Discipleship | A People for His Name

Why Christians Must Esteem the Lord’s Day above All Other Days

August 24, 2015

Many believers think that Paul teaches that whether a believer esteems the Lord’s Day above other days is a matter of Christian liberty (Rom. 14:5-6). For several key reasons, this is a serious misapplication of Paul’s teaching in Romans 14:5-6.

Divine Consecration of One Day above the Others

In the beginning, the Lord created light and called it “Day” (Gen. 1:3-5a). He so created the universe that “the evening and the morning were the first day” (Gen. 1:5).

Having finished His work of creating all things in six literal 24-hour days, “God . . rested on the seventh day from all His work which God created and made” (Gen. 2:3). He then blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it” (Gen. 2:3). These statements show us that even though God was the One who made all the days, He set apart one day as special above the other days.

Adam, Eve, and all others who were among God’s people prior to the giving of the Mosaic Law would thus have had direct divine activity that would have unmistakably made clear to them that they were to esteem the seventh day above the other days of the week.

Divine Mandate to Esteem One Day above the Others

Through His giving the Decalogue to Moses, God revealed to His people His command that they were to esteem the seventh day above other days:

Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

⁹ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

¹⁰ But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

¹¹ For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

We should notice that God directly ties His commands concerning the Sabbath day to what He did at creation on and concerning the seventh day. God’s people from this point until the Resurrection of Christ and the birth of the Church on Pentecost had both divine consecration and divine mandate that would direct them unmistakably to esteem one day above the other days of the week.

Divine Possession of One Day above the Others

God raised His Son Jesus Christ from the dead on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1-8) and gave Him glory so that our faith and hope might be in God (1 Pet. 1:21). Apostolic use of Psalm 118:22 in Acts 4:10-11 shows us that the Psalmist’s statements in Psalm 118 about the day which the Lord hath made are not to be taken generically to apply to every day but specifically are prophetic prediction about the first day of the week when God would raise Christ from the dead and make Him the head stone of the corner! God’s people ever after are to rejoice and be glad on the day the Lord has made—the Lord’s Day!

Furthermore, on Pentecost, God birthed the Church on the first day of the week (Acts 2). In obedience to an apostolic command (1 Cor. 16:2a), His people thereafter assembled to worship Him on the first day of every week (cf. Acts 20:7), including giving offerings for helping meet the pressing needs of His saints (1 Cor. 16:1-4). All these facts show that the first day was a special day for His NT people in many respects.

In providing His climactic revelation to mankind, however, God revealed that the first day of the week was now special to Him in a singular way unlike any other day was—it was “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10)! The Greek construction used here reveals a crucial truth:

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Rev 1:10 ἐγενόμην ἐν Πνεύματι ἐν τῇ Κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ· καὶ ἤκουσα ὀπίσω μου φωνὴν μεγάλην ὡς σάλπιγγος,

In the expression τῇ Κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ (‘the Lord’s Day’), the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle John to use the Greek adjective kuriakos (“belonging to the Lord,” [Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 115]) to teach us that the Lord now has possessed this day in a unique way that was and is distinct from all other days.¹ Yes, He created all the days of the week at Creation, but through His work of raising His Son from the dead on the first day and giving Him glory, the Lord took possession of that day in a glorious new way!

The Holy Spirit thus teaches all believers that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day that He distinctively possesses and that His people are to esteem that day above all the other days of the week. Romans 14:3-5 most definitely does not apply to how a Christian should esteem the Lord’s Day, and Christians must esteem the Lord’s Day above all other days!

¹ I am indebted to my pastor Dr. Mark Minnick for his excellent teaching through which I first learned this glorious truth.

In Biblical Greek, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

Mi Oración por La Ofrenda – 8.2.15

August 2, 2015

Padre celestial, oh Dios de paz, que resucitaste de entre los muertos a Jesús nuestro Señor, el gran Pastor de las ovejas mediante la sangre del pacto eterno, haznos aptos en toda obra buena para hacer tu voluntad, obrando Tú en nosotros lo que es agradable delante de Ti mediante Jesucristo, a quien sea la gloria por los siglos de los siglos. Gracias por esta ofrenda. Te rogamos que bendigas esta ofrenda y la uses para glorificar tu nombre. En el precioso nombre de Jesús. Amén.

In Ministry, Prayer, Spanish

Is This a Valid Assessment of Fundamentalism?

July 30, 2015

On a Facebook thread, a friend of mine posted in June the following assessment of fundamentalism:

Music is a clear instance where fundamentalism teaches a Manichean (an ancient heresy) view of the world by dividing everything into good or evil – good styles vs. bad styles, worldly music vs. Godly music. Augustine and other orthodox Christians rightly saw this as a faulty cosmology. It calls evil what God has created and declared as intrinsically good.

If you believe, as this friend does, that fundamentalists who reject certain musical styles are “Manichaen” heretics and hold “a faulty cosmology,” please show us “heretics” point-by-point from the Bible alone how we are calling “evil what God has created and declared as intrinsically good.” Where and how exactly does the Bible itself teach that God created all musical styles and declared them as intrinsically good?

