And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:2–4, ESV)

In the previous article (here), we discussed the “sound”. The “sound” is not alone; it is accompanied by the “wind”. In the power of the “wind”, the “sound” of the Gospel has gone forth into all the world, and it has gone out to conquer the hearts of men. The “wind” or the “Spirit of the Lord” is the means by which the “breath” of the Word of God enters our being, breaking our hearts of stone and creating hearts of flesh and giving us life. In the same way that the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the waters and the Word of the Lord spoke creation into existence, and in the same way the breath of God gave life to Adam, so it is also by these means that a new creation is created through the Gospel message. So, you ask for a miracle. Well, this is the miracle, the most powerful miracle: the restoration of humanity and our transformation into sons of God. For as we hear and heed the message of the Gospel, we are transformed. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Ezekiel gives us this hope, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). The prophet Ezekiel gives us insight into this and how the “sound” and “wind” work together to bring life. 

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”  

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.  

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:1–14, ESV) 

It is the power of the Spirit that brings life into us, though we were dead in our trespasses. And it is the Holy Spirit that brings life whenever the Gospel is preached.

But, as it is written, 

      “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, 
      nor the heart of man imagined, 
      what God has prepared for those who love him”— 

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
      (1 Corinthians 2:9–10, ESV)

We cannot come to God without the Holy Spirit. Though the “sound” works through the preaching of the Gospel, it is not elegant words that convince those who hear to come. Paul describes is proclamation of the Gospel: “and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4–5, ESV).

As Peter spoke the first sermon of the Church, the proclamation of the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit brought life to those hearing his words. In his sermon, Peter declared that Jesus is on his throne and has declared war on the kingdom of this world through the preaching of the Gospel (for more on this, go here). The Gospel, with the power of the Holy Spirit, has the power to devastate the kingdom of this world. Those who hold on to this world will be swept away with it. The Gospel is “to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2 Corinthians 2:16, NASB). God is calling humanity to abandon the kingdom of this world, which is given over to total destruction, “blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke”, and come and heed God’s call by calling upon the name of Jesus. From the day Peter preached this first sermon to this day, the Gospel has gone out into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit. Will we resist the Holy Spirit?

Does God do wonders, miracles, and perform signs? The answer is yes. But these things point to the Gospel and are a call to us to listen. But we must be careful to assume we would believe in God if we saw a miracle. Splitting seas, a voice from the sky, healings, God coming down, or whatever your imagination may conjure will not be the means by which your heart is broken. In fact, in the scripture, these things often lead to the heart getting harder. Jesus, in his parable, noted, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:31). And despite the miracles Jesus performed, most continued to walk in unbelief. “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him” (John 12:37). Grand things will not move us. Dry bones and the dead are not moved by these things. Something far more intimate is needed. We need to hear the voice of someone who loves us, just as Lazarus, who was dead, heard Jesus’s voice. It is the power that created the world out of nothing that saves us. It is the voice of the one who loves us that calls us out of death. Our hearts can only be moved by hearing the voice of our Lover, the one who pursues his Bride.  

And we know that this salvation does not come through great signs or knowledge or the efforts of men that puff up. Paul writes,

But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); (Romans 10:6–8) 

Paul declares, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (10:17). After Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, the rest of Acts chronicles the story of the Gospel going forth to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.

To those who demand signs of God’s existence, Jesus replies,

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:39–41, ESV)

Even the preaching of a reluctant messenger had more effect than the mighty works that were being done amongst them. God has revealed himself, but in our stubbornness, we choose to harden our hearts to the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:19–21, ESV)

When we stand before the throne of God, no one will accuse God of not revealing himself to them. It will be clear that they have suppressed the light given to them because they loved the darkness more than the light. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. . . . So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18, 20b, ESV). Those who walk in continued willful unbelief and resist the Gospel’s and the Holy Spirit’s call do so to their own peril and shame. Those weary and heavy-laden by the darkness of this world and hear the call of love come into the light without price and shame.

“Come, everyone who thirsts, 
   come to the waters; 
 and he who has no money, 
   come, buy and eat! 
 Come, buy wine and milk 
    without money and without price. 
 Why do you spend your money
   for that which is not bread, 
    and your labor for that
      which does not satisfy? 
 Listen diligently to me, 
     and eat what is good, 
    and delight yourselves in rich food. 
 Incline your ear, and come to me; 
    hear, that your soul may live; 
 and I will make with you 
  an everlasting covenant, 
    my steadfast, sure love for David. 
 Behold, I made him a witness
      to the peoples, 
    a leader and commander
      for the peoples. 
 Behold, you shall call
   a nation that you do not know, 
   and a nation that did not know
    you shall run to you, 
 because of the LORD your God,
   and of the Holy One of Israel, 
    for he has glorified you. 

 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; 
    call upon him while he is near; 
 let the wicked forsake his way, 
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts; 
 let him return to the LORD,
   that he may have compassion on him, 
    and to our God, for he
      will abundantly pardon. 
 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
    neither are your ways my ways,
     declares the LORD. 
 For as the heavens are higher
      than the earth, 
    so are my ways higher than your ways 
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

 “For as the rain and the snow
   come down from heaven 
    and do not return there
       but water the earth, 
 making it bring forth and sprout, 
    giving seed to the sower 
     and bread to the eater, 
 so shall my word be that goes
   out from my mouth; 
    it shall not return to me empty, 
 but it shall accomplish 
  that which I purpose, 
    and shall succeed in the thing
      for which I sent it. 

