What Makes You Tick?
Psalm 42-43
What Makes You Tick?
Psalm 42-43
Main Idea: Jesus satisfies our soul’s greatest desires and disarms our deepest doubts so we can hope in Him.
Four reasons why Psalm 42 & Psalm 43 should be read as one unit:
In a number of Hebrew manuscripts, the psalms are joined together as one unit.
Psalm 43 has no introductory title, although every other psalm in book two does (except Psalm 71).
The common refrain repeated three times at the end of each stanza links the composition as one cohesive whole (42:5; 42:11; 43:5).
The content and themes of both psalms are consistent and united.
I. A Deer and Our Soul’s Desires (42:1-6a)
2 Corinthians 10:5: We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man's treatment was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, Why art thou cast down, O my soul?' he asks. His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: 'Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you'.”
~ Martin Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure
Matthew 6:19-23: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
II. The Deep and Our Sin’s Destruction (42:6b-11)
“We sometimes forget that the kind of thirst for God of which the Bible speaks is also a terrible experience. It means that we feel a famine of his presence, and absence of his grace and power. Spiritual thirst is painful, not pleasant; it may produce melancholy, not melody in our lives.”
~ Sinclair Ferguson, Deserted by God
It is normal to hurt. When Jesus says “my soul is very sorrowful” (Matt. 26:38; Mark 14:34), the word “very sorrowful” is the same as that of “cast down” (Psalm 42:6b). Elsewhere we see Jesus echoing this Psalm using the words “my soul … in turmoil” (John 12:27). Therefore, this psalm is a window into the life and mind of our Lord Jesus.
Christ, as our high priest, is always able to sympathize with us (Heb. 2:17-18). He himself enters into the crashing waves of grief so common to God’s people. “Most of the Lord’s family have sailed on the sea which is here so graphically described” (Charles Spurgeon).
III. Our Defender and Our Savior’s Delight (43:1-5)
“Prayer is yoked with praise. He who is the living God, is the God of our life, from him we derive it, with him in prayer and praise we spend it, to him we devote it, in him we shall perfect it. To be assured that our sighs and songs shall both have free access to our glorious Lord is to have reason for hope in the most deplorable condition.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 22–57
Jesus is the vindicator (43:1), the defender (43:1), the deliverer (43:1), the refuge (43:2), the one whom we cry out to in prayer (43:2), the light (43:3), the truth (43:3), the fulfillment of the tabernacle on the holy hill (43:3), the final dwelling place (43:3), the perfect altar (43:4) sacrificed on our behalf. He is and ought to be our exceeding joy (43:4). He is our God, and he is our hope.
Two Harvests & One Harmony
Revelation 14:14-15:4
Two Harvests & One Harmony
Revelation 14:14-15:4
Acts 17:30–31a: The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed…
Main Idea: We join the song of the Lamb because Christ saves his people and judges righteously.
I. The Grain Harvest of Salvation (14:14-16)
John now looks and sees a “white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand” (14:14; cf. 1:7, 13). This figure is a callback to Daniel 7:13-14, and this description suggests complete rule and reign over all of creation (Ps. 110:1).
“On that great day, he will come sitting upon a cloud…. It must mean that his judgment-seat will be far more glorious than the thrones of mere mortal monarchs. They may sit upon thrones of ivory; they may exalt themselves upon thrones made of gold and bedecked with myriads of gems shining like the eyes of the morning, or the stars of the midnight sky; but their thrones can never be compared in splendor with the judgment seat of Christ. A great white throne shall come sailing along the sky, and on it shall sit the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the Judge of all, who has the right to sit in judgment, whose decisions will be impartial and infallible, and whose sentences will assuredly be carried out. He asks not for any throne that this world could supply; he borrows no leave to judge from Parliament, or Pope, or prince. He is Judge by divine right, as himself God, and as the Mediator, appointed by God to judge the quick and the dead.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Harvest and the Vintage”
This “Son of Man” has a sharp sickle in his hand, used for harvesting. This first harvest seems to be an “ingathering” and a “reaping” of the plentiful harvest of salvation, frequently referenced by Jesus:
Matthew 9:37–38: Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
The Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13:1-9, 18-23)
The Parable of the Wheat & the Weeds (Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43)
Matthew 24:29–31: Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
God’s people must wait with a patient endurance for the harvest day of salvation to come. This is the day of our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) that we must keep before us in faith as we endure persecution and resist the schemes of the enemy.
