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Do You Have God’s Mind about Being Poor?

January 7, 2016

It is a very sad reality that many people in the world suffer greatly because they are poor. Three Scriptural statements provide these many millions of poor people with crucial revelation that they desperately need.

In three successive chapters in Proverbs, God sets forth three truths that go contrary to the thinking and practice of many of the people in the world today. By giving attention to these words from God, they will have essential truth that they need to have God’s mind about being poor.

Proverbs 19:22

Given the opportunity to do so, some people lie to try to get out of their poverty. Some provide false information to governmental authorities in order to get assistance for which they would not otherwise qualify or the amounts that they would receive would be substantially reduced were they to tell the truth about their situation.

People cheat on their tax returns in order not to pay as much taxes as they should. By doing so, they seek to have more money than they would were they to be truthful about their finances.

Contrary to the thinking and practice of all such people, Scripture declares,

A poor man is better than a liar (Prov. 19:22).

Because God teaches that it is better to be poor than to be a liar, everyone who does deceitful things to get wealth shows that he does not have God’s mind about being poor.

By faith and trust in God, every poor person should be truthful. They should not lie to try to escape their poverty. Showing that they fear God, they should commit themselves to God to take care of them.

Proverbs 20:17

Many people obtain material goods and money through deceitful means. Because they temporarily enjoy the fruit of their lies, they think that what they have done is justified by the sweetness of what they obtain through their falsehoods.

God warns such people,

Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel (Prov. 20:17).

No matter how appealing it may be to acquire and enjoy things through lying that you otherwise would not be able to have, God wants us to be certain that the ultimate consequence of such actions will not be sweet. By faith in God, people who are poor must reject opportunities to get things and wealth through deceitful ways.

Proverbs 21:6

Poor people are often tempted to think that they need to lie in order to change the sad realities of their circumstances. Such people must heed what God says about such wrong attempts to acquire wealth:

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death (Prov. 21:6).

God teaches that people who lie to get treasures are actually pursuing death even while they think they are trying to improve their lives by their dishonest acquisitions. Poor people must take God’s viewpoint and reject such fatal seeking of wealth!

Conclusion

God cares so much about all human beings that He has provided us with these (and many other) key truths so that we will have His mind about being poor. God wants all people, including poor people, to put their faith in Him by being truthful and honest in all their ways at all times.

Do you have God’s mind about being poor?

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

On Excellence in Preaching

January 4, 2016

Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest preacher who has ever lived. Matthew 5-7 provides the lengthiest record of any of His sermons.

The Holy Spirit has bracketed that record with these four statements:

Mat 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

² And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Mat 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

²⁹ For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

These divinely inspired words reveal that the greatest sermon of the greatest preacher who has ever lived was foremost an instance of His authoritatively teaching His audience! Based on this evidence, we must conclude that excellence in preaching first of all concerns the nature of the teaching that a preacher provides to his hearers.

We must also be careful about making dichotomous statements about preaching versus teaching, as if the two were sharply distinct. Because Matthew 5-7 shows that excellent preaching essentially includes authoritative teaching that instructs people in doctrine, we must not make statements that downplay the importance of the teaching that a preacher provides when he preaches.

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Preaching, Theology

Did Solomon Repent Before He Died?

December 28, 2015

First Kings 11 chronicles at some length the tragic final years of Solomon’s life. The chapter ends with three verses that relate his death, but the Holy Spirit did not choose to inspire any mention in the chapter about his repenting before he died.

Interpreters dispute whether the book of Ecclesiastes is an OT record of the repentance of Solomon prior to his death. In support of taking Ecclesiastes as a record of his repentance, the ending of 1 Kings 11 as well as several NT references imply that Solomon did repent before he died.

A Written Record of All That Solomon Did

The Spirit concluded First Kings 11 by providing an intriguing statement about further information concerning the ending of Solomon’s life:

1 Kings 11:41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

This verse tells us that the writer of First Kings knew of a written document that recorded all the rest of what Solomon did in his life prior to his death. That document would have been available to others who lived after Solomon had died.

