Issues in Biblical Anthropology, Lecture
Key Topics
Transcript with YouTube timestamps
0:03work as we have seen is a crucial part of a god-centered existence
0:11obviously we can only work to the lord to the capacity that we are able that god provides but work is intended
0:18to be a key part of a god-centered existence work matters
0:25to the lord it matters tremendously men most people spend most of their life
0:32working it’s strange that we spend so little theological attention and time
0:39on the practice and calling that most people spend most of their life doing
0:45c.s lewis said it well most men must glorify god by doing to his
0:51glory something which is not per se an act of glorifying
1:00but which becomes so by being offered if as i now hope cultural activities are
1:08innocent and even useful then they also like the sweeping of the room in
1:14george herbert herbert’s poem can be done to the lord the work of a
1:19char woman and the work of a poet becomes spiritual in the same way
1:25and on the same condition luther several centuries prior
1:32said much the same thing in fact shaped the thinking of protestant churches
1:40even seemingly secular works luther said are a worship of god
1:47and in obedience well pleasing to god this is true according to luther even of
1:53daily household tasks which have no appearance of sanctity and yet these
1:58very works in connection with the household are more desirable
2:04than all the works of the monks and nuns of the catholic church be they ever so
2:10laborious and impressive i love that i love luther’s
2:15vocation his understanding of work even daily household
2:22tasks are far more important and desirable according to him than all
2:29the priestly work of the catholic church secular works or seemingly secular works
2:36are a worship of god and an obedience that is well pleasing
2:41to god one of the reasons i love the reformation and i love the theology of the rep of
2:48the reformers is that they recovered a strong biblical and theological conception
2:54of work and vocation they understood to use their term that work is to be done corumdeo that
3:02all of life is to be lived corumdeo unto god that’s what that latin
3:07phrase means every moment of life is a is a moment lived corumdeo
3:14there are no moments that are outside the context of coromdeo living
3:22and that altogether reframes the way many of us think about our work i would encourage
3:29us to bring this to bear on a doctrine of biblical womanhood and make sure that we teach that the
3:35duties of a godly woman that she performs that are anonymous plain and ordinary are meaningful duties seen by
3:42god that will be rewarded by god that are to be done coramdeo in a spirit of joyful service
3:50of the lord just as any calling of the christian falls in this same
3:56line of thought i say this in application to womanhood though because according to feminism
4:01household work is meaningless work where the bible gives us the complete opposite perspective
4:08on household work and on anonymous tasks things that the world would call duty
4:14and drudgery
4:24all these truths all these doctrines or parts of the doctrine of work
4:32free us true freedom involves drawing out the full measure of
4:38our unique gifting and this is another part of a theology of vocation
4:45we have not all been called to the same task we are not all given the same gifts and abilities and attributes
4:52we all are a unique person we have our own unique skills abilities
4:59and proclivities and part of a biblical understanding of vocation is that we
5:05want to help people find what they can do for the glory of god that uniquely
5:13employs and calls out their talents and abilities
5:18and we’re not as members of christ’s church supposed to look over at other members
5:24of the body and think well that person is an ear and i’m only an eye well that person is a an elbow and i’m only a pinky joint or
5:32something like this according to the apostle paul we’re supposed to understand that
5:37other people have their gifting and proclivity from the lord and we have ours
5:43and that is a huge part of how you will find contentment in this world for a lot of
5:49us it is not going to be by having this again stratospherically
5:54exciting career that everybody is awed by for a lot of us a great deal of joy is
6:00going to come as god allows and blesses from finding what we are uniquely gifted to do
6:06and then hopefully plying that trade as long as we can as hard as we can
6:14that’s a huge part of christian vocation recognizing the uniqueness of the
6:20individual and specifically the gifting of god in every person for his glory
6:28what are you good at what are the people you minister to gifted in in a sense a pastor is kind of
6:37a director understand this in the right way but part of what he helps the sheep of
6:44his flock do is find how they uniquely can serve god
6:49and when they find something they are good at they do that as we talked about from colossians 3
6:5423-24 not for man but for the lord don’t misunderstand me we will not
7:00necessarily be in the calling or job or profession that we we fully delight in at all times
7:09but we do pray for that we do want to discover what we are really good at what god has
7:15made us to do and then we do want to push that way as much as we can
7:20that that’s not ungodly that’s not unrighteous i actually think that is that is righteousness applied
7:27recognizing oh wait i don’t have these skills i don’t have these abilities i have these this is where i should go
7:35i might have thought for many years even i might have been told i i should be this it turns out that’s
7:41not where i’m gifted i’m gifted over here this is what god
7:46made me to do this is where i really flourish and thrive i think i should press into this
7:54again discovering what we love most or our best at will not
8:00necessarily guarantee that we get to do that in a full-time job but we do as much as we can want to
8:07match up our interests and our gifting with our day-to-day work that’s not a bad
8:13thing that’s a good thing and pastors can provide shepherding and direction as they
8:18discern in their people where they are qualified and gifted
8:24and then direct those people as much as is possible in that direction we have to bring
8:31to bear our doctrine of divine sovereignty on all of this on all of this discussion of vocation we have to factor in what i
8:38was talking about earlier in this class that for many of us there are going to be a good number of tasks or duties on a
8:45daily basis that don’t charge our heart right up to 100 and yet we also need to factor in
8:52that god has made us an individual and we shouldn’t be scared of a right biblical understanding
8:58of individualism in fact we should embrace it and we should know that our calling
9:05as best we can discern it is a calling from god we have talked already about for example
9:11the craftsman who built the temple we talked about bezel l yesterday
9:16i i was just upstairs getting my uh my machine based coffee okay that i’ve been getting
9:23on my breaks up there in the faculty and staff break room and i’m very thankful for this machine based
9:28coffee with its strong dosage of milk
9:33i was walking by the faculty offices nice faculty offices up there by the way faculty from schools are always eyeing
9:39other faculty members offices at other schools you’re always assessing this it’s just a
9:44thing you do how big are they how how much window coverage do you
9:50get how many book shelves do they have room for a little table is the table high top is it low top do
9:57they have pictures from their kids on the walls what do they have on their walls they have degrees etc and so on
10:04faculty member you gotta pastors do it too right pastors check out it’s like a dog you
10:09sniff out the other pastor’s office what does he have in here how has he set
10:15this oh he’s got built-ins well are those real built-ins or did he buy those from ikea those are ikea
10:20built-ins those aren’t like you know fine cherrywood built-ins well yeah so we i don’t need
10:26to feel bad about this office my office my office ranks pretty well according to this one you know we all do this
10:32we all do this okay and there’s a dispensation of grace for that okay you can feel free to evaluate
10:39other pastoral or ministerial offices with some freedom okay anyway i was looking at the the
10:44macarthur center for preaching office and i i was told i should peek in i
10:50peeked in to the office and there’s a guy cutting wood uh midstream so that was interesting
10:56sorry about that i’d like to offer a public apology to him but anyway i i just i had to admire this beautiful
11:02design this beautiful wood design and i was thinking in this minute ten minutes ago
11:08it’s like the craftsmen craftsmen really do matter in the kingdom of god
11:13they build beautiful things francis schaefer has said in his tiny little pamphlet very impactful art
11:18and the bible everybody go read art in the bible it’ll take you an afternoon it’ll take you a couple hours it’s
