A People for His Name

The Gospel of God and His Christ

May 5, 2011

God chose Jesus Christ to be the One who would die for the sins of the world. He enabled Christ through the power of His Holy Spirit to do all that He did. He gave Him the authority to do all that He did. He traveled around doing good and healing all the people that the devil was oppressing, because God was with Him.

Christ, the Son of God, who was chosen, empowered, and authorized by God, loved us enough to die for us on the cross for our sins in fulfillment of what God had promised centuries ago would happen. On the cross, the soldiers came to break His legs, but did not do so because He was already dead. After that, one of the soldiers put a spear through His side and blood and water came out; this outpouring was certain proof that He really was dead.

Someone else removed His dead body from the cross and prepared His body for burial by wrapping it with 75 pounds of linen cloth and spices. He was then buried in a tomb. At the mouth of the tomb, they rolled a huge boulder. The tomb was then sealed with a seal all the way around it. Finally, Roman guards, who on penalty of death were commanded to guard the tomb, were stationed around the tomb.

On the third day, the Father through His Spirit raised His Son from the dead. Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead in fulfillment of what God had predicted and promised centuries ago would take place.

Many different people at different times over a 40-day period saw the One who was the Son of God with power. He appeared to those people whom God had specifically chosen beforehand that they would see His Son after He had raised Him from the dead.

That risen Christ appeared to people whose lives were forever changed after they saw Him alive from the dead. He appeared to Peter who just a few days before had denied three times that he knew Him. Yet, shortly after He appeared to Peter, Peter was boldly preaching His resurrection.

Christ then appeared to the Twelve, and soon after that appearance, they all were witnessing to His resurrection from the dead. After that, over 500 people saw that risen Christ at the same time. Most of them were still alive when the Apostles were preaching that God had raised Him from the dead. Had they wanted to do so, people could have consulted them to see if they really had seen Christ alive from the dead.

Jesus appeared last of all to Paul the Apostle. He was not seeking Christ before that point. After God was pleased to reveal His Son to Paul one day, he gave his whole life to tell people the good news that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Paul went from being a persecutor of Christians to being a preacher of Christ because of the fact that Christ appeared to Paul after God had raised Him from the dead.

All the Jewish and Roman authorities would have had to do to stop Christianity from spreading would have been to provide the body. They would have destroyed that infant movement had they been able to produce the body. They, however, could not do it because His body was not there. He had risen from the dead, just as He promised He would!

God demands all people everywhere not to think any longer that He is like the numerous objects of worship that men through their imagination and art have made out of gold, silver, stone, and other things. He now commands everyone everywhere to repent and believe His Gospel concerning His Son, the One whom He has made both Lord and Christ.

God commands this repentance and faith in the risen Christ because He has appointed a day in which He is going to judge all the living and the dead through that Man whom He has appointed, His Son, the Christ of God. God has appointed that Christ to be the Judge of the living and the dead, and He has furnished proof to all men that He is going to judge all people through that Man by raising Him from the dead.

Because God has done all this, He commands people to completely change their thinking about Him and do works fitting for repentance. He wants them to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. He is the Lord of all.

The Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the world. He made Jesus who was sinless to be sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Through Him, God wants you to be reconciled to Himself.

Jesus is alive today and wants to save you. As Judge and Savior, He will save you if you will repent, believe the gospel, and confess Him as Lord. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.

Call on Him as Lord, believing that God has raised Him from the dead, and ask Him for the forgiveness of all of your sins!

In Evangelism, Gospel

Demonic Testimony to Christ as God's Judicial Agent

May 4, 2011

Scripture records a number of Jesus’ encounters with demon-possessed people. Two passages in Mark bring out an important truth from those encounters that is easy to overlook.

Mark 1:21-28 and 5:2-20 record the casting out of demons, which was a major aspect of Christ’s gracious judicial work (Acts 10:38; 1 John 3:8).[1] Both passages feature demonic testimony to Christ as God’s judicial agent (1:24; 5:7).

