Sound of Grace, Issue 206, April 2014

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    shepherds who love Gods sheep and serve him by serving

    the ock, God watches, remembers, and rewards.

    It is imperative to continually bear in mind that the

    shepherd metaphorwhen it is being applied to human

    leadersis only one metaphor among many. In Ezekiel 34the wicked leaders of Israel are depicted as selsh, harsh,

    and brutal shepherds, but they are also portrayed as ornery

    sheep bullying other sheep in the ock. Human shepherds

    must never forget that they are no less a sheep than any

    other sheep in Gods ock! Some people are delegated

    certain responsibilities by God, but they remain the same

    species as those they are responsible to care for.

    Bringing together the fact that both God and human

    leaders are referred to as shepherds in the OT, one begins

    to see that God him-

    This article was transcribed from a sermon. It was left very much as verbally

    presented, which accounts for the way some things are stated.

    If this message had a subtitle, it would be, The Confessions of John Reis-inger. I think all of us have left some pools of blood in presenting the truths

    of sovereign grace. I confess I left my share of them along the way. One of the

    difculties we have in getting people to discuss truth is creating an atmosphere

    where everybody wants to learn. The old Greeks in their debating society had a

    rule that you were not allowed to enter into the debate and challenge somebody

    until you could repeat, in your own words, what that person had said to his sat-

    isfaction. Until you could do that, you didnt understand what he said, and thus

    you had no business opening your mouth in criticism. If we would do that same

    thing today instead of jumping to false conclusions and caricatures, we would

    not have as many difculties. We have to learn to listen and understand what

    somebody else is saying before we respond.

    Issue 206 April 2014

    It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

    How To, and How Not To Preach theDoctrines of GracePart One

    John G. Reisinger

    In our previous examination of the shepherd metaphor

    in the OT, we noted that God himself is the ultimate shep-

    herd of his people. All of the best qualities of a compe-

    tent and caring shepherd are perfectly found in him. In

    the thought world of the OT, shepherding imagery oftenreferred to leadership and governance. Since God alone

    reigns and rules over all things, this particular connotation

    points to his sovereign authority and power over all the

    earth. Yet the OT frequently applies the shepherd metaphor

    to human leaders who are appointed by God to care for

    his ock. They are undershepherds, not owners; their right

    to rule the ock of God is entirely derived from his good

    pleasure. All of their authority is derivative, and as such

    they are answerable and accountable to God for how they

    discharge their duties. When shepherds abuse the sheep of

    Gods pasture, they treat him with contempt. But for those

    Shepherding the New Covenant Flock: Part 5 of 6Shepherding Imagery in the NT: The Good Shepherd

    Steve West

    ReisingerContinued on page 2

    WestContinued on page 12

    In This Issue

    How To, and How Not To Preachthe Doctrines of GracePartOne

    John G. Reisinger

    1

    Shepherding the New CovenantFlock: Part 5 of 6Shepherding Imagery in the NT:

    The Good Shepherd

    Steve West

    1

    Philippians: Joyful Unity in theGospelPart 1

    A. Blake White

    3

    Mission to Manymar

    Jonny Carson andRobert Millar

    5

    Enough Room

    Stan Vaninger9

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    Page 2 April 2014 Issue 206

    Sound of Graceis a publication of Sovereign

    Grace New Covenant Ministries, a tax exempt

    501(c)3 corporation. Contributions to Sound

    of Grace are deductible under section 170 of

    the Code.

    Sound of Graceis published 10 times a year.

    The subscription price is shown below. This is

    a paper unashamedly committed to the truth

    of Gods sovereign grace and New Covenant

    Theology. We invite all who love these sametruths to pray for us and help us nancially.

    We do not take any paid advertising.

    The use of an article by a particular person

    is not an endorsement of all that person

    believes, but it merely means that we thought

    that a particular article was worthy of printing.

    Sound of Grace Board: John G. Reisinger,

    David Leon, John Thorhauer, Bob VanWing-

    erden and Jacob Moseley.

    Editor: John G. Reisinger; Phone: (585)396-

    3385; e-mail: [email protected].

    General Manager: Jacob Moseley:

    [email protected]

    Send all orders and all subscriptions to:

    Sound of Grace, 5317 Wye Creek Drive,

    Frederick, MD 21703-6938 Phone 301-

    473-8781 Visit the bookstore: http://www.

    newcovenantmedia.com

    Address all editorial mater ial and questions

    to: John G. Reisinger, 3302 County Road 16,

    Canandaigua, NY 14424-2441.

    Webpage: www.soundofgrace.org

    or SOGNCM.org

    Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken

    from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNA-

    TIONAL VERSION Copyright 1973, 1978,

    1984 by International Bible Society. Used by

    Permission. All rights reserved.

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    taken from the New King James Version.

    Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

    Used by Permission. All rights reserved.

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    copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a

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    ReisingerContinued from page 1

    ReisingerContinued on page 4

    Until we truly understand what each

    other is really saying, a protable dis-

    cussion is futile.

    I have used the following story

    to illustrate what I mean. The pope

    was going to run all the Jews out of

    Rome. The rabbi went to see the popeand said, You cant do this. The

    pope said, Yes, we can because you

    dont believe in the true God. The

    discussion started to get heated, and

    the pope said, We dont want to get

    angry and start shouting; lets have

    a silent debate. They both agreed to

    settle the matter with a silent debate.

    The pope made a sweeping gesture

    with both hands. The rabbi jabbed the

    palm of his left hand with his rightindex nger. The pope held up one

    nger. The rabbi held up three ngers.

    The pope blessed a

    glass of wine and

    drank it. The rabbi

    blessed an apple

    and ate it. The pope

    said, You win, you

    can stay.

    The rabbi left and the cardinals

    asked the pope what happened. Thepope explained, I said (by making

    a sweeping gesture with my hands)

    that God is everywhere. The rabbi

    said (by jabbing his nger into the

    palm of his hand), God is also right

    here. That is as orthodox as we are.

    I then said (by holding up one nger),

    There is only one true God. The

    rabbi replied (by holding up three

    ngers), God might exist in three

    persons. The cardinals asked, What

    happened then? The pope said, Idont know, we had lunch together.

    When the rabbi went out, the Jews

    asked what had happened. The rabbi

    said, I am not sure but we can stay.

    The rabbi continued his explanation:

    The pope said (by a sweeping gesture

    with his hands), You Jews have to

    get out of here. I replied (by jabbing

    my nger into the palm of my hand),

    We are staying right here. The pope

    then said (by holding up one nger),

    There is only one true God. Then I

    replied (by holding up three ngers),

    But God may exist in three persons.

    The pope then said (by drinking the

    wine), It is through the man, Christ

    Jesus, that sin was taken out of the

    world, and the rabbi replied (eat-ing the apple), It was by another

    man, Adam, that sin came into the

    world. The Jews then said, What

    did the pope say next? The rabbi

    said, Nothing at all, we had lunch

    together.

    Most of the time when Christians

    discuss theology, they might just as

    well have silent debates. They usually

    dont really understand each other

    any more than the pope and the rabbi

    understood each other in their silent

    debate. They just talk past each other.

    When we say,

    Why dont people

    believe the doc-

    trines of grace?

    we can give an

    easy answer and

    say, because they

    are totally depraved, and of course,

    that is true. It is true that man, by

    nature, hates God. That is a clear bib-lical fact. We know that men reject

    grace because of depravity. However,

    Im afraid there are some people who

    have rejected the truth of the grace

    of God because of the way that you

    and I may have presented it to them.

    I love the doctrines of grace and have

    preached them openly for many years.

    I have more than fty years of scars

    to prove it, and I dont want to do any-

    thing (and I dont think you do either)

    to hinder the truth of the grace of God

    and hinder people from receiving

    these doctrines. We want to protect

    the truth of sovereign grace from

    abuse and misrepresentation.

    Let me correct a misconception at

    the beginning. I do not want to imply

    in any way that if you say everything

    in the best possible way, people are

    Im afraid there are some

    people who have rejected the truth of

    the grace of God because of the way

    that you and I may have presented it

    to them.

