Zach’s Theological Musings

  I have not received any prophetic words from the Lord. This opinion simply comes from reading the Bible and trying to understand the heart and mind of God as He has chosen to reveal it to us in Scripture. I could be wrong about this, but I do believe that the Christian church of America (as well as other affluent areas, but I’ll stick to talking about my homeland) is by-and-large, if not completely, “without lampstand.”

  First of all, what does it mean to have your lampstand removed, as in Rev 2:5? Well, in Rev 1:20 we are explicitly told that the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Commentators are agreed that this warning was indeed fulfilled and executed as seen by the fact that the church in Ephesus completely ceased to exist. But at what point was the lampstand of the Ephesian church actually removed? Was it when the last believer in Jesus Christ disappeared from the city? Or did Christians continue to gather in that city for many years after the Lord “removed their lampstand out of its place”?

  Many have observed that a lampstand in the Bible, with its oil, fire, and light, is closely associated with the Holy Spirit (compare Zech 4). Jesus promised His disciples that after He ascended to the Father He would send His promised Holy Spirit. And a major reason for that was to powerfully equip His church to be a witness to the world (Acts 1:8), a city on a hill, a lamp on a lampstand (Matt 5:15).

  It seems to me most in line with a complete Biblical theology to understand that the Spirit of God, indeed the presence of God, in some sense departed from the church in Ephesus just as the glory of the Lord departed on more than one occasion from rebellious Israel (see e.g. I Sam 4:21-22, Ezekiel 10). A gathering that considered itself the Ephesian church may have continued to exist for some time, just as the temple in Israel continued to exist, but it was desolate. Ichabod. The glory has gone.

  Second, is it reasonable to believe that this has happened to us as well? As Protestants we look to the Reformation as the return of the glory of the gospel of justification by faith out of a 16th Catholic church that was, to a large extent, spiritually dead (or worse). True enough. But fallen human nature is such that we are continually in need of reformation.

  I’m not talking about doctrine, at least not right now. Sure, there are theological weaknesses in much of modern evangelicalism and we yes we are in continual need of reformations of doctrinal truth. But thankfully, “faith alone”, “Christ alone”, and “Scripture alone” are at least holding strong in many branches of American evangelicalism.

  But here is the bombshell which I believe rocks our complacent American Protestant evangelical world: the Ephesians weren’t heretics either. The Lord in fact commended the church of Ephesus on some doctrinal points at the same time that He threatened to remove their lampstand. “You cannot endure evil men; you reject false apostles; you have persevered; you hate the sect of the Nicolaitans which I also hate.” God didn’t threaten to remove the Ephesian’s lampstand because they had turned to a doctrine of salvation by works. They hadn’t! They’d kept the creeds, but they had lost their first love.

  Let me restate the point for emphasis and clarity. In the Bible, we read of a church which apparently was doctrinally grounded, not heretical, and yet the Lord was so displeased with their love for Him being dispersed elsewhere that He threatened to remove their lampstand, the very thing which identified them as His own church.

  Brothers and sisters, judge for yourselves: have we lost our first love? Look at the height from which we as a church have fallen! Do we do the deeds that the bride of Christ did at first? Joyfully selling property in order to give to the poor… boldly proclaiming the Word of God in the face of persecution and accepting the consequences without backing down? Perhaps I am mistaken, and I don’t want to put words in the Lord’s mouth. But I do want to take seriously the words which have already come from His mouth. Do we love God more than our money? Do we love God more than the comfort and security that our nation has come to take for granted? Did we count the cost before setting out to follow Jesus:

“So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” - Luke 14:33

We still sing songs like, “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also…”, but do our actions show that we are ready to lose everything in order to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness?

  I hear stories that tell me that there are places in the world were the church, despite its many faults, sins, and weaknesses, does love the Lord first and foremost - above life and above possesssions. The lampstands have not been extinguished. God will always maintain a remnant witness on earth. But as long as we seek to serve two masters, and keep each foot in one of two kingdoms, our name here in America is Ichabod. The glory and the Spirit have departed.

  That is how it appears to me. If I have been too critical, may the Lord lead me to repentance. But if the bride of Christ in America really has left her first love, and lost her lampstand, then may the Lord lead all of us to repentance, that we may do the deeds she did at first; and may He have mercy and restore His glory and His Spirit to us, despite our waywardness.

Subtitle: Exegeting Creation.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…” 

  The English word “poem” comes from the Greek root “poiema” which refers to a created thing/something made. For example, both Genesis 1:1 (in the Greek Septuagint) and Romans 1:20 use a form of this word to describe God’s work of creation (see also “workmanship” in Ephesians 2:10). The physical world is a “poem” coming from the very mouth of God. Creation doesn’t just “exist”, it tells a story. It is God communicating.

  John Piper says it like this, “The universe and everything in it is God’s work of art. What’s the point of this word? The point is that in a poem there is manifest design and intention and wisdom and power. The wind might create a letter in the sand, but not a poem. That’s the point. God acted. God planned. God designed. God crafted. He created and made. And in doing that, Paul says in [Romans 1] verse 19, God made himself evident to all mankind. The universe is a poem about God.” (Sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church, September 27, 1998)

  It cannot be denied that throughout the Scriptures God uses similies, metaphors and allegories which draw on the physical world to teach spiritual lessons. It seems to me to be almost as surely undeniable that God planned all of this before He created the world. In other words, long before Jesus taught His disciples that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, He designed mustard seeds to be like the kingdom of heaven, in order that He might teach about the kingdom of heaven using mustard seeds.

  Commenting on Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13, Matthew Henry reminds us to hear the word of God preaching to us in all of God’s creation around us: “Christ chose to do thus, … That common actions might hereby be spiritualized, and we might take occasion from those things which fall so often under our view, to meditate with delight on the things of God; and thus, when our hands are busiest about the world, we may not only notwithstanding that, but even with the help of that, be led to have our hearts in heaven. Thus the word of God shall talk with us, talk familiarly with us, Prov 6:22.” (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.; Matt 13:1-23)

  Here is just a sampling of some ways we can look at God’s creation and be reminded of Biblical truth:

1. God made rocks to be so strong and firm in order that we might understand what it means that, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.” (Psalm 18:2) And whenever you see a stone structure you can be reminded that we as Christ’s disciples are living stones being built up into a spiritual house, leaning in on Him as our Chief Cornerstone (I Peter 2).
2. God designed a solar system in which we observe the sun faithfully coming up day after day without fail in order to help us appreciate God’s faithfulness to His covenants and especially His covenant people. “Thus says the LORD, “If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne… ” (Jeremiah 33:20ff).
3. Why is there hair on your head (at least for most of us)? Hair teaches us many things about God. For one thing, it illustrates how God knows us better than we know ourselves (Matthew 10:30). Hair is also a testimony to mankind’s lack of control over the affairs of the world, even himself (Matthew 5:36). Hair is even a reminder of the extent of our salvation, that even though we be put to death by our enemies in this world, yet in Christ “not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:18). It is not so surprising then that Paul even dedicated half a chapter to issues about hair in I Cor 11.
4. Fishing, farming, gardening, and baking all have a great deal to say about Judgment Day and life in the Kingdom of God. Just see Jesus’ parables.
5. If you eat a Fig Newton be sure to remember the signs that Jesus is coming soon (Matthew 24:32ff).
6. Trees and foliage thrive along the edge of a river, and they do it by God’s design for our sake, that we might grasp our own need to sink our roots into the Living Waters (cf. Psalm 1).
7. Fire is hot! I thank God for the gift of painful yet temporary burns in order that I might learn to fear Him and avoid His wrath in the never ending Lake of Fire.
8. Dust is a humbling reminder of what we came from as well as the destiny of these current bodies (Gen 2:7, Gen 3:19). However, we can also have hope and be encouraged when we look at dust and remember God’s covenant with Abraham and his seed (Gen 13:16).

  We could go on and on, and in future blog posts I probably will. All the different animals, plants, minerals, seasons, weather conditions, relationships, social patterns, human and celestial events, are ultimately about God, Christ, and the gospel.

  That’s all for now. It’s time for me to go think about the regal Lion of Judah while I brush my teeth (Gen 49:12).