I am reading a short biography of Anabaptist reformer, Menno Simmons. The following quote is taken from Theology of the Reformers
. Not only do I like the stress of how Menno preached both Law and Gospel, but I can see how this applies to our Haiti ministry.
Timothy George The primary importance of the Bible in Menno's theology is its crucial role in the process of conversion. Drawing on the analogy of the Word to the seed in Jesus' parable of the Sower (Luke 8:11), Menno likened the Scriptures to a spiritual seed from which the new life springs forth. The Holy Spirit germinates the seed and brings forth its fruit in faith and repentance. Menno someties used the distinction between law and gospel to show the various ways the seed of the Word brings about regeneration. The function of the law is to produce the knowledge and conviction of sin, while that of the gospel is to present the remedy of salvation through Jesus Christ. In the early days of the Anabaptist movement, the preaching more often than the reading of the Word yielded this result. "So also where the gospel is preached in true zeal, so that it penetrates the hearts of the listeners, there one finds a converted, changed and new mind." Many of those who heard and responded to the Anabaptist message were poor farmers, unskilled workers, and displaced persons. Often they were completely or almost illiterate. Yet, once converted, they began to "hide the Word in their hearts." When hailed before the civil authorities, these unlearned believers would frequently confound their judges by their ability to quote and reason from the Scriptures.(p. 287)
If there is an apt description of the Haitian people, it has to be "poor farmers, unskilled workers, and displaced persons." We have given the Haitian people bibles, but what is a couple of hundred bibles compared to the tens of thousands of Haitians living in Luly, Williamson and surrounding areas? Some of these people can read and some can not. I am giving a talk this time to some of the Haitian men who are being discipled by their Pastors to be future leaders. I feel inadequate as a speaker here in Iowa, let alone in a cross cultural context. I have no idea how to tailor my message to the audience. However, my responsibility in Haiti at this time is spelled out in 2 Timothy 4:2
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
I will do my best to explain the Gospel clearly to my audience. It is up the Holy Spirit to clarify the message and convict them. It is up to my audience to "hide the Word in their hearts." Please pray for my time down there that God will help me prepare my heart and my message. Please pray that God will open my audience's hearts for His Word.
I was reading John 10 about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. What struck me this time was the emphasis on Jesus's global mission on earth and the authority God the Father had given Him.
John 10:14-18
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.
Leon Morris wrote a very good commentary on the Gospel of John. He stressed that Christ felt compelled to reach all peoples, because that was the mission the Father gave him.
Leon Morris
He goes on to speak of "other sheep" not of the "fold" of Judaism (v. 16). In all four Gospels there is mostly a concentration on the people who were with Jesus at the time, as we might expect. But now and then there are glimpses of the wisder application of the gospel and we have one here. The death of Jesus would be for people everywhere, not only for those in Palestine who had so far heard his voice and followed him.
Notice that he says "I must bring them too." There is the thought of a compelling necessity. He had come on a mission of salvation, which meant dying for sinners. It also meant that those sinners must be informed of what had happened and invited to put their trust in the crucified Savior: In other words, he must bring them. That was in the divine plan and in due course it would inevitably come about. (p. 380, Expository Reflections on the Gospel of John)
In John's Gospel, Christ is saying that He has sheep that are not in this fold (people who are not of the Nation of Israel), but some day the people of the gentile nations will listen to His voice. He is bringing and will bring all the sheep into one flock. The whole book of Ephesians is about how God the Father is uniting all things in Jesus Christ. In particular, Paul specifies that the Jew and Gentile will become one body. We are being built together into the dwelling place of God.
Ephesians 1:7-10
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:20-23
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 2:11-22
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 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.
I met a person years ago at a Desiring God conference. He told me he loved the gospels, but disliked the Pauline epistles. I have heard this from other believers. However, we can see the book of Ephesians is almost an expanded commentary of this passage in the Gospel of John. We read in 2 Timothy that all scripture is breathed-out by God. As we read the Bible, we see that there is a wonderful unity in Scripture that we ignore at our peril.
Calvin did in fact hold the office of deacon in high esteem. Deacons were public officers in the church in the church entrusted with the care of the poor. He urged that they be skilled in the Christian faith because, in the course of their ministry, "they will often have to give advice and comfort." Indeed, the deacons in Calvin's Geneva should have been experts in what we call today social work as well as pastoral care. Calvin admitted that the diaconate could sometimes serve as a "nursery" [again the maternal motif] from which presbyters are chosen," yet be opposed the Roman custom of making the deacon the first step toward the priesthood. This practice was an invidious undermining of "a highly honorable office." (p. 249, Timothy George)
Calvin has a high view of the office of deacon, but many evangelical churches today do not. GCC does a much better job than most churches I have seen in utilizing deacons. But in the Protestant tradition there is a motto, "Semper Reformanda," which means "Always Reforming." We need to improve every ministry of the church all the time. Maybe, some day we will align the diaconate's ministry with the vision of Calvin and Keller.
GCLI Book 3 has a lesson on The Doctrine of Sin and Man: Shattered Humanity. Pastor Doug Brown, who wrote the lesson, quotes another pastor, J. Sidlow Baxter, a few times concerning original sin. Brown uses Baxter's comments on Romans 5:12-14. Here's the passage from Romans.
Romans 5:12-14
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Here is Baxter's commentary on the passage.
