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

Here are the last four messages, including today’s Thanksgiving Message, not yet preached as of posting!

Are you ready? The Kingdom Comes
Lessons on Ambition
Hosanna! Save Now!
The Wedding Banquet

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Today we just had our morning services. We will have the afternoon service tomorrow afternoon after our traditional Thanksgiving Dinner at church. The kids will play the traditional soccer game after the service (minus our soccer star, now playing in a Bryan Bears uniform at a locale down south – still winless, but not giving up).

This morning we had a total of 47 in the services, with several visitors. One of our families brought two young teenagers with them, friends of their son. It was the second Sunday for one of them. These boys have no clue about the Bible or church. It is likely the first time they are hearing the gospel – an awesome moment for good or ill.

Another visitor was a co-worker of my son. He has a church background, don’t know the whole story, but he has an interest stemming from the testimony of our kids and his background. Hard to know what he thinks but we hope for more contacts later.

Tomorrow may bring other visitors. May the Lord work in their hearts as they hear the gospel tomorrow afternoon!

***

The first sermon today was entitled: Lessons on Ambition. In our chronological reading of the NT, we came to these records sort of back to back: the blessing of the children, the rich young ruler, the parable of the 11th hour labourers, and the ambition of James and John. Each of these pericopes deal with the same subject: ambition. My proposition was this: The key to serving God in His kingdom is subduing our will to His will, making His ambitions our ambitions. First, from the rich young ruler, subduing the ambition for wealth. Second, from the parable of the labourers, subduing the ambition for rights. Last, from the incident with James and John, subuing the ambition for place. The Lord came to give his life a ransom for many. He is the supreme example of subduing ambition to the will of the Father, for the sake of others. I applied all of this to the local church level – God has given me as the pastor a place in the local church. In fact, he calls me a ‘gift’ to the church. So how should I live? Lording it over the people and demanding their obedience? No, I am called to serve them. (Literally to be a slave for them [a slave to God, but for them.) How are the people to behave? Are they to be worrying about how their needs aren’t being met and how folks aren’t treating me right? No, they are called to serve others in the church. Serve ‘one another’, again, literally as a slave to God. If you are thinking about how others aren’t doing enough for you, you have missed the point that the Lord was constantly trying to teach the disciples (at least three major episodes in the training of the twelve, by my count).

The second sermon was on the Triumphal Entry, with the title Hosanna! Save Now! The proposition was: Salvation belongs to those who make Jesus king of their hearts and king of their lives. First, I spent some time talking about the meaning of the cry of the crowd (I called it ‘the crowning cry’) as the Lord entered Jerusalem. There are at least four basic things they were saying, but the most prominent is ‘Hosanna’, a demand to the King to Save Now! It comes from Ps 118.25. Then we worked through these passages leading up to the triumphal entry (along the road from Jericho to Jerusalem): the healing of Blind Bartimaeus who cried to the Son of David for healing, then the conversion of Zaccheus [this is the crowning cry anticipated in saving activity]; while with Zaccheus, the Lord told the parable of the pounds for the purpose of dampening messianic expectations – the earthly kingdom would not come immediately [this is the crowning moment postponed in parabolic teaching]; then we come to the moment of entry to Jerusalem, and the reason the crowd and the disciples can’t bring themselves to get the Lord’s message – they long for relief from Rome, they long for the prominence the Messiah will give them – so this seems to be the time and Jesus seems to be the man, and they cry for redemption. The Pharisees call on Jesus to rebuke the crowd, but the Lord says that if he did, the stones would cry out. I take this to mean that the crowning cry is the will of the Lord, and so it proceeds. The crowning cry is what every man needs to make now: Save Now! Hosanna! Save Now!

Another great day in the Lord.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

P. S. I’ll post links to sermon notes later, probably sometime tomorrow.

I am a little late writing this summary. With Thanksgiving next Monday, an all day meeting later in the week, and a work day the following Saturday, I am feeling just a little cramped on study time. I am going like mad to keep the head above water on this project. The study and the fruit in our spiritual life at church have been worth it, but there is a lot of work.

Wednesday we had a little distraction outside our building during the service. Three young fellows decided to visit on the steps outside the exit door by the piano. One of our men checked on them. They were quite insolent and appeared to be drunk — and they appeared to be about twelve years old. This is not typical of our neighbourhood, but all the homes around have tremendous needs. Well over 90% don’t attend church at all, let alone profess salvation (or even have a clue about what that means). Our great burden is to somehow get the attention of a few and see them come to Christ.

Our message covered Luke 17.20-18.14. There are several events and parables strung together in a row here along a theme, and there are parallels in the other Gospels. We mostly stayed in Luke for the message. The subject was preparedness for the Second Coming. Just before our passage, the Lord healed ten lepers at once, with a Samaritan demonstrating faith. The Pharisees, with no faith, ask for a sign of the coming of the kingdom. The Lord cahllenges their lack of faith, but then calls the disciples to be prepared: they must be prepared for deceivers saying the kingdom is already come; they must be prepared to receive Christ, for the kingdom will come suddenly (a la the Flood, or the destruction of Sodom); they must be prepared to persist in prayer (as in the widow before the unjust judge); and they must be prepared with a humble spirit (as the publican in contrast to the Pharisee).

The last two points in the message were the point where the disturbance happened outside. It was quite a distraction to me for two reasons: the noise and worry of ‘what’s going on?’ and as I look back on my outline, those were the two weakest points of the message! I think that I summed it up better than I preached it, but even in summing it up, I realize I may have been stretching the theme a bit on the last two parables.

