When the church ceases to be Christian: Reading Acts with David Gooding

        The account of Philip being led by God to share the gospel with the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-40 led David Gooding to share two observations concerning the gospel and mission — the first in relation to Judaism, and then, much closer to home to many of us, in relation to Christendom:

Judaism today could scarcely be said to be a missionary movement. For that there are doubtless many reasons; but one of them is this: it has no gospel to offer mankind. Its witness to the one true God and its protest against our modern forms of idolatry are still as valid and still as necessary as they were in Isaiah’s day. Its stand for the value of human life, and its ethical concern in general, based as they are on God’s revealed law, are beyond praise. But when it comes to mankind’s fundamental problem, the real guilt of having broken God’s law, it has today no satisfactory answer. In centuries past it did have an answer: the system of sacrifices that God appointed along with his law. Granted they were only symbols; yet they were something. But with the destruction of the temple they lost even those symbols and they have no convincing reality to put in their place. The message that satisfied the Ethiopian and led him to faith, Judaism has rejected; and without it, it has no message of redemption, no atoning sacrifice, and therefore no gospel.

Christendom too is always in danger of losing its faith in the gospel, and with it its missionary zeal. People come to feel that somehow our modern world is different; that the gospel that ‘Christ died for our sins ... [and] that he was raised on the third day’, the gospel that saved the Ethiopian and the Corinthians and that planted churches all round the first-century world, would not save our modern sinners. So, when given the chance to address the world, they preach Christian ethics. They exhort the unregenerate to champion the poor, believe in the family, work for justice, and they forget to tell them that Christ died for our sins so that we can be — as we need to be — saved, justified, and reconciled to God. And so the world remains unaware that there is a salvation to be had; converts become few, and the church ceases to be missionary. Then, to the extent that it ceases to be missionary, the church ceases to be Christian.

         

Indeed, Gooding reminds us that this is a clear lesson to be learned from Acts as well from church history. May God grant us the grace to remain mindful of these things, so we do not lose our "saltiness", but may continue to be "salt of the earth" and "light of the world" - to the glory of our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16). 

The day when the sun never sets

Isaiah 60:19-22 describes the coming days when God will make all things right in words that everyone living under the sun can appreciate:

" The sun will no more be your light by day,

 nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

 for the Lord will be your everlasting light, 

 and your God will be your glory. 

    Your sun  will never set again,

 and your moon will wane no more;

 the Lord will be your everlasting light,

 and your days of sorrow  will end.

    Then all your people will be righteous 

 and they will possess  the land forever.

 They are the shoot I have planted, 

 the work of my hands, 

 for the display of my splendor. 

    The least of you will become a thousand,

 the smallest a mighty nation. 

 I am the Lord;

 in its time I will do this swiftly."

If light represents joy, peace and fullness of life, and darkness oppression, mourning and sorrow, imagine living in the day when the light shines even more brightly than the sun, the day of the everlasting light that never fades nor sets, the day when darkness will be no more!

The coming of Jesus, the light of the world, assures us that Isaiah 60 is neither fantasy nor fiction (John 1:5, 9-10). His rejection by his people that led to his death on the cross reminds us that we still live in a world that would not receive him, a world that will continue to be marked by troubles and hardship. But his glorious resurrection from the dead reminds us that we no longer live in fear but in hope, for "Death has been swallowed up in victory" (Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54), "Where, O death is your sting?" (Hosea 13:14; 1 Corinthians 15:55) 

Indeed, Revelation 21:22-27 builds on Isaiah 60:19-22 in pointing us forward to life in the glorious city of God that "does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God  gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp". As surely as Jesus rose from the dead, that day shall surely come.

As we wait for the dawning of that day, while we continue living in this world where the sun still sets, where both light and darkness will continue to mark our daily experience, may we find assurance and comfort in these wonderful words the Lord Jesus (John 16:33):

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  

In this world you will have trouble.  

But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The Prayers of the Early Church: Reading Acts with David Gooding

The first miraculous sign the apostles performed in the name of the risen Lord Jesus led to the first recorded trial before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:5ff), and the first recorded corporate prayer of the first believers (Acts 4:23-31).

In Praying the Bible (Crossway, 2015), Donald Whitney exhorts his readers:

"when you pray, pray through a passage of Scripture, particularly a psalm."

