1 May 2021 – Psalm 130 Friday, Apr 30 2021 

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Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities. Psalm 130 (ESV

Allen P. Ross writes:

In this psalm the psalmist cries to the LORD from his trouble, takes comfort in the fact that there is forgiveness of sins, eagerly waits for the oracle of forgiveness, and knows that ultimately the LORD will remove all iniquities and their effects – that is, from those who believe in Him and seek His forgiveness.

Every act of deliverance and every occurrence of forgiveness of sin are but harbingers of the final deliverance form sin and its effects. The glory of the love of God that brings such redemption must not be minimized. With the LORD there is forgiveness of sin! Full forgiveness! Believers, therefore, can have this same hope and confidence in the LORD, that someday there will be no more confession of sin necessary, and no more need to pray for deliverance. But in the meantime, every prayer and every confession should hasten the hope. And that hope, that waiting for final redemption with the return of Christ, should likewise lead us to be seeking forgiveness for our sin. The Apostle said, “Whoever has this hope purifies himself” (1 John 3:3).

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 19
Q. 19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.

 

30 April 2021 – 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 Thursday, Apr 29 2021 

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Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. – 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 (ESV)

One of the greatest joys and privileges that we have as God’s people is to gather in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus in order to worship the Triune God. Corporate worship should therefore reflect the truth that our chief end to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. As Paul had just finished telling the Corinthians, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” From the beginning of chapter eight right through to 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul has been applying this axiom about pursuing God’s glory to the challenge of idolatry. With today’s passage he shifts to applying it to right worship within the Church. As we will see in the coming weeks, Paul is very concerned that the Church in Corinth be marked out by unity in the Holy Spirit. After all, having been accepted in Jesus Christ each of us has equal standing before God and each of us belongs to each other in His family. Yet, not any old approach to equality will do. There is the apparent equality achieved by Mao Zedong when all of the Chinese were required to wear the identical simple and drab clothing. There is the equality of everyone being forced to play the same musical instrument. But neither of these is God’s idea of unity. From the life in the Garden of Eden before sin to life in the New Heavens and the New Earth, God has created and redeemed His people to have the unity of an orchestra. We all play different parts and together we become something far more interesting and beautiful than we could ever be on our own. That is the way it is with gender as well. God made us male and female so that the genders would complement each other. Let each of us embrace what God has created and redeemed us to be. The LORD loves this sort of diversity and so should we.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 18
Q. 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

 

29 April 2021 – 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1 Wednesday, Apr 28 2021 

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“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. – 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1 (ESV)

As we have been reading through First Corinthians, together, we have been looking at a sustained argument that Paul has been making over the voluntary relinquishing of our rights for the sake of the Kingdom of God. We should remember how carefully guards the freedom of the Christian (in matters that do not compromise the glory of God) throughout this discussion. Eminent New Testament scholar Richard Hays writes of Paul’s defense of Christian freedom in these words:

This theme receives far less development here than in Galatians, but it provides an important concluding note in the present argument. We are not to suppose that the prohibition of eating in pagan temples is the first of a new set of laws that will bind the faithful into rigid separation from the world. Rather, as long as idolatry is avoided, Christians are free to receive God’s created gifts with a relaxed openness that must have seemed heady indeed to Paul the ex-Pharisee. Our teaching and preaching should seek to recapture this exhilarating sense of thanksgiving for “the earth and its fullness.” Of course, some Christian communities already emphasize this theme so one-sidedly that they are in danger of sliding into hedonism. But perhaps just as many churches have assumed a cramped, fearful posture, distrusting the tastes and smells and sights of God’s world and drawing inward to avoid contamination. To such communities, Paul’s counsel should come as a liberation: O, taste and see that the Lord is good.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 17
Q. 17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.

 

28 April 2021 – Titus 3:3-7 Tuesday, Apr 27 2021 

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For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:3–7 (ESV)

Ed Hartman comments:

How does God change us? Verse 5, “He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Regeneration and renewal both by the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is where He began a new work within us. He took us from being spiritually dead and He made us spiritually alive. He gave us eyes to see what we were otherwise blind to. He removed the heart of stone and gave us a heart of flesh. He inclined our hearts to want to know Him and want to follow His decrees. He gave us new desires. That’s all the work of regeneration – once for all. But He doesn’t stop there. He goes on to the work of renewal where, by the Holy Spirit, He is continuing the rescue operation. He doesn’t just leave us now spiritually alive to figure it out for ourselves; He is now committed to finishing what He’s begun and He’s doing that today in your life and in mine.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 16
Q. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.

 

27 April 2021 – 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 Monday, Apr 26 2021 

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Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (ESV)

All of 1 Corinthians 10 is centered on Paul’s admonition to “flee from idolatry.” This may seem simply if we imagine idolatry to consist solely in the religious activity of bowing down to blocks of carved wood. When the light goes on and we discover that Calvin was correct when he called the fallen human mind an idol factory, we realize that fleeing idolatry is rather daunting task. Is it even possible? The answer, of course, is yes – but we can only successfully flee idolatry by fleeing to the LORD and to the fellowship of His people. Richard Hays puts it like this:

Worship creates koinonia {koinonia = “shared life”, sometimes called “fellowship”}. Paul’s brief but suggestive remarks about the Lord’s Supper highlight the fact that when we eat the bread and drink the cup together, we are bonded together in community with Christ and with one another. That is the positive counter-reality set over against the danger of idolatry: authentic Christian worship draws us together around the table of the Lord in such a way that we become a covenant people, receiving the blessings of fellowship with God and sharing our lives with one another. In order to flee from idolatry, we must order our lives so that this koinonia becomes the focal point of our existence.

