GCLI and Eschatology 2: Our Hope

We had a discussion in GCLI about prophesy and the "End Times." We came away confused, but we fully agreed that the study of these events was profitable. Furthermore, we noticed that evangelical theologians have consensus on the key events. Michael Horton wrote in his systematic theology.

Christians confess that Jesus Christ "will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end" (Nicene Creed). This hope includes "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting" (Apostles' Creed). Given our propensity for disagreement over end-times scenarios, this represents a remarkable Christian like consensus. We cling to the angel's promise at Christ's ascension: "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Ac 1:11). He came first in humility and grace, but will return in glory and power. (p.919, Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way)

Wayne Grudem, in his systematic theology, agreed on the main events.

No matter what their differences on the details, all Christians who take the Bible as their final authority agree that the final and ultimate result of Christ’s return will be the judgment of unbelievers and the final reward of believers, and that believers will live with Christ in a new heaven and a new earth for all eternity. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will reign and will be worshiped in a never-ending kingdom with no more sin or sorrow or suffering. (p. 1094, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

Grudem also encouraged his readers to extend a measure of grace about these issues.

Before examining the arguments for these three (or four) positions, it is important to realize that the interpretation of the details of prophetic passages regarding future events is often a complex and difficult task involving many variable factors. Therefore the degree of certainty that attaches to our conclusions in this area will be less than with many other doctrines. Even though I will argue for one position (classical premillennialism), I also think it important for evangelicals to recognize that this area of study is complex and to extend a large measure of grace to others who hold different views regarding the millennium and the tribulation period.(p. 1114, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine)

Why should we even study such a controversial and confusing subject? The gospel is not just about Christ's death on the Cross, but it also includes our hope of being with Him in eternity.

This hope should motivate us in several ways.

• It should drive us to do good deeds and and increase our love for all the saints as it reads in Colossians.

  We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, (Colossians 1:3-5 ESV)

  For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.(Hebrews 10:34-35 ESV)

  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.(Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV)

• This hope should motivate us to purity since we will be like Christ.

  If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. (Colossians 3:1-6 ESV)

  Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3 ESV)

  Ephesians points out that corporate purity should be our goal since Christ is preparing His church to be His Bride in eternity.

  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV)

• This hope should give us perseverance as we run toward eternity.

  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

• This hope should keep us focused on the task at hand and to not fritter away our time and resources on earthly pursuits.

  Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.(1 Peter 1:13 ESV)

  I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
  
  “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
  “O death, where is your victory?
  O death, where is your sting?”
  
  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58 ESV)

  For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 ESV)

• Finally, this hope should encourage us to think about prophecy. All scripture is God-Breathed and God uses the Book of Revelation to bless us.

  Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3 ESV)

Maranatha!

GCLI and Eschatology

To prepare for the GCLI study this week, I'm reading a book by Jonathan Menn called Biblical Eschatology. He takes the amillennialism position, but he does a good job of defining the terminology in the subject. Here are a few quotes.

The Key Issues

“The major positions regarding eschatology differ over two main issues: (1) The nature of the “thousand years” (Rev 20:2–7): Is the “thousand years” a discrete period of time distinct from the rest of history, or not? and What does it look like? (i.e., Is it a “golden age” on earth that can be experienced in the flesh, or can it be apprehended only by faith?); and (2) The timing of the “thousand years”: Is the “thousand years” a past, present, or future period of time? and Does it occur before or after Christ comes again?”

Hermeneutical Issues

“The different answers to the main eschatological issues tend to be based on different answers to three hermeneutical issues: (1) The role of the NT in interpreting the OT; (2) How to interpret the Bible’s symbolic language; and (3) The relationship between Israel and the church.”

“Ladd observes that dispensationalism’s fundamentally different hermeneutical presuppositions distinguish it from all other forms of Christianity: “Here is a basic watershed between a dispensational and a nondispensational theology. Dispensationalism forms its eschatology by a literal interpretation of the Old Testament and then fits the New Testament into it. A nondispensational eschatology forms its theology from the explicit teaching of the New Testament.”

Definition of the different Positions

Premillennialism
Premillennialism is any belief that Christ will come before the “thousand years.” Premillennialists believe that at his coming Christ will institute a thousand-year reign (“golden age”) on the earth, after which he will institute the eternal state. In older writings, “premillennialism” is often called “chiliasm” from the Greek “chilioi” which means “thousand.” Premillennialists are divided into two main camps: historic premillennialists and dispensational premillennialists.”

Historic Premillennialism
Historic premillennialists believe that any doctrine of the millennium must be based on the NT and be consistent with Christ’s present reign. They believe that there will be two bodily resurrections separated by the “thousand years”: the resurrection of the righteous when Christ comes again and then the resurrection of the unrighteous after the thousand years. After that, the eternal state will be instituted.

Dispensational Premillennialism
Dispensational premillennialists hold that there is a radical distinction between Israel and the church and that all prophecies must be interpreted “literally”: prophetic promises to OT Israel must literally be fulfilled in the physical nation of Israel, not in the church. They view the millennium as the climax of God’s dealings with Israel. They hold that Christ will actually have two “second comings”: the first one, which they call the “pretribulational rapture,” is only “for” his church (i.e., the church will leave the earth and meet Christ in the air and then go back with him to heaven). Later, after the “great tribulation,” Christ will physically come with his church to the earth and set up a thousand-year kingdom in which Israel is dominant.11 They also believe that there will be three resurrections: the first for the righteous dead at the rapture; the second at the end of the tribulation for those saints who have died during the tribulation; and the third at the end of the millennium for the unbelievers.12 After that there will be a great rebellion which Christ will overcome. He will then institute the eternal state.

Postmillennialism
Technically, any belief that Christ will come after the “thousand years” is postmillennial. As popularly used, however, postmillennialism is the belief that the “millennium” is a future, discrete period of unprecedented Christian influence in the world (a “golden age”), based on the work of the church and the Holy Spirit in the world, that gradually emerges before Christ’s return. Christ will then come again, receive the kingdom, and initiate the eternal state.”

Pretribulationism, Midtribulationism, and Posttribulationism
“Pretribulationism” is a distinctively dispensationalist idea. Pretribulationists believe that before the “tribulation” Christ will come part-way from heaven to earth to “rapture” (“take away” to heaven) the church. A variant of this is “midtribulationism” which believes that Christ will rapture the church in the middle of a seven-year tribulation (i.e., just before the “great tribulation”). Both pre- and mid-tribulationists believe that after the tribulation Christ will come again, this time all the way to earth, to set up a thousand-year kingdom. After that he will establish the eternal state. On the other hand, “posttribulationism” holds that Christ will return only once, after the church goes through tribulation. Posttribulationists believe that the rapture of living believers will take place along with the resurrection of the dead when Christ returns.”

Preterism
The term comes from the Latin “praeter” which means “past” or “beyond.” Preterism is divided into two main camps: “full preterism” and “partial preterism.” Full preterism holds that all significant events of prophecy, including the “millennium” and Christ’s second coming (which preterists see as a spiritual coming), took place in AD 70 when the Jewish temple was destroyed by the Romans. Partial preterism holds that most of the major eschatological events were fulfilled by AD 70, but that Christ will physically come again in the future and set up the eternal state.”

Full Preterists
Full preterists are a relatively small minority. “The true preterist view is that the second coming of Christ was to finally judge and remove the last vestiges of the Old Covenant system and fully establish the kingdom and the New Covenant system by 70 A.D.” They also view the resurrection as spiritual not bodily, and that the resurrection, the day of the Lord, and the judgment all occurred in AD 70. Most Christians hold that full preterism is heretical because it denies the bodily resurrection of believers and the future second coming of Christ.

Partial Preterism
Partial preterism, particularly in its mild variety, has a well-established history. Mild partial preterism “holds that the Tribulation was fulfilled within the first three hundred years of Christianity as God judged two enemies: the Jews in A.D. 70 and Rome by A.D. 313.”

Moderate Partial Preterism
such as that advanced by R. C. Sproul, “sees the Tribulation and the bulk of Bible prophecy as fulfilled in the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70; but they still hold to a future second coming, a physical resurrection of the dead, an end to temporal history, and the establishment of the consummate new heaven and new earth.” Moderate partial preterists believe that “in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 there was a parousia or coming of Christ [but] it was not the parousia.

Amillennialists
Amillennialists thus hold that the “thousand years” is a symbolic reference to the entire period (which we are now in) between Christ’s resurrection until shortly before his return. This age will be characterized by the spread of the gospel but also by the spread of sin, i.e., there will be no “golden age” before Christ returns. Satan is now bound in the sense that he can no longer absolutely prevent the spread of the gospel to the nations or unite the world to destroy the church. Shortly before the second coming, he will be loosed and persecution will increase. That will be ended by Christ’s return in victory. The biblical millennium, therefore, is not the glorious age to come, but this present era for giving the message of salvation to the nations.

Updated Haiti Information

I last updated my information page for the Fall 2014 Haiti Trip on July 4th, 2014. Here's the link:
Haiti 2014 Fall Trip Information and Prayer Requests

C. S. Lewis -- Jesus is Lord God, Bad Man, or Mad Man Argument

C. S. Lewis used the classic "Good Man/Bad Man" Argument in several essays. He "borrowed" from the Church Fathers and updated the argument. Here's his version in Mere Christianity:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

The classic argument can be diagramed as I have laid out here in this PDF.

Good Man / Bad Man Argument

Church Discipline

The "Fellowship of the Bean" is studying First Corinthians. I am preparing to lead the discussion on 1st Corinthians 5. Here's the first few verses of the chapter:

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.(1 Corinthians 5:1-2 ESV)

The situation involves a man who is blatantly sleeping with his stepmother. This sin is prohibited explicitly in Leviticus. Both the Greek and Roman cultures abhor this relationship. The Corinthians are so prideful that they are challenging Paul's authority and apostleship instead of taking care of business. The congregation should not have been arrogant against Paul, they should have been in mourning as a congregation for the grievous sin among them.

Charles Hodge, the astute president of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878, makes the following observations in his commentary.

Chrysostom says the idea is, that they should have acted as they would have done had a pestilence appeared among them which called for mourning and supplication in order that it might be removed. It is a right inherent in every society, and necessary for its existence, to judge of the qualification of its own members; to receive those whom it judges worthy, and to exclude the unworthy. The right is here clearly recognized as belonging to the church. It is also clear from this passage that this right belongs to each particular church congregation. The power was vested in the church of Corinth and not is some officer presiding over that church. The bishop or pastor was not reproved for neglect of discipline; but the church itself, in its organized capacity. (Hodge, p. 82-83)

First Corinthians is a letter written to the entire congregation at Corinth. Paul is exhorting the whole congregation, not the elders alone, but the entire membership of the Corinthian church is to be held accountable for the sin among them.

Holiness is a corporate responsibility. I'm not sure what this looks like. It is easier to see love as a corporate responsibility: carrying one another's burdens, showing hospitality, and doing all the one anothers. But how do we stand up for God's holiness as a congregation? How do we show love to one another and yet encourage each other to purity? I'm not sure, but Paul is chiding everyone in the congregation for not taking action. We are together to grieve for the sin among us and hold each other accountable.

I'm reminded of the incident in Numbers 25. A man was blatantly sinning against God in front of the whole nation of Israel and the nation did nothing. How do we take action like Phinehas did in Leviticus 25? Phinehas alone took action to uphold God's holiness in the congregation and was rewarded with a covenant of peace.

God's Immutability and the Church

One of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotes is from the end of his most famous sermon, The Weight of Glory

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden. (The Weight of Glory)

Lewis points out correctly that we need to see people as God sees them: He sees them as eternal beings. The obnoxious people you fellowship with at church are the most holy beings except for God that you will ever encounter. I agree with Lewis, but I think we need to go one step further. I am reading Stephen Charnock on the immutability of God. His premise is since scripture teaches that God does not change, then His promises never fail. God is eternal, omnipotent, and He does not change; therefore, He keeps His promises and does not change them. Charnock proves his point through scripture by exegeting the following strophe from Psalm 102:

Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.
(Psalm 102:25-28 ESV)

Charnock makes the following conclusion from God's immutability as taught in this passage.

“The design of the penman is to confirm the church in the truth of the divine promises; that though the foundations of the world should be ripped up, and the heavens clatter together, and the whole fabric of them be unpinned and fall to pieces, the firmest parts of it dissolved; yet the church should continue in its stability, because it stands not upon the changeableness of creatures, but is built upon the immutable rock of the truth of God, which is as little subject to change, as his essence.” ("The Existence and Attributes of God

God effects His promises to believing individuals through the Church. Scripture repeatedly uses the illustrations of a building or a body to explain the function of the Church. Using the illustration of a building, God is using the building blocks--the members of the church--to knock the rough edges off the other blocks (Proverbs 27:17) so we can fit together snugly. In other words, God is using the Church as a whole to prepare us for heaven. God does not only want personal holiness, but corporate holiness as well. Look at the following promises about the church.

• And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19 ESV)
• For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2 ESV)
• So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV)
• Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.(Ephesians 5:25-33 ESV)
• As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:
  
  “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
  a cornerstone chosen and precious,
  and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
  (1 Peter 2:4-6 ESV)

God saves us both individually and corporately. God wants to unite us with Himself both individually and corporately. God is making us into one holy people to love Him and enjoy Him forever.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 ESV)

God promises that the Church will be Christ's Bride in heaven for ever. Let us praise our immutable, faithful, and holy God.

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29 ESV)

Sloth and the Sluggard in Scripture

Jason Blackley asked me a week ago what I knew about Sloth. He stumped me. I posted some quotes from Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis earlier in the year, but I didn't really know what the Bible had to say.   Since I couldn't sleep, I threw a bunch of verses together. Jason probably has modern resources, I decided to go old school with my Vine's and my concordance. I did use Google. Vine gave the definition of Slothful in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.

SLOTHFUL
1. NOTHROS, indolent, sluggish, is rendered "slothful" in Heb. 6:12 A. V. See DULL and synonymous words there and SLUGGISH.
2. OKNEROS, shrinking, irksome, is translated "slothful" in Matt. 25:26. and Romans 12:11, where "in diligence not slothful," R. V., might be rendered 'not flagging in zeal.' (Vines Expository Dictionary)

Under DULL in my Vines Expository Dictionary, he stated

There is a deeper more inborn sluggishness implied in northros, and this bound up as it were in the very life, more than in either of the other words of this group. (p. 343) 

Here are some verses.

• Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV)
• A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.(Proverbs 10:4)
• Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26 ESV)
• The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor. (Proverbs 12:24 ESV)
• The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. (Proverbs 13:4 ESV)
• Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. (Proverbs 19:15 ESV)
• The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. (Proverbs 20:4 ESV)
• The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back. (Proverbs 21:25-26 ESV)
• I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:30-34 ESV)
• The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. (Proverbs 26:13-16 ESV)
• The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. (Proverbs 20:4 ESV)
• Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (Romans 12:11 ESV)
• And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:11-12 ESV)

I noticed in these verses that slothfulness is tied to pride, poverty, hunger, envy, selfishness, and stinginess.

In Matthew 25, Jesus is preaching about the kingdom of God in the "Parable of the Talents." I have heard two similar interpretations of this parable. One is that God gave us skills, resources, and talents and we should use them diligently for the Kingdom of God and not be slothful. The second interpretation is that Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom of God and is giving the Gospel to us. He wants us to use this information--this good news--to enter the Kingdom of God. We should not be slothful with our talents or the Gospel in either case.

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 25:14-30 ESV)

My favorite verses on Diligence:

• And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)
• "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." (Hebrews 4:11 ESV)
• Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. (2 Peter 1:10 ESV)
• Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. (2 Peter 3:14 ESV)

Coalbiter's Book Recommendations

This is an online bookstore that I created in association with Amazon.com. It is a good way to keep track of the books and commentaries I've read and recommended. Please keep coming back to this page as I plan to add more categories and more books to each category. I doubt the bookstore will make any money, but I will direct any funds earned from the bookstore to help finance my mission trips.

Here are the links: 

Coalbiter's C. S. Lewis Books and Resources
Coalbiter's Recommended Commentaries
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In His Name,

Jeff

GCLI, Chesterton and God's Mirth

This blog post is not really about the GCLI materials, but it is a meditation on how Jesus is displayed in the Old Testament. There is an article in Book II of the GCLI materials called, Defending the Deity of Christ from the Teachings of Contemporary Cults by Pastor Kurt Jurgensmeier. On page 282, Point 5.2 raises the question, Does Proverbs 8:22-31 teach that Jesus was created by God? The author asserts that Jehovah Witnesses claim that Proverbs 8 proves that Jesus is a created being. Jurgensmeir argues the following:

Correcting the misinterpretation: The phrase, "The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works" (Proverbs 8:22, NIV) cannot be referring to the creation of Christ. Such a notion, again, contradicts all the other Scriptural truth regarding the deity of Christ. Solomon is simply personifying wisdom, just as he does in the first chapter of Proverbs, referring to wisdom as a woman who cries out in the streets.

However, in his Systematic Theology, Grudem argues convincingly that Proverbs 8:22-31 is talking about Christ and argues against the Jehovah Witness position in a different way. Grudem shows that the Hebrew word for "create" in verse 22 does not always mean create.

One of the most disputed Old Testament texts that could show distinct personality for more than one person is Proverbs 8:22–31. Although the earlier part of the chapter could be understood as merely a personification of “wisdom” for literary effect, showing wisdom calling to the simple and inviting them to learn, vv. 22–31, one could argue, say things about “wisdom” that seem to go far beyond mere personification. Speaking of the time when God created the earth, “wisdom” says, “Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind” (Prov. 8:30–31 NIV). To work as a “craftsman” at God’s side in the creation suggests in itself the idea of distinct personhood, and the following phrases might seem even more convincing, for only real persons can be “filled with delight day after day” and can rejoice in the world and delight in mankind.

But if we decide that “wisdom” here really refers to the Son of God before he became man, there is a difficulty. Verses 22–25 (RSV) seem to speak of the creation of this person who is called “wisdom”:

The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth.

Does this not indicate that this “wisdom” was created?

In fact, it does not. The Hebrew word that commonly means “create” (bārā’) is not used in verse 22; rather the word is qānāh, which occurs eighty-four times in the Old Testament and almost always means “to get, acquire.” The NASB is most clear here: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way” (similarly KJV). (Note this sense of the word in Gen. 39:1; Ex. 21:2; Prov. 4:5, 7; 23:23; Eccl. 2:7; Isa. 1:3 [”owner”].) This is a legitimate sense and, if wisdom is understood as a real person, would mean only that God the Father began to direct and make use of the powerful creative work of God the Son at the time creation began: the Father summoned the Son to work with him in the activity of creation. The expression “brought forth” in verses 24 and 25 is a different term but could carry a similar meaning: the Father began to direct and make use of the powerful creative work of the Son in the creation of the universe.(Grudem, p. 228-229)

If Wisdom in Proverbs 8 is referring to Jesus Christ, it fits in well with Christ being the "Logos" in John 1. Furthermore, it makes the rest of the paragraph in Proverbs 8 even more poignant.

then I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the children of man.
(Proverbs 8:30-31 ESV)

The idea that God enjoys His creation and people meshes with the rest of scripture. There is a beautiful cross-reference about God rejoicing in the sons of man in Zephaniah 3:17 (KJV):

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

In the gospels, we really do not see Jesus's mirth and joy. Isaiah's prophecy about Jesus in the Old Testament describes well Jesus who is reflected in the Gospels as a "man of sorrows, acquainted by grief" (Isaiah 53:3). G. K. Chesterton has a famous quote about Jesus's lack of joy in the Gospels:

G. K. Chesterton
"JOY, which was the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the Christian. And as I close this chaotic volume I open again the strange small book from which all Christianity came; and I am again haunted by a kind of confirmation. The tremendous figure which fills the Gospels towers in this respect, as in every other, above all the thinkers who ever thought themselves tall. His pathos was natural, almost casual. The Stoics, ancient and modern, were proud of concealing their tears. He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city. Yet He concealed something. Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. Yet He restrained something. I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth." (Orthodoxy)

An elder at Grace has been encouraging people to read the Gospels to get to know the man Jesus, especially in light of going to Haiti to share the Gospel. I agree that reading the Gospels is a good way to prepare for Haiti and evangelism. However, the whole Bible speaks out about Jesus Christ. The Old Testament reveals Christ in ways we don't see in the Gospels. In the Old Testament we see Christ's mirth and joy in His creation and His people.

Eternality and Heaven

I was reading Stephen Charnock about God's eternality and he gave the following illustration.

If an estate of a thousand pound per annum render a man’s life comfortable for a short term, how much more may the soul be swallowed up with joy in the enjoyment of the Creator, whose years never fail, who lives forever to be enjoyed, and can keep us in life forever to enjoy him! (The Existence and Attributes of God)

I just read online that Michael Jordan is auctioning his house in Chicago. The house has 56,000 square feet and the property is 7.39 acres. The home has its own regulation size indoor basketball court, several bathrooms, an attached guest house, and an infinity pool. One could probably spend months exploring the house and the grounds. One could enjoy it for decades; however, eventually, no matter how spectacular the house, one would stop enjoying it. Jordan's needs are changing. His kids are grown and he has no reason to live in Chicago. Charnock points out our joy in God will be forever. Our need for God will never change. We will never tire of knowing him better and better. We will enjoy him forever in heaven. Charnock elaborates on this joy a little later on in the chapter.

The enjoyment of God will be as fresh and glorious after many ages, as it was at first. God is eternal, and eternity knows no change; there will then be the fullest possession without any decay in the object enjoyed. There can be nothing past, nothing future; time neither adds to it, nor detracts from it; that infinite fulness of perfection which flourisheth in him now, will flourish eternally, without any discoloring of it in the least, by those innumerable ages that shall run to eternity, much less any despoiling him of them: “He is the same in his endless duration” (Ps. ch. 27). As God is, so will the eternity of him be, without succession, without division; the fulness of joy will be always present; without past to be thought of with regret for being gone; without future to be expected with tormenting desires. When we enjoy God, we enjoy him in his eternity without any flux; an entire possession of all together, without the passing away of pleasures that m ay be wished to return, or expectation of future joys which might be desired to hasten. Time is fluid, but eternity is stable; and after many ages, the joys will be as savory and satisfying as if they had been but that moment first tasted by our hungry appetites. When the glory of the Lord shall rise upon you, it shall be so far from ever setting, that after millions of years are expired, as numerous as the sands on the sea-shore, the sun, in the light of whose countenance you shall live, shall be as bright as at the first appearance; he will be so far from ceasing to flow, that he will flow as strong, as full, as at the first communication of himself in glory to the creature. God, therefore, as sitting upon his throne of grace, and acting according to his covenant, is like a jasper-stone, which is of a green color, a color always delightful (Rev. iv. 3); because God is always vigorous and flourishing; a pure act of life, sparkling new and fresh rays of life and light to the creature, flourishing with a perpetual spring, and contenting the most capacious desire; forming your interest, pleasure, and satisfaction; with an infinite variety, without any change or succession; he will have variety to increase delights, and eternity to perpetuate them; this will be the fruit of the enjoyment of an infinite and eternal God: he is not a cistern, but a fountain, wherein water is always living, and never putrefies. (ibid)

Now you know why I love reading the Puritans. They are a lot of work, but then you get paragraphs like the one above.

The Eternality and Wisdom of God

I have been reading Stephen Charnock's book, The Existence and Attributes of God. He has a chapter on The Eternality of God. In the following quote he ruminates on how God's eternality applies to God's knowledge.

“God be eternal, he knows all things as present. All things are present to him in his eternity; for this is the notion of eternity, to be without succession, If eternity be one indivisible point, and is not diffused into preceding and succeeding parts, then that which is known in it or by it is perceived without any succession, for knowledge is as the substance of the person knowing; if that hath various actions and distinct from itself, then it understands things in differences of time as time presents them to view. But, since God’s being depends not upon the revolutions of time, so neither does his knowledge; it exceeds all motions of years and days, comprehends infinite spaces of past and future. God considers all things in his eternity in one simple knowledge, as if they were now acted before him: “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world;” “from eternity” (Acts xv. 18). God’s knowledge is co-eternal with him; if he knows that in time which he did not not know from eternity, he would not be eternally perfect, since knowledge is the perfection of an intelligent nature.”

Think about this. God knows everything. God knows eternity past and eternity future. He knows all the possible futures of every sub-atomic particle in the entire universe. He knows everyone's innermost thoughts (Psalm 139). By everyone, I mean everyone who has existed and will exist. All this knowledge is "simple knowledge" meaning he just knows everything as if it were happening that instant. He is outside time so he doesn't experience our reality (except during the incarnation) in successive moments. He doesn't think in successive thoughts.

For example, when I play chess, I have successive thoughts. If I am in the middle of a game and I would consider my next move in the following manner. If I move my king to e5, I then would have to consider my opponent's best possible move; for example, if my opponent moves his queen to d5 or moves his rook to e1. My next thought would be if my opponent did move his queen to d5, I would have to move my rook to e8. I would then start to consider what if my opponent moved his rook instead of his queen. All these thoughts take place successively and they are in time. The point is that I do not multitask my thoughts. If I use a chess clock during the game, I could time my thoughts. God does not think like us: He doesn't experience a succession of moments, his thoughts are not successive, and his thoughts do not take place in time. He just "is" and he just "knows." Theologians like Grudem would say "eternality" is a incommunicable attribute. It is an attribute we do not share with God. We as Christians will live with Him everlastingly, but we have a beginning and our existence will depend on God's good pleasure. God is the only one who has eternality: existence dependent on nothing else.

What's the application for this esoteric knowledge? First, we can't second guess God. Our limited minds and limited experience cannot compete with God. God's wisdom and intelligence are on a different level than our intelligence. As Isaiah wrote,

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.(Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV)

We can not plan our lives better than God can plan our lives. Be grateful for what He has given you and seek His guidance continually.

Second, this infinite and and eternal God has our best interests at heart and those interests are eternal and not temporal. Sin, disease, death, and injustice have no purpose and have no meaning in this world, unless God is sovereign and eternal. God plans for his adopted children to be with Him in Christ for all eternity. His Son died so that may happen and His Holy Spirit is preparing us for that existence.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 ESV)

Third, God knows everything about us in detail: everything we have done, everything we have thought, and everything we will do. As David writes in the Psalms

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
(Psalm 139:1-6 ESV)

God knows we are sinners and we will sin again, but he saved us anyway. We can't surprise God. Confess your sins and stay close to God.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8 ESV)

If we have believed in Christ, we can have great confidence that Christ will take us home in Him.