The Eternal Basis for Missions

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

In last week's post, dated Tuesday September 24th, I wrote on the topic: "The Eternal Covenant of Redemption".  Today I would like to follow up on that post, demonstrating why it is extremely relevant to Christians today.

The Covenant of Redemption is the Biblical truth of God's eternally agreed upon plan of salvation.  In passages such as 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 13:20, we understand that the members of the Trinity entered into Covenant with another before time began, resulting in the following:

1). The Father planned redemption or salvation
2). The Son agreed to come and purchase salvation
3). The Spirit agreed to come and apply salvation to all whom He calls, convicts and believes

I would invite the reader to refer back to my previous post to gain more detail.  My aim today is to consider that the Covenant of Redemption is valuable to the Christian because it is the basis for missions.

The Covenant of Redemption is the basis for Missions
If we take God's eternal plan or covenant of redemption: (God the Father planned, The Son purchased and the Spirit applies) and consider passages that speak specifically about missions and sharing the Gospel, we immediately see the richness of salvation.

For instance, Jesus told Nicodemas in John 3:8 - “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Unless the Spirit comes, extending the gifting grace of faith and repentance, whereby sinners can believe, repent and be saved, salvation will not occur.  The Spirit comes to apply redemption.  Jesus teaches about this further in John 16:8  “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment."  The Bible reveals that the faith and repentance required to receive the benefits of forgiveness, reconcilation and justification must have the Spirit of God present.  Unless He is present and working in the sinner's heart,  faith and repentance won't occur.  The Spirit of God is the applier of redemption.

John 3:16 quoted above shows us the other elements of the Covenant of redemption.  The Father, the Planner of salvation, sent the Son, to purchase redemption, so that whosoever believes can be saved from the wrath to come.  The Spirit's work of conviction and the newbirth is implied from the context.  God is the great missionary.  He planned, purchased and pursues after sinners.  The Father planned to give a redeemed humanity to the Son who agreed to pay the purchase price.  The Spirit is out searching after and calling the whosoevers, bidding them to believe and repent and be saved.  Without ever negating human responsibility to believe on Jesus Christ, salvation is a work of God from beginning to end. 

The Spirit does all this through Christians who proclaim the scriptures.  Though it is the efforts of other Christians that goes and does the work, yet it is the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in Jesus' name, who brings about the results of the work.  It is God who ordains the means as well as the ends of salvation - hence why salvation is a work of God from beginning to end.  Missions is the first reason why we need to be more familiar with the Covenant of Redemption.  More tomorrow....

A Poem: The Broken Heart Healed

Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

A Poem: The Broken Heart Healed

 

Lord, Broken and dead you found my heart

 

God's Law could not save and we were apart

 

I was dead in sin, undesiring to come

 

Blinded were my eyes and my ears were dumb

 

My desires were my gods and the world my friend

 

Rebellion inherited from Adam and hell my end

 

Darkened was the sky of my soul overhead

 

Lest your grace shine in I would remain spiritually dead

 

But then the ground trembled and the stone rolled away

 

Your voice had come by your Word that day

 

You called my name:  "come forth you said"

 

"Forsake yourself and arise from the dead"

 

In faith I came, faith had arrived

 

Rescued from wrath, I was now alive

 

I came forth, "unwrap Him" you said

 

"For this One is alive and no longer dead"

 

My broken heart you healed, my life you transformed

 

Why put on those grave clothes? Why to this world conform?

 

The Great Physician called me

 

Prescibed me His Word

 

Faith did I express, His voice I had heard

 

Daily I need the pages of His prescriptions for me

 

To follow the Master whose touch set me free

 

Your Spirit indwells me and your hope is my sail

 

In this life for you I walk until I pass through the vale

 

By grace you called, through faith I did receive

 

In Grace you will keep me, your will to achieve

 

When I am gathered at your coming, this body will be changed

 

Corruption for glory will have been exchanged

 

The heart you healed, is looking to you

 

The Master who takes the old and makes all things new

 

 



The Words of Life - A Poem

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 

The Words of Life - A Poem

 

I see an old Bible, wrinkled and worn

 

When it is preached, faith can be born

 

The Sinner's heart melts, the work is done

 

Faith grabs hold, the faith-walk has begun

 

Hearing is granted, obedience resides

 

To Christ flees the saint, in His presence He abides

 

The Bible is alive, its words are breathing force

 

In its hearing weak faith is strengthened

 

Resolve resumes its course

 

The saint faces trials, the Bible in his hand

 

Eyes raised heavenward, on God's word He does stand

 

Pages stained with tears, the Bible is a friend

 

Its truth unchanged, broken hearts it can mend

 

The Spirit speaks forth, pointing the way

 

See the Living Savior, become His today

 

Worn it may be, the words are timeless and true

 

Open your Bible and take in what God speaks to you

 

 

 

 



The Lordship of Jesus Christ

Romans 10:9 "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

What is meant when the New Testament refers to Jesus Christ as Lord? Today's blog aims to answer that question by offering a three-fold definition of Christ's Lordship from scripture:

1. He is God.

When the New Testament refers to Jesus as Lord, it is another way of saying he is God.  Matthew 12:28; Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5 refer to Jesus Christ as Lord of the Sabbath.  Lordship refers to excercising dominion over a realm or Kingdom.  In Genesis 2:3 we read that God "rested from His work" after creating all things, meaning He was establishing Himself as the Sovereign, uncontested Lord over all things.  In fact, Genesis 2:4 tells us that it was indeed the "LORD God" who made the heavens and the earth, giving us the first appearance of the term "LORD" in the Bible.  By noting the Old Testament background, Jesus' remarks in John 5:18 make clearer sense, since in healing a man on the sabbath He makes a declaration of Himself as being equal with God.  The reason He could do that was because He was there, in co-equal power and being with the Father on the day of the first Sabbath back in Genesis!  In fact in Matthew 12:8 Jesus plainly states: "The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath".  Thus Jesus Christ's declaration of Lordship was His way of saying He is God. 

2. He is Sovereign.

When we speak of Christ's Lordship, we also are referring to His Sovereignty.  The term "Sovereign" means God's comprehensive reign over all peoples, places and times.  Sovereignty refers to God's right to reign.  Matthew 28:18 has Jesus saying: "All power has been given to me on Heaven and on Earth".  Other passages such as John 10:17-18 and 5:22 speak to this end.  As Lord He is Sovereign enough to both rise from the dead and excercise judgment.  He is Lord.  He is Sovereign.

3. He is Savior

The Lordship of Jesus Christ speaks to His role as the Saving Redeemer.  Passages such as Philippians 2:7; 1 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 4:15 refer to His function as the Savior who excercises His Lordship in salvation.  Romans 10:9 is the plainest verse:  "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  Despite the attempts of some today, scripture's testimony is that you cannot divorce Christ's role as Savior from His role as Lord.  The latter term is what gives Him the power and authority to be the Savior.  As God, He is powerful enough to save and as Sovereign He has the Authority to save all who by grace through faith believe on Him for the forgiveness of their sins.  (Romans 10:8-10)

To confess Jesus Christ as Lord means I am trusting Him to be the Savior who leads me, sustains me and Shepherds me.  As my Sovereign, I am His Subject, and He my King.  As my God, He is the One who I worship and adore. 

Prescriptions for Stronger Faith

Numbers 11:23 "The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”

The Disease of unbelief needed a Powerful Prescription
In this section of Numbers 11-12 we see the situation in the nation of Israel drastically plummet.  Numbers 11:1-3  tells us: "1 Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out. 3So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them."

For over 12 months since their deliverance out of Egypt, the people had been camped around the base of Mount Sinai.  They had every means of grace available. Yet as Hebrews 3-4 reveals, they ended up not entering into the land which God was calling them due to unbelief.  These two chapters of Numbers 11-12 are chapters about the complaining people of God. 

1. We see the Children of Israel compaining in Numbers 11:1-9
2. We see Moses companing about the people Number 11:10-15
3. We see Miraim and Aaron complaining about Moses 12:1-2

No faith, struggling faith and weakening faith
No one was happy.  These three groups of people were in a miserable condition.  The Nation of Israel camped around Sinai were operating with no faith.  Hebrews 3:19 describes the generation of Israelites coming out of Egypt being incapable of entering into the promised land due to unbelief. 

Moses was operating with struggling faith.  According to Hebrews 3:5, Moses was indeed faithful, a "faith-filled man", yet in this particular episode he was overwhelmed.  Then we see Aaron and Miriam dealing with weakening faith.  They had genuine faith, however jealousy and envy over Moses had sapped their spiritual energy. What these people needed was the same thing we need as God's people living in the 21st century: Stronger faith.

The people of Israel needed saving faith, Moses needed victorious faith and Aaron and Miriam needed greater faith.  In the middle of these two chapters we see Moses' raise further doubts to God's ability to provide.  It is in Numbers 11:23 that we see God says these words: "The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.” 

It is from this text that I see the Lord giving us a set of prescriptions for stronger faith.  If someone is in need of saving faith, this prescription from Numbers 11:23 will guarantee salvation.  Perhaps you are reading this and are a believer in Christ already, however you are needing victorious faith or stronger faith.  May I urge you to consider the following prescriptions for greater faith from Numbers 11:23. 

1. Consider the Lord. Numbers 11:23a "The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited?"
This was Moses' problem: He had considered his circumstance more than the Lord.  The question posed by Jehovah God can only yield one answer - of course the Lord's arm, ability, strength, is not too short.  The people needed to place their faith and trust in the saving power of the one who had rescued them out of Egypt.  Miriam and Aaron needed to be reminded that the Lord called Moses to do one thing, and they another.  The Lord's power is unlimited (Psalm 90:1). 

2. Consider the Lord's word.  Numbers 11:23b "Now you shall see whether My word will come true" 
Moses, the man of struggling faith, needed to hear the Word of the Lord.  The prophet of God, who had already composed Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus at this stage of redemptive history, was at a low point in his ministry.  He wanted to die. 

The nation of Israel had no faith.  Their failure to believe was not God's fault, but theirs.  Only the preaching of God's word can bring about the faith needed for the person to embrace Christ. (Romans 10:17).  That generation of people needed to be saved. (again compare Hebrews 3 and 4)  Miriam and Aaron had weak faith.  They needed to heed the Word they had received and consider their words carefully.  Dear friend, you and I need to consider the Lord's words more than our thoughts, our impressions and our opinions.  God was telling Moses that no doubt, He  was going to do as he had said.

3. Consider your heart. Number 11:23 "Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.” 
What was the Lord trying to get Moses to consider.  He was trying to get him to consider the Lord, and the Lord's word.  But He was also appealing to the court of Moses' heart.  That word "you" takes what is impersonal and distant and suddenly brings it to bear personally and near.  Somewhere along the way, Moses' let the circumstance change his understanding about the Lord, rather than let His understanding of the Lord change His circumstance.

He who had seen the Lord split the Red Sea and rain fire on the Mountain was begging God to let him die.  I do not hold Moses in contempt, for I too have had those times, and I'm sure you have as well.  It is in those times of trouble that God has had me take stock of my heart. 

Proverbs 4:23 tells us - "Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life." Whenever my heart is out of tune with the Lord, it is because I have not considered Him nor His words.  This three-fold prescription of considering the Lord, His Word and your heart will lead to stronger faith.  Take it in daily, and watch your faith grow. 

Using Cross-referencing and repeated words together

Numbers 11:1 Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

Two days ago we looked at Hebrews 3 and noted how we can use cross referencing, as well as a couple other Bible-study related tools.  In that chapter we noted that the author cross-referenced Numbers 12 and Psalm 95.  It was for the reason of Psalm 95 that we looked yesterday at the Bible Study tool of "repeated words".  Today I want to consider Numbers 11-12, the other text referred to in Hebrews 3, and explore it through the two tools we have learned in the past two blogs: namely "cross-referencing" and "repeated words".

1. Finding repeated ideas or words in Numbers 11-12
The immediate tone one finds in studying Numbers 11-12 is that of "complaining" or "murmuring":

a. The people are complaining. Numbers11:1,4,5,6
b. Moses is complaining. Numbers 11;10,11-15,21-22
c. Miriam and Aaron are complaining. Numbers 12:1-2

We also see God granting undeserved provisions of grace:

a. The manna. Numbers 11:7-9
b. His Spirit upon the seventy elders to advise Moses 11:24-26
c. Communication of His Word 11:23; 12:6-8, 14
d. His sparing of Miraim 12:15-16

So we see God's grace.  We see murmuring. 

Clearly we see examples to avoid.  We also see the need for God's grace to hang onto.

Which leads us to see the repetition of God and/or His attributes in these chapters:

a. God's provision of Manna, hence His Grace, unmerited favor
b. His Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God gifting selected people was taught in the Old Testament.
c. God's Special Revelation by His Word
b. God's mercy, or not giving that which is deserved, as in the case of Miraim
e. God's judgment, which is seen in giving the people what they want, the quail.  In scripture the worse form of judgment is when God gives the sinner what he or she wants, since the sinner has in their heart exchanged God for created things. (Romans 1:20-25)

2. Cross referencing in Numbers 11-12
Cross referencing to previous passages can provide fascinating insights and surprises in one's study of God's Word.  A prime example of this is in the people's murmuring over not having meat, and hating the manna that God gave to them in Numbers 11:1-9. 

Have we seen this type of complaining before? We have.1   Some 12-14 months before, the people had just been redeemed out of Egypt and were camped at the wilderness of Sin in Exodus 16.  There the people complained about not having any food.  God responds in Exodus 16 by doing the following:

a. He first supplies them quail in Exodus 16:13 on the evening of the day they had murmured against Him.
b. The next morning he then supplies them with manna to eat in Exodus 16:14-20, with the text stating in Exodus 16:21 that every man had as much as he could eat.
c. They were not judged to death.  God showed mercy.

Thus we see the pattern: Complaining--->The word spoken---> they looked and saw the glory of the Lord-->Quail provided-->Manna provided-->Mercy

Not hardly over a year later the people are complaining in Numbers 11 about the manna they had been receiving.  They were accusing God of short changing them.  They chose to forget that He had supplied them quail, then manna. Notice the reverse response in this second incident:

a. God kept supplying them manna.  It is described again and mentioned first in the Numbers 11 text. 
b. The provision of quail is given by the Lord in Numbers 11:31-35.  The text tells us that while the meat was in their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord had kindled. (Numbers 11:33).  They could had spit it out.  They should have remembered how He first supplied them quail, and then bread in Exodus 16.  But alas, they spurned the grace of God, revealing they had never received it to begin.
c. Therefore God struck the people with a very severe plague. (Numbers 11:33)

Thus we see the opposite pattern: They complained--->Mention of Manna--->the word spoken--->they did not look at the Lord's glory--->Quail--->Plague--->Death

From these two incidents we see the crazy but true nature of repeating sin.  In cross referencing, we can note similarities, and also stark contrasts.  Most noteably I find that the people did not look to the Lord's glory in the second incident like they had in the first.  Their rebellion was more willful and deep than the first.2

It is from these patterns in Numbers 11 that we find the murmuring continuing in Numbers 12.  No doubt the Psalmist in Psalm 95 and the author in Hebrews 3 draws from these patterns. 

Conclusion from  cross referencing and repeated thoughts in Numbers 11-12
Thus from cross referencing and repeated thoughts in Numbers 11-12 we can draw a general conclusion about the text:
Namely, The Holy Ghost in all three texts is weaving together the pattern of prescriptions needed to strengthen one's faith and to avoid the peril that comes from murmuring against the Lord. 

End Notes______________

1. Numbers 33 gives an overview of all the journeyings of the Israelites from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab some 40 years later.  In Numbers 33:12 we see the record of the people encamped at the wilderness of Sin, the location of the first quail and manna incident of Exodus 16.  Then in Numbers 33:17 we see the people camped at Kibroth-hattaavah, the scene of the second manna/quail incident in Numbers 11-12. 

2. The Preacher's Homiletical Commentary on Numbers gives this insight: "They had murmured aforetime, and the Lord gave them quails, and did not punish them (Exodus 16:2-13).  But now, after additional proofs of His power and goodness, they murmur again and more wickedly, and He sends them quails and smites them in anger."

Finding Scripture's meaning through repeated words

Psalm 95:1 O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

Making the main point the main point
Yesterday we explored Hebrews 3 and noted the most effective Bible study Tool - "Cross referencing".  Today I want to further explore a sub-point in that blog which actually utilized Psalm 95 - namely observing repeated words or ideas.  It cannot be over-emphasized that discovering scripture's meaning involves identifiying the author's main point or points.  To do that, you and I as Bible interpreters need to note repeated words or thoughts.  Below we are going to walk our way through Psalm 95 to underscore the repeated words or ideas so as to discover the Psalmist's main point.

1. Commands to Worship the Lord. Psalm 95:1-7
In Psalm 95 we see the phrase "let us" repeated seven times, with clusterings of this phrase found four times in Psalm 95:1-2 and the second clustering of three times found in Psalm 95:6.  In each clustering we find the one word "come". (Psalm 95:1,6)  The idea of "let us" is repeated as follows in this Psalm:

a. Let us Sing for joy to the Lord - Psalm 95:1a
b. Let us shout joyfully - Psalm 95:1b
c. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving - Psalm 95:2a
d. Let us us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms - Psalm 95:2b

This first clustering utilizes a feature of Hebrew Poetry wherein the author piles on phrases, one right after the other, with the intended effect of amplifying the power of His writing.  Thus we are to go from singing, to shouting, to moving forward as we sing and shout, to the full orbed shouting joyfully as we move forward singing and shouting. 

Then we see the second clusterings of the phrase "let us" used three times in Psalm 95:6:

a. Let us worship Psalm 95:6a 
b. and (Let us) bow down Psalm 95:6b (this would be more of a distinct command in the original text)
c. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker  Psalm 95:6c

Just as in the first set, the author here utilizes that "amplifying effect" in his poetry: giving the sense of not just worshipping, but also bowing down and worship, and then taking it further and actually kneeling in humility before the exalted Majesty of God.

2. Important questions to ask when identifying your repeated ideas
Clearly this seven-fold repetition of the phrase "Let us" is in the form of commands.  Whenever you are looking at repeated phrases or ideas in a text, here are some questions to keep in mind (note I will illustrate these questions straight out of Psalm 95:

a. Is there a command for you to obey? O Come, Let us sing, shout, come before His presence, shout joyfully, worship, bow down and kneel. (Psalm 95:1-2, 6)

b. Is there a warning to heed? "Today if you would hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts.." (Psalm 95:7); as at Meribah (95:8a); as in the day of Massah in the wilderness (95:8b); "and said they are a people who err in their heart" (95:10)

c. Is there an example to heed or to avoid? Clearly the Psalmist uses the unfaithfulness of the Israelites in Numbers as examples to not repeat: "When your Fathers tested me" (95:9a); they tried me, though they had seen my work (95:9b)

d. Is there a promise to claim? Clearly the designation of those who truly worship Him by grace through faith as "people of His pasture" (95:7a) and "the sheep of his hand" (95:7b).  This condition describes someone who has found rest in the Lord.  The idea of rest is derived from the shouts for joy that result from having found such rest in the Lord's presence (95:1-2) and the lack of rest stemming from refusing to worship Him as a true believer.  Anyone who has been saved by grace through faith can claim these promises, since Jesus Himself identifies believer's as sheep and He as their Great Shepherd. (John 10) Only a true believer can truly worship God and call Him Savior and Lord. (Galatians 4:6; Romans 10:8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:3)

e. Is there can argument to consider? The word "for" is repeated twice (Psalm 95:3,7).  This word in the original text speaks of drawing an inference or implication from the preceeding or following material.  Thus the commands of Psalm 95:1-2 make sense, "for" the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods". Psalm 95:3)  It makes sense to worship God, since He made all things. (Psalm 95:4-5). 

The logic of the Psalmist's commands are further reinforced in Psalm 95:7, where we see the second "for" refering to the Lord as our Maker and Great Shepherd.  Why would you want to worship, bow down and kneel before Him?  Notice again that these questions were applied to phrases or ideas we saw repeated throughout the text.

3. Conclusion: The Main Point of Psalm 95
In considering these repeated ideas and thoughts, we can draw the following main point of this Psalm: Come (by faith) and sing for joy to the Lord (95:1), and do not harden your heart (95:7), for otherwise in so doing, you demonstrate yourself not to be a true worshipper who has entered His rest. (95:11)