A Theology of the Benediction

Transcript

Good evening church family. Please turn now if you will in your copy of God's Word to the book of Numbers chapter 6. Sermon text we'll be reading to begin with this evening will come from Numbers chapter 6 beginning in verse 22 and going down through verse 27. Number 6 22 through 27 hear now the Word of the Living God the Lord the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to Aaron and his sons saying thus you shall bless the people of Israel you shall say to them the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace so shall they put my name upon the people of Israel and I will bless them this is the Word of the Lord thanks be to God please join me now in prayer father in heaven we love you and we do thank you for the opportunity that we have again this evening to come and to worship you on the Lord's Day father please illuminate our hearts and our minds now to receive your word to love your word to love you because of the great revelation you have given us in your word and to leave here this evening with a greater desire to obey all of your commandments that you may receive honor and glory in every area of our lives Lord please strengthen us towards that end and we ask all of this in Christ's holy name amen you may be seated well it's a joy to continue this evening in our sermon series on corporate worship and in doing so we'll come to our next point of focus in this series and that is on the subject of the benediction in recent weeks we've covered how God calls us to worship through his word and we've also covered how a verdict is pronounced during the service and we've seen how the pastor when he preaches is used as an instrument of Christ to speak his words to his covenant people and last week pastor Scott very helpfully helped us to see how the Lord's table is a joyful feast where we commune with Christ and with one another and look forward to that great day when we will finally feast with him in glory but tonight we will come to view the very last aspect of worship that we engage in on a week to week basis in corporate worship and that is the benediction and the basic message that I want to preach this evening is this and I'll say this twice so that any note takers can get this down and that this can be ingrained in our minds from the very beginning the basic message I want to preach is this the benediction is a monumental blessing that we should not neglect but rather by faith actively engage in the benediction is a monumental blessing that we should not neglect but rather by faith actively engage in and as we all know the benediction is not only the last portion of the service that we enjoy but it is also the shortest and because it comes at the very end and because it's very short and also for other reasons that will soon see the benediction can be easily neglected and rather than see any of us fall into that unfortunate pattern my aim this evening is that each of us would leave here with a biblical theology on what exactly the benediction is why we do it why it is so beneficial to us and how each of us can avoid neglecting that blessing and of course I pray that God would bless each of us towards that end this evening and in our time together and I trust that his word is more than sufficient to do so so let's begin now by asking the most basic question that anyone could ever possibly ask about the subject of benedictions and that question is this what is it what is the benediction what does that word even mean well this word comes from the Latin term benedictio and it simply means to speak good or to speak well so for God to give a benediction to his people means that he is literally speaking well of them or speaking well or speaking goodness to them or another way to put that in a simplified term is that he is blessing them and that's all that a benediction is it's simply a blessing from God to his people and there are multiple examples of such benedictions that we could look at from scripture but I want us to look this evening at the most well-known and obvious benediction and blessing and that is the Aaronic blessing from Numbers chapter 6 that we just read a moment ago of course there we read those familiar words the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace now I trust that many of you will recall that this past May pastor Scott actually preached a very helpful sermon on this same subject and actually from this same text and in that sermon we learned that verse 24 that first line of the Aaronic blessing almost functions something like a small table of contents there are two verbs in that first line in verse 24 and those verbs are bless and keep and the way that they function like a table of table of contents is that we see them and they tell us what's coming in the following two verses verse 25 shows us what it means for us to be blessed and verse 26 shows us what it means for us to be kept and again what this outline and understanding shows us is that to be blessed by God was for the Lord's face to shine upon his people and be gracious to them and furthermore what it means for us to be kept is that God's countenance will be upon us and give us peace and these thoughts together summarized in simple form basically tell us this that God desires to bless his people and the single best thing that God can bless us with is himself that's what God desires most to bless us with the very blessing of himself in this Aaronic blessing we see that God blesses Israel with himself he promises to bless them by his presence he promises to keep or to preserve them by his countenance and he promises to give them peace which also is a result of his salvation and his presence and that is in its most simple form what a benediction is and that's what it's intended to do and so hopefully just from that simple review you can see why Christians have historically greatly treasured the concept of a benediction and also sought to continue to do so generation after generation but of course a critic could come along at this point they could hear all of this and give us something of a response like this well pastor Dylan well member of praise mill Baptist Church that's an Old Testament passage and that example is given to Aaron and to his sons for use in the Aaronic priesthood and we know that the Lord Jesus is not a great high priest according to the Aaronic priesthood but actually the Melchizedekian priesthood and we know that the Aaronic priesthood is done away with and gone and so this benediction idea sounds very nice but this isn't a clear argument for why Christians should still do it today and of course in our response we could say all of that is true this is an Old Testament example and it's given to the Aaronic priesthood and the Aaronic priesthood is no longer in effect today but despite all of that being true there are three very good reasons for why we should still practice benedictions in the context of the New Covenant and I want to give those to you now three reasons for why we as Christians still do this and why we should be doing this and the first reason is really simple enough a benediction in its most basic and simple form is just the reading of Scripture it's just reading Scripture and if you'll recall from earlier sermons in this series the public reading of Scripture is a commanded element of worship the Apostle Paul writes in first Timothy chapter 4 verse 13 until I come devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture to exhortation to teaching so brothers and sisters even if we went out of our way to say okay we're not going to have a benediction but if we still devote ourselves to the public reading of Scripture we're gonna end up publicly reading those blessings anyway so in this sense doing so really is practically unavoidable if we are committed to obeying the command to give attention the public reading of Scripture then we will practice benedictions whether we want to or not so that's a very simple reason for why we continue to do this but a second reason and another reason that we do so and really a reason that better explains why we have a scripture reading of blessing that always comes at the end of the service is because of our commitment to the dialogue of worship that we see put on display in Holy Scripture we've seen in earlier sermons in this series that in the Bible when solemn assemblies of God's people gathered for worship there is modeled a dialogue back and forth between God and between his people God speaks and his people respond God speaks and then his people respond again and we see this clearly patterned in places like Exodus 20 through 24 which we'll get to at some point on Sunday morning right we see this also in Isaiah's throne room vision in Isaiah chapter 6 and we see it again in Revelation chapter 4 and 5 and this pattern of dialogue that we see over and over again in these holy and solemn assemblies follow an order that demonstrates the basic elements of the gospel and we've referred to that many times in this series as the gospel shape first we see God reveal himself and call his people to worship second we see God's people acknowledge and confess their sin third God provides atonement fourth God speaks his word fifth God's people respond with commitment to God and then sixth and finally God's people hold a feast and again this pattern is exactly what happens when we think about how God saves his people isn't it that God reveals himself to his elect people they then know of his holiness they then acknowledge their sin they praise the Lord of an assurance of salvation that they have in Christ they then commit themselves to God's Word and then they celebrate a fellowship that they have with him as they walk forward in life it's that same gospel shape but notice this this is very important in this gospel shape and in this back and forth dialogue we've seen this over and over again but it bears repeating God always gets the first word we don't start the dialogue God starts the dialogue and so as we begin to think about who should get the final word in light of the gospel shape and in light of all that we know about who God is and who we are then logically we'll find ourselves thinking shouldn't God get the last word as well and of course he should so you see sir see church something is simple even is that even just where we talk about the placement of the benediction in the order of worship speaks volumes to what we think about God and what we think is actually happening in corporate worship and so because we're committed to that pattern of dialogue and because we follow a gospel shape that will naturally allow for God to have the first word and the last word then of course even now in New Covenant worship these principles remain these are timeless principles the Aaronic priesthood itself may be done away with but the principle of God blessing his people by grace in his ongoing desire to bless and sanctify his church obviously continues into the New Covenant that is an eternal principle that will always remain and so then we can and should embrace this practice and aspect of worship even in our New Covenant context but there's a third point a third reason for why we should continue this practice and this third point really brings it into more clear focus as to why the church has historically still continued this practice and that reason is simply this the Lord Jesus himself continued this practice the Lord Jesus himself continued this practice in the New Covenant think of it this way just two passages of comparison and these passages have already been made in this pulpit before but again it bears repeating in Leviticus chapter 9 verse 22 when we see Aaron the high priest bless the people of Israel this is what we see we see him lift up his hands to do so because this was a symbol of God blessing his people through his high priest and Aaron lifted up his hands to do so because typically with priestly blessings the priest would lay his hands individually on someone but because he can't do that to many thousands of people he just raises his hands in a way that signifies he is blessing them all that's what we see in Leviticus chapter 9 specifically verse 22 when Aaron blesses the Covenant people of Israel he raises his hands he offers a blessing and the symbol and the idea is that God is blessing the people through his priestly ministry now keep that picture in mind and remember this picture from what we saw at the very end of our study of the gospel of Luke Luke chapter 24 verses 50 through 51 those verses read this way and he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands he blessed them while he blessed them he parted from them and was carried up into heaven church family what the Lord Jesus is doing there and blessing his disciples and blessing his people that is the exact same practice and posture that Aaron showed towards Israel rather than individually going around and blessing all of his disciples the Lord Jesus lifts up his hands and blesses them all even as he's being carried up into heaven in the ascension and that last phrase there in Luke 24 51 that phrase carried up into heaven is very significant and the reason it's so significant is because later in the New Testament in Ephesians chapter 4 the Apostle Paul states that Christ Jesus in his ascension led a host of captives and gave gifts to men and in that very same chapter just a few verses later in verse 11 Paul clarifies what those gifts to his church were they were the gifts of the Apostles the prophets the evangelists shepherds and teachers and the reason that this is so significant is because his apostles who were entrusted with the revelation of Jesus Christ then went and wrote down what they had received from Christ they wrote down the pages of the New Testament and as we look at their revelation that they wrote down that is now in Holy Scripture we notice something peculiar that frequently over and over and over again as we come to the end of these books what do we find we find benedictions we find priestly blessings so think of it this way church the last interaction that Christ disciples have with him before his ascension is Jesus having the last word and blessing them and likewise in the New Testament books God himself is speaking through his word he gets the last word and he frequently ends by blessing his people to quote pastor Scott from his sermon last May when he preached on this very same subject pastor Scott said these words quote it does seem clear that the Apostles and the prophets and then later pastors who led the church that they understood that they understood that they were to continue this practice of benediction and blessing so rather than thinking that this whole benediction thing is just an Old Testament concept that was really grounded in the Aaronic priesthood we should understand that God desires to bless his people in a perpetual concept that goes into the new covenant and is still taking place today Christ continues to bless his people through the ministry of church elders as they bless the people of Christ on a week-to-week basis this is why the church has historically embraced the implementation of a benediction at the end of every service and we should continue to do so today as well now being settled with them being settled with what the benediction is and why we do it we can now move on to ask this simple question as you can tell in the sermon I'm just trying to ask very simple questions to easily ground us in a biblical theology of what the benediction is so being settled in that being settled in what it is and why we do it now we can ask this question how exactly does this benefit does this benediction sanctify us and how is it so helpful to us on a weekly basis well for starters and in the most basic way possible the benediction sanctifies us in the same way that all God's Word sanctifies us it sanctifies us because these words are the truth because they're from God's Holy Word they sanctify us because they remind us that we were called into worship by God and we are now being blessed and being commissioned out by God these words sanctify us because in that order we are reminded that he is God and we are not that the one blessing is greater and that those receiving the blessings are inferior and it sanctifies us also in this very helpful way thinking back to what we read in Numbers chapter 6 specifically verse 27 number 6 verse 27 there in that verse we heard these words so shall they put my name upon the people of Israel and I will bless them brothers and sisters the benediction sanctifies us because it places the very name of God on us let me say that again in the benediction God is placing his holy name on us again now from a biblical theology perspective when we're saved in Christ when we're made new and especially when we're baptized and we come into the life of the church we are there initially given God's name but on a week-to-week basis as we receive the benediction God is putting his name upon us again and to understand just how significant that is just ask yourself this question how important is God's name to himself how important is God's name it's so important that to use it in vain is a violation of the Third Commandment as a binding moral principle of the law it's so important that those who took his name in vain to very well have may been stoned to death in the covenant community of Israel that's how important God's name is and then likewise in a very practical sense that all of us will understand God's putting his name on us reminds us that he is our God and that we are his people and that because we bear his name he owns us we are his rightful property I'll give you a simple analogy of this and I thought of this this last weekend when me and brother Tommy Ivan were talking at the men's camping trip brother Tommy Ivan and I both love baseball baseball is the great American pastime and if your favorite sport is not baseball you're lovingly wrong baseball is the best sport and Tommy and I were talking about that and Tommy was showing me his glove a glove that he's had for a long time and I saw his name written on the glove and that just brought back into my mind how frustrating it was at times playing baseball growing up that you'd get ready to run back out onto the field and somebody would grab your glove and then you're looking for yours and then you see they've got it and then you go up and you say hey that's my glove and they say no it's not it's my glove and then you open the inside flap and you see right there on the inside of the glove Dylan Joyner that's my glove it's my glove you'll get your own glove this is mine church that's what God is doing to his people every week we are his people we are his property bought by the very blood of his son Jesus Christ we belong to him that's what he's doing and as we participate in that every single week what is so helpful for us in being reminded of that is that it can and should even make us think back to the very first day when we were stamped with his name the day that we were saved the day that we were baptized brought into the life of the church there are even some theologians that will talk about the benediction improving upon our baptism not that a benediction is another baptism but that it helpfully draws to our memory and attention that his name is already on us and continues to be put upon us every single week as we're commissioned out with his name that's very sanctifying that's very encouraging that's devotional and helpful to us in so many different ways and specifically it should be commissioning to us because it should help us to remember that as we leave here and as we go we go bearing God's name wherever we go and in whatever we do so as we leave here tonight and get ready to go home and fellowship with our families remember church you bear the name of God if you are in Christ when you get up tomorrow morning and get ready to go to work remember you bear the name of God as you have opportunity to evangelize your friends and your neighbors and your family members and your co-workers remember you bear the name of God and remember when no one's looking as we strive to be people of integrity we bear the name of God that should change the way we think about everything and especially when we remember that God never blesses anyone in the Bible just because he feels like it God blesses people for a particular reason and purpose he blesses us so that we might worship him that's the reason we're created so as that idea is brought to our mind every week as we're being blessed and receiving his name again that should mold and shape the way we think about everything that we do always for his glory and every sphere in every aspect of our lives that's how it's sanctifying that's how it's encouraging and that's how it's so beneficial week after week now a fourth and final point that I want to bring forward to your attention this evening is to ask this question now that we understand what the benediction is now that we understand why we still do it today in our new covenant context and now that we understand how it is so sanctifying and beneficial to us we can ask this question how in the world is it so easily neglected how is this blessing this aspect of worship so easily neglected and I believe there are three ways three ways that this blessing is neglected in the modern church today I want to share those with you so that each of us can be reminded of them and then avoid them as we seek to faithfully engage in this aspect of worship number one the first way and the most obvious way that this is neglected is that this biblical theology of benedictions is simply not known it's just not taught I was having a conversation with pastor Matt in the office this week and we were talking about just how amazing this concept is and then also specifically how common it is to come across Christians that have never been taught this before this theology is biblical it's tremendous it should cause us to think even more of God and his greatness as he blesses us week after week but I trust that you all understand as we continue to embrace the regulative principle here in the life of our church that we are quite rare in that sense and we really shouldn't be but unfortunately we are a biblical implementation of the regulative principle of worship in every area of our worship service but even also the benediction is unfortunately quite rare I mean just ask yourself this question that biblical theology of benediction that was just laid out that we've also heard from pastor Scott before how many professing Christians do you know out there in broader American evangelicalism have ever been taught this it unfortunately is not that known and so that obviously is the most common way that it is neglected and that's not anyone's fault per se but it is a shame that a lot of people simply don't know this and so with that