Church Discipline is an opportunity to gain victory in Jesus. Gospels: Week 9 — Christ’s authority and coming judgment Photo: Jack Sharp via Unsplash Matthew 18:15–20 (NASB95) 15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 85 Q. How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline? A. According to the command of Christ: Those who, though called Christians, profess unchristian teachings or live unchristian lives, and after repeated and loving counsel refuse to abandon their errors and wickedness, and after being reported to the church, that is, to its officers, fail to respond also to their admonition— such persons the officers exclude from the Christian fellowship by withholding the sacraments from them, and God himself excludes them from the kingdom of Christ. Such persons, when promising and demonstrating genuine reform, are received again as members of Christ and of his church. Summary Today's passage may begin with the word if, but this particular if comes with the much stronger force of the word when. In other words, the procedures Jesus unpacks here aren't given just in case, perchance, your brother happens to sin, but in the absolute certainty that your brother will sin. What do you do when you find yourself on the receiving end of your brother's sin? Since most of our readers are upper Midwesterners (and the rest wish they were!), our answer in these situations too often is to do nothing. We look the other way and pretend it never happened. Or we brush it off, saying it wasn't really that big of a deal. But sins are always a big deal; they may not always seem so to us, but they are to the One whose thrice-holy character was deeply offended and injured by it. And truth be told, while we work hard to make it look like the offense bounced right off of us, the pain that sin inflicts tends to simmer and fester within us, giving rise to a whole new set of sins like gossip, bitterness and anger. Silence simply seeds another cycle of sin. So Jesus' command for these all to regular occasions is quite simple: Go. Don't blow it off, don't gripe about it to others, and don't sit around stewing on it. Go and show him his fault in private. Though Jesus doesn't say it, what He does say implies it. Go sooner rather than later. Dig Deeper This passage is simply known as the 'Matthew 18 Principle'. It sets the foundation for discipline within the Church. The second half of the opening sentence frames the goal: to win our brother. Notice it's not to beat our brother (in every sense of the word), but to win him - to bring him back to victory in Jesus. Church discipline must always be focused on restoration, and never retaliation. When the sinner does not listen, discipline becomes a team sport: take one or two with you. Jesus' point here isn't the exact number, but the principle. The group needs to be just big enough so that every fact may be confirmed. If the sinner still refuses to listen, then the team gets bigger - the whole church gets involved. And if the sinner keeps plugging his ears, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. That is, one who needs to hear and respond to the gospel's command to repent and believe. The final two verses of today's passage often get yanked from their context and forced to carry theological loads they were never intended for, as if our Father shall do anything that is asked, as long as two agree on earth about it. Or the oft repeated sigh at a church function to which only two or three have gathered that at least Jesus is there in our midst - which, of course, is true, even if that's not what this verse is intended to mean. What Jesus means here is that when His gathered Church comes together to seek truth and call sinners to repentance, Jesus blesses their efforts. It's no surprise, then, that Jesus' teaching on church discipline comes right after His parable calling us to seek and save the wandering, lost sheep. So for Jesus, Church discipline isn't something to hide from or be embarrassed about. It must be pursued quickly and often, and not initiated just by church officials, but by those sinned against. It must never be more involved than is necessary, and always provide lots of opportunities to restore the sinner to victory. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who blesses the restorative discipline of the Church; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the wisdom and grace to confront sinners and win them for Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Psalm 100 gives seven simple commands for Biblical worship. Psalm 100 A Psalm for Thanksgiving. 1 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. 3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. 5 For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 122 Q. What does the first request of the Lord's Prayer mean? A. “Hallowed be your name” means, Help us to really know you, to bless, worship, and praise you for all your works and for all that shines forth from them: your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth. And it means, Help us to direct all our living— what we think, say, and do— so that your name will never be blasphemed because of us but always honored and praised. Summary Psalm 100 wasn't just for ancient Israel. Nor is it set aside for God's covenant people in general - either the Hebrews of old or Christians today. Rather, as the opening line makes clear, this short psalm, and the seven commands it contains, are given to all the earth! As Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch theologian / scholar / prime minister / journalist from a century ago (he was a remarkable man!) famously said, "There is not one square inch of creation over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Psalm 