Trinity Evangel Church

If lukewarm hearts nauseate Jesus, what pleases Him? Zealous love, yes, but there is something else Scripture says. Without it, we can't please Him. It's faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith is the perfect complement to last week's exhortation against acedia/apathy. It is the proper focus of our series of reminders on Lord's day liturgy. And it is the perfect theme for celebrating TEC's fifteenth anniversary.

Near the start of Hebrews 11, that great mini-biographical trophy case of believers, we're given the definition of faith as well as the incentive to faith.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. (Hebrews 10:39–11:2 ESV)

Living by conviction in (the right) unseen things gets God’s praise. So again in verse 6, “without faith it is impossible to please him.” Stated as the inverse, with faith we please God. Faith is necessary to please Him and sufficient to do so.

Faith is so important for us Protestants that it gets its own sola. Sola fide was the material cause of the Reformation, the substance and center of the whole movement. It’s not just faith as an add-on, it’s faith alone. Faith matters.

The gospels were written so that we might have faith. John explicitly wrote his book:

so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31 ESV)

We are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We live by faith (Romans 1:17). God guards us through faith (1 Peter 1:5). God refines our faith to make it even more precious (1 Peter 1:7). Passing tests of obedience help us know that we have faith (1 John 5:13). Even tiny faith moves mountains (Matthew 17:20). Faith conquers kingdoms, faith willingly gets sawn in two (Hebrews 11:33-37). “This is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith” (1 John 5:4).

So, like Paul, we continue to labor “for your progress and joy in the faith” (Philippians 1:25 ESV).

For all that, is there anything harder than living by faith?

“Trials of various kinds” are testing our faith (James 1:2), “heaviness through manifold temptations” is the trial of our faith (1 Peter 1:6 KJV). God tells us that He purifies faith as through fire, just like removing dross from gold (1 Peter 1:7). When things grieve us, when they hurt, we're tempted to (think that we can) take matters into our own hands. We believe that we can get ourselves out from underneath the pain. Or some lose heart and walk away. Spouses still give each other grief, parents and kids still struggle, Christians don’t always act like they say they should. Yet another bill comes in. At these times, when our hearts are this heavy, we’re supposed to say, “God is good”? That is a test of faith.

But easy things also test our faith. When things are going well, when the system seems to be working smoothy, we're tempted to think that we've made ourselves successful. We've put ourselves into the good position. The kids are quiet and dinner’s ready on time and the car starts when you want. When you can see the blessings, it’s one thing to say, “Wow, thank You, Lord,” it’s another to say “This whole thing isn’t that difficult.”

Whether in need and hunger or in plenty and abundance (Philippians 4:12), we are called to walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). There are plenty of afflictions even in this world of affluence. Technology relieves some pains and causes others. The tests of obedience are no less, the tests of perspective may be greater.

Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8)

The gathering of the saints on the Lord's day is for believers to worship. This does not mean that unbelievers aren't welcome, it means they aren't who the service is for. Unbelievers who enter when the church comes together should hear the truth spoken clearly (1 Corinthians 14:24-25), but that belongs with the truth sung and spoken for the building up of the believers (1 Corinthians 14:26).

There is correction (2 Timothy 3:16) which is a constant need for Christians, but that is different than condemnation (Romans 8:1) of which there is none for Christians. There is admonition, but that is different than accusation. When I think about addressing the flock, I anticipate that the flock is full of sinners, who need to learn who they are and what to do as Christians who sin (1 John 1:8-10).

All five movements of our liturgy aim to build up faith. We believe that God “exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Come, and worship Him! We believe that “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Confess your sins! We believe that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Hear the Word! We believe that He desires to commune with us; “I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:21). Come to the Lord’s Table! We believe that we “can do all things through him who strengthens” and blesses us (Philippians 4:13). Go with His blessing on you!

Our worship is not aimed at making you question whether or not you have faith. Even the command to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” in 2 Corinthians 13:5 actually starts with the assumption that there is faith. Our worship is not a faith gauntlet, not a fight against faith so that you can make sure you have faith. Our worship is not seeking to make you start over every week, as if the hard drive must be wiped clean and everything re-installed again every seven days. In the gospel the “righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith” (Romans 1:17).

Singing and praying together let us express our faith. Giving gifts and offerings together is a token of our faith. Hearing the Word read and taught together defines and directs and edifies our faith. Eating and drinking together feeds our faith. A good words/benediction sends us out in faith.

As one of the elders, the progress and joy of the faith of the flock is perhaps my greatest burden. I pray and labor that you all would have faith, make furtherance in faith (as Tyndale translated Philippians 1:25), enjoy the fruit of faith.

And so we labor to stimulate faith, not doubt.

There is great frustration in expecting someone to live by faith who is still dead in his sins. Trying to get someone to live like a Christian who isn't actually a Christian won't work. We can't, and we don't, assume that everyone is a Christian regardless of their fruit.

That said, faith isn't stronger because no one affirms it. It is one of the reasons that we baptize younger kids when they are able to make a profession of faith. Is their faith mature? Not as mature as we hope it will be. But if we wait to baptize until we've seen years of fruit, we are frustrating faith not fortifying it. For many of us, this is new application, and in some ways an even greater responsibility of parents to “bring [your children] up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 KJV).

For “the sake of the faith of God's elect” (Titus 1:1) is also why we emphasize some things more than others.

We emphasize rejoicing at communion rather than ruminating on sin because our faith is in Christ who died for our sin and rose again that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). Our faith is not in knowing that we've felt the right amount of bad for our sin, that we’ve brooded long and deep enough. For many of us, this is a new approach to the Table, and in some ways even more challenging to be genuinely joyful than to put on a face of sorrow.

We emphasize caring about all the things Christ cares about, including that “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4-5). We can receive and study and even sanctify the good, because our faith isn't only good for Sundays or limited to specific places. By faith we believe God created the world by His Word in six days (Hebrews 11:2), and He calls us to fulfill our callings in the world on those six work days by faith. The Kuyperian theme is intended to unfetter faith from dualism. For many of us, this is new territory, and in some ways even more stretching because faith belongs everywhere, not just in quiet time.

We emphasize that “it is not as though the word of God has failed” (Romans 9:6). God’s got a sovereign plan, He is writing the story of blessing and riches for the world (Romans 11:12). This story took some twists, including the rejection of the Messiah by the majority of His own nation, but as the good news has gone to all the nations, the blessings they receive in Christ will lead to the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel (Romans 11:13-15). The label is Dispensationalism. For many of us, this is an old truth with a new angle, and in some ways it is even more awkward because Dispies often present a fearful faith, which is opposite of jealousable faith.

All this is to make us a people faith. By careful attention to God's Word we have consistent and comprehensive faith, and through grace we have conspicuous and compelling faith (walking by faith as His creations in the good works prepared beforehand, Ephesians 2:10). This is potent faith. This is what it means to have confidence, that is, "with faith."

We worship as a church, and we go into Marysville and beyond with lives that say, Amen!

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV)

All you of faith, draw near to God!

Those with faith live in the world, through successes and sorrows, as those “of whom the world is not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38). But remember, “all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:39). Are you ready to live by the conviction of unseen things, no matter how long it takes?

This week, tap the faith sign. That is, say to your wife, “I’m believing God for this current thing.” Text a sister in Christ and tell her, “pray for me to trust the Lord right now with this.” Let them say “Amen!” back.

In another fifteen years, may there be even more furtherance and joy of faith, that we would stand firm and strive “side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

Beloved, keep the faith! Keep the faith, as in, love and speak and defend the truth of the faith. And also keep the faith, as in, live like believers. The testing of your faith will feel like a test, it will feel like fire. It is your faith that is MORE precious than gold.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV)

What nauseates the Lord most? The Lord told the church in Laodicea that it was their lukewarm hearts.

The words of the Amen…“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.’” (Revelation 3:15–16 ESV)

Stated in other ways, what sickens “the faithful and true witness” is not just a heart of defiance but a heart that's drifting. “The beginning of God’s creation” testifies against blasphemy, of course, but also against boredom. He disciplines those He loves, and calls them to “be zealous and repent.” This includes turning away from the sins of lack of care, disinterest in fellowship, thinking you need nothing. The One who conquered and is with the Father declared the lukewarm gross to Him.

There is part of the human religious experience that gets anxious when there isn't a perceived heightened emotional experience. C.S. Lewis wrote about it in The Screwtape Letters, and I think he's onto something by acknowledging that it’s a frustrating and false expectation to always seek increasing intensity of excitement. But it is a different kind of dangerous when our direction is “carrying [us] out of [our] orbit around the Enemy,” in other words, when our lives aren't revolving around the Son.

The aim of our charge is not habits of half-heartedness (see 1 Timothy 1:5). To be complete in Christ does not mean to arrive at a more mature stage of boredom. It's one thing to whip ourselves up into a frenzy before we crash, it's not the antidote to live like we've already crashed.

So, let our hearts be hot or cold. Let us wake up, and I don't just mean from falling asleep during the sermon.

I recently finished reading a book titled, Acedia and Its Discontents. It is profound, with some big problems, but overall as edifying as it is provoking.

Acedia is an English word derived from the Greek word that means being "without care." It refers to spiritual or mental sloth. In English we also talk about one of acedia’s synonyms, apathy, which is being without passion.

Other nuances given in the book include being bored, not in the sense of having nothing to do, more so in refusing to work at enjoying what is delightful. It's a state of complaint about reality, especially about the things that are great but require too much (perceived) effort to acknowledge or embrace.

“Boredom is a heresy, declaring God was wrong when he saw the goodness of the world.” (R.J. Snell, Location 1128)

The modern version of acedia is aggressively dulling, like sand in the chainsaw gears and gas tank. It's why Netflix knows it has five seconds to autoplay the next episode or related movie, you're too tired to turn it off and go to bed. It's why social media doesn't want you to have a chronological timeline only of your followers, because then you could get to the "end" of it, at least at a given time. Now you have a virtually endless stream of middling novelty. Door Dash is costly (and I suppose a kind of convenient that could be a proper blessing in a pinch), but the bigger cost is learned laziness; it's not worth your effort just to go through the drive-thru? In such a condition, nothing is seen as gift, it’s all at some level of tiresome.

The author calls this the “terrible covenant of sloth.” It is our modern cultural agreement to let every man define right in his own eyes. There is a liturgy to it, a message without explicit words, a message that teaches that discomfort is always bad, that work is the hurdle to and enemy of delight, that the flesh should be served, never told “no,” or even “wait.” Our souls constantly wish to escape the burden of what is. We are disgusted with what God says is good.

Unlike the creation stories with pagan gods, God did not make men to be slaves, but rather to be rulers. God did not make men to be machines that move, but rather beings that live and move. God did not make men to be computation devices with legs. We are homo sapiens compared to creatures that merely have instinct, but we are homo adorans in that we're creatures with built in capacity to recognize and worship what is great.

We sin when we exchange what is great/glorious (Romans 1:23), we sin when we refuse to honor and love what is great (Romans 1:21; Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37-38). Jesus made clear, it is “the great and first commandment.”

Humans want, we are known by our wants. They can want wrong things or right, but the most advanced algorithms are at least four layers away from desires. Computers didn't "decide" to mimic our behavior. First layer: humans had to want. Second layer: humans had to express those wants in language. Third layer: humans had to (want to) teach the AI to see language patterns. Fourth layer: humans had to (want to) prompt the AI to predict some text in a different format than just quoting back what human wants had already been expressed.

AI doesn't care. AI cannot worship.

