Understanding Paul’s Vision of the Third Heaven

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.”
2 Corinthians 12:1-4 NLT

What an incredible vision Paul must have had. He spared us the details, but such a vision of the place we call Heaven obviously made a profound impact on his life. Paul was a very humble man, and it did not come easily to him to brag or boast about anything. In fact, regarding verse 2 of our passage today, other translations refer to “a man in Christ” other than Paul himself, so keen was he not to promote himself. The NIV reads, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know – God knows”. Paul seemed fully committed to not receiving any personal credit for this experience. He emphasised that only God knows whether he physically travelled to the third heaven in his body or whether it was an out-of-body experience. 

But what is the “third Heaven”? The general thought amongst the scholars is that the first heaven is the sky above our heads, the second is where the celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars reside, and the third Heaven is where we find God and His angels. Another school of thought holds that the first heaven is the sky above us, together with all the celestial bodies, galaxies, and so on that are visible, and the third Heaven is God’s domain, the Paradise that Jesus promised to the penitent thief. But the second heaven is the place where the devil and his demonic angels have their base, and from which the world we know is impacted by his evil ways. But whatever, Paul had a wonderful experience in the Third Heaven, and it was something that he could boast about.

Why was Paul forced to boast at all? Perhaps it was because the “super-apostles”, the leaders who seemed to have muscled into leadership roles within the Corinthian church, and who were perhaps bragging about their supernatural experiences, were criticising Paul, calling him something of a lightweight apostle not worthy of the name. But whatever was happening, Paul had to elevate himself out of his comfort zone and share his experience. 

Paul said this happened fourteen years previously. Why did this happen at all? Because I think we can agree, it is not a normal experience to be able to pay a visit to heaven and return to tell the tale. Perhaps God, knowing that Paul had missed out on all the teaching the twelve apostles had received during their time spent with Jesus, gave him a crash course to bring him up to speed. Or perhaps it was just an occasion that empowered him for the rest of his life, providing him with an extraordinary ministry so fruitful in establishing churches and making converts. Paul didn’t know if this was a physical or spiritual experience, but it was real to him, whatever.

Paul said that he heard “things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words”. We can only speculate about what these things were because Paul wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about them. Perhaps it was similar to John’s revelation, as we read in Revelation 10:4, “When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down””. What the words Paul and John heard we cannot even try to understand, but one day we will hear them, I’m sure. But one thing we know for sure, Paul told us about in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”. 

We pilgrims march ever onward, through a life strewn with boulders and other obstacles, all designed to trip us up and divert us away from the path that leads to the Place where we too will hear “things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words”. Sometimes we think we cannot wait, but then we realise that we are here on this earth at just this time for a purpose: to be Christ’s ambassadors amongst the people in our sad and dying world. We are the only ones able to communicate Jesus’ message of hope, and we cannot shirk our responsibilities.

Father God. Please lead us to encounters that will enable us to share Your Good News. The words of eternal life You gave us are too precious to keep to ourselves. Amen. 

Suffering for a Little While

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, knows I am not lying. When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall to escape from him.”
2 Corinthians 11:30-33 NLT

An extraordinary tale from Paul, having to escape from the civil authorities in that way, but it provides yet another indication of how difficult it was in those days to be a Christian and preach the Gospel. If any believer has any doubts today about their faith, they must consider what others have gone through to protect it. If the story of Jesus, His ministry, His trial, death, burial, and subsequent resurrection is disbelieved by our fellow Christians, then perhaps the people involved should think about how many people have suffered so much to protect their faith in God. Lies never prevail over truth.

Are Christians generally weak, as Paul said he was? Surely that can’t be true, because we read verses such as “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). We also have Psalm 18:29, “In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall”. And another favourite of mine, Isaiah 40:29-31, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint”. Reading the verses, we can perhaps discover that, through God, we are, in fact, invincible and even indestructible. But we pause, and on reflection understand that all these things are in God’s strength, not in our own. Humans are frail beings, and ever since Jesus walked the highways and byways of Palestine, Christians have suffered greatly for their faith, their strength in God failing to materialise into a physical and human strength able to overcome the beatings, stonings, torture and other abuse that have been their lot under hostile and misguided regimes. And such is still the case today in some parts of the world. 

