A sermon preached on Sunday, August 29, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Mark 16:1-8
Occasion: Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
The Sabbath had ended (our Saturday evening) and some of the women who were followers of Jesus gathered up the spices and materials necessary, “so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body” (v.1). Because of the Sabbath, Jesus had received a hasty burial. The women were coming to properly anoint him in a last act of love and devotion.
After gathering what they needed, the next morning “just after sunrise” (v.2) they began their journey to the tomb. The women came that first morning with no other expectation than to see the body of Jesus. They as well as all the other disciples were not expecting Jesus to rise from the dead. Their preoccupation that morning had to do with the details of how they were going to get into the tomb. “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” they asked among themselves (v.3). Tombs were enclosed with large circular-like stones that had to be rolled aside. The women knew that they themselves would not be capable
of this.
But their prayers were answered “when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away” (v.4). Matthew’s account fills in the details (28:2, 4). “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. . . The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” The angel did not roll away the stone to let Jesus out of the tomb, he rolled away the stone so that we might look in.
As the women entered the tomb, “they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed” (v.5). Knowing the women were frightened the angel spoke, “Don’t be alarmed” (v.6). Some of the most encouraging words spoken in the Bible are “Fear not,” “Don’t be alarmed.” God speaks to us in our fears, our worries, our anxieties, a little word that has a powerful effect, “Fear not.” The angel made it clear that the one they were looking for is “Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified” (v.6). Mark wants us to know that the one who was crucified is a real historical person, “Jesus the Nazarene.” However, He is crucified no longer, “He is risen!” “He is not here,” the grave is empty!
The angel has a three-fold message for the women, all imperatives: (1) “See” (v.6b) the place where Jesus was laid. See for yourselves that Jesus is not here, the tomb has been vacated. The empty tomb is a powerful symbol that death has been emptied of its power by the risen Christ. In Christ, you and I have the blessed assurance that death has been defeated, it has been stripped of its power of us. Listen to Hebrews 2:14, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil.” See also, 2 Timothy 2:10.
(2) “Go” (v.7a) from the grave. If the body of Jesus had remained in the grave, the grave would be a place to linger, a place to mourn, to grieve, but since it’s empty, it no longer is a cemetery, a place to grieve, it has now become a place of hope and renewed joy. (3) “Tell” (v.7a) “his disciples and Peter.” Don’t forget to tell Peter because he needs to know that his failure was not final. God is going to restore him. Because Christ is alive, our failures are not final! The content of the message is two-fold: (1) Jesus “is going ahead of you into Galilee” (v.7b), a fulfillment of 14:28 and (2) “You will see him, just as he told you” (v.7b). The reality for us is that Christ always goes before us into our Galilee. As we meet him in our daily lives, we too see Him by faith.
“Bewildered, the women went out and fled the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid” (v.8). Most biblical scholars today hold to the view that Mark’s Gospel ends after verse 8 which is indicated in the NIV. Verses 9-20 are printed after a break and a note. Without overwhelming you with all the reasons why most believe this, let me briefly mention the two main reasons.
The first has to do with The External Evidence: The two earliest and most reliable Greek MSS do not have verses 9-20. Furthermore, the testimony of some of the early church leaders, Eusebius (d. A.D. 39) and Jerome (d. A.D. 420) also seems to support this conclusion. Verses 9-20 (actually written three different ways in the Greek MSS) seem to have been added later to make Mark’s Gospel more complete. Medieval writers picked this up and so later English versions which are based on these texts included verses 9-20. The other reason had to do with The Internal Evidence: Language (vocabulary, grammar, style) of both the long and short endings is definitely not Mark. What is said doesn’t seem to fit with the context of Mark. It appears that whoever wrote verses 9-20 did so by pasting parts from the other Gospels, Matthew and Luke.
If Mark’s Gospel ends at verse 8, then it seems strange to us because there are no resurrection appearances, the story is unfinished, the women have yet to see Him, they are still a little confused as to what they have seen and heard. They are in amazement and they are still trying to make sense of it all. To know the rest of the story, we have to look in the other Gospels. The question is then, why would Mark end his gospel in this way? Mark, under the inspiration of God leaves the story open-ended on purpose. Mark apparently wanted an open ending to indicate that the story was not complete but was continuing beyond the time he wrote. He wanted his readers/hearers to continue the story in their own lives. Remember, one of Mark’s purposes for writing is to encourage discipleship.
Mark’s Purpose, The Why: (1) By stating that the women told no one, Mark challenged his readers/hearers to assume the responsibility of telling the good news to everyone. So you and I are to do what Mark says the women did not do, we are to “Go, tell.” (2) Mark also showed that ultimately Christian faith does not rest upon signs and miracles, even appearances of the risen Lord. After all, only five or six hundred persons (see 1 Cor. 15:5-8) ever saw Jesus after his resurrection, and it is unlikely that any of Mark’s original readers/hearers were among these. So here is an encouragement to walk by faith, to believe even though you do not see. By his ending, Mark challenged the disciples of his day, and he continues to challenge the disciples of today, to “see” by faith, to live and witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
(3) Mark is reminding us that always Jesus goes before us; always he calls us forward to a new appearance in the Galilee of the nations, in the Galilee of our daily lives. The stance of the believer’s life is expectancy. The risen Christ meets us in our
daily lives.
Reflections on our text with our observance of the Lord’s Supper
1. The Jesus you remember in the Supper is the same “Jesus the Nazarene” who lived, who was crucified, and who rose again. The Supper is a living memorial and it so because the one you remember is still alive! Don’t forget that we worship the living God. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
2. In calling you to remember Him, Jesus calls you to follow Him in His mission. The Gospel story in Mark is yet to be proclaimed. It is unfinished. The unfinished task of preaching the crucified and risen Christ falls to you! We are the ones who are to take up the message of the angel and “Go, tell.” See Romans 10:13-15. Mark 16:15 may have been added later, but what it demands of us is true, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” The truth is, God does not need us to accomplish His plan, but he chooses to use us because he loves us.
3. Because Jesus is alive, you are reminded that He always goes before you and He always is calling you forward to a new appearance of Him in your daily life. Where could you “see” Jesus today in your Galilee? God is always going before you and he calls you to see him in the everyday events of your life.
Do you know this “Jesus the Nazarene” who was crucified and who has risen? Do you know Him who is Lord and Savior? And if so, are you following Him? Are you allowing Him to use you to “go and tell”? How can we know Him as Lord and not proclaim Him!
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Day Christ Died (Mark 15:33-41)
A sermon preached on Sunday, August 22, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
The Day Christ Died
Scripture Reading: Mark 15:33-41
The crucial event to which Mark’s Gospel has been pointing to all along is a mere 21 verses and the crucifixion itself is reported in just 4 words (in Greek 3), “and they crucified him” (v.24a). Nevertheless, the crucifixion of Jesus is the most significant act of all history, the day Christ died for the sins of the world. What happened the day Christ died? And how does his death speak to us today?
As we consider the day Christ died, we will look at this event from three perspectives: the cross when it was midnight at midday, the curtain, beyond the veil, and the confession, faith in Jesus.
I. The Cross: Midnight at Midday (vv.33-36)
Mark tells us that “darkness came over the whole land” as Jesus was being crucified (v.33). This occurred at the 6th hour (12:00 noon) until the 9th hour (3:00 p.m.). It was midnight at midday. More than just a physical occurrence, although it was very real, darkness in the Bible is a picture of sin or evil or that which is incomplete and in need of God’s light. For example, darkness is pictured as unformed chaos prior to God’s Spirit moving over the deep of His creation (Gen. 1:2-3). Darkness was a picture of judgement in the plague that fell across the land of Egypt (Ex. 10:22). Solomon writes that “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness” (Prov. 4:19). In the Gospel story, Jesus came for people who were living in darkness (Matt. 4:16). People also refused to follow Jesus because they loved living in their darkness more than living in the light (Jn. 3:19).
Why was the darkness present at the crucifixion of Jesus? Sin – your sin, my sin – was being judged in Jesus. He was taking in His body all of our darkness! He was taking in Himself every evil deed, every sinful thought. God was making Jesus “sin who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). The only way for us to become righteous is to have a righteousness given to us and that’s what God provides in Jesus.
The ultimate picture of darkness is seen in the fact that on the cross, Jesus was forsaken. Verse 34 records Jesus’ cry of desolation. Jesus was abandoned so that you and I could be adopted. He was forsaken so that you and I could be forgiven. When Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v.34), he was quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. The Psalmist in his pain and suffering felt abandoned by God. And in a very real way, Jesus Himself was abandoned on the cross for our sins. Why was Jesus forsaken? Because God is absolutely holy, without sin, perfect in every way and cannot even look upon sin. Yet on the cross, Jesus became sin for us.
Why did Jesus have to die? Why become sin? Why was he forsaken? Because God is holy and yet we are sinful, we are born with a sin nature and we knowingly go our own way like sheep without a shepherd. Our human condition apart from Christ is described by Paul in Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks after God.” Furthermore, we are helpless to change or help ourselves become right with God. “No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (Rom. 3:20). Fortunately, there is a righteousness that is given to us by faith, and Paul says “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Rom. 3:22).
On the cross, Jesus became our perfect substitute, the once-for-all sacrifice for sins. On the cross grace and mercy flowed down. Isaiah describes what God’s Messiah would one day do for mankind. He “poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12). He was truly forsaken so that we would never have to be. Listen to Peter’s explanation of the cross, quoting also from Isaiah 53: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed”
(1 Pe. 2:24).
So what does this all mean? Through the cross, Jesus has turned our darkness into light. Paul describes our new state in Christ by stating that “you once were darkness, but now you are light” (Eph. 5:18). Jesus told the people of his day that He was the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12). But on the cross it looked as if Christ’s enemies had won, it looked as if the light was snuffed out. When darkness enveloped the cross, Satan and the enemies of Jesus laughed with delight. But they could not extinguish the light of life. And because of the cross and resurrection, Jesus’s light was not extinguished but it only burned brighter. Every person who believes in Jesus who has their eyes opened to the truth of God is a testimony that God’s light has not been extinguished.
Because we are now in the light, we are to live in the light. Paul asks, “What fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). The obvious answer is “none!” It was Paul who also said in Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” And then in verse 11 he says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” As we “Let our light shine” in the darkness, sinful actions will be exposed and people will see the truth of God in your life.
The question is, “Have you accepted what God has done for you?” Are you trusting in God’s righteousness by faith? What God has done in Christ in the atonement is universal in its provision, but it is limited in its application. What that means is that Jesus really did die for the sins of the world, but his death for sins only makes a difference in your life when you accept by faith the “good news.” You can believe that Jesus lived, you can believe that it’s probably true, you can go to church all your life, you can be a good person, but until you appropriate Christ’s sacrifice in your life, this message, this truth, this reality will not make any difference in your life. You personally must call on the name of the Lord and be saved (Rom. 10:13). Has this happened in your life? It is the only way for you to be reconciled to a holy God.
II. The Curtain: Beyond the Veil (vv.37-38)
When Jesus breathed his last breath, several events immediately took place. But perhaps the most significant event for us that took place was that the “curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (v.38). The curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Ex. 26:33). This curtain measuring perhaps as large as 60' wide and 30' high was torn form the top which signified that this was not act of man, this was an act of God. It symbolized the new reality that the way into God’s presence was now open to all who would come. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the way to the Father has been opened.
Hebrews 10:19-20 tells us that we can now go to God with confidence because we have “a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” In Jesus the obstacles have been removed between us and God and the way has been opened through himself. Jesus is now the curtain, he is the door, he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father unless he or she comes through him (Jn. 14:6).
The curtain torn speaks to the fact that we now have access to God. Jesus said “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved (Jn. 10:9-10). Paul tells us that through Jesus Christ “we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2). What a blessing it is to know that we have continuous access to the Father through Jesus!
The cross, the curtain, now we see . . .
III. The Confession: Faith in Jesus (v.39)
This Roman Centurion had been there all along. He heard the first cry from the cross when they were dividing his clothes among themselves at the foot of the cross and Jesus replied, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This centurion had witnessed many crucifixions but it is doubtful that anyone every forgave him while hanging on the cross. This centurion was there when the one thief asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. This centurion saw the love of the women who watched from a distance. This centurion heard the voice of God from the cross and saw the events that took place. He “heard” and he “saw” and he was moved. “Surely this man was the Son
of God!”
Some people have said that the centurion was moved by the way Jesus died with dignity and this was more of a confession that this was a great man, “a son of God.” We do not know how much this centurion understood at the time, but I tend to think he was moved by God in a way similar to that of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was moved by the way that Stephen died. This had a powerful effect on Saul. This centurion heard and saw how Jesus died and his hardened heart was softened by God’s Spirit to confess faith in Jesus as “the Son of God.”
Regardless of what he knew, you and I know much more! We have the full story, the full revelation of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. The Gospel is not merely a story of good news, it is that, but by its very nature the Gospel demands a response. What is your response to what happened the day Christ died? Many of you have made a confession of faith similar to the centurion’s, you have believed in Jesus as the Son of God and your Lord and savior. But some maybe have watched from afar. You’re in the number of the undecided. The reality is, there are no undecideds. The Gospel demands a response. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (Jn. 3:18). What is your response to Jesus? Are you in the number of the “not condemned” or the “condemned already”?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
The Day Christ Died
Scripture Reading: Mark 15:33-41
The crucial event to which Mark’s Gospel has been pointing to all along is a mere 21 verses and the crucifixion itself is reported in just 4 words (in Greek 3), “and they crucified him” (v.24a). Nevertheless, the crucifixion of Jesus is the most significant act of all history, the day Christ died for the sins of the world. What happened the day Christ died? And how does his death speak to us today?
As we consider the day Christ died, we will look at this event from three perspectives: the cross when it was midnight at midday, the curtain, beyond the veil, and the confession, faith in Jesus.
I. The Cross: Midnight at Midday (vv.33-36)
Mark tells us that “darkness came over the whole land” as Jesus was being crucified (v.33). This occurred at the 6th hour (12:00 noon) until the 9th hour (3:00 p.m.). It was midnight at midday. More than just a physical occurrence, although it was very real, darkness in the Bible is a picture of sin or evil or that which is incomplete and in need of God’s light. For example, darkness is pictured as unformed chaos prior to God’s Spirit moving over the deep of His creation (Gen. 1:2-3). Darkness was a picture of judgement in the plague that fell across the land of Egypt (Ex. 10:22). Solomon writes that “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness” (Prov. 4:19). In the Gospel story, Jesus came for people who were living in darkness (Matt. 4:16). People also refused to follow Jesus because they loved living in their darkness more than living in the light (Jn. 3:19).
Why was the darkness present at the crucifixion of Jesus? Sin – your sin, my sin – was being judged in Jesus. He was taking in His body all of our darkness! He was taking in Himself every evil deed, every sinful thought. God was making Jesus “sin who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). The only way for us to become righteous is to have a righteousness given to us and that’s what God provides in Jesus.
The ultimate picture of darkness is seen in the fact that on the cross, Jesus was forsaken. Verse 34 records Jesus’ cry of desolation. Jesus was abandoned so that you and I could be adopted. He was forsaken so that you and I could be forgiven. When Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v.34), he was quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. The Psalmist in his pain and suffering felt abandoned by God. And in a very real way, Jesus Himself was abandoned on the cross for our sins. Why was Jesus forsaken? Because God is absolutely holy, without sin, perfect in every way and cannot even look upon sin. Yet on the cross, Jesus became sin for us.
Why did Jesus have to die? Why become sin? Why was he forsaken? Because God is holy and yet we are sinful, we are born with a sin nature and we knowingly go our own way like sheep without a shepherd. Our human condition apart from Christ is described by Paul in Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks after God.” Furthermore, we are helpless to change or help ourselves become right with God. “No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (Rom. 3:20). Fortunately, there is a righteousness that is given to us by faith, and Paul says “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Rom. 3:22).
On the cross, Jesus became our perfect substitute, the once-for-all sacrifice for sins. On the cross grace and mercy flowed down. Isaiah describes what God’s Messiah would one day do for mankind. He “poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. 53:12). He was truly forsaken so that we would never have to be. Listen to Peter’s explanation of the cross, quoting also from Isaiah 53: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed”
(1 Pe. 2:24).
So what does this all mean? Through the cross, Jesus has turned our darkness into light. Paul describes our new state in Christ by stating that “you once were darkness, but now you are light” (Eph. 5:18). Jesus told the people of his day that He was the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12). But on the cross it looked as if Christ’s enemies had won, it looked as if the light was snuffed out. When darkness enveloped the cross, Satan and the enemies of Jesus laughed with delight. But they could not extinguish the light of life. And because of the cross and resurrection, Jesus’s light was not extinguished but it only burned brighter. Every person who believes in Jesus who has their eyes opened to the truth of God is a testimony that God’s light has not been extinguished.
Because we are now in the light, we are to live in the light. Paul asks, “What fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14). The obvious answer is “none!” It was Paul who also said in Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” And then in verse 11 he says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” As we “Let our light shine” in the darkness, sinful actions will be exposed and people will see the truth of God in your life.
The question is, “Have you accepted what God has done for you?” Are you trusting in God’s righteousness by faith? What God has done in Christ in the atonement is universal in its provision, but it is limited in its application. What that means is that Jesus really did die for the sins of the world, but his death for sins only makes a difference in your life when you accept by faith the “good news.” You can believe that Jesus lived, you can believe that it’s probably true, you can go to church all your life, you can be a good person, but until you appropriate Christ’s sacrifice in your life, this message, this truth, this reality will not make any difference in your life. You personally must call on the name of the Lord and be saved (Rom. 10:13). Has this happened in your life? It is the only way for you to be reconciled to a holy God.
II. The Curtain: Beyond the Veil (vv.37-38)
When Jesus breathed his last breath, several events immediately took place. But perhaps the most significant event for us that took place was that the “curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (v.38). The curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Ex. 26:33). This curtain measuring perhaps as large as 60' wide and 30' high was torn form the top which signified that this was not act of man, this was an act of God. It symbolized the new reality that the way into God’s presence was now open to all who would come. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the way to the Father has been opened.
Hebrews 10:19-20 tells us that we can now go to God with confidence because we have “a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” In Jesus the obstacles have been removed between us and God and the way has been opened through himself. Jesus is now the curtain, he is the door, he is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father unless he or she comes through him (Jn. 14:6).
The curtain torn speaks to the fact that we now have access to God. Jesus said “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved (Jn. 10:9-10). Paul tells us that through Jesus Christ “we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2). What a blessing it is to know that we have continuous access to the Father through Jesus!
The cross, the curtain, now we see . . .
III. The Confession: Faith in Jesus (v.39)
This Roman Centurion had been there all along. He heard the first cry from the cross when they were dividing his clothes among themselves at the foot of the cross and Jesus replied, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This centurion had witnessed many crucifixions but it is doubtful that anyone every forgave him while hanging on the cross. This centurion was there when the one thief asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. This centurion saw the love of the women who watched from a distance. This centurion heard the voice of God from the cross and saw the events that took place. He “heard” and he “saw” and he was moved. “Surely this man was the Son
of God!”
Some people have said that the centurion was moved by the way Jesus died with dignity and this was more of a confession that this was a great man, “a son of God.” We do not know how much this centurion understood at the time, but I tend to think he was moved by God in a way similar to that of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was moved by the way that Stephen died. This had a powerful effect on Saul. This centurion heard and saw how Jesus died and his hardened heart was softened by God’s Spirit to confess faith in Jesus as “the Son of God.”
Regardless of what he knew, you and I know much more! We have the full story, the full revelation of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. The Gospel is not merely a story of good news, it is that, but by its very nature the Gospel demands a response. What is your response to what happened the day Christ died? Many of you have made a confession of faith similar to the centurion’s, you have believed in Jesus as the Son of God and your Lord and savior. But some maybe have watched from afar. You’re in the number of the undecided. The reality is, there are no undecideds. The Gospel demands a response. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (Jn. 3:18). What is your response to Jesus? Are you in the number of the “not condemned” or the “condemned already”?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Before the Rooster Crows (Mark 14:27-42, 66-72)
A sermon preached on Sunday, August 15, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Before the Rooster Crows
Scripture Reading: Mark 14:27-42; 66-72
It was called the “The Tarmac Tirade,” “The Flight Attendant Tantrum,” when Steve Slater opened the emergency exit of a Jet Blue flight at Kennedy International Airport this past Monday. Steve had reached his breaking point when he had an altercation with a passenger. People that know him said that he has been under quite a bit of pressure lately. His father recently died, his mother is ill, and he has battled alcohol and drug addiction in his past. After a very public profanity-laced tirade against the passenger, he grabbed two beers and slid down the emergency exit. Some people under pressure are one step away from opening the emergency exit. Pressure sometimes bring out the worst in people.
In the arrest, trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin and the denial of Peter in the courtyard of the High Priest, we have a paradigm for behavior under pressure. Jesus shows what we should do and Peter what we should avoid. Jesus exemplifies courage, Peter cowardice. Jesus, while losing his life through steadfast witness, ultimately saves it; Peter, trying to save himself, in fact condemns himself. We are called to follow Jesus but like Peter we often deny him. The good news is that our salvation depends not on our performance, but on the faithfulness of God. The question is “How can we stand under pressure? To live faithful to our Lord?”
I. Falling Away and Restoration (vv.27-28)
This passage begins with Jesus foretelling the falling away and restoration of the disciples. The Scripture in Zechariah 13:7-9 will soon be fulfilled. The shepherd will be struck down and the sheep will be scattered. But Jesus also knows that on the other side of death lies resurrection. He speaks of this in a matter-of-fact way, “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee” (v.28). Here is the picture of the shepherd once again leading his sheep.
II. Boasting Allegiance to Jesus (vv. 29-31)
Upon hearing Jesus’ prophetic words, Peter and the other disciples boast of their allegiance to Jesus. Peter holds out the possibility that some or even all of the disciples might fall away but not him (v.29). He emphatically states, “I will not.” Tragically though, before the rooster crows twice Peter will deny the Lord not once but three times (v.30), even stating that he does not even know Jesus! Peter can’t leave well enough alone and continues to argue that he will not deny Jesus even if it means death (v.31). The other disciples that were there that day “said the same” (v.31).
III. Watching and Praying at Gethsemane (vv.32-42)
In Verses 32-42 we see Jesus and the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. This olive orchard on the slope of the Mount of Olives was a favorite place of prayer and quiet for Jesus. Jesus knew what lie ahead. The “cup” was a symbol for the wrath or judgement of God. The wrath of God against unrighteousness was about to be poured out on God’s Son and our Savior. Our substitute: Isa. 53:5; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 2:9; 1 Pe. 3:18. Our Sin Bearer: Isa. 53:12; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pe. 2:24. Stricken by God: Ps. 22; Isa. 53:4; Rom. 5:8-9 (saved from God’s wrath because of Jesus). In His humanity, Jesus was “deeply distressed and troubled . . . overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (vv., 33-34). Because of the great suffering and sense of abandonment, Jesus truly desired the companionship and prayers of his disciples.
But in Jesus’ most desperate hour of need, the disciples let Him down miserably. Not once but three times the disciples fell asleep (vv.37, 40, 41). They could not even stay awake and watch and pray for one hour (v.37). The disciples who just moments ago were boasting about how they would never let Jesus down can’t even stay awake and pray for Him in His hour of greatest need. Maybe if they had “watched and prayed” a little more often they would not have been so weak. Jesus did say that “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (v.38).
Jesus though found strength in the Garden. While the disciples slept, Jesus poured out his heart and soul to God. Few Scriptures reveal the humanity of Jesus as this one. You see the deep struggle going on in Jesus’ soul in verse 35. He falls to the ground and prays “that if possible the hour might pass from him.” The hour and the cup are symbols that point to the final agony of crucifixion. Jesus prays that the cup be removed from him, “yet not what I will, but what you will” (v.36). Jesus refuses to abandon the will of God. His resolve gives him the strength to face his “betrayer” (v.42) and what lies ahead on the cross. There is a contrast between the disciples and Jesus. The disciples quickly dismiss the idea that they might somehow fail. They are so confident, so boastful, and yet so prayerless. Jesus on the other hand knows that the battle is real, he doesn’t enter into the arena lightly. He deals with this experience seriously, soberly, and prayerfully.
In Jesus we see how to deal with the tests, those times of crushing, suffering, while in Peter and the others we see what to avoid. But how things could have been different for them if they only had truly followed Jesus!
The Paradigm of Prayer
❶ Look again at what Jesus told them to do, beginning in verse 32, “Sit here.”
❷ Then, in verse 34, “Stay here.”
❸ And in verse 38, “Watch and
❹ pray.” To “sit” is to take some time apart. It is to be still and know that the Lord is God. To “stay” is to not get in a hurry, to linger long. To “watch” is to wait on God for He moves in His time and in His way. And to “pray” is to commune with the Lord, to draw strength from. Just think how different the outcome might have been had the disciples sat, stayed, watched and prayed. Maybe then they would have been ready as Jesus was to “Rise! . . . go” (v.42). This pattern still holds true for us today. How’s your sitting? Your staying? Your watching? And your praying?
IV. Denying Jesus (vv.66-72)
In verses 43-65 Jesus is arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. What’s significant for us to see is that Mark footnotes the arrest by stating that at that time “everyone deserted him and fled” (v.50). While Jesus was being brought to the Sanhedrin, Mark also tells us that “Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest” (v.54). It was there that Peter mingled in with the crowd of guards who were warming their hands by the fire. The irony of this scene is that Peter is warming his hands with some of the same guards who will soon participate in the beating of Jesus (v.65).
In a mockery of justice, the high priest and the others condemned Jesus “as worthy of death” (v.64). One of the servant girls of the high priest took notice of Peter by the fire. She recognized that he was a follower of Jesus “that Nazarene” (v.67). Peter of course denied that he even knew what she was talking about (v.68).
1. Denying Knowledge – “I don’t know or understand” (v.68)
In his first denial, Peter pretends ignorance.
2. Denying Membership – “Is one of them . . . he denied it” (vv.69-70)
But the servant girl persisted in her identification that Peter was one of Jesus’ followers (v.69) but Peter a second time denied his involvement with Jesus (v.70), this time disclaiming membership in the Christian community all together (see v.69, “one of them”). “I don’t know what you’re talking about and I’m not one of these Christians you accuse me of.”
3. Denying Relationship – “I don’t know this man” (v.71)
Others who are near Peter recognized that Peter was one of Jesus’ followers because he was a Galilean (v.70). At this, Peter denied Jesus a third time and he “began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know this man you’re talking about’” (v.71). Now, he denies any relationship to Jesus whatsoever. If we see Jesus’ humanity in the Garden, we certainly see Peter’s humanity in the three denials. Peter is doing everything he can to distance himself from Jesus. Why? Probably because he was simply scared that he was going to be next.
How far Peter has fallen. The higher you set yourself up, the farther you have to fall. Not too long ago Peter was on top of the world. Jesus had sang his praise. Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. He was the leader among leaders, head apostle. Now he’s looking a lot more like Judas the betrayer than “Peter” the rock. The crowing of the rooster woke Peter up from his nightmare, but it wasn’t a dream – it was real (v.72). And when the rooster crowed, “Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him.” It’s funny how things remind us of a word that we have heard from Jesus. Here the rooster crowing reminded Peter of all of his foolish boasting, “If only I had not been so foolish and arrogant and prideful. If only I had listened to Jesus and watched and prayed, then maybe I wouldn’t have been so weak” If only Peter had not grown apathetic before the rooster crowed. Maybe then things would be different. Don’t wait till the rooster crows to get the message. Things can be different for you right now before the rooster crows.
Peter’s meltdown began long before he ever found himself warming by the fires in Caiaphas’ courtyard. Peter’s downfall began with his brash self-confidence that he was not going to be like everyone else, that he was special, that he would never fall. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). Peter’s troubles began in his heart. In a real sense the Garden was a test, a mid-term examination in discipleship. Gethsemane after all means “olive press.” “Could the disciples handle the pressure that was to come? Would they pass a simple test of watchfulness and prayer?”
The disciples flunked the final exam because they couldn’t pass the mid-term. Peter and the others slept through the test. They did not “Watch and pray” and because of that, they did “fall into temptation.” No qaulity time spent in the Garden in prayer meant no power to stand in the face of adversity. If you are going to stand strong in the world with all that you face, you will have to spend time in the Garden of prayer. Otherwise, you might just hear the rooster crowing.
What was the temptation that Peter faced? I propose to you that it’s not really all that different from what you and I face. Only the circumstances change. In fact, I believe that it is “The Temptation” that we face – it is the age-old and persistent temptation to not trust God in your circumstance. It is the temptation to take matters into your own hands. To trust in your self. Everything else Peter does is a symptom of the lack of trust problem in his life. Following from a distance, the denials, the desire to save himself at any cost, are merely symptoms of his inability to trust God. So what circumstance do you face today? You will be tempted, just like Peter, (if you haven’t already) to trust in your resources, to lean on your wisdom, and to not trust God.
The problem with trusting in ourselves, which is form of denying Jesus is what follows – it comes with guilt, condemnation, and it does not bring peace to our situation. Trusting in ourselves while denying Jesus never works. And this is why Peter “broke down and wept” (v.72).
Before the Rooster Crows
Peter’s denial is instructive for us on many levels, primarily though in the area of what to avoid. There were some problems in Peter’s life that precipitated his downfall. They are common problems that all of us face, but they surface even more so in times of adversity, when we’re under pressure. If we can identify these problem areas, just maybe we can see the iceberg before we ram straight into it. More importantly though, if we can see how Jesus modeled endurance in adversity, we can begin to take on His character. Because everything we need to deal with life is not so much achieved through human effort, but it occurs as we follow Jesus and take on His character. He does the work in and through us.
So what characteristics does Christ want to work into our lives now before the rooster crows, before we get into a place of compromise, self-preservation and denial as Peter did? There are at least three characteristics that mark the man or woman of God who will be able to stand in times of adversity. These three characteristics were modeled by Jesus.
1. A Life Marked by Humility
Humility is not so much an achievement as it is having the right perspective as to who you are in Christ. It is knowing yourself. Jesus displayed perfect humility. He knew who He was and he walked in humility before the Father, always submitting to the Father’s will. While the disciples were thinking about how great they were, Jesus was praying “not what I will, but what you will.” Humility before God is living without pretense. You are real with God because you know Him and He knows you and you know that He knows you. See Romans 12:3. The humble person makes no boastful claims to spiritual superiority. They recognize that apart from the grace of God they are nothing. And when they do fall, they still know that it’s God’s grace that enables them to stand once more.
2. A Life Marked by Purpose
Jesus lived a life of purpose, a focused life, a prayerful life, an obedient life. That’s what living a disciplined life is. It is living your life in tune with the Father. It is living a life of dependence upon God. You want to follow God’s will. You want Him to guide you. But for that to happen, we must follow the basic spiritual disciplines of sitting, staying, watching and praying. You get the impression that the disciples were not too disciplined at this point. Their boastful speech, apathy, Christ-denying speech reveals undisciplined hearts. When you live a disciplined life, God changes your attitude, he changes your actions, and he changes your speech. God uses the spiritual disciplines to shape us into His image, to make us like Himself.
3. A Life Marked by Trust
We might call this dependence upon the Father which Jesus modeled in his earthly life. If you don’t stay close to Jesus by following him everyday, you might just end up warming your hands around the enemies fire. The fact that Peter followed Jesus from a distance sums up why Peter fell as he did. He was trying to live on the fringes. He was going it alone. Peter tried to live as an anonymous Christian, living in the dim light of the world’s fires, facing life in his own power and in his own strength.
People on the fringes the people most susceptible to fall. It’s really impossible to follow Jesus from a distance. Some of you may be trying but it’s not working very well. When we are humble before God, when we live a disciplined life, when we stay close to Jesus, then it becomes easier to stand strong in the Lord because it is the risen Christ living in and through us.
Humility, discipline, trust – these qualities God wants to build in our lives and He will if we allow Him to. These qualities come through a personal relationship with Christ. Peter is going to need the Jesus he just denied, we too need Christ if we are going to hold up under pressure.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Before the Rooster Crows
Scripture Reading: Mark 14:27-42; 66-72
It was called the “The Tarmac Tirade,” “The Flight Attendant Tantrum,” when Steve Slater opened the emergency exit of a Jet Blue flight at Kennedy International Airport this past Monday. Steve had reached his breaking point when he had an altercation with a passenger. People that know him said that he has been under quite a bit of pressure lately. His father recently died, his mother is ill, and he has battled alcohol and drug addiction in his past. After a very public profanity-laced tirade against the passenger, he grabbed two beers and slid down the emergency exit. Some people under pressure are one step away from opening the emergency exit. Pressure sometimes bring out the worst in people.
In the arrest, trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin and the denial of Peter in the courtyard of the High Priest, we have a paradigm for behavior under pressure. Jesus shows what we should do and Peter what we should avoid. Jesus exemplifies courage, Peter cowardice. Jesus, while losing his life through steadfast witness, ultimately saves it; Peter, trying to save himself, in fact condemns himself. We are called to follow Jesus but like Peter we often deny him. The good news is that our salvation depends not on our performance, but on the faithfulness of God. The question is “How can we stand under pressure? To live faithful to our Lord?”
I. Falling Away and Restoration (vv.27-28)
This passage begins with Jesus foretelling the falling away and restoration of the disciples. The Scripture in Zechariah 13:7-9 will soon be fulfilled. The shepherd will be struck down and the sheep will be scattered. But Jesus also knows that on the other side of death lies resurrection. He speaks of this in a matter-of-fact way, “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee” (v.28). Here is the picture of the shepherd once again leading his sheep.
II. Boasting Allegiance to Jesus (vv. 29-31)
Upon hearing Jesus’ prophetic words, Peter and the other disciples boast of their allegiance to Jesus. Peter holds out the possibility that some or even all of the disciples might fall away but not him (v.29). He emphatically states, “I will not.” Tragically though, before the rooster crows twice Peter will deny the Lord not once but three times (v.30), even stating that he does not even know Jesus! Peter can’t leave well enough alone and continues to argue that he will not deny Jesus even if it means death (v.31). The other disciples that were there that day “said the same” (v.31).
III. Watching and Praying at Gethsemane (vv.32-42)
In Verses 32-42 we see Jesus and the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. This olive orchard on the slope of the Mount of Olives was a favorite place of prayer and quiet for Jesus. Jesus knew what lie ahead. The “cup” was a symbol for the wrath or judgement of God. The wrath of God against unrighteousness was about to be poured out on God’s Son and our Savior. Our substitute: Isa. 53:5; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 2:9; 1 Pe. 3:18. Our Sin Bearer: Isa. 53:12; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pe. 2:24. Stricken by God: Ps. 22; Isa. 53:4; Rom. 5:8-9 (saved from God’s wrath because of Jesus). In His humanity, Jesus was “deeply distressed and troubled . . . overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (vv., 33-34). Because of the great suffering and sense of abandonment, Jesus truly desired the companionship and prayers of his disciples.
But in Jesus’ most desperate hour of need, the disciples let Him down miserably. Not once but three times the disciples fell asleep (vv.37, 40, 41). They could not even stay awake and watch and pray for one hour (v.37). The disciples who just moments ago were boasting about how they would never let Jesus down can’t even stay awake and pray for Him in His hour of greatest need. Maybe if they had “watched and prayed” a little more often they would not have been so weak. Jesus did say that “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (v.38).
Jesus though found strength in the Garden. While the disciples slept, Jesus poured out his heart and soul to God. Few Scriptures reveal the humanity of Jesus as this one. You see the deep struggle going on in Jesus’ soul in verse 35. He falls to the ground and prays “that if possible the hour might pass from him.” The hour and the cup are symbols that point to the final agony of crucifixion. Jesus prays that the cup be removed from him, “yet not what I will, but what you will” (v.36). Jesus refuses to abandon the will of God. His resolve gives him the strength to face his “betrayer” (v.42) and what lies ahead on the cross. There is a contrast between the disciples and Jesus. The disciples quickly dismiss the idea that they might somehow fail. They are so confident, so boastful, and yet so prayerless. Jesus on the other hand knows that the battle is real, he doesn’t enter into the arena lightly. He deals with this experience seriously, soberly, and prayerfully.
In Jesus we see how to deal with the tests, those times of crushing, suffering, while in Peter and the others we see what to avoid. But how things could have been different for them if they only had truly followed Jesus!
The Paradigm of Prayer
❶ Look again at what Jesus told them to do, beginning in verse 32, “Sit here.”
❷ Then, in verse 34, “Stay here.”
❸ And in verse 38, “Watch and
❹ pray.” To “sit” is to take some time apart. It is to be still and know that the Lord is God. To “stay” is to not get in a hurry, to linger long. To “watch” is to wait on God for He moves in His time and in His way. And to “pray” is to commune with the Lord, to draw strength from. Just think how different the outcome might have been had the disciples sat, stayed, watched and prayed. Maybe then they would have been ready as Jesus was to “Rise! . . . go” (v.42). This pattern still holds true for us today. How’s your sitting? Your staying? Your watching? And your praying?
IV. Denying Jesus (vv.66-72)
In verses 43-65 Jesus is arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. What’s significant for us to see is that Mark footnotes the arrest by stating that at that time “everyone deserted him and fled” (v.50). While Jesus was being brought to the Sanhedrin, Mark also tells us that “Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest” (v.54). It was there that Peter mingled in with the crowd of guards who were warming their hands by the fire. The irony of this scene is that Peter is warming his hands with some of the same guards who will soon participate in the beating of Jesus (v.65).
In a mockery of justice, the high priest and the others condemned Jesus “as worthy of death” (v.64). One of the servant girls of the high priest took notice of Peter by the fire. She recognized that he was a follower of Jesus “that Nazarene” (v.67). Peter of course denied that he even knew what she was talking about (v.68).
1. Denying Knowledge – “I don’t know or understand” (v.68)
In his first denial, Peter pretends ignorance.
2. Denying Membership – “Is one of them . . . he denied it” (vv.69-70)
But the servant girl persisted in her identification that Peter was one of Jesus’ followers (v.69) but Peter a second time denied his involvement with Jesus (v.70), this time disclaiming membership in the Christian community all together (see v.69, “one of them”). “I don’t know what you’re talking about and I’m not one of these Christians you accuse me of.”
3. Denying Relationship – “I don’t know this man” (v.71)
Others who are near Peter recognized that Peter was one of Jesus’ followers because he was a Galilean (v.70). At this, Peter denied Jesus a third time and he “began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know this man you’re talking about’” (v.71). Now, he denies any relationship to Jesus whatsoever. If we see Jesus’ humanity in the Garden, we certainly see Peter’s humanity in the three denials. Peter is doing everything he can to distance himself from Jesus. Why? Probably because he was simply scared that he was going to be next.
How far Peter has fallen. The higher you set yourself up, the farther you have to fall. Not too long ago Peter was on top of the world. Jesus had sang his praise. Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. He was the leader among leaders, head apostle. Now he’s looking a lot more like Judas the betrayer than “Peter” the rock. The crowing of the rooster woke Peter up from his nightmare, but it wasn’t a dream – it was real (v.72). And when the rooster crowed, “Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him.” It’s funny how things remind us of a word that we have heard from Jesus. Here the rooster crowing reminded Peter of all of his foolish boasting, “If only I had not been so foolish and arrogant and prideful. If only I had listened to Jesus and watched and prayed, then maybe I wouldn’t have been so weak” If only Peter had not grown apathetic before the rooster crowed. Maybe then things would be different. Don’t wait till the rooster crows to get the message. Things can be different for you right now before the rooster crows.
Peter’s meltdown began long before he ever found himself warming by the fires in Caiaphas’ courtyard. Peter’s downfall began with his brash self-confidence that he was not going to be like everyone else, that he was special, that he would never fall. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). Peter’s troubles began in his heart. In a real sense the Garden was a test, a mid-term examination in discipleship. Gethsemane after all means “olive press.” “Could the disciples handle the pressure that was to come? Would they pass a simple test of watchfulness and prayer?”
The disciples flunked the final exam because they couldn’t pass the mid-term. Peter and the others slept through the test. They did not “Watch and pray” and because of that, they did “fall into temptation.” No qaulity time spent in the Garden in prayer meant no power to stand in the face of adversity. If you are going to stand strong in the world with all that you face, you will have to spend time in the Garden of prayer. Otherwise, you might just hear the rooster crowing.
What was the temptation that Peter faced? I propose to you that it’s not really all that different from what you and I face. Only the circumstances change. In fact, I believe that it is “The Temptation” that we face – it is the age-old and persistent temptation to not trust God in your circumstance. It is the temptation to take matters into your own hands. To trust in your self. Everything else Peter does is a symptom of the lack of trust problem in his life. Following from a distance, the denials, the desire to save himself at any cost, are merely symptoms of his inability to trust God. So what circumstance do you face today? You will be tempted, just like Peter, (if you haven’t already) to trust in your resources, to lean on your wisdom, and to not trust God.
The problem with trusting in ourselves, which is form of denying Jesus is what follows – it comes with guilt, condemnation, and it does not bring peace to our situation. Trusting in ourselves while denying Jesus never works. And this is why Peter “broke down and wept” (v.72).
Before the Rooster Crows
Peter’s denial is instructive for us on many levels, primarily though in the area of what to avoid. There were some problems in Peter’s life that precipitated his downfall. They are common problems that all of us face, but they surface even more so in times of adversity, when we’re under pressure. If we can identify these problem areas, just maybe we can see the iceberg before we ram straight into it. More importantly though, if we can see how Jesus modeled endurance in adversity, we can begin to take on His character. Because everything we need to deal with life is not so much achieved through human effort, but it occurs as we follow Jesus and take on His character. He does the work in and through us.
So what characteristics does Christ want to work into our lives now before the rooster crows, before we get into a place of compromise, self-preservation and denial as Peter did? There are at least three characteristics that mark the man or woman of God who will be able to stand in times of adversity. These three characteristics were modeled by Jesus.
1. A Life Marked by Humility
Humility is not so much an achievement as it is having the right perspective as to who you are in Christ. It is knowing yourself. Jesus displayed perfect humility. He knew who He was and he walked in humility before the Father, always submitting to the Father’s will. While the disciples were thinking about how great they were, Jesus was praying “not what I will, but what you will.” Humility before God is living without pretense. You are real with God because you know Him and He knows you and you know that He knows you. See Romans 12:3. The humble person makes no boastful claims to spiritual superiority. They recognize that apart from the grace of God they are nothing. And when they do fall, they still know that it’s God’s grace that enables them to stand once more.
2. A Life Marked by Purpose
Jesus lived a life of purpose, a focused life, a prayerful life, an obedient life. That’s what living a disciplined life is. It is living your life in tune with the Father. It is living a life of dependence upon God. You want to follow God’s will. You want Him to guide you. But for that to happen, we must follow the basic spiritual disciplines of sitting, staying, watching and praying. You get the impression that the disciples were not too disciplined at this point. Their boastful speech, apathy, Christ-denying speech reveals undisciplined hearts. When you live a disciplined life, God changes your attitude, he changes your actions, and he changes your speech. God uses the spiritual disciplines to shape us into His image, to make us like Himself.
3. A Life Marked by Trust
We might call this dependence upon the Father which Jesus modeled in his earthly life. If you don’t stay close to Jesus by following him everyday, you might just end up warming your hands around the enemies fire. The fact that Peter followed Jesus from a distance sums up why Peter fell as he did. He was trying to live on the fringes. He was going it alone. Peter tried to live as an anonymous Christian, living in the dim light of the world’s fires, facing life in his own power and in his own strength.
People on the fringes the people most susceptible to fall. It’s really impossible to follow Jesus from a distance. Some of you may be trying but it’s not working very well. When we are humble before God, when we live a disciplined life, when we stay close to Jesus, then it becomes easier to stand strong in the Lord because it is the risen Christ living in and through us.
Humility, discipline, trust – these qualities God wants to build in our lives and He will if we allow Him to. These qualities come through a personal relationship with Christ. Peter is going to need the Jesus he just denied, we too need Christ if we are going to hold up under pressure.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Beginning of Days (Mark 13:1-23)
A Few Words about Eschatology – The Study of Last Things
For those who are interested or who might wonder what perspective I am approaching the Scriptures concerning end time events, my view falls somewhere between Historic Pre-millennialism and amillennialism. I say somewhere between because both views are very similar and I’m not altogether persuaded either way. For example, both views see the growing presence of both good and evil in the world until the coming of Christ, at which time God will consummate this age and begin the new age. Both views hold that Israel is identified mostly as the church (spiritual Israel) in the New Testament. Both views understand that end time language is figurative and highly symbolic. Both views state that the second coming of Christ will follow the period known as the “Great Tribulation.” Both views interpret the Scriptures through the words of Jesus, meaning that the Old Testament prophets and Peter, Paul and John in the New Testament are interpreted through Christ and His words mostly recorded in the “Olivet Discourse.” Jesus is the interpretive key for determining end time events.
The major difference between the two views has to do with the concept of the millennium. Will it be a real literal period prior to the beginning of the eternal state or is the millennium to be understood as symbolic? Historic Pre-millennialism holds to a literal millennial period that precedes the final consummation or new heavens and new earth. I’m not fully convinced that a separate millennial period is biblically necessary. The millennial period may actually be the eternal state, although a very real new heavens and new earth where the lion will lay down with the lamb, a renewed earth – paradise once more! To me this idea of heaven comports well with the idea that the new heavens and new earth are “new” in quality rather than “new” in origin. Rather than heaven being some ethereal place, I hold to a very real new and pristine earth where sin has been removed and where righteousness covers the earth as the waters cover the seas. While I agree with many ideas present in Amillennialism, I do not find agreeable the idea that the present age is the millennial period. Of course, this is a very brief and over-simplistic presentation of these views. For an excellent treatment of the various millennial views and all the nuances within each view, see Robert G. Clouse, The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views.
The Beginning of Days
Scripture Reading: Mark 13:1-23
Introduction
Economic downturns, ecological disasters, division among families, cultural and moral conflicts, threats of terrorism, secularism, the shaking of our cherished institutions – political, economic, and religious – all these problems seem to be persistent and even growing. To casually read Jesus’ words in Mark chapter thirteen, you might conclude that there’s only more to come and even worse! But a closer look at Jesus’ words reveals the truth of the old adage with a twist, “It’s going to get worse before it gets better – but it will be much much better!”
Mark chapter 13 is called “The Olivet Discourse” or “The Little Apocalypse” and contains two major sections describing present and future events: (1) Tribulation – 13:5-23, and (2) The Second Coming of Jesus – 13:24-37.
Although Jesus foretold times of great distress, the signs of our time point to the coming of Christ when God’s creation will be renewed. See 1 Pe. 3:1-13; Rev. 21:1-5. Followers of Jesus are to hope for the coming of the “Son of Man” (v.26). That hope will sustain Christians undergoing persecution and strengthen them to “endure to the end” (v.13).
All questions and debates were now over. Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple area.
The Destruction of the Temple and the End of the Age
* The comment made by the disciples about the temple, “What magnificent buildings!” (v.1). Why did the disciples call Jesus’ attention to the temple complex buildings? I can’t say for sure, but it sounds as if the disciples may be attempting to convince themselves that living in the “not so kingdom-like” world is a valid option for them. Maybe they are even attempting to gain Jesus’ approval for the idea of settling for less.
* Jesus’ response (v.2) and the disciple’s question (v.4). Jesus is saying to the disciples, “Do not put too much stock in what you can see because this world is passing. The beautiful buildings that you see will soon come crumbling down.” The Lord would speak to us today from this text, to a people who are so quick to place all their trust in this passing world.
* Some of what Jesus foretold happened in 66-70 A.D. when Titus and the Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Other events are still in the future.
* The destruction of the temple foreshadows the coming end of the age and renewal of the world by God.
About Signs and “The Sign”
Jesus mentions many signs that will accompany the end of this present age. False Christ’s, wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution for the sake of Jesus, division in families, desecration of that which is holy, and the preaching of the Gospel to all nations. What can we say about these various signs?
The signs are . . .
1. Already present in our world, “the end is not yet” (v.7). To some extent we see evidence of all these signs in our world.
2. Not an exhaustive list or to be a source of speculation. All of the signs either show how temporal the world is or how hostile the world is to Christ and his followers.
3. Will intensify as the coming of Christ nears (v.19). The parable of the wheat and the tares illustrates the growing intensification of both good and evil. Believers undergoing great tribulation need to hear Jesus’ words, “they may kill the body but they cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28).
4. Described as “birth pains” (v.8) pointing to God’s new world. These signs do not necessarily point to the end, they point to the beginning of days!
5. Invoke joyful anticipation of God’s sovereignty. The birth of a child is a joyful time just as the intensification of the birth pains points to the birth, the renewal of God’s creation – certainly a joyful time for the “elect” (vv.20, 27). Because a new world awaits, the Christian must be an optimist! How could we be anything else knowing our God is sovereign!
6. Motivation to watchfulness and faithfulness in sharing the Gospel (v.10, 20, 22, 27).
People must hear the Gospel so that they will have an opportunity to respond to Christ. All those who are “in Christ” are the elected.
There is actually one sign above all others. The pervasive existence of evil in the world in all its forms is the one sign that highlights our present need for redemption (2 Pe. 1:4; 2:20) – the ultimate salvation that God will consummate when Jesus returns (see Mk. 13: 27; Rev. 21:27; 22:3).
How Then Shall We Live?
1. Affirm your relationship with Christ (2 Pe. 1:10; 2 Cor. 13:5).
Peter encourages us to make our calling and election sure. Peter is saying “be sure that you know Jesus, be sure that you have believed on him, be sure that you have accepted his provision for your sins, be sure you are saved.”
2. Attach yourself to the eternal (Matt. 7:24-25).
If this world is passing, where do I have my life-attachments? Am I attaching myself to that which is eternal? That which is built on the foundation that will never be destroyed?
3. Anticipate with joy the coming of the Lord.
God is sovereign, we need not fear, we need not join the forces of pessimism and hate in our world.
4. Advance God’s work on earth.
Instead of watching for signs, we should be working to alleviate the birth pains. There are signs all around that point to a broken world in need of God’s redemption. If we know these things, then we should be active in ministering God’s grace and sharing the Gospel. How can we watch a world crumbling and do otherwise?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
For those who are interested or who might wonder what perspective I am approaching the Scriptures concerning end time events, my view falls somewhere between Historic Pre-millennialism and amillennialism. I say somewhere between because both views are very similar and I’m not altogether persuaded either way. For example, both views see the growing presence of both good and evil in the world until the coming of Christ, at which time God will consummate this age and begin the new age. Both views hold that Israel is identified mostly as the church (spiritual Israel) in the New Testament. Both views understand that end time language is figurative and highly symbolic. Both views state that the second coming of Christ will follow the period known as the “Great Tribulation.” Both views interpret the Scriptures through the words of Jesus, meaning that the Old Testament prophets and Peter, Paul and John in the New Testament are interpreted through Christ and His words mostly recorded in the “Olivet Discourse.” Jesus is the interpretive key for determining end time events.
The major difference between the two views has to do with the concept of the millennium. Will it be a real literal period prior to the beginning of the eternal state or is the millennium to be understood as symbolic? Historic Pre-millennialism holds to a literal millennial period that precedes the final consummation or new heavens and new earth. I’m not fully convinced that a separate millennial period is biblically necessary. The millennial period may actually be the eternal state, although a very real new heavens and new earth where the lion will lay down with the lamb, a renewed earth – paradise once more! To me this idea of heaven comports well with the idea that the new heavens and new earth are “new” in quality rather than “new” in origin. Rather than heaven being some ethereal place, I hold to a very real new and pristine earth where sin has been removed and where righteousness covers the earth as the waters cover the seas. While I agree with many ideas present in Amillennialism, I do not find agreeable the idea that the present age is the millennial period. Of course, this is a very brief and over-simplistic presentation of these views. For an excellent treatment of the various millennial views and all the nuances within each view, see Robert G. Clouse, The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views.
The Beginning of Days
Scripture Reading: Mark 13:1-23
Introduction
Economic downturns, ecological disasters, division among families, cultural and moral conflicts, threats of terrorism, secularism, the shaking of our cherished institutions – political, economic, and religious – all these problems seem to be persistent and even growing. To casually read Jesus’ words in Mark chapter thirteen, you might conclude that there’s only more to come and even worse! But a closer look at Jesus’ words reveals the truth of the old adage with a twist, “It’s going to get worse before it gets better – but it will be much much better!”
Mark chapter 13 is called “The Olivet Discourse” or “The Little Apocalypse” and contains two major sections describing present and future events: (1) Tribulation – 13:5-23, and (2) The Second Coming of Jesus – 13:24-37.
Although Jesus foretold times of great distress, the signs of our time point to the coming of Christ when God’s creation will be renewed. See 1 Pe. 3:1-13; Rev. 21:1-5. Followers of Jesus are to hope for the coming of the “Son of Man” (v.26). That hope will sustain Christians undergoing persecution and strengthen them to “endure to the end” (v.13).
All questions and debates were now over. Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple area.
The Destruction of the Temple and the End of the Age
* The comment made by the disciples about the temple, “What magnificent buildings!” (v.1). Why did the disciples call Jesus’ attention to the temple complex buildings? I can’t say for sure, but it sounds as if the disciples may be attempting to convince themselves that living in the “not so kingdom-like” world is a valid option for them. Maybe they are even attempting to gain Jesus’ approval for the idea of settling for less.
* Jesus’ response (v.2) and the disciple’s question (v.4). Jesus is saying to the disciples, “Do not put too much stock in what you can see because this world is passing. The beautiful buildings that you see will soon come crumbling down.” The Lord would speak to us today from this text, to a people who are so quick to place all their trust in this passing world.
* Some of what Jesus foretold happened in 66-70 A.D. when Titus and the Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Other events are still in the future.
* The destruction of the temple foreshadows the coming end of the age and renewal of the world by God.
About Signs and “The Sign”
Jesus mentions many signs that will accompany the end of this present age. False Christ’s, wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution for the sake of Jesus, division in families, desecration of that which is holy, and the preaching of the Gospel to all nations. What can we say about these various signs?
The signs are . . .
1. Already present in our world, “the end is not yet” (v.7). To some extent we see evidence of all these signs in our world.
2. Not an exhaustive list or to be a source of speculation. All of the signs either show how temporal the world is or how hostile the world is to Christ and his followers.
3. Will intensify as the coming of Christ nears (v.19). The parable of the wheat and the tares illustrates the growing intensification of both good and evil. Believers undergoing great tribulation need to hear Jesus’ words, “they may kill the body but they cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28).
4. Described as “birth pains” (v.8) pointing to God’s new world. These signs do not necessarily point to the end, they point to the beginning of days!
5. Invoke joyful anticipation of God’s sovereignty. The birth of a child is a joyful time just as the intensification of the birth pains points to the birth, the renewal of God’s creation – certainly a joyful time for the “elect” (vv.20, 27). Because a new world awaits, the Christian must be an optimist! How could we be anything else knowing our God is sovereign!
6. Motivation to watchfulness and faithfulness in sharing the Gospel (v.10, 20, 22, 27).
People must hear the Gospel so that they will have an opportunity to respond to Christ. All those who are “in Christ” are the elected.
There is actually one sign above all others. The pervasive existence of evil in the world in all its forms is the one sign that highlights our present need for redemption (2 Pe. 1:4; 2:20) – the ultimate salvation that God will consummate when Jesus returns (see Mk. 13: 27; Rev. 21:27; 22:3).
How Then Shall We Live?
1. Affirm your relationship with Christ (2 Pe. 1:10; 2 Cor. 13:5).
Peter encourages us to make our calling and election sure. Peter is saying “be sure that you know Jesus, be sure that you have believed on him, be sure that you have accepted his provision for your sins, be sure you are saved.”
2. Attach yourself to the eternal (Matt. 7:24-25).
If this world is passing, where do I have my life-attachments? Am I attaching myself to that which is eternal? That which is built on the foundation that will never be destroyed?
3. Anticipate with joy the coming of the Lord.
God is sovereign, we need not fear, we need not join the forces of pessimism and hate in our world.
4. Advance God’s work on earth.
Instead of watching for signs, we should be working to alleviate the birth pains. There are signs all around that point to a broken world in need of God’s redemption. If we know these things, then we should be active in ministering God’s grace and sharing the Gospel. How can we watch a world crumbling and do otherwise?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, August 2, 2010
The First and Last Question (Mark 12:28-34)
A sermon preached on August 1, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Mark 12:28-34
If you lived during biblical times and had an opportunity to talk to Jesus, you might ask Him any number of questions. But if you were sincerely seeking to know God, you might ask Him the kind of question that the scribe did in our text today.
An Important Question (12:28): “What really matters to God?”
A teacher of the law (a scribe, or lawyer) had overheard Jesus’ conversation with the Sadducees. The scribes job was to know and apply the oral law. He was impressed with Jesus’ “good answer.” Now, this man asked Jesus a question. “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Which is the first or foremost commandment in the Bible? He’s asking “What really matters to God?” This was a pretty important question considering he had quite a list of commandments that he was trying to keep up with.
How the Law Was Viewed
In Jesus’ day the teachers of the law had taken the Ten Commandments and turned them into 613! Sammlai, a Jewish Rabbi taught that Moses received 613 precepts on Mount Sinai, 365 according to the days of the sun year, and 248 according to the generations of men. They even divided them further into “heavy” and “light,” i.e., more important and less important. Jesus was about to whittle all of them down to just one.
The question that the scribe is asking is a pretty important question, what really matters to God? He is to be commended for that – he is asking the right question. People today are asking questions but are they asking the ones that matter? The questions that are important as they relate to God?
A recent demographics study of people living within a 1.5 mile radius of our church shows a considerable number of people who consider themselves spiritual. Now this is good news but it also presents a challenge. Good news because what we will find as we try to reach out to people in our community is that there is already present a built-in receptivity to spiritual matters. The challenge though is that some of our neighbors may not be asking the right questions, questions like the one this man asked, “what really matters to God?” Our challenge will be to direct the spiritual impulse of people to the questions that matter.
This is no easy task because much spirituality today is human-centered. It’s about what God can do for me, how He can help me become (Fill-in-the-Blank). And here’s where this great text speaks so clearly. Life, fulfillment, occurs when we become God-centered in our thinking. And that’s what Jesus is calling us to do. It is A Challenge to Become God-Centered in Our Thinking and in Our Living.
So what did Jesus say was the most important commandment? “The most important one . . . is this”
I. Love the Lord Your God (12:29-30; Deut. 6:4-5)
Answering the scribe, Jesus quoted a passage of Scripture from the book of the law, Deuteronomy 6:4-6, “Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.” That single sentence is the real creed of Judaism. It is called the Shema, so called from the first word in the sentence, a verb “to hear.” It was the sentence with which the service of the Synagogue always began and still begins. The full Shema is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41.
The three passages of the Shema were contained in Phylacteries (see Matt. 23:5), little leather boxes which the devout Jew wore on his forehead and on his wrist when he was at prayer. The Shema was also contained in a little cylindrical box called the Mezuzah which was and still is affixed to the door of Jewish homes and the doors within their homes. This is to remind the Jew of God in his going out and coming in.
Only Mark’s account has Jesus quote the opening words of the Shema. Why here?
1. An affirmation of the oneness of God (v.29) (monotheism)
Jesus affirms the oneness of God which would have been important because the Jews saw followers of Jesus as being polytheistic. This was especially true later on in the growing Christian community. Implications of this monotheistic confession can be seen throughout the NT (e.g., Rom. 3:29-30; Eph. 4:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:5).
2. A call to love God with your whole being (v.30)
What is the greatest or the most important commandment? Jesus says it is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (v.30). The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” To glorify or to honor God is to know Him and to love Him, to be devoted to Him. And this we are to do with all that we our, no halfhearted commitments here but pure devotion. These expressions are piled up as a way of saying love God “with your whole being.”
This is the starting point for all of our thinking about God and us. “With all your mind” suggests that there is a need to reflect on our service to God with our mind. We love God with our minds too. Students, as you return to school, you have an opportunity to be good stewards of your minds. Using your mind well is an aspect of your worship and love for God.
Jesus then goes on to say that this love for God has a practical expression.
II. Love Your Neighbor As Yourself (12:31; Lev. 19:8)
1. Love for God is expressed by loving others (1 Jn. 3:18)
Jesus quotes from Leviticus 19:18. The scribe would have interpreted this in the narrow sense of loving other Jewish people. Loving God and loving others are like two sides of one coin. Loving others flows from our relationship with God. When the vertical relationship is intact, the horizontal relationship will be too. The love of God and others is to be like that of Jesus, “not in word or speech but in deed and in truth”(1 Jn. 3:18). Love for God is expressed by loving others.
2. Keeping the right order in perspective
There is however, a priority or an order that is apparent here. Loving others follows loving God. There are several extremes to be avoided as unbiblical views.
Loving God alone – Extreme separatism
Evangelicals, Bible-believing people like ourselves may be guilty of emphasizing the personal nature of salvation to the exclusion of any humanitarian or social efforts. As a result we can become separated from the people that we are to reach with the Gospel. Clearly though, the evidence that we have believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ means that we now demonstrate love where we may not have before.
Loving others alone – Extreme secularism
The other danger is to think that our humanitarian efforts are a substitute salvation. We need to be very clear on this. It is not our efforts, our goodness, our humanitarian efforts that secure salvation. And we do not want to lead people to think that being good is what is required. This would be a works salvation. Salvation is not through human effort, regardless of how praiseworthy that human effort might be. Many people today are seeking approval from God through their human efforts. And yet our human efforts can never make us righteous before God. Instead, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Tit. 3:5).
You can be a great humanitarian and be a committed atheist. But you cannot be a committed Christian and not be a humanitarian in the sense that you are for people. The cure for both an anti-God stance and an anti-human one is found in practicing the balance that Jesus presents here. Notice also how these two sides of the one commandment fulfill the intent of the 10 commandments. To love God is to fulfill the 1-4 commandments. To love others is to fulfill commandments 5-10.
3. Loving “as yourself”
What do we make of this idea of loving self? There is a real sense that you are not able to love others until you love yourself and you cannot love yourself rightly until you allow God’s love to come in to your life. On the other side, as John Calvin and others have stated, “self-love can never be right or good, but must be reversed and turned into love of God and neighbor. He argued that “we are too much devoted to ourselves.” When you view Western culture today, it’s easy to agree with Calvin. In many instances, religion has become subjective and personalized. One biblical scholar suggested that today “We use the Bible and God to achieve desired psychological states or attain moral ends which, on a variety of grounds, we perceive to be good.” But is that what Christianity has become? Is God and the Bible only something we use for our benefit?
So what does self-love means? The text commands that we love others in the same way that we love ourselves. “That is, we are to be tolerant of, have time for, be interested in, make excuses for, deeply desire the welfare of our neighbor in the same way that we have these attitudes toward ourselves.” (Interpretation)
Love God, love others – Jesus presents a vision of life that we cannot attain, an understanding of God’s demands that we can not achieve. The commandment alone to love God and love others does not help me do these things, it only makes me feel more guilty because I do not do these things as I should. What then is the solution? How does this passage bring good news to me? It is only as we see the cross of Jesus as the gift of His life “a ransom for many” that can we bear to hear his word about the great commandment. The power of the cross enables us be loved and to love. Christians have a new life, a resurrected life. As we allow Christ to live His life in and through us, we will be empowered to love God and love others (See Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:4).
Commendations and a Call to Commitment (12:32-34)
The scribe commended Jesus and Jesus commended him. The scribe realized it wasn’t ritual that made him righteous, but loving God and loving others fulfilled all the commandments of God. No wonder Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” By saying this Jesus encouraged him to go the remainder of the way by wholeheartedly following Jesus. Go the distance! Act upon the truth you now know – follow Jesus! Do that, and you too will be in the kingdom.
What about you? Are you not far from the kingdom? Why not go the distance! Act upon the truth that you now know. Follow Jesus with your whole being!
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Scripture Reading: Mark 12:28-34
If you lived during biblical times and had an opportunity to talk to Jesus, you might ask Him any number of questions. But if you were sincerely seeking to know God, you might ask Him the kind of question that the scribe did in our text today.
An Important Question (12:28): “What really matters to God?”
A teacher of the law (a scribe, or lawyer) had overheard Jesus’ conversation with the Sadducees. The scribes job was to know and apply the oral law. He was impressed with Jesus’ “good answer.” Now, this man asked Jesus a question. “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Which is the first or foremost commandment in the Bible? He’s asking “What really matters to God?” This was a pretty important question considering he had quite a list of commandments that he was trying to keep up with.
How the Law Was Viewed
In Jesus’ day the teachers of the law had taken the Ten Commandments and turned them into 613! Sammlai, a Jewish Rabbi taught that Moses received 613 precepts on Mount Sinai, 365 according to the days of the sun year, and 248 according to the generations of men. They even divided them further into “heavy” and “light,” i.e., more important and less important. Jesus was about to whittle all of them down to just one.
The question that the scribe is asking is a pretty important question, what really matters to God? He is to be commended for that – he is asking the right question. People today are asking questions but are they asking the ones that matter? The questions that are important as they relate to God?
A recent demographics study of people living within a 1.5 mile radius of our church shows a considerable number of people who consider themselves spiritual. Now this is good news but it also presents a challenge. Good news because what we will find as we try to reach out to people in our community is that there is already present a built-in receptivity to spiritual matters. The challenge though is that some of our neighbors may not be asking the right questions, questions like the one this man asked, “what really matters to God?” Our challenge will be to direct the spiritual impulse of people to the questions that matter.
This is no easy task because much spirituality today is human-centered. It’s about what God can do for me, how He can help me become (Fill-in-the-Blank). And here’s where this great text speaks so clearly. Life, fulfillment, occurs when we become God-centered in our thinking. And that’s what Jesus is calling us to do. It is A Challenge to Become God-Centered in Our Thinking and in Our Living.
So what did Jesus say was the most important commandment? “The most important one . . . is this”
I. Love the Lord Your God (12:29-30; Deut. 6:4-5)
Answering the scribe, Jesus quoted a passage of Scripture from the book of the law, Deuteronomy 6:4-6, “Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.” That single sentence is the real creed of Judaism. It is called the Shema, so called from the first word in the sentence, a verb “to hear.” It was the sentence with which the service of the Synagogue always began and still begins. The full Shema is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41.
The three passages of the Shema were contained in Phylacteries (see Matt. 23:5), little leather boxes which the devout Jew wore on his forehead and on his wrist when he was at prayer. The Shema was also contained in a little cylindrical box called the Mezuzah which was and still is affixed to the door of Jewish homes and the doors within their homes. This is to remind the Jew of God in his going out and coming in.
Only Mark’s account has Jesus quote the opening words of the Shema. Why here?
1. An affirmation of the oneness of God (v.29) (monotheism)
Jesus affirms the oneness of God which would have been important because the Jews saw followers of Jesus as being polytheistic. This was especially true later on in the growing Christian community. Implications of this monotheistic confession can be seen throughout the NT (e.g., Rom. 3:29-30; Eph. 4:5-6; 1 Tim. 2:5).
2. A call to love God with your whole being (v.30)
What is the greatest or the most important commandment? Jesus says it is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (v.30). The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” To glorify or to honor God is to know Him and to love Him, to be devoted to Him. And this we are to do with all that we our, no halfhearted commitments here but pure devotion. These expressions are piled up as a way of saying love God “with your whole being.”
This is the starting point for all of our thinking about God and us. “With all your mind” suggests that there is a need to reflect on our service to God with our mind. We love God with our minds too. Students, as you return to school, you have an opportunity to be good stewards of your minds. Using your mind well is an aspect of your worship and love for God.
Jesus then goes on to say that this love for God has a practical expression.
II. Love Your Neighbor As Yourself (12:31; Lev. 19:8)
1. Love for God is expressed by loving others (1 Jn. 3:18)
Jesus quotes from Leviticus 19:18. The scribe would have interpreted this in the narrow sense of loving other Jewish people. Loving God and loving others are like two sides of one coin. Loving others flows from our relationship with God. When the vertical relationship is intact, the horizontal relationship will be too. The love of God and others is to be like that of Jesus, “not in word or speech but in deed and in truth”(1 Jn. 3:18). Love for God is expressed by loving others.
2. Keeping the right order in perspective
There is however, a priority or an order that is apparent here. Loving others follows loving God. There are several extremes to be avoided as unbiblical views.
Loving God alone – Extreme separatism
Evangelicals, Bible-believing people like ourselves may be guilty of emphasizing the personal nature of salvation to the exclusion of any humanitarian or social efforts. As a result we can become separated from the people that we are to reach with the Gospel. Clearly though, the evidence that we have believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ means that we now demonstrate love where we may not have before.
Loving others alone – Extreme secularism
The other danger is to think that our humanitarian efforts are a substitute salvation. We need to be very clear on this. It is not our efforts, our goodness, our humanitarian efforts that secure salvation. And we do not want to lead people to think that being good is what is required. This would be a works salvation. Salvation is not through human effort, regardless of how praiseworthy that human effort might be. Many people today are seeking approval from God through their human efforts. And yet our human efforts can never make us righteous before God. Instead, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Tit. 3:5).
You can be a great humanitarian and be a committed atheist. But you cannot be a committed Christian and not be a humanitarian in the sense that you are for people. The cure for both an anti-God stance and an anti-human one is found in practicing the balance that Jesus presents here. Notice also how these two sides of the one commandment fulfill the intent of the 10 commandments. To love God is to fulfill the 1-4 commandments. To love others is to fulfill commandments 5-10.
3. Loving “as yourself”
What do we make of this idea of loving self? There is a real sense that you are not able to love others until you love yourself and you cannot love yourself rightly until you allow God’s love to come in to your life. On the other side, as John Calvin and others have stated, “self-love can never be right or good, but must be reversed and turned into love of God and neighbor. He argued that “we are too much devoted to ourselves.” When you view Western culture today, it’s easy to agree with Calvin. In many instances, religion has become subjective and personalized. One biblical scholar suggested that today “We use the Bible and God to achieve desired psychological states or attain moral ends which, on a variety of grounds, we perceive to be good.” But is that what Christianity has become? Is God and the Bible only something we use for our benefit?
So what does self-love means? The text commands that we love others in the same way that we love ourselves. “That is, we are to be tolerant of, have time for, be interested in, make excuses for, deeply desire the welfare of our neighbor in the same way that we have these attitudes toward ourselves.” (Interpretation)
Love God, love others – Jesus presents a vision of life that we cannot attain, an understanding of God’s demands that we can not achieve. The commandment alone to love God and love others does not help me do these things, it only makes me feel more guilty because I do not do these things as I should. What then is the solution? How does this passage bring good news to me? It is only as we see the cross of Jesus as the gift of His life “a ransom for many” that can we bear to hear his word about the great commandment. The power of the cross enables us be loved and to love. Christians have a new life, a resurrected life. As we allow Christ to live His life in and through us, we will be empowered to love God and love others (See Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:4).
Commendations and a Call to Commitment (12:32-34)
The scribe commended Jesus and Jesus commended him. The scribe realized it wasn’t ritual that made him righteous, but loving God and loving others fulfilled all the commandments of God. No wonder Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” By saying this Jesus encouraged him to go the remainder of the way by wholeheartedly following Jesus. Go the distance! Act upon the truth you now know – follow Jesus! Do that, and you too will be in the kingdom.
What about you? Are you not far from the kingdom? Why not go the distance! Act upon the truth that you now know. Follow Jesus with your whole being!
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Truth or Consequences (Mark 12:18-27)
A sermon preached Sunday, July 25, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Mark 12:18-27
Two times Jesus told the Sadducees that they were in error (vv.24, 27). Not everything that is taught or believed is true. We live in a world where everyone is free to believe what they want, but that does not mean that every belief is correct or that every belief system is on equal footing. We also live in a day and time where we fear saying some doctrine (teaching) is wrong, but Jesus didn’t have a problem calling out error.
The Sadducees were upstanding people, they were leaders in the community, they were respected and religious but Jesus said that they were flat out wrong! Because of their misinterpretation of Scripture they denied the very doctrine that is essential to our salvation – the doctrine of the resurrection. For the importance of the resurrection, see 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 4:25; 10:9; 1 Pe. 1:3. Without the resurrection there is no Gospel and without the Gospel there is no salvation. When there is ignorance of the word of God and a denial of His power, there is error. Truth comes to us when we rightly interpret Scripture and we trust in the power of the living God.
Why does it matter what I believe? It matters because you were placed here to bring glory to God and to know what that means, you have to know what he desires and requires of you. It matters not only to the kind of life you’re living on earth now, but it matters because eternity is too long to be wrong. So my desire is to encourage you from this message to be a diligent student of Scripture, because it does matter. The truth about God and us is revealed in the Scriptures and only discovered when we correctly interpret God’s Word and trust in His power.
18 – “Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.” Here we are introduced to the Sadducees, a sect of Judaism. The Sadducees were the aristocratic class of priestly families from whom the high priest was chosen. There are two things we need to know about the Sadducees to understand this passage. First, The Sadducees only held as authoritative the written law contained in the first five books in the Old Testament. They did not hold as authoritative the Prophets or the Writings, essentially the rest of the OT. They also rejected the authority of the Oral Law.
The other important characteristic, evident from the text, is that they denied the doctrine of the resurrection which the Pharisees and others affirmed (See Acts 23:8). This denial of the resurrection naturally grew out of their denial of the authority of much of the OT Scripture because none of the few references to the resurrection in the OT are in the Pentateuch, the first five books.
This question of the Sadducees was another test, the third such one by Jesus’ adversaries. Jesus answers their test question by correctly interpreting the Scripture that they do believe (Deut. 25:5-6) in light of what God says in another text in the Pentateuch or the Torah, Exodus 3:6. So by comparing Scriptures and looking at the context of a passage, Jesus is practicing good interpretation. The type of question that the Sadducees asked is called in Jewish tradition a “vulgarity,” a question that is contemptuous of the person addressed. So actually the Sadducees are mocking Jesus and the entire doctrine of the resurrection.
The Question: 19-23 – [19] “‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. [20] Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. [21] The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. [22] In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. [23] At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’”
What’s interesting about this question is that they do not even believe in the resurrection, yet the question is really about the resurrection (see v.24). In this passage, we understand a little about how the Sadducees viewed life. They believed that life exists only human personality. What do we mean? The word for “have children” in verse 19 literally means “to raise up” and is a form of the word resurrection.
The Mosaic law of Levirate marriage presupposes that the only persistence of personality after death is in and through the lives of one’s offspring. This is why it was so important that children be conceived. Everything was carried on through your offspring. The question, “whose wife will she be?” is absurd. The entire encounter is designed to place Jesus in a ridiculous spot and to make the doctrine of the resurrection look ridiculous.
24 – “Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.’” This seems to be the key verse or key thesis which Jesus then fills in the details in what follows.
Jesus tells the Sadducees that their entire question and thinking is in error for two reasons:
(1) They “do not know the Scriptures”
Not that they have not completely familiarized themselves with the Scriptures or that they cannot recall the Scriptures. But they have used the Scriptures as prooftexts for their beliefs. They can cite Scripture but they do not interpret it accurately as God intends. Is this not a problem today? People may be able to cite Scripture, they’ve grown up with Scripture, yet they do not correctly interpret Scripture nor do they apply it to their lives. Not knowing the Scriptures they are in error.
(2) They do not know “the power of God”
The Sadducees did not believe in the supernatural power of God. If God is able to heal, to restore sight, to cleanse the lepers, it’s not hard to also believe that God is able to resurrect the dead. This passage reveals how small their concept of God is. They only see God as the God of their dead ancestors, but Jesus tells them that God is not the God of the dead, he is the God of the living (v.27). See Romans 11:33 as Paul describes the mystery of knowing God.
Ignorance of God’s Word
25 – “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” Notice how Jesus assumes the dead are going to rise. Jesus says two things about the resurrected state of believers.
(1) At the resurrection, the dead will not be concerned about marrying or being given in marriage. Augustine, “Marriages are on account of children; children on account of succession; succession on account of death. But in heaven, as there is no death, neither is there any marriage.”
(2) The resurrected dead will be “Like the angels in heaven.” What do we know about the angels? We won’t have any wings as far as I can tell. We won’t sit around and play our harps for eternity. That would not be heaven for many of us! It’s important to see that Jesus’ use of this language is figurative language. We will be “like the angels” in the sense that angels apparently are immortal. The Sadducees took literally the language about resurrection, made the understanding of it look absurd, and so dismissed resurrection as untrue. To think only literally about the resurrection is to be like the Sadducees; quite mistaken, for like them, it is to limit the power of God to conditions such as we know them on earth. In other words, when it comes to the afterlife, don’t limit what God is going to do! Speculation about the age of the resurrected or the conditions of life after death is only speculation. Instead of information about the afterlife, the Lord offers a promise, more life with God.
Ignorant of God’s Power
26-27 – “Now about the dead rising – have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken.’” Jesus calls them to examine their own Scripture in Exodus 3:6, a passage they would have held as authoritative. This text teaches us that God is the God of the living not the dead. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obviously died; yet, by the power and word of God they are still alive (“I am” present tense). So all who belong to God, though they die, will live by the power of the word, the power of God the “I am.” John 12:25-26 speaks to this truth. “Jesus said to her [Martha], ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”
On one level this story speaks to the importance of how we interpret God’s Word.
I. Misinterpretation of Scripture: The Way which Leads to Error
(1) A lack of belief will cause us to misinterpret the Word of God. They lacked the reverence and respect for the source of the Scriptures: that is, God Himself. They seem to doubt that God will bring every act to judgement or that there are eternal consequences for disobeying Him. A personal commitment to God is essential for understanding Scripture. This was the problem that the Sadducees had.
(2) There was familiarity with God’s word but they lacked depth of understanding. Superficial understanding leads to superficial living.
(3) When we use the Bible to support our own human ideas and opinions. As long as we look at the text of Scripture from a human standpoint, we will constantly judge God’s word by our standards rather than placing ourselves underneath the text. The Sadducees are viewing the Bible from their human standpoint, through hearts of depravity and doubt. The Sadducees used Scripture as a prooftext to what they already believed. As long as you view Scripture in this way, you are always going to end up at the wrong destination.
II. Correct Interpretation of Scripture: The Way which Lead to Truth
Why is this important? Because there are consequences to misinterpreting God’s Word. To do so might mean we miss out on God and what He desires and requires of us. How do you determine what is right and what is wrong? Truth from error? We know from correctly interpreting the Scriptures.
(1) We need to know God, the author of the Bible. There must be a personal commitment to the Lord.
(2) We need to understand a passage of Scripture in light of all of God’s revelation.
(3) We need to approach the Scripture as God’s inspired Word (2 Tim. 3:16).
(4) We need to submit our understanding of Scripture to God’s authority.
(5) We need to approach Scripture from the standpoint of obeying what we hear.
Summary
Jesus’ response affirms the reality of the resurrection in the face of skepticism and doubt. Even though we do not know all of the details of the resurrection, we know that it will be eternal life with God. A lack of knowledge concerning God’s Word leads to secularism, skepticism and a loss of hope. When the Word loses its position of priority in our lives and the life of the church, we lose that which anchors us in the Lord and we ultimately lose hope.
The thought expressed in verse 24 comes to us as a question today. “How does the Bible function in the church and in our lives?” The community of faith and each member of it ought to know the Scriptures. This is especially true in light of the widespread biblical illiteracy in our time. Furthermore, we must move to a place of maturity in our understanding and application of Scripture. We must stop using the Bible to prove our points and promote our programs, as the Sadducees did.
Jesus’ response serves to challenge us to a vision beyond our own. He opens the possibility of solutions quite other than we had dreamed. What looks improbable and even impossible with us is possible with God!
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Scripture Reading: Mark 12:18-27
Two times Jesus told the Sadducees that they were in error (vv.24, 27). Not everything that is taught or believed is true. We live in a world where everyone is free to believe what they want, but that does not mean that every belief is correct or that every belief system is on equal footing. We also live in a day and time where we fear saying some doctrine (teaching) is wrong, but Jesus didn’t have a problem calling out error.
The Sadducees were upstanding people, they were leaders in the community, they were respected and religious but Jesus said that they were flat out wrong! Because of their misinterpretation of Scripture they denied the very doctrine that is essential to our salvation – the doctrine of the resurrection. For the importance of the resurrection, see 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 4:25; 10:9; 1 Pe. 1:3. Without the resurrection there is no Gospel and without the Gospel there is no salvation. When there is ignorance of the word of God and a denial of His power, there is error. Truth comes to us when we rightly interpret Scripture and we trust in the power of the living God.
Why does it matter what I believe? It matters because you were placed here to bring glory to God and to know what that means, you have to know what he desires and requires of you. It matters not only to the kind of life you’re living on earth now, but it matters because eternity is too long to be wrong. So my desire is to encourage you from this message to be a diligent student of Scripture, because it does matter. The truth about God and us is revealed in the Scriptures and only discovered when we correctly interpret God’s Word and trust in His power.
18 – “Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question.” Here we are introduced to the Sadducees, a sect of Judaism. The Sadducees were the aristocratic class of priestly families from whom the high priest was chosen. There are two things we need to know about the Sadducees to understand this passage. First, The Sadducees only held as authoritative the written law contained in the first five books in the Old Testament. They did not hold as authoritative the Prophets or the Writings, essentially the rest of the OT. They also rejected the authority of the Oral Law.
The other important characteristic, evident from the text, is that they denied the doctrine of the resurrection which the Pharisees and others affirmed (See Acts 23:8). This denial of the resurrection naturally grew out of their denial of the authority of much of the OT Scripture because none of the few references to the resurrection in the OT are in the Pentateuch, the first five books.
This question of the Sadducees was another test, the third such one by Jesus’ adversaries. Jesus answers their test question by correctly interpreting the Scripture that they do believe (Deut. 25:5-6) in light of what God says in another text in the Pentateuch or the Torah, Exodus 3:6. So by comparing Scriptures and looking at the context of a passage, Jesus is practicing good interpretation. The type of question that the Sadducees asked is called in Jewish tradition a “vulgarity,” a question that is contemptuous of the person addressed. So actually the Sadducees are mocking Jesus and the entire doctrine of the resurrection.
The Question: 19-23 – [19] “‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. [20] Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. [21] The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. [22] In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. [23] At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’”
What’s interesting about this question is that they do not even believe in the resurrection, yet the question is really about the resurrection (see v.24). In this passage, we understand a little about how the Sadducees viewed life. They believed that life exists only human personality. What do we mean? The word for “have children” in verse 19 literally means “to raise up” and is a form of the word resurrection.
The Mosaic law of Levirate marriage presupposes that the only persistence of personality after death is in and through the lives of one’s offspring. This is why it was so important that children be conceived. Everything was carried on through your offspring. The question, “whose wife will she be?” is absurd. The entire encounter is designed to place Jesus in a ridiculous spot and to make the doctrine of the resurrection look ridiculous.
24 – “Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.’” This seems to be the key verse or key thesis which Jesus then fills in the details in what follows.
Jesus tells the Sadducees that their entire question and thinking is in error for two reasons:
(1) They “do not know the Scriptures”
Not that they have not completely familiarized themselves with the Scriptures or that they cannot recall the Scriptures. But they have used the Scriptures as prooftexts for their beliefs. They can cite Scripture but they do not interpret it accurately as God intends. Is this not a problem today? People may be able to cite Scripture, they’ve grown up with Scripture, yet they do not correctly interpret Scripture nor do they apply it to their lives. Not knowing the Scriptures they are in error.
(2) They do not know “the power of God”
The Sadducees did not believe in the supernatural power of God. If God is able to heal, to restore sight, to cleanse the lepers, it’s not hard to also believe that God is able to resurrect the dead. This passage reveals how small their concept of God is. They only see God as the God of their dead ancestors, but Jesus tells them that God is not the God of the dead, he is the God of the living (v.27). See Romans 11:33 as Paul describes the mystery of knowing God.
Ignorance of God’s Word
25 – “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” Notice how Jesus assumes the dead are going to rise. Jesus says two things about the resurrected state of believers.
(1) At the resurrection, the dead will not be concerned about marrying or being given in marriage. Augustine, “Marriages are on account of children; children on account of succession; succession on account of death. But in heaven, as there is no death, neither is there any marriage.”
(2) The resurrected dead will be “Like the angels in heaven.” What do we know about the angels? We won’t have any wings as far as I can tell. We won’t sit around and play our harps for eternity. That would not be heaven for many of us! It’s important to see that Jesus’ use of this language is figurative language. We will be “like the angels” in the sense that angels apparently are immortal. The Sadducees took literally the language about resurrection, made the understanding of it look absurd, and so dismissed resurrection as untrue. To think only literally about the resurrection is to be like the Sadducees; quite mistaken, for like them, it is to limit the power of God to conditions such as we know them on earth. In other words, when it comes to the afterlife, don’t limit what God is going to do! Speculation about the age of the resurrected or the conditions of life after death is only speculation. Instead of information about the afterlife, the Lord offers a promise, more life with God.
Ignorant of God’s Power
26-27 – “Now about the dead rising – have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken.’” Jesus calls them to examine their own Scripture in Exodus 3:6, a passage they would have held as authoritative. This text teaches us that God is the God of the living not the dead. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obviously died; yet, by the power and word of God they are still alive (“I am” present tense). So all who belong to God, though they die, will live by the power of the word, the power of God the “I am.” John 12:25-26 speaks to this truth. “Jesus said to her [Martha], ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”
On one level this story speaks to the importance of how we interpret God’s Word.
I. Misinterpretation of Scripture: The Way which Leads to Error
(1) A lack of belief will cause us to misinterpret the Word of God. They lacked the reverence and respect for the source of the Scriptures: that is, God Himself. They seem to doubt that God will bring every act to judgement or that there are eternal consequences for disobeying Him. A personal commitment to God is essential for understanding Scripture. This was the problem that the Sadducees had.
(2) There was familiarity with God’s word but they lacked depth of understanding. Superficial understanding leads to superficial living.
(3) When we use the Bible to support our own human ideas and opinions. As long as we look at the text of Scripture from a human standpoint, we will constantly judge God’s word by our standards rather than placing ourselves underneath the text. The Sadducees are viewing the Bible from their human standpoint, through hearts of depravity and doubt. The Sadducees used Scripture as a prooftext to what they already believed. As long as you view Scripture in this way, you are always going to end up at the wrong destination.
II. Correct Interpretation of Scripture: The Way which Lead to Truth
Why is this important? Because there are consequences to misinterpreting God’s Word. To do so might mean we miss out on God and what He desires and requires of us. How do you determine what is right and what is wrong? Truth from error? We know from correctly interpreting the Scriptures.
(1) We need to know God, the author of the Bible. There must be a personal commitment to the Lord.
(2) We need to understand a passage of Scripture in light of all of God’s revelation.
(3) We need to approach the Scripture as God’s inspired Word (2 Tim. 3:16).
(4) We need to submit our understanding of Scripture to God’s authority.
(5) We need to approach Scripture from the standpoint of obeying what we hear.
Summary
Jesus’ response affirms the reality of the resurrection in the face of skepticism and doubt. Even though we do not know all of the details of the resurrection, we know that it will be eternal life with God. A lack of knowledge concerning God’s Word leads to secularism, skepticism and a loss of hope. When the Word loses its position of priority in our lives and the life of the church, we lose that which anchors us in the Lord and we ultimately lose hope.
The thought expressed in verse 24 comes to us as a question today. “How does the Bible function in the church and in our lives?” The community of faith and each member of it ought to know the Scriptures. This is especially true in light of the widespread biblical illiteracy in our time. Furthermore, we must move to a place of maturity in our understanding and application of Scripture. We must stop using the Bible to prove our points and promote our programs, as the Sadducees did.
Jesus’ response serves to challenge us to a vision beyond our own. He opens the possibility of solutions quite other than we had dreamed. What looks improbable and even impossible with us is possible with God!
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, July 19, 2010
An Overview of Calvinism
A presentation delivered July 18, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church,
Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
READ THIS FIRST – IMPORTANT!!!
What follows is most of the text from my presentation last Sunday evening. I plan to pick up our discussion where we left off on Sunday, August 1st at 6:00 p.m. Let me just preface my thoughts and our discussions with a few statements.
1. Keep in mind that there are many fine Christians including Baptists on both sides of the issues. Furthermore, at Hebron you will discover people that have strong views leaning toward Calvinism and equally people with strong views that might be characterized as leaning toward Arminianism. Our differences do not have to divide us. Many times we will find ourselves in the middle of the discussion. After all, who can fully comprehend the mystery of the sovereignty of God and man’s freewill? Remember, believers have been discussing these issues for thousands of years and we are not likely to have the last word on the subject.
2. I would not call myself a Calvinist; however, it’s not because I don’t find myself in agreement with many Calvinistic teachings, I just do not prefer to be placed in one theological camp. I find myself stuck in the middle of the mystery of God’s sovereignty and our freewill. Maybe I’m a “Calminian.” I think that most Baptists today will find themselves agreeing with Calvinism at points and probably disagreeing with Calvinists at other points. Again, this need not be a cause for division among believers. Our theological tent at Hebron is big enough for all of us.
3. In dealing with the entire subject we need to keep an open mind and exercise humility toward one another. My prayer and hope is that our discussions will be instructive, edifying and will help us clarify what we do believe concerning our “great salvation” (Heb. 2:3).
Introduction
There has been a lively debate over the last few years concerning the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Many sincere students of Scripture find themselves on opposing sides. Just what is Calvinism? Calvinism grew out of the Reformation of the 16th Century and its emphasis on the great solas: Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, for the glory of God alone. John Calvin (1509-64) was a pastor and an outstanding theologian and biblical scholar who placed a great emphasis on the teachings of Paul and the writings of Augustine (354-430). Calvin emphasized the sovereignty of God, the sinfulness of man, and the necessity of grace for salvation.
Later in the 17th century, followers of Calvin would systematize his theology and go beyond what Calvin himself taught. This system would ultimately come down to us through the now famous acrostic TULIP. Throughout Baptist history, some have embraced many of these five points of doctrine while others have rejected most of them. Southern Baptists have always been diverse; however, most Southern Baptists would fall somewhere in between the extremes. The issue of Calvinism itself is not addressed in the Baptist Faith and Message, yet you can no doubt see similarities at some points with Calvinism. This is not surprising as Baptists have always been people of the Book and the Bible definitely does address issues like divine sovereignty and
human sinfulness.
A Closer Look at the TULIP
Total Depravity
Total depravity means that man is born with a sin nature and an inclination toward sin. Every aspect of his being is infected with sin and he cannot do anything to save himself. Furthermore, he cannot even move toward God unless God first draws him to do so. God’s enabling grace allows us to move towards Him. Most Baptists would agree at least in part that man is depraved. We draw on Scriptures such as Romans 3:9-20 and Ephesians 2:1-3 for support of our view.
Where many Southern Baptists might part company with the Calvinists is that some Calvinists believe that a person is so dead in their sins and depraved that they have to be born again or regenerated before they can respond to God. The thinking here is that if you can repent and have faith, then you are in effect contributing to your salvation. Most believe that people cannot save themselves; however, most Southern Baptist do not interpret the texts that deal with depravity to mean that people cannot repent and have faith in Christ. Repentance and faith do not contribute to salvation; they are the way one who is enslaved by sin receives the salvation from sin that God has provided.
Baptist Faith & Message: “By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin.” (10)
Unconditional Election
God in His grace and mercy has chosen certain persons for salvation. This decision is not based on anything in the person, any human merit, but is based in the goodness and providence of God’s own will and purposes. The question arises, “Does this destroy the possibility of man exercising his free will and responsibility?” Some would say no but there is an admitted tension present here.
Most Baptist believe that God chooses to save those who chose to put their faith in Christ. The elect are those who are “in Christ.” Most Baptists have rejected a strong Calvinistic view of election because of the following cherished beliefs:
1. The belief that God loves everyone in the world.
2. The belief that God wants everyone to be saved.
3. The believe that every person who hears the Gospel can put his or her trust in the Lord and be saved.
4. The belief that Christians make it possible for people to be saved by preaching the Gospel to them.
Baptist Faith & Message: “Election . . . is consistent with the free agency of man.” (12)
Limited Atonement
Many Calvinists prefer the term “Particular Redemption” instead. The idea here is that the atoning work of Christ applies only to those who are the elected. So, the work of Jesus in His atonement would be limited to the elect. The other view is that of a “General Atonement.” It seems that there is biblical support for both. 1 Corinthians 15:3 says “Christ died for our sins” which can be understood in a limited sense. John wrote that Christ “is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2) which supports general atonement. Limited atonement fits nicely with the Calvinistic understanding of election because there seems to be no point in Christ dying for people who are predestined for judgement.
All Bible believers limit the atonement in some respects. To not do so would lead to universalism, the view that eventually all people will be saved. Most Baptists would say that the atonement is limited in its application, but not in its provision. In other words, in his death on the cross Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world (Jn. 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4-6; 4:10; 2 Pe. 2:1; 1 Jn. 2:1-2; 4:9-10) making universal provision. However, the application is limited to those who receive the free gift of salvation offered to them by their personal faith in Christ.
Irresistible Grace
Many Calvinists prefer the term “effectual calling” instead. This teaching says that those who are predestined to be saved are called to salvation (Rom. 8:30) effectually or effectively. They are not forced to come but are set free to come and the do so willingly.
While most Southern Baptists would affirm the fact that God calls and draws us to salvation, most would allow for a person to resist God and not be saved. They would still believe that God is sovereign; however, he has given us the free will to respond to him or not respond to him. He respects our human decision. This is the way that he created us and how He relates to us.
Baptist Faith & Message: “He [i.e., the Holy Spirit] calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration.” (9)
Perseverance of the Saints
Those God saves, He protects and preserves in their salvation. Baptists have often used the terminology of “eternal security” or “once saved, always saved.” This may be the one point in Calvinism that all Baptists affirm. This doesn’t mean that people are free to live any kind of way that they chose. Instead, because of God’s grace, we are grieved by sin and we want to pursue the God who keeps us secure in His hands (Jn. 10:27-29). Scriptures abound that teach the eternal security of the believer. This teaching is biblical, theological, and logical.
Baptist Faith & Message: “All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.”
Conclusion
All of these five doctrines, sometimes referred to “The Doctrines of Grace,” relate to our understanding about salvation. Because of the way that Calvinism is able to logically systematize Christianity, Calvinism is an attractive theological system to many. Some opponents cite that Calvinism is anti-missionary which is only true in extreme instances – “hyper Calvinism.” There have been many Calvinists in our past who were mission’s-minded and evangelistic Baptists including men like William Carey, Andrew Fuller, Luther Rice, Adoniram Judson, and Charles Spurgeon. Several of our current seminary presidents hold to Calvinistic views including Al Mohler and Danny Akin.
Although not Baptists, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were strong Calvinists who led in the First Great Awakening. Other popular preachers and pastors (non-Baptists) today are John Piper, John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul.
My next article will include some thoughts that I hope will strike a biblical balance on the subject, some things that I believe we can all agree on. Finally, I will share what I believe are the positive contributions of Calvinism today and some areas of caution in embracing any one theological system.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
READ THIS FIRST – IMPORTANT!!!
What follows is most of the text from my presentation last Sunday evening. I plan to pick up our discussion where we left off on Sunday, August 1st at 6:00 p.m. Let me just preface my thoughts and our discussions with a few statements.
1. Keep in mind that there are many fine Christians including Baptists on both sides of the issues. Furthermore, at Hebron you will discover people that have strong views leaning toward Calvinism and equally people with strong views that might be characterized as leaning toward Arminianism. Our differences do not have to divide us. Many times we will find ourselves in the middle of the discussion. After all, who can fully comprehend the mystery of the sovereignty of God and man’s freewill? Remember, believers have been discussing these issues for thousands of years and we are not likely to have the last word on the subject.
2. I would not call myself a Calvinist; however, it’s not because I don’t find myself in agreement with many Calvinistic teachings, I just do not prefer to be placed in one theological camp. I find myself stuck in the middle of the mystery of God’s sovereignty and our freewill. Maybe I’m a “Calminian.” I think that most Baptists today will find themselves agreeing with Calvinism at points and probably disagreeing with Calvinists at other points. Again, this need not be a cause for division among believers. Our theological tent at Hebron is big enough for all of us.
3. In dealing with the entire subject we need to keep an open mind and exercise humility toward one another. My prayer and hope is that our discussions will be instructive, edifying and will help us clarify what we do believe concerning our “great salvation” (Heb. 2:3).
Introduction
There has been a lively debate over the last few years concerning the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Many sincere students of Scripture find themselves on opposing sides. Just what is Calvinism? Calvinism grew out of the Reformation of the 16th Century and its emphasis on the great solas: Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, for the glory of God alone. John Calvin (1509-64) was a pastor and an outstanding theologian and biblical scholar who placed a great emphasis on the teachings of Paul and the writings of Augustine (354-430). Calvin emphasized the sovereignty of God, the sinfulness of man, and the necessity of grace for salvation.
Later in the 17th century, followers of Calvin would systematize his theology and go beyond what Calvin himself taught. This system would ultimately come down to us through the now famous acrostic TULIP. Throughout Baptist history, some have embraced many of these five points of doctrine while others have rejected most of them. Southern Baptists have always been diverse; however, most Southern Baptists would fall somewhere in between the extremes. The issue of Calvinism itself is not addressed in the Baptist Faith and Message, yet you can no doubt see similarities at some points with Calvinism. This is not surprising as Baptists have always been people of the Book and the Bible definitely does address issues like divine sovereignty and
human sinfulness.
A Closer Look at the TULIP
Total Depravity
Total depravity means that man is born with a sin nature and an inclination toward sin. Every aspect of his being is infected with sin and he cannot do anything to save himself. Furthermore, he cannot even move toward God unless God first draws him to do so. God’s enabling grace allows us to move towards Him. Most Baptists would agree at least in part that man is depraved. We draw on Scriptures such as Romans 3:9-20 and Ephesians 2:1-3 for support of our view.
Where many Southern Baptists might part company with the Calvinists is that some Calvinists believe that a person is so dead in their sins and depraved that they have to be born again or regenerated before they can respond to God. The thinking here is that if you can repent and have faith, then you are in effect contributing to your salvation. Most believe that people cannot save themselves; however, most Southern Baptist do not interpret the texts that deal with depravity to mean that people cannot repent and have faith in Christ. Repentance and faith do not contribute to salvation; they are the way one who is enslaved by sin receives the salvation from sin that God has provided.
Baptist Faith & Message: “By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin.” (10)
Unconditional Election
God in His grace and mercy has chosen certain persons for salvation. This decision is not based on anything in the person, any human merit, but is based in the goodness and providence of God’s own will and purposes. The question arises, “Does this destroy the possibility of man exercising his free will and responsibility?” Some would say no but there is an admitted tension present here.
Most Baptist believe that God chooses to save those who chose to put their faith in Christ. The elect are those who are “in Christ.” Most Baptists have rejected a strong Calvinistic view of election because of the following cherished beliefs:
1. The belief that God loves everyone in the world.
2. The belief that God wants everyone to be saved.
3. The believe that every person who hears the Gospel can put his or her trust in the Lord and be saved.
4. The belief that Christians make it possible for people to be saved by preaching the Gospel to them.
Baptist Faith & Message: “Election . . . is consistent with the free agency of man.” (12)
Limited Atonement
Many Calvinists prefer the term “Particular Redemption” instead. The idea here is that the atoning work of Christ applies only to those who are the elected. So, the work of Jesus in His atonement would be limited to the elect. The other view is that of a “General Atonement.” It seems that there is biblical support for both. 1 Corinthians 15:3 says “Christ died for our sins” which can be understood in a limited sense. John wrote that Christ “is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2) which supports general atonement. Limited atonement fits nicely with the Calvinistic understanding of election because there seems to be no point in Christ dying for people who are predestined for judgement.
All Bible believers limit the atonement in some respects. To not do so would lead to universalism, the view that eventually all people will be saved. Most Baptists would say that the atonement is limited in its application, but not in its provision. In other words, in his death on the cross Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world (Jn. 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4-6; 4:10; 2 Pe. 2:1; 1 Jn. 2:1-2; 4:9-10) making universal provision. However, the application is limited to those who receive the free gift of salvation offered to them by their personal faith in Christ.
Irresistible Grace
Many Calvinists prefer the term “effectual calling” instead. This teaching says that those who are predestined to be saved are called to salvation (Rom. 8:30) effectually or effectively. They are not forced to come but are set free to come and the do so willingly.
While most Southern Baptists would affirm the fact that God calls and draws us to salvation, most would allow for a person to resist God and not be saved. They would still believe that God is sovereign; however, he has given us the free will to respond to him or not respond to him. He respects our human decision. This is the way that he created us and how He relates to us.
Baptist Faith & Message: “He [i.e., the Holy Spirit] calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration.” (9)
Perseverance of the Saints
Those God saves, He protects and preserves in their salvation. Baptists have often used the terminology of “eternal security” or “once saved, always saved.” This may be the one point in Calvinism that all Baptists affirm. This doesn’t mean that people are free to live any kind of way that they chose. Instead, because of God’s grace, we are grieved by sin and we want to pursue the God who keeps us secure in His hands (Jn. 10:27-29). Scriptures abound that teach the eternal security of the believer. This teaching is biblical, theological, and logical.
Baptist Faith & Message: “All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.”
Conclusion
All of these five doctrines, sometimes referred to “The Doctrines of Grace,” relate to our understanding about salvation. Because of the way that Calvinism is able to logically systematize Christianity, Calvinism is an attractive theological system to many. Some opponents cite that Calvinism is anti-missionary which is only true in extreme instances – “hyper Calvinism.” There have been many Calvinists in our past who were mission’s-minded and evangelistic Baptists including men like William Carey, Andrew Fuller, Luther Rice, Adoniram Judson, and Charles Spurgeon. Several of our current seminary presidents hold to Calvinistic views including Al Mohler and Danny Akin.
Although not Baptists, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were strong Calvinists who led in the First Great Awakening. Other popular preachers and pastors (non-Baptists) today are John Piper, John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul.
My next article will include some thoughts that I hope will strike a biblical balance on the subject, some things that I believe we can all agree on. Finally, I will share what I believe are the positive contributions of Calvinism today and some areas of caution in embracing any one theological system.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
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