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Rebuilding The Tabernacle Of David: Back To The Future Order Printed Copy
- Author: John Eckhardt
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About the Book
"Rebuilding the Tabernacle of David: Back to the Future" by John Eckhardt is a book that explores the history and significance of the Tabernacle of David in the Bible. The author delves into the spiritual principles behind the Tabernacle and how they can be applied to modern-day worship and ministry. Eckhardt encourages readers to rediscover the power and intimacy of worshipping God in the way that David did, leading to a deeper relationship with Him.
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was born in 1759 in Hull, East Yorkshire. He graduated from Cambridge University with the intention of following a political career, and became Member of Parliament (MP) for Hull in 1780, aged 21. Four years later he became MP for the whole of Yorkshire. It was at this time that he began to work for the abolition of the British trade in enslaved people.
Wilberforce was a deeply spiritual man and later became an Evangelical Christian. He was a popular figure and was known to be charming and witty and a great public speaker. He campaigned for a number of causes: for legislation to improve the lives of the poor, education reform, prison reforms and ending child labour. He was also one of the founders of the Royal Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
A Committed Abolitionist
With the backing of his friend William Pitt, who became Prime Minister, Wilberforce became leader of The Society for the Abolition of Slavery. The society campaigned for almost 20 years to bring an end to British involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The abolition campaign made them many enemies, especially among those who had made huge profits from the trade in enlsaved African people.
Wilberforce left Hull in 1792 and moved to Clapham, London to be closer to his work in Westminster. Within the local community he found friends who shared his interests in religion and politics. They became known as the Clapham Sect and they actively supported the anti-slavery abolitionists.
William Wilberforce, oil painting by Karl Anton Hickel, 1793 . Willima has a white scarf tied at his neck and wearing a dark blue coat with a folded collar.
William Wilberforce by Karl Anton Hickel, 1793
Wilberforce married Barbara Spooner in 1797 and they had six children. Historical acounts show that he was a loving and devoted husband and father, and was proud that three of his sons became clergyman.
The Slavery Abolition Bill
Wilberforce attempted several times to bring private members' bills before Parliament to end Britainâs involvement in the slave trade, but the Bill was defeated many times. It was finally passed on 25 March, 1807. However, this only went as far as banning British people from engaging in the slave trade, it did not ban slavery itself. Wilberforce retired from politics in 1825 due to ill health, but he continued to campaign for the abolition of slavery.
Finally, on 26 July 1833, as Wilberforce lay on his deathbed, he was told that the Slavery Abolition Bill, granting freedom to all enslaved people within the British Empire, had been passed by Parliament. He died three days later. As a mark of respect for his achievements, his body was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Childhood and Education
William Wilberforce was born on 24 August, 1759, at 25 High Street, Hull (which is now known as Wilberforce House) to Robert and Elizabeth Wilberforce. He had three sisters, Elizabeth, Ann and Sarah (known as Sally). Of the four children, only William and Sally survived to adulthood.
The Wilberforce family were successful merchants, who traded in imported goods, like wood and cloth, from northern Europe and the Baltic states. The family home reflected the family's wealth and was decorated with fashionable architecture of the day.
William was a small, sickly child with poor eyesight, but this did not stop him from attending Hull Grammar School or taking part in musical activities or sports. William was known to have a beautiful singing voice and had a reputation for telling funny stories and playing practical jokes.
When William was only eight years old, his father died. William's mother then became ill and so she sent him to live with his aunt and uncle, Hannah and William Wilberforce, in London. They sent him to study at a small boarding school in Putney, which he disliked, complaining about the food. Hannah and William were Evangelical Methodists and they took William to church regularly, where he enjoyed listening to bible stories and sermons by prominent figures within the Methodist movement.
William's mother worried about his exposure to such a strong religious influence and arranged for him to come home to Hull. William was sent to board at Pocklington Grammar School, where he studied hard and did well at Latin, English and History. Aged 17 he went to Cambridge University, where he met William Pitt the Younger, who became a lifelong friend. Wilberforce took full advantage of the social life on offer at university, and was well known for attending dinners, gambling, and playing cards. Despite his busy social life, Wilberforce managed to graduate from Cambridge in 1781, determined to have a career as a Member of Parliament.