This is probably a reflection of trying to cover too much too fast, and being too detail oriented. I have a compulsion to ‘fit everything in’. Sometimes you just have to leave stuff out.

This Sunday and Monday should be better. We are expecting guests in the AM service tomorrow (10 am Pacific Time), so pray for softened hearts. We are also expecting unsaved guests on Monday for our Thanksgiving dinner and service. Pray for that service also, about 1:15 pm Pacific Time.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

I am burdened by our lower attendance of late. We had 35 today. We are working towards outreach, but we live in a very hardened city. We primarily focus on reaching the lost, not folks who are Christians already, even though our philosophy is so different from the philosophy of most (virtually all) of the other churches in town. Next week on Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving. We will be having our annual Thanksgiving dinner. Several unsaved guests will be present and we will be having a service after the dinner. Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in hearts! Today we did have one unsaved teen in the services who came as a guest of one of our families. Pray for him, that he might receive the gospel preached today.

Our messages were all in Luke today. We are in that extended seciont of Luke that is unique to him, from about the end of chapter 9 all the way to chapter 18 or 19 or so. It covers a good deal of what is known of the Lord’s ministry in the last months leading up to the crucifixion.

The first message covered five ‘vignettes’ which I entitled “Correction of Misapprehensions“. The theme was getting disciples to think God’s way. First, James and John want to call down fire on a Samaritan village. I called that understanding the spirit of discipleship. Then three would-be disciples receive the Lord’s searching question forcing them to examine the heart of their motivation for discipleship. I called that understanding the cost of discipleship. Then we saw the 70 sent out, coming back rejoicing that the devils were subject to them. The Lord corrects their thinking, so I called that understanding the joy of discipleship. The next vignette was Martha and Mary, where Martha complains about Mary’s idleness. I called that understanding the good part of discipleship. And last, we covered the Lord’s instructions on prayer in Lk 11. I called that understanding the prayer of discipleship – we go to God because he is good, not because he is someone we must cajole into giving us blessings.

The second message was “Denouncing the Pharisees” from Lk 11.37-12.12. The proposition: False religion presents particular threats to true faith. The Pharisees are denounced for their hypocrisy, the scribes for their apostasy. The Lord warns his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees, for Pharisaism is a deadening influence for true religion. The Lord prepares his disciples for the attacks of those (like the scribes) who say the work of the Spirit springs from the devil and will therefore persecute the true believers. God cares more for the believer than for anything else in this world and will protect any saint under attack like this. We need not be forearmed, we must trust in God alone to preserve us against attack.

The last message was on the three lost things of Luke 15, entitled “Joy in Heaven“. We spoke to the proposition: The joy of heaven ought to involve God’s people in the mission of redeeming those who are lost. I began by comparing lost things: the sheep and the coin were lost inadvertantly, we have no moral indignation about their lostness. They are lost because, in the first place, a sheep is a sheep and has a weak, next to useless, brain, and in the second place because a coin is a coin and has no brain at all. It just happens to be lost. The son on the other hand, lost himself. He spent everything he had and ended up in the pigpen. People like this earn our moral indignation. We tend to think of them, they deserve what they get for what they did to themselves. We are partly right, but the fact is that all men do such things because it is our nature to do them. We are sinners. Lostness is part of our nature.

Next, I compared the finding of the lost things. In the case of the sheep and the coin, they were found after a diligent search. God has to take the initiative ‘to seek and save those that are lost’. In the case of the son, the son found himself, so to speak. He realized his condition, saw that even servants had it better than he does, got up and out of the pigpen and headed home. Though God takes the initiative in salvation, man must see himself for a sinner, see Christ as the solution, get up and come home in repentance and faith. Salvation cannot happen without both sides of the equation operating. Those who wish to dismiss one side of salvation or the other do not teach the whole counsel of God.

The next thing to compare was the joy over the found things. In the case of the sheep and the coin, the shepherd and the woman told their friends and rejoiced with them. The father told his servants (not the older son) and rejoiced with them. Those who rejoice with the finder are those who are predisposed to the finder’s point of view.

Finally we compared the mind of heaven over the salvation of sinners. The parables of sheep and coin are essentially one, teaching exactly the same lesson concerning the mind of heaven. God states that there is joy in heaven over ONE sinner that repents. I take this quite literally. The figure is the parable, the statement of fact is the heavenly viewpoint. God’s angels rejoice when a sinner turns to God. I believe that every believer has had his name sung in heaven. I made this application: has your name been on the lips of angels? Then I considered the response to the finding of the son: it is not the heavenly, but the earthly view. The older son comes in from the field (earth-centered focus), he is offended because 1) He has slaved 2) He has kept the law (father’s commandments) and the father has not given him so much as a baby goat (much less a fatted calf) to celebrate with HIS friends (not with the fathers servants). He ‘does well to be angry’. The father reminds him that the son was dead and is alive, was lost and is found. This is the view of heaven. The earthly view is: If I keep my nose clean, God MUST bless ME. The heavenly view is: there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents.

We need to adopt the heavenly view of sinners: they are not our friends just to satisfy our desire for friends. They are lost whom the Saviour desires to save. We are no friend if we will not do all we can to turn the lost to Christ, and find joy in their repentance and salvation.

Well, all in all, it was a great day in the Lord. Salvation is a great joy and those who share in the one bread and the one cup are truly blessed. May there be more to share it with before the Lord returns!

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Note: you can see the notes for the messages by clicking the links in the sermon titles.