Discipleship | A People for His Name

Following the Example of Nebuchadnezzar or the Example of Belshazzar: The Choice That We All Must Make

November 5, 2011

Daniel, the prophet, confronted both Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar for their sinfulness (Dan. 4:27; 5:22-23). The difference in their ultimate fates following that confrontation points to the choice that we all must make–following Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar.

The Example of Nebuchadnezzar

God abased Nebuchadnezzar “when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride” (5:20). When he humbled himself before God, he was exalted by God (4:36). Following his humiliation and exaltation, he praised and extolled and honored “the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment” (4:37a-b), and testified that “those that walk in pride He is able to abase” (4:37c).

The Example of Belshazzar

Although he knew all that had taken place with his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar did not humble his heart (5:22). Instead, he lifted up himself “against the Lord of heaven” (5:23). God pronounced sentence upon him (5:24-28), and he was slain in that very night (5:31).

The Choice That We All Must Make

God has provided us with these inspired records of His dealings with the pride of these two Babylonian kings. We, thus, have even more than what Belshazzar had when he was indicted, condemned, and slain for his sinfulness.

For our good, God has set before us these two examples of how humans choose to respond to His convicting them of their pride. The one humbled himself before God after he had been dealt with about his pride, but the other did not.

We all must choose whose example we will follow–Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. Our ultimate fates depend on the choice that we make either to humble ourselves for our pride or to exalt ourselves in pride.

Let us choose to follow the example of Nebuchadnezzar because “GOD RESISTETH THE PROUD, AND GIVETH GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Pet. 5:5c-6; cf. Ps. 75:4-10).

In Exhortation

From Jesus to Paul: Verbal Ministry about the Kingdom of God and about Jesus

November 2, 2011

Observing how a book begins and ends is an important part of discovering what a writer desires to communicate. When both the beginning and the ending of a book stress the same ideas, we can have confidence that those are key ideas to which the author is seeking to direct attention.

The book of Acts begins with Luke’s teaching about Jesus’ post-resurrection ministry:

“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen: To whom also He shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (1:1-3).

Following this introduction, Luke records how Jesus commissioned His apostles with teaching concerning their future testifying to Him throughout the world (1:4-8). By beginning the book this way, Luke emphasized that Jesus’ ministry to the apostles focused on instruction about the kingdom of God and about Himself.

Luke concludes Acts with two noteworthy accounts of Pauline ministry in Rome:

“And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified concerning the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. . . . And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (28:23; 30-31).

He thus could hardly have stressed more emphatically than he did that Paul’s ministry for two entire years was to minister the same things in the same way to everybody that he interacted with: preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.

Based on how Luke begins and ends the book of Acts, it is certain that he intends to stress that from Jesus to Paul, the emphasis was on verbal ministry about the kingdom of God and about Jesus. We, therefore, should have the same dual emphases in our evangelistic and discipleship ministries.

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Interpretation

"Silent Night" in Solfeggio and Basic Chords in Any Key

October 31, 2011

This newly formatted version of Silent Night provides both the melody and the basic chords to play the song in any key. The melody is in my solfeggio format, and the basic chords are given with Roman numerals that designate which chord in a key you should play and when.

This document also provides a chart that shows what basic chords you would play the song in the keys of C, G, D, A, E, and F.

In Guitar Music

"Jesus Loves Me" in Solfeggio and Simplified Chords Format

October 28, 2011

For the past three weeks, I have been teaching a guitar class for a number of people in a church. Because it is a Spanish church, I have been developing a new method of playing guitar that uses the solfeggio syllables instead of notes.

Working on this new method has reinforced my own understanding of playing of the guitar in ways that I was not expecting. It has also helped me improve my own playing!

My latest piece in my solfeggio and simplified chords format is Jesus Loves Me.

Notes for playing this piece:

“DO” means the do that is an octave higher than “Do.”

In the simplified chords diagrams, the partially shaded dot above the first string in the F chord means that you can either not play that string at all or play that string open. Not playing the first string at all, the chord is an F chord; playing the first string open, it is an Fmaj7 chord, which is an acceptable substitute for an F chord.

In Guitar Music

Should We Sing Prayers to Jesus and the Holy Spirit?

October 27, 2011

In response to a question that was recently directed to me, I have been pondering again whether we should pray to Jesus and to the Spirit as well as to the Father or whether we should pray only to the Father. It occurred to me tonight that we sing many songs that are prayers directed to Jesus and to the Spirit.

If we should pray only to the Father, should we be singing any prayers like the following?

Whiter Than Snow	“Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole . . . Break down every idol . . .” Similarly, every stanza is a prayer to Jesus.
O to Be Like Thee!	“O to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art; Come in Thy sweetness . . . Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.”
“Are Ye Able,” Said the Master	“‘Are ye able’, said the Master, ‘To be crucified with Me?’ . . . ‘Lord, we are able.’ Our Spirits are Thine. Remold them , make us . . .”
Draw Me Nearer	“Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, To the cross where Thou hast died . . .”
More Love to Thee	“More love to Thee, O Christ, More love to Thee! Hear Thou the prayer I make . . .”
Break Thou the Bread of Life	“Break Thou the bread of life, Dear Lord to me, As Thou didst break the loaves Beside the sea . . .”
Lead Me to Calvary	“Lest I forget Gethsemane; Lest I forget Thine agony; Lest I forget Thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary.”
My Faith Looks Up To Thee	“My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary . . . Now hear me while I pray, Take all my guilt away . . .”
Have Thine Own Way, Lord!	“Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!”
Near the Cross	“Jesus, keep me near the cross . . .”
Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me	“Jesus, Savior, pilot me . . .”
I Need Thee Every Hour	“O bless me now, my Savior . . .”
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us	“Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray . . .”
Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart	“Spirit of God, descend upon my heart, Wean it from earth . . .”
Fill Me Now	“Hover o’er me, Holy Spirit, Bathe my trembling heart and brow . . .”
Open My Eyes, That I May See	“Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!”

If it is right for us to sing these prayers to Jesus and the Spirit, then it would seem . . .

What do you think?

In Music, Prayer

Paul’s Commission to Proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God!

October 26, 2011

In his testimony to King Agrippa, Paul made known the commission that he had received from Jesus (Acts 26:16-23). He declared that Christ said that He was sending Paul to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me” (26:18).

The purpose clause in this statement shows that Christ had ordained that through Paul’s ministry the Gentiles who believed in Him would receive two things: forgiveness and an inheritance. Because Luke’s record provides no further information from Paul about what this inheritance was to be, we have to look at other passages to determine its identity.

Colossians 1 is the only Pauline passage that uses the same word for inheritance (κλῆρον) that occurs in Acts 26:18. In his prayer for the Colossians, Paul was “giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:12-14).

A close comparison of Acts 26:18 and Colossians 1:12-14 reveals striking similarities:

(1) “darkness to light” (Acts 26:18) cf. “darkness” (Col. 1:13) and “light” (Col. 1:12);
(2) “Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18) cf. “power of darkness” (Col. 1:13) and “kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:13);
(3) “forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18) cf. “forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14)
(4) “inheritance among them which are sanctified” [κλῆρον ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις] (Acts 26:18) cf. “inheritance of the saints” [τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων] (Col. 1:12)
(5) “faith that is in Me” (Acts 26:18) cf. “of His dear Son: in whom ” (Col. 1:13-14)

These striking similarities show that Jesus commissioned Paul with a ministry that had as its purpose that people would receive an inheritance in His kingdom!*

Moreover, Paul had spoken to the Colossians of “the hope which [was] laid up for [them] in heaven, whereof [they had] heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel” (Col. 1:5) and then proceeded to pray his prayer of thanksgiving to the Father for making them “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (1:12). He followed that by stating that He had translated them “into the kingdom of His dear Son” (1:13). From the flow of thought here, we learn that the gospel that the Colossians heard from Paul declared to them the hope of their inheritance in the kingdom of God!

Paul thus preached the gospel of the kingdom to them, and the close correlation of Colossians 1 with Acts 26:18 supports holding that Paul’s commission from Jesus was to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God that involved receiving an inheritance in the kingdom of God!

————

* Many passages with similar teaching to Acts 26:18 and Colossians 1:12-14 confirm this interpretation by using words related to the word for inheritance (κλῆρον) in both passages to speak of those who will or will not inherit the kingdom (Matt. 25: 34; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 15:50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; James 2:5).

In Biblical Greek, Biblical Languages, Gospel, Interpretation

Preformatives on Hebrew Verbs Chart

October 21, 2011

From my study of biblical Hebrew in the past and my recent times of intensively tutoring a student in beginning Hebrew, I have found some very helpful patterns with the preformatives on Hebrew verbs. My Verb Forms Preformatives Chart brings out these patterns visually in a way that I think is very helpful!

I would appreciate feedback about any problems or errors in this chart.

In Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Languages

Through the LXX in 2011!

October 20, 2011

The Lord has graciously allowed me to read through the entire Septuagint this year! I praise Him for helping me to finish this project.


Section	Greek	English
OT	929/929	547*/929
NT	20/260	260/260
Bible	949/1189	807/1189

*Includes listening to 129 chapters of the OT from the Bible on MP3

I hope to read through the remaining 240 chapters of the Greek NT by the end of the year. If I am able to do so, this would be my first year to read through the whole Bible in Greek.

As the Lord allows and directs, I hope to read through the Bible in Greek every year for the next 8-10 years. I also plan to read the Hebrew NT next year and perhaps start reading in the Hebrew OT as well.

In Bible reading

Better Learning Languages by Reading through the New Testament in Those Languages

October 19, 2011

Because I have read through all the books that comprise the NT more than twenty times, I probably know the contents of the NT better than I do any other collection of books of comparable size. Based on that fact, I have been thinking that a good way to advance my abilities in other languages would be to read through the NT in them.

Because I have been tutoring Hebrew intensively in recent weeks, I think that this would be a good time to finally start reading through the NT in Hebrew. The New Testament in Hebrew and English by The Society for Distributing Hebrew Scriptures seems like it would be a good tool for doing so.

Besides English, Greek, and Hebrew, I have also studied Hindi, German, French, and Spanish in the past. As God directs, I would also like to read through the NT some day in each of these languages.

I’d appreciate hearing from anyone who has tried this approach to learning a language or improving in it.

In Bible reading

"More Like His Justice"

October 18, 2011

This truth of the ultimate triumph of God’s justice has some vital applications for the Christian. Since we will someday stand at the judgment seat of Christ, we must live our lives with a daily sense of accountability to our just God. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 bears more than an incidental similarity to II Corinthians 5:10-11. The passage in Ecclesiastes tells us that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments, because the Lord is going to judge every overt and covert act—determining what is good and evil. The passage in II Corinthians informs us that what we have done, whether good or bad, will be made manifest at the judgment seat of Christ. Since we know what it is to fear the Lord, we must be serious about proclaiming the truth that God invites people to accept the reconciliation He has already provided in Christ. It is possible for Christians to live selfishly, unconcerned that many around us are headed for an appointment with the God of justice at the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20: 11-15). . . . It is our vital task to be ambassadors for Christ, beseeching people to be reconciled to God (v. 20). The justice of God demands that we put away our preoccupation with our own selfish pursuits and labor as witnesses for Christ.

—Randy Jaeggli, “More Like His Justice” in More Like the Master, 147-48.

In Quotes

Archives For Discipleship

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