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Teaching Outline Hosea 4:1-3

13 Friday Jul 2018

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(This is an initial outline and observations on Hosea 4:1-3)
Hosea 4:1–3 (ESV)

4 Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

Observations:

This text consists of four parts:

First, a command

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,

Second, the basis of the command

for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

Third, the substance of the “controversy”:

There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land;
2 there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Fourth, the results of bad acts (which are the substance of the controversy):

3 Therefore the land mourns,
and all who dwell in it languish,
and also the beasts of the field
and the birds of the heavens,
and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

I. The command: Hear or Listen to the word of the Lord.

A. What is it to hear/listen

1. It is not bare auditory reception.
2. It is hearing coupled with response: there must be an acknowledgement which goes beyond a passive “hearing”.

B. What is meant by the “word of the Lord”?

II. What is meant by a “controversy”?

A. Translations:

ESV: controversy
NET: covenant lawsuit
HCSB/NASB95: case
NIV/NIV84: charge

B. What do we make of this?

1. A legal proceeding.

2. The covenant between YHWH and Israel

III. What is the substance of the charge

A. What Israel has not done

1. The specific elements

a. no faithfulness

i. This element is often found in conjunction with hesed/steadfast love

Genesis 24:27 (ESV)
27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

Genesis 24:27 (ESV)
27 and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

2 Samuel 2:6 (ESV)
6 Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing.

See, also gen. 24:48-49

ii. It is a characteristic of God

Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV)
6 The Lord passed befor
e him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

2 Samuel 7:28 (ESV)
28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

Jeremiah 10:10 (ESV)
10 But the Lord is the true God;
he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

iii. It is an aspect of God’s goodness

Isaiah 38:19 (ESV)
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.

Isaiah 42:3 (ESV)
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.

Isaiah 61:8 (ESV)
8 For I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Jeremiah 32:41 (ESV)
41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

iv It is an element of true worship/life before God

Joshua 24:14 (ESV)
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

1 Samuel 12:24 (ESV)
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

1 Kings 2:1–4 (ESV)
When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

2 Kings 20:3 (ESV)
3 “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Isaiah 10:20 (ESV)
20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

v. It is what God requires:

Ezekiel 18:5–9 (ESV)
5 “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7 does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8 does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 9 walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.

(This has multiple parallels to Hosea 4:1-3)

v. It is truth in communication

1 Kings 22:16 (ESV)
16 But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?”6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom,

vi. It is security in the social world:

2 Kings 20:19 (ESV)
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

vii. God condemns its lack among his people:

Isaiah 48:1 (ESV)
Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,
and who came from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.

Isaiah 59:14–15 (ESV)
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.

Jeremiah 9:4 (ESV)
4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

b. no steadfast love

This is the goodness of relationship between human beings and between human beings and God:

1. joint obligation between relatives, friends, host and guest, master and servant; closeness, solidarity, loyalty: a) חֶסֶד and בְּרִית (שֹׁמֵר הַבְּ׳ וְהַח׳ Dt 79, with שָׁמַר 712); בּ׳ comes about by a ceremony ח׳ results from the closer relationship between two people, the obligations are largely the same; ח׳ וֶאֱמֶת Gn 2427.49 and אֱמוּנָה וְח׳ Ps 8925 lasting loyalty, faithfulness; עָשָׂה ח׳ to show loyalty Gn 2123 Jos 212 Ju 124 835 1S 156 208 2S 38 91.7 102 Ru 18 1C 192; b) ח׳ exists between a son and a dying father Gn 4729, a wife and a husband Gn 2013 (cf. Jr 22 || אַהֲבָה), relatives Ru 220, guests Gn 1919, friends 1S 208 2S 91, people who do each other a service Ju 124, king and people 2S 38 2C 2422; c) > esp.: אִישׁ ח׳ confidant Pr 1117, cj. אִישׁ חַסְדְּךָ your faithful servant Dt 338 (alt. favourite) אַנְשֵׁי ח׳ the godly Is 571; מַלְכֵי ח׳ loyal kings 1K 2031; אִישׁ חַסְדּוֹ each one’s faithfulness Pr 206; d) community > protection Ps 1442 (prp. חָסְנִי), > favour Ezr 29.17 (חֵן וָח׳), ח׳ לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ the favour of the king Ezr 728; תּוֹרַת ח׳ kind teaching Pr 3126; charm (of flowers) Is 406 (cf. MHb. חסודה lovely, cj. חֶמְדּוֹ); —2. ח׳ in God’s relationship with the people or an individual, faithfulness, goodness, graciousness: a) ח׳ י׳ Ps 335 10317, ח׳ אֱלֹהִים 2S 93 Ps 5210; ח׳ עֶלְיוֹן 218; לְעוֹלָם חַסדּוֹ Jr 3311 Ps 1361-26 1005 1061 1071 1181-4.29 Ezr 311; cj. Ps 44 (rd. חַסדּוֹ לִי) and 122 (rd. חֶסֶד), בְּחַסְדְּךָ in your faithfulness (to me) 14312; mercy חָפֵץ ח׳ :: אַף Mi 718; b) עָשָׂה ח׳ to show faithfulness with עִם Ru 18, with לְ Ex 206 and above (→ 1a); שָׁמַר ח׳ Dt 79 Da 94 and נָצַר ח׳ to keep faithfulness Ex 347 זָכַר ח׳ to remember Ps 983, עָזַב ח׳ מֵעִם to withdraw faithfulness Gn 2427; c) God is רַב ח׳ abounding in faithfulness Ex 346 Nu 1418 Jl 213 Jon 42 Ps 865.15 1038 Neh. 917; —3. pl. חֲסָדִים, חֲסָדַי etc. the individual actions resulting from solidarity: a) (of people) godly action, achievements: by Nehemiah Neh 1314, Hezekiah 2C 3232, Josiah 3526; b) (God’s) proofs of mercy Gn 3211 Is 637 Ps 892 Lam 322; חַסְדֵי דָוִיד mercies shown to David Is 553 2C 642; רַחֲמִים וַחֲסָדִים Ps 256; —Ps 523 rd. חָסִיד, Pr 2028b rd. בַּצֶּדֶק (?).

Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 336–337.

c. no knowledge of God in the land

Joshua 4:23–24 (ESV)
23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

1 Kings 8:59–60 (ESV)
59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.

Isaiah 5:11–14 (ESV)
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
as wine inflames them!
12 They have lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,
or see the work of his hands.
13 Therefore my people go into exile
for lack of knowledge;
their honored men go hungry,
and their multitude is parched with thirst.
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,
her revelers and he who exults in her.

Isaiah 11:2 (ESV)
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:5 (ESV)
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.

Ezekiel 38:16 (ESV)
16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Malachi 2:7 (ESV)
7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
(God will condemn the priests for not teaching in the remainder of Hosea 4)

Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Which implies that the people addressed by Hosea do not have the fear of the Lord; rather, they are “fools”
Proverbs 1:29 (ESV)
29 Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

2. Why are these particular things important?

A. These are the prerequisites for serving God and for living rightly in society. There can be no right action before man or God without right knowledge of relationship to God (knowledge of God).

B. We can think of these as a summary of the covenant obligations: Knowledge of God and right life before God and with men. Or,

Mark 12:28–34 (ESV)
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

(Note also “hearing”).

B. What Israel has done?

1. there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

2. Details of these elements:

a. Swearing

1 Kings 8:31–32 (ESV)
31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

Hosea 10:4 (ESV)
4 They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.

Matthew 5:33–37 (ESV)
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

James 5:12 (ESV)
12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

b. Lying

כָּחַשׁ (kā·ḥǎš): v.; ≡ Str 3584; TWOT 975—1. LN 23.142–23.184 (qal) be thin, become lean, i.e., lose body weight as an indication of lack of health (Ps 109:24+), see also domain LN 86.1–86.3; 2. LN 17.20 (nif) cringe, cower, i.e., bow in submission, but in fear and not in respect or relationship, as an extension of lying or not being truthful in the relationship (Dt 33:29+); (piel) cringe, cower (Ps 18:45[EB 44]; 66:3; 81:16[EB 15]+); (hitp) cringe, cower (2Sa 22:45+); 3. LN 33.251–33.255 (piel) lie, deceive, i.e., to not tell the truth by speaking lies, or acting in deception (Ge 18:15; Lev 5:21[EB 6:2],22[EB 6:3]; 19:11; Jos 7:11; 24:27; 1Ki 13:18; Isa 59:13; Jer 5:12; Hos 4:2; Zec 13:4+), see also domain LN 72; 4. LN 57.37–57.48 (piel) fail, lack, i.e., not have enough of a quantity of items (Hos 9:2; Hab 3:17+); 5. LN 34.31–34.39 (piel) disown, i.e., to no longer be in association, and so be unfaithful (Job 8:18; 31:28; Pr 30:9+)

James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

Leviticus 19:11 (ESV)
11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.

c. Murder

Exodus 20:13 (ESV)
13 “You shall not murder.

