Three weeks ago I was in Athens, Greece with one of our Gospel Partners. Saturday morning’s schedule was free from commitments so we traveled out to the Areopagus and climbed up Mars Hill, the great setting for Paul’s confronting the Greeks with the gospel in Acts 17. The hike up was more strenuous then I imagined and when we reached the top I remember standing somewhat breathless—mostly in awe. The historical significance of city, the contemporary views of beauty, and the depth of meaning this mountain has to our understanding of God coalesced in together that moment and I found my soul stunned in wonder.

I believe God desires to do the exact same thing with us as we stare at this summit of truth about Jesus in Philippians 2:5-11. Dennis Johnson says, “This passage is . . . a majestic mountain peak, towering over the surrounding countryside. It is a pinnacle of theological truth, piercing the heavens and probing the mystery of the incarnation.” Alec Motyer writes, “[Here] we tread . . . on very holy ground indeed. We do well to remember that this privilege is given to us not to satisfy our curiosity but to reform out lives.” Gordon Fee agrees when he comments, “[This is] a passage that should cause the reader to soar.”

But let’s remember, this deep theological hymn is meant to fuel a particular practice in our life as a church: joyful unity. So let’s consider a couple ways to cultivate humility in our lives, according to our text.

Behold the glory of Christ. It begins here, it always begins here. We must load our minds with the glory of Christ in order to live for the glory of Christ. Where in your week are you devoting time to see and savor the glory of Christ? Maybe it’s personal times of devotion, small group, another discipling relationship, but how I long you might see gathered worship as God’s ordinary, ordained place to see the glory of His Son. It’s not legalism to say you must be doing it; we need the cultivation of desperation in our lives for to live we must look upon His glory. Which leads to the second point . . .

Believe the gospel of Christ. We don’t want to merely behold the glory of Christ in the gospel, we want to believe it. Jesus came to saves sinners like you and me. How’d he do it? By obeying to the point of death, even death on a cross. He now sits on high reigning in power, calling out through His word and Spirit, “Believe in me! Find your sin forgiven, your penalty of eternal death removed, and receive eternal life.” If you’re in hear tonight and are not a Christian I want you to feel the urgency of this gospel call. For 2:10-11 says every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. There is thus an eternal urgency before you in this text:

• Bow the knee today = salvation
• Bow the knee then = condemnation.

Will you believe today?

Be like the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Paul’s essential point: imitate Jesus’ example of humility. Be like him. Imitation may have fallen on hard times in some circles of Christianity, but it is oh so biblical. The pattern of our Lord is to be our pattern, humiliation now and exaltation then; humility now and glory then.

The first order of life in a faithful church, Paul says, is living worthy of the gospel of Christ; worthy living that is best seen by walking in humble unity. The struggle for humility for many of us is the hardest fight in the Christian life. And so Paul serves us by saying, “Look at the example of Christ; have that mind among you.” Joyful humility comes from seeing and savoring the example of Jesus Christ.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Rejoicing in Jesus,” on Philippians 2:5-11.

It’s as though Paul puts on his spiritual stethoscope, listens to the Philippians heartbeat, and discerns the disease of disunity threatening their fellowship. To help their joy in Christ, he gives tells them his diagnosis. He says first . . .

Diagnosing the Disease of Disunity

Selfish scheming is the symptom. In 2:3 Paul says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition.” The word here in Greek is political. Aristotle used it to describe the self-seeking pursuit of politicians to secure a seat in government. It’s an ugly self-promotion that will step on the necks of others to lift oneself up. Simply put, it’s the sinful advancement of self; advancing your interests, your concerns, your convictions, your goals at all costs.

Empty glory is the sickness. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.” I understand Paul to say here that selfish scheming comes from the sickness of conceit—more literally rendered “empty glory.” It’s the conceited opinion that says, “I am glorious.” It’s quite possible that down in the deeper recesses of your heart (I know it’s there in mine) you harbor a great fear that goes like this, “I’m terrified that I won’t matter, that others will think me unimportant. That many will not know how great and gifted I really am.” We have empty glory, which Satan will take and turn into selfish scheming. We want to manufacture what we lack, glory for ourselves. Paul has thus put a probing finger on the exposed nerve of the Philippians problem. But he doesn’t leave them here, he says next . . .

Authentic humility is the remedy. Look at the end of 2:3, “In humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Empty glory says, “I am significant,” but authentic humility counts others as more significant; it counts other as more worthy. Notice also how Paul counters selfish scheming in 2:4, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” If we count others as more significant than our attention will increasingly focus on their interests.

Last Sunday morning I was seated in our toy room, reading commentaries on Philippians, while our boys jumped from the fourth or fifth stair of our staircase onto a pillow bed they’d constructed. Every time Hudson would get ready to jump he’d say, “Daddy, watch.” This is a place were Philippians 2 meets everyday life. Will authentic humility watch him jump twenty times, or will empty glory say, “Son, I’m preparing to preach God’s word—I can’t watch right now.”

Philippians 2 meets everyday life when you are tired after work, want to watch television, and your wife asks if you will entertain the kids while she makes dinner. Philippians 2 meets everyday life when you want to let the world know about your opinions on social media and your child needs help with the homework. Philippians 2 meets everyday life when you want to tap out of serving in the church while a need around you screams, “Help!” Philippians 2 meets everyday life when you own interests lead you away from gathered worship while God’s people say, “We need your encouragement and your gifts to edify us.” Authentic humility is the God-ordained, everyday remedy for selfish scheming and empty glory.

