âAn Indispensable Pursuitâ
“An Indispensable Pursuit” Date: January 25, 2015 Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:17-24 and Hebrews 12:14 Introduction: “An Indispensable Pursuit” – “Indispensable” for WHAT? “Indispensable” for “Faithful Church Membership” – which is the focus of a brief mini-series that I am doing here at the first of the year? Yes, it IS indispensable for faithful church membership. But it is more. Of course, I haven’t said what “it” is yet – WHAT is “Indispensable”? We read it just a few moments ago. Did you hear it? “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Revelation 20 and 21-22 pictures before the eyes of our minds two scenarios, two eternal destinies: one in the lake of fire for all whose names are NOT written in the Lamb’s book of life; the other – for those whose names ARE written in the Lamb’s book of life – in the New Heaven and New Earth. In the second – the New Heaven and New Earth – the crowning privilege of God’s people is described in 22:4 – “They will see his face.” But Hebrews 12:14 tells us that there is “An Indispensable Pursuit” that is necessary if one is to “see the Lord.” That pursuit is the pursuit of holiness. I imagine that many who join a church in the Presbyterian Church in America assume that the first two membership vows are the most important: 1.
2.
I acknowledge myself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and I have received and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel.
One could hardly dispute the vital importance of those two vows or affirmations, because they focus directly on the Gospel. It would be tempting to consider the next three vows as of lesser importance. The third, which is our focus today, states: 3. I resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that I will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ. There are many, I think, who would not consider this vow nearly AS IMPORTANT as the first two. But Hebrews 12:14 suggests that keeping this vow is absolutely indispensable, and that without the pursuit of holiness no one will see the Lord. These first three affirmations or vows are comprehensive, and whether a person who is a member of a church has been required to make such vows or not, they do in fact comprehend what ought to be true of every member of the Church of Jesus Christ. They include in summary what one must come to believe in order
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 2
to become a follower of Christ – that one is a sinner, justly deserving God’s wrath, and without hope of deliverance from that wrath except through receiving and resting upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel – and include how a genuine follower of Christ must live out the rest of his or her life – endeavoring to live as becomes or is appropriate to a follower of Christ in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit. I would suggest that the last two vows, which we will take up in future weeks, are, in fact, part of the outworking of this particular vow: 4. 5.
I promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of my ability. I submit myself to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to strive for its purity and peace.
Although we can only treat this superficially in a single message, follow me as I at least survey some essential elements of what it means for each of us to pursue that holiness without which no one will see the Lord, or, to endeavor to lives as becomes a follower of Christ, which I take to essentially be the same thing. We have tried to capture much of this in our WPC Vision statement, so I am going to use it in part to get at this subject. I.
At its heart, being a faithful member of Christ’s Church means pursuing a passion for the glory of God and the preeminence of Christ in all of life and in all the world. A.
It is important to realize we are not just talking about being moral people or treating other people well, living a good life, etc. We are talking about proper relationship to the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
B.
That, in itself, includes:
C.
1.
To know God as the glorious being that he is . . .
2.
It includes seeking to glorify him by how we live . . .
3.
And it includes declaring his glory to the nations . . .
But God the Father chose to place his Son as center-stage in this entire process, and so we speak of a passion for the preeminence of Christ in all of life and in all the world.
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 3
All of that is a huge subject, a life-time pursuit. So how do we pursue these things? In our vision statement we summarize it like this: built up & by sound doctrine, & by dependence upon the Holy Spirit and devotion to spiritual disciplines, and & by a body devoted to loving and serving one another, with a zeal for reaching and serving people and seeing them transformed into fully-devoted followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. II.
We pursue all of these matters by the use of what are often called “the ordinary means of God’s grace,” i.e., through those things which God has appointed as the ordinary means through which he works in our lives. God sometimes does an extraordinary work, as in a genuine revival like that of The Great Awakening during the time of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Wesley, and others. That was in the mid-1700's. He has done the same in other parts of the world at various times. But those are extraordinary times, times when God’s power comes upon the Church so that his work runs fast. But that is not God’s primary means of working, and it should not be our focus, because if it is, we will tend to neglect God’s primary and ordinary means or manner of working in our lives. What are God’s ordinary means of working in our lives? Here is just a taste of it. A.
First, and at the heart of it all, we are to be built up by sound doctrine – Ephesians 4:11-24 . . . That is a comprehensive statement, including the “whole counsel of God,” which is the entirety of the truth he has revealed in his word. In that one passage, Ephesians 4:11-24, Paul makes it clear that God’s ordinary means includes both community and individual aspects. . . . 1.
