The Lord Commends Job but Condemns his Three Friends (Job 42:7)

In the book of Job, the Lord commends Job but condemns his three friends (Job 42:7). How do we evaluate this in terms of the book as a whole: 

It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.   (NASB)

God’s phrase not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, demonstrates that the three friends (Eliphaz, Bidad and Tzofar) had misapplied scripture, which is as heinous as misinterpreting scripture!  What they claimed was sound doctrine, but they failed in faithfully describing Job.  Worse, they misrepresented God!  It is noteworthy that Elihu was omitted in this judgement?  Job was referred to as My servant, a special epithet demonstrating Job was indeed declared righteous (in the manner the term is used for Abraham [Gen. 26:24], Moses [Josh. 1:2], and David [2 Sam. 7:5]).  This phrase indicates God reaffirms Job as a righteous, God-fearing man (1:8; 2:3).

The entire book of Job presents the different theological perspectives of suffering and tribulations in a believer’s life:

1. Author - a spiritual environment that glorifies God.

2. The 3 friends - concentrate on suffering as a consequence of sin.

3. Job - inexplicable and bewildering problem.

4. Elihu - is a purifying process from God.

5. God - a call to trust and submission.

The 42 chapters direct the reader into the mystery of suffering and as these five men elucidate - there is no simplistic analysis!  It doesn’t analyse evil and suffering per se, but it encourages the saints to persevere and endure with hope.  Job’s pattern of life is a typology of Christ’s humiliation and exaltation.  In addition, the grief of the trials of God’s chosen with God’s apparent absence is diametric to the faith displayed in God’s glory ultimately vindicating and glorifying the believers.  The NT even refers to Job as a model of endurance until Christ’s second advent (James 5:7, 11).

Job’s friends attempt to defend God, in three cycles, based on a superficial understanding of divine retribution.  This is a primitive form of the modern prosperity gospel, whereby they present a faulty and over-simplistic concept of God’s providence.  The idea that God always rewards the just and punishes the wicked with calamity.  This is an erroneous representation of Almighty God.  Job also is swayed that he is indeed being punished unjustly, leading him to confront God with questions.  The glorious (and merciful, gracious) response of God reveals His transcendence and omniscience!  God questions Job, reminding the reader that we lack the knowledge, power and concern to sovereignly rule over creation.   As the late, disgraced philosopher Ravi Zacharias used to claim, man does not have the insight like God over matter and time, to see the beneficial (God-glorifying) outcomes according to His good pleasure.  If we have such finite understanding of less sensitive events, how are we qualified to consider how God deals with all of creation  - including His pinnacle, mankind!

The fundamental feature of Job is that suffering has multiple reasons and mankind may not even appreciate some of those Divine reasons.  But most importantly, suffering does not belittle God’s righteousness and loving dealings with His grace towards humanity - even extreme suffering!  This is often the threshold of maturing faith. 

May you know the Lord's intimate presence and peace, as you lean on Him by grace to persevere through your trials, for His glory's sake. AMEN.

Soli Deo gloria ~ for Glory to God alone.

Was the Trinity a Doctrine before Nicaea?

Was the Trinity a Doctrine before Nicaea?

Preamble

I find it interesting people consider me to follow Romanism, when I am emphatically Reformed and Puritanical?

Although there is much accurate Biblical doctrine in Romanism, I have always done substantial apologetics and polemics AGAINST that theology (Marian Mediatrix & Co-redemptrix, saint veneration & worship, the multiplicity of sacraments, and of course the Salvation by faith and, merits, etc. fought during the Reformation, and much more) AND the abhorrent historical atrocities they incurred - most particularly during the Crusades [to virtually everyone - Jews, Muslims, real Christians and everyone else in between] and to the Reformers)!

The above reference-image is from Edict of Thessalonica 380AD, and demonstrates the Roman Catholic reference to the then church's position [1].

What is particularly fascinating and erroneous, in this statement is the perceived inaccuracy that the doctrine of the Trinity was introduced in the C4th at Nicaea or Constantinople. This is not only wrong, but easily tested personally!! This claim would mean that the concept or even the word "Trinity" should NOT have existed in Christianity prior to this time.

