The Church is called to persevere in their calling to worship God and believe in his appointed Messiah, sanctify themselves in preparation for his Kingdom, and testify to all nations of the judgment and restoration of that Kingdom. The Church is thus a sojourning nation witnessing to all the nations that the Day of the Lord is coming and Jesus is the Messiah. The Church is not a dominionizing nation, establishing the sovereignty of God, or an escapist nation, avoiding contact with this world, before the annihilation of creation. (1 Peter 2:9-13) - John P. Harrigan

Joseph’s brothers hated him. He was his father’s favourite, which they resented, and if his dreams were to be taken seriously (as Jacob suspected), he would ultimately reign over them, the idea of which was intolerable. The events of Genesis 37 therefore presented Joseph’s brothers with a choice: to become Joseph’s slaves or to accept twenty pieces of silver in exchange for his life.

Sadly, under Judah’s leadership, they took the easy way out.

Yet, quite brilliantly, Joseph gave his brothers a chance to redeem themselves.

In Genesis 42, the ten of them went to Egypt to buy grain.

Joseph took Simeon captive and sent his brothers back to Canaan with their ten portions of silver in their bags.

And so, in Genesis 43, the nine brothers plus Benjamin took the silver back to Joseph together with ten *more* portions of silver (Gen. 43.12), only for Joseph to put all twenty portions of silver in their bags, plant his silver cup in Benjamin’s bag, and send them on their way (44.1–2).

Consequently, when the cup was found, the brothers were presented with exactly the same choice as before:

to go their way with twenty portions of silver in exchange for the life of their younger brother or to become Joseph’s slaves (44.17). Happily, they made a different decision.

They bowed before Joseph (like the sheaves in Joseph’s dream), and Judah sacrificed his freedom for the sake of his father’s favourite. They had seen the pain their sin had brought about, and had learned their lesson (44.33–34). -James Bejon 

“the NT did not emerge in a vacuum but was rooted in a particular historical, cultural, and religious context, and understanding this context, at least in a general sense, puts the study of the NT into proper perspective from the very start.”  -  Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles, The Cradle, the Cross, the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament

You can tell a lot about someone’s values by what they pray for.

In light of this, we can tell what the apostles prioritized by looking at the apostolic prayers. There’s a recurring emphasis on the hope of Jesus‘s return (not revival or a more prosperous life in this age). - Tyler Luedke

“Meditate upon what you read: stop not at the surface; dive into the depths.” — Charles Spurgeon

Theology 101: Beware of “interpreters” who dismiss what Scripture says with “that’s just a metaphor” or “that’s just a symbol.” The real interpreter acknowledges metaphors and symbols and figures of speech, but that then is the beginning of the interpretive task, not the end. - Dr. Micheal Svigel

In the Last Days, a major expectation is that "the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3, c.f. Micah 4:2). Does this sound like some kind of "abolishment of the law"? Not at all. On the contrary, when Yeshua returns, the Torah will be enforced as the law of planet earth. - J.K. McKee

Yeshua upholding the Torah of Moses is recognized by even relatively liberal theologians who have to admit, albeit reluctantly, that Jesus was a First Century Jewish Rabbi who taught the Law to His followers. ~ J.K. McKee ”The New Testament Validates Torah”

 Chad Brewer preaching on the Son of Man phrase in Matthew 17. 

When I run up against a wall, I don't speculate and call it "teaching." I just don't speculate. I try to just take things as far as the text allows us to go and just leave it there. - Dr. Micheal Heiser

“If you think you deserve heaven, take it from me, you are not a Christian.” -  Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Via BA Purtle) 

"To interpret as allegories portions of Scripture which are not allegories is to make God's Holy Word a plaything. There is no limit to the absurdities which allegorical preaching may present as the truth of God. At its worst, it reduces preaching to a vaudeville act. At its best it is still an abomination." ~R. B. Kuiper

If one wants to make the case that the disciples' persistent expectation of a restoration of the Kingdom to Israel was mistaken, that case will have to be made by some means other than Jesus’s reply, which addressed only the timing of the event, not its nature. -Dr. Micheal Svigel 

“The commentators interspersed throughout Sojourners and Exiles paint a picture of the gospel Yeshua preached. It was a kingdom message—a message about a literal kingdom, a kingdom everyone will be able to see clearly. Yeshua will depose the rulers of this world and reign uncontested over all humanity from Jerusalem.

This is an uncomfortable message to the comfortable—to those who have invested in this current age, in its political and economic structures. Those who benefit the most from power and wealth have the most to lose when it is taken away. Those who live for pleasure and sin react to the prospect of a final judgment with well-placed fear.” -Jacob Fronczak on the documentary Sojourners and Exiles. 

Theology 101: When God desired fellowship with his image-bearers, he didn’t open a gateway in heaven; he planted a garden on earth. - Dr. Micheal Svigel

My teaching of the faith of the Centurion from Luke 7. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

“Devote yourselves to prayer.” -Paul the apostle

When I read the New Testament, I don't see the formation of a new religion. I see the fullness of the Jewish religion, now available to the whole world. -Rabbi Ben Samuel 

The Levitical system only works if the worshiper believes that Yahweh is in the midst of the people, believes that he is holy, believes that sacrifice must be offered for cleansing, and lives in a way that corresponds with these beliefs. - Dr Jim Hamilton 

"Paul does not paint the future with rose-colour (2 Tim. 3.5). He is no smooth-tongued prophet of a golden age, into which this dull earth may be imagined to be glowing. There are sanguine brethren who are looking forward to everything growing better and better and better, until, at last, this present age ripens into a millennium. They will not be able to sustain their hopes, for Scripture gives them no solid basis to rest upon. We who believe that there will be no Millennial reign without the King, and who expect no rule of righteousness except from the appearing of the righteous Lord, are nearer the mark. Apart from the Second Advent of our Lord, the world is more likely to sink into a pandemonium than to rise into a millennium. A divine interposition seems to me the hope set before us in Scripture, and, indeed, to be the only hope adequate to the occasion." - Spurgeon, (From the sermon "The Form of Godliness Without the Power," June 2, 1889) via BA Purtle

You will never truly understand the Psalm 23 shepherd until you understand the Psalm 22 suffering servant. - Justin Rizzo

There will be deathbed regret for the man who prioritizes his work and leisure with great care, but neglects to worship, fellowship, and make disciples in the context of a local church. - BA Purtle

"The minister who preaches for his own glory rather than God's glory is guilty of idolatry, but so is the minister who preaches for God's glory and his own." R.B. Kuiper (1886-1966) Via BA Purtle

Young men, I beseech you earnestly beware of pride. Two things are said to be very rare sights in this world - one is a young man that is humble, and the other is an old man that is content. I fear that this is only too true. - JC Ryle

Compare Matthew 5 (the Sermon on the Mount) to Romans 13:1-7 (which talks about the role of government), and you will see right away that an established government does not, and cannot, function according to the same principles that regulate private, Christian discipleship.

Understanding this basic distinction between Church and State would save people a lot of confusion when trying to think through public policy issues as a Christian.  

Example: If someone insults me I have to forgive them. But if someone violates the laws of the State, the State's priority should be justice and punishment, not mercy.

It's easy to understand why this is the case too. A personal offense can destroy my own heart and engulf me in the lust for revenge. So I have to learn to let things go, for my own sake just as much as the other person's.

But if the State were to adopt the same posture, they would be empowering evil and creating a worse society for everyone, so their prerogative is justice and the sword, so we can all live with some peace and dignity.

Moreover, the tension between personal obligations to mercy and the State's obligation towards justice actually makes it easier for me to show mercy, because I know that my mercy cannot be taken advantage of, because a personal offense can only go so far before it will cross into the jurisdiction of the State and be met with justice.

So someone may insult me and I have to bear that, but the minute they try to break into my house and steal my property or harm my family I have recourse to the State and laws of self-defense in my favor that shield me from having to exercise excessive mercy to the point of self-destruction.

In summary, be careful of pastors and ministry leaders who only harp on the Sermon on the Mount as a guide for Christian political engagement. Such an approach is actually dangerous and unbiblical.

But likewise, be equally as wary of paradigms of Christian discipleship that never engage seriously with the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus does call us to be something different than the world, and finding the balance of how to live in these two spheres, Church and State, is no easy task but it is our responsibility. -Travis M Snow

“Really, kings are established by order of the same One by whose order men are born; and they are suited to the ones who are ruled by them at that time. For some of them [rulers] are given for the correction and usefulness of the subjects and for the preservation of justice; but some are given for fear and punishment and reproof; and some for deception, dishonor, pride, which they also deserve; whereas God’s just judgment, as we have remarked, comes equally upon all.“ - Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.24.3 (via Dr. Micheal Svigel) 

Theology 101: “By grace through faith” is the very path—not just the trailhead—of the Christian journey. - Dr. Micheal Svigel