In Mark 1, Jesus cast out an unclean spirit from a man in a synagogue. Before Christ rebuked the spirit and ordered him to come out (1:25), the demon cried out, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? [A]rt thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God” (1:24). This spirit recognized Christ as God’s Holy One who will be His destroyer of demons. By recording this incident, Mark confronts his readers with Christ’s intermediary judicial role in the first chapter of his Gospel.

Mark 5:7 records that a demon addressed Christ as “Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God” and implored Him by God not to torment him. Both the demon’s address and his adjuring Jesus by God communicate the agency of Christ. The demon knew that Christ was the One who was uniquely related to the Most High God as His Son and distinct from Him. The demon’s plea to Christ shows that he understood that Christ is the Judge who will be the tormentor of demons. Mark also records that the demon “besought Him much that He would not to send them away out of the country” (5:10).

Luke’s parallel account states that the demons asked Christ not to command them to depart into the deep (8:31). Matthew’s version of this encounter says that there were two demon-possessed men (8:28) and multiple demons that addressed Him as the Son of God (8:29a). The demons also asked Him if He had come there ahead of the appointed time to torment them (8:29b). Their conversation with Christ testifies to their knowledge of an upcoming appointed time when Christ would indeed torment them.

All three Synoptic Gospels present Christ as God’s judicial executor through these accounts of the testimonies of demons. It is unclear to what extent the original participants and observers may have heard or understood what the demons said, but Christ’s silencing of the demons who spoke of His identity (Mark 1:25, 34) shows that He did not want their testimony about Him to be widely known. That being the case, it is noteworthy that all subsequent readers of the records of those accounts are given that information by the New Testament writers. Because of their inclusion in the Gospels, this facet of these accounts points to the importance of the testimony that they bear to Christ’s judging for God.

These testimonies also indicate the significance of that doctrine by referring to an appointed future time when Christ will destroy demons and punish them. These aspects of the judicial work of Christ show that His work as God’s judicial agent has a broader scope in terms of its subjects than does His work as Savior. Whereas He has judged and will judge both people and demons, He has not saved and will not save demons.[2]

[1] Mark 1 was chosen as one of the base passages because it occurs earlier in the book than the parallel passage in Luke 4 does in that book. Mark 5 was chosen because it most directly presents Christ as God’s judicial agent. In addition, “exorcism is a prominent feature of Mark’s account of Jesus. He speaks of it as distinct from a more general healing ministry, and includes four individual accounts of exorcisms (1:23-27; 5:1-20; 7:24-30; 9:14-29), all of which are vividly related, and two of which include a dialogue between Jesus and the demon(s) which reveals their privileged knowledge of who he is.” R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark in NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002), 100. Peter’s declaration, “God anointed Him [Jesus of Nazareth] with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38), confirms this assessment of Christ’s gracious judicial agency in casting out demons.

[2] In related teaching, the Gospel writers record that the Pharisees said that Christ cast out demons through the power of Satan (Matt. 12:22-29). Christ, knowing their thoughts, asserted that He was expelling demons by the Spirit of God and that His doing so showed that the kingdom of God had come on them (12:28). Both of those statements convey that Christ rendered God’s judgment in casting out demons.

In Interpretation

Guitar Music for "Nearer, Still Nearer"

May 3, 2011

This post provides a link to a PDF that has the melody notes, guitar chords, and the first stanza for Nearer, Still Nearer.

The melody is given with the fret numbers to be played on the second string of the guitar.

In Guitar Music

"Blessed Is the Man . . ."

May 2, 2011

Yesterday, I had the privilege of teaching Sunday school and preaching a morning service. Both messages were titled, “God Wants You to Be Blessed.” In Sunday school, I taught from Psalm 1 and various other passages. In the morning service, I preached on Psalm 1-2 as a unit, with an emphasis on Psalm 2.

Based in part on some feedback that I received yesterday, I believe that many believers may need further instruction about what a person’s being blessed means at its essence. From an examination of a number of passages, it is clear that being blessed does not fundamentally mean to be happy in the sense of feeling happy.

1. Psalm 94 compared with Hebrews 12

“Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked” (Ps. 94:12-13).

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:11).

Psalm 94 teaches that a man who is chastened by the Lord is blessed. Hebrews 12 says that no chastening seems joyous when it is taking place. Putting the teaching of these two statements together shows that the core idea of being blessed is not a person’s feeling happy.

2. Beatitudes

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. . . . Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matt. 5:4; 10-11).

A person who is mourning is not a happy person. People may be joyful in the midst of being persecuted or being reviled, but such joyfulness signifies something deeper than just feeling happy.

3. Revelation 22

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (22:14).

This verse shows that the people who will be ultimately blessed will be people who are given special privileges by God. Although such people will undoubtedly be happy, their feeling happy is not the main point of the statement.

What then is the core idea of the concept of being blessed? The Topical Index at the front of The New Open Bible: Study Edition provides an excellent, brief explanation: “Blessed—the objects of God’s favors” (80). At its essence, being blessed signifies a person or object that God has favored in some special manner.

In Interpretation

Trotman on Redeeming the Time with Soulwinning

May 1, 2011

Time is short. Even God cannot bring back lost opportunities and precious hours. We read in the Word that we are to redeem the time because the days are evil . . . and to “awake to righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame.” Oh, if we could only get a glimpse of the wonders of heaven and Life Eternal and the contrasting view of a lost soul . . . without hope, we might take this business more seriously. There is hope for men, and it is our blessed privilege to tell men of the way of escape God has made through the atoning death of His only begotten Son. Whatever you do, don’t let the Thief of time rob you of the Joy of leading precious souls out of Darkness into His Marvelous light.

—Letter from Dawson Trotman in Daws: A Man Who Trusted God, 123

In Quotes

"Kerala and Her Jews"

April 30, 2011

Plaque at Cochin Synagogue

Last year, I had the privilege of visiting the Cochin Synagogue in Kerala, India. While I was there, I picked up a fascinating booklet, Kerala and Her Jews.

The booklet begins with these captivating words:

In attempting to speak on the history of the Jews of Kerala one becomes at once conscious of the difficulty of the task as many important and interesting facts connected with this ancient colony on the SouthWest coast of India are shrouded in obscurity. How and when they arrived in the ancient port of Cranganore or Shingly as the Jews called their old settlement are still some of the unsettled problems of their ancient history, but whatever be the date of their first settlement, it is an undisputed fact of history that from the 5th to the 15th century, the Jews in Cranganore have had virtually an independent principality ruled over by a Prince of their own race and choice. Thus said Rabbi Nissim, a 14th century Hebrew poet and traveller.
     I travelled from Spain,
     I had heard of the city of Shingly
     I longed to see an Israel King
     Him, I saw with my own eyes.

Cranganore, known as Muzhiris to the Greeks and Shingly to the Jews was the only sea port in India known to the outside world. It was to this port therefore the Jews turned for a haven of refuge and a centre for trade. The destruction of Cranganore is often compared to the devastation of Palestine in miniature and the consequent dispersal of Jews from their Holy Land.

Prior to my visit, I had never heard about these Jews and their having had “virtually an independent principality ruled over by a Prince of their own race and choice.” It seems that the existence of this Jewish kingdom in India for so many centuries should be studied more by believers who seek to understand as fully as possible God’s dealings with His chosen people.

In Uncategorized

Faithful Spiritual Leadership

April 29, 2011

First Samuel 12 features extensive dialogue between Samuel and the people of Israel:

“And Samuel said unto all Israel . . .” (12:1-3)
“And they said . . .” (12:4)
“And he said unto them . . .” (12:5a-b);
“And they said . . .” (12c)
“And Samuel said unto the people . . .” (12:6-18)
“And all the people said unto Samuel . . .” (12:19)
“And Samuel said unto the people . . .” (12:20-25)

Through its record of this dialogue, it provides rich teaching concerning some key characteristics of faithful spiritual leadership.

A Proper Testimony

Samuel challenged the people to testify before God and the king about his not dealing righteously with any of the people. He offered to make restoration for anything that they would testify that he had done wrongly (12:3). The people affirmed that he had not wronged them (12:4).

