The Spiritual Warfare lecture I did for a small group of leaders at Mars Hill Church was accompanied with a handout I gave everyone with my notes. Since posting these lectures online many of you have asked for them and so I am glad to post them here for your service. In time I am certain they will be expanded upon as a book but for now you are welcome to have what I’ve done and I pray it is of service.

Note: Both NIV and ESV are used in this lecture.

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” 

— C. S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters

In each of the synoptic gospels, Satan appears as the tempter of Jesus Christ (Matt. 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). From the opening to the closing pages of Scripture, Satan is presented as an enemy of God and, subsequently, an enemy of God’s people. He is named in a variety of ways, as the following list demonstrates, with varying titles each relating to the various aspects of his work. 

Satan’s Names

• Abaddon (“destroyer”) (Rev 9:11)  
• The god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4)
• Accuser (Rev. 12:10)
• Great Dragon (Rev. 12:9) 
• Adversary (1 Pet. 5:8)
• Lawless One (2 Thess. 2:18)
• Apollyon (“destroyer”) (Rev. 9:11)  
• Liar (John 8:44)
• Beelzebul (Matt. 12:24)
• Morning Star (Isa. 14:12)
• Belial (2 Cor. 6:15)
• Murderer (John 8:44)
• Deceiver (Rev. 12:9)
• Prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2)
• Devil (Luke 4:13)
• Ruler of this world (John 12:31)
• Enemy (Matt. 13:28, 39)
• Satan (Acts 26:18)
• Evil One (Matt. 13:28, 39)
• Serpent (Rev. 12:9)
• Father of lies (John 8:44)
• Tempter  (1 Thess. 3:5)

Foundational to our study of Satan is to recognize that he is in no way equal to God. His knowledge, presence, and power are limited because he is an angelic being (a guardian cherub according to Ezekiel 28:14) created by God for the purpose of glorifying and serving God. However, he became proud in his heart and desired to be worshiped and exalted like God. So, he declared war on God and one-third of the angels joined his army to oppose God. Judged by God for his sin, the Serpent was then cast down to the earth (Isa. 14:11–23; Ezek. 28:1–19). Upon the earth he appeared as a serpent to tempt Adam and Eve by twisting God’s word and lying (Gen. 3:1–24). After successfully tempting Adam and Eve to sin, he was judged and cursed by God for his sin and told that Jesus would ultimately come to completely defeat him, though Jesus would suffer physical harm in their conflict (Gen. 3:14–15).

The motivation for all of the Serpent’s work is pride and self-glory instead of humility and God-glory (Ezek. 28:2; James 4:6–7). Subsequently, one of his most powerful allies in opposing God’s people is their own pride. Some have speculated as to why the Serpent continues in his war against God even though Scripture is clear that ultimately he will be defeated and painfully judged. It may be that the Serpent is indeed so proud that he has deceived himself and now believes that God is a liar who can be beaten. 

In his war against God, the Serpent not only has the fallen angels who are now known as demons, but also has people who are allies in his army either by demonic possession, demonic influence, or simply living according to their sinful nature and flesh (2 Pet. 2:4; Rev. 9:1; 12:3–4). Such people include false prophets who speak for the Serpent  (2 Pet. 2:1), false apostles who begin ministries for the Serpent (2 Cor. 11:13), false Christians who divide churches (Gal. 2:4), and false teachers who teach heretical doctrine for the Serpent (2 Pet. 2:1).

Regarding spiritual warfare as it is experienced on the personal level, 2 Corinthians 2:11 (niv) says, “Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” Therefore, knowing Satan’s tactics helps us anticipate his work and live in victory rather than as victims. 

(more…)

My friends at Crossway books have been great to work with on all of my recent and forthcoming publishing projects. What I have particularly appreciated is their ethic as a ministry; their main commitment and first priority–even above business–is to distribute sound Bible teaching. Therefore, they have proven to be incredibly gracious with content. For example, every book purchased from their website comes with a free PDF version.

In their generosity, Crossway is now giving away a free PDF chapter from each of my books to anyone who might benefit from the material or anyone interested in blogging about the content. You can download these chapters on Resurgence.

Also, if you want to see an amazing presentation of a chapter from the forthcoming book on the cross, called Death by Love, the guys in my Preaching and Theology branch at Mars Hill Church created an online version that you can read here.

Of course, all of these books are available for purchase in their entirety.

Grace and I are at the airport headed out with the Fab 5 (aka our kids) for a 20 hour flight to Australia. We will spend three weeks vacationing there in Sydney. The kids are really excited to see the Sydney Opera house, hold a koala, and go to the world’s oldest amusement park.

After three weeks, poppa daddy (that’s what the kids call me) will preach about 30 sermons over the course of 11 days. Anyone wanting to join us or pray for those events can check out most of the public events here. Thankfully, most of the events seem to have filled up and we’re pushing 6,000 in the Sydney Entertainment Center for the Burn Your Plastic Jesus event. If you want to pray for one event, please pray for this one. The week we arrive Chris Rock is headlining there and so Grace and I are going to see one of my favorite comedians. A few weeks later I am preaching from the same stage and hope to see God fill the room to its’ 10,000 seat capacity and see many people meet Jesus. Tickets are on sale here.

This summer I will spend about 80 hours on airplanes as there is a lot of travel. But, my friends at www.Logos.com have loaded my MacBook Pro up with so much amazing study material that I can stay caught up on writing and researching on the road and for that I am deeply grateful. We’ll miss everyone back home in Seattle, and look forward to seeing our friends at Mars Hill Church again in September.

Pastor Mark Driscoll
aka Poppa Daddy

Author’s Note: Continuing in the “Pray Like Jesus” sermon series, this week I am preaching about the Gethsemane prayer of Jesus from Matthew 26:36–46. These notes are intended to serve as a supplement for the sermon for those in Mars Hill Community Groups as well as others studying this most amazing insight into the inner life of the Trinity as Jesus speaks to the Father by the Spirit in his hour of greatest anguish. As a note of appreciation, I want to thank Scott and my other friends at www.logos.com for producing so many great Bible resources that I am now enjoying on my Mac by using Parallels Desktop. This summer I have been traveling quite a bit and with such great resources on my laptop I have been able to keep up with my sermon preparation and book writing while on the road. So, I am deeply grateful for their service to those of us who serve others by preaching and teaching.

Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane is shocking, disturbing, overwhelming, and life-giving because it is so brutally and painfully honest. In his darkest hour of abandonment and betrayal and with the cross looming, Jesus did not doubt the Father, deny the Father’s goodness, rebel against the Father, sin against the Father, or run from the Father. No, instead he got down on his knees to speak with the Father in prayer. In this act we witness one of the great truths about prayer: it is not so often about getting God to do as we ask, but rather getting our will aligned with his so that when the most brutal moments of life envelop us we take the Father’s hand to lead us through, and not around, our valleys of darkness.

Jesus was fully aware of his impending death and separation from God the Father and spoke of it prior to his prayer at Gethsemane (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19). Before Gethsemane, Jesus had poured himself out in ministry, preaching with great authority on the kingdom of God and eternal judgment. A plot was then devised by Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, though Jesus had loved, served, and taught him for many years as a friend. This was prophesied in Zechariah 11:12–13 some five hundred years prior: “Then I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.’ And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter” (cf. Matthew 26:14–15; 27:5–7).

A sinful woman then lavishly anointed Jesus in worship. He was able to smell the evidence of her appreciation throughout his betrayal and murder, undoubtedly serving as a lingering reminder that his mission was to atone for needy sinners like her. It is important to note that the season of the Gethsemane prayer was Passover, when God’s people, in keeping with the scriptural commands instituted in the days of Moses, would gather to deal with their sin before God in faith that one day Jesus their Messiah would come to shed his own blood in their place for their sins to accomplish their salvation (1 Cor. 5:7).

The Passover meal, now known as the Last Supper, took a dark turn when Jesus revealed that one of his disciples present at the table with him would betray him. Jesus knew in his heart that it would be Judas, his pretend friend. Shortly thereafter, Peter, the first-among-equals on Jesus’ team of disciples, pledged to never betray Jesus. Yet, Jesus revealed to Peter that he too would deny his Lord. Jesus was keenly aware that his journey to the cross would be paved with betrayal and abandonment.

Nonetheless, Jesus invited his senior disciples to join him in prayer as he welcomed support, intercession, and friendship in his hour of greatest need.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.

Gethsemane means “an oil press” and was amidst a field of olive trees where the oil press was used to extract oil from the fruit. John 18:1 reveals that an olive grove, or garden, was in this place. Thus, Jesus, the last Adam (Rom. 5:12–21; 1 Cor. 15:45), is found in a garden much like the first Adam, but was faithful whereas the first Adam was sinful.

While Jesus had twelve disciples, he did on occasion take with him only the three senior disciples, such as on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1), and when he raised Jairus’ daughter from death (Luke 8:49–55). These three are Peter, James, and John, and here the latter two are referred to as the “sons of Zebedee” (Matt. 26:37 cf. 4:21).

And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

In his first of three prayers, Jesus humbly and earnestly made his request known. He preferred that the cup of suffering and wrath that awaited him on the cross in the place of sinners be taken from him. While there is some debate among biblical commentators regarding Jesus’ mention of the “cup,” it seems best, based on the context of its appearance throughout the Old Testament, to identify the cup as God’s wrath poured out on sinners as if from a cup (e.g., Ps. 11:6; Isa. 51:17; Ezek. 23:33).

At the close of his first prayer, Jesus utters one of the most significant statements in all of Scripture regarding prayer. The refrain “as you will” is indeed the correct way for every worshiper to pray. Prayer is where we make our requests known to God and then invite him to not only do as he wills but also transform our will to match his.

The fact that Jesus makes his will known to God the Father has raised a host of theological speculations. One Bible commentator has said,

It seems to me that the traditional view, namely, that Jesus prayed that, if it should be within the will of God, the way of the cross might not be taken, is the only view that does justice to the text and the reality of the struggle that went on within the God-man. Superficially considered, there seems to be a conflict between the will of Jesus and the will of God, and this has caused some interpreters to stumble. For example, even the great Calvin erred in saying that Christ corrected and recalled a wish that had suddenly escaped Him. But at the very moment that the Lord distinguishes His will from the Father’s, He subjects His own. There was testing, but there was no sin, and the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews confirms this in saying that Jesus was heard amid the strong crying and tears “for his godly fear” (Heb 5:7). That last phrase is the interpretation of the last clause of our Lord’s petition, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Dallas Theological Seminary, Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 124 [Dallas Theological Seminary, 1967; 2002], 124:308)

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

After less than an hour in the anguish of prayer, Jesus returned to see his senior leaders not praying for him, as he needed. We witness here the utter loneliness Jesus suffered in his hour of greatest need as his friends succumbed to sleep rather than prevailing in prayer. As an aside, since Jesus was alone while praying and his disciples were sleeping, we must infer that he later taught all of this section of Scripture, otherwise there would be no record of it.

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Once more Jesus earnestly wrestles in prayer with the Father’s will for him to atone for the sin of the world. While earnestly making his pain and sorrow known to the Father, Jesus again submits his will to the Father’s, saying, “your will be done,” which is the deepest prayer anyone can ever pray; it reveals that we are indeed praying for God to move us rather than praying for us to move God.

And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

Despite rebukes, Jesus’ disciples again failed him, as each of his disciples has ever since. Nonetheless, Jesus prayed for the third time in preparation for his death.

Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Jesus was then betrayed by a kiss from Judas. This was in fulfillment of David’s prophecy given roughly a thousand years prior: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Ps. 41:9).

Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, falsely tried, and falsely condemned. Jesus was brutally flogged and flesh was ripped from his body. He suffered unspeakable agony. Jesus was crucified while people jeered him, cursed him, spat upon him, and mocked him for claiming to be a king, while blood flowed from his crown of thorns down his beaten body. Jesus then became our sin (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus was then not only abandoned by his friends, but also God the Father; God the Father turned his back on God the Son for the first and only time in all of human history. Jesus used his final breaths to pray for the forgiveness of sinners before committing his spirit to God the Father and breathing his last. The sequence of events leading up to the cross reveal to us that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him[,] endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2)

In closing, I want to stress eleven things we can learn from Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer, while admitting that there are innumerable other lessons we can learn in addition to these eleven. I pose them as points of prayerful heart examination, meditation, and discussion:

1. Do you pray to get from God or to get God?
2. Do you pray to move God or for God to move you?
3. Do you pray to get out of pain or through it?
4. Do you courageously punctuate your prayers with “your will be done”?
5. Do you pray out of holy or unholy depression?
6. Do you pray in faith that God is not the author of sin but is the author over sin?
7. Do you ask your friends to pray for you even if you know they will fail?
8. Do you pray to both hear and accept God’s will for your life?
9. Do you accept that God will answer your prayers with “yes,” “no,” or “later”?
10. Do you know that knowing God’s will is far easier than walking in it (Heb. 5:7–8)?
11. Do you know a godly wife who lives like Jesus prayed and who models godly prayer (1 Cor. 11:3)?

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once wrote: “Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and highest when, upon his knees, he comes face to face with God” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, [Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979], 45). This week in my sermon we examined the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus himself taught us how to pray:

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matt. 6:5–15)

Jesus prefaces his teaching on how we should pray by first telling us how we should not pray. While it may seem mean to some people, Jesus was pointedly clear that we should not look to religious people for lessons on prayer. Indeed, while some religions and religious people may seem very pious and serious in their praying, they are in fact praying for the benefit of an audience or a demon. Jesus is emphatic that religious prayer is repugnant to God. This is because religious prayer is performance for the approval of a human audience; it is heaping up empty phrases and big words into lengthy prayers as if God needs to be informed or compelled.

Conversely, Christian prayer is to be humble, simple, respectful, sincere, and relational. Furthermore, prayer includes both speaking to God and listening to God. By teaching us to pray, Jesus was clear that he was not teaching us what to pray, as if his words were to be repeated over and over like a pagan mantra. Rather, his prayer is a model of prayer that, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can learn from as our own prayer life matures.

We will now examine how the Lord’s Prayer moves from a focus on God to our needs and includes six types of prayer in this one prayer.

The Lord’s Prayer, Part 1 – God

1. Adoration

Our Father in heaven . . .

Jesus starts with the address, “Our Father in heaven” (v. 9; also see Luke 11:1–4, where the prayer simply begins with “Father”). “Our” links the praying person to other believers; while the prayer may be used in private, it is meant to be prayed in community, which means that it may have had a liturgical use from the beginning (though this, of course, does not mean that it cannot be profitably used in private prayer).

Jesus addressed God simply as “Father” (11:25; Mark 14:36; Luke 23:46; John 17:1), and taught his followers to do the same. When God is called “Father” in the Synoptic Gospels, the word is always on the lips of Jesus. This is not commonplace in ancient religion, but rather a new understanding of the nature of God Jesus taught his disciples. Addressing God as “Father” is distinctive because others, both Jews and Gentiles, even if they addressed God as “Father,” tended to begin their prayers with titles stressing God’s greatness, lordship, and the like. But, while the address expresses love and devotion, the one whom we call Father is at the same time supremely great, as the fact that he is “in heaven” reminds us (“God is in heaven, and you upon earth,” Eccl. 5:2). We should not miss the balance in this opening to the prayer. We address God intimately as Father, but we immediately recognize his infinite greatness with the addition of “in heaven.” (see Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew [Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1992], 143–144).

Importantly, Jesus tells us that an understanding that God is Dad is primary to prayer. In my opinion, this truth is the key to prayer. If we understand that God is Dad then we will naturally speak to him anytime about anything because we know we are loved, cared for, and safe with him. This fact also explains why we do not pray with people or like people of other religions who sadly do not know God as Dad.

2. Worship

. . . hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

The kingdoms of light and darkness are at war in this world and one day Dad’s kingdom will completely crush and replace the kingdom of Satan. Until that day, we are to pray for Dad’s kingdom to show up on the earth in such things as love, peace, racial unity, forgiveness, and generosity for all, especially the poor and marginalized. For that to happen, we must pray for our own will to align with Dad’s. We must be kingdom servants who do not just pray for Dad to do as we ask, but more importantly pray “your will be done” and trust whatever Dad would have as his will for our lives.

The Lord’s Prayer, Part 2 – Us

3. Provision

Give us this day our daily bread . . .

Some sadly think that prayer is solely spiritual business. But, we are whole people with integrated lives and Dad is happy for us to bring to him our physical needs for such things as food. As we do, it is important that we bring to Dad our needs and not our greeds. We also need to remember that we are not notifying him of information he is unaware of but rather discussing with him our needs in faith that he cares and will provide.

Indeed, our Dad cares about the little things and by praying to him for our needs we will grow to see that everything we have is a gift from his hand to be received with thanks. Furthermore, in praying for “our” daily bread, we are identifying ourselves with other Christian brothers and sisters, who have been adopted into Dad’s family thanks to the work of our Big Brother Jesus, and who also are in great need of provision in their lives.

4. Confession

. . . and forgive us our debts . . .

Confession is one prayer that Jesus never prayed because he never sinned. But he reminds us that sin (both omission and commission) accrues a debt to God. With Jesus as our redeemer, our spiritual debt is paid in full so that we can be fully forgiven of all sin, past, present, and future. Because our Dad is forgiving and because Jesus our Big Brother paid our debt, we need not trust in such religious efforts as reincarnation, works, or purgatory to pay off our debt. Rather, we can simply, humbly, and frequently confess our sins to one another and Dad.

5. Intercession

. . . as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Because Jesus paid our debt to God and opened a way for us to be forgiven, we extend that gospel grace to others by praying for those who have sinned against us and by forgiving them. This does not mean that we ignore, diminish, or even excuse their sin. Neither does it mean that we are automatically reconciled to them, because forgiveness takes one person but reconciliation takes two. Instead, forgiveness is where we refuse to become embittered and vengeful and prayerfully desire that even our enemies would experience Dad’s grace as we have, be changed by his love, and experience the power of forgiven sin.

6. Protection

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Satan, demons, sinners, and sin are real. The world is filled with temptation and evil. While we can and should pray to Dad for forgiveness when we sin, we should also pray to Dad offensively in advance, before temptation comes and evil lurks. Indeed, Dad never tempts us to sin (James 1:13–14), but in this prayer Jesus is saying that we should agree with Dad’s desire that we not follow temptation into evil.

