Tag Archives: Ephesians

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Worth of Your Calling (Ephesians 4:1).

29 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by in Ephesians, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Sanctification, Uncategorized

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Worthy of Your Calling
Ephesians 4:1–3 (AV)

1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In this sermon, MLJ considers the command that we walk “worthy of the vocation”.
It is this concept of “calling” which concerns Dr. Lloyd-Jones. First, he briefly considers the matter of “worthy”: we are to walk worthy of our calling. Worthy has two basic meanings: one is balanced – it is of the same weight. To that he contends that our life to be “worthy” must be balanced between doctrine and practice. At this point, I have one of my few disagreements with MLJ. That understanding cannot really be gotten from the text, even though he is correct that one’s life should have balance.
The second use of the word “worthy” is something fitting, proper – or as he says, something “becoming”. We must walk in a matter which is “becoming” of our calling. That leads to the primary concern in the passage: walking worthy of our calling.
His primary concern with the word “calling” or “vocation”. The word “vocation” used in the King James Bible comes from the word for “calling”:

Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin vocatio(n-), from vocare ‘to call’.

Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, eds., Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. The Greek is plainly “called” – not trade or profession, which is the usual understanding of the word vocation.

First he notes that the concept of “calling” has two basic uses in the New Testament. There is a general call which made to all people:

Acts 17:30 (AV)
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

All people are called to repent. But there is another call which applies only to believers:
Romans 8:28–30 (AV)

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

It is this “calling” which is the measure of our walk:

That is precisely what the Apostle Paul is arguing here, that we have been called in order that we may show forth these things. Be worthy, he says, of the vocation, the gcalling by which you have been called. We do so by applying the doctrine and knowledge which we have. We have to live as those who realize that we have been called by God into his heavenly calling.

What then are the elements of doctrine which we must keep in mind in order that we have fitting life?
First, we have been blessed:

Ephesians 1:3 (AV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

There is no point in talking about our difficulties, or the problems of life in this complicated modern world of the twentieth century. What matters and counts is that we have been blessed with ‘all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus!

Second, there is a goal to our calling:
Ephesians 1:4 (AV)
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

God has called us not merely that we might not go to hell, and not only that we might know that our sins are forgiven; He has chosen us ‘to be holy’ and to be ‘blameless before him in love.’ We have no to argue or to question or query. That is the life to which He has called us.

 ‘
Third, we have been chosen for this life: Ephesians 1:5 (AV)  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

 We have been called into the family of God; we are God’s children. And we are to live in a manner that will reflect credit and glory upon the family and upon our Father.” But this status is not only what I am at the moment, it also entails what I will become. I am destined to be a joint-heir with Christ. We are being fit for an eternal status. “We are to live as realizing that we going on to glory.

Fourth, since we have been blessed in the heavenly places and are so called, “We must live, I say, as realizing that we are seated in the heavenly places even at this very moment.”
Fifth, we must live in the knowledge that this calling is all based upon the free grace of God. This was made possible by the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So when sin comes and tempts you, or when you are doubtful as to whether you ca go on with the Christian life, or feel that is hard and makes excessive demands, remember the price that was paid for your deliverance, your ransom. Christ gave His life unto death that we might be rescued and that we might be holy.
Finally, notice that Paul writes as a “prisoner of the Lord”. MLJ takes this not to refer to a temporal Roman imprisonment but as Paul’s status before God:

I am living the life of a prisoner; I am actually in prison at the moment. And I am in prison because I do not decide what I do; I am the servant of Jesus Christ, I am His bondslave….We have no right to live as we choose and as we please. We were the prisoners of Satan; we are not the prisoners of Jesus Christ. We should have no desire save to please Him.

And which is more sad

23 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Ecclesiastes, Ephesians, Hebrews, Ministry

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Deuteronomy 24:1-4

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,
2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife,
3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife,
4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

The relationship between husband and wife pictures the relationship between Christ and the Church

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
30 because we are members of his body.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:25-32. Now the one who mere plays at such a relationship, the one whose commitment has caveats and yet other lovers (if you will), cannot expect that Christ will likewise play:

