from the pulpit at Donnels Creek

007 Matthew in Seven Movements: Messiah the Way - Help in the Wilderness

That was a very important lesson learned.  A mistake that was not repeated, ever again.  To keep a fire going you had to have real wood.  You can get it started with twigs, but twigs are not going to keep a lasting fire.
By the time we depart from this place I want this image to be engraved on your mind.  How do you keep the fire of your faith strong and burning for the Lord?  It is not with twigs.  
We find that in our passage today in which Jesus finds himself driven to face a temptation. What does He use to sustain himself? 
As we have read in our text Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus is going to face a temptation directly from the devil himself. 
Before we dive into this text let us ask the Lord to bless our time together in His word.
Prayer:
We come to you in this moment, Lord, asking that you guide us through this text.  We are so grateful for the word that you have left for us.  It is the very word that Jesus, our Savior, relied on fully to sustain him in temptation. 
Bless us in this moment.  Guide my thoughts as I present this text.  By Your Spirit, open our hearts to hear it and receive it. 
It is in Jesus name we pray, Amen.
The Testing of the Second Adam
This text directly proceeds the baptism of Jesus.  It was at this scene that Jesus submits to the washing of John the Baptizer.  As he comes out of the water the heavens open and we see The Father, saying, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.  At the same time, the Spirit is descending upon Jesus.
It is this same Spirit that we see in (4:1) led Jesus to the wilderness.  The language of Mark (1:12) says that the Spirit DROVE (ESV, LSB), IMPELLED, SENT (NIV), FORCED (AMP) him to the wilderness.  This is not to say that Jesus was resistant for Jesus was obedient in every way.  We should not get that implication. 
There was an urgency here on the part of the Spirit.  There was no resistance on the part of Jesus.  Where God wanted the Son to be, the Son was happy to dwell.  “Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps. 37:4)
The purpose for this trip to the wilderness is to be tempted by the devil.  Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights.  This meant that he went without food for 40 straight days and nights.  A couple of things to observe here:
Moses and Elijah did the same thing. Moses fasted (Ex 24:28) before the law was given.  Elijah fasted (1 Kings 19:8) while under the law.  Jesus is fasting here at the beginning of the gospel of grace.
It states that at the end of the 40 days, Jesus was hungry (no duh!). For the first time God is experiencing hunger.  Do not forget that Jesus is fully God and fully man.  This was one of the lessons in our study of Colossians.  This can be a difficult thing to wrap our mind to understand but it is no less true.  God had not been hungry.
It is important to understand what Scripture teaches regarding one of the roles of Christ.  He came as the second Adam.
Turn with me if you will to Romans 5:12. We will be only touching on this briefly because someday, we will journey through the book of Romans.  But I have said this a few times and I have not specifically shown where this idea of Jesus as the second Adam is found.
Federal Headship of Adam
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men[e] because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as one trespass[f] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[g] leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Scripture gives us insight on the mission of Jesus as the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). The disobedience of the first Adam was superseded by the obedience of the second Adam, Christ.
As we go into these few passages it is important that we are reminded of something we have already considered before.  What Jesus is entering here is a period of testing.  The same type of testing Adam and Eve faced.
Briefly, let me remind you the definition of sin is found in 1 John 2:16.  Sin is loving the world.  Loving the world more than loving our Lord.
“For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life – is NOT from the Father by is from the world.” 1 John 2:16
This is ultimately the description of the fall of Adam and Eve.  This is exactly what happens in the Garden.
Eve saw that the “Fruit would be good to eat”
Lust of the Flesh
“Gain wisdom so as to be like God.”
Pride of Life
Looked at the fruit and saw that it was pleasant to the eyes.”
Lust of the Eyes
 
We have noted before how in the temptations Jesus faced the exact same temptations which resulted in the fall of first Adam. 
“Turn these stones to bread”
Lust of the Flesh
“Prove that you are the Son of God”
Pride of Life
“Bow down and obtain all these things.”
Lust of the Eyes
 
This much is true that Jesus is able “to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
Please take note of the significant differences between the temptation of the first Adam and the temptation of the second Adam.
First Adam
Second Adam
Plush garden with much food – excess food and luxury
Judean wilderness that is one of the most desolate places on earth. Scorpions, spiders (Mark says he was there with wild beasts 1:13)
Full and satisfied
Empty stomach having fasted 40 days
Enjoying companionship and not alone – could encourage each other
Jesus fully alone and secluded with no encouragement
 
There is a stark difference here. 
Exegesis
4:3 “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
Is this not an interesting statement?  Think for a moment, what was the last thing, according to our text, that Jesus hears before going to the wilderness?  “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The first thing that the enemy did here, the deceiver, was to twist and cause doubt.  He will twist scripture here in a moment and he is causing doubt here.
He did the same thing to Eve.  Did God really say you shall not eat of any tree? 
His efforts here are to raise doubt.  Why would this raise a doubt?
This is God and he is hungry. 
Would it have been such a horrible thing for Jesus to turns stones into bread?  Have you asked yourself that question?  Why is this such a big deal?  Does not the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6) teach, “give us this day our daily bread?”
Who was it that brought Jesus to this place?  To whom was Jesus being obedient?
There is nothing wrong with eating.  I would be in a LOT of trouble if there was something wrong with eating.  But in this moment, for Jesus, this is not the time for eating. 
The Spirit had driven him here and the Spirit would sustain him.
I can sum this entire sermon up here in Matthew 4:3 and 4.  This is profound.  As I was preparing for this, it moved me.  Chapter 4 verse 3 and 4 is the Cliff Notes to this whole section.
RIGHT HERE - Jesus was fully
OBEDIENT to the Lord and
DEPENDANT upon the Lord.
Jesus hears the request of the devil, “IF YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD. . . “and in return QUOTES GOD.  “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
APPLICATION
How do you live Christian?  HOW DO YOU LIVE?
Is it the bread?  Is it the casseroles? If that were the case, let’s have potluck EVERY week.  Let’s overload Ms. Jane and Ms. Linda and Ms. Iris and whoever else is involved. 
That is not the answer though is it? 
 “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28).
How do you live?  How is Jesus living here?
Do you think Jesus is doing this on His own?  Do you think Moses and Elijah were sustained because they had will power?  How did they make it 40 days without food?  It was God, period.  That is it.
Jesus was brought there by God.  The Spirit drove Jesus there – this is not a throw away statement.  He was brought there to this moment and in this activity. 
Was it comfortable?  NO.  Was it pleasurable? No.  Did God sustain Jesus? YES.
Satan’s desire here was for Jesus to take over and sustain himself and reject being obedient.  REJECT OBEDIENCE.  He was trying to get Jesus to resist the Father’s will. 
Our flesh can justify so many things.  Our flesh can really justify stuff.  I will tell you what my flesh would be saying here, well yeah, this is no big deal.  I will turn these stones to bread.
I know this because the first reaction to reading this the first, second, 8th, 25th time is: why is this a temptation?  What is the big deal?
I would have been questioning: Why am I going through this?  Why are you doing this to me Lord?  I do not understand?
You prayed that?  Have you uttered those words? 
If Jesus were to utter those words before long it sounds like the Children crying in the desert, Lord Give us food!  Have you brought us out here to kill us?  We were better off in Egypt!  You brought us out here to starve us to death. 
Oh, how many times I have said that, just in different ways.  And I hate it.  I hate it that I don’t depend on God’s word! How often am “I NOT TRUSTING IN THE LORD, DWELLING IN THE LAND AND BEFRIENDING FAITHFULNESS” as our Psalm says today.
Not Jesus.  There is nothing wrong with eating.  There is nothing wrong with a lot of things but often, it is just the wrong time to do them.  <let this sink in dude>
Jesus resists the devil by standing firm on the truth of God’s word.  He withstands spiritual warfare by knowing Scripture.  We need to know Scripture.  We do not know Scripture. (general terms).
 
The issue of facing trials and strife in life.  The issue in facing the arrogance of our flesh and how it is distracted from righteousness can be traced to twigs. 
 
We keep our fires going with twigs.  We are not using real wood. 
 
We have 900 current and historical ENGLISH bible translations.  Bible Gateway (online) has more than 50 of the most prominent English renderings of Scripture.  You can read it, have it read to you, you can have celebrities read it to you dramatically, you can have it read to you with soft-playing classical music.  (THINK PS 1 HERE)
 
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.”
 
Day and Night, meditating on this word.  Why?  Because it is wood.  This word is wood to keep the fires of your faith burning. 
 
Too many smoke out and die. 
 
It is not that one meditates on this day and night it is his delight!  Delight! 
 
I can think of a WHOLE lot of things that I delight in!  Can you?  Is one of them His word?
 
The first thing Satan did was try to stir doubt in God’s word.  One of the last things Jesus heard was, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” Then the first thing from the enemy’s mouth? “If you are the Son of God. . . turn these stones to bread.”
 
Jesus knew the word of God.  He had to learn that!  He was human.  He had to learn to read.  He had to learn an alphabet.  He had to memorize. 
 
“Some of you are going to get to heaven and a guy name Obediah is going to come up and ask you how you liked the book he wrote . . .you will be clueless.  “
 
Memorize God’s word: “write it on the tablet of your heart.” Proverbs 3:3
 
Oh, pastor you are asking too much.  I can’t memorize.
 
I will prove you wrong.  Right here.  I will prove you can memorize.
 
John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”
 
Without the aid of your Bible, let us all say together what we just memorized: What is John 11:35 say? Jesus Wept.  You did it!
 
Don’t be silly right?  No.  I am not being silly.
 
How did you start to read?  There was a time when you could not read, how did you learn? 
Did you start on day one reading Dostoevsky?  Did you start by reading Shakespeare?
You started with Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee . . . See Stan run.  See Stan Jump.  Silly Stan!
You want to keep the fire burning?  When you are in real need it is God’s word that will sustain you. 
Jesus gives us the example right here.  He does not seek counsel with friends, he does not journal about it, he does not see what other rabi’s have done (theologians): Jesus is obedient to the word. 
Nothing wrong with friendly counsel, we need it often.  Journaling is GREAT!  Seeing what other theologians have to say about certain Scripture is great.
But first, foundational we need to know God’s word.  My experience is we do not spend enough time in it.  Me included. 
Oh, what a beautiful example Jesus gives here!

