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Kirkers Read 08 – A Mere Missionary Letter?

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Later this week we begin the magnificent Book of Romans. What has come to be in many minds the peak of Paul’s writings was actually a missionary fundraising letter, most likely penned from Corinth around A.D. 57 and delivered to the Roman church by Phoebe. But through the providence of God, it has become arguably the most influential letter written in Christian history.

A bird’s eye view of the structure of the Romans looks like this:[i]

  • The Gospel as the Revelation of the Righteousness of God (1:1-17)
  • God’s Righteousness in His Wrath against Sinners (1:18-3:20)
  • The Saving Righteousness of God (3:21-4:25)
  • Hope as a Result of Righteousness by Faith (5:1-8:39)
  • God’s Righteousness to Israel and to the Gentiles (9:1-11:36)
  • God’s Righteousness in Every Day Life (12:1-15:13)
  • The Extension of God’s Righteousness through the Pauline Mission (15:14-16:23)
  • Final Summary of the Gospel of the Righteousness of God (16:25-27)

As you can see, Romans is about the righteousness of God. But the reality is that Romans practically contains all the main themes of Paul’s writings in one. J.I. Packer lists these themes as: God, man, sin, law, judgment, faith, works, grace, creation, redemption, justification, sanctification, the plan of salvation, election, reprobation, the person and work of Christ, the work of the Spirit, the Christian hope, the nature of the church, the place of Jew and Gentile in God’s purpose, the philosophy of the church and world history, the meaning and message of the Old Testament, the significance of baptism, the principles of personal piety and ethics the duties of Christian citizenship — et cetera!”[ii]

So take up and read! Paul’s letter to the Romans has built up the Church for the past two millennia, and God is ready and willing and able to encourage and instruct you through this same letter. But be prepared, for “when the message of Romans gets into a person’s heart there is no telling what may happen.” [iii]

P.S. — If you would like to see all of Paul’s words arranged in one letter, Pastor Doug has recently completed such a project, The Complete Paul. This book is “a compendium of everything the Apostle Paul wrote in systematic, topical order using the Book of Romans as the framework around which to arrange all the topics.”

[i] ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008).

[ii] J.I. Packer, Knowing God (InterVarsity Press, 2011) 254.

[iii] Ibid., 253. Full quote: “All roads in the Bible lead to Romans, and all views afforded by the Bible are seen most clearly from Romans, and when the message of Romans gets into a person’s heart there is not telling what may happen.”

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 104

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:1-10).

Just a few verses earlier, a general invitation to rejoice over the destruction of Babylon is issued. This passage sees the invitation received and acted on.

“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, And ye holy apostles and prophets; For God hath avenged you on her” (Rev. 18:20).

The rejoicing begins, and we see the use of the word *Alleluia* four times. This is the only time that this word is used in the New Testament, and it is striking that the occasion for using it is the destruction of Babylon. Alleluia, the smoke from her ascends forever. Because Babylon is Jerusalem, we see here that her destruction is, in effect, her divorce. Because of her great harlotry, God has finally put her away. And this is why the scene immediately turns to the marriage of Christ to the New Jerusalem. As the New Jerusalem replaces the old Babylon, this makes it clear that the old Babylon is the old Jerusalem.

Salvation, glory, honor and power are given to God for His true and righteous judgments, and these praises are rendered by a great voice of many in heaven. The great whore had corrupted the earth with her fornication, and the blood of Gods servants was finally and completed avenged. This smoking ruin of a city was by this point not a tragedy, but a cause of great rejoicing. Alleluia, the smoke from her ascends forever.

As they had done before earlier in the book, the elders and the living beasts worshiped the God who sat on the throne, and they added their assent by saying, Amen. Alleluia.

And then an unidentified voice came out of the throne, and invited all Gods servants, everyone who feared, whether small or great, to join in the praise. The invitation is offered to *all* Gods servants, and from what happens, it appears that all of them joined in with the praise. A voice like a great multitude responded, a voice like many waters, a voice like multiple thunderings, layered on top of one another, and all together they added the fourth *Alleluia*the Lord God omnipotent reigns.

The joy was not simply over the removal of corrupt Babylon, but also because it made room for the marriage that was Gods intention all along. They said they would be glad and would rejoice, and would give Him honor, because the marriage of Lamb had come. This is the first indication that we have that the book is going to climax with a wedding. But the bride has known about it because she has spent all this time making herself ready. She did this through her righteous behaviorthat behavior was her bridal garment, her white linen.

The angel turned to John, and told him to write out a blessing for those who receive an invitation to this wedding. It is a gloriously mixed metaphor the saints are the bride, the saints righteousness makes up the bridal garment, and the saints individually receive invitations to attend the wedding as guests. Those who are invited are blessed, and the angel affirms that these are the true words of God. There was something about this last solemn pronouncement that undid John, and so he fell on his face to worship the angel, who then rebuked him sternly. He said that he must not do that the angel is just a fellow servant to John, and a fellow
servant to anyone else who has the testimony of Jesus. He is told simply to worship God the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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Kirkers Read 07 – Revival by Riot

Ben Zornes on

We pointed out that last week, the books of Luke and Acts belong together as a two-volume defense of the gospel, likely to be presented during Paul’s trial in Rome. One of the most striking features of the second volume (Acts) is the progression of gospel preaching, riot, followed by revival. Throughout the book we see the Apostles, and especially Paul, proclaiming the gospel near and far, and almost always there was some controversy, fight, riot. But in the end, saints were always added to their number.

The reason this is striking is that some of the most famous sermons of the early church, which are recorded in Acts, are in the setting of civil hearings, trials, public debates, etc. It is easy for modern American Christians to look at civil society through the grid of “separation of Church and State.” In many ways this hinders us from provoking the society to deal with the political claim at the heart of the Christian faith: “Jesus Christ is King.”

Another interesting progression found in Acts is that, as Jesus promised, they would “be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).” Like the concentric circles from the ripples of a pebble dropped in a pond, the book “moves outward” from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. The Messiah had come in relative obscurity, but within a generation his gospel was being declared to the ends of the earth all by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 103

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, Shall bewail her, and lament for her, When they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, Saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; For no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, And precious stones, and of pearls, And fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, And all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, And all manner vessels of most precious wood, And of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, And ointments, and frankincense, And wine, and oil, And fine flour, and wheat, And beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, And slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, And all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, And thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, Shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, Weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, That was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, And decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, And sailors, and as many as trade by sea, Stood afar off, And cried When they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, And cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, Wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, And ye holy apostles and prophets; For God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: For thy merchants were the great men of the earth; For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, And of all that were slain upon the earth” (Rev. 18:9–24).

This passage from Revelation 18 consists largely of lists or inventories of luxury items, and so we will take a larger section of text all at once. The form of this lament or dirge is taken from Ezekiel 27-28, where the prophet is offering up a lamentation for the great merchant city of Tyre. Jerusalem, labeled here as Babylon, has become essentially pagan in her outlook and is therefore going to receive a fitting response from God.

Jesus, prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem and the surrounding nation, compares what was going to happen to them in the day of judgment to what will happen to Tyre, and Tyre comes out ahead. “But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you” (Matt. 11:22).

The list of items in vv. 12-13 reads like a luxury catalog—cinnamon and slaves, marble and scarlet. The fact that the “souls of men” brings up the tail end shows the dehumanizing effect of all such ostentatious living.

The great image here is that this Babylon will be thrown into the ocean like a millstone, and will disappear suddenly and rapidly. A similar image can be found in Jeremiah.

“And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah” (Jer. 51:63–64).

And here we should once again remember the prophetic words of Christ about what would happen to Jerusalem within one generation. The withered fig tree, remember, was a type of fruitless Israel, and a sign of pending judgment.

“And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:20–23).

The mountain He was talking about was the mountain He was standing on, and that was yet another image of the looming judgment.

Jerusalem was not the greatest trading center in the world, but it was a rich city. What is necessary is for the fall of the city to be a great blow to the merchants and promoters, and that certainly happened.

Two other points can be made that help cement the identification of Jerusalem as Babylon headed for the depths.

“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; For God hath avenged you on her . .  . “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (Rev. 18:20, 24).

This was a city that was guilty of the blood of saints, and prophets and apostles. Sounds like Jerusalem. Jesus had mentioned the blood of Abel and the blood of Zacharias, but it now included the blood of Jesus Himself, and the blood of Stephen and James and numerous others.

“That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:35).

And the second thing is that it says in v. 20 that God is rising up to take vengeance for all of it, and this again sounds like Jerusalem.

“For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:22).

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Kirkers Read 06 – Defending the Faith

Ben Zornes on

As we launch into the second half of the Summer Bible Reading Challenge, we begin with the Gospel of Luke this week, followed by Acts next week. These should be thought of as a two-volume book. They really are inseparable; where Luke leaves off, Acts picks up. Further, it is likely that both books together are a sort of legal briefing which Paul commissioned Luke to write as they were preparing for Paul’s hearing before Caesar (cf. Acts 28:17-20).

You’ll notice that Luke is far more attentive to detail and tedious than the other Gospel writers are, which makes sense given the fact that part of the purpose of this Gospel and Acts is to precisely proclaim the events of Christ’s ministry. Luke tells us in the preface that he is writing unto Theophilus (more on that in a second) “in order (Lk. 1:3).” Matthew Henry asserts that, “When [Luke] was under that voluntary confinement with Paul [in Rome], he had leisure to compile these two histories (and many excellent writings the church has been indebted to a prison for): if so, it was written about twenty-seven years after Christ’s ascension, and about the fourth year of Nero.”

There are three likely options for who Theophilus is. Either a prominent individual believer, a Civil Magistrate (either in Greece or Rome), or a more metaphorical name for the whole church. Given the context of Paul and Luke’s imprisonment in Rome, awaiting a hearing before Nero, it seems probable that this is written to copiously defend the faith before both the Jewish and Gentile leaders. Thus, this is in some sense the first apologetical book in Christian history. Luke begins by announcing the coming of the King in Luke 1-2, and then ends with Paul and the other believers proclaiming Christ’s Kingdom to all the earth (Acts 28:30-31). Luke’s arc in these two volumes is from Incarnation of the Promised One, to the proclamation and miraculous establishment of His Kingdom. All these details are what “are most surely believed among us. (Lk. 1:1).”

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