II. The Grape Harvest of Judgment (14:17-20)
While the Son of Man himself does the reaping of the “harvest of salvation,” here he commissions “the angel who has authority over the fire” (cf. 8:5) to reap with a sharp sickle. This reaping is unmistakably one of judgment, and treading a winepress is often used symbolically in the OT to speak of God’s judgment (cf. Isa. 62:2-3; Lam. 1:15; Joel 3:13).
This winepress is “outside the city,” and not safe within Mt. Zion (cf. Heb. 13:12-13). The running blood for “1,600 stadia” symbolizes full and final judgment on evil, sin, and wrongdoing. This grape harvest of judgment is the answer to the prayer of “how long?” that permeates Revelation (6:10) and our human experience in this fallen world (cf. Ps. 13).
Matthew 3:7–8: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
III. The Great Harmony of the Saints (15:1-4)
John now sees another “sign in heaven” that points to the resolution of the conflict between the first two “signs” of the woman (12:1) and the dragon (12:3). The “sea of glass” that the conquering saints stand beside (or on) reminds us of two realities:
The sea of glass in the heavenly throne room (4:6)
The Israelites crossing through the Red Sea, led by a pillar of fire (Ex. 14)
These saints, with harps of God in their hands, “sing the song of Moses” (Ex. 15; Deut. 32), and the song of the Lamb. Just as Israel responded to their own salvation through judgment by singing, so too the saints of God throughout all of human history sing and worship the Lamb, who has saved them through judgment.
The Song of the Lamb emphasizes:
The Greatness of God - “Great and amazing are your deeds…”
The Goodness of God - “Just and true are your ways… You alone are holy”
The Glory of God - “All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
“Revelation began with a vision of the Christ whom we worship (Rev 1) and was followed up with a vision of God’s people at worship (Rev. 4-5); it will conclude with the newly created heaven and earth fashioned into a place of worship, a sanctuary (Rev. 21-22). John, an exiled pastor with responsibility for seven congregations of Christians subject to a barrage of violence and propaganda from without and infiltrated within by cunningly attractive lies, can think of nothing better than to call them to worship. His insistence on contextualizing everything that they think, experience, and feel in the act of worship is not the fussiness of a liturgiologist who cannot bear the mess of ordinary life and so escapes into the arranged beauties of incense, chant, and ritual. No spiritual leader has shown as much evidence as John has of being in touch with and responsive to the manifold difficulties of living a difficult life in a difficult world… his recurrent representations of worship are not pious, escapist fictions, but theological convictions… In a world in which we are constantly subject to dizzying disorientations, worship is the act in which we are reoriented. Worship is the essential and central act of the Christian.”
~ Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder
Confidence in Chaos
Revelation 14:1-13
Confidence in Chaos
Revelation 14:1-13
Main Idea: When everything in our lives is actually out of control, we can trust Jesus, who is absolutely in control.
I. Our Final Outcome is Secured (14:1-4)
Revelation 14:1: Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads…
Where are they standing? On Mount Zion, God’s holy hill (cf. Ps. 2:1-6)
Who is standing there first and foremost? The Lamb (cf. Rev 5)
Who is standing there with Him? The saints who are sealed with His name and His Father’s name
What are they doing as they stand there? They are singing with a loud voice
There are two major truths to be taken from this vision:
First, everyone sealed in the beginning shall be safe in the end.
These did not obtain “saint” status by their performance, rather they were “redeemed from the earth,” “redeemed from mankind.” This is not a thing done by them, but a thing done for them by Another, namely by the Lamb.
Second, the ascendancy of “the beast” has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the war.
For all intents and purposes, it looks like the dragon is winning, that the Kingdom experiment has failed, that the creation will disintegrate into the chaos from which it came. Then, in what appears to be the last flicker of humanity’s hope, John looks “and behold, on Mount Zion, stood the Lamb, and with Him 144,000.” There it is. Game over. Victory won. It wasn’t even close!
