144,000 Will Be Saved

In the historic liturgy, the Divine Service, the gathered congregation enters the presence of God by remembering the cleansing power of Holy Baptism. The worshippers make upon themselves the sign of the cross (†), remembering that this sign was made upon their heads and hearts during their baptism to mark them as those redeemed by Christ's death and washed clean in His blood.

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin 

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;

There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,

Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

The Lamb pauses before opening the seventh seal of the scroll to unleash the terrifying judgments of God upon mankind. He pauses in order to comfort and strengthen the saints and to assure them that He will not forget them during the forthcoming terrors and tribulation. They will be rescued to stand before the throne of God to serve Him and He will shelter them with his presence forever.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." - Rev 7:16-17 ESV

Ghent Altarpiece - Adoration of the Lamb of God

Who are these sealed servants and how many are they? They are . . .

. . .  a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" - Rev 7:9-10 ESV

God's mercy reaches out to a great multitude that no one could number! Cleansed of their sins and wearing the white robes of Christ's righteousness (Rev. 6:11), they wave their palm branches as did those who welcomed Jesus on the first Palm Sunday (John 12:12-13). He has heard their Hosanna pleas for salvation and rescue and answered them.  In joyful response they lift up their voices to cry, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!"

In turn they are joined by the angels, elders and the four living creatures to worship God, saying,

"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." - Rev 7:12 ESV

 These are those sealed by the seal of the living God. The reference to a seal was well known to the Apostles and early Christians. Just as the Children of Israel received the sign or seal of circumcision to mark them as God's children (Rom 4:11), so God's New Testament children are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit as the guarantee that they will inherit the resurrection from the dead and life eternal with their heavenly Father (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:22). They are the true Israel of God (Rom 9:6-16; Gal 6:15-16), saved from the foundation of the earth (1 Pet 1:17-21).

To emphasize and confirm God's eternal plan the Revelation uses the great symbol of the 144,000. This number symbolizes the totality of all believers in both the Old and New Testament times, all those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb

Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood - Rev 1:5 ESV  

And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, - Rev 5:9 ESV  

I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. - Rev 7:14 ESV

It would be a great mistake to literalize this number, contrary to the way numbers are used throughout the Revelation. The number 12 is used to name the 12 tribes of Israel. In turn Jesus chose 12 Apostles (Luke 6:12-16) to lead the new Israel. However note that in naming the 12 tribes of Israel here there are several peculiarities.

1. Judah is listed first rather than Reuben, the eldest of Jacob's sons. This is because the Messiah, the Christ, came from the tribe of Judah as foretold (Gen. 49:10; Heb 7:14). The Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5), the King of all kings and the Ruler of His people.  
2. The tribe of Dan is absent. This tribe turned to idolatry (Judges 17:1-18:31) and was eliminated. 
3. In order to complete the symbolical number 12, Manasseh, Joseph's firstborn (Gen. 41:50-51) is substituted.
4. Then, rather than Ephraim, Joseph's second son, the tribe of Joseph is listed (Rev 7:8).

Then the tribes multiply to become 144,000. That number stands for the perfect and complete number of God's people, the square of 12 (both OT and NT believers) multiplied by the cube of 10 (12 x 12 x 10 x 10 x 10). 

Thus believers in the Lamb throughout the 1,000 years of the Lamb's reign are comforted. More on that later (Rev. 20:2-7). 

Neither Hot Nor Cold

Only one of the seven churches of Revelation is not commended for anything, the church in Laodicea. Instead this church is censured for its spiritual pride and self-satisfaction.

"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" - Rev 3:14-22 ESV

Christ introduced himself as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. Amen is a transliterated Hebrew word originally used by Jews to confirm a prayer or discourse and make it their own. Used in many languages, it is nearly a universal word and almost identical to the Hebrew word for "believe"(Aman). These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning, the originator of God's creation. 

Laodicea

The Laodiceans were a lukewarm, tepid church, neither hot nor cold. The Greek word for boiling hot is zestos, the same word in English. This is not a word that describes the complacent, self-satisfied Laodiceans. Materially rich, living in a prosperous Roman trade city, they failed to see a real need for the LORD's riches and power. They believed themselves to have all they needed, but lacked living water, the living power of the Spirit (John 7:38-39; Isa 44:3; 58:11.

True riches are described in this letter as gold refined by fire (Rev. 3:18). The LORD is the refiner who separates His chosen priests from the dross of the impure world around them. Thus He prepares them to proclaim the wonderful deeds of Him who calls them out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9). Clothed by Him in white garments to cover their shame they will be prepared for what is to come.

And He will come soon. He is about to knock on the door. They are to expect His return at any moment, especially when they face tribulation, persecution and internal fighting. These are signs of the Master's imminent return.

From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. - Mark 13:28-29 ESV

Like men waiting for their master to return from his wedding feast, they were to be wide-awake servants.

Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! - Luk 12:35-38 ESV

 This leads to the final promise. They would sit with Him on His throne and drink at His table. Already now the church has a foretaste of this great banquet. Jesus spoke about this feast to come when he healed the servant of a humble Roman centurion. As Revelation closes this feast is called the marriage super of the Lamb. 

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, - Mat 8:11; Luke 13:29 ESV

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." - Rev 19:6-9 ESV

In The Spirit On The Lord's Day

We move now from reflections on John's introduction to The Revelation to his first vision, first to what he heard, a loud voice like a trumpet. 

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet ... - Rev 1:10 ESV

What does John mean when he says he was "in the Spirit on the Lord's day"? The Lord's day refers to that day related to or belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. The only other thing listed with that word kyriakos is the Lord's supper, the sacred meal instituted by Christ (1 Cor. 11:20). The Lord's day is the day devoted to the Lord in sacred memory of Christ's resurrection. Here we see the practice of the early Christians to set aside the first day of the week for worship and meditation upon Christ's resurrection and God's Word.

