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Transcript of 1993 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 1:5-38 - The Role of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Christ -...
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8/12/2019 1993 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 1:5-38 - The Role of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Christ - Counsel of Chalcedon
1/6
IHE ROLE OF JOHN
mE BAPTIST
N m E
GOSPEL
OF HRISf
Luke 1:5-38 Introduction
A
The Threshold of the Most
Important Event of
All TIme
With
the announcement of the births
of john the Baptist and jesus Christ, we
stand on the threshold
of
the most
important thirty-three years in the history
of the world, the time in which jesus
Christ, our Divine-Human Savior would
accomplish the salvation of God's people
and of the entire creation. "The
p p e ~ r n c e
and
activity ofjesus on earth is the central
and
most
important
event of all time.
Everything that
had
gone before had led
up
to
it
. And everything that has followed
upon
it is onne ted
therewith .
"-
Geldenhuys
B. The Role
oflohn
the Baptist
in
Connection with the
Birth
oflesus
The ife and ministry ofjohn the Baptist
is the link between the Old Testament
and the New Testament.
In
him we learn
that the Old Tes tament revelation and the
New Testament
revelation are one
continuous movement in
the plan of God.
Luke's real Interest in beginning his gospel
with the
announcement of the birth and
ministry of john the Baptist
is
to show
how
all things have taken place in
accordance
with
a definite plan which
fulfills the redemptive history of the Old
Testament. The
birth
ofJohn t
he
Baptist
constitutes the
end
of the old covenant
and thebeginning of the revelation history
of the new, Luke 7:28; 16:
16. -Bo
Reicke,
The Gospel
ofLuke.
Luke's portrayal of john the Baptist
differs from that of the other Evangelists,
Matthew, Mark andJohn.
For
Luke, the
Forerunner
is not merely one who cries
in
the wilderness, he emerges primarilyfrom
the womb of the Temple, and in his own
person sums up
all that was essential to
the old covenant. - Thus Luke's
predominant interest is quite evidently
the continuity in the drama of redemption
between the old and
new
covenants. His
aim is to show how God made use of the
Tern pie, its worship, and one of ts priests,
to announce the coming of the precursor
of jesus. This emphasizes for us the
connection between the Old Testament
and the New
.
.early Christianiry loved the Old
Testament, and those who transmitted
the gospel
of
thekingdom were interested
in the history of electiori. - The dominant
note throughout (the early chapters of
Luke with their references to the
d.T.
their hymnsSo influenced by the O.T. and
theirfocuson the Temple),
is
the continuity
with the Old Testament. -Bo Reicke
,
I. TilE INTRODUCTION
OF
Z CH RI S AND ELlZABEIH (1 :5-7
A.
[ :5a
The
TIme
of
the
Birth
oflohn the
Baptist
Luke begins his gospel with a sharp
contrast between the beginnings of
Christianity and the political condition at
the time of
John
's birth.
John
the Baptist
would announce the dawn of the glOriOUS
Messianic Reign, which would produce
the
salvation
of the world; but
his
announcement would come at atimewhert
LO ' ' HE COUNSEL of Chalcedon
'
May, 1993
. he world was being brutalized by the
tyranriy, bloodthirstiness and immorality
of the infamous Herod the
Great:
who
was king of
juda.a
from 40 to 4 ,
B.
C.
Although Herod professed to be Jewish
and was responsible for rebuilding the
Temple in Jerusalem, he also polluted the
land
of Israel by buIlding temples to pagan
gods.
Hew.s
relentlessly cruel to any who
opposed
or
questioned his sovereignty.
And his last ye.rswere marked by bloody
family murders.
The expression, in the days of Herod
point to
"a
dark. ominous and calamitous
period in the history of the ewish nation.
Against this gloomy background Luke
now gives tne history of the dawn of the
new day in the life of
humanity-the
coming of Christ, which was prepared by
the advent of john the Baptist.
Geldenhuys
B.
:5b-7j
he
Name
and
DesCription oflohn s Parents
1.
Their Position and Lineage
john s father, Zacharias, was a levitical
priest who belonged to the order ofAbijah,
and his mother, Elizabeth, was also of
priestly descent. To be a priest and to be
married to a priest s daughter was quite a
distinction in Israel of tbat day. Here we
seeJohn's first linkwith the Old Testament
revelation in that hewas onevitical priestly
descent.
