Exhortation | A People for His Name

Archives For Exhortation

Let Us Sorrow Not without Hope!

December 29, 2012

In a small Midwestern town, a fierce ice storm raged. The howling of the frigid winds was suddenly joined by the piercing ringing of a telephone. In the wee hours of the morning, the phone call informed a family that they needed to come to the hospital immediately.

Because their car was not working, a police car took them to the hospital. As they walked into the hospital room, a far greater storm began to rage in their souls. Lying there on the hospital bed was my dad dead of an apparent heart attack. Seeing him dead, our world suddenly fell apart.

The immense sorrow of that time was accompanied by times of longing and dreaming that somehow, someday, I would see my dad again. But, our sorrow was without hope because none of us were believers at that time.

As I did for many years after my dad died in 1982, many in this world sorrow without hope for their dead loved ones. Praise God that He does not want believers to sorrow without hope for their believing loved ones who have died:

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

¹⁵ For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This passages teaches us that in order for us to sorrow not without hope for our loved ones who have died, four things must be true.

1. We must believe that Jesus died and rose again (1 Thess. 4:14a).

2. Our loved ones must believe that Jesus died and rose again, so that when they die, they will be asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:14b; cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 51).

3. We as believers must not be ignorant concerning those who are asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:13a).

4. We as believers must comfort one another concerning the dead in Christ so that we will not sorrow for them without hope (1 Thess. 4:18).

Brethren, let us sorrow not without hope for our loves ones who sleep in Jesus!

In Exhortation, Exposition, Testimony

The Vital Importance of Psalm 31:23 for Every Christian

December 3, 2012

Jesus taught that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all one’s being (Matt. 22:37-38). Because He made known that loving God properly is the greatest priority of all, believers must focus foremost on loving God in their lives.

In keeping with that supreme priority and based on much Scriptural teaching, contemporary theology, preaching, teaching, and music all highly stress loving God because of what He has done and is doing to provide salvation for sinners through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Similarly, believers today highly emphasize loving God for His care for His own.

Although appreciation for God’s providing salvation for sinners and for His caring for His own are both certainly reasons that we should love God, they are not the only reasons we should do so. To understand why, we must consider a key command that David gave to all believers:

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer” (Ps. 31:23).

David here does command all believers to love God because He preserves the faithful (31:23a-b). He, however, does not stop there; he adds that all believers must love God also because He plentifully rewards the proud doer (31:23c).

To understand further this teaching from God, we must consider a closely related statement in the Psalms:

Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud (94:2).

Psalm 94:2 makes clear that God is the Judge who rewards the proud by judging them.[1] Based on the teaching, therefore, of Psalms 31:23 and 94:2, every believer must love God for His work as the Judge who fully repays proud doers!

Psalm 31:23 thus provides us with a vital insight into an essential aspect of our loving God. Because God gives us this truth in His inspired hymnbook, the Psalms, we must adjust our music so that we teach believers this truth through our singing.

Our theology, preaching, and teaching must also be adjusted so that we properly instruct all believers that loving God properly involves loving Him both for caring for His own and for judging the proud (cf. Paul’s love for the appearing of the Lord, the righteous Judge [2 Tim. 4:8]). Doing so, we will help disciple them fully to be the saints that Jesus wants them to be (Matt. 28:18-20).

Let us all love God properly by loving Him because He is the Judge who plentifully rewards the proud doer.

[1] Many other passages confirm that His doing so is His judging. For examples, see Leviticus 26:19; 1 Samuel 2:3-10; 2 Samuel 22:28; 2 Chronicles 32:25; Psalms 75:7-10; Proverbs 15:25; Isaiah 2:11; Daniel 5:20; and Luke 1:51.

In Exhortation, Exposition, Ministry, Music, Preaching, Theology

Let Us Praise Our Uniquely Transcendent, Humble, and Gracious Lord!

November 3, 2012

Psalm 113 emphatically challenges people to praise the Lord by commanding them four times to do so (113:1 [3x]; 9). The remainder of the psalm fills out our understanding of this command in instructive ways.

EXPOSITION

The psalmist begins with three successive plural imperatives:

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD” (113:1).

