John Testified

Posted on by korgrocker

“John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”“
John 1:15 NLT

John knew who Jesus was, that day on the banks of the River Jordan. And it wasn’t just his knowledge that Jesus was his cousin. It was the reality that God had sent His Son to this world, and John recognised Him as its Creator. He exists eternally, and for a brief few years He walked amongst His people embodying “grace and truth”, discarding eternity for time, a throne for humanity. John testified about “Him“, Jesus the Son of God, the Messiah they had all been waiting for. Did anyone else at that time know who Jesus really was? Or was it only John? There was certainly much in the way of expectation, going back hundreds of years, but no Messiah had emerged onto the Israel landscape. Had there been false messiahs and false prophets in the years before Jesus? He Himself warned about such a phenomenon, as we read in Matthew 24:24, “For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones“. Whatever the people were expecting, however, a baby in a manger would not have even occurred to them. And a man like themselves would have been difficult for them to accept, as Jesus found out when He was teaching in the Nazareth synagogue. “When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. … Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”” (Luke 4:16,22). But Jesus knew how difficult it would be for the people to accept Him as Messiah. Jesus said to them, “But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown” (Luke 4:24). If Jesus had burst into the Middle East, leading a huge army, then they would have accepted Him as their Messiah, but an itinerant preacher and teacher who could do a few miracles would not have been on their radar.

“John testified about him”, we read. But how did John know that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah? Later on John had doubts, because after he had been imprisoned by Herod, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Matthew 11:3). But on the banks of the Jordan, John had no doubts. The Holy Spirit within him left no room for any other possibility. The crowds there heard his message, his testimony about Jesus. 

In the world around us, in our communities and societies, there are many who could possibly relate to John and his message. In those days, people went to the Jordan, perhaps encouraged by their friends, who told them about this wild prophetic character with his Messianic message. Today, in the frantic information glut that surrounds us, the message of a Messiah quickly gets drowned out. But we pilgrims have a message about the Son of God and what He has done for us. There was that time when we were re-born into God’s family. And since then there have been occasions where the Holy Spirit has helped us sort out the life problems that we call sin. Like John we have a testimony. We experienced a life-changing event that put us on the road to eternal life with God Himself. The world around us is desperate for good news. We have it, and lots of it. We pray for opportunities when we can share what God has done for us. We won’t necessarily find crowds like John. But we will find opportunities to tell our stories of a Messiah, Jesus Himself. And what a wonderful story it is!

Dear Lord Jesus. As we follow You, day by day, please lead us to those who are waiting for Your message of Good News. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Clever Stories

Posted on by korgrocker

“For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendour with our own eyes when he received honour and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.”
2 Peter 1:16-18 NLT

‭‭Peter had been writing, in the previous verses, about his impending death and his desire to leave a legacy of truth by his hard work. And we read on as he provides a reason for his labour – telling them about “the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. But he felt it necessary to tell his readers that he hadn’t made it all up. This wasn’t a fairy story of knights of old or heavily embellished tales of a man who had been crucified some years before. Peter referred to the occasion of a visit to a place called the Mount of Transfiguration, and we can read the account in Matthew 17. Jesus, we are told, took with him Peter, James and John, and they went up a high mountain to be alone. Which mountain this was isn’t known but the account of what happened there was no “clever story”. When they arrived, we read, “As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus” (Matthew 17:2-3). This vision that unfolded before them terrified the disciples, but it was Peter, good old impetuous Peter, who spoke out. “Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”” (Matthew 17:4). But this is really what scared the disciples – “But even as [Peter] spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him”” (Matthew 17:5). And many years later, Peter, approaching his death and now an old man, still remembered that voice from Heaven. 

Moses had an encounter with God on Mount Sinai and the impact on him terrified the people of Israel. We read in Exodus 34:29-30, “When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him.” Today’s generation would probably not be fazed by such an event, but nevertheless, they would take notice of someone with features that are glowing. Sadly, Moses’ radiance started to fade and he ended up wearing a veil to hide his dimming face from the Israelites. But neither he, or those around him, would have ever forgotten the impact of that encounter with God.

Some people, including myself, have never seen God, but, like Peter, we have heard His voice. Many years ago, when my daughter was seriously ill and with a medical prognosis lacking even a glimmer of hope, I was driving along a Scottish motorway summoned once again to her bedside. And as I agonised and prayed, I heard a distinct voice that seemed to come from the back seat saying “Trust Me”. That encounter with God turned my life around, transforming me from a “believer” to a “know-er”. The following weeks were difficult, but gradually my daughter’s condition improved. I now have a story to tell, and even though many years have elapsed since that encounter, I will never forget that voice.

We pilgrims have a story to tell. It may not be as dramatic as Peter’s but it is something real and relevant, and not a piece of clever prose designed to impress. Our stories tell of an encounter with the living God too. That day when we met Jesus and He forgave our sins. That day when the world was transformed from a place of hopelessness and darkness into one of assurance and light. A day when Heaven, not hell, became a future reality. We may not have experienced “His majestic splendour with our own eyes” but through faith we can have the same realisation. Through the Holy Spirit within us, we too can have a daily encounter with God, if we want it.

