THE SINNING SAINT....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

I John 2:1  NKJV

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

John is adamant from front to back that  a Christian should not sin.  His primary reason is given in chapter 1 vs 5.  He there states his premise, the same as Isaiah 6:3 and other instances where God’s absolute holiness is revealed,  And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

The whole earth is full of His glory!”

All that follows must be understood from the background of 1:5, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

In I John 2:1 there is a conditional statement “If anyone sins.”  But the condition is not doubt of the sin of those to whom he speaks.  If this is so it makes the advocacy of Christ conditional.  The condition is the unique way of dealing with the Saint’s sin.  This has the single solution of the Advocate.  This one brings to His task three qualifications.

1.  He is an advocate “with the Father.”  There is no higher appeal.  He is able to appear at the Supreme Court level.  The determination made here is final.  It will not be overruled.  All that “light” represents in 1:5 will be satisfied here.
2. He is “Jesus Christ the righteous.”  This assures us of His ability to do His task of advocacy.  He is able to satisfy “light” in which there is “no darkness at all”.

Some would make light of the absolute demands for an impeccable Christ.  This requirement of Him justifies our defense of His impeccability.  For note the description, not who did righteousness, but “the righteous”.  His nature is at issue.  And to this we reply “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  His character is unchanging.

3.  I John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins.  The NASB translates “propitiation” as “atoning sacrifice.”  This is very good.  It is His sacrificial death that covers for sins.  Just as He is an advocate, as He is righteous, He is the atoning sacrifice.  Whatever the price of sin is: the offended law, the glory of God, the personal rebellion of the offender, or the wages that is due to sin this “propitiation” is adequate.
4.  “Not for ours only but for the whole world”, the last doubt is dispelled and the last question is answered.  For those who would ask, “Who, when, and where?”  They have their answer.  It is for anyone in any time and anywhere.  In 2014, in country Texas, for me it is the only thing that will and does satisfy God.  And I must say it more than satisfies me.

THE HOLE WE CAN’F FILL....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Ecclesiastes 3:11  NKJV

 Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

It is dangerous to teach from Ecclesiastes.  Understanding here is like holding water in your hand.  You’re never sure you have it and if it is going to get away.  I have studied Ecclesiastes, read commentaries, both old and new, which attempt to explain the method and the message, but there is little certainty in all these attempts.

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 quoted above, we find a hint of a great truth.  It is at least some insight into the Image of God man retains.  The Image has left an unfillable hole in man’s life that nothing less than God can fill.

It is a question whether man is motivated by greed, desire for power, or lust.  In every instance of man’s extreme ambition either one or some combination of these factors are found.

Hitler wanted to rule the universe.  Rockefeller wanted some more.  All the purveyors of hedonism seek to fulfill their lives with the satisfaction of their lust.  But always there is a hole that can’t be filled.

Eternity by definition falls into the category of the infinite.  Whatever is infinite can never be satisfied by the finite.  There is no amount represented by numbers that reach to infinity.

It seems as if St. Augustine has an inkling of this when he uttered that famous statement that is quoted so often, “You made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it reposes in You”, The Confession of St. Augustine.  The emptiness of the heart cannot find anything to fill it until God resumes His residence there.

 The heart that God fills is like a container dropped into the ocean, it can never be empty again.  The need for eternity has found the Infinite and it is enough.

KNOWING GOD....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Jeremiah 31:34  NKJV

  

Christians of all persuasions have come to recognize that we are “new covenant” children of God.  And that is good.

Paul in II Corinthians and in Hebrews makes this covenant central in our relationship to God.  In the Lord’s Supper the cup is called “the new covenant” by Jesus.  The importance of the New Covenant can hardly be over-emphasized.

The interesting point in this covenant is the place of the knowledge of God.  It is placed in the context of the covenant in such a way as to make it the identifying feature of those who are included under its provisions, “for they shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.”

The “least to the greatest” makes this an inclusive classification.  It is a clear statement of identification, “each and every one of them shall know me”.  None who are included under this covenant are outside the description.  They will “each and every one of them” know the Lord.

A clear illustration of the opposite is Pharaoh in Exodus 5:2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”  In this statement of confession of Pharaoh there is the status of every unbeliever, “I do not know the Lord.”  I Cor. 1:21A For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 

There is a division.  Clearly there are two categories given to us.  In one, those favored by God, know Him.  Those estranged from Him do not know Him. Men are  ignorant of God as it says in Eph. 4:18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

Knowing all this and knowing that it is common truth to Evangelical Christianity, how can there be Christians who do not know God?  Is that not a contradiction?

