Russell Fuller: What Exactly is the Septuagint? (RBS 2024 Plenary Lecture 1)

 

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Introduction: Reformation Bible Society 2024

 

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The Vision (8.23.24): Ten Admirable Qualities of Abraham (from Genesis 14)

 

Image: The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, engraving by Adriaen Collaert, 1584-1585, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 14.

Genesis 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.

In last Sunday’s sermon from Genesis 14 I suggested at least ten spiritually admirable qualities of Abram (Abraham) which we might note and follow:

First: Unlike Lot, he did not “pitch his tent toward [align himself with] Sodom,” and so he was spared the temporal distress and humiliation which Lot endured (cf. Genesis 13:12; 14:1-12).

Who knows what pain we are spared by openly aligning with Christ rather than with the world?

Second: He had friends in the world but was not corrupted by them (v. 13).

See 1 Corinthians 5, where Paul told the Corinthians that if they had to stay away completely from worldlings they would need “go out of the world” (v. 10).

Third: He had compassion on Lot his kinsman in his distress (v. 14).

He might well have turned his back upon Lot. Matthew Henry made much of this, writing that Abram provides a model: “Though others have been wanting in their duty to us, yet we must not therefore deny our duty to them.”

Fourth: He used lawful means to defend himself by arming his servants (v. 14b).

What did his arming of his servant say about his relationship with them as their master?

Fifth: He used skill and cunning (marks of wisdom) to overcome a greater adversary and all with the Lord’s help (v. 15).

This recalls Christ’s sending forth of the apostles, telling them to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves (Matthew 10:16)

Sixth: He communed with Melchizedek (v. 18).

This took place when the mysterious king and priest brought forth to him “bread and wine” (v. 18).

Seventh: He was blessed of God (v. 19).

Look at Psalm 1 and see a contrast between the “blessed” man (vv. 1-3) and the “ungodly” (vv. 4-6).

Eighth: He gave tithes to Melchizedek (v. 20b).

Abram was a proper steward of the things in his possession and gave the first and best to the cause of the Lord, embodied in Melchizedek.

Ninth: He was a man of his word and kept his pledge to God (v. 22):

The Lord Jesus himself would teach the importance of this in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:37). We need men and women who live with integrity, who keep their word, and fulfill their commitments to God and man.

Tenth: He kept himself unspotted from the world in his promise not to take one thread or shoelace from Sodom (v. 23).

He was committed to holiness, to being set apart from the world. He trust not in the world for material provision, but in God.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 310: The ECM, Revelation 21:6, & Theology

 

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The Vision (8.16.24): Pitching a Tent Toward Sodom

 

Image: Abraham and Lot Separating, print, Philip Medhurst Collection at St. George's Court, Kidderminster.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 13. 

“Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom” (Genesis 13:12).

A contrast is drawn in Gensis 13 between godly Abram (later Abraham) and his nephew Lot.

When they returned from Egypt to the land of promise they decided to divide the land. Abram was a peacemaker, generously offering Lot first choice (vv. 8-9).

Lot looked and chose the plain of Jordan. It was lush, well-watered, “even as the garden of the LORD” (v. 10).  

But Moses anticipates what will happen on that plain, telling us this was “before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah” (v. 10). All that glittered was not gold. The land looked enticing, but its end would be fire and brimstone and destruction (see Genesis 19:24-25).

Using naturalistic reasoning, it looked outwardly like a very good real estate decision. Abram was left with what seemed the less attractive land. He “dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom” (v. 12).

There is no doubt spiritual significance in the statement that Lot pitched his tent (oriented his life) toward Sodom. The spiritual problem of Sodom is made clear in v. 13: “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”

Lot did not set up in Sodom but directed himself toward it. You might say he got as close to it as he possibly could without entering it, but, in the end, it rubbed off on him and his house. As Solomon would ask, “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” (Proverbs 6:27).  As we shall see later in the narrative, Lot will barely escape Sodom, but his wife literally will be ruined by it, and his two daughters will fair little better, morally speaking (Genesis 19). It seemed like such a good choice, a no-brainer, humanly speaking, but it would have disastrous consequences for Lot and his household.

