Jn 20:29; 2 Cor 5:7; Heb 11:1 – Faith and sight

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Jn 20:29 – ‘Jesus said to [Thomas], “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed.”’

2 Cor 5:7 – ‘We live by faith, not by sight.’

Heb 11:1 – ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.‘

The danger for preachers (and others) is to appeal to these texts to support the idea that [Christian] faith does not rely on evidence; that it is a leap in the dark.…

Rev 13:18 – ‘His number is 666’

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Rev 13:18 This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, and his number is 666.

There have been two main ways of explaining this number.

1. The number of Nero

This is been the identification traditionally and in much recent scholarship.

In Greek and Hebrew, numbers were written using letters of the alphabet in the 1st century, and in that language the letters making up ‘Nero Caesar’ add up to 666.…

The Ascension of Christ

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Lk 24:50 Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 24:51 Now during the blessing he departed and was taken up into heaven.

The ascension is described just three times in the NT (Mk 16:19; Acts 1:9).  But it is referred to in eleven other books.

It is intimated by our Lord in Jn 6:62; 7:33, and anticipated in Psa 68:18 (cited in Eph 4:8).

1. Its manner

It was not a mere disappearance, as at Emmaus.…

The cult of self-worship

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Self-worship is, arguably, the fastest-growing religion of our day.

According to David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons:

  • 84 percent of Americans believe that “enjoying yourself is the highest goal of life.”
  • 86 percent believe that to enjoy yourself you must “pursue the things you desire most.”
  • 91 percent affirm this statement: “To find yourself, look within yourself.”

And there is no reason to suppose that the picture is very different here in the UK.

The Westminster Catechism’s answer to the question about ‘chief end of man’ has been turned upside down: ‘the chief end of man is to glorify and enjoy himself forever.’…

The flowering of the cross

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Jim Gordon quotes Stanley Hauerwas:

‘If forgiveness were forgetting then God would have to suffer the most acute amnesia, but it is God’s unimaginable creativity, which takes what we have done and makes it fruitful. The medieval image of God’s forgiveness was the flpowering of the cross. The cross is the ugly sign of torture. It is the sign of humanity’s ability to refect love and to do what is utterly sterile. But the artists of the middle ages showed this cross flowering on Easter Sunday.

…

1 Pet 3:1-2 – Silent witness?

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1 Peter 3:1-2 In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, 3:2 when they see your pure and reverent conduct.

It is fashionable these days for people to ‘big up’ this text in order to excuse themselves and others from the responsibility to witness verbally to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We say:

‘Actions speak louder than words’.

…

Re-reading the story of Adam and Eve

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I’m not entirely sure what to make of Peter Enns’ and Jared Byas’ take on the story of Adam and Eve.  But I offer a synopsis here, since it is certainly worth pondering.

Many of us have been taught that Adam and Eve were created perfect, but then ‘fell’ into sin, taking the entire human race with them.

But some – including those from the Eastern Orthodox tradition – take a different angle.  In this reading, the story is not about a fall from sinless perfection, but rather a failure to grow up into godly wisdom.…

Marriage: more than a metaphor

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In Eph 5:31, Paul quotes from Gen 2:24 –

‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’

The apostle adds, in the next verse:

‘This mystery is great—but I am actually speaking with reference to Christ and the church.’

Daniel Blanche comments:

‘I do not think the Bible presents marriage as a metaphor for the gospel.  As I understand it – and I confess freely that I am no literary theorist – metaphor is a way of relating two things or concepts which have no (or at least no necessary) real (that is, ontological or conceptual) connection; it is allusive, linking two things which are not directly linked in order to shed light on one or the other. 

…

A theological foundation for exhortation

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What follows is based on

Preaching for a Verdict: Recovering the role of exhortation, by Josh Smith.  B & H Academic, 2019.

Chapter 2 – A theological foundation for exhortation

A. God has spoken

(i) God’s word is inspired.  2 Tim 3:16 – ‘All Scripture is breathed out by God.’

(ii) God’s word is authoritative, because the One who speaks it has all authority.  All things were created by him and for him, Rev 4:12. …

What happened to exhortation?

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Preaching for a Verdict: Recovering the role of exhortation, by Josh Smith.  B & H Academic, 2019.

Truly biblical preaching does not just involve explanation, illustration and application.  It also seeks to persuade.  It presses for a verdict.  It involves exhortation.

Put another way, authentic preaching addresses the will, as well as the mind.

The recovery of exhortation is the burden of Josh Smith’s book.  What follows is based on:

Chapter 1 – What happened to exhortation?…