Shining Faces

Posted on by korgrocker

“The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God!”
2 Corinthians 3:7-9 NLT

Moses spent forty days and nights with the Lord on Mount Sinai. There, he received the Ten Commandments cut into stone tablets, as we read in Exodus 34:28, “Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time, he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets”. Paul said this was the “old way, with laws etched in stone”, the Old Covenant made between God and the Israelite nation through Moses. This was a wonderful opportunity for the Israelites, because through it God would bring many blessings as long as they kept their end of the bargain. It was a covenant sealed with the blood of animals, and at its core were the Ten Commandments, written down for posterity. In the process of receiving the terms of the covenant, Moses noticed that something remarkable happened to his face. Exodus 34:29, “When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord”. The next verse records what it was and how the Israelites were afraid of getting near him; we read, “So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him”. Moses ended up wearing a veil; “When Moses finished speaking with them, he covered his face with a veil” (Exodus 34:33). Every time Moses spoke with the Lord, his face became radiant, but when he left the Lord’s presence, the radiance started to fade. So he put on a veil to hide the fading glow from the people. The phenomenon was not recorded as happening to anyone else at that time, perhaps highlighting the nature of the Old Covenant and its limitations. It was a rule-based system, much abused by the Israelites, to their cost, and by the time Jesus came, the Pharisees had developed it to a point where it replaced their relationship with God. 

Paul argued that with the coming of the New Covenant, a far greater glory should be present “now that the Holy Spirit is giving life”. The old way showed people about sin, bringing condemnation, but it brought God’s glory to the face of one man, Moses, although it faded. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 we read, “He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life”. As we pilgrims are ministers of the New Covenant, we too should have radiant faces, glowing with the glory of God. Some years ago, I can remember walking through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, a pedestrian tunnel under the River Thames between the Isle of Dogs and the Cutty Sark exhibition at Greenwich in London. It was in the morning rush hour, and most of the commuters were heading towards me. Most were smartly dressed, some with briefcases, obviously heading for office or shop work in Greenwich. But I was struck by the miserable, fixed and vacant expressions of the people walking towards me. They seemed to portray a life being spent in a place where they didn’t want to be.  Some God-thoughts came into my mind, and I can remember smiling to myself, but getting some strange glances in the process. How do we go about our lives today? As the Greenwich commuters, miserable and perhaps unknowingly heading for a lost eternity, showing faces of unhappiness, or are we children of God showing the joy of the Lord because of the relationship we have with Him? Are the people we meet somehow encouraged and gladdened by the meeting, or are they untouched by God who lives within us? What marks us out as children of the new Covenant?

Paul suggested that there should be an external distinction between believers and unbelievers, and that this is a challenge we all face. For too many years, Christianity has this Victorian sternness about it, where so many pastimes have been forbidden because of some man-made rule that didn’t come from God. We read in Romans 8:15, “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”” That has to be Good News, and Paul ended Romans 8 with, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Because God loves us, we must smile. Because we are God’s children, we have something to smile about.

Our faces may not glow with a supernatural light, but they should reflect God’s glory in some way. So perhaps today we should look in a mirror and ask ourselves what a random person would see. Child of God or child of someone else? There should be a difference.

Dear Heavenly Father. We know that our faces should reflect Your glory to all those around us. But at times, we confess that the worries of life weigh us down and rob us of our smiles. Please help us in our humanity and lift us into Heavenly places once more. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

The Heart as a Letter: Paul’s Message to the Corinthians

Posted on by korgrocker

“The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognise our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NLT

Paul made a reference to the original tablets of stone, given to Moses so many years before. To say something is “carved in stone” indicates that it is there forever. Such a declaration is said to be irrevocable and unchangeable. The most common use of stone these days for written statements is found in a graveyard, where a stone plaque is erected over a place where someone is buried. Sometimes it is fascinating to visit a cemetery and read the inscriptions that can be found there. Not just the name and dates, but often an additional one-line anecdote is included, which provides a little more information about the person interred below. Some inscriptions are frivolous, others are more representative of the dead person’s life. But a good one for Paul, who wrote this epistle, comes from 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. In all of this, however, the point is that things written on stone cannot be changed very easily. Ask any gravestone engraver. 