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    Issue 206 April 2014 Page 3

    pay attention to what was spoken by

    Paul. After she and her household

    were baptized, she urged us, If you

    consider me a believer in the Lord,

    come and stay at my house. And she

    persuaded us. Once, as we were on

    our way to prayer, a slave girl met us

    who had a spirit of prediction. She

    made a large prot for her owners

    by fortune-telling. As she followed

    Paul and us she cried out, These

    men, who are proclaiming to you the

    way of salvation, are the slaves of

    the Most High God. And she did this

    for many days. But Paul was greatly

    aggravated and turning to the spirit,

    said, I command you in the name

    of Jesus Christ to come out of her!

    And it came out right away. When her

    owners saw that their hope of prot

    was gone, they seized Paul and Silas

    and dragged them into the market-

    place to the authorities. Bringing

    them before the chief magistrates,

    they said, These men are seriouslydisturbing our city. They are Jews

    and are promoting customs that are

    not legal for us as Romans to adopt

    or practice. Then the mob joined in

    the attack against them, and the chief

    magistrates stripped off their clothes

    and ordered them to be beaten with

    rods. After they had inicted many

    blows on them, they threw them in

    jail, ordering the jailer to keep them

    securely guarded. Receiving such

    an order, he put them into the innerprison and secured their feet in the

    stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas

    were praying and singing hymns to

    God, and the prisoners were listening

    to them. Suddenly there was such a

    violent earthquake that the founda-

    tions of the jail were shaken, and im-

    mediately all the doors were opened,

    and everyones chains came loose.

    WhiteContinued on page 10

    witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea

    and Samaria, and to the ends of theearth (Acts 1:8). The church is birthed

    and her mission begins, but it is not

    really the churchs mission. As one

    has put it, It is not the church of God

    that has a mission in the world, but

    the God of mission that has a church

    in the world. Our mission is part of

    Gods mission. The mission of God

    is the reason the church exists. In the

    middle of Acts, Jesus interrupts Sauls

    life, and Saul becomes Paul and is

    forever-after a man on a mission. Here

    is the story of how the church began

    in Philippi:

    They went through the region

    of Phrygia and Galatia and were

    prevented by the Holy Spirit from

    speaking the message in Asia. When

    they came to Mysia, they tried to go

    into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus

    did not allow them. So, bypassing

    Mysia, they came down to Troas.

    During the night a vision appeared to

    Paul: A Macedonian man was stand-

    ing and pleading with him, Cross

    over to Macedonia and help us!

    After he had seen the vision, we im-

    mediately made efforts to set out for

    Macedonia, concluding that God had

    called us to evangelize them. Then,

    setting sail from Troas, we ran a

    straight course to Samothrace, the

    next day to Neapolis, and from there

    to Philippi, a Roman colony, which

    is a leading city of that district of

    Macedonia. We stayed in that city for

    a number of days. On the Sabbath

    day we went outside the city gate by

    the river, where we thought there was

    a place of prayer. We sat down and

    spoke to the women gathered there.

    A woman named Lydia, a dealer in

    purple cloth from the city of Thyatira,

    who worshiped God, was listen-

    ing. The Lord opened her heart to

    Everyone loves the book of

    Philippians. Rightly so. It is short andsweet, full of rich gospel truth and

    gospel application. Why do we have

    this precious letter? How did this

    church start? God has a mission, and

    we are an integral part of it. What is

    the mission of God? God created hu-

    manity with the purpose of represent-

    ing him and ruling the world on his

    behalf, for His glory. Of course, our

    rst parents decided not to trust God,

    and sin entered the world with death

    as its dreadful consequence; however,

    God promises that the offspring of the

    woman would conquer evil. The story

    takes another dismal turn as humanity

    continues in rebellion, and God judges

    the whole world, other than Noah and

    his family, for their persistent rebel-

    lion. As the human race grows yet

    again, God chooses one elderly, pagan

    couple and promises to bless them

    and to bless the nations through their

    offspring. God told Abram that hisoffspring would be as numerous as the

    stars of the sky.

    The New Testament tells us that

    Jesus is the singular offspring of

    Abraham, and all who believe in him

    are now Abrahams offspring, heirs

    according to promise (Gal. 3:6-29).

    That means you and I who believe

    are among the stars of Abrahams

    offspring. As the church grows, Gods

    old promise to Abraham is being

    fullled. You and I are Christians

    because God made that promise thou-

    sands of years ago in Genesis 12!

    After the life, death, and resurrec-

    tion of Jesus, but before he ascended

    to the Father in the rst chapter of

    Acts, Jesus told his disciples that the

    kingdom would come, they would

    receive power when the Holy Spirit

    came on them, and they would be his

    Philippians: Joyful Unity in the GospelPart 1

    A. Blake White

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    Page 4 April 2014 Issue 206

    going to believe the doctrines of

    grace. I dont want to give the impres-

    sion that if you have had trouble and

    some people get angry, it was your

    entire fault because you did it wrong.

    I dont believe that at all. Most people

    rejected both Jesus and Paul whenthey preached grace, and the servant

    will not be greater than his master.

    However, I do believe we may have

    asked for some of the difculties that

    weve had in our attempts to teach

    sovereign grace. I have fteen sugges-

    tions on how to, and how not to, han-

    dle the subject of Gods sovereignty

    that I have learned over the years.

    Number one:Dont ever approach

    the preaching of the doctrines ofgrace, or any other biblical doctrine

    for that matter, with a negative at-

    titude. I read a book one time where

    the rst line said, Election: that hated

    doctrine. I wrote to the publisher and

    said, If you ever publish this book

    again, dont you dare start with that

    statement. Start this way: Election

    that beloved doctrine. Why would

    anybody ever want to start a book

    with a negative statement like that? I

    had a friend who preached on the doc-trine of election. His rst statement

    was, Now I know youre not going to

    agree with this, and then he preached

    a sermon on election. That is a stupid

    way to begin unless your intention is

    to deliberately antagonize people. I

    had a lawyer friend who was in the

    congregation; he said, Hes the only

    man I can agree with 100% and still

    get mad when he preaches. I think

    there are people who have a natural

    negative attitude, and I dont thinkthat helps in preaching the doctrines

    of grace at all.

    When you read the book of He-

    brews, you hear some pretty harsh

    things. In Hebrews chapter 5, Paul

    accused people of being immature

    little babies. Then at the beginning

    of chapter 6, he shows there are some

    bad signs with those people; hes not

    even sure they were ever converted.

    Then he argues that their past experi-

    ence doesnt really prove that theyre

    children of God. However, he does

    not stop with the hard statements; he

    holds out his hands and says, Im

    persuaded better things of you. He

    does everything he possibly can to

    build a bridge even though thats oneof the most scary, harsh chapters that

    youll nd in Holy Scripture. Yet

    when hes nished scolding, he closes

    by opening his heart and appealing

    with all the pathos thats in him. He

    says, Im persuaded better things of

    you and proceeds to remind them of

    all of the good things about them.

    When you read the book of Gala-

    tians, you see how Paul can be both

    negative and positive. You see the

    apostle Paul use

    both the rod and

    the staff. You see

    him rebuking in

    strong terms, and

    you also see his

    hearts sincere

    concern. I long

    to see Christ

    formed in you

    is the appeal of

    a father, and yetthere is no harsh-

    er book in the New Testament than

    the book of Galatians. The apostle

    takes the best avenue of approach that

    he can take. He is not trying to win an

    argument; he is trying to win peoples

    hearts.

    When people like you as a person,

    they are 95% disposed to believe what

    you say. And if they dont like you,

    they are 95% disposed to reject what

    you say. The way you say something

    has an effect on the attitude of the

    people who listen to you. If people

    like you, they look for reasons to be-

    lieve what youre saying. If they dont

    like you, they sit there looking for

    reasons why it cant possibly be right.

    I am sure somebody is going to say,

    Mr. Reisinger, youre talking like

    Norman Vincent Peales power of

    positive thinking. Well, Ill tell you

    one thing for sure: theres no power in

    negative thinking.However, Im not

    talking about positive thinking; Im

    talking about biblical thinking. I am

    talking about the power of Scripture

    and being like the writers of Scripture

    in our presentation. When Paul rea-

    soned in Acts chapter 26, he did thesame thing. Look at that passage of

    Scripture. Remember the apostle Paul

    is to be a pattern in all things to you

    and to me, so we can learn from the

    way he did it.

