A People for His Name

Prove the Will of God!

February 25, 2011

Picture a cool fall day in a Midwestern farming community in the year1947. A faithful, young farmer heads out to his fields at the break of day. He notices a slight scratchy feeling in his throat. As he puts in a full day of work, he has a sinking feeling that he is coming down with something. By the middle of the week, he can hardly swallow. Hating to go to a doctor, he tries gargling with a mix of lemon juice, apple cider, vinegar, honey, and one “special” ingredient. His throat, however, keeps on getting worse.

Early the next week, he is barely able to swallow. Reluctantly, he agrees to go see his uncle, who is a doctor. Taking one look inside his mouth, his uncle’s face grows very serious. “Jake, you have a bad case of strep throat.” “I’m giving you a new medicine that I hope will take care of the problem; be sure to finish all the pills.” Jake takes the pills, thanks his uncle, and heads home.

After a few days on the medication, his throat feels so much better. Because the pills were so bitter, and he is feeling better by now, he decides to stop taking the pills. He says to himself, “I am over the problem, and I don’t want to overdo this medicine business.”

Two weeks after stopping the pills, Jake is flat on his back, hardly able to speak. Now, he has a fever and a rash. When his uncle comes and examines him, with tears he grimly informs him that he has rheumatic fever.

For the rest of his life, Jake is a crippled man who no longer can take care of his farm or even himself. The damage to his heart was just too severe for him to do much of anything. He is unable to live out the life that he might have lived had he followed the full prescription given to him.

God has given us His prescription for our sinful condition (Rom. 12). Although we must present ourselves to God, we must not stop with just making a decision to do so. We must go on and live out His will for our lives as He teaches us in Romans 12:1ff.

If we do not fully follow that prescription, we will be crippled and not fulfill His will. God wants us to prove His will for our lives.

In Discipleship, Parables Christian Living, Parable

Profiting Fully from Pentecost and "Gentecost"

February 24, 2011

Luke provides us with lengthy accounts of two premier evangelistic events (Acts 2 and 10). He gives additional information about them in both Acts 11 and 15.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter first exercised the keys of the kingdom of heaven that Christ gave him (Matt. 16:18-19). On that occasion, the church began in Jerusalem with a multitude of devout Jews repenting toward God (Acts 2:38-41) and believing in Jesus Christ (11:17).

In Caesarea, Peter again exercised those keys of the kingdom. Many Gentiles repented toward God (11:18) and believed in Jesus Christ on that occasion (15:7; cf. 11:17; 15:11). In keeping with Peter’s explicitly linking these two key evangelistic events (11:15-17; cf. 15:8-9; 11), I have coined the term “Gentecost” as a fitting and convenient way to refer to the latter event (shortened from “Gentile Pentecost”; cf. comments on Acts 11:13-16 by J. B. Polhill, Acts, in NAC, 267).

Although many have directed considerable attention to Pentecost, it seems that they have given Gentecost far less attention by comparison.[1] Without a thorough treatment of both accounts, however, we do not profit fully from either.

We begin a thorough treatment of the accounts by determining the overall length of the information given about each event. Acts 2 provides 41 verses overall about Pentecost and 28 verses concerning Peter’s message and verbal ministry (2:14-41). Adding the four verses referring to that event in two subsequent passages (11:15, 17; 15:8-9) we learn that there are 45 total verses about Pentecost in three passages in Acts.

Acts 10 provides 48 verses overall about Gentecost and 12 verses concerning Peter’s message and verbal ministry (10:34-43; 47-48). Subsequent references in three passages provide at least 22 more verses about that event (11:1-18; Peter at the Jerusalem Council [15:7-9; possibly 15:11 as well]; James at the Jerusalem Council [15:14; cf. 15:15-17 and 15:18]). Luke thus provides at least 70 total verses about Gentecost in four passages in Acts.

At the very least, this comparison suggests that we should give equal attention to both the Pentecost and the Gentecost accounts. Because the latter accounts are of considerably greater combined length than the former, our concluding in fact that they warrant greater attention is reasonable.