Churches should be flagships of righteousness delivering grace, peace, and truth to the world, but too many are pirate ships attacking other churches in the world…battle ships waging war against the world…or cruise ships entertaining themselves as they ignore the world. - Dr. Micheal Svigel

Theology 101: The One who allowed the devil into the Garden of Eden in the form of a snake, leading to our death, also allowed the devil into the Garden of Gethsemane in the form of a snitch, leading to his own. - Dr. Micheal Svigel

Psalm 2 AI Rap song (via David Thompson) 

"Thank you Jesus for freeing me from the Law" -- a Gentile Christian who at no point in history were he or his ancestors ever covenantally bound to the Mosaic Law - Aaron Eby

If your hope as a Christian is in your giftedness, you’ll think yourself superior to those who aren’t gifted like you, or fall into envy when someone else is gifted in ways you’re not (or in similar but more pronounced ways than you).

If your hope is in your fruitfulness, you’ll be inflated and narcissistic when you’re apparently bearing fruit and devastated when fruit seems meager— and even more so, when you see others bearing great fruit.

If your hope is in Christ alone, if you’re rejoicing that your name is written in heaven by grace alone, your heart and conscience will be free and clear, and you’ll have wisdom to use your gifts to the glory of God, bearing fruit and building up the church with humility and joy for all your days.

In the kingdom of God, sons become sages, not the other way around. - BA Purtle

“No learning can make up for the failure to pray. No earnestness, no diligence, no study, no gifts will supply its lack.” -EM Bounds (Via BA Purtle)

"God can do little with those who love their reputations." - CT Studd (via BA Purtle) 

My teaching on Luke's Sermon on the Plain from Luke 6. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

"A crucified Saviour is the sole and only hope of a sinful world." -- Spurgeon (via Nick Uva)

You can’t dispatch angels anywhere because you’re not Yahweh.

They heed the voice of His Word — see Ps. 103.

We Charismatics need to jettison the many traditions we’ve created which are questionable (or worse). Are the Gifts of the Spirit not enough for us? - Nick Uva

"Self-righteousness is as much an insult to God as blasphemy, and God will never accept it, neither shall any soul enter heaven by it." – Spurgeon (via Nick Uva)

Lately I've been reading a lot about the Incarnation of the Son of God, and realizing that the reconciliation of God and Man does not only take place through Jesus (e.g., on the Cross), but actually takes place *in* Jesus first and foremost, has been a paradigm-shifting insight.

Christ's identity as God and Man (aka. the Hypostatic Union) is the mechanism that allows all other humans who believe in Him to receive and share in the Divine life of the Father, what Peter calls, becoming "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4).

Though Christ is unique in his divinity, being fully God, and we can never be exactly as he is, as the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) he is yet a prototype for a new type of humanity that is characterized by union with the Godhead that far surpasses even what the First Adam experienced in the Garden of Eden, and certainly surpasses what we now experience since the First Adam's fall —death, pain, and bondage to sin.

This is what I mean that the Incarnation itself is our reconciliation with God. It is God and Man joined, inseparable, and fully intertwined in Christ as a signal that God no longer wishes to be separated from humanity, and in that, our humanity too is given this offer of elevation to the plain of God.    

The eternal Son of God enters into the human experience so that humans can enter into the reality of God in a way that was never before possible, and through his righteous life, death, and resurrection, he secures our acceptance with God, achieves victory over our primary foe, and imparts the eternal life of God to us, which is tasted in part now through the Spirit and will be fully realized at the future Resurrection and in the Age to Come.

As God and Man he brings God to us and us to God. As Lord of Life and Perfect Adam he exhausts the power of death and overcomes it through his sinless perfection. He presses into the deepest realms of the human experience and brings God there and in so doing he brings whoever will press into him into the deepest realms of God.

More and more I'm getting to the point where if someone asks me what it is that saves us, my first answer will be: the Incarnation. - Travis M Snow

Jesus doesn't just save you from your sins. He saves your humanity. God loves you as a human being and through the Incarnation of the Son of God He offers you your truest, most elevated human self as a gift for all eternity. - Travis M. Snow

My teaching on "loving your enemies" from Luke 6's Sermon on the Plain. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

The images of the Israeli prisoners back in the arms of their families is overwhelming. As emotionally gripping as this all is, it is a small prophetic glimpse of what the Scriptures describe concerning the ultimate redemption and consolation of Israel. 

The Bible describes, at the end of this age, a mighty procession of the redeemed, having been released from imprisonment, following their King, coming home, covered with EVERLASTING JOY...

...and singing the songs of ZION.

