The Church in Hebrews 3

The Church in Hebrews 3 is warned about hardening their hearts, as the Hebrews did in the wilderness. The passage referred to is Numbers 14, where the people listened to the 10 unbelieving spies and did not want to go into Canaan, but decided to return to Egypt.  The clear implication here is that, like Israel in the wilderness, Christians are liable to harden their hearts and turn back to the life of sin from which Christ has redeemed them.  I believe in Perseverance of the Saints, but a great many professing Christians have fallen away over the centuries, beginning with Judas. So, one does not know until the end if any Christian is the real deal. Professing Christians may, at some point, fail to hold on to their hope.  And we don't know that those who fall away for a time won't come back, as Peter did after betraying Christ.

As a Dispensationalist, I believed that the Church was a new thing God came up with in lieu of setting up His Kingdom.  As a Post-Mil, I believe the Church IS the kingdom and that Gentile believers are grafted into the true Israel [Rom 11], and are members of the assembly of the faithful, the "new man" and household of God mentioned in Ephesians 2, the Kingdom of Priests and Holy Nation of Exodus 19:6, and that we are one body with the great heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

Furthermore, I believe that, just as the Jews saw the miracles of Exodus, yet hardened their hearts and turned back to Egypt, and all but Caleb and Joshua were denied entry into the promised rest, many Christians are likewise hardened and drift away from the faith and become rebellious and useless.  The author of Hebrews obviously thinks this is possible, since he exhorts them throughout Hebrews to hold onto their faith and not drift away or fall away or turn away.  We read in vv.5,6:

5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

We are NOT his house if we do not hold firm to the end.  The "if" in v.6 makes the first clause conditional. Likewise, v.14 also has this "if",

For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.

We are partakers of Christ, not without condition, but perseverance is expected of the elect.  Now, I'm not going to try and argue that it is or is not possible for true believers to fall away.  That is not the purpose if the writer of Hebrews.  What he does want is the believers he had addressed to not give up their hope, particularly in the face of relentless persecution from the Jewish diaspora to keep all the Laws and traditions, despite the fact that so many of them were Gentiles.  

There is, then, a real danger that professing Christians, both Jewish and Gentile, can be hardened against Christ and fall away.  This is why v.13 says,

Exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin is stealthy, persistent, deceitful. When it gets into the life of a Christian, it can lead him to become bitter toward other Christians and often even bitter toward God. This was the struggle of Job.  We dare not allow bitterness in.  If God permits us to suffer, like Job, we should say, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

We are, like the Israelites in the wilderness, not yet in heaven. We are on the way. But this side of "the Jordan", we are in a hostile wilderness, designed by God to toughen us up for battle, for conquest.  The "land of rest" has enemies we must overcome.  We are not in "peacetime", but need to "Put on the armor of God" and "take up the sword of the Spirit" so we may stand against the devil's wiles, and conquer the gates of Hell, which "cannot prevail against" the Church Jesus is building.  (How I thank God these things are not to be taken literally, but spiritually, as in spiritual warfare and wrestling not against flesh and blood.)  

Lord, help me to overcome the lull of a false peacetime, and fight by your side as long as you are "ruling among your enemies".  Please show me the way to fight, and conquer the unbelief in the hearts of others.  Make your church valiant and victorious, for the honor and glory and kingdom of your Son Jesus, in Whose name I pray.  Amen

Useless to the World or just useless?

How does a Christian know if he is spiritual and, and as such, of no count to the world, or just useless in general?

If so great a prophet as Elijah was outcast, hiding out in the wilderness by a creek for three and a half years, if so great a leader as Moses just shepherded sheep for forty years, if even Jesus just did carpentry for thirty years, before doing anything great, it doesn't seem strange that a really ordinary, perhaps mediocre, man as I should be just doing a job and helping a handful of people for sixty years.  Long ago I stopped seeking great things for myself [Jeremiah 45:5].  But I often can't help but wonder if the Lord doesn't use me for anything great simply because I am useless to Him, or too cowardly to attempt anything great, or not really half as gifted as I imagine myself. 

This must be what depression feels like.   No wonder Elijah suffered from it.  Those who do really want to please God will certainly not be accepted by the world.  It's lonely.  But I may also need to repent.  Time to really take stock of my soul. 

