Headed to Destruction

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.””
1 Corinthians 1:17-19 NLT

Who are these people who are “headed for destruction”? In the context of 1 Corinthians 1:18, these are the people who have rejected anything to do with Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of men and women. We pilgrims are believers who have put their trust for their eternal future in His hands, but most people in the Western societies have not. Instead they rely on the “wisdom” that has a purely human origin. To the unsaved, the essential truth of the gospel equates to meaningless hogwash because the worldly mind only values and appreciates human wisdom. We all know what worldly wisdom is all about. For example, very well, and expensively, educated individuals stay awake at night trying to think through the deficiencies ands contradictions in theories such as evolution, theories that deny any involvement of God in the affairs of this world. Such evolutionists adhere to the belief that any flaws in their theories are purely transient and that with the application of more human knowledge, problems will be explained away. And when presented with facts that can only be explained by the involvement of God in the natural world around us, they still refuse to believe that there is a God in Heaven who created our world. Such people call themselves wise and intelligent, but as Isaiah recorded in a message from the Holy Spirit long ago, “Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear” (Isaiah 29:14). A couple of verses further on, Isaiah wrote, “How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”?”

Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary atheist, said, “If you’re an atheist, you know, you believe, this is the only life you’re going to get. It’s a precious life. It’s a beautiful life. Its something we should live to the full, to the end of our days. Where if you’re religious and you believe in another life somehow, that means you don’t live this life to the full because you think you’re going to get another one. That’s an awfully negative way to live a life. Being a atheist frees you up to live this life properly, happily and fully”. That’s the wisdom of the foolish, from a man who fails to understand that a natural life spent in God’s presence is free of the restraints his intelligence thinks are there, a life that is then followed by eternity spent in the presence of the One who created this world in the first place. As I said to a God-denier the other day, I look up into the skies at sunrise or sunset and see an amazing display of colour and patterns, and all I can do is say “Wow”, and thank God for the experience. The problem that this man had was that he didn’t have anyone to thank for the wonder before him. Sadly, he walked away, too “intelligent” to accept that there was an alternative to his lack of a belief in God.

In these verses before us today from 1 Corinthians, Paul underlines the stark contrast between human wisdom and God’s wisdom. The prophet Isaiah rebuked Israel for relying on the “wisdom of the wise” and the “intelligence of the intelligent” instead of God’s divine wisdom. The believers in Corinth were making the same grave mistake. Rather than trusting in the wisdom that comes down from heaven, they were depending on the kind of wisdom the Apostle James wrote about in James 3:5b, “ … Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic”.  In their spiritual immaturity, the Corinthian believers were still thinking and acting like unbelievers. 

James wrote much about God’s wisdom. “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honourable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. …  But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favouritism and is always sincere” (James 3:13, 17).‭ When God populated this earth with human beings, He gave them the brains that would enable them to make wise and intelligent decisions based on His ways. But when sin entered the world, very quickly mankind decided to replace God with their own wisdom. Such foolishness can be read about in Genesis 11:4, “Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world””. We’ll not bother with God, they said, and instead we will make our own lives based on our own thoughts, inclinations and ideologies. Selfishness and a rejection of God became the basis for human wisdom, and God called it foolishness. Yet God kept loving men and women on this earth, and He sent Jesus to die for our sins, taking on the judgement and punishment that we deserve. To decide to believe in Jesus in wise and intelligent, because through Jesus we align ourselves to God’s wisdom and intelligence, which is infinitely greater than anything devised by man. So it is with sadness that God has committed human wisdom and intelligence to ultimate destruction. There will be no opportunity for Richard Dawkins, or anyone else, to say, “Sorry God I got it all wrong” when they stand before Him to give an account of their lives. 

We pilgrims know all about the power of the Cross, to save us from sin and death, and provide a life that will be spent with God in His presence. Forever. And ever. And what else can we do than thank Jesus for making it all possible? We praise You Lord!

Dear Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Thank You for ll You did and still keep doing for mankind in every generation. We pray for our families, our children and grandchildren, and the generations following, that Your presence will be with them, providing them with the intelligence that comes from above instead of the intelligence that is purely human. Thank You, Lord. Amen.

The Power of the Cross

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:17-18 NLT

Crucifixion was a terrible way to execute someone. To nail or tie someone to a wooden structure, and leave them there until they die is an offence to us Western peoples. The cruelty of such an act exposes the darkest and most evil side of human beings, and is the opposite of God’s message of love and forgiveness. Yet for many years around the time of Christ it was a common form of execution. However, because of Christ and His death on the cross, the meaning of the cross today is completely different. 

