I love the way that the Bible explains itself, or to perhaps say in another way, I love the way that the Bible is always consistent with itself.
In the latter part of Acts, Paul is on his way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit had warned him, Paul soon encountered prison and hardships. Due to rumors and false accusations, he is arrested by the Roman commander - or should I say, "protected" by the Roman commander - who cannot uncover the reason for the Jews' anger against him. In his effort to settle the matter, the commander orders Paul to be taken before the Sanhedrin. Following the Sanhedrin's failure to act, a conspiracy is formed the next day by more than forty men who bound themselves with an oath to not eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
Guess what? Those men either broke their oath or died of starvation! I would love to have seen those men when they took their first bite of food, realizing they were not going to be successful and probably feeling very guilty about giving up their self-imposed diet.
As it turned out - or I should say, "In God's providence" - the nephew of Paul overheard the plot and told Paul, who then sent his nephew to the commander with word of the plot. Hearing of this conspiracy, the Roman commander sent Paul to Cesarea under the protection of four hundred soldiers and seventy horsemen.
Now to the point I introduced at the beginning of this post.
Just what does this illustrate? Well, a number of things are very apparent.
One, you may say, "O, how lucky Paul was to have his nephew over hear the plot." No, it wasn't luck, it was God's providence. God's providence is always better.
Second, you might say, "The Lord had already promised Paul that he would bear witness to Him in Jerusalem, so what took place through the nephew really didn't matter."
No, Paul acted on the report of his nephew. He took it seriously. He did something about it.
Some will say, “If God has ordained all things from the beginning, even concerning the salvation of sinners, why do anything about it, why pray, why preach?”
Answer: Because God has ordained both the end (His purpose) and the means to the end. He determined that Paul would bear witness to Him in Jerusalem. He put Paul's nephew exactly where he had to be in order to learn of the plot (and we are not told how the nephew learned of the plot). And Paul acted on his nephew's report.
God has ordained that His elect will be saved through the preaching of the gospel to every nation. The Bible says so. We must pray, we must preach, we must go to all the nations because God has commanded that we do so. Anything other than that is disobedience. God has ordained the end and the means to the end.
So if Paul's nephew thought it necessary to let his uncle know of the conspiracy to kill him, how much more must we be willing to make known the words of life!
Practical, isn’t it? Very theological also.
Don’t you love Scripture, how it explains itself and is consistent with itself? Now go tell someone....
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Heidelberg Q15 - Seek what sort of savior?
So we know from the first part of the Heidelberg Catechism that we are as wholly messed up as God is holy. We also know that we can't repair that relationship ourselves - that we need some sort of redeemer. So...
It's got to be a man, because man is who messed up in the first place. But he also has to be God because only God can fix a problem this big. Hmmm... Sounds like the pool of applicants for this job is going to be pretty small.Q15. What sort of a mediator and deliverer then must we seek for? A: For one who is very man, and perfectly righteous; and yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who is also very God. Scripture Proofs: 1Cor.15:21, Jer.33:16, Isa.53:9, 2Cor.5:21, Heb.7:26, Heb.7:16, Isa.7:14, Isa.9:6, Rom.9:5, Jer.23:5, Jer.23:6, Luke 11:22
Friday, May 14, 2010
Keeping On
I have been preaching through the book of Acts for some time now. The last section of the book of Acts relates Paul's visit to Jerusalem, a visit he had undertaken due to a Spirit-given compulsion and in spite of repeated urgings by other believers not to go because of the dangers he would face.
Now, there are those that thing Paul was mistaken to go. That seems difficult to prove in light of all that is said in Acts.
There are those who think Paul goofed big time once he got there, agreeing to a purification rite in order to appease those who wrongly said that Paul taught all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses.
There are those who point out that his efforts were totally unsuccessfully, thereby proving that he never should have been there in the first place and that he only compromised the gospel by what he did.
I don't agree with those who think Paul should not have gone to Jerusalem or that he compromised the gospel. But regardless of how one vies his actions, no one can miss the tremendous love and courage Paul demonstrated by being where he was and by doing what he did. It was, in fact, a courage fueled by love.
Paul loved the Church. He was in Jerusalem to present money given by the Gentile churches to help the Jerusalem church because of the recent famine the area had suffered. While they needed the help, Paul had an even greater motive, encouraging the unity of believers at a time when many Gentile and Jews were coming to know Christ.
Even as he is seeking to build bridges and to demonstrate His regard for certain Jewish practices, Paul was attacked by an angry mob who acted solely on the basis of misunderstandings, misinformation, and mischaracterizations (o.k., maybe we can say "lies"?). He was rescued by the Roman commander who had wrongly assumed Paul to be the leader of a terrorist group that had appeared in Jerusalem several years earlier. And though the Roman commander rescued him, the same man later ordered Paul to be flogged.
A rough day, wasn't it? And it would get worse.
But Paul continued because he so loved the Lord, so loved the Church, and so loved the gospel that he could not do otherwise.
Think about that the next time you want to quit the church, or give up doing something in the church, because someone hurt your feelings, or has a personality conflict, or because the room is too cold or too hot, or because you don't like the music, or because someone didn't speak to you, or you are tired, or morale is low.....(insert your own excuse).
Better yet, think of Christ who "for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
Now, there are those that thing Paul was mistaken to go. That seems difficult to prove in light of all that is said in Acts.
There are those who think Paul goofed big time once he got there, agreeing to a purification rite in order to appease those who wrongly said that Paul taught all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses.
There are those who point out that his efforts were totally unsuccessfully, thereby proving that he never should have been there in the first place and that he only compromised the gospel by what he did.