In fact, it was Arius the Cyrene who famously promoted a Unitarian heresy [Arianism] AGAINST the Apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42), ~300 years AFTER Jesus the Christ!

I previously searched Schaff's full text of all 38 volumes of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, along with many other Christian documents [2]. (The phrase "Ante-Nicene Fathers" refers to the Church leaders prior to the time of Nicaea. It was this section that was the focus of my study.) You can research it yourself.

A. Discussing the Trinity

Entering "Trinity" in the search function and counting the occurrence of "Trinity" throughout the entire set of "Pre-Nicene" - 106 iterations. This may not sound like many; but it is significant. How could the doctrine have been invented in the fourth century if Church leaders in the second and third centuries were talking about it?

B. Defining and Defending the Trinity And they were not just talking about the Trinity. In many cases they were explaining and defending the doctrine. At other times they were simply referring to the Trinity in a casual manner, as if they knew their readers would know what they were talking about without having to explain it.

C. Ante-Nicene Terms for the Trinity

Sometimes the term was expanded with some interesting adjectives. Some phrases through the search were:

• Holy Trinity
• blessed Trinity
• perfect Trinity
• eternal Trinity
• sacred Trinity
• most Divine Trinity.

In writings shortly before Nicaea were the phrases:

• holy and consubstantial Trinity
• consubstantial and indivisible Trinity.

All these statements make it appear that the Early Church Fathers [ECFs] agreed with the doctrine in the first 3 centuries, immediately from the legacy of the Apostles ("But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My [Jesus] name, HE will teach you [disciples] all things, and remind you of all that I said to you." - John 14:26 nasb).

* Isn't it interesting that the HS [grammatical feminine in the Greek], is called a masculine person, HE, not a force in this text? And yes, the Koine emphasises personality, not power, as a point of distinction!

ὁ δὲ παράκλητος τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ὃ πέμψει ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου ἐκεῖνος ὑμᾶς διδάξει πάντα καὶ ὑπομνήσει ὑμᾶς πάντα ἃ εἶπον ὑμῖν

KATA IWANNHN 14:26 TR

There are other ways of expressing the idea that God is three-in-one than just with the term "Trinity." So a simple search probably ignored references where writers were discussing the doctrine but without actually using the term. So I examined some of the documents.

God is observed as being said to be:

• Three-in-One,
• one Deity in three Persons,
• three Persons in one substance, etc.

Tertullian (c.160-220 AD), even devoted an entire book to defending the Trinity (against Praxeas). (Notice Tertullian lived over a hundred years prior to Nicaea).

** Tertullian didn't correctly describe the doctrine (in Reformed theology), and actually misdirected the Biblical description of the Trinity.

None of this means the doctrine of the Trinity is necessarily true and Biblical. But it demonstrates that the idea of God being Triune, and the use of the word "Trinity" definitely existed long before Nicaea.

D. Source of Confusion? So why do people claim the Trinity was "invented" at Nicaea or even later? One explanation is that certain people have never actually read the writings of the ECFs for themselves. There are, of course, various hardcopy versions of their writings available. And the above mentioned USB or website are excellent resources of these and many other Christian writings.

A very quick reference to a few ECFs are outlined on Early Trinitarian Quotes [3],

by Matt Slick.

Summary

I encourage folk check some of these sources for themselves before making or believing any bold proclamations about what Church Fathers taught or did not teach (Prov. 18:13,15) 　

May the Lord richly bless you as your continue to study His Word.

~ John 　 REFERENCES: 1. Edict of Thessalonica 380AD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Thessalonica 2. ECFs https://www.ccel.org/fathers

3. Slick Matt (2008). Early Trinitarian Quotes by Early Church Fathers https://carm.org/doctrine-and-theology/early-trinitarian-quotes-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity/

Philosophical Arguments for God's Existence

Many folk (surprisingly to themselves) ask the big questions of philosophy.  For example, How did everything come into existence?  What is the purpose for everything?  What happens when I die?  Today, I just want to focus on one question I get asked more often than most (especially in the past couple of months) by Christians and non-Christians, alike...

What Proof is there for the Existence of God?

I will outline the three main ones that convict me, being "intelligent design" [especially communication], the "First Cause", and history/archæology.  These are not the only "simple" arguments, but they provide food for thought for discussion.


1.  Intelligent Design

Thought experiment -

Say you go to Mars.  You look in a crater and observe 3 000 000 boulders all perfectly aligned as an equilateral triangle.  Would you assume they were aligned by an intelligent entity?  It is not inconceivable that it is a natural phenomon (albeit, extremely unlikely).

Now, assume the exact same environment and you saw those boulders arranged as an exact letter to you, perfectly formed and grammatically correct in a particular language.  Would you consider that a natural occurence (even allowing for millions and billions of years)?

This is a trivial inanimate example of not only sentience, but intelligence.  

Have you ever considered that DNA is a language consisting of only 4 letters that tells cells in every living biological entity how to make new cells, and then tell the cells how to operate every single function (literally millions of operations).

This is an extreme oversimplification of irreducible complexity, but it conveys a point.


2.  First Cause

Most philosophers agree that anything's existence is not in itself.  All things exist from something prior to itself [despite Hawking's argument regarding a "Brief History of Time"].

3.  History and Archæology

A. The Holy Bible

The final and most compelling argument I believe philosophically, is that no other deity or religion contains an historic narrative that was written down as detailed prophecy (of a Messiah) in one volume hundreds of years earlier [the Old Testament] and fulfilled in detail (about Jesus the Christ) in second volume [the New Testament].

Click here for FULL SIZE

Not only does it pass intense historic and archælogical scrutiny, but it is the world's first historic hypertext document linking in astonishing detail of 63,779 cross references over the ~1500 years it was written (visualised below).

Click here for FULL SIZE

B.  Archæology

Biblical archæology has never been unsubstantiated.  In fact, much historic and archæological research is examined against the Bible, as even atheist and agnostic researchers utilise it's accuracy.

Many discoveries have been made based on the veracity of the Bible (eg. the existence of the Hittites).

C. History

There are more documented historical artefacts (especially records and documents) regarding the Bible than any other subject.

D.  Emmanuel - God with Us

This leads onto the final reason I want to share regarding history, being the direct evidence of Jesus Christ (as an historical figure) acknowledged by Christians and atheists alike.

There is only one concurrent document pertaining to Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon into Rome [by Suetonius], yet it is established as historic fact.  

There are several extra-biblical records that discuss Christ and thousands about Christianity.  This doesn't include the tens of thousands of documents ensuing from theological studies over the millenia.

Biblical References for Life at Conception

I have been recently asked to prove the statement that life begins at conception Biblically, as opposed to the philosophy that life doesn't begin until birth.  That is especially of interest with the forthcoming Sanctity of Life Sunday on May 24th 2020.

I offer up the following references from Scripture [ESV - English Standard Version]. 
(Please note this is not an exhaustive list.)

God knew us BEFORE we were born 


Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.  Psalm 22:9-10

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.  Psalm 51:5

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.  Psalm 139:13-16

Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.  Isaiah 44:2

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,  Isaiah 44:24

cf. Isaiah 49:1,  Isaiah 49:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.  Jeremiah 1:5

because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.  Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?  Jeremiah 20:17-18


Reactions of prenatal children


The foetal twins Jacob and Esau struggling in utero:

The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”  ...


Jacob was born grasping Esau's heel:

When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.  The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.  Genesis 25:22-23, 24-26


The foetus of John the Baptist physically responded to the presence of the foetal Christ, moved by the Holy Spirit:

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit  ...

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  Luke 1:41, 44

Isaiah 53 - The Forbidden Chapter

I have written and preached previously on the Isaiah 53 because of its prophecy fulfilled, but it is one of the most significantly avoided passages in Judaism.  I've read it described as the "Rabbis' Torture Chamber".  It is referred by modern evangelistic scholars as the "Fifth Gospel".  Being written centuries before Christ and the New Testament period, I like to refer to it as the "Very First Gospel".  It teaches how to recognise the Messiah and His 'way of salvation'.

