JTR
Monday, September 27, 2021
Friday, September 24, 2021
The Vision (9.24.21): The Humiliation of Jesus Christ
Image: Roses, North Garden, Virginia, September 2021
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon in our afternoon series on the Apostles' Creed.
Philippians 2:8: And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
When the godly men of old who compiled the Reformed confessions
and catechisms discussed the incarnational ministry of Christ, they generally
spoke of it as coming in two “states” or circumstances: his state of humiliation
and his state of exaltation.
Consider Spurgeon’s Baptist Catechism:
Q. 26: Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
A: Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that
in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life,
the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and
continuing under the power of death for a time.
Q. 27: Wherein consists Christ’s exaltation?
A: Christ’s exaltation consists in his rising again from the
dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right
hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.
The second of six subsections in the Apostles’ Creed
addressing the second person of the Godhead (following, “And in Jesus Christ
his only Son, our Lord”), notes six Biblical facts about the incarnation of
Christ, all related to his “humiliation” (numbers added):
Who was (1) conceived by the Holy Ghost, (2) born of the
Virgin Mary, (3) suffered under Pontius Pilate, was (4) crucified, (5) dead,
and (6) buried.
The
believer is one who discovers that God had done something for him in the Lord Jesus
that he cannot begin to fathom. The second person of the eternal Godhead entered
into a state of humiliation for us.
We
could not ascend to him; he had to condescend to us.
He
entered the womb; he was born; he suffered; he was crucified; he died; he was
buried.
Here’s
another way Paul put it: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that,
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his
poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
The
believer is one who affirms this truth and stands before it with wonder, admiration,
awe, and gratitude.
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Augustine, Harmony of the Evangelists.1.19-21: God worshipped alone, or not at all
Notes:
1.19: The proof that God is the true God.
Augustine continues to ask why the pagan Romans refuse to
offer worship to the Biblical God in the manner in which he desires to be
worshipped. He adds: “For unless he is worshipped alone, He is really not
worshipped at all.” He suggests that even the pagans will admit that their
deities have show less power than the one true God.
1.20: Of the fact that nothing is discovered to have been
predicted by the prophets of the pagans in opposition to the God of the
Hebrews.
Augustine here declares that the prophets of the pagan Gods,
like those of Sibyl, never predicted that the God of the Hebrews would be
worshipped by men of all nations. He makes reference to the devils confessing
Christ during his performance of exorcisms, but notes, “their contention is
that they were invented by our party.” In contrast to the pagan prophets, he
calls attention to the Old Testament prophets who accurately predicted the
coming of Christ.
1.21: An argument for the exclusive worship of this God, who,
while He prohibits other deities from being worshipped, is not Himself
interdicted by other divinities from being worshipped.
Augustine poses a logical challenge to his pagan opponents,
based on two contradictory opinions:
First, their religion claim that all gods are to be
worshipped. Why then do they not worship the God of the Hebrews?
Second, the God of the Hebrews demands exclusive allegiance.
If they worship him aright, why then do they not put away the other gods?
He closes with this question: “Who is this God, who thus
harasses all the gods of the Gentiles, who thus betrays all their sacred rites,
who thus renders them extinct?”
Conclusion:
Augustine continues to press the superiority of the God of
the Bible to the pagan gods. He especially makes the point that whereas the
pagan gods did not demand exclusive allegiance, the God of the Hebrews was
intolerant and demanded the exclusive allegiance of his worshippers. He also
contrasts the pagan prophets to the Biblical prophets. In this work on the
Gospels, it is important for Augustine to note the religious clash between the
intolerant God of the Bible and the supposedly tolerant gods of paganism.
Friday, September 17, 2021
The Vision (9.17.21): Lord, save us: we perish
And his disciples came
to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish (Matthew 8:25).
In Matthew’s account
of Christ in the tempest in Matthew 8:23-27, we have the setting (v. 23), the
crisis (v. 24), the appeal (v. 25), the intervention (v. 26), and the reaction
(v. 27).