11:24really good he says this on the artistry of of uh of craftsmanship in verses 16 and 17
11:32of second chronicles 3 we read and he made chains in the oracle and put them on the tops of the pillars
11:37and he made a hundred pomegranates and put them on the chains and he set up the pillars before the temple one on the right hand and the
11:43other on the left so schaefer comments here are two freestanding columns in the temple
11:50they supported no ar architectural weight and had no utilitarian engineering significance
11:55they were there only because god said they should be there as a thing of beauty upon the capitals of those columns were
12:02pomegranates fastened upon chains artwork upon artwork if we understand what we are reading here it simply takes
12:08our breath away this schaefer says is something overwhelmingly beautiful i love that i love that i love
12:17aesthetics i wrote a short book with doug sweeney called jonathan edwards on beauty i think
12:23that’s the most work in print i’ve done on aesthetics or on beauty but in in writing that little book i was
12:29thinking at some level i’m sure of these sorts of insights schaefer helped me understand from this
12:35little pamphlet really it’s a booklet uh art and the bible uh that he wrote in 1973 it’s been
12:41republished by intervarsity 2009 that there were details in the temple
12:46that were not utilitarian and functional which is very different from the way that a lot
12:51of modern evangelicals think about architecture and building and where the church
12:58meets and there’s a lively conversation have about this i’m not standing here before you to say
13:04that every local church should have some kind of european cathedral in order to worship the lord and yet just
13:10note that even in the old testament temple there are details that are not
13:17functional upon the capitals of those columns schaefer points out
13:22were pomegranates fastened upon chains stone pomegranates the old testament
13:29temple so what’s the point the point is twofold the point is that we have a strong
13:34category i think as christians for beauty not just divine beauty yes but flowing out of divine beauty beauty in the world
13:40god has made beauty even in our physical spaces to whatever degree that can take place and then secondly that we will only have
13:47works of beauty if we develop people who find their unique calling gifting and ability
13:53to develop beauty in the world that god has made i think we really should in teaching a
13:59doctrine of vocation and work teach people to be craftsmen to understand themselves as
14:07those who who are who are crafting something valuable
14:12before god craftsmanship i would closely associate vocation with craftsmanship not just
14:20when you build a physical structure you see it there but i would i would encourage you to teach christian mothers that they are
14:27craft women they are they are crafting as god allows a little eternal soul to know god
14:35they’re not they’re not just doing duties it’s right to do your duty you got to bring that mentality to your
14:40work but also do those duties under the
14:45the broader heading of craftsmanship that you’re building something beautiful to the lord
14:51and your day-to-day vocation and that matters even in jobs where it may not
14:56feel like you are doing something beautiful you’re working at home depot and you
15:03know you’re stacking shelves or something like this and you think well i don’t have some soaring heart attitude when i’m
15:10refilling drill bits on the shelf or something but again if you understand that you are crafting
15:17a vocation you are inhabiting a calling as a christian
15:22that glorifies god that is doxological in all parts of it not just the time at
15:29your work when you bow your head and pray to god but all parts of it can be done for the lord the the worker i will
15:35submit this to you the worker who approaches their work their daily labor from a posture of craftsmanship is
15:42going to be a different worker than the one who thinks they are just punching a clock
15:48getting benefits and drawing a wage we glorify god and we want the sheep in
15:56the in the churches we pastor to hear that we glorify god when we start
16:02businesses and we grow them to produce much value for many people creating jobs and
16:09wealth and value where none previously existed that is a serious way that
16:15christian men and women can honor god by starting businesses especially men in providing for their
16:21family and produce value and it’s very very challenging in this season right now walking in the streets of
16:27glendale where i’ve been staying this week and seeing one business after another either closed boarded up or just absent
16:36so so that’s challenging and we should expect that if our culture secularizes that we will see
16:41business and vocation targeted as a negative reality we glorify god when we train for years
16:49in a specific field to acquire more and more skill that may not have a mass-market effect
16:56but serves us well in a profession i believe god’s glory is bound up in that
17:02we glorify god when we teach and love children doing all we can to build into them that
17:09too is vocational work raising children is vocational
17:16it’s not just passing the time it’s not instrumental or functional it’s it’s doxological by which i mean
17:24god glorifying work all of it matters all of it shapes a child’s heart all of
17:30it shapes their existence all of that is meaningful to god
17:35we glorify god when we serve in menial jobs that others may despise and
17:41our co-workers may groan about but that we approach from a god-centered
17:46theistic perspective god’s glory is bound up there
17:51god’s glory is found yes in the high times and the exciting moments and those are
17:57real and god gives those and we talked earlier about how those who are faithful in the small things
18:03will in a good number of cases be drawn into bigger things bigger works so that’s a biblical teaching too that
18:10we don’t want to miss but we we must know that god sees it all and god sees the
18:16menial jobs and god sees the humble difficult moments just a few minutes ago in the break i
18:22was upstairs and looking at some of the featured titles in the library here looks like you have a really really uh
18:29interesting and well stacked library praise god for that and one of the books that was
18:34highlighted in the display case was for the glory for the glory about
18:40the sprinter eric liddell the the one who is the subject of the famous film chariots of fire many of you have seen
18:45chariots of fire if you haven’t seen chariots of fire watch it tonight be a great way to let your brain relax a little bit
18:52after five days of issues in biblical anthropology and also think a little bit about
18:59vocation because few people in christian history have had a richer understanding of vocation than
19:06eric little what did he say what did he famously say when i run
19:11i feel god’s pleasure well that brings together a lot of what we’re talking about right when he sprinted he felt god’s pleasure
19:19that is beautiful that’s what we want we want people in our in our local churches to feel god’s
19:25pleasure in their work according to what god has called them to do as best we can ascertain that what
19:31i find interesting about eric little though is that the most interesting part of his life was not actually
19:37winning olympic gold the most interesting part of his life and a number of you will know this
19:43if you don’t get the book for the glory for the glory i think austin duncan lets you read this
19:50in one of the classes he teaches also wendell berry’s jaber crow those are elite
19:55book assignments by the way nonetheless if you haven’t read for the glory by duncan hamilton a
20:02scottish journalist i don’t believe a christian you must you simply must and hamilton goes into
20:09the part of life that lidell lived that we know very little about most of us the part where he serves as a missionary
20:17in china and what happens is world war ii comes to roost in lidell’s
20:24environment and he ends up in a japanese prison camp and in this prison camp
20:29it’s a it’s a tiny enclosure there is a camp prostitute and other men help her out in physical
20:37tasks that she needs to to survive but they always demand favors from her
20:43there are members of the prison camp who reported this after the war to reporters who were
20:49inquiring about eric little’s life there was only one man
20:55in the prison camp according to this woman herself a russian prostitute who did not demand
21:02favors from her when he would help her and guess who it was it was eric little
21:10it was this godly missionary and think about his life men
21:20he had a plan he did what every man needs to do he got a plan for his life he wasn’t
21:28a log on a river bumping along with no idea where he was going to go
21:34there are points in our lives where things are confusing and uncertain absolutely but godly men who are called