Corporately we are to gather with God’s people to be taught the word of God – Acts 2:42 – “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 4
2.
And individually, we are to develop the discipline of reading and meditating on God’s word – Psalm 1 and 119 and 2 Timothy 3:14, 16-17 [Bible Reading Plan]
3.
B.
Parents are to teach their children God’s word – Eph 6:4 and 2 Timothy 3:15 – The Catechisms were designed for this too
Secondly, prayer – again, Acts 2:42 and Jesus’ teaching (as in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 – the closet or room) 1.
Again, something we don’t emphasize enough, is corporate prayer – Acts 4:23-31
2.
And individually, private prayer
These two, the word and prayer, are part of what is included in abiding in Christ as set forth in John 15:1ff and 14:21,23 C.
Worship 1.
Corporately – To fail to gather with God’s people to worship is a sin – period. The Lord’s Day That worship should be centered in God’s word, including corporate singing, prayer, often confession of our faith, the sacraments, even the offering Psalm 73
2.
Individually, we need to worship in conjunction with our Bible reading, meditation and prayer. . .
The Lord’s Day . . . D.
Fellowship with other believers – Acts 2:42 This has multiple levels of possibilities Ephesians 4:1-16 and 4:29-5:2 deals with this, as does Galatians 5:13-6:5, both in powerful ways.
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 5
The well worn statement – ‘To dwell above with the saints in love – Oh, that will be glory! But to dwell below with the saints I know, well, that’s a different story’ – points to one of God’s ordinary means of grace – the body of Christ. Learning to live with one another in a long-term committed relationship as members of a local church, being committed to loving them, building them up, forgiving them, bearing with them in love, having to learn how to exercise the fruit of the Spirit, all of that is part of God’s ordinary way of growing us. Conclusion: [The Big Rocks . . .] There is so much more that ought to be said, but time doesn’t allow. One final thing to be said of all of these areas, however, is that one can go through all the motions and miss the benefits, because that is all one is doing: going through the motions, and not genuinely pursuing them fully engaged, with the intent to grow and not just check a box – did that U . For example: One can walk in on Sunday morning, sing the songs, perhaps with a somewhat critical spirit as to which he likes and which he doesn’t, sit through prayers, hear the word preached, possibly take the Lord’s Supper, and walk out, with little to no benefit at all, because all was treated as a box to check U. Let me close by just reading two questions and answers from the Westminster Larger Catechism that illustrate a more proper approach to hearing the word preached or taught, and to celebrating the Lord’s Supper. WLC 160 What is required of those that hear the word preached? A. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the word of God; meditate, and confer of [or discuss] it [with others]; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives. That is more than a checkbox! WLC 171 How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it? A. They that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves [for it] by examining themselves of their being in Christ, of their sins and [shortcomings]; of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance; love to God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong; of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedience, and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and fervent prayer.
2.
I acknowledge myself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and I have received and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel.
One could hardly dispute the vital importance of those two vows or affirmations, because they focus directly on the Gospel. It would be tempting to consider the next three vows as of lesser importance. The third, which is our focus today, states: 3. I resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that I will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ. There are many, I think, who would not consider this vow nearly AS IMPORTANT as the first two. But Hebrews 12:14 suggests that keeping this vow is absolutely indispensable, and that without the pursuit of holiness no one will see the Lord. These first three affirmations or vows are comprehensive, and whether a person who is a member of a church has been required to make such vows or not, they do in fact comprehend what ought to be true of every member of the Church of Jesus Christ. They include in summary what one must come to believe in order
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 2
to become a follower of Christ – that one is a sinner, justly deserving God’s wrath, and without hope of deliverance from that wrath except through receiving and resting upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel – and include how a genuine follower of Christ must live out the rest of his or her life – endeavoring to live as becomes or is appropriate to a follower of Christ in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit. I would suggest that the last two vows, which we will take up in future weeks, are, in fact, part of the outworking of this particular vow: 4. 5.
I promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of my ability. I submit myself to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to strive for its purity and peace.
Although we can only treat this superficially in a single message, follow me as I at least survey some essential elements of what it means for each of us to pursue that holiness without which no one will see the Lord, or, to endeavor to lives as becomes a follower of Christ, which I take to essentially be the same thing. We have tried to capture much of this in our WPC Vision statement, so I am going to use it in part to get at this subject. I.
At its heart, being a faithful member of Christ’s Church means pursuing a passion for the glory of God and the preeminence of Christ in all of life and in all the world. A.
It is important to realize we are not just talking about being moral people or treating other people well, living a good life, etc. We are talking about proper relationship to the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
B.
