Romans 2:25 to 3:31

After Paul shows our sins and hypocrisy then he briefly addresses the topic of religious observance.

Romans 2:25-29
For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Paul foreshadows what we will hear as we move on into the epistle. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant in that the excess of the flesh was removed. The Law is good and righteous and circumcision is to be a matter of the heart and it accomplished “by the Spirit”. Approval of men is fundamental to those who seek to obey the law. Religious observance without heart obedience is not religious observance. True circumcision is a matter of the heart by the Holy Spirit.

The Gospels show the Pharisees in action seeking the approval of men. The Gospel is not about what other men think about what you do but about God who sees what you do and knows why you do it. Clearly the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

So what is the advantage of being raised in the faith? Paul is discussing the place of the Jews and the value of circumcision but you can ask the same things about baptism and growing up in the Church. However, God will use these religious acts as Means of Grace and if some are unfaithful it doesn’t mean that God is unfaithful.

Romans 3:1-4
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

Paul’s line of reasoning begs this question as to what was the advantage then of having God interact so extensively with a people? The faithlessness of the Jews is no commentary on the faithfulness of God. God has been completely faithful to the Jews and to His promises given in prophecy. The deficiency is with mankind as Paul has already shown. We don’t like to admit that we are the problem and here Paul quotes from a man that had the guts to face his sin. This is from Psalm 51 and immediately follows “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— “ David recognizes whose law he has violated.

Romans 3:5-8
But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

The idea that we are by nature sinners stimulates us to look for a reason to think that God owes us a pass because we are only doing what comes naturally. Often those who draw back at the teaching of the Gospel will do so by misstating the Gospel. This is especially common among those who are religious but have drawn back from the clear teachings of Scripture. I’ll try to be very careful to indicate those points that many modern men will misstate as we move on through Romans. However, this is really a spiritual effect. Paul faced this with those who said that he was teaching that people should sin so that God’s grace may abound. A man named Finney who preached from the mid to late 1800s had a terrible impact on the modern church. We see his residual works based evangelicalism in America today. He rejected the atonement. He didn’t think he needed it. The teaching of salvation by Grace alone (Sola Gratia) causes many to stumble. They’d like to bring their works into the picture and some denominations have complex doctrines of merit from the works of men.

Romans 3:9-18
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

And all the people said “Amen” or “Oh My”? Especially since some of our testimonies feature us as the basically righteous but unsatisfied protagonist who is seeking God but really has some skills they want to use for God and then we found God. But we have to say that it didn’t “feel” the way Scripture describes it for most of us. But God tells me it was this way and therefore I am taught of how lost I was. I wasn’t just a little lost.

In classical reformed doctrine this is one of the proof Scriptures for the T in “TULIP” acrostic and the T stands for total depravity. Scripture doesn’t teach that we are as evil as we could be. I think most of us realize that is the case. That is why Paul put his finger on the Roman’s sins (and ours) and poked real hard. We justify ourselves. Total depravity isn’t the same as complete depravity. Many modern authors use the term “radical corruption”. What Paul is getting at is that we don’t seek God. Know we know that when the Holy Spirit moves on us we do seek God but God gets the glory for that and Paul will get to that in a little while. We get no glory for our salvation.

Romans 3:19-20
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

God’s revelation in the law made a specific and detailed exposition of the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God. Our sin nature, like those who don’t have the law, keeps us from fulfilling the law but the law brings a fuller and more explicit statement of our sin. Notice how clear verse 20 is. The law identifies our sin but “by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight”. No one will be justified by the law because the law shows how far we are from our Holy God.

Romans 3:21-24
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

There are some precious exceptions that God gives in scripture and this “But now” is one of them. Notice that the Law and Prophets bear witness to it. We are redeemed by Christ being justified by grace. It is unmerited and it is a gift. It is not deserved. This, in part, illustrates the U in TULIP which is unconditional election. It is a gift and we deserved nothing but judgment.

So after explaining how all of mankind is subject to judgment for their sin, Paul now begins to explain Grace. It is important to Paul and to us that even though the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law it is still explained and foreshadowed in the Law and Prophets. If you’ll remember we recently finished a study of salvation pictured for the individual in the corporate salvation of Israel. Christ is everywhere in the Old Testament. Our righteousness comes by faith in Christ as we believe. There is no distinction between Jew or barbarian. We have all come short of the glory of God and the only justification is by His Grace. Grace is unmerited favor or undeserved blessing that results in our salvation through Christ. We have some words that we simply have to learn. Justification for example; what does justification mean. Paul spent a great deal of chapters 1 and 2 explaining our liability and that we deserve judgment.

So the distinction that Paul labors in an earlier chapter is explained as no distinction since we are all found to be sinners and are all likewise justified by His Grace as a gift. Remember our 5 Solas. We are saved by faith alone (sola fide), by grace alone (sola gratia) by Christ alone (sola Christo). We know this because we establish doctrine by Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) and then by definition we know only God gets glory from our salvation (soli Deo Gloria).

Romans 3:25-26
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

For shock value some folks will say that we are ultimately saved by works. Technically this is true since we are saved by the complete and perfect work of Christ. Christ was put forward as a propitiation or payment by His blood and He kept the law perfectly from heart attitude to action. We receive this pardon by faith and God displays righteousness not because He simply forgot about our sins but because the price was paid. God is just and the justifier of those of use who have faith in Jesus. We need to remember that Grace isn’t cheap and that Christ’s works met the requirements of the law. So His perfect work saves us and we are saved by works. Not our works but His.

Romans 3:27-31
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Sola fide is the means without regard to Jewish or Gentile background. There is only one means of salvation. We really have absolutely no reason to boast since God has saved us from our condition in which we were lost, spiritually dead and, apart from a move of the Holy Spirit on your heart, we did not seek God. Remember the hymn “For He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming Blood.” We need to be amazed by Grace.

Romans 2:6-24

Paul leaves us in verse 5 with knowledge of our hard hearts and an awareness that apart from God we are lost. As we come to verse 6 we should come under conviction with tears in our eyes because of our failure to comply with the righteous demands of a Holy God.

Romans 2:6-8
He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Remember the context here. Paul is developing a world view and later in the epistle will deal with when and how we display patient well-doing as well as what motivates it. At this point Paul is has established that those who reject God have no excuse for rejecting him and that the evil men display is a result of rejecting the knowledge of God. So Paul is gradually building the case that will show that God’s righteous requirements place the world, apart from Christ, under judgment.

Romans 2:9-11
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

So Paul is promising judgment and punishment for sin and indicates that both Jews and Greeks or Gentiles will all be subject to the same judgment and punishment.

Romans 2:12-13
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

This was an important distinction for a fellowship that was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews who heard the law but failed to live up to it are still condemned along with all the Gentiles who never heard it.

Romans 2:14-16
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

So even those who have never heard the Gospel still bear the guilt of violating God’s law because we have the law written on our hearts. Here Paul begins to get at the heart of our problem. God judges the secrets of men. God looks at the heart and heart obedience is what makes doing good problematic. To do a good work I need to do a work God directs, the way He directs, at the time He directs, and with no other thought but for His glory and my obedience. So as a Christian I have a hard time doing that. Some would say I mess it up every time and I’d say sometimes I might get it right as long as I don’t think about it too long and start to think what a lucky guy God is to have me. But consider the case of a non-Christian … Paul has established that they have the law in their heart and as they suppress the knowledge of God they can’t intentionally obey and have no concern for anyone’s glory but their own. They have no chance. Every once in a while you get the question of the salvation of the innocent savage in the jungle. Well of course an innocent savage would go straight to heaven but Scripture teaches that the law in the heart and the heart convicts or drives us to seek excuses for our behavior.