If Solomon had died as an unrepentant apostate, evidence that he did so would undoubtedly have been recorded in this book. For the writer of Second Chronicles to not say anything negative about Solomon, especially about the horrific ending of his life would be unintelligible if there were such a written record of Solomon’s complete and final apostasy.

Because the writer of Second Chronicles does not relate any such information, we are justified in holding that First Kings 11:41 provides us with implicit indication that Solomon did repent before he died.

Jesus as a Greater than Solomon

In the NT, Matthew and Luke record that Jesus Himself compared Himself with Solomon:

Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Luk 11:31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Had Solomon died as a wicked apostate who never repented, Jesus would not have compared Himself to Solomon because Solomon would in that case have ultimately proved to be the greatest fool in the history of Israel.

Furthermore, had Jesus likened Himself to such a defective man, he would have left Himself open to a profound rebuke from his enemies (Matt. 12:38) whom He rebuked with this statement (Matt. 12:39). Had these scribes and Pharisees believed that Solomon had died as an apostate, they would immediately have reproached Jesus for comparing Himself (Matt. 12:42) to such an apostate.

Because neither Matthew nor Luke records that they turned this statement by Jesus against Him as a compelling reason to reject His wisdom, we can be confident that both they and Jesus believed that Solomon did not die as the greatest fool in their history. Jesus’ positive use of this statement in response to His enemies implicitly communicates to us that Solomon did repent before he died.

Solomon’s Porch in the Temple

Three verses in the NT speak of Solomon’s porch in the temple:

Joh 10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.

Act 3:11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

Act 5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

Had Solomon died as an apostate, he would have been the worst example of apostasy in the history of God’s people. It is unthinkable that the Jews in the times of Jesus would designate any part of the temple or allow any part of the temple to be called by the name of such a heinously wicked man who failed to repent before he died.

By recording that this part of the temple was called Solomon’s porch, the Spirit has again implicitly related to us that Solomon did repent before he died.

Conclusion

Both the OT and the NT provide information that implies that Solomon did repent before he died. He is not in hell today. We will see Solomon in heaven one day.

Hebrews 11:22 and the Case against Cremation

December 21, 2015

In my last post, I treated three reasons why cremation is unbiblical. A striking statement about Joseph in Hebrews 11 provides additional conclusive evidence for the case against cremation.

Joseph’s Charge to the Israelites Prior to His Death

As he neared death, Joseph communicated his full assurance that God would fulfill His promises to His people about bringing them out of Egypt and into the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 50:24). Joseph then made the Israelites take an oath that they would carry his bones with them out from Egypt (Gen. 50:25).

By giving this charge to his own, Joseph displayed that he valued highly what would become of his bones after he had died. Not only did he not want his body to be cremated so that it would be reduced to ashes, but also he cared about where his remains would be buried.

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried in the Promised Land into which he was certain that God would one day lead His people. Was Joseph’s desire concerning his bones simply a manifestation of a cultural practice of his time or was it a display of something far greater?

Israel’s Obedience to Joseph’s Charge

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, he obeyed Joseph’s charge by taking his bones with them (Exod. 13:19). The children of Israel later finally fully fulfilled the wishes of Joseph when they buried his bones in a parcel of ground in Shechem, which parcel “became the inheritance of the children of Joseph (Josh. 24:32).

The OT Scriptural record of Joseph’s charge and the Israelites full obedience to that charge shows that God has wanted all His people who have ever received His Word to know what Joseph ordained concerning his bones and what ultimately happened to them. Does this Scriptural record merely relate the fulfillment of self-chosen instructions given by a powerful Israelite leader who was following the cultural customs of his time or is the record intended by God to communicate something of far greater importance?

