Unwrapping Revelation

Posted on December 15, 2018 by Colin Adams

I’m having a rather strange afternoon and an even stranger Christmas. While Christmas lights twinkle in the corner of my eye, my head is stuck in commentaries on Revelation.

It’s not normally what I do in the month when Christmas jingles hum away in the background. It’s just that we’re planning to preach Revelation in the first half of 2019.

Given the magnitude of the material, I’m doing a ‘tad’ more than usual in forward prep.

So for those who might be interested (and hopefully that’s every Bible reader!) let’s see if we can ‘unwrap’ Revelation just a little. This book is one of God’s greatest gifts to the church!

Reading Revelation Well

1. Our conviction should be that Revelation is just that – a revelation (or disclosure) from God. Thus while some things are hard to interpret, Revelation does not present itself as an impenetrable book. God is not trying to bamboozle us.

2. Allied to the first point, the major themes of Revelation are mainstream. Its big ideas aren’t novel. Or quirky. One could could even argue that Revelation is a summary and climax of Biblical story and doctrine. Creation; divine sovereignty; Christ’s death, resurrection and return; the overcoming of evil; the victory of the church; the final judgement and new creation – these are not exactly new themes! It’s true they are presented in an unusual and climactic form. But behind the strange imagery is glorious old Bible and gospel.

3. The overall purpose of Revelation (to present suffering believers with a vision of God’s purposes that will sustain them to remain faithful to the Lamb) must constantly be borne in mind. Without this purpose anchoring us Revelation quickly becomes academic and speculative. Worse still, a little knowledge of Revelation can translate (and inflate!) into a big head. So we read Revelation for kudos, to impress our friends with our ‘eschatology’ (see how I wowed you with that big word?).

Yet Revelation isn’t designed to grow our ego. It is meant to enliven our faith, strengthen our perseverance and enrich our worship.

4. Revelation combines three ‘genres’ from a literature standpoint, and each of these genres is significant.

Remembering that Revelation is a letter will keep us from de-historicizing it.

Remembering that Revelation is an apocalypse will keep us from over-literalising it (it is highly symbolic, though the symbols do have reference reality).

Remembering that Revelation is prophecy will keep us from de-supernaturalising it (it is God’s word spoken into the present and future).

5. Whatever interpretation approach we lean to (there are at least four main ones), there is probably some truth in each of them.

Clearly, parts of Revelation need to be seen in light of their first century background (Preterist). There are undoubtedly many predictions about the future (Futurist). Revelation does have applications to every age of church history (Historicist – though I do not think Revelation is prophesying the entire church age). And yes,, there are certainly big ideas that are meant to instruct the church (Idealist).

This is not to suggest that we should minimise differences between interpretations. It is only to say that they shouldn’t be presented as entirely separate options. For myself, I am probably a blend of Preterist, Idealist and Futurist perspectives. Yet I think that any of these approaches, taken to an extreme, can restrict and skew the correct interpretation of certain passages. We must let the text lead us to whatever it leads.

6. The structure of the book is difficult to discern, but we can certainly note the letter’s opening and closing, the introductory vision and letters (ch 1-3), the opening vision of God’s throne (ch 4-5), the visions that focus largely on God’s purposes being worked out in destruction (6-20) and in a new heaven and new earth (21-22).

There is a growing consensus that chapters 4-5 are something of an introduction to the following visions. They establish the hidden spiritual reality of God’s sovereignty in creation, redemption and judgement. In the rest of Revelation, we see God through Christ bringing to pass his sovereign purposes. It is also often argued that the number 7 is significant in the book’s structure. It may be that the book has seven or even eight sections (among others, Revelation scholar Greg Beale argues this).

7. The order of the book is not entirely chronological. As is true in other apocalyptic writings, Revelation seems at times to ‘spiral’. There is a cyclical nature to it. The ‘end’ seems to come more than once in the book! Rev 11:15-20 seems a particularly clear example of the final end of history. Yet the visions and the book continue!

8. The Old Testament is an interpretive key to Revelation. There are more than 400 Old Testament ‘allusions’ (not quotes) in the book. It is important that we don’t simply guess at what the images in Revelation may mean. We should ask: where have we seen this image before in the Bible? (eg. The vision of Christ in Revelation 1 uses images largely drawn from the book of Daniel).

9. We should interpret the text symbolically (not literally) unless shown otherwise. This is a highly significant choice in terms of interpretation. Some readers take the opposite approach: they assume a literal interpretation unless they are forced to interpret symbolically.

Everyone accepts that there is at least some symbolism in Revelation. For example, everyone recognises that the slain lamb is symbolic of Christ, and not an actual lamb. Yet more literal interpreters refuse to recognise that most of the book is symbol-laden.

In my opinion, this literal approach fails to recognise the genre. We wouldn’t read poetry in a rigidly literal way. Nor should we do so with apocalypic/prophetic material.

Note: Recognising symbolism is not the same as saying that there is no literal meaning beneath the symbol. Christ isn’t a physical lamb, yet the image has real meaning (he was slain as our perfect substitute sacrifice).

10. There will inevitably be some points of disagreement when it comes to understanding Revelation. Some see much of Revelation as being fulfilled in a coming tribulation at the time of Christ’s return. Some discern a future millennium period when Christ will return on earth. Others see none of these things.

We need to lay out alternative views respectfully. We need to argue our own position, and recognise the points of agreement where we can.

This is where the Idealist approach can prove helpful. People of different end times convictions can still rejoice in the overarching thought of Christ’s reign (Revelation 20), or speak of the need to persevere through trials and tribulations, or agree that (however it will happen) Christ is coming again.

