“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.“ - 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Bible… declared by Paul
The Bible… heard by the Thessalonians
The Bible… accepted by the Thessalonians
The Bible… working in the Thessalonians

Christ has died
Christ has risen
Christ will come again

ONE: THE ORDER OF THE RESURRECTION

”But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.“ – 1 Corinthians 15:23

TWO: THE RESOLUTION OF THE RESURRECTION

”Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.“ – 1 Corinthians 15:24-28:

“[God wil] unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth”.– Ephesians 1:10

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

1. HEAR

2. RECEIVE

3. WALK

Gnosticism.

“Gnosticism” is a philosophy that claims the material world is evil and only the “spiritual” is good.

Gnosticism says – You are a soul; you have a body.

For the Gnostics, “salvation” consists of escaping the material world.

Many mistakenly assume that the purpose of being Christian is to go to heaven when they die.

And there is some kernel of the truth to that, but maybe the way in which we have conceptualized that is skewed.

The Corinthian Church.

Paul is the author of this letter. He helped found the Corinthian Church, a story you can read of in Acts 18.

Paul will say that –

1. Jesus died for our sins,

2. He was buried.

3. He was raised on the third day

4. And He appeared to many witnesses.

A Roadmap to Today’s Teaching.

1. Our faith is built on the resurrection of the body

2. That Jesus is the first of a new type of human

3. And that we will experience the resurrection of the body.

Faith Built on Resurrection of the Body.

The bodily resurrection of Jesus defied the Corinthian’s experiences and so it's likely that they began to reinterpret it as something else.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. –1 Corinthians 15:14

Paul argues that if one says resurrection from the dead is impossible– that disqualifies Jesus' Resurrection.

If Christ did not return from the Dead, then we are the most pitiful people he can imagine.

“[R]eality is what we run into when we are wrong, a collision in which we always lose.” – Dallas Willard

Jesus the New Human.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. – 1 Cor. 15:20-22

“First fruits” Paul connects Jesus’ resurrection to a future resurrection.

First Adam: An Inheritance of Death

At some point the first humans join a cosmic rebellion against God choosing for themselves what is good and what is evil.

Thetemptation for humans to choose what is good and evil apart from God is what the Bible calls sin.

“you will die..” –Genesis 2:17

“the wages of sin is death..” –Romans 6:23

Sin as it turns out is a terminal diagnosis.

Second Adam: An Inheritance of life

In moments and with individuals Jesus slowly began to push back the darkness; reversing the corruption that had taken hold of our world.

This is what God has done for us in Christ.

Jesus drew our sin into himself and put it to death; and now, offers a new life called resurrection.

…in Adam, all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. – 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

As with Christ, so with us.

Our Resurrection.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

“What may seem impossible today is merely an unsolved equation in the grand scheme of the universe.” – Michio Kaku

Difficult translation

Verse 44 is often translated – “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”

Paul is arguing that the two bodies will be animated or energized or fueled differently, not that they will be different in substance.

Our future is embodied to never again no the sting of death.

The Resurrection Story.

The Christian story is that tombs, cemeteries, morgues, and funeral homes will be emptied out.

Paul’s emphasis on the body should remind us that we are embodied creatures.

‘Resurrection’ itself then appears as what the word always meant, whether people disbelieved it, or whether they affirmed it. It wasn’t a way of talking about ‘life after death’. It was a way of talking about a new bodily life after whatever state of existence one might enter immediately upon death. It was, in other words, life after ‘life after death’. – NT Wright

Embodied Spirituality

My suggestion this week would be to consider the role of your body in your faith.

1. How do I take care of my body?

2. How do I practice my faith with my body?

3. How do I give my body away?

Resurrection! A time for feasting, rejoicing, and also reflecting on the unhealthy skepticism of our culture. A skepticism that finds it easier to simply question rather than wrestle.

That’s our invitation this morning. We are here to come together and explore our own unhealthy skepticism and see where our faith can help us do more wrestling.

Our Faith Is Reasonable

When we look at both the context of Jesus’s resurrection and the lives of his followers, we can see that the disciples were willing to not only live their faith, but also die for it. That as well as the evidence presented points to a bodily resurrection of Jesus being a reasonable reality of the Christian story.

NT Wright, Surprised By Hope, “Whether we like it or not, women were not regarded as credible witnesses within the ancient world. When the tradition had time to sort itself out, and acquire the fixed form we already find in Paul’s quotation of it in 1 Corinthians 15, the women have been quietly dropped; they are apologetically embarrassing. But there they are in all four gospel stories, front and centre, the first witnesses, the first apostles. Nobody would have made them up. Had the tradition started in the male-only form we find in 1 Corinthians 15, it would never have developed, in such different ways as well, into the female-first stories we find in the gospels.”

NT Wright, Surprised By Hope, “In any case—a point people often ignore or conveniently forget—Jesus was buried according to a particular Jewish tradition, which was designed to occur in two stages. First, you carefully wrapped up the body with spices and linen and placed it on a shelf in a cave. Then, when the flesh had decomposed—hence the spices, because of the smell, since the cave would be used for more than one corpse—you would collect the bones… If Jesus had not been raised, then sooner or later someone would have had to go and collect his bones, fold them up and store them. Even if anyone had been suggesting that he had been raised from the dead, that would be enough to disprove the suggestion.”

Tim Keller, The Reason for God, “If there had been only an empty tomb and no sightings, no one would have concluded it was a resurrection. They would have assumed the body had been stolen. Yet if there were only eyewitness sightings of Jesus and no empty tomb, no one would have concluded it to be a resurrection, because people’s accounts of seeing departed loved ones happen all the time. Only if the two factors were both true together would anyone have concluded that Jesus was raised from the dead.”

Church tradition speaks of 11 of the 12 disciples being killed for their witness of the Resurrected Jesus. These included stabbings, executions, and even Peter was crucified for his witness, yet Peter famously declared that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his Lord, so his executioners turned the cross upside down and martyred him that way.

The church also wrote down other stories of martyrdom like St Polycarp who was a bishop and died in 155 AD. Polycarp was a church leader, and refused to worship Caesar, the leader of Rome, and for that he was burned to death. The testimonies of the witnesses said that Polycarp was not burned as the fire grew around him, and that he had to be stabbed in order for him to die.