4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Hebrews 6:4-6

And which is more sad, in some of them never, in others very hardly built up again; God proving severe when we grow wanton. And so, as he removeth the candlestick, Rev. 2:5, when we play or fight by the light of the candle set up in it, so he is very hardly induced to light it again in that place where it hath once been wantonly or frowardly put out. There are more hopes of recovering a particular person fallen, by virtue of an everlasting covenant madewith him, although he may go halting to his grave, and never here again rise up to his former comforts and enlargements; but a particular church or people (unless it be that of the Jews, who in the great jubilee after their rejection shall again return to their former possessions, Jer. 3:1, 12–14, and 8:4) cannot claim the like privilege of such a covenant. The ark never returned to the same place from whence it was in a way of judgment removed; and the glory of the Lord, when, after its gradual removes, was at last quite gone from the first temple, was not fully restored in the second, till Christ’s first coming; nor will it be in this their rejection, till his second. I think there will be found very few instances of God’s presence and ordinances, long enjoyed by a people, and after abused and rejected, if thereupon lost, easily, if at all, restored. The ‘faith once delivered to the saints,’ Jude 3, is not wont to be received or lost the second time. The reason is, because a jealous God can least endure, upon trial made of him, to be slighted in that wherein he would most commend to us his special love, and ever accounts the rejecting of such special tokens of it as a renouncing of himself: ‘They have not rejected thee, but me,’ 1 Sam. 8:7. And as the husband in the law pleaded some uncleanness in his wife, when he put her away, Deut. 24:1, so God makes account that we tell the world, that we have found iniquity in him, when we go far from him, and walk after vanity, and that he hath been a wilderness and land of darkness, when we prove lords, and will come no more at him, Jer. 2:5, 31.

ANTHONY TUCKNEY.
From St John’s College in Cambridge,
July 7, 1654.
Dedicatory Epistle to A Brief Exposition With Practical Observations Upon the Whole Book of Ecclesiastes, John Cotton

How Must We Govern Our Tongues? Part 1

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Discipleship, Ephesians, James, Obedience, Preaching, Puritan

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 How Must We Govern Our Tongues?

Adapted from the sermon of Rev. Edward West, A.M., Christ Church Oxford

Puritan Sermons 1659-1689, Volume 2

The Morning Exercises at Cripplegate, St. Giles in the Fields

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

What speech is prohibited by Ephesians 4:29?  Corrupt, Greek sapros: something rotten.  This means anything unprofitable, idle, empty.  This can be seen more clearly when compares the rotten speech prohibited with the profitable speech required. If profitable speech builds up and gives grace, then corrupt speech must tear down and ruin.

What is speech which builds up? Speech which does good to the one who hears – even if it is merely a matter of bringing good cheer to another.

What does it mean to minister grace? That it be seasoned with salt, it conveys some wisdom, some charity, some blessing upon the other.

Therefore, What should be the aim of our speech?

1) Our speech should always aim at some good use.

2) Our speech should promote others in the course of grace.

3) Our speech should meet the situation and need: The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. Proverbs 15:2 (ESV)

I. OBSERVATION. That our very lips are under God’s laws.

If we would be Christians of integrity, we should look to both our words and our deeds: Christ must be in our heart, our hands and our words: If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. James 1:26 (ESV)

What then shall we do about our tongues? First we need to realize the nature our tongue:

A. The tongue will easily accept government:  many are others right in their character and conduct who have great difficulty in governing their tongues:  7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:7–8 (ESV) How is this so?

1. The tongue demonstrates the pride of heart: This is so because our tongue is peculiar to human beings – it is the point on which we differ from animals (I once heard Steven Pinker state the distinction between animals and humans lay with our language ability).

To prove the point consider what people will do – they think their words will win them status, change the mind of others, get them out of trouble, “ those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?” Psalm 12:4 (ESV)

Even someone who lacks all other power will backbite, slander, spread tales and reveal secrets.

2. The tongue never seems to tire: he tongue is always ready and never weary, that it must be continually watched:

James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, The tongue is volatile, ready to strike out all directions:

a world of unrighteousness. Verse 8 also states that the tongue is “full of deadly poison” – the tongue is propelled by powerful engines, unrighteousness and poison.  All sorts of wickedness seek expression through the tongue: (1 Peter 2:1).

The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. Not only does the tongue gain strength from our heart, it gains fuel from our circumstances.

B.  The tongue does not even realize its own sin: we sin so easily, so quickly, so often by speech that we scarcely notice. The tongue is never in fault, if we might be judge, and that its own advocate; even they that are severest in censuring others’ words, have always something to say for their own. 

1. The ease of speaking – this especially troubles some people who speak so often and so easily that sin in speech is not seen by them or others.

2. The wounds of words cannot be easily seen: a sword would draw blood, but a word wounds without sight.

3.  Sins of the tongue give great pleasure when committed: That drowns all sense of evil in it: it cannot be sin that tastes so sweet.

4.  Those who hear the sin (and are not the one attacked) will applaud the sin: Think of “sweet” it is to hear a secret revealed, a slander unleashed, a story spun. Our society spends millions to hear slander, learn secrets, and relish contempt.

Did ever lord such noble house maintain (Edward Taylor)

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Edward Taylor, Ephesians, John, Meditation, Puritan, Repentance

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Did ever lord such noble house maintain,

As my Lord doth? Or such a noble table?

‘T would break the back of kings, nay, monarch’s brain

To do it. Pish, the world’s estate’s not able.

I’ll bet a boast with any that this bread

I eat excels whatever Caesar had.

 

Take earth’s brightest darlings, in whose mouth all flakes

Of luscious sweet she hath do crowd their head.

