=========================================================== Scripture Studies: Vol. VIII, No. 7 - September 2001 ===================================================== In this issue: Old Testament Study - Zechariah 12:10-13:6 Patience in Affliction, pt. 3, by Richard Baxter New Testament Study - Matthew 11:7-15 A Topical Study - Loving God vs. Loving the World, pt. 21 A Study in Psalms - Psalms 44 Masthead -------- "Scripture Studies" is edited by Scott Sperling and published ten times a year by Scripture Studies, Inc., a non-profit organization. It is distributed all over the world by postal mail and via the internet, free of charge. If you would like to financially support the publication and distribution of "Scripture Studies", send contributions to: Scripture Studies Inc. 20 Pastora Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 USA Contributions are tax deductible in the United States. If you do not live in the United States, and would like to support "Scripture Studies", please send international postal coupons. Please feel free to upload "Scripture Studies" to any BBS or online service. If you or anyone that you know would like to be added to the subscription list send your request to the above address, or, via email to Scott Sperling at: ssper@aol.com Unless noted otherwise, scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers =========================================================== Old Testament Study - Zechariah 12:10-13:6 ========================================== Israel's Conversion -------------------- 10"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14and all the rest of the clans and their wives. 13:1"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. 2"On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. 3And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, 'You must die, because you have told lies in the LORD'S name.' When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him. 4"On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet's garment of hair in order to deceive. 5He will say, 'I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.' 6If someone asks him, 'What are these wounds on your body?' he will answer, 'The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.'" "In the remainder of Zechariah 12, the prophet sets forth, as nowhere else in Scripture with such vividness and power, the conversion of Israel to the Lord... In that coming day of Israel's national atonement, the Lord will pour upon the royal house and all who dwell in Jerusalem, then throughout the whole nation, the spirit of grace and supplication" [Feinberg, 332]. Here Zechariah transitions from prophesying the military victory of Israel over her enemies (in Zech. 12:1-9), to prophesying the spiritual surrender of Israel to the Lord, their true Lord, who would come to save them-their true Lord whom they would initially reject, only to, much later, accept, as prophesied here: "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son" (vs. 10). As much as the intervention by God physically in a battle is welcome, even more valuable is God's intervention spiritually. Verse 10 is truly an amazing, and beautiful, prophetic passage. The Lord of the Universe is speaking here, for it is He who "will pour out on the house of David... a spirit of grace and supplication." Yet, it is also the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is speaking here, for it is He who is "the one they have pierced" (see John 19:37; see also Ps. 22:16; Isa. 53:5; Rev. 1:7). This is a direct testimony in the Bible that the Messiah is the Lord God of the Universe. In this passage, no distinction is made between the Lord and the Messiah: they are one and the same person. The One who will "pour out on the house of David... a spirit of grace and supplication", is the same as "the one they have pierced." To pierce God? How is that possible? For those Bible-believing Jews who deny Christ, this verse is difficult. For those of us who acknowledge Christ, this is an astounding prophecy of confirmation that affirms Jesus' role as God and man. For me, in addition to being amazingly prophetic, this passage is very touching. The grace of God is described, through His work in drawing people to Him. To draw the Israelites, He will "pour out" a "spirit of grace and supplication." This spirit will cause them to look at Christ, and in a moment of recognition, realize who He is, and what He has done for them. This moment of recognition is the conversion experience, and is the same that has been experienced by countless believers through the ages. The conversion experience for the children of Israel will be especially meaningful because of their relationship with God, as the chosen people of God. Their conversion will also be especially meaningful because of their treatment of the One sent by God, their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Although we all, through our sin, have had a hand in Christ's death, the role of the children of Israel is notably significant, because Jesus came to earth as their promised Messiah. As John tells us: "He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). Jesus made special efforts to reach out to them. When sending His apostles out, He ordered them: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel" (Matt. 10:5-6). Given their special relationship with their Messiah, the children of Israel will be particularly moved when they finally acknowledge Him as the Messiah. As the Lord tells us: "They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son" (vs. 10). For the children of Israel, the conversion experience will happen both nationally and individually, both for "the house of David" and "the inhabitants of Jerusalem." And so, their mourning will also be both national and individual: "On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves" (vss. 11-12). The Lord tells us specifically the names of some of the clans that will mourn: "The clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives" (vs. 12-13). There are some commentators who say that the references to the people of Israel here and in other prophecies are actually symbolic references to the Christian Church. However, the specific references to the actual names of the clans denotes to me that the Lord is speaking literally of the children of Israel. Yes, as Paul tells us, the children of Israel, miraculous as it may seem, will turn to Jesus, their Messiah, and be saved: "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:25-26). The end of chapter 12 of Zechariah depicted the conversion experience. The beginning of chapter 13 depicts what naturally follows the conversion experience: cleansing from sin. "Here we see how that same blessed Spirit, who shall have wrought in them this godly penitential sorrow on account of their great national sin, shall also bring them into the experience of forgiveness, and open their eyes to the provision God has made for their justification and cleansing" [Baron, 459]. This is the pattern given to us in the Holy Scriptures: confession then purification. As John tells us: "If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). "God cleanses us from sin's penalty and sin's power" [Boice, 214]. The victory of the conversion experience does not stop with repentance, but it continues on with sanctification. When we repent and turn to God, our minds are converted so that we see things as He does. So, naturally, we develop a hatred of sin, as well as a desire to be holy, just as He is holy. The Lord, through Zechariah, describes this cleansing as a fountain that is opened "to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (vs. 13:1). Of course, this fountain has long been available to those who would avail themselves of its cleansing power. "The fountain of pardon and purity is flowing beside many a soul that is too blind to perceive it" [Moore, 209]. Many of us have experienced the cleansing power of this fountain in our lives. But within the confines of the mystery of God's election, access to this fountain is opened to those whom God chooses to call to repentance. Though as of the time of this writing, this fountain has not been opened (by and large) to the children of Israel, you can be sure, as God's word is faithful, the day will come when the "fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity." In this passage, the cleansing of the land is spoken of with respect to two sins: idolatry, and false prophecy: "'On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,' declares the LORD Almighty. 'I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land'" (vs. 2). Idolatry, the worship of false gods, is the root of all sins, even today. Though in most cases, we do not have physical representations of our idols, idolatry is still practiced today. For our purposes, an idol is anything, other than the true and living God, that grabs our allegiance. Common idols today include the quest for power, sexual desires, and the love of money. In past cultures, physical idols were erected that represented these very objects of desire. Nowadays we, for the most part, do not erect physical idols (we see ourselves as too sophisticated to do such a thing), yet, idolatry runs rampant in our culture, nevertheless. The rest of this passage, verses 3 through 6, speaks of the hatred of false prophecy that will envelop the children of Israel after their conversion. False prophecy is a particularly heinous sin because it, often, is an encouragement for others to sin. False prophecy, in most cases, is an inducement to idolatry. The hatred of false prophecy by the converted children of Israel will be so strong that it will overcome the dearest natural bonds: "And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, 'You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord's name.' When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him" (vs. 3). This may seem extreme, and fanatical, but it illustrates that the love for God, and His truth, should overwhelm love for anything else, even one's own children. Jesus warned us: "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:37). The zeal of the children of Israel shown here against false prophecy will be in accordance with God's law, for the law says: "If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and worship other gods' (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (Deut. 13:6-10) This section ends with a vignette that depicts the shame of a false prophet, and the strong denial that he was ever a false prophet: "On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet's garment of hair in order to deceive. He will say, 'I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.' If someone asks him, 'What are these wounds on your body?' he will answer, 'The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.'" (vss. 4-6). In verse 6, the "wounds" that are spoken of are wounds that the false prophet inflicted on himself in the throes of his idol worship (see I Kings 18:28 for an example of this). The false prophet described here in Zechariah denies that the wounds had anything to do with idol worship. He gives the somewhat implausible explanation that the wounds were given him "at the house of his friends." The treatment of the false prophets here underscores the fact that those of us who teach the Word of God have an enormous responsibility to strive to teach the truth. As James warns: "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly" (James 3:1). "It is an awesome responsibility to deliver the Word of God. Toying with it, distorting it, or twisting it to fit some subjective idea or loyalty other than to the Lord is extremely serious, since it involves the lives of other people for all eternity!" [Kaiser, 411] =========================================================== Patience in Affliction, pt. 3, by Richard Baxter ================================================ A Classic Study by Richard Baxter (1615-1691) [Here, we continue a reprint of excerpts from Richard Baxter's work entitled Obedient Patience. In each article, Mr. Baxter gives advice on how to be patient through a specific type of affliction.]-Ed. Under Poverty and Want ---------------------- Another case that needeth obedient patience is poverty and want; either through losses, which come by the afflicting providence of God, or by robbery, or by oppression of unjust men, by violence or injurious suits at law, or by the failing of our trade or calling, or by multitudes of children, or by sickness, lameness, and disability to work, or by the unhappiness or miscarriages and debts of parents, or by rash suretyship, or any other way. Poverty hath its temptations, and they may and will be felt, but must not be over-felt. It is some trial to want food and necessary clothing and habitation; it is more to be put to beg it of others, or be beholden to them, especially who give it grudgingly: but yet to a single man these are comparatively small. Hard fare and scant, with patched or ragged garments, may be consistent with health, when fulness causeth mortal diseases to the rich. But it is far harder to bear the wants of an impatient wife, and crying of children; to have many to provide for, and to have nothing for them: and it is yet harder to be in debt, and bear the importunity, frowns, and threatenings of creditors. What should the poor do in this distressed case, and how should it be patiently endured? I will first premise this counsel, for prevention of such necessity and distress, and then tell you how to bear it patiently. 1. Let not your own sin bring you into poverty, and then if it be by the trying providence of God, without your guilt, it is the more easily borne. Some run themselves into want by idleness, refusing diligent labour in their calling; some come to poverty by base and brutish sensuality, by pampering the flesh in meats and drinks, their appetites must be pleased till necessity displease them; some by covetous gaming, losing their own while they gaped after another's; some by foolish pride, living above their estates, in worldly pomp, in houses, furniture, apparel, and retinue; some by rash bargains, and covetous venturousness; some by rash, imprudent marriage; some by filthy, beastly lusts; and many by unadvised suretyship: willfulness and guilt are the sting and shame of poverty. 2. If you have little, live accordingly, and suit your diet and garb according to your condition, with a contented mind. Nature is content with little, but pride and appetite are hardly satisfied. Coarse diet and usage are as sweet and safe to a contented mind, as daily feasting to the voluptuous and rich. 3. If your labour will not get you necessaries for life and health, beg rather than borrow, when you know you are unable and unlike to pay. It is far easier begging before you are in debt than after: two such burdens are heavier than one. Such borrowing, if you conceal your disability to pay, is one of the worst sorts of thievery, and a great addition to your misery. 4. Draw not others by suretyship or partnership, or unfaithful trading, into suffering with you. Be not guilty of the sufferings of others: it is more innocent, and more easy, to suffer alone. 5. Therefore marry not till you have a rational probability that you may maintain a wife and children. The case of absolute necessity to the lustful, is commonly excepted; and so it ought when it is but harder living that a woman is by such a man put upon, and she knowingly consenteth to the suffering. But I know not how any such man's necessity can warrant him to make wife and children miserable, and that by fraud, and without her knowing consent. Nor do I think, that any man can be under such necessity, which may not be cured by lawful means: it is a shame that any should need such a remedy; but I think Christ intimateth a better than such a wrong to others, if no less would serve (see Matt. 19:20; 18:9). II. But what is to be done for obedient patience when poverty (however) is upon us. Answer. 