The Jewish Passover was a festival commemorating the time when the angel of death “passed over” the homes of the Israelite slaves in Egypt, homes identified by the smearing of a lamb’s blood over the doorposts and lintels of the house. The process was set out in Exodus 12 and we read that the lamb chosen was to be a one-year-old male with no defects. But as we turn to John’s Gospel, we hear John the Baptist’s announcement, recorded in John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”” God’s plan was to provide His Son, Jesus, to be the sacrificial lamb, ensuring that the sprinkling of His blood (in a spiritual sense) would ensure that God’s judgement “passed over” the ones who believed in Jesus and who have looked to Him as their Saviour from the wrath to come. We pilgrims know and understand that it is only through Jesus that redemption can be found, and He went through the pain and humiliation of death on a cross to make that happen. 

So the message of the cross is a powerful spiritual declaration, saying once and for all time that there is a way back to God regardless of the devil’s protestations and plans. The Cross of Christ “is the very power of God”, but ignored and even ridiculed by those who fail to understand its message. Firstly, through Jesus’ death on the Cross came the power of God to forgive us from our sins. Words of Paul from 1 Corinthians 15:3, “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said“. Secondly, through the Cross we are reconciled to God. Paul again from 2 Corinthians 5:19, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation”. And it is worth noting that we pilgrims are on a mission to share the power of the Cross with those around us, in the hope and expectation that they too will be reconciled to God. 

Thirdly, it is through the power of the Cross that we are renewed. As the power of sin and death is broken, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, who enables us to live lives marked by love, joy, and peace. This renewal isn’t merely superficial but penetrates the core of our being and leads to a transformation of character and a renewed purpose. But there is more. A fourth benefit for us believers is through healing. Peter wrote in his first letter, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed” (1 Peter 2:24). While this doesn’t mean that God will fulfil every request for healing, it does mean that we can have confidence when we approach God in faith to request healing. This is because we are simply asking for what Jesus has already purchased for us. 

The power of the Cross brings the promise of eternal life. John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life“. We know the story of the bronze snake from Numbers 21. The Israelites were grumbling about their food, which they called manna, and we read what happened. “So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died” (Numbers 21:6). And then a couple of verses further on we read, “Then the Lord told [Moses], “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!”. That bronze pole and snake were a type of what was to come when the Son of Man, Christ Himself, was lifted up on the Cross, providing the power for people to live, with a life that is eternal. 

As believers we have a responsibility and a calling, as Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me“. Romans 6:6-8, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him“. From Matthew 16:24-25 we read the words of Jesus Himself, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, 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”. We pilgrims identify with Christ’s Cross, because it was there we left, nailed in place, our pre-redeemed selves. The problem of course for many believers is that they constantly return to the Cross and take down their old selves, returning again to their old way of life. But that’s another story.

We could go on. The very loving act of Jesus who willingly died a horrible death so that we could live with Him forever, is an act of love never before seen in this world. Quote from C S Lewis, “The Son of Man became a man to enable men to become sons of God“. We will be eternally grateful for Jesus and the Power of the Cross. And His shed blood will keep on pouring, a fountain of redemption available until the end of time. What a privilege we pilgrims have in knowing what we know. And we share our knowledge with others at every opportunity because there is no limit to the numbers of believers that can be accommodated in Heaven. 

Dear Father God. We love you and worship You, bewildered by Your grace and love, but eternally grateful for all You have done for us. Thank You. Amen.

Preach the Gospel

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.”
1 Corinthians 1:13-17 NLT

Paul was confident that he had a Christ-given mandate to preach the Good News, the Gospel of salvation through Jesus. We all remember the conversion that Paul experienced on the Damascus Road, where a Light, Jesus Himself, blinded him, and turned his life round with the question. “ … Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”” (Acts 9:4b). A man called Ananias was tasked with laying his hands on Saul, so that he could see again. He was obedient regardless of his fears – ““But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!” (Acts 9:13), and we subsequently read, “But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake”” (Acts 9:13-15). What a mandate Paul received! To be commissioned to take the Gospel “to the Gentiles and to kings“, the message coming straight from Jesus Himself. To the Galatian church, Paul wrote, “Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). And suffer Paul did in the process of sharing the Gospel – just read 2 Corinthians 11, where we find a brief history of all Paul’s sufferings. He was imprisoned, whipped, beaten, stoned, and shipwrecked. He experienced hunger and thirst, and other privations that I hope and pray none of us will have to face. And all for the sake of carrying the Gospel into lands where the people were resistant to the message Jesus commissioned Paul to share. 

Notice that Paul wasn’t tasked with anything else in his journeys. He was not a pastor or teacher, and the baptising of converts he left in the hands of others. This was not a part of his mission, and Paul was crystal clear in only doing what Jesus had asked him to do. He was solely a missionary and evangelist, and in addition we are grateful for his diligence in writing follow up letters to the churches and fellowships that he founded, thus providing invaluable theological insights that help us in our pilgrimage to Glory. Perhaps Paul was comfortable with the thought that baptism wasn’t essential to ensure a person was saved. He wrote to the believers in Rome, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10). Baptism is a public declaration that a person makes, of his belief and faith in Jesus, but the penitent thief on the cross next to Jesus never had the chance to be baptised, and yet was soon to join Jesus in “Paradise”. 

