Building Up The Body

By Ken Jones 3/1/2007

     Make no mistake about it, ours is a culture of specialization and niche marketing. From vegetarian or vegan restaurants to the most obscure hobby, entrepreneurs have found a way to tap into every conceivable niche market. And just as the church has borrowed other trends and techniques from the marketing world, niche marketing has been no exception. It should come as no surprise that para-church ministries and organizations have a target audience that they aim for, but we are seeing an increasing number of Christian churches that are shaping their ministries to reach a particular niche market. Sometimes this trend is the result of a subtle shift in the church’s ministry as they minister to a particular segment of the congregation. For instance, a church with a growing number of college age members may develop programs geared to meet the needs of that group. Concern for this group can evolve from a Sunday School class, to a small group fellowship, to a series of sermons tailored for that group, music that would appeal to that group, and on and on until the church has the character and reputation of being “a church for college students.” You can substitute “college student” with any other group or special interest such as family, young marrieds, business people, ad infinitum, but the end result is the same, a special interest-groups church, with a certain target audience.

     But while some churches evolve to this point, others are planned and planted with the intention of catering to a specific group. Whether the specialty church is the result of efforts to meet the needs of a particular group within a given congregation, or of a church plant with a target audience in mind, the result is the same — an unnecessarily unbalanced and unhealthy church. This may appear to be an overstatement, but consider a family where one child is catered to and another is neglected. This is to the detriment of both. The one that is catered to develops unrealistic expectations and possibly a sense of entitlement. While the one that is neglected is made to feel inferior and at times even unloved, if not resentful of the favored child. But let’s consider a church scenario. A friend once told of an elderly widow who visited his church because her pastor was starting a prolonged series of sermons on sex. She understood the importance of addressing this subject from a biblical and pastoral perspective, but several weeks on the subject was more than she needed. Or, take a church that tailors its ministry to families with children, not only will such an emphasis not minister to those who are not married and have no children, but it could also prompt them to become discontent in their state. Contrary to what some may think or say (even many Christians), everyone that is single is not necessarily looking to be married. I have heard the complaints of unmarried Christians about the subtle pressures placed on them (sometimes in the context of singles ministries) to find a suitable mate, when finding a mate is the least of their concerns. In fact, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7:8, 32–35 suggest that single Christians have fewer hindrances when it comes to serving the Lord. It is the responsibility of church leaders to provide an atmosphere that nurtures and edifies the whole covenant family.

     Of course there is a place for special interest or small group ministries in the church. But I wonder if the contemporary church has made these secondary auxiliary ministries the driving force and defining character of the church. In other words, if a local church does not have a youth ministry, or a young adult fellowship, does this mean that church has nothing to offer youth and young adults? Have these special interest groups become the cornerstone of the church? On the contrary, the apostle Paul presents a different picture. In Ephesians 4:11–16 he says that Christ has given His church pastor-teachers to the whole body (family) for some very specific purposes:

     First, they are for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. Edmund Clowney in his book, The Church (Contours of Christian Theology), says that the work of ministry consists in three things: serving God in worship, the world in missions and evangelism, and each other in nurture. Our gifts and participation in these things may differ, but our commitment to them should be equal.

     Another purpose of the church in its ministry to the whole family is “building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:12–13). Knowledge of the person and work of Christ is important to the whole body.

     Thirdly, it is the duty of the church to build up the family so they are not easily deceived “by every wind of doctrine.” In other words, the family of God must be instructed in what we believe and why.

     A fourth purpose of the church to the whole family is the stressing of our organic unity. Paul says “the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (v. 16).

     If these things are our primary focus, then each member of the family will be equipped to serve, they will recognize their individual value to the body and appreciate the value of their brothers and sisters, as we uphold our common faith, and glorify our heavenly Father.

Hope

By R.C. Sproul Jr. 4/1/2007

     Strange as it might seem, I was actually looking forward to seeing her, and wondering how she would react to seeing me. Two years ago my dear wife Denise was stricken with cancer. She received excellent treatment, and faced her challenge like a hero. It was my habit to accompany her to the chemotherapy room, where we met several young ladies that worked there. One seemed particularly compassionate, talkative, and fun. What will she think, I wondered, two years later, when Denise waltzes in here to accompany me for my chemotherapy treatments? Who would have thought a husband and wife, still comparatively young, would both fall victim to cancer within the space of two years?

     The sweet nurse was surprised to see us, which didn’t surprise me. After we reintroduced ourselves she set about her work. She had some difficulty finding a vein with her I.V. needle, which didn’t surprise me either. After five or six jabs she succeeded. She then leaned close to me and whispered, “Do you ever get angry?” I smiled at her, knowing how frustrating and embarrassing it can be to try to get a needle in the right place. “Mercy no,” I told her, “I know you are doing your best. I’m sorry my veins are so lame.” She then explained that I had misunderstood her question. What she wondered was whether I ever got angry with God. “Why,” I asked her, “would I ever get angry with God?”

     “Well,” she continued, “don’t you ever think that since you’re a pastor, since you’ve devoted your life to God, that He shouldn’t have allowed you to get cancer, let alone both you and Denise? Don’t you ever think that this is a pretty lousy way to repay you?” I gave thanks to God for the opportunity to help this sweet young woman. “I don’t get angry with God. He doesn’t owe me anything but His wrath. But that’s not why He gave me cancer. He gave it to me because He loves me, just like He gave it to Denise, because He loves her. This is neither punishment nor permission. This is a gift from Him.”

     Paul tells us that it is right and appropriate, in times of hardship, that we should mourn. I didn’t tell the nurse that every day with cancer is like a day full of sunshine. (As I write this morning, it has been more than sixty hours since I’ve been able to eat anything.) Hardship, though it be for our good and His glory, is still hardship. And so we mourn. But, Paul tells us, we do not mourn like the world. They mourn without hope, while we mourn with hope.

     There is an immediate and sound deduction we can reach here. Why would our mourning differ from the world around us? We know where we are going. We know what end is in store for us. Any sadness or hardship that we experience is, on any appropriate scale, brief and mild. Our suffering, after all, cannot be compared with the eternal weight of glory. The suffering of those outside the kingdom is but a prelude, a small taste of an eternity of agony. Our suffering, on the other hand, is but a speed bump on the way to Glory Road.

