We Are Going to Be Parents!!!!!

It's official. For any who don't yet know, Katie is pregnant! We found out last Wednesday morning that we are going to be parents. We don't yet know how long she has been but we estimate about four or five weeks. It has been surreal to say the least. My parents are thrilled that they will be grandparents. This will be their first.

So I will be keeping everyone updated with everything on the blog. I hope all who read will share our joy in the new life that is being formed in Katie's womb. I pray also that God will save my child and use him/her to conform us both more into the image of Christ.

The Lord's Supper and a Clear Conscience

This coming week at Church in the Boro, we will begin observing the Lord's Supper on a weekly basis. This came about partly through our pastor Rob's experience at the 2009 conference of the Association of Charismatic Reformed Churches where a message was given concerning the Lord's Supper and Revival.

As part of our weekly observance, Rob asked me to prepare a monthly, short, mini-devotional about one aspect of communion. I decided that I would also make these available to the rest of the web through this blog.

When Jesus and His disciples sat down to eat, at one point our Lord took the bread and wine and revealed to them their symbolism. Matthew's account goes like this:

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins..." (Matthew 26:26-28 NASB)

Luke's account makes clear that the "covenant" being referred to here is the New Covenant which was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, which promised among other things, the forgiveness of sins (Jeremiah 31:34). Christ comes now and announces that His impending death will bring that promise to a realization and now infuses the elements of the meal with symbolism of that fulfillment.

I want to focus particularly on how that fulfillment applies to the forgiveness of sins that the New Covenant brings. According to Hebrews, the Old Covenant which was made with Israel on Mount Sinai was never intended nor able to procure actual forgiveness (Hebrews 10:11). As a consequence, a guilty conscience cannot be made clean because one's sins are still over him (Hebrews 9:9).

However, with the New Covenant, by the blood of Jesus, we can experience true forgiveness and live with a clear and clean conscience before God and man (Romans 8:33,34). As a result of our forgiveness and clean conscience, we are now able to approach a holy, holy God with no fear; knowing that we are accepted and considered faultless. We are able to draw near to God in the Holy of Holies anytime and anywhere, but especially when the saints gather together.

How does this apply to the elements in the Lord's Supper? According to Hebrews 10:19-22, we are exhorted to approach God with a clear conscience through the veil, which is Christ's flesh. We know that His flesh, or body is represented by the bread. Let us therefore eat of the bread and enter the Holiest place by faith through the veil.

Let us also drink of the cup, by faith recognizing that it is Christ's blood which truly takes away our sins and allowes us to finally have a clear conscience (Hebrews 10:22)through the New Covenant that God makes with us.

Dear saints, if you struggle with a guilty conscience, then this meal is for you.

Revelation 20 and the Persecuted Church

This Sunday at Church in the Boro we are holding a special service to honor and pray for the persecuted church. I think this gives us a special opportunity to reflect on what many believers throughout the world face when they decide to follow Jesus. It may also help to prepare believers in North America for what may be around the corner for them.

I think it also affords a unique opportunity to "rescue" a certain biblical text from the point being missed in the middle of important questions about eschatology. I think that Revelation 20:1-6 should be read primarily as a text which teaches the blessings Christ will give to the persecuted, and especially the martyred Church. In fact, I think that most, if not all of New Testament eschatology is focused on hope for those persecuted in Christ's name. Revelation 20:1-6 reads like this in the English Standard Version:

1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Although hidden in plain sight, I believe that it is primarily the martyrs throughout the Church's history who are the focus of Christ's millennial reign (though it also points to a those who are given authority to judge, which may refer to other faithful Christians), and I would further suggest help to provide valuable insight into its interpretation. Curiously, there is no mention at all in Revelation 20 of anything like a rebuilt Jerusalem temple complete with bloody animal sacrifices or anything resembling "reconstruction". It would seem that such theories distract from the real emphasis of the passage which is the vindication and reign of the martyrs of Jesus throughout the world and Church history.

It is also worth noting that Christ and those resurrected will rule over the very nations who were responsible for putting them to death in the first place. Verses 1-3 emphasize that the devil (who gave power and authority to the Beast to wage war against the Lamb and His saints) is consigned to the abyss for the purpose of not deceiving the nations any longer. This would indicate to me that those who suffer and die for the Gospel's sake in world missions will one day reign over the nations alongside Christ as proof of His love for them (Revelation 3:9).

Such promises, along with those of future glory in the New Heavens and New Earth provide a powerful motivation for bringing the Gospel to the nations and suffering for Christ's sake. This is the real message of New Testament eschatology. Let us pray for those suffering to advance the Gospel of Christ and let us take comfort and motivation from Jesus' promise that we will one day reign with Him not only in the millennium, but after God has renewed and restored the universe (Revelation 21:1-22:5).

As an aside, I think that these points favor the Historic Premillennial interpretation, although they could possibly be worked into an Amillennial framework.