Understanding Isaiah 6: God’s Message to a Wayward People

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Silhouette of a hiker standing on a grassy hilltop facing a bright sunrise with sun rays spreading across the sky.

“Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.” Then I said, “Lord, how long will this go on?” And he replied, “Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland; until the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted. If even a tenth—a remnant—survive, it will be invaded again and burned. But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump when it is cut down, so Israel’s stump will be a holy seed.””
Isaiah 6:10-13 NLT

Our verses today from Isaiah 6 draw the chapter to a close. Isaiah went into the Temple because he wanted to spend some time with God, in the hope that he could make some sense out of the new season in Judah following Uzziah’s death. Uzziah was a king who ruled in Judah for over fifty years, and his reign was marked by a period of political and military stability. What was Isaiah hoping to find or gain from his Temple visit? Whatever it was, the last thing he expected, I should imagine, was a wonderful and awesome vision of the Lord, “high and lifted up”, a vision that totally transformed his life, a vision that led to forgiveness for his sins and a new commission as a messenger for God, taking a message that was to inform the people in Judah that unless they changed their ways, repented of their sins and turned from evil a disaster would happen to them and their land. 

But the Lord warned Isaiah that the people would be deaf and blind to God’s message, as they had been for a while, and Isaiah’s preaching was going to be ignored. Isaiah asked the Lord the obvious question, “How long must I preach this message for?” and the Lord told him that he could only stop when “the Lord has sent everyone away, and the entire land of Israel lies deserted”. Just to clarify, the message to “Israel” also includes the people in Judah. The future of Judah looked bleak, and the once-mighty nation ruled by King Uzziah was to become a land of desolation, depopulated except for a few survivors. But there was hope, because the chapter ends with the promise that there will be a “holy seed” remaining, a Godly remnant who would build the next generation, a people who had not fallen into the trap the rest of their fellow citizens had, of blatant sin, idolatry and evil, and who had kept themselves pure and faithful, following God’s ways.

The previous chapter in Isaiah detailed seven “woes”, warnings to the people in Judah about their sinful behaviour. But in Isaiah 6:5, we read that Isaiah included himself with his sinful brethren: “Then I said, ‘It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies””. Faced with a vision of the holy Lord, a vision bolstered by the seraphim crying out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Isaiah became only too aware of his sinful and unholy state. He realised that in the presence of the holy God, he was “doomed” and would not survive apart from God’s grace and forgiveness. He suddenly realised how sinful his condition was.

Perhaps this is a time to pause and ask ourselves if we know our own condition. Is it sinful or sinless? The trouble with human beings is that they, by default, lapse into sin, often without realising what has happened. Even we pilgrims are not exempt. Isaiah achieved forgiveness for his sinful state through the grace of God and a burning coal that touched his lips, symbolically purging his sin. He was now able to proclaim a message from God that revealed His character of holiness. The message continues to God’s people today. Atonement is the representation of God’s holiness and what He does for His people. God wants to make His people like Him, with the same character. We, too, receive forgiveness from God, but through Jesus, who took on Himself the punishment, for our sin, that we deserved. Through God’s grace, we can stand before our Heavenly Father free from all unholiness. But do we know that we are forgiven? We find the answer in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

Isaiah was commissioned, sent out by God to take His message to an errant people. But we note that God did not command him to be a messenger. All God did was to ask the question, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” Isaiah was not forced to put his hand up and take on the task. He volunteered, because what else could he do following the wonderful and awesome vision he received in the Temple. He realised that the Lord had forgiven him much more than he could ever have imagined, and something stirred within him. But he embarked on God’s mission in the knowledge that the Lord would not send out Isaiah totally unsupported. All God’s resources were available for him to call upon in his mission. We pilgrims should take note that in our commission of taking the Gospel to our generation, we are not alone. God is the One who does the sending, and we are not “sending” ourselves for God. Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will” (John 6:38). Jesus put aside His own desires and instead remained totally in tune with the will of His Father in Heaven. We pilgrims cannot rely on our own skills and gifts, and we note what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2-4, “For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit”. Our own words will achieve little unless it is the Holy Spirit speaking through us. 