In addition, because the vast majority of our evangelism today is Gentile evangelism, we would do well to give the Gentecost accounts both much more analysis that is thorough and widespread focused attention in our teaching and preaching. (Future articles will present many more reasons for giving these accounts special attention.) Only then will we put ourselves in a position to profit fully from Pentecost and Gentecost.

[1] In spite of my having heard several thousand messages in the more than twenty years that I have been a believer, I have not heard someone preach or teach a Sunday school class even once on Gentecost. Of course, people have preached and taught on that passage over those years, but somehow it has worked out that I have never heard any preaching or teaching that has focused on this premier account of Gentile evangelism.

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation

The Glory of the Father!

February 23, 2011

Numerous references throughout Scripture speak of the Resurrection of Christ as the work of God the Father. The Psalms record predictions that the Father would raise His Messiah (Pss. 2, 16). Acts repeatedly shows us that the apostles bore testimony to the Father’s raising Christ (for example, 3:15; 10:40; and 17:31). Moreover, in key statements in two seminal messages, they used the statements in the Psalms of the Father’s raising Him (2:24-33; 13:30-37 [counting quotes there are seven statements of the Father’s raising Christ]).

Paul declares that all the apostles were witnesses of the Father that He raised up Christ (1 Cor. 15:11-15). He emphasizes that the “surpassing greatness” of the Father’s power toward us is “in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead” and exalted Him to His right hand (Eph. 1:19-20).

The writer of Hebrews concludes his epistle with prayer to the God of peace who “brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus” (Heb. 13:20). Peter declares to believers that they by Jesus “believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that [their] faith and hope might be in God” (1 Pet. 1:21).

Perhaps, we can best understand why the Scripture abundantly highlights that God the Father raised Christ by examining closely a key statement in the book that many regard as the greatest theological book ever written. The apostle Paul states, “Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father” (Rom. 6:4). The glory of a person or entity is best understood as his or its “unique excellence” (Definition from messages by Dr. Mark Minnick). Applying that understanding to Romans 6:4, we see that Paul sets forth the resurrection of Christ from the dead as the unique excellence of God the Father!

Although other passages do show that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit were also active in the Resurrection, Romans 6:4 instructs us that the Resurrection distinctively was the excellent work of God the Father. Moreover, careful attention to Paul’s full statement here suggests additional truth that deserves careful consideration. Paul argues, “Therefore we are buried with him in baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Those who baptize believers often use this passage when they baptize them, but very often, the truth expressed by the words, “by the glory of the Father,” is left out in their remarks.

We should change this practice in our baptismal services and direct special attention in those services to the Resurrection as the glory of the Father. To do so would honor Him in keeping with the revelation that He has provided for us in this explicit statement about what His glory is.

In Interpretation Interpretation

Learning from the Great Commissioner

February 22, 2011

The concluding verses of the Gospel of Matthew reveal vital information concerning the Great Commissioner. Concerning Him, the final twenty verses of Matthew’s Gospel display a striking contrast that becomes clear through close attention to the flow of thought.

As is true of the other Gospels, the conclusion of Matthew includes testimony concerning the appearances of Jesus to His disciples. In these accounts, Matthew 28 features two instances of people worshiping Jesus. First, we read that Jesus met and greeted two women. The women responded by coming to Him and worshiping Him (28:9). These Jewish women did so because they believed that Jesus was God. Because Matthew and the Holy Spirit chose to inform us of this event, we must keep it in mind as we further examine the flow of thought.

After five verses (28:11-15) not directly concerning the appearances, we read of a second appearance. Jesus met His disciples in the place that He had appointed them (28:16). Seeing Jesus, the disciples worshipped Him, but some doubted (28:17). Once again, Matthew presents us with testimony about those who believed that Jesus was God.

Matthew’s placing two such accounts in rapid succession suggests strong emphasis on the deity of Jesus. Intriguingly, the next verse, however, contrasts strikingly with that emphasis. Moreover, it does so through recording the statement with which Jesus as the Great Commissioner chose to preface His commissioning of the disciples. Jesus came and said to them, “All power [Gk. authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (28:18). He could easily have said, “I have all authority in heaven and earth,” but He did not. Had He done so, the strong emphasis on His deity would have been continued, instructing all His disciples throughout the ages that He wants their attention directed chiefly to the authority that He had then and continues to have today as God.