     What we must not miss, however, is the reason for our different ends. Our grief is infused with hope not merely because we have a bright future. Instead our grief is infused with hope because of our past. We look forward, in the midst of our grief, in hope, because we look backward, in the midst of our grief, with joyful gratitude. My future is bright because the wrath that I am owed has already been spent. The difference is in the cross of Christ. Whatever sorrow God calls me to go through, He calls me to go through for the express purpose of remolding me into the image of His Son. Every cancerous cell growing in my body, every deadly chemical that the nurses pour into my body to fight the cancer, all of it exists to make me more like Jesus.

     Stephen, we are told, while he was being martyred, saw heaven open up. He beheld the glory of Christ, as He stood, a witness for this witness. The joy was not merely that Stephen would be found innocent. The joy was not simply that Stephen would be with Jesus. The greatest joy was that Stephen knew that what he saw, that he would become. John, remembering that we ought not to mourn as those who are without hope, gives us this greatest hope, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). He knows the plans He has for us, plans to give us hope and a future, a future so grand that eye hath not seen or ear heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man.

     May we be blessed with the courage to believe His promises, even in the midst of hardship. May the world witness us, the witnesses of Christ, as we attest to His goodness, through mourning with hope. May they behold His glory, as we move from mourning to dancing.

True Shepherding

By Joel Beeke 4/1/2007

     Every morning for several months, my wife and I walked past an injured Canada goose, whose feathers stuck out in several directions. For all those months, several geese dutifully stayed with the injured bird.

     Likewise, caring for the wounded is the church’s loving duty to her own. Paul teaches us that when one member of Christ’s body suffers, “all the members suffer” (1 Cor.12:26 KJV). Caring for the grieving promotes the unity of the body of Christ and fosters the communion of saints. Furthermore, grieving saints have a claim on our compassion for Christ’s sake (Matt. 25:40).

     This is particularly true of pastors. We are called to be shepherd or pastor (Eph. 4:11), which means we are to “feed (literally, ‘be a shepherd to’) the church of God” (Acts 20:28 KJV). That involves avoiding certain attitudes and cultivating others, then putting those attitudes into action, remembering our great calling as Christ’s undershepherds.

Attitudes to Avoid

Attitudes to Cultivate

Putting Attitude into Action

• 1     Piety: The Heartbeat of Reformed Theology
• 2     A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life
• 3     How God Sent a Dog to Save a Family (Building on the Rock)
• 4     Reformation Heroes
• 5     Friends and Lovers: Cultivating Companionship and Intimacy in Marriage
• 6     The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible - Hardcover
• 7     Getting Back in the Race: The Cure for Backsliding
• 8     Parenting by God's Promises
• 9     Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer
• 10     Living for God's Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism
• 11     Living By God's Promises (Deepen Your Christian Life)
• 12     God's Alphabet for Life: Devotions for Young Children
• 13     Revelation (Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament)
• 14     Fighting Satan: Knowing His Weaknesses, Strategies, and Defeat
• 15     Family Worship (Family Guidance)
• 16     How God Used A Thunderstorm and Other Devotional Stories (Building on the Rock)
• 17     Reformed Confessions Harmonized
• 18     Why Christ Came: 31 Meditations on the Incarnation
• 19     Puritan Reformed Spirituality: A Practical Biblical Study from Reformed and Puritan Heritage
• 20     How God Used a Snowdrift (Building on the Rock)
• 21     How God Stopped The Pirates and Other Devotional Stories (Building on the Rock)
• 22     The Beauty and Glory of the Holy Spirit
• 23     Portraits of Faith: What Five Biblical Characters Teach Us About Our Life with God
• 24     Puritan Evangelism
• 25     Developing a Healthy Prayer Life
• 26     Holiness
• 27     Striving Against Satan
• 28     How God Used a Drought and an Umbrella (Building on the Rock)
• 29     Encouragement for Today's Pastors: Help from the Puritans
• 30     God’s Alphabet for Life : Devotions for Young Children
• 31     What Is Resurrection? (Basics of the Faith)
• 32     Living Zealously (Deepen Your Christian Life Series)
• 43     Family Worship (Family Guidance Series)
• 34     Bringing the Gospel to Covenant Children (Family Guidance)
• 35     Quest for Full Assurance: Legacy of Calvin & His Successors
• 36     Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible (Reformation Theology Series)
• 37     Prepared by Grace, for Grace: The Puritans on God’s Way of Leading Sinners to Christ
• 38     Bringing the Gospel to Covenant Children (Family Guidance Series)
• 39     The Family at Church: Listening to Sermons and Attending Prayer Meetings (Family Guidance)
• 40     Heirs with Christ: The Puritans on Adoption
• 41     A Faithful Church Member
• 42     Puritan Evangelism: A Biblical Approach (Guidance From Church History) by Joel R Beeke (1999-08-02)
• 43     Milk and Honey
• 44     Walking as He Walked
• 45     Developing Healthy Spiritual Growth: Knowledge, Practice and Experience
• 46     Forerunner of the Great Awakening: Sermons by Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1691-1747) (Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America)
• 47     Sing a New Song: Recovering Psalm Singing for the Twenty-First Century
• 48     The Beauty and Glory of Christ
• 49     Feasting with Christ: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
• 50     The Epistles of John
• 51     Overcoming the World: Grace to Win the Daily Battle
• 52     How to Evaluate Sermons
• 53     Assurance of Faith (American University Studies)
• 54     Truth that frees: A workbook on Reformed doctrine for young adults
• 55     Jehovah Shepherding Sheep: Sermons on 23rd Psalm
• 56     Taking Hold of God: Reformed and Puritan Perspectives on Prayer

A Tale of Two Funerals

By Gene Edward Veith 4/1/2007

     A young man I knew died in a tragic traffic accident. His death was utterably sad. At his funeral, his friends were all wearing T-shirts adorned with his picture. At the front of the church were heaped up flowers, footballs, and stuffed animals. On top of his coffin was a picture from his senior prom.

     The service began with a recording of his favorite song, a heavy metal power ballad. The preacher gave a eulogy, praising how the teenager was such a good friend, such a good person, recounting some of the funny things he used to say, telling about the dreams he had for his life. Everybody in the church was crying.

     Then his best friend got up to say a few words. He was sobbing. He finally croaked out his good-bye, as the congregation joined his sobs. His girlfriend recited a poem she wrote about how much she loved him. Then, the boy’s grief-stricken father had to get up in front of everybody to talk about his son.

     As if all of this emotion were not wrenching enough, the funeral director next played a video, showing highlights of the boy’s life — his baby pictures, playing with his friends, enjoying Christmas with his family, waving at the camera.

     There was not a dry eye in the house. People said what a beautiful funeral it was.

     Another funeral I attended was of another young person who died a tragic death, one that was even more senseless and horrible. She had been raped and murdered by a serial killer. (I was one of the elders on duty. My job was to keep the news media away from the family.)

     At this funeral, the congregation sang old hymns. They were in a minor key, but the lyrics centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The grievers joined together in a responsive reading of the Word of God.

     The pastor, garbed in black, read more texts from the Bible. Instead of a eulogy, the pastor recited the facts of the girl’s life, emphasizing her baptism, her catechesis, her confession of faith. He described how she joined the church, her confirmation, and her regular reception of the Lord’s Supper.

     The pastor, preaching from the Bible, gave a sermon on our travails in this wicked world, on how the Son of God entered our sinful condition, how in His sacrifice and His promises, we have a sure and certain hope that this poor child has entered into everlasting joy. The justice of God will be manifest, and so will His mercy, and He will wipe away every tear.

     We sang some more hymns. The mood was sad and somber, but the Word of God that permeated the whole service was like a lifeline. Or, rather, like a strong arm supporting us in our grief. Yes, we cried, but the funeral gave us strength.

     Our culture does not know how to handle death. We insulate ourselves from it. The dying pass away out of sight.

     We are terrified of death. And so we sentimentalize it.

     The contemporary funeral deals with grief by indulging it, even feeding it. A successful funeral — with its heart-wrenching personal testimonials, its parade of mourners pouring out their anguish, the emotional manipulation of the congregation — works by creating an emotional catharsis. The upsurge of feeling can indeed feel cleansing. As at the ending of a tragedy, the emotions are purged. The bereaved feel drained. The aftermath, in Milton’s words, is “calm of mind, all passions spent.” The grievers really do feel better.

     But how different is a traditional Christian funeral.

     In a Christian service of the burial of the dead, the mourner’s grief is fully acknowledged and shared. But it is channeled into contemplation and prayer. The grievers are given not catharsis but consolation.

     That consolation is not to be found in how good of a guy the dear departed was. Even Christian funerals sometimes miss this point.

     My former pastor refused to deliver eulogies. It is not fitting, he would say, nor is it comforting, to dwell at a funeral on the dead person’s good works. When we die, we dare not stand before God claiming how good we are. So that must not be the emphasis at a funeral.

     The dead person’s only hope is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the only hope of the grievers at the funeral, who, having been forced to confront the reality of death, tend to be uniquely receptive to spiritual truth.

     My pastor would deflect attention from the person who died to the Person who died and rose again. He would preach Jesus — the cross, the atonement, the imputation of His righteousness, the resurrection — as the victor over death, hell, and the grave.

     He would not preach this into a vacuum, but into the hearts of the grieving family and friends. He would connect Christ’s resurrection to the resurrection of their loved one and to theirs.

     We did not leave this funeral drained, but comforted. He moved us from desolation to faith. We still hurt, but we were given hope, not in ourselves — at a funeral we experience as at no other time our frailty and helplessness — but in Someone stronger at a time when we need strength.

A Grief Observed

By R.C. Sproul 4/1/2007

     What’s wrong with this picture? I’m speaking of my assignment for this month’s issue of Tabletalk. Over the years, my articles have been generally written out of a concern to communicate content of a biblical or theological nature that I approach from the perspective of a student. This time I’ve been given the sobering assignment of writing about a topic, not merely from a biblical or theological perspective, but from a personal, anecdotal perspective. The editors of Tabletalk have asked me to write about grief, reflecting on how I have experienced grief in my own life and then commenting on how to deal with grief biblically as Christians should.

     Before I discuss personal grief, I want to comment on the nature of grief. When we speak of the reality of grief, we are talking about pain. The pain that we describe by the use of this word, however, is not the pain of a minor irritation. It is not the pain of a broken bone, a fractured leg, a pierced shoulder. It is a pain that penetrates the skin of a person and plunges to the deepest recesses of the person’s being. It is a pain that grips the soul with a vise-like pincer that brings with the pain an excruciating sense of mourning. We use the term grief to describe pain that assaults the deepest level of our being. We often use the metaphor of the broken heart, yet we know that hearts don’t break like a glass that falls on the floor or like bones that are shattered in an accident. The broken heart really describes a weeping soul, a soul that is cloaked in the darkest night.

     When we speak of grief, we speak about an emotion of which the Scriptures are profoundly aware. We speak of an emotion that was most poignantly manifested in the life and the experience of our Lord Himself. Jesus was described as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. His acquaintanceship with grief was not merely a sympathetic or empathetic awareness of other people’s pain. Rather, His experience of grief was a pain that He felt within Himself. To be sure, His pain was the result of His perception, not of His own shortcomings, but of the great evils that plague this world. We think of Jesus coming to the holy city, the city that He visited as a boy, the city that incorporated all of the promises that God had made to His people Israel, the city that was Zion’s holy hill. He came to that city, the city of promise, at a time when its corruption had reached its highest point. The nadir of unbelief was encrusted around the city of Jerusalem. When Jesus observed this city, He cried out in a lament, saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets…. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” It’s the grief that Jesus experienced when He noticed those women weeping for Him as He was moved, pushed, and shoved towards the cross at Golgotha. He said to these bystanders, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28). Our Lord’s grief was rooted and grounded in His compassion for a fallen world.

