Taking a New Testament and opening it at Luke 1:32*, the Jew asked: "Do you believe that what is here written shall be literally accomplished, 'The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever'?" "I do not," answered the clergyman, "but rather take it to be figurative language, descriptive of Christ's spiritual reign over the Church."
"Then", replied the Jew, "neither do I believe literally the words preceding which say that this Son of David should be born of a virgin; but take them to be merely a figurative manner of describing the remarkable character for purity of him who is the subject of the prophecy."
"But why", continued the Jew, "do you refuse to believe literally verses 32 and 33, while you believe implicitly the far more incredible statement of verse 31?" "I believe it", replied the clergyman, "because it is a fact."
"Ah!" exclaimed the Jew, with an incredible air of scorn and triumph, "you believe scripture because it is a fact; I believe it because it is the Word of God."
*Luke 1:31-33: And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
A second-advent interpreter, and one of the best of his class. Highly esteemed..." was the verdict of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in his Commenting and Commentaries. Indeed, he uses several quotes from William De Burgh in his own treatise on the Psalms - The Treasury of David. AR Fausset (of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown] also refers to 'his valuable commentary on the Psalms'.
6 comments:
how important is scripture
it wasnt important to the malefactor crucified along with Christ, who was saved
Gerry
All Scripture is equally important!!
You will have to elaborate on the second part of your comment as I don't understand what you are getting at.
Brian McClung
Luke 23 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
1 mocking Christ and one rebuking the one doing the mocking, we deserve what is happening to us but Christ did not deserve what was being done to him.
(appeal) Lord remember me when when (belief) thou comest into my kingdom.
(salvation) Today shalt thou be with me in paradise
no mention of scripture or study or knowledge of it. Salvation without mention or knowledge of scripture.
Hence question how important is Scripture?
may I quote you on "All Scripture is equally important"
Gerry
From where/whom do you think the dying thief, who believed, obtained his knowledge to call Jesus Christ 'Lord'?
From where/whom did he learn that all he needed to do was to savingly believe on Christ and that no works of any sort were necessary, therefore he had hope of being saved even hanging on a cross?
From where/whom did he learn that Jesus Christ could save even though He too was hanging on a cross?
From where/whom did he learn that Christ would rise from the dead?
From where/whom did he learn that the Saviour was a King and had a coming kingdom?
These truths are only knowable from the Scriptures themselves or from someone teaching the truths of Scripture and they never occur to the natural mind.
Your statement Salvation without mention or knowledge of scripture, is factually therefore incorrect! Scripture is all important. There can be no true knowledge of God or of Christ without it.
As to quoting me - don't quote me, quote the Bible itself: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, 2 Tim 3:17.
Brian McClung
[All scripture is given by inspiration of God] - Luke 4:5(KJV)
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. True or false.
If true this must be the number 1 major tourist attraction of all time. If inspired by God the fountain of all knowledge it would have not said this. To a man, group of men conferring at that time, knowledge of the make up of mother earth was not understood. the fact that the earth is curved, that it is not possible to see China/ Japan/ Ireland/ south America from the middle east due to the curvature of the earth. All places where kingdoms existed at that time. So this verse like many others need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
[From where/whom do you think the dying thief, who believed, obtained his knowledge to call Jesus Christ 'Lord'?] I do not know but I am sure you will tell me, Maybe it was customary to call men whom one respected 'lord' maybe someone stood at the cross and spoke to Christ and called him Lord, as I say I do not know and am eager to be taught.
[From where/whom did he learn that all he needed to do was to savingly believe on Christ and that no works of any sort were necessary, therefore he had hope of being saved even hanging on a cross?] again I have not got the foggiest idea that he knew any of this, but i will wait for you telling me. And this will be my question to all your statements above as to how this person would know.
If my memory serves me right Christ had to explain to his apostles and disciples who he was, why would you assume that the criminals on the crosses would have known what Christ found it necessary to instruct his apostles. after all we do not even know the nationalities of the criminals and whether or not they were literate. Christ had the inscription above him INRI
I do not read the Bible to find fault with it, but I do not necessarily believe that everything in it is factual. I understand and I could be wrong of course that the Book of Genesis was penned by Moses who lived around 2000 years before Christ 3000 years after Cain and Abel and did not witness the creation or know Adam and eve Cain and Abel and could not have known that Adam named the Kangaroo "Kangaroo" or the Polar Bear "Polar Bear" Moses probably never seen a Kangaroo.
I read the Bible for inspiration, I dont read it to find fault. But when I read something in it that is ridiculous I have no problem in seeing it as that. A talking Donkey, come on, pull the other leg.
All the wars the Nation of Israel fought without mercy, vis vie Christ 'Resist not evil' and 'turn the other cheek'
Gerry
1. I don't see the problem in Luke 4:5. The word 'world' in Greek is 'oikoumene'. [There are 4 different Greek words translated 'world' in the New Testament, each one with a different significance] This one refers to the kingdoms of the Roman empire, Luke 2:1: And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. Cæsar did not conduct a census of every kingdom in the world, just those within his empire!
It is true that there is no mountain in the world from which you can humanly see all the kingdoms of the Roman world, never mind the whole world. But then we are not dealing here with human beings. The devil is a spirit being, on a higher plane as to ability than human beings; the other is none other than the person of Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh. The text you quoted is one that argues for the deity of Christ for as you have rightly pointed out no human being could ever see all the kingdoms of the world from a mountain.
From the top of the mountain in question the devil made the glory of all the kingdoms of the Roman world to pass before Jesus Christ to tempt Him into worshipping the devil.
2. The point I was making by asking "from where/whom…" was in reply to your ascertain that in the conversion of the dying thief there was no Scripture knowledge employed. To quote your exact words: "Salvation without mention or knowledge of scripture". I said then and I repeat: that is factually incorrect. The knowledge of these things can only come from God, through the Incarnate Word or the Inspired Word: Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, 1 Corinthians 12:3.
3. The Bible stands or falls altogether. Either it is all inspired, therefore inerrant, as to history, science, theology; or it is utterly worthless. If the Bible cannot get it right on matters relating to this world; how can it then be trusted with regards to matters relating to eternity? If it isn't to be trusted on lesser things; it isn't to be trusted on those greater matters relating to our eternal destiny and how sinner is right before God.
4. With respect to a talking donkey, what is even more remarkable than Balaam's ass speaking is that Balaam answered it back! The Bible foretells that the day is coming when the image of Antichrist set up in Jerusalem is going to speak and multitudes will believe it with no difficulty, Rev 13:11-18
5. Why do you apply New Testament rules to Old Testament times? The nation of Israel were in Old Testament times God's instruments of judgment in the earth. When they went into captivity to Babylon this ceased. The New Testament Church does not function like this in the world, hence the command you quoted. I am at a loss to see the difficulty!
Brian McClung
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