Calvary Chapel Fremont

Breaking the Grip of Greed - Genesis 14:17-24

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 28 May 2012 05:13:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday May 27, 2012

Jesus and the Mystery of Pentecost

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:11:00 GMT

Sam Nadler @ Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday May 23, 2012

Stuck - Genesis 12:1-4

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:01:16 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday March 25, 2012

Baby Steps of Faith - Genesis 11:10-12:4

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:52:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday March 18, 2012

The Stripping Judgement of God - Jeremiah 49:23-39

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 04:11:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday March 14, 2012

The Gift of Confusion - Genesis 11:1-9

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday March 11, 2012

Prophet to the Nations Part 2 - Jeremiah 48:13-49:39

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 04:39:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday March 7, 2012

God For All Nations - Genesis 10:1-32

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:17:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday March 4, 2012

Prophet to the Nations Part 1 - Jeremiah 48:13-49:39

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:30:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday February 29, 2012

Triple Exposure - Genesis 9:18-29

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:10:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday February 26, 2012

The Sediment of Sin - Jeremiah 47:1-48:12

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:35:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday February 22, 2012

Your Greatest Fear Relieved - Genesis 9:8-17

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:12:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday February 19, 2012

Christian Allegiances - Mark 12:13-17

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:45:00 GMT

Pastor Jeff Jones @ Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday February 15, 2012

Vegetarians and Vampires - Genesis 9:1-7

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:34:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday February 12, 2012

The Deep Reach of God - Jeremiah 46:13-28 - Part 2

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:26:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday February 8, 2012

Gospel Changed Relationships - Deuteronomy 6

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:43:00 GMT

Pastor Jack Arnold @Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday February 5, 2012

The Deep Reach of God - Jeremiah 46:1-28 - Part1

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:18:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday February 1, 2012

Going Forward - Genesis 8:6-22

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:46:33 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday January 29, 2012

Wrong - Jeremiah 45:1-5

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:42:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday January 25, 2012

Moving Into Tomorrow - Genesis 8:1-14

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:24:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday January 22, 2011

Finshed - Jeremiah 44:1-30

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:06:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday January 18, 2012

The Water Prevailed - Genesis 7:1-12

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:38:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday January 15, 2011

Running Scared - Jeremiah 43:1-13

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:07:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday January 11, 2012

Enough - Genesis 6:11-22

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:56:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday January 8, 2011

Air Prayer - Jeremiah 42:1-22

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:47:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday January 4, 2012

Hebrews 12:1-2

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:12:00 GMT

Elder Joaquin Murrieta, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday January 1, 2012

Released But Not Retired - Jeremiah 39:11-41:18

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:46:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday December 28, 2011

Walking With God - Genesis 6:1-9

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:32:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday December 18, 2011

Besieged/Breached/Blinded - Jeremiah 39:1-10

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:08:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday December 14, 2011

Something Wicked this Way Comes - Genesis 6:1-4

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:29:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday December 11, 2011

Loving God's Power / Hating God's Law - Jeremiah 37:1-10

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:24:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday December 7, 2011

Three Aspects of Life in Christ - Genesis 5:1-32

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 06:16:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday December 4, 2011

Without God - Genesis 4:16-26

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:06:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday November 27, 2011

Jerry Springer B.C. - Genesis 4:5-16

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:17:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday November 20, 2011

The Cross - 1 Corinthians 1:18

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:35:00 GMT

Elder Joaquin Murrieta, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday November 13, 2011

Steps to Revival - Nehemiah 9

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:24:00 GMT

Elder Robert Romero, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday November 9, 2011

Take Heed - Acts 27:9-25

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:21:00 GMT

Pastor Keith Mills, Spring Valley Church, Milpitas @ Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday November 6, 2011

Q & A

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:31:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday November 2, 2011

The Way of Cain - Genesis 4:1-5

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:05:30 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday October 30, 2011

The Way of Cain

Genesis 4:1-5

But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction. How terrible it will be for them! For they follow the evil example of Cain… Jude 10-11 NLT

Moses just isn’t recording history, nor is he just telling a story - he’s writing a sermon. And in writing a sermon, he’s wanting to make a point. He pens this in the wilderness/main audience are those who will be going into the Promised Land. A/E disobeyed/ kicked out of garden. Israel disobeyed/kept out of Promise Land. With the story of Cain/Abel he is going to make a further point in his sermon – something important 4 Israel 2 remember/abide by.

Cain –from the root ‘to strike.’ Here is the one who will strike the head of the serpent. He will conquer/prevail over enemy.

The absence of the formula ‘she conceived and bore’ led to the tradition that Cain/Abel were twins. JPS Comm.

Abel – vanity/breath/nothingness (maybe given after death/Eve named him such remembering the sad condition of the human race). Here is one who can’t compete/prevail over the enemy. Maybe after Cain, Abel was not seen as being necessary.

There are some clues in the text that help us in understanding the point Moses is seeking to make -

Cain – tiller/worker/SLAVE of the ground.

Abel – keeper/SHEPHERD of flocks. Keeper used as honorific title.

Cain gave himself to what was cursed. Abel gave himself to the means of redemption.

Course of time = end of days (Sabbath?). They were taught when to bring an offering. In giving an offering they acknowledged that their property belonged to God. They were taught where to bring an offering – there must have been an altar where Abel could have sacrificed the fat portions.

God disapproved of Cain/offering. Fire? Lev. 9:24/Jud. 6:21; 1K18:38/2C7:1

Cain offered of the ground he worked.

Abel offered of the firstlings of his flock and fat portions.

Why did the Lord regard Abel’s offering/reject Cain’s? Did it have to do w/ what was offered/who was giving the offering/how it was offered? Why was Abel’s offering accepted and not Cain’s?

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. Hebrews 11:4

Cain didn’t bring firstfruits – there is a word for that. Why didn’t he bring the firstfruits? Did he not know? Then why did Abel give the firstlings/fat? Did Cain bring the wrong sacrifice? Yes, and a wrong heart.

From the beginning, sacrifices were always substitutes. And if those they substituted for didn’t have right hearts before God, the sacrifices weren’t accepted. Even when the people brought the right sacrifice, when their heart wasn’t right, it wasn’t accepted.

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer…” Isaiah. 1:11-13

Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:22

God has always been after the heart of man and this is what Cain didn’t bring to God. Cain had a wrong heart/stingy offering.

This is the offering God wants - Romans 12:1

This is the pathway of offering – Hebrews 13:15 Christ is pathway…

Couple of implications: 1) Religion is the way of Cain. Missions isn’t convincing of God, but preaching Christ. 2) Many who say they follow Jesus actually walk in the way of Cain. God doesn’t want what is yours – He wants you.

Cain brought that which displeased the Lord. He didn’t come to God through another, but the fruit of his own sweat. Note: not a rejection of God, but a rejection of God’s revelation, God’s ways. Cain wanted to serve God, but in his own way.

Was God holding Cain accountable to the standard of Abel? No. Cain was accountable to the standard of revelation. God didn’t say, “When you’re as good as Abel I will accept you.” God says, “When you walk in faith/obedience of faith I will accept you.”

Cain wanted his work to be applauded – but no applause from heaven/no angelic roar/no fire from the sky. Cain wanted his work 2b his worship – this is what he excelled at.

I believe in God/don’t go to church/not religious/conscientious and want to do a good job/ give to charity. God knows my heart.

He wanted 2b known in heaven as he was known on earth. He wanted to be known by his works, not his faith. I don’t – I want to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness. He would come to God, yes – but he would come on his own terms.

