biblequestion

Paul calls Timothy (and Christians) to "fight the good fight." COnsidering that Jesus taught Christians to turn the other cheek, this command raises some important questions: Who should Christians fight and how should they fight? Is Paul using figurative language hear to reveal a deep spiritual truth, or should we all be looking for somebody to punch in the nose?

Many think all sins are the same, but Paul dispels that myth utterly and completely in 1st Corinthians 6, noting that some sins have eternal consequences, and that sexual sins are quite different than others. What is it that makes sexual immorality different, and why is this important for us to consider?

Happy Thursday to you, friends! Today was a beautiful and warm day in central California, and I think that has many people - including my kids - antsy for a return to regular life. I am rooting for that to be sooner, rather than later, but fully expect it to be later rather than sooner. Alas. On a walk today with my wife, she asked me how much longer I thought the quarantine and shut down would last. I obviously have no idea, but the answer I gave her kind of came out of nowhere, and went something like this, "Until the people of God begin to walk in the fear of the Lord again." I didn't really intend for that kind of Bible-juke to come out, but there you go. I do believe there is some truth to the statement, especially after reading Leviticus 26 yesterday. I don't know about you, but that passage rattled me.

Today's Bible readings are from Leviticus 27, Psalms 34, Ecclesiastes 10 and Titus 2. A few episodes ago, we talked about the fear of the Lord. Perhaps the main thing we saw in that episode is that the Bible discusses the fear of the Lord frequently, and points to walking in the fear of the Lord as absolutely crucial to prospering, protection, and persevering in the faith. It will be a theme we return to fairly regularly, much like the resurrection, the Gospel, spiritual gifts, repentance, and others. Today we are going to get some practical advice from the Psalms that gives us directions on HOW to fear the Lord - what it looks like when we fear the Lord. Let's go read Psalms 34 and then come back and discuss it.

First, we see the beautiful promise of God to be free from fear:

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and rescued me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant with joy;
their faces will never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and rescues them.

Psalm 34:4-7

And then we see the how-to of God-fearing:

Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Who is someone who desires life,
loving a long life to enjoy what is good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceitful speech.
¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do what is good;
seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry for help.
¹⁶ The face of the Lord is set
against those who do what is evil,
to remove all memory of them from the earth.
¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he saves those crushed in spirit.

Psalms 34:11-18

How do you walk in the fear of the Lord? It's pretty simple:

1. Keep your tongue from evil. The word for 'evil' in Hebrew is 'רַע raʻ, rah' it means the opposite of good - hurtful, malicious, wicked - against the ways of God. This is a fairly blanket term and would include pretty much anything that God's Word forbids - swearing, complaining, attacking, grumbling, tearing down, course and crude joking, hate speech, etc.

   2. Keep your lips from deceitful speech. This doesn't merely include lying, but also deceit, guile and deception. In other words, to walk in the fear of God, you should be straightforward and honest in your words.

   3. Turn away from evil. This is another way of saying repent - turn away from evil deeds and actions and walk in God's ways.

   4. Seek AND pursue peace. This double command seems to indicate an impassioned pursuit of peace, not just a half-hearted attempt at it. A person of God will not only desire to be peaceful, but will seek and PURSUE IT.

What are the promises of walking in this way? Myriad. Long life and blessing. The protection of God. The Angel of the Lord camping around you. Rescue from adversaries and the refuge of the Lord. This is the way, walk in it!

Let's close with a brief word from brother Spurgeon:

He who can manage his tongue can manage his whole body; for the tongue is the rudder of the ship, and if that be properly held, the vessel will be rightly steered. If thou wouldst escape the quicksands and the rocks, look well to thy tongue; keep it from evil, that it speak neither blasphemy against God nor slander against thy fellow-men; and keep thy lips from guile, that is, from deceit, from double meanings, from saying one thing and meaning another, or making other people think that you mean another,—an art all too well understood in these days. God make us plain-speaking men, who say what we mean, and mean what we say! When, by the grace of God, we are taught to do this, we have learned a good lesson.