Numbers 35:30–34 (ESV)
30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

d. Adultery

Exodus 20:14 (ESV)
14 “You shall not commit adultery.

Jeremiah 23:9–14 (ESV)
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the Lord.
12 Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
declares the Lord.
13 In the prophets of Samaria
I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

(There are multiple parallels with Hosea 4-5)

C. The list of what has and has not been done roughly parallel the Ten Commandments

IV. The Results of the Sin

A. De-creation:

1. Zephaniah 1:2–6 (ESV)
2 “I will utterly sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
3 “I will sweep away man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
I will cut off mankind
from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
and yet swear by Milcom,
6 those who have turned back from following the Lord,
who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

2. This is a specific instance of the general curse of the Fall:

Genesis 3:17–19 (ESV)
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”

Romans 8:19–22 (ESV)
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

3. When God brings judgment, he removes his blessing – which entails even the existence of the created order.

B. Common Grace is implied here. Discuss that doctrine?

V. Use

Use 1. Israel’s fault was first not listen. Therefore, we must know how to listen rightly. Hebrews 3-4

Use 2. Why did Israel fall into this sin? Because they stopped hearing, they stopped listening to the word of the Lord.

a. Why does one stop listening?

1. Idolatry (Ps. 115/Mark 4:9)
2. Trials and riches: Mark 4:1-20
3. Heb. 3:12-13

Use 3. Why does God call Israel to hear if he has convicted Israel of crime and has already pronounced sentence? God’s pronouncement of judgment is first meant to sound an alarm to bring sinners to repentance. Jonah 4

Ezekiel 18:21–23 (ESV)
21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?

Repent and believe

Mark 1:14–15 (ESV)
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The Savior Who Bears Shame

17 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Hosea, Preaching, Sermons, Uncategorized

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(This is the introduction to a sermon on Hosea 1-2)

The Savior Who Bears Shame

Hosea 1:2 (NASB95)

2          When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.”

The story of Hosea is a story of the unyielding, unchanging grace and love of God. It is the story of love which undergirds the course of history. The love and grace of God form the architecture of the movement of time. The rebellion of Adam and failure of Israel could not unmake the love of God. “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”. Rom. 5:20.

God’s grace brings life from death, for

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 (NASB95)

27        … God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

            28        and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,

            29        so that no man may boast before God.

This love runs deep in the channels of time; it forms the steel frame of all the universe; it bears such strength that not even death, not even adultery can break the bond of God’s love. It is the love of a God which begins before God said, “Let there be light.”  As Paul tells Titus, God promised eternal life, “long ages ago.”  It is a love which stretch into all eternity, as Christ has promised, “Where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3. It a transforming love which takes the one who is unlovely, and remakes him; it is love which presents the bride, “holy and blameless”.  Eph. 5:27

It is a love that will overcome all obstacles, so that not even the foulest rebellion will thwart his love:

For love is as strong as death

Jealousy is as severe as Sheol

It’s flashes are flashes of fire

The very fame of the Lord

Many waters cannot quench love

Nor will rivers overflow it

If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love

It would be utterly despised.

Song 8:6-7

But the story of God’s love in Hosea does not begin with the beauty of romance; with the hope and expectation of young love. The story begins with rank adultery, with spite, with unloved children, with war and chaos lurking at the horizon.

The book begins with this gunshot to the chest. We know nothing Hosea before — and little after — this command comes from the Lord:

Go take for yourself a wife of harlotry

Or as the King James aptly puts it

take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms

There is no preparation told us for this command. God comes and makes this command — and the personal commands of God cannot be avoided — a shocking command. Image come has come to you and says, You, marry that whore. Think of the confusion, the revulsion, the pain.

The command is almost inexplicable on its face. A variety of commentators have sought many explanations — and there are several explanations — but none of them can really get around the point of the disgust.

John Calvin, for instance, cannot believe that God would give such a command to the prophet. He draws out the trouble here: the wife to be is not “without blame in holiness before our God and Father”. She is no one’s “hope or joy or crown of exultation.” As Calvin writes, this woman

who has exposed herself to all, to gratify the wish of all, who has prostituted herself, not once or twice, nor to a few men, but to all.

This woman is not beguiling, not attractive. She is ruined with lust. Calvin cannot believe that God would bring such shame upon His prophet

for how could he expect to be received after having brought upon himself such disgrace.

Keep that question in mind, for that shame and disgrace are at the heart of the love of God. But for now just see this: God commands Hosea to marry a whore, because God himself is married to whore:

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry;

Having given the command, God gives the reason:

for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.”