    And as he thus spake for himself,

    Festus said with a loud voice, Paul,

    thou art beside thyself; much learning

    doth make thee mad. But he said, I

    am not mad, most noble Festus, but

    speak forth the words of truth and

    soberness. For the

    king knoweth of these

    things, before whom

    also I speak freely, for

    I am persuaded that

    none of these things

    are hidden from him,

    for this thing was not

    done in a corner. King

    Agrippa, believest

    thou the prophets? I

    know thou believest.Then Agrippa said

    unto him, Almost thou persuadest me

    to be a Christian. Acts 26:24-28

    Whether Agrippa was respond-

    ing in scorn or whether he was really

    moved, we cant know for sure, but

    we can see the attitude of Paul. When

    Festus says, Paul, youre crazy,

    Paul, speaking to both Festus and

    King Agrippa, did not say, Well,

    youll just have to go to hell. Im not

    going to talk to you; Im not going to

    reason with you. No, no; Paul contin-

    ued to talk, and he said, Now you be-

    lieve this; you know you believe this.

    He took the approach as positively as

    he possibly could.

    Number two:Never deliberately

    or knowingly preach truth to people

    that youre certain are going to reject

    ReisingerContinued from page 2

    ReisingerContinued on page 6

    When people like you as a

    person, they are 95% disposed

    to believe what you say. And if

    they dont like you, they are 95%

    disposed to reject what you say.

    The way you say something has

    an effect on the attitude of the

    people who listen to you.

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    Issue 206 April 2014 Page 5

    On January 12, 2014, my friend

    and fellow pastor Jonny Carson andI started our journey to Myanmar/

    Burma (organized by Asia-link). It

    was an experience which neither of us

    will ever forget.

    Landing in Yangon, the rst thing

    that hit us was the heat. Next was the

    poverty before us. The combination of

    this poverty and the great faith of the

    believers there in such impoverished

    circumstances have left an indelible

    mark on us both.Our two weeks in Myanmar were

    divided into two legs, the rst of

    which consisted of travelling six hours

    into the heart of the country to visit

    church plants and planters (sent out

    by the Reformed Evangelical Church

    of Myanmar). We travelled to some

    very remote villages, and during these

    visits, we had the great privilege of

    meeting the people, sharing from

    Gods Word, and praying with them.

    The harsh reality of life for these

    folks was a real shock to the system;

    seeing these young church plant-

    ers and their families living in such

    circumstances was both humbling

    and challenging. Myanmar is a pre-

    dominately Buddhist country, and the

    majority of the Buddhist population

    and especially the monks do not want

    these church planters in their villages.

    They make life really tough for the

    work of the church planters.

    One of the villages we visited was

    so remote that we could only access

    it by ox and cart. This thirty-minute

    journey is one we will never forget

    and one from which our backs may

    never recover.

    The strategy for planting churches

    in these unreached areas is quite sim-

    ple. First of all, two women will move

    into a village and start a preschool for

    the young children. These preschools

    are unashamedly Christian in both

    their syllabus and their goals. As the

    villagers are so poor, they really value

    education, seeing it as

    an avenue out of the

    poverty they are in,

    and so they send their

    children to the school in

    great numbers. Subse-

    quently, after a year or

    two of preschool work,

    church planters willjoin the school teachers

    and begin having Bible

    studies and church services. If funds

    are available, then the church will dig

    a well close by the church building

    so the villagers can have clean fresh

    water which is a real help to village

    life. Also if funds allow (all funding

    comes from outside the country via

    agencies like Asia-link), a solar panel

    system will be tted to the preschool/

    church building, which makes it the

    only place in the village with electric

    light at night. This being the case, the

    villagers ock to the church building

    in the evening, presenting the pas-

    tor with an opportunity to share the

    gospel with them.

    After a few days in the villages,we travelled back to Yangon, to take

    part in the graduation service of

    Myanmar Centre for Church plant-

    ing (hereafter MCCP). This was a

    great honor for us both, with Jonny

    preaching the graduation sermon and

    me presenting each student with a

    copy of Wayne Grudems Systematic

    Theology in the Burmese language.

    I also had the opportunity to present

    the school with some New Covenant

    Media books such asNew

    Covenant Theology, Abra-

    hams Four Seeds, But I Say

    Unto You, and Theologi-

    cal Foundations for New

    Covenant Ethics. The books

    were gratefully received

    and will be used by the stu-

    dents in the coming years. I

    count it as a great honor to

    have been able to provide

    these brothers and sisters with suchgreat materials.

    The graduation service kicked off

    our time at MCCP where we had the

    opportunity to teach everyday Mon-

    day through Friday. What a privilege

    it was to teach these young men and

    women who will be planting churches

    like we had seen the previous week.

    During the week, Jonny taught the

    books ofRomansandHaggai,and I

    had the chance to teach from the Pas-

    toral Epistles. The students were very

    receptive to the teaching and always

    had questions after each lesson.

    I taught from a New Covenant

    standpoint and was able to correct

    false notions that some of the students

    had regarding dispensationalism. It

    was wonderful to be able to explain

    to the students the one eternal plan of

    Carson/MillarContinued on page 7

    Mission to Myanmar

    Jonny Carson and Robert Millar

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    ReisingerContinued on page 8

    from my friends, I can handle my en-

    emies. Oftentimes our friends do us

    more harm than our enemies.

    We ought never to preach truth to

    a person that we know cannot receive

    it because he doesnt have the back-

    ground. We sin against him. Now I

    dont mean that we shouldnt be clearand very straightforward when we

    teach and preach; Im not saying that

    at all. Im saying that there is a meth-

    odology; there are degrees; there are

    things you must understand in order

    to believe certain other things. There

    are things that must go rst before you

    go to something else.

    When I was a pastor in Canada,

    there was a fellow pastor who was an

    all things to all men person. Somemutual friends asked him if he agreed

    with me about Calvinism. He said,

    Well, Im a Calvinist but not a hyper-

    Calvinist like Reisinger. One day

    we were both on the same airplane,

    and he started to tease me about my

    hyper-Calvinism. I am really not a

    hyper-Calvinist. I am a very mild Cal-

    vinist in a hyper-Arminian generation.

    Thats what I amreally. Most people

    never met a hyper-Calvinist. If they

    would have, they would immediatelyknow I am not a hyper-Calvinist. But

    anyhow, I asked this pastor how many

    people in his congregation clearly un-

    derstand sovereign election because

    he said he believed it with all of his

    heart. He said, My congregation isnt

    ready for that yet, and he quoted John

    16:12. I said, How long have you

    been pastor there? He said, Seven

    years. I assure you, that congregation

    will never be ready to hear about sov-

    ereign election as long as that man is

    pastor. How do you get people ready

    for truth?By teaching them truth.And

    then you teach them the next truth and

    keep on teaching them truth. If you

    have been seven years in a place and

    nobody has ever heard about election,

    dont hide behind John 16:12; you just

    arent teaching the truth as you claim

    that you understand it.

    Go with me to Acts chapter 22

    it because they dont have the back-

    ground necessary to believe it. Re-

    member the principle laid out in John

    16:12, I have many things to say to

    you, but you are not yet able to bear

    them. Howbeit, when he the Spirit of

    truth has come, he will teach you all

    things. There were things that Jesus

    couldnt say to his disciples at that

    point because they didnt have the

    experience and the background at that

    time that was necessary to receive

    those truths. I had a very good friend

    and mentor named Robert Dittmar.

    He had a great inuence on my life.

    I remember one time I saw him just

    after I had learned something new.

    We have the tendency to think the last

    truth we have learned is the answer toall the problems. Its all you want to

    talk about. On this occasion, I started

    to share my latest revelation with him.

    He patiently listened to me. When

    I was nished, he said, John, how

    many things did you learn that made

    it possible for you to understand this

    latest truth? I thought for a moment,

    and said, About three or four. Bob

    then said, Promise me that before

    you open your mouth and share this

    latest truth with anybody, you willmake sure they understand these other

    three or four things. Never preach

    or talk about the last thing youve

    learned; let it simmer a while. Think

    it through a little while and get some

    of the ramications of it.

    I have some friends who have got-

    ten me in a lot of trouble. They heard

    me preach on sovereign grace and

    were convinced I was right. Then

    they went out and started an argu-ment about the sovereignty of God.

    They quickly started to lose the argu-

    ment because they could not answer

    the objections, and then do you know

    what they did? They knew the person

    they were arguing with liked me, so

    they said, Well, this is what John

    Reisinger believes. The way they said

    what John Reisinger believes is not

    what I believe at all. I have often said,

    with Martin Luther, Lord, deliver me

    for another illustration. Paul is on the

    road to Damascus, and in verse 10, he

    recounts how he was struck down by

    God and cried out, What shall I do,

    Lord?

    And the Lord said to me, Rise

    and go into Damascus, and there it

    shall be told thee of all things which

    are appointed for thee to do. And

    when I could not see for the glory of

    that light, being led by the hand of

    them that were with me, I came unto

    Damascus, and one Ananias, a devout

    man according to the law, having

    a good report of all the Jews which

    dwelt there, came unto me and stood

    and said, Brother Saul, receive thy

    sight. And the same hour I looked

    up upon him, and he said, The God

    of our fathers hath chosen thee, that

    thou shouldst know his will and see

    that Just One and should hear the

    voice of his mouth.

    I refer to that passage for two rea-

    sons. First, the rst Christian doctrine

    that Paul learned as a new convert

    was the doctrine of election. The rst

    thing he learned was the God of our

    fathers has chosen you in order that

    you might understand the truth and

    your eyes might be opened to seeJesus Christ. We should teach theol-

    ogy in the very beginning of a new

    Christian diet. Actually, the truth of

    election is a doctrine that ought to be

    taught in evangelism. The second rea-

    son I looked at this text is that when

    Paul said this, he was not teaching

    a theology class; he was giving his

    personal testimony to lost sinners.

    Theology belongs in all of our preach-

    ing, whether it is in evangelism or

    catechism class. However, be sure it is

    taught in the right proportion. Where

    a person is in his understanding will

    have a bearing on what you teach and

    how you teach it.

    Number Three.Avoid labels as

    much as possible. You cannot totally

    avoid labels, and your use of labels

    will vary according to different cir-

    ReisingerContinued from page 4

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    Carson/MillarContinued from page 5

    God to save his people in Christ Jesus

    and how that plan has been worked

    out through different covenants which

    nd their ultimate fullment in Christ

    and the New Covenant that he inaugu-

    rated. I tried to explain to the students

    that the Bible was Christocentricand Christotelic. I have the men who

    write for Sound of Graceto thank for

    teaching me this, and I hope it will be

    an encouragement to you to know that

    I have tried to pass it on to others in

    Asia. The dean of the school was my

    translator, and he plans to translate

    my notes into Burmese and use them

    for a class in their new syllabus.

    Being away with Jonny also gave

    me the chance to fully explain what I

    have been mentioning to him for some

    time now, namely New CovenantTheology. I believe he is really

    grasping the subject. I let him

    listen to some sermons by Joe

    Kelly and Blake White as well

    as read some articles from

    Sound of Grace, so hopefully

    the New Covenant revival

    will continue to grow here in

    Northern Ireland. Jonny even

    changed some of his notes on

    Romanswhile we were there to reect

    his new understanding.

    Two really poignant moments

    during the trip happened on both the

    Sundays we were there. The rst was

    an opportunity I had to preach in a

    church on the delta river system. We

    started out early that morning as thesun was rising and travelled two hours

    by boat to get to this little fellowship,

    a fellowship that has suffered greatly

    over the years from both the

    harshness of the environment

    and the hostility from the lo-

    cal monks. In spite

    of such circum-

    stances, they are

    seeing people turn

    from their idols and

    turn to the living

    God through Jesus

    Christ our Lord.

    To nish off

    our time in Myan-

    mar, just before

    we travelled to the airport to

    head home, we visited what

    we were told was a slum

    church. Considering the

    poverty of the country, to be

    labelled as the slum churchreally was something.

    Jonny had the opportunity to speak

    to the children that gather every week

    for Sunday school, telling them that

    Jesus was greater than the temple, in

    a country where temples are every-

    where. This was truly a word in sea-

    son. When it was made known to us

    that these children sneak out of their

    homes to go to church and that when

    they are caught they are severely

    beaten, I must admit my heart broke.

    In all honesty, I could do nothing but

    weep in this place. To think that these

    poor little children valued their Bible

    stories and their memory verses over

    and above their physical safety and

    comfort was a real challenge to my

    own lack of desire and passion for thethings of God.

    To sum up my trip to Myanmar, I

    can speak for both of us when I say

    that we will never forget the people

    we met, the food we ate, and the

    challenge we received. It is now a big

    challenge for me to keep the challenge

    received in Myanmar alive. It is so

    easy to slip back into a materialistic,

    comfortable lazy attitude. I am pray-

    ing the Lord would give me a war-

    time mentality; living a simple, basiclifestyle and so enabling me to help

    the war effort (spiritual war) in places

    like Myanmar. I trust the readers of

    Sound of Gracewill also be chal-

    lenged to live lives that glorify our

    great God and Saviour Jesus Christ

    and seek to relieve the saints around

    the globe. The desire of the people

    we met to share the gospel with their

    neighbors and friends and with the

    unreached, even at the risk of their

    own safety, was so inspiring.

    If you wish to know more

    about our time away, please

    contact me at: mcalvinist@aol.

    com.

    If you would like to contrib-

    ute to any of the projects men-

    tioned above, then please visit

    http://www.asialink.org/proj-

    ects/where-we-work/burma/.

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    cumstances. In an article like this, I

    can use labels in a way that I would

    not normally use them when speaking

    in a local congregation, except the one

    which I myself would have pastored.

    If we must use labels, make sure we

    explain them carefully. Be sure to ex-plain the labels honestly; dont carica-

    ture them, and by all means admit that

    all Christians dont agree on a subject

    that you know is controversial.

    Any time I ever preach on elec-

    tion, the rst thing I always say is,

    Sincere godly Christians disagree on

    this subject. You may disagree with

    my understanding of election and love

    the Lord with all of your heart. All

    youre doing is disarming the person

    so hes ready to listen. He knows that

    youre not jeopardizing his salvation

    or that you are better than he is or that

    this has something to do with his con-

    version. Godly Christians disagree,

    and I think we should admit this all

    the time when we teach anything

    at all that we know is controversial

    among sincere Christians. If we use a

    label, we should only use it for iden-

    tication, and as I say, we must use

    it honestly. As a pastor teaching theleaders in your own congregation, you

    ought to have labels so that all might

    know what you believe and why you

    believe it. Your elders ought to know

    the difference between an amillen-

    nialist and a premillennialist and how

    they differ. They ought to know the

    difference between a Calvinist and an

    Arminian and why theyre different.

    You may possibly have both on your

    board, but if they understand each

    other carefully and honestly, there isa much better chance of them tolerat-

    ing each other that way than there is

    if they have total misconceptions of

    what each other believes.

    Number Four.As I mentioned a

    moment ago, start where people are,

    especially if theyve never heard any-

    thing about sovereign grace. When

    Mr. McGee came down to Lewisburg

    to hear me preach in 1959 and the

    congregation of which Mr. Magee

    was a deacon later called me as pas-

    tor, there were 300 people coming to

    church. There was only one person, a

    young girl, in that congregation that

    had previously heard the doctrines of

    grace. I was there seven years, and I

    say this to the praise of Gods glory,when they interviewed a man for the

    pastorate to take my place, one of

    the rst questions they asked was his

    knowledge and understanding of the

    ve doctrines of grace. The entire

    board of deacons and the majority

    of the congregation were thoroughly

    entrenched in grace. We only lost

    one family in seven years over the

    doctrines of grace because we never

    pressed people; we never pushed

    people, but we did teach it. We alwaysencouraged ques-

    tions. We didnt

    start with limited

    atonement. We

    started with books

    like the book of

    Habakkuk. If

    you preach to the

    hearts of people about the sovereignty

    of God in providence and the sover-

    eignty of God over their lives, they

    believe that. And its much easier tomove from a concept of Gods sover-

    eignty in your life and texts like Ro-

    mans 8:28 and a series of sermons il-

    lustrating that text in the life of Joseph

    and so on; all Christiansthe worst

    of Arminianswill say Amen!

    It will echo in their hearts, and its

    much easier to move from there to the

    doctrine of election because all youre

    doing is just going one step further

    on the foundation youve already laid,

    than it is to just attack that head-on.

    Again I say the principle, I have

    many things to say to you, but you

    are not yet able to bear them, would

    apply here also. We sin if we choke

    people with truth, even though it is

    the very truth of God, if theyre not

    able to chew it and swallow it.