They are skeptics about the most basic truths.  They do not believe He is Creator.  They do not believe He can be the author of miracles such as Jonah, or Christ’s miracles, or Christ’s resurrection.  They do not believe that He alone is the Savior of sinners.  They do not believe He is the inspired author of Scripture.  If you get down to the bottom line they do not really believe God is necessary.

Why are they received into and continue as members of churches?  One, they are moral.  Two, they can be depended on for necessary tasks.  And three, the most important, they give.

These are not Pharisees, they are Sadducees.  And while they cannot be expected to be sanctified, we will try to educate them into knowing God.

THE SABBATH....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Exodus 20:8-11  NKJV

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

The origin of the thoughts for today are continuing discussion in our home.  There are certain facts about the Lord’s Day as it is observed by Christians and considerable opinion.  As in all instances our opinions should be informed by fact, but often they are not.  Often our opinions are no more than that.  And as such they have no real authority.

I intend to state what I know to be facts and if I misstate or miss any, it is due to my limited knowledge.  It is not intentional.  For as a Southern protestant there has for me been so much tradition, confusion, and superstition about the Lord’s Day it is difficult to be consistent in any Biblical understanding.

The facts as I understand them are:

1.  From the giving of the Ten Commandments Israel was distinguished by the Sabbath.  The 4^th commandment is directed particularly toward the Seventh Day Rest, but it included the requirement to observe all the Sabbaths that were in the Mosaic Institution.
2. The Lord’s Day has been understood historically by Christians to represent Christ’s resurrection (no Easter), and to have superseded the Seventh Day Sabbath.  It came to be designated as the “Christian Sabbath.”
3. There is disagreement in the Reformed Confessional Christian community about what the Sabbath is to be in the New Testament.

This difference is seen clearly in the difference between the statements in the Heidelberg Catechism written in 1563 and the Westminster Confession completed in 1646.  Though these confessions are radically different about the Sabbath- the Westminster Confession in what it does say and the Heidelberg Confession in what it doesn’t say--those using them do not doubt the confessional orthodoxy of those who use the other.

4.  The Westminster Confession with the catechisms is the only major Reformed Confession expressing the extended Christian Sabbath view.  This view is by and large a Biblical casuistry produced by British Puritanism.

I must, at this point, make a two-fold confession.  As a Reformed Presbyterian minister my confession has always been the Westminster Confession of Faith with the catechisms.  I do not desire to recant or change that in any way.

Secondly, I have been, since being introduced to them, an admirer, a reader of, and a student of English Puritans.  Some of the greatest theological works and practical Christian books were written by Puritans.

5.  Having to acknowledge the confessional differences and the difference among Christians from Lutherans to Charismatics, I have come to the following opinion—please note, opinion.

A.     There is a 4^th commandment.  At the least this is a demand for us to recognize God’s right to our time and the necessity of time to worship Him.

B.     There are some who have confessional requirements.  Some of the requirements are more strict, some less.  But confessional integrity requires that I recognize the words of my Confession.  If I ignore these you have a right to doubt my integrity.  Some such as I have taken an exception to the Confessional view of the Sabbath.  My Presbytery has allowed this.

C.     In matters such as these where the Scriptures are not clear we must allow difference.

As my brother coming from a Reformed Church into a Presbyterian Church would have to recognize the change in his confession, so one going into a church with the Heidelberg Catechism  would see it giving us the very least we can say about the Lord’s Day.

Heidelberg Catechism

Q. 103  What does God require in the fourth commandment?

A.  First, that the ministry of the gospel and Christian education be maintained, and that I diligently attend church, especially on the Lord’s day, to hear the Word of God, to participate in the holy Sacraments, to call publicly upon the Lord, and to give Christian service to those in need.  Second, that I cease from my evil works all the days of my life, allow the Lord to work in me through his Spirit, and thus begin in this life the eternal Sabbath. 

But always remember the Heidelberg Catechism begins with Question 1.

What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

A.    That I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation.  Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

AMEN!

GARDENING IN EGYPT....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Numbers 11:4-6  KJV

⁴ And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

⁵ We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

⁶ But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

The mixed multitude came with Israel out of Egypt.  Though not a lot is known about them, wherever they are mentioned Israel will have a problem.  They can be called unconverted church members.  There was a book written in 1988 Antagonist In The Church by Kenneth Haugk that describes them very well.

The subject of our text warns that very innocent things can become objects of lust.

The actions and attitude of both the mixed multitude and Israel raise three questions.

1.  Were vegetables grown in Egypt unclean?  There is nothing in the Law that describes them as such so the conclusion is that they are not prohibited.
2. Is there anything wrong with natural hunger?  The provision made for Adam and Eve, and since with mankind assure us that hunger is a part of our created nature and is not a result of the fall.
3. What then was Israel’s sin?  It appears to be at least two-fold.