Paul referred to the Corinthians being a “letter from Christ showing the result of [his] ministry among [them]”. That’s a faith statement on his part, considering the problems with issues such as immorality that the fellowship of believers there were having. Paul then went further to describe this letter as being written on the hearts of the believers with the “Spirit of the living God”. And it was “carved”, not written with pen and ink. The picture in all of this is of a well-established and faithful group of believers, following the teachings of Paul in the ways of Christ. 

So what is the “human heart”? In the way Paul meant, it is not the pump within us that ensures our blood is distributed throughout our bodies. The Bible refers to it as the core of our being, encompassing emotions, thoughts, and will. It is that spiritual part of us that can feel and express our thoughts and emotions. It is in our hearts that we love and grieve, feeling emotions of happiness, joy, and sadness, and it is where we will find our consciences that direct so much of our lives. We can also find in our hearts thoughts of evil and wickedness that can lead to sin. So we have to be careful in matters of the heart. Jeremiah wrote, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jeremiah 17:9). And so it is with an unredeemed heart, corrupted by sin and leading its owner on the broad way that leads to destruction. 

To the Israelites, Ezekiel delivered a message of deliverance, a promise that we find in Ezekiel 36:25, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols”. And he followed this verse with, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart”. That is the sort of heart that Paul expected to see in his Corinthian converts, and is the one that we pilgrims have within us. In our lives, however, we must constantly look after our hearts. We find good advice in Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”. Just in the previous chapter, we find, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). 

What message would God find written on our hearts? Would it be a Spirit-filled message of what God has done for us, our hearts throbbing with praise and worship to God? Or something else? But I know what should be found there, and we pilgrims keep our hearts pure and undefiled by sin, as we read God’s Word and follow in obedience His ways.

Dear Heavenly Father. When we believed in Jesus, You gave us a new heart. A heart redeemed and set free from the shackles of sin and evil that used to reside there. Please help us to keep our hearts pure and compliant, always focused towards You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Causing Hurt

Posted on by korgrocker

I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.”
2 Corinthians 2:5-8 NLT

It seems that in the Corinthian church was a man who was a bit of a rebel, and caused Paul some pain. What was that all about? It doesn’t appear to be the man who was publicly sinning by his sexual relationship with his stepmother. So there was someone else causing trouble, perhaps by challenging Paul’s authority, as he confessed to having felt some hurt. Even though this man was opposed by most of the believers, it appears that he repented of his rebellion, and Paul encouraged them to forgive, comfort, love, and, I expect, move on. 

Perhaps there had been a bit of a power struggle in Corinth, with this individual trying to assert his authority and dispel Paul’s. But before we say this couldn’t happen in churches today, something occasionally disrupts a leader’s position and causes problems. The Church of Scotland seems prone to that. I know of two ministers who, in recent years, were put into a position by the actions of the church’s governing body, the presbytery, and were forced to leave their posts. The first was a man I much respected and who had been quite successful in building up the church in a village near where I lived, increasing the congregation’s size through the positive nature of his ministry. But he was a “born again” man who was open to the moving of the Holy Spirit in the church and people’s lives, and there were two or three “elders” in the presbytery who were very much against him for this. They undermined him at every opportunity and made his life very difficult. So he left and was appointed to another congregation elsewhere in Scotland. The second was a lady minister who is no longer practising in that role due to ill health, but, again, the presbytery was strongly opposed to change and to any attempts to bring the church closer to the Bible. 

The church I currently attend is better governed than the Church of Scotland, with the local pastor supported by a small local leadership team, and with the knowledge that he has a pastor himself who is a member of the national leadership team. Security and accountability strengthen the leaders and the congregation. 

The Bible describes rebellious people as those who defy authority and reject God’s word. In Old Testament times, there was a king who began well but ultimately disobeyed the Lord’s commands. That king was Saul, and he was instructed by Samuel to completely destroy the Amalekites together with their livestock (1 Samuel 15:3). But Saul didn’t do what he was asked to do, and he spared the Amalekite king and the best of the livestock. The outcome was severe, and we read in 1 Samuel 15:22-23, “But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshipping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king””. It was all downhill for Saul after that, and the chapter ends “… And the Lord was sorry He had ever made Saul king of Israel”. 

So now to us pilgrims. Are there any rebels amongst us? Are there times when we push back against the teaching we receive, or grumble about the pastor or minister in the company of other rebels and cause dissent and distress? Or perhaps it is a broader issue involving rebellion against our political leaders or other civil authorities. Paul wrote, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished” (Romans 13:1-2). The current UK government is turning out to be very unpopular amongst the electorate, and there is much grumbling going on, even amongst God’s people. We must be careful and remember that we are citizens of God’s Kingdom, and of a different spirit. 

It is not always possible to avoid hurting others, no matter how hard we try. There are times when we have to stand for the truth of the Gospel, and this will cause offence and hurt some people. But we leave such times in the hands of the Holy Spirit, who ultimately will bring conviction for sin. We must read the situation well and share the love and grace of Jesus. No one will surely be hurt by that.

Dear Father God. Please help us to share the Word, the Good News about Jesus, sensitively and lovingly, to those around us, never causing hurt unnecessarily. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

United for Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything he has promised us.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NLT
“Now it is God who establishes and confirms us [in joint fellowship] with you in Christ, and who has anointed us [empowering us with the gifts of the Spirit]; it is He who has also put His seal on us [that is, He has appropriated us and certified us as His] and has given us the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts as a pledge [like a security deposit to guarantee the fulfilment of His promise of eternal life].”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 AMP

Starting with that first Day of Pentecost, all believers in Christ have been rewarded by the gift of the Holy Spirit, who has acted as a “seal”, identifying us as part of God’s family with all the benefits that this brings. This was a reminder from Paul that the Corinthians, to whom the letter was addressed, were no better than he, and he was no better than they. Our second Bible version today highlights this: “in joint fellowship”, because there is nobody who is better than anyone else before God. All believers have been equally anointed, commissioned and sealed with the Holy Spirit. There is a unity here that cuts across denominations and movements. Before God, we are equal, one with another.

It seems impossible that this is the case, because each person is a unique creation, with their own physical and mental attributes, abilities, gifts, and upbringings and developments. Some people rise to high office in governments and companies. Others never progress beyond the shop floor. Some people become preachers; others become missionaries or pastors; others are happy just to sit in a pew. But none of this has anything to do with the central point Paul was making – we are all equally blessed by God to be members of His family. 

“God has given us different gifts
for doing certain things well“

But at this point, it may be appropriate to prick the bubble that’s forming. It is sad that some, perhaps many, Christians do not want to be fully involved as members of God’s family in the way that Paul implied. What does it mean to us individually that we are commissioned in Christ, empowered with the gifts of the Spirit? To some, this is an energising motivation to get more involved in spreading the Gospel, perhaps by becoming a missionary, working for a Christian charity, or simply sharing the wonderful news about Jesus whenever an opportunity arises. There is a man I know who is employed part-time to collect trolleys from the car park at our local supermarket and return them to their designated area just outside the store entrance. But he makes no secret of his faith and shares the Good News whenever he gets the opportunity, stopping people in the car park and even the City Centre High Street to and from work. He chips away at the atheistic and agnostic facades of his fellow workers, totally impervious to what they think of him. But others put evangelism, whatever its form, on the back burner, thinking that such thoughts and desires will have to wait until they have time, perhaps rationalising their thoughts with excuses about their health, busy lives, or a lack of opportunity. But Paul wrote that with the gift of the Holy Spirit came certain responsibilities. Romans 12:6, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you”. Paul also wrote, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (1 Corinthians 12:7). He took it as fact that each believer would receive at least one gift, so the question for each of us pilgrims is this: what is our spiritual gift and are we using it “to help each other”? We can find a list of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, and various helps are available to identify which gifts we possess. But one gift we all have is the ability to share our testimonies with our friends, family and neighbours.

“Now all glory to God“

Jesus commanded us to “love our neighbours and ourselves” and to “make disciples”, and in obedience to Jesus, we can call on the empowering of the Holy Spirit, who resides within each one of us. There are two verses in Ephesians that never fail to intrigue and challenge me. They are, “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. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). That is some power we have! It’s not weak and feeble, and only selective to whom it is given. We all have the opportunity to call upon it, so why don’t we leverage it to realise great works for God? It’s the sort of question that makes us feel a bit uncomfortable because there are no caveats that release us from the challenge. But in prayer, we ask God for His help in using the gifts He has given us day by day, proactively for Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father. Please forgive us for our laziness and lethargy. We desire to do Your works as You have asked. For Jesis’ saler. Amen.

Stand Firm in the Faith

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t let anyone treat him with contempt. Send him on his way with your blessing when he returns to me. I expect him to come with the other believers. Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to visit you with the other believers, but he was not willing to go right now. He will see you later when he has the opportunity. Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.”
1 Corinthians 16:11-14 NLT

I wonder why Apollos really didn’t want to go to Corinth? Apollos was involved from time to time in the ministry in Corinth, as Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:5-6,  “After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow”. Previously we know that Apollos arrived in Achaia (a region in Greece that included Corinth) from Acts 18:24, 27,  “Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. … Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God’s grace, had believed”. So I think we can assume that Apollos was very effective in Corinth, building on the Gospel foundation Paul had laid. Perhaps Apollos was genuinely too busy, or genuinely didn’t have the opportunity to join Timothy’s party of believers who travelled to Corinth from Ephesus. Or perhaps he was worried about the reception that might await him in Corinth. Wisdom was to wait and see whether Paul’s letter would resolve the difficulties there.

But Paul moved on to encourage the Corinthians to “be on guard”. He knew better than most of the devil’s attempts to destroy and disrupt the growing churches around the Eastern Mediterranean. Personally, he suffered much from abuse directed at him for nothing more than sharing the Good News about Jesus, and he wanted the early believers to be aware of the dangers. Earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul detailed some of the hardships that he had been experiencing. “Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honoured, but we are ridiculed. Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home” (1 Corinthians 4:10-11). So Paul personally had to “be on guard” through everything he encountered.

But what does “be[ing] on guard” mean for us pilgrims? It means being proactive in protecting one’s heart, mind, and soul from things that could damage our relationship with God. There’s a great Proverb: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (Proverbs 4:23), which is a warning we would do well to take note of. But we mustn’t just wait until we are overwhelmed by a heart-harming event. We must be diligent and stop it from happening in the first place. Take, for example, a film on TV that our sinful mind wants us to watch, but our spiritual mind tells us we must avoid it. Two scenarios can develop from this tussle within. One is to be obedient to our flesh, and the other is to obey our spirit. Before the wrong option has had a chance to assert itself and destroy our relationship with God, a heart-guarding choice will maintain its integrity. If we allow our hearts to be polluted by sin and allow it to take root, then our words and actions will be infected. Being on guard means we behave as a “gatekeeper,” filtering out harmful items before they can destroy us.

Peter warned believers about the devil’s role in all of this. 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”. The next verse commences, “Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. …”. Similarly, Paul wrote to Timothy, “Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:14). Note that the time-honoured excuse “the devil made me do it” has no validity for a believer in Christ, infilled, as he or she is, with the Power of the Holy Spirit. Remember the verse, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4)? 

There is one other thought that must inhabit a believer’s mind, and that is moral readiness. It’s the idea of living in such a way that if Jesus were to return at this very moment, we wouldn’t be ashamed of what we were doing. We don’t know when Jesus will return to this planet, but we must “be on guard” just in case His time has come. Is the angel already in the process of placing the last trumpet to his lips? A scary thought, particularly if Jesus finds us in the middle of a sinful action. So we pilgrims diligently refuse to lower our guards and let the enemy land a blow.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your power and grace, providing all the resources we need for a victorious life. And once again. We pray, “Come Lord Jesus”. Amen.

