It’s hard to put words into a place that shaped you so much. Especially when that place providentially put so many people in your life that you love so much. However, here is my attempt. Here goes nothing.

Dear Mars Hill Church Mobile,

When I think of you, I think one of the Lord’s greatest graces to me in my 23 years of life so far.

When I think of you, I think of a place where Scripture was deeply applied to my life not only in practice, but in thought.

When I think of you, I think of a place unlike any I have ever known before. A place that I needed, maybe more than I will realize.

Change is a natural part of the human experience. Changes for good and bad.

Right now I am experiencing a lot of change. New city. New house. New schooling. New job. New people. Eventually a new church.

One thing that you taught me in the midst of all these changes, and taught me well, is that I am totally and lovingly kept in the hands of a sovereign and good God.

He has committed Himself to form me into the image of Christ.

All change is meant for my good and His glory.

You taught me the deep meaning of these things.

Though it hurts to say goodbye, I now get the opportunity to live out what you taught me so deeply over the years in and through the unknown days ahead.

When I walked into your doors for the first time, I had no idea what you would mean to me 3 years later.

And now walking out, I do not know what the future holds.

In the grand story of life, I have come to know that it is not merely that I am in a grand story, it is that I am being Authored in that grand story.

The chapter of Mars Hill Mobile in my life will always be one that I look back on to remember how faithful my God is.

I cannot wait to see how the Mars Hill chapter affects the rest of my chapters ahead.

3 years later I am saying goodbye.

Goodbye to a place where my wife and I served together.

Goodbye to a place that took me in and cared for us.

Goodbye to so many friends that are like family.

Goodbye to a place that is truly a second home for me.

Who knows, maybe this isn’t goodbye, maybe one day we will meet again on a full time basis.

One thing I do know, is that I will leave that to the kind Providence of our Lord.

Dear Mars Hill, I say this to you as you said to me so many times:

^“24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”—Numbers 6:24-26

In Christ,

Dalton Mathis

My church (Mars Hill Church, Mobile) is currently preaching through the book of Jonah. At the end of the first sermon on verses 1-3, my pastor, Kyle Beshears, asked a question at the end of his sermon that took me back when I first heard it. He asked the question, “Who is your Nineveh?” My first thought was, “What an odd question. (sorry Kyle:)” However, the more and more I thought about it, the more and more I found it to be spot on for me and I think most Christians. However, to properly understand where my thoughts are going, we first need to understand the broad context of the book of Jonah before moving forward…so here goes nothing!

Broad context of the Book of Jonah

(very broad strokes…I mean very)

Jonah is a prophet of God who is commanded to go and preach to the capital city of the wicked (that is a kind way of putting them) Assyrian Empire, Nineveh. However, Jonah does the complete opposite. He flees. He not only flees, but travels in such a way that his fleeing takes longer than it would have taken him to just go to Nineveh in the first place.

Then he gets on a ship to go to Tarshish (Tarshish was eastward, Nineveh was westward), which most scholars tell us what the ancient world thought to be the edge of the world at the time. However, the Lord appoints a great storm to overpower the ship, which ends up with Jonah in the depths of the sea. Then the Lord appoints a great fish to save Jonah, and bring him to the place that he hates, the great city of Nineveh. Jonah then preaches the most mediocre sermon to the most wicked and hated people on the planet at the time, and they actually repent! Praise God right? Well…not in Jonah’s case.

The wicked Assyrians repenting greatly displeased Jonah. He even says to God in Jonah 4:2-3, “And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. ³ Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (my emphasis added). Wow. A prophet of God praying God’s own character back to Him, displeased with grace and saying that he would rather die, than to see God’s unconditional love and grace save wicked people.

Okay we will stop there, now back to regularly scheduled programming.

Why did Jonah hate Nineveh/Assyrians?

At first read through/glance, it is so easy to judge Jonah, or even condemn him for his actions and rebellion of God. However…let’s be honest, we are all Jonah in this story. To be completely fair and honest if we lived in the time that Jonah did, we would hate the Assyrians too, and do the exact same thing Jonah did.

We know from historical records that the Assyrians reveled in their evil deeds, and that they did not try to hide them from the world. They thought of them as routine. As just another day at the office per say. Examples of their evil is, flaying people alive and putting their skin on city walls, beheading people and putting their heads on stakes throughout the city, pulling people apart by horse, etc. The list could go on and on, however you get the point…these people are beyond evil.

The analogy Kyle used in his sermon to put it into a more modern context was this…it would be as if God called you to go straight to Berlin and preach to the Nazis during the height of the Holocaust. The only difference is, that the Nazis tried to hide their evil, whereas the Assyrians did not.

So yes, who could blame Jonah. Who would want to go to people so evil and so perverted? Hmmmm………………

Grace is unconditional

Many of us condemn Jonah, as I said earlier, however we are Jonah. But how? Why are we Jonah? I want to take us back to the title of this article. Who’s your Nineveh? A basic, but very pointed question, that carries a lot of theological meaning.

If we are really and truly honest with ourselves, there are people in our lives that we think are so beyond grace, or so beyond saving, or so embedded in sin, that “we just don’t see how God would even desire to save them.”

How sick and twisted of us to think that way. This line of thinking leads to us “gate-keeping” salvation. As if salvation is ours to give in the first place. Newsflash, it’s not. Salvation is of God, wholly belonging to Him and Him alone. We are not the dispensers of salvation, the triune God alone is. Why? “Salvation belongs to the LORD.”—Jonah 2:9

God is not a God of partiality. He saves whom He pleases. There is no condition in which a person could ever meet that would “qualify” them for grace. There is none!

This is what makes grace so astounding and humbling. The same God who saves the proud Pharisee and the rebellious runaway prophet, is the same God who saves people like the Assyrians. Why? The Assyrians and Nazis of our world are at the same level of depravity as the 90 year old unrepentant grandma who sits under Gospel preaching every Sunday, who thinks her “good works” can save her. Grace is that good. Grace is unconditional, because all humans are under the same curse…total depravity. In thought, word, and deed we have all sinned against a Holy God. This offense against Him deserves death. Yet, in the Lord Jesus, He gives grace to those whom believe in Him instead.

What is your gut instinct to evil?

So, who is your Nineveh? Is it a family member who “just doesn’t get it,” is it a certain political party, is it the LGBTQIA+ community, is it a runaway parent who abandoned you, is it someone who hurt you physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, etc. The point is, whatever/whoever came to mind when asked that question, God desires to save that person(s). We must not and cannot gate-keep salvation. Why? It doesn’t belong to us. God alone is the owner and dispenser of grace and salvation. All we are called to do is to unconditionally preach the Gospel to all, and see His unconditional grace change even the “worst” people imaginable. Why? Because that’s what God does. He has always saved, is saving, and will continue to save the worst. Why? Because that’s all of us. We are all the worst, but praise be to God that He is not a reluctant Savior. The darkest parts of our souls is where grace meets us the most. The darkest areas of our world, is where grace is most needed.

If all that is stated above is true, why is our first reaction so often to wicked and evil people, “Yeah!!! They got what they deserved! God will judge them for their wicked deeds. Vengeance is mine says the Lord. This world and it’s evil people are going to be burned when Christ returns anyway, who cares?! Hell’s gonna be hot for you.”

Our first reaction should not be that. God does not rejoice in wrong-doing or unrighteousness. Yes that’s true. Yes, those who do not believe will be judged for their unrighteous deeds in hell. Yes, yes, yes all true. But, that should not be our first thought when we see evil in our world.

Our first thought should be heartbrokenness over the evil we see. Our first thought should be grace and compassion. Our first thought should be, the Gospel is for them. Why? Because the Gospel was for you when you were in a pit of evil so deep that you thought your evil deeds was just another day at the office…much like the people of Nineveh.

"⁶ The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”—Exodus 34:6-7

This is who God is. This is what God does. He is merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in unconditional love. And He shows said character unconditionally to a rebellious and underserving people. To a rebellious and undeserving person. Said person includes you, me, and your Nineveh. Why? Well that’s easy. It’s what grace does, it meets the most wicked, evil, and vile people and utterly changes them. All for their good, and the glory of the Lord.

Conclusion

I asked a question earlier when talking about Nineveh that I want to go back to, to close. Who would want such wicked, evil, and vile people? God does. When He sets His sovereign will to save a people for His own possession by His grace, it will happen. That’s such good news, because He doesn’t keep us in our depravity. He brings us from death to life. He makes dead, wicked, evil, vile, corrupt, profane, sinful, defiled, arrogant, and prideful people trophies of His grace and glory.

The truth is, unconditional grace humbles us because by it, we receive a righteousness so foreign to us, that it leaves no room for boasting. This humility should lead us to seek the salvation to the sinful people around us, not their destruction. Why? Because deep down we know that we deserved the same destruction we are so keen to wish upon them, and grace changes that. It shows no partiality, and goes to the most undeserving. That’s what grace does. It’s just that good.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:1-10

As the old hymn says…

Grace, grace, God’s grace! Grace that is greater than all my sin!

What a marvelous truth that this evil sinner can proclaim…and so can your Nineveh.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

Recently this month, I (along with my fiancé and friends) attended Cross Con in Louisville, KY (if you have not been, I would HIGHLY recommend that you do). During the first session, I heard one of the best sermons and clearest expositions on Ephesians 2:1-10 that I have ever heard by Ajay Thomas. You can watch it here.

As I was sitting there, completely in awe of the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus being preached so clearly, I began to think on the character and nature of God.

Because God is gracious, there is no alternate reality in which He is not gracious to sinners.

Because God is sovereign, there is no alternate reality in which He will not claim those who are his.

Because God is just, there is no alternate reality in which He will not justly pour out His wrath upon His Son on the cross to justly justify sinners by faith and grace alone.

And so on and so forth.

In the closing of Ajay’s sermon, He said something that made me mediate upon the magnitude of what it means that God is gracious. He said, “I don’t know why God came by my grave, but I am glad He did.”

At first thought, that does not seem astounding, but it is.

In the first three verses of Ephesians 2, Paul describes our state apart from God: dead. Dead to Him. No affection for Him. No inclination to love Him. No ability to choose Him, or do any spiritual good before Him. Dead. Cold. Lifeless.

Yet, something astounding happens as we read in verse 4. “But God rich in mercy.” But. God. These words are some of the most comforting in all of Scripture. We are dead. But God. We can do nothing. But God made us alive in Him through His grace.

This is who God is.

This is what God does.

He saves and justly acquits sinners in accordance of His will, purpose, and nature. Sinners can take great comfort in knowing that character and nature of their God. Since God is gracious, our salvation is secure in Him, not in us.

Our God is indeed in the grave business. I would not choose me. You would not choose you. I know my sinful state. You know your sinful state. I know my heart. You know your heart. I know my depravity. You know your depravity.

But God, in spite of knowing all of that better than we do, delights to make us His prized possession. The God who is omniscient (all-knowing) remembers not one single sin, by grace and through faith. Simply astounding.

In his book, Delighting in the Trinity, Michael Reeves says, “The Father sent His Son to make Himself known–meaning not that He wanted simply to download some information about Himself (to us), but that the love the Father eternally has for the Son might be in those who believe in Him, and that we might enjoy the Son, as the Father always has…the Father so delights in His eternal love for the Son, that He shares it with all who will believe.”1

It is only in the sovereign grace and wisdom of God that we can behold Him.

God resurrects spiritual corpses, so that all boasting might belong to Him.

This is the God we confess. The One who is in the grave business. The One who delights to bring dead sinners to life.

It is almost a paradoxical statement to make.

The God who is Life, and Life eternal delights to breathe that Life into graves?

Yes.

And I’m so glad that Truth is a reality.

My life, my salvation, all of me is resting upon it.

Is yours?

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Jude 24-25

Growing up Christmas was a time of excitement. A time of waiting. A time of great expectation for what was to come. However, my waiting is nothing like the waiting the Israelites experienced.

They had been waiting on their greatest Gift since the beginning of human history. They had been told of a better Leader than Moses. They had been told of One to lead them into the eternal promise land. Something Joshua could not do. They had been told of a coming King. One greater than David. They had been told of One with more grandeur than even Solomon in all of His splendor.

But what came was not what was expected.

400 years of silence (inter-testimonial period between Malachi and Matthew). 400 years of waiting. 400 years of earnestly crying, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel!”

