Q&A Genesis 48-49

Hey everyone, thanks again for listening to a Q&A with a pastor. My name is Asher Griffin. I'm the pastoral assistant here at JPBC. I'm sitting down with Keith Goad after he has preached not only Genesis 49, but also last week, Genesis 48. Keith, you opened up last week's sermon with an intro about John Gresham Macham, and there was some distraction within the service itself at that point. Go over again about who John is. and why he's important to how we look at the cross of Christ. He was a Princeton theologian. He was a professor of New Testament. And this is really, the important part is that he's in the 20s. The 1920s is a major turning point for really American Christianity. You have the Scopes trial when evolution was on trial, whereas today, obviously, creation would be on trial for being taught in a public school. In the 20s is that major turning point that started changing things. You had Fawcett's sermon, How Shall the Fundamentals Win, and he's one of the conservative theologians who's responding to the liberals. He would have been named as one of the great Princeton theologians had he not left at such an early age. He'd been named with the likes of Warfield and Hodge and so forth. So he left Princeton because it had become truly and fully a liberal seminary. And when you say liberal, you don't mean politically liberal. No, theologically liberal. And that's what his book, Christian Liberalism, actually helps to fund the most. A classical liberal was actually a good, pious person. You know, we think of liberals today as someone who's radically opposed to Christianity. A liberal in that day actually was trying to keep the piety they learned as a child in vacation Bible school. but not accept all the orthodox doctrines that the church had been built upon because science had disproven them. So a creation, the fact that people rise from the dead, people who, you know, they would deny miracles, which means the virgin birth is out, the inspiration of scripture is out. the death and resurrection. Jesus is basically everything we believe that you must believe to be a Christian. So they would deny like those historic confessions that the church do. Yeah. And so liberals, they wanted to be pious. They wanted to continue to call themselves Christians. They wanted to follow Jesus as a moral example. but they were denying doctrines that anyone inside the church, they should never even question. Okay, you can ask questions about them, but once you start thinking about denying them, you are removing yourself from the church. So he wrote a book, and this is what I was getting at in the sermon, was that there's a book called Christianity and Liberalism, where he makes a clear distinction to show that they're two different religions. You can't be a liberal Christian. You either are a liberal or a Christian. It was just a fantastic book that created the hard dichotomy that Christians needed to hear and liberals needed to hear. And so he said, you don't question the virgin birth. You don't question the resurrection in the church. If you question it, you're outside of the church. And what I was getting at, finally here, the two main doctrines that Move liberals their agenda their their their two primary doctrines are the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man Now those sound nice But really what they're trying to say is that everyone is equal not in the sense that we're all made in the image of God and all Have honor and dignity, but we're all equally right with God. He's everybody's father equally where theologically Jesus Christ alone is the son of the Father and And we have no right to call God Father, except for when Jesus Christ, the true Son, adopts us into the family, gives us a share in His inheritance. Then we can call God Father. Jesus was almost stolen for calling God Father, because you just did not do that. When American Christians of today, everybody gets to call God Big Papa, or Big Grandfather, or whatever it is. It's just the way we try to associate with Him to make Him feel closer to us. That's kind of what says losing it with the taming you know the tame lion We try to tame God instead of a holy righteous God who has wrath. He's just a loving father who gives up candy Whereas a real fatherhood is a deep trinitarian rich doctrine of adoption So going into adoption a little bit, the whole theme of the Genesis 48 sermon and worship that morning was all about adoption. The songs reflected it, the prayers reflected it, your sermon circled around it. As we think about adoption in a biblical sense, there certainly in the last five years has been a rise in a cultural identity with Christian adoption. How can we think properly about adoption in light of how we are adopted sons and daughters in Christ, but how does that parallel with our lifestyles in the world around us? Because we can actually think of adopting someone else or bringing in a lost person, but are there any parallels? Yeah, well that was why I had one of our members, Matt Kaiser, give a story of his adoption because of them adopting their child into their family. You know, it's not three kids plus one. It's adoption is a wonderful picture for the gospel. I think they've actually learned more. They learn to think more of the gospel. The same way marriage does. Jesus Christ has the bridegroom. It's one of the great metaphors of salvation. Jesus Christ the bridegroom and us the bride. A wedding ceremony, not even if you're married, a wedding ceremony alone is supposed to make you think about the gospel. So adoption is one of these things