I have been reading through Mark's Gospel. Reaching the last chapter reminded me that the last twelve verses are the longest passage in the Scriptures that is disputed by the critics. The English Standard Version, for example, encloses these verses in square brackets, indicating the editors' suspicion of their authenticity.
Why should questions like this matter to ordinary believers? Are they not best left to experts?
It seems to me that they should matter to ordinary believers, first of all, because a passage like this contains precious truth about our Lord Jesus Christ. If we love him, should we not be concerned to treasure up everything that God has revealed about him? If we receive a letter from a beloved wife or child or friend, is it of no consequence to us to hear someone insinuate that the letter has been altered, and that what it says about our beloved is not true? How much more, then, when what is at stake is the precious Word of God, and the words and deeds of our beloved Saviour, to whom we owe everything, and on whom all our hopes for eternity depend?
Then also, such questions concern the honour and truthfulness and reliability of our Saviour. Has he not declared, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away' (Matthew 24:35)? But if the genuine ending of Mark is lost, some of his words have passed away, and those we have at the end of Mark may not be his words at all, but the invention of a scribe.
A great deal might be said about the passage in Mark, but I would only say, if you are in doubt and difficulty about it, read John William Burgon's great book, The Last Twelve Verses of Mark, first published in 1871, and available in print or on the Web. I have a copy I purchased in Glasgow in 1968. It is falling to pieces, but I am trying to preserve it. Burgon disposes of most of the objections to the passage and gives very convincing reasons why it was omitted at an early date. Trust in Christ, not the critics!
Firmer than earth thy gospel stands,
My Lord, my Hope, my Trust;
If I am found in Jesus’ hands,
My soul can ne’er be lost.
His honour is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All that his heavenly Father gave
His hands securely keep.
Nor death, nor hell shall e’er remove
His favourites from his breast:
In the dear bosom of his love
They must for ever rest.
Isaac Watts
I hope to return, God willing, to the Sibbes sermon on guarding the deposit (see yesterday's post), but for now the subject has gone rather cold to me, and I would like to turn to a different theme.
Experience seems to teach that Christian doctrines can seem quite unreal, indeed distressingly so, unless we can see them clearly taught in Scripture, and enter into them there. I have no doubt that this can be a temptation from the enemy of our souls. I was feeling this last night about the truth of heaven, until the thought occurred to me that I must seek to see the reality of it in Scripture itself.
I thought the best place to begin would be the book of Revelation, and I was not disappointed. The first verse that struck me was chapter 4, verse 1, especially the words, 'Behold, a door was opened in heaven.' I felt that this set me on the right track. Heaven is there. It is real. But a door must be opened to us before we can enter into the reality that is right in front of us, as it were, and, indeed, very near.
As I read on, the familiar words about the worthy Lamb of God, who is also 'the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David', gripped me afresh. This is indeed 'good news from heaven', because this is the Lamb who was slain, and redeemed a people to God by his blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation (Revelation 5:9).
This scene in heaven made heaven seem more real than earth, and vastly more important. I long to go there, when the Lord's time for me to depart arrives.
Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.
In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!
William Dix
At the beginning of the month, I wrote about the Latin sermon by Richard Sibbes, published at the end of volume 7 of his Works, and also translated into English in the Banner of Truth magazine (1999), but I did not say much about the theme of the sermon itself.
To me, this theme is very helpful. It concerns defending the deposit of truth entrusted to the church, 'that good thing which was committed unto thee' (2 Timothy 1:14). Sibbes has much that is striking to say about this sacred deposit, and I would like to mention a little here, and perhaps more on a later occasion.
I spoke yesterday about the preciousness of the individual words and expressions of Scripture, but Sibbes reminds us that, though there are many doctrines, there is also one unified deposit, or body of truth, and it is this that is to be guarded by Timothy, and 'all Timothys', 'by the Holy Ghost that dwelleth in us'. Indeed, says Sibbes, you will hardly find a better definition of the church than that she is the guard of this excellent deposit.
Paul was shortly to 'give back his holy soul to God', and was therefore anxious to instruct Timothy, his son in the faith, concerning those matters which would be of use to him and to the church. Since it is true that 'with doctrine safe, all things are safe', he exhorts him to 'hold fast the form of sound words', which Timothy had heard from him, 'in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus' (verse 13). Paul foresaw difficult times ahead, but Timothy need not be overwhelmed, since the Spirit who dwelt within him would be present to help him.
Sibbes goes on to characterize the good thing committed to Timothy, and to enlarge on the way in which it is to be guarded and communicated. I believe there is much excellent advice here for all ages of the church, not only for ministers of the Word, but also for all believers who have the welfare of the church at heart in our own day.
What existed before the world began? The 'scientific' answer is, Nothing! But this is no more scientific, in the proper sense of the word, than any other speculation. Only the Holy Scriptures give us a glimpse of the true answer.
The answer is that God existed, in the glory of the three Persons of the Godhead. The Lord Jesus speaks of the glory that he had with the Father 'before the world was' (John 17:5). The purpose and promise of grace to sinners not yet created or fallen also existed (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2). And the hope of eternal life for those who had not yet tasted either life or death was already in the mind of our gracious God. Moreover, the fulfilment of this hope was already certain, because the God who cannot lie had made the promise (Titus 1:2).
These are staggering thoughts. Our minds cannot fully take them in. But how much more comforting they are than the cold and barren speculations of scientists and philosophers! How much more 'personal', and, with respect to ourselves, how much more 'human', they are!
Most wonderful of all, to me at least, is the fact that the salvation and calling of a people, not by works, but by God's own purpose and grace, have always been certain, because these priceless benefits had already been given to them in Christ Jesus 'before the world began' (2 Timothy 1:9).
How much better a few words of Scripture are than entire libraries of human speculation! How reassuring they are! Tell them to your unbelief in your dark moments. Feed your soul with them. Rest in them. God's own purpose and grace were already given in Christ Jesus to all who ever would believe, 'before the world began'. Can anything alter his purpose and grace? Nothing, ever, in all of time, or all the boundless stretches of eternity.
It is a joyful truth that Christ not only bore the penalty of the law that we had broken, but also obeyed its precepts on our behalf. We need both. We need a perfect righteouness to present before God, but we cannot render it. All our attempts to do so end in failure. We need One to render that obedience on our behalf:
Not the labour of my hands
Can fulfill thy Law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and thou alone.
Toplady
But the fact of having broken the law all our lives, and run ourselves into the most awful debt, means that we need One to take our place and pay the debt for us. Both aspects are included in the perfect obedience of our Saviour. 'By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous' (Romans 5:19).
This glorious truth has been acknowledged in all ages of the church. Apparently the Nicene Fathers insisted on it, as well as many individual teachers ever since. I did not know till today that Luther taught it clearly:
In a twofold manner Christ put himself under the Law. First, he put himself under the works of the law . . . He was not obliged to do this, for he was Lord of all laws. But he did so willingly, not seeking anything for himself in it . . . In the second place, he also put himself under the penalty and punishment of the Law willingly' (Sermon on Galatians 4:1-7).
That Calvin and the entire Reformed tradition taught the same thing is well known. If only one of these two aspects of Christ's obedience were true, we could not be saved. Either our sins would remain unatoned for, or we would lack a perfect righteousness in which to come before God. The following two verses from a hymn of Toplady's sum up the scriptural teaching well, and have been a comfort to me:
The spotless Saviour liv’d for me,
And dy’d upon the Mount:
The obedience of his life and death
Is placed to my account.
The law was satisfied by him
Who flesh for me was made:
Its penalty he underwent,
Its precepts he obeyed.
We read in 1 Timothy 1:10 that our Saviour Jesus Christ 'hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel'. This is a wonderful saying. It is as if life and immortality were obscure before, but have now been brought into the full light of day through the gospel; and it is true that, in the Old Testament Scriptures, there is an obscurity about the destiny of man, despite many flashes of gospel light. The darkness has now been completely dispelled by the gospel of Christ. 'The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth' (1 John 2:8).
However, there have been men in every age since Christ came who have laboured hard to return to darkness and obscurity. In trying to find out where the expression,'the intermediate state' came from (see last week's posts), I came across one of these men. He was the earliest writer I could find who used the expression in question.
This was Peter Peckard (1718-97), a clergyman, and vice-chancellor of Cambridge University. One admirable thing about him was that he was ardently opposed to the slave trade. In 1756 he published Observations on the Doctrine of an Intermediate State, in which he set out to demolish the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. There is an insincerity about this class of writers, in that they appeal to the Scriptures, though they clearly do not submit their minds to the doctrine contained in them.
In complete contrast, and infinitely more worth reading, is Calvin's Psychopannychia (Soul Sleep), published in 1534, when the future Reformer was only twenty-five years old. The message of this work is, 'The soul does not sleep!'
I have not read it all, but, from the part I have read, this work of Calvin's clearly marshals the relevant scriptures in a marvellous way to prove the immortality of the soul, and to demonstrate that, after the death of the body, the soul continues in conscious life and vigour, praising God and enjoying his blessed presence forever.
'In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right there are pleasures for evermore' (Psalm 16:11).
'Dust thou art, to dust returnest,'
Was not spoken of the soul.
Henry Longfellow
One thing that has been very noticeable in speaking with doctors, nurses, and palliative care workers recently is the respect in which they hold the Consultant under whose authority they work. Whenever a decision or procedure has appeared doubtful to them, it has been enough to mention the name of the Consultant as having sanctioned the matter concerned. It works like a charm!
It reminds me of the Lord's instruction to the disciples who were to borrow an ass's colt for Jesus' use. To paraphrase his words: 'If anyone questions you, just say, The Lord has need of him.' That would be enough.
This fact is mentioned in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19, and it struck me as a picture of the Kingdom of God. Those under the authority of the King obey unquestioningly when his Word is invoked. It is enough to show them that the Lord has decided a matter. That is 'an end of all strife' (see Hebrews 6:16).
On the other hand, those not under the authority of the King completely disregard his Word. Their reaction is more like that of Pharaoh to Moses' request to let Israel leave Egypt: 'Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go' (Exodus 5:2).
But those who obey his voice will prosper spiritually in this life, and reign with him eternally, while those who disobey will perish. The time is coming when every knee will bow at the name of JESUS. Therefore the soundest advice that can be given is that of the Psalmist: 'Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him (Psalm 2:12).
