Bible Teaching on Romans 6

April 17, 2024April 17, 2024Leave a comment

Yesterday I taught a group of approximately 15 men for ~45 minutes over lunch at Mimi’s Café in Chandler, Arizona on the subject of Romans chapter 6. The session went very well and we had some great discussion over the 4 embedded questions in the teaching! Below is the content of what I taught (note – starting with end of Romans 5, since the first verses of Romans 6 seem to be referring back to Romans 5):

Romans 5:20-21

20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:1-23

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NASB

Here is where we’re at in the context of Romans:

Chapter 6 is transitioning from the topic of Justification (3:21-5:21) to Sanctification.

Verses 1-2

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

Paul starts by referring back to chapter 5:15-21 and anticipates the objection of his audience by asking a rhetorical question in v1-2: “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” He quickly dispatches that idea, using the phrase “May it never be”:

“May it never be” (me ginomai) is the strongest Greek idiom to indicate repudiation and outraged indignation. It is translated in the KJV as “God forbid” but the Greek does not contain “God”. This expression usually carried the connotation of impossibility. Paul uses this phrase frequently in Romans to denote an instant, even horrified rejection of a conception. (Other uses in Romans 3:4, 6, 31; 6:15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11).

He goes on to explain (by way of another rhetorical question) that it is a contradiction to claim to be dead to sin and yet to continue living in it.

Some professing Christians think that once a person is saved, they can go on living in sin, a belief best known as antinomianism. The origin of the word ‘Antinomian’ (or anti-Law) goes back to the Reformation itself. In fact, it was Martin Luther who coined the word, in a book published in 1539 titled “Against the Antinomians”. In this work, Luther smashed together two Greek words to create a new derogatory nickname: ἀντί (anti ‘against’) + νόμος (nomos ‘the Law’).

1 John 1:6 – If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth

1 John 3:9 – No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Q: What does it mean to practice sin as stated in 1 John 3:9?

However, it is foolish to believe that the Christian can be completely free of sin in this life. The Apostle John states as much in his 1^st epistle:

1 John 1 – 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

It is important to remember that Christians are saved from:

The penalty of sin (justification – at a point in time, when we trust in Christ)
The power of sin (sanctification – over time as we’re conformed to the image of Christ)
The presence of sin (glorification – future state in heaven)

Verses 3-10

3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Paul teaches that, our “old self” has really died (been crucified) with Christ when He died on the cross and we were raised in newness of life with Him when He rose again!

Q: If the old self is dead, why do Christians still struggle with sin?

Though the Greek word for baptized (baptizo) can refer to water baptism that is likely not what is in view here. The following is from James Montgomery Boice:

When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. E.g. Mark 16:16. ‘He that believes and is baptised shall be saved’. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle! Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989.

Verse 11-14

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Though the sanctification process is being enabled by the Holy Spirit, we’re told here to exercise our biblically informed wills to “not let sin reign” in our mortal bodies and to not let sin be our master. Here are a few quotes from John Owen on mortification (killing) of sin:

“It is the Spirit alone who can mortify sin—He is promised to do it, and all other means without Him, are empty and vain. How shall he, then, mortify sin—who has not the Spirit? A man may easier see without eyes, and speak without a tongue—than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit! All attempts to mortify any lust without the Spirit, are vain.”

“Without a sincere and diligent effort in every area of obedience—there will be no successful mortification of any one besetting sin.”

“Sin carries on its war by entangling the affections and drawing them into an alliance against the mind. Grace may be enthroned in the mind, but if sin controls the affections—it has seized a fort from which it will continually assault the soul. Hence, mortification must chiefly be directed to the affections.”

“The vigor, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life—depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh. …Believers … ought to make it their business all their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin. Do you mortify sin—do you make it your daily work? Be killing sin—or it will be killing you.”

The theme of mortification animated Owen’s pastoral heart because killing sin is a necessary tool in our pursuit of communion with God. Owen’s approach does not imply any sort of legalism or negative self-concept, although some have read him that way. On the contrary, he knew that, while God’s love for us, his people, is never contingent upon our faithfulness, our experience of communion with God can be helped or hindered by how we deal with our sins. (Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies at Covenant College)

Verses 15-23

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul summarizes it all in this famous verse that everyone should have memorized!

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Wages” is what we deserve to be paid for our sins – that is death. Note the phrase “in Christ Jesus”, used liberally in Paul’s writings (“in Christ” 85 times). This is critical – the free gift of God is not just eternal life (heaven) for everyone, but “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

A Barna survey explored peoples’ views of Heaven and Hell. 76% of Americans believe that Heaven exists, and 71% believe Hell exists. Only 0.5% of Americans expect to go to Hell upon their death. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) believe they will go to Heaven. One in 20 adults (5%) claim they will come back as another life form, while the same proportion (5%) contend they will simply cease to exist. Nearly half of those who say they are Heaven bound (43%) believe they will go to Heaven because they have “confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.” Others felt they will get to Heaven because “they have tried to obey the 10 Commandments” (15%) or because “they are basically a good person” (15%). Another 6% believed their entrance to Heaven would be based upon the fact that “God loves all people and will not let them perish.”

So most people think there is a Heaven and that they’re going there, whether they’re “in Christ Jesus our Lord” or not. Most believe in Hell, but almost no one thinks they’re going there! This is completely opposite of Jesus’s assessment:

Matthew 7:13-14 – Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Q: Have you talked with any non-Christians who think they’re going to heaven after death?

Verse 23 is used as part of the “Romans Road”. Following is from ChatGPT:

The Romans Road to Salvation is a method used by some Christian evangelists to explain the basic concepts of salvation through a series of verses found in the New Testament book of Romans. The Romans Road typically consists of a sequence of verses that outline key theological points regarding sin, salvation, and faith. The purpose is to present a clear and concise message about how individuals can be saved according to Christian belief.

Here is a typical sequence of verses used in the Romans Road:

Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This verse highlights the universal condition of humanity, emphasizing that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard.
Romans 6:23a: “For the wages of sin is death…” This verse explains the consequence of sin, which is spiritual death or separation from God.
Romans 6:23b: “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Here, the verse contrasts the negative consequence of sin with the positive gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This verse emphasizes God’s love and the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on behalf of humanity, demonstrating God’s willingness to reconcile us to Himself despite our sinfulness.
Romans 10:9: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This verse outlines the response required for salvation: confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in His resurrection.
Romans 10:13: “For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'” This verse assures that salvation is available to all who sincerely call upon the name of Jesus.

The Romans Road provides a systematic way to share the Gospel message, emphasizing humanity’s need for salvation, God’s provision through Jesus Christ, and the response of faith required for salvation. It’s often used in evangelism and personal witnessing to communicate these fundamental truths of the Christian faith.

Q: Do you have a method or way of witnessing to people that you favor?

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

MacArthur Study Bible
Romans 3:5-10 commentary: https://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_35-10
Romans 6:1-3 commentary: https://www.preceptaustin.org/pdf/61416/
What is Antinomianism? https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-is-antinomianism-and-who-teaches-it/
ChatGPT (only regarding the summary of the “Romans Road”)
What is the Romans Road to salvation? https://www.gotquestions.org/Romans-road-salvation.html
Americans Describe Their Views About Life After Death: https://www.barna.com/research/americans-describe-their-views-about-life-after-death/
Bible Study Tools – definition of Baptizo: https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/baptizo.html
On the Mortification of Sin: A Readers Guide to a Christian Classic: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/on-the-mortification-of-sin

Teaching on Ezekiel chapter 44

January 24, 2024Leave a comment

Yesterday, I delivered the following teaching to a group of about 15 men at Mimi’s Café over lunch. It took 45 minutes and we did not cover the appendix.

Ezekiel 44

The Eastern (Closed) Gate

1 Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before Yahweh; he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate and shall go out by the same way.”

4 Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh, and I fell on my face. 5 Then Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, set your heart on and see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of Yahweh and concerning all its laws; and set your heart on the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6 And you shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, 7 when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you brought near My food, the fat and the blood. So they made My covenant void–this in addition to all your abominations.

8 And you have not kept the responsibility of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners as keepers of the responsibility given by Me for My sanctuary.” 9 ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary. 10 But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, shall bear the punishment for their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn against them,” declares Lord Yahweh, “that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity. 13 And they shall not approach Me to minister as a priest to Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bear their dishonor and their abominations which they have done. 14 Yet I will appoint them as keepers of the responsibility for the house, of all its service and of all that shall be done in it.

Ordinances for the Zadokite Levitical Priests

15 “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the responsibility of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to bring near to Me the fat and the blood,” declares Lord Yahweh. 16 “They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and keep the responsibility given by Me. 17 And it will be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18 Linen headdresses shall be on their heads, and linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.

19 And when they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 Also they shall not shave their heads, yet they shall not let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. 22 And they shall not take a widow or a divorced woman as a wife but shall take virgins from the seed of the house of Israel or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

23 Moreover, they shall instruct My people about the difference between the holy and the profane, and make them know the difference between the unclean and the clean. 24 And in a dispute, they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My judgments. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed times and keep My sabbaths holy. 25 But they shall not go to a dead person to make themselves unclean; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may make themselves unclean. 26 And after he is cleansed, seven days shall be counted for him. 27 And on the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall bring near his sin offering,” declares Lord Yahweh.

28 “And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel–I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 And the first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died of itself or has been torn to pieces. LSB

Verses 1-3 – The Eastern Gate

We’re still in Ezekiel’s vision and we come to Chapter 44, let’s re-read verses 1-3:

This chapter starts with the Eastern gate of the sanctuary (temple) being shut. The reason for it being shut is that the LORD has entered through it (note the past tense). Remember that the LORD had departed from that same gate back in chapter 10:

18 Then the glory of Yahweh departed from the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim. 19 When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the house of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.

Now that the LORD has returned, this East gate remains closed for everyone. “The prince” can eat bread in this east gate in the presence of God, though he enters through the vestibule (porch). Here is a map showing Jerusalem during New Testament times:

Some commentators link Ezekiel 44:2-3 to Jesus’s triumphal entry to Jerusalem. They claim that when it says in v2 “for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has entered by it”, that is referring to Jesus. They further speculate that when Suleiman the Magnificent (Sultan, Muslim conqueror) sealed the Eastern gate of Jerusalem in 1543, and later put a cemetery in front of the gate, this fulfilled the prophecy given here in Ezekiel. See appendix for additional information about these topics.

Q: Did Suleiman the Magnificent unknowingly fulfill the prophecy of Ez. 44:2?

My short answer is no. The gate Suleiman sealed is the gate to the city, but the gate spoken of in the passage is the gate to the sanctuary (temple). So, I believe this prophecy will be fulfilled during the millennial reign of Christ on earth and the gate being shut symbolizes the permanent presence of the Lord among His people.

This teaching will be presenting the view of the temple as existing during the millennial reign of Christ, so much of the focus will be on how the aspects of the millennium fit together. Please see the appendix for resources I used in evaluating other views (e.g. Steve Gregg, Derek Thomas, replacement theology, etc).

(See the appendix for add’l information regarding the Eastern gate)

“Millennial Reign of Christ” View of Ezekiel’s Vision in Chapters 40-48

Here are MacArthur’s comments from the introduction to chapter 40:

… this section provides explicit details concerning Christ’s millennial reign which follows, giving more detail about the 1,000 year kingdom than all other OT prophecies put together. It is the “holy of holies” among millennial forecasts. As has been done with the previous 39 chapters, this concluding portion will also be approached in a literal historical manner which best serves the interpreter in all Scripture. In many ways these chapters are the most important in the book since they form the crowning reality, the climax of Ezekiel’s prophecy and Israel’s restoration… chaps 40-48 would then be thought to continue the historical, prophetic pattern, describing the millennial conditions after Messiah comes and destroys the ungodly (Rev. 19:11), under which Israel will live and worship. Believing Gentiles will also be in the kingdom as sheep of the Great Shepherd (Matt. 25:31), while all unbelievers are destroyed.

Who is the prince?

MacArthur notes that “the prince” in v3 cannot be the Messiah because:

He has sins for which he offers sacrifices (45:22)
He has sons (46:16-18)
He cannot enter by the East gate which the LORD used, but he is allowed to come and go by the gate’s vestibule (porch), and eat bread by the gate.
He cannot perform priestly duties (45:19) as the Messiah will (Ps. 110:4; Zech. 6:12-13)
He must worship the LORD (46:2)

Some commentators conclude this “prince” was identified as David chapter 37:

25 They will inhabit the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, which your fathers inhabited; and they will inhabit it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 And I will cut a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will give them the land and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.

MacArthur says in the above passage, David is to be understood as Jesus Christ

MacArthur’s view, as previously stated, is that the temple in Ezekiel’s vision is actually the millennial temple, that God is not done with Israel (they are still His covenant people), that the Abrahamic covenant still stands and is not revoked and that, in the end, the hardening of Israel will be lifted and Israel will realize the error of her ways and will mourn for having rejected Jesus and piercing Him. Key passages below:

This passage describes the Millennium period (1,000 yrs. mentioned 6 times):

Revelation 20:1-7 – Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them.

And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.

Key passage providing NT understanding of God’s covenant people:

Romans 11:25-29 – For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery -so that you will not be wise in your own estimation -that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. NASB

Prophecy concerning Israel’s repentance:

Zechariah 12:10 – I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

Q: Will the Israel always remain as God’s covenant people or are they replaced by the Church? Does the Abrahamic covenant remain in effect forever?

What about the Sacrifices?

MacArthur then anticipates the question of sacrifices in the millennial kingdom. He says:

“They will exist as vv. 40:39-43 indicate, but will be no more efficacious then than they were in the OT times. No sacrifice before or after Christ saves. They only point to Him as the one true Lamb who takes away sin. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial that looks back to Calvary and in no way diminishes the cross. Israel rejected their Messiah, but when they have received Him and are in His kingdom, they will have a memorial of sacrifices that point to Him. They will have missed the memorial of the Lord’s Supper, but will then have their own memorial sacrifices for 1,000 years (during the millennial reign of Christ).”

The Privileges of the Zadokite Line of Priests

MacArthur says: Proper names tie the vision to historical reality, calling for literal interpretation. This Levitical family descended from Levi, Aaron, Eleazar and Phinehas (1 Chron. 6:3-8). In accord with God’s covenant with Phinehas (Nu 25:10-13), and because of Eli’s unfaithfulness (1 Sam 1-2), and Zadok’s faithfulness to David and Solomon (1 Ki 1:32-40), Zadok’s sons serve as priests in the millennial temple (see also 43:19; 44:15 and 48:11).

What about the Size of the Temple? Is It Too Big to Fit on the Temple Mount?

Regarding the size of the temple, he says:

“Much too large for Mt. Moriah, this scheme will require changes in the topography of Jerusalem, as Zechariah predicted (Zech. 14:9-11).”

Zechariah 14:9-11 – And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and inhabit its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. And people will inhabit it, and there will no longer be anything devoted to destruction, for Jerusalem will be inhabited in security.

What about the People Worshiping in the Millennial Temple?

Additionally, MacArthur comments on the people worshiping at this millennial temple:

“The king of Glory claims the millennial temple as His place to dwell. There will be human, unresurrected people in the kingdom, who entered when Christ returned and destroyed all the wicked. They will worship at this actual temple.”

The Second Coming and the Millennial Reign

MacArthur teaches that after the tribulation period (Revelation 16), Christ will come to earth to occupy the throne of David (Matt. 25:31; Lk 1:32-33; 2:29-30) and establish His messianic kingdom for a thousand years on earth (Rev. 20:1-7). During this time, the resurrected saints will reign with Him over Israel and all the nations of the earth (Ezek. 37:21-28). This reign will be preceded by the overthrow of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and by the removal of Satan from the world (Daniel 7:17-27; Rev 20:1-6). He says that the kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel (Isaiah 65:17-25; Ezek. 37:21-28; Zec 8:1-7) to restore them to the land which they forfeited through their disobedience (Deut. 28:15-68). The result of their disobedience was that Israel was temporarily set aside (Matt 21:43; Rom. 11:1-26) but will again be awakened through repentance to enter into the land of blessing (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek 36:22-32; Zech. 12:10; Rom 11:25-29). Furthermore, he says, this time of our Lord’s reign will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness and long life (Isaiah 11; 65:17-25; Ezek 36:33-38), and will be brought to an end with the release of Satan (Rev. 20:7).

Appendix

Jesus, did however enter Jerusalem by the way of the Mount of Olives, which is to the east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron Valley:

Matthew 21:1 – When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives

Additionally, Zechariah prophesies that Messiah will come from East of Jerusalem:

Zechariah 14:3-4 – Then Yahweh will go forth and fight against those nations, as the day when He fights on a day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

Below is a description of this Kingdom out of Isaiah from my study Bible:

In NT, after His resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven from Bethany, at the Mount of Olives (not same location as the Great Commission which was on a mountain in Galilee recorded Matthew 28:16-20):

Luke 24:50-51 – And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

Additionally, the angels announced that Jesus would return that same place:

Acts 1:10-12 – And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

According to a Got Questions article:

“When Jesus entered Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives in Matthew 21, He used a gate in the same location as the current Eastern or Golden Gate.”

The “Golden Gate”, according to the first map in this document, is distinct from the “Gate Beautiful”. The gate called Beautiful is referred to in Acts:

Acts 3:2 – And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.

According to a Wikipedia article on the Golden Gate:

“The Golden Gate or Gate of Mercy (Hebrew: שער הרחמים, romanized: Sha’ar Harahamim, lit. ’Gate of Mercy’^[1][2]; Arabic: باب الذهبي, romanized: Bab al-Dhahabi^[3] or al-Zahabi^[4], lit. ’Golden Gate’) is the only eastern gate of the Temple Mount, and one of only two Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem that used to offer access into the city from the East side.

The gate has been sealed since 1541, the most recent of several sealings. Its interior can be accessed from the Temple Mount.

In Jewish tradition, the Messiah will enter Jerusalem through this gate, coming from the Mount of Olives.^[5][2] Christians and Muslims generally believe that this was the gate through which Jesus entered Jerusalem.”

Chuck Smith (Calvary Chapel), commented that he had often misinterpreted Ezekiel’s vision about the Eastern gate in the past:

I must confess to you that I have often misinterpreted this prophecy. In Jerusalem today, the east gate of the wall of Jerusalem is shut. Often people point to this gate and declare that it is actually a fulfillment of Ezekiel 44:1-31 – that it’s going to be shut until the prince comes to enter through the gate. But the prince here is not, as we so often have thought, Jesus Christ. The prince uses this gate as an entry and exit. But, others come in come from the gates to the north and the south. This gate (spoken of in Ezekiel 44) is not the gate that is called today the Golden Gate on the east wall of the ancient wall of Jerusalem. Rather, it is the gate to the sanctuary. It will be the east gate in the new temple (which God describes to Ezekiel) and thus cannot be that gate towards the east that you find blocked today.

In teaching on Ezekiel 44:2-3 the teacher (John Roloson Sr.) espouses a common view of the Eastern gate that the Messiah (Jesus) entered in through in His triumphal entry (Palm Sunday). He also views the sealing of the gate in 1543 as a direct fulfillment of the prophecy in Ezekiel 44:2-3:

“This is the Eastern gate. Now, when Ezekiel wrote this, the Eastern gate was open and was used regularly to come in and out, as a matter of fact, Jesus entered through the Eastern gate, when they put the palm leaves and cried Hosanna, King of kings and Lord of lords, and so, this is the Eastern gate he’s looking at and here in his vision, it’s shut… So the prophecy was after the Messiah comes in by it, it will be shut up and not opened again, until He comes the last time… Now this is a prophecy that even Jews today recognize in Judaism as a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. Now they would reject Jesus as the Messiah, but they say there is a day when the Messiah will come, and He will enter in by that Eastern gate that is now today, as we speak, sealed up and has been for quite some time. So, the closing of the Golden Gate was prophesied hundreds of years before it actually happened. The Golden Gate is the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, through which Christ made His triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, before the crucifixion. Ezekiel predicted its closing and it was closed. It was closed in 1543 AD, so, almost 2,000 years after Ezekiel’s prophecy the gate was closed. You say, but why was it closed? Well, this is what happened. Suleiman the Great or rather Suleiman the Magnificent, I forgot which prideful title he used exactly, but he was a Muslim conqueror, and he conquered Jerusalem at one point in the 1500s and when he did, he heard these prophecies that the Messiah would come. Because, what did the Jews basically say to their Islam conquerors? They said ‘Just wait, when our King comes back, He’s going to conquer you! And so, your time is short.’ And so, they’ve got these prophecies that He’s going to come in by this Eastern gate, which at that time was open. So, Suleiman, not realizing he was fulfilling prophecy, had the gate ‘bricked up’ so that no one could enter in by it. He says ‘That will stop Him!’ As if the King of kings and the Lord of lords is going to get stopped by a few bricks. This was the concept and idea. It was closed and walled up and, of course, he didn’t know he was fulfilling prophecy. It remains sealed to this day, exactly as the Bible predicted. And it is the oldest gate in the old city walls of Jerusalem. And so the concept, according to Jewish tradition, was that the divine presence would have in the past appeared in this gate and would appear with the Messiah when He comes, so that’s why the gate was sealed up. Not only did he do that, but then, Suleiman, to make sure that the Messiah could not get through the gate, he built a cemetery in front of it, in the belief that the precursor to the Messiah, Elijah the prophet, being a priest, would not be able to come through a cemetery, because it would make him unclean…it’s amazing how much faith in the prophecies he had… Of course, Jesus will enter through that, and no cemetery – He’d just raise ‘em all from the dead anyway – no cemetery and no wall is going to keep Him out, obviously. But a powerful, powerful prophecy in Scripture.”

