The Lord of the Sabbath – Sermon Notes on Mark 2:23-28

“The Disciples Plucking Grain on the Sabbath” by Gustave Dore (1832-1883)

Mark 2:23-28 (ESV) One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.  24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”  25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Read more »

THE GOSPEL AND TRANSFORMATION (notes from message on 11/15/09)

The Gospel and Transformation

2 Corinthians 3:7-18
⁷ ¶ Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? ⁹ For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. ¹⁰ Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. ¹¹ For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. ¹² ¶ Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,, ¹³ not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. ¹⁴ But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

¹⁵ Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. ¹⁶ But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Introduction:

I was in a conversation recently with someone talking about a counseling situation where the young man had created an alter ego. He came from a Christian home with parents who desired the best for him so from the beginning they named him Samuel, after the prophet who obeyed God. To him Christianity was all about obeying and pleasing God and earning his favor. He knew little of grace and became weary of trying to be Samuel. So he created Saul, another personality that would rebel against God and enjoy the pleasures of sin. He would revert back and forth from Samuel to Saul, between striving to please and living for his own selfish desires. He found happiness and peace in neither personality. In themselves, neither striving to be Samuel or Saul could lead to peace. Together, eventually it led to a psychological breakdown.

Now you may say, that’s pretty weird, but if you think about it, you can identify with either one of his personalities or maybe both. You live striving to please God but are wearied by it; or you live running from God and still wearied by it (or maybe you live a life of duplicity).

What the Samuel and Saul personalities have in common is that they both focus on the power of self to achieve happiness through obedience or through rebellion and the inevitable emptiness that results from both.

We are looking at text today that talks about the glory of God : 1) the glory of the Old Covenant (the law) represented by the reflection on Moses’ face; 2) the glory of the New Covenant represented by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

By ‘glory’ is meant a ‘a reflection of who God is.’ It is the same God behind the glory of the law and the glory of the gospel. Both the law and the gospel reveal the holiness of God.

In the law, the holiness of God is not propitiated (i.e. to take away the wrath and displeasure)

In the gospel the holiness of God is propitiated by the blood of Christ (Romans 3:24).

In the law, the un-propitiated holiness of God induces fear ( ³⁰
Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. )

This fear exists because when sinful beings are confronted by God’s holiness they can only cry out as Isaiah the prophet did – Woe is me!

In fear people do one of two things: 1) they attempt to appease God by an obedience that earns his favor; 2) they run from God abandoning any hope of having his favor.

We try to manage this fear of God’s glory either by running from the glory or trying to appease the glory. Either way is futile. Neither Samuel nor Saul is the model for us.

Though there is a third option: As Isaiah, we can receive cleansing from God. The law reveals to us our need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

To alleviate this fear, every time Moses’ came from the presence of God he would put a veil over his face.

Our text, here adds a little more information about what this veil accomplished. Not only did it alleviate the fear of the law; it hid the fact that the reflection on Moses’ face would have dissipated in time – it hid the fading glory – the temporary nature of the law and the true purpose of the law.

Furthermore, the people’s response to the display of God’s holiness revealed that another veil existed – a veil over their hearts. This veil over their hearts coupled with the veil over Moses’ face brought about a distortion of the law: Because of the veil, the fear inducing holiness of God became a feint memory and the fading glory of the law was hidden so that with veiled hearts and blinded minds, the law, instead of exposing one’s need of mercy, became for many the means of earning God’s favor.

When the condemning and fading nature of the law are veiled and the human heart is prevented from seeing clearly the purpose of the law, the law becomes misused as a means by which to earn God’s face.

Because of the veil, they could not see the outcome of the law – which is to bring us to Christ.

Only in Christ do we see that the glory of the law (with its ministry of condemnation and death) has faded away and is replaced by the unfading glory of the gospel (with its ministry of righteousness and life).

Christ is the end of the law to everyone who believes.

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

In the gospel, the propitiated holiness of God invites us to enjoy the majesty and wonder of his Holiness.

In Christ, the veil is taken away from our hearts (this is the work of the Spirit in regeneration) and like Moses, with unveiled face, we come boldly into the presence of God. In contrast to Moses who hid the glory of God from the view of the people, we are bold to proclaim this unfading, life-giving and righteousness-giving glory of Christ.

