What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's pattern - Character Studies On Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42

Introduction:

    The last few posts have looked at what it means to abide in Christ here Growing Christian Resources: What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's Presence - Character Studies On Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42 and here Growing Christian Resources: What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's Cross - Character Studies On Mary and Martha and here Growing Christian Resources: What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's Majesty - Character Studies On Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42. 

     The posts are based off of a recent sermon I preached on the subject. Featured in the posts are Mary and Martha, two sisters whom Jesus met in the course of His earthly ministry some few months before His crucifixion. The last few posts dealt with how Mary highlights for us what it means to abide in the presence of Christ. We learned that to abide in Christ means:

"To abide in Christ is when my faith is settled in spiritual union with Him, identification with Him, and bearing fruit for Him." 

    Mary had her faith "settled in Jesus" by how she abided in His words, His cross, and His majesty.  We are now going to switch our attention to her sister Martha to learn what it means to abide in the pattern of Christ. Today's post and the next couple are based upon another sermon that deals with the same subject of "abiding in Christ", only with the nuance of abiding in His pattern. 

How a block of wood and a wooden ball illustrate abiding in Christ.

    My late father was a carpenter by trade. As a younger man he had taken a small block of wood and worked at carving out a ball to where you could see the ball in the wood, rolling around. The ball and that block were made of the same material, and there was no way you could get the ball out of the wood. My dad had carved the block in such a way that you could view the little ball he had carved from all sides. The ball and the block were clearly different while having a union that had the ball abiding still in the block while freely rolling around inside of it.

We had defined in our last few posts “abiding in Christ”, to abide in Christ is when my faith is settled in spiritual union with Him, identification with Him, and bearing fruit for Him.   Jesus reminds us in John 15:7-9 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”                                                                                                               The Pattern of Jesus Christ

As we return to Luke 10:38-42 once more, we see Mary abiding in in the presence of Jesus, listening to Him teach. She is abiding in His presence, in stillness. Martha is learning to abide in Christ’s pattern while she struggles. She was serving His pattern. What is the pattern of Jesus Christ? One way we can answer that is by noting how He served as shown in the passages below.

 Jesus came to serve (Mark 10:45 “not to be served, but to serve…”, Philippians 2:7 “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant….”.) Later after this episode in Luke 10, Jesus would wash His disciples’ feet and say these words in John 13:15, “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.” We as Christians are called to abide in this pattern of Christ, Galatians 5:13b “….but through love serve one another.” 

How God uses stillness and struggle.

Martha’s serving was invaded by her struggle of worrying. Luke 10:40-41 “But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things.”

Stillness and struggle go hand-in-hand. God has been teaching me that these last several months. I wish I could report I’m an “A” student – I’m pulling a “C-” at the moment. Some reminders about the need for stillness before God. Psalm 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Also, Isaiah 40:30-31 “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength….”. Isaiah 30:15 “In quietness and trust is your strength.” As we saw in John 15:9 “abide in my love”.

If you struggle with stillness with God in abiding, you’ll see why God pairs “struggle” with “stillness”. That’s why these two sisters are put together by the Holy Spirit in our text. Martha was a different personality than Mary. Martha struggled in an area we all know to well – worry. This was the testing ground to show her how to abide in Christ as her pattern. How did she learn to abide? How can we?

1. Stop, look, and listen. Luke 10:38-42

2. Seek and know. John 11:20-28

3. Serve and rejoice. John 12:1-3  

More next time.....

How To Refocus On God When You’re Distracted

 

Introduction

     We will continue our current series on "abiding in Jesus Christ" in the next post. Today I wanted to take time out to address how Christian people can refocus on God when they are distracted. I remember hearing a statistic forty years ago that noted that Americans watched between 3-7 hours of television per day. All of that has changed with the dominance of social media. The organization “addictionhelp.com” conducted a poll on social media use and what it identified as “social media addiction (the entire study is found here Social Media Addiction Statistics 2026 - Usage and Effects. Here is what it noted, 

“Many mental health professionals worry that children and teens are particularly at risk for social media addiction. Such concern is due to the way social media platforms encourage endless scrolling, impulsive behaviors, and the need for instant gratification.” 

It then noted these statistics,

“Young social media users aged 18 to 22 account for a shocking 40% of all Americans addicted to social media. According to research from Common Sense, teens average 7 hours and 22 minutes of screen time per day, and kids 8–12 years old get an average of 4 hours and 44 minutes of screen time per day.”

     I’m not advocating that social media is evil that we must avoid it. Like all previous forms of technology, social media and A.I. are tools. How we wield them and for what end we use them is where prudence is needed. Yet, when it becomes an addiction (i.e. “something I cannot live without or defines how I conduct daily life) or a distraction (i.e. where I lose perspective and neglect what is important), such things can lead to serious emotional and mental issues. That same website noted the following negative effects of such a distraction,

“Out of the 1,141 respondents aged 13 to 17, teens reported that: 70% felt left out or excluded when using social media; 43% have deleted social media posts due to receiving too few likes; 43% felt bad about themselves if no one liked or commented on their posts; 35% reported experiencing cyberbullying. One of the most serious risks social media addiction poses for young people is increased thoughts of self-harm and suicide.”