J. Sidlow Baxter
Guilt is a legal term. There is guilt only where there is actual transgression. Human babes inherit hereditary moral and physical consequences of Adam's fall, but they are not born guilty! There simply cannot be guilt unless there is trangression. Ronmans 5:13 settles that once for all: 'Sin is not imputed when there is no law (i.e. where there is no trangression). The point made in Romans 5:13-14, is that sin and death continued between Adam and Moses, yet because the Law was not yet given, men were not transgressors after the similitude of Adam, who transgressed a specific command. Mark well that clear distinction which Paul makes: Sin and death naturally inherited, but guilt not imputed!" (p. 36, GCLI Book III, Pastor Doug Brown quoting J. Sidlow Baxter)
This interpretation of the passage seems to go against the larger context of the passage. The passage may tangentially apply to human babies, but the passage is referring to people who died after Adam and before Moses. Baxter's view of sin in his commentary seems to contradict Romans 6:23, which teaches, "For the wages of sin is death." The pre-Mosaic people can be defined as sinners (e.g. Cain, Lamech, mankind before the flood). Is J. Sidlow Baxter asserting all these people who died physically in the pre-Mosaic era escaped judgement and are now in heaven? I asked Brooks about this quote and he pointed me to his sermon in the Roman series. It is a difficult passage, but I think Brooks would agree with the following theologians: Martin Luther, John Calvin, Charles Hodge, Charles Ryrie, John Stott, and John Piper. The following quote is a little difficult to read, but Hodge's commentary on the passage is the most concise summary of the position that I could find.
Charles Hodge
1. That the words evidently admit of this interpretation as naturally as of the other. Paul simply says, the persons referred to did not sin as Adam did. Whether he means that they did not sin at all; that they were not sinners in the ordinary sense of that term; or that they had not sinned against the same kind of law, depends on the context, and is not determined by the mere form of expression.
2. If ver. 12 teaches that men are subject to death on account of the sin of Adam, if this is the doctrine of the whole passage, and if, as is admitted, vers. 13, 14 are designed to prove the assertion of ver. 12, then is it necessary that the apostle should show that death comes on those who have no personal or actual sins to answer for. This he does: 'Death reigns not only over those who have never broken any positive law, but even over those who have never sinned as Adam did; that is, who have never in their own persons violated any law, by which their exposure to death can be accounted for.' All the arguments, therefore, which go to establish the interpretation given above of ver. 12, or the correctness of the exhibition of the course of the apostle's argument, and the design of the whole passage, bear with all their force in support of the view here given of this clause. The opposite interpretation, as was attempted to be proved above, rests on a false exegesis of ver 12, and a false view of the context. Almost all the objections to this interpretation, being founded on misapprehension, are answered by the mere statement of the case. The simple doctrine and argument of the apostle is, that
THERE ARE PENAL EVILS WHICH COME UPON MEN ANTECEDENT TO ANY TRANSGRESSIONS OF THEIR OWN; AND AS THE INFLICTION OF THESE EVILS IMPLIES A VIOLATION OF LAW, IT FOLLOWS THAT THEY ARE REGARDED AND TREATED AS SINNERS, ON THE GROUND OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ANOTHER.
In other words, it was "by the offense of one man that judgment came on all men to condemnation." It is of course not implied in this statement or argument, that men are not now, or were not from Adam to Moses, punishable for their own sins, but simply that they are subject to penal evils, which cannot be accounted for on the ground of their personal transgressions, or their hereditary depravity. This statement, which contains the whole doctrine of imputation, is so obviously contained in the argument of the apostle, and stands out so conspicuously in the Bible, and is so fully established by the history of the world, that it is frequently and freely admitted by the great majority of commentators.(pp. 155-156, Charles Hodge's Commentary on Romans)
After Pastor Brown treats the topic of "Original Sin" in the lesson, He moves on to the topic of "Total Depravity."
Doug Brown
"...although man is spiritually dead and needs regeneration to a new spiritual life, he is not morally dead, even though sadly perverted. He is not only alive to moral good, but constitutionally bound to appreciate it when it is truly perceived, however much he may resist it. Being spiritually dead, man is utterly unable to regenerate himself; but being morally alive he can at least respond to the truth which regenerates. (p. 37, GCLI Book III)
I would agree that man is "constitutionally bound to appreciate" moral good. I don't understand how a man can a person be spiritually dead, but morally alive? What part of man makes moral decisions? According to Ephesians 2:1, we are dead in our trepasses and sins. If that is not a moral death, I'm not sure what is.
Brown quotes J. Sidlow Baxter again to define the doctrine.
J. Sidlow Baxter
"The phrase "total depravity" means all parts of man's mental and moral nature is infected with sin. Sin extends to the whole person-spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). "It means all the parts' of man are affected, it does not mean that all the parts are all bad... There is no human body on earth which absolutely free from disease. From birth, evary part is affected in greater or lesser degree by that hereditary infection which eventually issues in death. Yet though all parts are affected, it is utterly untrue to say that all parts are all disease. Degrees of disease, latent, dormant, chronic, may co-exist with degrees of health in the same body." (p. 37 Brown quoting J. Sidlow Baxter).
This analogy to me is confusing to me. What point is he trying to make? Man is not totally depraved in every part? If so, how can it be called "Total Depravity?" This may not be Sidlow's fault. The format of the GCLI materials lends itself to short quotes and he may have been taken out of context. For a clearer definition of the doctrine, I turn to Ryrie's Basic Theology.
Charles Ryrie
Every facet of man's being is affected by this sin nature. (1) His intellect is blinded (2 Cor. 4:4). His mind is reprobate or disapproved (Rom. 1:28). His understanding is darkened, separated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18). (2) His emotions are degraded and defiled (Rom. 1:21, 24, 26; Titus 1:15). (3) His will is enslaved to sin and therefore stands in opposition to God (Rom. 6:20; 7:20).