Romans 2:17-20
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

After Paul explains the situation of those who live without the law Paul begins to deal with the Jews who have the Law as a guide and take pride in being guides, lights, instructors, teachers, and holding the embodiment of truth and knowledge in the law.

Romans 2:21-24
you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

The problem with having the law and serving God according to the flesh is that you fail miserably and fail others in the process. We fail to live what we teach. Jesus taught the high standard required for our thought life in these challenges. Covetousness is identified stealing, lust is identified as adultery, and money is shown as an idol that is served. Rather than being a light to the world the Jews failed to accurately representing God to the nations.

Paul is not saying that mankind (either Jew or Gentile) is as wicked as they can be. Paul shows that since we have the law of God on our hearts even the gentiles will set standards of behavior. This is a topic that we’ll address again but remember that Scripture doesn’t teach that we are as wicked as we could be. It may seem to be a small thing to stress but those who oppose sound doctrine will sometimes oppose the teaching that our hearts are dead or that we are dead in our trespasses and sins by pretending that those who quote that Scripture are inferring that mankind is as wicked as they could be. That is not the case and we’ll seem more of this in the Scriptures that follow these.

Romans 1:26 to 2:5

We normally assume that our sensitivity to the correction of God is a product of our own inherent righteousness. Normally it doesn’t even occur to us that the conviction we feel when we do something wrong is God’s law written in our hearts and we are dependent on God to keep this law sharply written in our hearts.

Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

God leave us to be driven by our passions without His correction. If our passion is not for God then it will be misdirected toward the creation instead of the Creator.

Here we see homosexuality in view and the Roman culture had at least as big an issue with this as we do. Here Paul presents a radical contrast for a Roman church member. As long as the sex was an upper class male to a lower class male or female it was considered acceptable. Within a social class or any sort of homosexuality in women was considered disgusting. Here Paul is drawing equivalence between female and male homosexuality using the term “likewise” and for his Roman readers that would have been a tremendous shock. It is difficult to think of exactly what sins would cause such an extreme reaction in our day. Perhaps pedophilia presented first to provoke in us the reaction of disgust the Romans felt for lesbianism and then extramarital sex between consenting adults presented as likewise. Most individuals in our culture would protest the equivalence between pedophilia and extramarital sex. We rank our sins according out our standards and not Gods. However we serve a holy God and Paul continues to develop his presentation of the Gospel.

Dishonorable passions in the Christian life will draw God’s discipline and can rule the lives of those who don’t serve Christ. In our lives we are challenged to keep a passion for God as the driving force of our lives. There are plenty of created things that can substitute for God and all of them are sinful if they occupy that primary place that only He should have.

Romans 1:28-32
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

All of these evil characteristics are characteristics of a mind that has set itself against God. We choose to be our own God. We think that we are able to rule (be lord of) our lives apart from Him. The way in which this is manifested is really broad. It ranges from murder to simply being boastful or foolish. It is a sign of the depth of mankind’s rejection of God that we see violence against homosexuals in our day. Both are signs of rejecting God as Lord and the authority of Scripture.

You can pray for God to keep us far from all this stuff. Pray that God would teach us to be righteous, good, sharing, kind, happy with what we have, gentle, peace loving, honest, kind, not gossipers, thinking the best of others, respectful, humble, speaking with humility, looking for ways to do good, respectful of parents, wise, faithful, tender hearted, and open. As God answers our prayer we can’t expect those who have refused to acknowledge God to think we have made wise decisions.

In addition to praying those things, remember this week to be a servant of God. Remember to make Him Lord in your life and be surrendered to him. Pray that God will use you like He used Paul to reach the lost.

Romans 2:1
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

Remember that whenever you see a “therefore” you need to consider the logic of what the apostle is saying. Paul is pointing back at all the effects of rejecting Christ as Lord and saying that all those sins uniformly condemn all outside of Christ. You can’t argue that at least you were not a murderer and therefore OK. All those sins are manifestations of abandoning Christ. I was meditating on these things and thinking that for me treason against your nation is a sin that I really find grievous. I don’t understand how someone would do that and severe penalties seem reasonable to me. However, I know a teacher who refers to sin as treason and as I thought of these things I realized that my sin against God was truly treason and of course I have been redeemed by His Grace and that makes it even more horrible. Who has committed the most evil treason me or the man who only commits treason against a human institution? I have no excuse when I judge another for in passing judgment on another I condemn myself because I practice the very same things. God’s mercy endures forever but apart from His Grace I deserve only judgement.

Romans 2:2
We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

Everyone is condemned by their sins and standing outside Christ and condemning those who are outside Christ is foolish since God says all are subject to the same righteous judgment.

Romans 2:4-5
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

To be outside Christ and to assume that you are righteous enough for heaven is a dangerous place to be and if you stay long enough it is eternally fatal. Generally we do assume that. We feel righteous enough and therefore we are satisfied with ourselves and don’t recognize that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. So it backfires on us. We are satisfied with our self righteousness and therefore we are storing up wrath for judgment day.

Romans 1:8-25

Paul’s introduction continues from last week writing to those who are loved by God and called to be saints. This was a fellowship that God was building and Paul was focused on a full presentation of the Gospel.

Romans 1:8-10
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

This is how we know that Paul had not been to visit the Church in Rome but that he wanted to visit and that they were well known as a major work of God. Paul’s faithful prayers and probably the prayer of other Apostles were answered by the work of the Holy Spirit but, as far as we know, without direct apostolic teaching by the time of the epistle.

Romans 1:11-12
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Paul had the heart of a pastor in wanting to minister to the Church in Rome. The fellowship we have in church is supposed to be an encouragement to each other. It is part of the life of the Body of Christ.

Romans 1:13-15
I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Paul’s special ministry was to Gentiles so naturally he would want to visit a fellowship that was growing and well known as a work of God. Remember how Paul started this epistle? He started by telling the Romans that he was a servant of Christ. As servants we don’t decide how we will serve and we see that here with Paul. He wants to go and visit Rome but he has obligations to upscale (Greek) and literally barbarian churches and as a servant God will determine where he preaches and teaches.

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Paul knew that the Gospel was the power of God to people who were religious like the Jew and also to the cultured and intellectuals of the day such as the Greeks. Paul was not avoiding Rome and he really had a desire to be there ministering to the Roman church.

Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

As Paul preached the Gospel to either Jews, Greeks, or barbarians it empowered salvation and birthed faith as a Grace gift in the hearts of those who heard him. Those who Christ justified were righteous and lived their lives by faith. Keep in mind also the Means of Grace since God uses those in our lives to produce righteousness from faith for faith.

Romans 1:18-19
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

It is striking that Scripture makes it clear that, prior to salvation, we suppressed the truth. When we lived lives that were ungodly and unrighteous we were suppressing truth and not simply ignorant of the truth. God says that even apart from the Gospel revelation in Scripture that His revelation in nature and in logic was sufficient to convict apart from our active suppression of the truth. Most unbelievers will look at you like you are nuts and argue that you are just plain wrong if you tell them Scripture says that.

Romans 1:20
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

So Scripture teaches that God’s natural revelation is not just sufficient to prove His existence but that it also is sufficient to remove any excuse for unbelief. There are going to be some unhappy folks at the judgment throne. The proofs of God are sufficient to remove any excuse but they are not effective apart from the Holy Spirit because the blindness of our sin natures and our suppression of the truth will prevent it. For example, the ontological proof of God is true and the argument to first causes is also a true proof of God (even Aristotle found that one convincing). Prayer and the Holy Spirit are essential to evangelism.

