Biblical Basis for Office/Functions of Diaconate: OT

Driving home: It is the revelation of the will of God for the life of God's covenant nation, as embodied in the Law of Moses, which determined the devotional life of the people of God as expressed in the Psalms, the practical perspect…

Martin uses the example of Jesus teaching the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27) to illustrate how all of the Old Testament points to Christ, reinforcing the principle that the Old Testament provides unified perspectives on God's character.

Now, let me repeat that principle, because it's crucial. You won't understand why I'm using the Old Testament materials the way I'm using them, unless you understand that behind that use stands this principle regulating how I'm using the biblical materials. It is the revelation of the will of God for the life of the covenant nation, as embodied in the Law of Moses, as embodied in the Law of Moses, that book of the Law in particular, as it is designated, that which the king was to write out and lay up beside him, and to meditate upon it day and night, it is the revelation of the will of God for...

4:55 - 6:22 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not make the false leap that a Christian should never lend money to another Christian at interest, as the passage refers specifically to a poor man, not a business venture.

Martin uses the analogy of 'apples and cucumbers' to distinguish between lending to a poor man in distress and lending capital for a business venture, clarifying the specific context of the Mosaic law against usury to the poor.

He's not talking about a brother who's about to enter a responsible business venture, and needs some capital, and a brother in the church is willing to loan him some capital at a going rate. He's talking about a brother who's about to enter a responsible business venture, and needs some capital at a going rate. That's really in a totally different realm. And when you have people who come to you and say, well, a Christian should never loan money to another Christian at interest, because this is what God said.

15:01 - 15:25 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not make the false leap that a Christian should never lend money to another Christian at interest, as the passage refers specifically to a poor man, not a business venture.

This extended example illustrates the heartless act of keeping a poor man's only covering (his coat/blanket) overnight, contrasting it with God's command to return it before sunset, emphasizing God's gracious character and the expectation for His people to reflect it.

Wait a minute, don't compare apples and cucumbers. This is a poor man, so poor, that when you say to him, here, I'm loaning you fifty bucks, what can you give me for collateral? He says, here's my coat, and my blanket. Well, you take it.

15:25 - 15:43 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I believe it was just the natural outflow of the inrush of the spirit of God and the gracious work of God in their hearts and with their knowledge of those precepts and principles and the revelation of the character of G…

Martin uses the example of the early Jerusalem church's voluntary community of goods (Acts 2, 4) to illustrate how Old Testament principles, combined with New Covenant grace, led to radical generosity and care for the needy among believers.

We're often vexed by that account in Acts chapter 2 43 and following in Acts 4 32 to 35 of that voluntary community of goods that existed in the church at Jerusalem until God sent persecution and scattered them remembering that that community was made up of people whose tap roots were in the old covenant.

47:06 - 47:29 Read in full sermon