A People for His Name

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

Problematic Christian Music II

April 25, 2011

In Part I of this series, I discussed why we should not continue to sing two songs, Jesus, Rose of Sharon, and The Lily of the Valley. This post addresses three more songs that I think have problematic texts.

More Love to Thee is a great song that sets forth our desire to love Christ more. Stanza 3 reads, “Let sorrow do its work, Send grief and pain; Sweet are Thy messengers, Sweet their refrain, When they can sing with me, More love, O Christ, to Thee, More love to Thee, More Love to Thee!” I do not find any Scriptural basis for asking God to send grief and pain, so I refuse to sing these words. I think we should not sing this stanza.

Another song with problematic wording is Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone. Stanza 3 reads, “Upon the crystal pavement down, At Jesus’ pierced feet, Joyful, I’ll cast my golden crown, And His dear name repeat.” Part of the wording of this text is based on Revelation 4:10-11:

The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.

This passage speaks of the saints casting down their crowns at the feet of “Him that sat on the throne.” The following verses make clear that the Father is in view in these verses because He is the One on the throne from whom the Lamb takes the book (5:1, 7). Because the Father and not Jesus is the One before whom the elders cast down their crowns, we should not sing this stanza because doing so promotes a wrong handling of Scripture.

All That Thrills My Soul is Jesus is another song that I think has some problematic wording. The sentiment expressed by the seven words in the title, which are also the beginning words of the refrain, is wonderful. If I understand these words correctly, however, to sing these words is to affirm that nothing else thrills one’s soul.

I wonder then how often we can sing these words truthfully. If we sing these words but they do not truly reflect the reality of our hearts, do we not engage in improper worship? To address the problem that these words create whenever a believer’s heart is not all that it should be, he should either not sing them or alter them in some manner so that he expresses the desire that such would be true for him.

In Music

"The Holy Trinity"

April 24, 2011

Handley C. G. Moule’s words about ”God is love—1 John 4:8, 16“:

     “God is Love” [1 John 4:16]. Is the text then, after all, out of tune with the title? “God is Love.” The words are, as we have said, sublimely simple; yes, they are level to the heart of the little child. But then, they are sublimely simple. When we ponder them, there is a radiant depth in each, clear but unfathomable. Who can spell out all that is hidden in God? Who can analyze to all its depths what in regard of Him, is meant by LOVE? Who can see all the splendor shining from that link of life between them, “God is Love”? For it tells us that the Eternal does not only know what love means, nor only feel it as an emotion coming over Him. He is Love; it is His Essence, it is His Nature, it is His Life. Before all thoughts of loving action going out from Him stands here this radiant truth that Love lives and breathes forever in Him, as it were His very Self.
     Now is not this almost a confession already of the glory of the Holy Trinity? For the faith of the Trinity is but the faith that the inner Life of the Godhead is no awful Solitude, but a blissful Society which yet is One. It says that there is a glorious sphere within the “One Eternal” for mutual Affection, infinite in measure, absolute in tenderness and joy. It tells us that at the heart and at the head of the universe of being there lives, and wills, and acts, not a remote Unit, but a gracious Unity, within whose bright Essence, “dark with excess of bright,” Love is always meeting Love. And it bids therefore, not the little child only but the life-worn man, conscious of sin, of sorrow, of the grave, look upwards towards the Infinite with a certainty, deep as existence, that He can indeed be trusted and be loved, for He is Love.

So God the Father, God the Son,
     And God the Spirit we adore,
A sea of life and love unknown,
     Without a bottom or a shore.

Thoughts for Sundays, 239-40, bold words were in italics in the original

In Quotes

Give the Resurrection Its Full Significance!

April 23, 2011

Tomorrow, millions of people will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Multitudes of people will likely do so, however, without much awareness of its full significance. They will do so because many preachers, theologians, and other Bible teachers have given noticeably limited attention to a key aspect of the significance of the Resurrection.

Although various aspects of the significance of the Resurrection have received considerable attention, especially its being a key element of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:3-5), one NT emphasis has not. Four passages, one in each major section of the current topical arrangement in most Bibles today, point to an important truth that should receive much more current attention than it has (John 2; Acts 17; Rom.14; Rev. 1).

John 2

John records Jesus’ forceful actions to cleanse the temple when the Jewish Passover was near (John 2:13-22). Seeing people who were defiling the temple through their mercenary activities (2:14), Jesus judged them by expelling them and violently disrupting their activities (2:15). He also judged them by ordering them to remove the offensive elements from the temple and to stop making His Father’s house a “house of merchandise” (2:16).

Seeing His actions, His disciples recalled the Scripture that said, “The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up” (2:17). By recording both Jesus’ commands to the people and what the disciples remembered, John points his readers to Jesus’ judicial agency on behalf of the Father.

The Jews responded to Jesus by asking Him, “What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?” (2:18). They thus demanded of Him a sign for His authority to act as a judge on behalf of God to do what He did and say what He said.

Jesus responded, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (2:19). He thus informed them that His raising up His body after His death at their hands would be the sign of His judicial agency to cleanse the temple as He had.

In his Gospel, therefore, John records teaching from Jesus Himself that His resurrection would attest to His having been the Father’s Agent of judgment for dealing in this manner with these who had defiled His Father’s house. John adds that following the Resurrection, His disciples remembered what Jesus had said on this occasion and believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had said (2:22). Writing this, John teaches that the disciples believed that the Resurrection signified that Jesus was God’s judicial agent.

Acts 17

Luke’s record of Paul’s evangelistic ministry in Athens reveals teaching from Paul that closely corresponds to Jesus’ own teaching. At the climax of his evangelistic message at the Areopagus, Paul informed his audience of a key evangelistic significance of the Resurrection: By raising Jesus from the dead, God has proven to all men that He has fixed a day in which He will righteously judge the world through the Man whom He has appointed, Jesus (Acts 17:31). Because God has proven this to all men, He commands all men everywhere to repent (17:30).

Recording these statements, Luke attests to the universal significance of the Resurrection as God’s proof to all men that Jesus is His judicial agent. Both John and Luke, therefore, provide teaching about this key significance of the Resurrection.

Romans 14

Paul highlights the significance of the Resurrection for believers’ not judging one another in certain matters over which they differ (Rom. 14). As part of his explanation for why believers are not to judge one another in these areas, he says, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ . . . Let us not therefore judge one another (Rom. 14:9-13).

To instruct us not to judge one another in these matters, Paul makes a key statement about the purpose of both the death and the resurrection of the Messiah—He experienced both so that He might be the Lord both of the dead and the living. The immediately following statements make plain that one of the purposes of the Messiah’s death and resurrection was that He might be the Judge of the living and the dead!

Paul, therefore, joins John and Luke in teaching this key significance of the Resurrection. We thus have explicit teaching about this truth’s significance in the first century for Jews (proof of Jesus’ authority to cleanse the temple – John 2), all men (basis for God’s universal demand that all repent – Acts 17), and believers (stop wrongly judging one another – Rom. 14).

Revelation 1

John’s opening teaching in Revelation includes how the glorified Jesus ministered truth to him about His death and resurrection: “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, ‘Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death’” (1:17-18). Jesus comforted John by informing Him about His being alive forevermore though He had been dead. He added that He had the keys of hell and death, which communicated that He had authority over these aspects of God’s judgment of sinners. Juxtaposing these statements, Jesus linked His resurrection with His judicial authority.

Recording this teaching, John informs believers once again about the significance of the Resurrection for Jesus’ judicial agency. With all four sections of the NT setting forth this teaching, we should heed what the Spirit highlights for us.

On this Easter and forevermore, we should make known to everyone that God has proved to them through His raising Jesus that Jesus is the God-appointed Judge of the living and the dead! We should also praise God for proving that truth to all men and heed what else this truth means for us as believers (stop judging one another wrongly – Rom. 14; not fearing – Rev. 1).

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Interpretation

"Tested Through His Faithfulness to Chasten and Deliver"

April 22, 2011

The book of Judges may be understood as having the theme, “Tested through His faithfulness to chasten and deliver” (MCBC SS Notes, Summer 2009). Judges records how God’s people experienced a repeated cycle of failure, chastening, and deliverance. God showed His covenant faithfulness to them by subjecting them to testing and delivering them when they responded correctly to it. Through His loyal dealings with them, He restored them to a right relationship with Himself.