400 years was broken. Not with a conquering king to destroy Rome. 400 years was broken. Not with a loud and brash announcement of arrival. No. What came, no mind could have ever conceived.

The One prophets longed to behold was born of a virgin. The One saints past eagerly sought would be born where animals lay. The One God had promised would live in the creation He breathed out. 400 years had been broken with a baby’s cry.

The Son of God in all His glory, majesty, beauty, wonder, and transcendence would be held by a mother’s arms. The promised Son was not as foreign as we thought He would be. You see this Jesus is more like man than we could have ever imagined.

The Bread of Life, would know what it means to hunger.

The Light of the world would step into a world of darkness.

The Good Shepherd would care for dirty sheep.

The Incarnate Word of God would learn to speak.

The One who owned everything would be poor.

The Cornerstone of the universe would be fastened to a tree.

The Sovereign of heaven would sustain the universe in a manger.

The One who knows the stars by name would look up in the night sky.

The One said, “follow me,” would learn to walk.

The One whom angels bow down to, would bend to wash our feet.

The King deserving of a throne room, born a babe.

The crown He would be given would pierce.

The Healer of souls would be wounded.

This says something to us about the heart of God. Humble. Accessible. Gentle. Love. He did not come brashly or arrogantly. He came to the audience to the least of all humanity. Announced by a choral of angels. The seeming ordain nature of His coming is indeed extraordinary.

This seeming paradox tells us something else about God. He is more wise than any. His sovereign and eternal plan of redemption, no man could conceive. He knew just what we needed. If we had a Messiah just like us, we could take the credit and glory. However, the Messiah that came was just like us, but yet not. He was holy. He was God in human flesh.

As CS Lewis famously said, “The Son of God became man, so that men could become sons of God.”

So this Christmas as you are celebrating with your family, I pray you are reminded of the crux of the Christian faith. It is that God would take on flesh. A paradox, that only God could have written. And yet, we get to be in the story.

“⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—1 Corinthians 2:9

The Athanasian Creed says it well:

That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
is both God and human, equally.

He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.

Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God’s taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.

He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father’s right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

In Christ,
Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

Over the past couple of years it is not an abnormal thing to hear people say, pray, or even say “I want more of the Holy Spirit,” or “Lord I want more of you?” It is also not an abnormal thing in modern songs of worship to say things such as “Spirit come rest on us,” “Holy Spirit you are welcome here/come fill this place/we welcome you in this place,” “we need another pentecost,” “Holy Spirit pour out with no limit,” etc. you get the idea. This is…well not a good Biblical understanding of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Hear me out, I do not think the intention of asking the question, “How can I have more of the Holy Spirit?” is inherently a bad thing. However, the wording and understanding of the question itself is. I think the intention is genuinely heartfelt, however the wording and understanding needs a second look.

With that being said, I was recently at a systematic theology small group at my church in Mobile, AL, Mars Hill Church, called “Ecclesia Academy.” The session was on Pneumatology (the doctrine/study of the Holy Spirit), taught by my pastor, Kyle Beshears. To start out our session, Kyle asked us to split off into groups to discuss the question of “Can we have more of the Holy Spirit?” This article is based upon that discussion, and multiple conversations with people over the past 3 years.

To counter the question(s) above, we will ask who the Holy Spirit is/what He does, and how we can better understand Him in our daily lives.

(1) Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do?

Before answering this question, it is vital to have a basic understanding of the Trinity. To do this, we are going to look at the trusty Trinity Shield!

Each person of the Trinity is fully Yahweh in substance, nature, and being. Everything that is true of the Father (wise, sovereign, holy, love, just, etc.) is also true of the Spirit, and is also true of the Son, vice versa all the way around. The Father is fully Yahweh. The Son is fully Yahweh. The Spirit is fully Yahweh. However, the Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct from each other.

One of the best verses for their individual distinction is 1 Peter 1:2, “² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” The Father ordains, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit seals. The Father calls us unto salvation, the Son accomplishes our salvation, and the Spirit seals/confirms our salvation. (There is much more that we could discuss here, however hopefully this gives a foundation of understanding.)

Now back to our original question, “who is the Holy Spirit?” In short, the Holy Spirit is fully Yahweh. He is fully worthy of all praise and worship as the Father and the Son (Acts 5/Matthew 28:19). He is the inspirer of the spoken/written Word of God (2 Peter 1:21). He is the agent of regeneration (2 Thess. 2:13). He was active at creation (Genesis 1:2/26-27). He is the helper/teacher (John 14:26). He is the comforter (John 14:26). He sanctifies us (hence why we call the Spirit the “Holy Spirit”) (1 Cor. 6:11). He fully dwells in every believer (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The list could go on and on and on, however these are basic things for us to understand what the Holy Spirit does and is.

It is important to note that the Spirit is not a “force/power.” To think of the Spirit in this way, is to severely misunderstand Scripture. The Spirit by His very “job” (for lack of a better time) is a personal Being. He convicts. He encourages. He exhorts. He confirms our election in Christ. He seals us in our union in Christ. He guarantees our salvation. He regenerates. Without Him there would be no Bible, salvation, conviction of sin, understanding of Scripture, and so forth. He cannot and will never be just a “force or power.”

To wrap up this section we are going to take Millard Erickson’s implications of the Holy Spirit to heart, to understand the title of this article.

(1) The Holy Spirit is a person, not a vague force. He is someone we can have a personal relationship with, and whom we can pray to (remember, He is fully Yahweh).

(2) The Holy Spirit, being fully divine, is to be accorded the same honor and respect that we give to the Father and Son. It is appropriate to worship Him as we do them. He should not be thought of in any sense inferior in essence to them, although His role is different to theirs (he helps us see Christ).

(3) The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and Son. His Work is the expression and execution of what the three of them have planned together. There is no tension among their persons and activites.1

(2) How can we better understand the Spirit?

Instead of asking, “how can I get more of the Spirit?”, we should be asking , “how can the Holy Spirit get more of me?” We are sinful beings with sin in our lives/hearts. We need the Spirit’s conviction to lead us to repentance. Instead of asking (and let me be very frank, demanding of the Holy Spirit) a holy, infinite, and independent God who will not/cannot divide His natures for more of Him (which is very self/man-centered). We should be asking, “how can I be more aware of the Holy Spirit?” We should be praying, “Spirit, make me more aware of Christ.”

The Holy Spirit will never do anything contrary to His Person and work. Asking for more of Him is a severely skewed understanding of who He is, and what He has/is doing for us. Instead of asking for more of Him like a genie in a bottle, pray for Him to open your eyes of how He is actively working in your life. I will now list reasons as to why Christians should not ask this question.

1. If you are in Christ, the fullness of the Spirit is indwelling in you (1 Cor. 6:19-20). If He were not fully indwelling in us, we would be in eternally deep trouble. To ask for more of Him is to neglect the gift that Christians have of the indwelling of the Spirit in them. For more on this, see my article here.

2. To ask for the Holy Spirit to “come into a room, rest on us, welcoming Him here” is to misunderstand His omni-presence. Psalm 139:7, “⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Christians are fully “filled” and always in the full presence of the Spirit because of His indwelling and omni-presence.

3. Demanding more of God is very dangerous spot to be in. We are to approach God with bold reverence, not with fists of demanding. Asking or praying the title of this article is treating the Holy Spirit as less than God. It treats Him as a power or force that Christians can just magically get more of. The Holy Spirit is not the Christian’s superpower that we can randomly activate whenever we want, where we have more of one day and less the next. No, rather it is our personal Helper to help us see Christ, pray, confirm our salvation, and make us more holy.

The Holy Spirit has already poured out at Pentecost, and He has poured fully in your heart at the moment He regenerated your heart of stone. We need not ask Him to “rest on us/pour out without limit/give us a fresh wind.” To say these things is to neglect the person and work of the Holy Spirit all together.

Closing thoughts…

In closing, my answer to the title of this article is simply, no. My reasons have been clearly listed above. I will now list some resources…

Books:

The Holy Spirit (theology for the people of God)

The Holy Spirit (contours of Christian Theology)

The Mystery of the Holy Spirit

Songs:

Be Thou My Vision (lots of covers out there…major hymn of the Christian faith)

Hymn of the Holy Spirit by Pat Barrett

Holy Spirit, Deepen Us by Port City Worship

Help Us See Christ by Sovereign Grace Music

Guide Me, O My Great Redeemer by Sovereign Grace Music

The Athanasian Creed says it well…

We worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.

The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.

And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty being.

Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.

Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.

This is what Christians worship. The Triune God who saves us by His own good pleasure. May we be more aware of Him. May His Spirit get more of us. May His Spirit make us more aware of Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

The past week in our nation has been…well evil. We’ve seen an immigrant be murdered on a subway train, another school shooting, the memoriam of 9/11 and the assassination of Charlie Kirk. To put it simply, it’s has been a dark week for our nation and world. It has left some asking questions that maybe they have never asked before. It has left some aching. It has left some with pain too deep for words. It has left some seeking real Hope for the first time.

I have also pondered and meditated on this past week, and one thing kept coming to my mind…that being the multi-faceted wisdom, goodness, and sovereignty of God. Specifically one verse comes to mind. Genesis 50:20a. “²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” Some have taken this verse to mean that God “turns” things for our good. Rather, this verse teaches us something about God that I think we often overlook too much. It is to this end that I wish for us to meditate upon as we apply this Truth to our lives to live in light of the Hope the Gospel gives us.

So how should we live in light of evil? How do we know that God is truly good, and means (not turn) things for our good? Two things…God is sovereign and God means things for our good from the very beginning.

(1) God is sovereign.

If there is one steady truth that can calm the anxious soul, it is that we serve a God that has been, is, and will be sovereignly reigning over all things. He did not create this world, and just let it be. No, rather He is ACTIVELY sustaining it (Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-4). As Abraham Kuyper states, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'" What truth. There is not one singular molecule in this universe to which the Lord does not have absolute and complete control over. A leaf does not fall from a tree to the ground without our God allowing it to fall. Think about that, and let it blow your mind.

This alone brings us great comfort. However, if we are honest, we question it a lot. How can God allow such events like this past week to happen? This very question has led people to being agnostic, atheist, and unbelieving. Moreover, it has also strengthened the faith of others. It’s important to note the things we know when pondering this question. We know that His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:10-11) We know that we can never know completely the hidden will of God. (Deut. 29:29) We know that God is jealous for His own glory. (Isaiah 42:8) We know that the Lord hates all unrighteousness due to His holiness. (Isaiah 5:20) We know that the Lord will not be mocked. (Isaiah 5:20)

Now, what do these core truths about God have to do with His sovereignty? It’s the Truth that He will never not act in accordance to His nature. Since God is good, holy, wise, faithful, love, all-knowing, all-powerful, etc., He will always act in accordance with His nature/character. This does not put God in a box, rather it magnifies the comfort it brings us. However, when we question Him, it is often due to our sinful minds putting human attributes on an infinite God.

We can be comforted in knowing that the holy, infinitely wise, benevolently good God, will always act in accordance with His sovereign will “in mind.” This puts our suffering into a very different perspective. When things are thrown at us that we cannot handle (if anyone tells you that “God will never give you anything that you can’t handle”, please run…this is a lie from the pit of hell), we can trust and know that our God entered into our suffering for us in Christ. For those in Christ, all things are MEANT for our good, not turned. This brings us to our second point.

(2) God means things for our good from the very beginning.

As I stated in the intro to this article, Genesis 50:20 has often been very misunderstood/misquoted. Just for refreshers, it states, “²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” Again this verse teaches us something very very very vital about the sovereignty of God. In starting to unpack this, and to explain why this verse is so misunderstood we need to look at the original language of the text (Hebrew). The word “meant” occurs two times in this verse. “What you meant,” aka what the enemy means, aka evil that occurs, and “God meant”, aka God’s acting sovereignty. Both times “meant” is mentioned in this verse, it is the Hebrew word “ḥāšaḇ",” which means to think, plan, esteem, calculate, invent, make a judgment, imagine, count.1

Interesting…

So what the enemy plans for evil, God plans for good? Yes. Precisely. God does not “turn things around” or “turn things for good.” No. He means them for good. If we say that “He turns things for good,” this is conveying the notion that God is caught off guard by an event or circumstance. However, this is just simply not true, due to our God being perfectly all-knowing. If God “turns things for good,” it means that God is reacting to a situation/event/circumstance, rather than enacting His sovereign will which was laid before the foundations of the world.