I don't agree with those who think Paul should not have gone to Jerusalem or that he compromised the gospel. But regardless of how one vies his actions, no one can miss the tremendous love and courage Paul demonstrated by being where he was and by doing what he did. It was, in fact, a courage fueled by love.
Paul loved the Church. He was in Jerusalem to present money given by the Gentile churches to help the Jerusalem church because of the recent famine the area had suffered. While they needed the help, Paul had an even greater motive, encouraging the unity of believers at a time when many Gentile and Jews were coming to know Christ.
Even as he is seeking to build bridges and to demonstrate His regard for certain Jewish practices, Paul was attacked by an angry mob who acted solely on the basis of misunderstandings, misinformation, and mischaracterizations (o.k., maybe we can say "lies"?). He was rescued by the Roman commander who had wrongly assumed Paul to be the leader of a terrorist group that had appeared in Jerusalem several years earlier. And though the Roman commander rescued him, the same man later ordered Paul to be flogged.
A rough day, wasn't it? And it would get worse.
But Paul continued because he so loved the Lord, so loved the Church, and so loved the gospel that he could not do otherwise.
Think about that the next time you want to quit the church, or give up doing something in the church, because someone hurt your feelings, or has a personality conflict, or because the room is too cold or too hot, or because you don't like the music, or because someone didn't speak to you, or you are tired, or morale is low.....(insert your own excuse).
Better yet, think of Christ who "for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame,and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
The Gospel In Micah
As I studied Micah 6:1-8 in preparation for the Sunday evening service, I have been struck by how the gospel is presented in the Old Testament prophecy of Micah.
God comes as if in a court of law to present His charge against His people. He calls on all of creation to serve as His witnesses.Creation can serve as His witness because it has indeed witnessed what God has done for His people.
God's first question is one that should search their hearts: "My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you?" The people obviously feel that God has wronged them, rather than thinking of their obligation to God. Sound familiar, doesn't it? I suspect that many today think in terms of what God owes to them, or how God has supposedly wronged them. After all, if we do good, say our prayers, and go to church once in a while, then God owes us, does he not? Keep reading, particularly if you think in such a way.
As He drives this question into their hearts, God reminds them of things He has done for them: redeeming them from slavery, giving them godly leadership, and demonstrating that He longs to bless them, rather than curse them.
Having nothing to say in response, the people ask, "With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?" They offer some possibilities: the choicest of offerings and of their possessions. If quality will not suffice, then may quantity: ten thousand rivers of oil. And if none of these will suffice, perhaps their own firstborn.
"What shall we bring before the Lord?" That is the question that must be answered. And the answer can still be given in the familiar words, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."
Micah responds by saying, "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Again, the most important question to be asked: "What does the Lord require of us?"
Does Micah's answer say that we are accepted by God through our behavior? Far from it, as the context reveals. Rather, the three matters of justice, mercy, and obedience to God demonstrate that we have embraced the gospel of God's grace and have entered into a covenant relationship with Him.
And that is the gospel as presented in Micah!
God comes as if in a court of law to present His charge against His people. He calls on all of creation to serve as His witnesses.Creation can serve as His witness because it has indeed witnessed what God has done for His people.
God's first question is one that should search their hearts: "My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you?" The people obviously feel that God has wronged them, rather than thinking of their obligation to God. Sound familiar, doesn't it? I suspect that many today think in terms of what God owes to them, or how God has supposedly wronged them. After all, if we do good, say our prayers, and go to church once in a while, then God owes us, does he not? Keep reading, particularly if you think in such a way.
As He drives this question into their hearts, God reminds them of things He has done for them: redeeming them from slavery, giving them godly leadership, and demonstrating that He longs to bless them, rather than curse them.
Having nothing to say in response, the people ask, "With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?" They offer some possibilities: the choicest of offerings and of their possessions. If quality will not suffice, then may quantity: ten thousand rivers of oil. And if none of these will suffice, perhaps their own firstborn.
"What shall we bring before the Lord?" That is the question that must be answered. And the answer can still be given in the familiar words, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."
Micah responds by saying, "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Again, the most important question to be asked: "What does the Lord require of us?"
Does Micah's answer say that we are accepted by God through our behavior? Far from it, as the context reveals. Rather, the three matters of justice, mercy, and obedience to God demonstrate that we have embraced the gospel of God's grace and have entered into a covenant relationship with Him.
And that is the gospel as presented in Micah!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Heidelberg Q14 - Can anyone satisfy for us?
So, God will have his justice satisfied (Q12) and we can't buy our own souls out of debt with God (Q13)...
Q14. Can there be found anywhere, one, who is a mere creature, able to satisfy for us? A: None; for, first, God will not punish any other creature for the sin which man has committed; and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin, so as to deliver others from it. Scripture Proofs: Ezek.18:4, Gen.3:17, Heb.2:14, Heb.2:15-17, Nah.1:6, Ps.130:3
Neither (literal) scapegoats nor Priests can help us here.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Heidelberg Q13 - Daily increase of debt
We saw in Q12 that god WILL have his justice satisfied, so we have to either make satisfaction ourselves or find someone who can. This leads us directly to Q13:
Q13. Can we ourselves then make this satisfaction? A: By no means; but on the contrary we daily increase our debt. Scripture Proofs: Job 9:2-3, Job 15:15-19, Ps.130:3, Matt.6:12, Matt.18:25, Matt16:26
So, it's NOT going to be us that makes satisfaction for our own sins. We can't. What could a man trade to God in order to buy his soul out of hock? (Matt 16:26b)
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