Romans 1:16,17 "In Remembrance of the 16th Century Reformation"

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

This text from Paul’s epistle to the Romans   changed a man, and that man in the hand of God  changed the world of his day, and his influence  has  been felt to this day. Martin Luther,   in his own words :

“I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary  desire  for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But …. a single phrase  in  Romans  1:17, “for in it ( i.e. the gospel)  the righteousness of God is revealed,”  stood in my way. For I hated that word “the righteousness of God,” which, according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly… I was angry with God….Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. Nevertheless, I desired to know what St. Paul wanted… At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I understood the context of the words, namely, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.’ ” There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith… Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. [1]

Martin Luther, born in  1483 in Eisleben, Germany, son of a miner   was  once caught in a horrific thunderstorm. He feared for his life and cried out to St. Anne, the patron saint of miners, saying, “Save me, St. Anne, and I’ll become a monk!” The storm subsided and he was not killed.   He kept his vow  and entered the  Augustinean monastery. He had an astute mind and had become a theology professor at the University of Erfurt. At  this time he was a God fearing man, but not a converted man.  Luther had understood the nature of sin as few people in our day would and  he  had understood the holiness of God in a profound way, as few people would do today.  But he did not know how to deal with his sin  before a holy God.  He knew that all his attempts   at  justifying himself  before God  were failing. 

As he was studying the letter to the Romans, it was this text  that made him understand  for the first time God’s method of justifying sinners. Until then he had always thought  of justification  from  the typical Roman Catholic works oriented perspective. It was this text in  Paul’s letter to the Romans that  helped him to see that  a person’s justification before a just, righteous and holy God was not  something that a man could achieve in his own  efforts. It was something that God  did  for man, and which a man  could  only receive by looking to God  by faith  alone.  When  Martin Luther had understood the basis of the gospel, namely, that a person’s justification came by the grace and mercy  from  God alone,  the  foundations  for a new  mighty work of God were laid. A  Holy Spirit sent revival    had begun.   

All because of Romans 1:16-17.

These words constitute the theme of  Paul’s letter  to the Romans. The whole letter to the Romans is about “the gospel of God”.  That phrase  is first used  in  v.1,  in the opening statement : “Paul… called to  be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God”.   This is the reason  that Paul wants to come to Rome.

The gospel is at the heart  of evangelical theology. This explains the difference between evangelical Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church, and  every other system of religion in the world which operates on the primary basis of works righteousness rather than a righteousness  from God – a righteousness outside of ourselves!  

VERSE 16

I am not ashamed of the gospel

Why does  Paul  say  this  negatively?  Why  does he not  say,  "I am proud of the gospel”? This form of speech is  known as  litotes   Litotes is a figure of speech in which a negative statement is used to affirm a positive sentiment.  We use it often  in our conversations e.g.  we say,   “I am not opposed to doing this” when  we could   have said  “I  can do this”. Paul may  have said it like this  because of the peculiar  position in which the Roman Christians  had found themselves.  It was not easy to be a Christian in Rome. It still is not easy to speak  about Christ for fear of ridicule or rejection. Looking at the gospel at face value, it would  appear as  "foolishness"[2].   Jesus  was the  son of a poor carpenter, with little means,  with no   formal education   and  with  no  political  ambition  or influence. His  message    was  a stumbling block to Jews and folly to gentiles (1 Cor.  1:22). He  was crucified as a common criminal. Such a man  claimed to be the Saviour of the world  and  He claimed to  be equal to God. All this was so  absurd to  Jews and Gentiles. With all these thoughts in mind  it is easy to feel ashamed of the gospel. This is what Paul experienced and yet despite  all this  Paul  was  never  ashamed of the gospel.  

Here  is  the reason, as to why he says that:

“Because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone  who believes...”

Despite the fact, that the gospel may be resented by man, it does  not deny the fact that it is powerful!     It is clearly seen in the  words and deeds of Jesus. His Word and His works  changed the world.  The gospel is  the power (Gr. dunamis) of God. Knowing this Paul felt no need to  be embarrassed for coming to Rome. He knew that in the gospel there is a power that would overwhelm  proud Romans !  

How does this power work?  Paul give  three answers.

(i)                  The Gospel provides the power to save (16a). What does the gospel do? It saves sinners from the coming  wrath of God. And it saves in the fullest sense of that word, past, present and future. The gospel has the power to …Forgive sins (past)—Impart new life (present)—Admit into heaven (future).

(ii)                The Gospel provides  the power to save those who believe (16b)  To “believe” means to make a personal commitment to the God  who  has given us the gospel. It is not enough to  hear  and to  pray a sinners prayer.  The gospel must be believed  in the fullest sense  by  hearing it, receiving it  and by a continual  walking in its truth.

(iii)             The Gospel provides  the power to save everyone  who believes 16c : “For I am not ashamed of the gospel , for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel has the power to save  all kinds of people in the world without regard to the distinctions that divide us. That’s why Paul wasn’t ashamed to preach the gospel in Rome. He knew it had the power to save anyone who would believe it.

VERSE 17

In verse 17 Paul reveals the second reason why he wasn’t ashamed of the gospel. “For in it (i.e. the gospel )   the  righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, ’The righteous will live by faith.’”  This is the text that  woke  Martin Luther  up from the dead !  Why is this such a powerful truth ?