I heard of a seminary professor who totally disagreed with the Left Behind books. Despite his reservations, he wasn’t that bothered that his kids were reading them. He would share his different views if they asked, but was happy that they were growing in their longing for Christ’s return.

11. At the end of the day, this is difficult stuff. We’re not going to get all of it right. We need to be humble about the conclusions we reach.

But we also need to see that much (even most?) of Revelation isn’t controversial.

The Lamb wins.

Surely we can all agree on that and be encouraged!

Challenging a preaching orthodoxy that may not be (quite) right

Posted on September 8, 2018 by Colin Adams

It’s absolutely wrong to ‘rank’ books of the Bible. But if I were to do so (just hypothetically) Philippians would be in my top three.

I love the letter of Philippians. Over years of following Jesus, God has encouraged me through it time and time again. This buoyant epistle has restored my joy. It has rebuked my stubborn pride and helped me regain my focus. This letter has revealed so very much of Jesus, and the manner of life I’m called to in him.

Yet preaching the book of Philippians is another kettle of fish. This letter (IMO) is not easy to preach. In preparing notes recently for our preaching team, I was reminded of the scale of the challenge. Philippians may only be 4 chapters (and 109 verses) long, but summarising it is no mean feat.

Speaking of main themes, it’s become a hardened dogma in many preaching circles to insist upon identifying one. Every sermon we’re told should have ‘a big idea’, and every book of the Bible should be studied till it yields one.

These big ideas of books, incidentally, have fast become an ‘interpretive orthodoxy’ all in themselves. So Romans (as we all know) is about the gospel. Exodus is about redemption. Hebrews is about sticking with Jesus. And 1 John gives us tests of assurance.

Of course sometimes these big ideas are challenged. A few years ago, I heard a preacher quite persuasively argue that the theme of 1 John is not the testing of assurance. 1 John was written to reassure believers. It is not so much an exam to be passed, as it is the test results!

To a great extent, I don’t have a quibble with these sorts of summaries. I believe in the notion of authorial intent and reject the idea that there are an infinite range of meanings to texts. I’m not convinced that we should all be ‘finding different things’ biblical material; it seems to me that many Bible books do have a rather obvious theme.

And when applied to sermons individually, I agree with Mark Dever that normally “the point of the passage should be the point of the sermon.” From a communication perspective we might also add that sermon unity often aids listener clarity.

My question, however, is whether such unity is always present. To use Dever’s terminology, can we always isolate the point of the text?

I would argue that this can’t always be the case.

Take our uninspired communications as an example. When I text message a friend, I may be communicating one idea (“I’ll see you at 7”). But in a longer communication I will often intend to communicate multiple ideas. The email to a friend might be designed to: 1) cheer them up, 2) give them my news, and 3) offer a piece of advice.

Now if (for some unlike reason) future generations were to stumble across my email, they might surmise that one of these purposes was my main point. But I can tell you now I was actually trying to convey three things. Each point had similar weight and value in my mind.

To further the argument, I return to my recent forays into Philippians. Philippians is a particularly difficult letter when it comes to the elusive ‘big idea.’ The trouble arises partly because Paul is not writing primarily with a doctrinal or ethical purpose (Philippians is a thank you letter). It is also questionable whether we can confidently identify a theme verse or central passage in the letter (though people will make their case for 1:27-30, or 2:1-11, or 4:10-20). There are a number of repeated ideas in Philippians, but are these necessarily the main idea? (eg. I don’t think Philippians is just a letter about joy).

The confusion continues when we turn to the commentators. While there are shades of overlap, there is a surprising range of opinions about the letter’s core-theme. So depending who we read, Philippians is about:

the gospel of Christ and the community of Christ (Walter Hansen)
a letter of friendship, emphasising the gospel, the Trinity, Christ and eschatology (Fee)
standing firm in gospel unity and following role models (St Helen’s Philippians notes)
unity, opposition, eschatology and the person of Jesus Christ (Motyer)
multiple purposes – 6 (O’Brien)
“manifold”: warning against error and encouraging them in the face of pagan opposition (Thielman)
to encourage a spirit of unity among them (FF Bruce)

This range of “takes” on Philippians illustrates the challenge of always finding a definitive big idea. I am not extrapolating from this that we toss out the attempt. I am querying whether this is always possible. Perhaps what we need is a little more humility in some cases. We need to stop trying to sound as if we have ‘cracked’ the meaning of a clearly complex book.

I believe there is a wonderful unity to Scripture. But I’m not so sure that the Triune God always communicates one idea at a time.

10 Point Sermon Checklist

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Peter Grainger

1. What is the main purpose of my sermon?

In a book of interest to preachers, Phillip Collins writes:

“All speeches can be divided into at least one of the three functions:

1. Information: a speech whose principal function is to leave an audience better informed than they were before you began.

2. Persuasion: a speech whose principal function is to persuade an audience of a case that, before you began, had either never occurred to them or to which they had been actively hostile.

3. Inspiration: a speech whose principal function is to inspire the audience to do something that they had previously not considered doing or had been refusing to do or, occasionally, to carry on doing something.”

(Philip Collins was a former speechwriter for Tony Blair: The Art of Speeches and Presentations: The Secrets of Making People Remember What You Say, 2012)

I ask the preachers I mentor to examine what proportion of their sermons are devoted to these three functions. In my opinion, most evangelical preachers are weak on persuasion, even weaker on inspiration, yet strong on information! Interestingly, Collins suggests that while all speeches should have more than one function, persuasion should be dominant!

2. Have I fully understood the passage from which I am preaching?

This involves the spadework of studying words and phrases along with the cultural background and context. Exegetical commentaries can aid us here. Check how different English versions translate the passage from which you are preaching, ranging from those at the “formal equivalent” end of the scale, to the “functional equivalent”, and those in between.