006 Matthew in Seven Movements: Messiah the Way - And So It Begins

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters below from the waters above.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above. And it was so. 8 And God called the above sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 
12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. And let them be for seasons,[f] and for days and years, 15 and let them in the sky give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 
16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,    in the image of God he created him;    male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 
And it was so. 
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
You would recognize this reading as the Creation Account from Genesis 1. This is a very well-known passage if you have just been in the faith for a short while. 
As the first words of our Scripture open we see the Spirit of God hovering over waters and beginning to create.  As He created, it is as if He steps back and looks and says, “Good.” 
Waters, land, sky = good; Plants, stars, seasons = Good; Creatures, birds, fish, animals = good.
He gets to the end of day six, looks at man, the very created thing made in His image and likeness and considers all that He has created and says, “It was very good.”
Then God places man in this Garden named Delightful.  I can also mean pleasure. That is the Hebrew word Eden: delightful, pleasure.
It is not until we get to Chapter 2 and verse 18 that we see the first occurrence of the phrase, “It is not good.”   This, of course, is before the fall of Adam so we see in this statement, it had nothing to do with sin.  Sin was not a part of the world yet.
So, we can have something that is not good and it not be related to sin.  And God made Adam fall asleep and when he woke up, Eve.  He said, “Woah man!”  That was Adam’s way of saying, “It is good!” (true story)
Chapter 3 we all know it is the introduction of the serpent. Tempting Eve and causing her and Adam to sin was the plan of the enemy and he was successful.
Eve saw that the three was good . . .for food and that it was a delight . . . to the eyes and she ate. Enter God.  This was not good.  So much was this not good that it brought the curse of death and separation from God.
A String of Not Goods
Then we get a STRING OF NOT GOODS.  There are decades, centuries of not good.
After the sin of Adam and Eve and their removal from Eden, Adam had children, not in the likeness of God, but in the likeness of himself (Genesis 5:3). Through time God chose to work through and closely with those made in the image of Adam.
These begin a very long string of failures of which today I will only hit the highlights.  These failures that were friends of God.
Noah: It says (Gen 6:5) the deterioration of sin had gotten so bad that every inclination of the heart was always evil. God is pronouncing JUDGEMENT.
The creation that was “very good” had become “very bad.” He chose Noah and had grace upon him and saved Noah and his family (Genesis 6:8).  Noah and family were only saved because God was gracious to them. 
We see that in Noah, old habits die hard.  The earth was flooded, the water receded, and it is time for a second creation. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth.
 This Noah who had received God’s grace and was saved from the destructive flood acted like a drunken sailor, passed out and then was disrespected by his son Ham. Cursed!
Abraham: An idol worshiper (Josh 24:2) was chosen by God to begin a new people.  T
THE MAN OF FAITH THAT MOST OF THE TIME WAS FAITHLESS
To save his own life he (potentially) sacrificed his marriage and life by lying who his wife was.  He also, in attempt to help God along with the promise He made, participated in a plot to impregnate his wife’s servant and this turned out really well.
David: A shepherd boy who grew into a mighty warrior and great king.  We are aware of his sin and rebellion.  He stole a wife, impregnated her and to cover it, killed her husband. All to keep his sin hidden.
These are the highlights.  There is a long history of failure, Judges, kings with shallow courage and faith, false prophets and grumbling citizens.
These were NOT pleasing in God’s sight.  These were NOT GOOD.  A string of not good and more not good. 
Then there is one who was chosen.  This one is different. 
Isaiah lets us know of what this future chosen one is like.  God speaking through Isaiah we hear the word “delight” again.  Hope for the first time since the Garden, which was the last time anything GOOD was mentioned.
Is 42:1, “Behold my servant, who I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit on him,”
The Baptism of Jesus
The water of the Jordan was the scene of John the baptizer. Person after person coming to repent of their sin and be symbolically cleansed.  (WE NEED THIS. We NEED WASHED.  WE NEED CLEANSED.  WE ARE REBELLIOUS.  We CAN’T GET OUT OF OUR WAY TO REBEL”
Then arrives Jesus.  Can you imagine?  It’s like it is mid-sermon/mid-baptism.
Jesus Baptism was covered in all four Gospel accounts.  John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus, the feeding of the 5,000 and the Passion week of Christ are the only events that are found in each of the four gospel accounts. 
JESUS was the one for whom John was looking. There is the uncertainty when we combine the texts from John and Matthew. 
Matthew says that as a part of John’s preaching he was telling people - I AM NOT THE MESSIAH.  I am not the Christ.  He who comes after me, one I am not worthy to carry the sandals.  He is the Christ.
There were people designated to carry sandals. They were lowly servants.  They were the lowest of servants.  Kings and people of status had these servants.
John is essentially saying, “I am a servant of Christ, but I am not even worthy to be the lowest of servants.”
So here in Matthew, John the Baptist is LOOKING for Jesus.  (John the Baptist and John the apostle and writer of John are two different people.  John (Johannes) is a popular name, kind of like Bubba in the south.
There seems to be a partial recognizing here of Jesus (the Matthew account).  I say only partial because John seems to know who he is but it not fully certain.  We will find this later in Matthew 11, the last time we hear of John the Baptist.  He is in prison and he sends messengers to Jesus, “Are you the one?”
 
John says, “I did not know him but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on who you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” (John 1:33)
 
John sees Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29) This is NOT just the sin of the Jewish people.  Not just the family of Abraham.  This is the sin of the Gentiles too.  The Passover lamb.  The lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8). The lamb that was to take away our sin. (Before Genesis 1:1)
 
This lamb comes to be baptized.   “Uh, no!” John says. “What are you talking about baptism?  Me baptize you?  No, You need to be baptize me!”
 
Jesus says, “John, I’ve got to do this.  It is fitting.  I have to fulfill all righteousness.”
 
These people lined up to be baptized.  Convicted and recognized their sin.  Feeling the need to be purified.  We are sinners.
 
Not Jesus!  He is not a sinner.
 
Jesus, pure, the second Adam (more on this next week), having never committed any offense and perfect in every way, righteous in every way. 
 
I have to do this.
 
He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12).
 
Let’s put in this circle all the guilty.  Just lump them all here.  Transgressors ALL of them.  You know who is in that circle?  Jesus.  Numbered with the transgressors.
 
Even though perfect, he looked just like you and me.  He is God in the flesh: he has hands, legs, and feet.
 
He is NOT in the image of Adam.  He went into the waters as if He was.
 
This moment the sky opened and the Spirit . . . remember that Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation?  This is that Spirit that was creating back in Genesis 1?  He is hovering, once again, over water.  It descended upon Jesus at the waters of the Jordan.
 
There is debate on interpreting this concerning the dove.  Was it a real dove?  Many say, not really.  As he baptized Jesus, John saw something and the people saw something. 
 
This something was the Spirit of God and it descended.  They could literally see the Spirit entering Jesus and it appeared like a dove. 
 
Like the dove that returned to Noah?  A sign of new beginnings.  The dove that brings back the olive leaf?  There is life!  Here is proof.  And this Spirit descends up our peace, Jesus.
 
From heaven, the Lord said, “Very good!”  There is a theme here in Matthew where Jesus matches with Genesis.  “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”
 
Filling full the prophet Isaiah, “Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him” (42:1)
 
This is the first time since the fall that God has spoken and said this is good.  With Jesus, “I am well pleased!”
 
This is significant.  This is pivotal.
 
Jesus in the baptism, is humbling himself – though in the FORM of God did not consider equality with God a thing to hold on to but made himself nothing taking on the form of a servant and was born in the “LIKENESS” of sinful flesh.  But he is not a sinner.  Yet he takes on the image of a sinner.
 
He became like you and me in every way, but the sin. 
 
Noah = failure
Abraham= failure
David = failure
Every king = failure
Every priest = failure
 
Jesus, “I am well pleased.”
 
What Does This Mean?
There were many people APPEARING before John the Baptist to repent because there was a lot of rebellion, and this continues to be the case.
I was praying earlier this week concerning our nation.  Much pondering to the rebellion that is happening.  Tina and I chat about, I just miss the old days. 
But as I was praying I said to the Lord, Going back to the old days is not going to fix anything.  There was rebellion then, it just wasn’t as contentious.  It is more visible and in your face.
It is so easy to idolize a time period and think that just a return to that and things will be fine.  Absolutely not. 
There was sin in 1985. There was sin in 1971.  There was sin in 1950.  There was sin in 1800, 1700, 1492 and you just name the date, Jesus was always needed. 
In Genesis there were four people and one of those committed murder.  25% of the Earth’s population was guilty of murder. 
The people in John’s day felt the need to repent, to be washed and they were.  There were a lot then and there still remain a lot. 
We have right here what many people need.  Not a lot of finger wagging and I told you so’s but Jesus, the Savior.  Jesus the righteous.  Jesus, the one in whom God is well pleased.
He is the ONLY one in whom God is well pleased. 
You think God is pleased because you come to assembly? 
You think God is well pleased because you read Scripture occasionally? 
You think God is pleased because you come from a family that has gone to church since Thomas Jefferson?
He is well pleased because of Jesus.  And those who are IN JESUS, God is well pleased.
 
Jesus is the ONLY offering that is not filthy rags (Isaian 64:6)
If we go back to the first part of this study on the Advent, we had Joseph.  He finds out that his wife to be in pregnant and he knows he is not the source of that pregnancy. 
Joseph had every right to put Mary away!
You know what he had the right to do?  He was fully and legally right to put her away.  But he did not.
The angel came and instructed him about what was taking place.  He did not put Mary away, though he had the legal right to do.
This made for an interesting public appearance. 
In every way our Savior appears as fallen, yet He is the only one in Whom the Father delighted.
THE HEBREW WRITER SAYS: He became like us much in every way, He was made like his brothers that he might be a service to God.
For those of us in Christ, for those of us who are by faith in Jesus, this is how we stand before God.  We don’t stand before Him putting on our fig leaves to hide our shame.
We appear before God in Christ.  This is the one in whom God delights. 
I am with Him!
In Him we are a new Creation
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.   
Spirit hovering over us and sprinkling us with water
Those in Christ are a new creation – old things have passed, the new HAS come!
 