Isaiah Scroll

For centuries Rabbis acknowledged it was describing the Messiah.  They no longer teach it because it was fulfilled by Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth 2000 years ago.  That contributes to why so many Jews don't know Jesus and His atoning and vicarious work! 

Isaiah 53

This 10 minute Israeli video (captioned in English) shows evangelism in the Holy Land, but using the examination of the Hebrew Tanakh (our modern Old Testament) as it reveals the narrative of Jesus the Messiah.  Enjoy ... Isaiah 53 ~ The Forbidden Chapter.

Blessings in Christ,

~ John

Peace in Trials

Brothers and Sisters

I pray that you know the peace that passes all understanding that comes alone from Jesus Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Although it is more difficult that as a church (the collection of saints) to gather, it is exciting to know that the Lord is working His purposes to His glory.  It is in these times of adversity we can see God's hand at work.  How can we find comfort in the midst of adversity?  You know the answer - the Lord God Almighty is in the midst of thee (Zeph. 3:17).  Now is the time to get close to God (James 4:8).  Most (all?) of us know God has promised He will never leave us or forsake us (Dt. 31:6 and Heb. 13:5).  Let's consider how we have this assurance and relish the situation:   



Firstly, we have God's Word.  His Bible is ALL about the grace of God delivering His people throughout the entirety of history.  There is no part of Scripture that doesn't resonate with the saint, that God has their ultimate best interest in His heart (Rom. 8:28).  This "self-isolation" provides a wonderful opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Scriptures.  I have used the time to read the 'minor' prophets.  The Psalms are so full of expressions for the entire range of emotions we are experiencing, be it joy, fear, exhaustion, guilt, shame, peace, depression, etc.  Not the least, we can study how our Saviour Jesus endured His experiences, calling on our Father for strength and endurance - and the hope it gives to us.  This leads us to the next 'means of grace', prayer.



We can cultivate the wonderful gift of prayer.  Make a study of the Lord's Prayer or other prayers in the Bible.  See how we express to God our adoration of Him as our Soveriegn and our Father.  Confessing our sins to the mercy seat for forgiveness and cleansing.  Think about and acknowledge what to thank Him, not the least that He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7).  Finally, we can pray for the needs of others in this time - family, church family, friends, service providers, and especially medical staff.  Pretty soon we realise that we need to be prayer warriors.  My mind tends to stray sometimes - don't be distressed.  Prayer is intimately talking with the Lord, not a mindless task.  Just share what's on your heart throughout the day.  Better than just talking to myself 😉 





You can also enjoy any good books that build up or teach the faith.  CAREFULLY test the various TV ministries - you're ALWAYS welcome to contact Pastor David or myself for recommended viewing.  Beware there is much so-called 'Christian' rubbish programs on there.  The same may be said of the local FM radio stations: Salt 106.9 [Suncoast], 96five Family Radio 96.5 [Brisbane], and Cooloola Christian Radio 91.5 [Gympie].

Those who are blessed with access to the internet, there are a lot of wonderful and edifying Godly materials to teach and guide the saints.  May I recommend anything from Ligonier Ministries [R.C. Sproul] and Grace to You [John MacArthur]. You can also search for hymns, documentaries and Bible movies. (Though again, be careful, they may be from an unChristian perspective).

Of course, if anyone needs a chat or prayer, please feel welcome to ring another church family member.  I have been struggling with my own mental health and this isolation would normally be such a terrible impact, save for the grace of God!  We may not be able to fellowship 'in person', but we can still commune with one another.  





I look back through history and contemplate that even during the wars, we were not required to lock ourselves in for extended periods (days) with limited human contact, like we are asked currently.  And during periods of plague and pestilence, the church (individual believers together) actually got our hands dirty helping the sick and suffering.  But just as the Lord has carried us through droughts, floods, fires, cyclones, conflicts and other turmoils, we know from personal experience that He will carry us through this short trial.  This is still our time to be salt and light, to the glory of God our Father (Mt. 5:13-16).  