Now here is the key to the relationship of the gospel and transformation in verse 18:

1. As we keep beholding, we are transformed into the image of the glory of Christ.
   

   This is the work of the Spirit who is none other than Yahweh of the OT. The same Lord who gave the law is the Lord of the gospel.
   

How are we transformed? – while beholding (keeping the glory of Christ, as revealed in the New Covenant, in focused view), the Spirit transforms us.

We are active in beholding the glory of Christ.

Why is this gaze upon the glory of the cross so crucial to transformation? Because the cross exposes your powerlessness and it’s only in being powerless that you experience the transforming power of God.

We are passive in the transformation that takes place. This is the work of the Spirit of God.

There is a similar pattern in 2 Cor 4: (being renewed while beholding)

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal

2. Where do we behold the glory of Christ – in the New Covenant, in Christ, as he is revealed in Scripture, especially in the work of the gospel.

The Law – revealed the glory of God’s fierce holiness moving the heart to fear.

The gospel – reveals the glory of God’s propitiated holiness moving the heart to worship.

3. Who does the transforming? The Spirit of God.

4. This glory, rather than fading, increases – from glory to glory.
Moses reflected an intermittent fading glory of the law; we reflect a progressively increasing glory of the gospel.

“Consider well of the office, the bloodshed, and the holy life of Christ — His office is to expiate sin, and to destroy it. His blood was shed for it: his life condemned it. Love Christ, and thou wilt hate that which caused his death. Love him, and thou will be made more like him.” - Richard Baxter, quoted by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson in Counsel from the Cross (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2009), 148.

“Isn’t it true, you know, that ultimately we become like what we worship?  If we worship money, we become materialistic.  If we worship power and prestige we become cold and calloused.  If we worship an idol, we become as spiritually dead and lifeless as a stone.  On the other hand, if we worship Christ, we will be conformed to His image.  If the veil is off and we behold the glory of the Lord that shines in the face of Jesus Christ, if He is our ever-increasing preoccupation then we are imperceptibly being transformed into His image by the Holy Spirit.  This is the goal of the new covenant and this monumental verse shows us the increasing glory of sanctification that takes place by the Holy Spirit in the new covenant.

Folks, ceremonial, sacramental, sacerdotal works-righteousness systems offer us nothing.  They didn’t offer anything to the Corinthians and they don’t offer anything to you either.  All you need is Christ.  All you need to do is get the veil off, look into the face of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God begins the process of conforming you ever-increasingly into His image.  That’s what Christianity is.  It isn’t bells and whistles, it isn’t candles and robes, it isn’t Popes and Cardinals. Christianity is a relationship to Jesus Christ, it’s a one-thing life, gazing at the glory of the Lord that shines in the face of Jesus Christ and being transformed into His image.  It’s the relationship that matters” (John McArthur).

Conclusions:

1. Transformation is New Covenant centered, which is gospel-centered, which is Christ centered.
   
2. Transformation involves our action in contemplating the glory of the Lord.- primarily in the Word which we fail to read properly if we do not see the glory of Christ in the gospel
   
3. Transformation takes place by work of the Spirit as we contemplate Christ, as revealed in the Word.
   
4. Transformation is true freedom from trying to achieve God’s favor on our own.

Grace Gathering Video – Pastor John Davis (Part Four)

Part Three here.

Grace Gathering Video – Pastor John Davis (Part Three)

Part Four here.

Grace Gathering Video – Pastor John Davis (Part One)

Outreach in Drexel Park – John Davis (Part One)

Lead pastor John Davis speaking at a pre-launch outreach and fellowship with the core group of Grace Church of Philly at Drexel Park in University City, Philadelphia on 09-19-2009.

Gospel-Based Repentance vs. Legalistic Repentance

The following excerpt is from Tim Keller and J. Allen Thompson’s Church Planter Manual (New York: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2002), 190:

Without an orientation to the gospel, the heart will repent out of fear of consequences and out of fear of rejection. “Obey or you will be rejected.” But the gospel leads you to repent because Jesus died for your sin, so you would not be rejected. In a sense, the gospel says, “How can you treat one like this who paid this cost so that you would not be rejected?” Legalistic remorse says, “I broke God’s rules,” while real repentance says, “I broke God’s heart.”

Legalistic repentance takes sin to Mt. Sinai, gospel repentance to Mt. Calvary. Legalistic repentance is convicted by punishment, gospel repentance becomes convicted by mercy. Repentance out of mere fear is really sorrow for the consequences of sin, sorrow over the danger of sin – it bends the will away from sin, but the heart still clings. But repentance out of conviction over mercy is really sorrow over sin, sorrow over the grievousness of sin – it melts the heart away from sin. It makes the sin itself disgusting to us, so it loses its attractive power over us. We say, “This disgusting thing is an affront to the one who died for me. I’m continuing to stab him with it!”

Look at how Paul calls people to live moral lives. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives” (Titus 2:11-12). Contrast this with how many sermons you have heard telling people to say “no” to immorality. Often the implicit or explicit reasons are: “It is against the Bible” or “it will hurt your self-esteem” or “it’s against our Christian principles” or “your sins will find you out; you’ll reap what you sow.” Often all of those things are true, but they are inadequate and secondary motives. Only the grace of God, the logic of the gospel will work. Paul says it “teaches” us to say no, it argues with us. The gospel tell you that the sin beneath your sins is that you have made something besides Christ the center of your life. You have concocted a self-salvation strategy based on something that you have decided is more important than Christ and more of a savior than he. The gospel tells you that your sin is always the result of disbelief that you are accepted in Christ alone.

The gospel creates the only kind of grief over sin which is clean and which does not crush. It says: “Look at Jesus dying for you! He won’t leave you or abandon you – how then can you respond as you are? He suffered so you wouldn’t do this thing! You are not living as though you are loved! As his child! It is not because he will abandon you that you should be holy, but because this is one who at inestimable cost to himself has said he won’t ever abandon you! How can you live in the very sin that he was ripped to pieces to deliver you from?” See the GRACE of God argument? It is the only argument which cannot be answered. This creates the only motivation that leads you to hate the sin without hating yourself. It is the only motivation that will bring sin to lose its attractive power over you.

How can this be? The sight of Christ dying for you is at once both the one thing in the world that most convicts you to be holy and yet most assures you that you are infallibly loved. If he died for you – that is the conviction. But if he died for you – that is the comfort.

On Holistic Ministry

I’ve written previously on the imbalance in the ministry philosophy of churches on the right and on the left. Conservative evangelical and fundamental churches on the right have the saving gospel message, but are largely ineffective in reaching our culture because they lack in genuine, Christ-like, unconditional love.

Liberal mainline churches on the left do not preach the gospel message and the need for conversion, but are much more active in reaching out in love to the culture around them. However, because their social ministries are not properly rooted in and performed alongside the gospel of grace, they lack the power of the Holy Spirit. Whatever change is wrought through such ministries is fleeting and ephemeral. Taking an eternal view, such ministries merely make the earth a better place for souls to go to hell from.

The great need of our day is for the body of Christ to rid itself of the inchoate faith of the right and the biblically-uninformed, anthropocentric faith of the left and embrace a full-bodied, biblically-faithful, socially conscious, holistic Christian faith that can radically impact our post-Church society for Jesus Christ.

Following are some quotes from urban church planter, philosopher, and theologian Tim Keller (2002) on holistic ministry:

Have a counter-intuitive holistic ministry. Most people have a very powerful desire (need?) to place a church somewhere on an ideological spectrum from “Liberal/Left wing” to “Conservative/Right wing.” There is nothing more crucial than to use the gospel in the life of our church to defy such stereotypes and to (thus) become impossible to categorize. On the one hand, the gospel of Christ and justification-by-faith brings deep, powerful psychological changes. Though I am sinful, I am accepted through Christ. This discovery converts people, so they sing, “My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.” On the other hand, the gospel of the cross and the kingdom brings deep powerful social changes. It defies the values of the world – power, status, recognition and wealth. The gospel is triumph through weakness, wealth through poverty, power through service. This changes our attitude toward the poor and toward our own status, wealth and careers.

