Friday, June 11, 2021

Some resources on Intermediate State

Here are resources on Intermediate State taught in Sunday School at Lowell Church.
An Evangelical Understanding of God and His Word
BRUCE WARE

First of all is the Bible’s teaching on what is called the Intermediate State. This is simply the state of people’s existence after physical death. We all understand that because of sin we die in this world. That was stated by God in the Garden of Eden, “In the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will surely die.” The New Testament confirms this in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” In Romans 5 Paul has said, “Through sin death entered the world.” We understand that apart from the coming of Christ when we will be raptured and taken to be with him, more on that in a few moments, we can all expect to die in this life. The question becomes then, what happens after that?

A. Unbelievers

Essentially for unbelievers they can anticipate, whether they know it or not that they may be experiencing right upon their physical death torment and punishment as they await the final judgment of Christ.

There are a couple of passages that indicate this. is the first one we will look at. Peter says here, “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment awaiting the day of judgment.” Here is a very clear statement that those who are unrighteous are not in some kind of unconscious experience, soul sleep, or something like this, but rather they are consciously experiencing punishment awaiting this day of judgment. The term that is used there that they are under punishment is a present passive participle indicating the ongoing nature of this punishment they are enduring.

Another passage that I believe is relevant to this is Luke 16 where Jesus tells the story here of the rich man and Lazarus. You may recall this. Beginning at verse 19, the rich man enjoyed many benefits in this life. The poor man Lazarus used to lay at his gate covered with sores and longed to be fed with crumbs that came from the rich man’s table. But now they both have died and the rich man is in Hades, it says, while the poor man is at Abraham’s bosom. We read this concerning the rich man, in verse 24 it says, “He cried out and said ‘Father Abraham have mercy on me, send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger into water and cool off my tongue for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received good things and Lazarus bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able to do so, and that none may cross from there to us.’ And then the rich man in Hades said, ‘Then I beg you father send someone to my father’s household for I have five brothers in order that he may warn them so that they will not come to this place of torment.’ And Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’”

A couple things about this are interesting. One is it is very clear that this is happening in the intermediate state. This is not a statement of the final judgment. This is not hell as we read about it or the lake of fire as we read about it in Revelation 20, but rather this is a time period between this man’s physical death and the coming of Christ. How do we know that? Because he appeals to go and speak to his brothers who are still out there. Other people have not died yet. This is prior to the end of the age. Another thing interesting about this is that it is very clear that this man is conscious and experiencing torment during this time. He wishes for just a drop of water to be brought to him and nothing of the sort can be done; there is this chasm fixed. Finally notice that because this chasm is fixed there is no way in which one could transfer from one side to the other, that is, people who are in this horrible place of torment cannot move to the place of Abraham’s bosom of blessing nor the reverse.

So it seems to be clear from this that our ultimate destiny is secured at the point of our physical death, that is, there is no point after our physical death in which that can be changed. Hebrews 9:27 confirms this when it says, “It is appointed unto men once to die and after this comes the judgment.”

B. Believers

For believers the picture is similar in once sense, that is, there is conscious existence, ongoing existence that takes place between the time of one’s physical death and the second coming of Christ, but the quality of life is dramatically different. The picture we have in the New Testament of what believers anticipate being with Christ is so glorious and wonderful.

Listen to these passages. For example, in Luke 23:42-43, Jesus, to the thief on the cross who had trusted in him, said to the thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Even using the word “paradise” indicates this place of joy and blessing where he will immediately be with the Lord.

Philippians 1:21-23 Paul sort of debates in this passage whether he should die or whether he should remain living for the benefit of the believers and he says this in verse 21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain, but if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, and I don’t know which to choose, but I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ for that is very much better yet to remain on in the flesh is necessary for your sake.” Here it is clear that he means when he says, “depart and be with Christ,” he means by that his physical death because in the next verse he says, “yet to remain on in the flesh.” So Paul understands what it means to die as a believer is this joyous reality of departing and being with Christ for that is very much better.

This is confirmed in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 where Paul says, “Therefore being always of good courage and knowing that while we were at home in the body,” that is, living physically in our physical bodies, “we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith and not by sight. We are of good courage I say and prefer rather to be absent from the body,” that is, die physically; our bodies go to a grave, “and to be at home with the Lord.” So the prospect for believers is a very joyous one that at the point of physical death we are with the Lord and enjoying the pleasures of his presence and company.

