In Romans 8:1, we read one of the most beautiful statements in all of Scripture: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (ESV)." What we find throughout the book of Romans is the constant contrast between the words "condemnation" and "justification." These two words are exact opposites, and describe the two states in which we can stand before God. At their root, these words are both legal terms. We either stand condemned or justified in the sight of the Righteous Judge.  

Each of these terms are used throughout the Bible as declarative terms, assigning a status to the object. They do not necessarily speak of the reality of the character of the person, but rather how they are perceived before the court. For example, in the Old Testament, we see many instances where God expresses His extreme displeasure with the one who "justifies the wicked and... condemns the righteous (Prov. 17:15 ESV)." He calls each of these false declarations "an abomination." There are also instances where someone attempts to "justify" God (Job 32:2). Clearly, these statements are not making God righteous, but rather declaring Him to be so.

These statuses of condemnation or justification are a result of the representation or advocate of the accused party. Therefore, whomever we choose to represent us - ourselves or Jesus Christ - becomes a decision of the greatest importance. When we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we are choosing Him to be our representative. He stands for us as our "Advocate (1 John 2:1)", and justifies us, declaring us as righteous in Him. His life, His death, and His resurrection become our own when we trust in Him rather than our own work, because He has substituted Himself for us. When God the Father sees us, He sees us through Christ. He sees us as righteous, not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus has done for us. He stands in our place, and we are justified because of Him.

This is the beautiful news here: in Christ, we no longer stand condemned before God. Instead, we are justified in His sight because of the finished work of Jesus, our Advocate, and we now have freedom as a result.

May we never cease to thank and praise Jesus Christ for His amazing mercy and grace toward us!

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." (Romans 3:21-25a)

This week in our L3 journals, we have been reading through Romans 3 and 4, which together serve as one of the clearest explanations of salvation and justification. These two chapters are preceded by Paul's thorough discussion on sin in chapters one and two. In those first chapters, we see that we all stood condemned under God's righteous wrath against sin, because we have all sinned. This was our hopeless status before God, and where we would have remained if God had not stepped in to alter the course of our lives.

In chapter three and following, we find the solution that God provided for our reconciliation with God. We find that the way for us to "patch things up" with God is not by anything of our own doing--not by "works of the law." It is only by God's doing that we can have a reconciled relationship to Him. It is only because He was so gracious and loving that He sent His Son to be a sacrifice in our place, as a "propitiation by his blood." This word, "propitiation" (Greek, hilasterion) is the word that I would like to focus on today.

The occurrence of this word here in Romans 3:25 is the only time it appears in Paul's writings. The only other use of the word in this form is in Hebrews 9:5, where it is translated as "the mercy seat." This alternate translation of this word gives us some insight into its meaning. By the usage of this word in Scripture, a link is made between the function of Jesus in His death and the mercy seat from the ark of the covenant.

The mercy seat was essentially the cover for the ark of the covenant (the Hebrew word literally means, "cover"), which contained the two tablets of the ten commandments, Aaron's budding rod, a jar of manna, and the first Torah scroll written by Moses. This cover (see an artist's rendition above) consisted mainly of two angels with their wings spread out toward one another and covering their heads. The place where these wings came together was called the mercy seat, and this is where God dwelt when His people were bringing their offerings and sacrifices to Him.

The ark was kept in the Holy of Holies, which was the innermost section of the tabernacle and eventually the temple in Jerusalem. This section of the tabernacle and the temple could only be entered on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and then only by the High Priest. This priest would take the blood from the sacrificial bull and enter the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood onto the mercy seat to make atonement for himself, for his family, for the other priests, and for the people of God. The High Priest did this each year to satisfy the righteous wrath of God against sin.

 As Romans 3:25-26 points out, God would not be just if He did not punish sin. In order to be a righteous judge, sin must be dealt with and punished; Jesus bore that punishment in our place, as the perfect sacrifice (superseding bulls and goats) for our redemption. These verses say that God was basically being patient with humanity, and not punishing our sin. Instead, He was deferring punishment of those sins until Jesus would bear them once for all. He could not let them go without punishment forever, and that was never the plan.

As the book of Hebrews says, the blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient to completely cleanse humanity from their sin nor to satisfy the wrath of God. Jesus' sacrifice, however, was sufficient. No other sacrifice is needed now. Jesus is enough. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sin, reconciling us with God by His blood. He did what we could not do, which was to satisfy the righteous wrath of God.

Truly, "justification means this miracle: that Christ takes our place and we take his" (Emil Brunner, Mediator, p. 524). This is the beauty of this word, "propitiation." In our place, He bore our condemnation, taking the punishment of God's wrath against sin. In place of condemnation, Jesus accounts His righteousness to us. This is all a free gift received only by trusting and believing in what He has accomplished for us. The mercy seat and the Day of Atonement of the Old Covenant has been replaced by Jesus--our atoning sacrifice--and the righteous wrath of God is satisfied with His precious blood, that of the spotless Lamb of God.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

This week in our L3 journals, we have been reading through the first few chapters of Romans, and came across one of the foundational verses for Paul's entire case for the gospel through this letter, Romans 1:17. In this verse, Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4: "The righteous shall live by faith." In this post, I just want to help clarify a few things, which will help us as we set out on our journey through the book of Romans.

In the previous verse, Paul had just finished saying that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes," and then continues in this verse by saying, "for in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith." What Paul means in these statements is that the gospel message reveals God's righteousness, which has always been through faith (the unusual phrase "from faith for faith" or "from faith to faith" is most often interpreted as meaning "faith from beginning to end" or "faith from start to finish"), is the power of God for our salvation. The message of Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection reveals the righteousness of God, and is our means for salvation.

Paul then quotes the verse from Habakkuk that we mentioned earlier, "The righteous shall live by faith." There is another way to translate this from the original language, and it is often mentioned in the footnotes of our Bibles: "The one who by faith is righteous shall live." This verse says that life (i.e. salvation and eternal life) belongs to those who are righteous by faith. These are the ones who have been declared righteous by God through our trusting in Him.

What does Paul accomplish by bringing this verse into the discussion? He proves his previous statement. God's way for us to be saved has always been through faith in His work on our behalf. His plan was never for us to think that we could save ourselves by being good enough or by working our way into His good graces. It has always been by trusting in God's righteousness and mercy.

Christ was the perfect fulfillment of God's plan from the beginning. While many religious leaders from the time of exile through the first century had corrupted this message and lost sight of the true way of salvation, God had always intended for His people to be redeemed by trusting and believing in His work on their behalf. In this way, as Paul will soon tell us, God is the one who gets the credit and glory for our salvation; not us.

In these two small verses of Romans 1:16-17, we find the theme that Paul will emphasize throughout his letter to the church in Rome. Salvation is, and has always been, through trusting in the Lord - in His work on our behalf, in His righteousness, in His goodness. In Christ's life, death, and resurrection, it is now clearer than ever. As a result, Jesus Christ is the one who is worthy of all praise and honor and glory. He is the one who has saved us. He is the only one is deserving of our worship.

As it has been written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

As we continue reading through our L3 together this Advent season, I am continually reminded of the significance of Christ's arrival here on the earth and in the flesh. His coming signaled hope and a coming peace for humanity, but not without cost. It would require the defeat of sin and death. It would require Christ sacrificially giving His life up for us. It would require a war like none other.

A song that was released a few years ago made me more aware of this concept, and I was really encouraged by it. It speaks of Christ's arrival as a declaration of war against sin, death, and darkness. Christ's coming changed everything. He has won the victory over sin and death. He conquered the grave. That is what He came here to do. He is Lord and King.

Below are the lyrics and a video of Dustin singing this song. 

"This Is War"
Words and Music by Dustin Kensrue

This is war like you ain’t seen.
This winter’s long, it’s cold and mean.
With hangdog hearts we stood condemned,
But the tide turns now at Bethlehem.

This is war and born tonight,
The Word as flesh, the Lord of Light,
The Son of God, the low-born king;
Who demons fear, of whom angels sing.

Hallelujah, a Child is born
He is the rescue we've waited for
The throne of David He will restore
The reign of mercy forevermore

This is war on sin and death;
The dark will take it’s final breath.
It shakes the earth, confounds all plans;
The mystery of God as man.

May the true significance of Advent stay at the forefront of our minds as we celebrate it with our friends and family this weekend. We have peace and hope because Jesus Christ declared war on sin and death, and became sin for us, so that we could be reconciled to God. Jesus is our peace.

May God bless you with the awareness of His presence during this Advent.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

JOHN 16:5-15 - So Close, Yet So Far Away

This past weekend, Joe taught from John 14 about how the Spirit is our help from God to love and obey Christ. The Spirit empowers us to live a life of worship that honors our Savior. Our response are either to be led by the Spirit, to ignore the Spirit, or to deny the Spirit. This week in our L3 readings, one of the passages we read was in John 16, where Jesus continues to teach about the Holy Spirit, who would come to the disciples after His death.

