Eight Reasons Why I Believe That Jesus Rose From The Dead

Here is the final post in the Easter Series; Eight Reasons Why I Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead, by Pastor John Piper.

Eight Reasons Why I Believe That Jesus Rose from the Dead

by John Piper

1. Jesus himself testified to his coming resurrection from the dead.

Jesus spoke openly about what would happen to him: crucifixion and then resurrection from the dead. "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31; see also Matthew 17:22; Luke 9:22). Those who consider the resurrection of Christ unbelievable will probably say that Jesus was deluded or (more likely) that the early church put these statements in his mouth to make him teach the falsehood that they themselves conceived. But those who read the Gospels and come to the considered conviction that the one who speaks so compellingly through these witnesses is not the figment of foolish imagination will be unsatisfied with this effort to explain away Jesus' own testimony to his resurrection from the dead.

This is especially true in view of the fact that the words which predict the resurrection are not only the simple straightforward words quoted above, but also the very oblique and indirect words which are far less likely to be the simple invention of deluded disciples. For example, two separate witnesses testify in two very different ways to Jesus' statement during his lifetime that if his enemies destroyed the temple (of his body), he would build it again in three days (John 2:19; Mark 14:58; cf. Matthew 26:61). He also spoke illusively of the "sign of Jonah" -- three days in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:39; 16:4). And he hinted at it again in Matthew 21:42 -- "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner." On top of his own witness to the coming resurrection, his accusers said that this was part of Jesus' claim: "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise'" (Matthew 27:63).

Our first evidence of the resurrection, therefore, is that Jesus himself spoke of it. The breadth and nature of the sayings make it unlikely that a deluded church made these up. And the character of Jesus himself, revealed in these witnesses, has not been judged by most people to be a lunatic or a deceiver.

2. The tomb was empty on Easter.

The earliest documents claim this: "When they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus" (Luke 24:3). And the enemies of Jesus confirmed it by claiming that the disciples had stolen the body (Matthew 28:13). The dead body of Jesus could not be found. There are four possible ways to account for this.

2.1 His foes stole the body. If they did (and they never claimed to have done so), they surely would have produced the body to stop the successful spread of the Christian faith in the very city where the crucifixion occurred. But they could not produce it.

2.2 His friends stole the body. This was an early rumor (Matthew 28:11-15). Is it probable? Could they have overcome the guards at the tomb? More important, would they have begun to preach with such authority that Jesus was raised, knowing that he was not? Would they have risked their lives and accepted beatings for something they knew was a fraud?

2.3 Jesus was not dead, but only unconscious when they laid him in the tomb. He awoke, removed the stone, overcame the soldiers, and vanished from history after a few meetings with his disciples in which he convinced them he was risen from the dead. Even the foes of Jesus did not try this line. He was obviously dead. The Romans saw to that. The stone could not be moved by one man from within who had just been stabbed in the side by a spear and spent six hours nailed to a cross.

2.4 God raised Jesus from the dead. This is what he said would happen. It is what the disciples said did happen. But as long as there is a remote possibility of explaining the resurrection naturalistically, modern people say we should not jump to a supernatural explanation. Is this reasonable? I don't think so. Of course, we don't want to be gullible. But neither do we want to reject the truth just because it's strange. We need to be aware that our commitments at this point are much affected by our preferences -- either for the state of affairs that would arise from the truth of the resurrection, or for the state of affairs that would arise from the falsehood of the resurrection. If the message of Jesus has opened you to the reality of God and the need of forgiveness, for example, then anti-supernatural dogma might lose its power over your mind. Could it be that this openness is not prejudice for the resurrection, but freedom from prejudice against it?

3. The disciples were almost immediately transformed from men who were hopeless and fearful after the crucifixion (Luke 24:21, John 20:19) into men who were confident and bold witnesses of the resurrection (Acts 2:24, 3:15, 4:2).

Their explanation of this change was that they had seen the risen Christ and had been authorized to be his witnesses (Acts 2:32). The most popular competing explanation is that their confidence was owing to hallucinations. There are numerous problems with such a notion. The disciples were not gullible, but level-headed skeptics both before and after the resurrection (Mark 9:32, Luke 24:11, John 20:8-9, 25). Moreover, is the deep and noble teaching of those who witnessed the risen Christ the stuff of which hallucinations are made? What about Paul's great letter to the Romans? I personally find it hard to think of this giant intellect and deeply transparent soul as deluded or deceptive, and he claimed to have seen the risen Christ.