Paul also was wary of what he called “clever speech”. We have all heard preachers who are good with words, men and women whose sermons are strong on rhetoric but lacking in power. Speakers to whom people travel far to hear what they have to say, but the leave their presence unchanged. Paul avoided such an accusation, and allowed the purity of Christ’s message to hit home with the power of the Cross of Christ. Paul had an extremely good knowledge of the Old Testament and used that to good effect in his discussions with people in the towns and cities he visited. In Thessalonica Paul found a synagogue and there we read, “As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah“” (Acts 17:2-3). In the next city, Athens, Paul’s address before the Athenian council was a masterpiece. He started, ” … Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about” (Acts 17:22-23). Quite simply he got their attention by connecting their culture with the message of the Cross of Jesus. No clever speech, just Holy-Spirit-inspired words to a sceptical audience, and at the end of his preach we read, “but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17:34). 

We pilgrims are also commissioned to preach the Gospel. The world around us is full of people heading to a lost eternity and that is the last thing that God wants for His creation. There was a time when many disciples left Jesus because they couldn’t accept His message. We pick up the account in John 6:67-69, “Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God”“. Peter hit the nail on the head when he spoke up on behalf of all the disciples, because he realised that only Jesus could give eternal life. That is our message to the lost souls around us and we pray for opportunities to tell them the Good News. Someone once condensed the Gospel into, “Hell is hot, Heaven is real and Jesus saves”. That is the Gospel in a nutshell. We don’t have to enter into intellectual discussions and debates about Christianity and what it means. We instead allow the Holy Spirit within us to give us the words that we already know, but which are tailor-made to touch our listeners with what God wants them to hear. We mustn’t forget though that although we share Jesus’ words of eternal life, it is the Holy Spirit who brings conviction in the hearts of our hearers. John 16:8, “And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment“. 

Father God. You are not only the Source of the Good News, but You are the Good News, We thank You that You cared enough for us to send someone to introduce us to Jesus and we pray for opportunities to do the same. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

Fears

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.”
2 Kings 6:14 NLT

Elisha was in trouble. The king of Aram was annoyed with him, because every time the Arameans made a plan to defeat Israel in the war that was going on, Elisha, “the man of God” got to hear about it and he warned Israel’s king accordingly. The Aramean king was convinced that he had a traitor amongst his officers and we read their defence, ““It’s not us, my Lord the king,” one of the officers replied. “Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!”” (2 Kings 6:12). Eventually the Aramean king found out where Elisha was staying, and in the night he sent a “great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city“. Their intent was to capture him and, I suspect, do him harm. Surely a time for fear and a dilemma for the inhabitants of Dothan, where Elisha was staying. 

Fast forward to 21st Century Planet Earth. News headlines of wars and threats abound. Just this morning the aftermath of the Israel/Iran spat continues with doomsday reports of Iran’s nuclear capability. The attempts by Israel to eliminate Hamas terrorists continues. The war between an aggressive Russia and Ukraine rumbles on into its third year. Press reports in the UK highlight the pitiful state of our nation’s defence capabilities. Tensions between different ethnic groups living in British occasionally boil over into strife. There has even been advice saying that households should keep a sum on money in cash available just in case there are problems with the banking system. Surely a time for fear and a dilemma for the inhabitants of the British Isles, where we stay. 

In Israel back in Elisha’s days, and in the UK today the problem is the same. We have a world riddled with evil and wickedness and the sins of mankind seem to have no bounds. And law-abiding citizens would be forgiven for quaking in fear and trepidation about what might happen next. So how should we pilgrims react in such a febrile world? The key is in what happens next in the story of Elish and the Arameans.

Elisha had a young servant and we read in 2 Kings 6:15, “When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha”. And then we read in the next two verses, ““Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire“. 

A quote from David Pawson: “I think sometimes we panic because we are only seeing what’s happening in the world that everybody else sees; if only we could see God’s point of view and see what’s happening in his sight. God is still on the throne. He is at peace, not worried about what is happening. It’s all going his way and he will end it all. When we read all the stark headlines in the press we get panicky. We say, ‘It’s coming to an end, it’s dreadful!’  Lord, open their eyes that they may see the real situation from God’s point of view“. On the face of it, world events at the moment are potentially scary in their outcomes. And on many people’s lips, even Christians, there is a plethora of “what if’s”. What if Russia attacks Poland? What if Iran develops a nuclear missile? What if …. (put in you own particular fear). But as David Pawson said, “God is still on His throne”. In His High Priestly prayer, Jesus said, “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come” (Matthew 24:6-8). The world is going through a birthing process just now, and has been for centuries. 

