Relentless Mercy (Genesis 28)

Sermon Text: Genesis 28

Sermon Title: Relentless Mercy

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:1, 31-39

Review from Genesis 27

The moral of the story: God brings his grace into the lives of people who do not seek it, don’t deserve it, and continually reject it and don’t think they need it. God comes to give a blessing to the most scandalous person in the entire family. You will never be blessed if you fail to understand it comes only by grace – or else you will try to steal it and will never get it because it is not you that is getting it.

The blessing is permanent. The blessing defines the direction of your life and the disposition of your heart. You cannot bless yourself.

The difference between repentance and remorse…

Will God’s plan be done if I live a sinful life?

On the Cross, Christ lost the first born privileges and dressed up like us so we could dress up like Him. He dressed up like us and came in to the Father and received our inheritance so that we could inherit His righteousness.

Jesus did what Rebekah did – “let the curse fall upon me.” He is our Rebekah – takes the curse. He is our Isaac – He gives the blessing. He is our Jacob – he dressed up in different clothes for us. He is the true Esau, marrying a foreign bride.

Introduction to Genesis 28

Remember the downward spiral of man recorded in Genesis 1-11? The Fall, the build-up to Noah’s Ark, and the “dead end” of depravity at Babel seemed to all happen so quickly.

Now, early into the third generation after Abraham, it seems as if this elect family is headed down the same path, only a little more quickly. It all rests with Jacob. Childless, single, swindling, Jacob is fleeing after stealing and deceiving, leaving the Promised Land and each day is in danger of being murdered by angry Esau. Think about how lonely and afraid Jacob must have been.

“When the LORD appeared to Jacob, he must have crouched in fear. He had just deceived his blind father (Deuteronomy 27:18); he used the Lord’s name in vain. Had the Lord come to punish him for his sins? Will the Lord curse him for his evil deeds? “ (Greidanus).

Jacob is fleeing more than 400 miles north. Jacob is running as fast as he can away from the Lord, His Word, and the Promise. The LORD pursues Jacob with relentless mercy and says “I am the LORD” and “I will give you” (v. 13). “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave until I have done what I have promised you” (v. 15).

Israel would hear the message: “God is with you wherever they go” (Greidanus).

·         When the Lord mandates Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt He promises, “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12).

·         Moses encourages Israel to capture Canaan with, “Have no fear or dread of them because it is the LORD your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

·         The Lord assures Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5).

·         When Israel is in exile, the Lord said, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2; 41:10).

·         Jesus is called Emmanuel meaning “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23; John 14:9-10).

·         After Jesus rises from the dead, he promises his disciples, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

·         “They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them” (Revelation 21:3).

·         Read Romans 8:31-39

When we understand that God is on our side – His wrath was appeased – He is pleased: Then and only then will we be motivated by His relentless mercy. Think about it – Jacob dressed up to get something – to steal something – then in mercy God comes to freely give Jacob what he tried to steal.

The italics below are from “Holiness by Grace” by Bryan Chapell

We know what it means for our worship to seem terribly important but painfully dull.

The inevitable consequence of obedience without delight is the erosion of holiness. You might obey Him but you will not love Him.

In Romans 12:1 Paul writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Paul did not say, “I urge you by the guilt you will assume if you are negligent” or “I urge you by the rejection you will face if you fail.” “Serve me,” he says “by keeping in view not my anger nor your shame, but my mercy.”

There is nothing more effective than guilt to get people to obey God’s standards, and nothing less effective in sanctifying them to God. Christians punish themselves to get rid of their guilt. Their guilty feelings are the penance that they think God requires of them in order to renew his love for them. These Christians offer God the gifts of their own depression and self-hatred to satisfy his wrath. If we make ourselves feel bad enough and carry a burden of remorse long enough, we will merit God’s grace. This always leads us into a downward spiral of great despair and more futile resolve to make things right with him. When we sin we will decide to let the guilt consume us more and will wallow in our guilt to punish ourselves with it.

Despise our well-intended attempts to bribe God with our despondency and discipline, we will find that we love this unappeasable God less and less as we try to please Him more and more. Eventually it all becomes meaningless. Lasting service comes when we serve God from his acceptance, not for his acceptance.

Genesis 28:12-13

What is your ladder? What or Who is at the top of your ladder? For true joy and growth in grace, both answers must be right. Potential ladders: works; baptism; attendance; sacrifice. Potential prize’s: assurance; security; comfort; identity.