The test of whether you clearly understand any passage is that you can explain it to your hearers in accessible language.

3. What is the big idea of my sermon?

Philip Collins asks: “What is your speech essentially about? Tell me in a single sentence. If you can’t do that, you don’t know. And if you don’t know you aren’t ready to do a speech.”

Pastor Paul Martin has written in a similar vein: “There is a tendency to want to say everything about many things as opposed to saying the most important things about one thing….Every sermon ought to be explained by one sentence…When you are finished the preparation of your sermon you should be able to quickly answer the question, “In one sentence or less, what is your sermon about?” If you cannot do that, you do not know what your one big point is and you need to do more preparation and study.”

The big idea is best summarised in a title for the sermon and the best kind of title is not in the form of a statement (which means what follows will focus on information) but a command or, even better, a question: both of which demands a response from the hearer. For creative idea for sermon titles, see this article.

4. Does the introduction to my sermon highlight the big idea and engage with my hearers?

“I am not and have never been a typical Welsh preacher. I felt that in preaching the first thing that you had to do was to demonstrate to the people that what you were going to do was very relevant and urgently important. The Welsh style of preaching started with a verse and the preacher then told you the connection and analysed the words, but the man of the world did not know what he was talking about and was not interested. I started with the man whom I wanted to listen, the patient. It was a medical approach really – here is a patient, a person in trouble, and ignorant man who has been to the quacks, and so I deal with all that in the introduction. I wanted to get to the listener and then come to my exposition. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Volume 1: The First Forty Years 1899 – 1939, Iain Murray, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1982)

As the saying goes:“If you don’t strike oil in the first five minutes, stop boring!” For this reason, the sermon introduction should be carefully scripted and practised. Nowadays I tend to do the introduction first and then read the Bible passage. If you read the Bible passage first, Christians can think they already understand it while non-Christians won’t see the relevance. If you start with the big idea which catches the attention of the hearers, you can then say, “Let’s turn to the Bible which addresses this issue.”

5. Is my sermon set in its context?

“A text without a context is a pretext for a proof-text.” Every sermon needs to be placed within ever-widening circles of context

In the passage/chapter in which it occurs
In the book of the Bible in which it occurs (and maybe the sermon series)
In the metanarrative of the Biblical story-line
- Old Testament – looking forward to the coming of Jesus
- New Testament – looking back to the first coming of Jesus and looking forward to the second coming of Jesus

Beware of “synagogue sermons” when preaching from the Old Testament. Sermons which a good Jew would be happy with (ie. that don’t mention Jesus) or which only mention him peripherally or briefly in conclusion, are not what we should be aiming for. Look for text or theme connections which link with the New Testament and the coming of Jesus.

6. Does my sermon have a structure which makes it easier to follow?

Any structure needs to be derived from the passage in which it occurs:

In narrative, it can trace the time-line of the events described
In teaching, it can follow the development of the argument/logic
In wisdom literature it can often be like spokes of a wheel which radiate out from the hub (the central idea)

Note:

Sermons do not need to have three points! Quite often, the text lends itself to two contrasting or parallel points.
Points do not need to alliterate! If you can find something that works and is memorable, use it. But don’t force it.

7. Does my sermon have helpful illustrations?

Illustrations serve two functions. Most obviously they illuminate the point you are making, like windows letting in the light. Less obviously, illustrations provide breathing space for thinking. Rather than constantly adding new information to assimilate, illustrations provide a plateau to absorb what has been said before ‘moving on up’. It is the difference between a series of steps and one steep gradient.

8. Does my sermon have an effective conclusion?

There are at least two kinds of conclusion to a sermon:

The summary conclusion where you review what has been taught.
The climax conclusion where you return to the big idea and apply it directly (and succinctly!) to the hearers – individually or corporately.

Whichever you use, the sermon you need to answer the “So what?” question: i.e. what exactly do you want your hearers to do as a result of this message? Praise? Repent? And about what? This can be followed by a prayer which also needs to be prepared (at least in bullet points if not full text) to allow the people to respond to the message.

9. Does my sermon address all those present?

The application of your sermon is largely determined by the profile of the audience/congregation. If the congregation is largely made up of Christians, focus not only on the individual and the local church, but (depending on the subject) place your sermons and them in the wider context of both the national church and the broader culture of which we are all part. And always include an evangelistic emphasis and challenge – if only to remind Christians present of the greatness of the gospel and to wish their non-Christians friends were present (and maybe bring them along).

10. Could I make changes in the presentation of my sermon?

Would my sermon benefit from…

a change in length?

“So for how long should you preach? The answer for me is around 23 minutes. The answer for Gary is around 21-30 minutes, with an average around 25. The answer for Tim Keller is as long as he likes. The answer for all of us? Plan to stop a minute or two before people start wishing you would. (And stop thinking you’re Tim Keller).” (Gary Millar & Phil Campbell, Saving Eutychus – how to preach God’s word and keep people awake” , Matthias Media, 2013)

Learn to estimate how long your sermon is going to be by the length of your notes. For me (using full notes) 1000 words = 10 minutes so I try to edit down to a maximum of 3000 words (allowing time for ad-libs).

more variety in pace and volume? (especially in the conclusion – see point 8)

the use of PowerPoint?

I find that using PowerPoint helps the hearers to see where I am going and helps me to clarify the structure of my sermon. My rule of thumb for its use is that it is an aid, not a substitute, for the spoken word. Someone only listening to the sermon should not miss anything substantial from not seeing the PowerPoint.

In The Event Of Nuclear War, What Would You Preach?