100 helps remind us that even though in our time the Church may seem smaller and God's people only comprise a small fraction of the entire population, everything in this universe has been created to glorify God. Although the psalm gives seven commands, one of them stands out as the most important. This is primarily evident in the fact that it's the command in the middle, the spot which so often unpacks the main point in ancient near eastern poetry. For those of us who've been reading the Bible together for some time, we're not at all surprised to see what this key imperative is: We must know. The psalmist lists three critical concepts for us to know: That the LORD Himself is God - This echoes one of the Bible's most central claims: Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deut. 6:4). This, of course, stands in stark contrasts to the world's claim that there is no god except for the those which we've constructed. It is He who made us, and not we ourselves - The primary motivation for our sinful rebellion against God is the idea that we are autonomous and can decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. This is painfully evident in so much of the current cultural zeitgeist, which understands humanity to have evolved from nothing, giving us the authority to define our own reality. But this central claim of Psalm 100 issues a much needed corrective. It reminds us not just that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by the LORD, but also of what we confess in the opening question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism, that I am not my own, but belong - body and soul, in life and in death - to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture - The Bible always conveys our belonging to God in comforting terms. Psalm 100 points back to the most well known of the psalms, which opens with the promise that the LORD is our shepherd, so we lack nothing. Dig Deeper Do you ever wonder why we do what we do in our Sunday services at Reformed churches? Why it is that we follow the same specific liturgical elements week after week? Although there's a wide range of worship practices even among Reformed churches in our day and age, most of us adhere to what has come to be known as the Regulative Principle of Worship. It's best summarized by the Heidelberg Catechism's stipulation that we worship God in no other way than He has commanded in His Word (Q&A 96). In other words, Scripture alone sets our order of worship. And Psalm 100 provides an excellent order of worship for us to follow: God calls us into His presence Shout joyfully to the LORD... Serve the LORD with gladness... Come before Him with joyful singing. Hear God's Word proclaimed Know that the LORD Himself is God - He made us, and we are His. Respond to God's Word with praise Give thanks to Him and bless His name Leave with God's blessing (benediction) His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness is to all generations It's Friday! The work week is drawing to a close, and the Lord's Day is once again quickly coming. Psalm 100 reminds you of how critically important corporate worship is to remind you of your prime directive in life: to know that the LORD is God. Make gathering with the saints, joyfully singing, hearing Biblical preaching, and personally experiencing God's grace, mercy and peace a priority as you start a new week. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD Himself, is God! ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Choose one of Psalm 100's seven imperatives to pray for in your life, that you would: shout joyfully / serve Him gladly / come before Him / know that the LORD is God / enter His gates / give thanks to Him / bless His name; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Stay focused on knowing and sharing the gift of God. Gospels: Week 8 — Mercy, repentance, and the Good Shepherd Photo: Kahleed Ashi via Unsplash CONTEXT: As He travelled back to Galilee, Jesus took a shortcut that led Him into Samaria - distant cousins of the Jews who were looked down on. John 4:7–26 (NASB95) 7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” Canons of Dordt Point II, Article 5: The Mandate to Proclaim the Gospel to All It is the promise of the gospel that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discrimination to all nations and people, to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel. Summary You've likely learned before from this famous narrative that it was quite shocking for Jesus to be talking to a woman from such a despised, menial background - one who was such an outcast that she was forced to draw water all by herself at a time when the other women had already finished the chore. These things are true enough, and certainly add some depth to the encounter. But John, as he reports this encounter to us, doesn't seem very fixated upon these ancillary details. You can, if you like, take away a lesson or two about how you should be more open to interact with people far outside of your comfort zone, but that's not really the impetus that John - who's inspired by the Holy Spirit - had for including this conversation in his gospel account. John, as he recounts what Jesus said, wants you to first notice her ignorance. If you knew the gift of God, Jesus explained to her, your attitude would be much different. Outside of God's grace, all she noticed was Jesus' external features - primarily, His Jewish ethnicity and lack of regard for societal norms. When Jesus offers her living water, all she, unable at this point to recognize God's gift, responds with are the physical barriers preventing its access - the fact that the well is deep and that Jesus had nothing to draw with. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that this Samaritan woman has multiple problems and relationship issues, having been rejected by multiple husbands and now sinfully living with another man who'd likely cast her away some day too. Although Jesus makes reference to these things, they're not His primary concern. It's not that He doesn't care - in fact, this narrative makes His compassion abundantly evident! It's just that Jesus tackles her biggest problem first. She needed to first know the gift of God - salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone. Dig Deeper You probably know - or at the very least, encounter - lots of people with lots of big problems. Maybe you're the one with the big problems! The Bible brings an abundance of good advice and solutions to the practical and pressing problems people experience. So it only makes sense that the better you know your Bible, the better you'll be equipped to apply it to such issues. That's part of the reason for you to keep reading it everyday! But, like Jesus does here, always be sure to keep the Bible's main thing the main thing. Always first connect people to the gift of God - that is, Jesus - before simply pursuing solutions to their problems. Always do all that you can to point them to this living water which springs up to eternal life, otherwise they'll always thirst again, no matter how valid and Biblical your practical advice may be to them. What Jesus wanted this Samaritan woman to know, and what the Holy Spirit - through the Apostle John - wants you to know is the same conclusion that this woman would soon come to herself: that Jesus is the Christ sent to bring salvation to all who trust in Him. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son, through whom we've been given living water; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will know the gift of God well and be ready and willing to share it with others; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Jesus came to seek and to save wee little men like us. Gospels: Week 8 — Mercy, repentance, and the Good Shepherd DailyVerses.net Luke 19:1–10 (NASB95) 1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Belgic Confession Article 24: The Sanctification of Sinners We believe that this true faith, produced in man by the hearing of God’s Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates him and makes him a “new man,” causing him to live the “new life” and freeing him from the slavery of sin. -- It is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in men, seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith but of what Scripture calls “faith working through love,” which leads a man to do by himself the works that God has commanded in his Word. These works, proceeding from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable to God, since they are all sanctified by his grace. Yet they do not count toward our justification— for by faith in Christ we are justified, even before we do good works... Summary A few weeks ago, we read of Jesus calling Matthew to follow Him. Matthew had been a young tax collector, hated by his fellow countrymen for extracting revenue for the tyrannical foreign oppressors, but also under the unscrupulous thumb of a chief tax collector who ran their territories not unlike a mob boss. Zacchaeus was one of these bosses, and Luke here informs us of the obvious: he was rich. But this powerful big man had a big problem. He was small in stature. So although he desperately was trying to see who Jesus was, he was unable because of the crowd. But as Luke tells us the story, it becomes clear that Zacchaeus had more than just a passing curiosity to see somebody famous. It takes a bigger reason than that for a rich man like Zacchaeus to climb up into a sycamore tree like a little child. The ironic part of this story - and remember, our narrator Luke loves to point out irony - is that it wasn't Zacchaeus who saw Jesus. It was Jesus who saw Zacchaeus. Looking up, Jesus said to him, 'Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.' So far, we're tracking right along with the song so many of us learned so long ago: Zacchaeus was a wee little man, And a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed that way He looked up in the tree, And he said, "Zacchaeus you come down, For I'm going to your house today!" Dig Deeper But the song we sang said nothing of the grumbling that ensued. Luke, somewhat enigmatically, simply reports that they all began to grumble because Jesus had gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner without telling us who the they refers to. But we don't need any help - it's the same self righteous theys who'd been criticizing Jesus' grace since the beginning. Maybe it seems a bit like these theys got into Zacchaeus' head, as he suddenly realizes his unworthiness and concedes half of his possessions to the poor and to pay pack those he'd defrauded four times as much, as if he could win the crowd's favor by writing a check. But that's not what's going on here. Notice that Zacchaeus doesn't say a word to the gathered crowd. He speaks only to the Lord. So did he purchase his salvation with his new found generosity? After all, no sooner after Zacchaeus makes his financial commitment, Jesus announces that today salvation has come to Zacchaeus' house. No longer, Jesus continues, was this chief tax collector to be considered to be an unclean sinner, but now he, too, is a son of Abraham. Of course not. Zacchaeus' costly change of heart was the evidence of his saving faith, not the cause of it - the same Spirit given faith that drove him to climb that sycamore tree in the first place so that he could see Jesus. And that same faith opened his eyes to see that he needed to repent of his sins, and that in his case, repentance needed to be financially demonstrated. In the end, Jesus makes clear it that Zacchaeus wasn't the instigator of this saving encounter. People never are. It's always our sovereign, Triune God who initiates salvation, for the Son of Man has come, Jesus reports, to seek and save the lost: wee little men like you and me. Oh, and Zacchaeus too. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son to seek and save the lost; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that like Zacchaeus, you'll give evidence of your saving faith as well, even if it's costly; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