The life of Samson vividly displays the theme of Judges. Four chapters present two periods in his life: early life (13:2-25) and later life (14:1-16:31). These chapters are a remarkable record of divine involvement in his life:

Before his birth (13:2-23) – divine initiative; appearances of the preincarnate Christ; answered prayer of his father; revelation of his God-ordained life’s work
The Lord blessed him (13:24); we do not read of anything negative about his life to this point!
His marriage was of the Lord (14:4)
Four references to the Spirit’s activity in his life: 13:25; 14:6; 14:19; 15:14
First prayer (15:18-19) – gave God the glory; regarded himself as His servant; showed dependence on Him
Knew that he was a Nazarite to God from his mother’s womb (16:17)
The Lord departed from him (16:20)
Second prayer (16:28)

In spite of the great divine involvement in his life, Samson failed to be faithful to His God in numerous ways: went against parental advice; ate unclean food and gave it to his parents; married a Philistine woman; consorted with a harlot; loved a Philistine woman; sought his own vengeance (15:3, 7; 16:28). Interestingly, in the midst of his obvious problems with women, it seems that there may be evidence that he had some sense of marital fidelity (15:1-3).

In spite of Samson’s tragic unfaithfulness to Him, the Lord was faithful to Samson as he was tested through His faithfulness to chasten and deliver him. He was approved by his faith in our God (Heb. 11:32)! We read of him among the great cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1). Ultimately, Samson was blessed, approved, and is in heaven because of God’s choice!

Reading of the failures of Samson (as well as of every other judge that we read about in the book of Judges) fosters in us an anticipation of the perfect Judge:

These periods of peace, however, did not last, and after Gideon’s time there was no more rest for the people. As a result the Book of Judges encourages the reader to look forward to a permanent solution to the problem of sin and to ask, “When will the Lord raise up a deliverer who will give Israel more than temporary rest from her troubles?” Thus Judges prepares the reader for the Deliverer, the One Jephthah called “the Lord the Judge” (11:27), our Savior Jesus Christ. God’s people will face the problems of compromise, sin, disunity, and bondage, but God in faithfulness still provides deliverance. And our hope for a complete solution rests on the return of our Lord (Robert D. Bell).

As we await the coming of the Lord the Judge, we should live godly as He tests us through His faithfulness to chasten and deliver us:

Each generation has a God-given role to fulfill—this ‘Judges’ stage was to conquer the Promised Land and dwell as lights amidst a perverse world—as part of its loving God mandate. Let’s beg Him to graciously allow His Messiah to judge us and deliver us so that we can return to a right relationship to His Word (MCBC SS notes, Summer 2009).

In Discipleship, Quotes

Problematic Christian Music

April 21, 2011

Scripture teaches that music plays an essential role in Christian worship (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). God demands that we worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24; cf. Phil. 4:8). The words in some Christian songs are problematic because they do not handle the Scripture accurately.

Two such songs are Jesus, Rose of Sharon, and The Lily of the Valley. These songs are based on the same Scripture passage: “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters” (Song 2:1-2). Both songs are problematic because the expressions the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of Valley both refer to a girl:

Here the beloved spoke of herself as a rose of Sharon . . . The Hebrew word for rose is [habasselet]. In Isaiah 35:1, its only other occurrence in the Old Testament, it is translated “crocus,” which may be the meaning here. It was a common meadow flower. The lily too was a common flower mentioned often in the Song of Songs (2:1-2, 16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2-3; 7:2). Though in her humility she likened herself to common flowers of the field, her statement (2:1) reflects a significant contrast with her earlier self-consciousness (1:5-6). Her improvement probably was because of her lover’s praising her (1:9-10, 15). (BKC: OT, 1014; bold in original)

I am the rose of Sharon. The bride is still speaking. It is difficult to determine which flower the bride refers to. . . . Crocus appears to be the best translation. . . . As the lily among thistles. The bridegroom speaks. In her humility the bride may think of herself only as a beautiful but humble crocus; he regards her as a lily among thistles. So far as lilies surpass thistles, so far does she surpass other maidens. (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, 598; bold in original)

Should we, therefore, continue to sing these songs that express beautiful sentiments about Jesus but do so with plainly problematic use of Bible wording?

