Foundational Framework

“Our young men are going into the professional fields because they don't 'feel called' to the mission field. We don't need a call; we need a kick in the pants. We must begin thinking in terms of 'going out,' and stop our weeping because 'they won't come in.' Who wants to step into an igloo? The tombs themselves are not colder than the churches. May God send us forth.” -Jim ElliotIn Christ, a brand new Life has been made available. It is one of His power, His message, His forgiveness, His love, and His presence in this present evil age. The interval between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the birth of the Church is an interesting but understandable one. Jesus’ call for them to “wait for what the Father” (Acts 1:4b) has promised, being the coming of the Holy Spirit, places the eleven in a time where patience was paramount. However, they do not waste this time, opting to appoint another to take Judas’ place, making them twelve again (Acts 1:21-26), and spending this time in prayer along with other believers (Acts 1:14). But Jesus’ prescription to “wait” was necessary because the twelve needed power to accomplish the mission that He was placing before them. Acts 1:1-5.The book of Acts is Luke, Part II. Luke, the physician, addresses “Theophilus” once more (Luke 1:3), explaining the contents of his first letter. In his Gospel account, Luke had documented all that Jesus “began to do and teach until the day when He was taken up” (Acts 1:1b-2a). This refers to Jesus’ miracles and instructions while on the Earth bodily, lasting up until the time that He was crucified, resurrected, and had ascended (Luke 24:51-52). In Acts 1:3, Jesus is said to have presented Himself alive “by many convincing proofs,” furthering the case for His bodily resurrection. We are then told that a period of forty days took place between His bodily resurrection and His ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9), in which He was speaking with the apostles regarding the Kingdom of God. Why would the subject matter of the Kingdom of God be the focus of His post-resurrection/pre-ascension ministry to the apostles?From Matthew 21:43we see that Jesus makes a definitive claim against the nation of Israel, stating, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.” This was not a declaration that the Kingdom was to come in the establishment of the Church, nor that the kingdom had come in some “mystery form” while Jesus was ministering on Earth, but that the fruits that would have been, and will be produced in the Kingdom when it comes would be produced in the Church Age as a sign of judgment against them. Israel’s unbelief had cost them a first-century start to the Kingdom of God in which the Messiah would be reigning on the throne (Matt 12). This statement would have some bearing on Jesus’ conversation with the apostles, no doubt. But this does not mean that the nature of the kingdom has changed in some capacity. It is still literal, still political, still earthly, and still to come in the future.Some have concluded that the Kingdom of God came with Jesus and was established in a “spiritual” sense while He was on Earth. Peters writes, “Is it conceivable, can it be credited, that such special chosen ones, upon whose testimony the faith of others was to be founded, should, aftertheir own preaching, afterall their private and public instruction for several years, and afterthe particular ‘forty days’ (Acts 1:3), ‘speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God,’ be ignorant of the fact (if it be as alleged) that a promised Kingdom was (as eminent theologians now gravely inform us) actuallyin existence?No! such a supposition is damaging, fatally so, to preachers and Teacher, and cannot possiblybe entertained.”[1]The apostles were not aware, in any fashion, that the Kingdom of God had come. In fact, we see Jesus moving in a different direction, yet one that is consistent with His teaching during the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-16), which was taught at a time “post-rejection.” In Acts 1:4, Jesus calls the apostles together and tells them to “wait for what the Father had promised,” being the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15). Jesus then connects the Spirit’s coming with the words of John the Baptist. “For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). In Matthew’s Gospel, John’s words are recorded where he says, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt 3:11). Notice the similarity with Jesus’ words in Acts 1:5speaking of John baptizing with water. Yet Jesus goes on to speak of another baptism, that being of the Holy Spirit. In John’s case, we see the mention of being baptized with “the Holy Spirit and fire.” This should not be understood as relating two separate baptisms, but one and the same.We must remember that the word “baptism” needs context in order to determine what is meant by the original author. Not every mention of “baptism” is speaking of an immersion in water. The meaning of baptism is that one is immersed in, or identified with, something. This is the case that we find before us. If we move forward to Acts 2:3, we read, “And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.” This captures the baptism of which John the Baptist and Jesus spoke. To be baptized with fire is to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This is not a water baptism, but a fire baptism, a spiritual identification with the Holy Spirit. At the present time, the apostles had no power. Therefore, they could not minister effectively as Jesus had called them to do. So, He told them to wait for the necessary Power to arrive.Acts 1:6-8. The apostles “coming together” in Acts 1:6 speaks to the event of 1:4 where we are told that Jesus “gathered them together.” Note the nature of their question to the Lord. “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). This question is revealing in at least two ways. First, the anticipation of the apostles’ question tells us that the kingdom had not yet arrived, that it was still forthcoming. Second, the apostles understood that the coming of the Kingdom of God as Jesus preached it was a kingdom that was to be “restored” to Israel. The word “restored” means “to change to an earlier good state or condition, restore, reestablish,” and “to return someone to a former place or relationship, bring back, give back, restore.”[2]The apostles understood that only Jesus, the Christ of God could restore this Kingdom, being that He is its King. We must ask ourselves what the apostles might have been thinking of when considering an ideal time of reigning in Israel’s history. Without question, their conception of the “Kingdom of God” is the time of David and Solomon’s reign when Israel was at its most prosperous on the Earth.Peters writes, “The tenor of the narrative shows that in alltheir conversations respectingthe Kingdom nothingwas said that changedthe faith of the apostles. They still held the belief that they had authoritatively preached. The proof is found in the question (v. 6), “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?” This is admitted by all—very reluctantlyindeed by some commentators and writers—to mean that they still believedin a restoration of the Davidic throne and Kingdom under the reign of the Messiah. The reply of Jesus, as we already had occasion to observe, confirmstheir belief; for instead of rejecting their idea of the natureof the Kingdom, He takes that for granted as substantially correct, and only refers to the timewhen it should again be restored to Israel as something reserved by the Father, thus meeting the question proposed which related to the time.”[3]Undoubtedly, Jesus’ emphasis on the subject of the Kingdom of God is what had brought this question about. However, now was not the time for the Kingdom to come. It would be at another time. It was not wrong for the apostles to ask Him about it, and He does not rebuke them for their inquiry. However, Jesus does redirect their thinking and He starts by affirming that the Father has another time planned for the promised Kingdom to come (Acts 1:7). This was the Father’s business. The timing of the coming of the Kingdom of God was not to concern them, which is a point that would have saved our “date-setter” friends a lot of trouble. Instead, Jesus set a mission before the apostles, and by extension the Church, that was to be what occupied their time until the coming of the Kingdom. “He does not tell them their kingdom is abandoned, or merged into a spiritual conquest of all nations: He plainly infers that every promise of God is still intact; but assigns to them the immediate ministry of the new gospel age.”[4]Jesus tells them, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8a). This point resonates with Jesus’ earlier call for the apostles to “wait for what the Father has promised” (Acts 1:4b). What is most often neglected in many contemporary observations of this verse stands as its most indispensable part. It is the essential element to all effective ministry, and yet it is often glossed over. Tozer notes, “Some good Christians have misread thistext and have assumed that Christ told His disciples that they were to receive the Holy Spirit and power, the power to come after the coming of the Spirit… Christ taught not the coming of the Holy Spirit aspower; the power and the Spirit are the same.”[5]He goes on to say, “’Ye shall receive power.’ By those words our Lord raised the expectation of His disciples and taught them to look forward to the coming of a supernatural potency in to their natures from a source outside themselves. It was to be something previously unknown to them, but suddenly to come upon them from another world. It was to be nothing less than God Himself entering into them with the purpose of ultimately reproducing His own likeness within them.”[6]God the Spirit is the power that accomplishes the task at hand. This is why Jesus mentions it first before telling His disciples that they would be His “witnesses” (martyresbeing where we get the English word “martyrs” from). A “witness” is one who testifies to what they have seen and heard (Acts 4:20; 1 John 1:1, 3). Jesus would ask of the Father and the Father would send forth the Power needed to testify to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that all who believe in Him would be saved from the wrath of God to come. This is a message that will not suffice without the power that IS the Holy Spirit. A message fueled by the flesh meets fear and intimidation and will yield no results. Fruit cannot be expected from dead things. However, the Spirit, living, active, indwelling, and leading the believer in Christ cannot help but to produce fruit because therein lies all of the power.There are four arenas that are presented for the testifiers of Jesus Christ to go. First, we have “Jerusalem,” which would be considered the place of the apostles’ “home base operations.” For the believer in Christ, it would be the place where you are. Start where you are in testifying about Christ. There is no better place than where you find yourself currently to begin being obedient to this command.Second,we have “in all Judea,” meaning the region that contained Jerusalem. One might liken this to their “county” in America, or one’s province if you happen to find yourself in France, for instance. This calling would be to go beyond the city and into the rural areas, the regions that lie around the place where you find yourself. Third, Jesus mentions “Samaria,” and does so close on the heels of “Judea.” Samaria was the middle region in between Judea in the south and Galilee in the north. However, this was a place that Jews avoided at all cost, seeing that it was made up of people who were the offspring of Jews and Gentiles cohabitating. The Jews of first century Israel despised Gentiles and considered them “unclean” at best (See Acts 10:9-18, 34-35, 42-45). This gives us a better understanding. Jesus is saying, “go where you normally wouldn’t go.” Think about who you disagree with. Maybe you have some hidden prejudices that keep you from certain people or certain places. Jesus says go beyond those and see that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. Every person living is a sinner in need of salvation, and Jesus has freely provided salvation for every person. Every person needs to hear of His free gift of eternal life.Finally, Jesus calls us to be witnesses “even to the remotest part of the Earth.” How far do we go? Forever. We keep going and we do not stop going. Our lives are not ones of staying but of going and all four arenas need to be told of the love of God in Christ Jesus. One doesn’t need to be a missionary; one just needs to be obedient. We don’t need any formal training; we just need to be willing to talk. There doesn’t need to be any special planning; there just needs to be a willingness to be used where you are. There is no need for psyching ourselves up for the task; we always have the authority and presence of Jesus Christ and the indwelling Spirit. Our greatest concerns in leaving this command undone is our greed, fear, unwillingness, worldliness, and pride. All of these are the SELF-LIFE and all of these call for our repentance, for all of these keep us from going and testifying of the death and resurrection of Christ. All of these keep the lost from being saved. In writing on the prophet Jonah and his call from YHWH to go to the city of Nineveh and preach there, Merrill writes that “the mission strategy is somewhat different from the normal Old Testament pattern inasmuch as Israel was essentially to be a magnet to which the peoples would be attracted and thus attracted to Israel’s God. In Jonah’s case the command was to go, anticipating perhaps the New Testament centrifugal model of the church reaching out to the ends of the earth with the gospel message (Matt 28:19-20; cf. Acts 1:8).”[7]This is an excellent observation. Just as Jesus had already said, we are to “Go!” The Church of God is not to be a stagnant entity that causes others to marvel at its pomp and circumstance, but a people thriving in the New Life that Christ gives and powerful due to the Holy Spirit’s presence, going and reaching out to the lost. The church’s focus is to be as much outward (evangelism) as it is inward (discipleship). One can easily see that the latter gives way to the former and the former supplies the latter. This is God’s glorious plan for the Church to move forward. In fact, it is the only plan.Acts 1:9-12.This section is straight-forward. Finishing this command, Jesus ascends into heaven out of the disciples’ sight. His last words before leaving them was that they were to be His witnesses, all around the world until His kingdom comes. Last words are important. Out of all of the things that Jesus could have communicated to them, He told them this. This is how important “being His witnesses” is to Him. And so it is today with us.Upon ascension, two angels appeared and told the apostles that Jesus would return to Earth in the same way; descending from the clouds. He will come again! He is now preparing a place for His people (John 14:2-3). He will come again and receive us unto Himself and we will be with Him always. In the meantime, we are to be about His business: testifying to the salvation that He has provided and making disciples. If we were to combine the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 and the call to be Jesus’ “witnesses” in Acts 1:8, we would say:Every believer in Jesus Christ is a ministerto the Body (Matt 28:18-20) and amissionaryto the world (Acts 1:8).The focus of the believer is twofold, calling the unsaved to be saved and for the already saved to go on being saved. This is evangelism and discipleship, justification and sanctification, being saved from the penalty of sin and continually being saved from the power of sin in our lives, receiving eternal life and experiencing abundant life, coming into relationship with the Father through the Son and experiencing fellowship with Him on an ongoing basis, answering the invitation to know Him and enjoying intimacy with Him, having peace with God and experiencing the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, being granted a holy position before Him and cultivating a holy practice in Him, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and abiding with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other goal, no new vision or revelation, no new program to employ, no other way of relating. It is evangelism and discipleship, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the center of all that flows out of the Church. The greatest fulfillment that we will ever experience in this earthly life is in getting a taste of the Life to come as we testify about Christ and teaching believers about His glorious grace! It is all about Him, not us. Our greatest ambitions cannot compare to the glorious riches that we already possess in Christ. Are we taking advantage of those benefits, or has SELF blocked our access to the depths of His grace?Make the wise decision to heed the Word of God: share Christ with the lost knowing that the power of the Holy Spirit is with you, and make discipleship a priority, knowing that the authority of Christ and His continual presence will never leave you. God has made Himself known by His Word. How blessed we are to be His people and to share in making Him known to the world![1]George N. H. Peters, The Theocratic Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus, the Christ, vol. 1 (New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1884), p. 366.[2]BDAG, p. 111.[3]Peters, The Theocratic Kingdom, vol. 1, p. 430–431.[4]Lewis Sperry Chafer, The Kingdom in History and Prophecy(Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1936), p. 72.[5]A.W. Tozer, God’s Pursuit of Man(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2015), p. 91.[6]Ibid., p. 93.[7]Eugene H. Merrill, Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2006), p. 499.

If the crucifixion and resurrection serve as the message of the good news about Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit when He comes at Pentecost is the power that enables the believer to effectively share that message (John 16:7; Acts 2), then a methodology is needed for seeing this happen day in and day out. Thankfully, God has provided our marching orders in what is commonly known as the Great Commission.Before diving in, we must consider the word “commission” since it has been almost unanimously attached to this section of Matthew’s Gospel. Looking for a definition, we find:1. the act of committing or entrusting a person, group, etc., with supervisory power or authority.2. an authoritative order, charge, or direction.3. authority granted for a particular action or function.4. a document granting such authority.[1]To be commissioned, or to receive a commissioning, is to be entrusted with something, supplied with orders about what one has been entrusted with, and having a greater authority that now accompanies you because of the commissioning received. Every believer in Christ has been entrusted with a task that always lies before us, along with Divine orders which accompany that task, and the Divine authority placed upon us for the successful execution of that task. This is complete and without exception. So, what is this task?Matthew 28:16-17.This scene is centered on the rendezvous point previously set forth in Galilee as was told to Mary Magdalene (Matt 26:32; 28:7, 10; Mark 14:28; 16:7). When we remember the Apostle Paul’s comments regarding Jesus’ appearance to “more than five hundred brethren at one time” from 1 Corinthians 15:6a, it would seem that he is alluding to this meeting in Galilee. We know that Jesus’ appearance to Paul (1 Cor 15:8; Acts 9:3-5) did not occur until well after the ascension of Christ, and the other two instances mentioned after the appearance to “more than five hundred brethren” in 1 Corinthians 15 are appearances to James and then to the eleven (1 Cor 15:7). This sequence allows for the mountain appearance in Galilee to include not just the eleven as mentioned in Matthew 28:16a, but also many more disciples totaling over five hundred in all. This understanding is significant because it bolsters the commissioning of Jesus Christ to believers beyond the apostles. One could read this verse and wrongly conclude that such a command was meant for only that place and time and that the eleven were “special people,” being unlike us today, therefore they alone have received this special commissioning. But any attempts at exemption would be unfounded. To be frank, and to also say this in love, the excuses that we often use to justify our disobedience to the written Word of God are nothing short of abhorrent before our holy God and Creator. Such inferior reasonings are put forth to assuageour consciences, putting out of our minds that we are rejecting the conviction and leading of the Holy Spirit. When this myriad of disciples came to the mountain and the Lord Jesus appeared to them, many worshiped Him (meaning “to prostrate oneself, to have adoration”) while others doubted (Matt 28:16-17). The word for “doubtful” here is distazōmeaning “to have doubts concerning something, doubt, waver” and “to be uncertain about taking a particular course of action, hesitate,”[2]and is used only one other time in Matthew 14:31 when speaking about Peter doubting the Lord once he was out on the water. It would seem that both definitions could be applied in this situation, with some of the brethren doubting that the Lord Jesus had been resurrected (which corresponds with the first definition), and this leading to a subsequent doubting of His commissioning to follow (corresponding with the second definition), though the first definition would be best suited as the intended meaning of the author.Matthew 28:18-20.Every phrase that Jesus speaks is of the utmost importance and deserves our careful attention and complete understanding. Let us consider Jesus’ words.“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and one earth,”(Matt 28:18b). Our first observation would be the emphatic entrusting of authority to Jesus Christ. “All” speaks to the totality and completeness of a thing. “All” is a key word in this passage, with four occurrences, with every one of them instilling confidence for the task being commissioned. In having “all authority,” we understand that there is no bit of authority that has not been granted to Him in regards to the heavenly or earthly sphere.The heavenly is that in which demons and angels war. As seen before, “Satan is the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2), and the ruler of this world (John 14:30). The earthly realm is where we live now, and where Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8b). The demonic influence, the world system that Satan has orchestrated (Acts 26:18), and the lust and pride that exude from our fallen nature (1 John 2:16) would all be included. The first grand truth of this commissioning is Jesus’ place in the midst of all of this. It is one of “authority.” “He spoke as one already in heaven with a world-wide outlook and with the resources of heaven at his command.”[3]This authority stands as the promised power of the Lord Jesus Christ, being mentioned first in order to correctly set the stage for the commissioning that would follow. Had Jesus not said this (meaning that He did not have this authority), His Great Commission would be one that would only have the flesh serving as its power, and the power of the flesh is only toward sin (Jas 1:14-15), having no real power at all (John 6:63; Rom 8:8). Charles Stanley writes, “We can confidently bring the truth of Jesus to the world because we have Jesus’ divine authority to back it up. Our job is to be His faithful messengers; His job is to prosper His Word.”[4]“Go therefore…”(Matt 28:19a). The word “go” is a passive aorist participle which is typically explained as conveying “not a command to go, but the assumption that the listener will automatically be going. In other words, the idea expressed is ‘as you are going.’”[5]Some may say, “As we are going about throughout life,” or, as the marginal note of the NASB reads, “having gone…” “Going” is commonly explained as the first of three participles (along with “baptizing” and “teaching”) used that constitutes what it is to “make disciples.”[6]However, Greek grammarian Robert H. Mounce has considered this argument and disagrees. While the word “go” in Matthew 28:19a is, in fact, a participle, its function should not be interpreted as a noun, as would be a possibility in English grammar (commonly known as a gerund). He writes that the participle is “picking up the mood of the main verb. Since matheusate(“make disciples”) is an aorist active imperative, poreuthentesshould be translated ‘Go.’ Jesus’ instructions are proactive; we are to move out into the world, not simple [sic]make disciples when we happen to be there.”He goes on to state that he “found that in the New Testament there are twenty-seven occasions where poreuthentesis followed by a main verb in the imperative mood. The result? In every case the participle should be translated as an imperative.”[7]From this, we can conclude that “make disciples” (as will be discussed in the next section) stands as the main imperative verb, but the participles of “go,” “baptize,” and “teaching” are all to be considered as imperatives that stem from the main verb.Why does this matter? This understanding shows us the importance of each facet being listed. “Go,” “baptizing,” and “teaching” are all carrying the mood of the imperative to “make disciples.” Each piece should be considered as a command with the same weight as “make disciples.” We ARE to “go,” we ARE to “baptize,” and we ARE to “teach,” because our lives, from the moment that we trusted in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, are to be lived in obedience to the task of making disciples that has been placed before us. This means that we are to be a people who have been called to intentional living. We are to do this by the power granted in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are to confidently move forward because the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is never apart from us (Matt 28:20b).The use of “therefore” points us back to the fact of “all authority” being given to Jesus. Jesus alone has been given all authority by the Father. No church, creed, theological system, or denomination has any power whatsoever. All of the power/authority necessary is that of the Lord Jesus, and only by His authority is there power to accomplish the task.“make disciples of all nations…”(Matt 28:19b). With the phrase “make disciples” we have the main verb and plain imperative listed. To be clear, an imperative is a command, and this command is being issued in light of the authority given to Jesus. The word “disciple” is pathēteuō in the Greek which means “to cause one to be a pupil, teach,”[8]with the idea of giving many convincing proofs while also beseeching or begging people to follow Christ in greater understanding so that their lives are changed. For those who are unregenerate (lost), this, of necessity, implies that we are actively telling others about Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Again, this is the importance of intentional living.As we move forward in this passage we will examine the “what” of making disciples, but the question that always overwhelms the believer’s mind is “how.” How do I make disciples? This is a legitimate question that is partially answered in the “what” of baptizing them in the name of the Trinity and teaching them what Jesus has commanded (Matt 28:19c-20a). But to give a larger view that answers the “how” question, we must always look to the sufficiency of the Word of God. We would do well to pay attention to verses like 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”The Word of God equips the disciple so that “every good work” can be handled adequately.We also find in 2 Peter 1:3 that, “…His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”While the Holy Spirit is the power, the “true knowledge of Him” would be gained through the Word of God. These two passages alone give us the textbook from which the believer in Christ is to be discipled. While sound supplementary materials are helpful, they are no replacement for the Word of God, for it is the Word of God that is used by its Author, the Spirit of God, to enact change in the believer from the inside out, conforming each one of us to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). A good summary verse for discipleship can be seen in Colossians 1:28 which says,“We proclaim Him (Jesus Christ), admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”“Teaching every man” would have its basis in God’s Word, for Christ is the subject of written revelation, being the One that we are proclaiming. Any admonishment that one would receive must come from a source greater than ourselves because we are in need of discipling as well. The goal of educating believer’s in God’s Word and calling upon the Holy Spirit to enact such truth in their lives is for thepurpose of presenting them as mature (“complete”) in Christ. We want God’s people to be walking with Him daily, depending upon Him everyday, because that is what God wants. We were not designed to be apart from Him. With “make disciples” we also see the second of four “all” statements with “all nations,” being the boundaries to which we are to “go” in making disciples. There is something to be said for local discipleship, and it should most certainly be occurring amongst every saint within the local church body. “All nations” calls for us to branch out to every people group. One cannot deny that the thrust of this passage calls for this process of making disciples to be stretched beyond comfortable walls. Every nation on Earth should have the opportunity to be discipled by the truths of God’s Word. “All nations” includes every nation, and every nation should be led to, and educated in, the Truth which is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.With “make disciples” being the imperative in this passage, the direction of the Christian is clear. “Any activity unrelated to or inconsistent with this assignment is, in terms of Jesus’ commission, a failure to carry it out.”[9]Thinking through what we understand of the Judgment Seat of Christ, it is no doubt that whether or not we were using our time to “make disciples” while on Earth will be a primary consideration for the Lord Jesus Christ. “…baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…”(Matt 28:19c).In this passage we have Jesus advocating the authority of the Godhead, also known as the Trinity. All three are included, with Jesus considering Himself equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. All three are God, being three in Persons, but One in essence. “The order is that they have first become disciples through personal faith in Him, followed by baptism as their personal confession of their faith, and a pledge of discipleship as acknowledged members of the body of believers.”[10]This ordinance is the identification of the believer with Christ in His death and resurrection. Just as Jesus has died for sins, so the believer is publicly expressing that he or she has died to sin, and just as Christ was raised from the dead to a new life, a resurrected life, so too is the believer raised to a “newness of life” (Rom 6:4b). This identification is crucial, being an outward expression of what has already taken place in Christ. One can easily see the importance of this ordinance being explained to the believer so that they are mindful of all that Christ has done in giving them “new life” and their full accepted place as now being “in Him” because of Him and His sufficient work.These are beautiful and necessary blessings for the disciple to understand and embrace! “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”(Matt 28:20a). The third participle (which, again, takes on the mood of the imperative verb of “make disciples”) is the necessity of teaching. It should be noted that this teaching is unto a particular point: that the one being taught would become a regular observer of the things being taught to them. This helps us to understand that the idea of teaching goes beyond that of simply relaying information and then expecting them to “get to work.” If we follow the section on to the end, we would see that what is being taught to them are all the things which Jesus commanded. This holds the key! Jesus’ commands are meant to be followed, not simply understood. From this we can conclude that the one teaching Jesus’ commands to another must be “observing” those commands as well. This encourages the one beingdiscipled and creates an atmosphere of mutual edification between believers. It must be quickly noted that this is the third “all” statement. All that Jesus commanded must be taught. This command is clearly stated, and while we will momentarily see that some things are not applicable to the Church Age, it does not change the fact that those things should be taught, for all Scripture is God-breathed.The word “observe” is tēreōmeaning “to retain in custody, keep watch over, guard,” “to cause a state, condition, or activity to continue, keep, hold, reserve, preserve,” “to persist in obedience, keep, observe, fulfill, pay attention to.”[11]Observing all that Christ has commanded is for the disciples to persistently retain, uphold, and obey what Christ has set forth as His orders to the disciples. From what we can understand about the Gospels, we know that there was a turning point in Jesus’ ministry when He no longer offered the kingdom to Israel and began looking forward to His death and resurrection (Matt 12). Thus, we would conclude that what Jesus has taught His disciples that does not relate to the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom as being presented to Israel in the first century should be consider as applicable teaching that has carried over into the Church Age. For instance, we know that Jesus’ teaching in John 13-16, with its emphasis on love and obedience, should be considered as valid commandments that hold for the church today. While there would certainly be a need to consider the progressive revelation of this section and the fact that the Holy Spirit would be indwelling them in Acts 2, we can certainly see that the coming of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of a new dispensation does not negate the commands that Jesus is giving them. They would be the bedrock of the Church at itsbirth in Acts 2 at Pentecost in Jerusalem. These foundational commands would serve as the core of the teaching that would be threaded through every believer. It is Jesus’ teachings that should be considered as the main content (along with the Old Testament) when we are reading that “they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42a). Another vital observation here is that we must understand that discipleship is relational. It involves being with other believers in Christ. If we were to define discipleship, we would say that it is life invested into life in order to cultivate Life in the here and now. It is one believer meeting with one (or more) believers for the purpose of encouraging the Abundant Life that Christ has provided to be the “hope and stay” of each of our lives. Earl Radmacher once wrote, “one of the greatest problems of evangelicalism today is that many Christians who are saved are not beingsaved, that is, they are not growing in Christ and dealing with sin in their lives. Many American Christians are in the spiritual nursery feeding on milk. We desperately need to get believers out of infancy and into the infantry.”[12]Discipleship combats the impoverished state of personal holiness that is saturating the fabric of today’s Christianity, saving us from the power of sin in our daily lives. Believers are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18). This is the pursuit of holiness. Our lives have been redeemed, and we are declared righteous by God, but this does not mean that our conduct has become righteous. Any Christian that has been saved for five minutes can attest to this. The “renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2) happens through regular time in the Word of God, prayer, and mutual periods of fellowship, all of which take place in making disciples. For the sake of holiness, it is our responsibility to disciple and to be discipled so that we are“speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspectsinto Him who is the head, evenChrist, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Eph 4:15-16). Christ is our Life and He wants to live His life through each one of us. Only that which He produces in our lives is pleasing to the Father. This can be seen clearly in a basic observation from a well-known verse regarding the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Notice that this is not your fruit. It is the Spirit’s fruit in your life. We have nothing to do with it. We simply set aside ourselves because of the acceptance of God’s Word as the only Truth in existence, and move forward trusting what God has said rather than what man has said, or how we feel. Yielding to God’s Word and allowing Christ to be our All in All is what brings about the Spirit’s fruit. This is living a life that we could not otherwise live because it is Christ living His life through us. These are the types of results that we should see in ongoing discipleship. For some of us, we know that we are supposed to make disciples, but many of us do not because we have believed that we don’t know how. No doubt that this is an honest reply, but it stems from a deceptive line of thinking. Many believe that they must be a well-seasoned teacher of the Bible, a rugged missionary with years of experience, or a seminary student on the brink of graduation. One’s personal specialization or gifting is not under consideration with this imperative to “make disciples.” This line of thinking has placed the question of obedience on whether or not one feels that they are qualified for the task rather than paying attention to what Jesus has commanded. This type of well-intentioned reply has SELF at the center, not Jesus Christ. This leads us to Jesus’ closing comments. “…I am with you always, even to the end of the age”(Matt 28:20b).Tony Evans notes that beyond the eleven disciples, and the “more than five hundred brethren at one time” (1 Cor 15:6a), that there was a third group that met with the Lord Jesus on the mountain in Galilee, who were meeting there in spirit. “This includes all believers from that day until Jesus comes again. How do I know we are part of the Great Commission meeting? Because Jesus said His commission to make disciples is in effect ‘even to the end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20), which hasn’t come yet. So the Lord’s instructions are for us too.”[13]Jesus’ encouragement of being with us until the end of the age means that He is ever-present during the Church Age. This is the second bookend in contrast to the power that His authority promises to the believer in Christ.Read verse 18-20 again. Notice that the believer has two promises that bookend his or her four responsibilities.A. ALL AUHTORITY HAS BEEN GIVEN TO JESUS IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH- v.18b; This is the promise of His power.1. GO- v.19a2. MAKE DISCIPLES- v.19b3. BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE TRINITY- v.19c4. TEACHING THEM PERSISTENTLY TO RETAIN, UPHOLD, AND OBEY WHAT CHRIST HAS SET FORTH- v.20aA’. HE IS WITH US ALWAYS, TO THE END OF THE AGE- v.20b; This is the promise of His presence.Do we believe this? Jesus is with us. Now. And will be until the Church is raptured. He is here, always available, and ever-welcoming our reliance on Him to make the difference in our lives as we disciple one another. This section contains the last “all” statement, being thatJesus is “always” with the believer. This is more than His attribute of being omnipresent. This speaks to the necessity of His presence in accomplishing the task of making disciples. All that we do is to be done in faith (Rom 14:23). This includes making disciples. Followers of Christ are not made in the power of the flesh. Only the power that Jesus supplies can complete this task so that it is approved by the Father. Fleshly methods are the devil’s tools. We must heed the Lord’s promises and be quick to hold them fast!Are we making disciples?If not, why not?Jesus has commanded it, giving the promise of both His power and His presence in the process.Personal inadequacy is an unacceptable excuse because leaves Jesus’ command undone, and makes the decision to obey based on us and not Him.If you are not in a discipleship relationship, ask a dear beloved brother or sister today. Unite together for mutual encouragement and edification, reproof and correction, as only the Word of God can administer it. Look for the Holy Spirit to be your Guide and to “lead you into all truth” (John 16:13b).Let us GO, and MAKE DISCIPLES, BAPTIZING them in the name of the Trinity, and TEACHING them to persistently retain, uphold, and obey what Christ has set forth in His Holy Word.[1]“Commission,” Dictionary.com, [online], Accessed on 24 April 2019.[2]BDAG, p. 252.[3]A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament(Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Mt 28:18.[4]Charles F. Stanley, The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version(Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles, 2005), Mt 28:18–19.[5]Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), p. 1963.[6]See D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), p. 595.[7]Robert H. Mounce, “The Participle as Imperative (Monday with Mounce 12),” Zondervan Academic, [online] at https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/the-participle-as-imperative, Accessed on 24 April 2019.[8]BDAG, p. 609. “It is important to avoid the implication of duress or force, that is to say, one should not translate ‘force them to be my disciples’ or ‘compel them to be my disciples.’ This might very well be implied in a literal translation of a causative such as ‘to make.’ In order to avoid a wrong implication of a causative, it may be important to use some such expression as ‘convince them to become my disciples’ or ‘urge them to be my disciples.’” -Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 470.[9]D. Edmond Hiebert, “An Expository Study of Matthew 28:16–20,” Bibliotheca Sacra149 (1992): 348.[10]Hiebert, “An Expository Study of Matthew 28:16–20,”: 350.[11]BDAG, p. 1002.[12]Earl D. Radmacher, Understanding Christian Theology, ed. Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), p. 883–884.[13]Tony Evans, Theology You Can Count On (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008), p. 901.

It has been said by many that the key component of the Christian Faith is the historical event of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. While the crucifixion provides the atoning blood of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world (John 1:29), the resurrection of Christ vindicates His death as being approved by God. For all of the accusations that Christ sustained both in His earthly life and while hanging on the cross, the very notion that He was raised from the dead and was appearing to many as proof served as the grounds that demanded their silence. Torrey once wrote, “The crucifixion loses its meaning without the resurrection. Without the resurrection, the death of Christ was only the heroic death of a noble martyr. With the resurrection, it is the atoning death of the Son of God. It shows that death to be of sufficient value to cover all our sins, for it was the sacrifice of the Son of God. In it we have an all-sufficient ground for knowing that the blackest sin is atoned for. Disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Christian faith is vain.”

The earthly life of Jesus Christ is nothing short of remarkable and we only have a fraction of all that He did and said as recorded in the Word of God. But we have no reason to feel short-changed, for what we have is more than enough Light. It proves His claims, vindicates His Person, leads men and women to salvation, and heartens the child of God to pursue Him in living a holy life. The fulfillment of prophecy alone in Jesus’ earthly life is enough to stagger the mind of the most educated man, seeing that the time gap between the foretelling of an event and the actual occurrence of the event in His earthly life is 400 years in the least to some 1500 years at the most. The following is a list of forty-five of the most significant messianic prophecies that were fulfilled during the first advent of Christ as recorded by Mark Hitchcock.

This is a continuation of last weeks sermon and the notes are the same but they are included below. We have been physically born into a life that we cannot live because our only option in handling the problems of life is to do so sinfully. We must die to this life, and that is only possible by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are born into this world, we are dead to the things of God (Eph 2:1-2). But God makes us alive to Him at the moment that we believe in Jesus (Eph 2:5). This means that we have, in turn, died to sin, and have been raised to a newness of life.The believer in Jesus Christ is placed “in Christ” at the moment of faith. This establishes the believer with a new identity, being a new creation, and now having a glorious standing of righteousness before a holy God. Jesus’ perfect provision is our distinct privilege.Do we reallybelieve this? Our answer is predicated on our belief in the truthfulness of God’s Word, for in it are the factsof all history, seen and unseen, natural and supernatural, past, present, and future. Reality finds its meaning and purpose only in God’s holy Word.Why are we Missing the Power to Live the Christian Life?For many, Scripture seems disconnected from the “reality” of our modern age causing us to reluctantly dismiss the biblical record of the Holy Spirit’s work as borderline fiction. Such unbelief in the Bible’s accuracy has robbed us of the Spirit’s power in our lives. If we are not believing in what God has already said, why would we believe that He would work gloriously among us? When we render the Word of theLord as being mundane and ordinary, the Lord passes us by, just as He did in Nazareth. We are told haunting words by Matthew, “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matt 13:58). However, the Spirit’s power has been freely given to all who believe in Christ being freely available in abundance, and yet it lies dormant because of our unbelief, and more particularly our unbelief regarding what God has said in His holy Word. The believer in Christ is already “in Christ!” Thus, our position before God is one that is established in victory because Christ is victorious over sin, death, and the grave. His win is the provision for our lives to “win” also. Van Gelderen explains, “As children of God, Christ is living in each of us right now… Faith turns what is true provisionally into experience practically. We simply must choose to depend on the reality of the words declared by God in order to access the benefit of what God says is so.”[1]“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Believing His Word, moment by moment, is what it means to “abide,” and abiding in Christ is the answer to our power problem. Jesus references His own abiding in the Father in John 15:10. He tells His disciples, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just asI have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (emphasis added). Just as Jesus’ life was a model of constant obedience to the Father, so our lives in abiding in Christ must be one of constant obedience to Him. This is not a “do more, try harder” approach, but a “trust Him fully” way of thinking. No one obeys a command without believing it to be true. So it is with the relationship of “believing” and “obeying” in the Christian Life. This means that His Word is paramount and there are no worthy competitors. With His Word being our chiefconviction, we find our lives full of the Spirit’s power because all has come under submission to His will.[2]R.A. Torrey brings understanding to Jesus’ words regarding the power that is available when the believer is abiding in Christ. He writes, “If we are to obtain from God all that we ask from Him, Christ’s words must abide or continue in us. We must study His words, fairly devour His words, let them sink into our thought and into our heart, keep them in our memory, obey them constantly in our life, let them shape and mold our daily life and our every act.This is really the method of abiding in Christ. It is through His words that Jesus imparts Himself to us. The words He speaks unto us, they are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). It is vain to expect power in prayer unless we meditate much upon the words of Christ, and let them sink deep and find a permanent abode in our hearts. There are many who wonder why they are so powerless in prayer, but the very simple explanation of it all is found in their neglect of the words of Christ.”[3] Power in the Christian Life is NEVER our power, but the power of the Spirit flowing through us because we are in full dependency of the Word of the indwelling Christ. We must well-remember that Truth is a Person, Jesus Christ, and this Person operates and is who He is in complete consistency with His Word. This is a sound and consistent factto rest ourselves upon.Factshave power, and those facts are found ONLY in God’s Word. When we speak of facts, we are speaking of authority. Understanding this, every situation, decision, and concern must have an authority in place. Therefore, it must be brought to the Word of God. It is the engine that provides the power for the F-Train to move forward. The remaining cars of faithand feelingshave no real power. Therefore,they only lead in wrong directions and to wrong responses. Their proper place is in submission to the authority (facts), for only the authority has power.Sadly, there are many instances in life where God’s Word is not the authority. This finds the other cars of faithand feelingscompeting for the lead position, and in turn, stalling all progression and growth in the Christian Life. Let’s look at the problems that are created when God’s Truth is removed from the forefront of our lives.When “Faith” is the Lead CarThis is a particularly sensitive area for many people because it strikes at the core convictions that one holds dear. Some have “grown up this way,” or “that’s just the way we do it,” or “It’s a Jeep thing, you wouldn’t understand.” You get the picture. Using the above rationales are really a defense mechanism to excuse sin. Some of the common phrases that are identifiers of this are:· I believe…· I think…· You ought to…· You shouldn’t…· Well, everybody does/believes/etc.· Well, they say… (who are “they”?)All of these have one thing in common: they are rooted in man’s opinion, having no foundation for their assertions, stemming from the biased minds and corrupted hearts of created, fallen beings. Each statement makes a man-centered assumption about how life should be or how situations and relationships should be handled, but fall seriously short when asked to provide a greater reason for these convictions other than, “Well, that’s just what I think ought to happen.” Life’s decisions should not be based on shaky ground.Only God is True. Only God is Eternal. Only God is the Creator. Therefore, His commentary and interpretation of existence, as foundin the Bible, is the final authority, telling us the Truth (facts) about everything.Though the person is obviously “believing” in something (faith), the object of their belief is not the Word of God. Therefore, it is considered unbelief, regardless of motives or heartfelt sincerity.Paul stresses the maturity that comes from a church body that is benefiting from the implementation of the Word of God as they are being taught it. He writes, “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph 4:14). The “trickery of men” and “deceitful scheming” are the false convictions (faith) that stem from a sinful mindset. The Word of God must be at the forefront if we are to think correctly about life, existence, relationships, eternity, etc.“I’m Religious”Many people portray a sincere “faith” and they communicate this by stating, “I’m religious,” “well, my faith is my own,” or something like “you believe in your god and I will believe in mine.” Another favorite is, “I think that god would…” In each of these statements their convictions about deity are revealed, demonstrating a god who has been fashioned according to their personal expectations. The very idea of deity has been diluted seeing that man is really in control. This is exactly the type of deity that the human race clamors after… one that can do or not do, be or not be, everything that the person who worships it wishes that it would do or not do, be or not be. Who is REALLY superior in this relationship?The self-serving nature of such diminished faithhas shown itself in all religions, being nothing new. Looking at Acts 17:22-27, we find Paul’s words to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers at Mars Hill. He notes that they are “very religious” (17:22). Faithis not their problem. They very much believe in a whole lot of gods, beings, and deities (17:16b). But as stated before, because their belief was not placed in the Wordof God, it is actually unbelief. Paul also notes one altar that was “to an unknown god” (17:23). Notice that this was a place of “worship” (feeling) that had an ascribed object as its focus (“an unknown god”) who is without identity or substance, having no foundation (unlike the factsof God’s Word). Yet, they were “very religious” (faith). How does Paul correct the F-TRAINof the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers?Paul tells them the facts. Follow the train of thought (no pun intended): 1. God made the world (17:24a). He is the Creator of all things. 2. He is the “Lord (Master) of heaven and earth” (17:24b) who is beyond temples, structures, and altars (17:24c). 3. He is not served with human hands because He is self-sufficient and is in need of nothing (17:25a). 4. He is the one who gives the human race life and breath. He is the Life-Source (17:25b). 5. God created them, and every man who has ever lived (17:26a), and He alone determines the when and where of their existence (17:26b) so that every person would know Him personally (17:27). Paul gave these “very religious” people an engine (facts) to get their F-TRAIN moving. He immediately identified the problem that Athens was facing. They had faith, though it was faithin the wrong object (unbelief), and by worshiping these “unknown” gods and having an air of superiority (Acts 17:21), they had feelings(worship) that were being dictated by their misdirected faith/unbelief. What they needed was something worth believing in; something sure and certain; something worthy of devotion. So, Paul introduces to them their Creator (facts) so that they can believe in Him (faith) and worship (feelings) the right and true Object. It is essential for faithto always be found in the facts, for faithwill always have worshipas the primary feelingthat follows it. “Worship” (literally “worth-ship”) ascribes value to an object. If you are enthralled with a celebrity, it is because you believe (faith)that they have done well and you are ascribing a higher value to them. The feelingthat proceeds out from that conviction (faith)is elation, pride,or what have you, because worth has been ascribed to this object. Faith will always have worshipas the primary feelingthat follows it.Misplacingfaith in something other than God’s Word leads to worship being ascribed to something other than God. This is the fabrication of idolatry in the heart, leaving one’s affections unchecked with trust and worth being issued to an object of complete inferiority. All things are less than God. Jeremiah the prophet exclaims, “There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might” (Jer 10:6).Identity CrisisOne of the greatest cries among this current generation is “Who am I?” This question is a result of banning the Creator God from the education of children, and thus banning His given purpose for our identities. Today we are seeing a flesh-led quest for identity in YouTube videos, Facebook posts, Snapchat, Instagram, etc., as well as the gay, lesbian, and transgender movement. Shock and awe are the calling cards of the culture and conformity is demanded in the name of originality (notice the contradictions that these worldviews create).It was obvious that the Spirit wanted us to know our identities up front. Only twenty-six verses into the first chapter of the Bible we read, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Gen 1:26-28).With His Word, God established the unchanging factof our identity. Every person is made in His likeness and in His image. This Truth holds great weight and significance, showing the Creator to be full of care and creating us for a purpose. Yet, our nation’s suicide rate among young people is skyrocketing. Could it be that the quest for “Who am I?” has already been answered by God, but the problem is that many are led to believe (faith) something else, leading to feelingsof inferiority, insignificance, and marginalization?This is a factthat is true for the Christian as well as the non-Christian. For the believer, they have an extra advantage, with the Holy Spirit residing in them and leading them into all Truth (facts- John 16:13). These factskeep us grounded in trying times, for we have the risen Lord hiding us with Himself in the Father (Col 3:3). The believer has died to this life of sin and has been raised to a newness of life, being given a new identity by being “in Christ!” How helpful this is in such confusing and trying times. Handley Moule captures this, writing, “In temptation, in spiritual languor and decline, in care and perplexity and toil, let me draw upon the fact – not the feeling but the fact – of ‘Christ in me.’”[4]When “Feelings” are the Lead CarThe idea that “feelings” can be the lead car are more of an excuse than a reality. What is meant by this is that all feelingsare actually a result of what it is that we are truly believing (faith), or what we are valuing as the “most true” concept at any given time. By believing something other than God’s Word, we have settled for a lesser truth that is really no truth at all because it is not God’s Truth (facts). In a situation where a heinous crime is committed because of someone’s reaction to something that they were surprised with, we may describe such rash actions as a “blind rage” (feelings). However, if the police believe that the person had pondered this crime for some time before committing it, they would call this “premeditated,” meaning that they had been believing (faith) this to be the right response for some time.We often phrase the reasons for our beliefs about something as “well, I feelthat…” when feelings are actually the result of our faithin a matter. When a reason is asked for why we did something wrong, we usually respond with a feelingsanswer: “I felt like I had to…” Many times, we find that the only way that we can express ourselves is in terms of feelings.It would seem that the three most prominent feelingsthat we are faced with are doubt, anger, and revenge.DoubtInMatthew 11:2-6, we return to the moment where John the Baptist struggled with doubts (feelings) about Jesus being the Promised Messiah. Though he himself had been His forerunner, John’s present situation made his susceptible to doubts (feelings), finding himself in a prison at the order of King Herod, all because he stood up for the truth (facts). “Are You the Expected One,” he asked through his disciples, “or shall we look for someone else?” (Matt 11:3). John’s feelingsabout his current situation had taken the place of the lead car, causing unbelief (faith) in who Jesus is. When we find ourselves in difficult situations, and especially in situations that are going to go on for some time, we may be tempted to lose faithin the facts. As a model example, Jesus does not scold John for his doubt (feelings), but turns his attention to the factsof Scripture: “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt 11:5). All of this was happening in John’s day, yet, knowing the Scriptures, John would have understood that the prophecies of the Messiah as told by Isaiah were being fulfilled (Isa 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 61:1). Therefore, Jesus was placing the facts at the front of the conversation so that John would have faithin them, and in light of this new stability, his feelingswould change.AssuranceThis is true for those Christians who are struggling with an assurance of salvation. Whether it is where they are in life, their past sins creeping up to beat them down, or some ongoing sin in their lives that they just can’t shake, many Christians, who are eternally secure in Christ, frequently doubt their salvation. They feellike they are not saved. Because they are not willing to conclude that they are lost shows that they are not fully buying in (faith) to the idea, but they are struggling, nonetheless. In this case, feelingsare leading the train, faith is being placed in those feelings, which will ultimately cause a reinterpretation of the facts, concluding in something like “Jesus will only keep me saved if I am a good person who only commits little sins.” By letting their feelingstake the lead car, and by believing those feelingsas truth, the F-TRAINis now traveling backwards with the factsbeing reinterpreted by their feelings. Is this factual? What does the Truth (facts) say about this matter?There are many verses and whole passages that could be cited that speak to the eternal, forever security of the believer in Christ, but we will only choose two, and with minimal elaboration. First, Romans 8:38-39states, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing, not even ourselves, can separate us from the love of God. This is a fact; a Truth with power to propel us forward if we would only believe (faith) what God is telling us. If we do, we will not just feelsaved, we will feelblessed!Another good passage that needs little explanation is 2 Timothy 2:13. It reads, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” The word “faithless” here actually means, “to have nobelief, disbelieve.”[5]This means that even if we are unbelieving in our lives, the Lord remains faithful to His promise of eternal life to us. Lea and Griffin explain this writing, “Paul was asserting that despite human unfaithfulness God’s saving purpose has not retreated. Timothy and all those with him were to continue their endurance that they might experience God’s blessing. Paul did not state these words to open the door to apostasy and disobedience but to soothe a troubled conscience and to provide encouragement to return to God.”[6]God is always faithful to His promises (facts) and He has promised us eternal life.AngerAnger is a big one! Everyone struggles with getting mad, and sometimes at the littlest things. However, being angry is not the real issue. As stated above, anger is the result (feeling) of a conviction (faith) that we are holding tightly. For those who seem to have a habitual problem with anger, their ultimate issue is the need to have control in situations. This is derived from a pride problem that believes (faith) that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Only their way is the correct way, and everyone else is “ignorant, stupid, uneducated,” or “means well, but they really don’t know what they are talking about.” This is pride, and when pride does not get its way, and a situation is not able to be controlled in the manner that “we think” (faith) it should be controlled, we get angry (feeling).Pride is the exact same sin that the devil had/has (Isa 14:13-14). It is a natural conclusion to see that this should have no part in us. Pride asserts one’s rights and fosters entitlement (faith). We feellike we deserve something or should be listened to because of who we are or what we have done, but these are really the convictions that we hold dear (faith). None of this is acceptable before the eyes of the Father. Instead, we are to humble ourselves before Him. How do we correct the problem of our cars getting out of order when it comes to anger?James 1:19b-20states, “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Being rash (feelings) never works. What we should seek in every situation is for God’s righteousness to shine forth and be the center of attention. Only He is right (facts), we are not. Our anger (feelings) will not accomplish His righteousness in any situation. Therefore, anger must be abandoned as a suitable option in handling conflict. By holding fast to this Truth (fact) and believing (faith) that it is in fact true, our feelingswill come to a place of humility knowing that it is possible for God’s righteousness to be displayed in every trial. This is not a “maybe” situation, but a certainty that rests upon our submission to His Word (facts). Will He not do what He has said?Biblically speaking, it is not wrong to be angry if you are angry about the right things. Ephesians 4:26-27says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” You can be angry about something and not sin. But the way to allow for anger to become sin is if you are not dealing with it properly. If it is prolonged, the devil will grab a foothold in your life. Being angry because of the abortion problem in the United States is a real and right reason to be angry. Being angry because you were lied to is a legitimate reason because truth (facts) has been bypassed for falsehood. But each of these situations needs to be addressed in the heart and brought before the Lord. They are not to fester and grow to an unhealthy dynamic. You see, feelingsare not bad when they are properly placed at the end of the train because of the faiththat you are exercising in the Truth of God’s Word (facts).RevengeWe’ve all been there. When someone has wronged us, they need to pay! So, we devise ways in our mind that they are going to pay, how we wish to see them pay, or how we are going to make them pay(feelings). The factis, we have been wronged and we will not allow ourselves to be treated in such a horrible fashion (feelings). So, obviously revenge is the best option… or is it?In Romans 12:19, Paul writes, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” This is Truth (fact). We may feeldisenfranchised in some way, but we must remember that the Lord knows all things and that He will bring all situations to justice. By claiming (faith) this Truth (fact), we can now rest (feeling) in God’s care, knowing that He will take care of what or who has wronged us with much greater precision than we would ever be able to muster in our sinful flesh.______________________________________Q: Do you believe what God has said about who you are, your current situation, the choices that you are making, or the handling of your future? If not, why not? Q: Where did God get it wrong? Where has His Word misspoken? How has He failed you in the past convincing you that you cannot trust Him anymore? Such questions should expose the root of the real reason why we are not trusting what He has already said in His Word. We are either convinced that there is a greater truth than what He has said about a particular matter (faith)or we know that His Word will keep us from the excitingly sinful situation that our flesh wants to participate in (feelings). Such conclusions dismiss the factsaltogether, exchanging God’s revealed Word for our sinful desires. ___________________________________It is possible to abide in Christ. We can experience the fullness of who He is because He is in us. In looking to Him as the Truth, and therefore looking to God’s Word as given through Him, we are submitted to His facts. He is so much more than many of us initially think or believe. Let’s close by illustrating this with a personal account of this grand realization. Charles Trumbull (1872-1941) was the editor of the Sunday School Times periodical. He was a committed and devout man, constantly championing the cause of Christ for some twenty years before He fully grasped the significance of Christ in him. He obviously knew the Word and all that it taught of Christ and the Christian Life, but he came to realize that he was not confidently convinced of what it was actually saying to him about the nature of Christ’s Life in relationship to his person. In the profound little booklet The Life That Wins, we find his personal testimony in coming to this profound realization. He writes, “I had always known that Christ was my Savior, but I had looked upon Him as an external Savior, one who did a saving work forme from outside, as it were; one who was ready to come close alongside and stay by me, helping me in all that I needed, giving me power and strength and salvation. But now I knew something better than that. At last I realized that Jesus Christ was actually and literally withinme and that He had constituted Himself my very life, taking me into union with Himself- my body, mind, and spirit- while I still had my own identity and free will and full moral responsibility. Was not this better than having Him as a helper or even than having Him as an external Savior? To have him, Jesus Christ, God the Son, as my own very life. It meant that I need never again ask Him to help me as though He were one and I another, but rather simply to do His work, His will in me and with me and through me. My body was His, my mind His, my will His, my spirit His- and not merely His but literally a part of Him. What He asked me to recognize was that ‘I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.’ Jesus Christ had constituted Himself my life- not as a figure of speech, remember, but as a literal, actual fact, as literal as the fact that a certain tree has been made into this desk on which my hand rests. For ‘your bodies are members of Christ,’ and ‘ye are the body of Christ.’”[7]The F-TRAINis a simple illustration that points to this greater truth. Christ, the Word of God, is telling us the Truth (facts) about life, reality, and Himself. His Word is giving us the answers, the factsabout every situation. By believing (faith) upon what He has already told us, we find heights previously unknown and provision much deeper than first assumed. How can humility and gratitude (feelings) not be the result of such amazing grace? “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11b). To live our lives in the light of His Truth (facts) is to have Him live His Life through us. This is most certainly a Life worth living![1]John Van Gelderen, Experiencing Jesus: Personal Revival Through the Spirit-Filled Life(Ann Arbor, MI: Revival Focus, 2017), p. 105-106.[2]See H.C.G. Moule, Practicing the Promises (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p. 65-71.[3]Reuben Archer Torrey, How to Pray(Chicago; New York: Fleming H. Revell company, 1900), p. 71–72.[4]H.C.G. Moule, Practicing the Promises (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p. 54.[5]Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 57.[6]Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), p. 211.[7]Charles G. Trumbull, The Life That Wins(Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2015), p. 20-21.