So, how should we pilgrims feel and respond. This is a time for God’s people to rise up and counter the stories of anxiety and worry, “what if’s” and hopelessness, fear and panic. We note two things from our experience as children of God. Firstly God has said, “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Jesus Himself said “ …  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b). Secondly, we are on a mission to tell others of God’s saving grace. A dog-walker I spoke to recently confessed to feeling hopeless and fearful in a world she thought was out of control, but at the same time she refused to believe that God had a remedy. People around us are without hope and it affects their ability to function as God intended, leaving them paralysed with anxiety and fear. 

We pilgrims stand on the promises of God. I recently saw a YouTube clip of a very emotional news report filed by a young Israeli journalist who had found many recent testimonies of miracles in the lives of Israeli men and women. And at the end she was asked how people should pray for her nation. Her reply was for people to pray Psalm 91 over Israel. The Psalm starts, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him”. We pilgrims rise up and echo the words of the writer to the Hebrews, “So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”” (Hebrews 13:6). One day, sooner or later, we will be called to our Heavenly home, where we are assured of a tremendous welcome. So rather than worry and stress over the state of the world, we echo the words at the end of the Book of Revelation, “Come Lord Jesus”. 

Dear Father God. We thank You for Your presence in this world, holding back the forces of evil that would destroy everyone, given the opportunity. But we are not a people who hide their heads in the sand and hope everything will get better. We pray for world events with a passion fired and fuelled by our faith and trust in You and we worship and praise You today. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

Baptism

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!”
1 Corinthians 1:11-13 NLT

After the introductions, the first topic in Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church was about divisions and a lack of unity, which were leading to quarrelling and the factional support for certain church leaders. But Paul brought them back on track, reminding them of their roots, back to their baptisms. I am assuming of course that all us pilgrims have been baptised at some time, but if anyone hasn’t then it is an essential requirement for believers everywhere. Baptism isn’t an option because it is an outward declaration of the spiritual conversion that has happened inside of a new believer. It usually takes place in front of witnesses who observe the public proclamation of a person’s faith. In some denominations, baptism has become a “Christening”, where an infant, a new baby, is dedicated to God through a simple service involving the wetting of the baby’s head. At this time the parents and “godparents” make promises to raise the child in the Christian faith, but a bit later, when the child has grown up a bit, there is an opportunity for them to “confirm” the vows made over them in a ceremony that involves a public affirmation of the original promises. The Biblical act of baptism involves full immersion in water, and that is the practice adopted for adults in more fundamental Bible-believing denominations and movements. But however we think of baptism, it is in the end a public declaration of our pilgrim faith. 

Baptism hasn’t just been a Christian requirement. There are examples of ceremonial cleansing in the Old Testament, such as in Leviticus 16:4, and referring to the requirement for a priest’s (in this case Aaron) spiritual cleanliness, “He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on“. This was a practice common in Judaism. But we will be more familiar with passages in the Bible such as Luke 3:3 and the preaching of the man we refer to as John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin. “Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven”. It seems a bit of a leap to go from a priestly ceremonial cleansing to a general public demonstration of repentance, but God knew what He was doing. His plan, in the build up to Jesus’s entry into this world, involved the preparation of people’s hearts and expectations, and John baptising people brought awareness of sin and introduced the public act of repentance from sins. Isaiah prophesised about John, as we read in Luke 3:4, “Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!” And John didn’t pull any punches in His preaching, “When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones” (Luke 3:7-8). I wonder how John the Baptist would get on today, preaching his message in the UK, but in those days “Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah” (Luke 3:15). The first named person baptised was Jesus, as we read in Luke 3:21-22, “One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy””. 

But back to the Corinthians. Paul challenged them about their baptism experiences. In whose name were they baptised? There is only one Person in whose name Christians are baptised. The process involves submerging a person in water with the declaration “I baptise you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. There is something significant about this process because it is more than a public act demanded of believers. It signifies that, in the process of full immersion, we are baptised into Jesus’ death and then raised to walk in newness of life with Him. Romans 6:3-4, “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives“. Romans 6 provides more details. “Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him” (Romans 6:5-9). 

Believers everywhere are confident about receiving forgiveness for all their sins, because, after all, this is what Jesus accomplished at Calvary. We are so grateful for God’s plan and Jesus’ willingness to implement it. But sometimes we miss the next step, being “crucified with Christ”. When we receive forgiveness for our sins, we in return receive Jesus’ righteousness so that we can blamelessly come into God’s presence. We are very grateful for our forgiveness, but it’s living “crucified with Christ” and in accordance with His righteousness that is more difficult. Identifying in baptism with Christ’s death and resurrection is a fundamental part of a believer’s walk with God, and it results in a changed people. 

But we pilgrims know this, I’m sure. And as we go about our daily business, people around us will know that we are a people who know Jesus. We are transformed and we shine like beacons of God’s glory in a world full of the darkness of sin. And being children of God, becoming day by day more like Jesus, we spend more and more time with Him. We have not been baptised into anything or anyone else, and we must uphold the purity and holiness resulting from being baptised in God’s triune name. And as we just pause and think, reflecting on all that Jesus has done for us, we experience again the wonder of our baptisms, that feeling inside confirmed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We love You Lord! We worship and adore You, today and forever. 