Have you noticed how much Paul loves totality in instruction? He says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,” and “count everyone more significant than yourselves.” I know well the wickedness of my own heart (you may feel the same way about your own heart) and so when I hear such totality I say, “How is that possible? How can I put pride to death everywhere and walk in humility towards everyone?” Look at 2:5, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” What a declaration! Paul is saying here, unity in Christ comes from the humility of Christ. This mind of radical humility “is yours in Christ Jesus.” He is the perfection of humility. He did not count equality with God as thing to be grasped, but humbled himself to death on a cross—to pay the penalty for the sin of all who believe in him—and God has now exalted Him to His right hand in power and authority.

If you are not a Christian, see this good news—this gospel. This is the news that your sin, which the Bible says leads to death and eternal separation from joy, has been dealt with if you would turn from your sin and trust in Christ. He offers you His life, and gives you His mind of humility.

For us as a church, Paul is announcing to us that the humble mind of Christ is ours—we have it now through faith. So we should expect and desire humble unity to grow among us. Where that grows, joy increases. For humble unity is the perfection of Christian joy.

“The Perfect Church”

When I first joined the staff of Providence Church we would start every membership class with an exercise called, “The Perfect Church.” We’d get out the white board and ask, “What are the most important traits you’re looking for in a church?” i.e. describe the perfect church.” There were certain answers that always came up, “Love,” “sound preaching,” “community,” and “mission-mindedness.” The exercise reached its apex when, after a few minutes of writing things down, we’d say, “Now all of these things will be true of the church insofar as you help them to be true.”

Now, what would happen if we asked the apostle Paul the same question, “What are the most important traits in a church?” He would offer an answer I never once heard in five years of membership classes, “Humble unity.” The older I get, the more I study God’s word, the more I find myself longing and laboring to lead a church distinguished by humble unity. For humble unity is not only obedience, it is a picture of heaven—it helps the church live on earth as a colony of heaven.

Philippians 2 provides the key, so as we begin to close let me mention two things our text says must be true if we are to experience the joy of humble unity.

A church of humble unity . . .

Loves Christ supremely. Paul says in 2:2, “Have the same mind and same love.” There is one love to rule all others: the love of Jesus Christ. To walk in humble can only happen when we are exulting in Christ above all else. He is the person we cherish the most—more than spouse, children, family, or friends. He is the conviction we proclaim the loudest—more than politics, schooling, parenting, eating, and working. I wonder whom you love the most and what you love to proclaim the loudest.

A church of humble unity loves Christ supremely and . . .

Lives for Christ sacrificially. “Count others as more significant than yourselves,” Paul says. Sacrifice your desires and interests in order to see other brothers and sisters thrive spiritually. I’d encourage you as you leave tonight and go about this week to examine your life by asking the question, “Is there anywhere God is calling me to sacrifice personal interests so that unity in the church will grow?”

May our life together be one of loving Christ supremely and living for Christ sacrificially. Let us long to walk in humble unity, filling up each other’s joy in Christ. For humble unity is the perfection of Christian joy.

The post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Rejoicing in Unity,” on Philippians 2:1-4.

When Emily and I bought our first home in 2009 we moved in with plans to cut the cable. Emily at the time was working nights as a nurse and so I was left to my lonesome three evening each week. Previously, ESPN always occupied my attention (and sadly, my affections as well), but when cable was let go, I had to find other means of occupation. So, I went to the library and rented Band of Brothers for the first time.

Thus began my infatuation with World War II, and also my infatuation with reading. I was soon spending hours each night pouring through military history books, one of the first of which was Stephen Ambrose’s Citizens Soldiers. Elaborating on the title Ambrose opens with these words, “This book is about the citizen soldiers of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Forces in the European Theater of Operations in World War II. Although it includes some material on strategy . . . it is not a book about generals. It is about the GIs, [the ordinary men] of ETO—who they were, how they fought, what they endured, how they triumphed.”

“Citizen soldiers” is a most apt description of Christians according to our text. The verbs are almost exclusively political and militant. It’s as though Paul is saying, citizens of heaven are to live as soldiers for Christ. We thus see truth about our identity in Christ (citizens of heaven), and also about the tenacity of life in Christ (soldiers fighting worthy of the gospel).

But let us saying something here about living “worthy.” For how many of us, after seeing everything Paul says feel so unworthy. We are divisive complainers, fearful with the truth, and prone to distrust a sovereign God when He graces us with suffering. Far from being worthy soldiers for Christ, we are often unworthy deserters of Christ. If you are in here tonight and are not a Christian, the Bible says you are an enemy of Christ. What hope does Paul have for our unworthiness? Look back at 1:29. Paul writes, “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should . . . believe in him.” God meets our unworthiness with the worth of Christ, He graciously gives us faith in Jesus; faith that saves from sin and enlists us into Christ’s army. Oh, I pray that those of you apart from Christ tonight would see His supreme worth—that he died for sinners like you. If you would but turn from you sin and trust in Him, you will become a citizen of heaven and soldier of Christ.

If you are a Christian see afresh the grace that changes unworthy sinners into worthy citizen soldiers. His Spirit of Grace resides within you to enable you to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. So, as we close let me try and tie everything we’ve seen together as we consider what our text tells us about a church that lives worthy of the gospel.

A Church That Lives Worthy of the Gospel

We display the heart of Christ. The heart of Christ is one of unity. He secures it through his death, intercedes for it through His prayer, and builds it through His spirit. Steve Timmis said, “The church is the fruit of the cross. You may look across this room and be unhappy about a part of this body. Something that frustrates you, or some that makes you uncomfortable. But Jesus looks at us and say, “This is the fruit of my suffering and I love it.” So we are to stand firm in one spirit, with one mind.