Our prayer should not be “Lord, turn this circumstance around for me.” No. Rather it should be, “Father, I acknowledge that Your ways are not my ways, Your thoughts are not my thoughts, You are infinite, I am finite, thank you for always being and staying true to Your nature which is revealed to me in your Word, so Lord teach my heart to trust that You are who You say You are, and you will always act in Your goodness, for Your goodness is meant for my good and Your glory.”

Genesis 50:20 is the greatest comfort to our finite minds. The greatest display of this verse is the cross of the Lord Jesus. What the enemy used/meant to separate us (that being death), our God used it to bring us in union with Him. Christ’s death brings us eternal life with Him. What grace. What love. No human mind could every come up with such a marvelous plan for redemption. The very thing the enemy used against us, the very thing that we brought upon ourself, our God meant it for the Lord Jesus to bring us salvific life in Him. No human mind can comprehend the wisdom and sovereignty of our God.

Closing thoughts…

So yes, there are evil events that happen in this world. We sinned against a holy God, so therefore sin has entered in since Genesis 3. However, we know that we have Hope in the Gospel. Moreover, we can know and trust God with any and every circumstance we face, that our God meant it for our good and His glory.

“Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, ⁴ and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵ And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”—Revelation 5:1-5

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” ⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.”—Revelation 21:1-6

“³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”—John 16:33

May God give us grace to see Him as He is. This is His world. We broke it. He made a way for redemption. He does not turn our circumstances around, rather He means them.

“Do you feel the world is broken?
(We do)
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
(We do)
But do you know that all the dark won't
Stop the light from getting through?
(We do)
Do you wish that you could see it all made new?
We do)

Is all creation groaning?
(It is)
Is a new creation coming?
(It is)
Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst?
(It is)
Is it good that we remind ourselves of this?
(It is)

Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?
The Lion of Judah who conquered the grave
He was David's root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave

Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
Of all blessing and honor and glory
Is He worthy of this?
He is

Does the Father truly love us?
(He does)
Does the Spirit move among us?
(He does)
And does Jesus, our Messiah hold forever those He loves?
(He does)
Does our God intend to dwell again with us?
(He does)

Is anyone worthy?
Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?
The Lion of Judah who conquered the grave
He is David's root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave
From every people and tribe
Every nation and tongue
He has made us a kingdom and priests to God
To reign with the Son

Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
Of all blessing and honor and glory
Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
Is He worthy of this?

He is!
Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
He is!
He is! “—Lyrics from the hymn, Is He Worthy?2

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

In July of 2013, the great hymn, In Christ Alone, made headlines for its lyrics referring to the wrath of God. However, the headlines did not come from the song or songwriters, rather it came from a branch of Presbyterianism called “PCUSA.” (this being the more liberal branch of Presbyterianism.) The PCUSA church wanted to add this hymn to their hymn book, however they proposed a change in lyrics to the songwriters. Their proposal was, “Till on that cross as Jesus died/the love of God was magnified instead of, “Till on that cross as Jesus died/the wrath of God was satisfied.”1 This in which, the proposal to change the lyrics was denied, but why?

Now at first glance this does not seem so bad. I mean after all, the love of God is and was magnified in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. However, the song is teaching a deeply important theological Truth found in Scripture. Due to God’s holiness and justice, He must deal with sin and unrighteousness. Due to this being God’s character, there must be a sacrifice to appease His holy justice (or wrath) against sin/unrighteousness. This is where the song comes in. You see on the cross, Christ was the perfect atonement to appease God’s wrath against sin. We refer to this concept as the atonement or propitiation (see Romans 3:25, 1 John 2:2/4:10, and Hebrews 2:17.)

The song is staying true to Scripture and the character of God. It is teaching us, that the substitutionary atoning death of Christ was the only way that God’s wrath could be satisfied (we could spend a whole article on this, however we must move on). The point is, yes, the love of God was magnified in the death of Jesus. In saying this you would not be heretical. However the Biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation teaches that without bloodshed, there is no forgiveness of sins. In the atoning death of Christ, we learn that, the love of God was magnified, in the wrath of God being satisfied by offering up Christ to die in our place.

Why do I open the article in this way?

Well, it’s quite an understatement, that in our churches today, you do not hear too many sermons of God’s justice. As humans, we do not like the idea of God being a perfect and holy Judge that will enact His judgements in accordance with His will. However, I want to offer up a sobering, yet encouraging truth.

Without God being perfectly just, there is no salvation in Christ. Yeah…read that again.

Without God being the Supreme Judge, who is morally perfect in all of His ways, there would be no salvation in Christ. Why? These two reasons we shall discuss together now.

Reason #1: The Just Judge

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”—Deuteronomy 32:4

It is clear in the Biblical narrative, that every human born into this world, is under the curse of sin (Genesis 3, Romans 5, Psalm 51:5, etc.) In which case, we are all condemned under the curse of sin, and our own willful sin choices. We are spiritually dead and not alive to the things of God. It is also clear throughout God revealing His perfect nature in the Scriptures, that He is perfectly holy, just, wise, etc. However, it is key to stop here and understand the weight of what the attributes of God mean for us.

An attribute is something we claim God to exist, for God to God. If God is not, for example perfectly just, then He is no longer God. Bold statement, however let’s play this out. If God were not perfectly just, then sin would run rampant and there would be no accountability for one’s own actions/sin. However, because God is just, He has provided us His Word to tell us what is right and what is wrong. With God being holy and perfectly just, He must deal with all unholiness/unrighteousness. God will always act in ways that are always in line with His perfect will and nature revealed to us in His Word.

JI Packer has this to offer in his book, Knowing God, “The truth is, that part of God’s moral perfection is His perfection in judgement. Would a God who did not care about the difference between right and wrong be a good and admirable being? Would a God who put no distinction between the beasts of history, the Hitlers and Stalins, and His own saints be morally praiseworthy and perfect? Moral indifference would be an imperfection in God, not a perfection. (read that line again) But not to judge the world would be to show moral indifference. The final proof that God is a perfect moral being, not indifferent to questions of right and wrong, is the fact that He has committed Himself to judge the world.”2

Why is us understanding that God is a perfectly, upright, and just Judge, good for us in understanding salvation? It’s the simple fact, that we can trust and know that in all His ways He has and will always judge unrighteousness. That is a scary thought to some, however to the regenerate Christian, it is a comforting thought.

He has committed Himself to cast out all unrighteousness in this world, out of the jealousy of His own name and glory. (Isaiah 42:8) To not do this, would be an inconceivable reality to our God. The Word of God is clear that our Creator does not reserve all judging until the time of Christ’s return; rather, He may intervene in history to judge evil. As the great Judge, the Lord reserves the right to bring justice to bear upon evildoers before that day on which He will bring His plan of redemption to its completion.3

However, due to God’s just nature, He also provides a way for redemption that perfectly appeases His justice and mercy.

Reason #2: The Just Savior

“²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”—Romans 3:21-26

Another key factor when talking about God’s attributes, is that you cannot have one without the other. For example, if God is loving, but He is not faithful in that love, then there is no perfect and faithful love that we can place our faith in for salvation. Another example. If God is wise, but not also sovereign in that wisdom, then we have a God who we can understand 100% of the time. You see where I’m going with this?

You cannot pick and choose different attributes of God for your liking. God is God, and we are not. He is perfect in all His ways, and ours are not. It is an inconceivable reality to say that God is love, but not holy, wise, sovereign, just, faithful, etc. in that love. His nature is His nature, and we must humble ourselves to believe Him as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. Why is this important in our understanding of salvation? It has to do with the glorious truth, that God in His perfect morality and justice, has presented Christ on our behalf to both appease His wrath against sin (just attribute), and to give grace to us in Christ (love attribute). The two work in tandem.

This is Paul’s exhortation in Romans 3:21-26. God is just in acquitting sinners in Christ, because He was pleased to crush His Son (Isaiah 53:10) on behalf of those who would believe. All in all, God’s justice (wrath) is completely satisfied by the sacrifice of Christ, and His love/grace/mercy extends to those who, by faith and grace alone repent of their sins.

The seeming paradox is a paradox no more. Yes, God hates sin and unrighteousness. Yes, there will be a day when Christ returns to rightly judge all who did not believe, and all unrighteousness. However, He is also just in that He has made a way to reconcile the unrighteous to become righteous in the atonement of the Lord Jesus by faith and grace alone. He has judged Christ in our place. Christ took the wrath. Christ took the punishment. If you are in Him, then there is no more fear in judgement, for there is no more condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

Closing Thoughts…

My exhortation to you would be to thank God for His justice, because without it, we would all be completely without hope of any salvation. To not take for granted His love without His just nature. To echo Psalm 95:7-11, do not harden your hearts, for today is the day of salvation. Do not take for granted the long-suffering grace of God. Seek Him while He may be found, for there will be a day where the final plan of judgement and redemption will happen. I urge you to call on Jesus, who is our Judge and our Savior.

Consider the full context of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”—John 3:16-21 (my emphasis added)

“Jesus the Lord, like His Father, is holy and pure; we are neither. We live under His eye, He knows our secrets, and on judgement day the whole of our past life will be played back, as it were before Him and brought under review. If we know ourselves at all, we know we are not fit to face Him. What then are we to do? The New Testament answer is: to call on the coming Judge to be your present Savior. As Judge, He is the law, but as Savior, He is the Gospel. Run from Him now, and you will meet Him as Judge and without hope. Seek Him now, and you will find Him (for he who seeks, finds Luke 11:10), and you will then discover that you are looking forward to that future meeting with joy, knowing that there is now '“no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)”4—JI Packer, Knowing God

Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied—In Christ Alone

And all God’s people said, “amen.”

In Christ,

Dalton Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

If there is one thing that I have learned to be in awe of throughout my walk with the Lord, it is His long-suffering grace of to conform sinners into the image of His Son. When I say long-suffering, I mean His constant patience with us. Though we are prone to wonder. Though He sees the depths of our hearts. Though we are quick to forget. Yet, He remains. Yet, He sanctifies us in spite of us. Yet, He stays steadfast to His covenant and promise to us in Christ. We never get past or outgrow the Gospel Truth.

Often times when you read the Bible, you see salvation in three different ways or tenses. You were saved, you are being saved, and you will be saved. What about once saved always saved? Are there contradictions here in the Bible? Absolutely not! This article will aim to expand our mind on the true glory of what salvation is. So let’s get started.

(1) You were saved.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:1-10

There is probably no other clear description of what being saved means in the Bible. Another way of saying this is justification or regeneration. At the instant the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and gives us the gift of faith, we are completely justified in Christ. There is nothing we can do to add or subtract to it. Look back to Ephesians. We were dead, yet Christ makes us alive in Him. By grace through faith God graciously saves unjust and unholy sinners.

Though we justly stand accused before the Great Judge of all unrighteousness, God imputes to us His Son’s perfect obedience and righteousness. It’s not merely that we are forgiven, yes that is true, but the grander meaning of justification is that we are seen as if we were always righteous and obedient. Colossians 3:3 reminds us that our whole life is hidden in Christ. We are not looked at as the dirty sinner we once were (though we still sin), we are seen as the Son. The Father looks upon Christ to pardon us.

“⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”—Titus 3:4-7

So in the past tense of salvation in the Bible, we are saved from the penalty of sin.

(2) You are being saved.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”—Philippians 1:6

Sanctification is one of the sweetest gifts the Father gives to us. He takes sinners justified by faith alone and grace alone, and roots out sin in our lives. He not only does that, but He steadily conforms us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-30). In other words, Christians will be more and more holy through the Spirit’s work in their lives. Being led by and living by the Spirit after justification, we are free to walk in the ways of God. We begin to love what He loves. He no longer love our sin, rather we hate it. We desire to please God. Day by day the Spirit is delivering us from the presence of sin (2 Cor. 4:16).

The other aspect of sanctification is not only the Spirit’s work in growing us in personal holiness, but also our status as holy in Christ.1 Paul puts it this way in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We no longer live in our sin. We live in holiness. He who began the good work of salvation in us, will bring it to completion. He has said it, and He will complete it. God will sanctify those whom He has called according to His purpose. Let not a day go by that we do not thank the Lord for sustaining us by His grace to be more like Christ. Let not a day go by without us thanking Him for pruning us.

“¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”—Philippians 2:12-13

So in the present tense of salvation, we are being saved from the power of sin.

(3) You will be saved.

“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”—Romans 8:30

Since the fall of Adam in Genesis 3, all of creation has been cursed by sin. Death is for all. Sickness plagues us. Sorrowful tears are more present than we realize. Yet, in the kindness and sovereignty of God, He has given us salvation through His Son. He has given us the eternal cure for sin and death in Christ. However, we are still sojourners in this sinful and broken world. We yearn day by day and eagerly wait for our final redemption either by our death or Christ’s return. The great hymn, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”, says it like this, “When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”2

Christ also gives us the promise to us for a new heaven and a new earth in Revelation 21. He has promised to us that He will return to wipe out all unrighteousness and restore creation back to Eden. The absence of sin. The absence of death. The absence of darkness. We long for the day where we are perfectly communing and enjoying Him for all eternity. He has not forgotten us. He will glorify us. Since He has been raised, we shall surely be raised in Him.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. ⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. ⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”—Revelation 21:1-7

So in the future tense of salvation, we are saved from the presence of sin.

Closing thoughts…

In every aspect of the Gospel the Father is keeping a people for His own possession through the Son, with the sealing of the Holy Spirit, for His good pleasure (Ephesians 1). He has saved us from the penalty that we rightly owed. He is saving us from the sin in our lives. He will save us from the subject of sin that is in this world. We have the great assurance that our anchor holds within the steadfast nature of our God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). At every stage—justification, sanctification, glorification—we come with empty hands, seeking mercy from our heavenly Father.3 One salvation. Three tenses. One glorious Gospel in which we stand.

“What is our hope in life and death?
Christ alone, Christ alone
What is our only confidence?
That our souls to Him belong

Who holds our days within His hand?
What comes, apart from His command
And what will keep us to the end?
The love of Christ in which we stand”—Christ Our Hope in Life and Death

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

The obvious answer to the question (which is the title to this article) is yes. However, there are specific answers that we don’t, know i.e. Will I be a nurse for my job? Should I buy this house? Will I marry this person? God does not explicitly say, “Thou shout be a nurse to be in thy will.” However there are some clear things he does tell us through His Word that are very explicit. It is often a sad reality that the will of God has been understood as this “mystical” thing that we can never know or understand. This is a false way of thinking about the will of God and God Himself. He has revealed His will in His Word, and ultimately through the incarnation of the Word in Christ. We will tackle this in two ways, (1) God’s sovereign will. (2) God’s will of command.

God’s sovereign will.

⁸ “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, ⁹ remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰ declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,”—Isaiah 46:8-10

“¹³ Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”—Isaiah 43:13

“³ Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”—Psalm 115:3

“²¹ Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”—Proverbs 19:21

“¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”—Colossians 1:16-17

The general decree/will of God is all that He ordains to happen that no human being or change in circumstance can thwart, i.e. salvation for the elect, building His Church from every nation/tongue/tribe, Jesus’ death and resurrection, getting His glory, creation of the world, making the reality of Christ known throughout the world (the Gospel proclaimed), making His people holy, making all things new in the second incarnation. God WILL do these things. They are a certain and real reality. It is not an “if” or “can” these things happen(ed). It’s that they have/will happen. His Word tells us said things. God in His perfect nature cannot lie or do anything counter to His will or character. Therefore, whatever He decrees into action, He WILL complete, in His timing.1

However, there is also a degree of mystery to this as well. He does not reveal all things clearly. Examples being like what we mentioned earlier, jobs, spouses, college decisions, etc. However, He has told us what to do to make said decisions. This leads to our second point.

God’s will of command.

In other words, this is what God expects of us in following His general/sovereign will.2 Remember, these things are our sanctification, proclaiming the Gospel, worshipping Him, etc. However here are a few examples of God’s will of command/decree…

The 10 commandments in Exodus 20

“⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”—Deuteronomy 6:4-9

“³² You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ³³ You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”—Deuteronomy 5:32-33

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”—Romans 12:1-2

“² For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”—1 Thessalonians 4:2-8

“¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”—Micah 6:8

It is very clear what God has decreed and commanded us to do. We love Him. We pursue holiness. We proclaim the Gospel. We obey Him. All the questions in our life can be summed up in said things. Often times when we are at a crossroads of a decision, we often times get disillusioned into thinking that His will is hidden from us. In this mindset, the pressure is all on us when it’s not supposed to be. God has clearly told us what He desires for His children to do, and He has given us every resource in His Word, through Christ, and with the Holy Spirit’s encouragement to follow as He leads.

Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us that, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” He will go before us. He will never leave us. We can take heart in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, because it has been passed through the hands of a sovereign and good God. He is good. He will make us holy. He cannot and will not lie. My pastor once said this in a sermon, “It’s not merely that God will keep His promises to us, it’s that there is no other conceivable reality in which He doesn’t.”3

When facing a decision, know that God does not delight in hiding good things from His children. He is a good gift giver, and He does not withhold any good thing from the righteous. The righteous will never be forsaken.

Pray. Sink deeply into the Word. Know that the Holy Spirit is the great Comforter. No circumstance can stop His will from taking place. When doors close, rejoice. When doors open, rejoice. Whatever He leads you to, know that He has gone before you, He comes behind you, and He is with you every step of the way.

Closing thoughts…

“⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”—Philippians 1:6

“⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”—Micah 6:8

He will bring whatever He starts to completion. He has told us what He desires. We can walk joyfully without worry of “not knowing”. He is a God or order, not confusion. When we are fearful, He lifts our head into His gaze. When we worry, we can know that not even our biggest doubts cannot unseat His promises to us.

“⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷ casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”—1 Peter 5:6-7

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

O what peace we often forfeit
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer

Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer4

“Wait on the Lord" is a constant refrain in the Psalms, and it is a necessary word, for God often keeps us waiting. He is not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not his way to give more light on the future than we need for action in the present, or to guide us more than one step at a time. When in doubt, do nothing, but continue to wait on God. When action is needed, light will come.”5—JI Packer from the book, Knowing God

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

There is often a big misconception in many churches, that doctrines and theology do not hold a high importance in the health of the church. Let me be very blunt early on in this article…that line of thinking is folly, and does not build up the Church whatsoever. Without doctrine, we would not know what we believe. Doctrine builds the Church. Doctrine defends itself against heresy. Doctrine are our safety gates from falling off into disbelief/heresy. Theology expands our mind. Theology deepens our well of knowledge, that leads to deep worship. There are things we need to intellectually know about God to deeply know Him. God has given us a mind to think deeply on/about Him, it would be a great tragedy if we did not use our mind to expand it on Him and His Word.

A couple of rough definitions before moving on…

Creeds: Creeds provide a concise overview of core Christian doctrines for the universal Church ie. Nicene Creed (Constantinople Creed), Athanasius Creed, and Apostles’s Creed.

Confessions of Faith: A formal statement of belief for congregations/denominations ie. 1689 Baptist confession of faith, Westminister confession of faith, Baptist faith & message 2000.

Catechisms: A summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians. ie. Westminister shorter catechism, new city catechism.

Doctrine: Instruction or set of beliefs from an authoritative source. ie. systematic/Biblical theology.

Theology: The study of God as revealed in the Bible, encompassing His character, actions, and relationship with humanity. ie. Bible interpretation, systematic theology, Biblical theology, church history, etc.

Dogma: A teaching of the Church that is usually seen as necessary to believe for salvation. These are often seen as foundational and universally accepted. The word dogma can be replaced by doctrine and still make sense.1 ie. Jesus is God, belief in the Trinity, the inerrancy of Scripture.

You cannot have a high view of God and a low view of doctrine/theology. The two simply cannot co-exist.

Before going into the rest of this article, I think it would be vital for us to establish where creeds, confessions of faith, and catechisms are formed from. They are directly derived from the Word of God. The Word of God is our highest authority this side of heaven, with Christ being the head of the Church. We cannot go outside the bounds of what Scripture teaches. Creeds, confessions, and catechisms are a simple and easy way to learn the Word of God and the doctrines/theology it teaches. It is also important to note that creeds/confessions of faith/catechisms are not a human or new idea. The Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 would be (and still is) repeated by Jews at least twice a day. Why? To teach themselves constantly of the Truth that they believed. Paul also recites a early church hymn in Philippians 2:5-11. Why? Because it taught who Christ is, and what He accomplished on the cross. However, for today I want us to see two things on how these things encourage us…(1) Doctrine/theology leads to a healthy church. (2) Deep understand of doctrine/theology leads to deep worship of God.

(1) Creeds, confessions, and catechisms teach doctrine/theology, which adds to the healthiness of our churches.

Growing up, it was a sad reality that I did not know what these things were. I did not grow a deep appreciation for creeds, confessions of faith, and catechism until I got into college. I think this is a downfall in our churches today, we do not inform/teach our congregations what doctrine/theology is. Sure, sometimes it can seem highly intellectual and lofty for some people, but that is the exact reason why we have confessions of faith (I don’t feel like typing them all out, so I will shorten them to confessions of faith form now on). However, I feel like some people are disconnected from the line of theological thinking, because, especially in the South, almost everyone “believes” in God. However, the first creed (Nicene Creed) was formulated due to heresy. These things teach us what the Word of God in a very approachable way, and in a very practical way, they inform us to know what to believe to err from heretical belief.

Often times when a church is unhealthy spiritually or theologically, it is often times due to a minimal exposure to deep doctrines. This is often true of discipleship strategies. We often try to walk through books or devotionals with young believers or new Christians. Why? I’m not saying those things are bad, but nothing replaces being in Scripture. A good way to ease the heaviness of understanding Scripture for a new believer, is to concisely teach them doctrines (creeds, confessions of faith, catechisms) that Scripture teaches.

Examples from various catechisms:

Q. What is the chief end of man? A. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.2

Q. What is God? A. God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through him and by his will.3

We do this with children to teach them things when they are younger. We ask questions for them to answer. Why do we lose this as adults and in church? One of the best learning techniques to seep information into our minds is in the form of Q and A. This is why catechisms are so great. Confessions of faith systematically do this by taking topic by topic, and clearly define a line of belief backed by Scripture. Creeds do this by providing a framework to combat heresy. By teaching our congregations such things, it will lead not only to spiritual maturity, but it will also lead to a healthy church.

(2) Creeds, confessions of faith, and catechisms lead to a deeper understanding of Scripture/doctrines/theology, thus leading to deeper worship of/for God.

I am DEEPLY convicted/convinced that shallow thoughts of God, deeply affect our worship of Him. Like I said before, God has given us a mind to come to somewhat of an understanding of who He is, through His Spirit illuminating the Word of God to us. (I say somewhat, because we are finite and He is infinite.) Instead of doing book studies for group/congregational study, why do we not study the Bible and combine it with teaching our congregations/small groups our confessions/catechisms? Again, not knocking book studies, I LOVE to read myself. However, if we want our congregations to grow doctrinally/theologically, we should not shy away from teaching our confessions of faith or catechisms. In doing so, it leads to us being doctrinally sound, which leads to a deeper understanding of who God is, which leads to deeper doxology (worship), which ultimately leads to healthier churches.

Creeds, confessions of faith, and catechisms matter, because we are spiritually starved without knowing what the Bible teaches.

Some recommended resources:

New City Catechism

1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

Nicene Creed

Athanasian Creed

Baptist Faith and Message 2000

Westminister Shorter Catechism

A couple of Scriptures to encourage you:)

“16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”—2 Timothy 3:16-17

“¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,—2 Timothy 2:15-16

“…But the word of God is not bound!”—2 Timothy 2:9c

“¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”—Hebrews 4:12

The entirety of Titus 2

I pray that you can see now why doctrine and theology matter, especially in our confessions of faith. I pray you have grown a deeper appreciation for them and how they teach us the Word of God.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

Martin Luther coined the phrase, “simul justus et peccator,” which is Latin for “simultaneously righteous and a sinner.” When I first studied this, it took me back a bit, because it’s true. Through the sacrifice of Christ, we are completely justified (seen as fully righteous before God) and yet we still struggle with sin.