Romans 1:21-23
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

This process was our life process and would still be our life process except from the mercy of God. The end result is the acceptance of false gods so that we mistakenly attribute the glory of God to creation. For example, we start to think that our future is controlled by fate or that we control our lives by positive thinking. The Roman gods were like men with all the problems and sins of men. It is difficult for me to even think seriously of someone worshiping them. Our modern position is ironic in that we sometimes elevate animals and attempt to lower God to earth. So we exchange the glory of God for calling the earth our mother and animals our brothers and sisters. I once listened to a native American speaker who objected discussing our role to nature as a stewardship role because that inferred that we were superior to nature. If he had a biblical understanding of God then being given a stewardship role not only doesn’t make you superior (i.e., a husband’s stewardship role over wife and family) it subjects to you discipline from one who is superior if you do a poor job. It is the habit of our culture to give glory to things other than God such as fate, chance, or mother earth and we as Christians must not pick up bad habits. As our Piper quote says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Romans 1:24-25
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

One of God’s gifts of Grace is His gift of conviction of Sin and when we set our heart on things other than God we numb ourselves to God’s conviction. When God withdraws His Holy Spirit we are lost and head into error. When we see others in sin then we can’t feel superior and we also realize that the sin they are manifesting is symptomatic of rejecting God. We will be called to love sinners and hate sin. One of the first steps is to realize that God’s work of Grace is alive in your life and now you can pray for that to operate in other’s lives.

Romans 1:1-7

Author of Romans: The Apostle Paul

Date and Occasion: Paul wrote Romans shortly before his visit to Jerusalem (Romans 15:25; Acts 24:17) and it was most likely written between 54 AD and early 57 AD.

The Romans church seems to have begun early and grown rapidly. Romans were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:10-11). It seems likely that they grew without an apostolic visit and they were a congregation that included both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 1:13).

Romans is the most developed and complete exposition of the Gospel in one book in the canon of Scripture. A famous preacher of the 5th century named John Chrysostom had Romans read aloud to him once a week. This book has had a tremendous impact on leaders of the Church throughout history.

Romans 1:1
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

We are accustomed to Paul and his credentials but think of how this would strike you if you didn’t know Paul. Here is a guy who claims to be a servant of a guy who was killed as a criminal over 20 years before. This places the resurrection in the forefront of the epistle since this would be a nonsense statement otherwise. You can’t be the servant of a dead guy and a dead guy can’t call you to do anything and in particular can't call you to be an apostle. We don’t have apostles in the Church since they were gifts to the early Church. God used these men in a special way to build the early church. Their teaching had scriptural authority and made doctrine. Generally when someone claims to be an apostle today they simply mean that they are a church planter with a unique combination of evangelism and pastoral skills. However, you do get the occasional individual who actually claims to be an apostle and they generally become heretics somewhere along the line.

We are not apostles but we are called to be servants and we are set apart for the Gospel of God. As servants we need to remind ourselves constantly that we serve a living and active God who has plans for us and good works for us to do. These works are not for our salvation but simply for His glory. We are saints in the biblical sense and therefore by definition sanctified or set apart for the Gospel by the Grace of God.

Romans 1:2-3
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

It is important to God that we understand that He didn’t send Jesus without abundant prophecy. Jesus is foretold in the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. God has been merciful to make His will clear and to tell us well (sometimes thousands of years) in advance that what He promises will take place. And we can trust Him because He isn’t guessing or predicting but rather He is seeing the end from the beginning.

Note that Jesus was “descended from David according to the flesh” so we had 14 generations from Abraham to David; 14 generations from David to Babylon; and 14 generations from Babylon to Christ (Matthew 1 and Luke 3). Matthew focuses on Jesus’ royal line and Luke on Jesus’ human line (Gospel of Mark is Jesus as servant and Gospel of John is Jesus as God).

Romans 1:4
and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

The resurrection is a testimony of Christ’s position in the godhead and notice that the Trinity once again testifies in the unity of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Three in person and one in essence.

Romans 1:5-6
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Paul certainly was a recipient of Grace and his testimony makes that clear. Someone who was a persecutor of Christians became the one God used to write more of the New Testament than any other person. Grace is undeserved blessing from God and Paul was always aware of this. Grace is not a feeling God has; Grace is a thing God does. You see Grace as action very clearly in Paul’s life. And if you understand what I’m saying and desire to please God then you are called (by God) to belong to Jesus Christ. What a blessing in our lives.

I also appreciate that Scripture here makes preaching the Gospel equivalent to bringing “about the obedience of faith”. The world is in rebellion against God and is hostile toward God. Sometimes we see it in little ways such as apathy toward the things of God and sometimes we see it in larger ways like false religions.

Romans 1:7
To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We (just like those in Rome) are loved by God and called to be sanctified. If you are called to be sanctified then you seek holiness. The world, our flesh, and the enemy of our soul will work against holiness in our lives. You really need to run the race we call life with patience. We can't let disappointment defeat us in this race. Grace and peace are a traditional greeting and we really need to remember to pray for Grace and peace for each other and we need to remember that it comes from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Emotions, Government, and Just War

Pale Rider is a movie that provides an valuable case study in the way our emotions are manipulated by film and art, how civil government relates to Christians, and also just war theory.

In the movie a young girl named Megan prays when the bad guys kill her dog and asks for God to answer them. The Preacher (played by Clint Eastwood) then rides into town saves her prospective father from the bad guys and begins to protect the community. Most guys have seen this movie (I have called it Touched by an Angel for guys) so I'll assume a general familiarity with the movie plot.

Manipulation of Emotions
Standard plan for the plot of westerns results in a manipulation of our emotions. The bad guy does something really nasty to the good guy and/or his family and/or his friends. Then the good guy gets revenge and we are expected to find the process enjoyable.

We should exercise great care and certainly not simply sit and allow our emotions to be moved without the benefit of scripture when we see this type of movie.

Vengeance
“An eye for an eye.” The original intent of Ex. 21:24, Lev. 24:20, and Deut. 19:21 is that punishment should be equitable and should fit the crime. These limitations prohibited exacting a greater vengeance (such as Lamech boasted in Gen. 4:23) or having different penalties for different social classes. Jesus contradicted those who saw in this principle grounds for personal vengeance. Mankind had taken God's law that was given to suppress revenge and used it to justify their actions of revenge.

It takes faith to trust God to make all things right/fair/just in time because we don’t see the end (final just resolution to all wrongs) in this life. However it is also foolish to not trust God because your sense of what is right/fair/just comes from Him and He is perfectly righteous/fair/equitable/just (Deut 32:35). He has said there is a judgment throne but our impatience keeps us from trusting Him and drives us to see revenge.

Romans 12:18-21
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Prov 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

As Christians we need to be careful not to allow a manipulation of our emotions to cause us to rejoice in violence. Even though that is often the objective of some films in which we feel satisfied to see the bad guy get what we think he has coming. Our sense of justice is good but we shouldn’t rejoice to see destruction and violence. I’ve been in theaters in which the entire audience applauds and cheers when the bad guy gets killed or blown up.

I understand that it is make believe and justice is a good thing but keep your heart with diligence and don’t rejoice in the things that are really tragedy.

I'm not sure how aware the movie makers were of what they were doing but if you pay attention in the movie you'll see Preacher has six bullet holes in his back. Six is the number of man and there are six who shot him in the back who appear later in the movie. The movie brings some difficult questions regarding civil government to light. You can ask where civil government is within the context of the movie and how each individual relates to government.

How do you relate to civil government? Is it ok for you as a Christian to serve in government and what does scripture teach about the way you related. The following sections from the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith are very good at drawing together the scriptures related to our behavior as citizens living with a government.

Chapter 24 – 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith
Rewritten in modern English by
Andrew Kerkham, 1st ed. 1999, revised ed. 2001
CIVIL GOVERNMENT

24.1
God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, has ordained civil authorities to be under him and over the people, for his own glory and the public good. For this purpose he has armed them with the authority to use force, to defend and encourage those who do good, and to punish evil doers. (Psalms 82:1; Luke 12:48; Romans 13:1-6; 1 Peter 2:13-14; Genesis 6:11-13 with 9:5-6; Psalms 58:1-2; 72:14; 82:1-4; Proverbs 21:15; 24:11-12; 29:14,26; 31:5; Ezekiel 7:23; 45:9; Daniel 4:27; Matthews 22:21; Romans 13:3-4; 1 Timothy 2:2; 1Peter 2:14; Genesis 9:6; Proverbs 16:14; 19:12; 20:2; 21:15; 28:17; Acts 25:1; Romans 13:4; 1 Peter 2:13-14)

24.2 It is lawful for Christians to accept and carry out the duties of public office when called upon to so. In the performance of such office they are particularly responsible for maintaining justice and peace in accordance with the wholesome laws of the nation. For that purpose they may (in terms of the New Testament) lawfully engage in war if it is just and necessary. (Exodus 22:8-9,28-29; Daniel; Nehemiah; Proverbs 14:35; 16:10,12; 20:26,28; 25:2; 28:15-16; 29:4,14; 31:4-5; Romans 13:2,4,6; Luke 3:14; Romans 13:4)

24.3 As civil authorities are established by God for the purposes given, we ought to be subject to all their lawful commands for the Lord's sake, not merely to avoid punishment, but for conscience' sake. We ought also to make supplications and prayers for rulers and all who are in authority, that under them we may live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. (Proverbs 16:14-15; 19:12; 20:2; 24:21-22; 25:15; 28:2; Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13-14; Daniel 1:8; 3:4-6,16-18; 6:5-10,22; Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:19-20; 5:29; Jeremiah 29:7; 1 Timothy 2:1-4)

In the case depicted in the movie Pale Rider; there is an absence of government in a traditional sense. “The Government” is not there for the small mining community as depicted in the film. The miners are governing themselves democratically and are being attacked by corrupt men who are outside the law and attempting to use force. Even the Marshal and deputies are corrupt and not part of any legitimate government.

Consequently, you could say that “Preacher” was acting as the agent of the temporary government established by the group of miners. If you want to argue the point you must then argue that he is not acting as a vigilante because we are biblically forbidden to be a vigilante. Even Jesus’ rebuke of Peter when he pulled out a sword was, in a sense, a rebuke of vigilantism.

The movie makes the 'government' established by the mining community very visible. They essentially have a town meeting and Pale Rider essentially describes a war. Stewart taught based on the following material a few years ago just after 9/11 and the Church has worked through these questions in previous centuries.

Hannah More was an acquaintance of John Newton and Wilber Wilberforce as evangelicals working against the slave trade. She was writing about the slave trade but it what she said has wider application. She was troubled about the way people separated doctrines and duties. She said, “it is of importance to point out the mutual dependence of one doctrine upon another, and the influence which these doctrines have upon the heart and life, so that the duties of Christianity may be seen to grow out of its doctrines." We need to make sure that we don't let the duties of our life in any aspect grow apart from the doctrines that God has given us to teach us how to live.

Thomas Aquinas was one of God’s great gifts to the church. It is unfortunate that we hardly mention his name most of the time. We have the shoulders of giants to stand on. We may come to different conclusions about a particular war around the globe but at least we as Christians should be working from Scripture.

Part II, II, Q. 40
These notes are based on a selection from the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, Second and Revised Edition, translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province, 1920. This translation is now in the public domain.

Augustine says in a sermon on the son of the centurion [Ep. ad Marcel. cxxxviii]: "If the Christian Religion forbade war altogether, those who sought salutary advice in the Gospel would rather have been counseled to cast aside their arms, and to give up soldiering altogether. On the contrary, they were told: 'Do violence to no man . . . and be content with your pay' [Luke 3:14. If he commanded them to be content with their pay, he did not forbid soldiering."

I answer that, In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary:

First, the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private individual to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the tribunal of his superior. Moreover it is not the business of a private individual to summon together the people, which has to be done in wartime. And as the care of the common welfare is committed to those who are in authority, it is their business to watch over the common welfare of the city, kingdom or province subject to them. And just as it is lawful for them to have recourse to the sword in defending that common welfare against internal disturbances, when they punish evil-doers, according to the words of the Apostle (Rm. 13:4): "He beareth not
the sword in vain: for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil"; so too, it is their business to have recourse to the sword of war in defending the common weal against external enemies. Hence it is said to those who are in authority (Ps. 81:4): "Rescue the poor: and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner"; and for this reason Augustine says (Contra Faust. xxii, 75): "The natural order conducive to peace among mortals demands that the power to declare and counsel war should be in the hands of those who hold the supreme authority."

This is probably “Preacher’s” biggest problem with Aquinas and just war theology. While there is no government in an immediate sense there is a government present in a larger sense. The problem they are having is that the federal and state governments are not active in the frontier where they are living.

Secondly, a just cause is required, namely that those who are attacked, should
be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault. Wherefore
Augustine says (QQ. in Hept., qu. x, super Jos.): "A just war is wont to be
described as one that avenges wrongs, when a nation or state has to be punished,
for refusing to make amends for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects, or to
restore what it has seized unjustly."

Naturally in a western the cause of the good guy against the bad guy is well established but we can’t just ignore the spiritual consequences of what we are watching because what we watch has an impact on us and doctrine is supposed to have an impact on us and on our actions. One technique that westerns often use is to make the bad guy so bad that we lose sight of any mercy or pity that we might otherwise feel. It makes the suffering of the bad guy satisfying. God says that vengence is His but we take pleasure in vengence that we judge to be right and just.

Thirdly, it is necessary that the belligerents should have a rightful intention, so that they intend the advancement of good, or the avoidance of evil. Hence Augustine says (De Verb. Dom. [The words quoted are to be found not in St. Augustine's works, but Can. Apud. Caus. xxiii, qu. 1]): "True religion looks upon as peaceful those wars that are waged not for motives of aggrandizement, or cruelty, but with the object of securing peace, of punishing evil-doers, and of uplifting the good." For it may happen that the war is declared by the legitimate authority, and for a just cause, and yet be rendered unlawful through a wicked intention. Hence Augustine says (Contra Faust. xxii, 74): "The passion for inflicting harm, the cruel thirst for vengeance, an unpacific and relentless spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and such like things, all these are rightly condemned in war."

While “Preacher” fits this criteria pretty well you might object to his methods as in some cases cruel but they certainly provide such a bunch of bad guys and in this case attempt to motivate “Preacher” purely by rightful intention. In fact the movie makers stress Preacher's reluctance to take up his guns again.

To have recourse to the sword (as a private person) by the authority of the sovereign or judge, or (as a public person) through zeal for justice, and by the authority, so to speak, of God, is not to "take the sword," but to use it as commissioned by another, wherefore it does not deserve punishment. And yet even those who make sinful use of the sword are not always slain with the sword, yet they always perish with their own sword, because, unless they repent, they are punished eternally for their sinful use of the sword.

So did “Preacher” act lawfully. He was only commissioned to use the sword by the provisional government of those citizens under attack by the corrupt marshal and deputies as directed by LaHood.

It is necessary sometimes for a man to act otherwise for the common good, or for the good of those with whom he is fighting. Hence Augustine says (Ep. ad Marcellin. cxxxviii): "Those whom we have to punish with a kindly severity, it is necessary to handle in many ways against their will. For when we are stripping a man of the lawlessness of sin, it is good for him to be vanquished, since nothing is more hopeless than the happiness of sinners, whence arises a guilty impunity, and an evil will, like an internal enemy."

Those who wage war justly aim at peace, and so they are not opposed to peace, except to the evil peace, which Our Lord "came not to send upon earth" (Mt. 10:34). Hence Augustine says (Ep. ad Bonif. clxxxix): "We do not seek peace in order to be at war, but we go to war that we may have peace. Be peaceful, therefore, in warring, so that you may vanquish those whom you war against, and bring them to the prosperity of peace."