The Sign of Tongues

Posted on by korgrocker

“So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers. Even so, if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy. But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.””
1 Corinthians 14:22-25 NLT

Paul seems to contradict himself in these verses today. On the one hand, he said that speaking in tongues is a sign for unbelievers, but then he says that “if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy”. Which is it? If we extend what this all means to today’s Western churches, then we can see the problem. Most established churches have a liturgy that excludes the possibility of speaking in tongues in public during the meeting. I can just imagine that the church wardens would descend on such a person and, unless they desisted from their message, they would be escorted out the door. Those churches with a freer form of service, such as the one I attend, still only rarely hear the public message of tongues, although it features greatly in personal prayer and praying for healing, for example. But someone walking in off the street and hearing a church full of people all speaking out their messages in tongues would very quickly reach the conclusion that everyone there is mad! 

On the other hand, Paul said that the same random person, an unbeliever, who walked into the church and found messages of prophecy being spoken out, would be able to understand what was being said and would be convicted of sin. This would be because the Holy Spirit brings the prophecies. We know the ministry of the Holy Spirit from what Jesus said, referring to the time when the Comforter comes, in 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”. Paul said such people, hearing the prophecy being spoken, would “fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among [them]””. 

“God is truly here”

This was all good practical advice from Paul, as he appealed to the intelligence of the Corinthian believers, and logically explained something that, surprisingly, had not occurred to them. But why should Paul be concerned about what unbelievers think? That is an easy question to answer, because Paul was not only an Apostle, but was an extraordinarily effective evangelist. He was very concerned about the salvation of the peoples in his time, and in particular, his fellow Jews. He wrote to the Romans, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel” (Romans 9:2-4a). Later on in Romans, Paul wrote, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation” (Romans 15:20). And we can read from 2 Corinthians 11 what Paul suffered in the process of evangelism.

We pilgrims, too, must be concerned about what people think. Too many Christians adopt an offensive attitude toward the unsaved people around them. They behave in ways that demand a contemptuous response rather than one that is attractive and able to perhaps open a door for the Gospel to be delivered. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, “Though I am free and belong to no-one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings“. In that context, Paul perhaps foresaw a situation in which a believer invited an unsaved neighbour into the church. What would this person find there? Chaos with the church members babbling away in tongues, or a place where there were prophetic messages, bringing conviction of sin?

“Is the Holy Spirit alive
and well in my church?”

We pilgrims go to a church, I’m sure. Do we feel comfortable about inviting our friends and neighbours there, or is it a place that, deep down, we’re ashamed of? Is it a place where the Holy Spirit is alive and well, and able to bring messages through His gifts that will bring conviction of sin? If we think not, or we’re not sure, perhaps some further prayerful thought is required about where our spiritual home should be.

Dear Father God. We want to be in the place where You want us to be. It must be a place where Your Spirit is free to live and move in the hearts and minds of believers, and where You can be freely worshipped. Please lead and guide us, we pray, and help us to reach out to those around us with the Gospel and Your message of hope. In the name of Your dear Son, Jesus. Amen.


Innocence and Maturity

Posted on by korgrocker

“Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind. It is written in the Scriptures: “I will speak to my own people through strange languages and through the lips of foreigners. But even then, they will not listen to me,” says the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 14:20-21 NLT

The believers in Corinth had become fixated and fascinated by the gift of tongues, using it as something to show off and possibly brag about. Paul was clear that seeking the gift of prophecy was preferable because it would be more helpful to the other believers. Paul made the comparison in a previous verse when he said that he would rather speak five helpful words than ten thousand in a tongue that no one could understand. Paul gently suggested to the believers that they abandon any sort of childish petulance in their understanding of the uses of tongues and prophecy. Instead, he said, “be mature in understanding matters of this kind”. 

Regarding childishness, Paul had already pointed out the Corinthians’ childish behaviour. In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, we read, “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?” To use any of the Holy Spirit gifts effectively, some degree of maturity is required, and the Corinthians, generally but apparently, lacked it, thereby reducing their effectiveness.

Paul also instructed the Corinthians to be as “innocent as babies” when it came to anything evil. Jesus said to His disciples, referring to the time when He warned them about their future role as Apostles, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). What did He mean by that? The Apostles would soon be sharing the Gospel in a world that was violently resistant to any ideas about Jesus and His mission to planet Earth. Most of the Jews failed to recognise Jesus as their promised Messiah, and tried to close down any thoughts and actions about Jesus being the One they were waiting for. The Greeks and the Romans had a pantheon of gods, and a new one was not welcome to them. Then we have the situation in Acts 19 where a riot was started by the silversmiths who were making idols of the Greek goddess Artemis. Their complaint was, “But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province!” (Acts 19:26). Paul escaped this event, but he didn’t in Philippi. “A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape” (Acts 16:22-23). In those days, sharing the Gospel was dangerous work. But those early Apostles innocently entered hostile territory with their eyes open, never counting the cost.

Regardless of the evil practices and idolatry in their communities, Paul reminded the Corinthians that believers were to be innocent of any involvement in them. Just as the early Apostles had to, they were to face into the hostile environment around them, shrewdly analysing the danger but innocently heading into it in faith that God would protect them, in their mission to share the Gospel.

But within their church environment, their innocence had to extend to matters of the Holy Spirit’s gifts, making sure that they did not become cynical and hard of heart. This is easy to do sometimes, as sometimes the same people bring the same messages week after week. A good pastor and teacher will soon bring correction and guidance. Those amongst them of a more mature faith would recognise the dangers in their society, and in the church, and they would understand their own limitations and provide room for the Holy Spirit to minister. But throughout it all, we remember Paul’s teaching on agape love from the previous chapter.

Paul finished these two verses today with the thought that even though “strange languages” might be used in communicating God’s message, perhaps a reference to tongues in Paul’s mind, the message could still be misunderstood or ignored. Being innocent in the face of any accusations of evil, and being mature in the way that they handled the Holy Spirit’s gifts and each other, was Paul’s encouragement and warning to the believers in Corinth, and something we can learn from today.

Dear Father God. We want nothing to do with evil, and instead, we must look to You for instruction and personal growth. Please lead and guide us by Your Spirit, day by day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Singing in the Spirit

Posted on by korgrocker

“Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand. For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying? You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.”
1 Corinthians 14:15-17 NLT

With all the tongue-speaking going on, interlaced with the use of other gifts such as interpretation of tongues and prophecy, Paul was trying to teach the Corinthians about the proper application of the Holy Spirit’s gifts. The believers there were obviously making good use of the gift of tongues, but previously Paul had pointed out, “ …If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space” (1 Corinthians 14:9). So, Paul introduced the thought that some degree of balance might be appropriate. Don’t neglect the gift of tongues, he said, but also pray in a language people understood. Paul also introduced another use of tongues that might have caused some confusion – singing the tongues rather than speaking them. This was perhaps also adding to the confusion in their public meetings, because it introduced another dimension – the melody used to support the tongues themselves. Imagine if the minister or worship leader starts the next song or hymn only to find that several people are singing their own song with a different melody, different harmonies, and in a different language. Discordant chaos would be the result. Again, Paul introduced the logic that one person’s spiritual song – good though it might have been for them, being full of praise and gratitude – would have been pointless for everyone else who would not have been able to join in because they wouldn’t have known the lyrics. 

There has to be order in the church meetings because otherwise they disintegrate into chaos, losing the impact that love and unity between believers is supposed to convey. So in some denominations, we end up with a pre-written liturgy that is religiously followed each service, with the only differences being the hymns chosen, and the prayers specifically allocated for a particular day or occasion. Even in other churches, not bound to a prayer book, there can be the freedom of new songs and spontaneous prayers, but there is still an absence of the spiritual gifts and singing in the spirit. Where is the balance? Well, that was what Paul was trying to teach the Corinthians. Not an easy process for Paul because of his remoteness from what was happening at the time, but it perhaps explains why he was taking such pains to write about the spiritual gifts and how they should be used. 

