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Berean Searchlight – March 2002
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Yearly Archives: 2002
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Creation
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day” (Gen. 1:3-5).
I am a creationist. I personally believe that God created all things in heaven and earth in six literal 24-hour days. A proper understanding of creation is essential, since it is the foundation upon which all the doctrines of God rest. Sadly, some in Christendom have sought to erect an elaborate system known as the day-age theory to accommodate the geologic timetable of billions of years. But does this position pass the Berean test?
Those who subscribe to the day-age theory believe that the Hebrew word “day” (yom) can refer to a 24-hour day or a long period of time. This is true! For example, the day of the Lord is an extended period of time which covers well over one thousand years. Consequently, the context must always be consulted to ascertain the duration of time under consideration. Of course, those who defend this position teach that the days of the Genesis record quite literally cover millions and millions of years, which conveniently accommodates evolution.
Interestingly, when the Hebrew word yom is used with a number, it always refers to a 24-hour day, without exception. In regard to the Passover God instructed Moses, “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel” (Ex. 12:15). Would we conclude otherwise that the “first day” here is anything other than a normal day? Furthermore, when perimeters are set on the term yom, such as “the evening and the morning,” as found in Genesis 1:4, this limits the day to 24 hours.
But perhaps the most conclusive evidence of all that each day was 24 hours is found in Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Here Moses uses the term yamin, the Hebrew plural for “days,” which exclusively speaks of 24-hour cycles.
If the Holy Spirit had intended to convey that the days of creation were “eras,” He would have used the used the Hebrew olam, which is defined as “indefinite time.” We accept by faith that God is sovereign and all-powerful; therefore, it was a small matter for Him to speak all things into existence in six days (Psa. 33:6-9).
How to Please God
There are “many infallible proofs” that the Bible is the Word of God, God’s written revelation to mankind. One of these proofs is the element of prophecy.
Only God knows what shall be, and His prophetic clock has always been right on time. The present futile attempts of world leaders to establish lasting peace is but another confirmation of the many Bible predictions that this age of Christ’s rejection would be marked by “wars and rumors of wars” and that lasting peace will not be established until the “Prince of Peace” returns to take the throne (Isa. 2:4; 11:1-5; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 14:1-4; Matt. 24:3-7,27; Acts 1:9-11; Rev. 1:7).
But, if we could advance proof after proof to back the unbeliever into a corner; if we could tie him up in knots with our arguments until he cried: “I give up! You are right and I am wrong!” would this save his soul or gain him acceptance before God?
Indeed not, for God wants to be believed and salvation is a gift to be received by faith. Thus the Bible declares that “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6).
There is nothing in all the world that will haunt a man like the fear that God may be displeased with him, nor is there any joy comparable to the assurance that He is pleased. It is foolish, however, to suppose that we can please God with the things we think He desires. We must give Him what He says He desires, and He tells us again and again in His Word that it is faith He desires most of all. He wants us to trust Him, to take Him at His Word.
The Bible tells us at length how God loved us and came to this world as God the Son to die on Calvary’s cross for our sins, but, alas, instead of taking Him at His Word, thousands turn away from His gracious offer, “going about to establish their own righteousness” (Rom. 10:1-4). They do “good works” and make great sacrifices, thinking that a God of love will surely accept their efforts and overlook their sins. But this is presumption, not faith. How can a just God overlook sin? We should thank Him that, in His matchless grace, He Himself paid for our sins so that we might be free, and that salvation can now be received by faith as “the gift of God” (Rom. 6:23).
Let us beware of confusing faith with presumption. Cain presumed that God would accept his attractive sacrifice instead of the prescribed one, but God refused both him and his offering (Gen. 4:3-5). Pharaoh presumed that he could take his armies through the Red Sea as Moses had done, but he led them all to destruction for presuming upon God (Heb. 11:29). Naaman the leper, refused God’s way of cleansing, saying: “I thought…” but the great general remained a leper until he humbled himself and took God at His Word (II Kings 5:1-14).
And now, what about you? Are you still going about to establish your own righteousness; still trying to make yourself acceptable to God? Then I know something about you: You do not have the assurance or joy of salvation. How can you, for there will always be the fear that you are not doing well enough to please God, and the greater dread that in justice “God requireth that which is past” and will call you to account for your past sins.
Why not please and honor God by believing His Word and trusting in Christ as your Savior?
“For BY GRACE are ye saved, THROUGH FAITH…it is THE GIFT OF GOD; NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST” (Eph. 2:8,9).
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (I Cor. 15:3,4).
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
The Answer to the Problem of Unanswered Prayer
The phone rang right after the Grace For Today broadcast; the caller was a listener from Far Rockaway in Queens.
“I called just to let you know that I used to believe in God, but I don’t believe any more,” she said. I asked her why she had lost her faith and she related to me this experience:
A few years ago, she and her husband were attending a Bible believing church in Queens. One day her husband, who wasn’t feeling well, came home from the doctor’s office with some bad news. The doctor told him that he had cancer. They went to their church and told the pastor and asked everyone to pray for her husband’s recovery.
