Category: Exhortation

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Exhortation: Praise Yahweh!

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

In Psalm 148, the psalmist speaks of the sun and moon and stars. He speaks of armies, of kings, and of peoples. In the beginning of the psalm he exhorts all things and all peoples to Praise Yahweh. In the end of the Psalm he exhorts all things and all peoples to praise Yahweh. All things in heaven above and in earth beneath have one purpose: doxology.

You would think that Yahweh tires of praise, but He does not, and never should we tire of praising Him. This is our most sacred duty on earth; our most intelligible service, our most pure duty, and our most supreme joy. Praise Yah. Halle-luiah!

Prayer: We praise the God who raised up a horn for us, even Jesus our Risen Lord.

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Exhortation: Joy Comes in the Morning

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

David concludes Psalm 30 by saying that God has turned his mourning into dancing.  Earlier he says that weeping may tarry in the night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30 is a resurrection Psalm. The psalmist has escaped death and his only response is dance and to sing joyfully to Yahweh. Is there a better picture of the resurrection of our Lord? When death seems to have defeated our Lord, when Mary Magdelene weeps in the tomb, Jesus appears, hope emerges, mourning turns into dancing, and out of darkness, light. The resurrection calls us, according to Psalm 30 to reject silence and to sing praises for Christ has died, but Christ is risen! Amen.

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Resurrection and Worship

Every Lord’s Day, when we meet as a people, we come face to face with the resurrection reality. You come this morning because you know that you are not seeking the living among the dead, but you have found the living and resurrected Christ who has been raised from the dead. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

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Exhortation: Easter Catechism

Brother and Sisters, Paul writes that the resurrected Christ … must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Let me provide for you a short Easter catechism. Paul says that Christ, who is now reigning, must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Question #1: Are all Christ’s enemies under his feet now? Answer: No. Christ’s enemies have not all been conquered or destroyed. Question #2 When will Christ ultimately bring all his enemies under his feet? Answer: When the last enemy death is destroyed. Question #3 When will death be destroyed? Answer: At the end of history when all enemies are under his feet.

This is a simple catechism with powerful implications. This morning we celebrate the beginning of this conquering. In the resurrection, Christ begins to put every enemy under his feet and He will continue to do so until the end of history.  This is the hope of those who are his friends and who are now reigning with him. This is our hope. Thanks be to God.

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Exhortation: Our Chief End (Isaiah 43)

Brother and Sisters, the prophet Isaiah declares in Psalmic nature the care of Yahweh for His people. In chapter 43 he writes:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.[1]

God preserves His own, just as the Warrior/Shepherd preserves and prepares a meal for His sheep in the presence of His enemies. But what is most striking in this passage of Isaiah is that the telos/purpose/end of this preservation according to verse 21 is that “the people Yahweh formed for himself…might declare His praise.” We are created, preserved, and sustained that we might find our greatest end the declaration of Yahweh’s kingship in all places and especially in the midst of the congregation. As Calvin writes:

“This, then, is the end of our calling, that, being consecrated to God, we may praise and honor him during our whole life.”[2]

[1] English Standard Version.

[2] (from Calvin’s Commentaries, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

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Exhortation: Life and Justice

Brothers and Sisters, there are approximately 3,500 abortions a day in this country; about 1.3 million a year. The Psalmist writes: For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

There are no civil liberties when it comes to God’s ability to search you out. God is the One who forms and puts us together, so He and He alone has the right to declare and define life. And how does God speak of life? The Psalmist speaks in the most intimate terms: “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Continue reading “Exhortation: Life and Justice”

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Exhortation: Not a Funeral

Audio

Brothers and Sisters, we continue our brief exhortations on the Lord’s Supper. Many of us grew up in environments where when the Lord’s Supper was administered, however often, it was “reduced…to a means of providing mental stimulus for individual religious meditation.” In other words, “communion is thought to be just another opportunity to exercise personal, private devotions at church.”[1] But the sacraments are uniting elements. It is communion in the body, as Paul says. If this is the case, instead of closing our eyes, we should open them, instead of turning inward, we should turn to one another.

Consider this: This is the Lord’s meal. The model Jesus set for us was that of a regular meal. It is true that Jesus was physically present in the first New Covenant Supper, but He is with us even now in Spirit. Can you imagine a silent dinner at your home? Or imagine mom with her head bowed and eyes closed during a meal meditating on the goodness of God in providing this food. This makes no sense! In the same manner, the Lord’s Supper needs to be a Supper of communion, and not privatization.

So, how do I exhort you this morning?

a)     I realize that old habits are hard to abandon, but let me encourage you to keep your eyes open during this time; to look at one another.

b)    As we will explain in future weeks, there is so much more than “individuals reflecting on Jesus’ death using the visual aids of bread and wine.”[2]

c)     This is not a funeral; it is the meal of resurrected saints. So, smile. Pass the peace as if you were talking to someone, not as if you were telling someone a secret.

Conclusion: The Shalom of God is yours in this meal. This morning when we do eat and drink, eat and drink believing that Christ is in our midst.

[1] Jeff Meyers, The Lord’s Service, 216.

[2] Ibid.

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Exhortation: Weekly Celebration of the Lord’s Supper

Brothers and sisters, in our exhortations we come this morning to the Lord’s Supper. I think this is a good place to park for a few weeks before we move on to other aspects of our liturgy. While most people are agreed with the necessity of the preached Word, very few evangelical churches in our culture give much attention to the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

If you have visited with us for a short while, you have noticed that we celebrate the Lord’ Supper weekly. We do this because the Lord commands us to break bread every time we meet.[1] The Apostle Paul thought the Lord’s Supper was so significant that he spends an extended part of I Corinthians dealing with this issue. The Feast Christ spreads for us is the centerpiece to true spirituality.[2] It is the culmination of celebration. Just as there can be no feast without food, there can be no faithful liturgy without bread and wine. This is why it is imperative that we not forsake this God-given means of nurture to the body. There are other times when we can sit together simply for teaching and singing songs of praise, but the Lord’s Day is set aside for us to come to together and eat together as a family. Continue reading “Exhortation: Weekly Celebration of the Lord’s Supper”

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Christmas Eve Exhortation

People of God, Christmas can be summarized by that phrase in verse 37: For nothing is impossible with God.  How can a virgin conceive? How can a barren woman in her old age conceive? This is all a part of this great cosmic plan of redemption. At a time when there is no hope, no salvation and deliverance, and when the world is most overtaken by sin and misery, it is then when we must remember: Nothing is impossible with God.

But the greatest of all impossibilities is the Coming of God to His own creation in the Lord Jesus Christ.  As Mary became the servant of the Lord, the Son she would bear becomes the servant of all. In the incarnation, the eternal Son of God takes the form of the servant as a man, but also giving Himself up to man’s rebellion against God, placing Himself under the judgment under which man has fallen in this rebellion, under the curse of death which rests upon Him.[1]

“He makes his own the being of man under the curse, but in order to do away with it. He acts as Lord over this rebellion even as He subjects Himself to it. He frees the creature in becoming a creature. He overcomes the flesh in becoming flesh.” [2] He reconciles the world by serving the world. Continue reading “Christmas Eve Exhortation”