“The Blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

We Are the Best Example

The witness of the Body is something that can sustain us through the hardest of times. It is in watching the Body that we find that we as the Body are the Best Examples of Resurrection Life and can give witness of it to others who do not know.

Being a Resurrection Witness:

Back to the Short Ending of Mark asks this: Will you go to spread the word of the resurrection of the Son of God? Will YOU be a living witness?

When the world comes before us with unhealthy skepticism, will we be an example of how we can stand on not only a historic faith, but a reasonable one?

When people come with good questions, we will be willing to enter into these questions, explore them with those created in God’s image, and see where we can find God?

Will we seek to show Christ not only in the ways we live and serve, but eventually in the ways that we die? In the ways that we pass on from this world and the legacy that we leave behind? We seek to proclaim a Risen Lord, so that others may believe.

So let us now declare that witness through the singing of our praise, through the prayers of the community, and through the declaration at the table: Christ has died, Christ has Risen, and Christ will come again.

Explaining The Gospel Badly

Too often we’ve settled for formulas of salvation over the beautiful story of the Gospel.

The Gospel:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared…–1 Corinthians 15:3–5.

1. Christ Died

2. Christ Buried

3. Christ Raised

4. Christ Appeared

“The gospel” is the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearance, told as the climax of the long story of Israel, which in turn is the story of how the one true God is rescuing the world.” - N.T. Wright

According to the Scriptures
Paul sees the events of Jesus’ life, specifically around his death and resurrection, as the culmination of the long story of Israel.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets [this is Jewish speak for Old Testament]; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”–Matthew 5:17.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” – John 5:39-40

“Our trust in the Bible stems from our trust in Jesus Christ… I don’t trust in Jesus because I trust the Bible; I trust the Bible because I trust in Jesus. I love him, and I’ve decided to follow him, so if he talks and acts as if the Bible is trustworthy, authoritative, good, helpful, and powerful, I will too… Even if some of my questions remain unanswered, or my answers remain unpopular.” – Andrew Wilson

The Bible

The Bible is a library of ancient writings, that is both divine and human, that tell a unified story that leads to Jesus.

This library contains stories, poetry, government census data, family genealogies, songs, and prophesy.

The Plot of Scripture in four Parts

1. Creation

2. Fall

3. Redemption

4. New Creation

   “the point Paul has in mind within that longer scriptural narrative is the point at which [God] forgives Israel’s sins, ushering in the new age, renewing the covenant, restoring creation—and raising his people from the dead.” –N.T. Wright

Reading the Scripture

1. Read the scripture as a story leading to Jesus

2. Wrestle with the Scriptures with Jesus.

3. Work to love the scriptures, like Jesus.

“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.

And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C., or Allah, be it Yahweh, or the Wican mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you will worship will eat you alive.

If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million different deaths before they finally plant you…

Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings.

They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.

And the so-called real world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the so-called real world of men and money and power hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation.” -Dallas Foster Wallace

“1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”– 1 Corinthians 15:1–4

“The gospel” is the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearance, told as the climax of the long story of Israel, which in turn is the story of how the one true God is rescuing the world.” - N.T. Wright

The Gospel:

1. Christ Died

2. Christ Buried

3. Christ Raised

4. Christ Appeared

“We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. 7 The person who has died has been freed from sin.” -Romans 6:6-7,

“For Paul, the Christian hope is not life eternal in heaven but rather the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ is the core of the gospel. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is in vain and we have no salvation (1 Cor 15:14-19). Christianity is not simply a moral code to follow but the promise of immortality and the triumph over death and hell (1 Cor 15:54-57).” -Gene L. Green

Spiritual Practice: Repent and Believe the Gospel.

“Christianity, you see, isn’t a set of ideas. It isn’t a path of spirituality. It isn’t a rule of life. It isn’t a political agenda. It includes, and indeed gives energy to, all those things; but at its very heart, it is something different. It is good news [or gospel] about an event which has happened in the world, an event because of which the world can never be the same again. And those who believe it, and live by it, will (thank God!) never be the same again either.” -N.T. Wright

The Events before the Garden

During the famous scene of the Last Supper Jesus explains to his disciples that they all would fall away that night.

Peter responds claiming the other disciples might leave, but not him.

Jesus foretells Peter denying him three times that night.

Peter counters this and claims that even if he must die for Jesus, he would never deny him. The other disciples chime in that they would do the same.

The Suffering Christ

Jesus takes three of his disciples to a garden called Gethsemane.

Gethsemane means “olive press.” This is a grove full of olive trees.

He brings Peter, James, and John. These three go with Jesus more than the other disciples. They were the first disciples, all being fishermen.

These three saw the Transfiguration of Jesus on top of the mountain in Matthew 17. They see Jesus in his glory, but here in the valley, they see Jesus in his agony.

Jesus one request from his disciples is to just be with him in the garden and to keep watch.

Jesus collapses and falls on his face to pray to God the father.

Luke writes that Jesus' sweat becomes like great drops of blood falling to the ground. This could be just Jesus sweating a lot, or a condition called hematohidrosis.

Hematohidrosis occurs when the sweat glands rupture making the individual sweat blood.

Jesus is experiencing a panic attack here. The DSM lists specifiers for a panic attack.

1. Palpitations, pounding heart, accelerated heart rate

2. Sweating

3. Trembling or shaking

4. Shortness of breath

5. Fear of dying

   You could make a strong case that Jesus is experiencing all of these here.

Our perceptions of Christ in the garden are skewed.

We often view Jesus as a serene untroubled Messiah.

When we fall apart, or maybe even when we experience our own panic attack, Jesus understands it, He has lived it.

“The absolute power of this story is not even that Jesus is with you , but it's that when you are in these moments, you are with Jesus.”– Tim Mackie

Jesus prays if it is possible, let the cup pass from him, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.

The cup referenced is the cup of God’s wrath.

Jeremiah 25:15-16 references this cup as well as Isaiah 51:17

God’s wrath is His justice; his unwillingness to let evil continue

In a surprising turn of events, Jesus is the one to drink this cup of God’s wrath.

It is as if the salvation of jesus will be available to all; including the tyrant, bully, and the abuser.

Jesus concludes his prayer, nevertheless not my will but yours be done.

It is a reference to the Lord’s prayer.

