The prophecy of the 70 weeks is given in context of an answer to Daniel’s prayer delivered directly by the angel of the Lord. Daniel 9 is comprised of the prophet’s prayer followed by the answer to the prayer.

Daniel’s prayer is full of his understanding of the prophets. He was living during the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah had prophesied that the desolation of Jerusalem would last for 70 years.

‘And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. "Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity," says the LORD’ [Jeremiah 25:11-12].

For thus says the LORD: "After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place…And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you", says the LORD, "and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you", says the LORD, "and I will bring you to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive" [Jeremiah 29:10-14].

Daniel is given to prayer as Jeremiah’s 70 years are nearing completion. The Persians under Cyrus are about to conquer Babylon. He makes confession of sin and petitions the Lord for mercy. He appeals to the Lord for His name sake and the covenant promises.

"O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name." [Daniel 9:4-6]

Daniel makes the important link between loving God and keeping His commandments. He acknowledges his own sin and the sin of his countrymen. They have disregarded the prophets by turning away from the commandments and the judgment of which Moses had prophesied had come upon Israel. Jerusalem is desolate; the temple is destroyed. The people have been taken captive and scattered among the nations.

‘All Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.’ [Daniel 9:11 referring to Deuteronomy 28]

A restoration is spoken of by Moses in which Israel will return to the land after their captivity. Associated with the restoration, Moses prophecies of the New Covenant with the saying, ‘God will circumcise your heart...to love God…that you may live.’

"Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you…that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you…And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." [Deuteronomy 30:1-6]

The New Covenant prophesies of Jeremiah 31 clarifies this work of God as writing the Law on the heart of His people. This is part of the fault of the first covenant. The Law was written on tablets of stone rather than on the heart. Jeremiah’s prophecy is applied in the New Testament in Hebrews 8 and 10. Note that Old Testament Israel ‘did not continue in the covenant and God disregarded them.’

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." [Hebrews 8:8-12 quoted from Jeremiah 31]]

Christ institutes the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper by referring to His death as the guarantee of the New Covenant promise of putting away sins.

Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. [Matthew 26:26-28]

Daniel’s prophecy of the work of Messiah includes the theme of the New Covenant and its great blessing of the forgiveness of sin.

‘Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.’ [Daniel 9:24]

Daniel’s prayer concerns the people of Israel and the holy city of Jerusalem. The answer to the prayer addresses Daniel’s concerns. Seventy sevens or seventy "weeks of years" is the time frame given by the angel in which the prophecy would be fulfilled. The period of time is broken up into 7 weeks and 62 weeks and a final week for a total of 70. It is not coincidence that this period is 7 times the period of captivity. This prophecy is an example of the blessing of forgiveness and the manifold grace of God.

Sorrowful darkness had brooded over Israel for seventy years, but God will now follow up this period by one of favor of sevenfold duration, because by lightening their cares and moderating their sorrows, He will not cease to prove himself propitious to them even to the advent of Christ. This event was notoriously the principle hope of the saints who looked forward to the appearance of the Redeemer. [Calvin]

There is nothing in the text that would indicate that these weeks are not consecutive and continuous. The 70 years of captivity had no gaps. A literal reading of the text gives no hint of a gap in the 70 weeks. The claims of Scofield literalism fail at this point since he invents a gap between weeks 69 and 70; a gap that has now lasted over 2 millennium, long past the original time period of 70 times 7 years.

It is quite certain, that these seventy years and seventy weeks ought to be joined together…the angel’s object was to offer consolation in the midst of sorrow. For seventy years the people had been miserably afflicted in exile, and they seemed utterly abandoned, as if God would no longer acknowledge these children of Abraham for His people and inheritance. [Calvin]

We will give the historic teaching of the church, which is called the first advent view. The prophecy has to do with the person and work of Messiah which includes the destruction of the holy city and the temple. There is nothing new or original here; credits to Augustine, John Calvin, Matthew Henry and E. J. Young.

The errors of Scofieldism will be apparent and legend, since he holds to a second advent view with the church age being the gap. He misses the intent of the prophecy to bring to fulfillment in the coming of Messiah the great themes of the Old Testament revelation, including the New Covenant and the everlasting Kingdom of God and the King of glory.

‘Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.’ [Psalm 24:9-10]

Next post: The 70 weeks opened to reveal the work of the King of glory.

 

The mystery is great but our model for marriage is found in Christ and His Church…

‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for her…So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.’ [Ephesians 5:25-32]

Christ’s love for the church is the model for husbands to properly love their wives. Your role as wife is modeled after the relationship of the church to Christ….

‘Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church…Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything’ [Ephesians 5:22-24].

The New Testament teaching is clear that your husband is your new authority. You are to submit to his authority and respect him in your words and behavior. Just as Christ set His affections on the church to nourish and cherish her, even so your husband has set his affections on you. Respond with love and respect toward him even as the church responds to Christ.

To submit to a perfect man might be possible, but how are you to submit to a sinful man?

If any woman had cause to fear and doubt the goodness and wisdom of her husband it is Sarah. Remember that Abraham gave her up to pagans in fear of his life [Genesis 20]

Notice how the New Testament refers to Sarah…

‘Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear…’ [I Peter 3:6] How does a wife deal with her fears?

You must maintain your spiritual life in prayer, public worship under the preaching of the Word and fellowship with other believers. Do not let the things of this world rob you of the one thing necessary. We can do nothing on our own, but we can do all things through Him who strengths us. Christ will empower you with grace to do His will.

Always remember Christ. He committed Himself to God who judges righteously when given into the hands of sinful men according to the will of God. He is your hope and your example.