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Colin Adams

This guest post comes from Peter Grainger, former pastor of Charlotte Baptist Chapel, and Director of the 2 Timothy 4 Trust

Following the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower in London in June with the loss of over 80 lives, and the ongoing enquiry into how it happened, I wonder if anyone has preached on the topic “Who was responsible for the tower tragedy?” based on Luke 13:1-3 in which Jesus addresses the subject of a tragic event surrounding a tower in which 18 people were killed?

Of much wider consequence, in relation to growing alarm over the actions of the Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, what is the response of churches and preachers to the potential threat of nuclear war? More specifically, in the event of nuclear war, what will you preach?

Here’s an example from the introduction to a sermon by a famous preacher when the prospect of nuclear war loomed even larger than today:

Why have we had the crisis of this past week? Why are the nations of the world trembling as they are this morning? What is the cause of all this? Well, I want to suggest that ultimately the cause of these problems is a failure to understand the truth concerning the law of God. This is not some theoretical question; it is the most practical, the most urgent, question facing the world today. It is of vital importance throughout the whole of life, for Christians and for non-Christians.”

(D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Born of God Sermons from John Chapter 1, Banner of Truth Trust, 2011)

The editors of the book in which the sermon is found, give a helpful footnote: The Cuban missile crisis. This sermon was preached on 28^thOctober 1962. The preacher was Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and his text was John 1:17: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones

Rather than church being a place to escape the world and all its problems, the worshippers in Westminster Chapel on that Sunday morning were confronted with the current crisis by the preacher and directed to the Scriptures to enable them not only to understand the cause of the crisis but also its resolution.

Today I suspect that this may not be the case in many churches where the Sunday service has little engagement with the world, nation and community outside its own narrow orbit. This was first brought home forcibly to me back in 2001 when I visited a number of churches during a sabbatical. One of them was what I would call a “dateless service” – one in which someone listening to a recording of it from beginning to end would not be able to identify when it took place (other than the dates of the hymns within the last 100 years!). The only name mentioned by the leader was someone named Jim who needed prayer as he was in hospital – only for someone to shout out that he was now home (Praise the Lord!) Yet it took place on the Sunday before a General Election and in the week in which the Crown Prince had murdered all the members of the Nepali Royal Family!

As I now travel around preaching in different churches, I am becoming increasingly concerned by the loss of the “intercessory prayer” in which “prayers, petitions, intercession and thanksgiving be made for kings and all those in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1-4). In the event of nuclear war, I don’t expect this will change but instead the hatches will be battened down to await what will be the (increasingly predicted imminent) return of Christ.

But, to return to the topic – in the event of nuclear war, what will you preach? For those of us who preach consecutive expository sermons and have our preaching programme planned out for months or even a year, will we continue to preach what we have planned regardless? It is interesting to note that the sermon quoted above by Lloyd-Jones was part of a series of 32 sermons on John 1, so that he adapted or shaped the thrust of his sermon to the current situation.

Many of would perhaps lack the ability and flexibility to do that, so perhaps there is a place for a break in the planned series to respond to a particularly significant situation. In my own ministry, two such events spring to mind – the Dunblane massacre and the death of Princess Diana (which is still a live and painful event for many even now on the 20^thÂ anniversary of her death).

So, in the event of a nuclear war, what would you preach? The neat and right answer is of course “the Gospel” and the history of past crises show that these are occasions for evangelistic preaching as fearful people seek answers. But what specific Scriptures might be particularly appropriate? There may be parallels with current events (tower tragedies) or moments in history – for example, the fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile. Or are these occasions for preaching from apocalyptic literature, especially the Book of Revelation? And many of the Psalms are especially relevant – for example, Psalm 46 in the event of a nuclear war:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

I’d be interested to know from other preachers

Have you broken into a series and for what occasion?
Do you have a “crisis” sermon on file?
What Scriptures have you found especially relevant?

And especially, in the event of nuclear war, what would you preach?

The Fruitful Fields Of Ruth

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Colin Adams

This post was originally written for the Greenview church blog. I wrote it to the church in the aftermath of preaching Ruth 1.

Our sojourn is officially underway, as we travel the dusty roads, fruitful fields and overcrowded threshing floors of Ruth. What a lovely story it is! Yet the jaunt to Moab and back is more than a “good read”. It is, as we’ve already seen, a drama that magnifies the divine. In four short chapters, it is God’s plans and purposes – his grace and loving kindness – that sparkle like jewels in the crown.

But what lies at the heart of this wonderful story? What is, we might ask, the main theme?

Scholars have long debated the question – and it’s easy to see why. Several themes are prominent and seem to vie with each other for the reader’s attention. Rather than trying to prioritise them, why don’t we just enjoy them!

Emptiness and fullness

One of Ruth’s central themes is that of emptiness and fullness. Naomi’s family leave Bethlehem (the “house of bread”) for Moab because their empty stomachs are needing filled. But rather than finding ‘fullness’ Naomi experiences emptiness. Bereaved of her husband, then burying her two sons, Naomi is left with no grandchildren to carry on the family name. She is “empty” of relationships and prospects.

In a sense, there is something of a ‘parable’ here. Moab (for which read “the world”) can never give us “fullness.” No, fullness can only be found in the Promised Land (for which read “Christ”) and in Bethlehem (the birth place of Jesus!) particularly. Then from chapter two onwards we see God filling up Naomi’s emptiness: first with food (ch 2), then with marriage and children (for Ruth; ch 4). This is all a glimmering preview of the banquet we will enjoy, if we are in union with Christ.

