Tag: Bible

The Redemptive Historical Hermeneutical Approach to the Book of Proverbs

~ fundyreformed

I just finished reading another excellent post on redemptive historical hermeneutics by my friend Nathan Pitchford. He has written an excellent article dealing with the interpretation of the book of Proverbs for Reformation Theology Blog. In the post, he argues for the personified Wisdom being seen as redemptive Wisdom and pointing to Christ Himself, while the “strange woman” represents the world system opposing Christ later known as the whore and Babylon of Revelation besides merely the actual enticement of any prostitute or adulteress. He also argues against a moralistic view of the Proverbs, rather encoraging us to view all of the proverbs in the light of the gospel of Christ. Let me provide his first paragraph here, and then encourage you all to go read the article, here.

“The two outstanding characteristics of the Proverbs with which I associate my childhood, neither legitimate but both having a pervasive influence in my surrounding circles, are fragmentation and moralism. The former of which gave rise to the latter: as long as the individual proverbs were seen as disconnected and de-contextualized, that is, as long as they were seen as a series of random thoughts, it was easy to make such character qualities as honesty, industry, and diligence the foundation and fountainhead of the Christian life. When will God be pleased with me? When I am honest and industrious. How do I encounter God’s blessings? By being honest and industrious. And so the reasoning ran. The more foundational question, “How can I, a depraved sinner, hope to become honest and industrious?” , if acknowledged at all, was glibly passed off with an exhortation to try harder. I found all of this exceedingly confusing, as it appeared to contradict everything that was said when one was speaking of the gospel — but considering it a necessary and appropriate shift when dealing with a corpus of “practical” material, I managed by compartmentalizing my conception of Christianity to muddle along without serious reservations, albeit equally without any precision of thought concerning justification, sanctification, and the relationship between the two.”[Read the entire article!]

More on Redemptive Historical Interpretation of Scripture

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Lately I have been thinking alot about hermeneutics. I have been contemplating the merits of the redemptive historical interpretation of Scripture. (Learn what that means here, in a previous post.) The article by my friend Nathan Pitchford, linked to in the post mentioned above, points out that the literal, grammatico-historical hermeneutic of the Reformers is different that that of today. And the reason this is the case, is the growth of rationalism due to the pervasive influence of the Enlightenment. (Be sure to read that post, I have mentioned!)

Anyway, last week I heard a presentation by someone on hermeneutics which dealt specifically with the parable of the Good Samaritan. The speaker was teaching that we should not allegorize the parable at all, but that it only conveys a main basic point that Christ was attempting to draw from it. Yet in his presentation, (I suppose to show how this allegorizing kind of interpreting can get out of hand), he quoted many different leaders throughout church history, and only John Calvin did not give an allegorical view of this parable. The first person to push for the interpretation this guy was advancing was in the late 1800s and was a German intellectual. This presentation seemed to push me the other way, totally! It sure seemed to illustrate how rationalistic thinking has changed our hermeneutics. Now granted there have been some extreme examples of rampant allegorization, but by and large a Christ-centered hermeneutic has been employed throughout church history. I cannot bring myself to conclude that the “enlightened” modern (and post-modern) world has finally been able to recover sound hermeneutics, and that the Holy Spirit was somehow unable to bring Christ’s church to unity in a true and sound hermeneutic until He was helped by the Enlightenment.

In thinking through this issue, I came across a good (and brief) article which gives a “how to” plan for interpreting Scripture (specifically OT Scripture–which is where the differences of opinion are strongest, today). As you will see when you look at it, this article does not throw out many of the advances made in interpretation today, particularly greater understanding of the different genres and forms of literature the Bible contains, etc. These insights are very helpful for interpreting the text correctly. However, it stresses that we must compare the teaching of each OT passage with all of redemptive history, particularly the gospel of Christ. Only then can we learn all that God intends for us with this Scripture. The article is called, “How a Christian Can Read Any Old Testament Passage” and is by Robert A Lotzer. [He draws from Beale and Greidanus among others.]

Stay tuned, for more posts on this topic. I think it is as important as any topic I discuss here. May God bring us all to a better understanding of and a clearer apprehension of Christ through His Word.

"Wine to Gladden the Heart of Man": Thoughts on God’s Good Gift of Wine

~ fundyreformed ~ 86 Comments

There is an interesting discussion on alcohol going on over at Bob Bixby’s blog, Pensees. It has been mentioned over on Sharper Iron, as well.

I have been meaning to post for some time on this topic, and now seemed like the appropriate time. Some of my research for this article was helped by a cousin-in-law of mine, Nathan Grant. I plan to post an edited version of his own study on this topic in the future.

Okay, you will probably want to go over and read Bixby’s article on the issue, “Drinking Beer and My Right to Read the Bible in The Middle of the Street”, first. Then you can read my response verbatim below.

I hate to post another long comment, but… I think this should be said, in the context of this discussion.Why drink wine?? Good question! I respect your arguments from common sense and Biblical principles. These are not light-weight arguments. Yet I think there is a big Scriptural argument for the use of wine that you are overlooking.Before presenting that argument, let me hasten to say that I can only imagine the sorrow liquor has caused many people and many families. Drunkenness is a sin which Scripture strongly condemns and warns us against. And more than many sins, it can affect innocent bystanders, and unfortunate family members. It should be no laughing matter for such an argument to be raised. The injury and harm alcohol has caused so many deserves no scorn from the eyes of young fundamentalists eager to partake in another activity they deem permissible from Scripture.If I agree so much with your argument, why then would I go on and seek to argue for the use of alcohol? Why not just stay quiet, and agree to disagree privately? I cannot remain quiet, because truthfully I feel the argument I have to present is of such a nature that to disregard it would be to despise God and His Word.

Ps. 104:14-15 presents my argument: “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.” Here the Psalmist praises God for the gift of wine. And he declares that God gave us wine to gladden our hearts. My argument is that Scripture abundantly declares this truth: God gave us wine to bring us joy. I want to present 8 points which combine to make this truth extremely clear. God gave us wine for our joy. [Scriptures are taken from the ESV, unless otherwise indicated.]

1) Wine is a gift of the goodness of God.

Jeremiah 31:12-14 “They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD.”

See also Ps. 104:14-15 above. 1 Tim. 4:1-5 applies also, I believe.

2) Wine produces joy–it “gladdens the heart”.

Judges 9:13 “But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?'”

Ecclesiastes 10:19 (NASB) “Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.”

Zechariah 10:7 “Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the LORD.”

It should be clear that even the intoxicating nature of wine is being praised, here. Wine lifts the spirit and gladdens the heart long before it actually overtakes you and makes one drunk. Wine can be enjoyed and its effects relished without losing control and becoming drunken. Prov. 31:6-7 encourages Lemuel to give wine and strong drink to the sick and the sorrowful of heart. And Jer. 16:7-8 points to a practice of comforting those who are mourning over the death of loved ones with wine and a feast–“the cup of consolation”. Rabbinical literature declares that such was a common practice–particularly in obedience to Prov. 31:6-7.

3) Wine is used in rejoicing before God.

It is also used in offerings and must be tithed on.

Deuteronomy 14:22-26 “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire–oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.”

Isaiah 62:8-9 “The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: ‘I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored; but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.'”

Deuteronomy 12:17-19 “You may not eat within your towns the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil…but you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place that the LORD your God will choose….”

Notice that in the Dt. 14 passage above, even strong drink [everyone agrees that this is alcoholic] can be drunken before the Lord with rejoicing! Strong drink is also used as a drink offering in conjunction with certain sacrifices, see Num. 28:7. Wine, of course, is also used for drink offerings, see Ex. 29:40, Num. 15:5, 2 Chron. 31:5, Dt. 8:4.

