Author: jwm

John Doone’s Holy sonnet 10, published after his death in 1633, “Death, be not proud” begins,

“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;”

The concluding words are “Death, thou shalt die.” I don’t know what specific passages of Scripture Donne may have had in mind, but he echoes Paul’s thought in 2 Corinthians 5 that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

You have a better house coming! Your death means your presence with the Lord. Why is human death a reality in this world? Go back to the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Is is the wages of sin. Only two human beings in the history of he world have passed from this life without dying — Enoch and Elijah. Even Jesus, the God-man, went through death, not because he ever sinned, but he became our sin-bearer. But even in Genesis 3, God graciously postponed death to allow the line to begin from whom the Messiah would be born. But the fact of death still remains for all of us until Christ returns. Christians face death in a way that is profoundly different from the way unbelievers do. The destruction of your earthly body is not the end: a) there is a continuing life, and b) there is the restoration and glorification of the resurrection. To be at home in the body is to be away from the Lord. Right now you are out of Christ’s bodily presence. At the moment of your death, that will change. Christ’s presence is Paul’s preference (though this is not a call to seek martyrdom), verse 8. The sting of death is gone—for him and for you.

Continue reading “The Mortal Swallowed up by Life”

“I may forgive, but I don’t forget!” “That’s unforgivable!” As humans we struggle with the idea of forgiveness. What does it mean when God forgives? The prophet Micah shows you that forgiveness is part of God’s character, Micah 7:18–1.

Who is like your God? Who is a God like you who pardons? Micah puns on his own name, “Who is like the Lord?” Prophets for pay have proclaimed peace when there is no peace, Micah 3:5. But Micah is not making empty promises. Micah focuses on the character, the nature of God.

The Lord is faithful to his remnant. He has preserved, and will preserve a remnant. “Remnant” does bring to mind the punishment that God has brought upon his disobedient people. Remember that Micah’s prophecy included the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C., and the near fall of Jerusalem in 701 B.C. Judgment came because of the sin which Micah has recounted. Yet the term also speaks of God’s faithfulness. Even in all of this, he does not abandon his people. He preserves a remnant. God remembers his inheritance. His people belong to him. He has purchased them. They are precious to him. God’s forgiving character is connected with the church. His church is made up of forgiven sinners. His faithfulness grows out of his covenant relationship with his people, verse 20.

Continue reading “Forgiveness!”

With the rise of AI and related technology, how do you determine whether a photograph or a video clip is authentic? How do you determine whether a product is genuine or a cheap knock off? More importantly, how can you be assured of the genuineness of God’s redemptive work in Christ Jesus? In Ephesians 1:11–14 Paul tells you that you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.

God, who works everything according to his plan, has given you an inheritance. God works all things according to the counsel of his will. God works out everything. God has chosen you (or given you an inheritance), but that is part of a broader, sweeping, plan. Verse 11 looks back to verse 4. He works all things according to the purpose of his will. Paul’s emphasis is on God’s planning, ordaining, choosing, activity. Remember that verses 3–14 are one sentence! God’s plan, or decrees, are all-inclusive. Paul tells us God works out everything. Even seemingly insignificant details are included in God’s plan, Matthew 10:29,30. That comforts you in an uncertain world.

“Ephesians 1:11 may be the strongest and most comprehensive statement about God’s absolute sovereignty in the whole of the Bible. He is the One who works all things according to the counsel of his will. This is not a user-friendly universe for all and sundry. But Paul is stressing that, whatever the native tendencies of people and things, God works with and through all that happens.”

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let’s Study Ephesians, p. 17

Although even the sinful acts of men are included, God is not sinful! How can the wickedness on earth fit with the plan of a sovereign God? The arch-crime of history was the murder of the God-man, the Messiah. Men were responsible for what they did, but this was certainly part of God’s plan, Acts 2:23; 4:27,28. Yet God is perfectly sinless, James 1:13.

Continue reading “Marked with God’s Seal”

Judgment and eternal destruction. Those are not user friendly topics, and thus they tend to be ignored in a consumer-centered theology. But in 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10, as well as elsewhere, the Bible makes clear that they are very real. Paul’s focus is not primarily on an event, but on a person — Jesus Christ, returning in glory.

The Lord Jesus will be revealed in blazing fire! Your Lord will be revealed as the Judge. History is not an endless cycle. It is not meaningless It is moving towards a goal. God’s righteous judgment will be revealed in the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is important for the Thessalonians, who were persevering through persecution and trials. “Apocalypse” is not just the name of a movie. It refers to the awe-filled appearing, unexpected unveiling of the Lord from heaven. The Day of the Lord is coming! Notice the Old Testament imagery Paul piles up: Psalm 79:6; Isaiah 66:15,16; Jeremiah 10:25 all speak of judgment. Joel 2:1, 2 and Zepheniah 1:14–16 describe this as the day of the Lord.

Continue reading “Revealed from Heaven in Blazing Fire”

If your salvation depends on the death and resurrection of Christ, as it does, why pay so much attention to his ascension? Luke’s ends his Gospel with a brief account of the ascension of Jesus, Luke 24:50–53.

Receive Christ’s blessing. Christ is now the glorified Lord. Luke shows you the glory of your Lord. Near the beginning of his Gospel Luke records the blessed angelic song of joy and peace. Now he concludes with Christ blessing his disciples and their resulting joy. He has described the humiliation, suffering, and death of the Messiah. Chapter 24 recounts the triumphal resurrection. The exalted Lord instructed his disciples in the Word, showing its focus on him. Now you see the Lord ascend to the place of exaltation at the right hand of the Father. Yet this is not the end of the story, but only the end of the beginning. Volume 2 (Acts) is about to describe the continuation of Christ’s work. This will be the record of the work of the ascended, glorified Lord (who is life-giving Spirit) through the apostolic church. There is continuity with the church today, with this congregation. Christ ascended to the work which he continues today: sitting at the right hand of the Father, subduing the nations by his Word and Spirit, and ruling over his church. The ascension, no less than Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, was foretold in the Scriptures, Psalm 24:7–10; 68:18. The glorified, ascended Lord summons you to submit to his authority. It is this glorious, ascended Lord who invites you to live in fellowship with him.

“[T]he Christ who was invoked, confessed and worshipped by the faithful, was the living Lord. Though He was remembered as the One who on their behalf had surrendered His life unto death, and had ratified the new covenant in His blood, and though there was a sober realization that the perfect consummation was to be manifested only in the future manifestation of the rule of God, their present faith in Him as the Lord bound the elements of remembrance and hope together and afforded a present assurance of grace and righteousness through faith in His name.”

Ned B. Stonehouse, The Witness of Luke to Christ, p. 151

Continue reading “Worship Your Ascended Lord!”