July 2006
● Vol. 1. No.
5
EDITORIAL –
Russ Atmore
Past
Treasures……..….……………….……….… 4
CHURCH HISTORY
Luther’s Preface
to Romans..…………………….. 6
A SERMON
by C H Spurgeon
Go Back? Never!
(Part 1).……………….……....... 10
THEOLOGICAL
REFLECTION
Natural
Selection, Human Defection & Divine Election………….. 15
DOCTRINAL
STUDIES
Religion
by Louis
Berkhof...............……………….
18
CREEDS &
CONFESSIONS
Creedal
Advantage………………………………… 23
BIBLE
COMMENTARY
Mark 1:14, 15
-The Ministry of Jesus Begins.... 26
FAMILY CORNER
Bible Quiz
..……………………………………........ 30
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EDITORIAL
By Russ Atmore
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Past
Treasures
The
value of reaching back into the past must never be underestimated.
The privilege the Christian Church has at present is that it can
trace its steps and events for the previous 2000 years. This is a
treasure indeed. For Columbus to set his eyes upon his new world (a
little south than anticipated) was a sight for his eyes to behold.
Likewise with Cortez and Pizarro when they saw parts of South
America. Likewise with the pilgrims in the early 17th
century to this land. The sight of the present should always cause
us to look backwards to where it came from.
In
our New Testament we can turn back to the Old Testament and mine its
riches, interpreting it in the light of the New. How rich is our New
Testament because of our Old Testament. Family histories provide
insight into our past. History provides insight into the past. The
adage is that we never learn from history. What a shame that is. It
doesn’t have to be true of us though. If we ignore our past, both
the good and bad, we cannot effectively make the right assessments
in the present. Knowing the past, however, is no guarantee that we
will learn from it. History is full of those who knew their history
and failed to learn from it.
In
spite of this, God has provided us with a rich heritage. What we do
with it is what counts. How foolish of the gold miner who strikes
the vein but does not recognize it as gold. We would say, “what a
foolish miner, if indeed, he is a miner.” We have the vein and it is
gold of a value that you cannot put a price to it.
We
begin this issue with a small piece from Martin Luther’s preface to
Romans. Luther’s commentary on Romans is remarkable, and as he says,
every Christian should memorize the entire epistle. What a
challenge! Now we know why Luther was able to lean so heavily on God
during turbulent times.
We
have included a short excerpt from a sermon preached by Charles
Spurgeon (the Prince of Preachers) in 1871. Spurgeon’s use of
descriptive language is unparalleled and beautiful. In addition we
have included the first chapter of Prof. Louis Berkhof’s excellent
book on Christian Doctrine entitled Religion. Any Christian
who works through and uses Berkhof’s book will soon improve their
understanding of doctrine. We do not agree with Prof. Berkhof in
everything, nevertheless, he was an excellent theologian and is very
profitable to read.
The great arch enemies of the Christian faith are pitted against the
biblical doctrine of election, these being natural selection and
human defection. The Christian is often told that man is not as bad
as the Bible says he is, in fact, contrary to the Bible, man is
improving through the evolutionary process. Scripture provides the
antidote to these fallacious claims in the doctrine of God’s
sovereign election.
Many Christians are unaware of the rich heritage of Christian Creeds
and Confessions. We invite you to ponder the advantages of creeds
and confessions. We close as usual with our Bible commentary from
Mark’s Gospel in a verse by verse format and our Family Corner
continues to stimulate and perplex the deepest of minds.
Soli Deo Gloria
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CHURCH
HISTORY
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Luther’s
Preface
to
Romans
We
feature a small portion of Martin Luther’s immortal preface to his
commentary on Romans. It was during the fall of 1515 that Martin
Luther began to teach on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. The nailing
of his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Castle door was still two years
in the future (October 31, 1517). As Luther worked his way
systematically through Romans, it became increasingly clear to him
with much agony of conscience, that Scripture taught that a person
was justified in the sight of God by faith only. This faith, Luther
saw, was also a gift from God. Justification was without works or
merit, and to the sinner God imputed the righteousness of Christ,
and man’s only acceptance before God was on account of that imputed
righteousness.
Preface to
the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
by Martin Luther, 1483-1546
This
letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is
purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian's while not only to
memorize it word for word but also to be occupied with it daily, as
though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read
or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. The more one
deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it
tastes. Therefore I want to carry out my service and, with this
preface, provide an introduction to the letter, insofar as God gives
me the ability, so that every one can gain the fullest possible
understanding of it. Up to now it has been darkened by glosses
[explanatory notes and comments which accompany a text] and
by many a
useless comment, but it is in itself a bright light, almost bright
enough to illumine the entire Scripture.