The shame the Lord calls the prophet to bear is the shame which the Lord, himself, bears.

Surgeon: The Immutability of God (Sermon 1.1)

10 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Charles Spurgeon, Preaching, Sermons, Uncategorized

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The sermon’s content is in the title: the immutability of God. It breaks down into three sections: some ways in which God is unchangeable; proof of the point and application. His text is,

“I am the Lord, I charge not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”-Malachi 3:6.

The Introduction. He begins with a contrast, the proper study of mankind is not man, but rather God. He discusses how the contemplation of God is the highest task a human can undertake — and the best for the human being:

Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound, in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief- and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrows? Would you drown your cares? Then go plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul, so calm the swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.

I. A general statement of the doctrine.

God is unchangeable in his essence.

God is unchangeable in his attributes.

God is unchangeable in his plans.

God is unchangeable in his promises.

God is unchangeable in his threatenings.

God is unchangeable in the objects of his love.

II. Proof of the point.

It is implied in the very idea of God.

His perfection implies he is unchangeable.

His infinity implies he is not changeable.

His actions imply he is unchangeable.

III. Those who benefit from this fact.

He asks who are these “sons of Jacob”. In short, the elect. But in it also refers to particular people, those who are in most need of an unchangeable God.

IV. What is the benefit of this truth?

A strong arm hath saved me. I have started back and cried, O God! could I have gone so near sin, and yet come back again? Could I have walked right up to the furnace and not fallen down, like Nebuchadnezzar’s strong men, devoured by the very heat? Oh! is it possible I should be here this morning, when I think of the sins I have committed, and the crimes which have crossed my wicked imagination? Yes, I am here, unconsumed, because the Lord changes not. Oh! if he had changed, we should have been consumed in a dozen ways; if the Lord had changed, you and I should have been consumed by ourselves; for after all Mr. Self is the worst enemy a Christian has. We should have proved suicides to our own souls; we should have mixed the cup of poison for our own spirits, if the Lord had not been an unchanging God, and dashed the cup out of our hands when we were about to drink it. Then we should have been consumed by God himself if he had not been a changeless God. We call God a Father- but there is not a father in this world who would not have killed all his children long ago, so provoked would he have been with them, if he had been half as much troubled as God has been with his family. He has the most troublesome family in the whole world-unbelieving, ungrateful, disobedient, forgetful, rebellious, wandering, murmuring, and stiffnecked. Well it is that he is longsuffering, or else he would have taken not only the rod, but the sword to some of us long ago. But there was nothing in us to love at first, so there cannot be less now. John Newton used to tell a whimsical story, and laugh at it too, of a good woman who said, in order to prove the doctrine of Election, “Ah! sir, the Lord must have loved me before I was born, or else he would not have seen anything in me to love afterwards.” I am sure it is true in my case, and true in respect most of God’s people; for there is little to love in them after they are born, that if he had not loved them before then, he would have seen no reason to choose them after- but since he loved them without works, he loves them without works still; since their good works did not win his affection, bad works cannot sever that affection- since their righteousness did not bind his love to them, so their wickedness cannot snap the golden links. He loved them out of pure sovereign grace, and he will love them still. But we should have been consumed by the devil and by our enemies-consumed by the world, consumed by our sins, by our trials and in a hundred other ways, if God had ever changed.

 

 

 

 

 

If A Man Die

10 Saturday Dec 2016

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A sermon truly begins with the listener: Why should I listen to this man? He asks for my attention, why should I care? (Now, note, I am not saying that the Words of God should not be carefully attended to. That is unquestionably true.)

When one comes to a sermon, the preacher has the duty to presenting the great matter of eternity before him. Baxter rightly wrote, “I preach as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” But too often sermons which begin with cute, often funny stories, cannot command that sort of gravity. If the sermon merely begin a joke, how do we ever get to matters of eternal consequence?

This introduction by J.D. Jones certainly opens up a matter of profound gravity. He also immediately makes it to Scripture. He asks a question and answers with the Text. He also demonstrates by means of a contemporary reference (WWI), that the question is immediately relevant:

IF A MAN DIE—

THERE is no question to which the human soul more eagerly desires a clear and sure answer than this one: “If a man die, shall he live again?” It is an old, old question. Job asked it long ago in an agony. The one fact he could see, the one fact which admitted of no challenge or dispute, was the tragic fact of death. “Man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the river decayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep.” And yet, if the grave really was the end, if death was the very last word, it seemed to Job that life was just a tangled web of injustice and wrong, and that there could not be a wise and good God at the heart of things. That sorely-tried patriarch passionately desired an assurance that man should live again. He almost demanded a future life to rectify the wrongs and waste and distresses of this. There is entreaty, there is pathetic appeal, there is passion and desire in this question: “If a man die, shall he live again?”
Thousands and tens of thousands of people are asking that same question with a similar urgency in these days of ours. The awful harvest which death has been reaping in the Great War has made it the question of questions for a vast host of bereaved fathers and mothers and wives and lovers. They want to know—what of their beloved dead? Is a grave in France or Mesopotamia, or beneath the waters of the North Sea the end of them, or shall they live again?