1.       They listened to the mixed multitude.

2.      They ignored God and desired other things.

Having said this, what in particular do these three verses teach us.?

1.  VS 4  The activity of the mixed multitude gives fair warning that, separate from the New birth, you can take sinners out of the world but you can’t take the world out of sinners.  The nature of man which is sinful will find a way to express itself.
2. VSS 4C-5  Bad company corrupts good manners.  One’s companions matter.  The great danger those who leave prison face is falling back into the “old game”.  Your witness will not be effective while dancing and drinking in bars with sinners.
3. VS 6  A failure to appreciate God’s grace brings a distaste for His provision.    Manna is referred to in the Scriptures as Angel’s food.  It is referred to as a table set for them in the wilderness.  Manna was a provision on which their children grew and they were all healthy and strong.  It, when eaten as they were instructed, was both tasteful and adequate for all their needs.

The manna was the same—it had not changed.  They listened to a bad message from the wrong source with a destructive result.

I once preached regularly at the Star of Hope Mission in downtown Houston.  One of the derelicts there had written in a hymnal, “Man shall not live by bread alone, he must have peanut butter.”  This is the essence of rebellion millenniums before.  Israel had said “Man shall not live by God’s word, he must have cucumbers”.

Give us children’s programs (nothing wrong with these), give us contemporary music (maybe nothing wrong with this), give us a relevant message (no sin, no judgment, no repentance, no hell-fire and brimstone, no law) and we will come.

And no more manna!

BOOKS TO READ....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Ecclesiastes 12:12B  NKJV 

You can buy a book that will tell you how or give you information on many things.  The internet has made many of the most used books available to those who know how to use it.

The Christian book stores have shelves loaded with “how to” books written by experts on anything and everything.  If you have a problem, they have the answer.

But there are good Christian books available.  I would like to suggest twelve that you will profit greatly by reading.

1. First is Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.  Bunyan was a mid-seventeenth century author.  As an Independent he experienced almost continual governmental persecution.  This book is considered to be the greatest allegory ever written.  Up into the 1990’s it was second in sales only to the Bible.  It is considered the most popular Christian book ever and when you read it you will understand why.

2.  The Holy War by John Bunyan was said to be the second best allegory written, but only because Bunyan had earlier written Pilgrim’s Progress.

3.  Bible Characters by Alexander Whyte is without question the best that has ever been given to Christian readers about the familiar personalities in the Scriptures.  His description of Eli is worth the price of the whole set.

The books that follow are not in any order of importance.  The only real concern is their availability.

4. The Holy Spirit by Sinclair Ferguson.  This book is currently available and it is an excellent explanation of the person and work of God the Spirit.

5.  The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards.  This is the one book written by Edwards that Christians should read.  All that he wrote is good.  This is a must.

6.  God’s Way of Holiness by Horatius Bonar.  Bonar was Hymn Writer, Pastor, Theologian, and Author.  This small volume destroys the error of the “two men” teaching about the converted man’s personal walk.

7.  The Christian’s Saving Interest by William Guthrie.  This without a doubt is the greatest Christian book ever written.  An opinion of course but enough said.

8.  Holiness by J.C. Ryle.  Anything by Ryle is excellent.  If you can find it, get it.  Read the introduction.

9.  The Plan of Salvation by B.B. Warfield.  This is the one I re-read.  There is nothing in it that is superfluous.

10.  Darwin’s Black Box by Michael J. Behe.  I can assure you, you will not regret reading this book.  Follow up on Behe after he wrote the book.

11.  Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul.  Who can say which is the best Sproul has done?  But this is profitable for both the young the  old.  If you think I like it—you are right.

12.  A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith by Dr. Robert L. Reymond.  Reymond got his education from the Baccalaureate to his Doctorate at Bob Jones University.  Very early in his education he became Reformed.  The rest of his life (he died in 2013) he grew in his understanding and love for Reformed Theology.

Reymond was an able Hebrew and Greek teacher.  He taught both at the Seminary level.  He was an accomplished musician.  Many would say his greatest ability lay in his Pastoral gifts.  He was a gifted Preacher.   I personally consider him one of the most accomplished Bible Preachers I have ever heard.  And he was a very, very, very good classroom professor.

This Theology is current.  It was published in 1998.  In his descriptive annotations he simply says of himself “Presbyterian and Reformed”.  If you want to own a good dependable Systematic Theology, this will work for you.  Reymond wrote about Reformed and Presbyterian theology as the truth.

Books such as Reymond’s began to be written at least as early as Thomas Aquinas and they have continued to the present.  Then it can be asked, “Do we need another one?”  When it is this good we do.

INDESPENSABLE VALUE....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

John 8:32  NKJV

 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Christ puts a premium on truth.  He gives us assurance that truth is within our privileges.  And there is a result so desirable that if for no other reason our quest for truth should be unceasing.

Truth, honesty, integrity or being dependable is necessary for friendship to develop and love to grow.  These virtues are those which hold society together.  They are in the main assumed.  A treaty among nations, a partnership among individuals, and a marriage between a man and a woman are made on the back of an honest commitment.

It is a demand on the believer to hear the Psalmist as he describes the righteous worshipper as one who “speaks the truth in his heart…He swears to his own hurt and does not change” Psalm 15:2B, 4C.  This is an unchanging demand of Scripture.  The failure in honesty is described in Proverbs as that which the Lord hates.  Proverbs 6:17B, 19A
…A lying tongue,  Hands that shed innocent blood,

John Bunyan toward the end of the second part of Pilgrim’s Progress, as Christiana and her children and her companion draw near the end of their journey introduces a certain Mr. Valiant-for-the-truth.  Most of the companions with Christian and Christiana are names which we readily recognize – Evangelist, Honest, Steadfast, and others.  But where does he find this particular traveler.  To find him you have to go to Jeremiah 9:3.  There it is an accusation against Israel that it is easy enough for them to be as they should be, but instead of being as they should be they are not valiant for the truth.

Here was enough for Bunyan to find this delightful character.  Valiant joins this band of Christians on their way to the Celestial City and is a most welcome addition.

He enters the stage bloody and weary from the opposition he has faced.  But it must be added he is never cast down.  Along the way he became one of the principals in affording protection and encouragement.  But where the genius of Bunyan meets us is in Mr. Valiant’s departure into the Celestial City.  Listen to Bunyans’ story.

After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons by the same Post as the other, and had this for a token that the summons was true, “That his pitcher was broken at the fountain.” (Eccl. Xii 6)  When he understood it, he called for his friends, and told them of it.  Then he said, I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am.  My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it.  My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder.  When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the riverside, into which as he went he said, “Death, where is thy sting?”  And as he went down deeper, he said, “Grave where is thy victory?”  So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.

The Complete Works of John Bunyan Vol. 1, pg 133.

“My marks and scars I carry with me.”  About these marks and scars they came as he was opposed three against one.  When asked about this, “But here were great odds three against one.”  He responds, “Tis true; little or more are nothing to him that has the truth on his side.”  Pg. 125

A sincere question to you, “Will you be Valiant-for-the-truth?”l

A LESSON FROM THE GARDEN....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

John 15:16  NKJV

  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Jesus’ statement is to the Apostles in particular and to the elect in general.  As to the elect, because they are the chosen ones the specifics of the demand remains the same.  We are to be fruitful.  This is a continuing demand of the Scriptures, both Old Testament and New, that has lately impressed me with its importance.

Working in my garden last year and this one, I have observed some lessons from plants there.  This year for some reason has not been a good year for me with anything other than cucumbers.

I began observing my cucumber plants last year and continued to do this in the present seasons.  Let me share some lessons I have learned.

1.  Though the seed may all be planted at the same time, they do not all “come up” at the same time.  Some may come out of the ground much quicker than others.

Lesson:  We do not all act the same way with the implanted Word. .  Some respond quicker, other slower.  But they are not to be judged by each other.

2. Some began producing much quicker.  It could be said, “Of course, the ones that ‘came up’ first”.  But that is not always so.  Sometimes a later plant will blossom and produce before a larger older plant.

Lesson:  The production of a plant is somewhat a mystery and it is not governed by external circumstances but by an internal impetus.  Even so Christians are fruitful in very odd ways, some faster, some slower.

3.  When production has begun in all the plants, some plants are far more productive than others.  This may have something to do with externals such as water and sunshine, but not completely.  It seems to be a particular ability of that plant.

Lesson:  All believers do not produce at the same level.  The fruit of believers varies, some 30, some 60, and some 100.

4.  All plants are productive.  They may vary in the amount they produce, but they will produce.

Lesson:  The purpose of a believer is to be productive.  Whatever else may occur, they all produce.

5.  Plants produce at different levels at different times.  Sometimes one plant will produce more than another does.  Again, the other that produced less will increase and the one that produced more will decrease.  This may be due more to internal influences than to external.

Lesson:  Christians are fruitful at different levels.  Internal forces can influence their production and can vary.  But it should be remembered that they are not in competition.  They are to do what they can do, not what their neighbor does.

6.  Plants get old.  As they get older, they produce less until they become unproductive.  Usually when this occurs, the plant appears close to being dead.

Lesson:  Christians, as they get older, become less productive.  Their infirmity can be more or less evident.  But age affects productivity.

7.  Plants at the end of their season die.

Lesson:  Psalm 116:15  Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His saints.

A CUP HALF FULL....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Ecclesiastes 3:11A  NKJV

 He has made everything beautiful in its time.

The writer in the text above gives us both sides of the truth.  There is beauty in the world.  As there is a time for that beauty there is another time and that will not be beautiful.

We have a choice to either find beauty or always seek out ugliness.  In Psalm 8:3 the Psalmist is considering creation which God has made.  There seems to be a wonder in his voice.  Creation has such an effect that he can say in 8:1 that only God’s glory excels it in beauty.

We, Darlene and I, have a home out from town in what we will call the country.  We often, nearly daily, sit outside in the early morning quietness and watch the beauty unfold as the day begins.

A deer with two fawns crosses the meadow before us.  The hummingbirds fly in their unique way.  They feed and fight, flash their brilliant colors, and ignore everything around them.  All around us birds fly and sing.  Mockingbirds display in leaps and songs.  Cardinals in all their vivid color crowd our scenery. 

The flowers bloom in dramatic colors.  Roses, red, white, yellow, and pink are in healthy display.  There are both wild and domestic sunflowers which, along with lantanas, attract a number of different butterflies in their native beauty.

We hear the neighbor’s turkeys and another’s donkey braying.  Nothing is loud.  The singing of the birds is undisturbed.  And if this is an especially good day, we see the two red-tailed hawks which live in our area part-time.

I’m sure somewhere in this the cup is half empty.  A friend taught me in the recent past that I don’t have to look past the cup half full.  And now I exclaim with the Preacher, He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Amen!

I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

I Timothy 2:5 NKJV

  

“There is one; There is one mediator”.  The one God demands all our devotion and he alone is to be recognized as the only God, there is none other.  Whatever He is that He has revealed about Himself, is to complete our knowledge of God.

Any god so called which is not that which is revealed in Holy Scripture is a lie.  It is idolatry to recognize in any way this lie as God.  The fact that there are many gods is a great demand for every believer to know the true God and as surely to reject the lie.

There is some attention to be directed to what is known as the two other religious which are monotheist, Mulems and Jews.  But this is not so with respect to the true God.  The mere fact that they allow no idols does not mean they worship one God.  The One God of Scripture is the Triune God of our salvation.  Thus has He revealed Himself.  Thus He is.  Thus alone can He be worshipped.

Paul takes this revelation of God one step further.  There is a commonality in the One God and the One Mediator.  The One God includes the One Mediator and the One Mediator is included in the One God.  There seems to me a very close likeness between Paul’s statement here and John’s in John 1:18, No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

There is an absolute to be recognized.  And this is; all the honor and distinction that the One God merits in His office, the One Mediator has in His uniqueness.

The Mediator has in Himself alone the responsibility, the authority, and the ability to be what He is.  As the Godhood is not shared with the creature so the mediation of this One belongs to no creature.

Both the Son and Spirit are intercessors.  Both the Son and the Spirit are advocates.  We as Saints share with the Son and the Spirit the responsibility of intercessions and advocacy.  But no one shares with the God-man the Mediatorial office.

I read the following.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Christ’s mediatorship is thus exercised in all the phases of redemption from election in God’s eternal counsel to the consummation of salvation.  He is Mediator in humiliation and exaltation.  There is, therefore, multiformity attaching to his mediatorial activity, and it cannot be defined in terms of one idea or function.  His mediatorship has as many facets as his person, office and work.  And as there is diversity in the offices and tasks discharged and in the relations he sustains to men as Mediator, so there is diversity in the relations he sustains to the Father and the Holy Spirit in the economy of redemption.  The faith and worship of him require that we recognize this diversity.  And the unique glory that is his as Mediator demands that we accord to no other even the semblance of that prerogative that belongs to him as the Mediator between God and man.

New Bible Dictionary, “Mediator”, pg 757, John Murray.

PAUL’S SAVIOR....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

I Timothy 1:15 NKJV

Paul makes a simple plain statement and embellishes it with the requirement that it be accepted and believed.

The purpose of Christ in His mission is to “save sinners”.  The word “save” is in the aorist tense.  The importance of this is in the fact that aorist is completed action.  “Saved” as it is written is thus an accomplished fact.  He did not aid in saving—He did it.  He did not make it either available or possible.  He did it.  He did not come for some other purpose, fail in the purpose, and do this “saving thing” as a backup plan.  He came into the world for this purpose.

The interesting fact is the information John gives us in his Epistle as some of the ways this is accomplished.  It is worth our time to look there.  I John 1:2   the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.  The “life” was plainly made known.  John 1:4 In Him was life.  This was life without death.  This was life that enlightened all others.  This was life that revealed God  (John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.)  as no other ever had, now can, or ever will do.  It is the life that refused death in the grave and reveals all that our resurrected life will be.  He was manifested not only to reveal life but to be life.  The poet has well said, “There is life for look at the crucified one.”

I John 3:5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.  He was plainly made known as the “sin bearer” of Isaiah 53:4-6.

 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

The scholars debate whether “take away” in this verse will bear the weight of “bear or carry away”, but we know that Isaiah 53 was ever near the mind of John and this leaves us with not doubt.

Again the verb “take away” is aorist.  It is not the past that is intended but completed action.  Here we find something that He accomplished.  He “took away” sin.  We can’t do this.  We can’t aid Christ in His atoning for the sins of His people.  This is done, completed, finished and it cannot be done again in any way.

And can it be that I should gain An interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain- For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Chorus:
Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Tis mystery all! Th’ Immortal dies: Who can explore his strange design?

In vain the firstborn seraph tries to sound The depths of love divine.

This mercy all! Let earth adore, let angel minds in quire no more.

He left His Father's throne above So free, so infinite His grace-
Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me!
'Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray-I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th' eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th'eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Charles Wesley, 1738

I John 3:8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil.

What a great foe the Devil is.  This is understood by what was done to destroy Him.  The works of the Devil  is nothing less that the whole of his person and power.  We, the elect, are no longer under his control.  We are free.  Paul in Colossians 1:13 states this same truth in a different way.  By the new birth we have entered the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of His dear Son.  Here the Devil who takes men as he desires.  II Timothy 2:26

and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

The victory of Christ over Satan is a great favor of this age of Grace.  Satan’s purpose and power is to defeat God and if not to embarrass Him.  We find him attempting this in Job.  As Christians we live in a Kingdom of victory and we can always call to mind that we are more that conquerors through Him who loved us.

In the life that He is, in the atonement He accomplished, and in the victory He won, we are saved.  He came, He saw, and He did.  He left nothing undone.  In the final accounting in I Cor. 15:24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched, Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity joined with pow'r:
He is able, He is able, He is able, He is willing; doubt no more.

Come, ye needy, come and welcome, God's free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance, Ev'ry grace that brings you nigh,
Without money, Without money, Without money,  Come to Jesus Christ and buy.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden, Bruised and broken by the fall;
If you tarry till you're better, You will never come at all:
Not the righteous, Not the righteous, Not the righteous, Sinners Jesus came to call.

Let not conscience make you linger, Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness he requireth Is to feel your need of him;
This he gives you, This he gives you, This he gives you; 'Tis the Spirit's rising beam.

Lo! th'incarnate God, ascended, Pleads the merit of his blood;
Venture on him, venture wholly, Let no other trust intrude:
None but Jesus, None but Jesus, None but Jesus Can do helpless sinners good.

Joseph Hart, 1759

A PERSONAL REFLECTION … Understanding important truths from the Bible….

I Timothy 4:16               NKJV

 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

  

There are questions which a Christian Pastor can ask that are troubling to say the least. 

1.       Is there Christianity without the knowledge of God?  In the light of John 17:3

 this seems impossible.  John seems to clearly inform us that the believer must know God.

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

2.      As a Christian can a person know God other than by His revelation of Himself.  When we read Matthew 11:27 this also seems impossible.  Jesus in the Matthew passage makes the knowledge of God a revelation by Himself as He wills.  Surely He will not reveal a false God. 

3.       Doesn’t this make every believer to some degree a theologian?  Paul writing I Cor. 2:11-14 distinguishes the fact of salvation on this very issue.

 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  ¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy^[a] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

4.      Now comes the discriminating question.  Should I have distinctive Christian fellowship with someone  whom I know does not believe the truth about God as Christians confess?  By this I mean pray with, worship with, converse with, and in general treat as fellow Christians those who are heterodox?

I do not find this is the practice of the believer in the Scriptures.  Daniel is an excellent example of this.  Though he had supporters in the court of the King, he was hated and found intolerable by the majority.

And I find men of the past hated by the majority for the same reason.  There are too many examples of Christian martyrs to bother giving a single example.

What brings me to these reflections is an occurrence of research on Rodman Williams who is dead now but was evidently a warm hearted Christian believer.  Williams was a brilliant Liberal Bible Scholar and Christian leader.  He was  at one time the President of and a professor at Austin Seminary, a Presbyterian Seminary in Austin, TX.  In the mid 60’s he experienced a charismatic conversion.  He began speaking in “tongues” and leading Evangelical Bible studies.  Williams became one of the foremost leaders of the Neo-Charasmatic Evangelical Renewal.  I was deeply moved as I read his testimony.