C. H. Spurgeon, “The Great Change,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 42 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896), 347.

Happy Saturday, friends! Here in sunny and cold California, our shelter in place order has turned into a STAY HOME order, which is a little more restrictive. We've been sheltering in place now since March 18 and STAYING HOME starts today. We're still allowed to go to the store for essential needs, and we can go for walks while maintaining #socialdistancing, so it doesn't change things a ton for us. Today we took a nice family walk on a trail through rolling hills near our house, and had a good old time playing in trees and dry river beds and such. Normally, we would focus on 1st Thessalonians for today's pod, but it just so happens I'm preaching on 1st Thessalonians this Sunday, so I didn't want things to be redundant for our church family, many of whom listen to this pod. Which brings us to a fascinating passage in Psalms 7:

My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows his wrath every day.
¹² If anyone does not repent,
he will sharpen his sword;
he has strung his bow and made it ready.
¹³ He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he tips his arrows with fire.

Psalms 7:10-13

That's kind of terrifying, right? I have a pretty nice bow, but I'm not a bow hunter. I also have a few nice swords, a couple of which are pretty deadly, but I am not a knight or Samurai warrior. If you got word that I was coming after you with my bow, I guess you should be pretty nervous, but honestly, I'm no Robin Hood, and you'd probably be fine, especially if you are moving. I'm a little better with the sword, but one time I chopped off the tip of my own toe with a sword, so you might escape from that situation pretty well too. However...to have God stringing His bow? That's just terrifying. Not only that, but He apparently has other DEADLY weapons and HE TIPS HIS ARROWS WITH FIRE? What in the world is going on here?! Let's read our Psalms passages and then come back and talk about what is going on.

So - really scary stuff. Those who do not repent, God sharpens His sword, strings His bow (and those fiery arrows), and gets His other deadly weapons ready. Let's talk about repenting first. What does it mean? The Hebrew word is שׁוּב/Shub and it means to turn back or return. In the New Testament, the Greek word is Μετανοήσατε (Metanoēsate) and it is the FIRST word out of Peter's mouth when people respond to his message at Pentecost in Acts 2:

³⁷ When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what should we do?”³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 2:37-39

The word there means to change your mind. So both the Old Testament and New Testament words for repentance essentially mean to turn away from one direction and turn towards another direction - in the context of Psalms 7, to turn your mind and thinking away from sinful ways or human ways and to turn towards God's ways. As John Piper notes, the Greek word for “repent” refers to “a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes. . . . Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience.” Let's consider some other explanations of repentance from various pastors and theologians:

The first principle we see [in learning about repentance] is the putting off and the putting on. We touched on it, but we have to hit it. The putting off and the putting on. Putting off means stop doing something, and putting on means start doing something. Everybody knows that change is two-factored, right? Everybody knows that in order to turn, metanoia (repentance means to turn), you can’t turn toward unless you turn away. You can’t turn away without turning toward something else. It’s two-factored. That seems so obvious.

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it. It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which makes the man love what once he hated, and hate what once he loved.

Charles Spurgeon

Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged.

J.I. Packer

You might have noticed that I am talking about 'repentance' far more in the last 30 days than I did in the first 60 days of this podcast. There's a reason for that. Almost every time I turn to God and His Word and pray in the midst of this pandemic, I get the word to 'repent,' as I've mentioned before. I certainly believe that God is calling me to personally turn away from other things and turn towards Him in this season, I also believe that is call going out to all people in all nations right now, so I am very, very attuned to the call of God in His Word to repent, and I am extremely moved now, more than ever, of the truth of 2nd Chronicles 7:

¹³ If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, ¹⁴ and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. ¹⁵ My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place. 

2 Chronicles 7:13-15

Ponder that passage and pray it. Listen to the Word of God in this season and respond to the leadings of His Spirit. Allow me to close with a great partial message from John Piper on Jesus' call to repent:

Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5)

The first demand of Jesus’ public ministry was, “Repent.” He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen. It was a call for radical inward change toward God and man.