He was able to have effective ministry with the people because he had maintained a sterling testimony before them. Apart from such a testimony, faithful spiritual leadership is impossible.

A Proper Perspective about Life

Samuel attested to his mindset that it was “before the Lord” that he lived his life, especially as he ministered for Him (12:3, 7). He spoke of the Lord as a witness against the people concerning his righteous dealings with them (12:5). He spoke of their great wickedness that they had done “in the sight of the Lord” (12:17).

He showed His belief in the Lord’s attending to what he and they were doing by telling them that the Lord would act before their eyes (12:16) when he would call unto Him (12:17). He then called upon the Lord (12:18a), and the Lord answered Him by sending thunder and rain (12:18b).

Samuel showed that he lived his entire life with the proper awareness of being always in the sight of God. Only by cultivating such a perspective about our lives, especially in our ministries, will we be faithful in our spiritual leadership.

A Proper Ministry

Samuel’s ministry on this occasion displayed many aspects of a proper ministry:

Focused on God as the LORD (31x), especially as their King (12:12), throughout his ministry to them – 12:3; 5; 6; 7 (2x); 8 (2x); 9; 10 (2x); 11; 12; 13; 14 (3x); 15 (3x); 16; 17 (2x); 18 (3x); 20 (2x); 22 (2x); 23; 24
Exhorted them to fear the Lord (12:14, 24) and serve Him (12:14, 20, 24) with all their heart – 12:20, 24
Reminded them of their history – 12:7-12
Reasoned with them of God’s righteous dealings with them – 12:7-13
Confronted their sin – “perceive and see that your wickedness is great,” 12:17
Confirmed their sinfulness – “ye have done all this wickedness,” 12:20
Encouraged them appropriately after they had acknowledged their sinfulness – 12:20-22
Assured them that he had prayed and would pray faithfully for them – 12:23
Taught them the good and the right way – 12:23-25
Appealed to them earnestly – 12:20-21; 24
Warned them diligently, especially about idolatry – 12:15, 21, 25

To be faithful in your spiritual leadership, you will have to have a proper testimony, a proper perspective about your life, especially about your ministry, as being in the sight of the Lord, and a proper ministry to the people whom you minister to as a spiritual leader.

In Discipleship

Establishing the Necessity of an Intermediate Earthly Kingdom

April 28, 2011

This post presents an approach that seeks to establish the necessity of an intermediate earthly kingdom without necessarily having to espouse beforehand any particular theological system. This approach consists of the integration of key biblical texts that contain within their own contexts clear indicators of how to interpret them. A careful examination of the nature of periods preceding and following the intermediate earthly kingdom combined with an integration of the texts showing a sharp contrast with those preceding and following periods establishes the necessity of an intermediate earthly kingdom.

Periods preceding and following the intermediate earthly kingdom

Present state: Sinners sinning, death taking place, children being born, most die before 100, carnivorous animals, Satan not bound, no Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Israel not preeminent among the nations of the world, Christ not ruling physically on the earth, no nation worshiping Christ as King on the earth

Eternal state: No sin, no death, no procreation, people live forever, Satan forever punished in the lake of fire, a new heaven and a new earth, new Jerusalem, no Temple, Christ and God rule forever

Sharp contrast of the intermediate earthly kingdom with the preceding and following periods

Isaiah 65:20-25: Period with infants and old men, death – not eternal state; period with 100-year old people called youths, people’s life span compared to trees, complete harmony in the animal kingdom – not present state; combination of all these demands an intermediate earthly kingdom

Ezekiel 36: God judged His people who sinned exceedingly in their own land and scattered them among the nations of the world; such scattering led to His name being profaned on account of those people; God has purposed to vindicate the holiness of His great name by bringing those people out from the nations where He had scattered them and back into their own land; clearly not speaking of the Church anywhere in these verses; glorious changes in the land testify about God to the nations, and all know Him; shows that an intermediate earthly kingdom is a necessity for the vindication of God’s holy name

Zechariah 14: Marvelous chapter clearly showing an intermediate earthly kingdom; the Lord returns to the earth to defend His people; establishes His kingdom in the world; immense topographical changes in Palestine; He is worshiped worldwide with no idolatry anywhere; annual worship of Yahweh by surviving nations; sin still occurring—nations refuse to come to worship—shows that this cannot be the eternal state; all-pervasive holiness of the LORD’s house concludes the chapter; chapter describes an extended period of time that cannot be the eternal state nor the present because it features both the worldwide worship of Yahweh and sinners still refusing to worship Him– demands an intermediate earthly kingdom

Conclusion

Scripture repeatedly teaches an intermediate earthly kingdom

Not necessary to hold to or even know a particular theological system to understand the Scripture’s teaching about the intermediate earthly kingdom – the passages themselves provide contextual indications of how they are to be interpreted

Vindication of God’s holy name necessitates an intermediate earthly kingdom

In Interpretation

Christian Health/Fitness Quotes I

April 27, 2011

1. Charles Spurgeon on Deuteronomy 28:3b – “Blessed shalt thou be in the field”:

We go to the field to labor as father Adam did; and since the curse fell on the soil through the sin of Adam the first, it is a great comfort to find a blessing through Adam the second. We go to the field for exercise, and we are happy in the belief that the Lord will bless that exercise, and give us health, which we will use to His glory.

—Faith’s Check Book: A Devotional, 52

2. John A. Broadus on “The Maintenance of Physical Health”:

Again, to be a good channel of God’s message the preacher should give careful attention to his health. . . . The long hours in the study should be balanced by a careful diet and regular exercise.

—On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, 16

3. George Swinnock on Our Duty:

Thy duty is to exercise thyself to godliness in thy recreations; the Christian in his walking, as well as in his working, must be furthering his eternal weal. . . . I am confident that it is thy duty to keep thy body in the best plight and health, vigour, and liveliness that thou canst, for thy soul’s sake.

—Works of George Swinnock, 288-89

4. John Piper on Jonathan Edwards:

He maintained the rigor of his study schedule only with strict attention to diet and exercise. . . . In addition to watching his diet so as to maximize his mental powers, he also took heed to his need for exercise.

—God’s Passion for His Glory, 56

5. Jerry Bridges on “Honor God With Your Body”

Some are abusing their bodies through a constant lack of needed rest and recreation; others are allowing their bodies to become soft and flabby through no exercise at all. Both groups need to learn godly self-control of their bodies.

—The Practice of Godliness, 136

6. P. Johnson and L. Morris on Stewardship:

Some achieve high levels of fitness because they worship their bodies; others do so primarily to achieve the acclaim of man, and the rewards of this world. The condition of heart that promotes these purposes is certainly not pleasing or honoring to God.

—Physical Fitness and the Christian: Exercising Stewardship, 15

See also Christian Health/Fitness Quotes II, posted 3/7/13

See I Will Praise Thee for a motivating presentation of why we should glorify God in our bodies

See Maintain Your Body Wisely for a detailed explanation of what Scripture teaches about how we should serve God through maintaining our bodies wisely

In Discipleship, Health, Quotes

On Praying Continually

April 26, 2011

An unknown author writes concerning praying without ceasing:

Are there not endless opportunities during every day of “lifting up holy hands”—or at least holy hearts—in prayer to our Father? Do we seize the opportunity, as we open our eyes upon each new day, of praising and blessing our Redeemer? Every day is an Easter day to the Christian. We can pray as we dress. Without a reminder we shall often forget. Stick a piece of stamp-paper in the corner of your lookingglass [sic], bearing the words, “Pray without ceasing.” Try it. We can pray as we go from one duty to another. We can often pray at our work. The washing and the writing, the mending and the minding, the cooking and the cleaning will be done all the better for it.
Do not children, both young and old, work better and play better when some loved one is watching? Will it not help us ever to remember that the Lord Jesus is always with us, watching? Aye, and helping. The very consciousness of His eye upon us will be the consciousness of His power within us.

The Kneeling Christian, 94-95

In Prayer, Quotes

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