Latest / Reformed Thinking / Our Home! | J. C. Ryle

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Our Home! | J. C. Ryle · Reformed Thinking

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  You know, there is a very specific feeling you get when
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  you sit down, blow the dust off the cover and open up a really
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  old photograph album. Oh, absolutely.
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  Yeah, you flip past that heavy worn binding and suddenly you
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  are looking at faces from decades ago.
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  And it is a beautiful experience.
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  I mean, you see people you love. Right.
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  Or maybe you see people you have never even met, but whose
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  features somehow mirror your own.
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  Yes, that is it. You recognize your grandfather's
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  jawline on a man wearing a World War One uniform.
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  It is uncanny when that happens. It really is.
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  But right alongside that beauty, there is always this sharp,
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  almost physical sting of nostalgia and loss.
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  Because you realize what is gone.
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  Spot on. You see the old house that was
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  sold 20 years ago. You see the grandparents who are
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  no longer sitting in their favorite armchairs.
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  You see your own parents looking so incredibly young, holding you
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  as a toddler. Yeah, and the overwhelming
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  realization washes over you as you close the book.
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  Absolutely nothing stays the same.
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  The people change. The places change, the seasons
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  pass. It is a heavy thing to process.
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  It really is welcome to reformed thinking.
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  Today, we are taking a deep dive into why that specific sting of
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  nostalgia is actually a massive clue about human design.
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  It points to something much bigger than just missing the
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  good old days, right? We are looking at a classic
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  piece of writing from the 19th century English Bishop JC Rile.
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  We are going to unpack a chapter titled Our Home from his well
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  known work, Practical Religion. Which is a fantastic text to
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  look into. It is.
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  The mission for our conversation right now is to look at the
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  universal human longing for a permanent dwelling place.
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  We want to see how the physical world constantly frustrates that
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  desire and how Christian theology presents Christ as the
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  single lasting sanctuary for the soul.
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  It is a subject that resonates with everyone, regardless of
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  your background. That longing for permanence is
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  well, it's hardwired into the human condition.
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  It really seems to be. And what makes JC Rile's writing
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  so compelling is his absolute refusal to sugarcoat reality.
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  He is remarkably straightforward.
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  He does not hold back at all. No, he writes with an
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  unvarnished honesty that cuts right through the polite
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  illusions we build around ourselves to cope with getting
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  older. And we all build those
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  illusions, don't we? We do.
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  We have to, in a way. Yet at the same time, his
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  writing is intensely pastoral. He's not trying to depress you.
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  Right, that is a key distinction.
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  He is trying to wake you up to reality so you can find actual,
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  unshakable comfort. The text brings out startling
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  truths about the fleeting nature of life, and he frames this
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  entire discussion through the lens of Psalm 90.
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  Let's start right there with Psalm 90.
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  Because context is everything. Ryle opens his chapter by
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  zeroing in on the very first verse.
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  Lord, Thou has been our dwelling place in all generation.
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  Yeah, now if you just hear that in isolation, it sounds like a
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  lovely, comforting piece of poetry It.
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  Sounds like something you would see cross stitched on a pillow
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  in a guest bedroom. Spot on.
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  A nice little sentiment, but Ryle points out the specific
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  historical context here and it is staggering Moses wrote this
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  Psalm. And he did not write it while
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  sitting comfortably in a palace in Egypt.
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  No, he did not. He wrote it after spending 40
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  years watching an entire generation of Israelites, the
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  very people who left Egypt with him, die in the wilderness.
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  The historical reality completely alters the weight of
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  that verse. If we connect this to the bigger
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  picture of the Exodus narrative, we are looking at a massive
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  population. A staggering number of people.
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  Right. Hundreds of thousands of people
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  crossed the Red Sea in absolute triumph, were delivered from
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  slavery, they saw miracles that defied explanation, and they
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  were headed to the Promised Land.
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  But then they reached Kadesh Barnia.
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  Yeah, they hit a turning point. They stood on the very edge of
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  the land they were promised, but they let their fear overrule
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  their faith. They panicked when they saw the
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  giants in the land. Because of their unbelief and
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  rebellion, God pronounced A judgement that specific
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  generation would not enter the land.
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  Such a heavy consequence. They would wander in the
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  wilderness for 40 years until every single person 20 years old
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  and upward had passed away. Right.
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  So Moses is functioning as the leader, the pastor, and
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  essentially the undertaker for an entire nation.
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  Just pause and think about the sheer scale of what Moses
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  witnessed over 4 decades. He's watching his friends drop
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  like grass. It is hard to even picture.
