BALANCE

Balance

From tightrope walking to finances it is always good to have a proper balance. When kids my heavier big brother would leave me teetering on high on the teeter totter. Seesaws work better when equal weights are on opposite ends. Then there is Jesus. Some deny that He is human. Says the Apostle John, ‘By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.’ 1 John 4:2-3a.

Loch Lomond

And others deny that He is God. Writes John, ‘The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’ However, true Christianity is well-balanced in that it confesses that Jesus is both God and Man. This is where we need to be careful. Jesus is not two persons. Jesus is one divine Person with two natures forever. His God-nature does not sit on one end of the seesaw leaving His human-nature teetering in the air. Rather, each of His two natures is distinct from the other. A couple of examples? As a human being He cannot be in two places at once, but as God He can. As a human He cannot know all things, but as God He can. If you are struggling to understand how the same Person cannot be everywhere and know everything at once, then it might help you to understand some of the differences between God and man.

God made man in His own image. We did not make God in our own image. We cannot imagine a being who is omniscient and omnipresent. It did not please God to share these two of His attributes with His image. Thus a human being cannot know everything or be everywhere at once. As God’s likeness man is creative. But God alone is the Creator. He is the Creator because He alone is omnipotent. The Almighty spoke creation into being from nothing at its beginning.

Jesus is God because, before He became Man, He was the Word through which He and the Father made all things by Their Spirit: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.’ John 1:1-3 (cf. Genesis 1:1-3). It was this eternal being, (i.e., the Middle Person in the Trinity), who became also a Man. John says, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ John 1:14a.

The following is a lengthy but accurate description of what the Bible has to say about the Word becoming flesh. ‘The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon Him man’s nature, with all the essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God, and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man.’ Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 8 paragraph 2.

If you keep the two natures of Christ in balance you will develop a well-balanced view of God and what human beings are supposed to be like. In turn this will result in you developing a well-balanced theology, cosmology, and anthropology.

PETS & Other Contemplations

Excerpted from my eBook: PETS & Other Contemplations - Purchase at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B084NT5GN3/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=neil+cullan+mckinlay&qid=1581396701&sr=8-2

Pets

I wrote the following verse of Scripture inside the flyleaf of the first Bible I ever purchased after being converted to Christianity, ‘Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?’ Job 38:41. This verse touched something inside of me. I had a pet crow when I was young. We used to do everything together as I’d play on the hills and in the woods overlooking Loch Lomond. I raised it by hand after it had been orphaned and I had found it wandering around. I would feed him. Not quite as exotic as Long John Silver’s parrot, but he would sit on my shoulder. Occasionally, he would sit on the back of my Border Collie/Labrador cross and peck the back of his head while he held onto the dog’s collar. Pets are wonderful when you are young and when you are older. I remember how difficult it was to have our sixteen-year-old blind, deaf and incontinent Sydney Silky Terrier put down. My wife and I were reduced to tears at the vet’s.

When we think of pets in Scripture, we immediately turn the parable the Prophet Nathan told David when he was having an adulterous affair with a woman whose husband he just had killed. The parable was about a rich man and a poor man. ‘The poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.’ 2 Samuel 12:3. The rich man, who had flocks of sheep of his own, took the poor man’s pet lamb and slaughtered it to feed a visiting traveller. Unknown to David until he was ‘sprung’, the picture was that of David with all his kingdom and all his wives taking poor Uriah’s wife. David as it were hanged himself when he responded to the parable in anger, ‘As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.’ 2 Samuel 5b-6. How must the family have felt who had lost their pet in this way? How must the Father have felt when the Lamb of God was taken by evil hands and slain by an adulterous generation?

 The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus accomplished what the Bible calls ‘the times of restoration of all things’ (Acts 3:21a). The climax of these times when ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Revelation 21:4. Are our dead pets included in the restoration? First off, notice that it is God who is going to restore fourfold, not us. That’s grace! But what about my pet crow? What about all the pet dogs I ever owned? Pet goldfish? Pigeons by the score? Budgies? et al. What about all the beautiful paintings and works of art that have been lost over the centuries for that matter? The bottom line is that the devil will have no victory!

Sure, unlike humans who have been made in the image of God, animals wild or domesticated are not souls. However, ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the work of the devil’ 1 John 3:8. The Son of God has destroyed the works of the devil, but has the devil destroyed the works of the Son of God? No! For surely it all will be restored on the Last Day. We know that there will be animals dwelling with us on the (re)new(ed) earth. Why not our pets too? For ‘Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?’