Father God, where do we start in our gratitude? But there again where do we stop? We never stop thanking You and day by day we pray that we will love You more dearly and clearly. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Divisions In The Church

Posted on by Adrian Clark

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: one of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’”
1 Corinthians 1:10-12 NLT

Divisions in the church? Sadly there have been many over the centuries, with apparently unresolved differences leading to breakups of denominations, that in themselves were formed by similar previous divisions, and so it went on, right back to the heady days when the early church was formed in Jerusalem. In the last three hundred years or so the Presbyterian movement that formed the Church of Scotland has divided into sub-denominations, such as the Free Church of Scotland, the United Presbyterian Church, the United Free Church, and there have even been some mergers between previously-divided churches. What a mess! But the Early Church was not immune from division. We read about the doctrinal or theological differences forming the Gnostics, the Marcionists, the Montanists, and so on. And here in the Corinthian church we see the basis for conflict and division, as different factions emerge, each following a different leader known about at the time. Some even distanced themselves from such pettiness, only to introduce another well meaning but further division in that they “follow Christ”, something we should all be doing above all else, by the way. How is it that people can never seem to agree and end up creating different denominations, churches and fellowships? And even at a local level, discord between church members is destructive and something the devil encourages.

Paul appealed to the Corinthians and asked, ‘that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought”. Sounds good on paper of course and he was sincere in his request but it is sad that the church there in Corinth had lapsed into so much disagreement. How can believers become “perfectly united in mind and thought”?  If we asked the same of believers today are we likely to get a positive response?

 Jesus said something significant about unity. In Jesus’ High Priestly prayer we read John 17:11, where Jesus prayed, “Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are“. That is an awesome prayer. Is it possible to be united just as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity that forms the God we worship? Such unity shouldn’t be impossible but it obviously is, to look at the different factions that make up the believers today and in the last two thousand years. In His prayer, Jesus returned to unity, as we read in John 17:21-22, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one“. Oh Jesus! We are so sorry that Your Church, the Bride that You are returning to one day, has become so fractious and divided. What a tragedy!

Today, I live in the centre of a Scottish city called Dunfermline, and at one time there were fourteen different church buildings within a 1/4 mile radius from a central point in the High Street. Even today, there are eight within a short walk from my home. Hardly a witness to an aspiring and inquiring believer, who was faced with such a bewildering selection of churches. And that is the issue that Jesus was praying about because through unity between believers a strong witness goes out to the world around them. The next verse in John 17 reads, “ … May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me”. When Christians are united in Christ, the world sees two things clearly: Jesus was sent by the Father, and Jesus loves His church. 

In Romans 15:5-6, Paul wrote, “May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. There’s a reason why there should be unity between believers – to give glory to God. As Christians, we must aspire to the unity of faith, and we again refer to Paul’s writings. He said, “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:3). I can almost hear him say that as he agonised over the churches and fellowships he had planted, a spiritual father if there ever was one. But he hit the nail on the head when he referred to unity in the Spirit. We have all the power of the Holy Spirit within us that will help us overcome disagreements that inevitable will occur in the family of God. 

But we pilgrims should not look for unity with people and churches, even denominations, that have abandoned the purity of God’s Word and instead replace it with compromises to try and make them more acceptable to the secular society around them. We see that in the Church of Scotland, as it embraces worldly views on gender and same sex marriage, degrading and abandoning Biblical truths and accelerating its denominational decline. We should also avoid being involved in churches that are led, or have been established, by charismatic figures with no accountability, and with their own agenda and ideology. The JW’s come to mind. 

But back to the Corinthians. They were building factions within their church by following different leaders prominent at that time, leaders such as Apollos, Paul and Peter, and that was leading to quarrels between them. Paul’s appeal to them was to pursue unity, a unity founded on relationships with Jesus and His truth. It is only though Jesus that we can find our way to the Father, as he said in John 14:6, “ …I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“. The way to avoid “divisions in the Church” is to start with Jesus and all He has done for us. One day we will have the daunting prospect of standing before Him, to give an account of our lives. Romans 14:12, “Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God“. 

If we find ourselves in a place where we disagree with other believers or our leaders, what should we do? We start with Ephesians 4:3 and do our best to resolve differences. If this is unsuccessful, then we prayerfully consider what other options there are, asking God to lead and guide us. And in the case that difficulties remain unresolved we must sadly find a home where we can worship God “in spirit and truth”. And we remember that one day perfect unity will prevail as we join the Heavenly congregation John wrote about in Revelation 7:9-10, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”” In the end it will be all about Jesus. There is no-one else worthy of our praise and worship, and to whom all the glory is His by right.

