Silas

Posted on by korgrocker

“I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.”
1 Peter 5:12-14 NLT

As he was signing off his letter, Peter mentioned the help he had received from a man called Silas. We find the first mention of Silas in Acts 15:22, “Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders—Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas”. So we know he was one of the first church leaders and respected enough to be entrusted with an important role in the establishment of the Christian church in Antioch. We also know that Silas accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey, and he was the Silas who was severely beaten with Paul in Philippi and ended up in the Philippian jail. We can read this story in Acts 16. Silas had a reputation of being faithful and another short verse gives us some more insight into this man. “Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith“ (Acts 15:32). So as well as being a faithful encourager, Silas was also a prophet.

There was no postal service in those days, so Peter sent the letter to the five churches in the care of Silas, who he commended as a “faithful brother”. After this, Silas disappeared from historical accounts, but we do know that through his faithfulness, he would have made a difference in the lives of those early Christians, encouraging and supporting them.

Are there any men like Silas today? I have been fortunate enough to have known several. Men of God, who have faithfully followed Jesus, and who have helped me at times in my pilgrimage through life. I can remember the man who carefully and diligently started me off on my journey with a Bible and some Bible Notes. Another man from Florida, who had moved to Scotland as a missionary, at just the right time, showed me the way through some spiritual minefields. And there were others. Faithful men doing God’s work.

We pilgrims also have an obligation to help our fellow brothers and sisters. Silas was motivated by love for other believers, doing what Jesus asks all His disciples to do. We read what Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”. Loving our brothers and sisters in God involves the same demonstration of love that Jesus exampled to His disciples. No conditions. Faithfully. Never giving up. Such loving qualities are the mark of Christians everywhere. Sometimes we pilgrims look at the scale of the potential task of encouraging everyone, and are in danger of being overwhelmed. But God is the Master strategist, and knows we are not required to change the world. There might just be one brother or sister to whom we have supplied the right words at an opportune time, and that is all God has asked us to do. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians with this message, “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We can all be a “Silas” to those around us.

Dear Father God. You, the great Encourager, want us to encourage others too. Please give us the right words at the right time. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

A Firm Foundation

Posted on by korgrocker

“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.”
1 Peter 5:10-11 NLT

When we consider the word “foundation” what comes into our minds? A builder will think of the concrete and stone that he is building a wall or house on, a base strong and firm enough to support the weight of the structure above it. And that picture will extend into all manner of activities that we get involved in. So a sportsman or woman will develop a foundation of fitness that will enable them to compete in their sport. Their foundations are built on a regime of the correct muscle-building foods, the long hours spent swimming, or running, or repeating the very process they will go through on the competition day. Paul used the sporting analogy when he wrote this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Don’t you realise that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified”. 

A business will develop prosperity based on the skills and knowledge of its workers. In this context we talk about the founders of a company, who put together a few ideas perhaps in a bedroom or garage, and from there became a success story, growing into a large and even multi-national company. A “foundation” is a beginning, a starting point, something solid and tangible. And something essential for the success of whatever is built upon it.

The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee in the days before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road. Not just any Pharisee, however. We read about his Jewish upbringing in Philippians 3:5-6, “I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault”. Paul’s foundation was on the Law of Moses and the plethora of accompanying rules and regulations that made up the lives of Pharisees. But imagine what happened to his foundation when he met Jesus. It took him days to get his mind round the reality that he had built his life on the wrong foundation. Referring to his heritage and pedigree, we read more of his story in Philippians 3:7-8, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”. 

We pilgrims have built our lives on a true and strong foundation – the person and work, death and resurrection, of Jesus Christ. In fact He is the only way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) that we need. Everything in our lives must be built upon Him. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20, “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself”. 

There is an old hymn written in 1866 by S J Stone, and the first verse is:
The church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is His new creation,
by water and the word.
From heav’n He came and sought her
to be His holy bride;
with His own blood He bought her,
and for her life He died.

It was a favourite of mine in my early Anglican days, and the truths within it haven’t changed at all in the last 160 years or so. Our faith is truly founded on the Chief Cornerstone – Jesus Himself. There is no other foundation that will support our lives on Planet Earth and in the life to come.

