The Time is Short

Posted on by korgrocker

“But if you do get married, it is not a sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those problems. But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.”
1 Corinthians 7:28-31 NLT

In Paul’s day, the expectation was that Jesus was going to return “soon”. In John 14:2-3, we read, “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am“. And then we have Matthew 24:44, when Jesus said, “You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected“. In neither case did Jesus say when He was going to return to the earth a second time, but the early church can be forgiven for having an expectation that it would be “soon”. Even in the book of Revelation, John wrote down some of the last recorded words of Jesus, such as in Revelation 22:7, “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book”.

With the expectation that Jesus might return at any moment, Paul encouraged the Corinthians to get their lives in order. He told them to stay married, if that was their status at the time, but to remember that service to Christ was far more important, and if they were going through a time of sorrow, or a time of joy, such occasions were unimportant in the light of Jesus’ imminent return. And his final point was that, although possessions were all very good, the believers in Corinth mustn’t become too attached to them, because they wouldn’t survive the cataclysmic event associated with the world “passing away”. There is an apocryphal story of a businessman who nagged God unmercifully to be allowed to take his possessions with him into Heaven. God relented, allowing this to happen, so for convenience, the businessman sold what he had and converted it all to gold. When he died, he turned up at Heaven’s gates with a heavy bag and was asked what it contained. He replied that it was all his earthly wealth in gold bars, only to be told that there was no point in bringing it with him, because in Heaven, gold was used to pave the streets. A silly story that has made the rounds as a Christian joke, but it makes the point that nothing we have on this earth can survive the transition into Heaven.

In Matthew 24, Jesus outlined some of the events that will occur before the world “passes away”. He mentioned wars, famines and earthquakes, but only in the context that these were the “birth pains with more to come” (Matthew 24:8). Jesus then said that terrible things would then follow, with persecution and martyrdom, false prophets and sin. But here’s the thing, Jesus then said that the “Good news of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world” (Matthew 24:14). Perhaps the early Christians had a world view that didn’t extend beyond the Middle East, and had concluded, with the rapid propagation of the Gospel, that their world had indeed been reached. But Jesus told the disciples about other things that would have to happen, such as complete darkness without the sun, moon, and stars, before Jesus came. Matthew 24:30, “And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”.  

David Pawson, the late theologian and apologist, maintained that four significant signs had to happen before Jesus returned. These would be, “A “world-wide disaster” including wars, famines, and earthquakes; a “great tribulation” of worldwide trouble where many believers would be killed; the rise of a false dictator who commits an abhorrent act in a future temple; and the Antichrist’s return to power in the Middle East, and the subsequent preaching of the gospel to the entire world before the final judgment“. So, on that basis, about one and a half out of the four signs have been completed. But come what may, it is pointless trying to come up with a date for Jesus’ return, because He said to the disciples, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows” (Matthew 24:36). Instead, Jesus said, “You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected” (Matthew 24:44). 

We pilgrims, with the benefit of hindsight and a complete canon of God’s Word, can discern the times, but we must also be obedient to Jesus’ warning, as set out in two parables in Matthew 25. The “Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids” ends with the verse, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return” (Matthew 25:13). This was followed by “The Parable of the Three Servants”, where Jesus made the point that it is not about when He returns, but what we have been doing while He has been away. The time may or may not be short, but while we wait, we must be busy in our service for the Lord.

So, suitably warned, we pilgrims must be careful about how we are spending our time while we await Jesus’ return. He may or may not come back in our lifetimes, but once we die, our service for Jesus will come to an end. We are not “pew warmers”, social or Sunday Christians, of course, just waiting for the moment when we will cross the Great Divide. Instead, we are active in our faith, seeking to spread the Gospel at every opportunity. We prioritise our lives so that we are not overburdened by the troubles and possessions of life, looking to Jesus, “who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith”. What else can we do when we consider Jesus and all that He has done for us?

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for Your words about the end times, with the parables that illustrate what You require. Amen.

“Imitate Me”

Posted on by korgrocker

“So I urge you to imitate me. That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.”
1 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT

On his second missionary journey, Paul left one major city, Athens, and moved to another, Corinth. There he made the acquaintance of another tent maker, Aquila, and his wife Priscilla, fellow Jews who had been evicted from Rome by the Roman emperor at that time, Claudius Caesar. After opposition from the local synagogue, Paul, with the help of his colleagues Timothy and Silas, started the Corinthian church in the house next door. And in Acts 18:11, we read, “So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God”. Paul reminded the Corinthians that he was their spiritual father because he introduced them to Jesus through the Message of the Cross, the Good News of salvation through Jesus. Knowing Paul, the grounding in the faith that they received would have been faultless, but the Corinthians became proud and arrogant, and Paul wrote, referring to their spiritual state, “You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you” (1 Corinthians 4:8). 

The Corinthians must have been drawn into error from somewhere other than their leaders, because Paul and Apollos would have taught them correctly. They had the Old Testament Scriptures to refer to, of course, but it takes very little to skew and distort the Gospel, particularly as our enemy, the devil, is alive and active, just as much as today. It might be worth asking ourselves the question, “Would we have behaved in the same way, had we been in that congregation?”. So, we too must also be on our guard, because it is easy to become lop-sided in our faith. As an example, I was once in a church in my early days as a believer, where the pastoral care and relationships amongst the Christians there were excellent, so good in fact that I, as a new Christian, had a feeling that new people might have a detrimental effect on the church. How did that happen? There was a wealth of good teaching on edifying and growing the believers there, but perhaps teaching on evangelism was given insufficient weight, or, more likely, I ignored it. Thankfully, my perspective has changed, and I have much to thank my spiritual fathers for. Paul was sure of his teaching, and he commended Apollos as well for his, so the faults Paul outlined, of a congregation prone to judgment, factionalism, quarrelling and general arguing, did not start with them. Paul wrote this letter during his third missionary journey, probably from Ephesus, as reports of what was going on in Corinth reached him. 

Paul told the Corinthians to imitate him. There is much in that because Paul was a teacher and they were his audience. He was saying that they must look at what he was doing, and follow not only his teaching but also consider the practical aspects of his life. They had taken the good bits from his sermons and ignored those parts that they weren’t too happy about. To imitate Paul, they had to consider that their lives would not necessarily be comfortable any more. Paul suffered much to share the Gospel, and not just with them. Paul wrote, “Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us” (1 Corinthians 4:11-12). Their comfortable lives would have to be cast aside because there was a new order in play. Instead of being what they had always been first, their world had to be turned around so that Christ was their first priority. I used to know a lovely man who was a blacksmith by trade. He was first and foremost a believer, and that governed his life. Every spare moment of his life was devoted to serving Jesus, and his business cards had his name followed by “Christian and Blacksmith”. There was no doubt in the minds of his customers where his loyalties lay. 

The same principle applies today to us pilgrims. Because we are diligent followers of Christ, we are always prepared and ready to put Him first in our daily lives. No more self-first and God second. It’s God first, and everything else follows. Paul urged the Corinthians to pattern their lives after his. This was not pride and ego at work. Paul was not trying to set himself up as a kind of cult leader. He was not asking to be called by the title of “father,” or demanding any other honour. He did not want to take the place of Christ in their lives. Instead, he was describing the pattern of Christian discipleship. He was saying to the Corinthians, “I have taught you what to believe, now follow my example of how to live it out.” Paul said to Timothy, “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Paul wanted the Corinthians to follow the example of his lifestyle described in the previous verses. There, he described himself and the other apostles as leading lives of poverty, considered as foolish by the world for Christ’s sake, and mistreated for their association with Him. Instead of retaliating or running away, though, they followed Jesus’ example by doing good to those who treated them badly. Paul wanted the Corinthians to do as he did, to give up chasing wealth and trying to gain the respect of the unbelievers in their culture and to serve Christ first and above all.

There is a cost to being a Christian. We are a counter-cultural people who say “no” when the secularists around us say “yes”. We stand in the gap protecting those who are defenceless and without hope. We share the good news about Jesus with those who are heading for a lost eternity, hoping and praying that the seeds we plant will bear the fruit of salvation. And we imitate Paul and follow Christ’s teaching, holding our worldly gifts and assets with open hands, always ready to bless those who curse us, always shining like beacons in a world of darkness. That is what being a Christian is all about. Paul’s life was far from comfortable, but he was faithful to the end, despising the comforts of those around him, allowing nothing to divert him from his mission. We all do not have a calling like Paul, but a calling is what we have, and we allow nothing to get in the way of what God wants us to do. 

Father God. We commend ourselves to You once again because we are here to serve You and Your people. Please lead and guide us in the paths You wish us to take. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Masters and Slaves

Posted on by korgrocker

“I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.”
John 15:15-17 NLT

In Jesus’ day, slaves were commonplace. The richer members of His society usually had one or more slaves doing the menial jobs in a household, even to the extent of bringing up the master’s children. A slave was considered the owner’s personal property, and essentially had no rights. They could even be killed with impunity by their owners. The word “slave” can also be translated “servant” – in the Amplified version of John 15:15 we read, “I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father”. ‭‭But slave or servant, we get the picture of Jesus, the Master, and His disciples, who were His servants doing a three year apprenticeship, learning all about God and His Kingdom. And rather than have notes to refer to when they needed a prompting, they had the Holy Spirit within them. “He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:17). In Acts 4:13 we read about how effective the Holy Spirit’s presence was in their lives, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognised them as men who had been with Jesus“.

Paul started his Roman epistle with “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News”. Peter started his second epistle with, “This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour”. The first Apostles were totally sold out to their Master, Jesus Christ. They had no agenda of their own, other than to do His will. Whatever it took. Regardless of the consequences.

Jesus, though, at the end of their apprenticeship, regarded His disciples as His friends and no longer as slaves or servants. Because He had told them everything that His Father had asked Him to tell, the disciples had finished the course. And now they were appointed to go and produce “lasting fruit”. By extension, we too are commissioned to “go” and produce lasting fruit. Fruit in our lives and also in the lives of others. Peter and John were recognised by the Jewish leaders “as men who had been with Jesus”. Would we pilgrims receive the same recognition? But whatever, we cannot claim to be Jesus’ disciples unless we too could put our commitment is a position that makes us His servants.

Father God. We confess our commitment to You, this day and every day, with a grateful heart full of love. Amen.


Chasing Desires

Posted on by korgrocker

“So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.”
1 Peter 4:1-3 NLT

In his writings, Peter paints a picture of a restlessness driven by sinful desires. He writes about anxiety, evil, immorality, lust, feasting, drunkenness “and their terrible worship of idols”. We can just imagine a painter or sculptor of old representing such scenarios though his artistic medium. But Peter acknowledges that “godless people” enjoy doing these things. There is something about “sin” that is attractive and appealing, and is very hard to give up. Good people today might point out that these were symptoms of Peter’s generation and that they don’t apply to them. But as any street pastor will say, High Streets late on a Saturday night will find people enjoying alcohol-fuelled revelry. “Feasting and drunkenness and wild parties” were not just features of Peter’s society.

Peter reminds his readers that they have finished with sin. Rather, they must be “anxious to do the will of God”. Of course they are, because it is not possible to follow God’s ways and the ways of the world. Putting it bluntly, one way leads to eternal life and the other to eternal death. There couldn’t be a starker choice between two extremes. Jesus taught much about life in His Kingdom being so different to life in the kingdom of the world. The dichotomy between them is illustrated in His teaching about money, which is a worldly commodity. We read in Matthew 6:24, “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“. 

The key word Jesus used was “enslaved“. In a conversation with some of His followers, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). In Galatians 5:1, Paul wrote, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law“. He repeated what Jesus said in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free“. I have included the words of the old Bob Dylan song in blogs before, but the words of the chorus are profound.
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

By default, people gravitate to being sinful. Their fleshly desires prevail over that other small voice within, and “the evil things that godless people enjoy” are the result. And they end up enslaved to a lifestyle that is against what God desires. But all that changes when we meet Jesus. Suddenly, all the sinful desires we have are exposed by His light and we realise what they are. The Holy Spirit exposes our sinful lives and helps us realise that God’s way is the only way. We become “anxious to do the will of God” and start to apply and enjoy the freedom we gained when we repented of our sins and believed in Jesus.

Living God’s way is a lifetime task. One that He helps us with, but one in which we can so easily get caught out when our old sinful nature emerges into His light. In Ephesians 4:21-24, Paul wrote, “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“. The theologians call this process sanctification. We are being made holy by following God’s ways. And one day we will be truly perfect, set free from our sinful lives for all eternity.

Dear Father God. We don’t want to chase after sin, but so often we get caught out. Please help us day by day, as we journey through the sinful minefields of life. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

Poverty

Posted on by korgrocker

Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!
The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.
The LORD protects them
and keeps them alive.
He gives them prosperity in the land
and rescues them from their enemies.
The LORD nurses them when they are sick
and restores them to health.
Psalm 41:1-3 NLT

The very first line of the first verse in this Psalm associates joy with showing kindness to poor people. Sadly, for people in affluent societies, being poor is associated with negative connotations, and perhaps unkind judgements about why they are “poor”. We tend to look at poverty as being a lack of finances, but that is to neglect so many other forms of being poor. There are, perhaps, a few hints in these verses about other kinds of poverty. The poverty of being in trouble. The poverty of being in physical danger. The poverty of sickness. I would add too the poverty of being lonely, without friends or family. 

In Matthew 5, Jesus said to His disciples, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The “poor in spirit” are those people who recognise that they lack the resources God puts value on. Heavenly currency is not anything of earthly value, like gold (we read in Revelation that it is used to make roads!). Having spiritual currency starts with the realisation that we have nothing to offer God of any value. Because of our sins we are destitute before Him and have to recognise this by coming to Him in faith for the salvation He has offered through Jesus. In Matthew 6, Jesus encouraged His disciples to build up “treasure in Heaven” through their service to Him.

But what was David referring to in these verses in Psalm 41? In verse 1, he was, I think, referring to Godly people in his day, who were looking after the needy people around them. And through them God was providing for them. Although God can directly provide the resources people need for life, most of the time He chooses to deliver His provision through His people. So we are encouraged to be His servants by looking out for those who are poor, in our communities, in our families, supplying fellowship, a helping hand. Nursing those in need. Providing a listening ear when needed. The opportunities are endless. There is a young woman in my community who every week, uses her lunch hour to walk the dog of an old lady, now immobilised following a fall. A young woman banking spiritual currency for her future.

So we, as God’s people, have a challenge today. As the King’s servants, what does He want us to do to relieve the poverty around us? There may not just be financial needs, there will be others as well. In our communities, who can we find who is “poor”?