Jesus most likely prayed this prayer every day.

After praying this prayer, he approaches the disciples, they are all asleep. His last words of advice to his disciples before being arrested was to pray that they don’t give into temptation.

Often we attribute temptation to a sinful action such as lying or hatred.

It’s important to note that there is temptation in our inaction.

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”-James 4:17

Jesus doesn’t attempt to wake up his disciples after he approaches them a second time and they are back to sleeping.

The Events after the Garden

We see Jesus back to his resolute form as he is approached by his disciple Judas. He tells him, “Friend, do what you came to do.”

They attempt to arrest Christ. Peter pulls his sword and cuts off the servant of the high priest’s ear.

Peter was attempting to murder this man.

He started this day by saying that he would die for Christ, but instead tries to kill for him.

Jesus quickly rebukes Peter.

Jesus began this day by telling Peter he would deny him three times. He also fails him in three different instances.

Peter fails to stay awake with Jesus, he fails in his inaction.

Peter attempts to murder a man; he fails in his action.

He then goes to deny Jesus three times.

Matthew’s last depiction of Peter is him weeping bitterly.

God is not finished with Peter.

He is the rock that Christ builds his church despite all of his failures. He is a big reason why we are gathered here today.

He made a claim that even if he must die for Jesus, he wouldn’t deny him. He does indeed die for his faith. It is even noted that he requests to be crucified upside down because he deemed himself unworthy to die the same way as Christ.

Spiritual Practice

If you find yourself relating to Jesus more in your current circumstance:

Take comfort in knowing Jesus walks with you in your distress or in your times of panic.

If you feel overwhelmed, remove yourself from the stresses of the world and plead to the father.

1. Pray that you don’t give into temptation.

2. If you find yourself relating more to the disciples:

3. Think about those in your own life that you maybe sleeping on.

Be intentional in being present. It could be as simple as a text letting them know you are thinking of them.

1. Also pray that you don’t give into temptation. There is temptation in our inaction.

Two Questions:

Is it wrong to have moments of hopelessness?

What do I do with these feelings of hopelessness?

“Behold your king is coming to you…humble and mounted on a foal of a donkey.” - Zechariah 9:9

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” - Luke 19:41-44

Lent is:

A form of praise

Proof of relationship

A pathway to greater intimacy with God

A prayer for God to act

And finally, participation in the pain of others.

“Lament is an appeal to God based on confidence in His character.” - Dr. Glenn Packiam

“When we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, then somehow, God is praying within us for the pain around us”. - N.T. Wright

“We love our neighbor when we allow their experience of pain [end of the world moments] to become the substance of our prayer.” - Dr. Glenn Packiam

Spiritual Practice:

Identify an end-of-the-world moment.

Pray aloud a Psalm of lament and make it your own i.e. Psalm 6, 22, or 51.

This morning, I have the honor of continuing our Prayers in the Night series that looks at what it means to walk with God through seasons that we might call “The Valley” or “the Wilderness,” seasons where our prayers may look a bit different. Situations where our prayer may look much more like the prayers of our blood-sweating Savior as he asked His Father, “Please take this cup from me.” And today, we are looking at a heavy cup indeed.

“I believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” With this focus, we will be able to explore what it means for us to come to times in our lives where the truth that we so much knew may be shaken. Maybe we find ourselves in a season where the term deconstruction most accurately describes our spiritual state. Or maybe, as we have focused this past year on many different aspects of our God, we find ourselves asking the question, “Does God really do… BLANK?”

So today, we have a few passages that I want to look into so we can start to talk about what it means for us to pray, “Lord, help my unbelief.”

First, I want to look at the Markian passage that we read this morning. Mark may be my second personal favorite Gospel. One of Mark’s themes that is woven throughout his narrative is best described as a flipped script. The people who should get who Jesus is, his followers, the Jewish people, etc. DO NOT GET WHO JESIS IS or what he is supposed to do. It is the outsiders who understand and have the most faith. In fact, the very passage we read is sandwiched between two other parts in Mark Chapter 9 where the disciples are just utterly confused by who Jesus is. At the beginning of Mark 9, we have something called the Transfiguration. This is where Jesus takes a handful of his disciples up a mountain and there they see Jesus with Moses and Elijah, two superstars of the Jewish faith and the Old Testament. It’s a powerful scene that helps show Jesus as not only a fulfillment of the Law that Moses helped God give to His covenantal people Israel, but also shows Jesus as the Messiah that Elijah and SO many other prophets spoke of but never could see. Jesus could not make it more obvious about who he is. And yet, we get to verse 8, “Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

Even after this grand display, they we’re still unaware that Jesus had to die. They had a glimpse of what God was revealing through Jesus, but they did not have the WHOLE picture.

AND then, after the exorcism of the spirit that we read aloud this morning, we see this happen. 30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

I think it gives more understanding to Jesus’s seemingly harsh words, “You unbelieving generation? How long will I stay with you?” Or how Eugene Peterson puts it in the Message Paraphrase: “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things?” But, as we know, Jesus is patient, and as the rest of Mark’s Gospel shows, he never stopped trying to help them understand the Kingdom of God. His miracles, his teaching, even his death all embodied what he was trying to teach his disciples.

The second thing I want to highlight is this: the response of the man, of the father. He too seemed to understand something that the disciples were missing about Jesus. The verse says he immediately replied “I believe! Help my unbelief.” Like a knee-jerk reaction, this man humbled himself to give one of the shortest but arguable most heartfelt prayers captured in the entity of Scripture. A declaration, I believe! And a simple request, Help my Unbelief.

In Matthew’s telling of this event, recorded in Matthew 17, the father even begins his plea with Lord, a declaration of who he believes Jesus to be. In the span of such short time, we find a tension within this man that he expresses so explicitly. He has faith enough to declare Jesus Lord, yet humbly asks that same Lord to help his unbelief.

The word here is apistia, and though I am by no means a Greek scholar, those who have studied the language far more have found that good translations of this word include words like doubt unbelief, distrust, or disbelief. The reason this difference is important to us is it sends us in two different directions about how we can discuss the implications of this prayer on our lives this morning. We’ll articulate it with two Prayers: Lord, Help My Unbelief and Lord, Help My Imagination.