2.
Their Names
The names ofJohn's parents, by.God's
providence, are themselves pregnant with
significance, as they stood at the dawn of
the Messianic Age, after
such
a long time
of waiting
for
the O.T. people of God.
Zacharias. means The Lord remembers
His covenant, and Elizabeth means,
My
God is an oath,
i.e.,
My God is the
absolutely Faithful One.
3. Their Piety
ZachariaS and Elizabeth
were
both
righteous
in
the
Sight
of
God
walking
blamelessly
in
all
the commandments
and
requirements
of the
Lord
vs.
6.
John
came
from parents who, because of their
messianic faith and holy conduct before
God, were models of the highest form of
O.T. religion and piety. Here is John'S
second link with the O.T., in his parents
and himself he represented
the
purity of
O.T. faith, hope and practice. ;
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4. Their Barrenness and
Age
This godly couple were well up in
years and were childless, because Elizabeth
was barren,
vs.
7. How this must bave
grieved their hearts, especially since
children are a gift olthe Lord. Why? Had
they committed some great sin for which
God was punishing them? That seems
unlikely in the light of God's assessment
of them in verse 6. So, why were they
advanced in years, childless and barren?
Here is John's third link with the Old
Testament: He was a child of promise to
older parents,
who were childless,
and
whose mother was barren. This
immediately reminds one of Abraham,
Sarah,lsaac, and Rebekah. God promised
those two patriarchal couples children in
their advanced age and barrenness, as He
had to Zacharias
and
Elizabeth, and they
all had
to
look to God in faith for the
fulfillment of the promise of a child, who
wouldbe directly involved in the receiving
and transmitting of the covenant blessings
to
future generations.
lI [1:8 17J
TIlE ANGELIC
ANNOUNCEMENT
TO ZACHARIAS
A
{l:8 11J
The
Place
of the
Announcement oflohn s Birth
When the Angelic announcement
aboutJohn's birth
and
mission was made
to Zacharias,
he was in the Temple in
Jerusalem performing his priestly duty of
burning incense in the Holy Place. There
were so many priests at the time that they
had
to be
chosen
by
lot to perform this
duty, and each priest probably had this
privilege only once in his lifetime. So this
priestly service of offering the incense was
one of the most solemn privileges of
Zacharias' life.
The point is that the N.T. gospel begins
in the
TEMPLE
inJerusalem, the center of
the O.T. JeWish Theocracy, which now
becomes THE WOMB OF THE NEW
COVENANT. Throughout his gospel,
Luke deliberately relates Christ and the
Temple many times, as we have seen in
the Introduction
to
Luke.
Thus in a real sense John the Baptist
emerges from the womb of the Temple,
and in this respect his Old Testament
background is even more central than that
of any of his predecessors.
It
was,
moreover, in the holy place
that
the
announcementwas given, when Zacharias
stood with his censers in the presence of
the Lord. - The scene is thus
an
Old
Testament one from beginning to end.
The whole setting helps to create the idea
thatJohn is about to come on thescene as
a last fruit of the old covenant. -Bo Reicke
Thus we have
the
fourth link of
John
with the Old Testament, impressing us
with the fact that although a NEW
DAY
and a NEW COVENANT and a NEW
KINGDOM has come with the birth
and
life oJesus Christ, it is the FULFILLMENT
of
the old covenant;
and
t has
CONTINUITY with the redemptivehistory
and
the O.T. revelation that has gone
before it. There is not a radical break
between the O.T. and the
N.T.
The
N.T.
is the fulfillment and application of the
O.T.
TheN.T
.giveswhattheO.T. requires
(righteousness) and promises (Messianic
Reign).
B
11:11-17],
The
Actual
Announcement
oflo1m sBirth Ministly
1. The Identity of the One Who
Made the Announcement
The Angel of the lord appeared to
Zacharias
and made the announcement of
John'S birth. This is John's fifth link with
the O.T. In Genesis, (and Judges), The
Angel of the Lord is the most important
mode
of
divine
revelation. Sometimes
He
distingUishes Himself from God, speaking
of God in the third person. While, at other
times, often in the same utterance, he
speaks of God in the first person. He is a
person distinct from Jehovah, and yet He
is said to be Jehovah speaking. This is an
O.T. intimation of the Trinity, teaching us
that
behind the twofold representation
there lies a real manifoldness in the inner
life of the Deity. - Vas.
