? He says that for someone to be given so much and then to reject it so completely when times are tough and then to try to come back again is to crucify the Son of God a second time and hold him up to contempt.

Now, why is he warning Christians who are immature and dull of hearing about falling away like this? He is trying to wake us up to the serious reality that spiritual apathy and immaturity are not as far off as we may think from a spiritual death that we cannot come back from. Boredom over what Melchizedek teaches us about Jesus is simply boredom about Jesus. And apathy is only one step away from contempt.

There could be a variety of reasons why we become apathetic. Sexual immorality can deceive us. Not being satisfied with what we have can distract us. Suffering might discourage us to the point of not caring. Or we might be more focused on looking like and being accepted by others. I know among some social groups in churches — including this one — it’s not very cool to get excited about the Scriptures. It’s not very cool to sing hymns, to pray with passion, or to be engaged and mature in the Scriptures. It’s cool to be chill, apathetic — here, but not that into it. The preacher is warning us that while you haven’t fallen away, you are close to it: apathy is only one step away from contempt. Marriage is like this. Fighting is not good, but if we aren’t on the same page and we aren’t fighting because we’re apathetic, we are headed to divorce.

It’s just one step to move from not caring to hear how Melchizedek and other OT people and realities help us relate to Jesus better, to shouting “crucify him.” Don’t think it won’t happen — many here have a lengthy list of people who — whether they have created their own Jesus or walked away altogether — hate the Jesus of the Scriptures. A person with dull ears is only one step away from plugging their ears in disdain.

We are given stories like the prodigal son, Peter who denied Jesus and repented, and others to comfort those who have wandered with regret in their hearts and who long to come back. But those stories are not intended to make the apathetic feel comfortable where they are at, because the risk is that we become like Judas: positioned within Jesus’ inner circle witnessing everything everyone will talk about for eternity, but hating and rejecting him. If we are bored by depth, the Lord asks us: what shiny thing is distracting us? In the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus, we have even more than Judas! We have been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, and tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come. May we never turn away from that. If you are in Christ but just bored or chill about it, the preacher of Hebrews implores you: wake up — take stock of what you have before you lose it all.

He illustrates this very simply: ground that currently bears fruit receives a blessing from God while ground that currently bears thorns and thistles is close to being cursed and burned. But consider how this preacher feels about this church in verses 9-12.

D. But We Feel Sure of Better Things for You (6:9-12) (reassurance)

Though there are serious challenges, he does not address them as though they have already fallen away, but as those who did not realize how dangerous their situation was. He felt sure of better things for them. They had born fruit in the past, and still did work for, love, and serve the saints. They were not were they needed to be, but God wasn’t overlooking the fruit they had born either. He just wants to ensure they move from sluggishness to earnest diligence. And for them, he’s confident and hopeful that they will take this correction to heart and persevere until the end.

Conclusion

We don’t give solid food to newborns. They can’t chew it properly and may choke. If this is the way we feel when we are trying to move beyond the the basics of God’s word, but we shouldn’t feel that way, it’s time to sound the alarm. If we have been at this for a decade or more but can’t teach others, but instead need to be retaught the basics, sound the alarm. Get in our Bible classes. Get into daily Bible reading and prayer. Get alongside a more mature person here and start studying with them. Knowing Jesus more deeply in these ways will change your life. It will be cool water and fresh manna in our journey through the wilderness to the Mountain of the Lord.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Josh Metzler

Series: Hebrews (Cling to Jesus in the Wilderness)

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

If you ever feel like there’s always something undone, like there’s ten browsers open in the back of your mind and half of them are flashing red and urgent while the other half aren’t even loading — it’s because this life is work. In this life things will always be left undone. But for those who fear the Lord, the life to come is characterized by completion and rest. And Hebrews has just told us that God’s rest — relief from all this work — remains open and we must strive to enter it. The problem is that the first people who God offered this rest to failed to enter it. They caved to the trials and temptations of the desert and stopped listening to God. And now the church being written to in Hebrews is in the desert all over again — and we’re right there with them. We all want rest, but we feel many days that we cannot keep up the journey.