Jesus is the ladder.

The promise given in vv. 13-14 most closely parallels that found in 13:14-16.

“Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1:49, 51). This is the first recorded account of Jacob meeting Yahweh.

The Father is at the top of the ladder. The Father is the prize.

“The gospel of Jesus Christ reveals what that splendor is. Paul calls it the “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). Two verses later he calls it “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” When I say that God Is the Gospel I mean that the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment. The saving love of God is God’s commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and

durably satisfying, namely himself” (John Piper’s God is the Gospel).

Genesis 28:16-17

Commenting on Jacob’s reaction to his dream, Calvin says, “For who can comprehend the immense multitude of gifts which God is perpetually heaping upon us” (Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis).

In Jacob you see healthy fear that results in God being His refuge. The Christian who understands the Gospel should have simultaneous fear and joy. God is the storm and the mountain cave (Piper’s Pleasures of God).

The ladder should be contrasted with the Tower of Babel (Bab-ili – meaning “gate of God”).

Genesis 28:20-22

The longest recorded vow in the OT

Jacob the grabber turns to Jacob the giver. Notice the difference between Esau (Bless me! Bless me!) and Jacob (give, give).

The Christian who understands the Gospel is more preoccupied with the One who has been encountered than the things that were promised (Kinder).

I am not more spiritual, humble, or repentant than other people. God persistently sought to love me until He broke me open to Him (Keller). God says – you love me because I kept after you and broke into your heart.

Deuteronomy 7:7-8, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the land of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

God says, “I love you just because I love you.” Remember when you were newly married or dating? Wouldn’t you ask the other person, “why do you love me?” Be careful answering that question. Whatever your answer is “because of this factor” – the person’s identity shifts to that factor “this gives me worth, security, identity.” The right answer is “I love you just because I love you.”

When my wife loves me this way it frees me to do all other things without worshipping them and it frees me to lose anything without losing my identity. But think about what can happen to the heart of a man who is loved like this by God.

“On the Cross Jesus Christ took bomb after bomb after bomb of God’s wrath and did not abandon you. He could have stopped it if He would have abandoned you. If He didn’t abandon you when Hell itself was coming down on Him then He will not abandon you now. But you have had a bad week and you think He has abandoned you? Do you think He is going to let your life go off the rails now?” (Keller).

However, let me close with this thought: If that does not move you to obedience and holiness, you haven’t understood a word I have said.

A Blessing Given (Genesis 26-27)

December 4, 2011

Orange Park Bible Church

Pastor Brian Shepherd

Genesis 26:1-33

Only in Genesis 26 does Isaac appear as the focus of a narrative. After chapter 26 Isaac almost disappears completely from the Genesis narrative.

Genesis 26 interrupt the narrative about Jacob and Esau that began in Genesis 25 and seems to continue in the same breath in Genesis 27. Genesis 26 is something of a parenthesis that emphasizes the following:

-          The striking similarities between Abraham and Isaac

Moses goes to great lengths to link together the stories of Abraham and Isaac. The chapter contains eight explicit references to Abraham (26:1, 3, 5, 15, 18, 24) compared with fifteen in all of chapters 27-50 (Wenham).

26:1-11//12:10-20 Famine and the wife/sister

26:12-22//13:2-10 Wealth prompts quarrels between patriarchs herdsmen and others

26:23//13:11-12 Separation

26:24//13:14-17 Divine promise of descendants

26:25//13:18 Altar built; patriarch encamps

26:26-31//Chapter 14 Good relationship established with foreigners

26:29//14:19-20 Patriarch blessed by a foreign king

26:1-11//20:1-18 The wife/sister

26:15-21//21:25 Disputes about wells

26:26//21:22 Abimelek and Phicol

26:28//21:22 “The Lord has been with you”

26:28//21:23 Let there be an oath

26:30-31//21:24-31 Treaty made

26:32-33//21:31 Well of Beersheba named

In one chapter Moses summarizes the life of Abraham and his relationship with the natives of the land by retelling the almost parallel story of Isaac.

-          God reaffirms the promises made to Abraham personally to Isaac

It is conspicuous when the events of Genesis 26 happened. How could the Philistines have failed to realize Rebekah was married if she was accompanied by twin boys?