According to the same Got Questions article from earlier in this document:

“The Eastern Gate was sealed shut in AD 1540–41 by order of Suleiman the Magnificent, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire…to prevent the Jewish Messiah from gaining entrance to Jerusalem. Jewish tradition states that the Messiah will pass through the Eastern Gate when He comes to rule. The Muslim Suleiman was attempting to thwart the Messiah’s plans with sixteen feet of cement. The Eastern Gate has remained sealed for nearly the past 500 years… Some interpret these passages in Ezekiel as references to the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory of the Lord coming into the temple is seen as the triumphal entry (Ezekiel 43:2; Matthew 21:1–11). The command to permanently shut the gate because the Lord has entered it (Ezekiel 44:2) is seen as a prediction of the walling-up of the Eastern Gate by the Muslims in AD 1540. And, finally, the ‘prince’ to whom the gate will be opened (Ezekiel 46:12) is seen as Christ Himself at the second coming—the Prince of Peace will return to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4) and enter Jerusalem by way of the re-opened Eastern Gate. This interpretation is popular and leads to much dramatic speculation about how and when the Eastern Gate will be unsealed. However, there are some textual problems with that interpretation.

First, there is a difficulty in connecting Ezekiel’s ‘gate facing east’ with the Eastern Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. Ezekiel specifically says the gate he saw is ‘the outer gate of the sanctuary’ (Ezekiel 44:1); that is, it’s a gate of the temple court, not a gate of the city.

Second, the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem is not the same one that Jesus rode through in His triumphal entry. The modern Eastern Gate was not constructed until centuries after the time of Christ. The original gate that Nehemiah built (and possibly dating to the time of Solomon) is underground, below the current gate, as documented by archaeologist James Fleming in 1969. It was through the lower gate (now underground) that Jesus would have entered Jerusalem in AD 30.

Third, the temple that Ezekiel sees in chapters 40–47 is not the same temple that Jesus was in, and the Jerusalem he describes is quite different from the Old City of Jerusalem that we know of today. The millennial temple measured in Ezekiel is significantly larger than the temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel, and the Jerusalem of the millennium will have twelve gates, not eight (Ezekiel 48:30–35).

Finally, and most importantly, the “prince” in Ezekiel 44-46 is not the Messiah. Rather, he is the overseer of Jerusalem during the millennial kingdom. He is not Jesus, but he serves under Jesus’ authority. We know that this prince is not the Lord because he must make a sin offering for himself as well as the people: “On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land” (Ezekiel 45:22). Whoever the prince is, he is a man with a sin nature that must be atoned for.

In summary, the ‘gate facing east’ that Ezekiel describes is different from the Eastern Gate visible today in the old wall of Jerusalem. The current (sealed) gate did not exist at the time of Christ, so the Lord never entered it. The location of the earlier Eastern Gate (the one Jesus entered) is below present-day ground level, and it does not agree with the detailed description of the future temple complex as given in Ezekiel 40–42. We surmise, then, that the eastern gate of Ezekiel 44 will be part of the future millennial temple complex. It is yet to be built.

How then do we interpret the coming and going of God’s glory and the closing of the eastern gate in Ezekiel’s prophecy? Like this: the prophet sees the glory of the Lord departing from the temple in chapter 10 because of the gross wickedness of the people—this is the first temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Later, in chapter 43, Ezekiel sees the glory return to the temple—this is the new, enlarged temple of the millennial kingdom. In chapter 44, Ezekiel is told that the eastern temple gate ‘is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it’ (verse 2). In other words, in the millennium the glory of the Lord will not depart from the temple. The avenue of the prior exit (to the east) is blocked, symbolizing the permanent presence of the Lord among His people. The eastern gate will only be opened on the Sabbath and the New Moon to allow for the prince to bring his sacrifices (Ezekiel 46:1–2).”

In Steve Gregg’s article, he evaluates 4 possibilities of what the temple in Ezekiel’s vision could be:

Solomon’s Temple: When Ezekiel saw his vision (573 BC), there was no temple standing in Jerusalem. Solomon’s temple, which had previously stood there, had been destroyed thirteen years earlier by Nebuchadnezzar, when he conquered Jerusalem and deported the citizens to Babylon. This means that Ezekiel was not seeing Solomon’s temple, or any temple that was actually standing at the time.
Zerubbabel’s Temple: This solution seems to be ruled out by the fact that Zerubbabel’s temple ended up being much smaller, and less elaborate, than the one Ezekiel describes. If Ezekiel was prophesying that the temple built by the returning exiles would fit this description, the prophecy failed to come true.
The Church: Some Christian commentators have understood the content of these chapters as an apocalyptic vision, which is best interpreted spiritually. They point out that the church, in the New Testament, is often referred to as God’s “temple” or habitation. Each Christian is a “living stone” (1 Pet. 2:5), built, along with others, “upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20) into a “temple of God” (1 Cor. 3:16). On this view, the features of temple worship—priests, altars, sacrifices, blood rituals—would be seen as pertaining to spiritual, rather than literal, realities, and applied to our worship of God in the present time. In particular, the description of the river, in chapter 47, would seem to support a nonliteral interpretation. If this is the correct view, we would be required either to see many of the tedious details as being either superfluous or as corresponding to spiritual ideas that would be very difficult to identify with confidence.
The Millennial Temple: Ezekiel’s temple will be established after the second coming of Christ and will serve as the worship center for all people during the “millennium.” On this view, the one described as “the prince” is often (though not by MacArthur) identified as Christ Himself, ruling over the millennial kingdom.

In the end, Steve Gregg summarizes Ezekiel’s vision as “that which ‘might have been,’ had the Jewish exiles in Babylon exhibited a more thorough repentance than they did”:

How then are we to understand the temple vision? First, one might reasonably refer to the vision as that which “might have been,” had the Jewish exiles in Babylon exhibited a more thorough repentance than they did. There is an indication that the realization of this vision in Israel’s future was contingent on the people being sufficiently ashamed, or repentant, of their past sins: “Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple” (Ezek. 43:10–11).

The response of the Jews to their opportunity to return and to rebuild their temple was notoriously tepid. Only a small remnant opted even to return to Jerusalem, while the rest were content to remain in Babylon. As a result, the temple they built proved to be inferior to the one that Ezekiel described.

Though the Jews did not meet the conditions to have such a temple as Ezekiel’s, the pattern preserved in these chapters stands as a description of an intended order, which, had it materialized, would have testified, as the tabernacle once did, as a type and shadow of “heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5)—the new order in Jesus Christ. This, we may assume, was the long-term purpose served by the vision.

Summary of the Rest of the Chapter (from BibleHub)

Verses 4-14 – The Levites and Their Duties

God shows Ezekiel the north gate leading to the front of the Temple, where he feels the glory of God. God admonishes the rebellious Israelites and imposes restrictions on the Levites who strayed during Israel’s rebellion. These Levites are demoted to non-priestly duties, such as maintenance and service in the Temple, as a consequence of leading the people astray.

Verses 15-31 – The Zadokite Priests and Their Privileges

The Zadokite priests, descendants of Zadok, who remained faithful during Israel’s rebellion, are given higher duties in the Temple. They are allowed to approach God, offer sacrifices, and hold the office of the priesthood. Specific regulations are laid down for their lifestyle, clothing, and conduct, emphasizing the preservation of their purity and holiness.

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

MacArthur Study Bible notes (MacArthur says Ezekiel’s temple will exist in the millennial kingdom)
Bible Hub
Net Bible notes on Ezekiel 44
Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts
e-Sword – the Sword of the Lord with an electronic edge (free Bible Study software, Version 13.0.0, by Rick Meyers)
Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible
What is the significance of the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem? https://www.gotquestions.org/eastern-gate-Jerusalem.html
Who was Zadok in the Bible? https://www.gotquestions.org/Zadok-in-the-Bible.html
Making Sense of Ezekiel’s Temple Vision (Steve Gregg): https://www.equip.org/articles/making-sense-ezekiels-temple-vision/ (views temple as that which “might have been” had the Jewish exiles in Babylon exhibited a more thorough repentance than they did)
Who is the prince in Ezekiel 46? https://www.gotquestions.org/prince-in-Ezekiel.html
What is the significance of Ezekiel’s temple? https://www.gotquestions.org/Ezekiel-temple.html
Defense of Christianity Pt.2 | Moorhead Baptist Church – John Roloson Sr. (mentions Ezekiel 44:2-3, says the temple will exist in the millennial kingdom): https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/moorheadbaptist/sermons/92181058352/
Golden Gate (Jerusalem): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_(Jerusalem)
David E. Thompson, Texas Corners Bible Church, Kalamazoo, MI (he says this temple will exist in the millennial kingdom) https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=924171156456
Temple Plans – Apocalypse Now? Dr. Derek W. H. Thomas Preaching on Ezekiel 44 (he spiritualizes this temple): https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=672217486164
The Eastern Gate: https://israelmyglory.org/article/the-eastern-gate/
What is the battle of Armageddon? https://www.gotquestions.org/battle-Armageddon.html
Ezekiel 44-48 “The LORD Is There” (Pastor Paul LeBoutillier of Calvary Chapel Ontario, Oregon): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNv1wefT-RY
What is replacement theology / supersessionism / fulfillment theology? https://www.gotquestions.org/replacement-theology.html
Has the church been grafted in Israel’s place? https://www.gotquestions.org/grafted-Israel.html

Ezekiel 9 Bible Lesson

May 12, 2023May 12, 2023Leave a comment

I developed and taught this lesson to ~15 men at Mimi’s Café at Chandler Blvd. & 101 on Tuesday May9th from 11:45 – 12:45.

Ezekiel 9

1 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.

4 The LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. 6 Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple.

7 And He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. 8 As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out saying, “Alas, Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’ 10 But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads.” 11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.” NASB

The Removal of God’s Glory Begins

Ezekiel chapter 9 describes the beginning of God’s glory being withdrawn. No longer would God, dwell among His people Israel in their temple. The chapter ends with the slaying of the unfaithful in the house of Israel and Judah by the death angels visiting God’s wrath upon those who did not have the mark on their foreheads. This wrath of God was stored up by His people as a result of their iniquity since they were involved in detestable idolatry, violence and perversion.

The following charts are giving us an idea of where we’re at in the redemptive history of Israel:

Verse 1-2 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, “Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

All commenters I read say that the 6 men were the “death angels” who will be carrying out His judgments. Angels can appear like men when ministering on earth. For example, in Daniel, we read:

Daniel 9:20-21 – Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.

The “certain man” in v2 was superior to the others. Linen indicates high rank. Many interpreters describe this man as a representation of Christ as mediator. However Steven J. Lawson believes him to be a chief angel or archangel. In either case, this man is responsible for marking and saving those that are the LORD’s from the sword of divine justice (v4). It is a matter of great comfort to all Christians that, in the midst of the destroyers, there is a mediator, who marks out the faithful for protection from God’s wrath.

Verse 3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case.

The Glory of God departs before the destruction of the city and temple. Steven J. Lawson comments:

“…In every generation God’s glory is under attack. But nowhere is this taken by God more seriously than it is in the midst of those who claim His name, and who hold His word, and who, who meet publicly to magnify (supposedly) His name. It is one thing for God’s glory to be defamed in the house of Canaanite deities. It is one thing for God’s glory to be degregated in the house of Egyptian gods and Babylonian idols. But it is something entirely different when God’s glory is denounced in His own house, by His own people, under the guise of His own name. That crosses the line and that goes too far.”

The gradual departure of God from His temple is depicted in stages: the glory resides in the temple’s Most Holy Place, between the wings of the cherubs on each side of the ark of the covenant over the mercy seat, then leaves to the front door (9:3; 10:4), later to the East gate by the outer wall (10:18-19), and finally to the Mount of Olives to the East, having fully departed (11:22-23). The glory will return in the future kingdom of Messiah (43:2-7).

Verse 4 The LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.”

Since God’s departure removed all protection and gave the people over to destruction, it was necessary for the “certain man” to mark for preservation, the righteous who had been faithful to Him. Steven J. Lawson comments:

“This mark is the Hebrew word Tav, which is the name of the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet. And it is used here to identify the elect, it is used here to identify the righteous, and to exempt them from Divine judgment. This is startling. They are to go through – these angelic beings – and mark out the wheat from the tares, to mark out the good fish from the bad fish, to mark out the elect from the non-elect, to mark out the believers from those who merely profess the name of Jehovah God, but who, in reality have never been regenerated by the Spirit of God.”

Those left unmarked were subject to the wrath of God being visited upon them by the death angels (v5)

There are several places in Scripture where God marks people, such as the Passover (Exodus 12:3-13):

…they are each one to take a lamb… Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old… You shall keep it until the 14^th day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. …when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt

Rahab and the scarlet cord in Joshua 2:17-19: The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head.” (ESV)

Revelation 7:2-4 describes those who were penitent being marked and identified for protection:

And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel

And Malachi 3:16-18: Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. “They will be Mine” says the LORD of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

Revelation 13:16-18 describes a mark designating those who are not God’s: And he (the 2nd beast from Rev 13:11) causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

Interesting side-note on Rev. 13:11 from NT scholar Daniel B. Wallace, being interviewed by Lee Strobel in “The Case for the Real Jesus” in challenge #2 “The Bible’s Portrait of Jesus Can’t Be Trusted Because The Church Tampered With The Text”:

“… ‘A manuscript from the 5^th century, however, has the number as 616. Okay, no big deal, since it was only 1 manuscript. But 5 years ago at Oxford they found the earliest manuscript of Revelation chapter 13. It’s from the 3^rd century—and it also says 616.’ ‘Are you sure?’ I asked. ‘I was in Oxford and personally examined the manuscript under a microscope to confirm it for myself. No doubt, it says 616. Now, there’s no doctrinal statement of the church or any Bible college that says the number of the beast must be 666, but it’s interesting, isn’t it?…no cardinal doctrines are affected by any viable variant.’”

Verse 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.

Instructions to the 6 angels to carry out the execution on all those who were not grieved over what was going on in the city. Note, this instruction comes after God’s faithful have been marked for protection.

Verse 6 Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple.

No mercy at all for those who didn’t have the mark. Utterly carries the idea of completely, entirely, wholly. A picture of what God will do with those who don’t have “the mark” of being one of His by faith in Christ… God tells them that the judgment is to begin in the LORD’s sanctuary. This is significant. Steven J. Lawson comments:

“You start where the truth is most known. You start where my glory is most put on display. Had this been you and me, we might’ve started in Egypt or Babylon or the Canaanites, or some place where there are all types of gross atrocities that were substituted as worship for God. But God, whose judgement is infallible, says no, you start with my sanctuary, because unto whom much is given, the same shall be required. (Luke 12:48)”

As Peter says in 1 Peter 4:17:

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God

Jesus reserved His most scathing rebukes for the religious hypocrites, the scribes and Pharisees. For example, Matthew 23:24-28: You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Again, Steven J. Lawson comments: “I would refer you to chapter 8 and what the elders were involved in, at this time, as they were involved in all kinds of gross atrocities hiding in the back chambers of the temple, worshiping the sun, worshipping creeping things, worshipping the creation, rather than the Creator. (Romans 1:25) God says, you begin in the sanctuary. You begin with the men who were in charge of the sanctuary, those men who handled my word, those men who’ve been set apart as spiritual leaders, those men who have represented me in positions of leadership among my people. …they will be the first men to have their throats slit by the wielding sword of God’s judgment. It’s hard to look at these verses and not be reminded that the hottest place in hell is reserved for false prophets and false teachers, who corrupt the word of God and who masquerade as spiritual leaders in the house of God, but who, in reality are unconverted hypocrites, who have the devil’s initials carved into their heart.”

Q: The elders in Israel were hypocrites. How can we be sure we’re not “masquerading” as believers?

Verse 7 And He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city.

This is striking – the extent of the Lord’s anger toward the city, even to the point of defiling the temple with the slain. However, the temple had already been defiled by the elders. Numbers 19:11 says:

The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days.

And later in the chapter – Numbers 19:14, 16: ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days. … Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.

Verse 8 As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out saying, “Alas, Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

Ezekiel is fearfully aroused in prayer because the judgment on Jerusalem and Israel is so vast. God replies that pervasive sin demands thorough judgment (vv9-10), yet comforts him by the report that the faithful had been marked to be spared (v11). Ezekiel’s question is similar to the bargaining of Abraham with the LORD regarding Sodom in Genesis 18:20-26: And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”

Verse 9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’

Steven J. Lawson comments: “It (the iniquity of people) is always very, very great, when compared to the very, very, holiness of God. There is no little sin compared to the holiness of God. But when the sin of idolatry is seen in view of the pristine purity of almighty God, it is very, very great. This word for iniquity means perversity and crookedness. It’s the most prominent word in the Old Testament for wicked conduct.”

Those that were judged were judged for their iniquity because of their idolatry, violence and perversion. They thought the LORD didn’t see, but He was seeing and meticulously keeping track of everything that was going on. Hebrews 4:13 says: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (NIV)

Verse 10 But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads.”

The payback for all they’d done was now coming upon them. Matthew Henry’s commentary on this says:

“If others perish, and we are saved, we must ascribe the difference wholly to the mercy of our God, for we too have deserved wrath. Let us still continue to plead in behalf of others. But where the Lord shows no mercy he does no injustice; he only recompenses men’s ways.”

Verse 11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case reported, saying, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

Of course, the angels always fully obey, not like the Israelites, who were supposed to drive out the inhabitants of the land when they took position of the Promised Land. They’re reaping the results of allowing idolatrous pagans to continue to live in the land and over the hundreds of years to lead them away from the true God into idolatry.

Q: What idols do we have in our lives that we’ve failed to “drive out”?

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

MacArthur Study Bible notes
Bible Hub
Net Bible notes on Ezekiel 9
Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts
e-Sword – the Sword of the Lord with an electronic edge (free Bible Study software, Version 13.0.0, by Rick Meyers)
Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible
Scripture Commentary Ezekiel 9:1-11, by Pastor Ken Wimer, Shreveport Grace Church, Nov. 23, 2022
When God Withdraws His Glory, sermon by Dr. Steven J. Lawson on Ezekiel 9, Mar 8, 2006

Teaching on 1 John 3:11-18

January 15, 2023Leave a comment

I delivered this teaching to a group of about 15 men at Mimi’s Café at 101 & Chandler Blvd. on December 13, 2022

1 John 3:11-18

11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. NASB

1 John Outline according to MacArthur Study Bible:

Identifying tests or marks of a true Christian is the theme that runs all the way through John’s letter:

So, we’re in “Spiral II”, Part 2 of the Moral Test (point 2.b). This section focuses on the “mark” of love. Christians who are genuinely born of God manifest that transformation by means of righteousness and love. We looked at righteousness last week. There we were told that the one who practices righteousness is righteous (v7), while the one who practices sin is of the devil (v8). Then comes the transition to love in v10 – “nor the one who does not love his brother.” When someone claims to be a Christian, someone claims to be in union with Jesus Christ, possessing eternal life. We are instructed here to examine the character of their “love life”, for therein lies the proof of their claim.

This is not the first time that John addresses this, let’s look at a passage from chapter 2:

7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

So John is cycling back to this same subject. This is one of the characteristics of this epistle. He deals with a subject and then he deals with it again and it goes deeper. It’s sort of like screwing truth into our minds – deeper and deeper with every turn.

Christians have been given, in Christ, a capacity to love. It is more than a mandate, it is a capacity. It is more than a capacity, it is a characteristic. That’s why Paul said:

1 Thessalonians 4:9-10a – Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia.

John echoes the same in chapter 4:

1 John 4:7-8 – Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Jesus says that this love for one another is how the world will know that we’re His followers:

John 13:35 – By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

This capacity to love is an evidence of the presence of God, having shed His love abroad in your life (Rom. 5:5), of God having placed His Spirit in you, who is manifestly producing love. This theme of apostolic teaching on loving one another is also reiterated by Peter in his 1^st epistle:

1 Peter 1:22-23 – Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

Love is the litmus test of an authentic relationship with God.

Verse by Verse Exposition

11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another

When John says “from the beginning”, it means since the beginning of the Gospel proclamation they’d heard from the apostles. John is addressing his hearers in the context of false teachers, so, he’s asking them to remember back before they heard the false teachers. Anything that’s new is not true, because the faith was once for all delivered to the saints (as relayed by the Lord’s half-brother Jude):

Jude 3-4 – Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

A short sidebar about “false teachers”. A common claim of false teachers (cults) is that they claim to get a revelation from an angel or some supernatural source. For example:

Mormonism claims to be a restoration of true Christianity, based on revelation Joseph Smith claimed to have received (at age 14 a vision of Jesus Christ and God the Father, and 3 years later from the angel Moroni learning about the existence of the “golden plates”)
Islam claims that Mohamed received a revelation from the Angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years in a cave which became what is now called the Qur’an. He makes claims about Jesus which contradict the Scriptures.
Jesus Calling (popular book by Sarah Young) claims to receive (channeled) new revelation from Jesus

If private revelations agree with Scripture, they are needless. And if they disagree they are false.

– John Owen (1616—1683) – considered by many to be the greatest of the Puritan theologians. He was an English pastor, chaplain and adviser to Oliver Cromwell, and the vice-chancellor of Oxford University.

Q: How do we understand being “led by the Spirit” (Rom 8:14; Gal 5:18), while at the same time, not crossing the line into heresy by claiming to receive private (new) revelations from God?

12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

John refers to Cain, “who was of the evil one”. The Greek word used for evil is ponēros and it means evil in active opposition to good, aggressively evil, fervently evil. There are other words for evil, such as kakos, which means evil in itself. Ponēros goes beyond that – it means evil to the extent that you want to pull everything down with you. It’s one thing to be kakos, to perish in your own corruption. It’s another thing to be ponēros – to sweep everybody down with you. That’s Satan – he is ponēros – he is not content to go down and perish in his own corruption, he wants to take the whole world with him.

Children of the devil manifest their lack of love and evil by behaviors such as anger, leading to murder as in the account of Cain:

Genesis 4:3-8 – So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

The Greek term used in 1 John 3:12 translated “slew” is sphazō which refers to the slaughtering of victims for sacrifice by cutting their throat. It is used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament in Leviticus 1:5 to refer to the slaying of sacrificial animals:

Leviticus 1:5 – He shall slay the young bull before the LORD; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

There’s another word that means to kill, apothnēskō, but John doesn’t use that word. He uses sphazō “to butcher by cutting the throat”. Cain slit his brother’s throat, almost as an act of defiance. It was like he was saying, “Okay, God, You want a sacrifice…” This indicates that Cain knew God wanted a sacrifice and knew how sacrifices were killed. This may have been the only way he knew to kill. As far as the record of Scripture, there’d been just one killing and God slew that one, no doubt, in this fashion. It was God’s revealed way to sacrifice something to Him, an animal.

13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

Scripture records many stories of the persecution of the saints by the world. For example:

Hebrews 11:36-40 – and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

In his gospel, John records these words from Jesus speaking of the world’s hate of His followers:

John 15:18-21 – “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”

And in Mark as well:

Mark 13:13 – You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

The Apostle Paul assures us that we (as he did) will experience persecution if we’re living out godly lives:

2 Timothy 3:12 – Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

So, we need to expect persecution and not be surprised by it.

14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

John expresses assurance of salvation here, not works salvation. Becoming a Christian is a resurrection from death to life, and a turning of hate to love. A lack of love indicates that one is spiritually dead. Love is the sure test of whether someone has experienced the new birth or is still in the darkness of spiritual death. Someone who is characterized by hate has never experienced the new birth.

15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

John is not saying that if someone commits a murder they can never be saved. No, he is saying that if someone continues with a murderous heart, it is evidence they’re not saved. The only difference between murder and hate is the act. The attitude is the same. Maybe you never had an opportunity to do it. You were restrained because of the consequences. But in God’s eyes, hatred is the moral equivalent of murder. You’re not off the hook just because you don’t kill somebody. If you could carry out murder, without negative consequences, there’s every reason to assume that you would do it.

Paul persecuted and ordered the killing of Christians (Acts 8:1; 22:20). He says:

1 Timothy 1:12-14 – I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.

Paul repented and was forgiven. Jeffrey Dahmer, mass murderer, claims to have been saved.

A book (Dark Journey Deep Grace: Jeffrey Dahmer’s Story of Faith) tells the disturbing yet redemptive story of how, by God’s grace, an atheist, pedophile, and mass murderer repented and believed in Jesus Christ. Roy Ratcliff—the erstwhile preacher-turned-prison-minister who baptized Jeffrey Dahmer—discovered through him this deep sense of grace that flies in the face of our compunction to condemn.

Before his death, Dahmer made the following comment to Stone Phillips on the Dateline NBC program, on November 29, 1994 (I would encourage you to watch the video clip linked at the end).

“If a person doesn’t think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing, and I’ve since come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly God, and I believe that I, as well as everyone else, will be accountable to Him.” When asked what contributed to his new accountability, he told his father, “Thanks to you for sending that creation science material.” In the interview Dahmer acknowledges that the evolution theory he once believed in “cheapens life“. He went on to testify to the Lord Jesus Christ being the true Creator and accepting Him as his Savior…

All sinners can be saved. We’re not talking about who can be saved, we’re talking about who is saved. Jesus referred to the higher standard of judgment in this matter in the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:21-22 – You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

John introduces the standard of genuine love. The phrase “He laid down His life for us” is unique to John (John 10:11,15,17,18; 13:37,38; 15:13). Christian love is self-sacrificial and giving. Christ’s giving up His life for believers epitomizes the true nature of Christian love. God calls Christians to that same standard of love for on another as He had for us.

Q: Does laying down your life here mean you have to physically die for others? If not, what does it mean?

17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

True love is not limited to supreme sacrifices, but shows up in lesser ones. Genuine Christian love expresses itself in sacrificial giving to other Christian’s needs (i.e. “his brother”). It is practical love that finds motivation in helping others:

Luke 3:11 – And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.“

1 Timothy 6:17-19 – Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

Hebrews 13:16 – And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

James 2:14-17 – What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

By nature, human love is selfish and conditional. We love those who love us. We love people who are kind to us and who offer some benefit to us. But Jesus taught,

Luke 6:27–33 (HCSB) – …Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either… Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.

God’s love is agape—self-sacrificing and unconditional. Agape kind of love loves those who don’t deserve our love, those who disappoint us, mistreat us, reject us, and even hate us. And agape is only possible when it is born of God in our hearts.

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

MacArthur Study Bible (NASB)
John MacArthur sermon on 1 John 3:11-18: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/62-28
What does it mean that love is of God? https://www.gotquestions.org/love-is-of-God.html
Jesus Calling book by Sarah Young:
1. Lighthouse Trails Newsletter (A SPECIAL “JESUS CALLING” EDITION): https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2014/newsletter20141110.htm
1. Jesus Calling: Channeling A False Christ: https://reasonsforjesus.com/jesus-calling-channeling-a-false-christ/
1. 10 Serious Problems with Jesus Calling: https://www.challies.com/articles/10-serious-problems-with-jesus-calling/
1. Are there any doctrinal problems with Jesus Calling? https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Calling.html
Greg Koukl – Does God Whisper? Is the current emphasis on “hearing” the voice of God is biblically sound? Part 1, 2, 3.
Way of the Master – Video on Latter Day Saints, the Mormon Church: https://youtu.be/MdIcWvyixZU
Jeffrey Dahmer’s Story of Faith, A prison minister who led the mass-murderer to Jesus tells the story. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/september/34.125.html
Jeffrey Dahmer interview with Stone Phillips – 4 minute clip where he talks about his prior belief in evolution and how it cheapens life and testifies about his salvation based on faith in Jesus Christ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCuGLC3FABI

Bible Teaching – John 18 (8-30-2022)

August 31, 20225 Comments

The following teaching was delivered yesterday over lunch at Mimi’s Cafe at Chandler Blvd. & 101 in Chandler, Arizona to a group of approximately 15 men, preceded by prayer and fellowship and accompanied by discussion prompted by questions. The teaching lasted approximately 45 minutes.

John 18:25-40

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” 27 Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. 29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

30 They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.” 31 So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,” 32 to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.

33 Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?”

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” 37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him. 39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?” 40 So they cried out again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber. NASB

Outline

This narrative passage can be divided into 3 sections or topics:

Peter’s denial of Christ
Pilate’s investigation with the Jewish leaders
Pilate’s interrogation of Christ

This passage (v25-27) records the last 2 of Peter’s denials – his first denial is recorded in John 18:17. This was a fulfillment of Jesus’s prophecy given at the last supper (John 13:38; Matt 26:34):

John 13:36-38 – Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.”

Peter was so over-confident in himself, saying that he would lay down his life for Jesus. But here he fell greatly, actually denying Jesus, just as Jesus had predicted. J.C. Ryle comments on this:

If Peter’s fall has made Christians see more clearly their own great weakness and Christ’s great compassion, then Peter’s fall has not been recorded in vain.

Christ’s 6 Trials

28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.

Map of the Events of Christ’s Passion Week

Praetorium in this passage is the headquarters/residence of the Roman military governor (i.e. Pilate). Pilate’s normal headquarters were in Caesarea, in the palace that Herod the Great had built for himself. However, Pilate and his predecessors made it a point to be in Jerusalem during the feasts in order to quell any riots.

“early” is ambiguous. Most likely, it refers to around 6:00 AM, since many Roman officials began their day very early and finished by 10:00 or 11:00 AM.

“be defiled” – Jewish oral law gives evidence that a Jew who entered the dwelling places of Gentiles became ceremonially unclean.

Here the Jews were, committing grievous sin by handing Jesus over to the Romans for execution, yet they were worried about “defiling themselves” by walking into the Praetorium. Jesus was the true Jewish Messiah and an innocent man. They “strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). As Jesus had said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23, they neglected the more important matters of the law (Justice, Mercy, Faithfulness), they should’ve practiced the latter without neglecting the former! So, Pilate asks them what their accusation against Jesus is.

29 Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?”

With the religious phase of the proceedings having concluded in v24, Pilate’s question opened the civil phase of the proceedings against Jesus.

First off, they didn’t really answer Pilate’s question. He asked what their accusation was, but they only answered that “He is an evildoer”. However Pilate, is trying to find out what evidence they have that Jesus is an “evildoer”. They haven’t given any reasons but have only made an unsubstantiated ad-hominem attack.

Also, it is true that the Jews couldn’t put anyone to death on their own (v31). The Romans captured Jerusalem in 63 B.C and began direct rule of Judea through a prefect in 6 A.D. At that time the “right to execute” was taken away from the Jews and given to the Roman governor.

By asking the Romans to execute Jesus, that meant crucifixion (instead of stoning), which was exactly the type of death Jesus said He would die (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32,33) and that was prophesied:

Psalms 22:16 – For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.

Isaiah 53:5 – But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

Zechariah 12:10 – I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

Pilate starts his interrogation of Jesus. He asks Jesus directly if He is the king of the Jews. Jesus initially side-steps the question and wants to know where Pilate got this information from. Pilate’s question to Jesus shows that he must’ve known what the accusation was. The fact that Roman troops were used at the arrest proves that the Jewish authorities communicated something about this case to Pilate in advance.

Note – This passage is contained in the earliest (undisputed) fragment of the New Testament (John Ryland’s fragment – **P52**)

It’s called the John Rylands fragment (because it’s housed in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England). “Scholars date it between A.D. 117–138, but some say it is even earlier. It was found in Egypt – across the Mediterranean from its probable place of composition in Asia Minor – demonstrating that John’s Gospel was copied and had spread quite some distance by the early second century.” 1 side contains part of verses 31-33, on the other part of verses 37-38.

Jesus assures Pilate that He’s not trying to politically displace the Roman emperor, so this is not a legitimate sedition case. Rather, His kingdom is “not of this world”.

Q: What lesson can we learn from Jesus’s statement that His kingdom is not of this world?

Since Jesus referred to His “kingdom”, Pilate tries to get a further explanation by asking Him “so you are a king?” Jesus acknowledges His kingship and goes on to explain one of many reasons He came into the world: “To testify of the truth”. In 2014, I had collected in a blog 30 reasons found in Scripture why Jesus came. Here they are:

To testify to the truth (John 18:37)
To save people from their sins (Mat 1:21)
To fulfill the law (Mat 5:17-18)
To preach (Mark 1:38; Luke 4:18;43)
To serve (Mat 20:28; Mark 10:45)
To give His life as a ransom for many (Mat 20:28; Mark 10:45)
Free prisoners (Luke 4:18)
Heal the blind (Luke 4:18; John 9:39)
Release the oppressed (Luke 4:18)
Fulfill prophecy (Luke 4:21)
To call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32)
To seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10)
To make the Father known (John 1:18)
To take away the sin of the world (John 1:29)
Not to condemn but to save the world (John 3:17)
To speak the words of God (John 3:34)
To do the will of the Father (John 6:39)
That we would have life more abundantly (John 10:10)
To suffer and die on the cross (John 12:27)
To bless us by turning us from our wicked ways (Acts 3:26)
To be a sacrifice of atonement (Rom 3:25; 1 John 4:10)
To be the “last Adam”, a life-giving spirit (1 Cor 15:45)
To become poor so that we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9)
To rescue us from this present evil age (Gal 1:4)
To redeem those under law (Gal 4:5)
To save sinners (1 Tim 1:15)
To take away our sins (1 John 3:5)
To destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8)
That we might live through him (1 John 4:9)
To give us understanding (1 John 5:20)

38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.” 39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?” 40 So they cried out again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.

Pilate gets a little snarky with Jesus by asking “What is truth?” This is reminiscent of our modern times, where people will confidently proclaim that “there is no truth” (and then expect us to believe that as absolute truth).

At this point, Pilate concludes his interrogation of Jesus and goes back out to the Jews and gives his verdict: “I find no guilt in Him”. He attempts to make (what he thought was) a kind gesture to the Jews, he offers to release someone at Passover. Interestingly, when he offers to release Jesus, he does not say “do you wish then that I release for you Jesus of Nazareth”, but instead “do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews”, which I think he knew would infuriate them. So, predictably, they shout for Barabbas the robber to be released, and (spoiler alert) that’s what happens.

Here is a rather famous painting of this scene (though it may be depicting John 19:5 instead):

(Antonio Ciseri’s depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Christ to the people Ecce homo! (Behold the man!). painted in the 19^th century)

Q: What do you think the response of the crowd would’ve been if Pilate said “do you wish then that I release for you Jesus of Nazareth”?

As we consider the immensity of Christ’s sufferings in the trials, the garden, the scourging and flogging and the crucifixion, this quote from J.C. Ryle is very fitting:

The love of Christ to sinners is “a love that passes knowledge.” To suffer for those whom we love, and who are in some sense worthy of our affections, is suffering that we can understand. To submit to ill-treatment quietly, when we have no power to resist, is submission that is both graceful and wise. But to suffer voluntarily, when we a have the power to prevent it, and to suffer for a world of unbelieving and ungodly sinners, unasked and unthanked–this is a line of conduct which passes man’s understanding. Never let us forget that this is the peculiar beauty of Christ’s sufferings, when we read the wondrous story of His cross and passion. He was led away captive, and dragged before the High Priest’s bar, not because He could not help Himself, but because He had set His whole heart on saving sinners, by bearing their sins, by being treated as a sinner, and by being punished in their stead. He was a willing prisoner, that we might be set free. He was willingly arraigned and condemned, that we might be absolved and declared innocent.

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

MacArthur Study Bible (NASB)
J.C. Ryle’s expository thoughts on the gospel of John.
30 Reasons Jesus Came to Earth: https://1peter41216.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/30-reasons-jesus-came-to-earth/
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist (Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, 2004)

Teaching on John 8:31-59

June 3, 2022Leave a comment

I delivered the following teaching to a group of about 15 men on Tuesday May 10th at our weekly Bible study at Mimi’s Café:

John 8:31-59

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?"

34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father."

39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." 48 The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" 49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."

52 The Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.' 53 Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?" 54 Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God'; 55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57 So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. NASB

Verse by Verse

I want us to read a few verses back to get the context of Jesus’ words in v31-32:

28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." 30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

The focus in the passage is upon those who were exercising the beginnings of faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. Jesus desired them to move on in their faith. Saving faith is not fickle but firm and settled. Such maturity expresses itself in full commitment to the truth in Jesus Christ resulting in genuine freedom.

The 1^st step in the progress toward true discipleship is belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah and Son of God. The 2^nd step is Perseverance in obedience to Scripture, which is the fruit or evidence of genuine faith:

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

The word “continue” in v31 means to habitually abide in Jesus’ words. A genuine believer holds fast, obeys, and practices Jesus’ teaching. The one who continues in His teaching has both the Father and the Son (2 John 9; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:26):

2 John 1:9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end

Revelation 2:26 He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS

Real disciples are both learners (the basic meaning of the word) and faithful followers.

The word “truth” in v32 has reference not only to the facts surrounding Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God but also to the teaching that He brought. A genuinely saved and obedient follower of the Lord Jesus will both know divine truth and experience freedom from sin. The divine truth comes not merely by intellectual assent (1 Cor 2:14) but saving commitment to Christ (Titus 1:1-2).

Salvation is not just a one-time decision, but a life-long commitment to continue in His word (not perfectly, but increasingly). However, there is a surviving “free grace movement” (FG) within the evangelical church today which contends that the reformation teaching of justification by faith alone precludes the need for repentance by the believer (repentance being understood as “remorse for sin and an internal resolve to forsake it”). FG believes requiring repentance from new believers is “adding works to faith”. FG employs a kind of fallacious mathematical reasoning when it asks, “How many good works does one have to do in order to be assured of salvation?”, as though such things could be quantified. The biblical answer is, “Some”.[1] The reformers repeatedly and unanimously insisted that justification is by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone – it is always accompanied by good works.

Q: Is a “carnal Christian” really a Christian?

Note the sequence of what Jesus is saying in v31-32 – it is obedience, then knowledge (similar to a statement in the last chapter):

John 7:17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether My teaching comes from God or whether I speak on My own.

In the Jewish way of thinking, obedience is the means of spiritual knowledge.

We should also remember the great commission delivered by Jesus at the end of Matthew’s gospel:

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

In the Great Commission, Jesus directs the 11 disciples (and by implication all future followers) to make disciples, not just believers and to teach them to observe (obey, follow) all that He taught.

33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?"

In reality, the nation of Israel were slaves of the Egyptians:

Exodus 1:11 - So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Of course they were also made subject to Nebuchadnezzar in the Babylonian captivity:

2 Chronicles 36:15-17,20 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy. Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans [Nebuchadnezzar] …; He gave them all into his hand. … Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia

Regarding their being Abraham’s descendants, John the Baptist had addressed this topic with them:

Matthew 3:7-9 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

The ultimate bondage is not political or economic enslavement but spiritual bondage to sin and rebellion against God.

The idea of “commits sin” (v34) means to practice sin habitually. The apostle John also references the topic in his 1^st epistle:

1 John 3:4-9

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Although genuine Christians have a sin disposition, and do commit and need to confess sin, that is not the unbroken pattern of their lives. A genuinely born again believer has a built-in check or guard against habitual sinning due to a new nature (“born of God”). Since Christ died on the cross to transform sinners, those truly born again have replaced the habit of sin with the habit of righteous living. Consider the following quote:

Religion says, “I obey, therefore I am accepted.” Christianity says, “I am accepted, therefore I obey.” – Alistair Begg

35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

While the Jews thought of themselves only as free sons of Abraham, in reality, they were slaves of sin. Those whom Jesus Christ liberates from the tyranny of sin and the bondage of legalism are really free. Paul expounds extensively on these topics in his epistles, here is a sampling:

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

37 I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

Jesus was denying that mere physical lineage was sufficient for salvation. The Apostle Paul echoed that sentiment in recounting his own lineage and lofty attainments as a Jew:

Philippians 3:4-9 Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

Paul’s lineage and attainments were greater than those his opponents (the Judaizers) could claim, but were of no benefit for salvation.

38 I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father." 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.

Jesus calls on them to do the deeds of Abraham. This could be a reference to the events of Genesis 18, where the LORD appeared to Abraham at his tent near the oaks of Mamre. Abraham welcomed the Messenger who came from heaven, but these Jews were not welcoming Jesus, the Messenger from heaven. When the LORD took Abraham outside to look up and said his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, he believed Him (Genesis 15:6), but the Jews did not believe Jesus, God who came down from heaven, when He spoke.

40 But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."

The Jews may well have been referring to the controversy surrounding Jesus’ birth. The Jews knew the story about Mary’s betrothal and that Joseph was not Jesus’ real father; thus they implied that Jesus’ birth was illegitimate (see Mt 1:18-25; Lk 1:26-38):

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

According to John MacArthur sermon (False Assurance of the Religious (John 8:37-47)), here’s the way to diagnose a child of the devil:

Doesn’t believe the truth, doesn’t love Christ.

Here’s the way to diagnose a child of God:

Loves the truth, loves Christ and loves others!

45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?

Jesus challenges them to convict Him of sin. They certainly were looking for any reason to condemn Him and would’ve presented it if they had any evidence of Him committing sin. Yet, they were presented no evidence – just baseless ad-hominem attacks (“you are a Samaritan”, “you have a demon”).

47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."

These “believers” were not true believers – they were not His sheep and therefore could not hear Him:

John 10:27-28 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

They continued with baseless, unfounded, ad-hominem attacks:

48 The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"

They had no substance, so they just resorted to name-calling. The same is going on in the modern day!

49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death."

This is a staggering statement (“if anyone keeps My word he will never see death”). C.S. Lewis comments on Jesus “talking as if He was God” in Mere Christianity:

Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.

Imagine your neighbor making these kinds of claims: I am the first and the last—the self-existing One. Do you need your sins forgiven? I can do it. Do you want to know how to live? I am the light of the world—whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Do you want to know whom you can trust? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Do you have any worries or requests? Pray in my name. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. Do you need access to God the Father? No one comes to the Father except through me. The Father and I are one.

What would you think about your neighbor if he seriously said those things? You certainly wouldn’t say, “Gee, I think he’s a great moral teacher!” No, you’d say this guy is nuts, because he’s definitely claiming to be God. Since Jesus claimed to be God, one of only three possibilities could be true: he was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord (refer to famous C.S. Lewis quote from Mere Christianity).

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57 So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"

58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."

Here Jesus declared Himself to be Yahweh, i.e. the Lord of the OT. Some of the most powerful affirmations of Jesus’ deity are a chain of expressions in John’s gospel known as the “I am” statements. Each of these phrases employs the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush – “I AM” (Ex. 3:14). Jesus applied that name to Himself in a series of prominent declarations: “I am the bread of life” (6:35). “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven” (6:51). “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5). “I am the door of the sheep” (10:7). “I am the good shepherd” (10:11). “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (14:6). And the stunning, inescapable affirmation of deity, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (8:58). Jesus’ stature as the great I AM of the OT was essential to His role as Savior. Those who refuse to acknowledge Him for who He is cannot be saved: “Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins” (8:24). This set up an extremely difficult barrier for Pharisees. They understood that He was claiming authority over their greatest patriarchs and prophets (8:53). Indeed He was claiming equality with God and the ramifications of that they could not accept. Therefore Jesus warned them, they would die in their sins (8:24).

Q: What statement or act of Jesus is the most explicit declaration of His Deity?

59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

The Jews understood Jesus’ claim and were ready to punish Jesus for blasphemy:

Leviticus 24:16 Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

MacArthur Study Bible (NASB)
MacArthur sermons:
1. The Freedom of True Discipleship (John 8:31-36) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM5x0_Bvzzo
2. False Assurance of the Religious (John 8:37-47) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBLkSJVfg1Q https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/43-47/false-assurance-of-the-religious
3. Jesus Provokes His Enemies (John 8:48-59): http://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/43-48
How “Free Grace” Theology Diminishes the Gospel: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/free-grace-theology/
“Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel (by Wayne Grudem): https://www.amazon.com/Free-Grace-Theology-Diminishes-Gospel/dp/1433551144/
Salvation without Repentance from Sin? A Critique of the “Free Grace” Gospel – Nov. 21, 2014: ETS Annual Meeting, San Diego, California – Wayne Grudem’s notes (http://www.waynegrudem.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Salvation-w-o-repentance-ETS-paper-11-21-14.docx)
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist (Norman Geisler and Frank Turek)
The Gospel According to Jesus: What is Authentic Faith (John MacArthur)

[1] Adapted from the Gospel Coalition review of Wayne Grudem’s book “Free Grace” Theology: 5 Ways It Diminishes the Gospel

Luke 21 Bible Teaching

October 31, 2021October 31, 2021Leave a comment

I plan to deliver this teaching Tuesday November 2nd to a group of about 15-20 men over lunch:

Luke 21:1-38

1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. 3 And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; 4 for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.”

5 And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, 6 “As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.” 7 They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”

8 And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. 9 When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.” 10 Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, 11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. 13 It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; 15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

16 But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

25 There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29 Then He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

34 Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36 But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

37 Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet. 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him. NASB

Now let’s go through this section by section:

Jesus notices what we contribute to the work of God in the world, whether it be time, talent or treasure, He notices.

Regarding v6, R.C. Sproul says:

Jesus had just uttered THE most astonishing prophecy recorded of all time! He says, “Do you realize how radical that prediction was? “ This temple (Herod’s temple) was majestic! The most glorious building on the face of the earth (at that time):

Its “vastness” – 1,000 feet square. Herod chose single stones quarried that were 67 feet long, 7 feet high, 9 feet wide, made of pure white marble!
He adorned the building with jewels and gold. The outer portion of the temple was covered with layers/sheets of gold. It was so brilliant that when the sun came up, people couldn’t look directly at the walls of the temple, otherwise they would be blinded – they had to look away.

This building was one of the wonders of the ancient world. Jerusalem the city and its temple were considered to be “impregnable”. In the eyes of the Jewish people, these were completely and totally indestructible, but Jesus said they were going away, ending in desolation and destruction when God responds to the unbelief of His people and visits His people in what Luke calls “the days of vengeance” (v22). When Jesus said that, no one could believe it. Yet, if there’s anything that proves the truth of the Bible and the truth of Jesus’s claims, it would be this singular prophecy that was fulfilled in 70AD when the Romans came and annihilated Jerusalem and the temple.

Of course there have been many failed predictions given about the end of the world or the return of Christ by false prophets. For example:

In 2001, Harold Camping claimed that the Rapture and Judgment Day would occur on May 21, 2011, and predicted the end of the world would arrive in five months later, on October 21, 2011.

12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.

This happened when Paul appeared before Felix, Agrippa and Festus in the book of Acts:

Acts 23:24 – Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.

Acts 24:24-27 – Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him. When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Acts 26:1-3 – Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.”

Acts 26:24-25 – At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable.”

13 It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.

R.C. Sproul once said, “Your personal testimony, however meaningful it is, is not the Gospel.”

14 So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; 15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

Let’s be clear that v14 isn’t saying we’re to avoid preparation to defend our faith (apologetics). Peter makes it clear in his 1^st epistle that we are to “always” be prepared to make a defense for what we believe:

1 Peter 3:15 – but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect

Peter’s instruction here is given to all believers. The phrase “being prepared” (Hetoimos) indicates study, preparation and readiness ahead of time for any possible encounter the Lord may bring our way. The word “reason” in this verse is the Greek word “Logos”. With respect to speech or discourse, Logos can mean an “aphorism, a weighty saying, reason, the faculty of thinking, skill and practice in speaking”.

Since we know from the clear passage in 1^st Peter that we are supposed to be prepared to defend our faith, it is clear that Jesus was not telling us not to prepare to defend our faith. He was telling the disciples (and believers after them), who would be facing persecution, not to prepare beforehand to defend themselves, but rather to let the Lord supply them with the words they will say at the time.

16 But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name.

Jesus warns the disciples (and believers after them) they were going to face severe persecution and even death – most did… Here is a graphic summarizing the fate of the disciples:

18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Q: Considering the fate of the disciples depicted above, how can vv18-19 be accurate? (See Resource #10 at end)

20 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; 22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

From R.C. Sproul: That critical word there – until – means, “up to this point”, then it stops. Jesus is saying this – the city will be destroyed, the temple will be destroyed, the Jewish people will be sent into dispersion throughout all the world until a point in time where that vengeance will end.

From J.C. Ryle: If the hardy Roman soldiers “became as dead men,” when an angel rolled the stone away and Christ rose again — then how much greater will the terror be when Christ shall return to judge the world. No wonder that Paul said, “Knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men.” The thoughtless and impenitent man may well tremble, when he hears of this second coming of Christ. What will he do when worldly business is suddenly stopped, and the precious things of the world are made worthless? What will he do when the graves on every side are opening, and the trumpet is summoning men to judgment? What will he do when that same Jesus whose Gospel he has so shamefully neglected — shall appear in the clouds of Heaven, and put down every enemy under His feet? Surely he will call on the rocks to fall on him, and on the hills to cover him. (Hosea 10:8.) But he will call in vain for help, if he has never called on Christ before. Happy will they be in that day — who have fled beforehand from the wrath to come, and been washed in the blood of the Lamb!

From R.C. Sproul: He points out how emphatic verse 32 is, saying this statement is “problematic”. Bertrand Russell quoted this passage in his little book, “Why I’m Not a Christian”, in which he said that among those things that Jesus predicted in this passage were:

The destruction of Jerusalem, which certainly had taken place
The destruction of the temple, which certainly had taken place
The dispersion of the Jews, which certainly had taken place
Jesus’ prediction of His own return (Jesus said that He would return within that generation)

Bertrand Russell says this proves that Jesus was wrong – though He did some good guessing, & some extraordinary predictions, but His prophecy failed, the Bible failed, & therefore, cannot be trusted.

R.C. Sproul vs. John MacArthur on v32 and Eschatology

R.C. Sproul is identified by commentators (and R.C. himself) as a limited/partial/moderate “preterist”:

R.C. says that the word “generation” (v32) can mean more than one thing, such as a type of person – Jesus uses the phrase “a wicked and perverse generation”. Many commentators conclude that there will be unbelieving, wicked and perverse “generation” of people until the time of Christ’s return.

Also, the “generation” that was contemporary with Jesus was described as wicked, because they rejected Him. As Scripture says, “He came to His own and His own received Him not” (John 1:11).

However, the word generation in Scripture does not typically refer to a type of person, but rather to an age group – typically about 40 years. According to this definition, Jesus is saying that all the events described in vv20-27 will be fulfilled while the current generation (in 1^st century Palestine) is still alive.

In the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus speaks about the coming of the Son of Man:

Matthew 24:36-39 – But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Some try to get Jesus “off the hook” by saying He really didn’t predict a timeframe for His return.

R.C. Sproul doesn’t think Jesus was talking about His ultimate 2^nd coming. Rather, He was talking about the “days of vengeance” (v22), His coming in judgment on the nation of Israel. That was fulfilled “on steroids” in 70AD. This was when the “age of the Gentiles” began, where the church was now established, not simply as a Jewish community, but was expanded to the whole world. He says there were astronomical signs in 70AD. According to Josephus, people looked into the sky and saw chariots in the air and heard voices out of the heavens saying “We are departing, hence”:

“Indeed, what I am about to relate would, I imagine, have been deemed a fable, were it not for the narratives of eyewitnesses and for the subsequent calamities which deserved to be so signalized. For before sunset, throughout all parts of the country, chariots were seen in the air and armed battalions hurtling through the clouds and encompassing the cities. Moreover, at the feast which is called Pentecost, the priests on entering the inner court of the temple by night, as their custom was in the discharge of their ministrations, reported that they were conscious, first of a commotion and a din, and after that of a voice as of a host, ‘We are departing hence’.”

John MacArthur lists several (incorrect) views on what “this generation” means in verse 32:

The events describe what happened in 70AD and the people of “this generation” are either His disciples OR all the people alive in Jerusalem at that time
The Jewish race – the view says that the Jewish race will survive until the end and the return of the Messiah.
The generation that sees Israel re-established as a nation, which occurred in 1948 (Hal Lindsey – the Late Great Planet Earth)

He says those are wrong. He says the answer is very simple. “This generation” means the generation that sees all those things talked about in the passage. The antecedent of “this” is the “you” in verse 31, which refers to the people alive at the time when all the signs described in vv20-27 are happening. They who see the signs will be alive when the Son of Man returns at the end of the great tribulation. To be clear, according to MacArthur, since the church will be raptured before the great tribulation, “this generation” referred to in v32 will be those that are converted during the great evangelistic effort after the church is gone. If they survive the persecution, they will see the King come and establish His kingdom. MacArthur then goes on to describe his reasons for holding to the view of a pre-trib rapture:

The Church in Revelation:
1. Rev. 1, 2, 3 are heavy on the church, but after chapter 3, no reference to the church
1. In Revelation 4-5, the 24 elders (Rev 4:4) are best understood as the glorified church in heaven (one reason given is that they have crowns, which are promised to the church)
1. Tribulation breaks out on earth in Revelation 6
1. Revelation 19, Christ comes back w/ saints “…clothed in white and fine linen”
No warnings/instruction given to church how to endure the great tribulation
The Rapture defined in 3 places – church taken to heaven, Christ doesn’t come to earth:
1. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
1. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:11
1. John 14:1-3
Revelation 3:10 contains a promise to the church:
Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

According to John MacArthur:

Only those who know Him will be taken to heaven (in the Rapture). It could happen at any moment. It is a signless, imminent event. It is the next thing; no signs necessary.

Jesus goes on to instruct His followers how to live, in light of all the weighty prophecies He’d just delivered to them:

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

MacArthur Study Bible
John MacArthur sermon “The Final Generation of the Future Judgment” (Luke 21:29-33): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbdRgl-JH0o
Other MacArthur sermons on Luke 21:
1. The Terrors of the Great Tribulation, Part 1 (Luke 21:20-24) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItrOporfMG8
1. The Terrors of the Great Tribulation, Part 2 (Luke 21:20-24) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjUG5aArz1g
1. Celestial Signs of the Coming Savior (Luke 21:25-26) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5721kFg2xQ
R.C. Sproul sermons on Luke 21 from ligonier.org: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/sermons/generation-will-not-pass-away https://www.ligonier.org/learn/sermons/destruction-jerusalem
J.C. Ryle’s Commentary on Luke 21: https://gracegems.org/Ryle/l21.htm
Top End Time Predictions And Return Of Jesus That Failed: https://www.booboone.com/end-time-predictions-and-return-of-jesus/
What Happened to the Apostles and Where are Their Remains Today? https://catholic-link.org/images/infographic-what-happened-to-the-apostles-and/
Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled? Thomas D. Ice – https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&context=pretrib_arch
The 7 Signs of Josephus Reveal End Time Destruction: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/2018/02/7-signs-josephus-reveal-end-times-destruction/
https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/28869/how-does-one-reconcile-luke-2116-18
Bible Hub commentary on Luke 21:18: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/21-18.htm

Bible Teaching on Luke 12:33-50

August 7, 2021August 7, 2021Leave a comment

The following teaching was given on Tuesday July 13th 2021 to a group of about 15 men while eating lunch at Mimi’s Café

We will be reading from J.C. Ryle’s commentary on Luke chapter 12.

33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

35 Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. 36 Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.

37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. 38 Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 40 You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

Let us mark—what a striking exhortation these verses contain to seek treasure in Heaven. “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.” But this is not all. A mighty, heart-searching principle is laid down to enforce the exhortation. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.“

The language of this charge is doubtless somewhat figurative. Yet the meaning of it is clear and unmistakable. We are to sell—to give up anything, and deny ourselves anything—which stands in the way of our soul’s salvation. We are to give—to show charity and kindness to everyone—and to be more ready to spend our money in relieving others, than to hoard it for our own selfish purposes. We are to provide ourselves treasures in Heaven—to make sure that our names are in the book of life—to lay hold of eternal life.

This is true wisdom. This is real prudence. The man who does well for himself—is the man who gives up everything for Christ’s sake. “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He makes the best of bargains. He carries his cross for a few years in this world—and in the world to come, has everlasting life. He obtains the best of possessions. He carries his riches with him beyond the grave. He is rich in grace here—and he is rich in glory hereafter. And, best of all, what he obtains by faith in Christ—he never loses. It is “that good part which can never be taken away.” (Luke 10:42)

Let us see whether we have treasure in Heaven—or whether all our good things are here upon earth. Would we like to know what our treasure is? Then let us ask ourselves—what we love the most. This is the true test of character. This is the pulse of our religion. Though what we say and profess is important (Matthew 12:36-37), what we most love reveals the true condition of our hearts (Matthew 12:34)? What are our affections set on? These are the great questions. “Where our treasure is—there will our hearts be also.“

Q: Is saving for retirement a violation of the principal (keeping our treasure in heaven) given by our Lord?

Let us mark—what an instructive picture these verses contain of the frame of mind which the true Christian should endeavor to keep up. Our Lord tells us that we ought to be “like men who wait for their Master.” We ought to live like servants who expect their Master’s return—fulfilling our duties, and doing nothing which we would not like to be found doing when Christ comes again.

The standard of life which our Lord has set up here, is an exceedingly high one—so high, indeed, that many Christians are apt to flinch from it, and feel cast down. Yet there is nothing here which ought to make a believer afraid. Readiness for the return of Christ to this world, implies nothing which is impossible and unattainable. It requires no angelic perfection. It does not require a man to forsake his family, or retire into solitude. It requires nothing more than a life of repentance, faith and holiness.

The man who is living a life of faith in the Son of God—is the man whose “loins are girded,” and whose “light is burning.” Such a man may have the care of kingdoms on him, like Daniel—or be a servant in a Nero’s household, like some in Paul’s time. All this matters nothing. If he lives looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)—then he is a servant who can “immediately open the door to Him.” Surely it is not too much to ask Christians to be men of this kind. Surely there was a reason why our Lord said, “You must be ready—because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him!“

Are we ourselves living as if we were ready for the second coming of Christ? It would be well if this question were put to our consciences more frequently. It might keep us back from many a false step in our daily life. It might prevent many a backsliding. The true Christian should not only believe in Christ, and love Christ—he should also look and long for Christ’s second coming. If he cannot say from his heart, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)—then there must be something wrong about his soul.

Q: How do we “live as if we were ready for the second coming of Christ”?

41 Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

44 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

47 And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

We learn firstly from these verses—the importance of doing, in our Christianity. Our Lord is speaking of His own second coming. He is comparing His disciples to servants waiting for their master’s return, who have each their own work to do during His absence. “Blessed,” He says, “is that slave [Doulos] whom his master finds so doing when he comes.“

The warning has doubtless a primary reference to ministers of the Gospel. They are the stewards of God’s mysteries, who are specially bound to be found “doing” when Christ comes again. But the words contain a further lesson which all Christians would do well to consider. That lesson is the immense importance of a working, practical, diligent, useful religion.

The lesson is one which is greatly needed in the churches of Christ. We hear a great deal about people’s intentions, and hopes, and wishes, and feelings, and professions. It would be better if we could hear more about people’s practice. It is not the servant who is found wishing and professing—but the servant who is found “doing” whom Jesus calls “blessed.“

The lesson is one which many, unhappily, shrink from giving—and many more shrink from receiving. We are gravely told that to talk of “working,” and “doing,” is ‘legalistic’, and brings Christians into bondage! However, the passage is not about justification—but about sanctification; not about saving faith—but about holiness of life. The point is not what a man should do to be saved—but what a saved man ought to do! A saved man ought to be “careful to maintain good works.” (Titus 3:8) The desire of a true Christian ought to be to be found “doing.“

If we love life—then let us resolve by God’s help, to be “doing” Christians. This is to be like Christ—He “went about doing good.” (Acts 10:38.) This is to be like the apostles—they were men of deeds even more than of words. This is to glorify God, “Herein is my Father glorified—that you bear much fruit.” (John 15:8.) This is to be useful to the world, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16.).

Q: It has been said that some Christians are “so heavenly minded”, they are of “no earthly good”. How do we balance “setting our minds on things above” (Col. 3:2) with being “doing” Christians, who are “careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8)?

We learn, secondly, from these verses—the dreadful danger of those who neglect the duties of their calling. Of such our Lord declares, that they shall be “cut in pieces, and their portion appointed with the unbelievers.” These words no doubt apply especially to the ministers and teachers of the Gospel. Yet we must not flatter ourselves that they are confined to them only. They are probably meant to convey a lesson to all who fill offices of high responsibility. It is a striking fact that when Peter says at the beginning of the passage, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?“—our Lord gives him no answer. Whoever occupies a position of trust, and neglects his duties—would do well to ponder this passage, and learn wisdom.

The language which our Lord Jesus uses about slothful and unfaithful servants, is particularly severe. Few places in the Gospels contain such strong expressions as this. The same loving Savior who holds out mercy to the penitent and believing—never shrinks from holding up the judgments of God against those who despise His counsel.

Let no man deceive us on this subject. There is a Hell for one who continues on in his wickedness—no less than a Heaven for the true believer in Jesus. There is such a thing as “the wrath of the Lamb!” (Revelation 6:16.)

Let us strive to live so that whenever the heavenly Master comes, we may be found ready to receive Him. Let us watch our hearts with a godly jealousy (Proverbs 4:23), and beware of the least symptom of unreadiness for the Lord’s appearing. Especially let us beware of any rising disposition to lower our standard of Christian holiness—to dislike people who are more spiritually-minded than ourselves—and to conform to the world (Romans 12:2). The moment we detect such a disposition in our hearts—we may be sure that our souls are in great peril! The professing Christian who begins to persecute God’s people, and to take pleasure in worldly society—is on the high road to eternal ruin!

Q: In what tangible ways can we live so that whenever Christ returns, “we may be found ready to receive Him”?

We learn, lastly, from these verses—that the greater a man’s religious light is, the greater is his guilt if he is not converted. The servant which “knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes” and “from everyone who has been given much, much will be required“.

The lesson of these words is one of wide application. It demands the attention of many classes. It should come home to the conscience of every professing Christian (keep in mind that not all professing Christians are actually Christians). His judgment shall be far more strict, than that of the heathen who never saw the Bible.

It should come home to every hearer of the Gospel. If he remains unconverted—then he is far more guilty than the inhabitant of some dark land, who never hears any teaching but a sort of semi-heathen morality.

It should come home to every child in Christian families. All such are far more blameworthy, in God’s sight—than those who live in houses where there is no honor paid to the Word of God and prayer. Let these things never be forgotten. Our judgment at the last day—will be according to our light and opportunities.

John MacArthur comments on this passage: “The degree of punishment is commensurate with the extent to which the unfaithful behavior was willful. Note that ignorance is, nonetheless, no excuse. That there will be varying degrees of punishment in hell is clearly taught” in the following:

Matt 10:15 – Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

Matt 11 – 22 “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. 24 Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Hebrews 10:29 – How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

What are we doing with our religious knowledge? Are we using it wisely, and turning it to good account? Or are we content with secretly flattering ourselves that the mere knowledge of our Lord’s will makes us better than others (while that will is not done)?

Let us beware of eternal mistakes! The day will come, when unused knowledge will be found the most perilous of possessions. Thousands will awake to find that they are in a lower place in Hell, than the most ignorant and idolatrous heathen. Their knowledge not used, and their light not followed—will only add to their condemnation.

49 I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!“

We learn for one thing from these verses—how thoroughly the heart of Christ was set on finishing the work which He came into the world to do. He says, “I have a baptism to undergo“—a baptism of suffering, of wounds, of agony, of blood, and of death! Yet none of these things stopped Him. He adds, “How distressed I am until it is accomplished!” The prospect of coming trouble, did not deter Him for a moment.

He was ready and willing to endure all things—in order to provide eternal redemption for His people. Zeal for the cause He had taken in hand—was like a burning fire within Him. To advance His Father’s glory, to open the door of life to a lost world, to provide a fountain for all sin and impurity by the sacrifice of Himself—were continually the uppermost thoughts of His mind. He was distressed in spirit—until this mighty work was finished.

Forever let us bear in mind that all Christ’s sufferings on our behalf—were endured willingly, voluntarily, and of His own free choice. They were not submitted to patiently merely because He could not avoid them. He lived a sinless life for thirty-three years—simply because He loved to do His Father’s will (John 4:32-34; 6:38).

He died an agonizing death—with a willing and a ready mind. Both in life and death, He was carrying out the eternal counsel—whereby God was to be glorified and sinners were to be saved. He carried it out with all His heart—as mighty as the struggle was, which it entailed upon His flesh and blood. He delighted to do God’s will. He was distressed until it was accomplished.

Let us not doubt that (now in Heaven) the heart of Christ is the same that it was when He was upon earth. He feels as deep an interest now about the salvation of sinners as He did formerly about dying in their stead. Jesus never changes. He is the same yesterday, and today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

There is in Him—an infinite willingness to receive, pardon, justify, and deliver the souls of men from the wrath of God and from Hell. Let us strive to realize that willingness, and learn to believe it without doubting, and rest in His grace. It is a certain fact, if men would only believe it—that Christ is far more willing to save us, than we are to be saved.

Let the zeal of our Lord and Master, be an example to all His people. Let the recollection of His burning readiness to die for us—be like a glowing coal in our memories, and constrain us to live to Him, and not to ourselves (Luke 9:23-24). Surely the thought of it should awaken our sleeping hearts, and warm our cold affections, and make us anxious to redeem the time (Eph. 5:16), and do something for His glory. A zealous Savior—ought to have zealous disciples!

Revelation 3:19: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Q: What does a “zealous” Christian life look like?

References

This teaching was taken from https://gracegems.org/Ryle/l12.htm which is J.C. Ryle’s (19^th century) free on-line commentary on Luke.

Also, some commentary was taken from the MacArthur study Bible notes.

Bible Teaching on Luke 5:1-16

March 13, 2021March 14, 2021Leave a comment

This coming Tuesday, I plan to give the following teaching to a group of about 15 men. The first part of it draws heavily on concepts and content from the book “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” (chapters 8 & 9)

Luke 5:1-16

1 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.

4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.“

11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. 12 While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. NASB

The Plausibility of Miracles

Luke 5:1-16 gives the account of 2 miraculous signs performed by Jesus in the presence of His disciples and many other witnesses. The miraculous catch of fish (v4-10) and the healing of the leper (v12-15).

Atheism / Naturalism

The atheistic worldview asserts that only the natural, material world exists. According to atheists, miracles are impossible because there is no supernatural realm. According to them, to believe otherwise is to believe in fairy tales. However, if God exists and created the universe (inferred from many lines of evidence), it is reasonable to believe that He can intervene in the natural world He created. With regard to the Bible, if Genesis 1:1 is true – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (we have good evidence to believe it is) – then every other miracle in the Bible is easy to believe. Can a God who created the entire universe out of nothing part the Red Sea? Bring fire down from heaven? Keep a man safe in a great fish for three days? Accurately predict future events? Turn water into wine? Heal diseases instantaneously? Raise the dead? Of course. All of those miraculous events are simple tasks for an infinitely powerful Being who created the universe in the first place.

As C. S. Lewis put it, “If we admit God, must we admit Miracle? Indeed, indeed, you have no security against it. That is the bargain.”

David Hume’s Argument against Miracles

David Hume was a famous and influential skeptic who lived in the 1700s. His argument against miracles is one of the pillars of the so-called Enlightenment. Here is Hume’s argument against miracles:

Premise 1: Natural law is by definition a description of a regular occurrence.
Premise 2: A miracle is by definition a rare occurrence.
Premise 3: The evidence for the regular is always greater than that for the rare.
Premise 4: A wise man always bases his belief on the greater evidence.
Conclusion: Therefore, a wise man should never believe in miracles.

If those four premises are true, then the conclusion necessarily follows – the wise man should never believe in miracles. Unfortunately for Hume, the argument has a false premise—premise 3 is not necessarily true. The evidence for the “regular” is not always greater than that for the “rare”. Here are some examples:

A hole-in-one: A hole-in-one is a rare event, but when we witness one we have no trouble believing it. We don’t say to the golfer, “Since the evidence for the regular is always greater than that for the rare, I’m not going to believe your shot unless you can tee it up and do it five times in a row!”
Winning the Lottery: A winning lottery ticket provides evidence that a certain person (improbably) won the lottery no matter how regularly that person had failed to win in the past.
The birth of every person: Each person is only born once (physically), which is a rare occurrence.

So, the 3^rd premise of Hume’s argument against miracles must be disregarded. If Hume really believed in that premise, he would not have believed in his own birth! Hume rules out belief in miracles in advance because he believes there is uniform experience against them.

C.S. Lewis again is insightful here as he comments on Hume:

“Now of course we must agree with Hume that if there is absolutely ‘uniform experience’ against miracles, if in other words they have never happened, why then they never have. Unfortunately we know the experience against them to be uniform only if we know that all the reports of them are false. And we can know all the reports to be false only if we know already that miracles have never occurred. In fact, we are arguing in a circle.” from Miracles (1972), pg. 105

So, Hume is committing the fallacy of begging the question – assuming what he’s trying to prove.

Thomas Jefferson

In 1820, Thomas Jefferson used a razor and glue to cut and paste (literally) selected verses from a 1794 bilingual Latin/Greek version of the Bible. He called it “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”. Jesus’s miracles and most supernatural events are not included in Jefferson’s heavily edited compilation.

Categories of unusual events

As we consider Luke 5:1-16, let’s keep in mind the different types of unusual events that can occur:

Take note that there is a difference between the last 2: Providence and Miracles. An example of providence may’ve been the fog at Normandy during the Allied invasion June 6^th 1944 (D-Day):

It could be an example of providence because it helped conceal the Allied attack against the evil Nazi regime. It was not necessarily a miracle, because it could be explained by natural laws, however God may’ve providentially acted through weather conditions to accomplish His will (similar to Jesus’s death – see Acts 2:22-24). By contrast, a miracle would be something like bullets bouncing off the chests of soldiers as they assaulted the beach, which could not be explained by any natural laws (of physics).

Objection: No Miracles Happening Today?

Some people object, “If there are no public miracles happening today, then why should we think they happened in the past?” There’s a common misconception behind this question. It’s the belief that the Bible is filled with miracles that occur continually throughout biblical history. That’s only partially true. It is true that the Bible is filled with miracles (about 250 occasions of them). But many of those miracles occur during the lifetimes of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus and the apostles. Why then? Because those were the times when God was confirming new truth (revelation) and new messengers with that truth. This is not to say that God cannot do miracles today, or that He never does. As the sovereign Creator and sustainer of the universe, He can do a miracle anytime He wants. In fact, there is a 2 volume book “Miracles” by Craig Keener that documents numerous modern reports of miracles.

Q: As you share your faith with those around you, does the “implausibility” of miracles ever come up?

Verse 1

1 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret

As happened many times in the early ministry of Jesus crowds were around him, and the Word of God was being preached to these crowds.

Verses 2-3

2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.

Simon was a fisherman and owned a boat, which Christ used to separate Himself from the crowd so that He could teach them. Christ undoubtedly was a wise teacher and many religions acknowledge that (e.g. Judaism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam, Bahá’í, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age Movement). However, only Biblical Christianity understands Christ in His true nature. He was and is:

Uncreated (John 1:1-3; 8:58; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 1:8)
God in human flesh (John 1:14; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 3:16)
King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16)
Lamb of God (Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29; 1:36; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5-7; 12-15; 17; 19; 21; 22)
The Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5)
The Messiah/the Christ (John 4:25-26; 17:3; Mark 14:61-62; Luke 24:13-27)
The one and only Son of God (Matt. 16:16; 26:63-64)
The Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14; Mark 14:62; Luke 9:26)
Highly exalted and worthy of worship (Philippians 2:9; Revelation 1:12-18; 5:12)
2^nd Person of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19; John 14:26; Mark 1:9-11)
Will return a 2^nd time and judge the living and the dead (2 Tim 4:1)
The Creator (John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 1:1-3)
The Savior (Luke 2:11; John 4:42; Acts 5:31; 2 Timothy 1:10)
Fully human (John 1:14; 4:6; 11:35; 20:25-27; 1 John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:20)
Teacher/rabbi (Matt 23:10; 26:18; John 1:38; 3:2)
Miracle worker (John 3:2; Acts 2:22)
Exorcist and healer (Matt 4:24; 8:16; Luke 11:14-20)
Died on a Roman cross for our sins, was buried and rose bodily after 3 days and appeared to witnesses (1 Cor. 15:3-8; Colossians 1:20; Acts 2:23-24)
Ascended to heaven (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9)
Is at the right hand of the Father (Mark 14:62; Acts 7:55; Hebrews 1:3)

See article from J. Warner Wallace in resources for a list of extra-biblical references to Jesus. In the book “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” (the section in chapter 9 – THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO NON-CHRISTIANS), extra biblical references of Jesus paint the following picture of Him:

Verses 4-5

Jesus asked Simon, an experienced fisherman, to do something that seemed nonsensical – after failing to catch anything in an all-night fishing expedition, and Jesus said to do it again. Simon could’ve told Him to “pound sand” – that He doesn’t know what He’s talking about… But he obeyed Jesus – he did what Jesus said, despite it not making sense to him.

In another Gospel, it is recorded:

John 8:31-32 – To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“

Again, later in Luke, He says:

Luke 6:46-49 – ” Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.“

It has been said that the Jews believed that you “do first, understand later”. This is based on the phrase recorded in the Exodus 24:7: “We will do and hear everything the Lord has said.”

Q: Is there any area of your life where you’ve not obeyed Jesus because it didn’t make sense to you?

Verses 6-10a

6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

Jesus enables a miraculous catch of fish here. We don’t know whether it was providential (Jesus, in His omniscience, simply knew where the fish were [i.e. in the “deep water”]) or a miracle of creation, where He produced (or multiplied) the fish “on demand” (like in the feeding of the 5,000). In either case, Peter, an experienced fisherman, realized a miraculous sign had been performed by Jesus. Take note that Simon Peter’s first reaction was to worship Jesus, knowing he was in the presence of deity, and confess his own sinfulness.

J.C. Ryle says – “When men are brought close contact with God, the sight of divine greatness and holiness should make them feel strongly their own littleness and sinfulness. Like Adam after the fall – his first thought is to hide himself. Like Israel at Sinai, ‘Do not let God speak with us, lest we die.’ (Exodus 20:19).”

There are other places in Scripture, where encounters with the miraculous or divine lead to similar actions – here’s one:

Isaiah 6:1-5 – In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”

Verses 10b-11

10 And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

After reassuring Simon (“do not fear”), Jesus reveals to him what the rest of his life will be about – evangelizing the world. He says “you will be catching men”. Simon, being a fisherman, was familiar with catching fish. In order to catch the fish, you couldn’t just wait for them to come to you, you had to go to where they were. After being filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, Peter’s post-conversation life would be testifying of Jesus, his Master, to the world. Peter travelled throughout Israel:

Acts 9:32 – Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda

History records that he went as far as Rome, where he was crucified (legend has it “upside down”) for holding to his confession. Let’s read an incident in the early church describing Peter “fishing for men”:

Acts 2:14-36 – Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: … ” Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a Man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. This Man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. … God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. … Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Q: In what ways have you been able to interact with non-believers and do some “fishing” for men?

Verses 12-16

12 While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

This was clearly a miracle rather than providence. If you remember back to our table on page 3, a miracle never fails and is immediate, whereas providence has a natural explanation.

People diagnosed with or suspected of leprosy were excluded from the community (Lev 13:45–46, Num 5:2–3). Contact with lepers had to be avoided and lepers had to warn others not to come close to them:

Leviticus 13:45-46 – “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

What a horrible life for the leper… Therefore this makes Jesus’ touching of the man (v13) significant.

J.C. Ryle says “We have in this wonderful history – a lively emblem of Christ’s power to heal our souls. What are we all, but spiritual lepers in the sight of God? Sin is the deadly leprosy by which we are all affected. It has eaten into our vitals. It has infected all our faculties…We are in one sense dead – long before we are laid in the grave. Our bodies may be healthy and active – but our souls are by nature dead in trespasses and sins! Who shall deliver us from this body of death? Let us thank God that Jesus Christ can! He is that divine Physician, who can make old things pass away, and all things become new. In Him is life. He can wash us thoroughly in His own blood – from all the defilement of sin. Let this truth sink down deeply into our hearts. There is only one medicine to heal our sin-sick souls … However corrupt our hearts, and however wicked our past lives – there is hope for us in the Gospel. There is no case of spiritual leprosy too hard for Christ!” Hallelujah!

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

Who Is Jesus, According to Other Religions? By J. Warner Wallace: https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/who-is-jesus-according-to-other-religions/
The Fallacy of Begging the Question: https://answersingenesis.org/logic/the-fallacy-of-begging-the-question/
J.C. Ryle’s Commentary on Luke 5: https://gracegems.org/Ryle/l05.htm
Do First, Understand Later: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/do-first-understand-later/
We will do and we will hear (Mishpatim 5780), by Rabbi Sacks: https://rabbisacks.org/mishpatim-5780/
https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/
The Commitment of the Apostles Confirms the Truth of the Resurrection, by J. Warner Wallace: https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/the-commitment-of-the-apostles-confirms-the-truth-of-the-resurrection/
Jesus healing the leper and the Purity Law in the Gospel of Matthew: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269974647_Jesus_healing_the_leper_and_the_Purity_Law_in_the_Gospel_of_Matthew
https://evidenceforchristianity.org/what-is-the-evidence-that-peter-was-crucified-upside-down-in-rome/
WAS PETER CRUCIFIED UPSIDE DOWN? By Sean McDowell: https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/was-peter-crucified-upside-down
How did the Apostle Peter die? https://www.gotquestions.org/apostle-Peter-die.html
Jefferson Bible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible
Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World (pg. 9)
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist (by Dr. Norman L. Geisler and Dr. Frank Turek)

Bible Study Teaching on Psalm 107 & 108

July 16, 2020Leave a comment

On Tuesday July 14th, it was my turn to teach a group of men that gather every Tuesday. In the past, we gathered at Mimi’s Cafe restaurant, but now, we’re gathering over Skype. Here is the teaching:

Psalm 107 & 108

Psalm 107

This is the first chapter of Book 5 of the Psalms. Here are the 5 “books” or “divisions”:

Book 1 (Psalms 1–41)
Book 2 (Psalms 42–72)
Book 3 (Psalms 73–89)
Book 4 (Psalms 90–106)
Book 5 (Psalms 107–150)

As you read this psalm, take notice of the following repeating four-fold pattern of the Israelite’s interaction with God (starting in v4):

They fall away from God – or otherwise get in trouble
They become penitent and they cry out to God
God hears their cry and solves their problem
This results in them praising God

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary 3 and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city. 5 They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.

6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. 7 He led them also by a straight way, to go to an inhabited city. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. 10 There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains, 11 because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

12 Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; they stumbled and there was none to help. 13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. 15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 16 For He has shattered gates of bronze and cut bars of iron asunder. 17 Fools, because of their rebellious way, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

18 Their soul abhorred all kinds of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. 20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. 21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! 22 Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His works with joyful singing. 23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters; 24 they have seen the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep.

25 For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; their soul melted away in their misery. 27 They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses. 29 He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven. 31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 32 Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people, and praise Him at the seat of the elders.

33 He changes rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into a thirsty ground; 34 A fruitful land into a salt waste, Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it. 35 He changes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water; 36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell, So that they may establish an inhabited city, 37 And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest. 38 Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly, and He does not let their cattle decrease.

39 When they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, misery and sorrow, 40 He pours contempt upon princes and makes them wander in a pathless waste. 41 But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, and makes his families like a flock. 42 The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. 43 Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, and consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD. NASB

This is a Psalm of redemption. Charles Spurgeon commented on the Redeemer and the response of redeemed in light of this psalm:

The Redeemer is so glorious, the ransom price so immense, and the redemption so complete, that they (the redeemed) are under sevenfold obligations to give thanks unto the Lord, and to exhort others to do so. What gratitude can suffice for a deliverance from the power of sin, death, and hell?… They must be horrible ingrates who will not honour such a deliverer for so happy a rescue from the most cruel death. It is well that the redeemed should be stirred up to bless the Lord again and again, for preserved life deserves lifelong thankfulness.

This psalm contains a repeating a pattern of 4 stages that Israel plays out in their interaction with God:

They fall away from God – or otherwise get in trouble
They become penitent and they cry out to God
God hears their cry and solves their problem
This results in them praising God

Not only is this a pattern of Israel, but this can become a pattern that plays out in the life of a Christian, as he is sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit in his life:

4 times in this Psalm, the following statement is repeated (v8,15,21,31):

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!

Before this statement, each time they cry to the LORD (V6,13,19,28):

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble…

Q: What are some things for which we as Christians might cry out to the LORD?

What were they redeemed from? The Psalmist paints 4 portraits of the disastrous end of sin in the nation:

Wandering in the desert (v4-5)
Languishing in prison (V10-12)
Enduring sickness (V17-18)
Tossing on a stormy sea (V23-27)

1. Wandering in the desert

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; they did not find a way to an inhabited city. 5 They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.

The Psalmist may be looking back at the desert wanderings of the ungrateful, faithless Israel. The LORD rebukes them in Numbers on says that they will wander in the wilderness:

Numbers 32:7 “Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 So the LORD’S anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying,

11 ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the LORD fully.’” 13 So the LORD’S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed.

What an amazing statement to have said about you by the LORD – that Caleb and Joshua “followed the LORD fully”. That would be a great tombstone statement:

2. Languishing in prison

10 There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains, 11 because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 12 Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; they stumbled and there was none to help.

Possibly the Psalmist thought of the capture and imprisonment of King Zedekiah:

2 Kings 25:4 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

3. Enduring Sickness

17 Fools, because of their rebellious way, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. 18 Their soul abhorred all kinds of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.

Possibly the psalmist recalled the mass affliction and subsequent mass healing in Numbers:

Numbers 21:4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom ; and the people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” 6 The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

Although Jesus was clear that not all sickness was a direct result of sin:

John 9:1 As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Yet there are other places in the Scriptures where sickness does seem to be connected with personal sin. In the following passage, Jesus first heals a man, then later warns him not to sin any more so that nothing worse happens to him:

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”

11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”

Additionally, the Apostle Paul, after passing on the account of the last supper, seems to indicate that some people are sick because of their celebrating the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner (not examining themselves and not recognizing the body of the Lord):

1 Corinthians 11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. (NIV)

4. Tossing on a stormy sea

23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters; 24 they have seen the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. 25 For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; their soul melted away in their misery. 27 They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits’ end.

Possibly the psalmist had Jonah and the sailors bound for Tarshish in mind:

Jonah 1:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4 The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.

5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” 7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?”-for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the LORD and said, “We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased.” 15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.

The following section contrasts God’s blessing in response to man’s obedience with God’s judgment on man’s sin. The psalmist makes his point with 4 illustrations:

Descending from prosperity to poverty (v 33-34)
Being lifted up from barrenness to blessedness (v 35-38)
Falling from the top to the bottom (v 39-40)
Being elevated from low to high (v 41-42)

33 He changes rivers into a wilderness and springs of water into a thirsty ground; 34 A fruitful land into a salt waste, Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it. 35 He changes a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into springs of water; 36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell, So that they may establish an inhabited city, 37 And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest. 38 Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly, and He does not let their cattle decrease. 39 When they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, misery and sorrow, 40 He pours contempt upon princes and makes them wander in a pathless waste. 41 But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, and makes his families like a flock. 42 The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. 43 Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, and consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.

Psalm 108

1 My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul. 2 Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn! 3 I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations. 4 For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth.

6 That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and answer me! 7 God has spoken in His holiness: “I will exult, I will portion out Shechem and measure out the valley of Succoth. 8 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet of My head; Judah is My scepter. 9 Moab is My washbowl; Over Edom I shall throw My shoe; over Philistia I will shout aloud.

10 Who will bring me into the besieged city? Who will lead me to Edom?” 11 Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us? And will You not go forth with our armies, O God? 12 Oh give us help against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain. 13 Through God we will do valiantly, and it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.

David combines portions of his own previously written Psalms 57 and 60 to make up this psalm commemorating God’s victories (v1-5 are from 57:7-11; v6-13 are from 60:5-12). He deleted the laments that began each psalm (57:1-6 and 60:1-4) while combining his own words of exaltation and confidence in God with only slight word variation. No specific historical occasion behind the psalm is given. The psalm is broken down into 2 sections:

Personal Exaltation of God (v1-5)
Personal Confidence in God (v6-13)

Q: Regarding the phrase in v1 “My heart is steadfast”, in what ways does this manifest in the life of a Christian?

Q: Regarding the phrase in v12 “deliverance by man is in vain”, in what ways do we seek deliverance by man, when we should be seeking deliverance by God?

Resources used in the preparation of this teaching

MacArthur Study Bible (NASB) notes
I Am Redeemed – 11/20/2018 sermon by Dr. Calvin Ray Evans, President and Director of Evangelistic Outreach Ministries, Boston, OH (https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=112018161628183)
Treasury of David: Spurgeon’s Classic Work on the Psalms (https://www.amazon.com/Treasury-David-Spurgeons-Classic-Psalms/dp/0825436834)

Luke 18:9-14 – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

March 8, 2020March 8, 2020Leave a comment

The following presentation is a message I plan to deliver to our youth group (middle school and high school) today at 10:30. I pray that it would go well, and God would use this to impact them for their eternal benefit.

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Today we’re going to be looking at one of the most well-known parables of Jesus – the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The title of the message is “Are you justified?” Open your Bibles to Luke chapter 18 and let’s read it:

First, I want you to notice who Jesus told the parable to: “some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else”.

What an indictment this description is! This attitude is not the attitude of a Christian before a Holy God.

Based on what we know about Jesus’s interaction with the Pharisees, this passage may have been directed at them (as well as anyone else who would be confident in their own righteousness).

The Pharisees were the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. They were trying to adhere to, not only the 613 commandments given to the Israelites in the Mosaic Law, but thousands of additional rules, regulations and traditions in “the Mishna”.

(The Mishna is an ongoing compilation of sermons and sayings by Jewish rabbis meant to interpret the original Mosaic Law. The original intent of these additions was to clarify the law, but it ended up adding many layers of complicated regulations.)

The Apostle Paul himself was trained as a Pharisee (by Gamaliel Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:6). But, after his conversion to Christ, he viewed his former life as worthless – saying:

So, we as Christians should never be “confident in” our own righteousness…

Because of their zeal for the law, the general population would’ve considered the Pharisees to be about as righteous as one could be. Jesus even referenced this during the Sermon on the Mount when He told the people:

Even though Jesus knew that the people regarded the Pharisees as righteous and holy, He also knew that they placed a heavy burden on the people because of their legalism. When he delivered His great rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, He opens the chapter by describing them:

(phylacteries consisted of a black box, which contained a parchment with four passages from the Old Testament: Exodus 13:1-10, Exodus 13:11-16, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 11:13-21.

The Jewish men also wore an outer garment that had tassels on the four corners. This was a command by God through Moses in Numbers 15:37-41 and Deuteronomy 22:12. This garment became a prayer shawl and covered the head during prayer.)

Jesus went on in that chapter to call them out on their hypocrisy:

Matthew 23:27-28, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness”.

Let’s watch a little video clip depicting this scene:

Wow! That was from a movie called “Jesus of Nazareth” from the 1970’s.

Jesus was not “Barney”!

This was only one incident – Jesus had many other challenging and direct interactions with the Pharisees.

So, with this knowledge of the Pharisees, let’s now learn a little about the other character in the parable – the Tax Collectors.

The Tax Collectors were widely regarded as great sinners in Jesus’ day.

Here are 4 reasons why the tax collectors had such a bad reputation. First, no one likes to pay money to the government, especially when the government is an oppressive regime like the Roman Empire of the 1st century. Those who collected the taxes for such a government bore the brunt of much public displeasure.

Second, the tax collectors in the Bible were Jews who were working for the hated Romans. These individuals were seen as traitors to their own countrymen. Rather than fighting the Roman oppressors, the tax collectors were helping them.

Third, it was common knowledge that the tax collectors cheated the people they collected from. They would collect more than required and keep the extra for themselves. The tax collector Zacchaeus, in his confession to the Lord, mentioned his past dishonesty (Luke 19:8).

Fourth, the tax collectors were often rich. Many resented supporting the tax collectors’ lavish lifestyle. The tax collectors were ostracized from society and formed their own clique, further separating themselves from the rest of society.

So, in the parable, the Pharisee and the Tax Collector go up to the Temple to pray. The Pharisee starts first. According to the text he stands up and prays “about himself”. Well that’s an accurate statement – in 2 short verses, he uses the word “I” 4 times!

His “prayer” hardly deserves to be called a prayer. He starts off addressing God, but after that, all we hear about is:

His morality
His religiosity
How the Tax Collector was just the opposite.

His Morality

He talks about how he’s morally superior to other men – he’s not

a robber,
an evil doer or
an adulterer

His Religiosity

How he performs “religious acts”:

fasts twice a week
gives a tithe (1/10 of his income)

It’s almost as if the Pharisee is explaining to God how good and worthy he is and how lucky God is to have him on His team!

It reminds me of a quote from a video interview of Michael Bloomberg on April 21^st, 2017, where he says this:

This is a stunningly arrogant statement… Anyone with an attitude like that – thinking that they deserve heaven – is going to be very surprised when they are standing before a Holy God on judgement day (if their attitude doesn’t change).

Contrast the prayer of the Pharisee with the Tax Collector. Even his posture before God in prayer is different. The text says “he stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast…”

The Tax Collector’s prayer is very simple and “to the point” – “God have mercy on me, a sinner”.

The prayer contains a straight forward admission of his own guilt and a request to God for mercy.

There’s none of this in the Pharisee’s prayer. The Pharisee doesn’t:

Acknowledge his sins
Ask for forgiveness
Ask for mercy

It is not even clear that the Pharisee realizes his need for forgiveness and mercy! Rather, it sounds like he is promoting himself and touting his achievements. Yes, he does give thanks to God, but it is thanks for his AMAZING self!

The Jews during Jesus’ time, went up to the Temple once or twice a day to worship – 9AM and 3PM (Acts 3:1). At those times also, there was the offering of the morning sacrifice and the evening sacrifice (Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:1-8) which came to be called the Tamid Sacrifice.

All of those offerings pointed to Christ Jesus – who made a sacrifice once for all (Hebrews 7:27, 9:22-28, 10:5-14; 1 Peter 3:18). Every sacrifice that died on a Jewish altar pointed to the Lamb of God (John 1:29).

So, these men went up to the Temple at the very time the sacrifice was being offered. And there’s the Pharisee – he has no regard for the blood sacrifice. He has no regard for “substitution” – he has no regard for Divine satisfaction of God’s justice.

All he’s interested in is for God to pay attention to who he is and all of his worthiness, greatness and righteousness! It’s like he’s saying, “On the basis of all that I am – bless me!”

But the Tax Collector sees that same offering being offered to God – he sees the blood and he beats his breast and says “God, have mercy upon me, a sinner”.

I want to explain some detail here so that you know the significance of that word “mercy” in what the Tax Collector said. It will make you see why sometimes you can get more insight if you look into the original language of the Bible.

Our English word “mercy” is used 54 times in the New Testament. But it is not always translated from the same word in the original Greek language. For example, in the 18^th chapter of Luke, “mercy” is used 3 times – once in verse 13 in our passage and also in verses 38 and 39 where a blind man calls out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

But the root word in the Greek in v38 Eleeo (el-eh-eh’-o) means to have pity or compassion on someone – to help “the afflicted”, which the blind man was.

However, in verse 13, when the Tax Collector says “God, have mercy upon me, a sinner”, it’s a different Greek word: Hilaskomai (hil-as’-kom-ahee) which means to become “propitious”.

This is the verb form of the word “propitiation” (Hilasterion), which some of you may’ve heard of.

It is the word which is used when talking of Jesus’ atoning death for our sins. I will read one small passage where propitiation is used – you will certainly have heard at least the beginning of this, from Romans 3 (NASB):

Let me read that in another translation (NIV):

And yet another (NLT):

So, in effect the Tax Collector was asking God, “Let your rightful anger with me be satisfied on the basis of the blood shed upon the altar!” – and that’s the Gospel! It was like he was saying “Jesus died for my sins”.

Even our weeping and our repentance and our faith – that’s not going to satisfy God’s justice. “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20) – God demands death for sins! “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23a) – The Savior and His death – that’s what satisfied God’s justice!

The Tax Collector’s prayer reminds me of that old hymn of the faith Rock of Ages:

Now let’s look at Jesus’s assessment of the 2 prayers…

Jesus says “I tell you that this man (the Tax Collector), rather than the other (the Pharisee), went home justified before God.”

It would’ve been stunning to people to hear that this rotten, sinful Tax Collector was justified with God, but the Pharisee, as righteous as he appeared, was not justified before God.

What does it mean to be “justified” before God? It means that Christ’s righteousness is credited to us and that our guilt is credited to Jesus on the cross.

I’ve heard it said that justified means “Just as if I’d never sinned”

The Bible says that God “has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12)

And if you are justified before God, you are “saved” and will go to heaven one day. So, I ask you – are you justified?

The Bible says that most people will proclaim their own goodness (Proverbs 20:6).

You can go to the person on the street, start a conversation and ask, “Are you going to go to heaven when you die? And if so, why?” The answer will most likely be, “Yes, because I’m a good person.” Then if you follow up to ask why they think they’re good enough to go to heaven, the answer will likely be, “I don’t kill, hurt or steal, I’m kind, I help others when I can.” The average person thinks that “good people” go to heaven and “bad people” go to hell. The problem is that they don’t understand what God’s standard is. How good would you have to be to make it?

In Matthew 5:48, Jesus told us what God’s standard is:

That’s the standard – perfection – That is an impossible standard! But thank God for the Gospel – that we can be “freely justified by grace”, through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

A famous Pastor, Greg Laurie commented that:

So, I hope you can answer the question “are you justified?” in the affirmative and say the words of Romans 5:9

Teaching on Psalms 71 and 72 Given to Men’s Group on January 28th

February 15, 2020Leave a comment

Psalm 71 & 72

Psalms 71

1 In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed. 2 In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; Incline Your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.

4 Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man, 5 For You are my hope; O Lord GOD, You are my confidence from my youth. 6 By You I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You.

7 I have become a marvel to many, For You are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth is filled with Your praise And with Your glory all day long. 9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.

10 For my enemies have spoken against me; And those who watch for my life have consulted together, 11 Saying, “God has forsaken him; Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to deliver.” 12 O God, do not be far from me; O my God, hasten to my help!

13 Let those who are adversaries of my soul be ashamed and consumed; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek to injure me. 14 But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. 15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them.

16 I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone. 17 O God, You have taught me from my youth, And I still declare Your wondrous deeds. 18 And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come.

19 For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? 20 You who have shown me many troubles and distresses Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 21 May You increase my greatness And turn to comfort me.

22 I will also praise You with a harp, Even Your truth, O my God; To You I will sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. 23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; And my soul, which You have redeemed. 24 My tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long; For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my hurt. (NASB)

Themes that I found occurring in this Psalm:

Taking shelter & refuge in God (v1,7)

Quote from Derek W. H. Thomas when telling about a 90 year old godly man in his church loves the Lord and quietly serves in the church:

“…here is a man that takes refuge in God, rather than drawing attention to his troubles…”

Asking for God’s rescue/salvation and to not be forsaken (v1,2,4,18)

David gives us a great example as in many Psalms that when trouble, calamity, persecution hits, we need to call out to the LORD – not as a last resort, but first.

Psalms 55:22

Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.

Here is a Charles Spurgeon quote about David carrying his sorrow to God:

It was to God that David carried his sorrow: it was to God that David confessed his sin. Observe, then, we must take our sorrows to God. Even your little sorrows you may roll upon God, for he counteth the hairs of your head. – Charles Spurgeon

Praising God (v6,14,23) – including the use of musical instruments (v22 harp/lyre). Joyful worship (v23)

God is worthy of praise:

Psalms 149:2-3

Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, and “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from You; You are the ruler of all things. In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious name.”

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Revelation 4:11

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being.”

Meditating on God’s Attributes

It is a good thing to meditate on the attributes of God, as David does. Here are some of the attributes of God that David describes in this Psalm:

Righteousness (v15,19,24)

19 For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?

Faithfulness (v6,17)

17 O God, You have taught me from my youth, And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.

Strength (v16-18)

18 And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come.

Uniqueness (v19b)

19b O God, who is like You?

Comforting (v21)

21 May You increase my greatness And turn to comfort me.

Sovereignty (v6,17,20)

6 By You I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You.

Holiness (v22)

22 I will also praise You with a harp, Even Your truth, O my God; To You I will sing praises with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

God allowing trouble in David’s life (v20)

20 You who have shown me many troubles and distresses Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

Yes, the life of the believer can be filled with trouble. But David has the right attitude about his troubles – he sees them as coming from the hand of the LORD and that the LORD will ultimately “revive him”. Therefore, it is reasonable that, we as believers will experience trouble. Charles Spurgeon says of David in 2 Samuel 15:23 – weeping as he was fleeing Absalom, passing through the Kidron Valley:

“David passed that gloomy brook …. The man after God’s own heart was not exempt from trouble, nay, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord’s Anointed, and the Lord’s Afflicted. Why then should we expect to escape?”

David’s persecution by his enemies (v4,13,24)

This is a common theme in the Psalms. We see David on the run from his enemies and calling out to God for deliverance.

Imprecatory prayers (v13,24)

Again, another common theme in the Psalms where David is imploring God to deal with his enemies.

Evangelism/witnessing – telling about God (v15,18,24)

15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And of Your salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum of them.

Q: Are you telling anyone about God and His salvation? How? (this is a time of encouragement for us)

Growing old (v9,18)

Growing old is a significant theme of this Psalm. It is mentioned 2 times explicitly. In fact, the title of the Psalm is “Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance”. Again, I would like to emphasize that great quote by Derek Thomas:

“…here is a man that takes refuge in God, rather than drawing attention to his troubles…”

The title of that sermon was “Graying with Glory”. Look at the contrast he presents: refuge in God vs. drawing attention to our troubles. I’m sure each of us here has many other troubles that we don’t communicate to others. And the Bible says that we are to bear one another’s burdens:

Gal 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Q: What is the appropriate balance between telling others about your problems and of keeping them between you and the Lord? Where does one cross over the line and start grumbling and complaining?

Resurrection (v20 revive me again / bring me up from the depths of the earth)?

20 You who have shown me many troubles and distresses Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

This verse makes me think of the resurrection of the dead. Although, looking at commentary, it is not meant to be literal resurrection from the dead:

“Not actual resurrection, but rescue from near death conditions and renewal of life’s strength and meaning” – MacArthur Study Bible commentary on Psalm 71:20.

Personal redemption (v23 my soul, which You have redeemed)

David acknowledges that God has redeemed not just his body and his earthly life, but indeed his soul, which is much more important.

Psalms 72 – “The Reign of the Righteous King” A Psalm of Solomon

1 Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king’s son. 2 May he judge Your people with righteousness And Your afflicted with justice. 3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people, And the hills, in righteousness.

4 May he vindicate the afflicted of the people, Save the children of the needy And crush the oppressor. 5 Let them fear You while the sun endures, And as long as the moon, throughout all generations. 6 May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, Like showers that water the earth.

7 In his days may the righteous flourish, And abundance of peace till the moon is no more. 8 May he also rule from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth. 9 Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, And his enemies lick the dust.

10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. 11 And let all kings bow down before him, All nations serve him. 12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, The afflicted also, and him who has no helper.

13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save. 14 He will rescue their life from oppression and violence, And their blood will be precious in his sight; 15 So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him; And let them pray for him continually; Let them bless him all day long.

16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth. 17 May his name endure forever; May his name increase as long as the sun shines; And let men bless themselves by him; Let all nations call him blessed.

18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. 19 And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen. 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. (NASB)

This is a Coronation Psalm, dedicated to the prosperity of Solomon at the beginning of his reign (1 Kings 2). It is unclear to me whether David or Solomon is the author (because of v20). No New Testament writer applies any of the psalm to Christ. It appears to be a description of how a righteous king (and government) will operate and a prayer by Solomon that God will enable him to rule in this manner. Here are some of the principles I draw from it. A righteous king/government will:

Make righteous judgments that are in accord with God’s will (v1-2)
1 Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king’s son. 2 May he judge Your people with righteousness And Your afflicted with justice.
Establish peace (v3,7)
3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people, And the hills, in righteousness…7 In his days may the righteous flourish, And abundance of peace till the moon is no more.
Vindicate, protect and have compassion on the afflicted and needy (v4,13)
4 May he vindicate the afflicted of the people, Save the children of the needy And crush the oppressor…13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save.
Encourage the people to fear God (v5)
5 Let them fear You while the sun endures, And as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
Establish and promote righteousness in the nation (v7)
7 In his days may the righteous flourish, And abundance of peace till the moon is no more.
Enemies should fear the righteous nation (v9)
8 May he also rule from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth. 9 Let the nomads of the desert bow before him, And his enemies lick the dust.
Protect the people from evil, oppression and violence (v14a)
14 He will rescue their life from oppression and violence
Honor the fallen (v14b)
And their blood will be precious in his sight
Increase the prosperity, abundance and flourishing of the nation (v15,16)
15 So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him; And let them pray for him continually; Let them bless him all day long. 16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth.
Other nations should respect the nation (v17)
17 May his name endure forever; May his name increase as long as the sun shines; And let men bless themselves by him; Let all nations call him blessed.
Acknowledge the LORD as the source of all these blessings and seek His glory and that His name be magnified (v18-19)
18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. 19 And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.

I can’t help but reflect that the conservative vision of government in the U.S. seems to align well with these principles.

Resources used:

Sermon on Psalm 71 by Derek W.H. Thomas entitled: “Graying With Glory”: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=4161891740
MacArthur Study Bible comments
Bearing One Another’s Burdens – article by John MacArthur on Ligonier’s website: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/bearing-one-anothers-burdens/
My mind (“we have the mind of Christ” – 1 Corinthians 2:16)

Men’s Bible Study Teaching on Psalm 35 and 36

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019Leave a comment

Psalm 35

This Psalm records a cry of distress – the petition of a man falsely accused.

The psalm naturally divides itself into three parts, each ending with a note of hope (outline from MacArthur Study Bible):

First Cycle: Petition for deliverance from the Attacks He Was Experiencing (35:1-10)
Second Cycle: Expression of lament for the Perjury He Was Experiencing (35:11-18)
1. He Prays that God Would Examine the Evidence (35:11-16)
2. He Prays that God Would Act without Delay (35:17)
3. He Pledges Praise (35:18)
Third Cycle: Renewed petition for Judgment and Justice (35:19-28)
1. He Prays for Judgment concerning Them (35:19-21)
2. He Prays for Justice concerning Himself (35:22-26)
3. He Pledges Praise (35:27-28)

Prayer for Rescue from Enemies – A Psalm of David

1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2 Take hold of buckler and shield and rise up for my help. 3 Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” 4 Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them on. 6 Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.

7 For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my soul. 8 Let destruction come upon him unawares, and let the net which he hid catch himself; into that very destruction let him fall. 9 And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; it shall exult in His salvation. 10 All my bones will say, “LORD, who is like You, Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, and the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”

11 Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. 12 They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer kept returning to my bosom. 14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother. 15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together; the smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me, they slandered me without ceasing.

16 Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed at me with their teeth. 17 Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my only life from the lions. 18 I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty throng. 19 Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me; Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously. 20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. 21 They opened their mouth wide against me; they said, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!” 22 You have seen it, O LORD, do not keep silent; O Lord, do not be far from me.

23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my right And to my cause, my God and my Lord. 24 Judge me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness, and do not let them rejoice over me. 25 Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, our desire!” Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!” 26 Let those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who rejoice at my distress; Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me. 27 Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; and let them say continually, “The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.” 28 And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness and Your praise all day long. (NASB)

This Psalm may well date from the time when David was being pursued by Saul. It is an Imprecatory Psalm. David’s motives are not for revenge; he had opportunities to kill Saul but did not. Rather, it is a plea for God’s righteous judgment. The motive is that David might once again thank God freely (verses 18, 28). Jesus quotes part of this Psalm (v. 19b) in John 15:25:

25 But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

Q: In what way are Imprecatory Psalms relevant for the Christian today? Should we be praying Imprecatory prayers against our enemies?

Here are 2 articles to look at regarding imprecatory Psalms:

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-imprecatory-psalms.html

https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2019/03/can-pray-imprecatory-prayers/

This Psalm played a providential role in strengthening the founding fathers of America at a critical time in the struggle against Great Britain. It was the First Continental Congress that met at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia during September of 1774:

The members of the First Congress had assembled to discuss what to do about the latest injustices of the British government, which had closed the port of Boston with warships on June 1, 1774 (the Boston Port Act) in punishment for the Boston Tea Party.

Boston citizens had thrown 42 tons of tea into the harbor in December of the previous year, as an act of protest against unjust taxation. The colonists had no representatives in Parliament and they believed it was unlawful to be taxed by a body in which they had no representation. The Boston Tea Party was the culmination of many years of protests and strife regarding taxation and representation. Parliament was outraged at this act of defiance and set about bringing the rebellious Massachusetts back to order. A series of acts, known as the “Coercive Acts” in Britain, were passed in 1774, which shut down all self-government in Massachusetts, limited town meetings and moved the trials of government officials out of the colony. Armed conflict seemed inevitable. Those were desperate times.

Among the 56 delegates in attendance at the Continental Congress were two future Presidents: George Washington and John Adams, John’s cousin and patriot leader, Samuel Adams, John Jay, the first U.S. Supreme Court Justice and a fiery 38-year-old lawyer from Virginia named Patrick Henry. A day into the meeting came the call to have a chaplain pray over their deliberations. So John Adams recommended the Rev. Dr. Jacob Duché, an Anglican minister of Christ Church, located just two blocks away. It was agreed, and John Adams records what happened the next morning in a letter to his wife Abigail dated September 16, 1774:

“Accordingly, next morning [the minister] appeared … and … read the … thirty‑fifth Psalm. You must remember, this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston.”

The Pastor began reading the entire text of Psalm 35, which was the Anglican Church’s assigned Scripture reading for that day.

This Psalm spoke directly to their desperate situation because only one day before they received the rumor, though unfounded, of the British bombardment of Boston. John Adam’s believed it was “Providential.” Pastor Duché followed this psalm with prayer asking God to support the American cause:

O Lord our Heavenly Father, high and mighty King of kings, and Lord of lords, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the Kingdoms, Empires and Governments; look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on these our American States, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor and thrown themselves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to be henceforth dependent only on Thee. To Thee have they appealed for the righteousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and support, which Thou alone canst give. Take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in Council and valor in the field; defeat the malicious designs of our cruel adversaries; convince them of the unrighteousness of their Cause and if they persist in their sanguinary purposes, of own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle!

Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. That the scene of blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. Preserve the health of their bodies and vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent, such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world and crown them with everlasting glory in the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior. Amen.

The Scripture reading and prayer moved the whole assembly. John Adams reflects on the scene in his letter to his wife Abigail:

“I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duché, unexpectedly to everybody, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess, I never heard a better prayer, or one so well pronounced … for America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston. It had an excellent effect upon everybody here… I must beg you to read that Psalm… It will amuse your Friends to read this Letter and the 35th Psalm to them. Read it to your Father… I long to see my dear Family. God bless, preserve and prosper it.”

The Library of Congress printed on a historical placard of this event in Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia:

“Washington was kneeling there with Henry, Randolph, Rutledge, Lee, and Jay, and by their side there stood, bowed in reverence the Puritan Patriots of New England. … ‘It was enough’ says Mr. Adams, ‘to melt a heart of stone. I saw the tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave, Pacific Quakers of Philadelphia.’”

Psalm 36

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD

1 An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. 3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. 4 Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong. 5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. 10 Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11 May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 See how the evildoers lie fallen– thrown down, not able to rise! (NIV)

The theme of this psalm is certainly the loving-kindness of God (verses 5, 7, 10). David first describes the rebellious sinner (verses 1-4), then the blessedness of the righteous man (verses 5-9), and concludes with a prayer that the righteous man may be protected from the wicked (verses 10-12).

1 An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.

One thing we need to remember here is that we, as believers are referred to as wicked, evil and ungodly in our natural state.

Q: In what way do people’s words or behavior show that “there is no fear of God” before their eyes?