 “For you shall go out in joy 
    and be led forth in peace; 
 the mountains and the hills before you 
    shall break forth into singing, 
 and all the trees of the field
      shall clap their hands. 
 Instead of the thorn shall
      come up the cypress; 
   instead of the brier shall
      come up the myrtle; 
 and it shall make a name for the LORD, 
    an everlasting sign that
      shall not be cut off.”
               (Isaiah 55, ESV)

The Word and the Spirit conquers

Regardless of the myriads of eschatological positions and arguments that are out there, there are things we can know with certainty. We can know that his covenant love for his people will not fail. We can know that Christ is our conquering King, and he will put all his enemies under his feet. We also know that whether spiritually or corporally the means by which Jesus conquers his enemies is by the Word of God.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (ESV) (Revelation 19:11-16, ESV, bold added)

In this passage whether symbolic or not, it is only the Word of God that conquers and destroys the enemies of God, although we are brought alongside Jesus as he accomplishes this. The sword in Revelation and in other scriptures are associated with the words of Jesus.

The Word of God conquers through the Gospel

When Jesus spoke of the end times, he said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14, ESV). When speaking with Pilate,

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:36–37, ESV)

And how did Jesus say this Kingdom would conquer. On his ascension, Jesus spoke to those around him and said,

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

Paul in Romans 10, states that it is through the proclamation of the Gospel, that the word of Christ is heard, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (vs 7). What Paul is saying here is not that they are hearing us speak the Gospel, but they are hearing Christ, himself, as we proclaim the Gospel. As we proclaim the Gospel the sword of the Lord goes out to conquer his enemies, and thankfully the hearts of those who have come to trust in Jesus and call upon the name of the LORD. It is through the proclamation of the Gospel that the Kingdom of God conquers the kingdoms of this world and Jesus puts his enemies under his feet.

The first proclamation of the church

Though we might find apprehension in speaking about apocalyptic scriptures, this was not the case with Peter. Peter understood the power of the Gospel both to save and put its enemies under its feet. And so, as he stepped out and preach the first message of the church. he knew the world would not be the same. And because of this, he begins his sermon by quoting of all things apocalyptic scriptures. Is it not interesting, with all the hubbub and confusion we have over these writings today, that the first words spoken in proclamation by the church were apocalyptic scriptures? And they were spoken with surety.

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

              that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

                             and your young men shall see visions,

                             and your old men shall dream dreams;

even on my male servants and female servants

                             in those days I will pour out my Spirit,

and they shall prophesy.

And I will show wonders in the heavens above

                             and signs on the earth below,

                             blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

        the sun shall be turned to darkness

                             and the moon to blood,

                             before the day of the Lord comes,

the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

(Acts 2:17–21, ESV)

Peter was bold, announcing that these scriptures were being fulfilled in the midst of them both in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and in the proclamation of the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, who had been poured out on them in the wind and fire. For it had been so from after the fall when the sound of the LORD came in the spirit of the day, that it is through the power of the Word of God and the Spirit of the Lord that God both reveals himself and invades this world to conquer it. Peter understood, that as the Gospel is spoken to the world, just as the fire consumed the enemies of God in Revelation 20, the fire of the Holy Spirit conquers our own hearts and as the Gospel is preached the world is turned upside down.

Total Destruction of God’s enemies

When an army came in devastating force to utterly destroy a city, they would raise it and set it on fire. The dense smoke would fill the air billowing as a scroll being rolled up. As it spread the dense darkness would come over the land darkening the sun, the darkness being penetrated by falling ash with the appearance of falling stars. In the filter of this smoke the moon would appear blood red. This imagery made an indelible mark on the culture of the Biblical world. When the Bible uses this imagery within eschatology, it is speaking whether literally or symbolically of the total destruction of the kingdom of this world. The Gospel has not come to play nice with the kingdom of this world. The Gospel seeks out the utter destruction of the kingdom of this world. Peter in his proclamation of the Gospel was declaring no quarter no hope for those who continued to reject the message and hold on to the kingdom of this world. Paul does the same,

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14–17, ESV)

The Gospel message both brings forth the Kingdom of God in the hearts of those who hear and obey the Gospel, but also tramples under the feet of Jesus those who refuse to hear the gracious call and insist on holding to their own kingdom.

Enemies under His feet

In a letter to Hiram king of Tyre, Solomon describes the transition of the kingdom of Israel from David to Solomon and the building of the house for the name of the LORD.