     We need Psalm 135 as an antidote for our distracted minds and prayer-life. How can we get refocused on God when we’re distracted?

1. Remember the names of God. Psalm 135:1-4, 13-14

      We do not know the author of this Psalm nor the occasion. Nevertheless, its timeliness and timelessness is perfect for our distracted lives. Sometimes what I’ll do is take a sheet of paper or reflect upon the names of God as I begin my prayer time to reel in my scattered thoughts. Notice Psalm 135:1-4,

“Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord; Praise Him, O servants of the Lord, 2 You who stand in the house of the Lord, In the courts of the house of our God! 3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is lovely. 4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own possession.”

Then notice Psalm 135:13-14, “Your name, O Lord, is everlasting, Your remembrance, O Lord, throughout all generations. 14 For the Lord will judge His people and will have compassion on His servants.” 

One resource I have in my library lists over a thousand names of God in the Bible. Our Lord Jesus Christ alone has over two-hundred names ascribed to Him. Sometimes I like to say some of those names in alphabetical order to get myself refocused. The point is God’s names represent who He is or what He has done. We remember then the names of God. How else can we defeat distraction in our prayer-life and in our thought-life?

2. Review the perfections of God. Psalm 135:5-6

     We begin by focusing on God's names, not let's put before us God's perfections. Notice with me Psalm 135:5-6 “For I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. 6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.” 

    When I say “perfections”, I’m speaking about what are called His “attributes”. An attribute is a perfection of God that reveals the kind of God He is. God doesn’t merely “have” certain characteristics. Rather, He is whatever that attribute reveals Him to be. Notice firstly, God’s greatness, especially in how He is above all other “gods”. The Psalmist here is not granting existence or reality to other deities, since God and God alone is God (Isaiah 43:10-11). The Psalmist labors to show that the idols people worship are breathless, sightless, deaf creations of men. 

      Secondly, notice God’s Sovereignty in verse 6. These two headline perfections of His greatness and sovereignty contain other perfections which are just as wonderful as they. 

     To illustrate, sometimes Debi will ask, "are you here?" because my mind is thinking in different directions. We all have “divided attention”. We all, like every other created thing, can never be all nor give all of ourselves to everything. 

      This is why praying to God, who alone is undivided (what theologians call “Divine Simplicity”) is so crucial to “pulling together” our prayer life and thoughts. Just like the names of God, it is helpful to have God’s perfections written down as you pray. Perhaps pray for a little bit and then praise God for one of His perfections. I promise you God’s perfections and names will help bust the distraction. Notice a third way to defeat distraction here in Psalm 135.

3. Recall the works of God. Psalm 135:7-14

     This is the longest section in the Psalm, and rightly so, since God does so much! Psalm 135:7-14 records for us God’s works or providence. The Heidelberg Catechism, question 27, raises this question, 

“What do you understand about the providence of God?”

It gives this answer: “The almighty and everywhere present power of God, whereby as it were by His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth, with all creatures, and so governs them, that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yes, all things, come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.”

    We definitely see God’s providence here in Psalm 135:7-14, “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; who makes lightnings for the rain, who brings forth the wind from His treasuries. 8 He smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast. 9 He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and all his servants. 10 He smote many nations and slew mighty kings, 11 Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan; 12 And He gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to Israel His people. 13 Your name, O Lord, is everlasting, your remembrance, O Lord, throughout all generations. 14 For the Lord will judge His people and will have compassion on His servants.”

     We see God’s providence at work in His creation, redemption, and our future. God knows what is best. These truths are what we glean from focusing upon the works of God.  

      Sometimes when I cannot readily see His work in my life at present, I’ll focus on His works over the past course of my life. God never changes (Malachi 3:6), which means He will always be at work in my present life and in whatever He has ordained for my future. One of my favorite passages is Psalm 31:15 “My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.” How do we defeat distraction in our prayer-life and thought-life? By remembering His names, reviewing His perfections, and recalling His works. One more method from Psalm 135.

4. Repeat the praises of God. Psalm 135:19-21

     Psalm 135:19-21 “O house of Israel, bless the Lord; O house of Aaron, bless the Lord; 20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord; you who revere the Lord, bless the Lord. 21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion, who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!” 

       That word translated “bless” speaks of “bending the knee in thanksgiving to God”. The force of the Hebrew verbs translated “bless” gives the idea of continuing a process. We could even say there is a certain what we call “antiphonal” quality to this final set of commands.

     Have you ever heard a choir sing a line of a song, with one part repeating the line and the other perhaps joining in with a chorus or some other line that adds and builds momentum? That’s what we mean by “antiphonal”. To make it clearer, Isaiah 6:3 records a worship scene in Heaven involving the Seraphim, a special class of angels, “And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” The whole of Israel is told to begin, followed by the priestly leadership of the Aaronic priesthood, then the servants of the temple – the Levites, and then each personal member of the nation. Praise is made personal. 

Closing thoughts:

We focus on God by His name, perfections, works, and repetition of His praises. Let’s use this antidote of Psalm 135 to refocus on God and defeat distraction.