Two things show us that repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior. First, the meaning of the Greek word behind the English “repent” (metanoeo) points in this direction. It has two parts: meta and noeo. The second part (noeo) refers to the mind and its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes. The first part (meta) is a prefix that regularly means movement or change.¹ So the basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes.

The other factor that points to this meaning of repent is the way Luke 3:8 describes the relationship between repentance and new behavior. It says, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” Then it gives examples of the fruits: “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise” (Luke 3:11). This means that repenting is what happens inside of us that leads to the fruits of new behavior. Repentance is not the new deeds, but the inward change that bears the fruit of new deeds. Jesus is demanding that we experience this inward change.

Why? His answer is that we are sinners. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). What was Jesus’ view of sin? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus describes the son’s sin like this: “He squandered his property in reckless living . . . [and] devoured [it] with prostitutes” (Luke 15:13, 30). But when the prodigal repents he says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Therefore, throwing your life away on reckless living and prostitutes is not just humanly hurtful; it is an offense against heaven—that is, against God. That’s the essential nature of sin. It’s an assault on God.

We see this again in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He said that they should pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). In other words, sins that God forgives are compared to the ones people commit against us, and those are called debts. Therefore, Jesus’ view of sin was that it dishonored God and put us in debt to restore the divine honor we had defamed by our God-belittling behavior or attitudes. That debt is paid by Jesus himself. “The Son of man came . . . to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). But for us to enjoy that gift he says we must repent.

Repenting means experiencing a change of mind that now sees God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience. This change of mind also embraces Jesus in the same way. We know this because Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God.” Seeing God with a new mind includes seeing Jesus with a new mind.

No one is excluded from Jesus’ demand to repent. He made this clear when a group of people came to him with news of two calamities. Innocent people had been killed by Pilate’s massacre and by the fall of the tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-4). Jesus took the occasion to warn even the bearers of the news: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5). In other words, don’t think calamities mean that some people are sinners in need of repentance and others aren’t. All need repentance. Just as all need to be born anew because “that which is born of the flesh is [merely] flesh” (John 3:6), so all must repent because all are sinners.

When Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), he did not mean that some persons are good enough not to need repentance. He meant some think they are (Luke 18:9), and others have already repented and have been set right with God. For example, the rich young ruler desired “to justify himself” (Luke 10:29) while “the tax collector . . . beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ [and] went down to his house justified [by God!]” (Luke 18:13-14).

Therefore, none is excluded. All need repentance. And the need is urgent. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” What did he mean by perish? He meant that the final judgment of God would fall on those who don’t repent. “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41). Jesus, the Son of God, is warning people of the judgment to come, and offering escape if we will repent. If we will not repent, Jesus has one word for us, “Woe, to you” (Matthew 11:21).

This is why his demand for repentance is part of his central message that the kingdom of God is at hand. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The gospel—the good news—is that the rule of God has arrived in Jesus to save sinners before it arrives at his second coming in judgment. So the demand to repent is based on the gracious offer that is present to forgive, and on the gracious warning that someday those who refuse the offer will perish in God’s judgment.

After he had risen from the dead Jesus made sure that his apostles would continue the call for repentance throughout the world. He said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47). So the demand of Jesus to repent goes to all the nations. It comes to us, whoever we are and wherever we are, and lays claim on us. This is the demand of Jesus to every soul: Repent. Be changed deep within. Replace all God-dishonoring, Christ-belittling perceptions and dispositions and purposes with God-treasuring, Christ-exalting ones.

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/thoughts-on-jesuss-demand-to-repent

Oh yes, one more question: DOES God shoot people with arrows? I believe this passage is employing poetic language to communicate that God vigorously pursues people and calls them to repent. Does He literally shoot people with arrows?! Let's just say this:

³⁰ For we know the one who has said,

Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,

and again,

The Lord will judge his people.

³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 10:30-31

Happy Tuesday, Friends! Our Bible passages today are: Leviticus 2 and 3, Proverbs 18, John 21 and Colossians 1. Our focus passage is in Colossians 1, which contains yet another hymn/creedal statement about Jesus - very similar to Philippians 2. Before we get there, however, I'd like to focus just a bit on the post resurrection appearances of Jesus as described in John 21. Some of the disciples have gone out on the lake to fish, and they have spent all night fruitlessly trying to catch fish, and coming up utterly empty. Upon their return, a mysterious person near shore (100 yards away, approximately) calls out to them and tells them to lower their nets. This is unusual, and not at all the place to lower their nets - probably too shallow, but they do, and catch an incredible haul of fish. John notices that the mysterious person is, in fact, Jesus, and Peter - ever impulsive - jumps into the water and swims 100 yards over to Jesus, leaving the other guys to drag the nearly bursting nets, which contain 153 large fish. Now, I love fishing - it is one of my favorite things to do, so I took a break from writing this article to actually go and research what type of fish that John, Peter and the guys might have caught. Interestingly - the Sea of Galilee/Sea of Tiberias here is actually a lake - a pretty big lake, but not massive. Chances are, the fish that the disciples caught (which the Bible does not name) was a species of tilapia - some of which are known as the Saint Peter's fish, because that was traditionally thought to be the kind of fish that Peter caught with a coin in its mouth.

But I digress...a lot. My bad. Back to the story - the disciples have caught all of those fish, and the RESURRECTED KING Jesus is meeting them on shore. And what has He done for them - the LORD OF ALL who has already given His life and suffered for their sins? HE HAS COOKED THEM BREAKFAST!! How cool is that? He grilled them some fish, and had breakfast ready. I had not really noticed that before until reading John 21 earlier today, and it struck me what a kind and loving thing that was to do for a bunch of hungry guys who had been out fishing all night. But, again, that isn't our focus passage today. Our focus passage is Colossians 1 - let's read it together, and then return to discuss this amazing hymn/description of Jesus in verses 15-20.

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

What a powerful description of Jesus - it is stirring, and I would encourage you to read it in the Bible yourself a few times, as passages like this have a beautiful way of focusing on the nature and character of Jesus. Jesus is the Image of God - He is the creator AND sustainer of all things. He is the head of His body - the church, the people of Jesus. He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead. He is the FULLNESS of God. He is the reconciler who brought sinful man and Holy God into a right relationship by making peace and covering our sin with His blood, which was poured out on the cross. Man, oh man - praise Him! What do we learn about Jesus from this passage? Let's ask Spurgeon and Piper:

In order to preach the gospel fully, there must be a very clear description of the person of Christ; and we preach Christ as God,—not a man made into a God, nor a God degraded to the level of a man, not something between a man and a God; but “very God of very God,” one with his Father in every attribute,—eternal, having neither beginning of days, nor end of years; omnipresent, filling all space; omnipotent, having all power in heaven and on earth; omniscient, knowing all things from eternity; the great Creator, Preserver, and Judge of all, in all things the equal and the express image of the invisible God. If we err concerning the Deity of Christ, we err everywhere. The gospel that does not reveal a Divine Saviour is no gospel at all; it is like a ship without a rudder, the first contrary wind that blows shall drive it to destruction, and woe be to the souls that are trusting to it! No shoulders but those almighty ones which bear the earth’s huge pillars up can ever carry the enormous weight of human guilt and human need.

We preach to you Christ the Son of Mary, once sleeping in his mother’s arms, yet the Infinite even while he was an infant; Christ the reputed Son of Joseph, toiling in the carpenter’s shop, yet being all the while the God who made the heavens and the earth; Christ, who had not where to lay his head, the despised and rejected of men, who is, nevertheless, “over all, God blessed for ever;” Christ nailed to the accursed tree, bleeding at every pore, and dying on the cross, yet living for evermore; Christ suffering agonies that are indescribable, yet being at the same time the God at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore. If Christ had not been man, he could not have sympathized with you and me, nor could he have suffered in our stead.

How could he have been the covenant Head of the sons and daughters of Adam if he had not been made in all points like them, except that he was without sin? With that one exception, he was just as we are, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, yet he was as truly God as he was man, the One of whom Isaiah was inspired to prophesy, “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” So, in preaching Christ crucified, we preach the glory of heaven conjoined with the beauty of earth, the perfection of humanity united with the glory and dignity of Deity.

C. H. Spurgeon, “Preaching Christ Crucified,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 56 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1910), 482–483.

There are two more phrases in the verse to look at, but they are easily combined, and in fact do go together: “He [Christ] is the radiance of His [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature.” Or, as we saw from the original words: “He, being the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature … sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

The difference between this qualification for sitting at God’s right hand and the other two is that those described what Christ did, while this describes who he is. What he does is “uphold all things by the word of his power,” and “make purification of sins” by the worth of his blood. But what is he? Who is he? That’s our last question this morning. Who died for sins? Who rose from the dead? Who upholds the universe by the word of his power? Who is sitting at the right hand of God?

The answer is: Christ is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature.” What does this mean? It’s important that we take these two phrases together, because they control each other and keep us on track.

When it says that Christ is the exact representation of God’s nature, we are to realize that to see Christ is to see God. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Colossians 1:15 says, “He is the image of the invisible God.” To see what God is like, you see what Christ is like.

But that could be taken in an entirely wrong way. Suppose you take it to mean that Christ represents God the way a photograph or a painting represents a person, or the way an authorized letter represents the king, or the way a wax impression represents a golden ring. That would be totally wrong. And the other phrase here is meant to protect us from that misunderstanding. He is the exact representation of God’s nature not the way a painting represents a person, but the way radiance represents glory. Verse 3 says, he is “the radiance of God’s glory.”

An Analogy of Sun and Sunlight

In other words he relates to God the way radiance relates to glory, or the way the rays of sunlight relate to the sun. Keep in mind that every analogy between God and natural things is imperfect and will distort if you press it. Nevertheless, consider for example,

1. There is no time that the sun exists without the beams of radiance. They cannot be separated. The radiance is co-eternal with the glory. Christ is co-eternal with God the Father.

2. The radiance is the glory radiating out. It is not essentially different from the glory. Christ is God standing forth as separate but not essentially different from the Father.

3. Thus the radiance is eternally begotten, as it were, by the glory—not created or made. If you put a solar-activated calculator in the sunlight, numbers appear on the face of the calculator. These, you could say, are created or made by the sun, but they are not what the sun is. But the rays of the sun are an extension of the sun. So Christ is eternally begotten of the Father, but not made or created.

4. We see the sun by means of seeing the rays of the sun. So we see God the Father by seeing Jesus. The rays of the sun arrive here about eight seconds after they leave the sun, and the round ball of fire that we see in the sky is the image—the exact representation—of the sun; not because it is a painting of the sun, but because it is the sun streaming forth in its radiance.

So I close this morning by commending this great Person to you that you might trust in him and love him and worship him. He is alive and sitting at the right hand of God with all power and authority and will one day come in great glory. He has that exalted place because he is himself God the Son; and because he upholds you and me by the word of his power; and because he made a perfect purification of sins.Would you not know the one who holds you in being, and offers you purification from your sins, and reveals God to you the way light reveals the sun?

John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

Finally, I want to close with verses 21-23, which form a kind of thesis statement for the letter to the Colossians, and also serve as a great summary and exhortation of the good news:

²¹ Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. ²² But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him— ²³ if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

Colossians 1:21-23

One of these days, we will talk about that little 'if' in vs 23, which is very similar to what is found in 1st Corinthians 15:

Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain

1 Corinthians 15:1-3

Yes, one day soon we will talk about the perseverance of the Saints, but today, allow me to simply exhort you to remain grounded and steadfast in the faith, not shifting away from the hope of the gospel. Rejoice that it is not your strength that holds on to the rope of rescue of the Gospel, but the strength of Jesus that clings to you!