The Angel of the Lord in the O.T.
presupposes the trinitarian nature of God,
and at the same time anticipates the
incarnation of Christ, for when Jacob
wrestled with this angel in Genesis 32, He
is called a man, VS. 24, and God, and
Hosea r f r ~ to Him as an angel, Has.
12:4.
So
then, The Angel of the Lord is the
Divine
Word
of God, the Second Person
of the Trinity, the Son of God, in pre
incarnate appearances.
2. The Place Where He Was Standing
When He Made
the
Announcement
The Angel
of
the Lord appeared to
Zacharias in the HolyPlace in the Tern pIe,
standing to the right of the altar
of
incense, vs. 11. The Angel, who
s
representing God, takes the placeofhonar,
'Iat
God's right hand, and conveys a
message
to
Zacharias directly from God
Himself. Christ sits at the right
hand
of
God.
3.
The Response of Zacharias
to His Appearance
Zacharias was understandably
shaken
by this sudden, unexpected appearance of
the Angel radiant with Glory, straight
from the presence
of
God. It
would
cause
anybody to tremble
with
fear, vs. 12.
4. The Message of the Announcement
a. Your prayer has been answered
The first thing the Angel said
to
Zachariaswas: Don't be afraid,your prayer
has been heard by God,
and
is being
answered/' VS. 13. The: aorist tense
indicates that the Angel had one specific
request of Zacharias in mind. Was He
referring
to
Zacharias's prayer for
ason or
to his prayer for the salvation of God's
people in the Messiah? WhicheverHe had
reference to, both
were
about to
be
answered.
b.
Your wife
will
bear a son
and you will name him John
By
God's grace Zacharias and his wife
would have a son, who would
be the
predecessor and harbinger of the coming
Redeemer. The Angel instructed him to
name
his son, John which means The
Lord is merciful,
or
The gracious gift of
God. John's name, then, would remind
people of the grace of God that was about
to enter the world in Jesus Christ. His
name indicated that the grace of God,
soon to be reveal ed in theRedeemerwhose
coming
is
to be prepared by
John
is the
outcome
of
His remembrance
of
His
Covenant and
of His
absolute
faithfulness . Geldenhuys
c. You
will
have
joy
and gladness;
many will rejoice
t
his birth.
We
have already noted that Luke's
Gospel is a singing gospel, which begins,
1:14, ends, 24:52,53 with praise to the
May,
1993
TIlE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon f
11
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Lord
and rejoicing in Christ. The gospel is
full of that ecstatic
joy that
comes with
the
advance
of
the
Kingdom
of
Christ.
In
fact,
all over
the
globe
and through
out history,
M NY
will rejoicein
the
salvat
io
n brought
by the birth, death and resurrection
of
Jesus
Christ.
d. He will be great
in
the
sight
o
the Lord
The Angel promises Zacharias
that
his
son, John, will be great in the highest
sense
of
the word
.
He
will
be
great,
and
of
universa l historical importance,
not in
the
assessment
o
men but
in
the assessment
of God.
. e. He
will drink no
wine or
liquor
It appears
that
John
the
Baptist was to
be
a Nazirite,
not only
for a specific time,
but
for all his life, as Samson and Samuel.
A
person
living
under the
Nazirite vow
was not to partake
of any product
of
grapes,
cut
his
hair
or
touch
dead bodies,
Numb.
6:3-12. (According to Edersheim
n
The Temple: Its Ministry
and
Services
as
They Were at the Time ofJesus Christ,
the
omission of
the command not
to
cut
his
hairor
ouch dead
bodies does not disprove
the
fact thatJohn was to
be
a Nazirite,pgs.
366ff.)
This is
John's sixth
link with
the
Old
Testament. A Nazirite was a person who
had
especially separa ted himself o acertain
life-style before God,
bound by
oath. The
presence
of
a Nazirite.
in
Israel was a living
testimony to
the
separated character
and
life
required of
th e Covenant People.
He
was incorporated into the organization of
the
Israelite society, so
that
as a N azirite,
he might become
a means of furthering
the
sanctification
of the
people n covenant
with
the Lord. Keil.