Christians take the long view because the time spent in this world is infinitesimally short compared to an eternity spent in God’s company. A different spirit was present when Peter and John were punished for speaking about Jesus. They were arrested to stand trial before the Sanhedrin, and we read their punishment in Acts 5:40-41, “The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus”. Because Jesus suffered so much, Peter and John rejoiced that they too were suffering, and all because they could see what was coming their way. Perhaps they remembered what Jesus had said to them right back at the beginning, “But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues” (Matthew 10:17). Later in the same discourse, Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). However, in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Paul wrote, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”. The early Apostles, in all their distress, stayed the course because they knew what was coming one day soon.

We pilgrims here in the West have little to fear from the authorities for our faith. We will not receive a beating for sharing our faith, well, not yet anyway. But we will suffer more subtle forms of abuse, through being ostracised, or marginalised, in our society that only favours those who do not challenge the sin and evil that prevail. But as Paul said, what we suffer now is of no consequence from the perspective of eternity. We have a loving Heavenly Father who one day will call us home.

Dear Father God. Thank You for all that You have done for us and will continue to do until the day of glory that will come before we know it. Thank You for Jesus, who has made it all possible. Amen.

The Daily Burden

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?”
2 Corinthians 11:28-29 NLT

After his long list of woes in the previous verses, woes, incidentally, that would fill us with horror should we have to face into them, Paul continues with yet another problem – “the daily burden of my concern for all the churches”. Paul wasn’t a missionary who found people willing to respond to the Gospel, those who repented of their sins, believed the Good News, and placed their faith in Jesus, becoming disciples, and then moved on without giving them another thought. Paul really cared for the churches that he had established. He knew these converts personally. He had stayed in their homes, made relationships, cried with them, laughed with them, played with their children, and became involved in their personal lives. On top of that, Paul knew that there was a cost to becoming believers in Jesus for these people. The new converts would be ostracised, harassed, and imprisoned. Some would even die for their faith, such was the world of that time in its antagonism to Christians, who challenged the sinful and wicked lifestyles of the idol worshippers in their towns and cities. There was not the same social cohesion or enforcement of the law in those days, so anyone who was different suffered. With that backdrop, Paul agonised over the people in the churches he had established. On the one hand, he was desperate to continue his missionary calling, establishing even more churches full of converts filled with the love of Jesus. On the other hand, he wanted to stay with his friends and help them grow in their faith. To make matters worse, communications in those days were poor, and information relied on people taking news as they travelled through towns, cities and villages. 

In the years after the Second World War, and after the victory of the communist party, missionaries were evicted from China, leaving behind them fledgling groups of Christians, leaderless and forced to meet underground and away from the gaze of the authorities. For some years, there was no news about how the Chinese believers were faring, if at all. Thankfully, the missionaries established local leaders, training them up in the faith, and the Christians in China transitioned to an indigenous, decentralised, and often underground movement, shifting from institutional church structures to small, home-based gatherings. Despite attempts to eradicate Christianity, particularly during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), the faithful remained resilient by trusting in local leadership and, in many areas, experiencing significant growth. Estimates of the number of Chinese Christians vary, but some figures approaching 100 million have been quoted. But how things have turned out would not have been much comfort at the time for the missionaries concerned, and they would have been heavily burdened down by their fears and anxiety for the well-being of their friends left behind, and how they were faring in such a hostile environment. But they needn’t have worried, because Jesus made a significant promise. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it”. And today we see Jesus’ promise in action: there are an estimated 2.4 billion Christians worldwide, representing a third of the world’s population.

To add to his “daily burden”, Paul also went through the same emotional experiences that his converts did. When they were weak in their faith, Paul experienced the weakness as well. When they were tempted and fell into sin, he felt emotional anger that the enemy had caused so much damage. As anyone devoted to a cause knows, it is difficult to walk away from a situation under threat. Everything within us wants to fix the situation and make things right.

