Being a Pilgrim

Baptism

Posted on 3rd Aug 20252nd Jul 2025 by korgrocker

“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 2nd Aug 202530th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

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 1st Aug 202530th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“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 31st Jul 202528th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

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 30th Jul 202526th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“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 29th Jul 202526th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“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.

God’s Gracious Gifts

Posted on 28th Jul 202524th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

Now that the greetings are out of the way, Paul thanks God for the Corinthian church. In spite of all its problems, and the difficulties that Paul knew he had to address, Paul could straight away see the good and the potential in these people. And he thanked God for them. Such a view of people, imperfect sinners that we are, is God’s view through His grace “given [us] in Christ Jesus”. That is the most precious gift God has given mankind, one that is eternal and all encompassing. One that is the only possible way to reconcile mankind to God, and that is Jesus, His Son. When we think of gifts, our materialistic minds immediately picture something valuable that we have been wanting for a while. But such a gift is only temporal and will disappear, because it will be left behind when we leave this earth. The only lasting gift is Jesus, because it is only through Him that we can receive the greatest gift of all time – eternal life in God’s presence. And it is all about Jesus and His grace.

From God’s Gift of grace, flow many other gifts, and all because Jesus, when He left this world, gave us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who dwells within each one of us. Paul noticed that it was through this Gift of Grace, that the church in Corinth had been enriched, and he mentioned in his letter that they were an eloquent group of people blessed with the right words to say from a knowledge base enhanced by their experience of Jesus. There is a noticeable difference between a church or fellowship moving in the light of God’s gifts, and one that isn’t. Someone mischievously once asked a church if they would notice if the Holy Spirit had left them. It was a sobering thought for the congregation, but a good question though and one that many a church would do well to dwell upon. Pope Leo XIV, in his first public address after his recent election, emphasised the Holy Spirit’s role in guiding the Church and the lives of believers. A extract from his inaugural sermon to over 80,000 people went like this, “But when the Holy Spirit comes [people] receive a new way of seeing things, an interior understanding that helps them to interpret the events that occurred and to experience intimately the presence of the Risen Lord. The Holy Spirit overcomes their fear, shatters their inner chains, heals their wounds, anoints them with strength and grants them the courage to go out to all and to proclaim God’s mighty works“. Is that our experience of the Holy Spirit in our churches and fellowships? It seemed to be in the Corinthian church, at least to start with, and here was Paul reminded the believers there of the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit. But we pray too that the words from Pope Leo don’t just resonate with the Roman Catholic estate, but also stretch into churches everywhere, and especially those that have chosen to try and compromise with a society that has sadly fallen out of step with the truth and purity of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit can’t dwell in such a place.

What about us pilgrims? Have we become complacent and find that we are missing the excitement of the first days when the Holy Spirit transformed us inside? When we felt a bountiful supply of joy and love welling up within us? Or do we daily go out very consciously aware of the Holy Spirit empowering us and equipping us for all that we expect to meet, in the office, or in our contacts with random people we are going to meet? The Pope has got it, because he knows that the Holy Spirit transforms lives today, just as He did when He visited the gathered disciples in that Upper Room, with a sound like a roaring wind accompanied by tongues of fire. The Pope painted a picture straight from Scripture, of the Holy Spirit being the Healer, the Overcomer, the Anointer, and the One who provides strength and courage in an age of despair. And the result? We pilgrims, full of the Holy Spirit, can go out and “proclaim God’s mighty works” just like the early disciples did, shaking up the status quo in the Middle East in the process.

Something the Pope said struck a chord with me. He said that the Holy Spirit shatters internal chains. So many people go through their lives stuttering along, held back by the state of their inner beings. Even we pilgrims can be suffering from fears, anxieties, depression, poor mental health, and many other things that modern psychologists fix a label to. Aspergers, ADHD, PTSD, and other acronyms define a person who can then be tempted to stay in that state, comfortable to remain compatible with the diagnosis, behaviour defined accordingly. But that is not how God sees us. We won’t have any of these conditions in Heaven, because there will be no more sickness, no more pain. So why are we children of God comfortable with them in the few years before we cross the Great Divide? With the Holy Spirit within we have no need to be chained to such conditions.