RUNNING, SHOES, & BEER

RUNNING, SHOES, & BEER

Running Back & Forth from Glasgow & Brisbane (with Beer at the Finish)

Warning: Some of the following is written in Glaswegian, but don’t let that stop you from having a wee laugh!

Warner Lakes Parkrun, Brisbane

Stuart McKinlay: You've all heard the great advertizing slogan, The Appliance of Science...Neil pushes the boundaries beyond the limits of known human endeavour folks, slipping the surly slipstreams of earthbound physics, breaching the tawdry limits of yon numpty Newton, outwitting the havers of that auld dodderer Einstein, bursting forth from the havers of Hawking... Ladeez 'n'Genlmuns... We gives you the veritable, the unquestionable, the ineluctable Warp-Factor-Bustin Actual Defiance of Science in the Pavement Pounding Person of...the Warner Lakes Whirlwind!!!

Neil McKinlay: I like it – the Warner Lakes Whirlwind!

Alf Tupper, Tough of the Track

Stuart McKinlay: Life in the fast lane: And here he is, Neil's flamboyant prowess illustrated in the shape of Alf Tupper, a working-class, "hard as nails" hero. The inspirational lookalike's adventures were run under the title Tough of the Track, which appeared first in the Rover and then the Victor boys comics. Neil, Canadian-born, and living in Brisbane, was brought up in Vale of Leven, Scotland. Some say Alf's the spittin' image of our Warner Lakes Whirlwind.

Vale of Leven is also home to Lachie Stewart, a fellow star of the track. Stewart, a former distance runner, is an inductee in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. Stewart's athletic career saw him compete at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he won Gold in the 10,000 meters over Ron Clarke of Australia, and the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

C'mon the Vale! as they say in Balloch where Loch Lomond's only outlet, the River Leven, flows into the River Clyde, not only famous for Neil and Lachie, but for shipbuilding, engineering and marine design. Some say it's the pure water that does it, others say it's the Scotch. You'll have to ask Neil!

Neil McKinlay: This Toff of the Track believes that one ought never to mix whisky with water. Mind you, a dash of H2O from Loch Lomond in one’s single malt to bring out the flavonoids is permissible if under a great deal of duress. Otherwise neat nips (sans glace) are what the doctor ordered, but only for medicinal purposes.

Stuart McKinlay: ... and doon in a wanner for efficacious purposes.

Neil McKinlay: From skulling boats to skulling beer, you were the best!

Stuart McKinlay: Tho' thon Thorfinn Skullsplitter fae the Ranton could fair knock one's eyes oot.

Neil McKinlay: Thon sounds like a psycho Viking berserker! A wee drap o vordo and it would be busted heids an pool cues fae him, then barred fae the Kind Man. Somehow it reminds me of thon Norseman Lager they tried to foist on us back in the glorious 70s. But then again, as they say here in Brisbane, “It’s better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick”. Or as they used to say in Winterpeg, “It’s better than a kick with a wet mukluk”, but mibbe no.

Stuart McKinlay: Thank you Professor Gargle. We are indebted for your global analysis and look forward to your definitive guide Glugging Through A Glass Darkly.

Stuart & Neil

Neil McKinlay: The world is my oxter, even if I view it through bottom of a dirty whisky glass. From the distillation of the parochial to the cosmopolitan, the descending and condensing dew of it all ends up in the one shot glass. Aye, I toast God’s green earth with a view of the Glasshouse Mountains and a teary reminder of the dearly departed Ben Lomond.

Stuart McKinlay: Aye, t'wid bring a tear tae a glesh eye, the wanton loss o' the angels' share, a right waste, and yer right aboot thon Norseman lager, an aerated gripewater that'd fair gar ye grue, but no better at aw than "a kick with a wet mukluk" at aw, at aw. Which could have been the basis of an advertising slogan for the drain-gurgler, noo ye mention it, along the lines a' Ye've tried industrial waste, Noo try the baist, Norseman Mukluk -- Fair diz yer heid in pal!