(i)                 Because it reveals a righteousness (17a).  The key word  here is righteousness, which means to have a right standing in God’s eyes. Here is where the greatness of the gospel is clearly seen. It provides for us what we could never provide for ourselves. Righteousness is what we need but do not have. Therefore God, knowing that we could never be righteous on our own, has provided a righteousness which comes  from Him, given to us as a free gift through Christ .That brings us to the second reason why the gospel is so powerful.

(ii)                Because the righteousness that is in the gospel is received only by faith. (17b)  The key word here is faith. In the Greek, it literally reads, “is revealed by faith unto faith.”  (ESV) It has the idea of “faith from first to last.” Everyone who is saved by the gospel  is saved the same way: By faith. It is faith alone and faith always. This answers the great question,  How can I be right with God? The answer is simple: By receiving the righteousness of God that comes only by faith in Jesus  Christ alone. He  is our substitute. He alone  has  righteously kept the righteous law  of God in  His life. You have broken the law  so many times, and in God’s eyes you are unrighteous.  But God in His great love  gave His Son, the Lord Jesus, the Righteous One   to die  the   death that you deserved to die. All that God  now requires of you is to  have faith in Jesus- to trust Him with your whole life.  He is the object of your faith. 

There is a third and final reason why the gospel is so powerful.

(iii)             Because the righteousness  that is in the gospel, which when believed in,  conveys saving faith  to men and women. (17c) To prove his point Paul includes a quotation from the prophet  Habakkuk 2:4:  “The just shall live by faith.” It was this text—quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17—that ultimately shook Martin Luther to the core and brought him to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

FAITH ALONE !

From that  simple and yet profound truth, came the Protestant Reformation.  It saved  the world from the hopeless doctrine of  salvation by  a system of works  or self- justification. It restored the biblical doctrine  of  “Faith” as the operative principle  by which men and women  would be saved, and  so with it the battle-cry of the Reformation became  SOLA FIDE -  “by faith alone.”

So, how much faith does it take to go to heaven? The answer is  this : With whatever you have you must look to Jesus! Saving faith is putting your trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone. In order to do that you have to stop trying to save yourself.

What happened to Martin Luther can happen to you. Those who trust in Christ alone will never be put to shame, not in this life nor in the life to come.

Amen !

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[1] Luther's Works, Volume 34, P336-337). cited in http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/8742/when-and-how-did-martin-luther-arrive-at-the-justification-by-faith

[2] see Paul's arguments in 1 Cor 1:18-31

1 Timothy 5: 1-2 : “Managing Relationships in the Church”

"Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity."

(1 Timothy 5:1-2 ESV)

Paul’s  first letter to Timothy  contains  advice on  many  a subject  that a young pastor  may  struggle with in the course of his ministry. As I look back on   my years of pastoral work I can certainly identify with   every issue raised here, and I thank God that  the Bible  always provides such accurate  insight  and  solutions to the complexities  that churches  commonly  face  in this fallen world.

In   Chapter 1  Paul  addresses  the  perennial problem of false teachers and false teaching  (1:3-11)  followed by  a statement on the nature of the true gospel (the antidote  false teaching), providing also a  testimony of his own  conversion experience  (1:12-17). This is  followed by a reminder that  being a gospel minister means to be engaged in  a spiritual war,   in which sadly all too many  men  have  lost their direction, because they did not cling to the gospel (1:18-20).

Chapter  2 contains a  reminder concerning the  importance of  public prayer for  all sorts of people, a practise which  we also  follow as  indicated in our  own  church bulletin (2:1-7). Paul also  gives directions  to both men and women  as to how they ought to behave in  public worship,  speaking  particularly  to the   Christian women   in the church  at Ephesus, who were being influenced by  the  huge  feminine cult of the goddess Diana in  that city.  

In Chapter 3  Paul lays down foundational truths  for church government  as he outlines   the  traits that ought to characterize  the  ministries of elders (3:1-7) and deacons (3:8-13).

In  Chapter 4  he reminds  Timothy again  of the subtle  nature of spiritual deceit, and the importance of training for  godliness. He reminds himself that his youthfulness  in the pastoral ministry ought not to be an obstacle, but that  with the help of God  he ought to set an example  in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity towards the different age groups found in the church. Paul  encourages Timothy  to exercise  his ministry with the authority  invested in him  by  God through  his ordination  in the church under the leadership of the council of elders.

Chapter 5  is now before us.   This chapter deals mainly with   various relationships in the church.

(i)                  Vv. 1- 2. How to relate  to different  people  and age groups in the congregation.

(ii)               Vv. 3- 16.   Relating to those in the church  who are in need , especially  widows, and how to  discern and help   those who are truly in need.

(iii)             Vv. 17-20.  Relating to   church elders,    and  some helpful directives  concerning how we should deal with  full time pastor – elders.  

(iv)              Vv. 21-25.  Finally,  Paul charges  Timothy  to  be free from prejudice and  partiality as he goes about his duties.  He also warns  Timothy  to be careful  not to get dragged into the sins  of    others.   The chapter concludes with advice for treating Timothy's stomach ailment, and a reminder that both sins and good works will  eventually become evident.