The New Testament clearly places our ultimate hope not at the point of our physical death, but at the point of the return of Christ and our resurrection to the fullness of what God has for us. Let me put it this way; as wonderful as the intermediate state is for believers, we are with the Lord, it still falls short of the fullness that God has for us when we are given glorified bodies and restored fully into the image of the risen Christ to live with him forever. Our real hope is the blessed coming of the Lord when the resurrection takes place. The intermediate state is simply a step in that direction but not the fullness of what God has for us.

My Synthesized Premillennial View

Background:

It is with my pleasure and modesty to clarify my millennial view. I was trained to believe that any sound theological position is to be rooted in a solid biblical exegesis. Thus I hope that a brief but careful word studies of the phrase “χιλια ετη” (a thousand years) from Revelations 20:2-7 will help with the understanding of the four major views on the millennial. From there I will draw a conclusion with a synthesized millennial view drawing from the strengths of different views taught by my pastors, both from C&MA and independent church, my professors and recent scholarship. This explanation is by no mean intended to be exclusive because different millennial views have been debated since the early church fathers, so it is an integrated theory rather than a doctrinal statement. The synthesized view is built upon John R. Noē’s Ph.D. Dissertation[1] defended at Trinity Theological Seminary, and a watershed idea suggested from Wayne Grudem,

“it would not be impossible[2] for someone to be a postmillennialist and a premillennialist at the same time (emphasis added), with two different senses of the term millennium. Someone could conceivably be a postmillennialistand think that the gospel will grow in influence until the world is largely Christians, and that then Christ will return and set up a literal earthly reign, raising believers from the dead to reign with him in glorified bodies. Or, on the other hand, a very optimistic premillennialist could conceivably adopt many of the postmillennialist teachings about the increasingly Christian nature of this present age.”[3]

1. My personal exegetical observation- the term “χιλια ετη”, a thousand years, occurred 8 times in Greek NT (2 Pet 3:8; Rev 20:2–7), and 2 times in Hebrew OT (Psa 90:4; Eccl 6:6), three out of the four contexts are clearly used as figuratively or symbolic language (not literal) in a poetical genre[4].

a. The critical hermeneutical question remains, “should Rev 20:2–7 be taken as literal or symbolical?”

b. Based on the other usages of the thousand years elsewhere in the bible, my answer is symbolical.

c. The concept of the “a thousand years”, as it is the ONLY time used by the apostle John in Revelations, is symbolical and it is dangerous to build a doctrine on it.

2. My teachers and modern scholars observation- when it comes to the interpretation of Rev. 20 and the “millennium”:

a. my former senior pastor Rev. Johnny Chan (Historical Premillennial) who was my first teacher on the book of Revelations surprisingly shared the hermeneutical framework with my NT professor Dr. Sean McDonough, and recent scholarship from Dr. Vern Poythress (Postmillennial), Dr. G.K. Beale, (Amillennial), and Dr. John Noē (Preterist Premillennial) that they all tend to weight on the symbolical significances when it comes to Rev 20.

b. Another pastor and colleague of mine, Rev. Peter Wu, who graduated with a Ph. D from Westminster Seminary with a focus on Revelations, interprets the symbolic meaning of the “millennium” with four distinct hermeneutic levels:[5]

Statement of my synthesized view of millennial:

The following definitions and framework is adopted from John R. Noē’s Ph.D. Dissertation[6] and my systematic theology professor John J. Davis’s handbook[7].

Premillennialism – the eschatological view that Christ’s return is future and comes before a literal or symbolic thousand-years period and temporary earthly reign. Before that, the Church will go through a time of tribulation and Christ’s return will be a single event.

Postmillennial – the eschatological view that Christ’s return is future and comes at the end of a present millennial period (also longer than a literal thousand years). He is now Lord over all spheres of human life, and his people have been called and empowered to extend his present kingdom for the purpose of transforming all, or most of, culture and society into the will of Christ.

Amillennial – the eschatological view that Christ’s return is future but can come at any time during Christ’s present millennial reign. This millennium is an unspecified period of time but longer than a literal thousand years. It symbolizes a spiritual reign in the souls of individuals, in the life of the Church, and/or of saints currently in heaven. No future, thousand-years, golden age on the earth is foreseen prior to the setting up of an eternal state at Christ’s return.

Synthesized-millennial[8]- the eschatological view that Christ’s promised coming is continuously being fulfilled and will be consummated with his ultimate coming. The millennial can be a literal thousand-years or a symbolic long period, during this already-but-not-yet period before Christ’s final coming.

