Who gives the 3 testimonies of heaven?

(The idea for this question came from Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology Vol 4 p 436)

Have you read a book with a testimony of someone who temporarily died and then came back to life? We are given “eyewitness” accounts of what afterlife is like, and just a few years ago these types of books were bestsellers. I would deem them to be vain imaginative writings of people who are out to make a buck, and I think the reason those books appeal to so many Americans is probably the fault of Charles Dickens. He certainly did fire up our imaginations with the dreams of Ebenezer Scrooge. He gave us the three ghosts of Christmas, and Biblically speaking, there are three witnesses who tell us a bit about heaven, and these three witnesses are the ones that I would trust. Let me put all three witnesses up, in order of importance.

Jesus is of course the most important witness about the things of heaven. Many singers have been captivated by the song, “I Can Only Imagine”, and while Jesus did tell us about heaven, there are certainly a lot of things which we do not yet know about—we can only imagine. Jesus said I go now to prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be also. While we might have difficulty in imagining specifics, we ought to take great comfort and solace in the fact that the very God who created this world, a world that we find so intriguing and satisfying to our needs, that same God created a heavenly place which will be even better for our habitation. God took six days to create the whole of the earth, and yet he has had over 2,000 years to finish making our abode in heaven. Does that mean it is going to be thousands of times better than earth? Quite possibly.

We are not going to be in heaven long—for seven years if the book of Revelation is to be taken literally, and then the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and according to Jude, we all will be right behind him. Somewhere in this time, or right after his return, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb takes place. It is unclear from Revelation 19 exactly when this occurs, and I have read quite conservative Bible scholars who disagree—some saying it takes place during the seven years in heaven with Christ, and others feeling that it is the first major event after the coming. I personally am inclined toward the first view because it was Jewish custom for the groom to take his bride to his parent’s house and have a grand feast. It seems to fit well within this scenario to have God the Son presenting his bride to the Father, but I am not dogmatic about it, and we shall just have to wait and see how it all works out.

The second witness is Paul the apostle, who tells us that he was caught up to the third heaven. Chafer suggests that this actually happened when Paul was stoned at Lystra, and further suggests that Paul actually died at that time, was sent to heaven, and then sent back to finish the task that he was appointed to do. It may have happened that way, but from a reading of the Bible we cannot be absolutely sure. I find it fascinating that Chafer is suggesting that an actual after-death written account comes from Paul, especially since after-death accounts seem to bubble up into national bestsellers every few years. Chafer wrote this suggestion at least seventy years ago. We do know that Paul was able to write most of the epistemology for the church, directions for the church that were full and complete enough to give it character and direction for the last two thousand years. It is absolutely unimaginable where the church might be today without those directions.

Before going further, the third heaven should be defined. The first heaven is the sky with the clouds that we see round about us, the second heaven is the starry host above, and the third heaven is the abode of God and his heavenly host. Jesus, we are told, will return from heaven in the same manner in which he left—that is, he will return feet first in the sky to the very place that he ascended, the Mount of Olives. Interestingly, Zacharias, hundreds of years before, lets us know that upon his return to the Mount of Olives his feet will touch the mount, and a great cleavage of the mountain shall happen, so great that a vast new area will be created right there. Is this the place that will be created for the church? We do know for certain that we are to be with Christ for the rest of eternity.

Paul actually does not tell us much about this third heaven. The relevant passage is 2 Corinthians 12, and Paul says that he heard unspeakable things that it was not permitted for him to share. He was given a thorn in the flesh, an unnamed physical ailment, that was given to keep him humble, and from being proud about the great revelations. Many scholars feel that the thorn in the flesh may have been poor eyesight, but we are not told specifically what it is. We are told that Paul chose to glory in his thorn, whatever it was. I find myself wondering if his eyesight could possibly have been damaged from his being stoned, but the Bible is unclear about specifics. In any case, Paul tells us that to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Whatever he saw in that vision was enough to carry him through to martyrdom looking for a better world. His witness of the world to come could not be made stronger.

The last witness is that of John, who tells us about heaven in the book of Revelation. Revelation is the only book in the Bible where we know what day of the week it was written on. In the first chapter, John is caught up in an initial vision on the Lord’s day (Sunday), and told to write the seven letters to the seven churches. When the letters are completed, in chapter four John is swept up to heaven, “behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter” (v. 1).

So John, like Paul, is caught up into heaven, but unlike Paul there are many more things that John is able to reveal to us. True, what John sees starts in heaven, and the consequences are terrible as the earth is judged, but the last chapters of Revelation are some of the most beautiful in all of the Bible. Satan is at last judged, and the Lord with his saints sets up a rule in Jerusalem to usher in a time of prosperity that is unequalled. We start with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, whether in heaven or on earth after the judgments, I am not certain. But it does seem to me that that supper will finally be the time, long promised and long awaited, when at last the Lord will drink a toast with his bride, and we will finally understand why we have had all those communions remembering our Lord and his sacrifice, for we shall at last see him as he is, and will experience a full communion with him. A toast to look forward to, where we will be renewed in our kingdom together and forever.

After the thousand years is up, a mere blink of time for those who dwell on the edge of eternal things, a final rebellion shall be forever put down, with Satan being cast forever into Hell, and the time of the Great White Throne judgment shall at last be. And then a new heavens and a new earth shall be revealed, one that we with the Lord shall step finally into eternity. We shall see a new city, a new river of life, twelve manners of fruits that will forever nourish us, and so shall we ever be with Christ. All of that John gives us details about in Revelation.

I enjoy reading about Christian history, and have found that many Christians of many generations have long looked for this heavenly time. Augustine thought he saw the end times in his own day, and wrote identifying several of the main characters of Revelation. Reading the correspondence of Jonathan Edwards with his fellow religious leaders, I came across speculations about the end times being near again and again. In my own generation we have certainly been watching for his coming, just as we are charged to. I long for his coming, as many of you do, but when I find myself dwelling on it, I have to ponder about where I would be if he had come in Augustine’s or Edwards’ time. His patience in judging the world has enabled so many more of us to find life in him, and that is much to be grateful for. John, in his book of Revelation, the book of endings and beginnings, has told us very vividly what those last times will be like, and the very detailed descriptions that he gives should make it become that more real to us. God has planned the end from the beginning, and there is no doubt that things will work out exactly as John foresaw, something that should bring all the more relief when we are distressed.

So there you have it. We do have 3 New Testament characters telling us details about heaven. Perhaps not enough details to do more than whet our appetites for heaven, but it may be that God intends us to look forward by faith to that which is to come. Besides the New Testament characters, there are several men in the Old Testament who give testimony about that which is to come. Ezekiel tells us of the valley of dry bones coming to life, suggesting that lifeless Israel will be drawn back to the Lord. Isaiah tells us of the living conditions of heaven on earth, when the Christ shall come to reign, when animals and men shall be at peace with one another, and man shall learn war no more. Zacharias has told us of the return of Christ to earth, and Jeremiah has promised a New Covenant with Israel that will never end. All in all, we have quite a bit of information about heaven, and we do not need the testimony of those who die for a few moments and then come back to write bestsellers about their visions. God has already adequately told us of what is to come; it is our job to be found waiting faithfully. Are you watching for his return?

How many things can we get wrong and still be a Christian?

The question is, of course, a very lop-sided one. A Christian should be focusing on obedience, and not how much he might get wrong and still have the love of God. But there is something within my nature, and perhaps yours also, that asks the hard questions, and we do wonder about our crazy lives and mistakes that adorn the pathway of our life all too frequently. We are not in the position of God, whom you may remember, told us that he did not commit himself to men, because he saw what was within man, and needs not that any should testify of them. In other words, God alone sees to the heart, and knows the very intent that goes on there. So it seems to me to be an endless question open to much speculation and possible conditions, one that I could not answer at all in my lifetime, much less expect to answer in this short piece.