that you can participate in. It helps you think about the gospel. We have friends who adopt. We watch them when we think about the gospel. I don't think the application of that is that we should all go adopt. Because God has adopted us, we're supposed to go adopt all the orphans. I think it's a good way to care for the orphans today. But I don't think there's no universal mandate for every Christian to adopt. I know one phrase is, not everyone's called to adopt, but everyone's called to adoption care. Would you agree with that? And how we can participate in other people's adoptions? I've never actually heard that phrase before. Off the cuff, I could see that fitting within that larger context of James caring for orphans and therefore adoption care. That is the way you care for orphans at some level. There's also the fact that if a child is adopted into a family of our church, they're now our responsibility. The whole church has a responsibility. So yeah, that would be adoption care as well. So yeah, I mean, I can see how that rationale would work out. I would wonder how whoever says that would actually make the application. Okay. I would assume that they just talk about how maybe you're not called specifically as a husband and wife to adopt a child, but you are call at the same time to rejoice in other people's adoption of a child and help them in prayer. In the same way that I'm called to rejoice in another birth and pray for that new child and so forth. I mean, it's the same thing whenever a child is brought into a family of our family, as brothers and sisters. Absolutely. I'm called to care for them. All right. Switching gears a little bit to this week's sermon. So this week was Genesis 49, talking about where you were rejoicing in a king. You talked about a lion. You talked about the different tribes of Israel. One of the things that I brought up, other people didn't seem to have trouble with it, but You basically worked backwards in talking through the text. You didn't separate the tribes from themselves, but you talked about them in not the chronological order of the way the world was. Why did you do that, just in case there are other fools out there like me who didn't catch it? I actually went back and listened and you explained why, but just in case, why did you work backwards? Well, I could have been a little bit more explicit. There's two ways to look at how So, as Moses, or whoever's writing in the later books, Moses, as he's writing Genesis here, he is going to help emphasize certain parts of this text by giving attention more to Judah and Joseph. So, that's how he gets so much attention. And so, he's using that literary tool of giving them more words to say, these are the brothers you need to focus on. And Joseph and Jodah have been the main storylines since chapter 37. The other little brothers though, Gad, Asher, Naftali, they get so few words, they're not insignificant. They're going to play a huge role from Joshua, especially Dan and Judges. There's going to be something for them. The literature leads you to focus on the brothers that have the most attention. That's why I kind of gave that kind of a silly illustration from my shot class with the wooly coolie. Yeah, you talked about how the good ones are noticed as well as the bad ones. And Moses takes them out of order. They're not in birth order. And so he's actually doing something there with the Leah's children first and then moving to the servant children and then ending with his most beloved wife's children. Now, within the sermon, you said that we are sinners saved by grace, but there are still consequences for our sins. So, those consequences, are those consequences God's wrath being poured out on us? No, it would not be God's wrath. He disciplines those he loves. So, it's an action of his holiness, but his holiness also is, I believe, all the attributes dividing them is really a way for us to articulate the unbelief. His attributes are all one. His essence is one. And so he is treating his children with love. His wrath has been satisfied in the sense of anger and hatred of sin and sinners. And so it's definitely not, our consequences of sin are not his wrath. Oftentimes the consequences of our sin are our own guilty consciences. We're going to talk about this next coming week where the brothers of Joseph are actually afraid that he's going to have vengeance on them now that the father, Jacob, is dead. Well, that's their guilty consciences that are giving them a consequence, not God's wrath. It's actually God's love that frees them from those guilty consciences in the long run. So no, it's God's love that gives us consequences still. He just wants us to love. All right, going along with some of the other things you spoke about, you talked about the Lion of Judah and how we ought to not think about our Lord as a tame lion. You used the example from a C.F. Lewis writing in that. Is there any room for God to be tame? I mean, when we think of tame, we normally think of, like, a comforting person. Is that a right? Do I have a wrong picture on that? Is there any room for God to be a tame lion? Well, that's really the beauty of the quote. Especially if you look at Revelation 5 and you have that lion, the majestic, mighty, beastly lion. he comes as a lamb. So yeah, he's tamed there. God has tamed himself to be the lamb that's led to the slaughter for us. And so there's absolute comfort in that. But the beauty of the tameness of the lamb, to kind of continue with this question, the beauty of that action of his, is only glorious in light of who He could be in the lion, or