21:40to lead themselves fundamentally whether married or single and in many cases
21:45lead a wife and lead children have to get a plan you have to form a plan for your life
21:53the lord will rework that plan however he sees fit but you have to have a plan you’re not a
22:00log bumping along in a river well eric little had a plan he was a missionary in china he brought his family there his
22:07wife and his three little girls including a little girl who never met him because she was in her mother’s womb
22:14when eric little sent the family to canada as the war intensified she she was fathered by eric little in
22:21the covenant of marriage but she never knew him eric little had a plan but what happened
22:27his plan changed no longer a missionary in the in the province teaching he was
22:34teaching as a missionary in china no longer discharging the work
22:39he was sent there to do instead imprisoned and closed
22:48not able to freely share the faith as he desired so what did he do
22:55what did he do when god shook up his plans and changed his entire life and led to
23:02him being imprisoned he was a christian witness he kept
23:07working he worked unto the lord he was a witness
23:12until the day he died of disease and he left a lasting testimony of
23:20holiness and godliness he pursued christian vocation with gusto
23:26first as a sprinter which god made him good at olympic gold he won
23:33but then he gave it all up he gave up fame riches influence
23:40and he went to china to be a missionary but then his life changed again and he was imprisoned in a war camp
23:49and even there he was faithful to god and he left a legacy not because
23:57he single-handedly evangelized the whole camp and everybody came to faith but in this one instance i just gave you
24:02in this tiny little anecdote tiny little anecdote he was a godly
24:08man among ungodly men and he stood out and here i am
24:15almost 80 years later telling you this story and i’m sure others will tell the story
24:21as well when you work coromdeo when you live coromdeo
24:30you may not know the effect you are having you may not get to see it even in your
24:36lifetime but again rest assured
24:41god will be glorified god will use you god will bring about effects you don’t
24:48even know think about churches think about churches that
24:55are pastored well not by a pastor who’s hopping around the ministry lily pads
25:02in desperate pursuit of a bigger church there’s a calling sometimes to leave a church and go to a bigger church i’m not
25:07talking about though the american pastoral circuit i’m talking about a guy who says okay i could be called somewhere
25:13that could be righteous but i’m i’m gonna really focus on this congregation you pastor it for 30
25:2040 50 years what happens you leave it don’t you you leave it you have no
25:28idea what’s going to come of it you can’t you guarantee the church’s health
25:34and vibrancy and christian confession in years to come can you even if you labor as hard as you can
25:43and yet god will use your labors beyond what you ask think or know think of spurgeon
25:50for just a minute we have spurgeon’s library at midwestern seminary in kansas city his books we have a lot of his effects
25:57we have the cigar that was on his chest when they found his dead body
26:02okay we have our icons okay is what i’m trying to tell you spurgeon died in dissolution
26:11everybody now oh spurgeon let’s quote spurgeon let’s put him on our social media wow so many books so many sermons
26:18spurgeon did not die in the high times he died in low times when his friends were were bleeding him they were
26:24disappointing him they were leaving him because of his stand for sound doctrine you have no idea
26:30how god is going to use you spurgeon had no ability to manage his legacy going
26:35forward but he understood i was talking a bit with phil jonathan this week and he said this to me and he’s right
26:40spurgeon understood that he would be vindicated later on that he stood for the truth in his day
26:46and that god would vindicate his stand in years to come
26:52and spurgeon was right and if you and i work unto the lord now while it is day while there is time
27:01god will use us and if you take a stand for sound
27:06doctrine in your work i’m talking to ministers here this isn’t a university setting after all
27:13if you take a stand for the truth of god in our time in your generation god
27:20will vindicate your stand you need a proper eschatology not just referring
27:27to the length of the millennium or the precise nature of the millennium you need that you have to sort that out
27:33but you also need simply to remember eschatology in the sense that god will vindicate his people
27:40he will do it he is not leaving his church without help
27:46he is not going to leave the martyrs torn apart by wicked men
27:55dissolute their bodies broken he is going to do what to put it all
28:03back together he is going to take those who have been slain
28:09burned at the stake crucified for the faith imprisoned separated from their families
28:15their reputations and tatters and he is going to exalt them on the last day
28:20and that is a part of your doctrine of vocation as well that is that reward element that we were
28:27discussing don’t give much attention at all to your image brand or reputation
28:33while there is day give attention to doing your job give attention to being a craftsman in
28:40the world that god has made give attention to what glorifies god and let
28:46god sort out the rest he is very very good at sorting it out you and
28:52i are not good at sorting out our image brand and reputation in fact when we tend to do that we tend to mess
28:57it up but god is very very good at it
29:03martin luther and john calvin did not know where their movement would go following their deaths
29:11charles spurgeon did not know where british baptist life would go after his death
29:18neither do we but friends we are always in god’s hands
29:24all this is up to the sovereign providential will of almighty god
29:32god then is the point of our work god is the point of our vocation
29:40he is the telos or the end of our vocation abraham kuiper said it
29:46well in his lecture entitled calvinism and religion wherever man may stand whatever he may
29:54do to whatever he may apply his hand in agriculture and commerce in an industry
30:00or his mind in the world of art and science he is in whatsoever it may be constantly
30:06standing before the face of his god he is employed in the service of his god
30:12he has strictly to obey his god and above all he has to aim at the glory
30:20of his god that is true for for we who are in ministry for you and for me and that is true for
30:28the people we disciple and shepherd in the church of the lord
30:33jesus christ we need to double click on a subset
30:40topic wealth christians do not always have a a good
30:45theology of wealth we can sometimes think that it is
30:52better to be poor or that the poor are righteous and the wealthy are not
30:58our society and culture with its viewpoint that difference means inequity
31:06and inequity means injustice as i said a few days ago fosters such an attitude in our hearts
31:13if we are not careful that the wealthy are evil in a special degree well the
31:20wealthy can be but they also may well not be
31:26we need to not make the mistake of sanctifying poverty because the bible does not sanctify
31:31poverty and the bible does not sanctify the poor as if they are a righteous class that is one of the most common
31:39ways to start subverting biblical christianity and
31:45lose your christian confession to start thinking things like the gospel
31:51is a gospel of social uplift this is not a new problem it’s an old
31:57problem and if you follow it in many cases historically you end up thinking what i
32:02just said that the wealthy are evil in a special degree and the poor are effectively righteous
32:10better than wealthy people paul says this in first timothy 6 17-19
32:17instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty
32:23of wealth but on god who richly provides us with
32:29all things to enjoy instruct them to do what is good to be rich in good works to be generous and
32:34willing to share storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age so that they may take
32:42hold of what is truly life here as i mentioned
32:49prior in the class the bible does not say the rich are evil and the rich should
32:56give away all their money we should level society we should try to guarantee
33:02equality of outcome no we understand according to the bible that god gives
33:08some tremendous wealth some medium level wealth and calls some to a position essentially
33:15of poverty so the apostle paul’s instruction is not
33:20for the rich to feel bad about themselves or see themselves as guilty
33:25the call on the wealth is to set on the wealthy that is excuse me is to set their hope
33:32not on their wealth but on god which indicates by implication
