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Contents:
Receiving Preaching as the Word of God (1)
The Eternal Covenant With Levi (3)
Gods Will to Save All Men (2)
Receiving Preaching as the Word of
God (1)
In response to detractors in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul affirmed that he did not preach his own opinions but the pure Word of God: "when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh in you that believe" (I Thess. 2:13).
The Word of God mentioned here is not simply the Word of God written (the OT) for Paul tells us that he spoke (4) and "preached" (9) it. Thus the Thessalonians "received the word of God which ye heard of us" (13). The word "us" (13) indicates that not only Pauls preaching but also that of Timothy and Silvanus (or Silas) (1:1) was the Word of God. In fact, God speaks His Word through all preachers "sent" by Christ who faithfully expound the Scriptures (Rom. 10:14-15). I Thessalonians 2:13 calls preaching "the word of God" twice adding that it is the Word of God "in truth." Thus the Second Helvetic Confession (1566) declares, "The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God." The Westminster Larger Catechism states, "It is required of those that hear the word preached that they ... receive the truth ... as the word of God" (A 160).
The doctrine that the faithful preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God requires clarification. Does it not confuse preaching and the Bible, some might ask? Indeed, preaching and the Bible need to be distinguished. The Bible is the Word of God written; preaching is the Word of God preached. The Bible is infallible; preaching is fallible. The Bible is the standard for truth; preaching needs to be tested by the standard of Scripture. Preaching is the Word of God in a derivative sense taking its authority from the Bible.
Though the Scriptures are sufficient as Gods written revelation, Christ has instituted the visible church as the pillar and ground of His truth (I Tim. 3:15) to hold it up in the world chiefly by preaching, the proclamation of Gods Word. Faithful preaching opens up, explains and applies the written Word, for as the Westminster Confession states, "The whole counsel of God ... is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture" (1:6). As a faithful exposition of the Word of God by a sent and ordained man, preaching is the Word of God. In faithful preaching, God speaks; Christ speaks; the Holy Spirit speaks.
In a synagogue in Thessalonica, for "three sabbath days [Paul] reasoned with [the Jews] out of the scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ" (Acts 17:2-3). This preaching "is in truth, the word of God" (I Thess. 2:13). Rev. Angus Stewart
The Eternal Covenant With Levi (3)
For thus saith the Lord; David
shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall
the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat
offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah,
saying, Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of
the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my
covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his
throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers (Jer. 33:17-21).
The question that was submitted
with this text is: "How has the promise to the Levites been fulfilled?"
We ended our discussion of this
passage from Jeremiah in the last News by pointing out that the promise of God is really a
promise of the full realization of His covenant of grace; that, indeed, the text itself
speaks of Gods covenant, though it refers to Gods covenant with the creation.
We also noticed that God reveals to Judah that the covenant rests upon His faithfulness
and His work. Just as man is unable to break Gods covenant of the day and of the
night, so man is unable to break Gods covenant with His people. Hence, His promise
to restore the monarchy of David and the priesthood of Levi will surely be fulfilled.
What a great comfort that was
to Judah and is to us! Judah was unfaithful. The nation broke Gods covenant and
worshipped idols. The nation brought upon itself the fierce wrath of God resulting in the
captivity. From every human point of view, that was the end of the nation. But God is
faithful. He will not forget His covenant. He maintains it as surely as He maintains the
cycle of day and night in the creation!
So also for us the same is
true. Many want to make Gods covenant with His people a conditional covenant. In
that case, the realization of Gods covenant rests upon our fulfillment of the
conditions attached to the covenant. How utterly hopeless! How hopeless for Judah about to
go to captivity as the just reward of their terrible sins. How hopeless for us who always
transgress Gods covenant and make ourselves unworthy of His blessing! But God
maintains His covenant! That is the great theme of this text.
What is that final fulfillment
of the prophecy of Jeremiahof which we have spoken so frequently? The prophecy is
specifically said to be "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the
house of Israel" (17); and, "Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man
before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice
continually" (18). In other words, there will be an everlasting establishment of the
throne of David and an everlasting restoration of the Levitical priesthood.