Together, these two sides of the gospel’s influence create a unique kind of church. So many fundamentalist churches tend to be legalistic in their approach, even if they technically believe in justification by faith! Therefore, though they stress evangelism, they are not all that attractive or effective. Legalism does not produce reciprocal love for those without faith. On the other hand, so many liberal churches, though they stress social justice, are not all that effective at it. Their people’s lives are not electrified by conversion. They do not have deep experiences that humble them and change the way they look at the poor. Therefore, a gospel-centered church should have a social justice emphasis and effectiveness that greatly exceeds the liberal churches. Meanwhile, it should have an evangelistic fervor that greatly exceeds the ordinary fundamentalist churches. This gospel-driven, counter-intuitive combination of zeal can only come through teaching, prayer and repentance.

Jesus considered a concern for the poor to be a mark of his presence (Matt. 11:5). Increasingly, in a globalized world, we will win neither the elites nor the masses unless we embody the gospel in strong ministry to people with economic and material needs as well as spiritual. “The renewal of Christ’s salvation ultimately includes a renewed universe…there is no part of our existence that is untouched by His blessing. Christ’s miracles were miracles of the Kingdom, performed as signs of what the Kingdom means…His blessing was pronounced upon the poor, the afflicted, the burdened and heavy-laden who came to Him and believed in Him. The miraculous signs that attested Jesus’ deity and authenticated the witness of those who transmitted the gospel to the church is not continued, for their purpose was fulfilled. But the pattern of the kingdom that was revealed through those signs must continue in the church…Kingdom evangelism is therefore holistic as it transmits by word and deed the promise of Christ for the body and soul as well as the demand of Christ for body and soul” (Edmund P. Clowney, in The Pastor Evangelist)….

Jesus says that a sign of the gospel is faith. Matthew 5:4-7 says, If you “only greet your brother, what do ye more than others?” Since the Jewish greeting was Shalom! and an embrace, Jesus is saying much. We must show our uniqueness by following our Lord who always embraced the moral and spiritual outsider. Matt. 21:31 – “The prostitute and the tax collectors are entering the Kingdom of God before you.” If you understand the gospel of grace, you treat the other: A) With respect. Grace means the non-believer may be a better person. B) With courage. Grace means the non-believer’s possible rejection of us is not so fearsome. C) With hope. Grace means you are a miracle and no one is beyond hope. No other worldview can produce this combination of humility and confidence (pp. 105-106).  

Reference

Keller, Timothy J. and J. Allen Thompson, Church Planter Manual, New York: Redeemer Church Planting Center, 2002.

Should Christians be on the Defense?

Satterlee defines a “norm” as “the limitation of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, and the standards by which the appropriateness of behaviors, beliefs, perceptions, and feelings are measured” (2009, p. 153).

I believe that norms, both inside and outside of the church, can be either healthy or destructive. To the extent that norms assist in limiting destructive behavior or growth, they are good and well. To the extent that norms assist in limiting healthy behavior or growth, they are destructive and damaging. Often, norms within the church are formed with the best of intentions. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that all of these norms are healthy or to be desired.

In an effort to preserve the holiness of the church from the impurities of the world, many congregations and movements have focused on remaining “separate” from the world, and thus end up with what has been commonly called a “fortress” mentality regarding the Christian life. This mentality is assisted, reinforced, and affirmed in the social culture of the local church through the formal and informal enforcement of certain norms. When someone steps “outside of the box” with respect to the established norms, this person is, to varying degrees, disciplined. This discipline may take the form of social shunning by key members of the church, a private rebuke from a pastor, or a restriction of ministry involvement in that local church body.

In situations such as this, my concern is that such norms end up constructing an entire edifice and religion that cannot be supported by Scripture. (I find it especially ironic that many heirs of the Protestant Reformation, which was founded upon such teachings as Sola Scriptura, have ended up creating a their own religions and fiefdoms, replete with their own private “popes” who make all the decisions regarding even the personal and private norms of all within the local congregation based on scant biblical evidence or foundation.) 