in terms of how majestic and powerful He actually is. Who He actually is, not could be. So, do we want to think about God as tame? You know, that's what's so humbling about it, is He's so big, He's so mighty, He's so powerful. He's so above, He's so beyond, He's so holy, He's so majestic. And yet he descends and condescends and then lowers himself to us to comfort us. We're typically drawn to the comfort and then taken up into the majestic. And so I think that's usually what first attracts us to God is the sweet mercy of comfort. But then it's our thoughts of them becoming bigger and better. When you think about describing Judah, and it's not that you talked a long time about it, but you certainly emphasize it with your emotion about how aggressive of a picture that is. What kind of audience were you thinking about within the congregation? Were you thinking about children who, you know, my culture has grown up with, you know, the lifeway picture of Jesus with the long flowing hair and the The Aryan Jesus. Yeah, the Aryan Jesus. Yeah, he grew up in, you know, Alabama or something. I mean, were you going at the children? Were you going at adults? What kind of target were you looking at when you were describing this majestic lion figure? Well, with the quote of C.S. Lewis, I actually thought it was Lois Westerlund, of course, because she, I could see her as sin like an angel as I'm talking about it, because I just, she was, she was into that. I knew it. So, actually I was thinking of the children. I mean, this is, these kind of hard, illustrations, these wonderful metaphors, these wonderful pictures of God are intended for children, I think. Kind of the same way the Lord's Supper is. It's an object lesson for children to see. Baptism is an object lesson for children to see. The Passover meal is an object lesson for children to see. And so I really had a lot of fun with it, thinking of it myself in terms of You know, how to portray the majesty and the beastliness and the beauty. But, yeah, I mean, like a Liam. I thought of Liam through the preparation, thinking, is this going to help him see a better vision of God? Because these metaphors, these pictures are really meant, first and foremost, I think, for children. I knew it would attract them. I knew it would get their imaginations going about God. Yeah. They don't like thinking about lions. Yeah. It's the same reason C.S. Lewis used these great pictures in Chronicles of Narnia. Those were written for children to get their imaginations going about God. There are analogies. We have to make sure that's clear. Yeah. All right. Two last questions. But I did think of Liam. I'll say that. I'm on record. I thought of Liam in preparation for the sermon. Well, that's not a bad thing. Two last questions before we end. The first one, you gave a short charge to people who are in the church's offices and to those who are aspiring to church leadership. And you gave us a call to pursue Christ first and foremost. Can you explain kind of that charge a little bit, because you didn't go into leadership principles, you didn't go into even ambition, but you just went, make sure your heart is on Christ. Can you explain that as someone who has aspired to the office and then as someone who currently is in the office? Yeah, well, the paper I just presented at ETS was all about this. It was a spirituality of Gregory, who was a pastor, and the whole idea is that the more purified you are, the closer you are to God. You're able to lead others to God. You know, you don't just lead by telling people what to believe. You lead by your example, your purity, your faithfulness, your model, and your words. And the great picture of Gregory is that we're supposed to be ascending the mountain up to God. Depending upon the spirit, as he reveals more light, he reveals more sin, you repent, you become more purified, your place matching your purity. That's how he says it on the mountain as you're moving up. It's just a metaphor, but it's helpful for me. And if you're a deacon in this church, which, you know, you have a lot of pastoral responsibilities, Lord willing we're going to have elders soon, but elders and deacons, you're supposed to be leading the church. In order to lead the church, you must be ascending, following Christ, depending upon Christ, His death and resurrection every time you repent, up the mountain. I believe you're either ascending the mountain or descending the mountain. You don't stay stagnant. You're either pursuing sin or you're pursuing Christ. Your heart is bent one way or the other. So, you're going after one or the other. And I think if you're going after leadership, for the purpose of leadership, you're going down the mountain. If you're going after prestige and significance, you're not going up the mountain, you're going down the mountain. So, we have to pursue Christ. Would you give the same kind of lesson to fathers in terms of how they would lead their sons or how they would lead their wives? Well, that's what I said in the sermon was that these are expectations for all Christians, being purified, walking closer and closer to Christ. but the requirements for leaders. I emphasized the deacons mainly because it was deacon nomination Sunday and I wanted to give a specific clear charge to those men who were Lord willing and thankfully, praise the Lord, that all were voted in. Alright, last question. You spoke about how we should examine how God rules our finances, our time, and our thoughts. So the question is, how can Christians take inventory and evaluate those attempts of allowing God to rule