Let’s keep this in mind as we prepare to gather this coming Lord’s Day. Let’s be encouraged by what our Savior proclaims to us in the meal, and let’s also be encouraged that there are others around us leaning on his promises.  Our faith is strengthened through this meal as we’re reminded of what Christ has done for us on our behalf, but our faith is also strengthened and encouraged by seeing others boldly and faithfully believe in Christ as they partake of the bread and the cup.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

We talked about how, by God’s grace, the Lord has been pleased to bless our congregation with peace, along with growth in grace and godliness (or to put it in Luke’s language, “being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit”).  We also talked about how the Lord has been pleased to grow and multiply our congregation over these last two and a half years and not just by adding more children to our number!  Though he certainly has done that, hasn’t he?

I took the time in the Bible study to reflect on (without mentioning any specifics whatsoever) how life together as a church isn’t or hasn’t always been perfect.  We are a congregation of sinners, and so there have been hard times and challenges in the life of the church.  Sadly, sometimes there hasn’t been peace between members.  Sadly, sometimes tearing down rather than building up has taken place.  Sadly, sometimes there has been walking in the fear of the world rather than in the fear of the Lord.  And sadly, sometimes there has been a pressing need for the Holy Spirit to pour out his comfort in greater measure.

I don’t think that we do ourselves any great favors by hiding these realities.  Denying these realities almost seems tantamount to denying our need for God’s grace.  We need God to constantly and graciously be at work in our body.  And in his kindness and goodness and mercy and love, he is.  It was through no accidental act of providence (as if those exist) that our congregation was named Grace Baptist Church of Arlington.  We need God’s grace and God has poured out his grace among us.

We have peace as a body because God has been gracious to us to give us peace with him and each other. We are being built up through the Word and prayer and the ordinances because God graciously works through them.  We walk in the fear of the Lord because God graciously motivates us through his love displayed in the vicarious life, substitutionary atoning death, and vindicating resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.  We enjoy the comfort of the Holy Spirit as we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit by the resurrection power of Christ.

So here is the state of Grace Baptist Church of Arlington: God has been gracious to us, he is being gracious to us, and he will be gracious to us.  Praise God for his past, present, and future grace.

“But in fact the real difficulty, the supreme mystery with which the gospel confronts us, does not lie here [in the atonement, the resurrection, or the Gospel miracles] at all.  It lies not in the Good Friday message of atonement, nor in the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of Incarnation. The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man — that the second person of the Godhead became the “second man” (1 Cor 15:47), determining human destiny, the second representative head of the race, and that he took humanity without loss of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly and fully divine as he was human.” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p.53)

In John 1 the apostle stresses Jesus’ humanity and his divinity.  We see his humanity stressed by the word “flesh,” and we see his divinity stressed by John’s use of the phrase “and the Word.”  When you connect those phrases, as John does in John 1:14 by saying, “the Word became flesh” we have quite clearly a description of the theanthropic person – that Jesus had two distinct natures united in one person.

Very early on, John defines what he means by the Word and the flesh.  With his use of “Word,” John alludes to a period of time before the creation of the universe where the Word was not only in fellowship with God, but that the Word was God.  John does not leave it at that for he goes on to say that the Word became flesh.  In this John is stressing that the Divine Logos (the Son and Second Person in the Godhead) took to himself human nature.  This is an important point for John.  In fact, throughout John’s gospel this will be an emphasis, and it will become especially clear for in John’s passion narrative he would describe how the spear would pierce Jesus’ flesh.  John is at pains to communicate Christ’s full humanity throughout his gospel, and especially in John 1.

But perhaps you wonder how should this effect your tomorrow.  Recognizing the truth that Jesus is fully God should guard us from diminishing him, and positively encourage us to worship him.  We should always remember that this man Jesus is our Lord, and we are to love him, obey him, and bow before him in humble praise.  Still, recognizing the truth that Jesus is also fully man should bring us great comfort and encouragement, for our Lord and God has walked more than “a mile in our shoes.”  He has known the trials and struggles of this life.  He knows the fallen world that we have endured in pain and sorrow.  Every word that falls from his lips comes from the mind and heart of our Redeemer and Friend.  Jesus is not a person you want to reject or neglect, because he is fully God and fully man, he is a person that you want to come to know and love more and more each new day.

