As I study the book of Romans, I am confronted with a dilemma: too much information, too little time. My usual response to this dilemma is to move very slowly through verse by verse exposition. I am a little worried about this in Romans since, of all the books in the New Testament, this may be the one written up the most.

This Sunday we came to the first phrase (after last Sunday in the first word). The phrase is ‘a slave of Jesus Christ’. The concept is so vital to understanding Paul’s ministry that it begs us to pause and truly consider the implications of its meaing. Our message was entitled Mastered by Christ. I explored a bit of the background of slavery, both in Jewish thinking and in Greek/Roman society of the day. To apply the term to one’s self is quite striking when you consider that the Rabbi’s would excommunicate a man from the synagogue for calling another man a slave. But the important part of the phrase is not the condition of the one who uttered it, but the name of the master to whom he is attached. Our proposition developed this thought: The gospel begins in a life when the self-serving rebel submits his soul to the mastery of Jesus Christ. The bottom line for us is this – who masters you?

In our afternoon service I continued with my series on church philosophy, It’s a Flock. The subtitle went this way: it needs shepherding (not merely leadership). My point was not to denigrate leadership. Of course the church needs leadership, but a particular kind of leadership, the shepherding kind. As I prepared for this message, I did a little internet search on ‘sheep behaviour’. You will find many interesting sites with this search, I didn’t realize how much was known of sheep psychology. One thing that surprised me was this: You must lead sheep, you can’t drive them. The ministry of the shepherd to the sheep is one primarily of care: feeding, leading, medicating, guarding, and guiding. There are some aspects of shepherding that cause sheep discomfort (see wikipedia on ‘mulesing’) but primarily the leadership of the shepherd is tender watchcare over the needs of the sheep. Sometimes the sheep need prodding, but mostly they need feeding. We find the same parallel in the scriptural metaphors provided by our Lord in Jn 10 and by David in Ps 23, as well as throughout the Scriptures. While pastors have authority to some extent over their flocks, they must realize that the biblical pattern for the exercise of their authority is the tender watchcare of the shepherd, not the autocratic demanding stance of the CEO or a military general.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Catching up with my sermon summaries, here are the last in the series, the sermons preached during the month of April:

04/01/07
The Final Public Ministry – Jn 12

We are going to see in this passage encounters between the Lord and four different groups of people. For the most part, the people who observed the Lord in this chapter got it wrong, all but a very few. The same is true today – most get it wrong when it comes to Jesus Christ. They don’t understand him and receive nothing from him. You need to be sure that you are getting the right perspective on the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am going away – Jn 13.1-14.14

The Lord’s going away is necessary for the disciple’s going ahead.

I Send another Comforter – Jn 14.15-16.33

The provision of God for the inadequacy of believing men is the constant indwelling of the infinite Spirit.

04/04/07
The High Priestly Prayer – Jn 17

The prayer we have in Jn 17 is the most extended prayer of the Lord in the Bible. It is a remarkable window into heaven, giving us a glimpse of the communication between Father and Son. But the prayer in Jn 17 is not purely the interpersonal communication within the Godhead – especially during the Lord’s earthly ministry, but to some extent ever afterward, I think, the Lord Jesus communicates with the Father from a human perspective. This prayer is the prayer of a man [a perfect man, a God-man, but still a man] to God. It is therefore very instructive for us.

04/08/07 [Easter Sunday]
Behold the Lamb of God (2) – Jn 18-19

In the first Behold the Lamb, we looked at Christ through the eyes of sympathetic witnesses. In this Behold the Lamb, we will look at Christ through the eyes of mostly unsympathetic men. They see merely a man. We will see much more than a man. The abused man who hung on the cross of Calvary is the precious Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world.

He is not here! – Jn 20-21

John 20 is the resurrection chapter. The whole emphasis is believing the message John is giving. John 21 offers more proof, but it is more about what we do next – believe, yes, but now serve.