The scriptural evidence provides the basis for what has been commonly called total depravity. The English word "depravity" means perverted or crooked. It is not used in the translation of the King James Version, but some modern translations do use it to translate adokimos in Romans 1:28. This word means "not standing the test" and gives us a clue as to how to define the concept of depravity. Depravity means that man fails the test of pleasing God. He denotes his unmeritoriousness in God's sight. This failure is total in that (a) it affects all aspects of man's being and (b) it affects all people.
Negatively, the concept of total depravity does not mean (a) that every person has exhibited his depravity as thoroughly as he or she could; (b) that sinners do not have a conscience or a "native induction" concerning God; (c) that sinners will indulge in every form of sin; or (d) that depraved people do not perform actions that are good in the sight of others and even in the sight of God.
Positively, total depravity means (a) that corruption extends to every facet of man's nature and faculties; and (b) that there is nothing in anyone that can commend him to a righteous God.
Total depravity must always be measured against God's holiness. Relative goodness exists in people. They can do good works, which are appreciated by others. But nothing that anyone can do will gain salvational merit or favor in the sight of a holy God.
(pp. 252-253, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth)
I'm researching a talk I'm giving in Haiti. William Lane Craig wrote a short book called, Hard Questions, Real Answers. I have not read the whole book, but the two chapters on Evil and Suffering are good. The following quotes summarize rather unfairly the argument of the first chapter. I hope the quotes will encourage the reader to read the whole book.
William Lane Craig on Hume's Theodicy The eighteenth-century Scottish skeptic David Hume summarized the logical problem of evil nicely when he asked concerning God, "Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?" (p. 82, Hard Questions, Real Answers)
William Lane Craig
We can go even further than this. Not only has the objector failed to prove that God and evil are inconsistent, but we can, on the contrary, prove that they are consistent. In order to do that, all we have to do is provide some possible explanation of the evil in the world that is compatible with God's existence. And the following is such an explanation:
God could not have created a world that had so much good as the actual world but had less evil, both in terms of quantity and quality; and, moreover, God has morally sufficient reasons for the evil that exists.
So long as this explanation is even possible, it proves that God and the evil in the world are logically compatible.
So, to sum up our discussion of the logical problem of evil, we have seen that there is no necessary incompatibility between the presence of an all-good, all-powerful God and the presence of evil in the world. And I'm extremely pleased to report to you that after centuries of discussion, contemporary philosophy has come to recognize this fact. It is now widely admitted that the logical problem of evil has been solved. (Praise the Lord for Christian philosophers like Alvin Planting to whom this result is due!)
But before we breathe too easily, we have to confront the probablistic problem of evil. This we shall do in the next chapter. (pp. 86-87, Hard Questions, Real Answers
)
Pastor Brooks on his sermon on Colossians 4:2 gave some good advice on prayer.
Colossians 4:2
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
His comments on the phrase "continue steadfastly on prayer" reminded me of the passage in 1 Thessalonians on prayer.
1 Thessalonians 5:15-18
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
The phrase for "pray without ceasing" differs a little in emphasis than "Continue steadfastly in prayer." The greek word for "without ceasing" is "ἀδιαλείπτως." Thayer's Greek Lexicon defines it as "without intermission, incessantly, assiduously." Rienecker's Linguistic Key gives some good examples of how the word was used in the 1st Century:
without interruption, unceasingly, constantly. The word was used of that which was continually and repeatedly done; e.g., the uninterrupted necessary payment of hard taxes; the continual service or minstry of an official; a continual uninterrupted cough (Preisigke; MM); repeated military attacks... (p. 257-258, Rienecker, "Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament)
To focus on one example, the word ἀδιαλείπτως was used for a "continual, persistent cough." I had asthmatic bronchitus when I was a child. I was always catching colds and the flu. It seemed to me that at times that I had a persistent, hacking, cough for most of the winter nights of my childhood. Coughing was always present with me. It was almost as natural to me as breathing. Prayer should not be annoying, but it should be that natural and constant.
Leon Morris, in his commentary on 1 Thess. 5:5-18, explains how we are to live in a prayerful manner.
Leon Morris
Prayer is fellowship with God. Prayer is the realization of the presence of our Father. Though it is quite impossible for us always to be uttering the words of prayer, it is possible and necessary that we should always be living in the spirit of prayer.
But believers who live in this way, conscious continually of their dependence on God, conscious of his presence with them always, find that their general spirit of prayerfulness in the most natural way overflows into uttered prayer. Again and again in Paul's letters (and especially in the two letters to the Thessalonians) the apostle interjects little prayers into his argument. Prayer was as natural to Paul as breathing. At any time he was likely to break off his argument or to sum it up by a prayer. In the same way he looks for the Thessalonians to live lives with such an attitude of dependence on God that they will easily and naturally move into the words of prayer on all sorts of occasions, great and small, grave and festive. Prayer is to be constant. This does not, of course, mean that they are to spend all their time in uttering words of prayer; throughout these letters there are too many exhortations to be active in daily affairs for that to be accepted. Paul is arguing for lives lived constantly in a prayerful spirit. (pp. 173-176, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians (The New International Commentary on the New Testament))
I will finish this blog post by quoting Richard Phillips about Donald Barnhouse, a great evangelical preacher, who exemplified a life of prayer. This snippet from Barnhouse's life both illustrates the teaching of both Colossians and 1st Thessalonians about prayer.
Richard Phillips
Donald Grey Barnhouse was one who set an example of combining gospel preaching with humble prayer. He often could be found in the sanctuary on Saturdays, kneeling beside each pew, thinking about the people who often sat there, and asking God to bless them with the following day's sermon.”
(Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John)
I'm reading Timothy George's book, Theology of the Reformers, the author quotes Calvin's commentary on Colossians 1:17 as the "orienting focus of his [Calvin's] entire theological program". I thought this was a nice bridge from the last sermon series on Colossians to the new series on "Hard Questions." The centrality of Christianity is the person of Christ. To win people to Christ we must introduce to the person of Jesus Christ. We must present not only our personal relationship Christ, but doctrinal truths about His person. Or as Calvin puts it, we must present the "excellencies of His person." Here's the verse and the paragraph about the verse from Calvin's commentary.
Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
John Calvin Giving thanks. Again he returns to thanksgiving, that he may take this opportunity of enumerating the blessings which had been conferred upon them through Christ, and thus he enters upon a full delineation of Christ. For this was the only remedy for fortifying the Colossians against all the snares, by which the false Apostles endeavored to entrap them — to understand accurately what Christ was. For how comes it that we are carried about with so many strange doctrines, (Hebrews 13:9) but because the excellence of Christ is not perceived by us? For Christ alone makes all other things suddenly vanish. Hence there is nothing that Satan so much endeavors to accomplish as to bring on mists with the view of obscuring Christ, because he knows, that by this means the way is opened up for every kind of falsehood. This, therefore, is the only means of retaining, as well as restoring pure doctrine — to place Christ before the view such as he is with all his blessings, that his excellence may be truly perceived.
Deuteronomy 33:12
Of Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.
The High God surrounds him all day long,
and dwells between his shoulders.”
The phrase "dwells between his shoulders" struck me as a curious phrase. Does "his shoulders" mean "God's shoulders" or "Benjamin shoulders?" What does "dwell between his shoulders mean?" Here are some interesting observations from a couple of commentaries.
Pulpit Commentary
And he shall dwell between his shoulders. "To be between the shoulders" is to be carried on the back (cf. 1 Samuel 17:6); and as a father might thus bear his child, so should Benjamin be borne of the Lord. There can be no doubt that Benjamin is the subject of this clause; to understand it of Jehovah dwelling on the shoulders of Benjamin, in the sense of having the temple, the place of his rest, within the territory of Benjamin, is too violent and far-fetched an interpretation to be admitted. In the change of subject in the three clauses of this verse, there is nothing strange, since such a change repeatedly occurs, and is found even in prose, as e.g., 2 Samuel 11:13. "To dwell upon God, and between his shoulders, means as much as to lean upon him; the similitude being taken from fathers who carry their sons while yet small and tender" (Calvin).
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
and he shall dwell between his shoulders; either the Lord shall dwell between the shoulders of Benjamin; the temple in which the Lord dwelt was built on Mount Moriah, in the tribe of Benjamin, in the highest part of his land, as Jarchi notes; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words,"in his border the Shechinah (or the glory of the Shechinah of the Lord) shall dwell,''for if the temple was not within the tribe of Benjamin, yet it was certainly on the borders of it: or Benjamin shall dwell between the shoulders of the Lord, being bore up and supported by him: Christ dwells in the hearts of his people, and over them as an head, and they dwell upon his shoulders, on which the care and government of them lies, Isaiah 9:6; in the Talmud (n) this passage is applied to the days of the Messiah.
Cool, I thought, so I decided to continue looking up "God dwells within us" verses.
In Genesis 3, we have God walking in the garden wanting to fellowship with His people. However, Adam and Eve could not abide with God because of their sin.
Genesis 3:8
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
The following passage is Noah cursing Canaan. However, like most of the curses in Genesis, there is a promise of future blessing at the end of the curse.
Genesis 9:25-27
he [Noah] said,
“Cursed be Canaan;
a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
He also said,
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem;
and let Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth,
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.”
The phrase "and let him dwell in the tents of Shem" is once again ambiguous. Is it "Japheth dwelling in the tents of Shem" or is it "God dwelling in the tents of Shem"? I blogged before about how I think it is God dwelling in the tents of the future Semites: the nation of Israel (http://cslewisandcoalbiters.blogspot.com/2013/05/god-will-dwell-in-tents-of-shem-genesis.html). God intends to dwell within His chosen people.
I listed the rest of these verses because I like meditating on them. God dwells within us both corporately as a church and individually in our hearts. God's plan from the beginning in Genesis was to dwell with his people. Christ, through His sacrifice, enables God to dwell in our hearts, and eventually, abide with us in the New Jerusalem.
Exodus 29:44-46
I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
Ezekiel 43:7-9
and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
Zechariah 2:10-11
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
Zechariah 8:1-9
And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts? Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.”
Romans 8:9-11
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
Ephesians 2:19-22
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 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Revelation 21:3-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
We know we will one day dwell with Christ in glory. We will see Him face to face and be like Him in love, purity and holiness. Even now, we are becoming more like Him as He he strengthens us and encourages us. (1 Corinthians 3:12; 1 John 3:2)
The first blog about this topic focused on poverty. This article focuses on suffering and how to interpret suffering in light of God's word. The following passage from Luke shows how Jesus responded to the news of two horrible circumstances.
Luke 13:1-5
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Leon Morris on the disaster of the Tower of Siloam
Jesus goes on to speak of another disaster in Jerusalem, also unknown to us apart from this reference. His hearers are not to suppose that the eighteen people who had been killed when the tower in Siloam fell were worse offenders (really 'debtors'; people owe God obedience) than others. But their fate is a warning to his audience of the urgency of repenting. Luke uses a present imperative (with continuous force) in verse 3 and an aorist (of a single decisive action here. Repentance is both a once-for-all event that shapes the whole subsequent course of the life and a day-by-day affair that keeps putting sin away. (pp. 239 - 240, Luke (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries)
Jesus refuses to answer their question directly. Everyone, except for Jesus, sins and deserves death. Jesus's point is that the degree of sin is unimportant in these disasters. They are all sinners. Jesus is urging them to reflect upon the suddenness of death. The people who were killed by Pilate and who died from the tower did not have time to repent. Repent now and keep repenting. Use every opportunity now to ask for forgiveness and turn back to God, because you never know when your death may come.