“Sing a new song of praise to Him“

Singing in the spirit is a spontaneous and corporate time of singing in a meeting with a basic melody over which each person’s tongues can be supported. There is also room for singing a new song, with new lyrics and melodies, with words that are understandable and simple enough for the congregation to pick up. The Psalmist in Psalm 33 wrote, “Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy” (Psalm 33:3). David wrote a Psalm that contains the verse, “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:3). In these verses, tongues, a New Covenant gift, would not have been available then, so the “new song” would have been in the psalmist’s native language.

God has blessed most of His children, if not all, with a gift of music. We pilgrims might be too embarrassed to sing out in public. We might lack the musical ability to construct melodies and harmonies, but we can start with a well-known tune and apply our own words and syllables expressed in our Heavenly language of tongues. That’s all it takes. Perhaps we need to find a private place to practice. Perhaps we need to wait until our worship leader on Sunday provides a musical platform for our new song. But once the effort is made, blessings will follow. Paul said to the Corinthians, “I will sing in the spirit“. For Paul, it wasn’t an optional extra to be enjoyed when he felt like it. It was an act of his will. When problems abound and threaten to overwhelm us, sometimes a simple song in tongues will connect us to the One who cares for us.

Dear Heavenly Father. We know You love us and care for us. Please help us as we take some faltering steps in praying and singing in our Heavenly language, Your gift of tongues. Amen.

Tongues and Interpretation

Posted on by korgrocker

“So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.”
1 Corinthians 14:13-14 NLT

In the last part of 1 Corinthians 12:10, we find that Paul wrote, “ … Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said”. The problem with tongues was addressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:2, “For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious”. It appears that at the Corinthian church’s public meetings, there was much tongue-speaking, and nobody had a clue what anyone else was saying, and Paul spent much of 1 Corinthians 14 saying why that was less than useful for the believers. But the Holy Spirit had all that in hand, and one of the gifts He supplied was the ability to interpret what a message in tongues was really saying. 

In my early years as a Christian, I attended a Pentecostal church where one man gave a message in tongues at every Sunday morning meeting. Fortunately, there was a lady there who had the gift of interpretation, and the church was able to hear what the message really meant. At the time, I was confused about why this was necessary, since I thought a prophetic message everyone could understand would have been more helpful. So why the need for a message in tongues? But we can never put God in a box of our own understanding; instead, we must be open to the Holy Spirit’s gifts.

“You will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes upon you“

In Acts 2, on that memorable Day of Pentecost, we read that “all the believers were meeting together in one place”. There were 120 of them present, and I’m sure they weren’t there enjoying a social occasion for Hebrew dancing or joining together for a fellowship meal. Instead, they were there praying, because they remembered what Jesus had said: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you …” (Acts 1:8a). The miraculous manifestations of tongues of fire, rushing winds, and sounds from Heaven were followed by: “And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability” (Acts 2:4). But these “other languages” didn’t need any interpretation because the messages in tongues were in languages that foreign visitors to Jerusalem could understand, because they were given in their native languages. 

In our churches, a message in tongues using a real, understandable language would not need an interpretation. Although such a tongue is not so common today, such a message is still given on occasion. But in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul was writing about messages in tongues, given in a language no one could understand because they were in the Heavenly language, uniquely given by the Holy Spirit to the person giving the message. Such a message would not be able to be translated because no one, not even the person speaking it, would have been able to discern words and sentences within it. In these days of AI and Google Translate, speaking out the message to the computer in front of them would have been pointless because there was no recognisable language involved. However, now we come to the Holy Spirit’s gift of interpretation, a supernatural manifestation that reveals the meaning of an utterance spoken in other tongues. It is not a translation of words, but an interpretation inspired by the Holy Spirit to communicate God’s message to the hearers. 

So in our church services today, we pray that the Holy Spirit would have the freedom to give the gifts for the benefit of the believers meeting there, and that there would be believers present who will have the courage to use the gifts in any way that God desires. 

Father God. You have given Your children good gifts, for which we are deeply thankful. We take these from You with our open hands, reverently and faithfully, and aware that by using these we can build up the church of which You have made us a part. We thank You for Your grace and love. Amen.

Languages

Posted on by korgrocker

“It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space. There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.”
1 Corinthians 14:9-12 NLT

There are indeed many languages in the world, and they create barriers between people groups who cannot understand each other. In a sense, it is tragic that the main form of communication between human beings is lost in the articulation of syllables. Paul was writing to the Corinthians, who used a form of common Greek in their everyday lives and when they met together for worship, but because it was quite a cosmopolitan city, other forms of Greek as well as Aramaic and even Hebrew would have been heard. And that is just in one city. In my home city of Dunfermline in Scotland, the predominant language is English with a Scottish accent reflecting Dunfermline’s location in the County of Fife, but other languages can be heard here from immigrants and tourists. And around Scotland, there are other variations on English, with accents in some places almost incomprehensible. In the Western Isles and parts of the mainland, another language is spoken: Gaelic. I recently heard that there are 89,000 Gaelic speakers and a further 132,000 with some degree of understanding. But why so many different languages, and how did we get the situation where, globally, there are over 7,000 of them? To find out, we have to turn to Genesis 11. 

At the time of the Flood, all the inhabitants were destroyed except for Noah, his three sons and their wives, and it was from these that the world was repopulated, as we read in Genesis 10:32, “These are the clans that descended from Noah’s sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of descent. All the nations of the earth descended from these clans after the great flood”. There are, of course, many who believe that the Flood was a local occurrence, and most parts of the earth were unaffected. But then the sedimentary geological formations in most parts of the world, together with their fossil records, have to be explained. For anyone interested in researching further, the film “Is Genesis History” is available on YouTube. 

But over the page from Genesis 10 we read, “At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there” (Genesis 11:1-2). The next few verses explain how the pride and arrogance of the people in the Babylonian region, and their attempts to become like God by building a tower planned to reach Heaven, were frustrated when He confused them with different languages. As a result, the people scattered and eventually populated the earth. Genesis 11:8-9, “In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world”. 

But back to 1 Corinthians 11, and Paul’s analogy of natural languages being as incomprehensible to different people groups as speaking in tongues would be in a church. Such tongues may have meaning, Paul said, but he wrote, “If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space”. This must have been a stark wake-up call to the Corinthians, bringing with it a generous dose of common sense. The Corinthians apparently overemphasised the gift of speaking in tongues, believing it had a special spiritual significance. But the form of tongues Paul was writing about was the one used for personal devotions. In 1 Corinthians 14:2, Paul wrote, “For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious”. 

Can I ask you a question, my reader?
Do you speak in tongues?

Can I ask you a question, my reader? Do you speak in tongues? Whether Christians “should” be able to speak in tongues is a matter of theological debate, but many Christians believe it is a valid spiritual gift given by the Holy Spirit for today. Some denominations emphasise the importance of the gift, believing it is still available today and a way to strengthen spiritual life and pray according to God’s will. Other Christians believe it is not a necessary gift for all believers and that not everyone receives it, as the Bible teaches that there are different spiritual gifts for different people. Personally, I believe that all Christians have access to the gift of tongues, and those without it should seek God through prayer, but it is possible that they will receive one or more of the other Holy Spirit Gifts, either in addition to or instead of it. Jesus said, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11). In faith, we come to God, asking for His gifts with thankful hearts. He will answer our prayers.

Dear Heavenly Father. We reverently bow before You today with thankful hearts, believing that You give us good gifts. We ask today for a fresh infilling of Your Holy Spirit and for the ability to speak in the Heavenly language that You have provided for each one of us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.