Dear Father God. We are so sorry for the times when we have quarrelled and left churches by putting our own interests over the interests of others. Please forgive us we pray and lead us to the place where You want us to be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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God is Faithful

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:7-9 NLT
“God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:9 CSB

In his build up to “God is faithful” Paul sets out how much God has done for the believers in Corinth. As one commentary puts it “Christ does all the work, and we receive all the benefits”. A very lopsided relationship, I think we must agree, but it is true that God in His Grace has done so much for us. In fact, when we consider God’s faithfulness we come to see more clearly what it means because none of the sins of mankind will keep God from being faithful, through His grace, to any person who has come to Him by faith in Jesus. God put into action His plan for the salvation of mankind. It was many years in the making because it started before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and with a cross and the crucifixion of His own Son, the plan was finally implemented. God was faithful all the way through and His faithfulness continues today. 

As we read through the Bible, we see example after example of how God’s faithfulness has lasted even though there were many seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the way. Abrahan and Sarah had a son in their old age, in response to God’s promise in Genesis 15:4-6, “Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith“. Sadly, Abraham and Sarah tried to make things happen with a Plan B, resulting in Ishmael, but God was still faithful, as we read in Genesis 17:19, “But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant”. The story continued and we read in Genesis 21:1-3, “The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Abraham named their son Isaac”. A miracle birth to an old couple and an example of God’s faithfulness. 

To the Corinthian church, and referring to the things He was doing for them, Paul wrote, “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says”. Day after day, God’s faithfulness is present in our daily lives. After the Flood, God said, “Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth“. And we are still living in the light of this promise. In Genesis 8:21 we read, “And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things“. Today we are living assured of this promise, and all those who are afraid of being destroyed in a nuclear holocaust would do well to stand on this promise of God because He is faithful. The next verse in Genesis 8 gives us another promise from God, “As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night“. The climate doomsayers would say otherwise, but God has promised that the world will continue in the form we know, and we, His people of faith, believe that.

In the New Testament we read some more promises about God’s faithfulness. In Genesis 24:14, we read what Jesus said about the events preceding the End of the Age, “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come”. Good progress is being made at reaching the world with the Gospel, but there is still many people yet to be reached. Another promise of God we know well, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life“. Paul picked up this theme in Romans 10:9, “if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved“. God has promised that we will be saved and we will spend eternity with Him.

But the one thing about God’s promises is that they need faith to believe them. In the same way that God is faithful, so must we be. Paul was convinced about God’s faithfulness and he wrote, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). We believe God’s promises because He is faithful, in spite of our doubts and lack of faith. Paul wrote, “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is” (2 Timothy 2:13). And that sums it up really. God is not only faithful, He is faithful because that is who He is. Isn’t that tremendous?

Dear Father God, we thank You for Your faithfulness, so gracious and loving. Through Your faithfulness, Your promises will come to pass, as we are eternally grateful. Amen.

Free From All Blame

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:7-9 NLT

Something significant is embedded in these three verses. Have you noticed that the Corinthian believers have not done anything to contribute to their salvation as they “eagerly wait for the return of the Lord”?God has supplied “every spiritual gift” for them. Paul wrote that God will keep them “strong to the end“, “free from all blame”, and that He is faithful with an invitation “into partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord”. And that is the same for us believers today. Our amazing God gives and gives, and never stops giving, all through His grace, love and mercy. 

As we read on in this epistle, we find that there was much that the Corinthian believers could have been blamed for, but we won’t get ahead of the text. The well read verses in Ephesians 2 set out why – “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it“. I meet so many people who think they will stand before God blameless because of their self-assessment that they are “good people”. Such a person comes to my mind. I met a young woman some years ago who was in a lesbian relationship. I was sharing my testimony with several people at the time but this young woman was vociferously confident that if there was a God then she would be acceptable to Him because she behaved well in her society and had done nothing to be ashamed of. Some other people I have met cannot even be bothered to think about the enormity of going to Hell, having a misguided, devil-inspired, view that Hell won’t we all that bad a place. In fact, one man I met thought it would be a place of partying. But I keep chipping away at these sinful bastions of humanity, in case there will be an opportunity to introduce someone to Jesus. 

But I’m sure we pilgrims are all “good people” as well. After all, we have been called out of the darkness of sin into the light of God’s grace. But that is the issue. Like everyone else, we lived a life of sin, our “goodness” falling far short of God’s standard. There was a day when someone introduced us to Jesus. Or it might even have been a day when we had our own Damascus Road experience. It might have been a time such as experienced by John Wesley, who was a clergyman in the Church of England but a self-confessed spiritual pauper. In a church meeting in 1738 someone was reading the introduction to the Book of Romans by Martin Luther, and in that moment, Wesley described feeling his heart “strangely warmed”. He felt a deep sense of God’s love and assurance that his sins were forgiven through faith in Christ alone. But regardless of other people’s experiences of God, our testimonies of how we discovered God’s grace are deeply personal and can impart an important message to those who are yet to be saved.