 

David Gooding makes the following observations as the first believers prayed through Scripture after their first encounter with the Jewish authorities:

1)  "they appealed, over the head of the chief priests and Sanhedrin, directly to the authority of the Creator: ‘Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them’ (4:24)." (p.106)

2) "they appealed to holy Scripture, as being inspired by God, as the authority by which the high priest, the chief priests, the Sanhedrin, and all their actions and attitudes must be judged: ‘You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David’ (4:25)." (p.107)

3) "they made their judgment on the basis not of an odd phrase or two of Scripture wrested out of their contexts, but of a detailed comparison of the Bible with their situation. They quoted Psalm 2:1–2 at length ... and they proceeded to review in prayer before God the detailed way in which the concerted action of Herod and Pilate, of the Gentiles and the people of Israel, matched exactly the situation described in the psalm (4:25–28)." (p.107)

4) "in the light of this Scripture, they formulated what they felt the issue at stake was. The crucifixion of Jesus, though at one level decided beforehand by God’s power and will, had been a ‘raging against God’, a concerted attack on God’s holy and anointed servant Jesus (4:25, 27–28). This was not a matter on which they could possibly compromise. The honour of God and of his Messiah was at stake." (p.107)

5) "they asked for appropriate vindication, not for themselves, but for the name of the Lord Jesus. The vindication, they prayed, should be twofold: (1) that they might be given more than human grace, not to crumple under the Sanhedrin’s threats and fluff the issue, but to speak out boldly and without compromise; and (2) that God himself would intervene by doing not just miracles, but miracles through the name of his holy Servant Jesus (4:29–30) ... Mere supernatural works by themselves are ambiguous: the Man of Sin will, apparently, do many of them (2 Thess 2:9–10). What was required was that miracles be done through the name of the Lord Jesus so that his name would be vindicated, quite apart from any benefit received." (pp. 107-8)

6) "And their prayer was answered: ‘The place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly’ (4:31)." (emphasis added)

As they prayed through Scripture, they were enabled to interpret their experience, identify the issues at stake, and formulate and prioritise their response in the light of God's sovereign purposes. There is surely much for us to learn and apply to our own personal and corporate prayer life today.

We need a better answer: Reading Acts with David Gooding

A not so beautiful world

Commenting on the encounter of the apostles with the beggar who was lame from birth at the temple gate Beautiful (Acts 3:1ff), David Gooding rightly reminds us that a gospel worth believing in must be a gospel that offers real answers to real issues in life.

"The sight of a congenitally deformed human being is distressing enough in itself; but for anyone who believes in a loving Creator, to see such a person lying helpless on the doorstep of the Creator’s temple is to be reminded of a distressingly poignant question. Why, if there is a Creator who is all-loving and all-powerful, do any of his creatures suffer congenital deformity in the first place? How is it there are any people with mental or physical disabilities who need the compassion of their mere fellow creatures? ... [G]ranted we accept with the mind that the wreckage is the result of mankind’s original rebellion against the Creator, the heart still has its irresistible questions. Does not the Creator himself hear the cries of his broken creation? And if he does, does he not propose to do something about it himself beyond asking us to show care and compassion? If not, how could we who happen at the moment to be healthy continue long to worship him in his temple for his love and compassion? Would not the cries and groans of the deformed outside the temple gate choke our praises?" (pp82-83)

We need more than Good Samaritans

Gooding continues by pointing out why our typical social/community concern programs will fall short:

"Though all the Christians in the world gave all their cash and worked their knuckles to the bone in the relief of suffering, it could never be the final answer to questions of this kind. And as far as the world outside is concerned, if all that the Christian gospel could say in the face of the world’s pain was that we ought to act the good Samaritan and do our best to help each other, our gospel would in the end deserve not the world’s gratitude, but its pity, if not its contempt. Christianity would need to have a better answer than that if it is to speak credibly in the name of an all-loving and all-powerful Creator." (p.84)

A better (and longer) answer

Thankfully, Gooding observes, the gospel according to Acts does offer a far better answer. This is addressed in several steps by the apostles on that beautiful day:

Step 1: "Having no money on him to give to the man, Peter gave him something far better. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth he performed a miracle, removed his disability and gave him perfect soundness of body. The man was naturally ecstatic with delight, and he accompanied the apostles into the temple walking, leaping, and praising God." (p.84)

While this is praiseworthy, Gooding rightly observes that this in itself is not enough.

"If the risen Christ did enable his apostles to perform such miracles from time to time—and I do not doubt he did—why did he not command them to drop everything else and proceed systematically to rid the whole country of every conceivable kind of sickness? ... [W]hy did not Christ have them take the next twenty years and heal every sick person in the Roman Empire?" (p.84)

Rather, step 1 sets the stage for the next part of the answer - understandably, a longer answer. 