Father God. You are real and living today. Please help us to share that fact with those around us, with a spirit glowing from a real-time encounter with You. Thank You. Amen.

Spirits in Prison (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 3:19-21 NLT

In a previous blog we asked ourselves three questions – what was the message that Jesus preached, what happens to our spirits after we die and why select just this particular group of spirits. We have considered what happens to our spirits when we die, and concluded that they go to one of two “compartments” in a place called Hades or Sheol. This is the holding place for spirits pending God’s final act of judgement, and believers end up in a compartment called Paradise and unbelievers in another compartment which seems to be a most unpleasant place, and is perhaps a taste of what hell will be like. 

But now taking the first question, what message did Jesus preach? Theologians seem divided on this and some have concluded that He made an announcement to a group of either demons or humans from the time of the flood. But what would be the point of an “announcement”? God will provide that soon enough on Judgement Day. Another suggestion is that Jesus preached in the spirit through Noah at the time of the flood, but they rejected His message. Yet another possibility is that Jesus preached the Gospel to a generation, now represented by their spirits, that otherwise could rightly complain that they were short-changed and unfairly treated. But literally, Peter wrote that there were people who were disobedient to God during the time leading up to their drowning in the flood and Jesus preached a message to them.

While on earth, Jesus devoted His teaching to the message of salvation through repentance of sins. The mechanics of how that message would apply to the spirits of dead people is a mystery, but there is no other logical explanation. The fact that His audience were imprisoned indicates that they were in a place that wasn’t the Paradise promised to the penitent thief. C S Lewis wrote a book called The Great Divorce which fictionally described a spiritual holding place, “hell”, from which the spirits, or “ghosts”, were given the opportunity to travel to Heaven, where salvation became an option for them. But it was of course fictional without any Scriptural basis.

We don’t know anything more about Jesus preaching to spirits in Hades, so we must draw our own conclusions. But we do know about the preaching Jesus did while He was here with us on Planet Earth. Faithful disciples recorded His many messages, often illustrated in a way that everyday people in His generation could understand. And Jesus underpinned His messages with practical deeds, such as healing the sick or raising the dead. As far as we aware, there is no post-death opportunity to hear the Gospel message in the world of spirits. If there was, what was the point of Jesus delegating the preaching of His Word to His followers? And people would become even more complacent than they are. Acts 1:8 reads, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth””. We pilgrims are at the sharp end of spreading God’s grace and love to those around us. The Holy Spirit will bring conviction of sin and repentance. So we must be ready and willing to share all that God has done for us.

Dear Father God. Please bring us to people who don’t know You. Please prepare the ground we pray and give us just the right words to say. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Boasting

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.”
Romans 15:18-19 NLT

Boasting is usually an objectionable trait. I’m sure we have all met a person who doesn’t stop “blowing his own trumpet” about his achievements, his lovely garden, his latest car, his sporting prowess, his … All things that are materialistic or worldly, and relatively unimportant in the Kingdom of God. Boasting is a form of pride, which is a sin. Solomon, thought to be the person who wrote Proverbs, recorded the following, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). But Paul confessed to being a boaster, about something far more significant. His testimony was impressive. He could talk about the wonderful things that God had done, by “bringing the Gentiles to God”. 

Paul had much to boast about. In 2 Corinthians 11, we read about Paul’s concern that the Corinthian church was being corrupted by false apostles. These were people who claimed to be just as good as Paul, but he accused them of delivering error, as we read in 2 Corinthians 11:4, “You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed”. Paul was quite scathing about these people. About his message he wrote, “But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours. These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:12-14). He went on, “And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too” (2 Corinthians 11:18). Referring to the false apostles, Paul went on, “ … But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too” (2 Corinthians 11:21b). 

Paul then went on to list all the privations and danger that he had experienced while disseminating the message of God’s Good News. And then he finished this list with, “If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am” (2 Corinthians 11:30). We turn the page to the next chapter and read about an experience he said he could boast about. 2 Corinthians 12:1, “This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord”. His visit to the third Heaven (where God and His angels live) must have been so amazing that it would have done his street cred no harm at all. But he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:5, “That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses”. We know of course what Paul’s weakness was – he wrote, ” … So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (2 Corinthians 12:7b-9).

Paul was kept from being conceited by having to dependent on Jesus. But in it all he directed the glory to God. His life was totally sold out for Jesus. He didn’t boast about his tent making skills, or the number of miles he walked every day. His boasting was a testimony of God’s grace and love and the power of the Holy Spirit. At every opportunity we too should “boast” about what God has done in our lives. Our testimonies of God’s saving grace surely count for much and will shine as bright as a beacon in this sad and dark generation.

Father God. You have done so much for us, but please forgive us for holding back on speaking out our testimonies of Your love and grace. Please lead us to the right person today, so that we can give them too the opportunity of sharing what You have done for them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Good News (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about His Son. In His earthly life He was born into King David’s family line, and He was shown to be the Son of God when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 1:2-4 NLT

So what is this Good News Paul was talking about? Here we are right at the beginning of a long letter, and he starts to talk about Good News. As we follow his thinking we find an amazing thread that starts in Genesis and is still there in Revelation. And it doesn’t even end there. The Good News about Jesus is simple but costly. And one word sums it up – love. God’s love. But there’s a journey involved in how to get here.

