Inheriting the Kingdom

Posted on by korgrocker

“Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers. Don’t you realise that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 6:7-10 NLT

The Kingdom of God is mentioned much in the New Testament, particularly from the lips of Jesus. The kingdom of God is the spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. Those who defy God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him are not part of the kingdom of God; in contrast, those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ and gladly surrender to God’s rule in their hearts are part of the kingdom of God. In this sense, the kingdom of God is spiritual, and we remember that Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world, as we read what He said at His trial before Pilate, “Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world”” (John 18:36). Importantly, Jesus preached that repentance is necessary to be a part of the kingdom of God, “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”” (Matthew 4:17).‭‭ In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul supplied the Corinthians with a list of sins that would exclude them from the Kingdom of God, and at the end he wrote that people who cheat others would be amongst the company of those outside the Kingdom. This was, of course, particularly relevant to those in the Corinthian church who had been initiating lawsuits against fellow believers. Paul wrote that it was better for them to let themselves be cheated than head for the courts. We note from the list of sins that these fall into three categories: sins against a person’s body, sins committed against others, and sins against God. But they all have one thing in common, in that they will exclude anyone who commits these sins from inheriting the Kingdom of God.

Right at the start of His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said, “ … I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). In the next few verses, Jesus explained the process of spiritual rebirth, but did Nicodemus “get” it? He probably did, because we read about his involvement in the burial of Jesus in John 19:38-39, in the company of a man called Joseph. “Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes“. Joseph was the wealthy man who loaned Jesus his tomb for the weekend.

But back to the list of sins mentioned by Paul, sins that he said would exclude people from God’s Kingdom. Quite simply, there will be no sinners present anywhere associated with God because wicked people will be barred. It makes sense, really, because God, His kingdom, and everything to do with Him is sinless, pure, and holy. Absolute truth and righteousness will be found there. The Kingdom of God is, and will be eternally, a place where no sinners will be found and won’t be allowed to enter there either. A quote from “gotquestions.org”, “The Christian life is different from that of a non-Christian. Christians struggle against sin but have the God-given ability to overcome it. Unbelievers, who do not have the Spirit of God, remain slaves to their sin. Even if a Christian falls and lapses into sin, he will always eventually return to the Lord, and the struggle against sin will continue. But the Bible does not support the idea that a person who perpetually and unrepentantly engages in sin can indeed be a Christian”. There is little point in analysing each and every category of sin that Paul described, but we should note that there is an almighty battle going on in our times between those who are involved in sexual sins and those who believe what the Bible says about it. In fact, it is now going further, with the “gender wars” where, somehow, the devil has convinced men that they can become women and vice versa. And who would have thought that such a wicked ideology could even have been approved through legislation introduced by our lawmakers? Although not mentioned specifically in the list of sins, implementing such an ideology in a human being’s body is just as much a sin as any other. The sad thing in our days is that it is the secular feminists who are fighting the battle while the church is strangely silent. What a tragedy!

What do we pilgrims think about our inheritance, the Kingdom of God? In a sense, we have inherited it already.  We pilgrims, through the process of being born again, are now God’s children, and there will be an inheritance awaiting us. We are heirs to His Kingdom, and one day we will be in His presence forever. We may be getting weary about all the battles we are facing, but as Isaiah wrote, ” … strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you”” (Isaiah 35:3-4). And so we pilgrims encourage our fellow believers, because the Lord will indeed soon come to save us. His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is closer than we think, and we are part of it in this life.

Inheriting the Kingdom of God is a given fact for believers, past, present and future, but do we pilgrims feel we have inherited it, or are we unsure? Well, Jesus made it quite clear in John 3:3, 5, “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’ … Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13b-14, ” … When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory”. So all believers who believe in Jesus, have repented, and continue to repent, of their sins, become born-again children of God, with an inheritance guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.

Father God, you are truly our Father, and we are deeply thankful for an inheritance assured by You. We worship You today. Amen.