Their spiced cups, sweat meats, and sugar cakes

Are but dry sawdust to this living bread.

I’ll pawn my part in Christ, in the daintiest meat

Is gall and wormwood unto what I eat.

 

The boasting spagyrist [1](insipid phlegm[2]

Whose words out-strut the sky) vaunts that he hath rife

The water, tincture, lozenge, gold and gem,

Of life itself.[3] But here’s the bread of life.

I’ll my life, his aurum[4] vitae red

Is to my bread of life, worse than dead head.

 

The dantiest dish of earthly cookery

Is but to fat the body up in print.

This bread of life doth feed the soul, whereby

It’s made the temple of Jehovah in’t.

I’ll venture heaven upon’t that low or high

He that eats this living bread shall never die.

 

This bread of life, so excellent, I see

The holy angels doubtless would, if they

Were prone to base envy, envy me.

But oh! come taste how sweet it is. I say,

I’ll wage my soul and all therein uplaid,

This is the sweetest bread that e’re God made.

 

What wonder’s here, that bread of life should come

To feed dead dust? Dry dust eat living bread?

Yet wonder more by far may all and some

That my dull heart’s so dumpish when thus fed.[5]

Lord pardon this, and feed me all my days,[6]

With living bread to thy eternal praise.[7]

[1] Spag´y`rist

n.

1.

A chemist, esp. one devoted to alchemistic pursuits.

2.

One of a sect which arose in the days of alchemy, who sought to discover remedies for disease by chemical means. The spagyrists historically preceded the iatrochemists.

[2] One of the four bodily humors: apathetic, — insipid.

[3] The alchemist may claim has more than all he needs of chemicals and devices necessary to pour out life.

[4] Aurum is an obsolete form of “gold”.

[5] This is the great sorrow of the Christian: to know what a great gift has been  given in Christ and yet to be so “dumpish” as to not cherish it for the wonder that it is.

[6] Here is a point which is often missed by many who read sincere Christian writing as an outsider to the heart portrayed. The believer sees and sorrows for his sin – yet seeks joy still. I have read many who have thought the Christian life of repentance one of misery that the constant prayer of the disciple is to be first be forgiven for one’s sin and then to seek joy. Taylor seeks repentance and then in the same line seeks even more bread of life. He does not doubt his position. What then is his sorrow in sin? It is the sorrow that sin has caused his unhappiness – that he has lost joy!

This is no different than David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51:

                Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

                                wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

                Let me hear joy and gladness;

                                let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

                Hide your face from my sins,

                                and blot out all my iniquities.

                Create in me a clean heart, O God,

                                and renew a right spirit within me.

                Cast me not away from your presence,

                                and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

                Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

                                and uphold me with a willing spirit.

(Psalm 51:7-12 ESV)

[7] The salvation of the sinner is to the praise of God:

                Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

                In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

(Ephesians 1:3-14 ESV)

Ecclesiastes 6 as a Discourse Peak: Solomon’s Wealth

17 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in 1 Kings, Biblical Counseling, Ecclesiastes, Ephesians, Philippians

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 The sixth chapter of Ecclesiastes also ties together the strands concerning wealth and blessing which had been raised in various forms throughout the preceding chapters. It also brings the previous points together with heightened vividness.[1] There is even a slightly different rhetorical effect in that the passage does not ask questions but rather lays out some definite conclusions.[2]   Yet when reading the passages on wealth together, it is instructive to read them in tandem with the story of Solomon’s life. Even those who reject Solomonic authorship still admit that book uses Solomon’s life as a background for at least the first two chapters.

 

I contend that the parallel between Solomon’s history and the commentary of Ecclesiastes persists even beyond Ecclesiastes 2:11 (where many commentators believe the parallel falls off).

 

The Correspondence Between the History of Solomon and Ecclesiastes

 

First, we begin with a brief recount of Solomon’s wealth:

 

11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”

 

2 Chronicles 1:11-12. This astounding wealth is described in Ecclesiastes 2:3-10: money, land, buildings, pleasures, human beings (it is a recapitulation of Eden, but it also makes a perverse parallel of the parody of Eden in Revelation 18):

 

3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine-my heart still guiding me with wisdom-and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.

6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.

9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.

 

However, looking back on it, Qoheleth (at the very least speaking as Solomon) can offer only a triple condemnation and despair over his life:

 

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

 

Ecclesiastes 2:11. The extraordinary wealth and bounty ending in a bitter taste well parallels the life of Solomon. First Solomon did acquire an astounding hoard of humanity and wealth:

 

1  Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women 2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love 3 He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

 

1 Kings 11:1-4. Yet, for all his wealth and women, he lost the blessing of God:

 

9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded.

 

1 Kings 11:1-4, 9-10. Thus the blessing became a curse in Solomon’s mouth. He had the stuff, he it seems he lost the ability to enjoy it. When reading the story of Solomon, it seems the trouble with the wealth only came at the very end, when God finally pronounced judgment upon Solomon.

 

Using Ecclesiastes to Understand Solomon

 

However, when we read Ecclesiastes as partial commentary on the history of Solomon (especially if one takes Solomon as the author, Qoheleth), one can conclude that the property did not bring contentment to Solomon.

 

This point becomes even tighter when we come to Ecclesiastes 5 & 6. The thoroughly negative valuation of Ecclesiastes 2:11 seems like the despair and disgust did not come until after he come to the end of his life. But Ecclesiastes 5 & 6 adds something more: it states that the “blessing” was really no blessing unless God provides an additional element: the blessing to enjoy the abundance.

 

Ecclesiastes 5 states the proverb that one cannot be satisfied with money:

 

10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Ecclesiastes 5:10–11 (ESV)

 

When one considers both the absurdly large household of Solomon, you think Of course! The wealth of gold and goods, of slaves and wives (human property)could not possibly be enjoyed in any sort of intensive manner.  Solomon could see the harem of a 1,000 women, together with their servants and attendants, and think I must feed them all. In fact, Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 is precisely the sort of conclusion one would expect from a man in Solomon’s position.

 

Verse 12 casts an almost envious eye on the men who built the palaces and public buildings:

 

Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. Ecclesiastes 5:12 (ESV)

 

One must note that Solomon is not describing abject poverty – the man does have labour and is not starving. Yet, he does put his finger on the important aspect: the little bit the labourer possesses has come with the blessing of God – and thus sleep.

 

Ecclesiastes 5:13-17 then sets out the fear which comes from possessing property:

 

13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

 

Earlier in the letter, Solomon had raised the opposite circumstance: What if I keep my property and then leave it to a fool:

 

18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. Ecclesiastes 2:18–21 (ESV)

 

This, of course, draws another direct line between Qoheleth and Solomon: Qoheleth fears his wealth will be left to a fool. Solomon did leave it to the fool, Rehoboam – you managed to loss 10 of the 12 tribes in a single afternoon.[3]

 

This is contrasted with the one who has received a blessing from God:

 

18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20.

 

Yet, even at this point, one might think that Solomon did not sour on wealth and privilege until the very end of his life.

 

The Blessing Solomon Lacked

 

However, Ecclesiastes 6 puts a dagger in that theory:  Ecclesiastes 6:1-3 shows that the acquisition of tremendous property and extraordinary comforts provide not real comfort with the added blessing of God to transform the external into a true subjective blessing. However, it is best to read this as not just a speculation but an experience. To see the pain of Ecclesiastes 6:1-3, we must not abstract it from an actual life.

 

The relationship between Ecclesiastes 6:1-3 is not merely at a general leval. When look at the precise language used to describe Solomon’s wealth as recorded in 2 Chronicles 9:22-23 and compares it to the man recorded in Ecclesiastes 6:1-3, it seems that we may be looking at the same person:

 

22 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.

 

2 Chronicles 9:22-23. Now consider the man of Ecclesiastes 6:1-3

 

1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind 2 a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

 

 Consider this closely: First, both Solomon and the man described in 6:1-3 have received profound material “blessing” from God. God says to Solomon, “I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 2 Chronicles 1:12. The lists almost match. Moreover, as just noted, it also matches the list of 2 Chronicles 9:22-23.

 

Second, note that God did not promise Solomon that he would have enjoyment from all his property. In fact, God’s covenant with Solomon contains the express condition of obedience: 2 Samuel 7:14.[4] When God blesses Solomon with the promise of material good, he makes the quality of life a matter of obedience:

 

And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. 1 Kings 3:14 (ESV)

 

As in the NT, the matter of “eternal life” is not merely a matter of duration but of quality.[5]

How Then May We Receive That Blessing?

 

This of course begs for an answer to the question, How does one obtain the blessing of the Lord to enjoy the pleasant things of this life?

 

First, we must think rightly about wealth and its true benefit. For this we have help of Proverbs:

 

10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

 

11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination.

 

12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

 

Proverbs 18:10-12. The middle proverb of the triplet notes that wealth is an imaginary protection. Reliance upon one’s wealth is pride, which will only result in destruction. However, the one who trust in the Lord will be safe.

 

Second, we must thus avoid the sin of seeking protection from money; rather, we must place our hope solely in the strength of God:

 

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

 

Hebrews 13:5-6. It is interesting to note that here love of money is contrasted with trusting in God:

 

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:24–26 (ESV)

 

And lest we think such talk is a mere fairy tale, the Apostle Paul gives us a picture of such in action. To make the point more plainly, God graciously – for our sakes – has Paul write from prison:

 

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

 

Philippians 4:10-13.

 

 

 

[1] The reference to a miscarriage is brutal and disturbing.

[2] William Varner in his excellent commentary James a New Perspective lays out the elements of a discourse peak on pages 20-28.

[3] Interestingly, the only wealth passage which does not seem to parallel Solomon is the man who has no other, the miserable, lonely miser (however, perhaps Solomon did at times feel himself to be lonely despite the ocean of human beings about him):

7 Again, I saw vanity under the sun: 8 one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. Ecclesiastes 4:7–8 (ESV)

 

[4]

“All” Solomon must do to secure these blessings is to follow David’s example of adherence to the Sinai covenant. If he keeps the “statutes and commands,” Solomon will honor his father and thereby have “a long life.” This reference to Exod 20:12 underscores the continuity of God’s covenant with Israel, with David, and with Solomon, the new generation. It also emphasizes the conditional nature of Solomon’s kingship, an idea that is repeated every time God addresses Solomon directly (cf. 6:11–13; 9:3–9; 11:11–13). Long notes that in these four addresses “the editor-author(s) forged a kind of unity of exhortation out of the material, which then can be turned on end to become a deadly serious, twice-repeated message of conditions violated, promise lost, glory tarnished (ch. 11).”11 God’s covenant with David is eternal, but Solomon can be replaced with another “son of David” if he disobeys the Lord.

 

Paul R. House, vol. 8, 1, 2 Kings, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 111-12.

[5] While the text does not explicitly entail happiness, yet it does seem that a “long” and bitter life would be no blessing. This is consonant with the understanding of Deuteronomy 5:16 which corresponds obedience to covenant with long life – and thus a quality of life.

 

16. Prefer the Lord and His kingdom before all things, for the Divine Love and Wisdom have shown the soul that these are the fountains of life, that thus states of blessedness may be acquired in heaven, and that the soul may be led into the state of order and happiness which is designed for it by the Divine Love and Wisdom.

 

A. Payne, A Study of the Internal or Spiritual Sense of the Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy (London: James Speirs, 1881), 47.

 

Calvin commenting on Ephesians 6:3, which quotes the OT commandment likewise long life to happiness and not solely duration:

The promise is a long life; from which we are led to understand that the present life is not to be overlooked among the gifts of God. On this and other kindred subjects I must refer my reader to the Institutes of the Christian Religion; 63 satisfying myself at present with saying, in a few words, that the reward promised to the obedience of children is highly appropriate. Those who shew kindness to their parents from whom they derived life, are assured by God, that in this life it will be well with them.

And that thou mayest live long on the earth. Moses expressly mentions the land of Canaan,

  “that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Exodus 20:12.)

Beyond this the Jews could not conceive of any life more happy or desirable. But as the same divine blessing is extended to the whole world, Paul has properly left out the mention of a place, the peculiar distinction of which lasted only till the coming of Christ.

John Calvin, Ephesians, electronic ed., Calvin’s Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998), Eph 6:3.

 

Of Communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Part 2, Chapter 3d.3 (Christ as the only husband).

30 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Desire, Discipleship, Ephesians, John Owen, Kierkegaard, Mortification, Obedience, Puritan

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What then is the trouble here? Salvation is by grace through faith and it leads to good works:

 

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8–10 (ESV)

 

Shouldn’t this make communion with Christ natural and easy for the believer? Our trouble comes that we by sinful inclination always seek to add our own to the mix. We which to take Ephesians 2:10 and add it somehow in verse 8.  In our pride, we seek to be saved – with Christ’s help, but also with our own. Owen’s language in this section of his work is striking and extraordinarily useful:

 

When the soul consents to take Christ on his own terms, to save him in his own way, (Romans 9:31, 32, 10:3, 4) and says, “Lord, I would have had thee and salvation in my way, that it might have been partly of mine endeavors, and as it were by the works of the law; I am now willing to receive thee and to be saved in thy way

 

Consider this for a moment: it is to come in judgment before God and have nothing but the work of Christ as a ground for acquittal. We continually think that we must somehow add – even a bit – so as to secure our standing. I think this is what Kierkegaard meant with his striking image:

 

the believer continually lies out on the deep, has 70,000 fathoms of water beneath him. However long he lies out there, this still does not mean that he will gradually end up lying and relaxing on shore

 

Think of how often religious systems will some bit to Christ’s work? At times these additions are prescribed by some religious authority. Indeed, the various heretical forms of Christianity (often marked by a seriously defective Christology) distinguish themselves by prescribing a particular brand of good work which must be added. However, even where such a work is not template is not prescribed, the worried human often creates his own mechanisms to pacify his conscience.

 

In all these things we seek to add to the work of Christ. That is why Owen helps so at this point: God determines the means of salvation, and we are not to add nor take away.

 

And here is the important part: It is only in this absolute dependence upon Christ alone that we can make true movement in holiness.  Only in this state of complete dependence will Christ appear sufficiently beautiful such that we will prefer him above all.

 

You see, if we limit the value of Christ’s work, if we can add to our salvation, then we can also pay – in part – for our own sin. Christ is now something which can be balanced with other options: we can ask, Exactly how much right to sin have I purchased?

 

But when Christ is our only hope, when we realize that we are truly treading water 70,000 fathoms deep, that we will prize him with the tenacity which we must. That is why Owen immediately continues his argument as follows:

 

Let believers exercise their hearts abundantly unto this thing. This is choice communion with the Son Jesus Christ. Let us receive him in all his excellencies, as he bestows himself upon us; — be frequent in thoughts of faith, comparing him with other beloveds, sin, world, legal righteousness; and preferring him before them, counting them all loss and dung in comparison of him. And let our souls be persuaded of his sincerity and willingness in giving himself, in all that he is, as mediator unto us, to be ours; and let our hearts give up themselves unto him. Let us tell him that we will be for him, and not for another: let him know it from us; he delights to hear it, yea, he says, “Sweet is our voice, and our countenance is comely;” — and we shall not fail in the issue of sweet refreshment with him.

The Temptation of Jesus.3 What Did the Spirit Do?

24 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in 1 Peter, 2 Corinthians, A.B. Bruce, Ephesians, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Meditation

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Matthew 4:1 (ESV): Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Mark 1:12 (ESV): The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

Luke 4:1 (ESV): And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

Matthew and Luke write that Jesus was “led” by the Spirit; Mark that the Spirit “drove” Jesus into the wilderness. Which is correct?

Matthew: Begins with Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἀνήχθη εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος (tote ho Iesous anechthe eis ten eremon hupo tou pneumatos)

ἀνήχθηanechthe: is the aorist, passive of ἀνάγω (anago) to lead up. The aorist here merely indicates a past event.

The root meaning of the verb used by Matthew is “to lead up” (see RSV, TNT, Phps). However, most translations do not render the verb literally, even though from the Jordan River valley one would have to go “up” to get into the Jordan wilderness.

The word translated was led up is not as strong as the one used in Mark (“was made to go”), but it is nevertheless important to avoid a word that means simply that the Spirit “went before him” or “showed him the way.” Translators should use “was taken” or “was conducted,” or if the active form is used, “took” or “conducted.”

Barclay Moon Newman and Philip C. Stine, A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1992), 78.

Luke uses the word ἤγετο (egeto) the imperfect passive of  ἄγω to go, lead, lead away. It is the same verb as Matthew without the additional element of “up”.  The difference between the imperfect and aorist does not imply a contradiction: Matthew merely looks at the event of leading up as a whole; Luke that Jesus was continually led. In both texts the Spirit leads Jesus.

The biggest difference is with Mark who notes that the Spirit “drove” Jesus; Greek,ἐκβάλλει ekballei: from the Greek verb  ἐκβάλλω ekballo, to force to leave, drive out, expel, send away, take out. This seems significantly more forceful than merely leading Jesus. And thus here, one may argue for a contradiction?

Not really. The Gospel accounts merely emphasize one aspect of the Spirit’s work over another. Matthew and Luke use near synonyms (lead up, lead).  Mark makes it plain that the Spirit was not merely making suggestions to Jesus. 

Whereas Matthew and Luke speak here of the ‘leading’ of the Spirit, Mark uses the more vivid verb ἐκβάλλει; the historic present (occurring here for the first of some 150 times in Mark) adds to the immediacy of the impact. While it would be an exaggeration to say that ἐκβάλλω always suggests violence (it does not in Mt. 9:38; Jn. 10:4; Jas. 2:25), it normally implies at least the possibility of resistance (the majority of uses in Mark are of expelling demons). This is unexpected here, where Jesus’ willing acceptance of his God-given mission has been clearly implied in the words ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα, but perhaps serves to underline the seriousness of the coming conflict which will be inaugurated ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. The use of ἐκβάλλω also reinforces the OT concept of the Spirit of God as a powerful force (cf Mi. 3:8).

R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 84-85.

ekballei ‘drives out’: the historic present is characteristic of Mark’s style. In Mark ekballō ‘drive out’ always denotes strong and, at times, violent action being used mainly of the expulsion of demons (1:34, 39, 3:15, 22, 23, 6:13, 7:26, 9:18, 28, 38, 16:9, 17); where people are involved force is always indicated (1:43, 5:40, 11:15, 12:8), while once it is used of the removal of an eye (9:47). In the present passage, the parallels in Matthew (anagesthai ‘be led’) and Luke (agesthai ‘be led’) may argue in favor of force for the Marcan ekballei ‘drives out.’ Cf. Jerome expellit and in English “drive” (AV, ASV, RSV, Moffatt, Berkeley); Zürich treiben.

Force is certainly involved. There is no need, however, of inferring resistance or unwillingness on the part of Jesus.

Robert G. Bratcher and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1993), 32.