It is important to see that our shared life with God and with His people does not simply exist when we gather together for corporate worship. Nevertheless, Christians need to be regularly in worship and fellowship together in order to strengthen and deepen our shared life.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 15
Q. 15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit.

 

26 April 2021 – Psalm 130 Saturday, Apr 24 2021 

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Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities. – Psalm 130 (ESV)

James L. Mays writes:

[Psalm 130] is based on a fundamental theology. The theology is stated by contrasting an erroneous hypothesis about God and its consequences for the human situation (v. 3) with the truth about the LORD and its consequences for the community of faith (v. 4). The error is to understand the LROD as a god whose principal way with human beings is to watch for iniquities. If that were the case, there would be no hope for anyone. … None could survive if such were God’s way. The “depths” would be the only possibility. The truth that the song knows and teaches is that “the forgiveness is with the LORD” (forgiveness has the definite article in Hebrew as does steadfast love in v. 7). The sentence means that the authority to forgive and the disposition to forgive belong to the LORD. Sin is essentially a matter of relation to the LORD who alone in his sovereign deity has the right to forgive, choosing to deal with sinners by grace. That much of the truth is inherent in the nature of iniquity and the sovereignty of God. Dependence on the LORD’s disposition to forgive was learned from God’s way with Israel. … The consequence of this truth for those who believe it is that they “fear the LORD.” They can live as “God-fearers,” that is, as people who take the authority and disposition of the LOD as the greatest reality of all and base their living on God without reservation.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 14
Q. 14. What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

 

24 April 2021 – Jonah 4:1-11 Friday, Apr 23 2021 

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But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” – Jonah 4:1-11 (ESV)

Doug Stuart writes:

What God did was right. Nineveh had great intrinsic worth in spite of its many objectionable characteristics. It had worth by reason of being the important city of its day, by reason of containing a large human population, or even by reason of its many cattle. No one – certainly not Jonah who argued vehemently for the great worth of a single plant – could have the right to doubt the propriety of God’s finding worth in Nineveh. Yet Jonah hated the whole business enough to die. He had resisted God’s will in this connection once already, unto death, as it were (1:12). Stubborn and unrepentant himself to the end, he could not abide seeing God show compassion and grace to the enemies of his people, Israel. Jonah was sincere, dedicated, honest, and even courageous. He was principled, too, though his principles were badly askew. In chap. 4 the pettiness and ultimate inconsistency of his position is shown for what it is. He had accepted and even hymned God’s merciful deliverance for himself (2:3-10) and had shown that he knew what it was to feel deep concern for something that of itself may not have actually earned any such concern (4:10). But he would rather die (4:3) than see Yahweh do likewise.

The fish was a gift to Jonah. It delivered him from death. He certainly did not deserve that deliverance. The climbing gourd was also a gift to Jonah. He had done nothing to earn it (4:10). Why then cannot God, in the same sort of way, give Nineveh something it does not deserve, has not earned? What right does Jonah have to be angry? What right have we to be angry that God should bless people, groups, institutions, nations who have done nothing to deserve such blessing? Can we ever rightly resent – let alone denounce – the grace of God shown to any of the world’s nations or peoples, oppressed or oppressor, peace-loving or war making? What sense is there in the common, tacit assumption that our only nation is His only nation?

The “weightier matters” of the law include mercy. We who have had mercy shown to us must, of all people, by willing to show mercy in return. Jonah knew all along that God was gracious, compassionate, faithful, and loyal and that He decided against bring death whenever He should find cause to rent from it.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 13
Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

 

23 April 2021 – 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Thursday, Apr 22 2021 

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For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. – 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (ESV)

The early church fathers frequently used a striking image for the Church by comparing it to Noah’s Ark. There is much to be said in favor of this image. One wit has suggested that, like the Ark, if it wasn’t for the storm raging outside none of us could stand the smell on the inside. Thankfully, that is not the universal experience of Christians. The reason why the Ark imagery can be so helpfully is because when the LORD saves people, He grafts them into His family. In spite of contemporary Western attitudes, the time-honored saying is clearly Biblical: “Ordinarily there is no salvation outside of the Church.” Nevertheless, all images are subject to abuse. The comparison of the Church to Noah’s Ark is helpful for directing people toward joining the Church but is perverted if we come to imagine that this means everyone within the Church is in fact saved. Instead of such a scheme teaching salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, it teaches that salvation is by formal church membership. This view has returned time and again to plague Christ’s Church. In the Middle Ages this view spawned the idea of implicit faith. Where the priests and well educated might be expected to have a personal faith in Jesus the laity could be saved without personally having faith in God or an understanding of what He had done in sending His Son simply be being church members and thereby sharing in the faith of the whole Church. Obviously, such a view is not taught in the Bible. Amazingly, a variant of this view has broken out in North America in the 21st century amongst some who are on the fringes of Reformed Christianity. This variant wants to insist on the objectivity of membership within the covenant community. Some of these men are simply recovering a high view of the Church while others seem to be downplaying the need for individual regeneration and explicit personal faith in Jesus Christ. Paul’s answer to this view is uncompromising. In effect he asks: “Have you never read your Bibles?” Virtually every adult whom the LORD delivered from Egypt died in the wilderness due to their unbelief. Furthermore, most of Israel’s history from the time of Joshua to the time of the Babylonian exile was marked out by immorality and idolatry. Privilege meant responsibility it did not guarantee salvation. “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” Let us heed this example and cling to Christ out of genuine confidence in Him.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 12
Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?
A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.

