Vol. 7, No. 19 Pastor: Rev. Garry Eriks Phone: (970) 667-9481
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Contents:
The Wonder of Christ's Coming
Christ's Sorrow Over Jerusalem's Sins
(3)
Is Fasting Required?
We should never forget that the coming of Christ at the end of the world is a wonder and a miracle-indeed the last this world shall ever see. It is a work of God and therefore wonderful in our eyes and something that transcends our understanding. In fact, all that belongs to the end of the world is a wonder-work of God, a miracle.
The signs of Christ's coming, the resurrection of the dead, the catching up the saints to be with Christ, the destruction of the old earth and heavens by fire, the final judgment and the glorification of believers, all belong to those things which are wholly unexplainable in terms of what is natural and earthly. They all belong to the realm of the supernatural, and are therefore received only by faith.
There are various Scripture passages that make it clear that this is true of the coming of Christ. For one thing, Revelation 1:7 testifies of the fact that "every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him" (cf. also Matt. 24:27, 30). Not only does this indicate that the general resurrection will have already taken place when Christ returns, but it shows that the coming of Christ is a miraculous work of God.
How it will be possible for every eye to see Him when He appears it is impossible to say, but we have no doubt that the Word of God speaks truly. Indeed, every eye must see Him, for He comes as the revelation of God, both for salvation and judgment. Every creature, living and dead, will be judged and so saved or damned in relation to Him!
Another passage which makes it clear that the coming of Christ is a miraculous and wonderful work of God Almighty is II Thessalonians 2:8, which speaks of the fact that the man of sin, the Wicked One, shall be destroyed by the very brightness of the coming of Christ. Again, it is difficult to know exactly how we are to understand this, but it nevertheless reminds us of the fact that the coming of Christ is no natural event.
The coming of Christ will be wonderful in another sense, however, that is, it will be the delight and joy of God's people (Rev. 22:20) and the terror of the wicked (Rev. 6:15-17). That it will be the fulfillment of all our hopes is marvelous, especially when we remember that we too must stand before the judgment seat and give an account of our works there. Even that can destroy the wonderful hope we have in Him. In fact, our salvation in and through the judgment is part of the miracle of grace.
It is for that coming, therefore, that we wait and watch and hope. Our whole life as believers can be described from this point of view-it all has as its goal and purpose the appearing of Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters to us so much as that. Take away the hope of the coming of Christ and nothing matters any more.
What this all adds up to is that the coming of Christ is part of the miracle and wonder of salvation. From the beginning of history God has revealed Himself as the only Savior in that He does for us what is utterly beyond the power or even the imagination of man. He saves us by the miracle of grace in Jesus Christ. The return of Christ is the final revelation of that great miracle of grace and mercy! Rev. Ronald Hanko
Christ's Sorrow Over Jerusalem's Sins (3)
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Matthew 23:37.
A reader asks: "Will you please re-explain this passage?" I am happy to do that because it is an important and interesting passage which has often been misinterpreted. Apparently, I explained the passage in an earlier issue, but that was long ago and it will not hurt to look at the passage once again. Note that a parallel passage is found in Luke 13:34.
* * * *
I have already called attention to the blatant Arminianism of those who argue for a well-meant offer of the gospel; and I have shown how these well-meant offer defenders misread this text to use it to prove their point.
I had turned to a positive treatment of the text so that we may know precisely what the text does teach.
It is clear from the text itself that the word "Jerusalem," which the Lord uses to address the city lying before Him, is used as the symbol of the nation of Judah, which was the church of the old dispensation.
I ended the last article on Mt. 23:37 with a reference to Galatians 4:21-27. I referred to this text because it speaks of Jerusalem with her children, and it is, therefore, important for an understanding of the passage in Mt. 23.
I want to quote the entire passage. "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband."
Several things about this passage are striking and worth our attention.
In the first place, Jesus was referring to what Paul calls "the Jerusalem which now is." That Jerusalem is compared, in the first place, with Hagar, Sarah's slave and with her son Ishmael. Of Ishmael it is said that he was born "after the flesh." That is, he was born in the purely natural way of procreation, as any child is born.
Both Hagar and Ishmael and the way Ishmael was born are also compared to Mt. Sinai, where the nation of Israel came under the law. So three things are compared here by Paul: Mt. Sinai, Hagar and Ishmael, and Jerusalem which now is with her children. That is, Jerusalem with her children are born according to the flesh under the law, and are, therefore, in bondage to the law, for "Mt. Sinai gendereth to bondage."
That is, briefly the idea here. Children born in a natural way are in bondage because they are under the law, and the law cannot save.
That was the Jerusalem of Jesus' day. It was in bondage to the law. It was forever attempting to gain salvation by keeping the works of the law. But such is forever impossible; and it was, in fact, in bondage.
It manifested the horror of its bondage by rejecting Christ, the One to whom the whole law pointed (Gal. 3:24).
But there is another Jerusalem, a Jerusalem which Paul says "is above." That Jerusalem also has children. It is the true Jerusalem of which the earthly Jerusalem is only a picture. It is the Jerusalem spoken of in the visions of the prophet John: "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev. 21:2).
That Jerusalem also has children. But these children are like Isaac who are born, not according to the flesh, but "by promise." That is, they are born by the power of the promise of God, and through the power of that promise they are born as children of the heavenly Jerusalem; i.e., they are regenerated as sons and daughters of God Almighty. The barren who can only bring forth children dead in sins and trespasses now brings forth many more children than any with a husband.
This is a beautiful and striking passage of the apostle Paul!
Now we must return to the passage in Mt. 23:37.
Jesus is addressing that apostate Jerusalem which was from below. Their house is left unto them desolate. They killed the prophets and stoned them who were sent to them. They will presently fill the cup of iniquity by killing the Christ. They are ripe for judgment because they seek their salvation by their own works and are smug in the satisfaction of their own work-righteousness. Their sin is very great.
But we still have a few more things to say about this passage, and it would be good for you to keep handy the three we have thus far written so that you can refer to them next time.
Prof. Herman Hanko
A friend has asked: "Are we, as Christians, missing many of God's blessings by not fasting? I understand that fasting is not a command, but would not our prayer life be better and pleasing to God if we were to fast?"
In answer, we would say, first, that we are not at all convinced that fasting is not a command in the NT. Fasting is mentioned about 30 times in the NT and there is not one passage that even suggests that fasting is no longer commanded or required by God, or even that it is something so unimportant that it may be neglected by Christians.
There are quite a number of passages which in one way or another make it clear that fasting is required in the NT as well as in the OT, the only difference being that there are not in the NT set fast-days. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, takes it for granted that His people fast (Matt. 6:16-18), when He sets forth rules for fasting. And, by setting fasting alongside of prayer in that same passage, He emphasizes its importance.
In Matthew 17:21, He as much as commands fasting when He assures us that it is a necessary weapon in the battle against Satan (cf. also Mk. 9:29). Likewise, in I Corinthians 7:5, the Apostle Paul assumes that husbands and wives do fast, something so important that it is the only thing besides prayer that may interfere with sexual relations.
In support of these commands, we have in the NT the examples of Jesus Himself (Matt. 4:2), the apostles (Acts 14:23; II Cor. 6:5; 11:27), the church (Acts 13:2,3), and individual believers (Lk. 2:37). Moreover, it is clear from the NT that fasting is important not only as an exercise in individual piety (Matt. 6:16-18; Lk. 2:37; I Cor. 7:5), but also in the work of the church (Acts 13:2-3, 14:23). The book of Acts indicates that it has an important role in the ordination of elders and deacons and pastors in the church.
In this connection, we might note that there is even some ground in the NT for declared fasts or fast-days by the church. This is certainly the position of the Westminster Confession of Faith (XXI, 5). There fasting is counted as a necessary part of religious worship, and "fastings and thanksgivings upon special occasions" are recommended.
There are different kinds of fasts mentioned in Scripture. There are public and private fasts, as we have seen. There are full and partial fasts (Ezra 10:6; Dan. 102,3), bread and water fasts as well as fasts in which one abstains from food altogether. But it is clear that Scripture promotes fasting.
That Scripture lays down certain rules for fasting (as in Matt. 6:16-18) is not to be misunderstood, therefore, as though Scripture discourages fasting. There can be no doubt that it is not only necessary, but profitable, and stands on a par with prayer, among the spiritual exercises to which we as Christians are called.
We must understand, however, that the profit of fasting is not in going without food for a period of time, but in the self-denial that is part of fasting. We fast by way of denying the flesh, and to give ourselves wholly to spiritual things. An empty belly in itself is not blessing, but becomes a blessing and a help, when our hunger pangs remind us that we must hunger and thirst after righteousness above all (Matt. 5:6) - that we cannot live by bread alone, but must live by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).
May God give us grace not to neglect this important spiritual exercise. Let us heed the command to turn to the Lord "with fasting" (Joel 2:12). Rev. Ronald Hanko
Last modified: 02-May-02