His Will Blog

July 31, 2020August 2, 2020

Jesus Believed the Bible

If Jesus believed that Scripture was truthful and trustworthy who am I to disagree? His endorsement of the history and theology of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) is good enough for me. In fact, he placed his imprimatur on some of the stories modern skeptics find most challenging and controversial.

To Jesus, Adam and Eve were real persons created by God, Noah and the flood were histories, not mythology, Jonah and the great fish symbolized his death and resurrection, and Moses led the Hebrew nation through the wilderness. To our Lord, it was all true.

He quoted freely from the Old Testament Scriptures and stated that the human authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 22:43). When he frequently said, “It is written,” he was saying that the voice of Scripture was the voice of God speaking with continuing relevance for all time.

Three examples stand out

In Matthew 5;17-18, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

Jesus is here speaking of the entire Old Testament, saying that it will find its fulfillment in him. The Lord’s point is that every detail of Scripture is important and will be fulfilled according to God’s purpose.

A second example is found in John 10:33-39. Jesus was engaged in a dialogue with his detractors. In a closely reasoned argument, he added a comment with which his enemies had to agree: “Scripture cannot be set aside” (v.35). He was stating his belief in the immutability and binding authority of the Bible. It cannot be annulled, canceled, or invalidated. Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle commented, “Wherever the Scripture speaks plainly on any subject, there can be no question about it. The case is settled and decided.”

Then in Luke 24:13-35, we have the familiar account of the Lord’s appearance to two men on the road to Emmaus. V. 27 says, “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Jesus staked his reputation as the Son of God and Messiah of Israel on the truthfulness of Scripture. His coming was prophesied in every section of the Hebrew Bible. He went on to say, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (v.44).

“You have heard … But I say”

Not only did Jesus assume the divine origin and authority of the ancient Scriptures, but he claimed that his own words carried the same divine authority. In Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28 he compared his own words with the Old Testament: “You have heard … but I say to you.” Here Jesus placed his own words on the same level as Old Testament Scripture.

The Holy Spirit

In addition, he imparted authority to his chosen apostles who, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would write the New Testament Scriptures. Before his death, the Lord promised them, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). “The Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father — he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).

The New Testament is the testimony of the Holy Spirit about Jesus through his apostles. Their report about him in the gospels, the Acts, the letters, and the Revelation, is completely truthful and trustworthy. The apostle Paul stated, “The gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). He wrote to another group of believers, “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Jesus believed in the Bible. He wanted us to know that the Scriptures are the word of God revealing how we may be sure of eternal life. Just as Jesus is a divine-human savior, the Bible is a divine-human book. When we read it a divine Person is speaking to us. When we open our hearts in faith to him, he makes the message of God’s love and saving grace real in our lives. If Jesus believed in the Bible, it is reasonable for us to do the same.

– Pastor Randy Faulkner

January 3, 2020January 31, 2020

Satan Will Eat Dust

Judging from recent history, the new heavens and new earth have not yet arrived. We get fresh reminders every day of the feverish activity of the great enemy of creation, Satan himself, and his demonic compatriots, “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). It seems obvious to me that the authorities and powers of this dark world are on the loose and are carrying out a deadly agenda.

Hardly a week goes by when we have not heard yet another harrowing report of mass murder in a house of worship, or a school, or a public space. Some commentators use terms like “the new normal” to describe the frequency of terrorist bombings, ethnic violence and civil unrest around the world. It is as if the news media, without realizing it, are telling us there is a sinister cosmic power orchestrating an evil strategy.

I am glad to report that Satan will bite the dust. I refer to Isaiah 65:25 where it says that “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain.” This picture of “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17) is a promise to be fulfilled when in the end times God restores harmony and peace to all creation.

I find the prospect attractive, especially the part about the serpent eating dust. This is an allusion to Genesis 3:14-15 where we read that the offspring of the woman (Christ) will ultimately crush the head of the serpent (Satan). This good news was proclaimed right at the beginning of the Bible, and it is repeated in various ways throughout. The concluding book of the Bible reminds us of the overthrow of Satan, the great serpent (Revelation 20:2, 10).

This raises an obvious question many people ask, “Why doesn’t God destroy Satan now and put an end to his evil works?” It is hard for us to grasp with our limited understanding, but there are scriptural answers that speak to this.

First, Satan, subject himself to God’s sovereignty, has been permitted to test and discipline some of God’s faithful servants. Job, Paul, Peter, and others were explicit targets of Satan within the permissive will of God. Their godly submission to these trials of life were public proof that God’s people love and serve him in spite of the attacks of the enemy. Jesus’ response to his temptation in the wilderness was a resounding defeat for Satan.

Second, every time an individual trusts in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation, Satan is defeated. The world is under Satan’s control for now (Ephesians 2:2). He uses its resources to oppose Christ and his gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). So when people come to faith in Christ for salvation, this testifies to the beauty and attraction of Christ, and an individual’s rejection of Satan and his works. This brings greater glory to Christ than snuffing out Satan with raw power. John Piper wrote, “God’s aim is to magnify the glory of Christ through the gospel.”

Another reason why God does not immediately destroy Satan is to accumulate an indictment against those who eagerly follow him to destruction. They love sin and they choose to embrace Satan’s lies and corrupting influences. Romans chapter one makes clear that they will be without excuse before a holy God. Revelation 20:7-10 has a chilling description of how, even after a millennium of world peace and perfect justice, Satan will gather a final world army to try to make war against God before the final judgment. God will use Satan to prove the sinfulness of humanity.

The new heavens and new earth are not here yet, but they are coming. Isaiah’s poetic description is beautiful and comforting. He promises, “Dust will be the serpent’s food.” This agrees with Paul who wrote, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20). God is the God of peace. His peace will finally come when he crushes Satan in the end. And peace with God is possible now for any person who trusts in the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

There will be some battles against Satan in the year ahead. You and I can resist him and he must flee (James 4:7). Every time you see a cross this year remind yourself that Satan has lost the war and he will someday bite the dust.

– Pastor Randy Faulkner

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October 18, 2019October 18, 2019

Prophecy and History Show God is in Control

God is in control of history. Prophecy proves it. There is an arresting passage in the book of Isaiah that reveals the interplay between human history and biblical prophecy. It describes in some detail how Israel’s God would prompt the king of the mighty Persian empire to release the Jews from their exile in Babylon and permit them to return to Jerusalem.

These events are described after the fact in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. God moved the heart of the Persian emperor in 536 B.C. to provide money for their expenses, protection for their journey and permission for the Jews to rebuild the temple of the Lord in the Holy City.

In the British Museum, I have seen the famous Cyrus Cylinder which tells the story from the standpoint of this pagan king. He adopted a policy of religious tolerance toward the conquered peoples in his empire. He authorized the rebuilding of many of their sacred sites. He dedicated this project to the gods of Babylon, Marduk, Bel, and Nebo. He asked his subjects to pray to their various gods for the success of his reign.

The prophets of Israel saw in these events the sovereign influence of the Living God of Israel who said of the Persian king: “He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘let its foundations be laid'” (Isaiah 44:28).

There are those who say Isaiah could not have written this. They claim a pseudo-Isaiah or an anonymous “second Isaiah” wrote about Cyrus contemporaneously as if it were a prophecy. After all, Isaiah lived 150 years before these events took place. How could he have known the name of Cyrus and the sequence of events that would transpire long in the future?

There is plenty of evidence for the unity of Isaiah as one book, not a patchwork of descriptions posing as prophecies. It is an integrated whole, “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw…” (Isaiah 1:1). A few points of evidence testify to the unity of the book.

The Jews accepted Isaiah’s authorship of the last part of the book, well before the time of Christ. The monumental Isaiah scroll, discovered with the Dead Sea Scrolls, has the complete text. It has been dated about 125 B.C. The New Testament quotes from the different parts of Isaiah, assuming it is all the inspired Word of the Lord.

The expression “the Holy One of Israel” is used of God in all parts of the book. Scholars tell us there are many other verbal parallels tying the two halves of the book together. According to the NIV Study Bible, there are at least 25 Hebrew words found in both halves of Isaiah that are found in no other prophetic writing. This is evidence that Isaiah wrote both parts of the book, including the remarkable Cyrus prophecies in chapters 41, 44, and 45.

So let’s assume that Isaiah wrote about King Cyrus of Persia long before he emerged on the stage of history. What does this mean? It means that God’s Word has been fulfilled literally. It means that God is in control of history. He calls Cyrus his anointed one (Isaiah 45:1) and his shepherd (48:28). God says it is he who opens doors for Cyrus to subdue nations (45:1) for the sake of his people Israel (45:4).

God will use Cyrus even though he does not acknowledge Yahweh as the true sovereign God (45:4). G.W. Grogan wrote, “We cannot accuse God of using inappropriate means to achieve his ends.” These historical developments will be the by-products of Cyrus’s policy toward all the nations under his reign. But Isaiah knows that this is all under God’s control who will use Cyrus for the benefit of Israel.

Isaiah wrote this as a prophecy of future events. It is not a recitation of current events or recent history. “I will raise up Cyrus (‘him’ in Hebrew) in my righteousness: … He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free” (45:13).

Therefore, if prophecies of Israel’s preservation have been fulfilled literally in the past, we may safely assume that the prophecies about Israel’s future restoration will also be fulfilled (Romans 11:25-27). Isaiah is full of such prophecies. He who kept his promises in the past will keep his promises in the future.

In the same way, the Isaiah who foresaw the coming of Messiah as the “Suffering Servant of the Lord” (Isaiah 52–53) also foretold the second coming of Messiah as Universal King (9:6-7; 32:1; 33:20-22). He will bring justice to the nations of the world (42:1; 60:3). At his first coming, he died to bear the sins of his people. At his second coming, he will diffuse the glory of God throughout the earth and reign as King of kings.

When we are troubled by the world situation in our own time, we may be encouraged to know that the sovereign God holds history in his mighty hand. No potentate or politician can successfully thwart the operation of his divine purpose. His kingdom will come, as promised.

– Pastor Randy Faulkner

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