Dear Lord Jesus. You are there only foundation that will last when all else is destroyed. We build upon You and Your ways, this day and every day. Amen.

God’s Kindness

Posted on by korgrocker

“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.”
1 Peter 5:10-11 NLT

We read these two verses today and receive the assurance that through Jesus everything will work out okay in the end. But those in the middle of the suffering Peter was referring to might wish to see a positive situation much sooner than that. Bringing that theme up to date, think of the single mum, constantly struggling to balance her small family budget. The man desperately looking for work so that he can pay his bills. The old lady cowering in a cold, dark cellar, waiting for the next bomb to fall, hoping that it doesn’t hit her home. The parents distraught as they look at their child, sick with an aggressive cancer, suffering beyond anything we would wish to experience. But in this sin-ridden world, all these examples are only too common and many lift their eyes to Heaven and shake their fists at a God they hold accountable for their misfortunes. How could the God of the Universe, they say, allow all this suffering to happen, particularly to them.

But Peter starts with the thought that God is kind. In fact, he refers to the eternal glory we will share with Jesus through God’s kindness. God doesn’t have to show us any kindness because, after all, we humans are polluted by sin, and we offend His very righteousness. But the revelation to Peter’s readers was that they could experience God’s kindness in the middle of their suffering. But how can that be, we ask? Will God pay our bills? Perhaps. Will He heal the sick child? It has happened before, many times. Will God …? In times of suffering, no matter how intense, we lift our eyes upwards to the very throne of God, not in anger, but looking to receive the kindness of our Heavenly Father. It is an encounter that will transform the situation in which we find ourselves. 

Whenever I think of God’s loving kindness, I go to the Book of Psalms. Here I can find prayers, songs, poems, and words of worship that can bind our spirits to God’s. Psalm 36:7a, “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!  … ”. Or Psalm 69:16, “Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies“. Then there’s Psalm 17:7, “Show Your marvellous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them“. 

We pilgrims live in a sin-ridden and evil world, and believers everywhere are not immune to the consequences of sin. But Jesus came to save us by taking on board the sin for us. And instead He gave us His righteousness. Paul wrote about what we call the Divine Exchange in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him“. So we have access to all God’s resources through Jesus. Peter wrote, “he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation”. J L Packer wrote in his book “Knowing God”, “We have said that when people know God, losses and ‘crosses’ cease to matter to them; what they have gained simply banishes these things from their minds”. 

So today, no matter what our situation is, can we just lift our eyes above the suffering and get a glimpse of God reaching out to us, ready and waiting to show us the kindness we need? There may just be a break in the clouds …

Dear kind and gracious Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your love for us, and we thank You for Jesus who has showed us the way to Your presence. Amen.

Fiery Trials

Posted on by korgrocker

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”
1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT

We Western pilgrims can’t personally identify with the “fiery trials” Peter was writing about. Those early believers courageously stood up for their faith, withstanding all types and severities of persecution; some even experienced long and drawn out deaths. The first martyr was Stephen. He accused the Jewish leaders of disobeying God’s law, and we pick up the narrative in Acts 7:56, “And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand!” Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died”. A sad end for a Godly man, but an end that brought glory to God. Stephen was not the only martyr by a long way. Those early believers in Peter’s generation were stoned, torn apart by animals in the public games, crucified, beheaded and so on. They were ostracised in their communities, prosecuted for trumped-up misdemeanours and generally suffered greatly for believing in the same God that we do today.

However, in other parts of the world today, “fiery trials” are still being experienced by Christians. Believers in Asian and African countries particularly are suffering greatly. Pakistani Christians are being violently attacked; I have just read about an Iranian pastor who has been sentenced to a long prison sentence in Iran’s notorious Evi prison; in fact, according to Open Doors UK, 5,621 Christians were murdered for their faith last year, and that’s only the deaths that they have been able to discover.

One thing we pilgrims will have realised is that being a Christian does not make life any easier. In fact, it will probably make it harder. Jesus, in His long John 17 prayer said to His disciples, “I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do” (John 17:14-16).

