Spirits in Prison (1)

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 3:19-21 NLT

These are verses that can cause people difficulties, and there are several theories about what they really mean. We know from 1 Peter 3:18b that Jesus was “ … raised to life in the Spirit” so taking these verses literally we conclude that in the period between His death and resurrection Jesus, in spirit form, preached a message to a select group of spirits who were imprisoned in some way. We therefore have to ask ourselves what was the message that Jesus preached, what happens to our spirits after we die and why select just this particular group of spirits.

After we die, the Bible indicates that our physical bodies are of no further use and can be disposed of. However, our spirits continue to live and go somewhere. The popular expectation is that Heaven is the final destination for people’s spirits – most people, regardless of what faith they have, if any, like to think that their loved ones, and themselves, will end up in Heaven after they die. Others assume that unbelievers end up in hell, but Scriptures tell us that this was a place created for the devil (Revelation 20:10). Unbelievers, unrepentant sinners, are not sent there until after the Great White Throne judgement we read about in Revelation 20. But the most likely place for spirits after we die is a place called Hades or Sheol. This is a holding place for spirits until they receive their new bodies. Hades seems to be compartmentalised with a part reserved for believers called paradise. We know that from the words Jesus spoke to the thief next to Him. Luke 23:43, “And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise””. We also read Jesus’ parable about Lazarus and the Rich Man, where Lazarus is in a place of comfort but the rich man is in a different place of anguish. ““Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, … The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’” (Luke 16:22,24). 

So we conclude that after we die, our spirits end up in a holding place, compartmentalised in accordance with our response to God while we were still nalive. Those who repented of their sins and believed in Jesus will end up in a compartment called Paradise, and those who haven’t will end up in a compartment that will probably be a foretaste of what hell will be like. And there is no possibility of a transition between the two. But these are my personal theories, gained from a rather sparse selection of Scriptures – everyone must draw their own conclusions.

Thankfully, God has provided for us a way to avoid the hell-like part of Hades. Jesus came to Planet Earth so that, through Him, our sins would be forgiven. Peter, in his Pentecost day message, and in response to the question, “What should we do?”‭‭‭, said, “ … Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit“. It is important to note that the repentant thief had not been involved in any of the Jewish liturgies of his day. To bring it up to date, he hadn’t been to a Bible study or a prayer meeting. He hadn’t responded to an altar call given out by some trans-national evangelist. Instead, with his dying breaths, he came to a place of repentance and assured himself a future with Jesus in Paradise. All human beings have the same choice. Some may think it unfair that after a life of crime he should receive such a reward. But that is God’s grace. “All have sinned …” Paul wrote, and God will forgive everyone who come to Him. We pilgrims have made the right choice, but we cannot just leave it there. Many people around us have still to make the same decision that we did. Who are we praying for? Who are we telling of our hope in a Heavenly future? The harvest is ready, folks.

Dear Father God. We pray for guidance about who we should pray for, and witness to. We know that Jesus came to this world to save sinners, and is still doing it through His people. We pray for more “divine appointments” as we go out and about in our communities. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Clear Conscience

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.”
1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT

Our consciences are deeply embedded within our minds, and they are a very important driver of our thoughts and actions. A person without a conscience doesn’t exist, but a conscience can be trained to be more or less sensitive to certain behavioural patterns. Our thought processes can rationalise what we do and override our conscience-generated feelings and emotions. But, generally, our consciences make us feel bad when we do wrong and feel good when we do right. A big driver of how we feel and behave is related to our morality. The modern ideology of “if it feels right just do it” is a conscience-busting principle where our personal morals have failed in keeping us free of guilty thoughts.

So we must ask the question – what is our moral or values system? Where do we find the standard which we can use to programme our consciences? This is where the world view clashes with the God view. There is obviously some behaviours that are essential in society, driven by a pragmatic understanding of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:12, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets“. This, called the Golden Rule, cannot be disputed even by those who are not believers. Bluntly, we don’t abuse our neighbours because they would then feel entitled to do the same to us. 