So, dear fellow pilgrims, I ask the question, “What have we learned from Isaiah 6?” Yes, we have the facts, that explain Isaiah’s visit to the Temple, how he met the Lord there, and how he volunteered for taking God’s message to a wayward people. But what about us personally? For me, the encouragement is there that I must never take God for granted. He may show up at anytime in a way that I would never expect. It may be with a vision such as Isaiah saw, but it could be in the routine and ordinary walks of life. But however it happens, God will break through to bring us the message He wants us to hear and, consequently, to take to others. And who knows what may happen as a result. I’m sure Isaiah never imagined that day he walked through the Temple doors, that he would walk out ordained as God’s messenger to His people.

Just this morning, I met a man called Robert, who had a liver transplant about a year ago. He had a sort of awareness of God, but lost his way for a few years, descending into alcohol addiction, something that probably destroyed his own liver. But, in the past year, he has come to the realisation that someone had to die so that he could live. Someone, after death, had donated their liver so that it could be transplanted into someone dying of liver failure. That thought has transformed his life because God revealed to him the parallel of Jesus dying on the Cross so that he will inherit life, eternal life. Robert now attends a church as a born-again, Spirit-filled believer, with a new mission, that of reaching out to people with addiction problems, such as he had all the years before. He has completed the first year of a counselling course, and will graduate in a year or two. Did God bring Robert into my life this morning because he wanted me to remember all that Jesus did for me?

I didn’t expect that encounter today, but as I write this, I find myself encouraged and re-charged for my mission to reach the lost. Jesus died so that I could live, and He died for others, including you my dear friends, as well.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for Jesus, for His death that brings life to all who believe in Him. Please help us to take that message of grace and hope to all those we meet. In His precious name. Amen.

What It Means to Be Born Again in Christianity

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognise that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.”
2 Corinthians 13:5-6 NLT

In a previous blog we asked the question, “Who or what is a Christian”? And to start with, we defined some basics such as “A Christian is someone who belongs to Jesus Christ, by trusting in Him, following Him, and being transformed by Him”. We also mentioned the importance of being “born again”, understanding what that means and reading what Jesus Himself said in His conversation with Nicodemus. John 3:5, 7, “Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. … So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again’”. There are some “Christians” who deride the “born again” element in believers, whom they assign to a fringe element of fundamentalism populated by bigots and right-wing extremists. But being “born again” is that wonderful moment when a new believer suddenly bursts into a new experience where they find a spiritual world they didn’t know existed before. Some people take a long time to make the transition from spiritual darkness into the wonderful light of God’s Kingdom. Others have a Damascus Road experience, but whatever the process, Jesus said that being “born again” is necessary to become a Christian. It is so sad that there is a schism in the Christian faith, in the same way that there is a schism between those who believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and those who don’t. 

A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ, someone who tries to align their lives with the teachings of Jesus. It is a hard road to adopt because there is much opposition from society around us and more from within us, as our sinful person (our “old man”), rebels against living the Jesus way. Luke 9:23, “Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me””. The Cross to which Jesus referred was His own, a place where He laid down His own life in obedience to His Father. We pilgrims also have crosses, where we have laid down our lives in following Jesus wherever He takes us on our journey to Glory. 

A Christian is someone who has been redeemed from slavery to sin. Through Christ, a Christian is justified—declared righteous—not by their own works, but by grace. Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us”. Ephesians 2:8-9, “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”. These self-revealing verses mark the start of the Christian neophyte’s journey through life and form the basis of faith in God.

A born-again believer is a person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Acts 2:38 describes how the Holy Spirit is a gift from God. “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””. 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? …”. Paul also wrote, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Romans 8:14), with the implication that those who are not led by the Spirit are somehow not part of His family. 

