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Glorious Hope for the Fallen: The Story of Rahab!

July 12, 2013

Scripture does not explain when, how, or why Rahab became a harlot. What Scripture does present about her life, however, displays in a wonderful way the glorious hope that God’s redemption provides for the fallen.

Salvation from Perishing

Hearing what the Lord had done in bringing the Israelites through the Red Sea and how the Israelites were destroying surrounding peoples, Rahab the harlot came to fear the Lord as the true God (Josh. 2:9-11). By faith, she hid two spies who were sent by Joshua to spy out Jericho (Josh. 2:1-21).

Because of what she had done, the Israelites spared her and her entire household when they utterly destroyed Jericho (Josh. 6:17, 21, 23, 25a). Not only was she saved from perishing, but also she continued to live among the Israelites thereafter (Josh. 6:25b).

Rahab went from being a pagan to being a believer in the living and true God! She also became one of the relatively few Canaanites who were allowed to live and become one of His people.

Marriage, Motherhood, and a Glorious Posterity

Rahab was not just spared from unbelief and perishing; she also went from being a harlot to a being married to a prominent Israelite man, Salmon (Matt. 1:5), who was the son of Nahshon (1 Chron. 2:11; Matt. 1:4), a “leader of the sons of Judah” (1 Chron. 2:10)![1] God thus graciously redeemed her from her unbelief, spared her life, rescued her from the horrors of harlotry, and exalted her to marry into a leading family among His people!

Because Salmon was a member of a leading family, he would certainly have known of Rahab’s past. Yet, he still chose to marry her after she had been initially redeemed. Doing so, he became a gracious agent of God’s glorious continuing redemption of her life!

Moreover, through her marriage to Salmon, Rahab became the mother of Boaz (Matt. 1:5), who became the kinsman-redeemer to Ruth (Ruth 4:13-22)! God thus not only gave Rahab the joys of marriage and motherhood, He also used her son to redeem the life of Ruth, a virtuous Moabite woman who came to trust in the God of Israel, even as Rahab had!

Beyond that, Rahab became the great, great grandmother of King David (Matt. 1:5-6a), and ultimately, she became a foremother of Jesus the Christ (Matt. 1:6b-17)! God redeemed Rahab from harlotry and gave her a glorious posterity of which she could never have imagined!

Mentioned Three Times in the New Testament

Long after Rahab had lived her life and died, God exalted her in another way that she never had any possibility of expecting would ever happen—in addition to the record of her life in the book of Joshua, three New Testament books speak of her in key passages! God thus glorified Rahab in a way that few other women in history have experienced!

In his genealogy of Christ, Matthew writes, “And Salmon begat Booz [Boaz] of Rachab [Rahab]” (Matt. 1:5). Rahab has the unique distinction of being one of only five women named in this genealogy!

The writer of Hebrews commends her faith: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace” (Heb. 11:31). This commendation of Rahab, a former harlot, magnifies the wondrous redemption that God provided for her.

James cites Rahab as an example of someone whose justification was by a living faith that produced works: “Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? ²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:25-26). This former harlot’s faith and works were thus exemplary, and God memorialized the glory of His redeeming this fallen woman by mentioning her explicitly in four books of Scripture!

Glorious Hope for the Fallen

The story of Rahab testifies to how great a redemption God has made available for fallen people! Although she once was a Canaanite harlot, she repented and believed in Yahweh as the true and living God.

Because she repented and believed in Him, He redeemed her life in ways that she could never have dreamed of when she was a harlot. Her story provides a glorious hope to fallen people whose lives have been ruined by sin—whether their own, of others, or both.

Moreover, Scripture’s silence about the circumstances of how she became a harlot suggest that God wants fallen people to turn their thoughts away from whatever may have caused them to fall and focus instead on the glorious possibilities of whatever God would see fit to do for them in His redeeming love for them. Like Joseph, who through God’s goodness to him was made to forget the injustices that he experienced at the hands of others (Gen. 41:51-52), God wants fallen people to be delivered from bondage to their past.

If you are a fallen person, God offers you this glorious hope through repentance toward Him and faith in Jesus Christ. Turn to Him in faith and He will redeem your life for His glory and your good, both in this life and the life to come!

[1] Nahshon was “Aaron’s brother-in-law (Ex. 6:23; AV gives ‘Naashon’), son of Amminadab and prince of Judah (Nu. 1:7; 2:3; 7:12, 17; 10:14; 1 Ch. 2:10)” (New Bible Dictionary, 809).

In Discipleship, Exposition

“The Just Shall Live by Faith: A Faith that Works” — Lesson V (6/30/13); Part II

July 6, 2013

Pauline Evangelism in Acts 17

In Part I of Lesson V, we examined three major truths that the Cornelius accounts teach us about how people are and are not saved. To profit fully from Part II of Lesson V, I encourage you to be sure that you have first read all of the preceding posts in this series (you can read them here).

In Part II of Lesson V, we consider Acts 17 closely to understand more about how lost people become those who are just people who live by faith. Acts 17 records Pauline evangelism in three cities, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. Comparing the three accounts brings out important truths about Pauline evangelism.

I. Pauline Evangelism in Thessalonica

Reasoning with Jews in a synagogue for three Sabbaths, Paul testified to them from Scripture that Jesus was the promised Christ who had to suffer and rise from the dead (Acts 17:1-3). Many were saved through his ministry (Acts 17:4), but unbelieving Jews responded to his ministry by persecuting the believers (Acts 17:5-9).

Through his recording the Jews’ complaint to the city authorities about the message that all the believers were testifying of “another king, one Jesus” (Acts 17:7), Luke informs us about a key aspect of Paul’s message—he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God in Thessalonica! Pauline evangelism, therefore, highlighted that the resurrection of Jesus evidenced that He was the promised Christ who was God’s chosen King.