God bless you all.
Your brother in Christ.

~ John  0417 636 911

Messiah ... Antichrist Film? ~ Part 1

I have been restraining myself from analysing the Netflix® series, Messiah.  But I feel drawn to point out that it EXACTLY represents the description of the Antichrist as outlined in the Holy Bible.

I find it a brilliant teaching tool for apologetics and searching the Scriptures and Quran.

As an introduction, let me defer to Wikipedia's summary of the TV series.  

"The series focuses on the modern world's reaction to a man who first appears in the Middle East, whose followers claim him to be the eschatological return of 'Isa (Jesus). His sudden appearance and apparent miracles spark a growing international following, casting doubts around who he really is, a case investigated by a CIA officer." [1]

So starting at Series 1: Episode 1 [S1:E1] ("He That Hath an Ear", from Rev.2:7), this bearded bloke makes an appearance in Damascus to Syrian "Palestinians".

He is (mis?)quoting the Quran in the following time indices:

4:24   Al-Quran Surah 3. Al-i'Imran, Ayah 173
          Al-Quran Surah 3. Al-i'Imran, Ayah 51

Then the Bible is quoted:

6:20   Revelation 2:17

The speaker is soon identified as al-Masih (Arabic for Messiah), as the followers chant his name.  At this point, it is not known if he is the Christian Messiah (Yasu-al-Masih) or the Muslim Messiah ('Isa-al-Masih).

Background note:  According to Muslim theology, 'Isa will return at the end times with Mahdi to help defeat Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (the Muslim anti-christ/false messiah).

When Christ returns, according to the Bible, he shall return in glory in the sky (the same way He left 2000 years ago).  So clearly, this is the Christian version of the Anti-Christ (since he claims to have caused a miracle using a sandstorm from 30 days non-stop preaching to stop violence in the Middle-East).

Returning to the story, al-Masih leads 2000 followers into the desert, where that night he has a small discussion with a couple of clerics and an adolescent boy.  

15:00   he misquotes the "Christian" philosopher, C.S.Lewis.

15:38   he recalls a version of the Shahada (Muslim creed: There is no other deity except Allah).  This is the response to the question of His deity!  So that immediately denies his divinity, and therefore identifies him again as NOT being Jesus Christ.  (because Jesus proclaimed "I and the Father are one" [John 10:30], etc).

16:00   Al-Quran Surah 23. Al-Muminun, Ayah 115

al-Masih proceeds to tell the small gathering to "throw away what you know about God!  ... Cling to me [al-Masih]".  This is in direct contravention of Jesus Christ's teaching in Matthew 5:18.

22:28   it is revealed he is 'Isa-al-Masih - the Muslim messiah.

23:30   Then the young fellow asks 'Isa where his deceased mother is?  With Allah?  'Isa responds with the classic Muslim (non-Christian) answer, "Do you think he [Allah] would forsake a soul as good as hers?"  (compare Romans 3:10)

The next day, he proceeds to lead the 2000 Syrian "Palestinians" to Israel's borders (after abandoning their guns in the wilderness).

Being captured by the Israeli army, 'Isa is interrogated by a Mossad agent.

36:30  When asked to identify himself, his Hebrew reply was "The WORD", and identifies as originally being Jewish. 

This theologically brings up a whole range of tidbits, in that Jesus never refered to Himself as "the Word".  It is implied in the Psalms (eg. 33:6; 107:20; 119:89; 147:15-18) and referred after his ascension by the Apostle John (John 1).  In fact, most Jews in the day felt it an intrusion of Greek philosophy (although it actually wasn't).

40:08   The final few minutes of this episode culminate in 'Isa "magically" vanishing (without video footage of his cell for that time).  Prior to that, he was in a version of the lotus position silently performing Sa Ta Na Ma (Satan Ma???) meditation in his cell.


Share with me any interesting notes you found from this episode.



SOURCES:
1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(American_TV_series)