everything in their lives? Yeah, so you could use mint.com for finances, and it shows you these big charts that give you a big slice of how much you spend on your home, how much you spend on health, how much you spend shopping, how much you spend on gifts and charity. And it's just a hard, clear, Graph that makes you see how much you spend and where that's a way We really should analyze how much we spend because you know swiping that credit card. We're becoming more and more We're going less and less conscious of how we're actually spending our money in America. Well all over the world So I think using something like mint comm there's there's plenty other things like that where you actually are watching Where your money's going? And then you have to ask that very important question Does my doctrine reflect my ascending? Yeah, that's a harder one because there's no easy, you know, internet tool for that. You have to do the work to put in and schedule your time. One of the key things there is just making yourself remember that every minute of every day is the Lord's. And it's supposed to be used for Him. Whether you're at work, whether you're doing laundry, whether you're sleeping, you're going to bed. Every minute is His and used for His glory. The key thing there is, like I said, challenge the church and talk to your deacon about the ways you can serve. I think a lot of people want to serve, they just don't know how, or they're scared to serve in certain ways. So, I would say for the time, One night a week, three hours a night, you're either going to have people over your house for hospitality, or you're going out to visit homebound or other visitors or members. That's the best way to do that, I think. Just go ahead and... Alright, just do it Sunday. Sunday morning, we're worshiping. Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening, you're going out and visiting. Now the hard one. Thoughts. How do you let God rule your thoughts and desires? How do you evaluate that? Well, you know when you're thinking things. Yeah, the hard part I would assume being really honest with yourself. Yeah, the hard part is realizing that what you're thinking of isn't God glorifying. It isn't God at all. What we need to do is discipline ourselves to make sure our thoughts are about God and not all about good things. This is what Paul charges constantly over and over again throughout his letters. Be purified in your mind. Think about those things that are above, not below. The way to do that is to actually intentionally read the Bible, listen to good sermons online, or your sermons. They're online. Read books, talk to other Christians in fellowship. Whatever your thing is, whether you need to hear it face-to-face, talk to other Christians who would inspire you. But you need to learn bigger and better thoughts of God constantly. For college students, that's why we have a library that we're willing to give away, book by book after you read each one, all about God. Knowing God, holiness, the pursuit of God. These are all to make sure we have enough to think about God. I guess it all matters. What are you putting in? Because there's certainly enough out there. Well, you can never master God. As Brian said in his prayer, God is ineffable. You can never wrap your head around Him. So the more you... you can never think enough about God. There's always something else new and more to think about. Alright, well, Thanksgiving is in two days. So we can't ignore it. You've been here now for a year. What is something you're thankful about within Jefferson Park Baptist Church? I would say one thing, but if you throw out a couple, that's okay. The high expectation of preaching here. I'm very thankful that they... I'm constantly encouraged that I'm preaching the hard truths, I'm preaching against sin, I'm preaching the gospel clearly. I'm very encouraged that this church is committed to hearing and learning about God from Scripture. I'm very encouraged and thankful for the way the church has cared for my wife. After their pursuit of God, that would be the biggest way they've cared for me. Yeah, I'm thankful that there's so many partners in the gospel ministry work here. Men who are committed to Jefferson Park, committed to serve here, committed to... I feel like I've got partners. I'm not serving over the deacons. I'm serving with the deacons. I feel like there's other men who aren't even deacons that I'm truly serving with. They've partnered with me, which is just, yeah, it's good. Great. What about your own life? What are you thankful for in your own life? My wife, my daughter. I've got a new Kindle Fire. I have to mention that because it's new. I'm thankful for it after I break it in a couple of weeks. I kind of quit using it. Yeah, thankfulness of the peacefulness of our home. God's blessed us with a peaceful, blessed home. Good. Well, Keith, why don't you close us in prayer, and as we're thankful for what God has been doing in Jefferson Park, why don't you close us with that, and that's how we'll end. All right. Almighty God, we are thankful, and I pray that that would actually always be our disposition and our heart's desire is to thank you for all you do for us. You are the giver of every good and perfect gift. You've given us Jesus Christ. You've given us life. You've given us hope. I pray that You would bless us and that You would continue, Lord, to give us a spirit to praise You for those blessings. I thank You, Lord, for Asher and his work. And I thank You, Lord, for how he labors in love for this body. I pray that You would bless him during this season. Amen.