Yeast

Posted on by korgrocker

“Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realise that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.”
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NLT

Imagine the scene. Here is a man openly sinning by having a sexual relationship with his stepmother, and, worse, the church in Corinth accepts it. There is no censure. No attempt to put things right. Perhaps the leadership in Corinth thought that they were being “progressive”, following a convoluted logic based on God’s grace and forgiveness. But whatever their thoughts, having such an open, sinful display was not only accepted but also boasted about. In the Churches of Scotland and Wales today, there is a similar situation, with people of certain sexual orientations and practices being not only accepted, they have also been appointed to church leadership roles. So we have a lesbian bishop in Wales and a gay minister in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, and these are supposedly Christian churches in Christian denominations. Such sin exposes the wickedness in the hearts of mankind, a situation little different from the world just before the Flood. We read about the situation then in Genesis 6:5-6, “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 picture of God’s heart breaking through the extent of man’s sin and wickedness has always touched me greatly. Aren’t we grateful that God made a covenant with Noah, as we read in Genesis 9!

But back to Corinth. Paul admonished the Corinthians for boasting about their acceptance of the sinning man in their church, and such boasting even reached Paul’s ears. People must have been so scandalised about what was happening in Corinth that they found Paul and told him what was happening. We can just about imagine that it broke his heart as well. So, Paul put pen to paper and sent this letter to the church in Corinth, and he didn’t pull any punches. Of course, he didn’t spew vitriolic anger onto the paper, but set out his concerns in a measured and loving way. And he reminded the Corinthians that if they let sin into the church it is like yeast in a batch of dough. As any baker knows, the dough becomes infused with the yeast solution and starts to rise. Great when the yeast is “good” yeast, but if the yeast is bad, then the whole batch of bread will be bad as well. This is a good analogy about what was happening there, and one that equally applies to our churches in the UK today.  Sadly, those Christian communities that condone sin will eventually wither and die, because, as Jesus said to the church in Ephesus, their love of Him had grown cold. “Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches” (Revelation 2:5). If Jesus removes His lampstand from a church it means that His presence won’t be there anymore, and instead the congregation becomes a religious club. Yes, it might survive for a while, but it will eventually close down. But the encouraging news is that there is still a Christian church in Corinth, claiming roots all the way back to Paul’s foundation in the first century. Paul’s letter must have contributed to their future.

The question that we pilgrims have to ask ourselves concerns the church or fellowship that we attend, and also our role and influence within it. Two important factors that are both concerned with yeast. Paul’s analogy about yeast and dough is based on the impact that sin has in both the life of a believer and the life of their congregations. We have to start by examining ourselves. David, the Psalmist, wrote, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24). Paul also wrote on a similar theme, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). And one more verse from 2 Peter 1:10 in the Amplified version, “Therefore, believers, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you [be sure that your behaviour reflects and confirms your relationship with God]; for by doing these things [actively developing these virtues], you will never stumble [in your spiritual growth and will live a life that leads others away from sin]”. We pilgrims have to realise that if there is any sin within us, visible or secret, then we are in danger of introducing bad yeast into the “dough” of our church. Such sin might not be what we first think of in terms of the sexual mayhem happening in Corinth, but it might be the little things, such as how we conduct ourselves in the meetings, or how we respond to the other believers there. Do we complain and quarrel? Do we “roast the preacher” on a Sunday afternoon after church? Do we generally undermine the work and witness of the church, quenching the Holy Spirit in the process? If we find ourselves doing such things, then it is essential that we get before God in repentance and sort out our attitudes and behaviour.

Secondly, we must always be on the guard for any sin that is creeping into the church we attend, always doing what the Berean Christians did. We read in Acts 17:11, “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth“. If we are uncomfortable about a message preached from the pulpit, then we must diligently look for the answer in the Bible, which is our final arbiter. Sometimes, however, we will hear a message that seems ok, but even then still doesn’t sit easily with us. In such a case, we leave it on the “back burner” and ask God for confirmation through His Spirit. 

Jesus taught much about the Kingdom of God, of which we pilgrims are a part. It is coming, and nothing will stop it. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day failed. The liberal and “progressive” bishops and ministers of today will be equally unsuccessful in frustrating its coming, even though they have no idea that that is what they are attempting to achieve. Luke 13:20-21, “Again [Jesus] asked, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about thirty kilograms of flour until it worked all through the dough’”. Slowly but surely, regardless of attempts by the devil, the world, and even the church to stop it, the Kingdom of God is growing throughout the world just as yeast permeates and penetrates its way through the batch of dough. One day, the process will be complete, and then we will experience the End of the Age. Will that be in our lifetimes? We don’t know, but we must be ready. Our lamps must not be allowed to run out of metaphorical oil. Ever.

Dear Father. Your Kingdom will prevail, and we pray for the stamina and resources we need to stand firm to the end. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Kingdom of God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again. But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?”
1 Corinthians 4:18-21 NLT

We citizens of the Kingdom of God, pilgrims on a journey to Glory, are living a different life from those around us, unbelievers who are still firmly and solely citizens of the kingdom of the world. We pilgrims have transitioned from a worldly life to one that is pleasing to God and aligned with His values and requirements. And the two kingdoms are so different, often with the expression of opposites. So someone great in the kingdom of the world’s eyes, such as a successful businessman, an autocrat or a political leader, is least in God’s Kingdom, where a servant assumes the greatest slot. But the biggest difference is that God’s Kingdom is spiritual. The first verse in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount reads, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). (Note that “Kingdom of Heaven” is synonymous with “Kingdom of God” – Matthew was written for a Jewish audience and the name of God was so sacred that Jews would not refer to it directly.) But before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to define what the Kingdom of God is. One definition is, “the kingdom of God is [the] spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. Those who defy God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him are not part of the kingdom of God; in contrast, those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ and gladly surrender to God’s rule in their hearts are part of the kingdom of God” (quoted from gotquestions.org). At His pre-crucifixion trial, Jesus was asked by the Roman governor, Pilate, if He was the King of the Jews. In response, “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place’” (John 18:36). Jesus truly was (and still is, by the way) the King, and we echo what Thomas said when he met the risen Jesus, “’My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed,” (John 20:28). 

So, how do men and women today become citizens of God’s Kingdom? Jesus gave Nicodemus the answer in John 3:3, 5-6, “Jesus replied, ‘‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” …  Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life“”. Men and women are naturally born into the kingdom of the world, a world riddled and polluted by evil, wickedness and sin. Although the Bible does not claim that the devil is the king of this world, Jesus did say that he was the ruler. John 12:31, “The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out”. And that is why this world is such an unpleasant place to live in. The only people who are comfortable living in this world are those who are sinful and conforming to the world’s evil ways. But God’s people experience a second birth, through the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus was greatly puzzled by this and couldn’t get his mind around the concept, the reality, of a different type of birth. Jesus said that worldly people could not understand how being reborn in the Spirit was possible (John 3:8 – “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit”), but He went on to describe what the door into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, looked like – “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:14-15). Right at the start of His public ministry, Jesus explained to Nicodemus that there was a day coming when He would be lifted up on a cross, crucified by the Roman authorities at the behest of the Jews, and taking on Himself the punishment that we sinners deserved. The Kingdom of God is an eternal Kingdom and one where its citizens will live for all eternity. 

To the Corinthian believers, Paul wrote, “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power“, but we will unpick that in the next blog. In the meantime, we have to understand the reality that living in God’s Kingdom in the spirit, while living in the world’s kingdom in the natural, will introduce tensions and conflicts for which God’s power is essential to be able to overcome. We pilgrims have a dual nationality. Paul was conflicted by a life in two kingdoms, and he wrote, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me” (Philippians 1:21-23). I have met Christians who are terrified of the thought of dying. All sorts of fears surface, such as leaving loved ones in a state of pain, sorrow and grief, but also the fear of the unknown, with questions around what the dying process for them will be like. Along with such thoughts come the doubts and sometimes a lack of faith bubbles to the surface. But Paul was so convinced about where he would end up after his physical death that he would have been more than happy if Jesus had whisked him away from this planet like Enoch (Genesis 5:23-24, “Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him“). 

We pilgrims have been born again by the Holy Spirit and now live for God in His Kingdom. It’s a wonderful life and one where we enjoy the presence of God in our lives day by day. And one day, we will experience an infinitely better life with Jesus forever.

Dear Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for Your plan that involved sending Jesus, Your Son, to die for our sins. We now live in Your Kingdom as Your valued children, and we look forward to the day when our life on this planet will be replaced by a life spent for all eternity with You. Amen.