We declare the truth of Christ. Through our preaching and hearing the word preached we take up arms against the forces of darkness. As we grow in the truth through discipling relationships and small groups we sharpen our blades to do battle against the Serpent. As we fathers and mothers lead our children to love and obey the truth we fit are putting them through a spiritual boot camp. And, as we’ve said already, we do all of this without fear. Courage is the seasoning that ought to permeate our declarations of truth.

We demonstrate the treasure of Christ. The grace of suffering will fall on you at some point. It’s has fallen on us multiple times this year, and we ought not to expect next year to be any different should the Lord tarry. It’s a grace for many reasons, one of which is that is allows us to demonstrate before the world what we truly treasure. Comfort? Pleasure? Success? Acclaim? Or, when all those things fall away, do we show that in plenty or in want, Jesus is our true treasure.

We are welcomed into the kingdom of Christ and called to behave as citizens worthy of the gospel; behavior Paul summarizes as showing our allegiance to Christ and perseverance in Christ. As those things happen we will find this church to be one that display the heart of Christ, declares the truth of Christ, and demonstrates the treasure of Christ. Living worthy of the gospel is the essence of the Christian life.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Rejoicing in Life,” on Philippians 1:27-30.

On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in the largest military invasion in history, Operation Barbarossa: three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea, a distance of two thousand miles. The world held its breath as the advance seemed unstoppable until it came to a grinding halt—for a lack of fuel. Germany’s eventual retreat from Russia signaled their end and it all began with a shortage of fuel.

The word Paul uses for “advance” in 1:12 is one that pictures an attack in war. Just like every advancing army in history, the advance of the gospel in and through God’s people depends on continual fuel. I want to consider now how our text answers two questions about advancing the gospel, the first of which is . . .

What fuels gospel advance in our lives?

Trust in the sovereignty of God. Look back at 1:16 where Paul says, “I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” “Put here” (keimei) is a theological term emphasizing the appointment to chains is a divine commission. Paul is saying, “God put me in these chains, so that I might defend the gospel.” Loving trust in the sovereignty of God allows you to look beyond the mere circumstances of your life to see the divine shadow of providence that is using your hardship for gospel good.

Trust in the sufficiency of Christ. In the midst of all this talk about suffering and preaching, there is a clear unifying passion: the sufficiency of Christ. If you look back you’ll notice that in each verse Paul either mentions message about Christ or the person of Christ. The sufficiency of Christ has season Paul so pervasively he can’t help but sense him and see him everywhere.

Think back to times when the advance of the gospel in your heart seems to have stalled. Could it not be because the sovereignty of God and sufficiency of Christ lost their sweetness, beauty, and power? If this is what fuels gospel advance, what does our text say about this second question . . .

What happens when the gospel advances in our lives?

Rejoicing replaces complaining. How easy it would have been for Paul to groan and grumble at his chains and opponents, yet he keeps rejoicing. Oh, how your sinful heart and Wormy enemy assaults you with arrows each day saying, “Look at your circumstances, see how many reasons you have to complain!” Whereas God’s word says, “Look at your circumstances, see how many reasons you have to rejoice!” As the gospel advances joy become the sweet song of everyday life.

Boldness replaces fear. Remember what Paul said in 1:14, “And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Increasing courage and boldness is a fruit of the gospel advancing in your life.

Humility replaces rivalry. For Paul, life on earth is too short and eternity in heaven is too long to preoccupy our mind with worldly envy and spiritual rivalry. Satisfaction in the gospel’s advance propels humility as the concerns of Christ become your own. As long as the focus is kept on Christ, there will be unity in the church.

Advance the gospel through suffering in Christ and through preaching Christ. When our joy is in the gospel of Jesus Christ and its progress in the world, we have an anchor that will weather even the darkest storms of life; an anchor that leads to rejoicing instead of complaining, boldness instead of fear, and humility instead of rivalry. Advancing the gospel is the heartbeat of Christian joy.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Rejoicing in Preaching,” on Philippians 1:12-18a.

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” – Philippians 1:9-11

Praying for Gospel Living

Andrew Fuller once said of Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:9-11, “There is no prayer that I or any other could offer up on your behalf that would be better or more desirable.” I think he’s right. You might consider memorizing these three verses and using them often as you pray through the church directory in your devotional time. Notice how Paul begins in 1:9, “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.” That Paul should pray for the Philippians love to abound is no great surprise, it is after all the law of Christ’s kingdom, the lesson of Christ’s school, and the crest of Christ’s church. What may surprise you is what Paul says love feeds on and grows from: “knowledge and all discernment.” In a world that extols blind love, we discover the Bible tells us the exact opposite: knowledge and wisdom multiply true love. Jesus said the world will know we are disciples by our love and Paul says that love will abound—fly forth before the world—as knowledge and wisdom grow. He does have a more specific point here though, notice the purpose clause in 1:10, “so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” The purpose of abounding love is to approve, or test out, what is excellent and cling to it, so that we may be holy for the coming day of Christ. Here is a call to not settle spiritually. Cling not to what is merely ok, or not bad, cling to what is excellent. And this is all pervasive—probably more than we want to admit—Paul says, “Do the most excellent things. Think the most excellent thoughts. Hear the most excellent words. Join the most excellent causes.” Banish away casual mediocrity from Christianity, ours is an excellence-fueled pursuit of holiness unto eternity (“[until] the day of Christ”). It’s thus a good question to ask at every station, “Is this excellent?” And, of course, God’s word defines what excellence is. Paul is reminding us that settling for less than Christ-centered excellence results in shrinking holiness.

