Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

A recovery of a thoroughgoing doctrine of Original Sin is, indeed, of utmost necessity in this hour.From this doctrine God reveals to us that we aren’t rising out of the pond scum and into perfection. Rather, we have fallen from the glorious heights of the good way in which God first made us. Only by Christ, the Perfect Man, can we rise and be restored to goodness. Always remember that the Good News of the gospel is prefaced with the bad news of our fallen condition. Any other starting point is trying to imprison you forever in hell.

Text: Mark 16:13–20.

INTRODUCTIONThis message on Inescapable Fear could just as easily been entitled as Freedom from Fear. And, without any contradiction, it could also be entitled The Christian Grace of Fear. But all this will take some unpacking.THE TEXT “And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12: 4-7; cf. Matt. 10:28-31).SUMMARY OF THE TEXTNotice how Jesus addresses His disciples here—He calls them His friends (v. 4). His next words are instructions to them to not be afraid of those whose maximum power is that of physical death (v. 4). He then turns to the subject of the one that they should fear—the one who has complete, full, and final authority over hell. Christ emphasizes that they should fear Him—He says it three times in one verse. Fear Him (v. 5). God remembers even the sparrows, sold so cheaply in the market (v. 6). This means that the hairs of your head are all numbered (v. 7). Do not fear, therefore, because you are worth more than many sparrows (v. 7).FEAR NOT, FEAR, FEAR NOTHere is the pattern. We are not to fear men. All they can do is kill us. We are to fear God—He is the one who can throw people into hell. But God loves us and cherishes us, and He cares deeply for us. We should therefore not fear the providences of God concerning us. Still less should we fear the pains of hell. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4: 18). We do not fear hell; we defy it. We do not fear hell because we fear the one who can put us there. Because we fear Him, we know that He does not want to do this to us—we are worth more than many sparrows. When He sends His angels, they almost always say, “Fear not.”Now this is why we have spoken about inescapable fear. If we fear man, we do not fear God. If we fear God, we will not fear man. But we will fear someone. The question, therefore, is not whether we will fear, but rather whom we will fear. This is just another form of “not whether, but which.” HEALTHY FEAR One of the central reasons why modern Christians are so timid is because we have not cultivated a healthy fear of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7). This is foundational. And notice how fear of God is described in the New Testament as a glorious and wonderful thing. Forgive me as I belabor the point.“And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word” (Matt 28:8).“And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50).“And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day” (Luke 5:26; 7:16).“Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13).“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Eph 5:21).“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).There are many other passages like this—this is a point that could be multiplied many times over.BRING THIS TOGETHER In our fear of God, we begin to know; fear and great joy mingle in knowledge of the resurrection; fear receives mercy; fear renders awe and glory; walking in fear means walking in comfort; fear advances personal holiness; fear works out salvation; fear enables us in cultivating the spirit of mutual submission and humility; fear animates appropriate worship. Fear of God is therefore a Christian’s glory.PROFOUND AND ALL-PERVASIVE FEARBecause of this profound and all-pervasive fear, we do not fear anything. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7). “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption” (Rom. 8:15). “And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:15).TO PRESS THE POINT This means that if you are troubled with anxieties and fears, then you need to name the problem accurately. The problem is that you do not fear as you ought, and the vacuum has been filled by phantoms. Now I am not talking about normal physiological reactions—shaking when you just escaped from a car wreck, or you have a close call with a grizzly bear.I am talking about the ongoing fears that cripple your Christian life and your relationships with others. What do I mean? I am referring to fear of slippery roads, loss of reputation, the cancer you might get twenty years out, dying young, marital unhappiness in the future, or any other kind of “what about? or “what if?” followed by some unpleasantness that you cooked up. The fear of God liberates. The fear of the creature paralyzes—because to guard effectively against whatever it is, you have to be omnipotent. And you are not.WE MAY BOLDLY SAY…The fear of God is the foundation of all true contentment. All things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). And when we are content, free from grasping and covetousness, what may we then say? God will never ditch us. We are His people.“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5-6).

Text: 1 Samuel 27:1-12

In a moment when I declare to you that your sins are forgiven through Christ, you must not only receive it for any of your individual sins, but you must also receive it for the forgiveness of your husband’s sins, your wife’s sins, your father’s sins, your mother’s sins, your brother, your sister, your grandparents, your employers, your roommate, especially if they have asked for it. And if they haven’t asked for it yet, you are to have that forgiveness in your heart for them, all ready for when they ask. How can you withhold from them what God gives you so feely?

Before turning to an exposition of the text, allow me to remind you of the arena where this text needs to be applied. This is what might be called an occasional sermon. The Canadian Parliament recently passed a law, a law called C4, that in effect outlawed any presentation of the saving gospel of Christ to those in the grip of certain sexual perversions. This legislation was plainly aimed at Christians, but whether it was or not, it just as plainly includes Christians.In response to this move, a number of Canadian pastors have chosen this Sunday to preach on the forbidden topic, in violation of their new law, and in simple obedience to the law of God. For those who need the reminder, the law of God always outranks the legal whims of men.Although the law does not affect us here in the States, the spirit of it most certainly does, and so a number of American pastors are also preaching on this same topic, on the same day, in solidarity with our Canadian brothers. This is not an instance of meddling in someone else’s business, like taking a passing dog by the ears (Prov. 26:17)—twenty states in the U.S. have already banned conversion therapy, about which more in a moment.For reasons that will be made evident shortly, this is an issue that concerns absolutely everyone here. It is even more relevant to your children and grandchildren.

On December 8th, the Canadian government passed Bill C-4 by royal assent, which means that with a little bit of bureaucratic shenanigans, it passed with unanimous consent. Bill C-4 effectively criminalizes Christian preaching, teaching, and counseling that upholds Biblical morality for all sexuality. It specifically prohibits “conversion therapy” and defines that therapy as any practice, treatment, or service that seeks to call individuals to embrace the body God created them with and heterosexuality, with a penalty of up to five years in prison. It also condemned historic, biblical teaching as “myths.” Having gone into effect last week, a number of faithful men have called for the pastors of Canada to preach messages today in defiance of that law, and many American pastors are also joining them to stand in solidarity with them but also to exhort and warn our own American leaders from going down this same path.

One of the ways our worship service is noticeably different from others is found in the fact that our worship services are designed for believers. We do other events periodically that are designed specifically for unbelievers – evangelistic outreaches, debates, etc., but we believe that the primary purpose of Lord’s Day worship is for believers and their families to gather before the Lord to renew covenant. We renew covenant not because the covenant expires or gets old, but we renew covenant because we are the kinds of creatures who grow weary and forget. God does not forget His promises, but we need to be reminded of them.

Our good God has packaged a world that is meant to be unwrapped. It is the glory of God to conceal things but the glory of kings is to search things out (Prov. 25:2).

INTRODUCTIONWe live in troubled times, certainly, and a regular response that rank-and-file Christians have to this difficulty is found in the lament, “But what can we do?” This year, our annual state of the church message is going to set before you a very local response to a very global and international panic, not to mention the totalitarian “solutions” that are being presented to us. And as it happens, the Scriptures we will bring to bear are Scriptures that are equally pertinent to our local and national situations both.This is quite striking, because if we zoom out, we see that things have not been so bad in quite some time. But if we zoom in, looking at our community of believers, things have never been so good. What should we do with this?THE TEXT“Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (1 Peter 4:9).“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14–15)SUMMARY OF THE TEXTSThe three texts might be described as social exhortations. They have to do with our life together, with our social interactions, and they warn about the kind of sin that disrupts such fellowship. Peter tells us to be hospitable to one another, and he tells us to do this without grumbling or complaining (1 Pet. 4:9). The reason for warning us about this is that hospitality gives rise to occasions where you want to grumble or complain. They didn’t invite you back, or they didn’t wipe their feet, or they didn’t say thank you. Hebrews 13 tells us to show hospitality because we never know who it is we are being kind to (Heb. 13:2). The most inauspicious guest might be an angel—and when it isn’t an angel, it turns out to have been Christ (Matt. 25:40). And then in Philippians, we are warned against grumbles and disputes (temptations which, again, occur often in a community where hospitality is practiced).But the reason I selected these three particular exhortations has to do with the larger context. Peter says that we are to be hospitable without grumbling, but what was that larger context? He was preparing his readers for persecution. Their faith was to be tried by fire (1 Pet. 1:7). Christ suffered so that we might follow His example (1 Pet. 2:21). They were going to encounter false accusations (1 Pet. 3:16). All this is the run-up to “be hospitable, and no whining.” In Hebrews, we are told to take strangers in—but again, what is the context? These people had undergone great afflictions (Heb. 10:32), had been reviled (Heb. 10:33), and had had their property confiscated (Heb. 10:34). These are the people who are to take strangers in. In Philippians, it is the same. Be blameless, harmless. No murmuring or disputing. But what had Paul said just a moment before? “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).THE EARLY CHURCH IN ACTSOn the day of Pentecost, three thousand souls were added to the church (Acts 2:41). Later, as the gospel gained strength, there were about five thousand more (Acts 4:4). This process continued, and it started to cause problems. “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration” (Acts 6:1).The apostles responded in two ways. The first is that they refused to abandon prayer and the ministry of the Word—as that was the driving engine (Acts 6:4). But second, they made a judicious set of ordinations, setting aside godly deacons to address the problem (Acts 6:3).All of this was good preparation for what was to come (Acts 8:1).COMMUNITY, HOSPITALITY, FRIENDSBecause of the cultural disarray in many other places, and because God has been so kind to us here, hundreds of people have moved here. Perhaps you have noticed. All the indications are that hundreds more are on the way. What does this mean? First, it means that there will be multiple opportunities to be hospitable without grumbling. Second, it means that it is quite possible that the trouble we see elsewhere is headed our way. We have no guarantees that it won’t happen, and we do have the assurance of these passages that being kind to strangers is a very good way to prepare. What can I do?Most of you here don’t know most of you here. In a room filled with strangers, what can I do? We have to understand that God does great collective things by means of doing countless tiny things. No one raindrop feels responsible for the ocean, but each one is. This is how God works.Koinonia fellowship is a great grace of the Holy Spirit, and we certainly have that blessing here. But do not confuse it with other things. It is not the same thing as friendship, for example. Jesus loved His disciples, and He loved them and protected them all (John 17:12). But He also had Peter, James, and John as friends (Matt. 17:1). And among those three, John was His best friend (John 13:23).CHRIST IS HEREAt the conclusion of this service, Christ invites you to sit down at His table. This is a glorious kindness. One of the things that it teaches us to do is this—when it comes time for us to set our tables, we should be hungry for opportunities to invite Christ to sit down at our tables. But He travels incognito, remember? You may not recognize Him until He takes the loaf from you, says grace, and breaks the bread (Luke 24:30-31). You might not recognize Him even then. You might not realize any of this until the last day.When you come to His house, His identity is known and declared. When He comes to yours, He often comes in the disguise of a nuisance.