We must operate a system of self-evaluation within us, but we know that we can’t depend on ourselves in this process. We read all about this in Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve“. We need that external guidance to eliminate any possibility of our consciences being tarnished by our own deceit. Paul, on more than one occasion, publicly declared that he had a clear conscience. Acts 23:1, “Gazing intently at the high council, Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!”” 

So we pilgrims must work hard to maintain a clear conscience, and the only source of the data we need to ensure our consciences are in line with what God requires is through His Word, the Bible. We must constantly read the Scriptures, because we forget and are often in danger of being subtly lured away from the straight and narrow path by the whisper of the enemy bringing half-truths into our thoughts. Remember what the serpent said to Eve? “Surely God did not say …”. Thankfully God’s presence is always with us. By constantly flushing our thought processes with the water of His Word we will maintain a soft heart.

One final thought. There will be others around us in the family of God who will perhaps not be in the same place as us when it comes to matters of the conscience. We pilgrims treat them with love and compassion, as God does with us. 

Father God, we thank You for the way we are “wired”, with a conscience aligned to Your Spirit. Amen.

Tongues and Lips

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.””
1 Peter 3:10-12 NLT

In today’s verses, Peter included a quotation from Psalm 34, a psalm written by David during a difficult time spent with the heathen king Abimelech. This is an acrostic psalm, where each verse started with a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet. But in all that, it contains some good advice, particularly with regard to what we say, hence the reference to tongues that speak evil and lips that tell lies. Of course, we know that these organs in our bodies are just the messengers. The real problem lies with our thoughts, and so often we can get into trouble when, or if, we speak them out. 

The Apostle Paul knew the problem with a mind that seems to drift so naturally into the realms of evil thinking. To combat that he suggested, “ …. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8). The Apostle James went a bit further and devoted a large section of his epistle’s third chapter to advise on the importance of controlling our tongues. He wrote, “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way” (James 3:2). Almost in desperation it seems, he finished, “but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right” (James 3:8-10). But he had a point. On a Sunday we might be in church singing wonderful songs about Jesus, or speaking our prayers of love and thanksgiving to God, but on a Monday sharing gossip or making up lies about a colleague. James wrote, “ … you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring” (James 3:12b).

It’s all about taking control of our thought life, and discerning what is right and wrong. We may be tempted to create an effect by speaking out untruths. We may be driven to an improper reaction when in a place of stress or tempted to tell lies to get ourselves out of trouble. I’m sure we can all remember times when we have been in such a place, remembering occasions that bring a flush of shame to our cheeks. But we bring our sins before God and receive His wonderful grace and forgiveness. 

Jesus went through much abuse at His trial and the events leading up to it. On reading an account of His responses, we very quickly develop a picture of a Man totally in control of His tongue. No lies came from His lips. No evil from His tongue. Instead He gave measured and truthful statements when He had to, and at other times He remained silent. Isaiah prophesied, “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

And so it should be with us pilgrims. We train our thought life to focus on things that are true and righteous, following Paul’s advice. And we will find that the temptation to lapse into evil and lying thinking reduces more and more. One day we will be perfect, like Jesus, as we join Him in our future Heavenly home. But in the meantime we follow in His footsteps, becoming more like Him.

Father God. We pray for more of You in our lives, because we know that when we are filled with Your Spirit there is no room for anything else. Thank You. Amen.

Wives

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives.”
1 Peter 3:1-2 NLT

Peter starts the third chapter of his first epistle with verses offering Godly advice about male and female relationships, particularly in the context of marriage. He starts with some advice for wives, and particularly for those in a marriage with an unbelieving husband. As I write this I can almost feel some people’s hackles starting to rise. Who is this man, Peter, daring to suggest how I should behave in relation to my husband, some of my female readers might be thinking. Of course, some also might say that the culture of Peter’s day was different then, and society in 21st century Planet Earth is very much different. Of course, that is true, but only up to a point. I believe the Holy Spirit inspired timeless truths in Scripture, and so we cannot discard these verses just because we don’t agree with them, or are offended or even challenged by them. 

