Interpretation | A People for His Name

Will You Enter Paradise One Day?

November 22, 2011

Many human beings have spoken of and thought about going to places that they would consider a paradise. Some believe that everyone will enter into such a place one day.

Scripture reveals, however, that only certain humans one day will enter into the real place that is called Paradise: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7). This statement teaches us key truths that anyone who would enter Paradise must heed.

First, a man must hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Entering Paradise, therefore, requires that a man must hear and attend to what the Spirit has to say; heeding human speculations about Paradise and how to get there will never get anyone there.

Second, the way to Paradise is a message that the Spirit has directed and entrusted to the churches of Jesus Christ. Those who would enter there one day should do all that they possibly can to affiliate themselves vitally with at least one of His faithful churches.

Third, the Spirit’s message about entering Paradise declares that a man must overcome. Because the Spirit has entrusted multiple messages to the churches of Jesus Christ (2:1-3:22) that explain various aspects of what it means to overcome, a man who would enter Paradise must heed the full content of those messages.

Fourth, those who overcome will receive as a gift (“To him that overcometh will I give . . .”) authorization (cf. “right to the tree of life” [22:12-14]) “to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Paradise belongs to God, and only those whom He graciously authorizes to be there will be there. To enter there, therefore, you must receive that gracious authorization to do so.

Fifth, the glorified Jesus is the One who authorizes overcomers to be in Paradise (cf. 22:12-14). He is the Speaker of each of these messages to His churches. Only those who are willing to come to Him believing that He has that authority will enter there one day (cf. Luke 23:43).

Sixth, in this message, Jesus and the Spirit highlight the eating of the tree of life that is in the middle of God’s Paradise. To receive the blessedness of that privilege, a man must believe what the Scripture teaches about the tree of life, Adam and Eve, and how they forfeited eating from the tree of life through their sin.

Overcomers who believe and heed all these things will enjoy the very thing that Adam and Eve forfeited in the Garden of Eden–eating from the tree of life! They will do so in the only place that is truly a paradise.

Will you be one of those who enter Paradise one day?

To learn more about how you can enter Paradise one day, please see my post, The Salvation of a Crucified Thief.

In Evangelism, Interpretation

God's Dealings with Civil Authorities Concerning Their Unrighteousness

November 19, 2011

Scripture reveals that God has on many occasions dealt openly with civil authorities concerning their unrighteousness:

Genesis 20

God warned Abimelech, the king of Gerar, that he would die if he would commit adultery with Sarah (20:3-7). God had graciously kept him from sinning in that way (20:6) and now demanded that he restore her to Abraham (20:7). Abimelech heeded God’s warning and was spared (20:8-18).

2 Samuel 12

King David committed adultery with Bathsheba. Although God forgave him and spared his life, he suffered great consequences for his sinfulness (12:10-12; 14; 13:1-19:33). He continued reigning over God’s people until he died except for the time when Absalom took over the kingdom (15:13-17:29).

Daniel 4

King Nebuchadnezzar became proud and was warned by God’s prophet, Daniel. Daniel appealed to him to accept his counsel, break off his sins “by righteousness” and his iniquities “by showing mercy to the poor” (4:27). Nebuchadnezzar failed to heed Daniel’s warning (4:28-30). He was humbled by God until he acknowledged God aright (4:31-33). Following his abasement and repentance, God restored him and blessed him (4:34-37).

Daniel 5

King Belshazzar defiled the vessels of God’s house and praised man-made objects of worship (5:1-4). God confronted his wickedness through Daniel and removed him from his kingdom (5:5-31).

Matthew 15

John the Baptist, God’s prophet, rebuked Herod Antipas, the king, for taking his (Herod’s) brother’s wife (15:3-4). He declared that it was unlawful for him to have her. Herod had John murdered because he confronted him with his sinfulness. Scripture does not record Herod’s ultimate fate, but historical sources say that he “ended his days in exile” (New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 481).

Acts 12

Herod Agrippa I, the king, failed to give God the glory on a public occasion and was immediately struck down by the angel of the Lord (12:20-23). He was eaten by worms and died shortly thereafter.