The heart of her husband does trust in her…

‘An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones’ [Proverbs 12:4].

You have great power over your husband to do him good or evil. The Proverbs 31 woman is the virtuous wife and precious in the sight of God. Her worth is said to be far above rubies. What makes her so precious?

‘The heart of her husband does safely trust in her…’ [Proverbs 31:11]

She is a woman of faithfulness and integrity and diligence to do good to her husband and to build up her home. He is secure in her love for him. Let this be your goal. Meditate on this: ‘Many daughters have done well, but you exceed them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.’

Your behavior cannot be dependent on the perfection of your husband. Your love must be constant and independent of his sins against you. Let him observe your ‘chaste and respectful behavior.’ This will help build trust in his heart for you.

Unto whom much is given, much is expected…

You are privileged to know the truth and to have seen the truth lived out in the home. Do not succumb to the feminist influences in the culture. You know what the world says, ‘Follow your heart and do your own thing.’ You dare not trust your heart; it is ‘deceitful above all things and desperately wicked’ [Jeremiah 17:9]. The Bible says the wife is a helper, perfectly suited for her husband and his companion for life.

‘Do not let the sun go down on your anger.’ You must believe without doubt that the marriage relationship is the best God has for you. Work at it to make it so. Do not let anything come between you and your husband. Guard your tongue. Never speak disparaging words to your husband or about him.

Dealing with sin…

The honeymoon will end. How will you deal with sin when it comes? There is but one remedy here. Make a bee line to the cross…

‘As the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do’ [Colossians 3:12-13].

The power to forgive one another comes from remembering the great forgiveness that Christ has given you in the gospel. If you think on these things, you will be unable to withhold forgiveness. We live with each other in peace because Christ is our peace.

Love never fails…

Love is patient and kind and does not seek its own way. Consider others more important than yourself. Love does not consider a wrong done, but covers a multitude of sins; it is not easily provoked. Love seeks what is good, believes what is good, and finds a way to do good. Love never fails, because He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Students of the Scofield bible notes argue that the church age is a parenthesis in the original plan of God to finish His redemptive work with the Jewish state and bring to past the promises made to Old Testament Israel.

Daniel 9 is referenced as obvious proof of this argument. These articles are to demonstrate from the Scriptures the gross errors in this system of interpretation. Daniel 9 and the 70 weeks is one of the greatest OT passages that magnify the work of Messiah. It identifies the time frame of His coming and outlines His great work of redemption. The distortion that Scofield brings to this passage is considered by many as a modern Christian heresy. We agree when the adherents deny the absolute authority of Jesus Christ to do as He will in heaven and earth.

First let’s review the New Testament argument that the 'church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.' [Ephesians 1:23]

The apostle labors in the book of Ephesians to reveal the mystery of the eternal purpose of God: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body. [Ephesians 3]

Paul says plainly that in the gospel God has torn down the wall of partition that separated Jew and Gentile. ‘He has made the two into one new man.’ There is now ‘one body’ joined together by faith in the church.

In Romans 2:28-29 Paul defines the New Covenant Jew. ‘He is not a Jew who is one outwardly…But he is a Jew who is one inwardly…’ Likewise, circumcision is not ‘outward in the flesh’, but ‘that which is of the heart, by the Spirit.’

And again in Galatians 3:28-29, Paul gives us the precious truth that the covenant made to Abraham is fulfilled in people of faith, men from every nation, a multitude that no man can number like the stars of heaven or the sands of the sea…

‘There is neither Jew nor Greek…if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.’

A case for separate peoples of God cannot be made in the New Testament. The gospel of the kingdom is that the seed of Abraham has come and in Him all nations, both Jew and Gentile are blessed.

So Mr. Scofield must make his case in the Old Testament. In so doing he denies the preeminence of Jesus Christ as God in the flesh and the final revelation of God [Hebrews 1:1-3] and the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. The Old Testament means what Jesus Christ and His apostles say it means. Mr. Scofield and his disciples deny this.

Next Post: Daniel 9 – Introduction

 

‘The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.’ [Deuteronomy 29:29]

We submit to you that something better than Moses has come. Moses gave us a foundation in moral law, but his ceremonial and civil law has passed away with the temple and its bloody sacrifices.

‘I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.’ [Deuteronomy 18:15]

The Law reveals our sin and condemns us. It teaches us our great need of grace. Moses has no mercy and no power to justify. These things are found in the New Covenant Prophet. The Pharisees questioned Jesus about the woman caught in adultery, ‘Moses commanded that such should be stoned. But what do you say?’ [John 8]

In Jesus came grace and the fulfillment of the righteousness of God by faith first practiced by our father in the faith…

‘Abraham believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.’ [Genesis 15:6]

When men say that they will not have this Man rule over them, they are not referring to Moses. The history of freedom does not trace back to the Law of Moses, but to the gospel in the Old Testament and to the full light of the gospel in Jesus Christ. The gospel is where men are set free from the curse of the law.

Life lies in looking to the provision given by God…

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." [Numbers 21:8]

Moses taught us in types and shadows that grace and mercy will come to the covenant people through a blood bought redemption.

’And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up’ [John 3:14].

The Son of Man has brought fulfillment to the Law and to the Prophets by offering up Himself once and for all at the cross…

‘Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. [Luke 24:26]

Hope lies in the great covenant promises made to Abraham and to his seed…the same seed of the woman prophesied Genesis 3:15 that would crush the serpent’s head.

