Adam, Noah, many Nimrods, Abram, Abraham, Jesus, and you...

From Adam to Abraham

(1 Chronicles 1:1-27, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 26, 2017)

[1] Adam, Seth,... [4] Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, [24] Shem,... [27] Abram, that is, Abraham.

Adam

This amazing and uplifting two-volume series written by a priestly man who we will call the Chronicler, begins with the name of the first man, Adam. The Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament insist that we take this very seriously. Adam existed as the bearer of the image of God, and even as the non-divine son of God (Luke 3:38). He eventually had a son named Seth through whom the line to Noah was born. Adam violated a covenant with God (Hosea 6:7) and in his sin, all humanity fell, and death reigned over this broken world (Romans 5:14 and 1 Corinthians 15:22). But Adam hoped (Genesis 3:20).

Noah

Noah and the eight people in his family were the only representatives of an old world to make it through the flood, which again the entire Bible insists that we take seriously. We cannot have true, historic, resurrection, victory-over-death Christianity and reject Adam and the fall of mankind or Noah and the flood that destroyed the world that once was. All people on earth today are descended from Adam and Noah. Noah was a man of faith in a very dark age. Hebrews 11:7 tells us, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Peter, the same Peter who was a simple fisherman chosen by Jesus to be a leading herald of the events of the coming of the Son of God, writes in 2 Peter 2:5 that God “did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

The mighty man, the kingdoms of this world, and the scattering of the nations

The flood was a new beginning, but it was not the end of sin on the earth. The Chronicler, through the use of selective genealogy and occasional brief commentary, teaches us about the problem of human beings impressed with our own glory. Nimrod, associated by the Hebrew prophet Micah with the origins of the great and brutal Assyrian empire, is simply noted here as “the first on earth to be a mighty man.” The words “on earth” could also be translated “in the land,” perhaps referring to the land of Canaan which would eventually be given to God's chosen people.

The Chronicler is well aware of the various mighty people groups and empires that showed great interest in this little piece of land. He writes of the Egyptians, the Philistines, all the various groups that were the Canaanites, and the powers to the east including the Syrians and the Assyrians. He also notes that these groups came into existence in the days of one “Peleg” whose name means “division.” “In his days the earth was divided.” This reminds any reader aware of the earlier Hebrew Scriptures of the Tower of Babel incident. It was God who scattered the great men who wanted to make a name for themselves.

One of the points of 1 and 2 Chronicles is that Almighty God has a purpose. He has a purpose for all of the scattered people groups of the earth, with all their mighty men and their impressive empires. Through all this great variety, the community of Jesus Christ has become richer and fuller than they ever could have been if the Lord had kept everyone all together. Out of these various groups that descended from Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, have come not only man-glorifying tyrants, but also God-glorifying Christians.

Abram, that is, Abraham.

That brings us to the last name on the list, Abram, who was given another name by the Almighty. Abram would not have been recognized by kings and rulers as a mighty man on the face of the earth. But Abram was chosen by God. His original name almost seems like a cynical joke for a man who could not father a child with his own bride—“exalted father.” Yet God made Abram's name even greater by calling him “Abraham”—“father of a multitude.” In Genesis 17:5 we read, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”

Even before this nobody from nowhere received his new name, the Lord had promised him that “through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The Chronicler very swiftly and skillfully takes us through the history from Adam to Abraham just by mentioning names and a very few additional words. The names he chose were not random. They show a divine purpose.

When Matthew writes his gospel of Jesus as the divine King come in the flesh, he begins with this summary from Matthew 1:1, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Many people have wanted to be considered the rightful spiritual heirs of Abraham, but God alone was able to raise up the true sons of this patriarch (Luke 3:8). Why is that? The real children of Abraham follow him in faith. Abraham believed in the promise of God. Consider this interchange between Jesus and some Jewish leaders from John 8:56-59.

56 … “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

The Lord had a great plan to save a multitude through the coming of the great I-AM in the flesh. Left to our own devices, the best we can hope for is to finish our lives as a famous “mighty man” and then go the way of all flesh. God has a better genealogy for us. He intends that we would be sons of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 and 2 Chronicles were originally written to prepare God's chosen people for life back in the Promised Land where the line of kings would once again continue while people waited for the Messiah to come. I announce to you today that He has come. He is the Lord of history, and He is your Lord. He has called you.

The history of humanity is a story with a purpose. The exiles of Judah in the days of Ezra needed to know that. We also must embrace the truths of biblical history to avoid an overestimation of those who would make us subjects of their tyranny. We are children of the King of kings who has bought us and our people new dignity; humble not arrogant, joyful not gloomy. We need to understand our true history by the Word of the Lord. Good news! We shall inherit the earth.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 7 – The Lord judges the peoples

Gospel Reading—Matthew 6:16-18 – [16] And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [17] But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, [18] that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Victory by: #3 of 3 - True Worship of the Lord God through His Son

Jesus is True—Keep Yourselves from Idols

(1 John 5:20-21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 12, 2017)

[20] And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. [21] Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

One final word from John (at least in this brief letter)

Idols. We in the church, as we face centuries of spiritual warfare, have been told to keep ourselves from idols. We know and acknowledge the Son of God, Jesus, who is Messiah, true God, and our eternal life. He has come and has given us understanding. Everyone knows that there is a God, but not everyone has spiritual understanding. Jesus is not an idol. No one else can take His place, nor do we have any description of Him that we could use to make an image. Any image of Him would have to be false witness.

Two Kings that have a measure of light for us

Solomon was a great man of knowledge. We are told one particular story about His wisdom. Two women were arguing over a baby. One was the real mother, the other one was lost in a lie. Solomon had a method to discover the truth. But what if he had not been so wise? What if he had given the baby to the wrong mother? The weight of living out any lie is too heavy for us to carry.

Jesus is Solomon's King and ours. He is the truth. He is the Word that spoke light into being. We cannot successfully live a lie before Him. When He confronts our idolatry, He calls us out of the darkness and into the light, out of death and into eternal life, out of the lie and into truth.

Three commandments to consider

#1. You shall have no other gods. The first kind of idol represents a non-god as God.

#2. You shall not make an idol of anything. You shall not bow down to it or serve it. The second kind of idol uses a non-god in a futile effort to please the true God in our own way.

#9. You shall not bear false witness against the Triune God or in particular against the Son of God. When you worship the first kind of idol, you bear false witness against God with the use of false non-gods. When you worship the second kind of idol, you especially bear false witness against the Jesus of the Scriptures who is the visible image of the invisible God, the only way to God, and the one Mediator through whom we offer up worship agreeable to God's will.

At first it might feel good to have an idol, either the first or the second kind. But like the pretend mother who has found a child that is not hers, idolatry is a lie. It is powerless to win this war.

The true worship of God through Jesus Christ is mighty for overcoming the world. Idols have their own attraction which must be resisted. To avoid what is false, all of our worship must be directed by the Scriptures, the Spirit-inspired Word of Truth.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 5 – My King and My God

Gospel Reading—Matthew 6:9-13 – [9] Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. [10] Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily bread, [12] and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Victory by: #2 of 3 - Confident Prayer for Regular Church Sinners

Life, Death, and Prayer

(1 John 5:13-19, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 5, 2017)

[13] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. [14] And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. [16] If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. [17] All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. [18] We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. [19] We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

This morning's passage is not an easy one. To start, we can identify certain matters that John states with confidence, as if we should already understand them, and yet we do not.

1. If we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.
2. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but He who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

Wrong over-extensions of the plain language of these verses might cause us to imagine that John is saying that we can get anything that we want right now even if God is against it, and secondly, that real Christians don't ever sin. Yet these incorrect interpretations are denied in other passages by John and other New Testament writers. John is well aware that Jesus Himself immediately prior to His death on the cross asked for something that He was denied and He added in Luke 22:42, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Paul pleaded three times with the Lord in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 that a “thorn in the flesh” be removed from him, and the only answer he received was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” On the question of Christians sinning, 1 John 1:8 says plainly, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

A third matter is perhaps more difficult. John refers to “sin that leads to death.” What is this? The apostle instructs his readers that “I do not say that one should pray for that,” that is, to pray that God would give a person “life” who was in a state of “sin that leads to death.” Is he prohibiting prayer of a certain kind or is there something else going on here?

To sort this out, we must understand that the church is the community of holiness and life. To be outside the church is death. In passages such as 1 Corinthians 5, Paul instructs the church that there are certain sins that are so serious that they must be met with humble but uncompromising action for the glory of God, and for the good of the church and also the person stuck in sin. Paul instructs the church regarding a man involved in a very scandalously immoral relationship that “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” This is an example of a situation that requires more than prayer. John is not talking about that situation in his remarks about prayer, but about everyday sin.

That you may know

So yes, John knows that we can't always get what we want, that we still do sin (though we should not), and that sins in the church require action that separates an individual from the community of life. See 1 John 2:19 for more on that. With these things said, what is clear within this passage? Think of the context. John is writing in this chapter about the church overcoming the world. Notice verses 13, 18, and 19 in this passage. We overcome by 1) the testimony of God's Word, 2) something that is our main focus today (confident prayer, especially for life for everyday sinning brothers and sinners), and 3) the worship of the true and living God.

What about this confident prayer? Notice verses 14 and 15 for the general point. Even if we join Jesus in rightly saying, “not my will, but Yours, be done,” we should still pray with boldness when we believe that we are asking for that which God wants us to request. We not only have eternal life, but with it comes the privilege of confident biblical prayer. God hears us, and He uses our prayers for the spiritual battle in which we are engaged.

Life with a brother or sister committing a sin not leading to death

Now on to the central matter that could change our lives: We need to care about sin and pray for life. The most important part of this passage is stated in the first part of verse 16. “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life.”

Consider Job. He cared about sin within the religious unit of his family, and he was commended for turning to God and seeking life for his children. After his children spent time together celebrating, Job had an unusual practice that we read about in Job 1:5. “And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did continually.”

We do not want to see harm come upon our brothers and sisters in the church. If we have a conflict with one of them, do we have the habit of offering up prayers to God for that person, asking God to give them “life” and not death?

Paul wrote to the church in Philippi to thank them for their gift. In the process of completing that task he called out two woman who were quarreling. He said in Philippians 4:2-3, “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” Their problem was not their own. Every “true companion” was called upon to “help these women” with the confidence that their “names are in the book of life.”

This starts with bold prayer to God. We ask not only for forgiveness for our own selves but for the whole church by name. We do not want the weight of death to be upon the holy people of life. Unrepentant sin is a burden that none of us can bear. It will drag us down if we do not find a friend to lift us out of the mess. The Son of God is that friend. He can give us life, and we should seek life for one another in prayer. Simple confident prayer is a gift for all those who have been born of God. We should use that blessing for the benefit of our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, that they might grow toward the abundant life that God has for His children.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 4 – Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 6:7-8 – [7] And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. [8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.