To begin with,
we have to become familiar with the vocabulary of the letter and
know what St. Paul means by the words law, sin, grace, faith,
justice, flesh, spirit, etc. Otherwise there is no use in reading
it.
You must not
understand the word law here in human fashion, i.e., a regulation
about what sort of works must be done or must not be done. That's
the way it is with human laws: you satisfy the demands of the law
with works, whether your heart is in it or not. God judges what is
in the depths of the heart. Therefore his law also makes demands on
the depths of the heart and doesn't let the heart rest content in
works; rather it punishes as hypocrisy and lies, all works done
apart from the depths of the heart. All human beings are called
liars (Psalm 116), since none of them keeps or can keep God's law
from the depths of the heart. Everyone finds inside himself an
aversion to good and a craving for evil. Where there is no free
desire for good, there the heart has not set itself on God's law.
There also sin is surely to be found and the deserved wrath of God,
whether a lot of good works and an honorable life appear outwardly
or not.
You must get
used to the idea that it is one thing to do the works of the law and
quite another to fulfill it. The works of the law are every thing
that a person does or can do of his own free will and by his own
powers to obey the law. But because in doing such works the heart
abhors the law and yet is forced to obey it, the works are a total
loss and are completely useless. That is what St. Paul means in
chapter 3 when he says, "No human being is justified before God
through the works of the law." From this you can see that the
schoolmasters [i.e., the scholastic theologians] and sophists are
seducers when they teach that you can prepare yourself for grace by
means of works. How can anybody prepare himself for good by means of
works if he does no good work except with aversion and constraint in
his heart? How can such a work please God, if it proceeds from an
averse and unwilling heart?
But to fulfill
the law means to do its work eagerly, lovingly and freely, without
the constraint of the law; it means to live well and in a manner
pleasing to God, as though there were no law or punishment. It is
the Holy Spirit, however, who puts such eagerness of unconstrained
love into the heart, as Paul says in chapter 5. But the Spirit is
given only in, with, and through faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul says
in his introduction. So, too, faith comes only through the word of
God, the Gospel that preaches Christ: how he is both Son of God and
man, how he died and rose for our sake. Paul says all this in
chapters 3, 4 and 10.
That is why
faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law; faith it is
that brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ. The
Spirit, in turn, renders the heart glad and free, as the law
demands. Then good works proceed from faith itself. That is what
Paul means in chapter 3 when, after he has thrown out the works of
the law, he sounds as though the wants to abolish the law by faith.
No, he says, we uphold the law through faith, i.e. we fulfill it
through faith.
Faith is a
living, unshakeable confidence in God's grace; it is so certain,
that someone would die a thousand times for it. This kind of trust
in and knowledge of God's grace makes a person joyful, confident,
and happy with regard to God and all creatures. This is what the
Holy Spirit does by faith. Through faith, a person will do good to
everyone without coercion, willingly and happily; he will serve
everyone, suffer everything for the love and praise of God, who has
shown him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from
faith as burning and shining from fire. Therefore be on guard
against your own false ideas and against the chatterers who think
they are clever enough to make judgments about faith and good works
but who are in reality the biggest fools. Ask God to work faith in
you; otherwise you will remain eternally without faith, no matter
what you try to do or fabricate.
We find in this
letter, then, the richest possible teaching about what a Christian
should know: the meaning of law, Gospel, sin, punishment, grace,
faith, justice, Christ, God, good works, love, hope and the cross.
We learn how we are to act toward everyone, toward the virtuous and
sinful, toward the strong and the weak, friend and foe, and toward
ourselves. Paul bases everything firmly on Scripture and proves his
points with examples from his own experience and from the Prophets,
so that nothing more could be desired. Therefore it seems that St.
Paul, in writing this letter, wanted to compose a summary of the
whole of Christian and evangelical teaching which would also be an
introduction to the whole Old Testament. Without doubt, whoever
takes this letter to heart possesses the light and power of the Old
Testament. Therefore each and every Christian should make this
letter the habitual and constant object of his study. God grant us
his grace to do so. Amen.
“The heart in which
charity grows is a heart changed, renewed and transformed by the
Holy Spirit.”
J C Ryle
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A
SERMON
by Charles H Spurgeon
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Go Back? Never!
(Part 1)
Delivered by
C.H. SPURGEON,
At the
Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
On Thursday
Evening, July 13th, 1871
Edited by Russ
Atmore
"And truly, if
they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they
desire a better country, that is a heavenly ... city."