The Bible itself claims that all of the Words of Scripture are God’s personal words to his people, and if they are God’s words they are authoritative words.  On several occasions throughout the Old Testament, we read the words “Thus says the Lord.”  This formula is not merely some simple statement that God is going to inform his people of something interesting.   It may in fact inform, but more often than not, the declaration “Thus says the Lord” comes to the people of Israel with ethical demands.  The Lord has said, and now his people must do.  Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus makes his words a test of discipleship.  In John 12:47-48, Jesus declares that his words will judge his hearers on the last day.  If his words will judge, then certainly they contain the authority to do so.  Similarly, those whom Jesus commissioned to bear witness to his saving work also speak and write authoritatively calling the young churches into action.

Like the attribute of authority, the Scriptures also testify to their clarity.  It must be said that this does not mean that everything in Scripture is equally clear, but this refers to those things that are necessary to be believed for salvation.  We see this in 2 Timothy 3:15 where Paul reminds Timothy that the Scriptures can make us wise unto salvation.  Moreover, in Psalm 19:7-9, we’re told that the Scriptures make wise the simple.  And in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, parents are instructed to teach their children God’s word.  That would be a very odd command if the word of God was not clear.  No, the Word of God is clear, it is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path.  It clearly shows us the path of following the Lord Jesus Christ in faith.

God’s Word may be authoritative and clear, but is it necessary?  Protestant Christians have not only taught that Scripture is necessary, but they have taught that Scripture is most necessary.  General revelation (creation and the image of God in man) is not enough.  It is insufficient to bring us to a saving knowledge of God.  If it is necessary for us to believe God’s word of promise in order to be saved, then it is necessary for us to have that word from God.  And praise God that we do!

The final attribute of Scripture is often classified as sufficiency (or perfection).  The Bible contains all that we need for life and godliness.  It is a perfect and complete treasure of heavenly instruction.    If the Bible lacked perfection or did not sufficiently or fully communicate God’s will to us, then its authority wouldn’t be absolute.  One of the strongest claims of the Bible’s sufficiency is found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 where we’re told that the Scriptures have been provided so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

When considering the attributes of Holy Scripture and why they stand or fall together, it is important to remember precisely what is being considered – just how it is that the Bible functions in relation to the believer, the church, and the Holy Spirit.  In sum, when we believe God’s Word by the grace and power of the Spirit we are brought into fellowship with Christ.  If God’s Word is to be believed, then it must possess the authority to issue the call for us to believe.  If the Word does possess that authority, then what it is calling us to believe must necessarily be clear.  Such authority and clarity actually presupposes the fact that the Word is necessary for faith and life.  If the Word is necessary for faith and life, then it must also be sufficient for faith and life.

In order for sinners to be saved it is necessary for God to speak authoritatively, clearly, and completely (sufficiently/perfectly).  If God does not speak in this way, then there is no hope of salvation, but the glorious good news is this – he has.  This is not just some abstract idea that has no connection to your life.  As you read God’s Word this week in your quiet time, or as you study God’s Word in your Bible Study, or as we gather to hear from God’s Word on Sunday morning we can rejoice that we are reading, studying, and hearing God’s personal Word to us.  May we all, as Psalm 49:1 says, “Give ear.”

Christ’s deity is hugely important to the Christian Church for several reasons, not least of which is that the people of God need to know that they have been saved and forgiven by God.  Christ’s deity is also important because if he is not God, then he is not to be worshiped and adored by the people of God.  With that said, let’s move on to the biblical evidence for Christ’s deity.  The Scriptures testify to the deity of Christ, and they do so through multiple lines of evidence.  The writers of Scripture directly affirm Christ’s deity, and imply his deity as he exhibits characteristics and performs duties that can only be attributed to God.  As readers we are not left in doubt as to who Jesus Christ really is, fully God.

The Scriptures directly affirm Jesus to be God.  The author of Hebrews recognizes that God the Father says the following about the Son in Hebrews 1:8 “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”  The Apostle Peter ties the names of God and Christ together so that both are applied to Jesus.  We see this in 2 Peter 1:1 where Peter writes, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The Apostle Paul does the same thing as Peter in Titus 2:13, where he writes, “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”  Paul gets even more explicit in other texts simply stating that Jesus is God.  We see this in Romans 9:5, “To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”  Moreover in Colossians 2:9 Paul tells us that in Christ “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”