We have to start with God and His character. He is a God of love of course, but He is also a God who hates evil. Of course, He’s our Provider. Our Shepherd. And many other things that are contained within the character belonging to the Person who created the universe, our planet, and everything within it. But there can be a problem for many, because they want to extract those features in God’s character that they like, but reject those that they don’t. Deuteronomy 7:9-10 reads, “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him”. People like the bit about God’s unfailing love, but are not so keen on the punishment and destruction side of God’s character. God is a God of purity and holiness, and within Him, or near Him, there can be no evil. One day He will have to judge all mankind to separate the righteous from the wicked. Two of Jesus’s parables worthy of note – the Wheat and the Tares, and the Sheep and the Goats. But we read in John 3:36, “And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” In Revelation 20, we will find out what will happen to evil, sin and wickedness at the end of time.

There is this dichotomy between those who love God and those who reject Him. There is no middle ground. One way will lead to eternal life with God in Heaven, and the other to eternal life with the devil in hell. A stark and sobering choice. 

But here is the bit where God’s love prevails. He realised that mankind was incapable of living to a standard of holiness and purity that matched His. And He devised a plan before the creation of the world, that would involve His only Son and a remedy for sin. This plan, having been implemented, was the Good News that the Apostle Paul kept banging on about. A plan riddled with love and grace.

So what was God’s plan? The most famous verse in the Bible sums it up. “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.” (John 3:16). And we see how events panned out during the thirty or so years that Jesus was on this planet. It started with His birth to a young peasant girl in Palestine, conceived by the Holy Spirit. God’s only Son, Jesus, was born. And the climax was when Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary, thirty or so years later. There, He took on Himself all the sins of mankind. So in response, God could look at those of us who have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus and believed in Him, and instead see us as being righteous and sinless. That has to be Good News! But the Good News doesn’t end there. On the third day after His death, Jesus was raised from the dead, resurrected to be able to return to Heaven. And we read in Hebrews 1:3b, “… When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honour at the right hand“. And we read in Hebrews 7:25b, “…. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf”. 

Paul devoted his life to telling any who were listening (and many who didn’t) about why the News of God’s plan was Good. There is coming a time of judgement. How that will happen is clearly shown in the vision given to John, the one which he wrote down in the Book of Revelation. Jesus went on to talk about judgement in John 3:17-19. “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil“. We read the story of the End Times in Revelation, the episodes of plagues and natural disasters, all imposed on mankind to grab their attention and encourage them to make the right choice. But sadly, and inexplicably, “people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil”. 

Like Paul, we pilgrims must devote every opportunity to share the Good News. There is no other way, because “He is Jesus Christ our Lord“.

Dear Father God, we thank You that there is Good News to share in a season of bad news. Please bring our way those who you want to hear it, and we ask for the boldness to tell our stories of Good News, as Your Spirit leads. In Jesus name. Amen.

A Revelation

Posted on by korgrocker

“This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to His servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭1:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In this new season, I believe God has led me to consider the Book of Revelation. Not an easy ask, I think all my readers will agree, but this last book in the Bible is there for a reason and is there to be read. And the Holy Spirit will reveal what He wants us to see. So hopefully you can bear with me as I journey, or more likely stumble, through this book, perhaps revealing something of help, both to myself and to fellow pilgrims on our separate journeys through life.

The first two verses are very clear. This book is a direct revelation from Jesus. It was given to Him by His Father in Heaven. Its purpose was “to show his servants the events that must soon take place”. Pausing there, who are His servants? They will be all of us who have decided to follow Jesus. All those who call themselves Christians, because they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. We now serve Him. By doing His work wherever we are. So, Jesus wanted to reveal things to us. Continuing, what are these events? We don’t know yet, but they will “soon take place“. This book gives us a glimpse, often in apocalyptic language, often apparently, at least to us, confused and unclear, often referring to realms unknown to us, of what is to come. These “events” can only be shown as a glimpse or a hint because we lack the understanding necessary to fully comprehend what they are. As a rather poor analogy, imagine trying to describe a modern smart phone to someone alive 100 years ago. They might get a glimpse of how valuable it could be in terms of communication, but the rest of its capability would be lost on them.

Moving on through these two verses, Jesus sent an angel to reveal what was going to happen, to the old Apostle John, now exiled on the island of Patmos. He was the last of Jesus’ Apostles, and he was entrusted to record for posterity what he was told. We’re told he did this “faithfully”. But then such a wonderful man could do nothing else. And the angel took him into incredible places, where he could see what was coming.

And then the second verse ends with the assurance that what he wrote was the “word of God” and the testimony from Jesus. I think we can agree that this last book in the Bible must be very important, and one we should persevere to try and understand. 

Lord Jesus, as we venture with anticipation into this book over the coming days and weeks, I pray that You lead us and guide us, and reveal to us what You want us to see. In Your Precious Name. Amen.