A Clear Conscience

Posted on by korgrocker

“As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.”
1 Corinthians 4:3-4 NLT

Did Paul really not care much for the opinions of others? Was he behaving with an inbuilt arrogance that clouded his judgment and the way he conducted himself in his life? Was he going to continue to teach the Corinthians in the way he thought best without any reference to what other people thought of either him or his teachings? If we try and step into Paul’s shoes, what would we think about ourselves? Paul stated quite clearly that those in the Corinthian church who chose to judge him were of little consequence to him. But that is a hard place to be in, because if we took that approach, it would tend to exclude people who otherwise would affirm us, something that all human beings need. It’s not easy to be the unpopular one in the office who is shunned by the other workers. Or the one who walks into a social gathering and finds that the conversations taking place go silent. And all because the opinions of others are against us. To Paul, such a reaction “matters very little” to him because he was focused on one thing and one thing only – the propagation of the Gospel. He then said he had a clear conscience, because to Paul, there was only one evaluation or judgment that mattered, and that was from the Lord Himself. Paul added a caveat that even though his conscience was clear, that didn’t mean that he was right. We know that humans have a tendency to view themselves incorrectly; 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). What was he getting at? It was because human beings can distort what they think about themselves, instead forming a subjective assessment ultimately driven by their sinful natures. 

Paul knew that it was Jesus who would ultimately provide an assessment, and to him, this was the only one that mattered. He had trusted his life to serving God one hundred per cent, a trust that extended into how he delivered the message that God had given him. His trust in God extended into his behaviour, his personal safety, every facet of his life, and he had a total disregard for anything, even his own life, that would get in the way of his mission. The next verse in Jeremiah drove his opinion of himself, “But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10). Paul was never going to be diverted from his mission field because that was all that mattered to him.

Paul said he had a “clear conscience”, but what was that? One definition of a conscience is “an inner feeling that acts as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behaviour”. We know that we have done wrong because we have these nagging thoughts that won’t go away until we have put right the issue that caused them. A conscience is not just the domain of believers because unbelievers can also have a guilty conscience, perhaps caused when a misdemeanour violates one of our many laws, or their own inbuilt sense of human decency. Perhaps a parent is ashamed of an outburst against an unruly child, and then their conscience nags away at them. Perhaps a husband’s unfaithful behaviour towards his wife develops into a guilty conscience which won’t go away, and he tries all sorts of remedies to dull the pain, alcohol, drugs or even regular visits to a therapist. But it is only God who can take away the pain of a guilty conscience because ultimately, a violated conscience is caused by sin, rebellion against Him. In the Old Testament days, the sin which was the root behind a guilty conscience was redeemed by the shedding of blood through an animal sacrifice. But Jesus came to change all of that, because His blood sacrifice was once and for all, for all who put their trust and faith in Him. Hebrews 10:21-22, “And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water“. I love the verses in Psalm 103, “He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. …  He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalms 103:3, 12). We believers have a tendency to go back to the memories of sins that we have committed in the past, and we bring them once again before the Cross, asking for forgiveness. But Jesus asks, “What sin is that?” because when we repented of it the first time, the record was deleted. The sin data no longer exists, and no app in the world can ever recover the record from the sin archives. It’s gone for good. 

It is a wonderful place to be, to have a “clear conscience”. Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (John 8:36). Paul may have had to face many difficulties – we can read all about them in 2 Corinthians 11 – but he did so with a “clear conscience”. We pilgrims too, can experience a “clear conscience” because we are followers of Christ, blood-bought, and forgiven. Nothing will get in the way of our acceptance into Heaven, and we read the confirmation in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord“. So, if we are feeling a bit wobbly about our faith, we must read over and over again Romans 8, and drum into our very souls. When we feel ostracised and shunned by those around us read Romans 8:31, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Psalm 118:6, “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” In the end I would much rather have God’s endorsement than one from people around me. There is an old Gladys Knight song (Midnight Train to Georgia) where the chorus includes the line, “I’d rather live in his world than live without him in mine”. And that is my place today – “I’d rather live in His world than live without Him in mine”. And I’m sure Paul is humming that tune today, because after his Damascus Road conversion, the rest of his life was spent in God’s world. I know that I am now a citizen of Heaven, temporarily assigned to living out my days in the kingdom of the world, and so is each one of us pilgrims, but one day we will all be in God’s world. Forever and ever. Amen?

Dear Father God, we thank You for Your presence in our lives, because without You and Your Kingdom, we would be lost and without hope. Thankfully, because of Jesus, we are assured of a future with You. We worship You today. Amen.