Peter wrote that believers shouldn’t be surprised when they are persecuted. In fact, he encourages them with the thought that the persecution, the “fiery trials”, that they are experiencing makes them “partners with Christ in his suffering”. Matthew 16:24-25, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it”. In fact, if we are finding that the life of a believer is hassle free, then perhaps we should question our commitment. Following Jesus is not an easy life choice, because it involves setting aside our own personal selfish desires, and instead choosing to live life the Jesus way. Jesus asked the question, “ … what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matthew 16:26). But we know that with God on our side, we are assured that whatever trials we are facing into, if we persevere we will come out the other side unscathed, and closer to God than ever before. He loves us, His children. And He will never leave us to fend on our own. Every prayer that we utter has four people present, God, the Father, Jesus, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. And us of course. An invincible combination I think we must agree.

Dear Heavenly Father. We pray that You will strengthen us to live faithfully for You, right to the end. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Christ in Heaven

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honour next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.”
1 Peter 3:22 NLT

After the resurrection of Jesus, He spent time with His disciples for a few weeks and then there came that day when they all went to the Mount of Olives, one of their favourite places. The disciples asked Jesus when He would free Israel and restore His Kingdom – we can read the account of what happened in Acts 1. But after His final words we read from the Acts 1 account, “After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 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 1:9-11). We of course do not know where exactly in the Heavens Jesus went to, but from Peter’s words in 1 Peter 3:22 we know that God the Father is there, together with “all the angels and authorities and powers“. We note that Jesus didn’t rise into Heaven as a spirit, but bodily as His disciples watched Him. So we can draw the conclusion that he is still in that body now, but without all the limitations that an earth-bound body has.

In Matthew 26:64 we read, “Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven””. There are other Scriptures too that record Jesus’ place seated at the right hand of God. And then there is the amazing record of a conversation between Father and Son as recorded by David in His prophecy in Psalm 110:1, “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honour at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet””. However, there is one Scripture that records Jesus standing next to His Father, which we read in Acts 7:56, “And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand!”” I can just imagine Jesus getting to His feet and cheering Stephen on as he finally called the Jewish leaders to account for their dreadful involvement in Jesus’s death and the other crimes Stephen accused them of. 

So Jesus may be in Heaven but He is still with us through His Spirit. He told His disciples that after He had returned to Heaven ” … I will send you the Advocate —the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me” (John 15:26). We read in Acts 2 the spectacular event that happened ten days after Jesus’ ascension. “Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability” (Acts 2:2-4). Nowhere in the Bible can I find a reference that documents the Holy Spirit’s return to Heaven, so we must assume He is still with us.

In Acts 1:11, we read that one day Jesus will return to this planet. We can read some specifics in Revelation 19 and Zechariah 14. But we don’t know when this will be. But with His Spirit within us, we are in a truly favoured time. Jesus Himself may be in Heaven, but He is still with us, day by day, hour by hour, as we continue our pilgrimage through our earth-bound lives.

Dear Father God. Not for us a dead religion with a god who died. We worship the living God, who is still with us today. Thank You. Amen.

The Resurrection

Posted on by korgrocker

“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

To a Christian, the “resurrection of Jesus Christ” must be another of the most significant events in human history. Of course, many will dispute this, but in the context of eternity, few could argue otherwise. It is the foundation stone, the Cornerstone even, to the believer’s faith. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14, “For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless”. Without the resurrection our “faith is useless”. 

Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus, the Son of God, was crucified. A man innocent of any crime except that He dared to challenge the spiritual authority of the Jewish leaders. John wrote, “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:10-11). It is astonishing that His life ended up in the way it did. But this was all part of God’s plan. He looked down from eternity at the world’s events and selected a time when His plan would come to fruition. Paul wrote in Romans 5:6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners”.

So why is the resurrection so important to the faith of a believer? This act of God demonstrates that He is capable of raising a dead person, and not only that, giving Him a resurrected body with special powers. Because of that we can have confidence that through our faith in Him, we too will have a resurrected body one day. God’s power over life and death is absolute.

We should note that the evidence for the resurrection of Christ is indisputable. Paul wrote, “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). There have been reports of sceptical lawyers who have examined the evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus, and have concluded that there is sufficient proof to stand in a court of law. 

Jesus knew what would happen to Him. He said to Martha just after Lazarus had died, “ … I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25). Because we pilgrims believe in Him we too will live with Him after we die. The Apostle John wrote about the significance of Christ’s life. “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).‭‭ Paul wrote that death has been conquered and the new bodies we will one day receive will never die. “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

‭‭We pilgrims are a favoured and God-valued people. We have stumbled on a priceless treasure, one without limit. One that can extend to all. Why won’t unbelievers become believers, grasping this priceless offer with both hands? Probably because they take the short term view, valuing a sinful life over the consequences of believing in Jesus. The devil blinds their eyes and silences the inner whisper that leads them to Christ. But their intransigence won’t stop us reaching out to them anyway. Jesus died and rose again for everyone, not just us.

Dear Lord. We pray today for our loved ones, that they too will come to know Your wonderful love and grace. Please help them we pray. Amen.

The Baptismal Flood (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“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

From a cursory glance at 1 Peter 3:21, we might misconstrue what Peter meant when he wrote, “that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you”. Of course he did not mean that people must be baptised to be saved. That would contradict many other Scriptures, for example the salvation of Cornelius and his family. In Acts 10 we can read the story of their salvation, which came as Peter preached, followed by the baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by the Gentile family speaking in tongues. Lastly they were baptised.

Peter wrote that the ritual of baptising someone in water will only wash away dirt. He was of course describing full immersion baptism – Scripture does not describe a process of sprinkling a few drops of water on a baby’s head and calling it “baptism”. Peter then went on to write that the act of baptism is “a response to God from a clean conscience”. So what he was saying was that after a person repents of his or her sins and is saved, the act of baptism is a response to God.

As far as Noah and his family were concerned, they escaped the flood through their faith in God. Peter painted a picture demonstrating their salvation from drowning, meaning they were effectively “baptised”. And he could see forward to the day when Jesus was resurrected following his death. 1 Peter 3:21 is one of those verses that require a bit of meditative thought to extract what the meaning really is.

We pilgrims, believing followers of Jesus, will most likely have been baptised in water. The word “baptise” in the Bible originally meant the full immersion of a person, and in the church today the symbolic act of baptism is a public declaration of the washing away of sins, and the alignment of the person with the death (going down into the water) and resurrection (the subsequent rising up out of the water) of Jesus. In Acts 2:38 we read, “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. David Pawson calls these four events the normal Christian birth. He uses the acrostic RBBR – Repent, Believe, Be Baptised and Receive the Holy Spirit. After Peter’s Acts 2 sermon, we read, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptised and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all” (Acts 2:41). That must have been an amazing baptismal service!

God flooded the earth to a depth of 22 feet above the highest mountain peaks (Genesis 7:20) and all those who failed to believe in Him perished by drowning. But Noah and his family were saved through their faith in God, being baptised into a new life on a very different world. We pilgrims have experienced the symbolic repeat of this event, and through our faith in God we too have become citizens of a very different world, the Kingdom of God. Noah was joined by his family. We too need to ensure that our families join us in God’s wonderful Kingdom, which extends throughout our remaining lives on Planet Earth and onwards into an eternity with Him.

Dear God. Thank You for our salvation. Amen.

The Baptismal Flood (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“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

We have this picture from Peter of Jesus preaching in the spirit to the spirits of an imprisoned generation of people who all perished in the flood. This was a catastrophic event triggered by depths of human depravity not seen since. In the days of Noah there appears a picture of, as the NLT headlines it, “A World Gone Wrong”. It appears that angels, “the sons of God”, started to have intercourse with human women, resulting in a race of giants. How that was possible, with a spiritual being mating with a human being, is beyond our understanding, but we can read the story in Genesis 6. In Genesis 6:5-6 we read, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart“. That poignant phrase “It broke [God’s] heart” tells us a lot about how much God loves and cares for us, and how disappointed He becomes with human behaviour. In Geneses 6:7 we see His decision about what to do, “And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them””. But there is a “But” starting the next verse, “But Noah found favour with the Lord”‭‭. We must thank God because He always has a plan, no matter how bad things are. He always has a “but”!