God listens to and forgives the humble. Gospels: Week 8 — Mercy, repentance, and the Good Shepherd Luke 18:9–14 (NASB95) 9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 117 Q. How does God want us to pray so that he will listen to us? A. First, we must pray from the heart to no other than the one true God, who has revealed himself in his Word, asking for everything he has commanded us to ask for. Second, we must acknowledge our need and misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in his majestic presence. Third, we must rest on this unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what he promised us in his Word. Summary Luke clues us in right off the bat as to the context of Jesus' teaching here: He told this parable to some people who had three specific problems. They: Trusted in themselves - They were smart, confident, and had successfully navigated many of life's challenges. They were there to help point out to God the frailties and problems other people had, but they needed no such assistance from Him themselves. It makes sense, then, the way Jesus describes their prayer: The Pharisee... was praying this to himself. Even though the Pharisee began his 'prayer' by addressing God, he wasn't really talking to Him. Over cooked self confidence has no need to pray to anybody else. Nor does he even ask for anything in his 'prayer', because in his mind, he doesn't need anything from anybody. They had confidence that they were righteous - They had reduced God's Law to a checklist, so as long as they covered their external bases doing things like fasting twice a week (which ironically isn't something God ever commanded anyone to do) and paying tithes on all they get, they felt themselves to be good in God's eyes. That's why the Pharisee ostentatiously stood while he prayed. He felt that he had nothing to be ashamed of in the presence of a holy God. They viewed others with contempt - How could they not? After all, in their own minds, they're not like other people! This comes out in the Pharisee's self congratulating 'gratitude' in which he thanks God that he was not a swindling, unjust adulterer, and especially that he wasn't like this tax collector. Chances are, if you're anything like me, Luke's description of the people Jesus confronted with this parable stung a little bit. Maybe a lot. It's so easy to misinterpret the blessedness we so often enjoy as having resulted from our own accomplishments, and not from the fact that God has carried us through so many of life's challenges and that His Spirit has strengthened us against sin. So too often, we proudly stand before God, praying to nobody but ourselves, confidently contemptuous of all those unrighteous others. Dale Ralph Davis writes, "You see what this means? Religion is very deceptive. Though you may despise the slightest scent of self-righteousness, the reek of it may cling to you. How deceptive our self-righteousness is!" Dig Deeper The tax collector Jesus presents is certainly a broken man. He too stands as he prays, but his posture is far different than the self-confident Pharisee. He beat his breast and was even unwilling to lift his eyes up to heaven. But even if his eyes pointed elsewhere, Jesus makes clear who he prayed to. Like David's model prayer of confession in Psalm 51, he cries out God be merciful to me, the sinner. Literally translated, the man was asking God to make propitiation - atonement - for his sins and to turn away the righteous wrath the man knew he deserved. But then Jesus comes to a remarkable conclusion. God had heard the prayer of this humbled sinner. This man, Jesus reports, went to his house justified. That is, he was forgiven of the guilt of his sin and placed in right standing with God. Jesus goes on to explain why: everyone who exalts himself [lifts himself up] will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [repents of his self-confidence] will be exalted. This paraphrase from John Calvin's commentary on this passage sums up today's lesson from Jesus: At first, it might seem wrong to put every believer on the same level, since many Christians clearly live more faithfully than the tax collector did. But no matter how much a person has grown in holiness, he still falls far short of what God requires. For that reason, every Christian must begin prayer by confessing his guilt. Some may be more sinful than others, but all are guilty before God. Christ therefore gives a rule that applies to everyone: God is not reconciled to us because of our works, but only when we stop trusting in them and ask Him to forgive and accept us freely. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our merciful Father in heaven; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Humbly confess your guilt before God; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