The pattern first established during the great theophany at Mount Sinai is that God appears amidst the blasting of a great shofar:

So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. . . . Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. (Exodus 19:16, 18–20)

So also shall the great theophany at the end of the age be accompanied by the blasting of the shofar:

It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. (Isaiah 27:13)

Then the Lord will appear over them,

And His arrow will go forth like lightning;

And the Lord God will blow the trumpet,

And will march in the storm winds of the south. (Zechariah 9:14)

And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Matthew 24:31)

[I]n a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

[B]ut that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:7)

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)

A PROCESSION OF SINGING

Perhaps one of the most thrilling features of the victorious march described in the Scriptures are the repeated descriptions of actual musicians and a mighty host of singers going before and following after the vast procession. They are consistently described as singing, rejoicing, and shouting aloud, as they cannot contain their joy. There are several reasons to believe that among the songs sung will be “the Psalms of Ascent” normally sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for the three annual pilgrimage festivals.

God has ascended with a shout,

The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;

Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm.

God reigns over the nations,

God sits on His holy throne. (Psalm 47:5–8)

God sets the lonely in families,

he leads out the prisoners with singing;

but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. (Psalm 68:6 NIV)

They have seen Your procession, O God,

The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.

The singers went on, the musicians after them,

In the midst of the maidens beating tambourines. (Psalm 68:24–25)

And the ransomed of the Lord will return

And come with joyful shouting to Zion,

With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy,

And sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

The Lord has taken away His judgments against you,

He has cleared away your enemies. (Zephaniah 3:14–15)

Christians are often surprised to learn that the most consistent way the Messiah is described throughout the Bible is as a warrior-King who comes from heaven to save Israel. 

Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, 

And let those who hate Him flee before Him.

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;

As wax melts before the fire,

So let the wicked perish before God. . . .

God is to us a God of deliverances;

And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.

Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies,

The hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds.

The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan.

I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;

That your foot may shatter them in blood,

The tongue of your dogs may have its portion from your enemies.

Rebuke the beasts in the reeds,

The herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,

Trampling under foot the pieces of silver;

He has scattered the peoples who delight in war. (Psalm 68:1–2, 20–23, 30)

He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.

He will judge among the nations,

He will fill them with corpses,

He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. (Psalm 110:5–6)

In indignation You marched through the earth;

In anger You trampled the nations.

You went forth for the salvation of Your people,

For the salvation of Your anointed.

You struck the head of the house of the evil

To lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.

You pierced with his own spears The head of his throngs.

They stormed in to scatter us;

Their exultation was like those who devour the oppressed in secret. (Habakkuk 3:12–14)

Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come,

But He will save you.” (Isaiah 35:4)

Who is this who comes from Edom,

With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah,

This One who is majestic in His apparel,

Marching in the greatness of His strength?

“It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?

“I have trodden the wine trough alone,

And from the peoples there was no man with Me.

I also trod them in My anger

And trampled them in My wrath;

And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,

And I stained all My raiment.

For the day of vengeance was in My heart,

And My year of redemption has come.

I looked, and there was no one to help,

And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold;

So My own arm brought salvation to Me,

And My wrath upheld Me.

I trod down the peoples in My anger

And made them drunk in My wrath,

And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” (Isaiah 63:1–6)

In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion;

Do not let your hands fall limp.

The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.” (Zephaniah 3:16-17)

Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. (Zechariah 14:3)

The Messiah is described as setting the prisoners free:

You will arise and have compassion on Zion;

For it is time to be gracious to her,

For the appointed time has come . . .

For He looked down from His holy height;

From heaven the Lord gazed upon the earth,

To hear the groaning of the prisoner,

To set free those who were doomed to death,

That men may tell of the name of the Lord in Zion

And His praise in Jerusalem,

When the peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. (Psalm 102:13, 19–22)

How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the Lord his God,

Who made heaven and earth,

The sea and all that is in them;

Who keeps faith forever;

Who executes justice for the oppressed;

Who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free. (Psalm 146:5–7)

For behold, in those days and at that time,

When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem . . .

(Joel 3:1 NKJV)

For the Lord their God will intervene for them, and return their captives. (Zephaniah 2:7 NKJV)

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

Because the Lord has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to captives

And freedom to prisoners;

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn . . . (Isaiah 61:1–2)

“For behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,” says the Lord. “And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” (Jeremiah 30:3 NKJV)

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.... He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. (Zechariah 9:9-11)

Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name—after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.” (Ezekiel 39:25–28 NKJV)

Why all of this? Again, just watching the absolute agony and the unstoppable victory of life all on display together with the remaining hostages beginning to be returned, we see reflections and echos of the coming ultimate, final redemption. Take the time to read the texts and imagine the present situation. It is as if the story playing out right now, on our phones and computer screens, in Israel, has nearly been described a thousand times throughout many prophetic portions of the Bible. - Joel Richardson

Our choice is not between an apocalyptic Jesus and some other Jesus; it is between an apocalyptic Jesus and no Jesus at all. -Dale Allison Jr. 

Jesus held very strongly to an apocalyptic worldview... in fact at the very core of his earthly proclamation was an apocalyptic message. This will be a key factor in seeing how he understood himself, whether as divine or otherwise. -Bart Ehrman

Chad Brewer on selecting church leadership:

...However, if the Church’s calling is unto a real Kingdom with a real government with a real system of rewards and punishments, then much grace is needed (and thus much prayer)— not only for forgiveness, but for faithfulness and perseverance unto the fullness of our inheritance and the fullness of proclamation to the world.  - John P. Harrigan

The necessity of prayer is also in proportion to the necessity of grace, which is determined by the magnitude of the calling, which in turn is determined by the end of that calling, i.e. salvation and eschatology.  - John P. Harrigan

Grace is thus simply divine favor and power given by God, the supreme Ruler over creation, in this age and the age to come—overcoming Satan, sin and death in the age to come and preserving the saints through forgiveness, cleansing and strengthening in this age, giving them power to faithfully walk out their calling. - John P. Harrigan

"But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more." (Isa. 65:18-19)

The turmoil and struggles of the Jewish people will soon come to an end. Praise the Lord. -John P Harrigan 

True Christian ministry is both simpler and costlier than men have made it out to be in our day.

American Christianity is glutting on podcasts, fads, and movements amid a relative famine of godly leaders, earnest discipleship, and healthy churches.

We need another reformation.

-BA Purtle

When set next to other ancient accounts of the creation of the world and humanity, the Genesis account is aglow with the power, goodness, purity, and uniqueness of the God revealed in the Bible. He is responsible for all that is, and all that is, is good. - Dr. Jim Hamilton

We must build the church according to God's Word, God's ways, and God's heart. In fact, these realities are ultimately inseparable. The neglect of one will at some point undo the others and end the lifespan of a ministry. This is how lamp-stands are removed from their places. -BA Purtle

Supersessionists:

"God is no longer concerned with the people or land of Israel in any unique sense. The 'Jewish age' is over and the kingdom of God has little if anything to do with Jerusalem."

The Lord Jesus to His disciples:

"Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

(Mt. 19.28; Lk. 22.30; see also Ez. 37.15-28)

-BA Purtle

"Paul totally believed in retirement. It starts at death, and it's glorious." -John Piper (via BA Purtle)

"In Jerusalem shall My name be forever." - YHWH in 2nd Chronicles 33:4 (via BA Purtle)

[The saints in Revelation] must endure...trusting that things will turn out other than how they presently seemed to be, that the arrival of the storm signals the dawning of a new day, one that will bring the awaited harvest for the faithful. - Mark Nanos, (via Joshua Reese)

The brevity of this story (Acts 21:20-27) belies its importance, both for what it tells us about Luke and for what it says about Luke's Paul. Given the anti-legalistic, anti-ethnocentric, and apocalyptic accounts of Paul, one would expect Paul to stand up to the Jerusalem leaders in much the same way that he seems to stand up to Peter in Antioch (Gal. 2). The anti-legalistic reading seems to require Paul to declare that neither Jews nor gentiles are saved by works and so Jews do not need to keep the law and no longer need to circumcise their sons. This Paul should then tell the Jerusalem leaders that he will not take part in the cultic practices that make him appear to be law observant, since doing so would be bearing false testimony. The anti-ethnocentric reading appears to require Paul to declare to the Jerusalem leaders that their insistence on law observance and their contention that ethnicity matters are idolatrous and ethnocentric. Again, this Paul should resist the call to participate in the Jerusalem cult since to do so would be to suggest that Jewish distinctives like circumcision, purity regulations, and the temple (works of the law) still matter. And the apocalyptic reading seems to require Paul to declare that the old has passed in light of the apocalyptic invasion of the Messiah: the temple, ritual purity regulations, and ethnicity are all nothing in the wake of the messianic new creation. 

