Tag Archives: obedience

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Preaching the OT Conditions that Drive Disciple-Making: Preaching Through Chronicles

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I was fascinated by this therapist’s ad because our goals–change–are identical. What you may not have thought of was using “if-then” statements to affect change. I didn’t until I preached through 1 & 2 Chronicles.

When–not if–you arrive at 2 Chronicles 15 you encounter one of the most fascinating conditions or “if clauses” found in Scripture. Verse 2 reads, “If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”

Depending on your theology, that statement spoken by a Spirit-filled Azariah to King Asa can cause some problems. If you feel the need to run to the NT (as I did, if I remember correctly) have everyone look at 2 Timothy 2:12-13 which reads:

“if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”

I didn’t say turning there would solve all the problems.

But 2 Chronicles 15 provides a wonderful opportunity for a faith-family to consider the condition for experiencing salvation-rest promised in Scripture.

Verses 1-2 describe the condition. The key to success in the Christian life is having the Lord with you in an OT sense. When the Lord was with His people He fought hard for them and they always came out on top. The opposite was also true.

The condition is God’s people being “with him” or seeking Him. Both describe a person that looks to Him alone for provision, protection, and direction in life. It’s an important part of being a Christ-follower.

Verses 3-7 describe life without God’s active, powerful presence. It’s not a pretty sight. Verse 6 says, “They were broken in pieces.”

Finally, verses 8-19 describe drastic measures taken to ensure God’s powerful presence remains. Those that didn’t seek the Lord were put to death! (v. 13) and “Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa  removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah” (v. 16). Wow! That’s serious spiritual reform.

And when you preach on this OT condition your listeners will catch how important it is to become part of Asa’s kingdom where  God fights hard for His own. I hope you’ll do this so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

 

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Monitoring Our Level Of Obedience

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There are times preaching through the Gospel of Luke (and many other places throughout the Scriptures, for that matter) when we are forced to monitor our spiritual progress. For instance, in Luke 11:28 Jesus says, “Blessed…are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” The rest of the paragraph describes in general terms, through the imagery of light and darkness, what it’s like when we allow Jesus’ teaching to enlighten every area of our sin-infected hearts.

I found it helpful to create a slide that lists some prominent sins. I wanted us to ask if we commit these sins just as much as the non-Christian. You don’t have to use a slide. You could use a handout or simply read the list to your hearers. The key is to somehow help the faith-family monitor their level of obedience. Are we hearing the word of God and keeping it? How do we know?

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Take the same list and transform it into LifePlus character traits. It’s easy now to ask which list, or, more likely, which one(s) on the two lists best describe us.

The Bible forces us to evaluate our lifestyle to help us be sure our faith in Christ is living. This approach is not the only way, but I’ve found I can get a lot of mileage out of these contrasting lists.

If you desire to stay away from moralistic preaching, simply remind everyone that Jesus died in literal darkness (Luke 23:44ff.) so we could be “full of light” (Luke 11:34). The second slide describes the genuine Believer. It’s the difference between a morally restrained heart and a supernaturally changed heart.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation in the Church and in the world.

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Application As Implementation

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I have been playing the cello since March, 2013. My problem is not understanding what my teacher is telling me; my problem is implementing or executing properly. God and my family know I’m trying. My teacher isn’t satisfied with my understanding what to do; my teacher wants to know if I can play the piece, if I can execute properly. Our Teacher feels the same way. In Luke 6:46 Jesus says to His disciples, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Jesus’ sermon on the level place ends with a strong call to hearing His words and doing them (cf. Luke 6:46-49). That reminds me that sermons must urge people to implement God’s Word. In David Wenham’s chapter, Preaching the Sermon on the Mount, he writes, “we must not preach generalizations but need to preach practically” (p. 84 in Preaching the New Testament). Years ago, my dear preaching professor at DTS, John Reed, taught us to apply the Bible at three levels: What do I want them to know (the one expositors are usually best at)? What do I want them to feel (the one I’m worst at!)? What do I want them to do? (the one I want to get better at). Many of our Sunday preaching portions afford an opportunity for us to graciously urge parishioners to do the things Jesus says to do.

P.S. This blog was intended to go out back in July, but got lost in the draft folder. I’m still learning how to execute WordPress!

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Preaching Jesus’ Sermon on the Level Place

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We have the audacity to preach Jesus’ sermon! What are we thinking! Actually, we have no choice, right, because Luke records Jesus’ sermon on the level place (cf. Luke 6:17). The four “blessed” and four “woe to you” in verses 20-26 are followed up with 8 radical instructions, 1 familiar instruction (Golden Rule), and the reasons why we obey these instructions (verses 32-36). Jesus assumes that some of His listeners have been radically changed into people who have the desire and capacity to love even our enemies. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount or Luke’s Sermon on the Level Place are difficult because they sound like pure moralistic teaching. The bar is raised impossibly high: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Well that’s doable. That’s why some theological camps struggle with how to apply them to the Church age. One key is highlighting that saving faith creates a person who lives distinctly from sinners. Three times Jesus says, “even sinners…” He is reminding us we’re different because we’re “sons of the Most High” (v. 35) and because God is our “Father” (v. 36). As I said in an earlier post, throughout the sermon, Jesus is dividing His hearers into two categories. On Sunday we challenge all our listeners to obey Jesus’ teaching, knowing full well that some can’t (depending on your theology, of course).