Living “In This Day” in Light of “In That Day”

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Mother and child beside a lake beneath a giant tree and starry sky

Isaiah 29:18-21 NLT

18 In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
    and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
19 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord.
    The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 The scoffer will be gone,
    the arrogant will disappear,
    and those who plot evil will be killed.
21 Those who convict the innocent
    by their false testimony will disappear.
A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
    and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.

“In that day“, there are things that will happen for the better. Good prevails and evil will be defeated. The perfect end to the millennial years of oppression by the devil on the people of this world. Sin began with a simple conversation between the “serpent” and Eve about fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God’s command was simple and was the only restriction placed on our ancestors, but they violated it and sin entered the world. Paul wrote, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Romans 5:12). But Jesus came to start a revolution, so that people would not be oppressed by the devil any more. Hebrews 2:14-15: “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying“. Back to Paul again, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him” (Romans 6:6-8). Romans 8:2: “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death“. And so, “in that day”, the fruit of the foundations laid by Jesus will result in life with God, free from evil, from evil both in human terms and in God’s creation. We also know that Jesus has won the battle ” …against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). As His foot soldiers, we declare His name over the situations we encounter, in faith that His Kingdom will prevail over evil.

As we read from our verses from Isaiah this morning, the people who are oppressed through blindness, deafness and poverty will find “”fresh joy from the Lord”. They may never have experienced anything like it before, but through God’s grace, and in all humility, they will know and understand, and “rejoice in the Holy One of Israel“. But as they look around them in the new world of what they are now a part, they find some things are missing. The “scoffers” and the “arrogant” won’t be around anymore. Neither will “those who plot evil”. Truly, “in that day” the environment for God’s people will be a wonderful place. Imagine a world without the evil behaviour that blights our societies. People being kind to each other. No strange ideologies that bring strife and anger. No need for a police force or armed forces. No wars are going on, driven by evil men chasing a devil-inspired and deluded goal, plotting evil on an industrial, or even global, scale. Where will all the scoffers, evil plotters, and arrogant people be? Revelation 21:8, “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death”. And over the page we read, “No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3-4). Truly, life will be beyond good “in that day”. 

But what about us pilgrims “in [this] day”? Are we hunkered down, trying to avoid evil plotters, the arrogant, and the scoffers? Trying to keep our heads below the parapets of life, in case we become tainted by the mayhem around us? Perhaps scared witless by news reports of wars, or prophecies of economic doom, or a world overtaken and destroyed by artificial intelligence? That is no place for a child of God. A day will come when we will enjoy the place Jesus is preparing for us (John 14), but in the meantime, we have work to do. We mustn’t forget that we are on the winning side in the battle against the enemy and all his dark forces. In Romans 6:13 we read, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm“. We are equipped for a battle now. In this life. So that we can hold the line and do our bit to usher in the Kingdom of God. Luke 17:20-21, “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you““. This scripture identifies Jesus as being among us. He is the power of God, active now wherever people let Jesus rule their hearts, love others, and obey His truth. And who else is there to remind the world around us of this fact, if not us pilgrims? Paul wrote to the Philippians, and to us as well by inference, “for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now”(Philippians 1:5). Are we indeed spreading this Good News? It doesn’t mean standing on a corner in the High Street handing out tracts or John’s Gospels, although we may be called to do this. Being “salt and light” among our families and friends will allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction of sin, as ” … we let our good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise our heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16). 

We pilgrims are living in the shadow of “in that day”. We have an enormous opportunity to live in the Kingdom of God day by day now, knowing what is to come. Most of us do not even start to tap into the power available to us in this Kingdom. What did Paul mean when he wrote, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20)? What are we asking or thinking today? Do we let our imaginations run riot, believing we have the power within us to make things happen? This is a good question to ask God in our prayers this morning. He will answer in a way that might surprise us.

