Introduction:
Genuine faith always has a proper object. The faith that is the gift of God, the faith that can obey God, the faith that is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in a human heart, is a faith that trusts IN GOD, and in His Word.
Faith, PROPERLY FOCUSED, is never faith in faith.
It is not faith in intuitions.
It is not faith in something suggested to us mystically, or emotionally.
GODLY FAITH IS TRUST ANCHORED IN WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED.
IT IS FAITH IN GOD’S PERSON, AND IT IS FAITH IN GOD’S PRONOUNCEMENTS, and as a result, it is never disappointed, because it is impossible for God to lie.
Genuine faith is a testimony to God.
It honors God.
It displays God.
It displays God because it is a means that God uses to put His own faithfulness on display. He tells us what is true and calls us to believe it and to live on the basis of it, and then He demonstrates that we are wise to trust Him.
ESV Malachi 3:10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
ESV Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
That is why there is no conflict of interest in an account of a miracle that magnifies the authority of Jesus and the astounding faith of a Gentile centurion.
THE AUTHORITY ON DISPLAY IN JESUS GLORIFIES GOD.
THE FAITH ON DISPLAY IN THE CENTURION GLORIFIES JESUS AND GLORIFIES GOD.
I. AN UNLIKELY APPEAL (vs.5-6)
Jesus is making His way into the city of Capernaum. Located northwest of the sea of Galilee, it became a place where the ministry Jesus came to be based. It was a military outpost, which is why you have a centurion there, a battle tested, veteran soldier, who commanded at least 100 men. It located on a travel route that made it a strategic taxing location as well.
Of all the people one might expect to seek out the Lord Jesus Christ — and to address Him as Lord while asking Him for help — the unlikeliest might have been a Roman centurion.
But this was a man whom the Lord has already been working in.
Luke tells us that this was man very friendly and kind to the Jewish people.
In fact, everything that Matthew presents as having taken place between this centurion and the Lord Jesus, DID TAKE PLACE BETWEEN THEM — but through Jewish mediators.
ESV Luke 7:3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue."
So, the centurion makes his way to Jesus but does not address Jesus directly.
A. A GENTILE MAN – In addition, the men who were installed into the kind of leadership role were often natives of that area. This means, he was not only seen as an occupier, but a traitor by some of the people.
B. AN ACCOMPLISHED MAN (He is the leader of the military garrison in that city — someone who served under Herod Antipas)
C. A GENEROUS MAN (Built the people a synagogue)
D. A CARING MAN
The word servant is παῖς. It is a word used for a young person, usually below the teenage years. It was also a word that could be used of a son. It would not be a stretch to understand this to mean, “my boy.”
It also be used of a slave who was your personal attendant.
What we know from Luke, is that this slave was especially dear to this man.
ESV Luke 7:2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.