The hymn “My worth is is not in what I own” says it like this, “Two wonders here that I confess. My worth and my unworthiness. My value fixed, my ransom paid. At the cross”1

What a truth. What grace. What love. Out of all the mysteries of the Gospel, grace still leaves me stumped time and again. I think because it is so counter-intuitive to human reasoning (due to the fall of man). Yes, we do confess our worth, because the One who is worthy declares us worthy. However, a healthy view of that should confess our unworthiness. We are defiled, unclean, sinful, etc. We cannot know our worth unless we know how unworthy we are first. There are two things I want us to meditate on based upon Luther’s phrase…(1) The agony of Good Friday. (2) What this means for us.

(1) The agony of Good Friday.

In order for our finite human minds to come to a somewhat understanding of what Good Friday is, I think it would benefit us greatly to meditate upon the physical suffering Christ endured and the spiritual agony Christ endured. First, we will meditate upon the physical suffering.

Physical suffering: None can fully fathom the physical pain Christ endured. John Duncan (reformed Scottish theologian), says it like this, “It was damnation—and damnation taken lovingly.” When we refer to the term/doctrine damnation, it is referring the condemning torment of hell. In other words, the wrath/punishment taken on the cross by Christ was as dark as the eternal torment of the anguish of hell, because He was taking the full wrath of the Father/full weight of sin upon Himself.

Why do we need to think about it in this way? To answer this, we need to go through the full journey of Calvary. In the garden, he would drink the bitter cup of wrath and pray “not my will but Your will be done.” He would be betrayed by a friend in Judas. He would be mocked and spit on by the so called “religious experts” of the day, who did not recognize Him, though right in front of them. He would be flogged by the cat of 9 tails (roman torture device that had bones/metal/spikes, etc. on the end of them) within an inch of his life with 39 lashings. It was Roman custom that 40 would kill a man. His body would be scourged beyond recognition. A crown of crowns would be placed be placed on his head mockingly. Said thorns penetrated 3 inches into His skull. He would be stripped of His clothing. He would be forced to carry a tree that He created an estimated mile to Golgotha (Calvary/Place of the skull in Aramaic/Hebrew). Humans that He created would drive nails into His wrists and feet. As He is lifted up on the cross, He has to push up His feet to breathe, thus driving the nails further in.

It is important to somberly meditate on the physical suffering of Christ, because the most wrathful act in history is at the same time the most loving act in history. We are forgetful people. It is good for us to be reminded of these things.

“⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”—Isaiah 53:4-6

Spiritual agony: On top of the physical pain/suffering, Christ also suffered emotionally/spiritually. Due to Him becoming sin for us on the cross, the Father looks away, because He cannot be near sin. He is losing communion with the Father. This is why Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Gerrit Dawson from Desiring God says it like this, “The presence he had always known is evaporating. The comforting assurance of his Father’s love in his heart, felt since youth, is being taken away. Jesus feels that he is becoming repugnant to his Father. God, it seems, turns away his face. Such emptiness horrifies. The solid sense of everlasting arms underneath gives way to yawning abyss. Nothing awaits but endless darkness.”2 If feeling the loss of communion with His Father is not enough, the full burden of sin is upon Him. He was judged as one who did the most vile of sins. The judgement for evil was upon Him. He was slaughtered as the sacrificial lamb of God. Sorrow and dread is all he knew as He is taking upon wrath on Himself.

Again it is important to meditate upon the spiritual agony that Christ endured, so that we rightly understand the depth of what it means for us.

“²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”—2 Corinthians 5:21

(2) What this means for us.

Christ can see through our unworthiness, because He was has declared us worthy in Him. He felt the pains of this world more than any human ever will. He entered into our suffering with us. John Chrysostom, an early church father says it like this, “Have you learned what manner of victory this was? Have you learned how the victory was won? We did not stain our weapons with blood. We did not stand in battle array. We received no wounds. We saw not war and yet we gained the victory. The battle was the Lord's, yet the crown was ours. By His death, Christ has bound the chief of robbers and the prison guard, that is the devil and death. The King Himself came to the prisoners and broke the doors, crushed the bars, vanquished Hades, and stripped the prison.”3

What a precious gift. Two wonders here that we confess, our worth and our unworthiness. Good Friday is good, because death is dead by His death. Here we confess, Emmanuel has descended into the lowest hell for us, God is with us in the darkness, under the darkness, through the darkness—and we are not consumed!4

Colossians 2:13-15 reminds us, “¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

He has made a mockery of our sin on the cross. He put our sin to open shame. He triumphed over it by proclaiming, “It is finished!” What blessed assurance.

The most wrathful act in history was indeed the most loving act in history.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

In seeing the title of this article, it is my sincere hope that if you are in Christ, that you are in a Biblically-based local church, and serving the people of that church in some way. It is also my hope that you do not take a solid, Biblically based church for granted. Such is a treasured gift of grace from God, that many of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world do not have the pleasure of attending regularly.

A couple of rough definitions that I want to define early on in this article before moving forward…

Church (local): A local church is a mutually-affirming group of new covenant members and Kingdom citizens, identified by regularly gathering together in Jesus’ name through preaching the gospel and celebrating the ordinances.1 (note people who are in a salvific relationship with Christ)

Church (universal): The universal church is a heavenly and eschatological assembly of everyone—past, present, and future—who belongs to Christ’s new covenant and kingdom.2

Attending: Active/regular participation in the worship of entirety of the church. This includes Sunday worship, small group settings, events, etc.

I am going to list my reason right away to answer the title of this article. (1) It is a command. (2) It prepares us for glory. (3) The Church’s confession of the Lordship of Christ is what the Church is built upon. However my thesis that I want to be the foundation for all of these points is this…you cannot have a high view of Christ and a low view of His bride (His Church).

(1) It is a command.

“²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”—Hebrews 10:23-253

If you are in Christ, it is a natural desire, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, to crave community with others who are in Christ. Yes it is a command as we see in Hebrews 10, but it is also a pleasure to do so. Church is not a burden, rather it is the best part of our weeks. We are filled up through the Word, filled with joy in singing, and commissioned to wage war against spiritual darkness throughout the rest of the week, and we do it over and over again week by week.

It is also important to note that gathering together is not a New Testament idea, or an early Church idea. Gathering together in assemblies has been a command all throughout the Old Testament as well for God’s people. There are literally TONS of Passages I could put here, but one example is Lev. 23:2-3.

Gathering together in community is also not a man-made idea. The Trinity has been in perfect communion from eternity past. So when we gather, we are partaking in a supernatural event that has been occurring long before the Lord willed the cosmos into existence. I think it’s also important to ask the question, why is gathering together a command?

There are several ways to answer this question, however, I think the most simple one is this…we were made for worshipping with one another, equipping one another, and exhorting one another, and we will be spiritually malnourished without said gathering. Our church attendance does not add to our righteousness/salvation at all, however a husband does not have to go home to his wife to be legally married either.

(2) It prepares us for glory.

“⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” ¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵ “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”—Revelation 7:9-174

There are very few things that prepare us for the new heaven and earth quite like gathering on a Sunday morning with fellow redeemed saints. I am constantly filled with encouragement every single time God’s people gather (it’s like we were made to do that or something). I mean think about it. What do we do in a church service? In one word, it’s worship. What will we be doing in heaven? In one word, it’s worship. So what can we do to prepare us for our natural yearning? In one word, it’s worship.

I often times think we have become too accustomed to “just going to church.” It is not just going to church. We are joining in on the universal proclamation/confession that Christ is Lord, Christ is victorious, Christ is reigning, and that Christ is our hope in life in death. I pray God would forgive us of such a small view of His bride. He is building His Church from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and on Sunday mornings, we have the honor of getting a glimpse in the worship that will ensue when He comes back for His bride. May we, as God’s holy people, realize the “largeness” of what it means to “go to church.”

(3) The Church’s confession of the Lordship of Christ is what the Church is built upon.

“¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.—Matthew 16:13-18

When we gather, we are joining in on this universal confession. The rock that the gates of hell cannot/will not prevail against, is precisely this…when a sinner repents and confesses Christ as Lord. Christ is building His Church. So when we gather, we practice the discipline of confessing personally that He is Lord, but we also affirm to each other that we are in agreement with each other that He is Lord. Upon these confessions is the supernatural event of the Church.

Closing Thoughts…

Like I stated before, we cannot have a high view of Christ, and a low view of His Church/bride. We are commanded to. We join in on all of creation/universal Church yearning for a new heaven/earth. We join in on Christ, as He is building His Church. God has instituted His Church for the eternal good of His people, and the eternal glorification of His Name. What a precious gift.

“Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
² Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts!

³ Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For he commanded and they were created.
⁶ And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!

⁹ Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰ Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹² Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the Lord!”—Psalm 148

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

(1) The picture is represents.

^“10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”—Isaiah 55:10-11

There are few things in this world that I love more than waking up in between 5-5:30 (depending on when I wake up) to spend time with the Lord. Coffee is made. The cool of the morning has set in. No one is up and moving. I can just be present with my Maker. Time in His Word. Time in communal prayer. It rests my sinful heart.

Not to “overspiritualize” it (which I am strongly convicted is not really a real thing…), but I love the mornings, because of the dew and the picture it represents. Stick with me here. In the wee hours of the morning, dew is saturating the grass. The saturation process is giving the grass nutrients to survive for that day, and every day. The process continues every single day.

Look at Isaiah 55:10-11 again with me, ¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

What a picture…so rain/dew/water/snow whatever you want to think of. It never falls to the earth without nurturing it. It is an absolute reality. It will happen 100% of the time. It’s the same way with the dew in the morning. Most of us never see the dew, because the sun evaporates it before we wake up. However, before it is evaporated, it accomplishes it’s job.

It’s the same way with God’s Word. While we are fast asleep, the Lord is nurturing our souls with new morning mercies. He is nurturing us with manna for the new day. Most of us go throughout our day, without realizing it. He satisfies us by His Word every single morning. He gives us the manna in His Word every single morning. The second person of the Trinity (the Son) is considered the Word (go read John 1). If only we would awake and meet Him in the morning.

I am strongly convinced and convicted that meeting with our Lord in the wee hours of the morning is one of the best things we can do to care for our souls. Christ never fails to meet us. If only we would be aware of just how much His Word sustains us, especially the picture it represents in the mornings.

(2) Everyday mundane obedience.

A sad reality that I think we as a universal Church have believed, is the “over-romanticization” of the Christian life. Our Lord Jesus calls us to pick up our public profession of humiliation (the cross), and die to ourselves daily. It’s not big events. It’s not student camps. It’s not even the big event of a worship through song night that can sustain us. Yes these things can encourage us, but they will never be able to sustain us in the long run. So what can sustain us? I have often contemplated this question for much of my life. However, what I have learned over the years, is that it’s not the seemingly “extraordinary” events in our walk with the Lord that does so…

…it’s the quiet, seemingly “ordinary” graces that the Lord gives us in our lives that sustain us. Meeting with the Lord in His Word, praying, serving the Church, and gathering together as a redeemed people in corporate worship. That’s it. That’s the extraordinariness of the Christian life. However, we often miss what the Lord is doing in the “ordinary and mundane things”, because we are looking to the “extraordinary” things in our lives to sustain us.

That’s why I love waking up and calling to my God in the mornings. He is faithful to meet me. His Word sustains me. His Word convicts me. His loving-kindness keeps me in His graces and leads me to repentance. He longs to commune with me in prayer. I cannot add anything to it to make it look more beautiful, because nothing compares to gazing at the Lord in love, as he gazes at us in love. There is no better way to start our day, than to pray as Moses prayed in Psalm 90, “satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love.”

Here are a few verses to encourage you:)

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”—Psalm 90:14

“¹⁹ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! ²⁰ My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: ²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end, ²³ they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. ²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” ²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him. ²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”—Lamentations 3:19-26

“⁴ Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. ⁵ For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”—Psalm 30:4-5

“⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”—John 6:48-51

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

I think it is safe assumption to say that we learn things (in general) when put to music and melody1 (I would highly recommend reading the article under footnote #1 for more info about this). Whether it be the ABC’s, kids songs, a song you made up to learn math (I’m guilty of that example) or even your favorite artist or band. Whatever your mind first thought of “when you read that we learn things better with music”, think of that as a rule of thumb for our article today. Now think about your favorite song you sing in church. We often times learn songs of worship very quickly. Why? Well many reasons, but a few examples are repetition, rhyme, rhythm, beats, melody that is easily singable, simple wording, etc.

John Piper once said that “congregations do not only learn their theology/doctrine by the preaching they hear, but also by the music they sing.” That is a bold claim, but it is so so so true. So based on this perspective, we learn things quicker about God, more so than a sermon. Interesting. I want us to focus on this question/statement/idea for the rest of this article, “Since we learn our theology through music in a more applicable way, why would we not write songs that are either straight Scripture, or deep theological truths about God?”

Thank you for joining me at the table today. I pray you are encouraged, and that your doxology is deepened.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A MUSICIAN, NOR DO I CLAIM TO BE ONE. I AM COMING AT THIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A CONGREGANT MEMBER, AND ONE WHO’S CHURCH DOES THIS. I AM ALSO COMING AT THIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A PERSON WHO HAS SEEN MANY DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES OF MINISTRY.

I want to base the statement/question above based on Colossians 3:16-17, “¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”(my emphasis added)2 That is very interesting to me, and hopefully you. If you notice almost in all of Paul’s writings, he has this style of putting things in order in which is prescriptive for us to follow. It is the same way with this Passage. We should not sing songs in congregational worship, unless we can trace back every lyric to the living and active Word of God. No questions asked.

It is a sad reality that a large portion of worship songs being written today often include the word “I” a lot. I want to preface this with that I do not fully disagree with that at all. However, in cases where we do include the word “I”, we must use it in reference to the immense character and grace of the Lord Jesus. In doing so, it leaves no room for self-focusing songs in congregational worship. Personal worship songs are different in a private setting. Instead of the word, “I”, we should focus on the words, “we” or “us”, due to the nature of the Church is. The Church is built by Christ on the foundation of the confession of the Lordship of Christ (Matthew 16:13-18). So therefore in songs of worship, we are not only confessing Christ as Lord personally, but also as a universal Church. Hence why we should focus on words such as “we” or “us”, because we are confessing to each other to the Lordship of Christ congregationally. Therefore using the word “I” takes away from this confession corporately to some degree.

Let’s loop back the the John Piper quote, “congregations do not only learn their theology/doctrine by the preaching they hear, but also by the music they sing.” I do not know about you, but I do not want to fall into heresy or teach false doctrine (there are special punishments for such things, read the book of Jude, or how Paul describes false teachers in his epistles). If we are really honest with ourselves, we often do not think about the lyrics we are singing, however we ought to. The lyrics we are singing shape our view of who God is. It fills the well of our mind with applied knowledge of God that leads to worship of God. An Australian theologian Frank Sheed once said this (quoted by R. Kent Hughes in his Philippians commentary), “A virtuous man may be ignorant, but ignorance is not a virtue. It would be a strange God who could be loved better by being known less. Love of God is not the same thing as knowledge of God; love of God is immeasurably more important than knowledge of God; but if a man loves God knowing a little about Him, he should love God more from knowing more about Him: for every new thing known about God is a new reason for loving Him.”3

Every new thing known about God is a new reason for loving Him. That’s good. So if that’s true, why do we often find songs being written that focus so much on the human, rather than the Creator of the human? Why are we seeing songs written today that quote so little Scripture? It truly fascinates me. We can have good intentions all that we want, but ultimately, we do not want anyone to have a false view of who God is. So why not write songs that magnify the Lord straight from His Word, or deep theological truths about God, that we know from His Word?

Hymns are often forgotten today. Why? It is honestly probably because people think they are outdated. I would argue the musical style in which hymns are associated with could be considered outdated. Hymns are so dense with theology, Scripture, and the history of our faith. Modern hymns are also not as popular. Think about City Alight, Shane and Shane, The Worship Initiative, Matt Boswell/Matt Papa, and Sovereign Grace Music. These “bands”, for lack of a better term, are writing songs that are so dense with Scripture and theology, yet they are not well known.

At the end of the day, I think our congregations are more malnourished spiritually/theologically speaking than we’d like to think. The Word of Christ ought to dwell deeply among us. That should be true in every facet of our congregational worship, not just the preaching. I pray you have begun to think critically about the songs we sing. I pray you begin to be very picky and particular about the wording of songs. These lyrics shape our hearts and minds more than we think.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

In today’s Church, I think it is a safe assumption to say that we are more expressive and open in worship in a congregational setting than probably at any point in the modern era. It is not that uncommon to see hands raised, clapping, kneeling, etc. Which I think is very raw and real, however, in this article I want us to consider why we do it. There must be intention to everything we do to worship our Creator. If we cannot link the intention and action back to Scripture, then the question becomes, should we even be doing it? God has given us bodies to express what we cannot adequately express what is truly in us, and that is beautiful. However, we do not raise hands just to do it. We do not kneel in humility just to do it. We do not meditate on Scripture and lyrics just to do it. There is and should be intention (backed by Scripture) to everything we do to worship the Lord. I want us to look at this from a few different angles. (1) God has given us a mind to meditate upon His immensity. (2) God has given us bodies to express to Him what we cannot adequately express what is in us. (3) Why we express our worship.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A MUSICIAN, NOR DO I CLAIM TO BE ONE. I AM COMING AT THIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A CONGREGANT MEMBER, AND ONE WHO’S CHURCH DOES THIS. I AM ALSO COMING AT THIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A PERSON WHO HAS SEEN MANY DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES OF MINISTRY.

(1) God has given us a mind to meditate upon His immensity.

Romans 11:36-Romans 12:2 says this (one of the most clear Scriptures on worship), “³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^”

I want us to know this from the start. The only reason we can worship is because from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things. It is by God’s grace that sinful man can worship the Holy Yahweh. Since Romans 11:36 exists, we have the honor of giving it all to the One who gave it all for us. Notice that a living sacrifice is an everyday thing. Not just in a congregation. In fact, in doing so, Paul says that doing that is our true worship.

However, I want us to look at verse 2 of Romans 12 together. Notice how Paul exhorts us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds? God has given each of us a mind. It is such a beautiful gift. Have you ever thought about it? The God of ages who is outside of time and space, who is an “otherness” beyond comprehension, who has communicated to humans in our language through His Word, who revealed Himself perfectly in Christ, who set the very edge of the vastness of the universe, yes that is the God we are called to meditate upon. Paul calls us to try and wrap our mind around that God. In fact, in doing so, it quite literally transforms who we are. Paul is calling us to meditate upon the sheer magnitude of who God is. God has given us the incredible ability to understand Him through meditating upon who He is. He has given us His Word to renew our minds. In doing so, we expand our minds.

How does this fit into a congregational setting? A lot. However, I want us to highlight two ways. (1) A dense, theologically deep, Christ-exalting sermon. I think our pulpits today are often too scared to preach high theology when Scripture calls for it. In appreciating deep doctrines and wrapping our minds around deep theological truths about God, our minds are expanded, and our worship is deepened. Deep doctrine should produce deep doxology (worship). (2) Reading Scripture aloud for the congregation to meditate upon in a worship service. For more about this, see part 1 of this series. However, it is a lost spiritual discipline in today’s Church. Our congregations do not appreciate Scripture as much as the early Church did, because we simply do not read it enough together in a congregational setting aloud together as they did. In not using our minds to meditate on God’s Word, and His immense nature, we are not using the gift of our minds for the glory of God.

(2) God has given us bodies to express to Him what we cannot adequately express what is in us.

Yes Baptists and Presbyterians friends, we can use our bodies in worship. We can lift our hands, we can clap, and we can kneel in humility. God has given us these things to glorify and worship Him. However, if we are raising our hands just because we deem the act of doing so as true worship, then we are in idolatry. If you do not raise your hands in worship, it’s ok. If you do, it’s ok. Like stated earlier, why do we do it? In short, it is to express to God what we naturally cannot express. We are still sinful, even if we are in Christ. In expressing our worship physically, we express to God that we long to worship Him, in spite of our sin, due to grace. The act of open palms face up is an act of surrender. Raised hands are an act of celebration. The posture of kneeling is one of humility and repentance (also the least seen, why?).

Also, when we express our worship physically, we are proclaiming to others that we serve a God that is worthy to be praised. We are not merely raising our hands or kneeling for “our own sake” (for lack of a better term), we are doing so to (1) proclaim that God is worthy of it, and (2) to proclaim to others around us that He is worthy of it. Think about what the Church is built upon. The Church is built upon the confession of the Lordship of Christ (we will get to this at a later date). In a congregational worship service, everything we do should be centered around this confession, including how we express our worship. We are not just singing or raising our hands. We are joining in on the eternal worship that is happening right now as the angels are flying around the throne singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty!” (see Isaiah 6). So when we express our worship, we are joining in on the eternal expression of the Lordship of the Lord of Lords.

(3) Why we express our worship.

Why do we? I think this a question that is often not thought about. Why do we express our worship the way in which we do? Is it because it is custom or tradition? Some people are more expressive, some people are less expressive. However, I want us to consider of we have ever thought about why we express the way we do. There is no “correct” way to worship. However, there are several examples of worship in Scripture, and I think we should all consider our expression of worship through the lens of the Word. Here are a few examples…

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
² Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

³ Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.”—Psalm 100

“¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”—Colossians 3:16-17

“⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”—Nehemiah 8:5-6

“⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?”—Micah 6:8

There are obviously hundreds of more examples from Scripture, however these are a general overview.

I pray you have walked away from this article refreshed or encouraged. I rpay you have thought more deeply about why we worship, and why intentions behind worship are so important. Thank you for joining me at the table today.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

In today’s Western Church, often times when we think of the word “worship” we automatically think music, which is not inherently a bad thing. However, worship is so much deeper than that. It is a life lived out in obedience, where every affection is altered by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus (maybe another article some other time). Today however, I want us to consider why having a call to worship is so important for our congregations. For reference, a call to worship is when Scripture is read to the congregation before anything else in a congregational worship setting. I want us to to consider two major points. (1) How the Bible orients our hearts into congregational worship (this could be said of personal worship as well). (2) Why we should want to read the Bible to orient our hearts into congregational worship?

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A MUSICIAN, NOR DO I CLAIM TO BE ONE. I AM COMING AT THIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A CONGREGANT MEMBER, AND ONE WHO’S CHURCH DOES THIS. I AM ALSO COMING AT THIS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A PERSON WHO HAS SEEN MANY DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES OF MINISTRY.

(1) How the Bible orients our hearts into congregational worship.

Before we begin to meditate upon how the Bible calls us to worship, we must have a healthy view of what the Bible is. If you are in the West, chances are you are Protestant (any Christian denomination that is not Catholic). If you are Protestant, then you and your church would most likely (or at least I hope) agree with the view of Sola Scriptura, which basically means that the Bible is the supreme authority that rules reason and tradition because Scripture alone is infallible because it is God’s word. All other authorities (including church leadership) are fallible/sinful and must submit to Scripture. As Heinrich Bullinger said: “As God’s word is confirmed by no human authority, so no human power is able to weaken its strength”1 In short, Scripture is our highest authority under which Church structure is organized, under the Lord Jesus who is the Head of the Church (see Colossians 1:15-19).

Your church probably believes something like this about the Bible. However it might not be worded the same, but the basis of belief should be the same on a foundational level. (I really do hope your church believes this about the Bible…consider leaving if your church does not believe something very very similar to this).

“We believe that the Bible is inspired (God-breathed), inerrant (true), and infallible (trustworthy), and our ultimate authority for all matters of life, faith, and practice. The Bible is a library of 66 books, organized in Old and New Testaments, written in dual authorship by human authors and the Holy Spirit. Simply put, the Holy Spirit guided and supervised human authors, with their unique personalities and writing styles, to compose God’s written revelation to humanity, free from error and unable to lead astray (2 Peter 1:20-21). We believe that these words are fully inspired by the Spirit of God in all their parts, including the smallest word and inflection of a word as God gave it in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the complete and unalterable special revelation of God Himself to all human beings (Deuteronomy 5:22, 6:1-3; Psalm 19:7-11; Mark 12:26; Acts 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15; 1 Peter 1:20-21). We believe that the Bible, from the beginning to the end, centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ and, when properly read and understood, leads to Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 17:2-3, 18:28, 28:23). In all matters where the Bible is clear, we teach in firm conviction. Where the Bible is silent, we allow for liberty. Where matters are not clear, we teach humbly in light of clear passages (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35, 17:17; Romans 14:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:15-17; Hebrews 4:12).”2

This is the Holy Bible. It is God’s perfect revelation about Himself to humans through prophets, and ultimately in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus (see John 1:1-18 and Hebrews 1:1-3). It is sufficient for us. It feeds us. It makes known the wisdom of salvation to dead and depraved hearts. It interprets our hearts as Hebrews 4:12 reminds us. It is the only thing that can truly satisfy any human heart that hungers and thirsts. It edifies and convicts us personally, as well as corporately. The Word of God is living. The Word of God is active. The Word of God teaches us, corrects us, leads us to live in righteousness, so that we might be blameless (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17). This is what the Bible does. We must have an accurate view of what we are reading when we read and interact with the Holy Scriptures.