Sermon Text: Genesis 26:34-28:9

Sermon Title: “A Blessing Rightly Given”

Review

Scripture repeatedly emphasizes the younger over the older. We were in the older Adam. We, like Esau, had forfeited our birthright as children of God for temporary earthly pleasures. The younger Christ died to free us from eternal doom. The younger Christ came and although we are as unworthy as Jacob, we remember “so then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Introduction

Genesis 26 shows us what is on the line in Genesis 27. The conflict here is not about money and cattle, but about what God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12 and what was passed down to Isaac in Genesis 26 – the whole land; numerous descendants; the promised Seed; the Godly line.

Remember last week when we mentioned that this family is a train wreck? You haven’t seen anything yet.

Notice Isaac: Isaac was old and frail. We know from how he was deceived that his hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch were all lacking. Even in his obvious frailty, Isaac was still sharp enough to sneak and scheme. There is obvious favoritism here. Moses notes not “their son” but Jacob as “her son” and Esau as “his son.”

If this deathbed meeting were consistent with cultural practice, all of the sons would have been present. Isaac clearly wanted to leave Jacob with nothing. Isaac was blatantly sinful in disregarding the Word of God (Genesis 25:23). Isaac was sneaky, having a secret meeting with Esau and plotting behind the back of Rebekah and Jacob. Isaac spends the last moments of his life trembling violently and seeing his favorite son weep uncontrollably.

Notice Jacob: Deuteronomy 27:18 announces a curse on those who physically mislead the blind. Jacob is blasphemous (God helped me fix the meal so fast). Jacob never questions the morality of the plan, only its feasibility.

Notice Rebekah: Rebekah was sneaky in listening in to the conversation between Isaac and Esau. Rebekah was in direct defiance of her husband’s authority with her plan. Although she knows the Word of God (Genesis 25:33) she does not depend on God to accomplish His plan the right way. Rebekah leans on her own understanding. Unlike Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, Rebekah’s death is not remembered or memorialized; she is forgotten.

Notice Esau: Esau blatantly disregarded the deal made with Isaac in Genesis 25:33. Esau rebelliously marries multiple foreign women (26:34-35; 28:8-9). Esau looks just like Cain (revenge by murder) and Ishmael (wandering and living by the sword).

Nobody in this house trusts one another (Ligon Duncan). Isaac and Esau have to sneak off by themselves to plot. Rebekah is eavesdropping. Rebekah sneaks off with Jacob to plot. Jacob and Esau obviously do not love each other. The family falls apart. Jacob will leave the Promised Land for twenty years. Jacob leaves the wealthy of the household to live in poverty as he is deceived repeatedly by his Uncle Laban. Rebekah loses both of her sons and her husband almost instantly. Esau passes down a legacy of eternal rebellion and contention. Jacob is later deceived as he has deceived, not only by Laban, but by his sons regarding Joseph.

The moral of the story: God brings his grace into the lives of people who do not seek it, don’t deserve it, and continually reject it and don’t think they need it. God comes to give a blessing to the most scandalous person in the entire family. You will never be blessed if you fail to understand it comes only by grace – or else you will try to steal it and will never get it because it is not you that is getting it.

Jacob is a frightening picture of what we try to do to get blessing. We try to dress up as somebody we are not. Jacob gets hairy and he is not. Jacob says he is the firstborn and he is not. He tried to change his voice (Isaac said the voice isn’t just right). He tried to fabricate the smell.

The Blessing

1)      The Blessing is irrevocable

The Power of Blessing: Permanent and Binding

-          Rebekah and Jacob knew that Esau would show up moments after and that he would be powerless to get it once it was declared by Isaac

-          Why is it so powerful that it is irrevocable?

2)      The Blessing defines the direction of your life (it is your provision) and the disposition of your heart (it is your identity).

You have to have a smart person to tell you you’re smart to feel smart (Keller).

You have to have a good person (at baseball; piano) to tell you you’re good to feel good (Keller).

Until you see Christ as lovely, you will not feel lovely. Until you see Christ as beautiful, you will not feel beautiful. Until the legalist sees Christ as merciful, you will not be merciful. Until the immoral see Christ as Just, you will not feel righteous anger over sin.

3)      The Blessing must be given (you cannot bless your self)

- Nobody can bless himself or herself.

What does Jacob say to “The Angel of the Lord” – I will not let you go until you bless me!

What does Esau say to Isaac – “Bless me!”

Why does Jacob trick Isaac? He cannot bless himself.

I would like to suggest to you that we are all doing that. We are trying to steal from one another. We try to steal the blessing from the one we want it most from (The Father). How are you getting blessing from others? We do not let people see our flaws, failures, weaknesses – we dress up and hide. If I am truly myself, God affirms me and I don’t have to dress up to steal it from you. You are so insecure with being yourself and feeling blessed (Keller). When you do not understand the Gospel you are not affirmed out of your weaknesses and humbled out of your strengths. The Gospel says, “my sufficiency is Christ.”

By Isaac asking Jacob to kiss him (the final test) he was able to smell him and clear any lingering suspicion. At the moment Jacob kissed Isaac, Isaac probably had the look on his face Jacob always wanted to see and he heard the words from Isaac’s mouth he always wanted to hear.

Why didn’t it change Jacob? Jacob knew deep down inside that it wasn’t him Isaac was loving, talking to, and blessing.

When I show up here on Sunday and am somebody I am not and I am affirmed and encouraged, it never sinks in and makes a difference because deep down inside I know you are not talking to me. You are talking to the person I dressed up as, but not to me.

The Difference Between Repentance and Remorse

Esau’s attitude: my problem is out there. Somebody did this to me. Somebody trapped me. “The sinner that the Holy Spirit is working on sees his sin in bold relief. He does not candy coat it, he sees how ugly it is. But, at the same time, he sees a God who is so incredibly merciful that the only logical thing to do is to flee to his arms” (Duncan). We have said it here many times in previous messages: Until what convicts you is what motivates you, you are missing lasting change.

Before you say, “God will fulfill His purpose regardless of my sin.”

Did the Promise come true? Yes. Did the Seed (Christ) come forth? Yes.

What happened? Rebekah didn’t get what she wanted – she never saw Jacob again. The very thing she feared happened – she lost both her sons. What did Esau want – to kill – and he never got it. Jacob goes away penniless and though the riches of the inheritance were meant to set him free, he spends the next twenty years of his life in bondage. If you try to steal the blessing you will lose what you are ultimately after – freedom, peace, and satisfaction. In a moment Rebekah lost Jacob, Esau, and her husband Isaac because they tried to milk their blessing out of another. Isaac spent the closing moments of his life in uncontrollable trembling.

You are dressing up for God. You jump through your hoops and say “see see look look be proud of me and bless me”

Jesus understood His acceptance by the Father and was able to relinquish His rights and be confident in the face of rejection. Jesus was able to know His true ability and heritage, yet be the Chief servant and the best example of humility. Why? He was perfectly loved and accepted by the Father.

On the Cross, Christ lost the first born privileges and dressed up like us so we could dress up like Him. He dressed up like us and came in to the Father and received our inheritance so that we could inherit His righteousness.

Jesus did what Rebekah did – let the curse fall upon me. He is our Rebekah – takes the curse. He is our Isaac – gives the blessing. He is our Jacob – he dressed up in different clothes for us. He is the true Esau, marrying a foreign bride.

Closing

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’ So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:22-27).

Marriage and the Gospel

I thought the following quote would help all of us better understand the Gospel:

The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform us. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.

The hard times of marriage drive us to experience more of this transforming love of God. But a good marriage will also be a place where we experience more of this kind of transforming love at a human level. The gospel can fill our hearts with God's love so that you can handle it when your spouse fails to love you as he or she should. That frees us to see our spouse's sins and flaws to the bottom and speak of them and yet still love and accept our spouse fully. And when, by the power of the gospel, our spouse experiences that same kind of truthful yet committed love, it enables our spouses to show us that same kind of transforming love when the time comes for it.


From:

Sermon Notes 11/13/2011

Sermon Text: Genesis 23:1-20

Sermon Title: Orange Park Bible Church is a Cave

Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16

“It is remarkable that Moses, who relates the death of Sarah in a single word, uses so many in describing her burial” (Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis).

The announcement of Sarah’s death takes up only two verses (1-2). Moses then devotes sixteen verses to document Abraham’s negotiation and purchase of land for her burial (3-18). Sarah is buried (19) and it is documented that the land is Abraham’s possession (20).

What did Moses intend for Israel to learn from this story? With no mention of Christ or the Gospel, what is this story supposed to teach us?

1) Although Sarah’s death is not the subject of the passage, it is worth considering for a moment.