These imperatives indicate that he is forcefully calling upon God’s servants to praise Him. All of us who are His servants should learn from this teaching that we have a special obligation and privilege to praise God.

The next two verses amplify the teaching of verse one:

“Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised” (113:2-3).

The psalmist expresses his desire that the name of the Lord would be forever blessed and then declares that His name is to be praised all the day long. Because God’s name is always worthy of praise, we learn that we should diligently praise Him throughout the day on every day.

The final six verses highlight certain aspects of the praiseworthiness of the Lord. First, we learn of His unmatched transcendence:

“The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens” (113:4).

Because our God is gloriously exalted over all His creation, we should praise Him.

Second, through a rhetorical question that answers itself, we learn of His uniqueness:

“Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” (113:5-6).

Unlike any other exalted beings, whether heavenly or earthly, the Most High God is humble and displays His humility by His attention to the things in the heaven and the earth. Because of His unique person and character, we should praise Him.

Third, the psalmist highlights the praiseworthiness of the Lord by specifying His gracious care for two types of people: (1) the poor and the needy; (2) the barren woman. The Lord exalts the poor and needy in an extraordinary way:

“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people” (113:7-8).

Because our uniquely transcendent God humbles Himself to care for such abject people who have no hope aside from Him, we should praise Him.

In addition to His glorious exaltation of the poor and needy, our praiseworthy Lord satisfies the intense longing of another group of people who also have no hope aside from Him:

“He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children” (113:9a).

His gracious fulfilling of their yearnings should lead us to praise Him.

In view of all that he has set forth in the psalm, the psalmist then concludes the same way that he began:

“Praise the Lord!” (113:9b).

Blessed be His name!

APPLICATION

Psalm 113 charges God’s servants to praise Him because He is the uniquely transcendent and humble God who graciously cares for people who have no hope but Him! In view of its teaching, all people should respond by doing three things.

First, those who are not God’s servants should become His servants. No matter how poor and needy you may be, by faith you should come to the One who rewards all those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6). Whatever your life’s condition may be, He is the only One who will truly satisfy your heart’s deepest longings.

Second, all those who are His servants should diligently praise Him throughout the day on every day. They should praise Him because He is exalted above all, He humbles Himself to attend to His creation, and He graciously exalts the destitute and satisfies those who are longing for blessings that only He can provide.

Third, as the psalmist does in Psalm 113, we should exhort others to praise His name and instruct them to do so by setting before them the Lord’s unique transcendence, humility, and graciousness.

Let us all praise our uniquely transcendent, humble, and gracious Lord! May His name be blessed forevermore.

In Exhortation, Exposition

Every Believer Should Learn from John 5 How to Be Like Jesus in Evangelizing Sinners

October 30, 2012

John 5 is probably not a chapter that many believers turn to when they think about how they should evangelize people. A close look at the passage, however, reveals that it is a very valuable account from which we should learn how we are to evangelize sinners.

Many points establish the vital evangelistic importance of John 5. First, a direct statement from Jesus shows that it is an account of His evangelizing sinners: “But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved” (John 5:34). We, therefore, must learn from this passage how we are to be like Jesus in evangelizing sinners.

Second, a comparison of John 5 with John 3 and John 4, two texts which typically receive far more attention than John 5 does in discussions about key evangelistic texts, brings out the importance of John 5. The evangelistic account in John 5 (5:1-47 [47 verses]) is more than twice the length of the Nicodemus account (John 3:1-21 [21 verses]) and five verses longer than the Samaritan woman account (John 4:1-42 [42 verses]). If, then, we consider John 3 and 4 as significant for our learning to evangelize sinners the way Jesus did, we should much more consider John 5 to be so.

Third, John 5 shows that Jesus emphasized His agency in His witness to an extent that is widely lacking in the evangelistic practices of our day. In addition to two direct statements of His inability to do anything “of Himself” (John 5:19, 30), Jesus stressed that He was sent by the Father (John 5:23, 24, 30, 36, 37, 38), that He was given His authority by the Father (John 5:22, 27), and that He had come in His Father’s name (John 5:43). Thus, He communicated His agency at least eleven times in His evangelistic witness on this occasion!

We must, therefore, learn from Jesus Himself that evangelizing sinners properly does not consist only of testifying to His deity. A proper evangelistic witness stresses both His deity and His agency.

