Biblical Prophesy

“Briefly define your doctrinal beliefs,” someone asked me. There is no good, brief answer that could encompass the more intricate details of where I stand on particular doctrines, such as the doctrine of Salvation, the Church, End Times, etc. By nature, the more briefly a doctrine is stated, the more room the interpreter has to read into the stated doctrine, and perhaps read doctrines into that statement that I would disagree with.

I can describe, briefly, that my beliefs can be summed up as Reformed in regards to Soteriology, Baptist in regards to Ecclesiology, and Charismatic in regards to Pneumatology. This, of course, leaves room for misinterpretation. This post is an attempt to clarify one of my beliefs that flow from my Charismatic view of Pneumatology.

I am Charismatic, meaning that I believe the empowering and gifts of the Holy Spirit are active in the Church today. But I would describe and define that differently than some Charismatics; maybe the majority of Charismatics. In fact, some may say I sound like a Cessationist. So, clarity is needed. Let us take prophecy as one example.

Many Charismatic Evangelicals today would allow for a distinction between Old Testament prophecy and New Testament prophecy. Old Testament prophecy was infallible, but New Testament prophecy may at times be wrong, they say. I whole-heartedly disagree with that. For it to be genuine prophecy, it cannot be fallible. That is just one point of distinction. So let me fill out a bit more of what I believe about the prophetic gift of the Spirit.

The following thoughts flow out of my reading of Acts chapters 1 and 2, and paint the picture of my beliefs in HD rather than SD.

  1. Jesus is the one who received the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4, 5, 8; ch. 2:33).
  2. Jesus is the one who has poured out the promised Holy Spirit on the church (same verses as above).
  3. By pouring out the promised Spirit on His Church, Jesus ushered in the Last Days proclaimed by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16-21).
  4. Since the events in Acts 1-2 describe the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, that prophecy must be understood in connection with the events of Acts 1-2. That is, the kind of prophecy Joel has in mind is the kind we see in Acts 1-2.
  5. This kind of prophecy is given “as the Holy Spirit gives utterance” (2:4).
  6. This kind of prophecy is not bound to a particular, intelligible language (2:4).
  7. This kind of prophecy, though unbound by a particular language, is always uttered in particular, intelligible languages (2:8-11).
  8. This kind of prophecy is concerned with “the mighty works of God” (2:11).
  9. This kind of prophecy focuses its proclamation of God’s mighty works on the person and work of Jesus, particularly His death, resurrection, ascension, and heavenly enthronement (2:22-36).
  10. This kind of prophecy has as its aim and goal that all people might call on the name of the Lord and be saved (2:21, 38-41).

This, then, rules out the following:

  1. The Holy Spirit is received by something we do.
  2. The Holy Spirit is only given to some Christians.
  3. The prophetic gift of the Spirit is given to all Christians.
  4. Prophecy in the New Testament is different than prophecy in the Old Testament.
  5. Prophecy can be spoken in angelic, non-human languages.
  6. One particular language is more holy than other languages.
  7. The prophetic gift is concerned about who to marry or where to eat lunch.
  8. The prophetic gift has as its aim the condemnation of sinners.
  9. The prophetic gift is given to conceal God’s work of salvation from unbelievers.

There are many implications to the above, but let it be a brief expansion of my brief doctrinal statement that I am Charismatic and believe the gift of prophecy is active in the Church today. In many ways, preaching and teaching are prophetic acts. “The one who prophecies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” (1 Corinthians 14:3).

Sin in America

There is no doubt that the recent events in America surrounding the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police brutality, and the subsequent peaceful protests and destructive riots have again exposed a deep divide in America. My aim is to address this from a biblical perspective, and Lord willing to offer the only biblical solution. To do this, we need to diagnose the problem Biblically rather than culturally.

The sin we are seeing in our country at its root is not racism, not brutality, not a suppression of free speech. The sin in our country is the sin of partiality. Some police show partiality to white citizens and afford them a common courtesy that they do not afford to black citizens. Some police show partiality to black citizens in a harmful way, seeing the majority of black citizens as dangerous and less valuable, and therefore they feel justified in racial profiling. Protests against police brutality is a good thing, but protesting the police is not. Saying all police are corrupt is to commit the same sin, the sin of partiality, that some police do when they target black citizens and let white citizens go free for committing the same crimes. Free speech is a good thing, a human right that ought to be protected. But news and media outlets are committing the sin of partiality by cropping news clips and presenting some data, but nowhere near all the data, and doing so in such a way that promotes their political agenda and serves their ideological bias. Rather than being wholly committed to the truth, they are being partial to their political party’s agenda, and this is on both sides, Republican (here’s to you Fox News) and Democrat (here’s to you almost everyone else). These sins of partiality only breed more partiality. What we need is not the wisdom from below that is partial and biased, but rather we need the wisdom from above which is impartial and sincere, full of mercy and good fruits, producing a harvest of righteousness.

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” – James 3:13-18 (ESV)

The only way to obtain that harvest of righteousness and the peace we all desperately long for is by a transfer of allegiance. Not a revolt against the American Flag which we all pledged allegiance to in Kindergarten, but by a full and complete allegiance to Jesus Christ who is the wisdom of God and who has never once committed the sin of partiality. The Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. The sin of partiality, which is being expressed in our day by some police murdering some black people for petty crimes that deserve no more than a slap on the wrist; the sin of partiality, which is being expressed in our day by some protestors saying all cops are evil, all the while being protected by police from extremist rioters who do deserve more than a slap on the wrist; the sin of partiality, which is being expressed in our day by news and media outlets only covering that half of the story that makes their political party look good; the sin of partiality, which has made some governing authorities shirk their primary responsibility to be terrors to bad conduct have rather become a terror to good conduct as they bear God’s sword in vain by neglecting their role to distribute God’s wrath on the wrongdoer all for the sake of saving face and not wanting to be seen as opposed to a righteous cause; that sin of partiality will never depart from our nation until it departs from our hearts, and the only way that can happen is by a full and complete allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus, the one who makes all people in His image, the one who died to propitiate all kinds of people from their sins, including their sins of partiality; Jesus, the only one who can change the heart. I say, as America bows the knee in protest of George Floyd’s murder, let us do so by bowing the knee in full allegiance to Jesus, confessing Him as Lord. 

What would this look like? For one, it would look like confession and repentance. It would look like owning personal sins of partiality and confessing them to the Lord and to those that we have personally sinned against. We ought not to confess the sins that others have committed, for that is to blame-shift rather than own the the sins we have committed. Two, it would look like admitting that the sin of partiality has negatively affected some groups of people more than others. Three, it would look like media outlets being wholly committed to Jesus, who is the Truth, and prove that allegiance by presenting all the known facts in an unbiased manner without an aim to win an agenda that is opposed to Christ. Fourth, it would look like seeing all people as divine image-bearers of infinite worth and value. Fifth, it would look like seeing uniqueness in the different groups of people in our nation, and still upholding that those uniquenesses are not better or worse than another group’s uniqueness. Sixth, it would look like governing laws and policies, and the carrying out of those laws and policies, whose design have justice and righteousness as their goal. In a word, it would look like the kingdom of God on earth. Come, Lord Jesus.

The Pastoral Ministry, Part 3

One of the most common occupations used to describe pastors in the Bible is the shepherd.

“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each on of you with tears.” – Acts 20:28-31

In his farewell address to the elders in Ephesus, the apostle Paul exhorted the elders to vigilant, shepherd-like protection of the church. Elders/Pastors are shepherds who must watch out for the wolves who try and steal away the sheep. One of the main duties of a shepherd is to protect the sheep. They do this in two ways: proactively and reactively. Shepherds proactively protect their sheep by constantly keeping an eye out for danger. They keep their staff and sling in hand, prepared for an enemy attack. They also create sheep pens, structures of safety designed to keep wolves out when the shepherd is not able to be with the sheep. Shepherds are forced into a reactive protection of the sheep when a wolf or a bear or a lion manages to nab a wandering sheep. When that happens, the shepherd chases the beast down and pummels it in order to rescue the sheep.

To protect means to be aware of dangers that could harm those under your care, and to both proactively and reactively guard against those dangers. Like shepherds, pastors proactively and reactively protect their sheep through teaching sound doctrine. The apostle Paul knew that one major way the Devil attacks the Church is through false doctrine that leads God’s people away from Christ. Like a lion seeking to devour the wandering sheep, the Devil seeks to devour the faith of those wandering from the sound and pure doctrine of Christ. Pastors also protect the sheep by practicing sound doctrine in their own lives as an example to the flock. They also do this as they seek to see Christ formed in the lives of the saints as they aim to see sound doctrine lived out in the lives of the Church. That is to say, Pastors proactively protect the sheep by prayerfully proclaiming and practicing sound doctrine. Each week, as the pastor preaches from God’s Word, he is proactively protecting the sheep from the wiles of the Devil by arming the saints with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

In terms of reactive protection, this is often done through counseling and practicing Biblical church disciple. Another form of reactive protection comes through defining statements of faith. In fact, most creeds and confessions were written as a result of a reaction to false doctrines that had infiltrated the church. Present day creeds and manifestos, like the Danvers statement on masculinity and femininity were written in reaction to false practices in the church.

In the High Priestly prayer (John 17), Jesus prayed the Father would protect the sheep. “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one,” (v. 11). The prayer for the sheep’s protection had a two-fold purpose: unity and joy. Jesus prayed for the protection of His sheep “so that they may be one as we are one” (v. 11), and “so that they may have my joy completed in them” (v. 13). Unity and joy are the desired outcomes of God’s protection. And what means, outside of his prayers for the saints (Hebrews 7:25), has Jesus left the Church in these days of His heavenly reign? “I have given them your word,” He says, and “sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:14, 17. ) As pastors seek seek to secure the unity and joy of the saints, they do so through proclamation of the Word.