You must keep yourself with in earshot of the Good Shepherd. Gospels: Week 8 — Mercy, repentance, and the Good Shepherd Faithlife.com CONTEXT: Once again Jesus finds Himself in heated conflict with the Pharisees. Jesus has already utilized several metaphors related to sheep - a long held symbol for God's people - in which He casts the religious establishment as posers and even thieves while showing Himself to be the true shepherd of the sheep. As Jesus continues to talk, His intensity only rises... John 10:11–18 (NASB95) 11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” 19 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?” Canons of Dordt Point II, Article 8: The Saving Effectiveness of Christ’s Death ...it was God’s will that Christ through the blood of the cross: should effectively redeem from every people, tribe, nation, and language all those and only those who were chosen from eternity to salvation and given to him by the Father; that he should grant them faith... that he should cleanse them by his blood from all their sins, both original and actual, whether committed before or after their coming to faith; that he should faithfully preserve them to the very end; and that he should finally present them to himself, a glorious people, without spot or wrinkle. Summary Jesus' familiar claim that I AM the good shepherd comes in a series of seven instances in which John records Jesus appropriating to Himself the holy, divine name the LORD introduced Himself to Moses with from the burning bush: I AM who I AM, which in Hebrew is pronounced Yahweh. So it's no wonder that the religious establishment of the day - men who loved parading the externals of God's law, like protecting His name - were about to blow a gasket. But Jesus does nothing here to de-escalate the situation. In fact, He keeps ramping things up. It might be tempting to conjure up in your mind a cute and cuddly scene as Jesus here talks about sheep, but the reality Jesus faced in the moment was anything but. He's already accused His opponents of being thieves, robbers and strangers. He goes on in today's passage to set them up as cowardly hired hands, who see the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, allowing the wolves to snatch and scatter them. So far in His ministry, the crowd following Jesus has done nothing but grow larger and larger. But now divisions begin to occur because of these words. Some of them begin to write Jesus off as having a demon and being insane. Their outright dismissal of Jesus because of His words isn't surprising - most of society has done just that all throughout history, just as they continue to do so. What's surprising is the reason that others in the crowd give for continuing to follow Jesus: He had opened the eyes of the blind, something that a demon cannot do. That's certainly true enough, but it's as if they totally missed the point Jesus was making. They don't stick with Him - for the time being, at least - because He's the good shepherd, but because of the material things they think that He might do for them. Why do you continue to follow Him in our divided world? Dig Deeper Jesus isn't simply setting Himself up as the protector and provider for His people when He says I AM the good shepherd. He's unpacking His purpose in coming into this world, and it wasn't to just heal a few sick people or calm a few storms. He came to lay down His life for His sheep, a purpose so important that He repeats it twice. Jesus makes clear that He's not an unwilling victim in doing so. He will be the one to voluntarily lay down His own life. Nobody's going to take it from Him. But His self-sacrificial death won't be the end of the story - it will be just the beginning, for just as He laid His life down, He will take it up again. Jesus' words here also help explain one of the Bible's most difficult doctrines, which has come to be known as limited atonement. As the Canons of Dordt put it, Jesus came to effectively redeem... all those and only those who were chosen from eternity to salvation and given to him by the Father. Jesus explains that He knows His own sheep, and they know Him. Jesus teaches here that salvation from the good shepherd is audibly transmitted. That is, it comes to those who hear His voice. This means that, as a sheep, you must keep yourself with in earshot of your Shepherd. Make sure you stay close to it throughout the week by continually immersing yourself in Scripture, and then especially on your day of rest, be certain to gather with the flock to sit under the sound of the Good Shepherd's voice as His under-shepherds proclaim it to you from His Word. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who commanded His Son, the Good Shepherd, to lay His life down and take it up again for us, His sheep; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will stay close to your Shepherd so that you continually can hear His voice; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

The best way to praise God and learn His Word is to sing the words He gave us back to Him! The Psalter-Hymnal, first published in 1934, marked the transition in the Christian Reformed Church from exclusive Psalm singing to including newer hymns and praise songs in our worship. PSALM 98 A Psalm. 1 O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. 2 The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. 5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. 