Preacher really wasn’t seeking to bring anyone into a prosperity of peace that he was at war with. Vengeance was also part of his motivation. However, he did tend to leave the bad guys alone except when they attacked him or one of the small mining community.

Article 3
Whether it is lawful to lay ambushes in war?

Objection 1.
It would seem that it is unlawful to lay ambushes in war. For it is written (Dt. 16:20): "Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just." But ambushes, since they are a kind of deception, seem to pertain to injustice. Therefore it is unlawful to lay ambushes even in a just war.

Objection 2. Further, ambushes and deception seem to be opposed to faithfulness even as lies are. But since we are bound to keep faith with all men, it is wrong to lie to anyone, as Augustine states (Contra Mend. xv). Therefore, as one is bound to keep faith with one's enemy, as Augustine states (Ep. ad Bonif. clxxxix), it seems that it is unlawful to lay ambushes for one's enemies.

Objection 3. Further, it is written (Mt. 7:12): "Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them": and we ought to observe this in all our dealings with our neighbor. Now our enemy is our neighbor. Therefore, since no man wishes ambushes or deceptions to be prepared for himself, it seems that no one ought to carry on war by laying ambushes.

On the contrary, Augustine says: "Provided the war be just, it is no concern of justice whether it be carried on openly or by ambushes": and he proves this by the authority of the Lord, Who commanded Joshua to lay ambushes for the city of Ai

Joshua 8:2. And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.

The object of laying ambushes is in order to deceive the enemy. Now a man may be deceived by another's word or deed in two ways. First, through being told something false, or through the breaking of a promise, and this is always unlawful. No one ought to deceive the enemy in this way, for there are certain rights of war and covenants, which ought to be observed even among enemies.

Secondly, a man may be deceived by what we say or do, because we do not declare our purpose or meaning to him. Now we are not always bound to do this. You ought to conceal plans from the enemy. Concealment is what is meant by an ambush which may be lawfully employed in a just war. Nor can these ambushes be properly called deceptions, nor are they contrary to justice or to a well-ordered will. For a man would have an inordinate will if he were unwilling that others should hide anything from him.

Preacher makes extreme use of ambushes … and you can’t fault him for that. What seems prohibited by Scripture is to lie to an enemy. For example, waving a white flag and then shooting your enemy when he comes out is forbidden since it is a lie. Scripture never teaches that you can lie. In fact, only Rahab gets away with it and that was when she was still a prostitute and before she began to live with the Children of Israel.

Preacher finally finishes Stockbridge with 7 shots – the number of completion in Scripture. The movie has some moral problems apart from the issues of government and just war. Preacher's morals are still not Christian. However, I think that they way in which the movie can cause us to remember Aquinas and Just War Theory are instructive and can help us keep those concepts clear in our mind as we live as citizens of the United States.

Means of Grace - Lesson 5

Fellowship

We don’t generally attach enough importance to Christian fellowship as a Means of Grace. Even if we participate in Christian fellowship we may forget that it is something that God uses to strengthen us and build us up (i.e., as a Means of Grace). Scripture give us clear encouragement to fellowship. For example:

Acts 2:42
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Acts 2:46-47
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Hebrews 10:23-25
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

John 15:12
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

So we are to be devoted to fellowship, think about how to provoke one another to love and good works, and encourage each other to fellowship. We are each to minister in this way to each other. We have an inclination to allow responsibilities and ministries that should be embraced by us to move to the church staff. The function of Christian fellowship, in part, is to meet needs that would otherwise be met by the staff.

We see examples of that when we organize and visit and meet physical needs and when we pray and share from Scripture in times of spiritual need.

Another point that we need to consider is that when you contact class members or Christian friends it is not a small thing. If you allow the Holy Spirit to rule in your life then you’ll find Him using those times to minister Grace to the Body of Christ. That’s important. In addition, you should expect the Holy Spirit to prompt you to contact other members of the Body of Christ.
Fellowship in Spiritual Gifts.

God give us all gifts to use to bless the Church. If you have been through the Body Life Training that all our new members get these days then you will have taken a test that helps point the direction in which you are gifted for the Church. You don’t want to view these as natural abilities for you to use as you decide for the benefit of the Church. You need to try to do what God calls you to do at His time, in His way, and with no thought but for His glory. You are a steward who administers what God has given you as He directs. Peter says that:

1 Peter 4:10-11
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

So with our gifts, we serve as stewards of Grace so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ since we are the Body of Christ. This should be an active

Ephesians 4:11-16
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

So we only had a sort list there but all the ministries including administration and helps along with the more visible gifts like preaching have the purpose of ministering Grace to build up the Body of Christ so it (we) work properly that is we grow and build ourselves up in love. Grudem says that, “This should remind us of the abundant favor that God has given us as undeserving sinners, and should also make us realize that many different Christians, with diverse gifts, can be the channels through which grace comes to us.”

We don’t all have the same gifts and that is OK. God is in control and we just need to submit to Him. You trust Him to lead you into the ministry He has for you and you should be looking for that. You’ll be suited and enabled for what God calls you to do although you’ll be stretched and may be tempted to whine.

Sometimes the ministry is very specific for an individual and not general or to a group. Also the ministry is sometimes from a group to an individual. This is all part of fellowship as a Means of Grace. For example, John warns us that, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1st John 3:17-18).

Physical touch is also a common practice when praying for healing in the New Testament. Jesus often touched the individuals that He was healing. Those were the lucky ones since at least once He made mud with his spit and put it in the eyes of a blind guy. That would surely get you in trouble these days whether it worked or not. Probably the healed guy would just use his healing so he could find a lawyer in the phonebook.

In addition to laying hands on folks who need to be healed we are instructed at least in some cases to anoint the sick person with oil and have church leadership pray for them (James 5:14). Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit so we are using a physical symbol of what we are praying for spiritually.

We are so oriented toward physical causes and the blessing of medical science that we’ve made it an either or situation and we neglect prayer, laying on of hands, and anointing with oil when we are sick. God uses medical science to bless everyone. He has given us tremendous blessings in modern medicine and that is His Grace as well but we need to remember Him and what He has told us to do. Laying on of hands was the normal way that Jesus healed others and we should obey God and anoint with oil at least in prolonged illness to simply pattern in the physical world what we are asking for in the spiritual. Even as we lay hands on another we ask God to lay His hand on someone for healing or even for an anointing for additional ministry or for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:6; 9:17; 13:3). We aren’t looking for a procedure or a magical trick we are just obeying God and the practice is considered an elementary doctrine (Hebrews 6:1-2)

Footwashing

And I bet you’re sitting out there wondering, “Hey why hasn’t he said anything about footwashing?” That would be foot washing as a Christian ceremony and not just part of normal personal hygiene.

Every once in a while you find a group of Christians who practice footwashing as a ceremony based on Jesus statement:

John 13:14
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet”

Some Christians think that footwashing is just as important as baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The question for Christians revolves around what Jesus meant or what He intended in what he was saying. Baptism and communion have clear reference to our rebirth and His sacrifice for us. They are symbolic and they were symbolic at their institution. When Jesus washed the disciple’s feet they were dirty and it was a custom.

The more mainstream interpretation of footwashing is lost if we accept it as a symbol in contrast to the purpose we find in the symbolism found in Baptism and Communion. What I mean by that is that footwashing and Jesus’ command is to serve each other with humility and love. If you turn it into a symbol then you think you’ve met the command when you wash somebody’s feet. In this day and age you haven’t begun to fulfill the command to “wash one another’s feet” when you wash one another’s feet. It isn’t even a problem anymore. So we have to look at our Brother’s and Sister’s and think (ouch) about how to serve them with humility and love. They no longer need their feet washed but what do they need? A cup of coffee? Breakfast on Sunday morning? Ask God, He has pretty good ideas and He’ll lead you to service in humility and love.