Signs From Heaven (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:21-25 NLT

Paul wrote that the message of the Cross was foolishness to the Jews because they “ask for signs from heaven” instead. But such a request for Heavenly signs is more common than perhaps we first think. We have an inbuilt desire to try and detect what is going to happen in the future, by what we observe today. Take for instance the weather. Jesus Himself referred to this in Matthew 16:2-3, “He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!” This is something we still do today, and more often than not we find that a wonderful sunset precedes good weather in the following day. There is also a tendency to try and anticipate a thunderstorm by the humidity level at the time. Farmers apparently can sense a change in the weather by observing cows lying down in a field but what that has to do with anything is a mystery to me. Then we have of course the eco-doom-mongers who predict major changes in the weather in years ahead based on the levels of greenhouse gases, facts that have spawned a cohort of activists and extremists who try and disrupt normal life in society to further their own ideological aims. To them carbon dioxide levels are an indicator of what is to come, and they may of course be right, but with much angst, humanity seems to be hurtling towards a much warmer planet in the years ahead, apparently powerless to do much about it. The UK is painfully heading for “net zero” while countries like China and India are building more power stations burning coal, a major greenhouse contributor. So the debate continues, but in the “signs of the times” that Jesus spoke about, He was referring to something else.

The message of the Cross, shared through our “foolish preaching”, is, however, timeless. Regardless of weather patterns there is something far more significant about the spiritual realms that Jews have always been aware of. They knew that the great events and miracles in their heritage and history had a spiritual basis, something that was timeless and would never be forgotten. God had performed mighty wonders for them at various stages in their history, and memories of these were meditated upon, as encouraged by Psalm 145:4-5, “Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendour and your wonderful miracles“. These “mighty acts” were remembered, and more were anticipated by the Jews, none more significant than the coming of the Messiah. In Isaiah 7:10-11 we read, “Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead””. Unfortunately Ahaz refused to test the Lord, but Isaiah told of a sign anyway, “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (Isaiah 7:14). There were other prophecies of signs of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament as well. Isaiah 9:6, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace“. Then we have Micah 5:2, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf“. So not only was there an expectancy in Israel about the coming Messiah, the prophets of old provided details of the signs that would precede the event, signs that would reshape history as we know it. How did Jesus’ listeners in Matthew 16, the Pharisees and Sadducees, get it so wrong? Signs were provided and if they had bothered to check them out they would have found the evidence they required.

That thought brings us on to other things Jesus said, this time about His second coming. Jesus will indeed return to this planet and we know exactly how. Acts 1:11, ““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!”” We also know where He will return from the next verse, which records that His ascension took place from the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem. But it’s the “when” that is the problem for mankind. In Matthew 24, Jesus gave us a few indicators, signs, of what will precede His return. Matthew 24:5-8, “for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come“. ‭‭Another sign was given by Daniel and repeated by Jesus in Matthew 24:15, “”The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!)”. We’re not totally sure what this is, but I think we will know all about it when it happens. And then if we read on we find that natural events will be impacted, “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (Matthew 24:29). Finally the thing that we have been waiting for occurs, “For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes” (Matthew 24:27). All these are signs of the End of the Age, and Jesus’ return to this planet. 

The Jews “ask for signs from Heaven” but we pilgrims should also be expecting signs as well. There are two parallel series of events taking place over the times since the creation of the world, one taking place in the physical realm and the other in the spiritual. One day the two will converge with the glorious return of Jesus, but this happened once before. The Cross was a cataclysmic event in which Heaven and earth collided in a moment that set the scene for the final phase of the history of Planet Earth. With excitement bubbling up within us, we find ourselves empowered to spread the Message of the Cross because it is the believers in this Good News that will find a door open before them, allowing them to gain entry to the Kingdom of Heaven before the old disappears. Consider that this Message is like a lifeboat rescuing the survivors from a shipwreck, moments before the ship plunges into the depths of the sea, never to be seen again. Only those who grasp the Message of the Cross with both hands, believing it without any doubts, with body, soul and spirit, will find their way to Heaven and the New Earth, yet to come. Are we ready? Don’t miss the boat, Folks, and don’t forget to spread the message so that our loved ones will be with us when the time comes.