“Sarah’s life was far from easy. She suffered the shame of childlessness till she was ninety. Twice she was trapped in a foreign king’s harem by her husband’s unbelieving folly. Twice she was provoked beyond the breaking point by her slave-girl Hagar or her son Ishmael. Once she had seen her own son leave to be sacrificed by his father” (Wenham).

She was married to a man who was more interested in saving his own skin than protecting his wife. She was pulled away from her family and friends to live in a foreign land. She never owned a piece of property. She never was able to settle in one place. Her son, Ishmael and friend Hagar were abruptly dismissed from the family. How did she handle it? Grace…

• “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10).

Sarah knew that God’s promise to her family would for outlive her. She was looking past significance, prosperity, security, and ultimate meaning in this life.

2) To understand this passage, we must first understand that Isaac was not the “climax” of Abraham’s story. The birth of Isaac is not the fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17.

The promise of Genesis 15:1-7 is offspring rivaling the stars in the sky and possession of the promised-land. At Sarah’s death Abraham has a son with no wife. Think about it. Sarah lived her entire life and only saw one “star” and had no possessions, except the grave she was buried in.

What/when is the fulfillment of the promise?

• “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Revelation 21:1-3).
• “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

In the beginning God mandated his people to “fill the earth” (Gen. 1:28).

After the flood God repeated this mandate to Noah (Gen. 9:1).

After people’s refusal at Babel to fill the earth (Genesis 11), God made a new start with Abram, calling him “to the land that I will show you” (12:1) and promising the new land to his seed (Genesis 12:7, 15:1-7).

God begins to fulfill His promise by giving Abraham a field and a burial plot as a permanent possession in the land.

Four hundred years later, Joshua leads Israel in to possess the whole land of Canaan. Under King Solomon the land expands from the river Euphrates to the border of Egypt (1 Kings 4:21).

Under King Jesus the land expands to include the whole earth (Matthew 5:5; Romans 4:13). Jesus mandates His disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). At His Second Coming God’s people will receive a new earth (Revelation 21:1-3).

- Sidney Greidanus “Preaching Christ from Genesis”

We must understand that the purchase of this land is as major as the birth of Isaac.

If Abraham and Sarah’s goal were nothing other than intimacy through faith, they would have died very unproductive people.

3) Abraham threw down big money for this cave.

Publicly, Ephron offers three times to give the field and the cave to Abraham. Then, Ephron offers to sell the cave for a highly inflated cost (400 shekels of silver). David paid only 1/8 the price Abraham paid for the temple site (2 Samuel 24:24). Jeremiah only paid 17 shekels of silver for a field.

Aside from this purchase being a further fulfillment of God’s promised plan of redemption, why would Abraham pay so much money for this field? There was no earthly return on this investment. Abraham did not grow crops here. Abraham did not build a fence and keep his cattle there. Abraham did not build a house to retire in on this land. Why would Abraham throw so much time, energy negotiating, his reputation, and money in a grave?

• “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8-10). WE ARE DOING THE SAME THING!
• Did Moses see the Promised-Land? Where was he standing and what did he see in Luke 9:27-36?

Two Closing Questions

1. What did this matter to Israel?
2. What does this matter to me?

• Look to things unseen: OPBC is a cave. Like Abraham we should exhaust ourselves in using our time, money, and gifts sacrificially so we can die well like Abraham. “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33). Abraham was spending money in preparation for his death. That is what we are doing here.
• Be an ambassador. Keep a “tent” mentality. Ambassadors do not live in their country or their home. Abraham and Moses depended solely on the mission God gave to them and to the Word of God. The Word of God led them through their assignment.

Look at Peter’s question in Matthew 19:27:

We can sense the disappointment from the ones who worked longest, got paid last, and were paid the same as those who came late.

Matthew 20:3 characterizes those sitting in the marketplace as “doing nothing.” He rescued them from meaningless endeavors and pointless living. 

In Christ’s parable, those who have worked more grumble against the landowner when he gives equal pay to those who have worked less time. We often see this kind of resentment in Scripture. The grumblers’ attitude reflects that of the Pharisees who begrudges Jesus’ compassion for the tax collectors and prostitutes (Mark 2), the elder son who resented the welcome of his prodigal brother (Luke 15), and the religious leader who despised the honor given to a sinner whose only claim in heaven was that she loved Jesus much (Luke 7).

On the days when we are tempted to “tally up” our accomplishments, this is not a truth we want to embrace; but on other days, when a truer accounting of our weaknesses and failures threatens to crush us, this message is our only hope. Isn’t it true that we would be upset that the thief on the Cross received as much as we? Yet in this parable Jesus clearly teaches that an exact accounting based on our work is the very last thing we should want from God.

While Peter might have been tempted to think “that’s not fair.” In a few chapters Peter would be glad Jesus wasn’t “fair” after the rooster crowed three times.

Text above in blue is from Bryan Chappel’s book “Holiness by Grace” in the chapter “It’s Not Fair.”

• Remember the mission (The Great Commission and The Great Commandment). If we are all working for the same purpose, we will never have division. If you want a nice comfortable place to go to Church and visit, you will be uncomfortable when new people come. THE CHURCH, LIKE SANCTIFICATION, IS BOTANICAL, not A WIDGET. However, if you are in it to make disciples, more people present more opportunities. Be generous. Be hospitable. Get involved in people. Serve. The Church is not a widget. The Church is organic.

Richard Sibbes – We are not disquieted when we take off our clothes and go to bed at night. We trust in the providence of God to raise us. Why should we be disquieted when we put off our bodies and go to sleep? We are more likely to rise out of our graves than rise out of our beds in the morning.

Almighty, eternal, immortal God, our dwelling place our final satisfaction and reward, You are to be worshipped and treasured. Lord, we are aliens and strangers, sojourners and foreigners in this world. We confess our constant longing for this world and what it can provide instead of the world to come, Your kingdom to come and your pleasures and joys. Lord, forgive us from the sin of being satisfied with so little, with those things which will perish & fade away. Lord, reveal our shallow wants and ambitions for what they are. Create repentance by your mercy to give us hearts that long for our inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for us. Father, give us the desire of Abraham and Sarah and all the saints who have gone before us. A desire for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Lord, cause us with great expectation, to look forward to that day when we will dwell with our eternal God where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for on that great and glorious day the former things, the temporary things so many live for today, will have passed away to the praise of your glory and renown. Amen & Amen.

- Shane Waters, Pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Jacksonville

Sermon Notes 11/6/2011

Sermon Title: The Practical Importance of Penal-Substitutionary Atonement part 2

Sermon Text: Jeremiah 2:1-32

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 16:1-22

Review:

ISAAC - Genesis / JESUS - Gospels

• Only begotten Son - Gen. 22:2 / John 3:16
• Offered on a mountain, hill - Gen. 22:2 / Matt. 21:10
• Took donkey to place of sacrifice - Gen. 22:3 / Matt. 21:2-11
• Two men went with him - Gen. 22:3 / Mark 15:27; Luke 23:33
• Three day journey. Jesus: three days in the grave - Gen. 22:4 / Luke 24:13-21
• Son carried wood on his back up hill - Gen. 22:6 / John 19:17
• God will provide for Himself the lamb - Gen. 22:8 / John 1:29
• Son was offered on the wood - Gen. 22:9 / Luke 23:33
• Ram in thicket of thorns, crown of thorns - Gen. 22:13 / John 19:2
• The seed will be multiplied - Gen. 22:17 / John 1:12; Isaiah 53:10
• Abraham went down. Son didn't. Isaac is "not mentioned" - Gen. 22:19 / Luke 23:46
• Servant, gets bride for son - Gen. 24:1-4 / Eph. 5:22-32; Rev. 21:2,9; 22:17
• The bride was a beautiful virgin - Gen. 24:16 / 2 Cor. 11:2
• Servant offered ten gifts to bride - Gen. 22:10 / Rom. 6:23; 12; 1 Cor. 12

http://carm.org/bible-difficulties/genesis-deuteronomy/why-did-god-tell-abraham-kill-his-son-isaac

The Gospel is not only the “way in.” The Gospel is the “way how.”

“Beat it into their heads continually” by Martin Luther

“The law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory, but yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified, and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbor; also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, etc., but it ought not to show me, how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death, and hell.

Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law,) but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me : to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth.

Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.”

– Martin Luther, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co., 1860), 206.

When the Gospel and its implications are understood, it should bring change to the heart of the Christian, continually changing his

1. Motivation: The love of Christ compels us; the grace of God teaches us; the kindness of God leads us
2. Disposition: The Rich and Poor man in James; the Racist in Galatians; the confronter in Colossians; the confronted in Luke 15
3. Response to Consequence: The good boy in Luke 15; the Pharisees; 2 Corinthians 5:9

How Do We “Beat it Into Our Heads”? How does the Gospel move from intellectual understanding to existential change?