We pray offensively because we know that we will be tempted like Jesus was (Heb. 4:15). As Craig Blomberg says,

“Lead us not into temptation” does not imply “don’t bring us to the place of temptation” or “don’t allow us to be tempted.” God’s Spirit has already done both of these with Jesus (4:1). Nor does the clause imply “don’t tempt us” because God has promised never to do that anyway (Jas 1:13). Rather, in light of the probable Aramaic underlying Jesus’ prayer, these words seem best taken as “don’t let us succumb to temptation” (cf. Mark 14:38) or “don’t abandon us to temptation.” We do of course periodically succumb to temptation but never because we have no alternative (1 Cor 10:13). So when we give in, we have only ourselves to blame. The second clause of v. 13 phrases the same plea positively, “Deliver us from evil” (or “from the evil one” [NIV marg.], from whom all evil ultimately comes). This parallelism renders less likely the alternate translation of the first clause as “do not bring us to the test” (“test” is an equally common rendering of peirasmos) either as times of trial in this life or as final judgment. If we are praying for rescue from the devil, he is more likely tempting than testing us (cf. under 4:1). God tests us in order to prove us and bring us to maturity (Jas 1:2–4; 1 Pet 1:6–9). Such tests should not be feared, nor should we pray for God to withhold them. (Craig Blomberg, Matthew, The New American Commentary [Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992], 120)

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Jesus reminds us that the main point of prayer is not to move Dad, but to change us. This allows us to be part of Dad’s plan for his will to be done on earth. It is foolish for us to pray for Dad’s name to be hallowed, Dad’s will to be done, sinners to be forgiven, people to be fed, and people to be led out of evil temptation if we ourselves are not willing to align ourselves with Dad and be part of the solution and an answer to someone else’s prayer. Indeed, God will even use us as his sons and daughters to forgive people, feed people, and lead them out of sin as answers to their prayers. In the end, prayer is about being like Dad and with Dad at work in the lives of others for his glory and our joy.

It is interesting and important to note that

Numerous late manuscripts add various forms of a conclusion to Jesus’ prayer, probably based on 1 Chr 29:11–13, no doubt to give the prayer a “proper” doxology that it otherwise lacked. This well-known conclusion (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”) appears in the NIV margin but almost certainly did not appear in Matthew’s original text. It is absent, e.g., from א, B, D, f1, various Latin and Coptic versions, and numerous church fathers. (Craig Blomberg, Matthew, The New American Commentary [Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992], 120–121)

For those wanting to study the Lord’s Prayer in greater depth, my friends at Crossway have published great little books by Philip Graham Ryken (The Prayer of Our Lord, 2007) and J. I. Packer (Praying the Lord’s Prayer, 2007) that will be helpful.

This blog is intended to supplement my sermon which is the first in a six part series called Pray Like Jesus. In coming weeks we will examine The Lords Prayer, the Gethsemane Prayer, and the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus.

In its’ broadest definition prayer is communicating with God. This can be done audibly as God hears our words, or silently as God knows our thoughts. And, because communication is two way, prayer can include both speaking to God and listening to God speak. Sometimes prayer moves the hand of God, but it often changes the hearts of men and women as in prayer we capture something of God’s heart and are brought into agreement with and trust in him.

While, there are times when we pray to God the Son (as Stephen did in Acts) or to the Holy Spirit, generally speaking prayer is Trinitarian. This means that Christian prayer is to Father, through the Son, by the presence and power of the indwelling Spirit. Furthermore, Jesus prayers are a glimpse into the loving communion found in the Trinity. And, our prayers as Christians are our participation in the life of the Trinity. Regarding Trinitarian prayer the following are examples of this biblical truth that prayer is:

To Father

• Mark 14:36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
•  Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Through Son

• 1 Timothy 2:5… there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

By Spirit

• Luke 10:21-22 “ he [Jesus] rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for as such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
• Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
• And in answer to Luke 11:1 where the disciples ask Jesus “Lord teach us to pray” Jesus says in Luke 11:13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Part One – Pray Like Jesus Taught

How should we pray?

Pray in faith

• Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
• Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Pray succinctly

• Matthew 6:6-7 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
• Mark 12:40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Pray in God’s will

• John 16:23-24 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Pray humbly

• Luke 18:8-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Pray fervently

• Luke 18:1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

What should we pray for?

Pray to forgive those who sin against you

• Mark 11:25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Pray for your needs

• Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Pray for evangelists & church planters

• Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Pray against temptation

• Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Part Two – Pray Like Jesus Prayed

When did Jesus pray?

Jesus prayed daily

• The Jews prayed the Shema of Deut. 6:4-5 daily and Jesus as a devout Jew would have done the same which explains why he could quote if freely from memory in Mark 12:29-30

Jesus prayed over meals

• Matthew 14:19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
• Mark 14:23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.
• Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Jesus prayed early

• Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Where did Jesus pray?

Jesus prayed publically

• Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened,
• John 11:41-42 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

Jesus prayed privately

• Mark 6:46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
• Luke 9:18 “… he was praying alone…”
• Luke 5:15-16 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Jesus prayed in a small group

• Luke 9:28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

Who did Jesus pray for?

Jesus prayed for his enemies

• Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
• Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Jesus prayed for his friends

• Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus prayed for children

• Matthew 19:13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

How did Jesus pray?

Jesus prayed Scripture

• Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means [Psalm 22:1], “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus prayed corporately

• Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day…
• Mark 11:17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

Jesus prayed long prayers

• Luke 6:12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.

Jesus prayed short prayers

• Mark 6:41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people.

Jesus prayed painful prayers

• John 12:27-28 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

Jesus prayed with his dying breath

• Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Jesus prayed thankful prayers

• Matthew 11:25-26 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

This summer God has graciously opened up some amazing opportunities for me to preach and learn around the nation and world. In July I am in and around London, England, and in August I am around Sydney, Australia. In addition, in 2008 I also will be preaching in multiple cities around the United States and most Sundays at Mars Hill Church.

/MarkDriscoll
The trips and related events have gotten quite complicated and so to help folks know where I will be we have put together all my speaking events at www.MarsHillChurch.org/markdriscoll. There you will be able to find out exactly where and when I am preaching. If you are able to join us, we’d love to have you. And, if you could help get the word out, it would be appreciated. Any new events will be promptly added there and the schedule will be constantly updated. Anyone wanting to have me preach at an event will find a speaking request form there that a team of elders and deacons from Mars Hill considers in light of my other responsibilities.

