The Foolishness of the Positive Profession

We want to be careful here. We do not question the Lord's ability or even willingness to bless His own. But if the Lord chooses to bless us, it is done according to His will and for his purposes. Our apostle lays down our expectation and hope in prayer in one of the epistles for this age.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

-Philippians 4:6-7

The idea here is leaving things with the Lord, come what may. We are not Israel. We have no promises of a quid pro quo based on a level of obedience. Israel's hope was tied to the earth. Surely, individual Israelites experienced spiritual blessings as a result of their faith and obedience, but under that economy, a physical blessing was usually displayed. Job, David, Abraham all enjoyed earthly blessings as well as spiritual blessings.

In Isaiah 42, the prophet to the people of Israel expresses a dual effect of Israel's sin. The nation was looted and plundered (42:22) by a visible enemy, but also by the Lord who used a sinful nation to punish Israel.

Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law.
 So he poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.

-Isaiah 42:24-25

For those who may be prone to be moved to despair that physical blessings do not flow as freely in this age, be comforted that quick chastisement from the Lord is also slower to rise. Surely, the Lord still chastises his own. He has done this from the Garden. He does this for our long-term good. His chastisement (or even his invasion into our earthly plans) is for our good despite the pain that may come with it. 

We must start to build our understanding of God's working in our lives, no matter the age, on the sure foundation of this statement from Job.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

-Job 1:21

 Job has submitted himself to God' will. Job suffered the loss of everything, even his own children, and he was not sure why. He had committed no grave sin in the eyes of the Lord. He becomes the focus of Satan's wrath for this very reason. The Lord offers Job as a great example of faith and fidelity.

And Job not only lost his goods and his children (a fate I cannot imagine), he was saddled with a thorn in his flesh in the person of his wife. His friends come along and their explanations fall short of an understanding of God's ultimate and permissive sovereignty. Job himself, in his defense before the Lord, fails (at first) to see the Lord's sovereignty.

One of the greatest lessons from the Book of Job is that the Lord never tells Job (in the text) what was happening in the spiritual realm. The Lord's response to Job's questioning is to layout the wonders of His creation. He poses this question to Job as an opening:

‘Who is this that darkens counsel without knowledge?’

We have limited knowledge as to the plans and purposes of God in our individual life. We do know that he wants us to seek him, to study his word, to cleanse our ways, to rightly divide the Word of Truth, etc. As we trek stubbornly through this life, in His love, He often has to bring unpleasant events into our lives.

For those who teach that a "positive confession" puts the Lord in their debt to respond positively to their wills, despite such a thing possibly being to the detriment of the believer, I ask that they step back. The Lord has answered the prayers of His people only for such "blessings" to result in misery.

The Lord gave Israel the King they desired in Saul, yet his reign was a terrible time for the nation. The Lord blessed Israel when the entered the land, only to have them defeated because of Achan's greed. The Lord provided a victory, Achan "coveted." Many lost their lives. 

So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the[d] hearts of the people melted and became like water.

-Joshua 7:4-5

 

“Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

-Joshua 7:21-22

Let's us change gears and look at "confessions" concerning ourselves. Those who have confessed Christ, and believe God has raised him from the dead, these have the power to be called the children of God.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.
-John 1:12


if you acknowledge publicly with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and trust in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be delivered
-Romans 10:9

When the Lord shows himself risen to Thomas, he announces a blessing to those who trust in Him and believe in the resurrection.

“Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed [in the resurrection]. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

-John 20:29-31

So, it is proper and good to rejoice in the fact that we can have life in His name. It is a wonderful thought that we are "translated into the kingdom of His Dear Son."  But such blessings have nothing to do with us. Our future resurrection and our current place in His kingdom are all of him. We are but wretched sinners delivered from the curse of death and decay by the grace of God.

Those who chastise us for referring to ourselves as wretched sinners, need to look to the apostle Paul. We do not use such a confession to signal how wonderful we are for admitting the obvious, we confess this truth to bring glory to God and to exalt the work of Christ and His resurrection..  

Note how Paul's "confession" moves. All of these verses are from later in the great apostle's ministry.

For I am the least of the apostles, that am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 

-1 Corinthians 15:9 (Approx AD 58)

Paul notes that he is unworthy of being called an apostle. He places himself as the least among that august group. This is no "woe is me" or "look how humble I am" moment, this is the inspired apostle of God rightfully acknowledging God's grace. But Paul does not stop there.

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ... 

-Ephesians 3:8 (Approx AD 62-63)

Paul's first Post-Acts epistle which speaks of "unsearchable riches of Christ" in the far above the heavens has the apostle taking an even lower place than his previous declaration. He now places himself as the the least of all the saints. This man, who was alone given the revelation of the current age, understands how unworthy he is. And that understanding of his own unworthiness again brings glory to God and exalts God's grace.