7 Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy 9 Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 96 Q. What is God’s will for us in the second commandment? A. That we in no way make any image of God nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded in his Word. Summary Once again, this week's psalm opens with the command to sing a new song. These new songs that Psalms so often implore aren't really referring to songs that nobody as ever sung before, but they refer to the songs sung in the context of ancient Israel's military victories. So in other words, these psalms that call for new songs are themselves declarations of Christ's victory over all things. And just like our contemporary songs of victory - think of the American National Anthem - recount heroic actions (the flag was still there despite the bombs bursting in air), so too do new songs like Psalm 98. Only in this case, the war hero is the LORD: His right hand has gained the victory for Him; He's made known His salvation, revealed His righteousness, and remembered His lovingkindness (nearly every time you see the word 'love' in a compound form in your English Bible, it's referring to God's ḥěʹ·sěḏ - His covenant love). The LORD's victory isn't reserved for a certain nationality or isolated to a specific geographic region. The psalmist indicates that all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Dig Deeper One historic distinctive about Reformed churches is our love of singing psalms. Many of our churches don't just have ordinary hymnals, rather we have psalter-hymnals in which well over half the book is filled with songs that match the 150 Biblical psalms as closely as possible, often set to metrical tunes that make them easy for everyone in the congregation to sing. But even beyond the psalter portion of our hymnals, many of our favorite songs are actually paraphrases of psalms. One of these songs is Isaac Watts' famous Joy to the World, which for some strange reason only gets sung as a Christmas carol even though it's actually a rendition of Psalm 98:4-9. Psalm 98:4-9 Joy to the World 4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Joy to the world! The Lord is come: let earth receive her King; 7 Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy... Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns: let men their songs employ; while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy 9 ...Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love Some churches restrict their singing to what's referred to as exclusive psalmody. The Christian Reformed Church, in fact, held to a strict psalms-only songbook until 1932! The idea behind such policies was that, as much as possible, God's people needed to sing God's Word, and not human innovations. The first combined Psalter-Hymnal, published in 1934, explained in its preface that until this time, they "sung only the Old Testament Psalms in public worship, barring a few specific exceptions." It goes on to explain: The reason for depriving ourselves for so many years of such songs that reflect the light that the New Testament adds to the Old was not the theory that the Church should sing only inspired psalms... We were aware of the unsound or unsatisfactory character of many current hymns, and we feared that in an environment where the Psalms are seldom song the introduction of hymns in public worship would lead to the neglect of those deeply spiritual songs of the Old Testament which the church should never fail to use in its service of praise. It's been nearly a century since the CRC wisely revised it's Church Order to allow for other worship music beyond the psalter, and we've experienced many blessings since by singing songs based on the entirety of God's Word, especially those that help unpack the truths of the gospel and turn them into anthems of praise. But also keep in mind this sound advice from our long gone church fathers published in that old maroon Psalter-Hymnal. Realize that many songs sung in public worship continue to be 'unsound or unsatisfactory,' and in addition to theologically robust and aesthetically beautiful hymns and praise songs, be sure "not to neglect those deeply spiritual songs of the Old Testament..." The best way to both praise God and learn His Word is to sing the words He gave us back to Him! Encourage your church to sing the Psalms every week! AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has done wonderful things; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for giving us such beautiful words from the Psalms to praise Him with, even as these words teach us the salvation the LORD has made known; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

If it seems like you're walking in circles, chances are you're going in the right direction! Gospels: Week 7 - The cost of discipleship CONTEXT: Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God after Jesus asked the disciples "Who do you say that I am..." (Read) Luke 9:21–27 (NASB95) 21 But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” 23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 “But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 32 Q. But why are you called a Christian? A. Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed to confess his name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity. Summary In technical Bible-study jargon, it's called the "Messianic Secret". That's what Jesus' repeated emphasis is called where people who've discovered His divine nature - either because they experienced His miraculous power firsthand, or like Peter just had, by having His eyes opened to the truth of Jesus' identity by the Holy Spirit - are implored by Jesus not tell this to anyone. This goes against every grain of conventional marketing advice which prizes viral, organic word of mouth publicity above all else. But Jesus explains His rationale here in today's passage. He tells His disciples that He didn't come to start a popular movement, rather there's a critical purpose that the Son of Man must fulfill. He must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day. Then Jesus makes the disciples (and us) an offer that doesn't make any worldly sense: if anyone wishes to come after me... Why would anyone want to follow where Jesus was going: to suffer, be rejected, and