finish

This week we begin worship with:

2 Timothy 4:7-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Paul did not win.  He finished.  

• With a thorn that kept him from being conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7), he finished.
• While under a constant barrage from the enemy (2 Corinthians 11:23–28), he finished.
• Without even the victory over the flesh (Romans 7:13-25), as a "wretched" man, he finished.

To those that finish, there is a prize . . . a crown (stephanos).  But it is not the temporary wreath awarded an athlete:

1 Corinthians 9:25

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Rather, it is a permanent crown of righteousness, not of their accumulated works, but of Christ's perfect righteousness.  Being right with God is not accumulated.  You can't be right with God a little more each day.  You are either right with God or you are not.  

It is a royal gift given to all who finish.

word

 This morning we begin worship with:

Romans 10:14-17

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

While the mind of many a reformed believer goes to sovereignty of God and "Unconditional Election" and "Irresistible Grace", when the missionary mandate is mentioned.  That does not make Paul's question moot!  Somebody must deliver the message, that without God's grace we are all dammed.

These two things (God's sovereignty and our actions) come together beautifully in that last sentence:

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

While faith must be preceded by hearing the gospel, our passage explains that not all who are told the gospel respond.  That response is only at the voice of our Shepherd, "the word of Christ".

John 10:3b-4 
The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

Rest

 This week we begin worship with:

Exodus 33:13-14

[And Moses said to the LORD] "Now therefore, if I have found favor in your

sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find

favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said,

“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Dumbstruck by the idea that he may have been granted favor in God’s sight, Moses asks for proof.  Proof in the form of  direction, so that he could find favor in God’s eyes. 

You can hear the striving, the confusion, the effort-without-direction, all to win favor.

In response, God basically said ‘No’ to the idea that Moses could earn favor.  And instead God took away the striving, for with God’s presence comes rest (nûaḥ).

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

name

 This week we begin worship with:

Numbers 27:15-17

Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”

Our LORD Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd.

John 10:1-5

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 

He is calling us by name and knows the way to a green pasture (Psalm 23).