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Archives For Bible – Matthew

The Porn War

April 30, 2013 — 8 Comments

I’ve blogged about lust and porn before, but I thought I’d put a few more thoughts down here.

You should think about the porn war like any other war as having both defensive and offensive aspects. Defensive warfare is not a winning tactic, but it is a necessary tactic. And usually, when the Spirit has sacked a man, and he comes to his senses, repents, and wants to get out the prison cell of lust and pornography, the defensive angle has to be emphasized first. You need to get real accountability (pastor, parent, wife, godly roommate), change jobs, stop traveling so much, throw away your computer, put Covenant Eyes on your smart phone, cut off your hand or eye causing you to sin (Mt. 5:28-30). Jesus prescribes amputation, so don’t expect this to be very fun. This should be done right away while the Spirit is still burning within you. After about two weeks, the chances of you wanting to do anything drastic fall dramatically. But you should basically imagine your lust as a wild beast. You need to think about killing the damn thing, and that means you need to be your own worst enemy. Imagine the worst about your self. What are you likely to do in your weakest moment? Then cut that off. Pluck it out. Move out. Quit your job. Throw away your phone. Sounds crazy, but if it doesn’t look crazy, I don’t think you can say you’re actually obeying Jesus.

But the real problem is in your heart, in your mind, in the way you think about women, the way you think about sex and love. So after you slammed all the doors shut, padlocked them, run barbed wire around the tops of the fences, and dumped a bunch of broken glass around every entrance and exit, you need to do some hard thinking and praying about your heart and mind. Here’s a list to get you started:

1. God made women in His own image. Women are people. They are human beings. They are beloved daughters of God. He made them. He loves them. He values them. Do you think of women as God’s daughters? Do you recognize that they all belong to Him? They are His? And they are daughters, mothers, sisters, and friends of other people. They are real people. And this does not cease to be true when they are photographed or filmed. When you see a woman on the cover of a magazine do you remember that God made her? That she has an eternal soul, a story, a family, loves, hopes, dreams? Continue Reading…

In Bible - Matthew, Culture, Justice & Mercy, Manalive, Marriage Bed, Wisdom

Looking for Jesus: Part 2

December 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

[Note: I've broken my sermon into two parts for navigating convenience. This is the first part: Why Should We Read the Bible?, and I've linked to the second post which was the second half of the sermon: The Gospel According to the Wasteland.]

This week we continue our series Looking for Jesus: Learning to Read the Bible & the World Through New Eyes. This week we ask the question: Why Should We Read the Bible? And for our case study, we will look at the themes of exile and barrenness.

How does this fit with Advent?
We said last week that like the saints of the Old Covenant, we are looking for Jesus in at least two senses: We are blind and need to see Him in the Scriptures, and we need to see Him in our world, in our stories. And these two things are connected.

Luke 24 recounts the famous story of the two disciples leaving Jerusalem in sadness and disappointment. They had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah, the One who was to redeem Israel. But when the risen Jesus overtakes them and begins talking to them, they do not recognize Him. As they explain their disappointment and sadness, Jesus calls them fools for being “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,” and Luke says, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Lk. 24:25, 27) The disciples didn’t recognize Jesus right in front of them because they had not recognized Jesus in the Scriptures. They didn’t know the part of the story they were in because they didn’t know the story of Scripture. And left to ourselves, we’re foolish disciples, blind and deaf and can’t see or hear Jesus in the Bible or in our stories, unless Jesus opens our eyes. All of us are looking for Jesus at various points along the road to Emmaus this Advent and Christmas. All of us are in the same predicament as Ezekiel when he was commanded to preach to the dry bones (Ez. 37). Can dry bones live? If God is willing, the Spirit will cause the Word to give life. Continue Reading…

In Advent, Bible, Bible - 2 Timothy, Bible - Lamentations, Bible - Matthew, Christmas, Sermon Outlines, Sola Scriptura, TRC, Wisdom Bible - 2 Timothy

Remaking the World: 24th Sunday in Trinity: Exodus 37-38

November 11, 2012 — 1 Comment

Introduction
As we have noted previously, the construction of the tabernacle is intended to enact the re-creation of the world (e.g. Ex. 25-31). It is to follow the “pattern” which God showed Moses on the mountain (Ex. 25:9, 40, Acts 7:44). That pattern is ultimately the presence of God on the mountain come down to dwell among the people (Ex. 33:7-9, 40:34-38). In other words, the way Moses’ face shone after being in the presence of God on the mountain is a picture of what God wants to do with all of Israel and ultimately the whole world. The pattern of the tabernacle is meant rub off on Israel. But a big part of the story in Exodus is the actual construction of the tabernacle. That work is meant to be a transformative process too.