There follows in Genesis 6 the instructions for building a boat. This was an awesome act of faith, because no-one had ever seen a boat before; apparently this happened in the days before there were any areas of open water. It took Noah a hundred years to build that boat and miraculously God filled it with pairs of animals and then eight people – him and his family. Then came the flood, the account of which we can read in Genesis 7. After the water had receded, we can read how Noah and his family finally left the boat. After this comes another poignant verse, in Genesis 8:21 – God said to Himself, “ … I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things”. Did God send Jesus to preach to the spirits of all those who drowned in the flood because He wanted then to understand why He did it? Certainly in those days mankind had not received God’s Law so perhaps the people drowned in the flood failed to understand the consequences of their sins. But we speculate. 

We pilgrims, in fact everyone since the flood, must be grateful that God never thought again about destroying mankind because of their sin. This is a deserved punishment yet to come, but in the meantime God sent His Law through Moses, as He waited for just the right time to implement the most wonderful and amazing plan ever conceived for the salvation of mankind – the arrival, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s only Son, for our sins. We know the plan, because we can look back on it’s execution with grateful hearts. The Old Testament prophets could see it coming, but never experienced it. So on our knees today, what else can we do than thank our wonderful Heavenly Father.

Dear Father God. We thank You for Your plan, and for Jesus, who so willingly did Your will. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Spirits in Prison (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“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.

Once is Sufficient

Posted on by korgrocker

“Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.”
1 Peter 3:18 NLT

This verse has to be one of the most important and profound verses in the Bible. It is just tucked away in the middle of Peter’s first letter, and added almost as an afterthought. “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time”. We of course know well the verse John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life“. But we should note what this verse doesn’t say. It does not imply that Jesus repeatedly came to Planet Earth. He came but once. And Peter very clearly said that His coming and suffering was for all time, implying past, present and future, and all for the forgiveness of our sins. God’s timing was impeccable. We read in Romans 5:6,8, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. … But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“. 

In some inexplicable way, God has ordained that His Son’s sacrifice was sufficient to cover all of mankind’s sins, past, present and future. His grace is so extensive that it utterly blows our minds! We just cannot fully understand what that means. Just for one person, forgiving all the sins he or she has ever committed is an act of love and grace not usually expected. Paul, in Romans 5:7, made that clear, “Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good“. Perhaps we can get a glimpse of what this means by the story of Barabbus. He was a Jewish revolutionary, some would label him a terrorist, intent on trying to oust the hated Roman occupiers in Palestine. His capture and trial decreed that he would be put to death, most probably by crucifixion. But imagine how he felt when the crowd demanded that he was released and Jesus crucified in his place. That is how we sinners must feel. We knew that because of our sins we were facing into the certainty of an eternity spent in hell. The only option we might have felt justified in doing was to follow the Jewish law as closely as possible, in the hope that it would be enough to get us into Heaven. But even that would not have been good enough. Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). The sobering reality is that God sets the bar too high for human beings to reach it.

God’s gracious plan was to send Someone else, His very own Son, to die instead of us, taking on Himself the punishment for our sins. A universal and sufficient sacrifice once for all time. But the offer of forgiveness of sins and Jesus’ righteousness will not be on the table forever. There are two critical dates, neither of which we know anything about. The first is the date of our death, because after this repentance and forgiveness for our sins will not be possible. The second date is when God brings this age to an end and brings about the Revelation 20 events. But in the meantime all who are still alive and  breathing have the opportunity to grasp the most profound and important event we are ever likely to experience. We pilgrims have grasped it with both hands. In the meantime, we have an opportunity to plead with those we know to grasp it too. Jesus never sinned and yet He was put to death so that our sins would be dealt with. And because of that single act of grace and sacrifice, He gave us His righteousness. The Divine Exchange. There is none better.

Dear Father God. Jesus came once and for all to deal with our sins. We are really grateful. Amen.