Religious Beliefs and Influences
William Wilberforce became a deeply religious man who dedicated his life and his work to acting on his beliefs. He had many religious and political influences during his lifetime.
His mother was staunchly Church of England. However, after the death of his father, William spent two years living with his aunt and uncle in London, who were keen Methodists.
They took the young William to church regularly, where he heard important figures like George Whitefield preach. At that time, Methodism was known as a branch within the Church of England that was particularly concerned with social welfare. However, his mother became alarmed at his growing interest in evangelical Christianity, and she brought the young William home again.
Wilberforce's second major religious influence was Isaac Milner, who was a young teacher when Wilberforce attended Hull Grammar School. They were to become lifelong friends and in 1784 they travelled together through Europe.
During the months they spent together, Milner introduced William to his own religious beliefs and encouraged him to read an essay entitled 'The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul'. The whole experience had a profound affect on William and he returned home to England a changed man and devout Methodist.
Another influence on William was John Newton, his Aunt Hannahâs half-brother who had previously been involved in the slave trade. Newton was one of the wealthiest men in Europe and a great humanitarian and philanthropist, and gave many gifts to the Evangelical church. Following William's tour of Europe with Milner, he met up with John Newton to discuss his new-found faith.
William wrote in secret to Newton:
Sir, there is no need of apology for intruding on you, when the errand is religion. I wish to have some serious conversation with you⌠the earlier the more agreeable to me. I have ten thousand doubts within myself, whether or not I should discover myself to you; but every argument against doing it has its foundation in pride. I am sure you will hold yourself bound to let no one living know of this application, or of my visit, till I release you for the obligationâŚ
P.S. Remember that I must be secret, and that the gallery of the House is now so universally attended, that the face of a member of Parliament is pretty well known.
William stuck with his conversion to Methodism and wrote a best-selling book A Practical View of Christianity thirteen years later.
Early Political Life and Influences
After graduating from Cambridge University, William Wilberforce chose to follow a career in politics and stood as Independent candidate, in an election for Hull's Member of Parliament. He won by an overwhelming majority and was elected to represent the citizens of Hull, at the age of just 21.
The young Wilberforce was a natural politician. Following the deaths of his father and his uncle he had inherited enough money to financially support his political career. He was also well liked among Hull's merchant families, who hoped that he would represent their business interests in parliament.
Two of Wilberforce's most appealing qualities were his engaging personality and his eloquent speaking voice - useful traits for a politician. He was so famous for his public speaking that he was nicknamed the 'Nightingale of the Commons'.
On taking up his seat in the House of Commons, Wilberforce met up with his university friend, William Pitt the Younger, who had also chosen a political career. Pitt and Wilberforce spent much time studying the more experienced Members of Parliament from the Commons gallery, and listening to heated political debates of the day.
Pitt enjoyed a very sucessful political career, becoming Prime Minister and the new Tory party leader in 1783, aged just 24. Although not quite as ambitious as Pitt, Wilberforce took the decision to stand as candidate for Member of Parliament for Yorkshire. This was one of only two county seats and on winning it, Wilberforce became a more influential politician.
Following his conversion to Methodism in 1785, Wilberforce considered leaving politics. Yet, Pitt and John Newton convinced him to persevere and use his political work as a way of serving God. Wilberforce saw the campaign to abolish the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a way of following his religious and humanitarian beliefs, as well as his moral conscience.
what is the unforgivable sin
âBlasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.â Itâs one of Jesusâs most enigmatic, controversial, and haunting statements. In the last two millennia, many a tortured soul have wrestled over this warning. Have I committed âthe unforgivable sinâ?  When I addressed my angry profanity to God, when I spoke rebelliously against him, did I commit unforgivable blasphemy?  Or, perhaps more often, especially in todayâs epidemic of Internet porn, âCould I really be saved if I keep returning to the same sin I have vowed so many times never to return to again?â Despite the enigma and controversy, we do have a simple pathway to clarity. Jesusâs âblasphemy against the Spiritâ statement only appears in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). If we get a concrete sense of what he did (and didnât) mean there, then weâre positioned to answer what such âunforgivable sinâ might (and might not) mean for us today. What Jesus Actually Said Jesus hadnât been teaching in public long when his hearers began comparing him to their teachers, called âthe scribes,â part of the conservative Jewish group known as the Pharisees. The growing crowds âwere astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribesâ (Mark 1:22). The scribes heard the comparison and felt the tension, and soon escalated it (Mark 2:6, 16), as these Bible teachers of the day, with their many added traditions, quickly grew in their envy, and then hatred, for Jesus. The threat is so great these conservatives even are willing to cross the aisle to conspire with their liberal rivals, the Herodians (Mark 3:6). The showdown comes in Mark 3:22â30 (Matthew 12:22â32). Scribes have descended from Jerusalem to set straight the poor, deceived people of backwater Galilee. âHe is possessed by Beelzebul,â they say. âBy the prince of demons he casts out the demonsâ (Mark 3:22). Jesus calmly answers their lie with basic logic (verses 23â26) and turns it to make a statement about his lordship (verse 27). Then he warns these liars, who know better deep down, of the spiritual danger theyâre in. âTruly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin â â for they were saying, âHe has an unclean spirit.ââ (Mark 3:28â30) Itâs one thing to suppose that Jesus is out of his mind (his family fears as much at this early stage, Mark 3:21), but itâs another thing to attribute the work of Godâs Spirit to the devil â to observe the power of God unfolding in and through this man Jesus, be haunted by it in a callous heart, and turn to delude others by ascribing the Spiritâs work to Satan. This evidences such a profound hardness of heart in these scribes that they should fear they are on the brink of eternal ruin â if itâs not already too late. Jesus does not necessarily declare that the scribes are already condemned, but he warns them gravely of their precarious position. Who Did the Scribes Blaspheme? Before we ask about our sin today, letâs gather the pieces in the Gospels. The teachers of Godâs covenant people, here at this crucial and unique point in redemptive history, have God himself among them. Godâs long-anticipated kingdom is dawning. âIf it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon youâ (Matthew 12:28). The very day that their stories and prophets and Scriptures have prepared them for is being unveiled before them, and in their hard and impenitent hearts, they are rejecting it. And not only are they cold toward how God is doing it, and murmuring about it to each other, but as teachers of Godâs people, they now are speaking up to draw others away from the truth. And they do so by declaring that the power at work in Jesus, manifestly from God, is the power of Satan. Here Jesus warns them, âWhoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sinâ (Mark 3:29). Why so? Matthew adds a detail we donât have in Mark. âWhoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit  will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to comeâ (Matthew 12:32). Attacking Jesus is one thing. He refers to himself as âthe Son of Manâ â God himself among his people, but not yet fully revealed in his death and resurrection. Attack this enigmatic Son of Man, and the Spirit can overcome that. But itâs another thing to see what God is doing and turn to attack his Spirit . Who is left to help these scribes if theyâre settling in against the Spirit of God? Insult, dishonor, and make enemies with the Spirit, and who is left to bring you back? The reason these scribes are dangerously close to being guilty of âeternal sinâ is because they are evidencing such a settled hardness of heart â not just against this mysterious âSon of Man,â but now explicitly against the Spirit â that their hearts may no longer be capable of repentance. Itâs not that they may be genuinely repentant but given the stiff arm, but that they will ânever have forgivenessâ because they will never meet the simple, invaluable, softhearted condition for it: repentance. Is Anyone Unforgivable Today? When Jesus addresses the scribes in his day, it is on the brink of a seismic redemptive-historical change that comes with his life and ministry. So in what sense might his warning to the scribes about âblasphemy against the Spiritâ be uniquely for Jesusâs day, on the cusp of the old covenant being fulfilled and a new covenant being inaugurated? Should these words fall in the same way on our ears twenty centuries later? When we turn forward in the story to Acts and the Epistles, we donât find anything called âblasphemy against the Spirit.