‘In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…’ [Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:8,16]

The advancement of the West is a living testimony to the authority of whole Bible. The kingdom of God has come and is advancing wherever the gospel is preached and the Creator and Redeemer God is worshipped in spirit and truth. Men need the complete revelation. We are no longer children to be taught by types and shadows. The substance has come and fully revealed the living God for all men to see. We shall not separate what God has joined together. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner." He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see."…Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from." The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." [John 9]

 

The Christmas story from John 1

The Word, the expression of God, the One who was with God from the beginning, the creator of all things in whom is life is the light that shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not understand.

The creator of the world was in the world, but the world did not know Him.

He came to His covenant people, those who had been given the Word, but they did not receive Him.

How then does anyone know God? John gives us the answer. The emphasis is on ‘He gave’ where it belongs.

‘He gave to them, as many as received Him, the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ [John 1:13]

God must open the unbelieving heart before we can receive Christ.

‘For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’ [II Corinthians 4:6]

 

Two Resurrections Bound the Millennium

A comparison of John 5 with Revelation 20 shows that John uses the term first resurrection to identify the spiritual regeneration taught by Christ in John 5. This is consistent with being born again as taught in John 3. There is other New Testament support for the doctrine that men are dead in sin and are in need of regeneration before they can see the kingdom.

The first resurrection in Revelation 20 is associated with the 1000 year millennium. Since the first resurrection represents the regeneration of believers, which began at the coming of Christ, we can conclude that the millennium represents the gospel age; the time period in which the gospel of grace is preached to all nations. ‘The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, both Jew and Greek.’

The second resurrection is associated with the physical resurrection of the body and with the final judgment, events associated with the second coming of Christ. In Revelation 20 the second resurrection occurs after the ‘thousand years are finished.’ Therefore, we must take the 1000 years as figurative, since no man knows the day of the Lord’s return.

Christ Teaches Two Resurrections in John 5

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” [John 5:24-29]

Those of faith have everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment. They have passed from death into life. This began at the time of Christ. ‘The time is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.’ This is the first resurrection; a spiritual birth from our natural state of deadness in sin.

The language in Ephesians 2 and Colossians 3 agrees with Christ’s definition of first resurrection in John 5…

‘You were dead in your trespasses and sins…but God…made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places...’ [Ephesians 2:1-6] ‘If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.’ [Colossians 3:1]

Second Resurrection in John 5

‘The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.’ This is the second resurrection; a physical resurrection of the body from a physical death to give an account to God of the life He has given us. ‘We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.’

John Teaches Two Resurrections in Revelation 20

‘And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.’ [Revelation 20:4-6]

The souls of all the Christian dead lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Also, those who are part of the first resurrection are called blessed and holy and shall be priests of God and reign with Christ for a thousand years. This is similar language to Revelation 1 and I Peter 2 associated with the church…

‘And [Christ] has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.’ [Revelation 1:6] ‘You [the church] are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession…’ [I Peter 2:9] By using this Old Testament quote, Peter identifies the church as Israel.

The first resurrection is linked to reigning with Christ and being priests of God during the millennium. This applies to the living and dead in Christ.

The second death associated with the judgment has no power over those who take part in the first resurrection. These are similar words that Christ used to define the first resurrection in John 5, saying that those who believe have everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment. Our basic premise is proven; John is expounding Christ’s teaching in John 5 with the figurative language of Revelation 20.

Second Resurrection in Revelation 20

Those who are not part of the first resurrection come to life after the millennium. This is the second resurrection. From Christ’s teaching in John 5 we know that this is the physical resurrection of the body. Unbelievers will be raised to condemnation and will go to the second death, identified as the lake of fire. [Revelation 20:14-15] Believers will be raised to a resurrection of life; that is our great hope of redemption of the whole man, both body and soul.

‘The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.’ [I Corinthians 15]

Summary of John on Resurrection and Death

First resurrection is spiritual for believers only.

First death is physical for all men.

Second resurrection is physical for all men.

Second death is eternal punishment for unbelievers only.

The first resurrection occurs during the millennium and is associated with new believers entering the church. Believers, whether here or with the Lord, are reigning with Christ and are priests to God, offering up spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. The second resurrection occurs after the millennium and is associated with final judgment. Unbelievers do not experience the first resurrection, nor do believers experience the second death.

The millennium can be defined as a long and indefinite period between the first and second advents of Christ. The number 1000 is symbolic of the completeness and perfection of the period. The evil one is restrained from deceiving the nations during this period so that all the elect are gathered into the kingdom through the gospel going with power to all the nations before the end can come.

There is nothing new or original here. These things are as old as the New Testament church and can be consistently found throughout church history. The power of dispensational doctrine is that believers under estimate the blessedness of the gospel age. We must look at the words of Christ and walk by faith, not by sight.

Also, the first resurrection as presented here is a despised doctrine even among some believers. We do not like the idea of resurrection being associated with our spiritual birth. They like to hold on to the belief that some how dead men can participate in their own resurrection. May the Lord give us a heart for the truth and the grace to walk therein. Amen.

 

Church History and the Expectation of Truth

‘I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’ This statement by Christ leaves the expectation that He will have a people of faith united in truth in every generation. Therefore, there should be a thread of truth discernible in church history consistent with New Testament doctrine. Something new in Biblical Theology impugns the faithfulness of Christ and undermines the faithful men who have gone before us. We all would do well to consider a doctrine’s history and those in church history who have held it and those who have not held it before we embrace it.

To the dispensational brethren, from one who formerly walked that way and was zealous for the Scriptures, but not according to knowledge: by the grace of God, he discovered that the church had a history. Great men of the faith who loved the Scriptures had a completely different view of things. They opened the Scriptures to him by the way they submitted their thinking to the words of Christ and let scripture interpret scripture. ‘I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.’

