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God's providence—what is it? The Westminster Shorter Catechism has a clear and concise definition:
God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. (WSC 11)
In other words, since God is creator and ruler of all, everything that occurs happens according to his will, even things that appear to be and are awful. Even tragedies like war, crime, and the death of a loved one happen according to the will of God.
Yet, there are distinctions to be made. God is not the author of evil—Scripture is clear about that (James 1:13). God is perfectly and completely good and holy. Yet, God by his permissive will determines to allow for a time and purpose the sinful acts of humankind. The most notable example is the crucifixion of Christ Jesus:
"This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (Acts 2:23)
It was God's will that his Son die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins; yet, it was sinfully done by human hands. From this we vividly learn that even our own sinful acts can and are used by God for his purposes, which are always "holy, wise, and powerful."
So what are we to make of God's providence when hurt and pain and sadness come from tragedies in our lives? In the hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," written by William Cowper (1774), the last two stanzas help us answer this question:
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour.
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan his work in vain.
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
Cowper encourages us that, while recognizing the bud of some tragic and painful event in our lives may have a bitter taste, over time as the flower opens God begins to reveal the good he brings about through such suffering. God may show us the sweetness in full bloom, just as we see from Christ Jesus' resurrection after his crucifixion. The most terrible suffering and death of all time brings forgiveness, salvation, and love, even though at the time Jesus' crucifixion seemed the most unjust death imaginable.
Likewise, many of us can surely look back over our own lives and see in our past the failures and errors of trying to have things our way. We can see our sins and sad results in the lives around us while looking on our sin with guilt and regret and crying out to God for forgiveness and renewal. And as we reflect, we can see even the good that God's providence has brought about—stronger faith, greater dependence on God, and humility as we look on others who struggle like we have struggled.
God rules over all that happens, preserving us and governing everything that goes on. Knowing God is in control we can be encouraged that, even when we can't see what God plainly has in mind, we can patiently wait and trust in him that he is most wise, good, and loving in everything that comes to pass.
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Like a lot of American evangelicals, the faith I was taught as a teenaged convert was a sort of Dispensationalism. There were no charts that I recall, but I did learn that Jews are God’s earthly people and that the church is God’s spiritual people. I also learned that we are in “the church age,” which is a sort of parenthesis, until after the secret rapture, after the tribulation, and the re-institution of the temple and the sacrificial system.
What about Israel?
When I encountered Reformed theology and the Reformed Church, one of the first questions I asked my first Reformed teacher, Warren Embree, was, “What about Israel?” To which he replied, “the dividing wall has been broken down.” Again I asked, “But what about Israel?” Again he replied, “The dividing wall has been broken down.” A third time I asked, “Yes, but what about Israel?” and a third time he replied, “The dividing wall has been broken down.” Quite rightly Warren refused to accept the premise of my question.
That premise was that there are two peoples of God, an earthly people (ethnic Jews) and a spiritual people (Christians). To be honest, it was never entirely clear to me whether a non-Messianic Jew really needed to believe in Jesus to be saved. It seemed that it might be possible that one is saved by virtue of being ethnically Jewish. I am not necessarily attributing that view to Dispensational theologians but rather reflecting on popular Dispensationalism as it was mediated to me in the 1970s.
There is essentially one people of God.
In 1944 the (Southern) Presbyterian Church in the US (PCUS) published a Report on Dispensationalism which said, in part:
It is the unanimous opinion of your Committee that Dispensationalism is out of accord with the system of the doctrines set forth in the Confession of Faith, not primarily or simply in the field of eschatology, but because it attacks the very heart of the theology of our Church. Dispensationalism rejects the doctrine that God has, since the Fall, but one plan of salvation for all mankind. and affirms that God has been through the ages administering various and diverse plans of salvation for various groups…
The point of being a Dispensationalist is to highlight the diversity in the administration of salvation prior to the New Covenant. The Reformed Churches and theologians, particularly the American Presbyterians, have always affirmed unambiguously that for all the variety in the history of salvation—what we call the multiple administrations of the covenant of grace—there is one covenant of grace, one Savior, one way of salvation. There is essentially one people of God.
Believers in the Old Testament were all trusting Jesus, who was revealed to them under types and shadows.
Believers under the Old Testament, i.e., meaning believers in every epoch of redemptive history prior to the New Covenant, were all looking forward to Jesus’ coming. They were all trusting Jesus, who was revealed to them under types and shadows (Col. 2:17; Heb. 8 [all]). Types and shadows were revelations of future realities that were veiled or obscured. Another way to put it is to say that Christ was received by grace alone, through faith alone, in, with, and under types and shadows in the time of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the exile.
Perhaps the central issue between the historic Christian Church, going back as far as the Epistle of Barnabas (c. AD 120), Justin Martyr (c. AD 150), and Irenaeus, the Pastor (Episkopos) of Lyon (c. AD 170) and most forms of Dispensationalism is the latter’s doctrine of two peoples—earthly and spiritual.
The lynchpin: The dividing wall has been broken down.
The key passage that helped me to see the error of the “two peoples” approach to Christianity was Ephesians 2:14 where Paul says,
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.
It was to this passage that my friend Warren was referring when he said, “the dividing wall has been removed.” What “dividing wall”? Paul refers to a wall that separates two rooms. Who is separated from whom?
Go back to Ephesians 2:11. There Paul is addressing the problem of Jewish-Gentile relations in the church. The crisis facing the early church, which was predominantly Jewish, was this: Since the institution of circumcision, to begin with, and then with the imposition of the Old Covenant (the Mosaic covenant) at Sinai, the Gentiles (non-Jews) were made religiously and legally unclean.
Thus, by the time of the New Covenant there had been “enmity” (v. 15 KJV) between Jew and Gentile in some sense since the time of Abraham, before the institution of the Old Covenant and formally since the time of Moses. For 1500 years (since Moses) Jews had one stance toward Gentiles, and now with the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that, for Christians, had all changed.
