Jun

2017

Meet Luke: Physician, Traveller, Christian Historian

Physician by Occupation

Luke the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14) was a Greek speaking medical doctor and firm friend of the Apostle Paul. During the closing days of Paul’s life, when the Apostle found himself in jail once again, Paul reported that Luke alone is with me (2 Timothy 4:11). Luke then stood by the Apostle Paul through thick and thin, even when others had deserted him. The consensus suggests that Luke was the only non-Jewish Gospel writer – though some consider that he may have been a ‘proselyte’, that is, a Gentile convert to Judaism.

Penman by Pre-Occupation

Under God, Dr Luke’s main legacy to the world is the twenty four chaptered Gospel which bears his name, along with the New Testament book entitled the ‘Acts of the Apostles.’ This latter may be considered as ‘Luke’s Gospel Volume II.’ It tells us of the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the church throughout the Graeco-Roman world. The name ‘Acts’ is a shorthand. A fuller title might be ‘The Acts of the Risen Christ, by His Holy Spirit, through His Apostles.’

Luke penned both his Gospel and Acts as a Christian ‘apo-logy’ to a high-up, Roman official named Theophilus. ‘Apology’ here is a technical word. Luke certainly wasn’t apologising for the Christian Faith No. He was giving an ‘apo-logia’, that is, a word in defence, or a word of explanation about the Christian Faith to an intelligent but ignorant friend – most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed (Luke 1:4). In picking up his pen so – divine inspiration notwithstanding – Luke gained for himself the accolade of being one of the world’s greatest historians.

Luke’s Gospel

Luke gleaned the information for his account of the life and ministry of Jesus by careful research and investigation. We can see that Almighty God put his scientific mind to a higher use. Unlike Matthew, Mark (who gained his Gospel information from Peter) and John, Luke was not one of the twelve disciples, and so was not a first hand witness to Jesus’ words and deeds. Under the guidance and superintendence of the Holy Spirit however, Luke was enabled to write a Gospel as accurate and inerrant as each of the Gospels. Hence his introductory explanation: It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely (or accurately) for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed (Luke 1:3,4).

It is interesting to note the medical matters which feature in Luke’s Gospel Whilst Mark relates Jesus’ healing of a man … who had a withered hand (Mark 3:1), Luke describes the same incident by telling us of a man … whose right hand was withered (Luke 6:6). Whilst Mark relates Jesus’ healing of Simon’s mother-in-law when she lay sick with a fever (Mark 1:30), Luke tells us that Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever (Luke 4:38). Then when Matthew and Mark record how Jesus cleansed ‘a leper’ Luke alone notes the extent of his leprosy when he describes how there came a man full of leprosy (Luke 5:12). These small extra details square with a medical mind, used to making accurate diagnoses and writing up medical notes.

The Virgin Birth of Christ

Significantly, it is Dr Luke who goes into the most detail of all the Gospel writers concerning the virgin conception of Christ – His conception by the Holy Spirit, without the aid of a human father, in the womb of the virgin Mary. Luke relates the angel explaining to Mary how The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

The intimate details concerning Jesus’ virgin conception would be known to Mary alone. Luke then evidently had her confidence. It is as though, whilst researching his Gospel, he took Mary into his surgery, and there she divulged the information concerning the miraculous conception of the eternal Son of God.

The Saviour of Sinners

Luke’s distinctive ‘angle’ on the Lord Jesus is that Jesus is the compassionate Saviour of sinners, and that the salvation He came to bring is universal in its scope. Interestingly, whilst Matthew traces Jesus’ human genealogy back to Abraham, the founding father of the Hebrew race, Luke traces Jesus’ human ancestry right back to Adam, the founding father of the whole human race (Luke 3:23-38).

If there is one key verse which unlocks the whole of Luke’s Gospel, it would be the words recorded in Luke 19:10, where the Saviour Himself explained that ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). From this key verse we glean truth concerning the Saviour’s manhood, mission, mandate and mercy.

His Manhood

Jesus describes Himself as The Son of Man … The compassionate humanity of Christ is a distinctive of Luke’s Gospel. Our God, in Christ, knows what it is like to be human, sin apart. We have not a high priest Who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14). Our Saviour is a Saviour of real, tender and compassionate humanity.

His Mission

The Son of Man came … The Lord Jesus went on a missionary journey like no other missionary journey. He came from heaven to earth so that we might go at last to heaven. He was born so that we might be born again. The living Saviour was born to die so that dying sinners might be born again and live eternally.

iii. His Mandate

The Son of Man came to seek and to save … Paul concurs with this in his succinct statement that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Our greatest need is to be saved from the condemnation we deserve for our sins. Our greatest need is for a Saviour. Christ alone is the Saviour for our greatest need. There is salvation in no one else .. (Acts 4:12) Luke recorded sometime later.

His Mercy

The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Without Christ we are indeed, sadly, badly and eternally lost. We are under God’s wrath for ever. Yet the Christian’s testimony is ‘I was lost, but Jesus found me.’ ‘I was perishing, but Jesus saved me.’ In Luke 15, Luke relates Jesus’ telling three parables about three lost objects – a lost sheep, some lost silver and a lost son. All three parables contain the joy of being found – an illustration of the joy which accompanies salvation. Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost (Luke 15:6). Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost (Luke 15:9). this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found (Luke 15:24).

If we hold in our minds the fact that Jesus is the Saviour of sinners, when we read through Luke’s Gospel, we will interpret every line of it correctly. When Jesus was born, Luke records that a message from heaven rang out proclaiming to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11). In Luke 15:2 Luke records how some murmured against Jesus saying ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’ And, as we have seen, in Luke 19:10 he records the Saviour’s Own explanation of His life and ministry with the words The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

The Road to Calvary

When we read Luke’s Gospel right through from the beginning, we cannot help noticing that it reads like one long journey to Jerusalem. As early as Luke 9:51 we see that He (Jesus) set His face to go to Jerusalem. On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus spoke of His departure, which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Then in Luke 18:31 Luke records how Jesus, taking the twelve, He said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.’

Why then this emphasis on going up to Jerusalem? Because it was at Jerusalem when they came to the place which is called The Skull (Calvary), there they crucified Him (Luke 23:33). The Saviour procured His people’s salvation in Jerusalem, at the place called Calvary. Salvation was wrought, not by His life but by His death, not by His instruction but by His crucifixion, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Luke 9:22).

When Christ was crucified at Calvary, Luke alone records that Jesus said ‘Father, forgive them …’ (Luke 23:34). The words transcend their immediate setting, for the forgiveness of sins lies at the heart of salvation. Christ died that we might be forgiven. It is precisely because Christ suffered and died for sins not His Own at Calvary, that there is a Gospel of salvation at all The salvation procured by Christ at Calvary is as central to Luke’s Gospel as it is to the whole Bible, hence Luke closes his first volume with the risen Christ’s Own explanation ‘Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations … (Luke 24:46,47).