Way of Cain – coming to God, but not in faith, not through Christ. Cain believed in God, but he didn’t believe God. He believed that there was a God and that He should be acknowledged, yet he thought he could relate to God as he saw fit and give to God what he thought appropriate. Did Cain sacrifice? Yes. Did he obey/worship? No. Did Cain walk in faith? No.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

Point of Moses’ sermon - you cannot approach God on your own terms. He is addressing a nation prone to wander, prone to follow religions/philosophies of surrounding nations. Time and again man departs from the path of revelation and walks in the stubbornness of his heart. We see this all the time in mundane life– why does my room need to be clean? Why do I have to be home by 11:30? Why can’t I sleep with another woman – why does my wife set the terms of our life together?

His first and ultimate problem was the sin of his own heart against a God who had given revelation saying, “This is the way life is meant to work. This is the way you are to live and relate to Me.” In rejecting this, Cain set himself on a course of destruction.

Building on Sand - Jeremiah 36:1-32

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 05:57:06 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday October 26, 2011

    Building on Sand

    Jeremiah 36:1-32

1-3   The Reason for the Scroll

Pharaoh put Jehoiakim on the throne in 601 BC. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh @ the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. If the one who put Jehoiakim on the throne is no longer on his throne, what does that mean for Jehoiakim’s throne? Jehoiakim looked to Pharaoh, and not to God, to prop up this throne. Pharaoh, not God, was the power behind Jehoiakim’s throne - w/ Pharaoh no longer supporting him, Jehoiakim has to feel vulnerable. This shift of world events demonstrates that Jehoiakim has been building his life/ kingdom on sand. This shift of power sifts the sand beneath his feet and it is in the backdrop of this shift of power that God directs J to take the prophecies he has spoken/put them into writing.

Jehoiakim was a descendant of David, the shepherd boy whom the Lord had brought to the throne of Israel/established his dynasty. The foundation of David’s throne was the LORD Himself. The rock of David’s throne was the Rock of Ages. It was God who brought David to the throne/sustained David upon the throne. Some of David’s descendants relied upon the Lord while some relied upon themselves and allied w/ other nations. Some looked to the Lord to be their strength/some looked to the nations. Some built their thrones upon the Rock/some upon the sand. Jehoiakim built his throne upon the sand. He looked to man to give him the throne /sustain him upon the throne. Through J, the Lord appealed to Jehoiakim to make God his strength, but he never did so.

This was a perfect time for Jehoiakim to reassess his life. The sifting sand meant that he had to gain a new footing. Trouble reveals whether you’re standing on the sand or on the Rock. At beach – stand on sand, constantly have to gain new footing/on rock and remain in one place.

How do you know that you have made the Lord your rock/the foundation you’re building on? Matthew 7:15-27. The tenses of the verbs in v22 point to actions done in the past/over and done with. Practice lawlessness of v23 is an ongoing manner of life. These were professional ministers who didn’t live habitual godly lives.

So, how do you know that you’ve made the Lord your rock ? v24 …everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them… You are hearing/doing the Word of God in an ongoing manner. Following Jesus isn’t a performance, it’s a lifestyle.

It was at this time, when the foundation of Jehoiakim’s throne was shaken, that the words of J took written form. And God directed J to do so in the hopes that the king and the nation would take themselves off the sand and build on the rock. There is a change of world empire and if Jehoiakim didn’t make his way to the Rock, this new empire will conquer Judah.

In the drama of world change, J is directed to record the word of the Lord. A world in turmoil, a world that is building upon the sand needs the written word of God. The full Bible has been translated into over 450 languages, and sections of the Bible have been translated into over 2,000 languages. Human history is entering a very dark period/the word of God in the hands of men/women will point them to the Rock. J’s desire: that king/people repent/rebuild.
Vatican urges economic reforms, condemns collective greed 5:35pm BST By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, Oct 24 (Reuters) The Vatican called has for the creation of a global authority to regulate financial markets as demonstrations against corporate greed continued to spring up in major cities across the globe. An 18-page document from the Vatican's Justice and Peace department said the financial downturn had revealed behaviors like "selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale…"

The document was released as "Occupy Wall Street" protests this month sparked similar anti-capitalist movements around the world with demonstrators angry over government bailouts of big banks/corporate bonuses/economic inequality. "If no solutions are found to the various forms of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social/political/ economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundations of democratic institutions," it said.

The Vatican called for the establishment of "a supranational authority" with worldwide scope and "universal jurisdiction" to guide economic policies and decisions. Such an authority should start with the United Nations as its reference point but later become independent and be endowed with the power to see to it that developed countries were not allowed to wield "excessive power over the weaker countries".

"Of course, this transformation will be made at the cost of a gradual, balanced transfer of a part of each nation's powers to a world authority and to regional authorities, but this is necessary at a time when the dynamism of human society/the economy/the progress of technology are transcending borders, which are in fact already very eroded in a globalized world." (Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Elizabeth Piper and Belinda Goldsmith)

Geopolitical events are shaping up to bring about the kind of world we see in the book of Revelation. A world where one man can have an economic stranglehold upon the whole planet. A world built upon the sand of the antichrist and not the rock of Jesus Christ.

4    Writing the Scroll

Baruch was J’s secretary/servant, brother to the chamberlain of King Zedekiah – cf. 51:59. Josephus wrote that Baruch was a man of extraordinary talents, but chose to be a servant to J.

5-10   Reading the Scroll

There was the space of a few months between the time the scroll was written/read. J wasted no time in his obedience to the Lord. Though he saw no immediate need, he gave immediate obedience. Had he delayed dictation until the time of the need, he would have been behind the ball – too late. To delay obedience is to derail usefulness. The Lord has often led me to study a portion of Scripture having nothing to do w/ my public ministry. This has been so blessed as I have needed 2b armed w/ the truth/power of that passage.

The date (of the fast) was significant because the Babylonian Chronicle reports that at this same time Nebuchadnezzar was in Palestine collecting "vast tribute" from those nations he had conquered. In the same month the fast was called, Nebuchadnezzar captured the city of Ashkelon and plundered it (cf. Donald J. Wiseman, Chronicles of Chaldean Kings (626 B.C. - 556 B.C.) in the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1956, p. 69). It is possible that the fast was called to plead for deliverance from Babylon's harsh hand.

(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.)

11-26 Responding to the Scroll

Three readings of the scroll in C36 –

10-13    In the temple – the people gave no response, but Micaiah was impressed and told some court officials. The people didn’t feel the shifting sand, but Micaiah did.

14-19 Before the officials – they came under conviction

Cf. J26:20-24 Elnathan the son of Achbor had been part of the team to track down and bring back Uriah the prophet to King Jehoiakim who killed him. Now, about five years later, he is helping to shield J. Conversion?

20-26 To the king – he cut/burned it/unconcerned by it

There are thousands of Jehoiakims yet alive who cut the Word of God with their penknives

(from The Biblical Illustrator Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 Ages Software, Inc./Biblesoft, Inc.)

Many have taken the scribe’s knife to the word of God – Jefferson/ liberals…

27-32 Rewriting the Scroll

No one can destroy/eliminate the Word of God.

Sin Complicates Life - Part 2 - Genesis 3:8-24

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:09:49 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday October 23, 2011

    Sin Complicates Life

    Genesis 3:8-24 p2

Last week we saw how sin complicates your spiritual life and we’ll look at some further complications this morning.

