A big day

Wow. It's been a while (since my last blog). I woke up at 3:00am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Maybe it's just an old-person thing, or maybe it was the Chinese takeout from last night. Or maybe it's that I'm excited and apprehensive about this upcoming day. My oldest son turned 16 this weekend and today I'm taking him to test for his drivers license. I guess that is at least one source of the excitment I feel. I am excited and so proud that this new season in his life is opening up to and for him (and me!). I have no doubt that he will pass. And if he doesn't today, he will soon, d.v. My apprehension doesn't have to do with that at all. My apprehension has to do with my meditations as I lay there the last hour and a half. Where has the time gone? Why has it gone so fast? Why haven't I invested more of it in him? Have I prepared him well for this next season in his life? What could I have done better, that I can improve upon with the next two kids as they grow? How can I help him best now? How do I learn to begin the process of sending him out from under my fatherly covering and encouraging him to be his own man? I have failed and continue to fail so miserably in all these areas where I have apprehension. But all my apprehension disappears when I run back to Jesus and all God's promises in him - for they are YES. As I laid there this morning meditating on all this, the following story came to mind from John 21... Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. Thank you Lord Jesus for being kind to me and gentle with me like you were with Peter that morning. Please Lord, continue to surround me and my children with folks that point out that it is you that is right there in front of us, and please give me and give my children hearts that run after you like Peter when we see you.

How the Bible says the end will come - Part 3

Before we take a look at Rev 20 and consistent hermeneutics, I would like to make a few applicable points. First, historically, the interpretation of the first few verses of Rev 20 has at times brought much shame upon Christ. Churches have split, families have feuded and friends have become hateful to one another, all over the meaning of the words “a thousand years”. We must resolve ourselves, as brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ, not to dishonor him even when we disagree.

Another preliminary consideration is this: Rev 20 is the only place in the Bible which specifically mentions a millennium. Now this fact does not diminish its importance in relation to the whole, but it should remind us that our interpretation of these verses must be held in the context of Rev itself, and ultimately, in the larger framework given to us in all the Scriptures. It does mean, however, that there is a good chance that a person’s millennial view might not be well informed by and consistent with the rest of the Bible if little study has been done.

Another preliminary point is this: I have come to settle upon an interpretation of Rev 20 which would historically have been labeled as “amillennial”. It is at least somewhat significant for me to point out that I initially held a dispensational premillennial view, and as I studied eschatology with more vigor I found significant biblical inconsistencies within that view. This led me to tentatively hold what would be called “historic premillennialism”. As I studied further, I continued to find inconsistencies in premillennialism in general and finally came to my current resting place – “realized millennialism” or amillennialism. I think it is the only framework which is fully consistent with all that the Bible has to say about how the end will come. And most importantly, realized millennialism is the only view which is completely gospel-centric.

Yet another point, Revelation is a book full of metaphors and symbols and images. Even the premillennialists cannot deny this. One of the base principles in hermeneutics is due consideration of the literary type of the document in question. Revelation is full of figurative language. Revelation is an apocalyptic text. These things cannot be denied. And lastly, what is the overall purpose of Revelation? It is to magnify the glory of Jesus Christ as the only true comfort and motivation for worship among suffering saints. With these things in mind, let’s look at Rev 20.

Rev 20:1-3

1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Then I saw…

Throughout the book of Revelation, these are words John repeats indicating that what he is “seeing” is part of the vision or visions he is communicating to us. What we see here in chapter 20 is a recapitulation of what has already been seen earlier in the book. In chapter 12 we see that through the incarnation and redemptive work of Christ, Satan has been soundly defeated. Here in chapter 20 we see another vision of what Christ has done to Satan at the cross. This interpretation is solidified when we consider what Jesus himself said in John 12:31-33 : “31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” Likewise, the Greek word that John uses in Rev for Satan being bound is the same word Jesus uses in Matthew 12:22-29 : “22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" 24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Therefore it is the first advent of Christ and what he accomplished in it by which the devil is currently bound!