 

005 Matthew in Seven Movements: Messiah the Advent - The Washing

004 Matthew in Seven Movements: Messiah the Advent - A Cry From the Wilderness

003 Matthew in Seven Movements: Messiah the Advent - New Beginnings

Date: January 4, 2026
Lord’s Day: 1
Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: Advent
Title: New Beginnings
Text: Matthew 1:1-17
Introduction
Today is a first, and this is not only in reference to the first Sunday of 2026 but most likely you have never heard a sermon on this text which is just a family tree or a lineage.  I never thought I would deliver a sermon on this section of Scripture.
A quick review of the travel logs for 15 years of moving showed we had done over 1400 moves of businesses and homes.  You show me a picture of a house and I can tell you how many bedrooms, floors and if it had a basement or not.  Ask me their names?  I would forget them mid move.  I have been horrible remembering names.
There are many occasions when a text would come in and someone is moving again and they want help.  I will ask them for their last address and do a Goggle Earth Search or street view search so I can see the image of their house and then I would know who it was. (see if they were on the naughty or nice list)
Most of us, if we do read it in our yearly Bible reading, whiz right by it or skip it entirely.  “All Scripture breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16 and this is no less true here in this case.
RC Sproul was sharing a story concerning a missionary with the Wycliffe Bible Translators who went into a land that had no written language.  All their communication was oral and the people could not read or write. 
She had to first learn the language and then she developed it into a written form. This took many years and then she was able to teach it to the people and translate Scripture. 
The first book translated was Matthew and because she was in a hurry these first 17 verses were left out thinking that it was not of big interest to them.  When the book of Matthew was delivered to the village it was a disappointment for the people had more interest in the truck that brought the Bibles than in the book itself.
She was crushed for this whole process had taken 10 years and the people did not care at all.  In the second edition of her translation, it did include the genealogy of Jesus and the tribal leader was excited. 
“You mean to tell me this Jesus you have been telling us about is a real person?”
“Yes” she said.
The tribal chief thought she was teaching about a mythical character.  It was only after he could see that Jesus came from real people, in real space and real time that many, including the chief, came to Christ.
This is not a fly over text.   Even though this is a family tree there is A LOT here.  I think it will blow your sock off, so be prepared.  Bring high expectations here.
The Thick Hebrew of Matthew
There needs to be some review that was shared in the adult class last week as this series was introduced. The gospel of Matthew was written to the Hebrew or Jewish audience.  The purpose of this book is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah or the Christ.
There was an “anointed one” introduced in the Hebrew Scriptures and Matthew seeks to prove that this Jesus is him.  How do we know this?  Is it because somewhere in the book of Matthew he says, “Ok, I have written this so you will know that this man called Jesus is the anointed one.” 
Kind of 1:1. BUT also the MAKE UP OF THE BOOK.
This must be understood that the people to whom Matthew was written had a HIGH literacy rate.  Matthew is reflecting on centuries of knowledge and this book is intelligently laid out.  What will be shared today, as said earlier, will amaze you but the readers would have picked up on it.
I had to dig and find it.  Classes and books by Tim Mackie, Steven Bryan and Jacob Stromburg. The first readers of this gospel would not have needed that.  They would have automatically understood.
Take for instance the progress of the book:
Creation and Adam vs. Genealogy and creation of second Adam (Holy Spirit involved in both)
Fleeing to Egypt for protection with Joseph vs. Fleeing for protection to Egypt with Joseph (and his dreams)
The killing of the babies (Pharaoh) vs. The killing of the babies Herod
The deliverance from Egypt to the wilderness vs. The deliverance from Egypt to the wilderness with Jesus
Going through the sea with Moses vs. Jesus being going into the waters of baptism
Going into the temptations in the wilderness 40 years vs. Jesus going through temptations in the wilderness for 40 days
This would have been evident to the original readers of Matthew.  What we see in the first 4 chapters of Matthew is this unfolding.  We also see in the first 17 verses of chapter 1 a very similar unfolding.  It is a picture that Matthew is painting and he is saying- THIS IS THE SAVIOR.  THIS IS THE MESSIAH.  PAY ATTENTION!
Gematria and Scripture
Let us take a look at this list.  Matthew says, “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” (1:17)
There is one other account of the family tree of Jesus and it is in Luke.  There are a couple of issues here that the Bible critic will quickly attack:
The lists are mostly the same but do differ significantly
There are A LOT of things Matthew leaves out.
What do we do with this?  It appears to be a fallacy in Scripture and for those who have a high value on the reliability of Scripture, how do we resolve this?
I want to introduce you to a term called Gematria.  It is the process of assigning value to a letter and then adding the letters together.  Our text in Matthew is FULL of this practice.  It is something that was FREQUENTLY done in the day of Matthew, not so much today.
Example: A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on.  So my short name M=14, A=1, T=20, T=20 would be 55.  14+1+20+20=55
There is a really long Psalm, most likely you have read it or seen it in the book of Psalms.  It is Psalm 119, it is the longest chapter in the bible and it is an acrostic. 
Turn to Psalm 119.  What you will see there before each section is the Hebrew alphabet.  The fist word in that section begins with that letter.  Aleph is the first letter and so that section begins with the letter Aleph.  The second section is Beth and that section has a word that begins with the Hebrew letter Beth.  This continues through each of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. 
 Let us combine these two concepts here: the Gematria and the Acrostic:
Jesus is of the line of David
Matthew is proving through the genealogy that Jesus is of the line of David
The Messiah will come from David’s family
David’s name in Hebrew is spelled (Daleth, Waw, Daleth)
Daleth = 4, Waw = 6, Daleth = 4 which totals 14.
Let me be clear and repeat, this was a high literacy culture.  The symbolism would not be a mystery.  It would have been picked up on immediately. 
When you and I do our family tree, we are careful to get every detail possible.  I am a direct descendant of the Hatfield family (on my father’s side, Hatfield and McCoy).  So one branch of my tree is very easy to follow and has been well researched.  As I recall I am third generation from Devil Anse Hatfield.  (Don’t mess with me!)
The omission of names and generations is alarming to us.  We do not leave those things out.  We look over at the other genealogy in Luke and see differences and the critics who want to discredit the authority of Scripture immediately say, “There is a problem here.  Different names mean there is a contradiction.” 
The reply is we live in a different culture.  Biblical authors employ numbers as vehicles of meaning.  This does not just apply to Scripture.  The practice holds up in literature outside of the Bible in the same period.
Pythagorean used this device
Euclid’s Elements used this device
Very common in Egyptian, Greek and Indian culture
It was used to convey deeper meanings
Matthew was more interested in showing the David roots of Jesus.  Steven Bryan shows how this plays out in many ways in these first 17 verses in Matthew.
Value of Name
Position in Genealogy
41
Abraham
14
David
40
28th Jeconiah (last king in line of David)
41
Jesus (man)
42
Messiah (son of God)
 
Total 14+14+14=41?  Jesus the Messiah is the 42nd so in reality Jesus name is mentioned twice.  Once as his early name, second as the anointed of God, Messiah.
Why the Differences?
Last week we introduced the idea of the Gospels being written to difference audiences.  Matthew as stressed earlier, was written to Jewish audience.  It would emphasize specific things.  Luke was written to a different audience and his genealogy goes:
Back all the way to Adam (not just Abraham like Matthew)
Focuses on a different branch in the tree at David’s son Nathan not Solomon
A Message of Hope
Matthew begins this long list of names, and it takes us back to this message of HOPE.  Begins with Abraham in that God sovereignly binds Himself to the promises that He made and unfailingly kept them through a flawed people.
Abraham among other things twice in fear asked his wife to misrepresent herself as his sister
Isaac who did the same thing once
Jacob whose name meant trickster
His sons sold their brother into slavery, some wanted him dead
David was not without his issues either and we see in here four women (unusual)
Bathsheba whose name is not mentioned specifically but only David was with the wife of Uriah
Rahab who was a sex worker but was redeemed by her faith
Tamar who played the role of a sex worker to trick Jacob
Ruth who put herself in a very vulnerable situation to trick Boaz
How is this a message of Hope? We are like them.  We may or may not have committed the same trespasses but we bring our own baggage to this relationship. 
We bring trespass, God brings redemption.
We bring trespass, God brings redemption.  Don’t miss that.
“When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5 LSB
It was not a moment too soon and it was not a moment too late.  At the exactly right time. 
God was weaving this tapestry, through time, through a flawed people to bring redemption.  That is why we do not skip over this list of names. 
You and I are in there.  We received a NEW BEGINNING.  This is the NEW CREATION. 
Brothers in Christ
Do not allow culture to blind you from what happened here.  This says brothers . . .for a reason.  Even for you here who are my sisters in Christ. 
This is about inheritance.  We are all, in this state, brothers in Christ.  We can see this throughout Matthew and it begins here in Matthew 1.
1:2 Jacob the father of Judah and “His brothers” ((off to exile)
1:11 Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers (off to the exile)
No brothers in the 3rd set of names but Jesus used brothers in His ministry with the apostles
10:1-7 Simon Peter and Andrew (his brother)
James and John (his brother)
12:46-50 “Who are my brothers? Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother, sister and mother.”
Matthew 28:9-10 “9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!”And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Hebrews 2:11 “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source, that is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
Romans 8:29 “Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
Isn’t this beautiful?  Our elder brother Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.  He is the firstborn among MANY.  It includes us.
You see this in our confession today.  We are adopted by God’s free grace into this family. 
We are, by an act of God’s free grace, received into the number and have a right to all the priviledges, of the sons of God. 
Oh what a beautiful reality!

002 Matthew in Seven Movements: Messiah the Advent - Hidden Signs of the Savior

Date: December 28, 2025
Lord’s Day: 52
Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: Advent
Title: Hidden Signs of the Savior
Text: Isaiah 7:10-17; Matthew 1:18-23
 
Apostles Creed on Christ
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried;
He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From there He shall come and judge the living and the dead.
 
Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[e] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. XX
20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” XX
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,    and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). XX
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. XX
Isaiah 7:10-16 NLT
10 Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.[e]”
12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.” XX
13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). XX
15 By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating curds and honey. 16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. XX
The Reading of God’s word
 
 
There are days, seasons and moments when we feel overwhelmed.  Possibly there are periods of extended time where everything seems to be a challenge.
Looking at this text in Matthew regarding Joseph and it is very easy to see that potentially Joseph is going through one of those times.  It gets buttoned up quickly, the resolution comes within a few words and sentences. 
In 89 words Joseph went from:
strongly committed man getting ready to be married
to then learning that his fiancé was pregnant,
to planning to end the relationship entirely
To being informed that this was of God
To getting married.
That is a LOT of ground to cover quickly.
This is not absent from our lives:
On one front we can have health issues that arise.
On another front we have a family conflict
On a different front we can look at the moral issues and cultural issues of the day
Wealth (or lack of it) management, bills, looking at the horizon of the future.
The common reaction for most is that we only look horizontally for the answer. 
ALL of Joseph’s reactions to what was happening was horizontal. 
This will be the end of our relationship
I don’t want to hurt her public perception, will do it in secret
We will do it quickly
It was the angel who corrected Joseph.  God is doing something here Joseph. 
We have the luxury of the text.  We have the inside scoop, so it is easy for us to see God is doing something great here.  Joseph did not have that. 
Given we were in a similar situation we would also be looking horizontally.  Pondering the situation and solving it with horizontal means.
There is a very peculiar thing here that Matthew says to us regarding Joseph.  We get to 1:22-23 and we see Matthew, telling us, that everything took place with Joseph and Mary to fulfill what Isaiah had said.
This will happen a lot in Matthew.  We are beginning this new series today looking at the book of Matthew.  It will be broken into 7 sections (movements).  This will be the content of the Sunday Sermon as well Sunday adult class.
As you read through Matthew when it says, “This is to fulfill what  . . . said.”  Follow through. Look it up.
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet” “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” (1:22-23)
Let’s go back and see what was going on with Isaiah.  This is the second text that we read today from chapter 7.  We picked up the story right from where this quotation was made so let’s look at the whole context and see why it was said.
Going back to the beginning of Isaiah 7 we see this king from Judah, his name is Ahaz.  He is 20 years old.  Can you imagine that?  Being a king at 20?
Ahaz is a brand new king, has not been around very long and his life is NOT absent of a lot of issues.
Pekah the king of Israel and Rezin the king of Syria joined forces to go to battle against Ahaz and Judah
When Judah and Ahaz realized this this was one of those very overwhelming moments and they were afraid
Pekah and Rezin wanted Judah to join forces with them to fight Assyria (big power of the day)
Assyria was whipping everyone and taking names
There was panic because as king Ahaz and the people of Jerusalem looked around horizontally, there was a LOT to be feared. 
Syria and Israel look HORIZONTAL: what do we have?
There is a cut in our story right here.  The Isaiah version is the Readers Digest version of this event.  This is the second time this story was told and the first time had a few more details in between 7:2 and 7:3.
2 Kings 16 provides the details here.
Ahaz took money from the temple and took it to the king of Assyria and said, “I am your servant and your son.  Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” (2 Kings 16:7)
Horizontal cure – God said ISRAEL is my servant and my son.
Isaiah meets Ahaz at this place called the Washer’s Field
Says, everything will be fine, God will rescue you from Syria and Israel.
Here is the interesting part, Isaiah says, “You want me to prove this?  Ask the sign, the Lord will give you a sign.”
Ahaz says, “I do not want to put the Lord to the test, I do not want to weary him with this thing.”
Now you see the importance of knowing the 2 Kings part of this story.  The reason Ahaz had no desire to seek a sign is because he had already made a deal with Assyria.  Ahaz had no fear because he found, what he thought was the most powerful thing to protect him (horizon).
WhAT IS MORE POWERFUL THAN GOD?
This is when Isaiah insists and gives him the sign anyway.  Here is the sign Ahaz that you do not need to worry about Syria and Israel”
“14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.[h] 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.” Isaiah 7:14-16
Here is your sign Ahaz, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, his name will be Immanuel and by the time he reaches puberty these kings will have died.  This means in 12 to 14 years, this issue Ahaz was facing with Syria and Israel will be fixed.
No need to fear these kings at ALL. In any way.  God is saying here, I got you. Don’t look horizontally. 
This presents a problem.  Anyone see the problem? 
This is a great message to Ahaz.  Is this not a great message to him it is also powerful. At face value this has nothing to do with a birth of Jesus
7:1
Army surround Jerusalem
7:2
All were afraid
7:6
Foreign king to replace Davidic king with someone else
7:3
Message at the Washer’s Field
7:4,11
 Don’t be afraid
7:10
Offers a sign
7:14-15
Sign of eating
Matthew is quoting Isaiah here.  “ALL OF THIS TOOK PLACE to fulfill (fill full) what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.”
I want to share briefly, in part, what I do when getting ready to share a message or teach a class.
There is a thing called hermeneutics which is a very fancy word for interpretation.  There is interpretation for every literature.  My interest is Scripture interpretation, and it is very important. 
We do not read a phone book like we do a Tom Clancey novel.  This applies all over Scripture because there is differing types of Literature in Scripture.  There are poetry and apocalyptic and story narrative and parable. 
When we read in Psalm 50 that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, we do not interpret that to refer to God as a cattle rancher.  We look at what type of literature it is and from there try to find meaning.
This must be done when teaching.  The struggle is to look at what is written and do the best possible to find the meaning by considering the context in which a passage is drawn.
One DOES NOT WANT TO PULL A READING OUT OF CONTEXT.  YET THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT MATTHEW DID HERE.
Isaiah, meeting Ahaz at the end of the Washers Field and he says to him, “God has you.  No reason to fear.  The sign that you can be assured of this is, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name Immanuel, God is with us.”
(God is with you – the child is a sign of that)
The issue here is, Matthew is drawing a quote from Isaiah, “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear and son, and they call his name Immanuel.”  Yet Matthew is pulling this completely out of context.  It is from Isaiah 7 and this has nothing to do with a future Savior Jesus, saving people from sin.
So how do we handle this?  How do we resolve how Matthew pulls a quote that was a sign for king Ahaz and seemingly in no way pointed to a future birth of Christ?
Matthew is an inspired writer of God Spirit and can use scripture in anyway he desires.
And that is okay if you want to take that route.  It is God’s book, God can do what God wants to do.  There is nothing wrong with this resolution. 
Matthew is drawing from a larger pattern in the book of Isaiah.
Fast forward to chapter 36 of Isaiah and we see a repeating pattern.  Almost exactly with what happened to king Ahaz.  Now it is with a different king, Hezekiah.
The city of Jerusalem is shaking and quaking and so is Hezekiah.  Why are they afraid? 
The big boys on the block, Assyria are after them and their army surrounds the city.
The foreign king wants to replace the David king with someone else.  (explain here what is taking place with Rabshakeh.
7:1
Army surround Jerusalem
7:2
All were afraid
7:6
Foreign king to replace Davidic king with someone else
7:3
Message at the Washer’s Field
7:4,11
 Don’t be afraid
7:10
Offers a sign
7:14-15
Sign of eating
 
 
 
 
36:1
Army surround Jerusalem
36:21,37:1
All were afraid
36:14-17
Foreign king to replace Davidic king with someone else
36:2
Message at the Washer’s Field
37:6, 30
 Don’t be afraid
37:30
Offers a sign
37:30-32
Sign of eating
 
 
The constant solution is vertical. 
Matthew’s book is written to Jewish people.  As we look at the gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they retell the story of Jesus.  They are written accounts of the life of Christ. Each are written to a different people.  Matthew written to the Jewish people.
Matthew is looking back a whole entire sections of scripture and showing Christ in the Old Testament.  This is where Christ is. 
Matthew, when he quotes this passage in Isaiah 7 is giving a nod to all of Isaiah.  He is seeing a pattern.  This first account of Christ’s birth is, quit looking horizontally rather, look vertically.
Rather than seeing the words, “The virgin shall be with child . . .“ the Matthew quotation reflects a way of seeing Israel’s story as a resource of repeated patterns with Jesus as the culminating climax of all the patterns.  Matthew is seeing the entire view of Isaiah and see Jesus as the fulfillment.
THE DELIVERER FROM THE ENEMY – God with us!
What can be seen in Ahaz and in part his son Hezekiah is this horizontal view that is absent of God.
What is the application for our lives today? What is the so what here?
The answer to all of our issues in life is vertical.  There is a greater work of God.
He began painting this picture in the book of Isaiah and pulling out and seeing the MACRO view is God is in control.
Christmas Eve we touched briefly on the fact that the circumstances of Christ’s birth followed him through his life.  The accusations of him possibly being a child conceived in sin.
Why would the Father do this?  Why would the Father have him born in such substandard circumstances. 
The filth of a barn and a manger.  Is not Jesus king?  Why God, Why would you do this?
In the hour of our deepest lack of understanding, He calls us not to simply looking at our horizons but to look vertically.
Matthew is saying, there is this greater work of God going on – I want you to pull back and see how He has been working salvation.  It is in Jesus – Immanuel God with us.  Just as much as he delivered the sinful, rebellious king Ahaz and the arrogant self-depending Hezzekiah, He deliverers us in redemption.