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  The strong, the swift, the wise, the tender, the beautiful
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  companions who walk through the parted waters with him day after
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  day, month after month, year after year.
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  The visual of that is just relentless.
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  If you do the math on a population that size dying off
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  over 40 years, there must have been dozens of funerals.
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  Every single. Day.
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  Literally every day. The desert literally became a
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  massive wandering graveyard. The psychological and spiritual
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  burden on Moses would have been crushing.
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  He is watching the continuous daily fulfillment of a divine
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  judgement. He can never escape it.
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  His companions are constantly changing, consuming, and passing
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  away into the sand. The wilderness was never meant
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  to be their home, but it became their tomb.
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  That is a harsh reality. And it is in the middle of that
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  environment, an environment defined by wandering, death and
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  the temporary nature of canvas tents, that Moses looks up and
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  says, Lord, thou art her dwelling place.
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  He had nothing else to look to. He recognizes that because they
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  are pilgrims and strangers upon the earth with no abiding city,
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  God himself must be their home. That is a stunning picture, and
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  Ryle brings this ancient reality right into his own modern
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  context by pointing to the Church of England's burial
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  service. The liturgy there is incredibly
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  striking. He notes how beautiful the
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  liturgy is, specifically the imagery of the minister meeting
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  the coffin at the churchyard gate.
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  The minister leads the mourners into the church, and as they
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  walk, what do they read? They read Psalm 90.
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  Yeah, they read Psalm 90. Ryle notes that he knows
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  nothing, which sounds so soothing, solemnizing, heart
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  touching and moving to a person's spirit at that trying
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  moment as the utterance of the old inspired lawgiver.
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  Because it just cuts through everything else.
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  When you are standing near an open grave, all the illusions of
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  earthly permanence are violently stripped away.
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  You cannot pretend anymore. The words Lord, Thou has been
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  our dwelling place an anchor in a moment when the ground
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  literally feels like it is shifting beneath your feet.
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  It is a solemn recognition that your truest home is not the
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  physical body that is being laid in the earth.
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  Right. I have to ask you a question
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  about human nature here. Why does it so often take a
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  brush with mortality or literally standing at a
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  churchyard gate for human beings to recognize that they are just
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  pilgrims and strangers on the earth?
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  That is the big question, isn't it?
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  Why are we so incredibly prone to suppressing this reality?
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  We have a remarkable capacity for distraction, mostly as a
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  defense mechanism. The daily routines of life, the
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  acquisition of possessions, the building of careers, all these
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  things create a very convincing illusion of permanence.
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  We act like we are going to be here forever.
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  We act as if the current arrangement will last forever
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  because dealing with the fragility of life requires an
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  emotional toll we prefer to avoid.
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  It is just too exhausting to think about all the time.
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  If you constantly walked around thinking about how fragile your
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  body is, you would be paralyzed by anxiety.
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  So we build walls. But then death intrudes.
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  Yes, When death intrudes, it shatters that defense.
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  The illusion breaks. You are forced to see the
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  reality that human life is incredibly brief.
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  There is no hiding from it at that point.
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  And because of that fragility, you are compelled to take a
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  hard, realistic look at this physical world you spend so much
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  energy trying to turn into a permanent paradise.
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  If the physical world is compromised by that fragility,
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  we need to take an honest inventory of the place we're
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  trying to live in, Ryle says. The world is beautiful.
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  He brings up the sunsets, the oceans, the harvests, the
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  massive forests. It is not that the physical
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  world is inherently bad or ugly. Right.
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  But he argues it is not a true home, it is an inn.
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  Just the place you stopped for the night.
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  Exactly. Well, I mean spot on.
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  It is a tent, a Tabernacle, a lodging, a training school.
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  But it is not a permanent residence.
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  And he proves this by breaking down 4 specific fractures in our
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  earthly home. This is where his pastoral
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  realism shines. He systematically dismantles the
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  idea that the world can offer lasting security, starting with
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  the fact that it is a changing world.
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  That is the first fracture, a changing world.
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  Everything is constantly moving Families, properties, landlords,
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  tenants, laborers, the. Churn is just endless.
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  Ryle points out how incredibly uncommon it is to find the same
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  family name in the exact same dwelling for three generations
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  running. It is the exception, not the
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  rule. People pack up, they move for
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  work. They downsize when the kids
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  leave, they upgrade when they get a promotion.
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  The scenery is always shifting. The concept of a forever home is
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  basically a marketing myth. And that constant movement
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  prevents us from laying down the kind of eternal roots our souls
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  actually crave. We are constantly pulling up the
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  stakes of our tent. We never really settle.
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  But the second fracture, he points out, goes beyond just
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  moving boxes. He says it is a trying and
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  disappointing world. This one hits hard.
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  He makes a very sharp observation.
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  He asks whoever lives to be 50 years old and does not find his
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  cost that this is true. By 50 you have seen some things.
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  By the time a person reaches half a century, they have
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  encountered what Ryle calls the skeleton in the closet.
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  I love that phrase, the skeleton in the closet, because from the
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  outside, especially today with curated social media feeds, a
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  family might look flawless. Oh, the pictures are always.
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  Perfect. The house is painted, the lawn
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  is manicured, the vacation photos are stunning.
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  But behind the front door there are massive trials.
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  Everyone is dealing with something.
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  Ryle lists them out Trials and marriage trials.
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  Trials and singleness. Trials with children.
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  Breaking your heart. Trials and money matters.
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  Trials and health. The sheer volume of these trials
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  is staggering. And, as he notes, maybe not even
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  a tenth of them ever come to light.
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  People carry these burdens silently to work, to the grocery
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  store, and to church. They do.
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  We are surrounded by walking wounded and this ties directly
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  into his third fracture, which is perhaps the most sobering.
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  It is a dying world. Death meets us at every turn.
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  Ryle uses the poignant imagery of Christmas gatherings as
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  families come together year after year.
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  Eventually there are empty chairs.
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  That is such a vivid picture. There are vacant places at the
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  table where a grandfather used to sit and carve the Turkey.
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  Let me play devil's advocate here for a second.
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  When you read that part of the text, he asks these rapid fire
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  questions. Where are our fathers and
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  mothers? Where are the old teachers?
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  Where are the friends we played with at school?
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  And the reply he gives is brutal.
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  He says dead, dead, dead. The daisies are growing over
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  their graves and we are left alone.
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  Isn't he just being incredibly morbid?
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  It sounds like it at first glance.
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  Focusing on empty chairs at Christmas sounds like a recipe
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  for depression. How is this actually helpful for
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  practical religion? It feels morbid to modern years
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  because we have sanitized death. We put it in hospitals and
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  funeral homes and try not to look at.
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  It we push as far out of sight as possible.
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  But Ryle is not being morbid, he is being realistic.
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  Ignoring the empty chair is lying to yourself.
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  You cannot just pretend they're still there.
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  If you pretend the world is not dying, you will put all your
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  hope in a system that is guaranteed to collapse.
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  By facing the reality of death head on, he is stripping away
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  your false hopes so you can rebuild your foundation on
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  something that actually survives the grave.
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  It is painful surgery. It is painful surgery, but it is
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  necessary to cure the disease of false hope.
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  I see what you mean. The realism is the medicine, and
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  the final fracture he identifies proves just how deep the disease
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  goes, he says. It is a dividing world.
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  Families do not just break apart through death.
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  No, they fracture through discord.
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  He notes how rarely families stay united after the surviving
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  parent is laid in the grave. The cement is withdrawn.
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  The principle of cohesion is lost.
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  This is where the emotional reality of sin and human
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  weakness becomes intensely apparent.
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  It gets really ugly sometimes. When the patriarch or matriarch
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  is gone, the underlying tensions that were kept in check out of
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  respect suddenly bubble to the surface.
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  Ryle talks about the squabbles that happened after a parent
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  dies, the wretched wrangles over money or trinkets.
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  It's so common it is almost a cliche.
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  You see siblings who grew up in the same house going to war over
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  a piece of furniture or the remainder of a bank account.
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  And he uses this brilliant analogy.
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  He compares these relational breaches to a crack in China.
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  That visual is just perfect. You might be able to rivet the
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  pieces back together. You might patch up the argument
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  so you can tolerate each other in holidays, but the crack is
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  always there. It is never quite cured.
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  Those who played in the same nursery rarely lie down in the
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  same churchyard or keep peace with one another until they die.
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  If we look at these 4 fractures, the changing, the trying, the
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  dying and the dividing, we have to ask why the world operates
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  this way. Why is it all so broken?
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  The Christian Worldview provides a very clear historical answer.
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  These are the bitter fruit of sin.
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  This is the sorrowful consequence of the fall of Adam
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  and Eve. It goes all the way back to the
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  beginning. When humanity rebelled, the
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  original design was fractured. Thorns and thistles enter the
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  physical ground, and relational thorns enter human interactions.
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  Understanding this theological origin is vital.
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  It means you should not murmur or fret as if some strange,
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  unexpected thing has happened to you.
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  This is the reality of a fallen world, and you must accept it
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  without complaint while doing your best to lighten the sorrows
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  of the people around you. So, practically speaking, how
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  does Ryle apply the sobering reality to the reader?