We pilgrims in the West live in a much more stable environment, being free to worship publicly in our churches and communities. There is no persecution worthy of note, but we have different challenges. There sometimes seems to be a lethargy that has impregnated so many congregations, and they do little to further the witness of Christ in their communities. But we must remember that we Christians are the dispensers of grace, God’s grace, to those around us. We must share the love of Jesus with anyone who is listening, sharing Good News in our sad and bad world.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your grace and the church that You have established. We love You Lord, and worship You today. Amen.

The Dangers in Living for Christ

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that! But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have travelled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.”
2 Corinthians 11:21-27 NLT

A longer passage of Scripture than usual today, but it has been difficult to consider in anything other than its whole. The first-century world to the east of the Mediterranean and associated lands was fiercely resistant to the preaching of the Gospel, even to the point that Paul and the rest of the Apostles suffered much for its message. The original Apostles, with the exception of John, all suffered violent deaths at the hands of their enemies, but while alive, they willingly put up with the privations and abuse that came their way. Why? Because they considered it all worthwhile because of their love for Jesus. In modern parlance, what Paul suffered came with the territory.

In a way, Paul’s suffering confirms the authenticity of the Gospel. Here is a quote from Charles Colson, a lawyer caught up, and eventually imprisoned, for his role in the Watergate scandal, although he subsequently became a Christian. “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world, and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible”. 

What do we pilgrims think when we read our verses from 2 Corinthians today? Personally, it strengthens my faith because I know that although Paul suffered much, he did so for Jesus. So why should I complain if living for Jesus denies me the pleasures of the world around me and becomes inconvenient at times? I have never suffered for Christ as Paul did. Would I be willing to? It is a difficult question to answer, but I believe God would give me the grace and fortitude should that be needed, but I pray that I won’t have to.

Jesus is all to me. There is no one else in my life who could replace Him. There is no worldly possession that is more important. And I’m sure that this is the case for those reading this today. Jesus said, “…  ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind’” (Matthew 22:37). Paul was a living example of another of Jesus’ sayings, “Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). And finally, from Paul, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him” (Romans 12:1). Paul was a man who “walked the walk and talked the talk”. There was no hypocrisy with Paul, and there shouldn’t be with us either.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You for Your servant Paul and his willingness to suffer for spreading the Gospel. It may have even been instrumental in my faith today. Thank You for Your grace and love, and all that You have done for us. Amen.

Paul’s Warning: Beware of Persuasive Fools

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Again I say, don’t think that I am a fool to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting like a fool. And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face. I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that! But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too.”
2 Corinthians 11:16-21 NLT

There is something deeply unsettling about listening to someone who is clearly confident—but quietly wrong. Confidence has a way of persuading us. It carries weight, presence, and often admiration. Yet in 2 Corinthians 11:16–21, the Apostle Paul exposes a sobering truth: not everything that appears wise truly is. In this passage, Paul does something unusual. He begins to “boast”, but he does so reluctantly, even apologetically. He calls it what it is: foolishness. “Again I say, don’t think that I am a fool to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little” (2 Corinthians 11:16). It’s clear that Paul is not comfortable with this approach. Boasting, in his mind, is not the way of Christ. And yet, he adopts this tone for a reason.

The church in Corinth had become enamoured with a different kind of leadership. Certain individuals, whom Paul later describes as “super-apostles”, had arrived with impressive credentials, persuasive speech, and a commanding presence. They measured success by outward standards. They spoke with confidence. They looked the part. And the Corinthians were captivated. Paul’s irony exposes the flaws in the Corinthian mindsets: “After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools!” (2 Corinthians 11:19). In other words, he wrote, you think you are being discerning, but you are tolerating what is actually foolish. In accepting their new leaders, they were taken in by their polished, persuasive words and outward appearances. The problem was that the Corinthians were taken in by these men, lacking discernment, and resulting in them ending up in a dangerous situation

The problem in Corinth is not confined to the first century. If anything, it has intensified in our own time. We live in an age saturated with voices in sermons, podcasts, videos, and books, with each one competing for attention. And often, the voices that rise to the top are not necessarily the most faithful, but the most compelling. We are drawn to confidence and apparent clarity, with the speaker or writer being a charismatic person who seems to say all the right things and who even comes across as a source of truth. But Paul reminds us that confidence is not the same as truth. It is entirely possible for someone to speak boldly, persuasively, and even attractively, and yet be fundamentally misaligned with the Gospel. The Corinthians fell into this trap. They confused charisma with authority, eloquence with truth, and self-promotion with spiritual maturity. And before we get on our high horses and claim that would never happen to us, we are no less vulnerable.

One of the striking elements of our verses today is how willingly the Corinthians accepted these “foolish” voices. Paul says they “enjoy putting up with fools”. We almost get the impression that they were very comfortable and accepting of what the “super-apostles” had to offer. There is almost a sense of eagerness and an appetite for what these teachers had to say, and that raises an uncomfortable question for us, because what do we, as Christians, tend to celebrate and promote? I know someone who spends a lot of time watching Christian speakers on TV, big names who tick all the charisma and charm boxes and confidently speak about Bible verses, even relating them to world events and what they believe is coming. They may even include appeals for donations, thereby manipulating their viewers’ emotions. It is easy for such people to present themselves with confidence and polish, but these are not the marks Paul points to as evidence of true ministry. In 1 Corinthians 2:2-5, Paul wrote, “For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.”

At the heart of Paul’s irony in our verses today is a call to discernment. The Corinthians believed themselves to be wise, yet their discernment was compromised. They were not testing what they heard carefully enough. They were not looking beneath the surface. And so Paul, almost reluctantly, met them on their own terms. If they valued boasting, then he would “boast” as well, but in doing so, he exposed how empty that standard really was.

What do we pilgrims make of all this? I think that Paul has put his finger on something we all need to consider – how discerning are we? When a speaker preaches a sermon, or engages with us in a Bible Study or prayer meeting, do we accept at face value what is said, or do we critically test and examine his or her words? Do we ask ourselves questions such as, “Is this teaching faithful to Scripture?” Or “Does this reflect the character of Christ?” And does the presenter provide the message with a spirit of humility, or is there a brashness or overconfidence present? In James 1:5-6, we read, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind”. We need wisdom whenever we hear messages or read books that contain confident, and even dogmatic, statements, and we should discard anything that has a whiff of falseness or overemphasis.

Paul ironically wrote, “After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools!” (2 Corinthians 11:19). This verse is a warning as much as it is a rebuke. In a world full of confident voices, the greatest danger is not always obvious error; it is persuasive foolishness. Beware the kind of message that sounds right, feels compelling, and gains traction, yet subtly leads us away from the simplicity and humility of Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for wisdom in our world, where strident and competing voices clamour for our attention with messages of falseness and error. Guide us into all truth we pray, and we do so by looking to Jesus, who is the Author of truth. Amen

Beware of False Apostles: Insights from 2 Corinthians

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours. These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.”
2 Corinthians 11:12-15 NLT

The Corinthian church seemed to have been infiltrated by men who called themselves apostles but weren’t, because they made false claims. They were first-century equivalents of fraudsters who found a way to fleece a gullible congregation with the smooth, eloquent words they used. In their approach, they created what was effectively a different Jesus, because they preached a false gospel with content that perhaps watered down the bits the Corinthians were struggling with or even one that contained errors that were more aligned with the Gnostics or Docetism, or perhaps even encouraging the congregation to adopt the Jewish practices that some of them had abandoned. Paul associated these men with being the devil’s servants, men who followed in the footsteps of the serpent in the Garden, with plausible arguments such as the one that deceived Eve. “Surely God didn’t say” was perhaps replaced by “surely Paul didn’t say”, leading to a subtle but significant change in the Gospel that Paul preached, the one given to him by Jesus Himself. 

These men have modern-day equivalents in the form of those people who wheedle their way into the confidence of gullible people and end up defrauding them of their savings or performing unnecessary work on their houses. There are all sorts of scams out there, and often they sound so convincing that even tech-savvy people are tricked into installing malware on their smartphones or computers. And it begs the question that if the fraudsters can be so successful in their modern-day scams, what is stopping the devil from doing the same in the spiritual world? 

