The Nature of Power and Witness

Sometimes—and particularly when we use the language of battle—we might think, erroneously, that to have power to witness and to do battle our power must be supernatural. We might think that our warfare is almost a physical one, a kind of quasi-military operation. How wrong is such an idea! Paul once made it very clear that the weapons of our warfare are not worldly or carnal, but are spiritual and mighty to the pulling down of many strongholds of evil (II Corinthians 10:4). Jesus said that they who take the sword shall perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52), a thought repeated in Revelation 13:10.

What, then, are these spiritual weapons and how shall we fight? Looked at from one point of view, these spiritual weapons are frail and ineffective, for Paul lines them up with such things as faith, hope, love, truth, salvation and the like. Testimony to the truth of Christ and the gospel can only be given using these spiritual weapons. Such things the natural man does not even recognise until the Spirit invades him with the truth. Love becomes to him a brilliant revelation of the nature of God and the power for the redemption of Man. God forgives the sinner, justifies the ungodly, purifies the polluted heart, relieves the conscience of heavy guilt, reconstitutes the idolater, makes holy the evil heart and mind, and reveals God the Father truly as love. The gospel then is the power of God unto salvation. The word of the cross saves the perishing, and the love of God is poured into the hearts of the hateful.

None of these things could happen unless the Spirit of truth and love reveals these to human beings. His power is that He is the Spirit of truth, of love, of sonship, of holiness and of life. His presence in the ekklesia is what keeps it in love, unity and fellowship. The pictures of the company of believers in the chapters of Acts are so heart-warming. The testimony of history in times of persecution and suppression of Christians is beyond the natural actions of humanity. It can only be of God. This is how we know the reality and power of witness by the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. What commenced in the new company of believers on the day of Pentecost has gone on in this age of the Spirit.

We ought not to idealise the community of Christ, nor make heady claims of extraordinary success. Christians are not paragons of virtue, moral beyond all reproach and perfect above others. Sadly enough, the history of Christianity is stained with terrible deeds claimed to have been in the name of Christ and for the advancement of the human race. We question whether many of these deeds came out of the true people of God, for we know so often that the community has been in the hands of wicked men. And at times dreadful evil has happened and cruelty executed. Wars cannot be justified. And yet some have been fought by Christians over unjustifiable causes. At the same time such things cannot be excused. The Church has known apostasy and has betrayed its Lord. Yet, given all this to have been part of its history, the Church has come to see and acknowledge these failures and to give renewed witness to the Lordship of Christ and the glory of the age to come, and the holy triumphs of the telos. This is the true community of eternal life.

 

from "God and Man in the Mission of the Kingdom", by Geoffrey C. Bingham, Redeemer Baptist Press: North Parramatta, 2003, pp. 176-178

David: Psalm 51

Thou requirest truth
In the inward parts:
Not merely on the lips,
Where man may mutter anything,
And seal his subterfuge,
Making it truth for him
And those who hear.
  
Thou requirest truth
When man is truly man:
Down in the depths beneath,
 Where You alone may see:
Man senses but he does not know
That truth is the truth
That You require.
  
I, David, was a man of joy,
Of pleasant power,
Of daily purity.
True, I too was tempted,
But should I fall
Would know I fell
And cry to You for help.
  
When then I fell
And said I did not fall,
When kept within
The hellish sin I did
And made it joy, not sin,
The fires began
That ran into my soul.
  
At nights they burned,
By day they flamed,
Hot coals that dried
Or sweated me
Until the power had gone,
That once I knew
In doubtless joy.
  
When Nathan came
His piercing eyes
Looked to the depths
(His eyes were Yours);
The holy flame
Burned even more.
I was undone.
  
The mercy cried
Was mercy come,
The lava fled
Its burning core,
And I was freed—
The flame was gone
By mercy’s love.
  
The truth required
In inward parts,
The purity
Within the heart
Have come again.
No greater gift
Was ever given.
  
Here then I weep
For grace and sin,
The wasted hour,
The splendid grace:
Both show me truth
Is what I need,
With wisdom.
  
Teach me, then, Lord,
Of sin’s deceit,
The sludge of sin
That full defiles.
Give me the love
Of purity,
The only truth.
  
Now sings my heart,
The heart so pure
The miracle of love
Has made again.
The man destroyed
Is made anew
For purity.
  
I know, dear Lord,
The cost is Yours.
Sin’s suffering
Is mine alone,
But Yours the pain
Messiah takes
Unto the death.
  
Broken I go,
Though healed.
Wisdom I know,
Though foolish.
You have unmasked
The sin that binds,
And set me free.
  
Freedom thus bought
Is freedom prized
And holiness
Is gift most high.
Man breathes eternity
In holiness
And knows You true.
  
This is the wisdom required: 
This is the gift of God 
Set in the inward parts, 
True purity in peace
And holiness in joy.

From The Spirit of All Things, by Geoffrey Bingham, pp.72-74

JESUS—’A GLUTTON AND A DRUNKARD’

Another aspect of Jesus’ ministry by which men were granted the renewal of heart which Jesus demanded was Jesus’ fellowship with sinners and His forgiveness of their sins. We have already noted that this action may properly be included in the miraculous or sign work of Jesus. 

 

Jesus shared table fellowship with sinners, at home and abroad. Admittedly this led to resentment and scandal within the religious (Mark 2: 16, Matthew 11: 19) but met with the sheer delight of the irreligious (Luke 19: 9, Mark 2: 19). Common dining set up a special bond: it symbolised unity of mind, and demonstrated brotherhood. To be invited to a meal was indeed an honour, to participate in life together. Exclusion signified the repudiation of social ties with the excepted person. Shared meals had had a long tradition in sacral ceremonies (Exodus 18:12, 24:11 and I Kings 3: 15), and this sacred character was expressed in everyday life, with the opening blessing uniting the participants in intimate communion, and the concluding responsive ‘amen’.
 

Concern for cleanliness is noted in John 4: 9b, where Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Religious elitism grew up, as the ‘right sort of associates’ were invited to share meals. Obviously the unclean, or sinners were excluded from joining with the ‘righteous’. We see that the ritualistic and moral basis of community were closely linked. Hence publicans, prostitutes, the greedy, dishonest, and adulterers were ‘without the group’.

This social order or structure, Jesus deliberately challenged. This was no mere breach of religious etiquette. Jesus attacked both questions – of the unclean (Mark 7: 17–20) and sinners (Luke 19: 5). He flaunted the most elementary considerations of morality (the Law) as well as purity: contempt(?) for the Law as He breached the directive of Psalm 1: 1, and ritual purity as taught in Proverbs 28: 7, ‘He who keeps the law is a wise son, but a companion of gluttons shames his father’. Surely the God of the Old Testament would not tolerate such action, since ‘he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD’ (Prov. 17: 15). But Paul saw that God ‘justifies the ungodly’ (Romans 4: 5), and Jesus’ ministry is the concrete expression of this.

 

John the Baptist had already prepared for this novel activity by declaring the bankruptcy of Mosaic religion, as he called the nation to repentance. He used the classic formula of repentance – conversion, then communion (Luke 3: 10–14). Jesus’ novelty consisted in the reversal of this: communion then conversion. The reign of God had not reduced any of its demands, but now it appeared that contact triggered off deep, dynamic repentance, that conversion blossomed from fresh communion. Whereas the Pharisees chided ‘the sinners’ with the Law, Jesus appeared to place no conditions on these same people.
 

When pressed, Jesus explained that this activity was an essential and integral part of His ministry. He was convinced that since these needy folk were ‘sick’, they needed the ‘physician’, so He went to assist them. Jesus had no hesitation: perhaps some of His disciples were, and were relieved when Jesus defended them (Mark 2:15ff). In this simple activity Jesus saw that the forgiveness and conversion of sinners was at stake (Matthew 21:28–32 and Luke 7:41–43), and that men were reconciled to God, and restored to the family of Israel (so Luke 19: 9). And all this was effected without any real undermining of the moral order.
 

The problem Jesus faced was how to win over the good, the pious Jews. What He gave was no embattled defence, nor superior ‘put down’, but a genuine appeal, seeking to win these folk over. It was a persistent effort to win ‘the righteous’, not humiliate them. This was prophesied in Isaiah 49:6 and Malachi 4:6.
 

Jesus knew that forgiveness effected responsive love. When reproached for such ease of forgiveness and acceptance, He responded that forgiveness produced love, not a renewed hardening and guilt. The sinner found acceptance guaranteed, without any conditions, only by returning home. This is clearly seen in the Parable of the Prodigal in Luke 15:12ff (an opportunity for Pharisees to repent and so rejoin the festive family) where Jesus appeals in response to His condemned activities (Luke 15:1–2). Although Jesus had obvious success – Zacchaeus evidenced a character change in his spontaneous giving, the ‘justified sinful woman’ demonstrated her love with service, and Matthew followed as a disciple – His presence with these people did not guarantee automatic renewal. Jesus ate with Pharisees (Luke 7:30ff and 11:37ff), but since forgiveness is an act of grace, not all desired to accept it. In Luke 15:25ff it means giving up any boasting in self–achievement, any slavish attitude of wage earner before God. Neither of the sons in this parable had lived as sons; they had denied their sonship in Israel, and the elder son rejected (finally?!) the fellowship of the father, together with the forgiveness of his brother.
 

Jesus then, by eating at table with any men, welcomed all to fellowship with the Father, and His brothers.

From Miracles of A Domestic Kind, by Dean Carter, pp. 18-21.