“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ (1 Kings 5:3–5, ESV)

Paul gives a similar description of Jesus,

[22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [27] For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. [28] When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:22–28, ESV, see also Hebrews 2:5–18)

Before the consummation of the Kingdom of God, Jesus who sits on the throne of David as our human representative (see more on this here) must put all his enemies under his feet. But also, as Peter says the purpose is also to bring the people of God into the Kingdom for “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, ESV). Isaiah echoes this sentiment, “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Two kingdoms

              When Jesus told to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world,” he was making clear that we are currently in a time of two worlds or two kingdoms and that the Kingdom of God would conquer as Christ speaks and bears witness to the truth. We spoke of how Paul in Romans 10 talks about how when we proclaim the Gospel it is Christ himself speaking. Luke confirms this. He starts of in Acts saying, “In my first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach . . . (Acts 1:1, ESV). In other words, the works of Christ are still active in our world both in Acts and in our world today.  When Peter stood before the crowd during the first proclamation of the church, he predicated all that he said on this fact, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Acts 2:34, ESV) This comes from Psalm 110:1 which is the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament. Peter and the apostles had a boldness to proclaim the Gospel because they understood that Jesus sat on the right hand of God on the throne of David as the rightful king of God’s people. Christ is ruling over his Kingdom here and now and is turning the kingdom of this world upside down through the proclamation of the Gospel. So yes, we live in a world where there are two kingdoms that are at war with each other. God is both building his Kingdom and calling a people to himself and treading underfoot the kingdom of this world through the Word of God. And despite appearances at times, the war is not one sided, Jesus is both bringing people to himself through his word and through his word putting his enemies under his feet. Jesus only suffers his enemies long enough to bring us into his Kingdom.

What is the practical application?

There was a bible study on the end times, and when I heard of one approach they were going to take, I asked the person leading if it in if I could come in one of the days and present the alternative view and he agreed. As I was preparing for this study, God humbled me and completely changed my plans. He pointed me to those who were faithful when Jesus came to earth the first time as a baby and contrasted them with the leaders at this time. When the magi were brought before Herod, Herod “was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “’And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel’”’” (Matthew 2:3-5). The chief priests and scribes understood what scripture had to say on this topic and got it right! They understood the prophesy but missed the coming of their Messiah all the same. But there were two, who did not miss his coming, an old man named Simeon, and an old woman named Anna, who were described as faithful and waiting for the redemption and consolation of God’s people.

When Jesus spoke of the end times, he didn’t ask his disciples to have it all figured out, he called them to be faithful, to stand, to watch, to pray, and proclaim the gospel. In doing this we are the good and faithful servant, with whom Jesus will not be ashamed to call his own. Knowing the exact details of the end times will not get you closer to the Kingdom of God. Being a faithful servant with the treasure of the Gospel will. We must remember that the power of the Kingdom of God comes from the Word of God alone and the Word of God enters our world and the world around us through the proclamation of the Gospel. So, if we want to know what to do in this interim of two ages before the consummation, it is to be faithful to this and enter the work that Jesus is doing now in this world as our rightful king. And so, as we wait for Jesus’ coming, come close to Jesus, behold him, and walk with Jesus as he speaks to the world (for he is with us to the end of the age) through the proclamation of the Gospel.

 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

Our king has told us what to do till the end of the age, so we don’t have to wonder. And more than that he has promised to be with us.

Does this mean we can’t talk about eschatology? As controversial as it is, it is when we can talk about our differences amiably that the love of Christ is shown. If we only talked as a church with those who agree with us, well even the pagans can do that. As we love each other in hardy disagreements the love of Christ is demonstrated to the world. But it is the solid commitment to the understanding that the Word of God alone conquers in the Gospel that can give us this stability to love one another, for this grand story is so bold and bright that all the different ideas on eschatology pale in comparison.

It is in our testimony that we conquer the devil, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11, ESV).

Finally, I will leave you with this, . . . in the Word of God, we will not be shaken. We are a part of a grand story of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

[18] For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest [19] and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. [20] For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” [21] Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” [22] But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, [23] and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, [24] and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

[25] See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. [26] At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” [27] This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. [28] Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, [29] for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18–29, ESV)

Be careful what you wish for . . .

Some will ask if God exists, why doesn’t he make himself completely obvious so that there is no doubt that he exists. They say that this is what they want in order for them to believe. If they had it they would believe in God. But is believing in God’s existence what they need? They foolishly make this claim because they do not understand the dangers of what they are asking. The saying is true, we must be careful what we wish for. . ..  

The demons believe and are condemned for it

You want God to reveal himself definitively and clearly in order for you to believe. But is this kind of belief enough? The scriptures tell us that the demons believe in God, and yet they are left shuddering and without hope (James 2:19). Why is this so? The answer is that they have no hope because of the fact that they believe and know that God exists. And it is their knowing God that condemns them and has left them without hope, for their rejection of God came after God made himself known to them. Therefore, there is no more that God can do for the demons, no more evidence that God can provide to convince them to change their hearts. What in you would make your response any different than the demons?  

Signs and wonders do not produce faith

We see this warning in other places throughout the Bible of people hardening their hearts despite being given signs and wonders and direct proofs of God’s existence. We see this specifically during the Exodus. Pharaoh continually hardened his heart against the signs and wonders God gave. But not only Pharaoh, but more significantly, the Israelites who had been delivered also hardened their heart and went astray, and were left without hope. After the Israelites had been given many manifold and direct proofs of God and had experienced God’s love and faithfulness and his tender care for them in the wilderness, they still lacked faith in God and failed to trust in his word. Because of this, God says of that generation that they shall never enter his rest. There was no more hope for them. Israel once again rejected God, despite all the signs and wonders Jesus performed. Despite all they had seen, they, too, hardened their hearts. This is a common pattern when God reveals himself with signs and wonders. 