Jesus warned His disciples, and by extension all disciples ever since, about the dangers of false apostles. He said, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Jesus continued in the next verse with “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” In today’s church, with its established denominations, there are fewer opportunities for false apostles, prophets, and other forms of leadership to enter a church. I belong to the Elim Movement, a Pentecostal organisation, with churches dotted all over the UK and beyond. Anyone able to preach at one of these churches has been carefully vetted and will usually have been through some formal training at an Elim-recognised Bible college. Error or falseness is a rare event. In addition, the Elim congregations usually have a sufficient number of mature Christians who will soon weed out any form of false teaching. However, some years ago, I was briefly in an independent church with a pastor who seemed to preach all the right messages and was well respected by the congregation. There were a few anomalies with his leadership team, but all seemed good. But then a problem emerged – the pastor had a gambling addiction, and the church collapsed soon afterwards when it came to light. So Jesus’ warning about good and bad fruit was spot on. 

In Revelation 2:2, Jesus commended the church in Ephesus for dealing with false apostles. “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars”. It might have been helpful to know more about how they weeded out the false apostles, but the devil is subtle in his approaches, and he will erode the margins of doctrine and theology, even Bible verses, introducing error drip by drip. 

There was an episode during Jesus’ ministry when His disciples became concerned that someone outside His group was using Jesus’ name to cast out demons. Mark 9:38, “John said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group’”. We read what Jesus said in response in the next two verses, ““Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us”. From this example, we discern that there may be men and women in other denominations who are preaching the same Gospel we do without error. They may have a different approach or use different words, but their fruit is all good. 

Paul ended our verses today with the warning that the spiritual fraudsters, the false apostles who had infiltrated the Corinthian church, would receive “the punishment their wicked deeds deserve”. One day, we will all have to stand before God to give an account of our lives, and anyone who has peddled a false gospel will suffer severe consequences. The minister preaching Universalism at a Glasgow funeral I referred to in an earlier blog would possibly fall into this category. Of course, there are men and women in this world who sincerely fall into error and propagate it through their messages and prophecies. They are not fraudsters, as we understand the term, but they are still promoting a false gospel. 

How do we pilgrims avoid falling into error? We do what the people of Berea did. Acts 17:11, “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth”. That is the only way to avoid the subtle and persuasive words of the false apostles. By reading our Bibles.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your Word, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit within us who is able to lead us into all truth. Help us to keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus, who is the Truth. Amen. 

Paul’s Ministry: Humility and Financial Integrity

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honoured you by preaching God’s Good News to you without expecting anything in return? I “robbed” other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost. And when I was with you and didn’t have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that I needed. I have never been a burden to you, and I never will be. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, no one in all of Greece will ever stop me from boasting about this. Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do.”
2 Corinthians 11:7-11 NLT

While Paul was establishing the church in Corinth, he initially met up with a couple called Aquila and Priscilla, Jews who were expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius just a few years before. “Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was” (Acts 18:3). But Paul didn’t just spend his time making tents, the next verse reads, “Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike”. When he was rejected by most of the Jews, “… he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshipped God and lived next door to the synagogue” (Acts 18:7). So in those early days, Paul never asked for money from the embryonic church and instead supported himself with his work. Perhaps this became a point of contention among the early Christians in Corinth, because tent-making was not exactly up there with the more respected forms of employment, and they may have been a bit ashamed of him. Did Paul sin in their eyes by not asking for money or some other reward for his preaching? In those days, a visiting rabbi or some other man of God would be expected to be supported by the congregation he was speaking to. As in many other places, Paul challenged the status quo and introduced a new order in more ways than one.

In this situation, we see a bit of sarcasm from Paul when he said he “robbed” other churches. Of course, he didn’t do that literally, but he made the point that through his tent-making and donations from other churches, he was able to avoid being a burden to the Corinthians. In it all, Paul was not intent on making a living from the Corinthian congregation; rather, he wanted to avoid being a burden to them. Earlier in the chapter, Paul referred to men who called themselves apostles – he referred to them as “super apostles” – and who he was sure were seeking reward for their service from the believers, but perhaps Paul was pointing out that he was prepared to preach the word of the Gospel without reward, because by doing so it was reward enough. There was, and still is, no material value that can be placed on the Gospel. It is priceless, eternal and life-changing. Paul’s motivation was to do God’s work in leading unbelievers to faith in Christ. Since taking money from those unbelievers may have raised questions about Paul’s motives and the truthfulness of his message, he refused to do so.

