Free to Serve

A Church Legacy

"I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant." -- Joshua 24:13

God spoke these words to Joshua and the people of Israel as they gathered to marvel at their ownership of the Promised Land. On that day the people were able to look in the rearview mirror and remember all that God had done for them. Not only had he redeemed their forefathers from the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt, not only had he kept the nation alive for a generation wandering in a hostile wilderness, but God gave them just what he had promised Abraham centuries earlier: the land of Canaan. The land was move-in ready, too. They had homes already built to shelter their kids, and farms already planted to feed their families. The main point is clear: God takes good care of his children.

Israel's occupation of the Promised Land is, for us, ancient history. But God has not changed. He still takes good care of his children. Consider, for example, his gift of the local church. Most of you who are part of a local church are dwelling in a home that you did not build and you are eating of fruit that you did not plant. The congregation with which you gather each and every week was probably planted years, decades, maybe over a century ago by believers convinced that your area would be helped by a gospel-centered church.

Looking back at the history of MVBC, I can see the faces of founding members who shared pies and the gospel with their neighbors and invited them to church. I know how they devoted their time to setting up chairs every Lord's Day and bringing food to church-wide potlucks. I have heard how they sacrificed so the church would have a place to meet, and so that overseas missionaries would be able to go. And as the years went on, more people came, and they faithfully gave and faithfully served so that we might meet on Mount Vernon Highway today.

I am very thankful for the new work taking place at Mount Vernon. I'm grateful to God for new classes, for new faces, for new evidences of God's grace to me and to the church I serve. But I am also thankful to those who went before me--the pastors and deacons and church members that the Lord used to build this church. I'm reminded every week that the Lord has truly given me, in this local church, a land on which I had not labored, and a city that I did not build, and he has given me orchards that I did not plant. Yes, God still takes good care of his children.

Why We Need the Prophets

This past Sunday, I began a short series through Malachi. He is what bible scholars like to call, a post-exilic prophet. That simply means that he spoke to Israel after the nation had spent a season in Babylonian captivity. By Malachi's day the Temple had been rebuilt and God's people were back home. But it was far from a golden era. They lived under Persian rule, the land was drought-dry, and the economy was in shambles. 

As a pastor, I have the privilege of opening up this ancient book (we think Malachi prophesied in 450 BC) to a contemporary audience. But why does a crowd with 2013 concerns care about such an old, old book? If I had more time on Sunday morning, I would have offered these ten reasons to drive home the point that we need the Prophets today. Why do we need the Prophets?

1. Because the Prophets spoke the Word of God. Paul included the Old Testament Prophets when he wrote to Timothy, "All Scriputre is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God might be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16). In light of this, the Christian has no right to disregard the words of the Prophets. God intends them for our spiritual growth.

2. Because the Prophets spoke in times of crisis. It can certainly be said that every age is an age in crisis. But some ages are worse than others. The prophetic books cover a 300 year span of Israel's history where the dominant theme was exile and judgment. The Prophets prepared a nation for desolation, they ministered to a people that had been deported, and they spoke to a nation struggling to be home again. Everyone who struggles will be helped by the prophets who ministered in a season of great pain for God's people. 

3. Because the Prophets preserved a historical faith. The world today is full of those who deny that God is at work in history. If there is a God, they say, he certainly doesn't have his hand in the fall of nations, the death of kings, and the spread of famine. But try telling that to Isaiah, and Joel, and Jeremiah! The God they worshipped is at work in the nitty-gritty details of everyday life. He is at work bringing history to a point. A careful study of the Prophets is, inevitably, a study of history. More specifically, a study of God at work in history.

4. Because the Prophets knew how to stand up for Truth. Even when Israel's kings were silent, the prophets spoke for the Lord. They knew there was much more at stake than the geographic borders of a nation. Their messages concerned an eternal kingdom, a kingdom home only to those who follow the King. It is not easy to stand up for absolute Truth in a world that denies its very existence. The church today needs courage, the type of courage the prophets powerfully displayed.

5. Because the Prophets weren't impressed by power or prestige. The excesses of earthly kings and the hypocrisy of Israelite priests were both targets of the prophets' outrage. It's one thing to speak truth. It's another thing altogether to speak truth to power. Of course, the One for whom these prophets spoke is more powerful than any king. He is holier than any priest. The Prophets learned to be impressed by the Lord.

6. Because the Prophets predicted the future. Amos and Hosea predicted the fall of Israel. Ezekiel predicted the defeat of neighboring nations. God gave them insight into tomorrow because he wanted Israel to repent today. Alec Motyer put it this way, "To predict what was about to happen was to them an essential consequence of their fellowship with the Lord of history (e.g. Amos 3:7). When in his presence they felt obliged to ask the vital question 'How long?' (Isaiah 6:11) and to wait to hear the answer. But when they proclaimed the answer it was not in order to satisfy men's curiosity about the future; it was to use their certainty about what was to come as a lever to bring people to repentance here and now." The prophets were reliable guides to the history of Israel and they remain reliable guides to the history of humanity.

7. Because the Prophets minced no words. They spoke with cutting clarity. Their words were designed to shake the spiritual lethargy out of their listeners. There is no mistaking God's anger when he says through Malachi, "Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it" (Malachi 2:3). These are sharp, coarse words. They should not be easily ignored. They are the words of a God who hates sin. They are there to point out our sin. We need honest words because our hearts can be hardened.

8. Because the Prophets are honest about coming judgment. Our good God is a just God. He does not tolerate sin. Throughout history there have been men and women who thought they could hide their wickedness. They cannot. It will either be laid bare under the light of Christ's cross in this life or it will be revealed under the stunning brightness of God's wrath in the next. The words of the Prophets are clear, "Let all the inhabitents of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!" (Joel 2:1-2).

9. Because the Prophets cast a vision of a beautiful future for God's people. I love the words of Isaiah when he spoke of the New Jersualem, "No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days" (65:20). Not only will there be everlasting life but there will be perfect communion with God: "Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear" (65:24). To go to the prophets is to learn about the glorious inheritance of the saints.

10. Because the Prophets point to Christ. Luke describes the Savior explaining how the writings of Moses and the Prophets are all about him (Luke 24:27, 44). As the Prophets disclose our sin, they point to Jesus who bore it. As the Prophets describe heaven, they point to Jesus who bought it. From Isaiah's promise of a Suffering Servant to Malachi's promise of a messenger who will prepare the way for God--Christ is promised by the Prophets. 

The Prophets are too neglected by God's people today. We dismiss these books too easily as messages of gloom and doom that will simply bring us down. It's true, the Prophets boldly reveal our sin. If you can read the Prophets without being reminded of your own hypocrisy, then you aren't reading them rightly. But isn't it when our sin becomes clearest that our appreciation for Christ is at its highest? So read the Prophets with joy because their words are for our good--even today.

And if you are at Mount Vernon the next few weeks, start with Malachi!