Fourth Thought: Predictions of the Second Coming May 11 "The Business of Heaven" By C.S. Lewis

Many people find it difficult to believe in this great event without trying to guess its date, or even without accepting as a certainty the date that any quack or hysteric offers them. To write a history of all these exploded predictions would need a book, and a sad, sordid, tragi-comical book it would be. One such prediction was circulating when St Paul wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians. Someone had told them that 'the Day' was 'at hand'. This was apparently having the result which such predictions usually have: people were idling and playing the busybody. One of the most famous predictions was that of poor William Miller in 1843 (Mr. Lewis might add Harold Camping to this list if he where here today). Miller (whom I take to have been an honest fanatic) dated the Second Coming to the year, the day, and the very minute. A timely comet fostered the delusion. Thousands waited for the Lord at midnight on March 21, and went home to a late breakfast on the 22nd followed by the jeers of a drunkard. 

Clearly, no one wishes to say anything that will re-awaken such mass hysteria (Someone should have told this to Harold Camping). We must never speak to simple, excitable people about 'the Day' without emphasizing again and again the utter impossibility of prediction. We must try to show them that impossibility is an essential part of the doctrine. If you do not believe Our Lord's words, why do you believe in His return at all? And if you do believe them must you not out away from you, utterly and forever, any hope of dating that return? His teaching on the subject quite clearly consisted of three propositions: (1) That He will certainly return; (2) That we cannot possibly find out when; (3) And that therefore we must always be ready for Him.

C.S. Lewis

with two additions by Neimad Durham,

in reference to Harold Camping on May 21, 2011 at 7:55 PM PST.

Third Thought

I was thinking about this, this morning….

The fact that Barack Obama is the President of the United States or for that matter that George W. Bush was the President does not determine if I personally except their authority or personally like their polices and positions. The fact is that they are Presidents and heads of this country.

The same argument can be applied to Jesus. The Scriptures affirm Him as Messiah and Lord. His Death and Resurrection affirm His authority and power.  HE said He was One with the Father in John’s Gospel and made many other claims. If I personal accept Him as such is quite another thing, which is not based upon my personal preference. I actually have no right or place to question Him based upon the evidence. Unless, I actually have evidence to refute His work and person, which through the ages, since His Church began many have tried and failed, I have not ground to stand on in my case against Jesus. Begging the question can this also add to his validity?

No one can claim Barack Obama is not the President of the United States unless of course they have evidence that he is an impostor...or they are crazy, right?

Or refute the validity of his citizenship and claim to the Presidency, which we see some doing or change the founding documents meaning and relevancy in today’s culture.

We also see this happen to Ye’shua/Jesus: attacks on His Words, the validity of Scripture, the historical fact that he actually was born of a virgin and lived in time and space and died upon a cross and rose again three days later, appear to many and ascended to Heaven with the promise that He would return someday for His people and right all wrongs.... it is interest most people except that Julius Caesar existed without question, yet there is less evidence and copies of his writings then we have of the massive amounts of evidence about Jesus....so the question is have you based your personal opinion on Jesus the Messiah on facts and evidence or upon assumptions and biases?  Like many who cannot refute the fact that Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States.... maybe we need to ask why we hold this position if the evidence can not be disproved?

 Just a thought.

Soli Deo Gloria

ND

2nd Thought

This is a paper I wrote for a class on the Book of Philippians during my time at Biola U. Today, being Good Friday I thought it appropriate to share .

Christology in Philippians

     Paul’s letter to The Church in Philippi is a beautiful illustration of Paul’s faith; love for friends, his passion, his purpose, and his worship of Christ Jesus his Lord. Paul defines his whole life in relation to who Jesus Christ is and what He has done and will do. Paul, had a desire to live his life in complete surrender to God, from a very early age (Philippians 3:4-6). His commitment to God, as an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin and study of the Law as a Pharisee, where evident by his prior persecution of the very message of the gospel he now proclaimed. His world was drastically changed when he encountered the Lord Jesus Christ, and was literally shown how blind he was (Acts 9:1-31), but God in grace healed him. Christ showed His illogical mercy, by forgiving Paul to demonstrate His love (1Timothy 1:15-16) to mankind. So it is safe to say, that Paul understood The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that he truly believed Jesus to be that very same God (Deut. 10:14-22). In the letter to the Philippians Paul expresses his worship and faith in Jesus Christ.

     The apostle Paul gives us one of “the most informative statements in the Bible on the nature of Christ’s’ incarnation… it speaks of Christ’s preexistence, his equality with God, His identity with humanity, and the costly nature of that identity” (Thielman pg. 109), in Philippians 2:5-8. Paul uses the example of Christ’s life as the standard for the Philippians believers to follow, but he also gives us a clear declaration of who Jesus of Nazareth is, the Son of God. Verse six states “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,” Christ’s divinity and humility are both displayed beautifully in this verse. Verses seven and eight, illustrate the Lord Jesus’ humanity and his passion to fulfill His mission of love by dying upon a cross. Reinforcing the foundation of Paul’s gospel message to the Philippians and showing the character of Jesus Christ, the God Man. Verses nine thru eleven then support Christ’s divinity and lordship over all things that have ever existed, and creations response to His name. The Greek word kurios, which Paul uses here, means, “wielding of authority for good” (Lexical 2962). Paul was reminding the Philippians of who Christ is, what His virtues are, and how they should appropriately view Him as Lord, Creator, Christ, Savior, and Immanuel “God with us” (Matt. 1:23).

     In the greeting of the letter, Paul give us some insight into his personal relationship with Christ Jesus, as a bondservant. Dr. Hellerman gives us two examples of what Paul may have been trying to accomplish with this greeting (Hellerman pg. 3). Example one focuses on “the One whom Paul and Timothy served… Because they served the living God, they represented … a divine authority.” Example two focuses “upon the abject position of the slaves/servants…at the disposal of their Master.” I believe that Paul’s could have possibly been writing with both positions in mind, but the most important message from this greeting is his view of Christ Jesus as his Master. Paul definitely believed that Jesus was the Christ promised in Scripture and that He was in control of Paul’s very life. The Roman society that Paul was addressing “would probably have understood the term as Paul used it to refer to people conscripted into service of Christ instead of into service to sin” (Thielman pg.34-35). To fully comprehend the impact of Paul’s statement, we must take into account his history with the Philippian Church. Paul displayed divine power in exercising the demon from the slave girl (Acts 16:16-18). Paul and Silas while praying and singing in prison, which casually correlated with an earthquake that freed them from prison (Acts 16:25-27). Then Paul and Silas displayed tremendous courage by standing up to the Roman officers (Acts 16:35-40). Therefore the believers must have esteemed Paul greatly (Philippians 1:7; 1:24-26; 4:10-18) making Christ’s, Lordship all the more valid. Paul is literally saying he is a willing slave of Christ Jesus whom he loves with his whole heart.

    Paul again points to Christ’s sufficiency to save and rescue those who have faith in Him. Philippians 1:6 “ Paul’s second reason for joyful thankfulness to God is his confidence that God will complete the good work he begun in the Philippians. This work, which must be identified with the Philippians’ salvation, will reach its consummation only at ‘the day of Christ Jesus’. It is work that alone accomplishes, but the notion that it is not yet complete show that it involves a progressive transformation of the lives of believers” (Thielman pg. 38).  Paul is saying that the evidence of the work of the salvation of Jesus in the lives of the Philippians, is displayed in their “participation in the gospel”.  But that they must remember it is God who is at work within them doing the work, Jesus is the reason. 

The Day of Christ has significant meaning in verse six as well,  “The interface between Paul’s Eschatology and his Christology is extensive, particularly as it concerns the role that Jesus Christ has as executor of God’s final judgment…Within the Pauline letters OT theophanic traditions about the Day of the Lord become invested with new meaning and are applied to the risen Lord Jesus Christ” (Hawthorne pg. 265). Paul is saying here, that not only is Christ working within the Philippians, but that on that day, he will be the Judge who executes all the final decisions for their lives. These are awesome words of encouragement for all believers of the power and authority of Jesus Christ the Lord.

     Paul again takes up the theme of Christ sufficiency in Philippians 3:20-21 “ For our citizenship is in heaven from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power the He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

Jesus is Savior, Lord, Christ and He is able to change us into something that glorifies Him by a means of His power. Paul seems to try and cover everything in regards to the working of Christ’s power in creation and in The Final Judgment. The Philippians, being ex-military and from a culture that worshipped their leaders as gods must have understood exactly the point that Paul was expressing in this portion of scripture. “ The way in which Paul describes Christ’s coming in verse 21 reminds the Philippians that… Fully apprehending Christ’s resurrection power and fully attaining the resurrection of the dead lie in the future, and the believer must patiently, albeit eagerly, await Christ’s appearance and fully conformity to his resurrection body” (Thielman pg. 200). Christ is Paul’s passion and focus. Paul wants the Philippians to understand what Christ has done, is doing and will do for all who believe and trust in Him, regardless of their physical circumstance.

     The letter to the Philippians “is the most ‘Gentile’ of any of Paul’s letters-it quotes the OT less than any other epistle” (Hellerman pg. 3).  Paul’s audience were governed under Roman law and Philippi was a Roman colony. The church was formed of people who worshipped various different gods and understood God from a Gentile perspective. When Paul presents Christ Jesus the Lord, to the church, within the epistle as entirely God and man; able to save and judge all creation; but willing to serve His creation because of His amazing grace and love, they must have understood following Him was completely counter cultural.  The Lord lived a life in the body as a humble servant and His followers (Paul, Timothy, Silas) also lived in the same way. The Philippians, also were called to live in this same way because of who Jesus Christ is and because of what He has done and will do in the future.

Bibliography

• Hellerman, Joe. Philippians. La Mirada, Ca.: Biola University Bookstore, 2001
• Thielman, Frank. The NIV Application Commentary Philippians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zonervan Publishing House, 1995
• Hawthorne, Gerald F.; Martin, Ralph P. Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 1993
• Key words in the text numerically coded to the New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance, Lexical Aid. Chattanooga, TN. AMG Publishers, 1990

1st Thought

I was pondering this though as I reflected upon the weeks lesson for the kids that I have the honor of serving at Discovery Church. The lesson for the week is about Humility and how Jesus took upon the action of service by washing the disciples feet. The one thing that has always struck me is that he washed Judas' feet along with all the other disciples even though immediately after this act of service He announces the betrayal of not only Judas but Peter as well, Peter’s denial (John 13) What comes to mind for me today is the difference between the two disciples, Peter and Judas.

What is the difference?

Peter: is outspoken, a natural leader, honest, opinionated, and many other thing but that is not what really separates him from being a “Judas”.

Judas: is obscure in the Gospels, we know he was in charge of the money. So, he at least appeared to be responsible, based upon the Gospels, he may have been an introvert because we don’t have him making any overt statements like Peter, Thomas, John, and James. Except of course his false humility statement in John 12:4-7 about money being used for the poor, which gives us, incite to his deceptiveness.

But all of these things are not what really separates Judas from Peter.

What I believe separates these two men one from being the instrument of the Holy Spirit to preach at Pentecost and “begin” the Church (Acts 2) and the one who became the ultimate “antichrist”, at least during that period in the Story, by actually begin possessed by Satan and betraying the Lord of Glory resulting in Jesus death upon a cross (John 13:27, 18:1-9). The simple answer that I believe is the difference is one actually knew Jesus and the other only knew about Jesus. One believed in the God’s mercy and forgiveness for sinners (Exodus 34:6-7, John 21:1-19). The other, Judas was so self-centered that in despair he took his own life rather then go to God for forgiveness (Matthew 27:3-10).

I am reminded of the parallel between David and Saul as I write this, which seem to me to be very similar.

So the question is do you know God for who He is not who you want Him to be? Which is a very important question to consider in light of eternity.

Just a thought,

Neimad