33:38that there is going to be a tendency in the human heart to trust in wealth and that is not only
33:45a a shortcoming of the wealthy that is actually a mindset that the poor can
33:51fall into as well isn’t it some of us have experienced this some of us have known a lack of material
33:58prosperity poverty and we and some of you know how hard it is
34:04and how tempting it is in a given situation to think that if you could just have
34:10wealth you would have what you need and you would be happy but the apostle paul says
34:15don’t set your hope on the uncertainty of wealth no one should including the
34:22wealthy who have it even if you have it
34:28it’s uncertain isn’t that striking and studying this passage
34:35exegetically there is no certain wealth for anyone said more
34:42simply the only certainty there is is god
34:49god is the great certainty of our life the new testament you see in luke’s
34:56gospel at the very beginning chapter 1 was written so that we might have
35:01certainty luke says the scripture is a certainty giving faith
35:10it is not a reasonable approximation giving faith you certainly are not justified by your
35:16doubts the bible in a sense is about certainty isn’t it
35:24wealth in this passage is uncertain it’s sinking sand even for the rich
35:31think about job who had fabulous wealth and possessions and all of them were
35:37taken away as an opportunity to display god’s glory
35:43read in new testamental terms that is god allowed satan
35:53to do what satan wanted to do to peter to sift job-like wheat
36:00to turn job’s life inside out to to upend job’s existence from the
36:06very top of the food chain to the bottom to having from having everything to having nothing
36:14what is god teaching us well many things in the case of job but one of them is the uncertainty of wealth there is no such
36:21thing as certain possession of wealth instead the rich should hope in god
36:27and do what is good and be rich in good works to be generous ah well this is a
36:33key part of an understanding of vocation and work and wealth more broadly in
36:38terms of a theology of all the preceding generosity is a key
36:44part of biblical stewardship isn’t it
36:51getting things from god for the for the natural man means storing them up
36:58getting things from god for the believer means being quick to generosity
37:05glad generosity one of the saddest heart attitudes you
37:11can encounter in this world is stinginess stinginess
37:17you need to be wise with your finances that’s a biblical principle as well absolutely it is but
37:24i’m always sad when i when i meet a husband who sees himself rightly in biblical terms as the head of
37:30his wife but then is stingy now different families have different
37:35economic uh ability and capacity absolutely but we we pray i think as husbands that we
37:42would be generous husbands reflecting the character of of christ
37:49who is such a gracious husband to his bride
37:56paul doesn’t condemn rich christians for having wealth he calls rich christians to give
38:03generously graciously and happily and that is actually where you find
38:10freedom from the love of money in a substantial form
38:16when you can give money away whatever your income level whether you are wealthy or not when you
38:22can part with your money you are showing that your money is not your security
38:28and is not your certainty
38:33instead of storing up earthly treasure we store up heavenly treasure through good works
38:40done out of the overflow of divine grace first timothy 6 18 to 19 this passage
38:48that we are discussing the bible therefore teaches neither poverty theology nor prosperity theology
38:58poverty theology makes the poor righteous a major sociological problem and
39:05prosperity theology teaches us that if we follow god if we are a
39:10meaningful christian we will get what we want i don’t think i need to lay out a
39:16lengthy critique of that savaging of biblical truth
39:21that if we just pray enough and follow god enough we will get whatever we want
39:27i think you know that that is a consumeristic rendering of the christian faith and i think you know further
39:35that the way of christ the way of the cross shows you in fact that if you are faithful to god
39:42there isn’t a certain outcome necessarily in terms of your your finances but you may well be called to give up
39:49everything including even your very life itself in other words being more faithful to god may mean that
39:56you part more with your earthly possessions jesus went to the cross
40:03and jesus followed the father submitted to the father perfectly
40:12we are freed in christ to work and we are freed in christ
40:17to rest even as we have considered a proper theology and biblical terms of
40:25work and vocation we need to think now about a proper doctrine briefly
40:31of rest we actually talk a good deal more i think in the
40:36evangelical church about work then we do rest rest can even be seen as a negative reality
40:43we shouldn’t rest rest is wasting time rest is squandering
40:52opportunities
40:57rest isn’t valuable rest doesn’t glorify god work does
41:04we need a properly balanced conception of work and rest don’t we together they hang together
41:10what does god do in creation six days of of work and the seventh day
41:16he rests a day that is not of course in the narrative of genesis bounded by 24
41:22hours as the first six days are
41:29well that means that god himself gives great attention and energy
41:37to the work of creation going back to that text but it also means that there is a place
41:44a carefully understood place for rest the divine rests from his works
41:52that he made following the six days of creation the lord did not need
41:59physical rest as you will know he was not tired from his creative labors what rest
42:06signals theologically is security and satisfaction on god’s part
42:13he has accomplished his work he’s carried out his holy will
42:20and this occasions celebration on the part of god he made the seventh
42:28day holy he set it apart as a picture of work done well of what
42:36happens when the will of god comes to full fruition here’s what ken matthews says
42:44about this seventh day by the commemoration of sabbath god and his creatures share in
42:51the celebration of the good creation and god’s people are enjoined to enter
42:56into the rhythm of work and joyful rest embracing god’s sabbath
43:02rest means experiencing the sense of completeness and well-being god had accomplished at
43:07creation on behalf of all human life
43:14another commentator says this about divine rest this rest is not the rest of one who is exhausted
43:21creation rest describes the rest of one who is satisfied one who looks at the world
43:27saying behold it is very good never ceasing never being satisfied
43:35never finding time for any creature does not characterize a loving god
43:41that’s what eugene roop writes in his commentary on this passage i think these two
43:47commentary sections that i just read to you help us they help us understand what
43:52god is doing at a divine level and resting again he’s not tired he is
43:58satisfied so in in bringing this down to our level
44:04what do we do when we rest why did god call his people
44:11to the sabbath day in exodus 20. this is what exodus 28-10 says remember
44:18the sabbath day to keep it holy you were to labor six days and do all your work but the seventh day is a
44:24sabbath to the lord your god you must not do any work you your son or daughter your male or female servant
44:30your livestock or the resident alien who is within your city gates the israelites are called here
44:39in the ten commandments to enjoy freedom from their work but theirs was a
44:46god-centered freedom wasn’t it their time off was not dedicated to laziness
44:53and selfish indulgence their rest is a set apart time of worship
45:00of the living god pharaoh in technical terms offered no rest
45:08remember this when israel is in captivity to pharaoh in egypt there’s no rest and pharaoh
45:15actually doubles the expectations of israelite production
45:20pharaoh contrasts early in the bible sharply with god god
45:27is not pharaoh god is not the one who says never rest
45:33you get no rest god is the one who mandates that his people rest in order that they
45:39would keep the sabbath day holy all of this means then that the lord
45:47from the beginning pre-fall wanted his people to set aside time
45:56to not work to not labor
46:02the lord did not want his people to be the same as those in a postfall
46:09world who would work without ceasing or who would only rest
46:17we work for god as believers and then we rest for god we work for god
46:24and we rest for god because of this as part of our rest we can sleep
46:33it’s funny because you can think of sleep as a non-theological reality or non-biblical reality but that’s
46:39actually not true is it what does psalm 8 say i will both lie
46:44down and sleep in peace for you alone lord make me live
46:53in safety some of us have experienced that resting through sleep can be a real
47:00challenge actually and if you struggle with sleeplessness
47:06this can be a very difficult problem to address and overcome in fact we may not overcome it in this
47:12life but we do note in biblical terms that god wants his people to sleep
47:21not simply because that’s a good bodily recharging habit but but the bodily rest
47:27flows out of theological rest in god that’s what the psalmist is saying i
47:34live in safety beneath you lord and so i can rest
47:41i can sleep in peace if we struggle with this if we struggle
47:46with sleep or if loved ones in our family struggle with sleep some of you may may have this situation may
47:52face the situation in some form then we want to pray for those who have trouble resting
47:58and we want to do all we can and common grace wisdom terms to try to work toward better sleep
48:05and we want to ground all of that pursuit in the kindness of god for his children
48:13salvifically ongoingly for the church
48:20god guards us at night god gives us peace that overcomes the
48:26flesh god quiets stormy hearts
48:32all this is part of what the lord does it is not going to be the case that if
48:37you simply trust god and follow the lord you will automatically sleep amazingly
48:43but it is the case that we would desire this rest and we do well to prioritize it
48:50and to pray for it even as it can prove elusive in life
48:57part of by the way how we fight sleeplessness is we fight anxiety and
49:03part of how we fight anxiety is we confess it to god and repent of it on a regular basis
49:09we’re all indicted here this isn’t just some miserable christian out there
49:15who sometimes gets anxious honestly we are frail and fragile creatures and
49:20we are all prone to anxiety in different forms sometimes husbands can get frustrated
49:26with their wives when their wives feel anxious but husbands themselves though they may not feel as anxious as their wives
49:33we ourselves will have our things that cause us anxiety and fear and worry in a sinful
49:40sense i believe in biblical counseling i believe that we need to apply
49:46the word of god and the gospel of god to all of our lives anxiety is not just
49:53a psychological challenge anxiety is first and foremost sin it’s failure to lay
50:01hold of the wisdom of god it’s failure to trust god isn’t it
50:07that doesn’t mean that we should then feel desperately unredeemable as christians
50:15it means that we all have a lot to repent of and it means that if this manifests in
50:22sleeplessness we want to do all we can to confess anxiety and to build in
50:28rhythms of trust of god into our lives feeding on the word of god turning our
50:35anxiety to god casting our cares peter says in first peter 5 upon the
50:41lord for he cares for us give your anxieties to god repent of your anxiety and then pray to
50:49god for what you are troubled by what you are anxious over that’s really the program
50:55the scripture gives us to overcome anxiety nonetheless like anything we recognize
51:02we’re in a long-term progressive struggle for sanctification and so we approach this
51:09in those terms praying for bodily rest that flows out
51:17of spiritual rest purchased for us by christ the lord
51:24leads us beside still waters doesn’t he we walk through the valley of
51:31the shadow of death with foes all around us psalm 23
51:36we are in the presence of our enemies as in this psalm
51:42the psalm that we so frequently cite psalm 23 is not talking a about an easy piece
51:50the piece that passes all understanding in the new testament is not an easy piece is it it’s a peace
51:57and warfare it’s a piece with trials and troubles and burdens
52:02all around you that you have to continually give to god and this leads us
52:10firmly to christ what does christ say you say rest man you’re talking
52:16about rest and an elective at tms we’re supposed to talk about theology
52:22ah really rest isn’t theological interesting matthew 11 28
52:29what does jesus say come to me all of you who are weary and burdened
52:38and i will give you rest what is rest ultimately in biblical
52:44terms christological isn’t it christocentric
52:52what does jesus say that he will give his people he knows they and we are
53:00weary you feel weary do you feel tired at different times
53:07jesus knows you are are you burdened are you in are you in your family
53:14dealing with much these days if you’re married are you and your spouse working through a lot
53:21are we not in 2021 facing trials seemingly at every turn
53:29do we not feel like normal life has crossed over into abnormal life
53:36that it is now normal to have chaos and not normal to have peace does this
53:42not feel does this not resonate in this time it feels like the world is turned upside
53:48down we’re burdened many of us are burdened
53:55admit it jesus knows we’re burdened doesn’t he
54:00all of you who are weary and burdened bearing heavy loads what does jesus say i will give you
54:10rest to know jesus then
54:15soteriologically is to rest it is to rest in christ
54:24it is to know the peace of god what does this mean theologically though
54:31bearing in pressing into this reality well if we correlate texts and there’s
54:37disagreement about sabbath fulfillment among inerrantist christians okay so i
54:44i don’t want to go into this in a in a major way and stake out a hard and fast position that
54:49i would argue only only people can hold but i i will say this hebrews 4
54:5610 connects rest to resting from our own works so the rest that jesus
55:04is offering us again is soteriological rest
55:10jesus knows that we are a striving people who who try in our natural state at some level to
55:16justify ourselves i think that’s the context of matthew 11.
55:22the weariness and the burden that jesus engages in matthew 11 28 is not simply feeling tired
55:30it is that but ultimately the problem that the gospel of jesus
55:37christ is solving is the problem of our inability to find rest through our own works none of us
55:45can works cannot justify us our flesh cannot save us only jesus
55:52gives us rest only jesus gives us peace and when you have
55:59jesus as i read scripture theologically you don’t have 13
56:06rest or 37 percent rest or 62 percent rest you have fullness of salvific rest
56:16you have rested from your works entirely you have given your salvation
56:25over to jesus you have recognized that you are a hopeless case
56:32you are confessing that you are a failure salvifically my my efforts to save myself have not
56:41gone well they have gone terribly and tragically
56:46i have not succeeded in saving myself i cannot justify myself
56:51i cannot live in a state of peace i do not have peace with god in myself and i don’t have peace with
56:58men horizontally as a result so what jesus offers matthew 11
57:03correlated with hebrews 4 other texts we could bring in is perfect
57:08salvific rest we rest from our labors we rest from our
57:15own works we no longer try to justify ourselves and as christians
57:20this doesn’t go away at the moment of conversion does it you will slip into works driven
57:28christianity repeatedly in your christian life i’m not saying that your your behavior
57:33doesn’t matter i think you know already from the rest of the class that that’s not where i am in in these
57:39broader discussions i believe that the gospel saves us to get to work
57:46that the imperatives are not only high standards we can’t meet but our actual callings the new
57:52testament imperatives grounded in the gospel of grace nonetheless we will try as christians
58:00we will slip into a mindset that grounds our faith not in god and his goodness
58:09in in his salvation that he has brought us into but in our own performance we will try
58:17at different points to drive the church ahead in our own strength it’s not that we don’t work
58:22hard in ministry we should work hard we should be tired in ministry
58:28we should go hard and go hard and go hard and then die and enter into fullness
58:36of rest nonetheless that is not the same thing
58:41as trying to grow the church in your own strength that we must not do we must not
58:48fall in our lives into a performance driven
58:55faith that militates against the very reality of
59:00justification by faith and by faith alone
59:07we are not justified because of our performance we are justified because of god-given
59:14faith and we have to remember that you know that you’re probably listening to me say that
59:20and thinking yeah i get it sure but you
59:25really it’s the simple truths that you have to remember over and over again isn’t it
59:32it’s not so much the super complex realities that no one talks about that you have to remember as a christian
59:40it’s the simple truths that you have to go back to time and time again don’t
59:47justify yourself by your performance work very hard out of the overflow of divine love
59:54given you in christ by faith in his name but never think that you are
1:00:02justified or you are kept in the kingdom by your performance jesus is our rest i
1:00:10believe i’ll i’ll put just a little on record here i believe that the sabbath is now