Help My Unbelief:

Doubt is something that has been spoken of from this pulpit before. Doubt and working through questions about the Christian faith has been something the church has been doing for centuries. It is because Christians have always been committed to trying and wrestle with the ideas and aspects of our faith and how they relate to present moments. The most contemporary term for this we find I would argue is deconstruction.

For those who may be unfamiliar, the word deconstruction when used in a faith context, often refers to a time in a believer’s life where they reevaluate the faith that they have and often emerge with a different perspective or understanding of the Christian faith and how it should be lived out. Brian Zahnd, a pastor in St, Joseph, MO articulates it like this in his book, When Everything Catches Fire, “[Deconstruction is] a crisis of Christian faith that leads to either a reevaluation of Christianity or sometimes a total abandonment of Christianity.” Now though Brian uses these words together, deconstruction is not synonymous with someone De-converting or losing their faith.

M. Scott Peck, an author and psychologist, would label this journey as Stage 3 in his Stages of Faith Framework. Peck describes this as “largely a healthy transition. Among the hall marks of Stage III is the serious questioning of all that one has learned to this point in one’s life. This includes sources of authority and information. Part of this process includes the critical evaluation of one’s religious system.” As Alex articulated it last week, People. Are. Doubters. The question of life have options these days, and doubt is the companion to those options.

Skye Jethani, author co-host of the podcast the Holy Post, has argued that a better word for a season of deconstruction is actually De-compartmentalization, where the person finds that their faith applies to more areas of life and beliefs than the individual once thought.

To try and summarize the points of these authors and many others who have written, a season of deconstruction is when someone realizes that their belief in God is not something to just hold in one box to be filed away into the recesses of our mind, but rather that God is now the filter in which all of our boxes and preconceived notions are taken to task. It is a reviewing of our systems of belief. And though I am doing my best to describe what a journey of deconstruction may look like, please know that this process will never be the same for two people. Some of us may even find that these descriptions of deconstruction give language for where they find themselves today. Maybe that is what you think about when you hear the father pray, Help My Unbelief. But others may not. And that brings us to our second prayer…

Help My Imagination:

Getting back to apistia, one of the other definitions I mentioned is not synonymous with doubt. And if doubt or deconstruction did not give us the language to describe this season of our lives, perhaps this next one will. Some of the other translations offered were distrust or disbelief. Maybe when you hear this father’s cry, you find yourself looking at the possibility of healing as the source of your unbelief. Mark records the father’s words, “Teacher, I have brought my son who is possessed by a spirit… he has been like this since childhood.” The father had looked upon his son’s circumstances for so long that he just accepted that this is the way his son was going to be. Then, he hears about this new teacher who has a following. Mr. Christ and his gang of rambunctious disciples. He brings his son to the disciples… and they can’t cast the evil spirit out. Again, this father seems powerless to change the circumstances of his son whom he loves. And then, he goes to Jesus. And as his son is literally convulsing next to them both, this father pleads, “Lord, help my unbelief!”

Maybe, for some of us, it is the father’s imagination that he needed help with. The father was looking at his son and asking, “Does God really cast out spirits?” Imagination is a term that I love to throw out when I’m talking with you all because of what it captures. When we speak of the term imagination, especially in our faith context, we are talking about the sacred ability to see that the world is not as it is supposed to be and to imagine it as God intends. As his Kingdom people, we have joined a Kingdom with a beautiful duty: to show the world how it was originally designed and patented. It is to invite people into the way of life that we see Christ embody. In the West, our minds are trained again and again to see the world as it is and accept it. It’s why the last time I spoke, I talked about companies who feed us advertisements that show us what “the good life” can look like, if we only would buy that shirt, wear those jeans, own those shoes, and so on.

But Christ’s invitation is not to accept things as they are. It is to intervene in the world. It’s to get his hands dirty and do the work of change one healing, one teaching, or one meal at a time. Especially in this season right now where we are having a repeat election, a repeat super bowl victory (ain’t mad about that), and just enough time has passed since the new year that all the motivation for new habits and schedules is wearing off, we find ourselves not content, but lacking any vision to see the world differently than it is. We accept a world filled with poverty, war, hunger, and illness and breathe out a sigh saying, “That’s just the way things are…”

That’s why I see the father’s prayer as twofold. And that is why I believe the invitation of God this morning is to look at the father’s prayer and ask, do I need God to help my unbelief? Or do I need God to help my imagination?

I believe that is our invitation today. Our invitation is to reflect on both of those questions and see which strikes the chord of our heart? Which one gives language to the feelings and weight we have been carrying? Which question best identifies the wrestling?

And I believe the invitation of God is best shown in this image that is about to go on the screen.

This painting is called, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas. It is a famous Italian painting and the first time I saw it was during church in Springfield, Missouri when I was in college. My pastor at the time made an observation that has stuck with me all these years later. He pointed out a seeming uncomfortable but so sacred detail. This painting depicts a scene in John’s Gospel where the disciple Thomas sees Jesus for the first time after he is resurrected. Jesus tells Thomas to touch his wounds in his hands and in his sides. Now I have heard this preached as something that we did not want to immolate. Doubting Thomas was something that had a bad connotation or implication while I was growing up in church. But this pastor in Springfield had a different take. Does Jesus refuse to show his wounds to Thomas? No. His response is an invitation. He goes, “Come, do what you need to do to believe.” And the painting shows this, somewhat uncomfortably. As you can see Thomas’s hand is beneath Jesus’s skin. It honestly makes me feel a little Ugh. Like it is not pleasant to look at. But the unpleasantness, the messiness of this interaction, I believe is where we find’s God’s invitation. God is still desiring for humanity to know that He is in the mess with us. His inclination is not to lean away from the uncomfortable, the gross, or the mess, but to inhabit that uncomfortable space WITH US.

Jesus’s invitation is to literally go into the mystery of God with our questions, with our uncomforted, with our doubt, and with our monotony.

So, how can we Pray for God to Help our Unbelief and Imagination this week?