Now the rub comes.  Williams maintained his fellowship--by his admission--with the liberals who were his closest friends.  This included the “God Is Dead” men (he never agreed with them), to the leadership of the World Council of Churches.  He never left the liberal church in which he had his ordination.  And he remained popular in those circles.

Williams developed his association with the Neo-Charasmatic Movement and professed the fundamentals which were identified with that movement.  He did embrace the Scriptures.  He did confess Trinitarian Christianity.  He did profess salvation by faith through grace by Christ alone.  But he evidently required this of no one else.

What am I misunderstanding?

All Peter and John had to do was deny the resurrection.  All Gottschalk had to do was recant his belief in the Doctrines of Grace.  All Bunyan had to do was quit preaching.  All the 1600 ministers in England had to do was read the advertisement for Sunday sports contests from the pulpit.

A question I despise , “Was Rodman Williams a Christian?”  This I know, he lived and died with a credible profession of faith.  He lived with a resounding history of Christian service.  His devotion to Christ shames me.  That is my answer—anything more he will answer to his Master as each of us must.

Romans 14:4

Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

WHAT IS A JEW?.....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Ezra 2:63 NKJV

 And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the Urim and Thummim.

There is a rash of Jewish ministries, Jewish Messiah Groups, Jewish Fellowships, and Jewish-Christian cooperation groups.  The question that is not asked is “What is a Jew?”

There seems to be three answers to this: 

1. Those who claim to be Jews.
2. Those who are citizens of the nations of Israel.
3. Those who have some measure—lesser or greater—of Jewish lineal heritage and in some way claim Judaism either religious or cultural.

Many American Christians support most of these named as legitimate Judaism.  But the question still unanswered is “What is a Biblical Jew?”  And “are there any that qualify?”  The answer I would give is no!  Judaism in the Biblical sense ceased to exist at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.

At that time the temple was destroyed, the sacrifices ceased, and the priesthood with the high priest ceased to exist.  The religion that is defined as Biblical Judaism cannot exist fully without these elements.  Any reader of Hebrews must admit this.

At the time of the Babylonian captivity, the temple services with the sacrifices were interrupted.  The temple itself was wrecked.  But—and this is the defining exception—the priesthood with a high priest remained a fact.  The requirement in Ezra 2:63 establishes the requirement and the fact of the high priest for the performance of the cultic ministry.

What does modern Judaism have?  They have synagogues, no temple.  These were established during the Babylonian captivity and have continued to the present.  There is no Scriptural ordination for either the leadership or the ministry they perform.

They are neither the priesthood, they make no claim for this, nor temple practice.  They are in principle the same thing as a church service in their worship.  They have a teaching responsibility that is directed to some form of Hebrew dialect, they teach Jewish culture, and they are primarily the means of continuing Jewish tradition.

Jews do not have Biblical sacrifices that is blood offerings.  They do not have an active temple or even a wreck of it.  And they do not have an accredited priesthood with an identifiable high priest.

Moses, in the Pentateuch, gives us the institution of Levitical worship.  This is the origin of Judaism.  This description of their religion remained authoritative if not consistent through both Old and New Testament.  I do not see how this can be denied.  And if it is so, there is no longer Judaism with a Biblical origin.  That which exists is as much spurious and a travesty as one of the popular sects is of Biblical Christianity.

Jews are a nationality as are Germans, French, Mexicans, and Irish.  They are a treaty nation.  As a treaty nation they have the right to our support and respect accorded to the existing treaty.

Ethnic Jews may have continuing Biblical promises.  There are differences whether this is so and these differences are held among equally devout Bible Students.

Any attempt to make common cause with modern Judaism as a Biblical religion is sure to be both mischievous and unfruitful.  All modern Judaism can do is bring those who sympathize with it under the strictures of Paul in Galatians.

I write this as being a child of Abraham and in fellowship with all his true heirs from Isaac to this day.

My temple is the Church.  May altar is the cross.  My sacrifice is Jesus.  My high priest is Jesus, the Christ.  And my reigning king is Jesus the Lord.

Amen!

PAST EXPERIENCES:  FONDLY REMEMBERED … 

Understanding important truths from the Bible…. 

In 1944 when I was eight years old, I was an observer of a Christianity which was new and different to me.  This phenomena was also different and suspect to the majority of American Christians.  It was Pentecostalism.

Pentecostalism was both different and refreshing.  From its inception, it brought into Christianity a super-naturalism that sadly was missing in the mainline churches.  But what most saw was a fanaticism and irrational departure from the accepted norm which took from Pentecostalism the attractiveness it presented.

This super-naturalism was a here-and-now presence of God.  The activity of God’s Spirit was attested in three functions.  There was then, and there is now, other activities but throughout this modern history of the Charisma there have been these three:  healing, tongues, and prophecy.  God’s activity was recognized in most church services by at least one and maybe all three phenomena.

But there was a problem with this super-naturalism.  It was limited, mystical, and in the final analysis natural,  not supernatural.

It was limited to the reality of experience.  One could give a Bible verse or what was announced as Biblical truth as the foundation for the Divine activity he claimed.  If this was so it must admit to the test of a fair examination of the Scriptures.  When it was found not to satisfy this kind of examination the reply then as well as now was, “I don’t care—I experienced it”.  This of course limited the reality of the phenomena, as far as truth was concerned, to experience.

This gave authority to a self-authenticating mysticism.  This mysticism objectively confessed the norm of Christian orthodoxy, but within their circle the experience thus satisfied all the requirements of regular Christianity.  This became so absolute that by the 70s there were atheistic Charismatics.

Thirdly this super-naturalism degenerated to naturalism in its dependence on the will and faith of the subject.  At this point there is some measure of schizophrenia.  Both the monism of the Holy Spirit at particular times and necessity of human cooperation were and are still maintained.

Some observations seem in order to finish these thoughts.

1.  My confidence in those Pentecostal Christians of my early years remains with me and my joy in their friendship and support is unfailing.
2. The recognition of Christian super-naturalism in the daily life of the church was a welcomed renewal.  This has continued and has brought a healthy appreciation of the Holy Spirit as the “Paraclete” who is our companion and comforter.
3. We do not have to be able to explain to others satisfaction every experience we have, but with equal certainty an experience is never to be the criteria by which either God or His work is explained and justified.
4.  

Let me close with this quote from Warfield in his excellent article on Christianity and Mysticism, pg. 450.

Biblical and Theological Studies,  B. B. Warfield, 1898.

Evangelical Christianity interprets all religious experience by the normative revelation of God recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures, and guides, directs, and corrects it from these Scriptures, and thus molds it into harmony with what God in his revealed Word lays down as the normal Christian life.

And thus it must be.

JOSEPH:  A MODEL OF VIRTUE… Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Genesis 37: 2-4 NKJV

² This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph is a comely (symmetry or due proportion) person.  He, in the account of him in scripture, always seemed to say and do the right things.  There are only two other people, Jesus not considered, who seem to compare with him—Daniel and the young king Josiah.

Whether it was right for Joseph to “rat out” his brothers I do not know.  I don’t know about their behavior or the culture of that day.  My ignorance is adequate excuse for my silence.

But without a doubt Jacob’s favoritism was sure to cause jealousy and spitefulness which quickly developed in Jacob’s family.

Andrew Fuller in his commentary on Genesis The Book of Genesis, Practical Reflections, 1805, London England, page 112-113, writes:

Joseph seems to have been the only one in the family who had hitherto discovered either the fear of God, or the duty of a child.  From these considerations his father might be allowed to love him with a peculiar affection, but his clothing him with a “a coat of many colours,” was a weakness calculated only to excite envy and ill will in his brethren.  If he had studied to provoke these dispositions, he could scarcely have done it more effectually.

The character of Joseph is so exceptional Arthur W. Pink in Gleanings in Genesis, lists 100 ways Joseph is a type of Christ.  This is at the best excessive, and at the worst an unfortunate mistake.

Fuller in the previously mentioned commentary states in a far more acceptable way,

I would offer a few words on the question, Whether Joseph is to be considered as a type of Christ?—I am far from thinking that every point of analogy which may be traced by a live imagination, was designed as such by the holy spirit; yet neither do I think that we are warranted to reject the idea.  We have already seen that God prepared the way for the coming of his Son, by a variety of things, in which the great principles of his undertaking were pre-figured, and so rendered familiar to the minds of men; and he pursued the same object by a variety of persons, in whom the life and character of Christ were in some degree previously manifest.  Thus Melchisedec prefigured him as a priest, Moses as a prophet, and David as a king; and I cannot but think that in the history of Joseph there is a portion of designed analogy between them.  (Page 111-112)

Whatever the reason may be, the Holy Spirit has not chosen to reveal Joseph’s faults.  He was a sinner.  We know this—he died.

But the last we hear of this Saint, he is saying:

Genesis 50:24-26

²⁴ And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶ So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Exodus 13:17, 19

¹⁷ Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

¹⁹ And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

Hebrews 11:22

²² By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

It is by the same faith that we believe that our Israel will bring our bones out of Egypt.  It is “when” not “if”.