J. D. Jones, If a Man Die (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1918), 9–12.

Lemuel Haynes, The Character and Work of a Spiritual Watchman (1791), Part 5

04 Sunday Dec 2016

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(The final portion of the sermon)

A FEW PARTICULAR ADDRESSES

First, to him who is about to set apart to the work of Gospel Ministry in this place

Dear Sir,

From the preceding observations, you will easily see that the work before you is great and solemn: and I hope this is a lesson you have been taught otherwise: the former acquaintance I have had with you gives me reason to hope that this is the case. You about to have these souls committed to your care; you are to be placed as a watchman upon the walls of this part of Zion. I doubt not but that it is with trembling you enter upon this work. The relation that this day’s business has with a judgment to come renders the scene affecting. Your mind I trust has already anticipated the solemn moment when you must meet these people before the bar of God. The good profession you are this state to make is before many witnesses; saints and wicked men are beholding; the angels are looking down upon us; above all the great God with complacency or disapprobation beholds the transactions of this day: he sees what motives govern you, and he will proclaim it before the assembled universe. Oh! solemn and affecting thought! The work before you is great and requires great searching of heart, great self-diffidence, and self abasement. How necessary that you feel your dependence upon God: you cannot perform any part of your work without his help; under a sense of your weakness, repair to him for help. Would you be a successful minister, you must be a praying dependent one; do all in the name and strength of the Lord Jesus. Would you be faithful in watching for the souls of men, you must be much and watching your own heart. If you are careless with respect to your own soul, you will be also with respect to others. Although the work is too great for you, yet let such considerations as these revive your desponding heart. That the cause is good, better than life, you may well give up all for it. ’Tis the cause of God, and that which will prove victorious in spite of all opposition from men or devils –that God has promised to be with his ministers to the end of the world–that the work is delightful; Paul somewhere blesses God for putting him into the work of the ministry –the campaign is short, your warfare will soon be accomplished– That the reward is great, being found faithful, you will receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Secondly, We have a word to the church and congregation in this place.

My Brethren and Friends,

The importance of the work of a gospel minister suggests the weighty concerns of your souls. As ministers must give account how they preach and behave; so hearers also are to be examined how they hear and improve. You are to hear with the view to the day of judgment, always remembering that there is no sermon or opportunity that you have in this life to repair for another world that shall go unnoticed at that decisive court. Your present exercises with respect to the solemn affairs of this day will then come up to public view.

God we trust is this day sending one to watch for your souls: should not this excite sentiments of gratitude in your breasts? Shall God makes so much care for your souls and you neglect them? How unreasonable will it be for you to despise the pious instruction of your watchmen? You will herein wrong your own souls and it will be an evidence that you love death. You will bear with him in not accommodating his sermons to your vitiated tastes because he must give account. His work is great and you must pray for him; as in the verse following the text the apostle says, “Brethren pray for us.”

Is it the business of your minister to watch for your souls with such indefatigable assiduity, you easily see how necessary it is that you do what you can to strengthen him in this work. That you minister to his temporal wants, that he may give himself wholly to these things. The great backwardness among people in general with respect to this matter at present is an unfavorable aspect. “Who goeth to warfare anytime at his own charges? Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or feedeth a flock and earth not of the milk of the flock?” 1 Cor. ix. 7.

Doubtless this man is sent here for the rise and fall of many in this place. We hope we will be used as a means of leading some to Christ; while on the other hand, we even tremble at the thought, he may fit others for more aggravated condemnation. Take heed how you hear.

A few words to the assembly in general to close the subject.

What has been said about the character and work of gospel ministers shows us at once it is a matter in which we are all deeply interested. The greater part of the people present, I expect to see you no more until I meet them at that day, which has been the main subject of the foregoing discourse. With respect to the character of the people present, we can say little about them; only this we may observe, they are all dying creatures, hastening to the grave and to judgment: there must we meet you–there an account of this day’s work will come up to view–there each one must give an account concerning the right discharge of the work assigned him: the preacher must give an account, and you that hear also.