God’s gracious gifts can all be traced back to the Source, Jesus. He is the greatest gift of all. Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved”. God has given mankind all the resources and gifts they need to be able to be His children. So when we have a tendency to opt out of living God’s way, we must remember that the Holy Spirit is within us, resourcing us to face down all that this evil world throws at us.

Dear Father God. Through Your Spirit we have all the gifts for life that we need. Please help us to use them well and effectively, enabling us to be the pilgrims You have called and chosen. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Grace and Peace (2)

Posted on 27th Jul 202524th Jun 2025 by korgrocker

“This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.”
1 Corinthians 1:1-3 NLT

In his greeting to the Corinthian church, Paul finished with “May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace”. Yesterday we considered grace, as we receive it in bountiful measure from our Heavenly Father, and as we show it to others as we meet and greet others in our churches and fellowships, and extend it to those in our societies. Today we are going to consider “peace”. Jesus said to His disciples as He was preparing them for His departure from the world, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). Anything that Jesus said or did was important, but this was a gift to the men who had been with Him for the past three and a half years, a gift of enormous value, a priceless legacy, as they would find out in the years ahead of them.

One meaning of the word “peace” is the absence of war. As I write, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East continue, with the added danger of Iran being drawn into conflict. But in addition there are ethnic battles going on in other parts of the world, including the strife bubbling up between supporters of different religions and political groups. Even here in the UK trouble breaks out through marches and other forms of protest, emotions running high and police being needed to “keep the peace”. A constant debate goes on in our universities and on social media as to what constitutes “free speech” and what has crossed the line into hate or racial crimes. “Peace” in our societies seems absent and elusive, and men and women everywhere are fearful, for their future and the future of their children and grandchildren. People become anxious and worried, a state of a lack of peace, when they are unsure and uncertain about the outcome of what is happening around them. In fact, some people become fearful when they take a plane journey or even when they try and cross a busy road, even to the point that they stay at home, as happened during the Covid pandemic, afraid of all sorts of outcomes, most of which are statistically unlikely. The more resilient and optimistic amongst people try and rationalise their feelings by putting their trust in their wealth, possessions and even governments, but there still remains nagging doubts and a plethora of “what if’s”.

In the Old Testament, the concept of peace was well known. There are verses that support the idea of a lack of conflict between nations, between people and between God and man. When all three boxes were ticked then the Jewish people lived in a state of “peace”. It was, and still is, the custom of the Jews to use the greeting “shalom” when they met with each other. We see its use in scriptures such as 1 Samuel 25:6, “Peace and prosperity to you, your family, and everything you own!” This verse was a forerunner to the episode where David asked for supplies for his men from a man he had been protecting, a man called Nabal. Instead of showing them favour, Nabal shouted insults at David’s messengers and sent them away empty handed. Nabal’s wife saved the day with a truckload of supplies, and David’s response was, “ … Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today! Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands … Then David accepted her present and told her, “Return home in peace. I have heard what you said. We will not kill your husband” (1 Samuel 25:32-33, 35).

Peace was an important state to be in, and ever since the Fall, peace has been in short supply. But Jesus wasn’t meaning a kind of worldly “peace”. The best kind of “peace” that the world offers just doesn’t remove feelings of anxiety and fear. Worldly peace is never with us for long, if at all, but the peace that Jesus offered is eternal. Hebrews 6:18-19, “So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary“. Back in John 14, the chapter starts with Jesus’ words, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me“. God has promised us that in Him we can find the peace that we need in our souls. But it requires faith to believe His promises. The terrible worriers amongst us will always be lacking peace, but that is really a display of a lack of faith. In John 14:2-3, Jesus followed His statement about not letting our hearts be troubled with, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am“. Regardless of what this world throws at us, in God we have the source of peace, eternal peace. Jesus Himself.