There is a very similar passage in the gospel of John. Read the entire encounter of Jesus and the blind man, but what concerns the topic at hand is the beginning.
John 9:1-7
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
Leon Morris made some good observations about the passage.
Leon Morris
So the disciples were not manufacturing an imaginary problem. It is clear that among the religious teachers of the Jews there were some who thought a person might well be punished for sins he had comitted before birth, and there were some who held that even very serious afflications might be the punishment of parental sins. So this blind man presented them with a problem. It was not easy to see how he could have sinned before birth a sin serious enough to merit such a heavy punishment. Nor could they see why the heavenly Father of whom Jesus had taught them so much would punish a man in this terrible fashion for the sins of someone else. But in their culture these seemed the only possibilities. So they ask Jesus. Whose sin was it? (p. 348, Expository Reflections on the Gospel of John)
Leon Morris
This blindness, Jesus said, was "so that the works of God might be made manifest in him." I do not think that Jesus means that the man was made to go through all his life up to this point without ever having been able to see, simply in order that Jesus might effect a cure and thus manifest "the works of God." Rather he is saying that the blindness something in and through which God's "works" are manifest.(ibid, p. 348)
Leon Morris
That the works of God are made manifest has its consequences for the people of God: "We must," said Jesus, "work the works of him who sent me" (v. 4). God chooses to do his mighty works through those on earth, at least as a general rule. He can do mighty miracles without human participation, but normally he chooses to let his people have a part in the great works he is doing. (ibid, p. 348)
I have just a side thought, Morris doesn't think God made the man blind his entire life just "to effect a cure." I am sure he is right. However, what would you say if you were the blind man? What if you were told that you have to be blind for decades, but at the end of this time: Jesus will come, Jesus will touch you, Jesus will heal you, you will meet Jesus, you will talk to Jesus, and you will spend eternity with Him? Is that not worth the cost of the blindness? God uses suffering to draw people to Himself.
It is impossible for us, unless we have divine revelation, to tie a particular life circumstance or disaster to sin. Job's wife and friends tried to do that with Job and they were wrong. The apostles, using the bad doctrine of their day, were wrong about the blind man. We are all under the curse of Adam. All death and suffering is tied to sin, but to say one person is a bigger sinner on this earth because he is suffering more is faulty logic. We do not know how God is using suffering in a person's life, or in a town, or in a nation. A Christian sees the suffering around and should feel sorrow and anger. This is not the way the world is intended to be. However, the Christian's response is not bitterness or depression or hopelessness. A Christian sees hope because God is in control. A Christian knows that suffering is not pointless. God gives suffering a meaning and will use it in our lives (Romans 8:32). A Christian is assured that God will eventually bring suffering to an end to those who love Him.
How then shall we actively respond to suffering? If we are an unbeliever and if we do not have Jesus Christ as our Lord, we should repent and confess Jesus as Lord. If we are believers, we are in the body of Christ. As His Body, we should emulate Christ. Christ's response to suffering was "We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work." We, as Christ's Body, are to do the work of the God the Father. We should do as Jesus did on the earth: Preach the Gospel and perform good works.
I created a document that lists all the books of the Bible in both English and Creole. Not all the translators know the Bible very well, so being able to find the books in a Creole Bible makes finding passages easier for everyone.
My faith family is finishing up on Ephesians. Here are some great quotes by Charles Hodge from his commentary, Ephesians (Crossway Classic Commentaries),
on the Ephesians passage on the Panoply of God (Whole Armour of God). The following passage is from the ESV version.
Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Hodge, in the introduction to the section, emphasizes that the spiritual conflict is real and not just a moral conflict.
Though the redemption purchased by Christ, as described in this epistle, is so complete and so free, yet between the beginning and the consummation of the work there is a protracted conflict. This is not a figure of speech. It is something real and arduous. Salvation, however gratuitous, is not to be obtained without great effort. The Christian conflict is not only real, it is difficult and dangerous. It is one in which true believers are often grievously wounded; and multitudes of reputed believers entirely succumb. It is one also in which great mistakes are often committed and serious loss incurred from ignorance of its nature, and of the appropriate means for carrying it on. Men are apt to regard it as a mere moral conflict between reason and conscience on the one side, and evil passions on the other. They therefore rely on their own strength, and upon the resources of nature for success. Against these mistakes the apostle warns his readers. He teaches that every thing pertaining to it is supernatural. The source of strength is not in nature. The conflict is not between the good and bad principles of our nature. He shows that we belong to a spiritual, as well as to a natural world, and are engaged in a combat in which the higher powers of the universe are involved; and that this conflict, on the issue of which our salvation depends, is not to be carried on with straws picked up by the wayside. As we have superhuman enemies to contend with, we need not only superhuman strength, but divine armour and arms.
Hodge, commenting on the "Belt of Truth," argues that only Biblical truth can stand up against the onslaught of the Evil One.
“Reason, tradition, speculative conviction, dead orthodoxy, are a girdle of spider-webs. They give way at the first onset. Truth alone, as abiding in the mind in the form of divine knowledge, can give strength or confidence even in the ordinary conflicts of the Christian life, much more in any really "evil day.”
Hodge emphasizes that the Church as a whole needs to depend on the "Sword of the Spirit" alone. If the Church depends on anything else, it will fail.
All her[The Church] triumphs over sin and error have been effected by the word of God. So long as she uses this and relies on it alone, she goes on conquering; but when any thing else, be it reason, science, tradition, or the commandments of men, is allowed to take its place or to share its office, then the church, or the Christian, is at the mercy of the adversary. Hoc signo vinces—the apostle may be understood to say to every believer and to the whole church.”