What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's Majesty - Character Studies On Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42

 

Introduction:

   What follows below is a post that derives from a recent sermon I preached in our Sunday morning service at the church where I pastor. It is part of our verse-by-verse sermon series through Luke's Gospel ("Meeting Jesus in Luke's Gospel"). In the message I preached about the importance of "abiding in Jesus Christ". We've have studied about Mary and how she typified what it means to abide in the presence of Christ. In the last post we noted how Mary abided in the reality of Jesus Christ's pending crucifixion, what I termed "abiding in Jesus Christ's cross". In today's post we will note how she likely continued in her awareness of Christ's presence in her life by how she abided in the presence of His majesty. 

Abide in the presence of His majesty. Acts 1:11-15

    We’ve witnessed Mary abiding in the presence of Jesus Christ by His Words and right before His crucifixion. For her, as it is with all His followers, Jesus Christ is powerful and precious. We turn our Bibles to one final scene, Acts 11:11-15,

“They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’ 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. 15 At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together).”

     We have a core of devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ present in this upper room gathering. We have of course The Eleven Disciples and the four women who would had went to the tomb after Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 27:56-61; Matthew 28:1). The seventy whom Jesus sent out to proclaim the Gospel while He was journeying to Jerusalem were likely there as well. Although Luke does not specify who the remainder of the audience was, there is a good chance Mary of Bethany, her sister Martha, and their brother Lazarus was among those gathered. The text tells us they were all together “with one mind, continually devoting themselves to prayer.”

    They all were captured by witnessing or hearing about the majesty of the ascended Christ. If indeed Mary of Bethany, who anointed our Lord and who sat at His feet was present, she with the others were delighting, devoted, and depending upon their Lord. The majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ in His ascension was all about His coronation in Heaven as Prophet, Priest, and King. 

    She had heard Him teach the Word of God as Prophet, and now in His exaltation He would ever speak through all the words of Scripture. She anointed Him as one would have anointed the High Priest in the Old Testament. He is now in Heaven to pray on behalf of all believers (Hebrews 7:24-25). 

    The 120 believers were in prayer in the wake of His exaltation as King of Heaven and looking forward to what will be His return to set up His Kingdom on Earth. They could never forget His Majesty. She saw His glory in His time here on Earth. 

    All true followers of Jesus Christ ought to be eager to follow Him as their Majestic Lord in Heaven. In other words, we’re abide in His presence, since in His exaltation He is with His people always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20). As I close, remember: abide in the presence of His words, His cross, and His majesty.

   In the next post we will turn attention to Mary's sister Martha and how she learned to abide in the pattern of Jesus Christ. Stay tuned!

What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's Cross - Character Studies On Mary and Martha

 Introduction:

   What follows below is a post that derives from a recent sermon I preached in our Sunday morning service at the church where I pastor. It is part of our verse-by-verse sermon series through Luke's Gospel ("Meeting Jesus in Luke's Gospel"). In today's post we continue on from the last post here Growing Christian Resources: What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's Presence - Character Studies On Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42. Our key text will be John 12:3-8. 

Abide in the presence of His cross.  John 12:3-8

     It was to be less than months later. Jesus was five days before His crucifixion. He is at the home of Lazarus (whom He had just raised from the dead), Martha, and Mary in Bethany. John 12:3-7, 

“Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 5 ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?’ 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.”

    Mary was to Jesus like a compass to due North – pointing invariably no matter what happened. We noted before To abide in Christ is when my faith is settled in spiritual union with Him, identification with Him, and bearing fruit for Him. The paradox of one’s faith settled in an otherwise unsettling event like the cross revealed Christ’s power and preciousness.

   A. His cross revealed His power.

    Mary here is grasping by faith the truth about Jesus Christ – you cannot separate His majesty from the cross. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” The cross shows Christ’s power not only by the raw power of His omnipotence but by the reality of His love (see Romans 5:8).

     B. His cross revealed His preciousness.

    When Mary poured out the contents of that perfume, it was a costly expression of devotion. She poured out what was most dear to her. That perfume’s scent would accompany our Lord throughout His final passion week, through His trials, and onto Golgotha. That scent wafted its way through Pilate’s judgment halls, up the road to Calvary, and hung in the air as they drove the nails into His hands and feet. When that heavy cross was dropped into the ground with our Savior upon it, one could have caught the very scent of Heaven itself. Its scent would not be quenched.

    The Christian’s ability to abide in Christ is based in the Holy Spirit’s uniting of us to Him in saving faith. We bear His preciousness. Jesus Christ is not just a historical figure we read of in our Bibles nor is He hermetically sealed off in Heaven at the Father’s right hand (as true as He is historical and our Heavenly Mediator). The Christian is described roughly 125x as being “in Christ”, “with Christ”, and He in the Christian. Jesus is ever with the Christian by the Holy Spirit – preciousness!

     The Christian enjoys a closer union with Jesus than even Mary had at this point. Take for instance Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” 

2 Cor 2:14-17 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” 

    We’re in a better position than the disciples ever were. They could only be with Jesus wherever He went, limited by time and place. Once He raised and ascended, He sent His Spirit so that every Christian could be with Jesus, and He with them no matter where and when they may be.

For the Christian, Jesus Christ is ever precious because of how they are ever associated, united with Him in His death and resurrection. The two ordinances or sacraments we observe, baptism of new believers and observance of the Lord’s Supper are used by the Spirit to raise our faith to understand this union. 

1 Peter 2:7a “This precious value, then, is for you who believe His power and preciousness.” In 1707 Isaac Watts wrote a wonderful hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”. The 2^nd stanza captures what it means to “abide in the presence of His cross”,

“Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God! All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them through his blood.”

Mary never wanted to forget the cross, neither should we. More next time. 

What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's Presence - Character Studies On Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42

 

Introduction:

   What follows below is a post that derives from a recent sermon I preached in our Sunday morning service at the church where I pastor. It is part of our verse-by-verse sermon series through Luke's Gospel. I preached about the importance of "abiding in Jesus Christ". In today's post and the next several I'll be sharing excerpts from that sermon, where I draw observations from Luke 10:38-42 on two sisters, one named "Mary" and the other named "Martha". We will see how their lives and responses to Jesus' ministry highlight what it means for the Christian to abide in Him. Might these next several posts encourage the reader who is looking to grow in their faith or interested in understanding better what the Christian life is all about. 

Some introductory remarks about "abiding in Jesus Christ"

    When one receives Jesus Christ in saving faith and repentance, they not only receive the gift of eternal life but begin to learn what we will begin to focus upon today – the abiding life. You’ll notice how that word “life” is common to salvation’s beginning and daily living. Jesus notes in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

      I remember in our Florida days when pastoring we lived near a beautiful lake with dozens of palm trees and other trees encircling its perimeter. One day, my wife and I were driving this scenic route and noticed how two large trees had grown up so close to one another that they fused to form one larger tree. The more unusual feature of this group was a palm tree growing right out of the middle of the “V” between this “double tree”. We stared at it for a while, noting how the palm tree was encased in those trees, and they embraced it. 

    You could say the palm tree was “abiding” in that larger double tree. It was protected, sheltered in storms, and nourished by the much larger tree. That pictures for me what it means to “abide” in Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself uses such organic imagery to describe His life with His followers in John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

     We come today to the close of Luke 10 and meet two sisters, Mary and Martha. They had a brother who experienced life from death – Lazarus (John 11). These three siblings had one thing in common: they all understood what it meant to abide in Jesus Christ. What do we mean by “abiding” in Jesus Christ? To abide in Christ is when my faith is settled in spiritual union with Him, identification with Him, and bearing fruit for Him. 

    Mary will be our focus today as we see how she abided in the presence of Christ. In this post we will consider how she abided in the presence of His words. The next two posts will cover abiding in Christ by consideration of His cross and majesty. Below is an outline of today's post and the next couple.

1. Abide in the presence of His words.        Luke 10:38-42

2. Abide in the presence of His cross.          John 12:3-8

3. Abide in the presence of His majesty.       Acts 1:11-15

Abide in the presence of His words. Luke 10:38-42

     Let’s turn our attention to Luke 10:38-39, “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.” Again, To abide in Christ is when my faith is settled in spiritual union with Him, identification with Him, and bearing fruit for Him. 

    We are drawn to Mary in this scene by how she abided in the Lord’s presence in Luke 10:42. We must not equate abiding in the Lord’s presence with idleness. 

    My father was a carpenter by trade. I recall many times him sitting at his chair at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. reading his Bible and praying, followed by him building something and hearing him sing a hymn with a ringing falsetto and Kentucky drawl. He abided. Herbert Lockyer the voluminous commentator quotes Charles Wesley in his remarks about Mary,

         “Oh that I would forever sit, Like Mary, at the Master’s feet;

         Be this my happy choice; My only care, delight, and bliss,

         My joy, my Heaven on earth be this, to hear the Bridegroom’s voice.”

    This posture of “sitting beside the feet” captures well the underlying Greek text. It gives the sense of someone devoting their life to instruction and discipleship under a master, a teacher, or as the Jews called it, “Rabbi”. To illustrate, the Apostle Paul in Acts 22:3a describes his early days before His conversion to Christ, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel”. Why abide in the Master’s words

    A. Life giving words.

    John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” God’s words possess life-giving power. So closely linked is Jesus Christ to the Scriptures that He and it are called “the word of God”. The Holy Spirit through them gives life to the soul that is nothing less than Christ Himself. In John 1:14 Jesus Christ is called “the Word made flesh” – the Living Word, that same Living Word eternal with the Father (John 1:1). 1 Peter 1:24-25, quoting Isaiah 40:8, carefully distinguishes Jesus the living Word from the Bible the written word, For, ‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you.” Life-giving words.

     B. Love-giving words.

     God’s Word is that quality, being “living, active” (Hebrews 4:12). But God’s Word also has the power to produce love for the Lord. John 15:7-9 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” We see Jesus’ words were life and love-giving, but notice thirdly.

   C. Light giving words. Luke 10:42

   Mary would not budge. Despite Martha’s protest to have the Lord tell her sister to help her in preparing the meal, Jesus responded in Luke 10:42 “but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” She knew the protocol of the day was to help her sister, yet she “chose the better part”. 

    Notice how others chose God as their portion. Abraham “chose the better part”, described in Hebrews 11:10 as looking for “the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” God illumined him by His words to go to the land He would show him, foregoing the pleasures of this life in Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis 12:1-7). 

    King David in the Old Testament also chose “the better part”, described as a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 7:46; Samuel 13:14; Psalm 89:20; Acts 13:21). 

    The Apostle Peter would do the same. He said to Jesus in John 6:68-69 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” He chose “the better part”. 

    The Apostle Paul’s whole ministry was about choosing the better part, Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Abiding in Jesus’ presence by His life-giving, love-giving, and light-giving words.

More next time.....

The Ancient Near East And Why Is It Relevant To Studying the Bible

Introduction:

    Decades ago when I began my formal theological training, we read as a required textbook Eugene Merrill's "Kingdom of Priests - A History of Old Testament Israel". It was Merrill that piqued my interest in better understanding the Old Testament against its backdrop of what is known as "The Ancient Near East". 

    In that volume Merrill argued that by understanding the Ancient Near East or "World of the Bible", one can better follow God's hand in such major events as His calling forth of Abram in Genesis 12 or the Exodus account in the Book of Exodus. He wrote these words on page 94 of that volume,

"Before the Biblical story is pursued further, however, it is important that some attention be paid to the larger world in which these momentous events were to transpire. This is necessary not only that we may be reminded of Biblical history was part of the vastly larger historical horizon, but that we may be able to integrate the history of Israel with that of contemporaneous people and events." 

    Since those days I've come to read more and more scholarship on the Ancient Near East as a life-long student of the Bible. As a pastor I find one has to strike a careful balance. On the one hand, we should know that wider background mentioned by Merrill. One cannot impose the wider Ancient Near Eastern context onto the Biblical text, otherwise God's intent through the Biblical author will be lost or risk making the understanding of the Bible only for the "experts". 

    On the otherhand, if the Bible student ignores the wider Ancient Near Eastern context, they risk missing a nuance God intended through the Biblical author. Sometimes God utilized features of that wider culture and other occasions He was correcting a worldview or exposing error that was leading the people astray. 

    My goal in this post is to introduce readers to the Ancient Near East and then offer three reading suggestions for further reading at the end.

What is the Ancient Near East?

    When we talk about the "Ancient Near East", were referencing what would today be known as "The Middle East".

    Whenever we consider this vast region, covering roughly 900 miles by 1,500 miles, were talking about an area of nearly 1.4 million square miles, corresponding to almost 15% of the North American Continent. Merrill's observation still resonates with me. Since that time, I've read several other studies and scholars who specialize in relating the Old Testament to the Ancient Near East (George Mendenhall, Gleason Archer, Kenneth Kitchen, and several others). 

    Below is a map of the Ancient Near East which corresponds to the same area known as the "Middle East".

    The reader can note I've labeled the first eleven chapters of Genesis above this picture to help visualize when and where we begin in the Bible to discuss the relevance of the Ancient Near East (covering the Nile River in the Southwest of the Map to the ancient Hittite Empire or Modern day Turkey to the North, to Persia West of the Euphrates River or what we know as Iran and Iraq today, to the Arabian Peninsula at the South of the Map or Modern day Saudia Arabia and Yemen.)

    Within this nearly 1.4 million square miles of the Ancient Near East we find the middle of the map the ancient people groups of "Canaan", "Aram", "Moab", and "Edom". If you just focus on "Canaan", it was this particular piece of real estate that God sent Abram in Genesis 12. Canaan of course would eventually become known as "Israel" in the Old Testament. 

Why is the Ancient Near East Relevant to Biblical Studies today?

    What point is there to familiarizing oneself with the Ancient Near East?

1. God's historic and prophetic activity has centered and will center on the Ancient Near East (or what we know as the Middle East today).  

   As I've studied maps of the Biblical world and Ancient Near East over the years, there are what we could call "eight major theaters" that God providentially orchestrated to bring about the timing of the call of Abram and eventually Israel, as well as the beginnings of the writing of His Word. What is even more remarkable is this wide swath of land, the Ancient Near East, and its centralized location of the Promised land are central to current maps depicting the continents and nations of the world, as seen below.

 
    Not only was this area of the world the backdrop for the Old and New Testaments, but it will also be the final staging area for the unfolding of God's prophetic plan we find revealed by the Book of Daniel, Jesus' remarks in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 17,21), the Book of Revelation, and several other major eschatological predictive passages in the Scripture. 

2. God orchestrated various theatres in the Ancient Near East to bring about His redemptive plan.

    Below I have depicted three maps of the Ancient Near East with eight areas I've highlighted. 

The final map in today's post will depict the final theatre of God's activity, and what would end up being the central theatre - Canaan, a.k.a "the Promised land", or what would become known as "Israel". 

    This particular area is the same location where the Lord Jesus Christ would become incarnated, ministry, live, suffer, die, rise, and ascend. When you study the geography of Israel in the first-century connected to Jesus' ministry, you find three main areas of Galilee to the North, Samaria in the middle, and Judea to the South.

