"My prayer is that this book will lead God's people to pray more fervently and believingly: "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Mt 6:10). And in better understanding and praying that, they might more diligently labor to "make disciples of all the nations" (Mt 29:19), knowing that "he shall have dominion" (Ps 72:18 KJV)" (Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology, xxiv).
Showing posts with label NT: Matthew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NT: Matthew. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Matthew 4:4 - Self-Reliance is Self-Destruction
"From the beginning, man has always relied upon God's verbal revelation for his ethical behavior. Immediately upon creating Adam, God spoke to him concerning His ethical requirements (Genesis 2:16-19)" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 41).
Even Adam in his original righteousness relied upon the Word of God. Arguing by contrasting the greater to the lesser: in light of the sinful effects of the fall and the imputation of Adam's sin (cf. Romans 5:12-19), how much more are the sons of Adam behooved to rely upon the Word of God?
Pride. Human autonomy. Self reliance. Idolatry. These four are one in the same. Thus, self-reliance is self-destruction. We are creatures, so we need to have creaturely-reliance, i.e., man was created to be Word-reliant. Christ the God-man said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
Even Adam in his original righteousness relied upon the Word of God. Arguing by contrasting the greater to the lesser: in light of the sinful effects of the fall and the imputation of Adam's sin (cf. Romans 5:12-19), how much more are the sons of Adam behooved to rely upon the Word of God?
Pride. Human autonomy. Self reliance. Idolatry. These four are one in the same. Thus, self-reliance is self-destruction. We are creatures, so we need to have creaturely-reliance, i.e., man was created to be Word-reliant. Christ the God-man said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Beyond the Impression
The phrase "beyond the impression" comes from the preface of C. S. Lewis' last work, The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature.
I like the phrase beyond the impression. The phrase implies that there are two types of knowledge: "mere hearing" and "understanding." The former implies that a persons is satisfied with the mere impression of knowledge, while the latter seeks (to use another Lewis phrase) to go "further up, further in!"
Gospel: Going Beyond the Impression
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13), Jesus Christ used the imagery of a sower casting seed on different types of soil to demonstrate the principle of going beyond the impression: the sower cast some seeds along the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them; other seed fell on stony places that had not much earth, and they sprung up, but on account of not having deepness of earth they withered away when the sun rose; other seed fell among thorns and were choked out by them; lastly, some seed feel into good ground, and brought forth fruit upon fruit upon fruit ("some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold").
Christ goes on and provides the interpretation for this parable: regarding the 1) seed on the way side, 2) seed on stony places, and 3) seed among thorns, Christ said,
Spiritual Acknowledgment and Spiritual Agreement: Beyond the Impression
With understanding we go beyond the impression of merely hearing of God's word. Understanding God's word comes by the way of assent -- spiritual acknowledgement and spiritual agreement. But how does one come to God's word by way of assent? We must acknowledge and agree that God's word is God's word on the basis of God's authority -- we acknowledge and agree it is God's word because God said so. Submission is how you begin to go beyond the impression.
The demons have heard God's word. The demons even have faith (James 2:19). But is it a submissive faith? Is it a submissive, spiritual acknowledgement and agreement with what God has said? No. It is not. The demons have demon faith. They have demonic assent. They will not bend their knee to God. They will not accept God's word on the basis of God's authority. As James says, the demons believe and "tremble". Therefore, the demons never go beyond the impression of God's word. So too the reprobate.
God declares his word all over the place: God's word is declared in both special and in general revelation. The reprobate and the demons never go beyond the impression of God's special and general revelation. The elect, however, do go beyond the impression. The elect are those who received the seed of God's word into good (submissive) ground. Therefore, the elect understand, they are fruitful, and for this they will receive their reward.