Coincidence and providence

The story of Ruth has a number of happy coincidences. The key one, of course, is when Ruth happens to reap in a field belonging to Boaz (Ruth 2:3). Boaz just ‘happens’ to be a distant relative of Ruth’s mother in law, Naomi. Of all the field corners she could have picked, what were the chances of Ruth picking this one? Then there’s the turning up of Boaz (“And behold, Boaz” – Ruth 2:4, ESV) at just the right time to meet Ruth, and we see that the story could have ended differently than it did.

Doubtless the author of Ruth wants us to see that these are not accidents at all. Much better to call them “divine coincidences” (Ian Duguid). It is still true today that God mostly guides us when we are totally unconscious of it. Contemporary Christians are often rather fixated on the notion of special, dramatic guidance; yet we often underplay the absolute wonder of every-day providence.

Harshness and loving-kindness

Near the end of chapter 1, Naomi protests that the LORD has made her life very bitter (Ruth 1:22). Sinclair Ferguson suspects that she’s speaking of her bitter situation, rather than her bitter heart. But even if this is correct, other factors would lead us to see that Naomi is struggling to see God’s goodness towards her. When she returns to Bethlehem Naomi speaks of her comprehensive emptiness (Ruth 1:21). There is no mention of Ruth (Ruth 1:19-22) who had returned from Moab with her. Naomi was not alone. She wasn’t completely empty. Unnoticed, yet standing beside her, was the first-fruits of God’s kindness towards Naomi.

It’s often hard for us to see God’s kindness when our circumstances seem unkind. Perhaps like Naomi it will need some unmistakable, grain-heap act of kindness, for us to see that God is not against us.

Chaos and kingship

Ruth is set in the time of the judges, when Israel had no king and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. This is an important piece of context to keep in mind. Ruth is a very un-judges like book, a balm to soothe the reader after the warfare, bloodshed and sexual indiscretions of Judges. It’s gentle, subtle, pastoral style, draws us in and causes us to reflect on what we’re reading.

But while the style of Ruth is a million miles from Judges, one of the themes of Ruth (lineage; kingship) is related. Ruth provides the glorious answer to the chaos and carnage of a kingless nation. During the time of Judges God was working behind the scenes, preparing the ground for the coming of king David (Ruth 4:18-22). David would not just be charged with ruling the nation politically. He was called by God to reform the nation spiritually; to call Israel back to it’s Sinai roots.

Without Naomi, Ruth and what is recorded in this history, King David would never had lived. And King Jesus would never have been born (Matthew 1:1-16).

Namelessness and Redemption

Ah yes, the theme of redemption. One of the biggies in the book of Ruth. And not without good reason, for Boaz is frequently called a kinsman redeemer (Ruth 3:9). Kinsmen redeemer’s in ancient Israel were usually close family members, who would step in to save their relatives from poverty, or to save the family line from extinction. They would do this by buying back the lost family property and, in some cases, by beginning a new marriage that would bear children.

Though “strictly speaking” Boaz didn’t meet the criteria that would force him to be such a redeemer (he wasn’t the brother of the deceased; he was a distant relative; he could have argued that Ruth was a Moabite), he willingly rose to the challenge to save Naomi’s family from poverty and extinction. By paying a price and marrying Naomi’s daughter in law (Ruth 4:9,10) he brought security, hope and a future to this little family.

All of this points forward to Jesus. Jesus is the willing Redeemer who takes us as his bride and saves us from spiritual poverty. Jesus ensures that our name will be written in God’s book of life for eternity!

“Saviour In The Shadows” Review

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Colin Adams

With a little relief and a tinge of sadness, I finished Leviticus last Sunday.

Despite some unfounded fears, the studies thrilled our souls. The series were not just full of laws. They were full of the Saviour whom the laws foreshadowed.

Given that we were camped in the Old Testament there was an “unfamiliarity” that proved stimulating. The gospel was seen – but in a deeper, fuller, more radiant way. God’s purposes were also seen. Yahweh’s desire, then and now, is to dwell among a people who are holy and wholly devoted.

Of course preaching a book like Leviticus is not without challenges. Many of the details are initially obscure to a contemporary audience. There is the challenge of knowing how much to explain. There is also the need for apologetics whenever Leviticus seems ‘at odds’ with modern tastes.

But the challenges are worth it. Leviticus is more than worth it’s time and toil.

In the final analysis, I covered Leviticus in 16 sermons. It doubtless could have been covered in a shorter period of time. But the length – at least for me – seemed just about right. It certainly didn’t feel repetitive. The variety of themes is wide-ranging and intriguing.

If you would like to listen to the series, the links are available below.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Colin

1. The Burnt Offering (Leviticus ch 1)

2. The Grain Offering (Leviticus ch 2)

3. The Fellowship Offering (Leviticus 3)

4. The Sin Offering (Leviticus 4)

5. The Guilt Offering (Leviticus 5)

6. Priests & Pointers (Leviticus 8-10)

7. Strange Fire (Leviticus 10)

8. Clean & Unclean (Leviticus 11-15)

9. The Day Of Atonement (Leviticus 16)*

*This sermon was preached by Andy MacDonald, one of our elders.

10. Blood, blood, more blood (Leviticus 17)

11. Purity (Leviticus 18)

12. Feasts & foreshadows part 1 (Leviticus 23)

13. Feasts & foreshadows part 2 (Leviticus 23)

14. Jubilee! (Leviticus 25)

15. Blessings & Curses (Leviticus 26)

16. Wholly Devoted (Leviticus 27)

Eleven Killer Questions To Ask Of A Bible Passage

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Colin Adams

Questions are to bible study what the spade is to the archaeologist. They help us dig up hidden treasures. As we plant the shovel and find the gems, we should share the questions that aided discovery. These eleven questions have proved unusually fruitful in my study of Scripture.