Step 2: "[T]he Jerusalem crowd who recognized the man with the disability and could see for themselves that an astounding miracle had taken place had their questions as well, and came flocking round the apostles looking for an explanation.

Perhaps the sight of a lame man now walking and leaping and praising God struck a chord deep in their minds. Having attended their synagogues from childhood, they would have heard the law and the prophets read every Sabbath day (Acts 13:27). Some passages in the prophets were positively lyrical when they talked of the coming messianic reign. Take Isaiah 35:5–6 for example:

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened 

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy ...

... But now what was this? A lame man leaping!? Was this the messianic age begun? Were

the prophets being fulfilled in front of their very eyes? And literally at that?" (p.85)

Gooding reminds us that the meaning of this miracle, just like every other miracle recorded in the Bible, will only become more apparent when understood in the light of its broader context - in this case,  through the eyes of Jewish Scripture (i.e. the Old Testament).

But that is not all.

Step 3: "Peter’s answer to this question is beyond dispute: No, this was not the messianic age begun. His exposition of Joel on the day of Pentecost had pinpointed their position: they were in the last days of this present age (Acts 2:17) ... [T]he messianic age of the restoration of all things would not begin until the return of the Messiah (3:20–21).

The miracle just performed was, like many of the miracles the Lord himself did, simply a sign, a pointer to that coming age, a sample in advance of the eventual restoration of all things, an exhibition of the powers of the age to come (Hebrews 6:5). It was, therefore, a powerful assurance that the messianic age would come one day." (pp.85-86)

This would of course lead to yet another question: 

Step 4: "Why not now? If Peter and John had the power to heal one congenitally lame man, why not all such? How could it be moral, let alone Christian, to have the power and not use it for the benefit of every sufferer?" (p.86)

Gooding answers this by following closely the apostle Peter's exposition of Israel's Scripture (i.e. the Old Testament) which culminates in these three implications:

• "the time of universal restoration would come, the time that God had envisaged and spoken of right from the beginning of the world (Acts 3:21), the time when creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God (Romans 8:21), when never again will people with physical deformities or mental disabilities be laid on the doorstep of God’s temple to appeal for charity and compassion." (p.91)

• "If the crowd would have it, their sins could be wiped out, they could be prepared for participation in Messiah’s coming reign of peace and glory ... [I]n God’s mercy, time for repentance had been built into his program: the Messiah, now ascended, would not immediately proceed to destroy his enemies and set up his kingdom (Acts 3:19–21)." (p.91)

• "On the other hand, ... [t]hey needed to repent. Moses himself had warned them that when God raised up ‘the prophet like Moses’, that prophet would have to be listened to. Anybody who did not, would be completely cut off from his people (3:22–23). God would not wait forever to set up Messiah’s reign of peace." (p.91)

An unpopular answer

While the beautiful reality of the healed man was plain for all to see, the people's response to the apostle's message was mixed. Ironically, Gooding observes that "here began that rift between official Judaism and early Christianity that was later to widen into an unbridgeable chasm." (p.93)

The message of this gospel is still as unpopular for many today. Gooding explains:

"The world today no more wants to hear the diagnosis of its sin, the summons to repentance and faith in Christ, than the crowd in the temple did. It will, if we let it, lecture us on ethics, indeed on Christianity itself. ‘If you would be real and true Christians,’ it suggests, ‘you would give up all that doctrine and dogma and preaching and trying to get people converted, and get on instead with helping the poor and the sick in the true spirit of Jesus.’ The truth is that the world wants the church’s charity; it does not want the church’s Saviour ... It would have a paradise without repentance, God’s merciful service without his Servant." (p.92)

And yet, the reality remains unchanged as well:

"Our earth is not a self-created machine which just happens to have gone a little wrong but which we with our increasing know-how and technology can put right, granted only international cooperation and a sincere effort on the part of everyone. Behind our earth and universe stands a personal Creator and a personal Saviour. Not all the technological engineering, medical treatment, social aid, economic strategy, political prudence, and education of the masses that could ever be brought to bear upon earth’s problems could finally solve them and produce a paradise, so long as the world remains at odds with its Creator and rejects its appointed Saviour (Acts 3:20)." (p.92)

Still the only adequate answer

As such, we would do well to heed Gooding's exhortation:

"So let us be sure of this: there will be no restoring of the kingdom, no ‘times of refreshing’, no restoration of all the things which the prophets promised would be restored, until the second coming of Christ (3:20–21). Let us listen to the explicit statement of Scripture, and not bolster ourselves up with false expectations.

