Monthly Archives: November 2019

Judgment Comings

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Article: The Bible and Judgment Comings by Gary DeMar (original source here: https://americanvision.org/21387/the-bible-and-judgment-comings/ )

When the Bible uses the word “coming,” translated from the Greek words parousia (παρουσία) and erchomai (ἔρχομαι). The Greek word parousia (παρουσία) is more accurately translated as “presence” where it is used 24 times in the New Testament. Of these, six uses refer to the physical presence of individuals: Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (1 Cor.16:17), Titus (2 Cor. 7:6-7), Paul (2 Cor. 10:10, Phil. 1:26; 2:12), and the “coming of the lawless one” or “the man of sin” (2 Thess. 2:9). Here are some additional verses where parousia is used: Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4, 12; 1 John 2:28.

There are several places in the Old Testament where God comes in a non-physical way to bring judgment. We read the following in Micah 1:

The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Hear, O peoples, all of you;
Listen, O earth and all it contains,
And let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place.
He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth [Amos 4:13].
The mountains will melt under Him
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
All this is for the rebellion of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country,
Planting places for a vineyard.
I will pour her stones down into the valley
And will lay bare her foundations.

Notice how the language is both universal (“earth and all it contains”) and local (“house of Israel”). Micah is not describing a distant end-time prophetic event. He is describing a judgment coming because of the rebellion of Jacob and the sins of the northern and southern kingdoms and their capitals.

There are other passages that speak of God “coming down” to act. God is described as “riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt” where “the idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence” (Isa. 19:1).

In Revelation 19, Jesus is shown riding a horse with a sword coming out of His mouth. Is this His visible Second Coming at some distant date in the future? Will Jesus return on a horse with a sword coming out of His mouth, or is something else meant?

Earlier in the book of Revelation, we notice that Jesus threatens to come at least three times to three different local first-century churches:

  • Ephesus: “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (2:5).
  • Pergamum: “Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth” (2:16).
  • Philadelphia: “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (3:11).

David Chilton writes, “The Lord is not threatening the church at Ephesus with His Second Coming; He is saying that He will come against them: I will remove your lampstand out it its place.” ((The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Horn Lake, MS: Dominion Press, [1987] 2006), 96.))

Kenneth Gentry comments:

Removing the lampstand signifies extinguishing the church by means of Christ’s personal judgment (“coming”) against them (Caird 27–28; Lenski 89, Ladd 39–40, Beasley-Murray 75, Mounce 70, Beale 232, Kistemaker 116, Witherington 95). As Beale (232) notes, this “coming” does not refer to Christ’s second coming, but his specific judgment of the Ephesian church in that “the activities of both ‘removing’ and ‘coming’ are conditional,” due to the de mē (“or else”) conditional clause. This localized coming against an Asia Minor church is also mentioned in 2:16; 3:3, 20.1

There are two comings mentioned in Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse. Jesus says He will come “just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming [presence/parousia/παρουσία] of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:27) and the Son of Man will come (erchomai/ἔρχομαι) “on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (24:30; cf. Dan. 7:13; Matt. 26:64).

Lightning is often associated with judgment:

“And [Jesus] said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning’” (Luke 10:18). Similar to wind and fire, lightning does “surrogate duty for the image of the invisible God…. Scripture uses lightning as proof of God’s terrifying presence. It frightens believer and infidel alike…. As proof that God attends his chosen people in battle, lightning routs his enemies (Ps. 77:18; 97:4, cf. 144:6; 2 Sam 22:13–15, cf. Ps 18:14).”2

Lightning is associated with violent destruction and terror as God uses Babylon to deliver His judgment (Ezek. 21:10, 15, 28). Lightning is associated with the sword and arrows in local judgments (2 Sam. 22:15; Ps. 18:14; 144:6). Did God use actual arrows in routing David’s enemies or did David use them? (Ps. 18:14).

Lightning is a local phenomenon. Of the 30 occurrences of the word “lightning” in the Bible, not one of them describes a global event.3 John MacArthur argues that “Christ promised that His coming would be obvious to all: ‘As the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be’ (Matthew 24:27 NKJV).”4 Thomas Ice offers a similar interpretation: “Matthew 24:27, which says, ‘Just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be,’ emphasizes a global coming.”5

Of course, lightning is not seen by everyone in the world when it strikes. When there’s a lightning storm in Sacramento, California, no one in Atlanta, Georgia, sees it. Our ability to see extends only from horizon to horizon. Contrary to MacArthur’s claim that “every person in every nation of the world will take note,”6 it’s clear that Jesus is describing a series of local events to be experienced by that first-century generation that could be escaped by heading to the mountains outside of Judea (Matt. 24:16).

  1. The Divorce of Israel: A Redemptive-Historical Interpretation of Revelation, 2 vols. (Dallas, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2020), 1:372. [↩]
  2. “Lightning,” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, eds. Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 512–513. [↩]
  3. Job 37:3 may be the exception if the Hebrew eretz refers to the “earth” rather than the “land.” [↩]
  4. John MacArthur, The Coming of Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 110. [↩]
  5. Thomas Ice, “Olivet Discourse,” The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, eds. Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2004), 255. [↩]
  6. MacArthur, The Coming of Christ, 110. [↩]

Healthy and Dangerous Consumerism

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Article: What Are the 3 Marks of the Church? Distinguishing between Healthy and Dangerous Consumerism by Wes Van Fleet (original source: https://www.beautifulchristianlife.com/blog/3-marks-of-the-church-distinguishing-between-healthy-and-dangerous-consumerism )

I love being a pastor. I love being able to preach God’s word and serve his people in so many ways. Yet, over the last ten years in ministry, I have seen an underlying issue in myself, as well as many of the people in the church (not just the one I serve). This is the issue of consumerism.

One of the greatest dangers to the local church today is consumerism.

Consumerism often shows itself when people share with me that they are overwhelmed with church life and need to take a step back. This often means forsaking the regular fellowship with God’s people to seek out some sort of self-realization. The heartbreaking part of watching this repeatedly over the years is the downward spiral that typically follows as people become distant from the worship service and living amongst the people of God.

Not only have I watched people become distant, I have seen them abandon the faith by “stepping back” or “figuring out what they believe.” This saddens me—and many other Christians as well—because it often shows that people aren’t actually consuming the good things God is graciously giving them. Instead, they become consumed by guilt, or worse, they go and consume what the world and the evil one offer. 

One of the greatest dangers to the local church today is consumerism.

Our culture is heavily driven by a mutual understanding between ourselves and advertisement companies that we all want to want things. It’s as if we have been trained to redefine the word “want” as “need.” Whereas one hundred years ago, people needed food, shelter, and clothing, today we all “need” the latest iPhone, the right outfit, and even the perfect church.

If you have been in the church for even a couple of minutes, it doesn’t take long to identify what people believe the church “needs” to look like and function like. Even more telling is why people leave churches. Often times the perceived “needs” that aren’t being met are things like better music, a more dynamic preacher, more ministries, better coffee, and anything that somehow feeds the consumer’s desires.

Are we aware of the depth of consumerism we bring to the church?

The reality is, most of us are this way. We may have different perceived “needs” that we demand of the church, but the question is, Are we aware of the depth of consumerism we bring to the church? If we can start to compare our perceived needs with what Christ’s church is actually meant to be, we can start moving towards a healthier understanding of need and avoid destroying the local church for not meeting all our expectations.   

We all have this natural disposition to be consumers. The question we should really be asking is, Are we consuming things that lead to self-fulfillment and self-glory, or are we consuming the means of grace that God himself wants us to receive with glad hearts for his glory and our good?

This was one of the concerns of the Reformers and many who have followed in their footsteps. Returning to Scripture, many have tried to rightly see the Roman Catholic Church for what it was then—and is now—and move away from consumeristic tradition and return to the means of grace commanded by God in Scripture. These means of grace, also known as the marks of the church, are 1) the true preaching of the Word; 2) the right administration of the sacraments; and 3) the faithful exercise of discipline. [1]

1. True Preaching

The true preaching of the word of God is not perfect preaching. It is preaching that faithfully and honestly preaches the point of a passage the way God’s word explains it. It is preaching in such a way that people are confronted with their sin and need while also being shown Christ as the fulfillment of every passage. This is preaching in such a way that, if people would hear, by God’s grace they would believe in the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:14-17). It is preaching the whole counsel of God and not just the preacher’s favorite topics.

In short, true preaching has such a high view of the word of God, that those preaching and those listening become convinced that as surely as the word is faithfully preached, it is as if Christ himself were preaching. We should readily consume the preaching of the word of God each Sunday. 

2. Administering the Sacraments

The right administration of the sacraments is served by the pastors and elders of the church and only to professing believers. These sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are meant to be the visible signs and seals attached to the preached Word of God. There is nothing magical to the sacraments, but they were commanded by Christ himself (Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-30) as a means of grace. These are the visible reminders that we should be ready to consume joyfully, because in doing so, we are reminded of our union with Christ. 

3. Church Discipline

This third mark of a faithful church was once seen as welcome and necessary by believers. But in a consumeristic culture like ours, it is often frowned upon and seen as judgmental and unloving. Yet, Christ has given us church discipline as a means of grace that protects healthy doctrine and helps the church rightly represent him to other believers and the world.

It also purifies the church of all unrepentant sinners who prove not to be regenerate with no true love for Christ (Matt. 18:15-18; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; Tit. 3:10; Rev. 2:14-20). Even so, church discipline is meant to be restorative; its purpose is also to help members of the body of Christ by lovingly shepherding them back to faith and repentance. This accountability to continue walking with Christ is one that we should gladly welcome and consume. 

Christ loves his people and wants to feed them.

These three marks are meant to be reminders to us that Christ loves his people and wants to feed them. These are non-negotiable means of grace and growth in our lives. These are the things we should be encouraging our pastors in continuing to do, and lovingly correcting them if they are not. In these ordinary means of grace, God is coming down to us and saying, “Here I am—enjoy!”

After Peter denied the Lord Jesus three times, he came face-to-face with Peter after his resurrection. Jesus redeemed the three denials with three commands to feed his sheep (John 21:15-17). Paul, who once was consumed by self-righteousness and pride (Phil. 3:4-6), commanded the Corinthians to consume and feast on the body and blood of Jesus (1 Cor. 11:23-30). Likewise, Paul guided his churches through holiness and purity by protecting the sheep and rejecting the wolves. 

There is a healthy consumerism to be enjoyed.

The people of God today can reject worldly consumerism by pleading with the Lord to help them sit under these three marks with hunger and longing. In doing so, we are feasting on the Lord Jesus with our ears, our eyes, our taste, and our lives. To feast on the bread of life (John 6:35-39) is to trust in the Lord Jesus and the words, meals, and purity he gives us as we make our way home to our Trinitarian God.


By His Sovereign Choice

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But the Lord’s portion is his people.

 Deuteronomy 32:9

From “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

How are they His? By His own sovereign choice. He chose them and set His love upon them. He did this completely apart from any goodness in them at the time or any goodness that He foresaw in them.

He had mercy on whom He would have mercy and ordained a chosen company to eternal life; in this way, therefore, they are His by His unconstrained election.

They are not only His by choice, but by purchase. He has bought and paid for them completely, and so there can be no dispute about His title.

Not with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord’s portion has been fully redeemed.

There is no mortgage on His estate; no lawsuits can be raised by opposing claimants. The price was paid in open court, and the Church is the Lord’s estate forever. See the blood-mark upon all the chosen, invisible to the human eye but known to Christ, for “the Lord knows those who are his.”1

He forgets none of those whom He has redeemed from among men; He counts the sheep for whom He laid down His life and remembers carefully the Church for which He gave Himself.

They are also His by conquest. What a battle He had in us before we would be won! How long He laid siege to our hearts! How often He sent us terms of surrender, but we barred our gates and built our walls against Him.

Do we not remember that glorious hour when He carried our hearts by storm, when He placed His cross against the wall and scaled our ramparts, planting on our strongholds the blood-red flag of His omnipotent mercy? Yes, we are indeed the conquered captives of His omnipotent love. As those chosen, who have been purchased and subdued, we know that the rights of our divine possessor are inalienable: We rejoice that we can never be our own; and we desire, day by day, to do His will and to declare His glory.