An interesting note: when Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, comes to Jesus, he states, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Don’t miss that this man who was “a ruler of the Jews” doesn’t say “I believe” but he says “we believe”. Could he be speaking of the other leaders as well? It is not clear who the “we” are, but it is clear that the leadership understood that Jesus had come to destroy their world and that instead of embracing Jesus and acknowledging that his works were from God, they publicly attributed his works to Beelzebub. Jesus had come to destroy what they had known and their privilege. In the parable of the vineyard Jesus describes the leaders as ones who were willing to kill the son to protect what they had in the hopes that the vineyard would remain in their possession. There was a stubborn rejection of the signs and wonders given to them in order to protect what they had. 

Revelation only brings judgement

It is clear that the more revelation God gives us of himself, the more judgment we will incur if we continue to reject him, and if we continue to harden our hearts, there will come a day when it will be declared that we shall never enter God’s rest. 

“Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.’” (John 9:39–41) 

So, we must be careful how much we want to see because the more we see, the more we are hastening the day of our final judgment if we continue to harden our hearts. Those who claim they want a sign in order to believe are like these Pharisees: if you will not hear the gospel, you will also not be convinced by a powerful sign. We will later see that it is only the gospel that can make one believe.

God will reveal himself 

There will be a day when God makes himself fully known to humanity in a definitive and decisive way as atheists have asked, where no one can deny who he is. They won’t doubt his existence or attribute it to the failings of their mind. All eyes will see him. They will know that he is God. Atheists will confess that he is God with no doubt in their minds. But on that day, our fate will be sealed. On that day, every knee will bow down and confess that he is Yahweh. But for many, like the demons, this bowing and confession will be to their judgment. For having knowledge and acknowledging who God is and his sovereignty is not enough.  

If like the Jewish leaders, we believe that God owes you an extraordinary sign to prove his existence, even if your request was granted, like the Jewish leaders who contributed the miracles to the work of Beelzebub, we too, would find some other explanation other than being willing to hear the call of God. We are not much different than the Israelites in the wilderness or the Jewish leaders who saw the works of God.  

Those who ask God to reveal himself in this way do not understand what they are asking. If God made himself known, as many atheists have asked, then that day would be their judgment day. They would perish without hope. We cannot presume that we would repent, even if we saw the most ardent proof of God. And so again, we need to be careful what we ask for, for just as the demons determined their own fate despite such evidence, if God gave us what we asked for, God could do nothing more after that to rescue us. 

But I would repent 

Some may say, “But my heart would change, I would repent if I saw that kind of evidence!” I know many believe this, but would it be enough? Just as belief is not enough, so repentance is not enough to rescue us from ourselves. It is unlikely we would change, but even if we did and let’s say lived a perfect life, the Christian faith requires something more profound than living a moral life. It requires dying to ourselves and losing our lives, not a frantic attempt to save it by changing our outward behavior in order to be rescued from judgment. Blaise Pascal wrote, “God has given evidence sufficient for those with an open and an open heart, but it is sufficiently vague as not to compel those whose hearts are closed”. God is not interested in “compelled hearts”. 

No, God has given enough evidence for us to believe; we are just really good at suppressing his call. We are like children playing on the playground who don’t want to listen to their parent calling to them from afar off to come home. Because they want to continue to play, they suppress that call. And like these children, we want to continue in our own way, and so we suppress the call of God to come home. And just because the parent leaves their home and no longer yells from afar, but shows up on the playground and makes it clear that their child is to return home, and the child yields to their parents demand and walks with them home, this does not mean that the child’s heart values their parent’s voice in that moment more than the playground. Given the chance, if not compelled, they would rush back to the playground without hesitation.  

Of course, the analogy would be more fitting if instead of playing in the playground, the kids were playing on a busy highway. For though the pleasures of this world are intoxicating, they are fleeting and in the end, cause us harm. Peter describes our love for the things of this world as vomit and mire, 

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:20–22) 

Yes, if God showed up, we might submit, but our hearts would still be attached to this world. Know one who is attached to this world can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Pride is destructive both to the person and those around them, and it has no place in the Kingdom of God.  

Was Esau able to find hope in this kind of repentance? His weeping and tears were those of bitterness, loss, and sorrow but not of a broken heart or of a man who had died to himself. We do not realize how much sin and pride have infected our hearts. Just as one gets used to a horrid rotting smell after a while, we have gotten used to the depths of our sin and see them as light. We are used to the smell of death that sin brings. But Jesus made it clear that if we say a harsh word to another that we are far more infected by sin and pride than we realize. If we look at another with lust, we are subject to eternal judgment. Jesus made it clear that none of us are as good as we think we are and justly deserve judgment. Our passions and desires are at war with one another and with God.  