â Which signals our need for exercising care in applying this precise term today. However, we do find a concept similar to âunforgivable sin,â even if the terms are not exactly the same. The essence of Jesusâs warning to the scribes in his day lands on us in some form, even if not in the precise way it did originally for the scribes. Ephesians 4:30 speaks of âgrieving the Holy Spirit,â but this is not the same as Jesusâs warning to the scribes. Those who âgrieveâ the Spirit are reminded that by him they are âsealed for the day of redemption.â However, Hebrews 10:29 speaks of âoutraging the Spirit of grace,â and Hebrews 12:17 warns professing Christians not to be like Esau who âfound no place of repentance.â Like Jesusâs warning to the scribes, we are not told that Esau asked for forgiveness but was denied. Rather, he âfound no place of repentanceâ â his heart had grown so callous, he was no longer able to genuinely repent and thus meet the condition for the free offer of forgiveness. Throughout his letter, the author of Hebrews warns his audience of this danger. In the past, they have professed faith in Jesus and claimed to embrace him. Now, because of pressure and persecution from unbelieving Jews, they are tempted to abandon Jesus to restore their peace and comfort. They have experienced remarkable measures of grace in association with the new-covenant people of God (Hebrews 6:4â5), but now they are nearing the brink of falling away from Christ â and Hebrews warns them of the peril: having known the truth, and rejected it, are they now coming into a kind of settled hardness of heart from which they no longer will be able to repent and thus be forgiven? For Christians today, we need not fear a specific moment of sin, but a kind of hardness of heart that would see Jesus as true and yet walk away â with a kind of hardness of heart incapable of repenting. Again, itâs not that forgiveness isnât granted, but that itâs not sought. The heart has become so recalcitrant, and at such odds with Godâs Spirit, that itâs become incapable of true repentance. Hope for Those Feeling âUnforgivableâ If you do fear youâve committed some âunforgivable sin,â or even that your heart has already reached such a state of hardness, God does offer you hope. If you worry about unforgivable sin, then most likely you are not there. Not yet. Hearts with settled hardness against Jesus and his Spirit donât go around worrying about it. Itâs easy to get worked up over this enigmatic âunforgivable sinâ in the Gospels and miss the remarkable gospel expression of Jesusâs open arms that comes immediately before the warning: âTruly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utterâ (Mark 3:28). All sins. Whatever blasphemies uttered. Through faith in Jesus. This is where the Gospel accounts all lead: to the cross. This Son of Man, as he progressively demonstrates in the Gospels, is God himself and Lord of the universe. And he became one of us, and died for our sins, and rose to offer full and entire forgiveness for all who repent and embrace him as Lord, Savior, and Treasure. If your worries about âunforgivable sinâ relate to a pattern of sin and unrepentance in your life, your very concerns may be Godâs Spirit working to keep you from continuing to harden your heart beyond his softening. Donât despair. And donât treat it lightly. As the Holy Spirit encourages his hearers on the edge of such danger, âToday, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heartsâ (Psalm 95:7â8; Hebrews 3:7â8). You are not guaranteed tomorrow. But you do have today. Itâs not too late, if you still have it in you to repent. More Good News However, we should be careful that the enigma and controversy over âunforgivable sinâ doesnât keep us from missing the main reality underneath this episode in Mark 3 and Matthew 12. Jesusâs main point isnât that there is such a sin as âblasphemy against the Spirit,â but that there is such a person as the Holy Spirit! How remarkable that God has not left us to ourselves in the ups and downs of this life. As he did with his own Son in his full humanity, he makes available to us supernatural power by his Spirit. How did Jesus, as man, perform his miracles? By the power of the Spirit. âIt is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demonsâ (Matthew 12:28). When Jesus hears the scribes say, âBy the prince of demons he casts out the demons,â he hears an outrageous attack, not on himself, but on the Spirit. The last word in the story explains it all: â for  they were saying, âHe has an unclean spiritââ (Mark 3:30). How amazing that the same Spirit who empowered Jesus in his earthly life, and on the path to his sacrificial death, has been given to us today. We âhave the Spiritâ (Romans 8:9, 15, 23; 1 Corinthians 6:19). What a gift weâve received (Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 5:5; 1 John 3:24). How much do we underappreciate what power is available to us (and through us) by the Spirit?