 

22 April 2021 – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Wednesday, Apr 21 2021 

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Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (ESV)

Most of us are amazed at the level of physical excellence achieved by professional athletes. This is particularly true if they compete in a sport that you once played. We could easily imagine that, at the professional level, all of the athletes are basically giving it their best and the only thing that separates the best from the merely excellent is raw talent. We could imagine that – but we would be wrong. Consider the man who is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time – Michael Jordan. One of the things that Jordan was famous for was his disciplined approach to practicing free throws. Many lesser players couldn’t be bothered with such details, but the man who was perhaps the greatest player in history had the discipline to sweat the details. Those of you who are old enough may remember Tom Seaver – who is widely regarded to be one of the greatest baseball pitchers of all time. With over 300 wins and three Cy Young awards to his credit, Seaver is clearly in the running for that honor. Interestingly, Seaver took a fair amount of ribbing during his career for the fact that he wouldn’t life a suitcase with his right arm. This great pitcher understood what a privilege it was to compete at the level that he did, and he was simply unwilling to risk even the slightest strain to his pitching arm. When we consider the fame, money, and sheer joy of competing at such a level we might begin to think that virtually all athletes would follow the patterns set by Michael Jordan or Tom Seaver – but once again, we would be wrong. Consider Plexico Burress who was a star receiver for the New York Giants. Burress literally shot himself in the leg with a handgun he was illegally carrying while partying late one night. O.k., that is such a wild story it might not make much of a point. Consider instead that every team in the NFL has players who come into training camp twenty or more pounds overweight. How could someone making huge amounts of money risk blowing it all because he doesn’t have enough discipline to work out and watch what he eats in the offseason? When we hear such stories, we all instinctively think: “If I had that sort of opportunity, I would never throw it away for a few Big Macs.” At that point the Apostle Paul says: “Gotcha!” After all these athletes, who are training, are only doing so in pursuit of the passing pleasures of this world and the very passing praise of men. Yet we are called to run the race in view of receiving everlasting praise and rewards from the Living God. What does the disciplined Christian life look like? Obviously, it includes things like consistent Bible Study and Prayer as well as engagement in Public Worship and Fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Nevertheless, Paul probably has something narrower in mind. Today’s passage is part of an extended argument in favor of giving up our rights for the sake of other people. This is the discipline that allows us to become all things to all men so that by all means we might save some. Thankfully God didn’t simply give us a list of standards he gave us a set of role models. Running the race to win looks a lot like the Apostle Paul. Try to see that as an encouraging rather than an intimidating example – but do see it as an example. Christianity is not a spectator sport. You cannot merely wear the jersey of your favorite players as they exert themselves on the field. In light of the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us let’s get out of the stands and on to the track. In light of the fact that Jesus Himself calls us, let us run to win!

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 11
Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence?
A. God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

 

21 April 2021 – Matthew 9:35-38 Tuesday, Apr 20 2021 

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And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 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.” – Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV)

Jeffrey Gibbs writes:

Matthew leads the way into Jesus’ second major discourse, His Missionary Discourse, with a two-part introduction: 9:36-38 and 10:1-4. Each part in its own way emphasizes that, although Jesus will be sending the Twelve to begin their ministry of preaching, healing, and casting out demons in Israel, their ministry is in reality an extension of Jesus Himself and His own work in bringing this gracious, saving reign of God into history. As we will see, this discourse presents some unique challenges to interpreters who would responsibly apply its message to the life of the church beyond the generation of the apostles. One overarching truth, however, remains, and it brackets the entire discourse: whenever the missionaries sent by Jesus conduct their ministry, that ministry is empowered by Jesus, shaped like Jesus’ own ministry, and centered in the message about the reign of heaven – in Jesus Himself.

Moreover, the missionary work of those sent by Jesus necessarily possesses a Trinitarian character. The Son’s sending of the twelve is the answer to the prayer that the Father would send workers, and the presence of the Son and Father attends all the labors of those whom Jesus sends (10:40). In addition, in the times of deepest persecution and boldest witness, the missionaries will speak because they are empowered by the Spirit of the Father who is speaking in them.

MEMORY WORK – Shorter Catechism Q/A 10
Q. 10. How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

 

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