The New Commandment Applied – 1 Jn 1-3

The light that should dominate the Christian life comes from one source, but we think of it in several different locations. First is the light that comes from God. God is light. The second source in our minds is the word of God, which of course comes from God also. The word is light. In particular the light in which we are exhorted to walk in 1 Jn is the new commandment: love one another.

04/11/07
Certainty in the Confession of Christ – 1 Jn 4-5

Another major theme in 1 John is knowledge. From knowledge comes certainty. If we have the knowledge of the truth and we walk in the truth and live the truth, we will develop spiritual certainties about certain things. Genuine Christian experience produces spiritual certainty and stability.

04/15/07
Watch yourselves, watch your church – 2 Jn, 3 Jn

I have given our message this title: Watch yourselves, watch your church The ‘watch yourselves’ part comes from 2 Jn. The ‘watch your church’ part from 3 Jn. I am going to set our theme from 2 Jn, making much of the theme of truth, then point to three ways this theme is applied to three individuals in 3 Jn. Christian love is practiced in the sphere of discerning truth – it is bounded by truth and practiced in truth among lovers of the truth.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Rev 1

The book of Revelation is the Lord’s last love letter to his church, intended to instruct present saints for life in this age and future saints for enduring the trials to come.

The Lord in the Midst of the Candlesticks – Rev 2-3

It is better to think of these seven churches as typical of the kinds of churches that exist at any time. Some are well thought of by the Lord, some are poorly thought of, others are in the middle somewhere. When we look at these chapters we should be asking the question, ‘What does the Lord think of me? What does the Lord think of my church?’ The Lord’s overview of the church should stir us to conviction, correction, and continuation [in the work of the Lord].

04/18/07
The Scene in Heaven – Rev 4-5

The prospect of heaven calls forth the complete surrender of the person in abject devotion and worship to the One who alone is worthy.

04/22/07
The Scroll Unsealed – Rev 6-8

Our subject matter for today is mostly judgement. So how can we make this relevant to us? I think we need to look into these chapters and see what the chapters say about God and also look to see what the chapters say about man. What do these chapters reveal concerning the relationship between God and man and how should we live now as a result? Failing human beings must yield to the will and way of the sovereign God.

Three Woes – Rev 9-11

Judgement intensifies as the tribulation progresses. The last three trumpets are called the three ‘woes’. Woe to the world and to the enemies of God means glory and blessing for the saints.

The Great Antagonists of Israel – Rev 12-13

Chapters 12 and 13 are primarily explanatory – they explain what the conflict of the Tribulation is all about. In these parenthetical chapters, we are going to see the three great antagonists of Israel during the Great Tribulation, fully revealed in their persons and in their fury against God and God’s people. The antagonists of Israel are the antagonists of man, intent on drawing men’s worship away from God and to Satan.

04/25/07
Anticipation of the End – Rev 14-15

In this section, the Lord himself is giving a preview of the final days of the tribulation, an anticipatory vision anticipating the anticipatory vision that pictures the final consummation of all things. It ought to stir us up to be in prayer for the lost, to be witnesses to the lost, to point them to God as their great Sovereign, and to Christ as their great Saviour. The judgement of sinners and victory of saints is assured by God’s repetitive revelation: does the love of Christ constrain you to tell men?

04/29/07
The Great Harvest – Rev 16-19

The picture we are given in the earth of the harvest is that of a vine ready to harvest – a vine where the grapes are in prime condition, ready and bursting for the harvest (Rev 14.18). God’s final answer to sin is judgement. It is much better for man to judge himself, turn to Christ, and thus be received into glory before judgement to come.

The Time of the End – Rev 20

Human history does not simply conclude with a great ‘NO!’ by God against sin and sinners. Besides saying NO, by bringing the kingdoms of men to an end, God will also say YES by bringing a perfect kingdom to men. The purpose of God’s YES is to demonstrate to the utmost the righteousness and justice of God’s final NO to sin.

