2 Chron. 34:1-3; 2 Kings 23:25
(Transcript of the second half of a message preached at Faith-Grace Vietnamese Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, GA, on February 23, 2014. The first half of the message was a personal testimony of salvation.)
Right now, I’d like to look back at the first passage we read in 2 Chron. 34:1-3.
This is late in the old testament, and by now 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel have already been taken captive to Babylon (modern day Iraq). The southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin (Judah hereafter) are still in the land, but they’ve fallen into worshipping false gods and the prophets have warned them of God’s coming judgment. Suddenly, there’s a ray of hope for Judah. Their worst king, Manasseh, dies after a long, wicked reign, and his son Amon takes over, and he’s not much better. Amon’s reign is short, though, and his eight year-old son, Josiah, becomes king. Pretty bleak picture, isn’t it?
But as someone said long ago, “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity,” and Josiah goes totally opposite his father and grandfather. Note vv. 2-3, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father…For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father:” David is mentioned twice in a row, and I think that Josiah may have heard about his forefather from someone and how God blessed him for his faithfulness. (The word of God was lying forsaken in the temple until sometime later in his reign; cf. 2 Chron. 34:8; 14 ff.) At some point, I believe, he made a conscious decision, “I’m going to seek this God who my forefather served; my father and grandfather served false gods, and their lives were a waste.”
So at the young age of 16, Josiah begins to seek after God. He doesn’t wait until he’s older. He says in his heart, I need to seek God now. I’m young and I need wisdom, and I believe that what God did for David, he can do for me, if I give him my heart, like David gave God his. I realize that this is an old testament story, but the apostle Paul, who gave us the gospel we preach today, said, “…the things which were written aforetime were written for our learning…” (Rom. 15:4).
I think the lesson here is clear. We need to seek God while we’re young. Many young people think, “I’ll seek God when I’m older. Right now I just want to have fun.” Well, there’s some real problems with that thinking.
1. First of all, you may never get older. Young people die all the time in car wrecks, from disease, war, starvation, and many other things. Our Lord, for example, only lived to be 33 years old. That’s not even half the average lifespan today. So, you may not get older. You need to make a decision about this while you’re young.
2. What many call fun could destroy you. Drugs, alcohol, wreckless driving, and HIV could all put you in the grave early. Even clean fun is wrong, if you put it before God. God told Israel, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” and anything that you put before God is, in a way, your god. The wisest man who ever lived, next to Jesus Christ, was who? Solomon. One of the last things he said was, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth…” (Eccl. 12:1). Why? Life gets tougher as you get older, and the easiest season of life to seek God is while you’re young.
So Josiah doesn’t waste time. He seeks God while he’s young. But that’s not all. A person could seek God, but do it half-heartedly. He could seek God, but think that he could seek other things as well. But not Josiah. Let’s see what the Bible says about his heart.
2 Kings 23:25, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him rose there any like him.”
He turned to the LORD and sought him with all his heart, and his obedience to God was more thorough than any king before him or after him, even David himself. If you read the rest of his story in 2 Chron. 34-35 and 2 Kings 22-23, you see that only four years after he begins to seek God, he begins to purge his land and the northern tribes’ land of false gods, and it’s a very thorough purge. The land is cleansed, the temple worship is restored, and the people make a national covenant to serve the Lord. What a revival! And it all started in the heart of one young person.
Everyone’s heart is important to God, and God has made our hearts in such a way that they will never be satisfied until they find rest in him. As a young person, I was very restless; I couldn’t find peace because I was trying to find it apart from God, which can’t be done. That’s why so many people turn to drugs and alcohol and sex, because they’re trying to fill that emptiness inside which only God can fill.
I am so glad that God sent someone to me to show me how empty I was and how much I needed a Saviour. The best two decisions I ever made, I made as a young man, like Josiah, by God’s grace:
(1) to seek the Lord; to want to know him, and embrace his Son as my Saviour and the one, the only one, who could bring me to God;
(2) after I became part of God’s family, to seek to know and serve the Lord with my whole heart; to not keep one foot in the world and sin, but to turn both my feet toward the Lord and let him be my life.
I can truly say that I found the fulfillment and peace in God that I could never find anywhere in the world: in religion, in literature, in success, in pleasure. None of those things can take the place of a personal relationship with God through Christ, which God offers to you today, if you don’t have one already, and if you do, deeper and deeper fulfillment the more you give your heart to him. I’ve never met anyone who regretted coming to Christ; only that they didn’t come to him sooner.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
David's Many Sons: "the Rest of the Story"
Years ago, there was a TV series entitled, My Three Sons, starring Fred Macmurray (spelling is correct). But for the patriarch David (Acts 2:29), it was "My Twenty Sons"! My wife texted me one day and asked me how many sons David had, hence this study.
A few practical notes: (1) Saul set a bad example for his son-in-law by taking a concubine, Rizpah (2 Sam. 3:7; 21:8-11), besides his wife Ahinoam (1 Sam. 14:50); (2) nonetheless, David disobeyed a clear command of the law in Deut. 17:17 by multiplying wives unto himself, and study for yourself the trouble that ensues (e.g. Absalom was the son of a Gentile princess); (3) his descendents follow his bad example: Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah all multiply wives (see refs. above), and bigamy seems to be the norm for the kings of Judah all the way down to Josiah (2 Kings 23:31, 36; 24:15; 2 Chron. 21:14, 24:3; Jer. 38:23). So example is a powerful force, seemingly for entire dynasty of kings over the united kingdom, Judah, and likely Israel (northern tribes) as well, considering Ahab's progeny. In conclusion, sons are a gift from God (1 Chron. 26:4-5), but be sure you get them God's way ("for God blessed him"--1 Chron. 26:5--likely through one wife) vs. man's way (doesn't say David's progeny or any other bigamist-king's was a blessing).
- Six born in Hebron (2 Sam. 3:2-5; one probably died young--Chileab/Daniel--since he is not mentioned in the succession strife with Absalom and Adonijah)
- Bathsheba's firstborn (2 Sam. 11-12; no name given)
- Bathsheba's other four sons, including Solomon (2 Sam. 5:14; 1 Chron. 3:5)
- 9 sons born to unnamed women (maybe his 10 concubines) (2 sons provided in 1 Chron. 3:6-8 not named in 2 Sam. 5:15-16)
A few practical notes: (1) Saul set a bad example for his son-in-law by taking a concubine, Rizpah (2 Sam. 3:7; 21:8-11), besides his wife Ahinoam (1 Sam. 14:50); (2) nonetheless, David disobeyed a clear command of the law in Deut. 17:17 by multiplying wives unto himself, and study for yourself the trouble that ensues (e.g. Absalom was the son of a Gentile princess); (3) his descendents follow his bad example: Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah all multiply wives (see refs. above), and bigamy seems to be the norm for the kings of Judah all the way down to Josiah (2 Kings 23:31, 36; 24:15; 2 Chron. 21:14, 24:3; Jer. 38:23). So example is a powerful force, seemingly for entire dynasty of kings over the united kingdom, Judah, and likely Israel (northern tribes) as well, considering Ahab's progeny. In conclusion, sons are a gift from God (1 Chron. 26:4-5), but be sure you get them God's way ("for God blessed him"--1 Chron. 26:5--likely through one wife) vs. man's way (doesn't say David's progeny or any other bigamist-king's was a blessing).