Dear Lord Jesus. Resource us for the battle of life, as we proclaim the Good News about You and Your Kingdom. As we raise the standard, declaring victory over the evil one, we pray for protection over ourselves, our family, and our friends. May we find good “soil” in which we can plant Gospel seeds “in this day”, so that “in that day” can be brought ever closer. Lead us and guide us, we pray; in Your precious name we ask. Amen.

Isaiah 29:17-19 Insights: Finding Joy in Spiritual Renewal

Posted on by Adrian Clark

Isaiah 29:17-19 NLT

17 Soon—and it will not be very long—
    the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field,
    and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
18 In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
    and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
19 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord.
    The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

Deaf and blind, and poor. Words that describe people who are handicapped in some way by their physical challenges or their circumstances in life. For people living their lives unable to hear what is happening around them, or see the wonders of the world in which we live, it is for them to miss out on God’s plan for His creation. But in verse 18 of today’s reading, the implication is spiritual deafness and blindness. In a previous verse, we read that a spiritual darkness had fallen over the “prophets and visionaries”, stopping their abilities to read from the “book” of Isaiah’s oracles and prophecies. But there is a day coming for the Jewish people, “soon”, when something will change. When the people will be able to see and hear again what God has for them. They will do this with all humility, and “fresh joy from the Lord” will be their reward. And the poor people, who in those ancient times were so suppressed and mistreated, would rejoice once again “in the Holy One of Israel”. 

When will all this happen? Verse 18 records it will be “in that day”. But can we fix the time, past, present or future, a little closer? Some scholars tie the immediate context to the deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian siege under King Hezekiah (around 701 BCE), viewing “that day” as the subsequent relief and spiritual recovery of Judah. Many Christian commentators see the opening of blind eyes and deaf ears in verse 18 as finding its ultimate fulfilment in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ and the dawn of the New Covenant. Other traditions view it as a yet-future end-times event when God will finally judge the ruthless, vindicate the humble, and restore Israel. So there we have it, three possibilities. But then, they could all be correct, and the truth will be revealed when history is finally sealed, on the day of a fresh start with the New Heaven and the New Earth. 

What changed for the people of Isaiah’s day, hearing the words that he had written? The same thing that changed for us pilgrims. We, spiritually blind and deaf people without a future and a hope, one day crossed from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, God’s Kingdom. We may have been full of ourselves, proud and arrogant, “self-made”, with enough to live on, when we received a vision of the resurrected Jesus, as His truth penetrated  “through the gloom and darkness” in our souls. “In that day” we were freed from our deafness and blindness, a fertile ground for growth in the Kingdom, rejoicing in all that the Lord has done for us. Pride replaced with humility, poverty of spirit replaced with unlimited riches in God. In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven“. We pilgrims are citizens of a new Kingdom where we live to reflect heavenly values rather than worldly customs. We are a countercultural people who value selflessness, purity, and forgiveness over pride, greed, and retaliation. We influence the surrounding culture positively through a distinct commitment to God’s truth. We measure success and security by eternal significance rather than temporary material wealth. But above all, we place Jesus as the Lord of our choices, aligning our personal ambitions with His purpose.

Our new life in God’s Kingdom will change how we live, how we behave, and how we look. The Psalmist David wrote, “So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!” One of the features of a true Christian is the joy that is within them. I can remember some years ago I went for a walk through the Greenwich Tunnel, a walkway under the River Thames in London. I was walking against the flow of the people coming from the Isle of Dogs, but I was struck by the miserable, drawn and hopeless expressions on the faces of the commuters. No joy, not even hidden within them. But it made me think about the expression on my own face. Was it just like everyone else’s, or was it reflecting the joy of the Lord within? Perhaps sometimes we should tell our faces to lighten up and show an expression that makes us different from the misery and hopelessness in the people around us. 