The
Nazirite taught
the
people
their duty of devoting
themselves entirely
to
the
Lord
in
all
the
facets
of
a holy life. The gospel testifies
this
to
the church today:
You
are bought
with a price, therefore glorify God in your
body
and
your spirit which
are
His. Later
Jesus
Himself would say to His disciples,
If
any
man would
come after
me, let
him
deny himself,
and
take up
his
cross, and
foUaw me, Mk. 8 :34.
f He
will
be
filled with the
Holy
Spirit
. while yet in his mother s womb
. , .
FromthewombJohntheBaptistwould
be
filled
with the
Holy Spirit.
In
the O.T.
the
Holy Spirit would co
me
upon
people
to equip
and
empo
werthem
for a specific
task or mission and when the mission
was accomplished and the task performed,
the Spirit would leave them . This was also
true with
the
O.T. prophets, of which
John was one and the last; hence aseventh
link with
the O. T. However, there would
be
a difference
with John,
to match the
New Messianic Age
and the
Baptism of the
Spirit .
on the
Church,
John
would
be
permanently filled with
the
Holy Spirit
from
the very beginning of his life in his
mother's womb. Implication; Children of
the
covenant may be regenerated before
they are
born
g.
He
will tum back many o the sons
o Israel
to
the Lord thier God; He will
tum
the hearts o the fathers back to
the children, and the disobedient
to
the
attitude
o
the righteous
Here
we
see
the
mission ofJohn
the
Baptist. He
Is
to
be
a prophet,
bu
t much
more than a prophet. His mission will
be
to
tum the
hearts
of
the covenant people
back
to the
Lord, from disobedience to
obedience
to the
Covenant. .
Israel had been for centuries apostate
andseparatedfrom God.
In
O.T. prophetic
fashion John was to call the people to
return to
God,Jer
. 3;7 , 10; Ezek. 3;19;
Dan. 9:13. Because
he
will be great in
God'ssight,
and
filled with
the
Holy Spirit,
hewill
be
successful in turning
MANY
of
the
sons
of
Israel back to the Lorrl in faith,
repentance and renewed obedience.
Notice.
he
will
tum
many, but not all:
because, as Paul later tells
us,
they are not
all Israel,
who
are descended from Israel:
Rom. 9:6.
We
have Seen that one of
the
secondary
motifs of
Lu k
e
is
the
particularity
of
salvation,Le., Jesus came
to save
the
elect. And Luke's use of this
word
many, 1:14,16,remindsusofthis
fact, as well as
of
Isaiah's promise
of the
particularity
of
Christ's salvation
in
Isaiah
53
:11. See also Mark 10:45.
John's
mission is
an
eighth link with
the O.T., for it
Is an
obvious reference to
the prophecy
of
Malachi ,
with which
the
O.T. closes,
Mal.
3:1; 4;5-6.
Behold,
I amgoing
to
sendMy
messenger,
and he will clear
the way
before Me.
And
the
Lord, whom you seek, will
suddenlyeome
to
I THE COUNSEL
of
Chalcedon I May,
1993
His Temple
;
and th
e
Messenger
of
the
Covenant, In
whom
you
delight,
behold,
He
is
coming, says
the
Lord
of
hosts.
Behold, Iam going
t send
you Elijah the
prophet before the comin
g
of the great and
terrible
day of the
Lord
. And
he
will
restore
the
hearts oft
hefathers to theirchildren, and
the hearts of he children to their athers,
lest
come and
smite
the
land
with
a
curse.
Notice the follOwing points from. this
O.T. prophecy which is fulfilled ihJohn
the Baptist and supremely inJesus Christ.
(1).
The Forerunner
1St
The Messenger
of
the Covenant
Malachi prophesies that God will
send
a forerunner
to
prepare
the
way [or the
coming of
the
Lord Himself
as the
messenger of the covenant,
3:1.
The
messenger of the covenant is JesUs Chr ist
according to
the
O.T. and
the
N.T., Exod.
23:20; Heb. 12:24;
Mk.
1:2. So Malachi's
prophecy coinCides with Luke's emphatic
fulfillment; The Lord's Christ is Christ the
Lord, whose coming is to
be
heralded by
John
the Baptist.