Here’s the prayer up to this point: that love would feed on knowledge and wisdom, allowing us to cherish what is excellent and so be holy unto eternity. Look at how the prayer ends in 1:11, “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” So, love, knowledge, wisdom, excellence, and holiness fertilize soil in which the fruit of righteousness flourishes “to the glory and praise of God.” There is it, joyful partnership in the gospel resounds in praise to God.

Gospel-Fueled Affections

This week saw the fall soccer season for my two older boys’ begin, and I have the privilege of coach both of their teams. To try and get the boys acclimated to the rigorous demands of keeping the ball in bounds and stopping whenever the referee’s whistle blows I had Hudson’s team—The Lion—finish with a 4v4 inter-squad scrimmage. Hudson’s squad won 2-0 and he was rather boastful in front of his teammates, probably because he’s got his daddy’s implicit pride and he happened to score both goals. So on the way home I spoke with him about this matter of boasting, saying, “Hudson, God created you to be boastful—in Him, but Satan and sin want you to boast in yourself.”

What I’m trying to do in that moment is not merely training him how to think, but how to feel. In many ways this start to Philippians is doing something similar. Our age doesn’t like being told how to think let alone how to feel, but Christ is lord over our affections. So, as we begin to close, let’s point out four gospel-fueled affections present in our text and worth pursuing in our lives (the first three I’ll briefly mention).

Grateful confidence. The savor of gratitude is all over these verses and it comes from, as we saw in 1:6, confidence in the power of God.

Prayerful joy. The letter is all about the centrality of joy in the Christian life and we see for Paul that such joy regularly overflows into unceasing prayer.

Knowledgeable love. We’ve said enough here, but we must get it straight in our hearts that, for Paul, love can only abound when knowledge and wisdom abound.

Continual hope. Twice in our text Paul thinks about “the day of Christ.” One commentator says, “Philippians is a joyful letter, but its undercurrent is the sober realization that time is running out.” I’ve found that to be true in my own life this week as I’ve studied and worked on memorizing the book. The words of Andrew Bonar were freshly impressed on me this week when he said, “I [must] strive to keep the feeling of eternity before me always.”

If you are anything like me it can be quite defeating to see the example of Paul and the call to gospel-fueled affections. So often this week I cried, “Oh, help my week affections!” My confidence, joy, love, and hope register far too small on the spiritual Richter scale. I imagine many of you would agree. What then are we to do? How are we to grow? Can we cast off affections that will lead us to death and put on those of life?

Yes, there is good news for us all—Christian and non-Christian alike. Philippians invites us into the advance of the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ. It points us to Christ (seven times in our eleven verses), both now and forever. Christ is the gospel; Christ is the Savior and Lord; thus Christ is our life; Christ is our way of life; Christ is our future; Christ is our joy. If you turn from your sin and trust in Him, He will begin the good work of transforming your affections by making you a partner in the gospel, He will complete the work He began, so that when He comes we will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through him, to the praise and glory of God. Joyful partnership in the gospel resounds in praise to God.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Rejoicing in Partnership,” on Philippians 1:1-11.

A few years ago I listened to an iTunesU course on the Civil War from Yale University, taught by Professor David Blight. He is an incredible lecturer with this fantastic drawl, and he ended almost every lecture on a cliffhanger saying, “I’ll leave you here.”

I’ve thought that often this week as Genesis concludes and Moses concludes with a cliffhanger saying, “I’ll leave you here.” Where does he leave us? Notice 50:26, “So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” The book that began with life ends with a coffin. It seems the serpent has won. But in reality God is providentially setting the stage for the great revelation of His power by redeeming His people from Egypt. So, where does the covenant with Abraham stand? God is making Israel into a great nation (just turn the page to see how large they are in Exodus 1), they are already a blessing to at least one nation as Egypt prospered because of God’s kindness through Joseph, but they have yet to occupy the Promised Land. So Genesis ends with God’s people in the wrong place—in Egypt.

We might ask, “Why did God choose Egypt?” We know from Genesis 15:16 part of the reason for God not yet bring His people to the Promised Land is “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” But the real answer to, “Why Egypt?,” is to protect His people’s holiness. Egypt was notoriously prejudiced towards other nations and so they were more than content to let Israel do their own thing in Goshen, growing in great number away from the consistent threat of intermarrying with the unholy, idolatrous Canaanites.

Genesis and The Story of God

What then does the story of Joseph reveal about the story of God? In many ways our text encapsulates all the highlights of God’s dealings with his people in Genesis. So, let me mention them briefly as we close.

God is the ever-present Lord. He never leaves nor forsakes His people. He is with you in your humiliation and he is with you in your exaltation.

God is the ever-subtle King. Have you noticed throughout our story how God so often works out His promises over long periods of time, often preferring to move in the background—in part to increase His people’s faith. The time will soon come when Christ will split the heavens and God will no longer be subtle. But remember these truths from Joseph’s life: He is not overlooking some of the details in your life, rather He is orchestrating all of the details in your life. Oh, what trust this ought to grow in our lives that we are not forgotten, but He has a specific purpose with every event, every thought, and every action.

God is the ever-faithful Savior. If Genesis teaches us nothing else we see how God keeps His promises and preserves His people. How amazing and awesome is the providence of God! Not one promise has failed for He reigns sovereign over all. Our God is the Lord of providence.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Joseph,” on Genesis 37-50.