Here are a few examples. First, here is Jesus speaking to his disciples and calling them evil (in a “matter of fact” kind of way):

Luke 11:13 – If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Romans 4:5 – However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Romans 5:6 – You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

So, the wicked referred to in verse 1 includes us, the believers who are saved by grace through faith.

3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. 4 Even on his bed he plots evil; he commits himself to a sinful course and does not reject what is wrong.

John MacArthur, in a sermon on Romans 7:14-25, talks about 3 ways we can sin in our minds:

Sins of remembering – One way your mind sins is by reaching back, cherishing the memory of sins past, bringing back lurid memories of a bygone transgression. Someone who is truly repentant about a sin in the past can still harvest pleasure from that sin once repented of.
Sin in the present. Looking on a woman with lust (adultery) or hate of someone (murder)
Sins of scheming about the future. Scripture is full of condemnation of those who plan to sin.

Verse 4 specifically speaks about this sin of planning evil in the future. In that sermon referred to, MacArthur talks about how we are to battle those sins of the mind:

“Sin is so pervasive, subtle that we must be … suspicious of our own spirituality. We must let it be revealed and suspect the worst. We must humble ourselves in the face of what we think might be our most righteous act, knowing it is not free from sin. … the only way to deal with sin is to deal with it strongly, to resist and oppose the first risings of temptation. It has to be dealt with in the heart on the inside. It has to be fought at the point of its incubation…, or it will overpower us, … the work of sanctification is a work that God does in which the believer cooperates in his mind. Sanctification is a work in your thought life.”

Now David switches to describing the loving kindness, righteousness and faithfulness of the LORD.

5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

God’s omnipotence would be a terror if He was not also loving, kind and faithful to those who love Him. God will judge the world and that is a fearful thing, but He will judge it in righteousness:

Hebrews 10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Acts 17:30-31 – 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

There will absolutely not be anyone who will be judged “unfairly”. All those not clothed in the righteousness of Christ will receive the just penalty for the sins committed in the body. But the children of God are adopted into His family and they don’t need to be afraid of Christ as their Judge, but rather to revere Him as their Savior, because He has paid the penalty for their sins (Romans 8):

14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. 10 Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.

The abundance of the house of God is the tree of life which bears twelve fruit. This river also, that we are to drink from, is the river that flows from the throne of God:

Revelation 2:7 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

Revelation 22:1-2 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:14 – Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.

Q: Final questions or comments?

Sources:

MacArthur Study Bible comments
Article by Tony Perkins President of Family Research Council (http://lostepisodes.us/john-adams-first-continental-congress/)
This day in history June 1, 1774 (http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/boston-port-act-takes-effect.html)
Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-01-02-0101)
First Prayer of the Continental Congress: https://chaplain.house.gov/archive/continental.html
American Minute with Bill Federer – First Prayer in Congress “It was enough” says Mr. Adams, “to melt a heart of stone.”: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/First-Prayer-in-Congress–It-was-enough–says-Mr–Adams–to-melt-a-heart-of-stone–.html?soid=1108762609255&aid=fqzfemft9wk

Teaching on John 10 – The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

October 31, 2018October 31, 20182 Comments

This was teaching I developed over the past month and finally delivered yesterday during lunchtime at Mimi’s Cafe to a group of about 15 men. We’ve been going through the book of John and it was my turn to teach on John 10.

1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. 7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

19 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?” 22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.

24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33 The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? 35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39 Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. 41 Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” 42 Many believed in Him there. (NASB)

Disclaimer (before we get started) – This study group is “multi/non-denominational”. We are all brothers in Christ–we believe in one Lord and one Bible. However, we may have different views on various matters of doctrine and theology. John 10 is one of those passages the “Reformed Calvinist View” relies on as a proof text. I am not a Calvinist (for biblical reasons), nor am I Pelagian or Semipelagian, though I do consider myself to be Reformed, holding to the 5 “solas” of the reformation. I don’t plan to go into detail about my views because we won’t have time for that, yet I want to let you know up front that it is possible you will disagree with parts of this teaching (esp. on John 10:3&26 – I will devote significant attention to 26 – 1½ pages). That’s ok with me and I hope its ok with you. In preparation for this, let us receive wisdom from God’s Word:

Proverbs 18:17 – The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.

The point is, maybe you haven’t spent a lot of time considering alternative points of view such things as unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace – on soteriology (or maybe you have…) I ask that you receive this teaching in the spirit in which I hope to deliver it – with humility, gentleness and respect.

Chapter 10 is chock full of great stuff! Look at all the teaching & doctrine that flows from this chapter:

2 “I AM” statements by Jesus (v.7,9), (v.11,14), statements of His deity.
Jesus is the only way of salvation for mankind – “I am the door” (v.9)
False teachers/leaders — we must watch out for them (v.1,5,8,10,12-13)
Jesus came to give us abundant life (v.10)
The voluntary atonement of Christ for sins (v.11,15,18)
Prediction of the Gentiles joining Jewish believers in one body, the church (v.16)
Sheep / Shepherd metaphor permeates the chapter, reinforcing His deity (v.1-30)
Jesus attended the “Feast of Dedication” a.k.a. Hanukkah (v.22)
Unconditional election, irresistible grace and limited atonement (v.3,26-27,29)
Jesus’ works are more than enough to prove that He is the Messiah (v.25,37-38)
Eternal security of believers guaranteed by Jesus and the Father (v.28-29)
The Jews attempt for the 3^rd time in Gospel of John to stone Jesus (v.31-33)
Jesus claims directly to be God (v.30-33)
The inerrancy / accuracy of Scripture (v.35)
John the Baptist was a true prophet and evangelist of Jesus (v.40-42)

We can’t cover each verse here today–MacArthur took 5 sermons (>=45 minutes each) to give an overview!

According to John MacArthur, this chapter records the final public declaration by the Lord Jesus of His Deity and the end of His public ministry. After this chapter, He goes away for 3 months of isolation across the Jordan with His disciples and others who believed in Him there. After that He heads toward Jerusalem, after raising Lazarus in Bethany and then comes His passion week (during the Passover feast). In fact in the next chapter, it explicitly states that His public ministry to the Jews was finished:

John 11:54 – Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

Chapter 10 starts with Jesus’ discourse on Himself as the “good shepherd”. It flows directly from chap. 9, as Jesus continues to talk to the very same people on the very same day. The problem of chap. 9 was that Israel was led by false (blind) shepherds who drew them astray from the true knowledge and kingdom of Messiah (9:39-41). In chap. 10, Jesus declares Himself to be the “good shepherd” who was appointed by His Father as Savior and King, in contrast to the false shepherds of Israel who were self-appointed, self-righteous & blind.

John 10:1 – Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

Sheep were kept in a pen which had a door for entry and exit. Those who wanted to steal or harm the sheep would attempt entrance by another way. The true shepherd enters at the door, being identified by the doorkeeper. Ezekiel 34 most likely forms the background to Jesus’ teaching:

Ezekiel 34:1-2 – 1 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?”

Ezekiel 34:23-24a – Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them.

Literally, the whole chapter deals with sheep/shepherd metaphor. v.23-24 speaks of David in future tense, but he lived long before this. So, apparently He’s talking about the Son of David (Messiah) who will gather His people, from Israel and from the nations, and lead them into the glory of the final kingdom. Ezekiel 34 is a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus. The Gospels themselves contain extensive sheep/shepherd imagery. For example:

Matthew 18:11-13 – [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.] What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

John 10:3 – To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

The doorkeeper is John the Baptist who prepared Jesus’ way and identified Him as the Messiah:

John 1:29-34 – The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

The old covenant Jewish believers accepted John the Baptist’s testimony of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and these are the specific sheep in verse 3 that “hear His voice”. There will be a longer discussion on v.26…

John 10:7-10 – 7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Here He is the door. The shepherd led the sheep out of the sheep pen, here He is the entrance to the pen leading to proper pasture. Near Eastern shepherds slept in the gateway to guard the sheep, Jesus here pictures Himself as the door. He serves as the sole means to approach the Father and partake of God’s salvation–Jesus’ explicitly states that He is the only way many times in the Gospel of John, for example:

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Only belief in the risen Christ, who paid for your sins, can save you from the just penalty for your sins and from being cast into hell. Only trust in Him as Savior and Lord can reconcile you to God. Jesus is the source for the knowledge of God and the one basis for spiritual security:

Heb. 7:25 – Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Q: When Jesus said He came to give us abundant life (v.10), why doesn’t this refer to health and wealth?

In John 10:11-18, Jesus is the “good shepherd” (4^th of 7 “I am” statements of Jesus). Good (kalos) means beautiful, magnificent, winsome, attractive, lovely and excellent on all levels, vs. other word for good (agathos), which means moral goodness (pleasant, agreeable, upright and honorable).

Q: Who are some well-known shepherds in the OT? Is Jesus claiming Deity by this description? Why?

John 10:11 – I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

“lays down His life” refers to Jesus’ substitutionary death for sinners on the cross:

1 Peter 2:24 – He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 3:18 – For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit

Romans 5:8-9 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

John 10:16 – I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

Refers to Gentiles who will respond to His voice & become a part of the church. Jesus’ death was not only for Jews, but also for non-Jews. He will make both into one new body, the church.

John 10:17-18 – For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.

Jesus’ death was not the end. His resurrection was a demonstration of His Messiahship & Deity:

Romans 1:4 – who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 10:22-23 – At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.

The “Feast of the Dedication” (Hanukkah) celebrates the Jewish victory over Antiochus Epiphanes, who conquered Jerusalem & desecrated the temple. The Jews fought the Maccabean Revolt (166-142 B.C.), liberated the temple, and rededicated it. This celebration is also known as the “Festival of Lights” on account of the lamps and candles lit to commemorate the event in Jewish homes.

Q: Is Jesus celebrating Hanukkah here? How does it compare with Jesus’ celebration of Passover?

John 10:24-25 – The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly. “Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.”

Jesus didn’t expect people to have blind faith – to believe without reason. We also see this elsewhere in John:

John 10:37-38 – If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.

John 5:36 – But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish – the very works that I do -testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

John 14:11 – Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

Jesus even stayed with His disciples following His resurrection to give them evidence:

Acts 1:3 – After His suffering, He showed Himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Jesus had already demonstrated His Deity by His many miracles and rising from the grave. But He stayed for more than a month longer to give His disciples “many convincing proofs.”

Q: Why didn’t the risen Jesus appear to the Pharisees to prove that they were wrong about Him?

John 10:26-27 – But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

The Reformed Calvinist interpretation of this passage is that God has chosen a fixed number of individuals (His sheep) before the foundation of the world. It is only they who will hear His voice, believe and follow, after they have been made alive (or quickened) by His Spirit (effectual calling). The rest, who are not His elect, He “passes over”. Thus, Christ died only for His particular sheep – not the whole world. His atonement for sins is said to be “limited atonement”.

Although this doctrine seems to be supported by many Scriptures (Eph. 1:3-8,11, 2:1-9; Rom. 8:7,9:10-24, John 6:37-40,44,65, 8:47, 10:26; Acts 2:39,13:47-48,16:14; 2 Th. 2:13-14; Col. 2:13; 1 Cor. 2:14, etc.), we must also remember that the same Bible tells us the following facts:

God wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
He desires all people to repent (2 Peter 3:9)
He’s pleased when the wicked turn from their ways and live (Ezekiel 18:23)
Not all repent/turn from their ways (Jn. 3:19-20; Mt. 7:13-14, 13:18-23; Rom. 1:18-25)

So, if this doctrine of particular individual election be true, then God elects only some to be saved and to repent even though, according to Calvinism, He has elected whoever He wants.

Note: I’m not saying this is unfair (Rom 9:14-21), nor that we can come to Christ without the Father and Holy Spirit drawing (6:44) or enabling (6:65) us. Rather, it seems contradictory and not supported by “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). We know that not all people repent and are saved. Therefore, since God wants all saved and not all are, there seems to be some element of human choice that God has given us in salvation – this drawing of the lost to God appears to be “resistible”, not “irresistible”.

Salvation is pictured as a gift in the Bible:

Rom. 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A gift must be received – what good is a Christmas present if it is left under the tree?

John 1:12 – But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God

We receive the gift of salvation by faith, and Paul makes it very clear that faith is not a work:

Romans 4:2-5 – 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness

v.5 of this passage clearly says the one who exercises faith in God is not performing a work. Is the believer just smarter than others because he “figured it out”? No, not any more than a recipient of a gift is smarter or more worthy because he “figured out” that he must open the gift to benefit from what’s inside.

Additionally, John teaches us that Jesus died for the sins, not only of His sheep, but of everyone:

1 John 2:1-2 – My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense –Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

The doctrines of unconditional election and limited atonement have significant practical implications for how we approach lost people in evangelism. We are communicating the idea that God has genuine love for those whom He has chosen not to save, and that He sincerely offers them salvation. This presents one of the greatest dilemmas for the Calvinist view. However, God’s love for sinners and His desire for the salvation of all people is communicated by Jesus in one of the most famous verses in Scripture:

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life

God’s love for sinners motivated Him to send His Son. Whoever believes in Him will be saved. He offers salvation to all—acceptance or rejection of that offer resides with each individual.

So, if “My sheep” does not refer to a predetermined set of elect persons, then what does Jesus mean by it? One possible meaning is that “My sheep” refers primarily to the faithful sons of Abraham under the old covenant as it was revealed in OT, who were already prepared by their faith and repentance to embrace the promised Messiah at the time of His appearance. These included those under the ministry of John the Baptist, who was appointed to “prepare the way for the Lord”. In a secondary sense, it includes God-fearing Gentiles (e.g., Cornelius, Acts 10) who were led by God’s grace to repentance and whom He drew to faith in His Son.

Q: Dare I ask for any comments here 🙂 ? Please tell me where I’m wrong…

John 10:28-29 – and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Jesus’ sheep are secure because He is the Good Shepherd–He has them safe. Neither thieves nor robbers (v. 1, 8) nor the wolf (v. 12) can harm them. No stronger passage in the OT or NT exists for the absolute, eternal security of every true Christian. Verse 29 makes clear that the Father ultimately stands behind the sheep’s security, for no one is able to steal them from God:

Rom. 8:38–39 – For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Q: What about people who walk away from the faith? Do you know anyone who’s walked away?

John 10:30-33 – “I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

The Jews are trying to stone Jesus, because His claim He was One with the Father affirmed His claim to deity and caused the Jews to seek His execution. There was no doubt in the minds of those Jews that Jesus was claiming to be God.

The Mosaic Law did permit stoning for blasphemy:

Leviticus 24:16 – Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

However, in 1^st century Palestine, the Romans reserved for themselves the right of capital punishment:

John 18:31 – So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death”

Nonetheless, out-of-control Jews at other times engaged in mob actions in lieu of legal proceedings:

Acts 7:57–60 – But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

John 10:34-36 – Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”

Jesus quotes from Ps 82:6 where God calls some unjust judges “gods” and pronounces calamity against them. Jesus’ argument is an argument “from the lesser to the greater”. If mere men could, in some sense, be referred to as “gods,” why would anyone object to the Son of God Himself being called by that title? Then He adds this parenthetical statement: “Scripture cannot be broken”. This is Jesus Christ the Lord Himself affirming the accuracy & authority of the OT.

If you found yourself disagreeing with some parts of this teaching today, I would encourage you to read the excellent book “Deconstructing Calvinism” (currently $3.99 Kindle, $18.99 paperback).

You may also want to read 2 articles to get a balanced view on the topic of God’s desire that all be saved:

Are There Two Wills in God? Divine Election and God’s Desire for All to Be Saved (John Piper):

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/are-there-two-wills-in-god

Are There Two Wills in God? A Response to John Piper:

http://evangelicalarminians.org/john-piper-are-there-two-wills-in-god-a-response/

Robert Hamilton, “The Order of Faith and Election in John’s Gospel: You Do Not Believe Because You Are Not My Sheep”:

http://evangelicalarminians.org/files/Hamilton.%20The%20Order%20of%20Faith%20and%20Election%20in%20John’s%20Gospel..pdf

I also made significant use of the MacArthur Study Bible comments and his 5 sermons on John 10:

I also listened to Dr. R.C. Sproul’s series on Reformed Theology.

I also read Hermeneutics of 2 Peter 3:9—”Us all” or “you all”? http://calvinandcalvinism.com/?p=12652

Teaching for Men’s Bible Study – Nehemiah 4:15-23

March 6, 2018March 7, 2023Leave a comment

Nehemiah 4:15-23

Given March 6^th 2018

The Work Resumes

15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.

17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. 19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 “At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water. (NASB)

In this part of Nehemiah chapter 4, we see the method that Nehemiah uses to motivate the battling and at the same time to maintain the building. It was vital that the walls be built up. The temple was in jeopardy and the people were in jeopardy. The enemy could come in at will. Roving bandits could move into the city, even without a great deal of armaments, and take what they wanted.

By way of application, this is a picture of what the defeated Christian is like. The Enemy comes in and runs rampant through his life, doing what he pleases. Satan is out to defeat the Christian in every circumstance. He loves it when there are no defenses that are built up. The book of Nehemiah talks about physical fortifications, but in the same way, a mature Christian must have “spiritual fortifications” built up. These spiritual fortifications in the life of a believer represent maturity. We need to be spiritually self-sustaining and able then to nourish others and to build them up. This is particularly important with us men as spiritual leaders in our families. We need to be mature, not spiritual babies. The writer of Hebrews addresses this:

Hebrews 5:11-14 – 11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Verse 12 is saying that, considering how long you’ve been a Christian, it is a necessity that you ought to be a teacher. V. 13-14 says you ought to be on Porterhouse and instead you’re on Pablum.

In the book of Nehemiah, the MacArthur Study Bible lists 7 attempts to stop Nehemiah’s work:

2:19 – Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem mocked Nehemiah
4:1-3 – Sanballat and Tobiah mocked Nehemiah
4:7-23 – the enemy threatened a military attack
6:1-4 – Sanballat and Geshem attempted to lure Nehemiah outside Jerusalem to Ono
6:5-9 – Sanballat threatened Nehemiah with false charges
6:10-14 – Shemaiah, Noadiah and others were paid to prophesy falsely and discredit Nehemiah
6:17-19 – Tobiah had spies in Jerusalem and wrote Nehemiah letters in order to frighten him

Up to this point in the book, the Jewish people had been experiencing 4 things:

Daunting and intimidation (4:1-3)

1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building – if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”
Discouragement (4:4a,5b)

Hear, O our God, how we are despised … for they have demoralized the builders.
Defiance, threats of open attacks (4:7-8)

7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.
Doubts (4:10)

Thus in Judah it was said, “The strength of the burden bearers is failing, Yet there is much rubbish ; And we ourselves are unable To rebuild the wall.”

The enemy was using all of these tactics to attempt to prevent them from “building the wall”, but Nehemiah had answers for all of this, because he was in touch with God.

In the beginning of our passage for today, we see that Nehemiah’s guards, and the overall show of force, had the effect of not just defending the Jewish people, but also intimidating the enemy. When the enemy learned that Jerusalem was armed and ready, they backed off. God had frustrated their plot.

“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (Ps. 33:10–11 NKJV)

As they were getting back to work, Nehemiah knew that he couldn’t interrupt the work every time he heard a new rumor, so he set up a defense plan that solved the problem: Half of the men worked on the wall while the other half stood guard. He saw to it that the people carrying materials also carried weapons and that the workers on the walls carried swords. In this way, the work would not be interrupted, and the workers would be ready in case of an alarm. The man with the trumpet stayed close to Nehemiah so the alarm could be given immediately if trouble came and they were attacked.

So, in the same way, we as Christians must build and we must battle. We cannot stop battling to build and we cannot stop building to battle. We must do both simultaneously. We see this principle in James:

James 4:7-8a 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

When Charles Spurgeon started his church magazine in 1865, he borrowed the title from Nehemiah and called the publication The Sword and Trowel (note – trowel is a small handheld tool with a flat, pointed blade, used to apply and spread mortar or plaster):

He said it was “a record of combat with sin and labor for the Lord.” It is not enough to build the wall; we must also be on guard lest the Enemy take it from us.

Building and battling are both a normal part of the Christian life if we are faithful disciples (Luke 14:28–33).

28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

** Question: What are some areas (in our personal lives, in the church and in the culture at large) that we as Christians need to be battling against?

** Question: What are some areas (in our personal lives, in the church and in the culture at large) that we as Christians need to be involved in building up?

There are 3 prominent things in this passage of Scripture – the plan, the promise and the perseverance:

The Plan

Why do we need a plan? Vengeance of the enemy, vitalness of the work and vastness of the wall
1. The vengeance of the enemy demands that there be a plan that we might have victory. We saw this in v.7-8 of this chapter:
  
  Nehemiah 4:7-8 – 7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.
2. The vitalness of the work. In the book of Nehemiah up until this point, the emphasis has been how important this matter of building the wall is to the people of Israel:
  
  Nehemiah 1:3-4 – 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
3. Because of the vastness of the wall:
  
  Nehemiah 4:19 – I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another.”
  
  They weren’t all together in one place when working on the wall, but they were individuals, working on individual parts of the wall – they were separated by great distances. In the same way, we as Christians are not always together all the time (maybe once or twice a week). But, during the times when we’re not together, we may be living or working in close contact with unbelievers. We not called to just stay inside the “Christian bubble”, but we are to go out and penetrate our society and infect them with the gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20):
  
  18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
  
  God doesn’t want us to sit around as a bunch of Christians and hold hands all the time. When we come together, it strengthens us. But we’re not just one big happy family living together all the time (for example, like the Amish or Mennonites). That’s going to happen in heaven. Rather, we are soldiers of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3-4):
  
  3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
  
  And ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20):
  
  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
  
  We have been sent out on a mission – and the mission is the lost world (Acts 13:47):
  
  “For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.'”
Who’s involved in the plan? Everyone:

Nehemiah 4:16 – From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.