Let me say to such as our yet in their sins and proclaim it from this part of the wall of Zion, that the enemy of your souls is at hand– that destruction awaits you. Oh! flee! flee! to Christ Jesus: bow to his sovereignty; Know this, but except you were born again and become new creatures in the dispositions of your mind, you cannot be saved. Shall ministers watch and pray for your souls night and day and you pay no attention to them; since they are so valuable, having such a relation to God, did men regard divine glory they would regard their souls as being designed to exhibit it.

Be instructed then, to delay no longer, but by repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ make peace with him before you were summoned before his awful bar. Let me bear testimony against your practice too common on such occasions as this: many people think it is time for carnal mirth and dissipation, that which nothing can be more provoking to God nor incommensurate with that day and strict account that such an occasion tends to exciting the mind. May all, both ministers and people, be exhorted to diligence in their work, that finally we me adopt the language of the Blessed apostle, “As also ye have acknowledged us in part that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

AMEN

Walk With Christ

08 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Preaching, Romans, Sermons, Uncategorized

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(The following is the rough draft of a manuscript sermon to be preached on October 9 in Fountains Hills, Arizona. At the end are some application questions for small groups discussion)

Walk With Christ

I have a duty this morning, to teach you what is called a “distinctive” of Harvest Bible Chapel. That means it is something which we emphasize and something which may distinguish our fellowship from other Christian groups.

My point is very simple: God saves us so that we will walk with him. We are saved from sin to obedience. We are saved to walk with Christ. I am going to say something similar over and over: We are saved to walk with Christ.

A week ago, my family and I went to the see the Space Shuttle at the Science Center in Los Angeles. We looked at the tires, and the computers, and control panels and cockpit. We watched movies of take-offs and looked at exhibits, and then walked under and around the actual shuttle. We spent an hour looking at and around the space shuttle, but it was alway the space shuttle which had our attention.

This morning will be like that: we are going to look all sorts of passages and ask all sorts of questions, but in the end our position will be the same: You must walk with Christ. I must walk with Christ. It is our duty, our destiny, our honor and our joy. There is going to be a lot of repetition, but there will also be many parts. Just remember this will be like walking around the great space shuttle exhibit: Here we are looking at the space suits, there we are looking at the giant thrusters, but we are always looking at the space shuttle.

I am going to come back to this idea that we must walk with God. First, I am going to show you that we must walk with God. Then I am going to consider some objections to walking with God. Some people think this is legalism. Some Christians are ignorant of the need to walk with God. Some other Christians — probably most of us — know that we are to walk with God, but it seems beyond us and struggle with hope and despair.

Therefore, I am going to prove all that we must walk with God. I will tell the legalist that walking with God is not error: instead it is the entire point of salvation.

The Christian who just doesn’t know about holiness, who has been confused: for you, I will try to un-confuse you.

And finally, for those who veer between hope and despair, I will seek to bring some comfort and stability.

So on to our main point: You must walk with Christ if you are a Christian.

There are areas where Christians can be distinguished from one-another and still be Christians. Some Christians baptize the infants of believers; some do not. Some Christians believe we are now in the millennium; some think the millennium is still to come. These distinctive are important, but they do not distinguish between those who are Christians and those who are not.

This morning we are going to discuss the distinctive of “walking with Christ”. No Christian can be a Christian who does not walk with Christ. I not know how one can claim to be Christian, a follower of Jesus, if she does not walk with Christ. This must be an emphasize of a Christian Church, but it is sad that it might actually make a Christian Church “distinct” in any manner.

You see, the idea and command to walk with Christ is everywhere in the Scripture. Jesus gave the Church one command, make disciples. You can see this in Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Do you see that language, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”. That means that disciples of Jesus have to do something. It is inherent in the idea of being a disciple: one who is a learner and a follower. A Christian knows Christ, loves Christ and follows Christ:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James 1:22 (ESV). To be a Christian is an active, passionate pursuit of holiness:

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV). Or John:

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

1 John 3:16 (ESV). Or Paul in Ephesians:

4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

Ephesians 4:1 (ESV). It is in the Old Testament also:

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2  but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1–2 (ESV). All of these passages and dozens more besides make the point that being a Christian is very much a matter of how we live. Being a Christian is a matter of holiness, of leaving behind sin, or walking with God.

Peter writes:

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:13–16 (ESV). You must be holy, you must walk worthy; there is no option, there is no wiggle-room on this point?