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Since each of those  divisions  in chapter  5    are relevant and  important to us, I will try to deal with all of them in turn. Today we will only  focus on verses  1 and 2,  in which Paul outlines  the importance  of  dealing  with  various  kinds of people  in the  church. 

Vv. 1- 2 .  Relating  to different age groups in the congregation

The basis  of  Paul’s reminder to Timothy  is the fact that the church is the  household  of God  (3:15). 

The church is   to be seen as  family – a family called into being by God.  In this context  Timothy is called  to be a pastor-teacher  to this local family of God   and   he is  to lead by way of  example in speech, conduct, in love, in faith  and in purity (4:12). He was called by God to read the  Scriptures to his congregation and to  teach the Word of God  as he had received it from the apostle Paul.  This  important work if persisted in , says   Paul  “ will save  both yourself and your hearers”  (4:16).

But how exactly should he deal with his hearers- his congregation? 

Is it to be   a “one size fits all” approach?  

Apparently not!   As we have already seen, the church is  like a family, and that is  how  pastors and  all of us need to relate to one another in the church. It is very clear that we do not  treat everyone in the family equally. We do not treat  the old  and young, men and women  in the same way.  Paul instructs Pastor Timothy  that  he ought to  appeal to older men as fathers,   and older women as mothers. Younger men  were to be treated as brothers and younger women as sisters. The church consists  of these various  categories of people who need to be helped to live their lives    under the gospel.  This is the specific   work of the pastor-elder -  to help  his people to live  out the  implications of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ  in this world. We have seen already  that he needs to be an example of this  in his own life (4:12).

The  problem  is that  older men  and older women, and younger men  and younger women of the church do not always  live in a way that  honour the gospel of our Lord Jesus  Christ. So how does a Pastor deal with those  who  are departing from the faith,  or those  who  are devoting themselves to  deceitful spirits  etc. (4:1-3)? How do you deal with  angry, quarrelsome men in the church? (2:8) How do you deal  with women  in the church who  have  more of the local  Diana culture than the Christ culture in them?  How do we deal with all kinds of believers who  get involved in irreverent, silly myths? (4:7)?   

Here’s how you do  it , says Paul

1.       With Respect to Older Men

How do you deal with an older man when he  goes wrong?

v.1 “Do not rebuke (epiplēssō -  lit. to strike at) an older man (lit. presbuteros –  an older man or a church elder-) , but  encourage  or exhort  ( parakaleō)  him as if he were your father”.  Incidentally, the  word "elder" here is not used in the sense in which it used generally in the Bible i.e.  an officer of the church  (see  5:19);   it is used here in the sense of  an older man  as the ESV correctly translates.So Paul is not saying  that one should  ignore  the sins  which an older man may commit   in the context of the  church.   The emphasis here is   on the harsh  tone in which  it is done. Don’t rebuke (lit.  don’t strike at him) an older man . Don’t be aggressive to him.  If correction  is necessary, says Paul,    it should be done by way of an  exhortation,  literally a coming alongside him  and speaking  to him as if  it were  your father.  Your relationship with your  own father is supposed to be the standard for how you treat other older men. Similar counsel  is  also  given  in Galatians 6:1   in terms of  dealing with  a brother  who is “caught in a transgression”. Paul counsels   the Galatians to restore ( katartizo –  lit. to mend)  such a person in a spirit of gentleness .   So,  Timothy  as a pastoral role model  must  be gentle  in dealing with older  people who sin,   because his age calls for respect, something  that our modern generation has forgotten.   The law of God in Leviticus  19:32  reminds us in this regard: “ You shall stand  up before the gray head and honour the face of an old man, and you shall  fear your God…”

There may come a period when life with an older man   becomes  challenging. Unfortunately, sin  fuelled by Satan never ceases  with age. We have to fight sinful impulses  until the very end. The limitations of  an older body  tends  to cause frustrations. Add to that  the  very real  experience of memory loss and so  a  stubbornness and lack of co-operation which  an older   man  had never experienced before, becomes evident.  The Bible says that   we  must gently exhort such men, sometimes again and again.  This can  be  very  challenging, but   we love them through this difficult phase of their lives, remembering that in the Lord they are our fathers.  Paul tells Timothy that this is how  an  older  man  with sinful manifestations  is to be treated  in the congregation.  Do not rebuke an older man harshly but exhort him as if he were you father.

2.  With respect to younger Men :

'Treat younger men as brothers!’  When younger men in the church sin, Paul advises Timothy  to treat  them as brothers. “Do not be harsh with them”  is implied here.    Again, we  must not be tempted to think that  this means that we are to ignore their  sin. We are simply  learning  here that we are to deal with the sin of  a younger man in a particular way. We are to come alongside him  as a brother  (note the family relationship again!). A brother  stands with you  when you have fallen. 

Proverbs  17:17 says  : “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”. 