II. Pauline Evangelism in Berea

Because of the persecution, the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Arriving there, they again evangelized Jews in a synagogue (Acts 17:10). Luke highlights that many Bereans believed because they were noble-minded people who received the word with great eagerness and carefully examined the Scriptures to verify the truthfulness of what Paul and Silas had ministered to them (Acts 17:11-12).

In this account, we see again that people become just by faith by wholeheartedly embracing the gospel message that God gives them through His ministers. Although Luke does not say anything about the explicit content of what Paul and Silas ministered to them, the flow of thought as well as Scriptural information elsewhere assures us that they preached the same message in Berea that they did in Thessalonica.

III. Pauline Evangelism in Athens

Because of Jewish persecution arising in Berea, as it did in Thessalonica, the brethren immediately sent Paul away once again (Acts 17:13-15). Arriving in Athens, Paul was continually provoked in his spirit by the profuse idolatry that he witnessed in the city (Acts 17:16).

In response to that continual provocation, he ministered daily to everyone that he encountered (Acts 17:17). By saying that Paul “disputed” (Gk. διελέγετο) with them (Acts 17:17), Luke showed that Paul ministered to them in the same way and with the same message that he did in Thessalonica (cf. “reasoned” [Gk. διελέγετο Acts 17:2-3]) and Berea.

Some Gentile philosophers heard Paul’s “preaching [Gk. εὐηγγελίζετο] Jesus and the resurrection,” but did not understand its meaning (Acts 17:18). Noting this information, Luke informs us what the content of Paul’s reasoning with everyone in Athens was—the gospel message about Jesus and the resurrection.

Because the philosophers did not understand Paul’s gospel message, they brought him to the Areopagus and asked him to explain the meaning of what he was preaching (Acts 17:19-21). They thereby prompted Paul concerning the content of his message that Luke records in Acts 17:22-31.

Many people have misinterpreted Paul’s message at Mars Hill because they have not connected how and why Paul was brought to the Areopagus with the message that he preached there. Properly making that connection shows us that Paul’s message was his explanation of his gospel preaching of Jesus and the resurrection that at least some of his hearers had heard him preach earlier in the marketplace.

Far from being a record of Pauline “failure” in evangelism because of a supposed experimental, philosophical approach that Paul adopted, Acts 17:22-31 is thus vital apostolic instruction to us about how to explain essential truths about the gospel message of Jesus and the Resurrection!

IV. Key Aspects of Paul’s Gospel Message at Mars Hill

Acts 17:22-31 reveals many vital truths about Pauline gospel preaching:

1. Paul’s message at Mars Hill was profoundly God-centric (16 statements about God in 10 verses).

2. Paul testified climactically about how God’s raising Jesus from the dead was the event that changed God’s posture toward all men everywhere (Acts 17:30-31). Whereas in “the times of ignorance God winked at [overlooked]” their idolatry, He now commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30-31).

3. Paul testified what God has proven to all men through His raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:30-31) – note that Paul’s message climaxes with testimony to essentially the same truth that Peter’s message in Caesarea does (Acts 10:42).

4. Paul declared that God commands all men everywhere to repent because of what He has proven to them through His raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).

Rightly understood from Acts 17:22-31, Paul’s gospel message about Jesus and the resurrection (Acts 17:18), therefore, included his preaching of how God’s raising Jesus from the dead proved to all men everywhere that He has fixed a Judgment Day in which He will judge all men through Jesus, the Judge whom He has appointed. Because God has proven these things to everyone, He demands that everyone repent.

Moreover, Acts 17 shows us that Pauline evangelism everywhere was his preaching of the same message Jesus and the Resurrection. (For a more thorough treatment of this crucial point, you can listen to my messages Another King Jesus and Make Known the True God).

IV. Vital Parallels between Petrine Evangelism and Pauline Evangelism

Paul thus testified to the same key truths at Mars Hill that Peter testified to in Caesarea. Both preached the gospel message about the resurrection of Jesus and its vital significance for all people.

For a more detailed presentation of the many key parallels between Petrine evangelism in Caesarea (Acts 10) and Pauline evangelism in Athens (Acts 17), see my post An Excellent Example of the Value of Comparing Scripture with Scripture.

See all the posts in this series here.

In Evangelism, Exposition, Ministry, Preaching, Sunday School

Toward Fully Understanding the Golden Calf Incident

July 4, 2013

Exodus 32 records at some length the Golden Calf incident, an infamous account of idolatry among God’s chosen people Israel. Because both the OT and the NT refer to this account more than once (Deut. 9; Ps. 106; Neh. 9; Acts 7; 1 Cor. 10), we must carefully compare all six accounts in order to fully understand this incident.

In this article, I treat the first four passages (Exod. 32; Deut. 9; Ps. 106; and Acts 7). In future articles, I will treat the other passages and correlate all six passages carefully.

Exodus 32

While Moses was meeting with God on Mount Horeb (cf. Exod. 31:18), the Israelites corrupted themselves (Exod. 32:1-6). Instigated by the people (Exod. 32:1), Aaron participated in their making a golden calf (Exod. 32:2-4). He also made an altar and declared that there would be a feast to the Lord on the following day (Exod. 32:5).

On the next day, the people sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings to the idol and then sat down to eat and drink (Exod. 32:6a-b). They then rose up to play (Exod. 32:6c).

God informed Moses about what had happened and told him to go down quickly to the people whom he had brought out of Egypt (Exod. 32:7-8). He then asked Moses to leave Him alone so that He could destroy them and make of Moses a great nation (Exod. 32:9-10). When Moses interceded earnestly with the Lord for the people (Exod. 32:11-14), the Lord relented of His intent to annihilate them (Exod. 32:14).

While Moses was coming down the mountain (Exod. 32:15-16), at some point he met up with Joshua. When they were yet at some distance from the camp, Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting (Exod. 32:17a). He said to Moses that what he heard was the “noise of war in the camp” (Exod. 32:17b).