Our corporate worship isn't mostly a product. The most important part is God, yes, but not the direct object of the service itself, as if we were creating a package to give Him called "Worship." The Lord is not recording our singing each Sunday to add to His praise playlist. Adoration isn't an artifact, something that exists in its own space when we're not there. Adoration is about the ones adoring. The subjects/we aren't the goal, but we are the gift. We present ourselves as living sacrifices which is our spiritual worship (Romans 12:1). We are being transformed “from one degree of glory to another” by “beholding the glory of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Humans are worshippers.

You want to be an adoration agent. That is, you want to have a care, you want to reject whatever is lukewarm in your chest, and then run to obtain the prize. You don't want to offer anything that doesn't cost; you know that the cost is part of it.

If your life operating system is like lines of code, then here are four ways that parts of our liturgy update your OS for your faith and fruitfulness. Here’s how we are fighting Acedia with corporate adoration.

We are not finished when we collect truth, but we will not be fruitful without truth.

the church is the pillar and buttress of truth (1 Timothy 3:15)

We care about special revelation in Scripture, we let the teaching God's Word make us wise for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). We learn answers to questions, about God's nature and works, about the nature of man and his purpose. We learn about salvation and then we adorn the doctrine (Titus 2:10). There is a “standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17-18). Pay attention to sound doctrine (that which elders are required to teach and defend in Titus 1:9).

Definitions instruct us about what is truly good, and correct and conform our thinking when we were thinking something else was good.

So much of the Bible itself is narrative, stories. They are non-fiction stories, and along with history they show us the divine Author’s frequent if not favorite story arcs/plots. We aren't just told that God is faithful, we watch His faithfulness through generations (brining Israel back from captivity in Egypt). We aren't just told that God is love, we see that love demonstrated in the sending and sacrificing of His Son. We don't just learn that God is Three-Persons but One God, we have a record of God's relations and reconciliations with His people. These stories are “for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

When we gather to worship we are not alone, of course, and that means we also have examples. We watch, not just those up front, but those around us. We have patterns to follow (see related Philippians 3:17).

Demonstrated in the assembly: Loud singing. Large smiles. Humble kneelers. Fathers giving candy. Kids coloring. Tasty bread. Handshakes and hugs.

Livestreaming is a blessing when sick or stuck. But these days there are more professing Christians who are making livestreaming church their preferred liturgy. Screen-only participation is soul-thinning. Being around good examples encourages our own embodying of good.

Liturgy requires a kind of submission. We’re willingly working to fit into a mold not of our own making. Paul told Timothy, with application for all the brothers, “train yourself for godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). That takes more than the least amount of effort.

As you are able, get here on time so that we can start together. Sing when, and what, we sing. Put yourself into position to want to want more than you naturally wanted all by yourself. Stay awake.

Here we are learning to will what is good. Know it, love it, approve of it, praise it. It is necessary for the life and glory of your soul.

There will be no great love of the true, good, or beautiful without a new heart, and this life is found only in Jesus Christ.

Drink from the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13-14). Beware what is worthless, and getting into a rut of seeking out worthlessness (Jeremiah 2:5). Come to Christ, behold His glory (2 Corinthians 3:18) and seek His gifts (Revelation 3:17-18).

The Amen, Jesus Christ Himself, says:

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. (Revelation 3:18 ESV)

Adoration cannot be automated. We are made to worship in fellowship with God through His Son.

It is hard to care. It is death to have no cares.

The Father disciplines those He loves so that we would have zeal for holiness. He trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. Give yourself to care about what is good and acceptable and perfect in God’s sight.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 ESV)

It is about time to turn the calendar, and this means it is time for our annual reminders and refreshers on our liturgy for corporate worship. We follow a pattern each Lord's Day, what is it and why do we do it?

Liturgy is a which not whether; it’s inescapable. Everyone follows a liturgy, more or less obvious, more or less formal. A desire and decision to "let the Spirit lead" not only is itself a plan, it usually leads to the least spontaneity and variety, even if there is a moment of drama right before falling back into the default rut.

Our liturgy follows a certain pattern, and it continues to do work on us. It has some parallel with how Coach Boone described his offensive playbook, “it’s like novocaine, just give it time.” Our liturgy isn't dulling us, but “it always works” to shape us.

This morning I want to talk about how this liturgy serves to make us more antifragile. It's a corporate act, with a vertical view, yet that has effects for each part of the church Body. To the degree that we worship the Lord well, we become less fragile and have more of our foolishness knocked off week by week.

Antifragile is a made-up word based on the observation that the opposite of fragile is not simply being sturdy. Shipping a box of long-stemmed wine glasses to your cousin in Florida requires copious amounts of bubble wrap; those things will break easily, they are fragile. Sending a one-volume hardcover edition of Calvin's Institutes to your other cousin in Florida will doesn't require a "Handle with Care" label on the outside of the package. The book is not fragile, it’s robust. But the real antonym of fragile would be sending something to the East Coast that would be better after being thrown and dropped and shoved around by a dozen UPS guys. As the author of the book said, “You want to be the fire and wish for the wind.”

The Bible doesn't use the word antifragile, but it does use the word holokleros. It's found two places, and for now, note how the apostle James puts our trials in context as making us better. Rejoice in all the different kinds of trials that make faith stronger and more steadfast:

and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:4 ESV)

"Complete" is a fine translation. Tyndale translated it as "sound," Wycliffe had it as "hool" (meaning "whole"), and the Latin Vulgate had inegri, like an integer. It's having the entire kit, the full portion. And so for a good definition: being complete is being ready for meeting all expectations."

James connects this with wisdom, which is not only wisdom to see how the trials are making you better, but the wisdom the comes from being in a better spot. James is the most proverbial of the epistles, and he's helping us who read him be less foolish.

Our liturgy is also working to make us less foolish and more wise, less fragile and more anti-fragile, less unequipped and more ready for whatever situation we come to. That might be this week, that might be in the new year.

So here are five ways to be a fragile fool (intended to provoke the opposite desires), followed by the ways the big headings of our liturgy help make us complete.

Is there a heavier burden? Is there a bigger lie? Is there a more hopeless feeling, than trying to be the best thing in your life?

Sure, pride blinds, and a man can get full of himself for a while. But "like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give" (Proverbs 25:14).

The reason that we have so much identity crises in our culture is that we've believed the myth that we can give ourselves identity. For sure, we can and should look for ways to become more godly than we are, but we cannot make ourselves "gods."

The idol of self is the most deceitful, and most destructive. Satan fell for his own charms. But there is freedom in submitting to reality just as their is life for the fish in the water. There is great joy in worshipping what is great, but great effort to worship what is not great is like praising a grain of sand in a salt mine.

It’s folly to only answer your own call, to do only what you feel like doing when you feel like doing it. That liturgy, and lifestyle that follows from it, is fragile all the way down.

This is as brutal as Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill forever. It's not just trying to cover your guilt, but trying to get others to see you as not guilty. You're trying to blind four eyes. Or, you’re trying to get the other person to push the boulder up the hill with you while denying there is a boulder.

Trying to keep sin secret will eat you up (see Psalm 32:3-4). This almost always leads to other sins, and to destructive behaviors like drinking to drunkenness. It also doesn't work before God because He sees hearts, and there is no place in your mind that is hidden to Him.

But in our day-to-day we interact with people, and whether or not they have a good grasp of morality, God's law, and man's nature, they're going to see you blow it. And defensiveness is gas on the fire of your own house. Denial would be hilarious if it wasn't dangerous. Fighting for percentage points misses the point.

Blessing comes on the other side of honesty (Psalm 32:1, 5). Sin-defense is fragile all the way down.

It's said that familiarity breeds contempt, and no argument. But prior to despising, there's a large slough of dismissing. We don't like it because we forgot what we have.

In a great twist of irony, our access to information has caused us to be more foolish. It's not because we're ignorant, but because we're living apart from faith. We’ve put our trust in (potential) knowledge. You've likely heard Proverbs 3:5-6 so much that you can repeat it, but are you following it?

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

The liturgy of fools calls them to put their faith in their own ability to figure it out. The biggest fool of all is the wise-in-his-own-eyes guy.

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?

Do you lack wisdom? Ask God (James 1:5). Without being guided by God’s truth it’s fragile all the way down.

Speaking of a life without wisdom,

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire,

The NKJV has for the second half of the proverb, “he rages against all wise judgment.”

Ecclesiastes 4 says, "Two are better than one," and "a threefold cord is not quickly broken" (verses 9, 12).

You might be the on fire, read hot, lone charcoal. And still, if you are by yourself, your flame will die out. You're not an image-bearer by yourself, you can't love your neighbor never leaving your home. Isolation is fragile all the way down.

The Christian life isn't pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. High agency in the flesh will result in corruption (Galatians 6:8). Your hustle must be yielded to the Spirit.

Remember when God told Moses that He was not going to go with the stubborn people into the Promised Land? This was NO GOOD.

[Moses] said to [the LORD], “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15–16 ESV)

And when Jesus ascended to the Father, He sent His Spirit to be with the disciples, and with us, for our walk as disciples and as we make disciples. To go out without blessing is fragile all the way down.

Alternatively, there is GOOD NEWS! The five main movements in our service point us to God by grace through faith.

Our liturgy aims to help us acknowledge Him in all our ways. So we say, “Lord willing” we will do this or that, today, let alone tomorrow (James 4:13-15). This is the worship of wisdom, a liturgy that completes, and gets us ready to meet all expectations.

Wisdom calls out: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones."

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

What do you want for Christmas more than anything else in the world? This isn't a Jesus-juke question where I’ll turn whatever you answer into a reason for you to feel guilty if your answer isn't "God's glory." That said, we know enough to say that there is one gift that if you don't have it, everything else is virtually futile. But if you do have it, all are yours.

I'm thinking about the gift of a new heart. This is only something God can give; you can't purchase it or transfer yours to someone else or make it happen by human hands. Without a new heart, a man will walk through life, including years of holiday events and parties, not able to feel anywhere near the fulness of blessing or peace. Those with new hearts never have enough time to count all their blessings.

The gift of new hearts was promised by God the Father, purchased by the Son, and has begun to be applied on earth by the Spirit. This will continue until all the chosen are given second birth unto eternal life.

This advent we're spiking the joy-punch (so to speak) with three unconditional covenants revealed by God to His people, including covenant promises that gave hope to generations of waiters. God delights to wrap things in prophecy that have a “DO NOT OPEN TILL A LATER DATE“ label.

The Lord is showing off His faithfulness, which is right for Him. Take His word as gospel truth; I mean, He’s why we even can say that. Build your house on the foundation of the Bible. And along with His reliability, He's showing off His generosity. God is the great Giver, the Father from whom every good and perfect give comes down (James 1:17).

We've considered the Lord’s call of Abram unto blessing and being the channel of blessing to all the families of the earth. We know now that Jesus is the ultimate seed of blessing through Abraham. We considered the Lord’s anointing of David unto a house and throne and kingdom ruling over the nations forever. We now know that Jesus is the ultimate son of David, the King of kings. These are unconditional covenants, and Christmas gets us thinking about the identity of the Christ and what He came to fulfill.

There is one more unconditional covenant from the Lord, a promise to a group not just for a group, a covenant that would be better than, and even supersede, a conditional covenant. This covenant guaranteed new hearts with God’s law written on them. Jesus was born to give men second birth, and it required His blood.

The new covenant is so named in Jeremiah 31. The details are easy to read.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV)

To Whom the covenant is made: the house of Israel and the house of Judah. These are the names of the Kingdom divided after David that would be restored. Together these are part of the "great nation" promised to Abraham, through Isaac and then Jacob. These people had been in various stages of drifting, disobedience, and dull hearts. In fact, Israel had already been taken captive by Assyria, and Judah was being overwhelmed by Babylon.