Church history is available for all who will look. Dispensational doctrine is new, relatively speaking, in church history. Not premillennialism, but the distinctively new doctrine that Old Testament prophecies given to national Israel where not types and shadows to be fulfilled in the New Covenant church. This new doctrine says that God has two peoples, rather than one body joined together by faith in the church. They are the Jews and the church, and He is dealing with them separately.

The apostle warned the church that ‘from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.’ [Acts 20:30…]


Two Resurrections and the Millennium

In John 5 Christ teaches 2 resurrections. In Revelation 20 John writes again of 2 resurrections in the context of the 1000 year period commonly called the millennium.

We take these to be the same 2 resurrections because we believe that the Scriptures are to be understood by every believer and that Revelation does not introduce any new doctrine that is contrary to the New Testament writings. The New Covenant promise is that ‘all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest of them’. To properly identify these resurrections will necessarily define the millennium period.

Contrary to the kingdom teaching of Christ, there is great expectation among dispensationalists of a future millennial kingdom, identified with external, visible and temporal blessings. The millennium is said to be characterized by political purity emanating from a worldwide governmental allegiance to Mosaic Law resulting in a state of material prosperity never before seen. Like the Pharisees of old, the prophets are misread and the words of Jesus Christ are not given preeminence as the authoritative interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures.

The great blessings of the kingdom of God prophesized in the Old Testament are here now, realized at the coming of Messiah. A gradual, spiritual and inward advancement of the kingdom continues to the end of the world. The tares will not be separated from the wheat until the ‘end of the age’, identified with judgment by fire. [Matthew 13:40-42; 49-50] Then, not a temporal millennium, but the eternal, perfected kingdom will have come. No doctrine can stand in the church that is contrary to the words of Jesus Christ.

A mighty moving of the Spirit of God among the ethnic descendants of Abraham may yet sweep this world. If it does, its purpose will be to bring the Jews into the spiritual kingdom already established. Material, social, external blessedness may not be sought in a millennium, but in the consummation of the kingdom at the coming of our Lord.

Part 2 will open the 2 resurrections and demonstrate from the Scriptures that the millennium is the period between the first and second advents of Christ. His first coming established the kingdom, and His second coming will bring it to completion. On this side of the cross we are living in the millennium.

 

The Kingdom Related to Present and Future – Part 1

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." [Matthew 13:30]

What did the Lord Jesus mean when He taught us to pray to our Father in heaven, ‘Thy kingdom come’? [Matthew 6:10] How does the kingdom come? When Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer to His disciples, the kingdom was already arrived. From the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven had been forcefully advancing. [Matthew 11:12]

An advancing kingdom implies a coming over a course of time rather than a sudden advent. The kingdom parables of Matthew 13 compare the progress of the kingdom using figures chosen to represent a protracted process. The kingdom is like the mustard seed that grows gradually into the greatest of herbs, or like leaven hidden in the meal, or like wheat.

Wheat is planted as seed. Then a blade appears; afterwards the ear comes; still later come the full corn in the ear. A harvest is necessary; then gathering into the barn. When does the wheat come? It is ever coming and has only fully come when harvest is ended and the fruit of the field is all safe within the granary. Yet when the first light green hue covers a field, we may say the wheat has come. [Mark 4:26-29]

The only parables which suggest an instantaneous coming are those of the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price which represent the kingdom coming to the heart of individual sinners. That kingdom comes to some who inadvertently stumble across it (treasure in the field), and to some who are diligently in search of it (pearl of great price).

The kingdom of God is ever coming from the first to the second advents of Christ. It is a process that covers many generations. The kingdom is still coming with forceful impetus. The coming began with the sudden public appearance of the Son of God preaching the gospel of the kingdom. The coming is terminated in the harvest which ‘is the end of the world.’ [Matthew 13:39] Then comes judgment and the final and complete expression of the kingdom which has no end. Tares are bundled and burned in a furnace of fire with ‘wailing and gnashing of teeth.’ Wheat is gathered into God’s barn, where the ‘righteous will shine forth as the sun’ in the Father’s continuing kingdom. [Matthew 13:41-43]

When we pray, ‘Thy kingdom come,’ it is a desire expressed from our hearts for the continued forceful advancement of God’s cause on the earth. Included is our request for the change of men’s hearts to increase the population of the kingdom. Contained also in the petition is a longing for the supernatural defeat of sin and error with a consequent increase of truth and righteousness in the earth through His people’s functioning as salt and light. We must not exclude an expression of our earnest desire that the Lord would return from heaven with His holy angels to conduct the harvest and usher in the completed phase of the kingdom, wherein dwells righteousness.

 

The Kingdom Related to Past and Present - Part 4

'From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John' [Matthew 11:13-13 NIV].

Christ emphasized the forceful advance of the kingdom of heaven. New power was unleashed which John the Baptist did not detect because it was not primarily outward. Nor did John share experimentally in this new dynamic energy among men. All within God's kingdom had a new dimension of inward, spiritual power.

When John asked, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" Jesus answered by pointing to the external signs which Old Testament man could comprehend. "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the 'blind receive sight' and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the 'poor have the gospel preached to them' [Matthew 11:5, quote from Isaiah 35:5-6 and 61:1].

In the kingdom of God there comes a new level of perception to the people of God, a new privacy to God's working and a new infusion of supernatural power. These distinctions mark the kingdom of God as dramatically different when compared with the law and the prophets. They have a common fountainhead in the great New Testament gift, the 'pouring out' of the Holy Spirit.

