- Richard D Phillips, (MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary) is the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, South Carolina. He is a council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, chairman of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, and coeditor of the Reformed Expository Commentary series.
- In his commentary on the Old Testament’s prophet Zechariah (P&R Publishing, NJ, 2007), on page 42, Phillips does an excellent, and very encouraging exposition of Zech 2:1-5. His point is worth repeating verbatim: “From what source are we to get our perspective on the church and on ourselves as Christians? What should provide our vision and aspirations and expectations regarding ourselves as God’s people? There really are only two choices: we will gain our perspective either from man or from God” (italics mine).
- I was struck by how pertinent a point Phillips is making here for the believer of Christ, and for the body of Christ to seriously consider from the aspect of application.
- A quick summary of the first five verses in the second chapter of Zechariah is needful. Zechariah is given a vision of “a man with a measuring line”. And there are two angels involved in this vision. One angel says to another to “run” after the man with the measuring line, who is going to measure Jerusalem of 536BC, and this particular angel says, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it” (vs 3-4).
- It is also pertinent to include Phillips reference to Elizabeth Achtemeier’s comment on this passage as well, “This man (in the vision of Zech) has believed the prophet’s message that Jerusalem will be rebuilt, but he expects the new Jerusalem to be no different from the old, and he would therefore conform its measurements to those it had before its fall“.
- In terms of application, referring to Phillips’s point #2 above, whose perspective will we take when it comes to ourselves and the church of God? Man, or God’s? It’s of course a no-brainer, right?
- I found this point that Phillips makes ties in very powerfully with Martin Luther’s commentary of the Galatian epistle, and especially the episode where Paul rebukes Peter for “having the gospel, but not walking in the truth of the gospel”. This particular episode (Gal 2:11-14) highlights how our human perspective gets the better of the mind of Christ in us in our union with Christ when we are in situations where we fear the opinions of men over the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom.
- Let’s let the Lion of the Tribe of Judah speak from this Galatian epistle through Paul’s words to Peter, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” The Spirit goes on to say in verse thirteen, “The rest of the Jews joined him (Peter) in hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away (the Greek word used here includes the meaning of ‘seduction’!) with them in their hypocrisy.”
- There’s such a great need for each one of us, believers of Christ, to constantly examine our hearts, and be aware of how we are thinking with regards to any matter that bears upon our identity in Him, and of the church’s identity with Him.
- Our human expectations and opinions must constantly require alignment with God’s through His Word, duly energized, enabled, and empowered by humble dependency upon the Holy Spirit.
- Isaiah puts another powerfully reinforcing word into this argument under God’s Word and Spirit, when he too under the inspiration and carried along by the Spirit, says in chapter sixty-six, and verse two (b) of his book, “ This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word. “
- And this glorious truth, in turn, aligns so wonderfully with what Holy Spirit speaks through Peter in his first epistle, chapter 5, verse 6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.“
- This is the glorious paradox of being united with Christ by faith, through His gospel; up is down, narrow is wide, only in union with Him.
- As we allow His Word and Spirit to sow this truth of the gospel deep into our soul’s DNA (our conscious and subconscious parts), we are transformed by His Spirit into the image of Christ, from “one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18).
- This is how we make a difference in the world today. We yield our perspectives to God’s. And by faith, we walk in confidence knowing that He is not only with us, but also in us, Christ dwelling by faith in our hearts through the ever-present Spirit. And the Spirit makes Christ real to us day by day as we meditate upon His glorious gospel and see the glory of the face of Christ within it. And this glorious upward cycle of renewal and love for Him, and through Him to others, touches lives with the gospel! Soli Deo Gloria!
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