First, I think we need to look back on the teachings from this past year. And no, this is not because we need more clicks on the Midtown YouTube. It is because of our subject matter these last few months. Alex and Cassie have helped us navigate and wrestle with topics like healing, grief, speaking in unknown languages, and even prophecy. They have helped us look at the mysterious ways of God and shed new light on them. And we may still be asking Can God really do… blank. Our God’s invitation is for us to go back into the mystery. To find Jesus is ways we never expected or imagined. To bring again forward our disbelief and acceptance of what is normal and ask God to enter it in a powerful and mighty way. We are asking himself to be made manifest in the midst of our Unbelief and Imaginations this morning. And to show that willingness, I would encourage two things: Firstly, it’s been a while since we mentioned this ancient posture. Two hands open, and simply saying “Come, Holy Spirit.” It’s an invitation for the very Spirit of God to enter into our circumstances so he may weave through our lives and make himself known.

Secondly, we will be declaring the mystery of our faith together this morning. If you have been a part of one of our Midtown Microchurches, you know that the last thing we say aloud together each week is this: Christ has Died, Christ has Risen, Christ will Come Again. We call it a declaration of the mystery of our faith. It is a historic phrase that has been used by the church before communion for hundreds of years. It reflects the words of Paul, “We proclaim the Lord’s death, until he comes.” And I believe it is a beautiful companion to our two prayers this morning: Lord, Help my Unbelief and Lord, Help My Imagination. So in a moment Amanda will come here and lead us in that before we partake of communion.

What do we do when suffering crashes into our lives, and heaven is silent, and God feels absent?

On Psalm 42.

Now, there is no real consensus as to who the author is, but what is clear is the author feels distant from God.

The imagery at play is of a deer in the desert, dying of thirst, searching for any bit of moisture it can find. And as it comes to a river, the deer finds the riverbed dry.

God’s presence is the connecting thread of the whole of the scripture and yet there are seasons where we don’t feel God’s presence; even as we long for it.

Maybe you know that feeling?

You’re surrounded by people who seem to know and feel God personally, and you feel little to nothing.

We do not always have language for an experience of God that feels more like absence than presence.

2 types of Knowledge

Explicit knowledge is the stuff of information, ideas, theology, facts and data.

Implicit knowledge is the stuff of our emotions, intuition, instinct, and gut; our feelings.

“Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God.” –A.W. Tozer

1. Am I living a life of hurry?

The Story of Mary and Martha.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” –Luke 10:41-42

We might find ourselves in a dry season because we’ve been too distracted to notice what God is doing.

2. Is there ongoing sin or rebellion in my life?

At its core, sin is a mistrust that God's interest is our greatest good. If we persist in an action or attitude that is not in the best interest of our communion with God, we will experience distance.

3. Am I allowing my faith and doubt to coexist?

Philosopher Charles Taylor calls our time the “age of contested belief”.

Doubt is the natural companion to options.

Doubt can lead to serious questions, but the invitation of Christianity is to hold our faith and our questions together.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” –Matthew 28:16-20

Faith, doubt, and the Presence of Jesus all held together.

4. Have you experienced relational trauma that needs to be healed?

In his book The Connected Life, Todd Hall draws a connection between our human attachments and our relationship with God;

“…If we can’t trust our parents, who we can see, to provide emotional support and security, how can we trust God, who we can’t see? Patterns of interactions with our attachment figures get stored in our memory as gut-level expectations of how close relationships work. These expectations get placed on our relationship with God, often without realizing it. This doesn’t mean that our experiences and expectations of God can’t change, but it does mean that the social context in which we are raised profoundly shapes the “God of our gut.” And this—not the God of our head—is the God we experience most of the time.” – Todd Hall

5. Are you walking through a Dark Night of the Soul?

The language of a “Dark Night of the Soul” comes from a 16th-century Spanish catholic priest Saint John of the Cross. John wrote a poem called A Dark Night in which he describes a period in which God intentionally takes away his felt presence from an apprentice of Jesus so that we might grow in peace, intimacy and love.

If you desire God, you ache for that experience and intimacy you once had with him, you might be journeying through the dark night.

“Sooner or later He (God) withdraws, if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs—to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during those trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best... Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” – C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Talk with someone.

Sit with someone and reflect on these five diagnostic questions–

1. Am I living a life of hurry?

2. Is there ongoing sin or rebellion in my life?

3. Am I allowing my faith and doubt to coexist?

4. Have you experienced relational trauma that needs to be healed?

5. Might it be something that God is leading you through, like a Dark Night of the soul?

Reading Job responsibly

We begin by understanding the genre of Job; Hebrew Wisdom literature.

Wisdom literature is an exploration of truth not as data but as a mystery to journey into.

The book of Job isn’t a theological explanation of how suffering works; It is about one man wrestling with God, as he suffers.

It is helpful to think of Job as a three-act play.

Act 1: the Court of God. (Job 1-2)
Act 2: A Conversation among Friends. (Job 3-37)
Act 3: God Speaks (Job 38-42)

When suffering crashes into our lives we are all prone to ask some of the same questions that Job will ask throughout the play.

1. Is God just?

2. Does God run the universe by that justice?

3. Why is there evil?

Act 1: The Court of God.

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”– Job 1:1.

1. Job is not an Israelite; he is from the land of Uz.

2. He is blameless and upright.

3. Job was incredibly wealthy, generous, successful, and loved.

The Court of God

1. This is the only instance of such a wager in the scriptures. Theology shouldn’t be built on a singular instance.

2. This passage takes seriously the existence of one who opposes God– the Satan.

3. The author does not call the courtroom scene a vision; it is likely a product of human imagination, not a divine revelation.

4. This particular scene is not the point of the story.

Act 2: A Conversation among Friends.

“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.” –Job 2:11–13.

Job’s friends assume that God operates the universe on a strict principle of retributive justice– if you honor God and do good, good things will happen, but if you are foolish and dishonor God, he will punish you.

“Sufferers attract fixers the way roadkills attract vultures. At first we are impressed that they bother with us and amazed at their facility with answers. They know so much! How did they get to be such experts in living? More often than not, these people use the Word of God frequently and loosely. They are full of spiritual diagnosis and prescription. It all sounds so hopeful. But then we begin to wonder, “Why is it that for all their apparent compassion we feel worse instead of better after they’ve said their piece?”– Eugene Peterson

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.– Job 13:15.

“As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter…”– Job 27:2.

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent” – Job 9:22–23.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” – Job 1:21.

He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.” –Job 16:9.

Act 3: God Speaks.