Moses, however, discerned that the sound was neither the sound of victory (Exod. 32:18a) nor the sound of defeat (Exod. 32:18b). He declared that instead it was the sound of the people’s singing (Exod. 32:18c).

Arriving at the camp (Exod. 32:19a), Moses saw the idol and the people dancing (Exod. 32:19b). He became incensed and quickly acted to destroy the idol (Exod. 32:19c-20).

He then confronted Aaron about his role in the incident (Exod. 32:21-24). He further observed that the people were publicly (cf. Exod. 32:25c) behaving in uncontrolled lewdness (Exod. 32:25a) because Aaron had failed to deal with them to restrain them as he should have (Exod. 32:25b). Through their openly being so wicked, they were bringing themselves into shame with their enemies in some unspecified manner (“Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies” [Exod. 32:25]).

In response to Aaron’s sinful inaction, Moses asked whoever among the people was on God’s side to come over to him where he was standing in the gate of the camp (Exod. 32:26a). All the Levites did so (Exod. 32:26b). He then instructed the Levites to go through the camp and execute many of their own people (Exod. 32:27-28).

In the aftermath of this infamous occasion (Exod. 32:29-34), Moses’ intercession spared the people from complete annihilation at the hand of God. God, however, did still plague the people “because they made the calf, which Aaron made” (Exod. 32:35).

Deuteronomy 9

Some years later, Moses commanded the people not to forget, but to remember how they had provoked the Lord to wrath continually in the wilderness from the day that they left Egypt to the day that they arrived across the Jordan in the wilderness in the land of Moab (Deut. 9:7; cf. Deut. 1:1-5). He then recounted what happened at Horeb with the golden calf (Deut. 9:8-21).

This recounting adds that the mountain was burning with fire when Moses came down (Deut. 9:15), which indicates that these people committed this heinous sin while in the very visible presence of God in His fiery glory. The Golden Calf incident, therefore, was an instance of high-handed, presumptuous sinning against God’s visible presence among His people!

Moses also adds in this recounting that God was so angry with Aaron then that He would have destroyed him had Moses not interceded for him (Deut. 9:20). This information that the Exodus 32 account does not supply shows Aaron’s great culpability for what he allowed to take place on that occasion.

Psalm 106

An unnamed psalmist provides a brief recounting of the Golden Calf incident (Ps. 106:19-23). He emphasizes that the people exchanged “their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass” (Ps. 106:20) and forgot God their Savior who did such great wonders for them in Egypt and in the land of Ham and by the Red Sea (Ps. 106:21-22).

This recounting explains how the Israelites robbed God of His glory when they made and worshiped the Golden Calf. They were spared from total destruction only because Moses, God’s chosen one, interposed himself between them and God (Ps. 106:23).

Acts 7

In his marvelous defense before the high priest and those who were accosting him (Acts 7:1-60), Stephen related at some length the life and ministry of Moses (Acts 7:20-41). He included a brief recounting of the Golden Calf incident (Acts 7:39-41).

He specified that the people were disobedient to Moses, repudiated him, and “in their hearts turned back again into Egypt” (Acts 7:39) when they told Aaron to make for them gods to go before them at that time (Acts 7:40). None of the previous accounts specifies this information about what the state of their hearts was when this incident took place.

Stephen then added more information that is also not provided in any of the preceding accounts—in their idolatrous worship, the people “rejoiced in the works of their own hands” (Acts 7:41). This revelation illumines the Mosaic statements about their playing (Exod. 32:6) and their singing and dancing (Exod. 32:18-19) by showing the idolatrous character of these activities.

Furthermore, Stephen’s ending his testimony about Moses with information about the Golden Calf incident highlights the importance of that event in the Mosaic part of the selective history of Israel that he testified to at this time.

Conclusion

Based on our study of these four passages about the Golden Calf incident, we learn the following truths

1. Scripture provides 57 verses about this incident in these four passages (Ex. 32:1-35; Deut. 9:8-21; Ps. 106:19-23; Acts 7:39-41). The large number of verses about the incident and the multiple reports about it show its importance in Scripture.

2. Stephen’s climaxing his testimony about Moses’ life and ministry to Israel with material about the Golden Calf incident highlights its importance.

3. By comparing all the passages together, we learn more about the horrific nature of what took place on this occasion. In spite of visible testimony to the presence of God with them, the people returned in their hearts back to Egypt and engaged in idolatrous worship that featured wicked public lewdness. Doing so, they not only robbed God of His glory, but also brought themselves into shame with their enemies.

In future articles, we will see that the importance of this incident is even far greater than what we have seen so far.

See the rest of the articles in this series under point 11 here

In Exposition, Music

“The Just Shall Live by Faith: A Faith that Works” — Lesson V (6/30/13); Part I

July 1, 2013

Learning How People Are and Are Not Saved from the Cornelius Accounts

Through a careful study of Acts 10:1-11:18 and 15:1-33, we learn three major truths about how people are and are not saved.