So how does the Bible call us to worship? In many ways, but at it’s most basic level, it calls us to worship, because it is the only True thing in which we can confide in as central to congregational worship. Look at Nehemiah 8:1-6 with me (for context this is around the time when the remnant from Babylon has come back from captivity).

“And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ² So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. ³ And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴ And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵ And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶ And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.”—Nehemiah 8:1-6

I pray we would see this today (speaking to myself here too). Standing at the mere opening of God’s Holy Word. Falling flat on our face in pure adoration/repentence at the reading of the Scriptures. I think today we don’t see this, because quite frankly we have fallen out of love with God’s Word. We have lost the wonder behind reading God’s Word. John Piper once said this, “God wrote a book. That reality blows me away every time I stop to think about it. Pages and pages of God. His thoughts. His words. His heart. Right there, just a few inches away.”

I draw us to this Passage, because it is a great picture of how the Scripture orients hearts into a posture of worship. We have no other source that can accomplish this. Please hear me when I say this. Please. A sinful man cannot adequately call another sinful man to worship, the strum of a guitar cannot orient a heart to worship, only the inspired/infallible/inherent/PERFECT Scriptures can call sinful man to worship a HOLY God. I pray we can understand the depth that Scripture calls us to. I pray we realize how our whole being is moved worship at the simple, yet wondrous reading of Scripture.

(2) Why we should want to read the Bible to orient our hearts into congregational worship?

Simply stated, people are fragile. Yes pastors can shepherd people during the week. Yes we can be in community with other saints. Yes you can have personal/family worship during the week. All of these things are true and much needed. However, the reality of it is people are going through more things than we know when coming into a church service on Sundays. People walk into church on the fringe of divorce. People walk into church feeling immense shame by a habitual sin that they cannot stop. People walk into church depressed, because their friends have abandoned them. People barely arrive on time, because the kids were being difficult that morning. People walk into church after a long week of work, and are already thinking about Monday morning. The list literally goes on and on and on.

What is the most loving and restful thing we can do at the start of a congregational worship service? Read Scripture to rest the weary soul. Nothing else leads to rest, quite like having Scripture read over you before you worship with the family of God. If we truly believe the things we have stated about the Bible so far (see point 1), then why would we not want the Bible to orient our hearts to worship? Practically speaking, the Psalms are great for this. Any situation we find ourselves in, the Psalms has it covered. Joy, sorrow, lament, praise, you name it, it’s in there.

Also, publicly reading Scripture congregationally/corporately is a command in Scripture. (see 1 Timothy 4:13/Acts 2:42/Deut. 6:4-9/Psalm 1, etc.) Far too often we forget this spiritual discipline. The early church understood this. I mean after all the synagogue was considered “a house of prayer.” Christ Himself calls it “a house of prayer for all the nations” (see Mark 11:17 and Jeremiah 7:11). The early church’s worship service would look something like this (for context the whole family would partake in this, there was no children’s church)…(1) Scripture reading in unison as a congregation (2) Singing or chanting of a Psalm with no instruments (hence why songs should be Scripture/deep theological Truths about God, we will get to this at a later date) (3) An elder/rabbi would teach from Scripture (4) A dedicated time to personal and corporate prayer (5) A doxology/benediction in which the people would be sent out by Scripture.3

Notice how every facet of their liturgy (order of service) was centered around Scripture. In turn it was centered around the Lord. Christ Himself is referred to as the Word in John 1. After all, congregational worship is the most restful thing we can do for our soul during the week (alongside personal worship).

Like stated earlier, people are fragile and sinful. We need to shepherd our depraved hearts with the True and better remedy of our souls, the living and active Word of God to orient our hearts to worship the God in which we owe all worship to. I pray you have been edified. I pray you have meditated upon this ancient practice. I pray your doxology has been deepened.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to cross con in Louisville, KY. I attended the conference with some friends that I worked FUGE summer camps with, and it was such a sweet time with them. If you have never been to cross con, I would HIGHLY encourage you to go. You will be edified and convicted, I can assure you of that. However, I tell you that, because on the first night we were there, there was an interview with John Piper. In this interview, a question was asked of John Piper, “what has kept you from falling away, and what habits have you cultivated to savor Jesus?” (you can watch the interview here…https://www.crosscon.com/talks/how-the-glory-of-christ-dims-our-distractions-interview-with-john-piper) His response was so encouraging. He tackled them as two separate questions with two different answers. 1. He. Kept. Me. 2. Habits are great, but listen to Him. It is to this, in which I desire us to meditate on today.

We will fail…and yet He keeps.

This might sound elementary, however the more we mature in Christ by His grace alone, we begin to realize how much the statement “we will fail” rings true. Every wayward thought. Every wayward desire. We ignore His Word. We don’t desire prayer. We become more aware of how big our pride actually is. We become more aware of how truly desperate creatures we are. We become more aware of how anxiety plagues our soul. Our fleshly desires win more than we would like to admit. The list goes on and on. It is truly a staggering and eternally deep Truth (yes I capitalized Truth on purpose, because there is only one Truth) that a Sovereign and Holy God will keep disobedient and unfaithful creatures in His fold, and never let them go. This takes John 1:16 into a whole different perspective, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (my emphasis added)

Psalm 73:26 proclaims this, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”1 The reality is we will fail. Our faith will fail. If our salvation is contingent upon us having faith, we would simply deny Christ every single day. The reality is the author and perfecter of our faith will keep us by His grace in faith (Hebrews 12:2). John Piper asked a rhetorical question in his interview. He asked, “what is gonna keep you believing when you wake up tomorrow morning?” The simple, yet astounding answer is grace. By grace He keeps His children believing in Him. By grace He brought us to faith to begin with. JI Packer says it like this, “I need not torment myself with the fear that my faith may fail; as grace led me to faith in the first place, so grace will keep me believing to the end. Faith, both in its origin and continuance, is a gift of grace.”2

Though we fall, our hope is secure in Christ. The great hymn, “Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor”, exhorts us like this… “Christ, the sure and steady anchor
Through the floods of unbelief
Hopeless somehow, O my soul, now
Lift your eyes to Calvary
This my ballast of assurance
See His love forever proved
I will hold fast to the anchor
It shall never be removed”3

It truly is astounding that not even the doubts of His children can thwart His promises to them. He has proven this in Christ. “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. ²¹ And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, ²² and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”4 2 Corinthians 1:20-22. This is eternally precious. Especially when you begin to think about every promise in the Holy Scriptures. Every promise find their yes in Him. I invite you to meditate on that Truth as we look at Scripture together.

“It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."—Deuteronomy 31:8

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."—Isaiah 43:1-7

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,”—Ephesians 1:3

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”—Psalm 121

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 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. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”—Hebrews 4:14-16

All of these, plus thousands more find their yes in Christ. If we are in Christ, then every promise of God is an eternal and an astounding yes to us, in Christ. Not based on our own merit, but the fact that the Father delights in His Son. He looked upon His Son to pardon us. He will keep looking upon His Son to keep us in His grace. He sees Him, not us. He cannot deny Himself, so we will never deny us, because our life is wholly hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3). He intercedes on our behalf with this very truth, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”—John 6:37. He will keep us. His grasp will never let us go. He is sovereign. He is good. He is wise. He is just. He is love. He is grace. He is perfectly these things 100% of the time to His children. 2 Timothy 2:13 reminds us of this, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”

So yes, we are frail and failing creatures by nature, but praise be to God that He will keep us. My prayer for us is found in Psalm 90:14, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” He Himself is our daily bread. He is our manna. He will keep us. May we, as His precious bride, cling to that truth. I leave you with this benediction…

“²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”—Jude 1:24-25 (I would recommend meditating on this phrase by phrase, there is a lot there)

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

As the Christmas season is coming to somewhat of an end, I think it’s only right that we spend a few moments reflecting upon what the first advent of the Lord Jesus. I pray you had a meaningful and joyous Christmas with your family. I pray that as we reflect together, your heart and mind is encouraged through what our Lord has done.

Before we dive into this though, I want us to spend a few moments of silence, to prepare our hearts for the depth in which Scripture will take us as we reflect. Breathe deep. Exhale. Relax your body fully into the chair or couch in which you are sitting. Gaze upon His beauty. He is really who He says He is. Spend as much time as you desire in this silent time with Him.

What “dwell” in John 1:14 actually means.

The Apostle John proclaims something astounding in his Gospel account. He says this in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”1 At first glance, this probably does not jump out at us Christmas. However, it is full of the truth of the incarnation of our Lord.

The Greek word behind the “dwell” in John 1:14 is “skēnoō” (skay-no'-o). It is translated literally as, “to fix one's tabernacle, have one's tabernacle, abide (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent), tabernacle.”2 What? How does fixing one’s tent have anything to do with Christ dwelling on this earth? At first, it makes no sense at all, but John is calling us to a deeper understanding of what Christ dwelling on this earth actually means.

If you were a first century Jew reading this, this word would have taken you back. You would have been lost in the wonder of what John was declaring. To adequately understand what John is proclaiming, we must understand what the tabernacle is.

In the Old testament/covenant God’s presence for His people to access Him was only in the holiest of holies. It was only accessible by the high priest once a year on the day of atonement for the whole nation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was not sent yet, therefore, the people of God longed to be with God in His very presence. However, God longs to be with His people as well, and He always makes a way to be with His people. This is what Yahweh tells Moses in Exodus 25:8, “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” (my emphasis added)3

What was the sanctuary? It was the tabernacle in which God gave specific instructions to Moses to construct. (you can read more about this in Exodus 25-40). The tabernacle was a symbol of God dwelling with His people. However, it is also important for us to note that the tabernacle was made up of tents. While the Israelites were in the wilderness for 40 years, they set up and tore down these tents multiple times, as they were being led by the pillar of fire by night and cloudy pillar by day (symbols of God being with His people). Wherever these two things stopped, they stopped.

It is also important to note the Hebrew word behind “dwell” in Exodus 25:8 (maybe scroll up a bit to refresh your memory). The word in Hebrew is “šāḵan” (shaw-kan'). It is translated to to settle down, abide, dwell, tabernacle, reside.4 WOAH. Yahweh Himself declares that He desires to tabernacle with His people. He desires to reside with His people. He is outside of time and space, and yet He desires to dwell with His creation that is constricted by time and space. He symbolically does this in the tabernacle, and later on when the temple is constructed in Jerusalem.

However, after the prophet Malachi, there is 400 years of silence. No prophets. God is completely silent. He breaks this silence on a cold fall night in a lowly manger. Our Lord would be fully God and fully human. The greatest example of Yahweh Himself dwelling with us, is His very presence in Christ. He would walk this earth. After His resurrection, He would send His very Spirit, which is in every saint of Christ. His presence is here with us now, forever, always, etc.

The imagery in which John is calling us to is absolutely mind-blowing. Put yourself in the sandals of the first century Jewish culture. You have grown up hearing stories of how the God in which your nation worships. You have heard the stories of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and David. You have grown up celebrating the feasts in which you feast upon the faithfulness of Yahweh pulling your people from slavery in Egypt. One of these feasts that you celebrate is the Feast of Tabernacles (you can learn more about this in greater detail in Leviticus 23). During the feast of Tabernacles, you and your family would go outside the city walls, and set up tents to commemorate the Lord’s faithfulness as He dwelled with His people in tents. It is imagery of the tabernacle, or His presence.