That, in itself, includes:
C.
1.
To know God as the glorious being that he is . . .
2.
It includes seeking to glorify him by how we live . . .
3.
And it includes declaring his glory to the nations . . .
But God the Father chose to place his Son as center-stage in this entire process, and so we speak of a passion for the preeminence of Christ in all of life and in all the world.
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 3
All of that is a huge subject, a life-time pursuit. So how do we pursue these things? In our vision statement we summarize it like this: built up & by sound doctrine, & by dependence upon the Holy Spirit and devotion to spiritual disciplines, and & by a body devoted to loving and serving one another, with a zeal for reaching and serving people and seeing them transformed into fully-devoted followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. II.
We pursue all of these matters by the use of what are often called “the ordinary means of God’s grace,” i.e., through those things which God has appointed as the ordinary means through which he works in our lives. God sometimes does an extraordinary work, as in a genuine revival like that of The Great Awakening during the time of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, John Wesley, and others. That was in the mid-1700's. He has done the same in other parts of the world at various times. But those are extraordinary times, times when God’s power comes upon the Church so that his work runs fast. But that is not God’s primary means of working, and it should not be our focus, because if it is, we will tend to neglect God’s primary and ordinary means or manner of working in our lives. What are God’s ordinary means of working in our lives? Here is just a taste of it. A.
First, and at the heart of it all, we are to be built up by sound doctrine – Ephesians 4:11-24 . . . That is a comprehensive statement, including the “whole counsel of God,” which is the entirety of the truth he has revealed in his word. In that one passage, Ephesians 4:11-24, Paul makes it clear that God’s ordinary means includes both community and individual aspects. . . . 1.
Corporately we are to gather with God’s people to be taught the word of God – Acts 2:42 – “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 4
2.
And individually, we are to develop the discipline of reading and meditating on God’s word – Psalm 1 and 119 and 2 Timothy 3:14, 16-17 [Bible Reading Plan]
3.
B.
Parents are to teach their children God’s word – Eph 6:4 and 2 Timothy 3:15 – The Catechisms were designed for this too
Secondly, prayer – again, Acts 2:42 and Jesus’ teaching (as in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 – the closet or room) 1.
Again, something we don’t emphasize enough, is corporate prayer – Acts 4:23-31
2.
And individually, private prayer
These two, the word and prayer, are part of what is included in abiding in Christ as set forth in John 15:1ff and 14:21,23 C.
Worship 1.
Corporately – To fail to gather with God’s people to worship is a sin – period. The Lord’s Day That worship should be centered in God’s word, including corporate singing, prayer, often confession of our faith, the sacraments, even the offering Psalm 73
2.
Individually, we need to worship in conjunction with our Bible reading, meditation and prayer. . .
The Lord’s Day . . . D.
Fellowship with other believers – Acts 2:42 This has multiple levels of possibilities Ephesians 4:1-16 and 4:29-5:2 deals with this, as does Galatians 5:13-6:5, both in powerful ways.
04~An Indispensable Pursuit, page 5
The well worn statement – ‘To dwell above with the saints in love – Oh, that will be glory! But to dwell below with the saints I know, well, that’s a different story’ – points to one of God’s ordinary means of grace – the body of Christ. Learning to live with one another in a long-term committed relationship as members of a local church, being committed to loving them, building them up, forgiving them, bearing with them in love, having to learn how to exercise the fruit of the Spirit, all of that is part of God’s ordinary way of growing us. Conclusion: [The Big Rocks . . .] There is so much more that ought to be said, but time doesn’t allow. One final thing to be said of all of these areas, however, is that one can go through all the motions and miss the benefits, because that is all one is doing: going through the motions, and not genuinely pursuing them fully engaged, with the intent to grow and not just check a box – did that U . For example: One can walk in on Sunday morning, sing the songs, perhaps with a somewhat critical spirit as to which he likes and which he doesn’t, sit through prayers, hear the word preached, possibly take the Lord’s Supper, and walk out, with little to no benefit at all, because all was treated as a box to check U. Let me close by just reading two questions and answers from the Westminster Larger Catechism that illustrate a more proper approach to hearing the word preached or taught, and to celebrating the Lord’s Supper. WLC 160 What is required of those that hear the word preached? A. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the word of God; meditate, and confer of [or discuss] it [with others]; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives. That is more than a checkbox! WLC 171 How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it? A. They that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves [for it] by examining themselves of their being in Christ, of their sins and [shortcomings]; of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance; love to God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong; of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedience, and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and fervent prayer.