These accounts of God’s similar dealings with unrighteous kings who were over His people as well as with those who were over other peoples strongly imply that God demands righteousness from all civil authorities. Modern day believers should carefully take this evidence into consideration when deciding whether they will support a political candidate with a proven history of unrighteousness.

In Interpretation

Saying That Jesus is Lord by the Holy Spirit

November 15, 2011

Paul teaches that “no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3). Plainly, Paul does not mean merely uttering the words, “Jesus is Lord,” because multitudes of people, such as little children who have had no exposure to Bible teaching at all, can say those words without having any idea of what they mean and therefore say them without attaching the proper significance to those words.

What then does Paul mean by this statement? By looking closely at related teaching from Jesus, we allow Scripture to interpret itself:

“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying,’ What think ye of Christ? Whose son is He?’ They say unto Him, ‘The son of David.’ He saith unto them, ‘How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, “THE LORD SAID UNTO MY LORD, ‘SIT THOU ON MY RIGHT HAND, TILL I MAKE THINE ENEMIES THY FOOTSTOOL?”‘ If David then call him Lord; how is He his son?” (Matt. 22:41-45).

Here Jesus declares that David in the Spirit called Christ Lord. He then explained that David did so when he penned one of the most important statements in the OT, Psalm 110:1. This premier OT statement highlights the Father’s exaltation to His right hand of the One who was David’s Lord.

Interpreting 1 Corinthians 12:3 by Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 22:41-45, we understand that saying that Jesus is Lord by the Holy Spirit does not mean only acknowledging that Jesus Himself is God; rather, saying that Jesus is Lord by the Holy Spirit also entails acknowledging how God the Father has exalted Him to His right hand. This interpretation, therefore, underscores the importance of our testifying in evangelism not just the deity of Jesus, but also how the Father exalted Him after He raised Him from the dead (cf. “God hath made that same Jesus . . . both Lord and Christ,” [Acts 2:36]; “who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God” [1 Peter. 1:21]).

In Evangelism, Interpretation

The Father Will One Day yet Give Jesus of Nazareth the Earthly Throne of His Father David!

November 14, 2011

God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to declare to her a glorious message:

“Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:30-33).

A key statement in this message made known that the Lord God would exalt Mary’s Son by giving Him the throne of His father David (1:32c). The throne in view here is clearly not the throne of heaven because that throne was never David’s (and never could be). What throne then did Gabriel prophesy that God would give to Jesus of Nazareth?

The only throne that David ever occupied was his throne as the king over God’s kingdom people, the Jews. This promise to Mary about her Son, therefore, was a promise that one day Jesus would be enthroned as the King of the Jews.

During Jesus’ earthly life, He never sat on the throne of His father David. In fact, He was crucified for His claim to be the King of the Jews (John 19:14-22).

In Jesus’ future earthly rule from Jerusalem over the Jews (as well all other nations; cf. Zech. 14:9; 16-17), God will fulfill Gabriel’s prophecy as well as His promise to David that his throne would be established for ever (2 Sam. 7:16). Then the One who was “born King of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2) will finally be given the homage that David wrote of as essential for all people to give to the LORD’s King whom He has set on His holy hill of Zion (Ps. 2:6, 12).

By establishing Him in that day in Jerusalem as the King of the Jews, the Father will vindicate His Son’s claim to be the One who was born to the end that He would be the King of the Jews (cf. John 18:33-37), which claim was rejected by the Jews and led to their clamoring for Him to be crucified (19:14-22). The full truth of the superscription of His Cross, “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS” (19:19) will then finally be acknowledged by the world!

“Even so, come Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).

In Interpretation

Jesus' Followers Must Continue Preaching the Kingdom Gospel to the Entire World Until the End!

November 13, 2011

The Gospels record two important statements by Jesus about worldwide preaching of the gospel:

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14).

“And He said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15).

Unlike the former statement, the latter statement does not specify the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom; it only speaks of the apostles preaching the gospel. Several facts, however, make it clear that it was a command to the apostles to preach the kingdom gospel.

First, Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25) late during His time on the earth, and He commissioned His apostles (Mk. 16:14-18) during the forty days between His resurrection and His ascension. Because the Scripture does not indicate that He gave any intervening teaching about the content of the gospel, we are justified in concluding that both references pertain to the gospel of the kingdom.

Second, Acts 1:3 highlights Jesus’ “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom” during the forty days between His resurrection and His ascension. Because Mark 16:15 records a key statement in seminal teaching that Jesus gave His disciples during that period, we are justified in identifying it as part of the key teaching that Jesus gave about the kingdom.

Third, Luke’s recording that Philip preached as the gospel “the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12) makes it certain that the gospel that he received from the apostles was the kingdom gospel. The gospel that they themselves, therefore, were commanded to preach by Jesus must have been the kingdom gospel.

We thus conclude that Jesus commanded the apostles to preach the kingdom gospel to the entire world (Mk. 16:15). Furthermore, because He also taught that the end will only come after the gospel of the kingdom will have been preached in the entire world for a witness to all nations (Matt. 24:14), His followers must continue preaching that same kingdom gospel to the entire world until the end!

In Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation, Ministry, Preaching

Imitators Not Just of Paul But Also of Other Exemplary Believers

November 11, 2011

Together, the verb μιμέομαι (“to imitate”) and the noun μιμητής (“imitator”) occur ten times in the NT:

KJV 1Co 4:16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

SCR 1Co 4:16 παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε.

BGT 1Co 4:16 Παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς, μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε.

NAU 1Co 4:16 Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

KJV 1Co 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

SCR 1Co 11:1 μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε, καθὼς κἀγὼ Χριστοῦ.

BGT 1Co 11:1 μιμηταί μου γίνεσθε καθὼς κἀγὼ Χριστοῦ.

NAU 1Co 11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

KJV Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

SCR Eph 5:1 Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητά•

BGT Eph 5:1 Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

NAU Eph 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

KJV 1Th 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

SCR 1Th 1:6 καὶ ὑμεῖς μιμηταὶ ἡμῶν ἐγενήθητε καὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, δεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ μετὰ χαρᾶς Πνεύματος Ἁγίου,

BGT 1Th 1:6 Καὶ ὑμεῖς μιμηταὶ ἡμῶν ἐγενήθητε καὶ τοῦ κυρίου, δεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον ἐν θλίψει πολλῇ μετὰ χαρᾶς πνεύματος ἁγίου,

NAU 1Th 1:6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

KJV 1Th 2:14 For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:

SCR 1Th 2:14 ὑμεῖς γὰρ μιμηταὶ ἐγενήθητε, ἀδελφοί, τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ• ὅτι ταὐτὰ ἐπάθετε καὶ ὑμεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων συμφυλετῶν, καθὼς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων,

BGT 1Th 2:14 ὑμεῖς γὰρ μιμηταὶ ἐγενήθητε, ἀδελφοί, τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπάθετε καὶ ὑμεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων συμφυλετῶν καθὼς καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων,

NAU 1Th 2:14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,

KJV 2Th 3:7 For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

SCR 2Th 3:7 αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴδατε πῶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι ἡμᾶς• ὅτι οὐκ ἠτακτήσαμεν ἐν ὑμῖν,

BGT 2Th 3:7 Αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴδατε πῶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι ἡμᾶς, ὅτι οὐκ ἠτακτήσαμεν ἐν ὑμῖν

NAU 2Th 3:7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you,

KJV 2Th 3:9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

SCR 2Th 3:9 οὐχ ὅτι οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα ἑαυτοὺς τύπον δῶμεν ὑμῖν εἰς τὸ μιμεῖσθαι ἡμᾶς.

BGT 2Th 3:9 οὐχ ὅτι οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα ἑαυτοὺς τύπον δῶμεν ὑμῖν εἰς τὸ μιμεῖσθαι ἡμᾶς.

NAU 2Th 3:9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.