Fourth, Jesus specifically emphasized His judicial agency as part of the truth that these sinners were to believe in order to be saved. He did so by His juxtaposing key statements: (1) He highlighted that their right response to God’s doxological purpose (John 5:23a) for giving all judgment to the Son (John 5:22) would be to honor the Son even as they honored the Father (John 5:23b) and that their failing to respond in that way would be to dishonor the Father (John 5:23c); (2) He then solemnly declared that believing His message, which included that vital teaching about the doxological purpose of God for making Jesus His judicial agent, was how they would have everlasting life and not come into condemnation (John 5:24)!

Jesus, therefore, evangelized these sinners by underscoring to them His judicial agency as part of what He said to them so that they would be saved (John 5:34). Believers must learn from Jesus to include testimony to His judicial agency as part of their evangelistic witness to sinners (cf. Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom. 2:16).

Fifth, Jesus testified at length to His central role in bringing about the future bodily resurrection of the dead (John 5:25-29). When we evangelize sinners, we thus should not just talk about Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the dead.

Rather, we should also tell them that Jesus will bring about the bodily resurrection of all the dead (John 5:28) to either life (John 5:29a) or damnation (John 5:29b). Based on that fact, we should then urge them to come to Him, so that they may have eternal life (John 5:40).

Sixth, even though the sinners whom Jesus was testifying to were seeking to kill Him (John 5:16), Jesus still evangelized them by confronting them directly with hard truths about themselves that they needed to hear in order to be saved. He informed them that they were not rightly related to His Father because they did not have His word abiding in them (John 5:38). He revealed that they did not have the love of God in them (John 5:42).

Jesus exposed the reality that their receiving honor from one another and not seeking the honor that only God can provide made them unable to believe what they needed to believe in order to be saved (John 5:44). He even challenged them that their trust in Moses was not what it needed to be because they did not really believe what Moses said as they should have (John 5:45b-47).

We must learn from Jesus to confront people in a similar manner with the truths that they really need to hear to be saved. We must also learn from Him to persist in evangelizing hardened people, as God providentially provides us opportunities to do so.

Given the many vital truths that John 5 reveals about how Jesus evangelized sinners, every believer should carefully learn from John 5 how he is to be like Him in evangelizing sinners.

In Evangelism, Exhortation

Let Us Sing to the Lord!

October 28, 2012

In many ways, Scripture teaches believers to sing to the Lord:

(1) Examples of believers singing to Him (Exod. 15:1; Acts 16:25);

(2) Examples of believers’ resolving to do so (2 Sam. 22:50; Ps. 104:33);

(3) Prophecies about those who will sing to Him (Isa. 52:8; Jer. 31:12; cf. 1 Chr. 16:33);

(4) Commands for people to sing to Him (1 Chr. 16:23; Ps. 33:2);

(5) Mutual exhortation for people to sing to Him (Ps. 95:1-2)

(6) Instruction that a believer’s doing so is good (Ps. 92:1) and pleasant (Ps. 135:3)

(7) Record of the Lord’s gracious working on behalf of a believer so that he would sing to Him (Ps. 30:11-12)

(8) Explanation that obedience to the command for believers to be filled with the Spirit will result in their singing to Him (Eph. 5:18-19)

(9) Visions of people singing to Him in heaven (Rev. 15:2-4; cf. 5:8-14)

Based on this abundant revelation, let us all sing to the Lord as long as we live and have our being (Ps. 104:33)!

In Exhortation, Music

Profiting Fully from the Theological and Practical Value of the Final Seven Johannine "Pastoral" Epistles

September 22, 2012

Writing probably sometime between 85 and 95 AD, the apostle John penned at least eight “pastoral” epistles (3 John; Rev. 2:1-7; 8-11; 12-17; 18-29; 3:1-6; 7-13; 14-22).[1] Both from a canonical standpoint (they either constitute [3 John] or are found [Rev. 2-3] in the final two books of the Scripture in its present canonical order) or a chronological standpoint, these epistles comprise the pinnacle of God’s revelation that is specifically directed to those whom He has appointed to lead His churches (3 John 1, 9; Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14).