A Christian Self-Assessment
Romans 12:3
April 17, 2022 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Romans 12:3
Financial Fellowship
February 18, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Philippians 4:15–20
Introduction: True churches — healthy churches — honor Christ. They recognize that Christ is the Head of the church. They recognize Christ is the Chief Shepherd of the church. They are submissively pursuing the will of Christ in the church. BUT HOW DO WE EXPLAIN CHRIST-HONORING CONGREGATIONS? Regeneration is the ultimate explanation, but what are they learning? What are they being taught? As we think about this, I want to zero in on one non-negotiable to that end. There are many ways the Bible would explain a Christ-honoring church. But the reason why I want to zero in on the quality that we emphasize today, is because I think we RARELY MENTION this element of what makes for Christ-honoring churches. AS I SAID, THE BIBLE DESCRIBES WHAT IT MEANS TO HONOR CHRIST IN MULTIPLE WAYS. We can say: No church honors Christ that isn’t growing in its KNOWLEDGE of Christ. No church honors Christ that doesn’t CHERISH Christ — counting Him our greatest treasure. No church honors Christ that doesn’t PRIORITIZE Christ — giving Him first place. No church honors Christ that isn’t SATSIFIED with Christ. YOU CANNOT HONOR CHRIST WHILE YOU ENTERTAIN IDOLS. Colossians 3:5 (LSB) 5 Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. John MacArthur — “greed. Lit. this term means “to have more.” It is the insatiable desire to gain more, especially of things that are forbidden (cf. Ex 20:17; Dt 5:21; Jas 4:2). which amounts to idolatry. When people engage in either greed or the sexual sins Paul has cataloged, they follow their desires rather than God’s, in essence worshiping themselves—which is idolatry (Nu 25:1–3; Eph 5:3–5).”#_ftn1 BUT ALL OF THOSE THINGS CAN REALLY BE SUMMED UP IN THE WORD CONTENTMENT. In contrast to the constant desire for something we DO NOT HAVE, and all the things WE SHOULD NOT HAVE, is CONTENTMENT. The Christ honoring church is a church characterized by contentment. CONTENT WITH WHAT GOD GIVES US. CONTENT WITHOUT WHAT GOD HAS CHOSEN NOT TO GIVE US. CONTENT REGARDLESS OF OUR CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES CONTENT WITH WHAT GOD HAS IDENTIFIED AS SUFFICIENT. CONTENT IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE AND SEASON OF CONGREGATIONAL LIFE. CONTENT WHEN IT SEEMS THAT WE ARE FLOURISHING AND CONTENT WHEN IT SEEMS THAT WE ARE WITHERING. CONTENT KNOWING THAT WE CAN’T DO BETTER THAN TO SIMPLY TRUST AND OBEY WITH CONSISTENT FAITHFULNESS — I MEAN WE ARE TRULY CONVINCED OF THAT. CONTENT WHEN CELEBRATED AND CONTENT WHEN CONDEMENED, BECAUSE IN NEITHER CIRCUMSTANCE IS OUR AIM THE PRAISE OF MEN. Contentment is found wherever you find a church honoring Christ. That kind of church ministry produces fruit. Its fruit is simplicity — free from the clutter of human invention — the clutter of worldly ideologies and strategies that men take hold of in pursuit of things God never designed. Its fruit is peacefulness — at rest in God and His Word and the work He has assigned us. Its fruit is unity — contentment in Christ that frees us from competition with each other. Its fruit is a consistent thankfulness and joy. But, as we will be reminded, CONTENTMENT IS LEARNED — believers struggle to learn it. It is not automatic. It is a matter of sanctification. CONTENTMENT IS EXPERIENCED INDIRECTLY. IT IS LEARNED IN THE FURNACE OF GOD ORDAINED CIRCUMSTANCES THAT SIFT US AND PURIFY US. Our God must teach us the vanity of setting our HOPE on what is NOT OUR HOPE. WE WILL NEVER HONOR CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH IF WE ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH. AND THIS CHARACTERIZES CHURCHES ONE BELIEVER AT A TIME. If the church is to honor Christ, WE MUST HONOR CHRIST. If contentment is non-negotiable for the church, IT IS NON-NEGOTIABLE FOR ME if I am to live a life that honors Jesus. I. PAUL’S JOY DECLARED (VS.10) Paul is bringing his letter to a close. But before he finishes there is a matter that needs to be attended to. He hinted at the matter in the first chapter: NAS Philippians 1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. But now he addresses it directly. The Philippians, by the hands of Epaphroditus (vs.18), have delivered material support to Paul. Paul is in a Roman prison, surviving on the most basic kind of provisions, existing in a state of want, facing an impending trial before Roman authorities, and knows that he potentially faces even the possibility of execution. In those circumstances, he meets with an act of friendship and concern on the part of the Philippian church. Epaphroditus had arrived with their gift, and was himself a gift, and now Paul can return his thanks by the hand of this same man in the form of this return letter. His thank you is fascinating. It is rich with instruction. Paul takes a thank you and turns it into an opportunity to model and to instruct what Christian love and Christian living is all about. It is a great reminder that Christianity is something supernatural wherever it is real. It is ETERNAL LIFE. It is fellowship with God and His Son (John 17:3). And in that eternal life IS THE PRESENCE OF REAL FAITH. AND WHERE THIS LIFE AND THIS FAITH EXIST THERE IS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE, A UNIQUE BELIEF THAT ALLOWS FOR UNIQUE ACTS. And in our text there are three that are apparent. #_ftnref1 John F. MacArthur Jr., https://ref.ly/logosres/macartsbnasb?ref=bible.col3.5&off=597&ctx=4%3a3%3b+cf.+jas+1%3a15).+~greed.+lit.+this+ter (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Col 3:5.
Honoring Christ Through Contentment
November 18, 2023 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Philippians 4:10–20
Introduction: True churches — healthy churches — honor Christ. They recognize that Christ is the Head of the church. They recognize Christ is the Chief Shepherd of the church. They are submissively pursuing the will of Christ in the church. BUT HOW DO WE EXPLAIN CHRIST-HONORING CONGREGATIONS? Regeneration is the ultimate explanation, but what are they learning? What are they being taught? As we think about this, I want to zero in on one non-negotiable to that end. There are many ways the Bible would explain a Christ-honoring church. But the reason why I want to zero in on the quality that we emphasize today, is because I think we RARELY MENTION this element of what makes for Christ-honoring churches. AS I SAID, THE BIBLE DESCRIBES WHAT IT MEANS TO HONOR CHRIST IN MULTIPLE WAYS. We can say: No church honors Christ that isn’t growing in its KNOWLEDGE of Christ. No church honors Christ that doesn’t CHERISH Christ — counting Him our greatest treasure. No church honors Christ that doesn’t PRIORITIZE Christ — giving Him first place. No church honors Christ that isn’t SATSIFIED with Christ. YOU CANNOT HONOR CHRIST WHILE YOU ENTERTAIN IDOLS. Colossians 3:5 (LSB) 5 Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. John MacArthur — “greed. Lit. this term means “to have more.” It is the insatiable desire to gain more, especially of things that are forbidden (cf. Ex 20:17; Dt 5:21; Jas 4:2). which amounts to idolatry. When people engage in either greed or the sexual sins Paul has cataloged, they follow their desires rather than God’s, in essence worshiping themselves—which is idolatry (Nu 25:1–3; Eph 5:3–5).”#_ftn1 BUT ALL OF THOSE THINGS CAN REALLY BE SUMMED UP IN THE WORD CONTENTMENT. In contrast to the constant desire for something we DO NOT HAVE, and all the things WE SHOULD NOT HAVE, is CONTENTMENT. The Christ honoring church is a church characterized by contentment. CONTENT WITH WHAT GOD GIVES US. CONTENT WITHOUT WHAT GOD HAS CHOSEN NOT TO GIVE US. CONTENT REGARDLESS OF OUR CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES CONTENT WITH WHAT GOD HAS IDENTIFIED AS SUFFICIENT. CONTENT IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE AND SEASON OF CONGREGATIONAL LIFE. CONTENT WHEN IT SEEMS THAT WE ARE FLOURISHING AND CONTENT WHEN IT SEEMS THAT WE ARE WITHERING. CONTENT KNOWING THAT WE CAN’T DO BETTER THAN TO SIMPLY TRUST AND OBEY WITH CONSISTENT FAITHFULNESS — I MEAN WE ARE TRULY CONVINCED OF THAT. CONTENT WHEN CELEBRATED AND CONTENT WHEN CONDEMENED, BECAUSE IN NEITHER CIRCUMSTANCE IS OUR AIM THE PRAISE OF MEN. Contentment is found wherever you find a church honoring Christ. That kind of church ministry produces fruit. Its fruit is simplicity — free from the clutter of human invention — the clutter of worldly ideologies and strategies that men take hold of in pursuit of things God never designed. Its fruit is peacefulness — at rest in God and His Word and the work He has assigned us. Its fruit is unity — contentment in Christ that frees us from competition with each other. Its fruit is a consistent thankfulness and joy. But, as we will be reminded, CONTENTMENT IS LEARNED — believers struggle to learn it. It is not automatic. It is a matter of sanctification. CONTENTMENT IS EXPERIENCED INDIRECTLY. IT IS LEARNED IN THE FURNACE OF GOD ORDAINED CIRCUMSTANCES THAT SIFT US AND PURIFY US. Our God must teach us the vanity of setting our HOPE on what is NOT OUR HOPE. WE WILL NEVER HONOR CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH IF WE ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH. AND THIS CHARACTERIZES CHURCHES ONE BELIEVER AT A TIME. If the church is to honor Christ, WE MUST HONOR CHRIST. If contentment is non-negotiable for the