But suppose I turn the question around a little bit. What is the essential component of a Christian? That question becomes much easier to answer, but needs to have a warning attached to it. I have written a book called Beyond Philosophy, talking about the initial basic steps that lead toward a more complete discipleship, but what I am going to be writing about here is what it takes to be a Christian. If I define that in its barest terms, then all else could be subtracted and we could still imagine the person to be a Christian. In the final analysis, our definitions will have no merit, but all is dependent on the one who judges hearts.

I think of this question rather often, or at least the implications of this question because I spend a lot of time listening to Christian music. I do not follow the lives of artists very much, but I do find it sometimes hard not to follow a particular artist when that artist becomes involved in scandalous headline behavior. At that point, I probably stop and think and wonder, as many probably do, about whether that particular person is a Christian or not.

Actually I have chosen musical artists rather deliberately for two reasons. First, I do not wish to talk about any certain person particularly, because this is something that we all believe is only finally answerable in the judgment of God. Second, I think that the musical artist genre is large enough so that most of us can easily think of one example where we might wonder about the person’s Christianity. Sitting down now and thinking about it, I can recall at least three or four musical artists who were supposed to be Christian, but whose publicized actions brought their Christianity into question. It is my tendency at first to sharply condemn those who are acting so bizarrely, until the Lord has me ponder my own mistakes. And then, somehow my perspective seems to change.

I think that pretty well explains the dichotomy—on the one hand we as sinners profoundly hope for grace, but on the other hand we have high expectations for ourselves (along with convenient memory), and perhaps unconsciously, even higher expectations for others. It is terribly easy for me to notice the wood chip in someone else’s eye, and ignore the plank in my own. How is it that we see the wrongs so easily in others, and ignore or forget it in our own lives?

The essential component of a Christian is just as it was with Jesus in the beginning of the church age. By faith we are saved, by faith we are kept, and by faith one day we will be redeemed. There is no other foundation other than through the one who proclaimed to be the Way. It is no good asking the question that I started with, for if the foundation is laid properly with faith, the rest cannot matter. Of course we cannot see the foundation that is laid between a man and his God, and it thus remains a question altogether in the mind of God.

The gospel insists that we can know Christians by their fruits, and that remains the best measure for outsiders to see evidence of a changed heart, but still only God knows. In the times of Roman persecution, Christians berated one another for not staying true to the faith, and recanting. While it is true that many martyrs did find the strength to be faithful to the end, it is also true that many did not. They recanted their faith, and some of them were released. What was the church to do with such?

It actually produced ambiguity within the church; some thought that they should be received back, others thought that they should have to earn their way back, and still others felt that such people should be shunned. Yet, if but for a moment they had reflected about Peter, surely they would have known that grace is abundant even when we are not faithful. Peter is thought by some to actually have denied our Lord not three times but six times (see The Life of Christ in Stereo). Careful reading of the gospels reveals that there were two different statements made by Christ. Once Jesus tells Peter that before the cock crows, you will deny me three times, and in the other, Jesus tells Peter that before the cock crows twice you will deny my three times. The author, Cheney, maintains that by putting the gospels together it becomes evident that Peter actually denied the Lord six times.

Perhaps a moot point? In any case, Peter was absolutely devastated by his denials (whether they be three or six I do not know), and Jesus took a lot of extra time with Peter, recorded in John, to make sure that Peter understood his forgiveness and the wonderful grace of our Lord. But now let us go back to those Christian music artists that I have such a difficult time with their (sometimes very) inconsistent testimony. Could they not be like Peter in living their lives?

It is a difficult question to answer, but the possibility that they could be like Peter certainly is an existent possibility. I think that I still have some trouble (maybe you do also?) when I consider how the Bible insists that we are to spur one another on to good deeds, that we are to forsake the deeds of darkness and to seek the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, and peace. But then, upon reflection, I am driven to my knees once more, aware that my own darkness is not completely forsaken—indeed, sometimes I have turned my back on what I knew I should be doing, and in that moment I realize afresh that without the complete and full grace of God, I do not even have a prayer of getting into heaven.

The doctrine of the perseverance of saints I find obscure in that regard. I have no difficulty believing in the complete grace of God overcoming sin—otherwise, as I said, I surely will not stand on that day, but I do have trouble seeing hearts, and therefore I have realized I cannot see perseverance of the saints working out. The dilemma is quite simple. People stray. Some come back. Others do not. John tells us that they went out from us because they were really not of us. So we might simply assume that those who do not come back were in reality not Christian to begin with.

But any reflection (and James who tells us that there is a sin that ends in death) about myself makes me realize that I could quite easily have died while I was straying. Would I then be lost? Surely not! God is faithful—it is me who has the problem of faithfulness. So you see, while I perfectly believe in the perseverance of the saints—knowing fully well that God is keeping me, I can never say that about other people. I do not know their heart. As for the persevering part? I believe God fully keeps his part, and thus I believe the Bible that tells us he is faithful even when we are not. In the end, I have no doubt that we will find God completely persevering in his faithfulness with every single soul.

I do believe there are sins that end in death. Some of our musical folk have ended their lives tragically this way. Is God faithful? Every time! And maybe our speculation about whether someone else is Christian is just that—speculation. And perhaps it needs to be left at that. It is reasonable for us to expect fruit from others, but it is just as reasonable for us to expect fruit from ourselves, and sometimes we are just not what we ought to be. Maybe they are not what they ought to be either. Instead, can we focus on the Lord, who has loved us and freely given himself for us, while we were yet sinners?

If the gospel comes to us any other way, then my salvation and yours must forever be imperiled. If it does in the end really reduce to Christ Plus, how are we ever to know if the Plus is enough? In the morning sermon, our Pastor covered the text in which Paul says to “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). Was Paul willing to give Mark a second chance? Does God give second chances? Mark failed in his first missionary endeavor, but his faithful cousin, Barnabus, was able to love him in spite of that failure. In time, the patience and love that Barnabus showed Mark even won Paul over, that he might desire the help of Mark, who proved himself over and over useful in the ministry, eventually giving us the gospel of Mark itself.

Paul tells us that “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19) He would remind us that we do not belong to ourselves anymore; we have been purchased of God and for his purposes. It is altogether good that we flee worldly things which we were formerly involved in, and it is also altogether good that we have problems when we see brothers and sisters struggling against sin, and losing those struggles. We are told to pray for such, and to restore them gently, lest we ourselves be found in the same position.

The gospel is not needed for the righteous. Indeed, Christ proclaims that he is not come to save the righteous. As long as we pretend that we are righteous we shall find no need of a Savior, but in seeing our selves as God sees us, then and only then do we become able to be saved. We see our need. The next verse tells us what we are called to: “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” Some of us, in the power of the Spirit, will succeed wonderfully in finding and living that kind of life. Others will manifest deep problems in their walk with God, and may never get past that struggle.

Let me close with an illustration about Marty. I worked in a rescue mission in the early eighties in downtown Los Angeles. Homelessness had come to the national consciousness, and was in the headlines much in those days, and the men on Skid Row were particularly to be pitied. Many in those days were alcoholics, slaves to their next drink. During my years there, I found alcoholism across all stratas of society, rich and poor, professional and simple. Marty was the alcoholic of the alcoholics, but he did not like it and he knew it was wrong. Soiled and dirty beyond description, Marty came to every service. There were many churches coming to give services in those days, and invitations to receive Christ were given at all of them. Sobbing and crying (and often drunk), he would respond to the invitations again and again. He professed faith in Christ, but was never able to dry out for any length of time. Was he saved? As his chaplain, I had no way of knowing. It is utterly beyond me to know the hearts of others and their relationships with God, except by the evidence of their fruits. Marty could have been saved. He also could have just been one of many who struggled with self-reformation, and found himself too weak. In such a case he would be one who went out from us, because he was not really of us. Or, and I would not be too surprised, one day in heaven I might meet Marty, who could not win his earthly battles, but who is made righteous nonetheless by his faith, and is clothed in a white robe, made righteous by his Lord. Mercy and love, without giving up our desire to be found working for the Lord, ought to be hallmarks of our struggle in this world.