II. Our Game Plan has not Changed (14:5-11)
In the context of the chaos in which we have been placed:
We are to “Fear God and give Him glory” by proclaiming the eternal gospel to those who dwell on earth.
We are to keep ourselves “unstained from the world” (James 1:27) by remembering that “Babylon is fallen, fallen.”
We are to “Watch and pray that we may not enter into temptation,” for “if anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath…and he will be tormented…forever and ever”
Here is the great irony of this vision of the angels: The ones who are putting the saints at risk of their lives are the very ones at the greatest risk. Their one hope is the very people they persecute. Those who proclaim to them the everlasting gospel that has power to save even the worst of sinners.
Here is the encouragement to the saints from the vision of the angels: The plight of the perishing is not lost on us. We know what it is to be “lost” and we know what it is to be “redeemed.” We know that the Lamb has called us to love our enemies and preach the gospel for the glory of His Father, even if it results in our suffering and death. The love of Christ compels us to keep telling everyone we can.
III. Our Marching Orders are Clear (14:12-13)
Revelation 14:12: Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
This endurance is marked by two features:
The saints who endure “keep the commandments of God.” They obey what their Lord has told them in spite of threat, in spite of opposition, in spite of ridicule. They seek to observe everything that the Lord has commanded us to do. (Mat 28:20)
The saints who endure “keep…their faith in Jesus.” This means they not only obey the direct and clear commandments of their Lord, they also orient and organize all of their lives to and around the gospel. They keep “in step with the truth of the gospel.” (cf. Gal. 2:14)
There are two implications in this concept of obedience under “the endurance of the saints”
The first is obedience under the threat of certain death.
The second is obedience in the scope of uncertain life.
The Unholy Trinity
Revelation 13:1-18
The unholy trinity
Revelation 13:1-18
Main Idea: We resist the deceptive schemes of Satan through faithful, enduring worship and loving the truth.
I. The First Beast: Deceptive Power (13:1-10)
John sees the dragon call up a beast from the “sea,” the place of chaos (cf. Rev. 21:1). The description of this beast is a call back to Daniel 7. John sees a combination of the first three beasts of Daniel’s vision (representing Babylon, Persia, and Greece) in a grotesque fourth beast, representing the Roman Empire.
This first beast represents governmental tyranny throughout history working against Christ and his church. It is political and governmental powers demanding the loyalty that belongs to Christ alone. Because this beast is so devious, we don’t always recognize the work of the beast for the tyranny it is. Sometimes the evil of political, social, and economic entities is subtle. Instead of appearing beastly, it appears beautiful. Instead of outright persecution, its ideas and actions are much more subtle, yet equally as evil. They are beastlike in the way they demand loyalty to their philosophies, language, sexual ethics, priorities, and methods.
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
1 John 2:18: Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4a, 9-10: Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship… The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
This beast is an “antichrist” and a counterfeit parody of Jesus:
He is given “power and great authority” with many horns and diadems, just as the Father gives his Son power and authority (13:2b; cf. 5:6; 19:12; Jn. 5:22-27)
He received a mortal head “wound” (cf. Gen. 3:15), but has a counterfeit resurrection and recovery (13:3; cf. Isa. 27:1)
He prompts the worship of the Dragon, the one who gave him authority (3:4; cf. Ex. 15:11)
Authority is given to the beast over “every tribe, and people, and language and nation” (13:7b; cf. 5:9, 7:9, 11:9)
The beast is allowed to “make war on the saints and to conquer them” (13:7a). However, it is through being “conquered” that the saints actually overcome, “for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (12:11; 13:10). This is all a “call for endurance and faith of the saints,” who must not yield and worship the seemingly powerful beast, and who must not grasp for power or position that belongs to God alone and become like the beast themselves (Dan. 4; Gal. 5:15).
II. The Second Beast: Deceitful Propaganda (13:11-18)
John sees a second beast summoned by the dragon, this time from the earth (the land). This beast deceives by providing “religious” justification to worship the first beast. He speaks with authority, but what he says is deceitful and false.
Whereas the first beast speaks loudly and definitely against God, the second beast makes the first beast’s claims sound plausible and persuasive. False teachers within the church are encouraging compromise with the culture’s idolatrous institutions.