Perhaps today we should pray for the “fresh joy from the Lord” to fill us once again, not “in that day”, but in this day. Right now. Peter wrote, “ … 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”. With His Spirit within us, are we reflecting “His wonderful light?. Hmmm…

Dear Lord Jesus. You came to this world to save it from the consequences of its sins. Please forgive us, Lord, for the sins we have committed and fill us again with Your Spirit, resourcing us for the day ahead. We know many around us are full of hopelessness and pain, and we pray for opportunities to share Your life-changing, eternal words with them. Please help us today reflect the joy within us, illuminating the lives of those around us, those we meet, and our families and friends. In Your precious name. Amen.

The Choice Between Two Masters: God or the Devil

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“O Lord our God, others have ruled us, but you alone are the one we worship. Those we served before are dead and gone. Their departed spirits will never return! You attacked them and destroyed them, and they are long forgotten. O Lord, you have made our nation great; yes, you have made us great. You have extended our borders, and we give you the glory!”
Isaiah 26:13-15 NLT

We cannot go far in this life without, sooner or later, finding that we have to answer to someone. As soon as a child is old enough to understand, they have to answer to their parents. At school, they answer to a teacher. Then, as a teenager, they might find that a policeman isn’t too impressed by their behaviour. In a workplace, an employer will tell them what to do. When they’re sick, a nurse or doctor will provide advice, quite strongly if necessary. Someone receiving benefits has to answer to the government agency to keep receiving them. The list goes on. But in a spiritual sense, there are two masters: one we pilgrims know well, God Himself, and it is a joy to be able to serve Him. The other is the devil, whom most inhabitants in the UK follow, although they would probably deny it. As Bob Dylan wrote, “But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed / You’re gonna have to serve somebody / Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord / But you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. 

Isaiah wrote, “O Lord our God, others have ruled us, but you alone are the one we worship”. The Israelites had many different rulers, as we can read in the Book of Judges. In this Bible book, we find that time and again, the Israelites “did evil in the Lord’s sight” and found that judgement soon followed, with foreign nations overpowering their nation. In Judges 4, we find the story of a Canaanite king, Sisera, who “ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years”. Then two chapters on, we find, “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years” (Judges 6:1). Then on another occasion, “Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead)” (Judges 10:6-8). As we read further, we find the story of Samson and the Philistines, with the same pattern continuing.

So when Isaiah wrote, “others have ruled us”, he wasn’t wrong, and in his days, the threat was from Babylon and the cruel and unstoppable Assyrian army. But Isaiah could see a day coming when “those we served before are dead and gone”, and he celebrated the time when the Lord would make the nation of the Jews great again. Any student of history could see that even though the Israelites sinned and were subject to a foreign ruler for a time, the Lord saved them. This happened frequently, and even in Jesus’ time, the Romans were the occupying force, with the Jews subject to their rule. Today, the nation of Israel is self-ruling once again, although the land they live in is a fraction of what God promised them through Abraham. Will we one day see their border expanded as Isaiah prophesied? 

We pilgrims were once ruled by a power that Jesus destroyed on the Cross at Calvary. Hebrews 2:14-15, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying”. Colossians 2:15, “In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross”. We were once ruled by the enemy of God, the devil, and we served him without realising it. Think of the lives we lived and the sins we committed. Think of the ways we offended God through our actions, our speech and our thoughts. But Jesus came to set us free from all that and through God’s grace, we are free indeed. 

But we pilgrims are soldiers on the front line of the battle between God and the devil. We are harassed and attacked on many fronts, but mostly in our minds. Paul wrote, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). A spiritual battle continues to rage, but we know that we are on the winning side. So we equip ourselves for the battles ahead with all of God’s armour, assured of the Lord’s support in the difficult times. Yes, we will occasionally fall, but God is quick to forgive, and He picks us up and dusts us off before sending us back to the conflict. And all the while we are being sanctified, made holy for the day when we will find ourselves in Heaven in God’s presence. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”. 

Yes, one day we will see the greatness and glory of God shine out in a world where the devil is no more. Isaiah could see it. Can we? A few days ago, we delved into Psalm 73 and found how the Psalmist found his way back into God’s presence. Too often, we pilgrims fail to lift our gazes in a Heavenly direction. But we have read the end of the Book, and we know what will happen. We don’t know when, but what we do know is that God will keep His promises. But we are not a people who are “too Heavenly minded to be of any earthly good”. We pilgrims are a people who bring the message of our hope in God into the lives of our friends and families, those who are otherwise heading to the wrong place. We are the means by which Heaven will touch earth. In the Lord’s prayer, we pray for God’s Kingdom to come and for His will to be done. Do we think we can just sit back and wait for God to do something through some divine process? I suspect this process involves willing and able servants like us, serving as His hands and feet. So what has God asked us to do today? Come to that, have we asked Him? Hmmm..

Dear Father God. We reach out to You this morning in prayer, asking for the next assignment You have for us. We pray for willing ears to hear what You have to say, and for grace and compassion to equip us as we obediently do Your will in the lives of those around us. And above all, we thank You for Jesus and all that He has done for us, bringing Your Kingdom into our lives. We pray in Your name. Amen.

Lessons from Tyre: God’s Redemption and Purpose

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Two shipwrecked wooden boats on rocky coast near medieval castle ruins under cloudy sky with sunrays

“For seventy years, the length of a king’s life, Tyre will be forgotten. But then the city will come back to life as in the song about the prostitute: Take a harp and walk the streets, you forgotten harlot. Make sweet melody and sing your songs so you will be remembered again. Yes, after seventy years the Lord will revive Tyre. But she will be no different than she was before. She will again be a prostitute to all kingdoms around the world. But in the end her profits will be given to the Lord. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will provide good food and fine clothing for the Lord’s priests.”
Isaiah 23:15-18 NLT

Something strange happened, as the Lord revived Tyre after 70 years of forgotten neglect. Isaiah’s prophecy stated that Tyre would be laid low and forgotten (punished or sidelined by dominant empires like Babylon or Assyria) for 70 years—symbolising the lifespan of a king or a complete cycle of judgment. After this period, Tyre would be revived and return to its old ways. The “song about the prostitute” (playing a harp and singing in the streets to attract attention) describes an ageing harlot trying to lure customers back. It symbolises Tyre going right back to its aggressive, opportunistic trading habits. Surprisingly, the passage notes that Tyre’s eventual commercial profits would not be hoarded for selfish pride, but would instead end up consecrated to support those who dwell before the Lord, something that was historically fulfilled in part when Phoenician merchants supplied materials to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

But all this is remarkable until we understand that God’s goal was never merely destruction. His purpose was consecration. There is a parallel here for us, pilgrims and believers everywhere, when we consider how God deals with us when we get things wrong. We read in Hebrews 12:10-11, “For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterwards there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way”. We need to realise that God is in the recycling business. He takes imperfect and sinful human beings who are useless to Him, but, through Jesus, He makes them useful to Himself once again. 

We read in the last verse of Isaiah 23, “But in the end her profits will be given to the Lord. Her wealth will not be hoarded but will provide good food and fine clothing for the Lord’s priests”.  Tyre’s wealth once fuelled pride, but one day that same wealth would honour God. This anticipates a biblical principle seen repeatedly, that God often takes what once served sin and redirects it for His glory. I once knew a man who was a successful entrepreneur, and he established an IT business. But part of his testimony was that he heard the Gospel and encountered a crossroads in his life. Before that, his life could have gone one of two ways: a life of crime or a life dedicated to God. Thankfully, he chose the right way. We pilgrims all have natural gifts that can be used for sinful purposes as well as for God’s glory. We remember the Bible stories of people like Moses. He had a classical Egyptian education as a prince in Pharaoh’s court, which stood him in good stead when he was negotiating with Pharaoh for the release of the Israelite slaves. Of course, when a young man, he nearly screwed up, forcing him to run for his life, but God is patient and brought Moses back again at the right time. Another example was in the case of Zacchaeus, who was, according to the people, “a notorious sinner”. But we read what happened in Luke 19:8-10, “Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost””. God doesn’t merely forgive people for their sins: He transforms and restores them. 

Tyre thought that their trading would continue forever, invincible as they thought they were. But God had other plans because their wealth was being used for corrupt purposes, fueling their pride and arrogance. There was a time when Tyre supplied what was required to build the Temple in the days of David and Solomon, but later Tyre opposed God’s purposes and paid the price. But if we extend the message and lesson about Tyre to global proportions, we see that there will come a day when the world’s wealth will be devoted to the glory of God. Referring to the new Jerusalem, we read in Revelation 21:24-26, “The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honour into the city”. Commerce by itself is not necessarily evil, and it becomes holy when it is surrendered to God. 

But none of this was a surprise to God, and Jesus taught similar principles. Tyre’s wealth faded and eventually disappeared, but Jesus warned against using our earthly treasures for the wrong purposes in Matthew 6:19-20, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal”. I suppose we pilgrims need to ask ourselves what sort of wealth we are building. Many a person has come to grief making unwise investments, but there is nothing unwise about investing in the Kingdom of God. Those who do will hear one day, “Well done, …” 

Another lesson from Tyre is that earthly kingdoms will come and go, but God’s Kingdom lasts forever. Tyre is now just a pile of ruins, a monument to a kingdom long gone. But we read in Psalm 145:13, “For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does”. In Daniel 2:44, we read, “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever”. But one day God will renew this earth, destroying all the remaining earthly kingdoms in the process. Revelation 21:1-2, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband”. One day that will be our dwelling place, you and I, and we read the next two verses, “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever””. 

We pilgrims are a truly favoured people because we are God’s people. Before Him today, we repent of our pride, and in all humility, we kneel before Him, giving Him all the praise and all the glory. In awe, we look into the face of Jesus, with inexpressible gratitude rising up within us. Thank You, Lord.

Dear awesome Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your Word, that teaches us so much. And even more, we thank You that You never give up on us, patiently leading and guiding us in Your ways. Thank You, Jesus, for coming to this world, bringing a touch of Heaven with You. And thank You, Holy Spirit, for living within me, empowering me for all that I face in the day ahead. Amen.

Lessons from Isaiah: God’s Sign to King Ahaz

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 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’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yoghurt and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.”
Isaiah 7:13-16 NLT

Isaiah is frustrated with King Ahaz because he refuses to ask God for a miracle to save his country. Isaiah points out that Ahaz is not just testing the patience of human leaders but also God’s. But isn’t that like some people, who stubbornly stick to their sinful and selfish ways, even when they know that they are wrong, and ignore the advice or counsel about the right way? We have people today who choose a lifestyle that does them harm, physically and mentally, even though they know it is wrong, even admitting as such when challenged. But that was King Ahaz, and he probably knew the old Frank Sinatra song, “I’ll do it my way”, down to the last note. The second verse sums up Ahaz well, “I’ve lived a life that’s full / I traveled each and every highway / And more, much more / I did it, I did it my way“.

But Isaiah continued by giving Ahaz a sign from the Lord Himself. It is a famous verse, much used in the season of Advent, because it prophesies the coming of Jesus. A virgin having a child was a very rare event, and we marvel at such a prophetic foretelling of Mary and the Christmas story, something that has been a cornerstone of the Christian faith. But was there perhaps a second, more immediate, meaning for Ahaz that day? Isaiah explained how this sign from the Lord worked as a “timer” for the war. The boy would eat simple, everyday foods like “yoghurt and honey“. Before this child was old enough to know right from wrong (roughly age 12-13), the two kings threatening Judah, along with their lands, would be destroyed. This historical timeline was likely tied to a baby born during Isaiah’s time, providing immediate proof of God’s Word. 

We cannot leave these Scripture verses without turning to Matthew’s Gospel. A young peasant girl called Mary was engaged to be married, but “she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit”. “Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly” (Matthew 1:19). But God had different plans and the account continues, “As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this occurred to fulfil the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”” The same prophecy from Isaiah was quoted by Matthew, and we know the rest of the story, with Jesus, God’s Son, being born in a Bethlehem stable.

Did Jesus fulfil the next part of Isaiah’s prophecy, that “By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yoghurt and honey”?. There is perhaps a fulfilment of this, because we know the event that happened when Jesus was twelve years old. He went missing at the time of the Passover festival and was found in the Temple speaking with the religious teachers. “His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.” “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he meant” (Luke 2:48-50). Was that the time when Jesus began to be aware of His mission, choosing what was right and rejecting what was wrong?

We pilgrims, with the benefit of hindsight, see how the Biblical prophecies were fulfilled and how foundational they were to the first coming of Jesus. We know that He will return again, and many prophecies apply to the event yet to come. But are we ready and prepared as prophecies work out in our lifetimes? Jesus said, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). Peter wrote, “But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved …” (2 Peter 3:13-15a). 

The question, “Are we ready?” hangs in the air and impacts every facet of our believing lives, day by day. We must do all that we can to be faithful to our calling.

Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your prophets and their messages of events yet to unfold. Help us to stay near the cross of Jesus so that we will be ready when the day comes, pure and blameless in Your sight. Amen.

Understanding Spiritual Boundaries in Christian Life

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:13-14 NLT

As Christians, what do we pilgrims think about boundaries, the areas of authority that we believe we have? In a worldly sense, we know that there are many things that we can’t, or shouldn’t do, things such as burgle someone’s house or other property. Things such as pretending to be someone we aren’t, such as a Police Officer, or a doctor (unless we’re qualified as such, of course). Most people can’t fly a plane, or would even want to, come to that. Some people find boundaries because of their physical limitations, such as Nick Vujicic, who has no arms or legs. Or a blind man unable to see a sunset or a painting of beauty. Human beings have many limitations that form boundaries in their lives. We know all of that, and we don’t fret about it because we accept where we are at.

But what about spiritual boundaries? Paul was very sure about his “area of authority”, which he defined as “the work God has given [him], which includes [his] working with” the Corinthians. Are we similarly sure of where there are limitations to the work we should be doing? Having said that, there are many Christians, I fear, who don’t do any work at all! But as followers of Christ, there is a “sweet spot” of service to Him, where we know and understand exactly what our individual mission in life is, within the boundaries tailor-made just for us. Perhaps we should start with the Great Commission, which we find in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. This is a “work God has given us” and is the responsibility of every Christian, not just the minister or pastor, or the evangelist on the church leadership team. So in our sphere of family, friends, and community, we are authorised to make disciples. 

In the episode of Peter and John healing the lame man at the Temple gate, we read the time-honoured words, “But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”” (Acts 3:6). Peter also said about Jesus, “He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name” (Acts 10:43). The name of Jesus implies that with it we are invoking His authority. John 14:13, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father”. We know, of course, that using the name of Jesus will only be effective if it aligns with His will and purposes. If Jesus wants something to happen, then we are authorised to use His name to fulfil His will. In the story of the Centurion with a sick servant, we read about Christ’s authority being understood by a Gentile with faith. “But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it”” (Matthew 8:8-9). We have that authority as well, as pilgrims faithfully following our Master.

Another area of authority is that we are Christ’s ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God””. An ambassador is someone who represents their country when they are sent to another. There, they look after the affairs of their country in dealings with foreign countries, and in particular the interests of their fellow citizens. We pilgrims are ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, and we are assigned to represent the interests of this Kingdom in the worldly nation of which we are a part. So I am Christ’s ambassador to the part of Scotland where I live, and it is here that I represent Christ in all my dealings with the people around me. As we read through the Bible, we soon find out how we should behave as ambassadors for Christ. Ephesians 4:21-24, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy”. Ambassadors for Christ are led by the Holy Spirit in all that they do, empowered by communication directly with God, much like the way an earthly ambassador can receive instructions from his or her mother nation. 

Our boundaries are also based on servanthood. “But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave” (Matthew 20:25-27). In humility and with the same attitude Jesus had, we serve our fellow believers and those around us. We do not aspire to a position of authority, because it is only Christ who appoints such a person. Any worldly appointments are of no consequence to those in God’s family.

Dear Father God. As Your children, we are Your ambassadors in this world around us. Please help us to realise our boundaries, in what we can and cannot do, so that we can be effective in all that we do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Kingdom of God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.”
1 Corinthians 15:50 NLT

The first recorded words of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel concerned the Kingdom of God, as He preached the Good News in Galilee. And believers in close proximity to Him would have heard Him say, “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Mark 1:15). So how does this statement from Jesus fit in with what Paul was telling the Corinthians? He told them that while in their physical bodies, they could not be part of God’s Kingdom. Although Jesus came to this world preaching about the Kingdom of God, it was something that the Jews totally misunderstood. Their expectation of God’s Kingdom was for a political and military solution to the occupation by the hated Romans, allowing them to once again become an autonomous nation free of foreign interference. Even Jesus’ disciples initially had this expectation. But every time Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, He had in mind the rule and reign of God in people’s hearts and minds. 

The kingdom of God is a 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. Paul wrote, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Jesus said to Pilate at His trial, “ … 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). 

Paul was therefore correct in what he said to the Corinthians, about physical bodies being unable to be a part of the Kingdom of God. In the context of 1 Corinthians 15, a long chapter about resurrection, Paul started by reminding the Corinthians about the Gospel message, the Good News about Jesus and all that He accomplished for sinners living in their physical bodies. Through faith, a person came to believe in Jesus and embraced their salvation, a process that continued throughout their lives. Through repentance a believer became part of the Kingdom of God. Matthew 4:17, “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near””. Jesus established His spiritual Kingdom here on earth, and we pilgrims are a part of it. 

“we are citizens of heaven“

But even though the Kingdom of God is present, because it is a spiritual kingdom, it is only our spirits that can become citizens. Philippians 3:20, “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Saviour”. There will come a time, however, when we will be supplied with a resurrected body, and then we will be complete members of God’s Kingdom. Now we are believers who live by Christ’s values, representing His kingdom on Earth, and awaiting His return, experiencing His rule now through faith and the Spirit, though anticipating its full realisation when Jesus returns for the second time. 

“you belong to God, my dear children“

How do we pilgrims reconcile the two kingdoms of which we are part? We have our physical bodies, very much entrenched in the kingdom of the world, and we have our spirits alive in the Kingdom of God. Again, for an answer, we look to Jesus. He was very much engaged in conflict with satan’s kingdom, and He demonstrated the power of God’s Kingdom through the ways He dealt with the enemy. He healed the sick, He cast out demons, He raised the dead, and by doing all these miracles, He demonstrated that the power of God’s Kingdom far surpassed that of the kingdom of satan. Even Jesus’ disciples found that they, too, were empowered to work the miracles of the Kingdom. Luke 10:17-19, “When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!” “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you“. We pilgrims have the same power within us, and we are overcomers of the kingdom of the world through that power. As John wrote, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4).

We pilgrims have to decide which kingdom we are going to be a part of and follow, because there is no grey area of dual citizenship. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money” (Matthew 6:24). Perhaps we need to bang a stake in the ground of our lives and echo the statement made by Joshua, “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Father God. We declare before You today that we will indeed serve You and Your Kingdom. We sing together the song, “I have decided to follow Jesus, No turning back, no turning back”. Amen.

Inheriting the Kingdom

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“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 Adrian Clark

“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 Adrian Clark

“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.