consider Jesus

Hebrews chapter 3 starts with a very simple directive: Consider Jesus.

He is:
The Apostle and High Priest of our confession
He was faithful to the Father
Worthy of more glory than Moses
He is the great builder (and therefore, God)
He is God's Son

What are we to do with this information?

We are to exhort one another with it everyday. All the time. Without fail.

Jesus is supreme in every way and unique in every way. Consider Him. He is worthy of all glory.

I tell you this for a purpose, so that you will not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So that you will not have a hard, unbelieving heart. So that you won't rebel like the Israelites.

Consider Jesus, friends. He was sent by the Father on a mission (apostle) to become the mediator between God and man (high priest). He was faithful in this purpose and is worthy of more glory than any faithful man who ever lived because He is God's Son. Since God is the builder of all things and Jesus is also the builder, that means He is God.

God came to save sinners. Give him glory.

Consider Jesus.

-joe

greater than angels

There was apparently an issue with angels back in New Testament times. Paul mentions angel worship in Colossians and the writer of Hebrews seems to be hinting that others are guilty as well.

So, it's probably something worth thinking about. Why would people worship angels?

Well, let's look at some descriptions of these creatures:

Isaiah 6: Seraphim (which loosely basically translates to "flaming ones" in Hebrew) hover in the air and their voice shakes the foundations of the temple of God. Angels made of fire whose voices shake the heavens...that's some serious power.

2 Thessalonians also says that angels are revealed in flaming fire.

Revelation 7 says that four angels hold the wind and the power to severely wreck the earth.

Revelation 8 & 9 give descriptions of the horrible things that the sound of the trumpets of angels will do. They blow their horns and lots of people die. Then the four angels who were held back in chapter 7 kill 1/3 of the people of the earth.

Basically chapter 10-21 lay out some of the most amazing feats in the world...most of them performed by angels.

All this to say: angels are some seriously powerful beings. They are much more powerful than we are. In fact, one of the fallen angels (a demon) beat up 7 men and left them running away naked. (See Acts 19)

So, you could maybe see why there would be a problem with angel worship. They're made of fire, they have voices that shake the heavens and they can wipe out the earth if they want. That's pretty intense.

But here's the reason we shouldn't worship angels: The NAME of Jesus is more powerful than all the angels. We're not talking about Jesus himself, we're talking about the glory of his NAME. His NAME will cause every angel to bow before him.

Now, take that to the next level. If the very NAME of Jesus is more powerful than all the angels ever created...then Jesus himself is so far above angels that he literally defeats them by putting his feet upon them like a footstool.

Jesus kicks back in a reclined position at his throne...and in so doing defeats myriads of demons and Satan himself!

Angels are crazy powerful and made of fire. Their voices shake the foundation of heaven.

Jesus defeats all the fallen ones by relaxing his feet.

Jesus is definitely greater than the angels.

-joe

Jesus' rabbit hole

Nate Irwin, one of the pastors of College Park Church in Indianapolis, gave a sermon this past Sunday that was powerful. I encourage you to listen to it here.

He begins by recounting part of Alice in Wonderland and then shows us that Jesus, like the rabbit, unveils to us a hole to go down that is completely different than anything we have ever seen before.

Near the beginning of the sermon Nate makes these statements about the standard worldview of many people today:

"We believe we have the right...to do anything that we want...and not to do anything that we don't want. We believe that we're free to love whoever we want and ignore whoever we want as long as we don't do them harm."

He then contrasts that with the worldview (the rabbit hole) that Christ calls us to:

"Jesus says, 'In my world you do not have the right to live, but you have the requirement to die. In my world you do not have the freedom to love, you have the responsibility to love.'"

The requirement to die and the responsibility to love. Powerful.

-joe

the ascension

Tonight at senior high youth I will speak about the ascension of Jesus Christ and what that means to us, as believers in Him.

I think there are several reasons why it is important for us to realize He ascended and for what purpose He went.

The first I think is fairly obvious, since Jesus tells us one of the main reasons He will be leaving the earth after His resurrection. He talks about in John 16:4-15. I'll summarize by saying that He left in order that the Holy Spirit would come to 1)convict the world of sin, 2)convict the world of righteousness, 3)convict the world of judgment, 4)guide us into all truth, 5)Glorify God through Jesus.

Hebrews 4:14 gives us another reason that He left and "went through the heavens." It was so that we could have hope and confidence and hold fast to our faith. This leads to the last two points.

He left to rule and reign as is spelled out in Ephesians 1:15-23. He went to act as our advocate and High Priest. We, therefore, place our hope and confidence in the great, powerful, mighty, resurrected Lord Jesus who rules with all authority and intercedes for us. That is why we get to have confidence (point number 2).

The final reason I believe Jesus left us was to give us a reminder and hope of his return. In Acts 1:11 the angels tell the apostles that Jesus will return in the manner they just saw him go. I think that gives us a great hope of his return (and goes back to point number 2).

I hope you will be encouraged that Jesus ascended through the heavens to be seated at the right hand of the Father and has sent us the Holy Spirit. What a merciful and awesome God.

-joe

the deal

Here's my new plan of action so that you can be ready for my postings. On Mondays (Sunday nights) and Fridays (Thursday nights) I will be posting light theology and personal stuff. On Thursdays (Wednesday nights) I'll probably delve a bit deeper into things. So, now that you know, you can be prepared to read stuff on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. I hope you like the new system. It seems much better to me.

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This morning I preached my first of two sermons while Mark (my senior pastor) is on vacation with his wife. Pray for them both. His wife has ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) so they are spending some quality time on vacation before things get too bad.

I encourage you to spend some time meditating on 2 Corinthians 5:21 today. A good portion of my talk today was on the transfer of our sin to Christ and that he literally became sin. He was your worst (and my worst) sin. He had to deal with being a lustful pervert, a greedy overlord and a self-righteous jerk. He had to deal with the guilt of those sins and the pain of bearing them. And then he had to die--because he loved us.

How great is the love that comes to us. Spend some time thanking him for his sacrifice and have a great few days.

-joe

song to be

Here are the words to a song that will be recorded on the next Sealed album. Thanks to Rachel for making it actual poetry instead of just random words.

The poem starts in Isaiah 6, then moves on to the cross of Christ and His defeat of sin and death, and, finally, to the joy that salvation brings to my heart.

As robes do fill the temple
The seraphs there who fly
Sing "holy, holy, holy"
And cover feet and eyes

For He is wholly other
The Holy God on high
Enthroned in light, majestic
A bloody sacrifice

For bleeding, hung in anguish
Our sin, our shame He bore
And life, by Adam curs'ed
Is new, by death made sure

Now free, this grace redeemeth
The basest of the beasts
Alone we are but sinners
Yet He brings high the least

O joy, for my salvation
My wand'ring heart it stays
Not fleeting, this emotion
But true and holy praise

Each morn now filled with singing
Each night with endless praise
For ev'ry joy and glory
Your loving cross displays

-joe

corny christmas tv

My family has started the only tradition that has made it through the years...watching sappy Christmas movies. Every. Single. Night.

These movies suck the life right out of me. It is like breathing in toxic air and being told that it is the freshest mountain air in the world. Most Christmas movies are centered on the idea that people are good at heart and just need some person in their lives to love them and then POOF...they are once again a great person.

These movies do nothing to exalt the name of Christ and how He is the only one who can move a person from their default bad state of being the awesome righteousness given to us by virtue of His blood.

They also start on the premise that all of the characters were once "good kids" who just went awry sometime later in life. Sorry, that doesn't hold up. We are all horrible kids. A few of us are better at obeying and keeping the rules, but we're still bad. We still suck at life. No kid is good. No kid deserves to get those Christmas gifts.

The reason we give gifts is not because a kid or person has been good enough to deserve them, but because God has granted to us a gift we don't deserve. So, we give gifts that are undeserved so that in them, the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be shown. We give graciously and joyously to those who have done nothing to receive because Christ has done the same for us.

So, this year, as you begin your Christmas shopping, think of Christ. Dwell on His gift and then, in that spirit, give to the people in your lives...because they don't deserve it and God graciously gave you what you also didn't deserve.

-joe

sunday

3 things from Sunday.

1. I got a new guitar on Saturday (12-string Alvarez). It was a sweet used guitar, perfect condition, half-price. My old guitar needed serious work...so I played my sweet new guitar on Sunday. It was awesome (not my playing...just the guitar).

2. I preached on Ephesians 4 and the preeminence of Christ in corporate worship. My sermon tore at my heart...I long for the day when pastors across the world will unite in equipping the saints so that they won't be turned by falsities and so that they will love the world through Christ.

3. I talked through the first 2/3 of Romans 8 at Sr. High. A quick summary:
We are now alive in Christ and in His Spirit. We need to constantly be mortifying the flesh so that Christ can be made supreme in our actions and so that we do not
succumb to the sin that dwells in our body.
We are heirs with Christ. We have a Father who loves us dearly, one who we need to cling to because we are unable to do anything good without Him.
We also must suffer for His sake if we are to be counted among those who love Him. That means living a life of sacrifice, willingly giving to God all that He demands (which is everything...)
We see the beauty beginning to shine in the predestining of us to salvation. We are in utter and total sinfulness, unable to do good. How gracious of God to stoop down and pluck us from the pit of sin that we live in.
We are promised that if we are foreknown and predestined, then we will be called (oh how sweet that irresistible grace is), we will be justified (counted righteous in God's eyes), and we will be glorified (to be forever with God in His glory).

'Amazing grace, how sweet the sound...that saved a wretch like me' begins to melt the heart when the love of God is understood.

-joe

romans 7

The death of Christ has released us from the law. He has died and we die in Him if we believe that His death is what sets us free. What a beautiful portrait of love. He died to set us free from the law that binds...free to the love that abounds in the fruit of the Spirit.

And then on into the battle that rages. The great do-do verses. These verses give me no confidence in myself. They strip me of everything that I think I bring to the table for Christ. I'm dry, barren, knowing the good "but not [having] the ability to carry it out." It is the passage that I turn to to destroy the pride in my life. I cling to this passage because it tells me my worth outside of Christ is nothing and reminds me of the despair that I once lived. It reminds me that even in my salvation that I still have nothing to bring.

And finally, the crux verse. "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" That's my prayer. That is all our prayer is..."God, I'm unable to do anything good even though I want to...but thankfully you also move me in your Spirit to do that good. Let me flee temptation and cling to You."

The beauty of salvation is made no clearer than this passage. Our utter worthlessness our 'wretchedness' and Christ's ultimate worth through His death and His Spirit's work in us.

-joe

romans 5

On Sunday night we discussed Romans 5 at Senior High youth. It was a good discussion with lots of questions asked and most of them answered.

Chapter 5 begins to unpack more fully the idea that we are sinners by virtue of being human, while the first few chapters focus on individual sins as the guilty vice which damns us, this chapter focuses on the absoluteness of the fall and reinforces the idea that we are born evil. Psalm 51:5 is the greatest of examples. "In sin did my mother conceive me."

Truly this puts a great urgency on the Gospel being told to the countless millions who don't know Christ. A great burden is placed on anyone who understands that all people who have ever been born, just by being conceived (which should convince all Christians not to support abortion..God thinks of us as humans at the point of conception (sperm hitting the egg) and not at a later point).

The great truth and joy comes only in Christ, the second Adam, who redeems us and gives us a new birth. Again, we are counted righteous in an instant and continue in that righteousness forever, having been born of the Spirit and washed in Jesus blood. The Gospel comes no sweeter than this.

-joe

the basics...

my buddy matt and I were talking about the basics of the faith tonight. The conversation came when we were posed with the idea that the Christian faith is not based on facts in the uttermost sense. That, without the facts of the faith, someone could still be saved. (This is a very dumbed down version of the actual question, but it gets to the heart f it.)

Here is what I think, regarding the bare faith of Christianity. I will give a metaphor and a short fictional story to show my ideas.

The first is the story. Suppose a man named Abihu meets a man named John. They meet randomly as John is on his way to another place in the jungle. John is a Christian and desires that Abihu also believe so that Abihu might know the glory of God and joy of salvation. Abihu hears the following version of the Gospel in the 2 minutes that John is in contact with him. "Jesus was a man, who was also God. He came to this earth and had a ministry of several years. He performed many miracles. He was anointed with precious perfume. He died taking on the sins of the world. He rose again and spent 40 days more on the earth. He then ascended into heaven. If you believe in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead and confess with your mouth that He is Lord, you will be saved from the judgment of the most Holy God."

Abihu hears this and in his heart, believes. He leaves the brief encounter rejoicing. He goes back to his tribe, being the only one who has ever met a Christian. He tells them all of this news that he has heard. He preaches it faithfully for 30 years. All of his tribe also believe.

Thirty years later, another man, Tim, who is also a Christian, comes to the tribe of Abihu to tell them the good news of Christ. Much to his surprise, Abihu and the tribe already profess faith in Jesus, despite this tribe never having been ministered to by a missionary. Tim asks how they know of Jesus and Abihu tells him of the brief encounter with John.

Tim stays with the tribe and continues to teach them the faith, entrusted to the saints. Surprisingly, the tribe accepts, with little hesitation, all that Tim tells them. They readily acknowledge that Jesus was born of a virgin. They see how the Trinity must be. They find much comfort in the joys and sufferings of the folks in the Bible.
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This story illustrates, to me, the basic faith of Christianity. It is true, that all one must do to be saved is acknowledge Jesus as Lord and recognize Him to have been resurrected. The key to the story is that 30 years later, all the other doctrines of the faith are brought in, and because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the tribe of Abihu, they readily agree to the other doctrines of the faith. So too, we must readily accept the doctrines of the faith if we believe. It is true that they are not utterly necessary but if we believe we will want to know deeper the fullness of the Gospel. We will want to understand more and more the joy of our salvation. Our desire will not be to stagnate and be satisfied with the absolute minimum of faith.
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The metaphor (I might have used the wrong word...analogy? simile? i never know...)

Suppose one is learning to drive. That person is told "This is the gas. This is the brake. This is the steering wheel. The gas moves you forward. The brake makes you stop. The steering wheel makes you turn."

That is, essentially, what driving is. Three things. But isn't there more? What of shifting to a different gear? Driving in the rain? In the dark? Why use turn signals?

Even though this person might be able to "drive" they will not be very successful if the driving gets difficult. If, however, they are taught the full measure of driving...they will have much greater success. (It is true that they may not...which is true of faith as well. Some may know all that Christianity entails, but not believe.)

Thoughts back?

-joe

seated

Today I am focused on an aspect of the Gospel that, to me, brings me more joy than any other. More rest. More faith. More desire to do good works. More zeal for Christ.

It contains two aspects, one is of the slain lamb of God. The other is the ultimacy of that act.

I'm focused on Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father. Mmm...mm. That is a sweet, sweet thing. Once for all. One time and it was over. He was slain. Now, He no longer works for our salvation. He did it. Done. He's sitting there waiting until the end when He will return triumphant.

In eager anticipation of the end, desiring it to be today, I think of Him seated. The comfort to me, a wretch, a faithless scum, that I don't have to worry about the end result of my faith. It is done. And so, I desire more faith in that promise. I desire to do things to bring that slain and seated God more glory.

This idea is where I spend most of my thinking these days. To me, it is the best of the Gospel. The truth of the sacrifice and the ultimacy of its effect. Praise be to God. Glorify Him on His throne.

-joe

thursday

today, i'm thinking of the ascension of Christ. What does it mean that 'he ascended into heaven'. How does that affect me, here and now? What if he had stayed here? Truly, his kingdom is not of this world. Glory to him who ascended.

-joe

the risen Lord

ahh...today I have remembered. it is a day to celebrate the great resurrection of Jesus from the grave. If He hadn't been raised through the power of the Holy Spirit then the crucifixion and death would mean nothing. Let us ponder the great Holy Lord walking for 40 days on this earth after raising and defeating death and the grave.

-joe

tuesday

Man, how quickly we forget. I mean, how quickly i forget.
I gave a sermon on Sunday where I challenged the congregation to do something, and here it is, two days out and I have nearly forgotten.
Today was supposed to be spent reveling in the death of Jesus. His burial. His suffering even unto death. Thank Him for grace and mercy. Without His death, no victory would be won. No darkness defeated. Amen, and amen.

-joe

the painter and the cross

i don't know anything about E.J. Carnell...but I will say that his analogy of a painter genius makes so much sense in the light of true worship.
from Christian Commitment p. 222

"The paradox can perhaps be illustrated by a painter who deliberately tries to become great. Unless he strives, he will never be an artist at all, let alone a great artist. But since h makes genius a deliberate goal of striving, he proves that he is not, and never will be, a genius. A master artist is great without trying to be great. His abilities unfold like the petals of a rose before the sun. Genius is a gift of God. It is a fruit, not a work.
So is worship!"

whew. deep. loving it.

in light of that, set your affection on Jesus on the cross. the suffering. the anguish. the pain. the love. the justice. the beauty.

be joyful in it. God is glorified in the death of His son by bringing many into righteousness.