Dear Father God. You sent Your Son Jesus to this world to rescue mankind from the consequences of their sins. For this wonderful yet poignant event we are so grateful, and we pray that we will never waver from our life living under the shadow of the Cross. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Worm or King?

Posted on by korgrocker

“But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all! Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying, “Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him! If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him!””
Psalm 22:6-8 NLT

There are two perspectives for this Psalm and these verses before us today. The whole Psalm seem to be a prophesy about the execution of someone and the only Biblical event that seems to fit was the crucifixion of Jesus. The graphic details and the parallels with that fateful day on Calvary’s hill are too similar to ignore. Jesus was mocked as He was hanging on the cross, and we read, ““Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”” (Matthew 27:40). But of course the Lord Himself was hanging there, and, although He had the power to do so, He continued to suffer and ultimately die, because that was His mission to Planet Earth. John 12:27 records, ““Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!”. It is incomprehensible to us human beings that, knowing what was to come, that Someone, God Himself but for a time a Man like ourselves, would willingly die in the way that He did, to bring about the salvation of everyone ever since who believed in Him. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends“. ‭‭Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 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. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”. (Romans 5:6-8). David could see an event in the future, an event revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, of an execution taking place, and he wrote down what he saw. Did he understand what he was writing? Probably not, though he perhaps had a few dim and cloudy thoughts.

The other perspective could have applied to David himself, but there is no record of him experiencing such an event as he describes. But we mustn’t forget about David’s personality. He was a sensitive man prone to negative feelings and he easily found himself depressed and crying out to God when things around were against him and causing him distress. For example, we read in Psalm 13:2, “How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?” The next verse reads, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die“. So we have this impression of David being in a difficult place, spiritually and physically, and crying out to God in prayer for relief from his condition and whatever was causing it in the first place. So, from this understanding of David, we can see how he would have easily lapsed into a form of self-pity, imagining what other people think of him, and generating pictures in his mind of scenarios portraying his worst nightmares.

And that brings us to thoughts we have of ourselves. Can we relate to what David wrote in our verses today, or are they incomprehensible to us? How do we view ourselves? Some people I meet seem to be impervious of what others think about them. They are so full of themselves that they are unable to consider that they might be at fault about anything. Criticism of their actions and words seem to pass them by and they shrug them off, apparently without another thought. Other people are mortified if they think someone else disapproves of them or something that they have done, even in the slightest way, and they go red with embarrassment and try and hide somewhere. But there is a sweet spot between these two extremes, and Paul wrote about it Romans 12:3, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you”. In Philippians 2:3-5, we read, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus“. We pilgrims have to find that “sweet spot” which is having a confident but realistic view of ourselves and our capabilities, but also having a sensitive and appropriate response to others.

David considered himself a worm, the lowliest of people, even though he was King of Israel. But we pilgrims are children of God. 1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy“. And from that position as the “people of God” we praise and worship Him as our Father and Creator, realising that through Jesus we have been snatched from the fires of hell and instead assigned the privilege of being citizens of the Kingdom of God. But that must never bring arrogance and pride. God Himself loves His creation, with a love so vast that He did not hold back from sending His own Son to be a sacrifice for our sins. And we too must “love our neighbours as ourselves”. There is no other way.

Dear Father God. We are Your children, with all the benefits that result. But we are also responsible for showing Your love to those around, loving the unlovely, helping the less fortunate than ourselves, and being Your arms and legs to further Your Kingdom. Please help us we pray. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Nations Will Fall

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now I know that the Lord rescues his anointed king. He will answer him from his holy heaven and rescue him by his great power. Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm. Give victory to our king, O Lord! Answer our cry for help.”
Psalm 20:6-9 NLT

David wrote that the boasting nations will “fall down and collapse”, in spite of all “their chariots and horses”. And as we look back through history we find that is indeed the case. But there was a man in the Old Testament who had some remarkable visions and in one of them, “… four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others” (Daniel 7:3). There was a lion with eagles’ wings, a bear, a leopard, and then one with ten horns. Daniel then recorded, “As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly” (Daniel 7:8). Notice the “boasting” bit. Daniel asked an angel for an explanation. Daniel wrote, “I, Daniel, was troubled by all I had seen, and my visions terrified me. So I approached one of those standing beside the throne and asked him what it all meant. He explained it to me like this: “These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth. But in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever”” (Daniel 7:15-18).

David wrote that nations that rely on their own strength will ultimately fail and there is only one kingdom that will ever succeed. We pilgrims know that the only successful kingdom is the Kingdom of God, and its King is Jesus. There will come a time when all the earthly kingdoms and nations will finally collapse, as they have in the past. Where today is the “Third Reich”? The Roman Empire? The Persian and the Babylonian empires? All gone. And today the efforts of deluded men waging war and creating mayhem in the 21st Century will ultimately fail. If only they would read the Bible, learn from it, and history, and accept that their kingdoms will fall.

Jesus told His disciples about His return one day. Matthew 24:30, “And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” We pick up the account in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever“. Finally, we read about the thousand year reign of Christ in Revelation 20, followed by the establishment of a new Heaven and a new earth in Revelation 21. We pilgrims know what will happen one day. We might still be here on earth when it happens, or we might not, but happen it will. In the meantime we will do what David did – “rise up and stand firm”. 

We do not need to fear the world events. They are just a transient phenomenon when viewed from the perspective of eternity. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). We pilgrims are people who look after our souls, feeding them and caring for them, because they will live for ever. We feed them, not with physical food, but with the Word of God and prayer to our wonderful Heavenly Father. He cares for us we know (1 Peter 5:7). 1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him“. Let us reach out to Father today and feel the love. And the grace. And the mercy. And it will all be there tomorrow as well. We praise and worship the Father today.

Father God. What can we say? Our only response is one of deep gratitude and worship. We give You all the glory. Amen.

Being Rescued

Posted on by korgrocker

“But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.”
Psalm 13:5-6 NLT

David wrote that he would rejoice because God had rescued him. But from what? In this Psalm there were two previous references to “enemies”, with more in the preceding Psalms. David certainly had a problem with his safety in the face of those who wanted to harm him. However, there is perhaps a suggestion that David had enemies inside of himself, disturbing and unsettling him. There was probably much that David needed rescuing from, which was why he constantly called out to God for help, and here he is rejoicing because God has rescued him. And we know of course that David then, and we pilgrims today, have an enemy, “the devil [who] prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8b).

It is rare for us pilgrims who live in the UK to have enemies, coming at us with the means to do us physical harm. We are fortunate to be able to live in a country where society is relatively stable and people generally behave in a harmonious way. But that is not to say that we don’t have “enemies”. We will always be in a place at the cutting edge between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light. Between the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God. So we will have “enemies” who disagree with us because of our faith and will abuse us when we take a stand against the ways of the world. And the dichotomy between the two kingdoms will only increase as the UK becomes increasingly secularised. At the present time, the rights of people to follow their faith is protected, but only if their faith can accommodate the legislation in existence. Think protests about abortion being held outside clinics. The clash between the two kingdoms will only get worse as the country becomes increasingly anti-Christian.

We pilgrims, of course, were also once a part of the kingdom of darkness, living a life riddled with sin, but one day the call of God penetrated our souls. He effectively rescued us by offering us an escape route away from a life of sin and darkness. We were like those who “stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them” (1 Peter 2:8b). We all know the fate of sinners, those who are disobedient to God’s Word, but we were rescued. 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light”. We responded to the call and became citizens of the Kingdom of God. And more than that – we are now priests in a holy nation, a Kingdom without sin.

But wherever we are, we can always call out to God for Him to rescue us in situations where the two kingdoms clash. And now that we are Kingdom people we are God’s ambassadors to a dark and fallen world. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” What a responsibility! God is using us pilgrims to advance His Kingdom, and pushing back the boundaries of evil in the process. There are people around us who are uncomfortable living a life that is against God and His ways, and they just need someone to help them apply for citizenship of God’s Kingdom of Light. And once there they too will join us in rejoicing because God has rescued them. So we pray that God leads us to those He has chosen. We pray for our fellow pilgrims, that they too will stand firm for the Kingdom and will be obedient to His will. We pray that God will rescue and redeem our leaders and politicians from the clutches of the enemy. And in it all we rejoice because God has rescued us.

Dear Lord. You know our every thought and what is going on inside of us. Please help us never to follow in the ways of the wicked, and instead follow You in every moment of our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.  