(2). The Coming of the Lord
to the
Temple
Malachi prophecies that
the
Lord will
suddenly cometo His Templein
theperson
of the messenger of the covenant, and
that
His coming to His Temple will have a
cleansing
and
refining effect
on
that
Temple, Mal. 3:2-3. Keep
in mind
Luke's
Temple motif, especially his emphasis on
Jesus' cleansing of
the
Temple at the
beginning
and
near the end of His earthly
ministry.
(3) . The Coming of Elijah
Malachi prophesies that God will
send
this forerunner
of
Christ as Elijah
the
prophet before the coming
of
the
great
and terrible
day of the
Lord, 4;5.
According to Malachi, this terrible day
of
the Lord is
the
day in which
the
Christ
came to His
Temple
immediately in
connection with the preparation
of
the
forerunner for
His coming 3:1-3 i.e.
l the
day of the first advent of Christ,
which
'
would bring
the
cleaning o[ His Temple ,
His House, I.e. His church, for the pollution
and guilt
of
her sin.
Luke makes unmistakably clear. tnat
the birth and ministry of
John the
Baptist
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in
the
first century is the fulfillment of
the
prophecy
of
the coming of Elijah. which
Malachi spoke of. Luke's words are: And
it
is he Oohn)
who
will go as a forerunner
before Him INTHE SPIRIT
AND
POWER
OF ELijAH ..... Lk. 1:17. who. like Elijah
before him. would tum
the
hearts of many
back
to
the
Lord.
There are those
who
believe that Elijah
will return to earth before the Second
Coming
of Christ;
and
they
use
this
prophecy in Malachi for their support.
But it is obvious in Luke that Malachi's
reference point is
not
the time
and
to
repentance. and by this means
broken family relationships will
be
healed.
But
John
means more than this?
By
fatherssurely the godly ancestors
of Israel
inJohn's
day
is
meant.
Theyare
separated from their children because
of
the apostasy in their children. Now.
through thepreachingofJohn,empowered
by
the
HolySpirit, manyofthese
c
hildren
of
the
covenant will
be
converted to God
and turn from their apostasy to Jesus as
their Messiah. :Johnwill bringthe present
rebellious generation into
religious
A. The
Unbelief
ofZacharias
The prophecy of the Angel sounded
incredible
to
Zacharias. Righteousthough
he
was,
he
could not believe it, because
of
his advanced age
and that
of his wife.
He
sinned bywatking by sight
not by
faith.
In
this instance
he
was
more
like Sarah, Gen.
18:12, while Elizabeth was
more
like
Abraham. Rom. 4:
18-20
.
The
incredible
audacity
of
Zacharias, asking for
more
proof regarding
the Word
of
The
Angel
of
the Lord.
B The
Rebuke
of the Angel of the Lord
1. The Name
of the
Angel
of the
final Consummation but
the time of the incarnation of
Christ and the preachingof] ohn
the
Baptist. LaterJesus Himself
says
of
John. that he was
the
prophet
Elijah. (figuratively
speaking).
of whom
Malachi
prophesied. Luke 7:27. Seealso
Luke 1:76.
By calling fathers
and
children back to
their covenant
heritage
in Jesus Christ,
and as
those
who
return
and renew their
In
direct contrast
with
the
unbelieving response of
Zacharias to the Angel's
prophecy,
I
am
an old man
the
Angel declares,
. / am
Gabriel who stands in the
Presence
of
God;
and
I
have
beens
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12:7 i t appears as
i
Michael is
representative
of
Christ; therefore, it could
well-be that Gabriel is also representative
of
the
pre- incarnate Christ, since He is
The Angel of the Lord.
2.
The
Rebuke of
the
Angel
Because of Zacharias'
incredible
unbelief, Gabrielchastizedhim by making
him unable to speak until the day when
His angelic prophecy will come true, i.e.,
at
the
birth ofJohn
the
Baptist. Zacharias
wanted a sign from Gabriel confirming
His words, but Gabriel gave him a sign
whichwas a chastisement for his unbelief,
and which would cleanse him from his
unbelief. Zacharias' unbelief will in no
way hinder the fulfillment of the words of
God.
3.
The
Reaction of
the
People
The people who had gathered at the
Temple, while Zacharias was in the Holy
Place offering the incense began to feel
uneasy about Zacharias staying in the
Temple for so longa time. It was customary
for the priest, who offered the incense
alone
in the
sanctuary, to reappear as soon
as possible after
the
prayers were said to
prevent the people from worrying.