Everybody falls down at some time. Everybody has their  spiritual wilderness experiences, and family heart-aches,  and career set-backs.   A brother will stand with us in such times. A brother  is a person  who  tells you the truth.  He doesn’t beat around the bush. He is  prepared to tell you that you are doing wrong, but when you have fallen into sin you know that he  stands with you. When you appear vulnerable and weak  he  will think no less of you.  He will  pray  with you and  counsel you  back to health.   A true brother  always remembers  that he is a fellow sinner, saved by the grace of God. He knows that only the grace of God  keeps  him, and therefore he is  not judgmental in that sense, although, if he is a spiritual man, he will represent the mind of God  to his fallen brother.  So Timothy is to treat the younger men as his brothers in Christ.

3. Treat Older Women as Mothers.

When older women sin  (and again we remember that there is no one that does not sin), how shall a pastor like Timothy deal with them?  Paul says :  “Treat them as you would treat your mother”. How do you treat  a mother? With utter respect!  Mothers and Fathers  are highly honoured in the Bible: “Honour your  father and your mother”( Ex. 20:12).

And so the NT has some special reflections  on mothers in this regard.  The Lord Jesus  thinks of his mother on the cross. He  says  to  the  apostle John in the face of His impending death :  “Behold your mother.”  Following this, John took her into his house and looked after her (Jn.  19:27).  So too with Paul. He writes to the congregation in Rome and he speaks of the mother of a certain Rufus, and he says that she “has been a mother to me as well” (Rom. 16:13).  That is the attitude which must underlie the  discipline of an older woman. When an older woman  sins  in the church and it becomes known  to  the  elders, such  a one  must not be ignored and she  must be  admonished  and treated appropriately.  She is to  be approached with the same consideration as one would approach an erring mother. A loving son  must correct his own mother with humility  and spiritual wisdom. And Timothy is counselled here by Paul  to approach the older women of the congregation in this way.

4. Treat  younger women as sisters, with  all purity.

How would Pastor Timothy, himself a young man,  deal with  any young woman who had fallen into sin in his congregation?  Paul counsels him,   “treat  her  like your  sister, with absolute purity”. Absolute purity” means never doing anything that would cause her any  harm  –  physically, mentally, spiritually or emotionally. Timothy is to be careful in his relationships with females, especially younger female.  In every way he needs to conduct himself  with  the deportment of a minister of the gospel . He needs to be above reproach. He needs  to deal with his sisters in the Lord  with  the utmost integrity and in all purity. All Christian fathers and mothers are committed to the ideal of “absolute purity” for their sons and daughters. You must do nothing to break that trust. That is the love of a brother and sister.

We are called to live like that in this impure civilisation. We are called to live in absolute purity in such a culture where  young vulnerable people are easily exploited.

And so we learn from this  text  to  be sensitive and respectful to one another.  Sensitive ministry will promote the church's unity and guard its witness to those outside. We need to learn to  value relationships in the bonds of the gospel . We need to  learn  to respond appropriately to different  ages and sexes, keeping the  directives of the Bible in mind.  Rules of respect in social relationships may vary somewhat from culture to culture, and the church and its leaders must be sensitive to obey them, but the biblical culture  is clear.

This  goes  against so much that we assume in our culture today. We think that everybody is the same, but Paul knows that everybody is not the same and we   need  to recognize that. This is God’s design and command , and we will do well to respect that.

May God endow us with   rich wisdom to live as the church of God  in this fallen world.  May God give  us grace to show thorough respect for one another, without compromising  on sin, and always remembering that we ourselves are also capable of sinning. Therefore a patient, respectful, gentle ministry  will  be the only  pastoral ministry that will  serve us well in the ministry of the church.

Amen.

Difficult Old Testament Passages : Judges 19:1-21:25 The Levite and His Concubine

The moral condition of Israel has gone down to the same level of the moral depravity  the Canaanites. Compare Joshua  24:30 with Judges  2:10. Apostasy from God and  rejection of the truth is  always followed by moral corruption.[1]  The time is similar to that  of  the  days of  Noah and Lot. In fact, Jesus  makes reference  to this in Lk. 17:28-30  and draws a parallel  between these days  and  the times  which are to precede the coming of the Son of Man.  Evidences  of  such moral corruption and violence exist today in abundance.

THE TEXT  EXAMINED

19:1  In those days when there was no king in Israel…  This section relates one of the most shocking episodes of Israel's history. It  is truly tragic.  It all begins  with a wrong relationship  between a Levite  and his  concubine. [2]

19:2 The concubine leaves  her husband.  Their  relationship enters into its inevitable difficulties. No woman  plays the second fiddle well, and so she  becomes unfaithful and leaves him and moves back to her father's house in Bethlehem.

19:3 After four months, the Levite decides that he wants her back. They  appeared to reconcile  and her father was happy to  receive  him. But, it’s time to  get back.  

19:4-10 The girl's father really wanted him to stay  and tried to delay their departure.  This happened again and again until  the Levite  finally said, "I'm leaving." They leave and  end up at  Jebus  (Jerusalem), which,  at this time was not yet in Israelite hand.

19:11-14  Unwilling to stay among the foreigners, the Levite felt it would be safer  to be among the people of Israel. He was very  wrong. He landed up in  Gibeah (the birthplace of Saul)  belonging to the tribe of Benjamin.

19:15  The people of Gibeah showed no  customary hospitality - this is the first indication that this city  is  evil.

19:16-21 An old man takes them in. This old man was not a Benjamite, but  he was living in Gibeah.   He inquired about their situation. The Levite explained that even though they had enough provisions, no one had offered them a place to stay. Knowing that this was not a safe city, the old man said, "Don't spend the night in the town square, come to my house."

19:22-25 The sin of the  men of Gibeah:  The  men of Gibeah  are a morally perverse bunch.  They demanded that the old man give them the Levite for their sexual satisfaction.   With a similar response  to  Lot  in Genesis 19, the old man offers them the women from the household, rather than the men.  Gibeah has become the new Sodom.     All this is written as a matter of fact and without any  attempt to  make it sound less harsh. Everything written here  is meant  to shock us.

19:26-30 The result of this was one of the worst and shocking  things recorded in all of Scripture - the gang rape of a woman, resulting in her death. The Levite calls for justice from the tribes of Israel by cutting  her up into 12 parts, sending a shockwave throughout Israel : “Such a thing has never happened…”.

20:1-7 400,000 Israelites  gather at Mizpah,  in outrage  to punish  the people of Gibeah  for this  deed  (20:8-11)

20:12-14 Investigating the crime :  Instead of agreeing that the crime was awful and that the men should be killed, the Benjamites defended the men, and armed themselves to fight against the rest of Israel. They  would rather  defend Gibeah than practise justice.  Perversity is pervasive[3].  

20:15-17 Benjamin  was a powerful opponent. 26 000 Benjamites came to the aid of the 700 Benjamite warriors  in Gibeah.   You would think that this is going to be a short battle. But  not so. Benjamin was  a  very powerful  and skilled warrior tribe.

20:18-28 :  Why did  God not give the Benjamites  immediately into the hands of Israel?  The most likely answer is that the rest  of  Israel itself was not guiltless. They needed learn  humility.

20:29-48: Victory over Benjamin.   Almost every one of Benjamin's warriors was wiped out. Only 600  men survived.

21:1 ..."No one of us shall give his daughter to Benjamin in marriage."  Now that most of Benjamin’s tribe  was  dead,  it looked like the entire tribe might become extinct.

21:4- 24   Mercy prevails:  Wives  are found for the remnant of  Benjamin.  400  virgins were found from Jabesh Gilead , and more  were found  by  kidnapping  from  among the daughters of Shiloh.

21:25  “In those days  there was no king in Israel. Everyone  did  what was right  in his own eyes”.   This is a good summary of the entire book. When God is only given lip service, when religious service  replaces  a vital relationship with God, and when wickedness is allowed to prevail, this is the situation we find ourselves in.  

Does this not have a contemporary ring about it ?

SUMMARY :

• The Bible does not  attempt to  avoid  sin  or gloss over the great shortcomings of God’s people in history. This  report is meant to shock us.

• The overall intention is to depict the depravity of  God’s people at this time,  and this is an extreme example. This is the point of 19:29,30.  The  depth of this depravity is also mentioned by Hosea  in 9:9, 10:9. The peak  of  this sexual perversity  is manifested  supremely in the sin  of homosexuality.

•  Everyone and everything in these chapters  displays  this sinful twistedness, whether it is the concubine  who was unfaithful (19:2)  or the Levite who practises self preservation (19:25),  the  slaughter of  the entire  tribe of Benjamin  (20:1-48) ; the slaughter  of the town  of Jabesh Gilead  who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah (21:8-12)  and the kidnapping  of the girls at  Shiloh (21:19-24).

•  The writer  of the Judges   brief and matter of fact summary is contained in  19:1 and 21: 25. The root of  it all is each man  doing whatever  was right in his own eyes.  Each man here   refers to those that were part of the OT covenant church. This is not the world out there. It is the church of the OT  which displays such unspeakable wickedness.  Much of the  modern church  has become the greatest exporter and promoter of sin. 

•  Grand lesson: Woe to those that  trivialize God and do not take Him seriously. They shall be handed over. Romans 1:18 – 32  shows us  what happens  when God hands  a people over. The visible result of  that is sexual promiscuity, of which homosexuality  is  the peak!

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[1] Rom. 1:26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32

[2] A concubine was a lawful wife who was guaranteed only food, clothing, and marital privileges (Ex. 21:7-11; Dt. 21:10-14). Any children she bore would be considered legitimate; but because of her second-class status, they wouldn't necessarily share in the family inheritance (Gen.25:1-6). If a man's wife was barren, he sometimes took a concubine so he could establish a family. Though the law controlled  such a relationship,   it was never  a part of God’s original design.  Several of the patriarchs had children with concubines including Abraham with Hagar (Gen. 16); Jacob with Bilhah and Zilpah (Gen. 30:4-13) Several other OT men had concubines, including Gideon, Saul, David, and Solomon. It should be noted however that although a concubine was, in a sense, a legal mistress, we never see such a family life blessed by God!

[3] D.R. Davies :  Christian  Focus Publications ; Judges , p.215

DIFFICULT PASSAGES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT - JOSHUA 7 : "Why did Achan's Family have to die for his sin?"

There is always somebody in the church who does not think  that God’s commands are  serious.  There are always people in the church who think that they can sin, and they think  that this is their private problem- and not the church’s problem. In this study we want  to  do some serious reflection upon the  effects  of our  sin upon others. We will learn that our private sins always have public effects. It is true  that some  of our sins will have less visible impact than others - but they  will always  have  an impact to a greater or lesser degree.

UNDERSTANDING THE BACKGROUND

Chapter  7:1  starts on a solemn and disturbing note. “Achan took some of the devoted things. And the Lord’s anger burned against the people of Israel“. This is the central verse  and concern of this chapter. There is  an individual  sin … and there is God’s wrath on a nation.

What happened? The story is described in terms of  (i) A Cause  (ii) A Cure (iii) A Consequence

(i)  THE CAUSE  (7:1-9)

One of the men  of Israel, Achan, did not take  God’s commandments  seriously. He disobeyed  the explicit  order  of  6:17 – 19 . The order could not have been clearer. But, there  is always someone  who  thinks that “no!”  means,  “try your luck”.

Well, what happened?  As Israel  was poised to take the next city  in the promised land, Ai,  they  not only encountered stiff resistance, not only  were thirty six of their men killed  in the battle  for that town, but they were decisively beaten, “and their hearts melted  and became  as water“ (7:5).  Joshua’s  reaction  in  7: 6 – 9  shows that he  is utterly grieved and perplexed.   You and I  have already been given a ‘sneak preview’  in 7:1 as to  why this happened.  But   Joshua  has, as yet, no clue as  to what had caused this setback.  As far as he was concerned nothing could go wrong right now. The God of Israel had   assured them of His presence [see Chapter 1: 3,5,6,9,11,13,15].  He had already caused the waters of the  Jordan to dry up, so that they could walk into the promised land on dry foot.  God  had already  given  Jericho into their hands. But notice too,  that  the gift of the land is connected to  their obedience- see 1:7b - 8,17.

So, this  defeat  at Ai  is devastating!  What on earth is God doing?  Can you appreciate Joshua’s despair in v.7? Joshua feels humiliated and mocked  (7:9).  “What will the Canaanites think of us?  What will the Canaanites think of  Israel’s God?“ The glory of God is at stake. Will God now  be humiliated  before  the Amorites?

(ii) THE CURE (7:10-23)

Joshua’s desperate prayer  is heard by God (7:10-13). Mourning over the fact  will not do. “Get up!”  The problem is not with  God. It is within Israel!  “Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant… they  have taken some of the devoted things  (referring to  6:18,19)!   The  reason is given   why   they cannot stand against  their enemies.  God says, “get rid of that problem among you  by destroying  it.”  

God does not  give Joshua the name(s)  of  the offender(s).  He simply says: “Assemble the people. Then you take them one by one, and you question them. You’ll soon  find the guilty party”.  It doesn’t take long before the  matter is in the open (7:20).

The anatomy  and progression  of  Achan’s sin  is  powerfully  displayed in  7:20-21, "I saw – I coveted- I took”   (cf.  James 1:14,15).  Please note that  seeing is no sin, but coveting  and taking (stealing) are both forbidden in the 10 commandments.

(iii)     THE CONSEQUENCE (7: 23 -26)

Achan  was judged  guilty, and in consequence  his family and all his belongings were destroyed.  This is a very graphic illustration and  severe application of Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin  is death”. 

This judgement no doubt  comes as a great shock to a  21st century reader of the Bible. Why did Achan’s family have to die  with him?  It doesn’t sit easy, does it? But that is precisely what sine does. It produces pain, it produces grief because it produces death. Perhaps  your understanding  grows somewhat more   when you understand  what the selfish sin of Achan  had accomplished.  36 wives had perhaps lost their husbands and many children would have  lost  their fathers  at the battle of Ai.  But even more significantly, the honour and the Name  of God  were  assaulted by a man  who thought that God  did not mean what  He said.   

Private sins  have consequences!

The penalty is so severe because the sin is so serious!  

The problem is that we  have such a   poor understanding of  the nature of sin  and what it does to God and man. We think that it is a little thing  to sin against  God’s explicit commands! But it is no little thing  to sin against God. Perhaps  you will now appreciate Jesus’ strong words  in Matthew  5:29ff : “If your right eye causes you to sin,  tear it out… if your right hand causes you to sin , cut it off… it is better for you to lose one of your members  than that your whole body  go into hell.”  

We cannot treat  cancer  with plasters or vitamin pills  - it requires  radical surgery.  Sin is a spiritual cancer. It needs radical treatment.  

APPLICATION   

The primary lesson  from this text is that  private sin has  public consequences. Think through some biblical  examples and then through some everyday examples:

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES

• In Joshua   
• The effects of  Achan’s private sin   on  Israel:  (i) Loss of life (ii) Loss of blessing (iii) Loss of  courage  (iv) Loss of protection

•  In the rest of Scripture  

(i) Adam’s ‘private sin’   caused  the whole human race to  inherit the ‘sin virus’  and be cut off from God.   

(ii) David’s ‘private‘ sin  with Batsheba (2 Samuel 11)   caused the death of  her husband Uriah, and the death of the baby born  to  him and Batsheba. It also  ultimately cost him the kingdom.  

(iii) David’s  “private vanity”  in  2 Samuel 24, where he  calls for a headcount of all the fighting men, causes the Lord to burn with anger. It caused the death of 70 000 people from Dan to Beersheba.

(iv)  King Herod’s  private fears about the announcement  of a king  to be born in Israel causes a baby boy genocide  (Matt. 2:16).  Also, his  loose private words  and promises cause  the death of John the Baptist  (Matt. 14: 1-12)

(v)  The private  selfishness and man-centeredness of the Corinthian church causes great divisions in the church.   

(vi)  Supremely, your, mine and everyone else’s ‘private sin‘ took Christ to the cross.  The holy, sinless Son of God  and Son of man had to  be destroyed by death. He had  to  die  in our place, so that our  sin could be forgiven.

EVERYDAY EXAMPLES 

(i)        A husband cheats on his wife. Wife, children, family, friends suffer. If he is a church member, the church also suffers.

(ii)       The private  “sex life” of people  who pass on AIDS has  horrifying upon our country  (25-30 % infected?) Many  children born in such relationships  are affected. Families, employers,  health care systems  and economies  are affected.

Your sin is no private affair. 

Your sin does not happen in isolation, just as little  as cancer or Aids  manifests itself in isolation  to  the rest of the body. The nature of cancer,  AIDS  or flu for that matter is that it affects the whole body.  It eventually kills the body.  And the church is a body. And Israel is a body. 

Achan is part of Israel  and therefore Achan’s sin is her problem.  

The same is true  for sin in the church. 

Your  sin  becomes  the church’s problem. 

The Holy Spirit  is grieved.  It hurts everyone to varying degrees.  

The church  cannot advance with sin in her midst. 

Subsequent Church discipline is  always painful. Sometimes people have to be cut off.  It always leaves people grieving.   

Think about that! 

1 Timothy 4:6- 16: “Remaining Faithful To The End”

After  last week’s   Scripture reading and exposition of  1 Timothy  4:1-6, entitled “Some will depart from the  Faith“, you might have  wanted to ask, like the disciples in response to Jesus  statement at the last supper,  “One of you will betray me”,   …  “Is it I Lord?” (Mk.  14:18-19). 

Others might have asked, "Can I remain  faithful to  God until the end?" 

"How do I know that I will remain faithful to the end?" 

Good question, and I am so thankful that the apostle  is reading  Timothy’s mind  and  our anxious thoughts here,  and therefore  his counsel to us this morning is very helpful and practical.

To begin with then, please take note  of the background against which Paul says this to Timothy, the young pastor at Ephesus. He says this against the background of spiritual deceit and  apostasy and false teaching which he calls in  v.7  irreverent, silly myths, or more literally,   ‘profane and   old wives myths’.    

Our modern society   is no different. Just looking at a magazine shelf at a bookshop   leaves us under no illusions what  our  people   preoccupy themselves with in terms of  finding ultimate satisfaction. And so there  is a  true market place  for all sorts of  therapies and techniques from Astrology to Zen Buddhism to relieve stressed  souls -  all of course apart  from   the prescriptions  of  our God and Creator. 

Jesus  never said,   do yoga  or transcendental meditation,  and de-stress yourself  as you  surround yourself with positive energy fields by  doing Feng Shui on your house and  buy  crystals, in order to be delivered  from whatever worries and ails you.  

He never said,  “Go to an African witchdoctor or  his  counterpart in  many a charismatic  church, the  so called “man of God” who  magically removes all your love problems and  financial burdens.  

Jesus said : “Come to me all  who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn  from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest  for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28,29)

Some  in Ephesus apparently forbade people to marry  and others focused on  what to eat and what not to eat, when the basic simple truth is that  EVERYTHING God created is GOOD, and when   we give  thanks for and pray over our food   then it is even more  good, because God is  honoured by our eating and drinking.

Others appear  to be absorbed with their bodies. This too is a  phenomenon  of our modern  culture. There is, of course, nothing wrong with exercise. It has “some value“, says Paul. But surely the excessive attention  and endless  energy  given to our  outer  appearances   impresses others  for a short while  - but what more does it do?  How does that keep us faithful to the end and for eternity?

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

I am learning  never to  take practical  godliness for granted  in Christian people. Paul did not! In writing to Timothy, Paul  felt it necessary to remind him  to  “put these things before the brothers”.  We are to train others, but in order  to train others, the trainer himself   must be subject to the  rigors  of  training. As a pastor in a difficult  environment  at Ephesus  is important  that  He keeps himself  in  spiritual shape, if he is going to be faithful  to the end…. For many have made shipwreck of their faith. The training associated with  godliness  is  far more valuable  than  physical training.

The ground  and substance  for training in godliness is to be  in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine.

Negatively,  he is to avoid  getting  caught up in irreverent, silly myths.  A good servant of Christ is  not called to chase rabbits . He is to be a single minded man.

Positively speaking  He is to train (Gr. gumnazō)   himself in godliness.  Let us focus on this  for a moment  and let  this  counsel encourage us  to  see how we may persevere to the end  without any fear that ‘we may lose it’ .

