The Newborn King of the Jews

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”“
Matthew 2:1-2 NLT

‭Word finally got to Herod. Some men from a foreign land had arrived in Jerusalem, looking for a new king. And worse, they were asking for the whereabouts of the “newborn King of the Jews“. Herod, was a very insecure king in a very insecure land, under Roman occupation, and we read in Matthew 2:3, “King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem“. The consensus amongst the religious leaders was that Bethlehem was going to be the birthplace of the Messiah, and they made the connection with the reference to the King of the Jews. But we know the story, told many times when we were children, and ever since. Nativity Plays with three kings bringing their gifts. Traditional excitement for parents and other relatives. All part of church life and a celebration of the first coming of our Messiah, Jesus Himself. 

Sadly, many people don’t know the story anymore, preferring to focus on the materialism of the holiday season. Strange displays in shop windows stir vague memories or are written off as yet another aid to part people from their money in a season of expense and often stress and anxiety. Any thoughts about Jesus get lost in the leftovers after Christmas lunch, or are quickly forgotten as a New Year with its resolutions emerges from the holiday fogs. Back to work or school dominate. Another year coming with bad news about the climate and taxes and so on. A cynical or negative perspective? Perhaps, but the world around us is locked into a mindset that is dominated by the devil and his influence. As a “type” of Herod, he looks around for any good news of the “newborn King of the Jews”and seeks to destroy it before it becomes a problem to him. We read in Matthew 2:16, “Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance“. There are many people around today, the devil’s “soldiers”, who want to kill off any rumours that there is actually Good News coming. Jesus was, and still is, God’s message of hope. His Good News will never be killed off because we pilgrims propagate it wherever we live. 

So we pilgrims have another opportunity to talk about the birth of the God-man, Jesus. The first advent of our Messiah, the Son of God, has an excitement connected to it that must be communicated. A group of wise men, or Magi, from a far off country went to a lot of trouble and expense to worship at His feet. A group of shepherds were gob-smacked with the angelic vision and song. And 21st Century pilgrims can feel within them a deep sense of gratitude that God had a plan for saving the world. We are a part of that plan, with a mission to tell those around us that Jesus was born to be our Saviour. Man-made efforts to change the world pall into insignificance when compared to the impact of the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

It may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but Jesus will return a second time to this planet. The first time He came as a baby, taking on human flesh, a suffering Servant who gave His life for us sinners. But next time He will come as a victorious King. We read how Jesus finally left Planet Earth in Acts 1:9, “After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him“. But what happened next foretells the way Jesus will return. “As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”” (Acts 1:10-11). 

And how Jesus will return we can read in Revelation 19:11, 14-15, “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. … The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress“. Significantly, He will no longer be the Suffering Servant but the ” … King of all kings and Lord of all Lords” (Revelation 19:16b). 

We pilgrims have a message of hope, a testimony to God’s goodness. We know the end of the story, and we need to declare it loud and clear to those around us. Psalm 2:12 is a warning to all, “Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities— for his anger flares up in an instant. But what joy for all who take refuge in him!” Let us have a joyful day remembering and celebrating God’s Son Jesus, as we take refuge in Him, worshipping at the foot of a manger in a place far away.

Dear Father God. Thank You that You had a plan for the salvation of mankind. Thank You Jesus for the mission we have and the opportunities it has afforded us. We worship You today. Amen.

Holy Priests

Posted on by korgrocker

“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 NLT

When we mention the word “priest” what comes to our minds? An Anglican will form a picture of a person, usually a man but it could be a woman, wearing a long robe and other accoutrements, who stands at the front of the church leading the service in accordance with the liturgy and worship service of the day. For Roman Catholics a similar picture might result, but the “priest”would also be available for other duties such as confessions. But whatever religion we follow, the “priest” is a minister who purports to teach and lead his adherents, with a sacred involvement in his parish and consequent liturgical duties, and looking after the spiritual needs of the community. 

In the book of Hebrews, we read about the ultimate High Priest, Jesus. Hebrews 7:16, “Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed”. The writer, or writers, of the Hebrews letter wrote about the connection between the priests of the Jewish religion, and the High Priest of the New Covenant, Jesus. In Hebrews 8:6, we read, “But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises”. Just as in the Old Covenant, the priests stood between God and man, Jesus, in the New, ministers “a far better covenant with God” because He is God. We pilgrims now each have access to the throne of God. No more earthly priests required. This is made clear in Hebrews 10:19-22, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

We pilgrims have an important role as the “holy priests” that Peter wrote about. We are part of God’s “spiritual temple” and we are responsible for sharing the “good news” about Jesus and His saving grace. There is no more important job for a priest. All the liturgical flummery we find in some denominations will probably not help a person find God. Rather, it might even put them off. But sharing what God has done for us will be a matter of life and death. Our personal testimonies of God’s grace, love and mercy are priceless and worthy of a “holy priest” in the Kingdom of God.

Dear Lord Jesus. We are indeed Your representatives here on Planet Earth, priests in Your kingdom. Please help us to become more like You, day by day. Amen.

Powerful Preaching

Posted on by korgrocker

“They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”
1 Peter 1:12 NLT

Peter knew all about the Good News. He lived with its Author for over three years learning all about it and even getting the opportunity to practise it. After a “wobbly” at Jesus’ trial, and his subsequent restoration over a breakfast of fried fish, he stayed largely below the radar until that momentous day, the Day of Pentecost. And then he came forward with the other Apostles, and announced the Good News. He provided a foretaste of what happens when a preacher dispenses his or her message of Good News “in the power of the Holy Spirit”. Not for Peter, or any of the other Apostles, was the preaching going to be a message full of flummery. It was the raw truth of the Good News.

Peter commenced his preaching by quoting the prophecy of Joel 2, which ends, “But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). His accurate quotation of an Old Testament Scripture, was the first evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit, bringing to his remembrance just the right verses at the right time. Jesus of course said this would happen, as we read in John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” But Jesus also warned His disciples that when faced with a stressful situation in front of the rulers and authorities of the day, the Holy Spirit would help them with what they should say. We read in Matthew 10:19-20, “When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you”. So Peter probably amazed himself with the words that came from his mouth – it wasn’t him but the Holy Spirit bringing words of power and conviction.

There is no shortage of opportunities to find out what the “Good News” actually is. The internet is a source of such information of course. And we have the wayside pulpits outside traditional church buildings and more besides. The sincere seekers after the truth of the “Good News” will find it. But for everyone else there is a lethargy, a fatigue, when it comes to things of God. We pilgrims of course look for opportunities ourselves to share what God has done for us, testimonies that are real and relevant. But we pilgrims are not all preachers. Or so we think. We may think of a preacher being someone dressed in a white gown and delivering a formal message from a piece of church furniture we call a pulpit. An ornately carved wooden construction usually elevated in a corner of the building and accessed via a number of stairs hidden behind a wooden façade. And a message is delivered but is it “Good News”? That of course depends on Peter’s assertion that the “Good News” must be “preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven”. Without the Holy Spirit’s presence the announcement will usually fall flat and will be largely ineffective.

Before He left this world, Jesus gave His disciples an instruction. “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15). There is a different dynamic if the preaching includes the Holy Spirit’s power, however. We read in Acts 4:31, “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”. Something called conviction ensures that the message is powerful. There has been many a preacher without a personal relationship with Jesus who nevertheless has preached the Gospel. But those who know that Jesus is their personal Saviour have an even more powerful message.

We pilgrims of course may not grace a pulpit with our presence. But we do have a message to share about what Jesus has done for us. In the pulpit of life we have the words that can make a difference to where someone will spend eternity. Romans 10:14, “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them”? We are “someone tells them” pilgrims. Let’s not miss any opportunity that comes our way.

Dear God. Please forgive us for when we make simple things like sharing what Jesus has done for us, so complicated. Your words of eternal life will reach any receptive hearts and we pray for the same boldness that the early disciples had. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Obedient to the Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
Romans 16:19-20 NLT

Paul is happy because he knows that the Roman believers are obedient followers of Christ. A faith statement on his part, but one he felt, through the whispering of the Holy Spirit within him, to be the case. In those days, without the benefit of the New Testament writings, the truth about God’s plan and His message of salvation through Jesus came through reference to the Jewish Bible and through the Apostles’ teaching. And of course the Truth came through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul implied through the next few words in Romans 16:19 that “obedience to the Lord” would lead to righteous living which was wisdom, but he also appealed to his readers to stay innocent of any wrongdoing. In other words they should avoid sin. The person of satan emerged as a potential assailant, but through “the God of peace” he would soon be a defeated foe. 

We pilgrims today have a much easier time in knowing right from wrong, and how to be “obedient to the Lord”. But translating that “knowing” into practice in our society today is far from easy. Even the church leaders in our land are promoting behaviour that the Bible clearly says is wrong. If Paul was around today, would he still be “very happy”? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, obey my commandments”. Obedience to Christ is fundamental to the Christian. At best, it may appear old fashioned in the eyes of the world. But at worst it may lead to imprisonment or even death, as in other nations. We must stand firm – “But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29). The Gospel that we preach is counter-cultural and to many an offence because it challenges lifestyles, and attitudes and more. But we have to be obedient in doing what God has asked us to do, because salvation comes through Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. When challenged by Jesus about his future relationship with Him, “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”” (John 6:68-69).

We pilgrims have a clear understanding of how we should live our lives. But obedience to the Lord is a key that will unlock the doors of Heaven. We cannot compromise. In this season of “Pride” marches, I read today of a Christian councillor who tweeted on social media, “Pride is not a virtue but a sin“. As a result he has been suspended from the Conservative Party, and “cancelled” by six other organisations. Here is his full tweet, “When did Pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of Pride Satan fell as an arch Angel. Pride is not a virtue but a Sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you“. And he quoted Isaiah 3:9, “The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves“. Obedience to the Lord is going to cost us, folks. But there is no other way. Again I write that we cannot compromise.

Dear Father God. We pray together for the Christian Councillor who has lost so much for standing firm on Your Word. Please restore to him all that he has lost and more. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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More Friends

Posted on by korgrocker

“Give my greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for your benefit. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did. Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. Greet Apelles, a good man whom Christ approves. And give my greetings to the believers from the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet the Lord’s people from the household of Narcissus. Give my greetings to Tryphena and Tryphosa, the Lord’s workers, and to dear Persis, who has worked so hard for the Lord. Greet Rufus, whom the Lord picked out to be his very own; and also his dear mother, who has been a mother to me. Give my greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who meet with them. Give my greetings to Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and to Olympas and all the believers who meet with them.”
Romans‬ ‭16‬:‭6‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A long list of the names of Paul’s friends. There were 23 people that Paul commended in these verses; actually 25 because the mother of Rufus wasn’t named and neither was the sister of Nereus. But to be given a mention in a letter by the Apostle Paul was praise indeed, and this list of names has survived long after the owners of the names have. These people were all active church workers who were even, as Adronicus and Junia were, prepared to go to prison for their faith. A wonderful legacy of real and living Christians, and one day we will have the opportunity to ask them about how they got on with Paul, and about their faith in the First Century. But behind all these names there would have been many good church folks, working away for Jesus below the radar.

The message from these verses for us pilgrims can be summed up in the phrases such as “worked hard” and “highly respected”, “Christ approves”, “the Lord picked out” and so on. These are  believers who were sold out for Jesus. No wishy-washy Christians here! These dear folks built a solid foundation upon which the church was built. They were prepared to suffer for their faith, and by doing so they established the Church that Jesus spoke to Peter about in Matthew 16:18, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it“. These early Christians were bomb proof and nothing the devil hurled at them had any impact. That is the inspiration for the Church today. Forces have been unleashed against Christians here in the UK over recent years, and secularism and left wing and anti-God ideologies are emerging, intent on destroying Christians in any way they can. But like the dear people listed in Paul’s letter, we will stand firm and use the weapons that God has supplied for us, and as listed in Ephesians 6. There is no going back. 

There is an old hymn that I haven’t sung for many years, but the verse 3 lyrics are:
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you;
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armour,
And, watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.

We used to belt it out in church, never thinking that in the years coming, it would be so appropriate.

Father God. We pray for the same strength and single-mindedness that those early Christians had. Please help us in our battles against the evil one. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Enthusiasm

Posted on by korgrocker

“So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.“
Romans 15:17 NLT

Paul wrote in his letter that he was enthusiastic about all that Christ Jesus had done through him. Paul’s life wasn’t just about being an itinerant preacher. Going around from pulpit to pulpit, delivering messages and sermons to a receptive audience. He was a counter-cultural fire-brand speaking about God’s message of hope, the Gospel. He told his listeners about Jesus, the Son of God crucified for the salvation of Jews and Gentiles alike, and they mostly didn’t want to hear it, because it was a message that demanded a response. Paul wouldn’t have held back – his message was black and white. No room for compromise. It was Heaven or hell. Repentance or judgement. And the peoples of the societies in which he found himself largely rejected him, sometimes violently. 

In Ephesus, Paul’s message turned the city upside down, to the extent that the silversmiths making idols for the goddess Artemis were afraid that they were about to lose their livelihood. So they started a riot – we can read about it Acts 19. Paul’s message had quite an impact, I think we can all agree. Paul got into more bother in Philippi, where he ended up in gaol, having been beaten by the local law enforcers. We can read that story in Acts 16. It wasn’t just his message, it was the “enthusiastic” way he delivered it with power and with signs following. We read in Mark 16:20, “And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs”. 

Sometimes I dream about being in meetings where the preaching of the word was so powerful that people were flocking to hear it and conviction of sin was universal. Where the Word of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit came upon people in the street, their workplaces, their homes. The Holy Spirit power and presence was such that God was real to everyone, and healings were commonplace. It’s never going to happen, the sceptic might say, but it did happen in the first century, and has happened at various times since. We pilgrims must pray for another visitation from God to this war-torn planet. 

How enthusiastic are we pilgrims in our Christian witness? Do we hold back, not wanting to offend anyone? Unfortunately, the Gospel is an offence to those who hear it, because it confronts them with their sins, and the fact that they are a broken people. The one solution involves repentance, death to themselves and future life devoted to God. The old is replaced by the new. We can speak enthusiastically about God’s saving grace through Jesus, but most people in our societies will reject both us and the message we are delivering. But enthusiastic we must be, because of Jesus and His love for us. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again”. 

The Message of the Cross is life changing and we must share Paul’s enthusiasm by sharing it in our generation. We have no other option.

Dear Lord Jesus. It is only You that spoke the words of eternal life. Please help us to echo them in our families and communities, in our schools and workplaces. In You precious names’ sake. Amen.

A Reminder

Posted on by korgrocker

“Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:15-16 NLT

Paul qualifies his statement in the previous verse, Romans 15:14, about teaching others, by saying something like, “I knew you would be good teachers, full of the goodness of God, but I was just reminding you in case it had slipped your minds”. And for good measure, he laid out his credentials about being Jesus Christ’s special messenger. Regarding the latter, if there was anyone who could make that claim of being special, it was Paul. Just read the account of his Damascus Road conversion in Acts 9. And the reason for Paul’s reminder was to make sure that the Roman Christians became “an acceptable offering to God“. An acceptable offering made holy by the Holy Spirit.

What reminders do we pilgrims need? Do we think sometimes that there are so many different things a Christian needs to remember that inevitably some seem to fall by the wayside? In 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 we read, “When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 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“. Paul was quite capable at making clever speeches – he was one of the greatest theologians of his day – but his focus was always on the good news of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion and resurrection. The Good News about God’s saving power through Jesus. For most of the time Paul was a one message evangelist. His message was incredibly repetitive – it was almost exclusively about Christ Jesus, and Him crucified. The Gospel, God’s message of hope and salvation, was always on his lips.

In the previous verses in Romans 14 and 15 Paul wrote about the importance of living together as Christians in a hostile environment. He reminded them about how they had to pull together, in loving one another, not criticising one another, being sensitive to one other, and all because he wanted to present them as an acceptable and holy offering to God.

Paul was very clear about his mission to the peoples of his world. He was so focused that at times he upset the status quo in the communities and workplaces in which he found himself. His message of God’s saving grace through Jesus was so radical that even the Jews, his own people, threw him out of their synagogues and he ended up being stoned and abused by hostile mobs. But the Holy Spirit was with him and his message of the good news was received gladly by many people. So it begs the question – are we pilgrims clear about our message to our families and the communities where we live?

Paul took the Good News wherever he went and so must we. Our messages of hope, our testimonies, may be by using words but they should also be by what we do and how we behave. Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless“. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News“! Paul could speak about nothing else. He was a driven man, compelled to share the message of the Good News. We too must never miss the opportunity to share the Gospel – we may never see the fruit of it in this life, but when we get to Heaven perhaps someone will come up to us to thank us for taking the time to share what we knew about Jesus. Paul reminded the Roman Christians about their obligations to God and each other. Let us not forget that either.

Father God. You have placed us in communities and families. Please help us to look out for each other and grasp every opportunity to share the Good News of the Risen Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Privilege and Authority

Posted on by korgrocker

“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us”. 
Romans 12:3 NLT

Is Paul getting a little ahead of himself, by claiming that he can effectively speak for God? He claimed that he had “privilege and authority”, a status not given by a societal or governmental process, but by God Himself. The problem for some people is that they do not observe, or participate in, the process that provides such authority. In history, many people have claimed that they have some special power or mandate given to them by God, and, through that, they have gone on to deceive people and lead them down a path that is nothing to do with God at all. The Bible accounts call them false prophets, and Jesus warned about them, as we read in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves”. So how can we validate Paul’s claim that God had given him His authority?

In the Matthew 7 account, Jesus went on to teach His disciples how they can avoid being misled by these false prophets. Matthew 7:16-17, “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit”. And He finishes the section by saying, “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions” (Matthew 7:20).

So back to Paul. He claimed that Jesus had appointed him to his ministry. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him” (1 Timothy 1:12). Romans 1:1, “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News”. Paul was obviously recognised as an Apostle by the other Apostles at that time. Paul met with the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem, and we read in Galatians 2:7-8, “Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles”. There are other verses in the New Testament that confirm Paul’s appointment as an Apostle, so we can rest assured that he did indeed have God’s authority, and he considered it a privilege.

If we apply the false prophet test to Paul, it soon becomes very clear that his single-mindedness in furthering the work of the Gospel throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region and beyond, often at great personal cost, was indisputable. No bad fruit there at all. And as a legacy Paul left us with his letters, that have shaped and instructed disciples ever since.

We believers, pilgrims for Christ, also have the same authority that Paul had. We read in Matthew 28:18-20, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 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””. The early disciples were given the authority to make more disciples, who go on to make even more. And that process has been continuing ever since.

So, the question is, how many disciples have we made? We have Jesus’ request, His mandate, and authority to do so. Hmmm… 

Father God. Please forgive us for our lethargy in spreading the Gospel to those around us. We pray for Your guidance to take us the the right people, at the right time, so that we too can obey Your instructions to make disciples. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Full Number

Posted on by korgrocker

“I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ.”
Romans 11:25 NLT

Paul unfurls a mystery before his readers. He said that while the people of Israel, the Jews, refuse the Gospel, the gentiles will benefit from God’s grace. But this won’t last forever, because there is a limit on the number of Gentiles who will come to Christ. The obvious question, of course, is – how many is the “full number”? Is God close to achieving that number? We don’t know – only God does. But there is coming a day when God will decree enough! And then we will see the hearts of the Jews responding at last to their Messiah. 

Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 24:14, “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” The implication is that the “full number of Gentiles” won’t be achieved until the whole world, including all nations and people groups, have heard the “Good News about the Kingdom”. One statement that people who try to find fault with God suggest is that He isn’t fair, because there is always the possibility that someone, somewhere, will never hear the Gospel, implying that they will be denied the opportunity to respond to God. A good answer is perhaps the suggestion that if this concerns them then they should sign up to be a missionary just in case, and go and search out remote peoples and nations tucked away in some inaccessible corner of the globe. But, almost as a catch all, Paul wrote in Romans 1:20, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God”. Jesus said that the Gospel will be preached everywhere, but Paul follows that up by the thought that people don’t really have an excuse if they fail to respond to God. One day, we will all stand before God but secure in the knowledge that He will certainly always be fair. People will only ever be judged on what they know, not what they don’t know. And we can rest assured that everyone will be judged by what they know, not what they don’t know.

We currently live in a season of grace. The full number of Gentiles as not yet been reached – we know that, because we do not yet see the wholesale softening of the hearts of the Jews. But it won’t be long. The number of different translations of the Bible is staggering. The extent and reach of the Gospel is as never before. There is a feeling of urgency in spiritual realms, and we can see the end time story unfolding and aligning itself to world events, just as the old Apostle John wrote in the book of Revelation. So how prepared are we? And how are we communicating that feeling of urgency within our families and communities? Do we pray everyday for God to wake up those around us and soften their hearts so that they will feel the gentle wind of the Spirit flowing around them and through them?

Paul wrote about the mystery of how God made the Gospel available to the Gentiles. Our gratitude can know no limits. God’s love for His family, regardless of their origin, is mixed with His grace to reach everyone who is open to Him. It is a mystery no more. It is reality.

Dear Father God. Once again we thank You for Your grace and love. Please lead us to anyone who has not yet responded positively to Your Good News. Over our lives we have planted many Gospel seeds. Please bring on a time of harvest before the final click of Your salvation clock. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Openly Confessing

Posted on by korgrocker

“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 NLT

Paul announces two behaviours in these verses that will lead a hearer to salvation. It is useful to note the emphasis on “will” and “are”. Salvation is a word often used to describe our future relationship with God, free from condemnation and hell. There will be a day when everyone will stand before God to give an account of their lives, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body”. Thankfully, those Christians whose names are recorded in the Book of Life will escape an otherwise terrible verdict from the Judge, who will otherwise consign the defendants to a place where they don’t want to go. Jesus knew about such a book, when He said to His disciples, “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). More was written by John in his Revelation, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. … Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12,15).

So, we pilgrims have publicly made a confession of our faith, that “Jesus is Lord”. And Paul writes that if we sincerely believe “that God raised [Jesus] from the dead” in our hearts, then we will be saved, at some time in the future. Paul goes on to repeat what he has just written, to emphasise that believing leads to a right standing before God and this, coupled with an open confession, means we are saved. All good? So we stood before the congregation in our churches, perhaps at the time of our baptism, and made an open confession of our belief that Jesus died for us. Some churches call it a testimony. And I’m sure that, when we said it, we meant it. So that means we are saved, and will be saved, doesn’t it? Well, I’m not so sure.

The tense Paul used when he wrote these verses implies a continuing behaviour, not just a once only experience. So perhaps it might be a bit nearer the truth to consider Romans 10:9 as reading, “If you openly go on declaring that Jesus is Lord …” and “go on believing in your heart…”. Just think about it. Imagine the scenario of someone who makes a public confession of their faith in church on a Sunday but then, on the Monday, returns to their old sinful lives, effectively nullifying their testimony. Will they still be saved? This brings us into the “once saved always saved” argument, which is beyond the scope of this blog. I personally believe that through the grace of God we are saved and will be saved, should we confess our sins and believe in our hearts, as Paul wrote. And God, who sees the end from the beginning, sees right into our hearts and knows how sincere we are. However, someone who once made such a confession, no matter how real or otherwise, can also choose to abandon said confession by neglect or downright denial. It’s a matter of their choice, which God, in the end, will honour, no matter how reluctantly. But no-one really knows what will happen when we come before God. Martin Luther is credited with making the following statement, “First, there will be people in heaven I did not expect to be there. Second, there will be people not present in heaven that I was certain would be there. Third is the greatest surprise of all—that I will be there myself!“

There is only one way that we can be saved. In Acts 4:12, we read, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved“. That is why Jesus came to this world. He Himself said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). What Jesus said is totally exclusive. No other adherent of any other religion can be saved, unless they come to Jesus. That is why our mission as pilgrims in this world is so important, and why Christians suffer so much persecution. The devil does not want anyone to find Jesus and believe in Him, but other religions don’t trouble him much.

Today, in our workplaces, our communities, our families, let us declare our faith in God. Our lost and dying world needs to hear our messages of hope. All the other declarations and beliefs people hold, though they may be very important, will not lead to their eternal salvation.

Dear Father. You have ordained us to share what Your Son did for mankind. What a Saviour! You are an amazing God! How can we neglect such an important task? Amen.