Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Dry Seasons & Dry Bones

Have you ever noticed the phenomena of rain falling upon parched ground? I’m not sure if this is the case for all soil types, but when the sandy loam we have here in in Florida becomes excessively arid, rain will not penetrate it for some time. I’ve seen as much as a half inch of rain fall on such ground, yet afterwards it will just as dry as before. The rain will actually have no effect upon that portion of soil! The water will pool on top of the soil, as if trying to break through, but the ground simply refuses to receive it in. After a minute or so, the pool builds up to the point that it runs off somewhere else.

This potential allegory becomes a sort of open rhetorical. A midnight metaphor of sorts. Is the rain at fault for being cyclical & allowing drought to come upon the soil? Or should the ground accept the cyclical nature of the rainfall, & be more ready & willing to receive the blessing of the rain when it does come?

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Are Sinful Thoughts Sinful?

Matthew 5:48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Repentance unto good works indicate the presence of God’s Spirit & should encourage the Christian that they have God’s promise for His elect (Rom. 8:16, 23, 26). Being thus radically transformed makes a most pressing case for faith in God’s election as it did for Paul in reference to his Thessalonian disciples:

1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, (5) because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.(6) And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, (7) so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. (8) For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. (9) For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, (10) and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

So confident hope comes as we see this outward ostensible change by God’s Spirit at work within us. But the war never seems to find conclusion with the utter vanquishment of the primordial thought of sin. While Paul & James inform us we are promised & given the mind of Christ in the course of our due diligence towards service in His name (the purpose of James 2), Paul also tells us there dwells, even within his fiery fervor, a shivering shortfalling that demands Christ to continually intercede for his ever present sinful nature:

Romans 7:21-24 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. (22) For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, (23) but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. (24) Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

The student, of course, knows Paul gives the answer to this rhetorical in the next chapter, showing God, in Christ, as his confident (and only) hope in attaining the standard of true perfection.

In this vein lies the rub for me with so many Christians’ professions- when posed the question “Are sinful thoughts sinful?”, they frustratingly (to me, at least) respond no- because they think the thought to be so primordial in nature that it cannot be averted & therefore cannot be rightly judged by God. But what they do not comprehend is this is precisely the fundamental force behind “all have sinned & come short of the glory of God”. We can never save ourselves because perfection does not lie even within the base DNA, so to speak, of man’s nature. Sin runs deep to the very core of man & it would matter not if we could win even every battle of the mind & emerge to doing righteousness every time- because God, in Christ, has already set the bar higher than that.


Indeed, the one that desires to embrace this lowering of the concept of being faultless before God should ponder the words of Isaiah:

Isaiah 55:6-9 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; (7) let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. (9) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Clearly one should see the equivocation, in regards to man’s degeneracy, in this passage between the “ways” of man & “thoughts” of man. God seems ready to judge both equally, to the degree hey fall short of His standard. This passage is but another bar in Scripture's "imprisonment" that should send us all running to "the promise by faith in Jesus Christ" to be set free (Gal. 3:22). He alone has the keys to our prison door. Remember again Matt. 5:48 & accept the fact that it is the Father’s yardstick of perfection that will measure our perfection. Ignorance is bliss, but ot is equally treacherous. Outside of Christ, it'll be Hell's bells that will toll for thee:

"Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it
tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as
that they who are about me and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me,
and I know not that." John Donne 17th century Anglican


I promise you, as John 14:6 tells us plainly, only those abiding in Christ will meet this standard, for it is the blessed Son alone that fills out the measure of the Father’s yardstick.

Thoughts of sin are an indication of the inborn sin that we cannot work out to utter extent. Yes, we can work out much sinfulness of thought, word, & deed by keeping our eyes on Christ alone as the “author & finisher” of our faith; but nevertheless, the ultimate “finish” of a perfect mind seems to elude us, at least in this life. But our response to such base ineptitude should not be to thereafter cause to regard it as inconsequential. No, instead those ungodly thoughts should send us continually to Christ as our only hope of the purity of ultimate perfection that is the standard that we must meet. Among the billions that have ever put on the flesh, Christ stands alone as having met that standard. Only in worshipful devotion to Him can we find true peace & rest. Instead of thinking “Well that’s just the way I am & God’s just gonna have to accept me” we must remember that no, God doesn’t have to accept any of us that fall short of His glory. It is only by His mercy & grace that we were, are, & will be saved, because of the fact that we were, are, & will continue to be “wretched” (Paul’s words) in some hopefully minimal measure right up to the moment we are taken up to Heaven. But minimal or not, all sin is worthy reason for God to judge.

Lamentations 3:21-24 (KJV) It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. (23) They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (24) The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

As with so many problems, the first (& for many the biggest) hurdle to overcome is the admission that there is a problem, thus the above dissertation. Secondly, in response to perceiving this primordial portion of our sinfulness, we need to lament as Jeremiah did in Lamentations’ five spiritual dirges, in proverbial sackcloth & ashes, grieving in like elegy over the death that so clearly dwells within (Rom. 7). In total contrast to the flesh’s desire to quickly say “It’s under the blood” & move on to more pleasant thoughts, we should sense the anguish that God’s Spirit feels with our every sin (Ps. 78:40, Is. 63:10, Eph. 4:30). Thirdly, following the manner of Lamentation’s third acrostic dirge, we should dwell on the glory of God’s mercy, so splendidly shown to us in the Person of Jesus Christ. Fourthly, we need to abide in this glorious habitation, meaning not simply dwelling on Christ, but in Christ, to win the battle of the mind. This is key to the fight, the war of the worlds that wages within our soul- Christ’s blood not simply on us, but in us. The life is in the blood, & we are fully justified as He covers us, but the further sanctification that we long for eludes us to the degree that we refuse His desire for a transfusion into us. Christ’s fervent desire, spelled out by John 17:21-23, is for intimate habitation with us; His prayer was for us to join the type of oneness that He shares with the Father-

John 17:23a I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one…

To sum, the changes in thought & deed that we see in ourselves & others should give us encouragement that the Spirit of Christ is at work within changing us into His likeness. But instead of trying to trivialize thoughts (& deeds) that fail His standard, we should instead take the apostle Paul’s lead & allow the “wretched man that I am” drive us ever closer to the security of Christ’s comforting arms. It’s simple really- just worship Him to best of your ability & I promise you He will in no wise cast you out.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Steeplechase & the Lone Ranger (part 2)

Ephesians 5:29-32 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, (30) because we are members of his body. (31) “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." (32) This mystery is profound (“megas”), and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

This passage is the cause of much strife, though not unexpectedly, as our hearts are proud & tend to refuse submission to either God or man. But that obstinate pride should be stymied in the one who’s deepest desire is to please God, for marriage’s highest honor is to be a walking, talking, breathing metaphor of the special bond that exists between Christ & His church. Interpreting Eph. 5:22-31 in the enlightenment of verse 32 should propel married Christians to go above & beyond to better their bond, not foremost in their love each other, but foremost instead in their love for God. In the same way that David perpetrated deadly sin against man, but then claimed to have sinned against God alone (Psalm 51:4), we must understand rejecting the God-appointed spousal duties is, in the eternal, the deepest, most “profound” sense, truly rejecting Christ Himself; for Christ clearly has appointed husband & wife to model His otherwise largely ineffable union with His church. Then, contrastingly, submitting to & embracing said calling is to embrace the more “profound” sort of submission prefaced in verse 21:

Ephesians 5:21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Once again, we see God’s calling purposed not primarily towards serving man, but God in Christ. As with King David’s confession, if we were to firstly concern ourselves with right service towards God, everything else would come into line. A King David rightly reverencing God would never want to be the cause of undue injury to Uriah, especially for the cause of coveting his wife. See, primarily, his “reverence for Christ” was lacking, which was the cause of his inability to submit to reverencing their marital covenant. What Psalm 51:4 does is push all the manifest effects of this lack of reverence aside & strike dead at the cause of the problem- a void of respect for God’s ordained order, & therefore, God Himself.

Similarly, the outlaw who rejects God’s ordained order of…

Ephesians 5:19-20 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, (20) giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (21) submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

…primarily rejects Christ Himself. Take note of the fact that “addressing one another” is an inherent part of “making melody to the Lord”; that “submitting to one another” is part & parcel of “reverence for Christ.” Because they are united, as in marriage, one with the other, to heap undue aspersions on the bride is insult & denigrate the Groom as well. To insult my wife is no less than, & possibly even worse than, insulting me, for love would cause me to be more quick to respond in defense of my wife’s honor than in defense of my own. We should all therefore be slow to speak against God’s church, “out of reverence for Christ.” I’m not saying that we should hesitate to call out unbiblical doctrine, just the ad hominem attacks that we sometimes add to a proper respectful doctrinal rebuke.

There are generally two types of childish believers that refuse the maturing nature of steady Christian fellowship- the steeplechaser & the lone ranger. The first hops churches like the drunk hops bars- every time he doesn’t find what his flesh craves, he simply gets in his car & drives down the street to the next venue. This infantile Christian never matures because he never stops seeking the base fleshly desire. He always has poor words for the place he just left, & arrogantly considers himself a better Christian than they. His pride is his downfall, because it precludes his humble acquiescence to authority; again, as with King David, his transgression is at the most rudimentary level, a rebellion against God’s authority instead than man’s.

One may think the lone ranger Christian- the one not regularly attending any body of believers- to be someone at the polar extreme, but actually, it’s the same type of rebel, only with an even deeper degree of arrogant insolence. The steeplechaser at least senses the need for fellowship, but the lone ranger has developed such an audacity to think he can please God & grow to maturity without anyone’s help. It’s just me & God he says, I don’t need anyone else. Where does he find this model in Scripture or even in the early post-apostolic Church?

Indeed, the arduous trail that Antioch’s early 2nd century pastor Ignatius walks tells the tale of a submissive, but also tenderly loving fellowship of churches that interact with him on the on his slow march towards a martyr’s death in Rome. No bevy of lone rangers supported him or received instruction from him, even though in that age of Emperor Trajan’s severe persecutions a Christian could easily justify such a withdrawal from Christian fellowship. True believers instead traded the lone ranger’s invisible manner of worship for a public witness that was akin to kicking sand in the face of an 800 pound gorilla. No, even in a day when it was truly dangerous for Christians to gather, they still gathered, as evidenced by the record of the seven letters he wrote as he was carried in chains to Rome. They reveal a number of local church bodies united for the cause of Christ, yet even in that day the prideful lone rangers must have existed, given Ignatius’ words to the Ephesian & Roman churches of his day:

“Let no man deceive himself: if any one be not within the altar, he is deprived of the bread of God. For if the prayer of one or two possesses such power, how much more that of the overseer and the whole church! He, therefore, that does not assemble with the church, has even by this manifested his pride, and condemned himself. For it is written, ‘God resisteth the proud.’ Let us be careful, then, not to set ourselves in opposition to the overseer, in order that we may be subject to God.”

“Remember in your prayers the church in Syria, which now has God for its pastor, instead of me. Jesus Christ alone will oversee it, and your love [will also regard it]…. My spirit salutes you, and the love of the churches which have received me in the name of Jesus Christ, and not as a mere passerby. For even those churches which were not naturally on my route at all came and escorted me from one city to the next.”

Hi-ho Silver, away- with the utterly unbiblical notion of a believer maturing in Christ, or fulfilling his “part” in God’s church apart from being in submission to & showing love towards a local fellowship.

To reject Christ’s body, pictured in its present form as a bride preparing for her blessed day, is to reject the Groom as well, for they are truly destined to become united as one. (Matt. 25:1-13)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Steeplechase & the Lone Ranger (part 1)

Church attendance & membership is a biblical given for all believers until Christ returns. Though some would like to contend otherwise, they have no Scriptural basis for such a claim. The whole of the New Testament record of the universal Christian body points towards the Apostles’ primary work of propagating & prospering the individual church bodies. Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, etc. were not individuals, but church bodies that Paul addressed. Moreover, the Lord Jesus Himself targeted His words in Revelation 2 & 3 not to individual Christians, but Christian assemblies.

There is no support to the idea of an insular Christian being accommodated by the apostles, while in contrast, there is much substantiation for the idea of all believers belonging & submitting to a local fellowship. Possibly nowhere else is this more addressed than by Paul’s first letter to that most dysfunctional of churches- the Corinthian. After a brief initial greeting, he immediately launches into a stiff censure of their “divisions” & “quarreling”, which was causing them to fail in the goal of being “united in the same mind and the same judgment.” Everybody was doing their own thing, as they each thought best, never instead acquiescing to the greater good of Christ & His earthly body. Yes, Paul addressed them as one body, but in reading chapter after chapter of their predilection towards self-centeredness, one can only conclude this manner of address to be purely nominal in nature. They selfishly only considered themselves- in regards to following various shepherds (ch. 1-4), sin & righteousness (ch. 5-8), the communion (ch. 10-11), & their spiritual gifting (ch. 12-14). It is here, as Paul begins to call out the irony of God’s gifts being used to feed man’s arrogance, that the apostle gives a most poignant presentation of the need for a humble & submissive fellowship of Christians:

1 Corinthians 12:4-30 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; (5) and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; (6) and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (7) To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (8) For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, (10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (11) All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (12) For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (13) For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (14) For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (15) If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. (16) And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. (17) If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? (18) But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (19) If all were a single member, where would the body be? (20) As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (21) The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." (22) On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, (23) and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, (24) which our more presentable parts do not require.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, (25) that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (26) If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (27) Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (28) And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. (29) Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? (30) Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

From here, of course, Paul enters in to chapter 13, closing there with the inference that the “greatest” gift is the one that ends in the display of love for another. Indeed, as Ignatius of Antioch (2nd century) states on his road to martyrdom:

“Wherefore none of the devices of the devil shall be hidden from you, if, like Paul, ye perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ which are the beginning and the end of life. The beginning of life is faith, and the end is love. And these two being inseparably connected together, do perfect the man of God; while all other things which are requisite to a holy life follow after them.”

What brother can the insular Christian reach with this “greatest” gift if he remains an island unto himself? If the end goal of God’s working within us is love for another (instead of the heretofore Corinthian model of self-love), then should it not be concluded that the Christian can never be brought to maturity insofar as he continues his rejection of Christ’s earthly body? For it is only in His body that God refines us into the likeness of Christ. That is one way that God brings honor to Christ’s only current tangible presence on earth. Witness Jesus’ call to minister as a community in His absence to the same degree as one would minister unto Him in His presence:

Matthew 25:31-40 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. (32) Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (33) And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. (34) Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (35) For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, (36) I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' (37) Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? (38) And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? (39) And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' (40) And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

To disparage Christ’s body on earth, however flawed & weak it may be, is to disparage Christ Himself. To slander the former is to slander the later, for biblically, they are inexorably linked:

Ephesians 5:29-32 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, (30) because we are members of his body. (31) “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." (32) This mystery is profound (megas), and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Reason upon Faith, part 1

The Christian is often accused of using invalid reasoning in using Scripture to prove Scripture; e.g., using nothing more than 1 Thess. 2:13, 2 Tim. 3:16, etc. to validate the idea that God’s Word is actually God’s Word would be entirely circuitous logic; apart from elsewise evidence, such confidence would rightly be unfounded. But Paul’s statement that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” only reaffirms what Scripture’s many manifold witnesses (prophecy, natural & archeological history, early church fathers, as well as the less tangible, but no less real Holy Spirit) cause us to reasonably embrace- that God has preserved His revelation of all man needs to understand of both the natural & supernatural in the 66 books of Scripture.

Nevertheless, there is the fact that most of what is called knowledge & reason is primordially founded upon faith. Logically deduced knowledge, if extensively traced to its origin, finds some postulate made as a fundamental starting point. Take the “Big Bang” model of natural creation; astrophysicists devote their lifetime to constructing reasonable causations that assimilate with one another in order to arrive at an integrated, rational timeline from the very nanosecond of the singularity’s “bang” all the way to the present day.

But what they don’t tell you as they boldly assign precise dates to all the events of their timeline (so often with such certitude that those dates & events seem to be as sure as yesterday’s news events) is that all their reverse-engineering of the universe is presumed upon three fundamental faith-filled suppositions:

1. The ubiquity of current classical & quantum mechanics; in other words, is the empirical physics of today acting in same way, with the same metrics, as the physics of 13.7 billion years ago? Especially questionable since science seems all too eager to toss established physics in the pursuit of a rational early ontology, i.e. the period of time prior to "Planck time". If it can be said the physical laws of the universe somehow “changed” at the onset of “1 Planck”, then how can we be so confident of anything transpiring prior to that? Or even after that? How are the physical laws “changed”, & if so, then have they morphed again & again, or just that once? Indeed, after thousands of years of observation, we still don’t comprehend all the physical laws acting upon us right now, so any theory based on unempirical physics has to viewed with extreme skepticism.

2. The isotropic (same in all directions) nature of the universe.

3. The homogeneous nature of the universe (e.g.- is the entire universe composed of the same basic elements, e.g.- hydrogen & helium?)

I'm not saying that their model is wrong, I'm simply saying that it takes a tremendous degree of faith to believe that it is right.

Science of the day rests its beliefs upon its chronologically & spatially narrow viewpoint of the physical universe. Should I confidently claim to know that all birds can fly simply because all the ones I’ve been able to observe from my residency in Florida have been able to do so? Or that no snake can kill simply I’ve never seen anyone die from one? This is the weakness of inductive logic, & much of the in vogue establishment (money-hungry) science is rife with it. They preach Copernicus (that we hold no special place or viewpoint in the universe), but, so ironically for them, this makes science’s dependency on induction so much the greater, due to this lesser vantage point. Yes, deductions are made, but the problem is they are boastfully touted, all the while the frailties of the founding inductions are ignored.

In other words, their knowledge is founded on faith. The only problem- it is not honestly spoken of as such.

Unfortunately, man is so myopic in his ability to perceive even his own tangible sphere while concomitantly being so arrogant in claiming understanding of things his limited vision prevents him from seeing. Witness the episode of “Seinfeld” where the character George goes around making outrageous claims about things he thought he saw after losing his glasses. With a modicum of humility, he could have said “I think I might have seen…”, but unfortunately, humility was not his forte. So people were led astray, & in the end, George had to endure embarrassment for his cocksureness in the midst of his clear myopic hindrance.

Science desires to do likewise. They have wasted billions on building & operating radio telescopes around the world for fifty years now hopelessly trying to detect a single sign of extraterrestrial intelligent life, only to incessantly hear the same interstellar static that any of us can hear for free in our car on an empty radio frequency. They spend untold billions on particle colliders in an effort to demonstrate the existence of a “God particle” (the Higgs-boson particle- a hypothetical particle that would allow for the construction of mass into massless particles), while leaving God Himself forlorn in their lifelong examinations of the physical causes of creation. They treat this potential particle as if it were capable of excluding God from the act of creation (therein its media name), all the while feigning ignorance that, as elementary as this particle would be to the theorized Big Bang model, something still would have had to create it. As science states, neither energy nor mass can be created or destroyed, they can only change forms (& even massless photon particles are considered as mass in this case, subject to the same laws of conservation). Thus there exists no rational theory, or even a founding postulate, of how the Higgs-boson “God-particle” came to exist, despite the fact that its supposed reality has flaunted by science for over 40 years now. No atheistic physicist (they’re not all atheists, but many are deists) has been so bold to propose a “first cause” for their “God”; its cause is essentially taken on faith. This type of challenge is known as the “ontological argument” & it is just as relevant today, despite the tremendous increase in scientific knowledge in the 1000 years since Anselm first used it to add reason to a faithful belief in God’s existence. It is the most fundamental bulwark against arrogant atheistic claims to have an ontology based purely on reason. They present the atheism vs. theism debate as solely about reason vs. faith, instead of truthfully stating it as two separate ontologisms, each with an abundance of reason, but each also founded on faith.

The fact is, for both, it is not a matter of reason vs. faith, but reason built upon faith.

The bigger question: which is more believable- that matter & energy are self-creative, that a singularity containing all the potential of the universe just appeared without a causal dynamic, or that God exists “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalms 90:2)? Neither gives any rationale for the academic to rally around to explain how something can come from nothing. God never tells us in His Word how He can exist infinitely in the space-time continuum; He simply says that He does. Atheists may mock such blind faith in a self-existent God, but to me at least, it seems eminently more reasonable that the supernatural can have this quality than the natural.

Indeed, such is my fundamental schoolyard-style challenge to the atheistic bully - that my blind faith is better, more reasonable even, than your blind faith.

Isaiah 44:24-25 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, (25) who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Jesus’ Anthropomorphism in Relation to Omniscience & Omnipotence

Most of my blog entries are from my Sunday School lessons & nursing home sermons, so they are pretty basic evangelical fare, as I believe is right; for neither S.S. nor a nursing home is the place putting forth concepts debatable within the reformed community.

But as a membership class has taken the S.S. time slot for the next couple months (a very needed thing), I will take this opportunity to blog a few of the ruminations I’ve been chewing on for the past year or so…

Luke 3:21-22 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, (22) and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

It is common for Christians to consider Christ in His earthly estate as being the same as He was (and is) in His heavenly estate- God in every respect. We think of Jesus as God, in all His fullness, walking amongst mankind, performing all manner of supernatural miracles of His own innately inborn power. This is how the Gnostics pictured Jesus, with their contrived stories of a pubescent Jesus supposedly using His power in a malevolent manner. They had Jesus, in His earthly form, completely backwards, picturing Him in youth as being fully imbued with the power of God, but lacking in character. Something akin to an young, immature Superman…

The Biblical picture is quite the opposite.

Luke 4:1-13 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness (2) for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. (3) The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." (4) And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'" (5) And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, (6) and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. (7) If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." (8) And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" (9) And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, (10) for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,' (11) and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" (12) And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (13) And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Luke opens this passage by mentioning the fact that Jesus “was led by the Spirit”, which naturally begs the question- Why would an omniscient Jesus need the Spirit to lead Him? What void, what lack was there within an innately almighty Christ for the Spirit to fill up? Implicit here is the notion that the Spirit had knowledge that Jesus was not privy to in His wilderness wanderings.

But the questions for the believer in the corporeal, but still omnipotent 1st century Jesus should not stop there. In His prior (& subsequent) Heavenly estate, Christ commands the host of Heaven, & most certainly Satan as well. The image of that Person, with all His cache of utter authority over Heaven & Earth, actually being (potentially) tempted by such trivial things as dominion over the earthly kingdoms seems an outright silly concept. It would be like walking into a fine chocolatier’s confectionary to try to tempt the owner to trade it all for a Snicker’s bar; surely a laughable concept, because he presently owns, & is currently presiding over something far greater. But catch that owner far from his establishment, in a weak & lowly condition, & if paired with feeble character, the temptation becomes so much more plausible. Christ’s testing was in line with Esau’s testing, except it was a hundredfold times worse (Gen. 25:33). Quite literally in fact; Esau’s character failed in missing a single meal, while Jesus stood the test after missing approximately a hundred meals (40 days x 2-3 meals a day). Understand, what was being tested here was the measure of Christ’s character, & the only way His testing could be sincerely real would be for His intrinsic authority to have been divorced from His Person for a time. Only then could a temptation towards a lesser unordained authority be conceptually real. Only then would His testing be in line with Esau’s testing.


Only then would the chief chocolatier be truly tested.

And, only then could Hebrews 4:15 be candidly true- “For we do not have 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.”

If He had, perchance, gave that command for the stone to become bread, it surely would have taken place, but only by the abiding authority of the explicitly fore mentioned Holy Spirit. This brings to mind the primary contention in favor of “Superman” Jesus- that power most certainly seemed to emanate from His Person upon several occasions…

Luke 8:43-46 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. (44) She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. (45) And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!" (46) But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me."

Firstly, what seems odd here is the fact that her healing happened “immediately” upon the woman’s contact with the garment. If it had been innate "power" going out from Jesus (meaning of His own Person), then one would think that His cognition of the woman & her condition would surely be pre-requisite. Indeed, we don’t picture Jesus as a magical object, indiscriminately blessing anyone who touched His Person, as a pagan would be apt to think; in fact, the context bears this point out as it mentions the abundance of people “pressing in on” Him. No “power” went out to any of them, only this woman. Being a given that Christ’s healings were not universally nor haphazardly given (Matt. 13:58), the authority to dispense this “power” must have come of God’s Spirit, in His singular providence & ability. Jesus clearly felt the Spirit act, but just as clearly omniscience was not with our Lord at this juncture, & in light of other passages, it can be forthrightly taken that omnipotence was not either. It was the Spirit of God healing the woman through Christ, so as to “draw all men unto” Jesus as Master & Savior even while He was in such a lowly estate. It should be accepted that is precisely the primary purpose of the miracles (John 9:3-5). But it should also be accepted that the “power” does not need to emanate directly from the Savior, it (or more astutely- He- meaning the Spirit) only needs to operate through the Savior, in order to accomplish the goal of drawing God’s elect towards their Lord.

Continue reading in Luke to perceive that “power” within Christ to perform miracles was entirely the Holy Spirit…

Luke 4:14-18 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. (15) And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. (16) And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. (17) And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, (18) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

Luke 5:17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

This last sentence, & particularly the word “with”, strongly suggests the idea that such power was not always with Him, or at the very least, it was not naturally of Him.

Yes, an argument can be made that the power was of Jesus because of the instances wherein He anointed others with power (Matt. 10:1). But couldn’t the argument be given in support of the apostles also having innate authority, as in Acts 8:17? Indeed, such ability seemed outwardly to the uninitiated, like Simon the magician, as distinctly particular to the apostles themselves, something to be bartered for & used for personal gain. Paul reminds Timothy, in both extant letters sent to him, that he should “not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.” In 2nd Timothy, the Pauline language is even more direct along these lines as he speaks of Timothy’s gifting only being there by Paul’s own initiative:

2 Timothy 1:6-7 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, (7) for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

What do we believe? That Paul was a "little god", giving spiritual gifts entirely of his own volition? The Mormon & Word-faith disciple may go there, but the true student of Scripture would never think in that way. In fact, verse 7 indicates the true source of Timothy’s anointing- “the (God-given) Spirit…of power and love and self-control.” Paul endeavors to remind his student of the laying on of his hands only so Timothy would likewise treasure the apostle’s words in these letters just as much. See, both have the same source- God’s Spirit- so in trumpeting the import of his God-given laying on of hands, Paul is likewise trumpeting the import of his God-given instruction.

So, despite the strong inference in language indicating inherent spiritual abilities- within either Paul or Jesus- we must contrast & interpret such notions with the rest of Scripture before arriving at any conclusions.

Acts 2:22-24 Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know- (23) this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. (24) But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

Again, the word “through” lends tremendous evidence to the idea that the miracles were not of Him, but came from another Person of the triune God working “through” Him.

Acts 10:36-40 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), (37) you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: (38) how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

In stating God’s (the Father’s) simultaneous anointing of Jesus with both "the Holy Spirit & with power", Peter was confirming that power entered Christ only as the Holy Spirit entered Christ. Even if one declares these two occurrences to be purely coincidental (a difficult argument, to be sure) what one cannot deny is that the power was not something that descended along with His Person naturally; another Person of God had to specially “anoint” Jesus with power.

Hebrews 2:5-10 Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. (6) It has been testified somewhere, "What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? (7) You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, (8) putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. (9) But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (10) For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

In verse 7, man’s authority is described as a little lower than the angels, & verse 9 likewise relates Jesus’ 33 year existence by using the very same words. Note that verse 7 describes that status of man as beneath angels being so only “for a little while”. What essentially makes man temporarily “lower” than the angel sent by God to tend to that man? Spiritual insight & power. Insight of the sort that Elisha & his servant were given by the Spirit (2 Kings 6:17), & power to work in accord with that greater vision (& of course, God’s will). What has direct power in the spiritual, has like direct power over the physical, but those with direct power only in the physical (such as kings & judges) have nothing but mere pleadings to effect events in the spiritual. So they rank beneath, however temporarily (in the case of the elect), those angels with authority in the broader spiritual realm.

But what is especially noteworthy in Hebrews is verse 9, where Jesus’ visitation is spoken of in the same terms: “(He) was made lower than the angels”. Here, Christ’s corporeal existence is described in the same terms as any other man, reduced to having to depend upon the ministry of those temporarily greater than Him, though of course, only in the sense of innate spiritual vision & power. Where His Godliness was never reduced was in His Godly character or nature. He had our flesh with all of its diverse trappings, but what He never lacked was the most prevalent thing that makes God righteous in all He does- His utter goodness of character; this never has, nor ever will be divorced from Him. He was like us for a time, a jar of clay, weak & fragile; but unlike the natural man, that weak vessel was filled to the uttermost with the complete goodness of a Godly nature.

He was, for a time, as we are- stripped of innate power & insight into the spiritual realm, for the twin purposes of that Godly nature being fully tested by the flesh, & now, consequently, being able to rightly minister to us as One who has felt every sort of temptation & distress the flesh has to offer, & so can offer priestly “help in time of need”:

Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have 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. (16) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

An earthly priest could often commiserate with the petitioner’s needs, because he had often experienced the same lowly fleshly temptations, & Christ is no different in His ministry as our one & only priestly intercessor with the Father. This starts to get to the crux of the reason why this matters: if Christ was Superman in those 33 years, meaning naturally enabled with special x-ray vision & tremendous strength, more naturally insightful & powerful than us, then it really can’t be said that He was tempted like us “in every respect”. Our greatest distress & temptation to sin comes in that time when we cannot perceive the spiritual realm (or when we fool ourselves to think that they do not see us). Understand, most of the Elisha’s servant, denying Peter, & doubting Thomas moments of trial in our lives would never occur if we were always enabled with spiritual insight & power into the realities of the Spirit world beyond our normal reach. None of those 3 persons would have been perfected by their trials if they were always enabled to see & work as freely in the spiritual world as they could in the natural world. Likewise, for Christ’s many diverse temptations to have been truly poignant & truly perfecting, He would have to have just as spiritually blind & weak as we are in those same circumstances. Only then could He fully “sympathize with our weaknesses”, for innate spiritual blindness & powerlessness are part & parcel of those weaknesses.

2 Corinthians 13:4 For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

This verse is a great encouragement to those “weak vessels” who become overwhelmed by the task of following Christ. “Jesus was God, but I am not, so I could never become like Him” is the rationale given to by those babes not pursuing sanctification, despite the biblical injunction that we should follow Him, not only in word, but in deed as well. In a individual sense that thought above is right, because we do not have the righteousness of God inherently, as Jesus did; but where it falls short is in the failing to accept Christ’s call to represent Him in this world in the interim before His appearing. We are, corporately, the “body” of Christ in this place until that day, so that means that, corporately, we are to be exactly like Him. Individually, we are “weak in Him”, but corporately, through the Spirit, we are the tangible Jesus in the world this day.

God’s Spirit makes the Person of Jesus Christ personal to us.

The fictional person of Sheriff Andy Taylor often revealed high character by facing distressing events without the comfort & confidence of a weapon. He felt better suited towards his role to be devoid of that power which his fellow Mayberryians did not possess, therein making himself more like them, despite his greater office. He desired to walk among them as they were, without imbued power, himself possessing nothing greater than the power of a higher calling, to serve their otherwise forlorn needs.

He made himself fully like them- so as to better serve them.


Hebrews 5:7-10 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (8) Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (9) And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, (10) being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Kings do not learn obedience sitting on their throne, dispatching commands & ensconced in their place of authority (e.g. Daniel 4). No, learning some new measure of obedience would require them to forsake such authority & enter into a lowly condition. While all will agree Jesus wasn’t on His throne for those “days of His flesh”, if He walked this earth with royal scepter in hand, then, in a sense He was still on His throne, & not really “made lower than the angels”.

Only then, in such a destitute condition, could He have truly “learned obedience”.

Also, because of vs. 7b above, many read this passage with only the cross in view, only thinking of Jesus as weak as He was crucified. But verse 7a’s opening phrase “in the days of His flesh” indicates that the subsequent discussion of Christ’s weakness was applicable to His entire 33 year corporeal existence.

Thirdly, we can also glean from this text the point that Christ “was heard because of His reverence”; “was heard” denotes His reliance on the other Persons of the trinity, but “His reverence” highlights the aspect of His human existence that made Him most radically stand out as God amongst the sea of depraved humanity- His superior character. See, being stripped of His innate Godly power to exercise the supernatural allowed “His piety” (NASB) to stand out for all its brilliance. Like a table covered with intensely radiant jewels, it is hard to examine & test any single component of God’s glory when it is all on display together. But veil all the jewels save one, & the individual magnificence of that one can be thoroughly examined, tested, & appreciated for all its integrity. This, once again, is the purpose for Christ’s lowly weakness prior to the cross; the Father certainly knew of the Son’s radiant integrity heretofore, but He desired that such pure piety would be lucidly seen & embraced by all, for eternity; putting such a precious stone in temporary “setting”, completely to itself, accomplishes that goal.

This begs the philosophical discussion of what most makes God “better” than us. There are many reasons to be sure, even apart from the fundamental concept that Creator will always be greater than His creation. But if we consider God is better than us simply because He is more powerful or more knowledgeable, it would be in line with fallen Satan’s original temptation towards Eve that caused her & Adam to fall as well- that simply attaining the omniscience of God was to be “like God” (Gen. 3:5). This stems from a lesser recognition of God’s glory. They, & we, prove ignorance of what attribute of God primarily makes Him “better” than us- when reducing it to something less noble than simply His goodness & righteousness.

Consequently, pure righteousness, brilliantly exhibited by God in the Person of Jesus Christ, shines ever more brilliant as it is exhibited in the austerity of an otherwise fully anthropomorphic corporeal Christ.

In closing, I can understand the reticence to picture Christ in this fashion. For 2000 years, some have failed to embrace either His humanity or His Godliness, & the current trend is definitely skewed towards denying His divinity. I hope no one misjudges me, to put me into this later category, for few things could further from the truth. Having been raised in a religion that does fall into this later category, I have since sought to pound the pulpit on no point of doctrine more so than the Glory of Jesus Christ. But I also cannot ignore the seemingly clear adjuring of Scripture to accept this view of our Savior’s earthly visitation.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Hidden Treasure (part 2)

Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Last week we dwelt on the first half of the parable, particularly the fact that the treasure was not exposed for all to see, but “hidden”, implying that the gospel is intended only for those who are enabled (by God) to find it. This speaks to the fact that the specific “whosoevers” that gain Christ’s righteousness were actually of God’s sovereign design. The seeming indiscriminate language of verses like John 3:16 KJV references the human perspective on who would embrace Christ as Lord; God has always known His elect. (John 6:64-65, 8:47, Acts15:18)

"Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

First of all note that there is joy. Sometimes a man can find treasure, without comprehending at first its true value. He still pays a price to gain it, but for a time may question whether or not it was truly worth it. Peter too had his doubts as he pondered the price he has paid…

Matthew 19:27-30 Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" (28) Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (29) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (30) But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

See, Peter’s dilemma was the same as ours: we sell out everything to gain the field, but we don’t immediately reap the full tangible value of the “prize” we have “attained”. In selling everything to gain what seems to the natural eyes to be of little value, it seems that we have taken a place at the back of the race because it seems that we have given up far more than we have gained…

Philippians 3:14-16 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (8) Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- (10) that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (13) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (15) Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (16) Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Both Paul & Peter were reflective, taking note of all they had lost in order to take possession of the field with its glorious treasure, but one seemed despondent while the other seemed joyous. What was the difference? Why did Paul, who at the time he wrote this had actually had lost more than Peter (with the loss of his freedom), have so much more joy than Peter? Verses 9 & 10 hold the keys- Paul had greater faith & knowledge in Christ. Truly, what “we have attained” by selling out to the natural man is the full righteousness of Christ. We really do possess the field & its inestimable riches, but can’t cash in to gain the full tangible value of the treasure right away. Examine Paul’s statement in verse 9, that we do in fact possess the righteousness of Christ, but cannot fully apprehend it, in this body, for all its magnificence. Therefore is the reason he says it “depends on faith”. In tough times, the natural man says “Look at all you have lost; for what? A worthless field that bears nothing but pain? O, woe are you.” Thus, the field seems in times of hardship to be too much of a burden to bear.

But yet there is joy to the one who keeps his eye on the prize of Christ & the day that the treasure’s full value will come to us. See, the thing to do in those low times is to take some time to research the value of the treasure. Spending time to study up on the as yet unattained full tangible value of the treasure of Christ that you surely possess will turn your depression into exuberant jubilation. This is, in part, is the value of Bible study, good preaching, prayer, praise, & fellowship. They train our eyes on “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The field owner with no joy is the one who has lost sight of the glory of sharing in the riches of Christ. Study up on the value of having Christ’s righteousness & your joy will return.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Hidden Treasure (part 1)

Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Let’s break down the riches of this short parable to find to see it for all it has to teach us.

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up."

Like treasure hidden in a field, the Gospel is found most often by those who were not looking for it.

Who looks for treasure in an open field? Treasure seekers will spend their time looking in more likely locations- caves, shipwrecks, & shorelines. Spiritual seekers often do the same, hitting all the gurus with appealing messages that overtly sound really good right from the get go. The Gospel has no such appeal with all of its focus on our sin nature. This is how the “seeker-sensitive” word-faith, name it & claim it, blab it & grab it churches grow to the point of seating thousands while the true Gospel treasure is only found by the few drawn to dig into the dirt of their sinful nature.

So there was found the treasure, not intentionally looked for, but stumbled upon in the course of daily life. It seems, at first, to the uninitiated, a purely happy accident.

But the mature come to understand the complete sovereignty of God, that there are no “accidents” in all of God’s creation, happy or otherwise. God is the creator of all we see & He is likewise the sustainer of all we see, down to the most minor of minutia…


Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (26) Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (27) And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (28) And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, (29) yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (31) Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (34) Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If God sovereignly cares even for such trivial concerns as the natural “grass of the field”, of course He would have concern for the Heavenly lasting treasure hidden under that perishing pastureland, now wouldn’t He? This first half of the parable magnifies the absolute authority of God over all of His creation. But note the fuller context of the quote above; though God is fully in control, this does not mean that our life will not have its share of “anxious… trouble” The “trouble” of Judas was known & prophesied of long before it happened, but it was still allowed to happen (Matt. 26:24).

So it is only as we mature & reflect on all the circumstances in our life that led to that supposed “accidental” finding of the riches of Christ, that we realize that it was indeed not a mere “lucky” happenstance that we stumbled upon His righteousness. Surely, it was one ordained circumstance after another that led us to toiling in that field with shovel in hand, merely intent on laboring for another day’s wage, but gaining eternal riches instead. How wrong we were to think that it was we who “decided” to accept Christ into our soul. No, it was God who prepared our hearts, so that at the right time, when we were ready, He could lead us to the exact spot, in the exact field, to dig to “find” that eternal treasure.