As the Lord Commanded
Remember that Ex. 25-31 was the record of the initial instructions given by God on the mountain, the seven speeches of the “new creation” of Israel. After the fall at with the golden calf, the following description of the actual work of Bezalel in Ex. 36-39 proves that the “new covenant” is in force and that God’s word does not return void. In the first creation account, “God spoke and it was done.” Likewise, here, God has spoken and now it is being done, “all that the Lord had commanded Moses” (38:22). Another way of looking at this recapitulation of the details of the tabernacle follows the original creation pattern of Gen. 1-2. Just as Gen. 1 is the creation of the world according to God’s spoken word in six days and Gen. 2 follows the creation of man, his situation in the garden, his naming of the animals and finally the creation of the woman, so too these two accounts of the details of the tabernacle accomplish similar goals. In Gen. 2, we see Adam imitating God and following his commands in naming the animals. In Ex. 36:8-39:31 we see Bezalel leading Israel in carrying out the commands of the Lord. Likewise, if the tabernacle is to be seen in feminine terms, the completion of the tabernacle is the creation of a new Eve from the side of Israel, the new Adam-son of God (cf. Ex. 4:22). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Corinthians, Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Matthew, Creation, Culture, Sermon Outlines, TRC, Wisdom

Third Sunday in Easter: Eighth Commandment II: Ex. 16:1-18, 2 Cor. 8:1-15, Mt. 25:14-30

April 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

Introduction
We established last week that the Eighth Word not only prohibits taking the gifts and opportunities that God has given others, but it also includes the positive invitation to treasure Christ and His Kingdom more than all things, allowing those priorities to shape our lives. Today, we consider the grace of Christ which is the source of that way of life.

The Text
Paul is in the midst of writing one of the most challenging support letters ever written by any missionary. He has rebuked these people pretty sharply (2 Cor. 7:8-10) and now he has the audacity to be asking for money! He points to the saints of Macedonia as an example: the grace of God enabled them to give a generous gift in the midst of great affliction, freely, even insistently (2 Cor. 1-4). But Paul is careful to note that this was first a complete offering to God and then to the needs of the saints (2 Cor. 8:5). It is for this reason that Paul is sending Titus, to “complete this grace” in the Corinthians, to test the sincerity of their love (2 Cor. 8:8). This “grace” is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though He was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). This root word for “poor/poverty” is used in the Septuagint to translate a broad range of Hebrew words referring to agricultural scarcity (Dt. 8:9), sacrificial generosity (1 Chr. 22:14), sin (Ps. 31:10, 79:8), affliction (Job 30:27, Ps. 44:24), sorrow (Ps. 88:9), death (Ps. 107:10), poverty (Ps. 107:41, Pr. 23:21), and judgment (Lam. 3:1). The point of noting these uses isn’t a strictly lexical one, but rather a helpful list of all the ways in which Christ became poor for us in His incarnation and particularly on the cross. Paul knows that this rich grace of Christ produces abundance in the people who are gripped by it, and he advises the Corinthians to let it rip (2 Cor. 8:10, cf. 8:7). It begins with a willing mind and it takes the shape of whatever gifts God has already given (2 Cor. 8:12). The body of Christ is made up of many members with many different gifts, and their grace is their glory and it’s for the benefit of the whole body, creating an equality within the diversity (2 Cor. 8:13-15). Paul’s aim is not to get people to give by compulsion, under obligation, but to stir up the grace in them to cheerful, sacrificial generosity (2 Cor. 8:24, 9:5-7). That grace may take many forms, but it always has the quality of cheerful sacrifice. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 2 Corinthians, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Matthew, Sermon Outlines

Third Sunday in Lent: Sixth Commandment I: Gen. 3:1-24, Rom. 5:1-21, Matt. 5:17-26

March 20, 2012 — Leave a comment

Introduction
The prohibition of murder is fundamentally connected to our doctrines of life, death, sin, and salvation in Christ. The first Adam’s sin was in effect the first great murder, leading to millions more, but the second Adam was murdered for the salvation and resurrection of millions.