Also note that Scripture makes it clear that baptism and the Lord’s Supper were practiced as sacraments but we don’t see footwashing as an ordinance. The majority of the Church throughout history has understood the Scripture to be telling them to serve one another (remember to interpret Scripture with Scripture) and Scripture tells us that over and over.

If someone wants to practice footwashing then they should really make it clear that what they are doing isn’t really addressing the meaning of Jesus command. It would seem a little awkward but it is best to stress that footwashing is an anachronistic expression of serving each other in humility and love rather than give the impression that we’ve actually done what was commanded.

Conclusions

So I’ve generalized some topics and we’ve covered the following 5 Means of Grace. God has given us these things for our use to work together with Him to purify our lives and grow us in Grace.

1. Teaching of the Word (including Evangelism and Bible Study)
2. Sacraments (Baptism and The Lord’s Supper)
3. Prayer and Worship (including Giving)
4. Church discipline
5. Fellowship (Including Spiritual gifts and Ministry to Individuals)

As we embrace these Means of Grace in our lives we release the Holy Spirit to use us in the lives of others to minister Grace.

Means of Grace - Lesson 4

Giving (Continuation of Worship Discussion)
Giving of material blessings is part of our worship as we acknowledge that God provides for us in abundance so we can give things away to bless others. We can’t view this as a way to “obtain the gift of God with money” (Acts 8:20) or we’ll be subject to correction as Simon the Sorcerer was. You can’t buy God’s blessing. However, God does bless us as we give to others. It gives us a chance to be like our Father by giving to others.

You need to participate joyfully and not under compulsion (2 Corinthians 9:7) for this Means of Grace to provide the benefits in your life that you would like. God gives joyfully and without compulsion and so should we. God also sends His rain on the just and unjust and a portion of our giving can be to people who don’t necessarily deserve it. I still remember a non-Christian who told me that he wouldn’t give blood because the might give it to a crook or some other undeserving person. I think he was just scared to give blood but I’m glad God doesn’t only give to the deserving since there are none righteous and no one deserves salvation. It is good to give when others don’t know that you gave. We have lots of chances to be generous to family, friends, and strangers. It is an attitude adjustment that we are continually challenged with. Our sin nature will drift us toward selfishness and the Holy Spirit will graciously change us so that we are more like our Father.

This week, in addition to your giving this morning in the worship service, give something to someone else and, if possible, do it in a way that they will be unable to figure out who gave the gift. Do this to worship God who gave to you when you didn’t know Him.

Church Discipline
I guess I’d just as soon dodge this topic because I’ve rarely seen Church Discipline work as a Means of Grace. However, it promotes holiness and therefore, by definition, it is a Means of Grace. Pascal really hit the nail on the head when he said, “Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness (Blaise Pascal; 1623-1662). This difference between piety and goodness becomes intertwined with any discussion of church discipline and typically the piety part starts to poison the process.

What is supposed to happen is that when the church stands up for righteousness and calls sin as sin then the sinner in their midst, in response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, experiences “godly grief” that leads to salvation without regret (2 Corinthians 7:10). I’ve only rarely been in a position in which I’d guess that things were done rightly with regard to discipline. Sometimes things go on behind the scenes and that is good and I don’t know about it. However, no “good” comes of church discipline unless the Holy Spirit is moving in the lives of both the folks called on to stand for righteousness. When the motive is piety (in the sense used by Pascal) then only friction and trouble result. The problem is in both those who believe themselves to be pious and those who are sinning (and probably consider themselves pious as well).

God makes it clear that we are simply participating with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 5:4 and 4:19–20; Matthew 16:19 and 18:18–20). It isn’t an option for us to consider but this is something we are called to as a church. It would be best if we didn’t think of it as something we dread and avoid with all the energy we can muster. 

We have found it much more comfortable to focus on not being judged (Matthew 7:1) that we have forgotten what the verse means because justifying sin is more comfortable than confronting it. This is not an irrelevant topic for Baptists. We’ve (a few hundred years ago) known how to deal with these Scriptures. At one time what the Bible said about right and wrong was used for biblical correction, encouragement, rebuke, and even excommunication or dis-fellowshiping. We tend to argue about church style and avoid sin and doctrine. That is not typical on a historic basis for our denomination. We are currently in a culture that tends to allow each individual to interpret biblical commands as they see fit and minimizes or eliminates any corporate confessions of faith (Like the London Baptist Confession in 1689).

Now we don’t like conflict but discipline has positive connotations too. For example, discipline and discipleship are joined. We have our memory scriptures as a discipline to train our minds. Bible study and prayer are disciplines.

It is the negative forms of discipline that we don’t care for and that require some confrontation with sin. They include warning, rebuke, admonition, and disfellowshiping someone in response to sin. Both the positive disciplines and negative disciplines are Means of Grace in the way they affect the Church and individuals within the Church. The objective of the Holy Spirit is always for the good of the Church and never to create a piety that festers into self righteousness. We also never are in the position of condemning a person’s soul (Jesus’ point when He said, “Judge not”).

Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I won’t be scared because of His rod (of correction) and staff (of direction). God will correct me. He will discipline me. He will use the church most of the time (I hope since I’d prefer that to direct confrontation with Him). All of God’s correction is redemptive in nature.

Not only is the individual redeemed but the fellowship is to be purified. If I am ever convicted of a crime (like murder or theft or even willfully lying on my tax return) then I am hoping that you as a fellowship will take away my membership. Even if I am innocent I will be disappointed in you as a fellowship if you don’t remove me from membership. It is a purity issue for the local Church. After I make restitution and show evidence of repentance for a suitable period of time (years I expect) then I’d hope that you might reconsider my membership.

A positive corollary to redemption of the individual is the protection or restoration of the corporate witness of the church in the community after being soiled by a publicly known sin committed by a church member.

Hebrews 12:5-8
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“ My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is
treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

God encourages us to take discipline seriously and remember that God’s motivation is love. That encouragement would apply to both the positive and negative aspects of discipline and we should certainly be humble and cautious when God has us in the role of either recipient or administrator of discipline.

Hebrews 12:9-11
Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Lack of discipline within a family is not love. This Scripture actually states that discipline is a means of Grace since it is in our lives so that we can share God’s holiness and since it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Hebrews 12:12-16
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

Therefore is a key word for understanding the flow and context of Scripture. In this case it joins discipline as a Means of Grace to hope and actions to purify our life. Peace and holiness are goals for the Body of Christ and we are to guard against bitterness towards others and against immorality and unholy behavior. Discipline is supposed to be the foundation for these works of Grace in our lives.

Matt 18:15-17
If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

I’ve seen this Scripture applied once in a fellowship where I was. The Pastorate had a case of sexual immorality that progressed to the point at which the person was asked to stand up and the congregation was told they were living in sin and that they were to break off fellowship with the person. This was an act of love since this person was in a very dangerous position. It was certainly a mild correction compared to the correction that God would eventually bring in the life of a Christian or the judgment waiting someone who dies without Christ.

Of course the “piety” versus “good” issue will raise it’s head if we are not submitted to the Holy Spirit. If we remember that our righteousness is as filthy rags then we will consider our own hearts and keep them with diligence. I think we easily forget when we are being used to correct someone that the temptation to our heart is less likely to be to the sin we are correcting than to the sin of pride and self righteousness. When I or my brother were sinning against our father (and on the rare occasion we were not in cahoots) all I could really do was tell my brother what I knew was right (and he did too) and remove myself from his presence if he was going to continue. I could try to stop him by force but then we’d generally both end up subject to discipline from my father.

If you love a brother in Christ you’ll break fellowship if they are in unrepentant sin. You must not give the impression that sin is OK or you’ll be making crooked paths for your feet and that which is weak will be damaged. A whole fellowship can be subject to discipline if they neglect to identify sin.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

We need to see the sin as a corporate problem and not just a personal failing. Lack of dealing with sin is a cause for mourning not pride.

1 Corinthians 5:3-8
For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul was in a position with regard to purity and goodness (not just a self righteousness) that he could state that they needed to act on his behalf to deliver the person for discipline for the sinners good. We also covered the Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace and you can see how it is polluted by ignoring sin.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

This makes it pretty clear where we are supposed to see purity. Rather than seek purity and holiness in the unsaved we are supposed to seek in it, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the Church (Duh!). Even someone who is neglects the Gospel to the extent that they do not accept Biblical teaching is to be treated as a wayward brother and we are to separate from a person like that (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). Our diligence is supposed to have a positive impact on such a person. We are also supposed to be cautious with divisive individuals (Titus 3:10-11).

So what is church discipline? You can divide it into the aspects that are designed to develop and create a strong church (teaching, preaching, and organization) and aspects that are designed to correct sinfulness (correction).

So on the one hand we try to prepare hearts proactively by preaching and teaching the word, modeling and mentoring the Christian life, and being responsible about who joins the church.

On the other hand we correct behavior reactively when sin is present within the Body of Christ by exercising judgment for behavior that is unacceptable for a member of the Body according to Scripture. We warn someone about sin, we hope to correct wrong attitudes, we may be called on to rebuke a sinning person, and we may have to dis-fellowship or treat another person as if they were not part of the Body of Christ if they persist in sin. That would include removal from membership roles.

In the midst of the reactive process, motives that satisfy our flesh can’t be driving the process. We must only be motivated by a sincere concern for the one who is in sin, for the purity of the Body of Christ, and for our own hearts so that we keep them with diligence before, during, and after the issue of sin in the church has been handled.

We really must deal with these things so that members know what it means to be a Christian living a life rightly as a member of the local church as well as providing a faithful representation of what it means to be a Christian to the world around us.

The reasons for not practicing corrective church discipline are sins of the flesh in the Body of Christ. We take the easy route and we can be more popular if we ignore sin and please people. Of course that process is only effective for a while and then blows up in our face … by the Grace of God.

My Mind and the Enemy of My Soul

Richard Dennis is an old friend from Raleigh and when we were discussing God’s sovereignty and providence I stated that Satan can’t read our mind. Richard rightly called the question on a Scriptural basis and asked how I could know that from Scripture. So I started to ruminate on that and look at Scripture to see if I had a biblical reason for my assumption.

One of my first reactions was simply to associate this ability to know human thoughts with God’s omniscience. God’s omniscience is one of His incommunicable attributes of God so you could argue that the ability to know human thoughts is off limits on that basis. However, you could also argue that knowing human thoughts is much more limited than omniscience and therefore outside that argument. I think that Richard was really just questioning Satan’s ability to read our minds if he is in the same time and place that we are. So we really need to think further about how Scripture addresses this topic.

David encouraged Solomon to, “know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought (1 Chronicles 28:9) . So here Scripture is affirming that God searches all hearts and knows every thought. I don’t think we’d see Scripture stressing this ability of God in this way if it was as skill shared with His creatures. However, perhaps you could still argue at this point that while God knows all hearts and knows every plan and thought we may still have creatures like fallen angels who can know hearts, plans, and thoughts when they are in the same time and place that those thoughts are being thought of.

In Psalm 64:6-7 when speaking of evil men who plot injustice in secret, Scripture indicates that although, “the inward mind and heart of a man are deep!” God is aware and “God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly.” But are they too deep for other creatures to know or are they just exceptionally difficult to know? We don’t pray for other creatures to search us and know us but could we if we were ill advised. In prayer we cry, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24)! This is a prayer of surrender since Scripture (even in this Psalm) makes it clear that our hearts and minds are transparent to God (Psalm 139:1-6).

Scriptures further clarifies God’s position with additional clarity is found in Jeremiah 9-10. God first tells us in verse nine that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick: who can understand it?” This begs the answer that no one can know it. However, God continues and declares “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” In my opinion it is hard to argue at this point that God would stressing His ability in knowing hearts but that He also gave this ability to creatures in a lesser way. You would have to say that the answer was incomplete and that the question should be answered that some angelic creatures can understand hearts. God repeats this declaration of His ability in indicates that it is a sign in the Book of Revelation stating, “And all the churches will know that I am He who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve (Rev 2:23). So Scripture seems to repeatedly use this ability to search hearts and minds as an attribute of God.

Jesus was able to know the thoughts of another but Jesus had both a human nature and a divine nature (Matthew 9:4; 12:25; Mark 2:8; Luke 6:8; 11:17). Two complete natures without mixture or confusion. Jesus divine nature was clearly able to know the heart of anyone. I think it is also important to consider that the result of one of the Gifts of the Spirit like a Word of Knowledge in which God reveals something we could not otherwise know. This doesn’t mean that we know the heart of another directly but simply that God has revealed something to us. Jesus could know the thoughts of another since Scripture says, “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in our hearts? (Matthew 8:4). We see the disciples in a situation with a similar need when confronted with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). However, it seems the Holy Spirit told Peter what he needed to know but it does not look like the ability to know the heart of another creature or to read another’s mind was given to Peter.

I think an example from Daniel’s life is the most instructive. When Nebuchadnezzar wanted to know his dream those who served anyone but God could not do it.

Daniel 2:20-23
Daniel answered and said:
“ Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Daniel says wisdom belongs to God and that He gives wisdom and knowledge. He reveals the deep and hidden things. God is the source of wisdom and knowledge. If the enemy of our souls could know anything of what is in our heart or dreams it would have to be revealed to the creature by the Creator. Daniel went on to say that “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show the king the mystery that the king has asked” and this could not be true if Satan could read minds. If he could read minds it would be a trivial matter to monitor the king’s dream and report it to a enchanter, magician, or astrologer.

The enemy of our souls is a good observer and knows the evil in men from thousands of years of observation but our thoughts are known to God and not to him.

Means of Grace - Lesson 3

3a. Prayer

Most of us are probably guilty of the sin of prayerlessness at least some of the time. It is a Means of Grace and a discipline that I struggle with. Our lives become crowded and we can allow urgent things to take the time that should be spent on important things like prayer that rarely have a great sense of urgency associated with them. We see prayer as a Means of Grace mentioned as such in Hebrews 4:16 when Paul says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Prayer is vital to our lives as a way of growing in the Grace of God. Instead of thinking of prayer as a Means of Grace we tend to take the Janis Joplin view and think of prayer as a means of getting stuff. Janis sang, “Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?" Now Janis sang the song tongue in cheek and I’m not sure she was a Christian so I’d cut her some slack for theological fuzziness. The problem is that many Christians approach prayer in this manner. We often pray as if we are the builders and God is a delivery truck to bring us what we need to do what we want. Those who are “spiritual” among us may actually consult God to get His input prior to developing and pursuing a plan of action and then we expect Him to deliver what we need on time so that we can do something for Him. That method really doesn’t work well. In fact, although it is a common method, it is a painful way to proceed. God is patient and faithful to correct us and allow us to eventually reflect on the importance of working under His Lordship.

Ambrose (339-397) pointed out the importance of getting the Lordship of Christ central in our life before praying:

Jesus is our mouth, through which we speak to the Father; He is our eye, through which we see the Father; He is our right hand through which we offer ourselves to the Father. Unless He intercedes, there is no intercourse with God.
... Ambrose (339-397)

Without the Holy Spirit we’ll pray unwisely but God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us. Romans 8:26 tells us that we don’t know how to pray as we should but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. Not only that but verse 27 tells us that God in His omniscience searching our hearts within the context of the Trinity knows us and therefore the Holy Spirit’s intercession is informed by our needs and God’s will. It is once again an Amazing Grace that what should rightly cause us to tremble before God (His knowledge of our hearts) instead results in perfect intercession for us.

