Tag Archives: Bible

Breathing Together With God

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Allan Halton

Let’s talk about conspiracies, the real and the fictitious. And then let me tell you about the greatest one of all, which is the ruin of them all, and how you and I may become involved in it. I’m not happy using the word conspiracy with its connotation of evil for this one, but more on this later.

Conspiracies are not new, there have been many throughout the ages; the Bible itself tells of many actual conspiracies, and there are no doubt many in the world today. Neither are conspiracy theories new, these also have abounded. It’s easy enough to see why. A theory may prove true or otherwise, and the fact that there are real conspiracies lends credence to the false. It’s like counterfeit money. The only reason people make counterfeit money is so they can pass it off as real.

But counterfeit conspiracies have something in common with real conspiracies. They are both the works of the Devil, the Prince of darkness. As long as there is darkness in which the workers of darkness can hide there will be conspiracies. Real conspiracies. There will also be conspiracy theories purporting to give us some light into what’s happening in the dark. They are the polar opposite of what the psalmist had in mind when he wrote that “light is sown for the righteous…” (Ps 97:11). They are sowings of darkness under the cover of darkness intent on deceiving those in the dark. They are phantasms of darkness meant to cause fear.

Many years ago I myself was quite attracted to a conspiracy theory. This was back in the 1970s in Calgary. I was a newborn Christian and my heart was full with so much that was new to me, and I began to hear also of something called The Illuminati. Even the very title—this is the main idea behind conspiracy theories, isn’t it. You are now “illumined,” you are in-the-know, no longer duped like the masses out there in the dark. That’s how it was with a few of us in the little fellowship I was involved in (Faith Tabernacle led by dear old Brother Graham) when we heard of an Illuminati seminar. We too wanted to be in-the-know. The Illuminati conspiracy theory has a long history but this one was some kind of “new improved” version. (Which makes me wonder if the conspiracy theories in our day are in the lineage of the Illuminati; they seem to have the same family likeness.) In any case, when those of us who were intrigued by the Illuminati heard about the seminar we decided to take it in. It was a Saturday evening. The speaker got under way, and as we were sitting listening I turned my head to look around and, lo and behold, there was Brother Graham seated toward the back across the room from us. What a surprise. From time to time, and ever so nonchalantly, I looked back. He was listening intently it seemed to me, quite often with his head bowed and eyes closed. After a time there was a break. We were invited to help ourselves to refreshments at the back and have a look at some literature on a table. I hoped to talk with Brother Graham among the people milling around. But I couldn’t find him. It seems he had used the opportunity to slip away. The next morning, Sunday morning, I headed for Faith Tabernacle. I could hardly wait to hear what he had to say about the Illuminati. I walked in and sat down. On the wall above the pulpit was a little notice board upon which he usually placed a weekly Bible verse. This morning it read, “Preach the word. 2 Tim. 4:2.” After a time of singing and prayer and prophecy he gave his message, saying not a single word about the seminar. I got the message.

And have given myself to the word of God from that day to this.

So it’s not my intention to debate the truth or falsehood of the many conspiracy theories out there these days. What I want to do is tell you of a true “conspiracy” that is the undoing of all others real or fabricated. Anyone who has a Bible can read about this one; it’s hidden in plain sight. It’s because of this one that I don’t trouble myself with the conspiracy theories that abound these days. I’m not fearful of the agenda of “a cabal of global elites” who have what they call the Great Reset in the works. And when I hear the cry of alarm being sounded by those who are intent on awakening us to this evil conspiracy… warning us  we need to get “woke” and become involved in what they are calling the Great Awakening… I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. If this is not a satanic counterfeit I don’t know what is. This is deception upon deception. I anticipate a Great Awakening—but not that one. And, yes, it’s high time to awaken out of sleep, for the Great Reset took place some two thousand years ago on a hill called Calvary outside Jerusalem.

Conspiring—breathing together

Our English word conspiracy comes from the Latin conspirare—to be in harmony, to conspire: from com, together, and spirare, to breathe. So a conspiracy is “a breathing together,” a very vivid word construction; in your mind’s eye you can see the conspirators huddled close together in the dark, secretly breathing out their wicked whisperings. But what happened at Calvary—I can’t bring myself to use the word conspiracy with its connotation of evil—this was the carrying out of the breathing together of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in their eternal plan of salvation for man and the utter destruction of the Devil and all his works. In this holy breathing together, this secret council in the Light, they determined that the Devil himself would be taken in the works of his own hands and destroy himself. For some reason, the Devil didn’t grasp his role in it all back then, and to this day never does:

However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor 2:6-8 NKJV)

That’s quite something when you think of it. The wisdom of God in a mystery, a secret. The hidden wisdom. Secret from whom? Hidden from whom? From the rulers of this age, both heavenly and earthly, who conspired together to crucify the Lord of glory. Their doing was their own downfall. There is more. Paul continues: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor 2:9).  We stand in awe of that, don’t we. But Paul adds something; may it startle us awake. This hidden wisdom, this secret wisdom that God has hidden from some is wisdom that has been prepared for them that love him. He has revealed, unveiled these things, yea, the very depths of God, to those He loves. How does He do this?

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 Cor 2:10).

Paul has been writing of the proclamation of the Gospel—“Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24). Then he adds, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor 1:25). Here, then, is the hidden wisdom of God—Christ crucified—the wisdom of the cross, which, says Paul, he speaks “among those who are mature.” Such as these would comprehend what he was saying. So right here we have an insight into what it means to be a mature Christian. They are those who, even while they have grown in understanding, continue to have the childlike believing heart. Jesus on one occasion rejoiced and thanked His Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that “You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25). Hidden them how? For He spoke them openly. But being wise in their own eyes they were blind to these things, as the prophet foretold. “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee” (Obad 3). Revealed them how? By His Spirit to the lowly of heart.

This must be why God’s “conspiracy,” although openly declared in Scripture, is apparently incomprehensible to the king of pride, the Devil, and the proud of heart who conspire with him against God.

Preach the Word

I think I’ll just string together now some scriptures of the Word of God—thank you Brother Graham for sowing that seed in my heart years ago—scriptures that speak of this hidden wisdom of God, who in His weakness and foolishness turns to foolishness the might and wisdom of men. It’s all over the Bible, really, this hidden wisdom; let’s breathe it in:

The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. (Ps.9:15,16)

Notice the plural in verse 15 above—conspirators breathing together; and in verse 16 the singular—the Wicked One.

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. (Ps 94:12,13)

Who is digging, or should I say dug, this pit for the wicked? Here’s our answer:

Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate (Ps 7:14-16).

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. (Ps 10:2)

For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation. (Ps 35:7-9)

But mine eyes are unto thee, O GOD the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.
Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape. (Ps. 141:8-10)

Now some actual instances of this:

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified. (Est 7:10)

And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled… (Jdg 7:22)

And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. (2 Chr 20:22,23).

Those are all from the Old  Testament. Now consider this from the New:

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Col 2:13-15)

Triumphing over them in what? In His cross, the cross in which they were sure they were triumphing over Him.

As in the story of David and  Goliath. Who slew Goliath? Yes, David. But how did he slay him? No, not with a sling and a stone, but with Goliath’s own weapon.

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Heb 2:14,15)

Amen. True illumination from the scriptures of truth.

I promised at the beginning to tell you how we ourselves may become involved in God’s “conspiracy,” that is, in the weakness and foolishness of Christ crucified. Here is how, and it’s humbling to think that we ourselves are invited to breathe together with the holy God. He invites into His holy council chamber the humble, the meek, the lowly, and shares with them daily His counsels, His breathings. What is His counsel? That we take up our own cross daily, and, being led by the Spirit, follow Jesus, being always childlike of heart, simple of heart, trusting God. His way works, beloved, His secret counsel is effectual; it’s been demonstrated, and this will yet be manifested and shouted from the rooftops of all Heaven and earth.

Dear Father, thank you for inviting us to breathe together with you the breathings of God. Amen.

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To Obey Or Not To Obey

Posted on February 19, 2021 by Allan Halton

That is the question. As I write this, a pastor in Edmonton, Alberta is being held in jail on charges that he and his church are not complying with regulations that authorities have set in place in the attempt to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The pastor was given the option of bail while awaiting his trial but refused to receive it because one of the conditions of bail was stopping church services. Initially the church had not been required to stop gathering, but to adhere to the limitations authorities in Alberta have set in place, like social distancing among limited numbers when they gather, and wearing masks. It was for not adhering to these that the fines were issued, and then when in spite of the fines the church continued to ignore the regulations, authorities took the further step of stopping the services.

Most churches in Canada are cooperating with health authorities but some are not. In addition to the Edmonton church, I’ve heard of a handful of other churches in Canada that are disobeying the regulations. They give two reasons for this. (My readers in other nations will see readily enough that what I have to say in response to these reasons is applicable beyond the borders of Canada.)

1. They state that the regulations contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Well and good, even the apostle Paul used his Roman citizenship to advantage when he was about to be flogged (Acts 22:25). But what about the rights of other Canadian citizens? Do they not have the right to be protected from the virus? There is no provision in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that prevents authorities from putting in place regulations for the public good. On this basis, one lawyer opined, the argument that the regulations contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would not stand up in court.

2. They state that these regulations contravene what God requires of them, and so their conscience dictates that they must do the will of God regardless of government regulations.

It’s this matter that I want to speak to more closely, and it will mean “flying my colours” openly, at the risk that some will see me as having joined forces with the enemy and flying the Jolly Roger.

Certainly it is true that the Christian’s first priority is to do the will of God. And how does a Christian determine the will of God in this matter? Yes, our conscience must be our guide. But the word of God is to guide our conscience. So what does the word of God have to say about this? Here’s what Peter has to say:

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. (1 Pt 2:13,14 NKJV)

That is clear, isn’t it? Ordinances set forth by man are to be submitted to—for the Lord’s sake. To refuse to submit is to find yourself disobeying the Lord Himself.

I hear the protests. “But there’s no evidence masks even work.” “Most people hardly even get sick.” “This is really hard on many people, too hard for some.” I am no expert on such matters and they could be true enough, but arguments such as these are not grounds for not complying with the ordinances. Even though the regulations make life hard for many people, and their effectiveness is hotly debated, according to the word of God to not comply is still disobedience.

I am aware that the Bible exhorts Christians not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25). And that “we ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). But this latter verse is the apostles’ response to having been commanded not to teach in Jesus’ name at all. This was the second time they had given the authorities this response. The first time, the authorities had also “commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:18,20).

That was absolutely the right decision, and, the grace of God helping me, I will be among the first to disobey any government regulation that forbids Christians to have anything to do with the name of Jesus. But no such thing is being laid on Christians in Canada at this time; we are only being asked, as citizens of the country we love, and in which all have freedom of worship, to do our part in a very hard time that is affecting the whole of society. We are not being told we cannot gather in Jesus’ name. Surely we grasp that. It is a matter of being in a pandemic. Unlike many nations of this world, like China, where churches are again being boarded up or torn down, Christians here are still granted religious liberty, as are those of other religions.

There are other instances in the Bible when believers rightly defied the authorities. To cite just two. Nebuchadnezzar decreed that all were to bow down before the statue he had made. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to obey. They did the right thing at the risk of their lives. Daniel disobeyed Darius’ statute that no one was to ask a request of any god or man, but only of the king himself. Daniel forthwith entered his house, opened his windows toward Jerusalem as was his daily practice, and prayed openly to God, for which act of disobedience he was cast into the lions’ den. The pandemic regulations are obviously not like these two instances. Christians are not being required to worship an idol or stop praying in Jesus’ name.

Respect God’s ministers

Now to add a word regarding the health authorities in our society along with our elected officials here in Canada. Have our authorities made the right decisions in all respects? Perhaps not. But I think they are doing their best to deal with a serious pandemic. (Are some of them hypocrites because they themselves don’t comply with the regulations? No doubt, but the hypocrisy of a few is no argument for us to follow suit.) I do not charge, as some do, that these regulations are actually aimed at suppressing religious freedom. This accusation is simply not the motive behind what our elected officials are doing, and it deeply grieves the heart—and the Holy Spirit—when Christians themselves echo the words of those who revile our elected officials, on social media calling them Nazis and Gestapo, or  commies in what is now Chinada. That is shameful. If that’s the way you think maybe you need to spend some time in a nation governed by a truly oppressive regime where Christians are actually persecuted. Please, dear brothers and sisters, mind your comments on social media. The Lord is listening in. We are not to “reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.” Even Michael the archangel “in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 8,9 NKJV).

With that Scripture in mind, let me share this now. A while back I watched a YouTube cell-phone video clip in which three ministers came to the door of a house in Calgary in order to deliver a court summons to a Christian leader who had been fined for disregarding the regulations on gathering. It was the man himself who had videoed the incident, no doubt with the intention of making it public, and I was dismayed at the way he, a supposedly Christian leader, treated these ministers, calling them Nazis and Gestapo and ordering them summarily to get off his property. Hardly the way to treat ministers, is it. Terrible disrespect. Ministers? In fact they were bylaw officers of the city police force, people the apostle Paul calls God’s ministers. Here is the passage:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.  (Rom. 13:1-4 NKJV)

That’s quite something, isn’t it. (Remember it the next time God pulls you over for speeding.) To resist the authorities is to resist the ordinance and the “ministers” of God Himself. Paul wrote this to Titus: “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men” (Titus 3:1,2).

So, my fellow Bible believers, this matter is something the inspired writers of Scripture were big on.

A testimony to guard and a neighbour to love

Yet I read of another church, this one in Calgary, that continued to gather in their church building even after being fined for contravening the “ordinances” that authorities have put in place. Along with the fines, this church received a letter from the local community association politely and respectfully asking them to please comply with the orders for the benefit of the whole community. The pastor and elders apparently refused this request, upon which the community association, which had been conducting their regular meetings in the church building, told them they would now find somewhere else to hold their meetings. So, this church has damaged their testimony in that community.

And what does Peter have to say about that? The passage I quoted above begins with a “therefore.” Let’s read it again. “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake…” What is the therefore there for? This:

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake… (1 Pt. 2:11,12).

There it is. Submitting to man’s ordinances is “for the Lord’s sake,” it is part of conducting ourselves honourably among those in the world around us because it is His name we bear. In the matter of the pandemic ordinances, then, we have the name of Jesus to protect, we have a testimony to guard…

…And a neighbour to love. In keeping the ordinances just like anyone else, we are saying to our neighbours, we love you, and want to do our part in keeping us all safe.

I hear you saying, “I do love my neighbour and all these regulations are hurting my neighbour.” Amen, our motive must reach beyond the boundaries of our own church community. But be careful that the way you are going about this does not injure your testimony in the eyes of your neighbour, who is upset because you are not doing your part to make this whole pandemic thing history. Your concern does not make it right to disobey the authorities. Go about this God’s way. Get hold of Him in this. And make your concerns known to the authorities, and in this way hopefully have regulations changed. Go about this like Pastor Sam Chua of Westlynn Baptist Church in North Vancouver. What a refreshing attitude, even though in neighbouring British Columbia Covid-19 restrictions have been even more strict than those in Alberta. Note what he says at the end about those who are “taking matters into their own hands.”

The Edmonton pastor is in jail because he has taken matters into his own hands. Is he then among those who are blessed when they are persecuted for righteousness’ sake?  Or, is he making himself a martyr while in fact being dealt with justly, as any citizen who had broken the law would be? Brothers and sisters, the day could well be not far off when here in Canada Christians are persecuted for their faith. Let us guard our testimony in this day so that we are ready for that day.

Finally, I want to say that this was difficult for me to write. Even though I have taken my stand on the foundation of Scripture, I know that many very genuine and very sincere Christians are deeply impassioned by all this, and may not find what I’ve written easy to receive. It hurts me to think that what I’ve written will cost me their friendship. If so, it will be only on their part. I will continue to hold them dear to me.

 

 

 

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A Conversation With An Ant

Posted on August 13, 2018 by Allan Halton

This morning I was out beside my little garden enjoying another beautiful summer day while reading my favourite Book when I noticed an ant briskly making his way along the wooden border of the raised bed. He was carrying a morsel I couldn’t identify—something twice as large as himself—but even so was making good time as he headed toward an ant hill I’ve seen growing near my house.

I paused from my reading and, Bible in hand, knelt down and greeted my busy neighbour with a cheery, “Good morning.”

That stopped him; he turned toward me, antennae working back and forth to determine, I suppose, whether I were friend or foe. “Good morning to you as well,” he said politely if rather warily.

(I ask my readers to keep to yourselves, please, that I was conversing with an ant; if this gets in the wrongs ears… unless you want to share it with some little child; they have no problem with these things.)

I tilted my head back for a closer look at the ant through the lower lens of my bifocals. “That’s quite the load you’re carrying,” I ventured.

It was obvious he wasn’t inclined to idle long, for he said hurriedly, “Yes, but do you feel that touch in the air this morning? The summer’s going fast. We’ve got to bring in much more yet.”

“Ah, yes,” I said. “I’ve read about you in the Bible.”

“The Bible?” he queried.

“It’s a book that tells us humans about God’s eternal purposes in man—more specifically in a Man named Jesus Christ. Actually it’s the second Bible God gave us. You—and the rest of the natural creation—are the first.”

“Really?” the ant said, laying his burden aside now. “I am a Bible?”

“Yes,” I said. “The whole creation is. In our Bible in Proverbs—those are sayings a very wise man wrote long ago—it talks of four things in the creation that are little but are exceedingly wise. It lists you first. It says—here, let me read it.” I leafed through the pages of my Bible till I found the passage in Proverbs Chapter 30.

“‘The ants are a people…’”

“I like your Bible,” he broke in cheerily. “A people. Yes. Everything we do, we do not for ourselves but for the good of all of us.”

I looked up awestruck. So little a creature with so large a thought. Let me ever be small enough to be the student of an ant.

After a moment I continued reading, “‘The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in summer.’”

His cheerful face turned suddenly solemn. “Indeed we do,” he said. “We know what’s coming.”

“Tell me,” I said, now leaning down on my elbows to get right close to him.

“You don’t know?” he asked, leaning toward me too. “There’s coming a time of great cold. And great, great desolation. We ants, we know we can’t survive that kind of thing; we’re not very strong. So we take advantage of the warm summer days to prepare for it. Look at all the food around us… now.”

I nodded. “I see that you are wise indeed. And now that I think of it, the wise man who wrote those proverbs mentioned something else about you in another place. Let me see if I can find it.” I leafed through the pages till I found the place. “Ah, here it is. Proverbs Chapter 6 verse 6. ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard: consider her ways, and be wise: which have no guide, nor overseer, nor ruler, provideth her meat in summer, and gathereth her food in harvest.’ So you are not only wise, but industrious—and that without some boss or leader telling you what to do, which in itself is more than amazing.”

“To God be the glory,” he responded, “it seems my leader is built right into me.” And with that he gripped his load and was off again. “Good-bye,” I called with a little wave, and at that he called back, “Good-bye. Have a nice summer… what’s left of it.”

A little distance away he looked back over his shoulder. “And a nice winter too.”

I watched him hasten away till I could see him no longer. Was there a note of foreboding in his last words? Is the abundant spiritual summer we’ve enjoyed in our land for so long about run out? Am I in my weakness—and wisdom—and diligence—securing a Source of spiritual provision and strength for the desolate days ahead?

Or am I the proverbial grasshopper in the ancient fable who fiddled away the glorious summer days while the ant prepared for what was coming?

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The Romans Project

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Allan Halton

I have been a Christian for something like forty years.  Yet several years ago I realized I still did not have the book of Romans “under my belt,” although I loved certain passages of it.  So I began reading it, especially chapters five to eight, over and over again.  And again.  I have often gone away from my reading rubbing my eyes.  Surely I cannot be reading such things.  Am I dreaming?  This is astonishing truth.

That is why I want to encourage any who participate in A Mending Feast to become involved in The Romans Project.  It is a series of studies on the whole book of Romans by UK Bible teacher Ron Bailey and I highly recommend it.  I have found Ron Bailey’s teachings on Romans perceptive, clear, inspiring… and challenging.

It is in Romans that the apostle Paul lays out the most important thing in the universe: the gospel—the good news—of our Lord Jesus Christ.  With the indispensable help of the Holy Spirit, what Paul has written in this book may become revelation to us—light we can live and walk in, to the glory of God.

That is why I say, “become involved in” this project.  Passive listening will not accomplish much; God wants us involved in His gospel.  We are actively involved when we believe, that is, lay to heart, the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as laid out in Romans, and by God’s enabling grace, walk in the light we have received.

I realize that taking in something like this involves considerable time in a day when there are innumerable things that consume our time.  You sometimes hear people saying something like that.  “It’s so time consuming.”   May I suggest that involvement in this project is an opportunity to redeem some of that time.

The Romans Project has six sections, which are: Introduction.  Guilty.  Justified.  From Death to Life.  What About Israel.  The New Life.  Each section consists of a number of sessions.  The first series of sessions (nine in all) took place over the winter of 2013-2014.  The second series is now underway (winter of 2015).  They can all be found on a Youtube channel called Biblebase Romans Project:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGysPuyWzV6DI58gK7PWGYejmXXMUnJJs

 

For those who are into Facebook, notifications of each new session may be found at Friends of Biblebase:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/875185179188358/

 

For those not involved in Facebook, please check the Youtube channel for postings of new sessions, which are scheduled every two weeks till March, 2015, at which time there will be a break till the sessions are resumed in the fall and carry over into 2016.  The whole project (now in its second year) will be three years in the making.

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The Exegesis Of God–Part Two

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Allan Halton

Let’s recall from last time Solomon’s proclamation at the inauguration of the temple that God had instructed him to build for Him.

 The LORD hath said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.  But I have built an house of habitation for Thee, and a place for Thy dwelling forever (2 Chr. 6:1,2).

This is what Solomon’s temple was all about.  It was to be the place among men where the God who had formerly dwelt in thick darkness now shone forth.  Solomon’s temple was, however, only a shadow of the true temple not made with hands—the Son of God Himself.  And so last time we also quoted a verse from John.

 No man hath seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (Jn. 1:18).

The word declared is the Greek exegesato, and is related to our word exegesis, which is the biblical science of discovering and explaining what the Scriptures really say and mean.  Patient exegesis of the Bible will yield to the yielded much fruit.  But in John 1:18 we discover that the Son of God when He walked the earth was the exegesis of God Himself.  He was the One who explained, made known, revealed, shone forth, the hard-to-understand, unseen, obscure, unknown God.

That’s very wonderful, but I wonder if I don’t hear someone thinking, “Well and good that Jesus the Son of God was the exegesis of God the Father back then, but He is not here now.”

I know the regret you’re expressing: if only we could have lived back in Jesus’ day… or if only He were still here today.  Too bad the Devil succeeded in tearing down that living Temple in whom God dwelt and was revealed.

Just a minute.  Remember what Jesus said about that.

 Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up…
But He spake of the Temple of His body (Jn. 2:19,21).

And so the Devil has his own regrets that he and his cohorts conspired to have the Lord of glory crucified, thinking to be done with Him.  For He rose from the dead.  And He ascended into Heaven, where, seated at the right hand of God, He began His more excellent ministry of the New Covenant, and an enlargement of that Temple which would continue to be the same exegesis of God.

How so?  When Christ ascended to the right hand of God, He “received the promise of the Father” (Acts 2:33), on the day of Pentecost sending the Spirit to His waiting disciples, just as He, in turn, had earlier promised them.

 I will not leave you comfortless.  I will come to you (Jn. 14.18).

I will come to you?  This is a mystery.  The coming of the Spirit was such that the same One who was the exegesis of God at the right hand of the Father, while continuing to abide at the right hand of the Father in the Heavens, came to His disciples again, and took up residence in them.  For, those in whom the Spirit dwells, it is Christ Himself who dwells in them, as we read in many places in our New Testament.  (For example, Romans 8: 9,10, and many other places that speak of the indwelling Christ.)  And thus they become part of the same Temple Solomon prophesied of, the same habitation the Son of God fulfilled—the same living Exegesis that reveals God and makes Him known among men.

That is the astonishing implication of the sending of the Spirit.  Those in whom Christ dwells now become part of that same exegesis of God that the Son of God was.

This is what the New Covenant assembly is all about, or ought to be.  The church—which was formed by the coming of the Spirit to individual disciples—is to be the fullness of that same Exegesis of God who walked the earth two thousand years ago, and is now seated at the right hand of God.

 The church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all (Eph. 1:23).

The fullness of Him?  The church is His very body—the fullness of Him?  I am sure this is what Jesus had in mind when He “spake of the temple of His body” which He said He would raise up.  “The church, which is His body…”  The Devil thought to be rid of Him by the cross.  What he did, to his great chagrin, enabled God to lay in Zion the foundation Stone for an enlargement of that temple.  It began with the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost.  He comes for nothing less than to continue the same exegesis of God that the Son of God was when He was here.

That is the nature of Christ’s more excellent ministry of the New Covenant.  It is a ministration of the very knowledge of God, and thus, “all shall know Me from the least to the greatest” (Heb. 8:11) .  This is something more than knowledge as we generally think of the word.  It is New Covenant knowledge: the kind of knowledge—the knowledge of God—whom to know means our being like Him.

How imperative, then, that we in the church, as ministers of the New Covenant (which all Christians are to be) give the Prime Minister of the New Covenant—the Holy Spirit—His lordship and pre-eminence in our individual lives, and in our gatherings.  He comes for nothing less than to reveal, to make known, the same God of love and righteousness that dwelt in the Son… so that the same exegesis of God now dwells in and shines forth from the churches—you and me and our brothers and sisters in the churches.

This is what the New Covenant, and the New Covenant assembly, is all about—or is supposed to be—the exegesis of God to a world in darkness.  Anything short of this… we are sorely missing His mark.

And it has to be said that much of what is called church in our day has in fact done that.  Has fallen short.  Has missed the mark.  Let the broken and repentant heart be encouraged.  Christ is still on the Throne at the right hand of the Father, and the Holy Spirit sent from the Throne is still in the earth.  The temple He inaugurated at Pentecost is still here, though in the midst of much that man has built cannot always readily be seen.  In fact her enemies are gloating these days that they have succeeded in destroying her and treading her down in the dust.  The Lord on the throne has a surprise in store for His enemies.  The power and principle of His resurrection life is still at work.  He continues to raise up this Temple—the One that was torn down on Calvary’s cross—just as He prophesied He would do.  He will beautify her, set living stones in her just like Himself.  He will yet be fully revealed, will yet shine forth in this temple in all His glory in the Heavens and in the earth…

…And all the confusion and debate and doubt and misunderstanding as to who He is—all the thick darkness—will vanish like the morning mist in the light of the sun.

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The Exegesis Of God

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Allan Halton

Let me tell you a little story.  Once there was a young man who as a new Christian greatly admired an old saint whose teaching in the word of God had opened a vista the young man had no idea even existed. He aspired to be like the old saint.  The young man greatly admired the old saint’s worn, time-weathered Bible as well.  Its pages were wrinkled and crinkled, its verses underscored, its margins inked with notes.  Because of the aura that went with it—that of a seasoned saint steeped in the word—the young man wanted a Bible like that very badly.  But oh, that would take time, and patience, and what young man has patience and time, especially one who wants to distance himself as fast as he can from a life he has thus far wasted on himself?

And so how does a young man of 25 become an instant seasoned saint?  He buys a new Bible, and, being careful not to tear its pages, crinkles them one by one in his hand, attempting to imitate the effect.

It was a sorry disappointment.  He eventually gave the Bible to an acquaintance, who told him some time later that he had accidentally left it in a phone booth.

The young man is older now, and thinking back the other day, had a good laugh at himself and his immaturity.  He eventually learned that there are no short cuts in the pathway of coming to know God—or to owning a well-worn Bible, either.  Now he has two or three Bibles that look like that old saint’s Bible… but for some reason, his love of Bible exegesis has brought him to the place where he knows less now than the young man he used to be.

Exegesis?  It was only when the Internet and its resources came along that the young man, grown quite a bit older, came across the word.  Bible school students take classes in exegesis; they are taught careful procedures to rightly get at the actual meaning of Scripture.  An exegesis of any given word or passage explains that passage in its context going into, among other things, the meanings of the Hebrew or the Greek, thus hopefully bringing to light the obscurities of the word of God.

For, the Bible can indeed be a very obscure book… just as God Himself can be a very obscure God.

On the day that God gave Israel His commandments, He had come down on Mount Sinai clothed in cloud and smoke and thick darkness.

 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was (Ex. 20:21).

Communing with God in the cloud, Moses received further commandments for the people, and eventually instructions for the tabernacle that God wanted built.  What was the significance of the tabernacle?

 Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them (Ex. 25:8).

Five centuries later when Solomon’s temple had been finished to the last detail, and the sacrifices had been made, and the ark brought into its place, the temple was filled with a cloud “so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God” (2 Chr. 5.14). Upon this, Solomon spoke the following words:

 The LORD hath said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.  But I have built an house of habitation for Thee, and a place for Thy dwelling forever (2 Chr. 6:1,2).

As I was reading this passage one day, the light came on.  What was the significance of the temple?  This.  The God who had been cloaked in thick darkness, in cloud and mystery and obscurity… He was here in His temple now, not afar off in Heaven, but nigh, not hidden away, but unveiled. That was the whole purpose of the tabernacle and the temple—that the unknown inscrutable God might dwell there and reveal Himself openly, make Himself known.

And so a thousand years after Solomon, we come to John’s words about the Temple not made with hands.

 No man hath seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (Jn. 1:18).

The word declared in the Greek is exegesato, a verb form of the noun exegesis, meaning that the Son of God declared the Father, revealed Him, made Him known. Vincent’s Word Studies confirms this.

 Hath declared (ἐξηγήσατο)  Or, rendering the aorist strictly, ‘He declared.’ From ἐκ, forth, and ἡγέομαι, to lead the way. Originally, to lead or govern. Hence, like the Latin praeire verbis, to go before with words, to prescribe or dictate a form of words. To draw out in narrative, to recount or rehearse (see Acts 15:14, and on Luke 24:35). To relate in full; to interpret, or translate. Therefore ἐξήγησις, exegesis, is interpretation or explanation (Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament, Volume Two).

In other words, according to John 1:18, the Son of God is Himself the exegesis of God.  The tabernacle and Solomon’s temple were but types and shadows of the true temple not made with hands; it was the Son of God Himself who declared, explained, interpreted, made known, revealed, shone forth, the God who had dwelt so long time in thick darkness, and no one had ever really seen.  In the Temple of His Son, this God now dwelt, and shone forth.  The obscure, mysterious, hard to understand, distant, way-up-there-somewhere-far-away God… the Son of God brought Him nigh and revealed Him and made Him known to men.

Only the Son of God Himself could do that.  In fact only the Son of God could be that explanation, the kind of exegesis that is God Himself making Himself known to men.

The young man I referred to is older these days, and is himself a little wrinkled and time-worn now.  He has loved Bible exegesis over the years.  What has it done for him?  This.  He finds in his heart a perpetual cry.  Oh to know more fully this One in the bosom of the Father—this One who is the exegesis of God Himself.

Apart from that exegesis, Bible exegesis has missed the mark.

…More next time.

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His Unspeakable Gift

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Allan Halton

When I was a boy I used to think on certain great people I admired… and secretly wished I could be.  It’s been a while, and I can’t remember now who was on my list.  Except for two.  I remember two.  Superman was one.  I used to wish I could be Superman.  To have that superhuman strength, and, wow, to be able to fly…  Wouldn’t that be something!  I knew of course that Superman wasn’t real, and I could not be Superman.  But I liked to imagine being Superman and astonishing all my friends.

The other one I remember was—and I can never forget this one—Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I knew He was real.  At least I had been taught He was real, and it never entered my mind to doubt it back then (that came later).  I would think on Him and… none of my thoughts about Superman contained the same sense of… of reverence, of awe… that thinking on the Son of God did.

And I would think… the Son of… God?  He is the Son… of God?  And I would be deeply disappointed.  For I knew I could not be Him.  And it didn’t seem fair to me.  Why did He get to be the Son of God and I had to live such an ordinary life?  Why did He get to be the Son of God, and not me?

It wasn’t till many years later that I discovered the most wonderful truth.  If I couldn’t be the Son of God Himself… I could be one with Him.

I was sitting at my kitchen table in Burmis one day; this was after I’d had to quit my job because of my affliction.  By this time I’d come to know the Son of God was real, had known this for many years.  And I was going through the Gospel of John verse by verse, and Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament on the book of John, and at the same time reading George Warnock’s book Crowned With Oil, in which he goes through a portion of the book of John verse by verse (John Chapters 14-17).  It seems this is my lot; I don’t get revelations the way some people do—with the Lord revealing things to them in dreams and visions and other awesome ways that I envy; it seems my lot is to have to plug away at reading the Bible earnestly seeking to open my heart to the Lord.

And so, I was reading these books, along with the Gospel of John… verse by verse.  I wasn’t expecting anything extraordinary; I was just doing over again what I love to do—labouring in the word.

And I came to John Chapter 14.  And I came to verse 15.

If ye love Me, keep My commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

And then I read verse 18.

I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.

And suddenly… I saw!

This is a passage of Scripture I had read countless times; it had also been ministered to me many times.  But now suddenly… my eyes were opened… and I saw!

I will not leave you comfortless (orphans): I will come to you.

The Paraclete, the Spirit of truth in you and me… it means that the Son of God Himself is here in you and me!

This is utterly astonishing.  The Spirit of truth here in the earth is one with the Son of God in Heaven.

I tell you, this revolutionized my whole thinking.  My Bible, even after many years of reading it, became a brand new book to me.  Light had dawned, and as it shone upon my Bible, I was able to read familiar passages in an entirely new light.

Like Psalm 22, for example.

I will declare Thy Name unto My brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.

How does the Son of God praise the Father in the midst of the congregation—but by the Holy Spirit in you and me?  The Son of God Himself is in the midst of congregation—because of the Holy Spirit in you and me.

What a wonder.  It is true, brothers and sisters, it’s really true: because of the Holy Spirit in us, we are the very body of Christ (1 Cor. 12.13).  Our Head is in Heaven; we in the earth are one with Him—one body—because of the Holy Spirit.

We are the temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwelleth in us (1 Cor. 3.16).

He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit (1 Cor. 6.17).

Jesus had been telling His disciples He was about to leave them, He was going away, and it grieved them deeply to hear this.  But He told them this was actually a better plan than if He were to stay.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you (better for you, more profitable, to your advantage) that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send Him unto you… (Jn. 16.7).

We are inclined to think this cannot be right.  Surely it would be better for that Man who walked the earth two thousand years ago to be still here with us.  For if we had Jesus still with us He could continue to do the wonders He did back then; we would have His perfect input into every difficult situation we face; we would have His protection; He would resolve all our troubles… He would be able to speak the perfect word of God just as He did back then; He would be able to continue bearing witness to the truth just as faithfully and perfectly as He did back then.

The point is, with the Holy Spirit we still have this!  For in the Holy Spirit, Christ Himself is still with us!

I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you.

The Holy Spirit is able to manifest as perfect a witness to the truth as the Son of God Himself did.

But there is One Thing more we have in the Paraclete that we would not have if Jesus Himself were still here in the flesh.  Because of this wondrous Advocate not just with us, but now in us, we too share the same relationship with the Father that Jesus the Son of God did… which the disciples back then did not have.  Truly, it was better for them—and for us—that He went away.

He told them He was leaving them… and coming back to them again (Jn. 14.28).  He told them He was going to the Father, and therefore they would not see Him.  That’s understandable enough.  Why would they see Him not?  Because He was going to the Father.

But then this enigma.  Because He was going to the Father, they would see Him.  Why would they see Him again?  Because He was going to the Father.

He was going to the Father, and would send to them the Promise of the Father—the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth.  And in this One, He Himself would be in them.  And so He said:

Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more, but ye see Me: because I live ye shall live also (Jn. 14.19).

And He said:

At that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (Jn. 14.20).

What day?  The day of the coming of the Comforter, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit… because of whose coming Jesus Christ Himself is with us—even in us!  Oh, the wonder of this!  Whatever is yet to come with regard to the revelation of Jesus Christ, oh, let us not miss out on the fullness of this revelation—that Jesus Christ in Heaven is with us, even in us… because of the Holy Spirit in us!

Jesus Christ the Son of God in Heaven… and the Holy Spirit here in the earth in us… they are one.

…I know what you’re thinking—that because of the Holy Spirit in me, I too am a son of God now.  Yes, and I am growing up into Him in all things, into His very image and likeness.  What a wonder.  My boyhood wish has been realized after all.  To think that a loving God had prepared such wonder for a wondering boy…  it is too much.  I too get to be a son of God.

…But I tell you what is more meaningful… if that’s possible.  It’s the realization that the Holy Spirit in me that makes me a son of God… is one with the Son of God in Heaven. It’s this that leaves me with my mouth open.

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!

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The Birthings Of Faith

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Allan Halton

One of the difficulties we must overcome in reading the Bible is that over time we become too familiar with it.  We know the outcomes of the stories… and sometimes we assume the Bible characters had the advantage of that same knowledge.  But no, they didn’t.  We need to read our Bible remembering that.  How profitable it would be if we could read it as a book we’ve picked up for the first time, and don’t know the plot or the way things are going to turn out any more than the characters themselves.

In fact, just think what it would be like if you and I were right there right then—but not knowing anything about the outcome of things the way we do now.   Where would that put us?  What an adventure we would be in.  For it would put us in the place of having to discover very definitely what God was saying… and having to walk it out by faith.

How was it that Abraham ended up in the land of Canaan?  It was by responding in faith to a word from God.  He didn’t have it all mapped out for him.  “By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed: and he went out not knowing whither he went” (Heb. 11.9).  Think of that.  There’s no suspense for us; we turned the page and found out long ago; we know how things unfolded.  Abraham didn’t.  He didn’t know “the rest of the story” the way we do.

Yes, he had a measure of understanding as to what God was leading him into.  But day by new day, step by new step, he had to search out this will of God.  He had to seek to hear afresh what God was saying to him—and the times and seasons of His will.  Sometimes he missed it.  But his heart was right with God.  And God was faithful to bring him back on track.

All those of old… Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Moses, Gideon, David… they were involved in something that… let’s call it the birthings of faith.  The true Christian walk is a walk in the Spirit that causes the will of God in Heaven to be unfolded, or birthed, here in the earth.  This takes faith.  This is what faith involves.  Faith involves hearing from God, and responding in accordance with what we have heard.

This is what the faith chapter in Hebrews is all about.  We are given many examples of people who didn’t have a Bible to read the way we do; it wasn’t all laid out before them; they had to birth by faith the word they were hearing, bring it out into open reality in their lives.

What they brought out into the open we have recorded for us now on the pages of our Bible.  Because of this we can become distanced from the… the immanence, the “present-ness” of their walk of faith, the creative element, the beautiful existential quality of the walk these ones were involved in… who brought into being the hidden will of God.

The very point of all that is recorded, though, is to inspire you and me with regard to what is before us in our own lives.  We have their testimony because we too are involved in the birthings of faith.  There is very much yet of the will of God to unfold—very great and awesome things, as great if not greater than any recorded in the Bible.

It is just as important for us to hear His Voice and respond in faith as it was for them back then.

I think of Jesus in His day.  He Himself did not have a heavenly instruction manual laying all things out before Him.  He needed to pray and earnestly seek to hear what His Father was saying and doing.  He lived by faith.  He walked by faith.  All that took place in His life was the result of the birthings of faith.  The familiar story of Jesus walking on the water comes to mind.  We read the story and it’s no big deal to us.  We’re so familiar with it.  We think He walked on water because, well… because He was Jesus.  But it was by faith that the Son of man lived and walked.  He couldn’t walk on water any more than you or I can.  But He saw the disciples He loved out there in the storm… afraid.  He was making intercession for them, and the Father put something in His heart.  He responded in faith.  It was by faith that He walked on the water to go to them.

What a wonder.  But it doesn’t end there.  Peter walked on the water as well!  Let’s put ourselves out there in the boat that day.  Could you or I have done that… like Peter?  Peter walked on the water, too.  How?  He heard a single word.  “Come.”

Peter birthed something by faith that night.  He walked on the water by faith.

As we follow Jesus’ footsteps through the Gospels we discover over and over again that He was always looking for a certain “something” that would enable Him to release wondrous things.  We read words such as, “And seeing their faith…” or, “thy faith hath made thee whole,” or, “only believe…”  It was the operation of faith in different ones that birthed into the open the wondrous things He did, things we now read of and think happened just because He had the power to do miracles.  No.  Where there was unbelief He was greatly hampered (Mt. 13.58).  Where there was faith He wrought wondrous things.

We need to know that this same Jesus continues to do great things, and wants to do even greater things now that He is exalted.  But He continues to look for that divine catalyst that releases His power—faith.

Here’s an example from The Acts.  Jesus has already ascended and has sent forth the Holy Spirit.  Paul in Lystra sees a man crippled from birth.  What a pitiful condition.  But the man has something many healthy people entirely lack.  Paul, “perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet” (Acts 14.10).  I know where that Voice originated.  “And he leaped and walked.”  Thus the will of God in Heaven was made manifest in the earth.  How did it happen?  By the “mystery of faith.”  Somehow the man had heard from God.  Perhaps it happened the very instant he looked on Paul—a man in whom the Holy Spirit of Jesus dwelt—and connected with Jesus Himself.  Or perhaps it was something God had spoken to him some time ago and he kept alive in his heart… waiting.  However it happened, the man and the time and the place and the faith—and the Lord Jesus Christ—came together, and a wondrous chemical reaction took place.

I think of Abraham again.  As he looked up at the night sky and saw the countless stars God told him, “So shall thy seed be.”  Then we read, “And Abraham believed in the LORD…”  This was no easy matter-of-fact reaction.  I think it took Abraham’s breath away.  I think it took all he had in him to believe so impossible a thing.

But he believed.  And he was right in believing.

It is a wondrous thing, and a great privilege, to be involved in the birthings of faith.  It was by faith that Sarah conceived, the writer of Hebrews tells us, when she was past the age of childbearing.  “By faith Sarah received (or, laid hold of) strength to conceive seed.”  How could she do this?  The point is that no capability within herself could have conceived Isaac.  Sarah had heard from God (Gen. 18.10).  At first she laughed at the impossibility of the prospect.  But it appears that eventually… maybe as she was making supper one evening, something was quickened to her… and she said more or less, “Well, Lord… if that’s what You are saying… I am saying Amen to it.”

And so let us seek to read the inspired word of God as though we ourselves were involved in the unfolding of things back then.  We will get a more realistic idea of how things took place.  But more than that, we will learn how we ourselves are to walk with God, and move in a realm that is not our own works.  It will help us understand the process of faith, and will inspire us to anticipate the same vital birthings in our own lives.

It will inspire us to be more attentive to hear from God.  For, we can’t pull faith out of thin air.  “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  That is the key, then—the secret of faith.  Hearing from God.  The word of God has a creative element in it that creates faith… if we for our part will receive the word… and then act upon it.

Let us, then—and this more than anything else—covet that hearing of the word and will of God that initiates the response of faith in our lives… and enables us to bring into being things that others someday will read about after the fact.

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Jesus Loves Thee

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Allan Halton

As an example of the use of the singular thee in the King James Version, Bible teacher Ron Bailey (in the previous post) cited Jesus’ words to Peter just prior to that devastating night when he denied his Lord three times.

Jesus had said;

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat,
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren (Lk. 22.31,32).

You is always plural in the KJV.  The Lord is telling Peter that Satan has desired (or more accurately, has claimed and obtained permission) to sift them all (collectively) as wheat.  But the Lord now shows His very personal interest in each one of his disciples, telling Peter specifically, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not…”

This prayer of course was answered.  Peter’s faith was tried very severely, tried to the depths.  But it did not fail.  He came out of this heart-searching ordeal a very broken man with a heart to strengthen his brethren.  There had been impurities in him, and so the accuser of the brethren had claimed the right to have him.  No doubt his wicked motive was to completely destroy Peter.  But along with an accuser who was jealous of him, and hated him, Peter also had an intercessor who loved him deeply, and it was His intention in all this to bring Peter forth a pure and sifted kernel of wheat.

(And remember that the Lord, with purposed intent and healing love, later gave Peter the opportunity to affirm his love for Him—three times.  See John Chapter 21.)

It’s very encouraging to know—and very necessary to know—that in times of trial and testing we have such an intercessor at the right hand of God—the place of all authority.  He is determined to see us through.  He prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail.  That prayer was answered.  He prays for us also, with the same power of the throne in His prayers.  He loves us with an everlasting love.  Loves you and me, I mean—as He loved Peter.  He prays for me.  He prays for you.

He is deeply committed to us—individually.

Paul tells us that Jesus “gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father” (Gal. 1.4).

But a little later on in this same letter to the Galatian churches we find Paul affirming that He “loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2.20).

How deeply we ourselves need this conviction, this persuasion—that Jesus not only died for us, but died for each of us—for you, for me.

And we need to know (thanks to Robert Wurtz for the following insight) that He will never leave us—that is, will never leave you, will never leave me.

The writer of Hebrews says: “Let your conversation (your conduct, your way of life) be without covetousness: and be content with such things as ye have…”

Note the plural there:  “Let your conversation… such things as ye have…”  Your and ye are also always plurals in the KJV.

But now he continues: “For He (Himself) hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”  (Heb. 13.5).

Thee?  That means you, beloved Christian.  That means me.

Thank you, Jesus.  Eradicate all doubt for our hearts, Lord, so that we know and believe the love You have for each one of us, even in times when You are silent.  May we always put our trust in You.  You are at the right hand of God, and ever live to make intercession for us—each one of us, that is.  Amen.

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Teach Thyself Olde Englishe

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Allan Halton

You often hear people say they don’t like the King James Version of the Bible because of the archaic language—the thee’s and thou’s.  But this is the very reason—at least one of the reasons—I love the KJV.  (There are also reasons I don’t like it, but that’s a story for another day.) The Bible has hidden riches that it takes the usage of the pronouns thee and thou to find.  In subsequent posts on A Mending Feast I hope to bring some of these riches out, so felt I needed to lay this groundwork first.

In modern English we use the pronoun you for both singular and plural, but in the KJV thee and thou are always singular pronouns and you is always plural, a distinction none of the modern versions is able to give us.

So even if you use one of the modern versions I highly recommend becoming familiar with the KJV.  Read it slowly, and carefully, and pay close attention to this usage.  I have found the following article helpful.  It was put together a few years ago by Ron Bailey of Reading, England (one of the best Bible teachers around, in my estimation).  Some of the content, particularly the chart he uses, is from: http://dan.tobias.name/frivolity/archaic-grammar.html

Teach Thyself Olde Englishe (by Ron Bailey, 2005)

Why should anyone bother with such an archaic concept? Well, some may just be curious, but there are occasions when the switch from thou to you is quite significant.

For example: “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:31-32 KJV).

In this setting the Lord includes Simon in a larger group of those whom Satan had desired: you; but assures him of His personal prayer on his behalf: thou.

Or moving in the opposite direction: “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain” (Exo 3:11-12 KJV).

In this setting the Lord is speaking personally to Moses with the repeated pronoun thou, but His promise is that not only Moses but all the people (ye) will serve God upon the mountain.  It is not really possible to convey these ideas in modern English, and as the languages that God used to convey His revelation, both Hebrew and Greek, had thou and thee as well as ye and you it is sometimes good to get as close as we can to the original ideas.

This chart should help you to sort it out a little better:

Subjective (nominative)

Objective (accusative)

Possessive (genitive)

Verb Ending

Irregular Verbs

1st Person Singular

 I me my, mine 1 none am

2nd Person Singular

 thou thee thy, thine 1 -est art, hast, dost, shalt, wilt

3rd Person Singular

 he, she, it him, her, it his, her/hers, its -eth is, hath, doth

1st Person Plural

 we us our, ours none are

2nd Person Plural

 ye 2 you your, yours none are

3rd Person Plural

 they them their, theirs none are

Chart notes:

1. My/mine and thy/thine were used similarly to a/an; my and thy preceded a word beginning with a consonant sound, while mine and thine preceded a word beginning with a vowel sound.
2. Note that ye is the nominative and you is the accusative, which is counterintuitive given that thou/thee go the opposite way. When town criers yelled, “Hear Ye!” the ye in question is the subject, not the object, of the hearing. Also note that using ye in place of the, as in, “Ye olde candye shoppe,” is incorrect; this derives from a mistaken interpretation of an archaic spelling of the using a former runic letter later replaced by th; this letter kind of resembled a lowercase y, and when printing was invented, early printers, lacking the already-obsolete letter in their movable type, sometimes used a y for it when transcribing old documents.

Familiar and Formal Forms of Address

To further complicate the use of pronouns, English in the period in question made a distinction in second-person pronouns depending on whether you were addressing somebody in a familiar or formal mode. This concept is familiar to students of other languages that have such forms of address, like the distinction between tu and usted in Spanish. Actually, the usage of vous in French best parallels the forms of address in medieval English.  It’s a second-person plural pronoun that’s also used in the singular when addressing somebody in a formal way.

The singular pronouns thou and thee were considered “familiar,” meaning that they were appropriate for use among close friends and family.  When addressing somebody who was not so close, however, the use of thou or thee implied that you regarded them as being of lower social class than you were, and hence was definitely inappropriate when addressing your social superiors.  People could be punished for contempt of court for addressing a judge in this manner, for instance.  To address somebody outside the circle of familiarity in a respectful way, especially when they were of higher social class or in a position of power, ye and you were used, even though the addressee was singular rather than plural.

This is the opposite of what we often expect. Some people like the sound of thee because they think it makes God sound more majestic and dignified. In fact, thou is much more intimate than you in King James Version English, and you would have been much more dignified and majestic.  Thee brings you “closer” to God than you did. This is one of the reasons that thou has survived in romantic poetry.  During Sir Walter Raleigh’s trial one of his accusers became exasperated with him and tried to humiliate him with the phrase “I, thou thee, sir.”  It is quite unintelligible to modern ears, but his accuser in refusing to give Raleigh his proper courtesy pronoun of you, was relegating him to the position of a servant boy who would have been addressed as thou.

The Quaker use of thee and thou was a refusal to give to ordinary people the status that you implied. They regarded the use of you to a single person as assisting the single person’s pride and aspirations to grandeur, and would not be part of this. They refused to doff their hats for the same reason. Eventually, with the rise of more egalitarian philosophies in contrast to the rigid hierarchies of feudalism, having two different forms of address was regarded as excess baggage, and you reached its modern usage with no distinction of familiar or formal, singular or plural, or nominative or accusative. This was already true by the time that the King James Version was translated, so the translators use of thee, thou,
ye was a conscious but already archaic choice.

Ron Bailey, 2005

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