What is new is in comparison to the "the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt." The new doesn't replace the Abrahamic or Davidic, it replaces the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic was conditional: obey and be blessed, disobey and be cursed. It was also external, laws that defined God's standard. The law was clear, but not itself able to cause anyone to want the good. And Israel broke this covenant. The new covenant promises to overcome this defect.

What the new covenant promised was the want. It promised new hearts, hearts of flesh that were alive. It promised new hearts that had the law working from the inside out, not stapled onto the outside.

All this is quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12, and again in Hebrews 10:15-18, which are important passages that connect the New Covenant with Jesus.

The spiritual blessings of forgiveness, of a new heart, of the indwelling Spirit, as good as they are, are not the whole of the covenant. What the new covenant also promised was corporate restoration so that all Israel/Judah would enjoy the promised land and that their cities would be rebuilt and the other nations would see and praise the Lord. See Jeremiah 31:38-40, and the parallel in Ezekiel 36:22-36. The Lord initiated giving these gifts.

And the promise of new hearts and more is as sure as the fixed order, Jeremiah 31:35-37. Jeremiah prophesied these things around 590 BC, which meant these were things anticipated for 585 years before Jesus was even born, let alone how many years until all the things will take place.

The New Covenant is like the Abrahamic and Davidic in that it is unconditional. The New is unlike the other two in that it deals with sin.

A covenant that would deal with sin requires blood. The author of Hebrews makes it clear: the blood is that of the mediator, Jesus Christ.

he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:12–14 ESV)

He had to be made like His brothers, to partake in flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14), and so the incarnation of the eternal Word into the body of a baby meant salvation was possible. His name, "Jesus," means Savior (Matthew 1:21). The angels told the shepherds, “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior" (Luke 2:11).

There will be peace on earth among men and nations when Jesus returns to sit on the throne of David, but He also made peace between men and God directly (Romans 5:1). He forgives and reconciles fellowship. He needed to be born a man so that we could be reborn. He effaces Adam's likeness, that is the fallen nature sin parts, and stamps His own image in its place.

While the incarnation by itself still looked toward Easter, the cross and burial and resurrection on the third day, the story on earth begins with the baby.

Paul wrote in Romans, "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins" (Romans 11:27, a quote of Isaiah 59:20-21). This means that the sin was expected, and the promise promises to deal with the sin. The sin can't break this covenant, the point of the covenant is to break the power of sin. Paul wanted the Gentiles to know that God would fulfill His word to the Jews.

And note that this sin-dealing covenant doesn't replace the Abrahamic, it adds some specificity to the blessings, but doesn't change it or redefine it. So with the Davidic, it just turns out that the throne will be won by the King that conquers sin and death, not just enemies and rebels.

By faith in Jesus we (Gentiles) are grafted into covenant blessings to Abraham, as those among “all the nations” (Genesis 22:18). By faith in Jesus we are promised a share in the King's reign over the nations. But we Gentiles aren't the “great nation” (Genesis 12:2), and we won't live in the land of Israel in the coming kingdom.

Just so, while the work of giving new hears has commenced after Pentecost, and while the gospel is still the power of God to salvation for the Jew first and then the Greek (Romans 1:16), the new hearts among “the families of the earth” don't cancel the original parties of the New Covenant. There is yet fulfillment for the house of Israel and the house of Judah, along with David's house.

The Jews were promised a Messiah. They were promised a land. They were promised new hearts. Their reception of Jesus will be MORE BLESSING for the world (Romans 11:12).

By faith we partake in the benefits of Christ's blood. We celebrate the New Covenant in His blood not because that was promised directly to us, but because in God's purposes He has extended the gifts of new hearts to many. In fact, His blessings to us in the fruitfulness is part of His plan to make Israel jealous and return to their Shepherd.

This new covenant is certain. The Christmas season is a season of salvation because God saves sinners. Every new heart given witnesses to God's intent to bless. "Let every heart prepare Him room" is a great exhortation, and it depends entirely on His gift of new hearts. So:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

Christian, what a gift is your new heart! Jesus humbled Himself to become a man, to become a servant, and then to become a sacrifice of blood so that He could gift you with a living heart.

Do you have this new heart? If yes, then family, feasting, and even frustrations should all be put in context. Don't quench the good wants for righteousness that God has given, but be zealous for good and generosity and wonder.

The Son will advent/come and extend blessing and rule and dwell with us again.

Mild He lays His glory by,

Hold onto your hope. Jesus—the Son of Abraham, the Son of David, the Son of God—is your hope. He came, He sacrificed, He conquered. He is the great shepherd of the sheep, He is your shepherd. So whether you eat or drink, give or receive, do all to the glory of God in Jesus' name.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23–25 ESV)

Jesus gave His disciples some truth in John 14 worth more than gold, frankincense, and myrrh. At the beginning of the chapter He identified Himself as the way, the truth, and the life. He revealed that He alone is the way to the Father. And later in that talk He said,

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27 ESV)

Peace. Isn't this what we want? We want it because we live "in this world of sin." The world is troubled and full of trouble; “man is born to trouble” (Job 5:7). The world makes up "peace," but it doesn't work, or it doesn't last. Superficial pastors, like false prophets of old, preach “peace, peace,” but there is no peace. People who should know better, do not know the way of peace and there is no justice in their paths. This isn't just a longing for a silent night, for stillness and quiet, but for knowing that things are right, or that they will be right.

This is the peace that Jesus has, that He gives. He is the fulfillment of the prophets’ hope, the child born whose name is the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Of the increase of his government and of peace

When Jesus talks about peace, He knows. God committed Himself in His Word to send a ruler who would bring peace. Jesus is the rightful King, the seed of Abraham, the Son of David.

This advent we're powering the lights of our rejoicing by considering three covenants that the Lord made of old.

The Lord made men on earth to receive His blessings. God blessed Adam and Eve * tout de suite*. And even after Adam’s sin, and after the wickedness and flood, and after arrogance and Babel, the Lord chose Abram and covenanted to bless. Abram would be blessed, be a blessing, and be the channel of blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3). The ultimate mediator of this blessing is the offspring of Abraham, Jesus (Galatians 3:16).

There are two other covenants that are also unconditional (that is, dependent on the Lord alone) that focus on and through Jesus. The New Covenant, which we'll consider next Lord's Day, and the Davidic Covenant. We rejoice every Christmas in the King’s first coming.

Let's start with the account of Jesus’ birth and then go back to see the covenant.

Matthew's gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus and then tells the story of Jesus' birth. We observed last week that Jesus is in the line of Abraham. And there is even greater emphasis as the New Testament opens that Jesus is in the line of David.

the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David....

And then in verse 6, "Jesse the father of David the king. And David the father of Solomon." Then the summary: "all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations" (verse 17).

We know from Luke's account of the birth that Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth "to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David" (Luke 2:4). Jesus was a Davidson.

And He was a special son. Why do the three wise men come from the east? "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2).

Further investigation showed that Bethlehem had been named as the place: “from you shall came a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6, quoting Micah 5:2). And Herod ordered the killing of all the boys two years-old and under because he did not want to give up being king.

In the collection of accounts of the life and message of Jesus that are the four Gospels, the first burden of the good news as written by Matthew is to establish that Jesus is the promised King.

“Matthew’s design is to present Jesus as the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah. Through a carefully selected series of Old Testament quotations, Matthew documents Jesus Christ’s claim to be Messiah. His genealogy, baptism, messages, and miracles all point to the same inescapable conclusion: Christ is King.” (Wilkinson and Boa, Talk thru the Bible)

The Jews had been waiting for the king to come. This is what, or who, did NOT come after their return from Babylon. It was another 14 generations of anticipating the king's advent (Matthew 1:17). They expected a king because the Lord didn't just hint, the Lord covenanted.

The Davidic covenant can be found in 2 Samuel 7 (and 1 Chronicles 17). David had been made king, he wanted to build a permanent ”house" for the worship of the Lord rather than the tent, and the Lord sent Nathan with a different word.

Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” (2 Samuel 7:8–16 ESV)

Like Abram, the Lord will make David's name great (verse 9). As to Abram, the Lord will appoint a place and plant His people Israel so that they may dwell in that land (verse 10). So also David would have offspring, and one of his sons would take over the throne, and also build a house (verses 11-15). But even after that son, there would be a royal dynasty. "Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever" (16).

Consider the parts: a house, a throne, a kingdom, a descendant, and all are on earth and eternal. These are not types or shadows. They are not physical things representing spiritual things. They are also not conditional. Solomon would be disciplined, but the promise not canceled. This is what the angel Gabriel told Mary, betrothed “to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David” (Luke 1:27):

“[your son] will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:32-33)

This is the Davidic Covenant: the promise of the Lord to David that his seed and throne and kingdom would endure forever.

Herod wasn't threatened because a kid was born who was going to die, he was threatened by a kid who was destined to rule. The magi asked, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). And this is the charge hung over Jesus on the cross, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37).

Having died, and risen from the dead, King Jesus happens to have all authority in heaven and on earth given to Him (Matthew 28:18). For the time being He wants us here in the world to witness to Him until He returns. He's given us a message, and He's given us minas (Luke 19:11-27). Speak and steward and He will reward us when He returns.

It's easier to manage Jesus in the manger than it is to imagine Jesus on the throne. There is no reason to be surprised when holiday conversations get testy when Jesus comes up. Hard hearts are Herod hearts; we don't want anyone to kick us out of the throne of our own lives. We think we can bring about Peace, Peace, when there is no talk of politics. It is exactly the opposite: only when we submit to the true and everlasting King will we know peace.

Of course people quote Jesus when He said that His kingdom is not of this world. But just as disciples are not of the world but in it, so the King's kingdom is not of the world (John 18:36) but for it. In His second advent His kingdom will be established on earth.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:31–32 ESV)

The King will return. And He will establish peace and justice on earth. He will reign in righteousness from His throne in Jerusalem, and the kings of the nations will bow before Him and bring Him tribute.

The good news is about the birth of a Savior, who is also the King of kings. The peace He brings is in our hearts, and, at the right time, also will be on earth as it is in heaven.

he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength

there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15 ESV)

It is ironic that so many who push most for a Christocentric interpretation spiritualize away Christ's earthly throne. But He was born IN THE FLESH, why would He not sit in David’s throne IN THE FLESH? At His Second Coming He will establish peace on earth without end.

Hark! the herald angels sing, "glory to the newborn King!"

Jesus, who is our peace, who established peace between men and God by His blood, taught that men are blessed when they make peace. Some of our witness as Christians is provoking because the darkness hates the light. But when possible, in this world of trouble, be a peace maker.

The LORD bless you and keep you;

What is the most important word in the Bible, other than God or one of His names or titles? The word describes something that comes from God; it's no good if it doesn't come from Him. It's the first thing He gave to Adam and Eve after giving them life and likeness to Himself. It's God's purpose; He's made promises to bring it about, across the globe and throughout generations unto eternity. It is the theme of the first main heading in Jesus' famous sermon. It is what Jesus secured in His death and resurrection. It is found painted on random pieces of wood at Hobby Lobby.

Salvation is a good word, as is forgiveness, along with adoption, fellowship, eternal-life (hyphenated to be one). Gospel, cross, even faith, are honorable mentions. Love is raising its hand in the back trying to get our attention. And if you're paying attention to what this series of advent messages is about you might guess the word would be covenant, or Christmas, but Christmas isn't in the Bible, and covenant, while a good word, doesn't necessarily mean it's a biblical covenant.

The best Bible word is blessing. "God blessed them" (Genesis 1:28). "Blessed are the [eight]" groups (Matthew 5). “Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people!” (Psalm 3:8) Blessing is an umbrella category covering all the good gifts from God.

Jesus was born to be the Mediator of blessings. "He comes to make His blessings flow / Far as the curse is found" (Isaac Watts, "Joy to the World"). These blessings include redemption, amen! We summarize the story arc: Creation - Fall - Redemption, and okay. But God's blessings are redeeming unto more. We could tell the story: Creation full of and for blessings to men - Fall in the form of men believing that God was holding back some blessings - Redemption unto the receiving and multiplying of true blessings. "Blessings abound where'er He reigns" (another Isaac Watts, "Jesus Shall Reign").

We need to slow down, because all this excitement is going to make us think it's Christmas already, and we've got almost three weeks to go. And this Not Yet is actually a critical piece for our understanding advent.

God is, and so reveals Himself to be, the God of blessings. But, God wants us not only to know that every good and perfect gift comes down from Him as our Father, He wants us to believe Him when He promises that He will bless us…later. God delights in our faith that He will bless us, so He delights to tell us what He's going to do, sometimes long before He actually does it.

He loves to get glory for Himself through word and then fulfilling His word. His is a doxological program, and it involves His revelation of His resolve to elect and bless persons and families and nations in time. And you thought your advent plans were special!

Waiting is built in. Like various gifts we give, it’s not just assembly, but some anticipation required. And this is fine, because what is it that overcomes the world? Our faith. Our faith is in the one who makes blessing His global and everlasting business.

One way to wrap the lights around the tree of this topic—so to speak—is to consider three unconditional covenants that anticipate Christmas. The birth of the Messiah was a divine promise that belongs with a trifecta of promises. I'm referring to the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant. We'll take one a Sunday.

In all three of these covenants God committed Himself to bring ways of favor on His people. In all three of these covenants God took His faithfulness out on parade so that we could see it so that we could depend on it. In all three of these covenants God specified blessings to come, and His Son's first advent began the dispersing of blessings that Christ's second advent will fulfill.

We are about four-thousand years into the first post-Babel blessing project to the nations.

A man named Abram was minding his own pagan business in the ancient city of Ur when God called Abram to another land. Genesis 10 lists a bunch of peoples/families/proto-nations that came about after the judgment of dispersion at the tower of Babel described in Genesis 11. Then at the start of Genesis 12, God promises to make and bless a new nation and to make a way for the blessing of all the other nations.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1–3 ESV)

There are seven particulars to this promise. The Lord commits that 1) Abram would be a great nation, 2) Abram will be blessed, 3) Abram's name will be made great, 4), Abram will be a blessing, 5) Abram's friends will be blessed and his enemies cursed, 6) Abram will be the channel of blessing to all the families of the earth, and 7) Abram and his offspring will get the land shown to him.

There are individual outcomes of this covenant to Abram himself, there are national outcomes for his offspring and land, and there are universal outcomes through him. Four of the seven include the Lord’s act of blessing.

The Lord clarifies the covenant with Abram a couple more times, including in Genesis 15 and 17. Especially in chapter 15, the Lord along walks through the divided animals while Abram is in a sleep, and this emphasizes that the covenant is unconditional.

God bound Himself to bring blessings, physical and spiritual, some immediate and some eternal. In fact, it is an "everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:7) and part of that includes the land of Canaan as an "everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:8).

Abram was elected to receive blessings and then to be a vessel of blessings. These blessings would flow far as the curse is found.

NONE of this happened immediately. Between chapter 12 and chapter 15, a ten year period, Abram had questions. Where's my son? Do I need to reinterpret Your promise as a reference to my servant? The Lord said, "your very own son shall be your heir." And Abram believed (Genesis 15:6). But it took another fifteen year after that before Isaac was born.

Abram also had questions about the land. "O LORD God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" And that is when the Lord did the covenant walk.

And STILL Abram slept with his servant Hagar. And STILL Abram struggled, and waited. And AGAIN the Lord kept giving Word of coming blessings (Genesis 17:1-8). Abram became Abraham, Isaac was born to Sarah, Isaac had to wait but also eventually had a son, Jacob/Israel, and the rest is history…of more waiting.

This is how the New Testament starts!

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1 ESV)

The first gospel by Matthew makes sure we know who Jesus is by giving us Jesus’ genealogy that begins with Abraham. Abraham is mentioned three times, in the heading and the actual list and then again in the summary (Matthew 1:1, 2, 17) leading up to the story of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:18-25).

We shouldn’t forget Abraham’s connection to advent because he also learned to wait on God’s Word and because Jesus’ birth is the ultimate fulfillment of “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The incarnation of the Lord mediates blessings covenanted by the Lord.

In Galatians 3 Paul states that, in one way, Jesus is the fulfillment of God's covenant to Abraham as the one through whom the blessings will come.

in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:14 ESV)

And while pointing out that all who believe are sons of Abraham--and wow, what a privilege to be grafted in to God's covenant of blessing--there are sons by faith among the nations as well as sons of faith among the nation, Israel.

When it comes to how we are justified by God, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, it is by faith in Jesus, not circumcision or Sabbath keeping. But God's blessings aren't limited to only the spiritual blessings, God hasn't turned the land promises into spiritual "land" either.

Jesus mediates the blessings, and Jesus is not done blessing all the families of the earth. Jesus came and blessings abound, AND Jesus is coming again, a second advent, and it will be blessings galore, in Israel and .

By way of advent application:

My wife has been giving advent pajamas to kids for years, and now she includes the grandkids. One of my grandsons who is in the early stages of learning about this waiting season opened his present, wrapped and under the tree, to find pjs, and was greatly disappointed. “Is this Christmas?” Ha! No! Just a little something to get us even more excited for what’s to come.

Think of what spiritual and earthly blessings Jesus has already given through His work the first time He came, and think of what is to come when He comes again. Jesus is fulfilling the Lord’s covenant to bless the nations far as the curse is found.

There is a cycle of receiving blessing, then blessing others, and then receiving more blessing. This is our calling (1 Peter 3:9). See if you can shorten the cycle: Receive, Re-gift, Rejoice.

Bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing!

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:7–8 ESV)

When you look at any given group, how can you identify the adults? It's not just the tall ones, it's the ones taking care of things. In a dysfunctional family a kid might be the functional adult.

We can describe the characteristics of an adult in other ways. The adult senses ownership. The adult takes responsibility. The adult sees what needs to be done and then acts do something about it. The adult makes the sacrifices. The adult dies to bring life to others.

In part 2 of TEC as a Teen we saw that much fruit comes from abiding in Jesus (John 15:5). This would include depending on Him, and letting Jesus’ strength and joy enable and motivate us. But abiding in Jesus would also include imitating Jesus, and make a couple connections with me. After exhorting them to abide in Him, He says that they should love others like He loved them. Then He said that there’s no greater love than laying down your life for others (John 15:13).

And a few chapters before, in what has to be one of the most underrated interactions in the Gospels, Jesus said that the hour for Him to be glorified had come (John 12:23). As He continued talking it’s clear that He meant that it was time to die (John 12:32). In between He illustrated, a grain of wheat must die if it will bear much fruit (12:24).

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:23–24 ESV)

Paul picked up on this in 2 Corinthians 4. His ministry was carrying around the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus would be manifested (2 Corinthians 4:10-11). Summarized: So death is at work in us, but life in you (2 Corinthians 4:12).

Christian adulting is sacrificing. Ministering (as pastors equip the saints to do for sake of building up the body) is dying. Fruit comes from giving yourself for the good of others.

As a church we are growing up in maturity. We are at a critical stage of development, with some parallels to a fifteen year old, learning to see and then to act. It's more than reacting, it's see-acting. It's not being a spectator, but a spectactor. Mature men don't need their hand held to cross the street. Mature men don't need to be told that the garbage is full. Mature men build the house and pay the bills. Mature men know when to gather the bullets and when to enter the battle.

Maturity is fruitfulness. Much fruit comes as we abide in the vine, much fruit comes as the man-seed dies.

How then should we die? Without specific application we’re just dying in our heads, and that is not the same. A lot of the thumb’s-width living for Christian maturity and community is as simple as, and as easy as, dying. That’s it. You just have to hate your life in this world (in one way) to keep it for eternal life (John 12:25).

When we look for specific application, we do need basic application. People who want to lose weight should eat less and move more. After a while, if they are truly doing it and still not moving the needle, then they can seek more refined approaches. Most do not do, or not for long, the basics.

Paul prayed for the Colossians:

we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him (Colossians 1:9–10 ESV)

And in the last chapter he mentions the prayer of the guy who probably started the church in Colossae:

[Epaphras is] always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. (Colossians 4:12 ESV)

If we want the thick roots of Christian community, with maturing, Christ-like, loving-others-by-dying adults, we’ve got to keep majoring on the following five parts of God’s will.

Maybe this seems like a Duh Principle for Christians, but this is the reason Paul wrote “to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae.” In the church they were being taught, or tricked, that Jesus was not quite as great or as sufficient. The critical part of the letter explains that Jesus is God’s beloved Son who created and rules and redeems “that in everything He might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18)).

See Colossians 1:15-23.

No compartments, no hidden closets, no neutral places. The most basic death is to yourself, to your centrality as the main character and to your comfort. Your delight must be in the Lord. You must keep learning and expanding and reordering until your cares match His cares.

It would not be bad to read In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Really: what would Jesus do? Are you tracing over the example He called you to (1 Peter 2:21), or making your own path?

God invented flesh, from skeleton out to skin. He gave it to Adam. His own Son took it up. For that matter, God invented matter, dirt, earth. But when Adam sinned, something happened to him and to all his sons, and we can’t fix fleshly sins by fleshly means.

There is always the temptation for men to fix sin problems with rules. What is in our heart always comes out, but we can’t get to the heart only by what’s out. We must die to appearances of wisdom that don’t have the power of godliness.

See Colossians 2:20-23 and 3:1-4.

We must learn that our values are transcendent; we seek the things that are above. That does not mean we don’t belong on earth, but that we can’t define what’s good here only by what we see, touch, or taste.

We must, every day, kill (by grace) lusts of all kinds. We must mortify desires to have what does not belong to us, whether that’s some other woman or wealth we don’t have to work for. Living as consumed with wanting what’s across the fence is the way of the world. This is the brand of clothes they wear.

Especially, don’t lie. We can’t build up the body speaking lies in love. There’s no such thing.

See Colossians 3:5-11 and 12-17.

And then, we pick up and put on kindness and patience and forgiveness and love and peace and thankfulness. We don’t just enjoy harmony on occasion when everyone hits their note, we keep on putting on the Christlike clothes to the benefit of the “one body” we were called to.

A church is made up of many members, and those members have another group they belong to already, the family. This is where we die first, the ones for whom we die first, the ones we are most tempted to be selfish toward. Will wives die to their belief that they know best? Will husbands die to their avoidance? Will children die to their forgetfulness? Will dads die to their irritation?

See Colossians 3:18-4:1.

And then we really must work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. Paul addresses slaves and masters, but there’s application to any vocation. Have a job? Work it in Jesus’ name! Those who are called to employ others must be fair, and consider how the Master in heaven seeks the good of His servants.

See Colossians 4:2-6.

“Our prayer remains the deepest expression of all religious life” (Kuyper, Lectures). If we are not praying, we are leaning on our own understanding. The ESV has, Continue steadfastly in prayer (4:2). Is this how we are known, or are we better at being all caught up with the latest news?

And whether or not we get things done, we must be redeeming the time, making the best use of the time (4:6). We don’t waste the days we’re given, and we look for how to best flavor our conversations with grace and salt.

A community is a group of image-bearers who have responsibilities to each other. The Latin roots of the word community include the prefix com- (meaning “together” or “with”) and -munis (related to duties or obligations). So etymologically, community conveys the idea of people united not only by shared attributes but also by shared duties. We are tied together by responsibilities. In a community, people know their people, and so they know who they die for first.