You grow up celebrating all of this. Then one day you start hearing stories of this “Jesus”. He proclaims to be the God in which your nation worships. You don’t give it much attention. Then one day, about 20 years after Christ’s burial and resurrection, an account of this “Jesus” is going around to different temples, written by on the disciples named John. You are having this read over you by your priest, and you hear this statement, “And the Word (this is referring to Jesus, for more context, read John 1 in total) became flesh and dwelt among us.” You are shaken to the core, because this Jesus, whom your nation rejected and crucified, was not just some man. No, He defeated the grave and death. You start to comprehend for the first time, that Jesus really was the fulfillment of all that you have celebrated your whole life. You start to understand for the first time that this Jesus did not merely just come or dwell, no He tabernacled. Jesus is the true and better tabernacle. He is the very presence of Yahweh.

This is astounding. He is not far off, rather He is Emmanuel, God with us. The promise of Exodus 25:8 is “yes” in Christ. He said that He longed to tabernacle with His people, and He has done just that in Christ.

Closing thoughts…

My prayer is that we have been encouraged by the Holy Scriptures today, and the depth in which it teaches us about our Lord’s incarnation. He is accessible. He is here. He has tabernacled with His creation. He is with us.

Be comforted by the words that our Lord Jesus Himself spoke, “…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”5

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

As Christmas approaches, time seems to speed up rather than slow down. Certain emotions come up. Joy, sadness, fear, anxiety etc. We look forward to seeing family. We want everything to be just right as we celebrate this time of year. However, what if we slowed down for just a moment to rest in the sureness of the character of the God in which we are celebrating. It is that rest that I want us to enter into during this article. Join me in taking a moment to have silence/solitude and thank Him for His unwavering character.

If we are really honest, like brutally honest with ourselves, anxiety plagues our soul more than we want to admit. We want to please everyone, and if we don’t, then we feel worthless. We want to know that our family is secure, and if we don’t, then we feel like we aren’t in control. We want to plan out our weeks, and if we don’t, then we feel like our world is falling apart. The list goes on and on and on. However, the brutal truth is that these anxious thoughts are actually pride, because we don’t trust God as God. J.I. Packer says it like this in his book, Knowing God, “how quick are to forget that God is God.”1 What a thought.

We say that we take God at His Word. We say that we fully trust God, but if we are really really honest with ourselves, that is really really hard. Why is that? Well, we are evil, wicked, fleshly human beings with fleshly desires that goes against God. Building trust in someone or something requires hard work. It requires time well spent with that thing or person. It is the same principle with God. The Spirit of God day by day, year by year, will break down the walls of our fleshly distrust in Him by sanctification. Slowly but surely, we start to recognize that God really is who He says He is.

The rest of this article we are going to be meditating on a singular statement in Exodus 3:14 and how that connects to Jesus’ “I am” statements in the Gospel of John. Holy Spirit, make us more aware of You, and may we rest in who You are.

What “I AM” means.

Exodus 3:14 says this, “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”2 This is astounding. The context of this verse is Moses and the burning bush (you can read more about this in the whole chapter of Exodus 3). However, the main context that I want us to see here is that this is the first time in the entire existence of mankind, that God has revealed His personal name to humans. The Hebrew word for “I AM” here is haya (haw-yaw), or Yahweh. It is literally translated “to be or exist.”

In other words, the Lord is telling Moses, that He is completely self-existent. He is an otherness beyond all human comprehension. He is the very definition of what it means to be or exist.3 He needs nothing outside of Himself to be. He always was and will be. He was not created, rather He created. He is. What beautiful assurance. We don’t worship a God who needs something from us to be, rather He invites us into Himself. If Yahweh is not completely the “self existing One”, then we serve a form of a god. Yahweh is and always will be. He came from nothing.4 He spoke into the void and all things came into being. Paul proclaims this (quoting the philosopher Epimenides of Crete) to the Greeks at the Areopagus, that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” (see Acts 17:28).

What does this tell us? We cannot be or live apart from Him. There is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry “Mine!”5 This is what Yahweh is telling Moses. This is what He is proclaiming when He says “I AM who I AM.” He is, so we are. He is, so our anxieties are silenced in the sheer magnitude of His existence.

How “I AM who I AM” connects to Christ.

Before we get into the “I am” statements in the Gospel of John. We must take into account the culture at the time in which Jesus was speaking to in His earthly ministry. The Jewish culture in the time of Jesus walking the earth was quite different than ours. Women took care of the children and home. However, men at an early age would go to Jewish school (for lack of a better term for understanding purposes) and they would sit under a Rabbi’s teaching. A Rabbi was a person who taught the law found in the Old Testament. In these years of learning under a Rabbi, men would completely memorize the first five books of the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). They would memorize the law perfectly. At the age of around 18, the best students would go onto further education and become pharisees/sadducees. However, the other students would learn their father’s trade and make a living by doing that trade until they die. (P.S. Jesus was a master at both!)

Now why do we need to know this background info? I want us to put ourselves in their shoes. You have memorized the entire Old Testament scrolls basically. You are an expert on the Scriptures as the time. You are minding your own business one day, and then all of a sudden you see this huge crowd following this guy they call “Jesus” who does signs and wonders, and who heals people in an instant. You are intrigued, so you follow the crowds. You listen to His teaching. You understand all of the parables, but then He starts to say things that sound familiar to what Yahweh says in Exodus 3:14. This is the mindset I want us in as we read the words spoken by the Lord Jesus to the crowds.

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 my emphasis added)

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 my emphasis added)

“So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:7-10 my emphasis added)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep./I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” (John 10:11/14 my emphasis added)

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” (John 11:25 my emphasis added)

“Jesus said to him, “I am he way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 my emphasis added)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser./"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1/5 my emphasis added)

What assurance. With each statement Christ reveals a more clear picture of who He is. He would also say in John 14:9, that “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”6 Yahweh is, so is Christ. They are one. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). The existing One is.

Did you notice how many “I am” statements there were? Seven. Seven is the number of completion on the Jewish culture. Christ is making it very clear, “yeah you remember Yahweh revealing Himself to Moses at the burning bush? That’s me. I am perfectly myself…Yahweh in the flesh.” Woah. So what does this tell us? A lot actually, but I want to end with these thoughts…

Closing thoughts…

Every anxiety crumbles under the sweet assurance spoken over us, “I AM.” We need not strife that we have to obtain some unrealistic standard that we put upon ourselves by our anxiety. Medline defines anxiety as this, “a feeling of fear, dread, or uneasiness that can be a normal reaction to stress or perceived danger.”7 We will suffer from anxious thoughts, it's a by product of the fallen human nature. However, slowly but surely, the Holy Spirit will calm our wayward soul by speaking the simple but astounding truth over us of “I AM.”

In those moments of doubting who He is, remember that He is. He is unchanging. Hebrews 13:8 encourages us in this way, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”8 Our assurance of faith lies in the unshakable nature of His being and character. There is no greater assurance for our anxious mind. He is. Rest in that.

Yahweh, free us from our anxious thoughts. Forgive us when we doubt who You are. May we rest in who You are, we as your Church prays this. Amen.

I leave you with this quote from Jonny Ardevanis’ book, Consider the Lillies, “If heaven is your home, why are you so worried about the things of this earth?”9

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26

If you have been in church for any amount of time, you have probably heard of Paul’s proclamation to the individual saints of the Corinthian church, and to the church in general. The proclamation goes like this in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”1 If you’re anything like me, you have heard this a million times, and missed the profound beauty behind it. We have probably just thought about this when are church is going through a sexual purity series, or we have quoted this verse without really knowing what it truly means.

The goal of this article is to get us thinking deeper about the encouraging words of this verse, and what the Spirit meant as He was writing through Paul. However to truly understand what Paul is telling us here we need to adequately understand what the significance of the imagery of the temple means. So here is a brief history lesson from the Old Testament.

A brief history of the tabernacle.

In the Old Testament/old covenant the temple represented a place of worship. It was where God’s presence dwelt/tabernacled with His people (hence the significance of John 1:14, however we will dive into that for Christmas). In the temple, there were 3 areas, and the further you got into the tabernacle/temple, the more holy that it got, due to the fact that you were getting closer to the presence of Yahweh. There was an outer court that contained the altar of burnt offerings, where the man of the household would offer a sin offering for his family. It also contained the laver (think a really fancy bathtub for a lack of better analogy). This was where the high priest would clean himself before entering further into the tabernacle.

After you leave the outer courtyard you would come into the next stage which was the holy place. This contained the menorah, table of showbread, and the altar of incense. We don’t have enough time to go into too much detail, but just know that these are all very significant. Lastly, you would see the purple veil that led to the holiest of holies. This contained the ark of the covenant, where only the high priest could enter in, because this is where God’s presence dwelt. On the mercy seat of the ark is where the priest would enter in once a year and offer the sacrifice for the nation of Israel. It’s also important to know that only men could enter into the outer courtyard. The furthest women could stand was outside the wall of the outer courtyard. Gentiles were banished from entering into the outer courtyard, even further away than the women.

Ok so now that we have a very brief background knowledge about the temple/tabernacle of the Old Testament, let’s circle back to the original point (I really wish we could spend more time here, but you hopefully see the point of the background info haha you can read more about this in Exodus 25-31.) So what is Paul trying to teach us?

We are now the temple of the Lord…well actually more than a temple.

The Greek word behind the word temple in 1 Corinthians 3:16 is the word naos.2 It is translated literally to sanctuary/holy place/holiest of holies. Interesting. So what does this mean for us? Well it’s the profound truth that if you are in Christ, then you are now the dwelling place for the very presence of Yahweh. His Spirit now enters into you fully. This is a whole new perspective. If I/my body is where the fullness of God dwells, then I am always in His presence. I always have the ability to enter into the holiest of holies. This is the significance behind 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood (my emphasis added), a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”3 We are now a royal priesthood. We can enter into the holiest of holies, because we are covered by the blood of Christ, the true and better high priest.

Think about the moment that the Lord Jesus breathed His last on the cross. What happened at that moment? Let’s read Matthew 27:50-51, “⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. ⁵¹ And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (my emphasis added) And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.4 What is the significance of that? A lot, but I want us to focus on two of them.

(1) We can now enter into the holiest of holies. The sacrifice is done, it is finished, there is no need for annual sacrifices by a priest. Our great high priest Jesus was the final and atoning sacrifice for all who would believe. He has given us the gift of coming to Him boldly to His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:12-16).

(2) I fully agree with the interpretation of Matthew 27 that says that we can now enter into the holiest of holies, however I think we limit it a little too much. Yes we can enter in, but His presence is now out. Think about it. The temple was destroyed shortly after the resurrection of Christ. Why? There is no need for a temple anymore. Anyone who is in relationship with Christ, now has full 100% access to Yahweh 100% of the time. There is still, to this day, no temple in Jerusalem. Why? We can worship Him freely, whenever and wherever we want. We are not confined to one specific place of worship anymore. We can worship Him alone in our room in the mornings, as much as we can in cooperate worship on Sunday mornings. He is fully within us. The secondary aspect of there not being a temple anymore is also astounding. Think about Paul’s words again. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? We are individually the temple/dwelling place of God. Yes God is omni-present, but He is also within His people. This is even more mind-blowing when you think about the specific instructions of the temple in the Old Testament, and the very specific way our bodies are made.

So what?

If we are really honest with ourselves, these truths don’t really effect our everyday life like they should. I think most of us operate in this headspace that God is limited to the church building, or a worship night, or a community Bible study. However, that is so far from the truth. God has called us His temple, because He desires to be with us all of the time. The greatest example of this is Christ being a human. He dwelt among His creation. What does He do right before His ascension into heaven? He promises His Spirit to fall upon us. In fact, He says that is better than for Him to stay with us. If you are in Christ, then the very Spirit of God is within you. We need not wonder where our God is, because He is always with us. In fact, by Him calling us His temple/dwelling place, it is how He fulfills the promise of being with us always, even to the end of the age. If we are not individually the holiest of holies, and if His Spirit is not within those who are His, then we would still need a temple to access Him.

The veil was torn, we can enter in, but He is also out now. So how does this effect our everyday life? We should steward our body well. We should desire to worship Him everyday, because we can.

I hope this has encouraged you in some way, I know I was writing this. I pray you realize the depth of Paul’s words. It is much more than a verse about abstaining from sexual sin. It’s a call to realize that the very fullness of God is within us. I pray that we begin to realize that more. Holy Spirit, make us more aware of You.

In Christ,

Dalton G. Mathis—Numbers 6:24-26