Not Guilty

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.
John 18:37-38 NLT

We are fast approaching the pivotal point that night where Jesus’ future was decided. Pilate’s assessment of Jesus’ innocence was correct in the court of earthly law in force at that time.  Pilate was used to seeing revolutionaries who had a clear record of guilt and much evidence against them. Or thieves and robbers, convicted through acceptable testimonies. But the Man Jesus had no evidence that could convict Him, because there was none. He was the King of the Jews, a title soon after affixed to His cross of execution. He was the King of a Kingdom not of this world. And everything that Jesus said was truth, because that was who He was. Truth personified. There was no other period in history where there was such a clash of kingdoms. The worldly kingdom of the Roman Empire, strong and unforgiving. The religious kingdom based on the Law of Moses but almost skewed beyond recognition by sinful human practices. And the Kingdom of God, the rule of an eternal, sovereign God over all the universe. In that febrile environment, something had to give, and in worldly eyes Jesus was the problem but also, as we know, He became the solution to the sins of mankind. However, in worldly eyes, it was a solution that was the biggest miscarriage of justice this world has ever seen.

We pilgrims have read and re-read the Easter story. We stand as a fly on the wall, looking at Pilate’s dilemma. We stand in the baying mob calling for Jesus’ death. We stand poignantly with Jesus hearing the “not guilty” verdict, a verdict that He knew was the right one for the worldly court but the wrong one in terms of God’s plan for mankind. But ultimately we stand in the knowledge that the “not guilty” verdict would have been the wrong one for our salvation. Jesus was not guilty on His own account, but God’s plan was that He would take on my guilt so that the verdict over me would be “not guilty”. And that applies to all of us pilgrims, who have fallen to our knees in repentance before His cross. We were all guilty in the Heavenly court. We were all heading for a lost eternity. But along came a Man who, before the Judge, said that he would take the punishment due to me so that I would be “not guilty”. What a Saviour!

Dear Lord Jesus. You took on to Yourself the sins of mankind, past present and future, so that we would live with You forever. Thanks You. Amen.

The Questioning

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people gather. I have not spoken in secret. Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.” Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.”
John 18:19-22 NLT

A clash of two kingdoms emerged that night, as the Jewish world based on a strict but skewed interpretation of the Law of Moses came up against God’s Son and His world of grace and love. Annas, the high priest’s father-in-law, would have been hoping to trap Jesus, forcing Him to say something that could be construed, to his warped perspective, as blasphemy, thus facilitating a death sentence. But Jesus was not going to play any of his games, and received a slap across His face in the process. But the arrogance of a mere man questioning the God who created him is incongruous, to say the least. But we know that one day that same high priest will stand before Jesus, as He sits on the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15). What will he say, I wonder? Will he gibber and splutter and continue in his arrogance? Even when the guilty verdict is passed down? Will he even try to point out the error of God’s ways to His face? Or will he stay silent, as the enormity and realisation of what he had done penetrated his dark soul? But even for a died-in-the-wool Jew determined to eliminate Jesus from the face of the earth, his ultimate fate doesn’t bear thinking about.

Jesus correctly pointed out that nothing that He had said was said in secret. It was all public, in the Temple and synagogues, and as He walked the highways and byways of Palestine and Judea. As He fed the crowds of men, women and children. As He taught from a boat just off the sea shore. Jesus had a very public ministry and one that founded the faith that drives us pilgrims forward in our journeys towards the Land of Glory. Jesus asked Annas why he asked Him the questions about His teaching and about His followers. Of course, Annas knew all about Jesus’ ministry and teaching because otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have been standing before him. The potential for entrapment has always been a possibility in the courts of history. 

Before we pilgrims climb up onto the moral high ground, we should pause. We look at Annas and recoil from any thoughts about doing what he did. But didn’t we too point a finger of disbelief and antagonism to the Son of God through the sins that beset us before the wonderful day when we discovered the truth? Was it not a possibility that Annas, and any malignant leader before or since, had a light bulb moment before they died, thus ensuring their salvation, plucking them from a fate worse than death? The thief on the cross, in his dying moments, was promised a life in Paradise after reaching out to God’s Son. Our God is in the recycling business – He takes rubbish, because that is what we were, and produces from it something beautiful and fit for a life with Him one day. 