Traveling
On a related note, growing up in a working class home, with a construction worker dad, I did not even board an airplane for the first time until I was a teenager playing in a baseball tournament. I love seeing the world and learning a great deal from those I have the privilege of being hosted by. For me, this is all a humbling honor and if I’m honest at times a bit overwhelming. With stadiums upwards of 10,000 seats needing to be filled only weeks after guys like Chris Rock have headlined there—the pressure to preach the gospel faithfully is more intense than ever along with the spiritual warfare and physical/emotional toll.

Sinus Surgery
To make matters worse, my doctor has said that I need sinus surgery and can’t fit in the required weeks off until around Christmas. After some CT scans it has been determined that I have a deviated septum in my nose which is simply a genetic glitch that runs in my family. As a boy I also had some pretty severe allergies that included a lot of bloody noses, asthma, and the like. Today thanks to some dietary and environmental changes along with lots of vitamins things are better. But, the air circulation in my sinuses from the deviated septum and scar tissue build up from my boyhood mean my air flow is very poor. And, when I get any kind of sinus infection or cold it immediately becomes quite severe and I am unable to breathe. This makes preaching on the pace that my ministry requires quite difficult, and puts a very intense strain on my voice when I am sick. Some weeks my throat is subsequently in rough shape as it is now after pushing through an audio book, preaching at Mars Hill, and a day packed with television and radio interviews in Atlanta all in the course of a week with clogged sinuses.

Please Pray for Me
And, the trips for me are bittersweet. I love preaching the gospel, I love seeing the world, I love seeing people get saved, I love meeting people who tune in online, I love meeting young guys going into ministry, and I love meeting movement leaders who teach me so much in our times together over meals on the road. But, I also get pretty bummed being away from my wife Grace and our 5 children on the longer trips as I really enjoy being with my family. The thought of not seeing two year old Gideon and his ridiculous white boy dance moves, reading Bible stories to four year old Alexie, playing catch with six year old Calvin and eight year old Zac, or snuggling up to chat with ten year old Ashley—not to mention my wife is rough. So, if anyone thinks about it praying I keep connected to my family and get through the international trips without getting sick so I can preach the gospel at full strength it would be appreciated.

Something has gone terribly wrong with the world. Everyone who has ever hoped in a politician, gotten sick, wept at injustice, become angry at evil, tried to help someone, or just felt like giving up knows it and despite all the wars that have been fought, money that has been spent, and good works done in the history of the world sin, death, evil, tyranny, sickness, poverty and the like continue to reign and will to varying degrees until the Kingdom of God is fully established on the earth.

In the Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe series week 3 we studied how God made the heavens and the earth in perfection, and in week 4 we studied how God made us male and female in his image and likeness. In week 5 we studied how sin has stained, tainted, marred, and affected all of creation – every person and thing that is made. In weeks 7-9 we then studied how God came into history as the man Jesus Christ to defeat sin at the cross and triumph over it through his resurrection to usher in a new world through his victory. This week, as the final sermon in the Doctrine series, we will study the kingdom of God.

In so doing, you will see that the Bible is in many ways a beginning – middle – beginning story. Unlike many of our western stories told in beginning – middle – end fashion, the Bible is more eastern in its storyline. As we have traced the storyline of the Bible to its culmination in God’s eternal kingdom we see that the story begins Genesis with God creating in perfection, human beings sinning against God, humanity and creation suffering the effects of sin, and God punishing sin which includes casting sinners away from the tree of life, and pursuing sinners in love. In the closing chapters of Revelation which conclude the Bible we see God’s final judgment upon sinners, final cleansing of all creation from the effects of sin, and God renewing and expanding his creation intentions with humans receiving resurrected glorified bodies patterned after Jesus, a new heaven, a new earth, and the return of the tree of life.

To better understand the Kingdom we will answer some of the more common questions regarding it.

What are some false views of the afterlife?

There are many false views of the afterlife with contradict the Bible’s teaching about the kingdom. While each could merit more lengthy study, for the purpose of brevity I will explain each briefly.

Universalism teaches that in the end, everyone will wind up in heaven forever and that no one will spend eternity in hell. Annilationism teaches that no one will spend forever in hell as in the end they will simply cease to exist at some point following death. But Daniel 12:2 refutes both saying, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Simply, Daniel says that Christians will be in heaven just as long as non-Christians will be in hell; forever. Furthermore, Jesus speaks of hell more than anyone else in the Bible and is clear that not everyone will be saved when speaking of the eternal life he offers as a narrow path on which few travel and narrow gate through which few pass.

Both reincarnation and purgatory say that there is further opportunity for salvation following death. Hebrews 9:27 refutes both possibilities saying “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…”

“Soul Sleep” is the teaching that following death our body and soul both lie dormant until the resurrection of the dead. Philippians 1:21-23 refutes this by saying, “For to me _to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and _be with Christ, for that is far better.”

Lastly, perhaps the most commonly held false view of the afterlife is that we will never again occupy physical bodies and live a physical existence. This is perhaps most commonly seen as the cartoon picture of heaven where people sit around on cottony clouds in diapers with little wings strumming little harps which seems more hellish than heavenly.

The Bible teaches that we are both material body and immaterial soul that are united in this life. For Christians, following death the body and soul are separated so that while our body rests in the grave our soul goes to be with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8). One day the body and soul of Christians will be rejoined upon our resurrection patterned after Jesus resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). For non-Christians, following this life their body rests in the grave while their soul goes to a place of just punishment called Hades where conscious eternal torment is experienced until their body and soul are rejoined for final sentencing into the endless pain of hell (Revelation 20:13-14). Jesus speaks of the fact that all people will rise for a physical eternal life in John 5:;25-29 saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

Who is the king?

Because a kingdom is equivalent to the jurisdiction to the rule of a king, before proceeding to examine the Kingdom we must first establish who the King is. Of course, the King is Jesus. It as prophesied of him in Genesis 49:10 that he would rule with a king’s _scepter, in Matthew 21:25 we read of Jesus coming as the humble King writing a donkey, and when his enemies pressed a crown of thorns into his head they were in fact revealing the truth despite their mockery. Following his resurrection and ascension to heaven Jesus is revealed throughout Revelation to be seated upon a throne ruling and reigning as sovereign Lord over all creation. And, in Revelation 17:14 we read of Jesus crushing of all other enemy kinds and kingdoms saying, “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

Richard Bauckham describes the theocentric vision of heaven depicted in Revelation 5: “In this worship of God and the Lamb by the whole creation (Revelation 5:13) the eschatological goal of God’s purpose for His creation is already anticipated. Appropriately, therefore, the living creatures, who continually express creation’s worship with this goal in view, join their own ‘Amen!’ to it when the goal is reached. (5:14). It is worth noticing how far from anthropocentric is this vision of worship. Humanity is radically displaced from the center of things where human beings naturally tend to place themselves. At its heart and in its eschatological goal the creation is theocentric, orientated in worship towards its Creator.” (Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 33.) Simply, the vision of the closing book of the Bible is Jesus as King ruling over all creation and receiving all glory.

What is God’s kingdom?

Sadly, some poor teachers are prone to reduce the kingdom of God to simply good works done to help the poor and needy, or merely the Christian church. The kingdom of God includes the church, and the church is commanded in Scripture to do good works and help those in need as demonstrations of gospel grace and mercy. But, the kingdom is bigger than aspects of the kingdom such as these.  
Dr. Gerry Breshears and I deal with this issue in our forthcoming book Vintage Church due for release at the end of January and available for presale at Re:Lit  and the following is a quote from that yet unfinished manuscript that is undergoing editorial revision,

“In recent years many theologians have come to a consensus that the kingdom is to be thought of as the reign of God and the exercise of his authority. The church, by contrast, is a realm of God, the people who are under his rule. George Eldon Ladd, a leader in forging the consensus, says, “The church is the community of the Kingdom but never the Kingdom itself.” (George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans; Revised Edition, 1993, p. 109.) This consensus is called inaugurated eschatology, the idea that the kingdom is both here now in some senses and still to come in its fullness.
Some connect church and kingdom too closely, believing the kingdom is here in its fullness now. This is called an over realized eschatology which virtually identify kingdom and church as many Roman Catholics and some amillennialists do. Others see the kingdom exclusively future, something Jesus will establish when he returns. This is an under realized eschatology which disconnects kingdom and church completely as in older dispensational premillennialism.
God’s kingdom work is the dynamic activity of the sovereign, triune God to manifest His authority in His sin-alienated creation, by redeeming it from the domain of evil, judging all enemies, and bestowing the blessings of His reign on and through His people to the praise of His glory. The relation between kingdom and church can be summarized in a seven basic points:

1. Jesus, who came as king, inaugurated his kingdom in the New Covenant (Acts 2:16-21) and in the Church (Acts 2:41-47).
2. Jesus spoke of a coming kingdom (Mark 13; Luke 19:12-27; 21:5-38; Acts 1:6-7)
3. Jesus is now in heaven as anointed king; He will appear as reigning king (Acts 3:20-21; 13:33-41)
4. Believers are faithful members of the present and coming kingdom (John 14:14-16; Rom. 8:19-21; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Phil. 3:20; 1 Pet. 2:11)
5. The church witnesses to the present and coming kingdom (Acts 1:3-8; 8:12; 19:8; 28:23, 31).
6. Church is an outpost, a parable, a forerunner, the first fruit of the coming kingdom
7. The church does battle against the kingdom of darkness using the weapons of Light (Rom. 13:12; 2 Cor. 6:7; 10:4-5; Eph. 6:10-20; 1 Thess. 5:8)

Practically, this world still has sin, sinners, the devil and demons, but does not yet have Jesus ruling on the earth with a rod of iron (Psalm 2:9: Revelation 2:26; 12:5; 19:15). Subsequently, a naively optimistic over realized eschatology that thinks we can fix all of the world’s problems and usher in utopia is an extreme error. Conversely a gloomy pessimistic under realized eschatology that thinks we can’t make a difference in the world as the church by the power of the gospel is also an extreme error. This tension of the kingdom being already present in the church but not yet fully unveiled with the return of Jesus allows us to labor in hope until he returns by working on both the spiritual and physical needs of people which includes caring for the whole person including their food, shelter, education, water, clothing, etc. “
According to the Tyndale Bible Dictionary the Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven as it is sometimes referred to in Scripture) is,
The sovereign rule of God, initiated by Christ’s earthly ministry and consummated when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rv 11:15).
According to the testimony of the first three Gospels, the proclamation of the kingdom of God was Jesus’ central message. Matthew summarizes the Galilean ministry with the words “Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom” (Mt 4:23, nlt). The Sermon on the Mount is concerned with the righteousness that qualifies people to enter the kingdom of God (5:20). The collection of parables in Matthew 13 and Mark 4 illustrate the “mystery” of the kingdom of God (Mt 13:11; Mk 4:11). The establishment of the Lord’s Supper looks forward to the establishment of the kingdom of God (Mt 26:29; Mk 14:25).
The NT reports two different forms of the expression: “the kingdom of God” and “the kingdom of the heavens.” The latter is found only in Matthew, but Matthew also has “the kingdom of God” four times (Mt 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43). “The kingdom of heaven” is a Semitic phrase that would have been meaningful to Jews but not to Greeks. The Jews, out of reverence for God, avoided uttering the divine name, and contemporary literature gives examples of substituting the word “heaven” for God (1 Macc 3:18, 50; 4:10; see Lk 15:18).
The key to an understanding of the kingdom of God is that the basic meaning of the Greek word basileia, as also of the Hebrew malkut, is rule, reign, dominion. We frequently find in the OT the expression “in the year of the kingdom of …,” meaning in the year of the reign of a given king (e.g., 1 Chr 26:31; 2 Chr 3:2; 15:10; Ezr 7:1; 8:1; Est 2:16; Jer 10:7; 52:31). When we read that Solomon’s kingdom was firmly established (1 Kgs 2:12), we are to understand that his authority to reign was settled. To “turn the kingdom of Saul over to [David]” (1 Chr 12:23, kjv) indicates that the authority that had been Saul’s was given to David. As a result of having received legal authority, David became king. This abstract idea of malkut is evident when it is found in parallelisms with such ideas as power, might, glory, and dominion (Dn 4:34; 7:14).
When malkut is used of God, it almost always refers to his authority or to his rule as the heavenly King. “They will talk together about the glory of your kingdom; they will celebrate examples of your power …. For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule generation after generation” (Ps 145:11, 13, nlt).
Further, if a king rules, there must be a realm or sphere over which he reigns. This is also called malkut. “So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about” (2 Chr 20:30, rsv; see Est 3:6; Jer 10:7; Dn 9:1; 11:9).
This same twofold use of basileia is found in the NT. In fact, basileia could be translated by the expression “kingly power” in Luke 23:42 (niv mg) and by “kingship” in John 18:36. When a nobleman went into a far country to get a “kingdom” (Luke 19:12, nasb) he went to the governing authority to get an appointment as king. When Jesus said, “My kingship is not of this world” (Jn 18:36, rsv), he did not mean to say that his rule has nothing to do with the world but rather that his kingship—his dominion—does not come from man but from God. Therefore, he rejects the use of worldly fighting to gain his ends.
This central meaning of basileia makes it easy to understand many sayings in the Gospels. In the Lord’s Prayer the petition “Thy kingdom come” (Mt 6:10) is a prayer for God to manifest his reign so that his will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we read that we are to “receive the kingdom of God like a child” (Mk 10:15, rsv), we must open our hearts and lives to the rule of God.
Also in the NT are sayings about being in the kingdom or of entering the kingdom (Mt 8:11; Mk 9:47; 10:23–25; Lk 13:28). There is no philological or theological objection to understanding “the kingdom of God” first as the divine reign or rule and second as the sphere of blessing in which that reign is experienced.
Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale reference library (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001). 775.