We would not embrace God 

Do not think that if God gave us direct revelation that you would embrace him or want to be near him. Apart from Christ, just as Adam fled and hid from God, so we, too, will shrink back and flee from God’s presence. Those who love darkness do not want to be in the light. Gehenna is described as a place of darkness; and it is described with qualities that are in opposition to God. This is one of the ironies of the fate of those who reject God, 

     Woe to those who draw iniquity 
       with cords of falsehood,  
          who draw sin as with cart ropes,  
     who say: “Let him be quick,  
          let him speed his work  
          that we may see it;  
     let the counsel of the Holy One
      of Israel draw near,  
          and let it come, 
           that we may know it!”  
     Woe to those who call evil good  
          and good evil,  
     who put darkness for light  
          and light for darkness,  
     who put bitter for sweet  
          and sweet for bitter!  
     Woe to those who are wise 
       in their own eyes,  
          and shrewd in their own sight! 
                (Isaiah 5:18–21) 

We reject God because we think our way of doing things is good and God’s way of doing things is evil. The irony is that because we love the darkness, we will abandon God, and in doing so, we will abandon the source of life, light, love, joy, goodness, etc., and flee to dwell in a place that has none of these things to be free of God’s presence. It would not matter if God showed up because we would not want to come to him if he did. 

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19–20) 

Let’s suppose I dwelt in a dark cave for a long time, and all of a sudden, I found myself in a bright open field. What would my response to the light be? For those who only have knowledge of God, this light is unbearable. They cover their eyes and shrink back. They do not want to be near God. They will not be able to bear standing before God. 

     Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
         And who shall stand in his holy place? 
            (Psalm 24:3)    

Only those found in Jesus and who are a completely new creation can stand in the light and embrace it. Without Jesus, no one can approach God. But for those apart from Christ, they are unable to stand and do not want to be in his presence. This response to rejecting God and fleeing his presence is deeper and more ingrained in us than someone in a cave being exposed to light. If God showed up, we would not embrace him; instead, like roaches fleeing when the light is turned on, we would frantically flee to a place of darkness. The same light that opens a world of beauty for those who love the light is torment for those who love darkness. Our hearts must change if we are to be able to be near God. No amount of evidence would change this. We are no better than the demons, Pharoh, the Israelites, or the Pharisees. Thankfully, God has presented himself through Jesus in human flesh, breaking the veil that kept God separated and hidden so that we might be able to stand before God on the day he is fully revealed, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. Those who have come to the Lion of Judah and embrace him in love will not flee like the wicked,  

The wicked flee when no one pursues,  but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1) 

the lion, which is mightiest among beasts, and does not turn back before any (Proverbs 30:30)

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:39) 

I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. (2 Corinthians 11:1–4, ESV)

Have you ever been haunted by the feeling that you are unworthy? For me, no matter how long I have walked in the Christian faith, this feeling innately lurks and threatens to engulf me. As I look around, I see so many others who have it all together. I listen to sermons that talk about what the Christian life is supposed to look like. And I know that this is not a category I belong to. . .. Regrettably, it is true, I am unworthy, unable to meet this ideal of the Christian walk that I hear about. I am not the “Christian example” or “witness to the world” that I am told I am supposed to be.

We often hear of our need to grow in our walk as Christians to experience this thing called sanctification. We might hear someone expound on the disciplines of the faith or give us so and so many steps to growth or freedom, or this is what it means to be a Godly man or a woman, husband, wife, or parent. Or this is how to conduct business in a Christian fashion. We might be told how we must love those around us by others, with them following up, “oh, by the way here are some more practical steps on how to accomplish this.” Or we might be given a rousing sermon on the need for us to go forth into the world to preach the Gospel. And in this kind of preaching, we often see vigorous movement and passion. People take hold of this advice and apply it to their lives. There is church growth and a lot of great accomplishments. But if we are not careful there is a deeper hidden danger threatening to tear us apart.

These kinds of teachings abound with tips and advice on living the Christian life. And while there is often some value and truth in the advice that is given, the central message of the Gospel is easily missed if we are not careful. When this happens it leaves me discontented and with the stark understanding of the contrast in my own life to the message being taught. I have not lived up to nor do I feel like I can be the man I am being asked to be. I am not the man I want to be. I flounder in my attempts to live up to these standards. My heart is there, but my flesh tumbles and falls making an obvious show of my failures. And if I am honest, and compare myself to the law of God, I am an utter failure, every day, every moment, every breath. Even if I can accomplish these tasks outwardly, in my heart, I am not there. I don’t love as I ought. I don’t spend time with God as I ought. In fact, I can say with Paul, “Wretched man that I am!” And as Paul knew, I know deep down those platitudes, steps, disciplines, programs, no thing can save me from my plight. Even if I were able to accomplish all this, they don’t satisfy the deep longings in my heart for something more. Living by these standards leaves me empty. So, is there hope for me? “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24, emphasis mine)

Most Christian’s understand that before coming to the faith, without Christ, we were hopeless and unable to save ourselves. We heartily confess that it is by faith alone in Christ alone that we are saved. But often after coming to faith in Christ, we forget how hopeless we are, and we try to muster up our own sanctification. We have this cognitive dissonance and become foolish as we comically try to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, forgetting our helpless state without Jesus. In our pride, we want something we can call our own. And having a law or steps we can follow makes life easy. But if you have been a Christian long enough, you have seen many who lived by these kinds of standards, only to either fall or be entrapped by it. And it becomes clear that this kind of life is not the life the Gospel has called us to. For in this pursuit of good works, we have turned aside and have been led astray from the sincere and pure devotion to Jesus. Paul fights this kind of understanding of the Christian life, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh” (Galatians 3:1-3, ESV)? The reason this kind of pursuit fails is because, “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law and do them” (3:10). If living the perfect Christian life is our goal, we will miss out on the Gospel, and we have left God to walk on our own, and we are standing on shaky ground. Tablets of stone or a set of guidelines cannot change a heart, only one who lives and acts and loves can have any effect on our hearts. When we come to him, Jesus’ love can overflow in our hearts because he lives, and he is the author and perfector of our faith. God has not called us to walk by good advice, he has called us to walk in the good news.

So how do we walk as Christians? What is sanctification? Does not Paul also say we are to turn away from sin and that we are not supposed to be like the world? Indeed, this is true, things like loving my wife and children, living in chastity, and practically loving others are good things and are important, but we do not accomplish “holiness” as the world does or as we did before we came to Christ. A man of the world can follow rules and steps to a good life, and some are quite remarkable at this, but this is not the walk God has called us to. We must take caution and not be deceived, for evil often appears to be good for us and a delight and necessary to make one wise. These steps and methods appear good, pleasant, and wise, but can lead to death. We think we are walking in good works, yet in truth these kinds of efforts are fruitless for instead of walking by the Spirit, we are walking in the flesh, in our desires, and in the pride of life. And with time this kind of “good fruit” if eaten will only become foul smelling rotten fruit and casts us away from the presence of God. What tasted good and seemed satisfying will only cause our stomachs to lurch. It will not last. And like I said before, if you have been in the Christian walk long enough, you will find that many who try to walk this way, fail. Martin Luther understood this and sang out with gusto, “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing” (A Might Fortress is Our God). The reason following good advice, rules, or steps in the Christian faith fail are because in the end it is your own work that you are relying on. When you rely on your own effort all that you are left with is yourself and what you have accomplished. And we don’t make good and lasting foundations. We in ourselves are as wavering as the sea. We need to be astonished and pushed outside of ourselves by something far greater. We must die to ourselves. If we want eternal fruit, sanctification must be built on a stronger foundation. Keep in mind, your good works were not enough before you came to Christ, they will not be good enough after we have come to Christ. We must be careful not to be lured by craftiness or what appears to be wise. We ought not go back to our own vomit and try to present them as delicacies. We don’t have to live a façade, trying to lift ourselves up in front of the world. The Gospel message is not showing the world a “good Christian life”. This is contrary to the Gospel of Christ. Thankfully, God offers us something far more beautiful than the wisdom of this world.

Jesus spoke to our shame when he spoke to the woman at the well in John 4, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” When approached with this understanding, we are often like the woman, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” For us this call is like trying to walk on water, it looks like it will end in utter failure. We will say, let’s be practical and keep our feet on the earth and not have our heads in the clouds. And so instead of coming to him, we continue to try to build ourselves up by our own methods and as Israel we look to others to defeat our enemy only to be pierced on the reeds we lean on. To this Jesus warns and gives assurance, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” So, what is sanctification? It is continuing our walk as we began it, completely and utterly dependent on Jesus as our source of living water. It is coming more and more to trust in the Gospel. Do we not know innately that this is the case with glorification as well.  Do we think we will be romping about around God’s throne boasting in our own merit. Of course not, we will all cast our crowns with great joy at the feet of Jesus and declare that these things we have are from him alone and to the glory of God alone. As our understanding of God’s Holiness increases, so also our understanding of our need of the Gospel and our unworthiness of it will also increase. And this understanding will fill our hearts with joy bursting forth in praise for all eternity.

And what does Paul say is the walk of a mature Christian. It is saying with Paul, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes from faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith –”(Philippians 3:8-9, ESV) He later goes on to say, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you” (12-15). The walk of maturity is not relying on our works or holiness, but a walk toward relying on Jesus and what he has done for us in the Gospel more and more.

To those who want to stand on something more earthy or want to boast in methods they have achieved, Paul in Colossians 3 writes, “Put to death therefor what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). And what does Paul give as the power to put these earthly things to death. Is it our own efforts? Is it methods or steps? No, he tells us to look to Christ. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden in Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4, ESV)

It is when we behold Jesus our Teacher that are idols become an abomination to us.

your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!” (Isaiah 30:20b–22, ESV)

Ah yes, there is a famous scene paraded across many videos of two people in love, or perhaps a parent and a young child, running toward each other after having been apart. If they are carrying something heavy that is slowing them down they throw it off with abandon, so they can run faster toward the one they love. Is running toward Jesus practical? I believe it is the most practical method of defeating sin. The writer of Hebrews assures us of this, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,” (Hebrews 12:1-2b, ESV). It is only in looking to and running toward Jesus that our idols truly become repugnant and loathsome. Running after the love of Jesus through faith provides the highest repulsion for sin.