Divine Commendation of Joseph’s Charge

The writer of Hebrews explicitly commends Joseph to NT believers as one who “obtained a good report through faith” (Heb. 11:39). Considering all that Scripture reveals about Joseph that is commendable, it is highly instructive that the explicit commendation given concerning Joseph in this key NT passage concerns the very charge that we read of twice in preceding Scripture:

Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

God thus highlights that Joseph’s giving the charge that he did concerning his bones was the exemplary manifestation of his faith in God that God wants to call to the attention of all Christians! God’s commendation of Joseph’s believing desires that his bones be buried in the Promised Land shows that what he did was not just a record of a powerful Israelite following his own wishes in keeping with a cultural custom of his people and time.

Conclusion

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried—not cremated, and his wanting to do so was a vital expression of his faith in the promises of God. All Christians must likewise display their faith in God by seeking to have their bodies buried when they die.

The Scriptural record concerning Joseph’s charge about his bones powerfully argues against any legitimacy of cremation for God’s people. Christians must not cremate their own!

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

Three Reasons Why Cremation is Unbiblical

December 14, 2015

Many biblical facts show why cremation is unbiblical. This post examines three reasons why cremation is unbiblical.

No OT support for cremation instead of burial

The OT does not record a single instance of God’s people cremating one of their own instead of burying him. Although it does have one passage that relates when some Israelites burned the bodies of some of their people when they died, a close examination of that account shows that it does not support cremation at all.

First Samuel 31 records the tragic end of the lives of king Saul and his three sons. When the Philistines decapitated them and fastened their bodies to a wall (1 Sam. 31:7-10), some inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what had taken place and valiantly acted to attend properly to their bodies:

1Sa 31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

¹² All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Scripture provides no explanation for why these men burned the bodies of Saul and his sons. Regardless of why they did so, they did not cremate their bodies instead of burying them, as the next verse plainly states:

¹³ And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

This key statement reveals that the men did not burn the bodies of Saul and his sons until they became ashes and then dispose of the ashes in whatever way they thought was acceptable. Rather, they burned the bodies in a way that preserved their bones, and then they buried them.

First Samuel 31 does not provide any support for Christians cremating a loved one instead of burying him. In fact, it shows that cremating a dead Christian is not at all either a biblically acceptable form of burial or a biblically acceptable substitute for burial.

God’s condemnation of people who completely burned the bones of a person

Amos 2 relates God’s declaration of His fierce wrath upon the Moabites for what they did to the bones of the king of Edom:

Amo 2:1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:

² But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

³ And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.

Because the Moabites burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime, God was going to judge them fiercely. C.F. Keil explains,

The burning of the bones of the king of Edom is not burning while he was still alive, but the burning of his corpse into lime, i. e. so completely that the bones turned into powder like lime . . . This is the only thing blamed, not his having put him to death (Keil-Delitzsch, 10:250).

This passage reveals God’s wrath on those who desecrated a man’s body after he had died by burning his bones until they became a powder. Based on this passage, Christians must not think that the Bible does not have anything to say against cremation.

No evidence of Christians ever cremating their own

The NT does not record a single instance of Christians cremating anyone after he had died. Furthermore, the account of the death of John the Baptist strengthens the case against cremation in a telling way.

Mark 6 records the horrific death of John the Baptist at the hands of wicked king Herod. Having had John beheaded, Herod had his head brought in a platter to the daughter of Herodias, who then gave it to her mother (Mark 6:27-28).

The disciples of John responded to the tragic murder of John by properly attending to his body:

Mar 6:29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

A comparison of the accounts of the deaths of King Saul and John the Baptist reveals that the disciples of John did not first burn his decapitated body—they buried his body in a tomb. Any possible support that a believer could try to make for cremation from the account in First Samuel 31 is invalidated by this parallel account in Mark 6.

The disciples of John—who through progressive revelation knew even more about the ways of God than the people of Jabesh Gilead did in their earlier time—did not employ any kind of burning in dealing with the decapitated body of John the Baptist. Mark 6 compared with First Samuel 31 shows that there is no New Testament support for God’s people even in an extreme circumstance to use some form of cremation prior to or in place of burial.

Conclusion

Cremation is not a biblically acceptable form of burial nor is it a biblically acceptable substitute for burial. Christians should not cremate their own.

Rather, they should do everything that they can legitimately do to see that their loved ones and other believers receive a proper burial as the fitting ending to their lives.

Ezekiel 39: A Test Case for Certain Notions about Cremation versus Burial

In Discipleship, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

Acts 21:14: An Illuminating Parallel Reference to Matthew 6:10

December 5, 2015

While reading in Acts 21 this morning in my Spanish Bible, I noticed a phrase that immediately brought to my mind another passage. When I checked the Greek text of both passages to see if the second passage truly was similar, I discovered an illuminating parallel reference.

Acts 21:14 and Matthew 6:10

Luke records the believers’ response when Paul refused their efforts to persuade him not to go to Jerusalem:

Act 21:14 Y como no le pudimos persuadir, desistimos, diciendo: Hágase la voluntad del Señor.

Act 21:14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

Act 21:14 μὴ πειθομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ, ἡσυχάσαμεν εἰπόντες, Τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Κυρίου γενέσθω.

What these believers said closely parallels what Jesus taught us as His disciples to pray:

Mat 6:10 Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad, como en el cielo, así también en la tierra.

Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:10 ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου· γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς·

The very close parallel between these statements in Acts 21:14 and Matthew 6:10 shows that these believers responded in a way that displayed where their ultimate allegiance lay—they wanted God’s will to be done on the earth. Their response suggests an important application for us as believers.

Application

At times, we all will likely encounter a situation where our best efforts to persuade other believers not to pursue a certain course of action that will likely be harmful to them are rejected. In keeping with what Acts 21:14 reveals, we perhaps should not respond to them primarily by saying something like, “You’ll be sorry,” or “Don’t say you weren’t warned.”

Instead, based on Acts 21:14, we should respond mainly along the lines of what was said to Paul on this occasion: “The will of the Lord be done.” Such a statement will testify to the other believers that we are responding to their refusal by declaring our heeding the Lord’s teaching about the will of God being done on the earth.

In Interpretation, Theology

Another Reason Why Solomon Did Not Perish Eternally

November 1, 2015

Some, perhaps even many, believers think that Solomon died and went to hell because they hold that the Bible never says that he repented of his great sinfulness. I have previously argued that for many biblical reasons Solomon did not perish eternally.

This post provides yet another reason to believe that Solomon is not in hell. A comparison of the biblical data about Samson versus Solomon shows that it is not true that Samson is in heaven but Solomon is in hell.

No Record of Samson’s Repenting of His Sins

Scripture records plainly that Samson sinned repeatedly, including defiling himself by eating honey from the carcass of a dead lion (Judg. 14:8-9), going into a harlot (Judg. 16:1-3), and taking his own revenge (Judg. 16:28-30). No mention is made of his repenting of any of these sins before he died.

Samson is mentioned by Name in Hebrews 11

Even though the inspired record of Samson’s life records his sinning repeatedly, does not ever mention that he repented, and says that “the Lord was departed from him” (Judges 16:20), Samson is mentioned by name in Hebrews 11 as a man of faith. We can be certain, therefore, that Samson was a believer and that he went to heaven when he died even though we have no record of his repenting of his sins as a believer before he died.

A Comparison of the Scriptural Records Concerning Samson and Solomon

Like Samson, Scripture records much about the sinfulness of Solomon (1 Kings 11) and does not directly and unambiguously record that he repented of his sins (cf., however, Ecclesiastes, which may be an inspired record of his repentance). Because Samson went to heaven when he died even though Scripture does not record that he repented of his sins, the lack of mention of Solomon’s repenting before he died does not prove that he died and went to hell because he never repented.

Conclusion

Based on the above comparison of the available biblical data concerning Samson and Solomon, we have no basis for holding that Samson is in heaven but Solomon is in hell. For that reason and for at least nine other biblical reasons, we can be certain that Solomon did not perish eternally.

In Interpretation, Theology

Why Churches Should Not Replace Evening Services with Small Groups

October 5, 2015

Scripture provides believers in churches with solid reasons not to replace their Lord’s Day evening services with small groups. This post presents a key line of biblical reasoning that supports this view.

The Importance of the Psalms for NT Believers

The apostle Paul instructs believers that they are to use the Psalms as a key part of Scripture with which they are to minister to one another:

Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Given this explicit apostolic direction, believers rightly need to base their views about worship on what God reveals about worship in the Psalms. Although there are many key passages that need to be considered, Psalm 92 is a premier passage because it is explicit inspired instruction to believers about worshiping the Lord on a day of the week that He has especially consecrated for worshiping Him.

What Psalm 92 Teaches Believers about Worshiping God

For OT believers, God set aside one day of every week as a day that was to be distinct from all other days of the week. Psalm 92 explains what God’s perspective was about His people worshiping Him on that day:

Psa 92:1 <A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

⁴ For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

The Sabbath was a day on which giving thanks to God and singing praise to Him was a good thing (Ps. 92:1). Obviously, doing these things on the other six days of the week was also a good thing; nevertheless, God’s saying that it was good to do these things on the Sabbath highlights the goodness of doing so on His day.

The Psalmist specifies that these things were to be done at two periods in the day: in the morning and at night (Ps. 92:2). This explicit divine teaching instructs believers that worshiping God in the morning and in the night on the Sabbath was a good thing.

Not only did the Psalmist reveal that God was to be worshiped in those two periods, but also he added that worship was to include instrumental music using several instruments (Ps. 92:3). Psalm 92 thus plainly teaches believers that corporate worship in the morning and evening that includes singing and playing instruments in worshiping God is a good thing.

Application of Psalm 92 to the Lord’s Day

The NT reveals that the Lord’s Day belongs to God in a unique way that goes beyond what was true about the Sabbath. It is unthinkable, therefore, that God expects less from NT believers on the Lord’s Day (worshiping Him only once a day) than He did from OT believers on the Sabbath (worshiping Him twice a day).

The NT further reveals that God has specified that an entire church assemble itself in one place to worship Him through the combined ministry of all the believers in the church (1 Cor. 14:23-25). Furthermore, Scripture does not provide any passages that document that believers ever met in small groups on the Lord’s Day, either in the morning or in the evening, instead of meeting corporately to worship Him.

Of all the days of the week, believers should be the most diligent to base what they do in worshiping the Lord on the Lord’s Day as much on the Scripture as they possibly can. Based on the combined teaching of Ephesians 5:18-19, Colossians 3:15-16, Psalm 92:1-4, 1 Corinthians 14:23-25, and the many passages that show that the Lord’s Day belongs uniquely to the Lord, believers can have full confidence that worshiping the Lord corporately on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings is a good thing that God wants them to do.

Conclusion

The biblical line of reasoning presented above gives believers clear biblical direction to assemble themselves together both in the morning and in the evening on the Lord’s Day to worship Him corporately. The believers in a church should meet together in one place and worship Him through singing accompanied by musical instruments on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings.

Furthermore, believers should not follow the ideas of so-called church marketing “experts” when those ideas lead them to abandon worship practices that have solid biblical basis. Churches should not replace evening services with small groups!

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

Why Churches Should Not Replace Services with Small Groups

September 26, 2015

Numerous evangelical ministries have replaced certain weekly services with small groups. Other churches are also following suit. Clear teaching by the apostle Paul shows us, however, why churches should not replace these corporate worship services with small groups.

Essential Elements of Corporate Worship Services

First Corinthians 14 is one of the premier passages in Scripture concerning corporate worship. In vital teaching concerning the glorious efficacy of corporate worship that is done properly, the apostle Paul presents some essential elements of corporate worship:

1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? ²⁴ But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: 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.

We must give thorough attention to this apostolic instruction and heed what it says.