Imagine Paul declaring he has a "spark of deity" and screaming that is "a child of the King!" and thus expecting riches and glory and accolades from the world. I believe Paul would be horrified by the thought. 

And finally, Paul places himself as the chief of sinners.

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 

-1 Timothy 1:15 (Approx AD 64)

This is Paul's confession. He is least of the Apostles, less than the least of all the saints (believers), and the chief of sinners. Job was also a believer when he confessed:

Then Job answered the Lord and said:
“Behold, I am vile;
What shall I answer You?
I lay my hand over my mouth.

-Job 40:3-4

Perhaps it would do us good to remind ourselves how vile our sin truly is. Our arrogance. Our pride. Our self-exaltation. And when we take our place as the chief of sinners, we are saddled with the flesh which wants to celebrate how humble we are. The carnal nature is surely wicked and vile, and the grace of God is surely beyond comprehension.

In the Acts age, as they anticipated the coming Tribulation, they didn’t demand of God wealth and comfort. They merely trusted in his promises in an age to come. 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

-Romans 8:35-37

What a foolish notion it is that these bodies of death can offer anything in light of the glorious resurrection of our Great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. All we can offer is faith and we can only do that because of his grace and love. 

Disparaging the Chosen Apostles of Christ

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

-Acts 1:6 

I have come across yet another site accusing the enlightened Apostles (Luke 24:44-45) of being less informed than its 21st Century staff.

 "Jesus has spent forty days since being raised from the dead giving the disciples information on the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Now, He is about to ascend into heaven so the Holy Spirit can come (John 16:7). The disciples are still confused." -BibleRef . com

Yeah, the Apostles are the ones who are confused. This is terribly arrogant.

 "He opened their [the apostles'] understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

-Luke 24:45 

In Acts 1:6, they understand after 40 days of being taught by the risen Lord the things concerning the Kingdom, that the Kingdom would be restored "to Israel." Their only question is in regard to the timing of the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel, and the Lord does not correct them. Forty days... being taught about the Kingdom... by the risen Lord... with their understanding of scripture opened.

But, again, somehow we know better. Again, this is modern arrogance

And these same ministries will try to tell us that the "second and third century" Christians and the "early church fathers" understand scripture better than we can because they're closer to the Lord's time. So, I'm supposed to submit my mind and theology to some 3rd century theologian (or 13th Century in the case of Aquinas), but I'm free to correct the doctrines of the chosen Apostles? In fact, from what these sites propose, they're all pretty much incompetent and ignorant for most of the Book of Acts. 

Do we dare do the same with Paul?

Paul's epistles (in the Acts and after) are essentially for the purpose of correcting error among believers. And in his last epistle, he notes that all in Asia had abandoned him. Yet somehow ALL errors were gone by the third century? 

This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 

Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.

This is the Demas of whom Paul wrote not too long before he penned 2 Timothy:

For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. [Colossians]

All is Asia had abandoned Paul. His trusted friend, Demas, had forsaken him. This is all during the lifetime of the great Apostle. Paul was surrounded by departures from the faith, most notably late in his Apostleship. 

having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.

First century, contemporary with the Apostles, former students of Paul, who spreading false doctrines "like cancer." Yet we today feel free to insult the chosen apostles of Christ as they exalt men who wrote years later. 

• Men, for the record, who contradicted each other on a number of doctrines. 
• Men who were not the chosen Apostles of Christ. 
• Men about whom we are never told "had their understanding opened" by the risen Lord. 
• Men who were not taught for 40 days by the Lord himself concerning the things of the Kingdom. Men who were not promised to sit on thrones (12) judging the 12 tribes of Israel. 

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes OF ISRAEL.

They make the Lord out to be a deceiver.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

We answer to Him alone. We can read the ECF, but they have no authority over us.

Sola Scriptura.

A Carpenter? From Galilee!? The Lord Didn't Have a Degree

This is an apocryphal scene from the 1977 TV miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth." One line has stuck in my head for decades and I finally bothered to track it down. It's an off-screen remark when Nicodemus suggests that the Lord Jesus could very well be the promised Messiah of Israel.

“With respect to those more learned than I, there is one possibility that is seems no one here is ready to consider.”

“What is it?”

“The possibility that Jesus of Nazareth may be, in fact, the Messiah awaited by our people.”

"A carpenter? From Galilee!?"

It is roughly derived from an encounter the Lord had in John 7. The people marveled that the Lord could speak with such authority having had no formal education. The people had been taught to think this way by the educated class. This reveals much of what is in the heart of religionists and their oft unwillingness to move from a position they were taught in this age. They were taught by “learned” men and they have no authority to diverge from “accepted” dogma. Then they turn upon their flocks and inflict this same standard upon them. There is an irony in there that I hope is not lost on the reader.

Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. Then the Judean leaders were amazed, saying, “How does this man know so much, having never been taught?” Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

-John 7:14-16

This requirement that one have formal teaching is evident everywhere today in the modern church. We submit will and intellect to "experts" and "scholars" and "catechisms" and "councils" and "church fathers" and "pastors," etc. Men with "letters." Men with titles. May it not be said of the true workman.