I know not the condition of poor Marty’s soul, but this at least I do know. Not one of us will get into heaven on the basis of what we have done. We will only make it on the basis of what he has done. And that ought to be enough to remind us to be merciful to others, snatching them from the fires themselves, hating the sins that have captivated them (Jude 23).

What is our afterlife like?

For glory means good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgement, and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last.¹
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:2,3

The average Christian seems to make an assumption that heaven is the end of the road when we die. However, the Bible makes it clear that heaven is a temporary abode—that Christ intends to come back to the world and rule in Jerusalem, bringing us back from heaven to earth.² Geographically, the area of Jerusalem is to change drastically, so drastically that only the sovereign and omnipotent Creator-God could possible effect the changes. Read the words of Zechariah, the prophet, made so many years ago: “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south (Zech. 14:4). In other words, a great valley will exist, running east and west, with the mountain range being split in two to accommodate the valley. Zechariah also lets us know that a river of what he calls the living waters will flow through this valley, both in east and west divisions.

How long will this earth last? Revelation, six times, tells us that it will last for a period of one thousand years: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:6). In discussing this passage with fellow believers, I have found it often postulated that these thousand years are not to be taken literally, as the Bible nowhere else refers to them. Such a view is dangerous, as it is always dangerous to try to gainsay what God takes the time to say six times.

We are not told just how big this split is, but the valley must be enormous, for in the creation of the new heaven and new earth, which comes after the thousand years, we are told that the size of the city is about 1,500 miles. Perhaps the split is somewhat comparable because the new size of Jerusalem must be large enough to accommodate all the saints that are there. Interestingly, we are told that there is one mountain left in Jerusalem, and the prophets refer to the mountain left many times:
1. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
Obadiah 21
2. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Micah 4:2
3. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:9

So, evidently one mountain, where the Lord resides, is left in the middle of the valley. The mountain, in the midst of a new large valley, stands as a beacon directly the paths of other nations. We are told that other nations will visit Jerusalem each year in Zechariah 14: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (14:16). People of other nations will pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and will bring tribute to honor the Lord. In so doing, the Bible says that they will be blessed, and have their needed seasonal rains.

But what will we be doing there? I have a Christian friend who once lamented to me that he hoped God had a solitary cabin built for him, as he was unfit to feel right in the company of others. I reminded my friend that God intends to remake us into what we ought to be, rather than how we now find ourselves. Perhaps the best part of being there is that we will, for the first time, find ourselves as we ought to be, and as Lewis brings out so poignantly in The Great Divorce, we will live and be in reality with all of our illusions gone. Alcorn says, “God will not scrap his original creation and start over. Instead, he will take his fallen, corrupted children and restore, refresh, and renew us to our original design.”³ I do think my friend, or myself, for that matter, ought not to worry about the place God puts us, as I believe he will remake us exactly for that place.

I used to worry too much about everything being the same—sort of being in a massive place of socialism, with all the workers or worshippers being the same, replicated ad nauseam, but then I looked at the creative power of our God. Has he not made each of us differently? And does he not love each of us specially? Does he not signal that special love by giving each of us a unique name that no other man knows? A God who is infinite, at the least, has infinite ability to express a Father’s love to each of his children. I have no doubt that we will have manifestations of socialism, with each of us eager to carry one another’s burden, but I think that is as it should be, and will be without the sacrifice of being special and unique, a work of God. There is the bema seat of Christ, where crowns are given away as rewards, noticing the differences in us, and rewarding the faithful among us. We know that there is a crown of life, but there also is a crown of martyrdom, and recognition of those who have lived their lives of faith. And yet, elsewhere the Bible says that we will cast all our crowns at his feet, realizing that everything that we have, say, or do is because of his magnificent grace.

The Bible says that we will become like him, for we shall see him as he is. I used to think about my special doctrines, that when I at last made the afterlife, I could find out whether I was right, or someone else was right. But as I reflect on the glory to come, my best guess is that doctrine will become secondary, for in seeing him as he is, what else could possibly matter to us? Only that everyone there knows the Lord, and is filled, just as I am, with his glory, and are forever transferred into his image.

We will have new bodies, and will eat without teeth ever being worn out, or wrinkles ever coming, and most importantly we will not have pain or need. The Bible says that we will judge men and angels. I feel now like I could never do that, and perhaps it is the humility that I do live with, seeing others as better than myself. There are many people in the world without Christ who do good things every day, and I find it hard to judge them. But today I am not to be their judge, but rather to be their light, praying for the Spirit, if by any means they might be saved. In that day, the age of grace will be ended, and those who persist in their wickedness will find themselves judged, and judged righteously. Lewis reminds us, “Any man may choose eternal death. Those who choose it will have it.”⁴ In that day I am convinced we will more fully understand both the justice and the love of God. (See 1 Cor. 6:2 & 3)

And I am afraid I will have to get rid of my default retirement jeans, 501’s, in favor of white robes. I do think the white robes are representative of our being made righteous, but they appear too often for me to think they will be less than literal. Our dietary needs will be taken care of with the living waters flowing out from the city and the tree with its monthly fruits. The leaves of that tree are to be used for healing of the nations, perhaps indicating that they have medicinal value, and I wonder if their application will have aught to do with our priestly duties.

All of this is but transitory, lasting a mere thousand years, but after that, God promises a new heaven and a new earth. We will be given a new Jerusalem that will measure more than 1,500 miles, an awesome construct to hold perhaps billions of Christians. The most amazing thing about afterlife to me is that the God of the universe singularly cares for and loves me so much so to make a special niche just for me. I certainly shall never tire of that which he has planned for me. He did not create heaven for me to linger in more than a moment, but instead he has deemed that he himself would become a servant to us, making a fit place of the old earth for a bit, and then surprising us with a new place, beyond all of our conception, but created especially for us. Reminding us of this astounding fact, Alcorn writes, “This is a picture of God’s ultimate plan—not to take us up to live in a realm made for him, but to come down and live with us in the realm he made for us.”⁵

There are many unanswered questions of course. What will the day to day experience of being with Jesus be like? How shall I be changed? What will seeing Jesus as he really is do, specifically? I am most interested in what I might learn—indeed in the learning process itself. I think, but am not sure, that I will still know in part, with regard to the knowledge of creation. I will know him, and that will wonderful, but I still find myself wondering if books and learning and teaching will comprise part of heaven. But that is probably because reading is my favorite activity, and I am a retired teacher. It is perhaps natural for me to wonder about these things, but it is a walk of faith not to be caught up in the “particulars”, but instead to have my eyes upon my Lord. The questions, or the particulars, ought not weigh us down so that we do not have our eyes upon our mission here.

And what, in view of all these things, ought we to be doing? Believing that there is an eternal destiny for every man ought to be enough for us to refocus on the Great Commission. There is no time like now to be giving to the world the picture of the Lord that he has shared with us. God is alive and well, and even after 2,000 years these things will come to pass exactly as foretold. Work hard, for the days are shorter than when we first believed.


1. Lewis, C. S. (2009-06-03). Weight of Glory (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis) (p. 41). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
2. That we will be in heaven for a time is brought out in many verses, but particularly in Jude 14, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.” We are obviously returning with Christ to earth from being in heaven with him.
3. Alcorn, Randy (2011-12-08). Heaven (Alcorn, Randy) (Kindle Locations 2285-2286). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
4. Lewis, C. S. (2009-05-28). The Great Divorce (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis) (p. 140). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
5. Alcorn, Randy (2011-12-08). Heaven (Alcorn, Randy) (Kindle Locations 1085-1087). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

What does it mean when it says we are created in the image of God?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27

The image of God in man? Not likely when we look at the degradation and filth of history. And yet, there is something within man that continuously seems to tell us that we are doing something wrong. Even then we cannot seem to get it right. For instance, education, my field, was in a state of reform for my entire career, and never have the reformers seemed to get it right. There is always more to aim for, and our consciences tell us that. Generations of Americans have grown up with “reformed” education, and it has seemingly always fallen short of our lofty goals.