Christianity should lead to a deep and unique subjective experience based on an unchangeable, objective truth. When we think hard, pray hard, renew our minds, dwell on the objective truths of the Gospel (Penal-Substitutionary Atonement) we should be lead to subjective experience (ravished, compelled hearts). This is precisely what Jonathan Edwards begged in “Religious Affections.” This is what Christians call Joy.

How Does OPBC get there? Turn to Jeremiah 2.

I think we understand pretty well the LORD as King, Father, Husbandman (John 15), but not as Husband. Think about the references throughout the OT of God as Husband to Israel and the NT as Jesus the Bridegroom to the Church.

Why is this important? When you sin against a King, a Gardner, a Father you are violating the rules and hurting the garden. When you play the whore against a husband and when you understand the depth of His love for you, based on the atonement, your heart should melt and be ravished, moved.

• "When the thing that most assures you is the thing that most convicts you, you’ll be okay because when you’re convicted of sin in a gospel way it drives you toward God.” – Timothy Keller

First, our perspective must be proportionate

“On every high hill and under every green tree” (Jeremiah 2:20b).

• There is an attraction of the soul far stronger than any sexual attraction. There is a power to what we lay down with in our minds (soul).
• Instinctively, we crave oneness with someone different than us because we know if left to ourselves, we will die out. In the same way, we know instinctively we are powerless to produce joy, lasting satisfaction, significance, true security. Rather than joining ourselves to God for this, we go under every green tree and look on every high hill (From Tim Keller’s sermon How Sin Makes us Addicts).
• So, we know God as King, Gardner, and Husband, and marry ourselves together with a myriad of other functional saviors.
• The weaker your theology, the more impersonal God must be. However, the ability to articulate good systematic theology will not necessarily ravish your heart. Why? It is about your thoughts, prayers, and approach. Do you understand the three-but-one? The answer is probably yes and no. It should always be yes and no. In the same way you can commune with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their individual roles, you are still approaching one God. However, you do not thank God the Father for the atonement of the Spirit. You cannot thank God the Father for the Son’s indwelling. In the same way, I think you can approach God as King, Father, Gardner, and Husband – none lessening the other – simultaneously ( Prophet – Priest – King).

Second, we must realize God’s way of ravishing the heart is through the renewing of the mind. Look at Jeremiah 2:32 and Ezekiel 16:22**

• What happened to my heart the other night when Staci played Louis Armstrong? What happened to my heart at the couples shower? Renewed minds renew a ravished heart.
• How do I beat the Gospel into my head? Outside Scripture, here are some good resources: The Gospel for Life by Jerry Bridges; The Prodigal God by Tim Keller; Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson; TheGospelCoalition.com; Holiness by Grace by Brian Chappel; The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges.

He doesn't “give you something” He is the ornaments. When a bride looks in a mirror all day, she is depending on the dress, ornaments, hair, etc. When we gaze into the Gospel a confident humility ravishes our hearts – we are perfect yet Jesus blood and perfect righteousness ravish our hearts. Ephesians 5 –Jesus makes us a bride without spot or blemish.

• What if you had quality time with your wife between 8-8:30 every Wednesday?

Third, see the connection between lyrics, music, and dance

Lyrics (Theology) – Music (Ravished Hearts that are continually compelled, taught, lead by love, grace, and goodness) – Great Commandment – Dance (Great Commission)

We see the danger of:

1. Lyrics without music = cold dead principles = motivation by fear and guilt to dance
2. Music without lyrics = leads to foundation-less dancing = social justice/reform
3. Dancing with no lyrics and music = You become someone’s savior (Government)

Give examples of couples wedding shower – there is a reason Bethany, Valerie, and Jessica did not look like Mike/June; Phillip/Ginny; Chris/Michelle

You know what else might be true? Bethany might spend more time with Robyn than Scott does; Hannah spends more time with Staci than I do; Chris spends more time with his business partner than Michelle

• Why wouldn't they dance like that with a business partner; father; mother; etc.? There isn’t the husband/wife dynamic.
• Think about the relationships moms have to their children. Think about how when you serve others, your heart becomes tied to them. I know how to get to my wife’s heart and I know how to ignite my heart to hers: sacrificial service. Isn't that true. How much more for Jesus who committed the ultimate act of service?