Add this to that: not only are we weary, the preacher has just told us we are all naked and exposed to God and will one day give an account to him. In context, this should lead to healthy fear. But if Hebrews stopped right here — strive to enter God’s rest, but beware that you are completely exposed before God — many of us might not respond with healthy fear but rather feel exasperated and hopeless.

Job felt this way. When Bildad told Job in chapter 8 (esp. vs. 20) that he ought to repent of his sins because “God will not reject a blameless man,” Job replies with hopeless frustration. Notice Job 9:1, 12-13, 16, 27-33. Do you hear how Job feels about God’s throne before Jesus is on the scene? “I’d love to be in the clear before God, but that’s impossible!” Later, he speculates that he’s suffering because God is suddenly making him “inherit the [sins] of [his] youth,” (13:26). Job says here that even if he washed himself with snow and soap, God would still find something on him. Hear how Job intuitively feels about God’s throne: it is a throne of merciless wrath. God is off at some unaffected distance. If anyone successfully reached him, he’d prove the cleanest man to be guilty.

Why does Job feel this way? Job 9:33 gives at least one reason why: “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.” If we can merge Job’s and Hebrew’s concerns for a moment, we could ask Job, “How can we be clean enough to enter God’s rest?” And he would reply, “You want God to offer some mercy, help, or sympathy in your hour of need? Good luck.”

In that vein, consider what the writer of Hebrews says to the church who, like us, was often suffering and tired from work and trials, tempted and discouraged by sin, in some cases socially isolated and belittled for the gospel, and at times sluggish, distracted, and bored. Read Hebrews 4:14-5:9 with me. He tells us to do two things, and he gives four reasons why.

1. (Do) Let us hold fast our confession (4:14).

Ever since the beginning of the gospel, when people are baptized (and of course afterwards), believers have confessed their belief and hope in certain things. We see evidence of this in places like this where the comment is made that a public confession is made before witnesses about the gospel (2 Cor. 9:13; 1 Tim. 6:12-13; Heb. 3:1; 4:14; 10:23). We see evidence of what they exactly confessed in the various creeds and confessions of Scripture — like“Jesus is Lord,” (Rom. 10:9) and “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures… he was buried… he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4) and “[Jesus] was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16). Brent and I were speaking about this a few months ago: we ought not make the mistake of thinking all creeds are bad: the Scriptures have creeds, we all have creeds, even a number of our songs — like “We Saw Thee Not” — contain creeds. A creed is simply a statement of what we believe. The question is not whether or not we have creeds — a set of things we confess to be true — the question is whether it is actually true or not. And some are simply not 100% true.

But in the end, the preacher tells us here to hold fast that confession. There will be pressure from culture, government, friends, family, work, trials, and temptations to minimize or deny what we know to be true. And in certain times we may be confused and feel that we just aren’t sure what we really know. In those times, we must keep saying out-loud the gospel truth that we do know to be true. It has given me so much peace in those times of uncertainty to remind myself:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; [he is] Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father; by [him] all things were made. [And he did not stay on his throne but] for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became man. And he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; [his] kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life who proceeds from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is glorified and worshipped; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

When you do not know what else to be true, don’t stop confessing your faith in the reliable truth of the gospel: hold it fast.

2. (Do) Let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.

When everything is difficult, for some reason we are not only tempted to minimize or deny what we know to be true, we are also tempted to drift away from God. Maybe we feel ashamed. Maybe we do not feel confident. Maybe we don’t know how to access his throne. His throne is accessible to all who have faith in Jesus and who bow to speak reverently to the Father. The preacher urges we who feel it is a throne of wrath and to we who lack confidence that God wants to hear from and help us: confidently draw near to the throne of grace.

Why ought we hold fast our confession and draw near with confidence? Consider four reasons.

(a) We have a high priest who has passed through the heavens (4:14; 5:1).

We have all probably felt frustration before that Jesus didd not remain on earth to teach, work signs, guide the church, and show himself to potential believers. Sometimes it can feel like the stuff of manipulative religion: “Yes, God raised him up! Only, you can’t see him right now. He went to heaven. But he’s coming back!” But of the many reasons why it is vital that Jesus is in heaven now is this: he serves as our high priest. Now, someone might respond, “No big deal. I don’t need a high priest.” First off, whether we think it matters to us or not, it matters to God. But second, Job is proof that we truly need Jesus in heaven for now. Job is in the top five of the most righteous men who have ever lived, and yet before Jesus was in heaven, when he suffered he felt that God’s throne was a throne of wrath, and that there was no arbiter, helper, or priest who could help God and man relate together properly. Would our imagination be any better? Would we actually be more confident than Job that God hears us?