In Chapter 38, the Lord shows up in a hurricane and takes Job on a whirlwind tour of the Earth. God pulls Job close and begins to display the vast complexity of the universe,

And at this overwhelming display of power, Job is humbled, and ready once again to trust God.

There is Evil in the world, but there is also good.

Teachers of the way of Jesus have been giving us a different lens by which we can view reality.

They’ve exposed the three enemies of our soul.

1. The World.

2. The Flesh.

3. The Devil.

“Know your enemy.”–Sun Tzu

The Creation

In Genesis 1 and 2, we’re told that God speaks, and the Spirit of God, begins to organize the raw materials of creation– and the world bursts to life.

The Fall

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” –Genesis 3:1–5.

The Devil.

diabolos – the devil

1. Slanderor

Satan – the Satan

1. The adversary

2. A being is not for anything but is against everything.

The primary means by which the Devil works is through lies.

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” –John 8:44.

His main objective is to subtly exchange truth for lies, for when we believe lies chaos follows.

Is it absurd to say lies continue to thrust our world into further chaos?

The Flesh.

The flesh is not about the human body– rather it is disordered or corrupted desires, that can often be experienced in the body.

Some of those desires are right, healthy, and God-given. While other desires; are disordered, nefarious, and self-destructive.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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 –Ephesians 2:1–3.

When the devil lies to us, he lies in a way that plays to our disordered desires– our flesh.

It is those patterns of self-destructive sin, lead us everywhere but where we actually want to be.

The World

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” –John 12:31–32.

“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” –John 12:46–47

kosmon – The World

1. Used Postively– Creation, the earth the people in it.

2. Used Negatively– a system of life and culture set against God.

The world is where we decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil.

“ Our cultural and social practices, that are under the control of Satan and, thus, opposed to God.” – Dallas Willard

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit…” –Ephesians 5:15–18.

The Fight for our Soul.

“4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. –Luke 4:1–13.

The Holy Spirit leads us to truth, helps us walk in the way of Jesus, and gives us the strength to resist.

Practice Lent

Lent it is a 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. It is a season to follow Jesus into the wilderness and to fight the influence of the world, the flesh, and the devil over our lives.

1. Repentance. Commit to extended periods of introspection, prayer, and “soul-searching” to uncover disordered desires, allegiances to idols, and thought patterns contrary to the Way of Jesus. Practicing Abstinence and/or fasting can aid you in uncovering these things in your life.

2. Fasting. We suggest fasting (going without food and drink) twice a week for twelve or twenty-four hours. This can look like not eating breakfast and lunch, or skipping dinner one night and breaking your fast the next night.*

   *A note on eating disorders and medical conditions– if you’ve ever suffered from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia, rumination, etc) or live with a diagnosed medical condition, you should consult a doctor, therapist, or pastor prior to fasting. Fasting is a helpful practice given to us by Christ, but notice that fasting is not intended to harm the body. Rather, it is designed to bring the body and soul into alignment.

3. Self-denial or Abstinence. The practice of creating a margin in our life to focus on Christ. Consider removing social media, television, video games, a recreational activity, a hobby or a regularly scheduled activity from your life through the season of Lent.

More on Lent.

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.” - Acts 19:11

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” - John 11:5

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” - John 11:20

But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. - John 11:22

“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” - John 11:24

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” - John 11:32

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” … 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” - John 11:38-39; 41-44

“The future has burst into the present. The new creation, and with it the resurrection, has come forward from the end of time into the middle of time… He has come from God’s future into the present, into the mess and muddle of the world we know. ‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ he says. ‘Resurrection’ isn’t just a doctrine. It isn’t just a future fact. It’s a person.” - N.T. Wright

At its very essence, communication is a conduit of love.

So today I would like to make a case for prophecy which much like communication is messy but in my opinion, and that of the biblical authors, is so worth it.

This past fall, we began a series called Come, Holy Spirit with the following goals:

• to move beyond information into experiences with God

• to encounter God in the ordinary

• to radically open ourselves up to God

• to do the Jesus stuff.

So today we are tackling the gift of prophecy in three parts:

1. Prophecy Biblically

2. Prophecy Defined

3. Prophecy Now

“Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to [Moses], and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.” –Numbers 11:25 (ESV)

“I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” – Numbers 11:29 (ESV)

“And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” – John 20:22

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…” –Acts 2:17

Prophecy is not an optional subpoint of the Bible- it is at the very center of the biblical story, of our story.

What exactly is Prophecy? Is it….

• God’s voice?

• Is it being able to predict something that hasn’t happened yet like a magic 8 ball or a fortune teller?

• Is it knowing something about someone that you couldn’t have known?

• Is it being able to understand and interpret the scriptures?

• Is it giving a word of encouragement to someone when they really need it?

“Prophecy’ is the activity through which particular words are given to particular individuals or groups by people speaking in church and claiming that the spirit is leading them to say such things, or that Jesus himself is speaking these words.” –N.T. Wright

"Prophecy involves God speaking to or through a servant who listens to his voice." – Craig Keener

• Prophecy can be to an individual or to a community.

• Prophecy can challenge injustice like in the book of Amos or encourage as we will see in Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church.

• Prophecy can be something revelatory, like a word of knowledge or of wisdom, or it can be something incredibly ordinary.

“1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. “ – 1 Corinthians 14:1-4

“God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:5

Prophecy consists of:

1. Hearing

2. Giving

3. Receiving

The stuff the Spirit does.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. –1 Corinthians 12:1

pnuematikan | “gifts of the Spirit”

• “things of the Spirit,

• “manifestations of the Spirit”

• “Spirituals”

• “The stuff the Spirit does”

Paul offers a list of 9 things that the Spirit does.

1. a message of wisdom

2. a message of knowledge

3. Faith

4. Gifts of healing

5. Miraculous powers

6. Prophecy

7. Distinguishing between spirits

8. Tongues

9. The interpretation of tongues

Acts 2: New Era of the Spirit.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. – Acts 2:1-4

This was the text we read at the beginning of the teaching, I just want to point out a few things of note–

1. Before this moment only certain people were recipients of God’s Spirit. This is a new age in which God’s Spirit will not work through the few, but through the many.

2. Second, those who were experiencing this phenomenon were declaring the mighty works of God in languages that they had never learned.

Acts 10: Even the Gentiles.

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. – Act 10:44–46.