We have been physically born into a life that we cannot live because our only option in handling the problems of life is to do so sinfully. We must die to this life, and that is only possible by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are born into this world, we are dead to the things of God (Eph 2:1-2). But God makes us alive to Him at the moment that we believe in Jesus (Eph 2:5). This means that we have, in turn, died to sin, and have been raised to a newness of life.The believer in Jesus Christ is placed “in Christ” at the moment of faith. This establishes the believer with a new identity, being a new creation, and now having a glorious standing of righteousness before a holy God. Jesus’ perfect provision is our distinct privilege.Do we reallybelieve this? Our answer is predicated on our belief in the truthfulness of God’s Word, for in it are the factsof all history, seen and unseen, natural and supernatural, past, present, and future. Reality finds its meaning and purpose only in God’s holy Word.Why are we Missing the Power to Live the Christian Life?For many, Scripture seems disconnected from the “reality” of our modern age causing us to reluctantly dismiss the biblical record of the Holy Spirit’s work as borderline fiction. Such unbelief in the Bible’s accuracy has robbed us of the Spirit’s power in our lives. If we are not believing in what God has already said, why would we believe that He would work gloriously among us? When we render the Word of theLord as being mundane and ordinary, the Lord passes us by, just as He did in Nazareth. We are told haunting words by Matthew, “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matt 13:58). However, the Spirit’s power has been freely given to all who believe in Christ being freely available in abundance, and yet it lies dormant because of our unbelief, and more particularly our unbelief regarding what God has said in His holy Word. The believer in Christ is already “in Christ!” Thus, our position before God is one that is established in victory because Christ is victorious over sin, death, and the grave. His win is the provision for our lives to “win” also. Van Gelderen explains, “As children of God, Christ is living in each of us right now… Faith turns what is true provisionally into experience practically. We simply must choose to depend on the reality of the words declared by God in order to access the benefit of what God says is so.”[1]“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Believing His Word, moment by moment, is what it means to “abide,” and abiding in Christ is the answer to our power problem. Jesus references His own abiding in the Father in John 15:10. He tells His disciples, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just asI have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (emphasis added). Just as Jesus’ life was a model of constant obedience to the Father, so our lives in abiding in Christ must be one of constant obedience to Him. This is not a “do more, try harder” approach, but a “trust Him fully” way of thinking. No one obeys a command without believing it to be true. So it is with the relationship of “believing” and “obeying” in the Christian Life. This means that His Word is paramount and there are no worthy competitors. With His Word being our chiefconviction, we find our lives full of the Spirit’s power because all has come under submission to His will.[2]R.A. Torrey brings understanding to Jesus’ words regarding the power that is available when the believer is abiding in Christ. He writes, “If we are to obtain from God all that we ask from Him, Christ’s words must abide or continue in us. We must study His words, fairly devour His words, let them sink into our thought and into our heart, keep them in our memory, obey them constantly in our life, let them shape and mold our daily life and our every act.This is really the method of abiding in Christ. It is through His words that Jesus imparts Himself to us. The words He speaks unto us, they are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). It is vain to expect power in prayer unless we meditate much upon the words of Christ, and let them sink deep and find a permanent abode in our hearts. There are many who wonder why they are so powerless in prayer, but the very simple explanation of it all is found in their neglect of the words of Christ.”[3]Power in the Christian Life is NEVER our power, but the power of the Spirit flowing through us because we are in full dependency of the Word of the indwelling Christ. We must well-remember that Truth is a Person, Jesus Christ, and this Person operates and is who He is in complete consistency with His Word. This is a sound and consistent fact to rest ourselves upon. Facts have power, and those facts are found ONLY in God’s Word. When we speak of facts, we are speaking of authority. Understanding this, every situation, decision, and concern must have an authority in place. Therefore, it must be brought to the Word of God. It is the engine that provides the power for the F-Train to move forward. The remaining cars of faithand feelingshave no real power. Therefore,they only lead in wrong directions and to wrong responses. Their proper place is in submission to the authority (facts), for only the authority has power.Sadly, there are many instances in life where God’s Word is not the authority. This finds the other cars of faithand feelingscompeting for the lead position, and in turn, stalling all progression and growth in the Christian Life. Let’s look at the problems that are created when God’s Truth is removed from the forefront of our lives.When “Faith” is the Lead CarThis is a particularly sensitive area for many people because it strikes at the core convictions that one holds dear. Some have “grown up this way,” or “that’s just the way we do it,” or “It’s a Jeep thing, you wouldn’t understand.” You get the picture. Using the above rationales are really a defense mechanism to excuse sin. Some of the common phrases that are identifiers of this are:· I believe…· I think…· You ought to…· You shouldn’t…· Well, everybody does/believes/etc.· Well, they say… (who are “they”?)All of these have one thing in common: they are rooted in man’s opinion, having no foundation for their assertions, stemming from the biased minds and corrupted hearts of created, fallen beings. Each statement makes a man-centered assumption about how life should be or how situations and relationships should be handled, but fall seriously short when asked to provide a greater reason for these convictions other than, “Well, that’s just what I think ought to happen.” Life’s decisions should not be based on shaky ground.Only God is True. Only God is Eternal. Only God is the Creator. Therefore, His commentary and interpretation of existence, as foundin the Bible, is the final authority, telling us the Truth (facts) about everything.Though the person is obviously “believing” in something (faith), the object of their belief is not the Word of God. Therefore, it is considered unbelief, regardless of motives or heartfelt sincerity.Paul stresses the maturity that comes from a church body that is benefiting from the implementation of the Word of God as they are being taught it. He writes, “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph 4:14). The “trickery of men” and “deceitful scheming” are the false convictions (faith) that stem from a sinful mindset. The Word of God must be at the forefront if we are to think correctly about life, existence, relationships, eternity, etc.“I’m Religious”Many people portray a sincere “faith” and they communicate this by stating, “I’m religious,” “well, my faith is my own,” or something like “you believe in your god and I will believe in mine.” Another favorite is, “I think that god would…” In each of these statements their convictions about deity are revealed, demonstrating a god who has been fashioned according to their personal expectations. The very idea of deity has been diluted seeing that man is really in control. This is exactly the type of deity that the human race clamors after… one that can do or not do, be or not be, everything that the person who worships it wishes that it would do or not do, be or not be. Who is REALLY superior in this relationship?The self-serving nature of such diminished faithhas shown itself in all religions, being nothing new. Looking at Acts 17:22-27, we find Paul’s words to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers at Mars Hill. He notes that they are “very religious” (17:22). Faithis not their problem. They very much believe in a whole lot of gods, beings, and deities (17:16b). But as stated before, because their belief was not placed in the Wordof God, it is actually unbelief. Paul also notes one altar that was “to an unknown god” (17:23). Notice that this was a place of “worship” (feeling) that had an ascribed object as its focus (“an unknown god”) who is without identity or substance, having no foundation (unlike the factsof God’s Word). Yet, they were “very religious” (faith). How does Paul correct the F-TRAINof the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers?Paul tells them the facts. Follow the train of thought (no pun intended): 1. God made the world (17:24a). He is the Creator of all things. 2. He is the “Lord (Master) of heaven and earth” (17:24b) who is beyond temples, structures, and altars (17:24c). 3. He is not served with human hands because He is self-sufficient and is in need of nothing (17:25a). 4. He is the one who gives the human race life and breath. He is the Life-Source (17:25b). 5. God created them, and every man who has ever lived (17:26a), and He alone determines the when and where of their existence (17:26b) so that every person would know Him personally (17:27). Paul gave these “very religious” people an engine (facts) to get their F-TRAIN moving. He immediately identified the problem that Athens was facing. They had faith, though it was faithin the wrong object (unbelief), and by worshiping these “unknown” gods and having an air of superiority (Acts 17:21), they had feelings(worship) that were being dictated by their misdirected faith/unbelief. What they needed was something worth believing in; something sure and certain; something worthy of devotion. So, Paul introduces to them their Creator (facts) so that they can believe in Him (faith) and worship (feelings) the right and true Object. It is essential for faithto always be found in the facts, for faithwill always have worshipas the primary feelingthat follows it. “Worship” (literally “worth-ship”) ascribes value to an object. If you are enthralled with a celebrity, it is because you believe (faith)that they have done well and you are ascribing a higher value to them. The feelingthat proceeds out from that conviction (faith)is elation, pride,or what have you, because worth has been ascribed to this object. Faith will always have worshipas the primary feelingthat follows it.Misplacingfaith in something other than God’s Word leads to worship being ascribed to something other than God. This is the fabrication of idolatry in the heart, leaving one’s affections unchecked with trust and worth being issued to an object of complete inferiority. All things are less than God. Jeremiah the prophet exclaims, “There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might” (Jer 10:6).Identity CrisisOne of the greatest cries among this current generation is “Who am I?” This question is a result of banning the Creator God from the education of children, and thus banning His given purpose for our identities. Today we are seeing a flesh-led quest for identity in YouTube videos, Facebook posts, Snapchat, Instagram, etc., as well as the gay, lesbian, and transgender movement. Shock and awe are the calling cards of the culture and conformity is demanded in the name of originality (notice the contradictions that these worldviews create).It was obvious that the Spirit wanted us to know our identities up front. Only twenty-six verses into the first chapter of the Bible we read, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Gen 1:26-28).With His Word, God established the unchanging factof our identity. Every person is made in His likeness and in His image. This Truth holds great weight and significance, showing the Creator to be full of care and creating us for a purpose. Yet, our nation’s suicide rate among young people is skyrocketing. Could it be that the quest for “Who am I?” has already been answered by God, but the problem is that many are led to believe (faith) something else, leading to feelingsof inferiority, insignificance, and marginalization?This is a factthat is true for the Christian as well as the non-Christian. For the believer, they have an extra advantage, with the Holy Spirit residing in them and leading them into all Truth (facts- John 16:13). These factskeep us grounded in trying times, for we have the risen Lord hiding us with Himself in the Father (Col 3:3). The believer has died to this life of sin and has been raised to a newness of life, being given a new identity by being “in Christ!” How helpful this is in such confusing and trying times. Handley Moule captures this, writing, “In temptation, in spiritual languor and decline, in care and perplexity and toil, let me draw upon the fact – not the feeling but the fact – of ‘Christ in me.’”[4]When “Feelings” are the Lead CarThe idea that “feelings” can be the lead car are more of an excuse than a reality. What is meant by this is that all feelingsare actually a result of what it is that we are truly believing (faith), or what we are valuing as the “most true” concept at any given time. By believing something other than God’s Word, we have settled for a lesser truth that is really no truth at all because it is not God’s Truth (facts). In a situation where a heinous crime is committed because of someone’s reaction to something that they were surprised with, we may describe such rash actions as a “blind rage” (feelings). However, if the police believe that the person had pondered this crime for some time before committing it, they would call this “premeditated,” meaning that they had been believing (faith) this to be the right response for some time.We often phrase the reasons for our beliefs about something as “well, I feelthat…” when feelings are actually the result of our faithin a matter. When a reason is asked for why we did something wrong, we usually respond with a feelingsanswer: “I felt like I had to…” Many times, we find that the only way that we can express ourselves is in terms of feelings.It would seem that the three most prominent feelingsthat we are faced with are doubt, anger, and revenge.DoubtInMatthew 11:2-6, we return to the moment where John the Baptist struggled with doubts (feelings) about Jesus being the Promised Messiah. Though he himself had been His forerunner, John’s present situation made his susceptible to doubts (feelings), finding himself in a prison at the order of King Herod, all because he stood up for the truth (facts). “Are You the Expected One,” he asked through his disciples, “or shall we look for someone else?” (Matt 11:3). John’s feelingsabout his current situation had taken the place of the lead car, causing unbelief (faith) in who Jesus is. When we find ourselves in difficult situations, and especially in situations that are going to go on for some time, we may be tempted to lose faithin the facts. As a model example, Jesus does not scold John for his doubt (feelings), but turns his attention to the factsof Scripture: “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt 11:5). All of this was happening in John’s day, yet, knowing the Scriptures, John would have understood that the prophecies of the Messiah as told by Isaiah were being fulfilled (Isa 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 61:1). Therefore, Jesus was placing the facts at the front of the conversation so that John would have faithin them, and in light of this new stability, his feelingswould change.AssuranceThis is true for those Christians who are struggling with an assurance of salvation. Whether it is where they are in life, their past sins creeping up to beat them down, or some ongoing sin in their lives that they just can’t shake, many Christians, who are eternally secure in Christ, frequently doubt their salvation. They feellike they are not saved. Because they are not willing to conclude that they are lost shows that they are not fully buying in (faith) to the idea, but they are struggling, nonetheless. In this case, feelingsare leading the train, faith is being placed in those feelings, which will ultimately cause a reinterpretation of the facts, concluding in something like “Jesus will only keep me saved if I am a good person who only commits little sins.” By letting their feelingstake the lead car, and by believing those feelingsas truth, the F-TRAINis now traveling backwards with the factsbeing reinterpreted by their feelings. Is this factual? What does the Truth (facts) say about this matter?There are many verses and whole passages that could be cited that speak to the eternal, forever security of the believer in Christ, but we will only choose two, and with minimal elaboration. First, Romans 8:38-39states, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing, not even ourselves, can separate us from the love of God. This is a fact; a Truth with power to propel us forward if we would only believe (faith) what God is telling us. If we do, we will not just feelsaved, we will feelblessed!Another good passage that needs little explanation is 2 Timothy 2:13. It reads, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” The word “faithless” here actually means, “to have nobelief, disbelieve.”[5]This means that even if we are unbelieving in our lives, the Lord remains faithful to His promise of eternal life to us. Lea and Griffin explain this writing, “Paul was asserting that despite human unfaithfulness God’s saving purpose has not retreated. Timothy and all those with him were to continue their endurance that they might experience God’s blessing. Paul did not state these words to open the door to apostasy and disobedience but to soothe a troubled conscience and to provide encouragement to return to God.”[6]God is always faithful to His promises (facts) and He has promised us eternal life.AngerAnger is a big one! Everyone struggles with getting mad, and sometimes at the littlest things. However, being angry is not the real issue. As stated above, anger is the result (feeling) of a conviction (faith) that we are holding tightly. For those who seem to have a habitual problem with anger, their ultimate issue is the need to have control in situations. This is derived from a pride problem that believes (faith) that they are right and everyone else is wrong. Only their way is the correct way, and everyone else is “ignorant, stupid, uneducated,” or “means well, but they really don’t know what they are talking about.” This is pride, and when pride does not get its way, and a situation is not able to be controlled in the manner that “we think” (faith) it should be controlled, we get angry (feeling).Pride is the exact same sin that the devil had/has (Isa 14:13-14). It is a natural conclusion to see that this should have no part in us. Pride asserts one’s rights and fosters entitlement (faith). We feellike we deserve something or should be listened to because of who we are or what we have done, but these are really the convictions that we hold dear (faith). None of this is acceptable before the eyes of the Father. Instead, we are to humble ourselves before Him. How do we correct the problem of our cars getting out of order when it comes to anger?James 1:19b-20states, “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Being rash (feelings) never works. What we should seek in every situation is for God’s righteousness to shine forth and be the center of attention. Only He is right (facts), we are not. Our anger (feelings) will not accomplish His righteousness in any situation. Therefore, anger must be abandoned as a suitable option in handling conflict. By holding fast to this Truth (fact) and believing (faith) that it is in fact true, our feelingswill come to a place of humility knowing that it is possible for God’s righteousness to be displayed in every trial. This is not a “maybe” situation, but a certainty that rests upon our submission to His Word (facts). Will He not do what He has said?Biblically speaking, it is not wrong to be angry if you are angry about the right things. Ephesians 4:26-27says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” You can be angry about something and not sin. But the way to allow for anger to become sin is if you are not dealing with it properly. If it is prolonged, the devil will grab a foothold in your life. Being angry because of the abortion problem in the United States is a real and right reason to be angry. Being angry because you were lied to is a legitimate reason because truth (facts) has been bypassed for falsehood. But each of these situations needs to be addressed in the heart and brought before the Lord. They are not to fester and grow to an unhealthy dynamic. You see, feelingsare not bad when they are properly placed at the end of the train because of the faiththat you are exercising in the Truth of God’s Word (facts).RevengeWe’ve all been there. When someone has wronged us, they need to pay! So, we devise ways in our mind that they are going to pay, how we wish to see them pay, or how we are going to make them pay(feelings). The factis, we have been wronged and we will not allow ourselves to be treated in such a horrible fashion (feelings). So, obviously revenge is the best option… or is it?In Romans 12:19, Paul writes, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” This is Truth (fact). We may feeldisenfranchised in some way, but we must remember that the Lord knows all things and that He will bring all situations to justice. By claiming (faith) this Truth (fact), we can now rest (feeling) in God’s care, knowing that He will take care of what or who has wronged us with much greater precision than we would ever be able to muster in our sinful flesh.______________________________________Q: Do you believe what God has said about who you are, your current situation, the choices that you are making, or the handling of your future? If not, why not? Q: Where did God get it wrong? Where has His Word misspoken? How has He failed you in the past convincing you that you cannot trust Him anymore? Such questions should expose the root of the real reason why we are not trusting what He has already said in His Word. We are either convinced that there is a greater truth than what He has said about a particular matter (faith)or we know that His Word will keep us from the excitingly sinful situation that our flesh wants to participate in (feelings). Such conclusions dismiss the factsaltogether, exchanging God’s revealed Word for our sinful desires. ___________________________________It is possible to abide in Christ. We can experience the fullness of who He is because He is in us. In looking to Him as the Truth, and therefore looking to God’s Word as given through Him, we are submitted to His facts. He is so much more than many of us initially think or believe. Let’s close by illustrating this with a personal account of this grand realization. Charles Trumbull (1872-1941) was the editor of the Sunday School Times periodical. He was a committed and devout man, constantly championing the cause of Christ for some twenty years before He fully grasped the significance of Christ in him. He obviously knew the Word and all that it taught of Christ and the Christian Life, but he came to realize that he was not confidently convinced of what it was actually saying to him about the nature of Christ’s Life in relationship to his person. In the profound little booklet The Life That Wins, we find his personal testimony in coming to this profound realization. He writes, “I had always known that Christ was my Savior, but I had looked upon Him as an external Savior, one who did a saving work forme from outside, as it were; one who was ready to come close alongside and stay by me, helping me in all that I needed, giving me power and strength and salvation. But now I knew something better than that. At last I realized that Jesus Christ was actually and literally withinme and that He had constituted Himself my very life, taking me into union with Himself- my body, mind, and spirit- while I still had my own identity and free will and full moral responsibility. Was not this better than having Him as a helper or even than having Him as an external Savior? To have him, Jesus Christ, God the Son, as my own very life. It meant that I need never again ask Him to help me as though He were one and I another, but rather simply to do His work, His will in me and with me and through me. My body was His, my mind His, my will His, my spirit His- and not merely His but literally a part of Him. What He asked me to recognize was that ‘I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.’ Jesus Christ had constituted Himself my life- not as a figure of speech, remember, but as a literal, actual fact, as literal as the fact that a certain tree has been made into this desk on which my hand rests. For ‘your bodies are members of Christ,’ and ‘ye are the body of Christ.’”[7]The F-TRAINis a simple illustration that points to this greater truth. Christ, the Word of God, is telling us the Truth (facts) about life, reality, and Himself. His Word is giving us the answers, the factsabout every situation. By believing (faith) upon what He has already told us, we find heights previously unknown and provision much deeper than first assumed. How can humility and gratitude (feelings) not be the result of such amazing grace? “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11b). To live our lives in the light of His Truth (facts) is to have Him live His Life through us. This is most certainly a Life worth living![1]John Van Gelderen, Experiencing Jesus: Personal Revival Through the Spirit-Filled Life(Ann Arbor, MI: Revival Focus, 2017), p. 105-106.[2]See H.C.G. Moule, Practicing the Promises (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p. 65-71.[3]Reuben Archer Torrey, How to Pray(Chicago; New York: Fleming H. Revell company, 1900), p. 71–72.[4]H.C.G. Moule, Practicing the Promises (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p. 54.[5]Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 57.[6]Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), p. 211.[7]Charles G. Trumbull, The Life That Wins(Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2015), p. 20-21.

What does it mean to “abide?” When Jesus calls us to “abide” in Him, He is calling us to “remain, stay put, continue on, cling to.” He alone is the object to which we are to abide, and He alone is the Source of supplying our growth and the ability to bringing forth fruit. It must be clearly recognized, though our society fights it tooth and nail, that Jesus supplies the power, that Jesus brings the growth, and that all ability in bearing fruit is Jesus' ability. He is our nourishment and nothing else.John 15 shows Jesus likening Himself to a Vine and designating His followers as branches (15:4). Jesus wants to do great things with us; God-things through us. This is only possible by abiding in Him, looking to Him for nourishment, direction, power, and fruit. “Self” has no place in abiding in Him. Abiding takes the place of “self” in every area, for when one abides in Christ, they are steadfast in their position as a creature in need of everything and submitting his or herself to the Creator who supplies everything. Abiding strips us of our pitiful sufficiency, which is really no sufficiency at all, being only a poor and broken substitute for the genuine article made freely available in Christ. Our broken substitute my give off the appearance of genuine holiness and reliance upon the living God, but our ornate mausoleum will always reveal the dead bones of “self” and the sad remnants of the flesh. The only need in the Christian Life is the full acceptance of all that the believer already has and is in Christ. The key is dependency.Abiding is based on the acceptance of the truths of living the Christ-Life as seen in God’s Word. This is what Bishop Handley Moule calls the “dethronement of self”[1]because we have been confidently convinced that there is a better Answer, being a better Source of nourishment in every single area of our lives.Every Christian knows that this is the answer to the deep longing that gnaws away at the soul. The intimacy that satisfies is our insatiable desire, and we acknowledge this repeatedly by the events and relationships that we choose to surround ourselves with. Being in Christ, this is only heightened to a previously unknown extreme, having understood something of the goodness of Jesus in forgiving sin and giving the one who believes eternal life. Great and glorious are these blessings and both are exceedingly abundant in their provision, such that we will not be able to understand them on this side of Heaven, and though having glorified bodies, we may still be found lacking in our comprehension when we are “with Him always.”Because of our flesh, many of us need incentive. We need to be convinced that the decision to abide is worth making if we are going to make it. This should not be surprising. As we have brought up repeatedly, Jesus had to tell His disciples, those who were following Him closely, that if they loved Him, they would keep His commandments (John 14:15, 21). If abiding is essential, what are the present benefits for the believer when they are abiding in Christ? According to John 15:1-11, they are:· Bearing Fruit- (15:2, 4, 5)· Effective Prayer- (15:7)· The Father is Glorified- (15:8a)· “Come into Being” a Disciple- (15:8b)· The Joy of Jesus in us- (15:11a)· Our Joy is Made Full- (15:11b) There is nothing but gain to be had in abiding in Christ. All that is listed above is holy and pure, and right, both in the here and now and in eternity. ATTITUDE & PERSPECTIVE The Apostle Paul writes of this intimacy in a way that would be deemed as the delusional writings of a madman when he states, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my ownderived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Himand the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:8b-11, emphasis added). Some may read this and conclude that Paul is speaking of justification and that his main thrust is what his life must look like in order to go to heaven when he dies. But this view places one’s works and behavior as an indispensable ingredient to eternal life, expelling entirely the notion that it is a free gift (John 3:16; Rom 5:15, 18). The context shows us that the righteousness in view is a practicalrighteousness and not the positionalrighteousness of justification. In living his life, Paul understands that any “righteousness” of his own is not righteousness at all. He best deeds are sin without Christ at their center. All that he may have gained in this life is concluded to be trash before the Lord. Such things, if deemed important, could usurp his dependency in all that Christ is for him, thus becoming a god. Material goods, and immaterial values like “intuition,” are but daily distractions and barriers to the risen Christ living His glorious life through the apostle. This approach to life will always be unsatisfying, and Paul knows it. This is why he champions “faith” as the only path to practical righteousness.Paul’s desire is to “know Him,” with “know” speaking to an experiential knowledge. Paul’s thoughts look to “the power of His resurrection,” not His death. Wuest notes this well, writing, “The tense causes us to translate, ‘to come to know by experience.’ Paul wants to come to know the Lord Jesus in that fullness of experimental knowledge which is only wrought by being like Him. He wants to know also in an experiential way the power of Christ’s resurrection. That is, he wants to experience the same power which raised Christ from the dead surging through his own being, overcoming sin in his life and producing the Christian graces.”[2]Paul is speaking of the Life of Christ being lived through him. Paul also speaks of the “fellowship of His sufferings,” which point to living in the trials of this life with the perfection of Christ’s Life always at the ready. This returns the believer to the nature of trials. Trials provide the opportunity to trust in the God of glory. Believing in Jesus resulting in the forgiveness of sin and a receiving of the gift of eternal life is the greatest need in all of existence, but for some reason it is there that we stop in our belief and handle the smaller, temporal situations of life with unbelief. In Romans, Paul rationalizes the absurdity of this approach, writing, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:32). The sufficiency of the greater promise of eternal life, ensured by the perfect shedding of His blood, exposes our unbelief when we conclude that our lesser worries are not covered by Him. Essentially, we are saying that He did not “save to the uttermost” (Heb 7:24-25, ESV).Paul also speaks of his conforming to Jesus’ death as being the means to attaining “the resurrection from the dead.” Again, the “works-salvation” crowd will quickly pipe up to say that unless a person iswilling to conform to the death of Christ in their daily life, they will not attain this resurrection, thus showing themselves as being unsaved.[3]This conclusion obviously violates the foundational principle that salvation is by “faith alone,” but also fails to give the proper attention to the word “resurrection” in v.11. The word that is normally used for “resurrection” is anastasis, but the word that Paul uses here is bekanastasis, with ekmeaning “out of.” Dillow explains that ek“intensifies the noun; it is an ‘out-resurrection,’ a ‘full resurrection,’ a fuller experience of resurrection life. This is the prize/reward of the games that is awarded by the judge. It is his reward for faithful service.”[4]Paul uses this word intentionally in reference to the eternal outcome of the one who abides in Christ. For them, there will be reward, a fullness of eternal life, and opportunities granted to rule and reign with Christ. The time of self-denial will be difficult in the present, but worth it in the end (Rom 8:18). From Paul’s words in Philippians 3, we can see that our obedience in abiding in Christ gives us a fuller life in the future. HOW?How does the Christian “abide” in Christ without wavering to the right or to the left? To put it plainly, the only way to abide is by applying the Word to our lives. This is often mistaken as a call to “do something,” but this is a works answer to a faith problem. To abide, the believer is to yield to the commands, precepts, and promises of the Word of God, believing them to be true in spite of their circumstances or environment. We simply need to “get out of theway” of Christ living His Life through us and submit to His leading as plainly stated in the Word of God. There are three basic tenets that, when placed in the proper order, have guaranteed our desired end. Let’s look at each one briefly, focusing on the main points of each, and then provide a simple illustration, that will help in the application of these tenets. FACTS- When we speak of “Facts,” we are speaking of truth. The question being asked is “What is real?” When we speak of ultimate truth, we are speaking of a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Only what God has said is true, and that He “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb 1:2a), showing that Christ is the pinnacle revelation of God speaking. Jesus Christ is everything that God wishes to say to the human race. As noted before, all of the Old Testament prepares us for Him, while the New Testament explains the fullness of Him. All unbelief is a suppression of Truth, though the truth has been clearly revealed (Rom 1:18-20). The world system has been orchestrated by Satan to fool all people into believing that there is “more than one truth,” that “all roads lead to God,” that “it might be true for you but it is not true for me,” and in turn has de-personalized Truth from the Person of Jesus Christ. This deceitful philosophy has caused an epidemic of neglect in one’s personal responsibility to a Sovereign Creator. When dealing with “Facts,” the question to answer is: “What has God said?”FAITH- “Faith,” as discussed previously, is a confident conviction that something is true. To believe is to be persuade of the certainty of a thing. The Bible gives us this definition in Hebrews 11:1- “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” In quoting segments of Lane’s commentary on Hebrews, David Allen writes, “Faith is the objective grounds upon which subjective confidence may be based. Such faith springs from a personal encounter with God. This kind of faith enables one to venture into the future ‘supported only by the word of God.’”[5]While objective, faith is also passive, accepting that which is deemed “true” by the one believing. Seeing that this can result in either “belief” or “unbelief” (depending on the object in which one is believing), we can see the necessary connection between “Faith” and “Facts” as indispensable in moving the believer to “abide” in Christ. To believe in the wrong thing is to be found in unbelief, regardless of the level of sincerity. One’s belief is only as good as the object in which they are believing. Thus, when we are trusting in Christ’s Word in how we live our daily lives, our “Faith” is found to be exceedingly valuable because of the Object that it has rested upon. Many have rejected the idea that “Faith” is objective, settling instead for a more palatable expression that confuses “Faith” with “Feelings.” This immediately gives way to the subjective, and in doing so, has rationalized the whims and desires of the sinful heart as standing fully justified in the eyes of the one wrongly-believing. Any consideration for what is really true about a matter has been abandoned because of the conviction that comes with it. In light of this, how one “Feels” becomes a safer answer, eliminating the idea that there is Anyone to answer to. For instance, there are many people who do a poor job of raising their kids. They knew better (“Facts”). So, in order to escape the “Facts,” which demand a “Faith” response due to the irrefutable nature of those “Facts,” unbelief takes over and justifies itself with the idea of how they “Feel” that children ought to be raised. “Faith” is seemingly moved into the subjective, but it is the person’s “Feelings” that are leading the way. What an unworthy guide they are. In this way, negligence is rationalized as an acceptable approach to childrearing because the parent simply does not “Feel” like parenting today. The results of this approach are being seen today on our university campuses, jails and prisons, and within the workforce.When dealing with “Faith,” the question to answer is: “What do I believe about what God has said?”FEELINGS“Feelings” have their place. Let’s not conclude that “Feelings” are wrong simply because they are “Feelings.” “Feelings” are only wrong when they are leading our decisions and direction. Our God is a God who feels (Gen 6:6), and emotions are a gift from God so that we are able to express ourselves. However, “Feelings” are not to be the captain of the ship; Truth is. When the “Facts” of Truth are understood, and when they are accepted by believing in them (“Faith”), our “Feelings” should follow and flow out from our “Faith” in the “Facts.” When our “Feelings” are in the lead, every action that follows is irrational and dangerous.In speaking to a friend of mine who serves as a biblical counselor, he stated, “This generation is so deceived and indoctrinated with following their feelings or their ‘heart.’ It’s so anti-Christ,” and he is right. “Feelings,” serving in the place of our reason for why we are doing something, is an approach that is completely dismissive of the Person of Truth. Think about it: when was the last time that we pulled back from a situation and said with confidence, “If I wouldn’t have followed my feelings here, this would have never worked out to the glory of God.” Never. We have never said this in any situation because when our “Feelings” take the lead, our pride becomes the dominant factor, and all direction and every decision is contorted to satisfy our secret need to have control. When “Feelings” are in the lead, we are abiding in the Self-Life. This makes it impossible to abide in Christ.When dealing with our “Feelings,” the question to answer is: “How should I feel now that I have believed in what God has said?”THE F-TRAINEach of these three areas lends themselves to a simple illustration that helps us to think rightly about abiding in Christ.First, God’s Word must lead the way. It is Truth. Jesus is Truth. And Truth declares the “Facts” of reality, whether known or unknown; natural or supernatural. “Facts” are the engine of the F-Train. “Facts” are always true, and Truth has power. Therefore, they always provide a foundation that is unshakable. If the engine is not up front, the train has no power leading it and it cannot move forward.“Faith” is the middle car (the boxcar), attached firmly to the engine, allowing for the “Facts” to propel the train forward. The middle car simply relies on the power of the car in front of it to get it where it needs to go. If the box car were to be in the front of the train, the engine would be strained in trying to move the car forward and progress would be greatly hindered, if not stopped altogether.“Feelings” are in the caboose. It is the final car in the series, bringing up the rear, and contributing nothing in propelling the train onward. This is because every “Feeling” is without a foundation by itself. It is simply attached to the boxcar, enjoying the ride, with confidence that the engine will bring the cars that follow it safely to the proper destination. For now, it is enough to know that the Christian can only move forward in abiding in Christ if the “Facts” of God’s Word are leading the way, our “Faith” is firmly plugged into those “Facts,” eliminating the pockets of unbelief that suddenly appear. With the first two cars in place, our “Feelings” become the outcome of our “Faith” in the “Facts,” rather than the lead car which would ultimately lead us off the rails. “Faith” and “Feelings” have no power to move forward with God, so when either one is thrust into place as the lead car, all forward motion is lost. The ramifications of getting these cars out of order will be discussed in the next lesson.What is the key to clicking all of the cars into their rightful place? THE KEY TO ABIDINGOur Christianity, and by this I am referring to how we live our lives as Christians in this present age, is largely of self. With the constant barrage of “customizable” options and the tailoring of our surroundings to make us comfortable and safe, we have all but uninvited Jesus to be our All in All in every situation. We have missed the Spirit’s leading that the obedient path is often the inconvenient path, and it is only deemed so because we view it with biased eyes. With our immediate futures being unknown, and our neglect to hurriedly hold Christ’s hand as He leads us to the next opportunity for growth and grace, we have dictated our ineffectiveness on the grounds of every reason but a biblical one. And then we wonder why we are not effective. We seem perplexed by the power that we read about in the Scriptures and the seemingly one-dimensional nature of our present-day Christian existence, and we ask, “Is this all there is?” Our short-sightedness has been brought on by our refusal to submit to God’s Word. Dependency is the key to the Christians life. Apart from Him we can do nothing. If we wanted to use a more biblical word that usually scares Christians silly, we would say “submission.” Our lives, our worries, our fears, our families, our preferences, and our recreational time, are all lived out with self at the center, and a dependency on Christ is nowhere to be found. Submission ends such independence.The self-life crowds out the New Life that Jesus wants to live through us. We have come to believe, or have always believed, that each of these areas is compartmentalized as their own area separate from the influence of Christ. It is only by receiving the implanted Word that we are able to see that there are greater horizons for each of these areas, such as we could never fathom because we have kept them separated from Truth, and this Truth is none other than the LordJesus Christ Himself. Can we really expect to direct our families in the right way when we are not even inviting Jesus to the table? Let’s be honest, we ultimately doubt His power. We ultimately doubt His ability. And we ultimately doubt His goodness. Pure dependency is the cure that our unbelief desperately needs, for He is truly all-powerful, fully able, and uncompromisingly good. Thankfully, Paul models dependency for us.In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul is writing of the vision of the third heaven that he was blessed to receive (2 Cor 12:2-4). With such revelation came the need to keep Paul humble, for otherwise, he would boast in himself, his knowledge, his status in relation to God, and his privileges. Though this grieved Paul, and though he sought for relief (2 Cor 12:8), he was brought to a grand conclusion, with Jesus telling Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” To this, Paul exhibited the lesson learned, writing “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor 12:9b, emphasis added). Our clamoring for self-sufficiency, the protection of our “personal time,” and our striving for safety and security is ultimately rooted in our unbelief, robbing the opportunity for Christ’s power to be seen all-sufficient for us. Again, the key is dependency, and apart from depending on Him, we should not expect anything of God in our lives. We may strive to “conjure Christian appearances,” but such striving is fleshly and antagonistic to His sufficiency in all things. We must come to terms with the fact that He IS, that He is ABLE and that He is GOOD, desiring only the best for His children. We must believe Him![1]H.C.G. Moule, Practicing the Promises (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p. 25.[2]Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), p. 93.[3]Thomas R. Schreiner & Ardel B. Caneday, The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance & Assurance (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2001), p. 111.[4]Joseph C. Dillow, “Degrees of Glory” in A Defense of Free Grace Theology: With Respect to Saving Faith, Perseverance, and Assurance, ed. Fred Chay(The Woodlands, TX.: Grace Theology Press, 2017), p. 365.[5]David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), p. 543.

Being not without controversy, there are two dominant interpretations of Jesus’ teaching on the “Vine and branches.” First, those branches that do not “bear fruit” (John 15:2), who are “thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned” (John 15:6), are considered those who are pseudo-Christians, being without genuine faith, as those who had never truly believed.[1]The second view sees those who do not bear fruit and who are eventually burned as genuine believers, having a union with Christ, but who are failing in their communion with Him. Such believers are justified. However, their intimacy and fellowship with Him is not growing because they are not “abiding” in Christ. The idea of being “burned” speaks to discipline, and not the Lake of Fire.[2]It is this last view that holds the greatest credibility, both in John’s Gospel and within the bounds of Scripture as a whole. Therefore, it is the viewpoint that will be endorsed and explained here.John 13-16 finds Jesus teaching His disciples and encouraging them before His betrayal and arrest. Soon He would be gone, and they would need to carry on. But how? The Lord’s explanation of the indwelling Holy Spirit would certainly be of some comfort to them. But when a flood of emotions rush upon a person unexpectedly, much of what is valued can be quickly forgotten. When our emotional state has been heightened into a “fight or flight” condition, rational and steadfast truths can easily fade into the background. This is most certainly true for the eleven disciples of our Lord.In troubled times, obedience is paramount. This is a theme that carries the reader into John 15, with Jesus stating “but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me” (John 14:31a). Obedience testifies to the world system about the love that we have for God. This was Jesus’ greatest desire, seeing that He was always in submission to the Father. In disputing the two possible viewpoints of this text, Jesus’ words bring clarity. Jesus “abides” in the Father. Therefore, believers should abide in Him as well. While further justification for the “fellowship/communion” view will be supplied as we work through the text, it is clear that Jesus has love on His mind, which He has shown to be demonstrated through obedience (John 14:15, 21). John 15:1-3.Jesus begins this significant teaching by stressing two designations in the form of an analogy. First, Jesus describes Himself as the “true vine,” with the surrounding context giving us little in understanding the necessity of Jesus using the adjective “true” in distinguishing Himself. Many have referred to the comparison made of the nation of Israel to a vine in the Old Testament (Jer 2:21). This is quickly followed up with the idea that Jesus, in His perfect obedience, is everything that Israel should have been unto God the Father. But this association seems forced, being without much merit when considering the context and the events that would soon follow. Since this pericope is focused on the importance of “abiding,” Jesus’ words may be a “setting apart” from other possible competing influences that would seek to draw away the devotion of the eleven. If the believer is to “abide” in anything, let their abiding be in Christ! The second designation refers to the Father as the “vinedresser.” This is geōrgosin the Greek, being a compound word with ge meaning “land, soil,” and ergonmeaning “work.” Literally, this word speaks of God the Father as One who is working with the soil, or in this case, a worker of the vine. The importance of the Father as the vinedresser is a designation that encompasses more than what might be readily understood by the reader. Jesus’ analogy is deliberate and no point of consideration is wasted. The weight of this description is captured well by Derickson and Radmacher: “A vinedresser is more than a mere farmer. His work is not like the typical farmer, who simply plows up a field, plants a crop, harvests it, and waits for next season (We are speaking simplistically here). Grapes are more than an annual crop. They are individuals. A husbandman must know all about grapes, how they grow, what they need, when they need it, and what produces the best health as well as production in the plant. But, to be effective, they not only must know the right things, but they must nurture their plants with loving care.The vinedresser’s grapevines remain with him for decades. He comes to know each one in a personal way, much like a shepherd with his sheep. He knows how the vine is faring from year to year and which ones are more productive or vigorous than others. He knows what they respond to and what special care certain one’s need. Every vine has its own personality. And the vinedresser comes to know it over the years. The vinedresser cares for each vine and nurtures it, pruning it the appropriate amount at the appropriate times, fertilizing it, lifting its branches from the ground and propping them or tying them to the trellis, and taking measures to protect them from insects and disease.So, when Jesus calls His Father the Vinedresser, He is describing Him in terms of His relationship and attitude as well as His actions in the lives of the disciples… To call Him a vinedresser is to tell them He cares for them personally and is wise to know exactly what to do to make them fruitful. With such a Vinedresser, the branches can experience complete confidence and security.”[3]Thus established, the Father works through the Vine (Jesus) for the health and productivity of the branches in bringing forth fruit. In 15:1-11, we see the idea of bringing forth fruit of some kind (whether “much fruit” or “more fruit”) or not bringing forth fruit six times. From this we can conclude that the Father’s skilled and loving involvement in seeing that the branches are bearing fruit is a dominant theme.In 15:2, Jesus addresses the product, or lack thereof, of the branches. He begins by stating “every branch IN ME” (emphasis added) demonstrating the location of the branches at the time of expected productivity. This argument alone should be enough to dismiss the notion that fruitless Christians are not really saved. While the comparison of the branches being representative of the eleven is not made clear until 15:4, the fact that the location of the branches being “in Me,” with Christ being the One speaking, does not change. Hart notes that “elsewhere in the New Testament, nonbelievers are never said to be ‘in Me (Christ)’ in any sense of the term.”[4]Jesus’ words are clear that both the productive and unproductive branches in 15:2 are in Him, dismissing the idea of pseudo-believers. One of the greatest evidences promoting the “pseudo-Christian” interpretation is that the branch that “does not bear fruit” is taken away (John 15:2a), which is the rendering of every major English translation of the Bible with “cuts off” (NLT) and “removes” (HCSB) being some of the variants available. However, this is not the onlyway to understand the Greek word airō, and most certainly not the way to understand how a vinedresser would initially deal with a branch that is not fruit bearing. It would seem that many of the presumptions that stem from the meaning of being “burned” in John 15:6 have controlled the decision to translate airōas “takes away,” as can be seen in the study notes of the NET translation.[5]Noting this bias, Boice writes “Undoubtedly, their translation has been made to conform to what they know or believe is coming in verse 6, but the translation is not the best or even the most general meaning of the Greek word airowhich lies behind it.”[6]At this point, the deliberate nature of Jesus describing the Father as the “vinedresser” becomes essential to understanding the text properly. The word airōis shown to have the following meanings, which are mostly decided upon by the surrounding context of the passage in question. Note the following:1.to raise up;a.to raise from the ground, take up: stones, Jn. 8:59; serpents, Mk. 16:18; a dead body, Acts 20:9.b.to raise upwards, elevate, lift up: the hand, Rev. 10:5; the eyes, Jn. 11:41; the voice, i. e. speak in a loud tone, cry out, Lk. 17:13; Acts 4:24, (also in prof. writ.); to raise the mind, i. q. excite, affect strongly (with a sense of fear, hope, joy, grief, etc.); in Jn. 10:24 to hold the mind in suspense between doubt and hope, cf. Lücke [or Meyer] ad loc.c.to draw up: a fish, Mt. 17:27 (Hab. 1:15); Acts 27:17; anchors from the bottom of the sea, Acts 27:13, where supply; cf. Kuinoel ad loc.; [W. 594 (552); B. 146 (127)].2.to take upon one’s self and carry what has been raised, to bear: Mt. 4:6; Lk. 4:11, (Ps. 90 (91):12); a sick man, Mk. 2:3; Mt. 11:29 (Lam. 3:27); a bed, Mt. 9:6; Mk. 2:9, 11 sq.; Lk. 5:24 sq.; Jn. 5:8–12; Mt. [10:38 Lchm. mrg.]; 16:24; 27:32; Lk. 9:23; Mk. 8:34; 10:21 [in R Lbr.]; 15:21; Rev. 18:21; to carry with one, [A. V.take]: Mk. 6:8; Lk. 9:3; 22:36. Both of these ideas are expressed in classical Greek.3.to bear away what has been raised, carry off;a.to more from its place: Mt. 21:21; Mk. 11:23, (be thou taken up, removed [B. 52 (45)], sc. from thy place); Mt. 22:13 [Rec.]; Jn. 2:16; 11:39, 41; 20:1.b.to take offor awaywhat is attached to anything: Jn. 19:31, 38 sq.; to tear away, Mt. 9:16; Mk. 2:21; to rend away, cut off, Jn. 15:2.c.to remove: 1 Co. 5:2 (cast out from the church; tropically: faults, Eph. 4:31, Jn. 1:29, [36 Lchm. in br.], to remove the guilt and punishment of sin by expiation, or to cause that sin be neither imputed nor punished; but in 1 Jn. 3:5 is to cause our sins to cease, i. e. that we no longer sin, while we enter into fellowship with Christ, who is free from sin, and abide in that fellowship, cf. vs. 6.d.to carry off, carry away with one: Mt. 14:12, 20; 15:37; 20:14; 24:17 sq.; Mk. 6:29, 43; 8:8, 19 sq.; 13:15 sq.; Lk. 9:17; 17:31; Jn. 20:2, 13, 15; Acts 20:9.e.to appropriatewhat is taken: Lk. 19:21 sq.; Mk. 15:24.f.to take away from another what is hisor what is committed to him, to take by force: Lk. 6:30; 11:52; Mt. 13:12; 21:43; 25:28; Lk. 8:12, 18; 19:24, 26; [Mt. 25:29]; Mk. 4: (15), 25; Jn. 10:18; 16:22.g.to take and apply to any use: Acts 21:11; 1 Co. 6:15.h.to take from among the living, either by a natural death, Jn. 17:15 (take away from intercourse with the world), or by violence, Mt. 24:39; Lk. 23:18; Jn. 19:15; Acts 21:36; with the addition of Acts 22:22; of a bloody death inflicted upon one, Acts 8:33 (Is. 53:8).i.of things; to take out of the way, destroy: Col. 2:14; cause to cease: Acts 8:33 (Is. 53:8).[7]Notice that the idea of “taking away” (#3, b.) stems from the understanding “to bear away what has been raised” (#3), and does not assume a negative connotation. The instances before this speak of being “raised up” or “to take up or carry for one’s self,” all of which happen to fit the cultural, historical, and contextual implications of this passage in likening the Father to a vinedresser. Viticulture, being the cultivation and care of grapevines, is a meticulous calling, as described above in Derickson and Radmacher’s comments. But the specifics of bringing a branch that is not bearing fruit into a place where fruit can be produced is often overlooked or totally dismissed as a course of action that the vinedresser would take, opting instead to dismiss the branch into the Lake of Fire.In viticulture, a branch of the vine that was not bearing fruit was usually due to the branch coming off the trellis and resting on the ground. Being on the ground, the branch now has a disruption in receiving the nourishment that is needed to be productive. Desperately in need, the branch develops sprigs that plug into the ground seeking moisture for nourishment. Now the branch is dependent upon the ground for its sustenance, and though inferior, has attached itself as the sole means of getting nourishment. That which is produced from this inferior source is worthless at best. The vinedresser must get involved personally in order to give the opportunity for maximum production to the fallen branch. However, this is not an easy, or immediate process.Caring for the branch, and wishing to restore it to its greatest source of nourishment from the vine, the Father slowly begins separating the fallen branch from its inferior dependency. To do this, the branch is lifted only slightly without breaking the sprigs attached to the ground. He then places a small rock under the branch in order to keep it lifted, slowly weaning the branch from its inferior source of nourishment. Over the next few days, the separation of the branch from the ground becomes more gradual until all dependency is removed and the branch can once again be restored to the trellis where a maximum flow of nourishment can occur, being provided from the vine. This illustration shows the Father’s loving care in slowly separating the believer from inferior sources of nourishment so that they are fully dependent upon Christ alone.This is not a novel understanding. Hart explains, “The verb translated takes awaycan just as easily be translated ‘lifts up,’ denoting the Vinedresser’s action in stimulating growth in a fruitless branch (God helping a fruitless believer to produce fruit). In the viticulture of Israel, late fall was the season for removing dead branches (v.6). The springtime (the time of the upper room message and Jesus’ death) was the season to ‘lift up’ fruitless branches from the ground to encourage productivity.”[8]Being on the move (John 14:31b), it very well could have been that Jesus and His disciples were passing a vineyard at the time of this illustration. They could easily see the difference between those branches that had fallen to the ground and those who had remained on the trellis and were bursting with production. The Father takes those who are in a position of fruitlessness and gives them the opportunity and provision to grow. This is an opportunity that should not be wasted, but is a grand invitation to draw near to the Father and to be used for His purposes, ones that will display astriking testimony (John 14:31a), bringing Him great glory and honor before men.The second point in John 15:2 speaks of those branches that are bearing fruit and being productive. Such branches are “pruned” in order to have a greater productivity. This word is kathairōand is an obvious wordplay off of airō(“lifts up”) in the previous clause. It means, “to cause something to become clean, make clean, literally of a place that has been swept,… to remove superfluous growth from a plant, clear, prune of a vine.”[9]This is similar to the English word “catharsis” and is understood as a cleaning that takes place. Some have associated this cleansing of the productive branch as divine discipline,[10]but this hardly makes sense. Why would the Lord discipline a branch that is properly plugged into the vine, remaining steadfast in where it was placed, and receiving the correct nourishment so that production is rightly occurring? Instead, this “cleansing” would be better understood as divine “testing” that is being introduced into the believer’s life. Trials are God’s means of developing His people into mature saints. Note James’ words when he writes, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:2-4). Notice that the outcome of letting “endurance have its perfect result” is that the believer becomes “perfect and complete” (“mature” and “blameless”), having all that he or she needs. Hodges notes, “James is referring to the way trial and testing apply ‘fire’ to our faith, so that it can come through the ‘furnace’ of trouble cleansed of any dross or impurity from the flesh. Like gold that has been refined, faith can be purified from the selfish motives and misguided perceptions that often distort and weaken it. God can use trouble to accomplish justthat.”[11]Such testing always asks the question of belief or unbelief of the believer. Trials can rid the believer of the self-life and move us into a greater dependency on Him. Those who choose to believe God’s Word in the midst of their trials are those who will “bear more fruit” (John 15:2b). In John 15:3, Jesus states that the eleven are “already clean” (katharos- “being clean or free of adulterating matter, clean, pure”[12]) and this is because of the word that He has spoken to them. This may seem to be an out-of-place comment, but it finds its connection in John 13:10which states, “Jesus said to him, ‘He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.’” The following verse records John’s commentary that the one who is not clean is the betrayer, Judas (John 13:11). Having left the group in John 13:30, Judas’ absence allowed for Jesus to give a much more concentrated teaching to those who were justified. Their being “clean” in 15:3 speaks to their justification, having been declared righteous by God after responding in faith to Christ. Justification had placed them in a position of unconditional acceptance before the Father, connecting them to the Vine, Jesus Christ. Now their responsibility would be to abide in that Vine in order to experience Life to the full.John 15:4-6.With 15:4 the word “abide” is introduced for the first of ten mentions in this passage. “Abide in Me, and I in you.” In Greek, the word “abide” is menōmeaning “to remain in the same place over a period of time—‘to remain, to stay.’”[13]That to which the disciples are told to “abide” is in Christ. This imperative draws theimmediate implication that abiding is not automatic, even though the eleven are “already clean” (15:3). Jesus clearly delineates between one’s justification and their sanctification. His call to abide “in Me” is to explain the means for having a beneficial experience in the here and now by bearing fruit that will give God glory. This nourishing communion is a means of total blessing to the believer in Christ, having the power of God’s provision flowing to them and producing fruit through them. Augustine writes, “The relation of the branches to the vine is such that they contribute nothing to the vine, but from it derive their own means of life; while that of the vine to the branches is such that it supplies their vital nourishment, and receives nothing from them. And so their having Christ abiding in them, and abiding themselves in Christ, are in both respects advantageous, not to Christ, but to the disciples.”[14]In understanding what is meant by “and I in you” (John 15:4b), we should not attempt to understand this apart from the preceding context either. In the previous chapter, Jesus was clear about how to cultivate an intimate fellowship with Himself and the Father. John 14:21finds Jesus stating, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose (emphanizō-revealing clearly in detail; moving from the sensory to the cognitive in being fully known) Myself to him.” It is obeying that equates to abiding, and it is by abiding that one bears fruit. Such obedience is what cultivates intimacy with the Father and the Son. This is synonymous with “fellowship.” “To abide in Christ is, on the one hand, to have no known sin unjudged and unconfessed, no interest into which He isnot brought, no life which He cannot share,” states Scofield. “On the other hand, the abiding one takes all burdens to Him, and draws allwisdom, life and strength from Him. It is not unceasing consciousness of these things, and of Him, but that nothing is allowed in the life which separates from Him.”[15]Such a view is in complete alignment with everything that the New Testament espouses in “walking in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16, 25), “walking in a manner worthy” of our calling in Christ (Eph 4:1), and “walking in love” (Eph 5:2). All known sin must be confessed and every hinderance must be laid aside to ensure that “abiding” is a constant condition of the branch. This example is seen again in Jesus’ response to Judas (not Iscariot) in John 14:23when He says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” In essence, abiding is the believer remaining intimate with the Father and the Son in obeying the Word of Christ, keeping what has been commanded (John 14:15, 21, 31). The Word of Christ is central and paramount to intimate fellowship with the Godhead. In abiding, the Word must abide in us (15:7a). When this happens, not only is greater intimacy experienced, but “more fruit” is produced!The example that accompanies this truth in John 15:4b is plain: A branch cannot produce anything if it does not abide in the vine in order to receive the provision for such production. Neither can a believer produce anything of benefit if he or she is not abiding in Christ. A believer is not self-nourishing. As the Scriptures clearly state, the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63; Rom 8:8). Just as absurd as it is to expect for a branch to produce fruit while separated from the vine, so is it equally absurd to expect the believer in Christ to produce fruit when we are not operating in connection with Christ. Independence from Christ in any situation, at any time, is sin.John 15:5 clarifies the intended parties in this analogy. Jesus is the vine, the eleven (and being that this is a truth that is true of the Church Age believer as well, all believers in Christ would be included) are the branches. By abiding in Christ, one produces “much fruit.” The opposite of this is very much true as well. Jesus states, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (15:5b). “Nothing” here is ou oudeiswith ou being a negative adverb and oudeis meaning “no.” One should expect absolutely nothing if they are not abiding in fellowship with Christ. Such disconnection leaves the believer in a barren state. Robertson succinctly concludes, “There is nothing for a broken off branch to do but wither and die.”[16]This is precisely what is concluded by Jesus in John 15:6.Jesus unfolds the consequences of those who do not abide in Him. The analogy is consistent, seeing that branches that have been separated from the vine and are no longer “abiding” are not good for anything other than kindling. Their sole purpose is to bear fruit, and once that has been rendered obsolete, they are no longer able to be used. Those branches that are not bearing fruit, after having been carefully and lovingly separated from their inferior means of securing self-nourishment and given the grand opportunity to become exceedingly productive only to spurn it, eventually dry up. Since nourishment is no longer flowing through them, they are only a sad representation of what they could have been had they remained in Christ.Again, it must be stated, fruit bearing is the sole purpose of the disciple of Christ. Having denied themselves that purpose by refusing to abide, they are gathered and burned, for that is the only thing that they are good for. With many, the analogy of being “burned” immediately conjures disturbing images of hellfire and brimstone, and forces a theological conclusion on many that the lack of fruit in abeliever’s life is grounds for eternal damnation. Such conclusions are unbiblical for two reasons. First, salvation is based on the finished work of Christ and whether one has believed in Him or not (John 3:16-18; 5:24; Acts 16:31). Second, if hellfire were the result of not bearing fruit, salvation becomes ultimately contingent upon one’s works or lack thereof, and the work of Jesus performed on the cross would have to be considered insufficient to save, which violates Romans 3:21-28, Titus 3:5, and 1 Peter 3:18, just to name a few.Since damnation is not in view, how should we understand this? Dillow writes, “a fruitless branch is lifted up to put it into a position of fruit-bearing. This does not contradict verse 6, which states that a branch that does not abide is ‘thrown away,’ literally ‘cast out’ (ballō exō). This would suggest that the heavenly Vinedresser first encourages the branches and lifts them in the sense of providing loving care to enable them to bear fruit. If after this encouragement, they do not remain in fellowship with Him and bear fruit, they are then cast out.”[17]God does not force obedience upon His children. He will direct them, even lead them, educate them, implore them, exhort them, and challenge them, but He does not force them. When such beckoning and education is not met with a favorable response, the Lord has no problem disciplining His children (Heb 12:5b-11). As the Vinedresser, the Father is longsuffering with His children, desiring what is best for them and setting them up for maximum success with all that has been provided for them in Christ. But there are many Christians who spurn the Lord’s loving care by clinging to the self-life. Such consequences are disastrous and can range from loss of intimacy with the Father and Son (John 14:24), physical death (1 Cor 5:5; 11:28-30), and loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:15). To be “cast out” and “burned” is not to lose one’s salvation, otherwise the promises of Jesus would be a lie (John 3:16; 10:27-30).John 15:7-11.In v.7 we are given greater revelation as to what Jesus meant when He stated “I in you” in v.4. As stated previously, the Word of God is paramount. It is how Christ abides in us. Our abiding and His Word “dwelling richly” in us (Col 3:16) is followed up by a fantastic statement: “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7b). Jesus has just handed His disciples the keys to an effective prayer life; one that actually brings results with God’s fingerprints clearly shining along the way. The Word of God is the will of God, and when one is abiding in Christ and His Word is abiding in them the result is “the effective prayer of a righteous man” which “can accomplish much” (Jas 5:16b). The concept of abiding is now better understood as a life being marked by practical righteousness (sanctification) and not only positional righteousness (justification).John 15:8 explains that the Father is glorified in the abiding disciple because they are bearing much fruit. Is this not the chief end of all of history? Ryrie notes that “Scripture is not man-centered as though salvation were the main theme, but it is God-centered because His glory is the center.”[18]Some have stumbled over Jesus’ words here in stating that one would “prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8b). The common approach is to conclude that the one who does not bear much fruit is not truly saved, with the absence of fruit being the deciding factor. The word “prove” is ginomaimeaning “to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being.”[19]The issue that is often overlooked is the difference between a believer and a disciple. This is plain because all that surrounds this teaching is with a strict emphasis upon those who are already believing. When the branch bears much fruit, the Life of the Vine is plainly seen by all. Thus God is glorified when the believer in Christ has forsaken thatwhich hinders his or her growth and has embraced God’s Word for living one’s daily life. No one can speak against the fruit with an honest conscience because it has its origin in the Vine!Whereas the abiding of Christ’s Word was brought forward in John 15:7a, so now the theme of “love” is reintroduced in John 15:9. Five times in v.9 and 10 do we find the mention of “love.” Leading off this series is the example of the Father’s love for the Son. Divine intimacy is the first picture offered. Such an image draws the mind back to John 14:10 with the Father abiding in Christ, John 14:20 which speaks of the “already” loving communion that the Father and Son experience perpetually, and John 14:31 where Jesus speaks of His personal obedience to the Father’s will so that a testimony is promoted to the world. Every verse shows this communal love that is a daily experience between the Father and Jesus. In the same way, Jesus has loved His disciples, teaching them, leading them, bearing with them, guiding them, healing them, and demonstrating for them the sacrificial service that they are to have.Jesus then issues the imperative to “abide in My love” (John 15:9b). Where else would they go? Where would be a better place than remaining in the love of Christ? Following up this command is the “how” of abiding in Christ’s love. John 15:10a states, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love.” This harkens back to John 14:15 and 21, showing that love is truly demonstrated because the commands of Christ are valued as being the ultimate truth, and therefore worth rearranging one’s life in order to experience a fullness of Life in the here and now.The second half of John 15:10 draws the reader’s attention back to the truth of John 14:31. Jesus sets the tone for what it is to abide; to be walking in intimate fellowship with the Father. While the world has defined many things as “love,” Jesus defines it as obedience. To love the Lord is to obey Him. To demonstrate that one does not love the Lord is to not keep His Word (John 14:24). It is impossible to abidein Him if we are not keeping His Word. While obedience has no bearing on one’s justification, it has everything to do with whether a believer in Christ is experiencing the saving power of God in their daily life. This only comes about by pursuing intimacy with Him daily, moment by moment.In John 15:11, Jesus gives the reason for this indispensable principle of abiding in Him. “Joy” is a word that is far fetched in this day and age. Few of us experience genuine joy. By and large it is a word that is absent from our vocabularies and our lives. Unless we are singing “Joy to the World,” we have little to do with “joy.” Abiding in Christ accomplishes two things. First, it establishes the joy of Jesus Christ in the disciple. It is a joy inexpressible. It is joy divine! Second, the joy of Jesus Christ makes our joy “full,” meaning that it is a supernatural joy that is abounding in our being. It is this truth that led John to pen the epistle of 1 John. In it he writes, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete” (1 John 1:1-4, emphasis added).Notice the interplay between “fellowship” and “joy.” John was experiencing in his daily life the fellowship that exists between the Father and the Son, and such wonderous fellowship produces joy! John’s desire is that every believer would experience this great joy and so have fellowship together with them as they fellowshipped with the Father and the Son. The entire epistle of 1 John is written to tell the believer in Christ how they can have fellowship with Christ so that they would experience this inexpressible joy! This is seen plainly in John’s borrowing of the “abide” concept in 1 John stretching from 2:6 to 4:16. The call is to abide, for in doing so, sin become a non-issue and intimacy with the Lord abounds! Are we experiencing inexpressible joy; such that is radiating through us, where God is glorified and we are made full? Are we abiding in Christ? An uncertain response is confirmation that we are not. If this is the case, what have we allowed to move us out of the abiding communion that the Father has so gracious given to us? Where are the areas of unbelief that are keeping us from bearing much fruit?In pondering all of this, J. Oswald Sanders offers a cogent statement for the Christian to ponder: “It is a sobering thought that we… are as close to Christ as we really choose to be.”[20]What better place is there to be than abiding in Christ?Jesus’ call to “abide” is only made clearer in the use of the vine/branch illustration. Ponder this relationship for a moment: Contact is essential. Proper nourishment comes about from consistent contact with the Vine. The Vinedresser assures that every care and precaution is taken so that the greatest opportunity for fruitfulness can be experienced by the branch stemming through the Vine. When contact stops, nourishment stops. The flow is meant to encourage total dependency. This is what it is to abide in Christ; a total dependency on Him where whatever needs to be accomplished in our lives is accomplished because His supernatural nourishment is flowing through us with the Father helping it along. In this way, the branches are understood to be seamless with the Vine. This is Christ living His Life through us! Again, Sanders offers his thoughts, writing “It would seem that admission to the inner circle of deepening intimacy with God is the outcome of deep desire. Only those who count such intimacy a prize worth sacrificing anything else for are likely to attain it. If other intimacies are more desirable to us, we will not gain entry to that circle.”[21][1]See John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Publishers, 1997), p. 1615, and David J. Ellis, “John” in The International Bible Commentary,ed. F.F. Bruce (England/Grand Rapids: Marshall Pickering/Zondervan 1986), p. 1255-1256.[2]See Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1993), p. 3–6, and Joseph C. Dillow, “Abiding Is Remaining in Fellowship: Another Look at John 15:1–6,” Bibliotheca Sacra147 (1990): 44–53.[3]Gary Derickson and Earl Radmacher, The Disciplemaker: What Matters Most to Jesus(Salem, OR: Charis Press, 2001), p. 152–153.[4]John F. Hart, “John” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2014), p. 1649.[5]NET Notes on John 15:2, “takes away” with emphasis added- “In Johannine usage the word occurs in the sense of ‘lift up’ in 8:59 and 5:8–12, but in the sense of ‘remove’ it is found in 11:39, 11:48, 16:22, and 17:15. In context (theological presuppositions aside for the moment) the meaning ‘remove’ does seem more natural and less forced (particularly in light of v. 6, where worthless branches are described as being “thrown out”—an image that seems incompatible with restoration).-Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible; The NET Bible(Biblical Studies Press, 2005).[6]James M. Boice, The Gospel of John, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978), p. 227[7]Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 16–17, with the Greek elaborations removed for ease of reading.[8]Hart, “John,” Moody Bible Dictionary, p. 1649.[9]BDAG, p. 488.[10]See Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible(Galaxie Software, 2003), Jn 15:2.[11]Zane C. Hodges, Arthur L. Farstad, and Robert N. Wilkin, The Epistle of James: Proven Character through Testing(Irving, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 1994), p. 19.[12]BDAG, p. 489.[13]Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon,p. 728.[14]Augustine of Hippo, “Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John,” in St. Augustin: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. John Gibb and James Innes, vol. 7, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1888), p. 345.[15]C. I. Scofield, The Scofield Study Bible(New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), Jn 15:4.[16]A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament(Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn 15:5.[17]Dillow, “Abiding Is Remaining in Fellowship”: 51.[18]Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Dispensationalism, Rev. and expanded. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1995), p. 48.[19]Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon, p. 115.[20]J. Oswald Sanders, Enjoying Intimacy with God(Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p. 18.[21]Ibid.

Can someone lose their salvation? There are few doctrines that are more divisive than the doctrine of eternal security. Eternal security states that the one who believes in Jesus Christ is completely and totally secure for all eternity in their salvation and that nothing can sever this relationship whether in this life or in the Life to come. This doctrine is often referred to as “once saved, always saved.” Foundational Verses for SecurityIn sharing the good news that salvation is provided freely by Jesus Christ, John 5:24is an excellent verse that clearly establishes the issue. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has Eternal Life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” There are two major points that Jesus addresses and a result that follows. First, the person must hearthe good news about Jesus Christ. This is consistent throughout the New Testament (Acts 15:7; 18:8; Rom 10:17; Eph 1:13). One cannot believe in what they have not heard, so it only follows that we must tell people about Jesus Christ. Have they heard that Jesus, the Son of the Living God, has provided salvation for them full and free?If they answer “yes,” we now move to the second point. Have they believedGod’s Word about Jesus providing salvation? To “believe” is to have a conviction that something is true. It is faith. Hebrews 11:1 states that faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” From this simple definition, we can see that "faith" is a confident conviction that something is true. Concerning the good news, the object of our “confident conviction” is Jesus Christ. Do we believe what God has said about Him? Are we confidently convinced that He alone can save us?(It is important to note that in this one verse, the condition for salvation is clearly displayed, being “faith.” This is all that Jesus requires. “If there are hidden conditions to salvation other than the simple request of faith, Jesus would be guilty of deception.”[1])If the answer to this question is “yes,” we then ask them what they now have. The answer is clear in John 5:24- Eternal Life. This verse uses the word “has” which is a present-tense verb. Eternal Life is something that one has at the moment of faith in Christ. This is not a gradual process or a "time of testing," but an immediate fact. D.L. Moody wrote, “Salvation is instantaneous. I admit that a man may be converted so that he cannot tell when he crossed the line between death and life, but I also believe a man may be a thief one moment and a saint the next. I believe a man may be as vile as hell itself one moment, and be saved the next. Christian growth is gradual, just as physical growth is; but a man passes from death unto everlasting life quick as an act of the will—'He that believeth on the Son hatheverlasting life.’”[2]The next point to consider is that Jesus clarifies exactly what He means in stating that the one who believes in Him “does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24b). Our previously certain reservation in the Lake of Fire has been dismissed due to the free pardon that is offered by the perfect work of Jesus. The one who believes in Christ will never be judged for their sin. It has been paid for in full!It must also be noted that the believer in Christ “has passed” out of eternal death into Eternal Life. This is a verb in the perfect tense, meaning that it is “a completed verbal action that occurred in the past but which produced a state of being or a result that exists in the present.”[3]This means that Eternal Life is a present reality for the one who believes and is a permanent possession beyond this life into the Life to come. Death has been dismissed, being gloriously replaced by the gift of Eternal Life that Jesus freely gives.Another foundational passage is found in John 10:27-30. This is commonly referred to as the “double-fisted grip of God,” and rightly so, for in it is the reinforcement of the believer’s eternal destiny directly from the mouth of the Lord Jesus. Jesus refers to believers as His “sheep” in John 10:27. It is clear from 10:26 that those who are considered “sheep” are those who have believed in Jesus. They know His voice and they follow Him. In v.28, Jesus plainly states that He gives them “Eternal Life.” Notice that this is a gift and not something that they have earned. One cannot earn their salvation. May it be stated clearly: Eternal Life IS salvation. What else could it be but Life from the dead for those who were formerly separated from God by their sin nature? By its very name it is forever.Verse 28 is so emphatic regarding the impossibility of one losing their salvation that the translators of the HSCB translated this as “and they will never perish —ever!” In the Greek, this is what is known as an “emphatic negation” because “never” is the translation of ou mēand is included with “perish” being the aorist subjunctive, which is “the strongest way to negate something in Greek,” because it “denies a potentiality”[4]regarding the loss of one’s salvation. Wallace goes on to note that “ou mē rules out even the idea as being a possibility,” while stating in the next paragraph that “especially in John: what is negatived is the possibility of the loss of salvation.”[5]Grammatically, it is an absolute and undeniable impossibility to be lost again.In v.28b-29, Jesus uses an illustration that involves His ability to securely keep those who are His, and the Father’s ability (being “greater than all”) to do the same. The one who is Christ’s sheep is held firmly, without needing to fear removal, in His perfect hands, while the Father also holds these same sheep in divine security. He then reveals that He and the Father are one (v.30), signifying their complete unity. Christ’s sheep are shielded by His hands while also being gripped in the grace of the Father. Robertson expounds on this, writing, “No wolf, no thief, no bandit, no hireling, no demon, not even the devil can pluck the sheep out of my hand.”[6]Though some have claimed it to be possible, even the believer him or herself cannot remove themselves from the double-fisted grip of God’s grace. The promise of Christ is certain and sure.While many other passages could be expounded upon, these two sections are sufficient to prove the point. The one who hears the good news about Jesus and is confidently convinced that it is true receives Eternal Life as a free gift, having passed from total separation from the Father into a living union with Him.The Difference Between Security and AssuranceEternal Securitycan be easily understood from the verses in Scripture that promise Eternal Life (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:37, 40, 47). Plainly put, if Eternal Life is not forever, what else could it be? John 3:16 is clear. The one who believes in Jesus has Eternal Life. Therefore, Eternal Security is a biblical doctrine that is as sure and steadfast as its name, being based on Christ’s merits and not on our performance or lack thereof.Assurance of salvationis a different subject only because it is the person's viewpoint of their salvation. For instance, one may hear the Gospel and believe and understand at that moment that they have been eternally saved, meaning that they are eternally secure. At that moment they have assurance of their salvation. But let's say that an hour later they participate in some heinous sin, anafterwardds they have great anxiety about the authenticity of their salvation, concluding that someone who "truly believes in Jesus" would never sin like that (which is complete nonsense). That person may no longer haven a assurance of their salvation. However, this feelingdoes not change the factof their salvation. They are still eternally secure. Heinous sins are not greater than the grip of God’s grace. David’s sin in having Uriah murdered to cover up his fornication with Bathsheba is considered by most to be one of the worst sins in all of history. However, David writes, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:10-12). This section, along with the rest of the psalm, makes it clear that David had sinned greatly against the Lord. However, he cries out for a restoration of the “joy of Your salvation” and not for a saving-again to take place. David did not lose his salvation by committing this atrocious act, but he did fracture the ongoing fellowship experience that he had enjoyed with the Lord, and it was this sense of loss, coupled with the conviction that Nathan the prophet brought to David (2 Sam 12:1-15) that caused him to cry out for restoration. This is something that can happen to us as well. To the surprise of many, ongoing sin in a believer’s life does not nullify their salvation either. Take the church in Corinth, who had a man that was openly sleeping with his stepmother, a sin that pagans did not even dare to commit (1 Cor 5:1). Paul takes this sin seriously, as we should all sin, but he does not question the man’s eternal destiny. He writes, “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor 5:5, emphasis added). If this man loved this lifestyle so much, he was to be dismissed from the fellowship of the church. However, though this sin may lead to physical death, he was still spiritually secure in his salvation.In the case of habitual sins or “unusual” (sometimes declared to be “big” sins), our assurance can waver because our emotions have taken control, moving our focus off of Christ and onto ourselves. In our minds, the issue of Heaven or Hell has just become a matter of us keeping our conduct, morals, and secret thoughts in a straight line. This leads to a fear-based approach to God, certain depression because of our failures, and repeated feelings of inadequacy that we are just not good enough to be saved. This makes living one’s daily life a constant attempt to be accepted rather than resting in the believer’s “already-acceptance” because Christ’s finished work has been fully accepted.This can be seen in the actions of John the Baptist, who was considered by Jesus to be the greatest person ever born of a woman (Matt 11:11a). While in prison, John had heard about the miracles that Jesus was doing. He then sent some of his disciples to Jesus with a very revealing question: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt 11:3). This is an incredible inquiry, for John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ (Luke 1:17), who was filled with the Spirit while still in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15b), and who declared when seeing Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29b). But with this question, it is clear that he had lost his assurance. When hearing this inquiry through John’s disciples, Jesus responds stating, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deahearsar, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matt 11:4-6). Jesus’ reply pointed John to all that was spoken of the Messiah in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 61:1). At no time did John lose his salvation, but his current situati,on being in a prison ce,ll had caused him to lose sight of who Jesus was, momentarily robbing him of his assurance. Jesus reminds Him that He is the One who fulfills the promises of the prophets; a response that was guaranteed to restore his assurance.A person’s present situation, whether pleasant like a summer’s day or revolting like a Roman prison, is not indicative of one's eternal standing with Gd, and is most certainly not the basis of their eternal security in Christ. One’s salvation is based upon the Savior’s finished work, not the saint’s mistakes and successes. To conclude that salvation is “true,” “genuine,” or “authentic,” based on the performance of the individual is to state that the individual’s performance is necessary (indispensable) in order to complete (or make valid) that person’s salvation. If this were true, we must ask, “So what of the cross?” Why did Jesus die if I only need to do my part? Why couldn’t I just do more so that Jesus could have done less and would not have had to suffer so much? This reasoning is ludicrous, and the conclusions and arguments that surround this line of thinking are fallacious. Ultimately, this conclusion would state that what Jesus did on the cross was not effective enough, satisfying enough, or sufficient enough. His death was lacking, needing our submission and obedience to complete it. This is nothing short of blasphemy.This is the plainly stated word of God on salvation and the assurance that should accompany one’s faith in Christ. To look elsewhere is to lose one’s assurance of the Eternal Life that they possess as a free gift from God. Our surroundings are in no way a grounds for acceptance before God. George Pentecost writes, “It is not in the fact that you are a descendant of a saintly father, a child of believing parents, for, as old Matthew Henry says, ‘Grace does not run in the blood;’ nor is it that you have membership in the visible Church of Christ; nor is it to be found in delightful frames and feelings—in a word, not even a genuine Christian experience constitutes your ‘title-deed.’ Where then are we to bottom our hope? Why, just in the naked bare Word of God. It is written, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me hatheverlasting life,’ etc. (John 5:24). Straight to the record do we appeal for a final test as to our possession in God.”[7]Another point to consider is that eternal security is not the same as the Perseverance of the Saints. The Perseverance of the Saints is a doctrine that came about shortly after the Reformation in the 1500s. In simple terms, it states that those who artruely believers in Christ will persevere in their faith and good works until their dying day. For those who do not persevere, it is either concluded that they were "never truly saved," as the Calvinists would conclude, or that they had "lost their salvation," as held by Arminians. From what we have seen so far, one should quickly see that the “proof of salvation” has been refocused upon the works of the individual, having been taken off of the sufficient work of the Savior. It is easy to see that for those who believe in the Perseverance of the Saints, this doctrine holds the hands of assurance closely, often causing them to vacillate. An example can be seen in remarks involving assurance that are made by John Piper, a prominent proponent of the Perseverance of the Saints. He states, “I know people, and I would say this about myself, for whom the greatest threat to my perseverance and my ultimate salvation is the slowness of my sanctification. It’s not theoretical questions like ‘Did He rise from the dead?’ or the problem of evil. I’ve got answers. But why I sin against my wife the same at age 62 that I did at age 42 causes me sometimes to doubt my salvation or the power of the Holy Spirit.”[8]Notice that Piper’s doubts are due to his inability to perform at a higher (more sinless) level. For him, his works are in view, and being as such, Christ’s finished work is not. Focusing on our personal works will always lead to doubts about one’s eternal destiny because we know that the standard is too high and that even our greatest works fall far short. Only Christ can give us the assurance that we need. We must look to Him only, always!Doctrinal ConsiderationsJustificationbefore God is an essential doctrine of Christianity that is closely linked with imputed righteousness and eternal security. Justification, which is sometimes referred to as “positional sanctification,” is when God declares one righteous because they have responded in faith to Jesus Christ. The merits for acceptance by Him are those of Christ. One’s faith is simply the channel by which those merits are applied. This means that God now sees the believer in Christ as one who is positionally spotless and blameless in His sight (though this does not mean that our daily practice is such, which is referred to as our progressive sanctification).The connection between justification and eternal security is an inseparable one. J.I. Packer writes, “God’s justifying decision is the judgment of the Last Day, declaring where we shall spend eternity, brought forward into the present and pronounced here and now. It is the last judgment that will ever be passed on our destiny; God will never go back on it, however much Satan may appeal against God’s verdict (Zech. 3:1; Rev. 12:10; Rom. 8:33–34). To be justified is to be eternally secure (Rom. 5:1–5; 8:30).The necessary means, or instrumental cause, of justification is personal faith in Jesus Christ as crucified Savior and risen Lord (Rom. 4:23–25; 10:8–13). This is because the meritorious ground of our justification is entirely in Christ.”[9]This leads us to the imputed righteousness of Christ toward the believer.If an understanding of justification were not enough, the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousnessshould settle the issues surrounding “losing one’s salvation.” The word “imputation” means “charging to an account, used in the Bible with legal reference to sin and salvation being recorded by God… ‘to set down in a record or a ledger.’ In relation to the doctrine of salvation the word is consistently used in a legal sense.”[10]Christ has died for the sin of the world (John 1:29), satisfying the debt of sin by His blood (Rom 3:25a), and making the very righteousness of God a firm reality for the one who believes in Christ (Rom 3:21-22). This shows that the necessary and effectual work has been done by Jesus Christ, and our acceptance of this glorious truth as being the channel of faith which applies His work to our accounts before God. Jesus has taken and paid for our sin successfully. In turn, He credits us with His righteousness, being the very righteousness of God Himself. Second Corinthians 5:21 states it this way: “He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that (REASON GIVEN) we (those who believe) might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus).” To say that one can either lose or forfeit their salvation would be to say that the righteousness of God which had been “charged to the account” of the one who believed could be suddenly rescinded. Since those who believe in Jesus have been given the “right to become children of God” (John 1:12b), this means that the believing one has ownership (rights) in this claim to be God’s child. To suddenly remove this standing is nothing short of theft, leaving the believer an orphan. Such an act would establish the believer’s sin, or apathy, or waywardness, or negligence, or whatever has led to their acceptance being revoked as containing more power than the promises of God in declaring us righteous. The power of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross in redeeming us would be a loan at best. Such thinking is blasphemous and paints God’s redemptive acts in the same light as pawn shop merchandise and thrift store seconds. In our previous study, there was much to be considered regarding the believer’s relationship with the Holy Spirit, especially in the change of relationship that happened with the institution of the Church Age Dispensation (Acts 2:3-4). Jesus had previously stated that the Spirit was with the disciples (John 14:17b) but was also quick to say that He would soon be “in you” once the Son of Man was glorified (John 7:39; John 14:17c). Unless Jesus left them, they would not benefit from this new intimacy that He was sending to them (John 16:7). Now that the Holy Spirit takes up residence within the one who believes in Christ, and if it were possible that one could lose their salvation, would we not be concluding that our will or sin would have the ability to evict the Holy Spirit of God from our being? Would this not make the guarantee of Christ in sending the Spirit to be in us “forever” (John 14:16b) a false statement? If this were true, how could we trust anything that God has told us? It should be obvious that such thinking is thoroughly disconnected from what has been plainly stated in God’s Word.The Common ObjectionThere are many who rail against eternal security, stating that if someone believes that they will never lose their salvation, it automatically becomes a license to sin. If there is no threat of the possibility of eternal damnation hanging over the believer’s head, they will become “hell-raisers,” since they are without restraint or consequences. This assumption is common, but unfounded. First, at the moment of faith, the Holy Spirit indwells the one who believes. This alone makes the person different, with God Himself ready to change that person to be more conformed to the image of Christ from the inside out (Rom 8:29). This is when the longing “for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Pet 2:2) should begin taking place.Second, the freeness of salvation and the security that Christ promises should yield a response of gratitude if understood correctly. Grace is costly to God, but it is absolutely free to us. We have undeservingly been rescued from a certain destiny in the Lake of Fire, and the means of securing such a glorious pardon were provided by the perfect Life and sufficient death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. The only reason why this blessed doctrine would yield a life of havoc and chaos would be largely because the Church failed to teach sound Bible doctrine to their congregants in love and truth. Discipleship is commanded by the Lord Jesus (Matt 28:18-20) and this relationship should be saturating the local church, aa s believer is teachinanother g believer all that Christ commanded. It is life invested into life in order to cultivate Life in the here and now. Third, to claim that there are “no consequences” for a wayward believer’s actions is to dismiss the seriousness of the Bema, the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is where believers will “be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10). The Christian Life is a time of stewardship for the believer, where he and she are training now for an opportunity to reign with Christ in the Kingdom to come (2 Tim 2:12a; Rev 2:26-27). This recompense (literally- “to pay back”) is in response to our deeds, “whether good or bad.” Don’t miss this last part. Both good and bad that we have done while believers on Earth will be paid back by the Lord. Those good things will be rewarded (1 Cor 3:14) but those they things that are bad will bring us shame. However, such shame is regret for not living for Christ in opportunities where we could have been greatly used by Him for His glory and purposes. It is not a loss of salvation as Paul makes clear (1 Cor 3:15). Additionally, just because one is a believer in Christ does not mean that earthly consequences for wrong actions have been exempted. We are all still responsible. Finally, and most importantly, the Bible teaches otherwise. At no point in any passage of any book of the Bible do we see that someone can lose their salvation. It simply isn’t there.Well, what about that one passage…Those who believe that you can lose your salvation have certain “go-to” passages that seem to state that someone can be lost again. A favorite would be the passages that refer to “falling away” (Matt 13:21; 24:10; Mark 4:17; Luke 8:13; 1 Tim 4:1; Heb 3:12). In each of these passages, a consideration of the context will show that a believer losing their salvation is NOT what is being discussed. While many would disagree, a “backsliding” Christian is a real thing, though biblically we would consider them “not walking in the Spirit” or “out of fellowship with the Lord.”Another set of passages that is often referred to is Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-27. In each of these, again, context points to the Christian who is being negligent of the salvation that they already have. In Hebrews, the issue is that the Christians that are being written to are considering returning to Judaism in order to avoid being persecuted for their faith in Christ. The unknown author of this book writes to show them that all that they would be returning to (the Law, Moses, angels, sacrificial system, etc.) are inferior compared to what they now have in Christ because Christ is the fulfillment of all of these things. He proceeds in showing them that there is divine discipline for disobedience, but great reward for faithfulness unto Christ Jesus during this difficult time. Both of these passages can be easily cleared up when the big picture is in mind.Again, though the Bible does teach a loss of reward for unfaithfulness to Christ, it does not teach a loss of one’s salvation.Just how secure am I?The Scriptures have unfolded a glorious “union within a union” that takes place the moment that one trusts in Jesus Christ.#1- Christ IN YouColossians 1:25-27; 3:3. The mystery that was previously hidden but has now been made known is the mystery of the Church Age and the fact of the indwelling Christ in the believer. We must understand that neither Chrit, nor the Holy Spirit for that matter, ever indwelled anyone prior to the beginning of the Church Age dispensation in Acts 2. But the Church is His Body, and He is its Head (Col 1:18). This was a glorious truth that was previously unknown ithe n Old Testamet, but is now fully disclosed (mainly through the writings of Paul, but not exclusively).Christ is IN the believer, and His residing IN the believer is our hope of glory! MacDonald notes, “We have no other title to heaven than the Savior Himself. The fact that He indwells us makes heaven as sure as if we were already there.”[11]This truth is only enhanced in Colossians 3:3, where we see that our life is hidden with Christ in God. This is our eternal union with the Son and the Father, which speaks to our glorious position of acceptance that we received when we believed.#2- The Indwelling of the Holy SpiritEphesians 1:13. The Apostle Paul tells us plainly that we were “sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” This verse draws our attention to the “ordo salutis” (order of salvation) where one hears the Word about Christ, believes that Word, and is instantaneously placed “in Christ,” while simultaneously receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Who seals the believer “as a pledge of our inheritance” (Eph 1:14). A good transition verse that covers the believer’s sealing with the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith and their instantaneous relocation to being “in Christ” is seen in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22which reads “Now He who establishes us with you in Christand anointed us is God, who also sealed usand gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” This word “pledge” is significant, meaning “an earnest, i.e. money which in purchases is given as a pledge that the full amount will subsequently be paid.”[12]The Holy Spirit of God resides in the believer forever (John 14:16b) as a promise of the great glorification to come.#3- The Believer is IN ChristEphesians 1:3-14. While v.13-14 are addressed above, we cannot read this passage without being struck by the importance and blessing of being “in Christ,” “in the Beloved,” and “in Him.” This is the glorious position that the Body of Christ has as a present reality.Romans 6:11, 23. Paul tells us that we are “alive to God IN Christ Jesus” (6:11). This is because LIFE is found only in Christ Jesus, being something that existed with Him before the world began (John 1:4). In 6:23, we see the same thing: Eternal Life is IN Jesus Christ.#4- The Believer is IN the Father, IN ChristColossians 3:3; John 10:29. Christ, who IS our Life has hidden us with Himself in God the Father. The Father has a grasp on us that is equal to that of the Son. We are safeguarded within Him and held tightly by Him.The believer is indwelt with Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith, while simultaneously made alive and placed “in Christ” as a new spiritual location before the Father, in whom the believer also finds him or herself resting, being fully immersed and gripped by His grace.Let us close with the wonderful words of assurance from the Apostle Paul: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” -Romans 8:38-39.Rejoice![1]Charles C. Bing, Lordship Salvation: A Biblical Evaluation and Response, 2ndEdition(Xulon Press, 2010), p. 58. [2]D. L. Moody, The D. L. Moody Year Book: A Living Daily Message from the Words of D. L. Moody, ed. Emma Moody Fitt (East Northfield, MA: The Bookstore, 1900), p. 229–230.[3]Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology(Lexham Press, 2013; 2013).[4]Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar: Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 1996), p. 468.[5]Ibid. [6]A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament(Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn 10:28.[7]George F. Pentecost, The Fundamentals: A Testimony of the Truth, vol. 4, ed. R.A. Torrey (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005), p. 276–277.[8]As quoted by Philip F. Congdon, “John Piper’s Diminished Doctrine of Justification and Assurance,” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Vol 23(2010), p. 61, footnote 3.[9]J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), p. 165.[10]Bruce A. Demarest, “Imputation,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), p. 1024.[11]William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), p. 1999.[12]Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 75.

There are two final mentions regarding the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room Discourse that reflect some of the greatest truths of His being and presence in the Church Age. First, we must address the surrounding context before reaching John 16:7-15.One of the greatest hindrances to an accurate understanding of the Scriptures can be found in the “mental break” that occurs when we venture from one chapter of the Bible to another. This difficulty is more prominent than what we may initially realize. Instead, we must formulate our understandings based on the flow of thought as the biblical author has recorded them so that we are embracing each subject in its given order without allowing for the introduction of 16:1 (for example) to cause us to think that a new subject has suddenly been introduced. While this may happen in regular books, this is often not the case with the Scriptures.In John 16:1, Jesus reveals the reason for His exposition of the reality and nature of the Holy Spirit as seen in 15:26. The confidence that should accompany the knowledge of the Holy Spirit’s presence among them should help keep them from “stumbling.” This word is mē skandalizōwhich upon pronunciation will cause one to think of the English word “scandal,” and rightly so. The mē (pronounced may) is a “particle of negation” that “denies the thought of the thing, or the thing according to the judgment, opinion, will, purpose, preference,of someone.”[1]Putting this together we have the rationale behind Jesus’ words and the desired effect that He sought for them to have on His disciples. This teaching on love, persecution, and the Holy Spirit would rid them of any stumbling block, impediment, or scandal if they would only heed them. His promises were enough to sustain them through the turmoil that would soon transpire. The Spirit of truth is who will guide and comfort them amid persecution, hatred, and affliction (John 15:18-25), all while testifying through them concerning the oracles of God (John 15:26b-27). Jesus then continues the theme of persecution, explaining the social and religious rejections that they will undergo (John 16:2), even stating that those who murder them will do so under the guise that their actions are a means of glorifying God (John 16:2b). Such actions, and the skewed justification that accompanies their violence, will be the result of their genuine ignorance of the truth, not having known the Father or the Son (John 16:3). “Persecution is certain, but there is not the slightest hint that the disciples should retreat into safe havens and cease witnessing about Jesus. In fact, just the opposite is expected. And to make their witnessing effective the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth or authenticity, is promised to them to support them in their witnessing.”[2]While not every believer will be called to give their very life for the sake of Jesus Christ, some will, and in doing so will be greatly rewarded for their faithfulness (Matt 5:10-12).Jesus’ comment in John 16:4 is meant to instill confidence in His disciples, though their surrounding conditions would seem bleak. Constable gives a better understanding, writing, “The memory that Jesus had forewarned His disciples would enable them to realize that things were not out of control when they seemed to be. This remembrance would really strengthen their faith in Jesus rather than weakening it.”[3]Any who have ever experienced persecution can relate to the fear and anxiety that accompanies the choice to stand for Jesus. The Master’s words were meant to comfort them in this time, giving them a steadfast “rock” to cling to. Jesus also notes that He did not tell His disciples these things at the beginning due to His physical presence. This comment foreshadows His absence, as will be seen in His crucifixion, but also leaves the reassurance of His Word with them, which never passes away (Luke 21:33).Jesus understands that His time to depart is drawing near (John 16:5) and that this news has filled His disciples with grief (16:6). It would seem that Jesus’ remark that the disciples had not asked Him where He was going shows that their sorrow had overwhelmed them in their present situation. How would they continue on without Jesus? Could they? Who would guide them? Teach them? Answer their questions? Provide for them? They would be without Him and their relationship with Him was seemingly coming to an end. The disciples’ present emotion had eclipsed Jesus’ promise to provide them with power.Jesus was not content to let this line of thinking continue, though He knew that their emotions would get the best of them and lead them in a direction of denial (in Peter’s case), distance (in John’s case), and absence (the other nine disciples). Such sorrow brings Jesus’ words to the antidote that He had been holding up before them this entire time: The Paraklētos!John 16:7.Jesus’ statement in v.7 seems almost beyond comprehension. In light of persecution (John 15:18-16:4), and that being coupled with the fact that He would be leaving them, Jesus reveals that His absence is an advantageous change for His disciples. The word used for “advantage” is the Greek word sympherō,which is a compound word with sym being used as a prefix that denotes “togetherness, to be coupled together, or assembled,” and pherōmeaning to “bring, carry, brought.” This gives the meaning of something that is “profitable,” “expedient,” or “beneficial.” “What a statement!” writes John Van Gelderen. “Jesus said it is more advantageous for us if He departs so that His Spirit could come and be our personal companion. For us to ignore this personal relationship with the Spirit is to despise our Savior’s throne gift: the gift of the Spirit that He sent from His throne on the Day of Pentecost.”[4]No doubt that Jesus’ statement would be met with unbelief. The disciples’ minds were probably still fixated on His words that He Himself would be absent (“sorrow”-John 16:6). But this is what must happen in order to place the disciples (and us by extension) into a more “beneficial” position. This advantage is Holy Spirit power, the Supernatural working through the temporal, the Blessing blazing forth through the mundane. The Spirit of truth is the central source of positioning us in such a way as to be pleasing to God in our thoughts and actions, operating in perfect harmony with the Scriptures that He has inspired (2 Pet 1:21).It must be noted that there is a divinely set timeline and progression in place that must transpire for the Spirit to come. This can be understood from John 7:39 where we read, “the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Jesus’ “glorification” is a process that was ignited in John 13:31-32 after Judas had left to betray Him. This “glorification” is contingent upon timing, a pivotal moment that Jesus addresses in John 17:1, 5, noting that the hour had now come (17:1) and that the glory that would be bestowed upon Him at this time was the same glory that He had enjoyed with the Father before the world was created (17:5). From this, we can conclude that the “glorification” in mind is Jesus’ death for sin, His resurrection, and His ascension to the Father, seeing that the Holy Spirit brings about a dispensational shift in Acts 2:3-4 by coming uponthe disciples, filling them, and residing in them from that moment forward.The “Helper” must come. Since we have the progressive revelation of the New Testament, we understand fully that all that must be done in establishing the Church must be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is exactly what the book of Acts is all about. Many Bibles have given this book a title like “The Acts of the Apostles,” but this is misleading to say the least. The book of Acts is about the acts of the Holy Spirit as the empowering God, who grows His Church through His indwelling and supernatural work through believers in Christ. The “sending” of the Spirit is once again in complete alignment with God’s intended plan for history, with a people (The Church) who are “producing the fruits” of the kingdom, though the kingdom has been postponed as a result of Israel’s national rejection of their Messiah (Matt 21:43; 12:24, respectively).John 16:8-11.Jesus now unfolds the Spirit’s convicting ministry. This is what the Spirit is doing in the Church Age. The explanation also provides a better understanding of the “advantageous” opportunities that the Spirit affords beyond simply residing in the believer. Of first observation, Jesus states “when He comes,” which obviously speaks of the events of Pentecost (Acts 2:3-4), being the birth of the Church, the Body of Christ. This is the time that the Spirit will begin this special ministry. Second, we see that the action of the Spirit will be that of “conviction.” This word iselenchō, meaning “to convict, refute, confute, generally with a suggestion of the shame of the person convicted,”[5]with “convict” being the overwhelming choice of many major English translations (NASB95, NKJV, ESV, HCSB, CSB, NIV84). Finally, the audience that will receive this convicting work of the Holy Spirit is identified as “the world.” This word (kosmos) has a wide arrayof meanings, but due to the surrounding context, we can understand this as the Spirit’s work of conviction in relation to unbelievers. This is a sound conclusion when noting that the areas of conviction are going to be in regards to sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8b) with each area being expounded upon by Jesus in John 16:9-11. This clearly shows the recipients of such messages as being those who are in need of divinely-imparted Life. These three areas must be carefully considered, for when the Spirit comes, He will indwell the believer in Jesus Christ from that moment forward (John 14:16b). This means that these three areas of conviction will be addressed through the believer in Christ. Every believer is indispensable to the administration of the convicting work of the Spirit. This work can manifest itself in many ways through the believer, but all will be brought forth with the goal of bringing the deeds, philosophies, and plans of the world into full exposure as works of evil and unrighteousness. The Holy Spirit is a light through the believer, and when the believer is walking in the Spirit, this light pierces the darkness of this present age, holding it accountable for its unbelief, and projecting a beacon of hope that is answered in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us consider each one.First, we have the area of “sin” in John 16:9. Sin is the problem. It is always the problem. It has always been the problem. Many people have thought, and with good intentions, that something else is the issue, whether it be poverty, disability, insignificance, race, creed, work environment, spouse, kids, in-laws, etc., and so this is where the time, attention, money, focus, and energy goes with feeble attempts to try and “make a difference” so that life, work, and relationships will be improved. This is exactly what Satan wants within the Church because it completely avoids the central pitfall of sin.The issue, every issue, regardless of what it is, finds its nucleus in sin! Satan wants us polishing the leaves and pruning the branches rather than focusing on the root. He wants us instituting programs and formulating plans to give people a better life, rather than identifyingand bearing down on their ongoing sin and its origin in the sin nature that is successfully flourishing within them (Rom 5:12, 19). He delights in us prescribing people with a checklist for achievement rather than shining a light on the quicksand that is devouring them. Q: Why is sin the first area in which the Holy Spirit will bring conviction upon the world?A: Unbelief (John 16:9b). This is how we know that the word “world” in John 16:8 is referring to those who are unregenerate. They are lost and they do not have Life, and we know that they do not have Life because they do not believe. The greatest sin that one can have is unbelief. Jesus states it plainly: “because they do not believe in Me.” Seeing that the Gospel of John uses the word “believe” 98 times, and that by his own admission, John wrote his gospel account with the goal of leading the lost to faith in Christ (John 20:30-31), it should be no surprise that he is emphatic about the main problem that needs to be addressed. The whole human race is guilty before an Almighty Creator of whom they must give an account (Rom 3:19-20). The world is “judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Condemnation is already certain for those who do not believe. How does this concern the saint in whom the Holy Spirit dwells? This is the first point that needs to be addressed when discussing spiritual matters with a lost person. As with the other two areas that will be discussed, this is the first matter presented where the Holy Spirit will bring conviction. Our evangelism should seek to be in alignment with where the Spirit is working. Since Jesus has revealed this wonderous truth to us, we know that this is the perfect place to start. We cannot work apart from Him and “hope” that He will overlook our denial of where He is already actively working, expecting Him to bless us in spite of our “alternate” approach. Our time should not be wasted in looking for “someone to come in and do something.” The Holy Spirit works through the believer in Christ. This means you and me. This is an important opportunity that has been afforded to us by God. Reverend George C. Grubb writes, “the most awful thing that a man can do is to have a doubt about the credibility of Jesus, to wander on in the darkness of his own delusions. How the world needs that conviction today; and the world can only get it through seeing Christ shining out of you. The Holy Spirit does not act immediately on the world; He always acts mediately through the members of the Body of Christ. Why is the world not convicted of sin? Because the Spirit of God has come in such little power to us. Do not be blaming the world; do not be finding fault with the world always. ‘People are so Gospel-hardened,’ you say; they are not Gospel-hardened: they have not seen the shining Jesus in you.”[6]The issue is “sin,” being the destitute position that lost individuals are currently in due to their unbelief about Jesus. The Spirit’s work will always be through the born-again believer, for it is out of His residence that He seeks to address these matters. This leads us to the second area of conviction.“Righteousness” is listed with the explanation that Jesus will “go to the Father and you no longer see Me” (John 16:10b). The idea of Jesus going to the Father is something that has been occasionally referenced throughout this discourse (John 13:36; 14:1-6, 19, 28; 16:5), so the theme is not unusual. What does Jesus mean in stating that the reason for this second avenue of conviction is because Jesus is going to the Father?To answer this, we must slow down and meditate upon what Jesus is communicating to the eleven. The Son of God is leaving Earth. He will be crucified, buried, resurrected, and then will ascend before their eyes into heaven (Acts 1:9). If we will recall, the timing of the beginning of the Spirit’s convicting ministry is noted in John 16:7. Jesus must first “go away,” which clearly speaks to the events that will shortly transpire. Having “gone away,” the Spirit of truth will then“come,” and His coming will be advantageous because of the convicting ministry that He will give the disciples in the world upon His indwelling of them. Thus, we see that Jesus’ comments about going “to the Father and you no longer see Me” (John 16:10b) speaking to the time of His absence and the Spirit’s presence. We can conclude that the Spirit of God, residing in the believer, will be the representative of righteousness in Jesus’ place through us. This becomes increasingly clear when we think back to Jesus’ initial comment that the Spirit would be “another Helper” (John 14:16), being one that is like Him. We, as vessels who have the Spirit of God within us, are the instruments of righteousness in this world, as we walk in the Spirit and abide in Him. Such submission allows for the Spirit’s conviction of righteousness to be displayed as something wholly different than what this sinful world would consider “right” or “true.” An example of this can be seen in Peter’s exhortation in 1 Peter 2:13-15. It reads, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.” Such selfless submission is the “will of God” because it is in alignment with “doing right,” and “doing right” will become a convicting display of righteousness that will silence the Church’s critics. Deep down, they recognize “right” when they see it, and such a display, being in alignment with the Holy Spirit, causes a conviction that results in their having nothing to say. Does this not preach today! Our culture is all about independence and individuality, which are used as excuses to be defiant and unruly. Sadly, I am speaking of many of the attitudes that permeate the American Church. How the Spirit of God would speak if we would simply understand that He is looking for opportunities to convict the world of what is truly “righteous” so that such conviction would amplify the world’s need for a Savior. Are weas those who have the Holy Spirit, a help or a hindrance in the mission that God is desiring to do in the world?Our third area of conviction is “judgment” (John 16:11). The reason given is the fact that the “ruler of this world has been judged.” This is an astonishing statement seeing that the death of Christ had not yet occurred, and yet here is Jesus speaking already of the Devil’s certain condemnation. The words used for “judgment” and “judged” are krisis andkrinō respectively. Each holds the understanding of “a separating, sundering, separation; a trial, contest, judgment; i.e. opinion or decision given concerning anything, especially concerning justice and injustice, right and wrong.”[7]Judgment is a separation that takes place based on a standard that has been set, but not met. Having been instrumental in plummeting the human race into sin (Gen 3), Satan has assumed the right of rulership over this present age, as confirmed by the mouth of the Lord Jesus (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11b). The original call was for man to “have dominion” (Gen 1:26, 28), but sin caused a forfeiture of the right to rule as God’s representatives on Earth. This world is now governed by principalities and powers that will give an account for their stewardship over the Earth in due time (Ps 82). “That great enemy of truth is now living on borrowed time. Judgment will come, but the focus here is on an awareness that the prince of this world now stands condemned.”[8]The judgment of Satan is a foretaste of the judgment that will come upon all who do not respond in faith to Jesus Christ (remember, this convicting ministry has its audience in the “world”- John 16:8b).The judgment that will come upon this world is a legitimate promise with the condemnation of Satan as evidence. Just as he is already judged by God, being an invisible, celestial being, so will the world be judged who has had the greater opportunity to hear and respond tothe Gospel of Jesus Christ. The already-judgment of the greater being guarantees the certain judgment of the lesser beings.This, being the third area in which the Spirit will convict the world, also finds the believer in Christ as the channel by which this conviction will come. The judgment of the unbelieving world is a certain event that will transpire at a future time for those who are without the Life of God in them. This judgment is deserved because such Life has been freely provided for all (John 1:29; Heb 2:9; 1 John 2:2). This judgment is to the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11-15). Many have objected to this in stating, “How could a good and loving God send anyone to a place of eternal torment? He doesn’t seem so loving.” This question misses the point entirely. Everyone, regardless of who they are, was already destined for the Lake of Fire because of sin. God, being under no obligation, provided a certain rescue from this otherwise unavoidable destiny. God does not send anyone to the Lake of Fire. He alone has provided the way out of the Lake of Fire. Jesus Christ is His answer to the sin problem that had guaranteed our eternal destiny in the Lake of Fire, and faith in Christ cancels our appointment for this judgment and places us in a position of full acceptance before a righteous God. God is the Rescuer of people from the Lake of Fire. People are already condemned because of their unbelief (John 3:18). God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, seeks to rescue the lost and give them Life!Sin, righteousness, and judgment are three indispensable points that must be explained when sharing the Gospel with the lost. It is the three areas in which the Spirit is already working. It is the three topics that need to have the greatest understanding so that the unregenerate person can better grasp their bankrupt condition before a holy God (sin), the standard of righteousness that exists and that is made freely available to them by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross (righteousness), and the judgment that awaits those who do not receive the free gift of Life that Jesus Christ offers (judgment). John 16:12-15.Jesus cannot tell the disciples anymore because they cannot bear them now (John 16:12b). Surely the idea of the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit upon the world was enough to occupy their thinking for a lifetime. Instead, Jesus returns to some familiar language, reinforcing what He had previously conveyed about the Spirit’s identity and coming. The Spirit is the “Spirit of truth” who will guide the disciples (and us by extension) into all truth, seeing that truth is who He is and the standard by which He abides. This “guiding into all truth” is in complete harmony with Jesus’ words in John 14:26 where He will “teach you all things,” speaking of the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the same form and fashion of Jesus’ approach (John 5:19-23, 26-27, 30-32; 10:31, 37-38; 14:7-12), we are told that the Spirit will not say anything that is not in total harmony and submission to the Father (John 16:13b). Both Jesus and the Spirit are in subjection to the Father’s will. Just as Jesus’ earthly life demonstrates what it is to walk by faith (in the Spirit), so the Spirit is in complete compliance with these truths, seeing that all truth comes from God. We are also told that the Spirit will “disclose” what is to come to them. This word “disclose” is not the same as “disclose” in John 14:22, but is a different word, being anangellowhich is a form of what we commonly understand as “angel,” which means “messenger.” The word anangellomeans “an announcement” or “making something known.” The Spirit will make what is to come “known” to them. This is not speaking to the crucifixion and resurrection, because the announcement of His resurrection was met with unbelief (Mark 16:11, 14). Borchert writes, “wide-ranging speculation is eliminated by remembering that these words were written as a Farewell message to anxious disciples who feared the imminent loss of Jesus, their physical companion and guide. But the future was also an unknown page for them, since these Paraclete passages indicate that the coming times would be traumatic for them and that in such times the disciples would need the truthful and authentic Spirit to guide them through their forthcoming wilderness.”[9]Such pain would still have Jesus’ promises.The Spirit always points to Jesus Christ (John 15:26b-27). Those things that belong to Christ will be “disclosed” (anangello- “announced, made known”) to the disciples (John 16:14b). Again, this is in keeping with truth. Reading further, we see that those “things” are such that the Father has shared with the Son, giving Him “first-rights” ownership of them. The Spirit, being perfectly God, in turn reveals them to the disciples. All of this is in perfect compliance with explaining the truth about Jesus Christ.What has Jesus taught us about the Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel?· He is a “Helper” in the same manner as Jesus (14:16)· He is sent from the Father by request of the Son (14:16; 15:26)· He will be with us forever (14:16)· He is the Spirit of truth (14:17; 15:26; 16:13)· The world cannot receive Him (14:17)· He was “abiding” with the disciples in Jesus’ time (14:17)· He will be “in” them at a future time (14:17; 7:39)· When He resides “in” them, streams of living water will flow out from their innermost being (7:38)· He will be sent in the Name of Jesus (14:26)· He will teach them all things (14:26)· He will bring to their remembrance all that they had been taught (14:26)· He will testify about Jesus using believers to do so (15:26-27)· Jesus must go away for the Spirit to come (7:39; 16:7)· The Spirit’s arrival is “advantageous” for believers (16:7)· The Spirit will convict the word of sin, righteousness, and judgment (16:8-11)· The Spirit guides us into all truth (16:13)· The Spirit speaks only of what He has heard from the Father (16:13)· The Spirit will disclose the things to come to us (16:13)· He will glorify Christ (16:14)· He will disclose those things that come from the Son, and that were given to Him by the Father, to us (16:14-15)Are we in step with what we have learned about the Holy Spirit? His ministry tous is revealing things about Christ, leading us and teaching us in all truth, and bringing to our remembrance the things about Christ in the proper time. His ministry throughus is the conviction of the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment.Are we in step with these things? Does our own personal sin hinder the conviction of the world’s sin that the Spirit is seeking to convey?What was Jesus’ reason for sharing all that He did about the coming Holy Spirit? Though we are on the other side of the crucifixion, the disciples were not. They were being told that their beloved friend and mentor, the One whom they believed to be the Christ of God (Matt 16:16), was leaving them. Yet, they did not understand how He would leave them, even though He told them plainly (Matt 16:21; Luke 18:31-34). Imagine the looks on their faces when Judas’ kiss set off a firestorm of hostility. One of their own had betrayed the Son of God.The Spirit was given to be a Friend, Helper, Comforter, and Counselor who never leaves (John 14:16). He is always there and He can keep us from stumbling (John 16:1) if we rely upon Him. He is a Teacher of truth and a Guide who leads us and makes us effective in ministry (John 14:26; 16:13) Most importantly, He is God; and isn’t it just like God to give of Himself for the love and care of His people.[1]Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 408.[2]Gerald L. Borchert, John 12–21, vol. 25B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002), p. 162.[3]Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible(Galaxie Software, 2003), Jn 16:4.[4]John Van Gelderen, Friendship with the Holy Spirit (Ann Arbor, MI: Revival Focus Ministries, 2015), p. 42.[5]Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 202.[6]Keswick’s Triumphant Voice, ed. Herbert F. Stevenson (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, Ltd./Zondervan Publishing House, 1963), p. 376-377.[7]Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 361.[8]Kenneth O. Gangel, John, vol. 4, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), p. 300.[9]Borchert, John 12–21, p. 170.

This lesson continues examining Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit during what is commonly understood as the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-16). While the entirety of these chapters should be carefully studied with much prayer and meditation, our concern will be with the specifics of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the incredible relationship that He brings to the believer in Christ.First, we must consider the context of the passage at hand. With chapter 15 comes Jesus’ teaching on what it is to “abide” in Him. This is something that will be covered in detail later, but it would be good for the sake of context to read v.1-11. Starting in John 15:12, the commandment as expressed in 13:34-35 is reiterated, beginning an inclusiothat persists unto John 15:17. “An inclusio is a literary device that marks off a section of material by putting ‘book ends’ at the beginning and end. This literary device alerts the reader to look at everything between the two similar, or identical in this case, statements as a single unit of thought.”[1]Thus, within the bookends of loving “one another” we find the subjects of “greater love” being defined as giving one’s life for his friends (15:13), that friendship with Christ is contingent upon keeping His commands (15:14) and that His disciples are considered His friends, seeing that Jesus has made all things known to them as His Father has revealed them to Him (15:15). We also read that the eleven were chosen by Christ for the purpose of “bearing fruit” and that their fruit would “remain” (menō same word for “abide”), for with such “remaining/abiding” one’s prayers are answered, seeing that they are in fellowship with the Father (15:16).Jesus then communicates that they should expect persecution and hatred because of their affiliation with Him (John 15:18-27). Accusations and violence against the believer is never a result of the believer him or herself, but is always because of Christ (15:21). He alone is the reason for reproach because what He speaks is always true (See also John 7:7). Jesus also explains His complete identification with the Father, noting that those who hate Him hate the Father as well (John 15:23-25).Because of the works that Jesus performed in front of their eyes (John 15:24a), their accountability had been jettisoned to a maximum level, seeing that the Spirit was testifying through Jesus’ works that the kingdom of God had come upon Israel (Matt 12:28).[2]These works are also understood biblically as being the evidence of God abiding in Christ (John 14:10b). It is with the context of persecution, hatred, and heightened accountability that we step into Jesus’ continued comments about the Holy Spirit. John 15:26-27. Once again, the word “Helper” is used by Jesus, being the same word as mentioned before in John 14:16 and 26. The Parakletos, the One who has been “called to one’s side,” is perfectly God as seen in the Person of the Holy Spirit. While much of the importance of this word has already been conveyed, we must still recognize the false, modern-day stigmas that usually surround the Person of the Spirit of God.The Spirit is usually understood as either being less than the Father and the Son, an influence that causes people to act irrationally, convulsing and rolling around on the floor, or altogether forgotten for the fear that He may be real and may actually enact some change in the life of the believer. Erdman sets the record straight, writing, “He is God as Creator. (Gen. 1:2; Psa. 104:30; Job 26:13; Luke 1:35.) He is one with God as Jehovah (Lord) in providential leading and care, and susceptible of grief on account of the unholiness of His chosen people. We cannot grieve an ‘influence,’ but only a person, and a person, too, who loves us. (Psa. 78:40; Eph. 4:30.) He is one with God as Adonai (Lord), whose glory Isaiah beheld and John rehearses, who commissioned the prophet and sent forth the apostle. (Isa. 6:1–10; John 12:37–41; Acts 13:2; 20:15–18.) In these Scriptures one and the same act is that of Jehovah and of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit.”[3]The Holy Spirit is to be embraced as being one in essence with the Father and the Son, equal and eternal, yet commissioned with a particular responsibility that unearths itself in Jesus’ teaching in John 15:26.Not only is the Spirit identified again as the “Helper,” but is also spoken of again as “the Spirit of truth” as seen previously in John 14:17a. This is, of course, consistent with the character and essence of the Spirit because He is perfectly God. In addition, Jesus notes that He will send the Spirit to His disciples “from the Father” (John 15:26b) which pairs perfectly with His previous statements of asking of the Father to send the Spirit (John 14:16) and that the Spirit is sent by the Father in the name of Jesus in John 14:26. Again, the Holy Spirit is the specially requested and divinely sent blessing of Jesus Christ to His followers for the purpose of leading them into all truth, aiding, comforting, and teaching them all things. Jesus also mentions that “the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me” (John 15:26c). The word “proceeds” means “to move out of an enclosed or well-defined two or three-dimensional area—‘to go out of, to depart out of, to leave from within.’”[4]Initially this understanding may seem like a redundancy of all that we have examined thus far from Jesus concerning the Spirit, but that is precisely the point. Our minds must be convinced about the truths of the Spirit’s divinity, His equality with the Father and the Son, and His “oneness” as part of the Trinity. He is not something less than the Father and Son. He is perfectly God!Jesus’ words in John 14:26b state that the Spirit “will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” This statement is further enhanced in 15:26c because the Spirit will also “testify about Me.” This comment must be kept within the preceding context of persecution. The Spirit of God always points to Jesus. He never points to Himself. In the middle of slander and oppression comes the opportunity to speak on behalf of Jesus’ Name, and the Spirit is divinely commissioned to bear witness to who Jesus is and what He has done for the world in paying for their sins with His own blood. This is seen in the connection between 15:26 and 27 with Jesus stating that the disciples would also testify because they had been with Him from the beginning. We must not think that there are two separate testimonies going on; only two separate entities (Spirit and the disciples) that are testifying to the same things, with the Spirit enhancing and directing the testimony as dispensed by the disciples.To think that what needs to be said of Christ can be said with power and confidence because the Church Age believer has the indwelling Holy Spirit should encourage all of us to look for opportunities to speak lovingly and boldly for His Name. He has given us of Himself to “bring to your remembrance” (John 14:26b) what you and I should say. He will aid us divinely in testifying about Christ our Lord![1]Gary Derickson and Earl Radmacher, The Disciplemaker: What Matters Most to Jesus(Salem, OR: Charis Press, 2001), p. 198, footnote 2.[2]The word for “sin” in John 15:24 is harmatianand is better understood as “guilt.” Jesus’ signs were from the Holy Spirit, bringing a greater accountability upon the Jews. However, this verse does not mean that if Jesus had never worked wonders that the Jews would not have sin. His miracles increased their accountability.[3]W. J. Erdman, The Fundamentals: A Testimony of the Truth,vol. 2, ed. R.A. Torrey and A.C. Dixon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005), p. 338.[4]Louw and Nida, p. 186.

FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK. PART 61 Jesus’ earthly ministry was undeniably blessed by the Holy Spirit, being clearly seen in His birth (Matt 1:18, 20), to His appearance at Jesus’ baptism (Matt 3:16), to being the One who was granting Him the power to work miracles before the people (Matt 12:28). It is Jesus’ earthly life that sets forth the model for what it is for one to walk in the Spirit, abiding in the Father (John14:10b), with the intimate fellowship-relationship with the Father being cultivated through obedience to His commandments (John 14:21).In what is commonly known as the Upper Room Discourse, we find five mentions of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ teaching which provides clarity about His Person and ministry.John 14:16-18. Chapters 13-16 and Jesus’ prayer in chapter 17 serve in preparing His disciples for His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. Having commissioned them with a “new commandment” that called them to “love one another even as I have loved you” (John 13:34), Jesus then exhorted His disciples to “believe” in Him. We should not take this to mean that they needed to be saved so that they would go to heaven when they died, but that they needed to keep their confidence in who He is as the Messiah of God (Matt 16:16). With the events that would soon transpire, this was not the time for unbelief! His oneness with the Father is one aspect that is put forward to ground them in right thinking (John 14:7-11), but even if this wasn’t something that they had convincingly understood, at least His works testified to His Person as the Christ (John 14:11), which are actually the works of the Father (John 16:10b), which were also the evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:28). In v.16, Jesus turns the conversation to the importance of the Holy Spirit, Who would be sent because the Son will ask the Father to do so (John 14:16a). The Spirit is presented to the disciples as “another Helper,” seeing that Jesus would qualify as the first “Helper.” It is with this particular word that our greatest understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit takes place.The term “Helper” is the Greek word “Paraclete,” which means “one who pleads another’s cause before a judge,” or “one who pleads another’s cause with one.” This word can also be understood as “a helper, succorer, aider, assistant.”[1] This compound word is made up of para which is a preposition of proximity that means “to come alongside” (as we have seen in “parable”), and kletos meaning “to be invited or called.”[2] This would give us the understanding of “one who is called alongside.” Explaining this, Torrey writes “The word so translated is Parakleetos, the same word that is translated ‘advocate’ in 1 John 2:1; but ‘advocate’ does not give the full force and significance of the word etymologically. Advocate means about the same as Parakleetos, but the word in usage has obtained restricted sense. ‘Advocate’ is Latin; Parakleetos is Greek. The exact Latin word is ‘advocatus,’ which means one called to another. (That is, to help him or take his part or represent him.) Parakleetos means one called alongside, that is, one who constantly stands by your side as your helper, counsellor, comforter, friend. It is very nearly the thought expressed in the familiar hymn, ‘Ever present, truest friend.’ Up to the time that Jesus had uttered these words, He Himself had been the Parakleetos to the disciples, the Friend at hand, the Friend who stood by their side.”[3]The various English translations have sought to capture all that this word encompasses: “Helper”- NASB95, ESV, NKJV, “Counselor”- HCSB, NIV84, CSB, “Advocate”- NET, NLT, NRSV, and “Comforter”- KJV, ASV, Darby, Young’s. Regarding the secular usage, Derickson and Radmacher write, “As a legal term it referred more to the friend who goes to court with the defendant than to a professional advisor or attorney.”[4] Such analytical information paints the picture of an inseparable relationship that is God Himself, standing beside the believer at all times (all the while residing in the believer at the moment of faith starting in Acts 2), aiding, guiding, consoling, and uplifting, just as Christ did when He was physically present with His disciples. The idea that Jesus conveys as “another Helper” shows that the Spirit will be much like Himself, yet closer, and according to the end of verse 16, eternally present with the believer always.This pertinent point must not go unnoticed. The Holy Spirit is ALWAYS with the believer in Christ. Never is he or she without help, comfort, guidance, or care. We are never alone! He is always present, active, and available. At the time that this was spoken this was not the present reality, but it is something that is a reality now. Turning to John 7:37-39 helps in understanding this.John 7:37-39. It seems odd that Jesus would suddenly stand up in the middle of a meal and begin yelling out profound and lofty statements, which could have very well been perceived as narcissistic utterances by the mass of people. However, the details of v. 37 unfold the significance of this action. Hart writes, “According to the Talmud, (Sukk 4.9), each day during the Feast of Booths… a priest would carry water from the spring-fed Pool of Siloam to the temple and pour it out on the altar in expectation of the coming Messiah.”[5] Being the last day of the Feast of Booths, Jesus used the symbolism of the priest’s actions to proclaim Himself as the long-awaited Messiah, the very Giver of Life.In v.38 Jesus clarifies the metaphor of what He means by coming to Him to “drink,” stating that it is the one who “believes” in Him. The result of belief would be “living water” that would flow out from the innermost part of the person. The imagery is simple but profound. Not only was Jesus speaking of being the Messiah of Israel and the Giver of Life, but He is also speaking of something that is satisfying, quelling all wants or needs, being abundant in quantity and quality. One of the things that is extremely helpful in the Gospel of John is that John will occasionally provide a verse or two of commentary in order to clarify Jesus’ comments. This is a blessing to us as readers because John’s comments were recorded, as with all Scripture, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so we know that his remarks are in perfect alignment to provide us with better understanding.In v.39, John tells us that the “living water” that will flow out from the one who believes is in reference to the Holy Spirit “whom those who believed in Him were to receive,” indicating a future tense “receiving,” speaking to the definite indwelling of the Spirit that would take place at Pentecost in Acts 2. Finishing out the verse, we also learn why this glorious privilege had not been bestowed upon believers during Jesus’ earthly ministry. John writes, “for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (7:39b). The Lord’s timetable is precise. Jesus must first be glorified, which according to John’s Gospel, seems to be in relation to His death and the results of it for God’s glory (John 12:16, 23, 28; 13:31, 32; 17:1, 5; & 21:19- concerning Peter). This corresponds remained perfectly with the arrival of the Holy Spirit occurring after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. Moving back to John 14:16-17, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17a), and then makes the comment that the world cannot receive Him because it does not “see” nor “know” Him (14:17b). This statement resonates with Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:14, stating that the “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” Those who are dead, being separated from a relationship with the Creator, cannot see, know, or receive the things of the Spirit. The very idea of the Spirit of God is considered a foreign intrusion into a methodically-designed, God-hating world system. Our present age operates by a mindset that all exists within the natural and physical realm, esteeming this is all that there is, and rejecting any notion of a greater reality in that of the supernatural. This is often labeled as “naturalism.” The Spirit of God is quickly labeled as an apparition of the “delusional religious fanatic” so that He can promptly be dismissed from being a legitimate entity with which the world must contend. The natural man would not dare entertain the idea that He is God.The advantage of the disciples is that the Spirit has been “abiding” with them, and Jesus quickly notes that the Spirit “will be” in them referring to the Pentecost event, just as we saw as referenced in John 7:39a. The word “abide” is a favorite of Jesus and John, as recorded by the latter, being used throughout his Gospel and Epistles (John 3:36; 5:38; 6:56; 15:4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10; 1 John 2:6, 10, 14, 27, 28; 3:6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 24; 4:12, 13, 15, 16; 2 John 2, 9). This is the Greek word menō, which means to “remain, stay…” being understood as “a person or thing remains where he, she, or it is.”[6] So the Spirit has with the disciples, but a greater assimilation will occur when He resides “in” them.Jesus finishes this section reassuring these men that He will not leave them without guidance, described by the term “orphans” in the NASB (John 14:18). Other translations use “comfortless” (KJV, AV) and “desolate” (RSV). It is clear by this point that Jesus is leaving them, yet He is not leaving them in the sense that they will be without His presence, guidance, and care. The emphasis is still upon the Spirit being “another Helper,” which will replace Jesus in a physical sense, but will only enhance Jesus’ message and ministry to them in another sense. This is a profound paradox, but one that every believer should find comforting with sufficient grounds to elicit praise! Our Savior is always taking care of us in extraordinary ways whether acknowledged by us or not.John 14:26. Two things are obvious from considering Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 14:19-25. First, obedience to Jesus’ commands are a demonstration of our love for the Savior. This is a countercultural message in the world today. We hear of “free love” and that “we should love everyone,” and even the Beatles pressed the issue, stating that “love is all you need.” Yet, Jesus explains that for one who is in a relationship with Him to actually embrace His words in such a way as to where their life is transformed, their choices are different, and their thinking has been altered, is to demonstrate love for the Lord Jesus Christ. While the Savior freely loves us (Gal 2:20), this love is demonstrated by the selfless sacrifice seen chiefly in the giving of Himself to redeem sinners. This is truly a “greater love” (John 15:13). Jesus tells His disciples plainly what it is to love Him (John 14:15, 21 [x2], 23, 24, 28). Here we find the second observation, with John 14:21 and 23 showing that a love for the Savior by keeping the commandments leads to a greater intimacy with the Father. Jesus states that the one who obeys Him is the one who “loves” Him, and the one who loves Him is loved by the Father, to which Jesus will then love with the expressed end being that He will “disclose” Himself to them (John 14:21). Jesus “disclosing” Himself to the obedient saint is emphanizō meaning “to cause something to be fully known by revealing clearly and in some detail—‘to make known, to make plain, to reveal, to bring to the light, to disclose, revelation.’”[7] The footnote that accompanies this definition gives even greater clarity about what transpires when love for the Savior has motivated one’s obedience. It states that “all of these meanings involve a shift from the sensory domain of seeing, causing to see, or giving light to, to the cognitive domain of making something fully known, evident, and clear.”[8] Plainly put, obedience leads to a greater intimacy with the Father and the Son (See also Col 1:9-10).Jesus’ teachings on what it is to love the Savior, and the guaranteed growth in one’s intimacy with the Father and Son, are what surround His referencing the “Helper” again in John 14:26. Here, Jesus again qualifies what He had previously stated in v.16-17: that the “Helper” is the Holy Spirit, and that the Father will send Him. The remark is also made that the Spirit would come “in My name” (John 14:26b), which harkens back to the “another Helper” designation (John 14:16b). At this point, Jesus reveals two additional details about the capability of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. First, the Spirit will “teach you all things” (John 14:26b). “All things” speaks solely to God’s truth. The Spirit, being perfectly God, cannot teach the believer that which is not true. No, He is “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17a) and all that He affirms corresponds perfectly with who He is without contradiction. What we understand about God in general, concerning His impeccable character and His divine attributes, are all positioned upon the fact that He IS truth. Therefore, He defines what truth is because only He is true. One cannot forget that the Holy Spirit is perfectly God, therefore all that is true of God is equally true of the Holy Spirit.This is further understood when reading 1 John 2:26-27 which states “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him” (emphasis added). The correlation between “all things” and truth is perfectly consistent with the Spirit’s very being and is positioned in this passage against the idea of “those who are trying to deceive you.” The second detail revealed is that the Spirit will bring to remembrance all of the things that were said to them by Jesus. No doubt that Jesus taught His disciples many wonderous things (John 21:25), both in word and in deed. The Spirit would be necessary to bring about the proper truth at the proper time for the opportunity of maximum obedience for their lives. This would speak to His present ministry of illumination in the disciples’ (and in the believer’s) life. With a command like “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt 28:18-19a), the Spirit would be necessary in relating this wealth of information as disciples were being made.The Spirit bringing about remembrance would also be necessary in the documentation of the Scriptures, which found men being “carried along” by the Spirit of God (2 Pet 1:21). The Spirit’s ministry of remembrance is why we have the Old and New Testaments today.Finally, many men of God have been called upon to witness in various situations (whether threatening or not), and to testify of Christ Jesus with their lives hanging in the balance. Even Jesus told His disciples “when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say. On the contrary, whatever is given to you in that hour—say it. For it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). There will be times in our lives when the conversation will turn to spiritual matters, and no doubt there will be many who will quickly speak emphatically about things that they are truly ignorant of because they do not know God. These opportunities find the Spirit giving us boldness, love, tact, and the words that are necessary to provide sound reasoning from God’s Word to an otherwise fruitless conversation. The Spirit will bring forth passage after passage and verse after verse, showing the truth of God’s Word to be undeniable and irrefutable.The Holy Spirit is truly a remarkable blessing from our glorious Father. His mercy in sending the Spirit to us for our help, comfort, and aid continues eternity’s theme of a gracious Sovereign who desires for His children to be well-kept in Divine arms. Packer describes this beautiful gesture, writing, “we can only appreciate all that our Lord meant when He spoke of ‘another Comforter’ as we look back over all that He Himself had done in the way of love, and care, and patient instruction, and provision for the disciple’s well-being, during His own three years of personal ministry to them. He will care for you, Christ was saying in effect, in the way that I have cared for you. Truly a remarkable person!”[9] Such grace deserves our greatest praise![1] Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 483.[2] BDAG, p. 549.[3] R. A. Torrey, The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005), p. 332.[4] Gary Derickson and Earl Radmacher, The Disciplemaker: What Matters Most to Jesus (Salem, OR: Charis Press, 2001), p. 123.[5] John F. Hart, The Moody Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2014), p. 1629. [6] BDAG, p. 630.[7] Louw and Nida, p. 337–338.[8] Ibid., p. 338, footnote 9.[9] J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1979), p. 58.

John 3:1-2. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, which means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin were the “Supreme judicial council of Judaism with 71 members, located in Jerusalem.”[3] We are also told that he was a teacher of Israel (John 3:10) who came to Jesus by night. This late visit was undoubtedly made so as to go unnoticed by his peers. The first words we have recorded from his mouth are “rabbi,” meaning “teacher” (See John 1:38), which should interest us considering Nicodemus’ position among the Jewish people. Quoting Moulton and Milligan, Vincent writes, “We may be sure that a member of the sect that carefully scrutinized the Baptist’s credentials (1:19–24) would not lightly address Jesus by this title of honor, or acknowledge Him as teacher.”[4] Such an address gives us an understanding that Nicodemus’ visit was one of sincerity and not for the purpose of assault or accusation.Nicodemus’ use of the plural in “We know that you have come from God as a teacher” (John 3:2b) shows that this was a subject of discussion amongst the Pharisees. Not only was it concluded that Jesus was a teacher and that YHWH had sent Him, but that the signs that He performed were a testimony to the uniqueness of His ministry and person, serving as a statement that God was with Him (3:2c). In light of what is later concluded by the Pharisees in Matthew 12:24, we see a solid witness against the anti-belief of accusing Jesus of wielding the power of the devil. Also in light of Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:28, we see that even the signs that He had performed in His early ministry already served as a testimony that “the Kingdom of God has come upon you” being done by the power of the Spirit of God. For the Pharisees, there was no excuse. All of them should have responded as Nicodemus did because God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ along with the signs that He performed are Biblically assessed as sufficient revelation. John 3:3-6. Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ conclusion about Him in stating that one must be “born again” in order to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3b). While much has been written on the phrase “born again/born from above,” it is clear that something needed to happen in Nicodemus’ life in order for the kingdom of God to be a reality for him. The theological term for “born again” is “regeneration,” a vital term that can be understood as meaning “receiving spiritual life, that is, eternal life. Christ is this life (Jn 14:6). We only receive this life as we receive Christ, who then may be said to be in us, ‘the hope of glory’” (Col 1:27).[5] All men are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1) and this is a fact regardless of the dispensation under consideration. However, it must be clearly stated that in Jesus’ earthly ministry, regeneration and the baptism of the Holy Spirit were still two separate things and they did not become something that occurs at the same time at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ until after the founding of the Church in Jerusalem in Acts 2. In that time period, we see a noticeable transition that takes place between OT saints (who were saved and justified before God by faith, yet were without the Holy Spirit), and those who are Church Age believers after the events of Acts 2, with the book of Acts demonstrating that the Holy Spirit would come upon already believing individuals as an evidence of their redemption (See Acts 19:1-7 for an example).Jesus’ use of the term the “kingdom of God” is consistent with every mention that we have seen in Scripture thus far. Therefore, this orthodox Jewish teacher and prominent societal figurehead would have automatically been drawn to the future, literal time of Messiah’s reign on Earth as He sat upon the throne of David, ruling with a rod of iron (Ps 2:9a). It is clear from Nicodemus’ response in John 3:4 that he is unsure of what Jesus has just said. His reply shows his logical progression in thinking through only the physical. Can an old man be reborn? Is it possible to retreat into the womb only to appear again? All of this was nonsense, for such feats were impossible. However, Jesus restates His antidote adding further clarification for Nicodemus’ sake. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Now we have the introduction of the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in connection with the kingdom of God. According to Jesus both “water” and the “Spirit” are necessary for this birth, not one physically reentering the womb. In this verse, we can also see that Jesus has connected the idea of “seeing” the kingdom from v.3 with “entering” the kingdom in v.5. While our previous lessons have shown that “entering” the kingdom must be understood by its surrounding context to be speaking to either one’s justification or sanctification, it is obvious from this context that justification is in view. The idea of being born “of water and the Spirit” has seemed to confuse many regarding what it means to be “born again.” For example, in referring to the Old Testament overtones of this idea in the Greek, Barry writes, “Ezek 36:25–27 clearly combines the imagery of cleansing by water with inner renewal by the spirit (pneuma) from God.”[6] However, this cannot be correct because Jesus does not say “of water by the Spirit,” but “water and the Spirit.” There are obviously two births that must happen, not just one. Another explanation finds Borchert going to great lengths to explain the idea of being “born of water and the Spirit.” He writes, “the linkage between water and Spirit would have been familiar to the Jews since both are related to the theme of life. For a people like the Jews, who lived on the edge of the desert, water was an indispensable requirement of life (e.g., Exod 15:22–27; Pss 23:2; 42:1; 63:1), and even Christians viewed heaven as having a life-endued stream flowing from the throne of God (Rev 22:1). Concerning the life-giving Spirit, one only needs to be reminded that the breath of God brought life to Adam (Gen 2:7), and the Spirit/wind/breath of God brought life to dry bones (Ezek 37:1–14).”[7] This understanding has been concluded from specifically chosen examples in the Old Testament. Borchert’s view finds friction in that his example of Christians in the first century and their understanding of how to view “water” is derived from the book of Revelation, which had not yet been written at this point. Why not connect the “Spirit” in John 3:5 to the “Spirit” being upon King Saul or David? With no clear direction given in the text that we should understand the water and the Spirit in light of the Old Testament, we must conclude that such interpretations have no credible merit.So what is the answer? Most reasonably, and in maintaining a consistent, literal interpretation, it would seem that Jesus provides the explanation in John 3:6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, being a “natural” or “carnal” birth. However, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, which aligns itself perfectly with the need for one to be born of “water and the Spirit” in order to “enter the kingdom of God” (3:5b). Thus, being “born of water” is one’s natural, physical birth. One must be a flesh and blood human being. This would exclude animals and demons, if for no other reason than that Jesus did not die for them. However, He did taste “death for every man” (Heb 2:9). Being “born of the Spirit” would be “regeneration,” which is something that must be elaborated upon, which Jesus does in 3:7-16.John 3:7-13. At this point, Nicodemus’ mouth must have been standing open. Jesus tells him not to be amazed (3:7). The new birth that takes place by the Spirit is likened to the wind (3:8). MacDonald writes, “Just as no one can fully understand the wind, so the new birth is a miraculous work of the Spirit of God which man is not able to comprehend fully. Moreover, the new birth, like the wind, is unpredictable. It is not possible to state just when and where it will take place.”[8] What is astonishing is that Nicodemus is seemingly ignorant of these truths (3:9). Such ignorance causes Jesus to ask, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” (John 3:10). How could one who holds the responsibility of leading Israel in their understanding, worship, and devotion to YHWH not know these truths? Obviously, Jesus is upset with Nicodemus’ inadequacy regarding spiritual things.He then elaborates that He is testifying to what He knows and sees, which probably has a connection to Jesus’ later statements like “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34) and “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30). Jesus’ testimony and words are in complete consistency with those of the Father because they are from the Father and not from Jesus Himself. Such statements show us that, though He is equal with God, being perfectly God Himself, He was intentionally subservient to God, humbling Himself to do the Father’s will. In this example, Jesus shows us how to live a life on Earth that is walking with God at all times. Nicodemus’ greatest problem is that he does not accept Jesus’ testimony (John 3:11b), though He is testifying about what He knows and sees (John 3:11a). He continues in stating that Nicodemus’ rejection of earthly things shows that he cannot begin to understand “heavenly things” (John 3:12b). Jesus can testify to these things because He is the Son of Man, the One who has ascended and descended to and from heaven (John 3:13). These statements are lead to the necessary means of being “born again” by the Spirit. “If Nicodemus couldn’t grasp the meaning of spiritual truth as conveyed by concrete analogy, how would he do so if it were couched in an abstract statement? No one had ever entered into heaven to experience its realities directly except Jesus himself, the Son of Man, who had come from heaven. Revelation, not discovery, is the basis for faith.”[9] John 3:13 shows Jesus testifying to His own credibility as a sound witness to those things that He is conveying; namely that being born again is a spiritual truth that is necessary to “see/enter” the kingdom of God. He knows this because He has ascended into, and descended from, heaven.John 3:14-15. Meeting Nicodemus where he is, Jesus draws from a historical account that every Israelite would have been immediately familiar with- the serpent in the wilderness (Num 21:1-9). After being given the victory over the Canaanites (21:3), the people became impatient and began to complain about their situation. To discipline them, fiery serpents were sent among them and some of those who were bit died (21:6). In acknowledging their sin, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord had Moses make a bronze serpent and place it in the midst of the people. Those who looked upon it would live, even though they had been bitten (21:8-9).Jesus’ use of this historical incident serves to communicate the spiritual truth of one being born again. Jesus likens the “lifting up” of the serpent by Moses in the wilderness to His own “lifting up” that must take place on the cross (John 3:14; also 12:32-33). Jesus then supplies the reason that He must be lifted up in John 3:15 stating, “whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (ESV). Just as the people whose veins were circulating with venom were told to look upon the bronze serpent that Moses had crafted so that they could live, Jesus tells Nicodemus, with sin coursing through his being, that in order to be born again he must “look” (believe) upon Jesus and live.Look and live! That is the requirement. This “looking” is encapsulated in the word “believe,” being pisteuō in the Greek, meaning “to think to be true; to be persuaded of; to credit, place confidence in.”[10] This meaning is consistent with the idea of “conviction” and “assurance” as found in Hebrews 11:1. The result of believing is having “Life” in Him, which is eternal life. As told in John 1:4, the Life is in Christ Jesus, and only in Him; and by believing in Him, one is then given this Life. This life is eternal in that it can never be lost, since it is found in Him (Christ). Upon believing in Jesus Christ, one is imparted with Life, and this Life comes from being born again by the Spirit. Hawley writes, “While it is Biblically true that apart from Christ, the unregenerate (along with the regenerate) can do nothing to merit God's favor, faith is not meritorious and the Bible clearly teaches that regeneration is the result of faith, not the other way around.”[11] The one who believes is regenerated, meaning that they are now alive to God, have been born of the Spirit (John 3:5-6).John 3:16-18. This truth is then elaborated upon, and there is some debate about whether this elaboration (which stretches to the end of the chapter) is that of John the author, or a continuation of Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus. While well known, the truths of v.16 are paramount. God loves people. This is the motivation behind Him supplying a Savior for the world. People are unable to save themselves and will never be redeemed apart from some sort of intervention. God’s love sends forth His Son to live perfectly and to die perfectly for those who are imperfect. This death provides the satisfaction necessary so that justice is upheld, wrong is paid for, and guilt is extinguished. The death of Jesus Christ makes righteousness available to all who believe. This “belief” is not something that is only possible by a few, but all may believe, seeing that their sins have been paid for in full. Belief in Jesus guarantees that they will not perish but have now been given “eternal life” because they have been born again by the Spirit.Verses 17 & 18 provide clarification. In fact, v.17 speaks of God’s reason in sending His Son, namely for the purpose of saving the world. Apart from Jesus coming to Earth, there is no salvation for the human race. Jesus Christ is God’s provided perfection for the infinitely ill-deserving. His first coming was not about judgment but providing salvation for the world. However, His second coming will be a visitation of judgment in which the world will not escape (Rev 1:7, 13; 11:18; 14:7; 19:1-2, 11). But with v.18 we find that judgment is not an issue for the one who has believed in Jesus. It is only those who have not believed that are in danger of judgment. For them, the free pardon from sin’s penalty, power, and presence that Jesus supplied in His death and resurrection has not been applied. By believing (faith), this pardon is applied, and forgiveness of sin occurs. This situation is so certain that judgment is “already” upon the unregenerate person, and the cause for this condemnation is the same pitfall that has plagued mankind from the beginning: Unbelief.Jesus Christ is the Name above all names. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). When one believes in Jesus that person is born again. The Holy Spirit makes that person alive unto God, regenerating them so that they are now a forgiven and full accepted child of God.

Though much is revealed in the Word of God regarding the Spirit of God, much of it seems to be misunderstood and/or abused for one’s own purposes and notoriety. A brief examination of the Spirit in the Old Testament and the Gospels will prepare us for Jesus’ teachings on the Spirit in John chapters 3, 14, and 16.A Brief Overview of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for “spirit” is rauch, and can be understood as speaking of the Holy Spirit, but is also commonly understood as "breath, wind, spirit,”[1] with each context determining the meaning. The first occurrence of the Spirit of God comes in the midst of the Creation narrative. In Genesis 1:2 we read, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” At the beginning of the Bible we are introduced to God’s Spirit, present and active at the creation account. The second occurrence of the Spirit of God is seen in Exodus 31:1-5. “Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, 18in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.’” In this instance, Bezalel is “filled” (literally “full”) of the Spirit of God for the purpose of constructing the Tabernacle, all of its items for worship, and all of its furniture according to the exact specifications of YHWH (See also Ex 35:30-31). There is no indication that this “filling” persisted beyond the completion of the task at hand, and it is understandable why Bezalel would need this divine assistance, seeing that the entire concept of the Tabernacle and its artifacts are merely “shadows” or replicas of the Temple and its various items of worship that are already a reality in heaven (Heb 8:4-5, 9:1-10, 24). Divine enlightenment by the fullness of the Spirit ensured that the work was an accurate representation.It is worth consideration that Joseph’s “skill as a ruler” was due to having a “divine spirit” (Ex 41:38). This is the conclusion reached by Pharaoh. This shows us that such wisdom and understanding is a manifestation of the Spirit’s presence, just as it was with Bezalel in Exodus 31:1-5. In Numbers 11 we finds another incident of complaining among Israel. It is clear that the Spirit was upon Moses and that the same Spirit would be distributed by God upon the elders of Israel in order to distribute the burden of dealing with Israel’s issues (v.17). Those seventy elders on whom God distributed the Spirit all prophesied as a result (11:25, 26). This act lead to an objection from Joshua, but Moses expressed his zeal for this wonderful occurrence, stating “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (Num 11:29). Joshua is later appointed as the heir to lead Israel, being one who already had the Spirit of God upon him (Num 27:18). Reading this verse, one may be struck by the wording which states “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.” Did the Spirit of God reside “in” Joshua? (We must note that the use of a capital “S” in translating “Spirit” is a translator’s choice). There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit was upon Joshua as is evident in Deut 34:9 with the specifics being that he was “filled” with the Spirit. However, it is the preposition “in” that troubles us, since it is apparent that the Holy Spirit dwelling “in” someone was something that is strictly characterized by those in the Church Age dispensation and not before it. The answer may lie in the semantic range of the Hebrew word being used, which occurs 14,428 times in the Old Testament. While the dominate meaning of this word is “in,” it can also mean “with, on, among, by, when, at, into,” or “against.”[2] Consistency regarding the context of the entire Old Testament would tell us that the Spirit of God is “on” His people, but the Spirit indwelling a person is a clear distinctive of the Church Age believer.This examination of the presence and functions of the Holy Spirit is not meant to be exhaustive, but there are two more occurrences that coincide with one another that will increase our understanding so that we are better equipped to grasp Jesus’ teaching. The first King of Israel was Saul of Kish, a man on whom it was said “the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man” (1 Sam 10:6, see also v.10). Later we read that “the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry” (1 Sam 11:6). The threats of Nahash the Ammonite would not go unpunished and Saul assembled all of the able-bodied men to defeat them (11:11). The Spirit of God drove King Saul to fight for righteous causes, saving Jabesh-gilead from their enemy.Saul’s actions under the Spirit’s guidance are important because of his later disobedience which is chronicled in 1 Samuel 15. Being confronted by Samuel, Saul confesses his motives behind his sin, stating “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice” (1 Sam 15:24). Samuel’s response it chilling. He tells Saul, “you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel” (15:26), and “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you” (15:28). Saul’s failure to obey YHWH’s commands caused him to forfeit his right to be king. But this wasn’t the only consequence to his disobedience. In 1 Samuel 16:1, Samuel is commanded to go and anoint a son of Jesse as the next king of Israel. This man is David. In 16:13 we read, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.” Knowing what we do from the New Testament, this is a joyous occasion. However, the next verse should be heavily considered, seeing that Saul’s relationship with the Holy Spirit is brought to an end. “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him” (16:14). Just as the Spirit of God had come upon Saul, so was the Spirit removed because of His failure to obey God’s commands. This brief examination from the Old Testament shows us that the Holy Spirit would bless, guide, and even cause men to prophesy while also granting knowledge, wisdom, and skill for the tasks that the Lord desired to see accomplished. It is also clear that the Spirit could be removed due to disobedience.A Brief Overview of the Holy Spirit in the Gospels.In the New Testament, the importance of the Holy Spirit is placed at the forefront once more. In Matthew, we see that He is the One who brings about that which is conceived in Mary’s womb (Matt 1:18, 20). John the Baptist’s case is interesting, with the angel Gabriel stating that John will be “filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). During his ministry, John tells the Jews that the Messiah will baptize them by “the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt 3:11).Upon baptizing Jesus, John sees the Holy Spirit descend upon Him like a dove (Matt 3:16). The Spirit then leads Jesus into the wilderness to undergo temptation (Luke 4:1). Returning from the wilderness as led by the Spirit (Luke 4:14), Jesus begins His teaching ministry in the synagogue at Galilee. Upon opening the scroll of Isaiah, He states, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). In quoting Isaiah 61:1, Jesus shares that the Holy Spirit being upon the Messiah is something that was prophesied of old.While all of these instances are intriguing, it would seem that John’s Gospel provides some of the greatest truths about the Holy Spirit in connection with the believer in Christ. For this first part of our consideration of the Holy Spirit, we will examine John 3, while giving a greater consideration to Jesus’ teaching in John 14-16 later. John 3:1-2. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, which means that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin were the “Supreme judicial council of Judaism with 71 members, located in Jerusalem.”[3] We are also told that he was a teacher of Israel (John 3:10) who came to Jesus by night. This late visit was undoubtedly made so as to go unnoticed by his peers. The first words we have recorded from his mouth are “rabbi,” meaning “teacher” (See John 1:38), which should interest us considering Nicodemus’ position among the Jewish people. Quoting Moulton and Milligan, Vincent writes, “We may be sure that a member of the sect that carefully scrutinized the Baptist’s credentials (1:19–24) would not lightly address Jesus by this title of honor, or acknowledge Him as teacher.”[4] Such an address gives us an understanding that Nicodemus’ visit was one of sincerity and not for the purpose of assault or accusation.Nicodemus’ use of the plural in “We know that you have come from God as a teacher” (John 3:2b) shows that this was a subject of discussion amongst the Pharisees. Not only was it concluded that Jesus was a teacher and that YHWH had sent Him, but that the signs that He performed were a testimony to the uniqueness of His ministry and person, serving as a statement that God was with Him (3:2c). In light of what is later concluded by the Pharisees in Matthew 12:24, we see a solid witness against the anti-belief of accusing Jesus of wielding the power of the devil. Also in light of Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:28, we see that even the signs that He had performed in His early ministry already served as a testimony that “the Kingdom of God has come upon you” being done by the power of the Spirit of God. For the Pharisees, there was no excuse. All of them should have responded as Nicodemus did because God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ along with the signs that He performed are Biblically assessed as sufficient revelation. John 3:3-6. Jesus responds to Nicodemus’ conclusion about Him in stating that one must be “born again” in order to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3b). While much has been written on the phrase “born again/born from above,” it is clear that something needed to happen in Nicodemus’ life in order for the kingdom of God to be a reality for him. The theological term for “born again” is “regeneration,” a vital term that can be understood as meaning “receiving spiritual life, that is, eternal life. Christ is this life (Jn 14:6). We only receive this life as we receive Christ, who then may be said to be in us, ‘the hope of glory’” (Col 1:27).[5] All men are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1) and this is a fact regardless of the dispensation under consideration. However, it must be clearly stated that in Jesus’ earthly ministry, regeneration and the baptism of the Holy Spirit were still two separate things and they did not become something that occurs at the same time at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ until after the founding of the Church in Jerusalem in Acts 2. In that time period, we see a noticeable transition that takes place between OT saints (who were saved and justified before God by faith, yet were without the Holy Spirit), and those who are Church Age believers after the events of Acts 2, with the book of Acts demonstrating that the Holy Spirit would come upon already believing individuals as an evidence of their redemption (See Acts 19:1-7 for an example).Jesus’ use of the term the “kingdom of God” is consistent with every mention that we have seen in Scripture thus far. Therefore, this orthodox Jewish teacher and prominent societal figurehead would have automatically been drawn to the future, literal time of Messiah’s reign on Earth as He sat upon the throne of David, ruling with a rod of iron (Ps 2:9a). It is clear from Nicodemus’ response in John 3:4 that he is unsure of what Jesus has just said. His reply shows his logical progression in thinking through only the physical. Can an old man be reborn? Is it possible to retreat into the womb only to appear again? All of this was nonsense, for such feats were impossible. However, Jesus restates His antidote adding further clarification for Nicodemus’ sake. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Now we have the introduction of the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in connection with the kingdom of God. According to Jesus both “water” and the “Spirit” are necessary for this birth, not one physically reentering the womb. In this verse, we can also see that Jesus has connected the idea of “seeing” the kingdom from v.3 with “entering” the kingdom in v.5. While our previous lessons have shown that “entering” the kingdom must be understood by its surrounding context to be speaking to either one’s justification or sanctification, it is obvious from this context that justification is in view. The idea of being born “of water and the Spirit” has seemed to confuse many regarding what it means to be “born again.” For example, in referring to the Old Testament overtones of this idea in the Greek, Barry writes, “Ezek 36:25–27 clearly combines the imagery of cleansing by water with inner renewal by the spirit (pneuma) from God.”[6] However, this cannot be correct because Jesus does not say “of water by the Spirit,” but “water and the Spirit.” There are obviously two births that must happen, not just one. Another explanation finds Borchert going to great lengths to explain the idea of being “born of water and the Spirit.” He writes, “the linkage between water and Spirit would have been familiar to the Jews since both are related to the theme of life. For a people like the Jews, who lived on the edge of the desert, water was an indispensable requirement of life (e.g., Exod 15:22–27; Pss 23:2; 42:1; 63:1), and even Christians viewed heaven as having a life-endued stream flowing from the throne of God (Rev 22:1). Concerning the life-giving Spirit, one only needs to be reminded that the breath of God brought life to Adam (Gen 2:7), and the Spirit/wind/breath of God brought life to dry bones (Ezek 37:1–14).”[7] This understanding has been concluded from specifically chosen examples in the Old Testament. Borchert’s view finds friction in that his example of Christians in the first century and their understanding of how to view “water” is derived from the book of Revelation, which had not yet been written at this point. Why not connect the “Spirit” in John 3:5 to the “Spirit” being upon King Saul or David? With no clear direction given in the text that we should understand the water and the Spirit in light of the Old Testament, we must conclude that such interpretations have no credible merit.So what is the answer? Most reasonably, and in maintaining a consistent, literal interpretation, it would seem that Jesus provides the explanation in John 3:6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, being a “natural” or “carnal” birth. However, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, which aligns itself perfectly with the need for one to be born of “water and the Spirit” in order to “enter the kingdom of God” (3:5b). Thus, being “born of water” is one’s natural, physical birth. One must be a flesh and blood human being. This would exclude animals and demons, if for no other reason than that Jesus did not die for them. However, He did taste “death for every man” (Heb 2:9). Being “born of the Spirit” would be “regeneration,” which is something that must be elaborated upon, which Jesus does in 3:7-16.John 3:7-13. At this point, Nicodemus’ mouth must have been standing open. Jesus tells him not to be amazed (3:7). The new birth that takes place by the Spirit is likened to the wind (3:8). MacDonald writes, “Just as no one can fully understand the wind, so the new birth is a miraculous work of the Spirit of God which man is not able to comprehend fully. Moreover, the new birth, like the wind, is unpredictable. It is not possible to state just when and where it will take place.”[8] What is astonishing is that Nicodemus is seemingly ignorant of these truths (3:9). Such ignorance causes Jesus to ask, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” (John 3:10). How could one who holds the responsibility of leading Israel in their understanding, worship, and devotion to YHWH not know these truths? Obviously, Jesus is upset with Nicodemus’ inadequacy regarding spiritual things.He then elaborates that He is testifying to what He knows and sees, which probably has a connection to Jesus’ later statements like “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure” (John 3:34) and “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30). Jesus’ testimony and words are in complete consistency with those of the Father because they are from the Father and not from Jesus Himself. Such statements show us that, though He is equal with God, being perfectly God Himself, He was intentionally subservient to God, humbling Himself to do the Father’s will. In this example, Jesus shows us how to live a life on Earth that is walking with God at all times. Nicodemus’ greatest problem is that he does not accept Jesus’ testimony (John 3:11b), though He is testifying about what He knows and sees (John 3:11a). He continues in stating that Nicodemus’ rejection of earthly things shows that he cannot begin to understand “heavenly things” (John 3:12b). Jesus can testify to these things because He is the Son of Man, the One who has ascended and descended to and from heaven (John 3:13). These statements are lead to the necessary means of being “born again” by the Spirit. “If Nicodemus couldn’t grasp the meaning of spiritual truth as conveyed by concrete analogy, how would he do so if it were couched in an abstract statement? No one had ever entered into heaven to experience its realities directly except Jesus himself, the Son of Man, who had come from heaven. Revelation, not discovery, is the basis for faith.”[9] John 3:13 shows Jesus testifying to His own credibility as a sound witness to those things that He is conveying; namely that being born again is a spiritual truth that is necessary to “see/enter” the kingdom of God. He knows this because He has ascended into, and descended from, heaven.John 3:14-15. Meeting Nicodemus where he is, Jesus draws from a historical account that every Israelite would have been immediately familiar with- the serpent in the wilderness (Num 21:1-9). After being given the victory over the Canaanites (21:3), the people became impatient and began to complain about their situation. To discipline them, fiery serpents were sent among them and some of those who were bit died (21:6). In acknowledging their sin, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. The Lord had Moses make a bronze serpent and place it in the midst of the people. Those who looked upon it would live, even though they had been bitten (21:8-9).Jesus’ use of this historical incident serves to communicate the spiritual truth of one being born again. Jesus likens the “lifting up” of the serpent by Moses in the wilderness to His own “lifting up” that must take place on the cross (John 3:14; also 12:32-33). Jesus then supplies the reason that He must be lifted up in John 3:15 stating, “whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (ESV). Just as the people whose veins were circulating with venom were told to look upon the bronze serpent that Moses had crafted so that they could live, Jesus tells Nicodemus, with sin coursing through his being, that in order to be born again he must “look” (believe) upon Jesus and live.Look and live! That is the requirement. This “looking” is encapsulated in the word “believe,” being pisteuō in the Greek, meaning “to think to be true; to be persuaded of; to credit, place confidence in.”[10] This meaning is consistent with the idea of “conviction” and “assurance” as found in Hebrews 11:1. The result of believing is having “Life” in Him, which is eternal life. As told in John 1:4, the Life is in Christ Jesus, and only in Him; and by believing in Him, one is then given this Life. This life is eternal in that it can never be lost, since it is found in Him (Christ). Upon believing in Jesus Christ, one is imparted with Life, and this Life comes from being born again by the Spirit. Hawley writes, “While it is Biblically true that apart from Christ, the unregenerate (along with the regenerate) can do nothing to merit God's favor, faith is not meritorious and the Bible clearly teaches that regeneration is the result of faith, not the other way around.”[11] The one who believes is regenerated, meaning that they are now alive to God, have been born of the Spirit (John 3:5-6).John 3:16-18. This truth is then elaborated upon, and there is some debate about whether this elaboration (which stretches to the end of the chapter) is that of John the author, or a continuation of Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus. While well known, the truths of v.16 are paramount. God loves people. This is the motivation behind Him supplying a Savior for the world. People are unable to save themselves and will never be redeemed apart from some sort of intervention. God’s love sends forth His Son to live perfectly and to die perfectly for those who are imperfect. This death provides the satisfaction necessary so that justice is upheld, wrong is paid for, and guilt is extinguished. The death of Jesus Christ makes righteousness available to all who believe. This “belief” is not something that is only possible by a few, but all may believe, seeing that their sins have been paid for in full. Belief in Jesus guarantees that they will not perish but have now been given “eternal life” because they have been born again by the Spirit.Verses 17 & 18 provide clarification. In fact, v.17 speaks of God’s reason in sending His Son, namely for the purpose of saving the world. Apart from Jesus coming to Earth, there is no salvation for the human race. Jesus Christ is God’s provided perfection for the infinitely ill-deserving. His first coming was not about judgment but providing salvation for the world. However, His second coming will be a visitation of judgment in which the world will not escape (Rev 1:7, 13; 11:18; 14:7; 19:1-2, 11). But with v.18 we find that judgment is not an issue for the one who has believed in Jesus. It is only those who have not believed that are in danger of judgment. For them, the free pardon from sin’s penalty, power, and presence that Jesus supplied in His death and resurrection has not been applied. By believing (faith), this pardon is applied, and forgiveness of sin occurs. This situation is so certain that judgment is “already” upon the unregenerate person, and the cause for this condemnation is the same pitfall that has plagued mankind from the beginning: Unbelief.Jesus Christ is the Name above all names. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). When one believes in Jesus that person is born again. The Holy Spirit makes that person alive unto God, regenerating them so that they are now a forgiven and full accepted child of God.[1] Richard Whitaker et al., The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: From A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, Based on the Lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius (Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906).[2] See Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), p. 88–91.[3] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, “Sanhedrin,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), p. 1902.[4] Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), p. 89.[5] Merrill F. Unger, The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), p. 23.[6] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Jn 3:5.[7] Gerald L. Borchert, John 1–11, vol. 25A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), p. 174.[8] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), p. 1478.[9] Merrill C. Tenney, “John,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), p. 48.[10] Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 511.[11] Grant Hawley, The Guts of Grace (Allen, TX: Bold Grace Ministries, 2013), p. 158.

The concept of rewards in the coming kingdom of heaven can be found on almost every other page in the New Testament. However, there are many who do not value this doctrine as an essential segment of their theological understanding. That is to say, this doctrine is considered insignificant in the grand scheme of God’s plan for the ages. But a careful reading of the New Testament will prove this notion to be false, and almost embarrassing that it would be discarded or discredited as nominal in any way. The doctrine of rewards finds great significance in one’s theological understanding because it allows for grace to remain grace without any inclusion of works. One of the greatest arguments against those who promote a “grace gospel” is that this “grace” is too free because it requires nothing of the individual needing salvation except that they believe the Gospel. These opponents would state that unless an expected result is required, such as a submission of one’s life, the repentance of all of their sins, or the desire to give up all that they have is present, they are not truly saved. The tension that is created between grace and works often manifests itself in contradictions. For example, A.W. Pink writes, “If it be true that no attempt to imitate Christ can obtain a sinner’s acceptance with God, it is equally true that the emulating of Him is imperatively necessary and absolutely essential in order to the saints’ preservation and final salvation.”[1] This could be understood as saying “you can’t do anything to be saved, but in order to be truly saved you must do something.” The Gospel is not about what the sinner does, but what the sinner needs.A sinner is saved by the grace of God alone, who was not obligated to supply a solution to our sin problem. From out of His profound love, the Creator God sent His only Son to die as a substitute for our sin, which paid the enormous penalty that we had incurred as sinners and made the perfect righteousness of God available to all who believe (have faith) in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. It is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone that one is saved, receiving all that he or she was lacking. This includes the complete forgiveness of all sin, a wholly new Life, relief of all guilt and shame, reconciliation and full acceptance with his or her Creator, the perfect righteousness of God credited to them, and eternal life that is guaranteed beyond this present existence which can never be lost.The doctrine of rewards extinguishes the tension between faith and works. While one is saved by faith alone, there are consequences for how the believer lives in light of what he or she understands from the Scriptures. Every child of God is responsible for conducting their lives according to the truth of God’s Word. When they are faithful in what the Lord has asked of them, they receive a reward (1 Cor 3:14). But if they are unfaithful, whatever “good works” that they may have thought that they had will be burned up and the believer will suffer loss (1 Cor 3:15). Thus, there is a very real and serious consequence for believers who live unfaithfully to the Lord, but it does not infringe upon or impugn His unconditional acceptance of them in Christ Jesus.The opportunity to earn rewards is something that is wholeheartedly condoned by the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 6:1, 17-18, 20; Mark 9:41; Luke 6:35). But the doctrine of rewards is not a personal “padding of the wallet” in the kingdom, for self-servitude will not be rewarded (Matt 6:2, 5). Rewards are to be done in service to the Lord Jesus Christ with “His name’s sake” as the heart’s motivator. The Christian Life is a responsibility to be stewarded, not a stage to be applauded. Many have believed that receiving a reward is only possible by an extreme act of obedience, but Jesus tells us that “whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward” (Mark 9:41). Simply caring for those who are serving Christ earns one a reward.We can clearly see that the Christian Life is one of faithful stewardship in light of the teachings of Scripture. Thankfully, Jesus taught on this subject in order to reorient much of the wrong thinking that may have been present among the Jewish people, and even His disciples, in the first century. While Luke 19:11-27 is similar to the parable taught in Matthew 25:14-30, the surrounding context of Luke 19 calls for this teaching to stand on its own merit. Luke 19:11-27. The parable that Jesus taught in Luke 19:11-27 follows His interactions with Zaccheus in 19:1-10. However, this parable may be slightly connected with Zaccheus’ situation in that he may have been present when this parable was taught, and Jesus’ use of the “mina” would have been something that he could have directly related to considering his background as a tax collector. Whether these connections are legitimate or not, Luke supplies us with a two-fold reasoning for why Jesus was teaching this parable. First, Jesus was “near Jerusalem” (19:11b) which is a detail that finds its significance later in the chapter when His “triumphal entry” takes place (19:28-40). This first point must be pondered because of the events that surround it. Jesus’ entry into the city was anything but “triumphal.” For Jesus, this was a time of great grief and sorrow. While His disciples were rejoicing and shouting as the Son of Man passed by the Mount of Olives just outside of the city (19:37-38), Jesus began weeping at the sight of Jerusalem (19:41). The message of the disciples was “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (19:38), Jesus’ words capture the rejection of the Jewish people, the postponement of the kingdom of heaven on Earth, and the judgment that awaited the Jews because of their rebellion (19:42-44). Jesus knew what could have been had Israel accepted her Promised Messiah, but the leaders had spoken for the people (Matt 12:24), and though His miracles testified that the kingdom of God had come upon them (Matt 12:28), they rejected their Christ, which plunged the Jewish people into a “partial hardening” (Rom 11:25b), having the truth hidden from their eyes because of their unbelief (Luke 19:42b; Matt 13:10-17).The second reason given for Jesus teaching this parable was that “they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” (19:11c). This would explain the joyful celebration of the disciples in 19:37-38. As one reads through this parable, it becomes very clear that the kingdom will come at a later time, and that the “nobleman” must go away to receive this kingdom and then come again, now having possession of it, in order to establish it in the country from which he left. This justifies Jesus’ sorrow in Luke 19:41b-44, seeing that the Jews did not “recognize the time of your visitation” by the Messiah (19:44). Unbelief has postponed the kingdom. Instead, the Jewish people will be disciplined for their unbelief (19:44b). Thus, Jesus’ parable will serve to dispel the notion that the kingdom was to appear at His entry into the city of Jerusalem.Starting in 19:12, Jesus speaks of a nobleman who travels to a “distant country” for the purpose of receiving a kingdom “for himself.” After receiving this kingdom, the nobleman would then return. The details here must be carefully noted, especially in light of the current-day belief that the kingdom of heaven is “already” here in a spiritual form, but “not yet” here in a physical form. Theissen notes, “Consistency of interpretation demands that we hold, not only that the nobleman must return in person, but also that he will set up his kingdom in the country from which he departed. In other words, we must insist that Christ is not now sitting on the throne of David in heaven and ruling over his people on earth from that sphere, but that He receives the kingdom in heaven, returns to earth, and then sets up the kingdom on the earth.”[2] Having a general understanding of what Scripture tells us about the Messiah and the promise of His future return to establish His Kingdom, it is not hard to connect the dots and see that Jesus is this nobleman, the “distant country” would be during the interadvent age between His ascension and return when Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:33; 5:31; 7:55-56), preparing a place for all believers (John 14:2-3) while making intercession for the saints (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). Before Jesus Christ returns to the Earth, He will have received the kingdom of heaven and His return will mark the establishment of that kingdom on Earth. What is interesting about this parable is that its contents were not hard to relate to by those in the audience, considering that the successor to Herod had done the same thing. Robertson explains, “Apparently this parable has the historical basis of Archelaus who actually went from Jerusalem to Rome on this very errand to get a kingdom in Palestine and to come back to it. This happened while Jesus was a boy in Nazareth and it was a matter of common knowledge.”[3] As we will see in 19:14, the “citizens” did not want the nobleman to rule over them, just as it was with the Jews and their response to Archelaus assuming command. While Jesus is not speaking of Archelaus, the concept would be familiar to those living in the first century.Luke 19:13 shows the nobleman calling ten of his slaves (“servants”) together before he leaves with each one being entrusted with a must “mina.” A mina is “a Greek monetary unit worth one hundred denarii.”[4] A “denarii” (also known in some cases as a “drachma”) is the equivalent of 100 days wages. With this, he gives them specific instructions: “Do business with this until I come back” (19:13b). Hodges explains, “Here lay the central point of the parable. The interadvent period which the parable proclaimed could be used to advantage. It was a time for investment. More than that, it was a time for investment directly related to the coming kingdom of God. Therefore, Zacchaeus needed to hear the parable at this crucial moment in his life. But so did everyone else in the audience as well.”[5] This speaks to the stewardship of the nobleman’s resources, which he entrusted to his slaves with the expectation that they would be faithful with what was entrusted to them.This “principled story-telling” has a vital application for us today. While our Master is away receiving the kingdom, we His servants are to be engaged in His business with His resources while He is away. We are to be faithful and wise with what He has entrusted to us, keeping in mind that it is ultimately His and that there will be a day in which He will return and settle accounts with His servants, receiving unto Himself the return that was earned while He was away.In Luke 19:14 we have the introduction of a group of people whom Jesus has not mentioned yet, the “citizens.” This group is said to have hated the nobleman, raising a protest against His rulership over them through a “delegation.” No doubt the citizens are the Jewish people and the “delegation” would be the Pharisees who were leading the charge against their Messiah in verbalizing the nation’s anti-belief (Matt 12:24). For the time being, the citizens are placed in the background of the parable while Jesus explains the events surrounding the nobleman’s return (Luke 19:15). The timing of this event is precise, with Jesus noting that the man had received the kingdom. This comment places this moment after Jesus has assumed the right to reign, but before He has brought His servants to account at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:11-15; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 19:6-10). The nobleman is ready to inquire of his servants regarding the business that they conducted while he was away and the return that they had received with the money that he had entrusted to them. While there are ten slaves that were given one mina each (19:13), we have only three that are brought to account, with each demonstrating a different level of return with what they were entrusted. With the first slave, we find that he was able to make an investment that gave a 1,000% return! The nobleman commends this servant, saying “Well done, good slave” (19:17a). This slave’s faithfulness over the small amount that he had been given was then greatly rewarded by the nobleman who set the slave over ten cities in his kingdom (19:17b).The second slave comes before the nobleman and presents a 500% return (19:18) to which the master replies by granting this servant rulership over five cities (19:19). One cannot help but to notice that the public commendation of “Well done, good slave” is absent from this scenario. This slave, who earned half the return that the first slave earned, does not get the privilege of hearing these words from the nobleman’s mouth.At this point, it should be clear that those who are faithful in this life, being about his Master’s business until He comes to bring us all to Himself (John 14:2-3) will receive rewards and reigning responsibilities that are much greater in magnitude than what we were entrusted with while on Earth. Thiessen cites Godet in explaining this: “In Luke the one point in question is to settle the position of the servants in the economy of glory which is opening, and consequently to determine the proportion of faithfulness displayed during the time of labor and probation which has just closed.”[6] Christ desires to share the regal responsibilities of His kingdom with His companions, but they must be faithful stewards who have proven themselves. One would not in clear conscience entrust their estate to a slothful and wayward child, for the outcome of such unbridled wealth in the hands of an irresponsible soul would be guaranteed devastation. Though related by blood, and though greatly loved, they would not be worthy of possessing such an opportunity. Their life’s record has shown them to be unworthy. What is the “mina” in the life of the one who is a disciple of Christ? There are many who have considered the “sharing of the Gospel” as the focus of what has been entrusted to the slave and that “doing business” (19:13b) would be evangelism, but we must conclude that this is not the only way that one can be faithful to that which God has entrusted to us. Believers have a responsibility to love one another (John 13:34-35), forgive one another (Eph 4:32), build up one another in love (Eph 4:15-16) and encourage one another daily (Heb 3:13). While there is so much more that would be considered in the realm of Christian faithfulness, the point is clear that the believer in Christ is not just a missionary to the world, but is also a minister to the Body of Christ. The first two accounts show that diligence and faithfulness should be the attitudes of all who would hope to reign alongside Jesus Christ in His coming kingdom. In Luke 19:20, a third servant approaches the nobleman but his response is entirely different than that of the first two slaves. Coming before the master, the third slave returns the exact same mina that was entrusted to him before the nobleman left to receive his kingdom. The slave reveals that he had hid it away in a handkerchief. The third slave then divulges the reason for his negligence in not “doing business” with the nobleman’s mina, citing “fear” of the nobleman “because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow” (Luke 19:21b). The word “exacting” is the Greek word austēros meaning “harsh, rough, rigid,”[7] which has led to the transliteration of “austere” in the KJV. The charge is that the third slave did not want to risk losing what he had been given because he understood the nobleman to be harsh and rigid, taking those things which are not his and plundering the goods of others others for personal gain. Having returned the same mina that he had been given, the thought may have been “Well, at least I didn’t lose it!”At this point, a few questions need to be answered. First, has there been anything in the telling of this parable that would lead one to believe that the nobleman was a short-tempered tyrant who plundered the goods of others? No.Second, throughout this parable have we not seen that the nobleman’s actions are in direct relation to that which the Lord Jesus will do in leaving to receive a kingdom for Himself and then returning again to establish it at the place from whence He left? Yes.Would we conclude that the Lord Jesus Christ is a short-tempered tyrant who plundered the goods of others? I don’t think so either.In fact, what we see is that the third slave’s description of the nobleman is completely off base from who he really was. What we find out when listening to the third slave’s explanation is that he did not know his master very well at all and proceeded to live his life on a false presumption of his master that kept him from experiencing great things when his master returned. This is a tragic result! Being ignorant of his master’s character, the slave lived in fear, complacency, and slothfulness. Had he known his master more intimately, he would have served him with joy knowing that “He who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23). Again, Godet (as quoted by Thiessen) has captured the third slave’s situation with clarity noting that he is a “believer who has not found the state of grace offered by Jesus so brilliant as he hoped,—a legal Christian, who has not tasted grace, and knows nothing of the Gospel but its severe morality.”[8]The nobleman responds to this excuse by calling the man a “worthless slave” (19:22a), which is probably better translated as a “wicked” or “evil slave.” While one may be quick to conclude that the declaration that this slave is “worthless/evil/wicked” would communicate that he was obviously “unsaved,” our attention must be drawn to the fact that this slave was as much a part of the nobleman’s house as the other two who were brought to account for the business that they had done. Not only that, but this third slave was also entrusted with the same amount as the other two. This remark against the slave is the conclusion that the nobleman makes due to his inactivity and unfounded excuses for slothfulness. Simply put, he did not know his master intimately, and because of this his assumed misrepresentation of his master’ character caused him to do nothing with what he was given.That the third slave’s description is a solid misrepresentation of the nobleman’s character can be seen in the master’s response in Luke 19:22b, which is posed in the form of a question: “Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?” It is as if the nobleman is responding by saying, “is this who you really think that I am?” He then reasons with the third slave that if this was the presumption by which he was operating, “why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest” (Luke 19:23)? The least that this man could have done was invest it at the lowest level possible so that even the smallest amount of interest would have been gained. However, he did not. This tells us that either the man was lying in his reasonings with the nobleman and was actually lethargic and slothful, not caring about the responsibility entrusted to him, nor in serving his master, or that his unfounded mischaracterization of his master had paralyzed him from making the least of wise decisions that would secure gain for the nobleman.Regardless of the reason, his mina was confiscated and given to the most profitable slave (19:24). The “bystanders” (19:24a) are astonished at this act, seeing that the first slave already has ten minas. The nobleman explains that those who “have” will be given more, and those that have not will lose even those things that they have (19:26). The failure of the third slave to be diligent in his responsibilities has led him to a moment of shame before his master. One cannot help but to reflect on Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:15 which state, “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” Finishing this parable, the nobleman speaks of his “enemies” (Luke 19:27) and clarifies their identity as those “who did not want me to reign over them,” speaking of the “citizens” in Luke 19:14. As identified earlier, this is (by and large) the nation of Israel who had rejected their Messiah, leading to a postponement of the kingdom of heaven. These enemies are brought before the nobleman and slaughtered for their rejection of him. This should not be surprising, considering that much is said in the Old Testament regarding the judgment that will befall the Jews because of their rejection of God and which occurs right before the establishment of the kingdom on Earth (Jer 30:4-9; Ezek 20:33-38). On a broader scale, Jesus’ return will bring about the slaughter of all who have rejected Him as can be clearly seen in Revelation 19:15-21. We are told that Jesus will “strike down the nations” (Rev 19:15), that the birds will gorge themselves on the flesh of kings and mighty men who had rebelled against Messiah (Rev 19:17-19), and that the rest “were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him” (Rev 19:21). All who reject Christ and are rebellious of His reign over them will be put to death. These are unbelievers who will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15). However, the servants/slaves are wholly different than the “citizens/enemies” in this parable, with Jesus drawing the necessary distinctions. This is most notable in that the servants are judged first (representative of the Judgment Seat of Christ) and the “citizens/enemies” are judged later (representative of the Great White Throne judgment). To sum up the eternal destinies of the parties involved in this parable, Wilkin writes, “Good servants will rule with Christ fully. Half-hearted servants will rule with Him in a more limited way. Wicked servants won’t rule with Christ at all, though they will be with Him forever. Unbelievers will experience the second death and will spend eternity in the lake of fire.”[9] With the third slave’s misunderstanding of his master, we could conclude that the more that you are intimately acquainted with Jesus, the more that you will faithfully serve Him with joy, knowing that He desires to reward you richly for the service that you have rendered (Rev 22:12). This third servant, having full rights and equal responsibility within the house of the master, was declared “wicked” because of his sloth and negligence. Therefore, he suffered loss, for even what he thought he had was taken away.The application is clear.The Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted His work to His people. While He is away receiving the kingdom for Himself, we are to be doing business: loving one another, praying, studying His holy Word, living His holy Word, forgiving one another, encouraging one another, structuring our lives to be led in holiness and faithfulness to wherever He may lead us, and making disciples of all nations. Thiessen commissions us writing, “Let us also ‘carry on business’ till He come, in order that we may hear His ‘well done,’ and receive a reward when He comes!”[10] How will your conversation with the Master go when He returns and settles accounts? [1] Arthur Walkington Pink, Eternal Security (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2005), p. 75.[2] Henry Clarence Thiessen, “The Parable of the Nobleman and the Earthly Kingdom (Luke 19:11-27),” Bibliotheca Sacra, vol 91 (1934): 184.[3] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Lk 19:12.[4] Louw and Nida, p. 62.[5] Zane C. Hodges, A Free Grace Primer: The Hungry Inherit, The Gospel Under Siege, Grace in Eclipse, ed. Robert N. Wilkin (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2011), p. 335.[6] Thiessen, “The Parable of the Nobleman”: 188.[7] Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 84.[8] Thiessen, “The Parable of the Nobleman”: 190.[9] Robert N. Wilkin, “Two Judgments and Four Types of People (Luke 19:11–27),” Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 25, no. 48 (2012): 20.[10] Ibid.

Jesus offers the believer an opportunity to have ownership in the coming Kingdom of Heaven. A great deal of Jesus’ earthly teachings and interactions pointed toward this opportunity. Before examining a passage that clearly speaks to this fact, a short review is imperative.In the previous lesson, we looked at Matthew 13:44-46 which dealt with two parables that were communicated to the disciples in private and involved scenarios where something of great value had been found and the one who found it sold everything that they owned in order to make it their own. Jesus’ point in both parables is clear: When you come across the truth of the kingdom of heaven, do whatever it takes to make it your own. Sell all that you have, forsake all that is less, and lay hold of the opportunity to have ownership of the kingdom of heaven. It will certainly cost you, and to some the cost will be great, but this cost is but a minuscule inconvenience when compared to the brilliant glory and bursting riches that await you in the coming Kingdom of Christ.Whatever it takes, it is most certainly worth it!Before entering into our first case study on this truth, we must also review the Parables of the Soils because it tells us of the different types of reception that occur when one has come across the “word of the kingdom” (Matt 13:19). A believer’s reception of this truth can have four possible results, but only one “bears fruit” (Matt 13:23b). All others, let us be warned and fully aware, fail to enjoy this end.Parable of the Sower Chart (Matt 13:19-23) With these results in mind, we turn to Matthew 19:16-30.Matthew 19:16-22. The scene begins with a man who comes to Jesus asking a question in regards to what “good thing” he could to do “obtain eternal life” (Matt 13:16). This question may be disturbing to some readers since it obviously gives this idea that “eternal life” can be earned by works and no one would argue that the man is asking Jesus a “works” question. Jesus questions the man’s inquiry about what is “good,” tells the man that only God is good, and then proceeds to answer his question (19:17). In this way, Jesus is communicating clearly that He is God, seeing that He can provide a perfect answer to this man’s question.Many have understood this interaction as the man’s inquiry into what must be done to be saved, which deems the man as a “lost” person. Commentators will note that Jesus gives the man some of the commandments from the Law of Moses (19:18-19) in order to show him what an awful sinner he is. When the man replies that he has kept these things since his youth (19:20), he is obviously lying and Jesus goes for the jugular by calling on the man to part with his personal portfolio so that he will demonstrate a “true desire” to have “genuine salvation.” Because the man walks away greatly troubled, these commentators have concluded in their application to us that we must be willing to give all that we have in order to go to heaven when we die, and because the rich young ruler was unwilling to part with his wealth, he will spend an eternity in the Lake of Fire. In short, they have taken this passage as an evangelistic encounter.[1]We must be aware that “eternal life” is not always understood in the Scriptures to be speaking ONLY to the free gift that one receives when they believe in Jesus (John 3:15, 16, 36; 5:24; 6:47, 54; 10:10a, 28; Acts 13:46, 48; Titus 1:2; 1 John 5:11-12). “Eternal life” can also speak to a quality of life to be experienced in the here and now by believers as they “abide,” surrender, or submit to the Lord’s Word (John 10:10b; 17:3; 1 Tim 6:12; 1 John 1:2; 2:25; 3:15; 5:20). But “eternal life” can also be understood as the believer in Christ having a rich inheritance in the coming kingdom, which is considered to be the “end” of our salvation (Matt 19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; Rom 2:7; 6:22; Gal 6:8; Jude 21). From this evidence we can see that the phrase “eternal life” can be used concerning our justification, sanctification, or glorification, and that the context of the passage will determine the intention of the author in using this phrase.Also in question is the word “obtain,” which is the word echō in the Greek and would be better translated as “have.” Whether “obtain” or “have,” the point is clear that the man wishes to possess eternal life for himself (this same scenario is recounted in Mark 10:17 and Luke 18:18 with the words documented as “inherit eternal life”). This does not deal with the lost getting saved, but with the saved obtaining a rich entrance in the kingdom of heaven.How do we know this to be true? Jesus’ reply to this question gives the man a “works” answer. The man in question obviously knows that he is lacking something due to the nature of his initial question (19:16) and his response to Jesus’ recommendation (19:20). Jesus’ call to keep the commandments was not to force a condemnation upon the man’s inadequate living, but to point him in the direction of cultivating interpersonal relationships. Loving others is a clear indication that we love God (John 13:34-35; 1 John 7:7; 2:5; 4:7). Jesus was also not calling on the man to keep the commandments in order to earn acceptance with God. Jesus was showing him that in keeping these commandments he was propagating fellowship with God. The second way that we know that this exchange is regarding “eternal life” as this man’s quality of glorification is in verse 21 when Jesus tells him, “If you wish to be made complete…” This Greek word is teleios meaning, “brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary to completeness; perfect.”[2] Louw and Nida define this word as “pertaining to having no defect whatsoever.”[3] This word speaks to being “perfect,” but can also be understood as being “mature, fully-grown” (Jas 1:4). Jesus calls the man to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and to come and follow Him on His journeys. Jesus even goes so far as to tell this man that if he does what Jesus has asked of him, he will have “treasure in heaven” (19:21). Having inquired about having/obtaining/possessing eternal life, Jesus’ directive is to give all that he deems precious in order to lay hold of eternal life, much like Jesus’ words to the disciples in Matthew 13:44-46 when He speaks of those who gave all in order to make the kingdom of heaven theirs.If this is what Jesus is telling the man, would it not make more sense to tell him how he can be a mature, fully-grown disciple who is complete, not lacking in anything rather than considering him to be a lost, unregenerate person and immediately calling him to be complete and perfect, being fully-grown and mature? It would be foolishness to think that Jesus is calling this man to part with all of his possessions in order to be justified since the goal placed before the man is equated with “treasure in heaven” and “full maturity” or “completeness.” Such a conclusion accounts for the man’s “selling of his possessions” as part of what is necessary in order to be accepted before God. If this is the case, where does the cross of Christ come in? This view deems it as secondary, or only PART of what is necessary to complete the whole and to legally render the man as “saved.” No, Jesus’ answer is not a works answer because that is what is necessary to go to heaven when you die. He answers this way because this is the pathway to having a full experience in following Jesus so that he will have “treasure in heaven” (19:21b). This understanding corresponds perfectly with what Jesus taught the disciples in Matthew 19:44-46. Sell all that you have if that is what it takes to possess/have/obtain the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is calling him to start living the abundant life (John 10:10b).This reply causes the man to end the conversation, and he leaves “grieving” (lypeō- distressed, sorrowful). The reason for his sorrow is provided by Matthew, noting that he “owned much property,” meaning that he had many earthly possessions, which could include land, or possibly an estate. This is a terrible occasion, considering what the man was giving up in the eternal so that he could maintain what he had in the temporal. We see the trappings of such motivations in the words that the Apostle Paul spoke to Timothy, writing “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim 6:9-10).One last important point to notice is that Jesus equates “treasure in heaven” in 19:21b with the man’s initial question of obtaining “eternal life” in 19:16. Jesus makes this connection to provide us with a greater understanding of what is being considered (and continues to do so in the narrative) so that we are not confused or misled in our interpretation of this situation. This rich young ruler would be someone who has heard the “word of the kingdom” (Matt 13:19a) but has allowed for the riches of this life to choke out his opportunity to not only become part of Jesus’ entourage, but to have great riches and rewards in the coming Kingdom. He would fall into category #3 in the Parable of the Soils.Matthew 19:23-26. At this point, Jesus turns to His disciples and uses this situation as a teaching moment. “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (19:23). Notice that Jesus equated “entering the kingdom of heaven” to the situation that just took place. Before proceeding, we must observe that the call to “sell all” and the result being “treasure in heaven” (19:21) shows that the man’s question and Jesus’ answer were not in regard to whether or not the man was “saved,” so we must not let the term “entering the kingdom of heaven” deter us to think this. Dillow writes, “In each place where entering the kingdom of God is mentioned, the call is always to those who have already entered it in the sense of personal salvation. What then do the entry sayings mean? When Jesus invites His believing followers to enter the kingdom of heaven, He is obviously not inviting them to accept the gospel and be saved. They are already saved. Instead, this invitation to enter the kingdom involves a call to enter a rich experience of life; to enter a kingdom way of living (discipleship) by seeking the kingdom way of life; and to enter in to higher status in the future reign of the servants.”[4]Jesus further elaborates upon His point by giving an illustration about the difficulty of “a camel to go through the eye of a needle” (19:24a). This expression is known as a “paroimia” which is a “way side saying, a trite expression, a common remark, or a proverb.”[5] This expression was used to communicate “a thing very unusual and very difficult.”[6] This has often been communicated as an opening in the wall surrounding Jerusalem that required for the camel to get down on his knees in order to pass through into the city.[7] While this may be a commonly accepted explanation, some scholars believe that there is no evidence to conclude this.[8]Regardless, the point in Jesus’ use of paroimia is clear: Those who trust in their riches in this life will find great difficulty in obtaining a rich entrance into the kingdom of heaven. This is due to their wealth becoming their security, hope, and the answer for every problem. Why pray and wait on the Lord when you can simply buy a solution to your problem? When one is called to follow Jesus, proceeding forward can only be done by faith in the Son of God. This is much like the argument in Galatians 3:1-3. We are not justified by faith alone and then proceed to grow in our Christian walk by another means than faith in Christ. Our growth is predicated upon faith alone in Christ alone, just as is the case of our justification. Divided interests when faced with the opportunity for a rich entrance in the coming Kingdom is an incongruent concept.With verse 25, we see that the disciples’ response to Jesus’ application is one of shock! In the first century, the Jews would have concluded that material wealth was a sign that God had greatly blessed that family. Jesus’ comment has shattered this stereotype, opting instead to promote trusting in Christ which gives way to obedience in following Him. The idea of being “saved” should not be thought of as “go to heaven when you die,” but rather “saved” from a worthless life, a life of little value in the coming Kingdom. We know this to be true because of the indicators found in 19:16 with “obtaining eternal life,” 19:21 with Jesus equating “treasure in heaven” with the man’s desired conclusion to “obtain eternal life,” 19:23 with Jesus’ use of the “kingdom of heaven” as the primary subject under consideration in this section, and with 19:24 demonstrating that the “kingdom of heaven” is the same thing as the “kingdom of God.” At no time do we have any allusions to the cross of Christ, the blood of Christ, or the sacrifice of Christ. The only sacrifice called for in this section is found in relation to the rich young man selling his possessions and following Jesus (19:21).What is the answer to the disciples’ question? With man, obtaining eternal life in the kingdom of heaven is impossible, but with God all things are possible, including a rich person having a rich entrance into the coming Kingdom. If the one who is rich is not trusting in their riches but is trusting in the Lord, such an entrance is possible! They have matured to the point of understanding that the flesh will profit nothing (John 6:63; Rom 8:8) and that the things of this world are fleeting and all will burn in the end (Ps 52:7-9; 62:10b; 1 Tim 6:17; 2 Peter 3:10-18). It is much like what we read in Proverbs 11:28, “He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.”Matthew 19:27-30. At this point, Peter asks a question concerning himself and the group obviously provoked by this incident that they had just witnessed and Jesus’ subsequent teaching in light of the results of the rich young man’s choice. If what Jesus just concluded was true, where did this leave the disciples? They had walked away from their businesses (Matt 4:18-22; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27) and had obviously left their families (Matt 8:14). In Peter’s own words, the had left “everything” to follow Jesus (Matt 19:27). Peter understood that he and the other disciples had been obedient and had “paid the cost.” What would be the return on the decision that they had made?Jesus’ reply is not harsh, or rebuking, but He unfolds the beauty that awaits those who sacrifice to follow Christ because they should be expectant of something in return for their service to Him. “Rather than upbraid Peter for what may seem like a selfish request, Jesus assured him that the life investment he and the other disciples had made (16:24–28) would have dividends ‘a hundredfold’ (v. 29).”[9] Jesus tells His disciples that in the “regeneration” they will be in positions of judgment over the twelve tribes of Israel (19:28). What is meant by the term “regeneration” is clear, seeing that Jesus gives us a time indicator in stating that it is a period “when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne.” We know this to be speaking of the Millennial Reign of Christ (Rev 19:11-20:6). This word “regeneration” is palingenesia in Greek meaning a “state of being renewed, with focus on a cosmic experience, renewal.”[10] It has been translated in English as “renewal” (NIV, CSB), “new world” (ESV), and even the “Messianic Age” (HCSB). Thayer understands it as “that signal and glorious change of all things (in heaven and earth) for the better, that restoration of the primal and perfect condition of things which existed before the fall of our first parents.”[11] Scofield writes of it as “the re-creation of the social order, and renewal of the earth (Isa. 11:6–9; Rom. 8:19–23) when the kingdom shall come.”[12] Clearly, Jesus’ meaning is consistent with the subject at hand, being the coming Kingdom of Heaven, the Millennial Reign of Christ.Jesus then adds that anyone who has left that which they have loved behind for the sake of Christ’s name will receive “many times as much” (NASB), which is probably better understood as “a hundred times” (NASB margin) or “a hundredfold” (NKJV, ESV). Two things must be noted in this statement. First, a sacrifice of this magnitude must be made with the proper motivation fueling it. That motivation is clearly stated as “for My name’s sake” (19:29b). The person forsaking that which is comfortable and secure hoping to receive accolades or fame from such a sacrifice will receive nothing. However, the one who deems Christ as “worthy,” meaning that He is worth following wherever He may lead them to go, is one who will receive a great reward for the sacrifice that they have made. This type of obedience demonstrates the proper motivation and the humble heart of the one serving Christ.Second, the use of the term “a hundredfold” should draw our minds back to the Parable of the Soils, especially the fourth soil in Matthew 13:23. We are told that those who “understand” the word of the kingdom will be the ones who “bear fruit” in various increments, and in some cases, it will be a hundredfold. Jesus speaks of a second result regarding those who leave their loved ones for Christ’s sake. They “will inherit eternal life” (19:29c). This is precisely what Jesus was calling the rich young ruler to do: sell his possessions and follow Him so that he would have “treasure in heaven” (19:21b). This phrase “inherit eternal life” perfectly corresponds with the rich man’s initial inquiry in Matthew 19:16 about how to “obtain eternal life,” especially when compared with the parallel accounts in Mark 10:17 and Luke 18:18. There is a cost in this life for following Jesus, but if one is willing to pay it for the sake of Jesus’ name, it will yield great dividends beyond our comprehension in the life to come!Jesus finishes His reply by stating that “many who are first will be last; and the last, first” (19:30). Parting with our loved ones or ridding ourselves of our valuables for the sake of Jesus’ name would be things that would place us in the category of “last” in this present age. Such people are considered lunatics. But we must remember that the world knows nothing about the joy that stems from those who not only have peace with God from their justification, but the peace of God resting over them because they are in the center of God’s will for their lives. To the world, belief in God, much less parting with one’s “stuff” to follow Jesus Christ, is written off as “fanatical” without being given a second thought, and because it is spiritually motivated and lacks the “glamour” that dictates so much of the decisions that carnal people make, it must be discredited and demeaned, and the message of those who have “left all” is denied. Those who are last in this life will be first in the life to come. Those who are first in this life, meaning that if they are believers in Jesus Christ but are living for themselves (Eph 5:11-12), persisting in sin and disobedience (Eph 4:17-20; 1 Tim 1:29-20), are only carnal in their Christianity (1 Cor 3:3-4; Titus 3:9-10), and are unwilling to part with the things that they hold dear if called upon by the Lord to do so (Matt 19:21), they will be last in the coming Kingdom of Christ.What is Jesus calling you to do so that you will have treasure in heaven? [1] See MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, p. 1276–1277, Alan P. Stanley, Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works? (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2006), p. 188-211, John F. MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus (Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1988), p. 78-88.[2] Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 618.[3] Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 705.[4] Joseph C. Dillow, Final Destiny: The Future Reign of the Servant Kings (Monument, Colorado: Paniym Publishing, 2012), p. 253.[5] E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1968), p. 755.[6] Ibid.[7] See James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), p. 447.[8] See Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), p. 299–300; David Turner and Darrell L. Bock, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11: Matthew and Mark (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 252.[9] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 1177.[10] BDAG, p. 752.[11] Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 474–475.[12] C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1917), p. 1026.

Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation. God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good. Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard. Sin originates within a person, separating us from God. God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works. The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence. God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom. Our study of Matthew 13 and the “word of the Kingdom” (Matt 13:19) continues with the last three parables being given in a private setting. In 13:36, we are told that Jesus left the crowd of Jews that He was previously speaking to and entered again into the house from whence He had come to teach in parables in the first place (13:1). Jesus began speaking in parables after the rejection of the works of the Holy Spirit (which testified that the Kingdom of God had come upon the Jews) by the Jewish leaders (Matt 12:24, 28). Before moving on we must remember two very important points connected to Jesus’ style of teaching.First, Jesus spoke in parables as a means of judgment against the Jewish people. Those who had rejected Him during His earthly ministry would have the “mysteries of the Kingdom” hidden from their understanding. Jesus’ method of teaching (parables) involved a principled story-telling that was to convey important truths regarding the Kingdom of God and was such that would obscure the meaning to those who had rejected Him as their promised Messiah. Jesus explains, “I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matt 13:13). He then proceeds to tell His disciples in 13:14-15 that resorting to this method is actually a fulfillment of prophecy. The hardened hearts of the Jewish people had earned them further ignorance and missed opportunities to have in their possession what YHWH had always promised them. It was a sad affair that Israel had earned because of their unbelief and disobedience, but one that the Lord Jesus would see through in truth, not compromising His judgment of them despite His profound love (Matt 23:37-39).The second important point involves the flipside of Jesus’ parables in that they are described by Him as revealing “the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven,” with this revelation being something that the disciples were privy to because of their acceptance of Him (Matt 13:11). The Eleven (minus Judas- John 13:27) had already placed their faith in Jesus and now He was granting them more understanding regarding His Coming Kingdom (Matt 13:12). In this they were greatly blessed, for many prophets and “righteous men” had desired to see and hear all that they had before them in that moment, but had not (Matt 13:16-17). This moment in time held an unveiling of previously unknown truths regarding the earthly reign of Christ from the throne of David, and of all of the devout Jews of Israel’s history, this rag-tag group of anxious and doubting men were the recipients of its message.Grace certainly abounds as the Lord sees fit for His divine purposes with no regard to status, occupation, or merit.Matthew 13:44. In this parable, Jesus speaks of “the kingdom of heaven” being like a treasure that was hidden in a field. This would have been a concept that the disciples would have been able to relate to. In the first century there were no banks or safes in order to store valuables, so the one who possessed such things would have to hide them in the ground.[1] In this teaching, a man finds the treasure and hides it again. Joy over his discovery motivates him to sell all of his possessions, and in doing so, he purchases the field. At this point, it should be noted that the popular interpretations of this passage have consisted of mainly two viewpoints. The first interpretation is that the “treasure” is Israel and that the Messiah is the “man.” Upon finding her, Jesus goes and “sells all that he has,” symbolizing His going to the cross, and in turn buys the field (which is connected to “the world”- v.38a) with His blood. Along with this, some have considered that Israel being hidden in the field and the field being considered a necessary purchase relates to the Jews being dispersed throughout the nations of the world.[2] While this is a popular understanding among many who are of the dispensationalist viewpoint, there are some concerns regarding this interpretation.First, while the “man” may be interpreted this way due to a previous parable (Matt 13:24b, 37), this does not necessarily need to be the case, and is an educated assumption at best. Second, while Israel is often referred to as God’s treasure in the Old Testament (Ex 19:5; Deut 26:18; Ps 83:3 [where the word for “treasured” is more literally translated as “hidden”]; 135:4), there is no indication that the Lord “stumbled across” them, buried them again, and then needed to purchase a vast expanse just so they would be His permanently. From all indication that one would receive in reading through the Old Testament, Israel already belonged to God (Isa 43:1).Third, the emphasis being placed upon Israel as the ones needing redemption limits what transpired at the cross. This would only make sense if Jesus had died only for the sins of the Jews, but Scripture speaks to so much more than this (John 1:29; 1 Tim 2:4-6; Heb 2:9; 1 John 2:2).Finally, this parable, by its very introduction, not to mention all of the other parables in Matthew 13, have nothing to do with the cross of Christ and His death for sinners. However, it does have everything to do with “the kingdom of the heavens,” keeping in perfect step with the parables that Jesus spoke beforehand. This should be sufficient enough evidence to see that this parable is not speaking of Jesus purchasing the world through the cross in order to possess Israel. The second major interpretation is that Jesus is telling these men that if they want to have eternal life it will cost them everything. With this view, the “kingdom of heaven” has been equated with “eternal life.” Therefore, they (and by extension “we”) must be willing to sell everything in order to gain heaven. The issues with this understanding should be both obvious and alarming, yet it is considered a legitimate understanding of the text by some who even go so far as to acknowledge the free gift of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone only to then include the “give up everything” call of discipleship as necessary and indispensable to the equation.[3] Such atrocities in Scripture, theology, and logic are too easily excused with the label of “paradox.”Let us stop and acknowledge the violence that occurs in embracing such a claim, being found to muddy the foundation of the Christian Life and murky the waters of the atonement of Christ. Salvation is a free gift, and one that is offered freely because it has already been purchased by Another- the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:29; 3:16; 5:24). This free gift is received by personal faith alone (John 1:12; 6:47). If this free gift costs the recipient anything it ceases to be a gift and becomes a transaction (Rom 11:6). This gives the recipient of the “costly gift” the right to lay claim to it because of what they were required to give for it. It is no longer a gift that was totally undeserved, but has now become an item that is to be rightfully possessed because of the personal price paid. This is NOT the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who died for the sins of the world and rose on the third day in order to freely offer eternal life to anyone and everyone who would receive it, and to do so “without cost” (Rev 22:17). A friend of mine stated the issue this way:If someone thinks that they have to give Christ something (i.e., commitment, surrender, obedience, etc.) in order to receive eternal salvation, then they are attempting to enforce a bilateral contract, namely an agreement formed by an exchange of a promise in which the promise of one party is consideration supporting the promise of the other party.[4]The idea that the gift of salvation is something that we must be willing to “sell all that” we have in order to obtain it is nothing short of heresy because it makes our actions and obedience a necessary part in accomplishing the whole of our redemption. This blasphemous conclusion would rightfully qualify the one needing salvation as a co-redeemer with Christ, seeing that this view considers Christ’s work on the cross as insufficient to fully save. To necessitate any works on the part of the one needing saving is heresy. With that being said, what would be a more consistent interpretation of the parable of the treasure in the field? To answer this question, there are two important factors that must be grasped before proceeding that will greatly aid in clearing the path for a greater understanding.First, the audience for these series of parables has changed. Beforehand, we saw the Master speaking to the crowds which were the ones who had rejected Jesus’ message (Matt 13:1-9, 24-35), but here we see His audience as the Twelve, being those who had accepted His message. We must remember that Jesus is turning away from the Jews because of their unbelief. Even though Judas is present, this group of men would go on to be the bedrock that the Holy Spirit would use in establishing, discipling, and nurturing the coming Church in sound doctrine (Acts 2). The Eleven are “already clean” because of the Word that Jesus had spoken to them (John 15:3), thus they are in a prime position to receive the “mysteries of the Kingdom” with greater understanding; an understanding that will give way to bearing fruit (Matt 13:23b). Second, the focal point of Jesus’ teaching has not changed, that being the “kingdom of heaven” (Matt 13:44, 45, 47). Though the audience is different, we should not assume that the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” has changed its meaning since Jesus entered the house. However, we would be correct in considering that what Jesus is going to communicate to the Twelve regarding the Coming Kingdom will concern itself with things directly pertaining to them since the crowds are no longer present. With this audience, the purpose of judgment has been removed from Jesus’ use of parables. However, Jesus still continues to teach in parables, meaning that the “mysteries of the kingdom” (Matt 13:11) can be further understood, resulting in the “abundance” that comes from receiving more revelation about the kingdom because the disciples were the ones who already “had” in the first place (Matthew 13:12a is very important in understanding this concept).With this second point, we must also consider the contextual argument of this entire pericope. Jesus began Matthew 13 with the Parable of the Soils and provided an explanation of this parable in 13:18-23. The subject of this first parable is the “word of the Kingdom” (13:19) and the various types of reception this message receives from those who hear it. Each type of reception creates a reaction. While the first message was “snatched away” by Satan so as to render no understanding (13:19), the second and third groups receive the message and even embrace it, but end up abandoning it due to persecution and affliction (13:21) or due to the cares of this present age and the greed that permeates one’s being overshadowing its significance (13:22). However, it is the final soil who receives the word of the Kingdom and who hold fast to it because they have “understanding” (13:23). This “understanding” results in fruit that brings forth “a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (13:23b). It is this last group that is in view when Jesus is speaking with His disciples about the treasure hidden in the field (13:44a) and the pearl of great value (13:46a). In summation, this parable of the hidden treasure in the field is: 1. still spoken of in the parabolic fashion of teaching, 2. spoken privately to the disciples of Jesus in the house (Matt 13:36), 3. still regarding the subject of the “kingdom of heaven” whose meaning and contents have not changed at all from the Old Testament understanding of the literal, physical, theocratic reign of the Messiah for 1,000 years on the Earth from Jerusalem as He sits upon the throne of His father David as prophesied (2 Sam 7:16; Luke 1:32-33), and 4. it is a truth that, when understood, will bring forth a bountiful result of fruit from the disciples (Matt 13:23).Here we have a biblical maxim that is a foundational point throughout all of the Scriptures: With more revelation comes more responsibility, and such responsibility in understanding greater revelation from God in His Word demands a response so that one’s life is now operating from the convictions that have just been learned. In this way, God is glorified!!! This is what God’s truth is supposed to do in the lives of believers. When we are given a greater understanding of God’s will (which is His Word), we are responsible for embracing this truth and conforming our lives accordingly. In this private setting with those who have chosen to follow Him closely (John 6:67-69), Jesus explains to them the surpassing worth of the kingdom of heaven, especially in comparison to any of their personal possessions. One author notes, “The central truth being taught is the immense value of the kingdom, which far outweighs any sacrifice or inconvenience one might encounter on earth.”[5] The urgency of the man, the motivation conveyed that sparks his action (“and from joy”-Matt 13:44b), and the extreme exchange that the man is willing to make for the treasure all point to a relinquishing of lesser things in order to own something greater for one’s self. Robertson agrees: “The point here is the joy of discovery of something of supreme worth. The kingdom, like the treasure, is worth more than all a man’s possessions. He may well sacrifice these all for it.”[6] Matthew 13:45-46. While the following parable contains many similarities to the parable of the hidden treasure, there is one major difference that must be noted. In 13:44, the man in the parable found the treasure, but there is no real indication that he was looking for it. However, when he found it, he went to extreme measures to accumulate the cash necessary to purchase the field containing the treasure. In 13:45-46, the merchant is actively looking for pearls of great worth. When he comes across a pearl that holds immense value, he sells everything he has in order to obtain it. Jesus’ general point is clear: Whether you are looking for the kingdom or not, once you come across it, give everything that you own in order to possess it for yourself. So often we believe that the things that we possess are the markers for greatness in this life. Many are enthralled with money, social status, keeping up with their peers, or desperately trying to maintain a fake image among others. Jesus is stating that whatever you have held dear or esteemed as “worthy,” give it up for the sake of personally possessing something of infinite value. Do whatever it takes, at all costs, to possess the kingdom.The immense value of the kingdom of God is something that is stressed throughout Jesus’ ministry. While many passages address this fact, looking at the Sermon on the Mount briefly will give one a clear and convincing picture. Notice the following verses:Matt 5:3- “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Matt 5:10-12- “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”Matt 5:19-20- “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”Matt 6:33- “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”Matt 7:21- “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”In each instance listed, we see that the “kingdom of heaven” is associated with an attitude, disposition, or a general way of life that the person is called to live. These instances call for self-discipline, meaning that the believer who would “enter the kingdom of heaven” would be the one who has understood the “word of the kingdom” and is willing to position his or herself in such a way that the pleasures and trappings of this life are unworthy endeavors that will keep us from the richness that is available in the Life to come.Also notice that “entering the kingdom” is associated with “rewards in heaven” (Matt 5:10-12). This is Jesus’ point in the private parables of Matthew 13. He desires for His disciples to have a “rich entrance” into the kingdom of heaven. He calls them to a way of life that will lead to ruling and reigning alongside Him in the millennial kingdom. He calls us to do the same. Jesus invites His followers to follow Him through persecution and sacrifice to a maximum return in the Life to come that broadcasts God’s glory throughout all existence!!!Where will you be in the kingdom?[1] James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), p. 438.[2] See John F. Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come (Galaxie Software, 2007), p. 104–105; Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, Expanded ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), p. 1538; William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), p. 1258.[3] See John F. MacArthur Jr., The Gospel according to Jesus: What Does Jesus Mean When He Says “Follow Me,” Electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Academic and Professional Books, Zondervan, 2000), chapter 12; Robert James Utley, The First Christian Primer: Matthew, vol. 9, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International, 2000), p. 121.[4] Kevin Hobby, personal correspondence, 30 December 2018.[5] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville: Nelson Publishers, 1997), Mt 13:44.[6] A. T. Robertson, Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1911), p. 171.

Matthew 13:36-43 Revelation 19 & 20 Revelation 22:12 & 17

Romans 9:1-6;9:30-33; 10:1-4; 10:17-21; 11:1-36

John 1:11-12;Matthew 13:38, 43Romans 8:35-39; 9:1-6;9:30-33; 10:1-4; 10:17-21; 11:1-36

The past few editions of notes have been seeking to bring a clear and credible understanding to the parables that Jesus provides in Matthew 13. To say that these teachings are difficult to interpret and often abused, with many reading into the parables things that are not there, would be a severe understatement. The best commentary on the Scriptures is the Scriptures, and so we look to God’s Word for direction, clarity, and right-thinking about these teachings.

With the interpretations for the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:18-23) and the Parable of the Wheat and Tares (Matt 13:36-43) provided, we are now left with two short parables that are spoken before the crowds (Matt 13:2) that have no interpretation accompanying them. This fact should not discourage us. We should find help in the interpretations already provided and use the details given to us as a guide for understanding what follows.

With the interpretations for the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:18-23) and the Parable of the Wheat and Tares (Matt 13:36-43) provided, we are now left with two short parables that are spoken before the crowds (Matt 13:2) that have no interpretation accompanying them. This fact should not discourage us. We should find help in the interpretations already provided and use the details given to us as a guide for understanding what follows…

Interpreting God’s Word is serious business and the area of parables finds the most difficult waters to navigate in Scripture, even more so than prophecy. McClain writes, “these parables of the Kingdom, even for the saved, must be divinely interpreted in order to serve any beneficial purpose. In no area of the Word of God is there greater need for caution on the part of interpreters than in the parables, and especially in those concerned with the ‘mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.’ Even the most spiritual and well-taught among students of the Word may go astray here; and many an error has found its basis in some parabolic detail, e.g., the gradual and ultimate triumph of the Church in converting the world through the ‘leavening process’ of the Gospel.”[1] It is not enough for an interpretation to be academic; it must also be prayerfully discerned, allowing as much as possible for the context to lead the interpreter to the proper interpretation…

The “word of the kingdom” (Matt 13:19a) has become a matter of great confusion. As with any subject of Scripture, the flaws are alwaysfound in the hermeneutical method being used to interpret various passages. We know, and have confidence, that the text of Scripture is completely free of error (Ps 19:7-10; 2 Tim 33:16-17), so our only other conclusion about the confusion that has ensued is that it is due to a user error. Therefore, there are three areas that must receive our attention so that we can proceed with a biblical understanding of Jesus’ teaching in the parables of Matthew 13. They are: The Contemporary Understanding of the Kingdom The Nature of the Kingdom in the Gospels  The Nature of the Kingdom in the Church Age While these considerations are not exhaustive, they should help to clear up some of the confusion that often surrounds the subject of the kingdom…

Matthew 13 is a major shift in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Before this, Jesus had not spoken in parables in Matthew’s Gospel, but with the rejection of His kingdom offer by the Pharisees, a new direction was being set forth. While Jesus had previously used illustrations in communicating truth (7:24–27; 9:16–17; 11:16–19; 12:29), these should not be considered parables. This new direction that is set forth is not just a view to the cross and resurrection, but also a view to the salvation of the Gentiles. This should not surprise us because of the national rejection He has received from the Jews (Matt 12:24; John 1:11) and the fulfillment of prophecy that had taken place in Matthew 12:17-21 where Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42:1-4a referring to “justice” being proclaimed to the Gentiles and that “in His name the Gentiles will hope” (Matt 12:21)… 

It would be best to go back and read all of Matthew 12 again to get the thrust of what is taking place in world history. This is a weighty matter! A people who had 1400 years of promises, prophets, and signs was at the cusp of having all of their greatest expectations become a reality and their leaders, being the most knowledgeable men among them, discredited every effort or promise that YHWH had ever made to them because their hardened hearts would not allow for their pride to be deflated in the eyes of Israel. They simply could not humble themselves before the promised Messiah… 

In Matthew 12, Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees is heated. Being perfectly God, Jesus was perfectly indignant about the spiritual state of Israel. Unbelief, and anti-belief in the case of the Pharisees, had served in leading the nation of Israel into religiosity and legalism, with the people striving to gain acceptance with their God, offering the same routine sacrifices, and promoting their own self-righteousness as a reason why God should look favorably upon them (Luke 18:11-12). Jesus’ anger is justified. The heart of Israel’s leaders had been publicly revealed with pride, corruption, and denial being its manifestation. Now that this critical moment had come into play, the offer of the kingdom would fall to the wayside with Jesus’ focus turning to the events surrounding the cross of Calvary…

Leaders are vitally important to every organization, whether spiritual or secular. It is when we venture into the area of the “religious” that we find a mixture of the two; exerting authority and control while administering guilt and criticism. Throughout the recorded account of Jesus’ earthly life we find this type of opposition in the entity known as the Pharisees, a legalistic and superficially pious group of men who were devout in their observations of the Talmud and the interpretations of the scribes of the times, but gave little heed to the Scriptures themselves…

The ministry of Jesus and “the Gospel of the Kingdom” as preached by Him (Matt 4:17; 9:35), John the Baptist (Matt 3:2), and the Twelve (Matt 10:7) was an exclusive message directed only to the house of Israel (Matt 3:5; 10:6). To them belong “the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all” (Rom 9:4b-5)…

This was a message that had been promised, explained, and (in a way through the time of David and Solomon) demonstrated so that any confusion surrounding the issue would be minimal if one would only pay attention to what had already been revealed. This was a promise that was made to the Jewish people and this is exactly the focus of ministry that is seen in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew…

FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK. PART 47 Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation. God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good. Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard. Sin originates within a person, separating us from God. God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works. The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence. God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom. This lesson provides a sweeping look at the purpose and implications of Jesus’ early public ministry. First, some preliminary points. The term “Messiah” is not a designation that many people would use when describing Jesus. However, this particular office is highlighted in the Gospel accounts. The “hope” of Israel that was promoted by the prophets in the Old Testament was that of the coming Messiah, the One who would be the Deliverer. We may often think of Jesus as Savior, King, Prophet, or even our great High Priest, but rarely do we first choose “Messiah” as our first description of Jesus. Because this is such a prominent but overlooked designation, we must examine the word “Messiah” and consider its implications when He appears on the scene of the New Testament. The word “Messiah” is “mashiach” in Hebrew and “christos” in Greek. It means “’anointed one,’ and the idea of a messiah for Israel grows out of her ideology about a righteous king, one who would be like David. The messiah as a figure is integrally involved in Israel’s unique understanding of her place in history: their awareness from the beginning that God had chosen them to bring blessing to the nations.” The term “Messiah” deals with the idea of a “righteous king,” and this king will be the one leading the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Promise (Gen 12:1-3). Luke 2:10-11. When we use the name “Jesus Christ” we are actually pronouncing Jesus as the Messiah, being the anointed One who has the right to rule. The announcement made by an angel of the Lord to the shepherds who were watching over their sheep in Luke 2:11 would have caused a much greater stir of thoughts and emotions than we may have previously considered. He tells them, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (emphasis added). The choice of words is intentional and specific. The promised King of Israel has been born into the world! This particular title of “Messiah” encompasses all other designations for the anointed One who was to come. Edersheim writes, “the Messiah, as Representative Israelite, combined in Himself as ‘the Servant of the Lord’ the threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King, and joined together the two ideas of ‘Son’ and ‘Servant.’ And the final combination and full exhibition of these two ideas was the fulfilment of the typical mission of Israel, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God among men.” Notice that the title of “Messiah” is inseparable from the concept of the Kingdom of God. Thus, Jesus’ arrival on the scene in first century Israel drew a much greater atmosphere of hope and excitement among the people than what we understand. The Jewish people knew that victory would be supplied by YHWH, and that His Choice One (Luke 9:35) would bring about the Kingdom, causing Israel to once again dwell in peace. Notice the picture that is painted through Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah 40:3-11. Reading through these eleven verses gives us a flavor of how the coming Messiah was viewed within the Jewish mindset. There are a few pertinent points to observe. First, we come across the portion of Scripture that is later applied to John the Baptist in the first century (v.3-5), a fact which caused the quotation of Isaiah 40:3 in all four Gospels (Matt 3:3; Mark 1:2-3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23). The fact that John is considered the “forerunner” of Jesus has royal implications as well. Fruchtenbaum notes, “In ancient times a herald, or forerunner, would be sent out to clear the road of obstacles or repair any pot-holes in the road prior to a journey by the king.” Second, there is an emphasis placed upon the permanency of God’s unchanging Word (Isa 40:8b). This is quoted in the New Testament as well (1 Pet 1:25). Third, there is an encouragement of public declaration regarding the Messiah’s arrival, of which they understand to be the very visitation of their Elohim (Isa 40:9d). Fourth, the coming of the Lord to establish His Kingdom is understood to be a magnificent event, noting power in “His arm ruling for Him” (Isa 40:10b), and great benefit because “His reward is with Him” (40:10c), an idea which may carry our minds to Revelation 22:12. Finally, there is a tranquility and peace that is unprecedented in this time where the Messiah will “shepherd” the people, demonstrating never-before-experienced intimacy and a gentle, nurturing spirit (Isa 40:11). This is how the concept of the coming Messiah and His Kingdom’s arrival would have been understood by Old Testament Jews. This is the future time period that they longed for incessantly (Acts 1:6)! _____________________________________ Introductions are important, for in them one sets the stage for all that is to come, providing an initial context from which to work. Sadly, many Bible scholars and preachers have missed the introduction of Jesus into the New Testament and have assumed upon His message something that was never intended, which has been seen in equating the announcement and proclamation of the kingdom of heaven with the call to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. If one pays attention to the details of Scripture and the context surrounding each passage being studied, this interpretive distortion goes away and the plain, literal meaning of the text becomes clearer, causing us to look to the author of the passage for the meaning of the text rather than bringing our assumptions and presuppositions into the text. Sadly, the concept of the “kingdom” has suffered greatly by neglecting these basic considerations. Matthew 3:1-6. John the Baptist did not come preaching “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). His “Good News” message was different because of the Old Testament promises that preceded the time of Jesus’ earthly arrival, and the grand goal of all history as culminating in a kingdom (Dan 7:13-14). This was a message that had been promised, explained, and (in a way through the time of David and Solomon) demonstrated so that any confusion surrounding the issue would be minimal if one would only pay attention to what had already been revealed. This was a promise that was made to the Jewish people and this is exactly the focus of ministry that is seen in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew. John the Baptist preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2). The direction of his preaching is seen clearly in v.5 where we are told that “Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan.” The message is precise and focused. Notice that there is an absence of elaboration on the word “kingdom.” Elaborating on this, Woods writes, “What this expression means is that the unchallenged rulership that God experiences in heaven had drawn near to the earth in the person of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Davidic king.” An explanation of “the kingdom of heaven” would be out of place and is essentially unnecessary because of the revelation given to the Jews through the Old Testament. The Israelites knew exactly what John was talking about and they were responding to his call. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. This is explained by the Apostle Paul in Acts 19:4 when he states, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” John’s baptism was preparatory for the coming King. Repentance, though a hotly debated issue in evangelicalism, is a compound word meaning “to change the mind.” The call of John was for the people to change their minds so that they would not miss the Savior when He arrived. Since the confession of sins is attached to this baptism, we can safely assume that there was an acute awareness of right and wrong, giving urgency since the proclamation of John was indicating that the time of the end was near. However, the context in Matthew 3 gives a greater understanding to what exactly was in need of repentance, namely the grounds on which the Jews had been led to believe that they were acceptable unto God and should therefore be admitted entrance into the coming kingdom. Cocoris explains, “John is telling people who thought that they would enter the kingdom because they were descendants of Abraham that they must ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’ that is, they must not think that because they are descendants of Abraham they will enter the kingdom. Obviously, they must think something else, which John mentions later, but the point is that when John the Baptist said, ‘Repent,’ he meant ‘change your mind’ about what you think it takes to enter the kingdom.” This faulty assumption is pronounced by John in Matthew 3:9. For too long the Jews had been under the religious regulations of the Pharisees and Sadducees, as can been seen in something like the Talmud. While this short line of thinking could be considered a rabbit trail, it is important to understand what a first century Jew was dealing with when looking for spiritual guidance from those in authority over them. Explaining the origins of the Talmud, Feinberg writes, “How did the Talmud come into being? The interpretation of the rabbis on the Old Testament was handed down orally through the centuries. This stream of oral teaching grew broader and increased in volume as the centuries came and went. Finally, it began to exceed the powers of memory, and there was but one course left, to commit it to writing. There had been a standing prohibition against reduction of the material to writing, lest all further interpretation be stifled, but necessity decreed otherwise. The combined opinions handed down through the years were put in written form about 200 A.D. by Rabbi Judah the Prince. The work is known as the Mishnah, ‘teaching,’ or ‘repetition.’” This may be better understood as having a Bible, but also lugging around a few commentaries on the whole Bible as well. It is not the physical weight that is being emphasized here, but the mental strain for the devout Jew who is desirous of “right living” that honors YHWH. With the Talmud, and then the Mishnah, the Old Testament ran a real risk of falling by the wayside. This is much like a judge who renders a verdict based off of a prior court’s decision rather than going straight to the laws of the land. You have distortion, misguided decisions, and eventually a complete loss of direction. Sadly, it doesn’t end there. Feinberg continues, “It is the definite conviction of orthodox Judaism that all the laws were orally given to Moses at Sinai. But the Talmud consists of more than the Mishnah. The supplement to the Mishnah (there are a Palestinian and a Babylonian) is called ‘Gemara’—'supplement’ or ‘complement,’ that is, to the Mishnah. The aim of the Gemara is to interpret the Mishnah, to give the source of the teaching, the reasons for it, the explanations of obscure passages and real or seeming contradictions, and then to expand its contents by adapting it to the changing circumstances of life. Thus the Talmud consists, as to form, of Mishnah and Gemara. As to contents it comprises Halachah and Haggadah. The first deals with civil, criminal, and religious laws—it is legal to the core; the Haggadah contains non-legal Biblical exposition, homilies, narratives, legends, parables, ethical maxims, and general folklore. These two strands are not separated in the text, but are closely interwoven throughout.” Now consider that YHWH’s revelation of life, living, morals, and ethics were stated clearly in the Ten Words given at Mt. Sanai (Exod 20:1-17). Labored explanations served to obscure the simple and crucial commands of how a Jew was to walk in obedience with his or her Creator. Such religion had introduced a dose of amnesia to the importance of having a relationship and having fellowship with God. Now, YHWH was going to bring about His Son and the people of Israel needed to confess their sins (Matt 3:6b) and clear the way for the King of Israel’s arrival. Religion had to go. Their minds needed changing! Dabbling in sin only to offer the proper sacrifice later had to be rectified. Repentance was the only acceptable decision, understanding that the King was near, and with Him, the promised Kingdom of Israel. Matthew 4:17. The first words that are recorded in Jesus’ public ministry are identical to that of John the Baptist (Matt 3:2). “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Again, no elaboration or explanation is given. The message, pertaining to the house of Israel, is clear. Matthew 9:35-10:15. In this passage, we see that Jesus’ ministry consisted of the same message to the same people, going from city to city and visiting their synagogues in order to announce that the kingdom of heaven was near (9:35). Matthew records Jesus’ pity for the people because they were “troubled” and “helpless,” having no direction like sheep without a shepherd. Such a picture draws the mind back to Isaiah 40:11 and the compassionate demeanor that the Messiah is said to have toward Israel. Those who were following Jesus are then addressed with a simple but pointed observation: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (9:37). In Jesus’ estimation, there was a great field before them desperately in need of reaping. Something needed to be done. The word for “beseech” in 9:38 is deomai meaning “to ask for something pleadingly, ask, request,” and is translated as “beg/begging” in Luke 8:38, Acts 26:3, and 2 Corinthians 5:20. In other words, the Twelve were to beg God to send out doers who will do, so that the harvest will be harvested. It is interesting that the answer to this predicament is not to “go and get something done.” MacDonald observes, “Notice here that the need does not constitute a call. Workers should not go until they are sent.” When compared to Matthew 10:5, we find out that Jesus is the Lord of the harvest who sends out the Twelve with the Gospel of the Kingdom, providing direction to a religiously belabored and bogged down nation that had suffered greatly under the ailment of unbelief (Matt 9:24, 34) until Jesus’ arrival (Matt 9:18, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33). While this entire narrative pertains to the message of the Kingdom of Heaven directed to the Jewish people, we cannot help but to see a secondary application in this passage and the desperate need for “doers” to be out harvesting the ripe souls that are in need of salvation. Are we begging Jesus to send “doers” into the harvest of unregenerate masses? Are we the ones being sent? In Matthew 10:1, a realization is made by the disciples that they are the “doers” who will be sent out. Equipped with the Gospel of the Kingdom (10:7), they are given authority by Jesus over sickness and disease. This would be necessary to authenticate their message as being from God. In 10:2-4 the names of the disciples are given, of which Judas Iscariot is one. Make no mistake, Judas was given the same authority as the rest of the disciples of Christ, and that authority was given directly by Jesus. Knowing what we do of Judas’ later betrayal (which is noted by Matthew here) and his gruesome demise, we can understand that he had a heightened understanding of revelation, yet was not “clean” (John 13:11; compare with John 15:3 which occurs after Judas’ departure). More will be explained later regarding the responsibility that heightened revelation entails. In 10:2 we have the first use of the word “apostles” in the New Testament. Secular common usage of this Greek word in the first century dealt with an envoy, naval expedition, or a deployment of ships with a particular message before them. It is understandable why Matthew uses this word. Radmacher explains, “The word apostle emphasizes delegated authority (1 Thess. 2:6); the term disciple emphasizes learning and following. Because the disciples had been given authority, they were now called apostles.” In Matthew 10:5, Jesus gives specific instructions. They were not to go to the Gentiles (nations), nor to the Samaritans (people of a Jew/Gentile mixture). No, the target audience was to be the Jews and the message that was to be told to them was “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” being the same message as that of Jesus (Matt 4:17) and John the Baptist (Matt 3:2). The word “preach” in 10:7 is a verb in the present imperative meaning that it is a continuous action or an ongoing process, being better understood as “keep on preaching.” Accompanying this proclamation would be the ability to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and exercise demons (all of which Judas was a candidate for performing, hence the heightened revelation). Such was to be done without charge (10:8). The focus was not to be on material concerns, but on making sure that Israel had heard about the imminence of the Kingdom of Heaven. In 10:10, Jesus says that the “worker is worthy of his support,” with the word for “support” literally meaning “nourishment.” Robertson states it as: “The sermon is worth the dinner.” The use of “worker” is the same word that Jesus used in 9:37 and 38 regarding the “workers” being few and imploring the Lord to “send out workers,” respectively. The conclusion is that the Twelve are the workers that the Lord of the harvest is sending out, and the Twelve are to be used by God, with the authority that they have been given, to go out and harvest a ripe crop, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom to the inhabitants of Israel. The apostles were not to exclude the possibility of rejection. Not everyone would respond favorably to their message. However, some would be “worthy” (10:13), those being the ones with which the apostles would stay as the traveled the length of Israel. Such recipients were to receive a blessing, but those who were “not worthy” were to have any blessing that had been given removed (10:13b). For those, a sign was to be given to them in the form of the apostle shaking the dust from his feet in their sight (10:14). This sign would be understood as “an act indicating rejection of that Jewish city as if it were an unclean Gentile city.” Those who were “unworthy” had considered themselves unworthy. This was not something that was chosen by the disciples, or by Jesus, but was their own choice in rejecting the offer of the kingdom. Matthew 10:15 is a startling statement that cannot be ignored. Jesus compares those who do not receive the Twelve and their message of the Kingdom to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus states that the city that rejects the Twelve will fair far worse in “the day of judgment” than Sodom and Gomorrah. Knowing the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, how could this be so? The issue here is the privilege of progressive revelation. The amount of revelation that a people are given is directly tied to the amount of accountability that is placed upon that people. Or to put it another way, you are responsible for responding to what you know and learn and if you do not respond, having understood what was revealed to you, you will suffer the consequences for your failure to respond. When your opportunity for revelation has been heightened, your accountability to respond to that revelation has been heightened as well. This can be better explained through an example in Scripture. Note Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:23-24, “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you” (See also Luke 10:12-16). Think about what Jesus has just said. If He would have been doing in Sodom the miracles that Capernaum had just witnessed, the city would still be standing. Due to Sodom’s gross sin, the city was wiped off of the surface of the earth when the Lord rained fire and brimstone upon it from heaven (Gen 19:24; Luke 17:29; 2 Pet 2:6; Jude 7). Because of Capernaum’s greater exposure to the truth, meaning that they were given heightened revelation, they will fair worse in the day of judgment because of their failure to respond. This is a truth of history that must be understood as a still-present reality today. Those who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ after having heard it are of greater accountability unto the Lord to respond to it. This is why we make it our aim to obey the Lord with regards to the mandate of preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all nations. Let’s be blunt in noting the contrast between our present text under consideration and our Church-Age responsibility to obedience. In Jesus’ earthly ministry, the call went out regarding the kingdom of heaven being at hand. The King was on the scene, ready to usher in the Millennium. His forerunner and His disciples participated in this endeavor, keeping the message the central focus as the went out to the lost sheep of Israel. While our ministry mandate today is to preach the good news on salvation through grace alone by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47), the church is not charged with preaching the imminence of the kingdom of heaven. While we see numerous examples where the concept of the kingdom of heaven is taught to Church-Age believers, meaning that the Church is not exempt from the issues surrounding the future coming Kingdom of Christ (Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 20:25; 28:23, 31; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; 6:9-10; 15:24; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5; Col 1:13; 1 Thess 2:12; 2 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 4:1, 18; Heb 12:28; Jas 2:5; 2 Pet 1:11; Rev 1:6), that is not our message to a lost and dying world. Our mandate is to preach eternal life and forgiveness of sins, calling them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they will be saved. For the Church, the harvest is also plentiful, but the workers are certainly few. Who are the laborers? Every believer has been called to call the lost to Christ. Every Christian is to be a doer.

FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK. PART 46 Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation. God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good. Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard. Sin originates within a person, separating us from God. God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works. The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence. God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom. C.S. Lewis writes, “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” Lewis’ assessment is correct! The call to “have dominion” was mandated to Adam and Eve and they were to rule over the Earth as God’s “Theocratic Administrators.” This is found in the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1:26-28. However, in Genesis 3 the Fall of Mankind occurs, leaving Adam and Eve, and everyone who would come from their gene pool, in a state of separation from God in our trespasses and sins (Gen 3:1-7; Eph 2:1-2). The entire human race is depraved, having no way to rectify their sinful situation or their horrible eternal destination in and of themselves. The human race is unable to remedy its unregenerate condition before a holy God. Sin is an everyday struggle. James speaks to us clearly about sin when he writes, “each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (Jas 1:14-15). According to James’ words temptation is not a sin. Our personal lust carries us from temptation to sinning. Temptation must be fought and we must rule over it (Gen 4:7). It is no wonder that believers are told to lay aside the sin “which so easily entangles us” (Heb 12:1). Sin is too easy because this body of flesh is drawn to it over and over again. Victory over sin is not possible within ourselves unless we are first set free from sin’s penalty of death, and secondly are given a power from outside ourselves that is greater than that of sin’s clutches, speaking forth a greater truth than the temptation that sin presents. To understand this spiritual truth, we must set the stage from the beginning. Genesis 3:1-7. While all seven verses should be read, our eyes should be drawn to verse 6. There we find Moses’ commentary as divinely revealed by the Spirit of God regarding Eve’s inner thoughts and reasoning regarding the situation that was placed before her. These temptations plague every human being. They are divided into three aspects: First, “the tree was good for food”- Seems easy, right? Does the tree have fruit that would sustain Eve? I mean, she’s got to eat, right? Does the tree provide sufficient sustenance that will nourish her? How dangerous it is to allow for practical considerations to become more authoritative than God’s revealed Word. The command was clear: “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’” (Gen 2:16-17). We can reason ourselves into anything, including disobedience to God’s Word. Plainly put: The desire to do that which God has told us not to do is of the world, not of the Lord. His Word is clear! This is the first category of temptation that leads to sin. Second, “a delight to the eyes”- The word for “delight” in Hebrew is understood as a “desire, wish, lust, appetite, covetousness.” It is nothing short of carnality. It is precisely through the eyes that temptation wraps its tentacles around our brains in order to drag us to our knees. Some have even called this the “eye-gate” by which sin enters in. The idea of covetousness in the BDAG citation above perfectly captures the point here. It is lusting after something when God has plainly communicated to you that it is not yours. This is the second category of temptation that leads to sin. Third, “desirable to make one wise”- The use of the word “desirable” may seem like a redundancy from examining the word “delight” from #2, but this word means “to take pleasure in” and can even have the ideas of “praise” and “approval” surrounding it. This last insight into Eve’s thinking makes the issue clear. Eve wanted something other than what God had given her. She sought the pleasure of knowing more for herself. The serpent told her plainly, “you will be like Elohim” (Gen 3:5b). This is what Eve wanted. It wasn’t simply about satisfying her hunger or beholding the beauty of something because God had created it so. This was a personal agenda, separated from God’s will for her, where she was intently thinking through all that she was not (even in a perfect state) and how this fruit would be what would complete her. This is the third category of temptation that leads to sin. Question: How long have we been repeating the pattern of doing what we are commanded by the Creator not to do, lusting for those things that are not ours, and believing that objects are what will ultimately bring satisfaction to us? All such thinking is Godless, with each area scrounging for a substitute for the Creator of all things. 1 John 2:15-17. The Apostle John addresses the Christian’s relation to the world system of this present age. He tells his readers “do not love the world.” This verb “love” is in the present imperative which means that “the force generally is to command the action as an ongoing process.” With this consider, it may be better to translate this as: “stop loving the world.” This means that John was aware that his audience had misplaced their priorities, elevating the world, and the things of the world (“stuff”), over the Lord. With 1 John 2:15b, some may conclude that “the love of the Father is not in him” would be the equivalent of John giving an assessment of one’s lack of regeneration derived from the evidence that the people in question were “world-lovers.” This would be a faulty assumption on the part of the interpreter. John knows that his audience consists of believers (1:3-4; 2:2, 7; 5:13). The idea being conveyed is that loving the world and loving God is not a “both/and” possibility but a certain impossibility. This is much like when Jesus taught that one could not love God and money (Matt 6:24; Luke 16:13). “What John is saying is that love of the world reflects a lack of love for God. It is impossible to love both the world and God. Anyone loving the world can be certain, without a doubt, that he or she does not love God.” John knows that the believer’s affections will ultimately control the believer’s direction. With 2:15 giving us the immediate context, v.16 begins shedding light upon our previous consideration of Genesis 3:6. With each category that was previously identified in Eve’s thought process, so the Apostle John identifies the same areas, being: “The lust of the flesh” “The lust of the eyes” “The boastful pride of life” These three areas are listed as “all that is in the world” (2:16a). These ultimately make up the totality of the world’s enticements. Constable recognizes them as “the infernal trinity, the three faces of the world, three sources of worldly temptation.” Every sin that we commit can be classified into one of these three categories. These desires and appetites are listed as being “not from the Father.” Setting an immediate contrast, each is identified as being “from the world,” which brings greater clarity to John’s meaning regarding those who “love the world” (2:15). The two are mutually exclusive and those who entertain these temptations are at odds with the will of God. The apostle then reasons with his readers in 2:17, noting the final reality of what they may be pursuing. The world, and its lusts, are “passing away.” The word “lusts” means “desire, craving, longing," of a sort that is carnal. But contrasted to the “passing away” of the world and its lusts is the one who does the will of God. That person will live forever. Is this a “salvation by works” verse? Far from it. The confusion that one may feel stems from the word “lives” which is the Greek word menō and would be better understood as its common usage by Jesus in John’s Gospel as “abides” (John 15:4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10), or as is sometimes translated “remains” (HCSB). The idea is that the one who does God’s will is the one who abides in Him, and the one who abides in Him is the one who is not loving the world or the things of the world. John is seeking to convince his readers that there is nothing that we need that God will not give to us in His time. We don’t need the world. Matthew 4:1-10. After His baptism by John the Baptist (Matt 3:13-17), Jesus is led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil (4:1). We must remember that temptation is not sin. With Jesus entering this arena against the foe of Eve (Gen 3:1-7), we learn how to fight sin and temptation in the proper way. The word used for “tempted” needs to be explained. Jesus is there to be tempted. The word means “to endeavor to discover the nature or character of something by testing, try, make trial of, put to the test.” It is not that the Father is tempting the Son (Jas 1:13-15), but that Jesus is being tested so as to display His character as the promised Messiah. The reason for the NASB translation of this word to be “tempted” rather than “tested” may be due to the same root word being used in describing the devil in 4:3 where he is called “the tempter.” Jesus’ fasting is presented without a reason, so no attempts at an explanation will be attempted except to say that it sets the stage for the first temptation that the slanderer (“devil”) brings (4:3). The situation of fasting created want, appealing to Jesus’ physical desire for food. The challenge in the statement “If you are the Son of God” should be compared to the Father’s declaration in Matthew 3:17 that Jesus is the Beloved Son of God. What the Father has declared as being true, the devil is questioning and in need of proof. Satan knows who Christ is, even knowing some things about Him better than we do. But considering Jesus’ state, does He need to be reassured that He is the Son of God? Any conservative Christian would see this question as foolish, but with 40 days having gone by and being very hungry, the devil is seeking for Jesus to use His authority as a validator for the declaration that the Father has already made. By providing bread for Himself, He would remove Himself out from under the authority of the Father. He would be esteeming bread and the satisfaction of His hunger as a greater priority than taking the Father at His Word regarding His Sonship. What is Jesus’ response? Would Jesus use His authority to validate and satisfy Himself? In Matthew 4:4, Jesus replies with the phrase, “It is written.” This is a critical point that must be pondered and meditated upon, for by doing so our lives will be drastically changed by the Holy Spirit. At this moment, responding to the temptation before Him, Jesus is teaching us how to fight. If we try to engage a temptation situation in any other way than how the Lord Jesus Christ engaged it we have sinned without falling prey to the direct temptation. All temptation (because it can give way to sin which is what has separated the human race from its Creator) has supernatural implications. The appeals in the temptation are toward the physical, but the goal in promoting the temptation is for it to bring forth sin which leads to death. This has enormous supernatural consequences. The issue before our Lord is not just about His hunger; It is about where the source of His sustenance lies in this crooked and evil world. Human strength is bankrupt in its ability to handle such temptation. By simply not committing the sin, we should not think that we have experienced victory. That in itself is a deception. Sin and obedience are not matters of physical action, reaction, or inaction. The issue is the heart motivation and its source of dependency (Matt 5:22, 28). The flesh is weak, depraved, and fallen. It simply does not have the answers necessary to withhold from temptation confidently. A supernatural struggle requires a supernatural source from which to draw out a supernatural strength. The issue is always bigger than us and requires more than we can ever give. We fight in our own strength, using our own wisdom, devising our own plans, supplying our own resources, while executing our own judgments. Such answers as these are what fuel and feed the pride of our existence and is nothing short of evil and sinful. Jesus answers differently. “Man shall not live by bread alone…” (4:4). Does man live or die by whether or not he eats? Many would quickly say “yes.” Jesus says “no.” Jesus’ quotation is taken from Deuteronomy 8:3. Reflecting back on that moment in time, Moses is explaining the hunger of the Israelites in the desert when they cried out and YHWH provided manna for them to eat. Moses tells us that YHWH was testing them to see what their heart’s condition was in following His Word. God can bring bread if He wishes. Our place is to look to His Word for life, that we may live in obedience to Him at all costs, even with a grumbling belly. This line of thinking is seen in Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:25 when He states, “Is not life more than food?” It is not bread that sustains us, but God’s Word; the same Word that was spoken in Genesis 1 bringing what did not previously exist into existence. We know this to be true because the word used for “word” in the Greek quotation of Deuteronomy 8:3 is rhēma which deals with an audible speaking or saying of something. It is the very truth that God utters that causes one to live. By trusting YHWH’s word, Jesus has resisted the temptation presented to Him. Jesus stands firm, noting that it is God alone who sustains Him. He has overcome the lust of the flesh (Gen 3:5; 1 John 2:16). Moving into Matthew 4:5, a second temptation is presented. In the parallel account listed in Luke, this temptation falls third (Luke 4:9-12), while Matthew’s record of a third temptation (Matt 4:8-9) falls second (Luke 4:5-8). Though the order is different, the events are not. This second temptation records the devil taking Jesus to Jerusalem and stopping at the “pinnacle of the temple.” While deeming it a “portico,” Blomberg notes that this point “refers to the flat-topped corner of Solomon’s porch on the southeast corner of the temple complex overlooking the Kidron Valley.” This is a point that would have reached between 300 to 350 feet. Still questioning the Father’s declaration of Jesus as His Son, Satan calls upon Jesus to take His own life into His hands. “Throw Yourself down.” Satan then quotes Scripture, assuring Jesus that the Father would not allow anything to hurt Him in doing this, but that angels would be sent to rescue Him before He hits the ground below. Some believe that Satan’s omission in using Scripture was for the purpose of tricking Jesus, but this is not where the deception lies. Carson explains, “Satan quoted Psalm 91:11–12 (Mt 4:6) from the LXX, omitting the words ‘to guard you in all your ways.’ The omission itself does not prove he handled the Scriptures deceitfully… since the quotation is well within the range of common NT citation patterns.” There are many instances in Scripture where the New Testament authors quote the Old Testament and leave a portion unquoted. This is not where the deception lies. Why quote Scripture to the One who wrote it? “Satan tempted Jesus to capitalize on his unique messianic status as a way out of self-induced mortal peril, perhaps as a stunt to appeal to the masses. But since Jesus received the Father’s approval by serving as an obedient son, the proposed leap from the pinnacle of the Temple would have amounted not to trusting God but to testing God.” Satan is tempting Jesus to “force” God to intervene in a situation. It is a sin to try and force God’s hand into proving His promises. Placing ourselves in intentional peril conjures a situation that tests God. This is not “walking by faith,” but testing God to see if His Word is true. Jesus’ response begins the same way: “It is written.” This time, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:16. In the original context, Moses was issuing a warning to the Hebrews about forgetting about YHWH as their chief priority once they inherited the land and began prospering in it (Deut 6:12). The contrast laid before them is to fear YHWH and to reject any other god (Deut 6:13-14). In worshiping other gods, they would kindle the anger of YHWH, having put Him to the test (Deut 6:15-16). Deuteronomy 6:16 then gives an example of what it meant to “test” the Lord, referring back to the events of Exodus 17:1-7 where Israel grumbled and complained because they had no water. Moses, using his staff, was told by YHWH to strike the rock and water would come forth. Back in the context of Matthew 4, the idea of testing God is the thought of Jesus’ purposeful actions in trying to get God to prove His Word. Jesus’ response can be summed up as: God is not to be tested but trusted. With this statement, Jesus has overcome the boastful pride of life by not taking His own life into His hands (Gen 3:6; 1 John 2:16). Matthew 4:8-10 records a third temptation, where Satan take Jesus to a “high mountain” which is obviously a place of greater height than the pinnacle of the Temple. This height allowed for the devil to show Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” (4:8). This is a grand spectacle, but the proceeding offer is enormous: “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Note what the devil is offering in exchange for Jesus bowing down to him. Every kingdom of the world and all the glory that they contain would be His instantly. Some do not believe that Satan is making a bona fide offer, but numerous passages, with some being spoken directly from the mouth of the Lord Jesus, tell us that Satan is presently, though temporarily, in control of this world system (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2; 1 John 5:19). This third temptation is a question of allegiance. Notice that Satan is appealing to the “eye-gate” in this temptation. Satan has raised the bar to the level of instant world dominance. While the devil is considered a little “g” god, he is not the Creator God, YHWH! This matter is particularly interesting because all of the kingdoms of the world will one day be under the authority of Jesus Christ anyway (Rev 11:15), so the idea here is expediency at the cost of obedience and allegiance. Jesus’ response is quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13, ascribing all worship and service to YHWH alone. If Jesus were to take this offer, He would be considering the devil as greater than YHWH and would forgo the cross in favor of the kingdoms of the world. This would mean that the redemption of the world would be left undone and all would be damned. This was a wrong means to the right end. Are we convinced that sin is not the way to get what we want? This text is clear that the one that you worship is the one that you serve. Will I trust that God will provide what He wants me to have or will I seek to expedite the process and circumvent the requirements in order to shortcut my way to what He has already promised me? He is to be the central point of our gaze, not the kingdoms or glories of the world. All of those things will come should YHWH seek to give them. Our focus is to be singular: Worship & Serve God Alone! In this last temptation, Jesus overcome the lust of the eyes, looking instead to YHWH alone (Gen 3:6; 1 John 2:16). _____________________________________ Jesus succeeds in every area where Eve failed, which means that He has succeeded in every area where we fail. When we are told in Hebrews 4:15 that “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin,” we find that our Savior can identify with our struggles, but unlike us, He has overcome them. This victory by the Lord Jesus opens up the blessing of the next verse. We read “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). We do not need to be successful in these three areas of temptation because Jesus has already claimed victory for us. Our attempts would be like that of Eve who reasoned herself into sin and ultimately death, having disregarded God’s revealed Word. Jesus stands victorious over the same areas because His first reply to such temptations was to announce, “It is written.” The Word of God stands central in Jesus’ replies, and because this is so, and because all who believe in Him are in Him in His victory (Rom 6:10-11; Eph 1:3-12; 2:6; Col 3:3), we already have victory over these things in a positional sense. However, our daily practice will find us confronted with these temptations time and time again. This fact compels us to draw some important applications from Matthew 4:1-10. APPLICATIONS FROM THIS SCENE In watching Jesus handle temptation, we can learn how to handle temptation. Every temptation we face will fall into one of these three categories: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Here are some pointers to remember about dealing with temptation. First, Jesus always uses Scripture. It is not what He thinks, feels, wants, plans, or attempts. It is trusting God’s Word and using God’s Word that brings about the victory. Only God’s Word is certain, sure, and true. Second, to have true victory over the temptations that face us, we must know God’s Word. We are commanded in Colossians to let the Word dwell in us richly (3:16)! This is no joke! Any other remedy that we try to present is sin, done in the flesh, apart from truth. Are we actively learning God’s Word? Third, while prayer is important, Jesus did not pray about any of these situations. He didn’t need to. Jesus was not in need of discernment here. These situations are clearly temptations leading to sin and the answers that He needs to each situation is found in God’s Word. Each temptation is a supernatural assault that needs the Light of the truth. Resorting to prayer could open the door for the rationalization of sin. By waiting too long, the temptation has gained a greater foothold. Call it what it is: SIN, waiting at the door to devour us should we fail to address it with Truth. May we cling to God’s Word, trusting Him for the victory!

Qualifications play a big part in everyday life. Anyone who applies for a job needs to qualify for that job, just as someone that may be a potential spouse needs to qualify to be a worthy spouse. Even the possibility of friendship with another person is contingent upon a mental assessment that we employ, searching for red flags along the way…

FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK. PART 44 Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation. God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good. Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard. Sin originates within a person, separating us from God. God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works. The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence. God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom. The Word, the Life, and the Light are all used to capture the essence and significance of God’s reintroduction into the world in a manifested form. “The Word” speaks to both Jews and Greeks and their philosophical understandings regarding life, existence, order, and rational thought. “The Life” is eternal life, always existing within the Trinity before time began. “The Light” brings attention to Truth in a world that is saturated with darkness. It is the Source to which John the Baptist testified about in his ministry. The purpose of his testimony is “that all might believe through him” (John 1:7). Not only is the Life the Light of men (John 1:4) thus enlightening men, but the word spoken by John was to point men to the Light (See also Acts 19:1-4). Borchert writes, “the point is that the testimony and the enlightenment were intended for all.” John 1:10-13. John 1:10 is a startling truth. Notice that there are three uses of the word “world” but two meanings are meant among the three uses. The first two uses speak of the created existence of Earth while the third usage points to the people of the Earth. The Word/Light was in the world, and even made the world, and yet the world (the people) did not know (receive) Him. Hart provides clarity writing, “The ‘world’ is in need of forgiveness (1:29), a Savior (4:42), and eternal life (6:33; 8:12). It hates God (17:25) and Jesus (7:7) as well as believers (15:18, 19), and is ruled by Satan (14:30; 16:11). While believers are in the physical world (13:1; 17:11), they are separated out of the evil world system by their faith in Christ (17:6, 17).” We understand this as the world not wanting God but desperately needing God. Whereas, ironically, God does not need the world, but He wants the world, and so much so that the Word was sent to give Life to the world, to all who would “receive” Him (John 1:11b). The statement of John 1:11 is an extension of the remark made in 1:10 and a heartbreaking summary of the Jewish response to their long-awaited and divinely-promised Messiah. The Jews “did not receive Him” as the One that was promised to deliver them, though they were chosen by Him as His people and given maximum revelation in order to recognize Him (Rom 9:1-5). It has been noted in various lectures by Earl Radmacher that Matthew 1-4 and 8-12 expound in detail upon what is stated in this one verse in John, namely the Jews’ rejection of Jesus. However, verse 12 gives hope. Not everyone rejected Christ. The fact of the Jews’ rejection of Him is tragic because of the heightened degree of revelation that YHWH had given to them as seen in the Old Testament. The use of the word “receive” in 1:11b and 1:12a are explained by John’s comments as “believe on His name” (John 1:12b). From the very beginning, John is clear: to receive Jesus is to believe in Jesus. Nothing else is added or required. The use of “believe” in 1:12 should draw our attention back to John’s purpose in testifying about the Light in John 1:7. The noted benefit of “receiving/believing” in Jesus is the “right to become children of God” (1:12b). The word for “right” is exousia which means “power, authority,” and is understood by Louw & Nida as “the power to do something, with or without an added implication of authority.” This is a blessed and privileged position given by the gracious provision of God. Those who believe are considered God’s children, fully accepted and cared for just as any child on Earth should be accepted and cared for, having full rights in their earthly family. The concept of “adoption” for YHWH is not one that accepts those who believe as second-class offspring, or as illegitimate mouths to feed, but as fully embraced and validated kids, legitimate in every way, lacking no privilege or blessing. This is our first exposure to the majesty of the riches that are found “in Christ,” that are distributed freely based on no merit required of the person believing. It is the first of many blessings already blessed to us (Eph 1:3-14). With John 1:13 we see the first notion that the “receiving/believing” concept in 1:11-12 results in something else, namely that the person believing is “born” in some way, with this being the first of six uses referring to the spiritual birth of a person who believes in Christ (John 3:3, 5, 6 [x2], 7, 8, all being used in the conversation that Jesus has with Nicodemus). The order of the events involved is clear from the text. When one believes/receives Christ, they are then “born” (which we later understand as being “born from above/ born again”) and become children of God. This is an order that is consistent with what is seen in Ephesians 1:13 as well. This “birth” is from God (John 1:13d), as it should be, for He is the only One that can impart Life. However, John clarifies for us three means by which this “birth” do not take place. First, one is not born again by “blood,” meaning that it is not a matter of human decent or heritage. Just because your mother is born again does not mean that you are born again. Secondly, this “birth” is not of the will of the flesh, which is not of human desire or effort, and when compared with Jesus’ comments about being “born again” in John 3:6, we would also conclude that this “birth” is not the result of copulation. Finally, this “birth” is not “of the will of man,” which seems to have aroused various viewpoints from many commentators. The most plausible understanding is that this “birth” is not of the husband’s will, seeing that it was the husband who made the decision about having children in the first century. Such a decision to set the course for the family has no bearing on how one is born again regarding God. One birth is of the flesh, but the birth from God is of the Spirit (John 3:6) John 1:14-18. The incarnation of the Word finds God stepping into a particular point in history to accomplish a divine purpose. Truth takes on skin and “tabernacles” among us. The idea of God taking on flesh finds its roots in the very creation of the first man and woman, being design in the image and likeness of God, designing them as He saw fit (Gen 1:26-28). This decision in time carried great implications knowing that one day the Lord Jesus Christ would inhabit an encasement of the same. Jesus does not “just appear” on the scene of the first century but chooses to be born and raised among a culture of Jewish makings, learning, growing, and lives among the people (Heb 5:8). The idea that God could take on flesh and not have His “Godhood” diminished has been a debate among theological minds for centuries. This is what is known as the Hypostatic Union of Christ where Jesus stands as 100% Deity and 100% Humanity without one compromising the other, nor eclipsing the other. Jesus is both fully God and fully man in one entity. Such a pairing is essential for the sake of accomplishing a complete redemption. Enns notes this necessity stating, “As a man, Christ could represent man and die as a man; as God the death of Christ could have infinite value ‘sufficient to provide redemption for the sins of the world.’” The “glory” spoken of in 1:14 has been expounded upon previously and should not be considered anything other than the same type of glory that has been revealed in the Old Testament in the presence of the Shekinah Glory of YHWH on numerous occasions. However, the point here is that John writes of being an eyewitness to this glory, being the glory “as of the only begotten from the Father” (John 1:14b). This is a statement referring to the event known as the Transfiguration found in Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; and Luke 9:28-36, of which Peter seems to relate the same event in 2 Peter 1:17-18. The use of the phrase “only begotten” does not imply that Jesus was born in some way previous to the incarnation but deals with the uniqueness of Jesus. The Greek word used is monogenous and means “that Jesus is the Son of God in a sense totally different from a human who believes and becomes a child of God. Jesus’ sonship is unique for He is eternal and is of the same essence as the Father.” What makes Jesus so unique for John (or at least he felt that this elaboration needed to be mentioned within the same immediate context as His glory being reveled), was the fact that He is also full of grace and truth. Jesus perfectly represents the Father, showing His “hesed,” lovingkindness and compassion to the undeserving while also holding perfectly to the standard of righteousness being completely consistent with God’s revelation. The Word does not just encompass Life and Light, but Grace and Truth, and does so perfectly! John the Apostle states that John the Baptist testified of Jesus regarding His superiority and His eternality (John 1:15). Whatever large crowds or ranking officials that attended Jesus’ meetings, and however grand John’s meetings in the desert were considered among the people, Jesus was greater; far greater than any could imagine, and of a greatness that John struggled to communicate to those who came to hear him and be baptized by him (Matt 3:5-7; Mark 1:5; Luke 3:7; John 1:19). John the Baptist also understood something about the eternality of Jesus, but it must be admitted by any credible student of the Scriptures that this is not something that is easily understood. John the Baptist was unique, seeing that he was “filled with the Holy Spirit” while in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). This could be speaking of John’s response to Mary’s arrival in visiting his mother Elizabeth (Luke 1:41), but the text specifies that it was Elizabeth who was filled with the Holy Spirit, with the text also specifying that John, being in Elizabeth’s womb, leaped for joy (Luke 1:44), and did not leap from the filling of the Holy Spirit. It would seem that the Holy Spirit filled John while in the womb and imparted to him the revelation necessary to serve as the prophesied forerunner of the Messiah (Luke 1:17). John 1:16 seems to be a commentary provided by the Apostle John and not a continuation of the statement made by John the Baptist, which is something that is characteristic of John’s writing throughout his Gospel (John 2:17; 4:9b; 5:18; 7:39; 8:6, 27; 9:22; 10:6; 11:13, 18, 51, 52; 12:6, 16, 33, 41; 13:11). The word “fullness” in 1:16 is the word plerōma which is only used by John this one time in his Gospel and carries the meaning of being filled up or having an abundance. The use of the word “all” in this verse serves as a qualifier for how it should be interpreted. In stating that “all have received His fullness,” we are sure that this does not include those who rejected Him, who did not receive/believe in Him (John 1:11), but of those who “believe in His name” (John 1:12b). Every believer in Christ has Him fully (Col 3:3). Not one Christian lacks in their union with Christ. We have “every spiritual blessing” simply by being “in Christ” (Eph 1:3). The use of “grace upon grace” in 1:16b is the continual heaping of grace upon the already complete blessings of the believer. It is not just that the believer in Christ is given an initial and unwavering dose of grace in the blessings that come with being in Christ, but grace continues to be poured upon the believer for his or her continual receiving. Hart describes it as “maximized grace, or one gracious gift upon another.” There is nothing lacking for those who believe, who are in the Lord Jesus! In John 1:17, the contrast between Moses and the Law and Jesus and grace and truth should not be seen as being in competition with one another, nor should one be seen as superior to the other. Such conclusions overlook the fact that the Law is the written perfection of YHWH which clearly taught the nation of Israel how to have fellowship with their Creator and Redeemer. The Law is equally the Word of God, so how could it not be truth? If we simply take Exodus 20:1-20 alone, we could not conclude that it was less than truth, for it was audibly spoken by YHWH for the hearing of the people of Israel. Exodus 20 should also not be deemed as irrelevant truth, for truth is always relevant because it is true, and the Law is still useful in dealing with those who are in sinful situations because its truth serves to establish a standard of morality and ethics (1 Tim 1:8-11). The Law has sometimes been portrayed as having no grace, when in fact the Law demonstrates grace in very practical ways. For instance, Exodus 21:2 shows remarkable grace for those who find themselves in slavery. It reads, “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment.” Slavery in the Old Testament is drastically different than what American history records as “slavery” in the 1700-1800s. For one to buy a slave was for one to purchase a person for manual labor. The fact that this slave was a “Hebrew” is an intentional mention to denote kinship and to foster compassion from the one who purchased the slave. There were some Hebrews who came upon hard times and had no other way to feed themselves or to support their families than by hiring themselves (and their families) out for work under another. The conditions surrounding such situations could not have been as harsh as what has been learned about the slave trade in America seeing that the one purchased could actually come to the conclusion that he loved his master (Exod 21:5) at which point the slave would then be tagged on his ear to denote permanent servitude to his master (Exod 21:6). The grace is found in the fact that a purchased person for manual labor was to only be held for six years and then the slave was to be released, being set free without any restitution due to the one who bought him (Exod 21:2b). There was no concern with making back whatever money was lost, nor is there any mention of the slave earning their way to freedom. At the seven-year mark, freedom was guaranteed! This is a command in the Law of YHWH demonstrating grace to the one who has found themselves in a difficult situation. So, what does John mean in stating that the Law came through Moses but that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ? John is simply stating a progression in the revelation of truth as dispensed by YHWH and through whom He desires to dispense it. The Law is truth and it serves as one revelation of YHWH, while Jesus Christ exemplifies the grace and truth of YHWH in a second, equally-inspired revelation as played out in the life of Christ on Earth. Stanley writes, “Whatever Jesus did, He did with grace. Whatever He said, He said in truth. He was not gracious some of the time and less gracious other times, any more than He varied in the amount of truth He spoke.” At no time was the grace and truth as given through Jesus of greater value than the Law as given through Moses. One is a progression in the revelation of the other that had been previously established on Mt. Sanai. If there is any aversion to embracing the Law of YHWH as equally-inspired truth as that of the words of the Lord Jesus, it is our lack of personal righteousness and the conviction which the Law brings against our sin that arouses such emotions. But, with a joyful heart we can say “Thanks be to God that ‘Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes’” (Rom 10:4). With John 1:18, we have a strict observation, and one that corresponds perfectly with the apostle’s statement in 4:12 of his first epistle. “No one has seen God at any time,” despite what some health and wealth prosperity preachers may have claimed. An immediate mental objection might be: “Well, isn’t Jesus Christ God in the flesh, and there were plenty of people who saw Him, right?” To this we would agree, as would the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:4-8). So, what is meant by this statement if many people had seen Jesus during His time on earth in the flesh? “God is Spirit (4:24) and is invisible (Col. 1:15, 1 Tim. 1:17) unless God chooses to reveal Himself. Humans cannot look at God and live (Ex. 33:20). Abraham, the friend of God, did not see God. Even Moses, the lawgiver, could not look at God’s face (Ex. 33:22, 23).” It is this last point that aids us in making the connection that John may have been looking for. As stated above, no one can look at God and live (Exod 33:20) and what many have seen when encountered with YHWH was not looking at His face, seeing Him in the full exposure of His glory (remember the themes that John is using in this prologue). But as we read the remainder of the verse, we find that one of the highly-unique aspects of Jesus Christ is that He explains the Father in a way that He has never been explained before. In Jesus, we are seeing something that was not completely understood through previous revelation. By stating that Jesus is “in the bosom of the Father,” John is drawing our attention to His constant, abiding relationship with the Father, experiencing maximum fellowship, intimacy, etc. We are then told that Jesus is the One who has “explained” Him (“made Him known”- ESV, NIV, RSV; “declared Him”- KJV, NKJV; “has revealed Him”- HCSB). The word used is exēgeomai which means, “to relate in detail, expound, interpret.” Thayer understands the word to mean, “to lead out, to unfold, declare.” This Greek word is where the English word “exegesis” comes from, which means “to pull the meaning out of the text of Scripture.” The meaning is “drawn out” for the sake of a better understanding. This is exactly what Jesus Christ has done through His life, words, acts, interactions, healings, and miracles. He has made the Creator more-fully known! This is the essence of progressive revelation, perfect in keeping with what the Scriptures have initially established about themselves and something that has been clearly observed from the Scriptures as part of this Foundational Framework series. The Bible, God’s Word, is God’s self-revelation. God desires to be known by His creation and the unfolding of the life of Jesus Christ brings crystalizing clarity to this goal, displaying YHWH for a better understanding among the world, so that they would respond to Him in faith. Again, Jesus Christ is everything that YHWH has ever wanted to say to the world because Jesus represents Him faithfully and completely.

TRUTH IS A PERSON, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST John 1:1-5. It is no coincidence that the beginning of John’s Gospel account and the first words of the book of Genesis are the same. If one were to consider it carefully, we would actually conclude that John 1:1 comes before Genesis 1:1 in regards to the chronological record. With Genesis, Moses begins with a point in history, being the initial creation over six days’ time.

FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK. PART 42Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation.God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good.Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard.Sin originates within a person, separating us from God.God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works.The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence.God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom.The time period between the Old and New Testaments is known as the “400 Years of Silence.” During this span of time a prophet speaking on behalf of YHWH could not be found. However, this does not mean that history was without Guidance. What brought about this “divine silence?”Ezekiel 8:1-18. This vision took place on September 17, 592 BC (8:1). Ezekiel was a priest in the Temple and a prophet of YHWH. He is noted as part of those who were exiled from the land at the Babylonian invasion in 597 BC. While there, he lived in Telabib next to the Chebar River (Ezek 3:15) and served as a mouthpiece for YHWH, seeing that the elders of Judah sought regular counsel from him in this trying time (8:1; 14:1; 20:1). In 8:1, a vision from the “Lord GOD” (“Adonai YHWH”) comes to him, lifting him up and bringing him to Jerusalem (8:3-4). It is clear from the context of Ezekiel 1:26-27 that the being that appears to the prophet in 8:2 is YHWH Himself. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, the “glory of the God of Israel” is seen. This is none other than the “Skekinah Glory” of YHWH. (“Shekinah” means “to dwell.”)This chapter is broken up into four levels of abominations (meaning “horrible, detestable”). Each pattern is the same with YHWH asking Ezekiel, “do you see?”, followed by “you will see” as each abomination progresses. Each instance makes a solid case against Israel as to why their intimacy with YHWH has been forfeited. This is seen in the remark that YHWH makes in 8:6 where He states, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.” Indulgence in evil, especially after a heightened period of revelation from YHWH, is such that repels Him,moving Him to vacate His intimacy with His chosen people. Or to put it another way, sin separates people from God, regardless if they are believers in Him or not. For the unbeliever, he or she is separated from a relationship with Him because they are still dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), while the believer is separated from their fellowship with Him if sin is persistent, habitual, and/or unconfessed (1 John 1:9).#1. 8:5-6. While we are not exactly sure what the “idol of jealousy” is, we do know that YHWH is a jealous God, as stated in the Ten Words in Exodus 20:5. This should not be understood that YHWH experiences jealousy like human beings, but that He experiences jealousy perfectly. This may sound strange, but if YHWH desires the best for His creatures and they are settling for far less than an active relationship and a vibrant fellowship with the Creator of all things, the jealousy of YHWH is rational and warranted because the inferior has been deemed more preferable than the Superior. YHWH will not compete with any god or idol and He most certainly will not make His dwelling place tolerable of such lesser fixtures. He is GOD, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Lord, YHWH.The location specified is the entrance of the altar gate to the north. This was the north gate of the inner court that would lead to the sacrificial altar. Constable writes that, “King Jotham (750-732 B.C.) had built this gate, which apparently did not exist when Solomon first constructed the temple (2 Kings 15:35). Other names for it were the upper Benjamin gate (Jer. 20:2), the new gate (Jer. 26:10; 36:10), the altar gate (Ezek. 8:5), and the upper gate (2 Kings 15:35; Ezek. 9:2).” For such an idol to stand in the way of one making their way to the altar of sacrifice is to deter obedience to YHWH and to encourage allegiance to another.#2. 8:7-12. Ezekiel is told to look through a hole in the wall and to dig away the excess around the hole by which he comes upon a secret door. This secret door leads to a room where seventy elders of Israel are found worshiping created things rather than the Creator of things (Deut 4:16-19; Rom 1:22-23). This is a dangerous scene, for throughout theScriptures we see replete evidence that leaders speak for their nation and when the leaders have gone astray, the people are sure to follow.The one leading the elders of Israel in their secret idolatry is “Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan” (8:11b). Shaphan was the scribe that read the Law to King Josiah for the first time, setting off national reforms with Josiah leading Judah back to YHWH, while at the same time tearing down the altar, idols, and high places that had been built (2 Kgs 22:8-14).The mention is made that these acts were done “in the dark” (8:12b), with the statements of the elders regarding YHWH being made known to Ezekiel. Their mindset/attitude is one that believes that they can hide their idolatry from YHWH, while simultaneously accusing Him of forsaking the Land of Promise. This conclusion would make their belief a result of unbelief.Such secrecy is believed by some to be a result of the worship of Egyptian idols while under Babylonian rule (the two were at fierce odds with one another), while others see such secrecy as an attempt to hide themselves from the eyes of the Almighty. According to the context of the passage, the latter explanation is the correct one, seeing the attitude of the elders is made manifest in their collective statement: “The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land” (12b). The depths of idolatry had robbed the leaders of Israel of their awareness of the basic attribute of God’s omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-12; Prov 15:3; Jer 23:23-24) and His promise to care for them while in the land if they would be faithful to Him, obeying His Law (Deut 5:32-33).#3. 8:13-14. The Lord brings Ezekiel to the north gate, which would lead to the inner court of the Temple. This gate is significant because it was the gate that would have been used by the king. The scene before him is of women who are weeping for Tammuz, who was known as the Babylonian god of vegetation, who they believed to be dying and resurrecting each year with the cycle of the seasons. McClain notes that Tammuz was “a heathen god corresponding to the Greek Adonis whoseworship was attended by such licentious orgies that the cult was finally suppressed by Constantine the Great.”With only this one mention of “Tammuz” in the Bible, we may be quick to disregard the seriousness of this moment as seen by Ezekiel. Cooper provides us with some insight as to how deep the seedbed of Tammuz idolatry ran in Israel. He writes, “After the exile the Hebrew calendar included a month called Tammuz, the fourth month (June–July). This was the time for grapes to be harvested. The preservation of the name Tammuz in the calendar suggests the impact this form of pagan worship had on Jewish life and worship, both during and after the exile.”Such devotion to this false deity is an affront to YHWH who is “YWHW Yireh,” the Provider of Israel (Gen 22:14).#4. 8:15-17. Moving into the inner court and standing at the entrance to the Temple, Ezekiel finds himself stationed between “the porch and the altar” just outside the Holy Place (8:16b). The inner court was a place for priests only, which makes their identity clear. “They were the priesthood of the nation, represented here by the presidents of the twenty-four courses with the high priest at their head!” Oh, the violation; seeing that they have prostrated themselves in worship to the sun, meaning that this was the worship of Ra, the god of the sun, as previously seen in Egyptian culture. With their back to the Temple and their faces to the east, toward the sun, their posture symbolizes that they had turned their back on YHWH and the wholly-devoted oath that they had committed to (Exod 19:8), choosing instead to bow before the created, inferior objects of this world (Rom 1:18-21).The First Temple which was built by Solomon was not destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar until 586 BC, so this “transportation” (vision) that Ezekiel is experiencing was likely revealing real-time events to him (remember, this chapter takes place in 592 BC). This further solidifiedthe reason for YHWH allowing for their captivity and for the destruction that was to come.Ezekiel 9:1-11. This is an awful scene, and one that could have been avoided had the Israelites heeded the Word of YHWH and obeyed His commands. While this passage is plain in speaking for itself, it is important to note that the “glory of the God of Israel” (9:3a) moves from His place over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of holies to the threshold of the Temple, which is the doorstep.Such judgment is merited because of Israel’s gross sin. YHWH declares that the iniquity of Israel and Judah “is very, very great,” with the land full of blood and perversion being found throughout the city (9:9).Ezekiel 9:1-11. This may seem to be a slight detail, but it is significant nonetheless. The “glory of the Lord,” the Shekinah Glory moves from over the cherubim to the point of filling the court, which could be specified as being only the inner court, in contrast to the mention of the sound of angel’s wings in the outer court (10:5). This would be the same “court” that was previously mentioned in 8:16.YHWH being “over the cherubim” should not be seen as the cherubim that were part of the Mercy Seat that sat upon the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of holies in the Temple, but rather as the cherubim that accompanied YHWH wherever He would go from chapter 1.Ezekiel 11:12, 22-24. This passage captures the third movement of the glory of the Lord away from the Holy of holies, eventually leaving Jerusalem altogether. Verse 12 summarizes the atrocities of the Jews. In a sentence, they have repeatedly broken the Mosaic Covenant. Verses 22-24 find the glory of the Lord, hovering above the cherubim that follow Him, leaving Jerusalem, and positioning Himself outside of the city to the east, above the Mount of Olives. YHWH was no longer dwelling with His people. Cooper writes, “The most severe aspect of God’s judgment was his absence from among his people.” This is known as Ichabod meaning “the Departed Glory.” Hosea 5:14-15 had been fulfilled.Thankfully, we are told in Zechariah 14:4 that when the Lord returns to set up the Millennial Kingdom, He will set His foot down on the Mount of Olives, returning again at the Second Coming in the exact same way that He left.Ezekiel 21:24-27. The charges against Israel are clear: Their sins were something of public knowledge. The Hebrew word translated “remembered” in the NASB is hazkar meaning, “to remember, to be mindful, to bear something in mind, to account, to consider, to contemplate things called back to memory.” It is almost like the sins of Israel had become a memorial to their destruction, being complete self-inflicted and deserving of judgment.The “wicked one, the prince of Israel” is understood to be King Zedekiah who was Judah’s last king. Zedekiah was installed as king of Judah by King Nebuchadnezzar, and was little more than a puppet with little power (2 Kgs 24:11-16). Though he had sworn an oath of allegiance to Babylon, and though he was warned to allow for the wrath of YHWH to proceed without retaliation by Jeremiah (Jer 27:1-17), Zedekiah eventually sided with Egypt in rebellion against the chosen discipline of the Lord, breaking his oath (2 Chr 36:13). The breaking of his word as sworn unto YHWH classified him as a wicked king. He is commanded to remove his turban and to take off his crown (Ezek 21:26b). The crown would remain vacant in Israel until “He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him” (Ezek 21:27b), that being the Lord Jesus Christ, the rightful king of Israel.These passages touch upon the reasons for the discipline that fell upon Israel, the vacancy of the Shekinah Glory of YHWH in the Temple, and the absence of a king worthy to rule and lead the people in pursuing righteousness. This justifies the Silent Years. However, YHWH was still moving in history.With the division of Israel into the Northern (Israel) Kingdom and the Southern (Judah) Kingdom, the nation fell into a tailspin spiritually withthe Northern Kingdom being overtaken by the Assyrians in 721 BC and the Southern Kingdom first being attacked in 605 BC (of which the prophet Daniel was taken away) and finally falling to Babylon in 586 BC after a series of invasions in between. Showing themselves to be the dominate superpower of the day, Babylon conquered Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, in 612 BC.In 539 BC, the Medo-Persian Empire invaded Babylon, conquering it and bringing new names to the geographical territories of the Middle East, most notable of which is the renaming of the “Province of Megiddo in the north” to Galilee , which contains Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum, just to name a few of the places that would later be prominent New Testament locations in the life of Jesus Christ.With the Jews being taken captive by Babylon, the Idumeans moved into the southern territory that was once Judah. These people were descended from Esau, being “carryovers” from the Edomites. With the conquering forces of Alexander the Great in 330 BC causing a sweeping infection of Hellenistic culture, a change in the common language and the renaming of many provinces reflected the domination of Greece.When Alexander the Great died, his kingdom was divided between his top four generals. It did not take long for two of these generals to fall to the others, creating the powers of the Ptolemies, which ruled over the provinces of Egypt (which included Israel and Jerusalem), and the Seleucids who reigned over Syria. “Until 198 BC Israel remained under the Ptolemies of Egypt, who did not disturb the Jewish way of worship or forcefully Hellenize the people.” However, Hellenism was zealously promoted by the Seleucids, who in 198 BC set out to conquer Egypt, which resulted in the exchange of Israel to the Seleucids’ control.Though there were a succession of leaders at this time, one leader stood out among them all. Antiochus Epiphanes IV was king of the Syrians who took control of Judea, profaning the Second Temple by sacrificing pigs on the altar and smearing its chopped flesh across the wall of the Templewhile forcing the Levitical Priests to drink the blood. His army killed an estimated 40,000 Jews over a period of three days. Such acts foreshadow the desecration of the Temple of YHWH and the ensuing slaughter that the “man of lawlessness” will enforce during the future seven-year tribulation (Matt 24:15-21; Dan 9:24-27; 2 Thess 2:3-4).When the tyranny and violence of Antiochus seemed at its worst, the Lord God rose up a family that took him and his army to task. Led by their father Mattathias, the Maccabees family (whose name means “the hammer of God”) took a stand for the righteousness of YHWH God. Ironside recounts the story:“There came one day to Modin, Apelles, king Antiochus’ commissioner, to force all the inhabitants to conform to the heathen rites. Recognizing in Mattathias a ruler and an honorable man, Apelles came first to him, demanding that he set the example by sacrificing on the heathen altar which had been set up in the midst of the village. Mattathias indignantly refused, and declared without reservation that neither he nor his sons would harken to the king’s words. As he spoke, a renegade Jew pressed through the throng to offer before the idol. This so stirred the venerable old man that he ran forward and slew not only the transgressor himself, but ere the astonished commissioner realized his danger, he also was slain by Mattathias, who then destroyed the altar. Thus had a second Phinehas arisen in Israel.The breach was made; the king was openly defied.”Such an act set off a firestorm, fueling the flames of insurrection, and paving a path for restoration for the Jewish people. Upon Mattathias’ death in 166 BC, his son Judas took up the cause, leading victory after victory against the Syrians. Again, Ironside captures the scene:“Another and greater army, commanded by Seron, was sent by king Antiochus to annihilate the Jewish company. The two forces met at Beth-horon. Seron, haughty and defiant, at the head of a vast host; Judas, intrepid and strong in faith, but leading a small company, who had been obliged to fast all that day, and were weak and discouraged as theybeheld their insolent foes. ‘How,’ they asked, ‘shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude, and so strong?’ Like a second Asa, Judas replied: ‘With the God of heaven it is all one to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company.’ Nor was his faith disappointed. Encouraged by the remembrance of the past mercies of Jehovah, the Jews threw themselves, in the apparent recklessness of faith, upon their disdainful foes, and under the daring leadership of Judas, scattered them like chaff before the flails, and completely defeated the Syrians, who fled wildly in all directions, leaving a vast number of dead and wounded on the bloody field. Thus was it demonstrated that one should chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, in reliance upon God their strength.”After 11 years of reigning as king, Antiochus succumbed to a flesh-eating disease. With news of his death, Judas Maccabees led the people in cleansing the Temple of God in 165-164 BC, which is now commemorated as Hanukkah. Eventually winning their independence, the Jews soon experienced in-fighting between the traditional Jews and those Jews who had been heavily influenced by Hellenistic culture. The dispute was such that it eventually attracted the attention of a rising kingdom; a kingdom “as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces” (Dan 2:40). This new world superpower was Rome, who took control of Israel in 63 BC. Though the Jews were in the land, oppression was present once again, setting the perfect stage for the Jewish people to cry out to YHWH for salvation. It was time for His presence to be reintroduced into Israel.John 1:14. While more will be said in the next lesson about the “Word,” what is seen in this verse is that the Word takes on flesh, becoming fully human, even to the point of “dwelling” (or setting up shop if you will) among the human race. Not only does the Word have flesh, and manifests His existence as flesh, but He takes up personal residence among flesh, though they are sinful and depraved.John’s account here is personal. Almost like unleashing a climax of sight and sound, he tells us that he, along with others, beheld His “glory, gloryas of the only begotten from the Father.” This was not just any man, but One who could, and did at one time, radiate the glory of God among people. This “glory” once dwelled upon Mount Sinai after audibly speaking forth the Ten Words to the congregation of Israel (Exod 24:16; 20:1-20). This “glory” is the same glory that dwelt among Israel in the Holy of holies, residing behind a curtain, with demands of cleansing and the appropriation of lamb’s blood for acceptance… the same “glory” that was heartsick over the sins of people that He loved deeply, so much to the point that He judged them by scattering them abroad and removing His personal presence from among them.Sin is tragic, but the God of all glory desires to dwell among His people! In the flesh-person of the “Word,” His residence on earth would be a reintroduction of Himself into the lives of the Israelites, a reintroduction that would be “full of grace and truth.”

…The office of “prophet” came on the scene heavily after the division of the kingdom into Israel (north) and Judah (south). While prophets like Nathan (2 Sam 12:1, 25) and even Moses (Deut 34:10) were active in previous times, a surge of prominent men were brought to the forefront to deliver YHWH’s words to the people in tumultuous times of their own doing…

Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation.God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good.Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard.Sin originates within a person, separating us from God.God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works.The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence.God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom.The details surrounding King David’s reign are worth studying, but for the sake of our overall goal they will not be covered. With the sins of adultery and murder that takes place regarding Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:1-12:23) great disruption and anguish follows David’s reign until the end. I am sure that we are able to look back at choices that we have made that only had ourselves at the center, altering our lives for less than what could have been. This is the power of sin and the consequences that accompany it. For David, the kingdom was never the same.Due to this egregious sin, the child that was conceived dies (2 Sam 12:15-23). However, a bright moment of grace comes from this terrible instance in the birth of Solomon by Bathsheba (2 Sam 12:24-25). “Solomon” comes from the Hebrew word for “peace” (shalom). The text tells us that Solomon was loved by YHWH, who sent a message by Nathan the prophet that He would name him “Jedidiah” meaning “beloved by YHWH.” Though we do not see a reoccurrence of “Jedidiah,” it has been explained that “it is possible that Jedidiah was his given name, and Solomon was his throne name. It was not unusual in the ancient Near East for kings to reign under a different name than their given name.”[1] It is not until the book of 1 Kings that we see the account of Solomon unfold, finding him anointed as king of Israel to succeed his father David (1 Kgs 1:39). On his deathbed, David gives a final exhortation to his son.1 Kings 2:1-4. Any time that someone is close to death in the Scriptures, their parting words hold an emotional weight that might otherwise be absent (See 2 Tim 4:6-8; 2 Pet 1:12-15; 3:1-2). It is in these times that the Holy Spirit speaks to people in such a way that leaves an undeniable impression. David’s final recorded words to Solomon call upon him to keep the Law of Moses. David, as evidenced in his personal writings (ex. Psalm 1), understands that fellowship/intimacy with YHWH is the key to a successful and blessed reign as Israel’s king and that the times where this was not valued had resulted in great personal loss and grief. An interesting reason for keeping the Law of Moses is stated in v.4: “so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’”This may cause confusion since our previous examination of the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7:8-16; Psa 89:1-37) repeatedly provided the assurance that David’s house, kingdom, and throne would be established by YHWH “forever.” All concerns are quickly resolved when we think about the disciplinary emphasis that the Lord included in these promises (2 Sam 7:14-15; Psa 89:30-37). YHWH does not excuse sin. It is completely abhorrent to Him and must be brought to justice. This pronouncement is no different than what has been seen with the Abrahamic Covenant in respect to the children of Israel after the Exodus and whether or not they entered the Land of Canaan. “Though the covenant is unconditional with respect to its ultimate goal of bringing in the Messiah from the line of David, each individual king must heed God’s Word from the heart if he would experience the blessing of God.”[2] Responsibility yielding blessing was before each successive king, but the overall plan would find its fulfillment because of the certainty of YHWH’s promise.1 Kings 2:5-9 finds David calling upon Solomon to tie up the loose ends that he had left undone at his death. As king, righteousness was to be upheld, and sins of treason were to be brought to justice. While Solomon’s reign is known as a reign of peace (and there is a noticeable absence of war), this is largely because of David’s commitment to conquering opposing forces (2 Sam 4:1-12; 8:1-15; 10:1-19).1 Kings 3:1-15. Verse 1 is troubling and profound. At the time of Moses’ return to Egypt, Pharaoh was the ruler of all of the known world and Egypt was considered the world’s singular superpower, having no rival. In the time of Solomon, the daughter of Pharaoh was given in marriage. This is profound because of the prominence that Israel had attained in the world’s political arena, previously being Egypt’s slaves, but it is troubling for two reasons:First, Solomon’s marriage to this woman is stated as forming an “alliance” with Egypt. One cannot help but to question why, seeing that YHWH is the Protector and Defender of Israel. Second, the guidelines that would have been handwritten by the king from Deuteronomy 17:17 would have specified that he was not to take many wives unto himself at risk of having his heart turned. This is especially true in being married to a foreigner who may have no appreciation for YHWH’s relationship with Israel. The mention of “high places” (1 Kgs 3:2-4) showed that pagan worship was still active in some sense, with verse 2 specifying that the worship of YHWH was taking place in them. These “high places” were formerly used for Baal worship (Num 22:41, along with other idols- Lev 26:30) and were initially commanded to be torn down by YHWH when the Israelites crossed over the Jordan (Num 33:52; Deut 33:29). It was later the great conviction that the reading of the Law gave to King Josiah that he began cleansing the land of false idols and graven images, even tearing down the places of worship in the high places (2 Kgs 23:15).The text is clear, Solomon loved YHWH (3:3) even though he still sacrificed at the high places (3:4). The devotion of the heart is right, but the careful manner in which one was to follow the words of the Lord were off. In His grace, YHWH calls out to Solomon in a dream, giving him the opportunity to ask something of Him (3:5). In humility of heart, and with complete understanding of who YHWH is and His relationship with David, Solomon asks for wisdom (discernment) because he recognizes his inadequacies in being a suitable judge over God’s people Israel (3:6-9). This is pleasing to Adonai (notice the change- v.10, 15). Because of his unselfish request, Solomon is granted all of the things that he did not selfishly ask for, which placed him in a category altogether different.1 Kings 4:29-34. This passage demonstrates the fulfillment of God’s promise to Solomon and the influence that he exercised which attracted nations and their kings. Solomon is credited with great works, both in wisdom and song; some of which are contained in the Bible as the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. We also see in 4:33 that Solomon had understanding in botany and zoology and that his wisdom drew a great and varied audience (4:34).Solomon was privileged to build a Temple for YHWH, which the details surrounding this are recorded from 1 Kings 5:1-6:38 and 7:13-51. The finest materials and the most skilled laborers were commissioned for the job. Of particular note is 1 Kings 8:5-11. With the completion of the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was brought in to take up residence in the Holy of holies. YHWH is pleased with this, and the shekinah (meaning “to dwell”) glory of YHWH fills the Temple (v.10-11).The pronouncement to Israel and the prayer of dedication found in 1 Kings 8:12-53 are worth reading, especially for devotional purposes.1 Kings 8:54-61. This pronouncement draws attention to Solomon’s posture, but more importantly to the emphasis placed on the fulfillment of God’s Word, just as YHWH had spoken. Verse 58 calls on YHWH to move the hearts of Israel toward Him, which is seen by keeping what God has spoken in the Law. The reason for this plea is so that the nations of the earth would know that YHWH is superior over all, greater than any other god (8:60). The call is then made to the people to devote their hearts to YHWH, committing themselves to keeping His ways.We need to pause and let this verse linger in our minds. The language here communicates that the people were to let their hearts be “complete with” YHWH, being “intact” and “undivided” in their commitment to Him. Obeying YHWH was of critical importance. Israel’s relationship and intimacy with YHWH was a witness to the nations, speaking of His goodness and grace, as well as His standards that fostered a fellowship between the Creator and His people (Deut 4:6-9). Remember, no other nation had this kind of relationship with their god.1 Kings 9:4-9. As before, the Lord reiterates His promise, along with His approval of the Temple (9:1-3), but in v.4 the call to faithfulness is made to Solomon again, encouraging him with blessings for faithfulness and with cursing for unfaithfulness (Deut 29:23-27). YHWH is aware that no one is beyond falling away due to the sin nature. The mention of serving other “gods” is seen in v.6 & 9 as the reason that cursing would come. YHWH would not only cast Israel out of the land but would also have the Temple demolished, become a mockery in comparison to its shining glory (9:8a). The ideas of the Temple becoming a “byword,” a “proverb,” and something that people would “hiss” at in astonishment brings the ideas of shame and humiliation to mind (9:8). This would not be misconstrued by the nations as the Lord’s inability to bring Israel into the Land as Moses pleaded with Him before (Num 14:15-16). Instead, the responsibility for such calamity falls squarely on the shoulders of Israel and their chasing after and serving other gods (9:8-9). Despite these warnings and the clear communication of the consequences, the unthinkable occurs.a. This passage is painful. Solomon, the wisest man on the face of the earth, the man whom the Lord God allowed to build a house for His name when David did not receive this privilege, fell to other gods by way of the many women that he had surrounded himself with, both as wives and as concubines (11:1-2). We are told that Solomon “loved” these women, but also that he “held fast” to these in love. Being the king, and having for himself a handwritten copy of the Law, it would seem ridiculously out of sorts that this should be the world’s wisest man’s folly in life, being led to sacrifice to other gods and to have abandoned his faithfulness to YHWH (See Deut 17:14-20).In v.2, the author of 1 Kings reminds us that YHWH had previously warned against the intermarriage of Israel with these pagan nations, of which we find recorded in Exodus 23:31-33; 34:12-16; and Deuteronomy 7:3. As was previously told, these women “turned his heart away” when he was old (11:3-4). We are told that “his heart was not wholly devoted” to YHWH, which stings when we consider that the same word used for “wholly devoted” was previously observed in 8:61 as the exhortation that Solomon gave to Israel after the completion of the Temple. What adds to the shame of this occurrence is that the gods that Solomon chased after are mentioned by name. Ashtoreth of the Sidonians is a fertility goddess that was previously worshipped by Israel in Judges 2:13 and 10:6. Milcom and Molech in v.7 are both mentioned as deities of Ammon and are largely considered one and the same. Both names are a derivative of the Hebrew word melek which means “king.” What is frightening about worshipping Molech is that the ritual commonly surrounding him was child sacrifice (2 Kgs 23:10; 2 Chr 28:3; 33:6; Jer 7:31; 19:5–6; 32:35)! With Solomon, this practice is not mentioned at all, but with the verse references given, we can understand how this redirection toward foreign deities could have served to open the doors of later rebellion against YHWH. The last god mentioned is Chemosh of Moab (Num 21:29) who also had some ties to child sacrifice as seen in 2 Kings 3:27. His name means “subdue” and he was believed to be revered by the Ammonites as well. It is said in 11:7 that Solomon “built a high place for Chemosh” and for Molech, and offerings were made (11:8).Solomon’s lust for women had led him into grave disobedience. First Kings 11:9-10 show this plainly. Solomon’s heart had turned away. In v.11-13 YHWH speaks of the consequences for Solomon’s infidelity, just as He had promised previously in 9:6-9. The Lord is clear, the kingdom will be taken away from Solomon, but not during his lifetime “for David’s sake,” which is mentioned twice and “for the sake of Jerusalem” being mentioned once. David’s faithfulness and love for YHWH went a long way in protecting Solomon, his son.The kingdom of Israel is divided, with Judah (and Benjamin) to the south and Israel (being the other ten tribes) to the north. This occurs in 1 Kings 11:14-13:34 with Solomon’s son Rehoboam as king over Judah and Jeroboam as king over Israel. These accounts are worth investing great time in to see the progression of sin that stemmed from Solomon’s folly.1 Kings 11:6 sums up the situation, “Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.” We must follow the Lord fully! Being “complete with YHWH,” intact with Him, and undivided. None of us are beyond falling away. Sin, left unchecked, will entice our flesh to act against the truth of God’s Word, whether it is sex, money, power, or notoriety. Sin brings death![1] John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), 2 Sa 12:25.[2] R. D. Patterson and Hermann J. Austel, “1, 2 Kings,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), p. 34–35.

FOUNDATIONAL FRAMEWORK. PART 39Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation.God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good.Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard.Sin originates within a person, separating us from God.God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works.The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence.God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom.When we speak of kings and kingdoms, we are always speaking of eternal matters. The descriptions that we have in Scripture with relation to Satan and heavenly beings always speak of thrones, rulership, earthly leaders, and/or crowns in some capacity (Ezek 28:12-26; John 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor 4:4; 11:13-15; Eph 2:2; Eph 6:11; 2 Thess 2:3-4). This concept of ruling and reigning is found throughout the Bible because it is the chief end to which God is working all of history so that His Son will be glorified in ruling over the nations of the earth (Psa 2). Building towards this glorious end, we have the man David as a significant turning point in the history of God’s plan for a future, glorious kingdom!David is known for two main things in popular Christianity. On the devotional side, he is known as “a man after God’s heart.” This is seen in 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22. On the side of disgrace and sin, David is known for his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her faithful husband Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam 11:1-12:23). While his sin is particularly heinous, we will focus on his heart toward the Lord and the Lord’s promises made to David. This is seen in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 and Psalm 89.2 Samuel 7:8-16. At the beginning of this chapter, David is disturbed that he lives in a finely-built house with materials of superior quality while the Ark of the Covenant sat in a tent outside (7:1-3). However, the Lord speaks to Nathan the prophet in replying to David, telling him that He is not in need of a house. But it is David’s heart in the matter, his desire to care for YHWH, the love that he wanted to show YHWH, that turns the tables of history with David, seeing that YHWH establishes David’s house and kingdom forever. Notice some of the specifics of this passage.In the same way that YHWH took Saul from a meager existence and elevated him to king (1 Sam 15:17), so YHWH does the same for David (2 Sam 7:8). YHWH recounts His constant presence in David’s life and begins to unfold the blessings that He has in store for him (v.9). This involves the establishment of Israel in the land (v.10), which is in keeping with the promise given to Abram in Genesis 12:2. The specifics in v.10 obviously point to a future time because there is the promise of Israel not being disturbed and that the wicked would not afflict them “as formerly.” Verse 11 elaborates that the “former time” being spoken of was the time of the Judges (hence the importance of having read through Judges), with the declaration of “rest” from all your enemies.YHWH then states that He will build a house for David (v.11b)! This “house” (bayit- “house, temple, dwelling place, family, dynasty”) will be a house of people, descendants that will reign (v.12). Many have concluded that the offspring mentioned in v.12 is Jesus, but v. 13-14 show that the person in mind is Solomon, seeing that he builds the temple for YHWH (1 Kings 6:1-38) and that he was chastised by the LORD for his rebellion (1 Kings 11:11-13). Jesus did not build the temple, nor did He sin and need chastisement. YHWH then notes in v.15 that His hesed (“loyal love”) would not depart from Solomon, contrasting this relationship with that of Saul. If Saul is a picture of a kingdom sustained by works, Solomon is a picture of a kingdom sustained by grace.In v. 16, “forever” is the word used to describe David’s house and kingdom, meaning that it is sure and certain because the Word of YHWH has stated it (v.13). In fact, YHWH goes to great lengths in the Scriptures to reiterate the incontrovertible and indisputable fact of David’s descendant reigning on the throne of Israel and his Kingdom having no end (2 Sam 23:1-5; Psa 89:33-37; Jer 33:14-26). This covenant, like the Abrahamic Covenant, is unconditional in nature, meaning that human failure does not negate its ultimate fulfillment because it is based on YHWH’s Word and not one’s actions. It is possible for human disobedience to hinder the fulfillment of an unconditional promise made by YHWH as seen in Numbers 13 & 14, but this does not mean that the promise will not be fulfilled at a later time by YHWH.The three main elements mentioned in v.16 are: 1) house, 2) kingdom, and 3) throne. As we have already seen, “house” refers to David’s progeny (v.11b). This is a blood line, being established by YHWH. The “kingdom” would be those in David’s line who had the right to rule over Israel. No one else had legal claim to royalty. This was to be a regal, family-ran ministry of humility and servanthood unto Israel (Deut 17:14-20). The “throne” deals with a literal place of ruling in which David’s descendants were to reign. Jerusalem is the place of this reign. It alone is the center of the universe. No other place is sufficient for ruling, nor has the Lord made such promises to any other people.The astute Bible student will immediately notice the connection to the Lord Jesus Christ in these designations. Bergen notes that, “Three of Jesus’ claims concerning himself allude to this verse. First, Jesus claimed he would build a temple (cf. Matt 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; 15:29; John 2:19–22). Second, he claimed to possess an eternal throne (cf. Matt 19:28–29). Finally, he claimed to possess an imperishable kingdom (cf. Luke 22:29–30; John 18:36).”[1]2 Samuel 7:18-29. This passage is David’s prayer-response to what we have just read, which is commonly known as the Davidic Covenant. Of significant observation is the use of “LORD” (YHWH), “God” (Elohim), and “Lord GOD” (Adonai YHWH, meaning “Master, Self-existent One”). The reverence given as a response in prayer is humble and tender, revealing to us the type of man that David was. His transition to “Adonai YHWH” shows the high reverence that he placed upon YHWH and His promise, which he uses eight times in this prayer. In this prayer-response, one will do well to notice the celestial connections made in v.22, 23b, & 26-27.In His grace, the Holy Spirit has seen fit to give us a complementary passage in Psalms that aids in our study of 2 Samuel 7:8-16.Psalm 89:1-37. Before reading this Psalm, it is vital that we are acutely aware of the significance of God’s name “YHWH” when it is used in Scripture. This name communicates the understanding that He alone is self-existent and needs nothing else to survive, endure, be, or continue. YHWH alone is completely self-sufficient and the uncaused Cause of history. All else is His creation. This fact stands in awesome opposition to the divine council in the heavenlies, described here as the “assembly of the holy ones” (v.5), those “in the skies” (v.6a), the “sons of the mighty” (v.6b), the “council of the holy ones” (v.7a), and “those who are around Him” (v.7b). The repetition of YHWH’s name is important. Joseph Alexander explains, “The divine name here used implies that what makes him so terrible is his infinite power. The angels are again called holy ones, but furthermore described as the privy council, the confidential intimates, of God himself… Yet even to these, as being endlessly superior, he is and ought to be an object of adoring fear.”[2]From v.5 to v.18 is a praise unfolding to the superiority of YHWH and the rule that He has because He is the Owner of all things. If the heart does not jump for joy in reading this section, your jumper is broken!The term “Rahab” in v.10 is a difficult one, commonly understood as “Egypt” (Psa 87:4) but also as “Leviathan” (Isa 51:9). Ross explains that “’Rahab,’ representing Egypt (cf. Isa. 30:7), was probably the name of a powerful demonic force thought to be behind that nation.”[3] With the mention of the divine council in v.5-8, the possibility of “Rahab” being the name of the demon over Egypt (v.10), and a possible reference to the “godly ones” in v.19 being the divine council (or possibly the prophet Nathan), one can see that the covenant made with David has some serious implications as far as the heavenly realm is concerned. More on this in a moment.In v.17b & 24b, the use of the word “horn” may seem odd but is seen as trumpets, flasks, on the corners of the altars, and can even be understood as the peak of a hill, all speaking in a literal sense. This word is also used to express someone’s kingdom, strength, or honor when understood in a figurative-literal sense.The Lord is clear in verses 30-37 that David’s son’s disobedience will not negate the promise of YHWH’s Word toward David. The covenant with David’s house does not excuse sin and all sin will be punished. The covenant with David is such that YHWH cannot lie about it (v.33-37). He is faithful to the uttermost in everything that He has spoken.Two things are certain in reading through this Psalm. First, YHWH has a solidified plan with the house of David that has been sealed in the Davidic Covenant. Second, this covenant rests solely on YHWH’s “loyal love” (hesed- “lovingkindness”) and His faithfulness. Even the disobedience of David’s line cannot negate the promise of YHWH.The prophecies spoken forth so far concerning the Messiah have been nothing short of damning to Satan and the fallen angels. In Genesis 3:15, the “seed of the woman” is spoken of as crushing the head of the serpent. In Genesis 12:1-3, Abram is promised a Land and worldwide blessing, but it is the Seed, being the Lord Jesus Christ, that would come forward, even though Abram and Sarai were beyond producing offspring. Genesis 49:10 speaks of the privileged position of Judah, from which the scepter of rule will never depart. The obedience of all people will one day be directed to the tribe of Judah.These prophecies are promises resting on the character of God that await their fulfillment in history. Each step that God takes in revealing more about the eventual triumph of the coming King and the establishment of His glorious Kingdom on earth to rule with a rod of iron (Psa 2) is a threat to the father of lies, the enemy, the murderer, Satan (Col 2:13-15). It is a declaration of victory to the divine council, much of which are demonic spirits overseeing the nations and ruling them in corruption and injustice despite YHWH’s rebukes of them (See Psa 82).For YHWH to extend such a blessed promise to David is monumental. It is David’s faithfulness that brought him such a privilege in YHWH’s plan for the ages, and it would be through David’s lineage that Christ the Lord would enter into this world, both by blood and by heritage as the only One possessing the right to be the King over Israel.The message of triumph is: CHRIST WILL BE KING! YHWH’s WORD STANDS FIRM! Victory is as certain as God Himself![1] Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, Vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), p. 340.[2] Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms: Translated and Explained, The Classic Commentary Library (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1964), p. 371.[3] Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, Vol. 1 (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1985), p. 857.

Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation. God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good. Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard. Sin originates within a person, separating us from God. God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works. The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence. God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom. We would often like to think that if we simply had more revelation of God, or if He would just appear to us in a tangible way then we would sin less, love more, forsake the flesh, and live godly lives until our dying day. YHWH has gone out of His way to reveal Himself to Israel in astounding ways, and yet their stubborn hearts were constantly keeping them from following Him fully. Sadly, many have determined that His Word is not enough. Israel had succumbed to the pinnacle thought of fleshly devices: the conviction that a human being will be able to provide the prosperity, security, and freedom that only God alone promises. With this request, Samuel the prophet warned the people of the ramifications of such a government, causing the enslavement of the people to the wishes of their king, surrendering a portion of their properties (both land and livestock), the taxing of their livelihood to support an earthly regime, and even the distortion of the family structure as their sons and daughters would be removed from the family business and placed into the king’s service (1 Sam 8:10-17). Having previously been freed from such a system, one would figure that Israel’s perspective of a monarchy would have been colored by cruelty, wishing instead to live as truly free people with YHWH as King. In sin, Israel cried out for a king “like all the nations.” In the Law, YHWH included a proviso regarding the desire for a king. Deuteronomy 17:14-20. To assume the throne of Israel is to lead in humility. At least this is how the office was designed by YHWH. Though Israel had set YHWH aside, He did not do likewise to them. In His omniscience, YHWH understood the whims of the human heart, even that of Israel’s, and what would happen after their settlement in the Land of Canaan. Clough notes that the “Israelite kingship was to submit to the authority of the Law (Deut. 17:14-20). God’s Law, not a human king, was the ultimate authority. The Creator-creature two-level view of reality had to be respected. Kingship was not supposed to be some midpoint between man and God on a continuous scale of being.” Instead, the king would be subservient to YHWH’s Law, instilling in him a knowledge of the truth by which he would both govern and be held accountable. The Law called for specifications to be met that would ensure this. First, the king would be chosen by YHWH and not through a political process (v.15a). This would root out any issues of favoritism or any corruption that usually accompanies an electoral process. Second, the king would be one who was an Israelite national and not a foreigner (v.15b). This would safeguard against reckless decisions that did not consider the history and personal care of the Jewish people. Third, the king was not to collect a great amount of horses, nor was he to send a delegation to Egypt for the purpose of securing a great amount of horses (v.16). The accumulation of horses would be the basis for a military presence to fight battles, which is what Samuel warns the people of in 1 Samuel 8:11. For Israel, victory is not something secured by having more soldiers than the nations that opposed them but in YHWH who solely provides. Even the presence of “many horses” would give a pseudo-security to the people of Israel. Israel’s king was to have none of this. Fourth, the king was not to have a multiplicity of wives and the reason for such a command is quickly given in 17:17a- “his heart will turn away.” The more women that were in the mix, the more directions that the king’s heart would be taken. The clearest example is in the reign of King Solomon who was the wisest man in the world, and yet was so easily led astray by his multiple wives to serve, worship, and sacrifice to other gods (1 Kings 11:1-8). Fifth, the king was not to be wealthy (17:17b). This speaks against everything that history has ever seen in the rulers of the world. However, riches provide nothing but false assurance. Proverbs 11:28 is clear, “He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.” Money has never brought peace, and unless it is managed wisely by one who gives liberally it becomes a snare (Matt 6:24; 1 Tim 6:10; Heb 13:5). Finally, the king was to copy by hand the first five books of the Old Testament (17:18). This was to be done before the Levitical Priests so that they could “check his work,” making sure that accuracy was maintained and all questions were clarified and answered. The text is clear that the king was not to make the laws but was to know those given by YHWH and was to enforce them because they are truth. Legislation was not the king’s business. This was not simply a rote exercise, but the textbook by which the king was to conduct his reign. He was to keep it with him (17:19a), he was to read it continually for the rest of his life (17:19b), with such efforts giving way to a healthy fear of YHWH (17:19c), and a careful consideration of all matter being conducted according to the Law’s contents (17:19d). This constant meditation would cultivate humility within the king (17:20a) so that he would not view himself as superior, placing all reverence and authority before YHWH and not himself. Maintaining this course would ensure a long legacy for that line of kings (17:20b). The first chosen human king of Israel was Saul, a man said to be taller and more handsome than any other man in Israel (1 Sam 9:2). Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin and the Lord called upon Samuel the prophet to anoint him (1 Sam 9:16-17). The language that YHWH uses is intentional: Saul was the “prince” that was to be anointed and he would “rule” over YHWH’s people (1 Sam 9:16-17). YHWH does not relinquish His position as the King of Israel but does delegate responsibility to one that He has personally chosen for the task at hand. Samuel anoints Saul making him the ruler over YHWH’s possession Israel (1 Sam 10:1). This is solidified by the prediction of YHWH’s Spirit coming upon Saul and changing him into “another man” (10:6) and the fulfillment of that prophecy in 10:10. However, Saul shied away from the spotlight, hiding behind a pile of bags when the time came to publicly recognize him as God’s chosen ruler of Israel (10:20-24). While the beginning of Saul’s reign was full of triumphant victories and careful decisions, such an approach began to wane in chapter 14. The details of Saul’s foolish choices are worth examining but the events of 1 Samuel 15 is really the turning point in Saul’s reign. 1 Samuel 15:1-29. Samuel’s conversation with Saul is pointed to say the least. Samuel begins by stating that Samuel had anointed Saul as the king over Israel by the Lord’s Word. That exact same Word was going to be communicated to Saul, calling for his obedience to whatever is commanded. Saul was anointed because Samuel obeyed God’s Word. In the same way, Saul was to obey the Word of the Lord. Samuel draws attention to the opposition of the Amalekites against Israel from Exodus 17:8-16. This incident is famous for the need to uphold Moses’ arms to secure the victory for Israel. With verse 3, the call is for harem, for Israel to utterly “destroy” the Amalekites, leaving nothing alive. As mentioned before, the Lord is certainly gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast (loyal) love (Psa 145:8), but He is also a just God who knows the most intimate thoughts of the heart. His pronouncement against the Amalekites is not without cause, nor should we conclude that they are an “innocent” people. Every single person who has ever lived deserves death. That is the only thing that we have earned in our time on Earth. The freely-offered gospel of salvation is the grace of God toward the destitute and undeserving. If YHWH has called for Israel to exterminate the Amalekites, we must trust His Word in the matter, as well as His reasons for such a pronouncement. He alone is the Judge of all. Saul assembles 210,000 men to handle the command, moving forward in obedience to YHWH’s word (v.4-5). The Kenites were descendants of Midian who resided just south of Judah. Saul notes their kindness (in contrast to that of the Amalekites) shown to Israel as they were traveling to the Land of Canaan. Saul shows them mercy, allowing for them to evacuate the area because of the ensuing calamity. Everything in the text so far directs us to believe that Saul has every intention of carrying out YHWH’s word without reservation. In their conquest, the entire territory of Ishmael was covered (v.7; see Gen 25:18). All was destroyed… except Agag, the king of the Amalekites. In fact, not only was he spared, but Israel took the best of their livestock for themselves (v.9) in direct opposition to what YHWH had commanded in 15:3. The text notes that attention was given to the valuable and the worthless, with the first being kept and the other being destroyed. This was a critical mistake. Saul was not called to observations and assessments of value, he was called to obedience. Not only this, but v.9 gives us an indication that it was a group effort, seeing that “the people” were right in the thick of these decisions. In verses 10-11 we find YHWH’s heart-response to what Saul had done telling Samuel that He “regrets” that He has made Saul the king. A comment like this really creates problems for people who think that the Lord is not personal, or that He has so planned out history in such a way where individuals do not have the ability to exercise personal freedom. YHWH is intensely personal and He has emotions, especially in relation to our obedience or disobedience. The regret being expressed is not in the fact that God chose Saul, but in the way that Saul has handled his position as king. We must remember that election is not a doctrine that determines who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. The Scriptures never use this term in that way. However, election by God is unto a task, mission, or vocation that is to be fulfilled. With 1 Samuel 15 and YHWH’s remarks in v.11 we have an example where the election of God did not work out, just as we see in Romans 9:32. In both instances, it was not YHWH’s election of the person or people that was wrong, but the unbelief of those elected in fulfilling what God had provided for and commanded of them. Saul’s personal responsibility is still intact, and he failed miserably. For this, Samuel is grieved. To make matters worse, Saul has erected a monument to himself in Carmel (v.12). The man who once hid behind the baggage has now promoted himself through idolatry. 1 Samuel 15:13-21 holds the confrontation between Samuel and Saul. When asked about the campaign against the Amalekites, Saul is oblivious to his error, stating that he has carried out God’s command (v.13). As the words leave his lips, you can hear the sheep and cattle in the background. In verses 15 and 21 Saul refers back to the actions of “the people” as the responsible party for bringing back the spoils. Saul even tries to rationalize these actions by stating that the motive was for the purpose of sacrificing the best that the Amalekites had to YHWH (v.15 and 21). The king had rationalized that worshiping YHWH through sacrifices was somehow separate from obeying Him. Samuel then reveals his conversation with YHWH to Saul (v.16-19). The Lord had taken Saul from being no one to being the ruler of Israel. The command before him was to lead a campaign of harem (used in v.18 and 20 by both men) against the Amalekites as YHWH’s disciplinary tool of judgment. Instead, remnants of the Amalekites remained, including Agag the king (v.20). Verse 19 drives the point home: partial obedience is evil because it is ultimately total disobedience. 1 Samuel 15:22-23. Samuel’s response to Saul’s rationale for his actions should be memorized for our own benefit. YHWH desires obedience over sacrifice. Good intentions and rationalizing sin are evil. Rebellion against His commands is the equivalent to witchcraft in YHWH’s eyes. In v. 23, the word “insubordination” is used. This means “self-will.” It is the pride that comes with living the “self-life,” which is a life lived in one’s desires and not for God. It is corrupt satisfaction. It is sin. Because Saul had rejected God’s Word, YHWH was removing him as king. 1 Samuel 15:24-26. The reason for Saul’s disobedience is revealed. First, he feared the people instead of fearing YHWH. This is why the observation of the Law of God was to put the fear of YHWH into people, so that they would not fear anyone else (Deut 17:19c). Saul’s installation was by divine election, not by human politics. He, like we, serve an audience of One. Second, Saul heeded the voice of the people. Peer pressure had taken precedence over the Word of God. Reasoning through the benefits of keeping the best of the spoil seemed good and right, except that the Lord had commanded otherwise. Only His Word matters. The remainder of Saul’s time as Israel’s king is a slippery slope downward, finding him tormented by spirits (1 Sam 16:14), paranoid of losing control (1 Sam 18:10-12), commanding the slaughter of the priests of YHWH (1 Sam 22:18), misinterpreting God’s will (1 Sam 23:7), and even consulting a medium for guidance (1 Sam 28:7-14). Ultimately, Saul ended his life by dying upon his own sword (1 Samuel 31:4).

Foundational Truths:The Bible is God’s self-revelation.God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good.Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard.Sin originates within a person, separating us from God.God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works.The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence.God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom.While it may seem daunting, the best place to start with this lesson is to spend a couple of days reading through the book of Judges. A good place to break in your reading would be with the completion of chapter 10. What makes the book of Judges so interesting is that sin makes it necessary in the canon of Scripture. Let’s explain.In Deuteronomy, Moses told Israel to “utterly destroy” the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. This is seen most clearly in Deuteronomy 20:16-20. The word used for “utterly destroy” in v.17 is harem which is literally understood “putting these people under a ban.” The word means “ban, devote, exterminate.”[1] This is a difficult teaching for many who come upon it for the first time and it is often used as an argument against YHWH, deeming Him as heartless, reckless, and even evil for bringing such a command against these groups of people. The reason for such a harsh pronouncement is two-fold.First, if everything that YHWH creates is good and if what He creates is consistent with His character, for Him to make such a pronouncement is to conclude that their sin is so great that this is the only suitable solution to their sin being brought to justice. Being finite human beings, we are not intimately acquainted with the ins and outs of the people of Canaan, their deeds, their worship, their sacrifices, etc. What we do know is that YHWH makes a judgment call against them and that He will only do those things that are consistent with His character. Therefore, it is not wise to presume that He has responded harshly or in injustice for thepeople of Canaan, but that their time of grace and their failure to respond to His revelation had run its course.The second reason for this pronouncement is like the first, but distinct.Deuteronomy 7:1-6. YHWH warns the children of Israel to abstain from any relationship with the people who inhabited the land of Canaan. The reason for this is given in v.4 being that their culture, beliefs, and practices would lead the Israelites astray, which would cause the anger of YHWH to burn against them, leading to their destruction. Instead, they were to deal decisively with the people (harem is used in v.2), allowing for YHWH to be the warrior God against them while destroying every thing that would constitute their pagan practices (v.5). Sin is like leaven, eventually working its way through an entire batch of dough (1 Cor 5:6; Gal 5:9). The entirety of the leaven must be cleaned out in order for the batch to remain unleavened, so it is with the inhabitants of Canaan. The people of Israel are a “chosen” people, carrying out YHWH’s mission to reach the world. They had been set apart due to the loyal love of YHWH (v.7-8). They were to be holy unto the Lord, undefiled.When we come to the book of Joshua, the command to go forth in the confidence of the Lord’s provision is clear (Josh 1:1-9). All is well in entering the land as the Israelites began to conquer (Josh 6:1-24) and dealing decisively with any sin that hindered their success (Josh 7). But in chapter 9 of Joshua, a critical mistake is made.Joshua 9:1-18. With the news of Israel’s victories in Jericho and Ai, the inhabitants of Canaan prepared for battle (v.1-2). The Gibeonites took a different approach, posing as wanderers and foreigners from a distant land. In deceiving Joshua, they were able to secure a covenant with Israel that prevented them from being utterly destroyed. The critical mistake is seen in 9:14 where they did not “ask for the counsel (literally- “mouth”) of YHWH.” Failing to seek the Lord in this matter caused their failure in securing all that YHWH had commanded them to inherit. The result is that the Gibeonites became slaves to the Israelites, leaving their culture, pagan worship, and false gods intact to corrupt Israel. The book of Judges is an extension of this critical moment of disobedience.When the children of Israel begin settling in the land that is their inheritance, there are inhabitants that are left from the previous peopleWhen the children of Israel begin settling in the land that is their inheritance, there are inhabitants that are left from the previous people groups due to Israel’s failure to follow the Lord fully. This leads to a cyclical pattern in their existence, being simply understood as:1) a devotion to YHWH while a leader was in place,2) the death of the leader,3) the people stray into idolatry,4) YHWH brings Israel into captivity to another people,5) the people eventually cry out for rescue,6) YHWH raises up a judge to deliver them and steer them back to Him.Judges 2:1-23. The children of Israel failed to obey the Lord in conquering the land. After Joshua’s death (as well as those who were alongside him who witnessed the great works of the Lord) the people went astray (v.11-13). This caused YHWH’s hand to be against them. Due to the constant compounding of their sin with disobedience and idols, v. 21-23 reveals that the nations that were not utterly destroyed would now serve as a means of testing Israel’s faithfulness to YHWH.With the book of Judges, there are some pertinent points that need to be emphasized for our study in order to give a frame of reference for what we will see in the proceeding books of the New Testament, as well as understanding the attitude of the Jews regarding the Kingdom, and the culmination of the New Testament in pointing to the coming Kingdom, especially as it is lined out in the book of Revelation.The first interesting point in Judges is the involvement of the Godhead throughout the book. The Holy Spirit is seen in 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; and 15:14. In each of these instances with the exception of 13:25 we are told that the Spirit “came upon” (or “clothed”) the person in question. This is consistent with how the Spirit operated in relation to humans in the Old Testament (See 1 Sam 11:6; 16:14; Psa 51:11). The “angel of the LORD” is mentioned in Judges 19 times, signifying the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ and Him being acknowledged as God by those that He encounters (See Judg 13:1-23; especially v.22).The second significant theme is the desire of the people of Israel to have a human king. In Judges 8:22-23, the men of Israel call upon Gideon to become their king, and not only this, but in their exuberance due to his victory, they even call upon Gideon to have his son rule after him, calling for a dynasty to take place among the Jews. Gideon refuses, pointing thepeople back to YHWH as their king. Sadly, Gideon is corrupted by idols as seen in 8:27.The third point of significance is the “rest” that was enjoyed each time the people of Israel turned back to YHWH at the deliverance of the judge sent to her. In 3:11, 30; 5:31; and 8:28, we are told that “the land had rest” for a certain period of years, which was usually however long that particular judge lived. It is interesting that the focus is on the land of Canaan and what the disobedience of the Israelites did to the land once they had settled upon it.A final point that is noteworthy in the book of Judges is the remark of the absence of a king, which led to the foolishness and disobedience of the people. This is not seen until the latter part of the book, in 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; and 21:25. Israel needed to be ruled over. They needed a king. These remarks are what lead us to 1 Samuel 8.1 Samuel 8:1-22. This chapter is tragic. Samuel the prophet is the last judge. When his sons were found unsuitable to rule the people, they cried out for a king “like all the nations” (v.5). YHWH tells Samuel something profound, “they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them” (v.7). YHWH is Israel’s King, but He was a king that the people did not want. They desired a king “like all the nations.” Clearly this is a request made in unbelief.Samuel warns the people about how their lifestyles and economy will change due to this request. Note the cost of having a human king:1) The drafting of soldiers and personnel (v.11-13),2) The loss of personal property (v.14)),3) Taxed one-tenth to feed the king’s army (v.15),4) Confiscation of private help (v.16),5) Taxed an additional tenth in livestock (v.17a)6) Personal enslavement to the king’s purposes (v.17b)This decision would cost Israel in hired servants, family members, finances, personal property, and personal freedom.What is ironic about this request is that Israel is rejecting a theocratic kingdom in which YHWH reigns over them. All that Israel desired the Lord could do apart from the need of a human king.Upon reasoning with the people, Samuel’s list of consequences is disregarded, with the people persisting that they desired to be like the other nations around them. This defeats their calling to be a holy people that were to be set apart from the nations (Deut 7:6).To make matters worse, but also in revealing the disconnect in Israel’s thinking, the people see a human king as one who will “go out before us and fight our battles” (v.20).The extent of this insanity is unfathomable, seeing that YHWH states that He “will fight for you” (Exod 14:14), that He alone threw the Egyptians into confusion (Exod 14:25), that He alone is their warrior (Exod 15:3), that YHWH would fight on their behalf (Deut 1:30; 3:22; Josh 23:10), that He alone is the One who fights and saves His people (Deut 20:4); that He alone is the One that is with Israel wherever they go (Josh 1:9); that through Israel, YHWH would be known to the world as mighty, that the fear of YHWH would be known in Israel forever (Josh 4:23-24), and that YHWH alone is the one who gives kings into the hands of His people (Josh 8:1). To ask for a human king who is far less, much less than YHWH God the Creator of the world, is nothing short of a remarkable act of treason.This leaves an important question before us today that needs to be answered:Is God enough, or do our hearts covet more?Is His Word given to us sufficient, or do we need something else?What is keeping us from leaning wholly into our great God and Savior?  BDAG, p. 355. 

Foundational Truths: The Bible is God’s self-revelation.God is the Eternal, Sovereign Creator; all that He creates is good.Man is a responsible agent, held to a moral standard.Sin originates within a person, separating us from God.God declares one righteous by faith alone, apart from works.The glory of God is the centerpiece and goal of all existence.God’s glory is maximally realized in the promised, coming Kingdom.A prevalent theme in the Scriptures is that of “inheritance,” where, in the Old Testament, the Lord is looking to give a promised piece of land to the smallest of all the peoples in the world, Israel. In the New Testament, an inheritance is promised to those believers who persevere in holding fast to Christ, being understood as a reward to be earned by faithfulness and good deeds in accordance with the Word of God. YHWH, the Creator, the God of the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a giver.While Israel’s inheritance is earthly in nature, the inheritance offered to the Church is one that is heavenly. In both instances, each people group has been sufficiently provided for, extravagantly blessed, and has before them a life which they are to steward according to what they have been given. The Lord God has eliminated all excuses for one not receiving the inheritance offered to them, refusing to violate the free-will of each person. In the end, the things of this world, personal apathy and slothfulness, and neglect or misuse of the plenteous resources that have been supplied will be the only reasons that one will not inherit what has been offered. YHWH desires His children to have success. Regardless if the focus is on Israel or the Church, He desires them to take possession of the inheritance that awaits each of them.The word “inheritance” is used in the Old Testament over 230 times and occurs in the New Testament around 35 times. This concept is significant in Scripture, for with it comes the conversation of “heirs” (Isa 65:9; Rom 8:17), “sons” and “firstborn sons” (Exod 4:22; Matt 5:45), “rewards” (2 Sam 22:21; Matt 6:6), “ruling and reigning” (Isa 24:23; 32:1; 2 Tim 2:12; Rev 5:10; 22:5), judgment (1 Cor 3:11-15; 2 Cor 5:10), and being partners (partakers, companions) with Christ (Heb 1:9; 3:14). Reading Deuteronomy, the words “possess” and “possession” are used 66 times, with the Hebrew word “yerusha” meaning “to take possession, to be an heir, to inherit” (Deut 1:8, 21, 39; 2:5, 9, 12, 19, 24, 31, for example). In Deuteronomy, this word is interchangeable with “inheritance”.In Scripture, there are actually two types of inheritance regarding both the Israelites and the believer in Christ.The first type of inheritance is unconditional in nature, being something that the Christian receives at the moment that one believes in Jesus Christ. This inheritance is what is understood as “eternal life” in the Scriptures (John 3:16; 5:24; Gal 4:7). For Israel, this inheritance is YHWH Himself, as found in Psalms 16:5 and 119:57. Both are immediate for each respective group when faith is exercised (Gen 15:6; John 3:16).The second inheritance is conditional in nature, meaning that obeying by faith (“walking by faith”) is the requirement to receiving it. This can be seen in Colossians 2:6 which says, “as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” “Receiving” is the unconditional inheritance, while the conditional inheritance requires the believer to “walk in Him.” For the Israelites, the conditional inheritance is their resting in the land that was promised to them. Numbers 14:28-30 shows the Lord’s perspective on the failure of the first generation to trust His promises and to move forward in possessing the Promised Land. “As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.”Caleb and Joshua remained faithful to the Lord’s Word in this trying situation. Therefore, they are granted inheritance of the land. Those who walked in unbelief died in the wilderness.This Jewish understanding of the kingdom and the inheritance being earthly in nature is seen also in Acts 1:6 where the disciples ask Jesus if it was at this time that the Lord would be restoring the kingdom to Israel. The intentional use of “restoring” tells us that the Jewish mindset ofthese early Christians was that of Israel’s former glory when David and Solomon reigned upon the throne of Israel.This chart from James S. Hollandsworth may prove helpful. As with any passage of Scripture that we are looking to interpret, context determines the meaning.Another summary passage that explains both inheritances can be seen in Romans 8:16-17. It reads, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”Notice the emphasized portions. The Spirit of God testifies that believers are children of God. This is a fact that requires nothing of us but believing in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. The logical conclusion that the Apostle Paul draws is that IF we are children of God, then we ARE heirs of God. To be one is to automatically be the other. There are no contingencies in this matter. To be justified is to be God’s child, and to be God’s child is to be an “heir of God.” This is most important because it reflects the exact type of relationship that was put forth in the Old Testament when it spoke of YHWH being the inheritance (or portion) of the Israelites (Deut 18:2; Josh 18:7; Psa 16:5; 119:57; Lam 3:24). Thechildren of Israel did nothing to receive YHWH as their inheritance (portion), it is simply because of His love for them (Deut 7:7-8).However, the second part of Romans 8:17 entails the second inheritance. If we are automatically “heirs of God” we also have the opportunity to be “fellow heirs with Christ,” but such a designation comes with a requirement, namely that of suffering with Christ, or experiencing suffering because we are holding fast to Him and His Word. When speaking of the second inheritance there will always be a contingent factor present, which is seen in the phrase “if indeed we suffer with Him.” The reason for this is found in the emphasized words “so that.” Being glorified with Christ is the culmination of our salvation. Having suffered with Christ, we are qualified to be glorified “with Him,” IF we have suffered for His Name’s sake.When we talk about or read through passages in the New Testament that exhort the church to obedience, walking by faith, and good works, we are not simply subscribing to a “this-is-what-we-ought-to-do” existence that is without meaning or significance. Embracing the commands of Scripture and living out the New Life that Christ makes possible has monumental value in eternity to come, bringing greater degrees of glory to God! The more a saint lives this New Life in obedience, the more that God’s Word is promoted as trustworthy and sure, the more that He is glorified in the obedience of His children!For our purposes in the chronological approach of God’s Word, we look to Israel’s historical example regarding the second inheritance.With the failure of the first generation to trust YHWH in moving forward in inheriting the land, the opportunity was postponed (Num 14:28-33). After wandering for 40 years, the book of Deuteronomy finds Moses and the children of Israel standing on the edge of the Promised Land. This is the 2nd generation, for all that were 20-years-old and older had passed away due to their rebellion (Num 14:29). Only Moses was left to die before the 2nd generation of Israelites could crossover into the land to possess it (Num 20:9-12). Moses’ charge throughout the book of Deuteronomy is that they remain faithful, knowing the Word of God as revealed in the Law and doing all that it commanded them. Some passages to elaborate on the specifics would be helpful.Deuteronomy 1:8. The command is to go in and “possess” (inherit) the land that was promised to them.Deuteronomy 4:37-40. What motivates the faithfulness and blessing of God toward Israel is His love! Not only does He fight for Israel, but He has promised an inheritance to them, being the Land of Canaan. They are told in v.39 to “take it to your heart” that YHWH is the only true God and that by keeping His statutes and commandments, they would live long in the land, prospering there, even unto the times of their children.Deuteronomy 6:1-3. This passage occurs right before the Shema[2] setting the stage for what Israel was about to receive. The people would be taught doctrine and were expected to implement it in their daily lives. This was meant to leave a legacy, directing the family structure and lifestyle into successive generations that fostered a culture of obedience to YHWH, with the entire nation walking in fellowship with Him. The emphasis is found again in v.3 on the importance of listening to what Moses was teaching them and to apply it. Doing so would bring blessing.As mentioned in previous lessons, these historical events in Israel’s life are vivid pictures of the spiritual realities of the Christian life.With the death of Moses (Deut 34:5) comes the command for Joshua to assume command in leading the Lord’s people. The exhortations of the Lord toward Joshua hold some valuable secondary applications for us today in regards to receiving the inheritance.[3]Joshua 1:1-9. The command is given to Joshua to lead the people in crossing over the Jordan River (1:2). YHWH understands that this is a difficult assignment, and the people of Israel have just come off hearing Moses reiterate to them the failure of their fathers in inheriting the land forty years prior when the opportunity was given to them. For Israel, Moses was a symbol of leadership and stability. With Moses’ passing comes a void to be filled but also a new era; one which finds the second generation learning from their predecessors’ mistakes and trusting the Lord in moving forward.Three times in the passage YHWH encourages Joshua, telling him to “be strong and courageous” (1:6,7,9). Two of those times, the fact that YHWH is with him is communicated to reinforce the command (1:6,9), while the exhortation in 1:7 is one that calls for the keeping of the Law so that he will prosper in the land. The application for the Christian is that the Lord our God is always with us, even more so in the Church Age because the Holy Spirit indwells the believer in Christ (John 14:17; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13-14). We have no need to fear, since the Spirit that we received is not a spirit of fear (2 Tim 1:7). Too often fear has crippled the believer, shutting his or her mouth, and stifling the flames that would otherwise compel us to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These things need not be so because God is with us. Therefore, let us be strong and courageous so that we can move forward in sound obedience.The inheritance before Joshua is specified in 1:4, noting the boundaries of south, north, east, and west. This is the same designation of land as seen in Genesis 15:18-21. What God had promised years before was coming to fruition in Joshua’s time.Undoubtedly, the most familiar exhortation in this passage comes from 1:7 where YHWH tells Joshua to “be careful to do according to the law” exactly what it says to do. In taking the land, Israel was to be a beacon of righteousness to the pagan nations around her (Deut 4:6-8). This beacon can only shine forth if Israel is walking in fellowship with YHWH. So it is with the Christian today. While we are not saved by obedience, our salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone gives way to a new way of living before the world. This is the New Life, walking in love, operating in joy, confident at every turn because our hope is reserved in heaven, not earth. Such living causes us to inherit the wondrous riches and positions of ruling and reigning alongside Christ (Rev 20:4). Our lives on earth are a time of stewardship. How will you spend it? Jesus states, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” Are we ready?[1] James S. Hollandsworth, “Two Inheritances,” at http://kingdompreparation.com/2014/09/two-inheritances, accessed 10 April 2018.[2] Shema means “Hear, O Israel.”[3] Secondary application is how one who is not part of the originally-intended audience should respond to a command or moral teaching.