DO THE MATH: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

On Tuesday, October 17 the US population passed the 300 million mark. It is an impressive milestone considering that in 1980 total US citizens numbered 227 million and that in 1915 the total count was 100 million. The official report comes from the U.S. Census Bureau who does their math based on the birth rate, death rate and immigration rate.

In a world dominated by fast stats and quick figures such as in gas prices; web site counters and hits; carbs and fat grams; body pounds and inches; sports dollars, yardage and points; computer gigabytes and RAMs; high-speed connections, etc., numbers (not the fourth book in the biblical canon) are very important.

Biblically speaking, we also have a key numbers. We confess that there is 1 God Who subsists in 3 Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, eternally and infinitely equal in power, rank and glory. It is He Who created the worlds in 6 days. He formed a covenant people made up of 12 tribes and sent them into Egyptian captivity for 430 years. His only begotten Son spent 40 days in the wilderness, chose 12 disciples, lived in sinless humiliation for 33 years, and after His substitutionary death on the cross, was resurrected after 3 days. He will come a 2nd time to take these very ones to their eternal destiny, their heavenly home, (in) the presence of the Triune God. This home is likened unto a perfect city about 1,400 miles in length, breadth and height. Its walls, about 200 feet thick, have foundations that are decorated with 12 stones, have 12 gates on which are inscribed the names of the 12 apostles and at which are posted 12 angels. Rev 21:12 -21.

Yet there is another number which is more impelling. It is mysterious because it is inexplicable not because it is dubious. The number is simply innumerable and its great significance lies in 2 aspects: the number of saints who in heaven and the immeasurable time they will be there The paradox of this matter is that the more we count, the more we fail. There is no quantifying of these categories. The aged apostle John thought he was successful in his initial count: “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.” Rev 7:4-8. But lo and behold, he was mistaken because when he took a second glance he soon found out that the number in heaven was indeed "..a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!," 9-10. Such are the blessings of the elect, those who will experience the full meaning of Immanuel, God with us, in a pristine environment of perfect serendipity, totally sanctified from the penalty, power and presence of sin.

This is the consummation of the Covenant of Grace, which was first proclaimed by God the Father in Gen 3:15 (the first sermon preached in Scripture), promised to 1 man Abraham-- that through him, our father of faith, his descendants would outnumber the stars in heaven and the sands on the seashore. It was then prophesied by the prophets, fulfilled in Christ and will be consummated in heaven. These blessings are uncountable. They are already ours for the Father has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly places, Eph 1:3, already seated us with him in the heavenly places, 2: 4, and has given us the comforting guarantee that we are already glorified. As a matter of fact, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Rom 8:29-31. Yet, their fullness will not be apprehended until God brings us coram Deo, before His very face, in heaven.

This number in heaven will not and cannot change; it has a most blessed immutability. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the US population, which grows by one person every 11 seconds, will top the 400 million mark in the year 2043. However, this number in heaven, with all its attendant blessings in Christ, is a perfect number whose exactitude is firmly secure in the secret councils of God. It is He Who chose each one of us individually and particularly in eternity past and Who most wisely foreplanned and efficaciously foredetermined the means, time and circumstances by which He would save us. What started out with one man, Abraham, will grow and grow, throughout the universe, through the expanding power of the Gospel, until it reaches its perfect fullness in heaven.

We are to count it a most inexpressible joy that God the Father has equipped and constituted us to be members of that number. Do to math. Do the impossible. Stop and count the uncountable.

THE CHURCH: ITS CALLED AND ASSEMBLED CONTEXT

This is a resumption of the series on the church I started a few months ago.

The common NT word for church, ekklesia, is correctly taken to mean to be called out from. It is derived from two Greek words ek and kaleo, respectively meaning out of or from and to call. While this meaning is lexically tenable, more importantly ekklesia carries the meaning of an assembly or gathering together. That is to say, the church is God's covenant community which He calls out from the world unto Himself in order to assemble in His presence. The idea of assembly is pervasive and weighty in its New Testament use, a brief overview of which follows:

Most Frequently A Gathering Of Believers In A Definite Locality:
Whether To Worship
Acts 5:11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

1 Cor 11:18; etc.

Or Not
1 Cor. 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also

Gal. 1:2 and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

Etc.

A Church Or Assembly Or Gathering In An Individual's Home
Rom. 16:23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

1 Cor 16:19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.

Col 4:15; etc.

A Group Of Local Churches
Acts 9:31 Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

The Universal Body Of Worshipping And Professing Believers
1 Cor. 10:32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,

11:22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

As God's covenant assembly the ekklesia intrinsically bears the idea of the congregation of the Lord which gathers in His presence for His worship. In this context, it has an intimate relationship with the Exodus event in which the sovereign God effects a monergistic redemption of His people. What was the purpose of Yahweh’s redemption? Primarily and ultimately, to bring glory to His Name and to publish His works among the nations, Ex 9:16; 4:4; Ps 76:10 (NIV); Rom 9:16; etc. Proximately, it was for His worship by His people on Mount Sinai. This latter dimension occupies a pervasive and thematic significance in the Exodus event. For example, it is stated in God’s initial revelation of His redemptive purpose to Moses in:
Ex 3:12 He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'

4:23 and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'"

and it is sustained in 5:1-3; 7: 16; 8:20, 25-29; 9:1, 13; 10:3, 7-11, 25-26. From these facts we must dutifully conclude that the Exodus event is the redemptive context of God’s people being freed in order to come together, to be gathered by Him, to offer Him worship.

It is of great import that Peter echoes this very theme in the New Covenant when he charges the suffering Asia Minor church to remember that she is “.. a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Pe 2:9. This quote from Ex 19:5, 6 affirms that the Exodus theme is inextricably woven into the very fabric of the church.

So, the assembly of God, that is His called people, has a dual character: (1) it is called out of the world unto Him (2) in order to serve and worship Him forever.

Next Issue: The Calling/Gathering and Sending Aspect.