There was that day when we came to the cross of Jesus, confessing and repenting of our sins, and feeling that peace within us, knowing that we were now blameless before God. We too experienced hearts that were “strangely warmed”, assured of our salvation and eternal life with God Himself in Heaven one day. But to be blameless, we also had to be given Jesus’ righteousness through God’s grace. Just stop and think for a moment. No matter how dark our lives had been, we could be “free from all blame” through Jesus. What a wonderful Saviour! Just a note of caution however, and a sobering thought. If we now stand before God, righteous in His sight, what does that mean for the way we live our lives? It’s somehow easier to repent of our sins, than live a life of righteousness, God’s way? Hmmm…

David wrote, “For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil. I have followed all his regulations; I have never abandoned his decrees. I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin” (Psalm 18:21-23). In the New Testament we read, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight … ” (Ephesians 1:4). We pilgrims were destined to be God’s children, without any baggage of blame and sin. We pilgrims are indeed blameless in God’s sight, but it would be grossly dishonouring to Him if we proceeded to live a sinful life, ignoring our responsibilities as His children. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light“. Peter went on to describe our status and responsibilities in God’s Kingdom – “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honourable behaviour, and they will give honour to God when he judges the world” (1 Peter 2:11-12). As “God’s very own possession” we have the responsibility to live our lives God’s way. Some would say that we are not under such a heavy burden, because we have been set free by the Holy Spirit. Although there is some truth in that, having been set free from the Law, but in my heart can I really not live a life honouring to God? There is a critical balance between legalism and freedom, and one we work out with our amazing and gracious God, day by day.

Father God. We love You, our wonderful Heavenly Father. Our worship is Yours by right, and we are deeply thankful for being Your children. Please help us to live lives honouring to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


 

Eagerly Waiting

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:7-9 NIVUK

What do we pilgrims feel about the return of Jesus? Does the thought full us with dread or a pleasurable anticipation? I suppose it all depends on our circumstances, exposing the dilemma facing us Western Christians. We have so much in terms of material wealth that we have a reluctance to let it all go. Even those who complain about their lack of money and difficulties in making ends meet in a society experiencing a cost of living crisis, probably have more possessions available to them than many of the Corinthian believers. It is all relative. Of course there are many, too many, people who suffer from poor mental health and who would welcome relief in a new world that would accompany Jesus’ return, each set free at last from the depression and other conditions that blight their lives. But in the main we fill our lives with more and more “stuff”, clogging up our clarity of thought and vision of a new order in God’s presence. 

The early First Century Christians were convinced that Jesus would return in their lifetimes. In fact, in their expectations He could return at any time, and His imminence focused their minds. They woke up in the morning, thinking “is this the day”? In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, Paul reassured the believers that those who have died while they wait for Jesus would not be disadvantaged. He wrote, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him”. But the days passed and Jesus did not return. But that did not stop them living as though He would come in the next hour or day. And so they eagerly awaited His return, not lacking “any spiritual gift” and assured that Jesus would “keep [them] firm to the end”. 

But here we are two thousand years or thereabouts later and Jesus still hasn’t returned. In Matthew 24:3 we read of a conversation between Jesus and His disciples. “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’” The first part of their question referred to the Temple and Jesus’ prophecy that it was going to be destroyed (this subsequently happened in AD 70). But the disciples were also concerned about the end of the age. Jesus’ answer started in the next three verses with a discourse following of the end time events, “You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth-pains”. History records the signs Jesus warned us of, signs that He said were just the “birth-pains”, preceding the End Time events. Recent happenings in the Middle East have caused some speculation that we are in the same situation as the First century Christians, awaiting Jesus’ imminent return. Even some well known and respected pastors have been inclined to comment through social media postings that we could be just about at the time of the “End of the Age”. But Jesus later said, “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34. That has obviously not happened so there have been several opinions expressed by theologians over the years about what Jesus meant. We must remember the dual question asked by the disciples and possibly Jesus was referring to the  destruction of the Temple when He said this. Or He might have been referring to a future generation that would still be alive when He returned. But come what may, as a Bible commentary states, “Both views, as well as many others, agree that in at least one sense, Jesus is right now at the gates, ready to return. Nothing stands in His way, and He waits only for the Father to send Him, at the moment only the Father knows. He could arrive at any time”. 

In Matthew 24:42, we read that Jesus said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come”, and in the next chapter Jesus gave three illustrations of the importance of being ready for His return. We have the parables of the Ten Virgins, the Three Servants, and then the Sheep and the Goats. The conclusion in the first parable included the five virgins who were not ready for the return of the Bridegroom, and we read, “Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’” (Matthew 25:11-12). And Jesus finished with, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return” (Matthew 25:13). But the story of the Sheep and the Goats is more than a parable, more than just another Biblical story. It is a stark warning of what is to come and what Jesus will be expecting to find when He returns. 

