More Minutes with the Bible

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

The Believer’s Inner Conflict Part 1 of 2
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


The Lord has given me a number of opportunities to preach the gospel at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. As you look out over that sea of faces, one cannot help but see the depths of sin. But, thankfully, “where sin abounded grace did much more abound.”

Consider for a moment a river that is overflowing its banks due to a torrential downpour. Its destructive force sweeps away everything in its path. This is a picture of sin in the world; it destroys lives. However, when a dam is scheduled to release enough water to flood a valley and form a man-made lake, these waters consume the river and the valley leaving a peaceful, serene setting. This is a picture of the grace of God super-abounding over sin!

The foregoing passage prompted Paul to pose the following question to the saints at Rome, some of whom were apparently living in sin: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:1,2). The apostle adds in verse 6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

Although Reformed Theology and Dispensationalism have been ardent defenders of the “dual natures” within the believer, there are a growing number in both of these camps that teach the old man is eradicated upon our conversion to Christ. Therefore, they believe the child of God only possesses the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. This position has come to be known as one-naturism. The following statement of John MacArthur, the voice of the Grace to You radio ministry, is representative of those who hold this viewpoint: “I believe it is a serious misunderstanding to think of the believer as having both an old and new nature. Believers do not have dual personalities…there is no such thing as an old nature in the believer.” 1

On this premise, the Holiness Movement teaches sinless perfection, but advocates of one-naturism concede that the believer can and still does sin, although in a diminishing capacity as he yields to the Spirit. Even though the old man is eradicated, they claim the remnants of original sin are still present in the believer. We might liken it to a man who fires a shotgun at a rotten apple—all that’s left are pieces embedded in the wall. They call this embedded behavior, the flesh.

While it is not our desire to enter into a dialogue over one-naturism, we do want our readers to understand that this position stands in opposition to one of the fundamentals of the faith. Our declaration of faith in the Grace Movement states: “By reason of Christ’s victory over sin and His indwelling Spirit, all of the saved may and should experience deliverance from the power of sin by obedience to Romans 6:11; but we deny that man’s nature of sin is ever eradicated during this life” (Rom. 6:6-14; Gal. 5:16-25; Rom. 8:37; II Cor. 2:14; 10:2-5).

The Scriptures clearly teach that the believer has two natures. Our primary concern with the teaching of one-naturism is that some will be led to believe they could come to the place in their Christian life where they no longer sin. This, of course, is beyond the realm of possibility in this corruptible body.

SANCTIFICATION

In our study of the Scriptures, it is very important to distinguish between positional and practical truth, which sometimes is referred to as standing and state. A failure to do so will lead to erroneous conclusions. Positional truth is a truth that’s viewed from God’s vantage point. On the other hand, practical truth has to do with the believer’s conduct in relation to that truth.

For example, we learn in Ephesians that God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). Positionally, as far as God is concerned, you are presently seated with Christ in heavenly places. Practically speaking, you are probably sitting at home in your easy chair reading these lines. You see, you are to appropriate this truth by faith, which will facilitate setting your affections on things above and not on things on the earth.

With this in mind, there are three tenses to our salvation in Christ:

Justification: Past tense—saved from the penalty of sin.

Sanctification: Present tense—saved from the power of sin.

Glorification: Future tense—saved from the presence of sin.

The present tense of salvation, sanctification, has the idea to be set apart unto God. The family of words associated with this Greek word is: saints, holy, holiness, sanctify, sanctuary, etc. Here we must be careful to distinguish between positional and practical sanctification. These are two distinct lines of teaching in Paul’s epistles.

    “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (I Cor. 1:30).

Notice it is “in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…sanctification.” This is a once-for-all act of God that takes place at the moment of our conversion. Therefore, we are the saints of God, holy, perfect, and complete in Christ (Eph. 1:4; I Thes. 5:23; Col. 2:10). Nothing in this life or the next can ever change our standing before God. The moment death sweeps us into the eternal presence of God we will appear before Him perfect because we are in Christ.

The present state of things, however, is a much different story. Our behavior as the saints of God is not always becoming of Christ. We are imperfect and incomplete on this side of glory. This is why the apostle admonishes the Corinthians and those at Thessalonica accordingly:

    “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor” (I Thes. 4:3,4).

In the Old Testament, God never made a provision for presumptuous sins in the daily sacrificial system. There was only a provision made for sins of ignorance (Num. 15:27-31). The reason for this was clear: as far as God was concerned His chosen people, a holy nation, would never willingly sin against Him. But the fact of the matter is, they sinned again and again presumptuously against the Holy One of Israel, which thankfully was covered by the annual Day of Atonement.

We might say it this way today: surely a saint of God, who is set apart unto Him, would never willingly sin against the Lord. Sadly, he can and often does as the above passage demonstrates. You see, the believer is to appropriate by faith what he already possesses in Christ that he might not sin against God. This is how we have power over sin in our lives.

THE INNER CONFLICT

The mechanics of our identification with Christ are more fully developed for us in Romans Chapter 6:

    “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Rom. 6:6).

The “old man” is that which we have inherited from Adam at conception. Although some object to the usage of “old nature,” since it is not specifically used in Paul’s revelation, these two designations are one in the same. For example, a dog has a nature, which is the inherent character of the animal. The two are inseparable. Thus, we often hear it said that it’s the nature of a dog to bark. In similar fashion, the old nature is corrupt according to deceitful lust (Eph. 4:22). It naturally rebels against God and the things of God. The old nature is like the dog that returns to its vomit, it cannot be altered, and any attempt to reform it will always be futile.

Other names for the old nature are: the natural man, the (old) heart, the carnal mind, and the flesh. These designations merely describe additional characteristics of the old man, with which we are all too familiar. But Paul says, “Our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.” We are dead to sin. Do you believe this wonderful truth? We do—lock, stock, and barrel, as they say!

In the eyes of God, our old man was crucified with Christ; it’s dead and buried forevermore, positionally. Practically speaking, however, he’s alive and well within our members. This is why the apostle instructs us that since Christ died unto sin once, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” (Rom. 6:11). Beloved, we would not have to reckon the old man dead if he has been eradicated, as some teach. We must count him dead because he is still present within us.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

The Believer’s Inner Conflict Part 2 of 2
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

But some will say that this is merely the old patterns that we fall back into that cause us to sin when we fail to yield to the Spirit—the leftover fruits of the old man, if you please. But this is where we believe the teaching of one-naturism collapses. Those who defend this position not only fail to differentiate between positional and practical truth, but also between the root and the fruit. If the root of a tree is dead, the tree will not bear fruit. The old man is the root, oftentimes called sin in the Scriptures, and sins are the fruit (Rom. 5:12 cf. Eph. 2:1; Gal. 5:19-21). So, for there to be fruits, the root of sin must be alive to produce them.

In order to have power over sin in our lives we must reckon the old man dead by faith. But now for “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey would say. Upon our conversion we are given a new man, which is identified with Christ’s resurrection. This is what enables us to walk in newness of life to the glory of God (Rom. 6:4,5). The new nature is said to be created in righteousness and true holiness; therefore, we are a new creation.

    “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24).

Other designations assigned to the new man are: the inner man, the (new) heart, the mind, and the spirit. The believer then has both an old and a new nature. We take exception with the argument that if the believer has two natures, he then has dual personalities. But there is evidence to the contrary; did not our Lord Himself have a human nature and a divine nature, and who will dispute, in one person. Why then is it so hard to believe the same could be true of us, and indeed it is, albeit our human nature has been tainted with sin. Soon after we are saved we realize that there is an inner conflict within our members, as the flesh (old man) lusts against the spirit (new man), “and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:17).

Advocates of one-naturism deny that this warfare is present within us, stating that those who believe there is a conflict between the old and new natures are admitting defeat. This, they say, is why these believers struggle in the Christian life and tend to be carnally minded. We disagree, of course, on two fronts: first, this is contrary to the Scriptures, and second, it denies experience.

    “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Rom. 6:12,13).

In essence, the apostle is instructing us not to allow the sin nature to have dominion over us. You are dead to sin, positionally, therefore you should not obey the lust of the flesh. Neither yield your members as instruments (Greek hoplon, weapons) of sin against God. Rather, yield yourself to God, put yourself at His disposal, bearing in mind that you are alive from the dead by the resurrection of Christ. Yield your members as weapons of righteousness to the praise of His glory. Surely this portion demonstrates that there is a warfare within our members (See also Romans 7:14-25). This inner struggle may be illustrated accordingly:

The conflict between the two natures may be compared to a ship, on which a new Captain has been put on board by the owners. The old Captain has so long held command, and his enmity to the owners is so great, that he has practically treated the vessel as his own; and kept the crew in perfect bondage. The crew has submitted to it, never having known any other authority, or understood what real liberty of service was. From time to time they have heard of it; they have passed other vessels which they saw at once were very different from their own.

But, now that the new Captain is in authority they begin to find out what the difference is. The new Captain henceforth always has control of the helm and the charge of the ship. The ship is the same, the crew is the same. Even the old Captain remains on board. The book of instructions which the new Captain has brought on board tells that the old Captain has been judged and condemned: but the sentence cannot be executed except by the proper judicial authorities, when they reach port.

They cannot put him ashore, or throw him overboard. But, he no longer “holds the helm or guides the ship.” He tries from time to time to get hold of the wheel, but in vain. He succeeds sometimes in putting forth his old influence by creating disaffection in some of the members of the crew; for he knows them and their weaknesses well from his former complete control of them. He occasionally bribes or deceives some of them into acts of insubordination which they afterwards deeply regret. But the old Captain cannot get at the “ship’s papers.” They are now put quite out of his reach, where he cannot touch them. He cannot succeed in altering the ship’s course, or change the port for which she is now bound. He does not read the book of instructions; and if he looks at it, he does not understand it (I Cor. 2:14).

The ship’s crew was once his executive, and carried out only his will; but there is now no obligation for any of them to obey his orders, or to recognize his authority. They are released from it; and henceforth they are under the orders of the new Commander. They are to “reckon” the old Captain as already condemned; and the sentence as only waiting to be carried out. As to his power over them, they are to reckon themselves “as good as dead” so far as he is concerned. 2

    “Seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him” (Col. 3:9,10).

It is essential to note that the verbs in this passage “put off” and “put on” are past tense in the original language, as well as in the English. The Colossians were to understand that God has addressed the matter once-for-all in the life of the believer. Now the apostle says, you need to put into practice what you already know to be true. Believe it and apply it!

Hence Paul commands them, “Mortify [i.e. put to death at once, immediately] therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection…” (Col. 3:5). In regard to the new man he commands, “Put on [a command to be obeyed at once] therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another…” (Col. 3:12,13).

Experientially, triumph over sin is only possible as we reckon the old man to be dead by faith, for we walk by faith and not by sight. Having reckoned him dead, our new nature is renewed day by day in the knowledge of Christ, as we study the Word of God. Oh, that we might know Him, that is, more fully, and the power of His resurrection (Phil. 3:10 cf. Col. 3:11). This alone will bring joy and fulfillment in the life of the believer in Christ.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

Paul, the Apostle of Grace Part 1 of 3
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


To the unbiased believer of the Word of God, there is overwhelming proof that the secret of God’s eternal purpose and of His good news to man was first communicated by revelation to the Apostle Paul, that he in turn might make it known to others. Not only does Paul himself declare this by divine inspiration but his declarations are amply confirmed by a comparison of his message and ministry with the messages and ministries of all his predecessors.

But while particular distinctions have often been noted in this connection, we feel that too little attention has been given to the broader aspects of his message and ministry as compared with those of his predecessors. Those great, grand truths which he was commissioned to unfold were the constant subject of his discourse and his letters, and his life and conduct harmonized perfectly with those truths and with the dispensation he ushered in.

THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE

Let us begin with his proclamation of grace.

We are sometimes asked: “Did not others before Paul speak of grace?”

Yes, others before Paul did speak of grace, but before we assume too much from this, let us consider a few basic facts:

It is not merely Paul, but the inspired Word which declares that “the dispensation of the grace of God” was committed to him (Eph. 3:2) and that it was his “ministry… received of the Lord Jesus” to make known “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). this claim was made for none of his predecessors, nor did any of them even mention the dispensation or the gospel of the grace of God so far as the record is concerned.

To the believer this evidence should be conclusive that Paul was God’s chosen vessel, raised up especially to proclaim the message and program of grace. But to those who hesitate to accept these inspired statements at their face value, we have further important evidence to offer in the fact that no other bible writer—not even all the others put together—have so much to say about grace.

The Hebrew equivalent of Paul’s word for grace is found only 68 times in the whole Old Testament (which is nearly twelve times the size of Paul’s epistles including Hebrews) and then not always relating to God’s grace, and never to the dispensation of Grace.

In the four Gospels (nearly twice the size of Paul’s epistles) the word grace (Gr. charis) with its derivatives appears in the original only 13 times (much less often in the English A.V.) and then rarely in even a doctrinal, much less a dispensational, connection.

By comparison, the epistles of Paul, only about one twelfth the size of the Old Testament and one-half the size of the four Gospels, employs the word grace and its derivatives no less than 144 times, more often than all the rest of the Bible together and nearly twice as often as the whole Old Testament and the four Gospels together! And then, in Paul’s epistles the word grace is nearly always used doctrinally, in connection with the dispensation of Grace.

Every epistle signed by his name opens with a proclamation of grace and peace “from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” In the epistles we find that we are “justified freely by [God’s] grace” (Rom. 3:24), that “where sin abounded grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20) that grace might reign (5:21). There we read that we are “not under the law, but under grace” (6:14), that “God is able to make all grace abound” toward us that we may “abound to every good work” (II Cor. 9:8.), that it is God’s purpose for “the ages to come” to “show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). And we could go on and on adding up the evidence that “the dispensation of the grace of God“ was indeed committed especially to Paul to make known to us.

An examination of the book of Acts reveals a similar comparison. There the word grace in the original is found four times before the raising up of Paul and 12 times after. Before the raising up of Paul it is not used once of the dispensation of Grace or of salvation by grace, but in later Acts, after his conversion, not only is the word used more often, but immediately it appears in connection with the dispensation of Grace.

When Barnabas “had seen the grace of God” in saving Gentiles at Syrian Antioch, he “was glad” (Acts 11:23). When Jews and religious proselytes at Pisidian Antioch received Paul’s proclamation of salvation through Christ, without the law, he and Barnabas “persuaded them to continue in the grace of God” (13:38,39,43). At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas gave bold testimony to “the word of His grace” (14:3). Later Peter confirmed Paul’s message, publicly declaring his conviction: “We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we [Jews] shall be saved even as they [Gentiles]” (15:11). At Ephesus, Apollos proved helpful to “them…which had believed through grace” (18:27). On his way to Jerusalem Paul declared his determination to fulfill his Christ-given commission “to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (20:24) and then commended the Ephesian elders to “the word of [God’s] grace” (20:32).

THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS

Let us next consider Paul’s presentation of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was again by divine revelation that the apostle claimed that his was “the preaching of the Cross,” i.e., as good news, and that the theme of his message was “Christ crucified” (I Cor. 1:18,23). Again, THIS CLAIM IS MADE FOR NONE OF HIS PREDECESSORS. Furthermore, this claim also is amply confirmed by a comparison of his writings with those of all his predecessors.

In the Old Testament Scriptures the predictions of our Lord’s death, from Genesis 3:15 on, are purposely veiled in obscurity and we are explicitly told that while the prophets themselves “searched diligently,” they did not find out either “what manner of time” or even “what” the Spirit “did signify, when [He] testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (I Pet. 1:10-12).

It is the same with the Old Testament types of our Lord’s death. We can now look back at them and exclaim: “God had it in mind all the while!” but we are not told of one single case where those of that day were informed that the death of Christ was being prefigured.

Then when our Lord appeared on earth He did not even begin to tell His apostles that He must suffer and die until near the close of His ministry (Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22), and then we read:

    “Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee” (Matt. 16:22).

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

Paul, the Apostle of Grace Part 2 of 3
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

So ignorant were our Lord’s own apostles of even the prophesied fact of His death (let alone its meaning) that later, in the very shadow of the Cross, when He told them again how He must suffer and die, they were still nonplused:

    “And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken” (Luke 18:34).

In fact, even at Pentecost, when the death of Christ had become a historical fact, its full accomplishments were not yet revealed or proclaimed.

In the early chapters of Acts we do not yet find the death of the Cross proclaimed for salvation. It is rather spoken of as a matter of shame to be repented of. Peter does not offer his hearers Christ’s shed blood for the remission of sins, he charges his hearers with that blood and demands repentance and baptism for the remission of sins.

But with the raising up of Paul all is changed. The crucifixion takes on a new and wonderful meaning. The Cross, the blood, the death of Christ become the very theme of his message. He constantly speaks of them, not in hidden meanings, but in open declaration, as good news, as that around which God’s eternal purpose revolves and from which all our blessings flow. 1

NO OTHER BIBLE WRITER HAS SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

By the Spirit, Paul tells us that

While we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8.).

When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Rom. 5:10).

We are saved through faith in His blood (Rom. 3:25).

We have redemption through His blood (Eph. 1:7).

We are justified by His blood (Rom. 5:9).

We are reconciled in the body of His flesh, through death (Col. 1:21,22).

We have peace through the blood of His Cross (Col. 1:20).

We are made nigh by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).

We are baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3).

We are made one Body by the Cross (Eph. 2:16).

The Covenant of the Law was nailed to the Cross (Col. 2:14).

Through death He destroyed him that had the power of death (Heb. 2:14).

He died that they which live should no longer live unto themselves but unto Him Who died for them and rose again (II Cor. 5:15).

He died that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him (I Thes. 5:10).

Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:23,24).

We are to boast in the Cross alone (Gal. 6:14).

We are to show forth the Lord’s death till He come (I Cor. 11:26).

Little wonder Paul’s message is called “the preaching of the Cross” (I Cor. 1:18.).

THE BELIEVER’S WALK

This is so again with regard to the broad subject of the believer’s spiritual life and conduct. no other bible writer devotes so large a proportion of his teachings to this subject.

Moses had much to say about loving God and obeying His commands, but it soon became evident that the Mosaic Law would not produce results, as God pronounced it “old” 2 and promised to make a new covenant with His people, under which He would so work within them that they would spontaneously do His will (Jer. 31:31-34).

At Pentecost there was a foretaste of this kingdom blessing as the Holy Spirit caused Christ’s disciples to prophecy (Joel 2:28,29) and also caused them to do His will (Ezek. 36:26,27).

Hence in the early chapters of Acts we find the apostles and disciples neither committing sins nor making blunders. They were all FILLED with the Spirit (Acts 2:4). Thus God demonstrated the fact that the only way in which even His own can perfectly obey Him is when He takes possession of them and causes them to do His will.

As we know, however, Israel rejected the King and His kingdom and that operation of the Spirit ceased. Today He no longer takes possession of men, supernaturally causing them either to prophecy and speak with tongues or to do His will.

But in God’s grace, Paul was raised up to show how even in “this present evil [age]” we may have spiritual victory by grace through faith, for while the Spirit does not cause us to do God’s will automatically, He does dwell within, always ready to help, and what is thus provided by grace we may appropriate by faith. What a challenge! 3

This is why the Apostle Paul has so much to say about the operation of the Spirit now and about our spiritual life and conduct now in this time of Christ’s rejection. This is why the doctrines in each of his great epistles to the churches are followed by practical applications to our behavior in “this present evil [age].”