As one reads Genesis 13, he might ask whether he will choose the way of Abraham (righteousness) or Lot (unrighteousness). Will he “pitch a tent” (orient his life) to the way of the Lord or the way of the world? As Christ will put it in the Sermon on the Mount, will he choose the narrow way that leads to life or the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14)?

We must add a caution, however, about simply offering a “moralistic” interpretation of this account.

Our hope rests, in the end, not in our ability NOT to pitch our tent toward Sodom. It rests in the fact that there was one who came as a man, while also true God, and never bent in the direction of Sodom, and never entered it. But who took upon himself all the fire and brimstone, all the wrath that we deserved for our sin, saved us, and clothed us with his righteousness. That, in the end, is indeed our hope.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 309: The Women Behind Your Critical Editions

 

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The Vision (8.9.24): The Keys of the Kingdom

 

Note: Devotional message taken from last Sunday afternoon's sermon on Matthew 16:16-19.

“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be found in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).

On Sunday afternoons in 2024 at CRBC we have been working our way through the Heidelberg Catechism (as supplemented by the Baptistic revision of it known as the Orthodox Catechism). This Catechism provides 119 questions and answers divided into the 52 Lord’s Days of the year.

Last Sunday, on Lord’s Day 31 (Questions 83-85), the teaching addressed the “keys of the kingdom.”

I don’t need to tell you that we live in an anti-authoritarian age. Every authority it seems is under question in our day. This includes the authority of the parents in the home, the elders in the church, the magistrate in society. Many are even challenging the authority and integrity of Holy Scripture itself.

On Lord’s Day 31, our instructors teach us about a special authority that has been given to the Lord’s church and to her officers for the spiritual good of all. This is symbolized by the image of keys, the keys of the kingdom. With a key one opens a door or locks it.

This authority is traced first to Christ’s instructions to Peter after he made “the good confession” that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (see Matthew 16:16-19). Second, it is traced to our Lord’s later instructions to the disciples in Matthew 18:15-20. This second passage is necessary for understanding the first, because it makes plain this authority, the keys, was given not only to Peter (as our Roman Catholic friends like to suggest), but to all the apostles, upon whom the church would be built, the Lord Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. After the apostles it was given to the churches of Christ, as served by their ordinary officers.

The catechism teaches that the “keys of the kingdom” (authority in in the administration in the kingdom of Christ) is twofold. It consists of preaching and Christian discipline.

The magisterial Reformers used to speak of three marks of a true church: right preaching of the gospel, right administration of the sacraments (ordinances), and right exercise of discipline (discipleship). If a church lacks any of these three it is vulnerable to disqualification as a church.

With respect to discipline, we typically think of two kinds: formative and corrective. Formative discipline takes place through ordinary interactions, encouragements, and exhortations. Corrective discipline is more rarely used, as it is reserved for serious faults that require an unrepentant person to be removed (excommunicated) from the church and its ordinances until restoration might be achieved. A church will be unhealthy if it never exercises this kind of discipline, but also if it does so too often or, especially, unjustly.

The visible church is given real authority on earth. This is truly a sober and grave authority, and so it is not to be taken up lightly. Let us exercise this authority carefully and justly.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (8.2.24): The Call of Abraham

 

Image: Blueberries, North Garden, Virginia, August 2024.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Genesis 12.

Last Sunday morning, we resumed our series through Genesis, beginning the account of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12-36).

We returned to Abraham in Genesis 12. I suggested three parts to this chapter:

First, Abraham’s call (vv. 1-5): The LORD spoke to Abraham, telling him to leave behind his country, kindred, and his fathers’ house (v. 1). He gave to Abraham promises, especially that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed (v. 3). The mark of Abraham’s spiritual exceptionalism was his obedience: “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him” (v. 4). Martin Luther said Abraham obeyed “the naked voice of God.”

