Friday on the Links

Here is a list of links that I found interesting, spiritually stimulating or just amusing:

Some thoughts on the importance of the church. "Challenging Low Views of the Church"

C.J. Mahaney's advice on how to set Biblical priorities, goals and establish a Biblically productive lifestyle. "Biblical Productivity" The PDF file is about 36 pages, but well worth your time!

How do you balance obedience to man and obedience to God? See: God's Commands vs. Man's Commands -- Part 1 and Part 2

A car review that is just plain funny. If you are an environmentalist, read it. If you are not, enjoy it.

What is the Song of Solomon?

Whenever you read something, it is important to know the type of literature you are reading. You don’t read the comics the same way you read an editorial or a classified ad.

If we are going to understand the Song of Solomon, our first task is to determine what type of writing it is. Unfortunately, different people have reached very different conclusions over the years.

We’ll start with what the Song is not.

It is not a sex-manual. God did not intend this book as the Christian’s guide to good sex.

“It is important to remember that the Song is not a dating guide or a sex manual. It is not a ‘how-to’ book, but rather poetry intent on evoking a mood more than making mandates to the reader concerning specific types of behavior.” (Tremper Longman, Song of Songs, p.60)

It is not an allegory. Both Jews and Christians hold this view. The Jews see it as representing the love between God and Israel; the Christians as the love between Jesus and the Church. The problem is that the book does not present itself as an allegory. There is no symbolic key. The places and names are historical, not representative. It is nothing like Pilgrim’s Progress or other allegories we know.

It is not a drama. Many people try to read Song of Solomon as an story of the courtship, marriage, difficulties and triumph of Solomon and the Shulamite woman. Others see it as a story of the Shulamite’s love for her shepherd boyfriend despite Solomon’s attempts to bring her into his harem.

The problem with the dramatic view is that it reads a structure into the book that is not clearly evident. The book also has many indications of sexual activity (Sol 1:2-4, 12-14; 2:4-6, 16) prior to the marriage (Sol 3:11).

The book is a collection of love poems. It is a song of exchanges between a married couple that rejoices in and celebrates their love for each other.

There is a unifying structure to the Song. It is not just a random compilation of poems.

The poems form a huge chiasm that climaxes in at 4:16-5:1[1], which celebrates the couple’s marital consummation (Sol 4:16-5:1).

The structure of the book places the emphasis on the marriage consummation being the highest and most wonderful experience of love in the couple’s relationship. God wants us to enjoy love and sex in the context of marriage. He wants us to be drunk on it. (Sol 5:1)

In Christ
Pastor Mike

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[1] These verses also from the exact middle of the text with 111 lines (60 verses) from 1:1 to 4:15 and 111 lines (55 verses) from 5:2-8:4.

Words of Grace and Salt

Kevin DeYoung has written an excellent article on disagreeing with others. You can read it here.

In Christ
Pastor Mike

HT: Justin Taylor

On Vacation

I will be on vacation this week. So, there won't be any posts until after May17th.

The Bible reading for this week is: Ecclesiastes.

The Memory verse is: Acts 5:29

Have a great week.

In Christ
Pastor Mike

Who is the Man of Lawlessness?

One thing is quite clear from 2 Thessalonians 2 -- the day of the Lord (Jesus' return, judgment of the world and establishment of the Kingdom) won't come until the man of lawlessness is revealed (2 Thess 2:3).

Who is this man?

First, he is a particular man. He will be killed by Jesus, when Jesus returns (2 Thess 2:8).

Second, he is not Satan. Although, he is empowered by Satan (2 Thess 2:9).

Third, he will be revealed when he takes his seat in the Jewish Temple in Jerusaelm, claiming to be God (2 Thess 2:4; cf. Dan 9:24-27; Rev 13:1-8)

Fourth, those who refuse to love and obey the truth about Jesus will be deceived by him (2 Thess 2:10)

Ultimately, we don't know who this man is until he appears. We do know that he has not been revealed yet.

We also know that we do not need to fear. We have not missed Jesus' return, when He will gather us to Himself (which was the issue that concerned the Thessalonians).

But, if you do live to see a world leader sitting in the Temple of God and claiming to be God -- repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness because He is coming soon.

In Christ
Pastor Mike

How Far Can I Go?