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Sermon Outline: Isaiah 15-16

25 Thursday Aug 2016

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(Picture, “War & Poverty” by Kelly Short — I am using this picture because it provokes one to sympathy by seeing the horror of war — is one of the primary effects of Isaiah 15-16)

In reading Isaiah 15-16, I thought (1) How would I preach this passage? And (2) What is important in the manner of its composition: It is poetry, with a great deal of emphatic compression, repetition and imagery. Why is written like this and not as a narrative or as a didactic declaration?

I.  The Horror of Judgment

The overall tone is one of pathos. The repetition insists upon the horror and sorrow:

Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night

Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night

And so on. Every detail of the devastation is repeated and amplified. It is like a series of snapshots of broken walls, bodies and wailing. The destruction is absolute and goes down even to the earth. 16:8-10

There are refugees fleeing in all directions and the terror and sorrow spread in all directions like blood from the corpses:

Isaiah 15:8–9 (ESV)

8           For a cry has gone

around the land of Moab;

her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.

9           For the waters of Dibon are full of blood;

for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

a lion for those of Moab who escape,

for the remnant of the land.

I can help thinking of all the millions pouring out of the Middle East who suffer loss and death and sorrow even as they flee. Any sermon must effectuate the sorrow and horror of the judgment or the sermon will have failed in its purpose.

II.  The Cause of Judgment

Second there is the cause of this devastation:

Isaiah 16:6–7 (ESV)

6           We have heard of the pride of Moab—

how proud he is!—

of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

in his idle boasting he is not right.

7           Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,

let everyone wail.

Mourn, utterly stricken,

for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

This reminds me of Obadiah 3 (which is interesting when you compare this to Amos 1:11-12 & 2:1-3).  So this horror has come about because of pride.

III.  The Escape from Judgment

Third, this is the real bite in the passage. God has destroyed Moab with a horror beyond belief.  But God mourns the destruction:

Isaiah 15:5 (ESV)

5           My heart cries out for Moab;

her fugitives flee to Zoar,

to Eglath-shelishiyah.

For at the ascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to Horonaim

they raise a cry of destruction;

 

Isaiah 16:9 (ESV)

9           Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer

for the vine of Sibmah;

I drench you with my tears,

O Heshbon and Elealeh;

for over your summer fruit and your harvest

the shout has ceased.

God loves his enemies: God judges, and yet there is compassion for the necessity of the judgment:

Luke 19:41–44

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

There is a command to shelter the refugees:

Isaiah 16:3–5 (ESV)

3           “Give counsel;

grant justice;

make your shade like night

at the height of noon;

shelter the outcasts;

do not reveal the fugitive;

4           let the outcasts of Moab

sojourn among you;

be a shelter to them

from the destroyer.

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

5           then a throne will be established in steadfast love,

and on it will sit in faithfulness

in the tent of David

one who judges and seeks justice

and is swift to do righteousness.”

Notice this command ends with the protection in the tent of David. This phrase “tent of David” matches (in the LXX) the language of Acts 15:16:

The citation from Amos 9:12 follows the LXX fairly closely, though this version differs from the Massoretic (Hebrew) text in significant ways.49 ‘Precisely the divergence of the LXX from the Hebrew enables the text to be used midrashically.’50 The purpose of this restoration of the Davidic rule is not simply to bless Israel but also ‘ “that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things” ’. James adds words possibly taken from Isaiah 45:21 ‘ “(things known from long ago” ’) as a gloss on the concluding words from Amos 9:12 (‘ “these things” ’).51 This addition strengthens the claim that God’s plan to save Gentiles along with Jews is no novelty, since it was part of his eternal purpose (cf. Rom. 15:8–12).

David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 432.

The language of the throne coupled to the tent of David strengthens the tie to Jesus (and all of the cross-references to Jesus based upon this language).

The reason why the sorrow and terror are seen throughout the poem is that God intends to provoke the same sorrow and terror in the hearer. Moab is guilty. The judgment is justice, but it is sad, frightening event. God is calling upon his people to rescue the judged people of Moab.

It is interesting that it is not certain what attack is being foretold:

The first part of the prophecy, 15:1–9, tells of the devastating effect of the disaster which was to befall Moab. As noted above, the actual nature of the attack cannot be determined from the general account here. The major emphasis is upon the effect, which will be that the Moabites will be so demoralized that their only response will be weeping and flight.

John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986), 336–337.

But by analogy, the lesser judgment all foretell the greater judgment to come. This would lend itself, by such analogy to a very evangelistic plea. The tie to seeking protection in the tent of David would strengthen the argument.

God foretells this judgment, primarily to the people of God, to provoke them with both the horror of the judgment and the sorrow of the victims (who deserve the judgment) so that they will reach out and rescue these people by bringing them into the tent of David.