We should also pause before we point fingers at anyone around us who behaves in a way that is sinful and that violates our cosy Christian ways. We mustn’t and cannot judge others, because in the same way that they behave, we are also guilty. In John 8:7, we read about Jesus’ response to demands that a woman caught in adultery was stoned, in accordance with the Law of Moses. “They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”” We might never have been in such a situation, or so we think, but whatever the cause, we are not entitled to throw stones. In the John 8 account, everything went quiet, as the executing committee, with stones already in their hands, stopped to think. We then read in John 8:9, “When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.” With the sound of rocks and stones hitting the ground still in our ears, we pilgrims too must also “slip away” leaving our judgements behind, because we are sinners, albeit saved by grace, but sinners nevertheless. And the story ends with Jesus’ loving and gracious response, “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more” (John 8:10-11). That message is a personal one to each of us, pilgrim or not. And on our knees this morning we come to our wonderful Saviour, confessing our sins in repentance, and asking for His grace and love, His forgiveness, to once again flood over us.

Dear Lord Jesus. There are always sins lurking in our human lives, waiting to emerge into the light of day. Please forgive us and help us to focus on You rather than those around us. And we pray for forgiveness today, once again, because only You have the power to forgive sins. In Your precious name. Amen. 

Stop Sinning

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.”
John 5:14-15 NLT

The man healed by Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda had been pulled up by the Jewish leaders for carrying his sleeping mat on the Sabbath. They accused the man for working on the Sabbath, exposing their nit-picking approach to religious life. But they sensed an opportunity to extend the focus of their policing, by asking for the name of the person who had told the man to carry his mat. Perhaps, they thought, there was an imposter interpreting the Jewish law incorrectly. But they were too late because Jesus had disappeared into the crowds.

But we read next in John’s account that Jesus found the man who had been healed in the Temple. Did he still have his sleeping mat with him? Was he there to praise and thank God for his healing? Or was he making his way home and found himself in the Temple because he had been caught up with the crowds? But whatever the reason for him being there, Jesus found him, “and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” An interesting statement, loaded with meaning, and one which was just as spiritually life changing as the physical healing had been. I suppose an obvious question we can ask is if the man’s thirty eight years of disability was due to some sort of sin in his life. The implication is there that it was. The psychiatrists and medics today have apparently made a connection between a mental state and a physical ailment. There are also some who may draw the conclusion that the man at the Pool had been punished by God for his sin. But Jesus wasn’t interested in the reason for the man’s paralysis – that was history. He was now concerned about the man’s future.

Regarding sin, we are all expected to follow repentance and forgiveness by a change in lifestyle or behaviour. So, for example, if a man repents of his addiction to pornography, he is subsequently expected to turn his back on the magazines and internet sources of the material. Repentance, God’s forgiveness, must be followed by a change in behaviour. Of course, we will stumble and fall again, but our heart-felt desire is to change and be set free from the sin that has entangled us in its web. Thankfully, God is gracious and merciful, and quick to forgive a repentant sinner.

We don’t hear any more about the man at the Pool. But I’m sure that after his healing encounter with Jesus he would have turned his life around. What else could he do? And for us pilgrims, we too have had an encounter with Jesus. We have turned our backs on sin and sinful lives, choosing instead to follow the Master for the rest of our lives.

Dear Lord Jesus. As the old hymn says, “I have decided to follow Jesus, … no turning back, no turning back”. We sing that song again and again, Lord, each and every day. Amen.

People Kept Coming

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people. At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism.”
John 3:22-23 NLT

Jesus was baptising. John the Baptist was baptising, and the people kept coming for baptism. If that was happening today, then we would draw the conclusion that revival had broken out. The people of that day were perhaps conscious that the constant rituals of animal sacrifices for sins did not ease their guilty consciences. They still felt the weight of their sins and felt they had to do something about it. To them the public act of baptism was a declaration that they had repented of their sins and the guilt was washed away into the waters of the Jordan river. 

If there is anything needed today it is a new wave of the Holy Spirit, bringing a new awakening and revival in our churches. I had the privilege of being in a church in the 1990’s at the same time as the revival in Toronto, and the impact of that visitation of God spilled over into my church. Those were exciting times. The congregation swelled from two hundred or so to close on a thousand. There were as many chairs put out as possible within the space available, and still people kept coming. Standing around the walls, sitting on the floor. The fire doors were opened and groups gathered around outside. The 6pm service kept going until 1 or 2am the next morning, but the passage of time didn’t seem to matter. But most importantly, God visited His people. The Holy Spirit did some amazing things with miracles of healing and transformed lives. But as I look around our world today, conditions are ripe for another move of God. We keep praying.

We pilgrims are central to God’s purposes here on earth. We are the salt and light that allows God to touch the lives of the otherwise untouchable. We pray and do practical things for our friends, families and neighbours. We pray for them and perhaps even dare to see a revival again. 

O Lord. We pray, “may Your Kingdom come, may Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. Make it happen, Lord, we pray. Amen. 

Returning To Sin

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.””
2 Peter 2:20-22 NLT

This is a tragedy. I know people who once came to experience God’s saving grace through Jesus, who travelled for a while in His presence, but who then rejected Him and returned to their old sinful ways. Some of these people are personal friends and who are now in a spiritual desert, cynical, disillusioned and in denial. Often it is not God they have rejected, but the church, a fellowship of believers, who has turned them away. There may have been a misunderstanding, or a situation that was clumsily dealt with. But it may have been nothing to do with the church of which they were a part. Perhaps they started the journey but found the going too tough for them. Perhaps sin was so entrenched in their lives that they found themselves unable to rely on God and His love and grace. But in the end, they turned their back on the One who was their Saviour and Lord. 

Why is it that some people, who have received a glimpse of God and His Kingdom, who have even experienced God’s healing love and grace, then turn their back on Him? There was the case in Palestine of people who believed in Jesus but succumbed to peer pressure. John 12:42-43, “Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than the praise of God“. In the parable of the soils, there was the case of the good seed that quickly grew up but didn’t last for long. Matthew 13:5-6, “Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died“. In both cases, worldly pressure and the pleasures of sin created an environment where following Jesus was too big an ask for them. Their lives were dominated by short term considerations rather than the prospect of eternal life after they die.

After Jesus fed the five thousand, He went on to teach about Him being the Bread of life. We read the account in John 6. He said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh” (John 6:51). He went on to say, “But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day” (John 6:54). ‭Hard teaching indeed for a people who recoiled in disgust at anything that superficially looked like cannibalism. But the outcome was, “Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”  … At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him” (John 6:60, 66). There are some Christians who started their pilgrimage only to find some Biblical teaching that they couldn’t accept. A lady I know has a son who is a homosexual, and she was unable to accept what the Bible says about such a lifestyle choice. Even after much counselling infused with God’s love and grace, she finally decided that God and His ways were not for her. 

The writer to the Hebrews said this, “For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6). Hard words that surely must penetrate through the façade of those who have rejected Jesus. 

There are some people in my community who have known God in the past, but have rejected Him. People who think they are good people (and they are of course by the world’s standards) but are unable to once again turn to God. Of course, “It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance” by my own efforts. But God will never give up on His children. His Spirit will always be there, drawing them towards the One who has the words of eternal life. Sadly, Peter had to write, “It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life“. But we pilgrims pray for those we know who now live in a life away from the One they once knew. God’s grace in without limit, even for them.

Dear Father God. What else can we do other than kneel at Your feet with grateful hearts? Amen.

Falling Away

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:10-11 NLT

So we must start in asking what these “things” are, that Peter is recommending. Again we go back to earlier in the chapter where we are told that God has “given us everything we need for living a godly life”. This will happen as we get to know God more and respond positively and proactively to His promises. But Peter includes a warning, that if we fail to do what he advises, then we are in danger of falling away. In other words, if we stop pursuing God, then we will become side-tracked into doing other things.

I know of several believers who became casualties of the Covid lockdowns here in the UK. Churches stopped holding Sunday in-person meetings and went on-line using video conferencing facilities such as Zoom. This was too big an ask for some people and they stopped participating in a techno-church. But, worse, when the churches I have in mind restarted their Sunday services, these people remained at home. Of course, a Christian doesn’t have to attend a church, but it helps if they do. Hebrews 10:25, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near“. Without meeting with other Christians we will miss out on mutual encouragement and much more. A lone Christian becomes an easy target for the devil. Those enticing whispers, that sound so right, saying things like it doesn’t matter if you don’t attend a church service. After all, God will still love you, the devil says. 

I have met people in the past who neglect to read the Bible, because, they say, they don’t understand what it says. In Peter’s day, the people lacked a Bible such as we have, relying instead on Jewish Scriptures, someone to expound them, and the teaching of the Apostles and others who knew Jesus. It was only much later that the Canon of Scripture was put together in the form that we have. But Peter’s encouragement to the believers in the Five Provinces in Asia Minor also applies today. In 2 Peter 1:5a he wrote, “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. … “. 2 Peter 1:10a, “So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove … “. Understanding what the Bible says and applying it to our lives will take personal effort. It will do us no good to place a Bible under our pillows at night, and hope the truths and promises contained therein will somehow leap into our minds.

The New Testament contains several warnings about “falling away” from the faith. Revelation 2:4-5, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 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“. This warning, in a vision through the Apostle John, came directly from Jesus and was intended for the Ephesian believers. In 1 Timothy 4:1a, Paul wrote, “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith … “. And then we have the ominous warning in Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame“. 

In Genesis 11 we find the story of Terah, Abraham’s father. Just a few verses but Terah heard God’s call to move to Canaan, but he never arrived there because he settled in a place called Haran, about half way to his destination, and he eventually died there. Perhaps in this brief episode we can read a warning about failing to reach the goal towards which God has called us. There is no half way house in God’s Kingdom. We pilgrim believers must be diligent and make every effort to stay faithful to God. If we find ourselves slipping away from the faith, then we must get on our knees once again and pray for forgiveness and the strength to stay on track.

Heavenly Father. Please help us to stay the course, and remain faithful to You. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Retaliation

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”
1 Peter 2:23 NLT

‭‭Whenever I think of the way the Son of God was treated during His life here on Planet Earth, and particularly during His trial and execution, I become deeply saddened. It’s hard enough to see such treatment when it happens to fellow human beings, but the Son of God, Jesus Himself. …? We read about how fellow believers are treated in authoritarian states such as Afghanistan or North Korea. Christians in some parts of India suffer greatly for no other reason that their belief in God. But surely the greatest miscarriage of justice took place in Palestine two thousand years ago, in a city called Jerusalem. 

Starting with the insults levelled at Jesus in the grounds of the high priest’s home, we read in Luke 22:63-65, “The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you that time?” And they hurled all sorts of terrible insults at him“. But there is no record of Jesus even acknowledging what His tormenters had done. The next time He spoke was in front of the Jewish High Council, the Sanhedrin. In response to a question about whether or not He was the Messiah, ” … He replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer” (Luke 22:67b-68). Jesus was in control but submissive to the outcome of what was yet to come. Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews, to which Jesus replied “you have said it”. And finally we read what He said in Luke 23:34a, “ … Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing …”. Jesus was happy to leave “His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly“.

Jesus could have called upon angels to help Him, as we read in Matthew 26:53, “Don’t you realise that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” He could have used His miracle-working powers to zap all His antagonists at a stroke. But in spite of all the abuse Jesus suffered, He kept focused on the reason why He came to Planet Earth. John 3:16,“ “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“. Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost“.

We pilgrims can only fall down before Jesus in gratitude, that He did not flinch from the path set before Him, and He swallowed the bitter cup of death and sacrifice for the sins of humanity to the last drop. There will come a time when all those who were complicit in the trial and crucifixion of Jesus will be called to account. Perhaps, in hindsight, they realised their crime, and fell on their knees in repentance before God. Only then would they hear the Saviour grant them forgiveness. Today, there are many around us who either do not know what Jesus did, or have chosen to ignore the Good News of what happened that day at Calvary. Through their rebellion and sin they too are complicit in hammering home the nails. But we pilgrims know why we have been called, and we mustn’t flinch from fulfilling our calling, no matter what it takes. We may or may not suffer abuse. But, like Jesus, we press on to the Heavenly goal.

Dear Father God. Jesus never turned away from the Cross, even though He could have done. Please help us to follow His example. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Obedient to the Lord

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
Romans 16:19-20 NLT

Paul is happy because he knows that the Roman believers are obedient followers of Christ. A faith statement on his part, but one he felt, through the whispering of the Holy Spirit within him, to be the case. In those days, without the benefit of the New Testament writings, the truth about God’s plan and His message of salvation through Jesus came through reference to the Jewish Bible and through the Apostles’ teaching. And of course the Truth came through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul implied through the next few words in Romans 16:19 that “obedience to the Lord” would lead to righteous living which was wisdom, but he also appealed to his readers to stay innocent of any wrongdoing. In other words they should avoid sin. The person of satan emerged as a potential assailant, but through “the God of peace” he would soon be a defeated foe. 

We pilgrims today have a much easier time in knowing right from wrong, and how to be “obedient to the Lord”. But translating that “knowing” into practice in our society today is far from easy. Even the church leaders in our land are promoting behaviour that the Bible clearly says is wrong. If Paul was around today, would he still be “very happy”? Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, obey my commandments”. Obedience to Christ is fundamental to the Christian. At best, it may appear old fashioned in the eyes of the world. But at worst it may lead to imprisonment or even death, as in other nations. We must stand firm – “But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29). The Gospel that we preach is counter-cultural and to many an offence because it challenges lifestyles, and attitudes and more. But we have to be obedient in doing what God has asked us to do, because salvation comes through Jesus. Jesus said in John 14:6, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. When challenged by Jesus about his future relationship with Him, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God”” (John 6:68-69).

We pilgrims have a clear understanding of how we should live our lives. But obedience to the Lord is a key that will unlock the doors of Heaven. We cannot compromise. In this season of “Pride” marches, I read today of a Christian councillor who tweeted on social media, “Pride is not a virtue but a sin“. As a result he has been suspended from the Conservative Party, and “cancelled” by six other organisations. Here is his full tweet, “When did Pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of Pride Satan fell as an arch Angel. Pride is not a virtue but a Sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you“. And he quoted Isaiah 3:9, “The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves“. Obedience to the Lord is going to cost us, folks. But there is no other way. Again I write that we cannot compromise.

Dear Father God. We pray together for the Christian Councillor who has lost so much for standing firm on Your Word. Please restore to him all that he has lost and more. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Personal Account

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.”
Romans 14:10-13 NLT

This is a scary thought. Paul wrote, “Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God”.  Will that mean that over our lifetimes God is keeping a balance sheet of all the good we have done, and comparing it with all the lies and wickedness, and if the total at the bottom comes out with a plus sign, we will be ok? Sorry, but that is not how it will work. Just one negative entry will be enough to condemn us to an eternal life of misery. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37, “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you”. We read about this judgement day in Revelation 20, 11-15, “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire”. So on this judgement day, there will be lots of books. Each person will have his own volume, or volumes, detailing every act they had done in their life. Jesus said that every deed includes every idle word spoken, and He also gave a few more details of deeds in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, that we can read in Matthew 25, which ends, “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).

All these Scriptures are enough to make us depressed because the implication is that no-one will be good enough to enter God’s presence. There is no way that we humans can behave in a way that appears righteous to God. But there is a ray of light embedded in these Scriptures. “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire”. There is a Book that records the names of everyone who is righteous in God’s sight. And the challenge of how we get our names there depends on our individual choice and God’s grace.

First of all we have to say that most people don’t want to be bothered with such a thought, putting it all down to myths or fanciful feelings. After all, they say, no-one has returned to validate these verses in the Bible. Our scientists cannot empirically measure the reality of such a Book, so it can’t be real they say. You won’t find a copy in the local reference library either. Other people have decided that they don’t want to go to Heaven anyway, their thoughts based on mistaken views of God and what Heaven will be like. After all, they think what is the point of spending their time in worshipping a God who they don’t know, and who they have probably wrongly blamed for much of the evil that we can see in the world around us. Not deliberate thoughts logically applied, probably, but that is their intent.

On the first day of Pentecost, Peter preached a powerful sermon and we read this in Acts 2:37, “Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter’s timeless and profound answer was, ” … Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). If anyone wants to ensure that their names are written in God’s Book of Life, then this is where they must start. They must “repent of [their] sins and turn to God“. By the way, that must have been some day, because we read in Acts 2:41, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptised and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all“. Modern evangelicals make an altar call, inviting people to “give their hearts to Jesus”. That is in there of course, but, sadly, they often omit the first step – repentance of sins.

We pilgrims follow Jesus because only He is the Son of God. We echo Peter’s words, recorded in John 6:68, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life“. Only by following and obeying Jesus will we ensure our future in Heaven. And when we get to stand before God, He will proclaim us “Not Guilty”, because when He sees us He sees Jesus, pure and sinless.

Dear Father God. We thank You for Jesus and all that he did for us. Amen.

Predestination

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Romans 8:29-30 NIVUK
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
Romans 8:29-30 NLT

Our verses today from Romans 8 can cause some angst amongst Christians and those close to them. Is it really true that God knew who His people would be one day, long before they were born? If that is the case, then why do we bother to share the Good News about Jesus with our family and friends, our workmates and casual contacts in the street? After all, from these verses it appears that God already has His hand on those He has chosen. To support this view we read what Paul wrote to the Ephesian church – Ephesians 1:4-5, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure”. Part of God’s plan for Planet Earth seemed to be the creation of a people who would be His own, a divine choice spanning the centuries between Adam and the Last Days. So for those of us who are Christians, do we relax a bit, perhaps sin a bit, and assume that we must have been chosen by God, so we will be ok in the end? And what about all those who apparently haven’t been selected by God and who are heading for a lost eternity? Is all that compatible with a God of Love?

So many questions! But, as we know, these verses in Romans must be balanced with other verses in the Bible. Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy these verses in 1 Timothy 2:3-6, “This is good and pleases God our Saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time”. Jesus instructed His disciples (including us) to, “ … go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). And of course we have John 3:16-17, “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”. So we have a dichotomy that can be puzzling, but one day we will know all about it because we can ask God.

The fact is that God will never reject anyone who turns to Him. Yes, on the one hand, He predestines people, choosing them to follow Him, but they can of course reject Him if they so wish. We may have been selected for a job after an interview, but we can still choose to reject the offer. On the other hand, God’s love and grace extends to everyone, and He will never reject a repentant sinner. Consider the penitent thief being crucified with Jesus. We don’t know if he was one of God’s chosen ones, but His repentance just before he died assured his place in Heaven. Chosen, or not chosen, by God will, in the end, not make any difference to our final home. 

So, what do we pilgrims make of what has become to be known as the doctrine of predestination? That fact that we are Christians following Jesus, loving and worshiping God, reaching out to those around us with God’s love expressed through the Gospel, is not dependant on our status in accordance with God’s plans, made so many years ago. What matters is that we are doing His will. We can leave the difficult questions for God to answer one day.

Father God. We don’t know if we are on Your “chosen” list but we do know that You love us and, through Your Son Jesus, have brought salvation to us. Our gratitude knows no bounds. Amen.