1. discarding the weakness

a. Each of the three major views employed the words concerning Christ’s “return” or “second coming” which are not properly speaking or poorly exegeting from the texts that do not represent the authorial intend.

b. They are to be replace with the facts that Christ’s continuous “comings” to his disciples as recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:5–6[9] and as a already-but-not-yet fulfillment of his promise that “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20) and as he spiritually comes in to his followers’ lives, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Rev. 3:20)

c. Thus any view with the presumption that built on the “return of Christ” as the central, pivotal, and controlling end-time event factor is not sufficient in and of itself with the following weaknesses.

2. synthesizing the strengths into one meaningful, coherent, and consistent view that is Christ-honoring, Scripture-authenticating, and faith- validating than any one view in and of itself

a. According to John Noe, the following is the strengths of the “preterist view” incorporated with the strengths of other three views.

i. Preterist View

 Fully accepts the natural reading and understanding of eschatological timeframes and NT time and imminency statements, including those bracketing the entire prophecy of Revelation.  

 Supports the 1st-century Holy-Spirit-guided expectations as the correct ones.  

 Balances literal and figurative language for nature of fulfillment.  

 Uses biblical precedent to explain the nature of fulfillment.  

 Answers the liberal/skeptic attack on the Bible and on Christ, effectively.  

ii. From the amillennial view, was kept the idealist interpretation of the book of Revelation with its ongoing, timeless, and countless applications in human history. But these now follow, rather than precede, Christ’s historic and literal coming in judgment and consummation in A.D. 70.

iii. From the postmillennial view, was incorporated but reapplied its strong kingdom- society orientation, positive worldview, long-term outlook, and many comings of Christ—past, present, and future.

iv. From the premillennial view, was retained its strong interest in prophecy and the current dynamic role of Christ in the present and future affairs of humankind.

Conclusion:

I agree with John Noe that each millennium view has grasped a portion of the biblical truth regarding the end times. It is worth considering his careful approach toward a synthesis treatment that met all hermeneutical and exegetical demands and not contradict itself. This was significant in terms of the development of millennium view in recent scholarship because no one had ever written with the degree and scope to synthesize the four views before. Nevertheless, this synthesis is still a view concerning the millennial because no one can tell the unfolding part of history except God.

Besides that, as I was reviewing this topic on the Alliance official website at the section of the Coming King, an alliance pastor, Rev. John F. Soper, wrote this about the coming of Christ,

“most were devoted to predicting when this cataclysmic event will occur (something the Bible explicitly tells us NOT to do), to debating the order of events connected to His return... All of this speculation entirely misses the point of what the Bible says about the matter… first, because Christ is coming, we need to be ready—living lives that are pure, steadfast, prayerful, holy and reverent; and, second, because Christ is coming, we need to finish the task He has given us—the preaching of the gospel.”[10]

This practical advice from the pastor is not to diminish the value of understanding the different views of millennial but to gravitate the value to the meaning rather than the timing. As Jesus orientated his disciples to this matter by saying, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:7–8) Thus I affirmed with the Alliance Stand, “The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent[11] and will be personal, visible, and premillennial[12]. This is the believer’s blessed hope and is a vital truth which is an incentive to holy living and faithful service.[13]

[1] John R. Noē, “Synthesizing Four Views of the Return of Christ”, presented and read as a theological paper at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, November 2001, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Internet, available fromhttps://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/pdf/2001_noe_synthesizing.pdf, accessed August 3, 2018. Noe is president of the Prophecy Reformation Institute, a conservative, evangelical scholar, and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society. He holds an earned Ph.D. in Theology from Trinity Theological Seminary and the University of Liverpool ("With Distinction").

[2] noticed the double-negative reasoning here, not “either-or” but “both-and”, i.e. in the understanding of the nature of Jesus as both fully man and fully God.

[3] Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, England : Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 1994, 1123.

[4] Psa. 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

Eccl. 6:6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

2Pet. 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Rev. 20:2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

Rev. 20:3 and 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 yearswere ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Rev. 20:4 ¶ Then 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.

Rev. 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.

Rev. 20:6 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.

Rev. 20:7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison

[5] Vern Poythress, Genre and Hermeneutics in Revelation 20:1-6, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36, 1993, 41-54, https://frame-poythress.org/genre-and-hermeneutics-in-revelation-201-6/, accessed on August 2, 2018.

a. The linguistic level consists in the text of 20:1-6.

b. The visionary level consists in John’s actual visions of a descending angel, a dragon, a pit, the seizing of the dragon, the sealing of the pit, the thrones, and so on.

c. The referential level consists in the historical referents of the dragon, the pit, the thousand years, and the first resurrection.

d. The symbolical level consists in the symbolical significances of the various figures and events depicted.

[6] John R. Noē, “Synthesizing Four Views of the Return of Christ”, presented and read as a theological paper at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, November 2001, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Internet, available fromhttps://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/pdf/2001_noe_synthesizing.pdf, accessed August 3, 2018.

[7] Davis, John Jefferson. Handbook of Basic Bible Texts: Every Key Passage for the Study of Doctrine and Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1984.

[8] John R. Noē is the first modern scholar to hold this view by defending that it applies exegetical hermeneutic to integrate the three major millennial views by discarding the weakness, keeping the strengths, and synthesizing the strengths into one meaningful, coherent, and consistent view that is more Christ-honoring, Scripture-authenticating, and faith- validating than any one view in and of itself

[9] 1 Corinthians 15:5–6 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep

[10] John F. Soper, “Coming King”, The Alliance, Internet, available from https://www.cmalliance.org/about/beliefs/coming-king, accessed 3 August, 2018.

[11] Heb. 10:37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay…”

[12] Luke 21:27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory

[13] Titus 2:11–14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

A Personal Position on Charismatic Practice 個人對靈恩實行的立場

As an ordained pastor of the C&MA, I fully affirm my denominational positions regarding the person and works of the Holy Spirit. The Alliance's current president John Stumbo has said, "We know that from our earliest days, it was clear that our view about the Holy Spirit is a centrist stand that we are taking." He used the phrase "expectation without an agenda" to set the tone for a continual discussion after the council of 2023. He emphasizes that this understanding better explains the attitude of the C&MA family as we come with "expectation, eager for all the Holy Spirit wants to do without an agenda for what He must do." (see the section starting around the minute of 8:00 "Moving Forward – John Stumbo Video Blog No. 120", or visit the Alliance website to read about our perspectives on Spiritual Gifts and Sanctification).

Moving Forward — John Stumbo Video Blog Blog No. 120

https://cmalliance.org/video/moving-forward-john-stumbo-video-blog-no-120/

Besides the centrist stand that I inherited from the Alliance family, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Chinese Bible Church of Greater Lowell were among the ecumenical and non-denominational contexts that have formed my practical theology and ministry philosophy. The following statement is adopted from my first pastorate as my personal position on charismatic practice.

有關聖殿的主日學筆記

取自主日學老師Polly「歷代志下課堂資料」

聖殿

• 代下6:18 　神果真與世人同住在地上麼？看哪，天和天上的天尚且不足你居住的，何況我所建的這殿呢？

• 神不需要聖殿，聖殿不是神的居所。(這是所羅門在禱告中一種對神的客套話）

上帝自己的解說： 1Kings 8:15 所羅門說、耶和華以色列的　神是應當稱頌的、因他親口向我父大衛所應許的、也親手成就了。
1Kings 8:16 他說、『自從我領我民以色列出埃及以來、我未曾在以色列各支派中選擇一城、建造殿宇為我名的居所、但揀選大衛治理我民以色列。』

Neh. 1:9 但你們若歸向我、謹守遵行我的誡命、你們被趕散的人、雖在天涯、我也必從那裡將他們招聚回來、帶到我所選擇立為我名的居所
2Chr. 6:20 願你晝夜看顧這殿、就是你應許立為你名的居所...

• 代下6:19-21聖殿是禱告的殿

• 誰需要聖殿﹖

• 代下6:22-23人若得罪鄰舍…求神監察，交給神讓祂判斷

• 代下6:24-25你的民以色列若得罪你…求你赦免

• 代下6:26-27你的民因得罪你…求你赦免你僕人和你民以色列的罪

• 代下6:28-31你的民…自覺災禍甚苦…求你從天上你的居所垂聽赦免

• 代下6:32-33 論到不屬你…的外邦人…求你…垂聽，照著外邦人所祈求的而行，使天下萬民都認識你的名，敬畏你，像你的民以色列一樣，又使他們知道我建造的這殿是稱為你名下的。