1.Where does this book appear in the Bible’s plotline?

This is the first question I use to orientate myself. As I parachute down into Bible terrain I try to look around and get my bearings. The initial question needs to be: where am I? Do I find myself in the Old or New Testament? More specifically: where exactly am I in either of those Testaments?

It will greatly aid our study to have an increasing grasp of the Bible’s plotline. For the newbie, I would highly recommend God’s Big Picture (Vaughan Roberts) or the two volumes by Mark Dever (Promises Made; Promises Kept). For a more advanced take on the plotline, check out Graham Goldsworthy.

2. Who was this book written to?

It is certainly important to ask: who wrote this book? Knowing the author can sometimes be decisive. The psalms of David, for instance, should be read in a certain way. These are not just songs and cries of any old believer; they are the songs and cries of a King who foreshadows the Messiah.

But the author isn’t always so important. Some Bible books are formally anonymous, after all.

What often carries greater weight is the identity of the recipient. So, it helps to understand that the original audience of..

the Pentateuch was the young Jewish nation, round about the time of entering Canaan…
…that the original audience of the Psalms were Jews, who sang these songs in a prophetic context…
…that Luke’s gospel was written to a man who needed greater certainty about the Christian faith….
…that Revelation is being written to persecuted Christians in the first century…

If we forget the original audience, our interpretation will go skew-whiff.

3. What is the book’s overall message?

We often forget to ask this vital question. Getting lost in our passage, we tend to lose sight of the overall thrust.

To uncover the overall message, we need to prayerfully read the entirety. We look for structures, developing themes and telling-statements. These in turn will lead us to the book’s big theme.

To give an example of why this matters, take 1st John. The overarching thrust is that John’s readers can have assurance of being genuine Christians. John’s recipients were living in the aftermath of certain people leaving their church. These leavers claimed to have superior spiritual knowledge, and those who stayed behind were left to question their own salvation. John assures his readers that they HAVE true fellowship with God. 1st John then, isn’t so much a challenge to John’s readers, as a comfort to them. Seeing this bigger point, will stop us from misapplying the letter in its details. We mustn’t preach these passages as though they are frightening tests of assurance!

4. What is the wider context of each passage/verse?

The “promise box” approach to Bible study is still alive and well. People lift a Bible verse out of context and in splendid isolation ask, what does this mean? This can only lead us making up meaning!

Handling the Bible responsibly means examining each verse in the flow of the passage. So Paul’s claim that he can do everything through Christ’s strength (Phil 4: 13) is to be understood in the flow of what he’s said before (he’s been talking about contentment in circumstances of poverty). Paul isn’t saying that in Christ he can jump over tall buildings! He’s saying he can survive through times of want.

5. What is the passage structure?

Every Bible passage has some kind of structure. We discern the structure in different ways depending on the genre:

If it’s a narrative…what are the turns in the plot? Where is the point of crisis? What is the great resolution?
If it’s an epistle: What are the steps in the argument? What is the progression of logic from a to b to c?
If it’s a psalm: what are the stanzas/verses? Is there a chorus line that’s repeated? Is there a chiasm? (where the main point lies in the middle, and parallel points lie to either side)

6. What is the surprise in the passage?

Dale Ralph Davis put me on to this one. The Bible is full of the unexpected, so we should be on the look out for it.

This is especially important when studying familiar passages. It was a surprise to me recently to notice that Elijah, in the contest at Carmel, set up what was essentially a ‘burnt offering’ (see Leviticus 1). I then started to notice other ways in which Elijah was calling Israel back to the law and old patterns of faithful worship.

7. What is the main message of the passage? (hint: this is usually a truth about God)

Even short passages can be packed with many truths. Take Mark 4:35-41. You’ve got the disciples obeying Jesus command; you’ve got Jesus sleeping on the boat; there’s the calming of the storm, and then the disciples being confronted for their unbelief.

But what is the main point of the story? To work this out we need to grapple with

the overall message of Mark’s gospel (Jesus is God’s suffering servant),
the context of the chapter (the early part of Mark emphasises Jesus’ identity),
the content of chapter 4 (which has a focus on God’s word)
and the details of the story (Jesus controls nature with his word, and the disciples are left asking ‘who is this’?).
Putting all these things together, we could say that the storm stilling story reveals the God-man whose word controls creation.

8. What was the application to the original readers?

Don’t immediately ask what a Psalm means to you. Ask what it would have meant to the Jew who first sung it? The songs of ascent (Psalms 120-134) meant something to the Jews. They sang Psalm 121 with a literal foreboding of being surrounded by enemies on every side. That original experience is not meant to be glossed over.

It is equally crucial to ask this of the New Testament. What would Revelation 12 have meant to 1st century persecuted Christians? A lot of zany interpretation about Revelation would be cured instantly if we recognised that many suggested interpretations would have made no sense to the original readers!

9. How does the passage relate to Christ and then the church?

A key question to ask if we’re in the Old Testament. If I’m preaching on the temple-vision in Ezekiel (Ez 40-48) I need to think through how this is fulfilled in Christ (John 2:19) and then in the church (1 Cor 3:16). When viewed through the eyes of the NT, Ezekiel is not promising a literal, earthly temple. He is previewing a grander temple: Jesus Christ, and the church that is God’s dwelling place.

10. What is the general application to a contemporary Christian?

Before we can extrapolate the nuances of application, we need to get clear the application generally. When preaching on Leviticus 23 last Sunday I said that the application of these festivals was to rest and rejoice in Christ’s work. Of course, how that resting and rejoicing will play out will look different for a teenager than it does for a married man or an older person. But before we can delineate those application lines, we have to know the main thrust.