Paul wrote that “the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that [he] needed”. We know that the Macedonian churches of Thessalonica, Berea, and Philippi were quite poor, and it was very humbling for Paul to accept money from them. He knew that those donations would have been given sacrificially by the congregations there. But while he was establishing the Corinthian church, he was preaching the Gospel, and he wasn’t prepared to take any reward for doing so. He never wanted to cloud the purity of the Gospel message with any niggling thoughts in the hearers’ minds that he was doing it for money. 

What can we pilgrims learn from this message from Paul today? One thing is the importance of transparency in financial matters. In our established churches, the congregation supports their leader or leaders through the tithes and offerings collected every Sunday. Today, innovative ways of giving have emerged, including bank transfers, standing orders, and even phone apps that can transfer funds to the right place. One church I know displays a QR code on the screen at the front, and congregants can scan it to open a giving app where they make their offering. But regardless of the way money is collected, and in his first letter, Paul wrote, “In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it” (1 Corinthians 9:14). 

So we pilgrims pray for and financially support our church leaders. We read in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit”. The joy they experience may perhaps be linked to the meal on their tables. 

Dear Heavenly Father. Please bless our leaders in all that they do and help us to do our part to support them in their work. For Jesus’ sake. Amen. 

The “Knowledge”

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things. I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way.”
2 Corinthians 11:4-6 NLT

Regarded as one of the toughest memory and navigation exams in the world, the “Knowledge” is a test every London black cab driver has to pass. London is a complex matrix of streets and roads with traffic considerations and restrictions, and yet it requires detailed knowledge of the city by London taxi drivers to efficiently navigate the streets and conditions that change almost daily, and sometimes even hourly. While a student, I took a similar, but much simpler, test in Southampton to obtain a “Hackney Carriage” licence from the authorities, enabling me to drive a minicab. But all employment requires some form of knowledge to do the job properly. It is rare to find an occupation that requires no experience or knowledge at all. 

But a taxi licence was obviously not the sort of knowledge that Paul was talking about. Paul’s knowledge was far more important because it not only enabled him to live his life in the Kingdom of God while he was alive, but it also gave him insight into the life to come. Paul’s knowledge was based on the Jewish Bible, broadly similar to our Old Testament, and enhanced by his encounter with the risen Jesus on the Damascus Road. The Holy Spirit did the rest, because “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me” (words of Jesus recorded in John 16:13-14). 

Paul declared that he was a rubbish speaker. Fair enough, because oratorical skills are not available to everyone. But being able to communicate is important because all the knowledge in the world is useless unless there is a way to convey it to the listener. I have an external hard drive in a drawer somewhere that contains backups of old files and photos, but in its current state, it is useless and will remain so until I plug it into a computer, at which point its treasures become accessible. Paul’s head was full of knowledge, as recognised by Governor Festus in Acts 26:24, “And as he was saying these things in his defence, Festus said with a loud voice, ‘Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind'”. Paul wasn’t out of his mind at all, but instead he had a mind full of knowledge.

But perhaps Paul’s speaking skills were illustrated when he visited Troas. There, Paul and his companions gathered with the local believers, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and then “…  since he was leaving the next day, [Paul] kept talking until midnight” (Acts 20:7b). Tragically, “As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below” (Acts 20:9). That probably said it all about Paul’s message delivery, because I’m sure we have all been in a pew listening to a long sermon and have struggled to keep awake, even if the subject matter was of great importance, possibly through the poor speaking skills of the preacher. To complete the story, though, regarding Eutychus, “Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!”” (Acts 20:10). But there was no relief for the Troas believers because the next verse reads, “Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left”. That must have been quite a sermon! In fact, it must have amounted to a “brain dump”, where Paul shared all his knowledge. 

What knowledge do we pilgrims have, and how have we acquired it? Obviously, it comes from a number of sources, depending on what sort of knowledge we are considering, but for Christians, the knowledge about God and His Kingdom comes from the Bible and through the Holy Spirit, through study and prayer. To assist with interpretation, knowledgeable men and women share their insights from the pulpit, and we can pick up a book or watch a Christian video, but the Source of all knowledge is God Himself. Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding”. Do we have ears to hear what God is saying to us? So often, we have filters in place that process what we are hearing in a way that either helps us forget what was said or translates it into something that it wasn’t.  At the end of the parable of the sower, Jesus said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand” (Matthew 13:9). The problem in Isaiah’s day, and it is still a problem, today, was the situation we find in Isaiah 6:9-10, “And he said, “Yes, go, and say to this people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’ Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing””. The devil is good at doing just that.

We pilgrims require knowledge to help us in our own walk with God and also to be able to communicate with the needy people who live around us. We must never neglect our Bible Study or times of prayer. 

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for revealing to us the truths about You and Your Kingdom. Give us open minds, we pray, to receive all the knowledge that You have for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Eve Syndrome

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the snake’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NIVUK

The human mind can be easily deceived by arguments and propositions that sound right but are not true. The situation with Eve is the classic example. God gave Adam a specific instruction: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die’” (Genesis 2:16-17). But along came the serpent, saying, “… Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden””? (Genesis 3:1b). Eve initially made the right response, “The woman said to the snake, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die” ’” (Genesis 3:2-3), although she failed to identify the specific tree to be avoided. Then, in the next two verses, came the serpent’s lie, “‘You will not certainly die,’ the snake said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’”. Then came the very verse that sealed their’s, and mankind’s ever since, doom: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it”. Yes, neither Adam nor Eve physically died because of that act, but spiritually, mankind has been dead ever since. God’s design and order were destroyed through a single piece of fruit, but thankfully, He didn’t give up at that point and decide to let Adam and the human race get on with their sinful lives, instead creating another planet somewhere and starting again. As we read the Bible, we find a love story of God wooing back His rebellious and sin-ridden creation, even to the extent of sending His Son, Jesus, to be the ultimate Saviour. 

Paul was concerned that the Corinthians had let down their guard and had allowed any random person with a seemingly plausible message to occupy their pulpit. It didn’t matter what “Jesus” they preached as long as the message sounded plausible. The same with the Holy Spirit they claimed to know. Perhaps the Gospel message being preached by these men was also plausible, as they, with the serpent’s cunning, twisted it, even subtly, to appear and sound plausible to the Corinthian ears. Paul warned Timothy about such a thing as well, as we read in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths”. I heard of a funeral service that took place in a crematorium in Glasgow some years ago, where the officiating Presbyterian minister used as his text John 3:16. Somehow, he managed to distort this verse to become a platform for Universalism, by saying that Jesus said that everyone would get to Heaven, including, by extension, the people gathered for the service and the unbelieving lady who occupied the coffin before them. The phenomenon of men and women preaching a false Jesus and a false Gospel wasn’t just a problem in Paul’s day.

How do we pilgrims guard ourselves from such aberrations? As the wars in different parts of the world rumble on, and as different global events continue to disturb the world order, it is easy to find preachers who deliver a message that sounds right but is instead of the wrong spirit. Just open YouTube and all sorts of strange and fictitious messages will appear if searched for. The same with other social media platforms. And before we know it distortions will creep into society in the form of ideologies and theories that will lure away even people of faith, even reaching new forms of social policies. There is only one remedy for such lies, and that is to recognise them for what they are. We pilgrims know that when faced with the Eve syndrome, we turn to our Heavenly Father and His Word where we will find the truth. We turn to the Words of Jesus because we know that He is “the way the truth and the life” (John. 14:6). Through prayer and the armour that Paul taught about (Ephesians 6), we stand firm, recognising that someone preaching a different Jesus from the one in the bible, or promoting a different spirit to the Holy Spirit, or encouraging us to accept a different Gospel to the one we find in the Bible, are all ploys of the devil. And if we find a false preacher in our pulpits, we immediately find somewhere else where the purity of the Word is sacrosanct.

Heavenly Father. Please “lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil” we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understanding God’s Jealousy: A Biblical Perspective

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ.”
2 Corinthians 11:1-2 NLT

What do we think about God being jealous? There are the Scriptures such as Exodus 20:4-6, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments”. We also read Exodus 34:14, “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”. Then there is Deuteronomy 4:23-24, “Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God”. We might puzzle over these verses for a bit, wondering what they mean, but the clue is in Deuteronomy 4:23, where the word “covenant” emerges. God made several covenants with His people. The first was after the Flood and was made with Noah. We read what God said in Genesis 9:9, “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you”. However, this was a covenant of grace in which God promised never again to bring a flood to destroy all the creatures on the earth. It was a promise God made that, regardless of mankind’s behaviour, He would never do such a thing again. The covenant that applied to His people can be found in Exodus 19 and was the one He made through Moses. This was a covenant that bound both God and His people into a special, eternal relationship that has stood ever since. We read what God said to Moses, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites” (Exodus 19:5-6). The Israelites agreed to this covenant: “The people all responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has said.’ So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord” (Exodus 19:8). It is because of this covenant, which still stands intact today, that the nations in our world need to take a special note of it. God never breaks His promises, and, regardless of the behaviour of the Jews and the nation of Israel, they are His “treasured possession“, and God will not tolerate it for long if other nations treat them badly. Yes, Israel will have to stand before God to give an account of their actions one day, but that has nothing to do with the covenant God has made with them.

So what does it mean when God says He is jealous? It is not that God is jealous or envious because someone has something He wants or needs. He is jealous when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him. In the Old Testament verses we read above, He is jealous of people who make idols and bow down to and worship them instead of giving God the worship that belongs to Him alone. God is possessive of the worship and service that belong to Him. It is a sin (as God points out in Exodus 20:4-6) to worship or serve anything other than God. God’s jealousy is not about possessiveness but reflects His deep love and desire for a faithful relationship with His people. God made an eternal covenant to protect His followers from the dangers of idolatry and unfaithfulness. 

In our human context, it is a sin to desire, envy, or be jealous of someone because the other person has something we do not. It is a different use of the word “jealous” when God says He is jealous. Being jealous of something that God declares to belong to you is good and appropriate. Jealousy is a sin when it is a desire for something that does not belong to you. Worship, praise, honour, and adoration belong to God alone, for only He is truly worthy of it. Therefore, God is rightly jealous when worship, praise, honour, or adoration is given to idols. This is precisely the jealousy the apostle Paul wrote, “For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself“. What is an idol? It is not necessarily a carved statuette or some other religious artefact, although it could be. It is anything that takes the place of God Himself. It could, but not necessarily, be a set of golf clubs or a classic car. It could be another person (consider the saying “He worships the ground she walks on”). The list of possibilities is long and comprehensive.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying that he was “jealous for [them] with the jealousy of God Himself”. As the one who founded the church in Corinth and led many of them to Christ, Paul sees himself as their spiritual father. But in the next verse, Paul builds on the metaphor of a father promising, or betrothing, his daughter to her future husband, as a picture of the church being betrothed to Christ as His bride. While betrothed, the future bride’s father ensured that his daughter was kept pure and undefiled until the big day. It is a metaphor that doesn’t hold much weight today, but in Paul’s day, it was the societal norm. Of course, the Corinthian church was not Paul’s personal possession, but he took on the responsibility for their purity and holiness, and he confronted those in Corinth who were peddling false teaching about God’s grace and faith in Christ. Our church leaders will feel a similar burden as they seek to pastor our churches.

Are we pilgrims supportive of our leaders, as they seek to pastor their flock, ensuring the spiritual well-being of the congregation? About them, Peter wrote, “Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t Lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example” (1 Peter 5:2-3). But about us pilgrims, the writer to the Hebrews wrote, “Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit” (Hebrews 13:17). So, today, our committed and diligent leaders shepherd us “with the jealousy of God himself“. We thank God for them.

Dear Father God. Thank You for our church leaders, and I have in mind the lovely man who pastors the church of which I am a member. Please bless them, encourage them, and help them in their work. In Jesus’ name. Amen.