But read 4:14 and 5:1 with the eyes of Job. Every High Priest is chosen from among men. And our High Priest has ascended into the heavens. Job would be stupefied by the blessing we have. We have a high priest, a man chosen from among men — one of us! — before God’s throne helping and interceding for us. So, hold fast your confession and draw near with confidence!

(b) He is not unable (as we might think) to sympathize with our weaknesses (4:15; 5:2, 7-8).

We might reply with doubt, “Jesus isn’t just a man, he is a God-man. He’s Jesus. Being a human on earth was easy for him because he’s God. He doesn’t understand. He’s just more of the same. He’s like a politician that temporarily puts on jeans to act like they are one of us, like they understand — but they never will.”

But consider verse 15b: in every respect [he] has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. The statement that it was easy for him to not sin because he is God is simply false. It was actually his genuine suffering of trials and temptations that perfected and ordained him to serve as high priest. Otherwise he could not sympathize. In fact, because he did not sin, we can confidently say that no one knows how difficult the human experience is more than Jesus. Consider: imagine two people are trying to see who can stand up against category five hurricane force winds the longest. The winds blow, rain pelts them, debris flies everywhere and strikes them. While it lasts, one man gives up at multiple points and lies down on the ground, gets back up, and lays back down. The other man remains standing next to him the entire time. Would anyone ever dare say to the other that they do not understand how difficult it is to remain firm? How tempting it is to get on the ground? How painful the whole ordeal was? Not at all. The man who remained standing understands most of all how difficult it is.

Do you question whether Jesus can really sympathize? Consider how much he understands:

• Have we ever been hungry? Jesus fasted for 40 days.
• Have we ever been thirsty? Jesus cried out on the cross, “I thirst!”
• Have we ever been so tired we fell asleep in strange places? Jesus slept in the back of a boat in a storm.
• Have we ever watched loved ones die? He at least lived through his father’s and Lazarus’ deaths.
• Do you feel it is hard to be single? He remained unmarried because he was waiting for our marriage.
• Do we ever feel insecure or embarrassed? He was pinned naked to a cross and mocked by all.
• Has our family or friends ever hated us, thought we were crazy, abandoned, or betrayed us? Jesus knows this pain well.
• Consider verse 7. Have we ever prayed with loud cries — screams and tears — only to hear nothing back? Have we ever felt abandoned by God himself? My God, my God — he cried — why have you forsaken me?
• Have you ever been whipped, crucified, and murdered? No — in our struggle against sin, none of us here have yet resisted to the point of shedding blood (cf. Heb. 12:4).
• And, if we question whether God the Father understands our pain — he watched his Son be shoved around, mocked, and crucified for something he did not do, and yet he restrained his anger in love and compassion for you and me.

Consider Hebrews 5:2. Every high priest can deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward, and none more so than our great high priest, Jesus the Messiah. Hold fast and draw near because he is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

(c) He did not exalt himself, but was appointed by God (5:4-6, 9-10).

Many have set themselves up as arbiters between God and man throughout history. And millions have gathered before these priests with their legit looking robes, desperately hoping to find God. But they do not realize that God did not appoint these men. The whole thing is a zealous play-act in a make-believe religion. Their prayers are bouncing off the ceiling and falling flat on the ground.

It’s not uncommon to feel this is what we are doing. Maybe this is just an elaborate act and God does not acknowledge us. But no high priest at the tabernacle or temple — as bad as they sometimes were — ever took this honor for themselves. God appointed them. Similarly, God testified both from the Scriptures and from heaven that Jesus is the Son who has been appointed as high priest forever. He is in the order of Melchizedek — the priest and king who met Abraham (more on that in chapter 7). But lest you ever think we are in service of false religion, or that this whole “compassionate high priest” thing is a clever invention of men to make God more relatable: they heard God’s voice from heaven confirm Jesus to be the Son of God who is appointed as priest forever. Jesus did not exalt himself and men did not invent or appoint him: he was appointed by the Father.