Saturday, February 15, 2014
A Surprising Survey of Sufficiency
Forms of the word "sufficient" appear a total of six times in Paul's epistles, curiously all in 2 Corinthians.
2 Cor. 2:7, "Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many."
2 Cor. 2:16, "To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?"
2 Cor. 3:5, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God."
2 Cor. 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."
2 Cor. 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Five of the six references point to God as the source of our sufficiency for ministry (2:14 and 3:5 contexts), suffering (12:9), giving (9:8 context), and everything else he's told us to do (2:14, 9:8). But 2 Cor. 2:7 stands apart in the sufficiency that it refers to: sufficient punishment! I believe that the man referred to in this passage is the erring brother in 1 Cor. 5, whom Paul commanded the Corinthian church (the "many" of 2 Cor. 2:7) to deliver to Satan "for the destruction of the flesh," i.e. progressive chastening (cf. 1 Cor. 11:30). Evidently God answered the church's prayers, something did befall the brother, and he repented.
It's interesting that Paul chooses the word "sufficient" in this context, considering the positive contexts of the other uses. I think, however, that there is a truth here not to be overlooked: just as God's grace is sufficient for us in ministry, sufferring, giving, and all well doing, so is God's judgment is sufficient to correct us...if we'll allow it to. Two professing brothers in Christ, Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:20), were evidently teaching false doctrine in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3), and Paul prayed for them in the same manner that he told the Corinthians to for the erring brother ("whom I have delivered to Satan..."). Notice the purpose of Paul's prayer, though: "...that they may learn not to blaspheme." So Hymenaeus and Alexander had to learn something from the punishment they were receiving to be corrected. Likely the erring Corinthian brother did, from the context of 2 Cor. 2:7, but likely Hymenaeus didn't, since he's still teaching false doctrine in 2 Tim. 2:16-18!
In closing then, this survey of Paul's references to sufficiency in his epistles show that not only is the grace of God sufficient in believers' lives, but the judgment of God, where necessary, is also sufficient for their correction. Thank you, Lord, for loving us so well.
To God only be glory
2 Cor. 2:7, "Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many."
2 Cor. 2:16, "To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?"
2 Cor. 3:5, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God."
2 Cor. 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."
2 Cor. 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Five of the six references point to God as the source of our sufficiency for ministry (2:14 and 3:5 contexts), suffering (12:9), giving (9:8 context), and everything else he's told us to do (2:14, 9:8). But 2 Cor. 2:7 stands apart in the sufficiency that it refers to: sufficient punishment! I believe that the man referred to in this passage is the erring brother in 1 Cor. 5, whom Paul commanded the Corinthian church (the "many" of 2 Cor. 2:7) to deliver to Satan "for the destruction of the flesh," i.e. progressive chastening (cf. 1 Cor. 11:30). Evidently God answered the church's prayers, something did befall the brother, and he repented.
It's interesting that Paul chooses the word "sufficient" in this context, considering the positive contexts of the other uses. I think, however, that there is a truth here not to be overlooked: just as God's grace is sufficient for us in ministry, sufferring, giving, and all well doing, so is God's judgment is sufficient to correct us...if we'll allow it to. Two professing brothers in Christ, Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:20), were evidently teaching false doctrine in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3), and Paul prayed for them in the same manner that he told the Corinthians to for the erring brother ("whom I have delivered to Satan..."). Notice the purpose of Paul's prayer, though: "...that they may learn not to blaspheme." So Hymenaeus and Alexander had to learn something from the punishment they were receiving to be corrected. Likely the erring Corinthian brother did, from the context of 2 Cor. 2:7, but likely Hymenaeus didn't, since he's still teaching false doctrine in 2 Tim. 2:16-18!
In closing then, this survey of Paul's references to sufficiency in his epistles show that not only is the grace of God sufficient in believers' lives, but the judgment of God, where necessary, is also sufficient for their correction. Thank you, Lord, for loving us so well.
To God only be glory
Ozymandias: Biblically Considered
One of my favourite secular poems is Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias." I post it here in its entirety for your meditation, with a few comments afterward.
OZYMANDIAS
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Weighty material, isn't it? Perhaps the most powerful element of the poem is the irony of the words on the pedestal. Ozymandias' boast actually becomes a dreadful warning to any "mighty" who might aspire to his greatness that they could end up like him: with no legacy but the hurt he brought to others, as preserved in the sculpture's visage. I think that the same might be said of other "great ones" through the ages too, amen?
Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Prov. 16:18
OZYMANDIAS
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Weighty material, isn't it? Perhaps the most powerful element of the poem is the irony of the words on the pedestal. Ozymandias' boast actually becomes a dreadful warning to any "mighty" who might aspire to his greatness that they could end up like him: with no legacy but the hurt he brought to others, as preserved in the sculpture's visage. I think that the same might be said of other "great ones" through the ages too, amen?
Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Prov. 16:18
Friday, February 14, 2014
Significance of Scriptural Words Ending in X
The letter is X is indeed a mysterious letter. Per G.A. Riplinger (In Awe of Thy Word; avpublications.com), "The 24th letter of the Roman alphabet, x, is not the initial letter of any English Bible word. It does appear toward the end of Bible words" (p. 1151). This is remarkable, since it is the only letter of which this is true. Even Q and Z (the toughest letters to play in Scrabble, right?) are the first letters of at least proper names and nouns in scripture (no verbs in the Bible begin with Z). This paucity of words beginning with X also applies to a secular dictionary, compared to the number of words beginning with other letters. This brief study will consider the 13 words in the King James Bible that end in the letter x. There are, of course, others that contain the letter, but I think that it's noteworthy that 13 words end with this letter, and I offer a few thoughts later as to why.
1. box (can refer to a tree or receptacle; the receptacle is connected with the prophetic ministry and the burial of Christ, the Prophet; cf. Deut. 18:18; 2 Kings 9:1-3; Mt. 26:12, "she did it for my burial")
2. Felix (Christ-rejecting Roman governor; Acts 24:24-25)
3. flax (most references are bad; cf. Ex. 9:31, Is. 19:9; Hos. 2:5, 9)
4. flux (Paul healed Publius' father of this severe malady; Acts 28:8)
5. fox (an unclean animal; Song 2:15; Luke 13:32)
6. matrix (first appears in Ex. 13)
7. onyx (some connection with Satan; cf. Ezek. 28:13)
8. ox (some good references, but many bad ones; cf. Ex. 21:28-32; Ps. 106:20; etc.)