Children and Infants

Posted on by korgrocker

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”
Psalm 8:1-2 NIVUK

The Amplified translation of Psalm 8:2 reads, “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease”. In a world where strength is associated with the most able and ruthless individuals, David writes that God uses the weakest in society for the strength needed to silence His enemies. After Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem He cleared the temple of the money changers and those selling animals for sacrifices, and healed the “blind and lame”, and in the process He upset the Pharisees and leading priests who, we are told, “were indignant”. Why? We read in Matthew 21:15, “The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.” But the leaders were indignant”. The next verse reads, “They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’””

Three chapters earlier in Matthew, Jesus was asked about who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the worldly kingdoms, we see the “greatest” as being our politicians, our business leaders, our scientists – we know who they are because their reputations precede them. But Jesus turned things on their heads when He gave a demonstration of who is greatest in God’s Kingdom. We read in Matthew 18:2-4, “Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”. 

Some years ago, at a children’s church meeting attended by my own children, a child with bad eczema was prayed for by the children around her and to their amazement they watched the eczema disappear before their eyes. They were buzzing that day, their faith built by the works of our gracious healing God. Young children don’t have the hangups and barriers we develop as adults, and God can use them in their humility and innocence to do His work. Interestingly, it was the children in the Temple who were declaring the praises of God. No fear of being thrown out of the synagogues. No fear of what the religious leaders and their peers would think of them. Unwittingly the children knew who Jesus was and they shouted out praises to Him that day, and in the process a stronghold against God’s enemies started to appear. 

In God’s Kingdom it is the weak, those who are childlike, who can be used by Him for His purposes. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 we read, “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important”. Our role model is Jesus, who exemplified a life of Godly obedience and humility but who ended up in the place of highest honour (Philippians 2:9). 

David wrote that it was through children that God’s enemies were silenced. Perhaps our children, and particularly the children’s work, should be the priority in our churches. A common statement amongst Christians is that children are the church of tomorrow. God says that they are the church of today.

Dear Father God. Thank You that Your Kingdom has a place for all believers and not just a favoured few. Please help us to consider and respect those who are younger in our congregations. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Clash of Two Kingdoms

Posted on by korgrocker

““Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognise that what I say is true.””
John 18:35-37 NLT

In our world today different kingdoms, earthly kingdoms, are at war. Nations against nations. Peoples against peoples. Strife and discord everywhere. We see mini-wars between individuals being fought in court rooms, in council chambers, in neighbourhoods, even in families. But before Pilate Jesus pointed out that His Kingdom was not part of the global mish-mash of kingdoms. If not an earthly kingdom then it could only be a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom in a different sphere. In a different place. Of a different dimension. God’s Kingdom. So as far as Jesus was concerned there was nothing to defend in an earthly environment. The only adversary that Jesus had was the devil and he was already a defeated foe. The devil had failed to win a battle in Heaven, had been thrown out with a third of the angels there, and could only take out his frustrations, and proclivity for evil and wickedness, in the domain of the human being. And even here, with God on our side, he only has the power to cause mayhem if we let him. Peter wrote, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are” (1 Peter 5:8-9). From Ephesians 6 we pilgrims will be aware of the resources that God has made available for our defence against the devil and his minions. 

In the Bible, the two kingdoms, the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God, are often portrayed as darkness and light. Colossians 1:12-13, “and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves”. And it is easy to relate to the world order being a place of darkness, as we survey all the evil and wicked things that are going on. But to us pilgrims it is not an easy option, living at the same time in two kingdoms. In His High Priestly prayer, Jesus prayed for His disciples. We read, “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. …  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:11, 15). 

How we live out our world in two kingdoms is always going to be a challenge and one in which we constantly need the help of the Holy Spirit to get right. Some people shut themselves away from worldly contact and head for the places of separation, living ascetically as monks or nuns. Others limit their life in God’s Kingdom to a pew on a Sunday morning, living in the other kingdom for the rest of the week. Jesus taught, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). We are ambassadors of Christ to the kingdom that we once belonged to and renounced when we became born-again followers of Jesus. We shine as beacons, exampling God’s light to a dying world, constantly proclaiming the Gospel to those around us. Yes, there will occasionally be a clash between the two kingdoms as we go about our business as God’s children, but we know that one day we will enter our place of rest in a Kingdom where God reigns supreme and all vestiges of the earthly kingdom has disappeared. 

Dear Father God. “May Your Kingdom, may Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. Amen.