A Christian goes through a process of sanctification in their lives, as they become and behave more like Jesus and start to display the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” 

Finally, a Christian is adopted into God’s family. John 1:12-13, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God”. What a wonderful privilege it is to be a child of God. But as with all families, there are times of difficulty, and children will wander off and get into danger. We read the parable of the Prodigal Son, and become deeply touched by a picture of the Father waiting for the wayward child to return into His arms. God, our Father, is always there for us, the perfect Parent, who sadly but willingly lets His children follow their own ways, but who is always ready to welcome them home.

We pilgrims are children of God, followers of Jesus and a part of His family, both in this life and the life to come. We examine ourselves regularly, praying as David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24). God is faithful, and He will answer that prayer, because He loves us too much not to.

Dear Loving Heavenly Father. Please forgive us for our waywardness and rebellion. We are Your children, and we live our lives as representatives of You in our families and communities. Please help us to grow up and become more like Jesus, Your loving Son and our elder brother. In Your name we ask. Amen.

“Superior Knowledge”

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling-block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.”
1 Corinthians 8:9-13 NLT

There was a significant problem in Corinth, as idol worship was deeply ingrained in every aspect of their society. No one could go anywhere or do anything without bumping into something to do with an idol. According to the historians, a temple might be no more than a large room which doubled up as a meeting place or social venue, so those early believers somehow had to reconcile meetings that took place in these centres of idol worship with their Christian beliefs. Inevitably, some believers still retained some vestiges of idol worship, not being fully and irrevocably convinced that the idols and “gods” concerned were just useless and dead lumps of stone. They knew that there was only one real God, but on the other hand, there were little niggles in their minds. These were therefore the Christians with weaker consciences. But some of their fellow believers had settled the matter in their own minds and had a strong faith in God to the extent that they were pretty happy to join in the meals with the idol worshippers. These were the ones with what Paul called “superior knowledge”, which had set them free from the shackles of idol worship. Presumably, they sat down at one of these meals, giving thanks to God for the food and drink, and proceeded to enjoy a good feed without thinking about the idol in whose name it was being held.. 

Paul’s instruction to the firm believers was to back off and remember the weaker believers with sensitive consciences that would have been terminally offended by the actions of their stronger brethren. Paul has agreed that idol food, in and of itself, is not evil, just as the false gods are not real. He does not disagree with the Corinthians with “superior knowledge”, but he does disagree with the application of their knowledge, because of its effect on their weaker brethren. 

In Matthew 18, Jesus was asked who the greatest is in the Kingdom of Heaven. In reply, He called a child to join Him, and there in the middle of His group of disciples, “ … He said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). But Jesus didn’t leave it there. We read in the next verse, “Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”. We must pause at this point and reflect on who a small child is and how they behave and think. The one thing that strikes me, after many years of fostering, is the innocence of these children and how easily it can be corrupted by those in authority, particularly their parents. My wife and I have been deeply saddened by children whose innocence has been taken away or violated, leaving them damaged, with a life skewed and even destroyed by the actions of those entrusted to bring them up. Of course, we did our best to repair what we could, but in those early years, a small life is formed and developed into either something good and fully equipped to face their life ahead, or corrupted with a future damaged almost beyond hope. Jesus warned those who failed one of the little ones in Matthew 18:6-7, “If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung round their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!” 

We must remember that a new believer has just been born, born again, and that therefore puts them in the same position as the little child standing amongst Jesus’ disciples. The more mature believers around the “little children” in our churches and fellowships have a responsibility to be careful not to do anything that would make them stumble and even fall. We pilgrims may have strong consciences that will carry us through worldly situations, but if a new believer happens to see what we are doing, it might even, in extreme circumstances, cause them to leave the faith. Jesus said in Matthew 18:10, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven”. In one church I attended, the leadership decided that they would refrain from drinking any alcoholic beverages because of an alcohol-related sensitivity amongst some in the congregation. That was an application of exactly what Paul was encouraging the Corinthians to consider.

But we pilgrims, with our faith and sensitivity to the ways of God, know all of this, and we pray for the new believers amongst us, as we help them in their early years, discipling them when we have the opportunity, and all the while being careful in how we behave. And we must always be aware that it is not only the new believers who are watching us. There are those in the world around us who observe the behaviour of Christians and who are quick to condemn if they find an opportunity.

Father God. A sobering message today, but one in which Your desires for Your children come to the fore. We pray for our fellow believers and ourselves as well, that Your Spirit within us will lead and guide us in Your ways. Please help us to guard our tongues so that we will never cause anyone to question their faith in You. Please also direct our steps away from anywhere that would lead to places where You don’t want us to go. We praise and worship You today, deeply thankful for Jesus and all He has done for us. Amen.

Spiritual Fathers

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I urge you to imitate me.”
1 Corinthians 4:14-16 NLT

Is Paul on an ego trip here? He was claiming to be the Corinthians’ “spiritual father” because it was he who brought the Gospel to Corinth and started a church there. Other men (and presumably at some point women), may have taught them about Christ, but Paul reminded them that he was the one who started it all. Paul was, however, only doing what Jesus had asked of all of us – “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). Even though Paul would not have heard Jesus’ words at the same time as the rest of the disciples, he had a personal revelation of Jesus, and he also spent time with the other Apostles and early disciples, learning what he could. But why did Paul have to remind all the Corinthians of his pedigree? It was because they had moved into error by neglecting their own missions, and they were squabbling over who was the best teacher. 

The use of the word “father” can be a bit contentious in a religious sense because Jesus explicitly told His disciples, and by implication us as well, never to give anyone such a title. As recorded in Matthew 23:9, Jesus said,  “And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father“. But there are references in the New Testament to the Apostles having spiritual children. Peter made such a reference about Mark in 1 Peter 5:13, “Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark“. We know enough about Mark to know that he wasn’t naturally related to Peter, so the reference must have been spiritual. And of course we have the reference to Timothy being Paul’s son “in the faith” – “I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace” (1 Timothy 1:2). And another Apostle, this time John, referred to the church he founded as his “children” – “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous” (1 John 2:1). But in all these cases, there is never a reference to anyone in the congregations calling their mentors “father”. 

The references to parents and children may seem a bit strange until we understand that there is a birthing process in operation. Jesus clearly spelt this out in John 3:5-7, “Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again’”. I suppose it must be a natural conclusion because just as a physical birth resulted from a mother and a father, there is an analogy that a spiritual birth also has a parent. Perhaps we can also extend the analogy to include a “foster parent”, a man or woman who nurtures the young disciples through their early years in the faith. The whole principle of Christian discipleship involves a parent/child spiritual relationship, and the new disciples grow up in the faith and have their own “children” as well, thus fulfilling Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples” everywhere. And of course, we are aware that the ultimate “parent” is God Himself, 

A few years ago, I thought much about my spiritual parents, several men and women who, at various stages in my spiritual life, brought instruction and assistance. Their’s was a solid grounding for me, and I have had the opportunity to thank each one personally for their persistence and patience in keeping me on the “straight and narrow” pathway . Sadly, three wonderful parents are dead now, but their legacy – for me and others – still lives on. Being a parent can be a thankless task sometimes, as any natural parent will testify, but we are all spiritual parents in one degree or another to the “children” we encounter. 

We mustn’t forget the role of spiritual siblings, our brothers and sisters in Christ. For their benefit, we have all been provided with a spiritual gift designed to build each other up in the faith. 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. … A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other”. Note that all Christians are provided with such a gift, and any believer who may be unsure should seek God through prayer to determine what their gift is. 

It is sad that in society today, being “born again” has such negative connotations, but it is an essential part of entering the Christian life. Being “born again” will divide cultural Christians from true Christians. Cultural Christians are those who want to live a good life (commendable, of course) but without the relational connection with God. Yes, they may go through the motions, singing the hymns and saying the prayers, but they have never come to that point where they submit to Christ through true repentance, trusting God for their future and handing their lives over to Him, and in the process being birthed through the Holy Spirit. The devil hates “born-again” Christians because he knows he has no jurisdiction over them, but there is no other way for a believer to start his or her walk of faith. We who are “born again” must never forget and respect our “spiritual fathers“, thanking them through Jesus for their faithfulness and love, teaching and spiritual nurturing.

Dear Father God. Thank You for the spiritual birthing process, because without it there was no way we could enter Your Kingdom. We pray too that You reveal to us clearly what Your gift is for us, so that we can benefit those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sinful Nature

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?”
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT

We all still have our “sinful nature”, unfortunately. Here is a definition of what this is: “the sinful nature is that aspect in humanity that makes us rebellious against God. When we speak of the sinful nature, we refer to the fact that we have a natural inclination to sin; given the choice to do God’s will or our own, we will naturally choose to do our own thing“. Paul was quite correct when he wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). Parents know that a child will be drawn intuitively to sin, in that their behaviour, even when very young, will choose the wrong, sinful response rather than the right, sinless way. David knew that when he wrote Psalm 51, “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me” (verse 5). Paul singled out problems experienced by the Corinthian church’s “sinful nature” – jealousy and quarrelling – and he concluded by suggesting they were “living like people of the world”.

Paul wrote about his personal frustration with his tendency to sin, “ …  The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate” (Romans 7:14b-15). He continues, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it” (Romans 7:18-20). And he concludes in verse 24, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” And that is Paul, the great Apostle, saying what was on his heart. We pilgrims I’m sure, deep down will tick the same box that Paul did – in the natural, he, us, and the rest of mankind, all have “sinful natures”. 

So where did this “sinful nature” come from? We know from Genesis 1:27 that human beings were made in God’s image. Now, because God is a sinless, perfect Being, sin never originated with Him. How could it? But we can read what happened in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve committed the very first sin, an act of rebellion and disobedience to God. And that has been the root of sin ever since. And in some strange way, the “sinful nature” has been passed on, generation to generation, a seemingly endless and depressing cycle that is impossible to break. Adam and Eve, we are told, brought forth a son called Cain, and he became the very first murderer. So human beings, with only one exception, are sinners, and will continue to be so until the End of the Age. The one exception is Jesus. He came to break this merry-go-round of sin and death, being born to a virgin, thus bypassing Adam’s curse. The sinless God-Man Jesus was able to become sin for all mankind, so that their “sinful natures” could be redeemed forever. 

Jesus said to Nicodemus that humans must be “born again” into a spiritual life worthy, through Jesus, of standing before God wearing His cloak of righteousness. John 3:5-6, “Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life“. Humans have been offered a way out of their sinfulness by believing in Jesus and accepting His substitutionary death in their place, allowing Him to take onto Himself the punishment for their sins. But that isn’t all, Paul wrote, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Divine Exchange – Jesus took on our sin and in exchange He gave us His righteousness. That surely must make all us pilgrims everywhere fall on our knees with grateful, and eternal, thanks, because one day we will experience the reality of what the Apostle John wrote, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). We will be like Jesus on day. This is Good News indeed.

We pilgrims have a “sinful nature“, but we are no longer slaves to it. Jesus has set us free, and one day we will join Him in the place where he is building us a new home. The freedom from sin that we can enjoy now on this earth is the best news this planet has ever seen. Instead of becoming depressed by reading worldly news that is almost all bad, we can open the Book and read eternally good news. Long after all the wars, sickness, and death have disappeared, those believers like us will be enjoying a new life for all eternity, set free forever from the “sinful nature”. 

Father God, at that point of rebirth, our spiritual beings were born. Within us, we have two natures, one of sin and one sinless, but we pray that more and more the sinless being within us, the “new man”, will prevail. Please help us to live Your sinless way, every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Insight For Living (2)

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair.”
Psalm 19:8-9 NLT

We left the last blog thanking God for David and his example for living. We thank him too for the Psalms he wrote. But David lived under the Old Mosaic Covenant, that was nevertheless designed to establish a unique relationship between God and his people, outlining laws and rituals to guide their lives, and demanding daily sacrifices in atonement for their sins. However, throughout the Old Testament there were glimpses of the New Covenant, notably through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. ““But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). God knew what was coming and He gave His servants pointers to the climax of history – Jesus Himself.

The New Covenant is not based on the Law but on God’s grace. Paul wrote, “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:14). Salvation is a free gift, “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” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote, “If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. … When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:7, 13).

We pilgrims responded to the words of Jesus, applying His teachings to our lives. We journeyed to the Cross through the words of the Gospels, and we fell on our knees before God when the reality of John 3:16-17 penetrated to the very cores of our beings. To think that God Himself could come to this world and die for us, taking on the punishment for our sins in our place, has only two responses possible. We pilgrims have chosen the right way, the way of life, but most people in our secular societies have chosen the wrong way, neglecting God’s gracious invitation for salvation. Such people have effectively chosen by default to die in their sins, a decision consigning them to a lost eternity, a fate which Jesus warned against – Mark 9:47b-48, a place of horror where they will” … be thrown into hell, ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’”

So we believers turn to God’s Word, finding the commands of the Lord and giving us the clarity of how to live our lives God’s way, as the Holy Spirit leads and guides us. Our spiritual rebirth has given us access to the Kingdom of God, and there we find “insight for living”. Not only have we access to all the Laws and the Prophets of the Old Testament, but we also have the New Testament, containing the words of Jesus and the writings of theologians like Paul that has founded our faith. There is much that can be written about living our lives God’s way, but perhaps a good place to start would be to ponder on the words of Jesus in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me“. Our lives must be aligned to Jesus, and in everything we do He must be glorified. John 15:8, “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father“. There is a sobering question, much bandied about at youth conferences towards the end of the last century – “What Would Jesus Do”? It’s a good question, but thankfully God is patient allowing us a lifetime of discipleship to respond. In the meantime His grace and willingness to forgive prevail. David knew that, and he wrote Psalm 86:5, “O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help“. 

David wrote, “The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living” and that statement has never lost its meaning. As we fill our hearts and minds with the truth of God’s Word, we will find all the help we need to live a life God’s way. We will find that the Holy Spirit gently but firmly guides us through the minefields of life and we give Jesus all the glory.

Dear Lord Jesus. We thank You for showing us the way with Your words of eternal life. We praise and worship You today. Amen. 

Reproduction

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life”.
John 3:3-6 NLT

Nicodemus just didn’t get what Jesus was saying. The concept of spiritual birth was beyond his comprehension. So he made the contemptuous and sarcastic statement about repeating his physical birth in all its natural ways. But Jesus responded with two interesting facts about God’s Kingdom – the entrance qualifications are that someone has to be born both physically and spiritually. If either requirement is missing then membership of the Kingdom of God is not possible. Jesus said that a person has to be born by the natural process created by God – “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”“ (Genesis 4:1). But then Jesus said there was another birth through the Holy Spirit that gives birth to a spiritual person. This process happens as described by Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9, “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“. Paul also told the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!“

We humans are both spiritual and natural beings. To be a citizen of the Kingdom of God, we have to fulfil both the entrance qualifications, and this is only possible while we are alive. A person who hasn’t yet been born can’t apply to be a member of God’s Kingdom and neither can someone who has died. We have a relatively short opportunity to be obedient to God’s call in our natural lives. Once they have passed it is too late to apply. The Apostle Peter succinctly set out the application process in Acts 2:38-39, verses that are heavily underlined in my Bible. “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized 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”. 

We pilgrims heard the “call”. We received the “gift of the Holy Spirit” when we were saved, when we made that momentous decision to follow Jesus for the rest of our lives. And through that Gift we were born again, spiritually,  into God’s Kingdom. A simple process on the face of it, but so profound. And so important because, unlike our natural citizenship to our countries into which we were born or adopted, the Kingdom of God is an everlasting Kingdom that will never end. And so when our natural bodies die we live on spiritually. John 3:36, “And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment“. 

The people in this world have a stark choice, and doing nothing, deferring a decision, is not an option. We can choose to be born spiritually in God’s Kingdom or we can turn our backs on the most important choice we will ever make in this life. We need to propagate that message at every opportunity. It’s very serious!

Dear Father God. You created us in Your image, and we have a “hole” within us that only You can fill. Thank You that You care for us. Amen.

Child of God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”
John 1:11-13 NLT

It has always been a puzzle to me, that the expression “born again” causes so much controversy. A dictionary definition of being “born again” is “A Christian who has experienced a distinct, dramatic conversion to faith in Jesus, especially a member of certain Protestant groups that stress this experience“. So the implication is that someone who has not been “born again” into a spiritual relationship with God can still be a Christian. Some view such people, the “born again” ones, as being “the unpleasant sanctimonious ones who keep flaunting their beliefs“. They are negatively viewed as being fundamentalists; Bible-believing followers of Christ who set themselves apart from your normal pew warmers.

I have a friend who considers himself to be a “Christian” purely because he is always helping other people, living what he considers to be a decent and “good” life, and having had a grandfather who was an elder in the Church of Scotland. A neighbour of mine considers herself a “Christian” because her name is on the membership role of a church somewhere, but she hasn’t attended that church for many years. Other people will tick the “Christian” box on a census or other similar form, because they were perhaps christened in a church as a baby. Or they go to a church sometimes on Christmas Eve. And that is where the confusion arises. The label “Christian” has become confused and corrupted, and refers to anyone who nominally or vaguely believes that there was someone called Jesus and they will somehow end up in Heaven when they die. So to them, the terms “born again Christian”, or “true Christian”, or “proper Christian” are offensive and to be treated with contempt. 

The reality is that a “Christian” is a follower of Christ. Someone “who believed him and accepted him” and who is reborn in “a birth that comes from God”. John’s Gospel, right here in the first chapter, is very clear about who a “Christian” really is. Being “born again” gives such believers the right to become “children of God”, John writes. The whole Bible hinges on the relationship between God and mankind, and clearly sets out what that entails. There are three verses in the New Testament that, in my opinion, are key to a “born again” experience. The first is in Romans 3:23. Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”. There has to come that realisation that we are sinners, accepting that in God’s sight we fall far short of His requirement  for righteousness and holiness. The second Scripture that matters to me is from Ephesians 2:8-9, “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“. There is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation – we cannot become a child of God by doing good works, or living what we might consider a good life, or even having our names on the role of church members. The third verse that I refer to is Acts 2:38, “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“. These are just a few words that Peter preached but the repercussions of them are life changing. There are many other verses that constitute the Gospel, the good news about Jesus and His gracious saving commitment for mankind. 

A human baby is born physically, through a process we are all familiar with. That baby is a child of its parents. To become a child of God, though, we have to be born spiritually. The process is different in that it happens spiritually, not physically, but happen it must. I became a “born again” Christian on a day when I finally realised that I was a sinner, and looked to Jesus as my Saviour. I found out who Jesus was and what He had done for me and everyone else on this planet. And there then started a long journey. There have been easy stretches, and hard times. But journey I must, always keeping in sight that increasing glow on the horizon, the Heavenly promised land. I invite you, my readers, to join me, wherever you are. You will never regret it. We can journey on together.

But what about those people who consider themselves to be “Christian” but have never come to that point in their lives when they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour? Those people who have rejected the relationship with God that John wrote about? The people who have never become children of God? Their future is something that is up to God and His grace – something I can never judge or take for granted – but why take the risk of ending up in a lost eternity when there is a wonderful opportunity to become a child of God? Now. Today. This very minute.