    Number 5:Prove the things you

    believe with the Word of God and not

    with logical deductions and not with

    creeds alone. Prove things with Scrip-

    ture texts if youre trying to convince

    people that this is a theological truth.

    Make people look at the text in the

    Bible. What does the text say? Youre

    teaching the Word of God when

    youre doing this. Did you ever noticewhen Christians argue, they often ar-

    gue using labels instead of over a text

    of Scripture? How many times have

    you heard two Christians discussing

    doctrine and one of them said, Well,

    the difculty with you is you dont

    believe this text or you dont under-

    stand this text? No, they say, The

    trouble with you is you dont believe

    the moral law, or, You dont believe

    in the millennium, and they use a

    theological label instead of dealingwith the text of the

    Word of God. What

    does the Bible say?

    Some years

    ago, I was asked to

    speak at a fellow-

    ship of Reformed

    pastors in Canada.

    They asked me to speak on the Four

    Seeds of Abraham. Somebody had

    read a paper I had done, and theywanted me to present that. When I

    was nished, we had a lively discus-

    sion. This was the rst time Id ever

    spoken on this subject. It is a bit scary

    to face forty pastors knowing half of

    them dont agree with you. I could

    hear them cocking their theological

    guns. About 1/3 of the men were dis-

    pensational, about 1/3 were covenant

    theologian, and about 1/3 had a very

    limited knowledge of New Covenant

    Theology. During the discussion peri-od, a Presbyterian kept using the theo-

    logical terms covenant of grace and

    covenant of works. He was trying to

    refute what I had said and was using

    these terms as key points in his argu-

    ments. He was using these terms as if

    they were Bible verses. I nally said,

    Wait a minute, you keep using purely

    theological terms as if they were Bible

    ReisingerContinued from page 6

    ReisingerContinued on page 10

    We sin if we choke

    people with truth, even though

    it is the very truth of God, if

    theyre not able to chew it and

    swallow it

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    We see a paradise lost/paradise

    restored scenario in the pages of

    Scripture.

    In the early chapters of Genesis,

    we see Adam and Eve in the Garden

    of Eden. Since they were assigned

    the task of caring for the garden, we

    can be certain that it was small. But it

    was just the two of them, so there was

    enough room.

    The paradise of Eden was lost

    when they sinned. But the rest of the

    Bible records Gods plan to restore

    paradise on earth. Revelation, the last

    book of the Bible, gives us some hints

    about what that restored paradise is

    going to be like. It is quite clear that

    it is going to be a big deal. While it

    is true that many are called but few

    are chosen nevertheless there will

    be a lot of people in the Eden of the

    new creation. Millions of people. Butwe neednt fret about having our own

    space. God had this all planned out

    from a while back. We can be sure

    that there will be enough room.

    The resurrected saints will no

    doubt inhabit the entire earth. God

    had something in mind from the very

    beginning. He commanded Adam and

    Eve to ll the earth. After the ood,

    Noah was given the same directive.

    It was part of Gods master plan.Throughout the Bible, land seems

    to have great importance. When the

    Lord called out Abraham, he prom-

    ised him that his descendants would

    Enough RoomStan F. Vaninger

    be given land. This was an important

    aspect of the Abrahamic covenant.

    About 500 years later, when Israel

    was redeemed from slavery in Egypt,

    that promise was fullled. God gave

    them a parcel of land in Canaan that

    is spoken of as the Promised Land. It

    was very small. If we look at a currentmap showing all the Muslim nations

    surrounding modern Israel or ancient

    Israel (theres not a big difference) we

    realize just how small the Promised

    Land was. But it was enough room

    for Israel. It was enough roomfor

    Gods chosen people of that era.

    When Christ returns and consum-

    mates his glorious kingdom on the

    new earth, we can be sure that it will

    be the perfect environment for the res-

    urrected elect of all nations. We can

    be certain that there will just enough

    room.

    The New Covenant ChurchEkklesiaof Christ

    John G. Reisinger, with his familiar clarity and respect for the Scriptures, inves-tigates the nature of the new covenant church. Should it be understood primarilyas an organization structured with ofcers and by-laws? Or is the church rst andforemost those called to faith in Christ, by the Holy Spirit, through the Word of Godproclaimed? The true and accurate translation of the word ekklesiademonstrates,namely, that the ekklesiaof Christ is they, meaning people, and not it, meaning anorganization. If you cannot speak of the ekklesiaas they but constantly think andspeak in terms of it you have not totally come out of Romanism!

    John G. Reisinger has served the body of Christ for over sixty years. This is histwenty-fourth title in print. He is well known and loved for his gift of making seem-ingly difcult topics easily understandable to the edication of The New CovenantChurch Ekklesiaof Christ.

    See pages 16 & 17 for price and ordering information.

    I conclude, therefore, that God permitted Satans fall, not because He was helpless to stop it, but because He had a purpose for it.

    Since God is never taken off guard, His permissions are always purposeful. If He chooses to permit something, He does so for a

    reason an infinitely wise reason. How the sin arises in Satans heart, we do not know. God has not told us. What we do know

    is that God is sovereign over Satan, and therefore Satans will does not move without Gods permission. And therefore every

    move of Satan is part of Gods overall purpose and plan. And this is true in such a way that God never sins. God is infinitely

    holy, and God is infinitely mighty. Satan is evil, and Satan is under the all-governing wisdom of God.

    John Piper

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    Page 10 April 2014 Issue 206ReisingerContinued from page 8 WhiteContinued from page 3

    verses. You havent yet quoted one

    verse out of the Bible that proves your

    terms are truly Scriptural.

    The man said, Dont you believe

    the Bible is structured around two

    covenants? I said, Absolutely. And

    he said, Well, so do I. I said, Allright, give me the texts of Scripture

    that establish your two covenants.

    Show me where the Bible teaches a

    covenant of works made with Adam

    before he fell and a covenant of

    grace with Adam after he fell. He

    said, Where are the Bible texts that

    establish your two covenants? I said,

    Galatians 4:24 specically mentions

    two covenants and refers to them as

    these are the two covenants. Thats

    a pretty clear verse. Paul proceeds totell us exactly what two covenants he

    is talking about. The rst covenant

    he mentions is the covenant that God

    made with Israel at Sinai. The other

    covenant is the covenant made with

    Abraham, which is fullled in the

    new covenant in Jesus Christ.

    I said, Hebrew 8:6 is another

    clear text that specically speaks of

    the same two

    covenants aroundwhich the Scrip-

    ture is built. He-

    brews 8:6 says,

    But now hath he

    obtained a more

    excellent ministry

    by how much also he is the mediator

    of a better covenant which was es-

    tablished upon better promises. The

    writer is comparing the old and new

    covenants. The writer is showing how

    the New Covenant is so much betterthan the one it replaces. We looked

    up Hebrews 8:6 and I said, In verse 6

    there are three comparisons: Christ is

    a better priest than Aaron because he

    has a better ministry than Aaron. And

    the second comparison is this minis-

    try is better because it is based on a

    better covenant. And the better cov-

    enant is better than the old covenant it

    replaces because its based on better

    promises. I said, Now there is an

    old covenant and a new covenant, and

    those are the covenants around which

    the Scriptures are built.

    Continuing, I said, Now you give

    me the texts of Scripture for your cov-

    enant of works with Adam before he

    fell and your covenant of grace madewith Adam after he fell. There was

    dead silence. I just stood there and

    waited. Finally the man said, Well,

    we dont actually have a specic text

    of Scripture. We prove our point with

    the good and necessary consequences

    deduced from all of Scripture.

    Use the Word of God and insist

    the other person do the same thing.

    I could not get this brother to tell me

    what Hebrews 8:6 means. He wouldnot discuss the two texts I had given

    him. He kept saying, But theres only

    one covenant. I kept saying, I gave

    you two texts that contradict you. We

    looked at two texts and both say there

    was an old covenant replaced with a

    new covenant. These two texts spe-

    cically mention the two covenants

    around which the Scripture is built. I

    dare you to try to read one covenant

    with two adminis-

    trations into eitherof these texts. I

    could not get him

    to discuss the texts.

    He would not look

    at the texts of Scrip-

    ture but insisted on

    using theological terms without prov-

    ing them with Scripture.

    When you deal with those who

    dont believe in election or the doc-

    trine of total depravity, insist theyread the text of Scripture and ask

    them, What does that text say?

    What does that text mean? I may not

    understand it, but you must believe

    something about it. Use the Word of

    God to prove what you want to say.

    Defend truth with the Book and with

    the Book alone.

    To be continued . . .

    When the jailer woke up and saw the

    doors of the prison open, he drew his

    sword and was going to kill himself,

    since he thought the prisoners had

    escaped. But Paul called out in a loud

    voice, Dont harm yourself, because

    all of us are here! Then the jailercalled for lights, rushed in, and fell

    down trembling before Paul and Silas.

    Then he escorted them out and said,

    Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

    So they said, Believe on the Lord

    Jesus, and you will be savedyou and

    your household. Then they spoke the

    message of the Lord to him along with

    everyone in his house. He took them

    the same hour of the night and washed

    their wounds. Right away he and all

    his family were baptized. He broughtthem into his house, set a meal before

    them, and rejoiced because he had be-

    lieved God with his entire household

    (Acts 16:6-34).1

    Paul has a vision of a man in

    Macedonia asking for help and con-

    cluded that God had called them to

    evangelize them (Acts 16:9-10), which

    leads them to Philippi, a large city

    and a Roman colony. The story of

    the gospel coming to Philippi showsthat the message of the gospel knows

    no bounds. Here we have three very

    different types of people being con-

    fronted with the message of grace.

    F.F. Bruce writes, Three individu-

    als are singled out by Luke among

    those whose lives were inuenced for

    good by the gospel at Philippi; they

    differ so much one from another that

    he might be thought to have selected

    them deliberately in order to show

    how the saving power of the nameof Jesus was shown in the most di-

    verse types of men and women.2The

    1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture

    quotations are taken from the Holman

    Christian Standard Bible, Copyright

    1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by

    Holman Bible Publishers. Used by

    permission.

    2 F.F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts (Grand

    Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 312.

    Use the Word of God to

    prove what you want to say.

    Defend truth with the Book and

    with the Book alone.

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    WhiteContinued on page 14

    church of Jesus Christ transcends our

    standard social classications and

    makes all one in Christ.

    The typical practice of the rst

    missionaries was to go to the local

    Jewish synagogue, but there was no

    such thing in Philippi. There only

    needed to be ten Jewish men to forma synagogue, but there was not even

    that in Philippi.3But there were some

    ladies who were having a riverside

    Bible study.4(Praise God for faith-

    ful women of God. Chances are you

    would not be interested in such things

    as the book of Philippians had it not

    been for the prayers and encourage-

    ment of a faithful women. I know it is

    true of me.) One of those ladies was

    not Jewish but had rejected paganism.

    Her name was Lydia, and she was

    Asian. She was from Thyatira and

    probably owned a successful fashion

    company, and her main clients would

    have been wealthy people since purple

    was the color the wealthy wore. She

    wanted to honor God and was listen-

    ing in on the Bible study. Paul enters

    the conversation and tells these Jewish

    ladies whator whomthe Hebrew

    Bible pointed toJesus Christ. As

    Paul tells the story, the Lord opensLydias heart to pay attention to what

    Paul was saying (Acts 16:14). That is

    grace, friends. Shes irresistible. But

    notice that we work, and God works.

    John Stott writes, Although the mes-

    sage was Pauls, the saving initiative

    was Gods. Pauls preaching was not

    effective in itself; the Lord worked

    through it. And the Lords work was

    not in itself direct; he chose to work

    through Pauls preaching.5Paul told

    the story of Jesus and God openedher heart. How many times did you

    3 David G. Peterson, The Acts of the

    Apostles (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

    2009), 460.

    4 Matt Chandler, To Live is Christ To Die

    is Gain (Colorado Springs: David C.

    Cook, 2013), 18.

    5 John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts

    (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity,

    1990), 263.

    hear the good news of Jesus before it

    nally hit home? God opened your

    heart just like he did Lydias. Lydias

    conversion changed her life, and im-

    mediately she was hospitable inviting

    Paul, Silas, and Timothy to her house.

    She was quick to serve other believers

    and use her resources for the propaga-tion and advancement of the gospel.

    True conversion inevitably leads to a

    desire to see others converted. If were

    redeemed, we will love to proclaim it!

    Next, the message of grace grabs

    the fortune-telling slave girl. She fol-

    lowed the Apostles around for many

    days, announcing that these men

    know the way of salvation. Finally

    Paul had enough of it and commanded

    the spirit to buzz off and buzz off it

    does, which frustrates the owners

    whose means of prot buzzed right

    with it. The owners drag them to the

    authorities and accuse them of preach-

    ing against Caesar, which is partly

    true since they were announcing the

    reign of a new king (Acts 17:7). They

    were stripped naked, beaten with

    rods(!), and tossed in prison.

    Next, the hound of heaven pur-

    sues the Philippian jailer. Naked and

    beaten, the disciples sulk in their owndespair and cry out Why me God?

    No, they do not. One would expect to

    hear groaning and complaining, but

    the Bible says they prayed and sang

    hymns!6As the 2ndcentury theologian

    Tertullian put it, The legs feel noth-

    ing in the stocks when the heart is

    in heaven.7Their faith was strong.

    Brothers and sisters, we need to culti-

    vate a faith that sings when, whennot

    if, the trials come. Earlier, when the

    disciples were persecuted by the Jews,

    Peter and John had said, Whether

    its right in the sight of God for us

    to listen to you rather than to God,

    you decide; for we are unable to stop

    speaking about what we have seen

    and heard (Acts 4:19-20). They would

    also rejoice that they were counted

    6 Bruce, The Book of the Acts,317.

    7 Tertullian, To the Martyrs quoted in

    Bruce, The Book of the Acts,317.

    worthy to be dishonored on behalf of

    Jesus (Acts 5:41). They truly believed

    in the surpassing worth of Jesus. Do

    we?

    Then God miraculously frees Paul

    and Silas through an earthquake.

    Nothing can stop the mission of God.

    This desperate jailer knew that once

    his boss found out that he had failed

    to do his job, hed be put to death in

    a way that would be worse than him

    stabbing himself with a sword. Paul

    shouts at him and tells him not to do

    it. Paul was free but risks his own

    life to save the life of the jailer. This

    theme of giving of self for the good

    of otherswhat I have called else-

    where cruciform love8will surface

    again and again. Before he became aChristian, Paul held the robes of the

    Jews who killed Stephen for preach-

    ing Jesus and no doubt Paul recalled

    that experience in the midst of his

    own suffering. Stephen prayed for the

    blessing of those who were persecut-

    ing him: Lord, do not charge them

    with this sin! (Acts 7:60). Stephen

    was following the example of his Lord

    who prayed, Father, forgive them,

    because they do not know what they

    are doing (Luke 23:34). Here Paulcould have escaped, but he is more

    concerned about the salvation of the

    jailer than about his own freedom.

    This jailer knows that the God

    whom these Christians were praying

    and singing to is the real deal. So he

    asks, What must I do to be saved?

    (Acts 16:30). The answer is that he

    must believe on the Lord Jesus and he

    will be saved, a simple, but life-trans-

    forming answer. He believed, cleanedthem, fed them, and rejoiced. Just as

    with Lydia, this mans faith immedi-

    ately leads to service for the people

    of God. Paul and Silas were released,

    returned to dear Lydias house to en-

    8 See Part Two of my Theological

    Foundations for New Covenant Eth-

    ics(Frederick, MD: New Covenant

    Media, 2013).

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    Page 12 April 2014 Issue 206

    abandoned. He is always a ruler. What

    is truly wonderful is that he rules with

    love and mercy. He is not calloused

    towards his peoples hurts. Matthew

    tells us that, Jesus went through all

    the towns and villages, teaching in

    their synagogues, proclaiming the

    good news of the kingdom and heal-ing every disease and sickness. When

    he saw the crowds, he had compassion

    on them, because they were harassed

    and helpless, like sheep without a

    shepherd (Matthew 9:35-36). Jesus

    is moved with compassion for the

    people, and he discharges the duties

    of a competent and caring shepherd.

    He takes note of their situation and

    he heals them. He doesnt want them

    scattered and helpless; his compas-

    sion causes himto gather, teach

    (i.e. feed), and

    heal. All of this

    activity is not

    disconnected from his position of

    ruling. As a matter of fact, Jesus acts

    as a compassionate shepherd as he

    goes about preaching his kingdom.

    His kingly rule and tender care are

    inextricably linked.