A couple weeks ago I attended a coaches meeting for our local youth soccer association. After several minutes the meeting commenced in a most surprising fashion. The volunteer president stood behind the podium and said, “Let’s open with a word of prayer. Would you bow your heads with me?” If you know my background, I’ve probably been to hundreds of soccer meetings and have never heard one begin with prayer. I thus immediately thought two things: 1) I love that that just happened, and 2) people still do that? In fact, someone not too far from where I sat was plainly saying to his neighbor, “That stuff doesn’t belong here anymore.”

Reflecting on that moment this week I couldn’t help but wonder if countless Christians and churches don’t feel something similar when confronted with the truth regarding the reverence due to a holy God and the duty of holiness he requires of his people. Are not many in our time tempted to think, “That stuff doesn’t belong here anymore. Sure it was all fine and dandy back in the day, but it’s unnecessary today.” Might you even think earnest calls to holiness to be a relic of a bygone era? Something only radical conservative Christians believe? O, how our text shouts out to us tonight just the opposite. Our God is the Lord of holiness. As such he is deeply concerned to see His people marked off, cut out, and distinct in the world—which is what holiness means.

So what I want to do is encourage us, as the covenant family of God, to persevere in the glorious pursuit of holiness. I simply want to bring out two things our text emphasizes regarding holiness and the family of God.

Holiness & The Family of God

Worldliness threatens God’s people. Worldliness is a favorite weapon of the Worm. Like tasty bait hides the hook and beckons the fish, so does Satan use the world to seduce God’s people away from their first love. The Bible, more than many of us realize or may even like, relentlessly calls God’s people not to feasting upon a sinful world, but fasting from a sinful world. Jesus says, “What good is it to gain the whole world and forfeit the soul?” John says, “If anyone love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” James says, “Do you not know friendship with the world is enmity with God?” The Old Testament shows us how God selected His people out of the world and called them to be separate from the world. Not isolated in the world, but a compellingly odd witness to the glory of a holy God. Ever since the book of Genesis worldliness has been a great seducer of God’s people. Jacob compromises obedience for worldly comfort and comes oh so close to putting the promise in grave peril through united the covenant family with those outside the covenant.

Do you believe worldliness is a threat? Let us say, “Yes,” not in fear, but because we read our Bibles well and know our own hearts. Are you eager like Dinah to see the delights and pleasures of the world? Are you like Jacob careless in how you shepherd your family in the midst of the world? Or might you even be like Shechem, seeing and taking whatever you want in the world?

Holiness thrives on God’s promises. What is it that summons Jacob out of the slow, snakelike coiling power of worldliness? God’s word; particularly, God’s word of promise. Look back at the word of promise Jacob hears in chapter 35. God has just reaffirmed a name change from Jacob (“the deceiver”) to Israel (“God’s warrior) and notice the amazing promise of 35:12, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.” It’s still incredible to hear these promises made to this man. This is Jacob, the great schemer who takes what doesn’t belong to him, who flees in fear before mighty men. His only daughter has just been raped; his sons have become murderers and could have started all out war in the land of Canaan. His house is full of idols. Yet, he is nonetheless the man of promise, the man through whom God has now promised to bring kings. Such is the amazing grace of God. He delights to turn schemers into saints, rejects into royalty, lovers of worldliness into lovers of holiness.

Maybe you’re reading this and are scheming in some way to earn God’s blessing of acceptance, of eternal life. Maybe you feel rejected in the world, so much so that you are certain God would reject you as well. The Bible says we all have rejected God in our sin, we all subsequently scheme to earn salvation, but there is nothing we can do to earn it. So God sent His son, the King of Kings from the family of Jacob to die in the place of sinners like you and me. He lived the life you should have lived, died the death you should die, rose again and ascended into heaven. He calls now for you to turn from you sin and trust in Him, to bow you knees before the King. This promised King who saves. This is the promised Holy One of Israel who takes it upon Himself to make His bride, the church, holy as He is holy. What a promise! What a word! Our God is the Lord of holiness.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Dinah,” on Genesis 34-36.

On the way back home Jacob find out Esau is coming out to meet him. Esau’s messengers say to Jacob his older brother is coming with 400 men to protect him on the journey home, but Jacob fears Esau is up to some trick and is really out to annihilate his family. So he divides his family into two camps and then in 32:9-12 he prays to God, pleading the promises God, specifically the promise of protecting his vast offspring.

A Contest With God

What comes later that night is one of the most amazing scenes in all the Old Testament. Jacob sends off his wives and sons, and everything else he had. Then notice 32:24-26, “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. (Human strength counts for nothing in an encounter with God.) Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.’ But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” This angel then asks, “What is your name?” Oh, let us hear something of earnest, pained desperation—“My name is Jacob, the deceiver, the heel-grabber.” Notice what comes next in 32:28, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel (literally meaning something like, “God’s warrior”), for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Here is the transformation of Jacob’s scheming weakness into Israel’s warrior strength—it is true faith in a sovereign God who changes men. One scholar says the name change means he “will be God’s conquering warrior in the earth.” Victory over the serpent would come through the one who is named “Israel.”

So Jacob emerges from his struggle with God named and blessed. Which brings to mind the true and faithful Israel, Jesus Christ. In agony at Gethsemane and crushing pain at Calvary Jesus struggled with God. He clung to the Father knowing He could call down a legion of angels to rescue Him from the anguish. Yet, he struggled unto the point of death—not just a limp—and he emerged named and blessed. Philippians 2 says God saw his obedience and so gave him the name that is above every name and so he became the blessing unto all nations as he offers transforms sinners into saints. If you’re in here tonight and are not a Christian, what are you struggling for? Maybe you are struggling earn acceptance before God through your own righteous scheming. Maybe you are struggling to believe that God will accept you and all your failures. The good news of Jesus is that if you would simply turn from your sin and trust in this Savior, His struggle covers your own and brings you life eternal.

Our text ends with chapter 33, which shows us that God did protect his promised blessing to Jacob. Jacob finds out Esau did not come for war but to reconcile and to renew their friendship. The blessing was promised, it was provided, and it was protected. Our God is the Lord of blessing.

Truths About God’s Blessing

A couple weeks ago I finished a fresh reading of Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings. I told Emily after that for the first time in my life I realized one reason why I may love the story so much: I quite identify with the hobbits. I love the quiet, simple life of work and no-fuss drama. I fancy myself as something of a surprising hero of dashing courage and unexpected cleverness. Isn’t that often why we love particular stories; we envision ourselves as being the main character?

If that’s true, and I think it is, we ought to all love the story of Jacob. For, brothers and sisters of the covenant, this man is totally like us. He schemes to earn the blessing, doubts God’s power, fears man, and still find Gods choosing him and changing him. Is that not so keenly similar to the story of our lives? So as we begin to close I want to highlight a couple things about how God’s blessing worked through Jacob life, for we can be sure it still works for God’s people in the same way.

God’s blessing comes from sovereign grace. Rachel tried to receive the blessing of children through mandrakes, Jacob tried to receive the blessing of riches through a white tree branches. Yet, human schemes cannot earn God’s blessing, it’s only channel is sovereign grace. Where in your life might you be trying to earn God’s blessing? Repent of your prideful effort and drop the scheme like a devilish coal on fire.

How did God finally bring Jacob to stop scheming and submit? He crippled Him. God cripples His people’s self-sufficiency. It is the most merciful pain you or I can ever experience. Such crippling, like it did with Jacob, leaves a mark on one’s life. I wonder if others can see your soul as one crippled of its self-sufficiency.

The blessing comes from sovereign grace and . . .

God’s blessing calls for patient, prayerful struggling. The wrestling match with God points to something of the ordinary posture of God’s people. He has promised them—us—His blessing, but we have no idea when it will come. Abraham waited twenty-five years for the promised son of Isaac. Isaac prayed for his wife Rebekah to have children to continue to promised line of offspring and they waited twenty ears. Jacob sojourns twenty years before returning home, and he has to fight with God at the boundary line of the Promised Land. Patient, prayerful struggling is the way of life for God’s people on this side of heaven. Why then do we not lose heart? For the struggle is the struggle of clinging to the Lord, from whom all blessings flow. In Jacob we not only see that God cripples our self-sufficiency, but that God blessed His people’s dependency.

Oh, may we long to be blessed—in the fullness of the biblical term—by the God of Jacob. See tonight that it comes from sovereign grace alone and thus calls for patient, prayerful struggling in this life, waiting for the sunrise of blessing to appear on the horizon. May we individually and corporately struggle with God, saying “we will not let you go until you bless us,” until we can call our church body—like Jacob in 32:30—“Peniel,” for we have seen God face to face. What a blessing that would be. Our God is the Lord of blessing.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Jacob,” on Genesis 28-33.

Since Genesis 12 the life of Abraham has occupied our study and we get one final—and powerful—look at him tonight. Abraham, we must remember, was a godless idolater God sovereignly and graciously chose, called, and covenanted with to make his family great and bless all the nations. So uniquely blessed by and related to God was he that Scripture calls him, “the friend of God.” What we see tonight in 22:1-25:18 is an answer to the question, “How does God treat His friends?” The answer may surprise many of you, but I hope it comforts all of us as we leave the story of this great patriarch.

God Provides a Substitute

As best I can tell, it’s likely that some 10-12 years have passed between the close of chapter 21 and the opening of chapter 22. It was a long period of peace, but now Abraham is made to experience one final storm of pain—undoubtedly the greatest of his life—as God gives him a final command. Look again at 21:2, “He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’” I’m not sure it’s possible for us to imagine the grief that must have flooded Abraham’s soul at this moment. Here is the child of promise, the son from Sarah Abraham waited twenty-five years for, and now God commands him to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering. Lest we miss how horrifying the act would have been, we must know that the Old Testament tells us burnt offerings entailed cutting up the sacrifice into pieces before burning it. It’s a terrifying command isn’t it?

20:3 tells us Abraham “rose early in the morning” taking Isaac and a servant and “went to the place of which God had told him.” Three days go by and I wonder if Abraham was able to sleep at all. Surely like King Darius tossed and turned as Daniel spent the night in the lion’s den, Abraham must have had precious little sleep, as Isaac was about to go to his death. Yet, it’s entirely possible that Abraham slept just fine for look at what Abraham tells his servant in 22:5, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Abraham says, “We will worship God and be right back.” Apart from the Lord Jesus, is there any greater example of faith in the Bible? Hebrews 11, which we read earlier tonight, says that Abraham’s faith was in God’s power to raise Isaac from the dead. Up the mountain they go and Abraham is planning on sacrificing His son only to find God raise him from the dead. What courageous faith! We see here that courageous faith is taking God at His word and trusting in His power to save. To live with courage for God means living by faith in His word and power. If you’re a Christian, do you find with each passing year your courage in God’s word and from God’s power increasing? I hope we as a church can say with each passing year the courage of faith is growing in our midst.