Second, Abraham’s worship (vv. 6-9): As Abraham moved into the hostile and pagan land of Canaan at the LORD’s command, Moses tells us that he worshipped. First, after the LORD appeared to him and told him his seed would be given the land (v. 7). Then again, as he moved forward, we read, “and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD” (v. 8).

Third, Abraham’s deception (vv. 10-20): This account begins, “And there was a famine in the land….” (v. 10). The famine reflected his spiritual life at this point. He then “went down into Egypt to sojourn there” (v. 10). Later in Israel’s history Egypt would be a place of bondage. The godly man who had readily obeyed “the naked voice of God” got bogged down in deception and began to lean upon his own understanding, lying by saying his wife was his sister (v. 13), but the lie was found out and he was sent away (vv. 18-20). This reminds us that though Abraham was a man of God he still had remaining corruptions in him, as all believers will till the glorious end.

So, let us obey God’s call. Let us follow him in obedience and discipleship.

Let us worship the thrice holy God, even as we live in this already-but-not-yet, in-between time.

Let us trust in the LORD with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Broken Wharfe Podcast Interview: Before the Foundation of the World

 

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The Vision: Loyalty to the Local Church (7.26.24)

 

Last weekend we had our annual Youth Conference at Machen Conference Center in Highland County, Virginia. The topic this year was a study of Peter Master’s book Steps for Guidance in the Journey of Life (Wakeman Trust, 1995, 2008). Masters has served over 50 years as pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Church in London, the same church which Charles Spurgeon once served as minister.

The thesis of this book is that God guides his people in the journey of life, especially at the major turning points, like marriage, vocation, where we will live, and what church we will join.

In the final chapter on the importance of the local church, Masters stresses loyalty to the church. He begins the chapter, “One of the great problems reported in the life of the local church today is the lack of a deep sense of loyalty on the part of many members” (103).

He focuses on Paul’s image in 1 Corinthians 12 of the church as being like a human body: “But now God hath set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (v. 18). Masters asks his readers to consider whether they have a high or a low view of the church. He especially stresses the importance of loyalty to the church, stating, “God insists that his people should feel obligated to their churches in a special way… And they are to be loyal to their church until God himself calls them elsewhere by unmistakable guidance” (106). The church is a living thing. We do not want to hurt it. “How can we bear to see limbs torn out?” (109).

Here are a few other choice exhortations from Masters:

“We must be all for Christ, and for his cause and his church” (113).

“We all need great tenacity, and a deep sense of belonging to our church” (113).

Satan “is constantly tempting God’s people to seek greener pastures elsewhere” (113).

“We are not free agents, and should never be moved by whims” (113).

“High mobility” has been “to the great hurt of churches and individuals” (114).

Masters makes clear, however, that loyalty to any church is not unconditional. Leaving churches that embrace false teachings and false practices is, of course, justified.

Otherwise, Master suggests, “We should regard ourselves as permanent limbs or parts of that body until he moves us….” (118).

May the Lord continue to direct us and give to us a love for and loyalty toward the local church in which he has placed us.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Scenes from CRBC 2024 Youth Conference (July 19-20) @ Machen Conference Center, Highland County, Virginia

 

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Book Review: W. Gary Crampton: From Paedobaptism to Credobaptism: A Study of the Westminster Confession and Infant Baptism

 

Dr. Crampton died last week on 7.17.24. I posted this video version of my review of his book which I recorded in 2011.

 

I also posted to my academia.edu page the written version of my review which appeared in the Reformed Baptist Trumpet, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011):13-15. Read it here.

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The Vision (7.19.24): Fellowhelpers [synergoi] to the Truth

 

Image: St. John, Frans Hals, 1625, Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 3 John 1-8:

We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth (3 John 8).

In his third epistle, the apostle John addresses Gaius (v. 1), likely a faithful minister in the church, commending and exhorting him to continue to receive and help orthodox teachers who sought his hospitality and support. In so doing, John says, “we might be fellowhelpers in the truth.”