4. Paul claimed that, not only had he seen the risen Christ, but that 500 others had seen him also, and many were still alive when he made this public claim.

"Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:6). What makes this so relevant is that this was written to Greeks who were skeptical of such claims when many of these witnesses were still alive. So it was a risky claim if it could be disproved by a little firsthand research.

5. The sheer existence of a thriving, empire-conquering early Christian church supports the truth of the resurrection claim.

The church spread on the power of the testimony that Jesus was raised from the dead and that God had thus made him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). The Lordship of Christ over all nations is based on his victory over death. This is the message that spread all over the world. Its power to cross cultures and create one new people of God was a strong testimony of its truth.

6. The Apostle Paul's conversion supports the truth of the resurrection.

He argues to a partially unsympathetic audience in Galatians 1:11-17 that his gospel comes from the risen Jesus Christ, not from men. His argument is that before his Damascus Road experience when he saw the risen Jesus, he was violently opposed to the Christian faith (Acts 9:1). But now, to everyone's astonishment, he is risking his life for the gospel (Acts 9:24-25). His explanation: The risen Jesus appeared to him and authorized him to spearhead the Gentile mission (Acts 26:15-18). Can we credit such a testimony? This leads to the next argument.

7. The New Testament witnesses do not bear the stamp of dupes or deceivers.

How do you credit a witness? How do you decide whether to believe a person's testimony? The decision to give credence to a person's testimony is not the same as completing a mathematical equation. The certainty is of a different kind, yet can be just as firm (I trust my wife's testimony that she is faithful). When a witness is dead, we can base our judgment of him only on the content of his writings and the testimonies of others about him. How do Peter and John and Matthew and Paul stack up?

In my judgment (and at this point we can live authentically only by our own judgment--Luke 12:57), these men's writings do not read like the works of gullible, easily deceived or deceiving men. Their insights into human nature are profound. Their personal commitment is sober and carefully stated. Their teachings are coherent and do not look like the invention of unstable men. The moral and spiritual standard is high. And the lives of these men are totally devoted to the truth and to the honor of God.

8. There is a self-authenticating glory in the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection as narrated by the biblical witnesses.

The New Testament teaches that God sent the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.... He will glorify me" (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit does not do this by telling us that Jesus rose from the dead. He does it by opening our eyes to see the self-authenticating glory of Christ in the narrative of his life and death and resurrection. He enables us to see Jesus as he really was, so that he is irresistibly true and beautiful. The apostle stated the problem of our blindness and the solution like this: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.... For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6).

A saving knowledge of Christ crucified and risen is not the mere result of right reasoning about historical facts. It is the result of spiritual illumination to see those facts for what they really are: a revelation of the truth and glory of God in the face of Christ -- who is the same yesterday today and forever.

Pastor John

I hope you had a wonderful Easter.

He Is Risen!

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Mark 16:1-8

Calvary's Tragedy!

Today I have another Grace Gems excerpt from Charles Spurgeon.

"The place which is called Calvary."

Luke 23:33

The hill of comfort--is the hill of Calvary.

The house of consolation--is built with the wood of the cross.

The temple of heavenly blessing--is founded upon the cleft rock--cleft by the spear which pierced His side.

No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul--like Calvary's tragedy!

Light springs from the midday-midnight of Golgotha!

Every flower of blessing blooms sweetly beneath the shadow of that accursed tree!

In that place of thirst--grace has dug a fountain which ever gushes with waters as pure as crystal, each drop capable of alleviating the woes of mankind!

You who have had your seasons of trouble--will confess that it was at Gethsemane, Gabbatha, and Golgotha that you have found real comfort.

The bitter herbs of Gethsemane--have often taken away the bitters of your life.

The scourge of Gabbatha--has often scourged away your cares.

The groans of Golgotha--have yielded you rare and rich comfort.

We would never have known Christ's love in all its heights and depths--if He had not died. Nor could we guess the Father's deep affection--if He had not given His Son to die. He who would know real love--let him retire to Calvary, and see the Man of sorrows die!