The two have been made one.
It was confusing. Even the apostle Peter was briefly caught up in the controversy when he sided with the Judaizers by not eating with Gentile Christians (Gal. 2:11–14). He repented after Paul confronted him about it, but this was such a major problem that the church held its first ever Synod or Council in Jerusalem. There the church, including Peter, agreed that the ceremonial laws of Moses were no longer binding on Christians, and the council issued a few binding decisions: 1) that Christians abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols; 2) that Christians abstain from blood; and 3) that they abstain from sexual immorality (Acts 15:29). Of course, the moral law (love God with all your faculties and your neighbor as yourself, in force since creation, re-stated at Sinai, and affirmed by Jesus) was still in force.
These tensions are in the background of Ephesians 2:11–14. Paul reminds the Gentile Christians in the congregation (in Asia Minor) that under the Mosaic law they were the “uncircumcision” and therefore unclean. The Jews were “the circumcision.” One was formerly cut out, literally, and the other cut in to the visible people of God. The Gentiles were, Paul says, “separated from Christ” [Note well: the Gentiles were alienated from Christ because Christ was being received sola gratia, sola fide, under the types and shadows], “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12).
The Bible teaches a theology of expansion of Israel, not replacement.
“But now,” Paul says in one of his glorious reversals, “in Christ Jesus you [Gentiles] who were once far off have been brought near” (Eph. 2:13). In Colossians 2:11–12 he says that Christians, Jewish and Gentile alike, have been “circumcised” with a circumcision “made without hands.” Gentile Christians have been included in the people of God. This is a theology of expansion, not replacement. How have the Gentile Christians been brought near and included into the “covenants of promise”? “By the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13). He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Christ is “our peace” (Eph. 2:14). He has made Jewish and Gentile Christians one by breaking down in his flesh the enmity—the wall of partition—between Jew and Gentile. How? By abolishing the temporary ceremonial and civil laws that God had imposed under Moses (Eph. 2:15). To what end? That he might “create in himself one new man, in place of the two,” thus “making peace” (v. 15). By his death, Christ reconciled the Jewish Christian and the Gentile Christian into one body, through the cross, “thereby killing the hostility” (Eph. 2:16).
Christ died “once for all” (Heb. 10:10).
The great sin of Dispensationalism is that it rebuilds what Christ tore down in his own body on the cross: the wall of enmity and division between Jewish Christian and Gentile. This is clearly seen in the notion of a future rebuilt temple and a reinstitution of memorial sacrifices. No, Christ died “once for all” (Heb. 10:10).
In truth there was always only one people. Abraham was a Gentile when he came to faith (Rom. 4 [all]). He continued to believe when he was circumcised and became a Jew. So, as Paul says in Romans 4:11, Abraham is the father of all Christians—both Jew and Gentile. The separation between Jew and Gentile was always intended to be temporary. Circumcision (Col. 2:11–12) pointed to Christ. The Mosaic system pointed to Christ, in whom all the promises are yes and Amen (2 Cor. 1:20).
Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are one people.
All who believe in Jesus are Abraham’s children. The Mosaic system, which was a “ministry of condemnation” (2 Cor. 3:9), was temporary, but the Abrahamic covenant, renewed in the New Covenant (Gal. 3 [all]), is “permanent” (2 Cor. 3:11).
Gentile Christians are not second-class Christians. No one for whom Christ died, who is thus united to Christ, is a second-class Christian. Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are one people and shall remain so into eternity by grace and decree of our Savior, whose righteousness covers the sins of and makes legally righteous all his people from “every tribe, tongue, people, and nation” (Rev. 5:9).
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If you have been married for any length of time, it has likely happened that you and your spouse have not seen eye to eye on a particular subject. This can be especially tense when a decision needs to be made. So how does this play out in real life? Here are some practical tips for making good decisions that build up your marriage.
1. Listen attentively before commenting.
If your spouse would like to make a decision on a possible purchase, job or location change, or some other matter, stop what you are doing—or schedule a time when you can—and give your spouse full attention regarding the topic. While it can be easy to give a quick response of “No way!” “You’ve got to be out of your mind!” or “We can’t begin to afford that,” doing so diminishes your spouse’s idea and will likely result in a more strained decision process.
If you listen carefully and learn why your spouse is considering making this decision, you will at least show respect and a genuine concern for your spouse’s desire in this area.
2. Be honest about your view on the matter, and express it respectfully.
The following situation may occur in married life: Spouse #1 is very excited about a certain prospect. Spouse #2 withholds an opinion and goes along with what Spouse #1 wants to do to make Spouse #1 happy. If the decision turns out badly later on, Spouse #1 may rightly say to Spouse #2, “But, hon, I thought you wanted to do it too!”
Trust is built in a relationship when you are honest with each other regarding your views on a pending decision. Being transparent helps you both make a better decision. Express your position kindly, clearly, and respectfully in the decision-making process. If one of you decides to go ahead anyway against the other spouse’s advice and the decision is a poor one in retrospect, the other spouse should resist the urge to say, “I told you so.” Hopefully, the person who made the poor decision is more likely to heed his or her spouse's advice in the future.
3. Ask your spouse to consider alternative solutions.
If you don’t think your spouse’s proposed decision is a good idea, suggest some alternative solutions instead of criticizing the idea. Sometimes a person just needs time to think through a decision. Have you ever had something catch your eye in a store and felt that you just had to buy it, only to find a week later that you’ve completely lost interest in it? This could easily be the case with your spouse in considering making this particular decision.
Some alternative solutions regarding a purchase could be to shop other options (e.g. buying used or a do-it-yourself project) or wait for a possible sale. If a spouse wants to relocate, you could visit the area first, if funds allow. If your budget prevents a scouting trip, there are many ways to “virtually” learn about a place online. Look at a variety of websites that share the pros and cons of a particular area from a variety of perspectives, and don’t let other people rush your family on a decision that will have long-term ramifications.