So it was on that first day of the week, the Lord's day, that John was in the Spirit. What is he telling us? The phrase is fairly common:

• Ezekiel: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. - Eze 37:1 ESV

• David: He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, "'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? - Matt 22:43-44 ESV

• John the Baptist: and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, (1Kings 17-2 Kings 1) to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." - Luke 1:17 ESV

• Simeon: And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, - Luke 2:27 ESV

• Apostle Paul: Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." - Acts 19:21 ESV

• Disciples of Christ: You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him...      - Rom 8:5-17 ESV

• Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. - 1Cor 12:3 ESV

Ezekiel and David were blessed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. That Spirit revealed God's plan for Israel and the promised coming of the messianic King who was to ascend to the Father and rule over all things until the day of the final judgment when all of His enemies would become subject to Him. John the Baptist, in turn, spoke the strong Word of the Lord to his generation, calling all of Israel to repent and return to the Lord. He too was under the power and guidance of the Spirit. Simeon had long reflected upon God's promises. He was waiting for the coming of the Messiah as he worshiped in the Temple. And when he saw Mary and Joseph with the Child the same Spirit spoke to His heart. This is the One, this is the promised Messiah! The Apostle Paul, in turn, always followed the lead of the Holy Spirit as he fulfilled his mission. 

Now we also must ask if the same Holy Spirit is at work in our lives. Are we in the Spirit? Are we filled with the Holy Spirit? Are we baptized with the Holy Spirit? Do all these phrases refer to the same thing? The answer to all those questions would take up many blogs and much study of the Holy Scriptures. Suffice it to note that if the Spirit of God dwells in you then you know in your heart that Jesus, true God and true Man, rose from the dead and that His sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary was also for you. Your debt has been paid. You are an adopted child of God and the Spirit of God is at work in your heart, calling you to faith in Him and opening your heart to the eternal future that is ours in Christ. Read Paul's marvelous teaching in Romans 8 and continue to reflect upon what God is revealing to His children. The more you are in the Word, the more the Holy Spirit will strengthen and confirm your faith. 

When you are in the Spirit, I cannot say that you should expect a new revelation such as that given to the Apostle John. However, the Spirit will both confirm your faith in our risen Lord and guide you through the Word to do God's will. Let us all, therefore, seek to be in the Spirit, not only on the Lord's Day, but every day. 

From here we will explore the first of John's visions and will remember that this is primarily a book of symbols, as noted earlier. 

The Gospel Is Written On Our Hearts

Last time we learned from the letter to the Hebrews of the LORD's plan to make a new covenant with the house of Israel. Here are the marks of that covenant as described originally by the prophet Jeremiah:

• The LORD will put His law within them and write it on their hearts
• He alone will be their God
• And they shall be His people

What does that imply? 

First, consider carefully about whom Hebrews speaks when it quotes Jeremiah's prophecy about the LORD. The powerful, undeniable affirmation in this letter and in the entire church is that Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, is both the promised Messianic King, the Christ and the eternal Son of God with whom the Father is pleased. So we read again and again in the Gospels: 

• And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!" - Luk 9:35 ESV
• and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." - Mat 3:17 ESV
• All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. - Mat 11:27 ESV
• And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." - Mar 1:11 ESV
• For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." - Mar 8:38 ESV
• And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." - Mar 9:7 ESV

 And in the Epistles

• . . . if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Rom 10:9 ESV
• Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. - 1Cr 12:3 ESV
• . . . yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. - 1Cr 8:6 ESV
• Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Phl 2:9-11 ESV

This same LORD promises to put His law within. The LAW about which Jeremiah writes is not merely a new set of laws like the Ten Commandments or the many ceremonial laws connected with the old covenant. It is not about keeping these commands so as to gain God's forgiveness and blessings. It is so much more than that. This Torah (Hebrew) is the entire teaching about God's promises, about the Messiah, the Suffering Servant who would bear the sins of all men. It is about God's grace and mercy. We Christians know it as the Gospel, the Good News, the Evangel. It is what this letter to the Hebrews has been all about up to this point. It is the story of Jesus and His sacrificial offering upon the cross for all men. 

This wondrous teaching is written on the hearts of believers by the promised Holy Spirit. It is to this that the great feast of Pentecost pointed as it emphasizes the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit on men's hearts. The prophet Joel taught the same thing as Jeremiah. Peter quoted Joel in his Pentecost sermon. 

"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. - Act 2:17-18 ESV

Paul preached the same message. It was the essence of his teaching. For instance, he wrote to the believers in Corinth, affirming that he was indeed a true Apostle, sent by  the LORD Jesus.

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. - 2Cr 3:2-4 ESV

The Apostle John, in turn, writes about the internal testimony or witness of the Holy Spirit at work in men's hearts.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. - 1Jo 5:9-12 ESV

We who have this teaching written by the Spirit on our hearts know with joyous confidence that we are and ever shall be the children of God, the new Israel. So Paul wrote to the Galatians.

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. - Gal 6:14-16 ESV

 The Apostle Peter wrote about the new Israel in the same way.

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. - 1Pe 2:2-10 ESV

 We who have this wonderful teaching written on our hearts know the LORD in our hearts, from the lowliest, the least to the greatest. Thus the old covenant is gone and the new has come to us in Jesus Christ. We will continue to rejoice in this as we follow the writer to the Hebrews further.

Angels, God's Servants And Ours

Angels remain a favorite topic of interest around the world. I have written about them many times in this blog, e.g.

• Who are the angels? 
• The dark side of all the talk about angels 
• What is an angel anyway? 
• Jesus, Angel of the Lord 
• A glimpse of glory

The writer to the Hebrews begins his letter by reminding us that Jesus is

"as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs"(Hebr. 1:4).   

Jesus' name, LORD (YHWH), is

"the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus is LORD, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11)

Angels, however, are great and wondrous beings. They are mentioned throughout the Bible. Already in the days of Abraham we read of two of them accompanying the LORD Himself to visit Abraham to announce that Abraham and Sarah are to finally have a son. Together with the LORD Himself they appear as three men standing at the door of Abraham's tent in the heat of the day (Gen.18:1-16).

In the referenced blogs listed above you may learn more about angels, those wondrous beings through whom the LORD governs the world. In Holy Scripture we learn that they are not mere humans who have died and gone to heaven, etc., but are powerful spirits through whom the LORD governs the world. They

• excel in strength, Ps. 103:20
• are God's ministers - Ps. 104:4 
• serve the Ancient of Days - Dan. 7:10  
• are holy and sinless - Matt. 25:31 
• surround God's throne - Rev. 5:11 

Billy Graham has written an excellent books about them, published first in 1975 and now republished as

• Angels: Ringing Assurance That We Are Not Alone

As Graham points out, angels never lost their original glory and spiritual relationship with God. They do not share our sinfulness—nor our need of redemption. One thing they cannot do: testify personally to the salvation God achieved by grace, the salvation we receive through faith in Jesus Christ.

Nor does the Holy Spirit indwell angels as He does redeemed people. The Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of all believers already on the earth to perform His unique ministry of making them inwardly holy even while they live here below, shaping and conforming them into the image of God.

Dr. Graham has much more to teach in his book. Read it yourself, but heed the warning of the writer to the Hebrews. Angels are not to be worshipped. Some have had such a tendency. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Colossians (Col. 2:18). This is precisely what the rebel angels would have us do (Matt. 4:8-10). But the holy angels will not permit it:

And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!" For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. - Rev 19:9-10 ESV

This week we'll take another look at the angels, as revealed in the Bible and especially in the words of the Hebrews writer. We are comforted by knowing that we are all served by these spirits. More next time.

Same-sex Marriage And The ELCA

What follows is a brief review of an article approving same-sex marriage by Dr. Stephen Paul Bouman who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Congregational and Synodical Mission unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America: The Child in Our Midst: Reflections on Richard Norris's "Notes".  In the article he begs for compassion and understanding for Christians who have a homosexual orientation. His understanding is that some are born as homosexuals. They have no choice. This is who they are, either gay or lesbian.

"To require celibacy (of them) contradicts Augsburg Confession Article XXIII (requiring monastic vows). To enter into a committed union that is intended to be lifelong may be the best or certainly the least bad alternative for gay and lesbian Christians. And I can find no passage in the Bible that forbids such a committed union" (p.622). 

But what is the Bible to Bouman and others in the ELCA—and denominations with whom that church is in full fellowship (i.e. United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Presbyterian Church—USA, Reformed Church of America and the Episcopal Church)? It is an historical book with a long history, not God's inspired Word. The human authors made many mistakes about historical events, places and people.

Within the essay Dr. Bouman openly rejects the Bible as God's inerrant and inspired Word. The idea of divine inspiration as the basis for the authority of the Bible, he writes, can be traced back to North African Bishop Augustine of Hippo. This is a very strange conclusion, one that we are called to accept simply because Bouman says it is so. It is not based upon what the Biblical authors themselves said about their writings, nor is it based upon what other church fathers believed. Bouman writes,

"Augustine introduced the pagan Greek notion of inspiration: a divine being speaking through a human oracle. It is this view of Scripture that makes appeal to Scripture so problematic for Norris, and which undergirded much of what Augustine and others thought concerning moral issues and national law." (italics added)

To view the Bible as inspired, says Bouman, brings up two problems:

1. A doctrine of inspiration removes the Bible from its place in history and its actual historical development. 
2. When the Bible is located outside of history its authority is no longer the authority of the gospel, the good news of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. . . Only the gospel gives the Bible its proper authority. The gospel of Christ is the Word of God. Everything else, even the "law" as the "word of God," is subordinate to the gospel, having its own subordinate and adaptable authority for Christians. 

Conclusion: the Holy Spirit did not inspire the writers of the Bible. Instead we have documents written by men in which the gospel was somehow preserved. It is strange enough to say that, but the confusion continues as he turns to the writings of the New Testament to discover what the gospel is. Of course, since these writings are not the inspired Word of God, we have no way of knowing whether they are trustworthy. How, for instance, do we even know that Christ rose from the dead? But Bouman does not address that issue. Instead he writes,

"John 1 states that Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh and lived among us, a claim grounded solely in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The writings of the New Testament give us access to this historical event and the resurrection appearances and serve as the standard or norm for their interpretation. The Christian gospel is that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the world, that Jesus is the crucified and risen Savior (Rom. 4:25), that in Jesus' cross and resurrection the reign of God has come. There is no other absolute Word of God, not even the law of God."

But, but, but . . . Was Jesus' birth the creative working of the Holy Spirit? Did the Holy Spirit guide the Apostles to write about Jesus' life, death and resurrection? Is it true that no one can call Jesus LORD without the work of the Spirit? What is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the gospel? After rejecting the Bible as the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), he still turns to the Bible to find the gospel. This time he quotes from Walter Bouman's unpublished monograph on human sexuality.

"The Lutheran approach to the authority of the Bible is thus characterized by two axioms: 

(1) only the gospel gives the Bible its true authority;  

(2) only the Bible gives the gospel its normative content." 

We have the gospel because of the Bible, and we pay attention to the Bible because of the gospel. 

Frankly, I'm confused. Bouman operates with a completely different understanding of inspiration ("a divine being speaking through a human oracle") than most other Christians. No one ever said that the inspired authors were mere amanuenses (secretaries taking notes and then transcribing). The Greek oracles were indeed supposed to be taken over by spirits and used. But Christians have always maintained that “the Bible was both the exclusive work of the Holy Spirit alone and at the same time the work of the biblical writers.”

I could go on and on about this article to talk about how he destroys the Law as the means of revealing sin, even though he likes to use the law/gospel language familiar to Lutherans. Despite what the Formula of Concord may have said, Bouman insists that the Torah, including the Decalogue, according to some unnamed Biblical scholars, did not have this usage in Israel. Instead its singular purpose was to serve as the means by which the Jews gained their identity, an identity that came from obeying the 613 commandments that the scribes found in the Torah. In this view, Israel's keeping of the hundreds of commandments marked them as God's chosen people, adopted by God's act of grace. Consequently, "the keeping of the law is no grudging gesture of submission, but an act of gratitude and loyalty . . . God's love for Israel deserves an answering love." (p. 620)

By thus turning the law into Israel's gospel, he completely and totally ignores the Apostle Paul's statement about Israel's inability to keep the law because of sin (Rom. 3:1-20). He claims that the purpose of the law was not to reveal their failure to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves, but rather to give the Jews a way to express their gratitude for God's gracious choosing of them as His people. The assumption is that they could and did keep the law.

So what happened to sin? And judgment? And of what value is the gospel if we are not all dead in trespasses and sins?

With that upside down statement about the commandments and the law as the groundwork, he goes on to say that the gospel serves the same purpose for Christians. The gospel is the New Testament Torah, the way by which Christians mark themselves a followers of Christ. I don't know what happened to the three solas Lutherans love to talk about: grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone. I think they've gone away along with the teaching about inspiration.

Anyway, according to Bouman, guided by the gospel in a complex world Christians adapt the teachings of Jesus and the apostles to this new context—the rise of the gay movement. Given the alternatives they do the best they can. And for gays or lesbians the best they can do is to marry and commit themselves to a lifelong union.

I conclude by telling you that I am quite exasperated—I can hardly breathe. No more Holy Spirit. No more rebirth by the Spirit. No more sin. Vast confusion about what the gospel is. And from that flows an approval of same-sex marriage, regardless of what the so-called uninspired Scriptures have to say about marriage and about the mystery of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-33).

Go figure! 

Pray In The Spirit

We're asking why Jesus teaches us to pray to the heavenly Father to "lead us not into temptation." As noted in my previous post, temptations to sin are inevitable, because we live in a world of sinful men that is under the control of the dark powers led by the devil, the god of this world. We pray that we will not have to deal with such battles, but if we do, Father, and if You believe it is best, then please equip us for such spiritual warfare.

from Jay's Roman History

In another blog three years ago I wrote in detail about putting on spiritual armor. Using the image of a Roman foot soldier, the Apostle Paul outlines the whole armor the Father provides and which we are to wear in such warfare. Please turn to that blog for further instructions about wearing this armor. It includes . . .

• Belt   - truth
• Breastplate  - righteousness
• Shoes   - gospel of peace
• Shield  - faith
• Helmet  - salvation
• Sword   - Word of God

Paul urges us to 

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. - Eph 6:11-12 ESV

Following up on that, the Apostle urges us to pray at all times in the Spirit, praying about everything in every way you know how! And keeping all this in mind, pray on behalf of God's people. Keep on praying feverishly, he urges, and be on the lookout in your prayers for those who are assigned to proclaim the gospel, pastors and teachers. 

Above all, don't be afraid. We're part of the winning army. We're the children of God. And even when you don't know how to pray or what to say, be at peace. The Holy Spirit who lives in your heart and who has given you faith to trust in Jesus will help you in your weakness. Often we don't know what to say or how to put our prayers into words. The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings and sighs that go beyond words. The Holy Spirit knows the will of our heavenly Father. And therefore the Spirit intercedes for our children, our parents, our friends and loved ones in ways we don't understand. 

So be at peace and let that peace fill your heart with joy in the LORD. Everything will turn out according to the will of the Father whom we humbly call Abba, Daddy, our Father who loves us and who sent our Brother Jesus to rescue and redeem us all. 

The Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit

We've been speaking about praying to the LORD for forgiveness and promising to do the same toward those indebted to us. But is there ever an instance when we must not forgive? Is there any such command in Sacred Scripture? Is there any sin God will not forgive? Listen.

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. - Mat 12:31-32 ESV

What is this blasphemy against the Spirit?

A man with a withered hand came to a Jewish synagogue on the Sabbath. For unknown reasons his hand was not getting blood to it. Was it gangrene? We don't know. What we do know is that the man desperately wanted to be healed and believed Jesus could do it. But it was the Sabbath and on the Sabbath all true children of Abraham could do no work. And healing a man was work.

Already the Pharisees had condemned Jesus for allowing his disciples to pluck grain heads and eat them. Jesus responded that about a thousand years before King David was given the bread of the Presence or Show-bread (Exod. 25:30; Lev. 24:5-9) by a priest. That sacred bread was to be eaten only by the priests (Exod. 28:32-33). David and his men were fleeing for their lives and in great need of food. So the priest gave them this holy bread, breaking all the rules about it.

Moreover the priests always worked on the Sabbath. In the temple on the Sabbath they had to offer lambs, flour and oil as well as other offerings. And that was surely work. Thus they desecrated the Sabbath and yet were guiltless in God's eyes.

Beyond that, something greater than the temple stood before their eyes. Jesus, the Son of Man to whom the eternal day of rest pointed, the Lord of the Sabbath, stood before them, but they did not see him. They saw only a false prophet. Yet this same Jesus, the true high priest, was to enter into the very presence of God, offering himself as the one, final sacrifice. And so true rest from the guilt of sin and the punishment of death would now be available to all who will receive it in faith.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 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. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV (consider the entire chapter)

With that response Jesus entered the Synagogue where he was confronted by the man with that withered hand. And the Pharisees were waiting. "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" they demanded.

Jesus responded by pointing out that they fed and rescued their sheep on the Sabbath. "Of how much more value is a man than a sheep!" And with that he restored the man's hand to full health.

This brought a firestorm of anger and hatred from the Pharisees. Jesus had to go. They conspired together on how to kill him. But they could not stop him—yet. He kept right on healing still others, even healing a blind and mute man oppressed by a demon. These further deeds caused them to accuse Jesus of being in the service of Satan himself. All this was, of course, blasphemy. This is why Jesus said what he did.

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. - Mat 12:30-32 ESV

From this we conclude that some may—for a time—mock Jesus and be forgiven. But finally, if they reject what the Spirit has spoken in God's Word about Jesus as our High Priest, they commit blasphemy. Jesus has presented the one, final sacrifice for sin. The Spirit calls to us in that Good Word, inviting all to accept Jesus' sacrifice and so be eternally rescued from judgment and death. Turn your back upon that Gospel, join the Pharisees to pronounce Jesus as a servant of Satan, blaspheme the very Spirit of God, and you will not and cannot be forgiven. This is the unforgivable sin!

So humbly and with deepest gratitude we pray, "Our Father in heaven, forgive us our debts for the sake of Jesus, even as we promise to forgive those who are indebted to us."

The Promised Helper, The Spirit of Truth

I was invited to proclaim God's Word to a small congregation in East Texas last Sunday, the Sunday after Jesus' ascension into heaven. Based upon the Gospel lesson, I focused on the anxiety so many of us feel in these unsettled times. Take a brief look at but a few of the events here in the U.S.:

• Boston marathon bombing
• Slaughter of kids in Newtown, Connecticut
• Abortionist doctor convicted of murder
• Jodi Arias found guilty of murder
• Devastating explosion in West, Texas

I've referred only to a few of the recent frightening events in the United States. Yesterday I touched on the extreme hatred and persecution of Christians around the world. Why? Why does all this continue? Where is the Lord God? Why does it seem like Satan and the vast powers of darkness, confusion and death are winning? When will it end? 

To help us in this struggle the Lord Jesus said something we all need to keep hearing: 

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. - Jhn 15:26-27 ESV

The Helper, as the ESV translates it, is no one less than the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, called by Jesus the Spirit of Truth, sent by the Father to bear witness about Jesus. In the original language used by Jesus the Helper refers to one who stands at your side to guide, comfort, defend you from the demonically inspired thoughts of despair and doubt that plague so many of us. The KJV calls the Spirit the Comforter. Of this Spirit of God Jesus further taught, 

"he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." - Jhn 14:26 ESV

The Holy Spirit at work in God's Word lifts up for us these important truths: 

• We have no right to expect anything other than that God would reject us and this world we live in altogether. If you followed the Jodi Arias trial for the past four months to the point where she was declared guilty, you learned that the trial is divided into two parts: the guilt phase followed by the punishment phase. Fox news reported that she prefers the punishment to be death. Would that be your preference? In God's eyes there is no righteous person on earth (Ecclesiastes 7:20). All are guilty and deserving death. But the Spirit reveals that death does not mean one ceases to exist. Rather death means that you continue forever in lonely despair and darkness, finally given the arid hell you ask for by your disobedience (Luke 16:19-31). Speaking for that same LORD, the prophet Jeremiah puts it this way: 

". . . for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." - Jer. 2:13 ESV

• But the Spirit speaks again and again a vital second truth in God's Word. Jesus has already endured that hell for you on the cross. This is what was behind his loud, despairing cry at the ninth hour, 

"Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" - Mark 15:34 - ESV. 

• And the Father accepted that lonely sacrifice by raising Jesus up on the third day. All this was foretold by the prophets like Isaiah who spoke about the Suffering Servant who 

"poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors." Why? The prophet continues, "he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." - Isa 53:12 ESV

• Speaking to our hearts, the Spirit confirms in this way that we are God's children and that despite everything else our Father will not forsake us, but will also raise us up with Jesus on the great day when Christ returns in victory and glory. 

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. - 1 Cor 15:21-27 ESV 

Comforted and strengthened by our Helper and Comforter, we set out again each day to give witness to our faith and pray that our witness will be used to lead yet others to know and believe in their Savior.  

The Duty Of Parents To Discipline Their Children

We're examining the sad fact that many children are abused by parents and loved ones. In that connection I want to take another look at what the Bible says about the training and discipline of children. Here are some proverbs to guide us.

Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death. - Prov 19:18 ESV 

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. Prov 22:15 ESV 

Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. - Pro 23:13-14 ESV 

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. ... Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. - Prov 29:15, 17 ESV

In Deuteronomy Moses writes about discipline (yacar) as the duty of parents. He notes that sometimes parents may try everything they can to get a child to listen and understand in vain. Finally, if he will not listen to them, they may have no recourse other than to bring him to trial before the elders of the city. He continues,

. . . then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. - Deut 21:19-21 ESV

Solomon urges parents to discipline their son so he is not put to death by the courts. Sad to say, thousands of rebellious sons from those days until now have received the judgment of capitol punishment in spite of their parents' training and guidance. At times this happened because parents failed to discipline and train them. The Proverbs above point out why discipline is so important.

Folly (ivveleth) is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. - Prov 22:15 ESV

This folly word is found frequently in the Proverbs. For instance,

He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. - Prov 5:23 ESV 

The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. 

A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.  

The crown of the wise is their wealth, but the folly of fools brings folly. - Prov 14:1, 17, 24 ESV 

Like it or not, the fact is that children inherit the sin and iniquity, the folly, of their parents. This is what David reflected upon after his own horrific sins of adultery and murder.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. - Psa 51:5 ESV

Our Lord Jesus taught the same about our sinful human flesh.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. - John 3:6 ESV

The Lord was speaking, of course, about the rebirth that comes from the creative work of the Holy Spirit. It is critical that parents bring their children to be baptized and taught the Good News of Jesus. Through these means the Spirit gives also our children a second birth. That is the promise. And happy is the home where Jesus and the Spirit dwell in love and forgiveness.

But parents face another task. They must help their children to face up to their sin, the rebelliousness that remains in the hearts of us all. The battle to overcome this inherited old Adam or old Eve, the sin passed on from generation to generation, remains throughout life. It is for this reason that the proverbs says: "Folly (ivveleth) is bound up in the heart of a child . . ." The critical question then is how to deal with this fact. How do parents discipline and teach their children to confront their sins, admit them, ask for and receive forgiveness and recommit themselves to following Jesus' path of love? This is what the proverbs are all about, even when they speak about the rod of discipline.

In my next post I will say more about methodology, about the how of training children and point you to some resources.

The Greater Works Of Proclaiming The Gospel

We continue to ponder Jesus' strange saying about doing greater works:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. - Jhn 14:12-14 ESV

There are those who believe that the works of Jesus were his miracles. And since there are many, many disciples of Jesus around the world, a greater number of miracles can potentially be done through the power of the Holy Spirit, thus confirming the Gospel of Christ. So they write,

In John 14:12, Jesus makes an amazing claim “I tell you the truth, anyone, who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” How? Jesus says it will be done through the power of the Holy Spirit. In John 14–15, Jesus speaks often of “another Counselor,” the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17), which we know the disciples received at Pentecost (Acts 2:4). The Holy Spirit is the mechanism through which Jesus said His believers “will do even greater works. . . Now, billions of disciples exist worldwide, and through belief in Him and the agency of the Holy Spirit, many more miracles occur today than did in Jesus’ time.

But is this emphasis upon miracles what Jesus meant?

In John 5 we read about Jesus miraculously healing a cripple beside the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. The Jews wanted to kill him for doing this work on the Sabbath. Jesus responded that he was but doing the Father's work. And, says Jesus, greater works than these will the Father show his Son, so that you may marvel.

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. - John 5:20-24 ESV

The greater works that Jesus did were to free us from judgment and grant us eternal life by his cross. These were far, far greater than healing a cripple. Jesus' greater works were accomplished on the cross when he cried, "It is finished!" Now the Spirit works through the Gospel to create faith in Jesus and his cross, as he said, "This is the work of God that you believe in whom he has sent" (John 6:29). This work of God is indeed a wonder and a marvel. Faith in Jesus means new birth, forgiveness of all sins, past, present and future. Forgiveness means that we are alive in Christ and that we who are in Christ will never die! Though our sinful bodies die, we confidently trust that Christ will raise us up and give us new bodies, filled forever with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 15:20-57).

In the light of this, what greater works can we possibly do? Greater (Greek meizon) means greater in degree: more in number, not in quality. Nothing can possibly be qualitatively greater than Jesus' works by which he rescued all mankind from judgment and eternal death. Jesus has accomplished these greater works. They are finished, complete! "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). But now we who have been made alive in Christ carry this Good News around the world. And as we proclaim this Gospel the Holy Spirit is working to create faith and new life.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. - Rom 1:16 ESV

To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. - 2Th 2:14 ESV

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. - Jam 1:18 ESV

Pray for an opportunity to share this Good News. Pray that the Holy Spirit will use you to proclaim the greater works Jesus completed on the cross. More on this next time.

Pet Names For God's People

In one of the Bible verses Jesus referred to in his promise to pour out his Spirit upon those who believe in and trust him (John 7:37-38) the LORD calls Israel by a sort of pet name, Jeshuran.

Did your parents or siblings give you a pet or nick name when you were a child? Sometimes parents simply shorten a child's name. Nathan becomes Nate and Jeffrey becomes Jeff, William is Billy and James is Jimmy. At other times they use endearing terms like Sweetie, Snookums, Honey or Blossom. My mother called her twin Little Lally although her given name was Elma.

That's what the LORD did when he called Israel Jeshuran, "the righteous or straight ones" (Isa. 44:2-3). Greek speaking Jews translated the name into their language as Epagamenos, meaning "most beloved". One English speaking translator tried to pick up the sense of the Hebrew by calling them the righteous little people. What I sense the Heavenly Father does in this verse is simply to say, "I want you guys to know that I really, really love you!"

So having used that pet name for the Children of Israel, He promises,

I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my 
Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's and name himself by the name of Israel. - Isa. 44:3-5

Willows by the river

This is a beautiful image of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. People so blessed will be like willows by flowing streams of water. Willows love water. They flourish and grow beside rivers and streams. That's how Psalm 1 describes the man who delights in God's Word.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. - Ps. 1:3 ESV

Of such men and women Psalm 92 says,

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, - Psa 92:14 ESV

No matter how old their bodies get to be, they still have that fresh, invigorating stream of God's Spirit flowing through them, filling them with new hope and power to praise God. That's what Jesus was getting at on the final day of the Feast of Booths as he cried out to the people in the temple.

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. - Jhn 7:37-39 ESV

The feast was technically only seven days. But on the eighth and final day, the Great Day, Jesus promised to give God's people the Holy Spirit. John says this proclamation pointed forward to what was to happen after Jesus was glorified. What great honor and praise was bestowed upon him by his heavenly Father? Why was the Father so pleased with him? Because he freely offered himself as the sacrifice for the sins of all men. And then on the Great Day, the eighth day, the heavenly Father honored Jesus and confirmed the sacrifice by raising Jesus from the dead. The sacrifice was complete. Forgiveness and life were now available to all (John 19:28-30; Acts 3:13-15).

Now the Holy Spirit is freely poured out like a flowing stream, speaking to the hearts of God's people, saying, "You are My beloved, forgiven and righteous children, My sweet little ones. I love you, dear ones, and will never ever let you go." These words invigorate and renew like no others can. They fill even old people with peace and hope.

May it ever be so for you no matter what your age.

The Fear Of Death

Here in the United States we're in the midst of a presidential election as I write. Last week the candidates of the two major parties met in a nationally televised debate. Reportedly over 60 million people watched as they matched wits and offered solutions to the major issues and problems we Americans face. We the voters must decide now which candidate and which political party has the wisdom to lead us into a safe and prosperous future. One of the Biblical proverbs puts it this way:

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. ... The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. - Pro 18:2, 4 ESV

Jesus claimed to have wisdom, not only the wisdom to rescue his nation, but the kind of wisdom that would bless men of all nations. On the final day of the fall-time Feast of Booths he stood in the temple and proclaimed,

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. - Jhn 7:37-39 ESV

In the past couple years the farmers and ranchers of west Texas learned much about being thirsty. A long drought dried up the pastures. Many had to sell their cattle just to stay in business. They had no grass to feed them and could no longer afford to buy hay. We are all like that grass. Without water we quickly dry up and die. A few years, a few fleeting moments and we are cut off. We grow old and wither like cut flowers.

Yesterday I spoke with a friend after Sunday worship. We talked tentatively about getting together for a more extended conversation over breakfast. "I'm finding it more and more difficult to get up for those early breakfasts," he said. "I'd just as soon stay in bed until after nine and maybe roll out for a ten or ten thirty meal."

"Hey, brother," I replied, "you're getting old."

"Yes," he muttered with a frown on his face, "but at least I'm still getting. I'm not done yet."

This little exchange reminds me of the longing in the hearts of us all. Getting old means that we are getting closer to death. And the very thought troubles us. Getting old implies that our bodies are falling apart. Heart and lung diseases, arthritis and who knows what other problems move in upon us. Some begin to lose their mental capacities. Short term memory slips away. We can't even remember that our son or daughter came by for a visit yesterday. Like grass, we're drying up and dying.

And even if we're young, we run from the thought of old age. There's even a fancy word for the fear of death called thanatophobia. The irrational fear of dead things is called necrophobia. We run from death. We long for life. We'll spend anything and everything we have to cling to it. Just watch all the things put up at this time of the year for the season of Halloween. Kids will soon come begging for candy dressed as skeletons, witches or vampires. Even they will try to mock death as it pursues us all from birth to old age.  

Are you in the same place in your soul? Does your heart thirst for life? Death is alien to our very being. Life is beautiful, but something deep and dreadful is wrong. It isn't supposed to be that way. And we know it, even though we struggle to put it into words. Solomon put it this way, 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. - Eccl. 3:11 NIV

Jesus spoke to that thirst. It is, in fact, a thirst for God. We long to be united with Him. He is the source of our life. In Him we live and move and have our being. Jesus came that we might again have that life within us, that life that is like a stream of water, constantly bubbling up, filling us with our Creator's presence, power and peace. Once Jesus spoke of that water to a woman of Samaria who came to draw water from her village's common well. He said,

"Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - Jhn 4:13-14 ESV

Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit, the source of true life, life that never ends because it comes from the one source of all life. I wrote about the Holy Spirit and Baptism in a series of blogs in June of this year. But there is much more to be said about the work of the Holy Spirit, especially as we consider Jesus' promise to the believer,

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" - Jhn 7:38 ESV

More on this next time as we take another look at the abundant life of the Holy Spirit.

Dreams In The Light Of God's External Word

We're looking at the Bible's peculiar worldview (at least to the modern world). To do that I'm focusing on the fact that we all dream and consequently ask what the dreams mean. Psychological answers vary.  Freud thought they are symbolical representations of unconscious desires and thoughts. Others say that dreams are one's interpretation of signals generated by one's brain. Out of this come many creative ideas. Still others say that dreaming is the brain's computer-like process of cleaning up the previous day's clutter. And so it goes. There's no modern single, unifying understanding of why we dream or what our dreams mean.

To assist us in interpreting our dreams you can find whole dictionaries of dream symbols and terms such as "An A to Z Dream Dictionary." Others offer dream interpretation, based upon years of experience. Still others, claiming to be Christians, tell us they can teach us not merely to study about God, but how to have direct experiences of Him speaking to us in our dreams. It all sounds most enticing. But is that what the written, objective Word of God as contained in Holy Scripture teaches? Recall Dr. Luther's comment about enthusiasm quoted in my earlier post: 

"We should and must insist that God does not want to deal with us human beings, except by means of his external Word and sacrament. Everything that boasts of being from the Spirit apart from such a Word and sacrament is of the devil."

What does Luther mean by God's external Word? He means simply and emphatically the Scriptures. The very words of Scriptures are God's words, all of them. The Holy Spirit always blesses and brings salvation in Christ through the Word. No preached or taught word not based upon the Scriptures is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit comes and reveals God and His will in the Word of the Lord Christ. Anyone, therefore, who distorts or blasphemes the written Word will be judged by God. This was Luther's sola Scriptura principle. This claim is further founded on the total truthfulness, reliability and
consistency of Scripture. One text of Scripture does not contradict another, regardless of how ridiculous it may seem at first. To that end I quote again what Paul wrote to Timothy:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. - 2Ti 3:14-17 ESV

 With that in mind, return with me to Joseph's dream experience as recorded by Matthew (Matt. 1:18-25). Joseph was of royal lineage, as Matthew emphasizes in the opening verses of his Gospel (Matt. 1:1-17). He traced that lineage all the way back to David and through David to Abraham himself. He knew of the promises recorded in the written Scriptures about the coming of the Messiah. He knew about the promised virgin birth of the One named Immanuel. A few examples:

To Abraham — "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." - Gen 12:2-3 ESV 

And again to Abraham —"I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." - Gen 22:17-18 ESV 

To Isaac — "I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" - Gen 26:4 ESV 

About the promised Messiah —"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins." - Isa 11:1-5 ESV

To Ahaz, one of Judah's anointed kings — "And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." - Isa 7:13-14 ESV

There are numerous other passages of Scripture. Joseph knew them. He was a righteous and just man who sought ever to conduct his life according to the plans and will of God. He believed in the promises of the Messiah as recorded in Scripture. Therefore it was not at all impossible for him to accept what the angel said to him in his dream about Mary's pregnancy and the promised coming of the Messiah. His dream was a confirmation of God's external Word and in no way contrary to it.

The best counsel to any dreamer is based upon this record of Joseph's dreams as well as other dreams in Scripture. If you believe God has sent His messenger to speak to you, then test it carefully against the written Word. Ask especially how what you have seen and heard in your dream relates to God's will and plan to lead men to salvation and eternal life in Christ. Remember as well that we are all members one of another. No one of us owns nor can he control the Spirit. Invite other members of Christ's body to ponder with you your dream in the light of God's revelation in Scripture. Seek confirmation from other members of Christ's body. And at the same time be very conscious or the fact that demonic powers are also at work to lead us away from Christ and distort God's Word.

Bottom line: There's more indeed to this world than what we can see, taste, touch, smell and feel. There's more than we can measure with our scientific instruments and theorize about with our mathematics. Scripture teaches that men have contact with that other world in dreams and visions. But—and this is critical—our first, primary and most significant contact with the Spirit of God is in the written Word of Holy Scripture. As Jesus emphasized in his criticism of the Jews of His day,

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. - Jhn 5:37-40 ESV

Dreams, Visions And Enthusiasm

Although haphazard, I do have somewhat of a journal of my dreams. As I look back at them I am often confused. What do those symbols and stories mean? And how important are my dreams? Seldom, if ever, have I considered the possibility that they are messages from God. Yet I read many stories in the Bible about various believers receiving visions and dreams with messages and directions from God. Here's the Apostle Peter's vision just prior to a visit from men sent by the Roman centurion Cornelius, a devout man who believed in and prayed to God.

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 

And there came a voice to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." 

But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." 

And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common." 

This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 

Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them." - Act 10:9-20 ESV (see also Acts 11:4-18)

My, but do I have a ton of questions when I read this account—not about Peter, but about why the Spirit has given this tale to us and what I personally am to make of it. Yes, I know that the story tells us that the Gospel is not to be confined to the Jews. It is for all men. But that's not what I'm getting at. What I want to know is whether you and I are being told to expect similar dreams or visions from God giving directions and messages?

The usual answer to these questions is No! The time for that ceased once God's revelation about Christ and His salvation was given and recorded by the Apostles. The Spirit does continue to speak to us, but always and only through the objective written Word of God. The Spirit does not speak through our own personal, subjective visions and dreams. In this context one may quote Paul's  instructions to young Pastor Timothy,

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. - 2Ti 3:14-17 ESV

The apostle seems to be saying that the God-breathed or inspired Scripture, both the Old and the New Testaments, is all the man of God needs to be competent and completely furnished to do his work. Teach the Scripture. You do not need additional visions and dreams, nor should you expect them. Study the Bible and seize whatever opportunities come along to share God's Word. Do not expect further visions like Peter's or the direct speaking of the Spirit such as we read about in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 11:27-30; 13:1-3; 16:9-10; 18:9-11). That time of the Apostles is past. 

Dr. Martin Luther was deeply concerned about this. He called it enthusiasm, the direct internal speaking of the Holy Spirit (the word enthusiasm originally meant 'God in me'). Luther's concerns grew particularly out of his conflicts with Thomas Müntzer, an early disciple of Luther who later broke with him. Müntzer believed that God's teachings came directly from the Holy Spirit. He opposed the doctrines of justification by faith alone and of the Scripture as the exclusive source of divine truth. As an exponent of the supremacy of the inner light of the Holy Spirit as against the authority of Scripture, Müntzer was said by Luther to have swallowed the Holy Spirit, “feathers and all” ( “Against the Heavenly Prophets in the Matter of Images and Sacraments.” Luther's Works. Vol. 40:83. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1958). Müntzer's enthusiasm ultimately led to a peasants' war and his own death. Luther writes about enthusiasm in the Book of Concord, Smalcald Articles (III:viii (9-13).

In short: enthusiasm clings to Adam and his children from the beginning to the end of the world—fed and spread among them as poison by the old dragon. It is the source, power, and might of all the heresies, even that of the papacy and Mohammed. Therefore we should and must insist that God does not want to deal with us human beings, except by means of his external Word and sacrament. Everything that boasts of being from the Spirit apart from such a Word and sacrament is of the devil. For God even desired to appear to Moses first in the burning bush and by means of the spoken word; no prophet—not even Elijah or Elisha—received the Spirit outside of or without the Ten Commandments; John the Baptist was not conceived without Gabriel’s preceding Word, nor did he leap in his mother’s womb without Mary’s voice; and St. Peter says: the prophets did not prophesy “by human will” but “by the Holy Spirit,” indeed, as “holy people of God.”However, without the external Word, they were not holy—much less would the Holy Spirit have moved them to speak while they were still unholy. Peter says they were holy because the Holy Spirit speaks through them.

OK, but that still doesn't answer my original concern about dreams and visions—or does it? What if you or I have what we consider to be a Peter-and-the-sheet experience or Paul's come-over-to-Macedonia call? We have not rejected the authority of Scripture and the central doctrine about God declaring us justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone. And yet you or I sense God's leading in a dream or vision. What about that? 


Let's come back to this vital topic and the Biblical worldview next time.

The Spirit Blows Where He Will

For these past two weeks I've posted studies on spiritual gifts, based upon Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. Today I'd like to pull these studies together with a brief summary. This is, of course, only a small part of what could be said about this important part of life in the Christian community.

In speaking about spiritual gifts it is easy to overlook what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit and the work of the Spirit. It is easier to focus upon the recipients of the Spirit's gifts by fashioning various inventories and questionnaires so that the congregation can help members identify their gifts, put these members to work in order to grow in numbers and influence. Nowhere in any of the four texts examined are there any instructions given by the Apostles to carry on such a practice. Why not?

The answer to that question is found in the very nature of these inventories. Members are encouraged to look internally at their own experiences and feelings. Here are some questions from one such spiritual gifts discovery tool I found online:

1. I am successful at getting a group to do its work joyfully. 
2. I enjoy making something that is artistically appealing.
3. I can readily sense when someone is promoting God’s purposes or their own personal agenda.
4. I look for occasions to share what Jesus means to me with unchurched friends and neighbors.
5. I welcome opportunities to minister to people who need comfort, consolation, encouragement, and counseling.
6. I see life as an adventure and am not afraid to take risks if it moves God's work forward.
7. I have a real hunger for seeing others spending time together in the Word and in prayer.
8. Without hesitation, I give generously and freely to worthwhile projects and ministries.
9. I count it a privilege to relieve someone in a responsible position of some small task, so that they may attend to more important things.
10. I truly feel that the needs and well-being of others are more important than my own.

Note the emphasis upon 'I' this and 'I' that. I am successful, I enjoy, I sense, I look, I welcome, I see, I have a real hunger, I give, I count it a privilege, I truly feel, etc. Such an emphasis leads us away from the Word of God and from the Spirit speaking directly to our hearts from that Word. Instead we are encouraged to focus upon my experiences, my feelings, my viewpoints, my giving, my senses, etc.

Further, in the discussions of spiritual gifts, we are told that these are different from creaturely or natural gifts. So we are led to believe that the Holy Spirit only wants us to focus upon our spiritual gifts, for these are not the same as our natural gifts. So some would point out that a reborn and truly spiritual Christian will always speak in tongues. In this way, there are two types of Christians, e.g. believers and Spirit filled or born again believers. In that connection it is important to note that in those Scripture verses that speak about disciples being filled with the Spirit nothing is said to indicate that this filling is a permanent and continued gift. In other words, we do not own or control the Spirit. He blows when and where He will (Acts 2:4, 4:8,31; John 3:8). 

Above all the Scripture teaches that everything is by God's grace. The Spirit working in God's Word teaches that everything comes down from the Father as God's wondrous and unmerited gift. Our whole lives, our bodies, our personalities, our intellectual abilities, our artistic talents, our athletic skills, our powers of perception—everything we have and are has been redeemed by Christ and given to us. As Paul says,

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? - 1 Cor 4:7 ESV

 All this we offer back to God in praise and worship as a living sacrifice. 

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. - Rom. 12:1 NLT

What the Spirit also teaches is that not only are we redeemed by Christ, we are members of his body. We are part of that community, that wondrous and varied body of believers in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Speaking to the entire community in Corinth, Paul writes 

Do you not know that you (plural) are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? - 1 Cor 3:16 ESV

 So it is that we are the temple of God and the body of Christ and individually members one of the other. Each is important and each is God's gift to the other. So God intends that each of us is a gift to the other members of the body. Our unique personalities, experiences, gifts, abilities, talents and vocations are gifts of God through which God blesses others. Thus if I am a father, I have the calling to care for my children and to bless them through the uniqueness of who I am. If I am called to be a pastor-teacher, I have the opportunity and responsibility to bless the flock over which I am assigned with the teaching and application of God's Word. If I am a musician, I shall bless others with my music. So Paul writes,

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. - 1 Cor 12:4-7 ESV

It may be that spiritual gifts inventories could be used to help Christians discover their gifts. The cautions listed above are most important however. At most such inventories must be seen as tools toward the end of helping one another to give as they have received. Pride, discouragement and fear always lurk in our hearts because of sin. The Apostles speak to this as they emphasize in all these matters that we live by grace. It is in the Gospel and the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Christ that we find our life, our joy and our strength, never in the gifts we have or do not have.