1:00:16i believe that jesus is our sabbath i believe that we are no longer bound
1:00:23therefore by the old covenant command to take the lord’s day in new testamental terms
1:00:29following the resurrection off from work i i don’t believe it’s ideal for most
1:00:37christians to work on sunday therefore but i don’t believe that working on sunday is breaking the sabbath
1:00:45and there i would break with my reformed baptist friends who would understand that the
1:00:50sabbath continues in the current day i believe that jesus words in matthew 11 28 are so explosive
1:00:57correlated with hebrews 4 that the sabbath has come to fulfillment
1:01:02in christ jesus therefore is our rest
1:01:12it’s not that the point of jesus coming was to preserve the sabbath it’s at the point of the sabbath was to
1:01:20point ahead to jesus christ so we have perfect fulfillment in
1:01:28christ of the sabbath which means that we live in the sabbath you understand
1:01:35we have a spiritual sabbath not a chronological sabbath anymore
1:01:42a sabbath is to know jesus to know jesus is to be freed
1:01:49from enslavement to sin and to our works
1:01:58we are free we have rest now we have rest from our works no one can
1:02:05bind us back to enslavement in jesus
1:02:11the sabbath has come to fruition and completion it’s clear that
1:02:19christians disagree over that reality have different positions on it and i
1:02:25want to extend charity and grace to those who disagree with me including people i would have tremendous
1:02:31agreement with on many doctrinal points but my own view is that i have sabbath
1:02:37rest now now in saying that i don’t mean
1:02:42that i have final rest now so let me give you a distinction
1:02:48theology is so much about distinctions isn’t it fine distinctions in a lot of cases
1:02:54i believe that we have full rest now but we will have final rest in the age to come
1:03:00we have full rest now in jesus fullness of salvation i don’t believe we’re
1:03:06mostly saved or partially saved i believe that i am fully saved now i’m saved
1:03:15but that doesn’t mean that i have come to my final state of rest i have not
1:03:23and that’s how i understand hebrews 4 speaking of there is there is this rest that will
1:03:28come to completion i have full rest but i don’t have my
1:03:33final state of rest just as correlates perfectly with other sociology from the scripture i have full
1:03:40salvation i have full justification i have full adoption but i don’t have
1:03:48final forms of all that i just noted that is all to come
1:03:56but that’s different than partial and full or partial and final isn’t it
1:04:03full and final is a different technical distinction than partial and final
1:04:10and i think that distinction matters greatly i think it matters greatly for our
1:04:17preaching and teaching i think we offer people full salvific
1:04:23rest in jesus isn’t it interesting by the way just at a practical level to
1:04:29think about many unbelievers many unbelievers simply at a basic level
1:04:35tragically don’t live in rest you hear stories of famous celebrities
1:04:42for example cultural influencers let’s say and and weirdly they’ll stay up through the and
1:04:49through the night i’m sure you’ve read profiles about this
1:04:54i think of a figure like sinatra read a biography of frank sinatra some years ago amazing voice amazing voice
1:05:02and yet a man who could not sleep and you you think there that there has to be for many
1:05:08unbelievers sadly such a manifestation of their guilt and their shame
1:05:16that that they cannot rest as the scripture tells us we can
1:05:24in christ when you live for the flesh
1:05:29in many cases you will not be able to rest even at the physical level
1:05:35and so we pray that we who know christ salvifically will be able to rest more and more
1:05:43for we are free from that tragic terrible
1:05:48condition what does all this lead to well all this leads naturally fluidly
1:05:54to a theology of not just rest but play or entertainment call it
1:06:00different things here again that may sound unserious unworthy of extended theological
1:06:07consideration but think about this right now
1:06:12one of the major challenges disciples face is an entertainment saturated culture
1:06:22we have essentially built for ourselves a new capacity and need of humanity
1:06:30in our time this is new the need to be entertained
1:06:37the need to be entertained at all times think about what is available to us on
1:06:44digital platforms that i’m guessing many of you engage in that i do amazon prime
1:06:50netflix hulu on and on it goes they continue popping up don’t they what can
1:06:57what does that create what expectation does that yield in many of us
1:07:02again that we not only have a capacity to be entertained that’s not new but we have a need to be entertained
1:07:10we need it on a daily basis just like we we need physical exercise or we need
1:07:15food we need rest for most people in most of human history
1:07:22entertainment was a luxury and a rarity
1:07:28entertainment would be confined to feast days or festival days in many
1:07:34agricultural settings for example you didn’t you didn’t have entertainment to queue up at any time you wanted
1:07:41you didn’t have a tv you didn’t have this technology here here we’re back to where we were talking about in previous sessions
1:07:48these things these things hang together don’t they many of these realities that we’re addressing
1:07:55right now you can cue up hundreds of thousands of hours
1:08:02of entertainment you can and i can movies tv shows songs
1:08:08books whatever media you want for a minimal fee 10 bucks a month 20
1:08:14bucks a month you can watch media whenever you want
1:08:19wherever you want entertainment in such a society and
1:08:27culture can feel like a duty can’t it
1:08:32again like a need when in reality
1:08:38it is no such thing if we’re not careful this is why it’s so
1:08:43important to know the times and know the word because knowing the times
1:08:49will help you understand and appreciate the word all the more
1:08:56i don’t mean that you have to know the times i do mean that it will help i firmly believe that
1:09:06if you understand just how entertainment saturated our culture is you will then be freed to
1:09:13understand how that culture is influencing you and affecting you and your loved ones
1:09:19probably without even knowing it and shaping even such things as ministry preaching
1:09:26the church itself don’t you think that many churches have adapted
1:09:31entertainment culture do you see this
1:09:37do you not understand that one of the quickest ways to gather a crowd
1:09:42is to build a very entertaining church to have a church that has major
1:09:49sizzle factor to have a church that has
1:09:54amazing musical worship and that has entertaining presentations
1:10:02from the pulpit there’s not even a pulpit anymore there might be a little wobbly table
1:10:07at best i’m all for the building of a sturdy solid
1:10:14glorious craftsman-made pulpit that’s what i personally prefer i don’t
1:10:21have chapter and verse on that okay so slow your role but nonetheless that’s what i prefer
1:10:28you know you go somewhere to preach even even a strong church and there’s a little wobbly table and it doesn’t even tilt up like
1:10:35this desk does thankfully it tilts it’s just a tail i can’t read my notes
1:10:42or there’s a music stand worst of all oh i tremble when i see a music stand
1:10:49because i typically you know bring my uh bible with me into the pulpit
1:10:55and i know you know what i’m talking about some of you i know depending on where i put the bible it’s
1:11:02going to wait the i’ve i’ve had to hold the music stand for the entirety of my sermon before
1:11:08we need a book of of uh preacher experiences don’t we i’ve gotten through a few of them i’ve
1:11:14talked about the offices comparison thing we have a dispensation of grace to compare offices i’ve
1:11:19humorously said another one is music stand preaching that’s going to be another chapter in my book
1:11:26holding a stand while you preach is there anything more terrifying than that
1:11:32you can’t the bible you get the bible in your notes if you have notes or your ipad you barely have enough room the whole
1:11:38thing’s going to capsize you’re going to you’re going to end up on youtube for the next 25 years
1:11:43your grandchildren are going to laugh at you for your foibles
1:11:52the church can set itself up as an entertainment driven entity just with a
1:11:59spiritual twist what a danger what a danger it’s often those soft soft corruptions
1:12:07of the faith that i would argue actually pose the greatest threat to the faith
1:12:15it’s a church that still says it’s preaching the word and the gospel but subtly shifts the ministry of the
1:12:23church and the preaching of the church to be about entertainment
1:12:28what does that create because the preaching of the church always shapes disciples you’re always