11. How does the passage reform me, my church and my world?

It might be helpful to think of three concentric circles: me, my church, and my world. Of course if we are preaching we might want to expand these categories much further. But for personal bible study these will probably be enough. The latter two questions, especially, will help to push us beyond our usual individualism.

John Bunyan And The Hidden Perils Of Preaching

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Colin Adams

Preachers rarely confess this. Maybe it’s because they don’t want to look weak, or appear to be inviting self-pity. But if preachers were a tad more vulnerable they would speak more often about preaching’s hidden challenges.

The phases of exegesis and sermon-construction bring their own serious exertions, that is true. But composing the sermon can be easier than actually preaching it. In the hours prior to the sermon we can find our hearts beset by fear and unbelief. The moment of preaching (though often wonderfully assisted) is not insulated from the attacks of the evil one. The moments after preaching can see us prone to either lofty pride on the one hand, or crushing discouragement on the other. The preacher’s position may be lofty, but like a climber, poised on a pinnacle, there are slippery slopes on every side.

Someone who feared the precipice more than most was John Bunyan. Best known for his allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan also wrote a revealing biography: Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners. In this transparent testimonial Bunyan reveals his trials in relation to preaching. Bunyan’s revelations are not only fascinating. They will resonate with many 21st century expositors.

Fears beforehand that he won’t be useful or coherent

“Sometimes I should be assaulted with great discouragement therein, fearing that I should not be able to speak the Word at all to edification…that I should not be able to speak sense unto the people.”

Physical weakness during the sermon

“At which times I should have such a strange faintness and strengthlessness seize upon my body that my legs have scarce been able to carry me to the place of exercise.”

Struggling with sin in the act of preaching

“Sometimes, again, when I have been preaching, I have been violently assaulted with thoughts of blasphemy, and strongly tempted to speak the words with my mouth before the congregation.”

Losing one’s way in the middle of the sermon

“I have also at some times, even when I have begun to speak the Word with much clearness, evidence, and liberty of speech, yet been before the ending of that opportunity so blinded, and so estranged from the things I have been speaking, and have also been so straitened in my speech, as to utterance before the people, that I have been as if I had not known or remembered what I have been about, or as if my head had been in a bag all the time of the exercise.”

Feeling hypocrisy

“Again, when as sometimes I have been about to preach upon some smart and scorching portion of the Word, I have found the tempter suggest, What, will you preach this? this condemns yourself; of this your own soul is guilty; wherefore preach not of it at all; or if you do, yet so mince it as to make way for your own escape; lest instead of awakening others, you lay that guilt upon your own soul as you will never get from under.”

“But, I thank the Lord, I have been kept from consenting to these so horrid suggestions, and have rather, as Samson, bowed myself with all my might, to condemn sin and transgression wherever I found it, yea, though therein also I did bring guilt upon my own conscience! ‘Let me die,’ thought I, ‘with the Philistines’ (Judg. 16.29, 30), rather than deal corruptly with the blessed Word of God.”

Pride

“I have also, while found in this blessed work of Christ, been often tempted to pride and liftings up of heart….Christ can use…gifted men, as with them to affect the souls of His people in His church; yet when He hath done all, hang them by as lifeless, though sounding cymbals. This consideration, therefore, together with some others, were, for the most part, as a maul on the head of pride, and desire of vain glory; what, thought I, shall I be proud because I am a sounding brass? Is it so much to be a fiddle? Hath not the least creature that hath life, more of God in it than these?”

Conclusion: a call for honesty and prayer

Let me finish in a Bunyan-esque sort of way: “methinks” that we need to be more honest about our hidden struggles. Let’s talk about these challenges, at least in our preacher’s fraternals. And if you are not preacher, would you pray for us? We need your prayers in all sorts of ways.

Five Offerings That Point To One

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Colin Adams

The Bible’s epicentre is the person and work of Jesus Christ. We could unpack that a little by saying that in the Old Testament Jesus’ person and work are predicted, while in the New his person is revealed and his work accomplished.

In terms of Jesus’ work, the cross of course is key. Calvary was the supreme place where our redemption was accomplished. It was on the accursed tree that Jesus blood was shed, the blood that “obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

Hebrews also makes it clear that Jesus sin offering was “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). The offering was unique; one-of-a-kind.

However just because of an offering a single, doesn’t imply that it is simple. Christ’s offering is multi-faceted in terms of its glory! So much is this the case that the Jewish sacrificial system had to forecast the one offering by way of five previews! No one Old Testament offering could alone encapsulate the brilliance of Christ’s atonement.

So without further ado let me summarise the five main offerings found in Leviticus(chapters 1 -7). I’ve made some suggestions as to these offerings relate to Christ and then to the Christian/church.*

In salvation terms, there is no more to pay…The invoice from heaven reads “paid in full.” Nevertheless, the one who has been forgiven much, loves much. A heart set free from sin will turn from sin and joyfully demonstrate both repentance and generosity. The story of Zacchaeus is exhibit A in this regard.

* Which, by the way, is how one should read Leviticus. To interpret the book properly, we need to firstly draw the line of interpretation to Christ and ask “how does he fulfil this passage?” And then, having done that, we draw the line through Christ to ourselves. On this latter point we will pay particular attention to how the NT seems to apply the Levitical ideas to the New Testament Christian.

“Leviticus!!?” “Yes, Leviticus!”

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Colin Adams

The wonderful book of Leviticus seems to both bore and baffle many Christians. Allan Moseley (in his excellent commentary) describes the challenge:

Many Christians read along swimmingly until they come to Leviticus. They read about sacrifices that are no longer offered, a priesthood that no longer exists, and laws that we are no longer to obey.