001 Matthew in Seven Movements: Messiah the Advent Christmas Eve

18-Date: December 24, 2025
Lord’s Day: Christmas Eve
Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: Advent
Title: Hope Hidden in Plain Sight
Text: Matthew 1:18-2:5a
 
Matthew 1:18-2:5a
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[e] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,    and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men[a] from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose[b] and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea
The Reading of God’s word
 
 
The first Advent candle that we light was the candle of HOPE.  How do we define this hop?
I was pondering that word hope when considering the Christmas message. 
When I think of hope what comes to mind is that throughout life, I have placed my hope in a lot of things:
Christmas break when I thought I was getting the new body style Ford Thunderbird (monte carlo like, then 79-82 grandpa car)
HOW DO YOU DEFINE HOPE?
When the Hebrew writer says, “We have this HOPE as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure,” (Hebrews 6:19) and he is referencing Jesus, what did he mean?  It sounds A LOT different that the way we use the word hope.
The reading earlier is, in part, the Christmas story. If you have been a believer for even just a short time, this is well known. 
But there were many HOPES in this story.
Joseph’s Hope!
1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed . . .
This means she was engaged.  Joseph was hoping to wed Mary.  He was betrothed to her, a word that is fainting in our culture but still used occasionally. 
In the time frame of Christ, this was a little different than being engaged in our culture.  If one decides not to marry, (UNCOMFY CONVERSATION) they simply break off the engagement and give back the ring.
BETROTHAL - This was a legal status for the couple.  In order to break the engagement there was a formal “divorce” process. 
The couple would not be living together because they were not married but this time period of betrothal several things were done:
It lasted at least a year
The man would go into negotiations with the father of the bride.  
The families would get to know each other
The man would be a house for the couple to live in once married
It was during this time, while Joseph was doing all these things and they had not been together sexually, “she was found to be with child.” (1:18).
This had to completely ROCK Joseph’s world – HOPES SHATTERED!  Oh I had really hoped I could marry you. 
Can you imagine Joseph receiving this disheartening news.  Looking deeper into this text is reading it supernaturally.  There is no details of all that Joseph went through, but we have each suffered heart break (THE CONVERSATION). 
Were there conversations between Joseph and his momma?  We are not privy to this sort of thing because it is not in the text but you know there were a lot of conversations happening.
He pondered, what do I do?  Like any other person, he was thinking that Mary had been unfaithful to him and this could not stand.
It appears from John 8 that this stigma surrounding His birth seemed to follow Him. 
Joseph’s NEW HOPE
Joseph  had hoped to spare Mary bad reputation.  He came up with an idea, “I will put her away quietly (in secret so as not to shame her) and resolved to do this quickly.” (1:19)
But he was given a vision and instructed, “Jospeh, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” (1:20-22)
The text gives us the inside scoop.  This was not normal conception.  When Mary asked THE ANGEL how she could give birth as a virgin, the angel replied that the power of God would overshadow her, meaning the Creator would create a child inside her, much as He created the first man in the Garden. Just as Adam had no human father, nor would Christ have a human father but would be created out of the womb of Mary by God. Mary was with child because of God.  Joseph did not know this. 
Joseph then had, again, a different hope. 
The Magi’s HOPE
You know what the Magi were?  These were professional star gazers.  They were east of Jerusalem, which is couple hours walk away from Bethlehem.  These Magi hoped to solve a mystery.
They had seen something in the sky.  Whatever they witnessed led them to believe there was a king involved and they came to worship him.
In our nativity scenes there are typically 3 Magi but Scripture does not say how many there were.  It just mentions the 3 gifts that the Magi brought.
I like to think there were A LOT.  I base this upon the text.  How else would an entire town become stirred. There was a stir in Jerusalem.  It says, “During the time of King Herod, Magi form the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?’ We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him” <LAST SLIDE>
Herod’s HOPE
Was a king and he hoped to retain his seat on the throne.
We know from history that Herod was an Edomite who was force converted to the Jewish religion. 
He saw an opportunity and $$bought$$  his was into power and this is how he was king.  He was so ready to protect his power and if there was any threat. His hope was in his seat as king.  That is the best he could do!
Herod was known to have several assassination attempts taken upon him and this made him very unstable.  He had one of his ten wives and two of his sons (Alexander and Aristobulous) killed because he suspected them trying to plot against him and take the throne.
Herod had placed all his hope in himself and his place upon the throne. 
Isn’t it funny the things we HOPE in? 
Isn’t it ODD how we define HOPE? 
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THAN HEBREWS 6
Jesus,
All of this hope in the various people surrounding the life of Jesus. 
Just like me, and my new college car the hope was NOT SECURE  NOT AN ACHOR. 
I hope the car will increase my social status
I hope I can keep my throne.
I hope I can end this relationship with Mary and the public perspective not be destroye
The Magi, I hope we can meet this new king.
These do not define Hope like Hebrews
What is the hope that the Hebrew writer had in mind when he spoke of a hope that is an anchor for the soul, steadfast and sure? 
The hope of Christ Hebrews is strong. It is like it is a reality, because it IS. The hope of Hebrews is the Hope of promise in God’s word.
The hope of Christ is the hope of Adam and Eve after they sinned.  God said, that the offspring of the woman would destroy our enemy.  
It is then that God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden to a place.  This place is simply given the title, East of Eden.
This is the same direction of The light of hope shining in the sky. It came from the east 
It is in the birth of Christ that we have hope.  Why?  Because He came reversing the direction of the fall, uniting us back to the Father.
One of the things that I find so fascinating about this time of year are how short the days become.  Christmas is almost on the shortest day of the year.  A day of darkness. 
As is tradition, we surround our Christmas trees and decorations and string hundreds of lights. 
Light in the darkest time of the year. In the darkest time of the year comes the light of Christ. In the darkest hour Jesus was born.
The light of the world is our hope.  Jesus comes in the darkest of moments and becomes the greatest of hopes. 
The most important part of this is how is this hope born?  Is He born in You?
How differently this world will become as He is born more in this community.  When He is born into the Mayor’s building.  When He is born into the school as He is born in our homes and lives. 
Our hope is the promise of God.  He was born into this world and born again in each believer.  It is hope hidden in plain sight.  Into darkness comes the light.
 

Call for Duty: What Are The Implications?

1 Timothy 3:1-7
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer[a] must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,[b] sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
 
Titus 1:5-9
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[d] and his children are believers[e] and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,[f] as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
 
This is the reading of God’s word
 
About a week ago a post came across my feed.  It was just some random person who, from the comment made, seemed to be a believer.  (Maximus Decimus Meridius)
 
He made a funny comment – it was in relation to a meme.  The meme is comparing two things that are extreme opposites. On one end were people who present at conferences (the R.C. Sproul’s, The John Pipers, The Paul Washers).  On the other end was this guy, who was simply saying he feels small.
 
I did chuckle – the post was funny but it was also sad.  I have been there.  I have admired leaders of congregations as if they were a step or three higher than me. 
 
One such man, it is a part of my testimony, is Mark Driscol. Mark founded a congregation and named it Mars Hill in Seattle Washington.  Within 5 years it grew to a multi-site campus of about 10K members.  Little after that it grew to multi-state campus close to 25K members.
 
Mark targeted his message to men 17 to 35.  I was in that age range and his messages really hit home.  He saw that most males were not men.  He took the message of Christ and made boys into men.
 
I greatly admired Mark.  He had an awesome speaking skill and in a powerful way drilled the message right to the heart.
 
Mark’s downfall was very public.  In fact, if I mention a person by their name, most likely they have been very visible in the public.  You may not know the name Mark Driscol – but he ended up being accused of very harsh leadership, abusive leadership and he was put into church discipline.  He ended up leaving there and after a couple of years began a new church in Arizona.
 
Leaving behind a HUGE mess.  Mark was Mars Hill and Mars Hill was Mark.  From over 2K miles away I watched an enormous 25k member church break into crumbs.
 
About 3 years ago Mark Cosper did an almost 20 episode series called the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.  It marked about the 6th year anniversary of the end of Mars Hill.
 
There were some issues I had with maybe 15% of the content of the series but the rest, was very eye opening. 
 
Mark had made such a memorable impression upon me.  God had used Mark, there is no doubt or question. But that is my point of this story.  Mark was just a man. 
 
I had come to a place where I wanted to teach or preach and pastor a congregation. I would pray, God, I would love to be just as effective as Mark.  And then the fall happened.  The news spread and the fall out that went on for years.
 
I really struggled for a short while with questions.  There was a distinct turn around in my life all those years ago in 2004 and 2005.  I was uncertain if Mark was even a Christian, that is how abusive things were.  My question was, is my new life legit? 
 
Of course, I know the answer to that now.  I really struggled with this.  It was not until it dawned on me that God can use anyone.  He even used a donkey to get his message across.  And it is not the messenger; it is the message.`
 
That is why that guy’s meme was funny at first and then took a serious turn.  Those who lead large congregations and write books and attend conferences, they are just men.  Talented and gifted – and some (even most) remain faithful to the end.  But they are just vessels used by God through His Spirit.
 
I have lived long enough now to see many examples like Mark.  I am not referring to the Jimmy Swaggarts.  I am talking about men who preaching solid sermons for years and then it is found that they are involved in something.  Most often it is a sexual thing.
 
A few months ago, back in the summer, a picture came across my twitter feed.  It was a photograph of a conference from just a few years ago.  On that stage were 6 men who were pastors of congregations.  It was the Q and A session from that conference. 
 
These were pastors who were a pretty big deal.  Of the six that were on the stage, four were no longer active pastors.  Each rocked by a scandal.
 
We have been in this topical series, Shepherding the Church for two weeks.  This is an examination of Elders, Bishops, Overseers and pastors; in short, church leadership.
 
The rock-solid foundation for the leaders of God’s church must be humble.  When a leader falls it totally rocks the boat for many.
 
It is one of the reasons why the qualifications are elders, pastors, bishops are mentioned given in the New Testament.  These qualifications are the character traits that a congregation is to look for in the leader.
 
We are going to touch on this briefly today.  We could literally spend several weeks on this.  It will wait until a future time.  I want to conclude this series today so we can begin Matthew next week and get into some advent lessons.
 
Before we begin, let us pray and ask a blessing upon the message.
PRAYER
Lord, we thank you for this time in Your word.  We are so grateful that you have left it for us to study, read, consider and from it pattern our lives. 
 
We pray for Your church, the Bride of Christ.  The church you have said Jesus, would stand and the gates of hell would not prevail against her. 
 
Open our hearts as we briefly look into this text this morning.  There is much here and we are just spending a little time, but help us by Your Spirit to understand what is being taught by Paul.
 
It is in Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.
 
Introduction/Review
As we close this short series this week my desire is to reveal the implications for the congregation here at Donnels Creek.
 
Quick review so we begin with all of us on the same page:
There are some who look at the office/title of Bishop, pastor, overseer, elder as differing things. It is view more as a hierarchy of church leadership
I argued last week that all of those titles were referring to the same office. This was based upon Paul’s writings in Acts 20, Ephesians 4, 1 Timothy and Titus.
Presbyterian/Prebyterous (congregations) Elder, Overseer (episcope) and Shepherd (poimanien) were all used in the same contexts pointing to the same thing. Ephesians 4, we have the noun form (shepherd/pastor) of a verb (what shepherds and pastors do).
 
Because these several terms refer to the same office I will use them interchangeably.  In reality I will mostly just call these leaders of the church pastor or elder. 
 
I would like to turn our attention to the qualifications of the elder/pastor and shepherd.  We find those in our texts that was read earlier in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus.
 
I am going to make 3 propositions today regarding Church Leadership (elder, pastor, bishop etc.).
 
Paul had selected Timothy and Titus to go from congregation to congregation and establish elder ships.  Evidence in Scripture supports strongly the plurality of elders.  (repeat that)
 
Proposition 1: There is strong Biblical example of a plurality of elders for each congregation
Those congregations with a plurality of elders best represent what Scripture teaches.  This statement is based directly upon the words used and also the implications made.
 
Consider the following passages where a plurality of elders is stated directly:
Titus 1:5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.
1 Timothy 5:17 “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching . . for Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’” This is in reference to those pastors who it is their job, the profession to preach and teach and lead a congregation. The word used there is elders.  This shows 2 things.  There are some elders who are not paid and there are some who are.  Some spend more time.  Paul is showing that there is a difference in the actual office of an elder. 
Acts 14:23 this is the work of Paul and Barnabas when they were in the area of Lystra. “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in who they had believed.”
Acts 20:17 a passage we mentioned last week. Paul had been in Ephesus 3 years.  It says in v. 17 that “from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.”
Philippians 1:1 in the greeting of the letter Paul wrote to the church/congregation at Philippi it says, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.”
James 5:14 in addressing members of the church who are ill it says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
Therefore, based upon those passages, it is clear from Scripture that a congregation should have multiple elders. 
One additional observation I would like to make before we move this does not mean a congregation is in grave error if they do not have multiple elders. 
Titus and Timothy had a job given to them by Paul.  He labored them with the task of setting up elders in existing congregations of churches.  This means there was a time when these churches did not have elders and they were still Christian church gatherings. 
Proposition 2: The qualifications of elder in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Peter 5 should be applied with wisdom and balance
How do we know who the elders are?  We have here in 1 Peter 5, Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 some qualifications.  Before we go over these, and we will not be looking at them in detail because of time constraints, I want to point to some things to consider.
I say using wisdom and balance because I have an extensive list here of all the qualifications.  There are 15 in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 and there are 6 in 1 Peter 5.  The list in 1 Timothy and Titus is mostly the same and 1 Peter 5 is completely different. 
Titus and Timothy did not have our New Testaments – they were in two different areas.  They would have looked at their list, and their lists would have differed.  If we are to combine the lists and use them as a check marks (no one would be qualified) you would be doing something that Titus and Timothy could not do.  Wisdom and balance.
Top of the list: Above Reproach. I believe this is the over-arching character traits and that everything else underneath compliments that phrase.
But remember, I said, the qualifications should be applied with wisdom and balance. (This is a very serious matter on one end – understanding tO WHOM it was written on the other end)
You would be able to find someone in Paul’s life that would say he is not above reproach.  That was old Paul, right?  He used to kill and imprison believers. 
There are people who come to the Lord and grow in the Lord, and their lives look completely different than 5 or 10 or 15 years ago.  This would be just like Paul.
Note that in this list is not a recent convert.  That is true.  There is no specified time given but this is a mature Christian. 
This is what is meant to use wisdom and balance. 
It says husband of one wife. That means that we are looking for a man.  An elder is a man.  This differs from deacons (I know we are not dealing with deacons but their qualifications are listed below).  A deacon is a position for man or a woman.  It differs in this area that it gives points to the women and says you are to meet these qualifications also.  It does not do that for elder.
Being that it says husband of one wife does that mean he has to be married?  Remember wisdom and balance.
There are congregations that look at this list as a check list.  I personally know of men who were appointed as elders and served as elders for many years.  These men lost their wife, and they resigned.  Why?  Because it says that an elder must be the husband of one wife.  This appears on two of the three lists.
Is that proper?  Is this a good interpretation of what is meant here?  I say no.
Here is why, Peter and Paul were elders.  They were apostles but they were also elders (Acts 15; 2 John; 3 John; 2 Corinthians 2:11-12; 1 Peter 5:1).  One of these men was not married.  Paul was not married.
The proper English (2) interpretation here is a one-woman man.  These qualifications were written to a culture where it was not unusual for a man to have more than one wife. 
Seeing that Paul was not married and was not just considered an Apostle but also a elder and pastor, it can be easily detected here there is nothing magical about a married man. 
Another quality in Titus is says children are believers. This differs from 1 Timothy where it says “manages his own household well . . .children are submissive.”
This is an instance where we get into the nuance of the Greek language.  If a man does not have believing children does that disqualify him?  We speak of children who are adult and seemingly have left the faith.
Some look at this passage and say yes.  Others say absolutely not. 
Titus 1:6
 
Greek word (pistos) + Sentence structure = word referring to BELIEVING children or Faithful children.
 
Relation to faith vs. relation to how the house was ruled
 
Translations –    place emphasis on faith (ESV, NIV, NASB) believers
                                    Place emphasis on the house (KJV, LSB, CSB)
 
I lean house:
Context – not accused of open rebellion, wild a riotous
Crete – would have been difficult to find believing children
This does not occur in Timothy’s list, but household behavior does
Belief is the work of the Spirit
Number of past pastors who had children who did not believe in
 
Among those who took this stance: John Calvin, Matthew Henry, John Gill, Charles Hodge, John Stott (single man), William Mounce (Greek scholar and teacher).
Johnathan Edwards, George Whitfield, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley and Martyn Lloyd-Jones all had at least one child who died unbelieving or lived for years as a prodigal.  No one in their day suggested this disqualify them. 
This is more in reference to did this man have control of his house?  Did the children respect his leadership?  This is about leading a house.  Wisdom and balance.
These are the most controversial of the qualifications.  But if you look through the list, everything that falls below “above reproach” clarifies what above reproach looks like.   This even bleeds over into the 1 Peter passage.
Proposition 3: As we begin to grow Donnels Creek Church the leadership of the congregation must look more like the New Testament Church
Currently the organization structure has:
our Lord as the head of the Church.  This checks out. 
The leadership team then the
Moderator and then the
 
Here is the issue: that is not what Paul sent Titus and Timothy to do.  This is not what Peter was doing in the churches that he helped plant.
This is not ME making a power grab.  Absolutely NOT!
I am suggesting here that a PLURALITY of ELDERS pastor the flock at Donnels Creek, current and future.  THERE WILL BE NO LONELY ACRE!
Elders are men of God,  mature in The Faith who are servant leaders within a congregation for the purpose of leading through teaching, protecting, and guarding the health of the church.
The rest of the organizational structure remains.  The leadership team, the moderator, the finances, the secretary, all remain the same. The deacons remain the same.
The elder’s responsibility:
is to teach and govern. 
They are the doctrinal guardians of the flock and
the overseers of the life of the church, and
they are responsible to God for the feeding and care and the ministry of the people.
STEER THIS IN THE DIRECTION THEY (prayer, fasting, observation, study) think is right. They are the administrative head of the body.
This is a serious business. 
As we began this short series I had shared with you that this is a result of some ongoing conversations that Fred Circle and I have had dating back to the summer.  After some time had passed Fred was convinced and convicted that we should address this sooner than later.  I was already involved in the Colossians series and it was decided that we could address it after that was complete and here we are.
The various ministries continue.  The various committees continue. But it is my firm conviction that this is the proper step.
We can develop a path forward in the coming weeks and months.  Search and find men who are qualified to work with me.  They would be pastors just as much as me.
Their role is different, but their authority is the same.  There is room for this in the teaching of Paul.  I labor in this. 
 

Call for Duty: What Does Leadership Look Like?

Acts 20:28-31
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[e] which he obtained with his own blood.  29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 
 
1 Peter 5:1-4
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
 
This is the reading of God’s word
 
Lord, You have given hope to a people without hope.  You have given peace to us, when we were without peace.  We thank you for this very gift of Your mercy.
 
We return our attention to the topic of how to shepherd the church.  As Your church, we are a people that You have purchased with Your own sacrifice.  Again, we thank you for this very gift of Your mercy.
 
Open our hearts as we look into Your word.  We remain hopeful that you will continue to bless us in Your mercy to understand Your word. 
 
In Jesus’ Name Amen.
 
 
A few years ago, Tina and had been at a congregation for quite some time and I was really struggling through some things.  I am not going to mention the congregation because it is full of terrific people, it is led by a team of great elders and has two terrific teaching pastors.
 
Both of us were involved and plugged in. We were very active members. 
 
I had been on the worship team for a long time and had even been approached to lead that team.  Tina was plugged in and serving, therefore, both of us were involved, going to class, men’s meetings and groups.
 
There were several key events that took place over a stretch of about a year that had given us pause: 
 
Our son, Mason, was on an Uber food delivery, he was in a traffic accident in northern Columbus that resulted in his death. As you can imagine the nature of this really cut deep.
 
Several months after this event, there was a conflict within the worship team and rather than make a scene I decided to take a break for a while.  I kept it to myself; I shared only a little with Tina. 
 
Then a couple months after that, the elders of the congregation took a very weak stance on a public issue.  Their stated goal had always been, to keep the main thing, the main thing.  The main thing in particular is Jesus.
 
This is a terrific policy, but sometimes public issues and Jesus will cross paths, and this was one of those issues. 
 
I began to ponder our time at that congregation.  Tina and I loved the preaching.  Yet I had in many ways felt like we were on the outside looking in. 
 
In less than a year our family had experienced a major life event, and our participation had gone from very high and visible to very low.  Not one visit.  Not one phone call.  Not one side conversation on Sunday.  Not one text.
 
I wrote my thoughts about it one day in the form of a small poem I entitled the “Lonely Acre.”  It is about being in this position where there are shepherds but one sheep that has seemed to wander away unnoticed and ponders if he had found a lonely acre, one that even the shepherd does not know and cannot find.
 
It goes in part . . .
 
Unknown and overlooked and no protection,
No fence! Escaped without detection.
Wanders again amidst the fray,
Because, it’s so much easier to walk away!
 
As I was preparing for this series that moment in our life together came back to mind.  That short poem came back. 
 
I really felt like we had found a lonely acre that the shepherd could not locate, and we had been lost on it. 
 
We loved that church body.  We enjoyed being plugged in there.  But as the sheep that the shepherds were supposed to oversee, I just felt alone.  So, we walked away.
 
I want to put this in perspective for you looking back and reflecting on the message last week. 
 
We looked at how serious David took his job looking after his father’s sheep. There was NO lonely acre for David.  He with great observation looked over his father’s sheep.
 
He was giving his resume to King Saul and recounted how, apparently on more than one occasion, had to wrestle lions and bears. 
 
I was making the connection with Paul’s words in Acts 20 and the job of the pastor to shepherd the flock and to watch for wolves. 
 
Paul has been in this place called Ephesus for 3 years training the elders.  He says, The Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for God’s church.  He has obtained this church with his own blood.  He has died for this church.  You are to oversee it.  How?  Fierce wolves will come in among you.  They will teach twisted things.  They will twist the word of God.  Don’t let that happen.  Watch over the sheep.  Watch over this flock.
 
My addition here is watch over God’s flock like David did his father’s flock. When a wolf comes, protect the sheep.  Be in the know . . .be aware.  Be in prayer.  Be vigilant looking after the sheep, just like David.
 
Towards the Sheep, in the words of Peter from 1 peter 5, overseeing but not ovrbearing, not domineering gentle . . with care
 
It is like this staff, remember?  This staff can be used to look over the sheep but also be used as a weapon to keep away danger and harm.
 
I learned a lesson from that experience.  I began this story saying that I am not angry and that is true.  I harbor no hard feelings at all, I love those people, and I look forward to seeing them in eternity.  In preparation for this series I even had discussions with them because I had some practical questions.
 
They are not perfect; I do not expect them to be perfect. I am not perfect and will make mistakes as well.  I really just want to work hard to NOT make that mistake. 
 
In that case the pastorate failed.  What I took away from that as a promise to myself to do everything I can to not repeat that mistake.
 
The shepherds of the church have a tremendous responsibility to care.  We began this topical study last week on the Shepherds in the Church.  This week we will get into more what the meat of this topic.
 
What does Biblical church leadership look like?  That is the key question. 
 
There are three main types of polity (Church Leadership).  Each has not been made up out of nothing but, rather, lean on various Scriptures to support these ideas.  I do not want you to get confused because all three of these types resemble a name of a denomination. 
 
Two of these three types are named after Greek words: Presbyterous which means elder.  The other is Episcope which means bishop.
 
Let us deal with this one now:  Episcopalian Church leadership.  It is defined from the word, episcope in Greek which means Bishop in English. 
 
Lord / Archbishop / Bishop / Pastorate / Congregant or Laity.
 
This is a system where a bishop governs several local churches.  I have drawn some quick sketches to give you a mental image.  Think of The Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church (Epsicopal in U.S.A.) and the United Methodist Church.
 
Under this system the justification in Scripture is found that Timothy and Titus (which we will be spending more time in next week) were to go from town to town establishing elders. 
 
The Second is Presbyterian.  As you are already aware, this comes from the Greek word presbyterous, meaning elder or overseer. 
 
This is where there are several elders who govern the affairs of the congregation.  But there is a regional assembly that governs several congregations.  The graphic here is one congregation but a plurality of elders.  This is done in the Presbyterian Church, Christian Reformed Church
 
Lord / Regional Elders / Congregation of Plurality of Elders / Deacons / Congregant
 
The last is Congregationalism: This is where a congregation governs itself.  They may have a single pastor, elder or plurality.  But there is no outside assembly that controls or governs that local congregation.
 
The sketch here is one congregation, either 1 or multiple elders.  Example of denominations that use this model (the one most often used) is Christian Church, many Baptist churches, Southern Baptist and independent, non-denominational congregations.
 
Lord / Elder(s) or pastor (s) / deacons / congregant
 
All of these look to the same passages of Scripture for justification.  The Episcopal, Presbyterian and the Congregational all together look at the same Scriptures and from this interpret this differently.
 
How? It really comes down to is how we define the words that we brought up last week from our various passages of Acts 20, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 5.  Those terms are Bishop, Elder, Pastor, Shepherd, Overseer.
 
Are all these words different?  Some think that they are.  They are different Greek words.  But are they referring to 5 different things?
 
I am going to argue that even though they are different words, they are all referring to the same thing. 
 
Why Is This Important
I am asking you to stick with me – this is important, and I think it is important for all the congregation. 
 
As we prepare to grow again, I think this is highly important.  Why?  As we get new members, as this congregation grows, a STRONG ELDERSHP, STRONG SHEPHERD isthe best path to not find someone in a lonely acre.
 
Tina and I found ourselves in a lonely acre where the shepherd was (or seemed to us at least) far away. 
 
Fortunately, we were strong.  I had been working as a chaplain for many years but what if we were not strong in the faith?  Where were these shepherds when we had lost a son? 
 
Why did no one come to investigate? What if it we were straying?  No one was there to investigate, and I fear for that as a pastor of a church. 
 
The Job of a shepherd is to be in Your business.  They will account for you on judgement day.
 
In a church with 200 members, with 2 teaching pastors, and 3 other pastors, why was there no one to check on us?  This could have been a disaster – it was not, praise God. 
 
We are not just concerned with death and dying but marital issues and people who may find themselves caught in grievous sin.  The shepherd and pastor of a church is to look over the church just like David did with the sheep.
 
David faced lions and bears.  In many cases this is what the shepherds of the church are to do as well. 
 
Proposition
 
Now, let us look at some passages here and I am going to make the case that Bishop, Elder, Pastor, Shepherd and Overseer (all different words not just in English but in the Greek text of New Testament) are all referring to the same office in Scripture and in the church.
 
Let us begin with our passage in Acts 20, our reading was from 27 through 31 but let us back up just a bit to 20:17. Paul is in Miletus and from here he called the elders of the Ephesian church to him.  He wanted to meet them.  So here in Acts 20:17 we see this, “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders (presbuterous) to him. 
 
Paul calls a group to himself; they are the elders.  They are the presbuterous.
 
Same context, you get to our reading in verse 28 and you find this. Paul is talking to them and he says, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episkopous) to care (poimanein) <or shepherd> for the church of God, which he obtained with His own blood.”
 
POINT 1:  All the words were used by Paul referring to same office in Acts 20.
 
 
So here in one context we have Elders, Overseers and Shepherd all referring to the same group.  Three out of the five terms used to define the leadership of the church are all used here in one passage. 
 
Now consider the qualifications for an elder.  These qualifications will be the focus next week but for now we can learn something regarding our study this week.
 
These texts are 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. We are not going to read the entire text of these.  In this text there appears some character traits, some qualifications to look for in an elder of a congregation. Paul was instructing Titus and Timothy to set up elders in churches.  Here are the people you look for, they have these qualities.
 
He is giving Timothy qualifications of what to look for and is doing the same thing for Titus.  But yet he calls what they are looking for by two different names.  Same qualifications (mostly) but two different names. 
 
1 Timothy 3:1 “If anyone desires to the office of overseer (episkopes) he desires a noble task.”
Titus 1:5  “This is why I left you in Crete, that you might put what remained in order and appoint elders (presbuterous) in every town.”
 
After each of these Paul goes on to list what they are to look for.  They are all in reference to the same office. 
 
POINT 2: Qualifications in 1 Timothy and Titus are mostly the same pointing to the same office.
 
 
Lastly, we see in Ephesians 4:11 a noun form of the verb that is used everywhere else for what elders do. The spiritual gift of pastor (poimen) (pastor-teacher) is what the Bishop, Overseer, Elder,is to accomplish.
 
He (the Holy Spirit) . . . gave the shepherds and teachers
 
Let us go back to our definition of Elder from last week.  I put it on the note section of your bulletin so you would have it.
 
Elders are men of God, mature in The Faith who are servant leaders within a congregation for the purpose of leading through teaching, protecting, and guarding the health of the church.
Typically, the word pastor is used in reference to the person who delivers the sermons each week.  This is technically true.  But this is not the only thing that a pastor does.
Next week in our time together I will show the differing roles that are found inside those who lead the church.
My point today is to show that the chief Shepherd Jesus, who bought the church with His blood, has under shepherds.  Those whom, as we see in Acts 20:28, are designated by the Holy Spirit, to lead the church, protect the church, grow the church in holiness.
The chief Shepherd Jesus tells us in John 10, the extended passage read from last week, that the sheep know the shepherd’s voice.  This is an example that the under shepherds need to follow. 
To know what direction the congregation needs to go.  Where there needs to be correction.  Where there needs to be defense from error.  To look out for wolves.
These men are men of the word, men of prayer and men who are serving in humility. 
There is a view in some congregations that the body of Christ is a democracy.  Every person has a vote in the spiritual direction of the congregation.
To be clear, every person’s voice is important. Every single soul in a congregation is of equal value in the sight of the Father. 
But there are some BY THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT who spend an extraordinary amount of time in Scripture and prayer and have been gifted in this area who are to be entrusted to lead the congregation. They have been burdened and moved by the Holy Spirit in this area. 
When David gives his resume to King Saul – King Saul says, you can’t do this.  How am I going to send you to fight this Goliath.  David says, here is what I have done.
I have considered his words.  David was not relying on David for his ability to wrestle the lion and bear.  He said, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear shall deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37)
David’s words were a complete abandonment of self and full acknowledgement to the Lord.  This is the heart of an elder.
Drawing attention to David’s courage to fight for the sheep and then pointing to the shepherd of God’s people, the elders – is not putting a superman S on their chest.
It is the opposite.  The shepherd of God’s people leads by submission to the Father.  All ability, all strength, all wisdom come from the Father. The Holy Spirit has worked in the heart of this shepherd that he knows this.  He humbly accepts his weakness and recognizes the source of his strength.
We are going to dive into this next week.  I want to remind you to write down your questions, and you will be afforded an opportunity to ask them. 
In our next time together, we will explore what are the qualifications for elders and we find those in 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 and 1 Peter 5. 

Call For Duty: What Is It?

Date: November 30, 2025
Lord’s Day: 48
Series: Call for Duty
Title: What Is it?
Text: Acts 20:26-32; Acts 20:26-32
The Reading of God's Word
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. XX
5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. XX
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 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 does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. XX
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. XX
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” XX
Acts 20:26-32 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[e] which he obtained with his own blood.[f] XX
29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. XX
32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
This is the reading of God’s word XX
 
We come to you at this moment in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, the righteous with thankful hearts that you have brought us together once again.  We are grateful for the time we have had this past week with family and friends.
 
Lord bless us in our study today and over the next few weeks as we look into the Elders, pastors and under shepherds.  Open our hearts to receive Your Scripture and please bless and guide me that I may teach properly.
 
In Jesus’ Name Amen.
 
 
So often is the case that we read Scripture, especially for those who have been in the faith for a long time (most of their life or grew up going to church), and the text does not grab us completely.  What I mean is, we read something and do not grasp the complete depth of what was stated. 
 
Allow me to give an example:  1 Samuel 17, I want you to think of David.  In this text, he was a boy.  He was not an adult.
 
You have this army that represented the Philistine people.  They were on one elevated, hill named Socoh; then there was a valley of Elah and on the other side of that valley was another hill.  On that opposing hill was Israel.
 
Apparently, because I know how men area, there was some jawing going on back and forth between the two hills.  There was a challenge. 
 
The Philistines said, rather than using both our armies to fight this out, we will choose one champion, and you choose a champion.  They will face each other The winner of the battle between these two champions will determine the winner of this thing between us.
 
Then they bring out their champion, Goliath. He was a brute.
9’9” Tall
Armor 130-140# of armor
Spear was 15-17#
Spear 15 to 20 feet long (think telephone pole)
In total weight between 600-700 #
That is an amazingly huge man.  Think of Shack (at Staples display) and add 3 feet. This was the champion for the Philistines.
 
Israel had nothing.  The Philistines taunting them, day after day.  What do you have for us?  Israel had nothing. 
 
They were worried.  Fear began to grow in the camp. What are we going to do?  We have no one to fight Goliath. Day after day the taunting and the fear. This went on for 40 days.
 
Then there was little boy David.  He was a shepherd of sheep.  His brothers were on the side of the hill looking at Goliath. David’s father had sent him with some food to give to the boys. 
 
When David arrived he inquired what was going on and they brought him up to speed (no Walter Cronkite to bring everyone at home up to speed on what was going on in this war).
 
Without hesitation, David says, I will fight him.  Can you imagine that? 
 
THE REACTION!:  Are you nuts little brother?  What do you mean you will fight him?  Why are you here, are there not sheep which need tending?  Get back to your sheep.  This is man’s business.  This is serious business!
 
The king Saul heard David’s words.  He had been worried.  We are in quite the pickle and who is this, someone has stepped forward to fight Goliath? Bring him here.
 
It is the boy David.  Fail.  We can’t use this boy. 
 
RESUME:  David insists.  Gives his resume.  Here is David’s resume for why he should fight Goliath:
 
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. XX
 
36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:34-37
 
I began this by saying, sometimes those of us who have been around Scripture, we read things and it does not jump off the page.  Here I am saying, don’t go too fast.  Stop there and consider what little boy David just said.
I use to watch my father’s sheep.  There was a time when a lion or a bear would come around. When the lion took off with a sheep, I tracked him, gabbed him by the beared I whopped them.  Do you hear that?
Think in your head Ricky.  I am not making fun of Ricky.  But I want to give you a visual.  Think of me, slightly bigger than Ricky.  What if I told you I fought a lion and a bear and I am here today to talk about it?
Do not read passed this too quickly.  David did this while looking after sheep.  A job that many, maybe even 100% of the people, if they were watching the sheep today they would, if there appeared a lion or a BEAR, They would run!
“Let’s see, it will take about 10 to 12 minutes for the lion to eat one sheep, that gives me a good head start.  Then off we would go running.  Get me out of here – “
No, not the shepherd.  Not a good shepherd.  A good shepherd looks out for the  sheep even when bears and lions appear.  They fight and protect them as if they were like family.
This is an amazing Scripture.  “David, how do you think you are going to beat this giant?”  David says, “Well, God did this thing for me here with some lions and bears, I have faith that He will come through over here in this situation.”
You know what the tools of shepherd are?  It is possible, even likely, David used a sling shot in his duty as a shepherd.  But in this case, no.  He wrestled this lion.  The tools at his disposal are the shepherds staff and himself.
Jesus called himself, in our John 10 passage, the “Good Shepherd.”  He is a shepherd who comes in by the door and the sheep hear His voice and the recognize Him.  His sheep follow him.  He leads them out to a rich pasture.
Not the thief.  Not the stranger.  These come to steal, kill and destroy.
The Good Shepherd is not like the hired hand: the person hired to watch the sheep.  They do not love the sheep as much as the shepherd.
The hired hand, when they see danger they run.  The hired hand, when they see the lion and the bear, and when the lion takes the sheep away, he does not go after the lion and wrestle him.  They do not care for the sheep the way the shepherd does.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  Jesus here is foretelling what He is going to do for those whom the Father calls: He is going to lay down His life for the sheep. 
For this Jesus reason is called by Peter (I Pt 5:4) the Chief Shepherd. Because we are His church, God’s called out ones from the world, “The Lord is our Shepherd.” (Ps 23:1)
We begin a short topical series today titled, “Call for Duty.”  It is about the shepherds of God’s church.  Before we get into this series I want to share the genesis of this series.  It came about from several conversations that Fred Circle and I had over mid to late summer.
As stated earlier, this is a topical series.  Most of my teaching is textual/exposition of Scripture but there are occasions where we will look at a topic.  This is one of those occasions and we will be looking at the shepherds of Christ’s church.
Like David, one of the jobs of a shepherd is to look out for wolves, as Paul puts it in Acts 20:28.  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you.
There are wolves that desire to attack the body of believers and one of the jobs of the shepherds is to, like David, be on the look out for these moments and protect the sheep.
I have this shepherd’s staff here and there is a reason that I bought this.  I want it to be the visual of a shepherd’s job in Biblical times, and really even today. 
Sheep are not the smartest animals.  I do not know this from experience.  I have not raised any sheep. Fainting goats and sheep are great.  I can’t get enough videos of fainting goats. 
But I have been told that sheep can fall into a ditch, feet in the air and they are stuck.  They do not know or are unable to get themselves out of that position. 
This is where a shepherd will come up beside them and give them a gentle nudge.  Just enough to startle them and they wiggle and get back on their feet and off they go. 
In that capacity the staff is gentle.  When the sheep begins to wander off from the others and is in danger of being alone and open to attack, the shepherd will use the hook to gently bring them back into the group.  This is a gentle.
These are examples of this hook being used gently.  It is not used to beat the sheep. 
In the life of Jesus, it is so very easy to see this imagery of the shepherd’s rod.  This rod has at least two purposes:
Gently: To guide and take care of the sheep. In this capacity it is gentile in its use.  Like the example already given.  It is an image not of force but rather an image of gentle and careful persuasion.
Forcefully: However, in moments of danger, when a wolf appears and desires to attack, the staff can be used as a weapon of force. To keep danger away and protect the flock from outsiders.
Jesus did this.  There were times that, like David when a lion threatened, Jesus was quick to defend from danger. 
John 8:44 with the Pharisees so confident in their own righteousness, Jesus says, “You are of your father the devil and your will is to do your father’s desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning and has nothing to do with the truth because there is no truth in him.”
There are not many pastors in America today that would stand that strong against the enemy as Jesus did.  There are not many who stand up to the wolves (PAUL’S WORDS IN ACTS 20) and confront it and beat it with the staff because (in the words of the late Vodie Baucham) “Thou shalt be nice is the 11th commandment.”
But Jesus often used harsh confronting words when they were needed to address enemies of truth.
At the same time that Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, gently disciplines those whom were his own:
After Jesus had fed the 5,000 the disciples went on ahead of him in a boat to the other side of the lake.  Jesus went up on a mountain and prayed .  Then when evening came he was alone and it says, the boat was a long way from the land. 
It is here that fierce waves had began beating on the boat. They were in fear as the waves were really bad and then they see Jesus walking to them.  It is here that Peter asks Jesus, “Command me to come to you,” and Jesus does.
You know this story.  Peter gets out and begins walking on water briefly.  He takes his eyes off the faithfulness of Jesus and places them on the unsettling waves around him and he begins to sink.  The Look of Faith became the Look of Fear.
Jesus reaches in a gets him.  Does he yell at him?  It may appear that way.  In English it reads, “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  That is one reading we can read into that an angry tone.
But in actuality, the original text gives a clue (“oligopistos”).  Oh, you of little faith, why do you doubt?  It is a gentle rebuke.  It is a soft reminder.  It is a loving word to Peter.  It is not the harsh beating given to the Pharisees.  It was a gentle nudge.
As we spend time together in this series, you will see that these people I am calling shepherds are in actuality under shepherds who labor for the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  In the next couple weeks you will see how this plays out in Scripture.
We will be looking at several texts: Acts 20, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter. 
We will be looking at the terms: Bishop, Elder, Pastor, Shepherd, Overseer and see what these terms mean?  All used in New Testament Scripture for the Church.  Are they different?  Are they the same? 
We will be working with this definition and by the time we get to the last message in this short series, this will make perfect sense.  We will be working from this definition:
Elders are Men of God,  mature in The Faith who are servant leaders within a congregation for the purpose of leading through teaching, protecting, and guarding the health of the church.
Scripture reveals a way in which our Lord has provided leadership and protection for the church. 
Our reading in Acts 20 comes as Paul is getting ready to leave Ephesus.  He has been there three years establishing this church.  He had been daily teaching and providing for those people and it was time for him to leave.
The section we read were his words to the plurality of elders there.
Pay careful attention to this body.  There will be trouble.  Protect the sheep. 
I think of David.  I think of the courage that it took for David to do what he did for the sheep that were under attack by bears and lions.  This is the passion of the pastor and elder of the church.
Would you not with great joy and confidence place trust behind a group who were looking after you like David looked after his sheep?  That they would have courage to gently lead and passionately protect!
I am greatly looking forward to our time in this study and the implications that it means for Donnels Creek.