KJV Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

SCR Heb 6:12 ἵνα μὴ νωθροὶ γένησθε, μιμηταὶ δὲ τῶν διὰ πίστεως καὶ μακροθυμίας κληρονομούντων τὰς ἐπαγγελίας.

BGT Heb 6:12 ἵνα μὴ νωθροὶ γένησθε, μιμηταὶ δὲ τῶν διὰ πίστεως καὶ μακροθυμίας κληρονομούντων τὰς ἐπαγγελίας.

NAU Heb 6:12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

KJV Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

SCR Heb 13:7 Μνημονεύετε τῶν ἡγουμένων ὑμῶν, οἵτινες ἐλάλησαν ὑμῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ• ὧν ἀναθεωροῦντες τὴν ἔκβασιν τῆς ἀναστροφῆς, μιμεῖσθε τὴν πίστιν.

BGT Heb 13:7 Μνημονεύετε τῶν ἡγουμένων ὑμῶν, οἵτινες ἐλάλησαν ὑμῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, ὧν ἀναθεωροῦντες τὴν ἔκβασιν τῆς ἀναστροφῆς μιμεῖσθε τὴν πίστιν.

NAU Heb 13:7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

KJV 3Jo 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

SCR 3Jo 1:11 ἀγαπητέ, μὴ μιμοῦ τὸ κακὸν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀγαθόν. ὁ ἀγαθοποιῶν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν• ὁ δὲ κακοποιῶν οὐχ ἑώρακε τὸν Θεόν.

BGT 3Jo 1:11 Ἀγαπητέ, μὴ μιμοῦ τὸ κακὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀγαθόν. ὁ ἀγαθοποιῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν• ὁ κακοποιῶν οὐχ ἑώρακεν τὸν θεόν.

NAU 3Jo 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

These references show that Paul is the only person whom the Holy Spirit inspired to write statements that directly command other believers to be imitators of the same person (Paul) who wrote those commands to them (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1).

Nevertheless, the writer of Hebrews and the apostle John also do command believers to be imitators of other believers (explicit [“whose faith follow”] – Heb. 13:7; implicit [“follow . . . that which is good”] – 3 John 1:11).* Because these statements are not directives commanding believers to imitate just Paul, we should conclude that we are to be imitators not just of Paul but also of other exemplary believers.

==========

*Although Hebrews 6:12 is not a command to believers, the purpose subjunctive (“that ye be . . . followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises”) also instructs believers to be imitators not just of Paul but also of other exemplary believers.

In Biblical Greek, Biblical Languages, Interpretation

Overcoming Unwarranted Negativity toward Peter's Apostolic Preaching and Teaching

November 7, 2011

The Bible records many shortcomings and failures in the life of the apostle Peter, including the following:

–Doubting Christ after He had enabled him to walk on the sea (Matt. 14:28-33)
–Reproving Christ concerning His going to the Cross (Matt. 16:21-23)
–Flawed statement to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:4-5)
–Cutting off the servant’s ear (John 18:10-11)
–Threefold denial of Christ (Matt. 26:69-75)
–Hypocritical practice that endangered the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:11-21)

With such a record, it would be easy to understand why not a few people might have at least to some extent a negative predisposition toward Peter that would affect their receptivity to his apostolic preaching and teaching.

I believe, however, that this negative scriptural record does not provide warrant for us to have any negativity toward his apostolic preaching and teaching. In fact, I believe that the Scripture provides us with at least two good reasons why we must overcome all unwarranted negativity in this respect.

First, the record of the Jerusalem Council reveals that the Council gave priority to him and to God’s use of him to preach the gospel to Gentiles at Caesarea (Acts 15; see my post for an explanation of this point). Our understanding of gospel ministry will therefore suffer if we have negativity toward the various records concerning his apostolic preaching of the gospel in Caesarea (Acts 10; 11:1-18; 15:7-9; 14-17).

Second, the Holy Spirit’s choosing to inspire him to write two epistles shows that God deems it necessary that we have ministry from him to be all we are to be for the cause of Christ.

Any negativity, therefore, that we import into our reading of Petrine apostolic preaching and teaching is without validity and will deprive us of God-intended profiting of our lives.

In Interpretation

The "Problem" of Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-Happuch?

November 6, 2011

After he had gone through his intense period of testing and trial, God “turned the captivity of Job” (Job 42:10). The book then ends with a lengthy account of how the “Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning (42:12).

To understand how the Lord’s latter blessing was more than his blessing on him at the beginning, we compare the two accounts carefully:

“And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east” (1:2-3).

“The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. . . . So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Keren-Happuch. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. After this lived Job a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days” (42:10; 12-17)

The latter account thus states and delineates that God gave Job double the material blessings that he had at the beginning. Job’s latter blessing, however, did not include God’s giving him double the number of sons and daughter as he had before his testing. Instead, God gave him seven sons and three daughters, which was the same number of sons and daughters as he had before.

Interesting differences, however, concerning the information provided about Job’s daughters in the two accounts suggest another aspect of God’s blessing Job more in the latter end than before. Whereas Job’s first three daughters were not named or described concerning their appearance, both names and a description of their appearance are given for his second set of three daughters (42:14-15a).

Both the names (Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-Happuch) and the description of their appearance highlight their beauty.¹ Based on this data, the account of God’s greater latter blessing of Job seems to include strong emphasis on the physical attractiveness of his latter set of daughters.

In view of the teaching of Proverbs 31:30, is this aspect of God’s blessing of Job in the latter end “problematic” because it emphasizes that God gave him surpassingly beautiful daughters instead of saying that God gave him daughters whose fear of Him exceeded that of all the women of the land?

¹“Jemimah means ‘dove,’ Keziah means ‘cinnamon perfume’ . . . and Keren-Happuch means ‘horn of eyepaint’ (i.e, an animal-horn bottle for holding a dye used to make the eyelashes, eyelids, and eyebrows more attractive). These names speak of the girls’ striking beauty, for which they were well known.” (BKC: OT, 776).

A Glorious Link Between First Corinthians 13 and Proverbs 31!

Glorious Hope for the Fallen: The Story of Rahab!

Why Christian Women Should Have Long Hair

In Interpretation

The Same Crucial Truth in Four Gospels and Three Languages!

November 4, 2011

In the biblical record concerning the crucifixion of Jesus, one truth about Him is singularly highlighted in all four gospels:

“And set up over his head His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Matt. 27:37).

“And the superscription of His accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Mk. 15:26).

“And a superscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Lk. 23:38).

“And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross, And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19).

John, who was the last one to write his Gospel, gives additional information concerning the title on the Cross of Jesus that the Synoptics do not:

“This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, the King of the Jews; but that He said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written” (19:20-22).

John thus informs us that the top Jewish leadership objected to this title because it spoke of Him as being the King of the Jews instead of saying that He claimed to be the King of the Jews.

Based on the inspired record from all four gospels concerning the superscription of His cross, we should note carefully that the specific wording of the official charge against Jesus was not concerning His claiming to be God! Rather, all the gospel writers inform us that the wording of the charge specifically spoke of Him as the King of the Jews.

Moreover, we learn that this truth was testified to in three different languages. Because the Gospels do not explicitly record that any other truth concerning His crucifixion was testified to in multiple languages, we can be all the more certain of the unique importance of this truth.

Is it legitimate, therefore, in evangelistic preaching of and testimony to the crucifixion of Jesus, that very often great stress is placed on the proclamation of His deity, but very little or not even anything specifically is said about Him as the King of the Jews? In view of the divinely directed testimony about the latter truth that was given both before His conception (Luke 1:32-33) and at His crucifixion, ought we not rather to hold that testimony to Jesus as the King of the Jews is as essential to gospel preaching as testimony to His deity?

Let us be diligent to evangelize “the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12) by bearing testimony to Jesus as the God-appointed King of the Jews (Luke 1:32-33)! Our gospel preaching will then be in line with the same crucial truth that is highlighted in all four Gospels, a truth which was testified in three languages at the crucifixion of Christ.

In Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation, Ministry, Preaching

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

November 2, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Interpretation

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