What
had happened to Zacharias? Why had he
not
reappeared? Had
he
been struck
down by God or seen an extraordinary
vision?
When
Zacharias finally came out of
the
Temple, the people qUickly saw that
he had experienced something remarkable.
Instead of receiving the anticipated
benediction from Zacharias,
the
crowd of
worshipers saw that Zacharias was dumb
and agitated. From his face
and
actions
the crowd concluded that he had seen a
supernatura l vision. Unable
to
speak, as
sooh as his priestly duties were completed,
he
went horne to await the fulfillment of
Gabriel's prophecy in the birth of his son,
John.
C.
The
Significance of this Incident
Why
did
Luke include this incident
in
his account of the origins of Christianity?
How does it
throw
light on the central
focus of the early chapters of Luke, the
birth
of esus? What is the significance of
Zacharias' silence and inability to speak
until
the
bir th ofJohn the Baptist? Luke is
not concerned merely with biographical
details, Zacharias has no Significance in
the birth-accounts other than as the father
ofJohn the Baptist.
On the day of Gabriel's announcement
of John'S birth and mission, Zacharias
( stands in the center of the
old
covenant
and ... ohn represents the final resurgence
of prophecy."-Reicke. According to the
postexilic prophets
the
divine voice of
prophecy would
be
silent from the last of
the O.T. prophets until the MessianicAge,
Zech.13:2-6. Therefore, whereas we must
try to discover allegories in every story of
the Bible, "in the present narrative,
however, there are so many allusions
to
the old covenant
and
in
the
subsequent
hymns so many predictions about the
reestablishment of the covenant after a
period of abasement that it will not be
unreasonable to suppose that such
n
allusion to
the
old covenant may also
underlie the silence of Zacharias." -Reicke
"Thus, it is a conceivable possibility
that Zacharias' skepticism and silence are
intended to reflect the incapacity of the
Jews to receive the revelation given them
during the last moments of the old
covenant right up to the coming of the
Baptist. -Reicke. In
other words,
Zacharias' silence as chastizement for his
unbeliefis to remind us of the four hundred
years of silence from the heavens because
of Israel's apostasy. God had sent no
prophet speaking His word to His people
for four centuries because their ears and
hearts were dulled by their rebellion. But
now the four hundred year silence is
broken by the explosive revelation of God
in the coming of the Forerunner and the
Messenger of the Covenant to bring
restoration to the covenant people.
N
[1:24 25] TIlE PREGN NCY
OF
ELlZ BETIl
A. The Fulfillment ofGabriel's Prophecy
After returning home, probably in a
small village in the mountains south of
Jerusalem, vs.
39,
from his tour of duty in
Jerusalem, in
due
time; Elizabeth became
pregnant with Zacharias' son. Surely
feeling as Abraham and Sarah, when they
found they were expecting Isaac, the child
of promise, in their advanced age, Elizabeth
and Zacharias rejoice that Gabriel's
prophecyhad come true. TheFo.rerunner
t
THE
COUNSEL f
-
8/12/2019 1993 Issue 4 - Sermon on Luke 1:5-38 - The Role of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Christ - Counsel of Chalcedon
6/6
faith fastens on God's promises directly
and
immediately, then faith will be
certain and unshakable. Then faith no
longer rest on a subjective, changeable
foundation but on an objective, abiding
foundation.
The
unshakableness of the
foundation is conveyed directly to the
person
who, rescued
from
life's
shipwreck,
plants
both
feet firmly
on
it
in faith. When the
plant
of faith is
allowed
to
take root in the
ground
of
God's promises (the gospel), it will
naturallybear
the
fruit o f certainty. The
deeper and firmer the roots anchor
themselves in this
ground,
the stronger
and
taller
it
will grow,
and
the richer will
be its fruit." Herman Bavinck, The
Certainty oj Faith,
Paideia Press, St.
Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 1980.
2.
The
gospel never stops making
an
impression
on
the hearts of rue believers.
3.
The
difference between faith and
unbelief is
not
one of insight
or
intelligence, nor is it because of the
obSCUrity of the biblical revelation.