The Advantage

In this passage, Jesus goes so far as to say, "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you (John 16:7)". He is telling His disciples that it is better for Him to leave them than it would be if He had stayed in the flesh. Why is that? How could it be better for Him to go away? I can only imagine the questions that the disciples had to be feeling after having spent three solid years physically walking with Jesus. It had to feel, in a way, like He was abandoning them. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

God With Us

In his book The Problem Of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote something that has always stuck with me in regards to the distance and nearness of God. He says this: "God is both further from us, and nearer to us, than any other being" (The Problem Of Pain, p. 33). In the context of this quotation, Lewis is discussing the relationship between the Creator and the creature. As the Creator, God is very different than His creation. He is infinite, we are finite. He is omnipresent, we are in one place at a time. He is perfect, we are sinful. In these ways (and many others), God is very far from us. 

However, Lewis also speaks of how near God is to us (also called His "immanence"), in that He supplies every breath that we breathe, and any powers we have in this life are supplied by His endless power and energy. This divine nearness is further amplified by the Spirit's presence with us when we are in Christ. He is truly God with us. Before Christ's death and resurrection the Spirit was only given positionally to those who were leading God's people (kings, prophets, and priests). But, because Christ died in our place for our sins, we stand before God in Christ's perfect righteousness, and therefore His Spirit can dwell in us. Everyone who trusts in Christ has the Spirit.

In the Spirit, God is nearer to us than would be possible in any other way. This is why it was better for Christ to "go away," because rather than having only His physical presence in the flesh, we have His Spirit dwelling in us every moment of every day, empowering us to live a life that loves and obeys Christ, giving Him the glory He deserves as our Savior!

The Bottom Line

With the Spirit dwelling in us, we can follow His leading to love, honor, and exalt Jesus. We have God's continual presence in our lives, teaching us, transforming us, and making us holy. This work will be completed when we finally see Jesus face to face. Praise God for the gift of the Spirit, and may we never take His presence with us for granted.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

John 13:34-35; 14:21-24; 15:12-17

"Salita al Calvario" ("The Climb to Calvary"), By Giacomo Jaquerio, 1430.

This week in our L3 journals we have had readings in John 13, 14, 15, and the beginning of chapter 16. In this section of the Gospel of John, we see Jesus repeatedly emphasizing one characteristic of true believers above all others: love. Jesus tells His disciples that love is the new commandment; love is the proof that they are His followers; love for Him is the motive for keeping His commandments; and the greatest love is demonstrated by self-sacrifice.

Love Is The New Commandment

In John 13:34, Jesus tells His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another (ESV).” This new commandment of love supersedes all the commands that were given before. Jesus says elsewhere that, by loving God completely and loving our neighbor as ourselves, we would be fulfilling all the rest of the commandments in Scripture (Mt. 22:36-40). Here we also see Jesus giving us the standard of the type of love: His own love for us. We are to love each other the way He loved us. John echoes this thought in 1 John 4:10-11, where he writes, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Jesus’ sacrificial death to rescue us is the example and the standard of our love for one another.

Love Is The Proof

Immediately following this, Jesus says that our love for one another will be the way that people will know that we are His followers (John 13:35). Our love is the proof that we are His disciples. Again, in 1 John, we can see this thought echoed: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8).” Love for others is the defining characteristic of our transformation in Christ from being born again in Him.

Love Is The Motive

In our world, there are numerous motives one can have for doing anything. There are many reasons we can give ourselves for obedience to God’s commands. Jesus gives us the only one that is valid: love (John 14:21, 23). We are to obey His commandments, not from fear or in a quest for approval, but because of love. When we truly love Him, we will do what He calls us to do. When we truly love Him, we will love others as well. Love is our motive.

No Greater Love

Jesus says in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Love, taken to its ultimate and deepest level, is demonstrated by self-sacrifice. When we are willing to give our lives for others, whether in living or in dying, we demonstrate the greatest form of love. Jesus’ love is our example, demonstrated in the most amazing wayat the cross of Calvary.

The Bottom Line

May our love, for our Savior and for others, be the command we live by. May our love be the proof of our relationship with Christ. May love be the motive for all we do in this life. May we all lay down our lives for one another in the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

John 8:48-59

Abraham

This week, we have been reading John 8:12 - 9:41, and have seen Jesus declare some important truths: He is the Light of the World, the truth will set the knower free, and the Jewish leaders' father was the devil. Perhaps most significant, however, is Jesus' comparison of Himself with Abraham, who is considered the father and founder of the Jewish faith, and the first man to be given a covenant from God. He is considered THE ancestor of all Jews. He is the one of the first real pictures of a lifetime of faith in the Bible (before Abraham, all we catch are glimpses and moments of faith). He trusted God, left his home for an unknown land, believed God's promise of a son and a lineage for he and his barren wife, and then willingly offered that son as an offering to God when asked to do so. God told Abraham that the number of his descendants would equal the number of the stars (Gen 15:5). This man trusted God, perhaps like no other. We don't really see him perform any miracles, but we see him witness miracles that God performed for him. We see him trusting and walking with the Lord in all his endeavors. In terms of knowing the Lord and truly walking with the Lord in faith, there really is none before Abraham.

The Kicker

Jesus knew full well who Abraham was, and what he meant to the Jewish faith. In reality, Jesus cared more about Abraham than any of the leaders by whom He was being questioned. When Jesus said that the one who keeps His word would never see death (Jn 8:51), the Jews accused Him once more of having a demon, because Abraham and the prophets all died. By saying this to the Jews, Jesus was claiming to be greater than Abraham and the prophets, which was a preposterous claim to the Jews because there was no one greater than Abraham and the prophets. Jesus responded, 

"If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' But you have not known Him. I know Him. If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know Him and I keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad (Jn 8:54-56)."

Which raises the natural question: "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham (Jn 8:57)?" Indeed, how could someone around thirty years of age claim to know the thoughts of Abraham, who lived centuries ago?

Jesus' answer: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM (Jn 8:58)."

The Jews responded by trying to stone Him to death, because this was blasphemy to them.

I AM

Why was this statement so controversial and blasphemous to the Jews? What exactly was Jesus saying about Himself here? Why did He say it like this?

Because Jesus just said that He is God. We've all probably heard someone argue that Jesus never called Himself God or the Messiah, and that that was only something other people said about Him, but this is not true. It's right here, plain as day. We just need to understand the context.

Let's head over to Exodus 3, where Moses encountered the Lord in the burning bush. When Moses asks the Lord for His name, God responds, "I AM who I AM... Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you' (Ex 3:14)." God proceeds to give another name, with which we hear more often: "Yahweh (YHWH, usually translated by most versions as "The LORD")." All of these names stem from the verb that means "to be." What His names say of Him is that He is eternal, always self-existing, and the source of all life and being in all of creation. There is nothing that exists apart from Him. He IS.

Some translations try to add a "he" to the end of Jesus' sentence (so it would say "I am he"), but that is not in the original language. Jesus simply says of Himself, "I AM." He is equating Himself with the one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. The one who is eternally self-existing. The one who is the source of all life and being. Jesus IS. Not only had Jesus seen Abraham--He made Abraham. He gave Abraham life, and made the covenant with Him. You can see these truths echoed throughout the New Testament, like we see in Colossians 1:15-20. This is a massive statement by Jesus, and we need to pay attention.

The Bottom Line

Jesus is one with the Father. He is not only our Savior and Friend. He is worthy of our worship and lives' obedience. He is to be exalted above everything else. There is no one who compares with Him. Jesus is God.

May we all worship Him like He deserves to be worshiped!

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

John 7:37-39 and the Water from the Rock

This week in our L3 journals, we read about something Jesus said on the last day of the Feast of Booths. He said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (Jn. 7:37). He continued, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" (Jn. 7:38). What is not readily obvious to us here is that Jesus is referring to a particular narrative from the book of Exodus, and it will help us understand the work of the Spirit in believers.

The Feast of Booths

The Feast of Booths is a celebration of God's protection and provision in the wilderness after the Hebrew people crossed the Red Sea. They would set up "booths," which were shelters built from branches, to remember God's protection and shelter; then they would take a pitcher of water out of the Pool of Siloam and pour it out to remember God's provision of water from the rock. In Exodus 17:1-7, we find that God's people were thirsty and began complaining against God and against Moses (as they often did in the wilderness), and they looked back favorably upon their time of slavery in Egypt. They accused God and Moses of bringing them out into the wilderness to kill them. When Moses prayed to the Lord for help and for guidance, God told him to go ahead of the people with the elders, and to strike a rock at Horeb. When Moses did this, water came flowing from the rock. This was a miracle of God's provision.

A Different Story

Later, in Numbers 20:2-13, we see a similar, but different, scene. God's people were thirsty yet again, and again they were complaining against God and against Moses. This time, however, God told Moses "to tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water" (Ex. 20:8) Instead, Moses chided the people and struck the rock twice with his staff, and the water came out. God counted this as sin, and it is the reason Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land with God's people.

Why was this an issue? Why was this a sin? Well, on the Sinai peninsula and the surrounding areas, rain seeps down through the rocky plateaus and mountainous regions, and forms mineral deposits on the sides of the rock. Bedouin people, even today, can find these deposits, knock them off of the rock, and drinkable water will come out.

The first time God told Moses to strike the rock, He was teaching Moses how to find water for the people. The teaching was the miracle then. In this second occurrence, Moses speaking to the rock was supposed to be the miracle God was going to perform. God was going to get the glory that way, because it wasn't something Moses could do. Instead, Moses settled for his own, lesser glory, and took the credit for himself by making a show of it. This is why it was a sin before God. Moses knew that striking the rock would produce water, so he did it his way. He wanted the glory for himself in that moment. God responded to Moses' actions by saying, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them" (Ex. 20:12). Moses did not trust God to do what He said He would do.

The Work of The Spirit

This idea translates to the work of God that Jesus is speaking about in John 7. Whoever believes in Jesus will have "rivers of living water" flowing from his heart. If we believe in Him, He will give us the Holy Spirit, and our hearts will be changed, and we will have "living water" (the outflow of the Spirit's work in and through us) to share with those around us. We will be conduits of God's blessing to others, as we share His love and mercy, which was shown to us through the cross of Christ.

Notice, however, that John clarifies: the Spirit is only given to those who believe in Jesus. Not everyone has the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, we see the Spirit coming and going from certain "anointed" people (usually kings and prophets), such as Saul and David. Now because of Christ, the Spirit comes and remains with those who believe in Him. When we are in Christ, we have the Spirit, and the miraculous work of God in us. This is not something that can be manufactured or faked before God. He knows what is really happening within us. He knows if we truly believe, or if we are putting on a show. He can see it by what is flowing from our lives.

The Bottom Line

The real question for each of us is this: what is flowing from our lives? Is it the living water of Christ, or something else? Do we truly believe in the saving work of Jesus on the cross in our place for our sins, and giving Him all the glory for our salvation? Or are we faking it, and still attempting to make it into His favor by our good works, and really taking the credit for ourselves inside? Which is it? We cannot have it both ways.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

John 5:1-17 - The Healing at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath

(A modern-day model of what the Pool of Bethesda looked like in 1st century Israel)

This past week in our L3 journals, we read about Jesus' healing on the Sabbath at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-17. In this post, we will look a little deeper into what happened that day at the pool, and why it is significant. 

The History

In the first century where we find Jesus encountering this man, the Pool of Bethesda was a place of healing. Located near the Temple mount, hundreds of "blind, lame, and paralyzed" (Jn 5:4) would lie in the colonnades and wait. What were they waiting for? The angel of the Lord. Every so often, the angel of the Lord would come down and stir the waters of the pool, and the first one in the water would be healed of his or her infirmity. 

The Man

The man who we find laying at the pool in this story "had been an invalid for thirty-eight years" (Jn 5:5). He had probably been waiting for a long time, as Jesus knew that the man "had already been there for a long time" (Jn 5:6). My guess is that Jesus saw the man laying there the last time He was in Jerusalem, or even at Passover the year before. Remember that Jesus did not live in Jerusalem, but only came occasionally to minister there and to celebrate the Passover. It was probably during one of these prior trips that Jesus had seen this man laying at the pool. The man's problem was that he could not get himself into the water before anyone else when the angel of the Lord would stir the pool's water. He could not even move. He required the help of someone else, and that was something he didn't have.

The Great Physician

Enter Jesus. He knew the man's predicament, but asked anyway, "Do you want to be healed?" The man told Jesus about his situation, and Jesus bypassed the pool altogether: "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." Can you imagine the surprise of the crippled man? What kind of questions ran through his mind when Jesus said this to him? Based on the verses that followed, he had no idea who Jesus was. Therefore, the crippled man had no reason to believe that Jesus had any power to heal. He had not been able to move himself for thirty-eight years, yet now he was supposed to just get up and walk? That is exactly what happened; the man was healed immediately, stood up, picked up his bed, and walked away (Jn 5:9), still clueless about the real identity of the one who healed him.

Is There A Problem?

The Jews (mainly the Jewish leaders) had a problem with Jesus doing this, because it happened on the Sabbath. You see the Jews took the written words of the Torah (law) very seriously (notice I did not say they took the spirit of the law...). When Exodus 20:8-10 says,

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

they took that to the extreme, and continually updated the list of what was considered "work" and what was not. For instance, the Mishah (a collection of first century rabbinic teachings) has a list for this purpose. Here's a list of some of the things that qualify as "work" (for expanded explanations, see here):

1. Planting
2. Plowing
3. Reaping
4. Gathering
5. Threshing/Extraction
6. Winnowing
7. Sorting/Purification
8. Grinding
9. Sifting
10. Kneading
11. Cooking/Baking
12. Shearing
13. Scouring/Laundering
14. Beating/Combing Wool
15. Dyeing
16. Spinning
17. Warping
18. Making two loops
19. Weaving
20. Separating two threads
21. Tying
22. Untying
23. Sewing
24. Tearing
25. Trapping
26. Slaughtering
27. Flaying
28. Curing/Preserving
29. Smoothing
30. Scoring
31. Measured cutting
32. Writing
33. Erasing
34. Building
35. Demolition
36. Extinguishing a fire
37. Igniting a fire
38. Applying a finishing touch
39. Transferring between domains

As you can see from this list, the rules were exhaustive regarding what was permissible and impermissible on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders who were getting angry with Jesus were merely trying to uphold the rules of their religion, the Torah. What they failed to see, however, was the reason for the rules and for the Sabbath. As Jesus said in Mark 2:27, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." The law was given by God for the benefit of humanity, to help us live the best life possible on this earth by loving God and loving others. The law was meant to show mankind what that looked like. The Sabbath was created so that we would rest and trust God. Even God rested, and He created us with a need to rest. If someone doesn't sleep for days, he will go crazy, because we need to sleep and rest. When we rest on the Sabbath, and cease from our work (using common sense when considering what is work, and not going to the excess of the Mishnah), we are essentially expressing our trust in God's sovereignty. We are trusting that God will continue to provide for our needs, even though we aren't working for it. We are trusting that He is good and gracious, and that He is true to His promises. 

When Jesus spoke and healed the man, He was in complete keeping with the purpose and spirit of the law (Rom 2:29). He was fulfilling God's purposes. The Jewish leaders could not see God's heart behind the law, and could only see the written rule, and tried to reduce the law to a checklist which they could control and understand. The spirit of the law requires much more of ourselves than merely completing a checklist of do's and don't's. It requires our love. Paul said it this way, "the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal 5:14).

The Bottom Line

Fulfilling God's calling and will in our life may mean doing something we don't understand fully. It may involve doing something that makes us look foolish to others. It may draw insults and derision from friends or family. So, what is the point? What is the goal here? To give all glory and honor to God, and to share His gospel of salvation with the people we encounter in this world (1 Cor 10:31, Col 3:17). Whatever it takes to give glory and honor to God, whatever it takes to share His gospel of salvation with others, that is what we are to do. That is what Jesus did in this situation. Jesus healed the crippled man to give glory to God the Father and to proclaim the gospel of salvation to him.

Let us follow in Jesus' footsteps, and let us lay aside our pride and our reputation to glorify God and to proclaim His gospel to the people we encounter.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

John 4:1-45

(Jacob's well from John 4 - in a Greek Orthodox church building that has been built around the site)

In our L3 journals this past week, we read John 2 through John 4. In John 4, we read of Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan women at Jacob's well, on the outskirts of Sychar. As Joe shared this weekend, Jesus, exhausted from His journey and the noonday heat, began the conversation by asking her for a drink, then spoke of the "living water" that only He could offer, and then launched into telling the woman her own life story. When she realized that Jesus was a "prophet" (which, at the least, meant that she knew He was 'gifted'), she began to discuss the differences in the theology of the Samaritans and the Jews, specifically in reference to the place of worship.

The History

Around 400 B.C., the Samaritans built a rival temple on Mt. Gerizim (see the location in relation to Sychar on the map below, and read Deuteronomy 11:29-30 and 27:2-7, 12 for context), which was destroyed in the 2nd century B.C. by Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus of Judea as their empire expanded north. This only served to increase the mutual animosity between the Jews and Samaritans. Despite the destruction of their temple, the Samaritans continued to worship on Mt. Gerizim. 

(The well is located near Sychar, along the road north from Jerusalem to Galilee)

No Mountain Necessary

When the Samaritan woman raises this subject, Jesus responds by telling her, "the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father" (Jn. 4:21). In other words, the previously assigned locations for worship will soon be superseded by a better way for those who worship the Father. Then, Jesus speaks of the nature of divine revelation in the two people groups: the Samaritans only believed that the first five books of the Old Testament (aka the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) were divinely-inspired Scripture, while the Jews held the entire Old Testament (the Tanakh) was divinely-inspired. In John 4:22 Jesus tells the woman that the Samaritans worship what they "do not know" (i.e. they are "outside the stream of God's revelation" [D.A. Carson - The Pillar New Testament Commentary on John, 223]). Inversely, He tells her that the Jews worship what they know, "for salvation is from the Jews" (Jn. 4:22). He is saying here that Jews know the person and work of God because they have believe all of God's revelation in Scripture, and know that the Messiah (thus, salvation) will come from the Jewish line and according to the prophecy of the entire Old Testament.

The New And Living Way

Then, in John 4:23-24, Jesus once again shows how this way of worship is superseded by a better way. he says to her, "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." What is Jesus saying here about worship? He is saying that a new era has dawned with His own coming. He is saying that "this worship can take place only in and through Him; He is the true temple" (Carson, 224) (remember Jn. 2:19-22). Jesus is the turning point between the old way and the new way. He is the cause and the means for true worship.

To worship "in spirit and truth" is not dependent on a location, but on a person, Jesus Christ. John 4:24 says that "God is spirit"--invisible, not limited to a specific place, divine, and somewhat unknowable "unless He chooses to reveal Himself" (Carson, 225)--and therefore He must be worshiped in a manner that goes beyond physical things and comes from the depths of one's being. Tied to this is the idea of worshiping in "truth." The idea of truth is connected to God's Self-Revelation and Self-Expression in Jesus. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the Word of God. Both of these ideas ("spirit" and "truth") share one preposition in the original Greek ("in"), and are inseparable. We cannot have one without the other. So it is that "unless they are born from above, unless they are born of the Spirit, they cannot see the kingdom of God, they cannot worship God truly" (Carson, 225).

The Bottom Line

"The worshipers whom God seeks worship Him out of the fullness of the supernatural life they enjoy ("in spirit"), and on the basis of God's incarnate Self-Expression, Christ Jesus Himself, through whom God's person and will are finally and ultimately disclosed ('in truth'); and these two characteristics form one matrix, indivisible" (Carson, 225-226). True worship of God is only made possible by the person and work of Jesus Christ, the "Truth" who reveals to us who God (being "spirit") truly is. True worship encompasses all of who we are as His people, redeemed and born-again because of His death and resurrection.

May we worship the Father in spirit and truth each and every day from here to eternity!

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

Over this past week, we read through the first chapter of the Gospel of John. As Joe said this weekend, John's Gospel starts out in a different way when compared with the other three Gospels (aka the "synoptic gospels"). He describes who Jesus is and what His incarnation accomplished. Here's a list of some of what we can learn about Jesus from John 1:

• Jesus (the Word) was in the beginning with God (1:1, 2).
• Jesus (the Word) is God (1:1).
• Everything was made through Jesus, and without Him, nothing was made that was made (1:3).
• Jesus' light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (1:5).
• All who receive Jesus have been given the right to become children of God (1:12).
• The Word, Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among mankind (1:14).
• Jesus, in the flesh, reveals the glory of God (1:14).
• Grace and truth come through Jesus (1:17).
• While no one has ever seen God, He has been made known through Jesus (1:18).
• Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (1:29).
• Jesus is the Son of God (1:34).
• Jesus is the Christ (literally, "the Anointed One," or "Messiah") (1:41).
• Jesus is the one about whom Moses and the prophets wrote and prophesied (1:45).

This chapter is packed with powerful truth about the person and the work of Jesus. As we continue through John's Gospel, we will see these descriptions and titles developed as Jesus begins His ministry to mankind, and His journey to the cross for our redemption.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship Arts Pastor

As we have been reading through the book of Revelation in our L3 journal, we are encountering a few different types of writing. Some sections, as in the last post, are epistolary (letter format), written to certain recipients with an object in mind. However, the majority of the sections are prophetic, rich with symbols and images that are difficult to understand with absolute certainty.

With all Biblical prophecy, it is important to remember that there was both an immediate fulfillment (one which could be seen by the initial hearers to determine whether the prophecy was valid or not), as well as a future fulfillment, which neither the prophet or the initial hearers would see fulfilled in their lifetime. The Bible has serious words for anyone who would be considered a prophet:

"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?'--when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him" (Dt. 18:20-22 ESV).

"And if anyone again prophesies, his father an mother who bore him will say to him, 'You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the Lord.' And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies" (Zech. 13:3 ESV).

From these passages (along with many others in the Bible), we can see two things: 1) God gave people a way to know if someone was a true prophet--seeing if what they said came to pass, and 2) God takes the matter of people speaking in His name very seriously, with false prophets being sentenced to death.

In the case of John, the same criteria applied. Many of John's prophecies in Revelation may have seen their immediate fulfillment in Rome and the evil that came from that empire. However, there is a bigger picture here that allows us to see into the spiritual realm of principalities and powers, and unveils some of the story of the end of this world as we know it. Indeed, the Greek name of the book of Revelation, Apocalypsis, describes it well: it means "a lifting of the veil."

It is a beautiful thing to discuss the prophecies in this book, and to try and envision the return of Christ. If we're not careful, we can go too far, and that's not what anyone wants. My encouragement to you is use grace, humility, and love in your interpretation of prophecy. The Word of God is true, and will be proven so in the end. Our individual interpretations are probably going to be wrong in some areas. Speculation will definitely get us into trouble. Ultimately, may we all say together as the body of Christ, "Lord, come quickly!"

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

(image from http://www.welcometohosanna.com/REVELATION/index.html)

This week in our L3 journal, we have begun reading John's book of Revelation. He begins by describing the context in which the subject matter of the letter was given to him, and then jumps right into the words that Jesus had for seven churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). You can see the location of these churches next to the bluish dots in the image above. Some receive praise, while others receive a rebuke for straying from the path. One of these letters is to the church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22). This one in particular is often misunderstood, so we will deal with it here.

The city of Laodicea was situated on the bank of the Lycus River and on two major Roman roads. One of these roads Went from northwest to southeast through Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Colossae. The other went from west to east through Ephesus and Miletus and to the rest of Asia. Because of its location, Laodicea became a key city for trade and industry, and it became extremely prosperous as a result. The city was also a banking center, one that Cicero recommended to others in his writings. For income, Laodicea offered a rare, glossy black wool; it had developed a special eye salve. It was the wealthiest city of the seven mentioned in this section of Revelation. The city was so wealthy that when a devastating earthquake struck in 60 AD, they refused the help of the Roman government and rebuilt it with their own resources to maintain their independence.

(Google image of Laodicea's mound, with most of the ruins buried beneath the surface)

Neither Cold Nor Hot- Jesus' first and major judgment against the church at Laodicea is that they are neither cold nor hot. Jesus says to them, "Would that you were either cold or hot! So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." These two verses have probably been misused or abused as much as any other in the Bible. The usual understanding that people have is that "hot" means near to God or "on fire for God, that "cold" means far from God, and that "lukewarm" means somewhere in between.

My question is this - why would God want anyone to be far from Him rather than somewhere in between? This understanding does not stand up to scrutiny. For the proper understanding, we must look to the geography of Laodicea. The city was located between Hieropolis and Colossae. Hieropolis had hot springs and Colossae had cold springs, but Laodicea had neither. They had to pipe in their water via aqueduct in order to have cold or hot water. However, by the time it made the long journey from either city to Laodicea, it had become tepid. 

Have you ever drank lukewarm water? It never feels right. If you're not a water drinker, imagine drinking lukewarm coffee or Mountain Dew. It's just plain gross. What do you feel like doing when that hits your mouth, when you were expecting something cold or hot? That's right - you want to spit it out! This was an image that the church at Laodicea would understand from experience. The water they got from Hieropolis and Colossae was never what it was intended to be. It didn't live up to the billing. It wasn't what it was expected to be. So it was with the church at Laodicea. They were not following God's will. They were not what they were intended to be. Rather, they became complacent. This is what the image conveys to us today. When we get complacent, satisfied, and independent, we are not longer living the life that Jesus has called us to, and that is an unpleasant taste in the Lord's mouth--so much so that it is nauseating.

Complacency - Jesus explains how they have come to this complacency: "For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." Because of the wealth they experienced living in Laodicea, they stopped depending on God and felt that they had all they needed on their own. Notice how the descriptors Jesus uses answer to each of the supposed strengths of their city - wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. However, Jesus offers His own heavenly resources in place of what they thought they had, saying, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see." Essentially, what Jesus is saying is this: "You think you have all these things, but what you have in this world is temporal and meaningless. Come to me for the things that will truly last - eternal treasure in heaven, cleansing through Christ that makes you righteousness before God, and correct sight to see the things that really matter and to be generous (see Mt. 6:22-23; having a "good" eye in Hebrew thought was being a generous person and a right perspective of material possessions)."

Knocking at the door - Jesus tells the church at Laodicea that He is standing at the door and knocking. This verse is often used (I think incorrectly) to refer to evangelism and someone believing for the first time. In this context, however, it is referring to believers whom Jesus is disciplining and calling to repent from their errant ways. When we stray from God's best, He disciplines us. He calls us back. He loves us and won't rest until we live up to the potential He sees in His children.

The takeaway - May we never become complacent in our lives, thinking we have everything we need on our own and that we can be completely independent. We will never cease to need Jesus. We are hopeless without Him and without His help. We have nothing of any eternal significance or consequence apart from Him. He is everything, and we should desire Him and His resources more than the things of this world. May we never lose sight of this truth. May we be the people God desires us to be in Christ, living according to His perfect will.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

This week in our L3 journal, we read through the end of the Gospel of Matthew. In this portion of Matthew's Gospel, we find what is often called, the "Passion Week," where Jesus experiences the difficult journey to the cross for our redemption. In chapter 27:27-44, we see the focal point of the entire gospel message - the crucifixion of Jesus.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and puta scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. (Mt. 27:27-44 ESV)

The phrase that I highlighted here is what sticks out to me most from this passage today, and this is why: what the chief priests, scribes, and elders were saying in their mocking of Jesus was more true than they knew. Jesus could not both save us and save himself at the same time. In order for any of us to be rescued from our sin and from death, Jesus had to die. There was no other way for us to be rescued. The penalty for our sin could only be removed by the death of the perfect Man (aka "The Spotless Lamb"). Any other sacrifice would have been insufficient. God's righteous wrath against sin was poured out completely on Jesus in our place. He was condemned for our sin, despite His perfect innocence. If He came down from that cross and saved Himself the suffering, He could not have saved us. He stayed on the cross because of His great love for us, and His perfect obedience to the Father. This was the only way, and He would see it through, so that we could be redeemed.

When we choose to place our faith and trust in Jesus' finished work on the cross, where He took the penalty for our sin, we receive His gift of salvation. We can either choose to depend on our own goodness to attempt to earn heaven, but in so doing we also choose to bear the wrath for sin on our own. Or we can trust that Jesus paid it all, recognizing that we have nothing to offer God, and are completely dependent on His gracious gift of salvation through the cross. Truly, "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Praise the mighty name of Jesus Christ, because He endured the cross and the wrath for sin in our place, and did not save Himself. May we each examine ourselves and know how truly desperate we were/are for His saving work on the cross. There was no other way for us to be saved. "He saved others; he cannot save himself."

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

In our L3 this week, we have continued our reading through the Gospel of Matthew. In chapters 19-20, Jesus presents a controversial, and sometimes misunderstood, topic regarding one’s status in the kingdom of heaven. He begins with the teaching about “The Rich Young Man” (or “Ruler,” as many versions title this section). In it, Jesus calls this man to sell everything and “give to the poor,” so he would “have treasure in heaven.” At this statement, the rich young man went away sorrowful, “for he had great possessions” (Mt. 19:21-22, ESV).

He then discusses the difficulty of a rich person entering the kingdom of heaven, and how it is possible only through the power of God (Mt. 19:26). He then addresses the situation of His disciples, who had left everything to follow Him, and says they (along with anyone else who has given up the things of this world to follow Him) will receive a great inheritance and eternal life (Mt. 19:29). Essentially, what Jesus is saying up to this point is that the ones to cling to, and depend on, only Him—the ones who are attached more to Christ than any of the things of this world—will inherit eternal life. We cannot have it both ways, as Jesus pointed out in Matthew 6:24 – “No one can have two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Then comes the clincher in verse 30: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Many of us have heard this phrase frequently over the years, but don’t let that minimize the shock of this verse. At first glance, this should be offensive to those who are considered “high” or “rulers” in this world. On the other hand, this is an amazing and beautiful statement for those who are “low” and “servants” in this world.

Jesus then elaborates with a parable, where workers who were brought in to work the vineyard throughout the day. Some started around 6 AM, others at 9 AM, others at 12 noon, and the last came in at 5 PM. At the end of the day, it came time for all of the workers to receive their pay for their labor. The master had the foreman begin with those who started at “the eleventh hour” (about 5 PM), and worked toward those who started earlier. As the payment proceeded, the ones who worked earlier began to expect more; much to their chagrin, they received the same as the late arrivals. Regardless of how long they worked, they all received the same amount of pay. Those who had worked the longest were irritated with the master for his seeming injustice toward them, paying everyone the same amount. The master’s response echoes the shocking phrase: “So the last will be first, and the first last.” His choice to pay equally was a matter of his generosity. So it is with God and His people.

The tendency in the past has been to interpret this as, “those who are the poor will be rich, and the rich will be poor,” or some other type of reversal of the structure of the world. Instead, it is apparent from this parable that the “high” or “first” will be lowered, and the “low” or “last” will be lifted—to equality. First or last, last or first, it doesn’t matter. They will be equals in the kingdom of God. The reward is eternal life; regardless of when we come into God’s “vineyard” as His followers and servants, we are all dependent on His grace and generosity.

May we always be grateful for the grace and generosity of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has granted us eternal life through His sacrificial death on the cross in our place.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

Over the past few months, we have been singing a song in our worship services called "Son Of God," in which we sing the words, "Son of God, prophecy of old/ You alone, redeemer of my soul/ Come again, and lead Your people home/ Come lead us home." As we have been reading through the Gospel of Matthew in our L3 journal, Matthew has been very intentional about pointing out how Jesus has fulfilled the words of the prophets as the promised Messiah, or Christ. Let's take a look at a few examples (all from the ESV):

1. The virgin birth - Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23 - "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."

2. Jesus' birthplace - Micah 5:2/Matthew 2:6 - "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."

3. Jesus' escape to and return from Egypt - Hosea 11:1/Matthew 2:15 - "Out of Egypt I called my son."

4. The slaughter of innocent children - Jeremiah 31:15/Matthew 2:18 - "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."

5. About the ministry of His cousin John - Isaiah 40:3/Matthew 3:3 - "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight."

6. Jesus' eventual hometown of Capernaum, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali - Isaiah 9:1, 2/Matthew 4:15 - "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."

7. Jesus' quiet ministry, telling the recipients of healing not to tell about Him - Isaiah 42:1-3/Matthew 12:18-21 - "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope."

8. Jesus' listeners' lack of understanding of his message - Isaiah 6:9-10/Matthew 13:14-15 - "You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."

9. Jesus' teaching in parables - Psalm 78:2/Matthew 13:35 - "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world."

Isaiah was written around 700 years before Jesus was born. Jeremiah prophesied more than 580 years before Jesus' birth. Hosea died around 725 years before Jesus was born. Micah wrote around 700 years before Christ. 

Peter W. Stoner and Robert C. Newman wrote a book entitled Science Speaks. The book was based on the science of probability, and examined the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by the life of Christ.

The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be only 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.

Stoner claims that that many silver dollars would be enough to cover the face of the entire state of Texas two feet deep. With these odds, it would mean that a blindfolded man, heading out of Dallas by foot in any direction, would be able, on his very first attempt, to pick up one specifically marked silver dollar out of 100,000,000,000,000,000!

God used these prophets to tell of the coming Messiah, and their accuracy is nothing short of supernatural. They could not have done this in their own power or knowledge. It had to be the work of God, revealing Himself and His plans to these men. As we continue to read through Matthew, we will see more proofs that Jesus is the true Messiah. May these prophecies only serve to confirm for us that Jesus is truly the Messiah, and He is the only one worthy of our worship and faith.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

The Gospel to the Hebrew People
This week in our L3 Journal, we have begun reading the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew's Gospel is often considered to have been written to the Hebrew people, with the aim of demonstrating that Jesus is the Messiah, promised in the Hebrew scriptures. Part of Matthew's tactic is compare Jesus with the greatest prophet in Jewish history: Moses. While all other prophets heard the voice of the Lord through dreams and visions, Moses spoke with God face-to-face. He performed the greatest miracles in the history of the Hebrew people, freeing them from slavery in Egypt, providing food in the desert, and giving them the guidelines that would direct their walking with God for centuries.

A Greater Prophet
In Deuteronomy 18:15-19, as Moses is recounting the law for the Hebrew people, he tells of a greater prophet that would come after him. This prophet would be greater because the people would actually listen to him, and for anyone who did not listen, God would have stiff consequences.

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen--just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.' And the Lord said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise pu for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.'"

Making the Connection
In the first five chapters of this gospel, Matthew goes to great lengths to show the similarities between Moses and Jesus. While Moses delivered the first Law, Jesus brought the New Law--the Law that would be written on the hearts of believers. Here are a few of the connections that Matthew makes:

• Both were descendants of Abraham (and therefore Jews)
  • Moses was the son of Amram, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham (1 Chronicles 23)
  • Jesus genealogy in Matthew 1 shows that He is a descendant of David, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (see verses 1-6)
• Both fled their homeland
  • Exodus 2:11-15
  • Matthew 2:13
• A slaughter of innocent children surrounded their births
  • Exodus 1:16
  • Matthew 2:16
• Both came out of Egypt
  • Exodus 13:3
  • Matthew 2:15
• Both went through the water
  • Exodus 15 (the Red Sea crossing was considered a "baptism" in 1 Corinthians 10:2)
  • Matthew 3:13-17 (Jesus was baptized)
• Both went into the wilderness immediately after going through the water
  • Exodus 15 and following
  • Matthew 4 (Jesus' temptation in the wilderness)
• Both went "into" the mountain to deliver the Covenant Law
  • Exodus 19:3; 24:18 ("anebe eis to oros" in Greek)
  • Matthew 5:1 ("anebe eis to oros" in Greek)

Into the Mountain
This last point is possibly one of the most significant, because it directly equates the authority of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) to the authority of the prior Old Testament Law of Moses. This is something that is not readily apparent in the English translations, but it something that happens in the original languages. In Exodus 19:3 and 24:18, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, uses a curious directional preposition to describe how Moses went up the mountain. It says that "he went into the mountain" ("anebe eis to oros"). This phrasing is only used in the Old Testament when referring to Moses and his receiving of the Law from God. Here, in Matthew 5:1, Matthew writes that Jesus, "seeing the crowds, went into the mountain" ("anebe eis to oros"). This is the only place this peculiar phrasing is used, and it is used for a special purpose. Matthew is telling us and all of his Jewish readers that Jesus is the prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18. Jesus initiated the New Covenant, and the new "law" that is a part of that covenant. 

The New Law
This new law is the law of the heart, which is impossible for man to fulfill on his own. It can only be accomplished through the inner transformation that God works in us through His Spirit, as we are born again through faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Notice two statements in particular, Matthew 5:20 and 5:47-48, which bracket Jesus' discussion on the common perspective of the Old Testament Law as compared with His divine perspective on the Law.

Matthew 5:20 - "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds (literally, "is more than") that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:47-48 - "And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

The scribes and Pharisees stuck to every single letter of the Law. They were so diligent, they even tithed from their spices. Jesus told His disciples that their righteousness must exceed perfection as measured by the letter of the Law. It must be more than that. It must be a righteousness that pervades our being, and that comes from the inside out--the kind of righteousness that comes from love rather than fear.

May we trust Jesus' word. May we hear Him and follow. May we pursue the righteousness that comes from love and not from fear. May our righteousness be more, not for our own sake, but to honor the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us.

This week in our L3, we have been reading through Psalms 120-132. In these Psalms, we find songs of prayer for deliverance (120, 129, 130), songs of confidence in God's providence and power (121, 124, 125 - the Psalm from which the song "Those Who Trust" was written, 127, 132), songs of celebration (122, 126), a cry for mercy (123), a song of wisdom (128), and a song of peace (131). In your Bible, you may see a heading over each of these Psalms: "A Song of Ascents." These were songs that the people of Israel sang as they ascended the hill on which Jerusalem was situated, "the mountain of the Lord" (Isaiah 30:29 ESV).

My favorite of these Psalms is 130. In this Psalm, we see the Psalmist mourning his sin and guilt, and his resulting desperation for God's mercy. We can also see the teaching of a righteousness given by faith. The beginning of this Psalm is where each of us truly begin our relationship with God - we need to recognize the depth of our sin, and our desperation for God's mercy. Self-help is not an option for our redemption. God must do it. Verse 3 shows the gravity of the situation, recognizing that if God decides to count all of our transgressions against us, we don't have a chance! It is only because of His grace and mercy that we have hope.

In verse 4, we also get a clearer picture of what "the fear of the Lord" looks like. Notice that forgiveness is the cause of the Psalmist's "fear" of God. If the Psalmist's relationship with God were like that of a slave or servant to a master, this "servile fear would have been diminished, not increased, by forgiveness" (Derek Kidner, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms, 482). Instead, "fear" in the Old Testament "means reverence and implies relationship" (Kidner, 482).

Through the rest of the Psalm, the Psalmist speaks of his hope in the Lord and his word. He speaks of God's "steadfast love" and "plentiful redemption" (v. 7). And then there is the bottom line: God "will redeem Israel from all his iniquities." Notice who is the one doing the redeeming and forgiving. It is God. Not us. Not the Psalmist. He is well aware that he cannot rescue himself from his sin. The Psalmist must to turn to God and trust in Him to forgive us through His mercy, His steadfast love, and His plentiful redemption, even though the Psalmist was not yet aware of the means of this ultimate forgiveness (Jesus Christ).

This Psalm takes us through the journey that we all must walk, from desperation and guilt in our sin to hope, forgiveness, and redemption in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

To think on this Psalm further, listen to this recording of a piece from composer John Rutter's Requiem, entitled "Out of the Deep," which comes almost verbatim from Psalm 130:

Out of the Deep

About a decade ago, this song made me take a close look at Psalm 130, and helped me to see its beauty and value for us today. Enjoy!

May we each recognize our desperate need for mercy, forgiveness, and redemption from our deep sin. We have no hope without Christ! May we each remember and thank Him for His work on the cross to rescue us and to wash away our sin.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

This week in our L3, we are reading 2 Timothy and Titus. In both of these letters from Paul, we see charges given to the recipients to defend the truth and to defend God's people. Words like "reprove," "rebuke," "exhort," "preach," "reproof," "remind," and more. Some of these words may be misunderstood or confused, so we will take a closer look here at the list from 2 Timothy 4:2, "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

"Preach" - This word means, "to proclaim or announce." It is paired with the object, "the word," which is the word of truth, the gospel. Paul tells Timothy that he is to "preach the word" in all circumstances, good times and bad, convenient or otherwise. This is a constant call on every believer, to proclaim the good news about Jesus to our world.

"Reprove" - This word means, "to expose or confront." Timothy was experiencing some serious challenges with heresy and false doctrine in Ephesus, where he was pastoring. In this context (our pluralistic world is very similar to what Timothy was facing), we are to be faithful to the truth of God, and to expose false doctrine when we see it. We are to call sin and lies what they are, and not to mince our words regarding error. We are to do this with love, but we are still called to do it. We must call sin, "sin," and continually point to the truth of Christ. This word is a step beyond "preaching." When people deny or do not listen to the truth of Christ that we proclaim, this is our next effort."

"Rebuke" - This word is more stern than "reprove." It means "to criticize sharply, admonish, or reprimand." When people do not recognize the error of false doctrine, Paul charged Timothy to call it out. This is the same word used when Jesus rebuked demons in the Gospels (e.g. Mark 3:12; Luke 9:55). Jesus denounced their falsehood, and declared God's authority over them. God's truth is, and will always be, victorious over false doctrine. Paul told Timothy to firmly declare God's truth and to deny false teachings where people do not respond to preaching or reproving.

"Exhort" - This word means, "to call to one's side, to encourage, or to motivate." This is what Timothy was supposed to do for those who listened to his message and believed the truth about Jesus. He was to encourage them, to give them strength, and to motivate them to follow Christ more closely--to live out the gospel that they have believed. We should all do this for one another, and encourage each other to live out the gospel. We need those reminders. We need the support of others to do it faithfully. We need to remember the calling on our lives, and how we are to live our lives in such a way as to point people to Jesus with everything we say and do. He is to be honored and exalted by our lives. We need to point each other in this direction, and motivate one another to walk in a way that gives the worth to Jesus.

Paul follows this list with some qualifiers, "with complete patience and teaching." We are to do each of these with patience and teaching--not with the motive to destroy or bring others down--but the love and compassion to truly build others up, to help them understand the truth, and to help them know Christ more completely. If this is our true desire, and we keep that at the forefront of our minds as we walk together, we will find it much easier to "preach," "reprove," "rebuke," and "exhort" in the right way, with love and grace in our hearts, and patience in our approach.

May we each take seriously our call to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ in our world. May we care enough about the people around us to fight for them to help them understand the truth of Jesus. May we love others enough to speak the truth with love and patience. May we be faithful to the gospel of Jesus.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

This week in our L3 journals, we have been reading through Paul's first letter to one of his disciples, Timothy. While you were reading this week, you probably noticed a phrase that Paul repeated through the letter: "The saying is trustworthy." This means that it is especially worth believing, repeating, and passing on to others. Paul highlighted three statements in this letter with this phrase, and I think it is worth it for us to take a closer look at these.

1 Timothy 1:15 - "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..." It is easy for us to get sidetracked about, to focus on different aspects of, or to complicate the nature of Christ's mission when He came to earth. Make no mistake about it - Jesus came here to save sinners. He came to rescue the perishing, the heal the brokenhearted, to seek and save the lost. Everything in our lives drifts toward complexity. Let's not make this one main thing complicated. Jesus came to save us because we needed saving. We were sinners, and we were hopeless without His intervention. That's why He came.

1 Timothy 3:1 - "The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task." The charge to shepherd and guard the flock of God, the Church, is a noble and worthy task. Whoever desires this, desires a good work. Because this is such a noble and important task, the one who aspires to it must meet certain qualifications, as this person will be an example to all. The list that follows in chapter three is a simple list which describes any mature believer and follower of Jesus Christ. This is what our lives should look like more and more as we grow in Christ.

1 Timothy 4:7-10 - "...train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." Many of us take time throughout the week to train our bodies - to exercise, eat well, practice a sport of some kind - so that we may be more prepared to accomplish a task or simply be in better physical health. This kind of training is only good for this life, because our current bodies will not last. However, Paul says, training in godliness is of more value, because it is valuable for both this life and the next. The questions each of us needs to ask ourselves are this: are we putting in more time and effort in our training in godliness than in our physical training? Do we make that our priority?

While at first glance, these three statements may not seem related, they are. Jesus' purpose was to come and save sinners. He has saved us, and now we are to be an example to point others to Christ. The only way our lives will be this kind of example is through disciplined training of our spiritual lives, putting in the time and effort to know God's will and purposes as revealed in Scripture, to spend time in conversation with our Lord, and to lay down our own pride and desires to take up His. When outsiders see this kind of life, they know there is something otherworldly going on. We then have the opportunity and responsibility to point them to the Savior.

May we lay down our lives and pursue godliness in every way, that we may point others to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

Over the past week, we have been reading through Paul's letters to the Philippian and Colossian churches. In Philippians 1:9-11 and Colossians 1:9-12, we see two examples of Paul's prayers for these communities of believers. From these, we can see some common themes, and can take away some things that we can pray for our church, as well as for other churches.

In the passage from Philippians, Paul writes, "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." We can see that he is asking for the Lord to provide:

1. knowledge
2. discernment, so the church will know what is excellent, and
3. that their lives will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ

In the passage from Colossians, Paul writes, "we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience and joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light." Here we see that Paul is asking that the Lord would give the church:

1. knowledge of God's will
2. spiritual wisdom and understanding, so they will be able
3. to bear fruit in every good work to honor the Lord, and
4. to increase in knowledge of God

The common denominators here are that Paul is asking for the Lord to provide a few things for the church, so that they would be able to grow and live in a certain way. In both cases, we see that Paul asks God to give the church knowledge and spiritual understanding (wisdom, discernment, understanding). The result of this should be that the churches will therefore bear the fruit of righteousness in their lives, as an outworking of the righteousness that Christ has given to us through the work of His life and death (as apples come from apple trees, and oranges from orange trees - so righteousness comes from believers who are made righteous by Christ. The fruit does not make the tree, but the tree makes the fruit).

This is something that each of us can and should pray for every community of believers, especially our own community of Fellowship. May the Lord give us knowledge and spiritual understanding, and may we bear the fruit of righteousness which honors Him in every way. While it is a simple prayer, it has profound meaning for our belief, our understanding, and our actions as the body of Christ. Pray for the Church. Pray for your community of believers.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

This week, we have been reading in Psalm 119 (which, by the way, is the longest chapter in the Bible). In it, we catch a glimpse of the Psalmist's love for God's Word. He repeatedly affirms his love for God's law, God's truth, and God's testimonies (which are somewhat synonymous). He cites numerous ways that God's Word is beneficial to him (and to us), and here are just a few (verse numbers in parentheses):

• Those who follow God's way of doing things (as shown in Scripture) are blessed in life (1-2).
• God's Word will help us to be pure (9).
• Memorizing God's Word will help keep us from sin (11).
• God's Word is a counselor for us (24).
• God's Word gives life (25).
• God's Word can give us strength (28).
• God's Word shows us His salvation (41).
• God's Word can give us hope (43).
• God's Word can give us comfort (52).
• God's Word shows us His grace (58).
• God's Word inspires us to worship Him (62).
• God's Word is more valuable than riches (72).
• God's Word shows us His righteousness (75).
• God's Word shows us His steadfast love (76).
• God's Word is trustworthy (86).
• God's Word is unchanging (89).
• God's Word shows His faithfulness (90).
• God's Word gives wisdom and understanding to those who listen (98-104).
• God's Word is a lamp to our life's journey (105).
• God's Word shows us how He holds us up (116-117).
• God's Word shows us how powerful and amazing God is, prompting proper respect (120).
• God's Word is right (137).
• God's Word has been tested and tried, yet has not failed (140).
• God's Word is true (142, 151).
• God's Word shows us His mercy (156).
• God's Word is eternal and endures forever (160).
• God's Word can give us great peace (165).

May we see the inestimable value of God's Word, and adjust our lives accordingly. Something this valuable is worth spending time and energy to study and to know. Thank God for giving us His amazing Word!

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

In the epistle of Hebrews, we find a portrait of Jesus primarily as our Great High Priest. The author of Hebrews describes various aspects of His priesthood throughout the letter.

1. As our High Priest, Jesus makes complete atonement, and secures eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:11-15).
Several times in the epistle of Hebrews, the author points to Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross as being the ultimate fulfillment of the sacrificial system from the old covenant. In the times of the Old Testament (which is another word for "covenant"), the high priest entered the Most Holy Place in the temple once a year to offer sacrifices for his own sins and then for the sins of the nation of Israel. The blood from this sacrifice was sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant, on which the Mercy Seat (Heb. 9:5) was located. The word that is used in Hebrews for "Mercy Seat" is the same word which is translated as "propitiation" in Romans 3:25. It basically means "the place of atonement," where God's righteous wrath against sin is satisfied, sin is forgiven, and the sinner is justified before God because of His grace toward us. The writer describes it as the perfect, "once for all" sacrifice. There is no need for another sacrifice, because Jesus' giving of Himself on the cross is enough. Our Great High Priest leaves nothing to be desired in terms of redemption--His sacrifice on our behalf is perfect, and through it, Jesus was "securing an eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:12) for us.

2. As our High Priest, Jesus intercedes for us as our Mediator (Hebrews 7:25; 8:6).
The author of Hebrews says that Jesus "always lives to make intercession for" the ones who "draw near to God through Him." This is a statement of part of Jesus' purpose. He lives to intercede, which Merriam-Webster defines as, "to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences, to mediate."Jesus speaks to the Father on our behalf, and because of His perfect sacrifice in our place, declares us as righteous and the penalty for sin as satisfied. He mediates our new covenant with God, which is based on His sacrifice rather than imperfect sacrifices we could make on our own behalf. God is both a God of justice and of love, and Jesus is the perfect visible example of these two attributes of God. He went to the cross to satisfy the divine penalty for sin, and He gave Himself up willingly for us because He loves us. Our Great High Priest is for us!

3. As our High Priest, Jesus understands us and sympathizes with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Because He walked among us on this earth, and experienced life as we experience it, Jesus understands us. The writer says that Jesus "in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). He went through trials and difficulties, and sin approached Him throughout His life to tempt Him, yet He did not sin. He came through His life without dishonoring or disobeying God the Father in any way. Rather, He always honored, always obeyed the Father. The effect is two-fold: first, Jesus can relate to our weaknesses and struggles, and He can minister to us and for us in ways that we do not even realize. He is compassionate and loving. He is a better friend and help than we could ever realize on this earth. Second, because He lived this life without blemish, He can lead us to holiness by His own example (not to mention that His sinlessness is the reason His sacrifice in our place for our sins was sufficient - He had to be the spotless Lamb). Ultimately, the writer of Hebrews tells us that we can "then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Jesus is able and willing to help us live this life to the glory of God.

4. As our High Priest, Jesus has made the way for us to have direct access to the holy places (Hebrews 10:19-25).
Prior to Jesus' death on the cross for us, there was only one man who could enter the holy presence of God, in the Holy Place (aka the "Most Holy Place," the "Holiest of All," or the "Holy of holies") contained in the innermost part of the Temple: the High Priest. Read Leviticus 16 to get an idea of how seriously God's presence is to be taken. The High Priest was only allowed to enter once a year (Lev. 16:34), on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). When the High Priest did enter the presence of God through the curtain on that day, he did so with fear and trembling. He had to ceremonially wash properly beforehand, wear the correct holy garments, present the correct offerings, and make an offering to atone first for his own sin (if he did not do this, he would die when he entered God's presence). After he made atonement for himself and his family, he proceeded to make offerings to atone for the sin of the people. If he did anything wrong, he would die. God is serious about sin and about His holiness. Fast forward to the book of Hebrews now. The writer says that "we can have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh." Jesus has opened the way for us to God through His death in our place, so we can go to God "in full assurance of faith" (Heb. 10:22). We have nothing to fear when we go to God. We do not have to worry about dying because of unconfessed or unknown sin in our lives. Rather, we can have confidence that our status with God is secured by Jesus, and not by our own good works. Jesus was perfect in our place, and He has counted His righteousness as our own when we trust and believe Him. Therefore, He has made a way for us into His presence. He has removed the barrier that was there before, and has opened it to all who believe Him.

These are just four of the ways that Jesus cares for us and ministers to us as our Great High Priest. May we trust Him and praise Him for all that He does for us.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

In nearly every one of Paul’s letters to the churches (Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica), there are some recurring themes. The most significant of these themes is that of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ. In the last two letters we have read together in our L3 journal, Galatians and Ephesians, we see this theme very clearly.

In Galatians 2:16, Paul writes, “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (ESV). To be “justified” is a legal term meaning “to be declared righteousness,” and basically communicates the idea of “right-standing” with God (Leon Morris, The Atonement, p. 187). Paul goes on in chapter 3 to discuss Abraham (this passage is very similar to Romans 3:21 - 5:11), and how God made a covenant promise to him through faith, without any law. "The law," Paul writes, “came 430 years afterward,” and “does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.” Basically, if the promise was given without any law, then the law that came 430 years later does not change the promise. The original promise still stands. The law was given to teach people what true righteousness looks like and what was God's standard for righteousness.

Paul is saying here that a right-standing and relationship with God cannot come by working for it. It always came by believing and trusting Him. Before Christ, true Judaism was looking forward in faith and trust in God’s ultimate provision of salvation through the Savior (the people that Jesus was most harsh with in the Gospels were the ones who were trying to establish a their right-standing and relationship with God based on their own merit, like the Pharisees).

Today, we are on the other side of that ultimate provision in Jesus Christ, and the message is clear: we cannot save ourselves, nor can we have right-standing with God based on our own work. We need Jesus Christ’s perfect life, death, and resurrection in order to have a relationship with God. This is what Paul is saying here: no one has right-standing with God because of their own good works. It is only by God’s grace that we are made right with God. We are all incapable of fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law, and we have all come up short when measured by its standards, so we are hopeless on our own (see also Rom. 3:23). Trusting in Jesus’ work on our behalf is the only way for us to be justified.

In Ephesians 2, Paul says it this way (my paraphrase), “You were dead in your sin. You did not keep the law, even if you tried. You disobeyed God. Despite all of this, God, because He is rich in mercy and loves us so much, that He made us alive together with Christ. It is only by His grace that you are alive. It is not because of anything you have done. You can’t take any credit for this. It is only by His undeserved gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that you have life.”

We do not deserve God’s forgiveness, His love, or His grace and mercy. Rather, we deserve His wrath for our sin. That is where our lives were heading without Christ, because we could not fulfill the law, despite our best efforts. He is our only hope. He is our salvation. He is the one who declares us righteous through His death in our place, for our sins, on the cross. He is the one who gives us right-standing and a relationship with God. The way to have this new life? TRUST HIM- not yourself or anything you have done. Trust what He has done for you. Trust that it is enough. Believe that there is nothing you can do to make it a better deal for God. You cannot make yourself look any better in the sight of God. Jesus has already done all the work and been perfect in your place. His promise is the only way for you to be justified. His grace is our only hope. Let us never forget that our salvation is not of our own doing in any way. We didn’t save ourselves, and we don’t keep ourselves saved. It is only by the grace of God that we are saved and have the promise of eternal life with Him. This thought runs through all of Paul’s letters in some way, and is the crux of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor

(Over the next few posts, we will be catching up on some of the high points of the Gospel of Luke from our L3 readings this month. We’ll begin here by taking a look at our reading from April 3rd, Luke 5.)

From the beginning of Luke’s Gospel until chapter five, we have witnessed the beginning of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. He has just begun proclaiming the truth about Himself and the kingdom of God, and healing the sick and casting out demons. At the end of chapter four, Jesus just finished a long day of preaching in the synagogue of His hometown of Nazareth, and He ended His day of ministry in the house of Simon (before Jesus had called him to be His disciple). While Jesus was there, he healed Simon’s mother-in-law of a debilitating fever, cast out demons, and healed the sick. As we pick up in chapter five, Jesus is preaching near Lake Gennesaret, where Simon and his business partners had been fishing all night without success. This is the context of our passage.

When Jesus arrives at the lakeshore, Simon and his fellow fishermen are washing their empty nets. As Jesus preaches, the crowd begins to close in on Him, and He steps into Simon's boat and asks him to take it out a short distance from the shore so He can preach without being overrun by the people who are so anxious to hear Him and to see Him perform miracles. After Jesus finishes teaching, He makes an odd request of Simon, when He tells him, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon’s response reveals his doubt about the request: “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” Keep in mind that Simon had just witnessed numerous miracles the night before, so He was probably more willing to entertain strange requests from Jesus. However, it didn’t change the fact that what Jesus was asking was actually irrational.

You see, in first-century Israel, there were three types of nets used for fishing: cast nets, drag nets, and trammel nets. The cast net (Greek - amphiblestron) of their day was very much like the ones we use today, which is a small circular net with small weights attached all around its margin and the center attached to a small cord for drawing it in. This type of net was made of a fine mesh, so the fish would not see it in the daylight. We find the cast net used in Matthew 4:18 and Mark 1:16. 

The second net, the drag net (Greek - sagene), was made of similar material as the cast net, but was around 400 meters long and reached down to the floor of the lake or sea to leave the fish nowhere to go. These are much like we see the commercial fishermen using today in the ocean. This type of net was also for daylight use because the fish could not see it. We find the drag net in use in Matthew 13:47. 

The third type of net, which is the one we find in this particular passage, was the trammel net (Greek – diktuon), which was constructed of three nets suspended on a rope, 200-250 meters long, and 3 meters deep. It was used not far from shore, and it was used only at night, because fish would see the obvious, heavy cotton net. The trammel net appears 12 times in the gospels, in Matthew 4:20, 21; Mark 1:18, 19; Luke 5:2, 4, 5, and 6 (our passage); and John 21:6, 8, 11 (twice). Simon’s reply to Jesus fits the usage of the net, as he and his team were fishing all night.

When we take the type of net into account, we see that what Jesus was asking was probably very confusing to Simon. To paraphrase, this is what He told Simon: “I know it’s the bright of day now, but go back out to the deeper water, and put down the night nets, which the fish will obviously see and avoid, and go catch some fish. Simon must have thought Jesus was just ignorant about fishing, or joking, or about to prove a point of some kind. Surely Jesus didn’t think Simon was going to catch anything! Simon knew that Jesus was asking was unreasonable, and bordering on crazy. Whatever he was thinking about Jesus’ request, it is clear that Jesus had earned enough trust and respect from Simon that Simon agreed and did what Jesus asked of him. The result?

Against all logic and reason, Simon and his buddies caught a ridiculous amount of fish. This was not only irrational—this was impossible! Why would the fish swim into a net that they could obviously see? How could this happen? The miracle was not primarily that they caught so many fish that they almost sunk two fishing boats; the main miracle was that they caught any fish during the daytime with that thick and obvious net that was designed for use only at night. Just for good measure, Jesus made sure there was no mistaking this as a coincidence. They not only caught fish during the day, but they caught two boatloads of fish! Jesus not only went against all common sense, He completely disregarded it and did whatever He wanted, because Jesus is Lord of all. Simon Peter’s response should also be our response when we see Jesus as He truly is, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Simon Peter witnessed Jesus’ power and authority, and recognized his own sinfulness in light of who Jesus is.

The takeaway for us: Jesus is not subject to our reason or common sense. He is Lord, and we are subject to Him. He may use situations or other things in our lives to do something amazing and completely against what we think is possible, reasonable, or practical. What He asks of us is obedience—not necessarily understanding. When He calls us to do something, our responsibility is to respond with obedience, despite our doubts. When we respond with faith and obey in trust, Jesus will take care of the rest.

In the Son,

Bill Horn
FBC Worship & Arts Pastor