Pastor Dan has encouraged the Haiti team to read the Gospel of John several times. He wanted us to pay attention to the interactions he had with people. Around the same time, Amazon offered a free e-book, Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John by Richard D. Phillips. I downloaded it and started reading it. The book pointed out one interaction that I probably would have missed: Jesus and Andrew.
Here are the three main interactions between Jesus and Andrew in the gospel.
John 1:40-42
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
John 6:1-9
After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
John 12:20-22
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
In looking at the above passages, Andrew's ministry consisted of bringing people to Jesus. He did not write a gospel or epistle. In Acts, he never preached. In his book, Phillips quoted John MacArthur's summation of Andrew's ministry.
Richard D. Phillips
John MacArthur writes: "[Andrew] did not seek to be the center of attention. He did not seem to resent those who labored in the limelight. He was evidently pleased to do what he could with the gifts and calling God had bestowed on him, and he allowed the others to do likewise."
Jesus the Evangelist: Learning to Share the Gospel from the Book of John
MacArthur is using the life of Andrew to make a very important point. God has spiritually gifted all believers for the ministry. The apostle Paul explains this doctrine to the church at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Paul taught that each spiritual gifting is unique to the individual believer. The problems the Corinthians were having was using their spiritual gifts to bring glory to themselves, Their selfishness and pride were causing divisions within the church. Spiritual gifts were meant to bring unity and mutual dependency to the body of Christ and thereby, glorify God.
1 Corinthians 12:21-27
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
The key for God using both our natural and spiritual gifts to bring unity to the Church and glory to Himself is humility. Andrew is a good example of humility and we can learn from his example; however, Christ is our standard and he exhibited perfect humility.
Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We may not be able to preach like Paul or Peter, but we can all serve Christ like Andrew. According to the Gospel of John, Andrew simply brought people to Christ. We can invite people to Church or to house church. We can invite people to coffee so we can talk about Jesus. We can help people meet Jesus.
I am still reading about God's omnipresence in The Existence and Attributes of God. In the paragraph I am quoting below, Charnock does a great job explaining how the fact of God being present everywhere should be a great comfort to us in our worship. He uses some Old Testament imagery that I want to explain first.
Paul teaches that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
The Holy Spirit dwells both within the Christian community (His Church) and within the individual believer. God is present everywhere, but God is present within the Christian in a special way. God is present within us in some of the same ways as He was present within Israel at first in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Charnock points out this truth, but he then extends the imagery by quoting the prophet Haggai.
Haggai 2:3-5
‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.
After Israel came back from the exile, they rebuilt the temple (see Ezra). This second temple must not have been as beautiful and as glorious as Solomon's temple. They were exiles, they were underfunded, under attack, and undermanned while they rebuilt the temple. They did not have the resources to build a great temple. The eldest members of the group remembered the former glory of the temple and were discouraged. However God through Haggai reminded them that His glory did not depend on the house where He chose to dwell. He told them be strong and remember His covenant with them: He will dwell among them. With this backdrop, here's the quote.
Stephen Charnock It is not the meanness of the place of worship can exclude him; the second temple was not so magnificent as the first, of Solomon's erecting; and the Jews seem to despond of so glorious a presence of God in the second, as they had in the first, because they thought it not so good for the entertainment of him that inhabits eternity; but God comforts them against this conceit again and again: Hag. ii. 8,4, 'Be strong, be strong, be strong, I am with you ;' the meanness of the place shall not hinder the grandeur of my presence. No matter what the room is, so it be the presence chamber of the King, wherein he will favour our suits, he can everywhere slide into our souls with a perpetual sweetness, since he is everywhere, and so intimate with every one that fears him. If we should see God on earth in his amiableness, as Moses did, should we not be encouraged by his presence, to present our requests to him, to echo out our praises of him? And have we not as great a ground now to do it, since he is as really present with us, as if he were visible to us? He is in the same room with us, as near to us as our souls to our bodies; not a word but he hears, not a motion but he sees, not a breath but he perceives; he is through all, he is in all. (The Existence and Attributes of God.)
Most of us understand the doctrine of "Union with Christ." God through Christ abides within us. However, we struggle at times and we don't feel God is listening to our prayers. At those times, we should take heart in the teachings of Haggai. God told the returning exiles that it does not matter if you feel the temple is not good enough for Me. Be strong and do not fear because I will keep my covenant and remain in you. God reminds the returning exiles that His glory does not depend on them. In a like manner, according to First Corinthians, we are God's temple (1 Cor. 3:16). No matter how bad you think you are, if you have repented and have put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from your sin, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. You may think you are a just a scrap heap of a temple, but God chooses to abide in you. God does not depend on you for His glory. God alone chooses how he manifests His glory to the world. Be strong and fear not for God is with you. Take comfort in the fact that his distance from you does not depend on your feelings. If you are a Christian, God is closer to you than your body is to your soul.
I'm memorizing the following verse and I decided to look it up in a commentary. The Christian life is impossibly simple: Christ wants every bit of you to follow Him every single moment of every day.
Luke 9:23
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Leon Morris The follower of Jesus must deny himself (not just his sins, himself; he cannot be self-centred). There is nothing self-indulgent about being a Christian. The disciples had probably seen a man take up his cross and they knew what it meant. When a man from on of their villages took up a cross and went off with a little band of Roman soldiers, he was on a one-way journey. He would not be back. Taking up the cross meant the utmost in self-denial. This is Luke's first use of the word cross and it comes with striking effect. Christ's follower had died to a whole way of life (cf. 14:27). Luke tells us that this is not something that can be finished and got out of the way: it must be done daily (cf. 1 Cor. 15:31). So, says Jesus, will he follow me. (p. 188-189), Luke (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (IVP Numbered))
Grace Community Church has bought 80 Bibles for the Haitian Pastors and their leadership teams.