1:12:33making disciples aren’t you some cases you make true disciples some cases you make
1:12:38fake disciples an entertainment saturated church creates
1:12:44entertainment craving disciples creates people who need to be what
1:12:49stimulated who need a steady diet of excitement what’s the exciting new plan pastor
1:12:57what’s the enthralling vision of the church what are you going to do next to
1:13:03captivate us that’s what you get in an entertainment driven church whereas when when you have a church that
1:13:09just offers people the word and the gospel one thing you do is you free yourself from having to be a circus conductor
1:13:16and have a continual round of new entertainment all you have to offer people is the word
1:13:22and the gospel the ministry of the faith the love of the body what a thought
1:13:33the bible doesn’t necessarily give us an extended theology of entertainment in my conception
1:13:39nonetheless we do know that there is a biblical category of
1:13:44celebration certainly in the old testament think of the 50th year of
1:13:52the israelite community the year of jubilee
1:13:58a time of festival also called in the scripture the year of liberty it’s an entire year
1:14:05after after 49 years in which the community took the year off forgave the deaths of
1:14:13their debtors and spent time with their loved ones leviticus 25 8-12
1:14:21this is what god called his people to observe it’s a holy year a year
1:14:30of liberty the 50th year that tells us something again it’s like
1:14:36the six days and resting on the seventh day 49 years of work before the 50th year
1:14:43what’s the calibration there what’s the setting a whole lot of work yes a whole lot of labor
1:14:50a whole lot of tiredness but then but then jubilee
1:14:58festival celebration rest leisure
1:15:05feasting we need to make sure that our christian faith whole bible christianity
1:15:11has this element in it this element of delight of feasting of joy of unbridled
1:15:20satisfaction in god if your faith doesn’t have that component you’re missing something
1:15:26strongly biblical think of how the rest of the old testament engages celebration isaiah 25
1:15:346 the lord of armies in coming days will prepare for the for all the peoples a feast of choice
1:15:42meat a feast with aged wine prime cuts of choice meat
1:15:50choice meat is a very big deal clearly here fine vintage wine
1:15:56this is this is kind of finer things of life feasting isn’t it
1:16:02from who the lord of armies in contrast to the starving gentiles
1:16:10that’s isaiah 25 6 of isaiah 21 13-17 the gentiles don’t have this feast the
1:16:17lord invites his people to a banquet table overflowing with goodness
1:16:23and not in this passage isaiah 25 6 spiritualized goodness
1:16:31however you interpret this passage and apply it it’s presented to us
1:16:36as a faced meat the best cut the hundred
1:16:43dollar steak or in kansas city terms the burnt ends of the brisket
1:16:52a feast with aged wine not one year or two-year-old wine
1:16:5750-year wine wine of the best vintage wine of the coolest seller you say i’m
1:17:04getting edgy here i’m reading the bible interpret it as you see fit
1:17:10according to the new testament this is what isaiah 25 tells us this is
1:17:17aged in other words this is the best stuff there is this is all pointing us
1:17:24to a greater celebration of god god routing his foes god defeating his
1:17:31enemies god what celebrating with his people the point we should take away is that
1:17:38god loves celebration there is an appropriate element of celebration and
1:17:44feasting and festival and joy in the community throughout the bible what happens moving
1:17:51ahead to the new testament what happens when the prodigal son returns in luke 15 21-25
1:18:00what takes place the father looks at the prodigal son and says you
1:18:07idiot you finally came home you’re ungrateful you did what you did
1:18:14what you were supposed to do get in the house i don’t even want to see you is that what takes place
1:18:20in this famous parable not at all is it luke 15 21 the son
1:18:29said to him father i have sinned against heaven and in your sight i am no longer worthy
1:18:38to be called your son but the father told his slaves
1:18:44think about the character of almighty god that’s being identified here
1:18:49quick bring out the best robe and put it on him
1:18:57put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet then bring
1:19:04the fattened calf and slaughter it and then what language is used here
1:19:12and let’s celebrate with a feast because this son of mine was dead
1:19:20and is alive again he was lost and is found
1:19:28so they began to celebrate
1:19:33now his older son was in the field as he came near the house
1:19:40he heard music and dancing there’s much to say about this passage
1:19:45of course many ways to read it and apply it but for our purposes note
1:19:51the character of the father in the parable jesus tells he is not a
1:19:58stingy mean father he is a father who lavishly celebrates
1:20:06the return of his prodigal of his wayward child
1:20:14he gives this son the best robe bring it out do it quickly
1:20:22put a ring on his finger valuable ring put fine sandals on his feet
1:20:30bring delicious food the fattened calf out and let’s have a feast
1:20:38and let’s celebrate this one was dead he was gone
1:20:45and he is alive again what are we learning here
1:20:50we’re learning that this little portrait of fatherly
1:20:57joy is correlated with a time of celebration we’re learning
1:21:04something i think about the character of god himself we’re learning that there is a
1:21:10time for celebration we’re learning that all this is to be
1:21:15anchored in the kindness and grace and greatness of god our
1:21:22faith is not a miserly faith the faith of the pagans
1:21:30has no ultimate feasting and celebration in it it may look like that they may look like
1:21:37they’re hedonists epicureans but they’re actually
1:21:42not we are those who truly celebrate we are those who know
1:21:49true joy in the doctrine of salvation and in the doctrine of
1:21:54salvation alone is grounds for true celebration and true feasting
1:22:02and true delight and that is where you are that is where you are now you have come
1:22:08home to the father by his kindness the father has killed the fattened calf
1:22:16for you and welcomed you into his home adopting you into his home giving you
1:22:25the keys to his entire palace this is the character of almighty god
1:22:31this is the god we proclaim to lost people every chance we get
1:22:38this is just how great the love of god is that all who repent confess their sin
1:22:45and place their faith and trust in jesus the doors are open wide for them and
1:22:52they may come in
1:22:57well if we’re paying attention then that means that we’re learning something about the character of god the nature of
1:23:03celebration the nature of leisure more broadly there is a place for it
1:23:09there is a place for it by application way of application your your home
1:23:16should be a serious place whatever your status is maritally it should be a serious place it should
1:23:23be a place of zealous pursuit of almighty god absolutely that is what your life should
1:23:29be characterized by but you should also be one who people look at
1:23:34and see joy in happiness in celebration in
1:23:41you are not following a miserly christian god you are following a gracious loving
1:23:49celebrating christian god who gives you true joy
1:23:56and true delight
1:24:03when it comes to these matters then we should do theological application
1:24:09listen we’re busy we can all get tired we can all slip into as men in ministry
1:24:18a kind of grim christianity where there is not joy that pulses forth from us
1:24:25when we see ourselves getting low when we are short and clipped with our
1:24:30loved ones when we are not gracious when we are not forgiving we need to repent
1:24:38confessing that to god and we need to claim freshly these resources that we’re
1:24:45laying out here and recognize that we must always
1:24:50do all we can to give evidence of this surging current of
1:24:57joy and aesthetic delight and gladness that is ours in christ jesus
1:25:05and i am talking about those who are inerrantists i am talking about those who love biblical authority i am talking about
1:25:11those who love biblical sufficiency joy should not only be for those who are
1:25:18fruity christians there’s an interesting term joy should be for those of us who are
1:25:25rock ribbed sound doctrine loving christians
1:25:30people should look at us and they should see seriousness holy seriousness we should stand out
1:25:37along those lines what is with that guy why is his face set like a flint
1:25:45what is his deal why is he always talking about god why
1:25:50does he read his bible our next door neighbors why is their family
1:25:56why is their family getting up early and going to church week after week why are they the way
1:26:02they are to quote michael scott why why are you the things you choose to be