in mind church family let me just exhort you as one of your pastors unto this end please take the opportunity that you have in the life of this church to be grounded in this biblical understanding of worship don't neglect it not just regarding the benediction but regarding everything else that we've already talked about in this series how God gets the first word how his word calls us into worship how all of it is led by Scripture how Scripture is sufficient to tell us not only what we should be doing in worship but is also sufficient to guide and structure our service in a way that is biblical and that represents the gospel don't neglect any of this I can honestly tell you in my own life that it was not until my days in seminary six or seven years ago when I first came across this biblical theology of what a benediction is and I can tell you right now not just as one of your pastors but specifically just as a brother in Christ here in the life of this church I am determined that my sons and my daughters will not be 24 years old when they learn this theology for the first for the first time they're not going to be 24 I want them to be six and seven and eight and nine and ten when they learn this and I want them to grow in it and I want them to practice it and understand it week after week after week after week so that they and their own affections are molded and shaped by faithfully engaging in these aspects of worship so men of praise mill do not neglect the opportunity that you have lead by example raise up your wives and your children to do the same to embrace this biblical theology of the regulative principle in the way that we worship now a second way a second way that the benediction is neglected and I'll tell you on the front end even as I was preparing for the sermon this evening I had a huge section to this point that I just deleted because it was gonna take a lot of time this is a personal pet peeve of mine and so I'll try to be brief with this but a second way that the benediction is neglected is when people skip it people just skip it and for what it's worth that has happened here in the life of this church since I've been here as a pastor here's what it looks like it's very simple you come to service you hear the sermon you enjoyed the Lord's table and when that's done because the important parts are over you get up and you leave that's what I mean by skip it quite literally just to skip it as if it doesn't matter now let me be clear if you're having a medical emergency please get up and leave if you've got to go to the bathroom and you just cannot hold it any longer which by the way I'll say my children seem to always have that problem during service if you've really got to go to the bathroom that bad then please get up and go and if you get a text during the service that there's a family emergency or some other form of emergency that means you have to get up and go please get up and go if you're about to get sick if you're about to throw up in the pew get up and go but assuming that none of those situations are taking place where there is no emergency and there's no necessary or pressing matter that demands you leave now please don't skip the benediction don't leave again just understanding what all is taking place in the benediction God blessing his people on desanctification every week with his name even so that they look back on their baptism and think highly of it even more so because of what God has done in salvation why in the world would any of us ever want to miss out on that doesn't make any sense and I'll say specifically here to this church I know there is a temptation every single month because of our monthly fellowships to get down to the gym and to get a table and to get set up and all that I totally understand that but just hear me say as one of your pastors better that you just don't eat lunch just don't eat it if the two options on the table are I'm just not gonna eat lunch and I'm gonna stay and have the benediction or I'm gonna skip out on the benediction so I can get down there in time and have my lunch just don't eat lunch at all just don't do it God is blessing us with his word do we believe that or do we not if we don't then skipping the benediction is very easy but if we actually believe by faith that this is what God is doing at the conclusion of the service then the idea of skipping it is just utterly ridiculous again if there's an emergency please leave but if there's not don't neglect and skip the benediction and then third and finally the other way in which the benediction is neglected is through not engaging in the benediction by faith let me say that again it's neglected when we don't engage in the benediction by faith this is the going through the motions problem this is what it looks like for someone to know these doctrinal truths about what's happening in corporate worship and why the benediction matters but not faithfully engage in it anyway you might think briefly about the word that's being read or the scripture reference but you're not really actively and consciously thinking to yourself while the benediction is being given that God is blessing us as a church family right now and that is what we should be thinking that's what should be going through our minds and hear me clearly on this our doing so our thinking that way believing this being consciously focused and giving ourselves to this aspect of worship this molds and shapes our affections towards God and towards his word as we build up that habit week after week that's actually what it's intended to do so here in just a few moments there's gonna be a benediction at the end of this service I'm gonna read from Scripture we're gonna stand up in honor of the reading of God's holy word and we're going to receive a benediction if you stand up when that happens and you think in your mind right now in this moment I can't see God but I know that we are gathered with the heavenly Jerusalem I know that's taking place and he's blessing me right now and he's blessing us together with his word then you'll do it again the next week or at least you'll be reminded to do it again and as you do that week after week after week after week after week your understanding of how gracious and loving and merciful that God is to us will continue to grow and the idea that you have in your mind of God's Word being a blessing to us will continue to grow that's how the habit is supposed to work that's actually what should be taking place in us week by week that's what we should be doing but be warned if you're not doing this if you just stand up at the end of the service while the benedictions taking place and you're disengaged you're not paying attention you're kind of stretching your legs this is a chance to kind of get ready to walk out and you're not doing that then whether you realize you're doing it or not God is blessing his people we are in the presence of the Lord as we're gathered as a corporate body and now you're actually in a habit molding and shaping yourself to have an indifferent attitude towards God's blessing and his word one week is not going to be a problem with them at least too much but you start doing that every single week for weeks and weeks and months and months and years and years and then you wonder sometimes when you have your own personal Bible study and devotion that you don't have a high reverence for who God is and what his word says well perhaps it's because you've developed a habit of having an irreverent response to his word we are being molded in shape and how we engage in worship either in the positive or in the negative if we faithfully engage then it will build us up in a Christ like manner to think much more of God and to think much more of his word and to receive that blessing and then to go out being commissioned to worship God and everything that we do and if we don't do that then we are being molded in shape through habit of responding to God and his word in a very unhelpful way that's how the benediction can also be neglected now as we conclude and prepare to end our consideration of benedictions please know this the most basic spiritual principle of benedictions is that God desires to bless his people and ultimately we know that we are only blessed by God's Word when we are saved by God's Word himself who is the Lord Jesus Christ and as one of your pastors I greatly desired that each of us would be blessed by the benediction each week as God blesses us marks us with his name and commissions us out to live for his glory and again I trust that God will use his word to sanctify each of us as we faithfully give ourselves to that each week but if you're here in the life of our church and you're not a born-again Christian perhaps speaking of some of the young people and the teenagers here in the life of our church then you need to know this as long as you are outside of Christ and aren't saved in him you are missing out on God's ultimate blessing and we want you to be a part of that blessing we want you to be a part of God's eternal family in Christ Jesus we want you to receive this blessing every week but it won't happen if you're not in Christ so please know this if you're here tonight and you're not in Christ know this that the very same Savior who lifted up his hands and blessed his people and who blessed his church with gifts so that the blessings of God would continue upon them was the very same Savior who died for sinners on the cross and rose again from the grave three days later and just as we read in our New Testament reading this morning in corporate worship from Romans chapter 10 if you believe in your heart that God raised Christ from the dead and if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved and we plead with you by God's grace that you would turn away from your sins and place your faith and trust in Christ and to the saints of praise mill let's continue to be built up in the gospel may each of us turn away from our sins believe the gospel daily and obey the commandments of God as we love him with all of our heart soul mind and strength and may God bless us by his word as we seek to do so let's pray father in heaven we do love you and we thank you for the chance we've had this evening to be reminded of the importance of benedictions from your word Lord would you please be with the families of praise mill as they seek to be grounded in this biblical theology on a week to week basis Lord help each of us to know why we do this and why it is so beneficial to us and father may we always remember the simple and easy ways in which this aspect of worship can be neglected and father please by your grace would you keep us from those instead would you cause us by your Holy Spirit to faithfully be engaged in every aspect of worship so that as we receive the benediction every week and engage in every other aspect of worship Lord that you would build us up in the truth of Christ and Lord I pray specifically for the young people in the life of this church Lord would you please use their parents to raise them up and to disciple them in this biblical theology of worship so that their children and their grandchildren which would be our great-grandchildren might be even more committed from an early age and on a generational basis to be engaged in this biblical worship to the honoring glory of your name into the sanctification of their souls Lord please bless all of this towards that end and we ask this in Christ name amen