Their church prayed for him. Other churches prayed for him. The pastor prayed and the elders prayed. All the time they were praying, her husband was slowly becoming weaker as the cancer continued to spread.
But her pastor continued to encourage them, “Just have faith, God will heal.” The pastor quoted verses from the Bible:
“So Jesus answered and said to them, `Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive'” (Matt. 21:21-22).
So the pastor said, “Have faith and do not doubt; God will heal.”
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7).
The pastor said, “God promises, `You will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.’ Believe it; trust God and He will heal.”
As her husband continued to suffer and the sickness grew worse, she followed the teaching in the Letter of James and called for the elders to come and pray:
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:14,15).
Her pastor continued to encourage her, “You see, the Bible says that the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up. Believe it, and God will heal.”
Eventually her husband died. The pastor had to try to explain this failure, and told her that it must be that she did not have enough faith, or maybe there was some secret sin in her life, or maybe her husband wasn’t really a Christian. Obviously something was wrong.
She had no explanation. She had tried her best to believe, she knew of no secret sin, and she always thought that her husband was a real Christian. She came to the conclusion that the Bible must not be true, that there really is no God and that all that she once believed was not true. At least it didn’t work when she needed it.
This sister in Christ is an extreme example, perhaps the most extreme that I have ever talked to, but there are many Christians who are quietly, in their own hearts, troubled about unanswered prayers. Why is it that these promises, “whatever you ask, whatever you desire,” do not work in their own experience? Some preachers keep saying, “Just have enough faith, and God will do it.” But many a Christian knows that it just doesn’t work that way.
What is the real answer to the problem of unanswered prayer?
We begin to find the Bible’s answer when we notice that all these promises are found only in certain parts of the Bible. In the Four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—there are many promises about answered prayer, “if you believe.” But we notice that in the Four Gospels, the Lord Jesus was only ministering to the nation of Israel. When a Gentile woman came with her request to the Lord, He wouldn’t even speak to her, and told His disciples that He “was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). He had come as their Messiah, and to fulfill all the promises made to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. God had promised them a kingdom in which there would be peace, prosperity, health, life, and no more fear. But when the Prince of Peace came, the nation of Israel rejected Him. From the cross, their King prayed for His people, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” And so, in the beginning of the Book of Acts, we read how God offered forgiveness to the nation of Israel. In fact, in Acts 3:19-21, Peter tells the people of Israel that if they would repent for their sin of rejecting their Messiah, God would not only forgive them, but send Jesus back for them, and all that He had promised them concerning that Kingdom of Peace and prosperity and health, He would now fulfill for them.
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).
Yes, they had rejected their King and Messiah, but He had prayed for them, and God was giving them a second chance. How would they respond to the Holy Spirit’s offer of pardon and the coming again of the Messiah and His Kingdom?
We don’t have to read very far in the Book of Acts to begin to see that they would not repent, they would not accept God’s offer of forgiveness and the coming of the Kingdom. In Chapter four of Acts the Apostles are arrested; as we read on they are arrested again, threatened, beaten up, and finally Stephen, the Spirit-filled deacon, was actually murdered by the leaders of Israel. They had rejected the King, and now they rejected the message of forgiveness. As a result, God “cast away” the nation of Israel, for a time (See Rom. 11:15).
“For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:15).
The nation of Israel was “cast away” for a time, and the Kingdom they waited for was “put on hold.” Those great prayer promises made to Israel would also be put on hold for a future time.
But then the Lord did something that had never been prophesied or promised. Instead of unleashing His wrath upon the world, He reached down in utter grace and saved the man who was leading the rebellion of the nation of Israel. He saved His greatest enemy, a man named Saul, who would now become the Apostle Paul. The enemy—he called himself “the chief of sinners”—was saved by the grace of God and sent to the Gentiles with a message that had never been revealed before. Listen to Paul explain what the Lord Jesus revealed to him from heaven:
“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery…” (Eph. 3:1-3).
The Lord Jesus Christ had a “mystery”—which simply means a “Secret”—and He revealed this new message, this “dispensation of the grace of God” to this new apostle. Paul often writes about this special ministry given to him, that he was not preaching the same thing as the others before him, but that the Lord Jesus had revealed something new, something different to him.
“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ…” (Eph. 3:8,9).
The Lord Jesus revealed to Paul “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” The Kingdom blessings were promised and written about all through the Old Testament, but now the Lord revealed a program of blessings that were “unsearchable.” You can “search the scriptures” but you won’t find this new message, because it was “hidden in God” until the Lord revealed it to Paul for you and me today.
Now, let’s see what the Lord Jesus told Paul about how prayer works today in the dispensation of grace. Here’s where we find the answer to the problem of unanswered prayer!
We begin with a passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans where Paul begins to explain what the Lord told him about prayer today under grace, and why we don’t get everything that we pray for today:
26 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:26-28).
For those of us in the dispensation of grace, God never promises that He will give us everything that we ask. You can abundantly prove this by simply reading through the letters written by the Apostle Paul. He wrote thirteen letters, from Romans to Philemon, and we never read a prayer promise like “Whatever you ask,” or “ask what you desire.” Instead we read that “We do not know what to pray for as we ought” (Rom. 8:26).
God has promised to “work all things together for good” in our lives, but He hasn’t revealed HOW He is going to do that. He has promised it, and we take that by faith and believe that He is working all things—even the “tragedies” of life—together for good for us; but we often don’t see it. But as Paul wrote, “We walk by faith and not by seeing.”
Since we don’t know how God is going to work all things for good, we don’t know exactly how to pray. How could God promise us that He will answer all our prayers, if He tells us up-front that we don’t even know what to pray for?
Paul’s letters contain many testimonies of unanswered prayers. People flock today to hear testimonies of answered prayers, but Paul writes of many of his unanswered prayers! He knew how to pray in the dispensation of grace, and didn’t become discouraged when he didn’t receive what he asked for. He believed that his Father in heaven had everything under control and was working all things together for his good. He gives us a great testimony of unanswered prayer in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9.
7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
8 “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9 “And He said to me, `My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:7-10).
We see in verse 7 that God allowed Paul to suffer with this “thorn in the flesh,” some physical suffering that even came from Satan, but God allowed it for a good purpose in Paul’s life. But Paul pleaded for the Lord to remove the problem. Don’t we always pray, “Fix it, Lord!”? We find Paul praying, pleading three times, for the Lord to fix his problem.
And then the Lord spoke, and He didn’t say, “Whatever you ask you’ll receive, if you have faith!” No! Not at all. The Lord told Paul that His grace would be enough, sufficient for him—and His grace means His power working in Paul’s life. “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” We always want the Lord to just fix the problem; He wants to show the sufficiency of His grace, and the magnificence of His power working in our lives so that we can “bloom wherever He has planted us!”
Paul’s whole attitude about suffering changed as a result of this prayer experience. He says that he learned to take “pleasure [!] in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
We need to learn that it is not God’s will to take away all our problems, to fix all our weaknesses, to remove all our needs, but it is God’s will in all the circumstances of our lives to give us all the grace and strength that we’ll need to live through the problems, and even to rejoice in them!
Paul prayed for the Colossian saints:
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (Col. 1:9-11).
He prayed that these saints would be “filled with the knowledge of God’s will” and the result would be that they would be “strengthened with all might [wow!], according to His glorious power [think of that!], for all patience and longsuffering with joy.”
“Patience” here speaks of endurance and perseverance in the face of life’s circumstances, while “longsuffering” speaks of having a “long fuse” on our tempers when faced with unpleasant people in our lives, and Paul says to do this all with “joy!” God doesn’t promise to take away all our problems, to answer all our prayers—we don’t even know what to ask for—but He does promise to give us the grace and strength that we’ll need to live under the difficult circumstances of life, and to live with the difficult people of life, and to do it all with joy.
That’s God’s picture of being “strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.” It’s living in the midst of trying circumstances and difficult people that would drive anyone else crazy, but instead of despair, there’s joy. That’s real power, and grace—and the Lord Jesus says to us today, “My grace is sufficient for you wherever you are, and whatever your problems may be, I’m working it all together for good, and My power is being made perfect. It reaches its greatest expression and demonstration when you are weak, but miraculously, you find that by faith you are `strengthened with all might…for patience and longsuffering with joy.'”
Paul never forgot the lesson that the Lord taught him from his “thornprayer.” Many years later Paul would write to the Philippians out of a prison cell—near the end of five years spent in prison for the Lord:
11 “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
12 “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:11-13).
Paul says that he has learned the secret of contentment, he knows how to abound, and also how to be abased. God does not promise us today, living in the dispensation of grace, that He is going to fix all our problems, but He does promise us grace more than enough to make us able to rejoice through it all. So Paul writes that everywhere and in all things he has learned how to cope, and more, how to cope with joy. And the secret? “I can do all things through Christ who [constantly] strengthens me.” We can almost hear those words from years before still ringing in Paul’s heart, “My strength is made perfect in your weakness” as Paul writes, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
When the woman from Far Rockaway prayed for her husband and had everyone praying for him, if only her pastor had understood how to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), realizing that the prayer promises in the Four Gospels are not given to us today, living under grace in the dispensation of grace, but were made to Israel with their Messianic Kingdom in view. Even in the Letter of James where he writes about the “prayer of faith,” and how God would heal the sick, we need to read the first verse of James’ letter, and see that he is only writing to “the twelve tribes scattered abroad.” This is not “our mail” in the Bible. We can read it and study it and learn from it, but we need always to remember that the twelve tribes and the chosen nation are today “on the outs with God,” and these promises, their promises, don’t work today.
But the Lord Jesus saved a new apostle, the Apostle Paul, and sent him to us with a new message even more wonderful, the message of grace (Eph. 3:2). Should we pray today? Of course! Listen to Paul encouraging the saints to pray:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes. 5:16-18).
But we can only rejoice and give thanks always when we understand what the Lord is doing in the dispensation of grace and in our lives today. God’s people are destroyed when they are told that God’s plan is to fix all their problems, because the Lord never said that to the Apostle Paul for us in the dispensation of grace. There can only come disappointment, discouragement and spiritual ruin when we claim a promise that God never made to us. But what joy and what freedom there is when we begin to learn to hear the Lord’s promises for us today in this wonderful time called the “dispensation of the grace of God!”
We close this brief study of prayer in the dispensation of grace with one more prayer promise for us today found in Ephesians 3:20-21….
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
We pray in our ignorance (Rom. 8:26), we do not know what to pray for as we ought. We ask and we think we know what would be best. But Paul says here that God is able to do above all that we ask or even think. In fact, He is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” But notice carefully how God is going to do that in your life: “according to the power that is at work in us.” His power and strength and grace are sufficient for us in every circumstance of life. That power is available to work in us if we will only believe it and trust Him. He is able to do in us, above all that we ask or even think, for it is nothing less than “resurrection power” that is at work in us.
When we “walk by faith” and allow Him to “fill us with the knowledge of His will” and “strengthen us with all His might,” then Paul says, “To Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.” May He be glorified in your life and mine today.
Berean Searchlight – February 2002
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Part 3: The Preaching of the Cross
With Peter’s ship, The Teaching about the Cross, beginning to take on water, it became necessary for us to abandon ship. As we walk across the causeway of the Book of Acts, we are now going to be sailing with the Apostle Paul. Paul will bring us to our final destination. We are about to sail across the deep waters of the finished work of Christ, which is uncharted territory prior to the Pauline revelation. As we plumb the depths of these waters, we are going to find that the Apostle Paul was the first to show us the significance of the death of Christ. He proclaimed the Cross as good news! There is always one of two responses to this message; either it’s received with thanksgiving or it’s rejected as mere foolishness!
THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS
“For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18).
The term “preaching” is not one of the typical words the apostle uses when referring to the proclamation of the Cross. For example, in II Timothy 4:2, Paul instructs us to “Preach the Word.” Here the apostle uses the Greek, kerusso, which signifies a herald. It refers to the one who announces clearly and loudly the entrance of the King. In like manner, we are to give a clear presentation of the gospel of salvation. Interestingly in I Corinthians 1:18, Paul employs the term Logos—the Word. So then, it is the Word of the Cross, which is the power of God unto salvation. It is the apostle’s objective to contrast the Word of the Cross with the word of man.
The Cross to the natural man is mere foolishness—why, it’s absurd to think that God would take on a human form, be crucified, and rise again in order to redeem mankind! To the natural man this is beyond the realm of reason. Therefore, Paul challenges the world to step forward and match its wisdom and knowledge with the wisdom and knowledge of God.
“Where is the wise [intelligentsia]? Where is the scribe [doctor of the law]? Where is the disputer [debater] of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (I Cor. 1:20).
Paul summons the world to answer these age-old questions, if they will. Where did man come from? How can he be made right with God? What is his purpose in life? What is his final destination? The natural man’s attempt to answer these questions apart from God is like the man who’s blind, searching in a dark room for a black cat that doesn’t exist. The world’s philosophy to the above is as follows:
1. Origins: In the dateless past, out of nothing came something, out of which life eventually emerged from the bogs of primeval seas. Over a 5-billion year period, this one cell entity called an amoeba evolved into a complex multi-billion celled being called modern man.
2. Justification: If my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds on the scales of life, God will accept me into heaven when I die.
3. Purpose: On one side of the coin, the epicurean philosophy is, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” After all, you owe it to yourself to indulge in everything the world has to offer. On the other side of the coin, the stoic says you must devote yourself to fleshly inhibitions to find fulfillment in life.
4. Eternal Destiny: Most unregenerate men deny that there is life beyond the grave. In the words of Carl Sagan, the famous astronomer, “Death is the end!”
According to the Word of God, in the beginning God created man in His image (Gen. 1:26 cf. 2:7). John Milton said: “The greatness and sacredness of man’s soul is attested by two facts: First, the creation of his soul in the image of the eternal God; and second, the price that had to be paid for the redemption of his soul.” Today, man is justified by the grace of God through faith in the finished work of Christ, apart from works (Rom. 3:24 cf. I Cor. 15:1-4). Upon conversion, man’s chief end in life is to glorify God, with whom he will spend eternity in the heavenlies (Rev. 4:11 cf. Col. 1:5).
The world by human wisdom will never know God! Thus, “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Cor. 1:21). The phrase “foolishness of preaching” is the rationale of the skeptic—it’s nothing but foolishness to them. But the preaching of the Cross is to those who are saved a demonstration of the power of God. It convicted us of our sins and brought us to salvation. The power of God transformed our lives!
UNLIMITED REDEMPTION
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (I Tim. 2:3-6).
The preaching of the Cross clearly teaches us that Christ died for all. The term “will” in this passage has the sense that God “desires” all men to be saved. If He willed it, then every man would be saved. Here again we have the sovereignty of God and human responsibility intersecting one another. God, in His sovereignty, convicts man through His Word, yet He never violates man’s will. Man is responsible to believe the good news that Christ died for his sins.
Paul adds, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” A mediator is one who stands between two parties, he technically represents both sides. What better representative could the Godhead and man have than the person of Christ? He is perfectly suited for the task at hand, simply because He is God manifested in the flesh. Christ is the perfect Redeemer!
When Christ came into the world He gave Himself a ransom for all. In biblical times, the “ransom” was the price paid to purchase a slave out of slavery. In similar fashion, Christ stepped into the slave market of sin to redeem us back to God. While our salvation is free, it did not come without a cost. The ransom the Father required was blood, the precious blood of His dear Son. According to Paul’s gospel, the scope of redemption is unlimited. Christ gave Himself a ransom “for” Gr. huper “on behalf of” all. A provision has been made for all, which is confirmed in II Corinthians 5:14: “If one died for all, then were all dead.”
May I inquire, is there anyone reading these lines who does not believe that all men are dead in trespasses and sins when they enter this world? (Eph. 2:1-3). If you agree, then you must also agree that Christ died for all because this is the argument of this passage.
According to I Timothy 2:6,7 these things were “to be testified in due time” through Paul’s apostleship. As he says, “Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle.” You see it was given to Paul to explain the significance of Calvary. He was the first to reveal that Christ is the mediator between God and man, the first to teach that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, the first to show that we have redemption through Christ’s shed blood, even the forgiveness of sins, the first to make known that Christ died for all, the first to reveal that Christ was the propitiation for the remission of sins that are past (prophetic saints), through the forbearance of God. A failure to acknowledge this truth is to anticipate revelation, which does a great injustice to the Word of God.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13,14).
As the Apostle Paul brings us within view of heaven’s glory, we are going to learn that our passage has been bought and paid for by the shed blood of Christ. The Word of God is unmistakably clear that “without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). Dear ones, we must never underestimate its value in our redemption. There are those who would rob us of this wonderful truth. The liberals deny it, the new evangelicals avoid it, but we who seek to defend the faith thank God for the precious blood of Christ. We plead guilty to preaching a gospel of blood! The Bible is a book of blood; it’s woven throughout the pages of the sacred record.
On June 6, 1944, commonly known as D-Day, the tide of World War II turned in favor of the Allies. General Eisenhower had assembled one of the largest invasion fleets in history. While political and military strategies played a role in the victory at Normandy Beach, our young men who courageously fought and bled and died for the cause were essentially the ones who conquered the enemy. We owe these men a great debt of gratitude for their heroism. The Second World War was won because many of our troops paid the ultimate price.
Likewise, in God’s war against sin, He has conquered the enemy by the shed blood of Christ. When we consider Christ’s coming into the world to redeem mankind, we are immediately faced with what appears to be an insurmountable problem. How can God’s only begotten Son enter the human race without sin? After all, human parents who are sinners can only reproduce sinful offspring. The answer is found in Hebrews 2:14:
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
Here is a classic example as to why it is so important to consult the original languages at times, to arrive at the proper sense that the Spirit of God initially intended. Thankfully, we don’t need to be Hebrew or Greek scholars, simply because the work has already been done for us by those who are gifted in these languages. God has not left us without assistance!
When it states that the “children are partakers of flesh and blood,” the term “partakers” is the Greek word koinoneo, which denotes “to share in common or to share fully.” Thus, the human race shares something in common—flesh and blood—through which has passed the sin nature. But the Spirit of God is careful to draw a distinction between the human race and Christ’s identification with humanity.
“He also Himself likewise took part of the same.”
Notice Christ is said to have “took part” of the same. The Greek word here is metecho, denoting “to share or participate in, but not fully.” Through the miraculous conception and virgin birth, Christ laid hold of human flesh without inheriting the sin nature. Since “the life of the flesh is in the blood,” we can safely assume that His blood was not tainted with sin. This certainly cannot be said of us. The life of the flesh is in our blood only in the sense that the blood coursing through our veins keeps us alive to sin another day. Little wonder Peter calls it “the precious blood of Christ” (I Pet. 1:19). It is the antidote for the disease of our sins.
While this is denied by some, we believe Christ literally shed His blood at the Cross. When the priest in Israel poured out the blood at the foot of the brazen altar, it symbolized the foot of the Cross, where the blood of the Lamb would one day drip (Lev. 4:32-34). Blood is an interesting paradox: murderers attempt to get rid of it, God cleanses our sins with it. This crimson thread is woven throughout Paul’s epistles leaving us with a tapestry of redemption.
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:8,9).
Today God is justifying ungodly sinners on the basis of the shed blood of Christ. In this context, justification means to be declared eternally righteous by God. Justification is a legal term. For example, if a prisoner is brought before the bar of justice there is only one way he can be justified. He must be found NOT GUILTY. If it is proven he is not guilty then he is a just man.
But let us consider another case. A man commits a federal crime and is found guilty and sentenced to death. The President of the United States can pardon him, but he can never justify him. Even though the man is pardoned, he is still a criminal guilty of the crime. There is no way to justify him or remove his guilt.