But Luke's Paul does none of these things. Instead, he does precisely what is asked of him, knowing full well that it will give, and is intended to give, everyone the impression that he himself keeps the Jewish law. These publicly performed rituals show people that Paul was not teaching Jewish Messiah followers outside Judea to abandon Moses, the Jewish rite of circumcision, or the Jewish law. The story makes clear that the ethnic distinctions persist and matter in the Jesus movement: one set of practices applies to Jewish followers of Jesus, while another set of practices applies to gentile followers of Jesus (Acts 21:25). Laws, ethnicity, and differences continue to matter for Luke's Paul. - Matthew Thiessen, A Jewish Paul

My teaching on Luke's beatitudes from the sermon on the plalin in chapter 6. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. Video. 

The grace of God is given in context to the Day of the Lord and the coming Kingdom. Grace is unto strengthening the church in her identity and purpose in this age (cf. worship, discipleship and evangelism), and thus grace is the primary “commodity” sought by the saints in this age. - John P. Harrigan

The Church is called to persevere in their calling to worship God and believe in his appointed Messiah, sanctifying themselves in preparation for his Kingdom, and testifying to all nations of the judgment and restoration of that Kingdom. However, perseverance in this calling is wholly dependent upon God and his grace, by means of the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.  (Acts 1:4-8)

The Holy Spirit is given by God as a deposit (cf. 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:14; etc.) of the grace (Gk. charis) that will be given the saints at the revelation of Jesus (cf. 1 Pe. 1:13; Titus. 2:11; 1 Cor. 1:7; Gal. 1:6; etc.). - John P. Harrigan

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. (ESV Matthew 9:35) 

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." (NIV Luke 4:17)  

Humanity’s ultimate problem is death/suffering/sickness and its root of wickedness and rebellion (i.e. bad news). The biblical gospel (i.e. good news) boldly declares to the sick and dying the overturning and conquering of death in the resurrection of the body. Moreover, it declares to the poor and oppressed the uprooting and destruction of wickedness in the judgment of the Day of the Lord. - John P. Harrigan

In light of the coming Messianic Kingdom, the Church’s primary role is to acknowledge and worship God in his present benevolent sovereignty over all things in the heavens and on the earth, and to wait, hope and pray for the Day of the Lord and the coming of His Messiah.   

Secondarily, the Church is called to prepare for its inheritance in that kingdom. It is called to holiness and blamelessness that we might receive a rich welcome into the coming kingdom. This is the context of discipleship and sanctification, training to reign in love and righteousness.  

The tertiary role of the Church is to be a witness of that Kingdom—and the judgment and restoration therein—to all the nations.  - John P. Harrigan

“Israel's national redemption will not occur in our day, but it will indeed come to pass. At His time the Lord will cause it to come to pass suddenly. May the Lord be gracious to His people of old. Oh, that the Redeemer would come to Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob! Israel would then rejoice and the Gentiles would glory, and together they would render the Lord honor, glory, and thanksgiving. Hallelujah!” - Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635-1711) 

The fact that Irenaeus’ views on the Kingdom were so soon overtaken with in the Great Church by the Platonizing, spiritualizing interpretation may have a good deal to do with the general neglect of his writings in the later tradition of the Church. Most medieval manuscripts of Adversus Haereses do not contain the final chapters of Book V, where Irenaeus’ eschatology is most fully presented. The desire to protect Irenaeus’ reputation for orthodoxy has not been confined to medieval copyists. In 1938, V. Cremers attempted to show that these pages were not the work of Irenaeus at all, but a later interpolation. Some scholars, though not embarrassed by the realism of Irenaeus’ expectations of the Kingdom have yet been at pains to urge that ‘there is not a single mention of the words “thousand years’ reign”’, so that it cannot be said that there are any ‘misplaced chiliastic tendencies in the Adversus Haereses’. However, the Armenian version of Books IV and V of Adversus Haereses, first published in 1910, shows these claims to be unsupportable. For from it we learn that even the one Latin manuscript that had been thought to preserve the whole of the text did, in fact, lack a small but crucial paragraph in the very heart of Irenaeus’ discussion of this subject. And in that paragraph Irenaeus speaks unequivocally of the thousand-year reign of the just. -Dennis Minns 

Irenaeus belonged to a body of Christians, surprisingly large even at the end of the second century, who continued to believe in the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God in a quite literal sense: they believed that at the coming of Christ the earth would be renewed and the just would rise from the dead to dwell with him in his Kingdom for a thousand years…. Half a century later, partly in consequence of the growing influence of Platonism within Christian theology, the ‘spiritual’ interpretation of the coming of the Kingdom had triumphed, and the views on the Kingdom of Irenaeus and other like-minded theologians were derided as naïve or outlandish. - Dennis Minns