Why did Peter single out women in the verses he wrote and the ones we are considering today? Part of the answer lies in 1 Peter 3:2, where Peter suggests that the wives’ behaviour will win over unbelieving husbands to the faith. It also should be noted that Peter wrote about husbands, not men generally. Peter wrote that wives should accept the authority of their husbands, but he didn’t say that they should always be obedient to them. If their husbands tried to impose something on to them that was contrary to God’s laws then the higher law would apply. 

The Apostle Paul also wrote about husbands and wives, and he put in the balance for a successful marriage relationship. He wrote in Ephesians 5:22-24, “For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Saviour of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything“. Superficially, that seems a bit one-sided, but Paul adds the following verses, “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. …  In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself” (Ephesians 5:25-26, 28). A blueprint for a successful marriage? I think so. There are more verses to come in 1 Peter 3 about the Holy Spirit’s teaching about husbands and wives. Watch this space!

Dear Father God. We know that marriage was in your plans for mankind right from the beginning. Please help us to stand firm and uphold this Biblical truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Shepherd

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.”
1 Peter 2:25 NLT

Peter introduced a pastoral theme into this last verse of 1 Peter 2. He compared human beings with sheep, who have behaved as sheep tend to behave, which is to wander off and get lost or into trouble somewhere. I remember a pastor of a church I once attended telling of the time when he was out jogging past a field early one morning. Just over the fence he noticed a ewe stuck in a thorn bush by its long hair, and unable to escape. He managed to free it after a struggle, and the sheep ran off, but it is perhaps such a story that was in Peter’s mind when he wrote this verse today. Sheep seem unable to avoid getting into trouble or danger.

Jesus had compassion for the people he met, as we read in Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd“. Jesus had been announcing to them the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He had “healed every kind of disease and illness” (Matthew 9:35b). But sheep, and people, are prone to wandering off and they eventually find themselves lost or in trouble. If a person follows their own desires, they will probably find that there is a downside to the choices they have made, like sheep. But what do people without God do? Who do they follow? The politicians won’t help. Most of them are only concerned about short term benefits, particularly to themselves. Social media advice can be misleading at best and, when followed, a “herd” mentality takes over. “Well, everyone is doing it” is a popular comment.

There is only one way to find a risk-free environment for our souls and that is to follow Jesus. It won’t be easy. But it will be exciting. Look what is involved. In Mark 1:17 we see that following Jesus costs Simon Peter his job as a fisherman, “Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”” The early disciples were enthusiastic followers of Jesus. But others were invited and had excuses, as we read in Matthew 8:19-22, “Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.””

In Jesus’ presence, and as we follow Him, He will indeed be the “Guardian of our souls”. In the Holy Spirit’s embrace we will find what we need. Matthew 11:28-30, “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.””

Of course, not everyone we meet will accept the invitation to enjoy Jesus’ wonderful Guardianship. But that should not prevent pilgrims like us from introducing them to Him, the Master and our Lord.

Dear Lord Jesus. Only You have the power to keep our souls safe until the glorious day when You will come into Your Kingdom. We praise and worship You today. Amen.


Submit to Authorities

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honour those who do right.”
1 Peter 2:12-14 NLT

That’s all right, I hear some say. We don’t have a “head of state” who is a king. So these two verses perhaps don’t apply to us here in the UK.  However, we need to remember that although King Charles is our purely constitutional head of state, the ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected parliament, whose members sit in our House of Commons after a democratic process. A better attitude to this verse is to consider that all government, whether involving a king or otherwise, must be submitted to. So we need to interpret the spirit behind Peter’s entreaty.

The government of our land passes laws that are supposed to be for the benefit of the citizens, and those who break the laws are doing wrong, thus inviting punishment for their lack of submission. Those who do right are honoured in a way that lets them get on with their lives without state interference. 

But then we think of those countries that have a malevolent government. Totalitarian rulers who want to control the behaviour of the inhabitants, and who severely restrict the citizen’s activities. And then there are governments riven by corruption with leaders who divert the country’s wealth into their own pockets.