4. Check with your spouse before discussing the matter with other people.
It can be very helpful to get outside input on decisions upon which a husband and wife cannot agree. You may know people who have excellent advice to give on a certain subject based on their career credentials or life experience. These people can help you and your spouse work through differences to come to an agreement on a decision. The Bible reminds us that
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. (Prov. 15:22)
Out of respect for each other’s privacy, you should check with your spouse before discussing any conflict with an outside party, unless there is an abusive situation occurring. This includes asking your spouse first before getting your children involved in a matter, whether they are minors or adults. No child likes being placed in the middle of a conflict or being used as a resource for parents to get their way.
5. Don’t badger, sweet-talk, cajole, or pout to get your way.
Sometimes husbands and wives resort to various tactics to persuade their spouse to agree with them on a decision. Don’t do this. Nobody likes being manipulated, and the likely result will be some level of bitterness and resentment unless the decision turns out to be a brilliant one in retrospect. Ask yourself, “Is this something I want more than my spouse’s happiness/peace of mind?” In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul exhorts Christians to put others first:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (Phil. 2:3)
A unilateral decision on a new job with higher pay and a bigger title might ease financial strains in the short run, but it may ultimately be destructive to a marital relationship if it means a move away from established support systems, lengthy separation due to travel requirements, or increased work pressures.
6. Put off the decision for another time, if possible.
If you and your spouse disagree on a matter, consider whether a decision really needs to be made right away. If you can wait, one or both of you may acquire more clarity on the matter and be happy that you didn’t rush into a decision. While it may seem as if another good deal or great opportunity won’t come along again, you don’t know the future, and things often have a way of working out in the long run.
Several years ago, my husband and I almost bought a house, but we felt it was too much money and decided not to proceed with the purchase. Later, the builder offered us the home at a greatly reduced price. At that point, we realized we were happy living in the smaller condominium we were renting and ended up buying it instead. We both needed to go through the process of deciding how we were going to live and what was important to us. Thankfully, we had learned from previous decisions—both good and bad—over the years and were able to make a more thoughtful and unrushed decision than we likely would have made earlier in our marriage.
7. Don’t be too quick to think you are right on a certain matter.
It is easy to think that we know what is best in various situations, but we should value the helpful counsel God provides to us through our spouses:
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. (Prov. 12:15)
A healthy marriage includes consideration of each spouse’s feelings as much as possible. When making a decision where there is not complete agreement, remember to pray to God, seek counsel from Scripture and wise people, and be loving and considerate of your spouse in the process. You can trust that God is ultimately in control, and he makes everything beautiful in his time (Eccles. 3:11). As the book of Proverbs reminds us:
Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Prov. 19:20–21)
While some decisions you make as a married couple won’t turn out the way you want, you can learn from all your decisions and grow in discernment together as you also grow in love for God and one another in the years to come.
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I remember a conversation during college in which a friend confessed to me that he did not think it was necessary, or even possible, for a believer to gain assurance of their salvation. I was surprised by his comments, especially because we were attending a Christian college that emphasized all the biblical truths related to assurance of salvation: election, grace, faith, repentance, substitutionary atonement, the fully deity and humanity of Christ, and eternal security.
As it turns out, this was not an isolated incident. Over the past several years as I’ve wrestled personally with the issue of assurance and had opportunity to speak to others about it, I’ve found that many Christians do not rightly understand the biblical basis or importance of this doctrine. Assurance is essential to genuine Christianity and central to the New Testament’s theological framework, yet plenty of Christians are content to walk through life without the sure knowledge that they belong to Christ. There are, of course, those who claim assurance who have no right to do so; but it seems that there are an equal number of professing Christians who have either resigned to the fact they will never have assurance or that they don’t really need it.
What is assurance?
When I use the phrase “assurance of salvation” I am referring to a professing Christian’s confidence that he is, through the gospel, presently in right standing with God and will, upon his death or at the return of Christ, enter into eternal life and be delivered from the penalty of eternal condemnation. Assurance is the present intellectual and heart-felt conviction that I am, at this moment and for eternity, at peace with the living God through Jesus Christ.
But is such assurance really that important? In light of our sin and struggles with faith, shouldn’t we be content with the reality that we may or may not achieve assurance in this lifetime? While Scripture acknowledges that we will wrestle with sin and a lack of faith, it also consistently calls professing believers to gain assurance of their salvation. Scripture doesn’t suggest that those who are without assurance of their right standing with God are not necessarily saved, but neither does it applaud those who lack it, as though being without assurance was a mark of spiritual humility and maturity. Here are five reasons why assurance is essential for the Christian life.
1. Assurance is God’s will for you.
The first reason we must say that assurance is essential for the Christian life is because assurance is God’s will for you. Listen to the language of the New Testament (emphasis added):
Colossians 2:1-3: For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Hebrews 6:11-12: And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 10:22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
1 John 5:13: I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
2. The Gospel is grounded in theological and historical certainties.
The second reason why assurance is necessary for the Christian is because our faith is based on theological and historical certainties. Christ’s work for our salvation was conducted and completed in real-time, historical events (Acts 26:26; Rom. 3:21-26). Our Savior offers salvation with sure and unshakable promises (John 5:24). Our salvation was prepared and provided by the God who cannot lie (Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18). Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost those who come to him (Heb. 7:25). Those whom Christ has called will never lose their salvation (John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:31-39). It is no exaggeration to say that the entire scheme of salvation is designed for the express purpose of providing the believer with the full assurance of his or her salvation.
3. Assurance is essential for true joy in God.
It is impossible to worship God if you have the suspicion that he is going to condemn you to eternal punishment. Assurance of our right standing with God, therefore, is essential to a life of authentic worship. It is no coincidence that Paul, throughout his New Testament writings, intertwines worship with theological affirmations that relate directly to our assurance (consider especially Romans 5:1-11 and Ephesians 1:1-14). Assurance and authentic worship are vitally related. You cannot have the latter without the former.