Paul and Peter were not the only Apostles who explicitly declared Christ’s deity.  The Apostle John’s writing is filled with such references.  Perhaps the most famous reference in John’s writing is found in the prologue of his gospel where John writes of Christ, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”   In the middle of John’s gospel, John records Jesus own words declaring that he is the “I AM,” which his readers would have known as the name of the Covenant God found so often in the Old Testament.  So we read in John 8:58,“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’”  Jesus is not the only one in John’s gospel to declare that he is God, “Doubting” Thomas does just that in John 20:28, “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”  Finally, in John’s first epistle we find an explicit declaration that Jesus is God, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

The Scriptures directly affirm Christ’s deity, but they also imply Christ’s deity when he is said to exhibit the characteristics and perform the duties of God.  The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus exhibits an immutable character. “Jesus Christ,” we read in Hebrews 13:8, “is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  Earlier in his work, in 4:15, the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is without sin, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  Paul also tells us that Jesus is without sin. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul writes, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Paul further implies that Jesus is God as he attributes to him the power to create and uphold the creation.  We see this in Colossians 1:16-17 where we read, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him.   And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  In these verses, Paul not only declares that Jesus is the creator and sustainer of all things, but he declares that all of creation is for him, meaning for his own glory.  Only such a statement should be attributed to one who is God.

Finally, in Mark 2:5, which is perhaps my favorite passage concerning Jesus’ deity, Jesus states that he has the power to forgive sins, thus implying his own deity.  In Mark 2:5 we read, “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven.’”  In the verses that follow, Mark beautifully underscores the importance of such an audacious statement.  The scribes sitting in Jesus’ presence understand the implications of Jesus declaration that this man sins were forgiven.  They understood that only God could forgive sins, and that anyone else who made that claim was claiming to be God.  Jesus then proves that he has the authority to forgive sins (because he is God) by healing the paralytic.

This evidence for Christ’s deity only begins to scratch the surface of the Bible’s teaching on the subject, but I believe that it is sufficient to prove that our Savior is in fact our God.  Not only does the biblical evidence assure us that we have been saved and forgiven by our God, but it calls us on to worship Jesus Christ as our glorious Lord and God, just as Thomas did so many years ago.

A good bit of the tract focuses on time and eternity, and Ryle really wants his readers to reflect on how they’re using their time on earth.  That can be seen in the four main points he makes in the tract:

1. We live in a world where all things are temporary and passing away.
2. We are all going towards a world where everything is eternal.
3. Our state in the unseen world of eternity depends entirely on what we are in time.
4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Friend to whom we must to look for help, both for time and eternity.

Did you notice the development of Ryle’s thought in his four main points?  In the first three points he calls his readers to consider the serious realities and implications of time and eternity, and then in his last point he takes his readers to Christ (which is what we need!).  Here is just a brief excerpt from that last section (#4):

“The purpose for which the eternal Son of God came into the world can never be declared too fully, or proclaimed too loudly. He came to give us hope and peace while we live among the ‘things seen, which are temporary,’ and glory and blessedness when we go into the ‘things unseen, which are eternal.’ He came to ‘bring life and immortality to light,’ and to ‘deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage” (2 Tim. 1:10; Heb.2:15). He saw our lost and bankrupt condition, and had compassion on us. And now, blessed be His name, a mortal man may pass through things temporal with comfort, and look forward to things eternal without fear. These mighty privileges our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us at the cost of His own precious blood. He became our Substitute, and bore our sins in His own body on the cross, and then rose again for our justification. He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God. He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we poor sinful creatures might have pardon and justification while we live, and glory and blessedness when we die (1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21).”

We have a wonderful and merciful Savior, don’t we?  If you haven’t read much or any of J.C. Ryle’s work before, then you might want to consider beginning with this little tract (Thoughts on Immortality).  Don’t let the name scare you.  Ryle will take you right to the Redeemer in whom you can find rest.

One Saturday morning, not too long ago, the concrete truck pulled up to our home to pour our new sidewalk.  We previously had some luxurious gravel (sarcasm alert), but decided to downgrade to a simple concrete sidewalk.  The guys got right to work on the new sidewalk.  Shortly thereafter, we as a family departed for a local fall festival.

After a couple of hours of fun, we arrived home in the early afternoon, excited to see the new sidewalk, but as we were pulling into the driveway we noticed that it wasn’t perfectly smooth as the contractor had promised.  Instead, we saw some large footprints in the wet concrete.  I was aghast and my wife and kids clearly and quickly picked up on it.  I immediately went into detective mode trying to figure out how “the crime” had been committed.  I felt wronged, as though something had been unlawfully taken from me, and I wanted it restored and justice done.

Apparently someone was canvassing our neighborhood providing us and others with information and materials on the upcoming elections.  I am in no way opposed to this practice, except of course when it involves stepping on wet concrete, particularly my wet concrete.  It wasn’t until early Sunday morning, when I was preparing to preach, that I came to the realization I shouldn’t worship concrete.  I had responded to the unfortunate situation incredibly poorly, and what’s worse is that my kids began express their disappointment as well.

For several days following the incident, nearly every time we went out to get in the car, I heard my son solemnly say something like, “I am very sad about the sidewalk, Dad.”  I appreciated his sympathy, it was very sweet, but I know that it came as a result of my sinful reaction.  I’m sure he would have had a very different reaction if I had a very different reaction.

The sidewalk can be fixed, and it eventually was fixed.  The good news is that my heart is slowly being fixed too.  There are more things in this life I need to discover that I shouldn’t worship, and though these are often rude awakenings, I can see the Lord’s work in them.  Time and time again God takes my worship off of created things and redirects it to himself, the Creator.  That is exactly how it should be, and though it may be momentarily painful, I pray that it will increasingly be so.

“Are you living in any kind of sin? Are you following the course of this world, and neglecting your soul? Hear! I beseech you, what I say to you this day: ‘Behold the cross of Christ. See there how Jesus loved you! See there what Jesus suffered to prepare for you a way of salvation! Yes: careless men and women, for you that blood was shed! For you those hands and feet were pierced with nails! For you that body hung in agony on the cross!’ You are they whom Jesus loved, and for whom He died! Surely that love ought to melt you. Surely the thought of the cross should draw you to repentance. Oh, that it might be so this very day!”  (J.C. Ryle, Old Paths, p. 260)

As we turn away from our sin, let us not forget to look to Christ.

“God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions.”

This truth is confirmed by the testimony of Scripture.

Ephesians 1:11 – In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

Colossians 1:17 – And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Hebrews 1:3 – He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

But having read God’s Word on the doctrine of providence, you may think to yourself, “How does the doctrine of God’s providence help me to live a coherent life?”  Well, just to pursue one path, if God did not exercise his Fatherly care, in this world then we would have constant uncertainty.  Our dominating thought would be, “Who is in control?”  Anxiety would be an understandable and reasonable emotion.  Constant anxiousness would actually be the coherent worldview.  It would be coherent to trust yourself and your own strength  by developing countless scenarios and ways out of those fearful scenarios because there is not a sovereign, all-wise, all-powerful, and all-good God in control of all things.

However, as we ourselves know from experience, anxiety is anything but coherent.  Constantly worrying about things over which we have no control makes very little sense.  We borrow trouble when we don’t even know if trouble will come our way.  The doctrine of God’s providence grants us the clarity we need to see that the God who rules and works all things according to the counsel of his will is indeed trustworthy and we can place our very lives into his gentle hands.  Or as Herman Bavinck puts it,

“In all circumstances of life, it (meaning God’s providence) gives us good confidence in our faithful God and Father that he will provide whatever we need for body and soul and that he will turn to our good whatever adversity he sends us in this sad world, since he is able to do this as almighty God and desires to do this as a faithful Father.” [Bavinck, Herman, Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 2: God and Creation, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008). p. 619]

God’s providence provides coherence and rest, both for today and for all eternity.  Praise God for his great providential work in our lives and in this world.

In Volume 2 of his Reformed Dogmatics, Herman Bavinck wrote,

“Ascribed to God, grace is the voluntary, unrestrained, and unmerited favor that he shows to sinners and that, instead of the verdict of death, brings them righteousness, and life.” [Bavinck, Herman, Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 2: God and Creation, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008). P.214].

What does it mean that God voluntarily extends grace to us?  He does it of his own free will.  Just consider what Paul says in Romans 5:15,

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

What does it mean for God to extend his grace to us in an unrestrained manner?  He does not hold any of it back.  No good thing will he withhold from his children.  We read in Romans 8:32,

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

What does it mean that God to extend his unmerited favor to us? No good, merit, or righteousness in us causes him to bestow his heavenly favor upon us, and yet he does.  So we read in Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Dear Christian, rejoice in God’s voluntary, unrestrained, and unmerited favor toward you in Christ.  In other words, rejoice in God’s grace.