In CCM, Theology

Twelve Times through the Book of Revelation This Year!

July 10, 2015

Today, I read through the book of Revelation again, which makes twelve times that I have read the book since mid-April. I can testify to how greatly God has blessed me through my reading this book over and over again, just as He has promised to do for anyone who will read, hear, and do what is written in this phenomenal book!

In Bible reading, Testimony

A Key, Overlooked Passage concerning Biblical Marriage

July 9, 2015

None of the many articles that I have read recently concerning biblical marriage has mentioned Genesis 6-9 as a relevant or important passage about the subject. An examination of several facets of the passage shows that Genesis 6-9 is a key passage that provides decisive information that corroborates what Genesis 1-2 teaches about biblical marriage.

A Profound Emphasis on Male and Female in Genesis 1-5 and 6-9

Genesis 1:27 reveals that God created man as male and female and blessed them and instructed them to be fruitful and multiply. Genesis 2:18-25 corroborates that passage and states that God brought Adam and Eve together as the first humans and united them to be husband and wife. Their union was blessed of God, and there was no shame involved in their being united as one flesh.

Genesis 5:2 reiterates that God made man male and female and blessed them. This key statement shows that Genesis 1-2 records factual history concerning biblical marriage.

In Genesis 6, we learn that mankind had so completely corrupted itself that God decreed that He would annihilate all people and animals from the earth (Gen. 6:5-17). By the favor of God (cf. Gen. 6:8), only Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives would be spared from that worldwide destruction (Gen. 6:13, 18). God thus spared mankind only as pairs consisting of a male and a female who were married to each other.

In addition, God would spare certain numbers of animals from that destruction. God profoundly emphasized that he would spare these animals only as pairs that were specified to be male and female (Gen. 6:19; 7:3, 9, 16).¹

He even speaks of these pairs of animals as being “a male and his female” (Gen. 7:2 [2x]; emphasis added). After the Flood, God instructed Noah to bring out all the animals “that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth” (Gen. 8:17), making clear that the animals that were spared were male and female animals that were spared as pairs.

Following the Flood, the whole earth was “overspread” by the children (and further descendants) who were born as the fruit of the marriages of each of Noah’s three sons with his own wife (Gen. 9:19). Although not directly stated, the same was the case with all the earth being filled with animals through the unions of each male animal and his female.

Based on all these statements in Genesis 6-9, we learn that God has profoundly emphasized that He had ordained for humans that their marriages were to be between a man and his wife because He only spared four pairs of humans, all of whom were married according to the pattern that He had established at Creation (Gen. 1-2). Furthermore, the profound emphasis in this passage on even the animals being pairs consisting of a male and his female shows that God’s pattern for all these living beings that He created, both humans and animals, was from the beginning to be the uniting of males and females into pairs that were comprised only of humans with humans and animals with animals respectively that were of opposite gender.

Conclusion

For Christians who believe fully that the entire Bible is the perfect Word of God, Genesis 1-2 is not the only key early passage that reveals to them what biblical marriage is. As discussed above, Genesis 6-9 profoundly confirms what Genesis 1-2 teaches such believers about biblical marriage.

¹ Of the clean animals and birds, God instructed Noah to bring in a seventh animal, which was later offered in sacrifice to God (Gen. 7:2; 8:20).

In Discipleship, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

A Striking Observation about the Book of Revelation

July 3, 2015

Not a few believers today probably regard the book of Revelation as largely an obscure prophetic book filled with apocalyptic symbolism and a book that is not really of much contemporary importance for how we are to live our lives. A striking observation about the book shows that its relevance for our lives could hardly be overstated.

Number of Occurrences of Forms of the Word “Worship”

Through reading through the book of Revelation 11 times in the past four months, I have discovered many truths about the book that I had not seen before. Today, after reading through the book this morning, I examined how many times the word “worship” occurs in its various forms in the book compared to other books of the Bible.

In the OT, the seven books with the most occurrences of forms of the word “worship” are the following: Exodus – 7; Deuteronomy – 7; 2 Kings – 12; Psalms – 16; Isaiah – 10; Jeremiah – 9; and Daniel – 12. In the NT, 23 books have fewer than five occurrences of the forms; four books have 13 or more occurrences: Matthew – 14; John 13; Acts – 13; and Revelation – 24.

These figures show that the book of Revelation has far more occurrences of forms of the word “worship” in it than any other book of the Bible does! Based on this data, we learn that this book stresses the importance of worship in a profound way that is probably little appreciated by many believers today.

Conclusion

The book of Revelation is far more than just an obscure prophetic book filled with apocalyptic symbolism that has little relevance for how we live our lives. At least through its surpassing use of forms of the word “worship,” the book of Revelation challenges us more than any other book of the Bible does that we must worship God aright for who He is and what He has done and will yet do.

In Discipleship, Theology

Learn Guitar for Ministry: Six-Week Beginner’s Class!

June 27, 2015

If you live in the Greenville, SC, area and are interested in learning to play the guitar for use in Christian ministry, I am offering beginning on July 20 two sections of a six-week beginner’s class at a phenomenal price! Each class lasts for 45-minutes and includes thorough instruction in my original method that will help you get off to a great start!

Space in both classes is limited, so please take the class only if you are serious about using the guitar for ministry. Completing this class is required in order to take the intermediate and advanced classes that I plan to offer later this year.

See how much you can learn in just six weeks! For more information, please contact me personally or by sending an e-mail to me at [email protected].

You can learn more about my guitar playing by watching this guitar-cello video.

In Guitar Music, Ministry

Nine Times Through Revelation This Year

June 23, 2015

Because I am teaching an 8-week Sunday school series from the book of Revelation this June and July, I have been repeatedly reading through the book. Since April 16, I have read the book through nine times!

So far, I have made it through the whole book in one day three times (4/16, 4/20, 6/6), including reading the whole book in one sitting on June 6. My goal is to keep reading the book through once a week throughout June and July.

Praise God for giving us this incomparable book!

In Bible reading

Who Needs to Forgive Someone Who Has Sinned As Josh Duggar Has?

May 30, 2015

Many people have written recently about the situation involving the aftermath of the immoral acts that Josh Duggar committed when he was a young teenager. Some have asserted that the only people who need to forgive him for what he has done are his victims. An examination of Pauline teaching in First and Second Corinthians does not support this assertion.

An Initially Mishandled Case of an Immoral Man in the Church at Corinth

Paul sternly challenged the Corinthians about their failure to discipline a man in their church who had committed incest with his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5). Using his apostolic authority, Paul judged this immoral man (1 Cor. 5:3-5) and instructed the Corinthians to judge him as well by removing him from among themselves (1 Cor. 5:7, 12, 13).

The Subsequent Mishandling of This Case

Based on what Paul later wrote to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 2:1-11), we learn that the Corinthians at some point after receiving Paul’s challenge corrected their initial mishandling of the case involving this immoral man by properly punishing him (“this punishment, which was inflicted of many,” 2 Cor. 2:6). We also learn, however, that they subsequently mishandled this case by not properly forgiving and comforting him (2 Cor. 2:7) after he repented.

Using again his apostolic authority, Paul exhorted the Corinthians to correct their subsequent mishandling of this case by confirming their love toward him (2 Cor. 2:8). Paul explained that their obedience to this directive about their forgiving him was directly tied to his forgiving him for their sakes “in the person of Christ” (2 Cor. 9-10).

Who Needs to Forgive Josh Duggar?

Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians about their dealings with this horrible case of incest among themselves shows that it was not true that the only people who needed to forgive this immoral man for what he had done was the one with whom he had committed immorality. According to this divine revelation, the entire church at Corinth needed to forgive this man, as also Paul did.

Applying this teaching to the current situation with Josh Duggar, we understand that other believers besides his victims must also forgive and comfort Josh Duggar. They must also confirm their love toward him.

A failure to do so puts him at risk of being “swallowed up with overmuch sorrow” (2 Cor. 2:7). It also puts all believers at risk of Satan’s gaining an advantage of us (2 Cor. 2:11).

Conclusion

Certainly, what Josh Duggar did when he was a young teenager was reprehensible, and we must not condone his actions in any way. Applying Pauline teaching about forgiveness in First and Second Corinthians to his case does not lessen the need for proper care of those whom he victimized.

Having said that, based on what I have read being said by some people concerning forgiving Josh Duggar, it is vital that we do heed what Scripture teaches about forgiveness and how that teaching applies to the issue of who should forgive him. It is not true that the only people who need to forgive him are the ones whom he victimized—other believers must also forgive him, comfort him, and confirm their love toward him.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

Mi Oración por La Ofrenda – 5.17.15

May 18, 2015

Padre celestial, gracias por la gracia de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, que siendo rico, sin embargo por amor a nosotros se hizo pobre, para que nosotros por medio de su pobreza llegáramos a ser ricos. ¡Cómo te alabamos, oh Padre, por tu don inefable! Concédenos que nosotros te sigamos plenamente a ti, oh Señor nuestro Dios. Gracias por esta ofrenda. Te rogamos que bendigas esta ofrenda y la uses para tu gloria. En el maravilloso nombre de Jesús. Amén.

In Ministry, Prayer, Spanish

Archives For Discipleship

Divine Consecration of One Day above the Others

Divine Mandate to Esteem One Day above the Others

Divine Possession of One Day above the Others

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

A Profound Emphasis on Male and Female in Genesis 1-5 and 6-9

Conclusion

Share this:

Number of Occurrences of Forms of the Word “Worship”

Conclusion

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

An Initially Mishandled Case of an Immoral Man in the Church at Corinth

The Subsequent Mishandling of This Case

Who Needs to Forgive Josh Duggar?

Conclusion

Share this:

Share this: