Obstacles to the Gospel

Posted on by korgrocker

“Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.”
1 Corinthians 9:11-12 NLT

There was only one priority in Paul’s life, and that was spreading the Gospel, which I’m sure he would do even if he had to sleep on the streets without food. Paul had nothing but a few possessions that he could carry with him. No “stuff”. No excess baggage. In Hebrews 12:1, we read, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us”. ‭‭It may as well have been Paul who wrote that, because his focus was on converting as many people as possible to the faith about which he was so passionate. 

We now fast forward to today, in Western countries that are overburdened with possessions and swamped with information and gadgets. How much of this is an obstacle to sharing “the Good News about Christ”? Regardless of all of this, I believe that a Paul today would still be the same, sold out for Jesus and delivering His redemptive message wherever he could. When Jesus sent out the seventy-two disciples, He told them, “Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveller’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road” (Luke 10:4). Paul literally lived out this command of Jesus, but would we today?

But regardless of all our wealth (we are wealthy compared with Christians in Paul’s day), do we let it hold us back in sharing the “Good News about Christ”? What hindrances do we face in sharing our faith with others? Well, there are a few, and mostly centred on who we are. Take, for example, the fear of rejection. We worry about what people might think of us, and so we remain quiet when an opportunity to share the gospel with someone is presented. Or we might be in a bit of a hurry and think we don’t have the time to stop and talk. Perhaps we are unsure of the Gospel, or haven’t yet worked out in our minds how we could present our testimonies. Or we just can’t be bothered, too caught up with our own problems. Perhaps on this particular day, we were late getting up, didn’t have time to spend a few minutes in prayer and reading the Bible, and were feeling depressed, weighed down by our sins. 

I had a coffee recently with someone I once knew thirty or so years ago, but with whom I had lost touch. He confessed to being a frustrated evangelist, never seeming to find an opportunity to share his faith. However, during the conversation, we discussed some fundamental verses in the Bible that he was unable to reconcile with the prevailing societal beliefs. Issues such as sexuality and gender, and an apparent conflict, to him, between our God of love and hell. And sadly, his mind had become confused and clouded with noise that was drowning out the simplicity of the Gospel message that “Heaven is real, hell is hot, and Jesus saves”. That simple message resonated in our lives when we found Jesus and His saving grace. We weren’t struggling to understand the lofty theological concepts found on the bookshelves of a seminary with our minds. We just knew that Jesus was the real Son of God, as the Holy Spirit revealed Him to us. 

Paul was one hundred per cent focused on sharing the Gospel. His testimony was well polished and convincing. His journey in life was driven by the goal of saving as many people as possible before he died. He wrote to the Philippians, “ … But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:12b-14). The race that Paul referred to wasn’t about himself at all. Perfection was a byproduct of his character, honed by his ministry and message. And the crown before him was all that mattered.

It might be a good time for us pilgrims to review our lives, to see if there is anything getting in the way of the “Good News about Christ”. We must pray that God will reveal anything that is lurking in the deeper recesses of our minds, things that are distracting us. And we ask for His help in clearing out the dust and cobwebs. 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). It’s a dangerous prayer to pray, but it might have some dramatic results!

Dear Father God. Help us, we pray, as we bring our lives under Your penetrating gaze, and please help us not to dodge anything that bubbles to the surface. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Spiritual Seed

Posted on by korgrocker

“Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.”
1 Corinthians 9:11-12 NLT

Paul was a seed planter. Not seeds that would grow into a cereal crop or a vegetable, but spiritual seeds, those that are the Words of God, that grow within a believer to produce spiritual fruit. Although Paul expected “a harvest of physical food and drink”, he never let a lack of this get in the way of his seed-planting mission, which was spreading “the Good News about Christ”. We know that Paul sometimes went hungry. He wrote to the Philippians, “I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). 

There was a time when Jesus taught a large crowd of people, as He sat in a boat just offshore. He used the analogy of a farmer engaged in his husbandry, sowing seeds, an analogy that would resonate with the occupations of many of those present listening to Him. And they would have known exactly what Jesus was talking about, as He developed a picture of the different types of soils, and the effect these would have on the seeds planted in them. Jesus told His disciples that there were two types of listeners, as He explained in Matthew 13:12, “To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them”. And Jesus went on to repeat the writings of Isaiah 6, “This fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah that says, ‘When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them’” (Matthew 13:14-15). But we pilgrims will know this parable very well.

There are two questions about the seed that apply to us pilgrims. The first is, are we listening? The Bible is full of “spiritual seed”, and to supplement it are the words from our leaders and preachers, as they expound God’s Word for our benefit, highlighting verses and passages as the Holy Spirit leads them. Unfortunately, sometimes we read a difficult verse and gloss over it, hoping it is meant for someone else. Sometimes, we sit uncomfortably in our pews, wishing the preacher had chosen another topic. And it is in these circumstances that we can perhaps relate to the poorer soils in Jesus’ parable, as we even allow the devil to snatch away what the Holy Spirit is trying to plant within our hearts. Thankfully, God never gives up on us, and He will try again when we are perhaps a bit more receptive. 

The second question about “spiritual seed” concerns our mission of planting and sowing. Are we pilgrims sowing seeds in the hearts and minds of those living amongst us? When did we last share the Gospel with someone we know, or even with someone we don’t? All my friends and family know about my Christian faith, and I always try to keep before them the importance of believing in Jesus. We understand why Jesus came to this world, as He said in John 3:16, “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”. Jesus made it clear that there are two choices before a human being, and that is to “perish” or to “have eternal life”. That is the seed that we must sow, and keep on sowing. Yes, it will often fall on stony ground, or it will founder in ears that have suddenly become deaf, but we keep on sowing. We must also not miss the opportunity to share the Gospel with someone that we don’t know, looking out for a random or chance encounter with a stranger. God will often bring people together in an apparently unplanned way, and we can sometimes look back and see His hand in the meeting. There is a man I know who collects trolleys from the car park of a local Tesco. He makes no secret of his faith and regularly and persistently shares the Good News about Jesus with staff in the store and even customers if he finds an opportunity. His job is to collect trolleys, but his mission is to sow “spiritual seeds”.

We sow “spiritual seeds” because God has asked us to. I always carry a few tracts in my pocket when on my morning prayer walks, and sometimes get the opportunity to share with someone about the love of God. Some mornings, the weather is inclement, but there are always dog-walkers or joggers, someone out and about. We can also encounter people in the local shops or cafes, in a bus queue or on a train. There are always social interactions available, and as we reach out to our fellow members of society, we will find people burdened down by loneliness, worry, family problems, the state of the world, and more. These people desperately need to hear about the love of God and receive a good dose of hope to brighten their lives and help them to make the right choice. Eternal life or eternal death. There is no other possibility.

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for coming to this world to save sinners like us. We pray for opportunities to sow seeds in the lives around us, and we pray for receptive soils that will produce the fruit of eternal life. In Your precious name. Amen.

Associating with Sinful People

Posted on by korgrocker

“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.”
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 NLT

It’s a difficult balance. Should we, Christian pilgrims, isolate ourselves from worldly people, thereby keeping ourselves pure, holy and sinless, but in the process prevent any chance of contact with people who desperately need to hear the Gospel? It seems that Paul had written a previous letter about this to the Corinthian church, but it has somehow become lost in the mists of time. In that letter, it appears that Paul warned the Corinthians about sexual sins, but it appears that they chose to ignore his exhortations, hence the weight given to his admonishment about the man sleeping with his stepmother. Paul explained that he wasn’t suggesting that the Christians in Corinth should stop meeting with worldly unbelievers, but that they should shun people who claim to be believers but still behave sinfully, and particularly those committing open and blatant sexual sins.

The problem of association, then as now, with worldly people remains a problem, because to fulfil our Christ-given mission, we must have contact with them. Such people may even be our friends or family members. A bit later on in this letter, Paul wrote, “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). But he didn’t say that he would participate in worldly behaviour and customs to do the soul winning. In 2 Corinthians 6:14-15, he wrote, “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?” 

So what should we do with believers like the man and his stepmother, if we find them in our churches? We have covered the question of church discipline in a previous blog, but Paul continued to make this important point in his letter. The Apostle Jude wrote, “And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives” (Jude 1:22-23). We must do our utmost to be merciful to those in our congregations and pray and help them to deal with their sinful behaviour. In his letter, Paul was, I think, referring to persistently unrepentant people in churches who had refused to change their ways of sin, but who still wanted to participate in the church activities, and even claimed to be believers. We find this in churches that tolerate the practices of certain sexual sins, with claims that you can be a Christian but still violate the Biblical foundations of sexual ethics. So a liberal faction is accepting of such people, and traditional and fundamental Bible believing Christians keep them at arm’s length. This leads to the dilemma facing true believers, because such sinful behaviour won’t necessarily lead to the exclusion from public meetings of blatantly sinning and self-claimed believers, but on the other hand, they have to be isolated to avoid their sin from tainting the rest of the believing church. A difficult balance that needs much prayer, grace and wisdom to achieve. 

In these circumstances, we turn to Jesus for guidance. He spent much time in the presence of sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and so on. We find his grace at work in the account of the woman caught in the act of adultery (where was the man by the way!). The establishment wanted to stone her to death, but the story ended with Jesus refusing to condemn her, instead commanding her to sin no more. We must take His grace and love into our associations with everyone we meet in the world, and in our churches, we must also do the same. There is no other way for pilgrims to behave. We cannot judge people because that is God’s prerogative, but we can separate ourselves from sinful people, because that is His command. We love the sinners, but hate and avoid the sin.

Dear Heavenly Father, You are building a pure and sinless church of which we are a part. We pray that we hear Your Spirit when we come into contact with sin, and pray also that You grant us the wisdom we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Temple of God (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t you realise that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NLT

In these two verses in 1 Corinthians, Paul describes a “temple” that consists of all the people in the Corinthian church and he used an analogy of a physical building to describe a spiritual equivalent Already Paul has described the believers in Corinth as a field and building (1 Corinthians 3:9, “For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building”) and now he is telling them that they are God’s temple, all corporate analogies for an ideal Christian church. Such a body of believers started with the “seed” of the Gospel, was then built up by the “washing of the word”, and was now functioning as a Holy-Spirit-indwelling group capable of doing much for God. Or they should have been. We know that the Corinthian church started life in the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile believer who lived next to the synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18), and the believers there then probably met in different home groups as the church grew in numbers. We remember the origins of the early church in Jerusalem from Acts 2:42, 46, “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. …  They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity”.  So probably the Corinthian believers did the same, hiring a hall when needed, much as new churches and fellowships do today. But Paul wasn’t bothered by buildings and was only concerned with the “building” that mattered – a group of Spirit-filled believers in whom the Holy Spirit could thrive.

Further on in his first Corinthian letter, Paul reminded the believers there that their bodies individually were “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19), but we’ll get to that later. In the meantime, Paul could see the potential of the Holy Spirit working through a group of Spirit-filled believers in what could be achieved for God. But Paul mildly rebuked the believers in Corinth because he had a concern. What was this? Well, first of all, there was sin present. He wrote, “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 3:3). One place the Holy Spirit cannot live is in an atmosphere of sin, and worldly people will not experience the indwelling of God’s Spirit. Another problem with these nascent believers was a lack of harmony between them. 1 Corinthians 1:10, “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose”. A lack of unity caused by factionalism will severely limit or even destroy the Holy Spirit’s power.

But Paul was on their case and knew what was holding them back. Of course, we believers today, pilgrims heading for glory, will never behave in such ways, but are our churches and fellowships filled with the power of the Holy Spirit with signs and miracles commonplace? In Acts 4, we read about a prayer meeting so powerful that the building shook. The prayer ended, “Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:30). The next verse then described what followed. “After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness”. Where is this power in our churches today? When was the last time we had a prayer meeting so powerful that the building shook? But we can’t look around at the other believers who worship with us. We have to look at ourselves and our desires for our group of believers. As an aside, we note that it wasn’t just a few believers who turned up for the prayer meeting; it was all the believers. Built together, we make up a corporate setting for the Holy Spirit to move, and if He doesn’t, what are we doing, or not doing, that is stopping him? 

The gift of the Holy Spirit was present in the Corinthian church regardless of their problems. We read in 1 Corinthians 1:7, “Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Where did these gifts originate? With God Himself, He is not a stingy God who capriciously bestows gifts on a whim. We only have to ask Him for the gifts we need. Jesus said, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13). But there is a cost. If we want to be really Spirit-filled people of God, are we prepared for what follows? A power-filled people who attend prayer meetings and expect God to move? Like at the start of the Hebridean revival, where two old ladies, Peggie (who was blind) and Christine Smith, aged 84 and 82, decided to pray. They were greatly burdened because they’d been told no young person attended public worship at their church. They decided to pray twice a week. On Tuesdays and Fridays, they got on their knees at ten in the evening, and remained there until three or four in the morning; two old women in a very humble cottage. And that’s how revival in the Hebrides broke out, leaving a legacy that we can find today, half a century or more later. 

Does the Holy Spirit live within us, pilgrims? I’m sure He does, and He is always able and willing to touch those around us as we preach the Word of God with the same boldness as the Acts 4 Christians. I heard a preacher recently in his evangelist message say that he was a “space invader”. The use of this phrase probably gave away his age, but it is a telling description of someone, full of the Holy Spirit’s power, invading the space of people they meet. People around us are wandering around without hope and full of fear for the future. They need to hear Good News, but who is there to tell them except us? Of course, God could reveal Himself directly to anyone He chooses, but the reality is that He has chosen us pilgrims to do His work for him. So, full of the Holy Spirit’s power, that is what we must do. We may feel totally inadequate for the task, but with the Holy Spirit guiding us into all truth, how can we fail? We may get knockbacks. We may find a lack of fertile ground prepared for the seed we have ready and waiting to plant, but with perseverance, we will succeed because the One who is within us is greater than the one who is in the world.

Dear God. Please lead and guide us to the people You have prepared in advance and who are ready and waiting to hear Your Good News. Please empower us with all the right words to say, and help us speak Your message with boldness, so that the people will know that we have met Jesus. In His precious name. Amen.

The Power of God

Posted on by korgrocker

“For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:2-5 NLT

There are two powers at work in the lives of believers – their own power and the “power of God”. Of course, that puts us well above the prowess of worldly unbelieving people who only have access to their own power, about which they boast and apply worldly ways. But just imagine it once again; that power within us by the Holy Spirit is the “power of God” and it is insurmountable. Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think“. Unlike with our human own capabilities, there is no limit to the “power of God”.

Anyone reading the Old Testament will be aware of the “power of God”. Just consider God’s mighty acts as He extracted the Hebrew slaves from Pharaoh’s clutches. About how He fed upwards of two million people for forty years with a food totally complete with all the nutrition needed for life. That’s a lot of packed lunches! About how He stopped the rotation of the earth for a while (Joshua 10:13) so that Israel’s enemies could be defeated. About how he packed a boat with a pair of every living thing so that evil and wickedness could be destroyed with a flood. There are so many more details of God’s exploits, and no self-respecting Jew or Christian will ever deny the “power of God”. David was aware of God’s power and he wrote, “God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” (Psalm 68:35). 

The Gospel of Mark records Jesus’ instructions to His disciples just prior to His ascension into Heaven. “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15). But Jesus wasn’t suggesting a powerless message, even if it was presented “using clever and persuasive speeches” as would have been the norm in the Corinthian culture. In Mark, Jesus went on to say “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed”. And the very last verse in Mark reads, “And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs“. So when Paul wrote that he preached a “plain” word, it was followed with some powerful miraculous signs that confirmed the truth of what he had said. 

This was also the case with the other early Apostles. A few days ago we considered the healing of the lame beggar in the gate of the Temple by Peter and John – Acts 3:6, “But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!””. Now that’s the “power of God” because there was no human power that could have achieved that, and there never has been any since, even with all the technological and medical achievements we expect today. But here’s the thing, the power of man would have made some crutches or artificial limbs, or if that wasn’t possible, the NHS would have provided a wheelchair tailor made for the beggar, and the state would have supplied benefits so that he didn’t have to beg. But the one thing that the power of man couldn’t do was recorded in Acts 3:7-8, “Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them“. Now that’s the “power of God”! And we also note that all this took place before the preaching of the Word, which followed soon afterwards because if we read further in the account, we notice that a crowd had gathered. There is of course no mystery in that. A miraculous sign such as the healing of the lame man that had just been observed would have had a dramatic impact in those days, as it would today. And we see the result over the page in Acts 4:4, “But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totalled about 5,000“. It was the “power of God” at work that saw three thousand men saved after Peter’s Pentecost speech (Acts 2:41) and a further two thousand after the healing of the lame man. Of course, it begs the question as to why such dramatic numbers are not achieved after the preaching of the Message of the Cross today, and it can only be because the wrong power is at work. The power of man can present a good “clever and persuasive” message, but it is only the “power of God” that will confirm the word with signs following.

The “power of God” is available to empower the lives of believers, something Isaiah was aware of. He wrote, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31). And this is true because we pilgrims have experienced that power in our own lives, as we go about our daily business. It lifts our heads, it raises our moods, it provides for our needs and so on.  The list is endless. And if we look back over our lives we see the “power of God” at work in one situation after another. God’s power is at work in the lives of His children, day after day, to the extent that we tend to get a bit blasé, taking Him for granted. But what about the exploits of God in miraculous signs and wonders? Should we not expect that as well? 

Some denominations and movements believe that God’s miracles died away with the early Apostles, but that is not my experience. My own daughter was healed of a life threatening illness and even the medics who treated her had to concede that this was a miracle, as was recorded on her medical notes. I believe the “power of God” is still present today for those who believe. There is the episode recorded in Mark 9 of the father who had a demon-possessed son. He said to Jesus, “Have mercy on us and help us, if You can”. We read Jesus’ reply in the next verse, ““What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”” (Mark 9:23-24). Perhaps we pilgrims need to believe what Jesus said, that “Anything is possible if a person believes”. 

We mustn’t listen to the enemy and anyone else, who deny that the “power of God” exists anymore. Instead we must continue to share the Gospel with those around us, always sensitive to the power within us, the Holy Spirit, who can and will do amazing things.

Dear Heavenly Father. Your power is limitless and we pray for more power in our lives, to do great things both in our lives and the lives of those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Preach the Gospel

Posted on by korgrocker

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chosen By God

Posted on 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

We’re going to take a break from the Psalms for now and spend some time in the Corinthian letters, which Paul wrote in the middle of the First Century AD. A few years earlier Paul had established the church in Corinth, and while away in other places, probably including Ephesus, he wrote the first epistle, followed by the second, three or four years later.

The authorship of the Corinthian epistle was clear, because the letter starts with the name of the author. Paul established the church in Corinth during his second missionary journey, as we read in Acts 18. Paul tried to convince the Jews there about Jesus, but eventually gave up – Acts 18:6, “But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles””. Paul therefore started the church in the home of a man called Titius Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue. It seemed to be quite a successful church plant with even the leader of the synagogue becoming a believer. Reading further, “One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God” (Acts 18:9-11). ‭‭

Paul started his first letter by reminding the Corinthians about his credentials, “chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus”. Paul was different from the other early Apostles because he met the risen Jesus on the Damascus Road, on his way to arrest some early believers. We can read the account of how that happened in Acts 9, with the commissioning of Paul recorded in Acts 9:15-16 through a believer called Ananias. “But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake””. A clear endorsement of Paul’s apostleship and he did indeed suffer much as he travelled around the Middle East on his missionary journeys. But what choice did Paul have, after such a dramatic encounter and conversion? Paul would never be the same again and all that zeal directed and focused on doing the early believers harm was now to be re-focused on spreading the Gospel. Paul was an extraordinary man, and very worthy of the title “Apostle”.

Paul was chosen “by the will of God”. But in a sense that also applies to all believers. In Ephesians 1:4-5, Paul wrote, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure”. Jesus said to His disciples, and by extension to us as well, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name” (John 15:16). In our arrogance, sometimes, we claim that we “saw the light” and chose to become a believer, but God knew otherwise, as we saw from Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:4. Romans 5:6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners“. Jesus didn’t have to do that. Perhaps we think sometimes that surely God must have had a Plan B for reconciling man to Himself, less demanding and dramatic, but God knew best, as always, and His Plan A was a demonstration of love so profound that it caught the devil on the hop and defeated him once and for all. But most importantly God provides an opportunity today for people to respond to Him, with grateful hearts in this season of grace, and discover His love for them, as they embrace Jesus’ sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins.

Regarding us pilgrims, Peter in his first epistle wrote, “ … 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” (1 Peter 2:9). We pilgrims are royalty, chosen by God. What a wonderful place to be. God loved the world, and Jesus died as the outworking of that love. We pilgrims now have the opportunity to tell people about what happened two thousand years ago, and we take note of the sermon preached by Peter in Acts 2. At the end we read the corollary, “With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation” (Acts 2:40). Peter didn’t try and convince his audience that God loved them, asking them to respond to that love. Instead he warned them of the consequences of refusing to believe in Jesus and in the process living a life the same as the sinful people around them. God has put before all human beings an open door with a sign hanging on it inviting everyone to step inside. Inside they will find the road to eternal life and a personal experience of God’s love, the consequence of being chosen by God.

Dear Lord God. We know that You choose us and love us, Your children, and we are so very grateful. But many around us are totally unaware of what lies before them beyond the grave. Please lead us to people with open hearts, people willing to stop, listen, and take note that this season of Your grace won’t last forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Future Generations

Posted on by korgrocker

“Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust. Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.”
Psalm 22:29-31 NLT

It is a fact of human life, that the species homo sapiens maintains its existence by the production of future generations. God’s plan was set out in the early chapters of Genesis, starting with Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person“. That was the male of the species, but he was shortly joined by the female, “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22). That original male “WOW” must still be reverberating around the Universe! The next wonder is a few verses on, “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one”. Earlier in Genesis 1:27-28a we read, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply …””. To complete the picture we turn to Genesis 4:1, “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!”” And so “future generations” were established and the process repeated. Simple biology as we all know, but this was God’s plan for populating Planet Earth.

But each new life introduced into our world has a problem – they are born with sin built in. Psalm 51:5, “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me“. It is troubling to think that this beautifully formed child, so innocent and so loved, has the potential within it to be sinful, but there is no escape, as Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard“. And as that child grows up into a man or woman, a process that can be painful, particularly for the parents, one of three things happen. The child may, through the witness of his or her parents or others, become a believer like them and live a life of piety in relationship with God. Or the child may become more and more sinful, living a life of evil and wickedness that continues to the end of their lives. Thirdly, the child may grow up to become a “good” person, following all the laws of the land (well, mostly!) and be considered an upright citizen in whatever country they live. But however they live their lives, these grown up children continue the cycle, producing their own children, adding to those in the category of “future generations”. 

But David wrote, “Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord”. In fact, he developed this theme, writing “His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done”. How is that going to happen, in our world corrupted by sin and bombarded with sinful advertising, and in places where sinful practices take place. How will people hear about the Lord’s wonders in our schools where sinful ideologies are taught, often as fact. And overlaying it all, like letters embedded in a stick of rock, within each human being there is a preference for doing sinful things, a preference for evil rather than for God’s ways. In these final verses of Psalm 22, David wrote down a promise of the Lord. In faith, and prophetically, he assured his, and future, generations that God’s wonderful works will never be forgotten. In fact, he wrote, even those not yet born would know about them. We pilgrims know within us the wonderful things God has done in us, through us and by us. Hardly a morning goes by without me being reminded of the wonderful presence of God, with memories of how He has come through for me in dark times as well as good times. Our enemy the devil has forgotten one major thing about human beings – they are all born with a God-shaped hole within them, and throughout their lives people will try to fill it. Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them“. If people are created in God’s image then they will inevitably look for ways in which they can connect with Him. Some turn to mystic practices such as mindfulness or Yoga. Back in the 60’s, transcendental meditation was all the rage. Others explore all the chemical substances available, drugs and alcohol just for starters, in the hope they can introduce some way of filling the yearning within them, or, more likely, to dull the pain of knowing that they are lost without Him. But intuitively people know that there is only one way into God’s presence and that is why today there is an increase in the numbers of our young people embracing Christianity here in the UK. A wonderful revival is about to take place, because God will never forget His creation, and His love and compassion with burst into the lives of human beings through His grace. 

Isaiah wrote, “Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously” (Isaiah 55:6-7). While a human being, now or in the future, is alive and breathing, he will have an opportunity to look for, and find, a personal relationship with God. But once dead, the opportunity is gone. That is why we pilgrims are on a mission, to tell everyone about the “wonders of the Lord”. Yesterday I met a depressed dog walker, weighed down by, as she put it, the state of the world. So I took the opportunity to tell her that because of Easter Sunday we have hope in this otherwise dark and evil world. A seed planted that God will water and nurture, hopefully bringing eternal life to one of the “future generations”. It is a privilege to be able to share what God has done for us. There is no shortage of stories to tell of God’s grace, and we never know that the stranger we might share the Gospel with may become another Billy Graham, reaching millions with the Good News of God’s saving grace. And so we praise and worship the One who has promised never to leave us or forsake us, ever. As we step out today, we pray for God to lead us to yet another hopeless soul, scared witless by the state of the world. The society around is full of such people, just existing in a life of sin, some even wishing that they had never been born. And we pray like we never have before, because the days are short.

Dear Lord Jesus. Only You have the words of eternal life. Only You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Please help us reach out to those You have prepared for the seeds of the Gospel to be planted, bringing hope to the hopeless, and life to the dying. Amen.

The Crucifixion

Posted on by korgrocker

“My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.”
Psalm 22:16-18 NLT

David’s prophetic image of crucifixion is incredibly accurate. The piercing of hands and feet, the shame of the nakedness, and the disposal of the poor person’s clothes all featured later in the graphic details of Jesus’ crucifixion that we can read in the Gospels. David wrote this Psalm in the first person, as though it was him who was experiencing the trauma of an extremely painful death. But how did David know about crucifixion many years before it was used as a heinously cruel act of execution? In common with many Old Testament prophecies, such a revelation could only have been provided by the Holy Spirit. God sees the end from the beginning and there were many occasions in the Bible when He chose to share what was coming with particular men and women who were part of His story of interaction with His loved creation, human beings. 

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples, probably scaring them half to death, because crucified, graveyard-dead, men don’t reappear alive and well, as a general rule. We know that His hands and feet were pierced by the Roman nails because scars remained, and it was these that Jesus showed His disciples, just so that they knew he was the same Man. Luke 24:38-40, ““Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet“. Don’t forget that these men, Jesus’ disciples, were men of the world in their day. Some were fishermen, a profession not known for personal sensitivity and atmospheric and intellectual thinking, and they would need some convincing that Jesus was indeed back from the dead. But they were still struggling to make sense of what they were seeing, because the next verse in Luke reads, “Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”” Jesus ate a piece of fish in their presence, finally convincing them that He was indeed alive. Ghosts don’t sit down to a fish supper! Jesus was the same Man but with a resurrected body that could pass through walls and travel distances instantly. God showed David the start of the journey from the Cross to the empty tomb, knowing that this was enough to help countless people understand why Jesus had to die. 

Another part of David’s prophecy involved Jesus’ clothes. Right on cue, we read in Luke 23:34, “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice”. In John’s Gospel we read a few more details of what actually happened, “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did” (John 19:23-24). Again, how did David know this would happen unless God Himself had told him? Incredible details that must convince even the most cynical sceptic about Jesus and what happened that first Easter weekend.

Jesus just borrowed Joseph’s tomb for a weekend. It was soon vacated, and the next phase of history commenced. Within a few years the birth of Christianity took place, first in Jerusalem, and then, spreading rapidly, it exploded with Good News into the lives of men and women all over the civilised parts of the world. We pilgrims have heard the message and have put our trust in Jesus. Factually the Crucifixion happened – there is enough hard evidence to convince a court of law even all these years later. But that is not why we believe in Jesus. We have put our faith in the Man who came to this world, leaving the comfort of Heavenly eternity, just to save us from the consequences of our sins. Good News indeed. The Gospel has spread largely by the Holy-Spirit-empowered testimonies of God’s people, and we are part of that process today. We too tell everyone who we know about Jesus, about His love, His grace, His sinless sacrifice, His death and resurrection, and, above all, His invitation to spend eternity with Him. Daily we look for an opportunity to share our faith, and in the process bring ever closer that day when Jesus returns. We express our praise and worship and shout out our hallelujah’s whenever we can, because what else can we do? We give God all the glory and will do forever and ever.

Dear Lord Jesus. We proclaim our love and thanks to You today. Easter Sunday we remember every day, because You are alive and well, and live in our hearts through Your Spirit. Thank You Lord. Amen.

God Judges

Posted on by korgrocker

“Arise, O Lord, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies! Wake up, my God, and bring justice! Gather the nations before you. Rule over them from on high. The Lord judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent, O Most High!”
Psalm 7:6-8 NLT

People must think that David was either very brave or very stupid, speaking to God like that. We, of course, know intuitively that our Creator God cannot be ordered around like David was trying to do, but that didn’t seem to stop him having a good rant about divine justice being meted out on his enemies. David wanted God to become angry with his enemies and bring about a universal judgement of nations, all arraigned before Him. Oh, and in the process, David demanded that God declared him righteous and innocent.

But David wasn’t wrong in his expectations, because there is coming a day when God will judge the nations. It was just that David seemed to require an immediate Godly response, so we can perhaps instead consider a prophetic message here, embedded in David’s rant. But we mustn’t forget that God had judged the sin and wickedness prevalent in the earth before. We remember the Flood, Genesis 6:5-7, “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. 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””. God judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and we can read the account in Genesis 18 and 19. “So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant”(Genesis 18:20). “Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulphur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation” (Genesis 19:24-25).

Has God judged peoples today? There is the reality of what God’s present judgement looks like in Romans 1. Here are some extracts, “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. … So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.  … Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarrelling, deception, malicious behaviour, and gossip. … They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too” (Romans 1:18, 24, 28-29, 32). Persistent and wicked people will be abandoned by God, and we can read the consequences in Romans 2:5-6, “But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done”. 

David asked God to wake up and deal with his enemies. But God is very much awake and is storing up all the information needed for that terrible day when everyone, without exception, will come before Him and be judged. Thankfully, God is extremely patient, as Paul wrote in Romans 2:4, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”‭‭ And that’s the issue. God wants no-one to perish and end up in hell, and He has allowed a life span for mankind to respond to Him in repentance. Once the last breath is taken a person will find that, for them, God’s patience has expired.

God judged people through the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, but He also judges today by abandoning people to the consequences of their wickedness in their lives on earth.

So, we pilgrims must never give up in sharing with others the Good News about Jesus. Only He can forgive our sins – there is no other name through which we can be saved. 

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for Calvary and Your willingness to die for mankind so that whosoever believes in You will inherit eternal life. We are so grateful, and we pray for our friends and family, that they too will find the narrow gate that leads to life. In Your precious name. Amen.