As we behold the beauty of Jesus the things of this world will begin to pale in comparison. Repenting and turning away from the kingdom of darkness becomes natural when you are entranced by the beauty of the Kingdom of God. Walking in holiness is like a king spreading a banquet before ones who are used to eating odious slop and filth. When we are entranced by beauty and the savory smell of the food, it is not difficult to give up slop to revel in God’s delicacies. The Bible is clear that we do not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, this word being Jesus. For, “this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). And Jesus is the object of this feast. Jesus made it clear, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35, ESV). For he had declared, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (6:29). And “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (6:40)

In the same way, a tree planted by water does not find it difficult to bear fruit, nor does not boast of its great ability. It is the natural outcome of its reliance on the water. When we come to Jesus, we are no longer planted in this world but are planted in Jesus. And we grow not by our own efforts, but as his love and the power of the Gospel sustains us. We are not perfect yet, nor will we be made perfect on earth, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV). Yet he has promised that one day we will see him face to face. And it is in seeing him face to face that we will be glorified. Perfection or glorification will not come by works but will like all else come only by seeing Jesus. It is in beholding the Lamb of God, and trusting in Him, that we will be made perfect, for it is from faith to faith. “Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2, ESV). To the world beholding someone is a foolish way to grow, give us a method give us some thing, but to those who wish to work to this foolishness, God says, cease your striving, while it is called Today, enter my rest, come to the one who gives life, come to Jesus.

 “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:27-31, ESV).

And this is the good news, because of what Christ has done, we can come to God and come near to the throne of grace. And Jesus cries out to all those who are enveloped with shame, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV).

God will not tolerate any god beside him, including self-righteousness. Do not think that the man who outwardly leads his family well and has amazing obedient children, but relies on his own effort, will have his works stand before God. No, give me a man utterly struggling in sin, but who knows his only hope is in Jesus. No one is without sin. We all struggle. There is no man, that does not fit this description. And it is the broken that understand this is who they are and their need of the Gospel. Jesus alone is the cornerstone, the sure foundation by which we stand. All things not built on this foundation will be shaken and destroyed. Let us not use the name of Jesus in vain, but solely trust in him and call upon him, trusting in his work and worth alone.

With this in mind, there is no shame, no boasting. Our greatest righteousness is filthy rags. You and I have nothing to boast of before our fellow man. Note this, Paul does not say maturity is obtaining some thing. This is important as we tend to look at outward appearances and deeds as a sign of maturity. He says maturity is our pursuit toward the goal of knowing our need for Jesus and a righteousness that comes from him alone. Maturity is pursuing someone. Jesus alone can satisfy our hunger and thirst. And Paul goes on and reveals that he has not even perfected this pursuit but is relying on the perfector of our faith to accomplish this kind of faith. This kind of walk does not cause us to focus on ourselves, evaluating whether or not we meet some standard of holiness or pursuit of Christ. We don’t have time for that, for we are looking at Jesus, trusting in him alone and not in ourselves. And the reality is as we come to know Jesus more, the more we come to understand God’s holiness, and the more we understand God’s holiness, the more we understand our unworthiness and our desperate need for the cross. It is never about us. We are fellow beggars pointing not to our goodness as an example to follow, but instead we point away from ourselves to Jesus. He alone is our hope. We no longer judge by outward appearances, nor do we concern ourselves with these trivial things. Instead in our desperate state we stand in awe of the beauty of Jesus.

Nor do we shrink back when our sin is exposed by others, but instead rejoice, for faithful and beautiful are the wounds of a friend. As there is no boasting, there is no shame. In this knowledge of our state as a “wretched man”, we can be vulnerable. Exhortation we receive, becomes an act of loving devotion, that like oil poured on the head brings refreshing and healing as it helps us to run faster toward Jesus (Proverbs 27:6, Psalm 141:5, also read more on this here). As someone running toward a beloved, I want anything that is hindering me from seeing Jesus to be exposed, pride is one of those things that just slow me down, and so let these precious wounds come, for I want to see Jesus more. Exhortation is not one man trying to lift another man up out of the pit. Exhortation is two men encouraging each other to trust that the rope, aka the Gospel message, pulling them up out of the pit is strong enough to not break and the one who is pulling them up, Jesus, is strong enough to complete the task. It is saying to one another don’t let go of your hope in Jesus.

After Paul says to set our minds on the things that are above, for our life is hidden in Christ, again with this in mind, he states,

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12–17, ESV)

So yes, though we do not strive like the world, or give advice like the world, we do speak into one another’s lives. We may even say similar things, for example, I might tell my brother, “Go love your children”, because I trust the Shephard who has called us to love others, but the core and the message are starkly different. I don’t push him toward himself, instead I call him to behold the Lamb of God, knowing it is in this alone that he and I can love our children as Christ loves us. We are both aware he and I are completely and utterly helpless to love our children without Christ, and we are only calling each other to take hold of Christ. Our Shephard is faithful to take care of his sheep. He will help me to love others, even when I completely fail to love others. And when I say this to my brother I don’t have any remote thought of, “I have obtained this” or “I am better or more spiritual”. On the contrary, I understand my need for my brother to likewise encourage me to trust in the Gospel of Christ for my own heart is so quick to wonder from the simplicity and sole devotion to Christ alone and instead look to the fruit as my hope, instead of feasting on Christ alone.