ultimately be killed? The only sensible answer to that question is, of course, the final clause in Jesus' mission statement: He'd be raised up on the third day. We follow Jesus down this awful and arduous path because, as our Catechism put it, we've been promised that after we too have been raised up with Him, we will afterward reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity. But this glory will have to wait. The key word there is afterward. Dig Deeper For the time being, Jesus' prescription is anything but glorious, and has three segments to it: You must deny yourself. Jesus goes on to extrapolate what this denial includes: losing your life for His sake in order to ultimately save it. Meditate on this today (chew your spiritual cud) - what aspects of yourself have you actually denied, and what parts of you life must you still lose? Take up your cross daily. Conversion is typically thought of as the one time experience in which a non believer is converted into a believer. But conversion also has an ongoing aspect. Paul will go on to command Christians to crucify their flesh (Sarx) with its passions and desires. Since Sarx is like a zombie, in that it keeps clawing its way back to life after you've crucified it, you need to take up your cross each day. Follow Jesus. If you're reading this, chances are you do really want to follow Jesus. But it so often seems so difficult to know where He's going! It would have been so much easier to have been one of the twelve disciples who literally followed Him around Israel. But Jesus' command here gives us some direction, and it's cyclical! This third step of following Jesus brings us right back to the first: deny yourself. So if it seems like your Christian life is just going in circles, chances are you're going in the right direction! Jesus knows you're tempted to straighten the arc He's commanded you to follow so that you can gain a bit more of the world's profit. But He warns you that even if you gain the whole world, it will come at the cost of losing and forfeiting yourself. It's not worth it! You will have colleagues, friends and even family members who will continually shame your circular path that takes you away from what everybody else is pursuing. But here again, Jesus warns you that if you're ashamed of Him and His words and cave to their pressures, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you and you'll miss out on the glory of Him, His Father and the holy angels! Jesus ends His teaching here with some encouragement. The kingdom of God is so close that you can see it. He said these words eight days before He and three of His disciples will ascend the Mount of Transfiguration. But you and I can see this kingdom as well, though we often have to squint here and now. This is one of the big reasons we're called to assemble with the saints on the Lord's Day to shield ourselves from the world's distraction so we can see the kingdom of God more clearly and thereby re-energize our circular journey. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who calls us to follow Jesus into their glory; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that even though walking in circles can so often seem frustrating that you will continue to follow Jesus; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Christ calls you to a theology of the cross, not glory. Gospels: Week 7 - The cost of discipleship Your prayers may seem humble, but are you praying like a theologian of glory? Mark 10:35–45 (NASB95) 35 James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. 40 “But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 43 Q. What further advantage do we receive from Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross? A. Through Christ’s death our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with him, so that the evil desires of the flesh may no longer rule us, but that instead we may dedicate ourselves as an offering of gratitude to him. Summary What a way to begin a prayer - with the demand that Jesus do for us whatever we ask of Him. Now James and John - the Sons of Thunder, as Jesus had nicknamed them earlier - weren't formally praying the way we normally think of it, but they were certainly coming before God Himself as they spoke to Jesus. Hopefully you're a bit offended at their presumptuousness, but then think of how often you pray the same way, even if you'd never use their same words. Remarkably, Jesus doesn't scold His two disciples. He simply and patiently asks what they want Him to do for them. What a blessing to know that even when we so often jump right into the third "A" in our prayers by Asking for what we want instead of first Acknowledging who God is and Aligning our lives with Him in our prayers as Jesus taught us, that our loving God still listens and is interested in what we are demanding! So James and John power on, boldly insisting Jesus proclaim that they may sit, one on Jesus' right and one on His left, in His glory. Now it becomes clear to Jesus that His two beloved, yet boisterous, disciples have the same misconceptions about what Jesus had come to do that so many others had in their day, and continue to have even today: that Jesus came to simply glorify the existing order of things which had been dulled by sin. We want a Kingdom whose citizens are as equally glorified as the King. But Jesus knows what James and John didn't, and what we often forget. When Jesus is at the actual moment of His greatest glory, there will be somebody on the right and the left, but they will be criminals being crucified. Jesus says to John and James: You have no idea what you’re asking. Dig Deeper Martin Luther famously said that there are two types of theologians. And he wasn’t just referring