The Old Testament saints were led to expect a giving of the Spirit in the New Covenant. Consider for example, the prophecy of Ezekiel, 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you...I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.' [Ezekiel 36:26-27]

The Holy Spirit was active among men under the prophets and the law, but after Pentecost the Spirit was granted to the saints in increased measure. Ezekiel prophesied that after the return from captivity the blessings of God on the 'whole house of Israel' would include the pouring out of the Spirit.

‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel...And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God [Ezekiel 39:25, 29].

The New Testament acknowledges the fulfillment of this prophecy and defines 'the whole house of Israel' to include the Gentile believers.

'And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.' [Acts 10:45]

The Helper...

The Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples about the coming of the Spirit after His departure as to their advantage.

'I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth...' [John 14:16]

'The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.' [John 14:26]

'When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me.' [John 15:26]

'I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes He will guide you into all the truth...' [John 16:12-13]

A new level of perception is a fruit of the plentitude of the Spirit. Because the Spirit of inspiration filled the apostles, there is given to us the fullest inscripturation of truth. With this new objective content to which our faith looks, there comes also a new power of illumination to all believers through the indwelling Spirit. 'For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.' [I Corinthians 2:9-16]

A new inwardness of religion is a fruit of the effusion of the Spirit. Spiritual mindedness, the orientation toward heart issues and priority of interest in the spiritual realm, arises from the new measure in which the Spirit dwells in our hearts. It was the 'pouring out' of the Spirit which brought saints to a new inward maturity of soul, releasing them from 'the elements of the world' appropriate only to childhood. Christ's gift of the Spirit lifted His people to adult status as compared with Old Testament spiritual childhood. [Galatians 4:3-7]

Surely a new infusion of supernatural power and a new strength for worship is directly linked to the mighty Spirit. He is eminently 'the spirit of grace and of supplication' [Zechariah 12:10]. Power, by which the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us, comes only to those who walk after the Spirit [Romans 8:4]. Every area of New Covenant service to God begins with being filled with the Spirit. [Ephesians 5:18]

Some Jews in the wilderness preferred their Egyptian existence to the new level of blessing into which God had brought them. They would return to bondage rather than live in freedom. In an age when the kingdom has come with power and grace in the Spirit, those who would reassert the external and political over the inward and spiritual are not unlike the unbelieving Jews in this respect. Let’s move forward under the full assurance of faith, fixing our eyes on Christ who has shown Himself faithful to fulfill the promises.

[Credits to Walter Chantry's God's Righteous Kingdom]

 
For those unfamiliar with George Whitefield, he along with Jonathan Edwards were among the spiritual leaders during the Great Awakening in New England (1735).

Their preaching was accompanied by widespread spiritual renewal. Edwards chronicles the events of those days along with his observations in his books, ‘A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God…in New England’ and ‘Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England’.

This work of Edwards is important because it reminds us of things not seen and forgotten. It is a first hand account of the living God invading history in a more open way than He normally works. Does anyone breathing today have first hand knowledge of revival? A revival is defined as an outpouring of the Spirit of Truth that brings all types of men from every walk of life to repentance. A repentance joined with sincere faith that is observable in a radical change of life. ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.’ [II Corinthians 5:17]

‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation…For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you’ [Luke 17:20]. In the normal means of grace the Spirit quietly applies Christ’s work of redemption in the inward places of the heart one believer at a time, whereas, a revival is marked by whole communities coming to Christ. The kingdom is seen on earth through the good works of its people bringing immediate and lasting effects to the culture.

Those who deny God, deny the history of freedom. Without the great revivals of Biblical Christianity seen at the Protestant Reformation and at the Great Awakening, America as the land of the free would not exist.

Would we see a return to truth and a return of the gospel message of Whitefield and Edwards? Pray for the Spirit to come in power.

 
The Old Testament predicted the arrival of a new covenant that would be different from the old. Jeremiah says, ‘Behold, the days are coming saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant…not according to the covenant I made with their fathers…’ [Jeremiah 31:31] Notable distinctions were to be expected. The new covenant prophesy of Jeremiah is given prominence in the New Testament, being cited in chapters 8 and 10 in the book of Hebrews.

John the Baptist asks a question of Christ which illustrate the distinctive features of the kingdom of God compared with the Mosaic order. ‘Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?’ John was an instrument of divine revelation who announced that Jesus is the Messiah; yet he did not fully understand his own message. The great prophet could not see how Jesus was fulfilling the mission of Messiah based on his own expectations.

In the kingdom of God there comes a new level of perception to the people of God. The least person in the kingdom is greater than John in perceiving spiritual realities [Matthew 11:11]. Not that they are more brilliant, but to children of the kingdom ‘it is given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom’ while to others it is not given [Matthew 13:11]. Mysteries are truths that cannot be found out by investigation. They are revealed by the living God.

In the kingdom of God there comes a new privacy to God’s working. The secrecy is due to the inward and spiritual focus of the new covenant. Mysteries revealed to some are hidden from others by the use of the same parable [Matthew 13:10-17]. Truths that some children understand with ease are all darkness to some of the most intelligent and learned.

Since the Old Testament economy was public and visible in its progress and operation, those under the old covenant had expectations of a kingdom that would be national and territorial. Their hope was an external purification of Israel including conquering of the promised land to expel oppressive Gentiles and renovation of rulers, temple and customs. Christ left all these corrupt institutions visibly intact. He did not materially dismantle the old. Nor did he set up a new nation discernible to human senses.

Christ told a Samaritan woman that the hour was coming when the location of Jerusalem would be extraneous to true worship [John 4:21]. The Lord of glory had come to set aside the outward, national and territorial aspects of Old Testament religion.

By way of contrast Christ’s kingdom is inward. It comes mightily but secretly in the hearts of men. The Pharisees were surprised to learn that the kingdom was already in their midst. Jesus explained to them that ‘the kingdom of God cometh not with observation’ or outward ceremony [Luke 17:20-21]. Lives are transformed by the work of grace in the heart.

Jeremiah had stressed this distinction between the covenants. The new covenant would be unlike the old in that the Lord said, ‘I will put my law in the inward parts, and write it in their hearts’ [Jeremiah 31:31]. The kingdom of God has come with an inwardness and invisibility just as God had spoken through the prophets.

[Credits to Walter Chantry’s God’s Righteous Kingdom]

 

[T]the majority of progressives...rejected the traditional Christian emphasis on individual salvation, arguing instead for collective redemption through the state: "God works through the State in carrying out His purposes more universally than through any other institution." –from Jonah Goldberg article @ following link

//www.townhall.com/columnists/JonahGoldberg/2006/11/08/religion_digs_in_its_heels

These words encapsulate the greatest error ever made by fallen man.

Why did the Jewish leadership reject Jesus Christ? They expected a Messiah that would restore the Mosaic theocracy. When Christ came to fulfill the types and shadows given in the Old Testament, they preferred those things that were passing away rather than the spiritual reality that stood before them. They could not understand that His kingdom is of the Spirit, and entered into by being born again of the Spirit. These things are of the New Covenant, and seen only by faith.

This error comes in many flavors, but always with the same ingredient: denial or perversion of Christ’s teaching on the kingdom of God.

In every age there are those who would build a Christian theocracy, wanting to establish the kingdom of God on earth through the state. This is not the teaching of Christ, but it is understandable that Christians are accused of this, since some believers hold to this view.

The Founders understood from post Reformation history that a free church is vital to a free state. A free church is independent of the state; however a free state is dependent on the free exercise of the church. They understood that God is sovereign in all things, but that the church is the only institution ordained by God to bring redemption to men through the preaching of the revealed Word of God.

‘Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her’…He has all authority ‘to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all…I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’ [Ephesians 1:22; 5:25; Matthew 16:18].

Even so this is the great error of the ‘progressives’ today. They are right to not want a Mosaic type theocracy, but they deceive themselves. They think that salvation is found in a state that is independent of the church. Their religion is based on autonomous reason not revelation. The god they worship is made in their own image. They did not learn the lessons from the Renaissance nor from the Stalinists, and are doomed to repeat the same errors.

The best system of government is derived from the reformed view of men and government as demonstrated in the history of freedom in America. Absence a consensus derived from this view, socialism is busy paving the way to serfdom.

As we saw yesterday in the midterms, to hope in politics is to hope in men. Our hope rests in the promises of God given to Christ…

‘They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the Gentiles will seek him, and his place of rest will be glorious’ [Isaiah 11].

We hope for a revival of the gospel, not unlike the Great Awakening when men loved the Bible, and it led them to the ‘knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness’ [Titus 1:1].

 

The Kingdom Related to Past and Present - Part 2

A study of the kingdom of God must necessarily stress the distinctions between the covenants and between the two Testaments of the Bible. It is important to begin by showing the profound unity between the Testaments in that the Old prophesied of the New and that the New is the fulfillment of the Old. This will prevent misunderstanding of the emphasis on differences.

Matthew is meticulous in linking Jesus Christ with the Old Testament. At least forty quotations from the Old Testament are made in his Gospel. Many more allusions are made to its teachings and ways of life. These passages are not only meant to show that the Old Testament had predicted the coming of Christ and the kingdom of God; they are also intended to demonstrate that Jesus with His kingdom teaching carries on the heart and essence of Old Testament religion.

Systems developed by the Jewish leadership were man made perversions of the revelation given through the prophets. They emphasized the material and physical, which were but shadows of the spiritual reality. This is seen in the words of Jesus to the Pharisees who accused the disciples of not keeping the extra-Biblical laws their tradition had added to the commandments…

Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘ This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’^[

For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…" [Mark 7].

In the sermon on the gospel of the kingdom, Christ warned, ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil’ [Matthew 5:17]. His is a validating and confirming ministry, not an abrogation of past arrangements between God and man.

Covenant of Grace

The unity of the Bible is best seen in its history of redemption given under the Covenant of Grace. As those who attack the doctrine of the Trinity because it is not a Biblical term, there are those who deny the Covenant of Grace for the same reason. As in the case of Trinity the term Covenant of Grace is a theological term that collects a vast amount of Biblical truth.

Genesis chapter 3 recounts the story of Adam’s sin, from which we get the doctrine of the Fall of man from his created state of righteousness into the state of sin. Since the fall of Adam, God has in all ages revealed but one arrangement by which sinners may be saved.

The great plan for separating the serpent and mankind is seen in God’s judgment of the evil one, ‘I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel’ [Genesis 3:15]. Herein is the first gospel promise; the grace of God will come in the seed of the women. The Saviour must suffer, but in the process He will overthrow the evil one.

Grace is seen immediately after the Fall in the way God deals with Adam and Eve. They were afraid and hid, and made themselves aprons of fig leaves, but "the Lord God made them coverings of animal skins" [Genesis 3:21]. The coverings were provided by God to replace the man made aprons, and they required the shedding of blood.

The rest of the Bible is a progressive revelation of the Covenant of Grace to bring redemption to a multitude of people that no man can number from every kindred, tribe, nation and tongue.