Acts 19: Receive the Spirit

5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. –Acts 19:5–6.

On the Corinthian Church

As we jump into it, Paul is offering a compare and contrast between prophecy and tongues.

The Corinthian Church had this reputation for wild gatherings. And it seems as if the gift of tongues was being used performatively to demonstrate superior spirituality.

Defining Tongues.

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 14:1-2

Tongues are a form of prayer and praise expressed to God in a language you have not learned or understand.

“Tongues’ refers to the gift of speech which, though making sounds, and using apparent or even actual languages, somehow bypasses the speaker’s conscious mind. –N.T. Wright

Unlearned Languages.

2B for no one understands [the one speaking in tongues], but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 14:1-2

A few instances suggest they are human languages the speaker does not know.

“Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?”–Act 2:7–8.

Another theory is that these are the languages of other Spiritual beings. Paul writes just a chapter before, “if I speak in the tongues of men and angels…” (1 Corinthians 13)

There is a mystery at work that we will likely never understand.

Prophesy edifies the Church. Tongues edify the Speaker.

3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy.” – 1 Corinthians 14:3-4 (ESV)

Without a common language, the meaning of a message is lost on us.

“Intelligibility is the reason that Paul prefers other gifts to speaking in tongues in public worship.”– Ben Withington

Speaking in Unlearned Language has some kind of building-up effect.

1. The one who speaks in a tongue, speaks to God. (1 Cor. 14:2)

2. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself. (1 Cor. 14:4)

3. I want you all to speak in tongues (1 Co 14:5).

4. “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.” (1 Cor. 14:14–17)

I think Paul imagines speaking in tongues as an experience that bypasses messy minds and allows one's soul to connect directly with God.

“the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” –Romans 8:26.

1. Tongues build up the believer.

2. Praying in tongues also helps us worship God.

3. Praying in tongues helps us in times of confusion.

18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. – 1 Corinthian 14:18-19

Eagerly Desire

So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. – 1 Corinthians 14:39(ESV)

Pursue love, and eagerly desire all the stuff the Spirit does.

Tongues are a means, not an end.

Paul’s invitation to the Corinthians, and consequently to us is to examine our desires and to reorient them back to God, and the stuff he does through his Spirit.

For those who would like to pursue this gift.

1. Create Space.

2. Ask God.

3. Take a shot.

4. Practice

Our God’s invitation is into an ongoing relationship so there is a place for intentional effort and pursuit.

“I think therefore I am.” – René Descartes

We have come to believe that knowledge is only information or data or facts– content that can fit on a spreadsheet.

Knowledge is more than cells on a spreadsheet or information in a memory bank.

Experiential Knowledge.
So according to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is a marked improvement over a direct face-to-face conversation with God in the flesh.

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you... In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”–John 14:16-17,20.

This comforter will not be seen but will be experienced by those who follow Jesus.

“I purposely emphasize the word ‘experience,’ and will seek to show from the scripture the importance of experience. A non-experiential religion is suspect, for it fails to deal with the totality of our being.” – Simon Ponsonby

John 14 alone is full of examples of experiences with God.

1. “I will give you an advocate…”(John 14:16)

2. “The Spirit will live with you and you will know him.” (John 14:17)

3. “The Spirit will teach you and remind you of all I’ve said.” (John 14:26)

4. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” (John 14:27)

5. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27)

A non-experiential Christianity, a faith that of disembodied ideas is a departure from the scriptures.

Knowledge is built on experience with God.

“19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” –John 20:19–21 (ESV)

The work of the Spirit is not our entertainment; it is to renew the whole world.

“the Spirit, above all else, carries on Jesus’ mission and mediates his presence… The personal functions of the Spirit are also the functions of Jesus in the rest of the book, and the sensitive reader cannot miss the connection.” – Craig Keener

For those who learn to receive and rely upon the Spirit, we begin to experience the life spoken of in the scripture.

1. New intimacy

2. New holiness

3. New possibilities

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. –John 14:12 (ESV)

Receive the Spirit.

“And with that, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” –John 20:22–23 (ESV)

Throughout the New Testament there are a variety of metaphors that stretch human language in an attempt to convey the experience of encountering God.

The three most common metaphors are Filled, Baptized, and Receive.

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”– Eph 5:18.

“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.” –Romans 8:15.

Three metaphors for this same experience with God’s Spirit– to receive the Spirit is to be consumed, influenced, inundated, saturated, and complete with God’s presence and power.

Whatever you want to call the experience, there has been a debate over the question of when.

When are we filled, baptized, or receive the Spirit?

“...we seek not a single experience but a continuing relationship, daily encountering our master in the power of his Holy Spirit, living out of the power already imparted to us when we became followers of Jesus Christ.” – Craig Keener

The invitation of the Spirit is to be filled, and to keep being filled.

“Consumerism is the desire for a life without shame." Adam Smith

“Consumerism’s most glittering prize is the promise of immortality itself: an earthly paradise of never wanting, never needing, never lacking for anything imagination can dream of.” Tim Jackson

“And again Isaiah says, the root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the gentiles; in Him will the gentiles hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in Hope.” Romans 15:12-13

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance (or patience) and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have HOPE. Romans 15: 2 & 4

“We know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame.” Romans 5:5

Hope is the result of both endurance and encouragement

“May the God of endurance (or patience) and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.” Romans 15:5

"Hope is not about the future, hope is about the present. It obviously has to do with the future, but it is a virtue which is cultivated in the present. It fills the present with energy, it connects the two comings of Jesus so that we are now a participant in them. We are not just remembering the one and believing in the other ....we are participating in the continuity of the comings." Eugene Peterson

Three Misconceptions about Joy:

• Joy is simply a feeling

• Joy is feeling 100% satisfied 100% of the time

• Jesus denies fulfillment

“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love. “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. John 15:1-11 MSG

• Where are you going for your source of Joy?

• What would you trade your soul for?

• Do you believe Jesus restricts your fulfillment or completes your fulfillment?

“Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” Peter Scazarro, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

“Healthy feelings, properly ordered among themselves, are essential to a good life. So if we are to be formed in Christlikeness, we must take good care of our feelings and not just let them happen.” Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart

1. Abiding

2. Slowing Down

3. Community

4. Openness to Pruning

“If we think we will have joy only by praying and singing psalms, we will be disillusioned. But if we fill our lives with simple good things and constantly thank God for them, we will be joyful, that is, full of joy. And what about our problems? When we determine to dwell on the good and excellent things in life, we will be so full of those things that they will tend to swallow our problems.” Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

• Where are you going for your source of Joy?