4. Assurance undercuts works-righteousness.
Our hearts are so bent on establishing our own righteousness that we will even reject true assurance of salvation if it gets in the way of our self-made religiosity. Horatius Bonar explains:
The self-righteous heart of man craves an interval [between faith and assurance] as a space for the exercise of his religiousness, while free from the responsibility for a holy and unworldly life which conscious justification imposes on the conscience. (The Everlasting Righteousness, p. 154; 1837 ed.)
Immediate assurance of salvation implies a vital connection with a holy God and thus imposes the biblical requirements for a holy life–not our self-righteous inventions–upon the believer. Assurance, therefore, cuts works-righteousness at its very root. In another passage, Bonar describes the person who is enjoying wholesome fruits that flow from assurance. This assurance, Bonar explains,
rescued him from all temptations to self-righteousness, because not arising from any good thing in himself; it preserved him from pride and presumption, because it kept him from trying to magnify his own goodness in order to extract assurance out of it; it drew him away from self to Christ; from what he was doing to what Christ had done; thus making Christ, not self, the basis and centre of his new being. (p. 154)
5. Assurance promotes spiritual diligence and decisiveness.
It is possible that those with a faulty understanding of assurance would be led into a life of spiritual ease and worldliness. “Let us sin that grace may abound!” But any assurance that tends toward spiritual laxity is merely a counterfeit of the genuine article. True assurance—confidence that the holy God of the universe has chosen us to inherit salvation through Christ—will lead without fail to a life of godly diligence. Consider the logic of Hebrews 6:11-12:
And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish [emphasis added], but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
To what does assurance lead? It leads to diligence in exercising faith and obedience as we anticipate our eternal inheritance. When we have assurance, we enjoy comfort of divine forgiveness and free justification. But these good gifts bear the fruit of spiritual zeal and a passion for holiness. In this way, assurance also promotes decisiveness in the Christian life. J. C. Ryle explains,
That a child of God ought to act in a certain decided way, they quite feel; but the grand question is, “Are they children of God themselves?” If they only feel they were so, they would go straightforward, and take a decided line. But not feeling sure about it, their conscience is forever hesitating and coming to a deadlock. The devil whispers, “Perhaps after all you are only a hypocrite: what right have you to take a decided course? Wait till you are really a Christian.”
I believe we have here one chief reason why so many in this day are inconsistent, trimming, unsatisfactory, and half-hearted in their conduct about the world. Their faith fails. They feel no assurance that they are Christ’s, and so feel a hesitancy about breaking with the world. (Holiness, p. 91)
If we are ever wavering between confidence and doubt with regard to our standing with God, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to be decisive in spiritual matters. Obedience often requires earthly sacrifice, and if we are unsure that we possess eternal life, we will be unable to endure earthly trouble for the sake of Christ.
Assurance is essential to the Christian life. If you have fallen into a pattern of doubt and have neglected the assurance of your salvation, let this be the day you heed the Scripture’s exhortations and, by God’s grace, find your footing through faith in God’s sure promises.
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Do you ever find yourself repeating the same things over and over to your children? When my kids were little, I often said "No" more times than I could count. Another favorite was "don't touch." These days, a phrase I often resort to is "because I said so."
My kids don't like that phrase, because it means the conversation is over. They view it as a cop-out, as a reason that's not actually a reason. I figure one day, they'll have kids of their own and then they'll understand why I say it. Similarly, God doesn’t always tell us why he is allowing certain circumstances to occur in our lives. Here are three reasons not to despise the Lord’s discipline.
1. God’s discipline means he is at work in the lives of his children.
These conversations I have with my children about rules and consequences, discipline and authority, often highlight for me my own heart and my own response to the way God works in my life. In truth, I find myself resistant to God's training and discipline. I find myself saying what my kids often say, "It's not fair." When hardships, trials, disappointments, and challenges come my way, I see them as things to avoid or resist or to find my way around. Other times, I look at hardships and challenges in my life as punishment for something I've done wrong. Perhaps I wasn't good enough at something and God is disappointed with me.
Seldom do I pause to consider, "What might God be doing here? What might he want me to learn? How is he using this situation to make me more like Christ?"
The writer to the Hebrews wrote a letter to Jewish believers exhorting them to persevere and run their race of faith with endurance. He taught them that Christ was greater than Moses, angels, and priests. He pointed them to Christ's sufferings for their sake and urged them to look to him in the face of their own trials and sufferings.
In chapter 11, we read about the hall of faith—a list of saints who lived by faith, most of whom did not see their reward in this life. Then, in chapter 12, the writer encouraged Jewish believers not to grow weary in their own race of faith. He wrote about God's discipline and encouraged them to cast aside their sin and stay in the race, remembering the gospel and what Jesus did for them. Because it's easy to grow weary, he reminded these Jewish believers of who they were as children of God.
Quoting Proverbs 3:11-12, the author wrote:
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Heb. 12:5-6; see also Prov. 3:11-12)
As believers, sometimes we take God's discipline lightly. We don't take it seriously. We dismiss it or overlook it. In doing so, we make light of God. We shrug our shoulders at sin as though it's not that big of a deal. But it is a big deal, such a big deal that Jesus came to die for our sins.
Other times, we may grow weary of the Lord's discipline. We may respond with despair. We might fret or worry about it. We may give up the fight in our battle against sin and think it's just too hard.
We may come to the point where we despise the Lord's discipline in our lives, and in so doing we miss out on the good things God is doing in and through it. The writer to the Hebrews cautions us against these responses. Instead, we need to look at the Lord's discipline as a good thing.