1:12 Mark used the verb ekballō a total of seventeen times, most often about exorcisms so that something stronger than “sent … out” is needed, something like “drove … out” (RSV, NRSV, REB) or “impelled” (NASB). The idea is that of divine necessity, not that Jesus was reluctant to go. The “desert” was the place of John’s preaching (vv. 3–4); it was also the place of Jesus’ temptation.

James A. Brooks, vol. 23, Mark, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 44.

12 “Then the Spirit drove Jesus” (εὐθὺς τὸ πνεῦνα αὐτὸν ἐκβάλλει). Perhaps a transitional verse composed from the absolute use of “the Spirit” in 1:10 (Gnilka, 1:56), but the presence and different use of the “Spirit” and “wilderness” motifs in Matt 4:1 and Luke 4:1 suggest that both temptation narratives opened in this fashion. The rendering “drove” (ἐκβάει) strikes some as unnecessarily strong (e.g., Pesch, 1:94, n. 35; Gnilka, 1:56–57) causing them to prefer the less forceful “led” (cf. ἄγειν in Matt 4:1; Luke 4:1). In either case, the context conveys the impression of the Spirit’s coming (1:10) and taking control of Jesus (cf. Luke 4:1) illustrated by his impelling Jesus to go into the wilderness.

 

Robert A. Guelich, vol. 34A, Mark 1–8:26, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 37-38.  Godet helps connect the ideas of driving and leading in his comment on Luke:

The expression was led by indicates that the severe exercises of the soul which Jesus experienced under the action of the Spirit absorbed Him in such a way, that the use of His faculties in regard to the external world was thereby suspended. In going into the desert, He was not impelled by a desire to accomplish any definite object; it was only, as it were, a cover for the state of intense meditation in which He was absorbed. Lost in contemplation of his personal relation to God, the full consciousness of which He had just attained, and of the consequent task it imposed upon Him in reference to Israel and the world, His heart sought to make these recent revelations wholly its own.

F. Godet, A Commentary On the Gospel of St. Luke, 5th ed., trans. E.W. Shalders (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, unknown), 209. One does not have to follow Godet in all of his position to see the importance of his explanation for our analysis.  When we think through the matter of Jesus being “led” or “led up” in the wilderness, we may fall into the mistake of thinking Jesus was merely on a jaunt into the desert . Or, if we had only Mark’s “drove”, we might think of Jesus being forcefully and unwillingly cast out to his hurt.

But the combination of descriptions give us some depth to the state of Jesus as he went into the wilderness. Without question, the progress came at the direct work of the Spirit upon Jesus. The event came immediately after the miraculous designation of Jesus as the Messiah. The effect upon the mind and heart of Jesus must have been profound. The overwhelming work of the Spirit upon the incarnate Son was without question necessary to prepare and work out the battle which Jesus would undertake for the next three years. Bruce in the Expositor’s Greek Testament helps here too:

The first thing the Spirit does is to drive Jesus into the wilderness, the expression not implying reluctance of Jesus to go into so wild a place (Weiss), bu the intense preoccupation of mind. Allowing for the weakening of the sense in Hellenistic usage (H.C.), it is a very strong word, and a second instance of Mark’s realism: Jesus thrust out in to the inhospitable desert by force of thought….The one work ekballei tells the whole story, speaks as far as may be the unspeakable. Mt. and Lk. have tried to tell us what happened, but have they given us more than a dim shadow of the truth?

Expositor’s Greek Testament, 343.

You see, when we come to the word “led” we may easily fall into assumptions concerning the way in which such was accomplished. Should we read merely one account without considering the elements provided by the other Gospels, we may think of Jesus as somehow mindless in this matter. But let us ask ourselves: How does the Holy Spirit typically work? The Holy Spirit opens the heart to understand the words spoken by the prophets and apostles:

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. Acts 16:14 (ESV)

In Ephesians Paul prays:

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:17–18 (ESV)

Peter explains that the source of transformation in the believers’ lives came from words and the Holy Spirit:

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:10–12 (ESV)

In Second Corinthians Paul explains that the Spirit must open the heart to receive the words:

12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:12–4:6 (ESV)

How then would we expect the Holy Spirit to work upon Jesus “full of the Spirit”? Godet and Bruce noting the mental aspect, the profound meditation of Jesus wrought by the Spirit help to understand the relationship between “led” and compelled. A heart full of the Spirit would be without question a heart of dire compulsion toward the things of God.

Trellis & Vine.2

17 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in 1 Corinthians, Discipleship, Ephesians, Ministry, Service

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This chapter lists specific areas where the change from trellis to vine will occur. Without covering each particular element (buy the book), I wish to consider three general themes to the approach. These themes are present in the list provided within T&V – and these will apply to other circumstances not specifically addressed in the chapter.

Start with the Holy Spirit’s Gifts, Given by the Grace of Christ

In Ephesians 4, Paul explains that Jesus obtained gifts of ministry for the church:

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:7–16 (ESV)

Christ came to the earth and through his death, burial, resurrection and ascension became the one to distribute gifts to men. These gifts have been distributed to and within the church:

But to every-one. He now describes the manner in which God establishes and preserves among us a mutual relation. No member of the body of Christ is endowed with such perfection as to be able, without the assistance of others, to supply his own necessities. A certain proportion is allotted to each; and it is only by communicating with each other, that all enjoy what is sufficient for maintaining their respective places in the body.

John Calvin, Ephesians, electronic ed., Calvin’s Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998), Eph 4:7.  1 Corinthians 12 adds:

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12:4–11 (ESV)

Take these two passages together: The church is a place in which Christ gives gifts which are apportioned by the Holy Spirit as the Holy Spirit wills. Thus, a particular congregation is a particular assemblage of gifts given and arranged for the purpose of making those people in-that-congregation disciples of Jesus Christ.

Thus, when working through the matters of ministry, it would be wisest to start with the Holy Spirit’s gifts – not the ministry structure we have maintained for 20 years.  Trellis work starts with the structure and looks for people to keep the trellis aloft.

Train the Workers for the Work

The gifts of the Holy Spirit take development and training. Consider this: Jesus sent the disciples to Jerusalem where they remained awaiting the gift of the Spirit. And while they waited, they “devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). In those days Peter also instructed the disciples (Acts 1:15, et seq.).  They prepared for ministry by choosing Matthias.  When Paul gives instructions to Timothy on deacons and elders, he cautions against recent converts and those who are untested.  Paul specifically instructs Timothy to “teach and urge these things” (1 Tim. 6:2). Paul tells Timothy to follow a pattern of sound words, i.e., a body of knowledge in which Timothy was trained (2 Tim. 1:13). Paul tells Timothy to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and to teaching”.

In short, ministry work requires preparation:

1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1–2 (ESV)

An interesting note from T&V on the failure to train:

Volunteers are the ones who maintain and expand church programs. …The danger of having such willing volunteers is that we use them, exploit them and forget to train them. They burn out and their ministry is curtailed, and we find that we have failed to develop their Christian life and ministry potential (T&V 19-20).

The Church is Local and Global

Sometimes we can become so chauvinistic regarding our personal congregation that we resent or do not seek to train those who will or may not stay within our own congregation:

Once we’ve spent time and resources training our leaders, we soon fear losing them. …We must be exporters of train people instance of hoarders of trained people (T&V, 25).

The work of ministry primarily takes place within local congregations. I love the local congregation and I love the local congregation where I attend and serve. However, this local congregation is little more than a tiny fort of a great army spread out over time and across the earth. When a trained ministry is transferred to another different fort, the work still goes to the same army even if it does not go to the same fort. The analogy works as well with hospital and medical workers (another image of the church – both are true, it is an army and a hospital).

Of Communion With God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Chapter 2a

06 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in Ephesians, Fellowship, John Owen, Puritan

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Chapter 2:

The communion between God and his people is with the persons of the Trinity distinctly. Consider the manner in which communion with God is described in the NT:

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:18 (ESV)

Through “him”, that is the Son (Eph. 2:13, “But now through Jesus Christ you were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”), the regenerate believer has access to the Father through the operation of the Holy Spirit. Thus communion with God consists of communion with each distinct member of the Trinity. Various other references to such distinct communion may be read: John 14:23, 1 John 1:3, 1 Cor. 1:9, Rev. 3:20, 2 Cor. 13:14.

The communion itself consists of faith, love, joy and the other aspects of worship.

Owen then demonstrates how the Bible attributes each of these particular elements of communion to the members of the Trinity. 

To Make Disciples, Fellowship.2

16 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by in 1 John, Discipleship, Ephesians, Fellowship, Genesis, John

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Fellowship can also be understood in terms of restoration of what lost in the Fall. At the time of Adam’s sin a series of isolating events took place.  The shame which had not been present before the Fall (Gen. 2:25) comes upon them immediately after their sin (Gen. 3:7). The pair are not merely separate from one-another, but they are also ashamed before God and seek to hide themselves from God (Gen. 3:8). The curse and judgment which follow, leave them alienated from God, from one-another, from their own bodies, from their work and from nature. Satan has now become their enemy and the “ruler of this world” (John 14:30) – the position designated for man (Gen. 1:27; Psalm 8).

With the coming of Jesus – particularly his death, burial, resurrection and ascension – fellowship with God becomes possible. First, Jesus promises this fellowship will come with the sending of the Spirit:

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 14:15–21 (ESV)

This work of Jesus thus gives us access to God:

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1–2 (ESV)

This reconciliation with God becomes the basis of the reconciliation among human beings within the church:

3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:3–7 (ESV)

 

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:11–22 (ESV)

In Philippians 1:7, Paul writes that the church is “partakers with me of grace”. In Titus 1:5, Paul writes of our “common faith”.