• What would you trade your soul for?

• Do you believe Jesus restricts your fulfillment or completes your fulfillment?

The story of Secularism.

The Story of Secularism is that the world is slowly, but progressively, marching toward a utopia built by our own two hands and in our image.

“I am assuming that we are not going to genetically engineer out of our nature greed, avarice, competitiveness, aggression, and violence, because these characteristics are part and parcel of who we are as a species… Instead, what I foresee in the far future of civilization here on Earth… that have learned to design [our] political, economic, and social systems to bring out the best of our nature while holding back the worst… Civilizations this advanced would have so much knowledge and power as to be essentially omniscient and omnipotent, indistinguishable from God.”– Michael Shermer

It's the Kingdom without the King.

Revelation(s)?

It is singular, not plural.

John’s Revelation in 4 parts:

1. Instruction to 7 Churches

2. The throneroom of God.

3. Judgment

4. The Reign of God.

A New Heaven & A New Earth.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” – Revelation 20:1a (ESV)

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind…–Isaiah 65:17.

…the Sea was no more.

“...and the sea was no more.”– Revelation 20:1b (ESV)

For many ancient civilizations, the sea stands as this metaphor for chaos and evil lurking under the surface of life.

“That is what is meant by there being ‘no more sea’. Throughout this book, as in much of the Bible, the sea is the dark force of chaos that threatens God’s plans and God’s people. It is the element from which the first monster emerged… But in the new creation there will be no more sea, no more chaos, no place from which monsters might again emerge.” – NT Wright

The Dwelling Place of God.

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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.” –Revelation 21:2–3 (ESV)

Tent.

“I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” –Leviticus 26:11–12.

Temple
Under the leadership of Solomon the Tabernacle was replaced by the Temple: one of the most impressive structures in the ancient world.

Person.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…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.” –John 1:1-2, 14–15.

The Former things have passed away.

“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.” –Revelation 21:4 (ESV)

“Separation from the Presence [of God] is, quite literally, what the Fall is. As a result of the Fall, mankind slipped from God-consciousness into the hell of self and self-consciousness. -Leanne Payne

All things New.

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” –Revelation 21:5 (ESV)

A foretaste of the Future.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him… By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”– 1 John 4:9,13.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?– 1 Corinthians 3:16.

"The best of all is, God is with us,” –John Wesley

Practice the Presence of God.

“...being with another person, under appropriate conditions, in order to become capable of doing what that person does or to become like that what that person is. An “apprentice” of Jesus is learning from him how to lead their life as he would lead their life if he were they” – Dallas Willard

“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” –Luke 9:23–24 (ESV)

“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.” – Galatians 2:20.

“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” –Genesis 12:2–3.

“for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” –Galatians 3:26–29.

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” –Romans 14:17–19.

“For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” –Galatians 5:5–6.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – Galatians 5:13-14 (ESV)

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you…A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” –John 13:14–15,34-35

“This is what it means to live in the Spirit. The premier expression of the Spirit is love, and the Spirit-prompted person is one who loves God and loves others. Spirit-ual formation is formation into love.” –Scot McKnight

“If you want a good litmus test of your spiritual growth, simply examine the nature and quality of your relationships with others.”–Robert Mulholland Jr

“It is best to think of flesh like this: we are born into and socialized in a fallen world, we embody some good habits and some bad ones, our habits form our character, and since our habits are not all good, our character gets corrupted. Our corrupted character, like some agent with power in our life, steers us into a deepening of our corrupted actions and character.” –Scot McKnight

“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.” –Galatians 5:19–21 (MSG)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22–23.

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel… I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. – Jeremiah 31:31,33.

“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.

“In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.” ― Brother Lawrence

“...we are so habitually self-absorbed by heartaches, headaches, and greed for experience that we rarely find the time and space to be in touch with the deeper movements inside of us and around us. For every kind of reason, good and bad, we are distracting ourselves into spiritual oblivion. It is not that we have anything against God, depth, and spirit, we would like these, it is just that we are habitually too preoccupied to have any of these show up on our radar screens. We are more busy than bad, more distracted than nonspiritual, and more interested in the movie theatre, the sports stadium, and the shopping mall and the fantasy life they produce in us than we are in church. Pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness are major blocks today within our spiritual lives” – Ronald Rolheiser

“God’s presence in the present moment is the single most important task of the Christian life and no spiritual discipline is more foundational or transforming than this one.” – Greg Boyd

“In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.” - Acts 1:2

PART 1: The Promise of Pentecost

“3[Jesus] presented himself alive to [the disciples] after his suffering [, his death on the cross,] by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” - Acts 3:9

PART 2: The Preparation of Pentecost

“they devoted themselves to prayer.” - Acts 1:14a

PART 3: The Proofs of Pentecost

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” - Acts 2:1-8

“There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues [languages] being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues [languages]?” - Acts 2:5-11 (MSG)

“And in the last days it shall be, God declares that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” - Acts 2:17-18

“Worshiping God in other people’s languages shows that God has empowered the church to cross all cultural and linguistic barriers with His gospel.” - Craig Keener

PART 4: The Prophecy of Pentecost

“And in the last days it shall be, God declares that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” -Acts 2:17

“If we are too accustomed to that notion to catch its full force, we might imagine Jesus speaking to us and saying, “You will be like Isaiah,” or, “You will be like Jeremiah,” or, “You will be like Deborah.” - Craig Keener

PART 5: The Purpose of Pentecost

“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” - Acts 2:41

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” - Acts 1:7

Spiritual Practice: Pray for Radical Openness to God

“Part of the challenge of this passage is the question: have our churches today got enough energy, enough spirit-driven new life, to make onlookers pass any comment at all? Has anything happened which might make people think we were drunk? If not, is it because the spirit is simply at work in other ways, or because we have so successfully quenched the spirit that there is actually nothing happening at all?” - N.T. Wright

“Be prepared for wind and fire, for some fairly drastic spring-cleaning of the dusty and cold rooms of one’s life.” - N.T. Wright