The fact that the treasure was hidden directly implies the doctrine of election. The treasure was not exposed for all passers-by to see & apprehend in all of its magnificence. It was instead buried & only found by the “elect”. Many try to quibble with election on ethical grounds, but one thing is for sure- no one can argue with it on Biblical grounds. Election is implicit in this parable by the fact that Christ’s glory is “hidden”, but is also explicit by the mere fact that He using a parable in the first place…

Matthew 13:9-17 “He who has ears, let him hear.” (10) Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" (11) And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. (12) For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (13) This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (14) Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. (15) For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' (16) But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. (17) For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Parables then have a twofold purpose; they allow the elect natural man, the “wheat”, to peer into the spiritual kingdom, while also shielding such insight from the “tares”, those who would have no such residence there. This is also why Jesus particularly restrained the full revelation of His glory when speaking in public, most often choosing instead the still prophetic, but demure title “Son of Man” in place of the more direct “Son of God”.

The utter sovereignty of God, & the doctrine of election that both Scripturally & rationally descends from that idea of complete sovereignty, are like golden threads weaved through the whole of God’s Word; no one can deny them without concordantly denying the entire revelation of His Word.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

"The Prayer of Faith"

Luke 18:1-8 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. (2) He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. (3) And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' (4) For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, (5) yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" (6) And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. (7) And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? (8) I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Prayer to God is a fundamental outgrowth of the restored relationship with Him that is offered through Jesus Christ. Being that salvation comes to our soul not through our effort, nor through others- such as those pretentious flesh bound, would be “vicars” of Christ- we find our very roots, the fetus of our new-found creation, birthed by Christ alone. No New Testament believer in Christ can rightly take the title of “priest” over other believers, a word whose Greek roots mean “sacred”; for Hebrews reveals Jesus Christ stands alone as mediator between God & man (Hebrews 7 provides the instruction that Christ alone is God’s priest to mankind, while1Peter 2:5, Rev. 1:6, & 5:10 has those that Christ has ministered to as priest- turn & minister as a priest of sorts as well- but only to God & only in the sense of servitude). The primary OT role of a priest as a mediator between God & man is entirely absorbed into the Person of Jesus Christ alone.

Fundamentally realize & accept that we could never attain the righteousness that we “must” have to please God (Matt. 5:48) in our own due diligence. No, the “perfect” righteousness demanded of us in order for us to abide with God (or even for Him to abide with us in the form of His Spirit) must be “gifted” to us by Christ. Therefore, our righteousness cannot be tangibly apprehended in the natural realm (Heb. 11:1); this necessitates persistent faith that Christ truly died on that cross so many years ago with the purpose of delivering our souls to the Father by His righteousness alone, & that He lives today, even this very moment, to continually intercede on our behalf (Heb. 7:25, Rom. 8:34, John 17:9). If I could be saved by my own works, I could physically gaze upon those tangible works so near to me & therein find the solace that I am saved. But Scripture tells us instead that our righteousness comes only through Christ, who is unseen, & whose saving work was long ago, therefore requiring unrelenting faith to remain steadfast, not only in prayer, but in every other Kingdom capacity as well…

Romans 3:21-26 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- (22) the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (26) It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This should draw us to Him continually, as the only means for our needs to find their end. The Canaanite woman’s faith would not allow her to leave Christ despite His apparently disparaging remarks (Matt.15:21-28). Understand, her humble persistence is what revealed her faith. This Gentile “dog” demonstrated “great faith” by displaying that she was no whimpering poodle but a tenacious pit bull, refusing to let go until her case was evidently dealt with by the lone “Judge” capable of rendering an effectual decision.

As with the widow in the parable, the Canaanite’s faith is aligned with a dogged persistence in continually, even tenaciously, holding fast to the only One capable of meeting her need. To paraphrase Peter’s response to Christ’s faith testing query in regards to whether he would leave Christ’s side as had so many other disciples- “to whom (else) shall (she) go? (Christ alone has) the words of eternal life, and (she has) believed, and have come to know, that (He is) the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

It was yet another Gentile whose faith Christ held up as exemplary in Matt. 8:5-13, as the Roman centurion spoke of Christ as his superior. As an agent of the occupying Roman government & with Jesus as his subject, he was above Jesus in the visible, earthly hierarchy. But his great faith in Christ as his actual superior was revealed when he told Him that he was not worthy to have Jesus enter his home. Think about the context- here was a ranking officer in the Emperor’s conquering army telling his lowly Jewish vassal that he was “not worthy to have (Him) come under (his) roof”. Then the centurion goes on to describe Christ’s measure of authority in the larger spiritual realm as comparable to his own authority, restricted as it was to the lesser earthly realm. He was essentially assigning Christ the omnipotence of God- having complete dominion over both the physical & spiritual domains, & so demonstrating his belief in Christ’s unseen nature.

Hebrews 11 discusses such blind faith (in regards to our having not yet palpably grasped the fullness of Christ’s righteousness in our present state) by making mention of the patriarchs’ likewise need for faith. The writer recognizes the Christian’s challenge to steadfastly believe in that which he cannot see, but nevertheless presses him onward in this regard with this conclusive statement:

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2) looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Luke 11:1-13 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." (2) And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. (3) Give us each day our daily bread, (4) and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation." (5) And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, (6) for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; (7) and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? (8) I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. (9) And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (10) For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (11) What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; (12) or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? (13) If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

James 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Forever Facebook

Luke 16:1-14 He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. (2) And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' (3) And the manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. (4) I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.' (5) So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' (6) He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' (7) Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' (8) The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. (9) And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (10) One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. (11) If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? (12) And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? (13) No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (14) The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

This parable is often considered as difficult to understand, & that is because we expect Christ’s parables to explicitly instruct us towards morality. But the Savior never veiled His moral imperatives in the parable’s inner sanctum- the metaphorical “Holy of Holies” of His teachings; instead He always chose to clearly teach essential righteousness in the outer court, so all could hear & none could contend ignorance in the day of judgment (e.g. Matt. 5).

Yes, as we have seen before (Matt. 13:10-17), the parable is meant only for the initiated- the children gifted with “ears to hear” by the Spirit of God. The parable’s goal, then, is to teach those already in the kingdom, the principles behind abundant life in the kingdom; not the basic nature of right & wrong, of which they would already have awareness of, & be repentant towards.

Christ used situations relatable to His chosen audience- thus the abundance of fishing, farming, & construction similes to His more often blue-collar converts. Most farmers then, as now, could scarcely afford to purchase a large tract of arable land outright; so the commoners had a concept of dealing with wealthy land owners through their managers. In addition, His “hearers” certainly lived in a depraved world filled with self-serving people, so surely they could apprehend the character of this dishonest manager who cared for no one greater than himself. Maybe they could even recall from their own past similar lowly virtues, & so be particularly convicted; they may therefore recall their prior high motivations for the short-term worldly reward having driven them to act shrewdly to gain such a prize. Therefore, with regards to this parable, the issue at hand is the Christian’s sometimes spiritual lethargy, wherein his abiding in Christ’s salvation never amounts to anything more than slothful slumber. This insolent spiritual dolt only gets out of bed to partake of eat his Master’s food; he enjoys all the comforts of such an extraordinary abode, but gives nothing in return. He won’t know what he’s got until it’s gone. Act shrewdly instead, my friend, in accordance with what you know & responding with all due diligence, for God knows how to deal with the lazy & insolent of His household (1Cor. 5:5)

Christ has already accomplished all that we need to have done for us to enter in to His kingdom. This parable, then, is not instructing us to use “wealth” to make friends so as to enable us to enter into His kingdom, but to actively, wisely, & “shrewdly” use all that God has put at our disposal to enable others to enter in & prosper. And because we are one body in the Lord, when one prospers, all prosper.

Philippians 3:8-16 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- (10) that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (13) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (15) Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (16) Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

What goal is Paul calling us to press on with him towards in this passage? Certainly not the elementary foundation of being saved, for that he establishes that he already has through faith in Christ (v. 9). It is despite his inactivity, even more so because of his inactivity in this regard, vis-à-vis the complete comprehensiveness of Christ’s salvation, that impels him forward towards the goal, “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul stated earlier in this epistle that his continuing to live in the flesh meant “fruitful laborfor him, & he then specifically identifies this labor to be the continuing growth of the Philippians in Christ (1:21-23). He was torn; he wanted to go home to Christ, but yet he knows his work establishing his Philippianfriends” was not yet complete. He then states he wishes to stay for this purpose. Paul knew he still had spiritual capital that needed to be spent “buying” his friends’ eternal rewards. So it is because his his life is focused & his aim is singular upon this "goal" that he counts anything that does not enable it as "rubbish"; likewise anything that does enable it would be treasured as great "wealth". Oh, if the average Christian had only a tenth of Paul's focus upon a goal of like manner!

And the Philippians' rewards would pay dividends towards Paul's eternal reward as well, thus the fruit of his labor & his prize. It was a sort of “forever Facebook” account Paul was building up that he believed, in faith, would pay off in the Kingdom to come.

What’s more, Paul’s (and many other’s) “friends” list continues growing to this day. Every time someone uses the apostle’s words to mature someone in Christ, Paul’s account gains more “friends” for eternity. How’s that for some serious cha-ching, baby? (sorry, it’s March Madness) Be like Paul & “shrewdly” use all your short-term capital (physical & spiritual) to bank up your long-term reward.

Because there seems to be so much head scratching consternation about this parable, allow me to sum up & make the point of it explicitly clear. The manager was given a vision of his future in this world & was blessed for "shrewdly" taking hold of this vision & making preparation for it. Jesus desires that the Christian act similarly- in faith, "shrewdly" grasp the certainty of your destination in Heaven & likewise begin to make preparation for it. You have been made aware of your future. You know where you are going. Now wisely deal with that knowledge with the things you possess right now.

1 Corinthians 3:1-23 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. (2) I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, (3) for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? (4) For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? (5) What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. (6) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (7) So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (8) He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. (9) For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. (10) According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. (11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- (13) each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (14) If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (15) If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (16) Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? (17) If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. (18) Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. (19) For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," (20) and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." (21) So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, (22) whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, (23) and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

The immaturity of the Corinthians at the time of Paul's first letter to them was made evident by the use of their gifts in a worldly & fleshly fashion (1 Cor. 12-14). They were not using their present knowledge & gifting towards their future account in Heaven, but instead ignorantly & foolishly spending their treasure in the present to please the fading flesh. Suppose you did a family budget & found a $500 monthly surplus. You could giddily take that blessing & spend it on passing pleasures every month- high class dining & entertainment or a new car when the old one still runs good enough. Or you could, more prudently, take it & invest it towards your future. How many shrewd investors were mocked when they gave up their hard-earned capital to have a stake in an unknown retailer's IPO in 1970? But time has revealed their wisdom, as a relatively paltry $1000 investment in Wal-Mart at that time would net you multiple millions today.

Paul expresses great dismay over the Corinthians' wasting the treasure of their spiritual gifts; as they spend their reward- in the flesh, so accordingly they gain- only in the flesh. Such practice bears no lasting fruit & if not repented of, will result in their having "believed in vain" (1 Cor.15:2). As Jesus said concerning the fleshly person's vain public prayers "They have (already) received their reward". (Matt 6:2)

1 Corinthians 9:7-27 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? (8) Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? (9) For it is written in the Law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? (10) Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. (11) If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? (12) If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. (13) Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? (14) In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. (15) But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. (16) For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (17) For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. (18) What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. (19) For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. (20) To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. (21) To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. (22) To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. (23) I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (24) Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. (25) Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (26) So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. (27) But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

The Lord is fair far beyond measure in all His dealings. Though He has already given us a gift of inestimable worth in the cross of Christ, He does not desire that we should now work as though to "pay back", in any way, that precious gift. See, that would diminish the value of the gift, & God will not have the glory of the Son's work devalued in any way- especially by the works of man, which would cloud the very important dividing line between the necessities of His work & our work, Between His cross & our cross. No, like Ornan the Jebusite's threshing floor, sacred things have a price (1Chron. 21:24), & nothing is more sacred to God than the work of His Son on the cross. That is why He adds heavenly rewards for our labor in His kingdom to His central & foundational gift of His justification, to demonstrate that such a gift stands apart & stands alone, separate from any work of mankind.

If all we have gained in Christ for eternity is a ticket to Heaven for ourselves, then we have accomplished nothing

with all the wealth of worldly gain & special abilities that God has lavished upon us; to say nothing of the wealth of mercy, grace, & love God has also poured out upon us- for again, it is Christ alone who gained that pitiful, lonesome ticket for us. God has poured out a wealth of His common grace & His special grace upon us; what have we done with such bountiful blessings? To accomplish nothing with so great a salvation… well let’s just hear & be pressed on by the letter to the Hebrews…

Hebrews 2:1-4 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (2) For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, (3) how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, (4) while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

In the south, we have a saying- "When you think you got it made in the shade, ya better watch out that the tree don't fall down on you."

And consider this kindred to the parable of the “shrewd manager” as well…

Matthew 25:14-30 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. (15) To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. (16) He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. (17) So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. (18) But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. (19) Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. (20) And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' (21) His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' (22) And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' (23) His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' (24) He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, (25) so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' (26) But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? (27) Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. (28) So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. (29) For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (30) And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.