Hebrews 11:15, 16
ABRAHAM
left his country at God's command, and he never went back again. The
proof of faith lies in perseverance. There is a sort of faith which
doth run well for a while, but it is soon ended, and it doth not
obey the truth. The Apostle tells us, however, that the people of
God were not forced to continue, because they could not return. Had
they been mindful of the place from whence they came out, they might
have found opportunities to return. Frequent opportunities came in
their way. There was communication kept up between them and the old
family house at Padan-Aram. They had news concerning the family
house. More than that, there were messages exchanged; servants were
sometimes sent. There was also a natural relationship kept up. Did
not Rebekah come from thence? And Jacob, one of the patriarchs, was
driven to go down into the land; but he could not stay there; he was
always restless, until at last he stole a march upon Laban and came
back to the proper life, the life that he had chosen--the life that
God had commanded him to live--of a pilgrim and stranger in the land
of promise. You see, then, they had many opportunities to have
returned, to have settled down comfortably and tilled the ground
which
their fathers did before them; but they continued to follow the
uncomfortable life of wanderers of the weary foot, who dwell in
tents, who own no plot of land. They were aliens in the country
which God had given them by promise.
Now our position
is a very similar one. As many of us as have believed in Christ
Jesus have been called out. The very meaning of a church is called
out--by Christ; we have been separated. I trust we know what it is
to have gone without the camp bearing Christ's reproach. Henceforth
in this world we have no home, no true abiding home for our spirits.
Our home is beyond the flood. We are looking for it among the unseen
things. We are strangers and sojourners, as all our fathers were;
dwellers in this wilderness, passing through it to reach the Canaan
which is to be the land of our perpetual inheritance. I shall this
evening first speak to you upon:--
I. THE
OPPORTUNITIES WHICH WE HAVE HAD, AND STILL HAVE, TO RETURN
to the old house if we were mindful of it. Indeed, in the text it
seems to me as if the word "opportunities" were not in our case
nearly strong enough. It is a wonder of wonders that we have not
gone back to the world, and to our own sin. When I think of the
strength of divine grace, I do not marvel that saints should
persevere, but when I remember the weakness of their nature, it
seems a miracle of miracles that there should be one Christian in
the world a single hour. It is nothing short of Godhead's utmost
stretch of might that preserves a Christian from going back to his
old unregenerate condition. We have had opportunities to have
returned. My brethren, we have such opportunities in our daily
calling. Some of you are engaged in the midst of ungodly men. You
have opportunities to sin as they do, to fall into their excess,
into their forgetfulness of God, or even into their blasphemies. Oh!
have you not often strong inducements, if it were not for the grace
of God, to become as they are. Or if your occupation keeps you
alone, yet, my brethren, there is one who is pretty sure to keep us
company and to seek our mischief--the destroyer, the tempter. And
how frequently will even solitude have temptations as severe as
publicity could possibly bring! There are snares in company, but
there are snares in our loneliness. We
have many
opportunities to return. In the parlor--in conversation, perhaps, in
the kitchen about the day's work--or in the field, or on the mart,
on land, and on sea. Where can we go to escape from these
opportunities to return? If we should mount upon the wings of the
wind, could we find "a lodge in some vast wilderness" where we could
be quite clear from all the opportunities to go back to the old sins
in which we once indulged? No; each man's calling may seem to him to
be more full of temptation than his fellows, but it is not so. Our
temptations are pretty equally distributed, I dare say, after all.
And all of us might say that we find in our avocations from hour to
hour many opportunities to return.
But, dear
brethren, it is not merely in our business and in our calling--the
mischief lies in our bones and in our flesh. Opportunities to return
in our own nature. Ah! who that knows himself does not find strong
incentives to return? Ah! how often will our imagination paint sin
in very glowing colors, and though we loathe the sin and loathe
ourselves for thinking of it, yet how many a man might say, "Had it
not been for divine grace, my feet had almost gone, my steps had
well-nigh slipped." How strong is the evil in the best man, how
stern is the conflict to keep under the body, lest corruption should
prevail! You may be diligent in secret prayer, and perhaps the devil
may have been asleep till you begin to pray, and when you are most
fervent then will he also become most rampant. When you get nearest
to God, Satan will sometimes seem to get nearer to you.
Opportunities to return as long as you are in this body will be with
you to the very edge of Jordan. You will meet with temptations when
you sit gasping on the banks of the last river, waiting for the
summons to cross; it may be that your fiercest temptation may come
even then. Oh! this flesh, this body of this death--wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from it? But while it continues with
me I shall find opportunities to return.
But it is just
the same with adversity. Alas! I have had to mourn over Christian
men--at least I thought they were--who have grown very poor, and
when they have grown poor they hardly felt they could associate with
those whom they knew in better circumstances. I think they were
mistaken in the notion that they would be despised. I should be
ashamed of the Christian who would despise his fellow because God
was dealing with him somewhat severely in providence, yet there is
that feeling in the human heart, and though there may be no unkind
treatment, yet often times the spirit is apt to imagine it, and I
have known some absent themselves by degrees from the assembly of
God. It is smoothing the way to return to your old places. And,
indeed, I have not wondered when I have seen some professors grow
cold when I have thought how they were compelled to live. Perhaps
they lived in a comfortable home before, and now they have to take a
room where there is no comfort, and where sounds of blasphemy meet
them. Or in some cases, perhaps, they have to go to the workhouse,
and be far away from all Christian intercourse or anything that
could comfort them. It is only grace that can keep grace alive under
such circumstances. You see, then, whether you grow rich, or whether
you become poor, you will have these opportunities to return. If you
want to go back to sin, to carnality, to a love of the world, to
your old condition, you never need to be prevented from doing so by
want of opportunities. It will be something else that will prevent
you, for these opportunities are plentiful indeed.
Opportunities to
return--let me say just this much more about them--are often
furnished by the example of others.
"When any turn
from Zion's way,
Alas! what
numbers do!
Methinks I hear
my Savior say,
Wilt thou
forsake me too?"
Departures from
the faith of those whom we highly esteem are, at least while we are
young, very severe trials to us. We cannot think that religion can
be true if such a man is a hypocrite. It staggers us: we cannot make
it out. Opportunities to return you have now, but ah! may grace be
given you so that if others play the Judas, instead of leading you
to do the same, it may only bind you more fast to your Lord, and
make you walk more carefully, lest you also prove a son of
perdition.
And oh! my
brethren and sisters, if some of us wished to return, we should have
this opportunity to return in a certain sense. We should find that
none of our old friends would refuse to receive us. There is many a
Christian who, if he were to go back to the gaiety of the world,
would find the world receive him with open arms. He was the favorite
of the ballroom once; he was the wit that set the table on a roar;
he was the man who, above all, was courted when he moved in the
circle of the vain and frivolous; glad enough would they be to see
him come back. What shouts of triumph would they raise, and how
would they welcome him! Oh! may the day never come to you, you young
people especially, who have lately put on the Lord Jesus Christ and
professed his name, when you shall be welcomed by the world; but may
you for ever forget also your own kindred and your father's house,
so shall the king greatly desire your beauty, for he is your Lord,
and worship you him. Separation from the world shall endear you to
the Savior, and bring you conscious enjoyment of his presence; but
opportunities to return I have shown you now are plentiful enough.
But we must pass
on (for we have a very wealthy text tonight) to notice the second
point. (to be continued)
“If you are trifling
with God, it maybe that God will put thorns in your bed, to awaken
you from the sleep of spiritual death.”
George Whitefield
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THEOLOGICAL
REFLECTION
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Natural
Selection,
Human
Defection
and
Divine
Election
Here
we have three great enemies! There is no friendship between them;
they are implacable foes. What a triad to ruminate on. Here we have
man’s attempt to climb the scale of improvement. Here we have the
dreadful reality of man gone wrong, and here we have the glorious
divine provision. Natural selection is Darwin’s famous theory. It
forms the basis of evolutionary theory. Selection is insufficient in
evolution for it does not provide all the answers (for the
evolutionists), rather, it becomes necessary to add mutation to
selection, for it is mutation that brings variety and ultimately the
proof so desperately required by the evolutionists. It is natural
selection then that is supposed to respond to, or be encouraged by
mutation and therefore ensure the “survival of the fittest”.
Natural selection is simply a tautology (a way of saying the same
thing twice) For instance, natural selection predicts that the
fittest organisms will produce the most children, and the fittest
organisms are the ones that produce the most children. Confusing!
Not really! The tautology seems to explain everything, but in
reality proves nothing. As most Christians often say, “it takes more
faith to believe in evolution than in the Bible,” but this is not
sufficient to answer the evolutionists. It is true that in many ways
the theory of evolution is a philosophical declaration of man’s
origins, and therefore certain religious mania can be attributed to
the evolutionist for he gets very upset at the doctrine of creation
as espoused by the Bible. Simply put, the real issue behind all
theories of evolution is sin.
The evolutionist does not account for sin as inherent in the nature
of men and women. Indeed there is no doctrine of sin for them,
therefore, man can be said to be ascending the evolutionary ladder
to some higher position. Some Christians believe in what is known as
theistic evolution. God exists, He created the world, but we are not
told how because the Genesis account is an allegory that portrays
man’s dependence upon God. They accept the evolutionary process as
being the way God made man. So they attempt to join the biblical
view with the evolutionary view. It is interesting that the creation
of Adam is attacked or is relegated to myth and fable, and man
becomes the evolutionary product of time, but the biblical account
of Eve causes the theistic evolutionist problems, for her creation
is by the hand of God out of Adam.
The Bible, on the other hand, is quite clear about who man is and
the nature and effects of sin upon each one of us. We have defected
from God. We have rebelled against God. We have turned away from
God. We have gone our own way as Isaiah reminds us in his
fifty-third chapter. Man is certainly no super hero. He is described
as a boaster, a despiser, a hater, a liar, a murderer, a thief, and
as a sinner. Real nice epithets to use of us, but they are true. Man
has a sinful nature and the result of that nature is sin against
God, with no respite. Sinful man has no righteousness, no good in
him (Romans 3:10-18). He has offended His Maker and now lies in
ruin. He is not at the top of the pile (of evolutionary trash), but
is happy in the filth of his sin. Natural selection cannot account
adequately at all for this defection in their ‘great’ man. Natural
selection is simply sinful mans’ attempt to make out that he is not
so bad as God says he is. Rather, he is improving, and in a million
years from now, just think, of how far he would have come.
It
is God who declares that He has a solution to the dilemma of
sinners. By all accounts sinful man must perish before God, for God
is absolutely holy and just. The Bible makes it clear that there are
certain individuals who do not perish and others who do perish. This
distinction rests in what is known as divine election. Those who
reject election always fall back on the excuse that God is not being
fair if he chooses some to salvation and not others. The Bible is
clear however, that if God were really fair with each of us, we
would all end up in hell. So this issue has nothing to with the
justness or fairness of God. God chooses in individuals to be saved,
simply because He chooses it to be that way. He is the Potter, and
the Potter always has the right to make from the lump of clay
whatever He decides (Romans 9:16-21).
Salvation is also not by the will of man, but simply by the grace of
God. If you attribute your salvation to free will you relegate God
to the backstage, and the final curtain belongs to you. You have the
final say in your ultimate destiny. This is a perversion of what the
Bible really teaches about salvation. Election is God’s Sovereign
work in choosing some to salvation. The Bible does not expect us to
adequately explain this. All the Bible asks us to do is promote the
gospel to every creature, inviting all to come to repentance and
faith, and it leaves the regenerating work of God to the Holy
Spirit. The Bible is clear in saying to you that you must believe,
and yet at the same time tell you that you cannot believe. We are
not asked to be able to explain this.
Salvation therefore, has to be at the sovereign pleasure of God and
nothing else, and all that God does is perfect and glorious. If God
has saved you, then you ought to humbly worship Him for His mercy
and grace to you a wretched, helpless sinner, for He has set His
affection on you from eternity past, and has accomplished in time
His purpose for you through the Lord Jesus Christ.
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DOCTRINAL
STUDIES
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Summary
of
Christian
Doctrine
by Louis Berkhof
(Introduction:
Chapter 1. Religion - [Louis Berkhof, Summary of Christian
Doctrine, (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 1938) p. 9-12]
1. The Nature of
Religion.
The
Bible informs us that man was created in the image of God. When he
fell in sin, he did not entirely cease to be the image-bearer of the
Most High. The seed of religion is still present in all men, though
their sinful nature constantly reacts against it. Missionaries
testify to the presence of religion in some form or other among all
the nations and tribes of the earth. It is one of the greatest
blessings of mankind, though many denounce it as a curse. Not only
does it touch the deepest springs of man's life, but it also
controls his thoughts and feelings and desires.
But just what is
religion? It is only by the study of the Word of God that we can
learn to know the nature of true religion. The word 'religion' is
derived from the Latin and not from any word that is found in the
original Hebrew or Greek of the Bible. It is found only four times
in our translation of the Bible, Gal. 1:18, 14; Jas. 1:26, 27. The
Old Testament defines religion as the fear of the Lord. This fear is
not a feeling of dread, but of reverent regard for God akin to awe,
but coupled with love and confidence. It is the response of the Old
Testament believers to the revelation of the law. In the New
Testament religion is a response to the gospel rather than to the
law, and assumes the form of faith and godliness.
In the light of
Scripture we learn to understand that religion is a relation in
which man stands to God, a relation in which man is conscious of the
absolute majesty and infinite power of God and of his own utter
insignificance and absolute helplessness. It may be defined as a
conscious and voluntary relationship to God, which expresses itself
in grateful worship and loving service. The manner of this religious
worship and service is not left to the arbitrary will of man, but is
determined by God.
2. The Seat of
Religion.
There are
several wrong views respecting the seat of religion in man. Some
think of religion primarily as a sort of knowledge, and locate it in
the intellect. Others regard it as a kind of immediate feeling of
God, and find its seat in the feelings. And still others hold that
it consists most of all in moral activity, and refer it to the will.
However, all these views are one-sided and contrary to Scripture,
which teaches us that religion is a matter of the heart. In
Scripture psychology the heart is the central organ of the soul. Out
of it are all the issues of life, thoughts, feelings, and desires,
Prov. 4:28. Religion involves the whole man, his intellectual, his
emotional, and his moral life. This is the only view that does
justice to the nature of religion.
3. The Origin of
Religion.
Particular
attention was devoted during the last fifty years to the problem of
the origin of religion. Repeated attempts were made to give a
natural explanation of it, but without success. Some spoke of it as
an invention of cunning and deceptive priests, who regarded it as an
easy source of revenue; but this explanation is entirely discredited
now. Others held that it began with the worship of lifeless objects
(fetishes), or with the worship of spirits, possibly the spirits of
forefathers. But this is no explanation, since the question remains,
How did people ever hit upon the idea of worshiping lifeless or
living objects? Still others were of the opinion that religion
originated in nature-worship, that is, the worship of the marvels
and powers of nature, or in the widespread practice of magic. But
these theories do not explain any more than the others how
non-religious man ever became religious. They all start out with a
man who is already religious.
The Bible gives
the only reliable account of the origin of religion. It informs us
of the existence of God, the only object worthy of religious
worship. Moreover, it comes to us with the assurance that God, whom
man could never discover with his natural powers, revealed Himself
in nature and, more especially, in His divine Word, demands the
worship and service of man, and also determines the worship and
service that is well-pleasing to Him. And, finally, it teaches us
that God created man in His own image, and thus endowed him with a
capacity to understand, and to respond to, this revelation, and
engendered in him a natural urge to seek communion with God and to
glorify Him.
To memorize.
Scripture passages bearing on:
a. The Nature of
Religion:
Deut. 10:12, 18.
"And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but
to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him,
and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul, to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and His statutes, which I
command thee this day for thy good."
Ps. 111:10.
"The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; a good
understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise
endureth for ever."
Eccl. 12:13.
"Fear God and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty
of man."
John 6:29.
"This is the work of 'God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath
sent."
Acts 16:31.
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be
saved, thou and thy house."
b. The Seat of
Religion.
Ps. 61:10.
"Create in me a clean heart, 0 God; and renew a right spirit
within me." Also vs. 17. "The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not
despise."
Prov. 4:28.
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of
life."
Matt. 6:8.
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
c. The Origin of
Religion.
Gen. 1:27.
"And God created man in His own image, in the image of God
created He him."
Deut. 4:18.
"And He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to
perform, even the ten commandments."
Ezek. 37:26.
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you a heart of flesh."
For Further
Study of Scripture.
a. What elements
of true religion are indicated in the following passages: Deut.
10:12; Eccl. 12:13; Hos. 6:6; Micah 6:8; Mark 12:33; John 3:36;
6:29; Acts 6:31; Rom. 12:1; 13:10; Jas. 1:27.
b. What forms of
false religion are indicated in the following passages: Ps. 78:35,
36; Isa. 1:11-17; 58:1-5; Ezek. 33:31, 32; Matt. 6:2, 5; 7:21, 26,
27; 23:14; Luke 6:2; 13:14; Gal. 4:10; Col. 2:20; II Tim. 3:5; Tit.
1:16; Jas. 2:15, 16; 3:10.
c. Name six
instances of true religion. Gen. 4:4-8; 12:1-8; 15:17; 18:22-33; Ex.
3:2-22; Deut. 32:33; II Kings 18:3-7; 19:14-19; Dan. 6:4-22; Luke
2:25-35; 2:36, 37; 7:1-10; II Tim. 1:5.
Questions for
Review
1. Is religion
limited to certain tribes and nations?
2 .How can we
learn to know the real nature of true religion?
3. What terms
are used in the Old and New Testament to describe religion?
4. How would you
define religion?
5. What mistaken
notions are there as to the seat of religion in man?
6. What is the
center of the religious life according to Scripture?
7. What
different explanations have been given of the origin of religion?
8. What is the
only satisfactory explanation?
“nothing is more
acceptable to God than kindness.”
John Calvin
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CREEDS
&
CONFESSIONS
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Creedal
Advantage
I
have long
approved the use of the creeds and catechisms of the Church. I value
them and prize them very highly. To the man or woman who objects
that all they need is Scripture, I answer it is true that all we
need is Scripture, however, if the objection be a valid one, we
should then do away with all Christian books from the time of the
early Church until now, and I doubt that one person (serious enough)
would consent to such a foolhardy action. Even the Apostle Paul
asked for his books and parchments (2 Timothy 4:13). Books have
their place under God. They are not in any way superior to
Scripture, nevertheless, God has gifted individuals to convey and
explain biblical truth, and this usually is in the form of books
(apart from preaching and teaching).
Every Christian
ought to be a reader, and I sincerely believe that God will judge us
regarding our reading of the Bible. Truth brings responsibility with
it, and every time you read the Bible you place yourself under its
authority. Whether you obey Scripture is the next step to be
pondered, but the first step is the actual reading and the binding
obligation it places on us. You might object that you do not wish
this binding obligation upon you. The Bible, however, is binding
upon all men whether they read it or not. To the person who reads
the Bible, the obligation is that of response, either in obedience
or disobedience. So reading is crucial to the believer. It is
fundamental, in fact, because God has communicated His truth to us
in the form of the Bible, and so he expects us to read. Those who
cannot read either must learn to read or have Scripture read to
them.
What is a creed?
A creed is the first place is a statement of truth. Second, it is a
statement framed in a particular way. It is usually a succinct
statement conveying particular truth or a corpus of truth, or it is
in the form of questions and answers (catechisms are in this form).
Creeds and catechisms are designed primarily to teach truth. They
are an easy method for learning truth, and as they are repeated they
are learned, and become part of memory. Our own statement of faith
is derived from the 1689 London Baptist Confession. This confession
is similar to the Westminster Confession of Faith, but differs on
points of baptism. The Westminster Shorter Catechism is simply
outstanding and a continual reading and working through it will
prove of immense benefit and value to the soul.
The Westminster
Larger Catechism is also very valuable and the Westminster
Confession of Faith is outstanding. The Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene
Creed and the Athanasian Creed are all excellent. Each of these
creeds answers doctrinal questions or states doctrinal truth in the
form of a statement of faith, and without knowing anything of their
historical part, are simply powerful statements of biblical truth.
They should be examined. The great Heidelberg Catechism is my
favorite. It was written at the request of Elector Frederick III,
ruler of the most influential German province (the Palatinate) from
1559 to 1576. He commissioned Zacharius Ursinus, then 28 years of
age to prepare a catechism for teaching young people, and for
providing guidance to teachers and preachers. It is divided into 52
sections which corresponds to 52 Sundays in a year. It was so
designed to enable churches to work their way through a particular
section of it once a year.
A person does
not have to agree with every statement in these documents, but in
the main, agreement will be found among evangelical Christians. The
Belgic Confession (French) was prepared in 1561 to help persecuted
Christians reply to unfair accusations by Roman Catholics, and to
demonstrate that they were not rebellious people, but rather were
law-abiding. The great Canons of Dort (also called the “Five
Articles Against the Remonstrants”) were adopted by the Reformed
Church in
Dordrecht in
1618 –19. These articles were responses to the five points of the
Arminians, and outlined the doctrines of Total Depravity,
Unconditional Election, Particular Redemption, Irresistible Grace
and the Perseverance of the Saints. The Canons of Dort are divided
in positive and negative statements. There is much theology
contained in these documents and they should be studied with care.
It should always
be remembered that Confessions, Creeds and Catechisms must take
their authority from Scripture, and where they differ from Scripture
they should be rejected or corrected at that point. Make an effort
to read these great doctrinal statements. Learn to think in terms of
theological questions and answers. Learn the Scriptural proofs
provided with these documents. They will prove to be beneficial to
you and will deepen your theological knowledge, and can be the means
to worship the Lord in a deeper and more meaningful way.
“nothing earthly will
make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord
and go forward.”
David Livingstone
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BIBLICAL
COMMENTARY
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Scripture
Mark 1:14,
15
Key Verse
"The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe
in the gospel.”
-- Mark 1:15
Theme
The
Ministry of Jesus Begins
Exposition
The arrest of
John the Baptist is the signal for our Lord to commence his
ministry. The end of the forerunner’s work leads naturally into the
commencement of the Savior’s work. The beginning of our Lord’s
ministry here is referred to as the ‘Great Galilean Ministry.’ The
arrest of John the Baptist has arisen due to his courageous stand in
rebuking Herod Antipas for his illegal marriage to his brother’s
wife Herodias. This illegality is viewed by John in the light of
Deuteronomy 24:1 – 4 and John’s denunciation is because Herod is in
an immoral relationship with Herodias. Herodias never forgave John
for his biblical denunciation of her, and her bitterness and rancor
surfaced when she asked for the head of John the Baptist through her
daughter Salome (Matt. 14:.1 – 12).
Jesus having
been anointed at his baptism and having faced the devil in every
temptation is able now to take his appointed place as the Son of Man
in giving his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The seal of
approval from God the Father ushers in our Lord’s undertaking of his
Messianic responsibilities, thus fulfilling all the Old Testament
prophecies concerning him. John the Baptist has introduced Jesus
(Mark 1:7, 8), and now the ministry of our Lord begins. In the light
of John’s arrest, it appears that Jesus moves from the region of
Judea (where his baptism took place – Mark 1:5) and makes his way
north to Galilee.
The coming of
Jesus to Galilee is much in the same way as John came from the
desert. Jesus comes proclaiming the gospel of God. The Gospel is
simply the good news about the salvation of God. It is good tidings
of salvation as God’s free gift to people. It is also good news
from God about God. It is God’s story of what he is doing
in the grand work of salvation.
Jesus begins his
ministry by declaring that, “the time is fulfilled” in verse
15. This ‘time’ is the golden opportunity. It is the
appropriate season. The word "fulfilled,” is the word καιρός
(kairos) in distinction from χρόνος (chronos) which indicates
chronological time. Καιρός is used to indicate opportune time. It is
not about the duration of time, but rather about the right
time (cf. Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:10). The time was right for Jesus to
proclaim the Gospel. This is also a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy
in Isaiah 9:1, 2.
What did Jesus
proclaim that was designated the Gospel? It was that the kingdom
of God was at hand. The kingdom of God had arrived because the
King himself was present. Matthew uses “the kingdom of heaven” in
Matthew 4:17 referring to the same occasion of Jesus commencing his
ministry. The meaning must be regarded as the same. The rule of God
was available to rule in the hearts of men and women through the
work of salvation. The kingdom refers to God’s sovereign reign, to
his kingship now recognized as operating in the hearts of his
people. Luke 17:21 tells us that the kingdom of God is within us.
The Lord’s Prayer implores the Lord’s kingdom to come (Matt. 6:10).
The kingdom of God has come, is presently coming and will come in
the future. Matthew speaks of inheriting the kingdom prepared for
you (Matt. 25:34). The following passages deal with this subject in
more detail – Matt. 4:1 – 16; 11:4, 5; Luke 4:18 – 21.
Jesus’ message
is the same as John the Baptist’s. It is “repent and believe in
the Gospel.” The word ‘repent’ used here should probably
better be used as ’be converted’. Repentance is the negative
aspect of turning to God, and conversion is the positive aspect.
Jesus is not demeaning the requirement of repentance. Certainly John
the Baptist called forth this command in his summons to come to God.
His startling call was for people to bring fruits in keeping with
repentance. Make sure your repentance is genuine if you come, is
what John was preaching. Conversion is further clarified by Jesus
asking that “believe” the gospel. Repentance and faith are
handmaidens in the garden of conversion. The Bible is clear that
only faith justifies, but repentance is the evidence of such
justification. It is as John the Baptist called it – the fruit
of faith. Belief is not inactive, rather it acts or as James tells
us – faith is shown by the works that follow it (James 2:14 – 26).
Thus the
ministry of Jesus begins with his insistent and strident demand that
those who would follow him, must follow by way of death to self and
faith in God.
Application
Is it not
interesting to note the fact of the opportune time? There is never a
moment when the promises and warnings of God are inopportune. They
are always relevant both to the unbeliever and the believer alike.
For the rebel, the dire consequences of rejecting what God offers in
his good news have eternal ramifications. For the believer, let us
take note of the kindness and severity of God toward us (Romans
2:4). It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. The way
of the Cross is the way of self-denial and loss of self. It is death
to self and life to God. The Gospel promises life. It is incumbent
upon all men and women, boys and girls to believe and repent and
follow Christ. Failure to do this is to deny the message that Jesus
proclaimed at the start of his ministry.
“O God, here I am, send me. Let me
not miss my path in running ahead. Send me, oh, send me afield!”
Jim Elliot
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FAMILY
CORNER
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Word
Search
Abednego,
Astrologers, Belteshazzar, Chaldeans, Counselors, Daniel, Darkness,
Decree, Den, Dominion, Dreams, Feathers, Gold, Interpretation,
Jerusalem, Kingdom, Lions, Magicians, Meshach, Peace, Persians,
Power, Princes, Proclamation, Revealed, Shadrach, Signs, Smote,
Soothsayers, Troubled, Visions, Weighed, Worship
