MVOPC 4 December 2011
Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3
Opening Hymn: 38 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
Confession of Sin
O You whose chosen dwelling is the heart that longs for Your presence and humbly seeks Your love: We come to You to acknowledge and confess that we have sinned in thought and word and deed; We have not loved You with all our heart and soul, with all our mind and strength; We have not even loved our neighbor as ourselves. Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, or for the good we have left undone. But You, O Lord, are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy; there is forgiveness with You. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation; Bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills and rest to our souls. Speak to each of us the word that we need, and let Your Word abide with us until it has wrought in us Your holy will. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: 1 John 1:6-9
Old Covenant Reading: Isaiah 63:15-64:4
New Covenant Reading: Ephesians 3:1-13
Hymn of Preparation: 94 “How Firm a Foundation”
Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
Sermon: The Mystery of God’s Wisdom
Hymn of Response: 246 “Man of Sorrows! What a Name”
Confession of Faith: Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 1
Doxology (Hymn 732)
Closing Hymn: 420 “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing”
PM Worship: Hosea 10:13-15 – Collapsing from the Inside Out
Adult Sunday School: Children of the Promise: Infant Baptism
Suggested Preparations
Monday (11/28) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Paul had demolished the pretenses of autonomous wisdom. Now, he suddenly proclaims that he does in fact impart wisdom to the mature. Is Paul switching tracks and suddenly becoming another worldly philosopher? Regrettably, today’s passage has frequently been wrenched out of its context to justify the proud assertions of Gnostics, enthusiasts, and other spiritual elitists that they have attained to a hidden level of insight that the rest of us run-of-the-mill Christians don’t have. That is, they twist today’s passage to make it sound as though Paul is now endorsing the very thing he was denouncing in up through verse 5. Richard Hays thoroughly dismantles these claims. Three of Professor Hays’ points are sufficient to demonstrate that this is not what Paul was doing:
- Paul has already explicitly and unambiguously defined the content of true divine wisdom: “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1:22-24).” The content of the wisdom of God, which makes human wisdom look ridiculous, is precisely the cross.
- The positive categories that Paul uses to explicate this “wisdom” are not philosophical but apocalyptic in character: “this age”, “hidden mystery”, “decreed before the ages”, “glory”, “revealed”, and so forth. Thus, the emphasis remains on God’s revelatory initiative rather than on human capacities of knowing.
- The distinctions made in the passage between those who do and do not know the mystery are not distinctions between two kinds of Christians; rather, they are distinctions between Christians (who received the Spirit of God) and those who belong to the old age (who have not).
Read or Sing Hymn: 38 “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” Prayer: Give thanks that the LORD has granted us a firm foundation in His word.
Tuesday (11/29) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. It may seem like there are an extraordinary number of different theologies within the Church, but ultimately there are only two: A theology of glory and a theology of the cross. These two theologies are locked in mortal combat with one another. What is a theology of glory? Gerald O. Forde writes:
The most common overarching story we tell about ourselves is what we will call the glory story. We came from glory and are bound for glory. Of course, in between we seem somehow to have gotten derailed – whether by design or accident we don’t quite know – but that is only a temporary inconvenience to be fixed by proper religious effort. What we need is to get back on “the glory road.” The story is told in countless variations. Usually the subject of the story is “the soul.” Philosophers speak of the soul being trapped in the world of matter, decay, and death through some cosmic misadventure on the part of either the gods or mortals. The basic scheme is what Paul Ricoeur has called “the myth of the exiled soul.” The soul is exiled from its home. It is slumbering or has forgotten its way. Its true destiny is to return. He way of return is by knowledge, gnosis, he awakening of the soul to its immortal destiny, and consequently, behavior appropriate thereto – which usually means a purging or shucking off of the flesh and its lusts. But through all its variations, the scheme remains pretty much the same: the exile of the soul from the “one” and its return. …
The fateful amalgamation of the glory story with the cross story is the hidden presupposition for the deadly combat between the theology of glory and the theology of the cross. Indeed, one of the difficulties in the attempt to set the theology of the cross apart from the theology of glory is that the differences between the two are often very subtle. Obviously they use much the same language in Christian theological circles. … The theology of the cross arises out of the realization that it is simply disastrous to dissolve the cross in the story of glory. Jesus was crucified “outside the camp,” not in the temple, as the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us. The cross insists on being its own story. It does not allow us to stand by and watch. … Just as Jesus was crucified so we also are crucified with him. The cross makes us part of its story. The cross becomes our story. That is what it means to say, as Luther did, “The cross alone is our theology.”
While the theology of glory is quite content to acknowledge our weaknesses (less and less frequently actually called sins); the theology of the cross calls us to repent of those things we naturally consider to be our virtues. With Paul, we are to take those things that we counted as our greatest points of boasting and reckon them all as loss for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3:8). How can we possibly proclaim such a theology as good news? Because it truly is! The problem with the theology of glory is not that it is too great but that it is far too weak. It is all rainbow and no pot of gold. The theology of glory offers sophistication but not genuine salvation from sin. The theology of glory titillates the senses, but is powerless to bring about sanctification. The word of the cross offers both salvation and sanctification. The reason we cling to the Old Perspective on Paul is not out of stubbornness or nostalgia. We cling to the word of the cross because it is true and therefore the power of God unto salvation. The challenge with becoming theologians of the cross is that we never arrive on this side of heaven. The dividing line in the battle between the theology of glory and the theology of the cross runs through every human heart. The only way to advance in this battle is to keep preaching both Law and Gospel to our own hearts, to attend to the means of grace, putting no confidence in the flesh but boasting only in the LORD. Read or Sing Hymn 94 “How Firm a Foundation” Prayer: Ask that the LORD would make the word of the cross more precious to each and every member of our congregation.
Wednesday (11/30) Read and discuss Isaiah 63:15-64:4. The world doesn’t know God nor does it grasp what He is like. Fallen human beings naturally tend to think in terms of quid-pro-quo. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Furthermore, fallen human beings tend to think that the most powerful person should get the better part of the deal. Therefore, whenever rebellious sinners invent an idol they imagine that the heart of religion is when human beings serve this so-called god. As Isaiah points out in today’s passage, non-Christians can’t even imagine a god who is as good as Yahweh is:
From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
Isn’t God amazing? Instead of being a taskmaster who demands that we work for Him, the LORD has committed Himself to work for us – when we wait upon Him. But what does it mean to wait on the LORD? Waiting on the LORD means that we remain steadfast in trusting Him in the midst of our trials and tribulations. This can be more challenging than it sounds. Many people, when faced with adversity, will toss a prayer or two up to God. But if things don’t get better right away, they will say (either by word or deed), “I tried that religious thing and it didn’t work; now I need to take the matter into my own hands.” This is what Israel was doing in Isaiah’s day. As Assyria, and later Babylon, threatened Israel and Judah – the leaders were often willing to try religion and then turn to realpolitic by relying on alliances with Egypt. But God isn’t a good luck charm or a consumer product that you can merely try out to see if you like Him. God is the sovereign Lord of the universe. He acts on behalf of those who wait upon Him. That is, those who are steadfast in trusting Him to be a good Father to them in good times and in bad. God’s goodness is hidden to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved He is an ever present help in times of trouble. Prayer: Lift up those in our congregation who are struggling financially and ask that the LORD would provide them with meaningful work.
Thursday (12/1) Read and discuss Ephesians 3:1-13. Imagine that you were talking around the dinner table this evening and one member of your family said: “I now clearly understand things about God’s plan for the universe that no one in previous generations knew. They saw these truths only partially like a few pointers in a foggy night, but I see them like they are being displayed in the noon-day sun.” Wouldn’t you think that such a person had lost their mind or at the very least was on just an astounding ego-trip? Although Paul makes a similar claim in today’s passage, he goes out of his way to make clear that none of this understanding was his achievement. He was simply the steward of this revelation on behalf of God who had given it to Him. Something dramatically new was happening in history. Yet, we shouldn’t imagine that the LORD had come up with a new innovative plan. N.T. Wright puts it like this:
God, it seems, had drawn up the blueprint for His worldwide family from the beginning. He had hinted that there were developments yet to come – perhaps most strongly in the prophets, particularly Isaiah – but most of His people had thought that their present calling, to be His holy people and keep His law, would remain central. Now however, He is letting His people in on the secret, which had lain hidden for ages and generations; and Paul himself is to be the one to take the news of it around the world.
The secret plan is that God always intended to bring Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples of the world, into fellowship with Himself, on equal terms with His ancient people the Jews. And the good news – the ‘gospel’ – is that God has now accomplished this through Jesus the Jewish Messiah, Jesus who is also the world’s true Lord.
Paul uses eager, excited language in verse 6 to describe just how great are the privileges to which the Gentiles now attain. First, they are to share the inheritance. Fancy hearing the news that a family down the street has come into a large and wealthy inheritance – and then being told that you are to become full members of that family, with instant privileges identical to theirs! That’s the situation that Christian Gentiles now find themselves in. God has promised His people Israel that they will inherit the world (see Romans 4:13); when God renews the whole creation, His people will be kings and lords over it. Now Gentiles are to share in this inheritance.
Read or Sing Hymn 246 “Man of Sorrows! What a Name” Prayer: Please pray for the people of Hope PCA in Portsmouth that they would quickly become members of other biblically reformed congregations. Hope PCA held its final worship last Sunday.
Friday (12/2) Read and discuss Hosea 10:13-15. One of the great things about children is that they except gifts simply as gifts. Perhaps this is part of why Jesus has told us that, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Adults keep trying to figure out how to earn it or, once we have received it as a gift, we try to maintain it in our own might. That is what Israel was doing in terms of its national security. Think about how often the land of Palestine is called the Promised Land. The LORD simply promised the land to Israel and then gave it to them. If they had only remembered how they entered the land. They hadn’t conquered through their great military skill. It was the LORD who fought on their behalf (e.g. Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground and the LORD made the walls of Jericho simply fall down). Yet, although they had received the Promised Land as a gift, Israel had come to believe that its safety depended on their own ingenuity, military strength, and foreign alliances. They had become just like the world. As Christians we are tempted to do the very same thing. We need to keep reminding ourselves that it is the Father’s great pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32). It would be good to mediate on Psalm 20:7-8 today:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright.
Recite the Nicene Creed. Prayer: Please lift up the young people in our congregation and pray that the LORD would grant them the grace to trust Him more and more.
Saturday (12/3) Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Today’s passage makes a sharp distinction between the wisdom of those who have the Holy Spirit (i.e. Christians) and those who don’t. William Barclay’s definition of the person without the Spirit remains both timeless and timely. This kind of individual “lives as if there was nothing beyond the physical life and there were no needs other than material needs.” We have seen this sort of crass materialism spread in New England throughout our lifetimes. This really shouldn’t surprise us at all. Why would we expect those who have no eternal hope to live any differently? What is sad is when this attitude creeps into the Church as it did in first century Corinth and in many congregations today. The cure for such worldliness isn’t to work really hard at repressing these apparently good things. The true cure is to lift our eyes and to realize that God has given us, is giving us, and will certainly give us in the future so much more than the world could ever dream of. Acting like the world simply reveals how little of the gospel we have taken to heart. Read or sing Hymn 420 “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing” Prayer: Please lift up tomorrow’s morning and evening worship services.