Because of the many disputes about the exact nature of the book of Revelation and about how it should be interpreted and applied, not a few pastors, teachers, and other church leaders have been dismissive at least to some extent of the theological value of John’s final seven epistles to these church leaders. Such an interpretive stance is a serious mistake and deprives them and their people of a wealth of theological and practical revelation, as demonstrated by the following brief survey of some theological insights provided by these epistles:

Theology Proper and Christology

Jesus profoundly emphasizes to the churches that the Father is still His God (3:12). He also stresses repeatedly that He is God’s judicial agent (e.g. 3:2 and 5). Both of these truths have received insufficient attention in contemporary theological thought, especially in works that are directed to pastors and their congregations.

Pneumatology

Jesus ends every epistle with a directive to heed what the Spirit is saying to the churches (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). These statements underscore the personality of the Spirit and His supervisory role over all the churches. Pastors must instruct their people diligently about these truths.

Angelology

Jesus speaks explicitly about the devil/Satan to three of the pastors (2:9, 10; 13 [2x]; 24) and warns of his work of persecuting them (2:10). Pastors who make light of the reality of possible direct satanic attack on them and their churches thus do not have a correct viewpoint about the Christian life.

Soteriology

Jesus reveals that the salvation of believers will only be complete when He will confess before His Father and before His angels that they have overcome (3:5). Pastors must challenge their people regularly about such aspects of the ultimate salvation of believers and what is necessary for receiving it.

Ecclesiology

Jesus confronts two of the seven pastors about their tolerating false teachers within their own churches (2:14; 20-23). Because the latter specifies that the pernicious influence of a false teacher was promoting fornication and the eating of things sacrificed unto idols among believers, it is clear that Jesus wants his leaders to be concerned not just with false teaching about “the gospel,” but also with false teaching that misleads believers about their morality and their exercise of Christian “liberty.”

Eschatology

Jesus sets forth a profound promise of international authority that He will give to those who overcome (2:26-27). Even more profoundly, He declares that He will grant to overcomers to sit with Him on His throne (3:21)! Lack of pastoral emphasis on such truths deprives believers of crucial God-intended motivators for them to overcome. Pastors must emphasize eschatological truths to their people, even as Christ does in each of these letters.

Based on this sampling of the vital theological and practical value of the final seven Johannine “pastoral” epistles, we should all be diligent to profit fully from them!

[1] Second John is likely also such an epistle.

In Exhortation, Theology

Have You Fallen on Your Face and Worshiped God?

August 21, 2012

In many passages, Scripture records instances when people fell on their faces in encounters directly with God or in settings where He manifested Himself to them in various ways. In a couple of cases, we even read of God’s judgment on a pagan object of worship that resulted in that object’s falling on its face before the ark of the Lord.

Moreover, Scripture reveals that Jesus fell on His face in prayer to the Father, and that all the angels in heaven as well as other beings in heaven fall on their faces and worship God.

I have grouped these passages into categories that I hope will be of value in challenging you to fall on your face and worship God, which is the only proper thing for all of us sinners to do in the presence of God.

Personal encounter with Deity

Gen 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

Jos 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

Jdg 13:20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

Mat 17:5-6 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

Earthly worship

Lev 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

2Ch 20:18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

Encounter with the glory of God

Eze 1:28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Eze 3:23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.

Eze 43:3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.

Eze 44:4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.

God’s glory in judgment of sinners

Num 16:22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

Num 16:45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

Num 20:6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.

Num 22:31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

Jos 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.

1Sa 5:3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

1Sa 5:4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

1Ki 18:39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

1Ch 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

Eze 9:8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?

Eze 11:13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

1Co 14:25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

Angelic messenger sent from God

Dan 8:17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

Prayer

Mat 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Luk 5:12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

Luk 17:16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

Heavenly worship

Rev 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

Rev 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,

Given that Scripture provides us with so much revelation about falling on one’s face and worshiping God, may God help us all to do so as well.

Have you fallen on your face and worshiped God?

In Exhortation

Honor Christ by Honoring Your Pastor!

August 7, 2012

In God’s final revelation that is specifically directed to His churches (the book of Revelation), we learn at least four distinctive aspects about the pastor of a church in relation to Christ.