One great challenge of our day is rootlessness. It's a vivid image, and maybe not far off from chaff that the wind drives away (Psalm 1:4). There is little to no expectation of intergenerational relationships outside of holidays, and a squandering of compounding cultural fruit, including assets such as education and finances and even worship. There are hardly any shared projects; we might all still be speaking the same language if the Babel Tower committee just wanted to build for the name of the Lord instead of for themselves. When you do something genuinely good/profitable for you, it will be genuinely good/beneficial for your neighbor. This is Christian economics.

Many of us get to decide the destination for our roots. Our family has had a few major decision times about where to plant ourselves, but there's a daily sense as well. You are our people. You are the people we want to be rooted with. You are the ones we love, and so the ones we joyfully die for. You are the ones we want to be actually buried by when it’s time. This is our place. We can make it more lovely together as we sacrifice. We make a destination for other friends and family who have had enough of feeling rootless.

Romans 12:11 says, “outdo one another in showing honor.” That requires love and sacrifice. Outdo one another in dying.

This is the way of a mature flock. This is the only way to a healthy body and a full harvest of fruitfulness. This is the way of readiness to reproduce. This is the way unto deep roots. This is fruit to die for.

Be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him. Look for ways to die for your people, and pray that the Lord would bless your deaths for sake of their life.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:11–12 ESV)

Automated transcript of the sermon audio, generated with OpenAI Whisper (small.en). It has not been checked against the recording and may contain errors, especially in names and Scripture references.

But here we are Week by week we get to do this. It is a gift We get to gather in the name of Jesus Christ and behold him on purpose together Sundays are a gift and our worship is effectual. It is doing something by God's design and Sure, the minister matters, but he's a facilitator in the work that we are doing together together. The enemies of God hate us as well. And our worship actually is warfare. We take up the battering ram of worship today and take yet another swing at the gates of the citadels of unbelief. Doing so, we remember that our help is in the name of the Lord. We make that in earth. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon His name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him. Tell of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually.

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments that he has uttered. O offspring of Israel, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. Let's pray together. Father it is our joy to declare to the cosmos your work. You made the cosmos, all of creation, from nothing by your word. You keep our molecular particles from slamming into one another and you have called us by name. You have redeemed us, undeserving sinners. You suffer the wicked who hates you for a little while before you exercise your just and holy wrath on them.

but we are yours. Our thanksgiving serves as a vehicle to invite more of your blessings on us, as well as inviting them to the feast. May that thanksgiving spring forth in our worship this morning and we pray this in Jesus name, amen. In a few days most of our nation will gather to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, but what will they be giving thanks for? And more importantly, to whom will they be giving thanks? When it comes to thankfulness there are at least three ways to get it wrong. First there is simply not being thankful at all. Failing to recognize how blessed we are or becoming upset because blessings don't come in the shape, size, or color that we prefer is wrong. Being grabby, grumbly and glum are some of the ways an unthankful heart shows itself. A second way to get thankfulness, Ron, is undirected Thanksgiving. For the many who will express gratitude this Thursday in a vague, undefined way, it makes as much sense as bowing down to an empty throne or warming your hands over a a non-existent fire or applauding an empty stage.

Undirected thanks is a failure to render what is owed. The third and worst way to distort thankfulness is by refusing to give thanks to the one from whom all blessings flow. Romans 1, 21 describes those who will not honor God or give him thanks. Jonathan will be drooling into this during his sermon. But this one verse stands at the root of man's sin problem. When our hearts fail to thank God often, they do not remain neutral. They become self-deceived. We begin to treat his gifts as entitlements, his patience as tolerance, and his glory as optional. Thanklessness diminishes our view of God, and it inflates our view of ourselves.

It is a poison that erodes reverence, dependence, humility, and joy. Left unchecked, it invites the wrath of God as he brings judgment upon those who refuse to acknowledge him. So if the Spirit is convicting you of the sin of thanklessness, or if any other sin is keeping you from proper worship, now is the time to confess it. And I invite you now, if you are able and willing, to kneel in humble confession before the Lord as we continue in our corporate, before we continue. Father, we confess that we are not as thankful as we ought to be. We go through most of our day without being mindful that every breath is a gift, every step is sovereignly directed, and every outcome intended for our good.

So much of our daily demeanor is tied to our circumstances instead of you who supplies every good and perfect gift and are the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. We ask your forgiveness for the sins we have not diligently resisted. We do not take the admonition to be holy as you are holy seriously enough. Despite all this, your mercy knows no end, and you graciously forgive us when we confess our sins. We come before you in soul reliance on Jesus Christ's sacrifice, grateful for its power to cleanse us from sin. Let me pray this in Jesus' name. Amen, and you're invited to stand.

And our assurance of forgiveness reminder comes from Psalm 32.5, which says, I acknowledge my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. So having confessed our sins lets us really show our thankfulness then to him as we lift up our voices in song again. Today's scripture reading is Romans 1, 18 through 25. Romans 1, 18 through 25. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in their lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies amongst themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Father according to your Your word, giving thanks to you, keeps us from all sorts of sins of presumption, and of course, thanklessness is itself a sin.

We pray that this morning, as we have opportunity to open your word together, that it would orient us and that it would convict us, and it would also cause us to be appropriately grateful for your graces to us that you evidently have not shown to everybody. So bless our time together. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. What is the point of everything? It's often the case that the Sunday school answer is simplest and usually correct. And that's the case again right now. The point of everything is the glory of God. That is the ultimate telos of the universe. In the Westminster shorter catechism, it's man's chief end to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Everything exists for the glory of God. Creation exhibits his genius. I mean, who would think all of this up? It showcases his handiwork. When he extends mercy to sinners, He displays loving kindness. Wrath unleashed on the ungodly who reject him manifests his perfect and holy justice. The God of Scripture, the infinite holy God of the universe, the uncreated creator, has made man as the pinnacle of his creation, uniquely in his image and likeness. And man exists for the same reason as the angels and the flowers and the pine trees, for the glory of God. Nevertheless, the vast majority of men refuse to glorify him or give him thanks, and by doing so they miss the whole point of existence.

When they fail to honor him as God or give thanks to him, natural men reap the ridiculous consequences of this rejection. It's a bad deal for them. It's a terrible exchange. They actually get nothing out of it except a little bit of the illusion of autonomy. Along the way, they forfeit joy, blessing, and the very satisfying experience of doing what they were made to do. It's bad. Humanity is in a mess of our own making. And our culture is not exempt from this. this. I may be using the first person plural here, but it is as a Christian who is part of a culture that hates God. Christians cannot take part in this debauchery. We cannot be the characters of Romans 1, and yet we are living in a culture that very much does.

I mean, is it possible these days and times to belabor Romans 1? Yes and no. I don't know that it needs meditation or clarification in order to convince anybody that we're seeing it every day among us right now. And while we destroy ourselves as a culture, we destroy ourselves while we do that, we actually flatter ourselves that it's getting better. Progress, people. We are on the right side of history. Culturally, we know neither the word of God nor history. These are our problems. Culturally, we must repent of them culturally. Aside from dramatic divine intervention, say a flood, the only way for our current cultural predicament to escape is through repentance that results in Thanksgiving. And I don't just think this, I know this because of this passage. And just like the man who wears inverting goggles long enough, his mind begins to convince him that he's seen the world rightly when he is not. Since the late 19th century, scientists have experimented with inversion goggles. Some of us who were at a special presentation

on Thursday here at the school saw one of these examples, one of these experiments that was conducted in the 60s, but it's been happening since the late 19th century. And what happens, you're probably aware that your brain actually inverts the image that comes through your eyes and then writes it so that you're able to see the world correctly. And the reverse is also true. If you put on inversion goggles initially, you will see the world upside down. But after a matter of days that are uncomfortable, you don't just learn to navigate, you actually see the world right side up. Now that is an experiment to testify to the elasticity of the marvelous human brain.

Of course, the ingenuity of God is remarkable, and secularists even should look at that and marvel at creation. But it also serves as a helpful illustration for something else, an illustration of a spiritual nature. And just like the man who wears goggles long enough begins to see the world a certain way while convinced that he is not, likewise, a man wearing those goggles cannot see the world rightly, even though he may be fully functional and absolutely convinced that what he sees is accurate, and that is where we are spiritually as a culture. And if the man were born wearing those goggles, it would be of little use to try to convince him that he's wearing them, to try to convince him that he is not seeing the world rightly.

It's all he's ever known, and he's fully functional, and he thinks he's just fine.

Natural men are wearing spiritual and virgin goggles, completely convinced that they're rightly oriented, evidencing all the while that God has given them over to the full consequence of the refusal to honor him as God or give thanks to him. This is all full of ironies. I told you it was a bad exchange. It's a bad deal for the natural man. Men choose to worship the creation rather than the Creator. Men consider themselves to be wise, but they were actually shown to be fools. Perhaps most ironically, is that their insistence is on the refusal to glorify God and what did they do along the way? They become a vehicle for his glory, nevertheless. They end up bringing him glory regardless, but rather than being vessels of mercy, men who refuse honor God become vessels of wrath fit for destruction. Paul speaks about that eight chapters later. To be sure, man's natural state is a bad one and culturally it is ours. And Paul catalogs his problems in it from chapter one of Romans verses 22 all the way through 32. It's bad, but what has gotten

man to this point? It happened pretty quick, but in a word, pride. Pride is no little white lie. I'm not talking about dignity, I'm talking about arrogance. ascribing to yourself what ought to be ascribed to God. Pride is the primal sin that gives way to all other categories of sins and ultimately the abandoning wrath of God. This is bad news, but in His kindness God doesn't leave us there. My particular focus this morning is Romans 1 21. The whole passage must be read in order to understand verse 21. It is another discussion of context in Romans chapter 1 that was illuminating for Martin Luther. Understanding verse 21 can only happen if you consider it where it is, but like a Puritan I'm going to take one verse and try to expound on it though we will be touching on others. And so Dave did read the whole context for us and there's even more after that.

But this letter from Paul to the Romans, the Christians at Rome in the first century, helps us to better understand where we are and how we got here. It, I think, addresses for us three questions, namely these. Where are we? How do we get here and how do we get out? So we're gonna talk some about each of those.

Where are we? Culturally, where are we? That's number one. Well, never before has Romans chapter 1 verses 18 through 32 so accurately described our culture as it does right now. And the way things are going we'll be saying the same thing next year at this time as well. Every single part of this passage has some sort of resemblance to our culture today in micro or macro. And I'll return to the first half of verse 21 in a little while, but the second half of verse 21 and all of verse 22 say this, they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened, claiming to be wise they became fools. Futility is the ridiculous theme of the day and it is a motif in this passage, a motif is something that keeps popping up, a literary element. Through this passage there are echoes of futility everywhere.

The word that is here, render feudal, is rendered vain in several other translations and foolish in other translations. Feudal is then a good rendering. Feudal is pretty easy to understand, but the definition is this, incapable of producing any useful result. Pointless. There you have it. That is the right word to describe how well-ordered our cultural lives have become, or not. It seems that everywhere you look, Christianity is regarded as some backwater religion, as some primitive, irrelevant belief system whose adherents need to get with the times or move out of the way. And the people who believe this are blinded by the centuries of gospel fruit that they enjoy.

This is to say, the reasoning of natural men is actually broken. The reasoning of natural men is actually broken. There is no way to make sense of the nonsense that is going on in our world today unless you conclude that their reasoning is broken, their foolish hearts are darkened. They cannot see the world rightly and we must understand that they will only ever gain wisdom through repentance. Now, realizing that the only difference between natural men and Christians is the grace of God, we have something that we have been given. It is not something that we should be arrogant about, and it is something that if we don't boast in the giver of that good thing, we are disobedient.

Our boasting is righteous. Our boasting is God glorifying, and our boasting is not because of us. is boasting in the God who has given us good things. The Christian cannot then be arrogant or patronizing, but must be gracious, compelling, wise, and patient. There is a great temptation for those who have been given new hearts to look down on those who have not, for those who can see clearly to be annoyed with those who cannot, forgetting that they can do no better with darkened hearts and a broken reasoning. That's the best that they can do.

At our school, for instance, when we are reading Marx or Hitler or Darwin, which yes we do, we insist that the students not set up straw men incapable of defending themselves, but rather show respect for the image of God in their opponents. Even though their opponents' spiritual hearts may be darkened, we ask what was so compelling about what Marx was proposing in the Communist Manifesto that it took hold? What was so compelling about it that these people who are no more naturally wiser, foolish than we are naturally thought this is a good idea, that it is still so widely represented in the world today even though So at the hands of communist dictators, tens of millions of people have died.

Their own political leaders have killed them. And still, it's a thing today. So why? Why? What kind of judgment must a people be under for their leaders to embrace a culture of death?

their leaders to embrace an ideology that does not presuppose the fallenness of man. What sort of judgment must the people be under to think that what Hitler is suggesting in Mein Kampf is actually a good idea? The people who thought that was a great idea are no dumber than you are. The difference is the grace of God. And so are we just going to tell them, well you're just blind. Well, even if it is true, that doesn't tell the whole story. And how do we get out of that? Well, we'll get to that in a few moments. What sort of judgment must a people be under to be given over the to the full consequences of a life of sexual liberation or homosexuality? What will get them out? In popular culture, in mainstream media, in academia, and many other public spheres, There is almost no interest in, let alone reference to or submission to, the Bible, to God's Word.

The orienting, directing manual for our lives that has remained unchanged since it was codified nearly two millennia ago is regarded as outdated and, according to some, even dangerous. Even Christian liberals will say, it is fantastic for sake of suggestions. It is not binding. Without then a fixed standard to govern their lives, natural men are unsurprisingly frustrated. They are reduced to trying to figure out a lot of things on their own, and it ain't working. Further, they're doing a terrible job, because they're doing a job they're not supposed to do. For instance, when you self-identify as whatever, how scary is that?

If your identity comes from you, what kind of distorted view of yourself must you have to think you're even capable of that, let alone that you would do a good job? When you self-identify, rather than embracing the identity that comes from God and is bought by Christ, you take on a burden that you cannot bear. When you make up the rules of morality or suggest that morality is fluid, rather than submitting to the unchanging standard of scripture, you jump on a slippery slope with roller skates. Yes, it's gotten silly. In verse 24, we have the first mention of God giving men up to the full fruit of their own desires. There's a trifecta of giving them up. This passage speaks of a self-destructive idolatry that is all too familiar. Therefore God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen.

The language that Paul uses here is typically reserved for sexual sins, which are especially destructive, but it has application across a host of different categories and sins as well. When men give full expression to the lusts of their hearts, the consequences are dire. It's bad. When you give a toddler everything he wants, it's really bad for The same thing is true of grown-ups too, apart from the grace of God. Verses 26 and 27 talk about the unnatural and fruitless sins of homosexuality. Men who exchange the union of husband and wife for man and man are doing something that is profoundly disordered and unnatural.

And it is not blessed by God but the fruit of the womb that is a normal feature of the marriage union. It's gross. But the homosexual community has leaned into this vile practice so enthusiastically that they successfully co-opted the word pride. Think about that. They're proud of it. This is not surprising given Paul's language in verse 27. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Well, these are actually shameful acts, but they're shameless when you have a seared conscience. or when you've been given over to the consequence of your sin. The characters in these verses are like the Jews in Jeremiah's day who had lost the capacity to blush.

They were not ashamed of their iniquity. How could men be so proud to celebrate this unnatural behavior? It's only possible if God has left them alone to reap the consequences of their behavior. And now we have parades. We are proud to have the biggest pride celebration in the country right down in Seattle. We have parades, an absolute celebration of something that God will not bless. Verses 28 through 32 is sort of a catch-all list of additional sins that natural men love. Verse 28 says that God gave them over to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. The modern culture of death is actually insane. It feels like I'm using superlatives, I'm actually just using words in their proper context.

It is futile, it is insane. The casual murder of the unborn is a blight on our culture and God is judging us for it. We become desensitized to death. And if we kill our own offspring for inconvenience in utero, It's at least as outrageous as the killing of people who think differently from us. In my lifetime, our culture has been forced to deal with this a few times. Most recently, Charlie Kirk's assassination. I've listened to enough of his talks to reasonably conclude that he was not actually guilty of white supremacy, homophobia, racism, fascism, or misogyny. All of which he's been accused of. He did speak unapologetically about how the Christian ethic is a formula for human flourishing across cultures and throughout its history.

That is offensive to the characters of Romans 1, 21 to 32, which includes much in our society today. And so he had to be silenced. So the only part that was actually surprising about the way his enemy celebrated his death was how open, proud, brazen, and shameless they were in doing so. Unfortunately, there are too many examples to list, but just citing one. At the November 10th Turning Point event on the campus of UC Berkeley, there are mass a couple hundred protestors outside, many of whom were masked, fitting, but those who weren't masked looked pretty angry, and they chanted a number of things, but among them was this little gem.

When fascists come and cause a wreck, they get a bullet in their neck. My, their parents must be proud. Send your darlings to the premier research university on the west coast and watch them glorifying the murder of someone who loved them and then threatening those who think differently from them with a similar fate. It's not unique. This is not unique in our culture. It is not unique in history. We glory in sin that is destroying us and we glory in death and we are depending on a Christian ethic and a Christian worldview to actually pull it off. Is that not ironic? Only in a highly blessed culture like our own would people as blessed as ours be allowed to chant with impunity death to America as happened at that same protest death to America See the insanity it is the illustration of Romans 1 Romans 1 is no longer illustrating us. We're illustrating it It's happening before our eyes and in our lifetime men honor the creation above the Creator and they call this intelligence.

Men have demanded that we take God out of the public sphere and they call it a separation of church and state, which is not in the Constitution. Men suppress the truth and unrighteousness insisting that God does not exist, though the alternative is ridiculous. Believing in evolution requires more faith than Christianity. Still, they call this denial of God's existence scientific, intellectual, progressive. Men insist on protecting the rights of women to kill their own babies and they dub it health care. Men have replaced wives with husbands and they still want to reproduce. They call this love or marriage equality, weird term, or family planning. Men celebrate the public assassination of a man who loved his opponents enough to point out the folly of their beliefs and their beliefs implications. They call this taking a stand against fascism. Fascism. Don't get me started on that. I want to I want to channel in Ivo Montoya. You use that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Women mock the widow of that same man for her heartbreak

because they have never experienced love. They call this standing against repression of women. Women demand full access to combat roles in the armed forces in the name of equality. If that were not enough, there's a little gem there at the back end of Romans 1 where he describes men as inventors of evil. And as the inventors of evil that we are, we are not satisfied with this terrible list. Instead, we generate new ways to spurn God all the time. And we could go on, but you get the point. You see the patterns?

with the revolutionaries playbook they demand that we don't just tolerate these perversions of nature but we must celebrate them. This we cannot do. These are evidences of God's abandoning wrath. They don't just have the potential to destroy a society. They're evidence that this destruction is underway. This is madness. This is the height of futility. I suppose it could get it can always get worse. But we know from history that the only useful result of this sort of folly is that it can break a people and bring them to repentance. Of course, there is nothing quite as futile as trying to convince a spiritually dead person that he is dead, or trying to convince a man who has been wearing those inversion goggles that he has actually seen the world incorrectly. These people have been given over to the natural consequence of their sin, and that is itself a judgment. Still, this is where we are. And this begs the second question, how did we get here? So again, number two, how did we get here? In a sobering bombshell, Paul explains what happened in the first half

of Romans 1 verse 21. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. In a word, this is pride. Our pride has gotten us here. Is there anything is completely wrong-headed, is refusing to acknowledge the God who made us and who made everything else, the God who keeps our hearts beating, and then try to invent ways to free ourselves of any responsibility or allegiance to Him. God has given us intelligence and volition, and owing to our sinful natures, we have abused His gifts and His graces. When it comes to our culture in particular, there are secondary means to have brought us to where we are.

who say that the United States is not a Christian nation are depending on Christian principles that are embedded in the Constitution every day. This is not to say that every American is a Christian. It is to say that our nation was founded on Christian principles and the biblical morality. If this were not the case, things would look quite different. I'm fond of saying that where grace is present, grace is abused. But where grace is abused, at least grace is present. That's a good thing. The checks and balances system is born out of a right understanding of the human condition. If you direct too much power one direction, corruption is sure to follow.

You may say that our nation is corrupt now. You're not wrong. But as I've already said, it could be worse. You know what we know? History. There is more power at present in the hands of the President of the United States and the Supreme Court and Congress. like all of them, have way more power than the most central government-loving founding fathers could have possibly imagined. But why is this? It's because we love somebody taking care of us. For as long as we've been a nation, we've been happy to let the state do that, and we have given it more and more and more power and control. Right now, today, a battle royale rages in Congress over Obamacare subsidies that many Americans have come to depend upon.

And interestingly, the battle is over whether government-subsidized health insurance should fund abortions. Of course, I mean, the answer is no, even legally. According to the Hyde Amendment, no, that should not be the case. But right now, the Democrats are unwilling to sign off on anything that will not, and the Republicans are unwilling to sign off on anything that will. got to give. And food stamp corruption is rampant, as well as taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants. Public-funded education is regarded as a basic human right today and must be paid for by the taxpayer even if he disagrees with what's being taught.

Why? Because we want the state to take care of us and we won't take care of ourselves. And we've begun to listen to their narrative. It is for your own good that we are doing this because what would happen if parents actually educated their own kids? Like, God help us. That is the narrative that is out there. And we've begun to listen. What's been lost in all of this is that our basic assumptions, don't miss this, regarding healthcare education, they stem from a biblical understanding that image bearers are valuable.

Granted, this is perverted when it comes to distortion, but even then we justify it by saying that it is essential for the health of the mother. If any of you have read the book The Major World, this is not my notes, but there's a powerful passage in there where Vishal Mangalwadi and his wife were in America on a speaking tour and they're from India, And they're driving down the freeway. And one of the most normal things in the world happens. An ambulance with a siren and lights is on the freeway and everybody pulls over. And his wife starts to break down and says, oh, how they love their people. Hmm. Come to think of it, yeah.

The godless people who are pulling over are operating on an assumption that, let's say, it's the law. It's the law. But why is that the law? because humans bear God's image and likeness and preserving their lives is a good thing.

And he said in India, when there's a siren, it means watch out. And the person who's driving, that first response vehicle is at the mercy of the people who are in the way, who may or may not get out of the way. Well, do you see the pattern? For as long as men have been men. God has been gracious to us and ever since Genesis 3 we've been abusing that grace. Today we receive an embarrassment of blessings from the sovereign creator of the universe yet we have the arrogance to say he doesn't exist. We act like our blessings are our own doing. I love the illustration that Jim gave in the confession meditation. We try to warm our hands over a non-existent fire or applaud an empty stage when we give thanks or have an attitude of gratitude to the cosmos, when we stubbornly insist that God does not exist. And maybe the case that modern America is an excellent example and that that is particularly helpful for us, but this indictment on mankind is actually not limited to our borders. It is universal. No man has an excuse for refusing to bow the knee to

his Creator. We've gotten here because we've been blessed in countless ways starting with natural revelation where God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made. So they are without excuse says Paul we have been blessed and still we refuse to honor him as God and give thanks to him we have refused Thanksgiving and that has gotten us into this mess so where do we go from here that is to say how do we get out that is our third question how do we get out in a refusal to honor him as God or give thanks to him, we've gotten where we are, and if that is the case, then honoring him as God and giving thanks to him would absolutely, positively get us out of this as a culture. It's a pretty simple thought experiment to run. If the culture were marked by glorifying God and giving him thanks, it wouldn't look like it does. The key to escaping our current judgment is the reverse of what

got us here in the first place. If pride has gotten us out, only humility will get us out that leads to thanksgiving. Man's pride was evidenced in his refusal to honor him as God or give thanks to him, and that pride then was the soil from which a host of other sins have sprung. Repentance will kill that foliage like a torch to a dandelion in your driveway. But the soil of pride must be replaced with a new soil of humility from which growth from from sorry from which new growth and fruit will emerge. A people who are ready to humble themselves and bow to the Creator to consciously glorify Him as the gracious giver of all things as the loving Father who has also given us a formula for flourishing and blessing, that people will be blessed. While obedient Christians give thanks in all circumstances, putting it on the calendar is a good thing for us. We do that this week. Lest we miss the value of Thanksgiving, I want to finish with three quick benefits of Thanksgiving in light of Romans 1. Now, you can make your own list. You can search the web.

benefits of Thanksgiving enter and it's actually not hard to come up with some pretty good ones but in light of Romans 1 particularly verse 21 I want to suggest three things thanksgiving grows humility thanksgiving grows humility when we give God thanks we acknowledge that our blessings are gifts not wages they're things that he has given freely not things that we have earned it is a kindness that God does not give us what we have earned and we have not earned our blessings we have been given them blessings are graces and grace is unmerited favor so a person cannot rightly give God thanks while being presumptuous it doesn't work if you are fighting pride repent and give thanks if it doesn't work do it again do it some more you cannot keep recognizing your blessings and remain proud. Second, thanksgiving glorifies God. There's some significant overlap with these. When we give God thanks, it is an acknowledgement that he is the giver of the gifts that we enjoy. We have not manufactured our

own blessings. It is true that some of us are blessed in ways that others are not, but every one of us is blessed beyond what he deserves. When we give thanks, we are rightly oriented which enables us to honor God. Today, God gives us blessings that are intended to teach us about himself, and we instead insist that not only did those gifts not come from him, but he doesn't exist in the first place. That angers God. Thanking him glorifies him. At this time of the year, as Jim mentioned as well, people try to remove God from the equation Thanksgiving, which is its own kind of futility. Like whom are you thinking? Even Thanksgiving Day is sometimes called Turkey Day. Don't do that. I mean enjoy your turkey as a gift from the one who made the turkey. It's more about food and football and maybe even family than it is about honoring the God who has given all of those things as gifts. This is silly and sad because those blessings came from somewhere and it was not the universe. It was the God who made the universe.

Third, Thanksgiving invites blessing. When we give God thanks, we invite further blessing from Him. And again, when we run Romans 1 in reverse, what we see are people, marked by humility and gratefulness, and God continues to keep them from destroying themselves. With With the grateful, God stays involved. With the grateful, God stays involved. Conversely, God distances Himself from the ungrateful, and they destroy themselves. The grateful are blessed, and they flourish. And in a very real sense, one benefit of thanksgiving is that it keeps God involved with you. You do not want to be left alone by God. You do not want to be abandoned by God.

You do not want to be left to the consequences of your own decision-making and devices. That is bad. That is a fruit of ingratitude. The first way to convince people who have been abandoned by God that they are in trouble is for God to grab hold of their hearts. That must ultimately happen. What are intermediates? What are ways that He may prepare their hearts for that heart-grabbing that He performs? How does He prepare their hearts? by humbling them with the consequences of their sin. But that's not the only way he convinces natural men that they're seeing the world upside down. He also uses the testimony of blessed saints.

If you would be used by God to transfer the characters of Romans 1, your neighbors, your leaders, from darkness to light, begin with thanksgiving. I'm drawing a straight line here between, you give thanks, You will be blessed, you will be jealousable. You give thanks, you invite the blessing of God, and that gets the attention of people who have those spiritual inversion goggles on. A world that wants what we have can have it if they repent. It is a gift, it is grace, but they must repent to have it, and they can. It is offered freely to all who would believe, to all who will receive it. I've already remarked that where grace is present, grace is abused, I'll share with you another maxim.

Grateful people are more fun to bless. On the micro level, on the macro level. From little toddlers to entire cultures. If you would be blessed by God unto the jealousy of the watching world, give thanks to God, honor him as God, and give thanks to him. Mercifully, the judgment that God has put us under right now, the judgment that is unfolding around us as a natural consequence for our own sin and God giving us over to that, is not the final judgment. It is a judgment that is meant to lead us to repentance. So there remains opportunity yet for our culture to repent. Though he would be just in doing so, he has not destroyed us yet.

If we would ward off his abandoning wrath and invite God's blessing, give thanks merrily and heartily. Make a big deal of it. Don't make a scene of it. But glory and the giver of the good gifts you enjoy. Feast and celebrate the grace of God. Let your tables be adorned with love, as you help others to give thanks as well. May the wine be rich, the potatoes be salty, the turkey be moist, and the whipped cream be deep. And remember in your thanksgiving that you are getting ready to practice the same discipline in heaven. Let's pray together. Father, please give us a right understanding as to the dire consequence of our grumbling.

Whether it is that we didn't get a close enough parking space to the building, or that we don't have as big a house as we would like, or we don't have enough money to make us happy. We know that there are infinite ways for our people who have been blessed to still grumble nevertheless. And we plead with you not to leave us alone. And we know that you won't because we love you, and we do want to give you thanks. We pray that as we do, just that, that it would grab the attention of the watching world around us, that while things are going from bad to worse, we can rejoice in you, the giver of the good things that we enjoy.

And so we recognize that every Sunday we practice this. Worship is a feast. And Thursday will be a special kind of feast. And we just have so many reasons to give you thanks. Please help us to do that well on purpose. and then out of genuinely grateful hearts. And we ask this in Christ's name, amen. At the communion table, we remember what Christ has accomplished for us and we give him thanks. This is the Eucharist, the table of thanksgiving. We partake in the bread and the wine as we remember Christ's broken body and spilled blood.

But what has Christ accomplished? What are we giving him thanks for? Yes, Christ paid the price for our sins and restored us into fellowship with our maker. He is our savior, our propitiation for our sins. He took God's wrath upon himself in our stead and gave us life. He brought us into the house of joy and peace. But what do we do in that house? We don't simply sit on the couch meditating forevermore on how great it is to be there.

In the house of joy and peace that Christ brought us into, we live. We work, we laugh, we cry, we pursue, we wait, we sing, we feast. Our life in God's house is full and overflowing with all sorts of flavors and aromas. And for all of it, we give thanks to our Savior and our Lord. Our thanksgiving to God does not stop at salvation. We don't only say thank you to Him for opening the door for us and bringing us in. We say thank you for every moment that happens forevermore. So, triology does not set the boundary for our thanksgiving because it does not set the boundary for what Jesus has and is redeeming and is and will be ruling over.

Jesus is Lord of all things and is redeeming all things, including the things we find and do here on earth. So our gratitude must not be limited to our thoughts of the mechanics of salvation. When we smell the aroma of baked bread, or pour gravy on our mashed potatoes, or listen to our kids laugh and sing and stampede down the hall. When our business endeavors are not submitting to our efforts, or the chaos of the kids at home is testing our patients. When we're putting a shovel in the soil with some of the dirt stained into the creases of our palms or laying down a weld bead like butter on bread or actually spreading butter on bread. When we groan inwardly in our weakness and our suffering as we wait for the redemption of our bodies or we enjoy the health and energy that God bestows.

If we're rebalancing our company's accounting books to create order out of chaos, or struggling through a math problem with ink stains on the side of our hand. If we're toiling in search for the right words to say, or learning to hold our tongue. When there are clear opportunities in front of us that we push forward to, or when we We plead with God every day and wait on Him to open the door. In and for all of these things we thank the Maker of heaven and earth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. First Timothy 4.4. Gratitude enables our hearts to honor our Maker.

Being created by God is good, and we are not to reject any of it if we receive it with thanksgiving. Receiving God's gift by faith and being thankful for every smile and for every tear is how we honor our Maker, from salvation to all of life, including bread and wine. Saints of Trinity Evangel Church, your charge today is this. Honor God by giving him thanks, not just during your Norman Rockwell holiday moments, not just in your success, not just because things aren't as bad as they could be. Submit to God in whatever moment he has for you today. him in all circumstances and for all things. He has crafted every moment for you. Honor him in all of it and thank him for all of it. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the Eternal Covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

We're going to talk about some fruit we want to pursue as a church in the next five years. Even calling it "fruit" is meant to remind us that this is what we want if the Lord wills. Planning for today and tomorrow without the Lord is arrogance (James 4:11-16). Unless the Lord builds the house we labor in vain (Psalm 127:1-2). And also God has willed for His church to mature; what does more maturity look like for us?

Fruit only comes when the branches abide in the vine. Jesus told His disciples:

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5).

And then:

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:8)

What is this fruit that Jesus refers to? It's at least the fruit of answers to prayers (whatever you ask), the fruit of obedience (any kind), the fruit of joy (overflowing), as well as the fruit of love for others (unto sacrifice). And all of this connects with the fruit of witness (all the way down in verse 27). The fruit is a life of all-inclusive, on display dependence on Jesus.

It is not wrong to see the application of this for individual disciples, but Jesus' concern is with the disciples considered as a group. A single disciple can't be complete in Christ without the "anothers" in the one anothers. "Love one another," mutually obeyed among the many, makes a bigger point.

It's also a reason that the world hates us more (John 15:18).

The order is vital: abide first, fruit follows. There will be no fruit without abiding. Whatever more fruit we're pursuing will not happen apart from abiding in Christ. Jesus loves for us to abide in His love (verse 9), and He wants our fruit to abide (verse 16), not just be a comet quickly fading. Durable fruit comes from dependent branches.

What God has given us at TEC is great, and also, we want to excel still more. There are five "mores" of fruit, individual pieces that also build on each other; there are aspects that are parallel and others that are sequential. Imagine in five years, by God's grace, if we had more of the following.

Being a pastor is not, by itself, a sign of spiritual maturity. But if we want more spiritual maturity from the many we could use more pastors to equip the saints.

Paul commanded Timothy to entrust the truth to faithful men who would be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:1-2). This is part of making disciples and building the body (Ephesians 4:11-16). It thinks not just in terms of extending geographical reach but also generational reach.

When the pastors asked our L2L leaders last summer what they thought were front burner issues for our church, many observed that identifying and equipping more elders (another word for pastors in our understanding) is critical. There is no doubt about it.

Every year TEC goes through an annual affirmation cycle for elders and deacons, in which the entire flock is asked to recommend men they think should be considered for those offices. We have not received any new names for elders given to us over the last couple years, which is fine, but we need to fix it.

For sake of the current work of shepherding and discipling, for sake of recognizing the fact that some of our current elders are getting older, for sake of desiring to scale to serve more members, we plan, Lord willing, to add at least two pastors in the next five years. This does not mean adding paid staff, it means affirming men to help shepherd the flock.

Along with more pastors, we are aiming to make sure that the pastors are "devoting [themselves] to prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). There is no work that is below an elder. And as we've been trying to emphasize at TEC for 15 years, the work of a pastor isn't inherently more precious or automatically more pleasing to God.

That said, as God has blessed us to build some complementary institutions, and while God has blessed us with a property and building to call our own, there are many necessary things to be done that don't always require an elder's hands. This is not special, this is sharing of responsibility.

This need has also been an issue observed by others. The elders have already started the process of defining the principles of what we need to care about, so that elders as elders can focus on the flock not facilities, while enabling others to make progress. We will share more as we nail it down, but we are working on it.

Some movement seems slow because what's done isn't center of sight, some movement is slow because we don't have money, but we, as pastors, don't want to be the bottleneck of other progress.

Part of the reason for better partition is to be able to provide even more teaching and resources for our people. This includes conversations, but it also includes resources that are available and obvious and consumable any time. We will get the Parenting Roundtables going again. There is talk of starting some Marriage Roundtables. We've talked about some ways to package and curate and plug some of the things we've already taught, that are still relevant, but that maybe people don't know are available.

Many of you are hungry for good material; you are consuming a lot of material, some good and some maybe not straight from the pit, but bounced off a couple satellites. The common grace of modern media allows for the distribution of edifying and equipping teaching. It’s not for sake of a brand, but for sake of building the body. Already we’ve got good stuff on marriage and membership, on parenting and Proverbs and prayer, and just a bunch more. Plus we have a number of members, not just pastors, making some good podcast stuff. Let’s fill the city with good teaching (as they were accused of doing in Acts 5:28).

Potency is another word for power. This means we want to see the power of life in the fruit of disciples (and families) and the church overall. We want the opposite of those who have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5).

We want the pastors not just to be responsive to problems, we want every member not just to be concerned with what is wrong, but all pursuing the maturity of Christlikeness.

We think this includes Christians being more (and this on Jealousable Households expands further):

I’ll have some more to say about what this sort of person/household looks like in the next message.

As a church we will pray about and pursue having more presence in the city/community.

This presence would include more service. Let’s invite our campus neighbors to something and show some hospitality. Let’s identify some public service/outreach projects. We’re going to ask the deacons to investigate at least one project in the next year that, as a flock, we could do or join.

Presence would involve more event participation. We will organize another June Life Jubilee and invite other churches to join, earlier and more of a big deal. We are also already investigating the possibility of having a booth or some setup at a city thing, such as during the Strawberry Festival.

We are trying to network with other Christians/churches. In terms of a high overlap of likemindedness, there is a church that meets in Battle Ground, WA, and we had started to coordinate a combined family retreat next summer, but that event won't work out. That said, those kind of connections are important, even for our youth and seeing that what we have is special and also not a cult.

Have you heard the concept of "owned space"? It's visible, tangible properties and businesses. These are NOT TEC-owned, but TEC-people-owned, with encouragement and support from each other. We already have some of this in Marysville, and, why not more? What about a coffee shop, a bookstore, more? Places that are worth getting out of your car for, places where you can get some things you can’t get just ordering from your computer.

For sake of TEC, I am not the only wondering this, but I will wonder out loud for all of us. Should we purchase Totem Middle School as a church and school? It is five times the price of our current property. But it would provide more than five times the space, usable (and move visible) space for events, and of course it would be closer to Comeford Park and city hall and 3rd Street, and Taco Bell.

We would have a whole new set of neighbors to bless, or annoy. It's no good at all without the Lord's blessing. It's no good at all unless we keep confessing our sin and abiding in Christ. But what a place that would be for our fruit to on display.

Not every “more” needs to resonate with you the same way. For that matter, these are just starting points. In ten years, can we be ready to plant another church? These things aren’t just for the elders to figure out, even if we are responsible to plant the flag. Will you pray about what you can do? Will you consider how you can help, and by helping I mean more than telling other people how they’re doing it wrong?

Lord willing, we will keep maturing and have more problems.

The Father is the vinedresser and, just like a gardener would, of course He is glad to see more fruit on the branches. More light. More salt. More reviling. More blessing.

A company shares bread together. A company goes into the battle together. So, as a company of disciples, abide in the vine of Christ, abide in His love, let His words abide in you, ask for His strength, and bear much fruit for the glory of the Father.

[May you be] strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:11–12 ESV)

Trinity Evangel Church is about to turn 15. The mid-teenager analogy turns out to be a useful point of comparison. We are not individually all at the maturity of high school freshmen, and thank God. But when considered all together as an institution, there are some typical teen characteristics that apply.

We just finished the Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther series with the case study of what it looked like to rebuild a city and reform a culture. Even though Marysville will not be the seat of the Messiah's throne when He returns, we are trying to cultivate a certain type of community. When Christ returns, will He find us being fruitful in our work? Will He find us mature?

So after our Old Testament study and before an upcoming Advent series, let's consider some vision for TEC, with today’s sermon as the overall aim and next Sunday looking at the next five years.

When it comes to the mission of TEC, we understand the practice of making disciples and the purpose of making disciples considered both individually and corporately.

Individually, we want to see "every man" complete in Christ. This is what we learn from Colossians 1:28-29.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:28–29 ESV)

Corporately, we want to see the whole body built up in love. This is the emphasis in Ephesians 4:11-16.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV)

There are three overlapping aims that come from these texts.

The Pareto Principle began with an economic observation that (in Italy in 1986) 20% of the population owned 80% of the land. The principle has been applied much further; 20% of the customers make 80% of the complaints; 20% of patients make up 80% of health care costs, and so on. Businesses, and churches too, recognize that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. This is not okay to expect 20% of any person's body to be doing 80% of the body's work.

In Colossians 1:28, note that Paul writes everyone three times. In Ephesians, there is an emphasis also on the saints, on we all, on each part working properly.

TEC is not an audience, we are an assembly. Of course we do not all do the same things, but it's not the most mature teen who expect others to do their work. Increasing capacity is good, and to be developed more. Serving is not surrogacy, meaning that when you see someone else serving that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to do. Serving is part of everyone's sanctification, it belongs with everyone having a spiritual gift “for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). God made it this way.

In education terms, students in the Pert stage often need qualifications, whether or not they hear them. Upper-middle school/lower high school students default to questioning, and arguing. They’re the type who says, “Don’t tell me what to do, but also please pay for all of my food, clothes, and sports fees.” Ha!

I understand that not everyone should be a teacher, as James 3:1 prohibits. And also in another way, Colossians 3:16 says that when we are richly indwelt by the Word that we will be “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.” The ultimate sign of maturity isn’t that a man can lead a Bible study, and also, a mature man knows the Bible and can talk to others about it.

Have you heard of vibe coding? Vibe coding is when you tell an AI app what sort of app or website you want to make and let it make up the details. You don’t know how it works, you have an idea/feeling/vibe and let that lead. But that’s not how revelation works; we receive what God has given, not what we wish it would be. It’s not how we “do” theology.

Yes, there are different levels of need to understand. There are milk and meat levels of understanding the Word (Hebrews 5:12-13). That said, if we argue that solid food is not for the mature but for the nerds, that would be weak sauce.

What happens in the process as a person becomes more complete in Christ? According to Colossians 1:28, it is connected with hearing Jesus proclaimed, receiving the teaching, and grasping the wisdom. Look at part of Paul’s prayer earlier in the chapter:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9–10 ESV)

Or consider from the Ephesians 4 paragraph, how is the body built to be stronger? The body is given pastors and teachers. There is a lot of truth speaking, which requires truth knowing. It is related to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Even the idea of making disciples means that we are making learners, and learners who follow not just who fill in notebooks. We teach and they learn to observe all that Jesus commanded.

A Christian who is more complete in Christ has conviction. The word conviction comes from combining con and vincare, so “with conquered." A judge or jury convicts a criminal when the proof of his guilt conquers his defense. The positive use is a man with conviction who has been overcome by the truth. Your belief lands like a plane.

If we are going to pass the baton of truth to the next generation, then we have to pick it up. Abraham Kuyper talks about the need for defining principles and then living principally.

“anyone entering a house in ordinary times is not thinking about the foundation on which it rests; and so also in Jesus’ church there can be times when people dwell together and labor together, hardly bothering themselves about any principles. But in times like those we are now experiencing, now when in every area the foundations are being undermined, now when everything is pressing down to the depths and people are proceeding restlessly to pry the deepest principles loose, now in these times it would be all too naïve, all too negligent, for people to sidestep the issue of principles any longer.” (Kuyper, Rooted and Grounded)

False teaching had infected the Colossian church. Paul warned the Ephesian church against staying children, and being a child is connected with being tossed by waves because there is no deep ballast of truth. The children are those carried by winds of doctrine without being directed by the rudder of conviction.

Beloved, you know that the propaganda and lies and cunning and crafty scheming was not finished in the first century.

Dualism/Pietism/escapism grows in churches. The poison of Marxist kinds of envy and blaming has been baptized by some Christians as love of neighbor. We have had those among us who have been saved by faith, who have heard the freeing power explained to them in the doctrine of sola fide, yet have turned toward Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy and adding layers back in between themselves and immediate fellowship with God.

Right convictions are not just what you want to be true, right convictions come from being conquered by the truth so as to give yourself for it. Yes, we hold and speak the truth in love, and we hold it fast even to death.

Colossians 1:28 has been bouncing around my mental hopper for years, and yet again, just this past week, another part of it hit me differently.

The aim of this work is for every person to be “complete in Christ.” That's the NASB translation; I like the bite of the consonants. William Tyndale, the KJV, and other English translations use the word "perfect," which is also good. These all emphasize a kind of fullness. Think of your soul, of your person and life, in a spatial way, where Christ occupies more and more of the space. That fits, even in Colossians where there is an emphasis on the fullness of God in Christ Himself, surely connects to the fullness of Christ in us.

The original word is teleios, it's related to the word telos which means end or goal. Teleios is also used in Ephesians 4, so we’re right over the target.

The ESV translates it as mature in Christ. And what does it mean to be mature? The English word has the nuance of being ripe. The seed has gotten to what it was meant for, which includes (at least among fruits that have seeds) having more seed to spread. This is belongs with teleios.

To be mature in Christ, then, includes aspects of fullness and fruitfulness. There is a fulfilling of purpose in fruit. And it is a great temptation for church-going people to want to appear full grown without the work of holding up heavy branches.

Maturity is agency with wisdom. Not just energy or activity, but initiative to figure it out as part of fearing the Lord. It is accountability to the Lord that results in activity. It is faith that follows-through until there is fruit. If there is no fruit, then we dig and dung, per Jesus's parable (Luke 13:6–9).

All of the above resonates with our one-sentence church mission. The elders recently reviewed the statement, and I've spent some time looking back through around a thousand or so sermons to the TEC flock to look for patterns and the main points of emphasis. We have not drifted from the overall mission.

We are laboring in joy to cultivate a Trinitarian community of worshiping, maturing disciples who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all the world.

These kinds of people default to fellowship, even when fellowshipping is costly. These kinds of people are always looking for ways to be fruitful. They don't only do it when it's easy, nor do they define fruitfulness in a way that puts up compartmentalized walls. They want to get stronger, and that strength extends rather than isolates. They are lifelong learners, “they still bear fruit in old age” (Psalm 92:14).

There is a phrase of promise and renewal that the prophet Isaiah gives in Isaiah 37:31, where the people would “again take root downward and bear fruit upward.” What a great aspiration by way of application.

As an almost 15 year old, we do need more teaching, so as to know what to do and why. We need more ambition, which, sometimes in God’s providence, requires better waiting. We do desire more maturity, ripeness, and fruitfulness as a church. When the seed fell on the good soil, they heard the word and accepted it and beared fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold (Mark 4:8, 20). May God give such increase! Next week we’ll consider some of the fruits we’d like to pursue more of in the next five years.

Are you ready to give up some of lesser complaints in order to trade up for bigger problems? Are you ready to give up some of your comfort for sake of your brother’s benefit? Will you pursue maturity in Christ and do your part for the building up of the body?

Do any of you lack wisdom? Ask God who gives generously to all. Do any of you lack fruit? Don’t wait, dig around the roots today and put on the fertilizer for your faith. Pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2 ESV)