But here is also another benefit. Jesus is our Shephard and the one at work to accomplish what he has begun. Because Jesus is at work in us, and because we can trust in his work alone. We no longer have to look at ourselves for sanctification or good works. We have the freedom to jump out there and attempt to love our children and completely and utterly fail, because we know that even in our failure Christ will not fail. We don’t sit in a hole or put our head in the sand and hide, till we get things perfect, but have the freedom to run this race, because he who began his work in us promises to complete it. We are not bound by the law or perfection, but instead held by mighty hands. “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me (Psalm 63:8).

As sheep our goal is to know the Shephard’s voice for it is the voice of God that has the power to change our hearts. For we do not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, which is the Logos, Jesus. So, let us “be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you” (Psalm 32:9, ESV). Read Psalm 32, these words are not for one who is perfect, but for the sinner. For the one whom God does not count their sin against them. God is not looking for the perfect man, but one whose heart is after him. He desires us to simply come to him. O sinner!, let us run to and come near Jesus with all abandonment, for “whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25, ESV), knowing that “my flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (73:26). Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith, and he will complete the work he has begun, despite our shame, despite our foolishness, despite our failures. So come near without fear all who are weary.

I have had friends come to me with their struggles with sin, and I will tell them my main focus is not your sin but to point you to Jesus and I need the same from you in my own life. Our struggles with sin will never end till we see Jesus, face to face. So we should not be surprised or shocked that we or our fellow brothers and sisters struggle with sin. Repentance is walking away from the world and sin and yes our own good works, toward Christ. We must remember our hope is not in overcoming sin, but in the Gospel alone. We might “overcome” a sin, but this does not bring us closer to Christ. The Gospel alone brings us into the presence of God, and it is his presence that refines our dross as fire refines silver.

Nor is my hope in the fruit Christ has born in my life or the sin I have overcome. A tree bearing fruit does not rely on its fruit to stay alive, nor does it suddenly lose its desperate need for the water. Without Christ we are nothing. A strong motivation for me to speak Christ into others is because I realize I desperately need them to be speaking Christ into my own life. Though I have partaken of a delicacy another brother has not and want to share it with him, I can be assured he has probably partaken of many more delicacies that I have not tried that I will be the better for. And who wants to miss out on a glorious feast? How silly it would be for either of us to boast in something neither of us has prepared or be in awe of each other for sharing what has been given to us by Jesus.

And here is also a warning for those who love the world, you are not invited to the King’s banquet to leave it to go back and delight in refuse. You cannot presume you are planted by water when you refuse to drink from the river because you love the desert. Those who love this world will not come to Jesus, for they love the darkness more than the light. Those who refuse to come to Jesus and abide and rest in him alone, will continue to be thirsty and hungry. And those who try to get in through the gate by any other means than Jesus, including good works, will be cast out. And so the message of the church is to call everyone to Jesus alone as the wellspring and bread of life.

As is written, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16, ESV) We need each other, we are not built into Christ alone. I cannot do this without even the so-called least of my brothers. Since we will all be made perfected in Christ when we see him and are now being perfected in his timing and wisdom, on what grounds do we have to look down on another? Do we question the author and perfector of our faith or our brother’s faith? “On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” We don’t abandon each other even when it is rough. Even the heathen can love someone easy to get along with.  But we have come to a beauty far greater than what is known among the heathens. The beauty of Christ can only be known more fully as we live our lives together. It is the pursuit of this beauty that binds us to one another. For we become more like Jesus as we live our messy lives together and as we speak the Gospel into each other’s lives, exhorting and pointing each other to the enveloping beauty of Jesus, for Jesus has taken on our shame. So as we live our messy lives together, we rejoice because “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox” (Proverbs 14:4). Again like Paul made clear we are not yet perfect. We are all “wretched”. So we cannot expect a clean barn. But Christ is at work in all this and there will be a glorious harvest.

Good advice causes us to hide our failures, good news allows us to walk honestly without fear, and even gives us a longing for exhortation, for our worth is caught up in Jesus. We have died to ourselves. Our failures or the failures of others loses its luster in the beauty and light of the Gospel. God is near the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18, 51:17, 147:3; Isaiah 57:15, 66:2) and he holds us close to himself. There truly is no place for boasting in the body of Christ. And unlike methods and steps, Christ alone who is the cornerstone, our true foundation is the only one who can stand against the chaos of this world. So, may we to be found in Him and encourage each other in our pursuit of Jesus, the one who is the Lord of my shame, and the Lord of my sinful heart.

For “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:27-28, ESV).

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “the righteous will live by faith”. (Romans 1:17)

       Those who do not come, feel like they have a legitimate reason not to come . . . . they will gnash their teeth in anger when they are not allowed to enter the kingdom, though they refused the invitation. God’s wrath will abide in them

  

     But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ”

   Luke 14:16–24 (ESV)