It
is
a
matter
of ethical choice. Those who
chose to believe the gospel ofjesus do so
because of the grace of God enabling
them to do
so freely and gladly,
with
the
whole
heart. Those who choose not to
believe the gospel do so, because
they
will
to
do
so,
and
not
because they have
intellectual problems. The unbeliever
will
not
give
up
himself, his belief
in
his
own ultimacyand autonomy, and his sin
in
order to embrace
the
gospel by faith.
"The whole man is therefore involved
in believing---with his reason,
with
his
will, with his heart, in the core of his
being, in the deepest partofhisexistence.
Knowing himself to
be
guilty
and
lost,
man, in faith, surrenders himself wholly
to
God's grace
in
Christ. He ceases
fighting
the
war
he has longbeen waging
in
his conscience....
He
leads all his
thoughts captive to the obedience of
Christ." Herman Bavinck
4. Let Luke take you by the hand
and
lead
you
to Christ.
As
he leads you, pray
to
the Father ojesus
to
give you the faith
to believe in Jesus.
IjScripturewerenothingmore than
a narrative oj past events it could be
accepted only on historical grounds by
an historical jaith. But although it is
also ltistory,
in
that I.istory it
is
more
than a narrative, it is a Word ]rom God
that omes to man calling him to faith
and repentance. As such, it can be
known through genuine faith. Whoever
accepts its testimony confirms that God
is truth ul. Promise and faith are
correlates; they address themselves to
one another. The more the Christian
develops, the more he roots himselfin
that Word, learning to know
it
better
and to value it more.
In
the same act
of
faith he also embraces Christ, whose
likeness comes to him unadulterated
in
theScripture'switness
of
Him. "
Herman
BavinckQ
yron Snapp
ook Review
He Shall Have Dominion
by
Kenneth
L
Gentry ]r. Institute for
Christian Economics P.O. Box 8000 Tyler,
Tx. 75711 19.95hb. 584 ppwith index.
Many times
during
presbytery exams,
when
the examiner begins to ask questions
on
eschatology the one being examined
replies that he is pan-mil. This often
brings a wave oflaughter from presbyters.
While eschatology is a very difficult
subject, we must realize that the Bible
does speak directly to the subject. No
Christian should take comfort in hiding
behind a pan-mil description of his
eschatology.
All
three (o r four, including
dispensationalism) cannot be correct. It
is
important that
we study
Scripture
prayerfully to seek to understand
what
God has revealed
on
this
important
subject.
Mr. Gentry has authored a
well-written, book from a postmillennial
perspective. He treats those of
other
persuasions
with
respect while showing
that
their eschatological arguments are
not built
on
the
sound
foundations of
consistent Biblical exegesis.
The
authorbegins by pointingout the
importance of a biblical philosophy of
history.
The Christian understands
that
history is the working
out
of God's eternal
plan for his covenant people . This
involves creation
and
the fan of man.
After man's fan God reveals
through
Scripture that the Messiah is coming to
redeem a people to himself.
With
Christ's
coming, God's kingdom is established
and Satan is defeated as a result of Christ's
death
on the cross.
s
history
moves
towards Christ's return on the final day
of
judgment,
we can expect growth
and
advance
of
the
Gospel
by
means
of
regeneration
and
sanctification. This
results in the spiritual growth of
the
individual. This growth
will
lead to
cultural transformation as Christians seek
to live
out
every area of life in obedience
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The
author rightly contends
that
covenant theo ogy, so evident throughout
Scripture, is important in
postmillen
nialism. The Covenant theologian sees
the unity of the old and new testaments.
"The Covenant concept runs throughout
Scripture. t frames God's creational
process, structures His dealings with man,
and most
important
for this
book's
thesis,
insures the success of His divine program
in history.... The decline of covenant
theology since the late
nineteenth
century
has
led to
the
decline
of Christian
influence in society. Postmillennialism is
fundamentally covenantal,
presenting
a
full-orbed Christianity in it pristine
authority and power." (p. 121)
Christ, God's eternal Son, fulfilled
the
covenantal duties of elect sinners. Thus,
Gentry points out the importance of
evangelism in postmillennial
thought.
"Cultural influence and change are to be
promoted
byGod's
people-who are saved
by
grace alone (Eph.
2:8-10)-at
large in
their callings
not
by the institutional
Church as such.
CONTlNVED P GE
4
May, 1993 THE COUNSEL
of
Chalce