1 Thessalonians 4:6 is a great help when we are asked, "how far can I go sexually?"

Obviously, we can't violate God's clear commands about adultery, sex outside of marriage and homosexuality. But, what about the supposed gray areas?

God's answer is -- don't transgress and defraud your brother. The word "defraud" also means to take advantage of, exploit, cheat.

When you are considering any action related to sex, ask yourself, would I want someone doing this to my spouse, or would I feel cheated?

Let me explain how this works out in my life.

I don't want someone lusting after my wife's body -- so I don't lust after others whether they are on the TV screen, movie screen, magazine, internet or in the mall.

I don't want someone kissing my wife -- so I don't kiss other people's wives (even if neither of us are married yet).

You can take the applications from here.

Remember, God has called you to holiness. He has called you to purity. Don't rob your brother or sister in Christ by violating their spouse (or future spouse).


In Christ
Pastor Mike

Resource: Josh Harris, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World

What is a Christian?

Christians work hard, even to the point of exhaustion because of their faith and love. They endure because they have a deep rooted hope in Jesus.

Christians are convinced of the Word because of the power of the Holy Spirit. They know that God's Word is powerful and changes them.

Christians believe the Word of God even though it means suffering. They do not complain about this, or give up, but rejoice.

Christians are visible. You know who they are because of their life and example. You know who they are because they speak about Jesus. You don't have to guess if they are Christians or not.

Christians are changed people. They once served idols. Their lives were centered around anything but God. Now, God is at the center. Their lives are meaningless without Him.

Christians are patient and hopeful. They live their lives expecting Jesus to return.

This is what Paul saw in the Thessalonian believers. This is what he thanked God for. This is what we are because of the gospel. (1 Thess 1:1-10)

In Christ
Pastor Mike

1 and 2 Thessalonians

The Bible passages for May 3-9, are 1 and 2 Thessalonians. There are 8 chapters in these two books so you will need to read more than one chapter on at least one day. I also recommend reading through both books every day if you can.

Paul wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians while he was in Corinth during his 2nd missionary journey, most likely during the summer of AD 51. Paul had planted a church in Thessalonica a few months before, but was run out of town before he could complete his work (Acts 17:1-10).

He wrote 1 Thessalonians to instruct these young believers and encourage them to wait for Jesus' return and live holy lives as they endured persecution.

He wrote 2 Thessalonians when he heard that the church had become idle, having believed some false teaching about Jesus' return.

Here are some things to watch out for as you read these letters.

1. What does the gospel do when we believe it? (1 Thess 1)
2. What type of pastor was Paul (1 Thess 2-3)
3. How should we live as Christians? (1 Thess 4-5)
4. What will happen when Jesus returns? (1 Thess 4-5)
5. What will God do to those who persecute believers? (2 Thess 1)
6. Who is the man of lawlessness and how does he relate to the day of the Lord? (2 Thess 2)
7. How should we deal with lazy Christians? (1 Thess 3)
   

In Christ
Pastor Mike

A New Wardrobe

An important thing to learn in the Christian life is how to get dressed. No one wants to walk around in filthy, ragged clothes. It would be even worse to walk around naked!

In Colossians 3, Paul reminds us that there are certain clothes we must take off and certain ones we must put on. Colossians 3:8-9 lists some of the qualities we are to "strip off". Colossians 3:12-14 tells us how to clothe ourselves.

How can we do this?

First, we must take responsibility. We are the ones who have to take off the old clothes and put the new ones on.

Second, we must use God's Word. Paul seems to connect the idea of putting negative qualities to death with putting them off (Col 3:5-8). The only way we can put things to death is to use the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17). If you want to change your clothes, you need to fill yourself with God's Word, meditate on it and apply it to your specific circumstances and temptations. Be on the lookout for things God says to get rid of (old clothes) and what He tells you to do instead (new clothes). A good place to start is Ephesians 4:17-32.

Third, we must be gospel motivated. Paul does not begin with the commands to change clothes. He begins with the truths of Colossians 3:1-3. We have died with Jesus, we have been raised with Jesus, our life is hidden in Jesus, we will be glorified when Jesus appears. He reminds us, that we change clothes because we are already chosen by God, holy and beloved (Col 3:12). We are not doing this to make God like us, but because we already belong to God. Why should we wear filthy rags in the King's palace?

In Christ
Pastor Mike

Resources: Tim Lane & Paul David Tripp, How People Change