    There will come a time in thefuture when the shepherd-ruler judges

    his ock. One day, All the nations

    will be gathered before him, and he

    will separate the people one from

    another as a shepherd separates the

    sheep from the goats. He will put

    the sheep on his right and the goats

    on his left (Matthew 25:32-33).

    The shepherd gathers all the people

    of the world, and then proclaims to

    them what their eternal destiny is. To

    describe the eschatological judgmentwhere the Lord acts as the great king

    (cf. 25:34) and the universal judge,

    Jesus employs the imagery of a shep-

    herd.

    Jesus also uses the shepherd meta-

    phor to explain to his disciples what

    is going to happen to him and to them

    when he is crucied. Jesus takes the

    Messianic prophecy from Zechariah

    13:7 and tells his disciples, This very

    night you will all fall away on ac-

    count of me, for it is written: I will

    strike the shepherd, and the sheep of

    the ock will be scattered. But after

    I have risen, I will go ahead of you

    into Galilee (Matthew 26:31-32). The

    Messianic prophecy obviously uses

    the shepherd metaphor to communi-cate its point, and Jesus knows that

    when it is fullled, he as the shepherd

    will be struck, which will result in the

    scattering of his sheep. Yet Jesus fur-

    ther knows that the struck shepherd

    will rise again: his death is not an

    absolute disaster for the ock because

    he will rise again, lead them (go

    ahead of you) and gather them safely

    together again.

    The themes of life, death, and

    resurrection infuse

    John 10:1-21, where

    Jesus gives his fa-

    mous good shepherd

    discourse. Here in

    John 10 the shepherd imagery is given

    its most extended treatment in the NT.

    There is also a mixing of metaphors,

    where Jesus is not only the good

    shepherd but he is also the gate to the

    sheep pen. Conating these images

    so that Jesus is the gate because heas a shepherd lays down to block the

    entrance to the pen is possibly forcing

    the imagery to a consistency its just

    not designed to bear. Jesus has every

    right to mix his metaphors.

    John 10:1-5 sets out the contrast

    between Jesus and the Pharisees.

    Jesus is the one who has rightful

    authority over the ock. The Phari-

    sees are trespassers, virtual criminals

    who only want to harm the ock for

    their selsh gain. By contrast, Jesus

    knows the sheep by name (stop and

    think about that: not just the phonetic

    label attached to them, but who they

    are, their character, he knows them).

    Jesus, God incarnate, knows each

    of his sheep and they know him too.

    They hear his voice, listen when he

    calls, and follow him. Because of this

    intimate relationship they will not fol-

    low another shepherd or be destroyed

    self is the great shepherd, and that hu-

    man shepherds (even when good) are

    deeply awed (and some are down-

    right wicked), but God has elected to

    have his people shepherded by other

    people. Does this doom his ock to a

    minimum of substandard care, and,

    given a worst case scenario, savage

    abuse? No. God himself will shepherd

    his people directly and he will do so

    through a human leader. Or, more pre-

    cisely, God will shepherd his people

    directly as a human leader. God will

    become incarnate, and the full splen-

    dor of the imagery will be brought to

    exquisite and rich fulllment, both

    theologically and practically.

    According to Matthew, Jesus birth

    in Bethlehem fullled this prophecy:But you, Bethlehem, in the land of

    Judah, are by no means least among

    the rulers of Judah; for out of you will

    come a ruler who will shepherd my

    people Israel (Matt 2:6 quoting Mi-

    cah 5:2,4). The immediate connection

    in this particular usage of the shep-

    herd imagery is with ruling. There is

    nothing said here about compassion,

    care, or tenderness: the accent sound-

    ed is purely that of a great ruler. This

    is not the only aspect of the metaphor

    that applies to Jesus, but we must

    guard against romantically envision-

    ing a soft shepherd image where a

    handsome Jesus with long, owing,

    brown locks and bright, blue eyes is

    gently carrying an innocent lamb on

    his shoulders back to the safety of a

    sheep pen. That type of idyllic West-

    ern artwork may capture other truths

    in the imagery, but it certainly does

    not exhaust the riches of the metaphor.Actually, if that is the only picture

    one has when Jesus is thought of as a

    shepherd, the biblical fullness of the

    imagery is being horrically dis-

    torted. Jesus is ttingly described as a

    shepherd because he is a ruler.

    Even when the imagery shifts to

    highlight the compassion and tender

    care that Jesus exercises towards his

    ock, the ruling motif should not be

    WestContinued from page 1

    . . . Jesus is not only the

    good shepherd but he is also

    the gate . . .

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    Issue 206 April 2014 Page 13by heresy: by Gods grace they know

    the one who knows them.

    Jesus continues to contrast himself

    with the Pharisees. Whoever comes

    to God through Jesus will be saved.

    He says, They will come in and go

    out, and nd pasture. The thief comes

    only to steal and kill and destroy; Ihave come that they may have life,

    and have it to the full (John 10:9b-

    10). Listening to the voice of their

    good shepherd, the sheep will be led

    out of their safe pen, taken out to safe

    pasture, and led back to their shelter

    again. What more could sheep want?

    This is the full,

    abundant life! Trans-

    late the metaphor

    into human terms,

    think about a spiri-

    tually rich life, and

    know that it is yours

    through Jesus alone.

    In the course of

    calling his sheep and

    leading them and

    blessing them abun-

    dantly, it is necessary

    for the good shepherd to die. This is

    jarring and discordant: Jesus has just

    said, they may have life, and haveit to the full, and he immediately

    proclaims, I am the good shepherd.

    The good shepherd lays down his life

    for the sheep, (10:11). The sheep get

    abundant life; the shepherd gets death.

    How can the death of the shepherd be

    good for the sheep? Wont that leave

    them in the most vulnerable of all

    positions? We have seen that when

    the shepherd is struck, the sheep are

    scattered; in the OT scattered ocks

    guratively resembled people without

    strong, godly leaders. How can the

    death of the good shepherd be good

    for the ock?

    The reason, as we know, is that

    Jesus lays down his life on his own

    authority. Nobody can take his life

    from him; only he has the power to

    lose it (10:17-18). So his death is not

    involuntary or forced. The good shep-

    herd is not overwhelmed by a predator

    and forced to either watch his ock

    die or intervene and die himself in so

    doing. No, he has chosen to come to

    this ock and die in their place. And

    death will not be the last word. The

    ultimate reason his death is good for

    the sheep is that when he dies, deathdies. Jesus can condently claim, I

    have authority to lay it [my life] down

    and authority to take it up again (v.

    18). The good shepherds death is not

    the end of the good shepherd or his

    sheep: it is actually how the members

    of the ock become the recipients of

    abundant life.

    In fact, there

    is just too much

    work for Jesus

    to do for him

    to die and not

    come back to

    life! There are

    other sheep, too,

    scattered across

    the entire world,

    who are not yet

    safely in the fold

    (10:16). Jesus is not just the shepherd

    of Israel, he is the only good shepherd

    in the world. There are Jewish sheepand Gentile sheep. There are sheep

    embedded in every nation, tribe,

    tongue, and culture. But there is only

    one shepherd, and he is going to bring

    them all safely into one ock, by call-

    ing them and having them respond to

    his voice.

    The good shepherd is not only a

    ruler, a judge, a king, and a perfectly

    virtuous person, he is also a mis-

    sionary. He actively tracks down his

    sheep. Without making any additional

    commentary at the end, Im simply

    going to cite a very famous parable

    with context. Notice how the shepherd

    cares about his sheep and how he

    actively goes to gather even one stray

    that has wandered off and needs his

    help. Now the tax collectors and sin-

    ners were all gathering around to hear

    Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teach-

    ers of the law muttered, This man

    welcomes sinners and eats with them.

    Then Jesus told them this parable:

    Suppose one of you has a hundred

    sheep and loses one of them. Doesnt

    he leave the ninety-nine in the open

    country and go after the lost sheep un-

    til he nds it? And when he nds it he

    joyfully puts it on his shoulders andgoes home. Then he calls his friends

    and neighbors together and says, Re-

    joice with me; I have found my lost

    sheep. I tell you that in the same way

    there will be more rejoicing in heaven

    over one sinner who repents than over

    ninety-nine righteous persons who do

    not need to repent (Luke 15:1-7).