to bookish scholars with the term “theologian,” but to everyone who thinks and speaks about God—which means all of us. You can be a theologian of glory, who assumes God’s power and favor will be displayed through visible success, strength, influence, and advancement. A theologian of glory expects Jesus to simply improve the existing order and secure a better place for people like us within it. Or you can be what Luther called a theologian of the cross, who recognizes that God most clearly reveals His power through what the world considers weakness, His wisdom through what appears foolish, and His glory through suffering and self-giving love. It's this second type that Jesus expects us to be - people who don't seek to lord it over others, but rather those who aspire to greatness by becoming servants. James and John learned this lesson the hard way; they'd aspired to greatness by attempting to lord it over the others, but instead only earned the indignation of the other ten disciples. Jesus points them instead to His own example - an example you're to follow in principle, not in its particulars. Like Jesus, you should be set on serving - even to the extent that you make yourself the slave of all. Jesus did this in such a particular way that you can't - nor do you need to because Jesus did it so completely: He gave His life as a ransom for many. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that more and more you'll shed your theology of glory and replace it with a theology of the cross; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

How much more could you follow Jesus if you weren't so overwhelmed by other stuff? Gospels: Week 7 - The cost of discipleship Matthew 19:16–30 (NASB95) 16 And someone came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. 23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last; and the last, first. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 86 Q. We have been delivered from our misery by God’s grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good? A. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood. But we do good because Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be like himself, so that in all our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all he has done for us, and so that he may be praised through us. Summary The young man's opening question is grating - especially to us Reformed folk. He asks Jesus what good thing must I do to get eternal life? And we all want to yell back at him in unison: "NOTHING! You're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone!" But don't dismiss this man's question too quickly; Although it's certainly true that you're saved by grace, there are a couple of good things you must do to get it. Jesus Himself commanded us to repent and believe! So this wealthy young man asks Jesus the right question, but grabbed onto the wrong answer. He wanted a neat checklist, and so he was pretty excited when Jesus gave him one that has been the gold standard for millennia: God's law. Ironically, though, the young man broke several of these laws right then and there by pridefully claiming that he'd kept all them. But deep down, the young man knew that he still lacked something, and Jesus had perfectly engineered this conversation to help him discover it: the tangible evidence of repentance and belief that he'd missed. Another word for this evidence is discipleship. It means letting go of this world's stuff and your own selfish ambitions and instead following wherever Jesus calls you to go. Jesus here wasn't mandating that all Christians sell their possessions and give to the poor. That prescription was carefully crafted just for this particular young man. But you do need to take seriously the underlying lesson, and ask yourself how much more could you better follow Jesus if you weren't so overwhelmed by your never ending efforts to get more and better stuff? Dig Deeper Often times, people - especially young people - who live in high crime or impoverished areas of the world are described as being 'at risk.' Life is so massively difficult for such people, and so our natural conclusion is often that such areas must be such hard ground for the gospel to take root and grow in. Chances are that you don't fall into one of the 'at risk' categories that so many others who seem less fortunate do. You're probably reading this in a comfortable place where you don't fear violent crime, won't face addiction to illicit street drugs, or have to deal with crushing hunger and poverty. But Jesus didn't have 'at risk' people in mind when He told His disciples that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. He was thinking more so of people like us - people who so often are more attached to our possessions and great wealth than we are to Christ. Those who meet the world's definition of being 'at risk' know they're in a messed up situation and want out. They know they're broken and want to be made whole. They of course still need the regenerating Spirit to open their eyes to the truth of the gospel, but their situation in life often makes them much more open to it than what people like us are. Jesus said it's impossibly hard for people like us. But He went on to say that with God, all things are possible. Thank God that He's done the impossible in your life and pray for the strength and wisdom to let go of the pursuit of otherwise good wealth and possessions so you can fully follow Christ with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, for whom all things are possible; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will not hold so tightly to the good things God has blessed you with so you can instead cling to Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: