Trinity Fellowship

C.S. Lewis has noted, in agreement with today's text, that "Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst. Of all created beings the wickedest is one who originally stood in the immediate presence of God. There seems no way out of this." The scribes and Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses, but neither understand nor love the law that God gave through him. They are blind guides, clenching tightly to the outward forms but despising the substance to which they point. The long line of servants have offered the choice of life or death; blessing or cursing (cf. Deuteronomy 28; Psalm 1; Proverbs 9). Lastly, the Vineyard Owner's Son has come, first to offer blessing and beatitude, but now with the final summons, pay homage or perish.

Study in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith

Mountain top sermons bookend the preaching ministry of Christ. Like Moses before Him, Jesus offers the way of blessing and the way of cursing; beatitudes and woes. The negative and parasitic nature of sin is set alongside the positive and life-giving nature of righteousness. In the case of the scribes and the Pharisees, time had run out. The Father sent His last messenger, His own Son, and He was murdered by these wicked tenants, just like the long line of messengers before Him. The murder of Jesus is the final event which seals the fate of these religious leaders as God catastrophically destroys them, their city, and their Temple, signaling the passing away of the old covenant world after it has given birth to the new covenant world. The heirs of God's kingdom are now marked by faith and not by ethnicity or geopolitics, and so the promise of blessing and cursing; of righteousness and wickedness remains important. Which path will you take?

God gave His law to water the garden of Israel. The Pharisees turned this law into a blunt instrument with which to beat people, into a whip with which to scourge them, and into poison which turned the garden into a waterless desert. Moses came to bring Sabbath, to break the yoke of burden, and to let the slaves go free. Jesus likewise has come to the weary and heavy laden to offer rest, while the Pharisees and scribes act as second-rate Pharaohs, forcing the people to make bricks without straw. Because Jesus' life is a re-enactment of Israel's history, it begins in exodus and ends with exile and woe. Prophets curse a people when they have broken covenant and refuse to respond to the preaching of repentance. Jesus is bringing woe on Jerusalem and her leaders, and in so doing is offering to free those under their burden. Will you follow the proud into certain woe? Or the humble into certain blessing?

Study in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith

Study in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith

For true worship to happen, two things are required; revelation and response. God in his goodness has given everyone the gift of general revelation. The way we see order, beauty, and consistency in the world points to an intelligent and omnipotent Creator whose sovereign hand is orchestrating even the smallest details. Thus, all creation declares his glory and is constantly pointing towards its Maker. Though creation has the ability to inform a person, it is incapable of transformation. Thankfully, God has given us a special revelation by the Spirit. A word of truth that brings life to the believer and gives us spiritual sight. The Scriptures revive, convict, edify, and equip the Christian for life in this world. However, the gift of revelation requires a response. There are those who will suppress the truth, blinding their own eyes and covering their ears from the truth as the hardness of their hearts prevents them from believing. But may the believer not be discouraged, but overflow in thanksgiving and worship to the Lord. May we be moved to the same response as the Psalmist, seeking to be renewed by the Word and offer up our lives as a living and acceptable sacrifice in worship to the only One who is worthy.

After several rounds of questioning, Christ now assumes the role of prosecutor. It is time for the Pharisees to dress for action and to give an answer. Their many attacks have been easily answered by Christ, and now He silences them with a single question. Their answer shows that there is a profound difference between being familiar with the content of the Bible and encountering God in the Bible. While the Pharisees are content with surface obedience and surface answers, Christ is zealous to push the wisdom of Scripture into the corners. He has shown from the Psalms that He is the Christ. He is not only the son of David, but also God-the-Son. He is not just a king, but also a prophet and a priest, and as His earthly ministry winds down, He is about to ascend to His throne and be seated while His Word goes out, putting His enemies under His feet. Every knee must bow, and every tongue must confess that He is Lord. May we all do this willingly and find our refuge in Him.

A church building should never function like a retirement home for God's people. It should never be a country club or a member's only community center for people leading comfortable lives. A church building and sanctuary should be a point of heavenly attack in the world, a place where God's people are cleaned and fed and strengthened before flooding out into the world like the fulfillment of Ezekiel's vision. We want to honor God's artistry in the world with the excellence of this building, but far more importantly, we want to honor God with the faithfulness of the worship inside its walls. We do not want this to be a memorial to our past efforts, a tombstone set over the grave of a once faithful generation. No, we want this to be a launching point for more faithful engagement with the world than we could possibly imagine. We want it to serve as a beautiful gate house between heaven and earth, a temple, as it were, of the new covenant, where a river will flow out from beneath the threshold, joining in the flood that will cover the entire world. (Christ Church)