     On the other hand, when we experience grief, our grief is usually wrapped up with some kind of personal loss. We remember C. S. Lewis’ profound insights to this human predicament in his book A Grief Observed.

     In my own experience, when I think of grief, there are only a few personal recollections that force their way into my mind. The first and most painful was the grief associated with the death of my father when I was seventeen years old. This was the man who, humanly speaking, was the anchor of my soul, the rock of stability in our home and in my life. When he was reduced to frailty and became incapacitated by multiple strokes, and wasted away finally to death itself, I was driven to despair. The loss of this man, who was my greatest earthly hero, left a scar on my soul that remains even to this day. I also think personally of my sense of loss when my dear friend Jim Boice was taken home to glory in 2000. It was not simply the loss of a friend, but a loss of a comrade in an ongoing battle that left me with such sorrow. The pangs of that sorrow were multiplied by my sense of loss, not only to me, but to the church of our time. When this champion was removed from our midst, I wanted to cry with David, “O how the mighty have fallen.” I wanted to say, “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in Ashkelon.” Let no one take opportunity at the passing of this man to rejoice in any apparent defeat to the power of the cross.

     Beyond those personal losses, the loss of friends, the loss of comrades, always bring to me a certain measure of grief. In my own heart, however, I know that nothing grieves me more than to see the Gospel compromised in the church. It’s not the wickedness of the pagan that breaks my heart. It’s the compromise of the Christian that grieves my soul. Finally, when I look at grief, as I experience it in my life and read of it in Scriptures, I know that with it always comes the clear and present danger of an emotion that can turn sour. Yet the emotion itself is perfectly legitimate. If we fail to deal with our grief, if our mourning goes beyond sorrow into bitterness, then we have allowed pain to abscess and become poison. We must examine the griefs we experience and take care that they never become the occasion for sin. They never did that to Jesus. We pray they won’t do it to us.

Robert Charles Sproul, 2/13/1939 – 12/14/2017 was an American theologian, author, and ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America. Dr. R.C. Sproul was founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian education and discipleship organization located near Orlando, Fla. He was also copastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., chancellor of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Dr. Sproul has contributed dozens of articles to national evangelical publications, has spoken at conferences, churches, and schools around the world, and has written more than one hundred books. He also served as general editor of the Reformation Study Bible.

Read The Psalms In "1" Year

Psalm 47

1 Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
2 For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

5 God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm!

Numbers 16

By Don Carson 5/8/2018

     Two more wretched episodes of rebellion now blemish the history of the Israelites in the wilderness (Num. 16).

     The first is the plot engineered by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They stir up trouble not among the riffraff, but among a sizable number of community leaders, about 250 of them. The heart of their criticism against Moses is twofold: (a) They think he has taken too much on himself. “The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them” (16:3). Moses has no right to set himself above “the LORD’s assembly” (16:3). (b) The track record of Moses’ ministry is so sullied by failure that he cannot be trusted. He brought them out of “a land flowing with milk and honey” (16:13), promising them much, but in reality leading them into the desert. So why on earth should he “lord it over” the people? (16:13)

     Their reasoning would have a certain believability among those who focused on their hardships, who resented all authority, who had short memories of how they had been rescued from Egypt, who did not value all that God had carefully revealed, and who were swayed by the instant appeal of rhetoric but who did not value their own solemn covenantal vows. Their descendants are numerous today. In the name of the priesthood of all believers and of the truth that the whole Christian community is holy, other things that God has said about Christian leaders are rapidly skirted. Behind these pretensions of fairness lies, very often, naked lust for power, nurtured by resentments.

     Of course, not every leader in the Christian church is to be treated with equal deference: some are self-promoted upstarts that the church is to get rid of (e.g., 2 Cor. 10-13). Nor are all who protest cursed with the judgment that fell on Korah and his friends: some, like Luther and Calvin, like Whitefield and Wesley, and like Paul and Amos before them, are genuine reformers. But in an anti-authoritarian age like ours, one should always check to see if the would-be reformers are shaped by passionate devotion to the words of God, or simply manipulate those words for their own selfish ends.

     In the second rebellion, the “whole Israelite community” (16:41), fed by pathetic resentments, mutters against Moses and Aaron, accusing them of having killed the rebels the day before — as if they could have opened the ground to swallow them up. Thousands perish because the community as a whole still has not come to grips with God’s holiness, the exclusiveness of his claims, the inevitability of his wrath against rebels, his just refusal to be treated with contempt.

     And why should our generation be spared?

Don Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and co-founder (with Tim Keller) of The Gospel Coalition. He has authored numerous books, and recently edited The Enduring Authority of the Christian Scriptures (Eerdmans, 2016).

By Gleason Archer Jr.

Jeremiah History of the Text

     There is good evidence to believe that even apart from the original edition of  Jeremiah’s prophecy, which was destroyed by Jehoiakim, there was a later edition which preceded the final form of the text as we have it in the Masoretic tradition. At least this is a reasonable deduction to draw from the Greek LXX, since it appears to be about one-eighth shorter than the Hebrew text of the MT. It differs also in the arrangement of the chapters, for chapters  46–51 of the MT are placed after chapter  25 in the LXX, and they are arranged in a somewhat different sequence.  Jeremiah 33:14–26 of the MT is altogether missing in the LXX. It would seem that this earlier edition was published in the prophet’s own lifetime and first disseminated in Egypt. Later, after  Jeremiah’s death, it appears that his secretary, Baruch, made a more comprehensive collection of his master’s sermons and rearranged the material in more logical order. The MT undoubtedly preserves this posthumous edition of Baruch. In this connection, note that  36:32 indicates that a second preliminary edition was published in the reign of Jehoiakim, and it is therefore reasonable to assume that  Jeremiah kept adding to these earlier sermons the messages the Lord gave him in the reign of Zedekiah and in the period subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem.

     The following table is a correlation between the MT and the LXX in order to facilitate comparison:

Jeremiah: Integrity of the Text

     Most rationalist critics deny certain portions of  Jeremiah both to Jeremiah himself and to Baruch his secretary. Passages challenged include (1)  10:1–16, because it warns the Jews in exile against idolatry in terms reminiscent of Deutero- Isaiah; (2)  17:19–27, because of the emphasis upon strict Sabbath keeping, which is reminiscent of  Ezekiel or the priestly code and therefore a little too late for  Jeremiah; (3) chapters  30 and  31, because of the Messianic expectation which some critics feel was only characteristic of the post-exilic period and also because of the emphasis upon individual responsibility in the mood of  Ezekiel 18 (the assumption being that this passage in  Jeremiah must have been later than  Ezekiel ); (4) chapter  51, because in verse  41 Babylon is spoken of by its Athbash equivalent, “Sheshakh,” and the Athbash is considered a late artificial device. (Athbash is so called because it is a code in which the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet indicates the first, the second to the last indicates the second letter; hence the B-b-l of Babel comes out as Sh-sh-k, or the code name Sheshach in KJV.)

     But it should be noted that all these criteria for later dating  depend for their validity upon unproved assumptions  such as the post-exilic dating of document P of the Torah and of  Isaiah II, and a supposedly late evolutionary hypothesis as to the development of the messianic hope. It is difficult of course, to justify any extensive chronological gap between  Jeremiah and  Ezekiel, since according to the biblical evidence the two prophets were contemporaneous in their ministries, at least during the latter part of Jeremiah’s career. There is a very close resemblance between  Jer. 31:29–30 and  Ezek. 18:2–3; yet it would appear that what  Jeremiah says in passing is taken up by  Ezekiel as a sort of text for an extended sermon.

Jeremiah: Miscellaneous Historical Matters

     In regard to  Jeremiah’s prediction in  29:10 concerning the seventy years’ captivity, there is some question as to how the seven decades are to be computed. The main deportation of the population of Judah did not take place until 586 B.C. In 539, Babylon fell to the Persian conquerors, and within a year or two the Jewish remnant who chose to return resettled in Judah under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, possibly in 536. Yet only fifty years elapsed between 586 and 536, and so we must look for other termini. Since the first Palestinian invasion of Nebuchadnezzar took place in 605 B.C., and resulted in the deportation of a considerable number of hostages (including Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), this date might serve as the terminus a quo; thus 536 would be approximately seventy years later. Another possibility is to begin the seventy years at the destruction of the Temple by General Nebuzaradan in 586 and prolong the captivity until the second temple had been completely rebuilt, which took place in 516. Of these two choices, the latter seems to be very definitely favored by  Zech. 1:12: “Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation, these threescore and ten years?” (ASV). Since this utterance must have been given in 519 B.C., we can only conclude that, from the standpoint of the angel at least, the seventy years were not yet up; and that the gracious promise in  Jer. 29:10 was not to be fulfilled until the Temple itself was restored.

     Until a few decades ago, considerable skepticism was voiced by many critics as to the fulfillment of the prediction made by  Jeremiah 43:9–13 and  44:30 that northern Egypt would be devastated by an invasion of the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar (cf. also  Ezek. 29:19–20, which contains a similar prediction). The pagan Greek historians make no mention of such an invasion, although there is a definite record to be found in Josephus’s Antiquities 10.9.5–7: “Johanan took those whom he had rescued and came to a certain place called Mandara. On the fifth year (582/81) after the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the twenty-third (582) of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he made an expedition against Coele-Syria; and when he had possessed himself of it, he made war against the Ammonites and Moabites; and when he had brought all those nations under subjection, he fell upon Egypt in order to overthrow it, and he slew the king that then reigned and set up another; and he took those Jews that were there captives, and led them away to Babylon; and such was the end of the nation of the Hebrews.”

     Many authorities tended to discount this testimony of Josephus as merely manufactured in order to support the Hebrew Scriptures. But R. Campbell Thompson of Oxford remarks: “The small fragment of a Babylonian chronicle first published by Pinches shows that Nebuchadnezzar launched an expedition against Egypt in his thirty-seventh year, i.e., about 567 B.C.… the very distance to which he penetrated is a matter of dispute.… We might almost assume from the tradition that certain Babylonian settlers built a ‘Babylon’ in Egypt near the Pyramids, which appears to have existed as an important fort in the time of Augustus, that his army at all events left some mark there.” In ANET3 (p. 308) appears a translation of a fragmentary Babylonian text in the British Museum containing the following sentence: “In the thirty-seventh year (568/67), Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, marched against Mi-sir [Egypt] to deliver a battle.” Additional archaeological confirmation is found in an inscription on the statue of Nes-hor in the Louvre. Nes-hor was a governor of southern Egypt under Hophra (Uaḥ-ib-Ra, in Egyptian). In this biographical record he states that an army of Asiatics and northern peoples who had invaded Egypt attempted to advance up the Nile valley to Ethiopia, but this was fortunately averted by the favor of the gods.” In view of this evidence, therefore, it is hardly justifiable to deny any longer the historicity of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt, or to question that it was a very serious and devastating incursion.

     At this point mention should be made of an important archaeological find unearthed at the site of the ancient city of Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir) which brought to light a file of correspondence consisting of about twenty-one ostraca dating from the year 588 B.C. They practically all consist of letters or memoranda written by the captain of a military outpost named Hoshaiah to Ya’ush, the district commander of the Jewish forces stationed in Lachish during the third Chaldean invasion. In most of these letters Hoshaiah seems to be defending himself against slanders and misrepresentations concerning his own loyalty or efficiency. In these communications he refers to various people or incidents in such an elusive way that we cannot be sure of their full import. Some scholars have concluded, for example, that a certain prophet mentioned in these letters might either have been  Jeremiah himself, or Urijah, who was extradited from Egypt after uttering an adverse prophecy against Jehoiakim (cf.  Jer. 26:20–23 ). A further study of the evidence, however, has led most scholars to conclude that the prophet mentioned in these letters cannot reliably be identified upon the basis of the data at hand. The most significant light cast upon the period of  Jeremiah by the Lachish correspondence is to be found in the linguistic field. The type of Hebrew employed in these ostraca bears a very marked similarity to that which appears in the writings of  Jeremiah, and serves to confirm the genuineness of his prophecies as stemming from the beginning of the sixth century B.C.

A Survey of Old Testament Introduction

The Continual Burnt Offering (Hosea 2:19)

By H.A. Ironside - 1941

May 8

Hosea 2:19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.   ESV

Isaiah 54:5  For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.


Isaiah 62:3  You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4  You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5  For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.


Jeremiah 3:14  Return, O faithless children,
declares the LORD;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.

15 “ ‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Revelation 19:7  Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8  it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—

Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Spirit, breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so!
Oh, this full and perfect peace!
Oh, this transport all Divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His and He is mine.
--- W. Robinson

The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Translated by Henry Beveridge

     CHAPTER 25.

OF THE LAST RESURRECTION.

There are four principal heads in this chapter,--I. The utility, necessity, truth, and irrefragable evidence of the orthodox doctrine of a final resurrection--a doctrine unknown to philosophers, sec. 1-4. II. Refutation of the objections to this doctrine by Atheists, Sadducees, Chiliasts, and other fanatics, sec. 5-7. III. The nature of the final resurrection explained, sec. 8, 9. IV. Of the eternal felicity of the elect, and the everlasting misery of the reprobate.

Sections.

1. For invincible perseverance in our calling, it is necessary to be animated with the blessed hope of our Savior's final advent.

2. The perfect happiness reserved for the elect at the final resurrection unknown to philosophers.

3. The truth and necessity of this doctrine of a final resurrection. To confirm our belief in it we have, 1. The example of Christ; and, 2. The omnipotence of God. There is an inseparable connection between us and our risen Savior. The bodies of the elect must be conformed to the body of their Head. It is now in heaven. Therefore, our bodies also must rise, and, reanimated by their souls, reign with Christ in heaven. The resurrection of Christ a pledge of ours.

4. As God is omnipotent, he can raise the dead. Resurrection explained by a natural process. The vision of dry bones.

5. Second part of the chapter, refuting objections to the doctrine of resurrection. 1. Atheists. 2. Sadducees. 3. Chiliasts. Their evasion. Various answers. 4. Universalists. Answer.

6. Objections continued. 5. Some speculators who imagine that death destroys the whole man. Refutation. The condition and abode of souls from death till the last day. What meant by the bosom of Abraham.

7. Refutation of some weak men and Manichees, pretending that new bodies are to be given. Refutation confirmed by various arguments and passages of Scripture.

8. Refutation of the fiction of new bodies continued.

9. Shall the wicked rise again? Answer in the affirmative. Why the wicked shall rise again. Why resurrection promised to the elect only.

10. The last part of the chapter, treating of eternal felicity; 1 Its excellence transcends our capacity. Rules to be observed. The glory of all the saints will not be equal.

11. Without rewarding questions which merely puzzle, an answer given to some which are not without use.

12. As the happiness of the elect, so the misery of the reprobate, will be without measure, and without end.

1. Although Christ, the Sun of righteousness, shining upon us through the gospel, has, as Paul declares, after conquering death, given us the light of life; and hence on believing we are said to have passed from "death unto life," being no longer strangers and pilgrims, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, who has made us sit with his only begotten Son in heavenly places, so that nothing is wanting to our complete felicity; yet, lest we should feel it grievous to be exercised under a hard warfare, as if the victory obtained by Christ had produced no fruit, we must attend to what is elsewhere taught concerning the nature of hope. For since we hope for what we see not, and faith, as is said in another passage, is "the evidence of things not seen" so long as we are imprisoned in the body we are absent from the Lord. For which reason Paul says, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Our present condition, therefore, requires us to "live soberly, righteously, and godly;" "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." Here there is need of no ordinary patience, lest, worn out with fatigue, we either turn backwards or abandon our post. Wherefore, all that has hitherto been said of our salvation calls upon us to raise our minds towards heaven, that, as Peter exhorts, though we now see not Christ, "yet believing," we may "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls. [509] For this reason Paul says, that the faith and charity of the saints have respect to the faith and hope which is laid up for them in heaven (Col. 1:5). When we thus keep our eyes fixed upon Christ in heaven, and nothing on earth prevents us from directing them to the promised blessedness, there is a true fulfillment of the saying, "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also," (Mt. 6:21). Hence the reason why faith is so rare in the world; nothing being more difficult for our sluggishness than to surmount innumerable obstacles in striving for the prize of our high calling. To the immense load of miseries which almost overwhelm us, are added the jeers of profane men, who assail us for our simplicity, when spontaneously renouncing the allurements of the present life we seem, in seeking a happiness which lies hid from us, to catch at a fleeting shadow. In short, we are beset above and below, behind and before, with violent temptations, which our minds would be altogether unable to withstand, were they not set free from earthly objects and devoted to the heavenly life, though apparently remote from us. Wherefore, he alone has made solid progress in the Gospel who has acquired the habit of meditating continually on a blessed resurrection.

2. In ancient times philosophers discoursed, and even debated with each other, concerning the chief good: none, however, except Plato acknowledged that it consisted in union with God. He could not, however, form even an imperfect idea of its true nature; nor is this strange, as he had learned nothing of the sacred bond of that union. We even in this our earthly pilgrimage know wherein our perfect and only felicity consists,--a felicity which, while we long for it, daily inflames our hearts more and more, until we attain to full fruition. Therefore I said, that none participate in the benefits of Christ save those who raise their minds to the resurrection. This, accordingly, is the mark which Paul sets before believers, and at which he says they are to aim, forgetting every thing until they reach its (Phil. 3:8). The more strenuously, therefore, must we contend for it, lest if the world engross us we be severely punished for our sloth. [510] Accordingly, he in another passage distinguishes believers by this mark, that their conversation is in heaven, from whence they look for the Savior (Phil. 3:20). And that they may not faint in their course, he associates all the other creatures with them. As shapeless ruins are everywhere seen, he says, that all things in heaven and earth struggle for renovation. For since Adam by his fall destroyed the proper order of nature, the creatures groan under the servitude to which they have been subjected through his sin; not that they are at all endued with sense, but that they naturally long for the state of perfection from which they have fallen. Paul therefore describes them as groaning and travailing in pain (Rom. 8:19); so that we who have received the first-fruits of the Spirit may be ashamed to grovel in our corruption, instead of at least imitating the inanimate elements which are bearing the punishment of another's sin. And in order that he may stimulate us the more powerfully, he terms the final advent of Christ our redemption. It is true, indeed, that all the parts of our redemption are already accomplished; but as Christ was once offered for sins (Heb. 9:28), so he shall again appear without sin unto salvation. Whatever, then, be the afflictions by which we are pressed, let this redemption sustain us until its final accomplishment.

3. The very importance of the subject ought to increase our ardor. Paul justly contends, that if Christ rise not the whole gospel is delusive and vain (1 Cor. 15:13-17); for our condition would be more miserable than that of other mortals, because we are exposed to much hatred and insult, and incur danger every hour; nay, are like sheep destined for slaughter; and hence the authority of the gospel would fail, not in one part merely, but in its very essence, including both our adoption and the accomplishment of our salvation. Let us, therefore, give heed to a matter of all others the most serious, so that no length of time may produce weariness. I have deferred the brief consideration to be given of it to this place, that my readers may learn, when they have received Christ, the author of perfect salvation, to rise higher, and know that he is clothed with heavenly immortality and glory in order that the whole body may be rendered conformable to the Head. For thus the Holy Spirit is ever setting before us in his person an example of the resurrection. It is difficult to believe that after our bodies have been consumed with rottenness, they will rise again at their appointed time. And hence, while many of the philosophers maintained the immortality of the soul, few of them assented to the resurrection of the body. Although in this they were inexcusable, we are thereby reminded that the subject is too difficult for human apprehension to reach it. To enable faith to surmount the great difficulty, Scripture furnishes two auxiliary proofs, the one the likeness of Christ's resurrection, and the other the omnipotence of God. Therefore, whenever the subject of the resurrection is considered, let us think of the case of our Savior, who, having completed his mortal course in our nature which he had assumed, obtained immortality, and is now the pledge of our future resurrection. For in the miseries by which we are beset, we always bear "about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh," (2 Cor. 4:10). It is not lawful, it is not even possible, to separate him from us, without dividing him. Hence Paul's argument, "If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen," (1 Cor. 15:13); for he assumes it as an acknowledged principle, that when Christ was subjected to death, and by rising gained a victory over death, it was not on his own account, but in the Head was begun what must necessarily be fulfilled in all the members, according to the degree and order of each. For it would not be proper to be made equal to him in all respects. It is said in the psalm, "Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption," (Ps. 16:10). Although a portion of this confidence appertain to us according to the measure bestowed on us, yet the full effect appeared only in Christ, who, free from all corruption, resumed a spotless body. Then, that there may be no doubt as to our fellowship with Christ in a blessed resurrection, and that we may be contented with this pledge, Paul distinctly affirms that he sits in the heavens, and will come as a judge on the last day for the express purpose of changing our vile body, "that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body," (Phil. 3:21). For he elsewhere says that God did not raise up his Son from death to give an isolated specimen of his mighty power, but that the Spirit exerts the same efficacy in regard to them that believe; and accordingly he says, that the Spirit when he dwells in us is life, because the end for which he was given is to quicken our mortal body (Rom. 8:10, 11; Col. 3:4). I briefly glance at subjects which might be treated more copiously, and deserve to be adorned more splendidly, and yet in the little I have said I trust pious readers will find sufficient materials for building up their faith. Christ rose again that he might have us as partakers with him of future life. He was raised up by the Father, inasmuch as he was the Head of the Church, from which he cannot possibly be dissevered. He was raised up by the power of the Spirit, who also in us performs the office of quickening. In fine, he was raised up to be the resurrection and the life. But as we have said, that in this mirror we behold a living image of the resurrection, so it furnishes a sure evidence to support our minds, provided we faint not, nor grow weary at the long delay, because it is not ours to measure the periods of time at our own pleasure; but to rest patiently till God in his own time renew his kingdom. To this Paul refers when he says, "But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming," (1 Cor. 15:23).

But lest any question should be raised as to the resurrection of Christ on which ours is founded, we see how often and in what various ways he has borne testimony to it. Scoffing men will deride the narrative which is given by the Evangelist as a childish fable. For what importance will they attach to a message which timid women bring, and the disciples almost dead with fear, afterwards confirm? Why does not Christ rather place the illustrious trophies of his victory in the midst of the temple and the forum? Why does he not come forth, and in the presence of Pilate strike terror? Why does he not show himself alive again to the priests and all Jerusalem? Profane men will scarcely admit that the witnesses whom he selects are well qualified. I answer, that though at the commencement their infirmity was contemptible, yet the whole was directed by the admirable providence of God, so that partly from love to Christ and religious zeal, partly from incredulity, those who were lately overcome with fear now hurry to the sepulchre, not only that they might be eye-witnesses of the fact, but that they might hear angels announce what they actually saw. How can we question the veracity of those who regarded what the women told them as a fable, until they saw the reality? It is not strange that the whole people and also the governor, after they were furnished with sufficient evidence for conviction, were not allowed to see Christ or the other signs (Mt. 27:66; 28:11). The sepulchre is sealed, sentinels keep watch, on the third day the body is not found. The soldiers are bribed to spread the report that his disciples had stolen the body. As if they had had the means of deforming a band of soldiers, or been supplied with weapons, or been trained so as to make such a daring attempt. But if the soldiers had not courage enough to repel them, why did they not follow and apprehend some of them by the aid of the populace? Pilate, therefore, in fact, put his signet to the resurrection of Christ, and the guards who were placed at the sepulchre by their silence or falsehood also became heralds of his resurrection. Meanwhile, the voice of angels was heard, "He is not here, but is risen," (Luke 24:6). The celestial splendor plainly shows that they were not men but angels. Afterwards, if any doubt still remained, Christ himself removed it. The disciples saw him frequently; they even touched his hands and his feet, and their unbelief is of no little avail in confirming our faith. He discoursed to them of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and at length, while they beheld, ascended to heaven. This spectacle was exhibited not to eleven apostles only, but was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once (1 Cor. 15:6). Then by sending the Holy Spirit he gave a proof not only of life but also of supreme power, as he had foretold, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you," (John 16:7). Paul was not thrown down on the way by the power of a dead man, but felt that he whom he was opposing was possessed of sovereign authority. To Stephen he appeared for another purpose--viz. that he might overcome the fear of death by the certainty of life. To refuse assent to these numerous and authentic proofs is not diffidence, but depraved and therefore infatuated obstinacy.

4. We have said that in proving the resurrection our thoughts must be directed to the immense power of God. This Paul briefly teaches, when he says that the Lord Jesus Christ "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working of that mighty power whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself," (Phil. 3:21). Wherefore, nothing can be more incongruous than to look here at what can be done naturally when the subject presented to us is an inestimable miracle, which by its magnitude absorbs our senses. Paul, however, by producing a proof from nature, confutes the senselessness of those who deny the resurrection. "Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die," &c. (1 Cor. 15:36). He says that in seed there is a species of resurrection, because the crop is produced from corruption. Nor would the thing be so difficult of belief were we as attentive as we ought to be to the wonders which meet our eye in every quarter of the world. But let us remember that none is truly persuaded of the future resurrection save he who, carried away with admiration gives God the glory.

Elated with this conviction, Isaiah exclaims, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust," (Isaiah 26:19). In desperate circumstances he rises to God, the author of life, in whose hand are "the issues from death," (Psalm 68:20). Job also, when liker a dead body than a living being, trusting to the power of God, hesitates not as if in full vigor to rise to that day: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth;" (that is, that he will there exert his power): "and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another," (Job 19:25-27). For though some have recourse to a more subtle interpretation, by which they wrest these passages, as if they were not to be understood of the resurrection, they only confirm what they are desirous to overthrow; for holy men, in seeking consolation in their misfortunes, have recourse for alleviation merely to the similitude of a resurrection. This is better learned from a passage in Ezekiel. When the Jews scouted the promise of return, and objected that the probability of it was not greater than that of the dead coming forth from the tomb, there is presented to the prophet in vision a field covered with dry bones, which at the command of God recover sinews and flesh. Though under that figure he encourages the people to hope for return, yet the ground of hope is taken from the resurrection, as it is the special type of all the deliverances which believers experience in this world. Thus Christ declares that the voice of the Gospel gives life; but because the Jews did not receive it, he immediately adds, "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, and shall come forth," (John 5:28, 29). Wherefore, amid all our conflicts let us exult after the example of Paul, that he who has promised us future life "is able to keep that" which "is committed unto him," and thus glory that there is laid up for us "a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give," (2 Tim. 1:12; 4:8). Thus all the hardships which we may endure will be a demonstration of our future life, "seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire," (2 Thess. 1:6-8). But we must attend to what he shortly after adds--viz. that he "shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe," by receiving the Gospel.

5. Although the minds of men ought to be perpetually occupied with this pursuit, yet, as if they actually resolved to banish all remembrance of the resurrection, they have called death the end of all things, the extinction of man. For Solomon certainly expresses the commonly received opinion when he says "A living dog is better than a dead lion," (Eccl. 9:4). And again, "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?" [511] In all ages a brutish stupor has prevailed, and, accordingly, it has made its way into the very Church; for the Sadducees had the hardihood openly to profess that there was no resurrection, nay, that the soul was mortal (Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27). But that this gross ignorance might be no excuse, unbelievers have always by natural instinct had an image of the resurrection before their eyes. For why the sacred and inviolable custom of burying, but that it might be the earnest of a new life? Nor can it be said that it had its origin in error, for the solemnity of sepulture always prevailed among the holy patriarchs, and God was pleased that the same custom should continue among the Gentiles, in order that the image of the resurrection thus presented might shake off their torpor. But although that ceremony was without profit, yet it is useful to us if we prudently consider its end; because it is no feeble refutation of infidelity that all men agreed in professing what none of them believed. But not only did Satan stupefy the senses of mankind, so that with their bodies they buried the remembrance of the resurrection; but he also managed by various fictions so to corrupt this branch of doctrine that it at length was lost. Not to mention that even in the days of Paul he began to assail it (1 Cor. 15), shortly after the Chiliasts [512] arose, who limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years. This fiction is too puerile to need or to deserve refutation. Nor do they receive any countenance from the Apocalypse, from which it is known that they extracted a gloss for their error (Rev. 20:4), since the thousand years there mentioned refer not to the eternal blessedness of the Church, but only to the various troubles which await the Church militant in this world. The whole Scripture proclaims that there will be no end either to the happiness of the elect, or the punishment of the reprobate. Moreover, in regard to all things which lie beyond our sight, and far transcend the reach of our intellect, belief must either be founded on the sure oracles of God, or altogether renounced. Those who assign only a thousand years to the children of God to enjoy the inheritance of future life, observe not how great an insult they offer to Christ and his kingdom. [513] If they are not to be clothed with immortality, then Christ himself, into whose glory they shall be transformed, has not been received into immortal glory; if their blessedness is to have an end, the kingdom of Christ, on whose solid structure it rests, is temporary. In short, they are either most ignorant of all divine things or they maliciously aim at subverting the whole grace of God and power of Christ, which cannot have their full effects unless sin is obliterated, death swallowed up, and eternal life fully renewed. How stupid and frivolous their fear that too much severity will be ascribed to God, if the reprobate are doomed to eternal punishment, even the blind may see. The Lord, forsooth, will be unjust if he exclude from his kingdom those who, by their ingratitude shall have rendered themselves unworthy of it. But their sins are temporary (see Bernard, Epist. 254). I admit it; but then the majesty of God, and also the justice which they have violated by their sins, are eternal. Justly, therefore, the memory of their iniquity does not perish. But in this way the punishment will exceed the measure of the fault. It is intolerable blasphemy to hold the majesty of God in so little estimation, as not to regard the contempt of it as of greater consequence than the destruction of a single soul. But let us have done with these triflers, that we may not seem (contrary to what we first observed) to think their dreams deserving of refutation.

     Christian Classics Ethereal Library / Public Domain

     Institutes of the Christian Religion