~ G.K. Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary
Jesus and the Scriptures continually warn of false and deceptive teachers like this beast:
2 Corinthians 11:13–14: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (cf. Act 20:29)
Matthew 24:24: For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
This beast is a “false prophet” (cf. 16:13; 19:20) and a counterfeit parody of the Holy Spirit:
It directs worship to the first beast, just as the Holy Spirit has a “spotlight ministry” on Christ (13:12)
It is able to perform great signs and wonders (13:13), like the prophet Elijah (fire from heaven - 1 Kgs. 18:38-39), and the scene at Pentecost (Acts 2)
It was allowed to give breath and life, just as the Holy Spirit does (Gen. 2:7; Ezek. 37)As a consequence of Satan’s removal from heaven, he is no longer able to make accusation against the people of God (cf. Job 1; Zech. 3). Though he once had a case against a guilty people, there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
The “mark of the beast” is a counterfeit “mark” to the saints who have the “seal” of God on their foreheads (Rev. 7:3; 9:4; Deut. 6:8). This “mark” is an invisible spiritual reality that a person thinks (on the forehead) and acts (the right hand) in a manner consistent with the beast. It was a needed “stamp of approval” to participate in the economic and cultural life of society.
Matthew 10:28: And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
The number 777 represents perfection, but John says 666 is the number of a man. The number 666 represents what is anti-god and antichrist, all that is in opposition to the one true God. If 777 represents holiness and perfect goodness, then 666 signifies the enormity and totality of evil.
~ Thomas Schreiner, ESV Expository Commentary: Revelation
This scene requires “wisdom” and discernment from the saints; when we try to grasp for the position of God, we end up becoming less than what we were created for, and serving the beast. When we humbly submit ourselves to God, loving the truth, and worshipping him with faithful endurance, we resist the beast.
The Woman and the Dragon
Revelation 12:1-17
The Woman and the Dragon
Revelation 12:1-17
Main Idea: Though Satan wages war on God’s people, we have victory in Christ who has defeated the dragon.
I. The Son: Ruling & Reigning (12:1-6)
John sees two signs in heaven:
Sign #1 (12:1-2): A woman, clothed with the splendor of the sun, with the moon under her feet, and 12 stars in her crown, about to give birth. This woman represents the people of God, waiting in labor pains for the promised Messiah (Micah 4:10; Isa. 26:17-18, 54:1; Gal. 4:26).
Sign #2 (12:3, 9): A great red dragon, with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems; this dragon is identified as “that ancient serpent, the devil, Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.” He is the animating force behind all wicked rulers who set themselves against the Lord and his anointed (Pharaoh - Ezek. 32:2; Nebuchadnezzar - Jer. 51:34-35, Herod - Matt. 2:13-18, etc).
In a revolting picture, this dragon is prepared to devour the son who is to be born (Gen. 3:15). “[Satan] Satan “takes the rage he had against Jesus in particular and directs it toward babies in general… the demonic powers hate babies because they hate Jesus. When they destroy the “least of these” they’re destroying a picture of Jesus himself, of the child delivered by the woman who crushes their head.” ~ Russell Moore, Adopted for Life
This son is the Messiah who is to ‘rule all the nations with a rod of iron’ (Ps. 2:7-9). Despite this violent opposition, he is safely born and “caught up to God and to his throne,” a summary of Christ’s incarnation through his ascension.
This is not the nativity story we grew up with, but it is the nativity story all the same. Jesus’ birth excites more than wonder, it excites evil. Ferocious wickedness is goaded to violence by this life… The nativity cannot be sentimentalized into coziness, nor domesticated into drabness, nor commercialized into worldliness… The splendors of creation and the agonies of redemption combine in this event, this center where God in Christ invades existence with redeeming life and decisively defeats evil. It is John’s genius to take Jesus in a manger attended by shepherds and wisemen and put him in the cosmos attacked by a dragon. The consequence to our faith is that we are fortified against intimidation. Our response to the Nativity cannot be reduced to shutting the door against a wintry world, drinking hot chocolate, and singing carols. Rather, we are ready to walk out the door with, as one psalm puts it, high praises of God in our throats and two-edged swords in our hands (Ps. 149:6).
~ Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder
II. The Dragon: Defeated & Defanged (12:7-12)
John then sees another “angle” from heaven of the defeat of the dragon by the Son. As Jesus accomplishes redemption through his crucifixion and resurrection, Satan is thrown down to earth from heaven.
John 12:31: Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
Colossians 2:14–15: …by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
As a consequence of Satan’s removal from heaven, he is no longer able to make accusation against the people of God (cf. Job 1; Zech. 3). Though he once had a case against a guilty people, there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
While heaven is to rejoice over the victory of the Lamb and the removal of the dragon, those on the earth face his “great wrath, because he knows his time is short” (12:12). 1 Peter 5:8-9a: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith
III. The Church: Persecuted & Protected (12:13-17)
Cast from heaven and defeated by the Son, the dragon now turns his wrath on earth toward the “woman” - the Church. He “pursues” God’s people by the means of persecution (Acts 7:52, 9:4, 22:4), deception, and seduction (cf. Rev. 13).
Despite the Dragon’s pursuit, the Lord protects the woman, like “eagles’ wings” (Ex. 19:4; Isa. 40:31) to the wilderness. She is nourished in this place for “times, time, and half a time,” which equals 42 months (Rev. 11:2, 13:5), 1,260 days (Rev. 11:3, 12:6), and 3.5 years: “in between” of the number of perfection. This is a period describing the “time in-between” Christ’s first coming and second coming.
Conclusion: How do we conquer the dragon? (12:11) By…
The blood of the Lamb
The word of our testimony
Enduring suffering unto death (Mk. 8:35)
The message of Revelation to them and to you and me is this: Yes, doing battle against the devil may mean that you lose a lot in this life. You might lose your reputation, your friends, your job. You might even lose your life. But to live and die in the Lord will turn out for your blessing. To live your days on this earth all out for Christ, no matter what assault the devil sends your way, is true victory, not defeat. You won’t regret it. Your life won’t be over. You will awake to find yourself among the many who have laid down their lives for the gospel before you. Jesus himself will comfort and reward you.
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
The Empty Tomb
Matthew 28:1-10
The Empty Tomb
Matthew 28:1-10
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ is an invitation to courageous hope in place of fear.
I. The Eyewitnesses (28:1-4)
The disciples are noticeably absent from the tomb on Sunday morning. Even though Jesus directly told them three times that he would be raised (Matt. 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:17-19), they did not have the ability to comprehend and they are hiding in fear.
We owe it to these first Christian disciples to do our very best to understand the utter hopelessness of their situation after the crucifixion. They had invested their whole lives in what appeared to be a diabolical joke. They had seen their beloved Master scourged almost to death, dragged through the streets, nailed to a cross and abandoned to suffer public agony in the face of the obscene mockery of everybody in Jerusalem. Once they had basked in the reflected status of a celebrity who had been mobbed by large crowds; now he had been judged a nonperson, fit only for the most degrading and sadistic death that the human mind was capable of devising. If there had been any solidarity among his followers, it had vanished; not one person had dared to come forward in the Master’s defense… there was nothing left. The Messiah was supposed to usher in the kingdom of God; for these disciples who had staked their lives on Jesus being that Messiah, it cannot be stated too strongly: there was no hope.
~ Fleming Rutledge, “Beyond Possibility” in The Undoing of Death
Those who were at the tomb include:
Mary Magdalene & the “other Mary,” coming to anoint Jesus’ body for burial (cf. Mk. 16:1)
An angel, accompanied by an earthquake, who rolls back the stone; the symbol of death is now merely a seat for this warrior-messenger of God (cf. 1 Cor. 15:25-26)
Roman guards placed there by Pilate (27:62-66); though they were supposed to be guarding a dead man’s tomb, they themselves “become like dead men”
II. The Empty Tomb (28:5-7)
The resurrection of Christ was powerful (28:6a): “he is risen…” (cf. Acts 2:24; Jn. 10:17-18; Rev. 1:17-18)
The resurrection of Christ was planned (28:6b): “... as he said.” (1 Cor. 15:3-4)
The resurrection of Christ is personal (28:6c): “Come, see the place where he lay.”