Does the notion that Satan is currently bound line up with our experience? Compared to Old Testament times – the time before the first advent of Christ, has his message been squelched or has it explosively expanded to encompass the ends of the earth? Prior to Christ’s first advent, the gospel was largely contained solely within one ethnic people – Israel. Now, the gospel has encompassed all the earth! Though Satan has certainly not been annihilated, his activity in this gospel age has been so curtailed that he cannot prevent the spread of the gospel to the nations of the world. The church – Christ’s kingdom on this earth – is conquering the nations! So the “thousand years” is figurative language for this gospel age in which you and I currently live.

How the Bible says the end will come - Part 2

Implications of the "two-age construct" for premillenialism

In the comments on the last post, Rick pointed out that there is certainly a sense in which the age in which we live has been punctuated by historical events which subdivide this age into "ages" or "times". This is a valid point. Yet, it does not have an effect on my overarching notion here - Luke 20:27-40 clearly distiguishes between two "meta" ages: this age, and the age to come, and the character or nature of each of these ages is revealed.

So, how does this "two-age construct" that we see in Luke 20 prove that premillenial eschatology is wrong? Well, to answer that, let's look back at the text. This age is characterized by: marriage, death and dying, natural men, and the coexistence of righteous and wicked men. The age to come is characterized by: no marriage, no death and dying, resurrected men, and the only ones who attain to eternal life are those who are worthy. Whatever the stripe of premillenialism positted, the pre-miller's millenium cannot square with either of the natures of the ages presented in Luke 20 (or Matt 13).

Under the premillenialist scheme, there will be some kind of earthly reign of Jesus for 1000 years. Most pre-millers which I have talked with say that the saints will reign with him on the earth during this 1000 years. So... are they resurrected? If so, then that falls under the nature of "the age to come" in Luke 20. So... is there death and dying during this supposed 1000 years? If so, then that means we are still in this age. Hmmm... Do you see the problem? The millenium, as the premillenialist would posit it, cannot conform to or be consistent with the clear teaching of Luke 20 and Matt 13.

Next post, I'll talk about Revelation 20 and consistent hermeneutics...

How the Bible says the end will come - Part 1

What you end up believing about the “last days” is dependent upon the hermeneutic you approach the Bible with when studying the subject. One of the fundamental principles of hermeneutics is that we allow clearer passages to guide us in our interpretation of those which speak about the same subject, but are more obscure. It is this hermeneutical principle which serves to simplify biblical eschatology.

Eschatology has to do with history in general as well as the end of history as we know it in this age. Before we can deal with the numerous difficult figurative passages in the Bible which deal with some of the details of history, we ought to have a notion of the broader and more basic structure of all of redemptive history. The “big picture” is made clear at many points throughout the NT in passages which are not apocalyptic, figurative, or prophetic. There are three broad biblical constructs which clearly show us the overarching structure of biblical eschatology:
1) The two ages
2) The general judgment
3) The eschatological kingdom

It is my intention of deal with each of these and possibly some related implications in a series of upcoming posts. I will deal with the first one here.

If I had to pick one principle which was foundational to a biblical understanding of the “last days”, it would be this first construct – the two ages. It is formative to a proper understanding of much Bible doctrine in general (not only eschatology).

The Bible clearly teaches us that there are only two “ages” – this age, and the age to come. (The Greek word “aiwn”, translated “age” or sometimes “world” is the keyword under examination here.) In order to see the importance of this terminology it is necessary to overview its prolific usage throughout the NT. There are at least 17 places in the NT where this kind of terminology is used: Matt 12:32; Luke 16:8; Luke 18:30; Luke 20:34-36; Mark 10:30; Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 4:4; 1 Cor 1:20; 1 Cor 2:6, 8; 1 Cor 3:18; Gal 1:4; Eph 1:21; Eph 2:2; 1 Tim 6:17-19; Titus 2:12; Heb 6:5. The Bible makes it obvious that there is a clear distinction between the two ages. The age in which we live right now is evil, temporal and spatial (Gal 1:4; Luke 20:35). As we will see in a future post, d.v., the age to come has already been inaugurated and has broken into this age with Christ’s first advent – Christ is king already (Eph 1:21; Titus 2:11-12; Heb 6:5), yet the age to come has not been fully consummated. The age to come will be consummated upon the second advent of Christ. This age and the age to come, then, taken together, exhaust all time. The proof of this assertion can be seen in Matt 12:32 and its parallel in Mark 3:29 – not being forgiven in this age or in the age to come is being guilty of an eternal sin. Therefore, this age and the age to come are viewed in these texts as including all possible times in which one may be forgiven. The next logical question is, “How does Scripture distinguish between these two ages?” In other words, what are the qualitative differences we see described in the Bible between the two ages? There are two passages which will help us at this point: Luke 20:27-40 and Matt 13:24-43.