Because Jesus chose not to preface His commissioning in this manner, we must conclude that He wants to emphasize to us that His God-given authority is the primary source of His authority as the Great Commissioner. Whatever else we do with the rest of the information given about the Commission, both here and elsewhere, we miss out on a key part of our discipling others concerning world evangelism and discipleship if we do not give attention to and emphasize His intermediate authority.

Moreover, this feature of Matthew 28 should serve to instruct us to attend carefully to many other seminal statements concerning Jesus’ role as the Agent of God (John 5:22; 26-27; Acts 1:7-8; 2:36; 3:26; 5:31; 10:42; 13:23; 17:30-31; Rom. 15:8-9; Gal. 4:4; 1 Thess. 4:14; Titus 3:6; Heb. 5:5-6; 1 Pet. 1:21; Rev. 2:27; 3:12). When we do so, we discover that the ending of Matthew 28 is not an exceptional instance that only serves to confirm the “rule” that emphasizing the deity of Christ is what we should primarily focus on in our evangelism and discipleship. Thorough attention to the entire New Testament shows that the New Testament writers greatly emphasized the agency of Jesus. We need to learn from Matthew 28 and many other passages that the Great Commissioner Himself wants us to do likewise.

Although we are to emphasize the deity of Jesus in our evangelism and discipleship, we must not stop there. We must also emphasize His agency.

In Evangelism, Interpretation Evangelism, Interpretation, Missions

O How He Loves Us!

February 21, 2011

The song, “Jesus Loves Me,” is a great song and a favorite of many people, especially many children. A few years ago, I wrote new words to be sung to the same tune. “O How He Loves Us!” still communicates that Jesus loves us, but it also communicates additional doctrinal truth. This song exposes people of all ages to key Scriptural ideas and stresses to them that God loved us, loves us, and will love us.

I designed this format for my guitar students so that they could learn the lyrics, the melody, and the chords.
The top line and time signature show how to count out each measure.
The capital letters are the basic guitar chords to play in the key of C when strumming or picking the song.
The numbers take the place of notes on a staff; they show the frets on which to play the melody on the second (B) string of a guitar. (Playing these same frets on either the first string or the sixth string transposes the melody to the key of F.)
William B. Bradbury produced the original tune from which I generated the numbers.
I wrote the words, except for the last part of the chorus, which I slightly modified from the original ending by Anna B. Warner.

In Discipleship, Music Music

Spiritual Warfare Parable

February 20, 2011

You are returning to your home out in the country from a weekend trip with your wife. Your cell phones are dead because you forgot your chargers at home. When you are a few miles away from your home, you see thick, black smoke coming from the direction of your home.

You rush home to find police cars and fire trucks on your property. The police prevent you from going to the house. From a safe distance, you watch what little is left of your home burn completely to the ground. Soon, you learn that the mutilated bodies of all your pets have been found in your swimming pool.

Shortly thereafter, the police inform you that they found the bodies of three security guards out in the woods behind your home. You inform them that you had four security guards. A few minutes later, they find the fourth one. Though he had been shot four times, he managed to survive by playing dead. Just before he finally dies, he informs the police that some gang members are responsible for what happened and that they have stolen your brand new Hummer and ransacked your home before setting it on fire.

Immediately, your thoughts turn to your three girls, whom you left for the weekend with your parents. You rush off to their home, a mile down the road. You pound on the door, but no one answers. Finally, in desperation, you break a window and get in the house. To your great horror, you find the lifeless bodies of your parents out back on their deck.

Frantically, you begin to search for your girls. You search everywhere, but you are unable to find your eight, ten, and twelve-year old daughters. In desperation, you head for the church that you pastor, which is three blocks down the road.

You arrive there and find the police at the church. You explain who you are and the chief with great sorrow explains that during a youth activity just a few hours ago, lightning struck during a storm that suddenly became violent and killed your three daughters as they were running toward the church to escape the storm.