So back to the question I started with. What do we feel about the return of Jesus? The Corinthian believers were “eagerly awaiting” His return. Are we, and if so, what are we doing about it? We can’t just sit on a Sunday pew, comfortable in our Western Christianity, praying that nothing will disturb our status quo. We have to do the things Jesus has asked of us. And if we dread His return we must look closely at our relationship with Jesus, and pray that He will once again empower our lives through the Holy Spirit within us. 

Father God. We repent of our lukewarm faith, without power and effect. Please forgive us for our spiritual lethargy, and help us once again to find our first love, that time when we first encountered You and were infused with the excitement of knowing You. May we too be like those early believers, eagerly awaiting Your return. In Your precious and holy name. Amen.

Our Testimony About Christ

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way – with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge – God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.”
1 Corinthians 1:4-6 NIVUK
“I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.”
1 Corinthians 1:4-6 NLT

Paul could see so much good in those early Christians in Corinth. He provides the picture of a people who seem to have a new confidence enhanced by the spiritual gifts they had received. They received an ability that came from being “enriched in every way with all kinds of speech and knowledge”. But that wasn’t unusual with the early believers. In Acts 3 we can read of a “man who was lame from birth” and who was carried to the Temple gate every day to beg. Then there came those epic words from Peter, “ … ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong” (Acts 3:6-7). Of course, the people who knew the disabled beggar “were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him” and this gave Peter and John an opportunity to preach the Gospel in a part of the Temple called Solomon’s Colonnade. But this displeased the religious authorities and “They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day”(Acts 4:3). Peter and John were brought in for questioning the next day before a meeting of the Sanhedrin and they were asked, ” … By what power or what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7). Now here’s the point of this story – the next verse started, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people!” ‭‭Peter started a discourse empowered in the same way as the believers in Corinth. They were all full of the Holy Spirit and the “gracious gifts He has given [them]”. After Peter’s defence before the Sanhedrin, the two disciples were removed from the assembly and we then read something very telling, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus“. That’s what Paul could see in those early Corinthian believers – men and women filled with the Holy Spirit, giving them powers that could only come from God.

Of course we remember the verses where Jesus told His disciples about the Holy Spirit. Jesus was recorded as saying, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11-12). The same saying of Jesus is in Matthew 10:19-20, “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you”. Both versions of what Jesus said stress the importance of recognising the Gift of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. I meet Christians who lack the confidence to speak out when an opportunity is presented, because they feel they won’t know what to say. In faith, we all know what to say, because the Holy Spirit will speak through us. 

Believers everywhere, pilgrims like us, have the responsibility, ability and, we pray, the opportunity to provide and speak out our testimonies about Christ. We don’t have to learn a script. We don’t have to stutter and be ashamed about what we know or about our faith. God will lead us and guide us in every situation we come across. How did we come to know Jesus? How has Jesus helped us in our daily lives? It is all there within us, just waiting for the Holy Spirit to form the words and speak them out through our lips, as Jesus said. Some of the best evangelists are new Christians, full of excitement and the Holy Spirit, desperate to tell someone about Jesus. Do we still have that same excitement that we once had?

But we should also take note of something else. In Peter’s discourse before the Sanhedrin he quoted a Scripture from Psalm 118:22, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone“. The point is that Peter knew a Bible verse that backed up what he was saying. In the culture of His day, Jesus took it as read that the disciples would have had a degree of Bible knowledge, being schooled at least to a basic level as every Jewish boy was. We pilgrims will not have a religious education to the same degree. We may have been ignorant of Sunday schools when we were small. We may never have entered a church until we met Jesus. But that doesn’t matter because we can read the Bible, and the Holy Spirit will be able to put scriptures into our testimonies because they are stored away somewhere in our memory. But having said that, our God is also a miracle worker. There have been times when some thought or impression has emerged in my mind, and I’ve wondered where it came from, but it has been very relevant to the situation before me. 

Paul reassured the Corinthian believers of the authenticity of his testimony about Christ, and I’m sure his readers had the same. This is something that we pilgrims must also be serious about, also having a testimony about Christ, proclaiming all that He has done for us. It is not just about going to church on a Sunday, and behaving like everyone else for the rest of the week. We must shine like beacons, showing the Light of God to all around us, through our behaviour, speech, attitudes and faith. We present a counter-cultural view of societal life that everyone will see and take note of, and we look for opportunities to share our testimonies with anyone who will listen, using as a bottom line the words that Peter said in Acts 2:38-40, “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!””. We do indeed live in a “crooked generation” and must urge those in our society, those we know and don’t know, about the importance of salvation, and where will spend eternity.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for our testimonies, and we pray for Your presence to bring them to life in the ears of our listeners. It’s all about our Lord Jesus, and all that He has done for us, and we praise and worship You today with deeply thankful hearts. Amen.