In Music, Quotes

Martyn on Humility and Prayer

April 20, 2011

John Sargent in his biography of Henry Martyn, missionary to India, records the following from a letter by Martyn to his sister concerning his dealings with himself about his own pride:

The pride which I see dwelling in my own heart, producing there the most obstinate hardness, I can truly say my soul abhors. I see it to be unreasonable, I feel it to be tormenting. When I sometimes offer up supplications, with strong crying to God, to bring down my spirit unto the dust, I endeavour calmly to contemplate the infinite majesty of the most high God, and my own meanness and wickedness. Or else I quietly tell the Lord, who knows the heart, that I would give him all the glory of everything, if I could. But the most effectual way I have ever found, is to lead away my thoughts from myself and my own concerns, by praying for all my friends; for the Church, the world, the nation; and, especially by beseeching that God would glorify his own great name, by converting all nations to the obedience of faith; also by praying that he would put more abundant honour on those Christians whom He seems to have honoured especially, and whom we see to be manifestly our superiors. This is at least a positive act of humility, and it is certain that not only will a good principle produce a good act, but the act will increase the principle.

The Life and Letters of Henry Martyn, 70-71

These words encourage me to avail myself more of the great value of intercessory prayer.

In Quotes

Handling the Evangelistic Accounts in Acts More Accurately: Part I

April 19, 2011

Scripture provides us with numerous evangelistic accounts, especially in the book of Acts. Because such material comprises a sizeable portion of one key book of the NT, we should be all the more diligent to handle it as accurately as possible.

Over the years, however, I have observed recurrent problems in the handling of the evangelistic accounts in Acts. One of the most problematic aspects has been the widespread unwarranted assumption that what the evangelist(s) testified in a given evangelistic encounter was limited to what Luke records. In his very first account, Luke provides us with explicit indications that such was not the case.

Acts 2 records Peter’s message at Pentecost. Luke provides us with a lengthy record of the witness that Peter gave, including 23 verses about his actual message (2:14-36). He, however, also provides us with two explicit statements that show that we do not know the entirety of the witness given on this occasion.

First, prior to Peter’s message, Luke records that the crowd were “all amazed and marvelled” because of what they were hearing (2:7). They said, “We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God” (2:11). Luke does not tell us anything more about what this testimony included, and we have no definitive way of accounting for what information the crowd received at this time that prepared them for Peter’s message. Because the filling of the Holy Spirit supernaturally produced this testimony (2:4), we must hold that this was information that played a divinely ordained part in the ultimate salvation of the approximately 3,000 people that were saved that day (2:41).

Because we do not know exactly what testimony the crowd received immediately prior to Peter’s message, we cannot say with certainty that Peter did not testify a particular truth to them. Thus, this aspect of the record of Peter’s evangelism at Pentecost teaches us that it is not legitimate to use this passage as evidence for arguing against other teaching about what we should testify in our evangelism (for example, 10:42).

Second, Luke records that the crowd responded to Peter’s message by saying, “Brethren, what shall we do?” (2:37). Peter responded with authoritative direction (2:38) and an explanation of that direction (2:39). Luke then adds, “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this untoward generation'” (2:40).

Luke specifies that Peter gave them “many other words” of testimony and exhortation and summarizes that ministry with a six-word statement that plainly does not record all that Peter gave them at this time. Saying this, Luke provides us with a second explicit indicator that he has not given us a record of all the testimony that these people received on this occasion. We thus do not and cannot know exhaustively what these people did hear to be saved.

Because the Pentecost account is the first evangelistic encounter that Luke records, we are justified in approaching it with special regard from that literary standpoint. Given that fact, Luke’s giving us two explicit indications that he has not given us an exhaustive record of the testimony given on that occasion is noteworthy and implicitly instructs us that we should not regard any of the following accounts in the book as an exhaustive record.

Furthermore, because the Pentecost account records both the first instance of apostolic evangelism after the Ascension and the beginning of the Church, it is one of the most important evangelistic accounts in Scripture. It is also one of the longest recorded evangelistic accounts. In addition to its being the first recorded evangelistic account in Acts, these facts make Luke’s not giving us an exhaustive record of it even more significant.

Based, therefore, on the two explicit indicators from the Pentecost account about its not being an exhaustive record (2:11, 40), we should learn to handle the evangelistic accounts in Acts more accurately by not viewing them as exhaustive records of what was testified on those occasions. The lack of mention of a particular truth in any of the accounts in Acts does not definitively tell us that there was no testimony given to that truth in that evangelistic encounter.

In Evangelism, Interpretation

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John 2

Acts 17

Romans 14

Revelation 1

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