As pilgrims, we therefore walk by faith, not by sight, and we believe and apply the advice Paul wrote in Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful“. So when we start to become fearful through world events, we instead turn to the Source of peace, God Himself. He will never let us down. Psalm 46:1-3, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!“

“When peace like a river” was a hymn written by Horatio Spafford after his four daughters were lost in a shipwreck. The words continue, “whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, “It is well, it is well with my soul“”. That’s God’s peace in action. Could we have written that hymn? We must pray that we become so assured in Jesus and His peace, that we too can weather the storms of life. If God is our strong tower (Proverbs 18:10), then what do we have to fear? In God we can find the peace that our souls yearn for, forever.

Dear Heavenly Source of Peace. We praise You today, and pray for more faith and grace in our lives so that we can sing the hymn with conviction – “It is well with my soul”. Amen.

Grace and Peace (1)

Posted on 26th Jul 202522nd Jun 2025 by korgrocker

Of course, these three initial verses in 1 Corinthians were a standard greeting for Christians, representing the custom at that time for a letter to start, rather than end, in that way. Believers have always needed bountiful supplies of God’s “grace and peace” in their daily lives, as one crisis after another engulfs this wicked world in which we live. But what do we mean by these two words? Taking the word “grace” to start with, we believe it is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the undeserving. That really sums up God’s answer to the dilemma facing human beings everywhere. Through our sinful behaviour and thinking, we propagate the evil that defines mankind (remember “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”?) and we human beings deserve judgement, but for a time we enjoy God’s grace. It wasn’t always available, as we can find out in Genesis 6:5-6, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart“. That poignant conclusion to these two verses, that God’s heart was broken, has always deeply affected me, because it exposes God’s disappointment with the way that His creation, so full initially of promise and companionship, has become corrupted and nothing like what he originally intended. But God did not extend His grace to the people living at that time, as we read in the next verse, “And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them””. Thankfully God had a plan, and there is always a “but” – “But Noah found favour with the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). And we see God’s gracious response in Genesis 8:21, “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“. ‭‭When God makes a promise He keeps it.

We believers are living in the light of God’s grace, and because of it we are where we are, favoured and blessed children of God. Ephesians 2:8, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God“. The Old Testament blood offerings were in God’s plan for His people so that they could show their faith in Him through their sacrifices. But in the New Covenant, Jesus became the ultimate blood sacrifice. Hebrews 10:3-5, “But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer”. And here’s the amazing manifestation of God’s grace, “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10).

But we must consider how God’s grace is shown to us. Starting with Jesus, we remember His forgiveness, His gift of the Holy Spirit, abundant life (John 10:10), a place in Heaven; the list goes on. We worship a good God, and we must never minimise what He has done for us; we are a people who deserve judgement rather than favour.

Grace comes from God alone, and as a consequence we show grace to others. Galatians 6:1-2 provides a glimpse of how we must treat our fellow believers, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ”. How often do we rather avoid such a person, missing an opportunity to be gracious to a fellow believer? Another way we show grace to others was touched on by Paul in Romans 12:7-8, “Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone“. We must never look for a way to get our own back on that arrogant driver who nearly involved us in an accident because they did something stupid. Or get upset with someone who wrongs us in a public place with their behaviour. Or think of ways to respond in kind to the office bully. We forgive them because God first forgave us. That’s grace in action. And we remember that there will come a time when they, as well as us, have to stand before God to account for the way they have behaved.

And so we pilgrims are a gracious people, showing grace to others because God has been so gracious to us. We remember the parable of the wicked servant that we find in Matthew 18. A servant who owed his master an impossibly large sum of money was forgiven the debt, but another servant who owed him just a little was pursued aggressively for repayment. We all know the story. The account of the first servant, who was forgiven so much, but who declined to forgive his fellow servant, didn’t end well for him. Matthew 18:34-35, “Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart””. We must be a gracious and forgiving people, because of God’s grace and forgiveness given so freely to us. The very thing that was blocking our entry to Heaven, our sin, was removed from us when we believed in Jesus, when we embraced His forgiveness and were cleansed by His blood. That’s grace.