Study to shew yourself approved unto God [alone], a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." -2 Tim 2:15

In Acts chapter 4, Peter and John were accuse of having no education as well, but they had something better, the holy spirit and knowledge of the Lord.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were UNEDUCATED and UNTRAINED men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 

-Acts 4:8-13 

But seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and perceiving that they were unlettered and uninstructed men, they wondered; and they recognized them that they were with Jesus. 

-Acts 4:13 (Darby Translation)

It should not be lost on us that many who hold "letters" (degrees) disagree rather vociferously with each other. There are many schools of thought in theology. There are not only competing theologies, there are completely contradictory theologies, all taught by teachers with "letters."

The most well-known rift in what we understand as Christendom, came as the result of very educated men (Wycliff, Tyndale, Hus, Luther, Zwingli, etc.) who held even advanced degrees in the common faith of the day, denouncing their own education for the greater truths revealed by scripture alone.

"The layman, armed with scripture, is greater than the mightiest pope without it." 

-Dr. Martin Luther 

“If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives a plough to know more of the scriptures than you do.”

-William Tyndale

• James Mason as Joseph of Arimathea 
• Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus 
• Anthony Quinn as Caiaphas

Is the End "At Hand" or Not?

 The phrase "at hand" is used 16 times in the New King James Version of the New Testament. Let's take a quick look at its uses in regard to time:

• [John the Baptist] “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2)
• From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)
• And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matthew 10:7)
• And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” (Matthew 26:18)
• Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. (Matthew 26:45)
• Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.” (Matthew 26:46)
• “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
• Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.” (Mark 14:42)
• Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (John 2:13)
• Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. (John 7:2)
• The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)
• You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:8)
• But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. (1 Peter 4:7)
• And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. (Rev 22:10)

The 14 verses above clearly have the meaning "very close by" in regard to time. The Greek word used is "engízō" and essentially means "near." It is used some 42 times in the Greek Received Text. It is not always translated "at hand." This Greek word is used 17 times in Luke and is translated "near" or "nigh" [KJV] 16 times and "approacheth" once. 

Our word is used 6 times in the Acts and is translated "near" or "nigh" all 6 times. Likewise, all the uses in James (3) and Hebrews (2) are translated as "near" or "nigh" or "approaching" [KJV]. Let us just quote Hebrews 10 for now:

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

-Hebrews 10:25

There is one difference I need to note with the English and Greek. In 2 Tim 4:6, Paul's tells us his departure is "at hand." That will become relevant as we progress, but I should note that Greek word used is "ephístēmi" and means "at present." Different word, similar connotation.

Now let's compare the above verses with Paul's only use of  the idea in his Post Acts epistles.

• Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. (Phil 4:5)
• For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. (2 Tim 4:6)

We must stop and notice that Paul expecting his death to come "presently" is hardly an anticipation of the coming of the Lord or of the Kingdom. He is also not expecting the events of the Tribulation. In Philippians, "the Lord" is said to be nigh, not His coming. We have studied elsewhere the difference between the Lord's "Parousia" and his "Epiphenea." That is, there is a different expectation between the Lord coming back to live among men in the Kingdom (his physical presence) and his sudden appearing.

Paul never speaks to us in this age of the Lord's "Parousia" (physical presence). That is, the idea is abset from is seven Post Acts epistles. In previous ages and in the age to come, they looked and will look for his physical return in the clouds, to the land. We look for his appearing. These are different things. This is not the "rapture" spoken of in Thessalonians as they were also looking for his "Parousia." The coming in the clouds there to meet believers is his coming in the clouds back to the earth to set up the Kingdom in Israel. 

This is an earthly hope. The hope of this age is in the "far above the heavens." 

We cannot say "at hand" or "near" or "approaching" or "at present" can mean "any time in the future." It means what it says. The subject or event is close by. It has not yet come, but to those to who the words are spoken, these things are close at hand.

The verses quoted above state: 

• The Kingdom was close at hand.
• The Lord's betrayal was close at hand.
• The return of the Lord was close at hand. 

But the Lord's return was conditional. Peter said Israel had to repent nationally first (Acts 3). None of those can mean "any time over the next two thousand years." 

Literalism is the only way to interpret scripture. But we must take the words in their contexts. The Kingdom was literally "at hand," but that condition and promise is not a generic or symbolic truth for all men of all ages. Again, if that's how we want to read "at hand" or "approaching" or "near," then the idea becomes meaningless. Not everything in scripture is directed TO us while all is FOR us.

If people think every word in scripture is to them, they are free to read it that way. But, inevitably, they'll end up spiritualizing and explaining away almost everything, and disobeying most of it, but that's their right. "At hand" will lose its meaning. Events will become symbolic. And the very Word they claimed all for themselves will no longer mean what it says. Ironic.