Category: Exhortation

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Exhortation: Resurrection and Conquest

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have been at Providence for at least a year, you are beginning to see the progression of our calendar. Jesus, the Resurrected Lord is beginning to make Himself known to His disciples. The disciples are planning a strategy to proclaim the Name of their Risen Savior to the nations. They were left as orphans when He died, but now they renewed hope in His resurrection. But as Spurgeon once said, “man makes plans, but God has a plan of His own.” And the divine plan was for Jesus to rule from heaven, while the Spirit would indwell man on earth. The divine plan was for the disciples to receive power from on high; power that falls like fire; Spirit-sent fire.

As we come to the end of the Easter Season, we are approaching the Season of Pentecost; the day when God’s people were filled with strength and might to conquer the Nations. We need Easter to begin the work, but we need Pentecost to take that work to all the nations of the earth. This is our cycle. First, resurrection. Then, conquest.

Let us pray: We thank you, O Father, that you have promised your Son that all the nations of the earth will be His. We look to that day when nations submit to the authority of the Only True King of all creation, King Jesus, in whose Name we pray. Amen.

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Exhortation: Truth and Table

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is there a simpler, but more profound description of the Church than what we find in Acts 2: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The people of God devoted themselves to truth. They built themselves in biblical theology; and as a result, they feasted in fellowship and food.

The early church was founded and persevered by these simple means. They had no riches, no buildings, just truth and table and fellowship. The Church of Jesus is faltering on these fundamental areas. Jesus has provided His Church the instruction to conquer nations, but yet, we are bogged down with questions like whether we should ordain gay clergy to lead the Church. The decision this week by the mainline Presbyterian denomination to open the door for gay ordination is a step away from truth. By attempting to be progressives, these churches are digressing into idolatry. If the Church will do her job, then she needs to begin investing her time in the simple apostolic commands to dwell in truth, in communion with one another, and by tasting of truth and communion in bread and wine. In a day when God’s glory is departing, when thieves and robbers are corrupting the Bride, may God grant His Church and her ministers wisdom to return and abide by the apostolic commands.

Pray: Preserve us in all truth, O Christ. May you be our Great Shepherd who protects us from the wolves through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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Exhortation: Mother’s Day and the Rhythm of Resurrection

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is Mother’s Day! And this is cause to consider the role of mothers.

We cannot begin to think of mothers without speaking of our first mother, Eve. Eve fell because she refused to be a true mother. Eve did not consider her actions in light of the future. Eve had a poor eschatology. She was an existentialist by nature; only the here and now mattered to her. The first lesson mothers need to understand is that the future matters. Mothers are New Eves’ in Christ. This is why mothers are called to live in such a way that influences her children and her children’s children.

Mothers are also warriors. They are defenders of their children. Mothers will kill to defend their little ones. This is inherent in mothers. God has created them to defend the defenseless. They not only nurse, but nurture.

Mothers bless and are blessed. Children, bless them! Husbands, praise them! A good queen beautifies the home, and makes the king look respectable and honorable in his kingdom, and at the gates of the city.

Mothers are also teachers. As they get older and gain more and more biblical wisdom, they become wise matriarchs in communities. People begin to say: “Go to her. Seek her counsel.” But this does not come easily. Mothers need the rhythm of resurrection to grow in wisdom. They need to be constantly reminded that God’s grace is strengthening and building them up in their darkest moments; when they are overwhelmed by their duties; mothers need to embrace the resurrection as a model for life. They need to so cherish the empty tomb that they realize that their perspective on life is shaped by it.

Christian Mothers, you are setting the rhythm for the rest of the world. You are establishing with your lives a pattern for the world to follow. Do not ever allow someone to say that your role is not valued. You are co-heirs of grace. Your children are arrows that pierce the kingdoms of darkness, because you trained them to be great warriors. For every diaper you change, for every alphabet letter you teach, for every kiss, for every song, for every meal you make, for every joy you instill in your children and others in your community, therein is the testimony of God’s grace in the world.

You are God’s gift to the Church, and to your families. Be encouraged in your calling. We need your wisdom, and the world needs it also. Happy Mother’s Day! And may the God of all peace sustain and nourish you with His grace now and forever. Amen.

Prayer: Teach us, O Lord, to honor and delight in mothers. May Your church encourage them in their callings, help in exercising their role, and may You exalt them in due time that they may receive the crown of life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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Exhortation: That we might have life in His Name

The resurrection is the most important article of our faith. St. John tells us that the resurrection is given to us, so we may have life in his name. Our very identity is connected with the identity of the resurrected Christ.

The resurrection is given for the strengthening of our faith. One of the central reasons Jesus appears again and again after his resurrection is so that his disciples might grow in their faith; so they might be built up to endure a life of discipleship.

This morning the Spirit ushers us into the presence of the resurrected and ascended Christ, so that just like the day when he first appeared to those first century disciples, we too, two-thousand years later, may be encouraged and strengthened to live and worship our Lord in this world.

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Easter Exhortation: Raised with Christ

The apostle Paul says in Colossians that if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. We are a theological people, but we are also a people who live our theology. The resurrection is something to be lived. The resurrection of Jesus causes us to live a certain way. Andrew Sandlin writes that the reason many people do not stress resurrection living is because it demands a sin-overcoming-life. “If we are baptized into Jesus, we are baptized into both his death and resurrection.  We are dead to sin and alive to righteousness (Rom. 6:11–13).”[1] To be raised with Christ is to seek the life that is pleasing to Him; seeking to heavenly life on earth.

Prayer: Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[1] Andrew Sandlin, blog.

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Exhortation: The Suffering and Vindicated Servant of Yahweh

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Prophet Isaiah (chp. 50) speaks by the inspiration of the Spirit of the obedient servant. He writes that the servant is ready to confront His accusers because He knows that Yahweh will be His help. He writes that the servant did not hide his face from mocking and spitting. The suffering servant was obedient to the Father; even to the point of death (Phil. 2).  He embraced His mission with unyielding commitment. He embraced His mission for the glory of the Father, the exaltation of His name, and the salvation of the world.

The suffering servant entered Jerusalem in cheers only to be crucified a few days later. But none of this was unexpected. He knew the crowds would cry out His Name; He knew that some would follow and some would turn away. The Servant of Yahweh knew that His death would mean the bringing in the world, so He suffers and dies that those in Him might live.

As the Holy Week commences, we know that Yahweh will vindicate His servant, and because He is vindicated we too are vindicated in Him.

Let us Pray: Almighty and everliving God,
in your tender love towards us
you sent your Son to take our nature upon him,
and to suffer death upon the cross;
grant that we may follow the example
of his great humility
and share in his glorious resurrection:

through him who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.

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Exhortation: The Valley of Dry Bones

Death comes seeking whom it may devour. Death is the ultimate violence perpetrated against mankind. This is precisely why in God’s world death does not have the final world. In and through Christ, death needs to bow down in submission.

In the days of ancient Israel the prophet Ezekiel spoke of death in terms of dry bones in the middle of the valley. Silence was over the valley. No one spoke, because death reigned supreme. All is hopeless. All is darkness. Ezekiel paints this morbid picture to express the marvelous painting of the resurrection. The darker the situation is the greater the light needed.

As the image of death silently hovers the valley another image begins to take its place; the image of wind and life; the image of bones coming together; the image of flesh taking its place and forming something new.

This is the corporate picture of the gospel. “When God raises Jesus from the dead, it isn’t simply the raising of one human body. It represents the resurrection, the creation out of nothing, of a new foundation for human community.”  This is the community that God is forming out of nothing; out of death. Our lives are no longer lived in the valley of affliction, but in the restored Eden where God’s presence dwells and Who calls us today into His presence.

Prayer: Merciful God, You raised us to new life that we might transform the dead gardens of this world into the likeness of Your Beloved Son who is our King and who rules and reigns over death. It for the sake of His Name, Jesus, we pray, Amen!

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Exhortation: The Tree of Life

The incarnation of Jesus is not simply an incarnation to endure the world’s mess; it is an incarnation to suffer the world’s sin. At the cross, Jesus suffered the death that we deserved; He endured punishment that we deserved. He is our substitute; our atoning sacrifice; our reconciliation with the Father. The cross is paradoxical because in death there is life. In dying on a tree, Jesus secured our place at the tree of life. The tree connects us with true life.

Adam fell at a tree, and by a tree he was saved. At a tree Eve was seduced, and through a tree the bride was restored to her husband. At a tree, Satan defeated Adam; on a tree Jesus destroyed the works of the devil. At a tree man died, but by Jesus’ death we live. At a tree God cursed, and through a tree that curse gave way to blessing. God exiled Adam from the tree of life; on a tree the Last Adam endured exile so that we might inherit the earth.[1] The tree is our life; at the cross, the love of God was made known; at the cross the wrath of God was satisfied.

Let us pray: We pray, O Christ, that our vision will be sharpened to see suffering in light of your suffering; to see death in light of your death; to see the gospel in light of your Word. Amen.

[1] Peter Leithart. The second paragraph comes largely from his writings.

 

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Exhortation: Dying in Christ

The Lenten Season causes us to consider that not everything is made right; that relationships are broken; that restoration is difficult. And this is why we live as walking dead. We walk in truth, but we walk knowing that we have died in Christ. So, we do not walk arrogantly; we do not walk expecting everything to go our way. We should walk expecting that only God’s way of doing things is the best way and that our only expectation is in the Christ who was crucified; our only hope is to walk as men who have died in Christ.

But though this Season offers us a sober look at who we are and how we are to walk, we must never forget that our deaths in Christ is followed by our being raised with Him. Though we do not walk boastfully, we walk hopeful that the Christ who died has begun to make all things right at his resurrection and will continue to right the wrongs of this world until it is all made new.

As Pastor Rich Lusk observes:

But having already died in Christ, we can approach our bodily death with hope, knowing that while death remains a foe, it is a defeated foe, and now serves our ultimate good. Death has defeated death, so, dying we live.

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Exhortation: Cruciform Living

There is a great interest in the Church Calendar these days. We at Providence Church honor the Church Calendar. We believe that just as God is interested in the times and seasons, we as a Church should also be interested in times and seasons that reflect the beauty of God’s story.

We enter today into the Season of Lent; a season generally seen as a penitential season. It is a time set aside to consider the sufferings of Jesus; His crucifixion, and the many temptations He endured for our sakes. In this Lenten Season, as we meditate on these great themes, we are reminded that the Lamb of God endured all these things for us. He could have avoided the cross, but endured the cross for our sakes.

My exhortation to you as we enter into this Season is to think deeply about what the cross means. Consider that Christ gave up all heavenly glory to live an earthly life. We too are called to consider in what ways we can minister to others; in what ways we can learn to live the cruciform life; a life of self-denial, and a life that is committed to bearing the cross, so that in Christ and His sufferings we may find life in the resurrection.

Let us pray: O Lord, teach us to live as you have taught us forsaking all that is ungodly to pursue you; and abandoning all earthly pleasures that cause us to stray from your ways. We pray this in Jesus’ Name.