There are, I know, those who prefer not to go beyond the impression, however accidental, which an old work makes on a mind that brings to it a purely modern sensibility and modern conceptions; just as there are travelers who carry their resolute Englishry with them all over the Continent, mix only with other English tourists, enjoy all they see for its 'quaintness', and have no wish to realize what those ways of life, those churches, those vineyards, mean to the natives. They have their reward. I have no quarrel with people who approach the past in that spirit. I hope they will pick none with me. But I was writing for the other sort.Beyond the Impression
I like the phrase beyond the impression. The phrase implies that there are two types of knowledge: "mere hearing" and "understanding." The former implies that a persons is satisfied with the mere impression of knowledge, while the latter seeks (to use another Lewis phrase) to go "further up, further in!"
Gospel: Going Beyond the Impression
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13), Jesus Christ used the imagery of a sower casting seed on different types of soil to demonstrate the principle of going beyond the impression: the sower cast some seeds along the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them; other seed fell on stony places that had not much earth, and they sprung up, but on account of not having deepness of earth they withered away when the sun rose; other seed fell among thorns and were choked out by them; lastly, some seed feel into good ground, and brought forth fruit upon fruit upon fruit ("some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold").
Christ goes on and provides the interpretation for this parable: regarding the 1) seed on the way side, 2) seed on stony places, and 3) seed among thorns, Christ said,
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received the seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he comeeth unfruitful.And this is Christ's interpretation regarding the last example, the seed cast upon good soil:
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.The difference between the three former examples and the fourth latter example can be described with Lewis' phrase "beyond the impression" -- the fourth example of the received seed into the good ground demonstrates the need to go beyond the impression of Gods word.
Spiritual Acknowledgment and Spiritual Agreement: Beyond the Impression
With understanding we go beyond the impression of merely hearing of God's word. Understanding God's word comes by the way of assent -- spiritual acknowledgement and spiritual agreement. But how does one come to God's word by way of assent? We must acknowledge and agree that God's word is God's word on the basis of God's authority -- we acknowledge and agree it is God's word because God said so. Submission is how you begin to go beyond the impression.
The demons have heard God's word. The demons even have faith (James 2:19). But is it a submissive faith? Is it a submissive, spiritual acknowledgement and agreement with what God has said? No. It is not. The demons have demon faith. They have demonic assent. They will not bend their knee to God. They will not accept God's word on the basis of God's authority. As James says, the demons believe and "tremble". Therefore, the demons never go beyond the impression of God's word. So too the reprobate.
God declares his word all over the place: God's word is declared in both special and in general revelation. The reprobate and the demons never go beyond the impression of God's special and general revelation. The elect, however, do go beyond the impression. The elect are those who received the seed of God's word into good (submissive) ground. Therefore, the elect understand, they are fruitful, and for this they will receive their reward.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
OT: Christ Jesus
Christ Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Christ is the fulfiller of Law and Prophets. Christ is the Prophet of Prophets. There is a need, therefore, for us to keep Matthew 5:17 in our minds whenever we take up and read the older Testament, for it was "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" (Hebrews 1:1, 2a).
Joseph Addison Alexander noted, in the Introduction to his translation and commentary of Isaiah, that the role and function of a prophet was tied to the general design of the old economy; the office/institution was "no after-thought" but was provided for by the Law. Deuteronomy promises that in time a prophet like Moses will come--Deuteronomy 18 "comprehends the promise of a constant succession of inspired men, so far as this should be required by the circumstances of the people, which succession was to terminate in Christ" (Isaiah: Translated and Explained, 3). Christ is the Prophet of the constant succession of Prophets tied to the general design of the old economy, whose message was, as John Frame has said, "God is Lord"--that message dovetailing into the newer Testament's message "Jesus is Lord!"
Christ Jesus is Lord. Lordship is the final reference point in all predication (Van Til), therefore, Christ is Center. If Christ is not at the Center, if Christ is not the hub of the wheel whose stories/spokes connect back to the Center, then we have made a grave mistake, and this mistake can occur even when the storytellers tell the individual stories about the world, which include the stories about the prophets (e.g., Joshua, the prophets of the Book of Judges, the prophetic ministry of the "eminent prophet" Samuel, the establishment and disestablishment of the Monarchy, and the exile in to and return from Babylon) chronologically! We may know all of words to the song, we may understand the Syntax just fine, but if Christ is not Center then our Semantics are off, our meaning is off, and this means the tune is off, too.
The Old Testament is never just a story about God revealing himself to Israel in such and such a fashion at such and such a time. The message and oracles of the older Testament was revealed to Israel by prophets who were servants of and whose office terminated in the Prophet of Prophets. Many teachers of the Bible today do not have Christ at the Center, and this is why they think Scripture is inharmonious, fraught with errors, not inerrant/not infallible, self-contradictory, etc. Utter nonsense, that. If you understand that the linear and merciful story of the law and prophets terminate in Christ Jesus, if you understand that the old economy was designed with the institution of a a succession of prophets that both developed and applied the law/grace of the old economy, and if you understand that in the old economy everything pointed towards the prophet greater than Moses, the Person in whom the prophets terminated and were fulfilled, it is only then that you can rightly read and interpret History, the stories about the linear and merciful Story of King Jesus and His beautiful, perfect Bride, the Church.
Joseph Addison Alexander noted, in the Introduction to his translation and commentary of Isaiah, that the role and function of a prophet was tied to the general design of the old economy; the office/institution was "no after-thought" but was provided for by the Law. Deuteronomy promises that in time a prophet like Moses will come--Deuteronomy 18 "comprehends the promise of a constant succession of inspired men, so far as this should be required by the circumstances of the people, which succession was to terminate in Christ" (Isaiah: Translated and Explained, 3). Christ is the Prophet of the constant succession of Prophets tied to the general design of the old economy, whose message was, as John Frame has said, "God is Lord"--that message dovetailing into the newer Testament's message "Jesus is Lord!"
Christ Jesus is Lord. Lordship is the final reference point in all predication (Van Til), therefore, Christ is Center. If Christ is not at the Center, if Christ is not the hub of the wheel whose stories/spokes connect back to the Center, then we have made a grave mistake, and this mistake can occur even when the storytellers tell the individual stories about the world, which include the stories about the prophets (e.g., Joshua, the prophets of the Book of Judges, the prophetic ministry of the "eminent prophet" Samuel, the establishment and disestablishment of the Monarchy, and the exile in to and return from Babylon) chronologically! We may know all of words to the song, we may understand the Syntax just fine, but if Christ is not Center then our Semantics are off, our meaning is off, and this means the tune is off, too.
The Old Testament is never just a story about God revealing himself to Israel in such and such a fashion at such and such a time. The message and oracles of the older Testament was revealed to Israel by prophets who were servants of and whose office terminated in the Prophet of Prophets. Many teachers of the Bible today do not have Christ at the Center, and this is why they think Scripture is inharmonious, fraught with errors, not inerrant/not infallible, self-contradictory, etc. Utter nonsense, that. If you understand that the linear and merciful story of the law and prophets terminate in Christ Jesus, if you understand that the old economy was designed with the institution of a a succession of prophets that both developed and applied the law/grace of the old economy, and if you understand that in the old economy everything pointed towards the prophet greater than Moses, the Person in whom the prophets terminated and were fulfilled, it is only then that you can rightly read and interpret History, the stories about the linear and merciful Story of King Jesus and His beautiful, perfect Bride, the Church.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Homily: Gospel of Matthew
In his First Homily on the Gospel of Matthew, Chrysostom warns us that judgment will come down upon us if we neglect the Scriptures. Scripture has purpose and was given for a reason (God's words are not haphazard), therefore, Chrysostom says, "Let us give strict heed unto the things that are written; and let us learn how the Old Law was given on the one hand, how on the other the New Covenant" (added emphasis).
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Wisdom vs. Weapons of War
Ecclesiastes 9:18 - "Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good."
It can be demonstrated with ease that one sinner destroys much good (David's sinful census led to the death of 70,000 people, 1 Chronicles 21:14; Achan's sin, his disobedience and greed, led not only to the military defeat of Israel at Ai but eventually to the destruction of himself and his family, Joshua 7). It is, however, not as easily demonstrated that wisdom is better than weapons of war. Post-Hiroshima it is easier to think that the way to get things done in this world is to do so with the aid of the latest and greatest weaponry.
Well, for starters, if you fight with weapons of war (the sword), you do not truly have protection, for it is well known that weapons of war can be brought against you too (Matthew 26:52). Pagan history is exactly this--an endless circle of self-glory seekers dropping bombs on one another.
Christian history revolutionized pagan history. Christianity changed the world when it listened to Lady Wisdom, who said "Fear God, not man". Christians listened to Lady Wisdom, and as a result, they broke the cycle of pagan history with obedience to God; that is, by caring for orphans, widows, and everybody else with zero utility within the death-cycle of paganism (And who were those with no utility--they were infants, women, the elderly, the handicapped, the ill, etc).
God tells us that if you have wisdom, that is, if you love Lady Wisdom, then "she will keep you" and "she will guard you" (Proverbs 4:5-6). Guess what...the latest and greatest weaponry doesn't stand a chance against Lady Wisdom.
And how do we know that Lady Wisdom will prevail? Because we're told that the Kingdom of God has come, and that it is transforming the glory of this world into an even greater glory. As the fall-out of wisdom (not bombs) covers the land, peace shall pour forth from Mount Calvary and flow downhill to each of the four corners of the earth, and as a result the sucking child will play on the hole of the asp (Isaiah 11:8).
That is a really good reason for why Wisdom is better than weapons of war.
Do you want to break the pagan cycles of today? Then do so, by listening to Lady Wisdom--for she is better than the weapons of war. Listen to Lady Wisdom and obey God.
It can be demonstrated with ease that one sinner destroys much good (David's sinful census led to the death of 70,000 people, 1 Chronicles 21:14; Achan's sin, his disobedience and greed, led not only to the military defeat of Israel at Ai but eventually to the destruction of himself and his family, Joshua 7). It is, however, not as easily demonstrated that wisdom is better than weapons of war. Post-Hiroshima it is easier to think that the way to get things done in this world is to do so with the aid of the latest and greatest weaponry.
Well, for starters, if you fight with weapons of war (the sword), you do not truly have protection, for it is well known that weapons of war can be brought against you too (Matthew 26:52). Pagan history is exactly this--an endless circle of self-glory seekers dropping bombs on one another.
Christian history revolutionized pagan history. Christianity changed the world when it listened to Lady Wisdom, who said "Fear God, not man". Christians listened to Lady Wisdom, and as a result, they broke the cycle of pagan history with obedience to God; that is, by caring for orphans, widows, and everybody else with zero utility within the death-cycle of paganism (And who were those with no utility--they were infants, women, the elderly, the handicapped, the ill, etc).
God tells us that if you have wisdom, that is, if you love Lady Wisdom, then "she will keep you" and "she will guard you" (Proverbs 4:5-6). Guess what...the latest and greatest weaponry doesn't stand a chance against Lady Wisdom.
And how do we know that Lady Wisdom will prevail? Because we're told that the Kingdom of God has come, and that it is transforming the glory of this world into an even greater glory. As the fall-out of wisdom (not bombs) covers the land, peace shall pour forth from Mount Calvary and flow downhill to each of the four corners of the earth, and as a result the sucking child will play on the hole of the asp (Isaiah 11:8).
That is a really good reason for why Wisdom is better than weapons of war.
Do you want to break the pagan cycles of today? Then do so, by listening to Lady Wisdom--for she is better than the weapons of war. Listen to Lady Wisdom and obey God.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
OT: Pre-Christian--Glorifies Christ
"…I would argue that the Old Testament functions within Christian scripture as a witness to Jesus Christ precisely in its pre-Christian form. The task of Old Testament theology is, therefore, not to Christianize the Old Testament by identifying it with the New Testament witness, but to hear its own theological testimony to the God of Israel whom the church confesses also to worship. Although Christians confess that God who revealed himself to Israel is the God and Father of Jesus Christ, it is still necessary to hear Israel’s witness in order to understand who the Father of Jesus Christ is. The coming of Jesus does not remove the function of the divine disclosure in the old covenant" (Brevard Childs, Old Testament Theology in a Canonical Context, p. 9).
The Old Testament is exactly that, an Older Testament. God really did reveal himself to Israel (Heb. 1:1), and as Christians we should seek to understand that witness, for it too glorifies Christ, the Messiah (Acts 18:28).
In the past (in history), the Lord spoke through the prophets, he really did, and we should endeavor to understand the testimony of the prophets. And now the Lord speaks through Jesus Christ, he really does, and we should endeavor to understand the testimony of Jesus Christ. However, to affirm that Christ is the heart of the Scriptures does not mean that we should collapse the witness of prophets into the witness of Christ the Prophet. As Childs states, Jesus did not remove the function of the divine disclosure of the OT.
In the NT, Christ tells us that he fulfils the witness of the prophets. To fulfil does not mean to obliterate (Mat 5:17). And here is the rub: If you separate the OT from the NT or collapse the OT into the NT, then you are not taking the historical fact that God spoke to the prophets seriously, and when you do this you are attacking their witness. And since that very witness corresponds by figure to Heavenly events (Heb 8:5), in reality what you are doing is attacking Jesus Christ. (Leithart makes this very point: Knowledge of the Scriptures equips us to live in the world as it truly is, and I would go on to clarify that this knowledge includes knowledge of the Older Testament. So, knowledge of the Scriptures is knowledge of Christ; and that knowledge, which is grace from God, allows us to live in the world as it truly is. Christ truly is King, and when we do not attack him, that is, when we submit to him and bow our knees to him, then we are actually living in the world as it truly is. And not only living, but through prayer, the sacraments, worship, etc., we are also meaningfully participating in the world as it truly is.)
It is Easter. Please, do not be like the pagans and the hypocrites; please do not attack Christ. If you separate the OT and NT, then you are attacking Christ. If you collapse the OT into the NT, you are attacking Christ. You are not, however, attacking Christ if you hold the OT and NT in union, for their unity is in Christ.
The Old Testament is exactly that, an Older Testament. God really did reveal himself to Israel (Heb. 1:1), and as Christians we should seek to understand that witness, for it too glorifies Christ, the Messiah (Acts 18:28).
In the past (in history), the Lord spoke through the prophets, he really did, and we should endeavor to understand the testimony of the prophets. And now the Lord speaks through Jesus Christ, he really does, and we should endeavor to understand the testimony of Jesus Christ. However, to affirm that Christ is the heart of the Scriptures does not mean that we should collapse the witness of prophets into the witness of Christ the Prophet. As Childs states, Jesus did not remove the function of the divine disclosure of the OT.
In the NT, Christ tells us that he fulfils the witness of the prophets. To fulfil does not mean to obliterate (Mat 5:17). And here is the rub: If you separate the OT from the NT or collapse the OT into the NT, then you are not taking the historical fact that God spoke to the prophets seriously, and when you do this you are attacking their witness. And since that very witness corresponds by figure to Heavenly events (Heb 8:5), in reality what you are doing is attacking Jesus Christ. (Leithart makes this very point: Knowledge of the Scriptures equips us to live in the world as it truly is, and I would go on to clarify that this knowledge includes knowledge of the Older Testament. So, knowledge of the Scriptures is knowledge of Christ; and that knowledge, which is grace from God, allows us to live in the world as it truly is. Christ truly is King, and when we do not attack him, that is, when we submit to him and bow our knees to him, then we are actually living in the world as it truly is. And not only living, but through prayer, the sacraments, worship, etc., we are also meaningfully participating in the world as it truly is.)
It is Easter. Please, do not be like the pagans and the hypocrites; please do not attack Christ. If you separate the OT and NT, then you are attacking Christ. If you collapse the OT into the NT, you are attacking Christ. You are not, however, attacking Christ if you hold the OT and NT in union, for their unity is in Christ.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Christian History: Prayer - Reign of Life
The reign of life: Matthew 6:13 - "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever."
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