We have the great privilege to cooperate in prayer allowing the Holy Spirit to direct us. This is a Means of Grace that can grow us up in the Lord if we learn to pray with a right heart realizing that we aren’t delivering a shopping list and that we are in submission to the Lord and not He to us.

A.J. Gossip (1873 – 1954) was a Scottish theologian and preacher who has been widely quoted. One thing he said about prayer was that:

Of course, it all depends upon what we are praying for. If we are whimpering, and sniveling, and begging to be spared the discipline of life that is sent to knock some smatterings of manhood into us, the answer to that prayer may never come at all. Thank God! Though, indeed, it is not easy to say that, with honesty. Still, it may never come at all, thank God. … if you are not bleating to get off, but asking to be given grace and strength to see this through with honor, "the very day" you pray that prayer, the answer always comes.
... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), Experience Worketh Hope
[1944]

Once we have our heads on straight about who is Lord of our life then we need to never forget that we have been commanded to ask (Matthew 7:7). However, even when we are commanded to ask we are reminded that our Father will not give us something bad for us. Answered prayers will be good for us (Matthew 7:11). The Book of James challenges us by asking:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:1-4, ESV)

So our attitudes and prayer are closely linked but this is in part just another way of saying that prayer is a Means of Grace. The process of praying is purifying. If you are unhappy with God you may as well tell Him and pray about it. It will not be news to Him.

Now Jesus specifically stated that we were to pray in our rooms individually with the doors closed (Matthew 6:5-6) and that we should not repeat ourselves (Matthew 6:7). Every so often someone will get really dogmatic about these Scriptures. However, using Scripture to interpret Scripture as we are supposed to do and engaging our brain at the same time we realize that Jesus is talking about private prayer. If you decided to take your quiet time to the streets so that everyone could see what a spiritual giant you are and wish they could be like you then you’ve got a problem. Jesus was not addressing the issue of corporate prayer found in other Scriptures (Acts 4:24-30; Acts 12:5)

Prayer

1) Our Father in Heaven
I praise You God for taking me out of the kingdom of darkness and placing me into the Kingdom of Your Dear Son.
"Our Father" reminds me that I'm part of the Church and I pray for those in the Church under persecution & for unity in the Body of Christ
I confess that I was lost and without hope when You, by grace alone, saved me.
I thank You for the incomprehensible Love that speaks the command to call You Father and the unbounded grace that makes it so.

2) Hallowed be your name
I pray your Holiness would bring a conviction of sin in my life.
I pray that love for your holy name would bring true and lasting repentance in my heart. I pray I would hate sin and especially the sins remaining in my life.
Help me not grieve the Holy Spirit in my actions or in my thought life.
Let there be no idols in my physical world or in my emotional world that compete for the place that is yours far above all else and even life itself.

3) Your Kingdom come
Help me yield my will to you.
Grant me the grace to participate in the establishment of Your Lordship in my life.
Help me not struggle to remain lord of my life. Help me trust You in everything and grant me the grace to yield to Your rule rather than struggle against it.
Even so, come quickly Lord.

4) Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Establish righteousness in the earth
Let all my actions be in accord with Your will
Especially I pray for:
a) Secular Government
b) My Employer/es
c) Family
d) Church Family
e) Church Leadership
f) The lost I meet each day & divine appointments

5) Give me each day my daily bread.
Let me remember that all my needs are supplied by Your hand.
Every bite of food and every stitch of clothes is given to me by You.
Please don't let me trust in the strength of men or in my ability to "take care of myself".
Please help me be a good steward of all the material & spiritual blessings you give me.

6) Forgive me for my sins for I also forgive everyone who sins against me.
Father I confess that my heart is often far from You and that in light of the mercy and grace You have poured out on me that I am in need of forgiveness again
Thank you God for the mercy that You have shown me.
Let mercy be part of my character that others can see You in me.
However, give me the grace to forgive without regard to the attitude of others.

7) Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from the evil one.
Father I am still prone to wander and I long to be free of my sin nature.
I confess that I need the Holy Spirit to keep me from temptation and be my preservation.
You are the One True God who keeps me and nothing take me from your hand.

8) For Yours is the kingdom & the power & the glory forever. Amen.
Today Your name is at stake in my life
Your Kingdom is first today
My answer to You Lord is yes & amen

3b. Worship

It is natural for us to worship God in response to His revelation to us in Scripture and in nature. The worship is to be “in spirit” (John 4:23–24; Phil. 3:3) so simply showing up without being engaged in the process is not what we are commanded to do.

God often uses times in which we worship to minister to us. For example, Paul and Barnabas were set apart by God (Acts 13:2) after a worship service and even in the Old Testament the Temple was filled with God’s glory following worship (2 Chron. 5:13–14) and we are told that God will draw near to us as we draw near to Him (James 4:8).

One odd error that seems to have resulted in a number of odd problems in the modern church is the way in which worship has become a commodity for consumption by the congregation rather than an offering of worship to God. Partly this is because we perceive all things as commodities that we pass judgment on. We focus on worship style and forget the focus isn’t on our preferences it is on God. I’ve been in worship services that have ranged from contemporary to classical music that have been mountaintops or valleys depending on the hearts of those worshiping. I guarantee that it is not the style that creates worship. That means you aren’t scared of new songs since God continues to give new songs but that your worship isn’t sanctified by old songs. Content is lacking in some worship songs and you should always evaluate the theology of the songs your singing. Some contemporary songs lack content some hymnal music lacks content. There isn’t anything wrong with singing, in essence, “I love Jesus” over and over but God is to be praised and worshiped and there is great depth in His revelation to us. If God has revealed that all blessings flow from Him, if God has revealed Himself in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost then why not use a hymn that Baptists have for over 300 years?

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. (Thomas Ken, 1674)

This is the last verse of a longer hymn. That has wonderful verses full of content.

For example here are three verses:

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise,
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

In conversation be sincere;
Keep conscience as the noontide clear;
Think how all seeing God thy ways
And all thy secret thoughts surveys.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say,
That all my powers, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.

When this hymn was written only Scripture could be sung as hymns. It was considered sinful and/or blasphemous to write new lyrics for use in church. This hymn and several others were written for the young men at Winchester College with strict instructions that they only use them in their rooms for private devotions. It is really ironic that the last verse is known as the Doxology and is arguably the most commonly used piece of music in public worship.

We have got to keep the heart attitude right. Otherwise we argue from a consumer’s point of view about right and wrong worship with focus on style rather than substance. New isn’t better because it is new and old isn’t better because it is old. Whole churches can be built to serve consumers with content ignored until they collapse like a house of cards. I’ve already been there and done that. The character of revival is a God centered worship service.


Giving
Giving of material blessings is part of our worship as we acknowledge that God provides for us in abundance so we can give things away to bless others. We can’t view this as a way to “obtain the gift of God with money” (Acts 8:20) or we’ll be subject to correction as Simon the Sorcerer was. However, God does bless us as we give to others. It gives us a chance to be like our Father by giving to others.

You do need to participate joyfully and not under compulsion (2 Cor. 9:7). God gives that way and so should we. God also sends His rain on the just and unjust and a portion of our giving can be to people who don’t necessarily deserve it. I still remember a non-Christian who told me that he wouldn’t give blood because the might give it to a crook or some other undeserving person. I think he was just scared to give blood but I’m glad God doesn’t only give to the deserving since there are none righteous and no one deserves salvation. It is good to give when others don’t know that you gave.

This week, in addition to your giving this morning, give something to someone else and, if possible, do it in a way that they will be unable to figure out who gave the gift. Do this to worship God who gave to you when you didn’t know Him.