Dear Father God. I pray today for all my readers, that they too will embrace Your saving grace and become the children of God that John wrote about. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Being Vulnerable

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.”
2 Peter 2:18 NLT

‭‭It’s a big transition, moving from the kingdom of the world into the Kingdom of God. From a monochrome darkness into the glorious technicolour of God’s presence. And the devil doesn’t like it because his mission is to kill and destroy anything God has made. We read in 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour“. The time when a Christian is most vulnerable, comes after they have been born again into God’s Kingdom. They, like a natural baby, will lack the defences they need, and will often rely on others to protect and nourish them. 

The one person a new Christian comes to trust in is their pastor. He or she may have brought them to faith and a dependency, at least initially, can result. But our pastors sometimes have their baggage, and they can bring with them their own world views and ideologies that may or may not be helpful for a new Christian. But Peter was going further then that. He was concerned with teachers whose curriculum extended beyond the purity of the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus. These false teachers had come up with their own version of the gospel and it wasn’t always “good news” for a new believer. One of the things a new believer has to face into is how to deal with their own behaviour and habits, and the Holy Spirit will gently bring conviction to start the baby Christian on the road to maturity. So imagine the scenario where a teacher says something is acceptable when God says it isn’t. Peter mentioned in his writings “twisted sexual desires”, but this is only one area of potential error. 

Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The world is full of spiritual traps and enticements. The society around us has adopted an “if it feels good then just do it” philosophy and to stand firm against such an inward looking ideology takes courage and fortitude. For a person to move kingdoms will mean, as Peter wrote, them leaving behind a “lifestyle of deception”. A believer must therefore be firmly anchored in the truth, discerning and recognising the snares that may be disguised as appealing opportunities. Only then can they avoid replacing one sinful lifestyle with another.

Some years ago, someone in the church I was a member of asked me a basic question about our faith, and I gently asked what the Bible said. To my surprise, they admitted that they didn’t have a Bible, let alone read it. I gave them my own, and suggested that it might be a good idea to go away and read it, because only in God’s Word would they find the answer to the questions about faith and the Christian life. A Scripture I often quote is from John 6:68-69, “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”“. We must shift our allegiance and dependencies away from total dependency on another human being, no matter what their status is in life, and onto our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. Of course, God uses pastors and teachers to help us in our journey of sanctification, but we must always check out what they say by reference to our Bibles. One church I attended was criticised for preaching sermons based on a book, but not from The Book. Instead of the purity of God’s Word they used a work from an author, albeit one well respected in Christian circles. We need to hear God for ourselves, because only He has the Words He wants us to hear.

Psalm 119 begins, “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths” (Psalm 119:1-3). When we pilgrims do that, there is no room for false teaching to muscle in.

Dear Father God. Indeed, only You, and You alone, have the words of eternal life. As we reach out to You today we pray that You will keep us safe from the evil one and his ploys. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Being Born Again

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”
1 Peter 1:23 NLT

We of course remember the conversation that took place between Jesus and Nicodemus, where Jesus said to him, “ … I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again’” (John 3:5-7). Earlier in John 1:12-13, John wrote, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God”. So Peter reminded the early believers in the five provinces of their new state as God’s children, following their rebirth. 

Those early believers were facing into a perilous existence, with persecution even to the point of death not being uncommon. So the references to the new life in the Spirit was timely and encouraging. It gave them hope for the future, that regardless of what was going to happen to them, their lives would continue. So the new birth that Peter was writing about would not soon be extinguished. It would last forever. Because God said so though His “living word”, who, of course, was Jesus. He was and is the living Word, and though Him we have an eternal hope. We will move on from this life, whenever it will end, into a life spent in eternity. That life will never be under threat of extinction. There will be nothing that will take it away. Paul wrote at the end of Romans 8, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). That love of God, that did not even deny us salvation through His Son, Jesus, is eternal, never ending in its scope and accessibility.

Being born again is a spiritual state available to all. We pilgrims can look back to the time when we believed that Jesus died for us on the cross, that He came back to life from the grave, and provided the only way to Heaven. Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“. We responded to that love and we’ll never regret it.

Dear Father. You loved us so much that You made a plan to redeem and save us. We will offer up our praise and worship to You for all eternity. Amen.