9. Pollux (Acts 28:11; a pagan mythological figure and sign of the boat that carries Paul to imprisonment in Rome; it was from Alexandria...in Egypt, a type of the world)
10. sardonyx (Rev. 21:20; good context--one of the foundations of new Jerusalem; it's the fifth foundation, though, and five signifies death throughout scripture, beginning in Gen. 5:5; also, sardonyx is a reddish stone, like blood...?)
11. six (how about Rom. 6:6 and Rev. 13:18--666!)
12. vex (cf. Acts 12:1 (12+1=13?); Herod, an antichrist, vexes the Jewish church, just as antichrist will in the great tribulation)
13. wax (almost always bad; cf. Mt. 24:12, 1 Tim. 5:11, etc.)
As you can see, the associations of these words are predominantly bad, though not exclusively. My persuasion, based on biblical numerology studies (my own and others'), is that the number 13 is connected with separation, good (Ex. 13:2, 12, 15--matrix!; Acts 13:2; etc.) and bad (Gen. 13:9; Acts 13:13). I also think that the letter x is connected with the cross; it actually is a cross. Where am I going with this? On the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ was separated from God, i.e. his human side. See Mt. 27:46, where he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The Father did not forsake the Son at Calvary. Christ speaks to the Father at the beginning (Luke 23:34) and end (Luke 23:46) of his passion (Acts 1:3), showing that the Father never left the Son, though he did forsake the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). This had to be done, since in the garden Adam, the man, forsook God. Glorious substitution (Rom. 5:12-21)! Martin Luther said that "Every word of the Bible rings with Christ," and I would assert that every letter, including the mysterious x, points to him also, the Word of God!
1. box (can refer to a tree or receptacle; the receptacle is connected with the prophetic ministry and the burial of Christ, the Prophet; cf. Deut. 18:18; 2 Kings 9:1-3; Mt. 26:12, "she did it for my burial")
2. Felix (Christ-rejecting Roman governor; Acts 24:24-25)
3. flax (most references are bad; cf. Ex. 9:31, Is. 19:9; Hos. 2:5, 9)
4. flux (Paul healed Publius' father of this severe malady; Acts 28:8)
5. fox (an unclean animal; Song 2:15; Luke 13:32)
6. matrix (first appears in Ex. 13)
7. onyx (some connection with Satan; cf. Ezek. 28:13)
8. ox (some good references, but many bad ones; cf. Ex. 21:28-32; Ps. 106:20; etc.)
9. Pollux (Acts 28:11; a pagan mythological figure and sign of the boat that carries Paul to imprisonment in Rome; it was from Alexandria...in Egypt, a type of the world)
10. sardonyx (Rev. 21:20; good context--one of the foundations of new Jerusalem; it's the fifth foundation, though, and five signifies death throughout scripture, beginning in Gen. 5:5; also, sardonyx is a reddish stone, like blood...?)
11. six (how about Rom. 6:6 and Rev. 13:18--666!)
12. vex (cf. Acts 12:1 (12+1=13?); Herod, an antichrist, vexes the Jewish church, just as antichrist will in the great tribulation)
13. wax (almost always bad; cf. Mt. 24:12, 1 Tim. 5:11, etc.)
As you can see, the associations of these words are predominantly bad, though not exclusively. My persuasion, based on biblical numerology studies (my own and others'), is that the number 13 is connected with separation, good (Ex. 13:2, 12, 15--matrix!; Acts 13:2; etc.) and bad (Gen. 13:9; Acts 13:13). I also think that the letter x is connected with the cross; it actually is a cross. Where am I going with this? On the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ was separated from God, i.e. his human side. See Mt. 27:46, where he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The Father did not forsake the Son at Calvary. Christ speaks to the Father at the beginning (Luke 23:34) and end (Luke 23:46) of his passion (Acts 1:3), showing that the Father never left the Son, though he did forsake the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). This had to be done, since in the garden Adam, the man, forsook God. Glorious substitution (Rom. 5:12-21)! Martin Luther said that "Every word of the Bible rings with Christ," and I would assert that every letter, including the mysterious x, points to him also, the Word of God!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
References to "Books" in the Bible (Version 2)
(Transcript of Bible study taught at Landmark Baptist Church, Locust Grove, GA in August 2013; landmarkbaptistga.com)
[This version corrected numerous typos and added a link to the Spurgeon quote missing from Version 1. Enjoy!]
Books in the Bible
Eccl. 12:8-14
• The title of this message is not “Books of the Bible,” but "Books in the Bible," since we’re going to survey the Biblical references to “books” in the plural, and see what we learn.
• There are far more references to “book” in the singular than “books” in the plural, but the study of the references to “books” was rewarding to me on its own.
• We find this word used eight times in scripture, in seven different verses. I’d like to look at all of these, beginning with our text. Perhaps, since books appear in seven different places, this will show us the scope of God’s view on books.
• The verses we’ll survey are ordered by subject and not by order of appearance in scripture, since there’s some practical truth we’ll see by the groupings.
Eccl. 12:12: world’s books
• Job 19:23; 31:35. Job is the oldest book in the Bible, but from these verses it’s apparent that books were already being written when inspired scripture first appears.
• It may be that there were already “many books” in circulation when the book of Job is first penned. Personally, I think there were, and I’ll tell you why.
• The world is seeking wisdom apart from God, as Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 1:21, “the world by wisdom knew not God…”
• Rather than listening to the words of the truly wise (i.e. the scriptures) and finding wisdom there, they’re pumping out an endless stream of books to try to find wisdom. Who do you think inspired that? We’ll talk more about him later.
• The stream never ends because the world is not sincere: they’re trying to exalt self, not God (Prov. 18:1-2).
• “…and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” This goes with v. 8. It’s vain trying to study all of the books being printed: you will wear yourself out! Good news…you don’t have to go to all that trouble, if you’re seeking the words of truth (v. 10) and being admonished by them.
• God’s final commentary on the Library of Alexandria, the Library of Congress, Books-A-Million, and the rest is 2 Tim. 3:7, “Ever learning, and never able to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” The world may produce an endless stream of books to dispel the knowledge of God, but eventually they’ll meet him in judgment, according to v. 14.
Acts 19:18-19: devilish books
• Some of the world’s books are evil and worthy of burning. They need to be burnt so that no one else is harmed by them, and it’s a picture of where their source, Satan, will end up…in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). “And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds”(v. 18) because these books were overtly sinful and evil.
• So the “curious arts” are another attempt to find wisdom, albeit from Satanic sources, since the devil has wisdom as well as God. He’s said to be “wiser than Daniel” in Ezek. 28:3, and James mentions “devilish” wisdom in Jas. 3:15.
