Sermon Series: The Gospel According to the Old Testament

The Old Testament tells the history of the ancient people of God: the nation Israel. They are the children of Abraham, the man God choose and called, and to whom he gave a promise, sealed by a covenant, that through Abraham’s family God would bless all the families of the earth.

A common way of reading and understanding the O.T. is to find in the various stories examples for us to follow… or not. To see in the exemplary characters patterns for us to follow and in those that are less-than-exemplary, the pitfalls we should avoid. While this way of reading has some merit, the danger is that we simply moralize the text. That is, we merely seek to find the ‘moral of the story.’ And thus we come away challenged to ‘be like Moses’ or ’be like David,’ to ‘have courage like Joshua,’ or negatively, ‘don’t be like the 10 disobedient spies,’ ‘don’t be like wicked Saul.’ Great moral lessons, but not much hope for success.

But Jesus and the writers of the N.T. see far more in the O.T. than merely a collection of good morals, like Aesop’s Fables. The O.T. is, both as a whole and in its parts, an unfolding of the Good News that God has been at work throughout human history to accomplish salvation for lost humanity, winning rebels to his gracious will. This unfolding of the Gospel culminates in the giving of his own Son, the Messiah to fully and finally redeem a people for himself. Jesus himself said to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, “Didn’t you understand from the Scriptures…” and then he opened to them all the Law and the Prophets showing how the entire O.T. is a pointer to himself. Everywhere you open it the O.T. is going to build an expectation for something that only Jesus Christ can satisfy.

A Conversation with Death

Below is a link to the sermon by John Piper that I referred to on Sunday. It is the narration of a conversation between a young boy and Death.
It is well worth your time and reflection.

A Conversation with Death

The Other Sermon I Would like to Have Preached Today

Here is an outline of the sermon that I referred to this morning. You can read the complete text of the sermon by clicking the link at the bottom of this post. When I first read this, my spirit was greatly stirred to exalt in the amazing grace of God in my own salvation and in the glorious and humbling privilege of educating angels.


Angels Made Wiser by the Gospel, by Charles Simeon (1759-1836)
Eph. 3:10. To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.

I.      The manifold wisdom of God, as exhibited in the Gospel—

Verily, it is wonderfully displayed,

1.      In making salvation possible—

2.      In devising a salvation suitable to man—

3.      In appointing a salvation so conducive to his own glory—

II.      The instruction which the angels themselves derive from the revelation of it to the Church—

The angels, from the first moment of their creation, saw much of God: but of him, as exhibited in the Gospel, they could have no conception, till that fuller revelation of him was given to the Church. Then the angels began to see:

1.      The extent of his perfections—

2.      The harmony of his perfections—

3.      The felicity arising from this exercise of his perfections—

III.      From this wonderful subject we may see,

1.      What guilt they contract who pervert the Gospel of Christ—

2.      What folly they commit who neglect it—

3.      What happiness is reserved for the saints in heaven—

Bonhoeffer on the Fifth Beatitude: Blessed are the Merciful

"These men without possessions or power, these strangers on earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation and sin of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast and all who are tortured with anxiety.

...In order that they may be merciful they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honor. For the only honor and dignity they know is their Lord's own mercy, to which they owe their very lives.

...One day God himself will come down and take upon himself their sin and shame. He will cover them with his own honor and remove their disgrace. It will be his glory to bear the shame of sinners and to clothe them with his honor. Blessed are the merciful, for they have the Merciful for their Lord."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

On the Beatitudes and Obedience

"The Beatitudes are among the literary are religious treasures of the human race. Along with the Ten Commandments, the Twenty-Third Psalm, The Lord’s Prayer, and a very few other passages from the Bible, they are acknowledged by almost everyone to be among the highest expressions of religious insight and moral inspiration. We can savor them, affirm them, meditate upon them, and engrave them on plaques to hang on our walls. But a major question remains: How are we to live in response to them?"

Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

Upcoming Sermon Series

I plan to begin a new sermon series this Sunday from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29). In Matthew's Gospel, there is a general pattern of narrative backdrop followed by an extended portion of Jesus' teaching. You may want to read chapters 3 and 4 for the backdrop to the Sermon on the Mount.

D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, London's WWII pastor, wrote concerning this text,

If you want to have power in your life and to be blessed, go straight to the Sermon on the Mount. Live and practice it and give yourself to it... Face the Sermon on the Mount and its implications and demands, see your utter need, and then you will get it. It is the direct road to blessing.

...I suggest to you it [this passage of Scripture] is the best means of evangelism... The world today is looking for, and desperately needs, true Christians.

...If only all of us were living the Sermon on the Mount, men would know that there is dynamic in the Christian gospel; they would know that this is a live thing; they would not go looking for anything else. They would say, 'Here it is.' And if you read the history of the Church you will find it has always been when men and women have taken this sermon seriously and faced themselves in the light of it, that true revival has come. And when the world sees the truly Christian man, it not only feels condemned, it is drawn, it is attracted."

Revelation 22

In Ephesians 1:7-10 Paul writes,
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." (ESV)

The closing chapters of Revelation speak to this completion of all God's purposes in redemption, at which time God in Christ will finally and fully restore all that was lost by our sinfulness. Consider God's work of restoration, of re-creation as it is highlighted by a comparison of Genesis 1-3 and Revelation 20-22...

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. 1:1
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth..." Rev. 21:1

"...the darkness he called Night." Gen. 1:5
"...and there will be no night there." Rev. 21:25

Revelation 20

Here are several cross-references related the patience of God in judgment:

Exodus 34:6,

Psalm 86:15,

Psalm 103:8,

Romans 2:4,

Romans 9:22,

2 Peter 3:9, 15