Sin complicates your Relational Life   In two ways…

The woman You gave…she gave me…

promise struggles Go back on the promises you made. ‘Do you promise to…’

Your sin against God affects the way you relate to other people. When Adam sinned he hid behind a fig leaf/trees/wife. Adam was willing to throw his wife under the bus/expose her to the wrath of God. He was naked/exposed! He needed to cover himself. He did this by blaming Eve - and it worked! God turned from him to Eve. But his excuses weren’t a barrier - only a speed bump – he would be brought face-to-face w/ his sin/judgment of God.

The serpent deceived me and I ate…

Eve hid behind fig leaf/trees/serpent - and it worked! God turned from Eve to the serpent. But her excuse wasn’t a barrier - only a speed bump – she would be brought face-to-face w/ her sin/ judgment of God.

Any excuse you offer/any responsibility you deflect off of yourself/ any blame you place upon another is only a speed bump. Any contrivance you devise will prove futile in the attempt to turn the searching gaze of God from you on to another. Romans 1:18-20

24 They were banished from the garden. Can you imagine the fight they had that night?

E: Adam, you ate us out of house/home.

A: If you hadn’t opened your big mouth in the 1st place.

E: You threw me under the bus.

A: You fed me poison.

E: You deserve it. I wish I had it now.

A: Well, I’d take it.

Adam lived 930 years. We don’t know when Eve died, but let’s assume she lived 900 years. She was married on the day of her creation/900 years married. That’s a long time! I may have an annoying habit that Fran can put up w/ for 50-60 years – but 900 years!

A little girl asked her father, "How did the human race come about?" The father answered, "God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so all mankind was made." Two days later she asks her mother the same question. The mother answered, "Many years ago there were monkeys, and we developed from them." The confused girl returns to her father and says: "Dad, how is it possible that you told me that the human race was created by God and Mom says we developed from monkeys?" The father answers, "That's simple, honey. I told you about the origin of my side of the family, and your mother told you about her side."

16 …your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you…

power struggles in the home. This takes two forms:

Power struggles due to lack of trust. Desire, in this context, means ‘have mastery over.’ Cf. Cain in C4. She wants to rule because she doesn’t trust him. Life is complicated when you’re insecure/on the defensive/when others don’t fulfill their promises. The intended harmony of the home gave way to power struggles.

When you are out of God’s will, relationships become complicated. When you sin against God it’s like a tack strip laid on the road to puncture tires – it’s bumpy going until the tires are repaired.

Power struggles due to difference of desire.   Passive Men/Wild Women…

Cartoon

Headship in the:

Created order (How do I know? Adam charged w/ crime. Eve may be drinking beer in the passenger seat, but when she gave enough to Adam so that he wrecked the car, he was cited for the accident.)

Fallen order

Redeemed order

Sin complicates your Physical Life

God turned from Adam to Eve and from Eve to the serpent. But then he turned back to Eve and from Eve to Adam.

Pain in beginning of life / Toil in sustaining life / Death at end of life

The body is dead because of sin… Death is a theological/not biological problem.

Reasons for Hope

15 1st gospel promise -

God’s first act of judgment in the Bible is accompanied by his first promise of salvation…1

Goliath’s fatal wound was a head-blow.

And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” Luke 10:18-19

20 Eve’s name – hope of a champion

LXX = Zoe. Though God had pronounced death, Adam named Eve ‘Lifegiver.’ If Adam had an unforgiving spirit and was nursing a grudge, he would have called her ‘death-bringer.’

Note: right after the curse was imposed, Adam turned to his wife and gave her a name that affirmed the purpose of God. He didn’t see her as the tool of Satan, but as the vessel of God. Though he ‘ruled over’ his wife, he did so in love. He learned to become a covering for her.

21 Animal skins – shedding of blood/atonement

The day that you eat of it you shall die… Couldn’t the Lord have spun cotton or wool for clothing? Why was death necessary? The animal skins covered their nakedness – could it be that the animals lives were taken for their lives? The blood of the animals substituted for the blood of A/E?

Picture of our salvation in Christ: He became sin that we might become… He dressed Himself in our rags that we might be clothed in His glory.

24 Exile – God’s mercy so that man would not eat/live forever in sin and its complications. You don’t have to live a complicated life. God didn’t want A/E 2b stuck and he doesn’t want u2b stuck.

The Power of a Godly Life - Jeremiah 35:1-19

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:28:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday October 19, 2011

The Power of a Godly Life

Jeremiah 35:1-19

1-11

WHEN The event recorded here happened about 17 years before the previous chapters - after the 1st time Neb. came to Jer. – 4 years after Jehoiakim began his reign.

WHY This C is not in chronological order, but it is in proper logical order. J wants to make a very strong statement about the spiritual condition of Judah and is using this incident w/ the Rechabites to make his point.

WHO According to 1 Chr. 2:55, the Rechabites were descendants of the father-in-law of Moses who had gone to Canaan with the Israelites, and lived among them, partly in the wilderness on the southern frontier of the tribe of Judah, partly at Kadesh in Naphtali. The father of the tribe was Rechab, the father of Jonadab. K-D

300 years after Jonadab commanded his children not to drink wine/ sow seed/plant a vineyard/build a house they are still walking in his command. 300 years after he died the power of his life is seen in his descendants. He had a tremendous influence over his family for generations. Influence = to flow in. 300 years later, his life is still flowing into his descendants. I want to discover the secret of his influence. I want to learn how I can affect and impact not only those around me, but those yet unborn.

2K10:11-29

Jonadab is in agreement w/ Jehu’s desire to remove Baal worship.

He is a man of godly desires. He was grieved by the idolatry in the land. Baal= husband/master/lord. What the Bible says that God gives us, they credited to Baal. They substituted the creation for the Creator. Incense was burned/sacrifices were made/babies were burned for Baal/self-cutting was the custom of their worship. He was the sun god who guaranteed crops/prosperity. Jonadab was deeply impressed that God had raised up a man to combat the abomination of Baal.

The impact he was to have on his descendants was in direct proportion to the impact that God had upon his life. The power of a godly life is in direct proportion to the power of God in that life. He allowed God to shape his values/desires and give direction to his life. What grieved the heart of God grieved his heart. A person who impacts others for God has been impacted by God. You cannot be a mediocre Christian and be a godly example at the same time. Jonadab’s life had power! And Jonadab’s life had power because there was a spiritual purity about his life. Be influenced by Christ.

He had heard, no doubt, that Jehu had been anointed under the auspices of Elisha. Jehu had then killed King Joram of Israel, and he had killed King Ahaziah of Judah. From there he proceeded to kill Jezebel, the queen mother – the one who had introduced Baal worship into Israel. Jonadab wasn’t jealous that God used another – He is a humble man. He is not positioning himself for the limelight/ applause. His life is about God, not himself.

He went to meet Jehu and Jehu wanted to know if they both had the same heart and Jonadab assured him that his heart was as his heart. And Jonadab’s heart was w/ Jehu because (in this thing) Jehu’s heart was w/ God’s heart. Jonadab didn’t care about power, he cared about truth/godliness. He is a man of God. He is not a man of man, but a man of God. He wasn’t trying to curry the favor of the king – he was seeking to serve God. No doubt, there were those who were ‘yes men’ to the King, but not Jonadab.

Jonadab had gone to meet King Jehu. He wants to participate in the removal of Baal worship in the land. He is a man of action. He wasn’t content to let someone else fight a battle he should be a part of. He wasn’t content to have godly desires and leave it at that. The faith he had worked. He wasn’t an armchair believer. He wasn’t a fan of the Lord – he was a player.

You can’t be just a fan of Jesus and have a powerful life. The fans have little impact on the outcome of the game. Fans come to watch the game – Jonadab came to play the game. He was suited up. He just didn’t have his favorite player’s jersey on – he had his helmet and pads on.