So thank God for Luke’s Gospel. But thank God even more for the Saviour of sinners Luke describes therein. Truly, the Father has send His Son as the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14).

O sweet is the story of Jesus

The wonderful Saviour of men

Who suffered and died for the sinner –

I’ll tell it again and again

He came from the brightest of glory

His blood as a ransom He gave

To purchase eternal redemption

And oh! He is might to save.

Jun

2017

Meet Mark: A Man Who Made His Mark

Streaker!

Did you know that one of the four Gospel accounts contains a reference to a streaker? Mark’s Gospel alone – in Mark 14:51,52 – tells us that when the Lord Jesus was arrested, a young man followed Him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body, and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

The common consensus is that this streaker was actually young John Mark himself, the writer of the Gospel. His recording of the incident does not really add anything essential to the story of Jesus, so we wonder why it is in the Bible at all? Perhaps it is just Mark’s way of saying ‘I was there’ – his signature of authenticity, if you like.

Gospel Writer

Mark’s streaking apart, under God, we are certainly in his debt for his Gospel account of the life and ministry of Jesus. His Gospel is the shortest of the four Gospels – just sixteen chapters in all. He has a very ‘racy’ style. You could read his Gospel through in not much more than an hour. If you do, note how often he carries you forward with his characteristic words and immediately. Mark’s emphasis is more on what Jesus did than on what He said, and his particular perspective and angle is that the Lord Jesus is the Lord’s Servant. Jesus’ own words recorded in Mark 10:45 actually give us the key which unlocks the whole of Mark’s Gospel. In Mark 10:45 we read that ‘The Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.’ The first ten chapters of Mark show Jesus giving His life in service. Whilst the last six chapters of Mark show Jesus laying down His life in sacrifice – a sacrifice, in His own words ‘as a ransom for many’:-

There was no other good enough

To pay the price of sin

He only could unlock the gate

Of heaven and let us in.

Only human

Mark then was certainly a gifted young man. But this being said, he was only human. Mark had his home in the city of Jerusalem, and at one time, set out with the apostle Paul and Barnabas – who was actually Mark’s cousin – to accompany Paul on his first missionary journey. Mark thus witnessed the great apostle’s preaching and lifestyle at first hand. And he no doubt saw many lives transformed by God’s saving grace through the instrumentality of the apostle Paul. Yet Acts 13:13, ‘warts and all’ records how Mark deserted the missionary party, and left them and returned (home) to Jerusalem. Acts doesn’t explain why he did this. Perhaps he was homesick … Perhaps he could not keep up with Paul’s pace … We don’t know The stress of the Bible though is that the best of men are mere men at best, and only the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is sinless and perfect, and worthy of our adoration, adulation, worship and praise.

A chapter or two later in Acts, we meet up with Mark once again. And here again, the humanity of God’s chosen instrument is all too evident. Paul was about to embark on another missionary journey with Barnabas, and Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark (Acts 15:37). But Luke then records how Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them … and had not gone with them to the work (Acts 15:38). He then goes on to say that there arose a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and departed … (Acts 15:39,40). Here than was a blazing row between Christian brothers How embarrassing for them to have all this recorded in the Bible for posterity! Sadly, Christians do sometimes ‘fall out.’ But what was the outcome of it all? The outcome was that souls were saved, and the Church of the Lord Jesus was built. It all goes to show how the work of the Gospel is God’s work. The faults and foibles of men are no hindrance to omnipotence. Jesus said ‘I will build my church and the powers of death shall not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). Thank God that nothing can hinder Him from fulfilling His eternal purposes of grace!

All’s well that ends well

Finally, we note concerning Mark, that all ended well. He was eventually reconciled to the great apostle. Yes, there was a rift between him and Paul, but they made it all up some years later. Some of Paul’s last recorded words – from a prison cell, not long before he was martyred – are contained in 2 Timothy 4:11. Here he writes: Get Mark and bring him with you; for he is very useful in serving me

It just does not do for Christians to fall out. Hence Paul in Philippians 4:2: I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. The Gospel is the Gospel of reconciliation – that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them … (2 Corinthians 5:19). In the Christ of Calvary, God has dealt with the sin-barrier which separates us from Him. Through Christ, we are reconciled to our Maker Himself. When we have been reconciled to God through Christ though, it is highly inconsistent if there is then some disharmony between us and others who profess to know and love the same Saviour. We have the same heavenly Father. We are redeemed by the same precious blood. We are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit. We are heading for the same eternal Home … Of course, there will only be total harmony in the Age to come, yet this apart, Psalm 133:1 holds true when it says Behold, how good and pleasant it is, when brothers dwell in unity.

There then is something of Mark’s biography. He certainly make his mark on the world! His Gospel is part of the inspired Word of God. Mark was then a man who was most definitely used by God – and yet he was only a man. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). Marks’s motto would no doubt be the same as every Christian saved by grace: ‘Don’t look at me, look at my wonderful Saviour!’

Jesus! The Name high over all

In hell or earth or sky

Angels and men before it fall

And devils fear and fly

Jesus! The Name to sinners dear

The name to sinners given

It scatters all their guilty fear

It turns their hell to heaven

His only righteousness I show

His saving truth proclaim

Tis all my business here below

To cry ‘Behold the Lamb!’

Jun

2017

Meet Matthew: Tax Collector, Disciple, Gospel Writer

The Call of Matthew

The Bible records how Jesus … saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office And He said to him ‘Follow Me.’ And he rose and followed Him (Matthew 9:9).

This concise account of Matthew-Levi’s call to follow Christ has a lot more to it than meets the eye. It actually contains some implicit evidence for the deity of Christ. The question is begged: Who is this Who is able to give the authoritative command ‘Follow Me’? Who is this Who is able and worthy to command and demand our total allegiance and obedience? Surely only God Himself is worthy of such. In the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah once issued the challenge: If the LORD is God, follow Him (1 Kings 18:21). Here however we see Jesus issuing the command ‘Follow Me.’ It shows that Jesus Christ is God.

The Conversion of Matthew

Matthew’s call to follow Christ was the biggest milestone in his life. Along with Christ’s summons, Christ’s salvation was imparted. Christ’s word accomplished a great work, for the commandment issued was also an enablement imparted. Matthew was never the same again. Therefore, if any one is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Humanly speaking, Matthew was an unlikely candidate for salvation. Few in Israel would have singled out a tax collector for divine blessing. Taking money off people never boosts your popularity! Tax collectors were a despised breed. They were well known for being less than scrupulous – even for being embezzlers and defrauders. They were also loathed for their being in-league with the occupying, pagan, Roman power At the call of the Lord though Matthew left his tax office behind, and became one of Jesus’ inner circle of twelve disciples. The differing and diverse backgrounds of these twelve disciples are a picture of the Gospel of reconciliation in microcosm. All were now one in Christ – though we could speculate on the nature of the banter and table talk which occurred between Matthew – a Jew formerly in league with Rome – and Judas and Simon the Zealot – disciples who were formerly not averse to overthrowing Rome by paramilitary force.

The Composition of Matthew

Under God, Matthew’s main legacy to the world is his Gospel – the written account and compilation of the life and teaching of Jesus which bears his name. Matthew’s initial occupation was such that he was used to writing and keeping accounts, and the Lord God sanctified this ability of his and put his talent to a higher use to write Matthew’s Gospel – the first book in our New Testament

It is fitting that Matthew’s Gospel should open the New Testament, as Matthew’s Gospel is the Gospel with the most Jewish flavour to it, and as such is the ideal bridge between the Old and New Testaments. It has been well said that the New Testament completes what the Old Testament commences, and this is particularly true of Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew goes to great lengths to show that the many promises which God made in Old Testament times all have their fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ. All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet (Matthew 1:22). ‘Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them’ (Matthew 5:17). Truly, in the Lord Jesus, all the promises of God find their Yes in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).

The Christ of Matthew

Each of the four Gospel writers has his own distinctive perspective on the life and ministry of Jesus. It is as though the same Person’s portrait is being painted from four different angles. Matthew’s particular emphasis is that Jesus is the Christ. He is the longed for Messiah promised by God. A turning point in his Gospel occurs when Peter makes the open confession to Jesus: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16).

‘Christ’ is a title, not a name. The title means ‘the anointed one.’ In Old Testament times, prophets, priests and kings were all anointed with oil at the outset of their ministries. It symbolised their being set apart by God and specially endowed with His Holy Spirit so that they could fulfil their specific callings. When the Lord Jesus commenced His ministry, Matthew records He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on Him (Matthew 3:16). As the Anointed One, Christ fulfils the roles of prophet, priest and king in His One blessed Person.

The Clue to Matthew

If there is one verse which gives us the key to unlock all twenty eight chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, it is Matthew 21:5. The verse – which again, is a fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy, namely Zechariah 9: 9 – reads:-

Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, humble and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass.’

The Character of Christ

‘Behold your King … Kingship was a facet of Messiah-hood. The Messiah was One Who would bring in God’s everlasting kingdom. He would bring in eternal life – the life of the Age to come. The Jewish people looked back to the reign of king David as being something of a golden age, hence, when they looked forward to the Messianic Age, they viewed it through ‘Davidic spectacles’ A Greater than David would come, right all wrongs and bring in the kingdom of heaven. And the Bible reveals Jesus to be ‘Great David’s Greater Son.’ He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16) – the root and offspring of David (Revelation 22:16).

Matthew then wrote his Gospel to direct our attention to the Messiah-King: Behold your King … The Shorter Catechism states ‘Christ executeth the office of a king in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.’ If we belong to Jesus we are the glad subjects of His kingdom. We are under Christ’s crown and covenant He has conquered us with His saving grace. He has made us His willing servants We worship Him as One Who is enthroned in heaven at God’s right hand, working and weaving all things for the good of His people. He reigns and He will yet come to reign. When He comes again in glory, He will put down all who oppose Him and eradicate all that is contrary and incompatible to His rule of justice and love. Behold your King is coming to you.

The Cross of Christ

The great King of Matthew’s Gospel is also, however – and most paradoxically – a humble king. Humble and mounted on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass It reminds us that this King stooped to conquer. He bowed most low to lift His people most high. In fact, He conquered by seemingly being conquered, when the hands of cruel men nailed Him to a plank of wood and hung Him up to die. Matthew’s Christ is a crucified Christ. He records pointedly that when Christ was crucified, over His head they put the charge against Him, which read ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS’ (Matthew 27:37). The notion of a crucified Messiah could not have been further away from the popular political Messianic expectations of the day. We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block (scandal) to Jews and folly to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23). Yet is was by His cross that Christ gained the victory, for it was there at Calvary that He wrought the eternal salvation of His people which only He could win. On the cross His precious blood was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). On the cross the Messiah made purification for sins (Hebrews 1:3) and was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28).

iii. The Conquest of Christ

Matthew wrote his Gospel because he was concerned that we too should come to know and love the Messiah Whom he had come to know and love. When we read Matthew’s Gospel we are indeed brought face to face with the longed for Messiah – the One Who alone can give us entry into the kingdom of heaven. That Jesus is indeed the Christ is fully and finally evidenced in Matthew’s last chapter, where we read of God the Father’s Own vindication of His Son by raising Him from the dead. The final words uttered by Matthew’s crucified and conquering King affirm that ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me …(Matthew 28:18). Peter likewise affirmed and confirmed this at Pentecost in the first ever Christian sermon when he proclaimed God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus Whom you crucified (Acts 2:36).

Matthew’s Gospel then thus repays our careful and prayerful attention. In reading its pages we are compelled to pay homage to the crucified, risen and reigning Messiah we encounter there.

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

Great David’s greater Son!

Hail in the time appointed

His reign on earth begun!

He comes to break oppression

To set the captives free

To take away transgression

And rule in equity

O’er every foe victorious

He on His throne shall rest

From age to age more glorious

All blessing and all-blest

The tide of time shall never

His covenant remove

His name shall stand for ever

His changeless Name of love.

Copyright Timothy Cross

Nov

2016

The Twelve Days of Christmas

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

I am sure that you have heard the well known Christmas song entitled The Twelve Days of Christmas. The song always seems to be heard during the Christmas season. I confess that I had never really given it much thought, as it comes over as nothing more than a frivolous ditty. I revised my opinion last Christmas, however, when I learned that The Twelve Days of Christmas is actually Christian in origin. It was written during a time of religious persecution when the Faith was driven somewhat underground. Each line of the song contains a hidden Christian meaning, known only to Christians. This enabled the song to be sung in public without fear of arrest, for a non Christian would only know its surface meaning. Let us then delve a little deeper into the seemingly lighthearted song The Twelve Days of Christmas.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree. ‘My true love’ here represents God the Father, and the partridge represents His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the ‘pear tree’ represents the cross of Calvary. A mother partridge, we are told, feigns injury to decoy predators from harming her nestlings. And of course, in His great love, God the Father sent His Son into the world to be the Saviour of sinners, delivering them from eternal harm by dying in the place of sinners. 1 John 4:10 reminds us ‘In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves. These two turtle doves represent the Old and New Testament which comprise the Bible. The Old and New Testaments are the two lips by which God speaks to us. They are infallible and inerrant. They are inspired by God’s Holy Spirit and reveal the Creator’s secret of a happy life, a happy death and a happy eternity.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three French hens. These represent the three theological virtues of ‘faith, hope and love’ (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith means trusting and relying on God. Hope is a confident assurance and expectation that God will be true to His promises. Love for God and love for our fellow believers is a virtue enjoined frequently in the New Testament.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four calling birds. The four calling birds here represent the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Bible gives us four written portraits of the one Christ. Matthew portrays Him as the King of the Jews – the long awaited Messiah. Mark portrays Him as the Servant of the Lord. Luke portrays Him as the Saviour of sinners. John portrays Him as the eternal Son of God Who became man. All four Gospels major disproportionately on the death of Christ at Calvary. It is by the death of Christ, not His live, that sinners are reconciled to God.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five gold rings. These five gold rings represent the first five books of the Bible – the Pentateuch – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The theme of these five books is Creation, the Fall and Redemption. They tell us of our origins. They tell us how sin has spoiled the world. They tell us that the way back to God is by the blood sacrifice He has ordained – the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament all prefigured and foreshadowed the one sacrifice of Christ in the New.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six geese a-laying. The six laying geese here represent the six days of creation as revealed in Genesis 1. The Bible teaches that Almighty God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. He spoke the world into existence in six days, and rested on the seventh. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Genesis 1:1).