1:26:09okay sorry that was a lighter moment we had to bring him in at the end didn’t we we hadn’t got him in earlier
1:26:16and then with our fatherhood and motherhood and our marriages why is that marriage why is it happy
1:26:25why are they affectionate to one another why is he tender to his wife why does she follow him
1:26:33why why does he run around his backyard after a long day
1:26:39why does he play football with his son why is he sitting in the backyard or on
1:26:45his balcony of his apartment having a tea party with a little girl
1:26:50why why are they this way why are they such a strange blend of
1:26:57holy seriousness but also deep joyfulness
1:27:06that’s where all of this comes together men there is a surging undercurrent of
1:27:13joy running through the bible and it is truly an element that john piper
1:27:19in our time has understood and rightly promoted
1:27:26and we need to make sure that that is showing up
1:27:33in our christian witness and christian life well we need to conclude and i’ll take
1:27:38just a few minutes of questions we’re going to get out a few minutes early today we’re going to end
1:27:44in just a few in all of this here’s the summary word okay first
1:27:50corinthians 10 31 we are to do all things
1:27:55to the glory of god men this means that we are to work
1:28:04very hard to the glory of god and in ministry we are to set the tone
1:28:11in our churches of that rhythm of hard work we don’t want the hard-working providers
1:28:19in our congregation we don’t have the same hours they have necessarily don’t misunderstand but we don’t want them to
1:28:24look at us and think that guy does not even really do a hard day’s work we want them to look at us and think he
1:28:31works hard for the glory of god he sets the tone he’s the captain of this team i want to
1:28:38follow that guy expect that men real men will follow a pastor who sets that tone
1:28:46and that men will look askance at a man who doesn’t work hard as they should we want to work very hard
1:28:54in ministry but we also want to rest we recognize that our rest is first and
1:29:00foremost theological soteriological christocentric
1:29:06yes but it’s not only that it does take shape in bodily form we are men who are
1:29:14able to set our work down to step away from the office as i said a
1:29:21few days ago to turn the phone off when we come in the doors and we are
1:29:26able we are able to enjoy life and celebrate god’s goodness
1:29:34to god’s glory as well we work for god’s glory we rest for god’s glory and we play
1:29:42understood rightly or celebrate choose your term for god’s glory and
1:29:48that is a properly balanced i believe christian existence
1:29:54and that itself is a is a very meaningful part
1:30:01of what it means to be human what it means to be remade
1:30:08in the image of christ what it means to be saved and bought
1:30:15back from the dead by god
1:30:20that’s a major part of how we’re going to be a witness in these evil days and these uncertain
1:30:27times is very simply to embrace the
1:30:32re-enchantment of our humanity which is to say simply salvation
1:30:40in the name of christ through which we become we who are fully human in
1:30:47adam’s image become truly human from one degree of glory to another in
1:30:55the image of christ okay any questions as we wrap
1:31:02up our time together here on anything i’ve covered today
1:31:11if you all sit on your hands even your virtual hand you get out even
1:31:17earlier but you will be robbed you will be
1:31:23robbed of the further enlightenment that is to flow
1:31:28that was a sarcastic comment justin do you have any um uh resources that you
1:31:36would recommend if we say we wanted to uh teach our congregation like in like a small
1:31:43you know like bible study or something through a theology vocation i mean obviously use your hook
1:31:49but is there anything that’s really it’s a lot deeper and like different areas that would be really uh relevant to you know various people
1:31:56working in different yeah good question um leland reichen’s book worldly saints
1:32:03is very good on the puritan doctrine of vocation worldly saints i’d commend that to you
1:32:10and he shows that the stereotypes about the puritans as killjoys for example
1:32:15doesn’t hold water in a lot of cases uh so that’s one resource
1:32:21gene vith v-e-i-t-h has some good writings on vocation
1:32:29on living quorum deo god at work your christian vocation and all of life
1:32:36he draws especially off of luther god at work that’s a helpful that’s a helpful book
1:32:43i like wayne grudem’s business for the glory of god that would be a
1:32:49really nice resource to give laymen in your church because it’s
1:32:54understandable but but theologically sound and theologically rich
1:33:01i was thinking of another vieth book sorry but i can’t find it at present but those
1:33:06are some uh that would get you down the road in terms of a sense of vocation uh that
1:33:12would start you one of the best things you could do is to to read luther on vocation
1:33:19so luther’s works has different sections and vieth can be a pointer to you there but i really i truly believe that luther
1:33:28is one of the most important voices here not because i follow lutheran in all facets i don’t but because luther
1:33:35is pushing out of i mean he’s he’s the first dude to do it
1:33:40yeah he’s pushing out of catholic categories and into biblical ones
1:33:48and so he’s the fount he’s the reason you guys are on this zoom session he’s the reason in human terms you guys are
1:33:53at masters the reason there is a protestant movement the reason there is an evangelical tradition
1:33:59is in human terms because of martin luther you can’t underplay his significance and and what he does is
1:34:05he shows that the catholic understanding of vocation where priestly work
1:34:10this is called sassadodolism matters greatly and then other work not really
1:34:16significant is is a travesty in biblical terms in truth all work done in faith matters to god
1:34:24so luther recovers that uh and that’s a major break that he makes
1:34:31with catholic theology very thankful for that
1:34:37sproul would be good on these matters as well christian worldview there’s a lot to say
1:34:44okay any other question last question at the bell at the buzzer yes grace church
1:34:51i didn’t do my homework last night but i did watch the darkest hour
1:34:56my man all right i i saw your tweet and then next um just on wokeness
1:35:04and critical race theory when you mention it as a threat and i don’t think i’ve heard you speak
1:35:10to this if i can just there’s an idea and i’m wondering if you think this is where it’s headed as far
1:35:15as the oppressors and the oppressed is part of the danger or the threat that
1:35:22this whole movement is moving toward declaring the church that is christianity the ultimate
1:35:29oppressor yeah yeah i i think that’s actually
1:35:35happening now it’s it’s it’s building steam along those lines if you associate
1:35:43whiteness with white supremacy as we talked about a few days ago
1:35:48what happens when you get a lot of white people in a church or a white movement is that
1:35:56you end up with what a racist movement um one way this is playing out now is wow
1:36:04we’re ending with a bang here in me saying this but a lot of people who supported trump at
1:36:10some level whether enthusiastically or holding their nose in the recent election are seen as christian
1:36:17nationalists uh who just want america to become this
1:36:22uh this this white christian nation again and so that’s read in racist terms as
1:36:28well there’s different angles this is this is building from um but suffice it to say that i think we
1:36:35are going to see this argument only pick up more and more in days ahead
1:36:41that the white evangelical church insofar as it has aligned itself at some level with
1:36:47political conservatism insofar as it stands against wokeness
1:36:52is a racist movement is an oppressor yes and we’re just going to have to
1:37:00continue contending for the faith speaking the truth in love making clear that we are not here
1:37:06because of racism and ethnocentrism we in fact condemn it and yet we’re probably going to take
1:37:12some heat and that’s uh that that may well be part of how we
1:37:18grow increasingly marginalized as a church if we ourselves are of white skin or if we are
1:37:26in unity in our church or in our movement with brothers and sisters who have white skin and are not woke
1:37:35it is not going to get easier brothers along these lines than others to be a
1:37:41conservative christian in america it is getting
1:37:46harder seemingly by the minute and it will continue to get harder
1:37:51we have to make sure that we are lashed to the mast uh christ
1:37:58christ is is in the storm christ is in the boat christ is the boat
1:38:05lash yourself to the mast tie yourself to the mast like an ancient semen uh the caesar are
1:38:13stormy now and will get stormier but we will make it safely across in
1:38:25christ
Standing Before God, This We Are and No More 