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coram_deo 26-Sep-21, 10:04 |
 While Peter, who was among Jesus Christ’s inner circle, was doing fine preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Gentiles at Antioch, he later succumbed to religious Jews who came on the scene and said the Gentiles had to keep the Mosaic Law in addition to believing in Christ. Isn’t it odd how pastors who preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ are always under attack, while pastors who preach Law keeping are rarely under attack? Anyway, the Apostle Paul heard that the Apostle Peter had succumbed to pressure from religious Jews who wanted to pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Paul went to Antioch to let Peter have it. “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Galatians 2:11-21) Google “Peter at Antioch” and you’ll see a lot of articles about this confrontation. I didn’t read them all, but thought this was a good one: From biblemesh.com: Peter and Paul fought with each other. What’s up with that? ‘Fought’ is an awfully strong word, but these two did have a sharp encounter. We see it unfold in Galatians 2:11-19, where Paul rebukes his fellow apostle for caving in to the prejudice of a group who said that people from all ethnic backgrounds had to satisfy the Jewish ritual law before they could become proper Christians. This meant, for instance, that men had to be circumcised and that no one could eat pork. Paul was livid at this perversion of the gospel. They were piling on superfluities, making salvation a matter of performance instead of a gift of mercy and grace on the basis of faith alone. If there’s any doubt over how upset Paul was at this heresy, one should read verse 5:12, where he says, “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” In other words, as long as they have the knife out, why stop with circumcision? They could be even more “holy” if they kept on cutting. In the fire of Paul’s righteous indignation, Peter got scorched. He was doing just fine with the brothers in Antioch – until, that is, some Jewish church members came up from Jerusalem. Before they arrived, he was eating happily with uncircumcised non-Jews in the local fellowship. But when these “legalists,” these Old Testament Law police, showed up, he caved in and pulled away from the Gentiles. Paul spotted his craven behavior and let him have it in front of these judgmental visitors. His rebuke and doctrinal lecture make for great gospel reading. You might think that after such an embarrassing showdown, the two apostles would have had a parting of the ways. Certainly, hurt feelings have wrecked many a relationship. Yet Christianity is not all about feelings, but also and necessarily about truth. And Peter knew that Paul had truth on his side – so much so that in one of his own letters, he commended Paul’s writing as “scripture” (2 Peter 3:15-16). Though he’d been stung by the criticism, he’d been able to “rejoice with truth” in love (1 Corinthians 13:6) instead of nursing a life-long grudge, which would have hindered his own spiritual development, as well as the witness of the church. Anyone who’s been around the church for a while recognizes this sort of clash between admirable believers. I remember my own shock in seminary when I discovered that missionaries disagreed almost vehemently over strategy, some favoring long-term work from fixed residential, medical, and educational compounds, others insisting that personnel travel light, ever ready to shift from one region to another as circumstances suggested. I thought they all just sang “Kumbaya” and worked by glad consensus at every point. Discord is inevitable when finite, fallen creatures join together in larger tasks. All Christians are spiritual works-in-progress; they’re being sanctified right along, but none is perfect, and most are far from it. Along with their gains in beneficence, courage, and winsomeness, they have episodes of selfishness, cowardice, and petulance. And despite their advance in wisdom and knowledge, they’re often just confused. (As a young pastor, I photocopied a quote and put it in my study desk – something along the lines of “Don’t attribute to malice what can be explained in terms of ignorance.”) In fact, a measure of confusion and sub-Christian moodiness can be at play in all the parties concerned. It’s not always black and white, and often each disputant could use a little rebuke and clarification. (Proverbs 27:17 says as much: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”) One thing you have to love about Galatians 2 is its “verisimilitude,” its truthlikeness. You can tell these are real Christians struggling with real limitations, just as we are. The Bible doesn’t gloss over the imperfections of its characters to enhance its spiritual tone. It tells it like it is. Though the opinions and behavior of the leading figures may be flawed, the reporting of such is accurate, important, and informative. Paul and Peter were not personally flawless. They had their self-confessed moments of weakness. But the Scripture they gave us is inerrant, by God’s superintendence. Through it, with the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we find our way to God in Christ and learn to walk with Him. biblemesh.com |