Charles Spurgeon

The Crucifixion of Jesus

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

Mark 15:1-47

The Lamb

Day two of my Easter themed Grace Gem posts in an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon.

"Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne!"

Revelation 5:6

Why should our exalted Lord appear in heaven--with His wounds? The wounds of Jesus are--His glories, His jewels, His sacred ornaments. To the eye of the believer, Jesus is lovely, because He is "white and ruddy"; white with innocence, and ruddy with His own blood. We see Him as the Lily of matchless purity--and as the Rose crimsoned with His own gore. Christ is lovely in His life and His teaching--but oh! there never was such a matchless Christ as He who hung upon the cross! There we behold all His beauties in perfection, all His attributes developed, all His love drawn out, all His character expressed!

Beloved, the wounds of Jesus are far more lovely in our eyes--than all the splendor and pomp of kings! The thorny crown is more attractive than any imperial diadem. Jesus wears the appearance of a slain Lamb--as His court dress in which He wooed our souls, and redeemed them by His complete atonement.

Nor are these only the ornaments of Christ--they are the trophies of His love and of His victory! He has redeemed for Himself a great multitude whom no man can number--and these scars are the memorials of the fight! Ah! if Christ delights to retain the thought of His sufferings for His people--how precious should His wounds be to us!

"Behold how every wound of His,
A precious balm distills,
Which heals the scars that sin had made,
And cures all mortal ills.

Those wounds are mouths that preach His grace;
The ensigns of His love;
The seals of our expected bliss,
In paradise above!"

Charles Spurgeon

It is only because the Lamb was slain that you and I can have eternal life, and find peace with God

Deicide!

Over the next few days leading up to Easter I am going to post some Grace Gems that I have been collecting that all have an Easter theme; today I have an excerpt from Arthur Pink's work Beholding the Crucified Christ.

"They kept shouting--Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

Luke 23:21

The Word of Truth declares that "the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7). Men do not believe it--in fact most of them pretend the very opposite. Nevertheless, at Calvary--they gave proof of their hatred of God.

Not only was Christ unwelcome here--but men hated Him--and that "without a cause" (John 15:25). He gave them every reason to admire and adore Him--but they had an inveterate detestation of Him!

Multitudes go through the form of paying homage to God--but it is a "god" of their own imagination. They hate the true and living God, and were it possible--they would rid the universe of His existence! This is clear from their treatment of Christ, for He was none other than "God manifest in flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). They hated and hounded Him to death--and nothing short of His cruel death by crucifixion would appease them!

Here at Calvary the real character of man was revealed, and the desperate wickedness of his heart was laid bare. There it was shown, that man was capable of the blackest of all crimes!

As evil as man had shown himself all through his history--the coming of Immanuel to this earth brought sin to such a head--that all that which had gone before, was relatively but a trifling thing--when compared with the monstrous wickedness which was done against Love incarnate! In the treatment which the Son of God received at the hands of men--we see sin in its true colors, stripped of a disguise, exposed in its hideous reality; revealed in its true nature as contempt of God, and rebellion against Him. Here at Calvary we behold the climax of sin--and the fearful and horrible lengths to which sin is capable of going! That sin which germinated in Eden--culminated in the crucifixion! Here at Calvary, we see sin at it's apex--Deicide--in the slaying of the Lord of Glory!

"They kept shouting--Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

Luke 23:21

Arthur W. Pink

As we approach Good Friday I encourage you to take some time to think about your own sin and the part that you played in the crucifixion of our Savior. It's a hard thing to say, or even to think about for that matter, but if you and I had been there in the crowd that day we would have been screaming "Crucify Him" right along with every one else.

And you know what, He still would have willingly died in our place.

The Gospel Of Mark, Part 4 - The Temptation Of Jesus

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Mark 1:12-13

In these two verses we read that Jesus, the very Son of God, was in the wilderness for forty days, and He was being tempted by Satan. Have you ever stopped to think about what these verses say? Have you ever considered that Jesus Christ - God in the flesh - was tempted by the devil? That is exactly what we are reading here.