The vital unity between the newly come kingdom of God and Old Testament religion is seen in Christ’s teaching on the final phase of the kingdom in its glorious consummation. ‘Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven’ [Matthew 8:11]. Gentiles from all parts of the earth will enter the everlasting kingdom with the Old Testament patriarchs along with John the Baptist. Old Testament believers and those who enter the kingdom share a common salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. They have a common destiny because all are under the canopy of that arrangement labeled the Covenant of Grace.

[Credits to Walter Chantry's God's Righteous Kingdom]

Next post: Grace in the Covenant with Abraham

 

‘From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and Law prophesied until John.’ [Matthew 11:12-13]

The preaching of John the Baptist is summarized as announcing the coming of the kingdom. ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ [Matthew 3:1-2]. Jesus began his preaching the same way by declaring the advent of the kingdom [Matthew 4:12-17]. He sent out the twelve disciples to preach the same message [Matthew 10:7]. The New Testament never speaks of the kingdom as being in existence before the coming of Messiah. Always it is described as something new, as being realized for the first time in the days of Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist announced the change. He is a noble milestone at the end of an era. Yet the prophet remains part of the former age and never quite enters the new. John is not in the kingdom; for ‘he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he’ [Matthew 11:11]. John is part of the Old Testament economy. ‘The prophets and the law’ were ‘until John’. There was none greater than John in that era for he came in the spirit and power of Elijah [Matthew 11:14]. John joined his voice with the old dispensation predictions of a coming Messiah; he was herald of the arrival; his finger pointed to the Lamb of God in the flesh. Even though playing a vital role in the coming of the kingdom, John continued to be part of the old order.

Newness of the kingdom alerts to newness of the covenant. A distinction between prophets and the law on one hand and the kingdom of God on the other accentuates differences between the testaments and distinctions between the covenants. What in the Old Testament is of perpetual obligation and to be applied today? What in the Old Covenant was discontinued with the coming of the kingdom?

The similarities and differences between the covenants are critical issues for the believer. The enemies of the kingdom are quick to point out the differences and to glory in their ignorance as if they had found a fatal flaw in the Bible. Some say the Scriptures are not reliable. If they cannot be trusted in matters of science, then how can they be trusted in anything that they teach? Since men are fallible, and since the books of the Bible were written by men and collected by men, how then can the Bible be the word of the living God?

Those who say there is no God are relentless in every age trying to refute His word. They are looking to justify their unbelief. Most of the time they are successful, ‘to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure’ [Titus 1:15].

The Hebrew prophets predicted the coming of the Holy One of Israel. The New Covenant has come just as they prophesied. Christ is building His church in every generation and every nation despite the hindrances of men. Under persecution the church flourishes. Church history is full of examples of men who set out to debunk Christianity only to find themselves conquered by the grace of God. Are all these men deceived? Are they somehow lacking in intelligence?

The problem is not with enough evidences; the scribes and Pharisees witnessed miracles before their eyes and still remained in unbelief. The problem is with man in his unregenerate state. In Adam we all are born into rebellion against God. In Christ men are ‘born again’ so they can see what was hidden from them in their blindness.

Some disparage the character of God, saying that God is barbaric for commanding lawbreakers to be executed by public stoning in the Old Testament. We thank God that the New Covenant has come putting an end to the Mosaic economy. Jesus did not advocate the harsh punishments instituted through Moses. With Christ we see the mercy of God unfolded toward sinners, ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’ What does this say about God and the covenants? There is no mercy in the absence of justice.

Christ concluded his kingdom parables with the statement that a man ‘instructed in the kingdom of God is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old’ [Matthew 13:52]. Christians must search the Scriptures to answer the questions of how the covenants relate to each other. We must always give preference to the words of Jesus Christ, since He has come to fulfill the law and the prophets. No doctrine should be held that is in conflict with His words, since ‘the Scripture cannot be broken’ [John 10:35].

The Pharisees rejected Christ because their hope was in a restoration of the glory days of the kingdom of Israel. They expected Messiah to conquer the Romans by force. In our day a similar error has crept into the church. There is wide spread expectation among Christians of a physical manifestation of the Mosaic system in the Holy Land. Under the banner of a ‘literal’ interpretation of the Scripture, this new teaching has associated the historic views of the church as contrary to the Scriptures. Those in the New Covenant who wish to resurrect an external, material kingdom patterned after Old Testament Israel do great harm to Christ’s teaching on the kingdom. In the following articles we will demonstrate from the Scriptures that this view is in conflict with the Lord and His Bible.

Seeing the kingdom from Christ’s perspective will equip us to stand against the enemies of the kingdom. We must understand that the kingdom of God has come in Christ and is advancing through gospel preaching just as He said.

In writing of the Day of the Lord the apostle Peter explains what keeps back the Lord from coming again in glory when every man will bow the knee and give account of his life before the High King of Heaven.

‘The Lord is not slow concerning His promise…but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance’ [II Peter 3:9].

The historic view of this passage held by the Reformed Church is foreign to most Protestants today. The kingdom will come visibly at the consummation after Christ has gathered ‘all whom [God] has given Him’ [John 17:2]; all who have repented and believed the gospel both Jew and Gentile; a multitude that no man can number from every nation. This world continues until all the elect enter into the kingdom.

 [Credits to Walter Chantry's God's Righteous Kingdom]

The Law's Connection with the Gospel

Faithful to Christian: When I came to the foot of the hill called Difficulty, I met with a very aged man, who asked me what I was, and whither bound. I told him that I was a pilgrim, going to Celestial City. Then said the old man, Thou lookest like an honest fellow; wilt thou be content to dwell with me for the wages that I shall give thee?

