Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

Preacher: Shawn PatersonThe summer season is upon us and for many of you an opportunity for a more relaxed schedule, more recreation, more bonfires and fun family vacations. All very good gifts from God for you to heartily enjoy.But we must remember that summer is not a time to kick back and relax spiritually. There are no spiritual vacations in the Christian life.

Preacher: Douglas WilsonText: 2 Thess. 3:1–18Although the church at Thessalonica was a remarkably healthy church, it could not be said that there were no disorders there. At the conclusion of this second letter, Paul turns to some practical matters concerning their lives together. Right at the center of that is the question of work.

Preacher: Toby SumpterText: Luke 2:40–52If God were to become a man, it would be at turns surprising, offensive, wonderful, and strange. And so it was. We are made in His image, but His goodness and justice and beauty and joy are far beyond what can even imagine, and therefore, He takes the initiative. He is leading us to become what He already is in fullness. Which is why we must follow Him.

Preacher: Douglas WilsonThis last week our church community was shocked by a tragic death, and it is at times like these that we must always remember to turn to God for solace and comfort. But we do not turn to Him as though He were a bystander together with us, grieved and shocked the same way we have been, limited creatures as we are.

One of the common mistakes that Christians make as they think about the Holy Spirit—who was poured out upon the Church at Pentecost—is the mistake of depersonalizing Him. But the Spirit is no impersonal force, like gravity or electricity. The Holy Spirit is an eternal person, and is so personal that He is the one who shapes a collection of individuals into a personal Bride for the Son of Man. This is why we can both extend the great invitation. This is the testimony of Scripture: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).This is why we are able to say, every week, come, and welcome to Jesus Christ.

Preacher: Shawn PatersonThis week, as a church body we find ourselves in a time of corporate mourning, afflicted with the tragic death of a dear brother. And as we are all members of one Body, we certainly feel, even if comparatively so small, a tinge of the pain that is much, much stronger for some of our brothers and sisters.In the midst of this grief, I am reminded of how we as Christians truly are a peculiar people in this world. Our response to suffering and death is similar in some ways, and yet fundamentally foreign to the world’s response. Yes, we weep and we mourn… we are not called to be unfeeling Stoics. But we do these things with a firm, genuine, and powerful hope.What makes Christian mourning different is our relationship with the living God—the One who sovereignly gives and takes away—and the One who is also always working all things for our good. We know that He is not distant, but ever-present. He is not apathetic, but more caring than we can fathom. And we know these things firsthand because we have experienced His saving grace through the sufferings of His Son.It is here, in this gospel, where our hope is found. Our anchor is not in this age, lest we be drowned by these overwhelming waves. Our hope is in God our Savior and the resurrection of the dead, where all who love the Lord will be made whole and dwell in a new land, one that knows not sin nor death.And so Christian, your duty in sorrow and grief is not to stuff your feelings away or just “get it together.” It is to take refuge in Christ, the One who is near the brokenhearted and delicately binds up all wounds.And as a church, your duty in ministering to those who are hurting the most is the same—simply point them to Christ. Bring them to Christ. Show them Christ, by word and deed.This is indeed a time to mourn, but we mourn with Christ by our side, the only One who can wipe away tears *forever.*

Preacher: Douglas WilsonTexts: Matt. 2:11, Rev. 21:24–26, Isa. 49:23The progress of the gospel throughout the world is certainly going to have the effect of making your neighborhood a lot nicer, but that should not be considered as the extent of it. We look forward to the time when every son of Israel is at peace under his own fig tree, but there are also larger geopolitical issues involved. And those issues are directly related to what we are celebrating on this Ascension Sunday.

In Galatians, Paul says that the Jerusalem above is free and is the mother of us all. As we are seeking to receive the staggering growth of our church, we are wanting to do so with real wisdom and grace and honor. In Proverbs it says that the law of our mother is to be like a crown on our heads. This applies to sons and daughters in families, but it also applies to churches and church planting.

Preacher: Douglas WilsonRemember that the Spirit moves throughout the earth, converting and restoring individuals, fashioning them into saints, into believers. As His fruit is manifested in them, one of those fruits is self-control, self-government, or self-mastery. This self-government is the basic building block for establishing non-tyrannical governments in the other spheres that God has established among men. Without self-government, families can become autocratic tribes, with one domineering personality. Without self-government, the church can become a grasping and despotic monster, as happened with the medieval papacy. Without self-government, the civil magistrate can become an overweening and covetous thug, as has happened in our day.It is easy for us to blame these governing entities for filling up the vacuum, but we really ought to find fault with ourselves because we (and our lack of self-control) are the ones who created that vacuum. When the people are slaves to sin, they cannot enjoy the balance of form and freedom that God has ordained for humanity. A family filled up with scheming manipulators will not be at peace with one another. A congregation of porn-users will not see the law of liberty unleashed in their midst. A nation of fornicating potheads will not enjoy civil liberty. As well expect to plant thistles and harvest barley.Summary of the TextsInstead of just one text, I have selected a mash-up of texts. In doing this I am not attempting to pull a fast one, but am rather following the example of the New Testament writers, who frequently present us with a collage of quotations from all over the Old Testament.In that spirit, the New Jerusalem in Revelation, the Isaianic Zion, and Ezekiel’s great Temple, are all one. Comparing them with one another, and seeing what is said of them, we see that they are all symbolic images of the Christian Church, neither more nor less. The Jerusalem above is the mother of us all (Gal. 4:26). When we gather to worship God, as we are doing right now, we are assembled on the heavenly mountain, the heavenly Zion (Heb. 12:18). Come, the angel said to John, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. And who is that Bride? It is the Christian Church (Eph. 5:25). And then he showed him the New Jerusalem, adorned as a bride for her husband (Rev. 21:2). The great Harlot was the old Jerusalem, now divorced and put away. The New Jerusalem is the Holy of Holies, a living shrine of the living God (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Cor. 6:19; Rev. 21:16). So much is basic.My point with these texts is to show you the distinction between this Church and the redeemed nations of men. The boundary between them is porous, but still clear. Ezekiel’s Temple does not grow and fill the earth, but water flows from her until it inundates and heals the earth. The earth does not become the New Jerusalem, but the kings of the earth bring their honor and glory to her, and acknowledge and support her. Kings will be nursing and nurturing fathers to the church, and queens will be nursing mothers (Is. 49:23). They simultaneously support the church and submit to the church. What they don’t do is vaporize. The great Zion of Isaiah does not swallow the world, but the ships of Tarshish sail to her, with all their wealth. There is an ongoing traffic of peace between them.Real HarmonyWhen men are forgiven and set upright again, they find themselves functioning within the framework of three basic governments. The first is the government of the family, following the order that God has established. The husband is the head, his wife is his body and the executive, and together they shepherd their little ones. The family is the Ministry of Health, Education, and Welfare. The second is the civil magistrate, which is the Ministry of Justice. Their task is to make it possible for you to walk across town safely at 2 in the morning. Justice here is defined by the Bible, and not by the hurt feelings of somebody. The church is the Ministry of Grace and Peace, who is the Holy Spirit Himself.Because the word justice is so abused in our day, I need to say something briefly about the civil magistrate’s duty to enforce justice. Injustice is not the violation of someone’s rights, however those rights may be defined. Injustice is the violation of God-given rights. God gave us all the right to a fair trial if we are accused of some crime. And so, if we get an unfair trial, the kind that Jesus got, this is an injustice. But God did not give us the “right” to $15 an hour. For if He did, that means that somebody else has the obligation to pay you that amount. And when the state steps in to enforce that kind of obligation, the result is always tyrannical.The Relationship of the ThreeIn God’s order, not one of the three is permitted to domineer over the others. Each has its assigned task, and each one needs to tend to its own knitting. The church does not declare war, or collect the trash. The family does not administer the sacraments. The state does not review cases of church discipline. And not one of these spheres is dependent on any of the others for its existence. Now in times of crisis, as when Rome was threatened by the Lombards, one government may pick up some of the responsibilities of another. Say there is a failed state, but the church is still present. Or in unusual circumstances, it may be the same way, as when Paul prohibits Christians filing civil suits against one another before unbelieving judges (1 Cor. 6:1-7). Ordinarily, the church ought not to be adjudicating property line disputes, but we should prefer that to the scandal of asking pagans to define justice between two believers.But with that said, there is definitely a hierarchy of honor in this glorious and eschatological fulfillment. And this is what it looks like. The church does not fill up the world, and the church does not make every day into Sunday. But the knowledge of the Lord does fill up the world, as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). How does this work? In our texts, notice the flow in two directions. The living water flows from the church out to all the families and nations of men, and all the families and nations of men flow to the church. But they don’t stream to the church in order to live there. They don’t come into the church to establish permanent residency. They come to eat from the tree of life, and then they go back out again with a benediction, with the peace of Christ upon their heads.So picture it this way. The worship of God is central to all of life, but it does not devour all of life. The sun does not burn everything up, but it does give light to everything. The water does not flood the world, but it does irrigate the entire world. The anchor fastens the ship, the ship does not turn into a gigantic anchor. The cathedral is at the center of the town, but does not “take over” all the activities of the townspeople—their printing, their auto mechanics, their software designing, their lawn mowing. In one sense all of that is none of their business. But at the same time the church instructs the townspeople in the adverbs—how these things are to be done, meaning, honestly, before the Lord, with one eye always on the text, and with a hard work ethic.The church is therefore at the center of the kingdom, but the church and the kingdom are still very different.And Christ is Lord of AllSo the authority of Jesus—the kind of authority that is granted to a sacrificial king—is an authority that mediates the kindness of the Father, and He mediates that kindness with the center fixed and all the edges in play. The church teaches you how to be a father, but does not take over the role of a father. The church instructs the magistrate, but does not rival the magistrate. The church teaches wives to submit to their husbands, and models that submission through dutiful and cheerful submission to the authority of Christ as found in the Scriptures. Reflecting Christ, the church suffuses all of life, the way sunlight fills up the day. It does not displace ordinary life, the way one billiard ball displaces another. Rather, it informs and instructs ordinary life—wherever you are in the town, out in the kingdom, whatever you are doing, whether changing a tire or changing a diaper, you can turn around and look, and from that place you can see the church spire. And whenever you do, whatever you are doing, you are reminded that you are part of the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.

Preacher: Douglas WilsonText: 2 Thess. 2:13–17This is a passage in which we can clearly see the basic Pauline cast of mind. How does the apostle Paul think about the relationship of gospel truth and gospel living? How do the two fit together?SUMMARY OF THE TEXTPaul acknowledges that he has an obligation to be grateful for the Thessalonians (v. 13). They were brothers who were beloved of the Lord, and his gratitude includes the fact that God had chosen them for salvation, using the two instruments of sanctification by the Spirit, and their belief in the truth (v. 13). God called them to that salvation by means of the gospel (v. 14), so that they might come to obtain the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 14). That being the case, they were instructed to stand fast (v. 15). Hold on to the traditions you have received, the apostle says, whether verbally or through an epistle (v. 15). He then wraps up this exhortation with a benediction. May the Lord Jesus and God the Father—who has loved us, and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace (v. 16)—comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work (v. 17).APOSTOLIC TRADITIONThis section of Thessalonians is the one place in the Bible where tradition is mentioned positively. Everywhere else it is negative. Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for setting aside the commands of God for the sake of human traditions (Mark 7:8-9, 13). Paul warns the Colossians to beware of philosophy, vain deceit, traditions of men, and the rudiments of the world (Col. 2:8). Paul states that in the time of his unbelief, he had been “exceedingly zealous” of the traditions of his fathers (Gal. 1:14), which was not a good thing. The apostle Peter reminds his readers that they had been rescued from their vain way of life received by tradition from their fathers (1 Pet. 1:18). Protestant Christians are therefore justified in giving a wary stink eye to any exorbitant claim made on behalf of tradition.But there is one place where tradition is lauded, and it is here in 2 Thessalonians. Fortunately, we are given two important clues about the content of this apostolic tradition. First, in our text, Paul says that “the traditions” were what they had been taught, whether by spoken or by written word. In other words, we should expect the oral traditions, which we do not have, to be very much like the written traditions, which we do have. And second, in the next chapter, Paul gives us a sample, using the word tradition. “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us” (2 Thess. 3:6). So what was that tradition? Work hard. Show up on time. Don’t call in sick when you aren’t. Don’t be a malingerer. In short, the apostolic tradition is not esoteric at all.THE PAULINE CAST OF MINDEarlier I mentioned the Pauline cast of mind. Here it is.When Christians live as Christians should live, this is an occasion for gratitude to be rendered to God. When we live right, we should thank Him. The initiative in salvation lies with God. God is the one who chose you for salvation. And why? Because He wanted to. He chose the slave to sin that He was going to liberate, and His method of liberation was to give the holiness of the Spirit and the faith that enabled us to believe the truth. When we abandon all attempts to hang onto our own glory, surrendering all of it in a God-glorifying gospel, what is the result? He calls us by that gospel, and He calls us up into the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus. When we surrender the glory of man, He invites us up into the glory of God. These things being the case, we should contemplate them, and respond in an appropriate way. What is that? First, stand fast in the truth of what we are saying. Second, hold to the apostolic tradition, which is that you should get a job. Here is the gospel, so stand up straight in it. When you stand up straight in the gospel, the Father and the Son, who called you to that gospel in the first place, will preserve you there. God will do this because He loves you. He has given you an everlasting consolation. He has given you good hope through grace. He will comfort your hearts. And then what will He do regarding the rest of your life? He will establish you in every good word and work.WHAT THIS ESTABLISHED WORK ACTUALLY ISThere is consolation here, indeed. There is hope and there is comfort. The grace of God is abundantly present. But we must take care not to import our own “traditions” into this picture. God’s comfort is not a Big-Rock-Candy-Mountain kind of comfort.Notice that God does not promise to float you like a feather on a zephyr up to Heaven. It is not that kind of a good time.He establishes us in every good word and work, and work is what? It is work. The fact that there is the promised glory of a golden harvest does not erase the fact that there are months of work out in another kind of golden reality, the heat of the summer sun.This is the way of Christ. It is the apostolic tradition. Salvation is all of grace, which is why we work so hard.