church, IT IS NON-NEGOTIABLE FOR ME if I am to live a life that honors Jesus. I. PAUL’S JOY DECLARED (VS.10) Paul is bringing his letter to a close. But before he finishes there is a matter that needs to be attended to. He hinted at the matter in the first chapter: NAS Philippians 1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. But now he addresses it directly. The Philippians, by the hands of Epaphroditus (vs.18), have delivered material support to Paul. Paul is in a Roman prison, surviving on the most basic kind of provisions, existing in a state of want, facing an impending trial before Roman authorities, and knows that he potentially faces even the possibility of execution. In those circumstances, he meets with an act of friendship and concern on the part of the Philippian church. Epaphroditus had arrived with their gift, and was himself a gift, and now Paul can return his thanks by the hand of this same man in the form of this return letter. His thank you is fascinating. It is rich with instruction. Paul takes a thank you and turns it into an opportunity to model and to instruct what Christian love and Christian living is all about. It is a great reminder that Christianity is something supernatural wherever it is real. It is ETERNAL LIFE. It is fellowship with God and His Son (John 17:3). And in that eternal life IS THE PRESENCE OF REAL FAITH. AND WHERE THIS LIFE AND THIS FAITH EXIST THERE IS A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE, A UNIQUE BELIEF THAT ALLOWS FOR UNIQUE ACTS. And in our text there are three that are apparent. #_ftnref1 John F. MacArthur Jr., https://ref.ly/logosres/macartsbnasb?ref=bible.col3.5&off=597&ctx=4%3a3%3b+cf.+jas+1%3a15).+~greed.+lit.+this+ter (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Col 3:5.
Shepherding Adult Children
November 5, 2023 • Richard Caldwell Jr.
Introduction: The Bible makes clear that a parent’s responsibility to influence their children extends beyond the time of their childhood years. The fact that the people of God were taught to pass on the truth to their grandchildren, assumes an ongoing role in the families of their adult children. ESV Deuteronomy 4:9 "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children-- 10 how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.' ESV Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers. Looking at it from the opposite angle, the commands of God to honor parents for a lifetime, and to care for parents in their older years, indicates that godliness means an ongoing presence and concern, and relationship, and influence, in the lives of children after they are grown. ESV Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. ESV Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' (this would certainly assume children old enough to be held accountable as adults) Job was an example of ongoing influence in the lives of his adult children. ESV Job 1:2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually. Eli’s leniency with his sons, and God’s rebuke of him, testifies to ways that a father’s refusal to do what is right in his relationship with his adult children (granted, in unique circumstances in his case), is a matter for rebuke. ESV 1 Samuel 12:12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king. 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king." ESV 1 Samuel 2:22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death. ESV 1 Samuel 2:27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?' 30 Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,' but now the LORD declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. The multigenerational influence seen in the family of God — in the local church — speaks to that same kind of influence in families. ESV Titus 2:1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.