Jonadab is in agreement w/ Jehu’s method to remove Baal worship.

He is a man of stern methods – whatever it takes to glorify God and remove unrighteous.

It was this man that commanded his sons. And it is this kind of person who can command and the command is taken seriously. Had Lot commanded his children in this manner they would have laughed at him. Had Saul commanded his children in this manner they would have ignored him. Had Solomon commanded his children in this manner they would wonder what he’s talking about.

6 ‘…Jonadab…commanded us…’ Jonadab laid down the law. It is this kind of man who can lay down the law. It was a patriarchal era and Jonadab utilized this to its fullest. He wasn’t necessarily interested in the prosperity of his descendants, but their godliness.

Jonadab laid on them the obligation to live in a manner designed to keep them in the simplicity of nomad life observed by their fathers, and to preserve them from the corrupting influences connected with a settled life. K-D

Tents were mean dwellings, so that this would teach them to be humble; they were cold dwellings, so that this would teach them to be hardy and not to indulge the body; they were movable dwellings, so that this would teach them not to think of settling or taking root any where in this world. They must dwell in tents all their days. They must accustom themselves to endure hardness… MH

There could have been objections: wine is abundant/free. Cities provide opportunities that aren’t available in the desert. Everybody else has this privilege…We’ll look like fanatics…

Why did Jonadab lead his descendants into this way of life? I never want my children to be on the receiving end of the judgment of God. Could it be that he saw the people of the towns/villages more susceptible to idolatry and desired to preserve his children from lapsing into false worship? Wine impairs judgment and can make you think some crazy things. City living exposes you to much temptation and can impair judgment. He wanted his children to live apart from a people given to idolatry and the destruction that follows idolatrous living. He saw the wine and the settled life of the worshippers and wanted to prevent his descendants from lapsing into idolatry.

12-17 The Lesson of the Rechabites

The Rechabites were impressed w/ the command of Jonadab and J was impressed w/ the obedience of the Rechabites. They had walked in this hard obedience for about 300 years.

Some honor the word of man more than the people of God honor the word of God. God has spoken and He is not obeyed. Jonadab spoke his word once and got obedience. God has spoken repeatedly and He is not obeyed.

18-19 The Reward of the Rechabites

The reward isn’t prosperity or popularity, but ongoing relationship to God.

Sin Complicates Life - Part 1 - Genesis 3:8-24

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:55:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday October 16, 2011

    Sin Complicates Life

    Genesis 3:8-24

Mary lies and tells her parents she is at Sally’s house studying when she is really w/ Bob. Simple scenario, right? Mary has a things to juggle now –

    Continually repeat the lie when she talks w/ her parents after the fact / Make up for lost study time / Cover bases w/ Sally – make her lie, too / Worry about moral problems w/ Bob / Guilt about the whole thing / Fear about the whole thing falling apart. Simple scenario? I don’t think so. Mary’s soul is all tied up in knots.

Sin complicates life. Water flowing thru hose is restricted by kinks Sin puts kinks in your soul. Not only does sin bring guilt, it restricts the flow of the life of the Spirit in you.

Meredith Kline (Vol. 40: Westminster Theo. Journal V40. 1977 (2) (246)) argues that we have a watered down/diluted understanding of what is happening in this passage. He brings two dynamics of this verse to the forefront -

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden…

The sound isn’t footsteps – its’ the noise of the coming of the Lord.

What Adam and Eve heard was frighteningly loud. It was the shattering thunder of God’s arrival in judgment. The qôl yhwh is loud, magnificently loud. It is likened to the crescendo of ocean/storm/rumbling roar of earthquake. It is the noise of war/trumpeting of signal horns/clamor of battle.

Often, in the Bible, the Lord’s coming was accompanied by awesome sounds. That’s his 1st point – what they heard was the sound of the Lord coming in judgment. 2nd point – what they saw was the piercing light of His glory.

…in the cool of the day…

Cool = ruach: wind/spirit / Day = light.

Immediately after the mention of the Spirit hovering in the darkness over the deep (G1:2), the Spirit’s 1st creative act is introduced: “Let there be light” (v3). God called the light ‘day’

(v5a).   The 1st time the word ‘day’ is used, it means ‘light’ v darkness.

So, God isn’t on a routine casual stroll through the garden. He has come into the garden w/ a fearsome noise, w/ the searching light of judgment accompanying Him. I remember being sent to my room by my mom and when my dad got home, hearing his footsteps coming down the hall/light turn on.

We may translate Genesis 3:8a: “They heard the sound of Yahweh God crossing the garden as the Spirit of the day.” The frightening noise of the approaching Glory… told them that God was coming to enter into judgment with them. The sound of judgment day preceded the awesome sight of the coming of their Judge. They heard His coming b4 the searching, exposing beams of the light pierced through the trees in the midst of the garden. For a moment it seemed possible to hide from the eyes of God among the shadows of the trees.

Where are you…I was afraid because I was naked.

Nakedness/exposure was nothing new to Adam (garden was nudist colony!), but fear was. His nakedness was never a point of vulnerability, but now it is. Where b4 he had peace/protection, now he has a sense of being uncovered/gripped by fear. God no longer had his back – he had to hide. You run/hide when you feel like you are in danger. He felt danger being in the presence of God. He never had to hide b4, but now he was naked – guilty self knowledge. God was now not only his Creator, but Judge, too.

Where are you…Who told you that you were naked?

God is not seeking information, but looking for confession – a personal confession of sin. “Have you eaten…?” “Well, let me explain… Let me put this in context. OK, yeah, but…” God didn’t get a confession, but an evasion/excuse/self justification. God does the same w/ us (wants confession), we do the same as Adam (offer evasions).

“Are you sexually pure?” Let me explain the pressure I’m under/temptation I face.

“Are you serving Me?” Let me explain my time constraints.

“Are you faithfully giving to Me?” Let me explain my finances to You, Lord.

All our explanations are evasions – we don’t want to confess sin. For Adam to confess sin was to accept responsibility/face judgment. When you evade/deny/blame/explain you are tying your soul up in knots and complicating your life. When you run from confession you run into complication/confusion/kinks. (Nixon/Clinton)

Adam did it/knew he did it/knew that God knew that he did it, but he had to hide that he did it/make it look like someone else did it. He is working against his conscience/knowledge/relationship. Sin is hard work! Sin complicates life! Confession begins to unkink soul -

To confess sin means that I accept responsibility and we don’t want to face responsibility of the consequences of our sinful choices. If I accept responsibility I have to change something: the way I think/feel/ behave/speak/relate… Why won’t husbands humble themselves b4 their wives/confess sin? Vice-versa? Because change is hard work.

To confess sin means that I have a Judge over me and that I am accountable. The lack of confession gives the illusion of the absence of accountability and the presence of independence.

To confess sin means that I live in relationship/community w/ others – God/people. Relationship puts boundaries around me and confession is an admission of those limitations.

To confess sin means that I am not a radically independent person/that I live in relationship/that I accept responsibility for the consequences of unrighteous decisions I make/that I have violated my conscience and the law of God. No wonder Adam weaved/bobbed. Confession of sin will cost you something, but lack of it will cost you more.

You are Adam/Eve – you run from the approach of a holy God. A holy God is seen as an enemy by sinful man and so you run. You run long/hard. You think you can outpace/outmaneuver/outsmart/ outlast the God who is everywhere/knows everything. Fear of judgment/being brought face-to-face w/ your sin propel your feet fast/furious into pathways of evasion/denial. You hide yourself among the trees of philosophy/religion/excuses/good works/indifference. But you can never outrun the light – that piercing light.