1. He is a special representative of Christ

John wrote “to the seven churches which are in Asia” (Rev. 1:4). He informed them that the glorified Christ declared to him: “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches” (1:20).

This statement compared with Paul’s teaching many years prior that ministers are “the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 8:23) reveals that because a pastor is one of the stars who are the glory of Christ, he must be one who furnishes people with a right opinion of the unique excellence of Christ. He is thus a special representative of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20-21).

2. He has a special relationship with Christ

In his description of the glorified Christ, John writes that “He had in His right hand seven stars” (1:16). He later reports that Christ Himself spoke of that same fact three times (1:20; 2:1; cf. 3:1).

Although every believer is in Christ’s hand (John 10:28), these four statements suggest that the pastor, the “angel” of a church, is in some special sense in Christ’s right hand. He, therefore, has a special relationship to Christ.

3. He has a special responsibility to Christ

The glorified Christ directed John to write letters to the pastors of seven literal churches in Asia Minor in the first century (Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). In those letters, He confronts those pastors in pointed ways about their relationship to Him and their service to Him (e.g., “for my name’s sake hast labored” [2:3]). He demands faithfulness of them (e.g., 2:10, 25) and warns of dire consequences for them and their churches if they fail Him (e.g., 2:5, 16; 3:3).

4. He has a special reward from Christ

The glorified Christ speaks of a crown belonging to the pastor: “Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (3:11; cf. 1 Cor. 3:5-17 and Peter’s instruction to elders: “When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not way” [1 Pet. 5:4]). In view of this special reward, the pastor must persevere in his faithful service to Christ.

Because of these special characteristics of pastors in relation to Christ, we need to continually be mindful that we honor Christ by honoring these who are His special servants whom He has graciously gifted us with (Eph. 4:11ff.). Let us, therefore, diligently honor Christ by honoring our pastors!

In Exhortation, Theology

Let’s Profit Fully from Jesus’ Remarkable Dealings with This Very Needy Woman!

August 3, 2012

All the Synoptics record how a woman with an incurable hemorrhage received miraculous healing through her “impersonal” touching of Jesus (Matt. 9; Mk. 5; Luke 8). Jesus’ subsequent remarkable dealings with this very needy woman pertain vitally to an aspect of Christian worship in churches today that many more believers need to profit from fully:

²⁴ And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

²⁵ And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, ²⁶ And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

²⁷ When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. ²⁹ And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

³⁰ And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? ³¹ And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? ³² And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

³³ But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. ³⁴ And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague (Mark 5).

In manifestation of her genuine but not well-developed faith in Jesus, this woman came from behind Him and furtively touched Him in order to be healed of her terrible affliction. Knowing immediately what had happened, Jesus acted in a forceful but gracious manner that compelled her to fall down before Him and acknowledge everything to Him “before all the people” (Luke 8:47).

Jesus thus did not allow her merely to receive her healing in an impersonal transaction that did not require public personal interaction with Him and public acknowledgement of her neediness and testimony to what He had done for her. Only when she had honored Jesus with a public confession of all the truth about what had happened did He give her assurance of her faith and instruction to leave in peace and wholeness.

Jesus’ dealings with this woman to bring about a fitting public response from her supports the proper use of “come forward” style invitations that exhort sinners to come forward and testify publicly if God has ministered graciously and specifically to them in an unmistakable manner to confront them with their sinfulness and minister to them to bring them to Himself.

A number of commentators expound about Jesus’ remarkable dealing with this very needy woman in ways that are consistent with this application:

There is nothing better for those that fear and tremble, than to throw themselves at the feet of the Lord Jesus, to humble themselves before Him, and refer themselves to Him. . . . We must not be ashamed to own the secret transactions between Christ and our souls; but, when called to it, mention, to His praise, and the encouragement of others, what he has done for our souls, and the experience we have had of healing virtue derived from Him. And the consideration of this, that nothing can be hid from Christ, should engage us to confess all to Him (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1787; bold text is in italics in original).

Dumb [in the sense of not speaking] debtors to healing mercy, be rebuked by the narrative of the Lord’s procedure towards this healed woman. He suffered her not, as doubtless she would have preferred, to depart in silence, to pour out her secret thanksgivings, or at some private meeting to testify her love to Jesus. He would have her, in spite of her shrinking modesty, to come forward before all and declare what she had done and how she had sped. Thus, in her own way, was she a preacher of Christ. And such witness will He have from all His saved ones. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (David Brown, JFB, 3:155; bold text is in italics in the original).

She desired secrecy, because an open appeal to Jesus for healing, involving a public disclosure of her condition, would be too embarrassing. . . . The whole ordeal naturally was embarrassing to her, but Jesus knew that it was necessary to give her the assurance that she needed. . . . He required her confession to perfect [her] faith and to give her its full reward” (D. Edmond Heibert, The Gospel of Mark: An Expostional Commentary, 142, 145).

It was not enough to believe in her heart: she must as well confess with her mouth (Rom. 10:9). In front of all the crowd, she must confess, first her great need of healing, and then, the glad fact of her salvation. That it was a costly confession, we can tell from the words in fear and trembling (33). For a woman to speak in public before an Asian crowd, and above all to speak of such personal matters, would be very humbling for her, but humility is an essential within the kingdom of God (R. Alan Cole, Mark in TNTC, 161-62; bold text is in italics in original).

It turns out that the healing does not come free. Jesus forces her to step out on faith and be identified. It will not bankrupt her as the physicians had done, but she must publicly acknowledge her debt to Jesus, that he is the source of her healing. When she does, he blesses her and announces that her faith has made her well (David E. Garland, Mark in NIVAC, 221).

She wants a cure, however, a something, whereas Jesus desires a personal encounter with someone. He is not content to dispatch a miracle; he wants to encounter a person (James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark in PNTC, 165; bold text is in italics in original).

God has inscripturated the accounts of Jesus’ remarkable dealings with this very needy woman for our profit that we might learn better how to honor Jesus in public worship settings. Let’s profit fully from them in this respect by employing and participating in “come forward” style invitations in a proper manner.

In Exhortation, Interpretation

Hope for the USA Based on the Amazing Parallel between 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Jonah 3!

July 6, 2012

Hearing Jonah’s proclamation of the upcoming destruction of Nineveh (Jon. 3:4), the Ninevehites responded with faith (3:5a) and repentance (3:5b-c; cf. “And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way” [3:10a]). Because they did so, God relented of the punishment that He had purposed to bring upon them (3:10b).

The people’s right response to the warning of impending judgment was brought about by the proper response of their king (and his nobles) to that warning (the causal connection is clear from the word for that causally links 3:5 with 3:6-9):

Jon 3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

⁶ For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

⁷ And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

⁸ But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

⁹ Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

The king humbled himself (3:6) and directed that the entire city be given specific direction about what they were to do (3:7-8). In addition to fasting (3:7b), all were to cover themselves with sackcloth (3:8a), which would be an outward act of humbling themselves in keeping with their humbling themselves in their hearts.

The king also decreed all to “cry mightily unto God” (3:7c) and turn each one “from his evil way” and from their violence (3:7d). He explained that the intent of the decree was that they might not perish if God perhaps would relent from punishing them for their wickedness (3:9).

God did spare them from His judgment, and this analysis shows that He did so because they believed, repented, and prayed to Him (3:10).

Moreover, the decree by the king of Nineveh strikingly parallels the instruction that God had given to Solomon many years earlier:

Instruction to Solomon	Instruction in the Decree by the King of Nineveh
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,	“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. . . .He [the king] arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. . . . , Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth”
and pray, and seek my face,	and cry mightily unto God:
and turn from their wicked ways;	yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).	And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not” (Jon. 3:5-10).

This parallel shows that the truth of 2 Chronicles 7:14 was fulfilled for a pagan nation that very likely had never heard anything about that great promise of God to His own people! How much more would the truth of 2 Chronicles 7:14 be fulfilled for the USA, a country which has had far more knowledge of God than the Ninehevites ever had, were we to believe God, repent, and pray to Him, as they did!

In the hope that the amazing parallel between 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Jonah 3 provides for us who are alive today in the USA, let us all humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways while there is yet time. Let us also make known to as many other people as we can the great hope that God holds out for our country if we all will believe Him, repent, and pray to Him!

In Evangelism, Exhortation, Interpretation

Archives For Exhortation

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: