Hated Disciples

Posted on by korgrocker

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”
John 15:18-19 NLT

Isn’t it strange, that the disciples, who did so much in those early days and years as they went around preaching the Gospel and healing the sick, would end up being hated. Men who anxiously and diligently tried to connect people with a loving God who wanted all men to join Him. Paul wrote this to Timothy, “ …  God our Saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. … ” (1 Timothy 2:3-6 extracted), and John 3:16-17 deserves a mention, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him“. Our God, who has given more for mankind than we can ever get our minds around, ends up being hated, and His followers as well. Men and women, who ever since, have tried to share the wonderful news about Jesus with so many but instead have been rejected, hated, and even killed. What would an alien think, looking on from outer space, at a situation where human beings hated the very One who created them, and in the process hated those who tried to reconcile them to their loving Heavenly Creator God. They would look, I’m sure, for another cause of such irrational behaviour.

Our helpful alien would perhaps find another life source that was causing the problem. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God”. Blinded minds. Minds filled with devil-inspired strange thoughts and ideologies. Minds filled with lies and wickedness. Minds reprogrammed to hate God and anyone who wants to acknowledge Him and follow Him. Minds that are even repudiating the very consequences of their God-denial, boastfully rejecting even the very concept of judgement for their sins and wickedness, a judgement that has to take place in our moral universe. And in it all the believers in God, lovingly fronting up His gracious presence, are hated, despised and even killed. History is punctuated by many Christian martyrs, murdered for the “crime” of believing in God and trying to help others to believe in Him too. 

We pilgrims must indeed face into the sober fact that we are hated by those around us, to varying degrees, and depending on where we live. We dare to be different, following a different path, refusing to bow our knees to different faiths, beliefs and ideologies. We tramp on in our life journey, taking every opportunity to live in God’s Kingdom, following His ways, and turning our backs on a world that doesn’t know Him. We are beacons of hope in a hopeless world. We season our communities by our presence and our willingness to show others a better way. Our faith will hopefully not lead to a premature death, but it will impact our standing in a worldly pecking order in our jobs and communities. We stand up against the issues of the day such as abortion, gender, conversion therapy, and similar legislation that opposes and encroaches on the sanctity of God’s order. And in the process we are arrested, hassled and hated. Not for us pilgrims the compromise adopted by some denominations to accept secular values instead of maintaining the purity of the faith.

Jesus warned His disciples about what was to come, but we read what he said in John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world”. Whatever we experience in this life will be of no consequence when we stand before Jesus and hear those words, “Well done …” What a God! What a Saviour! 

Thank You Lord, the One who made being children of God possible. Amen.

Love and Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”
John 15:12-14 NLT

‭‭In an earlier chapter in John, Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” (John 13:34). Jesus reminds the disciples of the commandment to love one another, a repetition that emphasises the importance of love. But this is not the emotional or sentimental love that our secular societies favour. To a Christian, this is the agape love that has a cost associated with it. A love that loves the unlovely. A love that goes above and beyond even to the point of sacrificing life for another. A love that a selfish and grasping world doesn’t understand.

In Romans 5:6-8, 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“.‭‭ Then we read what John wrote in 1 John 3:16, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters”. 

In the case of the early Apostles, all except for John, ended up dying a violent death. So they did literally sacrifice their lives for their fellow believers. And many of the Early Church disciples also died for their faith. We can read about Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 7:59-60, “As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.” A Spirit-filled man murdered for His faith in Jesus.

But, practically, what does this mean for us pilgrims? We live in a society that would naturally prioritise its own interests before anyone else’s. There is a selfish motivation to grab the last seat on the bus before anyone else can get there. Or jump the queue at a supermarket. The common and motivation question is “What’s in it for me?”. Me, me, me all the time. But agape love is the opposite of all this.

Jesus said to His disciples, and, by extension, to us as well, that they should love others “in the same way I have loved you“. He taught much about love and when asked about which was the greatest commandment, “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”” (Matthew 22:37-40). In everything we do, we must be motivated by the same love that Jesus has for us.

Dear Heavenly Father. You love us with a love so extravagant it takes our breaths away. Thank You. Amen.

To Die For Jesus

Posted on by korgrocker

“Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 
Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?” And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.” “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.””
John 13:33, 36-37 NLT

Jesus knew that His time in this world would soon be over. The end of His mission was soon to come, and there was nothing more that He needed to do. Mission accomplished. He was going home, to be with His Father in Heaven once again. Just a few loose ends to tie up, to be accomplished in the forty days or so after the first Easter morning. But Peter was devastated and pledged his allegiance to Jesus, expressing a desire to be with Him wherever He was going. Perhaps, Peter just hadn’t grasped that there was no big fight coming, resulting in the establishment of a physical kingdom. Instead, as we know, Jesus was soon to pass through death into life eternal, death and satan defeated, leaving an outpost of the Kingdom of God remaining in the hearts of all His believers everywhere. The relationship between Jesus and His disciples, particularly Peter, had strengthened over the past three years and Peter didn’t want it to end.

How strong is our relationship with Jesus? Would we, like Peter, express a willingness to die for Him? Is Jesus so real to us that nothing else in this world, or what it can offer, have any significance for us? A sobering thought, because we have so much we are attached to, our families, our possessions, the things and activities that we enjoy, just for starters, and to leave it all behind and then follow Jesus into another world, a spirit world that we know little about other than what we read about in the Bible. We read about ordinary people on fire for Jesus who did in fact die for Him. The first martyr was Stephen and we can read about what he said when he died in Acts 7:56-60, “And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand!” Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died“.  Stephen, and other first Century martyrs, gave their lives rather than compromise their beliefs. They joined the other saints, the Old Testament ones listed in Hebrews 11:32, “How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets”. And many more people in New Testament times right up to the present days have given their lives just for believing in Jesus. According to the UK charity “Open Doors”, 5,000 Christians died for their faith in 2023. In 2013, the Vatican claim that this number could have been as high as 100,000.

We pilgrims in the West don’t suffer the persecution and danger that Christians in totalitarian states like North Korea do. We are comfortable in our religious freedom and never find ourselves in a position like our Christian brothers and sisters do in other parts of the world. But we mustn’t become complacent. Jesus warned His disciples in John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world“. There may be trouble ahead, and if we read the Book of Revelation we will get some idea of what is coming. But in the meantime, we must be on our guard, always ready for anything the world and the devil hurl against us, trusting in the World Overcomer, Jesus Himself.

Father God. Thank You that in You we have eternal life and that we are safe from the devil’s attacks. We worship You today. Amen.

Authorities

Posted on by korgrocker

“The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.”
Romans 13:4-5 NLT

What is right and wrong? God has wired us with a conscience, and wrongdoing, any act violating it, will initiate feelings of guilt. But how do we know objectively what actions are acceptable and what aren’t? Adam was the first man and, until the episode with the forbidden fruit, he had done no wrong. Was his perfect, sin-free life before the fall governed by his conscience? But because of the Fall, and the introduction of sin into this world, we have to be taught the difference. This comes, initially, largely from our parenting. As babies, we soon picked up the difference between right and wrong from our mums and dads, and as we grew up in our societies, our consciences became fine-tuned to do what is good. Well, that is the ideal. But Paul wrote the verses today perhaps as a catch all, reminding his readers that if the authorities find they have been misbehaving, there will be consequences. 

In every walk of life, there is an authority somewhere. In our employment, we have our employers. In Paul’s days, slaves were common, and they had their masters and mistresses. The civil authorities are there ensuring the cohesion of society. There is spiritual authority to take into account as well, for those of us who are God-followers. We read in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit”. 

We pilgrims also have authority. Controversially perhaps in these “enlightened” days, in a marriage context, we read, “For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Saviour of his body, the church” (Ephesians 5:23). Jesus gave His disciples authority, as we read in Luke 10:19, “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”. 

In Paul’s writings, he emphasises that submitting to the authorities will leave us with a clear conscience. But that is where issues could emerge. What if the civil authorities are imposing something that is in direct conflict with God’s Word, in the Bible? In that situation we have to follow what God says, because He is the higher authority. That is something that gets many people in our persecuted world in a lot of trouble. In North Korea, just to have a Bible, or even a portion of it, could result in imprisonment. In many countries, to worship and pray, if discovered by the authorities, could result in all sorts of sanctions or even punishments. The first person martyred for his faith, Stephen, was murdered because he dared to stand up to the religious authorities of his day.

But when Paul wrote that the Roman Christians must obey the authorities, I’m sure he had in mind the routine, hum-drum, subservience to ordinary laws, that were there to keep them all safe and functioning in their society. I don’t know about you, but there are some I don’t like. Others I don’t feel comfortable about. But we pray for the authorities, that God will help them get it right. And looking at recent events in the UK, I’m sure He is working behind the scenes, bringing answers to our prayers.

Dear God. Thank You that You listen when we pray, and bring good, and a resolution, out of apparently hopeless situations. But in those times when things don’t work out as we would like, please give us the grace to obey the authorities. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Song of Moses and the Lamb

Posted on by korgrocker

“I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvellous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.””
Revelation‬ ‭15:2-4 NLT

In his vision, John saw a “marvellous event of great significance” and here we have the End Time martyrs standing before God singing a song, the first line of which goes, “Great and marvellous are your works, O Lord God”. This was the “song of Moses” and the “song of the Lamb”. Moses was very much a part of the Old Covenant, the foundation of the pre-Christ Jewish nation. Jesus, the Lamb of God, brought in the New Covenant. The essence of the Old Covenant we can find in Deuteronomy 30:15-16, “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.” The Epistle to the Hebrews links the two in 8:9-10, “This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” But in naming this song after both Moses and Jesus, in some way the two covenants are being brought together.

The song the martyrs sang didn’t include any references to the terrible times and earthly deaths they had experienced at the hands of the beasts. It was totally God-focused, the words “you” and “your” mentioned seven times. It was a song dedicated to God, in whom they had the victory. They, of course, had been victorious over the beasts because they had arrived in Heaven and were in God’s presence. The one thing the beasts were trying to stop had happened regardless. We saw it with Jesus at Calvary. The devil and his forces thought they had conquered the very Son of God, but soon found out that when Jesus rose again, the devil’s defeat was announced and resulted in his public humiliation. 

We pilgrims are assured that, regardless of what plans the devil may try and concoct against us, we are on the winning side. Jesus, through His sacrifice at Calvary, defeated death itself. We transition, at the end of our lives, into experiencing Eternal Life in God’s presence. The End Time martyrs found that their transition happened earlier than it would have done otherwise, but the result was the same. And if we know of anyone who isn’t on the winning side, we double our efforts to make sure they know all about our wonderful Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You that through You we are winners. we are so grateful. Amen.

The Martyr’s Testimonies

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.””
Revelation‬ ‭12:10-12 NLT

The devil seems to have little going for him. Because of his sin he was thrown out of Heaven, and now on earth he is again defeated by God’s people, who have accepted the saving grace and protection of the “blood of the Lamb” and established through their testimonies the devil’s defeat.

The pilgrims who have defeated the devil in John’s vision, however, paid a heavy price. The ultimate price. They paid for their victory over the devil with their lives. In John’s vision we see that their secret weapon was their willingness to put their faith in God above personal safety. In Western societies, the battle with the devil and his minions doesn’t impact our lives directly but is waged on a different level. But in some parts of the world, the battle is generating many martyrs, people who have taken the ultimate stand against our enemy, the devil. According to “Open Doors”, an organisation in the UK that helps persecuted Christians in over sixty countries, nearly six thousand people were murdered for their faith last year. Their statistics are sobering, reporting that one in seven Christians suffer persecution of one kind or another. According to their latest information, the most life threatening countries in which to be a Christian are Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia. The strap line on the “Open Doors” web site says, “Over 360 million Christians suffer persecution and discrimination. They follow Jesus, no matter the cost”. But these are the pilgrims, our brothers and sisters, who John could see in his vision. And he went on to say that all who live in Heaven are rejoicing about them. 

Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12, “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” In Hebrews 11, that great chapter about faith, we read about Moses, “He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.” (Hebrews 11:26). 

Why do Christians suffer such persecution? We are motivated by love and compassion for our fellow human beings. Christian organisations and charities everywhere work tirelessly to help those less fortunate. The drug addicts, the poor, those struggling with all sorts of issues. The list is endless. I heard recently from a Christian lady who has successfully worked for some years running a youth project in the town where she lives in Norfolk, England. The charity for which she works does much good work amongst a marginalised segment of her society. And yet Christians are reviled and persecuted, even in societies that are more peaceful and accepting. But the reason is simply that the devil hates anything to do with the One he hates the most, God Himself. God’s people can be an easy target for him.

As pilgrims, we will all, sooner or later, have to face into persecution of one type or another. But one day we know that we will join our wonderful Heavenly Father in our eternal home. And we will find there the great heroes of our faith, who have paid the price for following God and not the devil. So we pray for all those who are being persecuted, that they will stand firm, regardless of the cost.

Dear God. Thank You for the opportunities we have to reach those who are less fortunate than us in our societies. Help us we pray to be salt and light in our communities, our families. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Fifth Seal

Posted on by korgrocker

“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?” Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭6:9-11‬ ‭NLT

The fifth seal was broken and John saw an altar in Heaven. It’s not clear what it looked like in detail, but one thing for sure – it was nothing like the altars we find in our churches and other religious buildings. This one had a special place underneath, and here we find the souls of the Christian martyrs. Men and women killed for nothing more than believing in the Word of God and being faithful, holding onto their beliefs and testimony in spite of threats and mistreatment. Quite rightly, they wanted to see justice, and they called out to God for Him to intervene and punish the people who had abused them. In response, they were each supplied with a white robe, but why was that? Note that this happened before the second coming of Jesus, so at this point the martyrs would not yet have received their new bodies. The martyrs would have been disembodied spirits, but because of their mortal sacrifice, they were fast tracked into Heaven. And the robes were supplied to give them substance and parity with the other Heavenly beings. They were encouraged to rest and be patient, because there were more martyrs to come. Notice that in Heaven, they straight away worshipped God, with “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true”. Their focus was on God, as it had been in their lives on earth.

Christians have been martyred almost continuously to the present day, starting with Stephen. We can read the account of his martyrdom in Acts 6 and 7. Today, with better global communications, we can discover where Christians are being killed for their faith. Open Doors, a UK-based organisation founded by Brother Andrew in 1955, regularly reports on Christian persecution, and on-line videos can be found that detail up to date topics for prayer. They reported that in 2021, 5,898 Christians were murdered because of their faith. And that’s the people they know about. 

A passage of Scripture that I find most encouraging is in Acts 4, where the early church prayed for boldness in the face of persecution. We read in verse 29, “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word…”. This was the early church’s response to persecution, and the boldness they displayed in the face of persecution led to Christianity quickly spreading all over the civilised world at that time.

We pilgrims today must pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters. And together we must stand firm with them, also being a living testimony to our faith. Perhaps one day we will get the opportunity to talk to some of the Heavenly martyrs, finding our more about their sacrifices, but in the meantime we are encouraged by the fact that in our witnessing they are cheering us on, as we know from Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne“. 

Dear Heavenly Father, we pray together for our brothers and sisters who are facing persecution in countries like Afghanistan and North Korea, where even having a Bible in their possession can lead to incarceration and murder. Please strengthen their faith, and be with them in their times of trial. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.