    Although much more could be said

    about the shepherd imagery as applied

    toand fullled byJesus, there is

    one more element of it that is essential

    to see. As much as Jesus is the good

    shepherd and the complete fulllment

    of that metaphor, he is not only the

    shepherd. Jesus is also the fulllment

    of thesheepcomponent of the imag-

    ery. This is true not just in the general

    sense of being obedient to the will of

    the Father, listening to the Fathers

    voice, and following him with trust

    at all times. All of that is true but the

    connection is much deeper. Jesus is si-multaneously the good shepherd who

    lays down his life and the sacricial

    lamb that is led silently to the slaugh-

    ter (cf. Isaiah 53). He is the Lamb of

    God who takes away the sin of the

    world (John 1:29). He is the lamb who

    was slain, triumphing in glory and

    bringing Gods purposes to pass (cf.

    Revelation 5). He is the good shepherd

    and the good sheep, the substitution-

    ary lamb without blemish required

    for sacrice. Jesus the shepherd isalso Jesus the Passover lamb. Mixing

    metaphors, he is the shepherd incar-

    nated in the lamb, dying for the sheep

    as a member of their species. But then

    he rises again. The richness of what

    he has done transcends our language,

    regardless of whether we employ

    straight propositions or symbolic im-

    ages. Jesus contains the best parts of

    everything good.

    Jesus knows the sheep by

    name (stop and think about

    that: not just the phonetic labelattached to them, but who they

    are, their character, he knows

    them). Jesus, God incarnate,

    knows each of his sheep and they

    know him too. They hear his

    voice, listen when he calls, and

    follow him.

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    Page 14 April 2014 Issue 206

    courage the new believers, and moved

    on to Thessalonica.

    So here we have the beginnings

    of the church at Philippi. We have

    Lydia the successful business owner,

    a rough and tough jailer, their house-

    holds, and a formerly enslaved slavegirl. The church at Philippi was a

    diverse group of people, which shows

    that the grace of Jesus is available

    to all. Whosoever will, may come.

    The message is for the rich and the

    poor, men and women, slave and

    free, black, white, green, or brown.

    Salvation is available to the demon-

    possessed, to the blue collar and

    white collar worker, to the tattooed

    and the preppy, to the Republican

    and the Democrat. For God loved

    the world in this way: He gave His

    One and Only Son, so that everyone

    who believes in Him will not perish

    but have eternal life (John 3:16). The

    Philippian church begins as a motley

    crew, to say the least, but a motley

    crew with a message that saves. And

    it does. The church grows, and it con-

    tinues to grow.

    What is our role in the larger

    story? We are all called to take part in

    this same mission of God, but in order

    to properly function for that mission,

    we have to have our community uni-

    ed and must walk in a manner wor-thy of the gospel. This is why the let-

    ter to Philippians was written. This is

    why everybook of the New Testament

    was written. Listen to Old Testament

    scholar Christopher Wright: The

    writings that now comprise our Bible

    are themselves the product of and wit-

    ness to the ultimate mission of God.

    The Bible renders to us the story of

    Gods mission through Gods people

    in their engagement with Gods world

    for the sake of the whole of Gods

    creation. The Bible is the drama of

    this God of purpose engaged in the

    mission of achieving that purpose

    universally, embracing past, pres-

    ent and future, Israel and the nation,

    life, the universe and everything,

    and with its center, focus, climax, and

    completion in Jesus Christ. Mission

    is not just one of a list of things that

    the Bible happens to talk about, only a

    bit more urgently than some. Mission

    is, in that much-abused phrase, what

    its all about.9Or as Ralph Winter

    put it, The Bible is not the basis of

    missions; missions is the basis of theBible.

    So we need to hear the message

    of this prison epistle for the purpose

    of Christian formation; this letter

    was written and included within the

    Christian canon of Scripture to in-

    struct and shape us. We are instructed

    in order to function better within the

    mission of God. The point is not sim-

    ply to form a holy huddle but to help

    us be better missionaries. God has a

    mission, and we are an integral part of

    it. That is how the church of Philippi

    came into being.

    9 Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission

    of God (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Aca-

    demic, 2006), 22.

    WhiteContinued from page 11

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    Humility is knowing that everything that happened for the good was God, and everything that happened for the bad was you.

    John MacArthur

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    Issue 206 April 2014 Page 15

    Council on Biblical TheologyTuesday Evening July 22 to Friday Noon July25, 201

    Grace Church at Franklin

    4052 Arno Rd., Franklin, TN 37065

    Theme: Gods Eternal Kingdom Purpose:NCTTime for a More Accurate Way

    (Make Your Reservations as Early as Possible)

    Morning (8:45-12:00) & Evening (6:45-9:30) Speakers

    Tony Costa. Christian Apologist & Adjunct Professor, Providence Theological Seminary (PTS). The Sabbath and ItsRelation to Christ and the Church in the New Covenant.

    Peter Gentry. Professor of OT Interpretation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. (Two Messages) Ephesians 3:4-6:What the OT Says about the Inclusion of the Gentiles & Gods Dealings with Abraham: Conditional or Uncon-ditional? One or Two Covenants?

    Gary George. Evangelist & Pastor, Sovereign Grace Chapel, Southbridge, MA; Board Member PTS. The RegenerativePower of the Holy Spirit in the OT and the NT

    Frank Gumerlock. Professor of Church History and Systematic Theology, PTS. Hebrews 11:8-19: Gods Land Promise toAbraham and the New Covenant

    Zach S. Maxcey. Graduate of PTS and Blog Administrator for PTS. Daniel 9:24-27: The Messiah and the New Covenant

    W. W. Sasser. Pastor, Grace Church at Franklin and Board Member PTS. Grace and Law: Whats the Big Deal?

    Greg Van Court. Pastor, Dayspring Fellowship Church, Austin, TX & Adjunct Professor PTS. 2 Timothy 3:16-17: TheProtability of All Scripture

    Kirk Wellum. Principal, Toronto Baptist Seminary, Toronto, Canada. The Ecclesiological Implications of the New Cov-enant

    Stephen Wellum. Professor of Christian Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. (Two Messages) What Is Newabout the NC? and The Nature of Typology Revisited: Do We All Agree?

    Blake White. Pastor, Spicewood Baptist Church, Spicewood, TX. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23: Not Under Law But Not WithoutGods Law.

    Wednesday & Thursday Afternoon Consolidated Doctrinal Workshop Topics (2:00-3:30 p.m.

    Moderator: Gary D. Long Faculty President, PTS

    Topics Include:

    Use and Misuse of Inaugurated Eschatology in Dispensational and Covenant Theology

    Response to Crit icism of the Book Kingdom through Covenant

    Servant King and Obedient Son as Covenant Categories in Genesis 1-3

    Hebrew Idiom in Covenant Making (Cut vs. Establish a Covenant)

    The Church, Pentecost and Spirit Baptism

    The Two Greatest Commandments and the Covenantal Administration of the Law of God

    REGISTRATION & MOTEL ROOMS FOR THE COUNCIL ON BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

    Franklin, TNJuly 22-25, 2014

    Registration Fee: $75 per person attending the Council. Enclose Check or Money Order and mail to: Providence Theologi-

    cal Seminary, c/o Dr. Gary D. Long, 6720 Wild Indigo Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80923, with a note For 2014 Council

    on Biblical Theology. Questions: Call Dr. Long at 719-572-7900; Alternate #: 719-821-9892

    Room: Individual Responsibility. Call Baymont Inns & Suites in Franklin, TN (615) 591-6660) located at 4202 Franklin

    Commons Ct., Franklin, TN 37067 and reserve a King-size bed room, or a room with two Queen beds, or a King-size

    Suite with one King-size bed and one Queen pull-out bed. The group rate per room is $69.99 + 17.25% tax. All rooms are

    non-smoking. Mention to the Motel that you are attending the Grace Church Doctrinal Conference. PLEASE MAKE

    YOUR ROOM RESERVATION EARLY DUE TO THE HIGH TOURIST SEASON FOR THE NASHVILLE AREA. (If

    Baymont Inns & Suites becomes lled, check directly with other motels in Franklin.)

    Administrative Host: Grace Church at Franklin, Pastor W. W. Sasser; Church Ofce: (615) 791-1575.

    Nursery Service provided by the Church. Church hosted Dinner provided Wednesday evening, July 23d.

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    Page 16 April 2014 Issue 206

    Denite AtonementLong $10.95 $8.76

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