1. Find out all your sin that caused it, and repent of that, and see that you are much more grieved for that than your poverty: and presently fly to Christ by faith, till your conscience have the peace and comfort of forgiveness. 2. Remember that whatever were the means or second causes, God's will and providence is the overruling cause, and hath chosen this condition for you, whether it be by way of trial (as to Job and the apostles), or by way of punishing correction. Therefore consider whose hand you are in, and with whom it is that you have to do; and apply yourselves first and principally to God, for reconciliation, and pardon of the punishment, and for grace to stand in all your trials. Behave yourselves in all your wants, as a child to a father, as if you heard God say, "It is I that do it; it is I that corrects thee, or that tries thee, or that chooses thy diet and medicine according to thy need, and for thy good." 3. Think of all those texts of Scripture, from the mouth of Christ and His apostles, which speak of the temptation and dangerousness of riches, and the difficulty of the salvation of the rich, and how commonly they prove worldly, sensual brutes, and enemies, and persecutors of the faithful (see Matt. 19:23,24; James 4, 5). And then think of all those texts that tell you, that Christ Himself was poor, that He might make many rich, and that the apostles were poor, and that Christ rich, and that the apostles were poor, and that Christ tried the rich man, whether he was sound, by bidding him, "Sell all, and give to the poor" and follow Him (see Matt. 19:21), and trieth all His disciples by taking up the cross and forsaking all. He showed what the spirit of Christianity is, when He caused all the first believers to sell all, and to live in common: and He blesseth His poor, that are poor in spirit, because that "theirs is the kingdom of heaven," (Matt. 5). 4. Study well the great advantages of poverty, and the particular danger of riches. The damnation of souls cometh from the love of this world, and fleshly prosperity and pleasures, better than God, and holiness, and heaven. And what stronger temptation to this can there be, than to have all fullness and pleasure, which the flesh desireth? Though it was not for being rich that Dives (see Luke 16) was damned, nor for being poor that Lazarus was saved; yet it was riches which furnished Dives with that pomp and pleasure, which drew his heart from God and heaven; and poverty kept Lazarus from those temptations. Doth not reason and experience tell you, that it is very much harder for a man to be weaned from the love of this world, and to seek first a better, who liveth in all plenty and delight, than a man that is in continual affliction, and hath nothing in the world to allure him to overlove it? Oh what a help is it to drive us to look homeward for a better habitation, and to save us from the deceitful flatteries of the world, and the lusts of brutish flesh, to be still wearied with one cross or other, and pinched with wants, that even the flesh itself may consent to die, or not be importunate with the soul to serve it any longer. A man in miserable poverty is most unexcusable if his heart be not in heaven. 5. To be over-much troubled at poverty is a sin of dangerous signification. It showeth that you overlove the flesh and the world, and do not sufficiently take God and heavenly felicity for your portion. No man is much troubled for the want of anything but that which he loveth: and to overlove the world is a sin, which, if it prevail against the greater love of God and glory, it is certainly damning. And he that taketh not God's kingdom and righteousness as better than the world, and seeketh it not first, cannot obtain it. If God and heaven seem not enough for you, unless you be free from bodily want, you trust not God aright. 6. Doth it not properly belong to God, to diet his family, and give to every one what He seeth best? If He had made you worms, or dogs, or serpents, you could find no fault with Him. May He not diversify His creatures as He please? Shall every fly and vermin murmur that he is not a man? And may he not as freely diversify the provision of His creatures, as their natures? Must all be masters, and yet none be servants? Must the rich be bound to relieve the poor, and must there be no poor to be relieved? "The poor you have always with you," saith Christ (see Matt. 26:11). How shall men be rewarded at last, as they clothed them, fed them, visited them, etc., if there were none that stood in need thereof? Is not God wiser than we, to know what is best for us? And can He not give us all that we desire if He saw it best? And do you think, that He wanteth so much love to His children as to feed and clothe them? Were it for want of love, He would not give them the far greater gifts, even His Son, and Spirit, and life everlasting: if this were the trial of His love, you might say that He most loveth the worst of men, who more abound in riches than the most cruel and persecuting tyrants, the most wicked, sensual, profligate monsters? Were riches any special treasure, God would not give them to such flagitious enemies, and deny them to humble, faithful persons. It is no small sin to murmur at God for maintaining and governing His family according to His wisdom and will, and for not being ruled by the desires of our flesh. 