Closing thoughts 

   My point is that the Ancient Near East and its centralized focus (Israel) would become the key location of every Biblical event we read of in our Bibles. I've not intended to make this post exhaustive, but rather an introductory summary. 

    I would encourage readers to take a second look at the maps one typically finds in the back of their Bibles. Biblical Christianity is not only a revealed faith, but a historic one. Its overwhelming message is God has acted in history, has spoken through His revealed written Word, and that He as the Son came to be man to live, die, and resurrect in history. 

    This same God in the Person of the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to begin and empower His Church and to draw forth sinners to salvation. Truths such as these is why it is important to become more familiar with the Ancient Near East, the world of the Bible. I close with a listing of resources readers may consult to enrich their understanding of this subject.

Three Resources for better understanding the Ancient Near East 

1. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Paul D. Wegner. A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars. B&H Academic. 2017.

    In my opinion this is the most thorough and accessible history of Israel available which gives much attention to the Ancient Near Eastern Background from a scholar committed to a high view of Scripture and with an expertise in the field.A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars: Kaiser Jr., Walter C., Wegner, Paul D: 9781433643187: Amazon.com: Books

2. Meredith C. Kline. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary. Wipf and Stock. 2012.

    Kline's work in comparing the structure of God's Covenant in the Pentateuch with the wider Ancient Near Eastern Treaty's is illuminating and well-balance. He has a knack for tying together the overall unity of Scripture and relating it to God's wider providence in history. Kline, much like Kaiser, is a solid evangelical scholar with expertise in the Ancinet world of the Bible. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studi – Westminster Bookstore

3. Eugene Merrill. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel - 2nd Edition. 2008. 

    Merrill's vast knowledge of the Ancient Near East and of the Old Testament shines in this volume. This is the book that helped me to place dates and places with Old Testament events and the wider Ancient Near Eastern culture. Merrill's dedication to scholarship from a conversative, Bible believing position has withstood the tests of time. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel: Eugene H. Merrill: 9780801031991: Amazon.com: Books

Why God Revealed The Bible - Observations With Aid From The 2nd London Baptist Confession 1689

Introduction:

    Recently I have been researching further about the canonization of Scripture. On Sunday nights at our church we are doing a series of sermons on this very subject, entitling the series "How We Got Our Bibles". It is important for Christians to know "how" their Bibles came to be, since critics and opponents of Christianity are all too eager to spin their versions and convoluted histories to discredited Christianity. The matter of "how we got our Bible" is highly important; however, a closely related question, "why the Bible" will be the focus of today's post. 

    In this post I'll lay out the theological and practical reasons why God revealed Himself, His will, and His salvation in the Bible. To achieve this I'll introduce readers to a beloved older Baptist doctrinal confession, the 2nd London Baptist Confession of 1689, since it helpfully discusses this subject in its opening paragraph. 

Why God revealed Himself in a book

    The 2 London Baptist Confession of 1689 here Of the Holy Scriptures — The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in its opening article summarizes reasons for why God chose to reveal Himself, His will, and His dealings with His people in the words of sacred Scripture. The article as I read it is divisible into four headings, which I'll supply below with commentary as we work through this question of why God revealed The Bible.

A. The need for saving revelation.

    Firstly, the 2nd London Baptist Confession notes that God's general methods of disclosing Himself in creation and providence proved inadequate to give the most accurate way to lead men to a thorough knowledge of the truth and salvation. It notes,

"The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation." (2 Tim. 3:15–17; Is. 8:20; Luke 16:29,31; Eph. 2:20)

B. The need for more reliable revelation.

    The 2nd London Baptist Confession continues,

"Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal Himself, and to declare (that) His will unto His church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing" (Rom. 1:19-21, 2:14–15; Psalm 19:1-3; Heb. 1:1)

    Human institutions, miracles, theophanies, traditions, and the frailty of the human will cannot supply what people need to defend against the devices of Satan nor to ever hope in finding an accurate revelation of God, salvation, or preparation for the world to come. God was pleased by His Spirit to provide by Divine inspiration His written revelation over a period of 1500 years through 40 authors on three continents. The words themselves were revealed as sufficient, clear, authoritative, and necessary, infallible, and inerrant. 

C. Need of History for written revelation. 

    It's worth pausing here to inquire of the timing of God's beginning of written Scripture in the days of Moses in the 15th century b.c. following the Exodus of Egypt. Notice again what the 2nd London Baptist Confession states: "Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal Himself." I call this third reason for God revealing the Scriptures as having to do with meeting the needs of history itself.

    When we turn to Exodus 17:8-16 we find recorded the epic battle between the forces of Amalek and Joshua leading the recently freed Hebrews from bondage in Egypt. As the battle waged in the valley at Rephidim, Moses is atop a small mountain overlooking the scene with two others holding up his hands as he intercedes for victory. 

    It is after this battle we come across the first time anywhere in the Bible of God telling Moses (and anyone for that matter) to write His words in Exodus 17:14-16, a first mention of the nearly 200x in the Old Testament God told the Biblical authors to "write" or made mention of His Word being "written". 

 “’Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.’ 15 Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is My Banner; 16 and he said, ‘The Lord has sworn; the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.” 

    Why this event? Why did God wait until this point in history to begin the writing of the Biblical Canon? Three answers: power of redemption, preservation of the Gospel, and the political situation of the ancient world in which Moses and the people lived. The battle at Rephidim occurred weeks after the Exodus from Egypt, the greatest act of redemption recorded in the Old Testament. Scholars such as the late Merdith Kline, R. Laird Harris, Gleason Archer, Norman Geisler, and Michael Kruger have all noted how God’s covenantal arrangement with the Hebrew people followed on the heels of a major act of redemption. 

    The second reason for God starting to reveal His Word at this particular moment in history is because the average age of human beings had dwindled and thus a more reliable way of preserving the Gospel was required. 

    The third reason to note about why God revealed His word when He did was a matter of His Sovereignty at work in history. It was the timing of the revelation of Law or “Torah” as the original Hebrew text terms it that followed the pattern of treaties made between nations in the 1800’s-1300’s b.c. (compare scholars George E. Mendenhall’s 1955 essay: “Law and covenant in Israel and the ancient Near East”; Meridith Kline’s “Treaty of the Great King”). 

    Several patterns were at play in that part of the world stretching between the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River and beyond into modern day Persia some several hundred miles East of Israel – what scholars call “The Ancient Near East”. Such conditions were providentially the "right conditions" for the timing of the start of Biblical revelation in writing. 

    So, we have noted three main reasons why God revealed Himself through a book, the Bible,

A. The need for saving revelation.

B. The need for more reliable revelation.

C. The need of history for written 

    revelation.

D. The need for Divinely authoritative revelation. 

     The 2nd London Baptist Confession closes its opening paragraph closes is first section in its article "Of The Holy Scriptures" with these words, 

"which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now completed." (Prov. 22:19-21; Rom. 15:4; 2 Pet. 1:19–20.)

    The Westminster Shorter Catechism in its Question 2 summarizes well our whole discussion with the following question and answer,

"Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him."

    We need an authoritative, infallible, and inerrant standard to root our dependence, glorying, and enjoyment of God. 

Closing thoughts

    These are reasons for why God revealed Himself in "The Book", "The Bible",

1. The need for saving revelation.

2. The need for more reliable revelation.

3. The need of history for written 

    revelation.

4. The need for Divinely authoritative  

    revelation. 

P3 The relevance of canonicity and how we got our New Testament: Defending the 27 Book New Testament Canon

Introduction:

    In today's post I intend to conclude our brief survey on the canonicity of the New Testament and the historical process of its formation. We noted in the first post here Growing Christian Resources: P1 The relevance of canonicity and how we got our New Testament the practical importance of such a subject. In the last post here Growing Christian Resources: P2 The relevance of canonicity and how we got our New Testament  I outlined and cited early records from the church fathers that traced the canonization of the New Testament. In today's post we will attempt to give the reader a completed account of the timeline of the New Testament's canonization, along with a defense. 

 Questions surrounding the exact numbers of the books

    Many within the world of liberal, critical scholarship claim that the N.T Canon was invented or put together in 325 A.D at the Council of Nicaea under the watchful eye of Emperor Constantine. This was the thesis of the wildly popular "Davinci Code" that was in vogue in the early 2000's. 

    Yet testimony from the early church fathers and early lists of New Testament books demonstrate that the acceptance and use of the New Testament books as God's Word was far earlier. Critics who persist in denying this point purposefully ignore the evidence below.

a). Papias was a student of Polycarp, who in turn had been a student of the apostle John. Eusebias, the first church historian, notes that Papias acknowledged the authority of the four gospels as early as 135 A.D, only 40 years after the apostolic age.[1]

b). As already mentioned, Polycarp, Papias mentor, had been himself a student of the apostle John. Polycarp in his book entitled “First Apology” asserts the authority of the four gospels and Pauline epistles while sharply distinguishing them from the then popular but non-canonical books of “The Shepherd of Hermas” and “Apocalypse of Peter”.[2] Polycarp is dated 115 A.D, some 25 years after the close of the apostolic age.

c). Ireneus, Bishop of Lyons, wrote his work “Against Heresies” to record and critique the growing Gnostic threat that was attempting to undermine the orthodox, Bible believing church of his day. Irenaeus not only mentions almost all of the 27 books of the New Testament but effectively denounces all of the Gnostic gospels. Iranaeus wrote his work in 180 A.D, some 85 years after the apostolic age.

d). The Muratorian Fragment, the earliest list we have of the New Testament books outside the apostolic era, can be dated to 170 A.D. In it we have almost a complete record of all the New Testament books except two. This canonical list represents a good portion of the early church’s opinion of what constituted the New Testament and shows that all 27 books were virtually all but universally recognized, with the entire collection uncontested by the third century (200's).[3]

The length of time it took for the early church to acknowledge the New Testament Canon?

       The point is that even though the Gnostic gospels had begun to be written by 150 A.D, yet a core of 20 of the 27 books were universally recognized and in use well beforehand, with 2nd Peter, 2nd and 3rd John, Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation recognized and in use by large segments of the church by the end of the second and into the third centuries (see endnote #3 below for more details that I just referenced above). Some further confirmation of these points can be noted below.

    For instance, in a recent discussion I listened to between Professors Ben Laird of Liberty University and Greg Lanier of Reformed Theological Seminary, they noted how the New Testament books were used in sub-collections: The four Gospels, Paul's letters, the General Epistles in individual or sub-collections of their own, and John's Apocalypse (the whole discussion is at the link here Interview: Ben Laird and the modern state of NT canon studies  

    P.R. Ackroyd, a New Testament scholar writes:[4]

“While there was some considerable dispute over some of the N.T books, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 2nd century (150 A.D).”

    Thus, despite the claims of radical critics of the Bible like Elaine Pagels and Bart Ehrman (two authors who have written material attempting to discredit the Bible and its history), the New Testament canon as we know it was well on its way by 150 A.D. By the time we arrive in the fourth century, various church fathers (like Athanasius of Alexandria) and certain church councils (Hippo in 393 A.D and Carthage in 397 A.D) did nothing more than affirm what was already generally acknowledged by all Christians everywhere – namely the canonicity of the 27 New Testament Books.

Constructing a Timeline for history’s account of the story of the N.T canon

   

      With the major evidence for the development of the N.T Canon considered, it is now time to see how all of this evidence lays out in a time-line. This timeline gives a three-part account of how our New Testament came to be recognized as the canon.

CHURCH HISTORY’S RECKONING OF THE N.T CANON 

 Part 1: Apostles, Post-Apostolic/Pre-Nicaean Church Fathers 

 1 & 2 Peter 3:14-16 & 1 Timothy 5:18 mention the early Christian's recognition of the a good portion of the New Testament books well within the days of the Apostles or about three-quarters of the way through the 1st century. The Muratorian Canon (170 A.D) mentions every New Testament book but three, indicating that the early church within a century after the passing of the Apostle John. By 200 A.D. the Latin church father Tertullian states his refusal to use any other gospels other than the four. This indicates his awareness of the Gnostic Gospels and the early Christians' immediate rejection of them.

50 -----100 A.D-------------------------150 A.D----------------200 A.D------------>>

Epistle of Barnabas (120 A.D), Papias (120 A.D), Irenaeus (180 A.D) quote or refer to almost all the 27 New Testament books.                

Part 2: Nicaean and Post-Nicaean Church Fathers (Nicaea refers to Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D)

<<-----300A.D-------------------------------------------------400 A.D

Athanasius “Festal Letter” Council of Carthage listing all 27 books 367 A.D recognizes canon

Part Three: Ancient New Testament Translations that testify of the recognition of the 27 N.T Books as being Canonical
Ancient translations Athanasius “Festal Letter” Council of Carthage of Greek originals listing all 27 books 367 A.D recognizes canon N.T writings (Itala, for whole church 397 Syriac, Coptic) verify unanimity of 27 books from 200-300 A.D

200 A.D-----------300 A.D-----------350 A.D------------------------400 A.D

Church is being persecuted. Council of Hippo agrees on 27 books 393 A.D, reaffirming what church generally had believed since shortly after the days of the Apostles.

    The above chart gives a realistic picture to the development of the canon. The problem among radical critics of the Bible today is their purposeful disregard of the testimony of history. No greater New Testament scholar than Kurt Aland has commented on this error of judgment among modern New Testament scholarship:

“These insights gained from the history of the canon are fundamental and of vital significance for the history of the text – New Testament textual criticism has traditionally neglected the findings of early church history, but only to its own detriment, because the transmission of the N.T text is certainly an integral part of that history”.[5]

Closing thoughts
    

    It must be remembered that the church did not create the Bible, but rather the Holy Spirit, through the scriptures, began, shaped, and guided the church. My hope is these last few posts have given readers a bird's-eye view of the relevance and overall process of the New Testament Canon. To God be the glory!

Endnotes:

[1] Bettenson, Henry. Documents of the Christian Church.

[2] McDowell, Josh. Evidence that demands a verdict. Volume One. Page 37.

[3] It is worth noting that the first century entailed God's giving of the 27 books and the early church receiving them and using them as Divinely revealed, authoritative revelation. As I've noted in the prior two posts, scholars who specialize in the field of "canonics" (the particular study of the development of the New Testament canon, men such as the late R.L. Harris, Roger Beckwith on the Old Testament side and Michael Kruger and Greg Lanier on the New Testament side) have noted how in both canons, books circulated in sections and clusters among God's people. With the New Testament we find the four Gospels came to be used as a group, Paul's letters were copied as a group, with our earliest manuscripts attesting to the eventual bounding together of these core books. 

    The remainder (Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation) were individually used and became solidly universally recognized by the third century or 200's A.D. The above sources (Muraturian fragment) demonstrate that the consensus on all 27 books was on a practical level all but locked in within the first 300 years of church history. 

[4] Ackroyd, P.R and C.F Evans. The Cambridge History of the Bible

[5] Aland, Nestle and Barbara Aland. The Text of the New Testament.