In Luke 20, what are the differences between this age and the age to come?
• This age
o Marriage
o Death and dying
o Natural men
o Righteous and wicked co-exist
• The age to come
o No marriage
o No death or dying
o Resurrected men
o Only the worthy attain

In Matthew 13, this age is a time of sowing and the end of this age is a time of harvest. What differences between the ages do we see here?
• Time of sowing (this age)
o Mixed wheat (good) and tares (evil)
o Natural condition
• Time of harvest (the end of this age)
o Only the wheat (good)
o Shining-as-the-sun condition (glorified)

From these passages, it is clear that this age and the age to come are qualitatively different, and the primary difference is that between the natural and supernatural order. What are a few of the implications of what the Bible teaches here?
1) Luke 20:35 teaches that attaining to the age to come is equivalent to attaining to the resurrection of the dead. Therefore, the resurrection of the dead is the door out of this age, and into the age to come. And when does this resurrection occur? It occurs at Christ’s second advent (1 Cor 15:22, 23, 50-55; 1 Thess 4:16).
2) Matt 13:39-43 refers to the same event as Luke 20:35. It is clear that it is a reference to the judgment of the wicked and the resurrection of the righteous which occurs at the return of Christ (Matt 24:30, 31; 25:31).
3) Titus 2:12 teaches that the second coming consummates this age and ushers in the age to come in all its fullness. Jesus’ coming brings the consummation of the age (Matt 28:20). The last day of this age is the day of Christ’s return and it is the first day of the age to come (John 6:39).

Points in summary, this post:

The basic scheme of biblical eschatology is truly simple. There are, of course, many difficulties (exegetically and doctrinally) to be worked out, but the basic structure of biblical eschatology is plain and it is simple: there are two ages – this age and the age to come. Every biblical prophecy finds its fulfillment in one of the two ages.

Pause for just a moment and let the simplicity of the biblical scheme of eschatology sink in. Jesus comes back. This age is over, and the new age begins. Biblical eschatology is humiliatingly simple. There is nothing sensational here. Biblical eschatology is not too complicated for you to know well. There are two ages: one temporal and natural, and the other eternal and supernatural. If you understand this, you understand more about eschatology than most of the “prophecy nuts” of our day.

Next post:

Implications of the two-age construct for premillenialism

Long time, no post

Whew! Sorry its been so long since i posted - alot of things going on in life right now! Good things. I love being a daddy. I'll be posting soon on eschatology - stay tuned!

A little light reading...

He already loves good books!

Pics are up!

Here's one pic for y'all...

More can be found here...

More mercy and grace

God has chosen to lavish on me some more mercy and grace! Elijah Turner Graham was born Monday morning at 7:05. He weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 21 inches long. Momma and baby are healthy. What a blessing from the Lord!

Sorry for the inactivity, but...

we've got a baby due! TODAY! I will be posting soon, d. v.

Perspective

Are you joy-FULL? You and I ought to be. Oh how full of joy we ought to be!! If we are not, it probably means we are not looking at life from a biblical perspective. If this is not true, explain to me how to make sense out of passages like Acts 5:40-41 and Acts 16:23-25? How can it be that the apostles and Silas simultaneously suffered and were joyful? If my professor is right, the answer is found in their perspective – how they interpreted life. How do you interpret the common everyday events of your life? Do you see everything that happens to you as sweet providence from the hand of the Lord? Is God for you or against you? Rest assured, he is either for you or against you. What about these times of spiritual complacency you are going through? What about your laziness in discipline? Your lukewarm affections for your Creator? You should ask, “What are you trying to teach me Lord?” Do you see that he is trying to teach you just how desperately you need him for life, both today and into eternity? Do you see how gentle and kind and longsuffering he is with you even as you live as though he were not as significant as your comfort or your pleasure or your schedule? My dear brothers, you and I can live with a perspective like Paul’s and Silas’. How? Look at Christ. Gaze intently and closely and carefully and long upon him in his word – that is where he has revealed himself! Pick a gospel and read it carefully. See the love he has for you and love him more for it. Your life is but a vapor. Won’t you give it up completely because you see that your Master and Messiah gave his? You are not your own – you are a slave – and a slave is not better than his master. Won’t you die to yourself that you might live to Christ? Won’t you sell everything you have so that you might have the pearl of great price?

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Imago Dei

The Image of God in Man

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
(Genesis 1:26-28)

What does it mean to be an “image-bearer” of God?

The primary point of this section of Genesis 1 is that mankind has been created in the image of God and therefore has been made to image him. It can be said that man was created an analogue of God. What this means is that man’s thinking, willing and doing is analogous to God’s thinking, willing and doing. Those things pertaining to our natures as men are derivative from the nature of God, and our creation as image-bearers of God – “God’s offspring” (Acts 17:28) - is peculiar to man.

It should be noted here that, in fact, all of creation bears some analogy to God. It is evident from the pages of the Bible that there are analogies to God from virtually every area of creation. We see analogies used where God is compared to inanimate objects (God the “rock of Israel”, Christ the “door of the sheep”, the Spirit as “wind”, “breath”, and “fire”, etc); plants or the produce of them (God’s strength like the “cedars of Lebanon”, Christ the “bread of life”); animals (Christ the “Lion of Judah”, the “Lamb of God”); abstract ideas (God as spirit, love and light; Christ as way, word, truth, life, wisdom, righteousness); etc. This point is a study unto itself.

But the emphasis of the verses in view here is that man, created as a bearer of the image of God, was created as the captain or crown of creation. No other creature possesses man’s exalted position in God’s created order. The psalmist sings:
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
(Psalm 8:3-8)

Because man alone is created in the image of God, God has commissioned man alone to reproduce in creation God’s own activity. The bearing of God’s image means that we “image-forth” him. How is it that this imaging-forth occurs in the cosmos? It is by our doing the very things which God himself does! It is of note when considering this, that no other creature has been endowed with this ability. If we closely examine the pattern of God’s creative work in Genesis 1 we see that God takes primal components from days 1 and 2, reforming and restructuring it all into a more glorious pattern, evaluating the work of his hands and resting and enjoying his creation. Adam is to follow God’s example, taking the creation, being thankful for it, using his God-given creative power to reform it into a more glorious pattern, evaluating the work of his hands and enjoying their fruit with God and others. That is exactly what it means to bear the image of God.

So when God created Adam in his own image, part of what that means is that he empowered (enabled) him and his posterity to live in active obedience to the divine commission to which he called him – to fill and to subdue (Genesis 1:28). How do we see Adam fulfilling this command in Genesis 2? We see Adam “subduing” through his word through the work of his hands (Genesis 2:15, 19). And with the introduction of Eve we see Adam empowered to “fill” the creation with other image-bearers.

If we think about all of this in the context of the Garden of Eden, we see that God’s mandate to exercise dominion is very specific. The Garden may be seen as a model of heaven itself – the temple of God. Adam and Eve’s reproduction of other image-bearers would progressively fill Eden and even all the earth. As the image-bearers moved forth, they would in effect expand the very throne-room of God as they went. It is interesting to note the mention of gold and precious gemstones in Genesis 2:11-12. It is not a far-fetched notion to think that these materials were just mediums for the beautification and expansion of the Garden. We see the eschatological end of this notion in Revelation 21. Eventually, this notion will be fulfilled in the new heavens and new earth, where the entire world is a replica of the throne room of God, and just like in the Garden of Eden, God will dwell with his people.

At this point it might be profitable to ask: Is the notion presented here of man imaging-forth God indeed biblical? Here are two biblical examples, briefly introduced, to support the notion which has been proposed:
1)In Exodus 25-31, God lays out a blueprint for the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. God’s plan for the tabernacle is divided into seven speeches, each one beginning with the phrase “Yahweh spoke to Moses saying”. If we look at each of these seven proclamations closely we see that they correspond in striking ways to the seven days of creation. There is much symbolism in the carvings, furniture and implements in the tabernacle to the Garden and world model of Genesis 1 and 2.
2)Another clear correspondence is found in God’s promises to Israel regarding Canaan as the promised land – a land much like the Garden of Eden. Israel is promised Sabbath rest if they obey Yahweh by subduing and filling the land.

At this point we should see that Adam and Eve had a tremendous responsibility and calling as image-bearers. They and all their posterity were to expand the throne room of God, the kingdom reign of God, to the farthest reaches of creation.

The Problem

The problem is that Adam disobeyed God. Through Adam’s disobedience in Genesis 3, the image of God in him is marred. This marring of the image of God in man by man’s sin is what we refer to as “The Fall”. And this is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! If we miss the meaning of man bearing God’s image then we cannot see the fullness of beauty in the Gospel and the Great Commission.

The Solution

Wonder of wonders, after the disobedience of the first Adam, God did not repeal his commission to man to image him forth rightly in creation. We might wonder why God did not wipe mankind out and start all over again. In our wisdom, that may seem right, but it is not so according to the wisdom of the Creator. God repeatedly confirms with each restatement of his covenants that his original mandate stands, and with each covenant he progressively designates more specifically and clearly the Man who truly would subdue and fill the earth.

Jesus Christ, the most real and true man, the divine image of whom Adam was the prototype, fulfills the divine commission. He, the man who is God, completely fills the mandate of the Father – to subdue and fill the earth – and he empowers His people to do likewise. Image-bearing finds its perfect expression in Jesus Christ who is both God and man.

Ponder Anew

Romans 4:16 tells us that if we have the faith of Abraham, God forgives all our sin and engages to pursue us all of our days with goodness and mercy. If we relinquish all our self-confidence and bank on the promises of God for our happiness and security, then we stand justified and clean and free before the Lord God Almighty, the King of creation! God promised Abraham: “I will bless you, so that you will be a blessing… By you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3) There was an utterly amazing transaction that happened between God and Abraham. Abraham believed God, and God justified Abraham (Genesis 15:6). Abraham took God at his word and rested in his promise – so much so that he was ready to obey God in sacrificing his own son – the very son through whom God had promised to give Abraham a great posterity! Abraham wholly and completely banked on the promises of God for his security and happiness, and God justified him. God acquitted Abraham of all of his sins: past, present, and future. The death of Christ purchased Abraham’s redemption 2000 years earlier and my redemption 2000 years later. Abraham did not know how God could acquit sinners and still be just. He simply left that in God’s hands and banked on God’s word of promise. Today, we know how God can be both just and justifier. So our faith and our hope is in Jesus Christ.



Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!


Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
now to his temple draw near;
praise him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
how thy desires e‘er have been
granted in what he ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew
what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
biddeth them cease,
turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
sheddeth his light,
chaseth the horrors of night,
saints with his mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him.
Let the amen
sound from his people again,
gladly for aye we adore him.

(Words: Joachim Neander (1650-1680), 1680)

Conversion to Christ (conclusion)

But, thank God, there is a fourth great truth. This truth, unlike the first three, cannot be learned from nature or from our own consciences. This is a truth which was designed by God to be told to neighbors and preached in churches and carried by missionaries; namely, the glorious good news that God has decreed a way to satisfy the demands of his righteousness without condemning the whole human race. He has taken it upon himself, apart from any merit in us, to accomplish for us our salvation! The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the righteousness of God. And what is this wisdom?
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)
And again:
God put Christ forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over our former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
How is it possible for the righteous Judge to exonerate sinners who have been ungrateful for his great goodness?
God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
And again:
Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).
He died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
If the most terrifying news in all the world is that we are under the judicial condemnation of our Creator and that he is bound by his righteousness to pour out wrath on our ingratitude, then the greatest news in all the world is that God was willing to sentence his own Son in our place (Galatians 3:13) and thus demonstrate his righteous allegiance to his own glory, and still save sinners like you and like me!

But not all sinners. Everybody is not saved from God’s wrath just because Christ died for sinners. And this is the fifth great truth we need to hear: there is a condition you have to meet in order to be saved. “What must I do to be saved?” is probably the most important question any human can ask.

The answer in Acts 16:31 is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”

In John 1:12 it is that we must receive Christ: “To all who received him… he gave power to become children of God.”

In Acts 3:19 it is, Repent!; that is turn away from sin: “Repent therefore, and turn again that your sins may be blotted out.”

The answer in Hebrews 5:9 is obedience to Christ: “Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.”

Jesus himself answers the question in a variety of ways. In Matthew 18:3 he said that childlikeness is the condition for salvation: “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

In Mark 8:34-35 the condition is self-denial – the willingness to lose your earthly life for Christ: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

In Matthew 10:37 Jesus says the condition is loving him more than anybody else: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (See also 1 Corinthians 16:22; 2 Timothy 4:8)

And in Luke 14:33 the condition for salvation is that we be free from the love of our possessions: “Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

These are some of the conditions that the New Testament says we must meet in order to benefit eternally from the death of Christ on the cross. We must believe on him, receive him, turn from our sin, obey him, humble ourselves like little children, love him more than our family, friends, possessions, and even our own life. This is what it means to be converted to Christ. And this alone is the way of life everlasting.

But what is it that holds all these various conditions together? Is there a truth which unites them all? I think the answer is given in the little parable we read at first:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then from his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The person who is converted and brought into the kingdom of heaven has discovered a treasure – namely, Christ – and is impelled by joy to sell all he has to have this treasure. You are converted to Christ when Christ becomes for you a treasure chest of holy joy! We are converted when Christ becomes a treasure in whom we find so much delight that trusting and obeying him and turning from all that belittles him becomes our normal habit.

There is no evidence in the Bible that God will accept people who come to him out of any motive other than desire for joy in him. You cannot please God unless you come to him in search of reward. Hebrews 11:6 says,
Without faith it is impossible to please God. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
When Peter focused on his sacrificial self-denial and said “we have left everything and followed you” (Matthew 19:27) Jesus pointed out his pride: “There is no one who has left anything for my sake who will not receive a hundredfold now and in the age to come eternal life.” Jesus was saying “Peter, if you don’t come to me because I am greater treasure than all those things you have left then you don’t come to me at all.” You think far too highly of yourself if you think you are anything more than a little baby branch sucking righteousness, peace and joy from Christ, the vine! The condition of salvation is that you come to Christ in search of reward, finding in him a treasure chest of holy joy.

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live. (Isaiah 55:1-3)

Conversion to Christ (continued)

The first truth we must face is that God is the Creator and we owe him profound gratitude for all we have. Your own experience in life is powerful evidence for this. Have you ever done something for someone only to have them fail to respond in gratitude? How did that make you feel? (Angry, like they were inconsiderate, etc.) Why do you think our hearts jump so quickly to judgment when someone fails to show gratitude when they have been the recipient of great kindness? The real reason is because we were created in the image of God. Your judicial sentiment which automatically holds me guilty if I ignore you after you’ve just snatched my child from in front of a speeding car is the voice of God in you. We involuntarily hold people accountable for ingratitude because we were created in God’s image. Therefore, you know in your heart that there is a God to whom we owe genuine gratitude.

The second truth we must deal with is connected to the first: we have not felt, nor do we now, nor will we tomorrow feel the depth and consistency of gratitude to God which we owe him as Creator. Our own consciences are sufficient to convict us in this regard. We know that we do not render to God the very gratitude which we demand for ourselves from our neighbor. The judicial sentiment in our heart which holds other people guilty for ingratitude bears vivid witness to the truth that God holds us guilty for our astonishing ingratitude to him. And if we try to suppress this witness in our own hearts, the Bible makes it plain:
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth… For though they knew God they did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.
(Romans 1:18-21)
Is it clear to you that everything you have is a gift from God, and that as a creature you are dependent on him for life and breath and everything? Has your life been filled with the joy of gratitude to God which is proportionate to his infinite kindness to you?

Built on these first two great truths is the third: we must face the truth that God’s wrath abides upon us even this moment if we are outside of Christ, and it does so because of our ingratitude. You know that your own judicial sentiment will not allow indignities against you to be ignored. How much more so is this true of God’s own dignity! God is righteous and that means that he must uphold the worth of his own glory! When we, by our own ingratitude, belittle the worth of God’s glory it demands wrath and justice from God. God alone is infinitely worthy and therefore our defamation of his character in our utter ingratitude brings down upon us righteous eternal destruction. The wages of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23), and this is the most terrifying truth in the world.
(To be continued...)

Conversion to Christ

44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Matthew 13:44-46


Not everyone will share eternally in God’s joy. Is that true? WHY? Why is it that not everyone will share in God’s joy forever? This is true because there is a condition which must be met in order for you to live in him and enjoy him forever. WHAT is that condition? What is the condition which must be met in order for you to live in him and enjoy him forever? What is the condition which must be met before you can be a part of the kingdom of God?

The condition is that you obey the command of Psalm 37:4 : Delight yourself in the Lord. But many people take more delight in money or sex or recreation than they do in God, and so they have no share in God’s saving mercy. They are lost. What they need is conversion to Christ. Lest we move on too fast from this statement, consider: What is the case with you today? Do you take your greatest delight in Christ? Do your habits prove that you delight in the Lord? Does your conversation? What about your thinking?

We live in a superficially Christian society where thousands of lost people think they do believe in Jesus. As we consider conversion to Christ, I want to challenge you to think about the times in which we live and examine yourself carefully. The phrase “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved” is virtually meaningless in our society. Drunks on the street say they do. Unmarried couples sleeping together say they do. People who haven’t sought worship or fellowship for 10 years say they do. Every stripe of world-loving church attendees say they do.

My responsibility as a teacher is not just to repeat precious biblical sentences, but to speak the truth of those sentences in such a way that it will prick the conscience of the hearer, helping you feel your need for Christ. I hope to take this sweet truth in Matthew 13:44-46 and make it as sharp as I can in the hope that some hearts will be stabbed broad awake. You may be sitting there thinking “I’m already converted. I don’t need to hear this.”, but before you tune me out let me caution you. The gospel truths I am going to talk about here are the gospel truths that believers themselves go on believing by. So now let’s go on to consider some great truths about reality that make conversion necessary. (To be continued...)

Responsibility of the Listener in Preaching - Part 3

Responsibilities After the Word has been Preached

Review

The Bible actually promotes the idea that you should personally review the message that was preached:

Acts 17:11 - Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

This is another reason to take notes. Realize that in Shawn’s construction of the sermon, he had to distill a truckload of great biblical information and application into the 40 minutes or so that you will give him. You should dig deeper on your own. Reflection and meditation on the Word preached to you is a foundation for the Lord to build upon. Notice how Solomon said this in Proverbs 2:1-11:

1 My son, if you will receive my words

And treasure my commandments within you,

2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,

Incline your heart to understanding;

3 For if you cry for discernment,

1Lift your voice for understanding;

4 If you seek her as silver

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

5 Then you will discern the fear of the Lord

And discover the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 Guarding the paths of justice,

And He preserves the way of His godly ones.

9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice

And equity and every good course.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart

And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11 Discretion will guard you,

Understanding will watch over you,

Retell

You should make it a point to teach other people this week what you were taught in the sermon the previous Sunday. Study it and preach it over again to yourself until you know it well enough to preach it to someone else. You have been entrusted with something worthy of passing on to others – the very Word of God expounded.

Take Action

Shawn’s sermons are worthless if they don’t change your life. You should act on the truths laid out in his sermons. That may mean you should change the way you believe about something. That may mean you should change some behavior. That may mean you should change your attitude. The primary means that God has designed for changing you are Holy Spirit empowered, conscious and purposeful actions. You should be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.

Responsibility of the Listener in Preaching - Part 2

Responsibilities During the Preaching of the Word

Worship

The value of the music preceding the preaching should not be underestimated. Your singing, prayer, the giving of tithes and offerings, listening to Scripture reading before the sermon, all of these are important acts of worship which you should engage in earnestly. The sermon is not something separate from all of this, but it is the culmination of it. Reverence and responsiveness are critical.

Think

You should carefully evaluate and process all that is expounded from the pulpit (1 Corinthians 14:29). Do not be critical in a negative way; rather, be “positively biased toward the message of Scripture and the messenger.” (from Jay Adams – A Consumer’s Guide to Preaching)

Take Notes

Taking notes can greatly impact the influence of a sermon on your life. The purpose in note-taking is not to produce a transcript of the sermon – we have that available on CD. No, the purpose of taking notes is that it is a statistically proven fact that it helps with recall. Listeners who take notes are much more likely to remember a sermon longer than those who don’t.

Use Your Bibles

Bring your own Bible to church. Just turning to a passage and orienting your mind to where it falls in the text is an important part of the service – it will help you commit it in whole or in part to memory.

Responsibility of the Listener in Preaching - Part 1

I have profitted greatly from reading Michael Fabarez's Preaching That Changes Lives this summer as part of the requirements for my Homiletics 2 class. I have been struck with an increased sense of responsibility as a listener from the reading of this book, so I figured I'd share. :) Blessings to you!

Responsibilities Before The Word is Preached

• How do you prepare for church?

• Do you pray for your encounter with the sermon?

• Do you pray for your pastor in his preparation during the week?

• Have you taken the time to study the next part of the passage which you know will be preached this week?

• Do you rise early enough to eat a good breakfast so that your stomach doesn’t distract you during the sermon?

Focus on Preparation

We are taught in seminary that men should not preach without preparation. That is true. But, men ought not hear without preparation either. Which do you think needs more preparation, the sower or the ground?

Study The Parable of the Soils – Luke 8:4-15

Why is coming to church, especially to preaching, so important? Because it is where the seed of the Word is sown in your hearts!

Pray for Something Significant

We should pray for and trust God for a significant encounter with Him through His preached Word every time we come to hear it. Very often our minds and hearts are not in line with God’s. Therefore we should spend more time with God in prayer, asking for His expectations to become ours. If you come into church not knowing what you want, you will probably get what you deserve. There ought to be a sense of anticipation in your heart as you come to church to hear God’s Word preached! You have not because you ask not! Ask and expect God to minister His Word to you!

Pray for the Preacher

If you are looking for a rich sermon from pastor Shawn, you ought to supply him with the needed material. You should realize that your prayers are the means which God uses to make him more of a blessing. You should pray for his preparation to preach to you. You should pray for God to urge him to pray. You should pray realizing that the means God most commonly uses to minister great revival in your life is preaching. Pray fervently for Shawn.

Schedule Around Church

Church should be given a very high priority in your schedule. Paul describes it as “God’s household, the church of the living God, the pillar and the foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Scripture requires that we “forsake not the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25), so you should plan your weekends around the gathering of “God’s household”. Be punctual. Sunday morning is the most important time of the week. Wake up earlier and plan a real breakfast. Getting ready for church is so much more important than getting ready for work or class any other day of the week. This should impact your Saturday evening plans.

Brewer reveals new SBC-friendly line of beverages

Responding quickly to the Southern Baptist Convention’s resolution to ban alcohol, Anheuser-Busch released its new adult beverage, aptly called Drinking Water. Company President August Busch IV stated “We hope this drink will be as popular among Baptists as our top seller Budweiser was”.

Restless and Longing

God has made everything beautiful in its time; also He has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

God has reminded me in a fresh way this week that restlessness and longing are essential traits of my heart and yours. That can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. It is good when the object of that restlessness and longing is the Lord Christ and his kingdom and his righteousness. It is bad when it is anything less. God has designed us with a heart-sickness. We try to satisfy this insatiable longing with vacations, food, visual stimulation, music, sports, alcohol, hallucinogens, and on, and on, and on...

Almost everywhere you look the grass is greener than where you stand. This is nothing less than the Spirit of God beckoning you and me to come to him! And yet we turn away from him again and again to a new toy, a movie, an automobile, a tanning bed, or the beach.

Jeremiah said it like this:

My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

The drugs and alcohol can’t keep you from waking up to reality and your messed-up relationships. The tan looks so artificial and sure does fade quickly. Within a few weeks, maybe just days, that new toy becomes boring and commonplace. What does this mean? Is there any satisfaction there to be found in the greener grass for which we long? No. We have been deceived by the image. We don’t really want the high provided by the drug or the alcohol. We want the eternal reality of bliss behind the buzz. We don’t really want the sweet and cool refreshment of water in the blistering heat of a parched desert. The water is just a picture of the eternal reality underneath it. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. It flows with the water of life, bright as crystal from the throne of God and from the Lamb. You were made for God. The hunger and thirst of your life which cannot be satisfied by anything in this world is God’s constant pleading with you to remember that you were made for him.

Jesus has something to say about this universal unquenchable yearning:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. And at another place: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Jesus says that those who will be satisfied in the end are those who crave the mercy to be merciful, the grace to be gracious, the purity to be pure, the holiness to be holy – the very righteousness of Christ himself manifested in his body.

Don’t get involved in religious activities. And don’t settle for the meager satisfaction of just being a millionaire.