We famously endorsed a sixties president’s war on poverty, and fifty years later we still have the poor. We thought that electing a black president would finally end racial discrimination, only to find that the racial barriers have seemed to sharpen. Everything we do to make it better seems so often to only make it worse—and the worse does upset us. We can see that wrongs are not made right and it bothers our consciences a great deal. We may come at solutions from entirely different perspectives, but when the day is done we see the same problems that we started with stretching out over the endless horizon.

Perhaps our consciences are part of what is the image of God. We still have a voice inside us that tells us what right and wrong are. And, if I am any judge of mankind, this phenomenon seems to be universal—that is, it seems to be inside everyone. No matter that some seem to try to squash their conscience all their lives—it is there to begin with, and the failure of man to hone it properly is not a sign that it was not there. The very fact that we seem to notice so particularly those whose conscience is damaged seems to be a further proof of what is meant to be inside us. We do indeed take note of those who seem to be missing their conscience, realizing that something is radically wrong with such a person, though we may have trouble expressing exactly what it is.

It is of course the conscience that is the entryway to belief. God convicts us, the scripture says, and the result is that we believe. I would think that thus the conscience is certainly a part of what God made in us as a picture of himself and in his image, however indistinct that image may be. It is altogether fitting that He would use the conscience as the very vehicle to bring us to himself, correcting all shortcomings of that conscience by the work of his Spirit. He uses that which he created in us to help us find both him and ourselves once more. The idea of looking in the mirror, and seeing something different, something altogether new, but still recognizing ourselves, as the way he intended us to be, is very much the process of being born-again, and it is impossible for that to happen unless it happens in the conscience.

There is another way that I think we are created in the image of God. Dorothy Sayers long ago, in her book,The Mind of the Maker, points out the creative work of the author, or of the playwright, as being an emulation of what God does when he creates. As a would-be writer, I can attest to the feeling of being a creator, and I have wondered if I was not “imitating” the Creator in my actions. In starting my reading of Sayers’ work, I thought that she was neglecting all the other creative acts of men that might be thought of as imitations of the Creator, but she did not. There is a sense in which common man in his daily work tasks manages to “stamp” his acts with his own creativity.

I remember when I was about 16 and working in my uncle’s orchard, my dad stopped by. I was irrigating, or flooding the orchard with water, and having done it since I was 12, I felt very confident about doing my job. I knew the farm well, and understood the bumps and the hills I had to go around. But my dad taught me a whole new level to using my shovel that day. He taught me about natural contouring, and dipping my knee under the shovel, and just doing a whole lot better job of irrigating. Before the end of the day I was tired, but I had moved about three times the earth that I usually did using that simple shovel. I came to understand shoveling in a whole new light. Some forty odd years later I still remember Dad teaching me something simple, and yet it was obvious that he had put much of his creative energy into learning and doing. I suspect that story is all too common as we get shoulder to shoulder with men who are highly accomplished at tasks that we ourselves have never taken the time to fully understand.

I am reminded of the quote attributed to George Washington Carver who when asked how he found so many uses (over 200) for the peanut replied that he had prayed for God to help him understand the peanut. It is remarkable how much we can show the image of God in the simplest tasks, and especially when we give them over to Him.

I was going to include the naming of things and animals as part of God’s creation, but I find upon reading Genesis through again that I cannot properly do that, at least from Genesis. God created everything, and then created man. Scripture says that God brought each of the animals before man, and let him name them. In Genesis we find no evidence of God naming things, and thus it might be concluded that this is something God created man for. Except for Psalm 147, which makes it clear that God has taken the time to name every star. Perhaps naming things is part of the image of God. I do know that men seem to take great satisfaction in naming things, and even my three-year-old grandson delighted in bestowing the name “Lemon” upon our new yellow cat.

And further, God will one day give to each of us a white stone, with our special name on it to signify how specially our God knows and loves us. His very creative person—his love for each of us—his understanding that each of us is different, and thus his love for each of us is different—all of these things show us a God who delights in the special naming of things. Perhaps it is not so odd after all, that we might think we resemble God in the power of naming.

I sometimes (often even) want to denigrate myself before God, devaluing myself, and I think part of that may come from my desire to be humble. But it is not true humility, for I am reminded that God has indeed placed a valuation upon man that is higher than any could be. For he has paid for our sins, coming in human form to do what we absolutely could not do, justifying us, dying in our place, and receiving the due penalty for our sins. What price could he have paid that would be higher than the sacrifice of himself?

The doctrine of depravity I sometimes think is overused in this respect. Paul teaches us that we were undeserving of any redemption; instead redemption was offered freely from God, and that while we were yet sinners. Thus we are totally depraved, yet that should be balanced with the understanding that God valued us enough to love us. I am not speaking of what we deserve here, for the Bible is plain, we deserved judgment and death. Rather, what I am trying to do is understand the motive of God in continuing to love us. We are made in his image and he must have found us lovable in spite of our terrible marring with sin. I am not saying that we deserved his love—rather we got his love, and in the mysteries of God, he still saw something in us which he so highly valued and freely chose to love.

Lewis says it this way, “Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each differently?”1 When I think of heaven and being with Christ, my whole body aches with the desire that it should be so, and all the more as I age. In my many idle speculations of heaven, time and again I come to my senses and say, “No, it is not like that after all.” One of the many idle speculations that I have come to realize is not true is found in my thinking of the large place that heaven is going to be. It is going to include all sorts of people who I might be surprised at seeing, and with the multitudes and all, I speculated wrongly that I would be small and not much noticed. But that is not the way of it at all. God will know me—he will have a special name for me, preciously denoting all that I am before him, and he will so love me specially. There is an error made in my reasoning that shows how little I understand what being infinite is all about—he will be able to do this with everyone in heaven, at the same time showing delight in man individually and corporately. I will not be lost in the masses—rather I will be cherished as a special son—no matter that God is able to do that with all. I have a lot to look forward to. So do we all.

1. Lewis, C. S. (2009-05-28). The Problem of Pain (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis) (p. 154). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

How many miracles are in John?

A little background might prove to be best in this instance. First, John himself does not limit the number of miracles, except perhaps in his narrative. He himself reminds us that “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30). And then John says it again in his closing words of John to remind us of the greatness of our Savior, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen” (John 21:25). So John is not just limiting himself to the miracles that he chooses to narrate; rather he reminds us that what the Savior did could not be written about completely because that would make a book simply too large to be read.

I should also remind the reader that John stands alone; it is not a synoptic gospel. I have read where scholars feel that Matthew built his book in part on the gospel of Mark, and Luke, coming later, brings to the forefront his skill set as a “scientist” of his day, being very careful to research and detail a good account of the life and death and resurrection of our Lord. Even though the gospels each have a theme in presenting Christ, each of the synoptic gospels is remarkably similar. John stands alone, and actually presents Christ doing just a few miracles—each which is woven into the tapestry of John to make the presentation of the Savior stronger.

Perhaps it should be no surprise to those who are familiar with all the sevens presented in Revelation, but surprise or not, there are exactly seven miracles which Jesus performs prior to resurrection. Of each of these seven miracles included by John, much is validated by John concerning Jesus. Consider the first miracle: the turning of water into wine (2:3-10). First, look at the mother of Jesus, who is honored by God in starting the first of these miracles. She comes to her son telling them that they have no wine. Jesus replies that he time is not yet come, and then Mary is given the privilege of starting that time, saying to the servants, “whatever he tells you to do, do it.” And thus the ministry of the very Son of God is started.

