A People for His Name

Handling the Evangelistic Accounts in Acts More Accurately: Part II

May 11, 2011

In Part I of this series, I pointed out the two explicit indicators in the Pentecost account that tell us that we do not have an exhaustive record of the testimony that Peter gave at that occasion. Based on that evidence, I argued that we should not hold that any record in Acts of an evangelistic encounter provides us with sufficient evidence to argue that testimony to a particular truth was not given in that encounter.

An analysis of three other passages in Acts reinforces this point.

Acts 9

Very soon after his salvation, Paul “preached Christ in the synagogues that He is the Son of God” (9:20). He “confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ” (9:22).

After Paul had come to Jerusalem, Barnabas informed the apostles that Paul “had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus” (9:27). In Jerusalem, Paul then “spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus” (9:29).

Some have argued from these statements that Paul preached only about Christ in these messages. Luke’s later record of Paul’s own testimony before king Agrippa about his ministry in Damascus shows that it is illegitimate to argue in this manner:

Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance (26:19-20).

Paul emphatically testified that he had declared first in Damascus that the Gentiles “should repent and turn to God.” This testimony shows that Luke’s earlier record of Paul’s same ministry in Damascus is not exhaustive and is not intended to be taken as evidence that Paul had not preached repentance toward God in those messages.

Acts 13

Luke informs us that Barnabas and Saul entered a synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia on a Sabbath day (13:14). He tells us that there was a reading of the law and the prophets (13:15) followed by Paul’s message (13:16-41).

Many have overlooked the contribution of the reading from the OT to the total testimony received by Paul’s hearers on this occasion. We have no way of knowing what content his hearers received through that reading prior to his message. We, therefore, cannot legitimately assert with certainty that they did not receive testimony in this evangelistic encounter to any particular truth that is taught in the OT.

Acts 16

Following the miraculous events that took place, the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (16:30). They responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (16:31).

Based on these statements, a person argued with me years ago that the jailor was saved without testimony to the resurrection. The next verse, however, makes clear that he was not saved just hearing that one sentence: “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house” (16:32).

Paul and Silas testified more from the word of the Lord than just what verse 31 records. Luke does not tell us what that additional testimony was. Because we know that the record of the testimony that the jailor received is not exhaustive, it is illegitimate to say with certainty that he did not receive testimony to any particular truth, especially to God’s raising Jesus from the dead.

The following verses implicitly confirm this assessment. Luke tells us that the jailor was baptized (16:33), but he does not tell us how it came about that he knew that he was to be baptized and that he assented to that act. Plainly, we are to understand that Paul and Silas bore testimony to him to do so.

Luke concludes his record by saying, “And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house” (16:34). Although it is possible that Luke intends for us from this statement to believe that these people believed in Jesus as God, it is at least equally likely that this statement reflects their salvation through belief in testimony about God the Father’s raising Jesus from the dead and through their subsequent confession of Jesus as Lord (cf. Rom. 10:9-10).

Along with the statements in Acts 2, these statements from Acts 9, 13, and 16 further teach us that we should not take the lack of mention of any particular truth in an evangelistic account in Acts as proof that no testimony to that truth was given in that encounter.

In Evangelism, Interpretation

Answering the Objection about the Eradication of the Canaanites

May 10, 2011

God’s ordering the Israelites to eradicate the Canannites (Josh. 6:2; 17-18; 21; 24) has led many to attack the Bible and call into question its divine inspiration. People object especially to the Israelites’ killing of children.

In the past, I have taken various approaches in answering such attacks. Based on my recent reading in Scripture, I think that God may have given me insight into another helpful aspect of how to deal with this objection that I have not thought of before.

Because His own people had become very wicked in the time of Ezekiel, God commanded that they be slain (Ezek. 9:4-11), including the little children:

     And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
     Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
     And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

This passage shows that God dealt in the same way with His own people when they became very wicked as He had dealt with the Canannites in the past. He thus has impartially ordered at times the eradication of certain people, both Canaanites and Israelites.

Although pointing out this fact may not fully take away the objections to His dealings with the Canannites, presenting that He has treated even His own people in the same manner may help to some extent.

The teaching of these passages concerning God’s dealings with the children of wicked people is a difficult truth for us to handle on the human level. To help us put this issue into its proper biblical perspective, both for ourselves and for others, we should carefully note His impartiality in dealing in such a manner with wickedness among both the Canaanites and His people.

In Interpretation

Ensemble Guitar Music for "God Is So Good"

May 9, 2011

Learning to play ensemble music is a great way to develop many basic musical skills, such as rhythm and listening to both yourself and others as you play.

When I was teaching theory classes to young guitar students, I came up with a simple ensemble format for guitar music. In this post, the format provides the notes that are to be played for all four parts of the song God Is So Good.

Each part can be played by one or more students by paying attention to the Roman numeral that tells you on what string to play the notes for that part. Advanced students can try to play more than one part at a time.

Although the music itself is quite simple, working on it with one or more other guitarists can be a fun way to improve your guitar playing!

In Guitar Music

Know and Honor Our Mothers

May 8, 2011

On this Mother’s Day, we should know and honor our mothers.

1. “The Mother of All Living”

As Bible believers, we must accept all that the Bible teaches. Scripture says, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20). Many professing Christians are calling into question or denying the historicity of Adam and Eve (e.g., some professors at Calvin College).

If Eve was not the mother of all living, then Jesus was either wrong or deceptive in what He taught because He taught that Adam and Eve were real and that they were the first people that God made (Matt. 19:4-5; cf. John 3:12). The Christian faith would then be worthless.

Jesus was not wrong or deceptive. We must know that Eve was the mother of all living, and we must honor her as such. We are to honor Eve by defending her historical existence.

We are to honor Eve also by heeding the teaching of key passages in the NT that speak of her (1 Cor. 11; 2 Cor. 11; 1 Tim. 2). God created her from Adam and for Adam and not vice versa (1 Cor. 11:8-9).

Eve was deceived by the serpent (2 Cor. 11:3). We must honor her by learning from her failure that we must guard ourselves against false teachers who preach another Jesus and speak of receiving another spirit and of accepting another gospel (11:4).

Adam was formed before Eve and was not deceived (1 Tim. 2:13-14). We must honor Eve by learning from her succumbing to deception that we are not to allow women to teach men or usurp authority over them in the church (2:12).

2. “Thy Mother”

Every person that has ever lived has come into the world in the same way: he came out of his mother’s womb (Job 1:21). In the Ten Commandments, God declares, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” (Ex. 20:12). The New Testament reiterates that teaching in Ephesians 6.

In various ways, we are to honor our mothers who gave us birth:

heeding her law (Prov. 1:8; 6:20); obeying her (30:17; Eph. 6:1-3)
making her glad by being righteous and wise (Prov. 23:24-25)
blessing her (Prov. 31:28; 30:11)
providing for her if she is widowed (1 Tim. 5:4)

3. “The Mother of Us All”

In Galatians, Paul teaches us vital truth for all believers. He defends justification by faith without works. In his defense of that doctrine, he says, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Gal. 4:26). Paul speaks of one here whom he says is “the mother of us all.”

Paul says that the Jerusalem that is above is the mother of all believers, and that she is free. He contrasts her with the earthly Jerusalem that was in bondage in his day.

How do we honor heavenly Jerusalem, our mother? Some people are currently saying that we have misunderstood Paul’s teaching about justification and the Law. They are trying to get Christians to change their understanding of justification and salvation. To honor “the mother of us all, we must steadfastly resist all such teaching (4:30; 5:1).

In Discipleship

"The Nearest Place to Heaven"

May 7, 2011

But to them the happiest days of all were not those high days and holidays. Through the mists of childhood the brightest associations lingered about one dear figure in the repose that always seemed to accompany a white crêpe shawl and satin gown. Sunday was the day on which mother gave herself to them as she could not through the week, and if there was one thing she cared about, it was that that day should be to every member of the household the happiest and most helpful of the seven. In the morning the children went with her regularly to the House of God, and there was more leisure to enjoy companionship at home on Sunday. But in addition, Mother had ways and means for making that day different from all others and much to be desired. The nicest toys and picture-books belonged to Sunday, as well as the prettiest frocks and a cosy fire in the drawing-room because the piano was there. Mother’s sweet voice made hymn-singing a delight. No talks were like her talks over the Bible, not to speak of Pilgrim’s Progress and other books that only appeared that day. Then she always had a basket of fruit for her little people in the afternoon. And just to see her looking so sweet and restful as she shared their enjoyments was not the least part of the happiness of the day.
Yes, home was home indeed and the nearest place to heaven, because it held that mother in whose heart was shed abroad the very love of God.

—Hudson Taylor in Early Years: The Growth of a Soul, 57

In Quotes

Spurgeon on The Mediator as Judge and Savior

May 6, 2011

In his message, “The Mediator-Judge and Saviour,” on the Lord’s Day morning, May 30, 1880, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, C. H. Spurgeon said,

OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIRST OFFICE OF THE MEDIATOR IS EXCEEDINGLY NECESSARY TO OUR ACCEPTANCE OF HIM IN HIS SECOND CAPACITY. This is why Peter preached it: this was why Paul before Felix reasoned concerning righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. This is why the Holy Spirit himself convinces the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Dear hearers, if you do not believe in Christ as your Judge you never will accept him as your Saviour (caps in original).

—Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit: Sermons Preached and Revised by C. H. Spurgeon During the Year 1880, Vol. 26, Pilgrim Pubs. Pasadena TX, 1972, 321

What do you think?

In Quotes

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

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