The First Murder
In the beginning God created the world good (Gen. 1:31). He created man in His image and placed him in the garden to tend and keep it, and gave Him every tree of the garden to freely eat (Gen. 2:15-16). But the tree of knowledge of good and evil God prohibited, and He set the death penalty for disobedience to His word (Gen. 2:17). Disobedience is death, turning away from the life-giving words of God who spoke us into life. Adam had shared this law with his wife by the time the serpent showed up in the garden (Gen. 3:3), and after the man and woman ate the fruit and disobeyed, they immediately experienced shame and sought to hide from God (Gen. 3:7-8). In the curses declared on the man and the woman, Adam is also promised death: from dust he was taken (Gen. 2:7) and to dust he will return (Gen. 3:19). And with this one sin comes death/murder into the world (Rom. 5:12). Because life was God’s promised gift to the human race, Adam and Eve effectively committed the first “suicide-murder” in the history of the world and passed this poison to their descendents (Gen. 4:8, 4:23). The generations that follow are interrupted in succession with the announcement of death (e.g. Gen. 5), and this is part of the broader context of the entire earth filling up with violence (Gen. 6:11). Following the flood, Noah is given the clearest, most basic definition of murder: God says that the life is in the blood, and for the lifeblood, God will demand an accounting both from man and beast (Gen. 9:4-5). Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed (Gen. 9:6). This is because man is made in the image of God (Gen. 9:6). Continue Reading…

In Bible - Exodus, Bible - Genesis, Bible - Matthew, Bible - Romans, Grace, Sermon Outlines

First Sunday in Lent: Fifth Commandment: Dt. 6:16-25, Eph. 5:1-11, 6:1-4, Mt. 20:20-28

February 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

Introduction
While we frequently assume that the fifth commandment is particularly for our children, there is no reason to assume that this word was any less directed at the rest of Israel than the others. In fact, if this command does anything, it actually assumes that all of Israel qualifies as children, and therefore the command is for all of Israel. This is still true for us: unless we are first children who honor God as our Father, we cannot hope to teach our children how to honor God or anyone.

The Command
“Honor” literally means “heavy” or “fat,” and it is frequently translated as “glory.” In Leviticus, the word is used repeatedly to refer to the “fat” of the offerings that are always offered on the altar to the Lord. In 1 Samuel, Eli’s house is judged because his sons have become “fat” with the offerings that should have gone on the altar. They have honored themselves rather than God (1 Sam. 2:29-30). In Exodus, the word is used many times to refer to the “hard” heart of Pharaoh, the “hard” plagues that fall on Egypt, and ultimately in the “glory” that the Lord gets when the Egyptian army has sunk down into the Red Sea (Ex. 14:17-18). The word is also used to refer to the “heavy” burdens that the pharaoh laid on the Israelites when he forced them to build his projects (Ex. 5:9), but by the end of Exodus, Israel is being taught how to build Yahweh’s house and lay the “fat/glory” on His altar (Ex. 29:13, 29). In other words, the story of the Exodus is the story of Yahweh’s son, Israel, being freed from a false, tyrannical father and being adopted by his true, loving Father, going from a false, burdensome glory to the true glory of their Father in heaven. In Deuteronomy, the word is used in the restatement of this command (Dt. 5:16) and in the summary of Israel’s covenant with God and their obligation to fear God’s “glorious and fearful” name (Dt. 28:58). The honor of parents and the honor of God is inescapably linked, and the honor of all other authorities in between. This is also true in a general way for all people because they are made in the image of God (1 Pet. 2:17). You can’t say that you are honoring God when you are not honoring those who bear His image all around you, and you can’t truly honor them without first honoring Him. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Deuteronomy, Bible - Ephesians, Bible - Matthew, Sermon Outlines

Good Works as Starting Glory-Fires

February 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

Please note: All the best stuff in here is cheerfully and unabashedly stolen from James Jordan.

Servant Leadership Talk for Knight’s Festival at Logos School

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Mt. 5:14-16)

Introduction
I’ve been asked to speak to you about service, being servants as Christians to and for the world. Jesus says that our good works are part of the light that we are commanded to shine before men. I want to talk to you today about light and fire and how they are related to serving others.

In the Beginning
In the beginning God created the world. Everything He made was good except for the fact that Adam was alone. That was not good. So God made the woman out of the side of Adam, and He brought the woman to help Adam and then it was all good. It is not good for man to be alone, and this is not just a statement about bachelors. This is a principle for humanity in general. Isolation is not good. God made people to live in community, to help each other, to serve each other. God made Adam out of the “adamah” which is the ground, the dirt. God made the woman out of the side of man and called her “ishah” which comes from the word for “fire.” In fact, Adam is also given a new name at the very moment that the woman is created and named. He is named “ish” which is obviously also related to the word “fire.” When the glory flame is cut out of Adam’s side, he is glorified. He is lit on fire. When he marries “ishah,” he receives a new name too. They are called “Adam” together, and the man can be called by that name. But they are called “Ish” and “Ishah” respectively. The help and companionship of the woman glorifies the man. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Exodus, Bible - Genesis, Bible - Matthew, Bible - Romans, Justice & Mercy, Lent, Pentecost, Theology - Ecclesiology, Theology - Pneumatology

As Big as the Creation of the World

August 22, 2011 — Leave a comment

It’s striking that three of the four gospels have opening sentences referring to “the beginning” (Mk. 1:1, Lk. 1:2, Jn. 1:1). Counting Matthew’s “book of the genealogy” (Mt. 1:1) as an explicit referent to Genesis (Gen. 5:1, cf. Gen. 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, etc.), all four gospels begin with creation, insisting or implying to varying degrees that the gospel is as big of a deal as the creation of the world.

The gospel is the re-creation of the world, not a nice “religious” thought.

In bible - John, Bible - Luke, Bible - Mark, Bible - Matthew, Creation

New Covenant Holy War

July 18, 2011 — Leave a comment

Fifth Sunday in Trinity: Ex. 20:1-3: First Word Pt. 2

Introduction
When Moses preaches through the Ten Words in Deuteronomy, he spends a great deal of time on the First Commandment, and he says this means war.

Holy War
The promise to Abraham was to give him the land of Canaan when the iniquity of the Amorites was complete (Gen. 15:12-21), and this promise is explicitly referenced by God when He comes to deliver Israel out of slavery in Egypt (Ex. 3:16-17, 6:6-8). Moses reminds the people of these promises when they are on the verge of entering the land. He says that obedience to the first commandment means conquest (Dt. 7:1ff). Having no other gods means conquering and destroying the pagan nations, making no covenants with them, showing them no mercy (Dt. 7:2). They are not to make marriages with them, giving daughters in marriage to them or allowing sons to date their daughters (Dt. 7:3). The reason for this absolute prohibition is clearly tied to the first commandment: they will turn your children away from following the Lord, to serve other gods (Dt. 7:4). And this tendency has not changed in three thousand years. There is no neutrality: Jesus said that whoever is not with Him is against Him (Mt. 12:30, Lk. 11:23). He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companions of fools will be destroyed (Prov. 13:20 cf. Dt. 4:26, Prov. 28:7, 29:3). As opposed to covenants and marriages, Israel is required to be at war with paganism: destroying altars, cutting down images, burning their carved images (Dt. 7:5). And the reason for this is God’s love for Israel and their unique status as a “special treasure” (Dt. 7:6-8). Obedience to God’s love will result in blessing while disobedience will result in destruction (Dt. 7:9-11). This blessing will be far reaching (Dt. 7:12-15), but they must destroy the nations in the land, take no pity on them, nor serve their gods (Dt. 7:16). They must not fear the nations because the God of the Exodus is with them (Dt. 7:18-21). He will drive out their enemies little by little (Dt. 7:22-24), as long as they remain steadfast in destroying all false gods and hating their abominations (Dt. 7:25-26). Continue Reading…

In Bible - Deuteronomy, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Mark, Bible - Matthew, Bible - Revelation, Evangelism, Family, Justice & Mercy, Sermon Outlines, Worship

We Are Not Here as Tourists

March 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

It’s sometimes easy to think that the Church is a club that meets on Sundays and perhaps once or twice more during the week. We’re all friends so we hang out together and share meals from time to time. It’s sometimes easy to forget that the Church is the invasion of this world by heaven. The Church is the colonization of this planet by its Creator.

We are not here as tourists. We are not here for the great hunting and fishing. We aren’t here for a cultural experience. We are here to teach the nations obedience to King Jesus. We are here to bring the peace and justice of the cross to the world. We are here to teach Republicans and Democrats that their military industrial complex is a holocaust machine and to lay down their arms. We are here to teach the Wallstreet tycoons and middle class yuppies that godmoney will not save them. We are here to teach the pot smoking liberals and sexy American icons that their peace and happiness is illusory and empty. We are here to teach the world to obey the Lord Jesus.

The way of justice, the way of peace, the way of freedom and equality in this world is through the crucifixion and resurrection of a Jewish man two thousand years ago. That is the folly that we preach. And that is the folly that we are called to live in order to show the world what it might look like, what the will of God done on earth as it is in heaven might be.

This means that the Church is politics. The gospel is political. The gospel is a plan for society. It is a civil and international agenda. It imagines and proclaims peace to the warring nations. It hopes for and proclaims mercy and freedom to the oppressed and downtrodden. The Church declares the way of justice through the cross of Jesus.

The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of bylaws for a club that meets on Sundays; the Sermon on the Mount is the blueprints and charter for this world remade. It is the constitution of the Kingdom of God. In the one, true sacrifice of Jesus, sin has been dealt with, the power of death has been undone, and by the gift of the Spirit, all people are called to offer their own bodies as living sacrifices. This is the way of the Kingdom, the politics of Jesus, our rebellion against all of the powers of the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

In Bible - Matthew, Bible - Romans, Culture, Evangelism, Justice and Mercy, Politics