In the Gospel of Mark we are not given any details; here we are simply told that immediately after His baptism Jesus was sent by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, with the wild animals, for forty days where He was tempted by Satan and ministered to by angels. Here, for example, we are not told that for these forty days Jesus didn't eat anything. Here we are not told that at the end of these forty days Jesus was weak and hungry, or it was at that time that Satan chose to launch his attack. We are also not given any details about the nature of these attacks, nor are we told that Jesus withstood Satan's attacks by knowing and accurately using the word of God in His defense (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13). All of these things are important, and we can read about them in the other Gospel accounts, but for some reason none of them is included here.

As we approach these two verses there are several approaches we could take: we could study the Greek to see what it means that the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness; we could speculate on what it means that the angels ministered to Him; we could even do a study of the significance of the forty days and see what forty days means in the Bible, but if we do all of that and miss the point of what the Gospel writer is trying to tell us here we have just wasted our time.

So what is it that the Gospel writer wants us to see here? Could it be that the thing that we really need to understand is simply that Jesus was in fact tempted by the devil just like we are?

In the letter to the Hebrews we read:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

Did you catch that? Jesus was tempted in every way that you or I have ever been (or ever will be) tempted. Why is that ? Hebrews 2:17 tells us that Jesus had to be made like us in every respect so that He could be our merciful and faithful high priest; in order for Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins He had to be like we are (yet without sin).

Verse 18 then goes on to say:

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 2:18

Because Jesus was tempted He is able to help us when we are tempted. What does this mean? It means that Jesus understands the weaknesses we have because He was made just like us. It means that He knows what it is like to be tempted, because He was tempted. And it means that in temptation there is always a way out (see again Hebrew 4:15; Jesus was tempted yet He remained sinless).

In 1 Corinthians we read:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

There are several important things in these verse:

1. There are no temptations that are unique to you or me; we may all struggle with different specifics, but the specifics all lead back to what is common to man - rebellion against God.
2. God is faithful - this verse promises that He will never let us be tempted beyond what we can endure.
3. God will always make sure that in every temptation we have a way of escape

These are great promises and we would all do well to remember them.

So what have we seen here? In the Gospel of Mark we saw that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil. We then went to Hebrews and saw that Jesus was tempted in every way we are, but that He remained sinless (this is an important thing to understand - it means that temptation is not a sin and that just because you are tempted does not mean that you have sinned). And finally we looked at 1 Corinthians where we saw that we have a faithful God who will keep us from any temptation that we cannot resist and that when we are tempted He will always provide for us a way of escape.

So the next time that you face a temptation think about Mark 1:12-13 and remember that Jesus also faced temptation, and that because He faced temptation He is able to sympathize with our weakness. And then rejoice that this same Jesus is our Great High Priest.

A Study Of Covenant - Part 1

Over the next several weeks I am going to post a study that I wrote a few years ago on the topic of Covenant. This is one of the most fascinating topics you can study in the Bible, and it is also one that is often overlooked and misunderstood. It is my prayer that over the next few weeks you will get enough of an understanding of what it means to be in in a covenant relationship with God that you will dig deeper into the Scriptures on your own; I guarantee that when you truly understand and embrace this truth you will never be the same.

Kay Arthur, the first teacher I ever heard teach on this topic, said:

Once you understand and embrace the reality that God is a God of covenant, you will experience a peace, a strength, a security you have never known. The Word of God will take on a whole new dimension—delighting you with wonder as you explore the height, the depth, the breadth of what it means to be in covenant with God. The words lovingkindness and friend will take on new meaning and become so precious as you identify them as covenant terms.

She also said:

Once you grasp the full understanding of covenant—and note that I said full—and begin to understand the character and ways of our covenant God, you will find the answer, the cure for pain that threatens to overwhelm you. And as long as you cling to the truth, you'll find yourself soaking in the love, the peace, the confidence, and the joy that belong to those who live in the knowledge of the covenant that God cut on behalf of every man, every woman, every child—regardless of color, nationality, or station in life. All you need to do is enter into and abide in His covenant.

With an introduction like that you can see that this is going to be a wonderful study. The outline we will use as we work our way through this study is as follows:

I. Define Covenant
A. Hebrew words and meanings
B. Greek words and meanings

II. Look at some examples of covenants in the Bible
A. The Noahic Covenant
B. Covenant between Jonathan and David

III. Study in detail the three major covenants in the Bible

A. The Abrahamic Covenant
B. The Sinai Covenant
C. The New Covenant

As we begin our journey please keep in mind that there are over 300 references to covenants in the Bible and that we will not exhaust this topic in just a few short weeks. When we finish here I encourage you to look up the word covenant in your concordance and check out some of the references that we didn't have time to cover here together.

Let's get started.

I. Define Covenant

Merriam Webster defines a covenant as a:

[F]ormal, solemn, and binding agreement

Or

[A] written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action.

Harper's Bible Dictionary says a covenant is:

[A] formal agreement or treaty between two parties with each assuming some obligation.

The Hebrew word that we translate covenant is the word Beriyth meaning treaty, alliance, or agreement. The word Beriyth is often preceded by the verb Karath, which means to cut.

When these two words are used together it expresses the idea of cutting a covenant. This is significant because according to Easton's Bible Dictionary karath beriyth makes:

[R]eference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant.

So literally, the definition of karath beriyth is a compact made by passing between pieces of flesh.

The Greek word translated covenant in the New Testament is diatheke, which has the same meaning as berith. It should be noted that in the KJV this word is often translated as testament, but this word should actually be translated covenant the same as berith was translated in the Old Testament since they have the exact same meaning.

Karat Berith – To Cut Covenant

As stated above the Hebrew term Karat Berith means to cut covenant. To help you get a better understanding of this I though we should look at the process and examine what takes place in the cutting of a covenant before we move on and look at some examples of covenants in the Bible.

The way in which a covenant was cut in the Old Testament is this: animals were cut in half down the spine and the pieces were placed in a line side-by-side with a path down the middle. The parties involved would remove their robes and hand them to each other to put on. They would exchange weapons. They would give the other party their belt. Then in a figure-eight pattern they would walk between the pieces while reciting the terms of the covenant. They would then point to heaven, and to the animals, while swearing an oath "God, do so to me, if I break this covenant."

Next the covenant partners would take a knife and make a cut in their wrists, clasps hands, and let their blood mingle together. Then they would recite to each other everything that they owned and everything that they owed. They would then reach down and scoop up a hand full of dirt and rub it into the cut on their wrists. After all of this they would exchange new names and then sit down to a meal. Lastly they would set up a memorial, a pile of stones, a planted tree, a written contract… something that would be a testament to the agreement they had just made.

From this point on they were forever in covenant with each other; a covenant that could only be broken by death. There is a lot of rich symbolism in this ritual, symbolism that will become very important to us as we go along, so let's take a few minutes to look at a few of these:

The first thing we see is that after the animals were slain and cut in half the parties involved would exchange robes. By doing this they were symbolizing their new covenant identity with the other person. They were in essence saying "I am putting you on, and you are putting me on; we were once two, but now we are one."

Next we see them exchanging weapons. The symbolism here is that they were saying your enemies are now my enemies and my enemies are your enemies.

Then they would exchange belts. This was a symbol of strength and they were saying that from this point forward you do not have to rely on your own strength – you now have my strength and I yours.

Then dressed as the other person, with the other person's weapons in their hand and wearing their belt, they would walk between the animals symbolizing walking into death. They did this for two reasons: first they were showing that from this point forward they were no longer living for themselves; they were now living for their covenant partner; and secondly they were saying that if they ever break the covenant, they should have done to them what was done to these animals. And they call on God to carry it out by swearing an oath, "God, do so to me, if I break this covenant."

The cut wrist and mingled blood would once again show that they were no longer two persons; from this point on they were one. As stated above they would also rub dirt into the cut; they did this so it would scar, and then every time they saw their wrist from that time forward they would remember that they have a covenant partner.

Next they would exchange new names, which symbolized a new identity - an identity based on the covenant. Then they would share a meal, a covenant meal, where they would each take a piece of bread, break it, and place it in their covenant partner's mouth. While doing this they would each say, "you are eating me, and I you."

There is one more thing we need to talk about here before we move on. A covenant is not always entered into by persons who are equals. So what happens when one of the covenant partners is the subordinate of the other? This is a very important question for us since what we are ultimately discussing here is the covenant that God made with mankind. Man is subordinate to God, we are not equals, so we need to understand how covenant works when one of the parties in inferior or subordinate to the other.

In a covenant where the involved parties are not equals the superior party lowers themselves to the level of the lower party and honors them by dealing with them on a more or less equal footing. The superior stipulates the demand of the covenant and the subordinate either accepts or rejects them. The lesser assumes the duties imposed upon him voluntarily and as a result inherits the blessings of the covenant (more on this later). The superior party is the one who assumes the full responsibility for the conditions of the covenant.

This then is a covenant; a solemn, binding agreement, a pledge cut in blood, a walk into death. And that is exactly what our relationship with God is based upon.

Next time we will look at Noahic Covenant and the Sinai Covenant.

What's Wrong with "User Friendly"?

Here is an email that I received from a friend this morning. This is an excerpt from John MacArthur's 1993 book, Ashamed of the Gospel, and although this is several years old it could not be more relevant to what is happing in a lot of our churches today.

What's Wrong with "User Friendly"?

by: John MacArthur

"User-friendly" was first used to describe software and hardware that is easy for the novice to operate. Applied to the church, it describes churches that offer a decidedly benign and non-challenging ministry model. In practice, it has become an excuse for importing worldly amusements into the church in an attempt to attract non-Christian "seekers" or the "unchurched" by appealing to their fleshly interests. The obvious fallout of this preoccupation with the unbelievers is a corresponding neglect of true believers and their spiritual needs.

If you want to know how user-friendly a church has become, the emphasis, or de-emphasis, on biblical preaching is the yardstick. A church that buys into the new paradigm sidelines provocative and convicting sermons for music, skits, or videos– less confrontational mediums for conveying the message. Even when there is a sermon, it is frequently psychological and motivational rather than biblical. Above all, entertainment value and user-friendliness are paramount.

I once read through a stack of newspaper and magazine articles that highlight a common thread in the user-friendly phenomenon. These observations from newspaper clippings describe the preaching in user-friendly churches:

• "There is no fire and brimstone here... Just practical, witty messages."

• "Services at [the church featured in the article] have an informal feeling. You won't hear people threatened with hell or referred to as sinners. The goal is to make them feel welcome, not drive them away."
  

• "As with all clergymen [this pastor's] answer is God– but he slips Him in at the end, and even then doesn't get heavy. No ranting, no raving. No fire, no brimstone. He doesn't even use the H-word. Call it Light Gospel. It has the same salvation as the Old Time Religion, but with a third less guilt."
  

• "The sermons are relevant, upbeat, and best of all, short. You won't hear a lot of preaching about sin and damnation, and hell fire. Preaching here doesn't sound like preaching. It is sophisticated, urbane, and friendly talk. It breaks all the stereotypes."
  

• "[The pastor] is preaching a very upbeat message... It's a salvationist message, but the idea is not so much being saved from the fires of hell. Rather, it's being saved from meaninglessness and aimlessness in this life. It's more of a soft-sell."
  

So the new rules may be summed like this: Be clever, informal, positive, brief, friendly, and never, never use the H-word.

The pastors and leaders in the church-growth movement certainly wouldn't portray their own ministries in that way. In fact, they would probably laud their success in drawing people into the church without compromising the message. But they fail to understand that by decentralizing the Scripture and avoiding hard truths, they are compromising. "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26, emphasis added). If the design is to make the seeker comfortable, isn't that rather incompatible with the Bible's own emphasis on sin, judgment, hell, and several other important topics?

The gospel message is a confrontational message. When you remove the confrontation–or soften, downplay, or bring it in through the back door– you have compromised the message. The modern pulpit is weak, not for a lack of witty messages, but because men fear to speak the hard truths of God's Word powerfully and with conviction.

The church is certainly not suffering from an overabundance of forthright preachers; rather, it seems glutted with men pleasers (cf. Gal. 1:10). But, as it was in the early church, when men are faithful to preach God's Word with boldness, God will give the increase. "And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching... then fear came upon every soul... and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42, 43, 47).

When a sinner wanders into the church and sits through skits, mimes, interpretive dances, and the like, and yet never hears a clear, convicting message about his dangerous and tenuous spiritual situation– that he is a depraved sinner headed for an eternal fire because he is a daily offense to a holy God– how can that be called successful? You could achieve the same level of success by sending a cancer patient to receive treatment from a group of children playing doctor. A sinner must understand the imminent danger he is in if he is ever to look to the Savior.

C. H. Spurgeon, facing a similar mindset in his day, once said:

'I fear there are some who preach with the view of amusing men, and as long as people can be gathered in crowds, and their ears can be tickled, and they can retire pleased with what they have heard, the orator is content, and folds his hands, and goes back self-satisfied. But Paul did not lay himself out to please the public and collect the crowd. If he did not save them he felt that it was of no avail to interest them. Unless the truth had pierced their hearts, affected their lives, and made new men of them, Paul would have gone home crying, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"...

Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely in amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, when we shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render; for of what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds, and heaven and earth are shaking, and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail even to have moralized a man if still he is on the left hand of the judge, and if still, "Depart, ye cursed," shall be his portion?'" ["Soul Saving Our One Business," The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 25 (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1879), 674-76.]

That is precisely my concern about today’s pragmatic church-growth trend. The strategy focuses on attracting and keeping the unchurched. For what? To entertain them? To get them to attend church meetings regularly? Merely "churching" the unchurched accomplishes nothing of eternal value. That is where their strategy seems to end.

What's worse is when seeker-focused churches baptize the masses with their watered-down gospel, assuring them that positive decisions, feelings, or affirmations about Christ equal genuine conversion. There are now multitudes who are not authentic Christians identifying with the church. The church is literally invaded with the world's values, the world's interests, and the world's citizens. It isn't an invasion prompted by overt hostility; people are simply responding to a survey that came in the mail. Ironically, Satan isn't sowing the tares; church leaders are.
As you set your strategy for church ministry, you dare not overlook the primary means of church growth: the straightforward, Christ-centered proclamation of the unadulterated Word of God. If you trade the Word for amusements or gimmicks, you will not only find that you have no effective means to reach people with the truth of Christ, but you will find yourself working against the Lord Himself.

Adapted from Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World

© 1993 by John MacArthur.
All rights reserved.

I think Dr. MacArthur hit the nail on the head in that last paragraph when he said, " If you trade the Word for amusements or gimmicks, you will not only find that you have no effective means to reach people with the truth of Christ, but you will find yourself working against the Lord Himself. "

I for one don't ever want to be in a position where I am working against what God is doing or be in opposition the the work of the Holy Spirit, so rest assured that as long as I am able to continue writing here the messages will be unashamedly Christ centered and Biblically based. As the apostle Paul wrote in the letter to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvaion to everyone who believes..." (Romans 1:16).

The Elders Around & Judgments Out Of The Throne - Revelation 4:4-5a

As we continue our study of Revelation chapter four we come to verse four where John next tells us that he saw twenty-four thrones that surrounded another throne and that seated upon these twenty-four thrones were twenty-four elders. John then describes how these twenty-four elders were dressed; he tells us they were clothed in white garments and wearing golden crowns.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

Revelation 4:4 (NASB)

This verse leaves us with one obvious question; who are these twenty-four elders?

There has been much debate as to the identity of the twenty-four elders mentioned here in Revelation 4:4, so let’s look at what several Bible scholars have had to say:

These elders probably symbolize the people of God in heaven, enthroned and rewarded.1

There has been much speculation on the identity of the elders. The two major views are (1) that they represent the church raptured prior to this time and rewarded in heaven, or (2) that they are angels who have been given large responsibilities.2

We cannot say with certainty who the twenty-four elders are. They are variously understood as angelic beings, as the redeemed people of both the Old Testament and New Testament, and as New Testament saints only. 3

Some think that they represent the church or believers in heaven, but it seems preferable to view the elders as angels who comprise a heavenly ruling council. 4

They are not angels, for they have white robes and crowns of victory, implying a conflict and endurance… 5

Their joint rule with Christ, their white garments, and their golden crowns all seem to indicate that these 24 represent the redeemed.6

The twenty-four elders may refer to the twenty-four priestly divisions who conducted the worship of Israel according to the tradition of the Levites. The elders in the vision seem to represent the saints of God in their act of worship, just as the Levitical priests represented Israel in the worship of the temple.7

These twenty-four elders stand for the church from Pentecost to the Rapture. Therefore, I can say categorically and dogmatically that here is the church in heaven.8

As you can see there are as many interpretations of who these elders are as there are commentaries in print, so let’s look at the Scriptures, since that is the best way to interpret difficult passages, and see what we can discover.

In his commentary on Revelation, Robert Van Kampen writes that there are nine things we know from Scripture about these beings, these are:

1. They from a circle around the throne of God (Revelation 4:4a)
2. They are called elders (Revelation 4:4b)
3. They are twenty-four seated on twenty-four thrones (Revelation 4:4c)
4. They wear white garments and golden crowns (Revelation 4:4d)
5. They fall down and worship God (Revelation 4:10)
6. They sing hymns to God (Revelation 4:11)
7. They make comments to John (Revelation 5:5)
8. They have harps and censers full of incense that are said to represent the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8)
9. They explain things to John (Revelation 7:14-17)9

By looking at these other Scriptures where these elders are mentioned it is easy to see that they are not Old Testament saints, or New Testament believers, or representatives of the church; these twenty-four elders are some form of angelic being. We can see this clearly by looking at Revelation 5:9-10 where we read:

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Revelation 5:9-10 (NASB)

Notice that in these verses, when the elders sing their new song to God they say, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” If these were the redeemed this verse would read entirely differently; it would say, “You have made us to be a kingdom and priests to our God and we will reign upon the earth.” This leaves then as the only possible conclusion that the twenty-four elders are angelic beings.

However, it is not that easy to end this debate, Warren Wiersbe points out:

It is unlikely that they are angels, because angels are not numbered (Heb. 12:22), crowned, or enthroned. Besides, in Revelation 7:11, the elders are distinguished from the angels. The crowns they wear are the ‘victor’s crowns’ (the Greek word stephanos; see Rev. 2:10); and we have no evidence that angels receive rewards.10

John MacArthur also points out several reasons why these elders are not likely to be angels, he writes:

First, the reference to the twenty-four thrones on which the twenty-four elders sat indicates that they reign with Christ. Nowhere in Scripture do angels sit on thrones, nor are they pictured ruling or reigning.

Presbuteroi [The Greek word translated as Elder here in Revelation 4:4] is never used in Scripture to refer to angels, but always to men.

While angels do appear in white (e.g., John 20:12; Acts 1:10), white garments more commonly are the dress of believers.

That the elders wore golden crowns on their heads provides further evidence that they were humans. Crowns are never promised in Scripture to angels, nor are angels ever seen wearing them.11

So, we cannot be dogmatic either way; these elders could be angels, or they could be human. But if they are human, which humans do they represent? The truth is that we just don’t know. As has already been pointed out: they could represent the Nation of Israel, they could represent Old Testament believers, or they could represent the church, but this is one of the mysteries of the Bible where we are just not given the answer. As I have pointed out there is evidence to support many different views, but the bottom line here is that we will just not know until we reach heaven.

Next we see that:

Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.

Revelation 4:5a (NASB)

In Psalm 9:7 we read that “God has established His throne for judgment” and that is exactly what we are seeing here. This is not the throne of grace; this is the throne of judgment.

When we see lightning and we hear thunder we know that a storm is coming. God is preparing to judge the world that has rejected Him, and here John sees the storm of that judgment coming. This picture is reminiscent of God giving His law to Moses on mount Sinai, we read:

So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Exodus 9:16 (NASB)

It is also reminiscent of the plagues of judgment sent against Egypt:

When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

Exodus 9:23-24 (NASB)

We quite often take for granted that God is a holy God and that He will judge sin. The writer of Hebrews warns us that we are not to reject the grace of God, and in doing so he reminds us that we are to serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, because our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29). Judgment is coming to the earth, and it is coming from the very throne of God.


1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 4:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
2 Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary: An exposition of the scriptures (2:943). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
3 MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (Re 4:4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
4 Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary (Re 4:4). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
5 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Re 4:4). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
6 MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (Re 4:4). Nashville: Word Pub.
7 Palmer, E. F., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Vol. 35: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Volume 35 : 1, 2 & 3 John / Revelation. Formerly The Communicator's Commentary. The Preacher's Commentary series (152). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.
8 McGee J. Vernon (c 1983). Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee Vol.5 1 Corinthians–Revelation Pg.931. Nashville TN.: Thomas Nelson.
9 Van Kampen, Robert. Revelation Commentary Ch4 Pg1 (© www.revelationcommentry.org). Orlando Fl.: Sola Scriptura
10 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 4:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
11 MacArthur, J. (1999). Revelation 1-11 (148-149). Chicago: Moody Press.


Next time we will look at verses 5b -11 and the object before the throne.