Most of these men never had a bible before.
This fall trip we are planning to help train these men.
Are you excited yet? If not, think about if the Bible was not a commodity in your community. Consider trying to be a Christian without easy access to the scriptures, online sermons, bible study tools, house churches, and email access to the elders. Meditate on how precious the gospel truths are. Now pray about how God could bless these Haitian churches through their relationship with Grace Community Church. God could do amazing things on this trip.
In preparation for our trip down there, Dave Kirk encouraged the Haitian pastors to lead their men through 1st and 2nd Timothy. Here are some of the things I pray the Haitian pastors are thinking about in training their men.
In the last chapter of 1st Timothy and the first chapter of 2nd Timothy, Paul encouraged to Timothy to follow Paul's teaching and guard the Gospel from those who wish to destroy or distort it.
1 Timothy 6:20
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”
2 Timothy 1:13-14
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
John R. W. Stott
Timothy is to 'guard' it. Paul has addressed precisely the same appeal to him at the end of his first letter (6:20), except that now he calls it the 'good', literally the 'beautiful', deposit. The verb (phylássō) means to guard something 'so that it is not lost or damaged' (AG). It is used of guarding a palace against marauders and possessions against thieves (Lk. 11:21; Acts 22:20). There were heretics abroad, bent on corrupting the gospel and so robbing the church of the priceless treasure which had been entrusted to it. Timothy must be on the watch. (p. 44, The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus (The Bible Speaks Today)).
In chapter 2 of 2nd Timothy, Paul wanted Timothy to protect the Gospel by passing it onto faithful men.
2 Timothy 2:2
and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
John R. W. Stott
Here, then, are the four stages in the handling on of the truth, which Paul envisages: from Christ to Paul, from Paul to Timothy, from Timothy to 'faithful men', and from 'faithful men' to 'others also'. This is the true 'apostolic succession'. Certainly, it would involve men, a line of 'faithful men' at that, but the succession from the apostles is to be more in the message itself than in the men who teach it. It is to be a succession of apostolic tradition rather than of apostolic ministry, authority or order, a transmission of the apostles' doctrine handed down unchanged from the apostles to subsequent generations, and passed from hand to hand like the Olympic torch. This apostolic tradition, 'the good deposit', is now to be found in the New Testament. Speaking ideally, "Scripture' and 'tradition' should be interchangeable terms, for what the church hands down from generation to generation should be the biblical faith, no more and no less. And the biblical faith is the apostolic faith. (pp. 52-53, Guard the Gospel: The message of 2 Timothy (The Bible speaks today) )
A little later in chapter 2 of 2nd Timothy, Paul pressed Timothy to be a diligent workman of the scriptures.
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
In chapter 3 of 2nd Timothy, Paul pointed out to Timothy that the Bible was inspired. It could be used for both maturing in Christ and correcting doctrinal error. The Bible was key to what a pastor needed not only for himself to grow in Christ, but to equip his congregation for good works and to mature the members of the body in Christ.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
John R. W. Stott
Paul now goes on to show the profit of Scripture relates to both creed and conduct (16b, 17). The false teachers divorced them; we must marry them. The NEB expresses the matter clearly. As for our creed, Scripture is profitable 'for teaching the truth and refuting error'. As for our conduct, it is profitable 'for reformation of manners and discipline in right living'. In each part the negative and positive counterparts are combined. Do we hope, either in our own lives or in our teaching ministry, to overcome error and grow in truth, to overcome evil and grow in holiness? Then it is to Scripture that we must primarily turn, for Scripture is 'profitable' for these things. (p. 103, Guard the Gospel;: The message of 2 Timothy (The Bible speaks today))
Paul was telling Timothy to pass the truths of scriptures down to the next generation. Paul was writing please do not add man-made traditions and please do not take away anything from scripture: Pass the Gospel truths to your men.
This pattern of finding faithful men to pass on the truths of God's Word to future generations can be found not only in Jesus's and Paul's ministries, but is repeated throughout church history. For example, Augustine trained his followers. Martin Luther kept his professorship of theology throughout his life and even trained his students and colleagues at the dinner table, on walks, and just daily conversations (see The Table Talk of Martin Luther ). The following quotes show how two other reformers fulfilled 2 Timothy 2:2 in their ministries.
Timothy George on How Zwingli Trained His Men
Finally, there was the furtherance of Bible study in the institution of the "Prophecy." Beginning in July 1525, at seven o'clock in the morning in summer (eight o'clock in winter), on every day except Friday and Sundays, all of the ministers and theological students in Zurich gathered into the choir of the Great Minster cathedral to engage in an hour of intense exegesis and interpretation of Scripture. Zwingli opened the meeting with prayer:
Almighty, eternal and merciful God, whose Word is a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path, open and illuminate our minds, that we may purely and perfectly understand they Word and that our lives may be conformed to what we have rightly understood, that in nothing we may be displeasing unto thy majesty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The text of the day was then read in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, followed by appropriate textual or exegetical comments. Zwingli or another of the ministers delivered a sermon on the passage in German. The sermon was was heard by many of the laity who stopped by the cathedral on their way to work.