Am I really committed to Jesus?  Absolutely.  

Have I un-repented sin in my heart?  None that I can think of.  I have repented all my sins.  I don't mean to say I am sinless; sin tempts me from time to time, and I occasionally slip into greed or lust or pride or covetousness. But I'm clinging to the grace of Jesus and His imputed righteousness through every trial and test.  So my soul cries out with Job: "Cause me to understand wherein I have erred." [Job 6:24]

Tests and trials, actually, are what make a Christian spiritual and of great worth, according to James in his Epistle.  Here's what he writes in 1:2-8:

2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Tests of faith make one patient.  Patience works perfection in us.  So what is mediocre and banal in any man is either growing because he is impatient and unfaithful, or being worked out of him by his faith and patience.  I hope I'm not overstating James' meaning.  Prayer is also part of the equation, for what I lack---that which makes me of no account---can be supplied by God to those who ask in faith, nothing doubting.  Doubt is probably the most abundant ingredient in the truly useless person. 

So in what respects am I doubting?  I suppose I have a measure of self-doubt---else why would I write such a post as this?  I want to go beyond just doing what I'm told or what I've already been doing, and become a risk-taker.  I have done a little of that in becoming a post-millenialist, and defending that position. But I think more is at stake than the end times. The here and now is a higher prize.  For that I need to take risks.

What risks should a mature Christian take?  Planting a new church, now there's a risky business!  That may not be what I'm meant to do, but it is what I would like to do.  Let me pray, nothing doubting, and see what God will open up!  

Lord, you may not have need of yet another church in Charlottesville.  But I would do my part to reach the people of this city.  Lord, if you have no church for me to serve, save CBC and Woods Edge, then help me give my heart there. Otherwise, open the door and show me the way to go.  And if not that, give me the courage to plant a church on the UVA grounds, in the open air if it be thy will, this school year.  IJNA

Isaiah 59 Cannot Take a Futurist Interpretation

In a recent Bible study on Isaiah chapter 59, someone suggested a futurist interpretation should guide our understanding of 59:20,21. This passage reads:

20“The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says the Lord. 21“As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

But I wish to demonstrate that this passage cannot possibly be interpreted as futurists suggest, i.e. as unfulfilled. Nor should we await a yet future fulfillment of this. In fact, I am appalled that such an interpretation is so widespread! For at least five reasons this passage is fulfilled, in the bride and church of Jesus our Lord---and wonderfully so!

First, The argument was made that in the entire Old Testament as well as in this passage, "Zion" and "Jacob" are terms that can ONLY refer to ethnic Israel, and can NEVER refer to the church or to Gentile believers. But such a presupposition does not have good grounds in the light of the New Testament, since the New Testament writers often use terms like Zion and Israel as types (prophetic symbols) of a greater spiritual reality.  

For example, in St. Paul's hermeneutic, Israel, then Isaac, then Jacob are interpreted as types of those who are the elect in Romans 9 (as well as in Galatians 4). In Romans 9:6ff we read,

6For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. ... 11That the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls. 

Paul is not arguing that Isaac and Jacob, but not Ishmael and Esau, were the heirs. This requires no argument and wouldn't be germane to his line of reasoning.  His point is that all were actual sons, but only Isaac and Jacob were accepted. The analogy is used to argue his doctrine of election.  He even explicitly rejects the notion that ALL ethnic Jews are God's children. Whoever God elects is true son, True Israel;  those He hardens [9:18] are not Israel even if they are of Israel.

Other examples of a non-literal hermeneutic abound in the NT: the Temple [John 2:19], the Holy Place and the curtain of the temple [Heb 10:19], Mount Zion and Jerusalem and "congregation of the firstborn" [Heb 12:22f], and "unshakable kingdom" [Heb 12:28], the priesthood [1Pe 2:5]; all are used of spiritual realities, of which the material Old Testament versions are but copies (or antitypes in the Greek). [Heb 9:24].

Second, Jesus DID come TO Zion and DID offer the kingdom, and thus the New Covenant and the Holy Spirit, to ethnic Israel. He took pains to make sure the disciples would "not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans" [Matt 10:5] until he later commanded them to do so. Peter also held out the promises first to the Jews saying [Acts 2:39]: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Third, the promised covenant in Isaiah 59 is completely in concord with the New Covenant spoken of by Jeremiah 31:31ff and fulfilled in Jesus according to Hebrews 8:8ff. The Lord Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." [Lk 22:20, 1Cor 11:25] I ask, then, why is the New Covenant of Jeremiah 31---which Jesus proclaimed and Hebrews 8 claims is fulfilled---not the same covenant promised in Isaiah 59:21?  The knowledge of God HAS been given to us, as Jesus attests in John 17:6f:

6“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.”

It makes no sense to hold that Isaiah 59 is not fulfilled and at the same time agree that Jesus did establish the New Covenant per Jeremiah 31, especially since 

Fourth, Isaiah's prophecy includes the giving of the Holy Spirit, Who was assuredly given by Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles. According to Jesus' words in John 16 and 17, it is the Spirit Who brings repentance, gives to all---that is, to all those who turn from transgression---knowledge of God and reminds us of the words of Jesus. [John 14:26, 16:8--13, &c] Perhaps many Christians have not experienced this revelation of truth that the Spirit gives as we go in His power, and so are convinced that such knowledge of God as Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold has not been given. But praise God, it IS given, and I have experienced it again and again when I had no idea what to teach or preach or witness.

Fifth, even if Jeremiah 31 is fulfilled and Isaiah 59 is not, for the sake of argument, nowhere in the NT is an additional new covenant ever promised to ethnic-national Israel, as the futurists argue. If some new outpouring of the Spirit or additional covenant is in store during a distant age, the NT authors never mention it. (The potential exception is discussed in the next paragraph.) 

Sixth, now the futurist will say, "But, no! Paul applies this passage (Isaiah 59:21) in Romans 11 to the future awakening of ethnic Israel, not as being already fulfilled by Christ in the church." Let us look at Romans 11:

25For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

Paul here is, in fact, applying Isaiah's promise to Jesus, the Deliverer out of Zion, who DID take away their sins, "first for the Jew, then for the Gentile". His point here is that God has worked among the Gentiles as a strategy to "provoke Israel to jealousy" [11:11]. When the fulness of the Gentiles have believed and been grafted into the olive tree, ethic Jewish believers will also be grafted back in, but only by believing in Jesus, the Deliverer from Zion. He is already turning ungodliness away from Jacob, that is, the remnant, and from those who are "of the faith of Abraham" ("who is the father of us all") and are thus counted as true sons. [Rom 4:16,17]  

Obviously I take the olive tree in Romans 11 to represent the true, spiritual Israel, which is just to say, the people of God, the holy nation, the assembly, the ekklesia, and what Jesus called "My church" and "the kingdom of heaven" in Matthew 16:18.  

It is interesting that Paul doesn't quote Isaiah fully, but summarizes his promise of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling knowledge of God with "When I take away their sins". It is, of course, God's Word and Spirit which sanctifies us [John 17:17], and Jesus' blood which takes away our sin [1Jn 1:7]. Some have even suggested that the ending of Rom 11:27 is juxtaposed by Paul directly from Jeremiah's version of the New Covenant, viz. [Jer 31:34]:

No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

If St. Paul conflates the two prophecies, as it appears he does, it is not without good reason, and certainly not without inspiration. He must have seen that to Know the Lord, and to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, is to be freed from sin, made holy, and filled with the fullness of God!  I believe this is why Paul elsewhere exclaims, "But we have the mind of Christ!" [1Cor 2:16] 

Praise be to the Lord Jesus, our glorious Deliverer, Who has not only given us His precious blood to take away our sin, and the knowledge of God which IS eternal life [Jn 17:3], and His own power and Spirit to be in us forever, but His very mind!  We need not pine for a future kingdom which may come soon or not, as the Jews.  We have the New Covenant now!  To assume it is a future promise is, it seems, to make the same mistake as the Jews who rejected Christ, since He did not give (nor promise) them the carnal throne and political-military kingdom they craved.  But what He gave was a far greater, far more real, far better covenant [Heb 8:6] and a far better, spiritual, eternal and universal kingdom.

Hallelujah to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, forever and ever.  Amen and amen!

February 27, Day of Prayer for Colleges

Today, February 27th, is a day of prayer for college campuses.

It happens to also be my dad's birthday, and my boss's birthday.) Thus it is a memorable day I should not fail to sieze for prayer.

It is more than 200 years old as a day of prayer. According to the Collegiate Day of Prayer website [https://collegiatedayofprayer.org] it was begun during the Second Great Awakening (1780s) in the United States, and continued for many years, and revivals were common throughout the times these "concerts of prayer" continued.

By 1815, the Concert of Prayer for Colleges had become a regular feature on the New England campuses of Yale, Williams, Brown and Middlebury. By 1823, almost every major denomination and university in America had embraced the practice of a concerted day of prayer for colleges. By the end of the 19th century, these repeated student awakenings had radically transformed the culture and moral climate of many of our largest universities.

This year, I have joined in, pledging to pray for UVa, PVCC (both colleges in my hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia), and the National Sun Yat-Sen University of Taiwan.  

Father in heaven, you have created all things for your glory.  You have sent your Son Jesus to restore this state of glory.  He, however, did not appear to us as being glorified when he was rejected by His own (the Jews) and sent to the cross to die, while they yelled, "We have no king but Caesar!  Crucify him!"  

Now it appears that the whole world has gone over to this secular god and worships at the altar of worldly knowledge, rejecting the knowledge of God.  Father, I pray today you might open anew the altar of heaven to the eyes of your people, that we may see your glory as Jesus did, and suffer with Him outside the gates, that is, outside the gates of our safe churches, and on the grounds of the colleges and seminaries which nearly all reject Jesus 

Lord, open our hearts to pray and intercede for the students and others at UVa and the other universities in this generation.  Bless your people who are working and studying at the colleges, and send a work among them that may lead to revival, small or large, may souls repent and turn in faith to Jesus Christ.  Open their eyes, Lord, through our witness. 

Make me also a willing, ready, present witness to the souls here in Charlottesville, both at UVa and Piedmont. Make the Haga family a powerful witness at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Tiawan, and bring many to faith.  Forgive my reticence to go out and preach and witness as I know you desire me to do.  Embolden me today to repent and henceforth go out faithfully, every Thursday and/or Saturday I am able to go.  May you speak your grace to the people here through me and others who serve you, including Bill Bray, the Bullettes, and all my friends in UBF everywhere.  

In Jesus' name, amen

Why John never mentions the Transfiguration

Why does John, who was an eyewitness of the Transfiguration of Jesus, never mention it in his gospel, letters or the Revelation?

John, Peter and James, all did glimpse Jesus' glory in the Transfiguration. The fact that John does not report it may be, as Eusebius suggests, due to his desire not to repeat stories from the already extant Synoptic Gospels.  This is speculation, and quite reasonable.

But we are here for *interpretation*, not speculation.  John indeed says, **"We have seen His glory"** yet does not mention the Transfiguration.  Still, in his Gospel John speaks very much of Jesus' glory.  It is a dominant theme, in fact, beginning in 1:14. 

In 2:11, after the miracle of the wine at Cana, John summarizes: 

"This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him."**

 This miracle was practically invisible do all but those who put in the water and drew out the wine (the servants).  And only really his disciples saw and put their faith in him.  Yet, in John's eyes, it was Jesus manifestation of His glory.  Jesus' hiding His miracle to all but those who obeyed Him was glory.  This doesn't make sense ... if one has a wrong hermeneutic.

In ch.12 He also speaks of glory following his words to the Greek believers about the kernel of wheat, "Shall I say, `Father, save me from this hour?' But for this purpose I came. Father, glorify Your name."  This "hour" was the moment of Jesus' ultimate glorification.  He says it again in 13:31f: "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. And ... will glorify Him immediately."

Again he speaks of God's glory in 14:13, 15:8, 16:14. In ch.17:1-5, He says:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

John does not explain why he omitted the Transfiguration. But the fact that he does, while repeating Jesus' words of glorification pointing to the cross, suggests what Martin Luther described as the "Theology of the Cross" as opposed to the "Theology of Glory".  The latter easily enthralls the natural man; the former is perceived only by the mature Christian, and only in the Gospel.

We need a biblical hermeneutic if we would truly discern the message God has given us in the Bible.  Inasmuch as one's hermeneutic starts with his presuppositions, the theology of the cross, versus the theology of glory, is one that would take its force from John's gospel. 

Sadly, Christians today seem enamored of glory and are ignoring the cross as the real manifestation of God's glory, and thus, also as our destiny.  This may be the root and source of dispensationalism, since it is a hermeneutical framework that dismisses the spiritual meaning of the church (que kingdom of God) and fixates solely on the material kingdom.  Futurist prophesy thrills, and sells.  So it is the majority view.  But I could be wrong.

John 10: What a Good Shepherd Does

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." [John 10:11]

Jesus words to the unbelieving Jews contained one of the most beautiful expressions of His own role in the whole Bible, "I am the good shepherd."  Who doesn't know the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."  It is clear that Jesus is claiming to be the Lord, here.  The indirect claim left the Jews frustrated, so they said, "How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." [24]  At last he said to them, "I and the Father are one." [30] At this, they took up stones to stone Him as a blasphemer. 

Then the Lord answered them in a truly astonishing way.  He said, 

"Is it not 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'?"

Here Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6, where God calls them gods and children of the Most High. It is astonishing that to God we who belong to Him are also gods. How could this be, since we are certainly creatures?  The only explanation I can imagine is that because man is made in the image of God, we are in THAT SENSE also gods.  This isn't an easy doctrine to grasp, but it is a very easy doctrine to abuse. 

What does it mean that we are gods?  Well, it doesn't mean we are equal with God, though for Jesus it DID mean equality. Man who is made in God's image is the rightful ruler of the world. This goes back to the Genesis command to "Rule the world", given to Adam and Eve.  The purpose of man is to reign over, or have dominion over the animal kingdom and the material world.  So we are not meant to just enjoy life, make a lot of money, sit back and be entertained until we die.  We are meant to reign in life.  Of course it doesn't mean we are to be tyrants either. If we are "gods" it is only as we yield to the Almighty God in obedience and faithfulness that we can maintain any divine right.

Jesus is the rightful Lord of all creation, since He is God's only begotten Son. So He explains and exemplifies what ruling and reigning looks like:  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep."  An ordinary shepherd might take care of the sheep, until he slaughters them and eats them.  Jesus instead says, "This is my flesh. Take and eat."  And he lays down His life to give us eternal life, rescuing us from the mouth of the Beast. 

As a shepherd (that is, a Bible teacher and mentor) for others, I must also lay down my life for His sheep. What does this mean to me?  I believe there is no higher calling in the whole of life than to "Go therefore and make disciples, teaching them to obey" Jesus.  To be called "Shepherd" is far greater than "Mr. President" or "Your Honor" or "Father" or "Pastor" or "Doctor".  But as a high calling, it is risky. Many fall when they take advantage of the sheep for personal gain or pleasure or aggrandizement of some other kind.  This is what robbers and wolves do.  The job of a good shepherd is not only to provide and care for sheep but also protect them, from such robbers and wolves. 

For this, we shepherds must lay down our lives.  This "laying down life" could take many forms.  But the most obvious looks like, it would seem, postponing or sacrificing altogether the pleasures, rewards and blessings of life, such as wealth and popularity and comfort, in order to serve and help God's people.  Even sacrificing SOME blessings is a good start, sacrificing some of my time to serve and teach and evangelize, some of my family time, personal time, recreation time, and some of the time spent in personal self-improvement, like study, piano and gym time.

I confess, it is hard to think of giving up any of these activities to go and train a church choir, serve a soup kitchen, or build an orphanage in Sudan.  But that's what Sam the "Machine Gun Preacher" did, even taking up arms to defend these children from evil slave-traders and gangs.  It was to him not too high a price to pay for God's flock even to leave his family behind for long periods.  Jesus did not take up arms, but he DID recommend it to the disciples (see Luke 22:36ff). 

Another thing God has been putting on my heart, for a very long time now, is open-air preaching.  I want to do so, and believe that God will empower me with the Holy Spirit as I obey this calling.  Yet I have not made time or effort to go out and preach on the campus or streets.  It feels like doing so is just asking to be stoned and persecuted. So I do not go.  

Finally, it may be God's will for me to plant a church here in Virginia.  I came here for that purpose in 2004, but till now have not done so.  It requires too great a commitment and seems to involve much risk.  God is putting it on my heart.  May God help me to know what He would have me to do, in these matters.  Amen.