Neil McKinlay: Ye’ve tried drinking oot o a wummin’s shoe? Well, that’s for sissies and big girl’s blouses. Ca’ yersel a Scotsman? Man up noo, and try a swally fae a big sweaty Viking’s brogue. Bet ye wulnae. Yeez ur aw pansies! I can just see the sales generated for “Viking Mukluk” craft beer from this type of marketing and advertising program. It will appeal especially to those who are grieving from the wanton loss of the angels’ share. Aye, “Ye’ve tried industrial waste, Noo try the baist, Norseman Mukluk!” We’re on to a winner here Stuart. I can feel it in my waters.

Stuart McKinlay: Exemplary marketing. We could trial it with a Moody Blue sort of wistful double-vision hame-fae-the-pub crooner: Oh, Wummin's Shoe/ Tell me who Ah'm talkin' to / Yoor like night an' day / Annit's hard tae shay / Which wan is yous...

Neil McKinlay: Aye, sung tae the tune of the auld Esso Blue “Smoke gets in your eyes” advert. Try this:
They asked me how I knew / It wis Wummin’s Shoe / Ah of coorse replied / Unlike foreign beers ye buy / This wan‘s fae Milngavie.

Wummin’s Shoe, the brew that goes straight tae yer heid like a wummin’s stiletto at a waddin fecht.
Norseman’s Mukluk, the brew that tastes better than a kick tae the heid.
Wummin’s Shoe is good for the sole.
Wade ashore with a Norseman’s Mukluk.
Wummin’s Shoe, the Cinderella of beers.
Norseman’s Mukluk, brace yersel, the long sips are coming!
Wummin’s Shoe, try one on!
Norseman’s Mukluk will be very much to your viking!
Wummin’s Shoe & Norseman’s Mukluk: a matchless pair.

THE PIETY OF JOHN WITHERSPOON - Review

THE PIETY OF JOHN WITHERSPOON: Pew, Pulpit, and Public Forum

L. Gordon Tait, Geneva Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 2001, paperback, 256 pages

Without knowing anything about the author, L. Gordon Tait, I purchased his The Piety of John Witherspoon.

Tait really knows his subject, and through a plethora of quotes from Witherspoon I got to learn something about the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. For that I thank L. Gordon Tait.

Witherspoon was brought over to America from his native Scotland to become Principal of, what was to become, the famous Princeton University. Through his lectures Witherspoon had a great influence on the American Revolution and the subsequent founding of the Republic. One of his students was James Madison, primary author of the Constitution. “Another of Witherspoon’s postgraduate students was James Madison, who studied Old Testament Hebrew with Witherspoon after graduating in 1771.” p. 120.

As the title boldly suggests, the book is about the piety of John Witherspoon. This may be summed up in the verse of Scripture, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” Luke 10:27. Apparently Witherspoon’s application of these first and second commandments was down to earth. “If Witherspoon’s piety was theological – and evangelical – it was also practical.” p. 182.

“Another way Witherspoon made piety practical, for his people an for us today, is in his solid conviction that politics had to rest on the bedrock of virtue, and virtue, in turn, upon religion. Put simply, free and honorable government must be built on a solid moral base. Of course, others in the eighteenth century besides Witherspoon held this truth to be inviolable. No less a personage than George Washington affirmed the connection between politics of integrity and vital religion.” p. 185.

Witherspoon, as a Presbyterian, subscribed to the Westminster Confession of Faith  and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms.

He was no extreme pietist or stay at home recluse. In America, “In 1774, John Adams sampled some of Witherspoon’s wine on his visit to Princeton.” p. 130. And previously in Scotland, “Collins reported that ‘[Witherspoon] had the reputation of being the best [ice] curler that Beith had ever seen,’ and even today the researcher can find manuscripts reporting two incidents revolving around Witherspoon’s curling activities on Lochwinnoch ice near Beith.” p. 131.

I found myself warming to John Witherspoon as Tait showed me the character of the man. This is a good book and worth taking time to read. However, I need to offer the following caveat. Be discerning. I found the author here and there to be jarring with some of his comments.

I’ll supply a couple of examples with my own comments on them:

1.      “I need to say a word about inclusive language. As much as possible I will avoid using “Father” and male pronouns with reference to God…” p. xvi.

“Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name…” is the way I learned to say the prayer Jesus taught us. How about you? Sure, I’m happy enough with the more modern translation of the New Testament Greek, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” Matthew 6:9b. However, I’m not happy to use something other than “Father” (Gr. pater) because this is what Jesus taught us. The Bible, especially the New Testament, is choc full of verses in which God is referred to as “Father”. Therefore, I would much prefer to follow the Bible than try to “avoid using 'Father' and male pronouns with reference to God.” Yes, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24a) and therefore is neither male or female, but if God has chosen to reveal Himself to us and to have us be baptised “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, then so be it!  

2.      “Witherspoon was following closely the teaching of the [Westminster] Confession [of Faith] on satisfaction, which reads in part, Christ ‘did make a proper, real and full satisfaction to his Father’s justice.’ Neither Witherspoon nor the Westminster Divines seemed to be aware that the satisfaction theory of the atonement is unbiblical, even though it has enjoyed a long history in the church. The word ‘satisfaction’ does not appear in the Bible, and nowhere does the Bible say that if certain conditions are met or a price is paid, only then will God love us. But Witherspoon was adamant that Christ’s death totally satisfied divine justice.” p. 60.

The short answer is that “Witherspoon was adamant that Christ’s death totally satisfied divine justice” because that is what the Bible plainly teaches! Therefore, the satisfaction theory of atonement is NOT unbiblical. L. Gordon Tait even mentions in a footnote the Isaiah 53:5-10 passage which Witherspoon uses as one small example of what the Westminster Larger Catechism means by the work of Son of God “to satisfy divine justice.”

Try, e.g., “And the LORD has punished him for the iniquity of us all” and “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall his righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities”  Isaiah 53:6 & 11, King James Version. “The translation of the Bible that Witherspoon used and often quoted was the King James Version.” p. xvi.

Looks to me that God’s divine justice was satisfied (Heb. saba or sabea), especially when read in light of Romans 6:14, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

It is worth spending a few more moments on this important subject of satisfaction. Let us try to tease out a little bit more what is meant by, “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” Edward J. Young explains it thus, “Because the servant has suffered such great anguish of soul, he shall have abundant satisfaction … we are probably to understand as the object all the fruits and rewards of his Messianic suffering. This sight will be satisfied … The servant sees the results of his ignominious death and is abundantly satisfied. The expiatory suffering has been successful. His people are redeemed and justified.” The Book of Isaiah, Volume 3, A Commentary, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1972, (Reprint September 1981), p. 356.

So, the Suffering Servant is satisfied by seeing that His people have been redeemed and justified in the sight of God. How have they been redeemed and justified? R. C. Sproul says it well as he expounds Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 11: Of Justification, section 3, where it says in that section, “Christ, by His obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified, and did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to His Father’s justice in their behalf. Says Sproul, “The whole point of justification by faith alone is that justification is by Christ alone – not Christ assisting me, not working in me, but Christ working for me in terms of his perfect active obedience. He actively satisfied every demand of the law of God, and he passively received the punishment for my sin on the cross.” Truths We Confess, A Layman’s Guide to the Westminster Confession of Faith, Volume Two, Salvation and the Christian Life, P & R Publishing, 2007, p. 62.

And, one more for the road, Herman Bavinck offers some extra help for us to understand what satisfying divine justice means, where he says, “[Sin] occurs in Scriptures as a crime, an offense against righteousness, a violation of the divine majesty, which brings us under his judgment (Rom. 3:19). In this capacity it demands punishment, and there is no forgiveness without satisfaction (atonement); it can be completely overcome, as it concerns its guilt and pollution as well as its power and control, only in the way of justice.” Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 3, Sin and Salvation in Christ, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2006, p. 373.

And, “nowhere does the Bible say that if certain conditions are met or a price is paid, only then will God love us.” How about, “But God demonstrates His one love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8. As our substitute and to satisfy divine justice, Jesus paid the price while we were still sinners, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23. (See also Westminster Larger Catechism 52.)

Like I have already said, a good book, but use discernment when reading The Piety of John Witherspoon.

THE CALL OF THE WILD - Review

The Call of the Wild by Jack London is like one of those Boys’ Own adventure type books. Rugged and manly. 
It’s as fast-paced and action-packed as a downhill dog-sled race.
The deeper chasm that’s runs beneath the snow is that animal and human must adapt in order to survive in severe and harsh environments. Live by your wits or die by your stupidity. Humans can be callous and cruel, and dogs can be loyal and loving. But both must mutually respect each other or plunge and perish beneath thin ice. 
Set in the Yukon and Alaska gold rush days of the 1890s. 
There are lots of shiny nuggets to be found in this great book in which you get to learn about yourself, man’s inhumanity to man and beast, how dogs think and behave, and, of course, the wild.
Brilliant!

MESSING UP/CLEANING UP

Messing Up/Cleaning Up

Who enjoys cleaning up after a big family dinner? My wife and I have a big family dinner once a fortnight. Afterwards, all the fun and joy of relaxing with our children and our children’s children turns into scraping plates and filling dishwashers etc. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have someone clean up our mess for us?

What Adam messed up, the new Adam cleaned up. The Serpent as it were said, ‘Take, eat.’ ‘Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened…’ ‘She took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened…’ Genesis 3:4-5a & 6b-7a. What did Adam and Eve see after they had dined with demons? They saw that they had messed up and tried to cover up their mess with fig leaves. But who was going to clean up after them?

‘And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is the blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins”’ Matthew 26:26-28.

After His death and subsequent resurrection, two men were walking and talking on the road to Emmaus. ‘So it was, while they conversed, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him’ Luke 24:15-16. Not recognising Him, they walked and talked with Jesus about all the things that had happened to Him. Then they invited Him to stay with them. ‘Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight’ Luke 24:30-31.

Adam’s eyes were opened after attending the forbidden fruit dinner with Eve and Satan. But after that eye-opening event, he went into hiding, not wanting to know the Lord. Likewise, mankind’s eyes have been restrained ever since, so that we don’t recognise Him. The Lord must open your eyes before you will know Him (John 3:3).

The two men? ‘And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread’ Luke 24:32-35.

Have you ever dined with Jesus? At our family dinners we ask the Lord to bless our food, our family and our time together. He is in our midst. At the Lord’s Table, the minister sets aside the bread and wine for a spiritual use. Jesus is known in the breaking of the bread. ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ However, just as the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden, so is the bread and wine to those ‘not discerning the Lord’s body’ 1 Corinthians 11:29b. Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). Are you still dining with demons in a sewer? Or are you supping with the Saviour in His Kingdom?

Messed up people come to Jesus to be cleaned up.

THE SEA

The Sea

One of the attractive things about sunny Queensland is the turquoise ocean, palm trees and the golden beaches on its coast. Sun, sand and surf! It was on the third day of formation week that God ‘placed the sand as the bound of the sea’ Jeremiah 5:22. On the fourth day He made the sun, the moon and the stars. Afterwards the earth’s topography would have been altered by the global flood. The volcanic turmoil during that time would have brought on the ice-age, the subsequent melt-water of which would have helped produce the seas as we know them today.

Ballachulish, Scotland

The sea is the lungs of the earth. It is also its kidneys. Its saltiness is a disinfectant of sorts. Micah says that God ‘will cast our iniquities into the depths of the sea’ Micah 7:19. Its evaporative-cycle produces rain that cleanses the earth. Says Elihu, ‘He draws up drops of water, which distil as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man’ Job 36:27-28. Says Solomon, ‘All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again’ Ecclesiastes 1:7. Peter likens the Flood to baptism symbolising the washing away of our sins, ‘In it [i.e., the ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolises baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.’ 1 Peter 3:20b-21a.

The Gulf Stream, from the Gulf of Mexico, helps keep Scotland temperate. Indeed, a lush, tropical garden can be found at Inverewe in western Scotland. David spoke poetically of sea-channels three thousand years ago, ‘The channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils’ 2 Samuel 22:16.

Isaiah uses the sea to illustrate, ‘The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt’ Isaiah 57:20 (with Jude 13). Perhaps Jesus calming the sea (and walking on it!) also symbolises His subduing the wicked with His Word. Indeed, the priests were to wash with water from the calm sea depicted in Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 7:23-26; 2 Chronicles 4:2-6 with Exodus 30:18-21). John saw in his vision on the Island of Patmos, ‘Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal’ Revelation 4:6a. Reginald Heber paints the picture, ‘Holy, holy, holy!  All the saints adore Thee,/ casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;/ cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,/ which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.’

Around 2,000BC God invited Abraham to number the stars, (if he was able!), saying, ‘So shall your descendants be’ Genesis 15:5. With the naked eye Abraham would not have seen much more than 2,500 stars, yet he trusted God’s Word that they were without number! For later the Angel of the LORD said, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed’ Genesis 22:17b-18. ‘If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise’ Galatians 3:29. As Abraham’s seed Christians will become a multitude without number (Rev. 7:9). Then ‘the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea’ Isaiah 11:9b.