7. Do you not see that riches bring more trouble to them that have them, than poverty doth to contented persons? They that have much, have much to do with it, and many to deal with, many tenants, servants, and others, that will all put them to some degree of trouble: they have more law-suits, losses, crosses, and frustrations than the poor. Their food and rest is not so sweet to them, as to poor labouring men. Their bodies are usually fuller of diseases. Thieves rob them, when he is fearless that hath nothing which other men desire. He that hath little hath a light burden to carry, and little to care for. 8. And do you think that a man will die ever the more willingly or comfortably for being rich? No; the more they love the world, the more it teareth their hearts to leave it! Oh what a horror it is for a guilty, miserable soul, to be forced to quit forever all that he flattered his soul in as his felicity, and all that for which he neglected and sold his God and his salvation! No man till it comes can fully conceive the dismal case of a dying worldling. =========================================================== New Testament Study - Matthew 11:7-15 ===================================== The Greatness of John --------------------- 7As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 11I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15He who has ears, let him hear." In the first part of this chapter, the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus to ask: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" (vs. 3). Lest this question diminish the greatness of John in the eyes of the people (since it reflects a certain amount of weakness in his faith), Jesus in this passage begins by telling of the greatness of John the Baptist: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you. I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist" (vss. 7-11). Through a series of rhetorical questions, Jesus describes some attributes of John's character. He reminds the people of what they saw in John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?" They did not go into the wilderness to see a man who was fickle like a reed, or uncertain of himself. Nor did they go and see a man who was living comfortably as he preached: "If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces." The man they went out to see was a man who gave his life, his entire being, to the service of God. And John was more than just a faithful servant of God: "Then what did you go out to see? A prophet?" (vs. 9). John was a true prophet of God. He spoke the very words of God to the people. He was the first prophet of God for hundreds of years. God was silent in this respect from the time of Malachi to the time of John the Baptist. Beyond this, John was more than a prophet of God: "Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you'" (vss. 9-10). He himself was the fulfillment of prophecy, in addition to being a prophet. He fulfilled the prophecy in Malachi 3:1, as Jesus cited. John was the one sent as a forerunner for the Messiah, sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. This role made John the Baptist greater than any of the prophets who preceded him, as Jesus affirms: "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist..." But then, Jesus goes on to say something surprising: "...yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than [John]" (vs. 11). How can we be "greater than [John the Baptist]"? We who are "least in the kingdom of heaven" are "greater than [John]" in our knowledge about the totality of Jesus' ministry. This discourse of Jesus' concerning John was prompted by the questions that John asked through his disciples: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Matt. 11:3). Apparently, because of the nature of Jesus' ministry, John was having some doubts at this point in his life about whether Jesus was the total fulfillment of the Messianic promises. We have the privilege of looking back in history at the life and ministry of Jesus. John, as a prophet of God, was looking forward through the foggy eyes of prophecy. John's view of Jesus was colored by his incomplete understanding of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah. In his preaching, John emphasized the judgment role of the Messiah, at the expense of overlooking the prophecies about the grace and forgiveness that the Messiah would bring as He made a new covenant with the people of God. John preached: "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:11-12). We have nowhere evidence that John preached of the Messiah's humility, nor do we have evidence that John spoke of the Messiah suffering for our sins. We who look back at Jesus' life and ministry now understand that there were to be two visitations of the Messiah to earth. During the first, Jesus came in humility, and died for our sins. In doing so, He brought salvation to all who would believe in Him. In the next visitation, the Messiah will come in judgment. "John's question arose not from personal weakness or failure but from misunderstanding about the nature of the Messiah, owing to John's place in salvation history" [Carson, 263]. During Jesus' life on earth, a clearer understanding of the role of the