First, Paul speaks of a gathering of the whole church (“If therefore the whole church . . .” [1 Cor. 14:23]). By definition, choosing to meet in small groups requires the splitting up of the people of a local church into several groups, none of which are the whole church. The teaching of 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 about corporate worship, therefore, does not apply to whatever takes place when believers meet in small groups.

Second, not only does Paul specify that the whole church is coming together, but also he states that the whole church is coming together into one place (“If therefore the whole church be come together into one place . . .” [1 Cor. 14:23]). Although many modern translations (for example, NAU, NIV, ESV, CSB, and NET—see below) leave out the words “into one place” or some equivalent rendering, the original text of the passage (regardless of which major manuscript family of Greek texts we examine) has these words and they must not be left out:

^SCR1Co 14:23 ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, καὶ πάντες γλώσσαις λαλῶσιν, εἰσέλθωσι δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι. οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μαίνεσθε;

^BYZ1 Corinthians 14:23 Ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, καὶ πάντες γλώσσαις λαλῶσιν, εἰσέλθωσιν δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι, οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μαίνεσθε;

^BGT1Co 14:23 Ἐὰν οὖν συνέλθῃ ἡ ἐκκλησία ὅλη ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ πάντες λαλῶσιν γλώσσαις, εἰσέλθωσιν δὲ ἰδιῶται ἢ ἄπιστοι, οὐκ ἐροῦσιν ὅτι μαίνεσθε;

^KJV1Co 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

^NKJ1Co 14:23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

^NAU1Co 14:23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?

^NIV1Co 14:23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

^ESV1Co 14:23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

^CSB1Co 14:23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together, and all are speaking in other languages, and people who are uninformed or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

^NET1Co 14:23 So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds?

Explicit apostolic teaching shows that the corporate worship that Paul is talking about here requires that all the believers of a local church meet together in one place—not separately in small groups in many different places, even in one town. Because small groups meet in differing locations, the teaching of 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 about the vital efficacy of corporate worship does not apply to whatever takes places in small groups.

Third, Paul repeatedly stresses that it is the combined ministry of all the believers present together in one place that has the spiritual efficacy to bring needy people who come into their midst to be convicted of their sinfulness, repent, and worship God:

Clearly, Paul is highlighting how God uses proper corporate ministry by all the believers of a church to bring people to worship Him aright!

Because an approach to believers assembling that employs small groups necessarily splits a church into groups, it automatically precludes any such combined ministry of all the church from taking place. Only God knows how many needy people have not received the vital ministry that He would have given them had churches had corporate worship services instead of small groups.

Discussion

Many churches have abandoned Sunday evening worship services and replaced them with small groups. The discussion above shows that doing so is a terrible mistake that precludes the church from enjoying the full usefulness that God would choose to make of that body of people were they to heed His explicit revelation in 1 Corinthians 14:23-25.

Some will argue that their church does meet corporately in one service a week but chooses to do small groups in place of other meetings that they might have had. Because we are not all-knowing so that we know when God would providentially direct needy people to our churches, churches should not choose to forfeit the additional opportunities for such ministry to needy people that these other regular services would provide—they should meet corporately in one place for their services on both Lord’s Day mornings and evenings.¹

Believers who want to avail themselves of the potential benefits of meeting in small groups should do so at other times during the week because meeting in small groups is not a biblically authorized replacement for corporate worship services.

Conclusion

Plain apostolic teaching provides believers with vital instruction about the essential elements of corporate worship and the glorious efficacy of such worship in meeting the needs of needy people who come to one of those services. Scripture does not provide any such explicit teaching for small groups having that same efficacy.

Believers should heed the explicit instruction that the Spirit has provided them about corporate worship in 1 Corinthians 14:23-25. Churches should not replace services with small groups!

¹ I intend to treat why churches should not replace a mid-week prayer service with small groups in another post.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

Joel 3 and the Future of National Israel

September 7, 2015

Especially in our day when many people who name the name of Christ deny that Israel has any future as a nation, we must allow Scripture itself to give us God’s perspective about the ultimate future of the nation of Israel. Joel 3 is one of many passages that plainly show what that future will be.

Divine Judgment against All Nations

The prophet Joel records God’s fixed determination about what He is going to do in the future on behalf of national Israel:

Joe 3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

² I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

The Lord here promises that there will be a time when He will restore Judah and Jerusalem (Joel 3:1). When He does so, He will also bring all the nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat to judge them for what they have done to His people Israel (Joel 3:2).

Because there has never been either such a restoration of Israel or such a judgment on all the nations in the history of the world, we can say with all confidence that this passage is a divine promise concerning events that are yet future. A closer look at the precise teaching of this passage fully confirms this interpretation.

The Lord specifies that His people who are in view in this passage are His heritage whom the nations have scattered among themselves. It is untenable to see this statement as somehow figuratively speaking about the Church—the nations have never scattered the Church among themselves.

Furthermore, God specifies that this judgment will be on nations who have parted His land (Joel 3:2). The parting of the land in view here refers literally to Israel, and it is impossible to make this teaching about the Church.

God further elaborates the sinfulness of the nations for which He will judge them on that day:

Joe 3:3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

⁴ Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;

⁵ Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

⁶ The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

⁷ Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:

⁸ And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Trying to apply these statements to the Church makes no sense; it is clear that God is speaking here about the nation of Israel.

Divine Blessing on the Nation of Israel

Beyond emphatically declaring the certainty of divine judgment in that day on all the nations for what they have done to the nation of Israel, God profoundly highlights how He will bless His people Israel in that day:

Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

¹⁷ So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

They will come to know Him as their God who dwells in their midst on His holy mountain (Joel 3:16)! Jerusalem will then be sanctified in a way that it has never been in its entire history (Joel 3:17).

Moreover, God’s blessings on the nation of Israel will abound throughout their land in that day:

Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

¹⁹ Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

²⁰ But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

²¹ For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

Again, close attention to the precise statements in this passage show that it is untenable to try to make these statements somehow figurative language that applies to the Church.

First, God promises that at this time He will make two nations desolate because they have unjustly killed His people. This is clearly prophecy concerning what will happen to actual geographical locations and not figurative teaching about who knows what.

Second, He promises that Judah and Jerusalem will dwell forever, and ties their doing so to His cleansing their blood that He has not yet cleansed. When the Lord avenges the blood of His people that the nations have wickedly shed, He will pour out the fullness of His blessings on His people, the nation of Israel!

Conclusion

God is not through with the nation of Israel. He has not abandoned them as a nation. He will gloriously restore them to their land and bless them with incomparable blessings that have never been theirs.

Regardless of however many believers may insist emphatically that the nation of Israel has no future, God has purposed that Israel as a nation will have a glorious future ahead of it, and it will be so!

In Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

Archives For Interpretation

Proverbs 19:22

Proverbs 20:17

Proverbs 21:6

Conclusion

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A Written Record of All That Solomon Did

Jesus as a Greater than Solomon

Solomon’s Porch in the Temple

Conclusion

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Joseph’s Charge to the Israelites Prior to His Death

Israel’s Obedience to Joseph’s Charge

Divine Commendation of Joseph’s Charge

Conclusion

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No OT support for cremation instead of burial

God’s condemnation of people who completely burned the bones of a person

No evidence of Christians ever cremating their own

Conclusion

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Acts 21:14 and Matthew 6:10

Application

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No Record of Samson’s Repenting of His Sins

Samson is mentioned by Name in Hebrews 11

A Comparison of the Scriptural Records Concerning Samson and Solomon

Conclusion

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The Importance of the Psalms for NT Believers

What Psalm 92 Teaches Believers about Worshiping God

Application of Psalm 92 to the Lord’s Day

Conclusion

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Essential Elements of Corporate Worship Services

Discussion

Conclusion

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Divine Judgment against All Nations

Divine Blessing on the Nation of Israel

Conclusion

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