And let us not quit preaching. The world’s pain is immense: but its prime and pressing need is to repent and be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20). Let us make sure, too, that it is the gospel we preach, and not mere morality. It is a sinful and rebellious world; but God in Christ has taken the initiative, and there is a freeway to forgiveness and reconciliation that is wide open. And let us not be ashamed of our hope, but present it positively and joyfully." (p.92)

The witness of the Spirit: Reading Acts with David Gooding

When stressing God's freedom in revealing himself in many and various ways (Hebrews 1:1), we sometimes forget an even more fundamental truth about his revelation: the God who is sovereign has chosen to reveal Himself finally and authoritatively in his final Word (Hebrews 1:2; cf. John 1:1-18).

This corresponds well with Gooding's observation of the thrust of the Spirit's witness on the Day of Pentecost (p.68): 

"The dominating element in the Spirit’s witness would always be the spoken word. He would, of course, empower the apostles to do many signs and wonders from time to time, both to authenticate and to illustrate what was being said (2:43; 3:6–10; 4:29–30; 5:12–16). But without the word to explain their significance, no one would know what that significance was, or what it was the miracles witnessed to. Without the word no one would come to faith in Jesus as the Christ, or understand either the true terms or the true contents of the salvation that was available through him. The word, then, must be predominant; and since that word would be spoken through human lips, the first necessity would be to authenticate the channel of communication." 

(emphasis added)

This continues to be the dominating element of the Spirit's witness to the world through the Spirit-filled people of God today.

"Akeldama" (Field of Blood): Reading Acts with David Gooding

David Gooding (p.52ff) alerts us that the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, known by all to be one of Jesus's inner circle, could have cast an indelible slur on the credibility of Jesus and the gospel of his kingdom.

‘That’s religion for you. Doesn’t matter whether it’s the establishment or some fanatical little sect. When you get to the bottom of it, they’re all after the same thing in the end. Money. Big houses. Fields.’ 

‘You say Jesus is the Son of God, Israel’s Messiah, Saviour and Restorer, come to right our wrongs and to expose the priests’ corrupt abuse of their sacred office for money? How then did he not know any better than to choose a man like Judas to be one of his chief companions, representatives and, if you please, treasurer of his group (John 12:6)? He paid dearly for it in the end by his betrayal and death. But if he really was the Son of God, he ought to have known what Judas was like and not have chosen him. After all, if he didn’t know how to choose better officials than that, what hope would he have of restoring Israel and of bringing in the kingdom of God?’

But when considered in the light of Scripture, what had happened was not a blip in the Messiah's masterplan. On the contrary, it was already foreshadowed in the life and ministry of King David, the anointed one of Israel (cf. Psalm 69 & 109).

In particular, Gooding helpfully draws attention to the foreshadowing of Judas's betrayal in the betrayal of King David by his trusted advisor Ahithophel. Ahithophel "advised Absalom how David could best be tracked down and destroyed (2 Sam 17:1–4), in the same way as Judas advised the high priest how Jesus could be found and arrested" (p.55). Indeed, one can go further than Gooding in drawing further comparison (and contrast) between Ahithophel's betrayal and that of Judas:

• Ahithopel's counsel was ultimately rejected by Absalom, for "the LORD had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom" (2 Samuel 17:14). Upon hearing his advice went unheeded, he hung himself and died (1 Samuel 17:23).
• On the other hand, Judas's counsel was received by the Jewish authorities, for it was part and parcel of God's plan: "the Scripture had to be fulfilled" (Acts 1:16). Upon realising his betrayal had succeeded, ironically, Judas hung himself, and died an awful death (Acts 1:18). 

This by no means justify Judas's betrayal of his Lord (Luke 22:22). Rather, Gooding points out (p.57) :

On the other hand, looking back from the event to the prototypical pattern, it is clear that the event fitted the pattern, hand in glove. Then see what that implies! The fact that one of the apostles whom our Lord himself had chosen had defected and betrayed the Lord was not a weakness in the apostles’ case, undermining the claim that Jesus was the Messiah promised by the Old Testament prophets and foreshadowed in its histories and poetry. The very opposite! It strengthened it.

May we indeed be strengthened in our faith in our Redeemer's love, and in our confidence of testify and boast of indescribable grace to all who would believe in his name.

The role of History and Science on the Resurrection - Reading Acts with David Gooding

 

It would be as idle to conjecture what the mechanics and physics of it could be, as it would be unscientific to claim that ‘science’ declares the whole thing to be impossible. 

True science seeks to understand and describe the normal. It is for history to tell us whether something abnormal, that science cannot yet explain, has in fact happened. Science is not omniscient (it cannot even explain all it can observe); it cannot rule out in advance such a possibility. 

If history has given overwhelming evidence that in the resurrection of Christ the great redeeming and re-creating power of God has broken into the regularities of our fallen world, true science will adjust its worldview to allow for it.

~ David Gooding, True to the Faith (Myrtlefield), p.35

"True to the Faith" (Myrtlefield) - Reading Acts with David Gooding

 

"Death had not been survived: it had been undone." (p.33)

A big shoutout to Myrtlefield Trust for making the publications of David W. Gooding (1925-2019) so accessible and available for free download via their website www.myrtlefieldhouse.com.

Here's an introduction to David Gooding from their website:

David W. Gooding (1925–2019) was Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Greek at Queen’s University, Belfast and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. He taught the Bible internationally and lectured on its relevance to philosophy and world religions.

He published scholarly studies on the Septuagint and Old Testament narratives, as well as expositions of Luke, John 13–17, Acts, Hebrews and the New Testament’s Use of the Old Testament.

His expositions of Scripture are enhanced by what F. F. Bruce once called David Gooding’s ‘rare combination of gifts: spiritual insight, classical learning and literary appreciation’. Yet his insights into the wisdom and love of God owe at least as much to his deep desire to know the Saviour he had trusted in his youth and whose word he has found, throughout his intellectual and personal life, to be true. His work continues to influence the public teaching and private ministries of men and women throughout the world, some well–known and many more unknown.

To see a full list of publications by David Gooding, please click here.

Who can enter the kingdom of God? Reflections from John 4:1-18

John 4:1-18 answers an important question: who can enter the kingdom of God, and the answer can be rather shocking, especially when we read it back to back with chapter 3.

Back in John chapter 3, Jesus had just told Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling council, one of Israel's foremost religious teacher, that he cannot enter the kingdom of God, but he must be born again of the Spirit. But here in chapter 4, we see Jesus offering eternal life to someone whose religious pedigree was at the opposite end of the scale - a Samaritan, despised by the Jews because they were of impure heritage, having intermarried with Gentiles. Not only that, this woman was despised even by her fellow Samaritans because of adultery, having been in and out of 5 marriages, and at that time living with someone else who was not her husband. Which is why she had to go to the well to draw water at noon, the hottest time of the day, a time when no one else would go. She was a religious and social outcast.

But it was no coincidence that this woman is featured back to back with Nicodemus in John's Gospel. For, by putting them side by side, John is higlighting to us the heart of his gospel:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that WHOEVER believes  in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

WHOEVER really means WHOEVER - whatever the level of your religious performance, whether Jew or Samaritan, Western, African or Asian, male and female, whatever your moral performance.

Who can enter the kingdom of God? "WHOEVER believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17)

This is the first thing we need to take note of from Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman, the heart of the gospel, the fullness of his grace.

Another thing to take note of is this. Come with me again to 4:15. How did the woman respond to Jesus' offer? Did you notice the main reason why she wanted living water from Jesus? 

"Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:15)

Why was that so important to her? Is it because she's lazy? "Too troublesome to have to keep coming here"?

I don't think so! I think it's got something to do with her being an outcast, of her not wanting to face people in public. That's her most immediate need at that moment.

Like the woman, it's very natural for us to focus on what Jesus can do to solve our most immediate felt need. I suspect what features most in our prayers these days are related to Covid-19, prayers for safety and protection, or for help with financial or personal well-being.

And yet, while Jesus is certainly concerned about our physical well-being, even teaching us to ask our heavenly Father for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), we need to remember that this is not the primary reason why Jesus had to come. He is not here to offer us water that won't quench our thirst (John 4:13)!

Rather, the living water he offers is eternal life in the kingdom of God, the righteousness of God that is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (cf. Romans 3:22). "God's kingdom and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33) - that is Jesus' primary concern for his people!

That's why Jesus wasn't quite done with the woman. The rest of the chapter continues to show there's much more she needed to know about Jesus, what it means to witness the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah.

As for us, perhaps this chapter serves as a timely reminder to peel our attention away from Covid-19 , and turn our eyes to Jesus, especially to the cross of Jesus, to revisit afresh what it means to know Him, his death, his resurrection, what it means to seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and what is the good news we have to offer to many many people around us who continue to live in darkness, who continue in ignorance about Jesus. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)