2. God’s discipline is good.
Why is God's discipline good? It is good because it comes from our Father:
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (Heb. 12:7-8)
God doesn't punish us for our sins; rather, Jesus took our punishment for us at the cross:
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)
So when hardship or trials enter our lives, it's not because God is punishing us for something we've done. We may experience the natural result or outcome of sinful behavior, but that is not punishment. Instead, God disciplines or trains us because we are his children. The author of Hebrews refers to our sonship—our adoption as children in the family of God.
While earthly parents discipline their children as they think is best, our Father in heaven always disciplines us for our good. His discipline is always perfect, right, and true. He knows exactly what we need. He knows the best circumstances, lessons, challenges, and training methods. When God disciplines us, it is a sign of our adoption—a sign that we are legitimate children of God.
As Matthew Henry wrote concerning Proverbs 3:11-12:
That it is a fatherly correction; it comes not from his vindictive justice as a Judge, but his wise affection as a Father. The father corrects the son whom he loves, nay, and because he loves him and desires he may be wise and good...This is a great comfort to God’s children, under their afflictions...That they not only consist with, but flow from, covenant-love.
3. God’s discipline has an eternal purpose.
God's discipline has to do with our holiness, in making us like Christ. It has an eternal purpose; God is preparing us for heaven:
For they [earthly fathers] disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb. 12:10-11)
Just as preparation for a race involves hard work and sometimes even painful moments as our bodies resist the push to go faster and harder, there is hard work involved in our spiritual training. Sometimes painful work. As God strips away our sinful desires, longings, thoughts, behaviors, and habits, it will hurt at times. But ultimately, it will produce a harvest of righteousness. Like runners who rejoice when they arrive at the finish line, we too will rejoice when we see the end result of God's discipline: our holiness.
When we find ourselves weary from discipline, when we are tempted to avoid, shrug off, or even despise God's discipline, we need to look to Christ,
"[T]he founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:2)
Jesus will see to it that we endure, that we make it to the finish line. And when we do, we'll marvel and wonder at his grace. We'll rejoice when we see who we've become. So don't give up. Keep running.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.
Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God numerous times during his earthly ministry. What is the kingdom of God, and what is its significance for Christians in this world?
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." (Luke 17:20-21)
God's kingdom doesn’t grow by the might or power of earthly rulers.
At the time Jesus did his ministry work, people were expecting the Messiah to usher in a glorious earthly kingdom. Instead, Jesus came to be a suffering servant, taking upon himself the punishment we deserved and dying the humiliating death of crucifixion that we might live, and the story doesn't end there.
Jesus was raised from the dead and he ascended to heaven, and the glorious kingdom of God is indeed growing—but not in a way that is admired by the world:
He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." (Luke 13:18-19)
The kingdom of God and the goal of creation are inextricably connected.
God's kingdom is growing not by the might or power of earthly rulers but rather by the Holy Spirit's work in regenerating people to new life in Christ through the faithful proclamation of God's word (Matt. 28:18-20).
According to New Testament scholar S. M. Baugh in his book The Majesty on High: Introduction to the Kingdom of God in the New Testament, "the kingdom of God is the new creation" (Kindle loc. 165-166). Baugh elaborates regarding God's purpose in creation:
As the center of the Scriptures the kingdom of God in its consummate form was the goal of creation with Adam and Eve from the beginning, which was ruined by Adam's fall into sin. At his resurrection and enthronement to God's right hand, the Lord Jesus Christ inaugurated the new creational kingdom as Last Adam and assumed kingship over it as the God-man. He now rules over the kingdom of God in such a way that he allows his enemies to continue in rebellion in this current period (Psalms 2 and 110) until the conclusion or consummation of this age at his second coming. (Kindle Loc. 331-335)
The kingdom of God will continue to grow until Christ’s second coming.
In this time between the inauguration and consummation of God's new creational kingdom, Christians aren't called to sit idly by, waiting for Jesus to come in the clouds. Neither are believers called to help usher in the new creation by their own works on this earth. Rather, as James Davison Hunter writes in his book To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, Christians are called to practice "faithful presence" in the world by pursuing "the welfare not only of those of the household of God but of all," focusing especially on loving service in the locality in which God has placed them (pp. 253-54).
Christ is building his church at this very moment by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 16:18; John 3:5-8; 16:5-15), and the kingdom of God will mercifully continue to grow until Christ's second coming:
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Pet. 3:9)
As citizens of God's kingdom, Christians are called to live faithfully in this world that is passing away.
Every believer is part of the new creation at this very moment, and one day Jesus will return to consummate his kingdom and bring us all into glory. We will be Christ's beautiful bride, adorned by God himself, and will gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and live forever in his presence.
For the time being God has called us as believers to be faithful in prayer, in loving God and the saints, in sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in loving and serving our neighbor, in fleeing from sin and temptation, in patiently enduring all trials and sufferings, and in rejoicing with thankful hearts that we are citizens of a glorious kingdom that will endure forever. May we continue to exclaim along with the apostle John in Revelation 22:20, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"
This article is adapted from “‘The Kingdom of God Is in the Midst of You’” from BCL’s December 2022 monthly newsletter.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.
Even though my wife and I have both been Christians for more than three decades, neither of us was raised in a Christian home. When we married back in the 1980s, we dreamed of imparting a lifelong faith to our children and thus helping sustain Christ’s kingdom for the next generation. But it didn’t work out that way. Despite bedtime prayers, careful church attendance, family Bible reading, and a firm commitment to living out the faith, neither of our two adult children is currently following Christ.
Since I am personally quite self-critical, it has been hard not to excoriate myself for this painful reality—so I strive to acknowledge God’s sovereignty in all things, especially salvation (see, for example, Romans 9:6-18). Yet at the same time, I can easily identify many things we did—or did not do—that may have contributed to our sons’ departure from the faith.
I hope to see others avoid such an outcome. In that light, here are seven parenting errors that can influence adult children to turn their back on Christ:
1. Emphasizing rules over relationships…
…so that your kids focus on obedience, rather than love.
Christian households need rules, but rules divorced from context—rules for their own sake, without any sense that one is serving or pleasing God by doing this or not doing that—can be demoralizing and confusing for children. As an example, parents might rigorously overemphasize the Sabbath, laying down numerous strictures about what the kids are not allowed to do on Sundays, without bothering to fill the day with joy, worship, and family time.
And when such rules are broken, emphasizing shame and disappointment rather than grace and forgiveness makes the matter even worse. Christian precepts should be an opportunity to draw close to God and one another, even when we don’t keep them.
2. Being judgmental toward others…
…so your kids feel they can’t share their struggles with you.
When our older son was around 14 years old, he realized he was starting to feel same-sex attraction. Much later, he recounted how—on the very day he figured this out—my wife and I said something derogatory about a well-known lesbian celebrity. What he heard was, “We don’t like her; she’s gay.” In retrospect, our attitude communicated to him he could not reveal this part of himself to us—which he didn’t for over ten years.
If you regularly condemn a wide range of sins in others, then your kids may never open up about their own failures and temptations, since they won’t want similar judgments falling on them.
3. Assuming they are Christians…
…rather than working to evangelize and disciple them regularly.
Many parents take their kids to church and get them to make a definite decision for Christ at a very young age—and then just assume that this will “take”—as if a few Sunday school lessons spent coloring, gluing, and eating animal crackers will inoculate them against a culture that ceaselessly attacks faith on every level.
When parents set all their hopes on the verse “The promise is to you and your children” (Acts 2:39), they may be tempted to ignore all the other passages about child-rearing. They assume the misleading adage “let go and let God” means their kids will be just fine. Yet, God often works through the ordinary means of godly parents whom he calls to disciple their children.
4. Keeping church and devotions hermetically sealed…
…and not talking about spiritual things at other times of the day.
In keeping with the emphasis on rules, parents could insist on regular family devotions and unflagging church attendance, without considering that these alone may not be sufficient to meet the child's spiritual needs They may even check off these duties on their to-do list, then go right back to work, school, and hobbies without applying spiritual truths to any of these areas.
They don’t consistently take seriously the verse in Deuteronomy about God’s laws—the one that commands us to “talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:7). If they did, they would be applying it on a daily basis so that God’s word would be real and fruitful in their children’s lives.
5. Attending a church with no one their age and no youth program…
…so they can’t develop any meaningful Christian relationships.
To further build on the erroneous idea that religion is divorced from real life, some parents don’t work at encouraging their kids to have any worthwhile personal connections at church. If they settle on a church with no youth program—or worse yet, a church with no one in their children's age range—then the kids won't have any peers with whom they can be comfortable throughout their childhood years.
If they start to develop such relationships with members of the opposite sex, some parents are quick to squelch this due to the possibility of such friendships leading to “inappropriate” behavior. One highly possible outcome of this kind of isolation may be that the only real friends they have—the only ones who will love and accept them without judging—are all non-Christians.
6. Avoiding conversation about sex…
…so they think it’s unseemly, and instead they learn about it from sources that are morally bankrupt.
A counselor I know has often observed that sexuality runs deep. Making it “off limits” in terms of discussion may convince kids that this important part of life also has no intersection with faith or Scripture or the church. Whatever is happening in that area of their lives then becomes a fertile ground for doubt and disconnection: “I can’t possibly be a Christian if I feel this way, and there is no place for me in the congregation.”
This may be one reason our older son is about to marry his same-sex partner, while the younger has roundly condemned what he now refers to as our “sex-silent household.” Sexuality is one of the best things God made, but if parents don’t talk about it frankly with their kids, they will get their information from the Internet, media, and ill-informed friends. And when sexual desires begin asserting themselves, the resulting shame and curiosity may continue to alienate them from their parents, the church, and even from Christ.
7. Suspecting their children are struggling with their faith but failing to ask them about it…
…and instead making sure they struggle on alone.
Sooner or later, every child in a Christian home has doubts and questions—sometimes from a very young age. If parents create a family atmosphere where it’s never okay to express these feelings, children will suspect that what the parents want most is not a genuine relationship but rather a “perfect Christian family” without any problems or struggles.
These parents discourage their children from inquiring about their possible doubts—about why they don’t seem to want to go to church, or why obedience is so hard and so rarely successful. Instead of walking with them through areas of discomfort, anger, sin, or rebellion, parents may just “go through the motions” of church and family devotions until their children are out of the house and don’t have to pretend anymore.
By then it will be too late: These parents won’t have a “perfect” Christian family any more. Because they never did.
Once parents find that their kids aren’t believers, the father and mother may blame each other for all the things they did wrong. They may spend weeks, months, or years recriminating themselves, feeling hopelessly guilty and being angry with God for not keeping his promises. They may even draw apart from their kids, condemning them for being so different and insisting that they were failures as parents (with the corresponding implication that their children must be failures, too). Sadly, they may even lose hope that God can bring them back one day, and instead they may sink into despair in the soul-killing certainty that their children are surely going to hell.
Somehow my wife and I, by God’s grace, managed to avoid the pitfalls described in the above paragraph. We still have fairly solid relationships with our children. Even though we may have failed as parents in many ways, I am thankful that we both continue clinging to God’s faithfulness. He is indeed still sovereign in all things—including our children’s salvation.
As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.”
This article was originally published on August 30, 2018.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.
What power has God given to the church? This question is addressed in Revelation 11.
Revelation 11 tells us about the power and the task God has given to his church.
The vision John receives reveals the power and the task that God has given to his church, as well as the manner in which that power is expressed. This is crucial for us in that it not only directs us how we should live as the church and informs us on the nature of church power, but it strengthens us as this power is largely invisible to the eye, especially the world’s eye.