Though Moseley is undoubtedly right, it is nothing short of a crying shame that any Christian should avoid Leviticus. I am so convinced of this that I will be starting a new series on Sunday. Yes, we are going to be studying Leviticus!

Given that many preachers avoid Leviticus (and many who don’t then wish they had!) I thought I would blog a bit about the process. Nothing I share will be terribly profound but I hope it might encourage other preachers to “have a go” at this book. Let’s start with some…

Reasons to preach Leviticus

As well as being part of God’s ‘expired’ Word (2 Timothy 3:16), here are three other reasons to be preaching Leviticus:-

Leviticus gives you a better understanding of the whole Bible. Have you considered how many Bible concepts originate in Leviticus? The answer is ‘quite a lot’! Consider the fact that the sacrificial system, the priesthood, the operation of the Tabernacle/temple, the day of atonement, the food laws, the cleanliness laws, and most of the Jewish festivals…all emerge from the book of Leviticus! Understand Leviticus and you will be well on your way to understanding the other 65 books.
Leviticus gives you a bigger view of sin. Sin according to Leviticus is a HUGE problem. Leviticus begins with God in the midst, but man outside the tent (Lev 1 v 1)! To gain access to God, Israel’s sin will need to be atoned for. But atonement will only come at the highest of costs: sacrifice, blood-shedding, death! When we read the book of Leviticus we get a sense of the scale and seriousness of sin. It is a really BIG deal. That’s not a bad thing to remember in a culture where sin is dismissed and downplayed.
Leviticus gives you a brilliant (shadowy) preview of God’s solution to sin. How can a holy God dwell among an unholy people? How can an unholy people have access to a holy God? The solution is brilliantly previewed in the book of Leviticus: i.e. a substitutionary sacrifice, made by a priest on the day of atonement!!

Title

Before settling on a title, I played around with a number of possible themes. Many series’ on Leviticus emphasise the holiness of God (eg. ‘Holy God, holy people’), but I decided that I wanted to keep the atonement-theme central to the series. I want to drive home the concept that Christ is the fulfilment of all we find in Leviticus. The ‘shadows’ idea comes, of course, from Hebrews 10:1, and speaks to the fact that Leviticus is a brilliant, yet shadowy preview of the Saviour who is to come. The excellent graphic above, by the way, was created by a talented artist in our church (Kirsty McAllister) who developed the motif in picture form. More of her work can be found here.

Outline of series

I am not preaching the whole book – but neither am I doing a short series. There is too much good stuff that I don’t want to miss out! So the series looks like this:

The burnt offering (Lev 1)
The grain offering (Lev 2)
The fellowship offering (Lev 3)
The sin offering (Lev 4)
The guilt offering (Lev 5)
Priests and pointers (Lev 8)
Strange fire (Lev 10)
Unclean, unclean! (Lev 11)
The day of atonement (Lev 16)
Blood, blood, more blood (Lev 17)
Purity (Lev 18)
Feasts and foreshadows (Lev 23:1-14)
Feasts and foreshadows part 2 (Lev 23:15-44)
Jubilee (Lev 25)
Rewards and punishments (Lev 26)
Wholly devoted (Lev 27)

Resources

There are four main books I am using. The first pair will assist me more with the exegesis, the second duo mainly with the application. Of course, we preachers need a good balance between both sorts of books.

Leviticus – Gordon Wenham

Holiness to the Lord – Allen P Ross

Exalting Jesus in Leviticus – Alan Moseley

Holy God, holy people – Kenneth Matthews

Applying Leviticus today

This is the main thing I have been forced to think through in preparation, and it seems to me that there are at least three rails to run our applications along:

a) Christ-centred applications. Our first line of application must surely be to Christ. Leviticus is a shadowy preview of our saviour Jesus’ work.

When we see the offerings in Leviticus, we see a fore-shadow of Jesus’ offering and sacrifice…

When we see priests in Leviticus, we see the shadowy outline of Jesus, the mediator between God and men…

When we see cleanliness laws and food laws, we see the shadowy outline of Jesus who was not just clean but Holy…

When we see the day of atonement, at the centre of Leviticus, we see a shadowy preview of the day of atonement when God’s nation (the church) would be redeemed through a scapegoat…

And when we see the festivals and Jewish holy days, we see a shadowy outline of Christ….who is our Passover lamb, our Sabbath rest, and the firstfruits of those who will rise from the dead!

b) Levitical language applications. A great deal of Levitical language is used throughout the New Testament. We are commanded, for example, to offer our bodies as ‘living sacrifices ‘(Romans 12:1) and to ‘offer to God the sacrifice of praise’ (Heb 13:5). We are invited to draw near to God (Heb 10:22) with our hearts sprinkled and our bodies washed with pure water. We are called ‘a royal priesthood’ and ‘a holy nation’ (1 Peter 2:9), called to ‘be holy’ even as God is holy (Lev 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16-17).

c) Abiding principle applications. I’m not going to get bogged down in the thorny question of how exactly the Old Testament laws apply today. However, every Christian would agree that at least some of the Levitical laws cannot be directly drawn across to the Christian. That being the case, I find it useful to ask the question: what principle lies behind this particular law? Take the food laws, for example. A Christian today no longer needs to resist pork. But it’s still worth asking ‘what principle lay behind that law’? Certainly the food laws were partly designed to make Israel distinctive from all the other nations. God’s people weren’t to look like everyone else, and the food laws ensured that, in a practical way. So the principle is one of being distinctive. Does the New Testament say anything about the church living distinctively? Very much so! That is a line of application that we can develop.