What a volume of Paul’s writings we could cite in support of these facts! The following are but a few representative passages:

    “…reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

    “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

    “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

    “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:11-14).

    “The law of the Spirit, [that] of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2).

    “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.

    “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (Rom. 8:11,12).

    “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

    “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:19,20).

    “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

    “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

    “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3).

To all this much more could be added to show how no one until Paul proclaimed the truths of reconciliation, of the one Body, of our baptism into Christ, etc. How all this cumulative evidence marks Paul as the one especially raised up of God to make known the particular truths for the present dispensation!

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

Paul, the Apostle of Grace Part 3 of 3
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

But there is still more evidence of another nature.

Dr. J. S. Howson has pointed out how the Apostle Paul calls God for his witness more than any other Bible writer, and also has more to say about conscience, particularly his own. 4 But Dean Howson did not see the relation of these facts to the revelation of the mystery and the dispensation of Grace.

PAUL’S OATHS

How often the apostle speaks with an oath!

    “God is my witness” (Rom. 1:9).

    “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 9:1).

    “As God is true…” (II Cor. 1:18.).

    “I call God for a record upon my soul” (II Cor. 1:23).

    “As the truth of Christ is in me…” (II Cor. 11:10).

    “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore knoweth that I lie not” (II Cor. 11:31).

    “Behold, before God, I lie not” (Gal. 1:20).

    “God is my record” (Phil. 1:8.).

    “I speak the truth in Christ and lie not” (I Tim. 2:7).

    “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ” (I Tim. 5:21).

    “I give thee charge in the sight of God” (I Tim. 6:13).

    “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ” (II Tim. 4:1).

As Howson says: “When [Paul] makes a solemn statement under the sense of God’s presence, he does not hesitate to express this” (Hulsean Lectures for 1862, p. 160). 5

But had not others spoken under the sense of God’s presence? Indeed Peter, by the Spirit, says: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (I Pet. 4:11). Yet even a superficial reading of the Scriptures will reveal that PAUL CALLS GOD TO WITNESS FAR MORE OFTEN THAN ANY OTHER BIBLE WRITER and mostly with regard to his personal integrity. Why is this? Why did he ever need to speak with an oath?

The answer to this question is again to be found in the distinctive character of Paul’s ministry as the apostle of the mystery.

John the Baptist did not need to speak with oaths, for he proclaimed the kingdom which had already been predicted by all the Old Testament prophets. The four “evangelists” did not need to speak with oaths, for they depicted our Lord as the prophesied Messiah. Peter at Pentecost could point out that “this” was “that which was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16), why would he need to swear that he was telling the truth? Moreover, both he and his associates were all evidently under the control of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).

But with Paul it was a different matter. Separate from the twelve, who were widely known as the apostles of Christ, Paul had been raised up to make known a wonderful secret which God had kept hidden from all who had gone before. While in no way a contradiction of prophecy, this secret was nevertheless not to be found in the sayings or writings of any who had preceded him—not even in veiled language. 6 Moreover, the revelation of “this mystery” brought with it a revolutionary change in message and program, a new dispensation. Hence it is appropriate that the apostle should insist again and again that he writes as in the presence of God.

PAUL’S CONSCIENCE

In the same way the apostle was keenly aware of conscience, and taught others to be so. Indeed, HE HAS MORE TO SAY ABOUT CONSCIENCE THAN ANY OTHER BIBLE WRITER.

In Acts 23:1 we have his words to the Sanhedrin:

    “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” (See also II Tim. 1:3).

He had even been conscientious (though conscientiously wrong) in his persecution of Christ (Acts 26:9) and while it is clear that he was not saved through obedience to his conscience, this characteristic of his make-up became the more strongly marked after his regeneration and enlightenment by the Holy Spirit.

To Agrippa he could say, with regard to his Damascus road experience.

    “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19).

To Felix he could say:

    “Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men” (Acts 24:16).

And he proved this to Felix himself as he refused to yield to the temptation to seek freedom by giving him a bribe (Acts 24:26).

To the Corinthians he could write:

    “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward” (II Cor. 1:12).

And this is representative of many similar passages.

Further he appeals to the consciences of others.

    “…not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Cor. 4:2).

Timothy was exhorted to keep faith “and a good conscience” (I Tim. 1:19), and was reminded that the deacons must hold “the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience” (I Tim. 3:9).

In dealing with the believers’ relations with each other, the apostle beseeches them to be sensitive with regard to not only their own, but each other’s consciences (I Cor. 8:7-12; 10:25-29).

It is interesting to note that the apostle both showed and exhorted conscientiousness, especially where financial matters were concerned. Not only did he exhort others to “provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17) but he himself practiced this. In connection with the larger contributions being made by the Gentile churches to the saints at Jerusalem, he wrote to the Corinthians that along with Titus (sent to collect their contributions) he was sending another brother, who was well known to all the churches and appointed by them to travel with him in taking the gift to Jerusalem:

    “Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:

    “Providing for honest things [what is honorable] not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (II Cor. 8:20,21).

Indeed he had already written:

    “And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.

    “And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me” (I Cor. 16:3,4).

Does not all this indicate that the kingdom program had been interrupted and the dispensation of Grace ushered in? There would have been little need for such precautions and exhortations or even for such collections, had the Pentecostal program continued uninterrupted, for “the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which is possessed was his own; but they had all things common….Neither was there any among them that lacked…” (Acts 4:32-34).

Under such Spirit-controlled conditions it would be superfluous to caution one to regard the conscience of another. They all lived for each other. Indeed, two who sought to join the company by means that disregarded conscience were stricken dead (Acts 5:1-11). It would likewise have been superfluous to exhort Peter and his brethren at Pentecost to hold the truth in a pure conscience for they were all “filled with the Holy Spirit” according to promise.

But the supernatural manifestations of Pentecost have since passed away and we now live under the dispensation of Grace. It is supremely appropriate, therefore, that our apostle has so much to say about conscience, urging us always to maintain personal integrity and to show due consideration for the spiritual welfare of others, thus bearing the fruits of grace.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

Man Alive! -- Jonah: Lessons From a Wayward Prophet Part 1 of 4
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


(From a class taught in Minor Prophets at Berean Bible Institute)

In the news industry, they say when dog bites man, there’s no story, but when man bites dog, then it’s time to alert the media! Just so, when a man swallows a fish, it’s no big deal, but when a fish swallows a man, now we’re talking headlines! There are fish stories, and then there are fish stories, and certainly Jonah’s story of the fish from which he got away is the grandest of them all!

The world may scoff at the story of Jonah, but the Lord Jesus Christ firmly established the historicity of Jonah when He referred to Jonah’s story on a couple of occasions. Either the account of Jonah was true, or else our Lord was lying, or at the very least, misleading people into believing a fable.

For the Bible-believing child of God, of course, the story of Jonah is accepted without question. It has well been said that there is a reason why the very first verse of the Bible begins with such an illustrious declaration of the stupendous miraculous power of God. If the reader of Holy Writ can accept this opening statement by faith, then nothing in the pages that follow can stretch the limits of credibility. Hence, when asked if he really believed the Bible when it says that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, one Christian is reported to have replied that he would believe the Bible even if it said that Jonah swallowed the whale!

A fascinating fact about Jonah is that even though the Lord identifies him as a “prophet” (Matt. 12:39; 16:4), he made no predictions of the future, except for one—an apparent prediction which didn’t come true! This reminds us that a “prophet” in Scripture was simply someone who spoke for God, and didn’t necessarily predict the future. And so when Jonah faithfully delivered his message of impending doom to the Ninevites, he was a prophet in the truest sense of the word.

Jonah is introduced to us as “the son of Amittai” (1:1). This means that the Pharisees were wrong when they dismissed the Lord Jesus as a prophet, saying, “out of Galilee ariseth no prophet” (John 7:52). We are told that Amittai was “of Gathhepher” (II Kings 14:25), a city also known as “Gittahhepher” (Jos. 19:13), part of the inheritance of the children of Zebulun (Jos. 19:16). Matthew 4:15 identifies Zebulun as Galilee, and our Lord was a Galilaean (Matt. 21:11).

Jonah was sent to “Nineveh” (1:2), the capital city of ancient Assyria, and so a Gentile city. It should never be assumed that God cared nothing for the Gentiles in Old Testament times.

Jonah is often accused of racism in refusing to preach to Gentiles, but as we shall see, this is demonstrably not true. The real reason for his refusal is that the Assyrians were butchers, guilty of war-time atrocities that would make a Nazi blush. Jonah’s sense of justice prompted him to want to see such monsters judged of God, not given an opportunity to be spared His wrath. Jonah may also have been motivated by a patriotic desire to spare his beloved homeland from this brutal regime.

It is significant that “Joppa” is mentioned here in connection with Jonah (1:3), for it reminds us of a New Testament Jewish leader who was sent to the Gentiles from Joppa, the Apostle Peter (Acts 10:5,8,23,32). When called upon to defend himself for going to the Gentiles, Peter mentions Joppa twice (Acts 11:5,13). The significance of this emphasis would escape most Gentiles, but was not lost on the Jews who sought an explanation from Peter for going to Gentiles. In mentioning Joppa, Peter is reminding them that it was not without precedent that a Jew be sent to Gentiles. He was also reminding them of the futility of resisting such a commission! Peter did not dare disobey God and end up like Jonah, “sleeping with the fishes,” so to speak! It is interesting to note in this regard that Peter was “the son of Jona” in more ways than one! (John 1:42; 21:15,16,17).

Notice that Jonah “paid the fare” to enter the ship. Even today, there is always a price to pay for disobedience to the revealed will of God!

It is more than probable that there were worse sinners on board the ship than Jonah, yet God did not alter the course of nature to deal with them, but rather with Jonah (1:4). While God’s people are often quick to decry the sins of unbelievers, it is our conviction that God is far more concerned with the sins of believers than He is with the sins of the unsaved, and the example of Jonah would seem to bear this out.

Jonah 1:5 records the third time we are told that in running away from the Lord, Jonah was going “down” (cf. 1:3). Any time a believer in any dispensation is living in rebellion against the revealed will of God, he is going down not up. When a man standing on the North Pole takes a step in any direction, he is heading south, and when we choose to walk away from the will of God in any direction, we too are heading “south,” spiritually speaking.

We can learn a valuable lesson about prayer from these unsaved mariners, for they “cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them.” While we do well to pray to God about anything that might cause us to be “careful,” or full of care (Phil. 4:6), we should also “put shoe leather to our prayers,” as they say, by doing all that we can do to alleviate any adversity in which we find ourselves. While the people of Israel are called “the children of Israel” over 600 times in Scripture, God considers members of the Body of Christ to be full-grown “sons” (Gal. 4:5,6), and expects more of us when it comes to helping ourselves.

You would think that Jonah’s disobedience to God would render him unable to sleep due to a guilty conscience, but we are told that he was not only asleep but “fast asleep.” The world may say, “let your conscience be your guide,” but the conscience of man can be “seared” (I Tim. 4:2), rendering it unreliable as a guide through the treacherous waters of life. The Apostle Paul could say that he had “lived in all good conscience before God until this day” (Acts 23:1), including even his murderous days as Saul of Tarsus, for in those days he truly believed he was doing God’s will (cf. John 16:2).

Our conscience is only a reliable guide when the light of God’s Word is shining upon it. In this the conscience is much the same as a sundial, which can only give accurate time when the light of the sun shines upon it. When read by moonlight, a sundial will be an inaccurate guide to the correct time, and with the application of a flashlight, you can make a sundial to read any time you want! How like man, who tends to bring different lights to bear on his conscience, until even rebellion against the revealed will of God seems perfectly acceptable.

It is a pretty sorry circumstance when an unbeliever has to chasten a believer to pray (1:6)! But there was something about this storm, either its ferocity, or the unseasonableness of it, or both—something told these storm-seasoned mariners that this storm was a judgment from God.

The casting of lots (1:7) was an accurate means of divining the will of God in time past (Prov. 16:33; Acts 1:26), but as we rightly divide the Word of truth we know that such is not the case today. Today, our Apostle Paul says that we must prayerfully test or “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” by renewing our minds (Rom. 12:2) with a “knowledge” of the Word of God (Col. 1:10).

In Jonah 1:8, Jonah is asked four questions, all of which are satisfied with one answer: “I am an Hebrew” (v. 9). Being a Hebrew was a unique thing in the world, for it was at once a nationality, an ethnicity, a religion, and for the true Hebrew it also indicated that he was a child of God (Rom. 2:29), making it his “occupation.” Every true believer today should likewise look upon his faith as the thing which should occupy his mind, his body, his soul and his spirit.

It is noteworthy that when Jonah speaks to these Gentiles about God, He introduces Him to them as the Creator. In the Book of Acts, Paul twice addressed crowds of Gentiles, and both times mirrored this unique form of presentation of the Almighty. It didn’t matter if he was addressing primitive, superstitious Gentiles (Acts 14:15) or urban high-brow philosophical sophisticates (Acts 17:24); in both cases he began by telling them about Creator-God. While Jews, who by nature accept the truth of Genesis 1:1, did not need to be reminded of who God is, Gentiles were another story. At one time in our own day the vast majority of people in this country were church-goers who knew that Jesus Christ was Creator-God in the flesh, but as our society has devolved away from such knowledge, some have suggested that we too should preface our gospel presentation with affirmations that the One who died for our sins was the Creator in the flesh.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

Man Alive! -- Jonah: Lessons From a Wayward Prophet Part 2 of 4
by Pastor Ricky Kurth

On the surface it might seem obvious that the thing to do to calm the storm was for the sailors to rid themselves of the source of the problem. However, if Jonah was truly a prophet of God, perhaps killing him would not be the best way to curry God’s favor! Rather they rightly asked him what should be done (1:11). What a picture of how the nations in time past were responsible before God to look to Israel to learn how to be saved, even when Israel was living in rebellion against God!

In Jonah 1:12 we have proof that Jonah’s reluctance to preach to the Ninevites was not racially motivated, for Jonah here shows his willingness to die for Gentiles; his problem was only with Assyrian Gentiles! Jonah also shows his stubbornness here, saying as it were, “I’d rather die than turn the ship around and go preach to Nineveh!”

When the mariners are finally convinced that the advice of this Hebrew prophet is their only hope of salvation, they comply with his instructions to cast him into the sea (1:12-17). Jonah now believes that he has succeeded in sacrificing his life that justice might be served upon the Assyrian barbarians. But God has other plans!

When Jonah 2:1 opens with the word “then,” the careful student of Scripture will ask when Jonah prayed this prayer. If we back up to the last verse of Chapter 1, it mentions Jonah’s three days and nights in the belly of the fish. So when the second chapter opens by telling us Jonah prayed “then,” we know that we are reading about a prayer that Jonah prayed after the three days and nights.

But as Jonah begins to pray, it is obvious that he is speaking about a prayer that he “cried” (past tense) earlier (2:2), before his three days and nights in the whale. However, this earlier prayer was not prayed from “the belly of the fish,” but rather “out of the belly of hell.” You see, while tradition holds that Jonah was miraculously preserved by God in the belly of the whale, it is the conviction of this writer and others that Jonah rather died and rose again three days later, making him a true type of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 12:39,40).

But here a word of explanation is necessary. When the Bible says Jonah went to “hell,” it mustn’t be assumed that he went to the place of fire and torment normally associated with this word. The Hebrew word for “hell” used here is sheol, and was the after-life destination of all who died in Old Testament times. We read, for example, that “the wicked shall be turned into hell [sheol]” (Psa. 9:17), but we also read that righteous David anticipated going to “hell” [sheol] (Psa. 16:10). When Peter quotes David’s psalm and applies it to Christ (Acts 2:25-31), we understand that the Lord Jesus likewise went to “hell” when He died.

However, when Peter quotes Psalm 16, Luke was inspired to translate the word sheol using the Greek word hades. And so we understand that sheol and hades are one and the same, and speak of a place of both comfort and torment, with “a great gulf fixed” in between (Luke 16:23-26). Hence the Lord Jesus, David and Jonah all went to the comfort side of this place of the departed dead.

And so while Jonah 2:1 speaks of a prayer Jonah prayed in the fish at the end of his three day experience, he refers back to a prayer that he prayed in hell at the beginning. We will see more evidence that Jonah died and went to sheol in the verses that follow. These evidences are important, for if Jonah was conscious in sheol, these verses join the list of Scriptures that prove the doctrine of soul sleep is untenable.

In Jonah 2:3, it is precious to see the prophet quoting Scripture (Psa. 42:7), as he does frequently throughout this passage. What a wonderful thing it is for the child of God to memorize the Word of God, to build up a reservoir of Scripture in our souls, to be drawn upon for comfort when in distress. While it is not likely that the reader will ever be swallowed by a whale, it is likely and almost certain that we will often find ourselves in troublous times, times that can be greatly eased by the comfort that only God can provide through His Word.

Jonah 2:4 also begins with the time-word “then,” and refers again to his earlier prayer prayed from sheol. And so this time when Jonah quotes Scripture (Psa. 31:22), it leads us to an even more precious conclusion: that the repository of Scripture that we store away in our soul during this life is something we take with us into the next life! Wrong conclusions that we have made about God’s Word will of course have to be unlearned, but the Scripture itself that we learn in this life will be a foundation that we will build upon throughout eternity.

Before leaving this verse, note that the Psalm Jonah quotes here is a Psalm that speaks prophetically of the thoughts of our Lord Jesus after He committed His spirit to God and died (Psa. 31:5 cf. Luke 23:46), more evidence that Jonah himself has died. When we read that the waters touched Jonah’s “soul,” while the weeds were wrapped around the head of his body (2:5), we see yet further evidence that he has expired.

In Jonah 2:6, we see further evidence that Jonah was no longer in the fish, but was rather in sheol. He describes sheol as a containment area enclosed by “bars” from which there is no escape (cf. I Sam. 23:7). It is safe to conclude from Jonah’s words here that one of the first things you learn when you arrive at your after-life destination is that it is “for ever,” a delightful reality for believers, but a sobering thought indeed for those who have not yet trusted Christ as their Savior.

When Jonah says to God, “yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption,” these too are words that ill-fit a man who was miraculously preserved alive, but make perfect sense when spoken by a man who has been raised from the dead. The Bible word “corruption” speaks of the corruption of death. In I Corinthians 15:53, for instance, the word “mortal” means living but capable of dying. At the Rapture, Paul says that those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord will have to “put on immortality.” But by contrast the word “corruptible” speaks of a body that has died and is now subject to the corruption of death. At the Rapture, those who have died previous to the Lord’s coming “must put on incorruption.” Thus we know that when Jonah speaks about how God brought back his life “from corruption,” he speaks of how God had raised him from the corruption of death.

The lying vanity Jonah speaks of in Jonah 2:8 is doubtless the vain idea that you can rebel against God and get away with it. All who fall for this lie “forsake their own mercy.”

The question in Jonah 2:9 is: what did Jonah vow, and when did he vow it? There are a couple of possibilities. First, it is possible that before any of this took place, Jonah may have told the Lord, “I’ll preach anywhere you want me to preach,” only to learn to his dismay that God wanted him to preach in Nineveh! If this be the case, he learned the hard way that “better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Eccl. 5:5).

But it is also possible that when Jonah cried to the Lord “out of the belly of hell” (2:1) that he then vowed to go to Nineveh after all, if God would only give him another chance. If this be the case, then it points up the truth that regret is something else that we will take with us into the next life, regret that we did not serve the Lord faithfully when we had the chance. Fortunately, this is something that we can do something about while we yet have life and breath!

When God sent Jonah to preach to Nineveh, the prophet replied, as it were, “Over my dead body!” Jonah then showed that he would rather die than give the barbarians in Nineveh a chance to repent (Jonah 2:12). And as we have seen, Jonah actually did die in the whale, and God raised him from the dead, making him a true type of Christ.

Now no one knows that “salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9) like someone who has died and been imprisoned in sheol, the place of all the departed dead in Old Testament times. No human effort could avail to free a man from that divinely secured place of confinement. What a picture of how if we are to be saved from the penalty of sin, this too must be “of the Lord,” for no human effort can avail to free us from the bondage of sin. Salvation is of the Lord!

The obedience of the fish to the word of the Lord (2:10) stands in stark contrast to the disobedience of Jonah! Frogs, flies, lice, locusts and caterpillars all obey God without question (Psa. 105:30-34); only man dares say no to God.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

Man Alive! -- Jonah: Lessons From a Wayward Prophet Part 3 of 4
by Pastor Ricky Kurth

But God is a God of second chances (Jonah 3:1,2), as witnessed by men such as Moses, Peter, and John Mark, to name just a few. These examples should give hope to any of our readers who may have strayed from the Lord and are wondering if He could ever take you back. However, these examples should also serve as a warning to us all that it is always best to obey God when first we learn of His will.

Thanks to the second chance extended to Jonah, he is now as obedient to God (3:9) as the wind and the sea in Chapter 1. Isn’t it amazing the attitude adjustment that a few days in a fish can produce!

Jonah had only begun to deliver God’s message (3:4) when every preacher’s dream came true, and the people of Nineveh repented “from the greatest of them even to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5). God used this brief sermon of eight words (even fewer in the Hebrew text!) to bring an entire city to repentance, proving once again the old adage that “a sermon need not be eternal to be immortal!” When we consider the darkness of the human heart, we wonder whether such momentous results cannot be considered the biggest miracle in the Book of Jonah.

How was the prophet able to see such extraordinary results? The key just might be in Jonah’s description of how the citizens of Nineveh repented “from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” This phraseology is used eight other times in Scripture, but in each case the categories are reversed. That is, the normal way of expressing this phrase is to say, “from the least even unto the greatest.” But here we feel that the transposition is significant.

Jonah 3:6 begins with the word “for,” which means that the prophet is about to tell us how it came to be that the entire city repented. Verse 6 then goes on to explain how even the king of Nineveh repented, and so it is possible that Jonah was able to bring an entire city to its knees because of the influence of the city’s sovereign. Once the king of Nineveh believed and repented (3:6), the people followed suit. This hypothesis has a couple of possible applications to our ministry today.

Not long ago, Things To Come Mission director Ben Anderson began to implement what he called “the Troas strategy” in countries where TCM ministers. This strategy is based on Paul’s experience in Acts 16, where after the Spirit forbad him to preach the word in Asia and Bithynia (v. 6,7), the apostle came to Troas (v. 8.), where a vision convinced him that the Lord had called him to preach in Macedonia (v. 9,10). He soon found himself in Philippi, which was “the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony” (v. 12). This designation of Philippi as a Roman “colony” made it a city of considerable influence.

It would seem from all this that rather than letting Paul continue to stop and minister in every city to which he came in piecemeal fashion, God was rather guiding him to “chief” cities such as Athens, Corinth and Ephesus. While there will always be opponents and proponents of what was called “trickle-down economics,” as the gospel trickled down from these influential cities “all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). The considerable results achieved by reaching key, influential cities reminds us of the results that Jonah achieved by reaching Nineveh’s influential king. Pastor Dennis Kiszonas has similarly produced a considerable ministry that has emanated out of New York City after this visionary pastor targeted the chief city of the United States.

A similar strategy is being employed by Grace Evangelist Art Fowler, who has a unique ministry. Art witnesses to anyone and everyone, from the least of men even unto the greatest. However, he targets high-profile people in entertainment, government, and many other circles of life, people thought by most of us to be simply unreachable with the gospel. We wonder if this too isn’t an example of following the methodology of the Apostle Paul, who after his Troas experience perhaps purposely sought out not only chief cities but chief citizens (Acts 17:7). By the time he reached Ephesus, it could be said of “certain of the chief of Asia” that they “were his friends” (Acts 19:31). Perhaps Paul was able to reach all which dwelt in Asia because he had focused on certain key, influential people, from whom the gospel was received by others more readily. We might call this the Nineveh strategy, for it sure seemed to work in the case of the king of this great city.

Another application of this principle might be reflected in the efforts of many of our Grace brethren to get dispensational literature into the hands of pastors and other spiritual leaders. The people of the 1st Philippian Church of Detroit all came to rejoice in the message of grace when years ago Pastor Wilson Watkins came into a knowledge of the truth.

Next, when we read that Nineveh’s king repented in hopes that God would change his mind about destroying his city (Jonah 3:9), it should be noted that he was not acting in compliance with any stated terms or conditions uttered by Jonah. That is, Jonah had not proclaimed, “Your city shall be destroyed—unless you repent.” It would seem that the prophet was simply stating a prophetic prediction when he proclaimed, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” But whether the king knew it or not, Israel’s God was a God that Jeremiah later characterized as a forgiving God, even when it came to nations other than Israel:

    “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

    “If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them” (Jer. 18:7,8.).

And so as we compare Scripture with Scripture, we understand that whenever we read of an announcement on God’s part to bring judgment on a people, such pronouncements always carry an implied proviso that He will relent should the people He intends to judge change their ways. We see an example of this in Micah 3:12. While this verse seems to be an unqualified prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah later quoted this verse (Jer. 26:18.) and observed that when the city repented, God changed His mind (v. 19).

All of this is significant in light of the position held by open theism that God didn’t offer Nineveh any terms by which they might be spared because He fully intended to destroy the city, and then was surprised at their repentance. The open view, as some of our readers may know, teaches that God does not know the future, outside of what He himself has determined to do. Open theists would hold that God did not know in advance that Nineveh would repent.

However, unless it was understood that Jonah’s proclamation was conditional, then under the strict terms of Deuteronomy 18:22, his prophecy was a false prophecy, making him a false prophet. But as with the seemingly unconditional prophecy of Amoz in II Kings 20:1, of which God quickly repented (v. 6), the conditional nature of Jonah’s words was clearly implied.

The case of Amoz deserves special attention in this regard. When he delivered God’s announcement to Hezekiah that he would “die, and not live,” there didn’t seem to be anything conditional about his words. His prophecy seemed to be a clear prediction of the king’s imminent demise. However, we can demonstrate from Scripture that it was simply not possible that Hezekiah could die at that time. God had promised David:

    “…If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said He) a man on the throne of Israel” (I Kings 2:4).

Hezekiah was one of David’s descendants, and as he himself tells us, he had fulfilled the conditions expressed to David in I Kings 2:4 and had walked before God “in truth and with a perfect heart” (II Kings 20:3). Yet at this time he had no sons who could sit on the throne of David if he should die. II Kings 20:18 makes it clear that the sons that would issue from him had not yet been begotten of him. If he should die childless, as Amoz had stated, the Word of God to David would be broken.

[nChrist]

_______________________________________________
More Minutes With The Bible
From The Berean Bible Society

Free Email Subscription

For Questions Or Comments:  berean@execpc.com
_______________________________________________

Man Alive! -- Jonah: Lessons From a Wayward Prophet Part 4 of 4
by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Why then did God flatly state to Hezekiah that he would die? Had He forgotten His promise to David until reminded of it by Hezekiah? Surely not! God was rather testing Hezekiah to see if he remembered God’s promise, a test Hezekiah passed with flying colors, actually quoting the promise as he called upon God to be true to His Word. God then acknowledged Hezekiah’s claim on His Word by identifying Himself as “the God of David thy father” (II Kings 20:5), as He granted the king another fifteen years of life.

And so we know that God’s seemingly unconditional prediction of Hezekiah’s death was actually an attempt on God’s part to elicit a declaration of faith from Israel’s king. Similarly, God’s seemingly unconditional pronouncement of doom on Nineveh was actually designed to elicit repentance from a people whom God was eager to spare.

The very fact that God warned Nineveh of their imminent destruction shows that He was pressing them to repent. Surely the example of Sodom serves to teach that when God fully intends to destroy a city, He does so without warning. In His foreknowledge, God knows who will repent and who will not (Ezek. 3:6; Matt. 11:21).

Next, in Jonah 3:10, we have an example of how salvation in time past was by faith plus works. Earlier in this chapter we read that “the people of Nineveh believed God” (v. 5), but it was not until “God saw their works” that He “repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them.” While today faith alone “is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5), this was not the case in time past. For example, when Phinehas executed judgment, we read that “that was counted unto him for righteousness” (Psa. 106:30,31). As we rightly divide the Word of truth, we see that God’s plan of salvation in time past was very different than His plan of salvation today in the dispensation of grace.

Did the people of Nineveh truly repent? We know that they did, for we have the Lord’s word on it (Luke 11:32). However, their repentance would not last, and about one hundred and fifty years later God sent the prophet Nahum to announce their destruction, a destruction which came to pass about a century later (Jer. 18:9,10).

Since we know that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10), how sad it is to see Jonah angry over the repentance of many thousands of sinners (Jonah 4:1). He who rejoiced in the mercy of God when it was extended to him in Chapter 2 is now unhappy when mercy is extended to the Assyrians. Jonah says here, as it were, “Lord, I told you this would happen! I knew You would spare them if they repented!” (4:2).

Jonah doubts that their repentance is genuine, and believing it was only a matter of time before they rebelled against God, he determined to pitch a tent outside of town so as to wait and watch it happen (Jonah 4:5). Since Jonah refused to answer God’s question about whether he is right to be angry (4:4), God gave him a little object lesson to prompt him to respond. The Lord supplied the prophet with a sun-blocking gourd, and then took it away from him. Sadly, Jonah’s reaction was not the same as Job’s (Job 1:21), but rather mirrored the attitude of the foolish women of Job 2:9,10.

Like all sin, sinful anger must be checked or it will worsen. Jonah was angry enough to die when God spared Nineveh, and now he is angry enough to die because God took away his shade! (Jonah 4:5-9). Likewise if we allow ourselves to be sinfully angry over big things, it won’t be long before we are sinfully angry over little things.

Asking the same question in Jonah 4:9 that he asked in Verse 5, God provoked a response from Jonah, in which the prophet declared he had a perfect right to be angry about the gourd that at first had shielded him from the desert sun, but then was taken away. Now that Jonah has taken the bait, God springs the trap on His wayward prophet, pointing out how He had “laboured” much in Nineveh, while Jonah had not expended the least bit of energy to produce the gourd. And yet while Jonah had pity on the gourd, he did not want God to have pity on Nineveh! Once the incongruity of this was pointed out to the seer, Jonah is left with nothing to say in his own defense.

Something should be said, however, about the many people in Nineveh that could not discern between their right hand and their left (4:11). These would include young children and the mentally retarded. God was saying to Jonah, in effect, “You want Me to destroy Nineveh because of the atrocities committed by the adults. But remember, Jonah, there are one hundred and twenty thousand innocent people in Nineveh who would perish along with the guilty,” something God found repugnant (cf. Gen. 19:23-33).

If the reader object that these people, having inherited sin from Adam, were not “innocent,” we would tend to agree, in light of verses like Psalm 51:5 and Psalm 58:3. However, our text points up the truth that there is an “age of accountability,” and children who die before reaching it, and adults whose limited mental capacity never allows them to reach it, are “covered under the Blood,” as Pastor Stam used to say. We see a symbol of this very thing when Ezekiel 45:20 states that the sacrifice of the priest is offered “for him that is simple.”

We see more evidence of an age of accountability when the people of Israel left Egypt. We read that there was an entire generation among them “which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil” (Deut. 1:39). God made it clear that these children would not be held responsible for the rebellion of the adults, but would be allowed to enter the Promised Land. And so it is just sound Biblical hermeneutics to extrapolate from this that God does not hold children and the mentally impaired responsible for their sins.

This precious doctrine is what enabled David to assert with confidence concerning the child that he had lost, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (II Sam. 12:23). This beloved truth also enabled this writer to preside recently at the funeral of a darling one-year-old little girl and comfort her parents from the Word of God that their hearts would ache only until they are caught up together with their daughter in the clouds.

The lessons to be learned from a wayward prophet are many and varied. May we take them to heart as things that were written “for our learning” (Rom. 15:4), as we determine as never before to obey the Lord without question, to the infinite blessing of our soul, and to the souls of those about us.