4) Abundance of wine was a particular blessing from God.

Joel 2:24-26 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.”

Joel 3:18 “And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and water the Valley of Shittim.”

See also Gen. 27:28 (part of Isaac’s blessing for Jacob) and Dt. 7:13.

5) Having no wine was a hardship or a judgment of God.

Amos 5:11 “Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him…you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.”

Deuteronomy 29:2-6 “And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: ‘You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'”

The above passage has Moses describing the glories of God that the people saw and also stressing that they had endured trials in the wilderness. He speaks of the miraculous provision for them, but also of God’s keeping them from the normal joys of life–eating bread and drinking wine and strong drink. God did all of this so they would know that He was their God, yet they had no spiritual circumcision of heart to appreciate that. The point I am drawing out is that not having wine and strong drink was a hardship, exactly parallel to not having bread. Bread is good, and so is wine and strong drink. (See also Dt. 28:39, Micah 6:15, and Zeph. 1:13)

6) The absence of wine results in the absence of joy.

No wine, no joy.

Isaiah 24:7-11 “The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter. There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.“

Jeremiah 48:33 “Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy.”

See also Is. 16:10.

7) Drinking wine is singularly festive, joyful, and celebratory.

Ecclesiastes 9:7 “Go, eat your bread in joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.”

Isaiah 22:13 “And behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'”

It goes without saying that wine is associated with times of joy and feasting (Job 1:13, Esther 1, 1 Chron. 12:39ff., Gen. 27:25 [a special occasion–the passing on of the blessing]). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988; edited by Geoffrey Bromiley] points out, “A banquet hall is called a bet misthe hayyayin (lit. ‘house for drinking wine’ Est. 7:8), and a ‘feast’ is literally a ‘drinking’ (Heb. misthe, Gen. 21:8; Jdg. 14:10; 1 S. 25:36; 2 S. 3:20)” (vol. 4, pg. 1070). Further it states, “wine…was an essential part of feasting in the biblical tradition” (pg. 1071).

(Another point, similar to this is that the joys of sexual intimacy and love are compared to the joy produced by wine. See Song of Solomon 1:2-3; 4:10; 7:1-2, 9; 8:2.)

8) Wine will be part of the future feasting in Christ’s kingdom.

Isaiah 25:6-9 “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.'”

Jeremiah 31:12-14 “They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD.”

Matt. 26:29 “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

See also Lk. 22:28-30, Mt. 8:11, and Lk. 13:29. It is worthwhile to mention here that from the above verse, it is clear Jesus drank wine. The celebration of the Passover had developed into including 4 cups of wine. From the passage in Luke you see they drank at least two cups of wine (Lk. 22:17 and 20). In Lk. 7:33-34 Jesus himself says that he came “eating and drinking”. Since John the Baptist was specifically said to have abstained from alcoholic drinks (Lk. 1:15), and since Jesus contrasts himself with John in this text, Jesus is saying he came drinking alcoholic drinks. While it is obvious Jesus was no drunkard, the charge of “drunkard” would sound ridiculous if Jesus had been a tee-totaller. Not only did Jesus drink wine, but he was concerned to produce the best kind of wine for those at the wedding feast in Cana (Jn. 2).

Also, the feast of the Lord’s supper looks forward to the feast with Jesus in His kingdom (see the Mt. 26:29 passage above). And it is clear from 1 Cor. 11:21 that the beverage used at the Lord’s table in Corinth could make some drunk. Paul in no way castigates them for using the wrong kind of beverage. He even points out that they could drink in their own houses (v. 22). So it makes Biblical sense to expect that the feast in Christ’s glorious New Kingdom will include alcoholic drinks.

Now I have presented my Biblical argument–that God has given us wine to make our hearts glad. So I say we should glorify God by the wise use and enjoyment of his good gifts to us (see 1 Tim. 4:1-5).

Now some will be hanging onto a weak argument here. They will be trying to convince themselves that wine most often does not mean intoxicating juice of grapes, but rather non-intoxicating juice similar to the Welch’s variety. Yet much evidence exists that this is not correct. Modern grape juice was not really available until the late 1800s when Mr. Welch began marketing his variety. ISBE says, “Both yayin and tiros are fermented grape juice with alcoholic content; hence both are able to cause intoxication (cf. Hos. 4:11) and are to be distinguished from ‘must’ or unfermented grape juice….The ‘new wine’ (Gk. gleukos) of the Pentecost account (Acts 2:13) was the vintage of the recent harvest; the thrust of the taunt requires that it refer to wine that can cause intoxication.” (vol. 4 pg. 1069) The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary [Chicago: Moody Press, 1988; edited by Merrill F. Unger] states, “In most of the passages in the Bible where yayin is used (83 out of 138), it certainly means fermented grape juice; and in the remainder it may fairly be presumed to do so. The intoxicating character of yayin in general is plain from Scripture.” Now it is true that ancient wine was not as alcoholic as wine today. Yet it is also clear it could intoxicate. In NT times, wine was a common table beverage (diluted of course). Yet ISBE says, “Wine is not attested as the normal table beverage of OT times. It seems generally to have been reserved for special occasions…” (vol. 4 pg. 1070). More evidence could be cited, I am sure, but I agree with Unger that it is plain that wine was quite able to intoxicate. Yet God says this is good–it gladdens our hearts.

I have two further counter arguments. One counters the argument you (Bob Bixby) have brought up in this post. The other counters another common argument, which has been brought up in the comment thread. I will start with the latter argument.

Should we not refrain from alcohol and wine, strong drink, etc. out of deference to weaker brothers who might stumble? Is not this the point of Rom. 14:21? In a sense I would agree. But the context speaks to situations where you know a brother will be observing you drink in such a way that he may stumble and offend his conscience. If one happens to stumble upon me and find that I am drinking, I could charitably explain my reasoning for doing so. But for me to disregard his conscience and deliberately challenge him or cause him to be offended would be quite another thing. Applying 1 Thess. 5:22 to this case is a false application of that text. It refers to actual cases of evil–avoiding actual evil. Not avoiding what appears to be evil but in fact is neutral or not evil. And it also specifically in context refers to the judging of each prophecy in the setting of a church or Christian gathering.

My second counter argument deals with your argument concerning the great potential harm that alcohol can cause families and individuals. Yes, this is a strong caution and particularly listens to the warnings of Prov. 20:1 and other like passages. However, let me ask something. Is total abstinence the best preventative course for me to pursue with regard to the rearing of my children? Since Scripture does not forbid alcohol, and actually encourages its moderate consumption, how can I in good conscience teach against its use period? Would the argument you propose be received as sufficient from my children? Or could it not be as effective (or more) for me to model the moderate use of wine in front of my children and family? My children would learn by example that wine and liquor is not to be consumed frivolously, but rather to be enjoyed in moderation–always thanking God for the blessing of wine when we partake of it. This also seems to be more in line with being controlled by the Spirit in this dispensation of the new covenant, in my opinion.

Before closing, let me point your attention to two articles on this topic written by a friend of a friend of mine. Alcohol and the Christian, and Alcohol and the Christian Part Deux. In the second article there is an extended discussion which approaches the topic from many perspectives and seeks to apply Biblical principles to the decision whether or not to enjoy God’s gift of wine, this side of heaven. I think you (and your readers) may find the discussion beneficial in thinking through this issue.

UPDATE: Check out two later posts I did on this topic: “Will You Be Having Some Wine?” and “Welch’s Grape Juice, Worldly Wisdom and Wine”.

Recommended Resource: God Gave Wine: What the Bible Says About Alcohol by Kenneth L. Gentry.

The Gospel according to Solomon

~ fundyreformed ~ 5 Comments

In this post, I made the following observation:

“When encountering Scriptural teachings on types or comparisons, I typically just assumed that God was borrowing from the natural realm, so to speak, to highlight truth about His spiritual works. But the work of redemption was planned “before the foundation of the world”! So, when God created the world, the very way in which He did it was not arbitrary but planned….The family unit, with father-child and husband-wife relationships, were designed and established to reveal aspects of our relationship with God as His beloved children, and our relationship with Christ as His church-bride.”

We often draw on familial pictures of God as our Father, but how often do we contemplate God as our lover?

4
I recently ran across an article online that simply blew me away. It contends that the intimacy conveyed in the poetry of Solomon’s Song is a true picture of the joyous, intoxicating love God wants us to share with Him, for all eternity!

I will provide some excerpts from the article here for you all. May you too be filled with awe and praise for our God who has so intimately called us to such a love relationship with Him. The article is from Credenda Agenda and is written by Douglas Jones.

“The passion of the Song of Solomon is a majestic revealer of our sterility. It is one of the greatest expressions of the gospel in all of Scripture, and it shows us how little we understand. It gives us the very heart of Christian theology, the center of all doctrine and practice. And, yet, like an old friend, it has pity on us. It mercifully mocks our pervasive intellectualizing of the gospel and our clinical views of holiness.

“Can we hear the gospel in the following, without flinching?

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine…. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, that lies all night between my breasts. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms, In the vineyards of En Gedi…. Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Sustain me with cakes of raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am lovesick. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me” (Song 1:2,13,14; 2:3-6).

“Most American Christians can’t get past the opening compliment to wine, let alone understand how lovemaking is supposed to transcend it. Our indifference to wine is connected to the unsensual utilitarianism of our marriage beds. They go hand in hand. And if our marriage beds are supposed to reflect the glories of the gospel, then it’s no wonder the Church is so ugly. The Song assumes these are all tied together. We will never live the gospel fully until we can embrace the blinding holiness of the marriage bed, the exhilarating bodily union of husband and wife, lovemaking.

….

“The Tabernacle and Temple reveal the holiness of sexual union too. They were not only called the “house of God” (Ex. 23:10; Jdgs. 20:18; Jn. 2:16), they were designed with the components of an actual house. In them we find the outer courts typical of our porches and yards and, inside, places for food preparation and cooking and cleansing. As you move further in, the rooms increase in privacy, until you reach the Holy of Holies, the most sacred place of judgment and communion. That is where God could finally meet with the bride. That is where the holiest communion took place. In our homes, too, we have walls and kitchens and washing places, and we have a most-private area of intimate communion as well: the bedroom, the marriage bed. The marriage bed in this analogy is parallel then, not to an outer room or any other outer furniture, but to the Holy of Holies. What goes on there is the most intimate communion of all between husband and wife. With the marriage bed as our Holy of Holies, it is not a place for abomination or degradation or pietistic indifference. Lovemaking is a glorious, positive holiness and ought to be celebrated as such; it is at the center of honoring God. (And thankfully, communion in the Holy of Holies is not a once-a-year affair anymore!)

….

“Real knowledge is bodily love and communion. It is imagination that is touching and indwelling. It isn’t dominated by the intellect and rationality. Yet our theologies (even articles like this one!) tend to be very intellectualistic. Imagine if we were to approach the marriage bed as intellectualistically as we approach our theology. We would kill the joy. You cannot analyze lovemaking without dispersing the delight. That is a wonderful aspect of the marriage bed. Lovemaking goes to the soul, far deeper than any reason can. Yet we can constrain the gospel in the same way. We often intellectualize the gospel to such an extent that people can’t know the joy – our children can’t know the joy. The lure and draw of sexual joy is supposed to parallel the lure of the goodness of God. The two go hand in hand. We strangle both while stuffing our children’s intellects, and then wonder what went wrong. We are a nonsensual, unpoetic people; we are foreigners to the Song of Solomon. [emphasis added]

“God has filled the universe with many earthy, imaginative symbols; of these lovemaking is very central….It is no evolutionary accident, for example, that lovemaking builds and climaxes in ecstatic joy. God didn’t have to design sex that way. But He did for some meaning. It certainly images the “joy inexpressible” (1 Pet. 1:8] that the bride has for Christ: “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). Like the marriage bed, this joy can’t always be held in; sometimes it just has to be shouted – “shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (Ps. 32:11; cf. 33:11; 35:27; 65:13; 67:4; 132:9,16). Lovemaking, too, should never be too quiet.

“And it can turn our souls toward the deeper aspects of life. Note the Song of Solomon’s imaginative and sensual interplay between the created order and the marriage bed. Few, if any, syllogisms show up in the poem. But the Lord does tell us to smell and see and touch and taste in the Song: ‘How fair is your love, my sister, how much better is the scent of your perfumes than all spices…. You have doves’ eyes, your lips are like a strand of scarlet and your mouth is lovely…. The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman. Your naval is a rounded goblet…. Your waist is a heap of wheat set about with lilies…. His body is carved ivory inlaid with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble set on the bases of fine gold. His mouth is most sweet; yes, he is altogether lovely…. Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, and the roof of your mouth like the best wine.’

“So much is built into this poetry. And so many battles lie at this crossroads within our own homes, quite apart from combatting the ugly immodesties and boring exhibitionisms of a surrounding pagan culture that is plain deer-eyed about real sexuality (James 3:14-15; Jude 1:16). Lovemaking can not only sanctify us, but it also shows us more about the nature of God and knowledge and education and all of life. By being a more sexual, a more sensual people, we can educate our children and congregations to delight in creation and redemption, paying attention to the symbols and delights that God has sculpted all around us. What a wonderful calling. Whatever is scented, whatever love is better than wine, whatever breasts are like towers, if there is anything perfumed or tasty, meditate on it and ravish your beloved in your Holy of Holies.”

[Read the whole article. Ephasis added.]

1 Thessalonians and Churches’ Greatest Need

~ fundyreformed ~ 16 Comments

Clergy over the laity mindset, excessive pastoral authority, a cultural lack of community, an emphasis on individualism, market-driven church ministry philosophies, a modern consumer mindset to Christianity–all of these and more contribute to what I believe is the greatest need in churches today: the “one another” ministry.

What is the “one another” ministry? It is the mutual encouraging and exhorting, indeed even admonishing, which is to be woven throughout the life of a church. It is the pattern we see over and over in the NT (Acts 2:44-47; 4:32; 18:27; Jn. 13:34-35; Rom. 1:12; 12:10, 16; 13:8; 15:1-7, 14; 1 Cor. 12:25; 14:26, 31; 2 Cor. 13:11; Gal. 5:13; 6:1-2, 6; Eph. 4:2-3, 32; 5:19; Phil. 1:27; 2:2; Col. 3:13, 16; 2 Thess. 1:3; Heb. 3:12-14; 10:24-25; James 5:16; 1 Pet. 1:22; 4:8-11; 1 Jn. 1:7; 3:11). The above list is not exhaustive, either!

I believe this is a great need in most churches. Our church has small groups in part to fulfill the instruction to daily exhort one another in Heb. 3:12-14. Yet even in small groups, intentional encouraging and exhortation can be neglected. It is one thing to believe and another to practice that belief. Our small group is in the process of trying to become more intentional in this regard. (By the way, this still must happen in church-wide contexts too. But small groups definitely can help us fulfill this important feature of church life.) In preparing for a small group meeting, I looked at 1 Thessalonians a little further concerning this “one another” ministry, and want to share my findings with you, briefly.

1) This “one another” ministry is a way God’s Word is intended to Work in us.

2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

I believe that God’s Word presently working in the believers, in part, was their living it out through love, encouragement, and exhortation as we will see.