Messiah was unfolding minute by minute. As Jesus explained: "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it" (vs. 12). Yet Jesus does not hold John's incomplete knowledge against him. On the contrary, Jesus reaffirms the importance of John. John was the last, and greatest, in the long line of Old Testament prophets: "For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John" (vs. 13). Moreover, if the children of Israel were "willing to accept" him as such, John was the fulfillment of the prophecies that said that Elijah would precede the coming of the Messiah: "And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear" (vs. 14). The statement of Jesus in verse 14 was very carefully worded. In Malachi, the coming of Elijah is prophesied to occur before the Messiah comes in judgment: "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes" (Mal. 4:5). Jesus here does not say unconditionally that John was the fulfillment of that prophecy. He says that John would have been the fulfillment, if the children of Israel were "willing to accept" him as such. Of course, in accepting John as Elijah, they would have had to accept Jesus as the Messiah. This, by and large, they did not do. God, in His perfect plan, arranged things so that the children of Israel would have no excuse not to accept Jesus as their Messiah. He even went to the trouble of sending an Elijah-like forerunner to the Messiah in order to encourage them to see Jesus as the Messiah. But the children of Israel rejected Christ. And so, it turns out, since the children of Israel were not "willing to accept" John as the forerunner to the Messiah, John was not the complete fulfillment of that prophecy. The Messiah will come again. And a prophet in the spirit of Elijah will also come at that time, as the forerunner for the Messiah. Oh Lord, come soon! =========================================================== A Topical Study - Loving God vs. Loving the World, pt. 21 ========================================================= [Here we continue our series that has the goal of increasing our love for God and the things of God, while decreasing our love for the world and the things of the world. This resumes a multi-part study by Samuel Annesley, in which he examines, in detail, the greatest commandment. In this study, Mr. Annesley lists concomitants to (that is, things that have agreement with) love to God.]-Ed. How May We Attain to Love God by Samuel Annesley (1620 -1696) ------------------------------- "Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment'" (Matt. 22:37-38, AV). CONCOMITANTS ------------ To all these effects add these concomitants, or those things that have agreement with, or are near of kin to, Divine Love. They do not really differ from it, only express some part or manner of it. In short, it is love under some other form or notion. I shall only mention two concomitants: 1. Devotion, which is an absolute delivering up of ourselves to God's worship and service, so as by no flatteries or dangers to be diverted.-"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all" (I Tim. 4:15). Herein lies the strength of religion, and the spiritual pleasure of it: herein the soul can say, with some kind of triumph, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Isa. 12:2,3). Christians, we must not only be barely frequent in religious actions; but we must act as those that are given up to God, we must mind the fervor of religion. We must be exceeding watchful over our thoughts, to keep them from vanity; and over our affections, to keep them from entanglement. I would therefore commend it to you, to single out, every morning, some short passages of scripture, or some encouraging promise that hath affected you, to roll in your minds, or to lie upon your hearts all day, to maintain this holy fervor: nothing works and keeps such an impression upon the heart as scripture. 2. The other concomitant is zeal, which is the most intense degree of desire and endeavor to please and honor God.-It is the boiling-up of the affections to the greatest heat: this must be the companion of every grace. Now, zeal is expressed against sin, or in duty: (1.) In the exercise of zeal against sin, I beg of you to observe this rule; namely, Whatever act of zeal you express toward others, double it first upon yourselves. Whatever evil you reprove, or would reform in others, be doubly strict against it in yourselves. This is Christ's counsel: "Cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (Matt. 7:5). Mine eye is not capable of having a beam in it; but a mote in mine own eye should be to me as a beam, in comparison of what it is in another's. Take a few scripture instances; for this had need to be inculcated in the present age. In case of dishonor done to God and yourselves, compare Moses's carriage. "Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses. And they said, 'Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us?' And the Lord heard it"; but Moses was as if he heard it not; for he was "very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth" (Num. 12:1-3). He was so indeed; but it was only in his own cause: when the glory of God is concerned, you will find him of another temper: "As soon as he saw the calf, and the dancing, Moses's anger waxed hot. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, 'Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me.' And he said, 'Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor,...'" etc. (Ex. 32:19,20,26,27). Here is one ice-cold in his own cause, firehot in God's. Take another instance, of Paul: "Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all" (Gal. 4:12). As if he had said, "The wrong you have done me, I count as nothing." But to Elymas, who would hinder the entertainment of the gospel, he saith, "Thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness," etc. (Acts 13:10); and he strikes him blind. I instance in these now, because I mentioned them before, as singularly eminent for their love to God. (2.) For zeal about duties I commend unto you this rule: In every duty you take in hand, endeavor to do it above your strength; not only to the uttermost of your strength, but above it. I bottom this rule upon the commendation given to the churches of Macedonia: "For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves" (II Cor. 8:3). My brethren, it becomes us in every thing of piety to pant after the utmost perfection attainable: "Not as though I were already perfect: but I labour after, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before," etc. (Phil. 3:12-14). And David saith, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (Ps. 69:9). In a word, we must not only be sometimes zealous under pangs of conscience, but always in the whole frame of our conversation: "It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing" (Gal. 4:18); and not only when a minister or some other is present who may commend you. =========================================================== A Study in Psalms - Psalms 44 ============================= Psalm 44 - God's People Under Heavy Trial - II ----------------------------------- For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. 1We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what You did in their days, in days long ago. 2With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers; You crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish. 3It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; It was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, for You loved them. 4You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. 5Through You we push back our enemies; through Your name we trample our foes. 6I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; 7But You give us victory over our enemies, You put our adversaries to shame. 8In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever. Selah 9But now You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go out with our armies. 10You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us. 11You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations. 12You sold Your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale. ---------------------------------- 13You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us. 14You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us. 15My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame 16At the taunts of those who reproach and revile me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge. 17All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten You or been false to Your covenant. 18Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from Your path. 19But You crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness. ----------------------------------------- 20If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, 21Would not God have discovered it, since He knows the secrets of the heart? 22Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 23Awake, O Lord! Why do You sleep? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever. 24Why do You hide Your face and forget our misery and oppression? 25We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. 26Rise up and help us; redeem us because of Your unfailing love. ------------------------------------------- (The study of this psalm was begun in the previous issue, and is continued here.) As noted in the previous issue, after verse 8, the tone of this psalm changes dramatically. The first eight verses speak of God's favorable intervention on behalf of His people. In fact, in verse 8, the Psalmist says confidently: "In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever." However, beginning in the very next verse, the Psalmist's confidence in God seems to have evaporated away. He laments: "But now You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go out with our armies. You made us retreat before the enemy, and our adversaries have plundered us. You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations. You sold Your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale" (vss. 9-12). Note first that, throughout the rest of the Psalm, the Psalmist ascribes the trials he is experiencing to the hand of God. He does not blame his enemies; he does not blame the accidents of blind fate; he blames God for his troubles. He says over and over in the rest of the Psalm (addressing himself to God): "You have... You have... You have..." And make no mistake: God is sovereign. He has control over everything that happens to us: the good and the bad. "Whatsoever calamity cometh upon us, howsoever, and for whatsoever cause, we may safely take God for the worker of all our woe; albeit the meritorious cause be in ourselves, the inflicting of the calamity is of the Lord; for there is no trouble in the city which the Lord will not avow Himself to be the inflicter of; for here the prophet puts all upon God: 'thou hast done it', five or six times" [Dickson, 248]. But since God does have control over our afflictions, He certainly can rid us of them. Underlying the petitions in this psalm is the faith of the Psalmist that God has the power to right the situation, should He choose to do so. Now, one might ask, "Why does God allow us to suffer?" The easiest answer to this is to ask back the following question to those who are parents: "Why, parents, do you allow your children to suffer?" From the child's point of view, he suffers many things at the hands of his parents: the pain of discipline, the discomfort of medicinal treatments, the frustration that comes through character-building, etc. I can truly say, as a parent, that my children "suffer" more (at least in the short term) because I love them, than they would if I didn't love them. It would be much easier for me, as a parent, to allow my kids to do anything they want. But I care for their long-term growth and happiness, so I cause them to suffer now. God has the same concerns for us. He cares for our long-term growth and happiness, so we suffer, at times. Our suffering is actually a sign of God's love for us. The Bible testifies to this: "My son, do not despise the LORD'S discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in" (Prov. 3:11-12); and also, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Heb. 12:7-11). The writer of this psalm is speaking for the children of Israel, as they are in the midst of what he sees as unmerited affliction. Rather than seeing the affliction as a sign of God's love, the Psalmist takes it as a sign of God's rejection: "But now You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go out with our armies. You made us retreat before the enemy and our adversaries have plundered us. You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations" (vss. 9-11). The Psalmist sees no positive side to the affliction they are facing: "You sold Your people for a pittance, gaining nothing from their sale" (vs. 12). As evidence of this, the Psalmist cites the disgrace and shame God's people face in being defeated: "You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us. My disgrace is before me all day long, and my face is covered with shame. At the taunts of those who reproach and reviled me, because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge" (vss. 13-16). However, we must remember that God has His purposes, purposes which are not always readily recognized by our mortal, fallen minds. "For our comfort let us rest satisfied that in reality the Lord is glorified, and when no revenue of glory is manifestly rendered to Him, He none the less accomplishes His own secret purposes, of which the grand result will be revealed in due time. We do not suffer for nought, nor are our griefs without result" [Spurgeon, 303]. The Psalmist is especially puzzled by the affliction because he sees the affliction as undeserved: "All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten You or been false to Your covenant. Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from Your path. But You crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals and covered us over with deep darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since He knows the secrets of the heart?" (vss. 17-21). The Psalmist goes on to lament the fact that the children of Israel are, in effect, martyrs for the Lord: "Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered" (vs. 22). The apostle Paul used this last verse to contrast the attitude of the Old Testament saint with the proper attitude of the New Testament saint: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Rom. 8:35-37). Paul saw victory through the affliction he faced. He saw himself as "more than a conqueror". Moreover, in contrast to the Psalmist, Paul felt the love of God even in the midst of persecution. He knew that no amount of persecution,-indeed, nothing "in all creation"-could separate him from the love of God (see Rom. 8:38). Paul affirmed that, even as we go through trials and persecution, the love of God is working. Any scars we receive we can treat as badges of honor. After all, Christ died for us. If our Lord suffered, can we not also expect to suffer? "True fidelity can endure rough usage" [Spurgeon, 304]. Besides, how can our faith be proven unless we endure hardship? It's easy to trust God when everything's going OK. No faith is needed in the good times. Untested faith is no faith at all. Though the Psalmist feels that the Lord has rejected the children of Israel, he apparently believes that God will listen to his prayers, for he ends the psalm with a prayer: "Awake, O Lord! Why do You sleep? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do You hide Your face and forget our misery and oppression? We are brought down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. Rise up and help us; redeem us because of Your unfailing love" (vss. 23-26). Though his soul may not feel it, the Psalmist knows in his mind that God's love is "unfailing".