“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.” (Rev. 11:3-6)
Since the beginning of chapter 10, our Lord has revealed himself as the conquering faithful witness in the gorgeous majesty of the Angel of the Lord. And as the prophetic Glory-Angel, Jesus then commissioned John in his image. Dramatized in the taking and eating of the scroll (Rev. 10:8-11), John was commissioned as the apostolic witness to preach the gospel to all people, even amid the trampling of the Gentiles. John had the bittersweet message and experience of preaching the gospel in a fallen world and a mixed church. In chapter 11 this vision progresses to focus more specifically on the church. The movement of chapters 10 and 11 carries us from Christ to John to the church.
The two witnesses are symbolic of the whole church.
The giving of authority and prophesying to the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3 matches John’s taking the scroll and call to prophesy in the previous chapter. Yet, the doubling of the witness is symbolic of the whole church.
According to the Old Testament law, a charge had to be established by at least two witnesses: “Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established” (Deut. 19:15). The two witnesses symbolize the church’s legally valid testimony.
The church, then, is a witnessing community being called to preach God’s truth and gospel. The church testifies that the Triune God is the only God of heaven and earth and that Jesus is the only Savior and King. She announces the truth of not belonging to this world, but to the Lord both body and soul.
The 1,260 days of Revelation 11 is another perspective of the same period of time in Daniel 12.
“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Rev. 11:3)
Note the duration of their prophetic witness—it lasts 1,260 days. Based on a 30-day month, this is equivalent to 3 ½ years or 42 months. This time length refers to the same period of a time, times, and half a time from Daniel 12, which refers to the church age (between the rising of Christ and the resurrection of the wise ones).
The 42 months of trampling is the same period as the 1,260 days of testimony—the church age. Thus, in Revelation 11:3 the two witnesses symbolize the church with its great commission identity set between the first and second comings of Christ.
The two olive trees and two lampstands are connected to Zechariah 4.
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (Rev. 11:4)
More is revealed about the church and its prophetic task in verse 4. The two witnesses are said to be the two olive trees and two lampstands, and this comparison is dependent upon the vision in Zechariah 4 with its two olive trees and lamp. The lamp there was the menorah, and it was symbolic of the whole temple.
The lamps of ancient times burned oil similar to our oil lamps, but they used olive oil. In Zechariah, the two olive trees next to the menorah provide a constant flow of oil so that the menorah light would not go out. Like a battery that never needs recharging, the menorah had an endless supply of fuel.
The church is pictured here as Spirit-filled in order to testify to God’s truth.
What is the significance of this in Zechariah? The Lord tells us in Zechariah 4:6, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.” The light of the menorah points to God’s true word as it shines through God’s servants; and the ever-abundant flow of oil points to the perfect and sufficient work of the Holy Spirit.
This is the imagery that John is using, with the number of lamps being doubled to fit the witness motif. The church is pictured here as Spirit-filled in order to testify to God’s truth. Being empowered by the all-sufficient Spirit of God, the church shines forth the light of God’s true word.
Being built up in and on the Light of the world, the church testifies to the Light.
Now in Zechariah 4, the light-giving menorah fed by the olive trees is particularly a picture of God’s word to Zerubbabel, the Davidic governor who would lay the foundation of the temple. This Zerubbabel, then, prophetically pictured the person and work of Christ. Christ even acknowledged this fulfillment when he said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
Jesus Christ is the One and True Light of the world. He laid the foundation of God’s temple people through his own death and resurrection, and all who come to him in faith are founded upon him. Therefore, being built up in and on the Light of the world, the church testifies to the Light. The Light of Christ shines through us as his temple people.
The two witnesses are covenant prosecutors giving legally valid testimony.
And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. (Rev. 11:5)
What is the effect of the ministry of these two witnesses? What role and power does the church’s menorah-testimony have? What is demonstrated by where the two witnesses stand and what they are able to do?
First, the two menorahs stand before the Lord of the earth (Rev. 11:4). This is a legal and judicial stance. The title “Lord of the earth” highlights God as the Sovereign Judge; to stand before him is to be his witnesses, his prosecutors. Their legally valid testimony becomes the basis for the Lord’s judgment.
Second, we learn in verse 5 what the witnesses can do to those who desire to harm them. To harm the witnesses is to reject their message in hatred and hostility so as to desire their end. And what happens to such rejecters? “Fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.”
The “fire” from the mouth of the witnesses refers to the power and effect of the word.
This is not fire from heaven but from the mouth of the two. This is not literal fire or a physical burning. Rather, fire from the mouth is like the sword issuing forth from the mouth of the Son of Man. It refers to the power and effect of the word.
This imagery is found when the Lord speaks to Jeremiah about his prophetic ministry, as he says in Jeremiah 5:14, “Behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.” This fire refers to the judging and condemning effect of the prophetic word.
So also, for those who reject the testimony of the two witnesses, the church’s preaching condemns and judges them unto death. Their testimony convicts; it leaves the rejecter guilty and under the curse of eternal fire.
The two plagues recall the ministries of Elijah and Moses, the two great Old Testament prophets.
They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. (Rev. 11:6)
These two plagues recall the ministries of Elijah and Moses, the two great Old Testament prophets. It was Elijah who shut the heavens so that no rain fell on Israel for three-and-one-half years; and it was Moses who turned the waters of the Nile to blood. Both of these plagues were done because Israel/Egypt refused to heed God’s word; they were curses that sealed Israel/Egypt for judgment.
So also the prophetic power of the church places those who reject the light of the Lord under a curse, sealing them for judgment. Again, the church does not literally stop rain or turn water into blood; rather, the Old Testament prophetic ministries are pictures of what the church does spiritually, though very much real.
Indeed, the two witnesses’ ability to strike the earth with plagues matches the overall imagery and purpose of the trumpet cycle (Rev. 8:2-11:19). God executed the trumpet plagues, tied to the Exodus plagues, on the unbelieving world in answer to the prayers of his people.
Just as Moses and Elijah prayed to execute the plagues, so also when the church prays for justice and relief from persecutors the Lord answers with the trumpet plagues, which keep the earth dwellers in their unrepentance and so sealed for judgment.
Now that the Last Adam has come, the world is judged particularly by their relationship to him.
For the unbelieving world and the apostate church, the two witnesses have the role of covenant prosecutors. The witness ministry of the church prosecutes the covenant wherein the world is judged. And by what standard is the world judged? They are judged under the broken covenant of works in Adam as it is revealed in nature and in our conscience.
Yet, a dimension has been added now that Christ has come. Listen to what Paul says in Acts 17: 30-31:
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
The world lies condemned under the first Adam, but now that the Last Adam has come, the world is judged particularly by their relationship to him. Note what our Lord says in John 3:19-20:
“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.”
The church’s prophetic witness concerning Christ is the basis for the eternal condemnation of the unrepentant.
The church prosecutes the covenant wherein the world will be judged—its menorah testimony will be the legal testimony that establishes the charge against the unbelieving earth dwellers. This is the point of the “life for life, eye for eye” justice found in verse 5. Just as the unrepentant rejecters seek to destroy the spiritual life of the two witnesses, so they will be consumed by the fire that brings spiritual death.
This standard of justice belongs only to the Last and Final Day, when the Lord will repay the unbelievers according to their deeds. The church does not and cannot use physical force or violence now. Yet, for those who refuse to repent, the church’s prophetic witness concerning Christ is the basis for their eternal condemnation.
In these last days, it becomes clear how carefully we should heed the discipline and ministry of the church.
From this picture of the church and its God given power in these last days, it becomes clear how carefully we should heed the discipline and ministry of the church. Indeed, the church pictured here as the two menorah witnesses is a dramatic demonstration of the keys that Jesus gave to his church in Matthew 16:19:
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Here Christ says that whatever the church binds on earth is bound in heaven and whatever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven. This means the Lord records as legally binding the testimony of the church. He heeds the church’s true testimony. It is to the creeds and confessions (as they are consistent with Scripture) the church has confessed in unity for centuries that we should believe and submit.
True, the church does err and only the Scriptures are inspired; nonetheless, we should never be flippant or lighthearted towards the testimony of the church. Our normal demeanor and stance should be one of respect, humility, and carefulness. For the Lord has placed his church before him as his two prophetic witnesses by whose testimony concerning Christ he will judge the world.
The primary purpose of the church’s menorah testimony is not to serve judgment but to serve redemptive grace of God in Christ.
Now, as you can see, Revelation depicts the identity and power of the church here particularly in terms of judgment. And this is because the context is focusing on the effect the church’s witness has on those who reject its word and seek to harm the two witnesses. The unbelieving Gentiles’ trampling of the holy city is the canvas upon which the two witnesses are painted. Yet, we should not take this to mean that the only or even primary role of the church’s mission is judgment. Rather, the primary purpose of the church’s menorah testimony is to serve the redemptive grace of God in Christ.
This is exposed in two ways here, first, by what the two witnesses are wearing. They are clothed in sackcloth, which is the typical prophetic garb. It is what Elijah and John the Baptist wore. But there is a reason for this.
Sackcloth is the garment of mourning and repentance. To put on sackcloth was a sign of repentance—that one was guilty of sin and so mournful for one’s sin and the coming judgment that one deserved. The ministry of the two witnesses is one of repentance—the free offer of forgiveness if one will repent of one’s sins. Judgment has its place, but the main force is that there is deliverance from judgment.
To repent is to be absolved from guilt—free from condemnation. The church proclaims the grace of Jesus Christ, by which we are forgiven, cleansed from sin and delivered from judgment. There is no condemnation or wrath for those who are repentant in Christ through faith.
Through the menorah testimony of the church, you are delivered from darkness and ushered into the Light of Life.
Secondly, these sackcloth-adorned witnesses bear the menorah light. They belong to the true Light of the World, Jesus Christ himself. Jesus is the Truth and Light of the Living God that brings life to all who believe in him. As Jesus said of himself,
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Through the ministry of the church, the Lord grants you the very life of Christ, the Holy Spirit who lives in you. The Spirit of Christ nourishes you with all of Christ’s benefits and God’s grace and mercy so that you can live by faith and please God.
Through the menorah testimony of the church, you are delivered from darkness and ushered into the Light of Life, Truth, and Grace. You are made living stones in God’s heavenly temple. This is the primary purpose of the church’s prophetic witness in these last days—in the “today” of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2).
God granted the church this menorah and sackcloth ministry.
Therefore, the call to be part of the church’s menorah light and to heed its prophetic witness is not burdensome but a joy. God granted the church this menorah and sackcloth ministry primarily to give you the salvation of Christ and to assure and comfort you in that salvation.
Indeed, as we experience more and more of the bitterness of being “trampled underfoot by the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24), we grow weary and discouraged. Evil and wickedness abound in the world. Immorality and false teaching continue to take root in the church. The saints are persecuted and treated as the wicked should be. We commit sins after years of being in the faith, and we wonder, “Can Christ really forgive me for this? I am too sinful; surely I am outside the purview of God’s grace.”
But among all this bitterness, the Lord reminds us that his witnessing church stands before him. The Lord’s word, full of light, shines through his servants so that what is bound on earth is so bound in heaven. Remember what the Lord said in John 20:21-23,
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you….Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
The two olive tree menorah witnesses symbolically present the great commission identity of the church.
The message we preach is Christ, the cross of our Lord. The life we live is the life of Christ. It is the Spirit of the Resurrected Christ who fills up and empowers us and recreates us into the image of Christ as faithful witness. Yes, this is our identity as the body of Christ. This is who we are and what we are called to do. These two olive tree menorah witnesses symbolically present the great commission identity of the church empowered by the Lord with his light-giving Spirit.