2) This “one another” ministry is needed lest our faith die.

3:5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

with

Heb. 3:12-14 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Paul in 3:5 clearly indicates that he feels their faith could have died. This would have made his labor vain. What made him confident this was not the case was their faith and love and mutual love for Paul, which Timothy testified to. Heb. 3:12-14 also indicates that without mutual love, expressed through loving exhortation, our faith might die. This means that this “one another” ministry is vital in helping us persevere.

[Note: I am not claiming that we must produce works to save ourselves. Rather all truly saved people will work good works (Eph. 2:8-10, Titus 2:14), and it is by these works that their faith’s genuineness will be known (Matt. 7:16, James 2:20-26, Rom. 8:13, and especially 1 Jn. 2:19). Since we are admonished that our faith might be in vain (1 Cor. 15:2) and directed to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5), and further instructed to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10), we must not take our faith for granted. Rather we must with Paul recognize that some have made shipwreck of their faith (1 Tim. 1:19), realize that we ourselves could potentially make shipwreck of our faith (1 Cor. 9:27, Phil. 3:8-14), and so resolve to hold on to faith, and fight that good fight of faith, and thereby take hold of eternal life (1 Tim. 1:19; 3:8; 6:11-12).]

3) We must depend upon God to energize this “one another” ministry in our personal lives.

3:11-13 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

As I said before, we can believe in this, but when the rubber meets the road it is difficult to practice. Thus we must depend on God to “make” us increase in this “one another” ministry. (See also 1 Thess. 5:23-24, set at the end of a series of what I believe are coorporate exhortations .)

4) We need to always abound in this regard and grow, doing “one another” ministry “more and more”.

4:9-10 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, [See also 3:12; 4:1; and Heb. 10:25b]

We have never “arrived” when it comes to this or any other ministry. We need to be growing and abounding more and more.

5) This “one another” ministry has many facets.

We are to…

a) love each other [3:12 and 4:9-10]
b) encourage one another [4:18 and 5:11]
c) “be at peace” with one another [5:13b]
d) “admonish the idle” [5:14a]
e) “encourage the fainthearted” [5:14b]
f) “help the weak” [5:14c]
g) “be patient with them all” [5:14d]
h) not seek vengeance (not repay wrong for wrong) [5:15a]
i) “seek to do good to one another and to everyone” [5:15b]
j) “rejoice always” (In context, this is a coorporate command) [5:16]
k) “pray without ceasing” (again, while this certainly applies personally, it is a coorporate command) [5:17]
l) “give thanks in all circumstances” [5:18]
m) let the Spirit move (do not quench the Spirit)[5:19]
n) do not despise the preaching and teaching of the word [5:20]
o) test everything (including sermons and teaching from the context), holding only to what is good [5:21]
p) abstain from all forms of evil (church discipline could be in view with the coorporate context, too) [5:22]

6) This “one another” ministry is clearly a duty of every believer, not merely the church leaders, elders, deacons, or pastors.

5:12-14 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,[c] encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all….

From the above verses it is clear that each brother (and the word can refer to men or women) in the church is responsible to follow the commands of vs. 13b (be at peace) and following. Notice that 1 Thess. was addressed to the whole church. If the pastoral staff, elders, and deacons are the only ones needed to minister to us in this encouraging, exhorting, admonishing sense, why is it that most of the NT epistles are addressed to churches (ie the people) rather than just the elders? Phil. 1:1 mentions the saints in Philippi as the primary audience, with the elders and deacons also–not the other way around.

7) This “one another” ministry is indispensable.

4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. [See also 5:11]

Notice, Paul’s having written the words to each person in the church was not enough. They were to pick up the book/letter and use its teaching to encourage each other. Just reading the Bible and studying it alone does not cut it. We need the mutual ministry of the Word to be working in us through the mutual encouraging and exhorting, even admonishing, of our fellow believers (along with a weekly sermon from our preacher).