What can we learn from John in this first great miracle? First, that Mary, who has lived with a poor reputation all of her life concerning her “illegitimate” birth (See John 8 for how the Jews still were mocking his birth). All of that shame that she has endured is now freed in her being the one who commences the ministry of the Son of man. But perhaps more importantly, John chose this miracle because it shows that Jesus has power even the things found in creation itself. He was able, today we know, to molecularly restructure water into wine, and that instantly. Is John showing us that Jesus is master over matter by this miracle?
The second miracle is not recounted until the fourth chapter when a desperate nobleman finds Jesus and attempts to bring him to his sick son (4:46-54). Instead of going with him to see the sick son, Jesus merely says to the nobleman to go his way, for his son lives. What is John trying to show through this great miracle which, if you will, is done by remote control? Could it be that John is showing us that the Master of matter is also omniscient and omnipotent. God is both all-powerful and all-knowing, traits which we separate in our discussion about God, but which are likely not divisible—that is, one goes with the other. I do not see how God could be all-knowing without also being all-powerful. Here, I think, John is showing us that Jesus, the Master over nature, is also that One with unlimited power.

The third miracle likewise seems to me to build on the first two. It is the healing of the impotent man (5:2-9). The man was at the pool of Bethesda, totally isolated by his illness. He did not even have a friend to stand by his side to put him into the pool, and his immobility kept him by the side of the pool whenever the angel stirred the waters, causing him to see others healed, but never himself. Is John demonstrating the love of God for the weak and powerless here? If so, notice the theme is building. In the first miracle, we have Jesus demonstrating power over matter itself, and in the second miracle we have Jesus demonstrating the “all-ness” of the very nature of God. But now, is John not showing an incredible dichotomy? That the God of the universe in all his vast power should be concerned about the weakest of society beggars my imagination. In fact, the most humbling part of my coming to Christ over forty years ago was that fact made so plain to me—there was not only a God in control of everything, something my naturalism kept me from seeing, but also there was a God who knew me and loved me. In this miracle I see Christ defining himself as the Lover of mankind, the one willing to see the weakest and to extend his power and love to even them.

The next miracle (6:5-14) is the feeding of the five thousand. God took five loaves of bread and two fish, multiplying them to feed over five thousand people. Why does John relate this miracle? I believe that John is now presenting the Christ of Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd, John later tells us, know his sheep, and they know his voice. In this miracle, is Jesus being presented as the Good Shepherd, the one who always cares for his flock?

The next miracle is Jesus (and in other gospels, we are told Peter also, but not in John) walking on water. Sending his disciples on ahead in a boat, he has no boat, and does not let that slow him down, but begins walking across the sea to the disciples. This miracle has always been a great one for me, if only because I think about walking on water. Supposing for a moment that I could find the buoyancy, which is its own miracle, but then I am walking, perhaps for miles on the surface of water, Water has no traction, and thus would be impossible to propel oneself by stepping. So there has to be a second miracle present giving him traction in a tractionless environment. What did John mean to share with us by recounting this miracle? I think that John meant to show Jesus as the master of creation here. Regular properties of matter, water, did not apply to Jesus, who sovereignly chose to override them at this point.

The next miracle is the healing of the blind man (9:1-7), and I think this miracle is recounted by John with one aim in mind. John wishes us to know that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders fought his healing on Sabbaths, and they consistently believed that healing, being work, was a violation of the Sabbath. We find from the testimony of the other gospels that this was a continual source of friction between the Jewish leaders and Jesus. What is John trying to teach us? That one greater than the Sabbath, one greater than the Law itself was here. Only if that were true could we rest assured that Jesus did not break the Law, for he was the Law-giver. From him we got the Law, and from him we should seek the meaning of the law—an idea the “experts” in the Law could not get past. It was a stumbling block to them.

The seventh miracle, in some ways, is the greatest of all (excepting the resurrection, of course), and it is the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus, dead four days, lying in the tomb and decomposing, still responds to the voice of our Lord when he tells him to come forth. Although Jesus raised several from the dead, it is Lazarus who gets the most drama. Deliberately slowing his way, he arrives four days later than receiving the message, and tells the disciples plainly that Lazarus is already dead. Standing in front of the open tomb, in the presence of many witnesses (some who bore him ill-will), he calls Lazarus to him. What does John wish us to see by this miracle? I think John is trying to tell us that Jesus is the Lord even over death. Paul teaches us in Romans that nothing is able to separate us from the love of God, nothing—not even death itself.

You may have a proper objection in noting that I was the one who interpreted the reasons for these miracles, and in that objection you would be absolutely right. I have used my mind to try to see what John was trying to tell us, and in that I may have strayed from his message, but probably not by much. It may occur to you to further object that maybe John had nothing special in giving us these seven miracles, that is, that John was not using these seven miracles in any special way to teach us. But if that is your objection, you would find yourself arguing with scripture, for John himself tells us “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (20:31). He tells us plainly that these miracles are given so that we might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the very Son of God. I think John chose each of these miracles to plainly display the fact that God came down to us that we might be saved by believing.


Miracle List of John
1. Water into wine (2:3-10)
2. Healing of nobleman’s son (4:46-54)
3. Healing of the impotent man (5:2-9)
4. Feeding of the 5,000 (6:5-14)
5. Walking on water (6:19-21)
6. Giving sight to the blind man (9:1-7)
7. Raising of Lazarus (11:1-44)

Lesson from the miracle
1. Jesus is master over created things
2. Jesus is all powerful and all knowing
3. Jesus cares about men, even the weakest
4. Jesus is our Good Shepherd
5. Jesus is master over all creation
6. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, even the Law
7. Jesus is the light, the life of men.

What of the doctrine of perfectionism?

This is a very difficult question to answer in a short space if I include perfectionism’s large historical background. Please note that there is much in history that will not be included in this passage. An excellent primer for learning about church history’s wrestling with perfectionism can be found in The Story of Christian Theology, by Roger Olson.

The doctrine of perfectionism is very prominent in some of our churches today. The holiness movement is often found in some of the charismatic movements of today, and it is equally often traced back to John Wesley. And it of course is found heavily in the Methodist movement itself, but the doctrine itself also predates Wesley by many years, even centuries. I do not personally ascribe to the doctrine of perfectionism, but I also think, and will attempt to show, that Wesley was often very careful to nuance his definitions of sinless perfectionism to fit a more common Biblical understanding. Says Randy Alcorn, “This teaching has, at various times, had considerable prominence. There are some branches of Wesleyan, Pentecostal and Keswick thought that teach this. There are several passages of Scripture we can look at that I think make clear this doctrine of sinless perfectionism is incorrect. I believe it to be a false doctrine.”

The history of this doctrine, its development and growth, is far beyond the scope of this three-page answer, but it is not beyond the scope of this answer to write about the error, why it is an error, and the more correct doctrine to follow. For the sake of brevity, I will borrow from Wesley and his followers, though it is important to remember that Wesley did not originate this doctrine.

In writing about errant doctrines, it is important to remember that as far as faith goes these believers caught in this errant doctrine are brothers and sisters in Christ, and most of them, if not all, were probably Christians living a far better life than I am able to live. There is a famous quote ascribed at different times to either Spurgeon or Whitefield (contemporaries) about Wesley. The quote talks about one day when we shall all be in heaven together, and up close to Jesus, almost in the inner circle, shall be Wesley, while Spurgeon (or Whitefield) pictures himself as being so far away as to barely be able to espy Wesley. Spurgeon and Whitefield both knew Wesley to be a brother in the Lord, and quarreled with his doctrines, not with his example of holy living, nor with his foundation of faith in Christ.

These are 22 questions the members of John Wesley’s Holy Club asked themselves every day in their private devotions over 200 years ago:

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
4. Can I be trusted?
5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
7. Did the Bible live in me today?
8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
9. Am I enjoying prayer?
10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
13. Do I disobey God in anything?
14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
17. How do I spend my spare time?
18. Am I proud?
19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
22. Is Christ real to me?¹

If anyone were to ask these questions seriously of themselves each day, would not better behavior be a probable result? I think it obviously so, and yet in asking that question the very error of the doctrine should become more apparent. If I were to make a list of things that I wanted to happen in my life, I might (with more diligence than I probably have) find success in staying away from those things, but I would have to ask what about all the things I had not listed? Would I be perfect because of such a list?

It is interesting to note that Wesley when questioned about this doctrine would not claim perfection. His lifestyle had much diligence in it to do the right thing, and undoubtedly he spent more hours of each day in prayer and study, in devotion and teaching than you and I would in a month. Yet, tellingly, he would not claim this perfection state for himself. He did, however, postulate that a man “could” and should become perfect as he continued to live to the Lord each day. He speculated that such perfection might happen towards the end of one’s Christian life, but then corrected himself, saying that it might even happen much earlier. I do not find much to disagree with him about when he temporizes so much, and, at any rate, it was those who came after him—following his doctrine—that began to error more grievously.

American Christianity is so lukewarm. I do indeed worry about the admonition in Revelation not to be lukewarm, and I think that worry originates from a study of our forefathers. Wesley was not at all alone in his struggle for piety. Luther, Calvin, and even Edwards disciplined themselves most severely, constantly seeking to do more in terms of service to God. In fact, Luther, Edwards, and Wesley all three had something common in their struggle for piety—all three severely disciplined themselves for a long time before they even became Christians. Luther went to “extra” confessions, trying in vain to remove his burden of sin. Edwards pressed hard for salvation, his zeal sharp, until in his last year of divinity school found assurance of God’s salvation. So zealous was Edwards that he wrote his wonderful resolutions as a young man (his resolutions make excellent reading for young men), before he even had assurance of salvation. Wesley actually came to America before he was a Christian, trying to be a missionary to the Indians, all before he became a Christian. The structure of life was very harsh, and these men kept figurative whips on their backs all the time to induce themselves to do more. Eventually all three of these men came to recognize that salvation did depend on God alone, but they still were powerfully motivated to discipline themselves to live a pious life. Today, Americans live easily, trusting in His Grace (as they should), but have lost most of the motivation to live a complete life before him.

In Romans 8:13, Paul tells us, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Almost all of our well-known Christian forefathers were zealous in “mortifying” the deeds of the body. We should do well to let their example spur us on to better deeds, but having said that, perfection in us is fundamentally not possible while we continue in these bodies of flesh. The problem comes in when we have a literal checklist—like the Wesleyan one up above—or when we have a mental check list that we try to monitor our behavior with. I think it is human nature, at least in me, to give myself “stars” of accomplishment when I successfully do something. And at least with me, I find that my improved behavior makes me feel better about myself, and then, before I know it, pride rears her ugly head and I fail all over again. I think it safe to say that most of us have experienced this miserable jump upwards, only to have the long fall coming afterwards.

But I think it goes even deeper than that. Why would I ever think that I could change my whole nature by following a checklist? And here I do need to be careful. People live wonderfully exemplary lives, and some of them undoubtedly do follow checklists. I am not at all trying to say there is not room for a great deal of improvement—at least in me. What I am trying to uncover is that sinful pattern that I am stained with until the coming of the Lord. When I make myself appear better that may be all well and good for the sake of the church and the others who have to suffer me, but there is always great danger in having a grand and bright testimony, but not changing the base darkness much at all. In fact, does not Lucifer do just that? He appears as an angel of light, yet his wickedness is unparalleled.

Far be it from me! I would not appear as any angel of light, but find my simple peace in presenting to the world the Light of the world, and that ought to be enough for me. Let us all acknowledge with Paul that we are the chiefs of sinners, never forgetting that, but with that confession let us do better in pursuing the high calling of God. In just a short time much that we see as reality will pass away, and our lives will be forever changed. How that ought to motivate us towards doing better now!


1. http://www.hydeparkumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Wesley-22-Questions.pdf

What are the 7 Messages of Jesus final discourse?

As I present this final discourse of our Lord, I find it overall to be comforting though he presents many things which, should we ponder them much at all, will cause great distress and should move us to more prayer. I included the words of our Lord here because I felt that the message is the whole point of this question. Please do reflect on his words, and know that, even in these uncertain times, God has planned the end from the beginning, and his sovereignty will reign.

Most of these verses are from Matthew, in what may be regarded as the final discourse of Jesus. John has one entry here, and John is the only apostle to record the many things that Jesus said to his disciples on the last night. Thus, John is the only gospel to tell us that God will not leave his church to suffer this coming wrath. Please note the regular order, and the precise timing or order of all of the events. The last judgments involve first the Jews, and then the Gentiles and will occur at the absolute end of the age—or perhaps, at the very beginning of the new age, when we will reign with Christ on earth.

1. Unseen earthly kingdom
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Matthew 24: 3-8
In this passage the mystery kingdom is revealed. Note that a mystery in the Bible is something that heretofore has not been revealed. During this time the 70 weeks of Daniel are to be suspended, with the Messiah being “cut off” at the 69th week. So all of the previous time, more than 2,000 years now, has been what the Bible refers to as the “time of the Gentiles”, and until the earthly kingdom of the Gentiles is finally at an end, the seventieth week will not begin.

2. The Rapture
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
John 14: 1-3
Note that this passage is the only one not taken from Matthew, and the reason is that it contains information about the Rapture, part of a long personal message to the church given in John to the apostles by Jesus. Please note that Jesus is preparing a place for us, that where he is (heaven) there we may be also. Heaven will be a temporary refuge for us, as this will mark the beginning of the 70th week when judgment is poured out upon the earth. Jude tells us this when Jude quotes from the book of Enoch (Jude 14), saying that the Lord will return with “ten thousands of his saints”. How will his saints return to the earth first, except that they have already gone up to heaven?

3. The Tribulation
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Matthew 24: 21, 22
The tribulation is a final seven years of 70 weeks of years determined against Israel. The Bible specifically calls the last 3½ years to be the “great” tribulation, a period of judgment unparalleled in the history of man. This period is the subject of Revelation chapter four through nineteen.

4. The preaching of the gospel kingdom
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 24:14
The message of Christ redeeming the earth is to be given to all of the earth. It is to be proclaimed faithfully unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

5. Coming of the Desolator
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Matthew 24:15
Note that the Desolator comes not until the last week, the 70th week of Daniel starts. It is very interesting that Jesus points us back to Daniel here, and we should be aware of these famous seventy weeks of Daniel. Many a Christian has wounded himself and the church by attempting to declare who the beast is, and many men throughout history have had this abominable description falsely attributed to them. The world will not know of the Desolator until the final week is started, and thus after the church is raptured out of the world.

6. Judgment of Israel
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24: 37- Matthew 25:30
Sometimes these verses are misinterpreted to be about the Rapture as different people are taken suddenly. The Rapture, however, is not in view here. Rather the judgment of the people of Israel is here, and the people are taken, not for the delight of the Rapture, but rather to judgment where they are found wanting. Walvoord says: “However, a careful reading of the passage yields exactly the opposite result. At the rapture of the church, those taken are those who are saved, and those who are left are left to go through the awful period, including the great tribulation. Here the situation is just in reverse. Those who are taken are taken in judgment, and those who are left are left to enter the millennial kingdom.”¹ Chafer says (nearly of the same passage, Matthew 24:37- Matthew 25:13), “While it is approached from several different angles, the one objective of all this extended section is the exhortation to Israel to be prepared for the coming of their Messiah-King.”² Chafer goes on to explain why this is written to the church, a mistake many have made. “In the instance of the Church in her rapture, those who are truly saved are without exception taken into heaven and the unsaved who were only professors outwardly are left for the impending judgments which follow on the earth.”³ In other words the saints, i.e. the church, are taken out of the world, and are in the presence of Christ when these judgments are explained. The church is identified by God without mistake, and is raptured up to heaven. There is no separation of believers and unbelievers, for God knows who are his.

1. Walvoord, John F. (2011-09-01). Every Prophecy of the Bible: Clear Explanations for Uncertain Times (p. 382). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.
2. Chafer, L. (1993). The Teachings of Christ Incarnate. In Systematic theology (Vol. 5, p. 129). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
3. Chafer, L. (1993). The Teachings of Christ Incarnate. In Systematic theology (Vol. 5, p. 129). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

7. Judgment of Nations
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Matthew 25:31-46

Walvoord gives a great summation of what these passages say: “

The holocaust and suffering of Jews in Germany in World War II leads to worldwide sympathy for the Jews, resulting in their transition to a homeland.
In 1948, the United Nations recognizes Israel as a nation and allows her to have five thousand square miles of territory, excluding ancient Jerusalem.
Israel, though immediately attacked by those nations surrounding her, achieves increases in territory in subsequent wars.
Though Russia at the beginning is sympathetic to Israel, the United States becomes her principal benefactor and supplier of military aid and money.
Israel makes amazing strides forward in reestablishing her land and its agriculture, industries, and political power.
In the series of military tests, Israel establishes that her army is superior to that of surrounding nations.
Arab power opposing Israel is sufficient to keep Israel from having peaceful coexistence with other nations in the Middle East.
Israel continues in the state of confusion and conflict until the church is raptured.
With the formation of the ten-nation confederacy by a Gentile ruler in the Middle East, Israel is forced to accept a seven-year peace settlement.
The world and the Jewish people celebrate what appears to be a permanent peace settlement in the Middle East.
Israel prospers, and many return to Israel after the peace is settled.
Toward the close of the three and a half years of peace, Russia, accompanied by several other nations, attempts to invade Israel but is destroyed by a series of judgments from God.
After three and a half years of peace, the covenant is broken, and the Middle East ruler becomes a world dictator and a principal persecutor of Israel.
The world dictator desecrates the temple of Israel and sets up an idol of himself to be worshipped.
Worldwide persecution of the Jews begins, and in the land two out of three perish.
A Jewish remnant that puts trust in Christ emerges.
Though the world ruler massacres both Jews and Gentiles who fail to worship him as god, some survive and are rescued by Christ.
The second coming of Christ rescues persecuted Jews and Gentiles and brings judgment upon all wickedness in the world and unbelievers.
The promised kingdom on earth—with Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and David as her regent prince—begins with godly Israel being regathered from all over the world to inhabit her Promised Land.
For one thousand years Israel experiences unusual blessing as the object of Christ’s favor.
With the end of the millennial kingdom and the destruction of the present earth, godly Israel has its place in the eternal state and the new heaven and the new earth.
Those among Israel who are saved are placed in the New Jerusalem in the new earth."

¹

I see much beauty in the final discourse of Jesus. Even though Walvoord may not have the
events exactly correct, for which of us can say with certainty of prophetic events, it should be obvious that God has planned the end from the beginning, and that everything will fall out exactly as God planned. That much is comfort! However, the coming judgment, which we Christians shall evidently escape through the rapture, should nonetheless be causing us much distress and prayer, especially as we see the day drawing closer. Psalm Two says the kings of the earth make their plans against God, but that God sits in his heaven and laughs at those plans. The wrath of God is due to be poured out upon all men and women of the earth in that day, and we certainly see that in the many beheadings and persecutions of Christians in the Middle East. In the final day, there are only two sides to be on. Either we believe in the Messiah, or we reject the Messiah. Ought we not to be reaching the lost for Christ, since we know that the days are short?

1. Walvoord, John F. (2011-09-01). Every Prophecy of the Bible: Clear Explanations for Uncertain Times (p. 372). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.

Ringing Reflections

I make an annual pilgrimage through The Lord of the Rings each holiday season, and just completed it yesterday. I have been doing this each year since I first discovered the books at the age of 17, and I turned 63 this year, making a total of about 46. I almost always am most tearful in the last two books (there are 6 books in the series) as the hopeless quest is completed, and the King comes into his own. This last time, I found myself comparing what Tolkien did with the hobbits and what the Lord is doing with us, an apt illustration of the magnificence of God exhibited towards a people of little account. Let me try to share that vision with you.

Frodo has struggled through five books to carry the Ring to the Cracks of Doom, fighting and losing his battles as the Ring seeks to exert its mastery on him. In the final climactic scene, he loses to temptation, standing before the Crack of Doom, and decides to put the Ring on, rather than cast it into the hot depths. As he proclaims his intention, he is struck from evil Gollum who has pursued the return of his Ring throughout the same books. Gollum wrestles with the invisible Frodo until he finds his hand, then his fingers, and finally the Ring. With a violent gnash of his teeth on seemingly invisible air he bites Frodo’s ring finger off. Taken in such a frenzy of ecstasy he dances on the edge of the Crack of Doom, and slips and falls, thus completing the task of Frodo and Sam.

Already the thinking Christian must be getting all sorts of images of themselves trying and failing to do good deeds, only to watch the Spirit of God come in at the last minute and use some hopeless thing (Gollum?) to bring about his purposes. I think of the times that I fail to do that which I am called, and the wonderful grace of God that is able to take in spite of me.

Frodo the Nine-fingered and Sam are taken back to the King, and even the least vestige of enemy clothing that they wore to accomplish their quest is saved. In their ragged and tattered clothes, they are taken before the whole of the kingdom by the King himself, and set in most high honor. In a solemn declaration before the kingdom, the King proclaims to all, “Praise them with great praise!” and when they are done, then he repeats his command yet again, and yet again the kingdom rejoices in their accomplishments.

How like that is for us! Tattered in our clothes of righteousness, we falter and fail at nearly every turn, yet in the end of all things, God has purposed to “praise us with great praise”. Skeptical? Try these verses of Revelation out, near the end of all things: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (19:7,8). Note that she has made herself ready, and that she is clothed in righteousness. NIV says: “Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.”

These are acts that Christians, you and I, are doing, right now. They are, of course, to be done in the power of the Spirit, and not by our power at all, but yet very much with our wills being surrendered to the grace of God. Like Samwise and Frodo, we struggle our way through life’s quest, and too often like Frodo, we find our finger being bitten off to accomplish our heart’s desire. But we are not all the way there yet, for there is more to be had in the reflection.

Has not God declared in these verses that he is honoring that which was done in his name? Is he not lifting up the church for all the kingdom to behold the Bride, and her righteous deeds? Though it is not literal, is he not taking the Bride of Christ, and lifting her up to be praised with great praise? I was talking to Bob Kramer this morning about it, and I saw his doubts fleeting across his face, just as I did when I started contemplation of it. Think about it and surely you will see that I am right. We have all been to weddings—I have been to many, and have never noticed where the wedding guests are focused on the groom. Rather all eyes are upon the beautiful bride, and her exquisite dress, and her happy rejoicing face. The music starts, and every eye turns with respect and wonder at the bride coming down the aisle. All of the kingdom of God, in that moment, will be looking not at the groom, but at the bride, and every piece of clothing that God has wrought in the righteous acts of the saints for that occasion. Like Bob suggested this morning, I might think I am in trouble if I am supposed be dressed in my righteous acts. I would probably end up with a very short dress, woefully incomplete. But we, together as a church, have completed that which we cannot do by ourselves. Together, and with the Spirit of God, he has wrought wonderful works in the likes of small insignificant beings like Frodo and Sam. In union we are complete, and that is the way God sees his church, the way that he will show us off to the kingdom.

I confess that I have always thought of it more through the Bride’s view. But is that not just as it should be? In any wedding that I remember the Bride always has her eyes on the groom, and I do not think it will be any different for me upon that day. The Bride will gaze in rapture upon the face of her lover, the Groom. But it is different for the wedding guests, for they will be interested very much in seeing the wonderful Bride. The marriage supper of the Lamb I always supposed to be one of the most intense rapture I suppose I should ever feel. But how surprised we will be on that day when we find the God of the universe in effect taking the church, holding her before all, and saying, “Praise them with great praise!”

How can we live properly?

[Many times I open these posts with crediting Chafer with the initial idea, and it is true this time also. He has included many scripture references for this idea, and I am quoting many of them.1 In a delightful read, I am working my way through Chafer’s Systematic Theology, and am nearly finished with volume 4.]

First, I would like to dispel the common notion that since we live under grace and not under the law that we have an easier time—that is, that less is requested in terms of work. It is true that none could succeed in following the law. It is true that many Christians attempt to put themselves back under the law, thinking that somehow the covenant given to Moses and the Jews has somehow translated to them, but it is not so given in the scriptures. Galatians is largely written to dispel this notion, and I shall quote a few passages from that book. First, Paul tells us, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16). It is our faith alone that justifies us, and faith alone brings that justification of what Christ has already done for us. Note that Paul tells us specifically that by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Second, we are told specifically that this covenant, or agreement, came 430 years after the first covenant, namely the covenant with Abraham, and it in no way was meant to supersede that covenant. We are called the spiritual children of Abraham, not related at all to him (unless we be Jewish) by physical descent, but rather we have been adopted into the family, but under the Abrahamic covenant. Paul tells us of the temporariness of this covenant of Moses, “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect” (Galatians 2:21).

That covenant of Moses was meant to be only temporary, and for a specific purpose. Lastly, Paul tells us, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Galatians 3:24, 25). Thus it is clear that the law was a temporary schoolmaster, meant to point the way to Christ, and does not apply to Christians. As Paul tells us in Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

“Well, whew!”, you might sigh. “I am glad we are under grace.”

But not so fast. Actually the challenge to live the life Christians are called to live goes way beyond the demands of the law. Let me illustrate with a few verses. We are called to “bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). Notice every thought—each and every thought we have we are responsible for. John tells us to walk in the light. Paul, in Ephesians tells us to walk in the Spirit. Elsewhere he tells us not to quench the Spirit. The greatest of all commandments Is to love the Lord your God, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Who can possibly hope to do that?

The calling is nearly to perfection, something that I am as far as the east is from the west in accomplishing. What then? Thanks be to God, we are not called to do it in our own power, but instead we are to take on the very Spirit of God to accomplish a task that we could never accomplish on our own. Notice, finally, the difference between the law and grace. The law is never said to be accomplished through the aid of the Spirit, while the Bible is replete with the passages telling us to take on the Spirit of God that we might stand. The law was not given that men might evangelize, but grace is given that we might know and understand the inner man, and that we might know our own lostness, and appreciate the desperate need to proclaim the gospel. Men cannot possibly succeed under their own power, but divine enablement makes the impossible possible.

There are a number of verses to be shared that teach this concept of what I term being powered toward perfection. These verses, being handy, are taken from Chafer as noted above, but should be readily familiar to any student of scripture.
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
John 7:37-39
Just a quick comment: the Spirit is to “flow” out of each believer, helping the believer do that which he cannot in himself find the strength to do.
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
Notice that the promise is to “receive power” after the Holy Spirit comes. It is in that power only that we can hope to live the life to which we have been called.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Ephesians 6:10 and 11
This famous verse directly commands us to be strong in the Lord, putting on the full armor of God, that we may indeed be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

I am reading for a second time, No Compromise, by Melody Green. It is such a precious book, and all the more for reminding me of the times we once walked in. When Keith and Melody Green first became Christians, they noticed an awful lot of people who made professions of faith falling away, not following the Christian life. Even as the Vineyard movement caught them, giving them the gospel of life, and winning them to Christ, they noticed what I would call “fluff” going on around them—men and women who had made decisions for Christ who subsequently went back to their old lifestyles of debauchery.

I lived through those times, and because of Melody’s reminder, I remembered the great many who did seem to fall away. Thankfully she gave an illustration of a concert where thousands genuinely rededicated themselves to following Christ, and I also was reminded of the many besides myself who were very serious about what had happened. It was a time of a great awakening—a time when many fell in error, but many also came to a saving knowledge of the truth.

In my study of the revivals and awakenings of America, one characteristic seems to accompany many of the revivals. The people, sometimes by the urging of a preacher, sometimes by the evident troublesome times, and sometimes just by the evident power of God, a group of people, sometimes quite large, are attracted to the gospel within a very short space of time. The call to perfection involves a call to pray for the lost, and to proclaim the gospel, and if we do it in our own power, we will fail, perhaps spectacularly. But if we go out with both the bidding of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit, who knows but what great things will result? Who knows but what God has another Great Awakening lying in wait for us, if we will but ask.

A central key to living properly is that we are showing the person of Jesus Christ to our world. The hymn sings, “Once we were blind, but now we see,” and if we remember that blindness, we will be busy about, telling others about what they cannot hope to see. James tells us that the proper way to show our faith is just by our works, but the problem is that so long as we remain infants in the body of Christ, we can do no works. The works are not of us, but of the Spirit, and the enigma is that the Spirit may use us only as we voluntarily give ourselves to him.

I like to think that I am a pretty good person, as well as the next chap, and perhaps a bit better, if of course you do not count the fact that I misbehave here and there, and of course, I cannot get along with that part of my family, but, really, who can? I find reasoning like that going through my brain constantly, and it is in the caveats that I have learned to focus. Using the excuse that I am really a good person except when I lose my temper doesn’t really work, for the temper lost reveals a nature only partly given to God, and he does indeed ask for everything, and he even asks that we love those deemed “unlovable” by so many. It is precisely for those whom he died—that is, you and me, unlovable and blind in our sin. How then shall we live properly?

There is a constant call on the body to submit to that which we do not want to do. I think I am getting so spiritual and close to my God until something reminds me of a mundane duty that interrupts. It may be as silly as something like having to go to the grocery store, or taking a friend to the doctor, but no matter what it is, it always seems to interrupt. More often, it is something more righteously my duty, to my family or to my grandkids, but I find it still tearing at my soul, interrupting me from that which God would really have me to do.

And that is precisely the problem, not with me only, but I think with Christians in general. We love the closeness with God, and we seek the precious quiet times when we might hear the counsel of God, but God is in those very interruptions that we despise. It is in going to the grocery store, and speaking to my ex-student helping me with my groceries that God wishes to use us. For my eyes seem to be ever on me, and when the interruption happens, my eyes are forced to someone else.

I am aware that many times people misuse what they call the example of Christ, and do not find salvation for they never come to see that Christ is indeed God come in the flesh, but all the same, I think it is safe for Christians to draw on his example of living here. He sought times of prayer and solitude with the Father, but regularly was pulled back by the pressing needs of others. Reading the gospels will show a Jesus who becomes often weary in well-doing, but always persisting. That example we can follow as we learn that our God is indeed, a God of the interruptions.

Some of erred in thinking these interruptions are to be despised, and have sought solicitude, even to the point of isolation (sometimes putting themselves in a monastery, or at least a similar setting), but God has chosen to use us as vessels of hope, offering ourselves in the hope that others might at last see Jesus in us. Paul reminds us, asking, how shall they hear without a preacher, and it is to that duty that we must faithfully come, day after day, interruption after interruption.

As a retired teacher, I met a few men and women like that in my career, and I remember a somewhat older teacher than myself. I dragged myself to meetings with all my fortitude mustered, thinking that they can make me come, but they cannot make me like it. Meeting this older man, a mature Christian, at those same meetings was like a breath of fresh air. He was able to listen, evaluate, and praise the meeting, but also, at the same time, he was able to make the whole table of teachers around him appreciative, and involved them in asking questions or making insightful comments that would ignite our thinking. It is that kind of maturity that we all should be after. In the words of Paul, pressing onward to the high calling of Jesus Christ. Not alone with God, but in the interruptions, learning to seek and share him in our most mundane times.

A final thought. Revelation (19:8) tells us that Christ will receive his bride, the church, dressed in the fine linen, the righteous acts of the saints. So you and I are to be busy doing the things that Christ has appointed for us to do, one day at a time. God is saving those works up to be acknowledged before all, to be shone out to the world. We are made righteous by the blood of our glorious Savior, but we are made righteous that we might show that righteousness to the world around us, if only in his power, and in the midst of all. And that is the task of proper living.

1. Chafer, L. (1993). Systematic theology (Vol. 4, p. 192, 193). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.