(d) We will receive mercy and grace to help in a time of need (4:16b; 5:7b).

When Jesus cried out in his time of need, he was heard because of his reverence. Though God said nothing at the moment, three days later God raised him up. And he raised him up in part for the purpose that he might serve as our high priest in the heavenly tent. And now that Jesus has ascended? How much more will we receive mercy and grace to help in our time of need.

Do we imagine God’s throne to be a place of wrath for us? Do we think that in our time of need, when we are ignorant, or wayward, or weak, or distracted, or bored that he will not deal with us gently? that, if we draw near, he will not show us mercy or help us? Take heart. While Jesus was on earth he said he was a physician not for those who are well, but for those who are sick. And was this not recorded for us who seek Jesus’ face while he serves us from heaven? He does not help those who are well and self-sufficient, but those who are sick, ignorant, weak, and helpless. Even before Jesus ascended, what did Isaiah find when he was exposed as unclean before God’s throne? Mercy!

But in our time of need, Satan tempts us all to think it will be easier if we deny the Truth and walk away from Jesus. But what could be harder than walking away from the only one who can help us now with real life? We’ll end up empty with the prodigal son even craving pig’s slop. But even if we have wandered away to a far country, if we will come to our senses and draw near to the Father and the Son — if we will draw near — even while we are a long way off he will see us, feel compassion, run, and welcome us with an embrace and kiss. Hold fast your confession. Draw near. There’s grace to help in our time of need.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Have you ever had one of those moments where you were so full of regret you didn’t even want to be comforted? In fact, people couldn’t comfort you. You had ignored all the sound counsel, you went ahead anyway, and now there was nothing you or anyone could do about it: it was too late.

The prophets warned God’s people while they were still on their land, but they did not listen, so Ezekiel went with them into exile in Babylon around 597 BC. And God gave them a second chance to start listening through Ezekiel. But they insisted their being in Babylon was all unjust. And no matter how much Ezekiel preached and performed sign-acts, they listened happily and did nothing. Their idols and false prophets blinded them, they kept thinking: soon, we will go home.

And so God makes Ezekiel to live through and demonstrate the horror they would soon feel when they get the news that they’re not going home, the temple the delight in is destroyed, and the children they love are all dead. Notice Ezekiel 24:15-19.

The Sign-Act

No one could ever say Ezekiel prophesied unaffected from a distance. God told him to perform sign acts where Ezekiel would suffer a representation of God’s punishment on the people so they would see and hear the warning. One on occasion he nearly starved himself for a year an a half to symbolize the horror of the coming siege on Jerusalem. Another time he shaved his head and attacked his hair to signify what would happen to those  in Jerusalem.

Now, God tells Ezekiel that with one blow he’s going to take away the delight of his eyes. Whether it is immediately apparent to Ezekiel that this will be his wife is not certain. When that happens he will not be able to participate in anything people would normally do when mourning. He must not cry. In those days, people who mourned usually wore torn clothes, went barefoot, put dirt on their heads, covered their mouths and beards, and wept loudly. Ezekiel may not do any of that. He may sigh, but not out loud. And he must keep his turban and shoes on. People normally brought food to the one who was mourning, but Ezekiel is told not to eat the bread of men.

Now, it appears that God had made Ezekiel completely mute except for when he spoke the word of the Lord to the people. And so, the next morning Ezekiel went out to speak to the people. He did not get the luxury of spending a few more hours with his wife. That evening, she died.

Imagine the pain of Ezekiel. The shock. The dizziness. The loneliness. The black hole that is now the future. She was likely the only one who actually listened to Ezekiel and really understood and believed him. She was a beauty. She was a delight. And now, with one sudden blow, God has taken her from him. And per God’s instructions, he must not mourn.

Now, imagine being the people. Ezekiel is likely around 34 years old, his wife is probably a similar age or younger. You hear this sudden and unexpected news. You and others go to Ezekiel to console him, but he’s not weeping. He’s wearing his standard clothes. People bring him food, but he turns it away. He’s made his own food. It worked. The people are disturbed. They see something is wrong. They ask (vs. 19), “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?”

The Meaning

Notice his reply in verses 20-24. There is a large focus on the temple in the book of Ezekiel. The temple was a representation of God’s heavenly throne and temple right here on earth. It was like the Garden of Eden: the one place where the earth was heavenly. Gold, bronze, and silver were everywhere. There were ornate depictions of palm trees, pomegranates, flowers, wreaths, lions, oxen, and there were cherubim everywhere. It was a stunning picture of what is in heaven, a stunning picture of the garden, a stunning picture of the temple-city that will one day will fill all creation. And this temple was not in just any place, it was on Mount Zion in Jerusalem among the people of Israel. It was — as it should be — the pride of their power (NLT: the source of your security and pride), the delight of their eyes, and the yearning of their soul. Sitting here in a foreign land, they longed to live in its shadow again.

But, just as Adam had defiled God’s sanctuary and was cast from the Garden, Ezekiel has pleaded with the people to see that they and those in Jerusalem have defiled God’s temple with their idolatry and so they are being cast out. Even more, Ezekiel has described to them how he saw God’s glorious presence and throne leave that temple.

Now he tells them that God himself will profane and defile that temple. The Babylonians would march right into the temple God had left, the one where God would have struck down any unauthorized person who came too close, and they would take whatever they wanted. And the sons and daughters who are still there in Jerusalem would fall by the sword.

In short, these exiles had longed to soon return to see that glorious temple and to see their sons and daughters and live in the presence of both again. But Ezekiel says everything they love, long for, and delight in is about to be taken from them. And in the day they hear that everything they love is gone, they will do a strange thing. They will do exactly as Ezekiel has done. No one will bring them food to comfort them, and if they did, they would not eat it. They will not cover their mouths. They will not cry or mourn or wail at all. They will put their turbans on their heads and their shoes on their feet. They will not turn from their evil ways; rather, they will rot away in their iniquities. They will not weep, they will groan to one another.

Why? One day these exiles were suddenly taken away from everything they loved and despite Ezekiel telling them they were guilty, they weren’t going back, that it was time to repent, for eleven years they convinced themselves that they would return to see the temple and their children soon. And finally, one day, a messenger would come to tell them the temple they longed to see was destroyed and they children they loved had been killed in the streets. And in that day they would finally realize that it was too late. No repentance on their part and no message back to Jerusalem pleading their children to repent would do anything. Prophets had pleaded with the nation for decades and for centuries. Ezekiel had pleaded day by day and they had continued to say, “It’s never going to happen,” and now it had. It was done.

And in that day, can you even bring yourself to cry? Crying implies that you even have a measure of compassion and pity on yourself. Will you take food to people or receive food from people? That implies that there is a measure of comfort that could be given, that there is something left worth living for, that you shouldn’t just die. Will you repent of your sins? That implies that there is any hope left — any reason to repent. So, they will put their clothes on and silently groan. They are dejected, paralyzed. They knew better.

Often, when the Bible depicts final judgment, it depicts people wailing and grinding their teeth in anguish and disappointment. The loss is unbearable. But this is another side of the same coin. Complete dejection. Hollowness.

The Upshot

Maybe today you and the Lord are walking hand in hand. I am certain there are quite a number of people here doing that — still needing to grow, but walking with the Lord. Hear the warning now for the day when sins temptations come.

1. Young people, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” Your parents, teachers, elders, Brent and I plead with you week by week to fear God — take his commands, teachings, wisdom, and the story and promises of the Bible seriously. If you don’t, there will come a day when you will kick yourself. If you don’t, be warned, there may come a day when you don’t even feel like repenting because you have lost so much.

2. To those in danger. Have you been ignoring God like these exiles, thinking you are safe in your sins?  Or are you flirting with sin, not fully in, not fully out? Peter and Paul both tell us that the prophets were given for the instruction of those who now know Jesus. There will come a day when you will not be able to repent.

But, if today you hear his voice, do not be hardened as they were in the past. God has demonstrated his wrath against Israel, but if you will not harden your heart, if you will hear and turn, God has also demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still enemies, Christ died, the righteous for the unrighteous. And as we see Christ die we should see how serious sin is to God — Christ was carried our sins and he died for it, because of it. He lived out the punishment for sin that will fall on all who do not turn to him. May we not treat that lightly.

Before it is too late, before the day when we we cannot even weep and gnash our teeth, let us turn! And if you have come to that day in the midst of your life and history now — see that you are hearing his voice today. Today do not harden your heart. Turn before your decision is eternal.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (2)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

New products always come with manuals. Even though they have made a great product, if we don't use it right, we will ruin it. Romans 6 is like manual for grace.

In Romans 1-5 Paul has convinced us that the whole world is under God’s wrath.  Human strength cannot earn God’s inheritance.  But, for those who believe, God promises to give all things to us through grace.  No matter how big sin is, grace always abounds more.

Yet, no matter how powerful and precious God’s grace is, it doesn’t mean we will find any joy in it.  So, in Romans 6, Paul gives us that little manual: here’s how to think about your grace and freedom, here’s how to use your grace and freedom as God intended so you get the most joy and fruit out of it.

Don’t Voluntarily Sin

• Paul’s main exhortation in this chapter is this: don’t give up and voluntarily sin. Notice this in verses 1, 13a, 15-16a. Don’t think God’s grace and your freedom means you should stop fighting against sin.
• Why would we ever do something like that? There could be a number of reasons.
  • I could misunderstand God’s grace and think this means sin is not a big deal. And then I don’t end up protecting or enjoying the life God has given me because I treat sin casually. I don’t understand grace is meant to transform me.
  • Or, I might give up because I’m discouraged. Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem’s sin as a sick disease that has overtaken the whole body (cf. Isa. 1:5-6). Paul speaks of sin as this thing that used to control us, (ESV) “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing,” (Rom. 7:19). Maybe we’re afraid that will be us again. Maybe we feel sick with sin again. It can be so frustrating and embarrassing. And we know the wages of sin is death, so we may feel like there’s no point in fighting.
  • Whether we are at risk of abusing grace because we don’t see how precious it is or becoming discouraged because we don’t appreciate how powerful it is - Paul wants to guard us against this “give up” attitude by helping us get the most of out grace.
• We will look at three reasons why we shouldn’t give up and voluntarily sin in Romans 6. The first reason to not get up in verses 1-11 is…

1. God Can Raise and Transform Us (vs. 1-11)

• There’s a lyric from Disney’s Frozen song, “Fixer-Upper” that my family has appreciated. When the rock creatures are trying to pair up this odd couple - Anna and Christoff - they sing, “We’re not saying you can change her, ‘cuz people don’t really change…”
  • From one perspective, those rock creatures are pretty smart, aren’t they? Don’t get married thinking you will change someone.
  • And yet: people don’t really change? Is that really true?
• Paul argues here that Christ died, was buried, and God raised him from the dead. So, sin and death no longer have dominion over Christ.
  • In the same way, in baptism we have been buried and God has raised us with him so we can walk in newness of life.
  • His whole point is this: if God raised Jesus, he can raise us too.
  • In our baptisms we are expressing our faith in this very fact. Otherwise, why are people baptized if spiritually dead people cannot be transformed? Why are people baptized if the spiritually dead can’t stop volunteering themselves to wickedness?
• We must not give up on God’s power to transform us. Sin is so discouraging. But it’s because of that sentiment that Paul tells us to not give up. Raising us from the dead seems impossible, but it was impossible for God to raise Jesus too. If we give up, we aren’t giving up on ourselves or on others, we are giving up on God.
• Remember, Jesus said in the parable of the sower that even good ground only bears fruit with patience (cf. Luke 8:15).
• The second encouragement to not give up is seen in verses 12-14 and it is this…

2. Sin Cannot Have Dominion on People Under Grace (vs. 12-14)

• We can also lack confidence that God considers us righteous, innocent. We can start thinking, “There is no chance righteousness will win. I will never be declared innocent/righteous in God’s sight. I’m like Joshua in Zechariah 3 — dirty all over.”
• But do you know what this is? This is the mindset of someone who is under a law system - someone who thinks God’s expectation is that we will make ourselves innocent through law-keeping. Paul says in verse 14, “you are not under law but under grace.”
• Now, some do abuse grace and they don’t use it to grow. Because of this, appreciating grace is hard for some of us. We may feel more comfortable adding an asterisk to this sentence. But, think about it: if we think our fellowship with God is based on perfect law-keeping, how much does that encourage me to do well? If we are in a marriage where we think one mistake will lead to our spouse divorcing us, does that help us do well? No way. This discouragement can actually lead to more sin. “I have already messed up and lost my fellowship with God. Who cares what I do next?”
• When we find sin in ourselves, we need to mourn and take it seriously. We need to confess to God and confess to those we’ve wronged. We need to consider the counsel Scripture gives to help us overcome. And then we need to remember: sin can’t have dominion over you any more since “you are not under law but under grace.”
• For true believers, the thought, “Because of this sin I am now condemned, I’ve lost life with God, so I should give up” should not cross our minds. If we start sinning deliberately, with a high hand, saying, “Forget you God, I’m doing what I want” that’s different. Sin hardens plenty of churchgoers to that point, so we must take care. But if we hate sin, are tempted by it, we battle it, and we slip… we can turn and then rejoice in God because being under grace means our failure to keep the law is no longer counted against us — as long as we treat God’s grace as an opportunity to repent.
• Trusting that God will be faithful to give us the free gift of life is not perverting the grace of God, it’s called faith. And that kind of faith is tough. Some decide to pursue righteousness as if it were based on human strength - and they won’t make it (cf. Romans 9:32). If that were possible, why did Christ die at all? But for those with faith, God declares, “remove the filthy garments from him.”
• Don’t give up because as long as we keep on repenting, sin cannot have dominion over people under grace.
• The third encouragement to not give up is seen in verses 15-19 and it is…

3. If We Give Up, We Becomes Slaves of Sin (vs. 15-23)

• (vs. 15-19) Paul is trying to help us win a mental argument against sin. Here’s his argument: if we willfully give ourselves to sin, we will become slaves of sin.
  • That’s not the way Satan wants us to think about voluntarily deciding to sin - choosing to follow our fleshly impulses - is it? No. He wants us to think about that as freedom. “Break free from the chains of God and his king!” (cf. Psalm 2)
  • But is that really freedom? Paul says that it’s actually slavery. How so? Satan wants us to think that with sin, just one time will satisfy us. But notice verse 19: that’s not how it worked before. When we presented our members to as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, all it lead to was more and more lawlessness. Satan makes it sound like freedom, but he’s putting cuffs on us.
• (vs. 20-23) But Satan has a counter argument. Notice verse 20. “But you were free from righteousness. You had no internal burden. The chains of doing right were released!” When we are weak, that can sound pretty good, right? I don’t have to think, speak, live, worship, give right any more. I can just do what I feel like.
  • But how good is that, really? Notice verses 21-23. What fruit were we getting from these things? What did it all lead to? The end is death, and in the meantime, it is  shame and not good stuff (NGS).
  • Go back to the Garden of Eden in your mind. There, God said, “Eat everything. But don’t eat that one tree.” I like to think about life there and life now as a big white box. There is all this clean space to explore and enjoy with God. But there are these black areas in the corners where God has said, “Don’t go there.” Satan convinces us to leave the white space to check out life in the corners. But once we get there, we get stuck on repeat. We can’t think about anything but being in the corners. We lose real living with God. Satan promises freedom, but when we are with him, he warps our mind and traps us in a destructive cycle of misery and death.
• Titus 3:3–7 is a fitting description of the contrast we see here. (ESV) “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
• Keep going because if we willfully choose sin - we are going down a miserable path of slavery. How fun is it to wake up full of envy? How fun is it to go to bed hating others and being hated by others? How satisfying is it to always think, “What’s best for me?” If we willfully choose to go back down the path of sin, when it becomes full grown, it kills us — eats us alive.
• God, according to his great mercy and kindness, has shown us a new way. We are God’s slaves, but we are even more - we are his children and his heirs. He is promising us eternal life in a world that only has white space left. How good is that? How good is our God?

Conclusion

• Let’s start enjoying life in the white space now. Let’s give ourselves to righteousness like we used to give ourselves to sin. Life is so much better that way.
• We will sin. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar. But if this happens, John’s encouragement in 1 John 2:1–2 is perfect. (ESV) “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
• Jesus died for our sins so that we would not give up. And even now, he advocates for us — as the song we are about to sing says, he lives and prays for us! We have everything we need for godliness, to be more than conquerers; trust his grace and patience can transform us, don’t give up.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM (1)

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Darell Collier