The load bearers and the builders were both working and were holding their weapons. The rulers were in a supporting role. They were feeding the people and were encouraging them.

Nehemiah 4:17-18 – 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.

Those who built on the wall were the laborers – they had one hand doing their work and one hand holding their weapon. It also speaks about those who carried burdens. The trumpeters stood by Nehemiah.

This is a beautiful Old Testament illustration of a New Testament concept – “Spiritual Gifts”. So everybody was doing his job – everybody was involved. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the importance of these Spiritual Gifts. God gives every single believer in Jesus Christ a spiritual gift. We’re all to be involved and using these gifts for “the common good” – it’s not just the pastor, it’s not just the elders, Nehemiah put everyone to work (1 Corinthians 12:4-7):

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
What is the plan? The plan consisted of 3 elements – they were to be armed, active and alert:
1. They are to be armed – prepared for battle. They were carrying their weapons while working. We as believers need to be armed and the Word of God is our weapon (Hebrews 4:12):
  
  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
2. They were to be active (v.15b-18):
  
  15b all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me.
3. They were to be alert (v. 20) for the sound of the trumpet:
  
  Nehemiah 4:20a – “At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.”
  
  No matter what the workers were doing, or where they labored on the wall, they all kept an ear open for the sound of the trumpet. What an example for us to follow as we await the return of the Lord!
  
  “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thess. 4:16)

The Promise (v.20):

Nehemiah 4:20b – “Our God will fight for us.”

This concept is communicated a multitude of different times in Scripture. This is God’s promise repeated so often to the nation of Israel. The “Plan” involves something you can do. The “Promise” involves something you receive as a result of God’s marvelous grace. For example:

Ex. 14:14 – The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Deut. 20:4 – For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.

Joshua 10:24-25 – 24 When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks. 25 Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.”

Ps. 60:11-12 – 11 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. 12 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

2 Chronicles 32:7-8 – 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

Isaiah 54:17 – “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from Me,” declares the LORD

The Perseverance

Nehemiah 4:21 – So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared.

They didn’t let anything stop the building. They “carried on” the work. That involved hard work and long hours (from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared – that was probably a 15 hour day!) That’s a long day, but that was required, because it was a large task. Jesus says:

John 9:4 – We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

They were so dedicated to this purpose that they were always clothed and always armed. It would’ve been uncomfortable, but they were always ready. Even in the matter of sleeping, they were always on alert. Nehemiah had instituted a “second shift” and required the workers from the other towns to stay in Jerusalem at night and help guard the city:

Nehemiah 4:22-23 – 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.

It is often while we sleep that the Enemy does his most insidious work and so we must be on guard:

Matthew 13:25 – But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.

Nehemiah not only organized the workers and guards and encouraged them to trust the Lord, but he, as a good leader, also set the right kind of example for them (Nehemiah 4:23):

So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.

The “Perseverance” then, is a great picture of what the Christian life really is all about. It’s a battle from the start to the finish. But it’s also a building process from the start to the finish.

The late Dr. Alan Redpath explained why the Jews succeeded in getting their work done and keeping the enemy at bay. The people had:

A mind to work (4:6):Nehemiah 4:6 – So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
A heart to pray (4:9a) and an eye to watch (4:9b):Nehemiah 4:9 – But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.
An ear to hear (4:20):Nehemiah 4:20 – At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.

And this gave them the victory.

They also had a godly leader with the faith to stand. Nehemiah was a leader who served and a servant who led. He stayed on the job and was alert at all times. He inspected the city’s defenses every night and made sure that the guards were on duty.

“Therefore … be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58 NKJV)

My sources in preparing this talk:

BE Determined: Standing Firm in the Face of Opposition (Old Testament Commentary on Nehemiah by Warren W. Wiersbe)
Faith Life Study Bible Commentary (included with Logos Bible Software)
The MacArthur Study Bible
The “Bible Nuggets” website I wrote (used the “topics” feature)
Sermon on Nehemiah 4:15-23 by Paul E. Steele senior pastor of the ‘Valley Church’ Cupertino, CA from Sermon Audio (https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=816081429374):

Teaching on Deuteronomy 25

July 27, 2016October 31, 20181 Comment

It was my turn to teach yesterday in my weekly Tuesday lunchtime Bible study at Mimi’s Cafe. We are going through Deuteronomy and my chapter was 25. This content is based on a Bible study I heard on the sermon audio web site:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=23132132519

The Bible study was led by Jim Butler of Free Grace Baptist Church in Chilliwack, British Columbia. I also received input from this sermon:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=2131413375

I started off my teaching with this quote from “A Popular Survey of the Old Testament” by Dr. Norman L. Geisler:

What is significant about these teachings of Christ concerning the Old Testament is that they force us to choose between Christ and the critics of the Bible. Virtually everything major critics deny about the Old Testament, Jesus affirmed to be true. The dilemma is to either accept the authenticity and authority of the Old Testament or to impugn the Integrity of Christ. In plain language, either the Old Testament is the word of God or Christ is not Son of God.

In this section of the book (pg. 13) he was talking about how Christ authenticated many accounts from the Old Testament:

That Adam and Eve were created by God (Matt 19:4)
That Abel was killed by Cain (Matt. 23:35)
That a flood destroyed the world in Noah’s time (Luke 17:27)
That God spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Luke 20:37)
That Elijah performed miracles (Luke 4:25)
That Jonah was in the great fish 3 days (Matt. 12:40)
That Daniel made true predictions (Matt. 24:15)

Here is the outline of the chapter:

Laws on corporal punishment (v1-3)
Provision for workers (v4)
Levirate Marriage (v5-6)
1. Procedure for the unwilling brother-in-law (v7-10)
Threat to progeny (v11-12)
Prohibition against unjust weights and measures (v13-16)
Remember what Amalek did (v17-19)

V1-3 Laws on Corporal punishment

If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.

Five things we learn from verses 1-3

There must be a trial (v1). Judicial procedure is big in the law of God – as can be seen in Deuteronomy 17, 19, 22. There is due process, you listen, you hear witnesses, you give evidence, you give testimony – judges weigh the case, then they give a verdict or a ruling.
Supervision over the beating (v2a). If the man is found guilty, and the decision is made to him (most likely with a rod rather than a whip – Exodus 21:20), there must be supervision. This may seem harsh, but we need to appreciate all the safeguards that were put in place to prevent an abuse of power. The judge is presiding over the beating. It is a legal proceeding – it is not “barbarism”. In this way, the judge was able to see that the sentence was properly executed and that the offender was not treated too leniently. That’s as bad a problem as too harshly.
There must be proportion (v2b). Notice that the judge will have the offender beaten in proportion to his offense, with a certain number of stripes. The punishment must fit the crime.
There must be a limit (v3a). You cannot exceed 40 stripes. This led to the Rabbinic custom of 39 lashes, referred to by Paul in the New Testament:

2 Corinthians 11:24 – Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.

The Hittites had something called the “Code of Hammurabi”. This was a Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia dating back to about 1750 BC. The code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments. Their code prescribed a max of 60 stripes (law 202). The Assyrians permitted between 40 and 50 stripes.
There must be concern for dignity (v3b). Notice the phrase “lest… your brother be degraded in your sight”. Notice that he’s still called a brother – he’s still in the covenant community – he’s not been ostracized. This is remedial – he’s going to get his beating, then he’s going to enter back into society, having learned his valuable lesson and having paid the debt to the person he offended against. So, even in the process of punishment, God is concerned that His image bearers – even the criminals – maintain their dignity. This wasn’t a spectacle done for sport, rather the punishment that was fit for the crime.

What form of punishment seems to be missing in the Pentateuch? (answer: incarceration)

V4: Provision for workers

“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.”

It seems a bit out of place here to deal with animals, so we might see it as a general principal, dealing with the just recompense of those who engage in labor. If the oxen is treading out the grain, let him eat. Don’t muzzle him – let him enjoy some of the fruits of his labor. Certainly if that applies to oxen, it applies to men as well. In the preceding section (v1-3) we saw that dignity was to be preserved in the beating of a criminal for his evil works. Certainly for a man involved in “good work” (treading out the grain – or engaged in a lawful days employ), do not muzzle him – let him eat while he is engaged in that particular task. We know that the Apostle Paul uses it in the context of paying men who preach the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:9-14 – For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

1 Timothy 5:17-18 – The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.“

Paul here appeals to the Scripture, both the Old and the New Testament. They’re both consistent in terms of this provision for those who engage in lawful employment – in this context specifically, men who preach the Gospel.

Levirate Marriage (v5-6)

If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

Levirate comes from the Latin word “Levir”, which means brother-in-law. The rule regards a man who dies. It is the duty of his brother to take his widow as his wife. In the verse, it says “if brothers dwell together”. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they share the same house, but probably that they share the same property. Then “one of them dies and has no son” – we can probably understand this to mean “childless”, because if this situation occurs and there are daughters, the daughters are rightful heirs to inheritance:

Numbers 27:8 – And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, “If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.”

The primary focus in the Levirate Marriage law is not on the widow’s well-being, though that’s certainly in there. Rather, the primary focus is more covenantal in nature. Remember when God made the covenant with Abraham. Two vital elements of that covenant were “seed” and “land” and it seems that’s what’s being protected here. If a man dies, then he is not shunned from his rightful inheritance in terms of seed and land. He ought to have posterity (definition from Merriam-Webster: “1. the offspring of one progenitor to the furthest generation, 2. All future generations”). The idea of seed and land were not confined to Israel and certainly pre-dated the legislation here. See Genesis 38, which deals with a man named Onan:

Genesis 38:4,7-10 Then she conceived again and bore a son and named him Onan… But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD; so He took his life also.

Sometimes people understand this passage to forbid certain types of sexual misconduct (i.e. masturbation). However, it is better to understand it as this idea of the Levirate Law, that it is the responsibility of the surviving brother to take the widow unto himself so that his dead brother may have heir, seed – one who is the rightfully entitled to the inheritance that is promised.

This Levirate marriage arrangement is certainly what was involved in the question posed by the Sadducees to our Lord Jesus:

Matthew 22:23-33 – …the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead–have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

The Sadducees denied the supernatural and life beyond the grave. They are trying to put together an absurd scenario regarding the idea of the Levirate marriage. They think the scenario they’ve posed to Jesus had really “got him cornered”. But, it’s interesting that all the times that people try to “corner Jesus” he just sends them packing… He is wisdom personified (see Colossians 2:2-3).

This whole idea of the Levirate marriage is for the specific purpose of granting “name” to this dead man, and that’s specified there in v6: “that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.” So, we see it’s a sign of affection, comradery, respect and inheritance for that dead brother. Marriage in those days was not always based on romantic interests, but economic and covenantal interests. Some of these laws just seem so bizarre to the 21^st century mindset. The only way we’d ever think of getting married is for romantic reasons. However, most of the time, up until the last couple hundred years people married more for specific reasons than romantic ones. We ought not to balk at such things. We ought to realize that God has His purposes. Christopher Wright says the Levirate marriage institution does 3 things:

Provides for the security of the widow in her bereavement and offered the hope of removing the stigma of not having borne a son.
It prevented any loss of property and land to the wider family, which would happen if she married outside the family
It ensured that the dead man’s name would be carried forward for posterity in his family.

Procedure for the unwilling brother-in-law (v7-10)

And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’

This Levirate Marriage isn’t a “mandatory law” – this brother can refuse. If he’s willing to have his sandal removed and have his face spit upon, and be termed “the house of him who had his sandal removed”, he’s not going to be corporally punished and he’s certainly not going to be capitally punished for refusing to marry his dead brother’s wife. He’s going to look like a jerk-one who had no affection for his brother or for his dead brother’s wife.

Notice in v8 – it says “Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him”. We need to learn from this – albeit an indirect application – to be very careful, cautious and hesitant before we pronounce guilt on a person before we’ve heard both sides. We need to make sure we understand these principles in Proverbs 18:

Proverbs 18:13,17 – He who answers before listening– that is his folly and his shame… The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.

When defending ourselves, we don’t always give both sides. We tend to portray ourselves in the best possible light. We often don’t share something that looks bad on us, but we promote everything that looks bad in the other person. Let us learn something here. She makes the allegation –then v8 says “Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him”. Notice that they don’t have “paid employee” that removes sandals and spits in faces. This text provides that victims be a part of the punitive situation. That helps victims when they see what’s actually being done. Notice that v10 says that his name shall be known in Israel as the house of him who had his sandal pulled off. It’s not just him, but it’s his entire family that fall under this stigma, so that when his family is seen in the market or around town, people know that they live in “the house of him who had his sandal pulled off”.

The taking off of the shoe (sandal) was an ancient custom in Israel in cases of redemption and exchange, for the purpose of confirming commercial transactions. The usage arose from the fact that when anyone took possession of land and property, he did so by treading upon the soil and asserting his right of possession by standing upon it in his shoes. In this way, the taking off of the shoe and handing it to another became a symbol of the renunciation of a man’s position and property. When we hear about ancient ceremonies like this, it seems really bizarre to us. But we have ceremonies too. If someone’s going to “consecrate a ship”, they break a bottle of champagne on it. If we read about that in 500 or 1,000 years, we’d probably be kind of puzzled about it. Or, there’s a new building and it’s being dedicated and there’s a ribbon cutting ceremony where they get big scissors and they cut this ribbon. So, there’s ceremonies that indicate or evidence something very significant. Ruth 4 alludes to this practice of taking off the sandal:

Ruth 4:7 Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.

This is similar, but not parallel, because in that particular instance, Boaz is not the brother-in-law. The removing of the sandal ceremony (in the case of the unwilling brother) indicated that this man was not entitled to exercise privilege anymore-he had renounced it. One commentator Allan Harman says that the removal of the sandal indicated that the man was forfeiting any right to his brother’s property, while spitting in the face was an act of contempt. We don’t need to exegete that – spitting in the face meant then what it means today J

By these regulations (of Levirate marriage), the brother-in-law’s marriage was no doubt recognized as a “duty of affection” towards his deceased brother, but it was not made a command, the neglect of which would involve guilt and punishment.

V11-12: Threat to progeny

When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.

Progeny simply means children (offspring). Notice in v11 “When men fight with one another”. It’s not suggesting that in Israel, everyone was fighting on the street. Just to read v11-12 seems a little shocking – she squeezes his genitals, you cut off her hand, you don’t show any pity. How often did this actually happen – that 2 men would fight in the city street and one of the men’s wives would grab the other man by the private parts in order to try and stop the fight? It probably didn’t happen a whole lot… So, when you hear people say, “The Bible talks about cutting off hands of poor innocent ladies!”, wait a minute, there’s a particular context, a particular situation, a specific incident that we need to understand covenantally – Seed, Inheritance, Land – all these things are crucial! The punishment in view is not for a “modesty issue” necessarily, rather the fact that she is hurting and possibly destroying this man’s chance for progeny (for having children). In the context of this passage, coming off the heels of the Levirate marriage regulations, seeing how important seed is, that’s probably what’s in view. If she squeezes and does damage to this man’s genitals, then he could indeed be sterile.

“Lex Talionis” (Law of retaliation) calls for an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Exod. 21:23-24). She does not possess that genitalia, so what is commensurate is that she should lose her hand. It’s hard to imagine that what you had within the covenant community was people brawling on every street corner with wives standing there, getting involved and trying to stop it. So, it was probably very, very minimal to begin with, if ever. In this respect, Old Testament law is in marked contrast to other ancient near eastern law, especially Assyrian law, where all kinds of very nasty physical mutilations were prescribed for many offenses. In Biblical law this is the only instance. This is punitive amputation of an offending individual. Notice, it’s not a property crime (she didn’t steal), it’s a “life crime”. It has to do with propagation and destruction of potential life.

V13-16: Prohibition against unjust weights and measures

You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

A heavy weight would profit in buying. A lighter weight would profit in selling. At the heart of this is honesty, justice, equity and fair trade. You don’t have differing weights and measures so that you can rip off a covenant community member. Rather, you have just weights and just measures, because it’s wrong and it’s a violation of God’s law to steal from people:

Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal.

It’s interesting, when we drop down in this passage, to v16, “all who do such things…are an abomination to the LORD your God”. Obviously, we would call abortion, sexual perversion, idolatry and other such violations of God’s law an abomination. God calls an unjust weights and measures an abomination. Fiscal policy, financial matters, economy, money, fair trade and just weights & measures really are ethical issues. The same God who says “You shall not murder”, “You shall not commit adultery” is the same God who says, “You shall not steal”.

What’s the implication of verse 15? Conduct yourself equitably and honestly, in a manner of fair trade in the land the Lord your God is giving you and it will go well with you. In other words, when you obey the law of God and do what the Lord commands, the Lord attaches that blessing to obedience in the land. Certainly, we see that the Israelites didn’t always do this. Unjust weights and measures were being practiced in Amos’s day:

Amos 8:4-6 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

They were exploiting the poor and engaging in wickedness and lawlessness. And proverbs says:

Proverbs 11:1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight. (NKJV)

Proverbs 16:11 Honest weights and scales are the Lord’s; All the weights in the bag are His work. (NKJV)

Proverbs 20:10,23 Diverse weights and diverse measures, They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord … Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, And dishonest scales are not good.

God hates theft and despises when men engage in deceit. Men, if you say you are selling a product, then make sure it bears that particular value. Don’t cheat people or rip them off. Do not think that having unjust weights and measures will make you prosperous. It may prosper you in the short term, but God, the Lord will most certainly bring judgement to bear upon you. We need to deal ethically, uprightly, honestly and justly in all of our financial dealings and doings – in our commerce – in our buying and in our selling.

Leviticus 19:35-36 You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

This is the same ethic we find in the New Testament. You have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ – now live like that! Live in a manner that is consistent with the Gospel:

Ephesians 4:28 – Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

So, the Gospel ethic isn’t just “stop stealing”, but “stop stealing, work and work hard, so that you can make enough to give to someone who has need.” That is conduct worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Question: In what ways do we have unjust weights and measures today?

V17-19 Remember what Amalek did

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.

We learn 2 things about the Amalekites here:

Their wicked conduct – Not only did they attack Israel, but they specifically attacked the stragglers at the rear. Those at the rear were probably the elderly, the very young, the sick, and the pregnant. The strong warriors are probably upfront. So, Lex Talionis applies on a national level as well. It’s interesting here that God’s law pertains not only to covenant Israel, but also to the Amalekites as well. It is fundamental and universal, by virtue of the fact that man bears the image of God, that we don’t prey upon weak people. That’s something that the Amalekites should’ve known and that every human being has written in their hearts (Rom 2:14-15).
Their religious motive – Amalek does not fear God, so, he certainly doesn’t care about God’s people. The fact that he destroys these weak Israelites is an indicator of his despising and his hatred of the God of Israel. And so God then says “Remember them”.

Do the Israelites actually obey God? No. Saul spared Agag and the Amalekites:

1 Samuel 15:3,7-9 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’… And Saul attacked the Amalekites… But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them…

We still see the Amalekites during the reign of David. Ultimately, its 1 Chronicles 4 that indicates the end of the Amalekites, probably under Hezekiah’s reign.

1 Chronicles 4:41,43 – … in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah… they defeated the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped…

Notice these are God’s enemies, He wants Israel to wipe them out. God has the prerogative, the right and the absolute sovereignty to make this declaration. We do not. When the psalmist says “Do I not hate those who hate You O Lord?” (Ps. 139:21), he’s not crying out against his enemies, he’s crying out against God’s enemies. When the Psalmist asks the Lord to smash the teeth of his enemies (Ps. 58:6), they are the enemies of the Lord, not someone at church who forgot to say hi to you on Sunday. Don’t go home and pray imprecatory Psalms over your wife because she burned dinner. It is righteous for us to use the imprecatory Psalms. We see them quoted in the New Testament often, but we need to understand the responsible use of them. It is God’s enemies that we are to despise, not our enemies, not the guy who cut us off on the freeway.

Question: Where do we see “the Gospel” in Deuteronomy 25?

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Romans 5:20-21

Romans 6:1-23

Ezekiel 44

Ezekiel 9

The Removal of God’s Glory Begins

Resources Used in Preparing this Teaching

1 John 3:11-18

John 18:25-40

John 8:31-59

Luke 21:1-38

Luke 5:1-16

The Plausibility of Miracles

Psalm 107 & 108

Psalm 107

1. Wandering in the desert

2. Languishing in prison

3. Enduring Sickness

4. Tossing on a stormy sea

Psalm 108

His Morality

His Religiosity

Psalm 71 & 72

Psalms 71

Themes that I found occurring in this Psalm:

Taking shelter & refuge in God (v1,7)

Asking for God’s rescue/salvation and to not be forsaken (v1,2,4,18)

Praising God (v6,14,23) – including the use of musical instruments (v22 harp/lyre). Joyful worship (v23)

Psalms 149:2-3

Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.

Meditating on God’s Attributes

God allowing trouble in David’s life (v20)

David’s persecution by his enemies (v4,13,24)

Imprecatory prayers (v13,24)

Evangelism/witnessing – telling about God (v15,18,24)

Growing old (v9,18)

Resurrection (v20 revive me again / bring me up from the depths of the earth)?

Personal redemption (v23 my soul, which You have redeemed)

Psalms 72 – “The Reign of the Righteous King” A Psalm of Solomon

Psalm 35

Psalm 36

Nehemiah 4:15-23

Given March 6th 2018

The Work Resumes

The Plan

The Promise (v.20):

The Perseverance

Here is the outline of the chapter:

V1-3 Laws on Corporal punishment

Five things we learn from verses 1-3

V4: Provision for workers

Levirate Marriage (v5-6)

Procedure for the unwilling brother-in-law (v7-10)

V11-12: Threat to progeny

V13-16: Prohibition against unjust weights and measures

V17-19 Remember what Amalek did

Given March 6^th 2018