The name Prophecy was taken from 1 Corinthians 14, in which Paul referred to the gift of prophesying or the telling forth of the Word of God for the edification of the church. The influence of the Zurich Prophecy was enormous. It was a kind of theological seminary where ministers, missionaries, preachers, and teachers received a thorough grounding the Scriptures. This in turn became a model for Reformed academies and seminaries throughout Europe and was not without influence in the founding of Harvard College in New England in 1636. In addition, numerous biblical commentaries, including several by Zwingli himself as well as the famous Zurich Bible, emerged from the sessions of the Prophecy. (p. 133, Theology of the Reformers
)
Philip Hughes on How Calvin Trained His Men
Calvin’s Geneva was something very much more than a haven and a school. It was not a theological ivory tower that lived to itself and for itself, oblivious to its responsibility in the gospel to the needs of others. Human vessels were equipped and refitted in this haven…that they might launch out into the surrounding ocean of the world’s need, bravely facing every storm and peril that awaited them in order to bring the light of Christ’s gospel to those who were in the ignorance and darkness from which they themselves had originally come. They were taught in this school in order that they in turn might teach others the truth that had set them free. (http://www.calvin500.com/calvin-the-educator/)
I have spent some time talking to younger generations of Christian leaders in the Iowa City area. I have spent a limited time with a few of the Haitian pastors. The wealth of theological resources we have in the United States overwhelm me. We have online sermons, online tools and online seminaries. We have solid books on theology, devotion, and counseling being published almost daily. Our elders are college educated, well-read, and have access to other pastors through a variety of media.
The Haitian pastors are not educated, have hardly any resources, and feel isolated. The differences between the local churches in Iowa City and the local churches in Luly and Williamson, Haiti are staggering; however, one of the needs of both churches is the same: we both need generations of young men who fear God and study the Word of God for themselves. We need godly men who can be trained, entrusted with the Gospel and then defend it against false teachers. This not a criticism of either our leaders or the Haitian pastors, but a continual need that the Church at large has. Passing on the deposit of truth is a biblical mandate for all Elder/Pastors.
Pray for wisdom on how we can train the Haitian pastors to train the next generation.
Pray for spiritual discernment. We just don't know the doctrinal stance or the spiritual standing these pastors have.
Pray this Haiti mission team will be a blessing in all our endeavors to the Haitian people.
Pray for the mission team's physical and spiritual protection on the trip.
Pastor Dan and I are returning to Haiti this fall. We are leading some training sessions. One of the questions the Haitians want us to address is "Does God Exist for Haiti?" What the questioner wants to know is why Haiti so poor? Why does its people suffer so much as compared to other countries? In preparation for that talk, I decided to do an overview of what the Bible teaches about poverty.
The topic of poverty is large and it permeates all of Scripture. I decided to list the verses on poverty and to classify them. The first section of this blog is my observations. The second section I listed the verses I used. I did not include Isaiah 53, because it is too long. To make things easier, I identified Israel and the Church together in my summary. This approach is crude, this is only a few of the verses, and it only scratches the surface of a very complex topic, even so I hope you find it useful.
Applications
My suggestion is to read all the verses and mediate on them. My observations are not profound, but God's Word is. Reading all these verses together made me want to do something to honor God. Here are two links where you can help the Haitian poor.
Some Christians in the Past have Suffered, Some Christians are now Suffering, and Some Christians in the Future will Suffer from Poverty and Homelessness.
1 Cor. 4:11-13
2 Timothy 3:10-12
Hebrews 11:36-40
Matthew 16:24-26
The Gospel Message Is Intended for All, But Is Especially Targeted to the Poor.
Matt. 19:23-30; Luke 4:18; Luke 16:19-31; James 2:5-7
God Will Be Glorified Through His Treatment of the Poor.
He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Deut. 15:11
For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
1 Samuel 2:7-8
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low and he exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
Job 5:15-16
But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.
Psalm 9:18
For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
Psalm 12:5
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the LORD;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
Psalm 72:12-14 ESV
For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.
Psalm 113:7-8
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
Isaiah 41:17-20
When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the LORD will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Jeremiah 22:16
He [King Josiah] judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
declares the LORD.
Ezekiel 16:49
Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
Matthew 6:3-4
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 16:24-26
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Matthew 19:23-30
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
Matthew 25:31-40
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’"
Matthew 26:11
For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.
Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
Luke 9:57-58
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Luke 12:32-34
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luke 16:19-31
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
Romans 15:26
For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
1 Corinthians 4:11-13
To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
2 Timothy 3:12
You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Hebrews 11:36-40
Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
James 2:5-7
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
1 John 3:17
But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?
I'm reading Theology of the Reformers
by Timothy George. He does biographical and theological sketches of several of the reformers. He writes about Luther first. I like the following paragraph about preachers and the Word.
Luther's writings are full of advice for aspiring preachers, for example, "The three marks of a good preacher are these: He stands up, speaks up, and knows when to shut up!" Let him speak forth vigorously and clearly, not as though he had a leaf in front of his mouth. The church is a mouth house, not a mealymouth house! More important, the preacher should have something worth saying. Let the preacher be a bonus textualis--a good one with the text--well versed in the Scriptures. Luther excoriated those "lazy, no good preachers" who get all their material from others, from homiletical helps and sermon books, without praying, reading and searching the Scriptures for themselves. The sermon should not be couched in theological jargon, but in the clear, crisp language of the people. "I do not preach Drs. Pomeranus, Jonas, and Philipp," said Luther, "but to my little Hans and Elizabeth." Above all, preaching must be true to its proper content, which is Christ. Only in this way can it fulfill its role as the main part of all divine service. (pp. 92-93)
The preachers at Grace do pretty well by these criteria.
. Not only do I like the stress of how Menno preached both Law and Gospel, but I can see how this applies to our Haiti ministry.
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and I saw a reference to Deuteronmy 33:12:
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on the Ephesians passage on the Panoply of God (Whole Armour of God). The following passage is from the ESV version.
. In the paragraph I am quoting below, Charnock does a great job explaining how the fact of God being present everywhere should be a great comfort to us in our worship. He uses some Old Testament imagery that I want to explain first.
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). The following quotes show how two other reformers fulfilled 2 Timothy 2:2 in their ministries.