Many conservative Christians react and respond to the world around them with varying degrees of shock, horror, and disgust. When these Christians who, lest we forget, are still very prone to sin themselves, observe or encounter other sinful human beings sinning, their normal response can be to turn away and internalize their faith, attempting to stave off becoming tarnished in some way by the sin that is in their presence. This is a defensive reaction that many Christians are trained to perform almost without thinking. Instead of attempting to speak a word of grace into such a situation, which is what is desperately needed, many Christians simply turn away and immediately “separate” themselves in an attempt to preserve their “purity.”

By acting in such a fashion, these Christians betray the norms upon which they have been spiritually reared. Their normal stance is a defensive posture toward sin and toward the world. They have, for all practical purposes, given up on sinners and given up on the world. Sure, they may support evangelism and missionaries and the like, but they are not truly serious about unconditionally loving sinners into the kingdom as Christ has. The rigorous enforcement of their religious norms testifies to the fact that their love is most certainly conditional, and unchristian, at its core.

The norms that many of these Christians embrace regarding their reaction to the behavior of other sinners in their personal sphere of influence are all centered on personal holiness and individual communion with the Lord. While these are certainly not improper or wrong motives, I wonder just how many Christians have adopted this same attitude toward the world. It seems to me that many believers have a “close their eyes and hold on till the Lord returns or takes me home” approach to the world.

While the norm of personal holiness is commendable and even desirable, the Christian life does not end there. We need to be busying ourselves with reclaiming this world for Christ and His kingdom (Acts 1:6-8), pushing back the gates of Hell while waiting with confident expectation for the triumphant return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our stance is to be offensive, not defensive in nature. (Note: lest my language here lead someone astray regarding my personal eschatological convictions, I am premillennial, not postmillennial in my thought.)

When Christians are able to influence nonbelievers in a positive direction, we should do so. When we observe an unbeliever blashpeming the Lord in his or her speech, he or she is (unknowingly) giving us a report on their spiritual condition and ultimate need of Christ. When we observe an unbeliever acting in an unjust or unmerciful fashion, he or she is screaming out to us that they have never experienced the amazing joy of God’s mercy in Christ. We should not use these ministry and service opportunities as an excuse to run for the hills like we’re under attack. We shouldn’t use these instances to condemn others in our private conversations with ourselves or other believers (as is often the case). We should use these occasions to remind ourselves of our own need of God’s grace. We should use these occasions to convey this life-changing grace to the person who is proclaiming their need for it by their sinful actions. Instead of using such occasions to go on the defensive and retreat further into our religio-Christian cocoons, we should use them to go on the offensive against the kingdom of darkness that is holding such people captive.

Citing Matthew 16:18,[1] Rainer and Geiger make the following statements regarding the Church’s tendency, or norm, of being too defensive regarding this world:

“[Gates] are always defensive…. Gates are never on offense. Only defense. Hell is always on defense. However, the movement of the church is never on defense. Only offense. The church always has the ball. There are no defenders on the squad…. The enemy never gets the ball. The kingdom of darkness is stuck on defense. And we are on perpetual offense” (2006, p. 85).

I believe that a common norm of many conservative evangelical ministries is that they, not the kingdom of darkness, are the ones “stuck on defense.” Such Christians are not impacting our society with the gospel of Christ because they are too busy defending their pet religious norms and standards and rules of behavior. These ministries are stuck in the “gathering” phase of the “gather-grow-give-go” discipleship process. They gather together, and while some spiritual growth may occur, there is not much “giving and going” out into the local communities in which they live and move and breathe. Therefore, the movement and spread of the gospel is hindered by the spiritual congestion caused by unhealthy norms.

The call is for the fearful and defensive-minded Church to remove the razor wire of artificial norms and boundaries and worldview that it has laid atop its walls, unnaturally separating itself from the rest of a world that is dying for want of the grace of God. 

The religious scandal in Jesus’ day was His tremendous love for and interaction with sinners. The religious scandal in our time is the Church’s lack of love for and lack of interaction with sinners. 

References:

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2006). Version 2.1. Accordance Bible Software, Version 8.2.3, 2009. 

Rainer, T.S. & Geiger, E. (2006). Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples. Nashville: TN, B&H Publishing Group.

Satterlee, A. (2009). Organizational Management and Leadership: A Christian Perspective. Roanoke, VA: Synergistics.

1. “On this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”