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  He does not just leave it as an abstract theological concept
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  concept hovering in the air. He brings it right down to
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  earth. He speaks directly to three
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  specific groups, starting with the young.
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  If you are listening to this and you are young and your future
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  looks bright and cheerful, Ryles advice is incredibly practical,
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  he says. Moderate your expectations.
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  He's giving you a shield against bitterness.
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  He is telling the younger reader not to place the full weight of
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  their hope on earthly outcomes. Because the Earth cannot support
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  that weight. If you expect a flawless
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  marriage, perfect children who never rebel, or a career that
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  never frustrates you, you are setting yourself up to be
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  crushed. Yeah, disappointment will
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  destroy you. The less you expect from people
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  and things here below, the happier you will be.
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  You'll be dealing with reality rather than a fantasy, which
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  allows you to extend grace when people inevitably fail you.
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  Then he addresses the prosperous listeners, those who have not
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  yet had the skeleton in their closet exposed.
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  The people who seem to be coasting.
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  Poverty, sickness and family troubles have passed over their
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  door so far. They might be sitting there
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  thinking I am good, I have a great retirement account, my
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  health is fine, I will die quietly in my bed and see no
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  sorrow. Rile's warning to them is stark.
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  You are not yet in harbor. A sudden storm can change your
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  note in an instant. A single phone call from a
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  doctor can wipe out all that security.
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  So. Do not lean your whole weight on
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  your wealth. It is a fragile read that will
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  snap and Pierce your hand. Hold your possessions with a
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  loose grip. And finally, he addresses those
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  who currently have a happy home. He is not anti happiness, not at
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  all. He acknowledges that a really
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  happy Christian home is the nearest approach to heaven on
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  earth. If you have that, you should be
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  immensely thankful for. It But even then he pulls in the
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  wisdom of the apostle Paul from First Corinthians 7.
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  The fashion of this world passes away.
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  The current state of things will not last forever.
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  Those who rejoice must do so knowing the temporary nature of
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  the joy. If the physical world is
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  completely compromised by these 4 fractures, then we are left
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  completely exposed. We need a shelter that isn't
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  made of bricks and mortar or dependent on a healthy bank
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  account. We need something storm proof.
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  How does Ryle solve this? This brings us to the core hope
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  of his writing, the portable sanctuary of the soul.
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  Ryle makes a clear distinction here about timing.
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  He acknowledges Second Corinthians 5.1 that heaven is
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  the final destination, the building of God, the house not
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  made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
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  That is where the soul and body are eventually reunited, renewed
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  and perfected. But you and I are not there yet.
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  We are still walking through the wilderness.
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  So what do we do right now? We need something for today.
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  Ryle points out that the believer has a present spiritual
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  dwelling place today and that home is Christ himself.
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  This is a massive theological comfort.
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  To know Christ by faith is to have an immediate, accessible
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  sanctuary. But I want to talk about the
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  mechanics of this. How does a person live in Christ
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  daily? It is easy to say that as an
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  abstract idea, but you are right.
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  What does it look like on a Tuesday afternoon when you are
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  overwhelmed? Ryle says it means fleeing to
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  him in every storm of conscience.
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  It means using him as your refuge in times of trouble.
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  He gives a list of titles that function almost like specific
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  tools for the soul. He says we use Christ as our
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  priest, our confessor, our absolver and our spiritual
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  director every single morning and evening.
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  Now, in a Protestant context, this is highly significant.
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  Very significant. You do not have to travel to a
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  physical building to find absolution.
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  You do not have to sit in a booth with a human mediator to
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  confess your anxieties or your sins.
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  You have a direct, unhindered line to the Creator of the
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  universe. You carry the sanctuary with
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  you. That concept of carrying the
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  sanctuary is beautifully illustrated by an analogy Rile
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  uses. He points to the humblest of
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  God's creatures, the snail or the tortoise, which carries its
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  shell on its back. It is a great image.
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  Wherever that creature goes, it has its home.
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  In the same way, the Christian carries their eternal home with
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  them everywhere they go. You can strip a person of their
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  health, their money, their liberty, and their friends, but
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  you cannot separate them from the sanctuary they carry within.
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  It is entirely untouched by external circumstances.
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  To reinforce that reality, Ryle quotes the 17th century Puritan
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  Richard Baxter. Baxter wrote these lines.
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  What if in prison I must dwell? May I not then converse with
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  thee, save me from sin, thy wrath in hell.
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  Call me thy child, and I am free.
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  That is the portable sanctuary in action.
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  You could be locked in a stone cell, completely isolated from
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  the changing trying world, and still be entirely at home.
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  Let me offer a modern analogy here to try and capture how this
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  works. Think of this spiritual reality
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  like a deep sea divers suit. OK, I like where this is going.
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  You are dropped into the ocean. The surrounding environment is
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  freezing, it is hostile and it is full of immense pressure.
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  The pressure of the ocean represents the trying, dying
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  world. If you were unprotected in that
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  environment, the pressure will literally crush your lungs.
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  You'll destroy you. Exactly.
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  I mean spot on, but the diving suit provides a completely
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  separate internal atmosphere. It gives you perfect safety,
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  warmth and oxygen. You are insulated from the
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  elements. The pressure is still out there,
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  pressing against the glass. The darkness is still out there,
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  but you are breathing the air of a different world.
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  That is a very helpful way to look at it.
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  How does grasping this theological reality alter how a
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  person processes daily anxiety and sudden loss?
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  What is the actual mechanism in the brain and the soul?
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  It shifts the entire foundation of a person's peace.
• 19:27
  If your peace is tied to the external environment, your bank
• 19:30
  account, your health, the stability of your family, then
• 19:34
  every time the pressure changes you will experience severe
• 19:37
  anxiety. You are constantly bracing for
• 19:39
  impact. Every sudden loss will feel like
• 19:42
  a breach in your hall and the water starts rushing in.
• 19:45
  But if your peace is anchored in this portable sanctuary, in the
• 19:48
  internal atmosphere of Christ's presence, the external
• 19:51
  environment loses its terrifying grip.
• 19:53
  It cannot get inside. You can acknowledge the pain and
• 19:56
  the loss without being consumed by it.
• 19:59
  You still feel the cold water around you, but you know your
• 20:02
  truest home remains entirely intact.
• 20:05
  The pressure cannot breach the suit.
• 20:07
  That is such a vital distinction.
• 20:09
  Knowing that this portable sanctuary exists is wonderful,
• 20:13
  but we need to actually walk through the front door.
• 20:15
  We need to examine the specific architectural features of this
• 20:18
  spiritual house. What makes it so safe?
• 20:21
  Ryle outlines 5 distinct attributes of Christ as a
• 20:24
  dwelling place, which we can think of as the five rooms of
• 20:27
  the true home. The first room Ryle describes is
• 20:30
  characterized by this truth. There is room for all.
• 20:33
  The door is always on the latch. It is never bolted, no matter
• 20:36
  what time of night you arrive. This speaks directly to the
• 20:39
  sheer accessibility of Christ. The imagery he uses here is
• 20:42
  drawn straight from the parables.
• 20:44
  The fatted calf and the best robe are always ready, and Ryle
• 20:47
  is very specific about who is welcome.
• 20:49
  It's not just the respectable put together people who sit in
• 20:52
  the front view. He says there is room for the
• 20:54
  vilest of the vile, the servant of sin, the enemy of all
• 20:58
  righteousness. But then he also includes the
• 21:00
  opposite end of the spectrum, the Pharisee, the Sadducee, the
• 21:04
  publican. That specific list is brilliant
• 21:06
  because it covers every type of human failure.
• 21:09
  The Pharisee represents the rigid, self-righteous rule
• 21:13
  follower who thinks they don't need grace.
• 21:15
  They think they built their own sanctuary.
• 21:17
  The Sadducee represents the skeptic, the intellectual elite
• 21:21
  who doubts the supernatural. The Publican represents the
• 21:24
  corrupt traitor, the person who has sold out their own people
• 21:27
  for money. Whether your sin is gross public
• 21:30
  immorality or quiet, arrogant pride, the door is unbolted for
• 21:35
  you. Come unto me, he cries.
• 21:37
  But once a person actually steps through that door, they enter
• 21:39
  the second room, which Ryle calls Boundless Mercy.
• 21:43
  And what is fascinating here is how Ryle unpacks the sequence of
• 21:46
  events that happens to a person once they are inside.
• 21:49
  He lays out a very clear step by step understanding of salvation,
• 21:53
  drawing heavily from the theology of Roman.
• 21:56
  He says whom he receives he keeps, whom he admits he at once
• 22:00
  fully justifies. Whom he justifies, he
• 22:02
  sanctifies. Whom he sanctifies, he
• 22:04
  glorifies. That sequence is often called
• 22:06
  the Golden Chain of Redemption. It is a massive theological
• 22:10
  framework packed into a few sentences.
• 22:12
  And we need to define what justification actually means
• 22:14
  here, because it directly counters performance based
• 22:17
  religion. It is not God saying you are a
• 22:20
  pretty good person. I will overlook your flaws.
• 22:23
  It is a legal declaration. It means the perfect
• 22:25
  righteousness of Christ is credited to your account.
• 22:28
  You were declared entirely faultless before the judge.
• 22:31
  Ryle points to John 6.37 where Jesus says him that cometh to me
• 22:36
  I will in no wise cast out. He stresses that no one is
• 22:39
  accepted on probation. That is a huge relief.
• 22:42
  You are not brought into the house and told sit in the corner
• 22:45
  and if you behave well enough for six months you can stay.
• 22:48
  If you stumble because you are weak or bad, you are not thrown
• 22:51
  back out into the cold night. That removes the crushing
• 22:54
  anxiety of trying to earn your stay.
• 22:56
  You are secure, and that security naturally leads into
• 22:59
  the third room, unvarying kindness.
• 23:02
  Christ is not an austere, harsh taskmaster who glares at you
• 23:06
  every time you make a mistake. He is meek and lowly in heart.
• 23:09
  Ryle explains that the Holy Spirit is placed in the
• 23:12
  believer's heart, dwelling in them as in a temple.
• 23:15
  The daily provision in this House is leading, guiding and
• 23:18
  patient instruction. Now I want to clarify something
• 23:21
  here because unvarying kindness does not mean there are no rules
• 23:25
  or that God just turns a blind eye to destructive behavior.
• 23:29
  No, Ryle is clear that discipline absolutely exists in
• 23:32
  this House. If we err, we are brought back.
• 23:35
  If we transgress wilfully, we are chastised.
• 23:38
  But how do we distinguish between punishment and
• 23:40
  discipline? A judge punishes a criminal to
• 23:43
  satisfy the demands of the law. A father disciplines a child to
• 23:47
  correct their behavior and protect them from harm.
• 23:49
  That makes perfect sense. In this spiritual home, the
• 23:52
  legal punishment was already absorbed by Christ.
• 23:54
  Therefore, any correction you receive is the discipline of a
• 23:58
  devoted parent. It is meant to heal, not to
• 24:01
  destroy. The purpose of the chastisement
• 24:03
  is to make you better, to strip away the sin that makes you
• 24:06
  miserable. The rule of the entire house,
• 24:08
  the very atmosphere of the room, is love.
• 24:11
  And this fatherly kindness is sustained by the reality of the
• 24:14
  fourth room. No change.
• 24:17
  Ryle quotes Hebrews 13.8. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday
• 24:21
  and today and forever. This is the direct, perfect
• 24:25
  antidote to the first fracture of the world we discussed
• 24:27
  earlier, the changing world. Ryle makes a very sharp
• 24:31
  observation about earthly relationships here.
• 24:33
  He points out how full of fickleness earthly homes are.
• 24:36
  Even among friends, there is an exhaustion that sets in.
• 24:39
  People offer courtesy and civility on their lips, but
• 24:43
  inwardly they're weary of your company.
• 24:45
  I checked their watches, wishing you would leave.
• 24:47
  You never really know how long your presence is welcome.
• 24:49
  You are always reading the room. But with Christ there is 0
• 24:53
  fickleness from your youth to your old age.
• 24:55
  He is never tired of doing good to those who come to Him.
• 24:58
  You never have to read the room to see if God is annoyed with
• 25:00
  you today. That absolute stability
• 25:02
  guarantees the final feature of this sanctuary, the 5th room
• 25:07
  endless communion. Once communion is begun with
• 25:09
  Him, it is never broken off. Once joined the Lord by faith,
• 25:13
  you are joined for an eternity. Ryle contrasts so beautifully
• 25:17
  with the physical homes we cherish.
• 25:19
  Earthly homes always come to an end.
• 25:22
  The. Dear old furniture gets sold off
• 25:24
  at an estate sale, the dear old heads of the family are gathered
• 25:27
  to their fathers, the nest is pulled to pieces and new tenants
• 25:31
  move in. But in Christ the progression is
• 25:33
  completely different. We simply move from the lower
• 25:36
  chamber to the upper chamber. He uses the imagery of the
• 25:39
  ancient Tabernacle here. We move from the outer court,
• 25:42
  where we see things dimly into the Holy of Holies, the very
• 25:45
  presence of God. Death is just stepping through
• 25:48
  the final curtain. Faith is swallowed up insight.
• 25:51
  Let's tie these five attributes directly back to the four
• 25:54
  fractures of the physical world. The spiritual architecture
• 25:58
  perfectly resolves the physical devastation.
• 26:00
  The changing world is answered by the room of no change.
• 26:03
  The trying world, with its hidden sorrows and skeletons in
• 26:06
  the closet, is met by his unvarying kindness and gentle
• 26:10
  discipline. The dying world with his empty
• 26:12
  chairs is countered by endless. Communion and the Dividing
• 26:15
  World, with its squabble over China, finds its remedy in the
• 26:19
  Room for All and Boundless Mercy, where broken, fractured
• 26:22
  people are justified and united in him.
• 26:25
  It is an airtight sanctuary. It addresses every single
• 26:28
  vulnerability of the human condition.
• 26:29
  But simply knowing the supreme safety and warmth of this house
• 26:33
  is not enough. You can stare at a fortress all
• 26:35
  day, but if you don't walk inside, you are still exposed to
• 26:38
  the storm. There are urgent practical
• 26:41
  actions the listener must take in response to this reality.
• 26:44
  Ryle closes his chapter with four direct warnings and pieces
• 26:48
  of advice for the Pilgrim. The first directive is simple
• 26:51
  but intensely urgent. Seek the home.
• 26:53
  The urgency here is driven by the sheer speed of time, Ryle
• 26:57
  says. Time hastens on with giant
• 26:58
  strides. Old age and death will be upon
• 27:01
  us before many years have passed.
• 27:02
  We are all on a conveyor belt moving in One Direction.
• 27:05
  To drive this home, he uses the stark imagery of the days of
• 27:08
  Noah. He warns Woe the man who is
• 27:11
  found outside the ark, when the flood of God's wrath bursts at
• 27:14
  length on a sinful world. That is intense language.
• 27:17
  He is saying the ark is the only place of safety, and Christ is
• 27:21
  that ark. You must seek Him so that you
• 27:23
  may be safe from the final judgement, yes, but also so that
• 27:27
  you may have a real right to be cheerful and at ease in this
• 27:30
  present life. You cannot truly enjoy your
• 27:33
  Tuesday if you are terrified of eternity.
• 27:35
  That is so true. The peace of the future secures
• 27:38
  the peace of the present. Once you have sought the home
• 27:40
  and entered it, Ryle gives his second directive.
• 27:44
  Be unashamed. If Christ is the home of your
• 27:46
  soul, do not be embarrassed by your association with Him.
• 27:49
  He leans into military imagery here.
• 27:51
  He says, hoist your flag, show your colors, nail them to the
• 27:54
  mass so they cannot be taken down.
• 27:56
  A good soldier is never ashamed of his uniform.
• 27:58
  Ryle draws a fascinating contrast regarding what people
• 28:01
  feel shame over versus what they should feel shame over.
• 28:04
  He says people should be deeply ashamed of drinking, gambling,
• 28:07
  lying, swearing, breaking the Sabbath, idleness and pride.
• 28:10
  These are destructive, toxic behaviors.
• 28:13
  But strangely, society often flips the script.
• 28:16
  Society mocks people for Bible reading, praying and belonging
• 28:20
  to Christ. Why do we feel embarrassed to
• 28:22
  bow our heads and pray at a restaurant?
• 28:24
  Ryle insists that the believer has no 'cause to be ashamed.
• 28:28
  Let the world mock in jest. They will not be scoffing in the
• 28:31
  hour of death. Society's mockery is incredibly
• 28:35
  short sighted. It is the laughter of people
• 28:38
  playing cards on a sinking ship while making fun of the person
• 28:41
  putting on a life vest. That raises a really practical
• 28:44
  question. In our modern society, faith is
• 28:46
  frequently treated as a punchline.
• 28:48
  Sometimes it is viewed as a genuine social or professional.
• 28:51
  Liability. It definitely can be.
• 28:53
  How does fully grasping the security of this home give a
• 28:57
  person the spine to nail their colors to the mast without
• 29:00
  getting defensive, angry or weird when they are mocked?
• 29:03
  Defensiveness always arises from place of insecurity.
• 29:06
  If you feel your position is fragile, or if your identity is
• 29:09
  tied up in what people think of you, you will fight aggressively
• 29:12
  to protect it. You will argue on the Internet.
• 29:14
  You will get rid in the face. But if you truly understand the
• 29:18
  architecture of the sanctuary we just described, if you know that
• 29:22
  your justification is legally secure, that boundless mercy is
• 29:26
  yours, and that the communion is endless, you do not need to
• 29:30
  defend the walls of the fortress.
• 29:32
  The fortress defends you. Recognizing the absolute
• 29:36
  security of your spiritual home breeds a quiet, confident
• 29:40
  gentleness. You can bear the mockery because
• 29:43
  you know the mocking cannot penetrate the deep sea suit.
• 29:46
  You actually start to pity the one mocking you rather than
• 29:49
  feeling threatened by them, because you realize they're
• 29:51
  standing completely exposed outside in the freezing storm.
• 29:54
  The security produces the gentleness that is incredibly
• 29:57
  helpful. Now.
• 29:58
  Directive #3 do not stray. Ryle knows human nature, He
• 30:03
  knows the world, and the flesh will whisper to you.
• 30:05
  The temptation is rarely to abandon the faith completely all
• 30:08
  at once. The whisper suggests that there
• 30:10
  is no danger in taking a little break from religion, just
• 30:13
  walking with the world for a short season to see what you are
• 30:15
  missing. To counter that whisper, he
• 30:18
  brings up the sobering example of Lot's wife looking back at
• 30:21
  Sodom. It is a warning about divided
• 30:23
  affections. Your body might be walking
• 30:26
  towards safety, but your heart is still clinging to the
• 30:29
  destruction behind you. Ryle concedes a very realistic
• 30:32
  point here, which makes him so trustworthy as a guide.
• 30:37
  He admits there are real pleasures in sin.
• 30:40
  There is undeniable excitement in the world's ways.
• 30:43
  If sin were not exciting, it would not be a temptation.
• 30:46
  Right. No one is tempted to eat a bowl
• 30:47
  of gravel. Sin looks like a feast.
• 30:49
  But he highlights the aftermath is a joy that leaves a bitter
• 30:53
  taste behind it. It is like drinking salt water
• 30:56
  to quench your thirst. It feels good for a second, but
• 31:00
  it accelerates your death. It is not satisfactory.
• 31:03
  The longer you live in the strict paths of wisdom, the more
• 31:06
  you will realize there truly is no place like home.
• 31:09
  The warmth of the sanctuary far outweighs the fleeting thrill of
• 31:12
  the cold outside. That brings us to the final
• 31:14
  directive #4 and list others. If you have found this home, you
• 31:18
  have a mandate to share the happiness of it.
• 31:21
  Tell people wherever you are that you have a happy home.
• 31:23
  Ryle says to tell them that the master pays far better wages
• 31:26
  than the world does. He uses a wonderful invitation
• 31:29
  from Numbers 10.29, where Moses says to his father-in-law, come
• 31:33
  with us and we will do you good. That should be the posture of
• 31:36
  the Christian toward the world is not a posture of arrogance or
• 31:40
  superiority. It is an invitation to share in
• 31:44
  the safety and the provision of the sanctuary.
• 31:46
  It is an act of supreme generosity.
• 31:49
  We have covered an immense amount of ground today.
• 31:52
  Let's briefly review the progression of this
• 31:53
  conversation. We started by looking at the
• 31:56
  fading nature of earthly comforts.
• 31:58
  We stood with Moses in the wilderness, doing the math on an
• 32:01
  entire generation passing away. And we stood with the minister
• 32:04
  at the churchyard gate, confronting our own mortality.
• 32:07
  We examine the futility of seeking permanence in a
• 32:10
  fractured world, a world that is constantly changing your
• 32:14
  address, trying your patients with hidden skeletons, dying at
• 32:17
  the Christmas table, and dividing your family over petty
• 32:20
  squabbles. And against that bleak backdrop,
• 32:23
  we saw the unshakable reality of Christ as the soul's true
• 32:27
  portable sanctuary. We walk through the 5:00 rooms,
• 32:30
  the unbolted doors that welcome the Pharisee and the public in.
• 32:33
  The boundless mercy of the golden chain of redemption.
• 32:36
  The fatherly discipline of unvarying kindness.
• 32:40
  The absolute stability of a savior who never changes, and
• 32:43
  the endless communion that survives the grave.
• 32:46
  The contrast is absolute. The physical world offers
• 32:49
  temporary lodging at best. The spiritual reality in Christ
• 32:54
  offers a permanent estate. Which brings us to a final
• 32:57
  thought. I think we want to leave the
• 32:58
  listener with. Yeah, something for you to chew
• 33:00
  on as you go about your week. Early in the text, Ryle refers
• 33:04
  to the world as an inn. Think about what an inn is.
• 33:07
  It is a rented room by the side of the highway.
• 33:09
  You sleep there for a night, maybe 2, while you're traveling
• 33:12
  somewhere else. You don't own the bed, you don't
• 33:14
  own the walls, and you have to check out by 1100 AM now look at
• 33:18
  your own daily schedule. Look at your bank statements.
• 33:21
  Look at where the vast majority of your mental energy goes when
• 33:24
  your head hits the pillow. If you truly believe the
• 33:27
  physical world is just a temporary inn, how much of your
• 33:29
  limited time and energy are you wasting trying to furiously
• 33:33
  redecorate a rented room instead of preparing for the permanent
• 33:36
  estate? Let that question linger.