How is God’s kingdom manifest in hell?

Jesus speaks of hell more than anyone else in the Bible. Furthermore, eleven of the twelve occasions that hell is spoken of as Gehenna in the New Testament are on the lips of Jesus.

The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible explains Gehenna saying,

English transliteration of the Greek form of an Aramaic word which in turn is derived from the Hebrew phrase “the Valley of [the son(s) of] Hinnom.” The name properly designates a deep valley delimiting the territories of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah (Jos 15:8; 18:16). It is commonly identified with the W?di er-Rab?bi which runs from beneath the western wall of the Old City, forming a deep ravine south of Jerusalem.
The place became notorious because of the idolatrous practices which were carried out there in the days of Judah’s kings Ahaz and Manasseh, especially involving the heinous crime of infant sacrifice associated with the Molech ceremonies (2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6; 2 Chr 28:3; 33:6; Jer 19:56; 32:35). The spiritual reformation of King Josiah brought an end to these sinister proceedings (2 Kgs 23:10). The prophet Jeremiah referred to the valley in picturing God’s judgment upon his people (Jer 2:23; 7:30–32; 19:5, 6)…
Subsequently, the valley appears to have been used for the burning of the city’s refuse and the dead bodies of criminals. Interestingly, a well-established tradition locates the scene of Judas’ suicide and the consequent purchase of the Potter’s Field on the south side of this valley.
The ravine’s reputation for extreme wickedness gave rise, especially during the intertestamental period, to use of its name as a term for the place of final punishment for the wicked (Enoch 18:11–16; 27:1–3; 54:1 ff.; 56:3, 4; 90:26; 2 Esd 7:36; cf. Is 30:33; 66:24; Dn 7:10). Jesus himself utilizes the term to designate the final abode of the unrepentant wicked (Mt 5:22; 10:28; 18:9). Since Gehenna is a fiery abyss (Mk 9:43), it is also the Lake of Fire (Mt 13:42, 50) to which all the godless will ultimately be consigned (23:15, 33), together with Satan and his hosts (Mt 25:41; Rv 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15).
Gehenna must be carefully differentiated from other terms relative to the afterlife or final state. Whereas the OT “Sheol” (cf. NT “Hades”), uniformly designates the temporary abode of the lost between death and resurrection when referring to the place of the departed spirit of man, “Gehenna” specifies the final place where the wicked will suffer everlasting punishment (cf. Ps 49:15, 16 with Mt 10:28). “Tartarus” occurs only in 2 Peter 2:4 and identifies the particular abode of the angels who fell in the primeval satanic revolt.

(Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1988). 844)

Wayne Grudem defines hell as follows: “Hell is a place of eternal conscious punishment for the wicked.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 1148.) Grudem also observes that the denial of the traditional view of hell often indicates a movement away from orthodoxy. “Because the doctrine of eternal conscious punishment is so foreign to the thought patterns of our culture, and, on a deeper level, to our instinctive and God-given sense of love and desire for redemption for every human being created in God’s image, this doctrine is emotionally one of the most difficult doctrines for Christians to affirm today. It also tends to be one of the first doctrines given up to people who are moving away from a commitment to the Bible as absolutely truthful in all that it affirms. Among liberal theologians who do not accept the absolute truthfulness of the Bible, there is probably no one today who believes in the doctrine eternal conscious punishment.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 1151, n. 16.)

In the closing chapter of our book Vintage Jesus Dr. Gerry Breshears and I spoke of hell in this way:

Not only will Jesus judge with perfect justice, he will also sentence the unrepentant to perfectly suited punishment in hell for their sins. (Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 12:36; Luke 12:2–3, 47–48; 20:47; Rom. 2:5–7; Rev. 20:12–13) Some who wince at the doctrine and find it incompatible with the loving nature of Jesus may be surprised to discover that Jesus spoke of hell more than anyone in Scripture. (Matt. 8:11–12, 29; 13:40–42; 18:8–9; 22:13; 24:50–51; 25:30, 41, 46; Mark 9:43–48; Luke 12:46–48; 16:19–31)  In fact, British philosopher Bertrand Russell said, “There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.” (Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1957), 17) Tragically, unless he turned to Jesus before his death, Russell came to agree with Jesus, discovering in the most painful way that Jesus rules even in hell, over Satan, demons, and unrepentant sinners…(Rev. 14:9–11)
God is literally holy, we are literally sinful, Jesus literally died to forgive our sin, and if we fail to receive his forgiveness, we will literally stand before him for judgment and be sentenced to a literal hell as an act of literal justice. To be honest, the doctrine of hell does not bother me. It makes perfect sense that guilty people would be sentenced and punished for their evil. What has always bothered me is heaven. How could a holy God allow any sinner to enter heaven? Furthermore, how could a loving God allow evil to continue without stopping it forever and bringing justice to all of the victims before wiping all their tears? Indeed, the joys of heaven and not the pains of hell are more difficult for me to reconcile with the character of a good God. The cold, hard truth is that for those who do not love Jesus, this life is as close to heaven as they will ever get. Hell awaits them.

Lastly, perhaps the most haunting verse regarding hell in all of Scripture is Revelation 14:10 which shows Jesus ruling and reigning over hell ensuring that Satan, demons, and sinners are punished as Scripture says “according to their work.”

How is God’s kingdom manifest in heaven?

Both Revelation and Romans 8 speaks of the day when, finally and forever, the curse and its effects will be no more. Instead, following the resurrection of the dead there will be a new heaven and a new earth for God’s people to dwell in together forever as God’s physical heavenly kingdom.

The Tyndale Bible Dictionary speaks of the new heavens and the new earth saying it is,

“…first found in the book of Isaiah. God declares, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind …. For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me … so shall your descendants and your name remain” (Is 65:17; 66:22, rsv)…
That God is Creator of the heavens and earth is basic to all biblical theology. “In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands” (Ps 102:25, nlt). If God created the heavens and earth, then it is entirely appropriate that, once they have served their purpose, God may do with them what he wishes. “Even they will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will fade away” (v 26, nlt). The same metaphor is found in Isaiah 51:6, which speaks of the earth wearing out like a garment.
Scripture (quoted below from the nlt) gives considerable attention to the passing away of the old order, speaking of a future time when heaven and earth will disappear (Is 34:4; 51:6; Mt 24:35; Rv 21:1). A number of related phrases portray the same idea: “And this world is fading away” (1 Jn 2:17); “They [the heavens and earth] will wear out like old clothing” (Heb 1:11; cf. Ps 102:26; Is 51:6); “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment” (2 Pt 3:10). This consummation by fire will take place at the time of final judgment. It will be “the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames” (v 12).
This judgment, which brings to a close the old order, clears the way for new heavens and a new earth. Peter continues, “But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God” (2 Pt 3:13). It will be so wonderful that no one will even remember the old (Is 65:17). Peter, preaching in Solomon’s Colonnade, says that Jesus will remain in heaven until the time comes for establishing all that God spoke by his holy prophets (Acts 3:21). This recovery or renewal is eagerly awaited by the created order. Paul writes, “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are” (Rom 8:19) because “all creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay” (v 21).
The heaven that will be renewed is not the heaven of God’s presence, but the heaven of human existence, the starry expanse that constitutes the universe. In the book of Revelation we learn that the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven to earth (Rv 21:2, 10) and forms the eternal dwelling place of God and his people. The new earth will be a place of perfect righteousness (Is 51:6), divine kindness (54:10), eternal relationship to God (66:22), and total freedom from sin (Rom 8:21).

Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale reference library (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001). 949.

Beautifully, the Bible ends with God’s purposes for creation satisfied and expanded. Together forever with him in joy by grace is the resurrected kingdom longing of all who trust in Jesus.

Well, right now I’m in the air between Colorado and Atlanta in an airplane perhaps practicing for the rapture one day. I just got finished with a few day retreat in Vail with the Acts 29 church planters and their wives. I want to thank the folks at Mars Hill for covering the expenses for the retreat for nearly 100 church planters and their wives. Mars Hill has always given 10% of our offerings to church planting and this retreat is part of that support. The young couples I spoke to were exceedingly grateful. Most of the pastors wives are young women who are pregnant and/or already have young children and being married to a church planter means there is a great deal of stress on their family combined with little financial and emotional support. It is a humbling honor to serve young pastors and their wives, including allowing them to enjoy a paid retreat together to grow in their love with one another and friendships with fellow pastoral couples.

Thankfully, my wife Grace joined me for the trip which is a treat as I don’t get to travel much with her now that we’ve got five kids. We flew into Denver and made the few hour drive to and from Vail in a convertible with the top down. Grace is so cute I still find myself driving off the road because, despite twenty years together, I just have to see her eyes dance when she smiles. One of the many reasons I knew Grace (aka Beauty) was the girl for me when we first men over 20 years ago is that I simply love her presence. Being a bit of an introvert, I find that people and crowds drain me and that silence and solitude renews me. The exception has always been Grace and having a few days with her was refreshing. One day when our kids are grown she’ll travel with me all the time and while we love the season we are in that one looks promising as well.

The retreat was great and it was fun to connect with some couples we deeply love and respect. The only glitch was something called altitude sickness. Being, 8,500 feet in the air gave me a ripping headache and some nausea. One of the pregnant women diagnosed me as perhaps being in my first trimester.

The most curious part of the trip was some elderly guru dude walking around our retreat center in a bright colored robe and a turban. I’m not sure who he was, but a bunch of old white guys in white robes with pony tails who looked like they really grooved on the sixties kept kneeling in front of him and bowing in reverence. It was an interesting contrast to our church planters retreat where men and their wives simply hung out as friends and none of us are regarded as any kind of guru as Jesus is the only dude we’ll bend our knee to in worshipful reverence. All Christians are just loving members of God’s family by grace. I’m glad I get to worship Jesus who is humble enough to serve and not some sinner dude who makes me wear a white dress and spend lots of time at his feet which are plodding a path to hell.

Tomorrow I have a few television interviews in Atlanta with a show called Wretched and another with In Touch Ministries. I think we’ll be discussing the book Vintage Jesus and if the footage can be put on the net for free we’ll let you know where to find it. If you think about it, pray I don’t pull a Charlie Brown and fail to get my foot on the ball.

It’s been a good but tiring trip and I’m really looking forward to being home to snuggle with my kids and see my eight year old son Zac in his baseball all star tournament this weekend. He’s a natural lefty and great ballplayer despite the fact that he has to grow up rooting for the Seattle Mariners which, if charged with being a major league baseball team, would have the case thrown out of court because there would not be enough evidence to convict.