To run from confession is to run from Christ. For the same light that draws forth confession of sin from you/the same light that makes you see the truth about yourself also reveals the truth of God: in Christ Jesus, God is for you. The light that exposes the problem is the same light that reveals the solution. The light that exposes your sin also reveals your Champion.

1st gospel promise - Jesus is the seed of the woman. Jesus fulfills this promise to Adam/Eve. Christ Jesus inflicted the head wound upon the serpent/delivered you from the curse imposed upon creation. In Christ, you can stand in the light of God knowing that ur covered. In Christ Jesus, you can stand b4 God w/o fear. In Christ, God has your back. Sinful man runs from God, but the one who really sees Christ runs to God.

You who are running from God, run to Him. There is no sin so great that He won’t forgive/no depth that He can’t reach/no filth He can’t cleanse/no bondage He can’t break/no darkness He can’t illumine.

God, stripped naked/beaten/murdered – all because we wouldn’t confess. Jesus was afraid of the judgment of God, but didn’t run. He was naked, but He didn’t hide among trees - He hung on a tree/delivered head wound. 2nd Adam did what 1st Adam didn’t do.

Another Obedience - Jeremiah 34:1-22

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:31:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday October 12, 2011

    Another Obedience

    Jeremiah 34:1-22

1 All of Nebuchadnezzar’s army/all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion/all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities… This was an all-out pitched battle where everything was at stake. Sounds familiar – Ps. 2:1-3 We see this in politics/philosophy/media/schools. Our text is a commentary on today!

J is still listening for/to the Lord. Above all the noise of the battle/ cries of the people, he has an ear for God. The one who had conquered all the people of the kingdoms of the world was now coming against them. The word of the Lord came to J when all was lost. The word of the Lord comes to those w/ the weight of the world crushing down on them. His word comes 2u. Just yesterday Fran was worrying about something weighing her down and the Lord’s word came to her.

2-5 King Zedekiah was to surrender to Babylon - if so, he would die in peace. This was a hard word for Z to hear. To surrender would invoke the wrath of the wealthy/ruling class. He would lose their support/fear assassination - he didn’t surrender. When he was captured – sons killed b4 his eyes/blinded/taken to Babylon/in prison until death (J52:11). Both he/family paid a steep price for disobedience. There’s always a price 2b paid for disobedience.

6-10 What would motivate KZ to make a covenant w/ the people to proclaim release to all the servants? He wasn’t a spiritual man. He was never known for having a heart for God/man. Did he care for the servants? We know from the context that this is something that the people should have done themselves in response to the law of Moses. The king forced a godly obedience upon them. But why this/why now? Let’s think through this -

What God had directed Z to do was too costly for him – humble himself/surrender. He chose to give God another obedience/lesser. Instead of giving to God what would cost him dearly, he gave to God what didn’t cost him much at all. He required of others what he wasn’t willing to give himself. He wouldn’t give up that which was dear to him, but he made others give up what was dear to them. Why would he do this?

Maybe he told the people that if they obeyed the law of Moses it would turn away the army of Babylon. Maybe all that was coming against them would turn from them. “J has been urging us to obey the Lord – let’s do it!” He also could have employed the guilt tactic – this is something you should anyway. It is morally right/ spiritually and politically expedient.

The king required this not because he had a heart for God/those servants unjustly held/not because he cared that the law of God be honored/observed. I think that he wanted to bribe God. He thought, no doubt, “If I do this, God will be obligated to bless me. No, I won’t give to God what He asked of me. I will be innovative in my obedience and give something else to God. I will be selective in my obedience.” It blew up in his face/showed him as the mediocre man he was.

He gave another/lesser obedience hoping to make God his debtor. It is easy to think like this. “If I live my life right, God will have to bless me!” I have heard many times, “I’ve done everything the Lord has ever asked of me and look what He has done/allowed.” Many have thought that obedience will exempt them from the really heavy stuff of life.

    Job was blameless in his obedience and got slammed.
    Joseph had an awesome walk w/ God and spent a lot of time in prison.
    Paul had an outstanding obedience and his back was crisscrossed w/ 195 welts.
    Jesus was perfect in His obedience and got crucified for it.

Obedience doesn’t exempt you from suffering, it qualifies you for fellowship w/ God. These men’s obedience brought them into suffering and it brought them into fellowship w/ God. We don’t obey to avoid suffering, we obey to abide in the Savior.

Not only is the thought that you can bribe God a common one, also another obedience is always a temptation for the people of God. King Saul in 1S15 – to Samuel: “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the commandment of the Lord.” He was pleased w/ another/lesser obedience/sin of Cain/Mal. 1:8/Ananias and Sapphira/your kids!

KZ expected God to bless him based upon his works and not his faith. We are to grow from faith to faith, not from faith to works.

One of the elementary teachings of the Bible is repentance from dead works – Heb. 6:1. We are not justified by faith/sanctified by works. Justified/sanctified by faith – from faith to faith.

11-15   KZ’s sin was another obedience, Judah’s sin was a reversed obedience. God is no longer dealing w/ Z, but with those who released/ enslaved their fellow Hebrews. Even though KZ had required this of them, it was still an obedience they owed the Lord and God deals with them as responsible decision makers. They embraced this obedience w/ a solemn assembly/oath.

16   Lev. 25:10 gave instructions about the Year of Jubilee/release of Hebrew slaves. They had released their fellow Israelites. When they did this (as best we can tell) the Babylonian army w/drew to fight against the Egyptians. When the people saw this, whether they believed J’s prophecies to be false, or that their obedience had won the day, we don’t know. But they immediately brought back into bondage those they had let go. Theirs was a temporary obedience/ reversed when threat was over. Fear/guilt are unworthy motivations.

How many go to church/give/serve because of guilt/fear? Look how many flooded the church after 9/11 – and where are they now?

They are bringing people back into their judgment - turning from forgiveness back to judgment. God teaches us to release people from our judgment.

Disobedience is a profanation of the Name. Profane – to bore/pierce; to wound/wrong; to rub/wear away by defacing image on coin. Keeping someone in your judgment slowly erases the character of Christ from you.

17-22   KZ required this of them, yet, at the same time, they voluntarily embraced this through this ceremony.

Given into the hand of their enemies

The Babylonian army left Jerusalem and went to fight against the Egyptians, whom they defeated. When the Babylonians had left off the siege, the people thought, “Ah Ha! Our diplomacy has won the day, and now we don’t have to worry anymore.” But J says, “They’re going to come back. The Lord has ordered them to return.” And they did. After they defeated the Egyptians, they came back and completed the siege of Jerusalem

Naked and Ashamed - Genesis 3:1-13 - Part 3

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:59:07 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday October 9, 2011

    Naked and Ashamed

    Genesis 3:1-13 p3

We are looking at this passage from five different angles: historical/theological/relational/philosophical – TODAY: practical.

Practical – how temptation works

1 crafty - He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. He wanted two things – throne/subjects – dominion/those to dominate – king/kingdom. All he does is in light of what he wants.

To get what he wants, he draws people into sin. Our passage tells us how. 1st, he tested how much she knew. He threw out a question about the words which God had spoken to see how she would respond. She corrected him. “No, we can eat of all of the trees but one.” (I don’t think that her saying “or touch it” is really her Achilles’s heel.)

What if she had said, “That’s right. We can’t eat from any tree of the garden.” He would have known that she didn’t get it right. Maybe his tactic would have changed. He may possibly have said something like, “If God said you can’t eat from any tree of the garden, why did you eat from the pear tree the other day?” He would have demonstrated that since she ate from that tree/didn’t die, then God’s word must not be true. He then would have lured her to the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good/evil. However he got her there, he wanted to bring her to eat of TKGE.

1st, he tested how much she knew and then 2nd, he tested how much she believed. If you are ignorant of the word of God, Satan can manipulate you. If you don’t believe the word of God, Satan can manipulate God. Why do I preach 2u every Sunday/ Wednesday? That you might know/believe the word of God.

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

Hebrews 4:2

Satan was testing how much she knew/believed. Ultimately, Satan doesn’t care how much you know, he cares how much you believe.

Satan didn’t say that God didn’t say what Eve had reported God to have said. Satan merely said that God was a liar. Satan didn’t dispute what God said, he questioned God’s motive -

“God doesn’t want you to eat that fruit because if you eat it, you’ll be just like Him and you’ll be His equal and God doesn’t want you to be His equal because then you won’t need Him. He is a sad little pathetic being desperate for someone to need Him. That fruit is your ticket to freedom. Stop living under God’s thumb.”

I think that A/E sin was doubt, not pride – disobedience driven by doubt, not pride. Satan created anxiety w/in her, the feeling that she wasn’t getting all she had coming to her. He slandered God’s character by implying that God was holding out on her, keeping her from a more fulfilling life. Anxiety is the fear that I’m missing it – there is more to be had, but somehow I’m missing out.

Here’s how temptation works – desire driven by distress fueled by doubt resulting in disobedience. Desire: I want that. Distress: If I don’t have that I will not live a fulfilled life. Doubt: God won’t give me that. Disobedience: I take that.

Satan constantly uses this tactic. He created a desire w/in her for something that would destroy her. Along w/ the desire he brought her to a place of anxiety/distress – anxiety says, “I’m not getting all that’s coming to me. I’m missing out on something that will improve my quality of life.”

The tactic of the garden is still used by Satan.

“Did God tell you not to touch that woman/man?” “Well, yes, they’re not my spouse. If I touch someone not my spouse it’s going to cause big problems.” “You surely will not have big problems. God just wants to keep you from having fun, from blowing off a little steam. God doesn’t want you to walk in the liberty of individual choice. He wants to keep you a miserable slave to an outdated moral system.” How many have gone on to consider the fruit of another man’s wife/another woman’s husband and destroyed their lives? “Oh, yes, if I’m w/ them I will be happy forever.”

There’s a huge emphasis on physical appearance. For women it’s being thin. For men it’s being muscular/fit. “If I’m not thin/muscular, I’m missing out on life.” All of our striving is toward eliminating the anxiety of not having what we desire. Do you have the abs you want? Does your neighbor? What’s wrong w/ striving for better abs?

Great question. Let’s put it in context of what is truly valuable. Do you strive after Christ/holiness the same way you strive for better abs? Are you distressed that there is sin in your life – sin that you coddle/entertain? Here’s a great way to determine your spiritual health – are you more concerned about your happiness/holiness? Exercise v devotions. I’m not asking u2b more discipled, but desirous.

how temptation works – desire driven by distress fueled by doubt resulting in disobedience. Desire: I want that. Distress: If I don’t have that I will not live a fulfilled life. Doubt: God won’t give me that. Disobedience: I take that.

Can you have desire w/o distress? Yes, I think so. I desire a lot of things that, if I don’t acquire/experience them, will not diminish my satisfaction/contentment.

Can you have desire w/o doubt? Yes, I think so. Just because I desire something and God doesn’t give it to me doesn’t mean God doesn’t love me/have my best interest at heart. Desire w/o disobedience?

W/ death of Steve Jobs this last week, Buddhism might be interesting to briefly explore, specially as it seeks to answer the question, ‘Why is there evil/how does temptation work?’

    All existence is distressed
    The arising of this sense of distress is desire – desire to consume
    The cessation of desire leads to cessation of distress

Buddhism teaches that desire is the root of all suffering. The Bible teaches that sin is the root of all suffering. The goal of Buddhist teaching is to eliminate the desire that leads to suffering. The goal of Bible teaching is to eliminate the distress/doubt that leads to sin.

G3 tells us that the enemy of mankind isn’t desire that leads to suffering, but doubt that leads to sin. A lot of Christians think like Buddhists believing that the goal of life is to remove suffering from their life/planet. The goal is to embrace the Savior/strive against sin and Satan/remove suffering.

word of Satan: God doesn’t love you/He’s holding out on you/you can’t trust Him to do the right thing by you.

Word of God: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

God is for you: Romans 8:31-39. If God is for me, why is there so much going wrong in my life? Job 13:15 What is happening to me is not the final word.

Classic cartoon of angel/devil on man’s shoulders. “God is 4u.” “God doesn’t care 4u.” G3 is not just Bible story – it is your story. Which will you believe? Which will you believe in light of Calvary?

Your Best Days Are in Front of You - Jeremiah 33:1-26

Calvary Chapel Fremont — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:09:00 GMT

Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Wednesday October 5, 2011

    Your Best Days Are in Front of You

    Jeremiah 33:1-26

Judah was in moral free fall and facing a back breaking/bone shattering judgment - but since God had made a covenant w/ her, her best days are ahead of her. I am 58 years old. There is more of life behind me than there is ahead of me. But God has made a covenant w/ me and my best days stretch eternally ahead of me.

1-2 The Lord’s word comes in the context of His character/power.

The Lord had given an outrageous message of hope to J in the previous chapter and wants to cement this in his/our mind.

3 The Lord had already revealed the breath taking future of Israel to J, and now He says there is still more. God’s word came to J a 2nd time while in confinement – the Lord called to J and now He instructs J to call to Him.

We are used to passages like Psalm 50:15

Call upon Me in the day of trouble;

I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.

This isn’t a call for rescue, but for revelation – an unfolding of the plan/will of God. The Lord had already revealed to J that

    Israel would be restored after the Babylonian Captivity
    Jerusalem would be rebuilt
    Israel would be a nation b4 the Lord through the end of days
    He would make a new covenant w/ Israel

J has had a very full picture of what God will do for/in Israel through the course of history. But God desires to reveal yet more. “Come on, J, there’s still more. Ask Me.” The Lord delights to reveal His fullness/what He has in store.

The great/mighty things the Lord will show to J is that Israel is going to be restored to a higher position than she was before she was judged. The great/mighty things show that your best days are in front of you/there is nothing broken that the Lord can’t fix.

I see the call of God to J reflected in what Paul wrote to the Ephesians 1:17-23

A spirit of wisdom/revelation in the knowledge of Him:

    Hope of His calling
    Riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints
    Surpassing greatness of His power

Christ has already been revealed to His people – He is Lamb/Savior/ Substitute/Healer/Propitiator/Refuge – but there is more to Christ to know/appropriate.

This passage in J can mean that the Lord wants to reveal a unique plan/vision He has for your life. But its force, in context, is a deeper unfolding of what has already been revealed. The Lord doesn’t reveal a lot of other things to J, He goes deeper into the one thing He has already revealed to J – the restoration of Jerusalem. God desires to give you deeper insight into Jesus Christ.

4-5 Judgment of Jerusalem

6-26 Great and Mighty Things

6-8 The Depth of Their Healing

Health = long/prolonged (opp. of short)

Healing – rid of disease (that which made Israel’s life short)

It was the rejection of God’s peace/truth which led their sickness in the first place. What God desires to do/establish in Israel is dependent upon the presence of peace/truth.