Sermon Outline: Nehemiah 3

31 Tuesday May 2016

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Difficulty with the text: on its face, this is a dull text. There is conflict before and after Nehemiah 3, but this chapter presents little conflict (there is a mention of some kind of conflict involving the nobles of Tekoa —Neh. 3:5b— but that is not explained).

One might be tempted to spiritualize the text by making some arcane symbols of the gates and the order: but that is not warranted from the text. It is a simple list of the work which was completed. The NIV Study Bible note even suggests the that list was essentially Nehemiah’s project list.

Therefore, we can begin with the question of “Why is this project list even in the Bible?”

It shows that the people were faithful to the call.
It shows that the work of God often entails planning and dull work.
It also shows that the extraordinary work of God is often ordinary.

The Extraordinary Ordinary Work of God

A.  This work, on its face, is hardly “spiritual”: they built a wall.
1. When we think of “spiritual” or “religious” work or effort
a. This leads us to split our lives in parts, generally (there is my “religious” life and my regular life).
b. It causes us to undervalue or misperceive the life of the gathered people of God. 1 Cor. 12 — and thus lose out on the blessings of God, because we may fail to see the greatest of the gifts given. 1 Cor. 13.
2. All of our live is to be “spiritual”. 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:23
B.  We know this work was extraordinary from the context
1. This is recorded in the Bible, so we have the grandest of contexts.
2. We know the story of Nehemiah in particular.
3. The opposition from the wicked is another indicator of God’s presence. The Devil cannot be in the presence of God’s work and keep quiet. Mark 1:23; 5:2.
4. The actors saw this as spiritual work: Neh. 3:1. The text begins with the high priest who arose to do the work. The priests consecrated the gate & walls.

C. The work of God cannot always be seen for what it is
1. Sometimes God’s work is invisible.
a. To unbelievers Mark 4:12
b. To believers Mark 6:51-52
2. Sometimes the work of God provokes
a. Mark 3:1-6
b. Neh. 2:10 & 19; 4:1, et seq.
What is miraculous here?
1. Relevant dates:
538: Return from exile
520: Haggai
516: Temple
458: Ezra
445: Nehemiah
It’s been 90 years since the return from exile
It’s been 70 years since the time was built.
2. The people have shown no natural heart for the work.
3. These people were prone to all sorts of trouble: Ezra 9:1, Hag. 1:9
4. The work was subject to outside troubles: Ez. 4:17, etc.
5. Just consider what people who had fallen into lifetimes of workless habit would be like. That they would change at all would be indicative of supernatural action (Hag. 1:14; cf, Acts 17:6 vs. Mark 14:50).

Application
1. The miraculous work of God is often ordinary in how it looks: The miracle may even be largely invisible: like building a wall, the most mundane sort of thing.
2. The ordinary work of the church is supernatural
a. The preaching of the gospel. 1 Peter 1:12
b. Sanctification. Gal. 5:16 & 22-26
c. It is also seen in the acts of (i) Sending a man from one place to another (Eph. 6:21); (ii) a greeting (Rom. 16:22, 1 Cor. 16:20); (iii) establishing churches (Tit. 1:5); (iv) strengthening a church (1 Tim. 1:3). [These are things commanded or commended by an apostle. They were things which the Spirit deemed worthy of recording. None would have taken place without the Spirit’s work).

Sermon Outline, John 1:11

24 Tuesday May 2016

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John 1:11 (ESV)

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

How to preach this.
There are three parts to the verse
An action: he came
The recipients of the action: his own
The response: rejection

I. He Came

Implications:
a) If he came, he was not there before: why the absence? (Gen. 3)
b) The waiting for the Messiah
c) There was no ability to compel God to come (the idea of compelling God is at the heart of idolatry)
d) Parallels to the parables (e.g. Luke 19:11)

A Miracle
What a wonder is here:
a) The Incarnation
b) The distance between dark & light, creature & Creator

II.His Own
a)His own by creation
b)His own by covenant/promise
c) Contrast, those under the New Covenant will receive him — these will come by conquest

III. Rejection
a) They could see him
b) Killed him
c) They did not understand (1 Cor. 2:8, 2 Cor. 4:4)
d) This will turn to judgment

1 Peter 2:1-3, What about Milk?

11 Thursday Feb 2016

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1 Peter 2:1–3 (ESV)

2 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Is it pure spiritual milk, or

1 Peter 2:1–3 (NASB95)

1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

What does it mean to taste that the Lord is good?