JTR
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Saturday, June 25, 2022
The Vision (6.24.22): Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees
Image: Knock-out roses, North Garden, Virginia, June 2022
Note: Devotional taken from sermon last Sunday on Matthew 16:1-12
Then
Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
of the Sadducees (Matthew 16:6).
In the second half of Matthew’s Gospel the shadow of the
cross begins to fall over the narrative. In Matthew 16:1 we read how the
Pharisees and Sadducees came to tempt the Lord by asking him for a sign.
In Shakespeare’s The Tempest there is a line, “Misery
acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” From that line came another,
“Politics makes for strange bedfellows.” The idea is that if you want to get
something done you sometimes have to work closely with people you don’t like in
order to achieve some mutual interest.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees were “strange bedfellows” to
one another.
The Pharisees were a pious sect of Jews who sought carefully
to keep the Old Testament law. They were supernaturalists. They believed in the
work of the Holy Spirit and in angels. They believed in the final resurrection
and the life to come. But in their zeal to keep the law, they often added
extra-biblical rules.
The Sadducees, on the other hand, were the aristocratic
priestly caste. They made sure that the temple worship, including its
sacrifices were maintained. They were naturalists. They believed in God, but
not in the Holy Spirit or in angels. They rejected, in particular, the final
resurrection. In denying these things, they took away from Scripture.
We can see the differences between these two groups in the
book of Acts when Paul is tried before the Jewish council (see Acts 23:6-9). This is what I mean when I call these two “strange
bedfellows.” They didn’t like each other, but they didn’t like Christ more.
Spurgeon observed, “It is the way of the wicked to become
friends when seeking the overthrow of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew, 223).
Christ proceeded to warn his disciples to “beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and the Sadducees” (16:6). The disciples eventually come to
understand that the Lord was not talking about literal bread but about “doctrine”
(16:12).
Spurgeon noted that Christ “feared the influence of both the
Ritualism of the Pharisee, and the Rationalism of the Sadducee upon his little
church” (Matthew, 226).
Let us indeed avoid the errors of those who add to God’s Word (the
error of the Pharisees) and those who subtract from it (the error of the Sadducees).
So let us take heed and beware the leaven of false doctrine.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jeffrey T. Riddle
Friday, June 24, 2022
2022 CRBC Vacation Bible School Video
Thanks to one of our CRBC youth (Sophia D.) for making this video capturing some of the moment from our VBS this week.
JTR
Scenes from 2022 CRBC Vacation Bible School (VBS): June 20-23
Great time at CRBC annual "Puritan" and "One-Room_School-house" VBS this week. Children ages preschool to 12 enjoyed Bible study, recreation, crafts/drama, and lunch together each day. Youth served as helpers. CRBC workers are "a lean-mean-VBS-machine." The theme was Lessons from Judges.
Scenes from CRBC Nursing Home Ministry (6.19.22)
CRBCers led a monthly outreach service at a local nursing home last Sunday afternoon.
Scenes from CRBC Work Day (6.18.22)
Great crew showed up last Saturday to spruce up the church inside and outside before the start of VBS.
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Saturday, June 18, 2022
2022 CRBC Vacation Bible (VBS): Monday-Thursday, June 20-23, 2022.
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VBS is for children ages preschool to 12 years.
VBS Daily Schedule:
Arrival: 9:45-10:00 am
Opening: 10:00-10:15 am
Bible Lesson: 10:15-10:45 am
Recreation: 10:45-11:15 am
Refreshment break: 11:15-11:30 am
Craft/Drama: 11:30 am-12 nn
Bible Lesson Review/Closing: 12 nn -12:30 pm
Lunch on Site: 12:30-1:00 pm
VBS Daily Bible Topics:
Monday: The Judges Cycle and Ehud (Judges 1-3)
Tuesday: Deborah (Judges 4-5)
Wednesday: Gideon (Judges 6-7)
Thursday: Samson (Judges 13-16)
Friday, June 17, 2022
The Vision (6.17.22): Compassion on the Multitude
Image: Orange lilly, North Garden, Virginia, June 2022
Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 15:29-39.
Then
Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude,
because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: I will
not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way (Matthew 15:32).
The feeding
of the 4,000 begins with Christ’s declaration that he has compassion upon the
multitude (v. 32). The term used here is from the Greek word for the entrails
or gut or bowels. We sometimes speak of the bowels of compassion. It hits you
internally. It is a deep feeling of compassion that constrains one to be
burdened by the needs of others, so much so that one feels it physically. This
is a typical description of Christ in Matthew (cf. 9:36; 14:14; in the parable
of the unjust servant, 18:27).
It is,
in fact, a not-so-subtle affirmation of the deity of Christ, as he demonstrates
an attribute often associated with the Lord in the Old Testament. See:
Psalm 145:8 The Lord is
gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Christ’s
compassion was extended to this multitude, in particular, because “they
continued with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.” For three days this
crowd had been there watching as Christ performed many miraculous healings (see
15:30-31). Have you ever been caught up in doing or watching some event, maybe some
work, recreation or hobby, and the time just seemed to fly by until you realized
you hadn’t eaten at all or barely eaten? This had apparently been the case with
the multitude.
Christ
declared he would not send them away “fasting” (v. 32). The term refers to the
religious practice of abstaining from food for spiritual purposes, which Christ
had commended in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt 6:16-18). Lest, he said,
“they faint in the way” (v. 32). Christ has a concern for the souls and the
bodies of his disciples.
We could say
that an overall theme in Matthew is the compassion of Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ is not indifferent to us. The apostle Peter thus wrote, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of
God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
Christ
not only had compassion on the multitude, but he also cares for us.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeffrey T. Riddle
Friday, June 10, 2022
The Vision (6.12.22): The Prayer of the Canaanite Woman
Image: Michael Cook, Crumbs of Love, 2008.
Note: Devotional taken from last Sunday's sermon on Matthew 15:21-28.
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts
and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my
daughter is grievously vexed with a devil (Matthew 15:22).
Mathew 15:22 describes Christ’s encounter with a Canaanite
woman, who cries out in prayer. Notice:
First,
she offers a heartfelt petition for the Lord to bestow mercy. Grace has been defined as when we DO get what we
DO NOT deserve. Mercy, on the other hand, has been defined as when we DO NOT
get what we DO deserve. The request for mercy at the hand of God comes from one
who knows she is a sinner, deserving God’s wrath and punishment.
In
Luke 18 Christ tells a parable contrasting the prayer of a self-righteous
Pharisee and a publican (tax collector). The latter, knowing he is deserving of
God’s wrath stands “afar off,” without even lifting his eyes to heaven, “but
smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (v. 13).
Second,
she addresses Christ as “Lord.” This
Greek term kurios has a double meaning. It can mean Sir or Master. But
it is also the word that was used in reverence to refer to God. The earliest
Christian confession was likely the simple statement: Jesus is Lord (cf. Rom
10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11).
Third,
she addresses the Lord Jesus as the “Son of David.” This title is given to Christ in the first line
of this Gospel (1:1). What is striking is that she as a Gentile acknowledges
the Lord Jesus to be descendent of David. Though a Gentile, she looks to the
God of Israel and the seed of David for deliverance.
Finally,
she intercedes not merely for herself but, most importantly, for her demon possessed
daughter: “my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.” It has often been observed that one mark of
spiritual maturity is that one prays more for the needs of others than for
oneself. Surely godly parents will intercede for their children when they are
in distress.
Let us learn from this woman’s example when we cry out to our
God in prayer.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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