The resurrection of Christ was purposeful (28:7): “Go quickly and tell…”
III. The Experience of Easter (28:8-10)
As the women depart from the tomb they are full of “fear” mixed with “great joy” (lit. ‘mega’ joy). Suddenly, Jesus meets them on their way and these women become the first people to encounter the risen Christ. They grab hold of his feet, pierced for their forgiveness and for our forgiveness, in worship.
If Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead, we can fear not because:
Death has been defeated (Isa. 25:8)
Our sins have been forgiven (Rom. 4:24-25; Heb. 2:11b)
Everything sad will come untrue
1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
The Curtain, The Tomb, The Centurion
Matthew 27:51-54
The Curtain, The Tomb, The Centurion
Matthew 27:51-54
Main Idea: Jesus truly is the Son of God.
I. The Curtain (27:51a)
Matthew 27:51a: And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Hebrews 10:19-23: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Through his death, Jesus welcomes us behind the curtain.
II. The Tombs (27:51b-53)
Matthew 27:51b–53: And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Jesus’ death brings life.
Ezekiel 37:1-5, 10-13: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live… So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, “…And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
Jesus came to make dead people alive through his death.
III. The Centurion (27:54)
Matthew 27:54: When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Jesus truly is the Son of God because he welcomes Centurions, people least likely to believe in him, to become adopted children of God through his death.
The Meal
Matthew 26:17-30
The Meal
Matthew 26:17-30
Main Idea: The Lord’s Supper reminds us of Jesus’ substitutionary and sacrificial death until he returns.
I. The Shadow of Passover (26:17-19)
Surrounding Jesus’ final meal with his disciples is the observance of Passover. This was the high point of the Jewish calendar, as Passover was the most significant of their feasts and festivals in remembrance of God’s great deliverance of his people from slavery.
Exodus 12:14: This day [Passover] shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever.
As the Israelites observed Passover in Jerusalem annually, each component of the meal was infused with symbolism and significance:
Unleavened bread (to remember their hasty exit from Egypt)
Bitter herbs (to remember their time of bitterness)
Cup of salt water (to remember their tears in Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea)
4 cups of wine (to remember the four promises of Exodus 6:6-7)
A lamb (to remember their deliverance by the blood)
II. The Sorrow of Sin (26:20-25)
In this intimate setting, Jesus prepares his disciples for his impending betrayal. Though this was in the sovereign plan of God (“as it is written of him”), it does not lessen the responsibility of this sinful action by Judas. The response of the other disciples (“Is it I, Lord?”) shows a humble awareness of their own capacity to sin, and established the need for this meal in the first place.
Matthew 26:31: Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
It is essential to keep together these two complementary ways of looking at the cross. On the human level, Judas gave him up to the priests, who gave him up to Pilate, who gave him up to the soldiers, who crucified him. But on the divine level, the Father gave him up, and he gave himself up, to die for us. As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both, “I did it, my sins sent him there,” and “He did it, his love took him there.
~ John Stott, The Cross of Christ
III. The Substance of Christ (26:26-30)
As Jesus presides over the Passover meal, he breaks from the script and the story to insert himself: “this is my body… this is my blood of the covenant.” As the fulfillment of Passover, Jesus presents his impending death and crucifixion as:
Sacrificial (cf. John 1:29, 1 Cor. 5:7b; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
Substitutionary
The concept of substitution may be said to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone; God accepts penalties that belong to man alone.
~ John Stott, The Cross of Christ
1 Corinthians 11:26: For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
[The Lord’s Supper] is a happy remembrance. Our remembrance of Christ is chastened with repentance, but it is also perfumed with faith. The Lord’s Supper is no funeral meal, but a festival; it is not a fast, but a feast. My happiest moments are spent with the King at his table, when his banner over me is love. The death of Christ is a well-spring of solemn joy
~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Blood Shed for Many”
Don't Shoot the Messenger!
Malachi
Don’t shoot the messenger!
malachi
Main Idea: God loves us and calls us to trust his promises and worship him with all of life.
I. Remember God’s Love (Malachi 1:2-5)
Mal. 1:2–5: “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord.