It is clear that this
fulfillment takes place in the coming and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is this so
strange? Was this so strange to the elect in Judah? That remnant who looked with longing
to the day when the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent? Was it strange
to that small number of elect who knew that their full salvation had to come from God
alone?
The Scriptures are clear that
Christ is the fulfillment of this promise. Christ is the fulfillment of the promise made
to David: "Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help
upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David
my servant ... Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My
mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His
seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven" (Ps.
89:19-20, 27-29).
And then we read these glorious
words of Gods faithfulness in contrast to our unfaithfulness: "If his children
forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my
commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with
stripes. [This threat, for Judah, was the captivity.] Nevertheless my lovingkindness will
I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not
break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness
that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun
before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon [cf. Gods covenant with the
day and with the night, in Jeremiah 33:20], and as a faithful witness in heaven" (Ps.
89:30-37).
No wonder the angel Gabriel, in
informing Mary that she was to be the mother of Christ, said to her, "Fear not, Mary:
for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and
bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called
the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father
David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall
be no end" (Luke 1:30-33).
The prophecy of Jeremiah was
fulfilled in the coming of Christ! In Him God establishes the heavenly kingdom of which
Judah was but a dim picture.
When one of the elders came to
John to tell him that One who was worthy was found to open the book of Gods counsel,
he tells John, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David,
hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof" (Rev. 5:5).
When Christ Himself closes the book of Revelation and promises the church that He will
come to bring her to glory, he says, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto
you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright
and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come ..." (22:16-17).
Prof.
Herman Hanko
Gods Will
to Save All Men (2)
Last time we saw that the free offer view of I Timothy 2:4 (God "will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth") leads inescapably to Arminianisms universal atonement. For if God desires to save "all" absolutely (including the reprobate), then Christ must have died for "all" absolutely (including the reprobate) (6).
What then is the true interpretation? To answer this question, we must consider the context. The apostle is speaking about prayer and for whom it must be made: "I exhort ... that ... supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks, be made for all men" (1). Paul continues by specifying: "For kings, and for all that are in authority." He then gives two reasons why we should pray for those in civil government.
First, we must pray for them "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (2). Thus we are to pray for magistrates that they will maintain law and order. Then Christians ("we") may "lead quiet and peaceable [lives] in all godliness and honesty," for we can worship God publicly on the Lords Day and serve Him at home, school, work and in the world without being attacked by mobs or hauled off to prison. Even this prayer is, of course, subject to God decree, for He wills civil unrest and/or government persecution of the saints at various times and in various places. Thus it is a lawful, good and commanded thing to pray (subject to Gods will) for the civil magistrates that God would use them to restrain wicked men so that we, His people, may individually and collectively serve him in our respective callings. This petition, Paul tells Timothy, must be brought before God in congregational prayer.
Second, we must pray for civil magistrates, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (3-4). Is there any point praying for the conversion of Prime Minister Tony Blair or Taoiseach Bertie Ahern or any rulers of this world? I Timothy 2 tells us that God can and will save "kings" and those "that are in authority," according to His eternal election. So we must pray for the conversion of earthly potentates and not only those of lowly station, as we might otherwise be inclined. For God wills to save (and will save, for His will is never defeated) all kinds of people.
Augustine (354-430) put it well: "Now the apostle had enjoined that prayers should be made for all men, and had especially added, For kings, and for all that are in authority, who might be supposed, in the pride and pomp of worldly station, to shrink from the humility of the Christian faith. Then saying, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, that is, that prayers should be made for such as these, he immediately adds, as if to remove any ground of despair, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth ... Our Lord ... says to the Pharisees: Ye tithe mint, and rue, and every herb. For the Pharisees did not tithe what belonged to others, nor all the herbs of all the inhabitants of other lands. As ... in this place we must understand by every herb, every kind of herb, so in the former passage we may understand by all men, every sort of men" (The Enchiridion, ciii). Rev. Angus Stewart