• 代下6:34-35 你的民若奉你的差遣…求你從天上垂聽他們的禱告祈求，使他們得勝。

• 代下6:36-39 你的民若得罪你…求你…垂聽…為他們伸冤，赦免

• 聖殿的重要性︰成為萬國禱告的殿，讓萬國萬族都可以認識神。

• 誰需要聖殿﹖只是以色列人嗎﹖或者只是基督徒嗎﹖

• 教會能承傳嗎﹖

• 禱告結束部份有所不同

• 王上︰埃及事跡

• 代下6:40-42 我的　神啊，現在求你睜眼看，側耳聽在此處所獻的禱告。耶和華　神啊，求你起來，和你有能力的約櫃同入安息之所。耶和華　神啊，願你的祭司披上救恩；願你的聖民蒙福歡樂。耶和華　神啊，求你不要厭棄你的受膏者，要記念向你僕人大衛所施的慈愛。

• 出埃及所代表的是拯救、揀選、立約

• 代下所著重的是禱告、敬拜；特別提到祭司。另外，代下5特別提到祭司利未人的敬拜

• 代下7:12-15 夜間耶和華向所羅門顯現，對他說：我已聽了你的禱告，也選擇這地方作為祭祀我的殿宇。我若使天閉塞不下雨，或使蝗蟲吃這地的出產，或使瘟疫流行在我民中，這稱為我名下的子民，若是自卑、禱告，尋求我的面，轉離他們的惡行，我必從天上垂聽，赦免他們的罪，醫治他們的地。我必睜眼看、側耳聽在此處所獻的禱告。

• 神是完全地回應所羅門的禱告。除了興建聖殿，最大的成就會是他懂得禱告嗎﹖

Monday, June 7, 2021

Teaching children the Decalogue

As I felt that my four-year-old son began to grasp the meaning of the Lord’s Prayer, I introduced the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) to him with stories and in the simplest form so he can repeat after me.

One true God
No Idols (he says his idols are tv, phone, iPad etc.)
Respect God’s Name
Keep the Sabbath Holy
Honor Your Father and Mother
Don’t fight
Don’t cheat
Don’t steal
Don’t lie
Don’t envy

I was surprised that he could pick up the series of “Don’t” after the fifth commandment. Living in a free country he honestly asked me, “why so many don’t?” I paused a little and gave him some “golden rule” examples to help him understand, let’s say if someone is angry should he hurt you, or should you put candy in your pocket from a grocery without paying or asking.

Maybe he would only understand or obey in a small scale now, but hope that he will remember he has a father who loves him enough to teach him the Word of God.

“Start children off on the way they should go,

and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

(Proverbs 22:6 NIV)

Friday, June 4, 2021

Christian Leadership: Character (Trustworthiness / Integrity)

Trustworthiness

诚字图片

In ministry, you cannot go faster than trust, or go further than trust.

You will only have truthful friends if you are truthful first.

Prov. 20:28 王因仁慈和誠實、得以保全他的國位、也因仁慈立穩。

Prov. 27:6 朋友加的傷痕出於忠誠．仇敵連連親嘴、卻是多餘。

Prov. 28:20 誠實人必多得福、想要急速發財的、不免受罰。

John 4:23 時候將到、如今就是了、那真正拜父的、要用心靈和誠實拜他、因為父要這樣的人拜他。

John 4:23 (Msg) But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.

Some thoughts on re-opening

1. Worship: in Spirit & in Person (Christ and His local, visible body)

2. Word: in Spirit & in Scripture (risen Christ points us to the Scripture, and Scripture points us to Christ)

3. Work: in love& obedient

4. Whole person: all the heart & soul & mind & strength

What is the Will of God for Worship, Discipleship, and Fellowship?

默想主的應許，對我們和「回歸聖殿群體」的意義

“¹²夜間耶和華向所羅門顯現、對他說、我已聽了你的禱告、也選擇這地方作為祭祀我的殿宇。¹³我若使天閉塞不下雨、或使蝗蟲喫這地的出產、或使瘟疫流行在我民中．¹⁴這稱為我名下的子民、若是自卑、禱告、尋求我的面、轉離他們的惡行．我必從天上垂聽、赦免他們的罪醫治他們的地。¹⁵我必睜眼看、側耳聽、在此處所獻的禱告。¹⁶現在我已選擇這殿、分別為聖、使我的名永在其中．我的眼我的心也必常在那裡。” (2 Chr. 7:12-16 CUV-TRAD)