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coram_deo 27-Sep-21, 16:23 |
“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” (Psalm 92:12-15) |
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coram_deo 28-Sep-21, 18:09 |
“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” (John 13:1-17) |
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coram_deo 30-Sep-21, 09:33 |
“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.” (Acts 8:26-40) Here is an article on this passage from Acts. (A proselyte is a convert to Judaism.) From gotquestions.org: The Ethiopian eunuch mentioned in the Bible was a high court official of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia. He was in Israel to worship the Lord at the temple, which means he was probably a Jewish proselyte. On his trip home to Ethiopia, he had a life-changing encounter with Philip the evangelist (Acts 8:26–40). A eunuch is a man who has been castrated for the purpose of trusted servitude in a royal household (see Esther 1:10; 4:4; and Daniel 1:9). A king would often castrate his servants to ensure they would not be tempted to engage in sexual activity with others in the palace (specifically, the royal harem) or to prevent their plotting an overthrow (eunuchs were incapable of setting up a dynasty of their own). Eunuchs have been employed in many civilizations, including the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Greece and Rome, China, Korea, and Thailand. Jesus mentions them in Matthew 19:12. The story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 is a marvelous depiction of God’s role in evangelism. The story starts with Philip, one of the seven original deacons, who had just preached the gospel in Samaria (Acts 8:4–8). Philip was visited by an angel who told him to go south to a road that ran from Jerusalem to Gaza, in the desert (Acts 8:26). Philip didn’t ask why he was being sent to the middle of nowhere; he just went (verse 27). On the road, in a chariot, was the Ethiopian eunuch, who was just returning from Jerusalem. The eunuch was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord told Philip to go over and join the chariot, and when Philip drew close he overheard the eunuch reading from Isaiah out loud. Philip asked the Ethiopian whether or not he understood what he was reading. The eunuch replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” He then invited Philip to come sit with him in the chariot (verse 31). The passage the Ethiopian eunuch was reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, / and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, / so he did not open his mouth. / In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. / Who can speak of his descendants? / For his life was taken from the earth” (Acts 8:32–33; cf. Isaiah 53:7–8). The eunuch was wondering whom the prophet was talking about, “himself or someone else?” (Acts 8:34). Philip used this opportunity to explain the passage: this was a prophecy about Jesus Christ, who meekly gave His life to save the world. As Philip explained the gospel, the Ethiopian eunuch believed. When they came to some water by the side of the road, the eunuch asked to be baptized (Acts 8:36). Philip agreed to baptize him, and the Ethiopian eunuch “gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him” (Acts 8:38). As soon as the Ethiopian eunuch came up out of the water, “the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing” (verse 39). Tradition says that the eunuch carried the gospel back home to Ethiopia and founded the church there. Philip found himself at Azotus, and he carried on preaching the gospel on his way to Caesarea (Acts 8:40). There are many elements of God’s providence and intervention in the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. The account reveals the importance of these three things: the Word of God, the Holy Spirit’s leading, and a human evangelist. In order for a person to accept the truth, he must first hear the truth preached (Romans 10:14). It is God’s desire that the truth be preached everywhere (Acts 1:8). The Spirit of the Lord had been preparing the eunuch’s heart to receive the gospel. As the eunuch read Isaiah, he began to ask questions, and at just the right moment the Lord brought Philip across his path. The field was “ripe for harvest” (John 4:35), and Philip was God’s laborer in the field. This was no coincidence. It was God’s plan from the very beginning, and Philip was obedient to that plan. www.gotquestions.org |
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coram_deo 30-Sep-21, 11:38 |
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21) |
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coram_deo 14-Oct-21, 10:25 |
Deleted by coram_deo on 19-Oct-21, 10:19.
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coram_deo 19-Oct-21, 10:18 |
But I’m re-posting these verses (which were included in the now-deleted post) because they so well reflect the passage of Jesus Christ washing His disciples’ feet as recorded in John 13:1-17. “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11) “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12) |
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coram_deo 01-Nov-21, 22:14 |
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:25-33) I think the last verse is the key verse. |
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coram_deo 19-Nov-21, 09:37 |
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) Commentary from enduringword.com: a. Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing: If people do not respond to this glorious gospel, it isn’t Paul’s fault or his gospel’s fault. Only those who are perishing miss the message. i. “The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clearness of the gospel for the sun is no less resplendent because the blind do not perceive its light.” (Calvin) ii. The King James Version translates the end of verse four: hid to them that are lost. Spurgeon well says, “According to the text, he that believes not on Jesus Christ is a lost man. God has lost you; you are not his servant. The church has lost you; you are not working for the truth. The world has lost you really; you yield no lasting service to it. You have lost yourself to right, to joy, to heaven. You are lost, lost, lost.. It is not only that you will be lost, but that you are lost… lost even now.” b. Whose minds the god of this age has blinded: Those who are perishing and for whom the gospel is veiled have been blinded by Satan, the god of this age. i. It doesn’t mean they are innocent victims of Satan’s blinding work. Satan’s work upon them is not the only reason they are blinded. John 3:19 says, this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Though men love the darkness, and choose the darkness, Satan still works hard to keep them blinded to the glorious gospel of light and salvation in Jesus. ii. We notice also that it is the minds of the unbelieving that are blinded. Of course, Satan also works on the heart and the emotions of the lost, but his main battleground is the mind. Can’t we see a strategy of Satan in working hard to make people think less and learn less and use their minds less? This also is why God has chosen the word to transmit the gospel, because the word touches our minds and can touch minds the god of this age has blinded. c. The god of this age: The title god of this age is not used of Satan anywhere else in Scripture, but the thought is expressed in passages like John 12:31, John 14:30, Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 6:12 and 1 John 5:19. i. There is a significant and real sense in which Satan “rules” this world. Not in an ultimate sense, because, the earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein (Psalm 24:1). Yet, Jesus did not contest Satan’s claim to rule over this present age (Luke 4:5-8), because there is a sense in which Satan is the “popularly elected” ruler of this age. ii. “The satanic world sovereignty is in fact apparent rather than real; for God alone is the ‘King of the ages’ (1 Timothy 1:17, Greek), that is, of every age, past, present, and future” (Hughes). “It is the devil who is here called the god of this world, because he ruleth over the greatest part of the world, and they are his servants and slaves… though we no where else find him called the god of this world, yet our Saviour twice calls him the prince of this world.” (Poole) iii. The Biblical truth that Satan is the god of this age can be understood in a wrong way. Some later Christians (like the Manichaeans) promoted a dualistic understanding of God and Satan, and emphasized this phrase the god of this age. Their idea was that God and Satan were “equal opponents,” instead of understanding that in no way is Satan the opposite of God. In reaction to these false doctrines, many early Christian commentators (like Augustine, Origen, Chrysostem, and others) interpreted this verse strangely to “remove ammunition” from the heretics. But this is wrong. Just because someone twists a truth one way, it doesn’t mean we can twist it the other way to “compensate.” Calvin well remarks of this approach, “being hard pressed by their opponents they were more anxious to refute them than to expound Paul.” iv. Instead, Calvin gives a good sense of what we should understand by the phrase the god of this age: “The devil is called the god of this age in no other way than Baal was called the god of those who worshipped him or the dog the god of Egypt.” d. Who do not believe: Satan can only blind those who do not believe. If you are tired of having your mind blinded by the god of this age, then put your trust in who Jesus is and what He did for you. Then Satan can’t blind you anymore. i. “The god of this world is able only to blind the minds of the unbelieving… Refusal to believe is the secret and reason of the blindness that happens to men.” (Morgan) e. Lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ… should shine on them: To see this glory is to be saved. Therefore, Satan directs his energies into blinding men from ever seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. i. Understanding Satan’s strategy with unbelievers should affect how we pray for the lost. We should ask God to shine His light, to bind the blinding work of Satan, and to give faith to overcome the unbelief that invites the blinding. f. Should shine on them: Paul knew what he was talking about when he wrote this. He himself was completely blind to the truth until God broke through the darkness. In fact, when Paul first encountered Jesus, the Lord struck him with a literal blindness that was healed, and his eyes – both spiritually and physically – were opened to see the glory of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:1-19). i. The light mentioned here isn’t the normal ancient Greek word for light. It is a word used in the Septuagint in Psalm 44:3 for the light of Your countenance and in Psalm 78:14 for In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. Hodge observes, “The word therefore signifies the brightness emitted by a radiant body.” enduringword.com <<This commentary is interesting for a couple of reasons: • The Gospel being “hid” from unbelievers is not solely the work of “the god of this world” (Satan) - it’s a cooperative effort between Satan and the unbeliever. • Satan being “the god of this world” does not mean he is equal to God. He is simply the one whom the majority of the world chooses to align themselves with and to follow - not explicitly but by their beliefs and actions. As this commentary says, Satan is the “popularly elected” ruler of this age. So when atheists receive what they want and have lived for - separation from God - they should hardly be surprised they get that when they die. It’s worth investigating the motives and mindset of Satan as revealed in the Holy Bible because when you no longer have the option of choosing God, Satan is who you’re stuck with. |
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