Embracing the Eternal: Understanding the Unseen in Faith

Well, the name is derived from Paul's teaching that the things that are seen are temporal and it's the things that are unseen that are eternal, and it's that flip of our usual way of thinking about things; seen things seem very real, very powerful. And Paul is reminding us, actually, it's the things that are unseen that are most important, and it's the things that are unseen in our lives that affect and effect the way we live in the things that are seen. [00:41:35]

Well, you know, that really comes out, I think, of Paul's words in Philippians chapter 3 where it seems to me he almost gives us his life text, "I want to know Christ, the part of His resurrection, share the fellowship of His sufferings and become like Him." And, I think, there are several ways in which we do that. First of all, we do that by getting to know Him in the Scriptures. I think, even as Christians, we often forget that the only access point we have to learning about Jesus is actually found in the pages of the Scriptures. [00:46:30]

So, I am very keen to encourage Christians when they read the Gospels to keep their eyes fixed on Him and to meditate on Him. And for me a big part of that has been what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 13 that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, which as I sometimes say, that's not a long way of saying Jesus is eternal. It’s a very particular way of saying He is exactly the same today as He was in the yesterday of the author of Hebrews, by which he means what he calls the days of His flesh or the days of His ministry in the Gospels. [00:45:12]

And so, what Newton does in this letter is he goes through a number of characters that he gives these Latin names to and he, kind of, pokes them in the hope that they will see themselves in these pictures, because, you know, that is often the tragedy of the ways in which our Christian lives get warped. We are the only ones who don't see it. And that letter is really... it's a very challenging thing to read, but it's also very clever. [00:08:44]

So, is the Abrahamic covenant still in operation? Well, it's still in operation in the sense that it has now been fulfilled, that the promise has been realized, that God has actually kept the promise that He gave to Abraham. And this is why, for example, again in Galatians—which I am now mixing up with Genesis obviously—in Galatians 3:13 Paul says that Christ became a curse for us in order that the blessings of the covenant that were promised to Abraham might now come to the Gentiles. [00:26:40]

And I would say that actually has been one of the distortions, maybe the biggest distortion of the twentieth and twenty-first century, and the result of that has been that the biblical focus on the fruit of the Spirit has been minimized and the role of the gifts of the Spirit has been maximized, but actually over the whole piece of the New Testament there are only a few places where these special gifts of the Holy Spirit are actually even mentioned and the dominant focus of the New Testament is on the fruit of the Spirit in transforming us into the likeness of the character of Christ. [00:42:53]

And so, getting through the whole Bible each year I think is a helpful practice. I've also, in addition to that, focused from time to time on certain books and given them more concentrated study. The material I actually recommend, I think I find myself recommending most, is actually Tabletalk, Nathan, for two reasons. One is because it does give you that help of a disciplined program of Bible reading. It gives you help in the notes that help you to expound and understand and apply the text, and there are also some great articles that go along with it. [00:56:06]

I think the really important thing for us to think about is that is true, but we do not have access to all that God sovereignly does. And so, the starting position for us is what does the Bible actually have to say about human nature, about human beings? And what it essentially says is that by nature every single human being is in rebellion against God and therefore under His wrath. So, the place I would go to think about that would be what Paul says in Romans 1 verses 18 to 32 and then into chapter 2 where he describes the principles of God's judgment. [00:15:44]

I think it's very easy for seminary students to be caught up in the wonders of getting good grades in theology, and I think the really important thing is that when you're studying it you're getting to know God better. And I think students need to know that for many students studying is very depressing. Not every student in seminary loves sitting for hours reading books. And so, then I think it's really important to remember that maybe a third or even more of your seminary education has got to do with your fellow students. [00:19:52]

I think a great deal of confusion arises in our minds because we may think of like soul as one part of our being and spirit as another part of our being and body as another part of our being, whereas the Bible, I think, originally thinks of us as being a unified person who is made for two environments, made for this environment is a living being, is a soul, and the animals are also living beings in that sense, souls, and we're sharing this environment, but the difference between us and the animals is that we are also made for communion with God. [00:52:14]

So, I think it's a matter of expressing concrete encouragement for the ways in which they serve us, for the struggles through which they go. Really, it's not an easy business today being a minister. It can be relentlessly difficult. It's glorious, but it is not necessarily easy, and ministers need all the encouragement they can get. And, you know, I know I've often thought I think I have had more encouragement from my congregations than probably the vast majority of ministers, and I long that every minister would have the kind of encouragement. [01:03:55]

So, I would say a great tool for us in keeping friendships and in helping our friends is our own study of the way in which Jesus Himself taught these things about the grace of God, about the depravity of man, about the nature of the atonement, about the sovereignty of God. It's all in the Gospels, and I think that will enable you to maintain friendships, or if you lose them, they will be lost because alas, people won't listen to Christ Himself. And that is very sore, but I think it does mean that you have not been the offensive one. [00:37:55]