Let’s examine the
appeal of the disciples, which begins “And his disciples came to him, and awoke
him….” (v. 25a).
This is a reminder
that the disciples of Christ can always come to their Master in the times of
their distress. In Matthew 28:11 Christ will say to his followers: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.” We must not hesitate to come to him.
Notice
the petition or prayer that the disciples offer. This is a model prayer for the
individual who is seeking salvation from the Lord. It is also a model corporate
prayer for the church, as it cries out for the Lord to deliver his flock from
trouble.
The
petition has two parts:
First, there is crying out to God for salvation: “Lord,
save us.”
Later
in Matthew 14, Christ will come walking to the disciples on the sea and invite
Peter to come and walk to him. As fear grips Peter, he will cry out, “Lord save
me” (14:30).
Peter
had an individual prayer for salvation. Here, it is all the disciples petitioning
Christ for their collective salvation. There is no more fundamental prayer for
the disciple or church. Lord save me. Lord save us.
Second, there is an acknowledgement of the state of
their need: “we perish.”
This
is a declaration of the believer’s state apart from Christ. We are perishing. The
same verb appears in the classic verse John 3:16 when it says, “that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Why
are we perishing? Because the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).
If
you doubt that we are perishing, go and look at some old photographs. Go to
your class reunion and wonder where all these old people came from. You’re
still the same age (at least in your mind!). The truth is we are all perishing.
The Puritan era preacher Richard Baxter famously said that he preached as a
dying man to dying men.
Christ, however, is
with us in the tempest. And we can call on him. Do you have trouble knowing how
or what to pray? Let me offer a suggestion. Take the words of the disciples and
use them. Say them over and over again, till they become like your breath: “Lord save us: we perish.” And see if Christ will not arise and rebuke the
winds and the sea and give to you a mega calm.
Grace and peace, Pastor
Jeff Riddle
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Friday, September 10, 2021
The Vision (9.10.21): Too fast or too slow to follow Christ
Image: Pear tree, September 2021, North Garden, Virginia
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 8:14-22.
And a
certain scribe came and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest (Matt 8:19).
And
another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my
father (Matt 8:21).
After
healing many who were sick of spirit and body (Matt 8:16), Christ left the home
of Peter to cross to the other side of Galilee (v. 18). As he departed, two men
cried out to him.
The
first cry came from a scribe (v. 19). He
said, “Master [didaskalos, teacher], I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest.”
This
seems on the surface like a solid declaration of faith and confidence in
Christ. But Christ’s response indicates that perhaps this man made this
declaration without first fully understanding or considering the costs.
His
words remind us of Peter who said in the upper room to Christ: “Though all men
shall be offended because of thee, yet I will never be offended” (Matt 26:33).
And: “I will lay down my life for thy sake” (John 13:37). Within a few hours,
however, Peter had denied three times that he even knew Christ.
Christ
thus says to this scribe who offered this great swelling promise of fidelity:
“The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man
hath not where to lay his head” (v. 20). You are ready to follow me anywhere?
Are you ready to be home-less? Are you ready to give up every material
attachment for me?
The
second cry came from another of his disciples (v. 21). This fellow asked for an extension for the
commencement of his discipleship, a delay for taking up his cross daily and
following Christ: “Lord [kurios], suffer me first to go and bury my
father.”
Charles
Spurgeon quipped: “The first man was too fast, the second was too slow” (Commentary
on Matthew, 87).
This
seems art first glance like a reasonable and even a lawful request (in light of
the fifth commandment), but Christ answers in what might seem to be a rather
stern and unsparing manner: “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead” (v.
22).
Christ’s
point, of course, is not to be heartless in his response, but to demonstrate to
this man the necessary priority of discipleship. Christ must be above all
duties and every relationship. Christ will later tell his disciples:
Matthew
10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me.
38 And
he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it:
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Let us then not be too fast or too slow to follow Christ.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
Scenes from CRBC Labor Day Picnic (9.5.21)
Perfect end of summer weather for swimming, fishing, boating, spike-ball, food, fellowship:
(The big one!)
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