Then I asked his name, and where he dwelt. He said his name was Adam the First, [and he dwelt] in the town of Deceit. I asked him then what was his work, and what the wages that he would give. He told me that his work was many delights: and his wages, that I should be his heir at last. I further asked him what house he kept, and what other servants he had. So he told me that his house was maintained with all the dainties in the world; and that his servants were those of his own begetting. Then I asked how many children he had. He said that he had but three daughters: ‘The Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life,’ and that I should marry them if I would.

Why, at first, I found myself somewhat inclinable to go with the man, for I thought he spake very fair; but, looking in his forehead as I talked with him, I saw there written, ‘Put off the old man with his deeds.’

Then it came burning hot into my mind, whatever he said, and however he flattered, when he got me home to his house, he would sell me for a slave. So I bid him forbear to talk, for I would not come near the door of his house. Then he reviled me, and told me that he would send such a one after me, that should make my way bitter to my soul. So I turned to go away from him; but just as I turned away to go thence, I felt him take hold of my flesh, and give me such a deadly twitch back, that I thought he had pulled part of me after himself. This made me cry, ‘O wretched man!’ So I went on my way up the hill.

Now when I had got about half way up, I looked behind me, and saw one coming after me, swift as the wind…So soon as the man overtook me…down he knocked me, and laid me for dead. But when I was a little come to myself again, I asked him wherefore he served me so. He said, Because of my secret inclining to Adam the First; and with that he struck me another deadly blow on the breast, and beat me down backward, so I lay at his foot as dead before. So when I came to myself again, I cried him mercy; and he said, I know not how to show mercy; and with that he knocked me down again. He had doubtless made an end of me, but that one came by, and bid him forbear.

I did not know him at first, but as he went by, I perceived the holes in his hands and in his side; then I concluded that he was our Lord.

Christian to Faithful: That man that overtook you was Moses: he spareth none, neither knoweth he how to show mercy to those that transgress his law.

In this narrative pastor Bunyan teaches us that in the gospel we are no longer under law, but under grace. The seed promised to Abraham has come being full of grace and truth. The Mosaic economy has served its purpose. It contained rigid guidelines for the people of God, and punished the law breakers without mercy. Its types and shadows are now obsolete compared with the reality of the good things to come that Christ has established with His sacrificial death and resurrection in power and glory.

This article will hear what the Scriptures have to say regarding the role of the moral law and the New Covenant believer. How should the Christian view the moral law?

Jesus told His disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment." [John 16:7-8]

God the Holy Spirit convinces men of sin, and ‘sin is the transgression of the law’ [I John 3:4]. It is not vague impressions of guilt that the Spirit brings into hearts to which He will apply the grace of God. It is awareness of transgression against specific moral precepts, which comes forcefully upon an awakened conscience.

The Kingdom of God announces life for the dead. Christ sent the Spirit to bring men to birth by which they ‘see’ and ‘enter’ the kingdom [John 3:3,5]. Those upon whom the Spirit operates with this life giving grace were ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ [Ephesians 2:1,5]. He by supernatural power quickens to life in righteousness. Members of the kingdom are ‘created in Christ Jesus unto good works’ [Ephesians 2:10]. They are made dead to sin and alive unto righteousness. The moral law defines sin and righteousness.

Entrance into the Kingdom of God is made by way of repentance and faith. New Testament preaching stressed repentance with the announcement of the arrival of the kingdom. ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ [Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Acts 2:38]. Certainly no man will turn from sin unless he knows what it is. Nor will any trust Christ for righteousness without some idea of the lack of it in himself. The moral law exposes sin and unfolds the righteousness of God in Christ.

The apostle Paul teaches that the moral law exposed his guilt and condemnation, ‘I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet’ [Romans 7:7]. Men must be shown their sin before the Savior becomes precious to them. In Christ the righteousness of God is revealed to those who believe [Romans 3:21-22].

A true sense of sin without an attending conviction that God is merciful to sinners in Christ will never produce repentance. It is equally true that a belief in the mercy of God through Christ will have no effect if preached without the moral law. None but sinners need grace and mercy. Men do not know themselves to be sinners without the moral law.

Paul states in Romans 7:14 ‘that the law is spiritual.’ The spiritual nature of the tenth commandment is what convinced him of sin. Of all the commandments, this alone has a purely inward application. It deals solely with the secrets of heart attitudes. Other commandments also speak of heart motives, thoughts and desires. From his understanding of the spirituality of all parts of the moral law the apostle says, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man’ [Romans 7:22].

In Christ’s preaching on the Kingdom of God He opens the moral law by contrasting its true import with the perversions of the scribes and Pharisees. ‘For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [Matthew 5:20].

Because the Spirit had not yet come in gospel measure, Moses of necessity emphasized external and detailed applications of the moral law. Scribes and Pharisees seized upon the external and upon the letter of the moral law while entirely overlooking its spiritual nature.

As Christ preached the gospel of the kingdom, He did not institute a new moral law. Rather He called attention to the spiritual essence of the moral law mediated by Moses. The Pharisees understood the sixth commandment only as a prohibition of literal murder [Matthew 5:21]. Christ declared the spirituality of this law by showing that anger in the heart without a cause was also forbidden. The same can be said regarding their incomplete understanding of the seventh commandment [Matthew 5:27]. Christ taught that lust reveals the sinful nature of the heart.

It was not a new law that Christ expounded but the spiritual dimension of the ageless moral law e