Principles for training in godliness  :

Commitment:  Train yourself :  “No pain – no gain”.  No one  makes it to the level of Olympics without  paying the price of daily rigorous training. Similarly,  godliness  does not come without  paying the price of daily spiritual training which God has designed for our growth in godliness. 

There is a price to godliness. It doesn’t come cheaply, nor does it come  easily. You need to plan for it, and more importantly  you need   to actually do it.  The Greek word  “train”  from which  we get our  English word  “gymnastics“   implies hard work and perseverance with painstaking , diligent effort, therefore  implying commitment.

Timothy was personally responsible for his  growth and progress in godliness. It is true that all we  do for God  is by grace, and yet  it is also true  that grace does not come if we do not  work out  our salvation  at the same time (Phil. 2:12,13). 

Somebody put it like this: “It takes two to grow a potato: God and the farmer !”  God is first.  

The farmer second. God uses farmers to  produce potatoes. That is the way in which God works.  The same is true  for the work of the church. 

God is first. We are second. God uses  His people   to do the work  of  evangelism  and discipleship. And so, potatoes do not grow without  farmers  and churches do not grow without evangelism and discipleship.  

But  our text is not speaking primarily here about evangelism and discipleship. It speaks about something far more basic. It speaks of   a basic, underlying  discipline called  godliness, and many of us struggle more with this  than we  realize. We are essentially very focused  on our daily  existence, and are  disciplined  in keeping our  business, studies, home, but not disciplined at all  when it comes to training  in godliness .  That is why there is such a  tendency to look for shortcuts.  People  always look  for  a miraculous infusion of godliness.  The truth is that God does work in a mysterious way to make us  godly, but He does not  do this apart from  calling us  to  exercise  the personal responsibility to train ourselves in godliness.

We all need training in this area. Timothy needed it.  Paul reminded  Timothy  in 2 Tim  1:7 that “God did not give us a  spirit of timidity,  but a spirit of power, of love and  of self discipline“. Timothy  needed to grow  out of his natural timidity. He needed to grow in these three areas mentioned. He need to learn  to be   bolder, and to understand the  nature of biblical love better (1 Cor.  13:4-7) and to   be  more self- disciplined. 

Jerry Bridges reminds us  that one meets many talented and capable Christians, but one meets fewer godly Christians. The emphasis in our  age is on serving  God  and accomplishing things for God. As good  and necessary as that may be, it is not the first thing  we need to do.  The first thing that we need is to grow in godliness.  

Here’s an important thing to understand.  In God’s economy being is before doing!  Many Christians  invert this, and  this leads them to self- absorption and idolatry. 

Many   think  and say to themselves,  “I do, therefore I am a Christian!”  The truth is the other way around: ”I am a Christian, therefore I do.. .”   There  is  a  wide  gulf between the two. The first is called ‘dead works’ and the  other is called  ‘ a faith that pleases God ‘  (Hebrews 11). The one leads to  duty-ism, and the other leads to joy. It is for joy that we have been redeemed by Christ.   

And now you will see why  Paul says  what he does in  vv. 9-10: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe. 

The Christian  life, the godly life, must be lived from the centre. Who is at the centre? Jesus Christ ! So,  the  training that you need to be engaged in is to constantly  focus  sharply on the Lord Jesus Christ and on His attributes. What   is it that Timothy and we need in this regard? Ah,  says Paul, "don’t be intimidated by  the thought of your youthfulness (don’t look at the outward), but  focus on   portraying  and being like Jesus … set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." That is godly behaviour. And it takes training, because it is not natural for us to think and act like that.

What else   must Timothy do  to increase  personal godliness?  Paul says: “Timothy, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching”. Expose  your people   to the reading, preaching  and  teaching of God’s Word in order that they may be trained in godliness!  That is the work of the pastor. That is Timothy’s  work.   

But we can also turn it  around.  How can I  as a church member grow in godliness? By regularly  sitting under the  Word of God  brought  by   my  God appointed pastor.  My advice is that you need to take every opportunity to bring yourself under the Word of God. Every Christian should be  a thorough student of the Bible. The Hebrews  were rebuked,   since they  should have been able to teach others, they still needed to be taught  in the elementary truths of God’s word  (Hebr. 5:11-14). 

If we are to train ourselves  in godliness  we must give  Bible study  priority in our lives . The results of this   will be evident. 

Proverbs 2:1-5 tells us :  1  My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

In conclusion Paul says: Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Practise… progress… persist … TRAIN. 
What is the outcome? “By so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.“  By doing this you will make it to the end !

WHERE CAN WE FIND THE TIME TO DO ALL THIS ? 

You  will always find  time  to do what  is important to you.

How important is the practice of godliness to you? Is it important enough to take priority over your own routines  and your excessive desire  for  recreation and scores of other activities ?  

Unfortunately  many professing Christians  are  busy with many things, but not  busy  with cultivating  those  Christian graces  which are essential to  being Christ-like and  therefore godly. For this reason many  Christians seem to  display   little fruit and power in their lives. Our best time and energy should be  invested in  the pursuit  of training ourselves for the purpose of godliness- to be more like  Jesus. Paul says that this practice   holds promise for both the present life and  the life to come. This practice  alone will ensure that we remain faithful to the end.

Amen !