I. Cornelius was not saved by works.

By being a powerful, wealthy, and “successful” man in the world (Cornelius was a centurion) – Acts 10:1
By being a devoted, godly man – Acts 10:2
By fearing God – Acts 10:2
By being a good family man who directed his whole household to fear God – Acts 10:2
By giving alms to the Jewish people – Acts 10:2
By praying to God always – Acts 10:2
By having an authentic supernatural experience with a true angel of God – Acts 10:3-5
By being a just man who met his obligations to others – Acts 10:22
By being a model citizen who had a good reputation with his entire nation – Acts 10:22
By having a personal meeting with the top Christ-chosen leader of the apostolic company and doing homage to him – Acts 10:25
By making a long pilgrimage to a holy site – Cornelius did not go anywhere; Peter came to him and preached the gospel to him, and he was saved by believing the message.
By having some prior knowledge about Jesus – Acts 10:37-38
By being baptized – he was saved before he was baptized – Acts 10:44-48
By being circumcised – Acts 15:1, 5
By keeping the Law of Moses – Acts 15:5

II. Cornelius was saved through genuine repentance and faith.

By receiving the word of God – Acts 11:1
By hearing the word of the gospel and believing – Acts 15:7
By God’s baptizing him with the Holy Spirit – Acts 11:16
By God’s granting him repentance – Acts 11:18
By God’s purifying his heart by faith – Acts 15:9
Through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ – Acts 15:11
By God’s visiting him to take him out of the Gentiles to be one of the people for His name – Acts 15:14
By turning to God – Acts 15:19
By receiving the Holy Spirit as a gift from God – Acts 10:45; 11:17; 15:8
By being saved the way the Prophets had spoken about – Acts 15:15-18
By God’s rebuilding the Davidic tabernacle that had fallen – Acts 15:16

III. Cornelius was saved by a repentance and faith that produces works.

Even before he was saved, Cornelius had genuine faith in God that was producing works
–Based on what he already knew prior to the angel’s appearing to him, he feared God and did what was right (Acts 10:35). By faith, he thus believed that there was a God and diligently sought him (cf. Heb. 11:6).
–By faith, he believed the angel’s message to him and sent men to summon Peter (Acts 10:7-8).
–By faith, he gathered his family and close friends to hear Peter’s message (Acts 10:24).
–By faith, he believed that they were all gathered before God to hear all that God had commanded Peter to say to him (Acts 10:33).
He was saved by genuine repentance and faith that produced the obedience of faith when he heard the gospel message that climactically informed him that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43; 11:18; 15:7).
He was saved by genuine repentance and faith that produced obedience to the command that he was given to be baptized soon after he was saved (Acts 10:48).

See the other lessons in this Sunday school series here.

In Evangelism, Interpretation, Ministry, Sunday School, Theology

An Excellent Example of the Value of Comparing Scripture with Scripture

June 29, 2013

Acts 10 and 17 record two key accounts of apostolic evangelism of Gentiles. A careful comparison of the accounts reveals a number of important parallels between the two passages. Attention to these parallels provides us with a biblical basis for rejecting a common wrong assessment of the latter account.

1. Both accounts record evangelistic ministry to very religious but unsaved Gentiles.

— Act 10:1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, ² A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

— Act 17:22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. ²³ For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

2. In unusual ways, lost people directed the evangelists in both accounts to minister to the lost people that they evangelized.

—An angel appeared to Cornelius and told him to send men to summon Peter to come preach to him (Acts 10:3-6; 22; 30-32; 11:13-14). God then gave Peter a perplexing vision followed by the Spirit’s speaking directly to him to direct him to go with the lost men whom Cornelius had sent to him to summon him (Acts 10:9-20).

—Paul was taken to the Areopagus by men who heard him preaching about what they thought were “strange deities” (Acts 17:18-19).

3. Both accounts feature the evangelism of lost authority figures.

—Peter preached to Cornelius, a centurion in Caesarea (Acts 10:1)

—Paul preached at Mars Hill to people who were secular authorities (Acts 17:19).

4. Lost people prompted the evangelists on both occasions concerning what they wanted to hear from them.

—Cornelius explained to Peter how an angel told him to send for him so that he and his entire household would hear from him the words by which they would all be saved (Acts 10:33 cf. 10:22; 11:13-14). He also told Peter that they were all gathered before God to hear all that God had commanded Peter (Acts 10:33).

—The lost philosophers who took Paul to the Areopagus told Paul that they wanted to know what the meaning of his new teaching was (Acts 17:19-20).

5. Both accounts record apostolic proclamation of God’s posture toward all people.

—Peter told Cornelius that God is an impartial Judge who accepts in every nation those who fear Him and work righteousness (Acts 10:34-35).

—Paul told the Athenians that God made all the nations of men of one blood and has predetermined their appointed times and habitation so that they would seek Him (Acts 17:26-27). He also proclaimed that God is now commanding all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

6. Both accounts emphasize the Father’s work in, for, and through Jesus.

—Acts 10 highlights that the Father anointed Jesus with the Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38), and that He raised Jesus from the dead, showed Him openly, and appointed Him to be the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:40-42).

—Acts 17 underscores God’s determination of a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He has appointed (Acts 17:31a). It also says that the proof of that fact is that God raised that Man from the dead (Acts 17:31b).

7. The evangelistic messages climaxed on both occasions with truth about the universal vital significance of Jesus as the God-appointed Judge.

—Act 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. ⁴³ To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

—Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: ³¹ Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

8. Both accounts emphasize key truths that believers should tell to all people everywhere.

—Peter told Cornelius that Jesus commanded the apostles to preach and solemnly testify that He is the One appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42).

—Paul told the Athenians that God is now commanding all people everywhere to repent and that God has given all men proof of the vital significance of the resurrection of Jesus in connection with the Judgment Day and Judge that He has appointed (Acts 17:30-31).

9. Both Peter and Paul preached “Jesus and the resurrection” to their hearers.

—Peter preached that the God-resurrected Jesus commanded the apostles to proclaim a specific message and that through belief in that Jesus people receive the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 10:40-43).

—Paul was asked to explain the meaning of his preaching Jesus and the resurrection (Acts 17:18-20). His message at Mars Hill, therefore, was his explanation of his preaching about Jesus and the resurrection that he had preached earlier in the marketplace to at least some of his hearers who were now also present at Mars Hill. When Paul climaxed his message with a declaration about God’s raising a Man from the dead (Acts 17:31), at least some of his hearers thus knew that Jesus was that Man.

These parallels do not support the view that some hold that Paul “failed” in his evangelistic ministry in Athens because he took a philosophical approach with his hearers instead of preaching the gospel about Jesus to them. Rather, a careful comparison of Acts 10 with Acts 17 shows that Peter and Paul preached the gospel to Gentile authorities in very similar ways on these two occasions.

From these two sterling evangelistic accounts, therefore, we should learn many key principles about how we are to evangelize lost people. We should also learn from our analysis of them that thoroughly comparing Scripture with Scripture is vital for a proper interpretation of Scripture.

In Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation, Preaching

Is This One Key Reason That Many Christians and Churches Today Are Weak?

June 24, 2013

Acts 15 and 20 record two instances of ministry in the early churches that many Christians and churches today think would not be proper for believers in most cases. In many churches, such ministry would be strongly unwelcome, and many people would not tolerate it if their pastors or other ministers would choose to minister to them in this way.

A close look at these accounts, however, suggests that such ministry would be highly profitable for all believers in every church. The following treatment of these passages examines whether the lack of such ministry is one key reason that many Christians and churches today are weak.

Acts 15

Following the Jerusalem Council, the church at Jerusalem sent Judas and Silas along with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch (Acts 15:22). They sent with these men a letter that related the Council’s determinations (Acts 15:23-29).

Arriving in Antioch, these men gathered with the congregation there and brought joy to them through the encouragement that the letter provided (Acts 15:30-31). Because Judas and Silas were also prophets, they further ministered to the brethren (Acts 15:32).

Luke specifies that these two men “exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them” (Acts 15:32). Through proclaiming a lengthy message to the congregation, these ministers encouraged and strengthened them.

In many churches today, however, long messages are not welcome. Some church leaders even assert that if you cannot say what you have to say in a fairly short amount of time (for example, some say messages should be about 30 minutes long), you are not properly ministering the Word to people.

The example of Judas and Silas in Acts 15 refutes such viewpoints and supports holding that believers today need lengthy messages to encourage and strengthen them. An account of Paul’s ministry in Acts 20 confirms this assessment about what we need as believers today.

Acts 20

In Troas, Paul and eight other men who had accompanied him (Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychichus, Trophimus, and Luke; Acts 20:4 cf. “we” in Acts 20:6) met with other believers on the first day of the week to observe the Lord’s Supper (“break bread”; Acts 20:7a). Paul began preaching to them, with the intent that he would leave the next day (Acts 20:7b).

Paul prolonged his message until midnight (Acts 20:7c). Undoubtedly, Paul, therefore, preached to them for at least more than an hour and probably for much longer than that.

A young man named Eutychus fell asleep during Paul’s lengthy message and fell out the window from the third floor (Acts 20:8-9). Although the believers thought that he had died (Acts 20:9), Paul “fell on him, and embracing him” assured them that he was still living (Acts 20:10; cf. 20:12).

Amazingly, Paul then returned back upstairs to observe the Lord’s Supper with the brethren (Acts 20:11a) and then continued to minister to them “for a long while, even till break of day” (Acts 20:11b) and then departed (Acts 20:11c).

In most churches today, if a preacher were to preach for an hour before observing the Lord’s Supper with the congregation, many people in the churches would complain about the length of the message and many likely over time would stop coming to those churches. Paul, however, did not just preach for more than an hour before observing the Lord’s Supper with them—he continued to preach to them for quite some time after eating the Lord’s Supper with them!

What’s more, the near tragic fall of a young man in the congregation who fell asleep because of the length of Paul’s initial message did not deter Paul from further ministering to the believers after the young man had fallen. In most churches today, the occurrence of something even remotely similar to what happened with Eutychus would be prime evidence that many believers would use to argue strongly that the preacher should not preach so long that young people in the church fall asleep because of the length of the message.

Christians Today Need Lengthy Messages to Encourage and Strengthen Them

The scriptural record in Acts 15 and 20 of preaching ministry in the early church shows that the apostolic company believed that Christians back then needed lengthy messages to encourage and strengthen them. Similar indications of an apostolic viewpoint that people need lengthy ministry include the following:

(1) “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” [Acts 2:40], which shows that Peter continued preaching for a long time after preaching the message that we have recorded in Acts 2:14-39.

(2) “And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words” [Heb. 13:22], which reveals that the writer of Hebrews considered the entire book of more than 300 verses to be a brief message! What, then, must he have thought would comprise a lengthy message?

Based on this biblical data and the widespread consensus that the Church has great needs among its people today, I believe that a key reason that many Christians and churches are weak today is because they are unwilling to endure lengthy preaching of the Word. Let us allow these passages from Scripture to renew our minds so that we will eagerly embrace lengthy ministry of the Word to us from God’s appointed ministers whenever He directs them to minister in such a way to us!

In Exhortation, Exposition, Preaching

How Numbers 11:17 Helps Us Understand How to Bear One Another’s Burdens

June 21, 2013

Numbers 11:17 provides profound revelation about Moses that we are not given in any of the preceding accounts about Moses in the Pentateuch. It appears also to give us important insight about how we are to bear one another’s burdens.

God’s Provision of Seventy Elders to Assist Moses

Numbers 11 begins with a report of God’s judging His people for their complaining about some unspecified hardships that they were experiencing (Num. 11:1-3). Following that sobering account, Moses tells of how the mixed multitude and the Israelites complained about their no longer having some of the foods that they used to enjoy in Egypt (Num. 11:4-6).

After three verses describing the manna and what the Israelites did with it (Num. 11:7-9), Moses records how he himself complained to God about the difficulties he was having to endure because God had laid the burdens of all these sinning people on him (Num. 11:10-13). He told the Lord that he was unable to bear all these people alone because the burden of doing so was too heavy for him (Num. 11:14).

Moses even asked God to kill him because the strain was so great upon him (Num. 11:15)! The Lord responded by instructing him to gather unto him 70 elders from Israel and bring them into the tabernacle with him (Num. 11:16).

The Lord then made a striking statement about what He was going to do so that Moses would no longer have to bear the burden of the people by himself:

“And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone” (Num. 11:17).

Saying this, He revealed key information about Moses that merits close attention for several reasons.

The First Revelation in Scripture That the Holy Spirit Was Upon Moses

Scripture first speaks of Moses in Exodus 2. From Exodus 2 to Numbers 10, Scripture provides far more information about Moses than about any other person—Moses is mentioned by name 394 times in these 76 chapters.

In spite of that wealth of Scriptural revelation about Moses, we are not told that the Holy Spirit was upon Moses until the statement recorded in Numbers 11:17. Undoubtedly, the Spirit was upon Moses and others long before the incidents that are recorded in Numbers 11 took place (cf. Is. 63:9-14), but for reasons about which we have no information, God chose not to reveal that fact in Scripture until this point.

The Holy Spirit Was the One Who Had Been Enabling Moses to Bear the Burdens of the People

Numbers 11:17 does not just teach us that God’s Spirit was upon Moses; it also shows us that the Spirit was upon Him to enable him to bear the burdens of the people. Sound theological reasoning would imply this truth even if we did not have this statement, but these words make that truth clear.

Moreover, because God had decided that He would provide 70 additional people who would help Moses bear those burdens from this point onward, He said that He would take of the Spirit that He had put upon Moses and put Him on them as well. Through their also having the Spirit upon them, they would have the enablement necessary for them to help Moses bear the burden of the people so that he would not have to do so alone.

The Holy Spirit Is the One Who Enables Us to Bear the Burdens of Others

The teaching of Numbers 11:17 reveals that the 70 men who would help Moses bear the burden of the people would do so through the Spirit’s being upon them. Based on that teaching, the closely parallel New Testament teaching in Galatians 5-6 suggests the same is true for us, as follows.

At the end of Galatians 5, Paul commands believers to walk in the Spirit so that they will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). He reiterates that teaching with a mutual exhortation to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).

He then commands those who are spiritual to restore anyone who is overtaken in a fault (Gal. 6:1). The flow of thought from 5:16-25 and the nature of this ministry to fellow believers requires spiritual in 6:1 to mean more than just a person who is a believer.

Rather, it means someone who is walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25), being led by Him (Gal. 5:18), and manifesting His fruit in his life (Gal. 5:22-23). Only such a person is able to restore those who have yielded to temptation (implied in Galatians 6:1 by the words, “lest thou also be tempted”), even as the Israelites spoken of in Numbers 11:1-10 had fallen into complaining against God.

To such spiritual people, Paul further commands, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). This command appears to parallel conceptually the role that the 70 elders had in aiding Moses.

Through the Holy Spirit, We Must Bear One Another’s Burdens

Numbers 11:17 in its context compared with Galatians 6:1-2 in its context points to the key to our being enabled to bear one another’s burdens—the fullness of Holy Spirit’s work in us. Let us actively care for those who have been overtaken in faults by being the people of the Spirit that God commands us to be (Gal. 5:16-6:5)!

In Discipleship, Exhortation, Exposition, Theology

Is Scripture Silent about Musical Styles That Are Inherently Unacceptable to God?

June 10, 2013

Many believers today hold that Scripture does not have any teaching about musical styles that are inherently unacceptable to God. This post treats several passages to assess the validity of this common viewpoint.

The Singing of Fools

Solomon declares, “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools [Heb. kesil]” (Eccl. 7:5). Many will argue that he does not say that it is wrong to hear the song of fools; it is just better to hear the rebuke of the wise. In addition, they will also argue that “the song of fools” refers to the foolishness of the people doing the singing and the content of what they sing, but it does not say anything about the style with which they sing.

We know from other Scripture that these fools [Heb. kesil] reject the truth that God hears and sees (Ps. 94:8-9). Thus, they sing without taking any heed to divine accountability for what and how they sing.

These fools hate knowledge (Prov. 1:22) and reject the reproof of God and His offer to pour out His Spirit upon them (Prov. 1:23). What they sing, therefore, certainly is not the product of the Spirit’s filling.

Doing mischief is like a sport to them (Prov. 10:23) and their hearts proclaim folly (Prov. 12:23). To depart from evil is an abomination to them (Prov. 13:19).

These fools rage and are confident in their evil ways (Prov. 14:16). The hearts of these fools are in “the house of mirth” (Eccl. 7:4), signifying that they are eager seekers of pleasure. We can be certain that such fools would pursue and employ perverse ways of singing and even seek to devise conspicuously evil music.

Based on the teaching of Scripture about fools, we can be certain that “the song of fools” is something that the Spirit would never produce in people whom He fills (Eph. 5:18-19). Any singing, therefore, that mimics or tries to adapt “the song of fools” somehow for Christian worship would clearly be unacceptable to God.

The Singing of Drunkards

David testifies that he was “the song of the drunkards” (Ps. 69:12). As with Ecclesiastes 7:5, some people will argue that this statement only speaks about those who did the singing and the unacceptable content of what they sang and not about the style of their singing.

Because being drunk, however, entails not having proper mental awareness and a lack of proper control of oneself, this statement does not just refer to the unacceptability of the people who sang and what they sang. Their style of singing was also unacceptable because it was produced by people whose minds could not properly control their bodies to sing acceptably.

Amos 6:4-8 records the musical improprieties of people who were in Zion who drank wine abundantly. Correlating Psalm 69:12 with Amos 6:4-8 points to the ungodliness of both what these drunkards (Ps. 69:12) sing and how they sing it. (For more on the teaching of Amos 6 about music, see The Relevance of Amos 6 for the Music Debates of Our Day.)

Obviously, “the song of the drunkards” was not the product of Spirit-filling (Eph. 5:18-19). Mimicking or adapting their style to Christian worship certainly would be unacceptable to God.

The Singing of a Harlot

Isaiah prophesied that Tyre would “sing as an harlot” (Is. 23:15). He provides further information about such singing by saying, “Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered” (Is. 23:16).

A harlot, by biblical definition, engaged in immoral behavior. In keeping with the mercenary goal of her activities, she used every means possible to enhance her sensuality and seductive appeal to maximize her earnings (cf. Luke 15:13, 30).

To “sing as an harlot,” therefore, cannot be limited only to the identity of the woman and the sensuality of the lyrics (cf. Prov. 6:24; 7:21) that she sings. It necessarily entails as well the maximized sensuality of her dress (Prov. 7:10; Jer. 4:30; Ezek. 16:16) and her makeup/ jewelry/hairstyle/ facial expressions (Prov. 6:25; 7:13; Jer. 4:30; Ezek. 16:39; 23:40; cf. Is. 3:16-26).

Moreover, her bodily movements (cf. the unstated but clear sensuality of the dancing of Herodias’ daughter [Matt. 14:6-7]) and vocal techniques were specifically designed to maximize her sexual appeal (for an example of the sensual use of vocal techniques, listen to this audio of a woman who sings Happy Birthday sensually).

It also involved her playing a musical instrument (“take a harp”) and having an extensive repertoire (“sing many songs”). She was one who in fact was skilled “to make sweet melody.”

Thus, her singing was skillful and beautiful to hear, but it was also sensual to the core. Such music patently could never be the product of the Spirit’s filling a believer.

From this analysis of biblical teaching about harlots, we certainly can conclude that to “sing as an harlot” is a style that is unacceptable to God because of its sensuality. Any Christian music, whether traditional or CCM, that has even the slightest similarity to the music produced by those who “sing as an harlot” is unacceptable to God.

Conclusion

Contrary to much popular thinking among believers today, Scripture is not silent about musical styles that are unacceptable to God. The Spirit-filled music that God demands from believers who seek to worship Him corporately does not have any likeness to the songs of fools, drunkards, or harlots.

Those who have created and popularized worldly styles of music such as rock ‘n’ roll display numerous characteristics of the fools whose song Scripture refers to (Eccl. 7:5). Typically, the producers of these worldly styles are also given to drunkenness, and immorality abounds among them.

Christian churches should not imitate the musical styles that any such fools, drunkards, and harlots employ when they sing in ways that manifest the flesh at work in man (Gal. 5:19-21). Filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18), those who have allowed the word of Christ to dwell in them richly (Col. 3:16), including the passages about music that were treated above, will sing in a style that is distinct from these reprobates and is acceptable to God (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

In CCM, Exposition, Music, Theology

Is God’s Blessing of the Rechabites for Abstaining from Alcohol Relevant for the Contemporary Alcohol Debate?

June 7, 2013

Jeremiah 35 records a fascinating account of God’s dealings with the Rechabites and with Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Because the Rechabites’ abstention from drinking wine was a key reason for God’s blessing them, this post examines the issue of the relevance of this account for the contemporary debate among believers about the propriety of drinking alcohol.

Divine Initiative in Testing the Obedience of the Rechabites

God directed Jeremiah to bring the Rechabites into the house of the Lord and “give them wine to drink” (Jer. 35:1-2). Jeremiah obeyed and brought them all into a chamber of the sons of “a man of God” (Jer. 35:3-4).

He set before them a large quantity of wine and cups and told them, “Drink ye wine” (Jer. 35:5). They refused, saying that they would not drink any wine because “Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us saying, ‘Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your son for ever’” (Jer. 35:6).

They also spoke of the other things that he had commanded them to do that they might “live many days in the land where [they were] strangers” (Jer. 35:7). They then affirmed, “Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters (Jer. 35:8).

They further related their total obedience to what their father had commanded them (Jer. 35:9-10) and how they now had come to dwell in Jerusalem (Jer. 35:11).

Divine Initiative in Rebuking Judah and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Based on the Obedience of the Rechabites

Following the testing of the Rechabites, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to go to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and rebuke them (Jer. 35:13). Central in that rebuke was the Lord’s highlighting how the obedience of the Rechabites contrasted starkly with the disobedience of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

Jer 35:14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

Because of their disobedience and because of the shameful contrast between the Rechabites’ obedience of their father’s commands and Judah’s disobedience of the Lord’s commands, the Lord pronounced fierce judgment upon His people (Jer. 35:16-17).

Divine Pronouncement of Blessing on the Rechabites

After pronouncing the Lord’s upcoming judgment on Judah and all Jerusalem, Jeremiah declared the Lord’s blessing on the Rechabites:

Jer 35:18 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Because they had obeyed their father’s directives, God promised to bless the Rechabites forever! Thus, the Rechabites who had abstained perpetually from drinking wine because their father had commanded them to do so were greatly rewarded for their obedience.

Is This Account Relevant for the Contemporary Debate about Alcohol Consumption?

This account relates how a group of people perpetually obeyed directives given to them by their forefather for their good (Jer. 35:7). The passage provides no clear indication for the specifics of why he had commanded them to do so.

Furthermore, stylistically, although it does mention and reiterate that there were several commands that the Rechabites had obeyed, the account focuses special attention in at least two ways on the command for them to abstain from drinking wine. First, God specifically tests their obedience concerning only this command (Jer. 35:1-11). Second, God refers specifically only to this command when He rebukes His own people (Jer. 35:12-17).

These observations suggest to me that this account that records divine blessing for obeying parental admonition not to drink alcohol provides biblical justification for fathers today to direct their children authoritatively not to drink alcohol. Moreover, the account also provides justification for children to heed that admonition regardless of how much pressure they may get from others who tell them that their parents’ instruction to them is “legalistic,” contrary to “the gospel,” unbiblical, and does not need to be followed.

If your parents have instructed you to abstain from alcohol consumption, you will honor God and bring blessing on yourself by doing so. Doing so for your entire life, you will bring them joy in their old age by having treasured their instruction that will preserve you from ever suffering the great harm that alcohol consumption has brought to multitudes of families in human history.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

How God’s Amazing Protection of a Philistine King Should Affect Our Praying

June 1, 2013

Genesis 20 relates Abraham’s initial (recorded) encounter with Abimelech king of Gerar. Through studying the record of God’s confrontation of Abimelech after this encounter, we should learn how His amazing protection of this Philistine king should affect our praying.

ABRAHAM’S ENCOUNTER WITH ABIMELECH

Although this account involves God, Abraham, Sarah, Abimelech, all his servants, and even sheep and oxen, its main characters are God, Abimelech, and Abraham.

Abraham Lies to Abimelech about Sarah

Because Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was very beautiful (cf. Gen. 12:14), Abraham feared for his life as he traveled through pagan places (Gen. 20:11). He instructed Sarah to say that he was her brother (Gen. 20:13c), which was partially true because she was his half-sister (Gen. 20:12).

While they were staying in Gerar (Gen. 20:1), Abraham said that Sarah was his sister (Gen. 20:2a). As a result, Abimelech sent and took Sarah (Gen. 20:2b).

God Confronts Abimelech in a Dream

In a dream at night, God confronted Abimelech with the surety of his dying (Gen. 20:3; cf. 20:7) because of what he had done: “Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife” (20:3). Abimelech, however, had not yet come near her and asked the Lord if He would “slay also a righteous nation?” (20:4).

Asking this question, he queried the Lord in a remarkably similar fashion to how Abraham had earlier pled with the Judge of the all the earth about His righteous dealings with the righteous and the wicked (Gen. 18:23-32). Through this inquiry, Abimelech asserted to the Lord that he believed that he was righteous in what he had done regarding Sarah.

Furthermore, he protested to the Lord that Abraham had said that she was his sister and that Sarah herself also said that he was her brother (Gen. 20:5a-b). Remarkably, he further asserted his uprightness in what he had done: “In the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this” (20:5c).

God responded to him with an acknowledgement that he indeed had done what he did with integrity: “Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart” (Gen. 20:6a-b). God did not, however, stop with this acknowledgement, for He added a profound revelation about His protection of him that he otherwise would never have known anything about: “For I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her” (Gen. 20:6c-d). (Before considering this stunning revelation further, it is helpful to treat the rest of the account briefly.)

God then commanded Abimelech to restore Sarah to Abraham because he was a prophet, and informed him that Abraham would pray for him so that he would live (Gen. 20:7a). He also warned him that he and his entire household would surely die if he would not restore her (20:7b).

Abimelech Confronts Abraham

Following God’s dealing with him in a dream, Abimelech confronted Abraham about what he had done in bringing such a great sin on Abimelech and his kingdom (Gen. 20:8-10). Abraham explained that he thought that no one among them feared God and that they would kill him because of his wife (Gen. 20:11).

He added that Sarah actually was his half-sister and that she had become his wife (Gen. 20:12). He then explained the kindness that he had requested that Sarah would show him by saying that he was her brother wherever they would go (Gen. 20:13).

Abimelech Restores Sarah to Abraham

Abimelech did much more than just return Sarah to Abraham; he also gave Abraham sheep, oxen, and male and female servants (Gen. 20:14). Moreover, he gave him permission to settle in his land wherever he would like (Gen. 20:15) and 1000 pieces of silver on behalf of Sarah (Gen. 20:16).

God Heals Abimelech and His Household through Abraham’s Prayer

The account ends with God’s healing Abimelech and his entire household through Abraham’s praying for them (Gen. 20:17). They now bore children, after God had stopped closing their wombs because of Sarah (Gen. 20:18).

DISCUSSION

Several profound gems of truth are embedded in this otherwise somewhat obscure account. First, contrary to Abraham’s negative expectation, there was at least one person in Gerar (Abimelech) who did fear God and understood that it would have been sin for him to take another man’s wife. Long before the Ten Commandments had been given, therefore, even pagans knew that adultery was sin.

Second, somehow Abimelech knew and believed that the Lord was a righteous judge who would not slay a righteous nation. We are not told how this pagan king knew this information, but it is amazing that he knew it, believed it, and even appealed directly to God based on his belief of this truth!

Third, Abimelech protested to God his innocence in what he had done, and amazingly, God attested to his innocence. Yet, despite that divine attestation of his innocence, Abimelech had sinned by what he had unknowingly done.

Fourth, and perhaps most profoundly of all, this passage teaches us that God protected this pagan king from sinning against Him by keeping him from actually having relations with Sarah! We, therefore, learn that for His own purposes, God sometimes keeps even pagans from sinning against Him!

Furthermore, through God’s saying, “I also withheld thee from sinning” (Gen. 20:6), we learn that Abimelech’s not coming near Sarah was the result of both his integrity and God’s protection of him. Thus, the righteous actions of this lost man stemmed from a mysterious and fascinating interplay between human actions and divine working.

APPLICATION

The teaching of this passage suggests many applications, some of which I may treat in other posts. At this time, I would like to focus on its implications for our praying as believers.

God kept Abimelech, a Philistine, from sinning unknowingly against Him by committing adultery with another man’s wife. Because God does not tell us exactly how He prevented him from doing so, we should conclude that our knowing that information is not as important as our noting what God did on behalf of this pagan man.

On that reading, our learning about God’s keeping this pagan from sinning against Him should motivate us to pray that God would keep us from sinning against Him! I have no doubt God that would be very pleased with His people who allow this passage to shape their prayer lives in this way.

I have begun to make the request that God would keep me from sinning against Him a regular part of my prayer life and encourage you to do the same thing.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Prayer, Theology

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