• We don’t call them “curious arts” today, but things like “magic” and the “black arts”; “curious” is a good word in two ways: (1) sense is “strange” or “different”—these books are not normal; and (2) curious, as in curiosity, which as we know, kills the cat…and Eve. Why? “it was a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6);
• So from the beginning, men have been seeking wisdom from among themselves, and some, like these Ephesians, actually go beyond that and seek it from devilish sources.
• Wisdom is one of man’s basic needs, but seldom does he seek it from the right source, the holy scriptures. “When all else fails, read the instruction book”? NO!! Read the instructions first, and don’t depend on your own wisdom, the world’s, or the devil’s.
• Last point: who do you think counted the price of them? Christians weren’t the only ones on the scene. Notice, they “burned them before all men” (v. 19). I think it was the worldly bystanders who calculated the value. Why would the Christians care? That junk didn’t mean anything to them any more. Isn’t that like the world? “They’re throwing away a fortune in books!” Yeah, but those books were destroying their souls. Furthermore, on a positive side, they were now rich in Christ, and what was fifty thousand pieces of silver compared to him? It’s a great irony that the world will charge you heavily for wisdom that will eventually carry you to hell, while God offers salvation freely that will give you instant, everlasting life.
Books of the Bible (Dan. 9:2)
• As we saw from the first point, the world and devil have been putting out there books from the dawn of time, at least after the flood, but with the inspiration and writing of the book of Job, God begins to quietly produce his own books, which are ultimately number 66 and are gathered together under one cover in the Holy Bible.
• The books referred to in this passage, I believe, are inspired ones, at least in part.
• Daniel “understood by books” that the Jewish captivity would last 70 years. Jeremiah foretold this in Jer. 25:12 and 29:10-14. 2 Chronicles and Ezra, which also discuss the captivity, are written after this point, since Cyrus, who makes the decree to rebuild the temple at the end and beginning of those books, respectively, comes after Darius.
• It could be that he also read other portions of scripture that threw light on the length of the captivity, or even some non-canonical books that discussed Jeremiah’s words, and God used it all to reveal the length of the captivity to him. Either way, God primarily uses scripture to reveal this to Daniel, since Jeremiah is the only prophet I know of who expressly states the length of the captivity.
• I love the phrase “I…understood by books.” There is so much understanding you will never have if you refuse to read. The devil knows this, and he’s trying everything he can to get people away from books.
• Video and audio must be used moderately, or you’re going to find yourself loathing the printed page and destitute of spiritual knowledge which can only come from reading the scriptures and other wholesome literature.
• “Well I read the Bible on the internet.” That’s fine as a supplement. I check Strong’s Concordance on my phone all the time. But that can never replace me sitting down in a room by myself with a book and listening to God’s voice thereby.
• Don’t rely too heavily on electricity. God only allowed it to be discovered in the last days, and it’s connected with Satan (Luke 10:18; Eph. 2:2). Furthermore, there is no indication that it will be used in the millienial kingdom, where agriculture is manual, not electric (see Is. 2:4; Amos 9:13).
• Don’t let anything draw you away from books, especially the 66 inspired ones which comprise the Bible. If you don’t like to read a variety of books, that’s fine, but you must still give yourself to at least one, the Bible.
Books about the Lord (John 21:24-25)
• This verse concludes the gospel of John. It hearkens back to 20:30-31 which more expressly states the purpose of John’s gospel. Both passages note that there are other things Jesus did that John didn’t write about. Some of these things may be recorded in the other gospels, but even if they weren’t, it doesn’t matter. We have all that we need to know in the AV 1611.
• But what about the book of the wars of the LORD, the book of Jasher, and the epistle from Laodicea? All of those are books that Israel or the church had access to at one time. Are we missing out on any “hidden knowledge”?
• By no means. If you got a hold of that stuff, and all of Paul’s sermons beside the half-dozen recorded, it would say the same thing, in essence, as what you have in your King James Bible.
• So no worries about what’s not recorded. What is recorded is quite enough, as we see in this remarkable verse. If you wrote down everything thing that Christ did, even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
• Let’s talk for a minute about books about the Lord. The first two passages in this survey dealt with books men use to ignore God, the third passage dealt with books produced by God, and here we find a reference to books about the Lord.
• This verse anticipates that people would write about the Lord. See Luke 1:1: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand…” to write about the earthly ministry of Christ. An awesome thought is that even though many had already written about this, God moved Luke to write just one more account for Theophilus, and it was inspired. Glory! Out of those many accounts, God directly inspired four of them, and we have them in our KJB today.
• Scripture doesn’t say that it’s a bad thing that many did this. My father-in-law put it this way: "The Word produces words." Jesus Christ has been the inspiration for more books, songs, movies, and other media than any other figure in the history of mankind.
• I see these media as the overflow of knowing Christ, and a counter, along with scripture, if you will, to what the world is putting out to ignore Christ.
• Now the number of deeds that Christ did were finite, and what you have in hand is the summary of it all, but you could keep writing about it forever.
• Why? Because the Word is infinite. If you wrote one account, well, you missed something… write another. You wrote another, well here’s something else to add…write another.
• One day, a friend and I were driving through the Georgia Tech campus and talking about the wonder of cross-referencing in scripture, or “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13). Suddenly, this brother said to me, “We’re going to be cross-referencing for all eternity.”
• If you’re carnal, you’re thinking “Whoop de do. Heaven’s really going to be boring.” Let me tell you something, Demas. You’ll love the word of God up there, even if you didn’t down here, but it will be too late to love it like you should’ve in time and earn the rewards you could’ve earned if you had loved it.
• So the world has its books, the devil has his, both of which are designed to keep a man from Christ, but thank God has given us his books (scriptures), and many books have also been written about the Lord to help us understand his books better.
General reading (2 Tim. 4:13)
• It’s the closing hours of Paul’s life. He knows that he’s about to die (v. 6), and what does he ask for? Ice cream? That’s what Timothy McVeigh asked for as his last meal (two pints of mint chocolate chip, per Wikipedia). But food was the last thing on Paul’s mind. He asks for a cloke (winter is approaching), books, and parchments, all of which he left in Troas, where apparently he was apprehended and shipped to Rome.
• One can speculate as to which books he wanted. No doubt he’d want the scriptures, considering his proximity to death. But he just says books, and also parchments, which I believe he wanted to write to others with. Men of letters like Paul don’t just read; they write. The thing is, the more of that Book you take in, the more you feel constrained to give it out; and that’s why I think he asked for parchments. He couldn’t go anywhere, but he could write. Obviously he could, since 2 Timothy was an epistle that he sent to Timothy, probably by Tychichus (v. 12). So to his last breath, Paul wants to learn and minister.
• Erasmus said, “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes." For me, it’s more like, “When I have a little money, I buy Gerber and Huggies, and if I have any left, I must have miscalculated.”
• Spurgeon also had a famous quote about Paul's books...[not posted here for brevity; see http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0542.htm]
• I think that the Lord may have left it general to encourage us toward general reading: the Bible first, whatever helps you can lay your hands on, and other wholesome books that enlighten and edify. In my opinion, the ultimate value of a book is how much it helps you know God and his word and bear the fruit that comes from such knowledge.
• One other thought: note the judgment seat of Christ in the near context (v. 8). Two good ways to prepare for it: read and write. Take in the word and wholesome literature and minister the truth to others, through writing and speaking (v. 2, “Preach the word…”).
Judgment Day Books (Dan. 7:10; Rev. 20:12)
• Daniel has been called the Revelation of the old testament. The great white throne judgment is NOT covered for the first time in Revelation. It also appears in Daniel 7.
• One might think that this scene describes the judgment of nations at the second advent (Mt. 25:31-46), with a thousand thousands of his mighty angels ministering to him, and millions standing before him.
• One problem with that view: there are no books at the judgment of nations, but there are at the white throne judgment in Rev. 20.
• So we get our first glimpse of the last (white throne) judgment, sometimes called Doomsday, in the old testament, with Revelation providing supplementary details, since it’s the consummation of all the prophecies concerning Israel.
• These books record deeds, including ones no one ever saw but God, and words, secret and open, intentional and idle. “…the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (v. 12). I’m not sure if motives will be judged, but God may write “murder” or “adultery” in the book where he saw it in someone’s heart (1 John 3:15; Mt. 5:28), though they may not have carried it out.
• The Domesday Book is a manuscript that records the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086. The survey was executed for William I of England (the Conqueror) to determine who held what and what taxes had been liable under his predecessor, Edward the Confessor.The judgment of the Domesday assessors was final—whatever the book said about who held the material wealth or what it was worth was the law, and there was no appeal.
• The book was known by the English as "Domesday," that is the Day of Judgment: “for as the sentence of that strict and terrible last account cannot be evaded by any skilful subterfuge, so when this book is appealed to ... its sentence cannot be put quashed or set aside with impunity. That is why we have called the book 'the Book of Judgment' ... because its decisions, like those of the Last Judgment, are unalterable” (Wikipedia).
• Putting something in a book, in general, gives it a sense of finality, something to be preserved for ever, as we saw in Job 19, and the judgments meted out for what’s recorded in these books are everlasting.
• What’s in the Domesdaybook was final, and what’s in the real “Doomsday” books at the white throne judgment is final. Men may lie and deny, but the books stand.
Summary Points
• One thing you may have noticed, but which I’ll reiterate in closing, is that all the passages dealing with books in the plural have judgment in the context:
o Eccl. 12:14—temporally and at the white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15)
o Acts 19:19—self-judgment
o John 21:24—testimony
o Dan. 9:2—captivity of Israel
o 2 Tim. 4:13 (cf. v. 8—judgment seat of Christ)
o Dan. 7:10/Rev. 20:12 (white throne judgment)
• Note the seven references to books in the plural. Since seven is the number of perfection in scripture, this would imply (devotionally) that a saint can’t be perfected without books, namely the Book of books, the Bible.
• You have everything you need for spiritual perfection in the KJB (2 Tim. 3:16-17), which is what will prepare you for judgment to come.
• When Paul stood before Felix, and reasoned of “…judgment to come,” Felix trembled, because he wasn’t ready to be judged.
• The judgment seat of Christ will be a fearful scene (2 Cor. 5:10-11), but you can certainly prepare for it by giving yourself to books, first of all those of scripture, and other books that can help you mature and “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12).
Soli Deo Gloria
[This version corrected numerous typos and added a link to the Spurgeon quote missing from Version 1. Enjoy!]
Books in the Bible
Eccl. 12:8-14
• The title of this message is not “Books of the Bible,” but "Books in the Bible," since we’re going to survey the Biblical references to “books” in the plural, and see what we learn.
• There are far more references to “book” in the singular than “books” in the plural, but the study of the references to “books” was rewarding to me on its own.
• We find this word used eight times in scripture, in seven different verses. I’d like to look at all of these, beginning with our text. Perhaps, since books appear in seven different places, this will show us the scope of God’s view on books.
• The verses we’ll survey are ordered by subject and not by order of appearance in scripture, since there’s some practical truth we’ll see by the groupings.
Eccl. 12:12: world’s books
• Job 19:23; 31:35. Job is the oldest book in the Bible, but from these verses it’s apparent that books were already being written when inspired scripture first appears.
• It may be that there were already “many books” in circulation when the book of Job is first penned. Personally, I think there were, and I’ll tell you why.
• The world is seeking wisdom apart from God, as Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 1:21, “the world by wisdom knew not God…”
• Rather than listening to the words of the truly wise (i.e. the scriptures) and finding wisdom there, they’re pumping out an endless stream of books to try to find wisdom. Who do you think inspired that? We’ll talk more about him later.
• The stream never ends because the world is not sincere: they’re trying to exalt self, not God (Prov. 18:1-2).
• “…and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” This goes with v. 8. It’s vain trying to study all of the books being printed: you will wear yourself out! Good news…you don’t have to go to all that trouble, if you’re seeking the words of truth (v. 10) and being admonished by them.
• God’s final commentary on the Library of Alexandria, the Library of Congress, Books-A-Million, and the rest is 2 Tim. 3:7, “Ever learning, and never able to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” The world may produce an endless stream of books to dispel the knowledge of God, but eventually they’ll meet him in judgment, according to v. 14.
Acts 19:18-19: devilish books
• Some of the world’s books are evil and worthy of burning. They need to be burnt so that no one else is harmed by them, and it’s a picture of where their source, Satan, will end up…in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). “And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds”(v. 18) because these books were overtly sinful and evil.
• So the “curious arts” are another attempt to find wisdom, albeit from Satanic sources, since the devil has wisdom as well as God. He’s said to be “wiser than Daniel” in Ezek. 28:3, and James mentions “devilish” wisdom in Jas. 3:15.
• We don’t call them “curious arts” today, but things like “magic” and the “black arts”; “curious” is a good word in two ways: (1) sense is “strange” or “different”—these books are not normal; and (2) curious, as in curiosity, which as we know, kills the cat…and Eve. Why? “it was a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6);
• So from the beginning, men have been seeking wisdom from among themselves, and some, like these Ephesians, actually go beyond that and seek it from devilish sources.
• Wisdom is one of man’s basic needs, but seldom does he seek it from the right source, the holy scriptures. “When all else fails, read the instruction book”? NO!! Read the instructions first, and don’t depend on your own wisdom, the world’s, or the devil’s.
• Last point: who do you think counted the price of them? Christians weren’t the only ones on the scene. Notice, they “burned them before all men” (v. 19). I think it was the worldly bystanders who calculated the value. Why would the Christians care? That junk didn’t mean anything to them any more. Isn’t that like the world? “They’re throwing away a fortune in books!” Yeah, but those books were destroying their souls. Furthermore, on a positive side, they were now rich in Christ, and what was fifty thousand pieces of silver compared to him? It’s a great irony that the world will charge you heavily for wisdom that will eventually carry you to hell, while God offers salvation freely that will give you instant, everlasting life.
Books of the Bible (Dan. 9:2)
• As we saw from the first point, the world and devil have been putting out there books from the dawn of time, at least after the flood, but with the inspiration and writing of the book of Job, God begins to quietly produce his own books, which are ultimately number 66 and are gathered together under one cover in the Holy Bible.
• The books referred to in this passage, I believe, are inspired ones, at least in part.
• Daniel “understood by books” that the Jewish captivity would last 70 years. Jeremiah foretold this in Jer. 25:12 and 29:10-14. 2 Chronicles and Ezra, which also discuss the captivity, are written after this point, since Cyrus, who makes the decree to rebuild the temple at the end and beginning of those books, respectively, comes after Darius.
• It could be that he also read other portions of scripture that threw light on the length of the captivity, or even some non-canonical books that discussed Jeremiah’s words, and God used it all to reveal the length of the captivity to him. Either way, God primarily uses scripture to reveal this to Daniel, since Jeremiah is the only prophet I know of who expressly states the length of the captivity.
• I love the phrase “I…understood by books.” There is so much understanding you will never have if you refuse to read. The devil knows this, and he’s trying everything he can to get people away from books.
• Video and audio must be used moderately, or you’re going to find yourself loathing the printed page and destitute of spiritual knowledge which can only come from reading the scriptures and other wholesome literature.
• “Well I read the Bible on the internet.” That’s fine as a supplement. I check Strong’s Concordance on my phone all the time. But that can never replace me sitting down in a room by myself with a book and listening to God’s voice thereby.
• Don’t rely too heavily on electricity. God only allowed it to be discovered in the last days, and it’s connected with Satan (Luke 10:18; Eph. 2:2). Furthermore, there is no indication that it will be used in the millienial kingdom, where agriculture is manual, not electric (see Is. 2:4; Amos 9:13).
• Don’t let anything draw you away from books, especially the 66 inspired ones which comprise the Bible. If you don’t like to read a variety of books, that’s fine, but you must still give yourself to at least one, the Bible.
Books about the Lord (John 21:24-25)
• This verse concludes the gospel of John. It hearkens back to 20:30-31 which more expressly states the purpose of John’s gospel. Both passages note that there are other things Jesus did that John didn’t write about. Some of these things may be recorded in the other gospels, but even if they weren’t, it doesn’t matter. We have all that we need to know in the AV 1611.
• But what about the book of the wars of the LORD, the book of Jasher, and the epistle from Laodicea? All of those are books that Israel or the church had access to at one time. Are we missing out on any “hidden knowledge”?
• By no means. If you got a hold of that stuff, and all of Paul’s sermons beside the half-dozen recorded, it would say the same thing, in essence, as what you have in your King James Bible.
• So no worries about what’s not recorded. What is recorded is quite enough, as we see in this remarkable verse. If you wrote down everything thing that Christ did, even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
• Let’s talk for a minute about books about the Lord. The first two passages in this survey dealt with books men use to ignore God, the third passage dealt with books produced by God, and here we find a reference to books about the Lord.
• This verse anticipates that people would write about the Lord. See Luke 1:1: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand…” to write about the earthly ministry of Christ. An awesome thought is that even though many had already written about this, God moved Luke to write just one more account for Theophilus, and it was inspired. Glory! Out of those many accounts, God directly inspired four of them, and we have them in our KJB today.
• Scripture doesn’t say that it’s a bad thing that many did this. My father-in-law put it this way: "The Word produces words." Jesus Christ has been the inspiration for more books, songs, movies, and other media than any other figure in the history of mankind.
• I see these media as the overflow of knowing Christ, and a counter, along with scripture, if you will, to what the world is putting out to ignore Christ.
• Now the number of deeds that Christ did were finite, and what you have in hand is the summary of it all, but you could keep writing about it forever.
• Why? Because the Word is infinite. If you wrote one account, well, you missed something… write another. You wrote another, well here’s something else to add…write another.
• One day, a friend and I were driving through the Georgia Tech campus and talking about the wonder of cross-referencing in scripture, or “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13). Suddenly, this brother said to me, “We’re going to be cross-referencing for all eternity.”
• If you’re carnal, you’re thinking “Whoop de do. Heaven’s really going to be boring.” Let me tell you something, Demas. You’ll love the word of God up there, even if you didn’t down here, but it will be too late to love it like you should’ve in time and earn the rewards you could’ve earned if you had loved it.
• So the world has its books, the devil has his, both of which are designed to keep a man from Christ, but thank God has given us his books (scriptures), and many books have also been written about the Lord to help us understand his books better.
General reading (2 Tim. 4:13)
• It’s the closing hours of Paul’s life. He knows that he’s about to die (v. 6), and what does he ask for? Ice cream? That’s what Timothy McVeigh asked for as his last meal (two pints of mint chocolate chip, per Wikipedia). But food was the last thing on Paul’s mind. He asks for a cloke (winter is approaching), books, and parchments, all of which he left in Troas, where apparently he was apprehended and shipped to Rome.
• One can speculate as to which books he wanted. No doubt he’d want the scriptures, considering his proximity to death. But he just says books, and also parchments, which I believe he wanted to write to others with. Men of letters like Paul don’t just read; they write. The thing is, the more of that Book you take in, the more you feel constrained to give it out; and that’s why I think he asked for parchments. He couldn’t go anywhere, but he could write. Obviously he could, since 2 Timothy was an epistle that he sent to Timothy, probably by Tychichus (v. 12). So to his last breath, Paul wants to learn and minister.
• Erasmus said, “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes." For me, it’s more like, “When I have a little money, I buy Gerber and Huggies, and if I have any left, I must have miscalculated.”
• Spurgeon also had a famous quote about Paul's books...[not posted here for brevity; see http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0542.htm]
• I think that the Lord may have left it general to encourage us toward general reading: the Bible first, whatever helps you can lay your hands on, and other wholesome books that enlighten and edify. In my opinion, the ultimate value of a book is how much it helps you know God and his word and bear the fruit that comes from such knowledge.
• One other thought: note the judgment seat of Christ in the near context (v. 8). Two good ways to prepare for it: read and write. Take in the word and wholesome literature and minister the truth to others, through writing and speaking (v. 2, “Preach the word…”).
Judgment Day Books (Dan. 7:10; Rev. 20:12)
• Daniel has been called the Revelation of the old testament. The great white throne judgment is NOT covered for the first time in Revelation. It also appears in Daniel 7.
• One might think that this scene describes the judgment of nations at the second advent (Mt. 25:31-46), with a thousand thousands of his mighty angels ministering to him, and millions standing before him.
• One problem with that view: there are no books at the judgment of nations, but there are at the white throne judgment in Rev. 20.
• So we get our first glimpse of the last (white throne) judgment, sometimes called Doomsday, in the old testament, with Revelation providing supplementary details, since it’s the consummation of all the prophecies concerning Israel.
• These books record deeds, including ones no one ever saw but God, and words, secret and open, intentional and idle. “…the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (v. 12). I’m not sure if motives will be judged, but God may write “murder” or “adultery” in the book where he saw it in someone’s heart (1 John 3:15; Mt. 5:28), though they may not have carried it out.
• The Domesday Book is a manuscript that records the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086. The survey was executed for William I of England (the Conqueror) to determine who held what and what taxes had been liable under his predecessor, Edward the Confessor.The judgment of the Domesday assessors was final—whatever the book said about who held the material wealth or what it was worth was the law, and there was no appeal.
• The book was known by the English as "Domesday," that is the Day of Judgment: “for as the sentence of that strict and terrible last account cannot be evaded by any skilful subterfuge, so when this book is appealed to ... its sentence cannot be put quashed or set aside with impunity. That is why we have called the book 'the Book of Judgment' ... because its decisions, like those of the Last Judgment, are unalterable” (Wikipedia).
• Putting something in a book, in general, gives it a sense of finality, something to be preserved for ever, as we saw in Job 19, and the judgments meted out for what’s recorded in these books are everlasting.
• What’s in the Domesdaybook was final, and what’s in the real “Doomsday” books at the white throne judgment is final. Men may lie and deny, but the books stand.
Summary Points
• One thing you may have noticed, but which I’ll reiterate in closing, is that all the passages dealing with books in the plural have judgment in the context:
o Eccl. 12:14—temporally and at the white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15)
o Acts 19:19—self-judgment
o John 21:24—testimony
o Dan. 9:2—captivity of Israel
o 2 Tim. 4:13 (cf. v. 8—judgment seat of Christ)
o Dan. 7:10/Rev. 20:12 (white throne judgment)
• Note the seven references to books in the plural. Since seven is the number of perfection in scripture, this would imply (devotionally) that a saint can’t be perfected without books, namely the Book of books, the Bible.
• You have everything you need for spiritual perfection in the KJB (2 Tim. 3:16-17), which is what will prepare you for judgment to come.
• When Paul stood before Felix, and reasoned of “…judgment to come,” Felix trembled, because he wasn’t ready to be judged.
• The judgment seat of Christ will be a fearful scene (2 Cor. 5:10-11), but you can certainly prepare for it by giving yourself to books, first of all those of scripture, and other books that can help you mature and “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12).
Soli Deo Gloria
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good
(Transcript of Bible study taught at Landmark Baptist Church, Locust Grove, GA on 17 November 2013; landmarkbaptistga.com)
Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good
Romans 8:31-9:5
Most of us have heard the saying, “He’s so heavenly minded that he’s no earthly good.” I understand the spirit of that saying, but I have some issues with it. First of all, it implies that it’s more important to be earthly good. It’s not. If I had to pick one, I’d pick heavenly mindedness. It’s quite rare these days, frankly, even in the church.
With the failure of the church as a whole to consistently rightly divide the word of truth, there’s much more emphasis on the earthly in the church than the heavenly, and consequently true heavenly mindedness has largely faded away.
Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, gave the sermon at Prince William’s marriage to Kate Middleton in April 2011, and he mentioned the reality of God fading from so many lives in the west. The same may be said, in a sense, of many believers. Earthly things are far more real to them than heavenly, and that’s not the way it should be.
It is important, however, for our lives to influence our fellow men. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 5:20, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” So we have a solemn duty toward men to give them the gospel.
We also have the more general duty of doing good to all men, as Paul tells us in Gal. 6:10, which would include, of course, evangelism but also any type of lawful aid we can provide others, to support the doctrine we preach. When Paul says that servants should “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (Tit. 2:10) that’s what he’s referring to. In street language, walking the talk.
To tie this together, I think that our goal as believers should be to be heavenly minded and earthly good. I really don’t think that you can be one without the other. How can you truly profit others down here without being heavenly minded? You can work as many soup kitchens as you like, but if you’re not “holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 2:16) as well, you are failing your fellow man. Likewise, a right relationship with God in heavenly things should drive you to church and out into the world to serve others. If you follow the word of God, it will produce both of these things in you.
In this lesson, I’d like to give you several examples from Paul’s epistles of this heavenly/earthly balance, which is unmistakable in the life of our apostle. You’re not following Paul by being a mere philanthropist, but nor are you following him by being a cloistered mystic. Both of those extremes are worldly, even the cloister. The cloister proves that the world has power over men’s hearts, and they think that withdrawing from the world will fix this. It won’t. What will fix the problem is believing Paul’s gospel and personal communion with God, which can happen anywhere and is the only thing that can displace the world in your heart.
1. Romans 8:31-9:5
The most glorious passage on the eternal security of the believer in the Pauline epistles. I don’t have time to expound it, but I will say that it reaches a peak in vv. 38-39, where Paul states that nothing, absolutely nothing, can change our position in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So that’s our heavenly position. But notice the sudden change in tone as we begin chapter 9, esp. in the first three verses. We’ve gone from a hallelujah passage on eternal security to “great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart” and “I could wish myself accursed from Christ” (vv. 2-3). Well, that’s impossible based on what he said in 8:31-39, and the fact that Christ already bore our curse on the cross (v. 34; Gal. 3:13).
Nonetheless, you see how great Paul’s burden is for the Israelites, that they might enjoy these spiritual blessings on top of the ones they were given under the old testament (vv. 4-5).
It’s a good, though strange, balance. He exults in the church’s security in 8:31-39, but laments the Jews’ plight in 9:1-5. He’s heavenly minded, and earthly good. He understands his position and blessings in Christ, yet he has a burden for those without them-a very deep one.
I think that the more you realize how rich you are in Christ, the greater your burden should be for others. Lately I’ve been listening to numerous historical novels by G.A. Henty on mp3 in my car. I have a 40-minute commute one-way to Forest Park, so I’ve got plenty of time for listening to messages, music, and wholesome books like Henty’s.
The one I’m currently listening to, Winning his Spurs, deals with an English lad who joins Richard the Lionheart on the Third Crusade in the late 1100’s. Henty is very honest in his portrayal of religion in the middle ages. He doesn’t try to make the characters evangelicals. There were relatively few of those in that time. The vast majority of Europeans in those days lived and died as Catholics or Orthodox, never knowing Paul’s gospel. Realizing this the other day made me VERY thankful for what I have and reminds me of the duty I have to give Paul’s gospel to others.
2. Rom. 11:30-12:1-2
I preached on this passage recently, so I’m going to keep my remarks on it brief. Paul breaks out into praise after showing God’s wise plan to save Jews and Gentiles in this age, using each group’s belief and unbelief to bring the other to salvation.
He points out how blessed both groups are by the Lord with mercy, but then he comes back down to earth again in 12:1-2. OK, saints, in light of these mercies, here’s what you should do on earth: sell out. Give God your body (which belongs to him—1 Cor. 6:19-20), and therefore your life, since he’s been so merciful to you. Mercy is not getting what you deserve, which in our case is death (Rom. 6:23). So it stands to reason (v. 1—reasonable), that you should give God your life, since he had every legal right to take it from you, before you were saved, Amen?
3. 1 Cor. 3:20-4:5
Paul emphasizes the fabulous spiritual wealth of the believer to show why it’s silly to glory in men. All the light God gave to Paul, Apollos, and Cephas is ours, and we are equipped in Christ, both spiritually and temporally, to face anything (the world, life, death, things present, and things to come). We are in Christ, who is in God, and therefore all that is God’s is ours through Christ. Hallelujah!
But it doesn’t stop there. God expects you, have freely received, to freely give. If you know the mysteries of God, it’s your duty to give them out faithfully (vv. 1-2). Your stewardship will be reviewed at the judgment seat of Christ (v. 5). Heavenly minded (all things are your’s), earthly good (stewards of the mysteries of God).
4. 1 Cor. 15:50-16:3
The last portion of 1 Cor. 15 is yet another hallelujah passage of scripture. The “rapturous” portion ends in 15:57, but notice the shift in three verses back down to earth: “work…labour” (15:58) and a “collection” in 16:1-3.
Caught up to heaven in glory and a collection plate! What a contrast! It’s all part of the same package, though, right? 2 Cor. 6:10, “As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
Heavenly minded: looking for that blessed hope, loving his appearing; earthly good: always abounding in the work of the Lord and being liberal to others. You can be both! It’s OK to have your head in the clouds, as long as your hands are busy down here! In my basement bathroom I have a placard that says, “Hands to work, hearts to God.” Heavenly minded and earthly good.
5. 2 Cor. 12:1-10
Paul is caught up to the third heaven, likely when he’s stoned at Lystra, and gets a foretaste, I believe, of the rapture to come. How fitting, in my eyes, that the wise masterbuilder and first member of the body of Christ should get a taste of the event he’s teaching all believers in this age will experience, just like he got a long draught of the grace all believers would experience after him (1 Tim. 1:14-16).
In order, however, for Paul to remain earthly good (v. 9), God gives him a thorn in the flesh to deal with. How does this make him earthly good? It helps him experience the grace of God and encourage others thereby, in addition to revelations he had received. You can be heavenly minded and “have all knowledge,” but if you don’t have charity or grace, you have nothing. Amy Carmichael has a wonderful little booklet called If, in which she describes various attitudes believers may have that show how lacking in grace they are. It’s not for the fainthearted, but I encourage you to get a copy from Chrisitan Literature Crusade, which publishes most of her books.
If you’re blessed with abundant revelation from God, and you know who you are, prepare yourself for a deep experience of the grace of God; you will be proud and useless otherwise.
6. Eph. 3:20-4:3
Along with the end of Rom. 8, the close of Eph. 3 is some of the highest ground in Paul’s epistles, if not the highest ground: God’s omnipotence working in the church and the church bringing him glory for ever. Wow! That’s high ground. But look at 4:1-3—imprisonment for Christ and submitting yourself to other believers. Listen, the end of chapter 3 turns into hoopla, in a sense, if you’re not willing to suffer for Christ and get along with other believers. That is what will bring God the most glory now and later: i.e., for you to be heavenly minded and earthly good.
7. Phil. 3:20-4:5
In the last few verses of chapter 3, we’re clearly in a heavenly context, but what do we see in the beginning of chapter 4? Standing fast in the Lord (v. 1), likemindedness (v. 2), helping others (v. 3), rejoicing (v. 4), moderation (v. 5)…earthly good. Understanding our heavenly position should, negatively, keep us from minding earthly things (3:19), but also, positively, make us useful on earth, to all men (v. 5).
8. Col. 3:1-11
The first four verses deal with our heavenly position and destination, things we should set our affection on (3:2; heavenly minded). Note the shift in v. 5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth…” Put the flesh to death, and treat other believers right (vv. 9-11).
9. 1 Thes. 4:13-18; 5:8-12
Both of these passages deal with the rapture, which we should be looking for, not be hopeless over believers who have died nor asleep when we should be watching. That’s the heavenly mindedness; but notice how each passage ends: with an exhortation to comfort and/or edify other believers.
If you are heavenly minded, your response to the hope of Christ’s coming will be encouraging other believers with that same hope and building them up in the Lord while they wait. It’s not enough for you to have the hope: you need to impart the blessings of that hope to others on earth; for example, that they will see those in Christ who precede them in death. Both passages show that both living and dead saints will be together with the Lord when he returns, and this can be a great comfort to those still on earth.
10. 2 Thes. 2:13-17
We’re bound for glory by God’s decree, per 2:13-14, in light of our belief of the truth and the Spirit’s sanctification (careful you don’t read this like a Calvinist). How should this affect us? You guessed it: do good on earth: stand fast, hold Paul’s traditions (v. 15), and work (v. 17), just like we’ve read in other passages
11. 1 Tim. 6:13-19
The Lord is coming back to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, hallelujah (vv. 13-16). Very next verse he starts talking about money and giving it away. This world (v. 17) is soon to pass away, so better invest that money in getting others ready for the next life, amen? Heavenly minded (the King is coming) and earthly good (help others be ready).
12. 2 Tim. 4:18-22
Paul shows himself heavenly minded and earthly good to the last. He boldly declares in v. 18 that not even Caesar, the king of the world at that time, can stop his soul from reaching God’s heavenly kingdom, do what he will with his body. But immediately after declaring this glorious prospect, he says, “Tell Prisca, Aquila, and the Onesiphorus household hello.” He’s right back down to earth, being a blessing to those around him and encouraging them in the Lord.
It’s so like Christ on the cross. He’s not really thinking about himself, but others. Look at the last thing Paul says. “The Lord Jesus Christ (his greatest love) be with thy spirit (Timothy, his dearest earthly friend). Grace be with you (church). Amen.” What a fitting close to the apostle of grace’s life. I’m going on to heaven, where I always wanted to be, but grace be with you on earth.
I hope that this survey has been a blessing and impressed on you’re the need and possibility of being heavenly minded and earthly good.
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