God's election is of the Jewish people as a whole and that while out of this people he has called prophets, kings, redeemers, priests—heroes of all sorts whose service and stories are detailed with great precision in the Hebrew Bible, they each had their significance only as they came out of Israel and returned into it as sons of the nation God had elected and which he had sworn not to abandon. If we take the Hebrew Bible seriously, there cannot be any individual, however significant and prominent, whose relationship with God is unilateral, with the people of Israel not being the decisive presence serving as the purpose of the relation. The kings, priests and prophets of Israel were sent to rule, minister to and address the people of Israel; without this people not one of them would have had any significance nor would his mission have been conceivable… Should we be misled into believing that this is true only of the Hebrew Bible where as in the New Testament it is Jesus addressing humanity rather than just the people into which he was born, we need only remind ourselves of those passages in which Jesus specifically proclaims the focus of his ministry as being the Jewish people…We need to realize that Jesus must not be separated from the Jewish people because he did not wish to separate himself from them. - Michael Wyschogrod, via Bill Scofield

In Paul's day, churches (ekklesiae in Greek) were still connected to the synagogue. As Pauline scholar Mark Nanos has said for decades, ekklesiae were actually "synagogue subgroups." Later, yes, churches as we have come to know them have disconnected from the synagogue. But in Paul's day, they were umbilically connected to each other. Where else would Paul's gentiles have access to the Jewish scriptures he instructed them to learn? - Ryan Lambert, The Weird Apostle

Bad ideas defeated by force rather than by facts will keep coming back. If truth is really on your side, you have nothing to fear in the hearing and nothing to lose in honest, thoughtful engagement. - Dr. Micheal Svigel

“Pilate said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’”

“They answered him, ‘If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.’” John 18:29–30

Evasion only works with people who cavil, “What is truth?” - John Piper

If you don’t understand how Jews viewed the future at the time of the New Testament, you won’t be able to appreciate the significance of what it means to change that expectation. - Tyler Luedke

[Luke 17:21] ...the kingdom of God will come into your midst (suddenly and apocalyptically from God). It will not come progressively as a synergistic insurrection from Israel’s inner rooms or wilderness areas. Unlike Barabbas (23:19), Jesus demands the embrace of non-violent martyrdom (9:23, 14:27). Only those disciples who renounce everything in this age (12:33; 14:33), putting their hope in God alone, will inherit the resurrection and eternal life “when the Son of Man comes” (18:8). This seems to be the apocalyptic faith that Jesus is cultivating in 17:20–21. - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

A brief teaching I did on interpreting Luke's sermon on the plain with three broad narratives or storylines. 

History is moving toward a climactic end involving the day of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the wicked (ending in gehenna), a cosmic renewal (new heavens and new earth), and the messianic kingdom (based in a glorified Jerusalem). The vast majority of Jesus’s sayings about the kingdom of God fit comfortably within this worldview. - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Unlike the synergism of the zealots, Jesus’s expectation of how and when the messianic kingdom would come was much more apocalyptic. Without the aid of ζηλωταὶ, it would come suddenly like lightning in the sky (cf. Matt 24:27; Luke 17:24), as in the days of Noah and Lot (cf. Matt 24:36–39; Luke 17:26–29). 

Thus, Jesus was not seeking to radically redefine what the kingdom was, but rather he was simply seeking to correct ideas circulating within Jewish circles at the time concerning when and how the kingdom would come, based upon assumptions concerning where it would originate. It would not come out of Israel’s midst by the strength of human zeal, but rather it would come into Israel’s midst apocalyptically by the power of God from the heavens. Understanding the observable signs in Luke 17:20–21 as Jewish insurgencies helps us navigate what Jesus was trying to communicate more broadly concerning the kingdom of God in Luke 17:20–18:8.  - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Evidence that Jewish zealotry was in mind in Luke 17:20–21 is seen in the Synoptic parallels: “So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say,‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it” (Matt 24:26; emphasis added). Compared to other the commonly postulated signs, insurgent scheming seems to better fit in the Judean wilderness and/or in Jerusalem’s inner rooms. According to Josephus, seditious movements were relatively common in the first century. They are also seen in the New Testament (cf. Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19; Acts 5:36–37; 21:38). Moreover, such insurrectionists seem to better fit the parallel descriptions of “false messiahs” (Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22), who would provoke the popular declaration: “‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘Look! There he is!’” (Mark 13:21). Looking (Gk. ἰδού) here and there (Gk. ὧδε, ἐκεῖ) in Matthew 24:26 and Mark 13:21 is clearly associated with messianic expectations. The same would seem to apply to looking here and there in Luke 17:21a and 17:23a. The best context for this errant first-century messianic expectation seems to be Jewish zealotry. - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Zealot beliefs largely overlapped with common apocalyptic expectations at the time, except for the synergistic means of ushering in the apocalyptic future. Patterned after (and seemingly extrapolated from) the Maccabean revolt, zealotry envisioned a Davidic descendant gathering an army of those zealous for God (Gk. ζηλωτής) in the Judean wilderness. With heavenly approval and miraculous signs, he would liberate Jerusalem from Gentile antichristic tyranny and usher in the glorious age to come (thus the false messianic “signs and omens,” Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22).  - John P. Harrigan, Signs of Jewish Zealotry in Luke 17.20-21

Careful When Gathering Sticks

A young man wondered if he should go to a Bible school. His business was carpet-cleaning. Because he traveled around, he personally witnessed to six or seven people each day. His future at a mission school would mean that he would spend six months with Christians. Then he would go out and do mission work ... if he still had a mind to. Charles Spurgeon said, "Be careful when you are picking up sticks, that your fire doesn't go out." So if you are considering going to a Bible school, make sure they have an emphasis on reaching out to the world, so that you will end up with more zeal than when you enrolled. Better still, get into a lifestyle where you will be schooled by regularly rubbing shoulders with the world. 

There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time. - Ray Comfort

That which cannot be earned by moral perfection cannot be lost by moral imperfection. - Micheal Heiser

Ironically, it seems that, since the second century, most of Yeshua’s followers would prefer that he does not restore the kingdom to Israel. It turns out that the kingdom of heaven is far too Jewish for most of his followers. - D. Thomas Lancaster. 

Jesus described the future with phrases like: “the age to come” (Mark 10:30), “the renewal of all things” (Matt 19:28), “my kingdom” (Luke 22:30), “the resurrection” (Matt 22:28). Peter described it as: “the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time” (Acts 3:21). Paul said that the Spirit of God within us and  “the whole creation groans” for this time (Rom 8:22). - Joel Richardson 

There is no such thing as "spare time." Time is humanity's most precious resource. There is only time well spent and time wasted. - Aaron Eby

In Judaism, Rabbis have always debated what seemed like two different Messianic figures being described in the scriptures. One was Messiah son of David (The Warrior Like Messiah) and the other is Messiah son of Joseph (The Gentle Suffering Servant). They were unable to see how this might be one Messiah coming at two different times and so missed their Messiah.

What’s interesting is that they were expecting and waiting for their Warrior Messiah to come and rescue them from the bondage and tribulation they were experiencing and instead got the suffering Messiah coming to make atonement for sin.

Now 2,000 years later it seems that the church is making the same mistake and this time is expecting the gentle Messiah to return, when actually we are going to get the Warrior Messiah coming to judge the world and take His throne in Jerusalem! 

-Johnathon Blaze

Divorcing “the Gospel” from eschatology, particularly the Second Coming and the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel, is all too common but nevertheless shortsighted and problematic. 

We are not just saved from our sins (a typical and yes at one level necessary way of framing the Gospel). 

At a more holistic level, however, we are saved into a very specific type of Kingdom that will manifest at the return of Christ. - Travis M Snow 

His iron-clad commitment to keep His promises spares us the trouble of building His Kingdom without Him. As C.H. Spurgeon once said, it is quite difficult to have a Kingdom without the King present. We are to bear witness of His Kingdom coming, but we’ll never establish it here without Him. The dominion mandate in the Garden was usurped by the one whose head Jesus will crush finally and forever, and “the kingdoms of this world [will] become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever,” “gloriously.” - Stephanie Quick, Kingdom Come

The moment Gentiles began to dominate the Christian demographic, we began to deliberately divorce ourselves from the Judaic ethos of the faith. This was due in part to the mounting tensions between mainline Judaism and the controversies surrounding this new sect of “the Way,” and in part to the controversy of Jerusalem saddling the Roman Empire that Gentile Christians wanted distance from, and, lastly, in sure part to the general antisemitism and anti Judaism within the Empire that colored, say, Roman Christian interpretation of the foundational texts. By the time Church Fathers gathered to root out heresies and identify core doctrines in our creeds, they had intentionally distanced Christendom from Jerusalem and Judaism. This was done deliberately, and to everyone’s detriment. - Stephanie Quick, Kingdom Come