Iniquity – to bend/twist

Sin – to miss the mark

Transgression – to cast off allegiance

The depth of our healing comes from the forgiveness of Christ:

Acts 2 - repent/be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins…

Acts 3 – repent/return/sins wiped away/times of refreshing…

9-13 The Breadth of Their Happiness

The breadth of their happiness/joy is greater than their judgment. The breadth of our happiness comes from joy in the Lord.

14-18 The Extent of Their Fulfillment

God is aware of what promises are awaiting fulfillment. There are promises that remain unfulfilled in Israel’s life that are tied up w/ her reception of Jesus Christ. There is no fulfillment apart from Christ.

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground… Isaiah 53:2

J takes up the theme of Isaiah 135 years previously.

The offering mentioned here are the same as Lev. 23:34ff These are free will worship offerings…

The extent of our fulfillment is in Christ.

19-26 The Guarantee of Their Fulfillment

Three covenants are spoken of here:

Covenant for day/night –

Covenant with David/Levitical priests -

Covenant w/ nation of Israel

If the 1st covenant is broken, so, too, will the other two.

Many have tried to demonstrate theologically that the covenant between God/Israel is broken. They say what v24 affirms of them: …no longer are they as a nation in their sight.

Replacement theology developed from diminishing influence of Jews in the early church/the destruction of Jerusalem 70 – 135 AD/Jewish–Christian hostilities/church’s appropriation of the Jewish Scriptures.

The New Testament evidence used to support the replacement view can be categorized in the following way: (1) a passage that shows God has rejected Israel (Matt. 21:43); (2) verses that supposedly apply the terms “Israel” and “Jew” to the church (Gal. 6:16; Rom. 2:28–29; 9:6); (3) passages that apply language used of Old Testament Israel to the church (1 Pet. 2:9; Phil. 3:3); (4) verses that refer to members of the church as “sons of Abraham” or “seed of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7, 28–29); (5) a passage that shows equality between Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:11–15, 19); and (6) a passage that applies the New Covenant to the church (Heb. 8:8–13).1

God indicates that the national status of Israel can be annulled only if His covenant w/ the day/night is annulled.

Great/mighty things: depth of their healing/breadth of their happiness/ extent of their fulfillment/guarantee of their fulfillment. Best days are ahead!

The Bible, especially the OT, is filled with statements affirming the promise of the land (now called Palestine) to the physical descendants of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob.

Genesis 12:1–3 Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.

Genesis 15:18–21 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates….

Genesis 28:13–15 I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants…. And behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land…

2 Samuel 7:10 I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly…

2 Samuel 7:16 And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.

Amos 9:11–15 In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David…. Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them, They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them, says the LORD your God.

Ezekiel 37:21–25 I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king of them; and they shall no longer be two nations…. And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live in it, they, and their sons, and their sons’ sons, forever…

There are no NT texts that clearly show that God has cancelled his earlier promises. If such texts did exist, then the validity of those earlier OT promises to each original audience is called into question. If this be so, on what grounds can church saints possess assurance about God’s promises for them, if God has chosen to change his earlier promises? Could he not do so again? This is one particularly disturbing aspect of replacement theology from the dispensational perspective.2

Reformed theology views any favor being shown to any group of people outside of Christ as compromising the gospel. To assert that there is national favor upon Israel is to distort the gospel.

In response, the dispensationalist can say several things. First, this once again shows that covenant theology normally struggles with the idea of distinctions and views virtually all propositions through the lens of the doctrine of salvation. Such an approach to theological matters is a forced one from the dispensational perspective. Dispensationalists do not view Israel’s possession of the land as primarily a soteriological matter until Messiah returns to set up the kingdom. At that time, only saved Jews will inherit the land in ultimate blessing. Until then God is raising up and pulling down nations in world history (quite apart from the issue of salvation on the part of various citizens) including his providential plan for the Jews and Israel. Covenant theology does not struggle with this last point. It would agree that God has in his sovereignty allowed the nation of Israel to be reborn in modern times. What it does not concede, however, is the possibility that the current state of Israel has prophetic significance relative to the keeping of the OT covenant promises, especially when it is in unbelief. Many dispensationalists would say that the current state of Israel, in spite of its unbelief, has potentially significant relevance to prophecy. We may be in the setup for the end time scenario that requires Israel in the land (see later statements). Other dispensationalists are more dogmatic about the current time being the setup for end times. Caution should be urged to avoid “newspaper exegesis.”3

Proposition VI

   The inheritance promises that God gave to Abraham were made effective through Christ, Abraham’s True Seed. These promises were not and cannot be made effective through sinful man’s keeping of God’s law. Rather, the promise of an inheritance is made to those only who have faith in Jesus, the True Heir of Abraham. All spiritual benefits are derived from Jesus, and apart from him there is no participation in the promises. Since Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the Abrahamic Covenant, all who bless him and his people will be blessed of God, and all who curse him and his people will be cursed of God. These promises do not apply to any particular ethnic group, but to the church of Jesus Christ, the true Israel. The people of God, whether the church in the wilderness in the OT or the Israel of God among the Gentile Galatians in the NT, are one body who through Jesus will receive the promise of the heavenly city, the everlasting Zion. This heavenly inheritance has been the expectation of the people of God in all ages.

   Dispensationalists would agree that Christ is the basis and provider of all hope and promise in the biblical covenants. However, there are several features of this proposition that differ from a dispensational perspective:

    • The claim that the promises of the Abrahamic covenant do not apply to any particular ethnic group fails to take into account the fact that there are several elements to the covenant. Some elements clearly apply to more than one ethnic group (“in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”). Others are limited to just one man-Abram himself (“make your name great”). Other elements fleshed out throughout biblical history (see the earlier discussion of the land promises) pertain to the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac. There is a lack of precision in the Open Letter’s handling of these exegetical details of the texts that provide teaching about the Abrahamic covenant.

    • The proposition does not do justice to the progress of revelation. To say that these promises apply to the church in the way the Open Letter does is a reading of the NT back into the Old.

    • The designation of the church as the true Israel is an abandonment of literal interpretation and flirtation with allegory.

    • The reference to the “church in the wilderness” as recorded in Stephen’s speech (Acts 7:38) is the typical misuse of the word ecclesia by replacement theology. The word is not a technical term. Here the Open Letter takes the content of ecclesiology and pours it into a word that simply means “assembly” with no ecclesial overtones.

    • There is no reason to take the “Israel of God” in Galatians 6:16 as the church. It would be quite appropriate for Paul, after his scathing attack upon Judaizers, to ask for a blessing upon the saved Jews to show that he was not attacking them as a whole.

    • The inclusion of OT Israel with the NT church in the body of Christ lacks theological precision. The body is defined in Pauline use by means of the baptism of the Spirit. However, the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit is a new ministry of the Spirit that begins on Pentecost and does not occur in the OT. Both John the Baptist (Matt 3:11) and Jesus (Acts 1:5) predict it. Peter looks back upon the day of Pentecost and the baptism of the Spirit as a “beginning” (Acts 11:15–16).

    • The emphasis on a heavenly inheritance in the expectations of the saints throughout the ages downplays the entire tenor of biblical teaching about the future concrete earthly elements of the kingdom (whether millennium or new earth). Is Daniel only expecting a heavenly inheritance when the kingdom of God comes to destroy the fourth world empire in Daniel 2 and 7? Did Job mean a heavenly inheritance when he says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth” in Job 19:25? Do the land promises, surveyed briefly before, amount to nothing? How would Amos understand a promise to be in the land never to be removed (Amos 9:15)? Even Jesus in the NT portrays future inheritance of church saints in terms of rewards of administration over earthly “cities,” although these are not taken to be in the land of Israel (Luke 19:11–27). The dispensationalist claims that one should not underemphasize such a large body of scriptural evidence so easily in statements like these. While some covenant theologians disavow any future earthly elements to the inheritance of the saints, including the special promises of God concerning the land of Israel (thereby following a non-literal understanding of these many passages), some covenant theologians do affirm a future earthly inheritance. The authors of the Open Letter apparently are among those who affirm such an earthly future, although the focus on heaven throughout the letter does not make that clear. 4

Proposition VII

   Jesus taught that his resurrection was the raising of the True Temple of Israel. He has replaced the priesthood, sacrifices, and sanctuary of Israel by fulfilling them in his own glorious priestly ministry and by offering, once and for all, his sacrifice for the world, that is, for both Jew and Gentile. Believers from all nations are now being built up through him into this Third Temple, the church that Jesus promised to build.

   The first sentence of this proposition references John 2:19–22 where Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up….” The Jews that were listening thought he was talking about the Jewish temple itself, “but he was speaking of the temple of his body.” Nothing here justifies the formal language of a “True Temple of Israel” or a “Third Temple.” It is true that here Jesus used metaphorical language regarding the temple to speak of his resurrection. It is also true that metaphorical language regarding a temple is used to speak of the church (Eph 2:19–22). However, the church is never called the Third Temple and Jesus’ resurrection body is never called the True Temple of Israel. These associations and linkage derive from the theological system of replacement theology and not the exegesis of the passages that have been cited. Metaphorical language has been turned into technical theological terminology to portray a theological position. Dispensationalists would argue that such language does not rule out a future literal Jewish temple in either the tribulation period or the millennium. Dispensationalists would agree that the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ has done away with sin and the need for atoning sacrifices. 5

Proposition IX

   The entitlement of any one ethnic or religious group to territory in the Middle East called the “Holy Land” cannot be supported by Scripture. In fact, the land promises specific to Israel in the OT were fulfilled under Joshua. The NT speaks clearly and prophetically about the destruction of the second temple in A.D. 70. No NT writer foresees a regathering of ethnic Israel in the land, as did the prophets of the OT after the destruction of the first temple in 586 B.C. Moreover, the land promises of the OT are consistently and deliberately expanded in the NT to show the universal dominion of Jesus, who reigns from heaven upon the throne of David, inviting all the nations through the gospel of Grace to partake of his universal and everlasting dominion.

   The dispensationalist disputes most of this proposition. The first statement is countered by the many passages cited earlier which show that God gave the land to Abraham and his descendants. They could be cast out of the land due to idolatry as happened in the case of the Babylonian captivity. However, the Bible always looks at such occurrences as temporary. Romans 9–11 affirms a future for Israel and does not seem to dismiss any national elements. The book of Revelation, which is to be dated after A.D. 70 and not before as preterists teach, speaks of Jews in their land and in their capital city Jerusalem (along with a temple) during a future tribulation time. The nation will be delivered and restored.

   As to the claim that Joshua 21:43–45 fulfilled the land promises so that no future fulfillment is necessary, the dispensationalist can make several responses. First, fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel in the conquests of Canaan are not sufficient in and of themselves to fulfill the “everlasting” nature of the land promises. They are given to the descendants of Abraham as an “everlasting possession” (Gen 17:8). The conquests under Joshua cannot exhaust this promise. Second, to use this to do away with any future claim to the land for Israel ignores the many promises about the land that occur in the biblical record after Joshua’s time. For example, the replacement theologian who uses the Joshua passage in this way must explain how the use of it fits into, for example, the post-Davidic promise to Amos that Israel and Judah would be reunited and brought again into the land (following a time of judgment) never to be uprooted again (Amos 9:15). Finally, the dispensationalist would claim that Joshua 21:43–45 is a record of God’s faithfulness with respect to that particular generation with its focus on the boundaries outlined in Numbers 34 and not the ultimate boundaries that God would eventually grant in his coming kingdom (Gen 15:18–21).

   The last sentence of the proposition teaches that expansion in the NT changes the meaning of the OT text as it was originally written. While the NT can expand promises, it cannot change any earlier unconditional promises. To do so eliminates any meaning for the text for the originally intended audience. Replacement theology often treats the Bible as a whole package and treats it as if all of it were available to earlier times. The dispensationalist would counter that the NT cannot rewrite the OT. The reference to Jesus on the throne of David today will be addressed later.6

Proposition X

   Bad Christian theology regarding the “Holy Land” contributed to the tragic cruelty of the Crusades in the Middle Ages. Lamentably, bad Christian theology is today attributing to secular Israel a divine mandate to conquer and hold Palestine, with the consequence that the Palestinian people are marginalized and regarded as virtual “Canaanites.” This doctrine is both contrary to the teaching of the NT and a violation of the gospel mandate. In addition, this theology puts those Christians who are urging the violent seizure and occupation of Palestinian land in moral jeopardy of their own bloodguiltiness. Are we as Christians not called to pray for and work for peace, warning both parties to this conflict that those who live by the sword will die by the sword? Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring both temporal reconciliation and the hope of an eternal and heavenly inheritance to the Israeli and the Palestinian. Only through Jesus Christ can anyone know peace on earth.

While the dispensationalist appreciates the genuine concern the Open Letter states for the moral responsibility believers have before God in terms of the modern conflict over Palestine, this proposition, like the one before it, has many areas that dispensationalists would reject. The mention of the Crusades is somewhat surprising since replacement theologians have complained, rightfully perhaps, about too many appeals to historical anti-Semitism to criticize their position. Do they not do the same thing with this guilt-by-association argument? They use the abuse of the Crusades to set up their criticism of dispensationalism. But is such an argument really valid? After all, so-called Christians who held to replacement theology led the Crusades. There was no national Israel in view. This weakens the analogy that is being drawn. No dispensationalist is arguing for the church to conquer Palestine, even by proxy through Israel. He simply affirms that, if God allows Israel to do so politically in any given generation, Israel has a right to the land. God has allowed that historical development to take place in the present hour.7

“Replacement theology,” as Thomas Ice explains, “is the view that the Church has permanently replaced Israel as the instrument through which God works and that national Israel does not have a future in the plan of God.” Replacement theology is based on two premises: (1) God has permanently rejected National Israel, and (2) the church has replaced or superseded Israel in God’s plan. The end result is that the church has become the inheritor of God’s covenant blessings originally given to Israel, and Israel will not be restored as a nation with a distinct identity and function. As replacement theologian Loraine Boettner has stated:

   It may seem harsh to say that, “God is through with the Jews.” But the fact of the matter is that He is through with them as a unified national group having anything more to do with the evangelization of the world. That mission has been taken from them and given to the Christian Church (Matt. 21:43). 8

House has noted that the replacement view has been “the consensus of the church from the middle of the second century A.D. to the present day, with few exceptions.”9

Replacement theology developed from diminishing influence of Jews in the early church/the destruction of Jerusalem 70 – 135 AD/Jewish–Christian hostilities/church’s appropriation of the Jewish Scriptures.

The New Testament evidence used to support the replacement view can be categorized in the following way: (1) a passage that shows God has rejected Israel (Matt. 21:43); (2) verses that supposedly apply the terms “Israel” and “Jew” to the church (Gal. 6:16; Rom. 2:28–29; 9:6); (3) passages that apply language used of Old Testament Israel to the church (1 Pet. 2:9; Phil. 3:3); (4) verses that refer to members of the church as “sons of Abraham” or “seed of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7, 28–29); (5) a passage that shows equality between Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:11–15, 19); and (6) a passage that applies the New Covenant to the church (Heb. 8:8–13).10