Rom. 8:35, 38–39: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
II. Honoring God’s Name (Malachi 1:6-3:18)
Mal. 1:6: A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
1. Honor God in Worship (1:6-2:6)
Your sacrifices are blemished (1:7-11)
Your attitude is apathetic (1:12-13)
You have fallen short of your glorious purpose (1:14)
You approach God with irreverence (2:1-4)
You have been unfaithful in your teaching (2:5-9)
We become what we worship.
2. Honor God in Relationships (2:10-16)
Mal. 2:10–16: Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god…You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
We worship in our relationships.
3. Honor God with Your Wealth (3:6-12)
Mal. 3:6–12: “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
We worship with our wallet.
III. Trust God’s Promises (Malachi 4:1-6)
Mal. 4:1-6: For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.
The prophets cry out from the wilderness, and Jesus Christ answers.
Clothing, Cleansing, and Commissioning
Zechariah
Clothing, Cleansing, and Commissioning
zechariah
Main Idea: Christ has clothed us in righteousness, cleansed us from sin, and commissioned us as royal priests.
I. Dirty Clothes (3:1-3)
The prophet Zechariah is given a vision of a heavenly courtroom scene, where Joshua (the high priest) stands before the Lord, with “Satan” (lit. ‘the accuser’ or ‘the adversary’) standing ready to accuse (cf. Rev. 12:9-10; Job 1-2).
Satan does not even need to make a case against Joshua, however, because he is “clothed with filthy garments” (cf. Isa. 28:8; 64:6; Deut. 23:13). Since the high priest was to be the representative of the people before a holy and righteous God, Joshua is clearly unfit for this work, meaning the people also stand condemned.
Joshua, representing Jerusalem and God’s people, is compared to a “brand (stick) plucked from the fire.” Though they had returned to the land from the purifying fires of exile, they needed to return in their hearts to the Lord (cf. 1:3-6). Their return from exile was the beginning of a gracious “rebuke” against the accuser.
II. Righteous Robes (3:4-5)
Before the accuser begins his attack, the “angel of the Lord” orders that Joshua’s filthy garments be removed, a powerful picture of the promise: “I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments” (cf. Isa. 61:10; Lk. 15:22; Rev. 7:9, 14; 19:8). His external cleansing is a symbol of his internal cleansing from sin.
This “angel of the Lord” is likely the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus, who “lives to make intercession” (Heb. 7:25) on behalf of God’s people:
Romans 8:33-34: Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
1 John 2:1: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
It is before Christ that sin is to be confessed. Confess it anywhere else, your sorrow is not repentance but remorse… Remorse is repentance made out of sight of Jesus; true repentance is sorrow of sin in the presence of Christ. Foul and filthy as you are, there is but one voice which can speak you clean. Go not away from that voice. There is but one hand which can touch you and make you pure; stand where that hand is close to you, and still, filthy as your garments are, shun not the face of your best, your only friend.
~ Charles Spurgeon, “Zechariah’s Vision of Joshua the High Priest”
III. Royal Priests (3:6-10)
As Joshua and his “friends” (priests) are (re)commissioned to serve as priests they were a “sign” (3:8) of greater realities God would bring about:
The temple would be restored, signifying Yahweh’s commitment to his promises and his people (cf. 4:10)
The Lord would send his servant, “the Branch” (cf. Isa. 11:1; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:14-26), a messianic, royal, Davidic figure.
The “iniquity of the land” will be removed in a “single day” (cf. Lev. 16; Zech. 12:10; 13:1)
Hebrews 10:1–4, 11-14: For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins… And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
In that “day” (of the Lord) after all of this is accomplished, the priests will “invite his neighbor” to come into a renewed land of peace (1 Ki. 4:25; Mic. 4:4). Zechariah will later prophesy that these “neighbors” are the nations themselves coming to the New Jerusalem on the Day of the Lord (2:11; 8:20-23, 14:16).
Zechariah’s vision of Joshua is a small picture of the greater experience of all God’s people; by faith, we have been clothed in Christ’s righteousness, cleansed from sin by Christ’s finished work, and commissioned as a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9) in Christ’s coming Kingdom, inviting others to share in the blessings of salvation.
So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!
~ Martin Luther