The New Jerusalem – Rev 21-22

In our passage today we will find six new things. Each of them represents something that is new in quality, fresh, vital, alive, not necessarily brand new, but renewed. The New Creation restores all that was lost in the fall — at great cost.

In my messages from Revelation, I repeated this quotation from my notes in a Bible class taught by the late Jesse Boyd at BJU. The quotation captures exactly the right approach to the book of Revelation (and the entire Bible).

The Golden Rule of Interpretation:
“When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths indicate clearly otherwise.” DAVID L. COOPER [New Testament Prophecy classroom notes taken by Don Johnson of a lecture by Jesse Boyd, circa 1977.]

This series had tremendous impact on my life, and the life of our church. I am working on getting the audio onto a DVD along with the sermon and Bible Study notes. I can make this available to anyone for the cost of mailing (anticipated readiness in the fall). Write me at dcsj AT telus DOT net if you are interested.

I would encourage anyone who has not done so to make a project of reading the Bible in chronological order. It will open up the Scriptures to you in ways you never saw before.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

I didn’t realize how many messages I have not yet added to my summaries. I have been swamped with work as I am busy with duplex renovations two days a week. This last week we turned a corner on the ‘ripping and tearing’ stage and are now putting things back together. Most of the new sub-floor is into the kitchen/dining room, we only have one more sheet of plywood to install there, then do the entryway and the bathroom upstairs. We also hope to start painting this coming week and then putting in kitchen cabinets… so the end is in sight.

On Wednesday, Jan 24, we covered Rm 6-8, in a message called “The Essentials of Sanctification“. The point I was making with the message was that victory over sin should be the normal experience of the Christian life, with victory being obtained by turning our mind over to Christ (reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive to God), remaining constant in the battle with the flesh, and finally relying on the Spirit for the power needed to overcome.

The following Sunday, Jan 28, saw us in Rm 8 for “The Guarantee of Glory“, a message that focused on the end of sanctification, that which motivates us to keep on in the struggle, that is, the great glory that will be revealed in us. These passages contain some of the most tremendous assurances of victory in the New Testament as Paul assures us that the glory is worth all suffering on this earth, that the Spirit within is active, working ‘the glory’ out in our lives now, and that as we trust in God, nothing can separate us from His love. The reason the believer persists in the struggle for sanctification is the exceeding richness of the reward — a reward that is guaranteed.

Our second message that day was “The Question of Israel“, a message covering Rm 9-11, some of the more complicated passages in Romans. A key to understanding these chapters is to understand the objection to the gospel that Paul is answering. The objection is stated this way: How can you trust the promises of God now if God’s promises to Israel have been set aside? Paul answers by showing that God’s promises to Israel have not been set aside, but that men don’t understand what God was doing with Israel in the first place. The first point (ch 9), is that God’s promises are not frustrated by Israel’s unbelief, they are fulfilled in the chosen remnant who believed. The second point is that Israel’s problems are not God’s faithlessness, God has provided the means, sent the preachers (the prophets) and given the opportunities – Israel’s problem is its own unbelief (ch 10). Last, God’s word to Israel is not empty, it remains in force (ch 11) as proven by the remnant in this age, and by the future national turning that will yet occur when the Lord returns. The Proposition: God’s dealing with Israel, past, present, and future, assures us of the wisdom in trusting the promises of God.

Our afternoon message was on Rm 12-13, “The Consequences of Salvation“. These chapters are the great ‘so what’ of salvation. The Proposition: The doctrine of salvation demands the practice of love for God by love for man. In a way we have an inclusio in these chapters, Rm 12.1-2 speak of the need to love God with whole heart mind and strength, i.e., the living sacrifice, and Rm 13.8-14 bring us back to that same idea. In between, we see that the way this is done is by loving our fellow man, first to believers in the church by exercising the gifts and in outdoing one another in showing love for our brethren. Then we are called to do good to men in general, even our enemies, heaping coals of fire on their heads by so doing (something that we can’t do maliciously!). And last, we are called to show the love of God by submission to legitimate governmental authority and paying our taxes. In the end we are obliged to owe man nothing but love for one another.

Last Wednesday, we finished up Romans with a message covering Rm 14-16, but mostly concentrating on Rm 14.1-15.7, the obligation we have to brethren who differ with us on non-moral scruples. The title was “Our Relations to One Another” with this Proposition: Christian love demands the sacrifice of high-mindedness for the sake of our brethren. What I mean is that we can’t be high-minded about our ‘strong consciences’ or about our ‘strong scruples’ – both brothers have to receive each other in love, not despising or judging each other. The strong conscience brother has the additional responsibility of deciding to be considerate of the scruples of the weak conscience brother and an obligation to avoid putting a stumbling block in front of him. Again, the principles of love are our guide and the example of Christ who sacrificed all for us must be our model.

Today, we returned to Acts with “Paul’s Farewell Tour” mostly from Ac 20, a bit from 21. I took a bit of a different tack with this message and preached on a subject I don’t think I have ever heard a message on — preparing for the preacher’s permanent departure from a ministry. The Proposition: Christian churches should constantly be preparing themselves for the succession of the next generation. I showed how Paul spent time with several churches on the way, talking long into the night in Troas (interrupted by a quick death and resurrection), lingering with believers in each place that he visited on the way to Jerusalem. Then we turned to the words of preparation seen in Paul’s message to the Ephesian elders in Ac 20: Paul recounts his satisfaction with his ministry among them, preaching the whole counsel of God, satisfaction with his sincere earnest manner of ministry, satisfaction that he had not withheld anything needful. All of these are preparatory, even in the midst of a vibrant ministry. In this message, Paul knows he is likely not to see them again, so he warns them of certain danger to come, wolves from without, perverse truth twisters from within. Much failure in succession is a failure to adequately prepare people to be discerners of false teaching during the years of ministry. And last, Paul returns to a lesson of practical Christianity where he teaches them concerning industry and generosity – a message he would give as if he were still going to be there next week, but a message that prepares for departure nonetheless. God’s people need to keep their own departure in mind, anticipating that there will be a generation to follow and make their own contributions to the future success of the truth by assimilating truth now and passing it on to those who follow.

In the second service, we covered basically Ac 21-23 with a look at the “Antagonism of Judaism“. We picked up the thread of anxiety that we see as Paul is told by various prophets along the way to Jerusalem that trouble and imprisonment is coming. Then we see the active antagonism of the Jews as Paul is arrested, beaten, threatened, charges and counter-charges slung around and so on. In the end, the Jews plotted to kill Paul, but he is not overwhelmed by these threats and their antagonism. What is remarkable is that what Paul wants to do when threatened is preach to them! Just as he wanted to do with the mob in Ephesus, Paul turned to the mob in Jerusalem and preached to them … his desire was to see them come to Christ. I compared again some of Paul’s thoughts from Rm 11 and 9 and his desire to see them come to Christ. The whole point of this message was that this is God’s will for us when we deal with Jews today who are antagonistic to Christ. We should not react in kind, be frustrated, but we should seek their souls. Are they enraged with you? What an opportunity! Evangelize!

In the last service, we had a similar theme, but this time with respect to the Gentiles. From Ac 24 (and a bit of 25) we looked at “In the Eye of Imperial Rome“. Proposition: The servant of Christ must learn meekness in the hope that the most wicked rascals he meets might be born again. The wicked rascals in question for this message were the Roman governors, primarily Felix and his wife Drusilla. I gave historical background for both Felix and Festus, but concentrated on the two years of witnessing Paul was able to have with Felix. Felix, though under conviction, resisted grace (hah!!) in the interest of a bribe. Paul refused to give a bribe, not wanting to get out of jail with this excellent opportunity to witness regularly to this pair, Felix, a former slave turned brutal governor and Drusilla, great-grandaughter of Herod the Great, daughter of the man who executed James the brother of John. What a great prize of grace they would have been, but they would not repent. The attitude Paul has to those who are trying him is to turn it into a witnessing opportunity. Do we do that with people who attack us? We need the evangelistic heart of the apostle Paul instead of the self-protective self-centered hearts we so commonly carry around with us.

Well, that brings you up to date. We have eleven weeks to go in our through the NT series. It has been a great blessing so far, and a good bit of work, but we are hopeful that it will be a great resource for new disicples for years to come.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

We are jumping back into our New Testament series after the Christmas hiatus. We still have two of our college kids at home, so we had a bit bigger crowd for Wednesday PM. I wish we could motivate more people to make Wednesday a regular habit. I suspect that is a lament of many pastors.

We resume our survey with 1 Cor 12-14, entitled ‘Regulating Spiritual Gifts‘. The proposition was this: “The Lord intends for our hearts to be governed by the Spirit so that we exercise spiritual gifts with definite spiritual control.” The three chapter divisions in this section cover three ways in which the use of spiritual gifts are regulated. First, gifts are regulated by an understanding of the true nature of spiritual gifts. They come from one source, God, under divine supervision, are given individually, not sought, and each has a unique function in the body in order to benefit the whole body. Second, gifts are regulated by an elevation of the superior value of spiritual fruit. That is, spiritual fruit (especially love) is essential if gifts are to mean anything, the supreme quality of love is described, and the enduring permanence of love is seen in that it outlasts all gifts (especially the temporary tongues) and even other aspects of earthly spiritual fruit such as hope and faith. Thus, spiritual fruit should be our concern much more than spiritual gifts. Last, gifts are regulated by the discipline of the proper exercise of spiritual gifts. That involves putting tongues in their proper place, realizing that tongues are primarily a sign to unbelievers (and especially a sign that those hearing them are being cut off from God’s revelation), and finally regulating their use by strict rules that eliminate all of so-called tongues speaking today. The Spirit-led believer today needs these truths to be in our minds lest we be led astray by false teaching so prevalent around us.

Sunday we will finish 1 Corinthians and move on to 2 Corinthians with a brief stop in Acts 19 in between.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Our messages this Sunday were intended to be a trio of my two boys and myself, however Number One Son and his fiancee and their ride to the airport in Greenville all managed to oversleep and miss their plane Saturday AM. So they flew standby, and I rode the ferry across the pond in hopes to catch them late Saturday evening and then make it home in time for our services. Alas, it was not to be! They were stuck in Dallas Fort Worth overnight and I had to cobble together sermon #3 when I got back.

Nevertheless, we had a great day in the service of the Lord.

My 18 year old Rory preached the morning message on the Christmas Story, Luke 2.1-20. He is a gifted speaker and one semester of BJU freshman speech has served to polish his abilities even more. We were very grateful for his efforts. The title of his message was “Let Us Now Go and See” with this proposition: “Our pastor was saying last week, that the only two responses to the work of God are doubt or faith. I hope you can see from this passage that true faith is the only right response to the extraordinary work of God.” Rory focused on the responses to the Christmas story. The crowd ‘wondered’, which he called ‘Curious Unbelief’. He compared that to the response of the world today. If they pay any attention to the Christmas story, it is with a sentimental interest in the ‘wrapping’, but no real interest in the contents. It is put away each year for next year, to be put on display again. Mary ‘pondered’, that is, she had ‘Meditative Faith’. She weighed out what she saw and experienced and let its truth and its implications fill her heart and soul over the years she followed her Messiah-Son. The shepherds ‘glorified’, that is, they had ‘Expressive Faith’, a response to the message of Christmas that displayed the work of God to all who would listen. Both the meditation of Mary and the glorification of the shepherds are the appropriate faith responses that men need to have towards the great gift of God’s son.

In the second service, I preached on Lk 2.21-24, ‘According to the Law‘. In this message I connected the Messiah with the OT Law. In this connection, Proposition: The Lord provided for the infant Christ’s perfect compliance with the Law in order that He could perfectly keep the Law for you and me. First, we discussed the purpose of the Law. There are many of these, but the points I wanted to emphasize were these: the law reveals the holiness of God, exposes the sinfulness of man, establishes the rigorous standard required for fellowship with God, and supervises spiritual development of Israel to prepare the Israelite to receive Christ [the schoolmaster purpose]. From this we considered the law-keeping parents of Christ who kept the law of circumision, cleansing of the mother after childbirth, and presentation of the firstborn. These laws connect the participant with the Abrahamic covenant, the uncleanness of the human condition, and the demand of God for the life of the firstborn (seen in Isaac, the tenth plague, the tribe of Levi, and now the Son of God). The keeping of these laws were vital for Christ’s place as a Jewish man, under the Law of God, free from sin and free from any accusation of the Law. In order to accomplish this, two pigeons were sacrificed, one as a burnt offering, the other as a sin offering. The law demands death, and Christ the infant fully identifies with the Law’s demands, though he is sinless.

My point in rehearsing this detail is that the Lord submitted himself to the Law from the beginning (as my commentaries say). How did he do that? By choosing this devout couple to be the home of the developing Son of God. As a baby, he was subject to the whims and direction of human parents – others may have been less observant, but this couple fulfilled every requirement of the Law, as God intended. Jesus was the sinless and blameless Son of God from the beginning by God’s sovereign choice of this couple whom God knew would keep the Law perfectly. God provided for the sinlessness of the infant in the faithfulness of the parents. God did that for you and me, so that we could have a righteous sacrifice, without blemish or spot, to exchange his righteousness for our sinfulness in the cross of Calvary.

The last message this Sunday was “Waiting for the consolation of Israel“, where I discussed the testimony of the old prophet Simeon and the perhaps even older prophetess Anna. These two represent devout people who are only satisfied with the light that lightens the Gentiles. I found this comment in Norval Geldenhuys’ commentary on Luke concerning Simeon’s Psalm of praise: “Simeon’s brief hymn of praise, owing to its restrained ecstasy and intense clarity, is as beautiful as any of the psalms of praise in the Old Testament. The thought underlying its wording is of a slave who is instructed by his master to keep watch through the long, dark night on a high place to wait for the rising of a special star and then to announce it.” [p.119.] Anna, likewise, is a devoted slave of the Lord. Both are stirred to praise and worship of this Messiah that the Lord allowed them to witness before their passing. These two devoted people connect the Messiah with the people of the OT. Their lives go back to the Maccabean/Hasmonean heyday, before the coming of the Romans and later of Herod. They were from the families of the faithful remanant that returned from Babylon, and had seen the last period of independence for the nation Israel. But they look for something better than political deliverance. They look for the Light of the Gentiles, and having seen it, are spiritually satisfied. Our own devotion should follow their model, we are but slaves of the Sun of Righteousness (Mic 4.2).

Following this message, I made a beeline for the ferry, hustled over to Vancouver International Airport where my wandering waifs made it by bus from Seattle just minutes after my arrival, and we beat it back in time for the 6pm ferry home where we joined [finally!] the rest of the family. We’re buying them alarm clocks for Christmas!

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

We don’t do snow here. We don’t do it at all. We hates snow…

And we got lots of it.

As we awoke Sunday morning, we had our lawns and roads filled with the white stuff and more coming down. We managed to gather a few of our folks together (23 all told) and held our morning services and lunch. One of our fellows went out during lunch and reported that the roads were getting worse and worse. (Did I mention we don’t do snow??) So we cancelled our afternoon service and sent everyone home. The kids built a snow fort, a requirement of childhood for them, and we stayed inside where it was warm.

We did have a blessed time in the two services we held together. The word of God is precious to the saints. In the first service, I preached 2 Thessalonians. The title was “Standing in spite of Great Apprehensions“, and the subject was spiritual stability, especially for a local church. As we considered this letter, we found three challenges to stability: Experiential – persecution (mostly discussed in ch 1), Doctrinal – confusion (over whether they had missed the Rapture, ch 2), and Incremental – contagion (produced by disorderly, especially indolent, brethren). Each of these challenges could rock the stability of a local church, so Paul writes to stabilize them, encourage them, and teach them the way through these challenges. He encourages them with at least six exhortations in the epistle, including this one near the end: “Be not weary in well doing” (3.13). Spiritual stability in a congregation comes from thorough doctrinal understanding, biblical practical policies and actions, and clinging to the blessed hope of the coming Lord Jesus.

Our second service looked at the close of the second missionary journey and the beginning of the third missionary journey. The apostle landed briefly in Ephesus on his way back to Jerusalem, promising to return if the Lord willed. Apparently the Lord did will, since Paul returned a few months later to a very fruitful ministry. The sermon covered Ac 18.18-19.20, and was titled “Great Opportunity in Ephesus“. The key to success, and the point of the sermon, was Paul’s submission to God’s will – Ephesus was the capital of the province of Asia, the place the Holy
Spirit prevented him from entering in Ac 16. Paul in his ministry was ever guided by the Spirit. He took James 4.13-17 to heart (I am sure he was well aware of its contents). The key for any success in the ministry is operating in and under the will of God.

Well, with that, we had lunch, then cancelled the afternoon. Did I mention that we don’t do snow?

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

The first message this Sunday had the pivotal chapter, Acts 15, as our text. The title I chose was ‘How Should Christians Live?‘ The 15th chapter of Acts is the chapter that settled the Galatian question forever and really sealed the character of the Christian church for all time. The question the Judaizers were placing before the church was one of definition: What is the church? The answer was that the church is not a superior form of Judaism, nor is it simply another meaningless Gentile religion. It is an organism centered around faith in the living Son of God, separate from the world – the world that is Judaism and paganism at the same time.

The Old Testament religion of the Jews had long departed from God’s intent, first by centuries of dabbling with paganism pre-exile, second by a few centuries of idolizing the forms of religion itself through the rise of Pharisaism post-exile. Was there ever a pure Judaism? Only in the hearts of some individuals, sometimes more numerous than at other times, but really only on an individual, not a collective basis.

In Ac 15, we see the Galatian dispute arise in Antioch of Syria, after Paul has written the book of Galatians. He has no small disputation with the Judaizers, and the church in Antioch calls for a meeting of the apostles to settle the issue (the last meeting of the apostles as a group). In Jerusalem, once the dispute is engaged, Peter rises to testify in favor of Paul and Barnabas and the ‘anti-Law’ position. Peter does this, employing very similar language to that with which Paul rebuked him earlier (compare Gal 2.14-18 with Ac 15.10). Peter also points out that Jews will be saved by faith, just like the Gentiles (Ac 15.11), a not so subtle slap to the Judaizers, putting the Jews in second place to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas then testify, followed by James the brother of the Lord, whose proposal carries the day. Four requirements are placed on the Gentile church: no food offered to idols, no fornication, no blood, no things strangled. The blood and things strangled are rooted in the Noahic Covenant (Gen 9.1-6) and pre-date the law. The point of the decision is this: The church is going to be an organization where the only entrance stipulation is faith in Christ AND it is going to be an organization that demands separation from the world (all four issues were pagan practices). Today, the church needs to come to grips with this. It is not Galatianism to insist on separation from the world. It is paganism to insist otherwise. Today’s church is a pagan church and needs radical reformation.

Our second message dealt with the Third Missionary Journey, Ac 16-18, focusing on Ac 18.9-10, the Lord’s encouraging vision to Paul while in Corinth. The title was ‘Abased and Abounding‘. I began by surveying the frustration of Paul’s ministry as he entered Europe for the first time. In Philippi, he is beaten and imprisoned. In Thessalonica, he is driven out of town by a Jewish mob. In Berea, he is better received, but the Thessalonian Jews arrive to stir up trouble again, and he has to hotfoot it for Athens. In Athens, he is mostly mocked and ignored, with only a handful of converts to show for his efforts. When he arrives in Corinth, there is some success, but again rising opposition by the Jews. Paul knew what it was to be abased, he probably thought that he was about to be chased out of Corinth as well. But the Lord comes to assure him, giving him three commands: Fear not, keep on speaking, don’t be silent. The Lord also gives him three assurances: I am with you, you will not be harmed, I have much people in this city. This encouragement enables Paul to press on in Corinth where he stays an additional 18 months. During this time the Jews try to haul him to court before Seneca’s brother, the noble Gallio, who refuses to hear the case. The leader of the synagogue, Sosthenes, is instead beaten by the Greeks. Interestingly, a Sosthenes is named as an assistant of Paul in 1 Corinthians. It is possible that the Lord changed the heart of Sosthenes (otherwise why specifically mention his name?) At any rate, the Lord granted Paul a fruitful and succesful ministry in Corinth – much abounding. For our own ministry, we need the knowledge of the Lord’s presence – he guaranteed it in the Great Commission, this promise is for us all. The Lord may not keep us from trial, but he will be with us to keep us through trial if it comes to that. The knowledge of the Lord’s presence is the key to abounding.

Our last message covered the first three chapters of 1 Thessalonians, ‘The Testimony of Growing Believers‘. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians after being rejoined by Silas and Timothy in Corinth. He longed to be with them, but was prevented, perhaps by the bond Jason posted in Ac 17. In any case, he writes them a warm and affectionate letter designed to help them grow in the faith, something he desired to do by his presence, but could only do by way of letter in his absence. The first three chapters are sort of a ‘love letter’ between Paul and the church where he thanks God for their encouraging testimony of evident salvation (1.2-5, 9-10), for the remembered testimony of receptive hearts (2.13-16), and last prays for the desired testimony of ongoing faithfulness (3.8-13). The Thessalonian news was an encouragement for the apostle. The growth of Christians in a local church are encouragement for the pastor, and for any other Christians that observe them. We ought to grow for the Lord’s sake, but the fact is your growth is a great benefit to those who minister to you.

We had a good day in the Lord with a few visitors who are former members. These folks made some poor choices in the past, and seem to be stuck in those choices at the moment, but we are glad for the opportunity to minister to them once again.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Tonight we were on Gal 5-6. I called the message “The Spirit Walk“. In Galatians, there are three great points Paul makes: I am an apostle, so you better listen (applies to all of us); Justification is by Faith alone, the first doctrine of the church; and now sanctification is by faith also.

This concept is perhaps one of the hardest for us to get about Christian living. Humans think that the only way to produce righteousness is to restrain evil. In this evil world, we do need to restrain evil, no doubt about it. But we won’t produce holiness, righteousness, or sanctified saints that way. Paul says ‘For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.’ [gal 5.5 esv] This is justification and ultimate sanctification all wrapped up into one. What is the hope of righteousness that we are waiting for? The righteousness that comes when our blessed hope comes, when we will sin no more. We wait for that righteousness by faith, believing it will come. Then Paul says: ‘For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.’ [gal 5.6 esv] In the meantime, between justification and the righteousness to come, we live by faith (not the OT Law) and we are sanctified by faith which works by love: Love for God, Love for man.

This Spirit walk is successful when we walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh (5.16). If we walk in the flesh, the result is not righteousness but the works of the flesh. If we walk in the Spirit, the result is the fruit of the Spirit, love joy peace, etc. because we are not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. We do this by loving God and loving others, the ‘more excellent way’, and the Great Commandment that is over the Law (which was fulfilled in Christ anyway). We don’t need the works of the Law for sanctification, we need faith which works by love.

I didn’t have time tonight to actually cover ch. 6 which gives us two applicatons of walking the Spirit walk, but the whole concept was quite a blessing to us as we considered it.

The key is this: We must work our faith by love – we can’t just somehow mystically ‘believe’ and BAM we are sanctified. We have to work our faith by love for God and love for others.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3