From time to time we all hear about the United States of America being a “Christian Nation.” Many Muslim terrorist hate the U.S. because they believe it is a Christian Nation. Many U.S. citizens desire the U.S. to become a true Christian Nation. Many U.S. citizens believe the U.S. is already a Christian Nation. There are even some who feel that you should be a Christian to be considered a citizen of the U.S.

In the olden days, when Rome ruled the world, it was quite common to convert all the people of a nation to Catholicism. If you were a citizen, then you were Catholic. This was when the church and state were one. My question to you all is this: Do we really want the United States to become a Christian Nation?

If everyone in the United States were a Christian, there would be a few issues that we’d have to deal with. First, who would they share the gospel with (apart from their newborns)? Second, who would they disciple as new believers? Third, how would they influence the world?

It seems to me that God already has a nation… or a “Kingdom” and he has sent it into the world. A “Christian Nation” would not only be impossible from a obedience stand-point, but also would be impossible from a logistical stand-point. If everyone in the U.S. were Christian, then there would be no one in the U.S. For all would be obedient in sharing the gospel and discipling the Lost. So the U.S. would be empty and then ultimately be filled with non-believers.

What do you think? Should the U.S. strive to become a Christian nation? Are there more logistical issues with being a Christian nation? Are my concerns invalid?

According to the traditional understanding the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week – otherwise known to us as Saturday. In Exodus 20 we see that God commanded Israel to rest on the Sabbath day.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. – Exodus 20:8-11

It seems like the reason was because of God’s creation order. The seventh day he rested and blessed the day and made it a day to be set apart.

Later, in the Gospels, we see Jesus and his disciples breaking this very command… at least in the Pharisee’s eyes there were breaking the command.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” – Matthew 12:1-8

On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find {reason} to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus. – Luke 6:6-11

Jesus justified his and his disciples actions by claiming that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. He also points to the scriptures to refute their current understanding of the Sabbath.

Although this post is not necessarily about today’s practice, we must look at it before I continue with my point. Today, many Christian consider Sunday to be the Sabbath. The normal apologetic (or at least the normal one I’ve heard) is that Christ arose on a Sunday, so we moved Sabbath to Sunday to be more worshipful of him. I have also heard that it was a common New Testament practice to meet on the “first day of the week.” I doubt this is prescriptive – rather it seems only to describe one group meeting at one time (Acts 20:7). Lately, I have noticed a lot of people taking notice that Sunday is not the true Sabbath and want to call Sunday something else… and Saturday should remain the true, tradition Sabbath. But recently I have wondered if this is really a hill worth dieing on.

If we turn to scripture, again, we find something interesting in Hebrews specifically chapters 3-4, but I will only quote parts of them here.

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED ME BY TESTING ME, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.’” – Hebrews 3:7-11

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS”; and again in this passage, “THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.” Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.” For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. – Hebrews 4:1-8

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. – Hebrews 4:9-11

The author of Hebrews, *cough*PAUL*cough*, reveals something very important about the Sabbath. The seventh day is just a symbol, a symbol of a day of rest provided to us by the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus. Those of us who believe in him have entered that very rest. For believers, the Sabbath is not Saturday or Sunday… it is Jesus. We have entered into his rest. His works have been completed, thus our works have been completed. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, he has done it all.

If that is not true rest… I don’t know what is.

A few months ago I wrote a series of posts about the Kingdom of Heaven parables. Each post dealt with one of the parables. I did not get much interest in it so I did not write a conclusion. Recently I had someone ask me about a conclusion. I told them that I would write one for them. So I will step through the basics of each parable and a conclusion that hopefully sums up the parables and does justice to the Scriptures.

1) The Parable of the Tares among the Wheat

The first parable in the series is probably the easiest. This parable is explained to us by Jesus. We learn these things in this parable – The Son of Man planted good seed (the sons of the kingdom) into the field (the world). His enemy, the Devil, planted bad seed (the sons of the evil one) into the field (the world). The reapers (angels) will separate the tares (bad seed) from the wheat (good seed) and burn up the tares.

So based on this parable we learn that the Kingdom of Heaven (at least in part) is in the currently in the world. It is us, those who follow Christ, as we have been planted here, in the world, by Him.

2) The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Jesus teaches us that the Kingdom of Heavens presence in the world is small (smaller than the other seeds in the world). But it will grow and eventually it will have great power and authority. I think this points more directly to the end, when all things come to fruition.

3) The Parable of the Leaven

A lot of people misinterpret this parable saying that it has to do with sin in the Church and its effect on the Church. Given that Jesus is discussing the Kingdom of Heaven, I seriously doubt this parable has to do with sin. In fact, given the context, I think it has a similar interpretation to the previous parable, the Mustard Seed parable. Just as Leaven effects a all of the flour, eventually the Kingdom of Heaven will effect all of the world.

4) The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and The parable of the Merchant

These two parables are very interesting, very short, and very much related. So I combined them in one post. This parable tells us of what Jesus has to sacrifice. He literally gave up everything to pay for the treasure or the Great Pearl – the Kingdom of Heaven.

5) The Parable of the Dragnet

This parable is also explained by Jesus. The Good fish are kept, but the Bad fish are thrown out – just as the Tares are burned and the Wheat is kept.

6) The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

This parable was a little difficult to understand because it adds so many different things to the situation. In fact, I am not very comfortable with my posts conclusion now that I read over it. Now that I reread it I think I should have focused more on what Jesus concludes with, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” I think this parable, in line with the others, is saying that he Kingdom of Heaven is/will be made up of people who forgive their brothers (or are generally forgiving).

7) The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

I feel the correct interpretation of this parable is to see it in light of the Jew/Gentile relationship. The Jews were part of the Kingdom of Heave first, they were promised a certain wage and then later the Gentiles came into the scene. The Jews put a stink when the Gentiles received the same wage even though they worked less time. Some believe this teaches us that there are no levels of reward in Heaven. I think a better interpretation is that all members of the Kingdom of Heaven are equal – Jew or Gentile.

8) The Parable of the Marriage Feast

This parable seems to show us that Jesus’ first coming was a “wedding feast.” The Jews had been invited, but they made up excuses not to come. So the King invited all the Gentiles to come. Some of the Gentiles (in fact, most) came unprepared and were thrown out into the outer darkness (for many are invited, but few are chosen). I think it is safe to say that the few that were chosen make up those who are planted in the world. This parable seems to indicate that there is/was a wide/universal invitation but only a select few (or the elect) are chosen.

9) The Parable of the Ten Virgins

I recently joked on someone’s blog that this parable teaches us polygamy. Of course I do not think it does, but one has to wonder why so many virgins are waiting for one groomsman. In this parable we find 5 prudent virgins and 5 foolish virgins. The foolish are not prepared for the grooms return and thus miss their opportunity. As I see it there are three possible interpretations for this parable. 1. The Jews were the foolish virgins and were not ready for Jesus when he came. I do not think this is really possible, because the parable is about the return of the bridesgroom. 2. Jesus is speaking of the end of the age, those who think they are saved and those who are actually saved. 3. Jesus is still speaking of the end of the age but the two groups are saved and lost (those who do not think they are mixed with those who think they are saved but aren’t) – slightly different than theory 2. Frankly I think all three could work, but 2 seems most logical to me.

10) The Parable of the Talents

We see that Jesus has given three groups of people (represents by three slaves) different responsibilities. The first two slaves do very well and are called good and faithful. The last slave does poorly and is cast into the outer darkness. The latter slave could probably be compared to the tares, cast into the fire (outer darkness). The first two slaves were obviously the Wheat. I think ultimately this parable is teaching that we are all given something from Jesus and what we do with that is dependent on us. Now that I look back on this parable I really think it is a salvific message. Just like the wedding feast, everyone was invited, but how they responded is what was judged. So here, we see three slaves were given different things, but it was their response (or how they handled the talents) that is judged. I do not think this is teaching any works based salvation, more like a need for personal acceptance of what Christ is offering us.

Conclusion:

I had a blast going through these parables. I think I learned a lot of interesting things. As a recap, I think some key points were that the Kingdom of Heaven has been established and it is here in the world (at least, in part). Those of us who are followers of Christ make up part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Everyone has been invited to take part in the Kingdom, but not everyone has accepted that invitation. Also, Jesus paid a high price for His Kingdom.

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the late conclusion!

God’s Glory!

This is the last Kingdom of Heaven (KoH) parable in Matthew…

“For it is [the KoH] just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – Matthew 25:14-30

This parable has three main players:

1. The Master – Jesus
2. The three servants who are broken down into two categories:
1. Good and Faithful
2. Wicked

This parable seems to play out in a pretty obvious way, but let me make a couple of observations.

1. The three servants are all given different amounts, which suggests that not everyone is given the same load. Perhaps, given what one can handle.
2. The two servants who are good and faithful are given similar rewards, which shows a type of equality.
3. The wicked servant is cast into the outer darkness, obviously not a Christian.
4. This parable also appears to be about the second coming of Christ.
5. This parable has very little to do with financial responsibility–not that financial responsibility is not taught elsewhere, I just do not think it is being taught here.

The only lasting question is, who do the slaves represent? Jews? Gentiles? Saved? Lost? I am not sure if we can specifically answer this question. It does not really appear to be the scope of the parable anyway, so let’s just leave it as a “mystery.”

Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
- Matthew 25:1-13

This parable is a little different than the previous KoH parables. Jesus uses the future tense here to talk about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like (or will be like). Before we discuss the future tense, let’s look at the characters:

Bridegroom – Jesus.

5 prudent virgins – I believe these are the “sons of the kingdom” who are obviously prepared for Jesus’ return.

5 foolish virgins – Now this is interesting. This group of virgins are told that they are not know by the Bridegroom. This obviously implies that they are not saved, but it also shows that it is not the being a virgin that makes someone saved. It also shows that preparedness is a characteristic of those who will be saved.

Now here is a question: Which two groups do the prudent/foolish virgins represent? As far as I can tell there are three, and they depend on the future tense that Jesus uses.

Theory 1: Jesus is speaking of his immediate future – The Jews were not ready for Jesus (i.e. the foolish virgins). They claimed holiness and readiness, but where found lacking. The Gentiles on the other hand were ready for Jesus (i.e. the prudent virgins). However, they neither claimed holiness nor readiness. Also, it does not seem like it would be Jesus’ immediate hour because of the last verse – “You do not know the day nor the hour” which speaks of what we call his second coming. This would not affect the Jews of Jesus’ immediate future. So I think we can safely ignore this theory.

Theory 2: Jesus is speaking of the end of the age – when he comes back again. Then the two groups would be distinguished by those who are saved and those who think they are saved. The prudent (the actual saved Christians) will be prepared for Jesus’ coming – but those who think their saved will ignore the signs and thus be unprepared and unwelcomed.

Theory 3: Jesus is still speaking of the end of the age but the two groups are saved and lost. The prudent are again the saved Christians but the foolish is everyone else.

I think Theory 2 probably fits best. Either way, this parable teaches us one thing, Jesus is coming and he is coming at any moment. As Christians we need to be prepared for His coming.