Abraham puts the wood on Isaac’s shoulder, takes “in his hand the fire and the knife,” and up the mountain they go. However old Isaac is he’s old enough to know something is missing and so he asks, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Oh, what anguish Abraham must have felt at his son’s innocent ignorance. Yet, see again Abraham’s courageous faith as he answers in 20:8, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

They eventually arrive at the place where God told them, Abraham builds an altar, binds Isaac, and lays him “on top of the wood.” Scholars have long wondered how Abraham, a very old man, was able to get young Isaac to acquiesce to the laying on the altar. Some have said that Abraham must have knocked him out some how, either with a blow or a primitive drug. But I think the answer is much simpler: Isaac trusted his father. Oh, how I’ve prayed this week for my sons to have similar trust in me.

Look at 22:10-12 to see what happened next, “Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’” Why did God test Abraham? To see if he feared God enough to obey a most difficult word. We see here there is a direct link between how one’s fear of God and one’s obedience to God. Fear of God fuels obedience to God and obedience to God reveals fear of God. This is a truth on which you might meditate and examine yourself this week. I think we also see here that God can be trusted even when His word is hard to understand.

Abraham lifts up his eyes and sees a ram caught “in a thicket by his horns,” and he proceeds to sacrifice the ram in place of Isaac. God provided a substitute. Look at how Abraham magnifies God’s provision in 22:14, “Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The Lord will provide’; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Our God is the Lord of provision. You’ll notice if you scan your eyes through 22:15-19 that the angel of the LORD speaks again from heaven, saying, “God has sworn by himself to bring about the promises He made to you because you obeyed His voice.” This is the first and only time in Scripture that God swears by His own name. The event on Mt. Moriah is thus of no common place in God’s word.

whenever I work on a sermon I listen to a war movie soundtrack. I do it because I believe preaching is one of the greatest battlefields in spiritual warfare and so listening to battle anthems puts my soul in the most appropriate place. One of my favorite soundtracks ends with a requiem for soldiers in the Pacific theater of World War II. It moves me every time I listen for it thrillingly captures the tragedies and triumphs of men who’ve gone before.

You’ll notice that 25:7-8 tells us, “These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.” When I read that I hear a soundtrack like requiem run through my mind, highlighting the triumphs and tragedies of Abraham’s life. And so as we begin to close I want to do so by thinking about the two main themes of Abraham’s life, themes that stretch even to us today.

Themes from Abraham’s Life

Testing from God. 22:1 says it so plainly, “God tested Abraham.” God tested Abraham’s love for wealth when he called him to leave his home in chapter 12. God tested Abraham’s love for safety when he journey to Egypt and Gerar, where he sacrificed Sarah’s integrity for His own safety. God tested Abraham’s love for his family by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac. All in all, God tested Abraham’s obedience by asking him to surrender everything. We dare not think God never tests His people today. How many times throughout a given week do we encounter a spiritual struggle and, if we think long enough, we might just see it as a test from God. Might he be testing your fear of Him to see if you will surrender your love for a particular sin? Surrender an idolatrous relationship? Surrender worldly protection and cling to His promises alone? What rivalries might be holding you back to whole-hearted devotion to God?

Trusting in God. Oh, how Abraham trusted in God! Like the old hymn, Abraham with great faith trusted God and “proved him o’er and o’er.” I pray God would graciously form us in to a church that that is wonderfully peculiar in how deep we trust God and take Him at His word.

But let us land where we must—how often we fail to trust in God! We put our own “Isaacs” ahead of God thinking they will give me more security and worth than He will. It might be better said of us, “how we’ve failed Him o’er and o’er.” Yet, there is hope for us this night. For like Isaac, Jesus carried would on His back up a mountain where His Father sacrificed Him for us all. God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me.” Now we can say to God, “Now we know that You love us, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love, from us.”

He has provided a way for us all. Our God is the Lord of provision.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Abraham & Isaac,” on Genesis 22-25.

God Protects His Promise

You’ll notice that Abraham “journeyed” to the land of Gerar and “said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.” To understand the threat this action brings to the promise we must remember what happened in chapter 18. There God appeared to Abraham (Sarah was eavesdropping on the conversation) and said in 18:10, “I will surely return about this time next year and Sarah shall have a son.” Thus, presumably—given the timeline—here in chapter 20 Sarah has just conceived, probably isn’t even showing a baby, and out of fear for his life Abraham hands her over to Abimelech saying, “She’s my sister.” Do you see the danger to the promise? Abraham and Sarah haven’t been able to have a child for decades, she’s suddenly found to be pregnant while living in Abimelech’s harem—to whom will everyone think the child belongs? Not Abraham. The promise stands on a perilous precipice all because Abraham willingly sacrificed his wife’s integrity for his own safety.

Yet here comes the God of protection, look at 20:3, “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.’” Imagine hearing something like that tonight in the middle of your sleep, what terror must have filled this pagan king! Notice 20:4 to see Abimelech’s response, “Now Abimelech had not approached her (this chapter repeatedly proves Abimelech and Sarah had never shared a bed). So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? . . . In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” To which God says in 20:6, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.” Do you have a place in your understanding of God that says He sovereignly keeps people from sinning? You see Abimelech says, “Lord, I haven’t done anything wrong!” To which God says, “I know, because I wouldn’t let you.” It’s an amazing declaration isn’t it? God will protect even unbelievers from sinning in order to keep His promise. His promise is certain for He is a shield of protection.

God proceeds in 20:7 to command Abimelech to return Sarah lest he die. The next morning Abimelech obeys and understandably challenges Abraham on his deceit. Look at Abraham’s excuse in 20:11, “I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’” In fact, Abimelech proves to be a better model than Abraham in this passage of what it means to fear God. “Besides,” Abraham goes on to say, “Sarah really is my sister, she’s the daughter of my father from a different mother. Plus, when God sent me from my home—notice 20:13, “I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, ‘He is my brother.’” Abraham and Sarah have thus been up to this ruse for decades, there’s no telling how many times it happened, how often the promise was endangered by his lack of faith.

Have you considered before what a perplexing character Abraham is? I mean, Abraham took God at his word and left his home with no knowledge of where he was going. Lord willing, next week we will see him in faith obey God’s command to sacrifice His son Isaac. Yet, interspersed we have these stories in chapter 12 and 20 of him potentially forfeiting the promise out of fear. Here’s the vital lesson for us: great faith is often mingled with great failure. We see it in Abraham and every major figure of faith ever since. In Abraham we see that it can be easy to have faith in the great things, but fail in the little things. And what’s amazing to me is that God called out and covenanted with Abraham knowing about his future failures. What encouragement this is to you who are called by God! You will fail in the future, maybe even greatly, but if He’s called you belong to Him with all your great faith and great failures.

You’ll notice if you scan through 20:14-16 that Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham saying they can live wherever they please in his land and give them a gift of one thousand pieces of silver. Then in 20:17 Abraham intercedes for Abimelech and his family so they could bear children for notice 20:18, “For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.” The curse of barrenness had fallen on Abimelech’s family because of Abraham’s fear, which announces a terrible irony. Do you see it? Abraham was supposed to bring blessing to the nations, but because of fear he brought a curse to Abimelech’s nation. Sinful fear rarely, if ever, only affects the individual who falls into unbelief—the consequences regularly reach farther.

God is powerful to protect his promise, a promise we now finally see fulfilled.

The Promise Fulfilled

Several years ago Emily and I went to watch a movie that was the final installment of a vaunted series. All along the story was building to a climactic encounter you knew would come in the last film. When the scene came I was on the edge of my seat eager to see the great event all sorted. Yet, the climax came and went rather uneventfully and I thus left the theater that afternoon quite disappointed with a climax that was altogether anticlimactic.

You could be forgiven for feeling something similar as we turn the page to chapter 21. Since chapter 12 the story has been building up to the moment when Sarah has a son, but when the birth comes Moses retells it quite anticlimactically. Look at 21:1-2, “The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.” So hum-drum, isn’t it? “In time Sarah bore Abraham a son, just like God said she would.” Abraham circumcised him and Sarah laughed in joy. That’s about it in 21:1-7. Yet, is the ordinariness really surprising? For God is always faithful to His word of promise. Without much apparent effort at all we see God continually capable of bringing about His plans and purposes. Why then should Moses retell the story with great pomp and celebration? What he emphasizes three times in two verses is how Isaac’s birth happen as God said it would. You can stake your life on God’s word of promise.

If you are not a Christian, let me tell you tonight that you can stake your life on God’s promise. He told Abraham, “I will give you a son,” and Abraham received a son. He told us through His word that someone from Abraham’s family would come and bless the nations by crushing the Serpent’s head. That promise had come true in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He now offers to you the promise of forgiveness of sin an eternal life that He secured, that He protects. What promise of protection do you cling to? The promise of riches, success, or earthly relationships? Or maybe you cling to your own acts of righteousness or obedience? Friend, nothing but turning from your sin and trusting in Jesus for salvation can protect your soul from the death you deserve. He holds out the promise of life to you tonight, will you take it by faith?

Our God is the Lord of protection, He protects His promise.

Life in the Covenant Family

About two months ago we moved to a new house, to be closer to church and one in which we can live, Lord willing, for years and years. It took many weeks to get used to traveling different routes to and from our ordinary places of community; many weeks to get used to walking around a new home in the dark; many weeks to discern how to best tend to a new yard; many weeks to find new ways to play old games. All in all, it took many weeks to get used to life in the new home.

We’ve been in Genesis for several weeks now and this week I thought, “I feel like I’m getting used to how Genesis uniquely talks about life in the covenant family of God.” And so as we begin to close I want to think about ordinary life in this covenant family, exemplified by Abraham, under two statements we keep seeing and have even seen tonight.

First as we observe life in the covenant family we see . . .

The danger of fear in the present. Have you ever considered how fear comes from unbelief and unbelief is anchored to the present? Unbelief is fixated on present realities, and if it goes unchecked then fear runs rampant. This is what we see in Abraham’s failures. His failures come at moments when he’s totally consumed with the present and can’t help but respond with fear. But there are moments in Abraham’s life of great faith, which leads us to the second observation on life in the covenant family . . .

The duty of faith in the future. If Abraham’s great failures are rooted in a preoccupation with the present, the instances of great faith are those moments when he clings to the future. Faith in the future pushes out fearful unbelief in the present. I wonder where fear is strong in your life. Could it be of present unbelief in God’s future promises? There is great danger in life consumed with the present with little thought given to the future. But when God’s people obediently live through faith in God’s future promises they have great spiritual power in the present. What promises are you living by? What promises of God might you need to remember this week as you fight to live by faith?

“Fear not,” God says, “for I am your shield.” May you be encouraged tonight that God always protects His promise and His people. Our God is the Lord of protection.

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Abimelech,” on Genesis 20-21.