But regardless of where we live and what our government is like, Peter wrote, “submit to all human authority”. We have an obligation to observe and follow the laws of the land in which we live, regardless of whether we like them or not. The only conflict that will arise is if the law we object to contravenes the law of God. He is the higher authority. Such an issue occurred for the early Apostles, as we read in Acts 4:18-20, “So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard””. 

Laws have been passed here in the Uk that subvert the law of God. Probably the most high profile is the one that was passed in 1967, applicable to abortion. We Bible-believing Christians know that this directly contravenes the sanctity of life from the point of conception, as we read in Psalm 139:13-16, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed”. Faced with such a conflict, we know which is the right choice. Also, the Scottish Government passed a law in 2022 allowing 16-year olds to change their gender by signing a declaration, again a law that offends God’s Word, which declares there are only two genders – male and female (Genesis 1:27). 

But Peter adds a sweetener to his submission verse – “for the Lord’s sake”. We obey the authorities willingly and submissively because Jesus wants us to. That’s enough for me. And if a conflict emerges between to laws of the societies in which we live and God’s laws, we pray for wisdom. The Holy Spirit will lead us in the right way.

Dear Father God. We Thank You for Your wisdom and blessings. We worship You today. Amen.

Evil Behaviour

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So get rid of all evil behaviour. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
1 Peter 2:1-3 NLT

Continuing his theme from the last chapter, Peter starts with a “so”. He ended the previous verse in chapter 1 with the reminder that the believers in the five provinces had heard the Good News. They had responded to the preacher and became believers, children of God. And because of that Peter introduced a “so”. There are consequences to being born again. We enter a phase in our lives where we have dual nationality. We are citizens of the country in which we are born or in which we live, but we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God. As children of God, as believers in the Word, we have responsibilities. Hence the “so”. 

As children of God we cannot continue to live our old sinful lives. Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (Ephesians 4:21-22). Paul wrote “throw off”. Peter wrote “get rid of”. But the message is the same. We pilgrims, regardless of how long we have been believers, must clean up our lives and live as we would expect the children of the living God to behave. So how to we go about this? Paul continued in Ephesians 4:23-24, “Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy”. We can’t clean up our lives on our own. After all, we read in Jeremiah 17:9-10a, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts …”. Only the Holy Spirit will bring about a transformation in our lives, but we have our responsibilities as well. We listen to the gentle whisperings of the Holy Spirit within us, and say a massive “Yes!” in response. It may take a while to reprogram our minds to conform to God’s way but persevere we must, because only He knows what is best for us.

Grace is a wonderful quality, and one that, coupled with love, will go a long way to correct our “evil behaviour”. We must think before we respond because in that way we allow God to help us to avoid, for example the “unkind speech” that Peter wrote about. Our tongues can be a constant problem to us, as James wrote in his letter. “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way … In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself” (James 3:2,5-6).

We must also align our thoughts to God’s ways. Paul wrote in Romans 8:5-6, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace“.

The wonderful thing is that our relationship with our Heavenly Father is not benign and unfruitful. It is active and transforming. He is a loving Father who wants the best for all His children.

Father God. We embrace all that You have for us. Please help us to become more like Your Son Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.

Powerful Preaching

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“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.

Christ’s Suffering

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.”
1 Peter 1:10-11 NLT

Those prophets in Old Testament times wrote down some stuff that they thought must have been very strange. They heard what the Holy Spirit was saying to them and they faithfully recorded His words, but they couldn’t make the connection with a real event either then or yet to happen. Take Psalm 22 for example. If we look hard enough there appear to be about nine or so predictions of Christ’s death embedded in this Psalm, written by David. Take Psalm 22:18 for example, “They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing”. That happened as Jesus was crucified, as we can read in John 19:24, “So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did”. Those Roman soldiers would never have read Psalm 22, and even if they had, would it have made any difference? When David wrote Psalm 22 it was almost as though he went through the crucifixion experience in his Holy Spirit inspired imagination. Perhaps it happened as a dream and we can almost imagine him waking up and quickly writing down what must have been a vivid sleep experience.

In Psalm 22 the tone changes after verse 19. He is back down to earth and looks around again at the difficult time he was having. He turns from writing and praying about his current predicament to look upward into Heavenly places. And a warm glow starts to build in his spirit as he looks to God. In verses 25 and 27 he wrote, “I will praise you in the great assembly. I will fulfil my vows in the presence of those who worship you. … The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him”. David couldn’t wait to experience again the joy of worshipping and praising God along with his fellow people, and he even had a glimpse that perhaps one day all the nations of the world, Jews and Gentiles together, would join together in a wonderful praise event like never before seen.

The old prophets could dimly see an event in the future in which the Messiah, the Christ, would experience great suffering and death. We pilgrims, with the benefit of hindsight, know what happened on that fateful “Good Friday”. That day the prophets could “see” coming but without the full knowledge that it would change the world forever, and usher in a new age, one where the Saviour’s legacy was the continual presence of the Holy Spirit. And as the times get more and more wicked, the Holy Spirit within us can shine brighter and brighter in the darkness around us. God declared that light is good – Genesis 1:4, “And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness“. In John 8:12 we read, “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”” The light we display to those around us makes a difference, and God has said it is good. The world might not think so, but, then, what does that matter?

Dear Father God. We thank You for giving us Your light to shine in our generation, in our families and communities. Amen.

Pray for Paul

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem. Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.”
Romans 15:30-32 NLT

Paul writes that he needs prayer. He firstly asks for his readers to join his “struggle” by praying for him. What “struggle” was it that he was experiencing? As we read through Paul’s experiences in the book of Acts, we see a struggle emerging between the wonderful things, miracles of healings and so on, that God was doing through Paul, and the forces of the enemy doing their utmost to shut Paul down. People were being saved in droves, churches were being established, lives were being transformed. It’s no wonder he was experiencing a “struggle”. But he wasn’t so complacent that he failed, humbly, to request prayer. We read in James 5:16, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results“. It wasn’t just James that knew the truth of the power of prayer. Paul was very much aware of it as well. 

Paul appealed to the Roman believers’ love for him, which he knew had been given to them through the Holy Spirit. God’s love is truly amazing, because it cuts right across distance, ethnicity, social standing, and everything else that would otherwise divide believers. The love that prefers the needs of another person over our own. The love that penetrates even the most insensitive of human hearts. And the love spawned by the Holy Spirit in their very beings motivated them to pray earnestly for Paul. 

A specific need that Paul had was for safety from the attacks he expected would develop against him when he reached Jerusalem. And that was a very real threat, as we read in Acts 23:20-21, “Paul’s nephew told him [the commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem], “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent“”. But as we know, as the story unfolded in Acts 23, Paul was indeed kept safe, so their prayers were answered.

Lastly, Paul asked for prayer that the donation from the Macedonians that he was taking to Jerusalem would be accepted by the believers there. It would have been a bitter-sweet gift for the believers of Jewish origin, that Gentiles in another place were supplying their needs. So Paul’s prayer was that there would be no proud rejection due to the Jew/Gentile divide.

Paul finished these two verses with the conclusion that once the prayers had been offered up on his behalf, he would be able to journey to Rome with a joyful heart, knowing his job in Jerusalem was done.

We pilgrims also have prayer needs. But how often do we continue to suffer in silence, too proud to ask for prayer? We continue to experience pains and aches, dosing ourselves with various pills and potions, when what we should do is pick up the phone and call a Christian friend, asking for prayer. Or we may be facing into family or work issues that are driving us to distraction. Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done“. We pray for our needs and worries and involve our brothers and sisters as Paul did. We can never pray too much!

Father God. We know that prayer changes things. Please forgive us for neglecting Your Heavenly hotline when we have needs. We know that you hear our prayers and the prayers of our brothers and sisters. Thank You. Amen.