But wonder of wonders, we are found guilty before the bar of God’s justice, yet we are justified by God’s grace. The law points its bony finger into our face and says, “You are a sinner, guilty as charged, and therefore condemned to die” (Rom. 3:19,20). As the sentence is about to be read, Christ says to the Father, “I will bear their guilt and punishment.” Christ gave Himself a ransom for all. He took our place!
God did not overlook the penalty of our sins—the death of Christ paid for it. Our sins and guilt were placed upon Him, and His righteousness was imputed to us. In Christ, we are guiltless before God, accepted in the Beloved One, and delivered from the wrath to come. This is the wrath of God we would have experienced at the Great White Throne Judgment and subsequent sentence to the Lake of Fire. By God’s grace, we are beyond the reach of God’s righteous judgment. As the apostle declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). As the apostle pondered the character of Christ through the prism of the once-for-all sacrifice, he was moved to write, “Let this mind be in you.” In other words, be compassionate, humble, generous, forgiving, etc. Christ loved the unlovely. Allow me to illustrate:
George Whitefield, in one of his travels, found himself at an inn one evening. To his surprise, in the next room there was a company of gamblers. Their language was terrible. Whitefield and his friend spent a little time in prayer and reading the Word, and then he said, “Before I retire, I must go in there and testify to those men,” and he did. He went into the other room and told them about the Lord. They listened, but by the time he got back to his room, they were as bad as ever. His friend said to him, “Brother Whitefield, what did you gain by that?” And he said, “I gained a soft pillow. I can now go to sleep.” (Edward Drew, Studies in the Pauline Epistles.)
George Whitefield had a burden for lost souls. He loved the unlovely. Even though his words appeared to fall on deaf ears, he could rest easy that evening having shared the gospel and warned these ungodly men of the judgment to come. I fear sometimes that believers are so busy majoring on minors that they fail to realize that lost souls are slipping away to a Christless eternity, while they are trying to prove a point.
May the lesson that we learn from Calvary be this: a humble heart is one that can be greatly used of God. As it has been said, “The humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself; he simply does not think of himself at all! Humility is that grace that, when you know you have it, you have lost it!” THE END!
Three Times When the Lord Wouldn’t Answer
A GENTILE WOMAN IN TROUBLE (Matt. 15:21-28)
Mark’s account of our Lord and the Syrophenician woman describes how Jesus had sought to conceal Himself from the public but “could not be hid” because this woman, whose daughter was being tormented by a demon, had heard of His presence and had sought Him out.
In her distress she cried, “Have mercy on me,” but she did not fail to recognize His royal position, addressing Him, “O Lord, thou son of David.”
“But He answered her not a word” (Matt. 15:23).
He who had gone about the cities of Israel helping the oppressed; He who had always been so quick to respond to the appeals of the needy, did not even answer this poor soul. And He could be silent with emphasis! “Not a word” did she receive in response to her cries of distress.
His conduct was an open rebuff. He evidently did not mean to show kindness or even courtesy to this woman.
His disciples may have understood His action, for the woman was a Gentile. Nevertheless, interceding for her, they “besought Him, saying, Send her away,1 for she crieth after us” (Ver. 23).
“But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Ver. 24).
Mark well, this was said to His disciples, for He still declined to speak to the woman. He was driving home a lesson she had to learn—that she had no claim on the Son of God, no right to expect help from Him. God had given up the Gentiles long ago when, at the tower of Babel, they had made it clear that they did not even wish to retain Him in their knowledge.
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient”2 (Rom. 1:28).
“Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me” (Ver. 25).
The word “worshipped” here is strong in the original. Literally, the woman came and prostrated herself before Him. Falling down at His feet, she begged for His help.
At this pathetic plea the Lord was constrained to address her, but still by no means consented to help her. She must first learn the lesson He had begun to teach—yes, and we must learn it too; that is why this incident is recorded for us in the Scriptures.
“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles…were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:11,12).
This is why the Lord seemed so obstinate in His dealings with the Syrophenician woman. Even now, He addresses her only to point out why He should not help her. For the third time we find that negative word “but” used. First she had cried for help, “BUT He answered her not a word.” Then His disciples had interceded for her, “BUT He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Now she falls at His feet and begs for the help that only He can give.
“But He answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs.”
“And she said, Truth Lord…” (Ver. 26,27).
Ah, she has learned the lesson and has frankly acknowledged her unworthy position. And here her faith shines as she points out that, while indeed she has no claim on Him, He may, if He will, show mercy to her. The story is told of a woman whose son, a soldier in Napoleon’s army, had been condemned to death. As she pleaded with the Emperor to have mercy on her son, the Emperor said: “But he doesn’t deserve mercy. This is his second serious offense.” “But sire,” the woman came back, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it;” at which Napoleon issued her son’s pardon.
Yes, we too must learn this lesson. As we have seen, the Gentiles are strangers from the covenants of promises (Eph. 2:12). These promises pertain to Israel (Rom. 9:4). Even during the kingdom reign of Christ, when the nations are finally brought to Messiah’s feet, it will not be in fulfillment of any promises made to them. It will be in fulfillment of promises made to Israel. This is clearly brought out in Romans 15:8,9:
“Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision3 for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
“And that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.”
And so the woman continued pleading:
“Truth Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
It should be noticed that our Lord had really used the diminutive for dog, as the original brings out; the equivalent of our word “doggie.” This was the first hint of the compassion He had in His heart for her and she was quick to take it up. He had spoken of “casting” the children’s food to the little dogs. She, in turn, had acknowledged her place but had argued: Could not the master let a few crumbs “fall” from his bountiful table for the little dogs to get? Did he not have a right to do this?
What a plea! What faith in both His love and power! Think of calling the casting out of a demon “crumbs from the master’s table!” She had showed a keener appreciation of Christ’s power to bless than could be found anywhere in Israel. How could we expect the story to close in any other way than it does?
“Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
A JEWESS IN TROUBLE (John 8:1-11)
We pass now from the story of the Gentile woman to that of a Jewess, also in trouble, but trouble of a very different nature.
Our Lord had spent the night in the Mount of Olives, His customary place of prayer, and had come, early in the morning, to the temple where the people gathered to hear Him teach.
The scribes and Pharisees had come early, too, but from a very different motive. While the Lord had been in the Mount of Olives, they had been about the most disgraceful business.
“And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery: and when they had set her in the midst,
“They say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act” (John 8:3,4).
Had they had an honest zeal to “clean up Jerusalem,” there might have been some excuse for their conduct. But they had no such lofty motive. They had sought and apprehended this woman, not because they had been so shocked at her conduct or were so zealous for God’s holy law. They were out to “get” Him whose holiness had shown up their hypocrisy. And to attain their purpose they had stooped to this. These base characters, really farther from God than the woman they had caught in sin, now “set her in the midst” not mainly to humiliate her, but Him! What despicable iniquity the human heart, yes, the religious heart, is capable of!
Having set the woman “in the midst” they proceed to remind the Lord that Moses commanded that such should be stoned, demanding, “But what sayest thou?” (Ver. 5).
These men were diabolically clever. They reasoned: He is always talking about forgiving sinners. He says that the publicans and harlots will enter the kingdom of God before us (Matt. 21:31). Now we will force Him either to acknowledge that this woman should be stoned or to openly champion immorality by taking the part of a harlot against Moses.
Now this Jewess had a great initial advantage over the Gentile woman of Matthew 15. In Romans 3:1,2 we read,
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
“Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”
It was a great honor to be entrusted with the written Law, the revealed will of God—and it was a great responsibility too; a responsibility which, if violated, would change her position from one of distinct advantage to one of distinct disadvantage. And this is exactly the situation in which this Jewess found herself.
Indeed, this was why the Law had been given to Israel. The Gentile had already been proven hopelessly depraved; now God gave the Law to Israel to prove that the Jew was no better—that the sons of Abraham were, after all, the sons of Adam too! Thus that which had elevated her positionally above the Gentiles had brought her down again to the same level. She had broken the Law and it had condemned her.
“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).
The Law is the great leveller of mankind. No one can boast in its presence.
Thus this Jewess now stood condemned before the holy Son of God. The Gentile woman had earnestly sought access to Christ’s presence, but to stand before Him was the very last thing this Jewess would have wished for.
Actually, it was a blessing in disguise for this woman that she had been made so conspicuous. It taught her, in another way, the same lesson which the Syrophenician woman had had to learn: that she too stood without claim before the Son of God, without a right to anything but His condemnation.
But our Lord proposed to teach her accusers this lesson too; these “just persons who needed no repentance” and had boasted again and again that they were the children of Abraham (Luke 15:7).
Ignoring their demands, He stooped to write on the ground, all the while “standing in the midst.” What He wrote we are not told, but the act itself reminds us that the ten commandments, too, were written with “the finger of God” (Exod. 31:18). But they were not to be ignored and went on demanding that He give His verdict in the matter. “So, when they continued asking”—they got what they asked for!
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (Ver. 7).
It is suggested that the words “without sin” here do not mean without any sin, but without the sin in question, i.e., “Let him that is free from her sin first cast a stone at her.”
Amazing reply! Withering rebuke!
Consider it carefully: He had not ignored the Law or taken a sinner’s part against Moses. He had not denied that the woman deserved death by stoning. He had simply pointed out that they were in a rather poor position to bring the charge, since their own hands were soiled. Yes, the woman should be stoned—and so should they! Thus they themselves were caught in the trap they had set for Him.
Having made His reply the Lord stooped down to write on the ground again and let that simple sentence do its work.
“And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (Ver. 9).
What a combination we have now! A great sinner and a great Savior!
“When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?
“She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (Ver. 10,11).
What other course would one have expected the Lord to take? The scribes and Pharisees had brought this woman to Christ to judge, but now they were not even there to press the charge. They had left the courtroom in the middle of the trial!
“Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more!”
This was what really mattered. What the scribes and Pharisees said or thought about her really mattered nothing now; He had freely forgiven her. And thus she had received help from Christ, not because she belonged to the chosen race for, condemned by the Law, she had forfeited all claim to consideration on this ground. He had helped her, just as He had helped the Gentile woman—in His own sovereign grace.
But the question may well be asked at this point whether this free pardon of a convicted criminal was quite in accord with justice. And to bring the question nearer home: Is God’s free forgiveness, yea, justification of sinners who believe on Christ today, quite in accord with justice?
In Deuteronomy 25:1 Moses, in the name of God, strictly charged the judges of Israel:
“If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.”
This is basic justice; the premise upon which the execution of law in any land is founded. It is so fundamental that one wonders why it need be stated.
In Job 8:20 we find Bildad the Shuhite saying to Job,
“Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will He help the evil doers.”
And to this Job answered,
“I know it is so of a truth” (Job 9:2).
In Proverbs 17:15 God tells us how He feels about those who would break up this very foundation of justice:
“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.”
This is why all the sinner’s turning over of new leaves, all his good works and religious performances, all his penance and tears and prayers fail to make him acceptable in the sight of God.
But what is this we find as we examine the rest of the record? Did not God condemn the righteous in the case of Christ? Is it not true that God allowed Him to die in shame and disgrace on Calvary’s Cross for sins He had never committed? Do we not read that “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him” and “He hath put Him to grief” (Isa. 53:10). Is it not written that “[God] hath made Him to be sin?” (II Cor. 5:21).
And what is more, does not God Himself justify the wicked every day and even offer them free forgiveness and justification, no matter how guilty? Do we not read in Romans 4:5,
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
How can He do this without violating the basic rules of justice?
This question brings us to still another occasion on which our Lord declined to answer. And here we will find why our Lord could help both the Gentile and the Jew and why, even today, He can justify “him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26) and still maintain perfect justice.
THE SON OF GOD BEFORE HIS ACCUSERS (Matt. 26:62,63; 27:12-14)
This time it is the Lord Himself who is in trouble. He stands on trial for His life before the representatives of Hebrew and Roman Law. Think of it! They sitting in judgment upon Him!
First He stands before Caiaphas, the Jew, charged with all sorts of crimes.
“And the high priest arose, and said unto Him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
“But Jesus held His peace…” (Matt. 26:62,63).
Next He stood before Pilate, the Gentile, while the multitude, including Israel’s rulers, clamored for His death.
“And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.
“Then said Pilate unto Him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
“And He answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly” (Matt. 27:12-14).
But why did He not answer? Why did He stand there speechless, taking the blame for sins He had not committed? Picturing the scene one feels like crying: Lord, answer for thyself! Tell them the truth! Expose the wickedness of these contemptible creatures!
Surely the Lord could have given a thousand answers and have tied His accusers up in a thousand knots. Knowing all about them, as He did, He could have uncovered evidence which would have sent them fleeing from the scene.
Why did He not do so? Because He had come into the world especially to die for man’s sin. As He had taken His place with sinners at His baptism by John (Matt. 3:5,6,13-15) so now He was to take the place of sinners in condemnation and death.
Some have wondered why Isaiah pictures Him as a sheep before His shearers, dumb and opening not His mouth, when as a matter of fact He said many important things at His trials. The answer is that when accused He held His peace and took the blame. Indeed, had the sinners of all ages been there and accused Him of their sins He would not have said one word in self defense. Yes, and had you and I been there, charging Him with our sins, seeking to shift the blame for our sins upon Him, He would still have remained speechless—so infinite was His love for us; so great His determination to bear our judgment for us. See Him standing there! Yes, He is guilty; not in Himself but as our representative, for He stands there, not merely for us, but as us, taking the full responsibility for our sins. Thus God can dispense grace to sinners because He dispensed judgment upon sin at Calvary.
Neither the Syrophenician wom-an nor the fallen Jewess understood all this, of course, for it had not yet taken place. Indeed, God’s great purpose in Calvary was to be “testified in due time” through the Apostle Paul, some years after the crucifixion (I Tim. 2:4-7). Nevertheless it was the basis on which he could justly help both women, and it is the basis on which He has ever justified sinners, whether Jews or Gentiles.
Unsaved friend, will you call on God to save you for Jesus’ sake? He is ready to save you, but you must call. Will you do it now?
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets:
“Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe…
“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,4 through the forbearance of God;
“To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
“Where is boasting then? It is excluded” (Rom. 3:20-27).
Hallelujah! The Law brings Jew and Gentile down to the same level and grace accepts them there!
“For there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:22,23).
“For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him” (Rom. 10:12).
Endnotes
Notes:
- From His reply it seems evident that they meant He should grant her request and dispose of her case.
- Lit., becoming.
- The Hebrew race.
- Cf. “But now” (Ver. 21) and “at this time” (Ver. 26). We now know how God could justly forgive “the transgressions that were under the first testament” (Heb. 9:15).
Berean Searchlight – January 2002
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