Behind the compound noun “fellowhelpers” is the Greek plural noun synergoi. We might say “synergists.” This term appears at least twelve other times in the NT, all else in Paul’s writings. Compare:

In Romans 16:3 Paul refers to Priscilla and Aquila as “my helpers in Christ Jesus.” They took him into their home when he first came to Corinth (see Acts 18:1-3).

He uses the same term to describe a man name Urbanus as his helper in Romans 16:9 and Timothy in Romans 16:21.

In 1 Corinthians 3:9 he says to the Corinthian church, “For we are labourers together with God…”

In 2 Corinthians 1:24 he refers to himself and those who ministered with him before the Corinthians as “helpers of your joy.”

In 2 Corinthians 8:23 he refers to Titus as “my partner [koinōnos] and helper [synergos] concerning you.”

In Philippians 2:25 he refers to Ephaphroditus as his “companion in labour.”

In Phillippians 4:3 he makes mention of men like the “true yokefellow” and Clement who would try to broker peace between two women locked in dispute [Euodia and Synteche] as “my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”

In Colossians 4:10-11 he commends Aristarchus, Marcus, and Justus as “fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God.”

In 1 Thessalonians 3:2 he refers to Timothy as “our fellowlabourer in the gospel” (cf. Romans 16:21).

In Philemon 1:1 he refers to Philemon as “our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer.”

Later in the same letter, he names four men, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, and Lucas as “my fellowlabourers” (Philemon 1:24).

Here in 3 John, the apostle John takes up the same term and uses it, as did Paul, to refer to those who were willing to serve the Lord within his church, alongside of others, as helpers and laborers.

It does not refer to synergy in salvation. Salvation is monergistic (an act of God alone), not synergistic. As Jonah said in the belly of the great fish, “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9). But we do believe in synergy in ministry.

The Lord is pleased to use those who will labor in synergy with the Lord and with one another to build his kingdom.

How do we do that?

Through faithful presence and participation.

Through faithful giving.

Through faithful hospitality.

Through faithful praying.

Through faithful interest in the cause of Christ and his kingdom.

So, let it be said of us that we too are “fellowhelpers” to the truth.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Book Review: Can We Recover the Text of the New Testament?

I've posted to my academia.edu page my written review of Can We Recover the Text of the New Testament?, which just came out in Puritan Reformed Journal (July 2024): 178-182. You can read it here.

Several months ago I also did a podcast version of the review:

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Book Review: Valiant for the Truth, The Collected Writings of Bishop D. A. Thompson

I've posted to my academia.edu page my written review of Valiant for the Truth: The Collected Writings of Bishop D. A. Thompson, former editor of the BLQ, which just came out in Puritan Reformed Journal (July 2024): 182-185. You can read it here.

A couple months ago I also did this video version of the review:

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The Vision (7.12.24): Look to Yourselves (2 John 7-13)

 

Image: Saint John of Patmos, South German, c. 1460-70, The National Gallery, London.

Note: Devotion based on last Sunday's sermon on 2 John 7-13.

Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward (2 John 8).

In the closing verses of John’s brief second epistle to a church and her members (“the elect lady and her children” v. 1), the apostle offers three specific admonitions under the general call, “Look to yourselves”:

First, he warns against false teachers and false teachings (2 John 7-9). He calls them “deceivers” and “an antichrist” (v. 7). He charges them with not abiding in “the doctrine of Christ,” referring both to the teaching Christ gave to them (like the New Commandment in John 13:34-35) and also right teaching about Christ (Christology). John likely has in mind here refuting the same “false prophets” and antichrists” he denounced in 1 John 4:1-3, who denied that Christ had come “in the flesh” (i.e., that he was and is a true man).

Second, he warns against extending hospitality and even greetings to these false teachers (2 John 10-11). Hospitality among family and friends was essential for travel in the first century, especially for Christian ministers and preachers. This is why there are repeated calls for hospitality in the NT (see Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9). Here, however, John reminds the church that the “welcome mat” was not to be offered to false teachers, nor were they even to be given greetings (“God speed”) on their travels.

Third, he encourages “face to face” fellowship among believers, as well as fellowship among churches (2 John 12-13). John expresses his desire not merely to write to the saints “with paper and ink,” today we might say by keyboard and screen, but to see them “face to face.” Paul had likewise warned believers not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 13:25). We should place a high priority on spending time in person with the brethren. John closes his letter by sending greetings from “the children of thy elect sister” (the members of a sister church, perhaps the church at Ephesus where John served) (v. 13).

When the church at Antioch had controversy over circumcision and salvation, they appealed to the church at Jerusalem for help in discernment (see Acts 15). We as individual believers need not only the “face to face” fellowship of the brethren, but, corporately, as a church, we need intentional fellowship with sister churches.

Through the inscripturation of 2 John, these admonitions can be applied to every church across the ages, including our own. Let us then look to ourselves in these areas as we move forward in service to Christ.

Blessings, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (7.5.24): Walking in Truth and Love

 

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 2 John 1-6:

“in truth and love” (2 John 3).

Whereas John’s first General Epistle (1 John) has been described as being more like a sermon or doctrinal treatise, his second epistle is clearly a letter. It begins, “The elder to the elect lady and her children…” (v. 1).  John the apostle, calls himself an elder. Peter the apostle did the same (cf. 1 Peter 5:1). His recipient, “the elect lady and her children” is likely a reference to a sister church and her members (cf. 2 John 13, “The children of thy elect sister greet thee”).

The apostle commends to this church grace, mercy and truth in the name of the triune God “in truth and love” (v. 3). Those two terms—truth and love—are in fact key themes for John.

In v. 4 he notes his delight in finding the “children [members]” of this church “walking [conducting themselves] in truth.” This likely means that he found them to be doctrinally sound. We know there were problems with false prophets or antichrists who had denied that Christ had come “in the flesh” (i.e., they denied the Lord Jesus’ true humanity) (see 1 John 4:1-3).

Friends, we glorify God when we believe right things about him. We glorify Christ when we confess right things about him. We must hold to right doctrine and walk in truth.

In vv. 5-6 John also exhorts the church to follow Christ’s New Commandment (John 13:34-35) and “love one another” (v. 5). Twice in v. 6 he uses the metaphor of walking to urge right conduct: “that we walk after his commandments” and “as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”

So, let us evaluate ourselves and our church.

Are we walking in truth? Do we have concern to hold right doctrine?

Are we walking in love? Do we seek to love one another as Christ has loved us.

The exhortations to walk in truth and love, echoes the Great Commandment taught by Christ, Love God (by believing right things about God) and love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Mark 12:28-31).

I recently read a biography of Robert Charles (better known as R. C.) Sproul (1939-2017) (Stephen Nichols, R. C. Sproul: A Life [Crossway, 2021]).

Sproul was a Pittsburg boy who in his first year of college on an athletic scholarship was converted after sitting in on a Bible study on Ecclesiastes 11:3, “and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” He saw himself as that fallen and rotting tree apart from Christ.

When he went home and excitedly told his liberal hometown minster of his conversion, the man answered, “If you believe in the physical resurrection, you’re a [darn] fool.” Yet Sproul did believe, and, thankfully, he found orthodox mentors to affirm and guide him.

He went on to develop a dynamic teaching ministry that would influence myriads and still has an impact today through his books, as well as video and audio archives of his teaching. He walked in truth.

He was also known for his personal ministry, his care for family and friends, his love for the church. He walked in love.

In fact, when Sproul died in 2017 his simple tombstone had only this epitaph, “HE WAS A KIND MAN REDEEMED BY A KINDER SAVIOR.”

Will such be said of us when we have finished our course? Might this be a fitting epitaph for us? Will we be found to have walked in truth and in love?

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle