(Matthew 12:38-42). He knew what it was to lose a loved one. Now it may seem odd to us, who do not have the full picture of the Jewish culture, that Martha would even know such a thing. [8] Romano, August 23, 2013, notes on Luke 15 talk. God doesnt not discriminate based on sex, age, race, and ethnicity. That is why John characterizes it as the village of Mary and her sister Martha. He initiates a love for us that softens our hearts, and draws us to Himself. (Philippians 2:12-13). [xi] We must inculcate His truths into our minds and lives. We cant go very far without noting a few things in this new chapter. This is not saying they ought all to be teachers in the sense we have today as one called to preach, but rather they must be able to convey their beliefs to others this is at the heart of making disciples (Matt. John Frame describes the difference between Amils and Post-mills: Well, although the postmil agrees with the amil that our age is a time of persecution for the church, he also thinks that during this time Christians will come to have more and more influence in general culture. The Father has a sovereign plan, and the Son knows that all things are in the hand of the Father this is illustrated all the more in verse 9. So should it be with us but this means we must have hearts that are desirous of this and not simply our own obsessions and hobbies. In order to understand most of the NT especially the words of Jesus and the book of Revelation we need to understand this important principle. And as you meditate on and memorize the word of God, pray to the Lord and ask for His help to understand it and deeply engrain it in your mind so that when you face a Peter Moment you will have the sword ready to go. 262-263. Certainly the most glaring example of suffering and death being used for Gods pleasure is the example of Jesus Christs own passion and death. In order to do that, we must be knowledge about what He says in His Word. We love the world more than we love God. Sproul says, Mans natural tendency is to flee from the presence of God and to have no affection for the biblical Christ. The fundamental task of the church is to bear witness to the kingdom of God. 846-847. [xi] John Frame, Systematic Theology, Pg. Such was the nature of His patience and longsuffering. Jesus, in effect, was showing them that they didnt understand Him because they didnt understand the nature of the person of the messiah and his mission. And as we see in chapter 15, it is a kingdom populated by sinners. [21] Why do you ask me? The vast majority of its occurrences are therefore in Johns writings, as it is also found 24 times in Johns three epistles, and just three times in Peter. ", But Thompson also knew the unrelenting love of Jesus, the hound of heaven. It has been a few months since you studied these passages, so let me just remind you that Jesus had come into Jerusalem riding on a colt people triumphantly praising His arrival, which John details in chapter 12. It was perhaps at its height at the end of the 19th century when medical cures were being found, the industrial revolution was in full swing, and great revivals had swept across the world many times over the course of the past several hundred years. Clearly there was the implication that they would like Jesus to come to their aid, and there was certainly the suggestion that he might help them by healing Lazarus. Make no mistake, every man, whether spiritually alive or spiritually dead, will face the judgment of Christ when He comes back in glory. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, [16] but Peter stood outside at the door. Therefore the last time that Peter and conversed with the Lord in any substantive manner was during the Farewell Discourses when, as we recall, Peter had proudly declared that hed follow Jesus even unto death. I want us to focus on 3 Key Points we must take away from this passage, which we will see rise up again and again in our reading today: What the author of Hebrews says here, is not an isolated teaching, but reflects what we see throughout the Scriptures from the immutable plans of God for his image bearers, namely that God desires for us to know Him more intimately and to repent of the sin that hinders us from doing so: And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, [46] he said to them, Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. We need hearts whose desires are to follow hard after Christ, not spend endless years on spiritual life support! You must either give up your sins or give up all hope of heaven. In the context of the Fourth Gospel, these verses deal with Peters reinstatement to service, not his elevation to primacy.. Well, we certainly make that decision, but not until we are born again otherwise we would never desire to choose to believe. This is a trait of a true follower of Christ. We might sleek into the pits of electronic sex. Both men were elevated to the highest positions in the land due to their faith. I dont want to spoil the ending but above I've taken a snippet of how the poem starts, which I think is an apt description of how we started out before truly knowing Christ. 1088, [xiv] John Frame, Systematic Theology, Pg. They are contained on thirty-eight thousand pages of small print and total about 20 million words. They will call out a witnessing people who shall serve Christ in every land, but they will do no more. But when I look at my family and home and those I love and realize he is working to destroy those things and those people, only by Gods power can I love this enemy of mine. The Hound of Heaven: The Story of Francis Thompson is a compelling documentary that tells the human story behind the poem. I love the fact that He has identified with us in our suffering. 2, Spring, 2001, p. 7). The work of the Church will be completed, and the reckoning of results will take place. In order to find the answer we need to flip back to chapter 17 where Jesus says this: [12] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. This charge I have received from my Father. (John 10:17-18 ESV). This is what happens here. 23:6-12) and Jesus final appearance before Pilate (Mt. [13] He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. He opened my eyes to see the gloriousness of the gospel. (Psalm 80:1-2). Up vistaed hopes I sped and shot precipitated. Not, Tend your flock, but Tend my sheep.. This view robs the church of important teachings concerning the kingdom that are clearly set forth in the New Testament. It is at this moment that the story begins to turn from confusion and bewilderment to joy and restoration. 3:18), It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me (John 6:44-45), ***Jesus connects knowing God soteriologically and says its the results of His Spirits work within us, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. But this is not the case. We should recall that the tension between the Jewish religious leadership in Jerusalem and Christ was at a boiling point at this time. For He delights in taking weak dying sinners and bathing them in the nutrition imparting light of His gospel. Mark emphasizes that the same malady afflicts the disciples. The man who benefits from the miracle has been dead for fully 4 days. You were dead. We all must stand in debt and awe that the Hound of Heaven has chased us down, has set His great and mighty love upon us, and though we deserved it not, has rescued us from certain death. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Well let me tell you, without the Spirit of God strengthening you, you would certainly have failed, just like Peter did. Similarly, God doesnt love the world because the world is inherently good. Would God keep his children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary? There are no choices here. [21] The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Oh the infinite power, infinite knowledge bound up in the person of Jesus. 11:54-57Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Listen to what God says to Isaiah about the hearts of men: Our deeds are evil, and we love our sinful ways. Jesus was all to him. One can really sense the authority and majesty of Jesus in the fact that no one dared ask him, Who are you?. 2:16). THE possession of a God, or the non-possession of a God, makes the greatest possible difference between man and man. If theres a second point, it is that the lowly, the meek, the humble who seek repentance are those who populate the kingdom of God. His power is immutable, as are all His other qualities. John is concerned to show that Christ Jesus understands our pains, He understands our sorrows. But let us go to him., It wasnt a terribly common thing in second temple culture to use the euphemism fall asleep for death, but if we scan the entirety of Scripture we see it is actually a very common phrase/word overall especially in the books of Kings and Chronicles (examples: 1 Kings 22:40, 50; 2 Kings 8:24, 10:35). [12] As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 12, no. We weep because we are dying and we live in a dying world. The New Testament church has become the Israel of God. Frame says, Similarly, the first death is the physical death of human being; the second death is the condemnation of the wicked, a death that believers do not experience.[xiv]. Peter is given the chance to identify with Christ, with His Lord, and instead of doing so He cowers. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV). The church feeds off of the Word of God. Its a different way of saying what Spurgeon says about the corruption of the intellect. So the resurrection should not have been a surprise, but I believe that in the moment it was a shock, and the disciples were stunned by the sequence of unfolding events. As Jesus has already told us in chapter 10: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. Just a few sentences later Spurgeon goes on to say, It is the spirit, the real inner meaning, that is sucked into the soul, by which we are blessed and sanctified. But he learned the hard way that leaning on Christ is the only way to make it through this life. These are great ideas to reflect upon in the coming days, and a marvelous reminder of the richness of Scripture. So John gets to the tomb but theres no Jesus, and he doesnt enter into the gravesite but observes the scene from outside the door. The apostle says we dont want to come into the light because we dont want our deeds exposed. Therefore, if you have in your heart today any affection for Christ at all, it is because God the Holy Spirit in His sweetness, in His power, in His mercy, and in His grace has been to the cemetery of your soul and has raised you from the dead. That one so young, so sheltered, trained from his babyhood in the ways of God, could have felt so much and have had such exercises of soul may seem impossible, his own account of his darkness and despair may appear exaggerated; but those who are versed in the ways of God will understand. But still, there are some observations that may hearten us and enrich the passage as a whole. [34] Who is to condemn? Snow sits upon it in winterand the heat of the sun bakes it in the summer. God is treating you as sons. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:17-20), He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. So when Christ says, let us go to Judea again we can perhaps understand the nature of the disciples concernthey knew full well the danger of what Jesus was suggesting. NOTES: But in this account I believe that Jesus is almost certainly referring to the revealing of His person/deity and not specifically seeking praise. 11:27She said to him, Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.. [10] Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught. [11] So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. 3:12)[ix]. Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven. I love how Christs perfect timing crushes our doubt and shows us that He alone holds the keys to truth and life. Jesus doesnt promise an easy road, but He promises life instead of death. I do not address a people this morning who feel no care as to whether they serve God or not. [viii] What He is doing now in and through us by His Spirit and His Lordship over all history and creation is a shadow of what will be upon the consummation of His purposes. We are to be people marked by inward heart transformation and a mind renewed in the knowledge of God, which we can readily share with others. When I read this passage several years ago I thought (rightly) that I cant teach anyone now, but realized that my inability wasnt God telling me not to teach, but rather it was Him calling me to learn and grow closer to Him in obedience in order to teach when the time presented itself. It was included in the Oxford Book of . [5] And I said: Woe is me! The meaning is understood. [15] So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. Where did it go? With this cursory understanding of the kingdom of God under our belts, let us examine the four major views on the reign of Christ in the millennium. [xvii] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke 21:10-19. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. Even in the midst of all this seeming chaos, Jesus is getting everything He wants. As long as ever I could, I rebelled, and revolted, and struggled against God. So John came first with his warning of the radical nearness of the kingdom. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. All those who boldly proclaimed headship over their lives will suddenly realize the oxygen they suck has been a precious gift from the one who upholds all the planets by the power of His word (Heb. 4.18. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, (Hebrews 2:11), It is for discipline that you have to endure. 19-24) sets forth the inescapable response to the inescapable God: personal holiness. For when we speak of the millennium were talking about the Kingdom of God, and specifically the reign of His Christ. Which is why it is with great irony that they are the ones who claim this passage (along with Matthew 16:13-20) as one which sets down the primacy of Peter because not only does it do nothing of the sort, but even if it did, they do not follow the instructions to him who was supposedly made primal. Often it is very easy to get caught up in viewpoints about the millennium, and I do not want to detract from the importance of the millennium. In His speech to the disciples He is patient and kind. Believing in the Son glorifies God because it gives proper due to who the Son is, and it magnifies Him. The reaction to the miracles of Christ is always of interest to me. We must trust in His promises as Jesus trusted in the Father until the final breath of. Her response shows she has still not transcended the explanation to which she had earlier gravitated (vs.2).. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, [18]and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.(Genesis 22:15-18), Therefore God used His Son Jesus Christ to die for the sins of His people His chosen people, a holy nation, a people called after His own name. He does not glory in your pain, but sees past that and rejoices in the glory to be revealed to you His glory. It is why one of my favorite verses in Scripture is Exodus 33:11. At the heart of the Spirits work within us is His desire for us to know Christ more. Brethren, in heaven we shall dive into the deepest depths of fellowship with Jesus . It is overwhelming to me. We are well familiar with the precious words of Hebrews 4: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 118. And thats the key word, is it not? All else, all other priorities fade for the moment, and the search consumes everything.[8]. Note also that when He healed people, he didnt just give them an aspirin. Another time the Pharisees asked Him when the kingdom of God would come, and Jesus replied, Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you (Luke 17:21). They dont want to hear that they are sinners and that their sin is wrong. 11:5-7 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. They come to church every week and never apply their minds past the elementary truths. It means the great drama of the history of salvation has been inaugurated, and that the new age has been ushered in. John doesnt give all the details that the other gospel writers do here, and I think James Boice is right that he doesnt do this because his goal is not to focus (as with Luke) on the humanity of Christ (sweating blood for instance), but rather on the power of the Son of God. [iv], And so he stops and levels this charge against them (read verses 11-12). And yet here it seems as though Jesus is saying that He has died for the entire world, and that all we need to do is believe. [30] Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, [31] he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. The presence of the grave clothes also shows that the story the Jewish leaders concocted, that the disciples stole Christs body (Matt. When all else fails, kill the person who stands in his way. Knowing all of that, I think that the best way to understand the word World here is that is refers to all mankind Jews and Gentiles. Although Thompson was a follower of Christ, he struggled with poverty, poor health, and an addiction to opium (which in those days was sold as an "over-the-counter" medication). [55]Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. He says, In Pliny the Elders Historia Naturalis he lists all the known fish species at the time. I think the difference lies in whether or not one believes that His current reign is somewhat lesser or mostly spiritual (i.e. And where we spend our time and money is an accurate reflection of where our affections truly lie. [20] And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. (Luke 1:19-20), Gabriel is saying, I was JUST in heaven before Gods throne. Jesus tells us explicitly that in order to be born again, one must be born of Water and the Spirit not of any human work (lest any man should boast). Losing the coin wasnt just a write off, or bad business, it could be fatal. The second point is mind blowing and its also where people get tripped up in Universalism. . God be praised for His mercy. May we do the same. The main thing to realize coming into this chapter is that Jesus is in complete control over that plan, and over every hour and indeed every moment of His life.
1302 Esplanade, Redondo Beach, Ca 90277, Articles H