Trinity Fellowship

"But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, "Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." - Hebrews 10:32-39

Baptism is a symbol. It isn't magic. It's not superstitious. But it is real. It is a potent sign and seal in which God truly ministers to us. In baptism, we have a physical reminder of God's promises that death is followed by resurrection, that repentance is completed with faith, and that the old man is replaced by the new man. In our baptism, we aren't so much giving something to God as we are receiving something from Him. He seals us as we enter His kingdom and gives us His name as we are adopted into His family. Our baptism reminds us of God's promise to save to the uttermost all who put their faith in Him; He will make sure we get all the way home. As we leave the assembly of God's people this morning, we are also reminded of our task of evangelism, knowing that these promises are not just for us, but for our children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord calls to Himself.

We have found ourselves in a time where the consequences of ideas are reaching their logical conclusions. The God-forsaken unbelieving philosophies of the 1920s, 1940s, and 1960s are no longer constrained by outwardly Christian customs. This means our age is lost. Unbelieving ideas are attempting to create a chaotic hellscape on earth. Our age is looking for a compelling story to explain history and fill it with meaning. There are thousands of idolatrous stories, and one true one. We have a God-Man who came to overcome and redeem. He came to repair the ruins, to restore paradise, to remarry heaven and earth, God and creation, and to put His conquering foot on the neck of every last enemy. At this point in history He is carrying this work on through the building of the Christian church. This truth gives us a mission and orients us towards a target. Christ enchants history with the mission of the church to storm the gates of hell and win. While others try in vain to re-enchant the meaninglessness with old pagan myths, Chesterton reminds us that when "Neo-pagans…set out to do everything the old pagans did, the final thing the old pagans did was to be Christened."

Christ's warning of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees gives us a clear picture of the dangers of false teaching. Like leaven that permeates and transforms a loaf, so too false doctrine can infiltrate and destroy the faith of those who lose their focus on Christ and his Word. The religious leaders in Jesus' day had done just that, allowing their own ideas and fleshly desires to blind them to the true meaning of the Scriptures. There was good news coming! Yet their hard hearts blinded their eyes to it. In contrast to the Pharisees and Sadducees whose focus was selfish recognition and the applause of men, followers of Jesus are to guard against the ditches of both liberalism and legalism. The charge is this: to be focused on the truth by regular and faithful study in the Word. Recognize that it tells a story about God and his work for our salvation and His glory. Beware of those who twist the truth to their own destruction, for their leaven will creep in only to corrupt destroy. Finally, realize that God is making those who are his into a new loaf. Therefore, put the old ways of sin behind you as you are sanctified by the Spirit and take hold of the new life Christ offers.

Every detail of Christ's activity, miracles, and teaching are interwoven so as to tell one big story. The story of the old covenant terminates into Christ, and this is the story that the Pharisees and Sadducees are unable to see, no matter how close it gets to them. The Pharisees were so consumed with reading sentences that they missed the plot. The Sadducees were so consumed with neglecting sentences that they missed the plot. But our God is a story telling God, and so our charge as His people is to learn how stories work. God, in Christ is rebuilding humanity. Christ is the new faithful Adam and the new faithful Israel. The only way to enjoy fellowship with God is through union with Christ. All those who are united to Christ, whether Jew or gentile, are rightful sons and daughters of God, invited to sit at His table to be fed by Him forever. So get in the Word and stay in the Word; learn how to read the story. Learn how to read the time. Christ is enough. He has spoken the final Word. As we sit and are fed at His Father's table, we ought to remember that we got there the same way as everyone else. As we grow in this understanding, we will also grow in grace, patience, humility, and understanding with our brothers and sisters who are seated beside us.