Dear Heavenly Father, so full of grace and love. We praise and worship You today for all You have done for us, and for Jesus, who made it all possible. Help us to extend Your grace to those around us because the people we meet need it as well. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Calling His Name

Posted on 25th Jul 202522nd Jun 2025 by korgrocker

In the start of this letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote God “made you holy by means of Christ Jesus”. He then continued by saying that all people who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will also be made holy. Sanctification wasn’t just for Corinth – it is available to all believers everywhere. A major part of being a Christian is the requirement to make Jesus Lord. In Acts 10:36b we read, ” … there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” However, there is a problem in that although Christians are quite prepared to say that Jesus is Lord, this is most usually only a partial commitment. We say Jesus is Lord of a certain part of our lives, but we will continue to control and retain ownership of the other bits. And as a preacher once said, unless Jesus is Lord of all then He is not Lord at all.

But before we get too far ahead, what does “Lord” mean? In the UK we have the House of Lords, an upper chamber of unelected politicians, there with a variety of titles that start with “Lord”. Landowners became known as “Lords” in medieval times, as feudal rulers, wielding power and authority over the surrounding populations. Today a Lord retains, at least in part, some degree of power and respect. Near where I live there is a Scottish Lord, who can trace his ancestry back to the days of King Robert the Bruce. He too is a landowner living in a large mansion on the banks of the Forth estuary, and who owns property and farmlands in the South of the County of Fife. But more generally, the word “Lord” is used today mainly as a form of respect.

In Jesus’ day, the word “Lord” was used in respectful recognition of the ruling and religious authorities, such as in Matthew 8:2, where Jesus was being shown respect as a rabbi by a leper, “Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean”“.‭‭ Then there is the poignant scene in Matthew 15, of the Gentile woman with a demon-possessed daughter who asked Jesus to heal her. We read, “Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.” But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”” (Matthew 15:24-25). Through Jesus’ ministry, the word “Lord” became much more than a word of respect, building until those words of Thomas, “My Lord and my God! … ” (John 20:28). There came that time when the Lordship of Jesus took on a divine meaning.

In Peter’s Act 2 sermon, we read, “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” (Acts 2:36). In this verse Peter associated Jesus as being the Lord in an eternal and divine sense, and, importantly for the Jews, that He was the Messiah they had been waiting centuries for.

So when Peter said that Jesus is Lord he was also saying that Jesus is God. And His Lordship wasn’t just retained for the benefit of the Jews. To the Gentile Cornelius and his family Pater said, “This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all” (Acts 10:36). Paul went further in his Roman letter, “Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”” (Romans 10:12-13). So we have gone a full circle, from Jesus being the second Person of the Trinity, leaving Heaven to become a human baby conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, His becoming a rabbi and respected with the term “Lord”, to finally be recognised as Lord God after His ascension, and bestowed with the ultimate title of Lord of lords, as written in Revelation 17:14, “Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all Lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him”. ‭

For us pilgrims there is an eternal significance to our relationship with the Lord. Jesus said it to Nicodemus in John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”. Paul summed this up in Romans 10:9, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved“. So, we have a challenge. Those three words, “Jesus is Lord”, are not just to be recited. They have to be worked out in our lives, and we have to bring every thought, every deed, under the Lordship of Jesus. We commit ourselves to obey Him. We mustn’t forget that one day everyone will have to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. As I write this today, the UK Westminster Parliament has completed a momentous week, passing laws that will decriminalise abortion, and will also allow people to commit state-sponsored suicide. The lawmakers who voted in this way will one day have to kneel before Jesus to explain themselves. A terrible thought because there is only one answer to the unrepentant sinner, and that is “guilty” with an eternal punishment following. And the Bible says that in the process they will have to declare that “Jesus is Lord”, calling out His name. Will they find themselves doing that for all eternity? We don’t know but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do.

We pilgrims remember those verses at the end of Hebrews 12, “Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire“. That’s what we must do, on our knees and calling upon the Name that is above all names, Jesus Himself.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your grace and mercy, so freely given in this season of favour. We worship You today, and every day. Amen.