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me seven swans a-swimming. These seven swimming swans represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in Romans 12:6,7, namely: prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, helping and acts of mercy. The risen Christ, by His Spirit, bestows these gifts on His church for her welfare and edification. Whilst every Christian does not have all the gifts of the Spirit, every Christian has at least one of the gifts by which they can be a blessing to the church, which is the body of Christ. Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is an exhortation to every Christian: ‘Do not neglect the gift you have …’ (1 Timothy 4:14).

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight maids a-milking. The eight milking maids are the eight ‘Beatitudes’ with which the Lord Jesus opened His famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’ – commonly known as the greatest sermon ever preached. The key to the Beatitudes is the first one: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 5:3). True blessedness is a result of realising our spiritual poverty and need, and casting ourselves on God in Christ for mercy.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine ladies dancing. These nine dancing ladies represent the nine-fold ‘fruit of the Spirit’ enunciated in Galatians 5:22,23 – ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.’ The Holy Spirit of Christ gradually transforms Christians into the likeness of Christ. The process is known as sanctification. Fruit can take time to ripen, but by the grace of God, all who belong to Jesus will surely ripen more and more into His character.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, ten lords a-leaping. The ten leaping lords represent the Ten Commandments, as delivered by God to Moses at Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments are the Maker’s instructions. They are a summary of the moral law. They reveal God’s will, and they convict us of our sin and drive us to Christ for salvation. They also show us how to please God. If we love Him, and if we have been saved by His grace, we will endeavour to keep His commandments.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eleven pipers piping. Jesus chose twelve disciples, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. Of these twelve, only eleven were faithful. One, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Him.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, twelve drummers drumming. This final line of the song was intended to be a surreptitious reminder of the twelve lines of the Apostles’ Creed. The Apostles Creed is an early summary of the faith of the Bible – the Trinitarian Faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. ‘The Faith which was once for all delivered to the saint’ (Jude 3). The Apostles’ Creed is distinctly Trinitarian as the Christian Faith is distinctly Trinitarian. A Christian is one who has been saved by God the Holy Trinity – ‘chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood’ (1 Peter 1:2).

So there you have The Twelve Days of Christmas. It comes over as a jolly song, and somewhat light hearted. But there is more to it than meets the eye. Once we know its hidden meaning, we will never sing or hear it in the same way again. Happy Christmas!

© Timothy Cross

Aug

2016

Alexander the Coppersmith

ALEXANDER THE COPPERSMITH : A NASTY PIECE OF GOODS

Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will requite him for his deeds (2 Timothy 4:14).

My guess would be that you have not heard many sermons on the above text. A first glance might suggest that it is unfruitful ground for edifying Christian ministry. The verse though is as much a part of the Word of God as John 3:16.

Humanly speaking, 2 Timothy 4:14 was written by the Apostle Paul to Timothy, a young, Christian pastor. They are among Paul’s last recorded words, and were written from a Roman prison cell, as he approached his impending execution. Paul had been found guilty of loving and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. We also know however that ‘All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching …’ (2 Timothy 3:16). And God the Holy Spirit has ensured that this verse was both written and preserved for our enlightenment. The verse teaches us much about God Himself, our human condition and, by implication, the attitudes and behaviours God requires from His children. ‘The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man’ (Shorter Catechism).

Alexander’s Action

‘Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm …’ A certain Alexander then – a man who was a metal worker by trade – took it upon himself to bring a great deal of hurt and harm upon God’s Apostle Paul. The nature of this harm is unspecified. It could have been physical. It could have been psychological. It could have been by what he organised. It could have been by what he could have done but did not do to make Paul’s life easier … Whatever he did, it left Paul wounded in some way. Paul warned Timothy ‘Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message’ (2 Timothy 4:15).

The message of the gospel – that we are sinners who need to be saved – is a blow to human pride. ‘The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot’ (Romans 8:7). Alexander is part of an unholy succession who, not liking the message, seek to attack the messenger. It is a well known ploy of Satan. Slandering the messengers of the gospel is one way in which unbelievers may seek to justify their unbelief and manifest their opposition to the gospel itself.

‘Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm …’ Our fallen human nature is such that, sadly, we all have the potential to harm one another: Cain murdered Abel (Genesis 4). Shimei cursed David and threw stones at him (2 Samuel 16:5,6). Jeremiah was cast into an empty cistern (Jeremiah 38:6). The citizens of Nazareth attempted to throw the Lord Jesus over a cliff (Luke 4:29), and the apostle Paul was left damaged by Alexander the coppersmith.

God moves in a mysterious way …

The fact that God’s people do suffer harm – even as they go about doing God’s appointed will – brings us face to face with the mysterious nature of some of God’s providential dealings with us. That God does not always shield His children from earthly harm is a fact of Scripture, history and experience. Ultimately, the earthly harm that comes to us can be traced beyond all secondary causes, back to the good hand of God Himself. His providence is all-embracing – ‘for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things’ (Romans 11:36). The Westminster Confession reminds us:-

God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass…

But then gives the important caveat:-

Yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures …

John Calvin allegedly used to say that even the devil is God’s devil! Whilst stating that Christians are not exempt from harm and abuse though, we have to confess our ignorance as to why God permits this to happen in any specific case. God is God. He states ‘My ways are higher than your ways’ (Isaiah 55:9). A confession of ignorance here is a sign of spiritual intelligence! We have to say ‘Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been understood’ (1 Corinthians 13:12). What we do not know though should not detract us from what we do know. For all Christians may take the stance of faith and affirm with Romans 8:28 ‘We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.’

‘Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm …’ Note Alexander’s action. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. If we belong to Jesus we are sure to come across those who oppose us, seek to harm us and even cause us actual harm. ‘Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse …’ (2 Timothy 3:12,13). If such has the effect of drawing us closer to God, – to prayerfully seek His grace, wisdom and help – they are unlikely sources of blessing from heaven.

The Apostle’s Reaction

How do we act and react against those who leave us damaged? The world says ‘Don’t get mad, get even.’ This though was not the reaction of the Apostle Paul – and this is not to be the reaction of every born-again believer. Paul, you will note, simply handed Alexander and what he had done over to God. Quoting Scripture he said ‘the Lord will requite him for his deeds.’ The Apostle here is actually practicing what he preached, for he had previously written ‘Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the |Lord’’ (Romans 12:19). Paul is telling us here that taking vengeance on those who harm us is God’s prerogative, not ours, and that it is infinitely better to hand our enemies over to the One Who is infinite in wisdom, knowledge, mercy and justice, than to seek to make amends ourselves.

In stating that ‘the Lord will requite him for his deeds’ Paul was not uttering an imprecation – a desire that God would take vengeance on his behalf – as some Psalms do. Psalm 7:6, for instance, reads ‘Arise, O LORD, in Thy anger, lift Thyself up against the fury of my enemies; awake, O my God; Thou hast appointed a judgment.’ Rather, Paul was just uttering a logical and theological fact based on what He knew of the righteous character of the God whom he loved. Paul did not pray ‘May the Lord repay’ but made the affirmation ‘the Lord will repay.’ Paul could assert and affirm this as, steeped in Scripture as he was, he was well aware of the infinitely righteous character of the God he loved and worshipped: ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ (Genesis 18:25). ‘The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is He’ (Deuteronomy 32:4).

The infinite righteousness of the divine character is such that He can only react to unrighteousness and mete out His justice. Hence Paul’s calm confidence that his God would deal with Alexander in His own way, and deal with him aright. Paul had written some years earlier ‘Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap’ (Galatians 6:7):-

If God is a moral governor; if sin is a reality; those who know themselves to be on God’s side cannot help a feeling of joy in knowing that evil will not always triumph over good (NJB White, 1974).

A Gospel to Embrace

Paul’s reaction to the buffeting he received from his enemies was a Scriptural one. It is written of the God of the Bible ‘Thou dost requite a man according to his work’ (Psalm 62:12). That God will do this is, paradoxically, most comforting – as we have considered – and also most disturbing. It is disturbing because we are all sinners and – to quote another Psalm – ‘If Thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?’ (Psalm 130:3). The answer to the Psalmist’s question here is: ‘None of us,’ for by nature ‘None is righteous, no, not one’ (Romans 3:10). We would all be condemned to a lost eternity if God should indeed ‘requite us for our deeds’ …

The Christian however has no fear of divine condemnation, for the gospel affirms ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). On the cross, Christ Himself died in our place and was Himself ‘requited for our deeds’ – or rather, our ‘misdeeds’ – in our room and stead, so that God’s justice might be satisfied, and we might be spared God’s wrath. When our misdeeds come and haunt us, how grateful we are for the redeeming work of Christ and His imputed righteousness. When we consider the certainly of God’s judgment, bound up as it is with His just character, how grateful we are that there is a gospel of divine grace – a gospel of justification:-

Justification is an act of God’s free grace wherein He pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone (Shorter Catechism).

A Glory to Expect

‘Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm …’ This fallen world is full of harm. The good news is though that, according to the Bible, it will not always be so. In God’s time, redemption will be cosmic as well as personal. When Jesus comes again to bring in His eternal kingdom, thorns and thistles will be eradicated – ‘Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle’ (Isaiah 55:13), and nature will no longer be ‘red in tooth and claw’, for ‘The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid …’ (Isaiah 11:6), and God’s redeemed people, living on His redeemed earth, being forever free from indwelling sin, will fully, finally and forever lose the capacity to hurt and harm each other. The Bible tells us so: ‘They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea’ (Isaiah 11:9). Truly then, the hurts and harms of this life notwithstanding, if we belong to Jesus ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us’ (Romans 8:18).

Timothy Cross

Aug

2016

Priscialla and Aquila

PRISCILLA AND AQUILA: ‘WORKING TOGETHER WITH HIM’ (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Priscilla and Aquila are two lesser known characters in the New Testament. The impression we get is that they were a man and wife team ministry, for the New Testament references to them are invariably as a couple, and not as individuals. Their ministry was not a high profile, public one, yet it was owned by God for the blessing of souls and the glory of His name. If we were to capture the ministry of this Christian couple in five words, the five words describing them would be Instability, Industry, Diplomacy, Bravery and Hospitality.

Instability

Priscilla and Aquila knew much disruption in their lives. Acts 18 reveals that Aquila was from Pontus, but lived in Rome with his wife. Claudius though had them expelled from Rome, and so they moved to Corinth. From Corinth they next moved to Ephesus. Priscilla and Aquila therefore knew much disruption. Theirs was an unsettled existence. Behind all the secondary causes of their moves however was the hand of Almighty God Himself, for Proverbs 20:24 tells us that ‘A man’s steps are ordered by the LORD …’ who has ‘determined … the boundaries of (our) habitation’ (Acts 17:26). Romans 8:28 reminds us ‘that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.’ And we see this here in God’s moving Priscilla and Aquila into areas of greater Christian usefulness.

How we cope and adapt to the changes and sudden disruptions which come into our lives can reveal our Christian maturity or otherwise. It has been well said that those who see the hand of God in everything can safely leave everything in the hand of God. Some of us crave stability. We don’t welcome change. The providence of God however may well be contrary to our wishes. He sees that we don’t get too settled and comfortable, and ‘stirs up the nest’ (see Deuteronomy 32:11). A comfortable, settled and stable existence, whilst welcome, is not always spiritually beneficial, for this world is not the Christian’s eternal home. ‘For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come’ (Hebrews 13:14). The changes we experience – and the losses and crosses – remind us of this.

Industry

Scripture records that Aquila and Priscilla ‘worked, for by trade they were tent-makers’ (Acts 18:3). The Apostle Paul joined them in this trade for a time in Corinth. Aquila and Priscilla were thus people of industry, ‘doing their work in quietness to earn their own living’ (2 Thessalonians 3:12).

The Bible enjoins work on us all. Even in Paradise, before sin entered the world, Adam was placed ‘in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it’ (Genesis 2:15). Put negatively, ‘If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever’ (1 Timothy 5:8), and the normal way in which we provide for our families is by working, for work gives us the money we need to provide for our families. Hence the Shorter Catechism explains the eighth commandment, not so much in prohibitive terms, but by stating ‘The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others’ (Q. 74).

Diplomacy

When Apollos preached in the synagogue at Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila discerned that there was something deficient in his theology. ‘He knew only the baptism of John’ (Acts 18:25). Scripture tells us that ‘when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and expounded to him the way of God more accurately’ (Acts 18:26). From then on, Apollos’ preaching took on a new momentum. ‘He greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully confuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus’ (Acts 18:27,28).

Priscilla and Aquila’s correction of Apollos is a model of tact and diplomacy. Note that they took him aside privately, and did not humiliate him in public. We all need correction at times. It is though sometimes difficult to accept criticism and correction, for we might feel that our critic is just out to ‘get one over’ us or even just being nasty. Aquila and Priscilla thus give us an example of tact and diplomacy to emulate our dealings with others. How much strife in our churches has been caused by the right action being carried out in an unloving manner! Paul wrote to Titus ‘the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness …’ (Titus 2:24).

Bravery

In Romans 16:3,4 Paul describes ‘Prisca and Aquila’ as ‘my fellow workers in Christ Jesus’ and goes on to record that they ‘risked their necks for my life.’ Whilst Priscilla and Aquila’s ministry was not a public, high profile one then, they certainly supported those who were in the front-line of gospel ministry. Nothing was too much trouble for them in this respect. They risked and dared for God and for the servants of God. Fearing God, they had nothing else to fear. Here they incarnate CT Studd’s saying ‘If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.’

Relatively few Christians are called to a prominent, public ministry. There is normally only room for one preacher at a meeting of the Lord’s people. If our ministry is not a high profile one though, we can surely support those who are called to this. We can pray for preaching and preachers, for preaching is God’s normal means of grace in bringing salvation to non-Christians and edification to Christians. We can give financially towards the printing of gospel tracts. We can prayerfully support Christian radio et cetera! There’s always ‘a work for Jesus ready at your hand.’

Hospitality

Twice in the New Testament, Paul mentions ‘the church in their house’ (Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19), that is the church – the group of the Lord’s people – which gathered together for divine worship in the house of Priscilla and Aquila.

‘Church buildings’ as we know them did not come into existence until after 313 AD, when the Emperor Constantine was converted and the Christian Faith became less illicit. The early Christians used to meet in such places as caves and houses. One such house was the house of Priscilla and Aquila. They disposed of their means to the Lord’s people and service. They dedicated both who they were and what they had to the Lord, and He did wonderful things with them and through them.

When we dedicate our lives to the Lord, we find that He is able to do far more with them than we can ever do with them. Like the young lad who gave his lunch of five loaves and two fish to the Lord, He is able to take our apparently meagre means and multiply them beyond our imagination for His glory and the blessing of others. Priscilla and Aquila were, humanly speaking, nothing special. But they devoted themselves to God in response to His saving grace, and God worked wonders through them. Every Christian is enjoined to do likewise – where we are, with what we have, to the glory of God. ‘I appeal to you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship’ (Romans 12:1).

Timothy Cross

Jan

2016

The Faith of Christ Crucified

The apostle Paul takes us to the heart of the Christian gospel when he writes, ‘We preach Christ crucified’. Nothing could be more central and fundamental to the Christian Faith than ‘Christ and him crucified’ (1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2).

But the expression contains an astonishing paradox — a paradox readily understood in the 1^st century, but perhaps less so today — for the expression ‘Christ crucified’ contains at the same time both something gloriously wonderful and something indescribably horrible.

The Christ of Calvary

‘We preach Christ crucified’. The title ‘Christ’ or ‘Messiah’ was one which warmed the hearts of Jewish people. The Old Testament is replete with promises that one day God would send his Special Agent into the world to save his people and put its wrongs to right.

‘Messiah’ and ‘Christ’ both mean ‘God’s anointed’. It has a wide area of meaning and connotation. It speaks of a longed for deliverer and redeemer. It speaks of God’s own prophet, priest and king. It speaks of the ever-blessed Son of the ever-blessed God. It speaks of God’s suffering Servant — ‘Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights’ (Isaiah 42:1).

Jesus’ title of ‘the Christ’ thus speaks of all that is wonderful — the fulfillment of the promises of God; the satisfaction of deep human longing; the deliverance from sin that we so desperately need; God’s own special envoy, sent from heaven to earth on a mission of divine mercy; God’s incarnate Word.

‘Christ’ is a word and a reality of indescribable wonder.

The cross of Calvary

In our verse, though, the apostle also declares, ‘We preach Christ crucified’. Crucifixion — simultaneously and paradoxically — speaks of all that is horrific and horrendous, for crucifixion was a barbaric and ghastly form of capital punishment invented by the Romans. It would not have been talked about openly in polite circles. Crucifixion entailed the victim being stripped naked, nailed to a plank of wood, and losing control of bodily functions — of being hung up to die a slow, degrading, agonising death by asphyxiation.

So while Christ is a wonderful word, crucified is a horrible word. It evoked visions of pain and agony; abject misery; screams of horror. It evoked shed blood and broken bodies; public humiliation, scorn and ridicule.

For the Jew, though, crucifixion meant something even worse than the horrors to which we’ve just alluded. It spoke of the very curse of God. The law of Moses was clear: ‘If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God’ (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

‘We preach Christ crucified’. Here, then, is the paradox which lies at the heart of the Christian Faith. Little wonder that, according to Paul, this gospel of ‘Christ crucified’ was ‘a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles’. Knowing what we know about crucifixion, we can understand why this was so.

The comfort of Calvary

Why then are Christians so enamored with both the cross of Christ and the Christ of the cross? Why is this the overarching theme of Christian preaching and Christian praise? Paul’s very next verse — 1 Corinthians 1:24 — tells us why.

Having said, ‘We preach Christ crucified’ and stated that this message is a stumbling block (a scandal) to Jews and folly to Gentiles, Paul continues, ‘But to those who are called [that is, enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit] both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God’.

In the crucified Christ, then, we experience the power of God. The blood of Christ shed at Calvary is potent enough to cleanse us from all our sins and make us fit for heaven. Through the divine condemnation of Christ at Calvary we actually escape from divine condemnation, for he has ‘redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us … that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith’ (Galatians 3:13-14).

Christ’s suffering has wrought our salvation; his agony has bought our atonement; his blood has brought our blessing; and his death has secured for us eternal life.

In the crucified Christ we also see the wisdom of God. God has to punish sin, for he is infinitely just. He is incapable of overlooking the slightest infraction of his law. Yet if God condemned all sinners to hell, where would be the mercy and love which is also integral to his nature?

In his wisdom, God solved this dilemma at the cross of Christ. At Calvary, God both condemned sin and pardoned the believing sinner. At Calvary, God’s love and justice met. Calvary then is the supreme manifestation of the divine wisdom — ‘to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26).

The centrality of Calvary

‘We preach Christ crucified’. Here, then, is a statement of both wonder and horror. Humanly speaking, the cross of Christ was and remains repulsive. Yet to an enlightened Christian, the cross of Christ is the most attractive of all sights.

Every Christian has experienced the attraction of Calvary and been drawn personally by God to the foot of the cross — enabled by grace to trust the crucified Christ for full and eternal salvation. Jesus actually prophesied that this would be so, for he said ‘I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself’ (John 12:32).

‘Christ crucified’. Christ’s person and work are inextricably bound. His worth affects his work. His divinity secures the vitality of his cross — ‘for by one offering he has perfected for ever’ those he has set apart for himself (Hebrew 10:14).

None but the eternal Son could offer his life as an atoning sacrifice to save sinners. The Bible says there is no other Saviour — ‘There is salvation in no one else’ (Acts 4:12). Nor can there be any salvation that by-passes the cross of Christ. With Thomas Kelly we are constrained to say:

We sing the praise of him who died,

Of him who died upon the cross.

The sinner’s hope let men deride,

For this we count the world but loss.

Inscribed upon the cross we see

In shining letters ‘God is love’.

He bears our sins upon the tree,

He brings us mercy from above.

Jan

2016

When Illness Strikes

I am writing this while recovering from Shingles. I don’t recommend Shingles. It’s painful. I have been prescribed five anti-viral pills a day, plus some strong pain killers, for which I am very grateful. Illness can strike any one of us of course, but is there a Christian perspective on illness?

1 Christians get ill

At the risk of stating the obvious, Christians get ill. Whilst we are guaranteed perfect health in the life to come, we are not guaranteed it in the present world, for this world is fallen and imperfect. Sin has affected us totally – spiritually, morally and physically. Christians, although redeemed in soul, are yet part of this fallen world. So we get sick. ‘Epaphroditus … was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him’ (Colossians 2:27). Timothy, we are told, suffered from ‘frequent ailments’ (1 Timothy 5:23). Then in 2 Timothy 4:20 Paul writes ‘Trophimus I left ill at Miletus.’ So Christians are not immune from illness. Illness is not something we want, but it is something we should expect from time to time.

2 The Providence of God

Christians are encouraged to view whatever happens to them as coming from the hand of God Himself – including days of sickness – for God rules the universe by His providence. And His providence is all-embracing:-

‘God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions’ (Shorter Catechism).

If we believe in the God revealed in the Bible, we will believe that nothing happens ‘by chance’, but that everything has been prearranged according to God’s perfect plan. ‘For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things’ (Romans 11:36). Who are we to order the Almighty as to how He should govern our lives? ‘Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?’ (Job 2:10). Then there is Romans 8:28. The words are familiar to most Christians, but they take on a new reality during a time of difficulty and trial: ‘We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.’ The ‘everything’ here is all-encompassing. It includes our steps and our stops. It includes days of good health, and it includes days of ill health. Nothing lies outside of God’s sovereignty. ‘The LORD has established His throne in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all’ (Psalm 103:19).

Blessing from buffeting?

Whilst we don’t welcome illness, with Romans 8:28 in mind, we can surely expect blessing from times of illness. Psalm 119:71 reads ‘It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Thy statues.’ But what are the blessings of illness?

Illness forces us to slow down and stop. In Psalm 46:10 God says ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ It is easy to get carried along on the merry-go-round of day to day living – working, commuting, shopping, leisure, emails etc – that the temporal drowns the eternal. Illness forces us to be quiet. Illness brings us to a halt. It is therefore the ideal time to regain an eternal perspective and seek the presence of the God who is the fount of every blessing. ‘Be still and know that I am God.’

Illness teaches us lessons in human sympathy. If we were never ill, we would be in danger of thinking that everyone else should be as fit and strong as we are, and able to cope with our schedule! Illness though brings us down to earth. The Lord Jesus was characterised by sympathy and compassion for others. Illness may thus be sanctified to us, making us more like our Saviour.

Illness reminds us of our human weakness and total dependence on God. We are not self sufficient. Only God is. He is ‘the God in whose hand is your breath’ (Daniel 5:23). ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28). It is good – if not always pleasant – to have the pride knocked out of us, and humble ourselves before God, telling Him of our dependence on both His saving and sustaining grace.

3 The best is yet to be

Times of illness wean us off the passing things of earth which can clutter up our lives and hinder our walk with God. Illness prevents our getting too comfortable in this world, and makes us long for the age to come promised in God’s Word. ‘The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us’ (Romans 8:18).

Illness is a reminder that even the best Christian is not fully saved! We are saved in soul by the redeeming work of Jesus, but we are not saved in body. Illness, one day, will certainly be no more for the believer, but this full salvation will not be known until Jesus comes again, bringing in the new heavens and the new earth, and raising His people to immortality, in glorified, resurrection bodies. Perfect blessing and bliss will be known only then. Then only will we be able to serve God free from all that hinders and handicaps us now. Then will Isaiah 33:24 be fulfilled: ‘No inhabitant will say ‘I am sick’; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.’

So Christian, take heart! Whatever your circumstances, God is in control. His grace is sufficient, and His grace will yet prove all sufficient for every one of His children.

Image credit, http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/

Nov

2015

John Knox on Prayer

When John Knox, the Scottish Reformer, was laid to rest in his grave, the Regent of Scotland said of him ‘There lies he who never feared the face of man.’ This reminds us of the paraphrase of Psalm 34: 9, which reads:-

Fear Him (that is, God) ye saints and you will then

Have nothing else to fear

Make you His service your delight

Your wants shall be His care.

I came across the following gem of a quote from John Knox. It concerns John Knox’s view of prayer. John Knox defined true prayer as:-

An earnest and familiar talking with God, to whom we declare our miseries, whose support and help we implore and desire in our adversities, and whom we laud and praise for our benefits received (cited in the Evangelical Times book review of August 2015).

Let us ponder and unpack this definition a little further:-

Talking to God

Prayer is ‘An earnest and familiar talking with God …’ said Knox. If that is true, it is indescribably wonderful and astonishing. If relatively few of us are granted the privilege of an audience with the Queen or the Prime Minister, how on earth can we ever get the ear of Almighty God – He who is the highest, unsurpassed and unsurpassable Authority of all? The Bible’s answer is that we can ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’ – specifically ‘through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received our reconciliation’ (Romans 5:11). Jesus, by His death on the cross for our sins has reconciled all who believe in Him to God Himself. He has dealt with the enmity and alienation which separated us, namely our sin. ‘He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree’ (1 Peter 2:24). Amazingly, ‘through Him we … have access in one Spirit to the Father’ (Ephesians 2:18). Perhaps even more amazingly, through Christ, we are able to know and address God as ‘Father.’ ‘Adoption’ is one of the Bible’s many synonyms for Christian salvation:-

Adoption is an act of God’s free grace whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God (Shorter Catechism).

One of the Christian’s ‘adoptive privileges’ is being able to talk to God in prayer, coming to Him confident in His love, just as an earthly child comes to its father. Prayer then is, as Knox said ‘an earnest and familiar talking with God.’ Christians know Him as ‘Father.’ The word ‘Father’ connotes authority, and the word ‘Father’ also connotes dependence, intimacy, affection and love. The God of the Bible is never reluctant to hear His children’s prayers!

Receiving from God

Secondly, according to Knox, in prayer ‘we declare our miseries’ to God and ‘implore and desire His support and help in our adversities.’ John Know himself certainly lived through difficult – even perilous – times and circumstances. But he turned to God in his difficulties and knew His help, support and mercy in and through them. Every Christian will also know difficulty and experience troubles. Ease is guaranteed in the next life, but not this life! It is ‘through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’ (Acts 14:22). Yet in all our difficulties and troubles, we have a God to whom we can turn for help and support. His wonderful invitation still prevails: ‘Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify me’ (Psalm 50:15).

Our God and Father is more than able to deliver us from whatever ails us. If though, in His superior wisdom, He sees fit not to do so, He will surely give us grace to live within the boundaries of the providence He has ordained for us. He has promised ‘My grace is sufficient for you’ (2 Corinthians 12:9). Prayer is a chief means of ‘tapping in’ to the all-sufficient sustaining grace of God. Finally, according to Knox, true prayer is also a matter of:-

Giving praise and thanks to God

When Knox states that prayer entails ‘lauding and praising God for our benefits received’ he was reiterating the teaching and exhortation of Scripture. The Psalmist wrote ‘Bless the LORD O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits’ (Psalm 103:1,2).

If we were to write down on paper all the benefits which almighty God, the ‘fount of every blessing’ bestows on us, we would be in danger of clearing the world of trees! Our God has given us life. Our God has sustained our lives to the present moment. He has fed us, clothed us, protected us and led us. He has bestowed on us infinite earthly blessings – and if we are Christians, we know that He has bestowed on us eternal blessings: the ‘solid joys and lasting treasures which none but Zion’s children know.’ We refer here to ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ (Ephesians 3:8) – the benefits which accrue to us by the death of Christ at Calvary: the forgiveness of sins, His imputed righteousness, peace with God, the sure hope of eternal life ET CETERA! God Himself is the one ‘whom we laud and praise for our benefits received.’ And when we numerate our blessings, we realise that we have just cause for doing so.

John Knox then knew a thing or two about prayer. His definition is not the final word on prayer, but it is well worth weighing and pondering. Let us have it in full again. True prayer is, he said:-

An earnest and familiar talking with God, to whom we declare our miseries, whose support and help we implore and desire in our adversities, and whom we laud and praise for our benefits received.

Nov

2015

Taking on New Things

Underneath the surface jollity, Christmas can be a sad time for some. At Christmas-time we can be more aware of loved ones who are no longer with us. This is the case with my family, where my late father no longer joins us around the Christmas dinner table.

Losing a loved one though is not without compensations. Since my father’s death my mother has been released from the twenty four hour care he needed, and able to take on activities she was prevented from doing when my father was alive. She is now more involved with her church and has also joined a choir and a reading group. She is also now free to travel.

Did you know that the Lord Jesus – He whose birth lies at the centre of Christmas – at certain moments in time, took on matters which He had never taken on before? As the second person of the divine trinity, in eternity past, Jesus lived in the glory of heaven, in the ineffable fellowship which exists in the trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On earth, He could speak to His Father of ‘the glory which I had with Thee before the world was made’ (John 17:5). Yet Scripture reveals that at crucial moments in the divine plan of salvation, Jesus, the eternal Son of God, took upon Himself i. Our human flesh ii. Our human sin.

1. The Divine Incarnation

In Jesus, God became man, taking upon Himself our human flesh. In Jesus, God actually shared our humanity. John wrote ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14), and Paul explained that ‘in Him (Christ) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily’ (Colossians 2:9). It is the incarnation – God’s real, actual, historical and historic ‘enfleshment’ – which takes us to the heart of Christmas:-

‘Christ the Son of God became man, by taking to Himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin’ (Shorter Catechism).

The real, humanity of Jesus reminds us that we have a God who really does understand our human lot from ‘the inside.’ He can never be accused of being far removed from our daily struggles in this fallen world. ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11:35), and Jesus slept (Mark 4:38). He experienced fatigue (John 4:6), hunger (Mark 14:33) and thirst (John 19:28). Jesus also experienced mental turmoil (Mark 14:33) and received the barbs of those who sought to inflict psychological damage on Him (Matthew 27:39). Christians thus hold to the full humanity of Christ as much as they do to His absolute deity, for Scripture teaches both. His real humanity tells us ‘we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15).

But why did the Lord Jesus take on Himself our humanity? The answer of the Bible is: So He could die. His incarnation was with a view to His immolation. Unusually, His birth was with a view to His death. Scripture teaches that Jesus’ birth was a case of His taking on Himself our human flesh. But His death was a case of His taking on Himself our human sin.

2. The Divine Imputation

In a verse of infinite profundity, 2 Corinthians 5:21 states ‘For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.’ Hebrews 9:28 similarly tells of ‘Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many.’

The Christian gospel proclaims that the sins which prevent our fellowship with God and access to heaven may be fully and forever forgiven. But they may be forgiven only because Christ took them and their consequences on Himself when He died on the cross. Our sins may be forgiven because Christ bore them. When we speak of Christ ‘bearing’ our sins, we mean that He paid the price for them; He paid the penalty for them; He endured the punishment which we should have borne for them. He became the sinner’s substitute. Divine ‘imputation’ is the word which encapsulates this. Our sins – in the mercy of God – were ‘put to Christ’s account.’ He ‘paid the bill’ that we might be exonerated. On the cross of Calvary, He endured the wrath of God on our sins to save everyone who believes in Him from the wrath of God on their sins:-

All Thy sins were laid upon Him

Jesus bore them on the tree

God, who knew them, laid them on Him

And believing, Thou art free

(J Denham Smith 1817-1889)

So at two key points in the saga of redemption, God, in Christ i. Took upon Himself our human flesh and ii. Took upon Himself our human sin. The two may be distinguished, but cannot be separated, as the former was with a view to the latter. Christ was born to save us. ‘You shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). And salvation was actually procured, not by Christ’s birth but by His death, in the very last hours of His earthly life, when He died as an atoning sacrifice for sinners. Christ’s taking on Himself our humanity was with the sole purpose of taking on Himself our sin. Christmas Day was with a view to Good Friday, for Christ’s cradle was with a view to His cross when ‘He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree’ (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus, my Saviour to Bethlehem came

Born in a manger to sorrow and shame

O it was wonderful – blest be His Name!

Seeking for me, for me!

Jesus, my Saviour on Calvary’s tree

Paid the great debt and my soul He set free

O it was wonderful – how could it be

Dying for me, for me!

(Anon).

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Taking on New Things

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2. The Divine Imputation

Timothy’s Latest Book

Published Recently

Coming Soon

Books by Dr. Timothy Cross

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