As the pastor of a large, rural church in California that has taken a strong stand for Christ, how will you cope? Will you vow to spend the rest of your life to find those gang members and see that they get what they deserve? What will you make of the lightning? Will you abandon your faith in the midst of such horrific suffering?

Or, will you bow in worship: “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD’” (Job. 1:20-21).

And, will you think aright about what those gang members have done and about the lightning that killed your daughters? “Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.’ So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD. . . . A messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you’” (Job. 1:14-19).

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

In Discipleship, Parables Parable, Spiritual Warfare

‘God is My Judge’

February 19, 2011

In the 357 verses of the book of Daniel, there are more than 300 occurrences of words pertaining to civil authority: king (150); king’s (20); kings (12); kings’ (1) [183]; kingly (1); kingdom (54); kingdoms (3) [57]; prince(17); princes (18) [35]; reign (6); rule (4); ruler (6); ruled (2); rulers (2); ruleth (3) [17]; lord (4); and, lords (6) [10]. Noting much of this content, especially verses like Daniel 4:35, people often come away from the book thinking and saying that it is about God’s sovereignty.

The meaning of the word, “Daniel,” however, is not, ‘God is my Sovereign’; it means, ‘God is my judge.’ In keeping with the meaning of the title of the book, Daniel 7, the key chapter of the book, sets forth the Ancient of Days as the Judge who renders judgment (7:10, 22, and 26). His judgment brings about the rise and fall of the successive major kingdoms of the world and will one day bring in the kingdom of God and of His Christ.

Appreciation of the work of God as judge in the book of Daniel and in Scripture in general is not infrequently obscured by the overuse of the terms, “sovereign” and “sovereignty,” because God’s work as judge does not seem to be readily in view in such statements about His sovereignty. It seems that at least some people often think of sovereignty mostly in terms of an administrator or an executive and thereby lose sight of God’s work as judge.

Psalm 75 supports regarding Daniel as emphasizing the work of God as judge by declaring that promotion comes from God the Judge (75:6-7; see also 1 Sam. 15:3, 17-18; 1 Kings 19:16-17 [raising up kings] and 1 Sam. 15:23, 26; 2 Chron. 24:24 [removing kings in connection with His judging]). As the Judge, God is the One who puts down one and sets up another (75:7). Nearly the entire book of Daniel manifests the judicial activity of God in connection with the rise and fall of kings and their kingdoms.

It is important for us to have a scriptural understanding of the work of God as judge. His judging is not just His condemning, destroying, punishing, etc. His judgment is multifaceted and includes His promoting people and rewarding those who are upright. For example, God as the Judge of all manifests Himself gloriously in the book of Daniel by repeatedly exalting Daniel and his friends in spite of others’ attempts to destroy them (2:46-49; 3:28-30; 6:23-24).

Let us praise our God, the Judge who both exalts and abases!

Model Prayer Handout

February 18, 2011

When His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, Jesus gave them the Model Prayer. He commanded them to pray in that manner continually. The Model Prayer played a role in my life even before my salvation. Several years before I was saved, I attended religious services with some friends on a fairly regular basis on Saturdays. In each service, the highlight for me was when we would sing a somewhat shortened version of the Model Prayer. Although I was not a believer, I always felt something drawing me when I would sing those words.

A few years later, because of my reading some books about the Bible, I was praying the Model Prayer on a regular basis for several weeks even though I was not saved yet. At some point while I was doing so, I was saved.

Since my salvation, I have prayed the Model Prayer in some form nearly every day. Jesus said to pray this way, and we should heed His command.

Several years ago, I produced a handout based on the Model Prayer that compiles many prayers from Scripture that I have used as I pray in that manner. This handout aligns those prayers with the corresponding statements in the Model Prayer.

In Discipleship Prayer

Adam to Noah: Profiting More From Genesis 5

February 17, 2011

Working with the information in Genesis 5, I created a table that shows how long each person from Adam to Noah lived. I used my “After Adam” (AA) dating scheme to generate the table. Examining this table provides interesting information that simply reading through the text does not:

Everyone in the list from Seth to Lamech at least theoretically had the opportunity to know Adam personally. This fact has intriguing implications especially for what Enoch likely knew and how that information probably affected him (see my post, “In the Year after Adam“). Think also how many people may have attended the “funeral” of Adam (930 AA) and what it must have been like!

Everyone listed from Adam to Lamech had the opportunity to know Enoch for at least one century during the period that he walked with God. Yet, Scripture does not say that any of these people walked with God.

Jude 14-15 does not tell us when Enoch prophesied of the Lord’s future coming in judgment. If Enoch performed that ministry prior to Adam’s death, everyone listed before Noah could have had opportunity to hear Enoch’s prophesying personally. If he began to preach that message immediately after Adam’s death, all the rest listed from Seth to Lamech could still have had more than half a century to hear his preaching because Enoch was translated 57 years after Adam’s death.

Seth was still alive when Enoch was translated (987 AA), and so were Enosh, Cainan, Mahalel, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech. What effect must Enoch’s not being found (Heb. 11:5) have had on all those who learned of it?

In fact, Seth lived 55 years after Enoch’s translation, and the rest lived from 153 (Enosh) to 669 (Methuselah) years after Enoch’s translation. Every one of these, therefore, could have had the opportunity to perpetuate Enoch’s message for at least more than half a century.

Enosh, Cainan, Mahalel, Jared, Methuselah, and Noah’s father, Lamech, were alive when Noah was born in 1056 AA. These all were still alive until Noah was 84 (when Enosh died). Noah, therefore, had abundant time to get first hand information from and about his ancestors, especially about Enoch and his prophesying and not being found.

The flood occurred in the year 1656 AA, which means that all human beings other than Noah and those who were with him in the Ark died before man had existed for even two millennia. Noah died in 2006 AA.

I hope that this fascinating study somehow stimulates your studying the Scripture more thoroughly and profiting more from the parts of it that are often glossed over.

In Interpretation Interpretation

God's Mercy in His Judgment

February 16, 2011

God fiercely judged Saul for his disobedience. He rejected him from being king (1 Sam. 15:23), rent the kingdom of Israel from him, and gave it to David (15:28). “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled” him (16:14).

Somehow, Saul’s servants knew that “an evil spirit from God” troubled Saul (16:14). They informed him of that fact and counseled him to seek out a skilled musician whose playing would relieve him of the affliction caused by the evil spirit (16:16). Responding to Saul’s request that his servants provide such a musician for him, one of his servants commended David to him (16:17-18).

The servant’s commendation informed Saul of much more than the fact that David was a skilled musician. The servant ended his six-fold commendation by saying, “The Lord is with him” (16:18). Saul sent for David (16:19-22), and David ministered effectively to him when he was troubled by the spirit: “Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” (16:19-23).

This account is often referenced by Christian musicians in their discussions of the value of good music. Although such use is valid, what the passage teaches about God’s mercy in His judgment is sometimes not fully appreciated. God rightly and fiercely judged Saul for his sinfulness. But, God extended mercy to Saul in His judgment through providing a means for him to be relieved of some of the ill effects of part of that judgment. Had God chosen to do so, He could have prevented Saul from ever learning of an effective remedy for the trouble the evil spirit was causing him.

Furthermore, God did not just allow him to learn of an effective remedy (16:16); He also put a servant among Saul’s servants who informed him of someone who could provide that remedy (16:18-22). Then, God allowed Saul’s request for that one to come to minister to him to be granted, and He allowed the ministry of that person to be effective in relieving him of his trouble (16:23).

As He did for Saul, God extends mercy in His judgment today to many who are suffering directly for their sinfulness. For example, He often allows people who have health problems directly attributable to their own evil behavior to yet learn of and obtain effective treatments that relieve some or all of their suffering.

God’s providing David as a means of relieving Saul of some of his trouble should inspire great appreciation for His mercy in His judgment. Let us praise God that He is the Judge who delights in mercy (Micah 7:18)!

In Interpretation, Music Interpretation

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: